explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1680: Black Hole

2016-05-22T21:52:23Z

162.158.114.229: "neutrally charged" doesn't make sense

IF the explanation of "Milkshake" being a coded message is correct, then I like how Melis plays with it. I always thought the more sexual way, Milkshake meaning shaking her milk bags. Sure, that brings boys to the yard.... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.151|141.101.104.151]]

It seems like a black hole of that "volume" would mean the earth "falls" into *it*, not the other way around. {{unsigned ip|108.162.245.117}}

: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nHBGFKLHZQ Kurzgesagt's video] illustrates how Earth would be destroyed (around two minutes in). Whichever object is considered at rest, "falling into" is sort of a euphemism for what would really happen. [[User:.42|.42]] ([[User talk:.42|talk]]) 18:13, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

It's not clear what exactly in the comic is a reference to the Big Lebowski movie. This needs clarification. [[User:Todor|Todor]] ([[User talk:Todor|talk]]) 06:48, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

:In the Big Lebowski, The Dude's reasoning for wanting the rug replaced was that "It really tied the room together" [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.80|108.162.219.80]] 07:50, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

The event horizon of the black hole in the cartoon appears to be roughly an inch across, which using the formula linking Schwarzschild radius to mass (r = 2MG/c^2) gives a black hole of about 3 earth masses. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.138|162.158.34.138]] 08:06, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

:OMG. That would mean it also excerts 3 times the gravitational force of earth. As a result people near (also as far away as earth orbits) would only be comfortable standing at a significant angle. Time may also appear to progress slower near the black hole due to the time dilation effect. But I am unsure how pronounced this effect will be from a black hole that size. Audible and visible effects of this would be people talking slower (but not lower as you have with the doppler effect, i beleive that to be a sci-fi misconception), and peoples movements seeming slower. [[User:Todor|Todor]] ([[User talk:Todor|talk]]) 08:50, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

:That strong a pull would mean the hole would not only collect air and particles, but also pull furniture into it. Seing as both people are standing upright I'm guessing the pull can not be more than say one fifth of earths. Maybe it has a visible accretion disc? If you were to run the formula in reverse what diameter would that give you of the hole itself? [[User:Todor|Todor]] ([[User talk:Todor|talk]]) 09:23, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

::(out of sequence) One fifth of Earth's mass would give you one fifth of g, but only if you measure it 6400 km (more or less) from the Earth's center. If you measure it 1 meter from the mass center... it's a HUUUUGE gravity. The mass of this black hole must be many orders of magnitude less than Earth's.
::--[[User:Lou Crazy|Lou Crazy]] ([[User talk:Lou Crazy|talk]])

There's only 5 years between the Big Lebowski and Milkshake (1998 vs 2003) so while "more contemporary" is technically correct, I think it underestimates how old Milkshake is. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.21|141.101.98.21]] 08:15, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

Perhaps this comic is in reference to [http://gizmodo.com/were-one-step-closer-to-better-tabletop-particle-accele-1775501374 this article referencing tabletop particle accelerators]? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.74|141.101.104.74]] 08:38, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

I once read a short story about this situation where the hole kept feeding and eventually swallowed the whole Galaxy. I thought it was a Stephen King, but my Google Fu can't find it... [[User:Supachris28|Supachris28]] ([[User talk:Supachris28|talk]]) 09:22, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

:It was one of the scare-stories surrounding the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), where a micro-black hole would form and end-of-the-world scenario would ensue. Apparently such a hole could form but would immediately destabilize. On a related note, this brings into question as to how stable the hole in the comic would be, since it seems rather small. If it were to destabilize it would have enough energy to blow the earth to pieces, despite its deceivingly innocent size. [[User:Todor|Todor]] ([[User talk:Todor|talk]]) 09:48, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

See also - Earth by David Brin in which a micro black hole falls into the core [[Special:Contributions/162.158.85.165|162.158.85.165]] 15:30, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

Was I right to add a little about hawking radiation?[[User:Transuranium|Transuranium]] ([[User talk:Transuranium|talk]]) 10:07, 13 May 2016 (UTC)Transuranium

: Hawking radiation from a black hole with "neutron bullet" mass (equivalent to the Empire State Building) would be ''vicious'', equivalent to .78 megatons of TNT per second. However, it could spew out increasingly intense radiation for ''96 years''. [http://xaonon.dyndns.org/hawking/] A lunar mass black hole would be colder than interstellar space and could outlive most of the universe. [[User:.42|.42]] ([[User talk:.42|talk]]) 10:28, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

::As deduced above I guess the hole would not be strong enough to pull them in. But you're saying a black hole with a mass smaller than earth would essentially fry them both and set their house on fire IRL? And that would only be if it was stable enough not to destabilize and blow up. Some best-case scenario that is. :) [[User:Todor|Todor]] ([[User talk:Todor|talk]]) 11:07, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

The [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nHBGFKLHZQ effects of a small black hole] the size of a coin, animation by "Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell" [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.154|141.101.104.154]] 11:28, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

The article currently states that a black hole is "inconsistent with physics", this is inaccurate. If it doesn't violate any laws or break math, it is perfectly valid. Physics allow for seemingly weird stuff, as long as it is a theoretical possibility, makes mathematically sense and doesn't contradict accepted truths. And it remains valid until proven it is not. That is science in a nutshell. [[User:Todor|Todor]] ([[User talk:Todor|talk]]) 15:39, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

: The inconsistency is in portraying the black hole as a calm, benign object that can rest safely on a coffee table. In reality, it would do something unimaginably violent that would preclude a conversation near the room it's in. [[User:.42|.42]] ([[User talk:.42|talk]]) 18:13, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

;Worst explanation ever

I came here for an explanation and I have so many questions.
*<s>What's 'The Dude's' rug in the film "The Big Lebowski"?</s> Answer below says it has no relationship to the comic.
*What about the song "Milkshake" by Kelis?
*What about the discrimination?
*What about "Neutron Bullet" chapter of the ''what if?'' book?
*What about Black Hole Moon in that book?

And related to the comic itself
*What's the mass of a miniature blackhole?
*What are its effects?

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.13|108.162.221.13]] 13:31, 13 May 2016 (UTC)
:What's an "explanation"? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.81|141.101.104.81]] 13:53, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

:Well, the effects of the black hole is directly related to its size interestingly enough. That was recently added to the article. Explanations are never perfect on the first day, but it gets improved. [[User:Todor|Todor]] ([[User talk:Todor|talk]]) 14:37, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

:Information about the "what if" book would belong in a trivia section if it is added.[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 14:56, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

'''''The Big Lebowski'''''

I'll answer my own question. In ''The Big Lebowski'' the sentence is "That rug really tied the room together." [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118715/trivia?tab=qt&ref_=tt_trv_qu]. I assume that ''to '''bring''' something together'' means to make it more agreeable. I deleted the reference. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.13|108.162.221.13]] 13:40, 13 May 2016 (UTC)
:Why delete it? While it may not be an explanation, it is a perfectly valid pop-cultural reference and may indeed be the one used in the comic. [[User:Todor|Todor]] ([[User talk:Todor|talk]]) 14:37, 13 May 2016 (UTC)
:I think it is appropriate to delete it. It is a common enough phrase to simply be used without referencing anything. Stating that it was the author's intended reference is simply speculation.[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 14:51, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

