explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2315: Eventual Consistency

2020-06-04T18:05:39Z

162.158.158.179: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2315
| date = June 3, 2020
| title = Eventual Consistency
| image = eventual_consistency.png
| titletext = Later I'm going to get a head start on the heat bath.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an EVENTUALLY CONSISTENT BOT. First revision. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[Cueball]]'s employer wants him to continue his work, probably{{Citation needed}} as a home-based remote worker as encouraged by the common current advice during the {{w|2019–20 coronavirus outbreak|2020 COVID-19 pandemic}}. The stated task is to "test the database" and "guarantee eventual consistency". Trying to avoid work, Cueball points out that the {{w|second law of thermodynamics}} itself "guarantees eventual consistency", as the {{w|universe}} is ''guaranteed'' to ''eventually'' die a {{w|Heat death of the universe|heat death}}, at maximum {{w|entropy}} and perfect ''consistency''. His boss retorts that in a system that has reached maximum entropy, no work can be performed ; Cueball claims that he's simply getting a head start on this.

''Eventual consistency'' has a double meaning here. In computing, many systems are ''{{w|distributed computing|distributed}}'' (spread out) across multiple servers, sometimes in very different parts of the world. When data changes -- like the number of views on a video or the likes on a social media post -- updating it across ''every'' server can be a challenge, and it's often not practical to keep the data perfectly in synch everywhere. So the system will use {{w|eventual consistency}} instead. Each individual server will record changes, and after a certain amount of time or a certain amount of change, the results will be synced across the whole network. At any given moment, an individual server's data will be a little off -- but ''eventually'' everything will get recorded correctly.

The title text constitutes another play on the words "heat bath", which can refer to the thermally uniform state of the universe at heat death. However, in this context, we can assume Cueball instead plans to prepare a literal warm bath for his own relaxation and enjoyment after or during (or instead of) his work.

==Trivia==

* Randall has previously invoked the second law of thermodynamics (indirectly) to provide a "big picture" solution to the {{w|halting problem}} in [[1266: Halting Problem]], concluding that (in the real world, rather than the case of the ideal infinite {{w|Turing machine}}) all programs do halt...eventually.
* In [[2282: Coronavirus Worries]], Randall asserted that worrying about "whether you're getting enough work done" is common but not very healthy. Evidently Cueball has taken his advice to heart, but Cueball's boss has not.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball sits at a home desk.]
:Laptop: I know it's hard to focus right now, but we should try to finish testing the DB.
:Cueball: ''Ughhhh.''
:Cueball: Okay.

:Laptop: The system needs to guarantee eventual consistency.
:Cueball: I mean, it does.

:[Closeup of Cueball.]
:Cueball: Eventual consistency is guaranteed by the 2nd law of thermodynamics.
:Cueball: Sooner or later this will all be a uniform heat bath.
:Cueball: Maximum entropy.

:[Back to Cueball and desk. Cueball is leaning back in his chair.]
:Laptop: Maximum entropy means no useful work can be done!
:Cueball: I'm getting a head start by doing no useful work ''now''.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Physics]]

Talk:2314: Carcinization

2020-06-02T01:08:10Z

162.158.158.179:

Honestly, what is there to explain here? The only thing I can imagine in this explanation page is an explanation of why carcinization happens, which isn't explaining the comic. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.119|162.158.62.119]] 22:52, 1 June 2020 (UTC)
:We might need to look at the differences between various 'false crabs' and their relatives, to show that ''in the false crabs' lifestyle'', some crab-feature they have and their close cousins do not is a thing that the CCs would be unable to match if they lived in the FC-like style. This is probably the subject of a whole dissertation (if not several). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.80|141.101.107.80]] 00:22, 2 June 2020 (UTC)

Does this mean all programming languages evolve into Rust?[[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.87|172.69.68.87]] 23:08, 1 June 2020 (UTC)

Is it just a coincidence that today's Questionable Content also contained a reference to crabs? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.195|172.69.68.195]] 00:31, 2 June 2020 (UTC)

It may be of note that Qwantz (a comic previously parodied in [[145]]) did a [http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=3547 comic about carcinisation] earlier this year [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.179|162.158.158.179]] 01:08, 2 June 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2313: Wrong Times Table

2020-05-29T22:13:47Z

162.158.158.179:

Such an illogical table. Smaller numbers multiply to larger answers than larger numbers? Even numbers multiply to odd numbers?! How?!?! What sort of illiterate alien declared this to be the multiplication table?! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.101|108.162.221.101]] 20:54, 29 May 2020 (UTC)

