explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1589: Frankenstein

2015-10-12T08:17:10Z

141.101.98.99: /* Transcript */ fixed typo changing 'monser' to 'monster'

{{comic
| number = 1589
| date = October 12, 2015
| title = Frankenstein
| image = frankenstein.png
| titletext = "Wait, so in this version is Frankenstein also the doctor's name?" "No, he's just 'The Doctor'."
}}

==Explanation==

{{incomplete|What about the moon landing statement? Explain the canonical sentence}}
"{{w|Frankenstein|Frankenstein; or: A Modern Prometheus}}" is a novel by Mary Shelley published in 1818. In it, Victor Frankenstein is a human who creates a {{w|Frankenstein%27s_monster#Namelessness|monster}} (which is unnamed in the novel). In popular culture, "Frankenstein" is taken to be the name of the monster, not its creator. Randall is tired of hearing this error corrected, so he has created his own work of fiction, in which a monster is named Frankenstein. He rationalizes that it is now correct to call a monster Frankenstein, assuming that his comic strip is as authoritative as the original novel.

The {{w|Public_domain|copyright}} on Mary Shelley's novel has expired long ago, so it is perfectly legal to create works derived from the original story. It should be noted however, that Universal holds the copyright on the common [https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2011/10/24/how-universal-re-copyrighted-frankensteins-monster/ image of the monster] (green skin, flat top head, scar, bolts on the neck and protruding forehead).

The title text raises the question of what the monster's creator is named in this version, since the name "Frankenstein" is instead given to the monster. The canonical answer is that the creator is simply "The Doctor" (like the title character of the series {{w|Doctor_Who|"Doctor Who"}}, which might be a reference to similar pedantic nitpicking that occurs when that character is incorrectly referred to as "Doctor Who" rather than "The Doctor").

==Transcript==
Like many people, I'm tired of the nitpicking about Frankenstein's monster's name. 
Luckily, Frankenstein is public domain. 
Therefore, I present 
XKCD's Frankenstein 
[lightning bolt] 
(The Monster's name) 
Monster: Graaar! 
Cueball: Frankenstein is alive! I am a modern Prometheus! 
Monster: Raaaar! 
Cueball: To be clear, your name is Frankenstein, canonically. 
Monster: Graaaaar! The moon landings were faked! 
Cueball: Wait, what? 
Fin. 
There. Feel free to call the monster "Frankenstein." If anyone tries to correct you, just explain that this comic is your canonical version. 
Thank you.
{{comic discussion}}

Talk:492: Scrabble

2015-06-22T16:44:55Z

141.101.98.99:

Does anyone know the points for "Ostrich", "Historic", and "Coistril"? I know the game but I don't have it at home.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:25, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

:Not sure what double word type modifiers they have but here are the base scores:

clitoris 10 + 50
coistril 10
ostrich 12
historic 13

:Choosing '''historic''' would be the best family friendly option, but is a far less desirable choice. [[Special:Contributions/184.66.160.91|184.66.160.91]] 05:43, 7 July 2013 (UTC)

:: The only placement for ''historic'' would get it onto the triple word score with one doubled letter, making 42. Still nowhere near ''coistril'' or ''clitoris'', though (which can both get the 50 point bonus and the double letter score for the C). [[Special:Contributions/94.13.166.227|94.13.166.227]] 21:25, 9 July 2013 (UTC)

Please do a separate post and do not destroy the former discussions.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:49, 5 September 2013 (UTC)

Update by ‎67.0.215.76:
clitoris 60
coistril 60
ostrich 12
historic 42
:{{unsigned ip|‎67.0.215.76}}

:The best option would be ''lictors'' and ''hic'', scoring 71 points. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.85|108.162.254.85]] 14:48, 12 May 2014 (UTC)
::Any prove? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:19, 12 May 2014 (UTC)

Randall uses the word "Ostrich" as an alternate word, but "Historic" or "[http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/coistril Coistril]" would gain more points. {{unsigned|Matchup}}

Top 17 Options taking into account what of the board opens up.
[Hic/Lictors 71points], [Lictors/Chi, 69 points], [Hit/Lictors, 69 points], [His/Lictors, 69 points],
[Lictors/Sh, 69 points], [Lictors/Li, 69points], [Trochils, 64 points], [Clitoris, 63 points]x2,
[Coistril, 63]x2, [Historic, 42], [Col/Oh/Li, 17 points], [Hic/Col, 15 points], [Hit/Lotic, 21 points],
[Chi/Col, 14 points], [Li, 3 points]
Top 14 Scoring words
[Lictors, 64-69]x6, [Trochils, 64], [Clitoris, 63]x2, [Coistril, 63]x2, [Historic, 42], [Lotic,21],
[Lictor,18-20]x3, [Colts,19], [Cots,18]x2, [Cost,18]x2, [Colt,18], [Cols,18], [Cist,18], [Scot,18]
Ostrich is a bad plan either way. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.99|141.101.98.99]]

Talk:492: Scrabble

2015-06-22T16:43:47Z

141.101.98.99: words

Does anyone know the points for "Ostrich", "Historic", and "Coistril"? I know the game but I don't have it at home.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:25, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

:Not sure what double word type modifiers they have but here are the base scores:

clitoris 10 + 50
coistril 10
ostrich 12
historic 13

:Choosing '''historic''' would be the best family friendly option, but is a far less desirable choice. [[Special:Contributions/184.66.160.91|184.66.160.91]] 05:43, 7 July 2013 (UTC)

