explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:505: A Bunch of Rocks

2014-12-08T00:09:19Z

141.101.88.211: Permutation City mention added

;Weird thing with lines in it
probably has something to do with relativity -- two objects moving, arriving at different points at the same time, or maybe a diagram of spacetime. [[Special:Contributions/66.202.132.250|66.202.132.250]] 16:44, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

It's a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feynman_diagram Feynman Diagram] [[Special:Contributions/206.174.12.203|206.174.12.203]] 19:24, 10 June 2013 (UTC) Toby Ovod-Everett

:I did add the incomplete tag because this comic and also the explain is still really complex. More important: People without a proper physics background never will understand. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:01, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

There is a short story called "SOLE SOLUTION" by Eric Frank Russell which is quite similar to the one in the story. Just in case that matters.{{unsigned|Maob}}

Re Rule 34 - the point is that this comic _is_ cellular automaton porn (as are the YouTube videos of Minecraft calculators and the like). Rule 34 works, bitches! {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.241}}

Not sure what's incomplete about the explain. <small>[[User:MrGameZone|0100011101100001011011010110010101011010011011110110111001100101]] ([[User talk:MrGameZone|talk page]])</small> 22:56, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

Yo ''calculus'' is the latin word for pebble! I learned this and had to come straight to this page! ahhh connections! [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.88|173.245.50.88]] Sawyer Biddle

As it turns out, Rule 110 seems to be a ''really bad'' way to simulate a universe- you would be much better off using a {{w|Tag_system|Cyclic tag system}}, since Rule 110 takes dozens of generations and potentially hundreds of cells to simulate one step in such a system, or a more sophisticated cellular automaton, such as {{w|Wireworld.}} --[[User:Someone Else 37|Someone Else 37]] ([[User talk:Someone Else 37|talk]]) 05:12, 9 March 2014 (UTC)

To whoever objected to panel number references, does what I did with first words fix that? {{unsigned ip|199.27.128.99}}

Well, that's a pretty unfair comparison in the last panel, the protag is immortal after all, if I'm immortal I might do the same thing, but hey we got a much shorter life to live {{unsigned ip|103.22.201.168}}

The diagram to the right of the Epitaph of Stevinus looks like a system of coupled pendula, often used in math physics courses to illustrate Lagrangian mechanics. Also may relate to elasticity theory. See for example here: http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/ThreePendulumsConnectedByTwoSprings. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.96|108.162.221.96]] 03:23, 12 November 2014 (UTC)
:If this is true (which seems like the most probable solution so far) then what do the symbols inside the boxes represent?{{unsigned ip|108.162.216.209}}
:: Spring constants, masses, lengths, etc [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.220|108.162.221.220]] 18:11, 12 November 2014 (UTC)
::: The symbols on the top seem to be K and the bottom W. W is often used for angular momentum and K for potential energy. If you are not exactly right you are very close to being so.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.209|108.162.216.209]] 13:45, 1 December 2014 (UTC)
:The "diagram to the right of the Epitaph of Stevinus", also described as "A weird diagram with lines in it", or "partitioning of phase space into fundamental cells", or " system of coupled pendula, often used in math physics courses to illustrate Lagrangian mechanics", can be described more literally: ''There is are two horizontal rulers with divisions 13 pixels apart and 17 pixels apart, respectively; and diagonal lines showing the correspondence between the first four markings of the upper ruler with those on the lower. The intervals seem to be labeled.'' Returning to speculation, I think this suggests an illustration of '''Length contraction (Lorentz coordinate transformation) in Special Relativity'''. [[User:Mrob27|Mrob27]] ([[User talk:Mrob27|talk]]) 20:22, 28 November 2014 (UTC)
:: That seems highly unlikely due to the top labels on this graph. In your explanation they can’t represent anything relevant. Also if this diagram is used to represent spatial contraction, it does not do a good job of it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.209|108.162.216.209]] 13:45, 1 December 2014 (UTC)
::: I imagined the labels were, top row: O', x', (2x)'; bottom row: O, x, 2x, Δv; or perhaps top row: Δx₁', Δx₂', Δx₃'; bottom row Δx₁, Δx₂, Δx₃, 0.7c. I don't think Randall put enough thought into those tiny squiggles for us to be able to use pixel-counting as a hint to which labels interpretation is more likely… but what of it? We can make up labels that fit any interpretation. I did say "Length contraction (Lorentz...)" was just ''speculation''. I do like the "four pendulums coupled by springs" idea, though the horizontals look too ruler-like to me. It might be better just to say "two horizontal ruled lines linked by some diagonals" ! [[User:Mrob27|Mrob27]] ([[User talk:Mrob27|talk]]) 17:00, 1 December 2014 (UTC)
:::: You are totally right, this one may always be pure speculation. Though I am pretty sure the bottom points are labeled w, the top is by no means clear. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.209|108.162.216.209]] 20:46, 1 December 2014 (UTC)
::::: I propose that we change it again, from (current text: "A depiction of length contraction, with two lines of the same length locally but different lengths as one is viewed in motion") to something like ''"A depiction of length contraction with two rulers in relative motion, or of several pendulums coupled by springs"''. Or mention the pendula idea first, I don't want to decide. [[User:Mrob27|Mrob27]] ([[User talk:Mrob27|talk]]) 02:20, 2 December 2014 (UTC)
:::::: Though it's in panel before that one, there's the text "and then some" referencing going beyond what we currently know in a field - could it ''possibly'' be that this is supposed to represent something we haven't derived yet? -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 10:44, 2 December 2014 (UTC)
:Also, I'd like to point out that all three diagrams unify the theme of "working out the kinks in quantum mechanics and relativity": The first illustrates a region of the bell curve where a particle might occasionally fall if it is about to exhibit quantum tunneling; the second relates to perpetual motion, thus hinting at general questions like "does quantum mechanics or relativity allow us to violate the laws of thermodynamics in any way?", and the third is from special relativity. [[User:Mrob27|Mrob27]] ([[User talk:Mrob27|talk]]) 20:22, 28 November 2014 (UTC)
:: Having studied (and knowing the fundamentals about what profile is needed to create a device that performs quantum tunneling) I have never seen this graph as a representation of this, and frankly it makes no sense. If this diagram was an energy band the hole or electron would have no need to tunnel to go up or down the energy band as it is a gradual slope. If a device had a profile like this, it would not result in a significant number of tunneling events, especially at the positions that are marked on the diagram. For this to occur there would need to be a peak between the two points, and the points would need to be at similar heights (energy levels). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.209|108.162.216.209]] 13:06, 1 December 2014 (UTC)
::: Yes, you're right: all we know is that it's a bell curve (normal distribution), and mentioning "tunneling" might make the reader think we were saying it is a potential function. I was reading a bit much into it. Why are there two vertical dotted lines at roughly +σ and +2σ? I thought they indicated a "range" as if the graph were illustrating some discussion of things that fall within that range. I also incorrectly remembered what the Epitaph of Stevinus was about, so thanks for the corrections :-) [[User:Mrob27|Mrob27]] ([[User talk:Mrob27|talk]]) 16:57, 1 December 2014 (UTC)
:::: I think we could reasonably add that the function represents a probability distribution of a partial, therefore tying in the quantum aspects. with a minor explanation of the probibility of 1 and 2 sigma. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.209|108.162.216.209]] 20:46, 1 December 2014 (UTC)
::::: I do think it was okay without the extra text referencing quantum mechanics. I was just trying to find a way to relate the image to the words… but there are so many ways to relate the normal distribution to anything in science :-) [[User:Mrob27|Mrob27]] ([[User talk:Mrob27|talk]]) 02:20, 2 December 2014 (UTC)

The bigger picture that's missing on this explains it that this comic seems to suggest that Cueball is God, as in being stuck in Eternity who happened to build a simulated universe, which we all live in. Seeing how he addresses the reader "So if you see a mote of dust vanish from your vision in a little flash or something I'm sorry. I must have misplaced a rock sometime in the last few billions and billions of millennia." {{[[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.238|141.101.105.238]] 10:25, 12 November 2014 (UTC)}}
: I understand that English might not be your first language, but please clarify. The explanation covers Cueball being godlike. How can we add something that is already covered? Do you require further detail? Are you disagreeing with this assessment? Are you considering this observation irrelevant as your summary for your first comment "added not about Cueball being God" seems to imply? If so why?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.209|108.162.216.209]] 17:57, 12 November 2014 (UTC)
:: nm. I blatantly overlooked the exisiting sentence in the explanation. i blame the layout of this page. inline text that spans the whole available screen width is not pleasant to read on large displays ;) ...as for my English... the confusion stems from my bad keyboard/typing. it was meant to read "added notE about Cueball" for instance, or "as in A being stuck". [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.233|141.101.105.233]] 08:15, 13 November 2014 (UTC)
:::you could shrink your window and display narrower lines of text(?) -- I guess it comes down to preference for masochism(?)... idunno. I think one of the most confusing parts of your question (and which may have contributed most to the ESL idea) is "missing on this explains it that...". Also, "as in being stuck" makes more sense than "as in a being stuck", though it seems you're suggesting otherwise (?) and I don't see any text mentioning added not(E) about Cueball) -- oh wait; is this a troll? -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 15:14, 14 November 2014 (UTC)

Who or what is Nugui and why is it relivent.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.209|108.162.216.209]] 17:57, 12 November 2014 (UTC)

is randall not assuming that his universe (and by implication ours) is finite? if not, one iteration of the machine would still take infinite time. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.201|141.101.98.201]] 12:42, 26 November 2014 (UTC)
: I think it's good enough to assume that the universe is finite, but really really huge. Hypothesizing that adding one particle to the model requires twice as many cells in the cellular automaton, that means that Cueball's cellular automata rows could be about 2^(10^80) cells long, allowing simulation of a physics system containing 10^80 particles. Of course, each planck-time would require 2^(10^80) steps of simulation in the CA. If 10^80 isn't big enough for you, then just make it 10^1000 or Graham's number, or anything finite. [[User:Mrob27|Mrob27]] ([[User talk:Mrob27|talk]]) 16:57, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Did anyone notice that the binary numbers pointing to the particle are both 42? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.16|108.162.241.16]] 19:26, 27 November 2014 (UTC)
:I did now. :) But, somewhere, he left out the towel. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:33, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Just as a curiosity -- there is a somewhat similar concept in "Permutation City", a book by Greg Egan.