This is easily one of the worst XKCD comics, period. Not funny, nor clever. Just seems like noise. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.183|172.69.68.183]] 20:57, 29 May 2020 (UTC)
:I suspect Randall may have just been feeling random, perhaps after several months of mostly Coronavirus-related comics. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:13, 29 May 2020 (UTC)
::That's fair, I'm being a bit harsh, but this just comes across as exceptionally meaningless and contrived, so much so that I felt the need to come here and comment immediately for the first time ever [[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.56|172.69.71.56]] 21:18, 29 May 2020 (UTC)
:I relate to certain mathematical facts not sounding right, like how 54 intuitively feels like it's divisible by 4. Nonsensical, but makes sense anyway. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.233|162.158.62.233]] 21:42, 29 May 2020 (UTC)

This seems like the multiplication equivalent of looking at a word and thinking it is spelled incorrectly. Sometimes I look at a simple word like "fish" and think: "That can't be right." Sometimes multiplication can feel that way, particularly 7's because those were tricky for some reason. The alt text confirms fishiness with 7's [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.173|108.162.246.173]] 21:09, 29 May 2020 (UTC)
:Is it weird that I ''don't'' get this? I have this sense of "that is obviously wrong" when it comes to multiplication of small numbers like these, even with sevens and eights. If I read that 7 * 8 = 54, my brain screams "NOOOOOOOOO IT IS 56 YOU IDIOT!". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.101|108.162.221.101]] 21:14, 29 May 2020 (UTC)

Well, 2,2 that's actually 2^3=8. 2,3 is addition instead of multiplication. 1,2 is division instead of multiplication. 1,1 is subtraction. 10,10 seems to be a visual gag, though most of the 10s row is either multiplication by 11 or 12... There's some logic to some of these, but it's different for each row, column, or cell. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.167|162.158.74.167]] 21:13, 29 May 2020 (UTC)
:Yeah, there is something going on. It looks like a lot of it is remembering the correct answer to a different problem. By my count 55 squares are the correct answer to a square next to it and 31 have a correct answer for somewhere else on the grid. Also, 2*2, 4*4 and 5*5 are double the correct answer.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.76|108.162.245.76]] 21:41, 29 May 2020 (UTC)

It's almost disappointing that he didn't hide one or two asymmetries in there just to throw us off! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.114|108.162.216.114]] 22:04, 29 May 2020 (UTC)

I get the idea that this is the sort of table you'd get if you tried to train an Adversarial AI from scratch to determine x*y purely by stocastic guessing and comparing to a co-evolving 'scorer' that also starts off naively but supports each answer according to the 'rightness' it thinks it has ''except'' for the real answer which is always hard-coded to be down-scored. (Also noting that DA reportedly came by his choice of 42 by asking people which numbers were 'funnier' than others, which can be said to be a similar kind of process but without the arrayed "original multiplication" element.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.179|162.158.158.179]] 22:13, 29 May 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2260: Reaction Maps

2020-01-28T08:58:46Z

162.158.158.179:

I can't find Jump, OH. [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 23:19, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

I can't find a town named "A" in Clay County WV. Is there supposed to be one? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.136|162.158.214.136]] 23:35, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

Wiki sez: "Clay is a town in and the county seat of Clay County, West Virginia, United States.[6] The population was 491 at the 2010 census. It is the only incorporated town in Clay County." [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.136|162.158.214.136]] 23:37, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

I looked for "A, Clay County, WV" and [https://goo.gl/maps/sUm6MtwEvpsBbfLX8 found this]. "B" and "C" also find places but "D" doesn't. It looks like Clay County is divided into A, B and C. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.53|141.101.99.53]] 08:11, 28 January 2020 (UTC)

I completely missed this one! In my defence, here in southern England ‘Tudor’ sounds much less like ‘two-door’, and ‘compact’ is much less commonly applied to cars... [[User:Gidds|Gidds]] ([[User talk:Gidds|talk]]) 23:44, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

Tip if you are doing a European version, and want to avoid F-Bombs: You can [https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Fucking,+%C3%96sterreich/Bad+Kissingen,+Deutschland/ replace "Fucking" by "bad Kissing"]. It is "only" a 430km reroute. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:47, 28 January 2020 (UTC)

Does that pun actually work in US English? In UK English, Tudor and two-door have totally different vowel sounds. The former is more "tew-der".

== H.ON.D.A. ==

This reminds of when I worked in a place with a very slow Internet connection, but I found one solution (sort of) which required about 40 minutes to get connected, but was very fast once I was connected. I called it Hurry-ON Driving Access (HONDA). The way it worked was that I got in my Honda Civic, and drove to a place with a better Internet connection...

