explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1139: Rubber and Glue

2021-08-08T21:12:32Z

141.101.105.240: restore previous content after spam attack

I am not a native speaker, but after some research, I found that rubber/glue refers to the rhyme "I am rubber, you are glue, whatever you say bounces off of me and sticks to you." If that's true, the current explanation that the topos is meant "to imply that insults of another person are an indication of their own insecurity and weakness" is just plain wrong. [[User:BKA|BKA]] ([[User talk:BKA|talk]]) 15:51, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
*It's really not wrong, it's just a clarification. [[User:Castriff|Jimmy C]] ([[User talk:Castriff|talk]]) 19:43, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
:"Which bounces off me and sticks to you" is not meant in the literal sense. The sticks to you portion typically means that the recipient of the insult is implying that the sender is calling out other people by names that apply to themselves. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 00:22, 27 November 2012 (UTC)
::It's basically "I know you are, but what am I?" with different words. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 05:38, 30 May 2014 (UTC)

The in-joke here is presumably that CRC stands (or stood?) for the Chemical Rubber Company, and the handbook - found in many a physics and chemistry lab - is often referred to as the "Rubber Bible".
[[Special:Contributions/131.251.254.81|131.251.254.81]] 16:07, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

Of note is probably that the book young black hat is reading is known as the "Rubber Bible". From wikipedia: The CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics is in its 93rd edition. It is sometimes nicknamed the 'Rubber Bible' or the 'Rubber Book', as CRC originally stood for "Chemical Rubber Company". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRC_Handbook_of_Chemistry_and_Physics

As an aside, this is the first time Black Hat has ever been referred to by a name of any kind. Should we consider calling him "Hatman" now? --[[User:Castriff|Jimmy C]] ([[User talk:Castriff|talk]]) 19:43, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
:The transcript calls him Black Hat. Hatboy is only what the bullies were calling him in an effort to make fun of him. [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 20:22, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
:: Is it just me or does this appear to be a flashback to Black Hat's youth? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 23:03, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
:::The size of their heads would make it appear to be so. We could probably approximate his age in the comic from the proportional size of his head to the rest of his body. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 03:48, 27 November 2012 (UTC)

::::And also the hat is way too big for him! :) --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 16:23, 27 November 2012 (UTC)

There ought to be a name for the mind games that children use to abuse each other. The "rubber /glue" phrase, for instance, makes no sense ate all, but among children acts as a real restriction on discourse, a kind of bard curse that ties up the recipient in confusion. I was delighted to see the phrase turned around like this. Yay black hat![[Special:Contributions/64.254.188.208|64.254.188.208]] 14:22, 27 November 2012 (UTC) Noni Mausa, (away from home and don't have my log-in, sorry)

Just as an entertaining comment, Sheldon on the Big Bang Theory uses a form of this insult as such: "I'm polymerized tree sap and you're an inorganic adhesive, so whatever verbal projectile you launch in my direction is reflected off of me, returns on its original trajectory and adheres to you." --[[User:Joehammer79|Joehammer79]] ([[User talk:Joehammer79|talk]]) 14:47, 27 November 2012 (UTC)

I can't help but wonder whether this is a reference to cuil theory. His phrasing is very similar to some of the higher-cuil paragraphs in the original explanation, with the mention of being unable to scream and whatnot. --nobody important

The translator of the spanish version of the Monkey Island video game did not know this expression and translated it as 'Yo soy cola, tú pegamento', which doesn't have any comprehensible meaning. It's considered a geek cult mistranslation, kind of a spanish version of what "All your base are belong to us" is in English. {{unsigned|81.34.231.6}}

:[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GoodBadTranslation Link] for those of you that need more information, open up "Adventure Game". [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 18:09, 28 November 2012 (UTC)