Talk:1448: Question

2014-11-27T19:25:40Z

141.101.88.211:

... and I thought the 'LIKE like you' would be a reference to Facebook... [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 08:55, 17 November 2014 (UTC)
: I agree, I definitely think the person making that statement is saying that he doesn't embrace the simplified Facebook universe where you can LIKE someone/something by clicking on a LIKE button. --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 09:10, 17 November 2014 (UTC)
::Personally, I think "LIKE like" is just a euphemism for "love". Isaac is trying to express (awkwardly) that although he enjoys the asker's company, his feeling of affinity is much less intense than that of someone who is obviously too nervous to speak with him in person. --[[User:Koveras|Koveras]] ([[User talk:Koveras|talk]]) 09:24, 17 November 2014 (UTC)
::I had a different interpretation again. I thought Isaac was answering that he did like the questioner, but that (presumably as a robot) his interpretation / use of the verb "to like" was different to the (presumably human) questioner's use of the word. --[[User:Ab78|Ab78]] ([[User talk:Ab78|talk]]) 11:27, 17 November 2014 UTC)
::Something like that I had in mind, too. I interpreted "but I don't LIKE like you" as "but I don't like you as you like (me)" or shorter: "but I don't like _as_ you". In that case "LIKE like" wouldn't be an intensification of "like" (like²) but simply a comparison since the word "like" as such is ambiguous without context and in that case both interpretations would be possible. (To be honest, my first interpretation was "I like you, but I don't like that" - but that would be "but I don't LIKE liking you", wouldn't it? So I discarded that idea.) [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 11:57, 17 November 2014 (UTC)
::: "like like" is an example of what linguists call Contrastive focus reduplication. Since the word "like" has several meanings in English the reduplication serves to indicate the most ideal form of "like", i.e. romantic interest. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contrastive_focus_reduplication nolandda (no wiki account) 2014.11.17 11:52 (UTC-5)
::It is common for schoolchildren in America to use the phrase "LIKE like" as a euphemism for love as described in the first explanation. I think this was clearly Randall's intended meaning.[[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.52|199.27.133.52]] 16:55, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

The comic is a reference to [http://www.multivax.com/last_question.html "The Last Question"] by Isaac Asimov. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.150|173.245.56.150]] 09:58, 17 November 2014 (UTC)
: I tend to agree with that -- The explaination should reflect that, clearly pinting out who "IsaAC" really are 01:56, 19 November 2014 (UTC)

Some references showing that schoolchildren notes with “do you like me” is an actual thing:
*[https://www.google.com/search?q=%22do+you+like+me%22+yes+no Google search for "do you like me" yes no]
*[http://blog.seattlepi.com/singleout/2007/11/15/do-you-like-me-check-yes-or-no/ Do you like me? Check YES or NO] – a short blog post reminiscing about these notes
*[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/112133/1/maybe/maybe “Maybe” on FIMFiction] – a (fanfiction) story including scenes of notes like this being passed
– [[User:Roryokane|Roryokane]] ([[User talk:Roryokane|talk]]) 10:08, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

Great write-up, thanks guys. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 13:48, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

I think I'll edit the explanation, in a moment. The real life Univac name represents the words "Universal ''Automatic'' Computer", not Analogue.
Also it's interesting to note the progression of the fictional computers in Asimov's story (with perhaps a little 'wishful interpretation' based on modern knowledge):
*Multivac (like IRL Univac, but more so; Centralised mainframe archetecture-type typical of the era the story was written in, but writ large)
*Microvac ('Home' computer, within the family space-ship; entertainment system and general 'housekeeping' controller)
*Galactic AC (Telecoms-connected central server; central dial-in Bulletin Board System, etc)
*Universal AC (Virtual internet-based server; run over geographically(/universally) distributed hardware)
*Cosmic AC (Cloud computing?)
*AC (Increasingly a whole universe-worth of 'The Internet Of Things' being used as slave nodes for massively parallel computation)
...although Asimov (at the time of writing) really wouldn't have been exposed to much more than Univac-era computing paradigms, so beyond that it's more a matter of reading the story so as to match the subsequent facts. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.247|141.101.98.247]] 13:56, 17 November 2014 (UTC)
:Follow-up, after deciding to check my own knowledge. ENIAC was "Electronic Numerical Integrator ''And'' Computer", but pretty much every other '...AC' that mattered is "...Automatic Computer" in full. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.247|141.101.98.247]] 14:10, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

Not likely anything, but this also reminds me of the novelty spinoff of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Pink Floyd, _Marvin I Love You_.[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 14:43, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

The note recipient is IsaAC .... Isaac Asimov maybe? Ask Asimov a question and get an Asimov-ian answer! [[Special:Contributions/188.114.102.45|188.114.102.45]] 16:51, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

From another perspective, I think the comic also refers to pondering to long about whether you like someome until this person or the love is gone or has married somebody else. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.49.92|173.245.49.92]] 18:14, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

Yet another possible interpretation is that love is as complex as entropy and its full understanding by a machine would require as much effort. {{unsigned ip|188.114.98.249}}

I was thinking 'Isaac' might either be a reference to the biblical figure, or, relatedly, to the release of the video game Binding of Isaac: Rebirth last week. It's likely a coincidence, but you never know. -[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.213|173.245.53.213]] 10:50, 18 November 2014 (UTC)

ISAAC THE COMPUTER was the enemy in the Rebelstar computer game (a predecessor of X-COM, very nice game). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.211|141.101.88.211]] 19:25, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

1375: Astronaut Vandalism

2014-05-30T11:27:09Z

141.101.88.211: /* Explanation */ Dragon Spaceship reference should technically be to that of Dragon V2 (same link applies)

{{comic
| number = 1375
| date = May 30, 2014
| title = Astronaut Vandalism
| image = astronaut_vandalism.png
| titletext = That night, retired USAF pilots covertly replaced the '62' with '50'.
}}

==Explanation==
Signs like this normally show the distance to places on earth's surface. This sign also has an arrow pointing away from earth and towards "space", with a distance of 62 miles (100 km), due to "astronaut vandalism". The title text states that the distance to "space" was changed later from 62 miles (100 km) to 50 miles (80 km) by retired Air Force pilots. This indicates that the pilots wanted to reduce the altitude considered to be "space", so that their own high altitude flights could be considered space flights.

There may be an Elvis aspect to this comic. The mileages are approximately consistent with the signs being in Tupelo, Mississippi, birthplace of Elvis Presley. Tupelo is about 100 miles from Graceland (Elvis' home) in Memphis, Tennessee. Tupelo is also a bit over a hundred miles from the International Rock-A-Billy Hall of Fame in Jackson, Tennessee. The mileages given by Google maps, however, don't exactly match the mileages on the sign in the comic. Instead of 98 & 115 (in the comic), Google maps gives 101 & 104.

Another possible explanation is a simple mixup. {{W|Winona, Mississippi}} is the hometown of astronaut {{W|Donald H. Peterson}}, who is a retired Air Force officer and pilot, and served as an astronaut in the early Shuttle program. From Winona, it is 115 miles to Memphis International Airport, and 98 miles to Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport ([http://www.travelmath.com/nearest-airport/Winona,+MS source]). Thus, the sign would be reasonably located in Winona, albeit with an error, and Peterson would have vandalized it (and some visiting USAF buddy of his could change it back).

The Memphis mileage may be a reference to {{W|Windows 98}}, which was internally codenamed Memphis whilst in development at {{W|Microsoft}}.

The {{W|U.S. Air Force}} will award {{W|astronaut wings}} to rated officers who fly higher than 62 miles as {{W|World Air Sports Federation}} (FAI) in the mid 1950s designated the 100-kilometer {{W|Karman Line}} (62 miles) as the official boundary between the {{W|Earth's atmosphere}} and {{W|outer space}}. In the 1960s, however, after the FAI defined space at 100 km, it was enough to fly above 50 miles to earn the wings and seven pilots earned them like this. This explain why it was retired pilots who changed the sign - so their wings would still be valid.

Useful summary: [http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2004/09/where_does_space_begin.html Slate: Where does space begin?]