[[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.20|172.69.34.20]] 03:14, 28 January 2020 (UTC)

2255: Tattoo Ideas

2020-01-15T16:26:50Z

162.158.158.179: /* Table of entries */

{{comic
| number = 2255
| date = January 15, 2020
| title = Tattoo Ideas
| image = tattoo_ideas.png
| titletext = The text ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US with a lengthy footnote explaining that I got this tattoo in 2020 and not, as you may assume, 2001, but offering no further clarification.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a TATTOO CONTAINING ALL TATTOOS THAT DO NOT CONTAIN THEMSELVES. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic is a list of potential tattoo ideas. Many of them play on the trope of regretting a tattoo by being tattoos of things that would not be useful outside of the immediate future, while others are simply ludicrous ideas with little functionality.

===Table of entries===
{|class="wikitable"
! Randall's text
! Explanation
|-
| Lorem Ipsum text
| {{w|Lorem ipsum}} is the beginning of and shorthand for a long section of shuffled-up Latin text. It is often used by both print and web designers as placeholder text until final content is available. Having a Lorem ipsum tattoo would possibly suggest that the tattoo's text is a placeholder for a "final" tattoo.
|-
| Email password
| Getting a tattoo of your password could compromise the security provided by your password. Additionally, it is recommended and, in some cases, required to update your password regularly; which would result in your tattoo either becoming out of date or updated (which is difficult)
|-
| Graph of the popularity of tattoos over time, with the date I got the tattoo marked (Update regularly)
| This would likely take the form of a {{w|run chart}}, showing the continual rise and fall of tattoo popularity over time. [[Randall]]'s love of charts and graphs is [[:Category:Charts|a regular theme]] in the strip. On the surface, getting a tattoo of a tattoo-themed chart would seem appealing. But a chart that tracks over time would become outdated within a few years, making it problematic for a (presumably permanent) tattoo. The solution to this appears to be a note to update the tattoo regularly, presumably as new data becomes available. This would require having the tattoo altered repeatedly, possibly every year; the artist would need to add on to the existing tattoo by extending the x-axis and the data. Depending on the scale of the x- and y- axes, as well as the position and orientation of the graph on Randall's body, this might actually be feasible for Randall's entire lifetime. However, it would involve additional pain, expense and time commitment. Maintaining this novelty tattoo for the rest of his life would seem excessive, but giving it up would once again mean he'd eventually be left with an outdated tattoo.
|-
| "CHANGEME"
| In programming, some text fields are initialized with "CHANGEME" to allow the programmer to get the program running for development purposes, while making it obvious that the actual text needs to be written and inserted. This would be a very difficult operation to perform with a tattoo.
|-
| Slide rule markings on forearms
| A {{w|slide rule}} is a set of logarithmic scales that are used to perform mathematical calculations. Having a set of slide rule markings on his forearms could be convenient, but if he grows, or gains or loses weight, the scales might become distorted.
|-
| EURion constellation, so no one can photocopy pictures of me
| The {{w|EURion constellation}} is a set of five circles in a roughly X-shaped pattern that is put onto lots of currencies. When this design is detected, many photocopiers will refuse to make a copy.
|-
| The sentence "It's what my tattoo says" written in another language
| Intended to provoke the question "What does your tattoo say?" from people not fluent in that language, thus resulting in an interesting / confused exchange.
|-
| Tissot's indicatrix
| {{w|Tissot's indicatrix}} is a matrix of circles placed on a map that change size and proportions (possibly turning into ellipses) based on map distortion. As a tattoo, that would be useful in tracking any distortion of the skin since you had the tattoo.
|-
| Summary of the [https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/suffer-to-be-beautiful Snopes page on the tattoo epidural thing] (Lower back)
| The "tattoo epidural thing" is a mostly debunked medical concern that anesthesiologists attending women in labor would refuse to administer spinal anesthetic by needle through skin with tattoo ink, out of fear of introducing the ink into the spinal column.
|-
| Pre-surgical checklist
| Might come in handy if/when going in for surgery.
|-
| Tattoo artist's Social Security number
| In the US, a {{w|Social Security number}} is a unique, nine-digit number assigned by the federal government to citizens and other legal residents. The original purpose of these numbers was to track Social Security accounts, for the payment of federal benefits. In practice, it is also widely used in other contexts in which an individual needs to be identified, including applications for loans, employment, and identity papers. As a result, learning someone's Social Security number is often a critical step in {{w|Identity Theft}}. People are often warned to safeguard their numbers and be very cautious about revealing them. Tattooing one's Social Security number on a customer would mean that both the customer and anyone who happened to see his tattoo in the future would have access to it. That would be a wildly reckless move which very few tattoo artists would be willing to make.
|-
| Boarding pass for an upcoming flight
| Useful only once, therefore not a normal design to have tattooed.
|-
| Recap of the plot of ''Memento''
| {{w|Memento (film)|Memento}} is a 2000 film in which the protagonist suffers from {{w|Anterograde amnesia|anterograde amnesia}}, a condition that prevents him from creating any new long-term memories. One of the tools he uses to mitigate the issue is tattooing important things on his body.
|-
| This list, in its entirety
| Instead of getting a tattoo of anything listed here, the actual list itself would be the tattoo.
|-
| The text ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US with a lengthy footnote explaining that I got this tattoo in 2020 and not, as you may assume, 2001, but offering no further clarification. (title text)
| {{w|All Your Base Are Belong to Us}} was a popular internet meme from the early 2000s based on a broken English phrase found in the opening cutscene of the 1992 Mega Drive/Genesis port of the 1989 arcade video game Zero Wing. The lengthy footnote denotes that the decision to get the tattoo was deliberate and not a spur-of-the-moment decision while the meme was popular.
The years 2001 and 2020 refer to date of release of popular real time strategy Warcraft 3 by Blizzard Entertainment. The original game was released in 2001 and remake Warcraft 3: Reforged is scheduled to be released on January 28th 2020. The phrase was used as a cheat code to win a level instantly.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:(In larger font and underlined, apparently the start of a list)
:Tattoo Ideas
:(A list, with all points but the last crossed out in red)
:Lorem Ipsum Text
:Email Password
:Graph of the popularity of tattoos over time, with the date I got the tattoo marked (update regularly)
:"Changeme"
:Slide Rule markings on forearms
:Eurion Constellation, so no one can photocopy pictures of me
:The sentence "it's what my tattoo says" written in another language
:Tissot's Indicatrix
:Summary of the Snopes page on the tattoo epidural thing (lower back)
:Pre-surgical checklist
:Tattoo Artist's Social Security Number
:Boarding pass for an upcoming flight
:Recap of the plot of ''Memento''
:(Last point in list, circled in red)
:This list, in its entirety
{{comic discussion}}

