explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2037: Supreme Court Bracket

2018-08-24T09:42:54Z

162.158.155.104:

Came here for insight, only to discover this is tomorrow's comic, I'm viewing Friday's comic on Thursday after midnight. D'oh! Damn, seeing a comic early and I can't provide or contribute to the explanation, LOL! I realize the bracket and "Sweet 16" are sports things, I think football and/or basketball, and I spotted the famous name Roe vs. Wade, so seems like court cases, but that's it. Looking forward to people explaining the smaller jokes (I spotted "Loving" and "Virginia", and I feel like I recall their license plates say "Virginia Is For Lovers" I think, I expect something there). [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:58, 24 August 2018 (UTC)
:Protip: Thursday after midnight is Friday! Nonetheless this comic was released at 0:00 EDT meaning it was still Thursday at time zones westwards. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 07:03, 24 August 2018 (UTC)
:I got here at like 9:10 Pacific time and the comic was already up; normally I have to wait until like 1 AM before Randall posts it/you guys auto-mirror it.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.189.235|172.68.189.235]] 08:23, 24 August 2018 (UTC)

Errm. You can go back to the previous comic if you hit the [<Prev] button just above the current one. {{unsigned ip|141.101.107.36}}

I agree that this is a sports reference, but can someone also include some sort of note about the title? I think that the "Supreme COURT" is referring to a basketball COURT, connected to how brackets like this are used in basketball like with March Madness. [[User:B. A. Beder|B. A. Beder]] ([[User talk:B. A. Beder|talk]]) 05:50, 24 August 2018 (UTC)

Well, how would the tournament turn out? We know who won the cases, so who's the king of the US legal system? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.66|162.158.90.66]] 06:41, 24 August 2018 (UTC)

Moral of the story: If you are the respondent in a landmark case, you might as well give up. --[[User:Troy0|Troy0]] ([[User talk:Troy0|talk]]) 07:53, 24 August 2018 (UTC)
:I noticed that as well. Do most "landmark" cases go to the plaintiff or is this just an outlier sample?[[Special:Contributions/172.68.189.235|172.68.189.235]] 08:23, 24 August 2018 (UTC)
: But Marbury actually won the case, the court was unable to deliver the ruling [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.104|162.158.155.104]] 09:42, 24 August 2018 (UTC)

Talk:2037: Supreme Court Bracket

2018-08-24T09:42:18Z

162.158.155.104:

2033: Repair or Replace

2018-08-21T11:17:09Z

162.158.155.104: removed a sentence that didn't seem relevant. Made a change to say Randal is questioning the economics rather than stating it is in inefficienct to replace rather than repair.

{{comic
| number = 2033
| date = August 15, 2018
| title = Repair or Replace
| image = repair_or_replace.png
| titletext = Just make sure all your friends and family are out of the car, or that you've made backup friends and family at home.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic compares the repair of cars with that of computers or other similar electronic devices. The question ''Repair or Replace?'' comes up more frequently with electronics than with cars, hence the title of the comic, and the humor derived.

[[Cueball]] is in his car. He says that there is a weird sound and asks if the car mechanic [[Hairy]] will take a look. Hairy asks him to open the car's {{w|Hood (car)|hood}}, exposing the engine, to further identify the cause of the problem. Cueball then says that his hood latch, the lever used to open the hood, is also broken. The solution, according to Hairy, is then to discard the car, and "replace" it with a new car.

In reality, fixing the latch on the hood is a simple task for a skilled mechanic and would not justify writing-off the car. When a car is malfunctioning, the usual response is to attempt to repair it. A car is designed so that many of the parts can be replaced or adjusted. However, right around the time this comic was published, Subaru just instituted a recall of a few hundred vehicles that it says it will replace rather than attempting a fix, [<ref>https://jalopnik.com/subaru-is-just-giving-recalled-2019-ascent-owners-brand-1828356237</ref> as seen here], and this could be the inspiration for this comic.

By contrast, when a computer or electronic device is malfunctioning, it is often judged to be more expensive to repair than to replace, and the usual action is to purchase a new device. It is generally possible to replace each part of a desktop or laptop computer, but harder to do so for more integrated devices such as tablets, and almost impossible to repair individual components with faulty or damaged integrated circuits.

Even where replacing a component is relatively easy (needing little more than a set of screwdrivers), the cost of replacement parts and labor can be a significant proportion of the cost of a completely new device, particularly where a user is not technically confident and pays a repair shop to fit new components. Also, the length of the technology "upgrade cycle" - typically around 3-5 years - is roughly the mean failure time of a device's components. Thus, users may already be considering a new purchase when their device breaks.

It would be extremely inefficient for a car dealership or mechanic to simply "replace" a car when there is a problem with it (although many insurers will provide a temporary replacement "courtesy car" while the car is being repaired). Likewise, Randall questions whether it is also inefficient for electronic devices to be thrown away at the first sign of a problem, and not repaired.

The title text refers to data stored on a computer or electronic device. Before replacing the device, it is recommended {{w|backup}} all your personal files, so that you have future access to them, and to remove them for security. Randall likens this to having your friends and family exit the vehicle, or making backup friends and family before the vehicle is thrown away.

;The economics
Cars are much more expensive than computers or other electronic devices, and become obsolete less quickly. The point at which it becomes cheaper to purchase a new computer or phone rather than repair an old one comes much more quickly.

Cars are mostly valuable for their macroscopic features and functions, whereas electronics deliver value mostly with microscopic circuitry. While we can mass produce integrated circuit devices efficiently, the equipment is massively complex and expensive, so it's only practical on an industrial scale. Repairing an individual switch or data line in an individual chip might take a team of experts and a state of the art lab with electron microscopes etc. - millions of times the per unit cost once assembly lines are running

Also, although the comic implies that replaced electronics are discarded (like a car pushed into a pit), sometimes they are sent off to be repaired or refurbished elsewhere. This provides a better experience for the customer (they get a working device right away instead of waiting for repair) and is more efficient for the company (a consolidated repair facility can have the experience and equipment to repair a device much more quickly than at a retail location). This assumes that the customer asked the manufacturer for a replacement, and did not throw it away themselves before purchasing a new one.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting in a car parked to the left of Hairy, who thus stands in front of it while pointing behind him towards a big black hole.]
:Cueball: My engine's making a weird noise. Can you take a look?
:Hairy: Sure, just pop the hood.
:Cueball: Oh, the hood latch is also broken.
:Hairy: OK, just pull up to that big pit and push the car in. We'll go get a new one.