This comic was published on the same day that Version 2 of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_(spacecraft) Dragon spaceship] was unveiled.

==Transcript==
:[A signpost with three arrows.]
:[Arrow pointing up:]
:Space 62
:[Arrow pointing right:]
:Jackson 115
:[Arrow pointing left:]
:Memphis 98

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1364: Like I'm Five

2014-05-05T12:04:16Z

141.101.88.211: parens pun

Almost certainly a reference to [http://www.locusmag.com/Perspectives/2014/05/cory-doctorow-how-to-talk-to-your-children-about-mass-surveillance/ this]. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.44|108.162.219.44]] 05:58, 5 May 2014 (UTC)

I actually do something like this, though I never heard of the Reddit thing or the above page. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.218|108.162.237.218]] 06:46, 5 May 2014 (UTC)

The alt text leads into me imagining them both "being" 5 and start arguing in a very childish way. I think that's a part of the alt joke.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.39|108.162.219.39]] 08:59, 5 May 2014 (UTC)

I read it as a pun on "parens". As in the equations being so complicated it's hard to tell which parentheses belong together. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.211|141.101.88.211]] 12:04, 5 May 2014 (UTC)

1359: Phone Alarm

2014-04-24T20:08:04Z

141.101.88.211: /* Transcript */ minor semantic fix

{{comic
| number = 1359
| date = April 23, 2014
| title = Phone Alarm
| image = phone_alarm.png
| titletext = Who's calling me?? WHY IS THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD CALLING ME!?
}}

==Explanation==

The flowchart shows a problem [[Randall]] has with using alarms built into phones. Notably, that the sound is similar to a normal ring tone (probably related to [[479: Tones]]), making it sound like someone is calling him, and not waking him up. This translates to him answering the phone in the dream, talking, and eventually hanging up. Of course this doesn't stop the phone from ringing, and he ends up answering the phone again. The looping arrow around the "beep beep" box could refer to this — the phone continues ringing while he pretends to answer it — or that the phone keeps ringing until he pretends to answer it.

The title text, consisting of Randall shouting at the phone in his dream, enforces the fact that he can't tell between his ringtone or his alarm. In doing so believes that a prank caller is harassing him which infuriates him.

==Transcript==

A flowchart:

<table style='text-align: center;' class='wikitable'>
<caption>My problem with phone alarms</caption>
<tr>
<th>alarm <br> goes off
<td style='font-size: large;'>→
<th colspan=2>beep beep <br> beep beep!
<td style='font-size: large;'>→
<th>"???"
<td style='font-size: large;'>→
<th>answer phone <br> in dream
<td style='font-size: large;'>→
<th>talk
<td style='font-size: large;'>→
<th>hang up
<tr>
<td>
<td>
<td style='font-size: large; cursor: help;' title='loop'>↺
<td style='font-size: large;'>↖
<td style='font-size: large;' colspan=7>←
<td style='font-size: large;'>↙
</table>

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Flowcharts]]

1359: Phone Alarm

2014-04-24T19:56:21Z

141.101.88.211: /* Transcript */ prettier replacements for two-sided arrows

{{comic
| number = 1359
| date = April 23, 2014
| title = Phone Alarm
| image = phone_alarm.png
| titletext = Who's calling me?? WHY IS THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD CALLING ME!?
}}

==Explanation==

The flowchart shows a problem [[Randall]] has with using alarms built into phones. Notably, that the sound is similar to a normal ring tone (probably related to [[479: Tones]]), making it sound like someone is calling him, and not waking him up. This translates to him answering the phone in the dream, talking, and eventually hanging up. Of course this doesn't stop the phone from ringing, and he ends up answering the phone again. The looping arrow around the "beep beep" box could refer to this — the phone continues ringing while he pretends to answer it — or that the phone keeps ringing until he pretends to answer it.

The title text, consisting of Randall shouting at the phone in his dream, enforces the fact that he can't tell between his ringtone or his alarm. In doing so believes that a prank caller is harassing him which infuriates him.

==Transcript==

A flowchart:

<table style='text-align: center;' class='wikitable'>
<caption>My problem with phone alarms</caption>
<tr>
<th>alarm <br> goes off
<td style='font-size: large;'>→
<th colspan=2>beep beep <br> beep beep!
<td style='font-size: large;'>→
<th>"???"
<td style='font-size: large;'>→
<th>answer phone <br> in dream
<td style='font-size: large;'>→
<th>talk
<td style='font-size: large;'>→
<th>hang up
<tr>
<td colspan=2>
<td style='font-size: large; cursor: help;' title='loop'>↺
<td style='font-size: large;'>↖
<td style='font-size: large;' colspan=7>←
<td style='font-size: large;'>↙
</table>

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Flowcharts]]

1359: Phone Alarm

2014-04-24T19:54:52Z

141.101.88.211: /* Transcript */ moved the comic caption to the table caption element

{{comic
| number = 1359
| date = April 23, 2014
| title = Phone Alarm
| image = phone_alarm.png
| titletext = Who's calling me?? WHY IS THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD CALLING ME!?
}}

==Explanation==

The flowchart shows a problem [[Randall]] has with using alarms built into phones. Notably, that the sound is similar to a normal ring tone (probably related to [[479: Tones]]), making it sound like someone is calling him, and not waking him up. This translates to him answering the phone in the dream, talking, and eventually hanging up. Of course this doesn't stop the phone from ringing, and he ends up answering the phone again. The looping arrow around the "beep beep" box could refer to this — the phone continues ringing while he pretends to answer it — or that the phone keeps ringing until he pretends to answer it.

The title text, consisting of Randall shouting at the phone in his dream, enforces the fact that he can't tell between his ringtone or his alarm. In doing so believes that a prank caller is harassing him which infuriates him.

==Transcript==

A flowchart:

<table style='text-align: center;' class='wikitable'>
<caption>My problem with phone alarms</caption>
<tr>
<th>alarm <br> goes off
<td style='font-size: large;'>→
<th colspan=2>beep beep <br> beep beep!
<td style='font-size: large;'>→
<th>"???"
<td style='font-size: large;'>→
<th>answer phone <br> in dream
<td style='font-size: large;'>→
<th>talk
<td style='font-size: large;'>→
<th>hang up
<tr>
<td colspan=2>
<td style='font-size: large; cursor: help;' title='loop'>↺
<td style='font-size: large;'>⬑
<td style='font-size: large;' colspan=7>←
<td style='font-size: large;'>↲
</table>

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Flowcharts]]

Talk:1359: Phone Alarm

2014-04-24T19:43:37Z

141.101.88.211:

See also [[479: Tones]]. [[User:B jonas|B jonas]] ([[User talk:B jonas|talk]]) 06:06, 23 April 2014 (UTC)

I was just about to go hunt that one down for the explanation. Thanks B Jonas! [[User:Mrmakeit|Mrmakeit]] ([[User talk:Mrmakeit|talk]]) 06:13, 23 April 2014 (UTC)

I think it's safe to say that alarms give you some really weird dreams when you're too tired for them to actually wake you up. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.218|108.162.237.218]] 06:24, 23 April 2014 (UTC)

How do I keep screwing up his name. I guess that's what I get for writing an explanation at 2 in the morning. I'll get it right next time. [[User:Mrmakeit|Mrmakeit]] ([[User talk:Mrmakeit|talk]]) 07:03, 23 April 2014 (UTC)

I think I understand the title text -- the "worst person in the world" is a reference to the fact that when he picks up the phone to talk to whoever's "calling", all he gets is beeping in his ear, which makes for an awful "conversation".
:I red it as the caller being the wpitw because they called while Randall was trying to sleep. ''— [[User:Tbc|tbc]] ([[User talk:Tbc|talk]])''

However, I don't understand the "???" box or the reason why one of the arrows keeps looping in on itself, unless it's to show an eventuality where Randall doesn't wake up or ignores the phone?

Sometimes I think Randall likes to mess with us with obscure, trippy comics just so he can see us scramble to explain them using logical thought progressions. [[User:Enchantedsleeper|Enchantedsleeper]] ([[User talk:Enchantedsleeper|talk]]) 10:32, 23 April 2014 (UTC)
:I feel confident the "???" is referring to the initial confusion of any dream world (the first time around), followed by continued confusion of things "not working like they're supposed to" (which often happens in a dream world), especially when you hang up the phone and it keeps ringing but nobody's on the other side - [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 12:20, 23 April 2014 (UTC)

I can't remember the comic number, but I feel like the title text might be a reference to the comic where he talks about pretending to be an expert in someone else's field and sees how long it takes them to notice. Talking to sociologists (I think) he says his latest work is in ranking people from best to worst. [[User:Athang|Athang]] ([[User talk:Athang|talk]]) 21:57, 23 April 2014 (UTC)

The comic you are thinking of is #451 http://www.xkcd.com/451/ [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 22:34, 23 April 2014 (UTC)

Hi, I always though that the comic transcriptions were for the visually impaired, so the arrows on the left of this comic's transcript feels a bit off to me. Can we possibly replace them with textual explanations? Kind regards. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.92.231|141.101.92.231]] 12:37, 24 April 2014 (UTC)
: I am the original transcriber of this comic. My first attempt has, for reasons I don't understand, been reverted (strictly speaking, undented (flattened), thus making it ambiguous, which my version wasn't).
: I didn't and won't re-revert it, but I have come up with another layout, tabular this time (and unambiguous again, with one cell per field-arrow node, and with fields distinguished from arrows via HTML table headers vs. cells). Feel free to revert this one, too.