The words black hat uses to terrorize the bullies reminded me of Harlan Ellison's famous horror sci-fi short story "I have no mouth and I must scream":
:I will describe myself as I see myself: I am a great soft jelly thing. Smoothly rounded, with no mouth, with pulsing white holes filled by fog where my eyes used to be. Rubbery appendages that were once my arms; bulks rounding down into legless humps of soft slippery matter. I leave a moist trail when I move. Blotches of diseased, evil gray come and go on my surface, as though light is being beamed from within. Outwardly: dumbly, I shamble about, a thing that could never have been known as human, a thing whose shape is so alien a travesty that humanity becomes more obscene for the vague resemblance. Inwardly: alone. Here. [..snip..] I have no mouth. And I must scream. --unsigned
:Which is also a pretty awesome [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_No_Mouth,_and_I_Must_Scream_(video_game) adventure game]

"frighten the children bullying him, into calling for their mothers" Hmm. It seems to me that 'moooom!' is the kind of incoherent noise that one would make if your mouth were actually full of glue. Seriously, try it. Fill your mouth with - say - banana - then hold your lips together and try to say something. Has Baby Blackhat found a way to literally fill his tormentor's mouth with glue? Maybe? {{unsigned ip|108.162.222.35}}
: No. Calling for parent makes considerably more sense. -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.155|108.162.250.155]] 05:30, 12 April 2016 (UTC)

I see it as proof there is a god.
After insulting the scientists on uk.sci.weather for not realising that their branch and all such branches of science are totally subjective in their nature (think Einstein) then calling me out and insisting my work is subjective and for teaching each other to ignore me as a fantasist; I ended up last night regretting calling them a bunch of dildoes just because they are all, without exception -and completely inexcusably, dildoes, I ended up making a complete hash of my forecasts. An unforgivably stupid error showing my lack of objectivity and ability to check my stuff.

This morning,still feeling foolish, I was thinking how the prophet Daniel would have handled things in the days before he became Chief Magic Practitioner for all of the Babylonian and then Persian Empires:
Daniel 4:25 and
Daniel 2:14
It's the "wisdom and tact" bit I need to work on.

Also my reading skills concerning interpretation could use some glasses; I thought the name of the book Blackhat was reading was the "Orc handbook of chemistry and physics". Doh! (But it works like that though, too.)[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 07:37, 14 January 2015 (UTC)
:What the cherry flavoured hell are you talking about? -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.155|108.162.250.155]] 05:30, 12 April 2016 (UTC)

Can we rename Black Hat "Hatboy"? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.215|108.162.215.215]] 14:40, 13 October 2016 (UTC)

"Young Black Hat was mentioned later in [[1753: Thumb War]]" was what I just read. My OCD mind immediately turned to the problem (there's no period) and fixed it. --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 16:03, 31 October 2016 (UTC)

I fixed the incomplete sections of the comic by removing the incomplete tag, mentioned the title text, and went into greater detail with Black Hat's taunt. --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 12:51, 2 November 2016 (UTC)

Talk:2461: 90's Kid Space Program

2021-05-11T20:33:49Z

141.101.105.240:

While searching for popper toys in action, I found a figure in a scientific paper. Not sure if it would belong on this page. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326439672_Dynamics_of_viscoelastic_snap-through#pf2 [[User:Pgn674|Pgn674]] ([[User talk:Pgn674|talk]]) 20:15, 10 May 2021 (UTC)

Isn't it also allusion to Kerbal Space Program game? The ship in picture looks similar to game's stock crafts. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.249|162.158.91.249]] 21:05, 10 May 2021 (UTC)
:Possibly? The girders and the capsule look similar, but the green bit looks a little like a Project Orion pusher plate to me. (Or maybe I just like Project Orion too much). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.229|141.101.99.229]] 21:07, 10 May 2021 (UTC)

:Agree on the Kerbal. Note the KSP in "Kid Space Program". I also thought it had a nod towards Project Orion pusher plate. On an unrelated but fun note: Oxford science blog discusses the mathematics that describe jumping popper snap-through: https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/science-blog/how-do-jumping-popper-toys-work.
[[User:Tomb|Tomb]] ([[User talk:Tomb|talk]]) 21:40, 10 May 2021 (UTC)

The title text may refer to the way that NASA seems stuck in their ways and not willing to innovate, i.e. living in the past. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.249|162.158.91.249]] 21:13, 10 May 2021 (UTC)

