explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2258: Solar System Changes

2020-01-22T19:22:21Z

162.158.154.229:

* '''Support''' except keep Uranus. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.189.181|172.68.189.181]] 19:16, 22 January 2020 (UTC)

Wait ... WHAT??? Why isn't Niburu in this???? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.229|162.158.154.229]] 19:22, 22 January 2020 (UTC)

Talk:1867: Physics Confession

2020-01-09T15:52:23Z

162.158.154.229:

F1rst P0st http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/269:_TCMP [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.190|172.68.141.190]] 07:54, 24 July 2017 (UTC)

Fuckin' ice skates, [https://youtu.be/_-agl0pOQfs?t=1m52s how do they work]? [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 11:26, 24 July 2017 (UTC)

Any relation to #1489? They're both about things physicists don't understand. http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1489:_Fundamental_Forces {{unsigned ip|172.68.132.5}}

Explain physics: It's 'cause Randall's dumb. {{unsigned ip|141.101.104.47}}

;Explanation of skating
A lot of people both here and on Reddit seem to be talking about pressure of the skates reducing the melting point. Pressure of the skates can only reduce the melting point by about 0.5C, so this is clearly not sufficient to produce a layer of liquid below -0.5C. The more correct explanation is that there is an ever-present layer of liquid on the surface of most crystals, including ice - this is the best explanation that exists right now, and explains why ice skating stops being possible below around -30C (and is hard at intermediate temperatures). This is the explanation offered by most modern university courses on thermodynamics or materials science - here is an excerpt from a University of Cambridge materials science course: [https://imgur.com/a/8bZxG Excerpt] [[User:Jaredjeya|Jaredjeya]] ([[User talk:Jaredjeya|talk]]) 13:03, 24 July 2017 (UTC)

: I've just looked at the article linked in the explanation, whoever put it in didn't read the full article because it goes on to mention exactly this explanation. [[User:Jaredjeya|Jaredjeya]] ([[User talk:Jaredjeya|talk]]) 13:07, 24 July 2017 (UTC)
::Good ol' circular reasoning. [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 15:48, 24 July 2017 (UTC)

"...ice skating stops being possible below around -30C". Not true. I've skated at -40C. It's effing stupid, risk of frostbite in minutes, but still works. (Living North of 60 for 4+ decades) {{unsigned ip|162.158.74.219}}
: -40C? Ha! Try -40F! [[User:Davidgro|davidgro]] ([[User talk:Davidgro|talk]]) 23:55, 28 July 2017 (UTC)

: Ice skating works because ice is slipery and skates reduces the surface touching the ice which reduces the friction increasing how slipery it is. However it is a special case of the question: "Why is ice slipery in the first place?" Which is not fully understood.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.16|162.158.114.16]] 11:27, 31 July 2017 (UTC)

A recent article discusses the ice skating things [https://journals.aps.org/prx/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevX.9.041025 here]. Looks like the confined melted water film behaves oddly (viscoelastically) and unexpectedly gains ideal lubrication properties for skiing and skating. Surface hydrophobicity also affects sliding coefficients not by changing the thickness of melted films but rather the local water (complex) viscosity. However they do not try this at -40 C (or -40 F as slyly pointed out above).

Talk:1867: Physics Confession

2020-01-09T15:50:42Z

162.158.154.229: Added a nice recent reference on ice skating

F1rst P0st http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/269:_TCMP [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.190|172.68.141.190]] 07:54, 24 July 2017 (UTC)

Fuckin' ice skates, [https://youtu.be/_-agl0pOQfs?t=1m52s how do they work]? [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 11:26, 24 July 2017 (UTC)

Any relation to #1489? They're both about things physicists don't understand. http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1489:_Fundamental_Forces {{unsigned ip|172.68.132.5}}

Explain physics: It's 'cause Randall's dumb. {{unsigned ip|141.101.104.47}}

;Explanation of skating
A lot of people both here and on Reddit seem to be talking about pressure of the skates reducing the melting point. Pressure of the skates can only reduce the melting point by about 0.5C, so this is clearly not sufficient to produce a layer of liquid below -0.5C. The more correct explanation is that there is an ever-present layer of liquid on the surface of most crystals, including ice - this is the best explanation that exists right now, and explains why ice skating stops being possible below around -30C (and is hard at intermediate temperatures). This is the explanation offered by most modern university courses on thermodynamics or materials science - here is an excerpt from a University of Cambridge materials science course: [https://imgur.com/a/8bZxG Excerpt] [[User:Jaredjeya|Jaredjeya]] ([[User talk:Jaredjeya|talk]]) 13:03, 24 July 2017 (UTC)

: I've just looked at the article linked in the explanation, whoever put it in didn't read the full article because it goes on to mention exactly this explanation. [[User:Jaredjeya|Jaredjeya]] ([[User talk:Jaredjeya|talk]]) 13:07, 24 July 2017 (UTC)
::Good ol' circular reasoning. [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 15:48, 24 July 2017 (UTC)

"...ice skating stops being possible below around -30C". Not true. I've skated at -40C. It's effing stupid, risk of frostbite in minutes, but still works. (Living North of 60 for 4+ decades) {{unsigned ip|162.158.74.219}}
: -40C? Ha! Try -40F! [[User:Davidgro|davidgro]] ([[User talk:Davidgro|talk]]) 23:55, 28 July 2017 (UTC)

: Ice skating works because ice is slipery and skates reduces the surface touching the ice which reduces the friction increasing how slipery it is. However it is a special case of the question: "Why is ice slipery in the first place?" Which is not fully understood.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.16|162.158.114.16]] 11:27, 31 July 2017 (UTC)

: A recent article discusses the ice skating things [https://journals.aps.org/prx/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevX.9.041025 here]. Looks like the confined melted water film behaves oddly (viscoelastically) and unexpectedly gains ideal lubrication properties for skiing and skating. Surface hydrophobicity also affects sliding coefficients not by changing the thickness of melted films but rather the local water (complex) viscosity. However they do not try this at -40 C (or -40 F as slyly pointed out above).

241: Battle Room

2020-01-07T17:16:44Z

162.158.154.229:

{{comic
| number = 241
| date = March 28, 2007
| title = Battle Room
| image = battle_room.png
| titletext = Bean actually sabotaged it just to give Dink the excuse to make that joke.
}}

==Explanation==
The book ''{{w|Ender's Game}}'' by {{w|Orson Scott Card}} is about {{w|Ender Wiggin}}, a boy of above-average intelligence, which means he is recruited to be trained to be one of the commanders of Earth's "Defense" Fleet should the {{w|Formics|Buggers}} invade again (future books renamed the Buggers to the Formics, to be more politically correct, since in British English, bugger is a swear word meaning to engage in anal sex, and an insult, as in "you silly bugger"). Ender is taken to a space school called Battle School. At the center of Battle School is the Battle Room, where all the training revolves (literally and figuratively) around. Ender's Game has also been discussed in later comics like [[635: Locke and Demosthenes]] and [[304: Nighttime Stories]].