:: The only placement for ''historic'' would get it onto the triple word score with one doubled letter, making 42. Still nowhere near ''coistril'' or ''clitoris'', though (which can both get the 50 point bonus and the double letter score for the C). [[Special:Contributions/94.13.166.227|94.13.166.227]] 21:25, 9 July 2013 (UTC)

Please do a separate post and do not destroy the former discussions.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:49, 5 September 2013 (UTC)

Update by ‎67.0.215.76:
clitoris 60
coistril 60
ostrich 12
historic 42
:{{unsigned ip|‎67.0.215.76}}

:The best option would be ''lictors'' and ''hic'', scoring 71 points. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.85|108.162.254.85]] 14:48, 12 May 2014 (UTC)
::Any prove? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:19, 12 May 2014 (UTC)

Randall uses the word "Ostrich" as an alternate word, but "Historic" or "[http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/coistril Coistril]" would gain more points. {{unsigned|Matchup}}

Top 17 Options taking into account what of the board opens up.
[Hic/Lictors 71points], [Lictors/Chi, 69 points], [Hit/Lictors, 69 points], [His/Lictors, 69 points], [Lictors/Sh, 69 points], [Lictors/Li, 69points], [Trochils, 64 points], [Clitoris, 63 points]x2, [Coistril, 63]x2, [Historic, 42], [Col/Oh/Li, 17 points], [Hic/Col, 15 points], [Hit/Lotic, 21 points], [Chi/Col, 14 points], [Li, 3 points]
Top 14 Scoring words
[Lictors, 64-69]x6, [Trochils, 64], [Clitoris, 63]x2, [Coistril, 63]x2, [Historic, 42], [Lotic,21], [Lictor,18-20]x3, [Colts,19], [Cots,18]x2, [Cost,18]x2, [Colt,18], [Cols,18], [Cist,18], [Scot,18]
Ostrich is a bad plan either way. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.99|141.101.98.99]]

explain xkcd:Community portal/Miscellaneous

2015-05-28T12:48:36Z

141.101.98.99: /* What-If */

<noinclude>{{Community portal}}</noinclude>

== The Community Portal's design ==

{{tl|Community portal}} looks too Wikipedia-ish (because that's where I got it). Someone who can design things should probably fix that. It isn't protected for the time being, though it probably will be in the future (high-visibility template). --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:54, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== Common mistake ==

This affects all pages that ever say "alt text" in reference to the TITLE text on xkcd images. "Alt text" is incorrect; Alt text refers to the text that is shown as an alternative when images are not displayed. Title text is what xkcd uses and is shown as a tool tip-like bubble when images are hovered over.

I would correct this myself but I saw no way to edit the main page. --[[User:Jillysky|Jillysky]] ([[User talk:Jillysky|talk]]) 14:21, 6 August 2012‎ (UTC)

:You actually don't need to edit the main page to fix it, as what's there is just a mirror (transclusion) of the actual content from the comic page, at [[Curiosity]], which is open for editing by anyone. Then again, the "alt-text" in that case is generated by a template, {{tl|comic}}, so that's where we should fix this. The template's code, however, is currently a terrible mess (sorry!), so I went ahead and took care of it. Thanks for catching that! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:24, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

:Ah? So it's wrong, for instance, on http://m.xkcd.com? because of that I took it for granted that we could call it the alt-text... - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 17:38, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

:: Yes. If you look at the page's html source, you'll see:
<nowiki><img
id="comic"
src="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/curiosity.png"
title="As of this writing the NASA/JPL websites are still overloaded. Trying CURIOSITY-REAR-CAM_[256px_x_256px].torrent.SwEsUb.DVDRip.XviD-aXXo.jpg instead."
alt="Curiosity"></nowiki>
::(line breaks added for clarity) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 23:54, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

:::That was my error in the template. I knew "image text" that has been commonly used by Jeff was not techically correct, but I didn't actually go back and confirm it was alt text before I included that tag in the template. That's to Waldir (I believe?) for correcting the template. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:14, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

== When the "official" transcript is wrong? ==
I did [[903: Extended Mind]]. Interestingly, the transcript on xkcd.com is missing the bottom line "When Wikipedia has a server outage, my apparent IQ drops by 30 points." I assume we want a complete transcript, rather than whatever xkcd.com says it is...? [[User:Stevage|Stevage]] ([[User talk:Stevage|talk]]) 04:10, 17 November 2012 (UTC)

:We're focusing on the actual transcript of the comic, not the xkcd.com transcript. The official transcript is usually right, but even Randall makes mistakes sometimes. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 04:24, 17 November 2012 (UTC)

== Milestone: half the comics explained!! ==

Hi all! I'm pleased to announce that we have just broke the 50% mark for xkcd explanations! The page that balanced the count (568 explained, 568 to go, at the time) was [[877: Beauty]], created 01:31 UTC, 21 November 2012 by [[User:Davidy22]]. Congratulations!! :D --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 03:10, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

:The caterer's been called! The punch will be arriving soon! Go [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]! [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 06:53, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

::[[File:freedom.png]] Punch is served! [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 07:11, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

But the Main page says 407 explanations, 731 to go! What's up with that? --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 21:00, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