1359: Phone Alarm

2014-04-24T19:41:59Z

141.101.88.211: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1359
| date = April 23, 2014
| title = Phone Alarm
| image = phone_alarm.png
| titletext = Who's calling me?? WHY IS THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD CALLING ME!?
}}

==Explanation==

The flowchart shows a problem [[Randall]] has with using alarms built into phones. Notably, that the sound is similar to a normal ring tone (probably related to [[479: Tones]]), making it sound like someone is calling him, and not waking him up. This translates to him answering the phone in the dream, talking, and eventually hanging up. Of course this doesn't stop the phone from ringing, and he ends up answering the phone again. The looping arrow around the "beep beep" box could refer to this — the phone continues ringing while he pretends to answer it — or that the phone keeps ringing until he pretends to answer it.

The title text, consisting of Randall shouting at the phone in his dream, enforces the fact that he can't tell between his ringtone or his alarm. In doing so believes that a prank caller is harassing him which infuriates him.

==Transcript==
:A flowchart:

<table style='text-align: center;' class='wikitable'>
<tr>
<th>alarm <br> goes off
<td>→
<th colspan=2>beep beep <br> beep beep!
<td>→
<th>"???"
<td>→
<th>answer phone <br> in dream
<td>→
<th>talk
<td>→
<th>hang up
<tr>
<td colspan='2'>
<td title='loop' style='cursor: help;'>↺
<td>⬑
<td colspan=7>←
<td>↲
</table>

:My problem with phone alarms

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Flowcharts]]

1350: Lorenz

2014-04-04T01:58:49Z

141.101.88.211: /* Bugs */ Added an update, regarding no longer seeing Comic 1349.

{{comic
| number = 1350
| date = April 1, 2014
| title = Lorenz
| image = lorenz.png
| titletext = Every choice, no matter how small, begins a new story
}}

{{incomplete|All possible dialogues are not yet accounted for (and may never be?)}}

For a collection of images that appear in this comic, see [[1350: Lorenz/Images]].

==Explanation==
This is an interactive and dynamic comic with a possible first picture shown on top of this page. The picture is always the same but the order of the sentences A/B/C/D is done by random. The result of all all the interactions by the people would lead lead to a {{w|Crowdsourcing|crowd-sourced content}}. In honor of {{w|April Fools' Day}} the comic was posted a day early, on Tuesday instead of the usual Wednesday.

The title 'Lorenz' is referring to {{w|Edward Norton Lorenz}} who among other subjects was famous for {{w|Chaos theory}} and the {{w|Butterfly effect}}.

The title is a reference to that the story line of this comic does include all of the user submitted dialogue and hence will in nature be chaotic. In this manner it is a reference to the butterfly effect, a phrase coined by Edward Lorenz to describe how a small initial change can lead to wide variations in outcome in a chaotic system.

This comic is an example of a {{w|Choose Your Own Adventure}} story.

===Functionality and bugs===
The reader is initially presented with only one panel where Knit Cap Guy is sitting in front of his computer. The reader is given multiple choices concerning what exactly Knit Cap Guy is thinking. Upon choosing any option, a second panel appears, to give continuity to the story. Each new panel may have a new set of options or just the button "Continue" to see the next panel without making any choice in particular. Eventually, one may reach a dead end in which the story is interrupted and reader is presented with a text box to suggest how it should continue. Some of the suggestions given should eventually become available as new options.

It appears that new panels may be generated by Randall in near real time as user suggestions to dialog is submitted. The dialogue options are likely based on click-through rates and hence will change over day based on which choices are clicked most using {{w|A/B_testing|A/B measurement techniques..}} This will mean that the most popular choices for dialogue line will prevail as the statistics build up. In some cases, dialogue line options do not depend on the continuity of the storyline followed, suggesting that some parts of the story are planned. For example, do several of the storylines involve one of the two main characters waking up and for instance telling the other character, “I had the strangest dream…” or even reliving the dream again. This may be due to common submissions across storylines as well.

Normally, there is a total of 4 options to make: a/b/c/d. Their order changes constantly. Sometimes, there are 3 or fewer options, with the text box to suggest an alternative option. Sometimes, a given panel actually has 5 or more available options, although even in this case only 4 options appear at a time. Refreshing the comic changes randomly which of the available options are visible and which are hidden. As of April 2nd 2014, the existence of 5 or more options seems to occur only in a few rare cases, including the first panel itself.

Each panel has a "permalink" button which generates a unique URL for all the choices made by the reader — so a reader can save the chosen choices to compare them to other ways going through the selections. On the final panel the reader can enter an own statement, which is shown on screen but can't be saved by a permalink. The reader has to do a screen shot by himself.

{{w|HTTP cookie|Cookies}} and {{w|Javascript}} are required to see this page properly. Without cookies, the next panel will not render, without Javascript you just will get the [[1349|previous comic]].

====Buttons====
Instead of clicking with the mouse you can move more quickly through the panels using the keyboard:
* Up/Down - navigate options
* Enter/Right - choose option after navigating with Up/Down
* Left - go back one panel
* a/b/c/d - choose any option directly

====Bugs====
Since this interactive comic relies on many servers in the background to provide the response to the reader's actions there are some problems reported here:
*In the worst case the entire comic doesn't render at all as expected — it just shows the previous comic [[1349: Shouldn't Be Hard]].
:(This has been changed to now show no comic at all, for someone still unaccountably affected by this issue, with the given <nowiki><img /></nowiki> tag now absent from the page-source.)
*When selecting a sentence A/B/C/D the server does not respond on that selection.
*The servers responsible to provide the pictures are down.
*If a response leads to a panel where two characters speak at the same time, it is impossible to proceed past the first speech bubble.
Because of these bugs many readers not understand how this interactive comic does work.

===Themes===

====Miscellaneous====
{| class="wikitable" |
! Name + Example image
! Description
|-
! Arguing<br>[[image:lorenz - discuss.png]]
| The two characters argue with each other
|-
! Boomerang<br>[[image:lorenz - boomerang 1.png]]
| The lone character finds a boomerang on the ground and throws it. The story ends with the boomerang crashing into something off panel, the space rocket from another story branch getting hit, the character getting hit in the face with the boomerang rebound, or the character putting the boomerang down on the ground.
|-
! Computer problems<br>[[Image:lorenz - laptop 1.png]]
| The laptop has an unspecified problem. The two characters attempt to fix it. The story either ends with the two randomly floating in the ocean (with or without circling sharks)(a reference to [[349]]) or with the laptop being melted using a blowtorch (a reference to the previous day's strip, [[1349]]).
|-
! Debate<br>[[File:lorenz - debate 1.png]]
| Knit Cap Guy uses his laptop to watch a debate online between the Politician 1 (on the left) and the Politician 2 ([[Cueball]], on the right), the subject and the actual conversation of which varies according to the storyline. Eventually, they fight each other, the Politician 2 using a lightsaber and the Politician 1 using his bare fists. Subjects debated:
* Politician 1 questions Politician 2's project of tying multiple birds to a car as fuel replacement, which would require some method to make the birds take off in unison. The solutions mentioned are opening and closing an umbrella near them, using a predatory bird to the car to scare them, putting resources in the hands of bird educators for the purpose of training them and employing fiscal hawks. If the Politician 1 points out some problem with the reasoning, often the solution proposed by the Politician 2 would be doing the same in a larger scale. In the end, Hairy visits Knit Cap Guy and points out something happening near involving birds as a direct result of Politician 2's project.
|-
! Dinosaur interruption<br>[[image:lorenz - dinosaur 1.png]]
| A green T-rex interrupts the story and proceeds to stamp on the house the main characters are in. (These are frames borrowed from {{w|Dinosaur Comics}}, a clip-art-based webcomic that uses the same artwork with different captions for every strip.)
|-
! Dreams<br>[[File:lorenz - wake up 1.png]]
| Sometimes, Knit Cap Guy or Hairy find themselves waking from a dream, suggesting that all prior events were just part of they dreaming. Often, in the storylines they fall in the big hole outside Knit Cap Guy's house, they wake up from a dream. Knit Cap Guy also wakes up after watching the debate, in some storylines. Often, the dream loops upon itself, as the characters wake up multiple times in the same storyline
|-
! Space planet<br>[[image:lorenz - rocket 21.png]]
| Eventually the space rocket meets a guy on a very tiny planet. (The Little Prince)
|-
! Space rocket<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 1.png]]
| There is a rocket on the ground just outside of the building. The rocket either explodes (with a screenshot from Kerbal Space Program), fails to launch or goes off into space.
|-
! Relativistic encounter <br> [[Image:lorenz - rocket 16.png]]
| The space rocket meets another space rocket that asks a question about relativity, the same one that appeared in [[Choices: Part 2]]. The other space rocket will shoot and destroy the main rocket if the question isn't answered satisfactory. Otherwise the two rockets fly past each other.
|-
! Salesman<br>[[image:lorenz - sale 1.png]]
| Hairy meets [[White Hat]], a salesman with a small stand.
|-
! Thinking<br>[[image:lorenz - thinking.png]]
| One of the characters take a panel or two to think about something.
|}