There is no such thing as "neutrally charged". If it is charged, it is, by definition, not neutral. If you want to clarify against other meanings of "neutral", use "electrically neutral". --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.229|162.158.114.229]] 21:52, 22 May 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1000: 1000 Comics

2016-03-01T22:32:48Z

162.158.114.229: discussion trivia

Cueball does not think in multiples of 2, he thinks in base 2 (or powers of 2). I fixed it. [[Special:Contributions/134.102.123.217|134.102.123.217]] 10:35, 10 September 2012‎ (UTC)

In the original Blog format of this website, someone named Phillip had [http://www.explainxkcd.com/2012/01/06/1000-comics/#comment-19950 shared the following]:
:"Spoiler ( http://rot13.com/index.php ): Pbaarpg gur ovanel ahzoref ba gur fznyy fvtaf va cnvag-ol-ahzoref znaare."
Hint: copy/paste the weird looking text into the text field provided in the above mentioned website. Even after decryption, I couldn't follow what he meant, but I was hoping someone out there can do so and then explain it differently, thanks. It's a real mystery. [[User:DelendaEst|DelendaEst]] ([[User talk:DelendaEst|talk]]) 08:47, 22 September 2012 (UTC)
: Added hidden image to Trivia section. --[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 11:06, 22 September 2012 (UTC)

Just curious... The explanation says there are 1000 characters in the drawing. Are there 998 + Megan & Cueball? or do they make 1002? --[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 11:06, 22 September 2012 (UTC)

: The transcript says "1000 characters ... are arranged to create the number "1000". Two more people stand in the foreground" so I think Megan & Cueball make it 1002. [[User:Coombeseh|Coombeseh]] ([[User talk:Coombeseh|talk]]) 10:56, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

There's a WOPR machine saying "would you like to play a game?" [[Special:Contributions/116.76.165.167|116.76.165.167]] 05:51, 28 September 2012 (UTC)

I noticed Barrel Boy isn't on here... [[User:Castriff|Jimmy C]] ([[User talk:Castriff|talk]]) 19:10, 31 October 2012 (UTC)
: Barrel Boy is bottom right on the second "O", just above "WOOOO!" [[User:Coombeseh|Coombeseh]] ([[User talk:Coombeseh|talk]]) 10:56, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

Well about what cueball says another interesting fact is that the number 1024 is used commonly in computer data, 1024 megabytes makes a gigabyte and so on...

:So, has anyone noticed that this wasn't actually Randall's thousandth comic, but rather his 999th? [[User:Schiffy|Schiffy]] ([[User talk:Schiffy|talk]]) 16:44, 12 March 2013 (UTC)
::Is there a numbered comic that was omitted?[[Special:Contributions/74.213.186.41|74.213.186.41]] 13:10, 1 April 2013 (UTC)
:::Yes, comic 404 never existed, remember? [[User:Schiffy|Schiffy]] ([[User talk:Schiffy|talk]]) 17:04, 9 April 2013 (UTC)
::::Comic 404 was "Journal 3". [[Special:Contributions/121.54.48.38|121.54.48.38]] 04:24, 12 May 2013 (UTC)
:::::Or maybe Comic 404 DID exist, However was left behind within the bowels of abandoned comics... Never got into xkcd to fill the gap... Because it's place was replaced with the 404 page. [[Special:Contributions/121.54.48.38|121.54.48.38]] 04:25, 12 May 2013 (UTC)
:::::: Well, All hope is no use, I googled up "xkcd 404" and it gave no results about a 404th comic ever existed, Nor "xkcd no 404" or "xkcd's 404th comic", I guess we have to discuss about this in here: http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=80760 [[Special:Contributions/121.54.48.38|121.54.48.38]] 04:29, 12 May 2013 (UTC)
:::::::Even this very site shows that Comic 404 never existed. Comic 403 was on a Monday, and 405 was the following Wednesday. The day in between those two (the Tuesday of that week) was April 1st. For further proof, see [http://xkcd.com/404 here]. [[User:Schiffy|Schiffy]] ([[User_talk:Schiffy|Speak to me]]|[[Special:Contributions/Schiffy|What I've done]]) 17:39, 17 May 2013 (UTC)
::::::::Hey, that's the April's fool from 2008. The 404 message is from Randall!!! Check the page source: [http://xkcd.com/404/ April, 1]--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:51, 17 May 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::Not quite true. See link -> [http://comicjk.com/comic.php/404] {{unsigned ip|108.162.245.57}}
::::::::::Hi IP 108.162.245.57, your link shows a comic not done by [[Randall]]. The 404 page is just empty and that's the joke. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:03, 5 August 2014 (UTC)
:::::::::::And since this discussion [[404]] has been created on this page as well. {{unsigned|Kynde}}

;The "1000 Characters" section
I really don't see why it should be there. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.71|108.162.216.71]] 03:43, 8 January 2014 (UTC)
:I did remove this. All the 1,000 comics are explained here very well. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:34, 8 January 2014 (UTC)
::I think we are missing out on this section. I would like to have a separate page for this as we have for other larger comics. And also a separate transcript with the text that can be read on the large picture. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:24, 9 May 2015 (UTC)

Cipher text: CONNECT THE BINARY NUMBERS ON THE SMALL SIGNS IN PAINT-BY-NUMBERS MANNER [[User:Jwoodward48xkcd|Jwoodward48xkcd]] ([[User talk:Jwoodward48xkcd|talk]])

Following with this wiki's goal of explaining the nuances of the XKCD comics I moved the connect the dots puzzle out of trivia and placed it int the main article. It isn't a spoiler or just trivia, it fits well with the title text and is definitely not something a casual reader would find on the first pass through the comic. [[User:Chriswampler|Chriswampler]] ([[User talk:Chriswampler|talk]]) 13:13, 5 May 2014 (UTC)

Why is this still Incomplete? Unless someone wants to catalog all 1000 characters, there's not much left to do.
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.83|173.245.55.83]] 17:34, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Useless fact: 1024 is also a round number in base 4 and base 32. {{unsigned ip|173.245.49.108}}

The mathematical definition of a round number is not dependent on a "base", but upon the prime factors of the number; i.e., all prime factors must be less than the square root of the number. Thus, 1000 is round because its prime factors are 2 and 5 which are under 32 and so is 1024 which has only the prime factor of 2.--DrMath 07:15, 17 February 2015 (UTC)

;Celebrations

MIT hackers commemorated [[1000]] by posting all xkcd comics ever published around Lobby 7, a high traffic entryway near 77 Mass Ave. The comics were attached to both pillars and walls (using easily removable adhesive so as to avoid damaging the walls). http://hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/by_year/2012/xkcd_1000/ [[User:Tericee|Tericee]] ([[User talk:Tericee|talk]]) 20:32, 4 August 2015 (UTC)
:… sadly they misspelled his last name as “Monroe” on the page that you linked to. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.229|162.158.114.229]] 22:32, 1 March 2016 (UTC)

851: Na

2016-02-05T19:40:51Z

162.158.114.229: /* Explanation */ grammar

{{comic
| number = 851
| date = January 24, 2011
| title = Na
| image = na.png
| titletext = I hear that there are actual lyrics later on in Land of 1,000 Dances, but other than the occasional 'I said,' I've never listened long enough to hear any of them.
}}

==Explanation==
Not long after this comic was published, the following message was posted by [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] on his xkcd page:

:I can't ''believe'' I forgot Hey Jude.
:I don't get do-overs, but I couldn't resist making [[:File:na make it better.png|a fixed version]].

