explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2003: Presidential Succession

2024-12-13T21:19:29Z

141.101.98.180: /* List of specific individuals */ Presuming that update is correct (haven't checked), also needs update to reference year.

{{comic
| number = 2003
| date = June 6, 2018
| title = Presidential Succession
| image = presidential_succession.png
| titletext = Ties are broken by whoever was closest to the surface of Europa when they were born.
}}

==Explanation==
The {{w|United States presidential line of succession}} is the order of people who serve as president if the current incumbent president is incapacitated, dies, resigns, or is removed from office. The {{w|Presidential Succession Act#Presidential Succession Act of 1947|Presidential Succession Act of 1947}} revised the presidential order of succession to its current order. This Act, though never challenged in the courts, may not be constitutional for two reasons. First, the Act names two members of Congress as successors. There are fundamental questions as to whether this violates the principle of Separation of Powers. The second issue is that the Act allows for anyone skipped over for succession to later assume the office if circumstances change to allow them to hold it. This would mean that the person in question could effectively unseat a sitting President, which raises serious constitutional issues.

There are also practical concerns regarding the Act. The line of succession includes all members of the Cabinet in the order that their department was established, with the oldest departments first. No consideration is given to which departments would be most relevant to the Presidency, particularly considering that this type of succession would presumably involve a serious crisis, which the new president would need to be able to address immediately. The Department of Homeland Security is in charge of the security and protection of the United States and its citizens and would probably already be privy to sensitive intelligence and briefings related to national security, but because it is the latest of the Departments to have been established (in 2003), the Secretary of Homeland Security is last in the current Presidential line of succession, behind Secretaries in much less sensitive roles, such as those of Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, and Education. Another concern is that, by including members of Congress immediately after the Vice President, there is a serious risk that the simultaneous death of the President and Vice President could cause the Presidency to change to the opposing party, which could lead to serious political instability at the precise moment when the country is facing a national crisis. It even presents the possibility that simultaneous assassinations of the President and Vice President could function as an effective coup, shifting power to their opponents.

Finally, there is the issue that, usually, everyone in the line of succession lives and works in Washington D.C. Hence, a sufficiently destructive attack or natural disaster impacting the city could realistically incapacitate all of them, leaving the USA leaderless at a time of extreme crisis. It is already established practice in the USA that everyone in this line not gather together at once. In cases where most senior government officials gather (such as the {{w| State of the Union}}), at least one member of the line of succession (referred to as the "designated survivor") is secured off-site, and would assume the presidency in the unlikely event that a {{w| mass casualty event}} were to kill or incapacitate everyone else in the line. However, disasters impacting an entire city remain a possibility, and no provision is made for them in current law.

To correct these issues, a think tank known as the {{w| Continuity of Government Commission}} prepared a report recommending a new line of succession, which would not include members of Congress, would reorder the cabinet secretaries so that the most suitable roles would be the first successors, and would include people who do not live or work in Washington DC. The full text of their report can be found [https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/06_continuity_of_government.pdf here]. A short, readable summary, including the report's recommended new line of succession, is [https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-continuity-of-the-presidency-the-second-report-of-the-continuity-of-government-commission here].

The first six members of the commission's list are taken from the current line of succession, though the order is changed; they propose that after this, five new people should be appointed specifically for the purpose of assuming the presidency, if needed. Randall's list begins with these eleven people (combining the five new appointees into #7); afterwards, his list becomes increasingly comical and ridiculous.

Randall's list omits members of Congress, as well as other cabinet positions, in accordance with the report's concerns about constitutionality and qualifications. However, his other additions totally ignore these issues, including people with no apparent qualifications for the office (such as actors, athletes, and competitive eaters) and people who are constitutionally ineligible for the office. The US Constitution requires that the President of the United States must be a natural-born US citizen, at least 35 years of age, and have resided in the US for at least fourteen years. Randall's list includes many people who don't meet these requirements. Most notably, he includes the entire succession to the British crown, almost none of whom meet the requirement of being natural-born citizens of the United States.

It may be expected that many of the athletes, musicians and actors on this list are likely to be ineligible as well. Most professional athletes in the relevant sports are under 35 years old, particularly those at the peak of their careers (when they'd likely win MVP awards), the most popular musicians also tend to be younger than 35, and many who meet these requirements were not born US citizens (and some many not even reside in the US). However, the existing line of succession can also contain ineligible people, who would simply be skipped over for succession. For example, at the comic's publication, {{w|Elaine Chao}} was the Secretary of Transportation and would normally be 14th in line, but because she is a naturalized citizen of the US, rather than native-born (she was born in Taiwan) she would not qualify for the office if the line came to her. The presidential line of succession was first mentioned in [[1933: Santa Facts]].

The title text mentions that ties will be broken by whoever was closest to the surface of {{w|Europa}} when they were born. Europa is a moon of Jupiter and one of the most likely locations in the Solar System for {{w|Habitability of natural satellites|potential habitability}}. This is likely a parody of systems in which ties are broken by semi-arbitrary rules (such as the older candidate automatically winning a tie) or a randomized ones (such as ties being decided by a coin flip). The position of Europa with respect to Earth at the time of one's birth depends on enough factors that it acts as a pseudo-random tie breaker, albeit a needlessly complicated one.

==Order of succession==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!#
!Randall's order
!Current order by the 1947 Act
!Notes
|-
|1
|{{w|POTUS|President}}
|President
|Not generally considered part of the line of succession, as incumbents cannot "succeed" to their own post. (This should really be item 0 on the list.)
|-
|2
|{{w|POTUS|Vice president}}
|Vice president
|This is the same as in the actual line of succession. Succeeding the President is one of the only two roles assigned to the Vice President by the Constitution, the other being presiding over the Senate (including breaking ties), but Vice Presidents are often given additional roles during office.
|-
|3
|{{w|United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State}}
|Speaker of the House of Representatives
|Moved up from 5th position. This is likely a serious suggestion. As mentioned above, the existing Succession Act includes the Speaker of the House and President Pro Tempore of the Senate, which presents serious practical and constitutional issues. The Secretary of State is the chief officer responsible for the country's international relations and diplomatic missions, and would be a logical successor, particularly in times of crisis.
|-
|4
|{{w|United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense}}
|{{w|President pro tempore of the United States Senate|President pro tempore of the Senate}}
|Moved up from 7th position. Also likely a serious suggestion. The existing succession places the Secretary of Defense behind the Secretary of the Treasury in succession. If the three preceding officials were simultaneously killed or incapacitated, there would be a high likelihood that the country was under attack, and other powers could easily try to take advantage of any power vacuum. Since the Secretary of Defense is most connected to the nation's military, and most in tune with information regarding potential threats and risks, this would be a logical succession.
|-
|5
|{{w|United States Secretary of Homeland Security|Secretary of Homeland Security}}
|Secretary of State
|Moved up from 19th position. Again likely a serious suggestion. As with the Secretary of Defense, this officer would likely be closely aligned with the national emergency response infrastructure (including overseeing the {{w|Federal Emergency Management Agency}}), and would be well equipped to deal with a major attack or natural disaster.
|-
|6
|{{w|United States Attorney General|Attorney General}}
|{{w|United States Secretary of the Treasury|Secretary of the Treasury}}
|Moved up from 8th position. Once again, likely a serious suggestion. The Attorney General oversees national law enforcement, and would be in a position to deal with internal chaos that could result from a disaster that impacted the federal government so deeply.
|-
|7
|Five people who do not live in {{w|Washington, D.C.}}, nominated at the start of the President's term and confirmed by the Senate
|Secretary of Defense
|Washington, D.C is the capital of the United States, and is where the {{w|White House}}, the President's residence, is located. Presumably this provision covers the case where much of the government, including positions 1–6 here, are killed by a natural disaster or attack in Washington, D.C.

This suggestion establishes no qualifications for these people, but the fact that they'd need to be confirmed by the Senate suggests that they would be chosen to be competent for the role. It is also unclear if an order is determined among these five or if they take up a joint presidency. This suggestion is taken from the Second Report of the Continuity of Government Commission to prevent the danger of the entire line of succession being removed in a single event.
|-
|8
|{{w|Tom Hanks}}
|Attorney General
|Academy Award-winning American actor. This is the first unambiguously unserious suggestion.{{Citation needed}} Tom Hanks is very popular and considered exceptionally likeable by many Americans, but has never served in public office or displayed any particular affinity for politics. The implication is that Mr. Hanks would be easily accepted as a leader, based solely on his personal charm. It should also be noticed that Tom Hanks played Jim Lovell, who served in the navy before becoming an astronaut (Many early astronauts were former military members.), in ''Apollo 13'', a military captain in ''Saving Private Ryan'', a prison officer in ''The Green Mile'', a naval intelligence officer in ''James B. Donovan'', and a member of the House of Representatives in ''Charlie Wilson's War''; if Tom Hanks's appearances in movies counted as real-life experience, then he would be adequately qualified.
|-
|9
|State Governors, in descending order of state population at last census
|{{w|United States Secretary of the Interior|Secretary of the Interior}}
|Also taken from Second Report of the Continuity of Government Commission. At the time of publication, the last {{w|United States Census}} was the 2010 Census. As California is the most populous state, its Governor ({{w|Jerry Brown}} at the time of publication) would have been first in line.

See also the {{w|2010_United_States_Census#State_rankings|state population rankings}} and the {{w|list of current United States governors}}. As worded, this criterion would exclude territorial governors (and the Mayor of Washington, D.C.).
|-
|10
|Anyone who won an Oscar for playing a governor
|{{w|United States Secretary of Agriculture|Secretary of Agriculture}}
|Oscars, or {{w|Academy Awards}}, are annual film awards awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. At the time of publication, the only Oscar awarded for playing a governor was {{w|Broderick Crawford}}'s 1949 Best Actor award for the fictional Willie Stark in ''{{w|All the King's Men (1949 film)|All the King's Men}}'' (a character based on {{w|Huey Long}}). However, Crawford died in 1986, so would be unable to serve as President.

This may be a reference to the {{w|Political career of Arnold Schwarzenegger}}: a highly-lauded actor who became governor of California, but did not win an Oscar or play a governor before being elected. (As a naturalized citizen, he is also ineligible for the Presidency.)
There is also humor in suggesting that playing a governor delivers just as much experience as being a governor. (Something similar was mentioned in the section about Tom Hanks, who played, among other things, a member of the House of Representatives.)
|-
|11
|Anyone who won a Governor's award for playing someone named Oscar
|{{w|United States Secretary of Commerce|Secretary of Commerce}}
|The {{w|Governors Awards}} are an annual award ceremony hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to present lifetime achievement awards within the film industry. As this award is a lifetime achievement award, it does not seem possible that an actor could win this award for simply playing someone named Oscar. Notwithstanding the nature of the award, at the time of publication, no recipient of a Governors Award has played a character named Oscar.

