explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3026: Linear Sort

2024-12-18T23:29:58Z

141.101.109.193: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3026
| date = December 18, 2024
| title = Linear Sort
| image = linear_sort_2x.png
| imagesize = 385x181px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The best case is O(n), and the worst case is that someone checks why.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created in Θ(N) TIME by an iterative Insertion Sorter working on a multidimensional array - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A common task in programming is to sort a list, a list being a collection of related elements of data that are stored in a linear fashion. There are dozens of algorithms that have been created for this through the years, from simple to complex, and each has its own merits with regards to how easy it is to understand / implement, how much space it uses, and how efficiently it operates on the data.

In computer science the runtime of an algorithm can be described using {{w|Big O Notation}}, which describes the asymptotic runtime (usually of an average case) as the number of elements operated on (notated as ''n'') grows larger and larger. Specifically, O(''f''(''n'')) means that as ''n'' grows without bound, the runtime is less than ''f''(''n'') times some constant value. For instance, an O(''n'') algorithm (here ''f''(''n'') = ''n'') would, as ''n'' grows large, take a fixed amount of time per element operated on, so the total time it takes would be a multiple of the size of the list. If it takes one second to look at a picture, it would take ten seconds to look at ten pictures. So "look at a list of pictures" is a linear operation and would be described as having runtime complexity O(''n''); this is described as 'linear' runtime. An algorithm described as O(''n''2) would take time less than or equal to some constant times ''n''2.

Some examples of runtimes expressed in Big O notation:
<ul><li>O(1) - Constant, which means the execution time is independent of the size of the data</li>
<li>O(''n'') - Linear, which means the execution time varies in direct proportion to the size of the data</li>
<li>O(''n'' log ''n'') - The execution time grows proportionally to ''n''*log(''n'')</li>
<li>O(''n''2) - Quadratic, meaning the execution time is proportional to the square of the size of the data.</li></ul>

It can be proven that the best general-purpose sorting methods are O(''n'' log ''n''). Thus, a sorting algorithm in linear time does not actually exist; sorting is more complex. The time it takes to sort a list of items grows as you add more items to the list. The complexity of sorting algorithms generally ranges from O(''n'' log ''n'') to O(''n''2). For example, one way to sort is to look at all the values to find the smallest item, then look at all the values again to find the second item - the smallest one not found yet - and so on until you've positioned every item in the right place. If "looking at a number" takes one second, then you could sort a list of 2 numbers in 4 seconds: look at both numbers, then look at them a second time. Sorting 3 numbers would take 9 seconds: look at all 3 numbers 3 times to find the right position. Sorting a deck of cards this way would take 52*52 seconds = about 45 minutes. The amount of time it takes to sort a list grows faster the more items you look at. This is not the most efficient way to sort, but it gets the job done.

The 'linear' sort here first uses the {{w|merge sort}}, which takes time O(''n'' log ''n'') rather than the faster linear (i.e., O(''n'')) time. It does not matter, however, because it `sleep()`s for 1e6 (1 million) seconds, more than 11 days, per item in the list. It does this by sleeping for that length of time minus the time it actually took -- converting it by brute force to linear time that is so slow that it will not overcome the O(''n'' log ''n'') term for any dataset it will encounter. It's linear because it's guaranteed to take a million seconds for every element in the list (regardless of how long the actual merge sort really took); doubling the list size doubles the number of millions of seconds it takes. No matter how inefficient the merge sort sort method is, it is very unlikely it would take longer than a million seconds per element. The joke is that although this algorithm runs in linear time, which is usually preferable to ''n'' log ''n'' time, the algorithm is so grotesquely slow that it would never be useful.

It should be noted that for sufficiently large lists, merge sort will take longer than the million seconds per element, at which point the sorting algorithm will stop being linear anyway. However, this issue will only arise for impossibly huge lists. If, for instance, merge sort took time ''n'' log(''n'') * 1 microsecond (slow by today's standards), then merge sort would take longer than the comic's 'linear' sort only for lists longer than 21,000,000,000,000 ≈ 10300,000,000,000 elements - a number far larger than the number of atoms in the universe.

The title text refers to the {{w|Best, worst and average case|best and worst case}} of the sort, which are additional measures of the runtime of an algorithm. A given sort may only repeat a whole or partial scan of a list when a previous pass has identified a need to shuffle elements around; scanning a pre-sorted list just the once (and deducing that it has no work to do) results in a best case of O(''n''). Depending upon the algorithm, presenting a list that is reverse-sorted (or perhaps in some other specific ordering that happens to challenge it the most) may require even an 'average O(''n'' log ''n'')' process to take a worst-case number of operations of something like O(''n²''). It can be very useful to know that a given sorting method ''may'' take the average order of time, but have the possibility of a much shorter ''or'' longer runtime. An O(''n'') best case is particularly desirable when mostly expecting data that biases towards that result, but not all algorithms (or working situations) are capable of this. On the other hand, it may be more desirable to pursue an algorithm that is instead 'less worse' at handling worst-case orderings, or at least aren't expected to be [[1185: Ineffective Sorts|far far worse]] than others, despite a better response under such rare ideal conditions.

By forcing all practical searches to take exactly the same time, regardless of the manner that the same data is provided for sorting, the best case and the worst case (in all practical cases) are also strictly O(''n''), for exactly the same contrived reason. For the programmer who conducted this deception, the real secret of the O(''n'') is that someone just takes the claim of a "linear sort" at face value, without worrying about why it is actually so slow. The actual worst case scenario is if someone becomes curious enough to investigate how the code works (perhaps once they discover it takes nearly twelve days per element) and uncovering the deceptive manner of the code.

The same idea trivially generalises to a _constant_ O(1) bound for sorting (that's so much better than linear!). [run a sort algorithm, wait till 40 years from query, give the answer]. That's the preferred way of repaying loans, too.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[The panel shows five lines of code:]
:function LinearSort(list):
::StartTime=Time()
::MergeSort(list)
::Sleep(1e6*length(list)-(Time()-StartTime))
::return

:[Caption below the panel:]
:How to sort a list in linear time

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Programming]]

3014: Arizona Chess

2024-11-21T20:04:40Z

141.101.109.193: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3014
| date = November 20, 2024
| title = Arizona Chess
| image = arizona_chess_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x315px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Sometimes, you have to sacrifice pieces to gain the advantage. Sometimes, to advance ... you have to fall back.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a DAYLIGHT SLAYING BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[White Hat]] and [[Cueball]] are playing a timed game of tournament-style chess. At the start of the comic White Hat has the advantage because, as well as having one more pawn than Cueball, he has more time left to play his remaining moves — 6 minutes and 35 seconds, versus Cueball's 28 seconds, as shown on the {{w|chess clock}} display above them.

However, Cueball has an unexpected advantage. The building is sited across the border of Arizona with another state, with White Hat on the Arizona side, and the game is being played at a very particular time of year, when (most of) the United States exits {{w|Daylight Saving Time}}, which happens at 2:00 AM on the morning of the first Sunday in November. As Arizona doesn't observe Daylight Saving Time (DST), unlike neighboring US states, only one clock gains an hour. White Hat's time remains normal, but Cueball's time "falls back" one hour, as his departure from daylight saving time occurs, giving him 60 additional minutes of play time. White Hat immediately protests, likely trying to communicate that such is not how chess clocks work. Chess clocks are simple timers, tracking how much time each player has used since the beginning of the match. They're not based on local time, and changing the time remaining during play would certainly be a violation of the rules. Even clocks that do track local time are generally not so carefully calibrated that they would reliably switch times so close to a state line.

Cueball ignores these protests, and now seems confident of victory, since he has far more play time remaining. Daylight Slaying Time is a pun on Daylight Saving Time, but note that the comic takes place as the non-Arizona clock joins the Arizona clock in Standard Time.