:[Caption below the frame:]
:I'm sure the economics make sense, but it still freaks me out how quick companies are to replace computing devices instead of trying to fix them.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Computers]]

Talk:2022: Sports Champions

2018-07-27T04:28:01Z

162.158.155.104:

Since Kate Dopingscandal has a bike, it seems to me she's actually likely a direct reference to Lance Armstrong. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:46, 20 July 2018 (UTC)
:Yeah, that's why I included him as an example. Feel free to clarify if you want, of course.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.68|162.158.155.68]] 06:09, 20 July 2018 (UTC)
::Why is a bike directly a direct reference to Lance Armstrong? and why are additionally only "many russians" listed? It is clearly not a phenomena only seen with mr. Armstrong, and Russians, but with cylcing sports in general. The biggest Cycling event, the {{w|Tour_de_France}} is hit by a doping scandal every year. Also other events have many {{w|List_of_doping_cases_in_cycling|cases}}. Lately actually there have even be cases of [http://www.cyclist.co.uk/news/542/motor-doping-is-happening-and-weve-tested-it Motor Doping]. So I think Lance Armstrong can stay as maybe the most famous example, but we should say that it is many others and not Lance Armstrong and Russians. [[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:22, 21 July 2018 (UTC)
:::Because he's easily the most famous example. I realize there are plenty of others - the France native below portrays it as downright epidemic in the sport - but Lance was so highly unbelievably visible. My impression is that in North America (which is where both Randall and I live), cycling as a professional sport enjoys notably less popularity than most other sports, and less than it might elsewhere in the world. Yet virtually EVERYBODY has heard of Lance (I follow no sports whatsoever, and I can even discuss him here). Lance attained nearly a hero status, he beat cancer... He started and/or inspired The LiveStrong movement, its support bracelets spread far and wide, inspiring imitators. At which point the scandal hit. Now combine this heightened visibility with Randall's history of comics portraying him - as Cueball - as knowing nothing about sports. Lance is the only cycling doping scandal _I_ can name, or even cyclist I can name at all, chances are it's the same for Randall. This comic is certainly referencing Lance. I only commented because the description was only listing him as an example. (I said nothing about Russians, I don't know of any Russian doping scandal) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 13:46, 22 July 2018 (UTC)
:::Having re-checked the description, I can answer the Russian portion: It says "many Russians" because those words link to a Wikipedia article about Russia in general, not one particular incident. The mere existence of the article tells me that enough Russians have been hit by doping scandals that they rate their own Wikipedia article. It's a great find for this ExplainXKCD article, no wonder somebody made sure to include it. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 13:55, 22 July 2018 (UTC)
::::I put both those in. In fact, I wrote almost the entire article. I'm English, but I try to "think American" when editing. I immediately thought of Armstrong,and totally agree with your reasoning; if you do searches for "doping scandal" you immediately see him, but also, the Russian thing. Centered on the 2012 Olympics, and state-sponsored doping, their subsequent exclusion from the 2016 Olympics is amongst the biggest ever sporting scandals of all time, worldwide. Perhaps more so outside America, but it's certainly of epic proportions.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.138|141.101.107.138]] 16:54, 22 July 2018 (UTC)
::I'm 46 and live in France. As far as I can remember (1980 ?) cycling has always been THE sport associated with doping. I can remember some famous cases in other sports (Ben Johnson in the 1988 olympics) but for cycling it was said to be quasi systematic. The Armstong case was a worldwide scandal, but Tour de France had a much severe problem in 1998 where entire teams were involved and excluded from the race. Five years later, after several trials and new analysis of the 1998 samples with more evolved techniques it was revealed that at least the 5 first finishers (and many more) were doped. If you consult the Wikipedia article “doping in sport”, you will note that cycling is by far the largest section, and almost 100 years old in Tour de France. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.34|108.162.229.34]] 12:57, 22 July 2018 (UTC)
:::Ah, but in cases like this, where different cultures can have an effect, I always bring it back to this: Where does Randall live? In America. While people in France (and cycling fans) might be well aware of many, many, MANY cycling doping scandals, I'd say the average American is not. Plus, Randall has been quite vocal about not knowing sports. Chances are, Lance Armstrong is the only cyclist he can even name at all, never mind doping scandals. And now I cause myself to wonder, did Randall think of Armstrong because his last name is also one made of words, that Lance Armstrong would be on this list himself if he had excelled at arm wrestling? :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 13:46, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

He should have listed, in the sport of eXtreme Software Engineering, the dominance of Little Bobby Tables in the late 2020's. ---- {{unsigned ip|172.68.141.136}}
:Damn, what a missed opportunity. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 13:46, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

Would Jebediah be a reference to Kerbal Space Program? Things tend to go disaterously in it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.160|108.162.210.160]] 12:54, 20 July 2018 (UTC)

It's worth noting that the all-star right fielder for the Boston Red Sox, who are currently in first place in the MLB, is named Markus Lynn "Mookie" Betts, with the initials "MLB." Aside from the fact that he's already won several divisional titles with his team, there's a good chance he'll soon be on a world series winning team as well, perhaps to become the next high-profile example. (Full disclosure: I'm a huge Red Sox fan) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.22|172.68.54.22]] 13:47, 20 July 2018 (UTC)

Art Ball (1890’s)
Full name Arthur Ball
Born April , 1872, Madison, Indiana
Died December 26, 1915, Chicago, Illinois
Buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois
First MLB Game: August 1, 1894; Final MLB Game: October 15, 1898
Bat: Unknown Throw: Right Weight: 168 {{unsigned ip|172.68.54.76}}

What, no Cecil Fielder? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.46|162.158.63.46]] 19:32, 20 July 2018 (UTC)

What, no [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Moneymaker Chris Moneymaker? (Poker, 2000's)] [[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 01:10, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

;Moved from the main talk page: --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:30, 21 July 2018 (UTC)
Misspelling in today's comic

Your article says: "Randall has chosen to spell his name as "Disasterous", rather than the more conventional "Disastrous"." Presumably he hasn't "chosen" to do this but merely made a spelling error. In that case, your comment is misleading. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.21|162.158.158.21]] 23:25, 20 July 2018 (UTC)

Brandon Sponsorship may also be read as Brand On Sponsorship, having two terms related.
:I know what you mean, and thought about it at the time, but the connection isn't completely obvious and I didn't want to bring in too much assumption on my part. I tried to reference it without making a judgement, by mentioning the word in the text, but not putting it in bold or directly saying that there was a connection. I think that's OK? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.214|141.101.98.214]] 16:27, 22 July 2018 (UTC)
(Previous person didn't sign) About the misspelling, I feel like that's a perfectly acceptable version of the word. It's how I'd instinctually spell it, he just added "ous" to the word "disaster". That's where the word comes from! It's actually ridiculous that this ISN'T the correct spelling! I blame the English language on this one. I'd guess that centuries ago that WAS the correct spelling, and the E just got dropped at some point, to streamline the pronunciation of the word. I just Googled it, and MANY articles showed up defining it as a common misspelling of the word, that's how common this spelling is. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 14:11, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

:There is no right or wrong spelling for a surname. You can be Mr. Tailor or Mr.Taylor, or a hundred other versions. That's why I deliberately wrote that Randall ''chose'' that spelling, and I think it's obvious from the way I phrased it that it's not the normal spelling of the word. I don't think we should pass judgement about his decision, even though there's a very high chance he just made a typo. I also concur with the opinion of NiceGuy1, so I have changed it back to the way it was. Best, [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.214|141.101.98.214]] 16:27, 22 July 2018 (UTC)
::Given that the USA has a dominantly prescriptivist spelling culture for non-names (i.e. in academics and business correctness is defined by books before common usage, coompare to descriptivist which would be the other way around), the phrasing here misleads the leader into believing that both spellings are currently considered correct, as is actually true for other words. There are a lot of misleading statements in this wiki; maybe we should be up-front about that until somebody has the energy to work through everything and stay on top of it all. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.118|162.158.63.118]] 14:45, 25 July 2018 (UTC)
:::There I fixed it. [[User:Faultwire|I'm me(citation needed)]] ([[User talk:Faultwire|talk]]) 23:28, 25 July 2018 (UTC)
::::Still looks messy to me; what kind of citation do you want - a brainscan of Randall? You know he chose to write the word in that way. Why is beyond our knowledge. See further down this page for more discussion and opinions about it. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.104|162.158.155.104]] 04:28, 27 July 2018 (UTC)
From the transcript: "[Cueball with a golf club] Gary Player" and "[Cueball with a basketball] Lonzo Ball". I'm not familiar with all the conventions around here, but would it be NOT Cueball when it is very definitely someone else? Sure, the made-up names later on could be Cueball standing in for them, but for those, wouldn't it actually be the real person, just looking Cueball-ish due to the art style? (And as an aside, a slight pity that there wasn't a pool player named something like Randall Cueball in the comic... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.130|162.158.75.130]] 03:31, 23 July 2018 (UTC)