The top entry refers to the song "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsaTElBljOE Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye]", originally recorded by Paul Leka, Gary DeCarlo, and Dale Frashuer. It has become very popular among the home fans of sporting events in America, who use it to taunt the away team.

The leftmost bottom entry refers to the theme song to the 60s TV show ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qP-NglUeZU Batman]''.

The central bottom entry refers to the theme song to the video game ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpFFzWPzA2c Katamari Damacy]''.
The Katamari Damacy theme song was the cause of the [[161: Accident|Accident]] in comic 161.

The rightmost bottom entry refers to the song "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fa4BfPQiKs Land of a Thousand Dances]", originally recorded by Chris Kenner.

The extra, do-over entry refers to the song "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfTrthOpKCA Hey Jude]", originally recorded by the Beatles. The name of the fixed version, 851_make_it_better, refers to the song's lyrics: "Take a sad song / And '''make it better'''."

This is one of many {{w|Flowchart|flowchart}} comics. A full list can be found [[:Category:Flowcharts|here]].

==Transcript==
:[A flowchart.]
:Na->Na->Na->Na->Na->Na->Na->Na (branches to ->Hey->Hey->Goodbye and ->Batman!) ->Na->Na (branches to Katamari Damacy!) ->Na (arrow labeled "Land of 1,000 Dances) loops around to the last Na again)

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Flowcharts]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Video games]]

850: World According to Americans

2016-02-05T19:11:24Z

162.158.114.229: Sulawest -> Sulawesi (no typo in the official transkript)

{{comic
| number = 850
| date = January 21, 2011
| title = World According to Americans
| image = world according to americans.png
| titletext = It's not our fault we caught a group on their way home from a geography bee. And they taught us that Uzbekistan is one of the world's two doubly-landlocked countries!
}}

==Explanation==
''See a larger version at [http://xkcd.com/850_large/ http://xkcd.com/850_large/].''

There's a somewhat well-circulated image on the internet entitled "[http://google.com/search?q=the+world+according+to&tbm=isch The World According to Americans]" which plays on the stereotype of the ignorant American. In it, the entirety of Eastern Europe and most of Asia are entitled "commies" and the Middle-East as "evil-doers," and so on. Later, other people created similar maps to re-do the concept. It later spread to other cultures. This comic is an anti-joke playing on that idea. You expect to see something which plays on the stereotypes that exist in American culture of various parts of the world. However, instead, the map is remarkably well-informed, because the people who were interviewed had studied for a geography bee as is explained in the panel and in the title text.

A few notes about things written inside the map:

{| class="wikitable"
!style="width: 25%;"|Annotation
! Further details
|-
| Hey so what projection should we use? I’ll aim for “Robinson”.
| Any flat [[977|map projection]] of a sphere must have inaccuracies. {{w|Mercator projection}} displays shapes well at the expense of size. For example, Mercator's Greenland appears larger than South America, but is actually one eighth the size. {{w|Gall-Peters projection}} does the opposite, showing accurate surface area with distorted ("awful") shapes. {{w|Robinson projection}} compromises between shape & size for aesthetics; hence Greenland is "still too big".
|-
| Did you know Maine is actually the US state closest to Africa?
| The distance ist about 5076 km (~3754 mi). Measurement points are {{w|Sail Rock (disambiguation)|Sail Rock (Maine)}}, the most eastern point of the USA, and a point which seems to be the most southern (and as such western) point of el-Beddouza Beach, {{w|Morocco}}. It's not the most western point of Morocco (or Africa), though.
|-
| Do we have to label all the Virgin Islands?
| Which are {{w|Virgin_Islands#Larger_Islands|9 larger}} and about 100 {{w|List of Caribbean islands#British Virgin Islands|smaller}} {{w|List of Caribbean islands#United States Virgin Islands|islands}} - surely a lot of labels.
|-
| French, and I think Dutch and English
| The three separated areas are (from west to east) {{w|Guyana}} (former British colony), {{w|Suriname}} (former Dutch colony) and {{w|French Guiana}} (still officially part of France). The former two often switched between French, Dutch and British colonial rule. The latter was French most times except of a short Portuguese episode.
|-
| Brazil (Portugese-speaking)
Rest of South America (Spanish-speaking)
| In green is Portuguese-speaking Brazil, and in blue are the Spanish speaking Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina.
|-
| {{w|Greenland}} (Still too big!)
Yeah, but the Peters map is awful
| Relating back to the choice of map projection, the apparent size of Greenland is one of the most commonly known projection based inaccuracies. The {{w|Gall-Peters projection}} shows accurate surface area, but with distorted ("awful") shapes.
|-
|Scandanavia
| A typo of {{w|Scandinavia}}.
|-
| British Isles
Ireland
| Although {{w|Ireland}} belongs to the {{w|British Isles}} geographically, it does not belong to the {{w|British Islands}} politically. That may be the reason why Ireland is labelled additionally - to show it's known that Ireland does not belong to the {{w|United Kingdom}}. {{w|Northern Ireland}} does, though.
|-
| Rainforest DRC
| The area shown is actually not completely the {{w|Democratic Republic of the Congo}} (DRC), but since Randall said he doesn't know the African map very well (see statement below), it's fairly accurate.
|-
| So this is one of those things where you point out our ignorance and stereotypes?
Yeah – I mean I freely admit I don’t know the African map very well, which speaks volumes in itself.
| The African portion of the map is perhaps the most poorly labelled, which lends weight to the stereotype of the 'Ignorant American'. Although it has to be mentioned, that the geography of Africa is in general not well known - at least within the Western world. So that's not really an American thing, here. The few countries which are labelled here mostly are well known because of their unstable political situation or because of their remarkable location. The labelled locations (and the presumably reasons of their "publicity") are west to east, north to south: {{w|Morocco}} ({{w|Arab Spring}}, location), {{w|Algeria}} (Arab Spring, {{w|Algerian Civil War|Civil War}}), {{w|Sahara|Sahara Desert}} (largest hot desert of the world), {{w|Sudan}} ({{w|Second Sudanese Civil War|Civil war}}, Arab Spring), {{w|West Africa}} ({{w|West Africa#Postcolonial era|Lots of Civil wars}} and thus bad humanitary situation, {{w|Blood diamond|Blood diamonds}}), {{w|Somalia}} ({{w|Somali Civil War|Civil war}}, {{w|Piracy in Somalia|pirates}}), {{w|Lake Victoria}} (largest lake of Africa, quite remarkable even at large scale maps (as here)), {{w|Mozambique}} ({{w|Mozambican Civil War|Civil war}}), {{w|Angola}} ({{w|Angolan Civil War|Civil War}}) and {{w|Madagascar}} (large island at the east coast - quite remarkable).
|-
| Cape Horn
| {{w|Cape Horn}} is the southern tip of ''South America'', not ''Africa''. The southern tip of Africa is called {{w|Cape of Good Hope}}.
|-
| Should we include {{w|Antarctica}}?
Let’s not – these guys are looking impatient
| This is probably a joke on the lack of labels that would be required for Antarctica. Drawing Antarctica and labelling it would probably take less time than having the discussion about whether to include it, and then writing that discussion on the map.
|-
| {{w|Aral Sea}} (Gone)
| Former one of the largest fresh-water lakes of the world, now actually not completely gone, but almost.
|-
| Various former soviet states
| Which are (west to east) {{w|Kazakhstan}}, {{w|Turkmenistan}}, {{w|Uzbekistan}}, {{w|Tajikistan}} and {{w|Kyrgyzstan}}. The former {{w|Soviet Union|Union of Soviet Socialist Republics}} was dissolved in 1991 and thus the {{w|Cold War}} had ended.
|-
| Boxing Day quake
Wait, “Boxing day”? There’s no way you’re American.
I read BBC News, OK?
| On December 26, 2004, a {{w|2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami|huge earthquake}} struck off the coast of Indonesia, causing severe tsunamis. December 26, the day after {{w|Christmas Day}}, is celebrated as {{w|Boxing Day}} in the UK, Canada, Australia, and some other English-speaking countries, but not the US. As such, the earthquake became known as the Boxing Day Quake.
One of the group picks up on the use of 'Boxing Day' as something no American would say. Even an American reader of {{w|BBC News}} (part of the British Broadcasting Corporation) may start to use the phrase "Boxing Day."
|-
| India -> Mostly Muslim
India -> Mostly Hindu
| In general {{w|India}} is separated in {{w|Religion in India|two religious groups}}. Muslims in the north-west, Hindus in the rest.
|-
| Tibet (contested)
| The area was annexed by the {{w|People's Republic of China}} in the 1950's. Since then there are struggles to gain independence, again. The marked area represents the former {{w|Kingdom of Tibet}}. while today's {{w|Tibet Autonomous Region}} is roughly the southern half of the marked area extended a bit to the south-east.
|-
| Kamchatka Peninsula, but I admit I only know this one from Risk
|''{{w|Risk (game)|Risk}}'' is a board game played on a map of the world, where players own territories and battle each other for world domination. The person in the comic admits to knowing {{w|Kamchatka Peninsula}} only from the territory "Kamchatka" in the game.
|-
| Koreas
| The two Koreas are the ''{{w|Democratic People's Republic of Korea}}'' (North Korea) and the ''{{w|Republic of Korea}}'' (South Korea).
|-
| Japan, duh.
| Well... {{w|Japan}}.
|-
| Taiwan (actually called “The Republic of China” – it’s complicated.
| This is a reference to the complicated political history of {{w|Taiwan}}. After the {{w|Chinese Civil War}}, the Nationalists fled China for Taiwan and set up a government in exile there, vowing to return. In the intervening 70 years or so, Taiwan eventually began to transform into a democracy, but hasn't shed the name, or the animosity with China. There is also a missing end-paren here, which is either a typo or a reference to [[859]]. The tag 'it's complicated' is one of the options for relationship statuses on Facebook, and denotes two people whose relationship defies the usual labels. In this case it is the relationship between the countries which is complicated.
|-
| Sulawesi
| As a running gag, the island of Sulawesi is depicted in several map-like drawings and charts (see [[256: Online Communities]], [[273: Electromagnetic Spectrum]], [[802: Online Communities 2]], and [[1555: Exoplanet Names 2]]). Of course, there are good reasons to show it on an actual world map like the one here.
|-
| Paupa New Guinea
| A typo of {{w|Papua New Guinea}}.
|-
| Phillipines
| A typo of the {{w|Philippines}}.
|}