:Only they already tried most of the stuff and failed. e.g the DC-X or landing booster were tried in the 90s. For the boosters, it will be interesting if the reuse-reliability is better with our better controll systems, or the refurbishing costs and risks will kill it again. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.134|141.101.105.134]] 16:29, 11 May 2021 (UTC)

I agree with the above suggestion that Kerbal Space Program is part of the joke, KSP is to iconic a acronym for Munroe to ignore, plus, he has mentioned it in other strips.
:Or even "too iconic an acronym". [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.106|198.41.238.106]] 21:48, 10 May 2021 (UTC)

Is today some sort of special "90's day"? SMBC has a 90s-themed comic as well.[[User:Account|Account]] ([[User talk:Account|talk]]) 21:26, 10 May 2021 (UTC)
:Per http://www.holidays-and-observances.com/may-10.html, it is not. [[User:Piano|Piano]] ([[User talk:Piano|talk]]) 22:22, 10 May 2021 (UTC)
::I think maybe "90s" is a little off. I had one of these in 1987. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.106|141.101.98.106]] 08:26, 11 May 2021 (UTC)

I was squinting hard at the original, trying to understand the connection between a diaphragm (a barrier contraception method), kids, and launching into space. Smth about spermatozoids? Resorted to explainxkcd, and learned that it's some kind of "popper"... Oh, well :)
:Still better than when I thought "putting a parachute below the capsule can't possibly be aerodynamically stable". I thought it was a landing system.

Interesting… I'm a 90s kid, and I've never even heard of these. I had to come here to figure out what I was looking at. [[User:NoriMori|NoriMori]] ([[User talk:NoriMori|talk]]) 03:00, 11 May 2021 (UTC)
:snap! I thought it was a diaphragm too :o) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.50|108.162.249.50]] 06:05, 11 May 2021 (UTC)
::I would have known what it was if it was a photograph. There's no real sense of scale or texture here, I thought it was some kind of weird parachute like kids used in gym class. -[[Special:Contributions/172.68.57.75|172.68.57.75]] 06:25, 11 May 2021 (UTC)

;How effective would this thing actually be? 
Obviously it's not going to go to space. But would a popper of this apparent size even be able to fling itself upward at all? Do the mechanics hold up when scaled up that large, or does all the mass and weight of the rubber get in the way? Or something about the physics of how it un-inverts itself? I've seen a few of these things, and they get some impressive height, but they were all pretty small. I found a Youtube video of a guy making some quite large ones (by toy standards), and the amount of height they get seems to go down as the size of the thing goes up.

This isn't the clearest xkcd - So it isn't supposed to be a diaphragm? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.167|172.69.68.167]] 06:51, 11 May 2021 (UTC)
:Depends? I've seen 3 inch models that pop higher than 1 inch models. I also think the old school solid ones pop higher than the 'safety' version you get now with a hole in the top. Side note: kids like me are why they have those safety holes now. For gits and shiggles in the summer of '86 I placed one of them on my forehead, and pushed in. It made a mighty suction cup, and took the better part of a minute to get off my face. As you might expect, a solid minute of extreme suction on my skin created the expectant 'hickey' and I had a 3 inch round dot on my forehead for about a week.
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.45|172.68.132.45]] 16:14, 11 May 2021 (UTC)

Actually this wouldn't work at all at the drawn scale. - At least not with rubbers we know currently. To have enough "strength" against punctures etc on this scale the rubber would have to be really really thick. However another feature is that it bends from bulbing one side to the other side - releasing build up tensile stress inside the rubber dome material.
The problem is however that in doing so the 'length' of one side of the rubber would change drastically (this is what creates the stress anyways). Magnitudes more than the few mm you have in normal domes. It would have so much strain that any rubber we know would've ripped/cracked many times before, even the most plastine rubbers would rip before that point. So no this would not scale up very well... Would actually be better to use "a lot of small sized ones". than a single large one.