The Battle Room is described as a hollow perfect cube. "Stars" (smaller cubes) can be pulled from the walls (without changing the shape, more stars come in to fill the space where the old ones were) and can be used as obstacles in the Battle Room, as they will remain absolutely stationary, no matter what force is exerted on them. There is no gravity in the Battle Room. Most squads entering the Battle Room keep their orientation from the hallway (gravity in the hallway dictates where "down" is in the Room). Ender realizes that because the room is a perfect cube, and that even the entrances, called "gates," are perfect squares and do not give any hint about which direction is up or down, that keeping that orientation is useless. He instructs his squad to orient so that the enemy's gate is down, a line of lateral thinking that gives his team three big advantages (smaller targets, "shielding" themselves with their own feet, and unprecedented angles of attack) and leads them to a perfect winning streak.

The joke here, as made by Ender's squadmate Dink, is that the enemy's gate is "down," as in broken. A computer or a website is said to be "down" when it stops operating or is unavailable, due to a cause such as a crash, the power is cut, or it is being taken offline for maintenance.

The title text suggests that the enemy's gate was sabotaged by Bean, another, possibly even smarter, friend of Ender's, for the sole reason of allowing Dink to make the joke. This reflects the developments in ''{{w|Ender's Shadow}}'', the {{w|parallel story}} to ''Ender's Game'', which showed that Bean was manipulating many of the events of the original book.

==Transcript==
:[A scene is depicted from the Battle Room of the novel Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. The boys are floating in a room with random cubes.]
:Dink: Sorry, Ender — seems like there were some system crashes. The battle's gotta be cut short.
:Ender: The lasers still work.
:Dink: Yeah, but the enemy's gate is down.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Fiction]]

Talk:2251: Alignment Chart Alignment Chart

2020-01-07T15:59:29Z

162.158.154.229:

OK, hope someone will now explain it after I created this page. I'm lost on this one ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:49, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

Arrgh, edit conflict! [[User:Kev|Kev]] ([[User talk:Kev|talk]]) 11:55, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure the Punnet Square is ''also'' a meme template...[[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.229|162.158.154.229]] 15:59, 7 January 2020 (UTC)

I think the Omnispace Classifier is meant to be a horrific Frankenstein amalgamation of the other 8 kinds of chart. Theoretically it can "classify anything" since it can classify anything the other 8 can, but practically it would obviously be totally useless, or at least a lot less useful than just using the specific chart that works for the situation. [[User:Pureawes0me|Pureawes0me]] ([[User talk:Pureawes0me|talk]]) 12:09, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

I vaguely remember Randall to refer to the clay-sand diagram (or whatever it is called) as his all time favorite diagram on what-if somewhere. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 12:35, 6 January 2020 (UTC)
:You vaguely remember "Starsand" from https://what-if.xkcd.com/83/ with the quote "Fortunately, there's a wonderful chart by the US Geologic Survey that answers all these questions and more. For some reason, I find this chart very satisfying—it's like the erosion geology edition of the electromagnetic spectrum chart." directly applicabe to this chart[[User:Tier666|Tier666]] ([[User talk:Tier666|talk]]) 17:57, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

I fear any attempt to "explain" the CIE chromaticity diagram will devolve into arguments about why Randall chose it. I have found that folks outside the world of optics or neurooptical studies have a hard time understanding why the raw colors available in single wavelengths comprise that short curvy line inside the full colorspace. The way our brain processes the relative signal strengths from the different types of retinal cones is quite amazing. [[User:Cellocgw|Cellocgw]] ([[User talk:Cellocgw|talk]]) 12:57, 6 January 2020 (UTC)
:CGW I'm shocked! Surely you know that single-wavelengths are the curvy outer boundary while the inner curvy line shows the response to blackbody spectra. ;-) -Fred [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.61|173.245.52.61]] 19:55, 6 January 2020 (UTC)
::Thanks for that; I was about to question the statement myself. All in all, I feel the current explanation of the chromaticity diagram doesn't really explain much, and seems unnecessarily biased to boot. I know just enough about chromaticity to think it's wrong but not enough to correct it. [[User:LtPowers|LtPowers]] ([[User talk:LtPowers|talk]]) 19:58, 6 January 2020 (UTC)
:::I agree that explanation isn't great, if it's not improved when I have free time tonight I'll take a stab at it. Or maybe CelloCGW will, since he IS an optics guru (which is why I had to raz him).[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.61|173.245.52.61]] 20:13, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

@Fred - mea culpa. I should think before writing. Fortunately :-), the ratio of the colorspace to any 1-dimensional line's area is still infinite! [[User:Cellocgw|Cellocgw]] ([[User talk:Cellocgw|talk]]) 20:33, 6 January 2020 (UTC) .... now that someone did post some explanation of CIE, more comments. The current CIE spec may be paywalled, but it has changed little if at all over the last 40 or 50 years, so it's not all that hard to get the values. There are several sites (naturally I've lost the URLs) which provide algos to convert HSM to RGB to HSV and so on. See Wikipedia, https://law.resource.org/pub/us/cfr/ibr/003/cie.15.2004.tables.xls , and similar repositories [[User:Cellocgw|Cellocgw]] ([[User talk:Cellocgw|talk]]) 20:44, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

:I redid the CIE explanation - focusing on describing the diagram, rather than one thing it might get used for (e.g. black body). I think the diagrams on the right are labeled chaotic because they are not some neat geometric shape over-all. I didn't really follow much of what was there, so feel free to revive some of it if it seems useful. (My background in color theory comes from computer science and graphics, rather than from physics or hardware design.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.201|162.158.107.201]] 00:57, 7 January 2020 (UTC)

I'm only familiar with 4th and 5th edition, but should the "Good/neutral/evil:" axis eplanation be changed to "selfless deeds or selfish deeds"? Good and evil are highly subjective ("One person's 'freedom fighter' is another person's 'terrorist'.") but at least in 5e the axis is explained as risking/sacrificing yourself for the benefit of others (Good) vs. sacrificing others for your own benefit (Evil). Also, the explanation of the CN character may benefit from dividing which parts of the explanation are "chatoic" vs "neutral". Finally the "lacking rhyme or reason" part of chaotic is highly debated within D&D circles. There are certainly people who play that way, but there are also others who feel that chaotic characters have just as much motivation and goals as a lawful or neutral character just that part of their motivation is to act contrarily to Tradition/Authority. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.186.54|162.158.186.54]] 14:37, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