The title text makes use of a pun. To "fall back" in a strategic sense means to withdraw from an attack, or even to retreat. This can be part of a valid strategy, as withdrawing from an engagement can allow you to press the attack elsewhere, at a more advantageous time and place, or can draw enemy forces into an attack under circumstances that you control. [https://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/spring-forward-fall-back.html "Spring forward, fall back"] is a mnemonic used for daylight saving time; we advance the clock forward when entering DST in the spring, and move it backward when leaving it in the fall (autumn).

There are buildings in the US that are built across state lines (and county and city boundaries), and even some buildings that extend across international boundaries (these are known as {{w|line house}}s). The existence of these buildings can result in eccentric situations when laws and ordinances vary substantially between the locations. For example, a casino might be built on a state border where gambling is legal in one state but illegal in the other. In such a case, the gaming can only happen on one side of the building (the other side being reserved for other services and functions). It's not uncommon for businesses and tourist attractions to lean into the novelty of this by demarking the boundary inside the building and specifically encouraging things that are legal only on one side of the line. Such situations are likely the inspiration for this strip, but using such a line to manipulate a competition based on time zone is highly unlikely.

Ongoing state-level efforts to end time changes could also increase the number of places where this situation could happen, as more DST/non-DST boundaries arise.

The comic was published five days before the start of the {{w|World Chess Championship 2024}} in Singapore.

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

:[White Hat and Cueball are sitting across from each other playing chess. The time, shown above them in white on a black screen, reads 6:35 for White Hat, and 0:28 for Cueball.]
:White Hat: It’s late, I’m up a pawn, and you’re out of time. It’s over.
:Cueball: Ah, you’re forgetting something.

:[Cueball gestures with one hand above the chessboard. His time now reads 0:19.]
:Cueball: Did you know this building straddles the Arizona border?
:Cueball: It actually runs right through the table. You're on the Arizona side.

:[Cueball raises his hand further to gesture at his time. It beeps and is now blank and white.]
:Cueball: This tournament started Saturday, November 2nd. Now it's almost 2AM on the 3rd.
:Cueball: And there's something you should know about Arizona.
:Chess clock: BEEP

:[White Hat raises his head slightly to look at the timer. Cueball's time now reads 60:07. Cueball lowers his hand to make a move.]
:White Hat: '''''What?!''''' No! That's not how... '''''No!!'''''
:Cueball: Looks like it's daylight '''''slaying''''' time.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Chess]]
[[Category:Daylight saving time]]

Talk:3007: Probabilistic Uncertainty

2024-11-05T00:02:03Z

141.101.109.193:

Emotional spirals are useless. I've been coping by pretending we're in scenario 1, it keeps me sane. If I'm wrong, I'll jump off that bridge when we come to it. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 20:23, 4 November 2024 (UTC)
:And I have a friend whose strategy is baking. It's both therapeutic and delicious. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 20:41, 4 November 2024 (UTC)

I can't help but think that at preparing for the negative outcome regardless of which outcome is more likely (unless that outcome is *very* unlikely) is a healthy thing to do. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.141|172.71.147.141]] 20:30, 4 November 2024 (UTC)

This comic appeared the day before the 2024 United States Presidential Election. At publication time, polls were strongly suggesting about a 50/50 odds that either major candidate would win. Recent news items included advice from mental-health professionals on how to deal with election-related anxiety. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.167.195|172.71.167.195]] 20:32, 4 November 2024 (UTC)
:Definitely related. This should be in the text, not in the comments, frankly. The yanks are going nuts about the election right now. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.124.243|172.71.124.243]] 20:57, 4 November 2024 (UTC)

My personal policy is to expect and prepare for the worst. That way I can be surprised when it doesn't happen, and not surprised when it does, rather than the other way around. I don't "do" emotions, so it's basically just planning and mumbling colloquialisms involving the digestive system... [[Special:Contributions/172.71.134.64|172.71.134.64]] 21:31, 4 November 2024 (UTC)

I can't help but feel that it's mostly Democrats that are anxious, where Trump winning is the bad case. Not being an American I don't have much perspective. Are many Republicans likely to also be anxious, and if so, why? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.60.170|172.69.60.170]] 21:55, 4 November 2024 (UTC)

From what I've seen the ones in public-facing forums seem pretty indifferent. They do talk a lot about election fraud though. {{unsigned ip|172.70.34.117|22:42, 4 November 2024 (UTC)}}

I like that the comic leaves "good" and "bad" open to interpretation.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.83|172.70.211.83]] 22:29, 4 November 2024 (UTC)
:He doesn't want to start fights in the comments/discussion pages/replies! Good to see him appealing to no specific demographic in this one. -[[User:Psychoticpotato|P?sych??otic?pot??at???o ]] ([[User talk:Psychoticpotato|talk]]) 22:40, 4 November 2024 (UTC)
::Considering that the "Harris for President" banner is still active, I'm not sure I agree with that. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.22.4|172.68.22.4]] 22:53, 4 November 2024 (UTC)
:::yeah, for that reason i think it's more just so the comic can have further longevity, as this way it can be applied to any number of things with two outcomes, not just the current election [[Special:Contributions/141.101.109.193|141.101.109.193]] 00:02, 5 November 2024 (UTC)

2992: UK Coal

2024-10-01T22:21:17Z

141.101.109.193: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2992
| date = September 30, 2024
| title = UK Coal
| image = uk_coal_2x.png
| imagesize = 532x232px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The Watership Down rabbits removed an additional 0.1 nanometers constructing their warren, although that was mostly soil. British rabbits have historically mined very little coal; the sole rabbit-run coal plant was shut down in the 1990s.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT RUNNING ON 3 INCHES OF THE UK - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic uses dimensional analysis to humorously describe the end of coal-powered energy production in the United Kingdom, in reference to the [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y35qz73n8o shutting down of the Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal power plant] in central England on Monday, September 30, 2024. This event signified the closure of the last coal-fired power plant in the UK. This is an important milestone in global energy use, because the United Kingdom was at the forefront of the {{w|Industrial Revolution}}, which began an era of large-scale coal extraction to fuel the world's industries. Over the course of the past several decades, coal has increasingly fallen out of favor, with natural gas becoming a more viable power source, and an increasing percentage of energy needs being met without the use of fossil fuels (from sources such as nuclear, hydro, solar and wind power). The fact that the UK has now fully transitioned away from the use of coal as a major energy source marks a major shift in how industrialized nations are powered.

UK coal ''production'' has also been in decline significantly since {{w|1984–1985 United Kingdom miners' strike|the politically enforced decline in the 1980s}}, and the proposed opening of the new {{w|Woodhouse Colliery}} in Cumbria [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62533nyvzwo seems to have been stopped], leaving just the [https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coal-mining-production-and-manpower-returns-statistics-2023/coal-mining-production-and-manpower-returns-received-by-the-coal-authority-january-to-march-2023 remnants of the coal-mining industry] active. There remain uses for coal, both locally obtained and imported, but the conversion away from coal [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70zxjldqnxo in various industries] marks a possible soft-end to the British era which started with the {{w|Industrial Revolution}}.

The equation shown in the comic determines how much coal was mined in the UK with respect to the surface area of the region, and calculates the height of it if the coal mined out was taken away in an even layer from ''all'' across the UK. It calculates, that the coal mining industry has lowered the surface of the United Kingdom by an average distance of 3 inches (about 7.6cm). In reality, coal is usually extracted from specific locations, creating {{w|Flash (lake)|localized subsidence}} of more depth above old underground-workings (or, where open-cast, visible quarrying scars that may have been partially relandscaped) and leaving other areas generally unaffected.

''UK DESNZ'', referenced in the comic, is the United Kingdom's {{w|Department for Energy Security and Net Zero}}, the source for the statistic on UK total coal production from 1853 to present; see DESNZ's historical statistics of coal production [https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/historical-coal-data-coal-production-availability-and-consumption here].

Since [[Randall]] is warning about [[:Category:Climate change|climate change]] in several of his comics, he likely sees this as an important step away from the use of fossil fuel.