Now I understand why xkcd has a tendency to occasionally irk me- because he's a 90's kid. Us 80's kids used real gunpowder to send our rockets a few thousand feet high. Ok, less than 2000, but at least we didn't use a rubber thing resembling a boob. And get off my lawn, you young whipper snapper.[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 13:04, 11 May 2021 (UTC)

;Maybe I'm reading too much in to it, but it looks a bit like an Orion type spacecraft with the pusher plate drawn to specifically resemble those pop toys? 

I'm surprised no one has commented on the similarity in design to the James Webb Telescope, which opened for the last time today on earth in preparation for satellite packing: https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1392170711226126344?s=19 [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.107|141.101.99.107]] 20:10, 11 May 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2178: Expiration Date High Score

2019-07-22T09:25:10Z

141.101.105.240: Nearly 60 and still eating everything that doesn't run away!

If we assume this comic is contemporary, i.e. the year she found the beans is 2019, it makes Randall's girlfriend/wife 37 years old.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.84.64|141.101.84.64]] 05:25, 19 July 2019 (UTC)
:Well... it makes Megan 37 years old. There is nothing here to strongly suggest that cueball and her are Randall and his gf/wife. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 05:54, 19 July 2019 (UTC)
::Well, to be exact it makes Megan 37 years, 13 days, 12 hours, 7 minutes, 13.3 seconds old (rounded to the nearest tenth of a second). This is based on 900/24.3 = 37.0370 (...) That would make her born on July 6, 1982 (if we work back from the date of publication of the comic). But to be realistic I guess she was probably rounding the score to the nearest decimal, rather than writing 24.32432... (i.e. 900/37), in which case I'm wrong. Either way, spurious accuracy is fun!! [[Special:Contributions/172.68.10.4|172.68.10.4]] 19:07, 20 July 2019 (UTC)

What about #933? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.38.88|172.68.38.88]] 21:35, 19 July 2019 (UTC)
: I think it's pretty clear that the title text varies from comic to comic. Sometimes it's clearly a character's voice. Sometimes it makes more sense as a narrator's voice. Sometimes it's clearly talking about Randall's life. I realize that this site tends to attribute the title text to Randall's voice, but personally, I consider it an unattributed voice. Sometimes it's him, sometimes it's more of a narrator or character voice. Similarly, the actions in the comics are sometimes clearly influenced by events in Randall's life, but they're also clearly not other times. If it turned out that he made Megan 37 because his wife is 37, that wouldn't surprise me, but neither would it surprise me if he did something different, because he does that on a regular basis. (In other words, without additional evidence or supporting information, I think it's weird to state as a fact that the traits of various characters are, in fact, traits of Randall and his friends and family.) [[User:Mootstrap|Mootstrap]] ([[User talk:Mootstrap|talk]]) 02:38, 20 July 2019 (UTC)
:: Yes. I'm not RM but if I were I'd just write in a pretty number that has no meaning at all just to be done with the comic. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.65|172.68.58.65]] 03:58, 20 July 2019 (UTC)

When I was working at a gas station, someone brought in a propane tank which had expired in 1963 (or so). If 1963 and using this scheme, my score would be 96.6.
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.251|172.69.33.251]] 06:02, 19 July 2019 (UTC)
: Did you buy the propane tank, though? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.52|162.158.114.52]] 07:09, 22 July 2019 (UTC)

Propane tanks do not "expire", that is they do not go bad with time, and you do not need to throw them out after the date. The date on these tanks is when they need to be inspected for damage, as mandated by Federal and state laws. If the tank passes inspection a new date in put on and you can keep using the tank (propane suppliers can legally keep refilling it.) [[User:Godzilla|Godzilla]] ([[User talk:Godzilla|talk]]) 13:40, 19 July 2019 (UTC)