: It seems from this page that even nerds tend to interpret the alignment system by the ‘common sense’ meaning of the names instead of the detailed explanation. I once simply went through the Wikipedia article, which cited the second edition IIRC: ‘lawful’ means sticking to ''some'' code of conduct, whereas ‘chaotic’ is a pure opportunist or behaves randomly. ‘Good’ and ‘evil’ indeed mean selfless vs selfish deeds, but afaik in one of the official explanations ‘evil’ meant exercising authority over others—so all managers would be ‘evil’ automatically. [[User:Aasasd|Aasasd]] ([[User talk:Aasasd|talk]]) 16:42, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

I am not sure the phase diagram is for Water - that has nine solid phases. Surely it is merely a simple example.
[[User:Arachrah|Arachrah]] ([[User talk:Arachrah|talk]]) 16:52, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

As an interesting note, this comic's alt-text also ends with a period inside of a quote. This was discussed at length in the previous comic. [[User:Agrasin|Agrasin]] ([[User talk:Agrasin|talk]]) 16:52, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

I'm just upset that both a soil diagram and the QAPF were included, but not the TAS. Where's the love for extrusive igneous rocks? [[User:Mergelong|Mergelong]] ([[User talk:Mergelong|talk]]) 18:22, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

BTW, I offer my condolences and wish luck to the person who's going to make a transcript of this comic. [[User:Aasasd|Aasasd]] ([[User talk:Aasasd|talk]]) 22:28, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

"lawful heterozygous silty liquid" Is this not him being Lawfull, having inherited different forms of a particular gene from each parent, and basically a bag full of salt water? [[User:Nappy|Nappy]] ([[User talk:Nappy|talk]]) 07:51, 7 January 2020 (UTC)

A phase diagram was also used in https://what-if.xkcd.com/138/ [[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.7|162.158.89.7]] 08:23, 7 January 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2246: Christmas Presents

2019-12-28T18:03:26Z

162.158.154.229:

Just realized that the [[User:DgbrtBOT|DgbrtBOT]] has not worked [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Contributions/DgbrtBOT since December 13th]. So great work for those that has created the pages since then. I did this one today. Seems like it takes some time after creation before the next comic button appears on the previous page...? Followed the "When the bot fails" section on the BOT page. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:43, 26 December 2019 (UTC)
:Ah, that explains it. I saw the comic two hours before I finally gave up waiting on DgbrtBOT to do what it does (not thinking I'd have to do it instead). I even had time to jot down a nice explanation written up, including references to {{w|Myco-heterotrophy}} and {{w|Mycorrhizal network}} where it seemed relevent to mention them, but I like the one that's here now so... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.179|162.158.158.179]] 23:09, 26 December 2019 (UTC)

That one comic used to confuse me greatly when instead of "parasitic", it had "parisitic" on its initial release. I wondered if it was a pun on Paris or something. Apparently just a glitch. https://web.archive.org/web/20191225165144/https://xkcd.com/2246/ [[User:Ck|Ck]] ([[User talk:Ck|talk]]) 23:19, 26 December 2019 (UTC)

This comic is a reference to mistletoe (a parasitic plant that is asociated with Christmas). That is where the "biologists ruining Christmas" come in; biologists are likely to point out that mistletoe is a parasite.
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.34|172.68.34.34]] 06:57, 28 December 2019 (UTC)

Upon reading the comic I thought that humans are mediating this particular parasitism (as the species that actually cut down trees and create presents), and biologist tries to insult those humans by suggesting that they are fungus. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.229|162.158.154.229]] 18:03, 28 December 2019 (UTC)

1717: Pyramid Honey

2019-12-28T08:00:48Z

162.158.154.229: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1717
| date = August 8, 2016
| title = Pyramid Honey
| image = pyramid_honey.png
| titletext = They CLAIM honey was found in the chambers under the pyramids, but this conspiracy goes all the way to the TOP, where the GIANT EYE is!
}}

==Explanation==
Bee {{w|honey}} is a food item with natural antimicrobial properties. It can remain unspoiled for a person's entire lifetime, making it practically nonperishable for ordinary consumers. It is frequently claimed that archaeologists have found jars of honey that have been well-preserved for thousands of years in ancient tombs, often those found in {{w|Egyptian pyramids}}, hence the title ''Pyramid Honey''. The claims are generally assertions which may point to other similar assertions as supporting evidence but do not provide specific details, such as the identity of the actual tombs where such jars have been found, or the names of the archaeologists who have affirmed finding such jars. Repeated encounters with the assertion lead some people to claim that honey's shelf life is "infinite", which is a much stronger claim which would not necessarily be supported by the assertion even assuming it is true.

In the comic, [[Cueball]] tells [[Megan]] about an article in ''{{w|Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian Magazine}}'' (presumably [http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-science-behind-honeys-eternal-shelf-life-1218690/ this one]) that claims honey has an infinite shelf life. The article links to a book which makes the assertion of such findings but does not provide factual support of the findings. Megan thinks the sources of the article are wrong and wants to refute it. She tells Cueball ''Believe it or not'' which [[Black Hat]] hears and he immediately states that he believes her, and is convinced without hearing any arguments from Megan. He then decides to begin a Facebook page so he can ''tell the Internet'' without giving Megan a chance to explain any further.

"A hill to die on" is a phrase from {{w|Ernest Hemingway|Ernest Hemingway's}} 1940 novel "{{w|For Whom the Bell Tolls}}", about an American who volunteers in the 1936-1939 {{w|Spanish Civil War}} to fight {{w|fascism}}, who ends up wounded and alone, about to ambush the enemy to give his comrades a chance to escape; "a weird hill to die on" would thus mean a weird cause, if not a just one, to fight for to the bitter end. Black Hat asserts that he needs such a cause because the "real" weird hills are too far from his house, humorously implying he would be equally satisfied with a literal weird hill.

Black Hat's actions are clearly premature, since he has not heard any evidence to back up the claim and does not understand the nuances of Megan's position. Cueball states that it could have gone better, whereas Megan seems to be resigned to it.