Obviously, the joke is that changing the order of the words from the previous proposal produces something that could actually exist.
|-
|12
|{{w|Kate McKinnon}}, if available
|Secretary of Labor
|Comedic actress famous for being a cast member on {{w|Saturday Night Live}}. She is known for her character work and celebrity impressions. She has recently done impersonations of members of the Trump administration including Spokeswoman {{w|Kellyanne Conway}} and Attorney General {{w|Jeff Sessions}}. She also played {{w|Hillary Clinton}} during the 2016 campaign and presumably would have played her when she was President had she won; but since Clinton lost, McKinnon has not actually played a President. At the time the comic was released, she was 34 years 5 months old; thus she was not "available" until seven months later. Being available could also refer to not already having an acting commitment, in which case the comic would be humorously implying that fulfilling her acting roles is more important than the country having leadership.
|-
|13
|Billboard Year-End Hot 100 Singles artists #1 through #10 (for groups, whoever is credited first in name, liner notes, etc)
|Secretary of Health and Human Services
|The {{w|Billboard Hot 100}} is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for singles, published weekly by Billboard magazine. The weekly data is aggregated into a cumulative {{w|Billboard Year-End}} (based on a "year" that ends the third week of November, in order to meet December publication deadlines). At the time of publication, the most recent such list was the {{w|Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2017}}.

Based on that list, the artists considered for the presidential succession would be: {{w|Ed Sheeran}}, {{w|Luis Fonsi}}, {{w|Bruno Mars}}, {{w|Kendrick Lamar}}, Alex Pall (of {{w|The Chainsmokers}}), {{w|Quavo|Quavoius Keyate Marshall}} (of {{w|Migos}}), {{w|Sam Hunt}}, {{w|Dan Reynolds}} (of {{w|Imagine Dragons}}), and {{w|Post Malone}}. There are only nine names instead of ten because The Chainsmokers had two of the top 10 singles in 2017. Of these, only Luis Fonsi (40 years old, born in Puerto Rico) was legally eligible for the office; all the others were too young, and Sheeran is additionally from the United Kingdom.
|-
|14
|The top 5 US astronauts in descending order of total spaceflight time
|Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
|Astronauts are highly respected and rigorously selected, but most have little involvement in politics. According to [https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-station-astronaut-record-holders NASA], the top 5 US astronauts by cumulative space time at the time of publication were: {{w|Peggy Whitson}}, {{w|Jeffrey Williams (astronaut)|Jeff Williams}}, {{W|Scott Kelly (astronaut)|Scott Kelly}} (whose brother {{w|Mark Kelley (astronaut)|Mark}} is a sitting US Senator), {{w|Mike Fincke}}, and {{w|Mike Foale}}. However, it is unclear whether Foale would qualify as a natural-born citizen, as he was born in the United Kingdom to a British father and American mother.
|-
|15
|{{w|Serena Williams}} (or, if she lost her most recent match, whoever beat her)
|Secretary of Transportation
|As of the time of publication, Serena Williams was a top female tennis player. She is arguably the greatest female tennis player of all-time, winning 39 {{w|Grand Slam (tennis)|Grand Slam}} titles, including 23 women's singles titles. At the time of publication Serena Williams did win her most recent match (2018 French Open, third round, on June 2nd), although she withdrew from her next match against Maria Sharapova (which perhaps should count as a loss, especially if she withdrew in order to preserve her place in the line of succession and killed everyone in place ahead of her).

If her most recent defeat was to a non-US player, presumably she would be skipped over in line although this is not explicitly stated (the current succession list skips over anyone who would not normally qualify for not being a natural-born US citizen).
|-
|16
|The most recent season NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL MVPs
|Secretary of Energy
|MVP stands for {{w|Most Valuable Player}}. The 4 listed leagues are the major sports leagues in the United States, the {{w|National Basketball Association}} (NBA), the {{w|National Football League}} (NFL), {{w|Major League Baseball}} (MLB), and the {{w|National Hockey League}} (NHL). We're assuming that Randall meant the regular season MVPs of each league, as each league also awards MVPs for their respective championships (or in the case of the NHL's {{w|Conn Smythe Trophy}}, their entire playoffs).

As of the time of publication, the most recent MVPs for the listed sports were {{w|Russell Westbrook}} (NBA), {{w|Tom Brady}} (NFL), {{w|José Altuve}} and {{w|Giancarlo Stanton}} (MLB has two, one for the American League and one for the National League), and {{w|Connor McDavid}} (NHL). Of these, only Brady would qualify for the list - Altuve and McDavid are Venezuelan and Canadian citizens respectively, and Westbrook (29) and Stanton (28) were too young.
|-
|17
|{{w|Bill Pullman}} and his descendants by absolute primogeniture
|Secretary of Education
|American actor, known for playing President Thomas J. Whitmore in the 1996 film ''{{w|Independence Day (1996 film)|Independence Day}}''.

Absolute primogeniture is a form of succession where the oldest direct descendant regardless of gender receives the title. This is contrasted to {{w|Male-preference primogeniture}}, in which males come before females in the order of the throne, whether the males were born first or not. This may be a reference to the British law {{w|Succession to the Crown Act 2013}}, which changed the order of the throne from male-preference primogeniture to absolute primogeniture. This act allows {{w|Princess Charlotte of Cambridge|Princess Charlotte}} to retain her place in line before {{w|Prince Louis of Cambridge|Prince Louis}}.

At the time of publication, Pullman's immediate descendants consisted of three children, with Maesa Pullman being the oldest at age 29. Thus all but Bill Pullman himself were too young for the presidency.
|-
|18
|The entire line of succession to the British throne
|Secretary of Veterans Affairs
|According to the Constitution, only a natural-born citizen of the United States can become President, which means that at least most of the line of succession to the British throne is ineligible. However, it is possible that someone in the line of succession to the British throne either is a dual citizen or is not British (a person from outside of Britain or Ireland can become King; for example, some, including George I, were from what is now Germany).

The first 59 names on the list are {{w|Succession_to_the_British_throne#Current_line_of_succession|here}}. [https://lineofsuccession.co.uk/?date=2018-06-06 British Line of Succession on 6 June 2018] shows the list as it was at the comic's publication. American citizens [http://articles.latimes.com/1988-02-11/news/vw-42233_1_royal-house have, at times] been on the list, but no natural-born Americans were on the list when the comic was published. However, after this comic was published {{w|Archie Mountbatten-Windsor}} was born on May 6, 2019; he is currently seventh in the line of succession to the British throne and has US citizenship through his mother {{w|Meghan, Duchess of Sussex}}. As with Mark Foale, though, whether that qualifies as natural-born has not be tested (leaving aside his age and the fact that many royals in his position have historically relinquished their birthright US citizenship voluntarily, which he may choose to do once he reaches age 16). In theory, the full British succession list includes [http://www.wargs.com/essays/succession/2011.html several thousand people] (living descendants of {{w|Sophia of Hanover}} who are not Roman Catholic or otherwise disqualified), and it is possible that one or more such people would also be eligible to be President of the United States beyond Master Archie. Archie's sister Lillibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor was born in Santa Barbara, California, USA, on June 4, 2021, making her definitively a natural born US citizen, and thus, theoretically eligible to become US president upon turning 35.

The humor here derives from the fact that the United States was established by declaring independence from the United Kingdom, with rejection of the British monarchy being a basic founding principle, and a core principle of US governance. To appoint the British monarchy to the American presidency would contradict the basic goals of American independence. Alternatively, it may reference the recent wedding of {{w|Prince Harry}} to {{w|Meghan Markle}}, although she is not in the order of succession. A similar sequence of events was the plotline of the comedy film ''{{w|King Ralph}}'', which saw an American become the British monarch after the death of the royal family.
|-
|19
|The current champion of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating contest
|Secretary of Homeland Security
|The {{w|Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest}} is an annual American hot dog competitive eating competition sponsored by {{w|Nathan's Famous}} held on July 4th. As of the time of publication, the most recent men's winner was {{w|Joey Chestnut}} and the women's winner was {{w|Miki Sudo}}. At the time of publication, neither was old enough to assume the office.

The comic does not specify whether the men's or women's winner should take office, creating a tie that would be broken by distance from Europa at birth. Had they both been eligible, [https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/29132/was-earth-closer-to-europa-on-1983-11-25-or-1985-07-22 Sudo would have won] by between 0.125 and 2.2 {{w|Astronomical unit}}s.
|-
|20
|All other US citizens, chosen by a 29-round single-elimination Jousting tournament
|''None''
|Effective for a population up to 536,870,912 individuals (2^29) which would be enough to cover the entire US population (estimated at around 325 million at time of publication), although additional rounds can be added should the population grow further.

This is probably a reference to the {{w|Matter of Britain}} (e.g., {{w|The Sword in the Stone (film)|The Sword in the Stone}}), where, after the death of Uther Pendragon, with no known successor to the throne of Britain (some versions of the legend refer incorrectly to England) for years, it is decided that the winner of a jousting tournament shall be crowned. However, Arthur, the Wart, pulls the Sword from the Stone.
|}