: Except that it <q>must be something ''you'' purchased</q> so you can't use that one in the contest. Unless you then purchased it from whoever brought it in… I don't see any rule requiring that the item be new (or otherwise not-yet-expired) when you purchase it, so can we buy old things from other people in order to inflate our score (potentially over 100)? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.42.76|172.69.42.76]] 06:18, 19 July 2019 (UTC)
::That also circumvents the argument "we moved since 2010". If you buy the apartment with kitchen and all equipment, you also purchased the expired item... --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 06:20, 19 July 2019 (UTC)
:::I think that part in the title text is referring to "how did we manage to not come across all of our expired items when we moved" rather than "this item was here before me moved in". Some very disorganised people might actually pack up and move all of the items (e.g. food) in their house without first checking or even noticing if it is expired. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.64|141.101.98.64]] 10:52, 19 July 2019 (UTC)
::::That was my initial thought too, that she either did it without of noticing, or did not notice it on purpose, to at some point reach this score. But the loophole, good 'ol 42.76 brought up, put this idea up, as an alternative.--[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 10:56, 19 July 2019 (UTC)
:The rules say that the item must be something you, personally '''''purchased'''''...so did they BUY the pickles from Megan's mom? I'd want to see a receipt or something! (And if the pickles were dated to 1978, Megan (whom we've established is 37 years old was not born when the pickles were dated...so for sure, this is cheating! [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 13:36, 19 July 2019 (UTC)
::They clearly attribute the pickle score to Megan's mum, not to Megan.[[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 13:42, 19 July 2019 (UTC)
:::Yeah - that makes more sense. I had initially read it as these were pickles MADE by her mum and given to Megan - not pickles that her mum purchased. Sadly, we can't work backwards from the 2030 date that Megan needs to wait until in order to beat that score to figure out her mom's age because we don't know on what year her mum discovered the ancient pickles. [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 13:48, 19 July 2019 (UTC)

There is one caveat to Megan's strategy: since the fraction (year you found item - year item expired)/(your age when you found it) converges to one as time goes on regardless whether the numerator is bigger than the denominator, as long as the item expired before the year of your birth, postponing the discovery reduces your score (considerably).

Her mom's pickles could still have had an expiration date before 1978 - according to [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/sell-and-best-dates-food-are-basically-made-hard-get-rid-180950304/ this article] they were around in the 1950s and on store shelves by 1970. If they were home-canned she could also have dated them herself. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.22|172.68.174.22]] 17:56, 19 July 2019 (UTC)

:Perishable foods had expiration dates in the 1970s at least (maybe earlier in some countries and some stores). But non-perishable foods did NOT had dates until the 2000's or later. A home canned jar of pickles could have a hand written date, but this would be the date it was canned, not an expiration date. Because anyone in the 1970s who knew how to can would know if they did it right the food would not go bad. If they did the canning wrong they would not need a expiration date to know this, they would know in a few weeks, by looking through the mason jar at the food inside. Or by looking at the food and glass spread around the pantry after the jar exploded. So Megan's mom could have a loaf of bread with a 1978 date, but not a jar of pickles. [[User:Godzilla|Godzilla]] ([[User talk:Godzilla|talk]]) 18:17, 19 July 2019 (UTC)

I hereby fervently protest against the age-discriminating rules. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.240|141.101.105.240]] 09:25, 22 July 2019 (UTC)

== FOOD SCIENCE ==

''"Since then many countries introduced laws and regulations requiring companies to put expiration dates on perishable goods. In some instances this can have the negative effect of people throwing out good food by blindly following the suggested expiration date. This behaviour can incentivise companies to adjust the expiration date so that people will re-buy the products sooner."''

Since science and the truth are a big part of both xkcd.com and explainxkcd.com, I think it is important this explanation includes how/why food goes bad, and why expiration dates on jars/cans of food do not serve to protect people from eating bad food. If no one else gets to it first I'll try to type this explanation when I get a chance.