Presumably, the best Black Hat can do would be to parrot what he has heard from Megan, without any understanding or critical thinking on his part. Due to his lack of understanding, he may even interject his own ideas (ones Megan never believed nor stated) into his posts. These are all consistent with him calling himself "pyramid honey truther". The word ''truther'' refers to people who reject established facts and instead choose to believe in conspiracies, like people who claim {{w|Moon landing conspiracy theories|the moon landings never happened}}, or {{w|9/11 Truth movement|believe the US government is behind}} the {{w|9/11 attacks}}. While a few conspiracy theories turn out to be true most are easily proved to be fake, but this does not stop people from believing in them anyway, just like the two mentioned here, which are not easily dismissed by believers. This turns Megan, who likely has a reasonable and well-justified position, unwillingly into the source of conspiracy theories.

Alternatively he only does this to troll Megan (and Cueball), and everyone else that reads his Facebook page, just because he knows they will get annoyed. And also to state that this is an unimportant subject (a weird hill to fight for) to make such a fuss over. No one would wish to eat that old honey anyway, or wish to keep it for that long, so he may see this as a completely uninteresting subject and thus makes fun of Megan with his statements. This would also be more in line with his usual behavior.

It is also possible that Black Hat is simply mocking conspiracy theorists' obsessions with factually incorrect ideas, comparably to what may be the case in [[Secretary: Part 3]].

The title text refers to the {{w|Eye of Providence}}, a symbol of an eye at the top of a pyramid, found on US currency and often associated with conspiracy theories of the {{w|Illuminati}}. Black Hat again refers to the pyramid honey found under the pyramids and calls it a ''conspiracy that goes all the way to the top''. This usually means that the politicians (or the government agencies) ruling the country know about it, but keep it a secret from the public. But in this case he mixes up terms and says it goes to the top of the pyramid (from the bottom), to where the giant eye is. As promised he also writes four words in all capital letters, shouting out the TRUTH!

This comic is likely a satire of the stereotypical internet mindset, and plays up the frequent confusion between legitimate scientific scepticism, where unsupported claims are rejected, and conspiracy-theory faux-scepticism, where legitimate evidence is rejected because it does not support a specific viewpoint.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are talking.]
:Cueball: Apparently honey has an infinite shelf life. They just found jars of it in the pyramids, still good.
:Megan: You know, I've heard that, and I don't think its true.

:[Black hat enters.]
:Cueball: Really? Smithsonian magazine confirmed it.
:Megan: Believe it or not, I think their source is wrong.
:Black Hat: '''''I believe you.'''''

:[Megan has turned to Black Hat raising her hands.]
:Megan: See I read about the archeologists who-
:Black Hat: I'm convinced. Gonna go to tell the internet.

:[Black Hat moved closer to Megan and Cueball.]
:Megan: Wait, are you sure? Let me explain why I-
:Black Hat: Don't need it. I've heard enough.

:[Zoom-in on Black Hat's head.]
:Black Hat: I've been looking for a weird hill to die on, and all the real ones are too far from my house.
:Black Hat: So this is mine. I'm now a pyramid honey truther.

:[Zoom back out. Black Hat starts walking left, pointing a finger up. Cueball and Megan turns to look after him.]
:Black Hat: Time to start a Facebook group and post a bunch of all-caps comments everywhere.
:Cueball: This could have gone better.
:Megan: Oh well.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theory]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Science]]

Talk:2235: Group Chat Rules

2019-12-04T13:25:22Z

162.158.154.229:

== 5884 × 9286 pixel image?? ==

When I open this page (https://xkcd.com/2235, in case there's any confusion), I get an enormous image that bleeds far past the right and bottom of the page. Turns out that the image is 5884 × 9286 pixels. Has this been seen before? -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 19:05, 29 November 2019 (UTC)
: Looks like Randall must have uploaded the wrong image size. I assume he'll fix the comic shortly. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.211.52|172.68.211.52]] 19:32, 29 November 2019 (UTC)

11) I don't care if any generalised 'group chat' software does newest-first or oldest-first as default (and if you can resort to the other order, most-upticked, or whatever) but if it allows inclusion of prior comments, please ''DO NOT ENCOURAGE TOP-POSTING'', particularly when reply-pyramids can carelessly form with recless abandon, and often beyond the "this post is too long, click here to expand" point you often get. - Honestly, I just think a dose of more widespread peer-directed Usenet Netiquette (pre-Eternal September, definitely pre-Outlook Express) could do a lot of people good as well. Randomly split people up into 1990-ish sized cohorts for a 'training period' of socialisation until they can safely 'graduate' to the globally undelineated cohort. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.110|162.158.155.110]] 20:12, 29 November 2019 (UTC)
:Ok boomer, I'll be off your lawn in a moment. In the mean time I think there's a cloud up there which can't hear you. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.122|172.69.22.122]] 20:25, 29 November 2019 (UTC)

Hey, as long as IP_ADDRESS started an ancient flamewar (top vs bottom posting), how about using vi vs emacs when editing your chat stream? Also should we have a Designated Hitter or not? [[User:Cellocgw|Cellocgw]] ([[User talk:Cellocgw|talk]]) 13:57, 2 December 2019 (UTC)

Eugh, Godwin's Law manifest. Oh, hang on, HitTer? Sorry, as you were.

Anyone got any ideas about (4)? The only group chat I know of which constantly changes their group names to different random nonsense is the Chapo Trap House Discord. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.122|172.69.22.122]] 20:32, 29 November 2019 (UTC)
: This might just be something that he has experienced personally. All of the large group chats of which I've been a member have exhibited this behavior. In fact, I thought it was pretty weird that no one on here had heard of this before. I related to it immediately. [[User:Moosenonny10|Moosenonny10]] ([[User talk:Moosenonny10|talk]]) 23:10, 29 November 2019 (UTC)
::If there is a public example please add it. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.155|172.68.132.155]] 23:13, 29 November 2019 (UTC)
In my experience, constantly changing irrelevant chat names is a behaviour of chats with large numbers of messages and nothing ever being important or relevant - the kind where noone needs a bot because the posters are already spamming enough irrelevant stuff. So for me, it fits well with the rest of the list.