Talk:2249: I Love the 20s

2020-01-02T08:23:25Z

162.158.158.179: he (more likely Randall) is still wrong: what she means is that they aren't ''ordinally'' numbered, which is the reason the other guy is wrong.

in gif diehard is a Christmas movie. There is no right or wrong answer.
But is White Hat right or wrong? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.197|162.158.91.197]] 19:00, 1 January 2020 (UTC)
:Both. It's the only way to settle this. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.63|173.245.54.63]] 19:13, 1 January 2020 (UTC)
::I think that he is right, but it’s like asking if diehard is a Christmas movie. There is no right or wrong answer.
:::Indeed, famed D.J. and space journalist [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZVOSZqth70 Scott Manley says it's a new decade in C but not in FORTRAN]. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.189.241|172.68.189.241]] 19:37, 1 January 2020 (UTC)
::::You mean it's already 21th century for FORTRAN? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:33, 1 January 2020 (UTC)
::::But what decade is it in the {{w|Delisle scale}}? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.250|141.101.98.250]] 20:35, 1 January 2020 (UTC)
I'm fairly certain Ponytail contradicts herself in panel 5. Arguing that decades are not cardinally numbered is arguing that the decade starts in 2021 (ordinal numbering.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.34|162.158.126.34]] 21:20, 1 January 2020 (UTC)
:She doesn't: you're assuming there are only two options, but that's not the case. Decades (in the common "20s, 30s, 40s" form) are not technically numbered at all: they're named, it's just that those names are based on numbers.
:It's still a sequence, like names or dictionary entries being grouped into "As, Bs, Cs" and so on, though. (Is there a specific name for this type of sequence? If so, I don't know it.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.144|141.101.107.144]] 23:03, 1 January 2020 (UTC)
::She (more likely Randall's slip of the pen) is still wrong: what she means is that they aren't ''ordinally'' numbered, which is the reason the other guy is wrong. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.179|162.158.158.179]] 08:23, 2 January 2020 (UTC)
Having had this conversation on WhatsApp, I have settled on an ingenious solution that works for me (on being told that "0" had not been invented in the year between -1 and +1") and explains why decades start with "10, 20...": As usually nowadays, the first decade was the Betaversion and so only ran from 1-9...

2248: New Year's Eve

2020-01-01T01:37:36Z

162.158.158.179: /* Explanation */ Tyop

{{comic
| number = 2248
| date = December 30, 2019
| title = New Year's Eve
| image = new_years_eve.png
| titletext = "Off-by-one errors" isn't the easiest theme to build a party around, but I've seen worse.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an OFF-BY-ONE ERROR - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This is the first [[:Category:New Year|New Year comic]] around the 2019-2020 New Year.

An easy way to determine someone's age is to subtract their birth year from the current year. However, if their birthday has not happened yet that year, this calculation will predict them to be a year older than they actually are. By {{w|New Year's Eve}}, everybody's birthday has happened that year (or ''is'' happening, but legitimately tallied up), so this error will not occur. [[Cueball]] is excited by this, whereas most people would be more excited by the parties that typically occur around New Year's.