====Geography====
{| class="wikitable" |
! Name + Example image
! Description
|-
! Hole in the ground<br>[[Image:lorenz - gap.png]]
| Hairy spots a hole in the ground and leans over it to make a comment
|-
! Huge hole on the lawn<br>[[image:lorenz - hole.png]]
| There is a huge hole in the ground just outside of the building. The two characters always end up falling into it and awakening from a dream.
|-
! Tree<br>[[image:lorenz - tree.png]]
| The characters walk past a tree.
|}

====Literature====
{| class="wikitable" |
! Name + Example image
! Description
|-
! LORT
|
|-
! The Little Prince
| Eventually, if the rocket is not destroyed, it may pass by the asteroid of The Little Prince and they have a quick conversation.
|}

====Movies====
{| class="wikitable" |
! Name + Example image
! Description
|-
! Frozen
| In one storyline, Hairy visits Knit Cap Guy and asks him "Wanna build a snowman?", a line from the movie. Possible answers also come from the movie, such as "It doesn't have to be a snowman..."
|-
! Matrix
| In one storyline, Hairy remarks that the gap in the ground is like a glitch in the matrix.
|}

====Video games====
{| class="wikitable" |
! Name + Example image
! Description
|-
! 2048
| A number of storylines begin because Knit Cap Guy is playing {{w|2048}} on his computer. Often, Hairy invites him to go outside to do something related to the game, such as hunting for tiles somewhere.
|-
! Mario
| In the dialogue, Hairy asks Knit Cap Guy "Is this 1-1 from Mario?" upon seeing the gap in the ground. In the platform game {{w|Super Mario Bros.}} for {{w|NES}}, the levels are numbered 1-1, 1-2 and so on. In one branch, he says "Actually, it's the final castle. Grab your Fire Flower!"
|-
! Pokémon<br>[[File:lorenz - pikachu theft.png]]
| Some of the storylines involve Pokémon battles featuring Pikachu, a very popular Pokémon. The battles are drawn in the style of the video games. (A trainer in the left-bottom corner facing the foe in the right-top corner, with a narration box below the scene and the trainer's Pokéballs visible, although some elements are missing, such as the level, gender and HP bar.)

Pikachu uses a number of different moves, though these are mostly made up and are not from the Pokémon games. Pikachu's moves are almost invariably remarked by the narrator as "It's not very effective...", but "It's super effective!" is also possible to appear. In the video games, a move is "not very effective" when the opponent's type resists the attacking move's type and "super effective" when the opponent's type is weak to the attacking move's type. Normally after a few failed attempts, there is an uncomfortable silence as the Pikachu says "Um..." and Knit Cap Guy and Hairy walk away. Pikachu is left in the grass and has time to make his final remarks as the two leave him. Rarely, a suggested move knocks Pikachu out.

One narration line is "Where's Twitch when I need help?", a reference to {{w|Twitch Plays Pokémon}} which was also covered by comic [[1333: First Date]].

Another narration line is: "Google Maps didn't warn me of this.", a reference to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YMD6xELI_k Google Maps: Pokémon Challenge].

Pikachu's moves:
* Abandonment - Pikachu disappears completely.
* Anguish - Pikachu is sad.
* Ant Colony - Pikachu is covered in ants.
* Cute Face
* Crowdsource
* The Discrete Metric
* Ethylene Dichloride - Nothing seems to happen, but Ethylene Dichloride is a toxic chemical, so there may be future consequences for the characters.
* Extrude - Pikachu's head moves away from his body as his neck becomes long and malleable.
* Faceless - Pikachu's face disappears.
* Friendship - Pikachu is on Knit Cap Guy's head, signifying they are now friends. Friendship, though not a move, is a game mechanic in the video games.
* Granite - Pikachu is atop a block of granite.
* Graph Theory
* Ink Cloud - Pikachu is covered in ink. In the storyline Pikachu uses it, there is the option to "gather" the ink.
* Radicality - Pikachu is on a skateboard.
* Struggle - In one storyline, after Pikachu uses a number of moves, it says: "Now I only have Struggle left. Tie?" In the Pokémon games, when a Pokémon runs out of PP (Power Points, the energy required to use each of its moves) for all its moves, it may only use Struggle, a weak move, indefinitely reusable, that harms not only the opponent but the user as well.
* Theft - Pikachu wears Knit Cap Guy's hat. Pikachu seems to be using "Thief", a similarly-named actual move from the games, that is used to steal the foe's item and use it as its own.
* Uplift - Pikachu's head goes upward, separated from its body, showing a long, thick cable still connecting the head and the body.
|}

==Transcript==
:[The comic starts with a single panel presenting four options by random order.]
:*these stupid tiles ... I'll just play one more game.
:*oh, hey, there's some kind of political thing going on.
:*refresh ... no new email ... refresh ... no new tweets ... refresh ...
:*let's see if BSD is any easier to install nowadays.

:[As of April 2, the first choice is replaced with: "Hurry! We're in talks with Facebook"]

:[The reader can choose an option and the text appears at the panel.]

:[The next panels are shown after each selection until it comes to an end.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]
[[Category:April fool's comics]]

Talk:1350: Lorenz

2014-04-04T01:50:15Z

141.101.88.211: Moved just-added edit, because I'd inserted it in a funny place.

I've had the story loop back to the first frame, so it wouldn't surprise me if this could go on infinitely if it had the available dialogue options.

This is going to be a hell of a thing. Good luck... [[User:H|H]] ([[User talk:H|talk]]) 15:39, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:I think this is one of those times when the custom field might come in handy. Duplicating Randall's code seems like it might be difficult, and it might just be easier to link to the original page. Probably. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 15:47, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
::I think it should just show a screenshot of the initial image and options [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.61|173.245.50.61]] 02:49, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

There's always new story lines, even when you think you've read them all, new ones appear to replace them. I don't think it'll ever be possible to record them all. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.192|108.162.212.192]] 15:55, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:The text changes, but there are recurring themes with the panels. The rocket, the big hole, the little hole, Dinosaurcomics, pokemon, waking up, stranded swimming.........[[User:H|H]] ([[User talk:H|talk]]) 18:03, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

When I go to XKCD, all I see is the comic from Monday... weird. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:45, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:Same here... and a lot of space below it. [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 17:43, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:: I think that happens when you have refreshed the page too many time -- kind of an anti spam for user submissions. I simply create an anonymous browser window and I got back to the real page once xkcd was not able to track me as a returning user. [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 17:59, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

Currently there appears to be a bug. Instead of the evolving, crowd-sourced comic, I just see an off-center copy of the previous comic, 1349: Shouldn't Be Hard. [http://i.imgur.com/pw2OfOL.png Screenshot here].
UPDATE: it appears to be a bug in the XSRF-blocking code. Chrome console shows me the error "XMLHttpRequest cannot load http://c1.xkcd.com/graph/1/. The 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' header has a value 'http://xkcd.com' that is not equal to the supplied origin. Origin 'http://www.xkcd.com' is therefore not allowed access."
FURTHER UPDATE: you can work around this bug by going to http://xkcd.com instead of http://www.xkcd.com!
It also doesn't work if you have HTTPS Everywhere enabled.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.38|108.162.216.38]] 16:46, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

** I can confirm this bug in Firefox. Weirdly, the work-around functioned one time for me, but now going to "xkcd.com" rather than "www.xkcd.com" just gives me a copy of 1349 as well. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.180|199.27.130.180]] 17:40, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:The workaround didn't work for me, I still got monday's comic on either URL. (Chromium 36.0.1919.0 (260611), Mac OS 10.9.2) [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 17:45, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:Same here. Used IE and Firefox. Removed the "www." and haven't. (Never used https:// at all.) Tried InPrivate (and FF equivalent) browsers. Gone into the code and can't even fudge it manually from ''<nowiki><div id="comic"><img src="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/shouldnt_be_hard.png" title="Every choice, no matter how small, begins a new story." alt="Lorenz" /> <script type="text/javascript">Bernardo.comic({el: $('#comic')})
</script></div></nowiki>'', and the rest, manually. (Indeed, that shows why I get 1349's "shouldn't be hard" image, by default.) Pity. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.224|141.101.89.224]] 02:25, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

This comic introduced(?) a font of its own of Randalls comic type. I don't know if it has been sitting there for long, but I just noticed it: http://xkcd.com/fonts/xkcd-Regular.eot -- phiarc [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.12|108.162.219.12]] 17:20, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:Is it the same as was used in Externalities? [[User:H|H]] ([[User talk:H|talk]]) 18:00, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

Does everyone have these options in some order for the first tile?
*Refresh... No New Email... Refresh .. No New Tweets... Refresh...
*These Stupid Tiles... I'll Just Play One More Game
*Oh. Hey. There's Some Kind Of Politicial Thing Going On.
*Let's See If BSD Is Any Easier to Install Nowadays
--[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:54, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