The title text jokes that in fact the only reason that the map is fairly well annotated is that the group of people labelling it were actually on the way back from a {{w|National Geographic Bee|geography bee (competition)}}. This would call into question that surely a competitor in a geography competition should be able to do better than the map shown, which would thus reinforce the 'Ignorant American' stereotype, as this is an American ''expert''.

A landlocked country is a country that does not border any major bodies of water. Furthering the concept, a doubly-landlocked country is a country that not only has no connection to water, but is only bordered by ''other'' landlocked countries. As the title text states, there are only two such countries in the world as of 2012: {{w|Uzbekistan}} and {{w|Liechtenstein}}. This is the type of fact that may be stereotypically expected of a geography bee competitor.

==Transcript==

:THE WORLD
:According to a Group of
:'''AMERICANS'''
:who turned out to be unexpectedly good at geography, derailing our attempt to illustrate their country's attitude toward the rest of the world.

:[Left to right, up to down.]

:[North of Canada.] Hey so what projection should we use?
:I'll aim for "Robinson."

:[North America.] Alaska; Canada; Hudson Bay; Québec; United States
:Did you know Maine is actually the US state closest to Africa?; Bermuda (British!)

:[Central America.] Baja California (Mexico); Mexico; Central America; Panama Canal; Gulf of Mexico; Cuba; Hispañola; POR.; Jamaica
:Do we have to label all the Virgin Islands?

:[South America.] Rest of South America (spanish-speaking); Brazil (portugese-speaking); French, and I think Dutch and English; Tierra del Fuego

:[Greenland.] Greenland (still too big!); Yeah but the Peters map is awful; Iceland

:[Europe.] British Isles; Ireland; Gibralter; Scandanavia; Western Europe; Eastern Europe; Black sea; Middle East

:[Africa.] Morocco; Algera; Sahara Desert; West Africa; Sudan; Rainforest DRC; Lake Victoria; Somalia; Angola; Mozambique; South Africa; Cape Horn; Madagascar

:[West of DRC.] So this is one of those things where you point out our ignorance and stereotypes?
:Yeah – I mean, I freely admit I don't know the African map very well, which speaks volumes in itself.

:[West Asia.] Russia; Aral sea (Gone); Various former Soviet states; Afghanistan & Pakistan; India; Mostly Muslim; Mostly Hindu

:[Indian Ocea.] Sri Lanka; Boxing Day Quake
:Wait, "Boxing day"? There's no way you're American.
:I read BBC News, OK?

:[East Asia.] Mongolia; Tibet (contested); China; Southeast Asia

:[Pacific Ocean.] Kamchatka Pennisula, but I admit I only know this one from Risk.
:Koreas; Japan, duh.; Taiwan (actually called "The Republic of China." – it's complicated.); Phillipines; Malaysia; Indonesia; Sulawesi; Paupa New Guinea; Australia; Tasmania; New Zealand

:[South of Africa.] Should we include Antarctica?
:Let's not – these guys are looking impatient.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Geography]]

850: World According to Americans

2016-02-05T19:08:33Z

162.158.114.229: /* Explanation */ some notes on Sulawesi

{{comic
| number = 850
| date = January 21, 2011
| title = World According to Americans
| image = world according to americans.png
| titletext = It's not our fault we caught a group on their way home from a geography bee. And they taught us that Uzbekistan is one of the world's two doubly-landlocked countries!
}}

==Explanation==
''See a larger version at [http://xkcd.com/850_large/ http://xkcd.com/850_large/].''