===List of specific individuals===
Based on the comic's defined criteria for the order of succession, these are the specific individuals in that order, including only people who are otherwise eligible to be the President of United States (35 year old and natural born US citizens who lived in US for last 14 years) '''as of the date the comic was published'''.
#[[Donald Trump]] ({{w|President of the United States}})
#{{w|Mike Pence}} ({{w|Vice President of the United States}})
#{{w|Mike Pompeo}} ({{w|United States Secretary of State}})
#{{w|Jim Mattis}} ({{w|United States Secretary of Defense}})
#{{w|Kirstjen Nielsen}} ({{w|United States Secretary of Homeland Security}})
#{{w|Jeff Sessions}} ({{w|United States Attorney General}})
#*''As Donald Trump did not appoint anyone to fill position #7 on Randall's line of succession, Hanks immediately followed after Sessions.''
#{{w|Tom Hanks}} (Tom Hanks)
#{{w|Jerry Brown}} (Governor of California)
#{{w|Greg Abbott}} (Governor of Texas)
#{{w|Andrew Cuomo}} (Governor of New York)
#{{w|Rick Scott}} (Governor of Florida)
#{{w|Bruce Rauner}} (Governor of Illinois)
#{{w|Tom Wolf}} (Governor of Pennsylvania)
#{{w|John Kasich}} (Governor of Ohio)
#{{w|Rick Snyder}} (Governor of Michigan)
#{{w|Nathan Deal}} (Governor of Georgia)
#{{w|Roy Cooper}} (Governor of North Carolina)
#{{w|Phil Murphy}} (Governor of New Jersey)
#{{w|Ralph Northam}} (Governor of Virginia)
#{{w|Jay Inslee}} (Governor of Washington)
#{{w|Charlie Baker}} (Governor of Massachusetts)
#{{w|Eric Holcomb}} (Governor of Indiana)
#{{w|Doug Ducey}} (Governor of Arizona)
#{{w|Bill Haslam}} (Governor of Tennessee)
#{{w|Mike Parson}} (Governor of Missouri)
#{{w|Larry Hogan}} (Governor of Maryland)
#{{w|Scott Walker (politician)|Scott Walker}} (Governor of Wisconsin)
#{{w|Mark Dayton}} (Governor of Minnesota)
#{{w|John Hickenlooper}} (Governor of Colorado)
#{{w|Kay Ivey}} (Governor of Alabama)
#{{w|Henry McMaster}} (Governor of South Carolina)
#{{w|John Bel Edwards}} (Governor of Louisiana)
#{{w|Matt Bevin}} (Governor of Kentucky)
#{{w|Kate Brown}} (Governor of Oregon) ''Born in Spain to a member of the US Air Force, should be considered a natural-born citizen until proven otherwise.''
#{{w|Mary Fallin}} (Governor of Oklahoma)
#{{w|Dannel Malloy}} (Governor of Connecticut)
#{{w|Kim Reynolds}} (Governor of Iowa)
#{{w|Phil Bryant}} (Governor of Mississippi)
#{{w|Asa Hutchinson}} (Governor of Arkansas)
#{{w|Jeff Colyer}} (Governor of Kansas)
#{{w|Gary Herbert}} (Governor of Utah)
#{{w|Brian Sandoval}} (Governor of Nevada)
#{{w|Susana Martinez}} (Governor of New Mexico)
#{{w|Jim Justice}} (Governor of West Virginia)
#{{w|Pete Ricketts}} (Governor of Nebraska)
#{{w|Butch Otter}} (Governor of Idaho)
#{{w|David Ige}} (Governor of Hawaii)
#{{w|Paul LePage}} (Governor of Maine)
#{{w|Chris Sununu}} (Governor of New Hampshire)
#{{w|Gina Raimondo}} (Governor of Rhode Island)
#{{w|Steve Bullock (American politician)|Steve Bullock}} (Governor of Montana)
#{{w|John Carney (politician)|John Carney}} (Governor of Delaware)
#{{w|Dennis Daugaard}} (Governor of South Dakota)
#{{w|Bill Walker (U.S. politician)|Bill Walker}} (Governor of Alaska)
#{{w|Doug Burgum}} (Governor of North Dakota)
#{{w|Phil Scott (politician)|Phil Scott}} (Governor of Vermont)
#{{w|Matt Mead}} (Governor of Wyoming)
#*''Entries 10 and 11 on Randall's list had no eligible living members.''
#*''Kate McKinnon was only 34 years 5 months old at the time the comic was released, making her ineligible at that time.''
#{{w|Luis Fonsi}} (Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2017, #2 artist) ''Fonsi was the only eligible individual under the Billboard criterion.''
#{{w|Peggy Whitson}} (Astronaut, 665 days in space)
#{{w|Jeffrey Williams (astronaut)|Jeff Williams}} (Astronaut, 534 days in space)
#{{w|Scott Kelly}} (Astronaut, 520 days in space)
#{{w|Mike Fincke}} (Astronaut, 382 days in space)
#{{w|Mike Foale}} (Astronaut, 374 days in space) ''Foale was born in the UK but his mother is an American, and he holds dual citizenship with both countries. It isn't clear legally whether this situation would qualify him as being a "natural-born" citizen as US courts have never definitively ruled on what the term means, so similar to Governor Kate Brown his name is included in the list as being not ruled out.''
#{{w|Serena Williams}} ''Serena's place on this list assumed that you do not count her withdrawal against Maria Sharapova as a ''loss''; if that counted as a loss, then subsequent entries moved up one position (as Sharapova was ineligible).''
#{{w|Tom Brady}} ({{w|National Football League Most Valuable Player Award|NFL MVP}}) ''The MVPs of all other listed sports leagues were ineligible for the office due to age or nationality.''
#{{w|Bill Pullman}} (Bill Pullman) ''None of his children were old enough to become President at that time.''
#Rowan Lascelles (was 64th in line to the throne at the time, born in Britain to an American mother)
#Sophie Lascelles (was 67th in line to the throne at the time, born in Britain to an American mother)
#Alexander Hohenzollern (was 111th in line to the throne at the time, born to an American mother abroad)
#{{w|Prince Peter of Yugoslavia|Prince Peter of Yugoslavia}} (was 113th in line to the throne at the time, born in the US)
#{{w|Philip, Hereditary Prince of Yugoslavia|Philip, Hereditary Prince of Yugoslavia}} (was 114th in line to the throne at the time, born in the US)
#{{w|Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia (born 1982)|Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia}} (was 116th in line to the throne at the time, born in the US)
#Christopher Habsburg (was 128th in line to the throne at the time, born in the US)
#Peter Habsburg (was 132nd in line to the throne at the time, born in the US)
#Anton Habsburg (was 133rd in line to the throne at the time, born in the US)
#Ileana Snyder (was 134th in line to the throne at the time, born in the US)
#Constanza Bain (was 140th in line to the throne at the time, born in the US)
#Count Sandor von Hohenzollern (was 143rd in line to the throne at the time, mother is American)
#Count Gregor von Hohenzollern (was 145th in line to the throne at the time, mother is American)
#Marc Saint (was 303rd in line to the throne at the time, born in US)
#Carla Saint (was 304th in line to the throne at the time, born in US) ''This only covers the first 345 people in line to the throne, including Catholics, who, if they did not convert, would be excluded, but not including illegitimate or adoptive issue. This list is based on people who could plausibly have been eligible - people 35 and older who were either born in the US or at least one of their parents was. They could still be excluded based on residence or current citizenship.''
#Everyone else (as would be further determined by jousting tournament)

{{incomplete|update  }}
Based on the comic's defined criteria for the order of succession, these are the specific individuals in that order, including only people who are otherwise eligible to be the President of United States (35 year old and natural born US citizens who lived in US for last 14 years) '''as of the current date'''. (Last updated on 6 November 2024)



#[[Donald Trump|The New Donald Trump]]  ({{w|President of the United States}})
#{{w|Kamala Harris}}  ({{w|Vice President of the United States}})
#{{w|Antony Blinken}} ({{w|United States Secretary of State}})
#{{w|Lloyd Austin}} ({{w|United States Secretary of Defense}})
#*''Current Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas is not eligible due to not being a natural born citizen.''
#{{w|Merrick Garland}} ({{w|United States Attorney General}})
#*''Donald Trump has not appointed anyone in accordance with item #7 on Randall's line of succession.''
#{{w|Tom Hanks}} (Tom Hanks)
#{{w|Gavin Newsom}} (Governor of California)
#{{w|Greg Abbott}} (Governor of Texas)
#{{w|Ron DeSantis}} (Governor of Florida)
#{{w|Kathy Hochul}} (Governor of New York)
#{{w|Josh Shapiro}} (Governor of Pennsylvania)
#{{w|J. B. Pritzker}} (Governor of Illinois)
#{{w|Mike DeWine}} (Governor of Ohio)
#{{w|Brian Kemp}} (Governor of Georgia)
#{{w|Roy Cooper}} (Governor of North Carolina)
#{{w|Gretchen Whitmer}} (Governor of Michigan)
#{{w|Phil Murphy}} (Governor of New Jersey)
#{{w|Glenn Youngkin}} (Governor of Virginia)
#{{w|Jay Inslee}} (Governor of Washington)
#{{w|Katie Hobbs}} (Governor of Arizona)
#{{w|Maura Healey}} (Governor of Massachusetts)
#{{w|Bill Lee (Tennessee politician)|Bill Lee}} (Governor of Tennessee)
#{{w|Eric Holcomb}} (Governor of Indiana)
#{{w|Wes Moore}} (Governor of Maryland)
#{{w|Mike Parson}} (Governor of Missouri)
#{{w|Tony Evers}} (Governor of Wisconsin)
#{{w|Jared Polis}} (Governor of Colorado)
#{{w|Tim Walz}} (Governor of Minnesota)
#{{w|Henry McMaster}} (Governor of South Carolina)
#{{w|Kay Ivey}} (Governor of Alabama)
#{{w|Jeff Landry}} (Governor of Louisiana)
#{{w|Andy Beshear}} (Governor of Kentucky)
#{{w|Tina Kotek}} (Governor of Oregon)
#{{w|Kevin Stitt}} (Governor of Oklahoma)
#{{w|Ned Lamont}} (Governor of Connecticut)
#{{w|Spencer Cox (politician)|Spencer Cox}} (Governor of Utah)
#{{w|Kim Reynolds}} (Governor of Iowa)
#{{w|Joe Lombardo}} (Governor of Nevada)
#{{w|Sarah Huckabee Sanders}} (Governor of Arkansas)
#{{w|Tate Reeves}} (Governor of Mississippi)
#{{w|Laura Kelly}} (Governor of Kansas)
#{{w|Michelle Lujan Grisham}} (Governor of New Mexico)
#{{w|Jim Pillen}} (Governor of Nebraska)
#{{w|Brad Little}} (Governor of Idaho)
#{{w|Jim Justice}} (Governor of West Virginia)
#{{w|Josh Green}} (Governor of Hawaii)
#{{w|Chris Sununu}} (Governor of New Hampshire)
#{{w|Janet Mills}} (Governor of Maine)
#{{w|Dan McKee}} (Governor of Rhode Island)
#{{w|Greg Gianforte}} (Governor of Montana)
#{{w|John Carney (politician)|John Carney}} (Governor of Delaware)
#{{w|Kristi Noem}} (Governor of South Dakota)
#{{w|Doug Burgum}} (Governor of North Dakota)
#{{w|Mike Dunleavy (politician)|Mike Dunleavy}} (Governor of Alaska)
#{{w|Phil Scott (politician)|Phil Scott}} (Governor of Vermont)
#{{w|Mark Gordon (politician)|Mark Gordon}} (Governor of Wyoming)
#*''No eligible living members for #10 on the list.''
#*''No eligible living members for #11 on the list.''
#{{w|Kate McKinnon}} (Kate McKinnon, subject to availability)
#{{w|Kendrick Lamar}} (Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2024, #6 artist)
#{{w|Peggy Whitson}} (Astronaut, 675 days in space)
#{{w|Jeffrey Williams (astronaut)|Jeff Williams}} (Astronaut, 534 days in space)
#{{w|Mark Vande Hei}} (Astronaut, 523 days in space)
#{{w|Scott Kelly}} (Astronaut, 520 days in space)
#{{w|Sunita Williams}} (Astronaut, 410 days in space)
#*''{{w|Serena Williams}} lost the final match of her career against {{w|Ajla Tomljanović}}, who is ineligible due to age and nationality.''
#*''The MVPs of all listed sports leagues are ineligible for the office due to age and/or nationality.''
#{{w|Bill Pullman}} (Bill Pullman)
#Maesa Pullman (born 1988, first descendant of Bill Pullman via absolute primogeniture)
#Jack Pullman (born 1989, became eligible 2024)

#Rowan Lascelles (currently 74th in line to the throne, born in Britain to an American mother)
#Tewa Lascelles (currently 75th in line to the throne, born in America)
#Sophie Lascelles (currently 77th in line to the throne, born in Britain to an American mother)
#Alexander Hohenzollern (currently 129th in line to the throne, born to an American mother abroad)
#{{w|Prince Peter of Yugoslavia|Prince Peter of Yugoslavia}} (currently 131st in line to the throne, born in the US)
#{{w|Philip, Hereditary Prince of Yugoslavia|Philip, Hereditary Prince of Yugoslavia}} (currently 132nd in line to the throne, born in the US)
#{{w|Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia (born 1982)|Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia}} (currently 135th in line to the throne, born in the US)
#Christopher Habsburg (currently 149th in line to the throne, born in the US)
#Saygan Habsburg (currently 151st in line to the throne, born in the US)
#Peter Habsburg (currently 154th in line to the throne, born in the US)
#Anton Habsburg (currently 155th in line to the throne, born in the US)
#Ileana Snyder (currently 156th in line to the throne, born in the US)
#Nicholas Snyder (currently 157th in line to the throne, born in the US)
#Alexandra Snyder (currently 159th in line to the throne, born in the US)
#Constanza Bain (currently 164th in line to the throne, born in the US)
#Count Sandor von Hohenzollern (currently 166th in line to the throne, mother is American)
#Count Gregor von Hohenzollern (currently 168th in line to the throne, mother is American)
#Hereditary Prince Alexander von Hohenzollern (currently 216th in line to the throne, born in US)
#Philippa von Hohenzollern (currently 217th in line to the throne, born in the US)
#Marc Saint (currently 337th in line to the throne, born in US)
#Carla Saint (currently 338th in line to the throne, born in US)
#*''This only covers the first 345 people in line to the throne, including Catholics, who, if they did not convert, would be excluded, but not including illegitimate or adoptive issue. This list is based on people who could plausibly be eligible - people 35 and older who were either born in the US or at least one of their parents was. They could still be excluded based on residence or current citizenship.''
#{{w|Miki Sudo}} (Women’s champion of the 2024 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest; listed first due to being closer to Europa at birth) 
#{{w|Patrick Bertoletti}} (Men's champion of the 2024 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest)
#Everyone else (through jousting tournament elimination) ''Assumes that the number of eligible US citizens does not exceed 536,870,912.''