== Podium/Lectern ==

When I first wrote this explanation, without thinking much, I said Jeb was standing at a {{w|podium}}. Someone corrected it to "lectern", which is absolutely correct of them - see that Wikipedia article. But the interesting thing is, there is an xkcd cartoon about this very subject!

[[1661: Podium]]

Should this somehow be mentioned in the explanation? I thought probably not, because Randall made no mention of it; it was purely my own error, and just an interesting connection to today's comic. Right? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.138|141.101.107.138]] 16:36, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

== Margaret Court ==
She wasn't the best choice. Recently in Australia someone let her near a microphone & it turns out she's quite homophobic.

== Jebediah's Sport ==

It appears that, based on the person's name, their sport could be debating, public speaking, or giving live postgame press conferences.

[[User:Milesman34|Milesman34]] ([[User talk:Milesman34|talk]]) 03:48, 23 July 2018 (UTC)milesman34

== Why Baseball is a Problem ==

Did you ever notice that players named "White" are almost always black, and players named "Black" are usually white? Why is that? The last White major leaguer who was actually white was Mike White, who played for Houston in the early sixties. Since then we've had Bill White, Roy White, Frank White, and Jerry White, all of whom were black; Mike White probably would have been black except that his father played in the majors in the thirties and they didn't allow you to be black back then. The Royals also had a Black on their roster, Bud, who of course is white; in fact, the Royals had to set some sort of record by having four colored people on their team, White, Black, Blue, and Brown. Scott Brown is not any browner than anyone else, Vida is definitely not blue, nor for that matter is Darryl Motley. I suppose that is the nature of names, as with Peacekeeping Missiles and Security Police, to disguise the truth more often than they reveal it. Horace Speed stole only four bases in his career. Vic Power was a singles hitter, Bill Goodenough was not good enough, and Joe Blong did not belong for long.

-- Bill James, 1983

Me, I'm disappointed that Jim Gentile wasn't Jewish. [[User:WHPratt|WHPratt]] ([[User talk:WHPratt|talk]]) 12:16, 24 July 2018 (UTC)

== Chosen spelling - Citation needed ==

Re. Randall has chosen to spell his name as "Disasterous", rather than the more conventional "Disastrous".

Putting <nowiki>{{citation needed}}</nowiki> on that is a bit silly. You can see he chose to spell it that way from the cartoon. It's self-evident. What's the issue, what needs a citation? As to why he decided to spell it that way, nobody but Randall knows, and we're unlikely to ever find out. It's probably a typo, but isn't that just an assumption? He chose to type the word that way - whether that's because he doesn't know how to spell it correctly, or because he likes it that way. Nobody but Randall knows.

A couple of people think it should say he misspelled it, but see the discussions; others agree with me that there is not correct spelling of surnames (e.g. Tailor/Taylor). It's a name, not the word.

IMHO, the cite-needed is just clutter and confusing. I think the wording was good, without a messy tag. It's not really something I want to argue pointlessly and endlessly about, so I won't remove it myself right now; I'll see what other people say. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.138|141.101.107.138]] 14:52, 26 July 2018 (UTC)
== Kerbal ==
why am i the first one to see the kerbal space program reference? where are you my fellow kerbals?
:It's a bit of a tenuous link. I get it, Kerbal has disasters, and has a person named Jebediah, but it's a reasonably common name; there's nothing space-related in the cartoon to suggest a connection. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.104|162.158.155.104]] 04:21, 27 July 2018 (UTC)

Talk:2022: Sports Champions

2018-07-27T04:21:34Z

162.158.155.104: /* Chosen spelling - Citation needed */ j

Since Kate Dopingscandal has a bike, it seems to me she's actually likely a direct reference to Lance Armstrong. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:46, 20 July 2018 (UTC)
:Yeah, that's why I included him as an example. Feel free to clarify if you want, of course.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.68|162.158.155.68]] 06:09, 20 July 2018 (UTC)
::Why is a bike directly a direct reference to Lance Armstrong? and why are additionally only "many russians" listed? It is clearly not a phenomena only seen with mr. Armstrong, and Russians, but with cylcing sports in general. The biggest Cycling event, the {{w|Tour_de_France}} is hit by a doping scandal every year. Also other events have many {{w|List_of_doping_cases_in_cycling|cases}}. Lately actually there have even be cases of [http://www.cyclist.co.uk/news/542/motor-doping-is-happening-and-weve-tested-it Motor Doping]. So I think Lance Armstrong can stay as maybe the most famous example, but we should say that it is many others and not Lance Armstrong and Russians. [[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:22, 21 July 2018 (UTC)
:::Because he's easily the most famous example. I realize there are plenty of others - the France native below portrays it as downright epidemic in the sport - but Lance was so highly unbelievably visible. My impression is that in North America (which is where both Randall and I live), cycling as a professional sport enjoys notably less popularity than most other sports, and less than it might elsewhere in the world. Yet virtually EVERYBODY has heard of Lance (I follow no sports whatsoever, and I can even discuss him here). Lance attained nearly a hero status, he beat cancer... He started and/or inspired The LiveStrong movement, its support bracelets spread far and wide, inspiring imitators. At which point the scandal hit. Now combine this heightened visibility with Randall's history of comics portraying him - as Cueball - as knowing nothing about sports. Lance is the only cycling doping scandal _I_ can name, or even cyclist I can name at all, chances are it's the same for Randall. This comic is certainly referencing Lance. I only commented because the description was only listing him as an example. (I said nothing about Russians, I don't know of any Russian doping scandal) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 13:46, 22 July 2018 (UTC)
:::Having re-checked the description, I can answer the Russian portion: It says "many Russians" because those words link to a Wikipedia article about Russia in general, not one particular incident. The mere existence of the article tells me that enough Russians have been hit by doping scandals that they rate their own Wikipedia article. It's a great find for this ExplainXKCD article, no wonder somebody made sure to include it. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 13:55, 22 July 2018 (UTC)
::::I put both those in. In fact, I wrote almost the entire article. I'm English, but I try to "think American" when editing. I immediately thought of Armstrong,and totally agree with your reasoning; if you do searches for "doping scandal" you immediately see him, but also, the Russian thing. Centered on the 2012 Olympics, and state-sponsored doping, their subsequent exclusion from the 2016 Olympics is amongst the biggest ever sporting scandals of all time, worldwide. Perhaps more so outside America, but it's certainly of epic proportions.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.138|141.101.107.138]] 16:54, 22 July 2018 (UTC)
::I'm 46 and live in France. As far as I can remember (1980 ?) cycling has always been THE sport associated with doping. I can remember some famous cases in other sports (Ben Johnson in the 1988 olympics) but for cycling it was said to be quasi systematic. The Armstong case was a worldwide scandal, but Tour de France had a much severe problem in 1998 where entire teams were involved and excluded from the race. Five years later, after several trials and new analysis of the 1998 samples with more evolved techniques it was revealed that at least the 5 first finishers (and many more) were doped. If you consult the Wikipedia article “doping in sport”, you will note that cycling is by far the largest section, and almost 100 years old in Tour de France. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.34|108.162.229.34]] 12:57, 22 July 2018 (UTC)
:::Ah, but in cases like this, where different cultures can have an effect, I always bring it back to this: Where does Randall live? In America. While people in France (and cycling fans) might be well aware of many, many, MANY cycling doping scandals, I'd say the average American is not. Plus, Randall has been quite vocal about not knowing sports. Chances are, Lance Armstrong is the only cyclist he can even name at all, never mind doping scandals. And now I cause myself to wonder, did Randall think of Armstrong because his last name is also one made of words, that Lance Armstrong would be on this list himself if he had excelled at arm wrestling? :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 13:46, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