Until then I don't think the explanation should say "...many countries introduced laws and regulations requiring companies to put expiration dates on perishable goods." Although this is true, it is also true many companies put expiration on non-perishable products even through there is no law requiring them to do so. Like cosmetics and jars of pickles. [[User:Godzilla|Godzilla]] ([[User talk:Godzilla|talk]]) 13:54, 19 July 2019 (UTC)

:To be fair, many items are labelled "Best Before" or "Sell By" - implying that the food item will be edible for at least some time beyond that date. Actual expiration dates on preserved food items do seem to be rarer. There are cases of canned food items from the early 1900's still being in good shape after 100+ years - and those would not have had any expiration date. But one issue is that back then, cans were made by soldering sheets of tin together - and the lead in the solder slowly leaches into the food making it unsafe to eat even though the food itself seems well-preserved. So for potential high scores, we should look to: [http://mentalfloss.com/article/555075/11-oldest-foods-and-beverages-ever-discovered The 11 oldest foods and beverages ever discovered] - except that they'd not have any kind of formal expiration date. [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 14:10, 19 July 2019 (UTC)

: "it is also true many companies put expiration on non-perishable products" <- I especially like the "best before" date on salt. Bonus points if the box has a description of how the salt has been in a mine for over millions of years... --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.52|162.158.114.52]] 07:13, 22 July 2019 (UTC)

The legal requirements of "expiration dates" for food are less stringent than many believe. In the USA, under FDA regulations, only baby formula cannot legally be sold after its expiration date. Wording like "use by" and "sell by" is not legally binding... more like "guidelines", as Capt. Barbossa would say. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.64|172.68.34.64]] 15:57, 19 July 2019 (UTC)

I think the point that needs to be made in the explanation is both the items in the comic (a can of beans and a jar of pickles) do not go bad with time but in fact remain edible indefinitely.

Food going bad, in the sense that it will make you sick if you eat it, is most often caused by harmful bacteria growing in the food. Less often caused by fungi or yeast growing in the food and creating a poisonous substance, like methanol (wood alcohol.) The process of canning food involves boiling it to kill all possible pathogens, then sealing it in a can/jar while the food is still hot, with no air bubble. As long as this process is done correctly, as long as the jar lid has an air tight seal, and as long at the can is not punctured or gets a hole rusted through, no bacteria/virus/yeast/fungi can get in and the food can not spoil. Some food may discolor over time in the jar/can, or the texture may change, but it can not go bad in a way that makes it unsafe to eat.

If the canning process is done incorrectly and bacteria/fungi/yeast is sealed in the can/jar, the food goes bad in a few weeks, not years. Gases given off by the decomposition process often cause the can to swell, or the normal concave jar lid to bulge upwards. Sometimes the internal gas pressure is enough to burst the can/jar, as used to happen to people who canned at home using mason jars. If it does not burst, you are still going the know the food has gone bad the minute you open the can/jar, even without looking inside.

The above facts are more important then who/how/why expiration dates get put on which products. [[User:Godzilla|Godzilla]] ([[User talk:Godzilla|talk]]) 17:13, 19 July 2019 (UTC)

SO my mom's fridge! When I was a kid, my brother had a buddy who would put on his best game show announcer voice and say "It's time for Search... For... Fungus!", then check the fridge for OLD things. Hysterical, laughed our heads off, and helped us out by getting rid of the old stuff, LOL! Me and her recently cleaned her fridge, and similarly found some pre-move items. LOL! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:53, 20 July 2019 (UTC)

All Aussies can win this game with their personal vegemite jar. And they're still EATING it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.124|108.162.249.124]] 09:35, 20 July 2019 (UTC)

Canned food is first put into the can and sealed and then heated up to around 60~80 degrees Celsius. After it cools down, the label is placed on it. - sirKitKat
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.234.112|162.158.234.112]] 06:06, 21 July 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2175: Flag Interpretation

2019-07-13T13:32:15Z

141.101.105.240: Added note about flag handling

Can we all just take a moment to appreciate that Randall drew each US flag by hand? He could have just copy-pasted the same one 14 times, but he didn't. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.118|172.68.34.118]] 16:27, 12 July 2019 (UTC)

Something about a Dali-esque melting flagpole set at half-mast seems very suggestive to me...