==Transcript==
: A proposal for a new presidential line of succession
: Current politics aside, most experts agree the existing process is flawed. The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 is probably unconstitutional on several counts, and there are many practical issues with the system as well.
: (For more, see the surprisingly gripping ''Second Report of the Continuity of Government Commission'', June 2009.)
: Proposed line of succession:
:# President
:# Vice president
:# Secretary of State
:# Secretary of Defense
:# Secretary of Homeland Security
:# Attorney General
:# Five people who do not live in Washington DC, nominated at the start of the president's term and confirmed by the Senate
:# Tom Hanks
:# State Governors, in descending order of state population at last census
:# Anyone who won an Oscar for playing a governor
:# Anyone who won a Governor's award for playing someone named Oscar
:# Kate McKinnon, if available
:# Billboard year-end Hot 100 singles artists #1 through #10 (for groups, whoever is credited first in name, liner notes, etc)
:# The top 5 US astronauts in descending order of total spaceflight time
:# Serena Williams (or, if she lost her most recent match, whoever beat her)
:# The most recent season NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL MVPs
:# Bull Pullman and his descendants by absolute primogeniture
:# The entire line of succession to the British throne
:# The current champion of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating contest
:# All other US citizens, chosen by a 29-round single-elimination Jousting tournament

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Politics]]

2726: Methodology Trial

2023-03-11T04:15:51Z

141.101.98.180: Undo revision 308005 by Char Latte49 (talk) Restoring correct image name. (Is that the real Char Latte who did that? Need to check...)

{{comic
| number = 2726
| date = January 18, 2023
| title = Methodology Trial
| image = methodology_trial_2x.png
| imagesize = 339x459px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = If you think THAT'S unethical, you should see the stuff we approved via our Placebo IRB.
}}

==Explanation==

When testing the efficacy of a potential medical treatment, researchers compare subjects who received the treatment against subjects who received a {{w|placebo}}. Usually each subject does not know whether they received the treatment or placebo, and neither do the practitioners, until the end of the trial. This distinguishes the actual effects of the treatment from the effects of simply participating in a study. People who receive a placebo (or an ineffective treatment) often believe their treatment is working due to such causes as paying more attention to one's health or expecting to feel better. This misattribution of effect to a non-treatment is called the "placebo effect".

In this comic a team of researchers appears to have studied some medical treatment, using a placebo controlled test. They present their findings in which a particular subset of participants (out of at least four distinct groups) shows an apparently significant result. The graph shows that three groupings have results whose error-bars indicate that they might easily have zero (or neutral) true effects, if not negative ones. But, even at the lowest extent of the accepted uncertainty, the fourth stands out as definitively having some degree of positive effect (of whatever kind this particular graph is plotting).

However, it is revealed that the 'treatment' they were given was also a placebo. Their own study was the subject of a placebo controlled test conducted on their methodology. They were the placebo group, while a different team presumably used the exact same methodology to study the real treatment. Thus, all of this team's findings were due to the placebo effect, or else the trial size and scope allowed a purely statistical 'blip' to occur, instead of there being any real merit to the "treatment". This indicates that their methodology shouldn't be used for any real world applications. This may be a subtle dig at the recent {{w|aducanumab}} Alzheimer's drug trial controversy, where post-hoc reanalysis of one subgroup of patients revealed a surprising result when the overall trial had otherwise failed.

The particular flaw in the methodology appears to be dividing too few subjects into too many sub-groups, allowing a chance cluster of anomalous results to overly influence an apparent result. The researcher did find significance in one sub-group, even though in reality there was no signal, just noise, since it was all placebo groups. This references the same p-hacking problem as [[882: Significant]]. Only in this case the researcher themself is the subject of the real trial.

If the non-placebo study had the exact same size and design (as it should have, in such a meta-study), it would cast doubt upon whether any similar-looking findings in London were significant. Especially if they also found that the same subgroup were again exhibiting the sole significant effect, which might reveal an inbuilt flaw in the procedure. On the other hand, it could just further show how likely any particular grouping was to falsely show a result; if all groups had apparently benefited, the chances are that most of them were correct, whether or not [[2268: Further Research is Needed]].

Treatments ''can'' be more effective on specific subgroups of the population; for example, an anti-cancer drug might only work against specific mutations that cause cancer. But any such result needs to have appropriate statistical significance and new subjects from that subgroup should be tested to ensure the result is repeated.

The title text points out how the experiment has almost certainly violated some set of ethical standards, because one researcher offers what he believes to be genuine treatment to a large number of participants only for a third party (the offscreen speaker) to replace all his medicine with placebos, ultimately deceiving the patients. The title text implies that it was approved by a genuine Institutional Review Board (IRB), the group which decides whether a proposed experiment is ethical to perform. However they also have a "placebo IRB", presumably made up of people who have no qualifications to make such judgements well, or perhaps not made up of people at all, but simply a mechanism for generating random decisions.

However, such a methodology trial using all placebos wouldn't necessarily be unethical. In addition to using a placebo, most studies are "double blind" meaning neither the patients nor the doctors/nurses treating them know who is getting the placebo and who is not; only the researchers conducting the study know. This is so doctors/nurses cannot inadvertently let the patients know who is getting real medicine (by acting with remorse around patients they know are not being treated, or being more cheerful with patients they know who are). It is considered perfectly ethical for doctors to give patients what they believe is medicine but is not (the placebo). This is because without the double blind procedure it may not be possible to identify real medicines from ones that have no effect, and the impact of preventing real medicine from being used by millions is greater than the deceit towards the small number receiving a placebo in the experiment. By extension it could be ethical to have the researcher conduct a trial with two placebos without knowing it. For instance if the London team and the team in the comic were finding beneficial effects in new drugs that other researchers found had no effect (or finding other drugs didn't work when others had evidence they did) then it may be worth investigating if their shared methodology has the flaw demonstrated in the article. That way regulatory agencies could exclude their flawed data when they make decisions on what drugs to approve, while the two teams could shift to a better methodology and return to contributing to medical science.

==Transcript==

:[Cueball stands in front of a poster holding a pointer. The poster shows a scatter plot with four points and error bars, with one data point labeled "Subgroup" is marked with an asterisk and is placed somewhat higher up than the other three points.]
:Cueball: However, we see clear evidence that the treatment is more effective than the placebo for some subgroups.
:Off-panel voice: Thank you.
:Off-panel voice: However, we can now reveal that the '''''London''''' team was studying the real treatment. Both groups in your study got a placebo.
:Cueball: Aw, '''''maaan...'''''
:[Caption below panel]
:Researchers hate it when you do placebo controlled trials of their methodology.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Scientific research]]

1767: US State Names

2016-12-02T19:41:28Z

141.101.98.180: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1767
| date = December 2, 2016
| title = US State Names
| image = us_state_names.png
| titletext = Technically DC isn't a state, but no one is too pedantic about it because they don't want to disturb the snakes.
}}

==Explanation==
This is just a silly map.

[[Randall]] has taken a {{w|map}} of {{w|the United States of America}} labeled "Geography Challenge: Name all 50 States" and filled in the states with words that sound similar to the states' names. The joke is that Randall is apparently terrible at remembering states by heart, or else that he interpreted "name" as "give a name to" and is giving each state a name similar to but different from its previous name. Songs such as the [https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fifty+nifty+united+states+song 50 Nifty United States] make these issues seem rarer, thus making it funnier. Below is the table.

This comic is similar to [[1759: British Map]]. Also note that the text at the top of the comic is not in all caps.