He should have listed, in the sport of eXtreme Software Engineering, the dominance of Little Bobby Tables in the late 2020's. ---- {{unsigned ip|172.68.141.136}}
:Damn, what a missed opportunity. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 13:46, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

Would Jebediah be a reference to Kerbal Space Program? Things tend to go disaterously in it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.160|108.162.210.160]] 12:54, 20 July 2018 (UTC)

It's worth noting that the all-star right fielder for the Boston Red Sox, who are currently in first place in the MLB, is named Markus Lynn "Mookie" Betts, with the initials "MLB." Aside from the fact that he's already won several divisional titles with his team, there's a good chance he'll soon be on a world series winning team as well, perhaps to become the next high-profile example. (Full disclosure: I'm a huge Red Sox fan) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.22|172.68.54.22]] 13:47, 20 July 2018 (UTC)

Art Ball (1890’s)
Full name Arthur Ball
Born April , 1872, Madison, Indiana
Died December 26, 1915, Chicago, Illinois
Buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois
First MLB Game: August 1, 1894; Final MLB Game: October 15, 1898
Bat: Unknown Throw: Right Weight: 168 {{unsigned ip|172.68.54.76}}

What, no Cecil Fielder? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.46|162.158.63.46]] 19:32, 20 July 2018 (UTC)

What, no [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Moneymaker Chris Moneymaker? (Poker, 2000's)] [[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 01:10, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

;Moved from the main talk page: --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:30, 21 July 2018 (UTC)
Misspelling in today's comic

Your article says: "Randall has chosen to spell his name as "Disasterous", rather than the more conventional "Disastrous"." Presumably he hasn't "chosen" to do this but merely made a spelling error. In that case, your comment is misleading. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.21|162.158.158.21]] 23:25, 20 July 2018 (UTC)

Brandon Sponsorship may also be read as Brand On Sponsorship, having two terms related.
:I know what you mean, and thought about it at the time, but the connection isn't completely obvious and I didn't want to bring in too much assumption on my part. I tried to reference it without making a judgement, by mentioning the word in the text, but not putting it in bold or directly saying that there was a connection. I think that's OK? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.214|141.101.98.214]] 16:27, 22 July 2018 (UTC)
(Previous person didn't sign) About the misspelling, I feel like that's a perfectly acceptable version of the word. It's how I'd instinctually spell it, he just added "ous" to the word "disaster". That's where the word comes from! It's actually ridiculous that this ISN'T the correct spelling! I blame the English language on this one. I'd guess that centuries ago that WAS the correct spelling, and the E just got dropped at some point, to streamline the pronunciation of the word. I just Googled it, and MANY articles showed up defining it as a common misspelling of the word, that's how common this spelling is. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 14:11, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

:There is no right or wrong spelling for a surname. You can be Mr. Tailor or Mr.Taylor, or a hundred other versions. That's why I deliberately wrote that Randall ''chose'' that spelling, and I think it's obvious from the way I phrased it that it's not the normal spelling of the word. I don't think we should pass judgement about his decision, even though there's a very high chance he just made a typo. I also concur with the opinion of NiceGuy1, so I have changed it back to the way it was. Best, [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.214|141.101.98.214]] 16:27, 22 July 2018 (UTC)
::Given that the USA has a dominantly prescriptivist spelling culture for non-names (i.e. in academics and business correctness is defined by books before common usage, coompare to descriptivist which would be the other way around), the phrasing here misleads the leader into believing that both spellings are currently considered correct, as is actually true for other words. There are a lot of misleading statements in this wiki; maybe we should be up-front about that until somebody has the energy to work through everything and stay on top of it all. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.118|162.158.63.118]] 14:45, 25 July 2018 (UTC)
:::There I fixed it. [[User:Faultwire|I'm me(citation needed)]] ([[User talk:Faultwire|talk]]) 23:28, 25 July 2018 (UTC)

From the transcript: "[Cueball with a golf club] Gary Player" and "[Cueball with a basketball] Lonzo Ball". I'm not familiar with all the conventions around here, but would it be NOT Cueball when it is very definitely someone else? Sure, the made-up names later on could be Cueball standing in for them, but for those, wouldn't it actually be the real person, just looking Cueball-ish due to the art style? (And as an aside, a slight pity that there wasn't a pool player named something like Randall Cueball in the comic... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.130|162.158.75.130]] 03:31, 23 July 2018 (UTC)

== Podium/Lectern ==

When I first wrote this explanation, without thinking much, I said Jeb was standing at a {{w|podium}}. Someone corrected it to "lectern", which is absolutely correct of them - see that Wikipedia article. But the interesting thing is, there is an xkcd cartoon about this very subject!

[[1661: Podium]]

Should this somehow be mentioned in the explanation? I thought probably not, because Randall made no mention of it; it was purely my own error, and just an interesting connection to today's comic. Right? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.138|141.101.107.138]] 16:36, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

== Margaret Court ==
She wasn't the best choice. Recently in Australia someone let her near a microphone & it turns out she's quite homophobic.

== Jebediah's Sport ==

It appears that, based on the person's name, their sport could be debating, public speaking, or giving live postgame press conferences.

[[User:Milesman34|Milesman34]] ([[User talk:Milesman34|talk]]) 03:48, 23 July 2018 (UTC)milesman34

== Why Baseball is a Problem ==

Did you ever notice that players named "White" are almost always black, and players named "Black" are usually white? Why is that? The last White major leaguer who was actually white was Mike White, who played for Houston in the early sixties. Since then we've had Bill White, Roy White, Frank White, and Jerry White, all of whom were black; Mike White probably would have been black except that his father played in the majors in the thirties and they didn't allow you to be black back then. The Royals also had a Black on their roster, Bud, who of course is white; in fact, the Royals had to set some sort of record by having four colored people on their team, White, Black, Blue, and Brown. Scott Brown is not any browner than anyone else, Vida is definitely not blue, nor for that matter is Darryl Motley. I suppose that is the nature of names, as with Peacekeeping Missiles and Security Police, to disguise the truth more often than they reveal it. Horace Speed stole only four bases in his career. Vic Power was a singles hitter, Bill Goodenough was not good enough, and Joe Blong did not belong for long.