Does anyone think that (10) means that all of the rules were sent as separate messages and the last one's just an apology for doing that? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.63.83|172.69.63.83]] 22:17, 29 November 2019 (UTC)
:Good call. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.244|162.158.255.244]] 22:48, 29 November 2019 (UTC)

The initial explanation for 8 doesn’t seem right - the given examples of email notifications and source code commits are by definition not “junk that nobody asked for” (since such integrations require intentional setup) and are “algorithmically generated” only in a strictly literal sense. To me this is clearly a reference to social media platforms. [[Special:Contributions/188.114.111.151|188.114.111.151]] 08:21, 30 November 2019 (UTC)
: Absolutely agree that it is talking about Facebook/Twitter and the "newsfeed" style random crap you might find interesting [[Special:Contributions/172.68.242.16|172.68.242.16]] 12:23, 1 December 2019 (UTC)

Occasionally I can see that my typing indicator has triggered without me actually typing anything, which is disconcerting, as I then feel obliged to type something... --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.93|162.158.158.93]] 10:48, 30 November 2019 (UTC)

I was amused by “Alternatively, a person could be excluded from a chat to hide things from them, such as to plan a surprise for them.” By my estimation, one person is suddenly excluded from a group chat “to plan a surprise for them” approximately .2% of the time. The other 99.8% of the time, it is to gossip about that person. [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 18:21, 1 December 2019 (UTC)

I am strongly opposed to the implication that the Ninth Amendment does not reasonably apply to any list of rules. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.68|172.69.22.68]] 05:23, 3 December 2019 (UTC)

== Community reference? ==

I think number 5 may refer to the TV show commmunity, since in the series, the main characters participated in a "study group", same generic name. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.173|108.162.212.173]] 15:54, 30 November 2019 (UTC)

Why do we think the title text refers to Kibo? I don't see any evidence supporting that. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.167|162.158.79.167]] 20:56, 3 December 2019 (UTC)

Talk:88: Escher Bracelet

2017-10-02T19:51:53Z

162.158.154.229: But it's not an Escher strip, it's a Möbius strip.

Search the Internet for WWFSMD. [[User:Xhfz|Xhfz]] ([[User talk:Xhfz|talk]]) 22:12, 22 October 2013 (UTC)

Something you might like to try with two paper Mobius strips (apologies if you already know these)...take the first one you made and with scissors make a hole in the middle of the strip and cut all the way around making sure to stay along the middle until you get back to the start... see what you ended up with? It gets better... take the second strip you made and repeat the cutting but this time make sure you cut along the strip 1/3rd of the way from the edge (youll need to go around twice before you get back to the starting puncture hole)... how cool is that![[User:Squirreltape|Squirreltape]] ([[User talk:Squirreltape|talk]]) 18:43, 3 March 2014 (UTC)

If the bracelet is a Möbius band, shouldn't the words on it have been "What Would Möbius Do?"
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.229|162.158.154.229]] 19:51, 2 October 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1769: Never Seen Star Wars

2017-09-21T14:12:46Z

162.158.154.229:

Star Wars, pronounced Star Wors, was a very successful sci-fi action adventure movie from the 70s. Due to the success of the film, a sequel was made and is generally considered better than the first. The two movies are so iconic that someone who has not seen one or both of them would be considered unusual. Other sequals have been made, keeping the fanbase of the material constantly hoping for a 3rd movie that is on par with the firat two. Sadly, no such conclusion to the trilogy has arrived. Instead, each attempted sequel(more than half a dozen now) has been not much more than a 90 minute insult to the good taste and intelligence of the fans. This continued abuse of the star wars fanbase has prompted many former fans of the series to forgo watching recent releases, and to disavow ever seeing the original work in the first place. It appears that some of the cast of xkcd be doing likewise.{{unsigned ip|172.68.79.83}}
:They made a conclusion, and didn't remake it. It was Episode VI. Also, you didn't even proofread your spelling. I can tell that everything beyond your first sentence is random judgement and you assumed everybody else feels the same way, as in [[1534: Beer]]. I agree with [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.60|162.158.2.60]] as well, and [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 20:37, 9 December 2016 (UTC)
:DAFUQ?? Seriously, just no...{{unsigned ip|108.162.242.98}}
:The prequels were horrificly bad, but Episode VI was about as good as the original two, and Episode VII is actually better. Also, not including the first two movies, there are 5 sequals/prequals (6 if you include the unreleased Rogue One). That's not over 6. Also, everyone seems to agree that the 3 prequals are the only bad ones in the series (yet). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.60|162.158.2.60]] 10:10, 8 December 2016 (UTC)
::Some people found the Ewoks annoying. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 13:37, 8 December 2016 (UTC)
::It's more than 6 if you count Ewok Adventures and the Holiday Special (which 99% of fans would rather forget about), which also add to the number of "bad ones" and the Clone Wars movie was only saved by the TV show that followed it. You are right about the rest of the post though, I suspect troll.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.11|108.162.238.11]] 12:37, 13 December 2016 (UTC)
::Actually, I just saw Rogue one and the plot is two tidbits of backstory mixed in with everything catching fire and exploding. [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 22:29, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

My first time providing an explanation and transcript! For once I'm early enough, understand the joke, AND had time! LOL! Be kind... :)

(Hey, if I had an account would I still have to do those damned Captchas?) - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.227|162.158.126.227]] 06:54, 7 December 2016 (UTC) I finally signed up! This comment is mine. (And WEIRD timing, I only just noticed a few minutes ago my newly earned freedom from Captchas, having signed up like 4 days ago and having gone around re-signing my comments like this) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 03:44, 13 June 2017 (UTC)
:I assume your account would have to be autoconfirmed. That means its having over a certain "age" and over a certain edit count. I think the age is a couple of days and the edit threshold is fifteen, though this wiki may have those values configured differently. [[User talk:AgentMuffin|~AgentMuffin]]

You mean it is not a reference to the BBC Radio 4 show. As an experience I will give XKCD 9/10. {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.183}}
: It is the go-to example of a film that 'everyone' has seen. Added a not to this effect, although I feel it could be better phrased. Surprised TVTropes doesn't have a page on this. [[User:Luckykaa|Luckykaa]] ([[User talk:Luckykaa|talk]]) 12:34, 7 December 2016 (UTC)
:: Fan Myopia is the assumption that a work you like is more popular than it is.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.177|141.101.98.177]] 15:21, 9 December 2016 (UTC)
:: Although Fan Myopia is more for obscure works; when someone is ignorant of a well-known work it's Popcultural Osmosis Failure.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.229|162.158.154.229]] 14:12, 21 September 2017 (UTC)