== Reverse? ==

Why in the Archive why are all the thing up until "Heatmap" in Reverse? Can someone please answer? [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 08:28, 20 February 2013 (UTC)
:Archive? Can you provide a link or screenshot? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:43, 19 February 2013 (UTC)

http://xkcd.com/archive/ [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 08:28, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

::Ah, that's because the comic right after that, rtl, has a right-to-left character in it that flips all the proceeding text. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:13, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

Ah, ok, i see that now. When I 1st saw that RTL I just thought that it was random letters, thankyou for explaining it for me. [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 08:28, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

It also depends on what browser you are on because on Google Chrome it was normal. [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 09:08, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

== Do you think this question was asked by one of the xkcd people? ==

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090301060752AAtYugc [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 08:38, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

== Matthew Reilly ==

I would just like to tell everyone that I asked Matthew Reilly (the author) if he is ever scared that a velociraptor is going to attack him, and he said NO! He clearly needs to start worrying about them! [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 10:45, 22 February 2013 (UTC)

== What can we learn section ==
First of all I love your work. I believe deeper understanding of each XKCD can make a world a better place and I thank you sincerely for starting this webpage. I wanted to ask what you think about "What can we learn?" section I've been adding to some of the pages. Thank you - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 13:27, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

:This site is actually the work of multiple editors working slowly and steadily to fill in explanations for all the old comics. Some of the xkcd comics are incredibly deep - comic [[956]] is such a poignant comic that digs into the DRM issue on so many levels. Your reflections on many of the comics are very much warranted and you're helping us create talk pages with high-quality opening posts, which is great for future discussion on this wiki. It'd be nice if you could refrain from putting headers in talk pages, technical limitations of the wiki make long explanation pages choke when headings are in the discussion page. Other than that, keep up the good work! '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:42, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

::I've put in my 2 cents to comic [[956]], and thank you for teaching me how to comment and link to other comics - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 13:58, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

::: FYI, you can always make pseudo-headings using a horizontal rule and a bold "header", but honestly I think a simple standard opening sentence would suffice. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:14, 2 March 2013 (UTC)

:Oh, and the guy who draws xkcd is called {{w|Randall Munroe}}. So many glowing things to be said about him. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:44, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

::Yes, I can't thank him enough for simplifying complex issues to funny stories, I think it's exactly what our generation needs - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 13:58, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

:I'm in favor of a Mr. Rogers style of 'what lesson can be learned' on the talk page, but make sure your comments don't come across as sanctimonious and holier-than-thou as that can be really off-putting. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 19:06, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

:: You are absolutely correct, I have not thought of that, please trust me I did not do it on purpose. Thank you Mr. Lcarsos - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 19:55, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

Thank you David, and I apologize that I've not made it clear that by your work, I do mean your collective work (the wiki is only as good as all the people behind it). I was trying to put the headers to allow others to find the section easier in case they start looking for it, perhaps I could make a suggestion to make it a standalone section so that others would be encouraged to contribute their own understanding of lessons they have noticed from each comic. I know the lessons I've seen, but I would love to learn from others as much as I hope they can learn from me and Mr. XKCD, thank you. - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 13:48, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

== DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD ==

Hello fellow editors. Do you remember the last time we were hit by a surge of automated spam? Neither do I. ConfirmEdit has really done a number on the volume of spam that we're eating - one spam account has been created since we finished configuring confirmEdit, and zero anon edits have been spam. Zero. Can you say happiness? Can you say party? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:41, 1 March 2013 (UTC)

:Hehe, I'm glad! Thanks for being so relentless on the spam-fighting all this time! Maybe we should make up a new reason to make Jeff remove the /wiki/ in the URL? ;) –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 18:11, 1 March 2013 (UTC)

:: Awesome news! Finally the patrolling feature will be usable: [{{fullurl:Special:RecentChanges|hideanons=1&hidepatrolled=1&from=20121204025000&days=365&limit=1000}} Unpatrolled changes by registered users] / [{{fullurl:Special:RecentChanges|hideliu=1&hidepatrolled=1&from=20121204025000&days=365&limit=1000}} Unpatrolled changes by anonymous users] :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:27, 2 March 2013 (UTC)

== 1000th comic explanation!! ==

Hi all! It apparently went unnoticed that '''we have recently surpassed the mark of 1000 comic explanations!''' Some calculations based on [[:Category:Comics]] and [[Special:NewPages]] led me to the conclusion that the 1000th explanation was [[681: Gravity Wells]], created by [[User:AlexRNL]] just yesterday! Yay! This calls for a celebration, no? Congrats to [[Special:ContributionScores|everyone]] who made this happen! I'll edit [[Mediawiki:Sitenotice]] with a congratulatory message. Way to go, guys! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:04, 10 April 2013 (UTC)
:ps - I also took the opportunity to flesh out our [[explain xkcd|about/history page]]. Please take a look and fix/add any details I might have missed. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:06, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

== Style guide ==
Is there a style guide for this wiki? --[[User:PeterMortensen|PeterMortensen]] ([[User talk:PeterMortensen|talk]]) 20:14, 10 August 2013 (UTC)
:Oh, sorry, I did forget to answer here. A guide on this is not easy, many individual comics do need special layouts because they have content never can match to a style guide. But I will give a try [[Help:Style Guide]].--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:18, 15 August 2013 (UTC)