-- Bill James, 1983

Me, I'm disappointed that Jim Gentile wasn't Jewish. [[User:WHPratt|WHPratt]] ([[User talk:WHPratt|talk]]) 12:16, 24 July 2018 (UTC)

== Chosen spelling - Citation needed ==

Re. Randall has chosen to spell his name as "Disasterous", rather than the more conventional "Disastrous".

Putting <nowiki>{{citation needed}}</nowiki> on that is a bit silly. You can see he chose to spell it that way from the cartoon. It's self-evident. What's the issue, what needs a citation? As to why he decided to spell it that way, nobody but Randall knows, and we're unlikely to ever find out. It's probably a typo, but isn't that just an assumption? He chose to type the word that way - whether that's because he doesn't know how to spell it correctly, or because he likes it that way. Nobody but Randall knows.

A couple of people think it should say he misspelled it, but see the discussions; others agree with me that there is not correct spelling of surnames (e.g. Tailor/Taylor). It's a name, not the word.

IMHO, the cite-needed is just clutter and confusing. I think the wording was good, without a messy tag. It's not really something I want to argue pointlessly and endlessly about, so I won't remove it myself right now; I'll see what other people say. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.138|141.101.107.138]] 14:52, 26 July 2018 (UTC)

why am i the first one to see the kerbal space program reference? where are you my fellow kerbals?
:It's a bit of a tenuous link. I get it, Kerbal has disasters, and has a person named Jebediah, but it's a reasonably common name; there's nothing space-related in the cartoon to suggest a connection. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.104|162.158.155.104]] 04:21, 27 July 2018 (UTC)

Talk:2022: Sports Champions

2018-07-22T16:58:38Z

162.158.155.104: 141.101.107.138

2022: Sports Champions

2018-07-20T19:57:34Z

162.158.155.104: /* Explanation */ "decade" is incorrect; e.g. "1960s" is not a decade, it's a period in time. For now, I'm going with "years".

{{comic
| number = 2022
| date = July 20, 2018
| title = Sports Champions
| image = sports_champions.png
| titletext = For a long time, people thought maybe Usain Bolt was the one for running, until the 2090s and the incredible dominance of Derek Legs.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a HARRY "INCOMPLETE" EXPLANATION - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In an example of {{w|nominative determinism}}, the comic lists people whose surname relates to their participation in various sports. It is presented as though it was created in the far future, reflecting on champions over the decades through to the 2080s. The first three are real sportspeople, the remainder are imaginary players of the future.

The caricatures are participating in their sport, except for Jebediah who is standing at a {{w|lectern}}.

{| class="wikitable"
!style="width:20%"|Name
!style="width:10%"|Years
!style="width:15%"|Sport
!style="width:55%"|Explanation
|-
|Margaret Court
|1960s
|Tennis
|{{w|Margaret Court}} is a Australian tennis player, former world number 1, who won many competitions in the 1960s and 70s. A {{w|tennis court|tennis '''court'''}} is the playing arena used in that sport.
|-
|Gary Player
|1970s
|Golf
|{{w|Gary Player}} is a South African golfer who won nine major championships in the 1960s and 70s. Game competitors are often known as '''player'''s, for example, the golf tournament {{w|The Players Championship}}.
|-
|Lonzo Ball
|2020s
|Basketball
|{{w|Lonzo Ball}} is an American professional basketball player, currently with the Los Angeles Lakers. The 2020s decade listed is a projection of when he would likely become his most dominant in the sport, as he began playing professionally in 2017. Of course, basketball is a {{w|ball game|'''ball''' game}}.
|-
|Jake Halfpipe
|2030s
|Skateboarding
|A {{w|half-pipe|'''halfpipe'''}} is a structure used in extreme sports such as skateboarding and snowboarding.
|-
|Sarah Goggles
|2030s
|Swimming
|{{w|'''Goggles'''}} are protective eyewear used in many sports, such as swimming or skiing.
|-
|Kevin Slurve
|2050s
|Baseball
|A {{w|'''slurve'''}} is a baseball throwing technique, a portmanteau of '''sl'''ider and c'''urve'''.
|-
|Julia Chairlift
|2050s
|Skiing
|A {{w|'''chairlift'''}} is an aerial machine often used to transport winter sports participants up mountains.
|-
|Dwight Shuttlecock
|2060s
|Badminton
|A {{w|'''shuttlecock'''}} is a projectile used in the sport of badminton.
|-
|Brandon Sponsorship
|2060s
|Unclear
|Sporting professionals are often {{w|Sponsor (commercial)|sponsored}} by corporations. Brandon is holding a pair of shoes, which are probably a branded '''sponsorship''' item.
|-
|Kate Dopingscandal
|2070s
|Cycling
|There have been many {{w|Doping in sport|'''doping scandal'''}}s in the world of sport. Since Kate is standing next to a bicycle, {{w|Lance Armstrong}} is a great example here. Recently one of the larger scandal was that {{w|Doping in Russia|many Russian competitors}} did {{w|Russia_at_the_2014_Winter_Olympics#Doping_scandal_after_Olympics|use drugs}} during the {{w|2014 Winter Olympics|2014 Winter Olympics}} in {{w|Sochi}}, Russia.
|-
|Jebediah Disasterous Postgame-PressConference
|2080s
|Unspecified
|At the end of sporting events - ie post-game - there is often a {{w|News conference|press conference}} where the competitors discuss the result. Sometimes, these live interviews are a disaster. Randall has chosen to spell his name as "Disasterous", rather than the more conventional "Disastrous".
|-
|(in title text)
Usain Bolt and Derek Legs
|2090s
|Sprinting
|From the title text, {{w|Usain Bolt}} is the (now retired) world record holder for the 100 meter dash and 4×100 meter relay events in {{w|Track & Field}}. Thus Randall considers him a solid contender for this list since he can '''bolt''' down the track. However the fictional Derek '''Legs''' ends up replacing Bolt on the list, either because they are an even faster sprinter, or because “legs” more clearly and unambiguously relates to running than “bolt” does.
|}

==Transcript==
:[Two rows of people wielding sports equipment are shown, six in the upper row, five in the lower, only the last has no equipment but is standing behind a lectern with a microphone attached to it. Below each person, their name is given and the decade in which they were champions of their sport is given below their name, in brackets. Here is a list of the 11 people:]

:[Woman with dark hair holding a tennis racket]
:Margaret Court
:(1960s)

:[Cueball with a golf club]
:Gary Player
:(1970s)

:[Cueball with a basketball]
:Lonzo Ball
:(2020s)

:[Hairy on a skateboard]
:Jake Halfpipe
:(2030s)

:[Woman with dark hair wearing a swim cap and goggles]
:Sarah Goggles
:(2030s)

:[A man with a baseball cap throwing a baseball to the right]
:Kevin Slurve
:(2050s)

:[A woman with long black hair in a knit cap and wearing ski googles is standing on skis holding ski poles]
:Julia Chairlift
:(2050s)

:[Hairy holding a badminton racket bouncing a shuttlecock on it]
:Dwight Shuttlecock
:(2060s)