The comic’s title text adds a similar, but even more ludicrous, metric for earth excavated for a rabbit warren. The volume of earth described, 0.1 nm × 240,000 km2, is equal to 24 m3. The text refers to {{w|Watership Down}}, a 1972 novel about a group of English rabbits. (A sole sequel to Watership Down, {{w|Tales from Watership Down}}, was published in 1996.) The text also refers to a former rabbit-run coal plant in the UK and claims that it was shut down in the 1990s. No actual {{w|Run, Rabbit, Run|rabbit-run}} coal plants have ever been documented.{{citation needed}}

==Transcript==
:[The following formula is shown (with the divisors below a horizontal line in the comic, rather than inside square brackets):]
:UK total coal production (1853-present, ''UK DESNZ'') / [(coal seam density) × (UK land area)] = 25 billion tonnes / [1.3kg/L × 240,000km²] ≈ 3 inches
:[Cueball is standing to the right of the formula, upon a dotted line representing the prior ground level. Two arrows indicate that the dotted line is 3 inches above the solid line that is the current ground level. One arrow goes from the end of the word inches to the dotted line the other is short and goes up from below pointing at the solid line.]

:[Caption below the panel:]
:The UK shut down their last coal power plant today, which means that over the course of the industrial revolution, they dug up and burned an average of 3 inches of their country.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Climate change]]
[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Animals]]

2987: Tectonic Surfing

2024-09-19T23:21:51Z

141.101.109.193:

{{comic
| number = 2987
| date = September 18, 2024
| title = Tectonic Surfing
| image = tectonic_surfing_2x.png
| imagesize = 447x210px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The worst is when you wipe out in the barrel and you're trapped for several million years until erosion frees you.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an OVERCROWDED SURFBOARD - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{w|Surfing (disambiguation)|Surfing}} is a sport where the participant tries to stand or otherwise remain stable on a moving surface as long as possible. Traditionally the name "{{w|surfing}}" refers to riding a {{w|surfboard}} that is itself floating on the {{w|Wind wave|ocean waves}} as they crash into shore, but in colloquial English it is possible to "surf" other things such as a {{w|Crowd surfing|crowd of people}}, the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN9I2kwQLbw floor of a moving bus], or the {{w|Internet}}.

In this comic, [[Beret Guy]] is surfing the Earth's tectonic plates. Tectonic plates move very slowly compared to a normal surfing experience.{{Citation needed}} So slowly, ordinary people perceive them to be stationary ground. But Beret Guy, in typical Beret Guy fashion, sees the broader picture in the most whimsical way possible and is now surfing the plates across the Earth's mantle below. He seems to be moving horizontally at about 4-5 cm/year (~1 m/20 yrs) which would put him on one of the moderately fast plates,<ref>https://www.pnsn.org/outreach/about-earthquakes/plate-tectonics</ref><ref>https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/tectonics.html</ref> at least relative to the more stable North American plate.

While doing this he says [https://www.wavetribe.com/blogs/surfboards-waves/glossary-of-surfing-terms-and-surf-slang#R "Radical"], [https://www.starsurfcamps.com/news/know-your-surfing-lingo-surf-jargon/ "Gnarly"], and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaka_sign "Hang loose"] which are commonly used among surfers. After 20 years, he is still standing there, having moved about 1 meter with the continental plate. This is thus another of the [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy|Strange powers of Beret Guy]], being able to stay in place for 20 years. This was also seen in [[1088: Five Years]], where he waited five years to find out where he would be after that time.

The title text refers to riding the barrel, in which one surfs inside the hollow part of a breaking wave, while a wipe out means you get swept off your surf board. If you wipe out in a barrel, you most likely submerge under water. If this were possible in tectonic surfing, you would be stuck under a tectonic plate and you would have to wait until the material in which you're trapped erodes. In reality, there's no such thing as breaking waves in plate tectonics, but there are {{w|Fold (geology)|geological folds}} that can be seen as similar to the way that turbulent water mixes. Things do get trapped when two tectonic plates collide in a process called {{w|subduction}}, in which one plate disappears below another.

Of note, Beret Guy is mentioned to have a "subduction license", as seen in [[1388: Subduction License|this comic]], so he may have some recourse in such a situation. Due to said license, he would survive and reemerge from the continental plate barrel in a million years time.

A previous comic about tectonics being slow is [[2061: Tectonics Game]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball walks up to Beret Guy who is standing with one leg in front of another and his arms spread wide.]
:Cueball: What are you doing?
:Beret Guy: Tectonic surfing!

:[Cueball is standing behind Beret Guy, who is in the same pose.]
:Beret Guy: Radical!
:Beret Guy: Gnarly!
:Beret Guy: Hang loose!

:[Beret Guy is alone, still in the same position in the center of the panel.]

:[Beret Guy is in the same position, but at the right edge of the panel with his head partly outside the right edge. Above him is a box with a Caption:]
:20 years later:

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Geology]]

Talk:2983: Monocaster

2024-09-10T19:04:03Z

141.101.109.193:

Unicycles aren't (or at least aren't usually) chain-driven. I might try to fix that if my phone stops being so slow that it feels like I'm using a 90s PC to do this. Maybe a restart will help. Rebooting in 10, 9, 8... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.76|172.70.91.76]] 07:46, 10 September 2024 (UTC)
:I just went in and Actual Citation Needed it (seeing lower comment, when editor reloaded this page for me, forcing me to rewrite, that may have changed now).
:*It doesn't look like a chain-drive. Could be hub-geared, but not the same thing.
:*Chain-drive to raise the rider (most of the mass) up higher will ''raise'' the CoG.
:*'Underslung' chain-drive (see 1880s example, [[1673: Timeline of Bicycle Design|here]]?) has problems. Pedals hitting the ground would be one of them, unless your wheel was indeed significantly larger...
:*...and if it is (perhaps for better off-roading?), this intrinsically pushes up the CoG. Perhaps you are trying to lower it slightly, again, then. But you can't bring the saddle (and crotch!) lower than the now higher top of the wheel. ("Timeline of Bicycles" version excepted, assumed assymetric? In [https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47de-4b7d-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 some manner]?)
:Add to that a few niggles about the bicycle. Not sure if intended to be a Moulton-style one (wheels maybe the classic 17", frame totally wrong) or a roadbike-style-ish one (frame relatively Ok, as drawn by someone not fully adhering to the design, maybe confused by some MTB variations, but clearly not in the ~27" wheel range, give or take). Of course, wheels are neither concentric nor circular, so depends a bit on which bits of the 'circles' are right for the intended arc and which bits ended up more casually doodled. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.99|172.70.91.99]] 08:51, 10 September 2024 (UTC)

Hmm, Randall missed an opportunity to put a Penny-Farthing in there... though I'm not sure how that would have categorised given that it has two wheels of different sizes. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.205.178|172.68.205.178]] 08:19, 10 September 2024 (UTC)
:He has a "Big Wheel Trike" (child's low-rider style thing) in there. On the logarithmic scale, and imprecise reference point (bottom/middle(/CoG,where different)/top of wheel/vehicle/rider/whole?), both the big front wheel and the small trailing wheels colpd be in the right place-ish, although having it slightly inclined could put them in the (place Tandall considers to be) ''exactly'' right place. ((Note also where the 10(?)-wheeler truck-and-trailer is placed horizontally vs the possibly relevent "number of wheels".))
:You could do something similar with the Old Ordinary (i.e. "Penny-Farthing"), either make it roughly right or depict going up a ''marginally'' steeper hill. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.142|172.69.194.142]] 09:04, 10 September 2024 (UTC)