--

I added a few speculations about the number of people who actually have seen the movies (or one of them). If someone find a decent reference feel free to edit that. I also noticed one word play, not sure if it should be explained or not, but probably. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.89|141.101.80.89]] 09:44, 7 December 2016 (UTC)
:The issue with the numbers is that making them worldwide seems to miss the point and ends up being rather misleading. After all, any third world country is likely to have roughly 0 viewers, which brings the statistics down. It has been my impression that the feeling that everybody has seen Star Wars is a very North American thing, especially in America. And the cast of XKCD generally seem to reside in America. Of the billion people estimated viewers, I suspect a FAR higher percentage of them are North American than the precentage of North Americans to the world population (in other words, North America is over-represented in that billion). In the end, the assumption that everybody you encounter while in North America has seen them is actually a fairly reasonably assumption, while a percentage of 15% makes it sound like it's not. Also, there's the implied qualifier of opportunity. Cueball could easily have chosen to watch the films at some point, while there are many people worldwide for whom it has never been an option. And this comic is more about choosing not to, exercising their default option as it were. :) - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.227|162.158.126.227]] 04:06, 8 December 2016 (UTC) I finally signed up! This comment is mine. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 03:44, 13 June 2017 (UTC)
::The author above did mention that distinction but didn't supply any numbers so I took that part out. If we can get a good estimate of the proportion of Americans who have watched the movies then yes, let's use that. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 13:37, 8 December 2016 (UTC)

Is there any canonical evidence Vader didn't eat Jedi though? In the prequel films, he only kills Jedi off-screen. In A New Hope, when he kills Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan disappears. Maybe he just went hungry that day. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.143|141.101.98.143]] 11:38, 7 December 2016 (UTC)
:Isn't there at least one scene in the prequel trilogy of Anakin eating something? Along with that, Vader has to have his helmet on outside his meditation chamber (evidenced by Luke saying Vader will die if Luke takes his helmet off in RotJ). It would be logical that Vader gets his nutrition intravenously or in a smoothie/drink form that he can ingest through his helmet, and Jedi are notoriously hard to turn into a smoothie. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.40|108.162.238.40]]
::Jedi don't have to be the only part of his diet, and we don't know when in Vader's life he starts eating Jedi. Vader presumably drags them back to the meditation chamber when he wants to feast properly. He appears to have the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9ZMb0GOqfo teeth] to do it. Maybe when he's too desperate for Jedi flesh, he blends Jedi corpses using either mechanical or force means. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.143|141.101.98.143]] 19:10, 7 December 2016 (UTC)
:When a jedi dies, there is no body. He instantly becomes a Force ghost and vanishes. [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 22:24, 23 December 2016 (UTC)
::Not usually. There's only four Jedi in the core canon shown to have achieved that, and only Obi-Wan and Yoda are actually depicted immediately vanishing. Vader may also eat Jedi alive. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.64|141.101.98.64]] 11:36, 27 January 2017 (UTC)

--
I think that the explanation should point out that the author differently form cueball is actually a huge fan of the saga with a vast knowlage of the SW lore including obscure expanded universe publications [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.184|141.101.98.184]] 16:01, 7 December 2016 (UTC)

--
It's missing any comment on the "superpower" bit. I'm not sure where to add it and kind of rushed now, so I just leave this note to maybe prod someone else... [[User:MAP|MAP]] ([[User talk:MAP|talk]]) 16:30, 7 December 2016 (UTC)

I think it's time for a Star Wars remake. Like start with the first movie (ep iv). Maybe I'm wrong but I think young people nowadays don't enjoy sci-fi/action movies without a lot of CG. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.218|162.158.91.218]] 06:38, 8 December 2016 (UTC)
: Disney did that already, and called it ''Episode VII''. Unless you consider "reboot" to be separate from "remake" for some reason. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.58.226|162.158.58.226]] 18:44, 8 December 2016 (UTC)

As a fan dear god I hope the idea to remake the originals does not catch on. The re-releases were bad enough. {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.165}}

He's updated it with the lines added to the first pannel. [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 14:33, 8 December 2016 (UTC)
:oh yeah! somebody need to update the image and make a trivia. [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 22:29, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

I used to be like Cueball. And then I ''grew the hell up'' and realized that avoiding good movies is the least normal thing of all[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.72|162.158.255.72]] 21:57, 8 December 2016 (UTC)

1843: Opening Crawl

2017-05-30T21:12:10Z

162.158.154.229: /* Explanation */ fix

{{comic
| number = 1843
| date = May 29, 2017
| title = Opening Crawl
| image = opening_crawl.png
| titletext = Using a classic Timothy Zahn EU/Legends novel is bad enough, but at least the style and setting aren't too far off. If you really want to mess with people, try using Splinter of the Mind's Eye.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|I have a bad feeling about this.}}

Each episodic {{w|Star Wars}} film begins with an "{{tvtropes|OpeningScroll|opening crawl}}" giving the audience some of the backstory, which often reads like the prologue of a novel.

[[Randall]] wants to reverse this by projecting the text of a Star Wars novel and see how long this can be continued before viewers realize it is a prank. The text in the opening scroll is actually from the beginning of Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn.

The title text compares different Star Wars novels' style, remarking on how well suited they would be for this prank.

{{w|Timothy Zahn}} is a science fiction writer who has written and contributed to many novels and comics [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Timothy_Zahn#Works] in the {{w|Star Wars expanded universe}}. The [http://www.mustreading.net/Thrawn_Trilogy_03.html text in the comic] is the first five paragraphs from the book ''[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/The_Last_Command The Last Command]''. The characters mentioned are [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Mitth%27raw%27nuruodo Grand Admiral Thrawn], the primary antagonist of the ''Thrawn Trilogy'', and [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Pellaeon Gilad Pellaeon], who serves as a {{w|Dr. Watson}}-type companion to Thrawn throughout much of the trilogy.

''[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Splinter_of_the_Mind%27s_Eye Splinter of the Mind's Eye]'' was an early Star Wars novel written before the original film was expanded to a trilogy (and then expanded some more), so it contains multiple aborted subplots which can make it very confusing for a fan who has seen the later works.

The term "EU" refers to "Expanded Universe", which was the term for the corpus of non-cinematic ''Star Wars'' content before ''Star Wars'' was acquired by {{w|Disney}}. Not wanting to be constrained by previous canon, Disney declared all "Expanded Universe" content to be non-canonical to all future movies, and re-branded the EU as "Legends" to take place in its own alternate continuity.

For a very long time, fans believed that the Thrawn Trilogy would have constituted Star Wars VII to IX should the movie have been made and thus "before they figure out there's no movie coming after it" refers to both the mistaken belief of fans and the novelisation as delivered through the opening crawl.

==Transcript==
:[On a black background with many stars is five yellow blocks of text that recedes towards a black section at the back of the panel. The last block cannot be read, but it is (almost) possible to read the second block of text at the back. The bottom line of the last text block is cut off through the middle of the letters.]

:"All systems show battle ready, Admiral," the comm officer reported from the portside crew pit. "The task force is beginning to check in."

:"Very good, Lieutenant," Grand Admiral Thrawn nodded. "Inform me when all have done so. Captain Pellaeon?"