:[Hairy holding a pair of shoes in his hand]
:Brandon Sponsorship
:(2060s)

:[Hairbun standing next to a bicycle.]
:Kate Dopingscandal
:(2070s)

:[Hairy standing behind a lectern with a microphone on it.]
:Jebediah Disasterous Postgame PressConference
:(2080s)

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Fun fact: Every sport eventually produces a champion competitor named after a common element of the game.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Sport]]
[[Category:Baseball]]
[[Category:Basketball]]

1299: I Don't Own a TV

2018-07-03T15:33:38Z

162.158.155.104: /* Explanation */ Added link to negative second derivative of a sigmoin curve

{{comic
| number = 1299
| date = December 4, 2013
| title = I Don't Own a TV
| image = i_dont_own_a_tv.png
| titletext = Theory: Smugness is proportional to the negative second derivative of TV ownership rate with respect to time.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a [[:Category:Charts|yet another graph]], describing how people who don't own a television feel throughout several time periods. While televisions have existed since 1928, regular scheduled broadcasts of television programs did not begin until the late 1940s. So before the 1950s, it was common not to own a television and therefore most people's feelings about it would be fairly neutral. This changed as televisions became cheaper and more people started owning them, meaning that if someone didn't own a television, it was generally because they couldn't afford one. This might lead to someone feeling embarrassment when admitting they don't have a television.

Gradually, television ownership increased until eventually, nearly every household had at least one television, and those that did not were more and more likely to do so by choice rather than due to poverty. The graph therefore peaks at around the year 2000, when many people would be proud to say that they did not own a television. [[Randall]] suggests that these people would feel smug because they are resisting a popular trend (owning a television) which the rest of the public take part in. The graph tails downwards at the end, suggesting that Randall believes that people are becoming less smug. This could be because of the abundance of video content and other forms of entertainment on the internet and mobile devices. So, according to Randall, people are returning to not owning a television simply because it's not necessary and these people therefore feel neutral towards their lack of a television.

Another point of view is that, with the advent of the Internet for news and weather along with video-on-demand services such as Netflix, televisions have become obsolete for some households and thus not owning one can be seen as moving with the times, or those that don't own one see those that still have one as old-fashioned, hence the smug. However in recent times television has become imbued with new technologies such as Internet access (known as smart TVs) and thus owning a television is seen as trendy again, thus the level of smugness drops.

The initial upturn from embarrassment to smugness may also be a commentary on the quality of television programs over that period. In the 1950s and 1960s, television was a major source of news and information. Those without televisions might feel that they were missing out of the important stories of the day. Also, the limited number of stations and lack of recording devices meant that discussions of the previous night's television programming was far more inclusive, with more people watching the same programs at the same time. Until the advent of PVRs, the prior night's television programming was a popular "water cooler" topic (i.e. something discussed socially at the office the next day). This means that that those who had missed out on those programs might feel socially "out of the loop".

By contrast, since 2000, many programs were criticized as poor quality or "mindless", e.g. daytime talk shows and reality shows. So, someone might feel more smug for not watching so-called "mindless television". Similarly, as television viewership increased from the 1950s through the 2000s, it is possible that other activities such as reading has decreased; especially given that the younger generation today don't remember a time without television. So, someone who did not own a television set might feel more smug because they take part in more "beneficial" activities like reading, exercise, and studying.

The title text suggests that whether people feel embarrassed or smug doesn't depend directly on what percentage of the population owns TVs (TV ownership rate) or even on how quickly this percentage is growing (derivative of TV ownership rate with respect to time); instead it depends on how the change in this percentage is speeding up or slowing down (second derivative of TV ownership rate with respect to time). Specifically, as the rate at which people adopt TV ownership accelerates (positive second derivative of TV ownership rate with respect to time), people who don't own one feel embarrassed (negative smugness); and as the market is saturated and the rate at which people adopt TV ownership slows down (negative second derivative of TV ownership rate with respect to time), people who don't own one feel smug (positive smugness). If people feel twice as embarrassed/smug when this rate of acceleration/deceleration doubles, then we have Randall's formulation: "smugness is proportional to the negative second derivative of TV ownership rate with respect to time".

As evidence for this, the adoption of TV ownership should theoretically follow a {{w|Sigmoid function|sigmoid curve}}, which is the graph of something that starts small, grows in a spurt, and then approaches a maximum capacity (in this case 100%). [https://www.desmos.com/calculator/4j2ybqwfnc The negative second derivative of a sigmoid curve] looks very much like Randall's graph.

==Transcript==
:[A graph is shown with an x- and y-axis.]
:How people feel when they say
:"I don't own a TV"
:by year
:[The x-axis is labled: 1950, 2000, today.]
:[The y-axis is labled ''neutral'' at zero, ''smug'' at top, and ''embarrassed'' to the bottom.]
:[A plot, similar to a negative sine curve between approximately 1960 and 2000, is shown in red, starting at 1950, moving into negative values, reaching the zero level again at the beginning of the 1980s, reaching its maximum shortly after 2000, and decreasing again until today. An arrow shows the current direction.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Timelines]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Math]]

Talk:2005: Attention Span

2018-06-12T07:40:41Z

162.158.155.104:

Do you think the book being referenced is a Dragon Lance book?[[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.24|162.158.106.24]] 04:33, 11 June 2018 (UTC)
: I think with the "thicker than its wide" comment, it does sound like Dragonlance Chronicles. Also, it IS a classic [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.104|162.158.155.104]] 07:40, 12 June 2018 (UTC)
: Sounds like a Wheel of Time omnibus, if such a thing actually exists. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.148|108.162.216.148]] 16:29, 11 June 2018 (UTC)
Or it could be one of the alternate art covers of one of the Dark Sword books, or is that too deep a cut even for Randall? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.24|162.158.106.24]] 22:46, 11 June 2018 (UTC)

The comic contains a hyperlink to what appears to be exactly the kind of article Cueball apparently "''just'' finished reading", or at least my mobile reader is picking up a hyperlink. I've added a small note about this; I'm not linking the article directly for personal reasons. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.227|108.162.221.227]] 05:51, 11 June 2018 (UTC)
: I linked it. If it's linked in the original then it should be here, too. Maybe it belongs more to the trivia section, I don't know, but it definitely has to be shown here somewhere. On a side node: did Randall ever do something like that before? [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 06:53, 11 June 2018 (UTC)
:: Linking other content behind the image? Yes, I think he did it several times before. The only actual comic I remember, however, is [[351: Trolling]]. --[[User:YMS|YMS]] ([[User talk:YMS|talk]]) 09:17, 11 June 2018 (UTC)
:Considering that the link contains a link to this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jltKnDlH_OA I believe that omission is no an option [[Special:Contributions/162.158.234.58|162.158.234.58]] 09:51, 11 June 2018 (UTC)
:::[[1723: Meteorite Identification]], [[1506: xkcloud]], [[1572: xkcd Survey]]... just to name a few more. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 09:55, 11 June 2018 (UTC)
:::: Ah, very well :) The difference between those three and this one and 351 is that in the latter the link is "hidden". The others say "Click here" either directly or in alt-text. And in xkcloud it isn't an external link. Whatever. Maybe we should consider making a category of them? [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 11:04, 11 June 2018 (UTC)