In the title text, Cueball suggests a New Year's Eve party with the theme of "off-by-one errors", saying it's challenging but that he's heard of worse themes. No information is given as to what such a party theme would entail, nor what could possibly be a worse party theme. (On the other hand, the parties depicted in [[51: Malaria]] and [[829: Arsenic-Based Life]], based on themes of disease and poison, respectively, look much worse than an "off-by-one errors" party would likely be.)

==Transcript==

:[Cueball, with his hands raised, is talking to Megan and White Hat.]
:Cueball: Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, and you know what that means:
:Cueball: It's the one day of the year when you can convert between ages and birth years by subtraction without worrying about off-by-one errors!
:Cueball: Also there are probably parties.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:New Year]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]

2248: New Year's Eve

2019-12-31T22:51:56Z

162.158.158.179: /* Explanation */ Happy Birthday to anyone this affects (who isn't at more than GMT+1, 'cos I missed all you who are)

{{comic
| number = 2248
| date = December 30, 2019
| title = New Year's Eve
| image = new_years_eve.png
| titletext = "Off-by-one errors" isn't the easiest theme to build a party around, but I've seen worse.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an OFF-BY-ONE ERROR - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This is the first [[:Category:New Year|New Year comic]] around the 2019-2020 New Year.

An easy way to determine someone's age is to subtract their birth year from the current year. However, if their birthday has not happened yet that year, this calculation will predict them to be a year older than they actually are. By {{w|New Year's Eve}}, everybody's birthday has happened that year (or ''is'' happening, but legtimately tallied up), so this error will not occur. [[Cueball]] is excited by this, whereas most people would be more excited by the parties that typically occur around New Year's.

In the title text, Cueball suggests a New Year's Eve party with the theme of "off-by-one errors", saying it's challenging but that he's heard of worse themes. No information is given as to what such a party theme would entail, nor what could possibly be a worse party theme. (On the other hand, the parties depicted in [[51: Malaria]] and [[829: Arsenic-Based Life]], based on themes of disease and poison, respectively, look much worse than an "off-by-one errors" party would likely be.)

==Transcript==

:[Cueball, with his hands raised, is talking to Megan and White Hat.]
:Cueball: Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, and you know what that means:
:Cueball: It's the one day of the year when you can convert between ages and birth years by subtraction without worrying about off-by-one errors!
:Cueball: Also there are probably parties.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:New Year]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]

Talk:2246: Christmas Presents

2019-12-26T23:09:12Z

162.158.158.179:

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)

Talk:2243: Star Wars Spoiler Generator

2019-12-22T13:07:36Z

162.158.158.179:

I made this JavaScript implementation of the generator: https://codepen.io/qgustavor/full/gObgBxo [[Special:Contributions/172.68.24.70|172.68.24.70]] 22:33, 18 December 2019 (UTC)
:there are some words that should be capitalized: First Order, Sith, Force, Jawa... Also ochre is misspelt and colors should NOT be capitalized. Thanks![[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.196|141.101.98.196]] 10:21, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

who said that the rise of skywalker would be released two days before the publishing date after stating that it's going to be released on the twentieth?

Re: Malloc, there was also a Darth Malak, the antagonist of Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic and a recurring character in the Old Republic comics [[Special:Contributions/172.69.69.244|172.69.69.244]] 02:08, 19 December 2019 (UTC)47.221.57.204

Should something be linked to about diectric breakdown, or is that considered obvious in the context of, er, Force lightning? Also, am I remembering right that Dark Helmet, in Spaceballs, wears a smaller helmet with a really big helmet over it? Maybe not! Robert Carnegie rja.carnegie@gmail.com [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.250|141.101.98.250]] 02:48, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

There are a couple of posts to be found online that refer to "Darth Sebelius" in the context of Obamacare, but they're all on pretty niche forums. --[[User:NotaBene|NotaBene]] ([[User talk:NotaBene|talk]]) 03:07, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

Perchance generator: https://perchance.org/q3wi2jqf0j [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.59|173.245.54.59]] 03:16, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

For a less US-centric view, the movie was released officially in France and Norway (and probably also other countries) already on the 18.12. (that is December 18). So "On December 20, 2019 [...], the final movie [...] will be released." should say "[...] will be released in the US."[[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.220|162.158.134.220]] 12:01, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

Another generator: http://xkcd-2243.surge.sh/

I don't know enough to add to the actual page, but the Sith car wash reminded me of this. Perhaps it was also part of the inspiration for it? https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/tesla-laser-windshield-wiper-patent/ [[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.35|141.101.69.35]] 15:28, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

"A New Hope" should just be called "Star Wars". [[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.16|141.101.76.16]] 18:58, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

C#/LINQ: https://dotnetfiddle.net/r0JMJz

The title text just means that there are more lightsaber brushes to hurt the heroes, right? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.78|162.158.106.78]] 22:32, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