Re: unicycles, the COG thing doesn't look right either, but I was distracted by a (thankfully) now-deleted troll comment before and actually fixing the description is beyond my skills, especially on so little sleep.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.43.184|172.69.43.184]] 08:35, 10 September 2024 (UTC)
:i had good intentions, we need to call randall out --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.122|172.69.194.122]] 09:44, 10 September 2024 (UTC)
:::If you mean your calling out the ''other'' point, that has been deleted anyway: Randall doesn't read this site (that we know; and, if I had a site such as this made for my works, I'd think it wisest to stay clear), so he probably won't get your 'message'. This particular comic doesn't even have the slightest connection to that subject, so not even the page to say anything about it. And the point made (even if it was a valid one... it presupposes that there are no nuances and compromises, that one cannot have a complex set of opinions that neither wholly match nor wholly mismatch ''your'' opinions) was also absurd, when you consider how the ''other'' party involved has proven to be even more so. I won't dignify this issue further by putting names and places here, it really isn't the forum for it. But please realise (if you don't already) that your irrelevent point is out of place here. And most places on this site that you/others like you may have tried such messaging on before. Go to /pol/, or your favourite forum's dedicated boards/threads. Ok? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.19|172.70.85.19]] 12:26, 10 September 2024 (UTC)
::Call him out for *what* exactly? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.70.135|172.68.70.135]] 12:05, 10 September 2024 (UTC)
:::As I dare to hint, just above, someone thinks Randall has a wrong personal opinion on some current issue. Which has nothing to do with this comic. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.19|172.70.85.19]] 12:26, 10 September 2024 (UTC)

As a unicyclist myself, I don't think the unicycle is easier to balance because of a lower center of mass and a chain drive. As a few others have mentioned, they don't normally have a chain drive, although there are a few specialist ones that do. Normally, the cranks are just attached to the hub so you can directly control the speed of the wheel at a 1 to 1 ratio, which makes it easier to balance on. The other thing that would make the unicycle easier than the monocaster is that you can control what direction the wheel is pointing by turning the seat with your thighs. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.186.128|172.68.186.128]] 09:22, 10 September 2024 (UTC)

Love the log-log scale. Now let's see the zoomed-out version, with orders of magnitude more wheels and orders of magnitude larger diameters. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.166.230|172.71.166.230]] 13:59, 10 September 2024 (UTC)
:The scale if off either way. Or Randall wrote centimeters while he meant inches... At least for some cases. Examples: he placed the skatebord at 2cm while skateboord wheels are at ca 5cm - which are approx. 2 inches. Scooter wheels are approx 8.5 inches, not 8.5 cm... The car is mostly fine, albeit it would be a rather small car at ~50cm (a 19 inch (50cm) wheel designates the size of the rims, not the wheel) [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 15:18, 10 September 2024 (UTC)
::out of all people i would think Randall would be the last one to use a non-SI unit to measure distance. --[[User:Markifi|Markifi]] ([[User talk:Markifi|talk]]) 17:45, 10 September 2024 (UTC)

I have NEVER heard anyone call inline skates "three wheel skates". [[Special:Contributions/141.101.109.193|141.101.109.193]] 19:04, 10 September 2024 (UTC)

2963: House Inputs and Outputs

2024-07-25T03:39:06Z

141.101.109.193: Cars-Power Lines

{{comic
| number = 2963
| date = July 24, 2024
| title = House Inputs and Outputs
| image = house_inputs_and_outputs_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x684px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = People think power over ethernet is so great, and yet when I try to do water over ethernet everyone yells at me.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a person stuck in the well - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is another comic in the series of comics that use a {{w|confusion matrix}}, similar to [[2420: Appliances]], [[2813: What To Do]] and [[1890: What to Bring]].

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Caption text
|-
! !! Well !! Garage !! Power lines !! Front door !! Septic tank
|-
| Fresh water (Input) || ... || ... || Water either shouldn't, or cannot{{Citation needed}} be carried through electrical lines. || Many people prefer to control the amount of water they get, and the water may damage things inside the house. || ...
|-
| Cars (Input/Output) || Most cars manufactured in recent years can't fit inside a well. || ... || As of yet, cars cannot be transferred through power lines and require roads to travel on. However, this could significantly reduce travel costs. || ... || ...
|-
| Electricity (Input) || ... || ... || ... || ... || ...
|-
| People (Input/Output) || ... || ... || ... || ... || In general, people find crawling through waste unwanted. Also, the septic tank is not connected to the street.{{Citation needed}}
|-
| Sewage (Output) || Sewage in drinking water can cause disease. || ... || ... || ... || ...
|}

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

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Charts]]

2963: House Inputs and Outputs

2024-07-25T03:35:54Z

141.101.109.193: Water-Front door

{{comic
| number = 2963
| date = July 24, 2024
| title = House Inputs and Outputs
| image = house_inputs_and_outputs_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x684px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = People think power over ethernet is so great, and yet when I try to do water over ethernet everyone yells at me.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a person stuck in the well - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is another comic in the series of comics that use a {{w|confusion matrix}}, similar to [[2420: Appliances]], [[2813: What To Do]] and [[1890: What to Bring]].

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Caption text
|-
! !! Well !! Garage !! Power lines !! Front door !! Septic tank
|-
| Fresh water (Input) || ... || ... || Water either shouldn't, or cannot{{Citation needed}} be carried through electrical lines. || Many people prefer to control the amount of water they get, and the water may damage things inside the house. || ...
|-
| Cars (Input/Output) || Most cars manufactured in recent years can't fit inside a well. || ... || ... || ... || ...
|-
| Electricity (Input) || ... || ... || ... || ... || ...
|-
| People (Input/Output) || ... || ... || ... || ... || In general, people find crawling through waste unwanted. Also, the septic tank is not connected to the street.{{Citation needed}}
|-
| Sewage (Output) || Sewage in drinking water can cause disease. || ... || ... || ... || ...
|}

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

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Charts]]

Talk:2961: CrowdStrike

2024-07-20T08:19:50Z

141.101.109.193:

how will this impact the status of vs sonic.exe rerun [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.177|172.70.90.177]] 18:25, 19 July 2024 (UTC)

Somewhat bemused that there's a comic for this on Day 0, yet there was no comic about the xzutils backdoor earlier this year… [[Special:Contributions/162.158.49.19|162.158.49.19]] 20:21, 19 July 2024 (UTC)
:How do you know there wasn't a secret comic about the xzutils problem, [[2347: Dependency|set up well before]] any impact became obvious? ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.43.185|172.69.43.185]] 21:09, 19 July 2024 (UTC)

Right now, reading this explanation, this is the first I've ever heard anyone mention "crowdstrike" at all. - [[Special:Contributions/141.101.109.193|141.101.109.193]] 08:19, 20 July 2024 (UTC)

2957: A Crossword Puzzle

2024-07-10T23:29:05Z

141.101.109.193: Added expalnation for 49A

{{comic
| number = 2957
| date = July 10, 2024
| title = A Crossword Puzzle
| image = a_crossword_puzzle_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x937px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Hint: If you ever encounter this puzzle in a crossword app, just [term for someone with a competitive and high-achieving personality].
}}