== Adblock ==

I've whitelisted the site in adblock, but the ads are still blocked.
Anyone know what' going on here and how I can fix it?--[[User:ParadoX|ParadoX]] ([[User talk:ParadoX|talk]]) 04:34, 27 September 2013 (UTC)
:Huh. I was wondering why our impression counts weren't rising. I thought it was just because this site had high turnover. I've changed the webpage that the word whitelisting links to, try the instructions there instead. Project wonderful is our ad provider, and they've been pretty good to us so far. Also, thanks for helping to support the site! '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:40, 27 September 2013 (UTC)
::Great! I don't really mid ads as long as they aren't intrusive. Works now, Hope everyone else does it as well.--[[User:ParadoX|ParadoX]] ([[User talk:ParadoX|talk]]) 05:16, 27 September 2013 (UTC)
::I saw you wrote "the webpage that the word whitelisting links to" so I went to the search box and typed whitelisting. My search didn't yield anything useful: [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?search=whitelisting&go=Go&title=Special%3ASearch]. I don't know how to create the missing page but there oughta be a link for someone like me who searches for whitelist or whitelisting, to take them to the instructions you refer to. [[User:SaxTeacher|SaxTeacher]] ([[User talk:SaxTeacher|talk]]) 10:59, 17 May 2014 (UTC)
:::We already have this linked somewhere, but [https://www.projectwonderful.com/adblock.php this] is the link you want. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:41, 17 May 2014 (UTC)

I normally access this site through the android app "xkcd browser". That app only links to the content part of the site and doesn't show the side bar, so the adds aren't shown either. Might be worth discussing it with the author. [[Special:Contributions/109.158.126.139|109.158.126.139]] 08:06, 27 September 2013 (UTC)

:We support those avenues completely, you don't need to feel bad if you use an app to browse this site. We're only really concerned when we put up ads and our impressions are less than half our page hits, because that essentially means more than half our readers aren't contributing to server costs. That's really hard to deal with. We have enough daily page hits to qualify as web publishers at very big ad agencies, but we've had to settle for relatively low rates at the smaller Project Wonderful because 60% of our users were using adblock, so the agencies rejected us because our valuable "paying" audience was too low for them to consider us. That's been the difference between us using dedicated servers to host the site and hiring a contractor to set it up, and the (admittedly somewhat decent) shared hosting plan that we have to settle for now. We can only afford the shared hosting, because the small-scale advertisers at Project Wonderful don't even pay for full days of advertising; most of the time, we make less per day than the posted $3.90 price. That said, we're grateful that Project Wonderful would take us as a publisher when no one else would, but it really feels like the difference between being accepted to community college and being accepted to an ivy league school. For a similar reason, the Google ads route was not sufficient to satisfy our needs; not a large enough proportion of our users were looking at ads, so we either needed to spam them and degrade the site, or we needed to make them refresh, which makes pages slow and causes needlessly high traffic for a lot of users. We didn't want our ads to make the site worse, because that would drive away users and defeat the purpose of us being a public resource for xkcd readers. We actually decided to go the agency route pretty early, because adsense takes a massive cut of revenues and gives us little control over what ads or advertisers actually showed, which was not okay with us. Whoah, I wrote a lot. I hope it was coherent. Maybe someday I'll collect my thoughts and write a proper summary on how and why we advertise. Also, if you have any questions about anything ad-related, you can always ask us at [[explain xkcd talk:Advertise Here]]. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:15, 27 September 2013 (UTC)

== Feynman? ==

Feynman (both in [[182: Nash|living]] and [[397: Unscientific|zombie]] form) probably deserves an entry in the [[Template:Navbox characters|character navbox]] template doesn't he? [[Special:Contributions/128.250.152.198|128.250.152.198]] 02:21, 1 October 2013 (UTC)
:That's two comics out of 1200+. Three if you count the song. Not quite enough yet. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:27, 1 October 2013 (UTC)
:: If that's the criterion, then we need to get rid of [[Brown Hat]]. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 19:30, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

== Job Interview (Electric Soup) ==

The soup is clearly being poured out of an electric socket. This "electric soup" is probably not a reference to the alcoholic brew favoured by Scottish tramps, but more likely to the virtual nature of the company. {{unsigned|Sulis}}
:Hey, go here [[Talk:1293: Job Interview‎]] for discussions. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:58, 20 November 2013 (UTC)

== Is there a similar, transcripted service for The Oatmeal? ==

Hi everyone - this site is a real gem, I've sent it to a friend of mine who can't read XKCD because she's blind. The transcripts on this site are a real boon!

Does anyone know if there is a similar service for The Oatmeal? I've searched and searched, but found nothing so far.

Thanks :)

Jeff

:As far as I know we are kind of unique in the web comics world. I think we get away with it because Randall publishes all his comics as Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial. We liberally link back to xkcd, and we don't make a penny (The ads are just to cover server expenses, because wikis and the databases that support them get big when you're covering a body of work like xkcd). I haven't looked into the copyright Matt uses for the Oatmeal, but he seems like a cool enough guy to not kill a community transcripting effort of his comics. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 20:32, 4 March 2014 (UTC)

== what if 103: Vanishing Water - comics ==

Please explain the 2nd and the 4th comics from http://what-if.xkcd.com/103/

"Just tried to sail my boat over land, because I didn't learn from that kid in the Zephyr." (who's the kid from Zephyr?)