===Table of States===
{{incomplete|Some states unfinished. Make wikipedia links.}}
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Fictional State
! Actual State
! Explanation
|-
| Wilwheaton
| {{w|Washington_State|Washington}}
| {{w|Wil Wheaton}} is an actor and writer.
|-
| Organs
| {{w|Oregon}}
| Could refer to either {{w|Organ (anatomy)|body parts}} that perform vital functions, or large {{w|Organ (music)|musical instruments}} having rows of tuned pipes. Also a reference to {{w|Organ Trail}}, a retro survival video game that parodies {{w|The Oregon Trail (video game)|The Oregon Trail}}.
|-
| Cafeteria
| {{w|California}}
| A cafeteria is both a kind of restaurant and a name for a lunch room that serves food. California is large and diverse, offering a wide variety of choices. Calling it "Cafeteria" seems to be a reference to "cafeteria plans" that offer a wide variety of choices.
|-
| Fallout New Vegas
| {{w|Nevada}}
| {{w|Fallout New Vegas}} is a video game set in Nevada.
|-
| Idolatry
| {{w|Idaho}}
| Idolatry is the worship of a physical object as a god, forbidden in many religions.
|-
| mount -a
| {{w|Montana}}
| A command to mount all disk volumes.
|-
| Wysiwyg
| {{w|Wyoming}}
| Acronym for "{{w|What You See Is What You Get}}".
|-
| Uhaul
| {{w|Utah}}
| {{w|U-Haul}} is a company where you can rent vans.
|-
| Verizona
| {{w|Arizona}}
| {{w|Verizon}}, a telecommunications company, has the shared text "Rizon" with Arizona (Ve''rizon'', A''rizon''a). Randall presumably enjoys this.
|-
| Namaste
| {{w|New Mexico}}
| {{w|Namaste}} is a Hindu greeting.
|-
| Hexxus
| {{w|Texas}}
| The antagonist of Ferngully. {{w|FernGully:_The_Last_Rainforest|FernGully}} is said to be the model for the later film "Avatar". This is the second time Hexxus was mentioned in xkcd, the first occurrence being in [[1750: Life Goals]].
|-
| Okay
| {{w|Oklahoma}}
| OK is the state's abbreviation. Okay is a spelling of another abbreviation O.K., which originally stood for "Oll Korrect [sic]".
|-
| Candice
| {{w|Kansas}}
| Candice is a girl's name of Latin origin, meaning "clarity, whiteness" ("canditia").
|-
| Colocated
| {{w|Colorado}}
| Refers to computer servers located in a {{w|Colocation Center}}.
|-
| Nebrunswick
| {{w|Nebraska}}
| {{w|New Brunswick}}, a Canadian province. People sometimes write "NB" as the postal abbreviation for Nebraska; in reality, Nebraska is "NE", and while there is no "NB" in the U.S. postal system, New Brunswick is "NB" in the Canadian postal system.
|-
| Dakota
| {{w|South Dakota}}
| Randall seems to have forgotten his directions, so he drops the normal "South" and "North". He may also be teasing that this doesn't matter.
|-
| More Dakota
| {{w|North Dakota}}
| A reference to [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/more-dakka "More Dakka"], a catchphrase by Orks from the Warhammer 40000 universe.
|-
| Minestrone
| {{w|Minnesota}}
| Minestrone is a thick vegetable soup, originating in Italy.
|-
| Wainscot
| {{w|Wisconsin}}
| A type of wood {{w|panelling}} covering only the lower half of a wall.
|-
| Iota
| {{w|Iowa}}
| Iota is the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet. It was derived from the Phoenician letter Yodh. Also colloquially used to mean a very small quantity.
|-
| Sk8rbois
| {{w|Illinois}}
| "Skater Boys" or just "Skater Boy" if the '-ois' is pronounced the same as it is in "Illinois". {{w|Sk8er Boi}} is a song by Avril Lavigne.
|-
| Mossouri
| {{w|Missouri}}
| The single different letter represents probably a typo (O is adjacent to I in a keyboard). This typo has about 22,000 results on Google. Alternatively, this could be an attempt to "correct" the spelling of the state name to match its non-intuitive postal abbreviation, MO, which is sometimes used as a pronounceable acronym. Or it could be a reference to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katie_Moussouris Katie Mossouris].
|-
| Arkanoids
| {{w|Arkansas}}
| An arcade game.
|-
| Louisa
| {{w|Louisiana}}
| Louisa, feminine of Louis, is an Old German name meaning "famous warrior". Louisiana was of named after King Louis XIV when it was founded as a French colony.
|-
| Misstate
| {{w|Mississippi}}
| The word "misstate" means to state improperly. "Mis-" is also a prefix meaning "wrong," "incorrect," or simply negating. "Misstate" could be a non-state. {{w|Mississipi State University|Miss State}} is a university in Mississippi. This may also be a joke on the fact that Mississippi is one of the most commonly misspelled state names.
|-
| Bandana
| {{w|Alabama}}
| A large handkerchief cloth, worn either around the head or neck. Often used in Westerns.
|-
| Thennessy
| {{w|Tennessee}}
| {{w|Hennessy}} is a brand of cognac.
|-
| Kennedy
| {{w|Kentucky}}
| {{w|Kennedy Fried Chicken}} is New York City–based fast food brand that shares its initials with KFC, which was formerly (and still conventionally) Kentucky Fried Chicken.
|-
| That Other One
| {{w|Indiana}}
| 'That Other One' is something someone might say if they were trying to name all the states from memory, and knew where a state was but not what it was called. Appropriate for Indiana, due to being a state with relatively few distinguishing features.
|-
| Mishy
| {{w|Michigan}}
| According to the Urban Dictionary, "mishy" means "[http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Mishy mushy and horny at the same time]". Or it could just be a nickname, the way a lot of people's names, often children, get shortened with a trailing y (Bobby, Becky, Johnny, Missy, Davey, Tony, etc.), with the "ee" sound in the middle of Michigan being the same "ee" sound at the end of the nickname.
|-
| Oh Hi
| {{w|Ohio}}
| Oh (expression of surprise), Hi (greeting). A common utterance upon meeting an acquaintance unexpectedly.
|-
| Pencilmania
| {{w|Pennsylvania}}
| [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151935/ Pencil Mania] is a 1932 Tom and Jerry cartoon in which they pull out a pencil and proceed to draw figures in the air.
|-
| Newark
| {{w|New York}}
| The city of Newark is a suburb of New York City, and many people who live in Newark commute the 14 miles to work in New York City, however it is actually located in the state of New Jersey rather than New York. Other references: Newark Liberty International Airport is a major flight hub serving the New York metropolitan area, and Newark element14 (or simply "Newark") is the official distributor of Raspberry Pi. Possible reference to William Gibson's works. A mispronunciation of New York.
|-
| Vermouth
| {{w|Vermont}}
| {{w|Vermouth}} is an Italian alcoholic beverage.
|-
| New Hamper
| {{w|New Hampshire}}
| A hamper is a large basket, often with lid, used for laundry. Also another name for a picnic basket.
|-
| Spanish Maine
| {{w|Maine}}
| The {{w|Spanish Main}} was the mainland Spanish colonial possessions around the Gulf of Mexico.
|-
| Masseuses
| {{w|Massachusetts}}
| People who give massages professionally.
|-
| Roald Dahl
| {{w|Rhode Island}}
| A British writer, famous for child novels such as {{w|Charlie and the Chocolate Factory}}.
|-
| Connectfour
| {{w|Connecticut}}
| {{w|Connect Four}} is a two-player game, in which the objective is to connect four of your checkers in a row while preventing your opponent from doing the same. It has already been mentioned in [[1002: Game AIs]].
|-
| Nude Juggalos
| {{w|New Jersey}}
| {{w|Juggalo}} is a name given to fans of the group Insane Clown Posse or any other Psychopathic Records hip hop group.
|-
| Delorean
| {{w|Delaware}}
| A {{w|DeLorean_DMC-12|car}} made famous as the {{w|DeLorean_time_machine|time machine}} in the {{w|Back to the Future}} movies.
|-
| Maybelline
| {{w|Maryland}}
| {{w|Maybelline}} is a make-up brand.
|-
| District of Colubrids
| {{w|District of Columbia}}
| The {{w|Colubridae}} are the biggest family of snakes, accounting for about two thirds of the world's species. As the title text mentions, the {{w|Washington,_D.C.|District of Columbia}}, although not part of any state, is technically not a state itself, but is usually labeled on the maps like the 50 others for practical reasons. Here, Randall humorously explains the reason as people not wanting to upset the aforementioned snakes by dismissing their district for this pedantic reason.
|-
| Wyvern
| {{w|West Virginia}}
| A {{w|Wyvern}} is a mythical creature.
|-
| Virjayjay
| {{w|Virginia}}
| Virginia is similar to vagina. Vajayjay is slang for vagina.
|-
| Sweet Caroline
| {{w|North Carolina}}
| A {{w|Sweet_Caroline|song}} by Neil Diamond.
|-
| South Caroline
| {{w|South Carolina}}
| A further reference to {{w|Sweet_Caroline|song 'Sweet Caroline'}} by Neil Diamond, similar to 'Dakota' and 'More Dakota.' Plays on similarity between the names 'Caroline' and 'Carolina'.
|-
| George
| {{w|Georgia}}
| Georgia was named for {{w|George II of Great Britain}}.
|-
| Fyoridor
| {{w|Florida}}
| Possibly derived from the Russian name Fyodor, as in Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
|-
| Alberta
| {{w|Alaska}}
| A Canadian province.
|-
| Kawaii
| {{w|Hawaii}}
| A Japanese term for cute commonly romanized similar to Hawaii. Possible reference to the 1957 war movie [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050212 The Bridge on the River Kwai]. Not to be confused with {{w|Kauai}}, a Hawaiian island.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
[A map of the United States, with incorrect state names. A title:]

Geography challenge:

'''Name all 50 States'''

| Alabama => Bandana |

| Alaska => Alberta |

| Arizona => Verizona |

| Arkansas => Arkanoids |

| California => Cafeteria |

| Colorado => Colocated |

| Connecticut => Connect Four |

| Delaware => Delorean |

| District of Columbia => District of Colubrids |

| Florida => Fyoridor |

| Georgia => George |

| Hawaii => Kawaii |

| Idaho => Idolatry |

| Illinois => SK8RBOIS |

| Indiana => That Other One |

| Iowa => Iota |

| Kansas => Candice |

| Kentucky => Kennedy |

| Louisiana => Loisa |

| Maine => Spanish Maine |

| Maryland => Maybelline |

| Massachusetts => Masseuses |

| Michigan => Mishy |

| Minnesota => Minestrone |

| Mississippi => Misstate |

| Missouri => Mossouri |

| Montana => mount -a |

| Nebraska => Nebrunswick |

| Nevada => Fallout New Vegas |

| New Hampshire => New Hamper |

| New Jersey => Nude Juggalos |

| New Mexico => Namaste |

| New York => Newark |

| North Carolina => Sweet Caroline |

| South Carolina => South Caroline |

| Ohio => Oh Hi |

| Oklahoma => Okay |

| Oregon => Organs |

| Pennsylvania => Pencilmania |

| Rhode Island => Roald Dahl |

| South Dakota => Dakota |

| /North Dakota => More Dakota |

| Tennessee => Thennessy |

| Texas => Hexxus |

| Utah => Uhaul |

| Vermont => Vermouth |

| Virginia => Virjayjay |

| Washington => Willwheaton |

| West Virginia => Wyvern |

| Wisconsin => Wainscot |

| Wyoming => WYSIWYG |

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Maps]]

Talk:1585: Similarities

2015-10-02T12:10:22Z

141.101.98.180:

;Origins

I've heard 50 Shades of Grey started out as Twilight fan fiction, but don't know how The Martian came to be. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.115|108.162.216.115]] 05:56, 2 October 2015 (UTC)

-- Still missing from the explanation is what kind of brand ''The Martian'' is about... -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.217|162.158.114.217]] 08:18, 2 October 2015 (UTC)
:NASA? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.238|108.162.229.238]] 08:22, 2 October 2015 (UTC)
:A Mars bar? --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.65|141.101.98.65]] 09:09, 2 October 2015 (UTC)
:I'm going with NASA. --[[User:PsyMar|PsyMar]] ([[User talk:PsyMar|talk]]) 09:30, 2 October 2015 (UTC)

: It is Twilight fan-fiction. The original version is still availble for free. They just renamed the characters and removed references to Christian being a sparkling vampire and published it as a new book.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.115.22|162.158.115.22]] 08:43, 2 October 2015 (UTC)
::Allegedly removed by the author, first from the fan fiction sites and then her personal site just prior to publication! And you're right, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/02/11/the-most-scandalous-part-of-fifty-shades-of-grey-isnt-the-sex-and-bondage/ the original is 89% similar to the published trilogy]. Names have been changed to protect the author from legal battles, and [http://www.avclub.com/article/holy-crow-fifty-shades-grey-crazy-similar-its-twil-215185 crucial changes from "holy cow" to "holy crap"] were also made.
::[http://www.literarykiss.com/2012/10/communication-in-fifty-shades-of-trey.html I even found a few graphs about its literary horror and crap references, for people like me who are easily amused. Unfortunately it's so bizarre I'm feeling the effects of Poe's law here. Is it really that bad, or is this some parody? I'll never read the books to find out. --[[User:Fedora-tionOfPlanets|Fedora-tionOfPlanets]] ([[User talk:Fedora-tionOfPlanets|talk]]) 11:28, 2 October 2015 (UTC)

I believe Ponytail is not terrified by suggested title. That's more like she thinksthat Cueball will almost certainly read it and dares him to say otherwise. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.53|141.101.80.53]] 11:46, 2 October 2015 (UTC)

Considering the timing, I wouldn't be surprised if Randall did indeed saw the movie, but had the comics ready in advance and after the movie only added the title and published it. So the part about him not liking the movie based on comics is unfounded. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:47, 2 October 2015 (UTC)

Is the sojourner used to communicate in the movie? It seems like it is just kept around to beetle around the hah module and the Lander is used for comms. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.180|141.101.98.180]]IB

Talk:1585: Similarities

2015-10-02T12:03:45Z

141.101.98.180:

;Origins

I've heard 50 Shades of Grey started out as Twilight fan fiction, but don't know how The Martian came to be. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.115|108.162.216.115]] 05:56, 2 October 2015 (UTC)

-- Still missing from the explanation is what kind of brand ''The Martian'' is about... -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.217|162.158.114.217]] 08:18, 2 October 2015 (UTC)
:NASA? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.238|108.162.229.238]] 08:22, 2 October 2015 (UTC)
:A Mars bar? --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.65|141.101.98.65]] 09:09, 2 October 2015 (UTC)
:I'm going with NASA. --[[User:PsyMar|PsyMar]] ([[User talk:PsyMar|talk]]) 09:30, 2 October 2015 (UTC)

: It is Twilight fan-fiction. The original version is still availble for free. They just renamed the characters and removed references to Christian being a sparkling vampire and published it as a new book.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.115.22|162.158.115.22]] 08:43, 2 October 2015 (UTC)
::Allegedly removed by the author, first from the fan fiction sites and then her personal site just prior to publication! And you're right, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/02/11/the-most-scandalous-part-of-fifty-shades-of-grey-isnt-the-sex-and-bondage/ the original is 89% similar to the published trilogy]. Names have been changed to protect the author from legal battles, and [http://www.avclub.com/article/holy-crow-fifty-shades-grey-crazy-similar-its-twil-215185 crucial changes from "holy cow" to "holy crap"] were also made.
::[http://www.literarykiss.com/2012/10/communication-in-fifty-shades-of-trey.html I even found a few graphs about its literary horror and crap references, for people like me who are easily amused. Unfortunately it's so bizarre I'm feeling the effects of Poe's law here. Is it really that bad, or is this some parody? I'll never read the books to find out. --[[User:Fedora-tionOfPlanets|Fedora-tionOfPlanets]] ([[User talk:Fedora-tionOfPlanets|talk]]) 11:28, 2 October 2015 (UTC)

I believe Ponytail is not terrified by suggested title. That's more like she thinksthat Cueball will almost certainly read it and dares him to say otherwise. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.53|141.101.80.53]] 11:46, 2 October 2015 (UTC)

Considering the timing, I wouldn't be surprised if Randall did indeed saw the movie, but had the comics ready in advance and after the movie only added the title and published it. So the part about him not liking the movie based on comics is unfounded. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:47, 2 October 2015 (UTC)

The sojourner isn't used to communicate with earth, this needs changing. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.180|141.101.98.180]]IB

1473: Location Sharing

2015-01-15T16:09:15Z

141.101.98.180: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1473
| date = January 14, 2015
| title = Location Sharing
| image = location_sharing.png
| titletext = Our phones must have great angular momentum sensors because the compasses really suck.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|First draft.}}

In this comic, [[Megan]] is visiting a website on her mobile phone. After loading it, the website {{w|Location-based service|asks for her location}}, which Megan permits the phone to give. The choice between allowing or denying a website or app access to certain information is common among smartphones. The term "location sharing" specifically refers to when a smartphone user shares their location with such an entity. An example is a weather app which would need your location in order to automatically find the correct forecast.

Megan is then asked her {{w|momentum}}, which she denies. The joke is based off of the Heisenberg {{w|uncertainty principle}}, which, in quantum mechanics, states that one cannot accurately know both the location and momentum of any particle simultaneously. However, since Megan is not a subatomic particle, it doesn't make any sense to say the app is trying to violate Heisenberg's principle.

The ramifications of the uncertainty principle being violated in this context are unknown, but the comic might be alluding to security problems that appear if an untrusted application is given access to momentum data generated by the gyroscope. Access to gyroscope data can be used for reading passwords entered into the on-screen keyboard or even guessing keyboard strokes on a keyboard lying on the same table as the phone.

It could also be an attempt to get [[Megan]] to unwillingly reveal her weight (mass to be more exact), as the mass can be inferred by dividing the momentum by velocity (the velocity in turn can be obtained by observing the change of the location over time). In order to be feasible, the location must be polled at least twice, as at least two location points are necessary to compute the velocity. It is a stereotype in many Western cultures that women tend to keep their weight secret. The stereotype implies that women tend to obsess about controlling (and not revealing) their weight in order to conform to societal and sexual pressure.

The title text refers to the inclusion of {{w|gyroscope}}s in modern cell phones that measure angular momentum, mostly to detect when the phone is tilted, but also used in a few mobile games. Randall suggests the poor accuracy of the compasses in mobile phones (measuring the angular position) is due to the gyroscopes being too good. (If both the gyroscope and the compasses were completely accurate to a subatomic scale, it would violate the uncertainty principle). Modern phones also include varied technologies (such as GPS) to pinpoint the user's location, with varying degrees of accuracy.

The uncertainty principle has previously been referenced in [[824: Guest Week: Bill Amend (FoxTrot)]]. It has also been discussed in relation to the two comics [[1404: Quantum Vacuum Virtual Plasma]] and [[1416: Pixels]].

==Transcript==
:[Megan is holding her phone. Above her is the text she can see on the screen:]
:This website wants to know your location.
:[Two buttons are below this text. The first is white with a black frame and black text. The second (the chosen button) also has a black frame, but inside the frame is a black rectangle with white text. Around the chosen button are small lines indication rays.]
:Deny
:'''Allow'''

:[Megan is holding her phone.]

:[Megan is holding her phone. Above her is again the text she can see on the screen.]
:This website wants to know your momentum.
:[Two buttons are below this text. The first (the chosen button) has a black frame, but inside the frame is a black rectangle with white text. The second is white with a black frame and black text. Around the chosen button are small lines indication rays.]
:'''Deny'''
:Allow

:Megan: Nice try.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

Talk:1338: Land Mammals

2014-10-13T09:50:43Z

141.101.98.180:

Is it mass or weight? --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.119|173.245.53.119]] 06:38, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:It says weight. Since most land animals live on the... land, there is not much difference. I suppose if a lot of aninimals lived near a [https://xkcd.com/852/ prime pole vaulting location] it could skew the results. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.117|108.162.246.117]] 06:40, 5 March 2014 (UTC)
::Ton is a unit of the quantity mass, not weight. Weight is a force and forces would be measured in newtons. Hence the comic is making a mistake. One that 99% of the people do. Mass would be correct since it is a more fundamental quantity and is usually what is meant when people talk about weight. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.105|108.162.254.105]] 18:29, 9 March 2014 (UTC)
:::Ton is actually a unit of weight, at least assuming the comic is using the short ton (widely used in the US). 1 ton = 2000 pounds, and pounds are a unit of weight. A metric ton, tonne, and long ton are units of mass, defined as a quantity of kilograms.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.206|108.162.219.206]] 18:32, 26 September 2014 (UTC)
::::No, [[wikipedia:Pound_%28mass%29|pound]] is a unit of mass as well. The [[wikipedia:Pound_%28force%29|pound-force]] is a unit of force. One pound-force is the amount of force exerted by Earth's gravity (under certain conditions, I have no idea which) on a pound of mass. [[User:Tharkon|Tharkon]] ([[User talk:Tharkon|talk]]) 20:37, 4 October 2014 (UTC)
:::::No, you're all wrong. Pound is a currency. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.188|173.245.54.188]] 15:40, 7 October 2014 (UTC)
:::Based on his comments on the subject in a [http://what-if.xkcd.com/112/ What If comic], I strongly suspect that he doesn't care about the distinction in cases where: a) the values of the measurements are equal, and b) it's just a comic, not a research paper. [[User:Marcus Erronius|Marcus Erronius]] ([[User talk:Marcus Erronius|talk]]) 17:42, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

I'm really curious, what are the other, unlabeled groupings? [http://vaclavsmil.com/the-earths-biosphere-evolution-dynamics-and-change/ Author's website] {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.46}}
:Velociraptors, I'd assume. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.180|141.101.98.180]] 09:50, 13 October 2014 (UTC)

<pre>
On page 186 of Smil's referenced book, there is a bar chart with the following values in millions of tons (*=not used in Randall's graphic):
elephants 0.8
horses 40
pigs 100
cattle 450
people 280
*whales 80
*all wild vertebrates 30
*all domesticated vertebrates 650
</pre> {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.46}}

I think that this graph is actually more illustrative of how much support humans need to maintain themselves (the amount of cattle is astonishing). [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:58, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:''need''? I don't think we ''need'' so much cattle. It's just that most people prefer hamburgers and steaks to beans. So, how much we ''use'' to maintain ourselves would be better. (BTW, you don't count yourself as human?) -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:39, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:According to [http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner/201209/how-many-dogs-are-there-in-the-world] there are 525 million dogs, assuming 20 kg as average weight, this should give 10 squares in the diagram. I can't find reliable numbers for cats, but there are more cats than dogs, but they don't weigh as much, so their total weight could be similar to that of the dogs. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.160|108.162.254.160]] 08:42, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

The blob of 13 under the word Livestock may very well represent both dogs and cats. {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.46}}

;Layout of the blocks
Does anybody see a reason for the particular layout of the blocks? My first impression was a globe but obviously it doesn't correspond to any continents, etc. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.66|108.162.254.66]] 08:44, 5 March 2014 (UTC)
: I've been wondering myself... I do think it is a picture of something. My ideas so far: an eye, a fried egg, a cell. --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 09:29, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

::It may simply be something-like-a-circle of humans with the rest surrounding it. But it DOES look like a cell. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:39, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:: Could it be a sort of relationship diagram? It looks like we're in the centre, with the animals we have the closest relationships with — our pets and our food — nearest, and those we're less concerned with further away. [[User:Gidds|Gidds]] ([[User talk:Gidds|talk]]) 11:34, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:::Yes, the overall layout is human-centric, but that doesn't explain the intentionally lumpy and asymmetric regions. It would have been easier to place the blocks in regular shapes (circular, rectangular or otherwise) but Randall chose to do it this way. Cell with a nucleus is a reasonable guess. - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 14:00, 5 March 2014 (UTC)
::::I think it resembles a (low resolution) globe, with humanity representing the major continent [[User:Boxy|Boxy]] ([[User talk:Boxy|talk]]) 14:19, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

::::I think it shows the relationship of the title text (assuming we are part of land mammals): there are about 1.2K squares in total representing a factor of 1K:1 overall. Thus the shape (resembling bacterium) is explained, the incorporation of all mammals into the shape, and the potential central location of humans (assuming most bacteria lives in our gut). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.31|108.162.219.31]] 16:09, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:::::I'm thinking the data points are placed using a polar coordinate system (although what the axis are I don't know, other than that being human gets you close to the center) combined with a mapping onto an x-y grid. Does that make any sense? --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 20:56, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:::::: I think the layout is intended to show two legged mammals in the middle and four legged surrounding it. There are not sufficient six legged mammals to make yet another circle outside the four legged circle. [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 16:47, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

::::::: You know of ANY six legged mammal? Any six-appendages {{w|vertebrate}} I know of is mythological creature (like {{w|pegasus}} or some {{w|dragon}}s) or non-earth origin (like {{w|List_of_alien_species_in_the_Honorverse#treecats|tree cats}} or {{w|Pandoran_biosphere|Pandora-native}}). -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:58, 7 March 2014 (UTC)

: I think we humans are afraid of the wild animals, and are huddling in the center and have either gathered the domesticated animals around us to protect us, or they have surrounded us on their own to protect us. [[User:Chrullrich|Chrullrich]] ([[User talk:Chrullrich|talk]]) 07:51, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