:If so, we can begin to build a map of at least the first set of options before the crowd-sourced ones. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:56, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
::Yes, though the second-tier options have changed [[User:H|H]] ([[User talk:H|talk]]) 18:00, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:::The first level options may be constant (Im seeing the same as Jeff), but I suspect that the following options is based on some sort of ckick though statitics / machine learning -- which means that the will continue to change until Randall closes off the 'voting' -- if [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1193:_Externalities 1193: Externalities] is anything to go by that should be within the next 24-48 hours, at which point automating the collection of story lines may be possible. [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 18:11, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:::: I'm going to transcript some of what I get at least through the first few levels and then we can start with a list of options for those who don't want to go through them all. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:37, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
::::: I have no idea how one would do this, but it would be cool to render the transcript as a tree of some sort; having one vertical list will be hard to follow for more than a few decisions. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.180|199.27.130.180]] 00:14, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
::::::New initial option! I just got "Hurry! We're in talks with Facebook." In place of the "refresh" option. http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:2b330d48-bb01-11e3-8003-002590d77bdd --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.8|108.162.242.8]] 23:15, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

Ohh, this comic is buggy and the link here at the top gives just the page from Monday, showing errors on debuggers. But removing the WWW from URL helps. Further more I can't see that the result of the choices is dynamic. So let's prove this. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:33, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
: Have a look at http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/2/2b/lorenz_combination1.png and http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/9/9a/lorenz_combination2.png and you can see the option orders are changing -- this is a typical artifact of A/B testing where randomization of options is needed to avoid selection bias. I have futher observed "your car is on fire" instead of the "dinosaur" option, hence not only the orders are channging but the content as well -- maybe somebody else can capture this. [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 22:08, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

How are new dialogue suggestions approved? Are they random, by popular vote (unlikely, not very many people would suggest the same thing), or is Randall approving them one by one? [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 20:26, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
: They may not need to be explicitly approved at all -- one of the beutiful things about click though measures is that the public '''votes''' for what is good by clicking -- this is also a factor in search ranking by your favorite search engine where statistics are driving the entire show -- in a search engine some input to the statistical process comes from the web pages, but other comes from what people are actually clicking [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 22:14, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

What is this a screenshot of? It's zoomed out so far. http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:5b5bd04e-b9d6-11e3-8008-002590d77bdd [[User:Haithere|Haithere]] ([[User talk:Haithere|talk]]) 20:39, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
: you mean this : http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/Rl92nFEWd9huvXABNkHKHg.png ? [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 22:20, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:: It appears to be a screen shot from a flight simulator program of some sort, however im not able to tell which, and since it is most likely an 'in-game' screen short we will never find out unless somebody else is playing this precises flight simulator program [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 22:37, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:: I am not certain, but I strongly suspect that is Kerbal Space Program {{unsigned ip|108.162.242.111}}
::: it really is Kerbal Space Program, or KSP for short {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.65}}
:::: found this image from KSP http://i.imgur.com/UofvQ.png [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 09:07, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

A transcript is going to be futile. It appears as though the comic may go on indefinitely (I've definitely had some branches continue extending until I've seen frames that were present in other branches). I suspect what's happening here is that... options are "suggested", and those suggestions are displayed at random to people. The ones with the most clickthroughs begin to appear more often, until eventually the top 4 are "locked in" and no more suggestions can be made. Very creative! But I'm not convinced that Randall is making frames in near-real-time, nor am I even convinced he's part of the approval process at all. I suspect it's all automated. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.28|108.162.215.28]] 00:29, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

It seems it is possible to have the same option appear twice in the first panel. http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:be7a3304-b685-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.48|173.245.54.48]] 10:27, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
: They are not the same options -- the text differes where one option has "I'll" with a captal I and the other option is 'i'll' with a lowercase I -- I guess some prankster submitted a very similar text and somehow that got included. The branching also differs for the two options. [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 17:12, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

Is it still supposed to work or was it turned off? All I see is Monday comics ... and no errors in firebug console. Oh, wait, there is javascript error:
Timestamp: 04/02/14 12:56:21
Error: TypeError: this.$lastPanel is null
Source File: http://xkcd.com/1350/bernardo.min.js
Line: 2 -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:03, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
: It still works for me -- try to clear your cookies or use an anonymous window or go to xkcd.com (no www no https) or some of the other helpful suggestions on this page to overcome some of the buggy nature of this page. [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 17:12, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

tl;dr, but I applaud Randall's creativity. Added to the Colossal time sinks category. ''– [[User:Tbc|tbc]] ([[User talk:Tbc|talk]]) 13:15, 2 April 2014 (UTC)''

Has it restarted? It used to work just fine on my browser but now only the first panel is available, after clicking an option it said my suggestion has been submitted. Great when it works though, thanks Randal. Jet_proppeled_elephant[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.35|108.162.219.35]] 14:53, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

It feels like there are a bunch of "dead-end panels", that we never really get past. One example the "bright background" strip, in which we only see the shadows of the two characters. Nobody seems to care what happens after those. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.8|108.162.245.8]] 18:59, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

I found a Dinosaur Comics reference, permalink: http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:3d243960-b9b6-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd
Has this been found before?
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.73|173.245.55.73]] 20:08, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

I don't have time to do it myself, but most of the space images from this path are not in the images page. http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:6490cc4a-b9f0-11e3-8009-002590d77bdd
[[User:Zweisteine|Zweisteine]] ([[User talk:Zweisteine|talk]]) 23:33, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
:Ok, I'm gonna add those. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 23:38, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
Great! And now I found another: Pikachu uses Ethylene Dichloride. http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:6f59d766-ba95-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd
I'll add it to the but about pikachu in the comic, but the pictures are up to someone else.[[User:Zweisteine|Zweisteine]] ([[User talk:Zweisteine|talk]]) 23:47, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

Slightly different space path, in which the rocket expodes: http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:dd99ea0e-ba04-11e3-8017-002590d77bdd [[User:Zweisteine|Zweisteine]] ([[User talk:Zweisteine|talk]]) 23:59, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

:Good. I've finished adding all images that you mentioned. Also, the two last images of the slightly different space path were not in the images page, now I added them too. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 00:14, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

Pikachu died! Radicality failed -> Pikachu in shock! http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:5c565bf2-ba05-11e3-8017-002590d77bdd --eternia 7:33, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
:Pikachu uses Graph Theory. How is that not effective?! http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:52f2389c-baaf-11e3-801f-002590d77bdd --eternia 7:47, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
::Pikachu uses Ant Colony. Uwah... http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:2b707ed6-ba97-11e3-8006-002590d77bdd --eternia 8:02, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
:::1 shark instead of 3. http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:9ba111ee-ba96-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd --eternia 8:14, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
::::0 sharks. http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:e0e4d984-baaf-11e3-8026-002590d77bdd --eternia 8:17, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
:::::I'm gonna add those too. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 12:41, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

Are there any panels that have two speech bubbles that are not dead ends? It seems that there are never any options for the second bubble, and sometimes the first bubble has options that would fit in the second bubble after the other options for the first bubble. Maybe submissions for the second bubble accidentally end up in the first instead? Another bug? [[User:Zweisteine|Zweisteine]] ([[User talk:Zweisteine|talk]]) 23:56, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

There's a change for us still-bugged people (well, me at least). The "show previous comic" part is gone. It shows a blank area (instead of Comic 1349 and a blank area of the same size) and the page-source shows that the ''<nowiki><img src="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/shouldnt_be_hard.png" title="Every choice, no matter how small, begins a new story." alt="Lorenz" /></nowiki>'' part has now been excised from the page. That's on Javascript-enabled, cookie-enabled Firefox ''and'' IE browsers, and every valid URL configuration one can think of (including shift-refreshing to force redownloading, just in case it was page-cache issues as well). I'll update the Bugs section of the explanation page with a summary of that, if you don't mind. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.211|141.101.88.211]] 01:48, 4 April 2014 (UTC)

We need some place to discuss certain issues. I give it a shot below [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:10, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
;Transcipt discussion
;Design
*What about four transcripts - one for each of the four first original choices?
*Should these transcripts be on a separate page? It becomes tedious to scroll to the discussion page...[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:13, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
*Could we use the hide option so you only see the options from the first panel. Then you unhide to see the next panel etc. This would be a little like the comic and would make it much easier to read and it would not be such a long page! [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:35, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
*:I'm working on the hide option. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 15:14, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
*::I now implemented the hide option. It looks good! in my opinion. It should be easy to edit. It would be too much work to convert the whole thing to the collapsible version so, sorry but I just removed the whole thing and started from the very beginning. This[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1350:_Lorenz&oldid=64245] is the link to the old version, in case anyone wants to help converting it to the collapsible version. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 16:46, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

;Characters
*Where does the name Dave come from for the hairy guy who comes in after the first panel? I can see it once in the transcript - but it is said by White hat the sales guy. I'm not sure it is his name and the chatagory for hairy is assigned to the comic! [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:16, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
** Also he is called Dave here: http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:3b1a226e-b9c6-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 21:37, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
*Hat guy? Is it a hat? Is there not a better English word for the type of "hat" worn by the main character from the first panel? It is not a hat like white or black hat! [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:18, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
** I named him Hat Guy originally to make things easier. Feel free to change the name, I guess :) Knit Cap Guy, maybe? If a change is warranted, a simple search-and-replace should do it. Also, I'm not sure it's a guy or a girl... But the previous text was also treating him as male to begin with, anyway. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 21:36, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
*Is the right politician = Cueball?
*Who is the left? [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:23, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