"A third time?" (maybe whales were dropped twice before in other what-ifs?) [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 21:57, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

:"A third time?" is a reference to a whale falling twice in "Hitchiker's guide to the Galaxy". Been a while, so I don't remember the details of how this fit in, but the second time it happened to the whale, he thought "Not again" or something along those lines. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 18:49, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

Raises the question of if we should explain jokes imbedded in What If comics. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 18:49, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

== Discussion usage ==

Am I being a killjoy in feeling that the discussion section should be mainly limited to discussion on improving the explanation, gathering consensus and that type of thing.
Specifically, the discussion for [[1418: Horse]] is quickly turning into every man and his dog posting a sentence in the style of the comic, which doesn't really add anything to the page other than clutter.

Personally, I'd just delete most of them, but I think I might be turning into a grumpy old bugger... --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 20:32, 10 September 2014 (UTC)
:The discussion is also there for just talking about the comic. Those guys aren't wildly off-topic, there's no need to clamp down on what they get to talk about. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 17:44, 10 September 2014 (UTC)

::Yep, I must just be grumpy and draconian! Lesson learned --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 20:32, 10 September 2014 (UTC)

== 2014 Christmas header ==

Since the header for the site current contains a [http://imgs.xkcd.com/store/store_default.png graphic link to the store] that promises that Randall probably won't ship you a [[:Category:Bobcats|bobcat]], it seems to me that probably ought to be preserved and explained somewhere. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.189|173.245.56.189]] 17:45, 3 December 2014 (UTC)

== XKCD at LanguageLog ==

Arnold Zwicky (of the well-known linguistics blog Language Log) has put together a list of linguistics-related XKCD strips, here: http://arnoldzwicky.org/the-language-of-comics/comics-lists/xkcd-cartoons/ I thought it might be appropriate for a copy of the list (maybe a category) to be created from it. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.79|199.27.133.79]] 03:48, 28 December 2014 (UTC)
:[[:Category:Language]] '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:39, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

== Bookmarklet ==

Hello there, I've created a little bookmarklet (https://ginkobox.fr/shaarli/?a77vQw) and I thought it might be useful for someone out there.

When launched, it adds the 'explain' before xkcd.com and the browser loads the explainxkcd page. I've tested it only on Firefox.

(Contact @ https://ginkobox.fr/wiki/doku.php?id=about) {{unsigned ip|‎108.162.229.100}}

== Is there a RSS feed for What If? ==

Is there a RSS feed for What If?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 11:59, 29 March 2015 (UTC)
:No, because we cover the comics. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:57, 29 March 2015 (UTC)

== My User Page ==

Can someone help me with [[user:17jiangz1|my user page]]? I can't seem to remove the large space on top.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 07:43, 9 April 2015 (UTC)
: The only solution I've found is to remove the contribution scores (data6=...). Not sure what exactly is triggering this bug. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 21:02, 9 April 2015 (UTC)
I am receiving "Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character ""." for <code><pre>{{#expr: {{formatnum:{{#cscore:17jiangz1|pages}}|R}}/{{formatnum:{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}|R}}*100 round 5 }}</pre></code>--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 05:46, 10 April 2015 (UTC)
:Bump?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 06:48, 14 April 2015 (UTC)

== What-If ==

It hasn't updated for 2 weeks. why?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 06:50, 25 April 2015 (UTC)
:Looks like they're on hold for a few months (Until July 14th). Too bad, I enjoyed them. ([http://what-if.xkcd.com/ Look at the top of the What-If page]) --[[User:Zman9600|Zman9600]] ([[User talk:Zman9600|talk]]) 20:24, 6 May 2015 (UTC)
:What is so special about the date and time? Seems very specific: ''July 14th, 2015 at 7:49:59 AM EDT.'' --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.99|141.101.98.99]] 12:48, 28 May 2015 (UTC)

1526: Placebo Blocker

2015-05-18T20:39:17Z

141.101.98.99: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1526
| date = 18 May, 2015
| title = Placebo Blocker
| image = placebo blocker.png
| titletext = They work even better if you take them with our experimental placebo booster, which I keep in the same bottle.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Could be improved-Clumsy wording}}

The {{w|placebo}} effect refers to the phenomenon in which patients given an inactive treatment (such as a sugar pill) can still show improvement relative to an untreated patient, if they believe that they are receiving an effective treatment. The placebo effect is important to consider for experiments to test whether new drug treatments are effective, since even ineffective treatments can lead to improved outcomes. Thus, modern drug trials are conducted as {{w|Blind experiment#Double-blind trials|double blind}} experiments, where patients are randomly given either the treatment or a placebo without either them or the administering doctors knowing which is which.

Several reasons for the placebo effect have been proposed, from study artifacts such as under-reporting of negative outcomes by patients who think they are being treated, to neurological explanations for how mental state can translate into physical outcomes. This comic refers to a study published this month about possible mechanisms for the placebo effect:

: Kathryn T. Hall, Joseph Loscalzo, and Ted J. Kaptchuk. (2015) ''Genetics and the placebo effect: the placebome.'' Trends in Mol Medicine. Volume 21, Issue 5, May 2015, Pages 285–294 [https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/J.MOLMED.2015.02.009 doi:10.1016/j.molmed.2015.02.009]

[[Cueball]] announces the creation of a drug designed to prevent the placebo effect from occurring. The joke centers around the difficulty in designing an experiment which would test whether such a drug worked. Following the typical experimental design, patients experiencing the placebo effect (i.e. who had just taken a placebo and been told it was a treatment for some ailment) would be split into two groups. The first group would receive the blocker drug, while the second would receive a placebo. However, Cueball then trails off after realizing the problems with such a scheme, such as the fact that one group receives two different placebos, or that it is unclear how the patients could be told what the drug was designed for without negating the effect of the original placebo.