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

This is a crossword puzzle where every single answer consists only of the letter "A". On a surface level, however, the answers seem extremely difficult, with some involving base conversions, and some involving the wordplay typical of the crossword style.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"
|-
! Location !! Clue !! Explanation
|-
| 1-Across || Famous Pvt. Wilhelm quote || Reference to the {{w|Wilhelm scream}}.
|-
| 11-Across || IPv6 address record || An IPv4 record is an "A" record, an IPv6 record is four times the length and is designated an "AAAA" record.
|-
| 15-Across || “CIPHERTEXT” decrypted with Vigenère key “CIPHERTEXT” || A "{{w|Vigenère Cipher}}" translates the original text by the distance from A from the key, letter by letter. For instance, if the plaintext is "XK" and the key is "CD", the C shifts X 2 forward to become Z, and the D shifts K 3 forward to become N, yielding a ciphertext of "ZN". Since the ciphertext and the key are the same in this case, decryption just shifts all the letters back to A, akin to subtracting a number from itself and getting 0.
|-
| 16-Across || 8mm diameter battery || A {{w|AAAA battery}} is a 1.5V battery that measures 8.3mm in diameter, 2.2mm smaller than the more common AAA battery.
|-
| 17-Across || “Warthog” attack aircraft || The {{w|A-10 Warthog}} is a well-known attack aircraft. Here, A-10 has been turned into AAAAAAAAAA (ten As).
|-
| 18-Across || Every third letter in the word for “inability to visualize” || Aphantasia is the inability to visualize. Following the instruction, we determine that '''A'''ph'''a'''nt'''a'''si'''a''' gives us the word "aaaa".
|-
| 19-Across || An acrostic hidden on the first page of the dictionary || The first page of the dictionary (if you ignore the copyright page and the index) is the list of words starting with A. An acrostic of this page, taking the first letter of each line and arranging them in order, would just be a sequence of A's, as most of the answers to this crossword are {{citation needed}}.
|-
| 21-Across || Default paper size in Europe || {{w|A4 paper}} (here written as AAAA) is the default size in Europe. At 210x297mm, it is approximately 0.24" narrower and 0.71" longer than the 8.5"x11" paper used in the United States, and due to having an aspect ratio of 1:sqrt(2), can be cut in half to create two half-sized sheets with exactly the same aspect ratio.
|-
| 22-Across || First four unary strings || Unary's when you get to use just the one symbol. E.g. 32 in unary would be 11111111111111111111111111111111. The first four strings in unary, if you used A as the first (and only) symbol, would be A, AA, AAA, AAAA.
|-
| 23-Across || Lysine codon || {{w|Lysine}} is an amino acid, with codons AAA and AAG (presumably the former is meant here).
|-
| 24-Across || 40 CFR Part 63 subpart concerning asphalt pollution || [https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-40/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-63?toc=1 "40 CFR Part 63"] refers to federal air pollutant regulations. The subpart for "asphalt processing and asphalt roofing manufacturing" is AAAAAAA.
|-
| 25-Across || Top bond credit rating || The highest {{w|credit rating}} for bonds is AAA.
|-
| 26-Across || Audi coupe || First of three Audi references. {{w|List_of_Audi_vehicles|Audi's car models}} range from A1 (subcompact hatchback) to A8 (full-size luxury sedan); the A5 is a compact executive coup.
|-
| 27-Across || A pair of small remote batteries, when inserted || A reference to two AAA batteries (AAAAAA), placed end-to-end when inserted into a device requiring two of them.
|-
| 29-Across || Unofficial Howard Dean slogan || A reference to Howard Dean, an American Democrat who ran for the party's nomination in 2004. He famously [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6i-gYRAwM0 yelled at a rally] in a way that was thought to be bizarre and which, it is thought, doomed his campaign.
|-
| 32-Across || A 4.0 report card || A 4.0 GPA, at least {{w|Academic_grading_in_the_United_States|in the USA}}, is all A's. This clue assumes seven classes.
|-
| 33-Across || The “Harlem Globetrotters of baseball” (vowels only) || The {{w|Savannah Bananas}}, the vowels for whom are aaaaaa.
|-
| 34-Across || 2018 Kiefer song || [https://genius.com/Kiefer-aaaaa-lyrics AAAAA].
|-
| 35-Across || Top Minor League tier || The top {{w|Minor League Baseball}} tier is AAA.
|-
| 36-Across || Reply elicited by a dentist || Dentists ask patients to "say aaaaaaa", i.e. "open up". This could also be an expression of pain; particularly the only kind you can make with dental tools in your mouth. (As Autechre put it: [https://youtu.be/UppsLKz1iD4 "Now, I don't want you to panic... just lean back and relax."])
|-
| 38-Across || ANAA’s airport || AAA the IATA code for the airport
|-
| 41-Across || Macaulay Culkin’s review of aftershave || Macaulay Culkin's review of aftershave: Famously in the movie {{w|Home Alone}} he puts it on because he's home all alone and dislikes it, emitting a scream, which could be transcribed like A's.
|-
| 43-Across || Marketing agency trade grp. || The {{w|American Association of Advertising Agencies}}, also called the 4A's (here AAAA).
|-
| 44-Across || Soaring climax of Linda Elder’s Man of La Mancha ||
|-
| 46-Across || Military flight community org. ||
|-
| 47-Across || Iconic line from Tarzan || When he’s swinging on a vine, yelling “Aaaaaaaaaa!”
|-
| 48-Across || Every other letter of Jimmy Wales’s birth state || The birth state of {{w|Jimmy Wales}}, the co-founder of Wikipedia, is Alabama. Taking every other letter of '''A'''l'''a'''b'''a'''m'''a''' gives "Aaaa".
|-
| 49-Across || Warthog’s postscript after “They call me mister pig!” || Pumba in {{w|The Lion King}} yells "aaaaaaaaaa" while charging at the hyenas who insulted him
|-
| 50-Across || Message to Elsa in Frozen 2 || The call which Elsa hears in Frozen 2 is a sequence of four notes which resemble the Dies Irae. The sequence is sung entirely with an open rounded vowel sound, or a soft "a" sound.
|-
| 51-Across || Lola, when betting it all on Black 20 in Run Lola Run || In ''Run Lola Run'', Lola (Franka Potente) [https://youtu.be/OTSz1w-cuZM?si=2vc51WCWvn20Hjoo&t=116 screams loud enough to affect the outcome] of a roulette wheel where she has just bet all her money on Black 20. The scream could be transcribed as "AAAAAAAAAAA"
|-
| 1-Down || Game featuring “a reckless disregard for gravity” || {{w|AaAaAA!!! – A Reckless Disregard for Gravity}} - notably the title is commonly extended in promotional material beyond 6 A's.
|-
| 2-Down || 101010101010101010101010(2->16) || 10101010 10101010 10101010 in binary is equivalent to "AAAAAA" in hexadecimal.
|-
| 3-Down || Google phone released July ’22 || the Pixel 6a was released in July 22. Stylized in this puzzle as "AAAAAA"
|-
| 4-Down || It’s five times better than that other steak sauce || 5 times better than {{w|A1 steak sauce}} would be A5, stylized in this puzzle as "AAAAA"
|-
| 5-Down || ToHex(43690) || The decimal number 43690 converted to hexadecimal is AAAA
|-
| 6-Down || Freddie Mercury lyric from Under Pressure || A drawn-out 'Aaaaahhhh' rising in pitch. Number of 'A's is abritrary
|-
| 7-Down || Full-size Audi luxury sedan || Second of three Audi references. As mentioned previously, the A8 is their full-size luxury sedan.
|-
| 8-Down || Fast path through a multiple choice marketing survey || The "fast path" is just to select the first option over and over again. Usually the options are labeled A, B, C, and D (or more) - choosing the first option for every question would be answering entirely with A's.
|-
| 9-Down || 12356631 in base 26 || Randall is expressing base 26 using the letters of the alphabet with 1=A, in which case 1235663110 = AAAAAA26. (It's unclear how one would express the digit 026 this way.)
|-
| 10-Down || Viral Jimmy Barnes chorus || A reference to the music video for Kirin J Callinan's song 'Big Enough', which features Jimmy Barnes in a cowboy hat screaming "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" while in the sky over mountain scenes.
|-
| 11-Down || Ruby Rhod catchphrase || Ruby Rhod is a radio host in the film 'The Fifth Element'; he has a scene with a memorable scream.
|-
| 12-Down || badbeef + 9efcebbb || In hexadecimal badbeef and 9efcebbb add together to equal AAAAAAAA (195,935,983, 2,667,375,547, and 2,863,311,530 in decimal respectively)
|-
| 13-Down || In Wet Leg’s Ur Mum, what the singer has been practicing || In the song "Ur Mum" by Wet Leg, the bridge starts with "Okay, I've been practicing my longest and loudest scream", which is apparently eight As long
|-
| 14-Down || Refrain from Nora Reed bot || The "Endless Scream" bot on social media, made by Nora Reed, posts "AAAAAAAAAAA" (with or without an h) at varying lengths
|-
| 20-Down || Mario button presses to ascent Minas Tirith’s walls || {{w|Minas Tirith}}. In Mario games you typically use the A button to jump. In games where you don't press a button to move (e.g. games with a joystick) then the button presses required to ascend a vertical structure would probably all be A. This clue might have been inspired by the {{w|A-button challenge}} / [https://ukikipedia.net/wiki/A_Button_Challenge A Button Challenge], which tallies the amount of A presses needed to beat ''Super Mario 64''. Additionally, Minas Tirith is a city with seven concentric rings, each with a wall around it and higher than the last ring. Presumably, it takes seven jumps to get to the highest area of the city, so the answer is "AAAAAAA"
|-
| 24-Down || Vermont historic route north from Bennington || {{w|Vermont Route 7A}}, or AAAAAAA
|-
| 26-Down || High-budget video game || A high budget video game is usually referred to as a Triple-A game, or AAA
|-
| 28-Down || Unorthodox Tic-Tac-Toe win || Tic-Tac-Toe is usually won by getting either three Xs or three Os in a row, making XXX and OOO normal Tic-Tac-Toe wins. One could achieve a win of AAA by making the unorthodox choice of playing with the letter A instead of X or O.
|-
| 29-Down || String whose SHA-256 hash ends “…689510285e212385” || `echo -n AAAAAAAA <nowiki>|</nowiki> sha256sum` outputs `c34ab6abb7b2bb595bc25c3b388c872fd1d575819a8f55cc689510285e212385`.
|-
| 30-Down || Arnold’s remark to the Predator || A reference to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsFYPVxHKdc this scene] from 'Predator'.
|-
| 31-Down || The vowels in the fire salamander’s binomial name || The vowels in Salamandra salamandra are aaaaaaaa
|-
| 32-Down || Janet Leigh Psycho line || The iconic scene in Psycho is the shower scene, in which Janet Leigh gives a long piercing scream as she is murdered, which can be written as 8 "As" if one wishes.
|-
| 34-Down || Seven 440Hz pulses || 440Hz is an "A" note. 7 pulses would be AAAAAAA
|-
| 37-Down || Audi luxury sports sedan || Third of three Audi references. The A6 is their executive car. Actually, the A7, their executive liftback sedan, would fit the prompt of "luxury sports sedan" better, but 37 Down only has room for six As.
|-
| 38-Down || A half-dozen eggs with reasonably firm yolks || Eggs can be [https://www.saudereggs.com/blog/egg-grading-system/ "graded on a veriety if aspects"], with grades B, A, or AA. Eggs with a reasonably firm yolk are graded A, so having halve a dozen of them gives you AAAAAA eggs.
|-
| 39-Down || 2-2-2-2-2-2 on a multitap phone keypad || A [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-tap "multitap keyboard"] is a text entry system for mobile phones. Most numbers are associated with three letters, and tapping the same number multiple times in rapid succession selects the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd number. 2 is "a", 22 is "b", 222 is "c", 3 is "d", etc. 2-2-2-2-2-2 translates to "aaaaaa"
|-
| 40-Down || .- .- .- .- .- .- || .- is Morse Code for A. It reads out as AAAAAA
|-
| 42-Down || Rating for china’s best tourist attractions || China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism provides ratings for many tourist attractions in China on a scale from A to AAAAA, with AAAAA being for the best. Examples of well-known tourist attractions with the AAAAA rating include the Forbidden City, sections of the Great Wall of China, and the Terracotta Army.
|-
| 43-Down || Standard drumstick size || 5A is a common, middle-range size for drumsticks. Here, it's written as AAAAA.
|-
| 45-Down || “The rain/in Spain/falls main-/ly on the plain” rhyme scheme || AAAA rhyme scheme means each line ends with the same sounds
|-
| Title text || Term for someone with a competitive and high-achieving personality || The clue's answer is "Type A". In the context of the title text, this answer is a hint that the entire puzzle can be completed in a crossword-solving app by typing the letter A repeatedly.
|}