:"Sir?" Pellaeon said, searching his superior's face for the stress the Grand Admiral must be feeling. The stress he himself was certainly feeling. This was not just another tactical strike against the Rebellion, after all—not a minor shipping raid or even a complex but straightforward hit-and-fade against some insignificant planetary base. After nearly a month of frenzied preparations, Thrawn's master campaign for the Empire's final victory was about to be launched.

:But if the Grand Admiral was feeling any tension, he was keeping it to himself. "Begin the countdown," he told
:[Cut off through the middle and at the end]: Pellaeon, his voice as calm as if he were ordering

:[Caption beneath the panel:]
:Movie theater projection booth prank: see how many pages of a Star Wars novel you can get people to read before they figure out there's no movie coming after it.

==Trivia==
*Some of the crawl in the comic is unreadable. But since this is text from a real book [http://www.mustreading.net/Thrawn_Trilogy_03.html the full text] can be found online.
*Here is what would have been readable up to this moment of the "film", if the text was crawling by:
<blockquote style="background-color: #ffc; border: solid thin grey;">
 Gliding through the blackness of deep space, the Imperial Star Destroyer Chimaera pointed its mighty arrowhead shape toward the dim star of its target system, three thousandths of a light-year away. And prepared itself for war. 
 "All systems show battle ready, Admiral," the comm officer reported from the portside crew pit. "The task force is beginning to check in."
 "Very good, Lieutenant," Grand Admiral Thrawn nodded. "Inform me when all have done so. Captain Pellaeon?" 
 "Sir?" Pellaeon said, searching his superior's face for the stress the Grand Admiral must be feeling. The stress he himself was certainly feeling. This was not just another tactical strike against the Rebellion, after all—not a minor shipping raid or even a complex but straightforward hit-and-fade against some insignificant planetary base. After nearly a month of frenzied preparations, Thrawn's master campaign for the Empire's final victory was about to be launched. 
 But if the Grand Admiral was feeling any tension, he was keeping it to himself. "Begin the countdown," he told Pellaeon, his voice as calm as if he were ordering dinner.</blockquote>

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]

Talk:850: World According to Americans

2017-04-19T08:48:05Z

162.158.154.229:

NB: Paupa (sic!) New Guinea
[[User:Leob|Leob]] ([[User talk:Leob|talk]]) 20:10, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

:You're right, there's a typo in the comic! Good catch ;) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:10, 27 November 2012 (UTC)

98% of American's would only be able to locate about 4 countries so this is way too generous ~JFreund

Made a typo with Phillipines. It's Philippines. @JFreund No stereotyping, please. I can list 51 or 52 countries and I'm not even in middle school. Add a bit more thinking and I've got to 58.[[User:Randomperson4000|Randomperson4000]] ([[User talk:Randomperson4000|talk]]) 01:59, 26 August 2014 (UTC)

@JFreund: That's not true... I'm a seventh grader who can't stand geography for the life of me, yet I can name a good twenty or so.
And as a very very simplified example, most fifth graders can easily name America (duh), Mexico, Canada, Russia, and England.
That is rather, for lack of a better term, racist of you. ~jazz14456

@jazz14456 Well for comparison I'm an seventh grader from europe(We call it year eight there) and I can name 64 off the top of my head, that's 320% more. Therefore the point of the comic and @JFreund 's point still stand. ~Samarthwiz

:Your brand of negativism, as well as the additional above, does nothing to advance any sort of constructive dialogue. Please check your misconceptions, generalizations, and inaccuracies about entire populations at the door. They're not welcome in communities of thinking people. [[User:Orazor|Orazor]] ([[User talk:Orazor|talk]]) 12:25, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

::While the petty point scoring is of no value, it is worth noting that Europeans have an advantage when it comes to the trite 'How many countries can you name' or 'How many countries have you visited' competitions. You can quite easily spend a day driving through Europe and visit (drive through) 5 countries. As an example: England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany. The fact that an American can do this across different states, or may be able to name all 50 states in addition to however many countries, or have travelled far and wide within the states doesn't seem to carry any weight. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 14:03, 18 November 2014 (UTC)

:::I wholeheartedly agree. They are regions with their own flags and laws and geography too only one slight criticism is that most of them call it America. So they want to be classed as an whole continent or two, a country that is more correctly called the USA and they want credit for knowing where Delaware or Rhode Island is.

[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 18:48, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

BTW, the Robinson drawing in the comic is '''much''' too accurate to be pure freehand. He probably used tracing or grid point marks. -- [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 21:46, 25 March 2014 (UTC)

*Randall considers this to be 'good at geography'?! They only named, like, 30 or so countries... There's 197!* [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.184|173.245.56.184]]

It's probably sarcasm too that "Tibet" is incorrectly labelled on Xinjiang. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.223.47|108.162.223.47]] 01:20, 26 March 2014 (UTC)

"Aral sea (??Toane" is probably "Aral sea (gone)" {{unsigned ip|173.245.55.60}}
:This is a wiki. Edit it in yourself next time (done it for you this time).[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.11|141.101.104.11]] 05:32, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

I added some comments/explanations. The distance between Afrcia and USA was measured by google maps. I tried out several spots. If someone finds a shorter distance, fell free to correct :) [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:01, 18 November 2014 (UTC)

The annotation regarding the poor labelling of Africa needs more/better explaining, especially what it means by it 'speaking volumes'. Although I've put that it lends weight to the 'Ignorant American' viewpoint, my feeling is that there is actually a more widespread ignorance amongst the rest of the world towards Africa (in general, not just geographically). While I could probably name a few more countries in Africa, I wouldn't be able to place them within the continent. I have an average knowledge of world geography, but the big hole in my knowledge would definately be Africa, and I suspect that the majority of people I know would say the same. I could come up with all sorts of theories as to why it is Africa I know so little about, but this comment is already too long! --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 13:49, 18 November 2014 (UTC)

: Done, I think. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 17:47, 18 November 2014 (UTC)

I'm not sure if it's necessary to include all the other not yet mentioned/explained areas, such as Western/Eastern Europe and others. We ''could'' make lists of which countries belong to that regions similar to the "Various former soviet states"-area, but that would simply result in a list of all nations of the world. If you agree, we could remove the incomplete-tag, I think. If not... well... there are a lot of countries ;) On the other hand, I'm not quite sure, if the colors may have a special meaning... But I think most likely not. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 17:47, 18 November 2014 (UTC)