I must admit to never having watch the seminal movie Surf ninjas but wikipedia tells me there is not only a novelisation, by A L Singer (Peter Lerangis) but also the screenplay. {{unsigned|Arachrah}}

I once advanced the theory that Sodor is the future of Mordor after the machines won and evolved into trains. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.51|162.158.62.51]] 12:46, 11 June 2018 (UTC) Jedman67
: Sounds like Mieville's Railsea. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.148|108.162.216.148]] 16:29, 11 June 2018 (UTC)

Dragonsbane isn't nearly long enough to meet the thickness requirement --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.196|162.158.75.196]] 17:17, 11 June 2018 (UTC)RyanR

Does anyone feel like the punchline is misplaced? Start with claim that he has no attn span any more, then she lists various overly long works he clearly does read while he protests and defends, then he concludes with punchline "no attn span for anything good." In fact, she should probably deliver the line, after discovering what he has on his bookshelf. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.122.42|162.158.122.42]] 20:25, 11 June 2018 (UTC)
:The key here was diminishing attention span with age, so he indicated "...for anything good ANYMORE." The joke is that this isn't something that changed. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.112|108.162.216.112]] 22:13, 11 June 2018 (UTC)

What bumps me about this comic is that the book Megan describes to make her point sounds like it would be an excellent well-structured book, very high quality reading, akin to Lord Of The Rings (Cueball even specifies it's a classic). REALLY doesn't fit with the theme of low quality crap reading this comic is going for. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:51, 12 June 2018 (UTC)

721: Flatland

2018-04-03T19:08:32Z

162.158.155.104: /* UniXKCD */ Add [sic] to misspelling quoted from source

{{comic
| number = 721
| date = March 31, 2010
| title = Flatland
| image = flatland.png
| titletext = Also, I apologize for the time I climbed down into your world and everyone freaked out about the lesbian orgy overseen by a priest.
}}

==Explanation==

This comic is a reference to the satirical novel {{w|Flatland|''Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions''}}, in which a society of flat shapes live in a {{w|Two-dimensional space|2D}} world. Half the book is a direct satire of {{w|Victorian era|Victorian}} society, and the other half explores the experience of discovering a new dimension, where a sphere introduces a square (named A. Square) to {{w|Three-dimensional space|3D}}. [[Cueball]] appears to have taken the place of this sphere, and the comic takes place after the square knows the third dimension exists.

Humans will never fully be able to grasp the concept of a four spatial dimensions (at least not in the foreseeable future), but there are ways of squashing or slicing four dimensions to create partial visualizations of 4D space. {{w|Miegakure}} is a 4D game that uses cross-sections of 4D space. Cueball attempted to play it, but after having his mind blown, he gained more sympathy for A. Square, who'd had similar trouble understanding 3D. A. Square accepts his apology.

The joke here is that Cueball was being silly and drew lines on A. Square to make him look like {{w|SpongeBob SquarePants (character)|SpongeBob}}, which did not make the square happy. Cueball apologizes again.

The title text is a third apology for when Cueball crawled down into the second dimension. Being a stick figure, he is comprised of a circle and straight lines. In Flatland, circles are priests (Flatland's highest social level), and all women are lines; thus, to a watcher in Flatland, Cueball would look very much like a priest above many connected women, which may look like a lesbian orgy.