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

:[A crossword puzzle image, with the following clues:]

:Across
:1. Famous Pvt. Wilhelm quote
:11. IPv6 address record
:15. "CIPHERTEXT" decrypted with Vigenère key "CIPHERTEXT"
:16. 8mm diameter battery
:17. "Warthog" attack aircraft
:18. Every third letter in the word for "inability to visualize"
:19. An acrostic hidden on the first page of the dictionary
:21. Default paper size in Europe
:22. First four unary strings
:23. Lysine codon
:24. 40 CFR Part 63 subpart concerning asphalt pollution
:25. Top bond credit rating
:26. Audi coupe
:27. A pair of small remote batteries, when inserted
:29. Unofficial Howard Dean slogan
:32. A 4.0 report card
:33. The "Harlem Globetrotters of baseball" (vowels only)
:34. 2018 Kiefer song
:35. Top Minor League tier
:36. Reply elicited by a dentist
:38. ANAA's airport
:41. Macaulay Culkin's review of aftershave
:43. Marketing agency trade grp.
:44. Soaring climax of Linda Elder's ''Man of La Mancha''
:46. Military flight community org.
:47. Iconic line from ''Tarzan''
:48. Every other letter of Jimmy Wales's birth state
:49. Warthog's postscript after "They call me ''mister'' pig!"
:50. Message to Elsa in ''Frozen 2''
:51. Lola, when betting it all on Black 20 in ''Run Lola Run''
:Down
:1. Game featuring "a reckless disregard for gravity"
:2. 1010101010101010101010102->16
:3. Google phone released July '22
:4. It's five times better than that ''other'' steak sauce
:5. ToHex(43690)
:6. Freddie Mercury lyric from ''Under Pressure''
:7. Full-size Audi luxury sedan
:8. Fast path through a multiple choice marketing survey
:9. 12356631 in base 26
:10. Viral Jimmy Barnes chorus
:11. Ruby Rhod catchphrase
:12. badbeef + 9efcebbb
:13. In Wet Let's ''Ur Mum'', what the singer has been practicing
:14. Refrain from Nora Reed bot
:20. Mario button presses to ascend Minas Tirith's walls
:24. Vermont historic route north from Bennington
:26. High-budget video game
:28. Unorthodox Tic-Tac-Toe win
:29. String whose SHA-256 hash ends "...689510285e212385"
:30. Arnold's remark to the Predator
:31. The vowels in the fire salamander's binomial name
:32. Janet Leigh ''Psycho'' line
:34. Seven 440Hz pulses
:37. Audi luxury sports sedan
:38. A half-dozen eggs with reasonably firm yolks
:39. 2-2-2-2-2-2 on a multitap phone keypad
:40. .- .- .- .- .- .-
:42. Rating for China's best tourist attractions
:43. Standard drumstick size
:45. "The rain/in Spain/falls main-/ly on the plain" rhyme scheme

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Language]]

2954: Bracket Symbols

2024-07-06T15:44:36Z

141.101.109.193:

{{comic
| number = 2954
| date = July 3, 2024
| title = Bracket Symbols
| image = bracket_symbols_2x.png
| imagesize = 592x569px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = ’"‘”’" means "I edited this text on both my phone and my laptop before sending it"
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a ([{《"Somewhat satisfied rob- I mean human"》}]) - Please~~ change this comment when editing this page. Do *NOT* delete this tag too soon.}}
Brackets, also called parentheses, are typographical symbols used to delimit a section of text. Unlike most typographical symbols, brackets usually come in pairs, and the end bracket is typically the mirror image of the start bracket.

This comic shows a variety of (mostly) real bracket symbols, along with Randall's description.

