explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3017: Neutrino Modem

2024-11-28T14:00:56Z

141.101.96.41:

If someone wants to describe the logo on the Neutrino Modem in the transcript, have at it. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:42, 27 November 2024 (UTC)

I wonder how long it took Cueball to send and receive enough packets to be able to calculate that average ping time? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:47, 27 November 2024 (UTC)

If you ping every IPv4 address on the planet once a second, 3-4 packets will be received per day. Unfortunately, the packet loss is bidirectional, so your chance of hearing the reply is equally low. So maybe when the earth is 16 times older than it is now you will have a reply. [[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 23:13, 27 November 2024 (UTC)

That packet loss rate (detecting only 1 in 100 trillion) is actually a very high rate of neutrino detection, isn't it? And that's assuming a "packet" is a single neutrino. [[User:DKMell|DKMell]] ([[User talk:DKMell|talk]]) 23:33, 27 November 2024 (UTC)
:Ah, yes, just added something about that. Going by (confirmable) solar-neutrino detection rates, because I couldn't work with figures for generated/detected neutrino streams (and, besides, you might then have {{w|2011 OPERA faster-than-light neutrino anomaly|FTL latency times!}} :D ), it seemed that we're detecting hundreds of events ''per day'' in "cubic kilometre" detectors which would be being hit by perhaps 60-65 million neutrinos ''per second per square centimetre'' so I don't think it's far wrong (scaling up to the square face of the cube, over a full day) to suggest one in 50 long-Trillion (or 50 short-sextillion) neutrinos is identifiably captured. The rates might be better for merely "several olympic swimming pools of fluid" detectors, so I fudged it rather than talk of 1018ish rates with respect to the 1014ish ones quoted. (Which, because it is at least ''two'' neutrinos, one there and one back (with magically implied Ping Request/Ping Response status), is more like two 107ish rates anyway, in order that the neutrino-spamming is equally intense from either side in order to attempt to minimally convey a message... Could still be short-trillions sent, one ping request detected, short-trillions replied to that one as a similar 'overkill', yet one valid returnee received.)
:But if I'm overestimating (or underusing, on the flipside) anything by an order of magnitude or three, then it still doesn't really change the comparison. The numbers are still huge. We don't even know the transmission bandwidth, just that somehow Ping-Request then Ping-Reply (and no other ACKing and handshaking or OSI Physical Layer overheads, never mind other layer 2, 3 and 4 fine details) happened at practically the speed of light regardless of the necessary near-simultaneous spamming of attempts that the boxes that each endpoint concerned must have to juggle when prodded accordingly. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.96.41|141.101.96.41]] 14:00, 28 November 2024 (UTC)

The explanation says that it's Blondie floating behind Cueball, but I think it's actually Ponytail. [[User:PDesbeginner|PDesbeginner]] ([[User talk:PDesbeginner|talk]]) 01:58, 28 November 2024 (UTC)

Why do I have the feeling that the sysadmin from the title text is the same as in [[705: Devotion to Duty]]? --[[User:Frog23|Frog23]] ([[User talk:Frog23|talk]]) 12:20, 28 November 2024 (UTC)

2532: Censored Vaccine Card

2021-11-03T06:26:04Z

141.101.96.41: /* Numerical trivia */ more Wikipedia links

{{comic
| number = 2532
| date = October 22, 2021
| title = Censored Vaccine Card
| image = censored_vaccine_card.png
| titletext = CVS's pharmacies are fine, but I much prefer their [censored]s.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a B?T. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic is another entry in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] related to the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic|2020-21 pandemic}} of the {{w|SARS-CoV-2}} virus, which causes {{w|COVID-19}}, specifically regarding the [[:Category:COVID-19 vaccine|COVID-19 vaccine]].

The comic hinges on the sharing of vaccination card photos on social media as proof that the user has been vaccinated against COVID-19 (in this case, gotten a {{w|Booster dose|booster shot}}, a third dose of the vaccine). When people in the United States first started receiving their vaccine shots, a large number of them shared photos of the CDC vaccination proof cards that they received alongside the vaccines; it was enough of a trend that the {{w|Federal Trade Commission|FTC}} released an official statement warning vaccine recipients [https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2021/02/social-media-no-place-covid-19-vaccination-cards not to share photos], due to the cards containing {{w|Personal data|personal identification}} that probably should not be made public.