Flying the US flag upside down would be considered a distress signal by many. Should this be in the main description or a "trivia" section? [[User:Cgrimes85|Cgrimes85]] ([[User talk:Cgrimes85|talk]]) 15:51, 12 July 2019 (UTC)
:I had the same thought (before I saw your comment) and put it in the main description, since it seems necessary to understand the joke. --[[User:Aquillion|Aquillion]] ([[User talk:Aquillion|talk]]) 05:51, 13 July 2019 (UTC)

Half mast or half staff? In the US (which appears to be the flag shown in the comic), the popular usage is half-staff, although half-mast is more common elsewhere. [[User:Cgrimes85|Cgrimes85]] ([[User talk:Cgrimes85|talk]]) 15:56, 12 July 2019 (UTC)
: Half-mast should be for naval connotations and half-staff for non-naval connotations, at least in the USA.

: Definitely half-mast in the UK. To the point that someone showing a lot of sock has historically drawn comments of "Who's died?" or "Your cat died?" which is then clarified by explaining that their trousers appear to be at half-mast. [[User:YorkshirePudding|YorkshirePudding]] ([[User talk:YorkshirePudding|talk]]) 21:59, 12 July 2019 (UTC)

The no one dying for a while was done in the TV Show Torchwood: Miracle Day https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torchwood:_Miracle_Day [[Special:Contributions/172.69.160.152|172.69.160.152]] 19:01, 12 July 2019 (UTC)

Note that a flag may traditionally not fly outside at night, to the point that a flag which hangs after dusk should be burned.
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.240|141.101.105.240]] 13:32, 13 July 2019 (UTC)

Talk:1963: Namespace Land Rush

2018-03-05T05:43:31Z

141.101.105.240:

* Ahh, he left off '''root''' under Causing More Trouble. [[User:Nutster|Nutster]] ([[User talk:Nutster|talk]]) 05:41, 5 March 2018 (UTC)
* I'm very disappointed he left out dotnotreplay@... --05:43, 5 March 2018 (UTC)~

Talk:1962: Generations

2018-03-02T21:37:04Z

141.101.105.240:

Table guy! Maybe this could be a table with "Year", "Generation Name", "References" and "Speculation". Or something. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.230.172|198.41.230.172]] 17:31, 2 March 2018 (UTC)

The highlighted generations are clearly the ones Pew Research named, but I can't figure out why Randall's numbers don't seem to match Pew's here: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/05/11/millennials-surpass-gen-xers-as-the-largest-generation-in-u-s-labor-force/ft_15-05-11_millennialsdefined/ [[User:TheAnvil|TheAnvil]] ([[User talk:TheAnvil|talk]]) 17:37, 2 March 2018 (UTC)

—••— means X in Morse code [[User:Inexorably advancing wall of ice|Inexorably advancing wall of ice]] ([[User talk:Inexorably advancing wall of ice|talk]]) 18:21, 2 March 2018 (UTC)

{{incomplete|Created by a MILLENIAL who has had enough of these weird incomplete tags}}
But seriously, it was funny the first time.[[Citation needed]] I'm sorry for the above incomplete tag in the comments,[[Citation needed] but it feels like most comics since maybe #1900 ([[1914: Twitter Verification]] comes to mind...) have this kind of thing for their incomplete tag. Maybe if it's spaced out more, instead of put into nearly every comic nowadays, it won't be so much of a problem. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.184|162.158.75.184]] 18:02, 2 March 2018 (UTC)

Can someone help me? [[User:Halo422|Halo422]] ([[User talk:Halo422|talk]]) 20:20, 2 March 2018 (UTC)

What's the emoji 2000-2017? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.214|172.68.141.214]] 21:05, 2 March 2018 (UTC)
:I think I found it: 💅 [https://emojipedia.org/nail-polish/ "nail-polish"] (Comes up very different on different systems) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.233|162.158.79.233]] 21:20, 2 March 2018 (UTC)

I have to believe the 1748 - 1765 generation is some form of "Long s" such as U+1E9C or U+1E9D [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.233|162.158.79.233]] 21:12, 2 March 2018 (UTC)

Hitler was born in 1889, about three years before the "Oops, one of us is Hitler" generation ... --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.240|141.101.105.240]] 21:37, 2 March 2018 (UTC)