After [[Hair Bun Girl]] develops a headache from trying to think of a proper experimental design for the placebo blocker, Cueball offers her a sugar pill as a cure. While this might have helped the headache via the placebo effect had he told her it was a headache treatment, by revealing the pill as merely a sugar pill, it may suppress or reduce the effect.[http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0015591 but still be effective.]

In title text, Cueball is talking about a placebo booster that he keeps in the same bottle with his placebos, suggesting that a placebo booster could simply be another placebo that patients are told will enhance the placebo effect. It's unclear whether it would be ''called'' a placebo booster in front of the patients, which would possibly have the effect of ''diminishing'' the effect of the first placebo.

Alternatively, the placebo booster may be effective. However since it's kept in the same bottle as the placebo [[Hair Bun Girl]] won't know if she got the placebo (sugar pill) or the real booster, which might then reactivate the placebo effect in her brain since she doesn't actually know which one she got. But if she got the booster but didn't get the placebo, what would the booster boost? She should probably take two, as the title text suggests. But then did she get two placebos, two boosters, or one of each? My head hurts...

Placebo-blockers do exist. A side-effect of the opiate antagonist [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naloxone#Side_effects Naloxone] blocks the placebo effect. [http://healthland.time.com/2009/08/26/a-neurological-explanation-for-the-placebo-effect/]

==Transcript==
:Cueball: Some researchers* are starting to figure out the mechanism behind the placebo effect.
:Cueball: We've used their work to create a new drug: a ''placebo effect blocker.''
:Footnote: * Hall et al, DOI: [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/J.MOLMED.2015.02.009 10.1016/J.MOLMED.2015.02.009]
:Cueball: Now we just need to run a trial! We'll get two groups, give them both placebos, then give one the ''real'' placebo blocker, and the other a...
:Cueball: ...wait.
:[Hair Bun Girl holds her chin, while Cueball looks towards the ground.]
:Hair Bun Girl: ...my head hurts.
:Cueball: Mine too.
:[Cueball begins to take the lid off of a medicine bottle.]
:Cueball: Here, want a sugar pill?

{{comic discussion}}


[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hair Bun Girl]]
[[Category:Science]]

Talk:1418: Horse

2015-05-14T16:31:11Z

141.101.98.99:

*May the horse be with you Luke.
*The horse is strong with this one.
*I felt a tremor in the horse.
Why did he forget SW. That is not like Randall ;) [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:50, 8 September 2014 (UTC)
: I gotta think maybe Randall's making a subtle statement that Star Wars just ain't so relevant these days... [[User:KieferSkunk|KieferSkunk]] ([[User talk:KieferSkunk|talk]]) 21:50, 15 September 2014 (UTC)

----

Following up on the title text... "Why was he suspended?" "Due to allegations of excessive horse."

[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.201|173.245.56.201]] 09:01, 8 September 2014 (UTC) Siuntio

So I linked it to the old substitutions page - gjgfuj [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.219|108.162.250.219]] 10:05, 8 September 2014 (UTC)

Like the "Clouds-to-butts" plugin for Chrome. {{unsigned ip|108.162.249.231}}
:More information in Reddit [http://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/24odjt/cloud_to_butts_extension/]. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.201|108.162.221.201]] 14:16, 8 September 2014 (UTC)

I added a modified version of Cloud-to-Butt plugin [https://www.dropbox.com/s/0mswga09c5uf9h4/cloud2butt2.xpi?dl=0 to my dropbox]. All credit for coding/programming goes to [https://github.com/DaveRandom/cloud-to-butt-mozilla Steven Frank], its creator - I just unpacked the XPI file, added the Horse->Horse and horse->horse text replacement (while of course still keeping "the cloud" going to "my butt" because that is awesome) and then repacked it. You can install it in Firefox like any other .XPI file. Enjoy! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.221|108.162.221.221]] 16:19, 17 October 2014 (UTC)

----

Would it be funny the other way?
*The force population has been in decline sine the industrial revolution
*Rules of polo: You need a force.
*People do not like it when there is force in their beef.
I do ;) —[[User:Artyer|Artyer]] ([[User talk:Artyer|talk]]) 18:33, 8 September 2014 (UTC)

----
Correctforcebatterystaple [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.163|173.245.56.163]] 22:18, 8 September 2014 (UTC)

I originally (earlier today) read it as "Iraqi Air [FH]orse grow'''l'''ing"... Which made less sense than I'd have expected, but I couldn't unread it until just now. Still surreal, but at least not outright Dada[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.233|141.101.98.233]] 00:21, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

"A police horse is a constituted body of persons empowered by the state to enhorse the law, protect property, and limit civil disorder. (...) Law enhorsement, however, constitutes only part of policing activity." --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.161|141.101.104.161]] 07:21, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

maybe the officer suspended from horse was a reference to the police officer who shot a black person? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.106|108.162.254.106]] 07:39, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