There's a somewhat well-circulated image on the internet entitled "[http://google.com/search?q=the+world+according+to&tbm=isch The World According to Americans]" which plays on the stereotype of the ignorant American. In it, the entirety of Eastern Europe and most of Asia are entitled "commies" and the Middle-East as "evil-doers," and so on. Later, other people created similar maps to re-do the concept. It later spread to other cultures. This comic is an anti-joke playing on that idea. You expect to see something which plays on the stereotypes that exist in American culture of various parts of the world. However, instead, the map is remarkably well-informed, because the people who were interviewed had studied for a geography bee as is explained in the panel and in the title text.

A few notes about things written inside the map:

{| class="wikitable"
!style="width: 25%;"|Annotation
! Further details
|-
| Hey so what projection should we use? I’ll aim for “Robinson”.
| Any flat [[977|map projection]] of a sphere must have inaccuracies. {{w|Mercator projection}} displays shapes well at the expense of size. For example, Mercator's Greenland appears larger than South America, but is actually one eighth the size. {{w|Gall-Peters projection}} does the opposite, showing accurate surface area with distorted ("awful") shapes. {{w|Robinson projection}} compromises between shape & size for aesthetics; hence Greenland is "still too big".
|-
| Did you know Maine is actually the US state closest to Africa?
| The distance ist about 5076 km (~3754 mi). Measurement points are {{w|Sail Rock (disambiguation)|Sail Rock (Maine)}}, the most eastern point of the USA, and a point which seems to be the most southern (and as such western) point of el-Beddouza Beach, {{w|Morocco}}. It's not the most western point of Morocco (or Africa), though.
|-
| Do we have to label all the Virgin Islands?
| Which are {{w|Virgin_Islands#Larger_Islands|9 larger}} and about 100 {{w|List of Caribbean islands#British Virgin Islands|smaller}} {{w|List of Caribbean islands#United States Virgin Islands|islands}} - surely a lot of labels.
|-
| French, and I think Dutch and English
| The three separated areas are (from west to east) {{w|Guyana}} (former British colony), {{w|Suriname}} (former Dutch colony) and {{w|French Guiana}} (still officially part of France). The former two often switched between French, Dutch and British colonial rule. The latter was French most times except of a short Portuguese episode.
|-
| Brazil (Portugese-speaking)
Rest of South America (Spanish-speaking)
| In green is Portuguese-speaking Brazil, and in blue are the Spanish speaking Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina.
|-
| {{w|Greenland}} (Still too big!)
Yeah, but the Peters map is awful
| Relating back to the choice of map projection, the apparent size of Greenland is one of the most commonly known projection based inaccuracies. The {{w|Gall-Peters projection}} shows accurate surface area, but with distorted ("awful") shapes.
|-
|Scandanavia
| A typo of {{w|Scandinavia}}.
|-
| British Isles
Ireland
| Although {{w|Ireland}} belongs to the {{w|British Isles}} geographically, it does not belong to the {{w|British Islands}} politically. That may be the reason why Ireland is labelled additionally - to show it's known that Ireland does not belong to the {{w|United Kingdom}}. {{w|Northern Ireland}} does, though.
|-
| Rainforest DRC
| The area shown is actually not completely the {{w|Democratic Republic of the Congo}} (DRC), but since Randall said he doesn't know the African map very well (see statement below), it's fairly accurate.
|-
| So this is one of those things where you point out our ignorance and stereotypes?
Yeah – I mean I freely admit I don’t know the African map very well, which speaks volumes in itself.
| The African portion of the map is perhaps the most poorly labelled, which lends weight to the stereotype of the 'Ignorant American'. Although it has to be mentioned, that the geography of Africa is in general not well known - at least within the Western world. So that's not really an American thing, here. The few countries which are labelled here mostly are well known because of their unstable political situation or because of their remarkable location. The labelled locations (and the presumably reasons of their "publicity") are west to east, north to south: {{w|Morocco}} ({{w|Arab Spring}}, location), {{w|Algeria}} (Arab Spring, {{w|Algerian Civil War|Civil War}}), {{w|Sahara|Sahara Desert}} (largest hot desert of the world), {{w|Sudan}} ({{w|Second Sudanese Civil War|Civil war}}, Arab Spring), {{w|West Africa}} ({{w|West Africa#Postcolonial era|Lots of Civil wars}} and thus bad humanitary situation, {{w|Blood diamond|Blood diamonds}}), {{w|Somalia}} ({{w|Somali Civil War|Civil war}}, {{w|Piracy in Somalia|pirates}}), {{w|Lake Victoria}} (largest lake of Africa, quite remarkable even at large scale maps (as here)), {{w|Mozambique}} ({{w|Mozambican Civil War|Civil war}}), {{w|Angola}} ({{w|Angolan Civil War|Civil War}}) and {{w|Madagascar}} (large island at the east coast - quite remarkable).
|-
| Cape Horn
| {{w|Cape Horn}} is the southern tip of ''South America'', not ''Africa''. The southern tip of Africa is called {{w|Cape of Good Hope}}.
|-
| Should we include {{w|Antarctica}}?
Let’s not – these guys are looking impatient
| This is probably a joke on the lack of labels that would be required for Antarctica. Drawing Antarctica and labelling it would probably take less time than having the discussion about whether to include it, and then writing that discussion on the map.
|-
| {{w|Aral Sea}} (Gone)
| Former one of the largest fresh-water lakes of the world, now actually not completely gone, but almost.
|-
| Various former soviet states
| Which are (west to east) {{w|Kazakhstan}}, {{w|Turkmenistan}}, {{w|Uzbekistan}}, {{w|Tajikistan}} and {{w|Kyrgyzstan}}. The former {{w|Soviet Union|Union of Soviet Socialist Republics}} was dissolved in 1991 and thus the {{w|Cold War}} had ended.
|-
| Boxing Day quake
Wait, “Boxing day”? There’s no way you’re American.
I read BBC News, OK?
| On December 26, 2004, a {{w|2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami|huge earthquake}} struck off the coast of Indonesia, causing severe tsunamis. December 26, the day after {{w|Christmas Day}}, is celebrated as {{w|Boxing Day}} in the UK, Canada, Australia, and some other English-speaking countries, but not the US. As such, the earthquake became known as the Boxing Day Quake.
One of the group picks up on the use of 'Boxing Day' as something no American would say. Even an American reader of {{w|BBC News}} (part of the British Broadcasting Corporation) may start to use the phrase "Boxing Day."
|-
| India -> Mostly Muslim
India -> Mostly Hindu
| In general {{w|India}} is separated in {{w|Religion in India|two religious groups}}. Muslims in the north-west, Hindus in the rest.
|-
| Tibet (contested)
| The area was annexed by the {{w|People's Republic of China}} in the 1950's. Since then there are struggles to gain independence, again. The marked area represents the former {{w|Kingdom of Tibet}}. while today's {{w|Tibet Autonomous Region}} is roughly the southern half of the marked area extended a bit to the south-east.
|-
| Kamchatka Peninsula, but I admit I only know this one from Risk
|''{{w|Risk (game)|Risk}}'' is a board game played on a map of the world, where players own territories and battle each other for world domination. The person in the comic admits to knowing {{w|Kamchatka Peninsula}} only from the territory "Kamchatka" in the game.
|-
| Koreas
| The two Koreas are the ''{{w|Democratic People's Republic of Korea}}'' (North Korea) and the ''{{w|Republic of Korea}}'' (South Korea).
|-
| Japan, duh.
| Well... {{w|Japan}}.
|-
| Taiwan (actually called “The Republic of China” – it’s complicated.
| This is a reference to the complicated political history of {{w|Taiwan}}. After the {{w|Chinese Civil War}}, the Nationalists fled China for Taiwan and set up a government in exile there, vowing to return. In the intervening 70 years or so, Taiwan eventually began to transform into a democracy, but hasn't shed the name, or the animosity with China. There is also a missing end-paren here, which is either a typo or a reference to [[859]]. The tag 'it's complicated' is one of the options for relationship statuses on Facebook, and denotes two people whose relationship defies the usual labels. In this case it is the relationship between the countries which is complicated.
|-
| Sulawesi
| As a running gag, the island of Sulawesi is depicted in several map-like drawings and charts (see [[256: Online Communities]], [[273: Electromagnetic Spectrum]], [[802: Online Communities 2]], and [[1555: Exoplanet Names 2]]). Of course, there are good reasons to show it on an actual world map like the one here.
|-
| Paupa New Guinea
| A typo of {{w|Papua New Guinea}}.
|-
| Phillipines
| A typo of the {{w|Philippines}}.
|}