Is the Kyle Ren option a reference to being "A Kyle" (as defined at Urban Dictionary as "A Kyle is a young white man of low socio economic standing with a propensity to drink large quantities of Monster energy drink and do dumb stuff like punch holes in walls.") After all, Kylo Ren did tend to get angry and break stuff? [[User:Mneimeyer|Mneimeyer]] ([[User talk:Mneimeyer|talk]]) 23:01, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

Is darth sebelius a reference to the sibelius composing software?
:I would think the Sibelous software (1993-present) would instead be a definite reference to the Finnish composer (1865-1957) already part-posited as a possible influence for the Darth. Although I'd probably defer that suggestion in favour of the politician (1948-present, in direct politics until 2014?) even if I'd actually never heard of them from this side of The Pond. Still, there are weirder connections, so who knows? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.93|162.158.158.93]] 20:18, 21 December 2019 (UTC)

Please clarify the reference to Rey as a "Mary Sue." The linked article says that the only agreed on meaning for the term is that it is derogatory. Other than that, it appears to mean different things to different people. So it's inclusion here does not help explain the comic. What is it about Rey that gave her that label. Is it that she is not canon? Is it that she is overpowered? Probably better to just remove the Mary Sue jargon, and say whatever it is they say about those with other colored light sabers directly. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.77|108.162.246.77]] 01:45, 22 December 2019 (UTC)
: While I'm not sure about Rey being entirely a Mary-Sue (in my mind an 'author avatar' character - whether or not a prime protagonist or ascending sidekick, they're just too competent for the role and often a Mcguffin baker), she definitely has more than a little plot-armour (and plot-weapon-skill) that I ''hope'', when I see the filmm (within a week, by current plans), bodes for something other than 2xrnd(trader(junk)) as patentage. Or something else that's actually awesome to get round that without being ''deus ex''. But by dint of Windu's ''actor'' having been asked what colour of weapon he wanted (then him having requested what he did and then being granted it, - which might not have gone that far with less imaginative or influential actors) I'd count that as a very Mary-Sue-like thing, even if the rest of the badassness of that particular Jedi (the tone written prior to the resulting casting of the badass actor to fit) was just standard Major Supporting Character/Lancer fare. But just my musings, nothing official... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.179|162.158.158.179]] 13:07, 22 December 2019 (UTC)

I'm considering going through the table and adding a note for whether each thing is actually in Star Wars. would that be a good idea? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.136|172.68.141.136]] 06:48, 22 December 2019 (UTC)

2241: Brussels Sprouts Mandela Effect

2019-12-16T15:39:45Z

162.158.158.179: Spelling mistake

{{comic
| number = 2241
| date = December 13, 2019
| title = Brussels Sprouts Mandela Effect
| image = brussels_sprouts_mandela_effect.png
| titletext = I love Brussels Sprouts Mandela Effect; I saw them open for Correct Horse Battery Staple.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a TASTY BRUSSELS SPROUT. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{w|Brussels sprouts}} are a leafy vegetable from the cabbage family which were cultivated in Brussels, Belgium in the 13th century, giving them their name. Many adults and children [https://www.camdenliving.com/blog/why-do-we-hate-brussel-sprout dislike Brussels sprouts], perhaps because of their bitterness.

[[Cueball]] was one of these people who, thought, he had a dislike for Brussels sprouts, but after trying them recently he had a change of heart and likes them now. He feels "misled" by the public dislike for Brussels sprouts. [[Megan]] chimes in and notes that it is not just him. Farmers have developed a newer {{w|cultivar}} of Brussels sprouts around 2004, 15 years before this comic was released, which taste less bitter than the "original" cultivar of Brussels sprouts that Cueball grew up eating (a [https://npr.org/773457637 source] is provided in the comic as a foot note to Megan's statement).

It seems that others have also started to like Brussels sprouts, which Megan calls a real {{w|False_memory#Mandela_Effect|Mandela Effect}}, hence the title ''Brussels Sprouts Mandela Effect''. Megan explains that now the whole world have a "false" shared memory of Brussels sprouts tasting bad, and it is like we have all switched to the parallel universe where they taste good. This idea was earlier used in [[1268: Alternate Universe]] regarding the weird idea of eating lobsters.

{{w|false memory|False memories}} may arise via suggestibility, activation of associated information, the incorporation of misinformation, and source misattribution, and {{w|False_memory#Commonly_held_false_memories|they can be shared}}, sometimes widely, when one of these triggers happens to many people in a population.

The Mandela Effect, however, is a pseudoscience explanation for a false memory shared by multiple people. It states that the false memory is actually a real memory of people who had lived in a parallel world where the memory was true. This is why Megan calls this a real Mandela effect, because in this situation it is the world we live in that has actually changed, not our memories that are wrong. Now the Brussels sprouts taste different than we remembered, it is not our memories that are wrong.