Aqua teen hunger horse. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.226|108.162.246.226]] 00:54, 10 September 2014 (UTC)

----

I had previously posted a grumpy comment here (now removed) --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 07:38, 11 September 2014 (UTC)
:Sorry, but that's totally wrong. The discussion section is meant to replace what used to be the old blog's comments section, and is for any discussion relevant to the comic. If you're new here, there's a section on the main page titled "New Here?" which explains the basics of explainxkcd, and it's worth checking out. It also lists the handful of rules we have, including the fact that the discussion page is for talking about the comic. [[User:Az|Az]] ([[User talk:Az|talk]]) 06:59, 11 September 2014 (UTC)
::Sorry about that, and thanks for the pointer. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 07:38, 11 September 2014 (UTC)

----
Explanation Quarks:
Sorry, could not resist... [[User:Tier666|Tier666]] ([[User talk:Tier666|talk]]) 11:39, 10 September 2014 (UTC)

How about the portion of the Police Horse who are on forceback? {{unsigned ip|173.245.52.170}}

Last time XKCD featured one of these text replacements, people started posting scripts for implementing the text replacement automatically in browsers. I'm surprised this hasn't happened yet. [[User:Diszy|Diszy]] ([[User talk:Diszy|talk]]) 22:03, 11 September 2014 (UTC)

http://bitcoinshell.mooo.com/users/noiob/dev/horse.user.js Here you go. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.179|141.101.104.179]] 16:26, 13 September 2014 (UTC)

----
Interestingly, a sound change from an initial /f/ to /h/ happened in the evolution of Spanish. Examples: fornax --> horno, ferrum --> hierro, factus --> hecho. Of course, all h's subsequently went silent. {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.171}}

Cueball is using a desktop computer. Perhaps this will be the last desktop in xkcd? In the last 8 months its been all laptops.

Talk:925: Cell Phones

2015-05-10T09:18:40Z

141.101.98.99:

On first read I thought the joke is that the cell phone graph shape (somewhat) closely mimics the shape of the cancer graph, including the part where it begins to level off - implying that one linearly correlates with the other, with a 20 year delay (a typical time it takes for cancer to manifest, except in this case it's backwards). ultramage 14:17, 22 December 2012 (UTC)

That and the fact the graph is out by a scale factor of 1000 is always a fun way to screw over how the statistics look.{{unsigned ip|82.16.27.115}}

Nah b', it's 2000.{{unsigned ip|76.67.97.246}}

::The real problem with the graph is that it makes it look like cancer rates have increased from near-zero levels to way higher since 1970, until you actually read the Y axis and see that it's gone from about 400 (per 100,000) to about 475. This is an increase of only 18.75%, as opposed to the visual appearance of a 300% increase. Hats off to Black Hat!! [[Special:Contributions/108.28.72.186|108.28.72.186]] 01:18, 7 August 2013 (UTC)
:::Among the many things wrong with the graph is the lack of context. Much of the increase in cancer incidence in the 80s was the availability of pre-clinical testing for prostate cancer[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12081758]. The other is the improvements in control of infectious disease, and more recently heart disease, resulting in an enlarged elderly population who are more at risk of cancer.

I thought the laptop joke was that some people believe not to put it on your lap because it messes with your reproductive organs! ~JFreund
:But you know now you are wrong, correct? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.223|108.162.219.223]] 06:59, 21 January 2014 (UTC)
:If your laptop starts messing with your reproductive organs, you may want to either tell an adult, or stop taking drugs (or possibly take more drugs). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.218|108.162.237.218]] 06:45, 3 May 2014 (UTC)

I originally thought that the graph was supposed to show that an increase in cellphone use caused a decrease in cancer. I'm not sure why Randell didn't go with that conclusion, as it seems way more obvious to make when you look at tha graph, and it's humorously the opposite of what people are saying. Still very silly, of course :p [[User:Maplestrip|Maplestrip]] ([[User talk:Maplestrip|talk]]) 08:37, 31 October 2014 (UTC)

Why does the title text explanation refer to panel 2? From what I can see the title text either refers to a) you should not hold your laptop by its screen as it may damage it (in panel 2) or b) you should not not rest your laptop on your lap as it may overheat and damage you (in panel 4). I think a) makes more sense since the comic refers to how black hat "holds" the laptop, but I can also see that b) references the subject of the comic. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.177|141.101.98.177]] 10:19, 22 November 2014 (UTC)

*Seconded. I'm changing it. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.17|141.101.104.17]] 19:05, 16 December 2014 (UTC)

When brash well educated young men from good homes start using dolls as good luck fetishes the sergeants in charge of their ground crew should have a word with their squadron leaders about such people suffering stress.

Unfortunately there was a shortage of pilots and there was no medical help for anyone who Lacked Moral Fibre. Plus the Air Ministry was, in a large measure, responsible for the aggressive attack of the disease initially.

OTOH of course, it was all a long time ago and most of them are dead by now.

(Might have stopped some using IFF over enemy territory though. (Pity, that.))

[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 17:10, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

Talk:461: Google Maps

2015-04-10T21:22:01Z

141.101.98.99:

By the end, it's really starting to sound like a text-based fantasy adventure game, or possibly a game of D&D. This adds an additional level of humour: using Google Maps to navigate around virtual worlds.