Talk:1934: Phone Security

2017-12-29T11:54:44Z

141.101.105.240:

"Detonated" ah, so this is the feature that Samsung was prototyping last year... [[User:Andyd273|Andyd273]] ([[User talk:Andyd273|talk]]) 15:39, 27 December 2017 (UTC)

:Ha! Yes, it's too bad their phones kept mistakenly registering as being stolen... stupid bugs. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.70.107|172.69.70.107]] 17:28, 27 December 2017 (UTC) Sam

:Back in the day if a hacker really hated you, you'd come back to your computer and see smoke pouring out of the CPU. I bet there's some way to detonate a phone in software by overheating the battery, but I imagine it could be different for every phone/battery combination. {{unsigned ip| 108.162.219.64}}

::Already done. http://www.zdnet.com/article/this-crypto-mining-android-malware-is-so-demanding-it-burst-a-smartphone/ [[User:Silverpie|Silverpie]] ([[User talk:Silverpie|talk]]) 23:09, 28 December 2017 (UTC)

Someone needs to make a jailbreak that does as much of this as possible, especially the ridesharing and siren 😂 [[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 15:52, 27 December 2017 (UTC)

: there was or is at least one house in the U.S. that was reported, apparently inaccurately, as the location of an extraordinary number of stolen cell phones. Presumably that house would suffer all of the pranks that this phone security performs. As for payment details - someone who stole a phone may have also stolen banking cards, so, the account number that you steal back may belong to another innocent victim. It's just a joke of course, but, saying. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.235|162.158.111.235]] 22:02, 27 December 2017 (UTC)

Made a account just to ask this - why is the post still considered incomplete? It looks complete to me. [[User:Donutman|Donutman]] ([[User talk:Donutman|talk]]) 13:59, 28 December 2017 (UTC)

: Because I added the core explanation, but many improvements have been made since then (bullet points, bolding, transcript). Also, the siren would be insanely easy to do, as would an automated "send the GPS location to the police" among other things. [[User:Kashim|Kashim]] ([[User talk:Kashim|talk]]) 14:15, 28 December 2017 (UTC)
::I've removed the tag right now after I added that the phone would have to sense that it is stolen. There is no sensor to detect this. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:46, 28 December 2017 (UTC)
:::Bluetooth. With paired device on owner, the phone can detect if it was moved from owner. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 01:19, 29 December 2017 (UTC)
:::: No good. Firstly, no phone (that I know of) comes with such a device, which I would guess would be called a dongle. Secondly, if they did it wouldn't take long for thieves to realize they have to get the dongle, too. Thirdly, that would mean the owner could never put down their phone, like at home or at work - I've heard of a few workplaces which are high security and don't allow cell phones, so they have to be left in the car or in a locker near the entrance - unless they remember to put down the device too (which would largely defeat the purpose of such a device). And the first time they forget and the phone identified itself as stolen would be enough to convince the rightful owner that this system doesn't work. Fourthly, anything wireless must work by battery. When that battery dies, either the phone would trigger as being stolen, or it would have to detect the battery dying to not go off, in which case you're vulnerable to theft until you charge the ownership dongle. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 09:36, 29 December 2017 (UTC)
: You didn't need an account to write a comment - any commenter name that's an IP address is such a guest commentor. I posted many before I created an account. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 09:36, 29 December 2017 (UTC)

I first thought "erase phone" meant "erase physically", but "detonate" makes that somewhat redundant. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.240|141.101.105.240]] 11:54, 29 December 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1890: What to Bring

2017-09-15T09:50:33Z

141.101.105.240:

Presumerably water in a gun fight _might_ work if the guns involved are particularly old fashioned (eg see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flintlock Flintlock]) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.55|162.158.154.55]] 06:35, 15 September 2017 (UTC)

I see that bringing a lid to a knife or gun fight might serve as some sort of a shield? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.66|141.101.107.66]] 06:52, 15 September 2017 (UTC)

If your lid is big enough, you can extinguish a wood fire too [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.240|141.101.105.240]] 09:50, 15 September 2017 (UTC)