The title text jokes that in fact the only reason that the map is fairly well annotated is that the group of people labelling it were actually on the way back from a {{w|National Geographic Bee|geography bee (competition)}}. This would call into question that surely a competitor in a geography competition should be able to do better than the map shown, which would thus reinforce the 'Ignorant American' stereotype, as this is an American ''expert''.

A landlocked country is a country that does not border any major bodies of water. Furthering the concept, a doubly-landlocked country is a country that not only has no connection to water, but is only bordered by ''other'' landlocked countries. As the title text states, there are only two such countries in the world as of 2012: {{w|Uzbekistan}} and {{w|Liechtenstein}}. This is the type of fact that may be stereotypically expected of a geography bee competitor.

==Transcript==

:THE WORLD
:According to a Group of
:'''AMERICANS'''
:who turned out to be unexpectedly good at geography, derailing our attempt to illustrate their country's attitude toward the rest of the world.

:[Left to right, up to down.]

:[North of Canada.] Hey so what projection should we use?
:I'll aim for "Robinson."

:[North America.] Alaska; Canada; Hudson Bay; Québec; United States
:Did you know Maine is actually the US state closest to Africa?; Bermuda (British!)

:[Central America.] Baja California (Mexico); Mexico; Central America; Panama Canal; Gulf of Mexico; Cuba; Hispañola; POR.; Jamaica
:Do we have to label all the Virgin Islands?

:[South America.] Rest of South America (spanish-speaking); Brazil (portugese-speaking); French, and I think Dutch and English; Tierra del Fuego

:[Greenland.] Greenland (still too big!); Yeah but the Peters map is awful; Iceland

:[Europe.] British Isles; Ireland; Gibralter; Scandanavia; Western Europe; Eastern Europe; Black sea; Middle East

:[Africa.] Morocco; Algera; Sahara Desert; West Africa; Sudan; Rainforest DRC; Lake Victoria; Somalia; Angola; Mozambique; South Africa; Cape Horn; Madagascar

:[West of DRC.] So this is one of those things where you point out our ignorance and stereotypes?
:Yeah – I mean, I freely admit I don't know the African map very well, which speaks volumes in itself.

:[West Asia.] Russia; Aral sea (Gone); Various former Soviet states; Afghanistan & Pakistan; India; Mostly Muslim; Mostly Hindu

:[Indian Ocea.] Sri Lanka; Boxing Day Quake
:Wait, "Boxing day"? There's no way you're American.
:I read BBC News, OK?

:[East Asia.] Mongolia; Tibet (contested); China; Southeast Asia

:[Pacific Ocean.] Kamchatka Pennisula, but I admit I only know this one from Risk.
:Koreas; Japan, duh.; Taiwan (actually called "The Republic of China." – it's complicated.); Phillipines; Malaysia; Indonesia; Sulawest; Paupa New Guinea; Australia; Tasmania; New Zealand

:[South of Africa.] Should we include Antarctica?
:Let's not – these guys are looking impatient.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Geography]]

850: World According to Americans

2016-02-05T18:53:07Z

162.158.114.229: /* Explanation */ mentioned the typo in 'Scandanavia'

{{comic
| number = 850
| date = January 21, 2011
| title = World According to Americans
| image = world according to americans.png
| titletext = It's not our fault we caught a group on their way home from a geography bee. And they taught us that Uzbekistan is one of the world's two doubly-landlocked countries!
}}

==Explanation==
''See a larger version at [http://xkcd.com/850_large/ http://xkcd.com/850_large/].''

There's a somewhat well-circulated image on the internet entitled "[http://google.com/search?q=the+world+according+to&tbm=isch The World According to Americans]" which plays on the stereotype of the ignorant American. In it, the entirety of Eastern Europe and most of Asia are entitled "commies" and the Middle-East as "evil-doers," and so on. Later, other people created similar maps to re-do the concept. It later spread to other cultures. This comic is an anti-joke playing on that idea. You expect to see something which plays on the stereotypes that exist in American culture of various parts of the world. However, instead, the map is remarkably well-informed, because the people who were interviewed had studied for a geography bee as is explained in the panel and in the title text.

A few notes about things written inside the map:

{| class="wikitable"
!style="width: 25%;"|Annotation
! Further details
|-
| Hey so what projection should we use? I’ll aim for “Robinson”.
| Any flat [[977|map projection]] of a sphere must have inaccuracies. {{w|Mercator projection}} displays shapes well at the expense of size. For example, Mercator's Greenland appears larger than South America, but is actually one eighth the size. {{w|Gall-Peters projection}} does the opposite, showing accurate surface area with distorted ("awful") shapes. {{w|Robinson projection}} compromises between shape & size for aesthetics; hence Greenland is "still too big".
|-
| Did you know Maine is actually the US state closest to Africa?
| The distance ist about 5076 km (~3754 mi). Measurement points are {{w|Sail Rock (disambiguation)|Sail Rock (Maine)}}, the most eastern point of the USA, and a point which seems to be the most southern (and as such western) point of el-Beddouza Beach, {{w|Morocco}}. It's not the most western point of Morocco (or Africa), though.
|-
| Do we have to label all the Virgin Islands?
| Which are {{w|Virgin_Islands#Larger_Islands|9 larger}} and about 100 {{w|List of Caribbean islands#British Virgin Islands|smaller}} {{w|List of Caribbean islands#United States Virgin Islands|islands}} - surely a lot of labels.
|-
| French, and I think Dutch and English
| The three separated areas are (from west to east) {{w|Guyana}} (former British colony), {{w|Suriname}} (former Dutch colony) and {{w|French Guiana}} (still officially part of France). The former two often switched between French, Dutch and British colonial rule. The latter was French most times except of a short Portuguese episode.
|-
| Brazil (Portugese-speaking)
Rest of South America (Spanish-speaking)
| In green is Portuguese-speaking Brazil, and in blue are the Spanish speaking Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina.
|-
| {{w|Greenland}} (Still too big!)
Yeah, but the Peters map is awful
| Relating back to the choice of map projection, the apparent size of Greenland is one of the most commonly known projection based inaccuracies. The {{w|Gall-Peters projection}} shows accurate surface area, but with distorted ("awful") shapes.
|-
|Scandanavia
| A typo of {{w|Scandinavia}}.
|-
| British Isles
Ireland
| Although {{w|Ireland}} belongs to the {{w|British Isles}} geographically, it does not belong to the {{w|British Islands}} politically. That may be the reason why Ireland is labelled additionally - to show it's known that Ireland does not belong to the {{w|United Kingdom}}. {{w|Northern Ireland}} does, though.
|-
| Rainforest DRC
| The area shown is actually not completely the {{w|Democratic Republic of the Congo}} (DRC), but since Randall said he doesn't know the African map very well (see statement below), it's fairly accurate.
|-
| So this is one of those things where you point out our ignorance and stereotypes?
Yeah – I mean I freely admit I don’t know the African map very well, which speaks volumes in itself.
| The African portion of the map is perhaps the most poorly labelled, which lends weight to the stereotype of the 'Ignorant American'. Although it has to be mentioned, that the geography of Africa is in general not well known - at least within the Western world. So that's not really an American thing, here. The few countries which are labelled here mostly are well known because of their unstable political situation or because of their remarkable location. The labelled locations (and the presumably reasons of their "publicity") are west to east, north to south: {{w|Morocco}} ({{w|Arab Spring}}, location), {{w|Algeria}} (Arab Spring, {{w|Algerian Civil War|Civil War}}), {{w|Sahara|Sahara Desert}} (largest hot desert of the world), {{w|Sudan}} ({{w|Second Sudanese Civil War|Civil war}}, Arab Spring), {{w|West Africa}} ({{w|West Africa#Postcolonial era|Lots of Civil wars}} and thus bad humanitary situation, {{w|Blood diamond|Blood diamonds}}), {{w|Somalia}} ({{w|Somali Civil War|Civil war}}, {{w|Piracy in Somalia|pirates}}), {{w|Lake Victoria}} (largest lake of Africa, quite remarkable even at large scale maps (as here)), {{w|Mozambique}} ({{w|Mozambican Civil War|Civil war}}), {{w|Angola}} ({{w|Angolan Civil War|Civil War}}) and {{w|Madagascar}} (large island at the east coast - quite remarkable).
|-
| Cape Horn
| {{w|Cape Horn}} is the southern tip of ''South America'', not ''Africa''. The southern tip of Africa is called {{w|Cape of Good Hope}}.
|-
| Should we include {{w|Antarctica}}?
Let’s not – these guys are looking impatient
| This is probably a joke on the lack of labels that would be required for Antarctica. Drawing Antarctica and labelling it would probably take less time than having the discussion about whether to include it, and then writing that discussion on the map.
|-
| {{w|Aral Sea}} (Gone)
| Former one of the largest fresh-water lakes of the world, now actually not completely gone, but almost.
|-
| Various former soviet states
| Which are (west to east) {{w|Kazakhstan}}, {{w|Turkmenistan}}, {{w|Uzbekistan}}, {{w|Tajikistan}} and {{w|Kyrgyzstan}}. The former {{w|Soviet Union|Union of Soviet Socialist Republics}} was dissolved in 1991 and thus the {{w|Cold War}} had ended.
|-
| Boxing Day quake
Wait, “Boxing day”? There’s no way you’re American.
I read BBC News, OK?
| On December 26, 2004, a {{w|2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami|huge earthquake}} struck off the coast of Indonesia, causing severe tsunamis. December 26, the day after {{w|Christmas Day}}, is celebrated as {{w|Boxing Day}} in the UK, Canada, Australia, and some other English-speaking countries, but not the US. As such, the earthquake became known as the Boxing Day Quake.
One of the group picks up on the use of 'Boxing Day' as something no American would say. Even an American reader of {{w|BBC News}} (part of the British Broadcasting Corporation) may start to use the phrase "Boxing Day."
|-
| India -> Mostly Muslim
India -> Mostly Hindu
| In general {{w|India}} is separated in {{w|Religion in India|two religious groups}}. Muslims in the north-west, Hindus in the rest.
|-
| Tibet (contested)
| The area was annexed by the {{w|People's Republic of China}} in the 1950's. Since then there are struggles to gain independence, again. The marked area represents the former {{w|Kingdom of Tibet}}. while today's {{w|Tibet Autonomous Region}} is roughly the southern half of the marked area extended a bit to the south-east.
|-
| Kamchatka Peninsula, but I admit I only know this one from Risk
|''{{w|Risk (game)|Risk}}'' is a board game played on a map of the world, where players own territories and battle each other for world domination. The person in the comic admits to knowing {{w|Kamchatka Peninsula}} only from the territory "Kamchatka" in the game.
|-
| Koreas
| The two Koreas are the ''{{w|Democratic People's Republic of Korea}}'' (North Korea) and the ''{{w|Republic of Korea}}'' (South Korea).
|-
| Japan, duh.
| Well... {{w|Japan}}.
|-
| Taiwan (actually called “The Republic of China” – it’s complicated.
| This is a reference to the complicated political history of {{w|Taiwan}}. After the {{w|Chinese Civil War}}, the Nationalists fled China for Taiwan and set up a government in exile there, vowing to return. In the intervening 70 years or so, Taiwan eventually began to transform into a democracy, but hasn't shed the name, or the animosity with China. There is also a missing end-paren here, which is either a typo or a reference to [[859]]. The tag 'it's complicated' is one of the options for relationship statuses on Facebook, and denotes two people whose relationship defies the usual labels. In this case it is the relationship between the countries which is complicated.
|-
| Paupa New Guinea
| A typo of {{w|Papua New Guinea}}.
|-
| Phillipines
| A typo of the {{w|Philippines}}.
|}

The title text jokes that in fact the only reason that the map is fairly well annotated is that the group of people labelling it were actually on the way back from a {{w|National Geographic Bee|geography bee (competition)}}. This would call into question that surely a competitor in a geography competition should be able to do better than the map shown, which would thus reinforce the 'Ignorant American' stereotype, as this is an American ''expert''.

A landlocked country is a country that does not border any major bodies of water. Furthering the concept, a doubly-landlocked country is a country that not only has no connection to water, but is only bordered by ''other'' landlocked countries. As the title text states, there are only two such countries in the world as of 2012: {{w|Uzbekistan}} and {{w|Liechtenstein}}. This is the type of fact that may be stereotypically expected of a geography bee competitor.

==Transcript==

:THE WORLD
:According to a Group of
:'''AMERICANS'''
:who turned out to be unexpectedly good at geography, derailing our attempt to illustrate their country's attitude toward the rest of the world.

:[Left to right, up to down.]