I particularly liked the "Go pi miles", and the "Careful" instructions in the Google Maps "Action" column on the right. ''--[[User:MisterSpike|MisterSpike]] ([[User talk:MisterSpike|talk]]) 18:58, 26 June 2013 (UTC)''

:Yes it is very much like old text games. [[Special:Contributions/184.66.160.91|184.66.160.91]] 04:18, 7 July 2013 (UTC)

:To me, it actually looks like a '''walkthrough''' for an adventure game of some sort. Or possibly a hint book considering the "official-sounding" last part. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.234|108.162.231.234]] 06:38, 25 December 2013 (UTC)

The Spectral Wolf plays a role in World of Warcraft, but as I am not a WoW player, I don't feel qualified to update the explanation. Any WoWians want to add a paragraph on the Spectral Wolf?[[User:Nsimonetti|NikoNarf]] ([[User talk:Nsimonetti|talk]]) 19:17, 14 November 2013 (UTC)
:I am one, but the Reins of the Spectral Wolf were not released until the Cataclysm expansion (December 2010). Thus a WoW-related explanation for the wolf would be anachronistic. [[User:Amurfalcon|Amurfalcon]] ([[User talk:Amurfalcon|talk]]) 21:07, 10 December 2013 (UTC)
:I am one as well. There was a quest that Tauren did in their starting region, where they had to follow a spectral wolf. If I remember correctly, it was in Vanilla WoW. No anachronism here. {{unsigned ip|173.245.52.98}}

I'm not sure what is meant by the use of the term "Straw Man" instead of scarecrow or some other spooky or Halloween-themed equivalent. Perhaps it is a reference to the fallacy, but the fallacy is unassociated with "waking" unless maybe it's loosely related to the aggression that generally accompanies the attack of a straw man. {{unsigned ip|173.245.56.66}}

:"They also apparently woke the Straw Man."
I don't think there's more implied than that they lost time getting past, or detouring around, 'the Straw Man'. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.203|108.162.219.203]] 14:13, 25 December 2013 (UTC)

Looks like "Zork" to me. Anyone remember Zork? {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.229}}

The Spectral Wolf would make all of this work so worthwhile. I mean... you would be getting a SPECTRAL WOLF! I wish I had a real one. [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 13:41, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

;Googles directions weren't just suboptimal in some cases they were crazy

IIRC I saw one set of directions that told the reader to "swim across the atlantic ocean" not once (well docuemnted easter egg) but twice as well as driving round most of europe to get to a destination in the same country they started in. -- plugwash [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.66|108.162.219.66]] 23:29, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

This comic describes a real place. Googling "rt-22 and lake shore road" will result in a ferry crossing in Essex, NY. Route-22 (Station ST) becomes Lake Shore road through a left turn near Pink Pig Cottage Antiques. About 300 feet from that T intersection is a small, unnamed, road on the right leading to the Essex-Charloette ferry route. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.103|173.245.52.103]] 22:34, 13 November 2014 (UTC)

:And thanks to [https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@44.310745,-73.351234,3a,75y,66.75h,75.32t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1scRAKgyvNh43nlSL6Et9CNQ!2e0 Streetview] we can see the ferry [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.99|141.101.98.99]] 21:22, 10 April 2015 (UTC).

996: Making Things Difficult

2015-03-17T15:56:28Z

141.101.98.99: /* Explanation */ "normal" can be seen as perjorative in context

{{comic
| number = 996
| date = December 28, 2011
| title = Making Things Difficult
| image = making_things_difficult.png
| titletext = Favorite mastectomy breast prosthesis idea: a fake boob containing a spare rechargable battery, accessed via a nipple USB port. Complete with a ring of LED charge indicators in the areola!
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a reference to the breast cancer surgery that [[Randall]]'s fiancee/wife underwent. This comic is the follow up appointment after the surgery. When the doctor asks [[Megan]] to take her shirt off, she refuses until the doctor gives her a necklace of beads that, in the {{w|New Orleans}} {{w|Mardi Gras}} culture, is used to exchange for the exposure of a female's breasts.

So, by Megan saying "You know the rules", that indicates that Megan has stipulated that every time she takes off her shirt for the doctor, a necklace of beads must be exchanged.

At the top of the comic page there is a link to [http://blog.xkcd.com/2011/06/30/family-illness/ a blog posting] that talked about the real world events leading up to this comic.

The title text refers to a {{w|mastectomy}}, the surgical removal of one or both breasts. One possible treatment for breast cancer is to surgically remove the breast. After this procedure a false or prosthetic breast is often added to retain the prior physical appearance. The title text also suggests some things that could be concealed in this prosthesis. In the case a charging station with a USB port where the nipple would normally be, and lights to show how much charge the battery inside arranged around the darker circle of skin around the nipple.

==Transcript==
:Breast Cancer Surgery Follow-Up...
:Oncologist: You're looking great! Remove your top so I can check how the incision is healing.
:Megan: Nuh-uh.

:Oncologist: *sigh*. Do we have to do this ''every'' time?
:Megan: You know the rules.

:Oncologist: This is so ridiculous.
:[Oncologist annoyedly searches for something in pockets.]

:Oncologist: Here.
:[Oncologist waves around a Mardi Gras bead necklace.]
:Megan: Woooo!
:[Megan disrobes.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Cancer]]