In the last panel, [[Ponytail]] then tricks Cueball into thinking that {{w|licorice}}, [https://www.nbcnews.com/healthmain/why-do-so-many-us-hate-black-licorice-few-theories-963738 another widely disliked food], is good tasting. At this point Megan realizes that this must be a trap. (Also note that in many countries, for instance many in Europe, many people love licorice, so contrary to Brussels sprouts it is not so commonplace for people to hate licorice!)

That Ponytail is up to no good is shown to be true when she additionally claims that {{w|Silica_gel|silica gel}} packets are actually edible and taste delicious. This is very false! {{w|Silica_gel#Desiccant|Silica gel packets}} are typically used as a desiccant, to keep electronics and other moisture sensitive items dry. They are typically marked "[https://www.123rf.com/photo_72752039_single-silica-gel-packet-isolated-on-white-background-.html Do Not Eat]" to warn people that they are not edible. Although not toxic, and even {{w|Silica_gel#Food_additive|allowed in some form in food}}, silica gel has a sand-like texture and no flavor or nutritional value and can {{w|Silica_gel#Hazards|cause irritation}} if digested in the raw form.

Cueball, having been prepped by both his own experience and Megan's facts are totally ready to believe Ponytail, even to the extend that he seems to feel cheated by the makers of silica gel packets, who he must now think has written ''Do Not Eat'' just to keep that delicious gel for them selves. Hopefully Megan can convince him not to find and eat them. Ponytail is often not nice to Cueball, although in other comics it is more like she talks him down, see [[:Category:Code Quality|Code Quality]], not directly trying to harm him.

The title text suggests that "Brussels Sprouts Mandela Effect" is a music band, who once were the {{w|opening act}} for the presumably better known band "Correct Horse Battery Staple". This latter group is a reference to [[936: Password Strength]]. It hints at the "{{tvtropes|AGoodNameForARockBand|good name for a musical band}}" trope, which Randall before tried to replace by a dot tumblr dot com trope in [[1025: Tumblr]]. Indirectly he also suggest that ''Brussels Sprouts Mandela Effect'' would be a great long password that is now easy to remember (as long as you remember [https://www.reddit.com/r/MandelaEffect/comments/6meq1a/brussel_sprouts_right/ there is S] at the end of {{w|Brussels}}).

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing between Ponytail and Megan talking to them.]
:Cueball: I always thought of Brussels sprouts as terrible, but they're actually really good! I can't believe I let everyone mislead me!

:[In a frame-less panel Megan replies. Below her is a footnote with a citation to back up her statement.]
:Megan: It's not just you! Farmers developed a less-bitter cultivar like 15 years ago.*
:<nowiki>*</nowiki>npr.org/773457633

:[Back to all three as Megan continues to explain while holding her arms away from her.]
:Megan: Now the whole world is having this revelation, one person at a time. It's like a real Mandela effect. We secretly switched to the parallel universe where Brussels sprouts taste good.
:Cueball: '''''Cool.'''''

:[Ponytail lifts a finger as Cueball and Megan turns to look at her.]
:Ponytail: Also, licorice is good now.
:Cueball: Whoa, really?
:Megan: This is a trap.
:Ponytail: And those silica gel packets that say "Do not eat"? '''''Delicious.'''''
:Cueball: ''I knew it.''

==Trivia==
* The URL given was [https://npr.org/773457633 npr.org/773457633] but this was an error; the actual URL is number 77345763'''7''' ([https://text.npr.org/s.php?sId=773457637 plain HTML version] or [https://npr.org/773457637 full site]). This was later corrected by an updated comic.

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

Talk:2230: Versus Bracket

2019-11-19T16:46:10Z

162.158.158.179:

Because I didn't know: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballistic:_Ecks_vs._Sever - "Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever is a 2002 action thriller film directed by Wych Kaosayananda (under the pseudonym of "Kaos"). The film stars Antonio Banderas and Lucy Liu as opposing secret agents who team up to fight a common enemy. It is an international co-production between Canada, Germany and the United States.
The film has been called one of the worst ever made. At the box office, it made $19.9 million on a $70 million budget. With a total of 117 reviews, the highest for a film with a 0% score, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever is the worst reviewed film in the history of Rotten Tomatoes." [[User:Afbach|Afbach]] ([[User talk:Afbach|talk]])

Re: King Kong vs Godzilla - the winner? WikiP notes: "After an underwater battle (off-screen) only Kong resurfaces from the water, and he begins to swim back towards his island home. There is no sign of Godzilla, but the JSDF speculates that it is possible that it survived." We never see another K.K. movie (from Japan, anyway) and plenty more Godzilla so maybe K.K. is just swimming home with his tail between his legs ... er, metaphorically speaking. Godzilla could just be taking a well deserved post-fight nap! Long live Godzilla!! [[User:Afbach|Afbach]] ([[User talk:Afbach|talk]])