The irony here is that [[Randall]] has {{w|Sanitization (classified information)|"censored"}} (redacted) some impersonal lines, such as the instructions that are identical on all vaccination cards, and many easy-to-guess lines, while not censoring any of said personal information.
Considering the date of the 3rd dose (one day prior to the comic's uploading), it is likely that the blackouts in the last line are only covering whitespace.

Another possible reference here is to the practice of filing for {{w|Freedom of Information Act (United States)|FOIA}} requests that has been getting more popular in recent years, with sites like muckrock.com developing to support it. These requests provide for citizens to view the contents of government files, but the files first go through a process of redaction via solid black rectangles. The information that is redacted can seem random, ridiculous, and frustrating, and be a source of legal action.

The caption indicates that his intention is to "seem more mysterious". This is best exemplified by blanking most of the word "clinician" to leave the acronym "{{w|Central Intelligence Agency|CIA}}", referring to a US government agency known for its frequently "mysterious" (classified) activity, as well as its liberal use of redaction like that in the comic.

[[File:CDC_COVID-19_Vaccination_Record_Card.jpg|thumb|300px|A real and appropriately censored CDC vaccination record.]]

The "19" in COVID-19 is systematically censored in the comic. This is humorous because currently COVID-19 is the only thing that could be meant by "COVID-[anything]", and so the redaction is pointless. This may also be intended, in the interest of mystery, to imply some future outbreak of a similar disease (given an identifier based on the year of its inception).

The sentence at the top of the card, which appears once in English and once in Spanish, has equivalent portions redacted in both languages:
* "medical information" and "the vaccines you have received" in the English version, and
* "información médica" and "las vacunas que ha recibido" in the Spanish.
This is the first comic including a sentence (or, given the censorship, at least a good portion of one) in Spanish.

{{w|CVS Pharmacy}} is a pharmacy chain in the US which provides COVID-19 vaccinations. CVS #05309 is in Pineville, LA, while Randall lives in Massachusetts; it is not clear why he would have received his first vaccine dose in Louisiana.

The title text comments on the "Provider or clinic site" of the second dose on the card. Where the word "pharmacy" appears in the previous row (and would be on a real card), it is censored in the comic. The most reasonable assumption is that the word is still "pharmacy" and that Randall has simply chosen to redact that instance for some reason, but the title text humorously implies that it was in fact some ''other'' CVS-related venture where he got his second dose, for instance a "CVS Parking lot" or perhaps an {{w|anti-submarine warfare carrier}}.

CVS's parent company, {{w|CVS Health}}, does have other enterprises with compatible names: {{w|CVS Caremark}} and {{w|CVS Health#CVS Specialty|CVS Specialty}}. However, neither of these provide COVID-19 vaccinations.

===Numerical trivia===
Randall's patient number is the 2nd to 9th digits of the fractional part of the decimal expansion of {{w|pi}} inclusively: 41592653.

The lot numbers of the first and second doses allude to two numbers that appear frequently in Star Wars and other works related to George Lucas: {{w|THX 1138#Etymology and references|1138}}, and {{w|21-87#Influence on George Lucas|2187}}. The lot number of the third dose is the {{w|1729 (number)|Ramanujan-Hardy number}}.

The Clinician number for the first shot is the last 4 digits of the phone number for {{w|867-5309/Jenny|"Jenny" 867-5309}}, which has been entered into communication technology by a massive number of people.

Given the reasonable assumption{{citation needed}} that the partially censored year relates to the twentieth century, the date of birth on the card corresponds to that given in the acknowledged [[Randall_Munroe#Timeline|timeline]] for Randall. The censorship of that specific part of his date of birth might be related to the fact that the number "19" has been systematically redacted on the card. Another interpretation is that Randall is implying he is either over one hundred years old or a time traveler, although neither is likely to be true.{{citation needed}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Profile picture of a Cueball's head and shoulders, with unreadable lines of text to the right.]
:Check it out, I just got my booster!

:[Picture of the U.S. COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card attached on a media post. The card includes pre-printed information in black and handwritten information in blue, the latter indicated here by bold text. Some of the text has been blacked out, indicated here by "[censored]".]