{| class="wikitable"
|+Descriptions
|-
! Symbols
! Comic text
! Real use
! Explanation of the joke
|-
|( )
|Regular parentheses for setting stuff aside
|The regular curved bracket is the most commonly used in literature, and typically denotes aside remarks that are relevant to, but not part of, a sentence (for example, a clarifying explanation). In stage plays, teleplays, and screenplays, they can indicate stage directions. It is also frequently used in mathematical expressions and programming languages as a grouping operator, to force a particular order of evaluation.
|Randall explains, accurately, that these are regular parentheses. No joke yet.
|-
|[ ]
|Square brackets (more secure)
|In literature, square brackets often denote meta-textual information, such as glosses, omissions, translator and editorial notes. In mathematics, they are often used for {{w|Matrix (mathematics)|matrices}} or {{w|Interval (mathematics)|closed intervals}}. Sometimes they are used as outer parentheses for easier visual matching in complicated expressions. In programming languages, square brackets are commonly used as the indexing operator, with the index being placed inside the brackets. They may also be used to denote specific data structures such as arrays or lists. In language definition syntax (such as {{w|Extended_Backus%E2%80%93Naur_form|EBNF}}) square brackets indicate something optional.
|The straight edges and sharper corners make these brackets resemble a solid box, presumably made of a hard material, which would be a more secure container than the "soft"-looking curved brackets. They also resemble staples, which are used to hold things in place securely.
|-
|{ }
|This stuff is expensive so be careful with it
|Known as "curly brackets." Rarely used in normal text, although may be used in expanded form to 'enclose' multiple optional lines following/preceding a single element of common purpose (similar to the 'split and recombined tracks' of [[2243: Star Wars Spoiler Generator]]). In mathematics, usually used to denote {{w|Set (mathematics)|sets}}, but other usage is possible. In programming languages most often used to denote begin and end of a separate block of code, declaring and [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Operators/Object_initializer initializing objects], and other uses. In language definition syntax, it is often used to represent a set of repeated expressions.
|Curly brackets look fancy, like gates with ornate ironwork. Randall implies a world where expensive stuff is set aside using the fanciest brackets available. Writing them by hand is also more complicated than regular or square brackets (in a way making them slightly more time consuming/expensive).
|-
|‶ ‶
|Someone is talking
|Used to denote speech or citations in normal text. There are various styles from the identical pairing " " to the 66-and-99-like “ ” which differentiates opening and closing quotes. The comic appears to use a handwriting-only slope-variation.
The straight (ASCII) style is commonly used in programming languages to denote text that is data, rather than code, such as literal messages intended to be displayed to the user.

Word processors commonly implement “smart quotes” by detecting the use of the single-type keyboard character at each end of a possible quote and converting it into the fancier left/right versions (though this is not always desired, leading to the default behaviour being disabled or reverted).
|Typical form of quotation marks. Quotation marks are most often used in literature to mark dialogue (words said by characters talking) as opposed to descriptions or narrative. Some languages or communities use different typographical conventions such as „German quotation marks“. See also below for British and French conventions.
|-
|‵ ‵
|Someone British is talking
|[https://www.grammarly.com/blog/single-vs-double-quotes/ Allegedly 'British quotation marks'], although this may be disputed by actual Brits who were taught otherwise. Single quotes might be more often used as '{{w|scare quotes}}' or a related form of 'emphasis' marker. One possible distinction is that single-quotes give non-literal paraphrasing, wherever double-quotes are used for the verbatim reporting of words (spoken or written).

In programming languages single quotes are used for diverse purposes. In C and Pascal families they are used to delimit single characters as opposed to strings of characters, which use double quotes. In many scripting languages like Unix shells, Perl, Python, JavaScript and others single quotes are used for strings as an alternative for double quotes, in some cases with different rules for interpreting the contents of such string. In Visual Basic single quotes (unpaired) are used to mark comments. There are other uses, depending on the language.

As with the double quotes above, the comic versions appear to be handwriting-specific, with no easy-to-use equivalents in commonly used computer fonts.
|Alternative form of quotation marks. Some British media use these to mark dialogue, for historic reasons, though in modern usage the double quotes may be more common [https://www.sussex.ac.uk/informatics/punctuation/quotes/marks and acceptable].

Single quotes within double quotes (and/or double quotes within single, as necessary) can also be used to more clearly indicate reported words as part of an outer quote, i.e. when you're quoting one person and their statement contains a quote of someone else. The main quotation would be surrounded with double quotes, while the nested quotation is delimited with single quotes (or vice-versa, depending upon the house style in use). This may even be further alternated to arbitrary depth!
|-
|‹ ›
|An Animorph is talking
|{{w|Bracket#Angle_brackets|Angle brackets}}. Aside from telepathic speech in prose, it's often used in comics to indicate that a character is speaking a foreign language that has been translated for the reader's benefit – at least notionally. Angle brackets are heavily used in {{w|HTML}} as markup tags to define how the source of websites intends to convey various stylistic and/or semantic distinctions.
|Books like the series {{w|Animorphs}} or science fiction novels use these when a character is communicating nonverbally, for example via telepathy. In the ''Animorphs'' series, this is called [https://animorphs.fandom.com/wiki/Thought-speak thought-speak], or sometimes "thought speech".
|-
|« »
|A French Animorph is talking
|French quotation marks. Used for quotes within quotes in some languages. For quoting conventions in different languages, see [https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/formex/physical-specifications/character-encoding/use-of-quotation-marks-in-the-different-languages this document].
|These symbols are French quotation marks - that's their actual name - and are used in French texts as the first-level quotes. Here Randall is mixing the SF convention described above with actual French use.
|-
|<nowiki>|</nowiki> |
|I'm scared of negative numbers but these sigils will protect me
|Vertical bars in mathematics are used for the {{w|Absolute value}} function.
|The absolute value of a number is its value with all negative and positive signs stripped off; in practical terms this is used to ensure a given value is positive (ex. <nowiki>|-69| = 69</nowiki>). If for whatever reason you need to "protect" your equations from negative numbers (which does come up in programming from time to time) the absolute value function has you covered — though it may not always be denoted with vertical bars. {{w|Sigil}}s are symbols used in magic, often for protection from evil.
|-
|* * _ _ / /
|I have a favorite monospaced font
|These symbols are conventionally used in text-based computer communications (such as emails, chats, Usenet News articles) to denote *bold*, _underlined_, or /italic/ font; some client programs interpret them and display actual bold text etc.
|The kind of person who uses these symbols is the kind of person who uses a {{w|terminal emulator}}, which allows users to select one's favorite (preferably monospace) font. A {{w|Monospace font}} is a font (set of shapes used for letters, numbers, and symbols) in which every character has the same width, unlike a {{w|Typeface#Proportional_font|variable-width (proportional) font}}, in which, for example, the letter I is much narrower than W. While a proportional font is more pleasant to read, monospace is easier to represent in simple mechanical or electronic devices, and has been used almost exclusively in the advent of computer technology, specifically in text-only environments such as {{w|computer terminals}}; these most often had only one bare-bones font that did not provide separate glyphs for different styles of character (weight, slant) or the ability to superimpose characters (directly adding underlines).
|-
|~~
|I'm being sarcastic and I had a Tumblr account in 2014
|Used in the [https://www.markdownguide.org/extended-syntax/#strikethrough markdown specification] to denote text with a horizontal line through it, known as "strikethrough". Used by most places that implement the markdown spec, such as Discord, Reddit, most wikis, Github, and Tumblr.
|Strikethrough markup can be found on sites like Tumblr, Reddit, or Discord to indicate that you didn't really mean something you said, and such usage peaked in the mid-2010s. This could also reference the trend of putting tildes after words or sentences to indicate the words are being said in a lilting or sing-song manner, or to indicate it is being said in a cute, nice, seductive timbre or as a particular part of a subcultural reference, e.g. in {{w|Furry fandom}}. Applied to a chosen username, it may be made to make it stand out, or else add sufficiently uniqueness despite the core name being likely to be in common use.
|-
|[([{()}],)]
|These Python functions are not getting along
|The square brackets denote a mutable [https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/introduction.html#lists list], the round brackets an immutable [https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/datastructures.html#tuples-and-sequences tuple] , and the curly brackets a [https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/datastructures.html#sets set]. It is valid to have them nested like this. [] could also be a slice (a bit of a list or tuple) and {} could be a [https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/datastructures.html#dictionaries dictionary], but the syntax is wrong for these.
|Random parentheses - Spaghetti code (badly maintained or written) in programming languages including Python will often be badly organized creating a mess of indentations and brackets used to create functions or loops etc.
|-
|⌊ ⌋
|Help, I'm a mathematician trying to work with actual numbers and they're scary
|Mathematical symbols meaning "floor" (i.e., round down to the nearest lower integer).
|Mathematicians stereotypically prefer to work with abstract symbols and concepts rather than numbers or indeed anything that might pertain to the real world. When presented with an "actual" ({{w|real number|real}}) number, it is possible that a mathematician may wish for it to be rounded to the nearest integer to make it simpler, or handle it using {{w|number theory}}.
|-
|∫  ∫
|Why are you trying to read my violin?
|∫ looks like the {{w|Integral symbol}} which itself is derived from a {{w|Long s}}. In mathematics it is usually paired with the differential of the variable of integration (e.g., dx). A reverse integral symbol is not used in Western mathematics typesetting; it occasionally appears in mathematical texts written in Arabic, along with other symbols likewise adapted to Arabic's right-to-left writing direction. The symbol also looks like a lowercase {{w|Esh (letter)|esh}} (ʃ), used in phonetic transcription.