:[North of Canada.] Hey so what projection should we use?
:I'll aim for "Robinson."

:[North America.] Alaska; Canada; Hudson Bay; Québec; United States
:Did you know Maine is actually the US state closest to Africa?; Bermuda (British!)

:[Central America.] Baja California (Mexico); Mexico; Central America; Panama Canal; Gulf of Mexico; Cuba; Hispañola; POR.; Jamaica
:Do we have to label all the Virgin Islands?

:[South America.] Rest of South America (spanish-speaking); Brazil (portugese-speaking); French, and I think Dutch and English; Tierra del Fuego

:[Greenland.] Greenland (still too big!); Yeah but the Peters map is awful; Iceland

:[Europe.] British Isles; Ireland; Gibralter; Scandanavia; Western Europe; Eastern Europe; Black sea; Middle East

:[Africa.] Morocco; Algera; Sahara Desert; West Africa; Sudan; Rainforest DRC; Lake Victoria; Somalia; Angola; Mozambique; South Africa; Cape Horn; Madagascar

:[West of DRC.] So this is one of those things where you point out our ignorance and stereotypes?
:Yeah – I mean, I freely admit I don't know the African map very well, which speaks volumes in itself.

:[West Asia.] Russia; Aral sea (Gone); Various former Soviet states; Afghanistan & Pakistan; India; Mostly Muslim; Mostly Hindu

:[Indian Ocea.] Sri Lanka; Boxing Day Quake
:Wait, "Boxing day"? There's no way you're American.
:I read BBC News, OK?

:[East Asia.] Mongolia; Tibet (contested); China; Southeast Asia

:[Pacific Ocean.] Kamchatka Pennisula, but I admit I only know this one from Risk.
:Koreas; Japan, duh.; Taiwan (actually called "The Republic of China." – it's complicated.); Phillipines; Malaysia; Indonesia; Sulawest; Paupa New Guinea; Australia; Tasmania; New Zealand

:[South of Africa.] Should we include Antarctica?
:Let's not – these guys are looking impatient.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Geography]]

774: Atheists

2016-01-16T14:38:03Z

162.158.114.229: /* Explanation */ typo

{{comic
| number = 774
| date = August 2, 2010
| title = Atheists
| image = atheists.png
| titletext = 'But you're using that same tactic to try to feel superior to me, too!' 'Sorry, that accusation expires after one use per conversation.'
}}

==Explanation==
In public debates, {{w|Christian fundamentalism|fundamentalist}} {{w|Christian}}s and {{w|atheist}}s, while having different opinions, can behave surprisingly similar. Both can be very {{w|dogmatic}} about their beliefs, and be very disrespectful and accusative towards people of the other standpoint. [[Cueball]] is blaming both parties for being annoying. [[Megan]] sarcastically remarks that Cueball then must feel superior to just about everyone.

The title text takes this one step further when Cueball realizes that Megan's reply is just as smugly superior as his. Such a superiority argument could go on ad infinitum. But by introducing an arbitrary stop rule "expires after one use per conversation", Megan tries to resolve this issue and superiorly wins the argument.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan talking.]
:Cueball: Personally, I find atheists just as annoying as fundamentalist Christians.
:Megan: Well, the important thing is that you've found a way to feel superior to both.

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

Talk:547: Simple

2015-12-06T00:12:57Z

162.158.114.229:

This is possibly even another take by xkcd at conspiracy theories such as the one in http://xkcd.com/966/
:In this comic too he presents conspiracy theories against each other, the black hole with the guidance system.

The fact that the reference of something bad happening is to the Black hole theories comes from the fact that the comic was drawn the same time the theories were most predominant.
:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_of_high_energy_particle_collision_experiments#Micro_black_holes [[User:Mr Andersom|Mr Andersom]] ([[User talk:Mr Andersom|talk]]) 13:40, 13 April 2013 (UTC)

I ''don't'' think there's a joke here regarding "particle accelerators not having a guidance system" (paraphrasing the first paragraph of explanation, currently). Maybe there's a confusion about the phrase "the particle accelerator's tertiary F.E.L. Guidance System"? The FEL (Free Electron Laser, IIRC) itself is a tunable lasing 'cavity' for electrons that is magnetic, not optical, in nature, but (again, IIRC) is supplied with electrons at relativistic speeds by way of a particle accelerator (depending on which FEL, sometimes dedicated to the FEL and sometimes "from a main multipurpose ring", such as the LHC might be). Particle acceleration requires that the particles ''being'' accelerated be constrained within the ring (when being brung up to speed or collided within the ring's in-line experiment zones) or redirected out of the ring (or allowed to depart it, but still in a controlled manner) if being used for an out-of-ring experiment. It's true that particles being smashed are thrown together rather haphazardly (when compared, say, with collisions at the scale of vehicle crash tests), but there's actually quite a lot of sophisticated detection equipment used to work out the path of the particles so that ''guidance'' can be applied by magnetic fields (separately from the 'corner turning' ones and/or including those). I think I would consider such systems (including the ones that 'extract' particles for use in off-ring experiments) worthy of the title "guidance systems", albeit external to the particle as opposed to on-board like on a smart missile... And so if (and I haven't checked, so colour me wrong if I turn out to be so) the complex has at least three FELs attached, it's reasonable to assume that the third of these (hierarchically speaking) has, like its brethren, a particle guidance system involved at some point to ensure the electron supply is suitably contained and piped into it... Or it refers to the third of (at least three) beam-guiding systems for the ''lone'' FEL. Maybe even this means something active within the magnetic "wiggler" assembly of the FEL itself, or even (if this is what they do) on the output to the FEL leading ''into'' the LHC itself... But whichever it is, it the relevent FEL Guidance System surely exists in some form or other.

...TL;DR; - I'm pretty much sure the joke is more of an "[[Up_Goer_Five|Up-goer 5]]" nature... I also don't see any reference to Black Holes/conspiracy theories... It's just doing an "If this part is broken, you will not <strike>go to space</strike> collide any particles today" thing, surely? [[Special:Contributions/31.111.87.233|31.111.87.233]] 22:05, 27 May 2013 (UTC)

::Sorry, but I have no time to read this comment. Keep short! --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:18, 27 May 2013 (UTC)
::I agree with 31.111.87.233. There's nothing about conspiracy theories, even indirectly. I've removed that part. I also don't see anything criticizing Simple English Wikipedia, or two versions. To the contrary, he praises it (albeit somewhat exaggeratedly) in the title text. I left it for now, though. [[User:Mattflaschen|Mattflaschen]] ([[User talk:Mattflaschen|talk]]) 08:44, 13 October 2013 (UTC)

There is a [[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#Merge_Cueball_.26_Rob|community portal discussion]] of what to call Cueball and what to do in case with more than one Cueball. I have added this comic to the new Category:Multiple Cueballs. Since there is clearly one Cueball that is the protagonist and do most of the "talking" he should probably be listed as Cueball. Just made a note that the other guys also looks like Cueball. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:19, 7 June 2015 (UTC)

Maybe it would be worth adding a reference to Randall's new book "Thing Explainer", which follows the same concept.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.229|162.158.114.229]] 00:12, 6 December 2015 (UTC)