:COVID-[censored] Vaccination record card
:[At the upper right of the card appears the logo of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a stylized eagle surrounded by the words "Department of Health & Human Services USA", although those words are not legible in this drawing. Next to that appears the logo of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a shaded box with the letters "CDC" and the words "Centers for Disease Control and [censored]" below it.]

:Please keep this record card, which includes [censored]
:about [censored]
:Por favor, guarde esta tarjeta de registro, que incluye [censored]
:[censored] sobre [censored]

:'''Munroe''' '''Randall'''
----
:Last Name First Name

:'''10-17-[censored]84''' '''41592653'''
----
:Date of birth Patient number

:[A table fills the remainder of the card. It has four columns and five rows. The first row gives the column names:]
:Vaccine. Manufacturer lot number. Date. Provider or clinic site.
:[The rest of the rows have been filled out. Each "date" cell also includes pre-printed "MM DD YY" below the line where the date is written.]
:1st dose COVID-[censored]. '''Pfizer ER1138'''. '''04'''/'''01'''/'''21'''. '''CVS Pharmacy Clinician #5309'''.
:2nd dose COVID-[censored]. '''Pfizer ES2187'''. '''04'''/'''22'''/'''21'''. '''CVS''' [censored] [censored].
:Other. '''3rd dose''' [censored] '''FH1729'''. '''10'''/'''21'''/'''21'''. [censored] [censored] [censored]'''CIA'''[censored].
:Other. [censored]. [censored]/[censored]/[censored]. [censored].

:[Caption below panel:]
:Security tip: To seem more mysterious, try censoring only ''non''-identifying information.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:COVID-19 vaccine]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]

2532: Censored Vaccine Card

2021-11-03T06:15:25Z

141.101.96.41: /* Numerical trivia */ Wikipedia link

{{comic
| number = 2532
| date = October 22, 2021
| title = Censored Vaccine Card
| image = censored_vaccine_card.png
| titletext = CVS's pharmacies are fine, but I much prefer their [censored]s.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a B?T. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic is another entry in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] related to the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic|2020-21 pandemic}} of the {{w|SARS-CoV-2}} virus, which causes {{w|COVID-19}}, specifically regarding the [[:Category:COVID-19 vaccine|COVID-19 vaccine]].

The comic hinges on the sharing of vaccination card photos on social media as proof that the user has been vaccinated against COVID-19 (in this case, gotten a {{w|Booster dose|booster shot}}, a third dose of the vaccine). When people in the United States first started receiving their vaccine shots, a large number of them shared photos of the CDC vaccination proof cards that they received alongside the vaccines; it was enough of a trend that the {{w|Federal Trade Commission|FTC}} released an official statement warning vaccine recipients [https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2021/02/social-media-no-place-covid-19-vaccination-cards not to share photos], due to the cards containing {{w|Personal data|personal identification}} that probably should not be made public.

The irony here is that [[Randall]] has {{w|Sanitization (classified information)|"censored"}} (redacted) some impersonal lines, such as the instructions that are identical on all vaccination cards, and many easy-to-guess lines, while not censoring any of said personal information.
Considering the date of the 3rd dose (one day prior to the comic's uploading), it is likely that the blackouts in the last line are only covering whitespace.

Another possible reference here is to the practice of filing for {{w|Freedom of Information Act (United States)|FOIA}} requests that has been getting more popular in recent years, with sites like muckrock.com developing to support it. These requests provide for citizens to view the contents of government files, but the files first go through a process of redaction via solid black rectangles. The information that is redacted can seem random, ridiculous, and frustrating, and be a source of legal action.

The caption indicates that his intention is to "seem more mysterious". This is best exemplified by blanking most of the word "clinician" to leave the acronym "{{w|Central Intelligence Agency|CIA}}", referring to a US government agency known for its frequently "mysterious" (classified) activity, as well as its liberal use of redaction like that in the comic.

[[File:CDC_COVID-19_Vaccination_Record_Card.jpg|thumb|300px|A real and appropriately censored CDC vaccination record.]]

The "19" in COVID-19 is systematically censored in the comic. This is humorous because currently COVID-19 is the only thing that could be meant by "COVID-[anything]", and so the redaction is pointless. This may also be intended, in the interest of mystery, to imply some future outbreak of a similar disease (given an identifier based on the year of its inception).