Isn't is likely that the characters only have names given to them by us readers in our suggestions? They don't necessarily have constant names. [[User:Zweisteine|Zweisteine]] ([[User talk:Zweisteine|talk]]) 23:33, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

Exactly my point. I think we should stick with hairy guy and maybe Knit Cap Guy! [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:28, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

:I see you already changed Hat Guy to Knit Cap Guy and Dave to Hairy. Knit Cap Guy is a nice name. Originally, I would disagree with you and insist we should stick to Dave because that's what the character is called in one storyline of the strip itself, but I see he is also called Frank in other timeline. Since he has multiple names, using just Hairy is better in my opinion, too. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 12:40, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

Knit Cap Guy is probably a Girl. Just sayin'. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.28|173.245.52.28]] 12:22, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

:Probably! Originally I thought it was Megan with a knit cap on. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 12:40, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

It IS a girl! http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:1e4325a2-baaf-11e3-801f-002590d77bdd [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.66|173.245.48.66]] 21:44, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

;Other
*Seems like the permalink at the top of the transcript does not work for me anymore - then they will be useless! Else they are the best way to quote different lines of the comic. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:31, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
Oh, now they work again. ;) [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:31, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

;Chategories not yet included
Should they be?
*I have seen the word Raptor mentioned - so should velociraptor be a chategory? [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:21, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
*Cueball? I.e. the politician on the right? [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:28, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

;Images
I created [[1350: Lorenz/Images]] with all the images I could find in the comic. I'm not sure if I should have left them in the main page [[1350: Lorenz]], but feel free to decide what to do with them. Also, I tried using the tag <nowiki><gallery></nowiki>, but I couldn't make it work, so I used a lot of divs. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 23:23, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
:Great idea - just what I hoped someone would and could do. Thanks ;) Is it easy to add new images to the page if they show up? [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:32, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
::You're welcome! :) It's pretty easy... I explained in the images page how exactly you would save a new image if they show up. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 13:52, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
:Can see there keep appearing new images from the text above. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:39, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for this work, but nobody knows if this is complete. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:49, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

;Many-worlds interpretation

The title text "Every choice, no matter how small, begins a new story" might as well be a hint to Hugh Everett III 's "Many-worlds interpretation"
of quantum theory. {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.74}}
:Except that the title is Lorenz a direct reference to the guy with the butterfly effect... [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:37, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
::Can't it be both? The Butterfly Effect can be seen as one consequence of the Many-Worlds interpretation. A choice as simple as whether (or where) a butterfly flaps its wings can send our entire universe down a different timeline, in which a hurricane occurs. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.49|108.162.216.49]] 19:46, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1350: Lorenz

2014-04-04T01:48:39Z

141.101.88.211:

I've had the story loop back to the first frame, so it wouldn't surprise me if this could go on infinitely if it had the available dialogue options.

This is going to be a hell of a thing. Good luck... [[User:H|H]] ([[User talk:H|talk]]) 15:39, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:I think this is one of those times when the custom field might come in handy. Duplicating Randall's code seems like it might be difficult, and it might just be easier to link to the original page. Probably. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 15:47, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
::I think it should just show a screenshot of the initial image and options [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.61|173.245.50.61]] 02:49, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

There's always new story lines, even when you think you've read them all, new ones appear to replace them. I don't think it'll ever be possible to record them all. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.192|108.162.212.192]] 15:55, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:The text changes, but there are recurring themes with the panels. The rocket, the big hole, the little hole, Dinosaurcomics, pokemon, waking up, stranded swimming.........[[User:H|H]] ([[User talk:H|talk]]) 18:03, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

When I go to XKCD, all I see is the comic from Monday... weird. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:45, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:Same here... and a lot of space below it. [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 17:43, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:: I think that happens when you have refreshed the page too many time -- kind of an anti spam for user submissions. I simply create an anonymous browser window and I got back to the real page once xkcd was not able to track me as a returning user. [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 17:59, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

Currently there appears to be a bug. Instead of the evolving, crowd-sourced comic, I just see an off-center copy of the previous comic, 1349: Shouldn't Be Hard. [http://i.imgur.com/pw2OfOL.png Screenshot here].
UPDATE: it appears to be a bug in the XSRF-blocking code. Chrome console shows me the error "XMLHttpRequest cannot load http://c1.xkcd.com/graph/1/. The 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' header has a value 'http://xkcd.com' that is not equal to the supplied origin. Origin 'http://www.xkcd.com' is therefore not allowed access."
FURTHER UPDATE: you can work around this bug by going to http://xkcd.com instead of http://www.xkcd.com!
It also doesn't work if you have HTTPS Everywhere enabled.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.38|108.162.216.38]] 16:46, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

** I can confirm this bug in Firefox. Weirdly, the work-around functioned one time for me, but now going to "xkcd.com" rather than "www.xkcd.com" just gives me a copy of 1349 as well. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.180|199.27.130.180]] 17:40, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:The workaround didn't work for me, I still got monday's comic on either URL. (Chromium 36.0.1919.0 (260611), Mac OS 10.9.2) [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 17:45, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:Same here. Used IE and Firefox. Removed the "www." and haven't. (Never used https:// at all.) Tried InPrivate (and FF equivalent) browsers. Gone into the code and can't even fudge it manually from ''<nowiki><div id="comic"><img src="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/shouldnt_be_hard.png" title="Every choice, no matter how small, begins a new story." alt="Lorenz" /> <script type="text/javascript">Bernardo.comic({el: $('#comic')})
</script></div></nowiki>'', and the rest, manually. (Indeed, that shows why I get 1349's "shouldn't be hard" image, by default.) Pity. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.224|141.101.89.224]] 02:25, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

This comic introduced(?) a font of its own of Randalls comic type. I don't know if it has been sitting there for long, but I just noticed it: http://xkcd.com/fonts/xkcd-Regular.eot -- phiarc [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.12|108.162.219.12]] 17:20, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:Is it the same as was used in Externalities? [[User:H|H]] ([[User talk:H|talk]]) 18:00, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

Does everyone have these options in some order for the first tile?
*Refresh... No New Email... Refresh .. No New Tweets... Refresh...
*These Stupid Tiles... I'll Just Play One More Game
*Oh. Hey. There's Some Kind Of Politicial Thing Going On.
*Let's See If BSD Is Any Easier to Install Nowadays
--[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:54, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

:If so, we can begin to build a map of at least the first set of options before the crowd-sourced ones. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:56, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
::Yes, though the second-tier options have changed [[User:H|H]] ([[User talk:H|talk]]) 18:00, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:::The first level options may be constant (Im seeing the same as Jeff), but I suspect that the following options is based on some sort of ckick though statitics / machine learning -- which means that the will continue to change until Randall closes off the 'voting' -- if [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1193:_Externalities 1193: Externalities] is anything to go by that should be within the next 24-48 hours, at which point automating the collection of story lines may be possible. [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 18:11, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:::: I'm going to transcript some of what I get at least through the first few levels and then we can start with a list of options for those who don't want to go through them all. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:37, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
::::: I have no idea how one would do this, but it would be cool to render the transcript as a tree of some sort; having one vertical list will be hard to follow for more than a few decisions. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.180|199.27.130.180]] 00:14, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
::::::New initial option! I just got "Hurry! We're in talks with Facebook." In place of the "refresh" option. http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:2b330d48-bb01-11e3-8003-002590d77bdd --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.8|108.162.242.8]] 23:15, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

Ohh, this comic is buggy and the link here at the top gives just the page from Monday, showing errors on debuggers. But removing the WWW from URL helps. Further more I can't see that the result of the choices is dynamic. So let's prove this. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:33, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
: Have a look at http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/2/2b/lorenz_combination1.png and http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/9/9a/lorenz_combination2.png and you can see the option orders are changing -- this is a typical artifact of A/B testing where randomization of options is needed to avoid selection bias. I have futher observed "your car is on fire" instead of the "dinosaur" option, hence not only the orders are channging but the content as well -- maybe somebody else can capture this. [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 22:08, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

How are new dialogue suggestions approved? Are they random, by popular vote (unlikely, not very many people would suggest the same thing), or is Randall approving them one by one? [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 20:26, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
: They may not need to be explicitly approved at all -- one of the beutiful things about click though measures is that the public '''votes''' for what is good by clicking -- this is also a factor in search ranking by your favorite search engine where statistics are driving the entire show -- in a search engine some input to the statistical process comes from the web pages, but other comes from what people are actually clicking [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 22:14, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

What is this a screenshot of? It's zoomed out so far. http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:5b5bd04e-b9d6-11e3-8008-002590d77bdd [[User:Haithere|Haithere]] ([[User talk:Haithere|talk]]) 20:39, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
: you mean this : http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/Rl92nFEWd9huvXABNkHKHg.png ? [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 22:20, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:: It appears to be a screen shot from a flight simulator program of some sort, however im not able to tell which, and since it is most likely an 'in-game' screen short we will never find out unless somebody else is playing this precises flight simulator program [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 22:37, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:: I am not certain, but I strongly suspect that is Kerbal Space Program {{unsigned ip|108.162.242.111}}
::: it really is Kerbal Space Program, or KSP for short {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.65}}
:::: found this image from KSP http://i.imgur.com/UofvQ.png [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 09:07, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