Some of these matchups have relatively clear outcomes, e.g. Ford beat Ferrari (at least in the movie), and presumably we can say Kramer won Kramer v. Kramer (well, everybody lost, but...). That in mind, if we fill out the bracket with such nominal wins that lead to matchups, (Kramer v. Ford), do we learn anything interesting? And what does the resulting bracket look like? [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 18:44, 18 November 2019 (UTC)
* Kramer vs. Ford
* Larry Flynt vs. Joe
* King Kong vs. Jason
* ? vs. Predator
* ? vs. Marge
* ? vs. Asterix
* Batman vs. Scott Pilgrim
* ? vs. Plants
(Also, the [https://twitter.com/xkcdbracket @xkcdbracket] twitter account is running a version of the tournament starting 2019-11-19.) [[User:Yomikoma|Yomikoma]] ([[User talk:Yomikoma|talk]]) 22:03, 18 November 2019 (UTC) edited twitter handle/link [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 02:56, 19 November 2019 (UTC)

:I was hoping for a visual presentation of what we know, something like this:
[[File:versus bracket 2x known.png|600px]]
 
[[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 09:17, 19 November 2019 (UTC)
::Thats a good idea. However an image like that is not as easily editable as the wiki itself. Therfore we should first discuss all the winners. As mentioned in this discussion page, all Joe vs volcano, Freddy vs Jason and King Kong vs. Godzilla are debatable in their outcome. (I myself have no strong feelings on either, since I didn't follow any of the 3 franchises. In fact I am only sure about Asterix, Marge and the plants. For all other setups I rely on this wiki. Nevertheless they should be discussed before something static as an image is added.) --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 10:02, 19 November 2019 (UTC)

Should a table of all the match-ups and their sources be made? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.246.28|162.158.246.28]] 19:16, 18 November 2019 (UTC)

Should this be referencing the other time (or times?) Randall made a silly brackets where all first-round matchups are based on actual oppositions in a particular theme? I'm thinking of [https://xkcd.com/2037/|2037: Supreme Court Bracket]. Also I kinda wonder what happens when the winners of these two brackets clash. [[Special:Contributions/91.164.113.87|91.164.113.87]] 19:22, 18 November 2019 (UTC)

Added this to the Tournament Bracket category for just that reason. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.63.145|172.69.63.145]]

I stole the description directly from [[2037|Supreme Court Bracket]], is that okay? [[User:Duraludon|Duraludon]] ([[User talk:Duraludon|talk]]) 20:22, 18 November 2019 (UTC)

The winner of Freddy vs. Jason is unclear. Freddy's head is severed but he then winks and you hear his laughter implying it is another trick. That is a reoccurring thing with Freddy.

I was excited to see the winner of the bracket. Scott Pilgrim vs Kramer? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.28|172.68.34.28]] 21:09, 18 November 2019 (UTC)

Joe does not defeat the volcano. Joe is supposed to throw himself into the volcano as a sacrifice, thus stopping the volcano from accomplishing it's presumed goal of destroying the island. But Joe is blown out of the volcano (and out of any applicable laws of physics) and the volcano does destroy the island. So, clearly, the volcano was victorious. Joe survived the encounter, but did not accomplish the stated goal of the match-up. Give the bracket to the volcano. --[[User:Suttkus|Suttkus]] ([[User talk:Suttkus|talk]]) 02:46, 19 November 2019 (UTC)

They have a fight, Triangle wins. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.55.22|172.69.55.22]] 09:57, 19 November 2019 (UTC)
YAAY TMBG!

What about Kirk vs Picard?? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.82|162.158.214.82]] 12:08, 19 November 2019 (UTC)
:These are all specifically matchups that are titles of movies or TV episodes. (But Picard, obviously.) [[User:Yomikoma|Yomikoma]] ([[User talk:Yomikoma|talk]]) 16:28, 19 November 2019 (UTC)
:: (( Post-Locutus Picard > Kirk > Pre-Locutus Picard <~> Post-Nexus Kirk ... just sayin' )) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.179|162.158.158.179]] 16:46, 19 November 2019 (UTC)

Does this explanation set a record for most spoilers on an explainxkcd page? ... and should we add a spoiler alert?[[User:Boatster|Boatster]] ([[User talk:Boatster|talk]]) 13:04, 19 November 2019 (UTC)
:Apart from Ford vs Ferrari, all content is at least 3 years old. Ford vs Ferraris is set upon historical events, so a spoiler allert shouldn't be needed. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 13:14, 19 November 2019 (UTC)

SCOTT PILGRIM, ZA WARUDO! {{unsigned ip|162.158.158.115}}