: Is it just me or is that a tip view of the human skull with eyes pointing left? Perhaps something about the placement indicates where we place the importance of these species in our minds? Wild guess and all that? {{unsigned|Sean timmons}}

Don't think there is anything to the layout, other than making it fit as a evenly distributed in a circle, placing the wild species near the domesticated relatives -- my vote is to remove the layout from the incomplete tag [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 21:48, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

;Identifying the groups
I would love to identify specific groups. The unlabelled animals come in groups, even the wild animals, even though only *one* of those groups (elephants for some reason) has been labelled. —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 13:05, 5 March 2014 (UTC)
:Reason for elephant label == "This is how much/little the whole population of the largest land mammals amass to."? (Actually, given the scarcity of elephants, I'm surprised it's a full block. I suspect something else that could have been labelledsuch as "rats" would be far more.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.7|141.101.99.7]] 14:07, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

Per the wikipeda page[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel#Distribution_and_numbers] on camels I expect that they are the blob of 3 gray squares. [[User:Mwiser|Mwiser]] ([[User talk:Mwiser|talk]]) Update: I hadn't seen the 1 billion kg == 1 million tons notation which has since appeared. I therefore added camels (and also donkeys) to the table below. [[User:Mwiser|Mwiser]] ([[User talk:Mwiser|talk]])

Non [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_SI_definitions SI] units should just die [http://xkcd.com/526/ already]. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.8|108.162.241.8]] 20:39, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:Is Randall's ton the metric {{w|tonne}} or the US {{w|short ton}}? -- [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.65|108.162.219.65]] 22:06, 5 March 2014 (UTC)
::Considering that Randall is very aware of the SI confusion, I'm sure he would have made it clear if he where NOT using metric tonne - so I would say his tonne is 1,000 kg! [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:53, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

;Stab at the numbers
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: auto; text-align: center; font-size: 95%; table-layout: fixed; line-height:1.25"
|-
! Land Mammal
! population in Billions
! Average Kilograms
! Total Kilograms in Billions
! xkcd value
! Notes
|-
! Humans
| 7.2
| 70
| {{sort|00504|504}}
| 358
| as of 2013
|-
! Cattle
| 1
| 1740
| {{sort|01740|1740}}
| 520
| as of 2012
|-
! Pigs
| 1
| 350
| {{sort|00350|350}}
| 90
|
|-
! Chickens
| 19
| 1
| {{sort|00019|19}}
|
| not mammals
|-
! Goats
| 0.865
| 46
| {{sort|00039.7|39.7}}
| 39
| as of 2008... [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goat#Worldwide_goat_population_statistics src]
|-
! Sheep
| 1
| 80
| {{sort|00080|80}}
| 135
|
|-
! Elephants
| 0.000105670
| 5000
| {{sort|00000.5|0.5}}
| 1
| as of 2012 [http://www.elephantdatabase.org/preview_report/2013_africa/Loxodonta_africana/2012/Africa src]
|-
! Horses
| 0.058372106
| 500
| {{sort|00029|29}}
| 29
| as of 2006 [http://horsetalk.co.nz/2007/09/12/world-horse-population-58m/#axzz2v7dtQwJK src]
|-
! Rats
| 10
| 0.35
| {{sort|00003.5|3.5}}
| 2
| 10B is a guess
|-
! Cats
| 0.6
| 5
| {{sort|00003|3}}
| 2
|
|-
! Dogs
| 0.4
| 40
| {{sort|00016|16}}
| 6
|
|-
! Seal
| 0.022
| 200
| {{sort|00004.4|4.4}}
|
| not a land mammal
|-
! Mole
|
| 0.075
|
|
| Numbers are slightly exaggerated, but [http://what-if.xkcd.com/4 it would be nice] to have those quantities
|-
! Krill
| ?
| ?
| {{sort|00300|175-725}}
|
| Wild species with largest biomass (not a land mammal)[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_krill#Biomass_and_production src]
|-
! Camel
| 0.014
| 465
| {{sort|00006.51|6.51}}
|
| As of 2010 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel src]
|-
! Donkey
| 0.04
| 160
| {{sort|00006.4|6.4}}
|
| As of 206 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donkey src] [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CDkQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ed.ac.uk%2Fpolopoly_fs%2F1.21412!%2FfileManager%2Fdonkey%2520fact%2520sheet.pdf&ei=HO4XU6mlD4WbygGMlICoCg&usg=AFQjCNH4aPhQCgltmd0nkgxB6Zb4QU_qLw&bvm=bv.62577051,d.aWc&cad=rja mass src]
|-

|}
* 1 billion kg == 1 million tons [https://www.google.ca/search?q=convert:+1+kg+to+metric+tons src]
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_heaviest_land_mammals
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_mammals_by_population
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.8|108.162.241.8]] 16:19, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

;Talk about the table
:uhh.... chickens aren't... mammals? (?) [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 17:22, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

::Apparently not. http://www.ask.com/question/are-chickens-mammals --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 03:23, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

:: fixed [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.8|108.162.241.8]] 19:39, 11 March 2014 (UTC)

:Where does these XKCD numbers come from? Cattle 1740? Humans 556? According to the comic there are 520 Cattle and 358 Humans (million ton). This table makes no sence in the XKCD number department. Appart from that it would be a great table to include in the comic... [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:52, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

:: fixed [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.8|108.162.241.8]] 19:39, 11 March 2014 (UTC)

:Where does the average weight come from? As the human race is very young (26% below 15 years) and the cattle population has is changed very rapidly - thus there will also be many calves all the time - reducing the average weight far below that of an average adult animal ready to made in to beef... [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:55, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

:: Click on the wiki links below the table and a few more clicks you will find the numbers... add direct source links if you like [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.8|108.162.241.8]] 19:39, 11 March 2014 (UTC)

:Maybe the seal is considered a land mammal by Randal? Only wales are really not land mamals. The link to elephant population seems only to cover African elephants not Asian... [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:01, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

:Does Randall consider cattle to be all the genus Bos? Waterbuffalo for example weigh about 400kg and wikipedia claims a world population of 130M. That would be 52 blocks. So, I'd assume that since there aren't any free blocks that large, that they are considered cattle. So, then Yaks and Wildebeests should be considered cattle as well, no? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.36|108.162.215.36]] 22:06, 7 March 2014 (UTC)rbnm

::Sorry I meant Tribe Bovini not genus Bos [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.36|108.162.215.36]]rbnm

:Rodentia? If the average rodent weighs something like 0.67kg, then 15B rodents would make up 13 squares. 0.67kg comes from the log average of the smallest and largest. If this includes rats (4B per the WHO) - is it reasonable that the rest of Rodentia includes 11B, 1-2 rodents per person on the Earth? That would include: squirrels, porcupines, beavers, guinea pigs, and hamsters; although guinea pigs might be considered pet/livestock (mmm... cuye!). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.36|108.162.215.36]] 23:56, 7 March 2014 (UTC)rbnm

;Title Text
The title text mentions that bacteria outweigh humans by thousands (plural) to one. The notation 1000:1 used in the explanation is therefore not correct.
:True - I did not spot that. I have corrected it to the same version as the title text[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:15, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

;Rabbit
This mammals belong to "Pets/Livestock" and "Wild animals". Any ideas where this does fit in here? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:47, 9 March 2014 (UTC)
:There are several other animals where there could be both a wild and a domesticated (or pet) version. Foes Zoo animals count as pets? Elephant is a good example as they are domesticated in India. Is domesticated only animals where we have changed them - like cows and pigs? In that case the elephant is not domesticated - as it has not been breed into a different race... {{unsigned|Kynde}}

;Deer
This belongs to "Wild animals". Any ideas where this does fit in here? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:52, 9 March 2014 (UTC)

;Smil table
he singles out elephants in the table, and uses Mt of Carbon as a unit. The % of carbon is ~18,5% in humans (I guess this is pretty average for mnammals too, so checking the numbers should take this in to account.

Guessing the unlabeled groups is a pretty futile exercise, are yaks cattle or not, what of reindeers, are both camels and llama and alpacas marked separately. largest wild is likely though rodents, and the smallest likely all wild carnivora. odd-toeds, even-toeds, marsupials, all other mammals are some other likely groups in the 'wilds' section.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.8|108.162.212.8]] 04:40, 26 March 2014 (UTC)

Anyone in the US want to spend a few dollars to try and clear up these unlabelled groups? The book used by Randall in creation of this comic is [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0262692988/olibro-20/ available on amazon]. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:55, 1 October 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1338: Land Mammals

2014-10-13T09:48:34Z

141.101.98.180:

Is it mass or weight? --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.119|173.245.53.119]] 06:38, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:It says weight. Since most land animals live on the... land, there is not much difference. I suppose if a lot of aninimals lived near a [https://xkcd.com/852/ prime pole vaulting location] it could skew the results. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.117|108.162.246.117]] 06:40, 5 March 2014 (UTC)
::Ton is a unit of the quantity mass, not weight. Weight is a force and forces would be measured in newtons. Hence the comic is making a mistake. One that 99% of the people do. Mass would be correct since it is a more fundamental quantity and is usually what is meant when people talk about weight. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.105|108.162.254.105]] 18:29, 9 March 2014 (UTC)
:::Ton is actually a unit of weight, at least assuming the comic is using the short ton (widely used in the US). 1 ton = 2000 pounds, and pounds are a unit of weight. A metric ton, tonne, and long ton are units of mass, defined as a quantity of kilograms.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.206|108.162.219.206]] 18:32, 26 September 2014 (UTC)
::::No, [[wikipedia:Pound_%28mass%29|pound]] is a unit of mass as well. The [[wikipedia:Pound_%28force%29|pound-force]] is a unit of force. One pound-force is the amount of force exerted by Earth's gravity (under certain conditions, I have no idea which) on a pound of mass. [[User:Tharkon|Tharkon]] ([[User talk:Tharkon|talk]]) 20:37, 4 October 2014 (UTC)
:::::No, you're all wrong. Pound is a currency. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.188|173.245.54.188]] 15:40, 7 October 2014 (UTC)
:::Based on his comments on the subject in a [http://what-if.xkcd.com/112/ What If comic], I strongly suspect that he doesn't care about the distinction in cases where: a) the values of the measurements are equal, and b) it's just a comic, not a research paper. [[User:Marcus Erronius|Marcus Erronius]] ([[User talk:Marcus Erronius|talk]]) 17:42, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

I'm really curious, what are the other, unlabeled groupings? [http://vaclavsmil.com/the-earths-biosphere-evolution-dynamics-and-change/ Author's website] {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.46}}
Velociraptors, I'd assume.