A transcript is going to be futile. It appears as though the comic may go on indefinitely (I've definitely had some branches continue extending until I've seen frames that were present in other branches). I suspect what's happening here is that... options are "suggested", and those suggestions are displayed at random to people. The ones with the most clickthroughs begin to appear more often, until eventually the top 4 are "locked in" and no more suggestions can be made. Very creative! But I'm not convinced that Randall is making frames in near-real-time, nor am I even convinced he's part of the approval process at all. I suspect it's all automated. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.28|108.162.215.28]] 00:29, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

It seems it is possible to have the same option appear twice in the first panel. http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:be7a3304-b685-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.48|173.245.54.48]] 10:27, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
: They are not the same options -- the text differes where one option has "I'll" with a captal I and the other option is 'i'll' with a lowercase I -- I guess some prankster submitted a very similar text and somehow that got included. The branching also differs for the two options. [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 17:12, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

Is it still supposed to work or was it turned off? All I see is Monday comics ... and no errors in firebug console. Oh, wait, there is javascript error:
Timestamp: 04/02/14 12:56:21
Error: TypeError: this.$lastPanel is null
Source File: http://xkcd.com/1350/bernardo.min.js
Line: 2 -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:03, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
: It still works for me -- try to clear your cookies or use an anonymous window or go to xkcd.com (no www no https) or some of the other helpful suggestions on this page to overcome some of the buggy nature of this page. [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 17:12, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

tl;dr, but I applaud Randall's creativity. Added to the Colossal time sinks category. ''– [[User:Tbc|tbc]] ([[User talk:Tbc|talk]]) 13:15, 2 April 2014 (UTC)''

Has it restarted? It used to work just fine on my browser but now only the first panel is available, after clicking an option it said my suggestion has been submitted. Great when it works though, thanks Randal. Jet_proppeled_elephant[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.35|108.162.219.35]] 14:53, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

It feels like there are a bunch of "dead-end panels", that we never really get past. One example the "bright background" strip, in which we only see the shadows of the two characters. Nobody seems to care what happens after those. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.8|108.162.245.8]] 18:59, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

I found a Dinosaur Comics reference, permalink: http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:3d243960-b9b6-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd
Has this been found before?
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.73|173.245.55.73]] 20:08, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

I don't have time to do it myself, but most of the space images from this path are not in the images page. http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:6490cc4a-b9f0-11e3-8009-002590d77bdd
[[User:Zweisteine|Zweisteine]] ([[User talk:Zweisteine|talk]]) 23:33, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
:Ok, I'm gonna add those. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 23:38, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
Great! And now I found another: Pikachu uses Ethylene Dichloride. http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:6f59d766-ba95-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd
I'll add it to the but about pikachu in the comic, but the pictures are up to someone else.[[User:Zweisteine|Zweisteine]] ([[User talk:Zweisteine|talk]]) 23:47, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

Slightly different space path, in which the rocket expodes: http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:dd99ea0e-ba04-11e3-8017-002590d77bdd [[User:Zweisteine|Zweisteine]] ([[User talk:Zweisteine|talk]]) 23:59, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

:Good. I've finished adding all images that you mentioned. Also, the two last images of the slightly different space path were not in the images page, now I added them too. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 00:14, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

Pikachu died! Radicality failed -> Pikachu in shock! http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:5c565bf2-ba05-11e3-8017-002590d77bdd --eternia 7:33, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
:Pikachu uses Graph Theory. How is that not effective?! http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:52f2389c-baaf-11e3-801f-002590d77bdd --eternia 7:47, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
::Pikachu uses Ant Colony. Uwah... http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:2b707ed6-ba97-11e3-8006-002590d77bdd --eternia 8:02, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
:::1 shark instead of 3. http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:9ba111ee-ba96-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd --eternia 8:14, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
::::0 sharks. http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:e0e4d984-baaf-11e3-8026-002590d77bdd --eternia 8:17, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
:::::I'm gonna add those too. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 12:41, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

Are there any panels that have two speech bubbles that are not dead ends? It seems that there are never any options for the second bubble, and sometimes the first bubble has options that would fit in the second bubble after the other options for the first bubble. Maybe submissions for the second bubble accidentally end up in the first instead? Another bug? [[User:Zweisteine|Zweisteine]] ([[User talk:Zweisteine|talk]]) 23:56, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

We need some place to discuss certain issues. I give it a shot below [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:10, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
;Transcipt discussion
;Design
*What about four transcripts - one for each of the four first original choices?
*Should these transcripts be on a separate page? It becomes tedious to scroll to the discussion page...[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:13, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
*Could we use the hide option so you only see the options from the first panel. Then you unhide to see the next panel etc. This would be a little like the comic and would make it much easier to read and it would not be such a long page! [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:35, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
*:I'm working on the hide option. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 15:14, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
*::I now implemented the hide option. It looks good! in my opinion. It should be easy to edit. It would be too much work to convert the whole thing to the collapsible version so, sorry but I just removed the whole thing and started from the very beginning. This[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1350:_Lorenz&oldid=64245] is the link to the old version, in case anyone wants to help converting it to the collapsible version. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 16:46, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

;Characters
*Where does the name Dave come from for the hairy guy who comes in after the first panel? I can see it once in the transcript - but it is said by White hat the sales guy. I'm not sure it is his name and the chatagory for hairy is assigned to the comic! [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:16, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
** Also he is called Dave here: http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:3b1a226e-b9c6-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 21:37, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
*Hat guy? Is it a hat? Is there not a better English word for the type of "hat" worn by the main character from the first panel? It is not a hat like white or black hat! [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:18, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
** I named him Hat Guy originally to make things easier. Feel free to change the name, I guess :) Knit Cap Guy, maybe? If a change is warranted, a simple search-and-replace should do it. Also, I'm not sure it's a guy or a girl... But the previous text was also treating him as male to begin with, anyway. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 21:36, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
*Is the right politician = Cueball?
*Who is the left? [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:23, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

Isn't is likely that the characters only have names given to them by us readers in our suggestions? They don't necessarily have constant names. [[User:Zweisteine|Zweisteine]] ([[User talk:Zweisteine|talk]]) 23:33, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

Exactly my point. I think we should stick with hairy guy and maybe Knit Cap Guy! [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:28, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

:I see you already changed Hat Guy to Knit Cap Guy and Dave to Hairy. Knit Cap Guy is a nice name. Originally, I would disagree with you and insist we should stick to Dave because that's what the character is called in one storyline of the strip itself, but I see he is also called Frank in other timeline. Since he has multiple names, using just Hairy is better in my opinion, too. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 12:40, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

Knit Cap Guy is probably a Girl. Just sayin'. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.28|173.245.52.28]] 12:22, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

:Probably! Originally I thought it was Megan with a knit cap on. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 12:40, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

It IS a girl! http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:1e4325a2-baaf-11e3-801f-002590d77bdd [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.66|173.245.48.66]] 21:44, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

;Other
*Seems like the permalink at the top of the transcript does not work for me anymore - then they will be useless! Else they are the best way to quote different lines of the comic. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:31, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
Oh, now they work again. ;) [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:31, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

;Chategories not yet included
Should they be?
*I have seen the word Raptor mentioned - so should velociraptor be a chategory? [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:21, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
*Cueball? I.e. the politician on the right? [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:28, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

;Images
I created [[1350: Lorenz/Images]] with all the images I could find in the comic. I'm not sure if I should have left them in the main page [[1350: Lorenz]], but feel free to decide what to do with them. Also, I tried using the tag <nowiki><gallery></nowiki>, but I couldn't make it work, so I used a lot of divs. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 23:23, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
:Great idea - just what I hoped someone would and could do. Thanks ;) Is it easy to add new images to the page if they show up? [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:32, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
::You're welcome! :) It's pretty easy... I explained in the images page how exactly you would save a new image if they show up. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 13:52, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
:Can see there keep appearing new images from the text above. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:39, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for this work, but nobody knows if this is complete. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:49, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

There's a change for us still-bugged people (well, me at least). The "show previous comic" part is gone. It shows a blank area (instead of Comic 1349 and a blank area of the same size) and the page-source shows that the ''<nowiki><img src="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/shouldnt_be_hard.png" title="Every choice, no matter how small, begins a new story." alt="Lorenz" /></nowiki>'' part has now been excised from the page. That's on Javascript-enabled, cookie-enabled Firefox ''and'' IE browsers, and every valid URL configuration one can think of (including shift-refreshing to force redownloading, just in case it was page-cache issues as well). I'll update the Bugs section of the explanation page with a summary of that, if you don't mind. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.211|141.101.88.211]] 01:48, 4 April 2014 (UTC)

;Many-worlds interpretation

The title text "Every choice, no matter how small, begins a new story" might as well be a hint to Hugh Everett III 's "Many-worlds interpretation"
of quantum theory. {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.74}}
:Except that the title is Lorenz a direct reference to the guy with the butterfly effect... [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:37, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
::Can't it be both? The Butterfly Effect can be seen as one consequence of the Many-Worlds interpretation. A choice as simple as whether (or where) a butterfly flaps its wings can send our entire universe down a different timeline, in which a hurricane occurs. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.49|108.162.216.49]] 19:46, 3 April 2014 (UTC)