There is no unicode symbol for the reversed version - it is displayed here as a reversed ∫. The esh symbol has a reversed counterpart in Unicode, but it's quite a bit shorter (ʅ).
|Violins are known for their characteristic {{w|F-hole}}s. This symbol also resembles half a pair  of curly braces.
|-
|<nowiki>| ⟩</nowiki>
|Don't stop here–this is quantum country
|This {{w|Bra–ket notation|notation is used in quantum mechanics}} to notate a vector. This is called a ket, and the mirrored sign <nowiki>⟨|</nowiki> is called a bra. Combining them as bra-ket gives the inner product <nowiki>⟨|⟩</nowiki>.
| This is paraphrasing the movie ''{{w|Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (film)|Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas}}'', where {{w|Johnny Depp}}'s character Raoul Duke says "We can't stop here, this is bat country!" while hallucinating violently on drugs, though not as violently as later in the movie.
|}


The title text includes different kinds of quotes, including the ASCII " and ' as well as the Unicode “ and ” (which have both an opening and closing version).
By default, iOS uses the latter curly quotes, while Windows uses the former straight quotes (an OS-level application of the “smart quotes” described above). Editing the same text on both an iPhone and a Windows computer, in circumstances with a different approach to such general auto-replacement, can leave both types of quotes in the text.

Parentheses are a running joke on XKCD. Previous parenthetical comics include:
* [[312: With Apologies to Robert Frost]] - the punchline is a close parenthesis
* [[541: TED Talk]] - about ending parenthetical statements with emoticons
* [[859: (]] - which has an open parenthesis with none to close it
* [[1052: Every Major's Terrible]] - making fun of Computer Science as a major for its tedious use of matching parentheses

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

:Bracket Symbols
:and what they mean

:( ) Regular parentheses for setting stuff aside

:[ ] Square brackets (more secure)

:{ } This stuff is expensive so be careful with it

:" " Someone is talking

:' ' Someone British is talking

:‹ › An Animorph is talking

:« » A French Animorph is talking

:| | I'm scared of negative numbers but these sigils will protect me

:<nowiki>*</nowiki> * _ _ / / I have a favorite monospaced font

:~ ~ I'm being sarcastic and I had a Tumblr account in 2014

:[ ( [ { ( ) } ] , ) ] These Python functions are '''''not''''' getting along

:⌊ ⌋ Help, I'm a mathematician trying to work with actual numbers and they're scary

:ʃ ʅ Why are you trying to read my violin?

:| ⟩ Don't stop here--this is quantum country

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Animorphs]]

2943: Unsolved Chemistry Problems

2024-06-08T19:22:38Z

141.101.109.193: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2943
| date = June 7, 2024
| title = Unsolved Chemistry Problems
| image = unsolved_chemistry_problems_2x.png
| imagesize = 361x386px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I'm an H⁺ denier, in that I refuse to consider loose protons to be real hydrogen, so I personally believe it stands for 'pretend'.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an unsolved acronym (p>0.05) - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

There is a list of mathematical problems that are yet to be solved (such as P=NP). This comic makes a spin on it, by stating that there are (as of yet) unsolved chemistry problems. The scientist at what is apparently the "grand opening" of a new chemistry lab lists several real chemistry problems, followed by one also-unsolved-but-less-scientific problem (the p in pH)

'''Arbitrary Enzyme Design:'''

{{w|Enzymes}} are molecules (usually proteins) that act as catalysts to speed up biological processes. These are often important in understanding and curing diseases, so being able to design new enzymes can be critical in medical research.

'''Protein Folding:'''

{{w|Protein|Proteins}} are large molecules that consist of chains of amino acids. These amino acids chains become {{w|Protein Folding|folded}} in extremely complex ways into intricate 3D structures, and the way a protein is folded is of critical importance to its function. "Misfolded" proteins like {{w|Prion|prions}} can be inactive or cause other proteins to become misfolded, which can lead to fatal illnesses. Because of the huge importance of proteins to biological life, biologists have devoted significant attention over many decades to the problem of {{w|Protein structure prediction|protein structure prediction}}. This refers to the ability to predict the 3D structure of a protein based on the amino acid sequence, and remains one of the most important problems in computational biology.

'''Depolymerization:'''

Polymers (plastics) are very large molecules formed out of repeating subunits. The huge number of varieties and mixtures in plastics makes recycling them a huge challenge, and there is increasing concern about plastic waste damaging the environment.

Depolymerization is breaking down polymers into the small molecules they were originally made from. This is done through a variety of processes such as using radiation, electrolysis, adding chemicals, and other means. Monomers are described as molecules, typically organic in nature, that can bond with at least 1 other molecule (polyfunctionality), resulting in the formation of larger molecules (polymers).

'''What the “p” in pH stands for:'''

“p” shows up in pH, pKa, pKb, and other things related to the concentration of H+ ions and OH- ions. The meaning of the "p" in "pH" has been the subject of much dispute. It is sometimes referred to as "power of Hydrogen", but the term was introduced by {{w|Søren Peter Lauritz Sørensen|Søren Peter Lauritz Sørensen}}, who did not publish his results in English, and more accurately translates as "hydric exponent". The letter p could stand for the French puissance, German Potenz, or Danish potens, all meaning "power", or it could mean "potential". All of these words start with the letter p in French, German, and Danish, which were the languages in which Sørensen published.

In the title text, someone, presumably Randall Monroe, claims that they refuse to believe that loose protons are hydrogen atoms, and as such, the “p” stands for pretend. This could work, by saying that it is the pretend Ka and the Pretend Kb. However, hydrogen atoms and loose protons each have a single proton. An ion is an atom or molecular structure whose total number of electrons is not equal to its total number of protons, and which therefore has a net positive or negative charge.

Also, there are three kinds ({{w|isotopes}}) of hydrogen: light or regular hydrogen, sometimes referred as ''protium'', heavy hydrogen or {{w|deuterium}}, and super-heavy radioactive hydrogen or {{w|tritium}}. Though, the two latter can be designated as D and T respectively, it's common to refer any of them as just H. Only the light hydrogen positive ion is equivalent to a loose proton, since deuterium nucleus consists of a proton and a neutron, and tritium nucleus consists of a proton and two neutrons.

==Transcript==
:[Hairbun stands behind a lectern on a podium speaking into a microphone on the lectern. A Cueball like guy stand to the left and another Cueball like guy and Megan stand to the right. There is a large sign hanging in the background along with some ornaments.]
:Sign: Grand Opening
:Hairbun: Our lab will be working on chemistry's top unsolved problems: arbitrary enzyme design, protein folding, depolymerization, and, of course, the biggest one of all:
:Hairbun: ''Figuring out what the "p" in "pH" stands for.''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]