The sentence at the top of the card, which appears once in English and once in Spanish, has equivalent portions redacted in both languages:
* "medical information" and "the vaccines you have received" in the English version, and
* "información médica" and "las vacunas que ha recibido" in the Spanish.
This is the first comic including a sentence (or, given the censorship, at least a good portion of one) in Spanish.

{{w|CVS Pharmacy}} is a pharmacy chain in the US which provides COVID-19 vaccinations. CVS #05309 is in Pineville, LA, while Randall lives in Massachusetts; it is not clear why he would have received his first vaccine dose in Louisiana.

The title text comments on the "Provider or clinic site" of the second dose on the card. Where the word "pharmacy" appears in the previous row (and would be on a real card), it is censored in the comic. The most reasonable assumption is that the word is still "pharmacy" and that Randall has simply chosen to redact that instance for some reason, but the title text humorously implies that it was in fact some ''other'' CVS-related venture where he got his second dose, for instance a "CVS Parking lot" or perhaps an {{w|anti-submarine warfare carrier}}.

CVS's parent company, {{w|CVS Health}}, does have other enterprises with compatible names: {{w|CVS Caremark}} and {{w|CVS Health#CVS Specialty|CVS Specialty}}. However, neither of these provide COVID-19 vaccinations.

===Numerical trivia===
Randall's patient number is the 2nd to 9th digits of the fractional part of the decimal expansion of {{w|pi}} inclusively: 41592653.

The lot numbers of the first and second doses allude to two numbers that appear frequently in Star Wars and other works related to George Lucas: 1138, and 2187. The lot number of the third dose is the {{w|1729 (number)|Ramanujan-Hardy number}}.

The Clinician number for the first shot is the last 4 digits of the phone number for {{w|867-5309/Jenny|"Jenny" 867-5309}}, which has been entered into communication technology by a massive number of people.

Given the reasonable assumption{{citation needed}} that the partially censored year relates to the twentieth century, the date of birth on the card corresponds to that given in the acknowledged [[Randall_Munroe#Timeline|timeline]] for Randall. The censorship of that specific part of his date of birth might be related to the fact that the number "19" has been systematically redacted on the card. Another interpretation is that Randall is implying he is either over one hundred years old or a time traveler, although neither is likely to be true.{{citation needed}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Profile picture of a Cueball's head and shoulders, with unreadable lines of text to the right.]
:Check it out, I just got my booster!

:[Picture of the U.S. COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card attached on a media post. The card includes pre-printed information in black and handwritten information in blue, the latter indicated here by bold text. Some of the text has been blacked out, indicated here by "[censored]".]

:COVID-[censored] Vaccination record card
:[At the upper right of the card appears the logo of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a stylized eagle surrounded by the words "Department of Health & Human Services USA", although those words are not legible in this drawing. Next to that appears the logo of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a shaded box with the letters "CDC" and the words "Centers for Disease Control and [censored]" below it.]

:Please keep this record card, which includes [censored]
:about [censored]
:Por favor, guarde esta tarjeta de registro, que incluye [censored]
:[censored] sobre [censored]

:'''Munroe''' '''Randall'''
----
:Last Name First Name

:'''10-17-[censored]84''' '''41592653'''
----
:Date of birth Patient number

:[A table fills the remainder of the card. It has four columns and five rows. The first row gives the column names:]
:Vaccine. Manufacturer lot number. Date. Provider or clinic site.
:[The rest of the rows have been filled out. Each "date" cell also includes pre-printed "MM DD YY" below the line where the date is written.]
:1st dose COVID-[censored]. '''Pfizer ER1138'''. '''04'''/'''01'''/'''21'''. '''CVS Pharmacy Clinician #5309'''.
:2nd dose COVID-[censored]. '''Pfizer ES2187'''. '''04'''/'''22'''/'''21'''. '''CVS''' [censored] [censored].
:Other. '''3rd dose''' [censored] '''FH1729'''. '''10'''/'''21'''/'''21'''. [censored] [censored] [censored]'''CIA'''[censored].
:Other. [censored]. [censored]/[censored]/[censored]. [censored].