==UniXKCD==
This comic was released on March 31, 2010 and was still up on April 1st, 2010. On {{w|April_Fools%27_Day|April Fools' Day}} [[Randall]] altered the website to mimic a {{w|Unix}} command line interface. This interface is still available on [https://uni.xkcd.com uni.xkcd.com] and the source code is available on [https://github.com/chromakode/xkcdfools GitHub].
The terminal lists a few available commands:
* <code>next</code> shows the next comic. Shows the error "Time travel mode not enabled" on the last comic (see <code>enable time travel</code>).
* <code>prev</code> shows the previous comic.
* <code>first</code> shows the first comic.
* <code>last</code> shows the last comic.
* <code>display [number]</code> shows the comic with the specified number.
* <code>random</code> shows a random comic.
* <code>ls</code> shows the content of the current directory.
* <code>cat [filename]</code> shows the content of the file.
* <code>cd [directory]</code> changes to the specified directory.
But there are several undocumented commands as well:
* <code>a/s/l</code> [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=a%2Fs%2Fl A/S/L] is not a unix command, but an acronym of Age/Sex/Location. The following replies are possible:
: <code>2/AMD64/Server Rack</code> answered as if the server replied.
: <code>328/M/Transylvania</code> answered by {{w|Dracula}}.
: <code>6/M/Battle School</code> answered by {{w|Ender Wiggin}} or another boy from battle school.
: <code>48/M/The White House</code> answered by {{w|Barack Obama}} or another male of the same age in the White House.
: <code>7/F/Rapture</code> answered by a {{w|Little_Sister_(BioShock)|Little Sister}} from {{w|BioShock}}.
: <code>Exactly your age/A gender you're attracted to/Far far away.</code> Requests for a/s/l are often not answered truthfully, but crafted to suit the one asking the question.
: <code>7,831/F/Lothlórien</code> answered by {{w|Galadriel}} or another elf.
: <code>42/M/FBI Field Office</code> answered by an FBI agent (referencing the old [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet trope] that all girls on the internet are FBI agents impersonating them).
* <code>apt-get</code> replies "This APT has Super Cow Powers.". The <code>apt-get</code> command is part of the Debian package manager {{w|Advanced_Packaging_Tool|APT}}. This reply is one of the build in Easter eggs.
* <code>asl</code> same as <code>a/s/l</code>.
* <code>bash</code> replies "You bash your head against the wall. It's not very effective.". {{w|Bash}} is a shell for POSIX-based systems.
* <code>buy stuff</code> same as <code>cd store</code>.
* <code>cat [number]/alt.txt</code> displays the alt-text of the specified comic.
* <code>cat</code> (without a filename) will show "You're a kitty!" referencing [[231: Cat Proximity]].
* <code>cheat</code> promotes the [https://store.xkcd.com/ xkcd store].
* <code>clear</code> clears the screen.
* <code>date</code> replies "March 32nd".
* <code>dir</code> same as <code>ls</code>.
* <code>echo</code> replies "Echo ... echo ... echo ...". The {{w|Echo_(command)|echo}} command is used to print text to the terminal.
* <code>ed</code> replies "You are not a diety ''[sic]''.". {{w|Ed_(text_editor)|ed}} is a very simple text editor. It is usually not considered very user friendly (see also <code>vi</code> and <code>emacs</code>).
* <code>emacs</code> replies "You should really use vim.". References [[378: Real Programmers]].
* <code>enable time travel</code> replies "TARDIS error: Time Lord missing.". A {{w|Doctor Who}} reference. See also the <code>next</code> command.
* <code>exit</code> will end the terminal session.
* <code>find kitten</code> showed the {{w|robotfindskitten}} game (the link to the Flash version no longer works, but an HTML version is available [http://robotfindskitten.org/play/robotfindskitten/ here]).
* <code>find</code> replies "What do you want to find? Kitten would be nice.".
* <code>finger</code> replies "Mmmmmm...".
* <code>fuck</code> replies "I have a headache.".
* <code>goto [any]</code> shows comic [[292: goto]] and asks if you meant <code>display</code> instead.
* <code>halp</code> same as <code>help</code>.
* <code>hello joshua</code> replies "How about a nice game of Global Thermonuclear War?". A reference to the {{w|WarGames}} movie.
* <code>hello</code> replies "Hello.". There is a second reply "Why hello there!" coded, but it is never used.
* <code>help</code> says "That would be cheating!".
* <code>hi</code> replies "Hi.".
* <code>hint</code> randomly replies "We offer some really nice polos.", "This terminal will remain available at xkcd.com/unixkcd/", "Use the source, Luke!" or "There are cheat codes.".
* <code>i read the source code</code> replies "<3".
* <code>irc [nick]</code> starts an {{w|IRC}} session on the xkcd channel on irc.foonetic.net.
* <code>kill</code> replies "Terminator deployed to 1984.". A reference to the {{w|The_Terminator|Terminator}} movie.
* <code>locate [filename]</code> is normally used to locate a file in a directory. It will give humorous results when searching for <code>ninja</code>, <code>keys</code>, <code>joke</code>, <code>problem</code> and <code>raptor</code>.
* <code>logout</code> same as <code>exit</code>.
* <code>lpr</code> replies "PC LOAD LETTER". {{w|Line_Printer_Daemon_protocol|lpr}} is a command to print documents. {{w|PC_LOAD_LETTER}} is a printer error.
* <code>make love</code> replies "I put on my robe and wizard hat.". A reference to this [http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/bloodninja roleplay chat transscript] (NSFW), also mentioned in [[442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel]]. <code>make love</code> is a standard unix joke, because the reply is "make: don't know how to make love.".
* <code>make me a sandwich</code> behaves like [[149: Sandwich]].
* <code>man [command]</code> show unhelpful information about the command (only <code>last</code>, <code>help</code>, <code>next</code>, <code>cat</code> or no command are support).
* <code>moo</code> replies "moo".
* <code>more</code> replies "Oh, yes! More! More!". The {{w|More_(command)|more}} command is used to paginate output.
* <code>nano</code> replies "Seriously? Why don't you just use Notepad.exe? Or MS Paint?". {{w|GNU_nano|Nano}} is another text editor for Unix systems (see <code>vi</code> and <code>emacs</code>).
* <code>ping</code> replies "There is another submarine three miles ahead, bearing 225, forty fathoms down.". The {{w|Ping_(networking_utility)|ping}} command used to measure round trip times to a destination. The name does indeed originate from {{w|sonar}} technology.
* <code>pwd</code> replies "You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike.". The {{w|pwd}} command prints the current working directory (see <code>look</code>).
* <code>quit</code> same as <code>exit</code>.
* <code>reddit [number]</code> shows the [https://www.reddit.com/ Reddit] voting bar for the specified comic (or xkcd when no number is specified).
* <code>rm [filename]</code> will make it seem like you deleted the file.
* <code>serenity</code> replies "You can't take the sky from me.". This is a line from the Balad of Serenity from the {{w|Firefly_(TV_series)|Firefly}} TV series.
* <code>ssh</code> replies "ssh, this is a library.". {{w|Secure_Shell|ssh}} is the command to start a secure shell, but it also resembles the "{{w|Shh}}" sound.
* <code>su</code> replies "God mode activated. Remember, with great power comes great ... aw, screw it, go have fun.". The {{w|Su_(Unix)|su}} command is used to log in as super user, which gives you full and potentionally dangerous access to the system.
* <code>sudo [command]</code> executes the command with {{w|Superuser|root}} privileges.
* <code>sudo apt-get dist-upgrade</code> Returns "You are already running [OS].".
* <code>sudo apt-get moo</code> replies "Have you mooed today?" (apt-get Easter egg).
* <code>sudo apt-get update</code> Refreshes the package list so the system knows which updates are available.
* <code>sudo apt-get upgrade</code> shows a link to [http://abetterbrowser.org/ A Better Browser] on Internet Explorer and Firefox (< v3). On all other browsers it doesn't complain.
* <code>sudo make me a sandwich</code> behave like [[149: Sandwich]].
* <code>sudo poweroff</code> will shutdown the system.
* <code>sudo reboot</code> will restart the system.
* <code>sudo restart</code> same as <code>sudo reboot</code>.
* <code>sudo shutdown</code> same as <code>sudo poweroff</code>.
* <code>time travel</code> displays [[630: Time Travel]].
* <code>top</code> replies "It's up there --^". The {{w|Top_(software)|top}} command shows a table of processes. Here it is taken literally.
* <code>uname</code> replies "Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator". The Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator is an explosive device created by Marvin the Martian in the {{w|Looney Tunes}} series.
* <code>unixkcd</code> opens a new terminal window.
* <code>use the force luke</code> replies "I believe you mean source.". A reference to the {{w|The_Force_(Star_Wars)|Force}} in the {{w|Star Wars}} franchise.
* <code>use the source luke</code> replies "I'm not luke, you're luke!". An old programmes joke.
* <code>vi</code> reply "You should really use emacs.". References [[378: Real Programmers]].
* <code>vim</code> same as <code>vi</code>.
* <code>wget [url]</code> shows the content of the specified url. The {{w|wget}} command on unix will download the content and not show it.
* <code>who</code> replies "Doctor Who?". Another {{w|Doctor Who}} reference.
* <code>whoami</code> replies "You are Richard Stallman.". The {{w|whoami}} command lists the name of the current user.
* <code>write [nick]</code> same as <code>irc</code>.
* <code>xkcd</code> replies "Yes?".
* <code>xyzzy</code> replies "Nothing happens.". {{w|Xyzzy_(computing)|xyzzy}} is a magic word, originally used in the {{w|Colossal Cave Adventure}}.
* <code>your gay</code> replies "Keep your hands off it!".
There are also some other commands borrowed from a {{w|Zork}} like {{w|Text-based_game|text based adventure game}}.
* <code>look</code> describes your current surroundings.
* <code>go [direction]</code> moves you in the specified direction (<code>down</code> is also supported; however, it replies a different message).
* <code>light lamp</code> lights your lamp.
* <code>sleep [seconds]</code> sleeps for the specified time. Without specifying, the nap is 5 seconds.
You will be killed by a {{w|Grue_(monster)|grue}} if you didn't light your lamp when going south.
Going west repeatedly will list the refrain from the song {{w|Go_West_(song)|Go west}}.

The terminal also responds to the {{w|Konami code}} Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A. Entering this code repeatedly will transform all characters to upper case, add a gray text shadow, add an orange text shadow, shake the screen and add a background image of Richard Stallman from [[345: 1337: Part 5]].

==Trivia==
There is actually a SpongeBob episode featuring a flat creature that resembles a crude drawing of SpongeBob.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball encounters a square on the ground.]
:Cueball: Hey, A. Square. How's Flatland?
:Square: Still flat. What's up?
:Cueball: I just spent an hour playing a demo of this 4D game called Miegakure.

:[A character in Miegakure jumps around the 4D landscape.]
:Trying to jump from block to block in four dimensions hurt my brain.

:Cueball: So I apologize for giving you a hard time when you were slow to understand 3D space. I sympathize now.
:Square: It's okay.

:Cueball: Also, I apologize for drawing arms, legs, and eyes on you to make you look like SpongeBob. That was out of line.
:Square: Yes, it was.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Homosexuality]]
[[Category:Sex]]
[[Category:April fools' comics]]