: I've added a bit more detail on the title text. Personally I don't think we need to add all the labels, unless there is something specific on this comic which can be explained about that label. Like you say, it would turn into a list of countries with no relevant additional information. As far as colours go, I can't see any obvious pattern behind their assignment. I vote we remove the incomplete tag, in my view any other additions serve to enhance the article rather than to complete it. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 09:23, 19 November 2014 (UTC)

The opening paragraph is inaccurate; the comic satirises portrayals of American geographical ignorance (X% of Americans can't locate Y on a map!) rather than jokey maps about cultural stereotypes.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.84|141.101.99.84]] 09:56, 13 October 2015 (UTC)

Please improve the explanation for India. It is not clear, and the mostly Hindu/Muslim regions seem to be referring to the countries India and Pakistan. I tried editing, but someone reverted it claiming that it was not Pakistan. {{[[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.229|162.158.154.229]] 08:48, 19 April 2017 (UTC)}}

542: Cover-Up

2017-04-17T08:40:07Z

162.158.154.229: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 542
| date = February 11, 2009
| title = Cover-Up
| image = cover_up.png
| titletext = Man, this trick has saved me so many times.
}}

==Explanation==

[[Black Hat]] and [[Danish]] are trying to clean up the mess that their bloody murder has left. This story may thus be a continuation of [[515: No One Must Know]].

Another guy, [[Cueball]], is on his way home and is about to arrive just when are finishing the clean up. But then Black Hat realizes that the ceiling has also been stained (by the violent murder...) And now they do not have time to fix it.

But Black Hat knows how to deal with the situation, and when Cueball comes home, he says ''Did you know "gullible" is written on your ceiling''.

{{w|Gullible}} means easily deceived or naive. This is a game many people play with each other "Whoa, someone wrote 'gullible' in the sky!" "Did you know when you look at the Microsoft logo upside-down it looks like the word 'gullible'?" Those that are gullible, check. Those that aren't, don't. In fact they will pointedly not do the thing that the first person has suggested as a show of how non-gullible they are. Black Hat uses this to his advantage to cover up the copious bloodstains on the ceiling and as expected Cueball just says ''Hah. Yeah, right'' and refuses to even glance at the ceiling.

The title text is hinting that Black Hat has had to cover up killing people several times as this trick has saved him many times. Of course there could also be other things than blood that he had to hide (the money he just stole etc.)

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat looking slightly up is holding two rags stained red with blood while Danish is holding an equally bloody mop.]
:Black Hat: Okay, got the blood off the walls.
:Danish: I finished the floor.

:[Black Hat drops the bloody rags behind him while looking up at the ceiling, Danish has put the bloody mop behind her leaning against the wall while covering her mouth with her hands.]
:Black Hat: Good; he'll be home any-
:Black Hat: Oh crap! We forgot to clean the ceiling!

:[Black Hat has moved away from the bloody rags towards Danish who has taken her hands down. They look straight at each other. The bloody mop has fallen over on the floor.]
:Danish: There's no time!
:Black Hat: Wait, I'll handle it.

:[Cueball with briefcase enters the house through the front door behind him, still standing open. He is greeted by Black Hat holding out a hand towards him. The corner of the room and the wall behind them and past the door is outlines with three lines connecting in the corner.]
:Black Hat: Hi. Did you know "gullible" is written on your ceiling?
:Cueball: Hah. Yeah, right.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Danish]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

548: Kindle

2017-04-07T02:49:01Z

162.158.154.229: /* Explanation */ Added info from the Hitchhiker's series about the title text's protest

{{comic
| number = 548
| date = February 25, 2009
| title = Kindle
| image = kindle.png
| titletext = I'm happy with my Kindle 2 so far, but if they cut off the free Wikipedia browsing, I plan to show up drunk on Jeff Bezos's lawn and refuse to leave.
}}

==Explanation==
The {{w|Amazon Kindle}} is a device that allows people to read books via ebook format. The comic was published three weeks after {{w|Amazon.com|Amazon}} released the {{w|Amazon_Kindle#Kindle_2|Kindle 2}}, which included the ability to read {{w|Wikipedia}} articles via the 3G connection that was included with the device.

[[Cueball]] remarks that "ebooks are for chumps", but goes on to explain the real reason for purchasing a Kindle. Since it has free cellular web access, he could navigate through any city (presumably with 3G access), assisted by {{w|Wikipedia}} and {{w|Wikitravel}}.

[[Megan]] believes she has heard such a description of a device before and snatches the Kindle away from Cueball. When she scratches off the Amazon Kindle logo at the top of the device she reveals that the device is actually ''{{w|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (fictional)|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}}''. This fictional electronic encyclopedia is described in the {{w|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|real-life franchise}} of the same name. Those works recount the tale of a travel editor who works for and owns a copy of the ''Guide'', which provides travel tips throughout the galaxy, including {{w|Mostly Harmless|an entry for Earth}}. The comic suggests that Amazon simply re-brands copies of the ''Guide'' as Kindles.

The title text refers to the great utility of having the ability to access Wikipedia for free on an easy-to-carry device. The speaker states that should this utility ever become disabled, he would stage a drunk protest on the lawn of {{w|Jeff Bezos}}, the CEO and founder of Amazon.com. This method of protest is used by the protagonist of the Hitchhiker's series, in the beginning of the first book, in an attempt to prevent his house from being demolished, by lying in front of the bulldozer (in vain).

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is looking at a tablet.]
:Megan: A kindle? Ebooks, huh?
:Cueball: Ebooks are for chumps.
:Megan: Why get a kindle, then?
:Cueball: One reason:

:[Text is above the frame in which Cueball wanders a city with the tablet and with small bubbles forming above his head to indicate him being intoxicated.]
:Cueball (narrating): Free cellular web access. Even if I spend months broke and drunk in a strange city, I'll still be able to use Wikipedia and Wikitravel to learn about anything I need.

:[Megan takes the tablet from Cueball.]
:Megan: Why does that sound familiar?
:Megan: Gimme that.

:[Zoom in on the top of the tablet where the name is written:]
:Amazon Kindle

:[Zoom out to Megan who scratches at the top of the tablet.]
:Scrape, scrape, scrape

:[Zoom back to the damaged top of the tablet where a layer has been scraped off. This partly reveals a new name, where the first letter and the last two letters are only partly visible:]
:Hitchhiker's Guide

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

Talk:767: Temper

2017-04-03T12:38:24Z

162.158.154.229:

A blade with no temper is a letter opener or a butter knife. One that keeps its temper perfectly is good enough for the best swords. {{unsigned|Weatherlawyer}}

I think he is also referenced in what if 146, stop Jupiter. Should it be added? {{[[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.229|162.158.154.229]] 12:38, 3 April 2017 (UTC)}}