<pre>
On page 186 of Smil's referenced book, there is a bar chart with the following values in millions of tons (*=not used in Randall's graphic):
elephants 0.8
horses 40
pigs 100
cattle 450
people 280
*whales 80
*all wild vertebrates 30
*all domesticated vertebrates 650
</pre> {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.46}}

I think that this graph is actually more illustrative of how much support humans need to maintain themselves (the amount of cattle is astonishing). [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:58, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:''need''? I don't think we ''need'' so much cattle. It's just that most people prefer hamburgers and steaks to beans. So, how much we ''use'' to maintain ourselves would be better. (BTW, you don't count yourself as human?) -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:39, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:According to [http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner/201209/how-many-dogs-are-there-in-the-world] there are 525 million dogs, assuming 20 kg as average weight, this should give 10 squares in the diagram. I can't find reliable numbers for cats, but there are more cats than dogs, but they don't weigh as much, so their total weight could be similar to that of the dogs. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.160|108.162.254.160]] 08:42, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

The blob of 13 under the word Livestock may very well represent both dogs and cats. {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.46}}

;Layout of the blocks
Does anybody see a reason for the particular layout of the blocks? My first impression was a globe but obviously it doesn't correspond to any continents, etc. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.66|108.162.254.66]] 08:44, 5 March 2014 (UTC)
: I've been wondering myself... I do think it is a picture of something. My ideas so far: an eye, a fried egg, a cell. --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 09:29, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

::It may simply be something-like-a-circle of humans with the rest surrounding it. But it DOES look like a cell. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:39, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:: Could it be a sort of relationship diagram? It looks like we're in the centre, with the animals we have the closest relationships with — our pets and our food — nearest, and those we're less concerned with further away. [[User:Gidds|Gidds]] ([[User talk:Gidds|talk]]) 11:34, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:::Yes, the overall layout is human-centric, but that doesn't explain the intentionally lumpy and asymmetric regions. It would have been easier to place the blocks in regular shapes (circular, rectangular or otherwise) but Randall chose to do it this way. Cell with a nucleus is a reasonable guess. - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 14:00, 5 March 2014 (UTC)
::::I think it resembles a (low resolution) globe, with humanity representing the major continent [[User:Boxy|Boxy]] ([[User talk:Boxy|talk]]) 14:19, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

::::I think it shows the relationship of the title text (assuming we are part of land mammals): there are about 1.2K squares in total representing a factor of 1K:1 overall. Thus the shape (resembling bacterium) is explained, the incorporation of all mammals into the shape, and the potential central location of humans (assuming most bacteria lives in our gut). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.31|108.162.219.31]] 16:09, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:::::I'm thinking the data points are placed using a polar coordinate system (although what the axis are I don't know, other than that being human gets you close to the center) combined with a mapping onto an x-y grid. Does that make any sense? --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 20:56, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:::::: I think the layout is intended to show two legged mammals in the middle and four legged surrounding it. There are not sufficient six legged mammals to make yet another circle outside the four legged circle. [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 16:47, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

::::::: You know of ANY six legged mammal? Any six-appendages {{w|vertebrate}} I know of is mythological creature (like {{w|pegasus}} or some {{w|dragon}}s) or non-earth origin (like {{w|List_of_alien_species_in_the_Honorverse#treecats|tree cats}} or {{w|Pandoran_biosphere|Pandora-native}}). -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:58, 7 March 2014 (UTC)

: I think we humans are afraid of the wild animals, and are huddling in the center and have either gathered the domesticated animals around us to protect us, or they have surrounded us on their own to protect us. [[User:Chrullrich|Chrullrich]] ([[User talk:Chrullrich|talk]]) 07:51, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

: Is it just me or is that a tip view of the human skull with eyes pointing left? Perhaps something about the placement indicates where we place the importance of these species in our minds? Wild guess and all that? {{unsigned|Sean timmons}}

Don't think there is anything to the layout, other than making it fit as a evenly distributed in a circle, placing the wild species near the domesticated relatives -- my vote is to remove the layout from the incomplete tag [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 21:48, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

;Identifying the groups
I would love to identify specific groups. The unlabelled animals come in groups, even the wild animals, even though only *one* of those groups (elephants for some reason) has been labelled. —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 13:05, 5 March 2014 (UTC)
:Reason for elephant label == "This is how much/little the whole population of the largest land mammals amass to."? (Actually, given the scarcity of elephants, I'm surprised it's a full block. I suspect something else that could have been labelledsuch as "rats" would be far more.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.7|141.101.99.7]] 14:07, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

Per the wikipeda page[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel#Distribution_and_numbers] on camels I expect that they are the blob of 3 gray squares. [[User:Mwiser|Mwiser]] ([[User talk:Mwiser|talk]]) Update: I hadn't seen the 1 billion kg == 1 million tons notation which has since appeared. I therefore added camels (and also donkeys) to the table below. [[User:Mwiser|Mwiser]] ([[User talk:Mwiser|talk]])

Non [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_SI_definitions SI] units should just die [http://xkcd.com/526/ already]. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.8|108.162.241.8]] 20:39, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:Is Randall's ton the metric {{w|tonne}} or the US {{w|short ton}}? -- [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.65|108.162.219.65]] 22:06, 5 March 2014 (UTC)
::Considering that Randall is very aware of the SI confusion, I'm sure he would have made it clear if he where NOT using metric tonne - so I would say his tonne is 1,000 kg! [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:53, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

;Stab at the numbers
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: auto; text-align: center; font-size: 95%; table-layout: fixed; line-height:1.25"
|-
! Land Mammal
! population in Billions
! Average Kilograms
! Total Kilograms in Billions
! xkcd value
! Notes
|-
! Humans
| 7.2
| 70
| {{sort|00504|504}}
| 358
| as of 2013
|-
! Cattle
| 1
| 1740
| {{sort|01740|1740}}
| 520
| as of 2012
|-
! Pigs
| 1
| 350
| {{sort|00350|350}}
| 90
|
|-
! Chickens
| 19
| 1
| {{sort|00019|19}}
|
| not mammals
|-
! Goats
| 0.865
| 46
| {{sort|00039.7|39.7}}
| 39
| as of 2008... [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goat#Worldwide_goat_population_statistics src]
|-
! Sheep
| 1
| 80
| {{sort|00080|80}}
| 135
|
|-
! Elephants
| 0.000105670
| 5000
| {{sort|00000.5|0.5}}
| 1
| as of 2012 [http://www.elephantdatabase.org/preview_report/2013_africa/Loxodonta_africana/2012/Africa src]
|-
! Horses
| 0.058372106
| 500
| {{sort|00029|29}}
| 29
| as of 2006 [http://horsetalk.co.nz/2007/09/12/world-horse-population-58m/#axzz2v7dtQwJK src]
|-
! Rats
| 10
| 0.35
| {{sort|00003.5|3.5}}
| 2
| 10B is a guess
|-
! Cats
| 0.6
| 5
| {{sort|00003|3}}
| 2
|
|-
! Dogs
| 0.4
| 40
| {{sort|00016|16}}
| 6
|
|-
! Seal
| 0.022
| 200
| {{sort|00004.4|4.4}}
|
| not a land mammal
|-
! Mole
|
| 0.075
|
|
| Numbers are slightly exaggerated, but [http://what-if.xkcd.com/4 it would be nice] to have those quantities
|-
! Krill
| ?
| ?
| {{sort|00300|175-725}}
|
| Wild species with largest biomass (not a land mammal)[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_krill#Biomass_and_production src]
|-
! Camel
| 0.014
| 465
| {{sort|00006.51|6.51}}
|
| As of 2010 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel src]
|-
! Donkey
| 0.04
| 160
| {{sort|00006.4|6.4}}
|
| As of 206 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donkey src] [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CDkQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ed.ac.uk%2Fpolopoly_fs%2F1.21412!%2FfileManager%2Fdonkey%2520fact%2520sheet.pdf&ei=HO4XU6mlD4WbygGMlICoCg&usg=AFQjCNH4aPhQCgltmd0nkgxB6Zb4QU_qLw&bvm=bv.62577051,d.aWc&cad=rja mass src]
|-

|}
* 1 billion kg == 1 million tons [https://www.google.ca/search?q=convert:+1+kg+to+metric+tons src]
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_heaviest_land_mammals
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_mammals_by_population
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.8|108.162.241.8]] 16:19, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

;Talk about the table
:uhh.... chickens aren't... mammals? (?) [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 17:22, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

::Apparently not. http://www.ask.com/question/are-chickens-mammals --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 03:23, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

:: fixed [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.8|108.162.241.8]] 19:39, 11 March 2014 (UTC)

:Where does these XKCD numbers come from? Cattle 1740? Humans 556? According to the comic there are 520 Cattle and 358 Humans (million ton). This table makes no sence in the XKCD number department. Appart from that it would be a great table to include in the comic... [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:52, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

:: fixed [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.8|108.162.241.8]] 19:39, 11 March 2014 (UTC)

:Where does the average weight come from? As the human race is very young (26% below 15 years) and the cattle population has is changed very rapidly - thus there will also be many calves all the time - reducing the average weight far below that of an average adult animal ready to made in to beef... [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:55, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

:: Click on the wiki links below the table and a few more clicks you will find the numbers... add direct source links if you like [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.8|108.162.241.8]] 19:39, 11 March 2014 (UTC)

:Maybe the seal is considered a land mammal by Randal? Only wales are really not land mamals. The link to elephant population seems only to cover African elephants not Asian... [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:01, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

:Does Randall consider cattle to be all the genus Bos? Waterbuffalo for example weigh about 400kg and wikipedia claims a world population of 130M. That would be 52 blocks. So, I'd assume that since there aren't any free blocks that large, that they are considered cattle. So, then Yaks and Wildebeests should be considered cattle as well, no? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.36|108.162.215.36]] 22:06, 7 March 2014 (UTC)rbnm

::Sorry I meant Tribe Bovini not genus Bos [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.36|108.162.215.36]]rbnm

:Rodentia? If the average rodent weighs something like 0.67kg, then 15B rodents would make up 13 squares. 0.67kg comes from the log average of the smallest and largest. If this includes rats (4B per the WHO) - is it reasonable that the rest of Rodentia includes 11B, 1-2 rodents per person on the Earth? That would include: squirrels, porcupines, beavers, guinea pigs, and hamsters; although guinea pigs might be considered pet/livestock (mmm... cuye!). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.36|108.162.215.36]] 23:56, 7 March 2014 (UTC)rbnm

;Title Text
The title text mentions that bacteria outweigh humans by thousands (plural) to one. The notation 1000:1 used in the explanation is therefore not correct.
:True - I did not spot that. I have corrected it to the same version as the title text[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:15, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

;Rabbit
This mammals belong to "Pets/Livestock" and "Wild animals". Any ideas where this does fit in here? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:47, 9 March 2014 (UTC)
:There are several other animals where there could be both a wild and a domesticated (or pet) version. Foes Zoo animals count as pets? Elephant is a good example as they are domesticated in India. Is domesticated only animals where we have changed them - like cows and pigs? In that case the elephant is not domesticated - as it has not been breed into a different race... {{unsigned|Kynde}}

;Deer
This belongs to "Wild animals". Any ideas where this does fit in here? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:52, 9 March 2014 (UTC)

;Smil table
he singles out elephants in the table, and uses Mt of Carbon as a unit. The % of carbon is ~18,5% in humans (I guess this is pretty average for mnammals too, so checking the numbers should take this in to account.

Guessing the unlabeled groups is a pretty futile exercise, are yaks cattle or not, what of reindeers, are both camels and llama and alpacas marked separately. largest wild is likely though rodents, and the smallest likely all wild carnivora. odd-toeds, even-toeds, marsupials, all other mammals are some other likely groups in the 'wilds' section.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.8|108.162.212.8]] 04:40, 26 March 2014 (UTC)

Anyone in the US want to spend a few dollars to try and clear up these unlabelled groups? The book used by Randall in creation of this comic is [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0262692988/olibro-20/ available on amazon]. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:55, 1 October 2014 (UTC)