:[Caption below panel:]
:Security tip: To seem more mysterious, try censoring only ''non''-identifying information.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:COVID-19 vaccine]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]

2509: Useful Geometry Formulas

2021-08-31T06:55:40Z

141.101.96.41:

{{comic
| number = 2509
| date = August 30, 2021
| title = Useful Geometry Formulas
| image = useful_geometry_formulas.png
| titletext = Geometry textbooks always try to trick you by adding decorative stripes and dotted lines.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an AREA OF A CIRCLE IN A SPHERE. Explain the formulas for each of the areas, and also the correct formula for the 3D object they seems to represent. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic showcases area formulae for four two-dimensional geometric shapes which each have extra dotted and/or solid lines making them look like illustrations for 3-dimensional objects - the first, a simple equation for a circle, the second an equation for a triangle with an elliptical base, the third an equation for a rectangle with an elliptical base and top, and the fourth a hexagon consisting of two right angled congruent corners and two congruent diagonal lines connecting them. In each case, only the outlines of each shape have any practical meaning.

Such illustrations are commonly found in geometry textbooks, which need to depict three-dimensional figures on a two-dimensional page using dashed lines to indicate a line occluded by the solid. The joke is that the formulae are for the area of each two-dimensional shape as drawn, not for the surface area or volume of the illustrated 3D object (as would be shown in the geometry textbook). And that the text books just add the "decorative" stripes and dotted lines to trick the reader, as stated in the title text.

In reading order they are a circle (illustrating a sphere), a triangle combined with a half-ellipse (illustrating a cone), a rectangle with two half-ellipses (illustrating a cylinder) and a convex 6-sided polygon with parallel sides and two right angle corners (illustrating a rectangular prism).

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

[[Category:Math]]

Talk:2508: Circumappendiceal Somectomy

2021-08-30T11:05:06Z

141.101.96.41:

Please please please leave in the [citation needed] after "it is unlikely to get appendicitis without an appendix" :) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.119|172.70.114.119]] 01:29, 28 August 2021 (UTC)
:Sure - this time Randall is even himself uncertain! ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:01, 28 August 2021 (UTC)
::Hey, but we've already got a citation (reference to a science paper in the last sentence of the explanation) -- [[Special:Contributions/141.101.96.41|141.101.96.41]] 11:05, 30 August 2021 (UTC)

Removing the body around an appendix? That's easy, I can do that. Someone just point me to where the appendix is and how it looks and I'll cut away everything around it. Also, it sounds like the consciousness would remain in the appendix, which would likely not be very comfortable. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 12:42, 28 August 2021 (UTC)
:That reminds me of the apocryphal quote by Michaelangelo, that he got a big block of marble and chipped away everything that didn't look like David. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 13:03, 28 August 2021 (UTC)
::I considered making that same reference (except that I didn't know who said it), but the final argument against it was that I couldn't find the correct term for that art form, so I couldn't say what I was talking about. In German it's "Bildhauerei". All the translation websites only give me "sculpture", but I'm trying to talk about the process, not the product. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 16:44, 28 August 2021 (UTC)
:::That would be "Sculpting" --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.102.195|172.68.102.195]] 17:36, 28 August 2021 (UTC)

:Yes: While theoretically, removing body from appendix and removing appendix from body are just two description of same thing, practically there is difference in which part is supposed to remain functional afterwards: removing body from around the appendix may result in the body ending up in multiple pieces. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 01:55, 29 August 2021 (UTC)

:We should really have a medicine category, for all the medical comics, like this one. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.98.45|172.70.98.45]] 06:30, 29 August 2021 (UTC)
::Good idea! --[[User:GcGYSF(asterisk)P(vertical line)e|GcGYSF(asterisk)P(vertical line)e]] ([[User talk:GcGYSF(asterisk)P(vertical line)e|talk]]) 07:31, 29 August 2021 (UTC)
:::Yes, could be a good idea, but should is just be called Medicine? Is there some other better name? Healthcare or something? Medicine sound just like the pills you would get from the doctor, but maybe that is just because I'm not native English speaker. Also which comics to include? There could be many, but as for instance with a category for spiders, there is no easy way to search for those that should be included in this new category. Please feel free to add examples here below (oh and how many of the covid comics would be about medicine? Not all I guess so cannot just add that category).)--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:40, 30 August 2021 (UTC)

Reminds me this Dilbert comic: https://dilbert.com/strip/2005-05-23. Replacing all of your parts isn't difficult if you do them all at once. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 16:10, 29 August 2021 (UTC)