explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1021: Business Plan

2019-06-11T18:25:34Z

162.158.255.88: Added a period at the end of a sentence

{{comic
| number = 1021
| date = February 24, 2012
| title = Business Plan
| image = business_plan.png
| titletext = The investor elevator pitch is "Wheeeeeeee! Elevators are fun!"
}}

==Explanation==

This one has the art and feel of very early xkcd comics, even when those stick figures did not appear by that time.

[[Beret Guy]] has developed (or spontaneously implemented) a "business plan" whereby he lures seagulls to an area of a beach utilizing breadcrumbs. Once the gulls converge on the area, he sets up a sign reading "GULLS FOR SALE" with a jar for money. Though Beret Guy probably expects to profit, the confused reactions of other people in the last panel indicate nobody is buying, and the limited number of gulls, four, is low enough that their sale might not even finance the breadcrumbs. In real life, there is no market for seagulls, nor will there ever be in the foreseeable future. {{Citation needed}}

The title text is a reference to the phrase "{{w|Elevator pitch}}", which is also similar to "investor pitch". The point of an elevator pitch is to have a synopsis of your idea that you are capable of delivering on a moment's notice in the time it takes to ride the elevator, about 30 seconds. This way, when you get that once-in-a-career opportunity to pitch your plan to the one person who can make it happen because you just happened to catch the same elevator, you are ready. The reason the elevator pitch is so simplistic is because the same sort of person that would think selling seagulls is a viable business model is likely the same sort of person to make a childish elevator pitch. This also pokes fun at the idea of people sweating over their pitch with such seriousness, when Beret Guy's pitch is literally a childish exclamation. Wheeee!

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy stands on a shoreline and takes the environment in in silent contemplation.]

:[Beret Guy heads off with an idea fresh in his head.]

:[Beret Guy saunters back with a jar, some bread, and a signboard.]

:[Beret Guy tears the bread off into pieces.]

:[Beret Guy sets up the signboard, with its contents yet to be revealed.]

:[Beret Guy heads off and waits for the plan to unfold.]

:[The same beach, this time with Megan and Cueball standing in front of and reading the sign. Cueball scratches his head. The bread has attracted quite a few gulls. There is a label on the jar.]
:Jar label: $
:Sign: Gulls for sale

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Beret Guy's Business]]

2144: Adjusting a Chair

2019-05-01T18:20:12Z

162.158.255.88: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2144
| date = May 1, 2019
| title = Adjusting a Chair
| image = adjusting_a_chair.png
| titletext = When I was looking at the box, I should have thought more about what "360 degrees of freedom" meant.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a HUMAN WHO HAS DIFFICULTY ADJUSTING CHAIRS. First edit. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic shows [[Cueball]]'s attempts to adjust a swivelling chair. As many people have experienced, these chairs can be quite difficult to raise, lower, or manoeuvre if one does not know how. This comically culminates in a massive chair with a big central seat and several other chairs branching off of it as Cueball continues trying to adjust it.

Each step gets farther away from what real-life office chairs could do. In sequence, Cueball finds his chair:

1. Being able to recline the seat back. Most chairs do have this ability, which one can use for sitting comfort or perhaps to take a nap.

2. Being able to raise or lower the seat. Most chairs have this ability, but the comic departs from real chairs in two ways. First, it's much higher than any real chair. Second, he can raise the height while sitting on it; under normal design, pressing the raise/lower lever while sitting on the chair is how one ''lowers'' the seat, using one's own weight to depress the spring or hydraulic piston.

3. Being able to have the seat inflate. Although this could be useful (e.g. to help people who need to use extra seat cushions because of hemorrhoids or coccyx injury), it is not a typical office chair capability. However, in addition to simply inflating, Cueball's chair appears to actually make the seat longer and wider. This doesn't seem to have a lot of useful application in office chairs.

4. Putting out branches and growing extra seats and backs. Chairs definitely cannot do this in real life {{Citation needed}} and use cases are doubtful.

The title text makes a joke on a common claim on such chairs, that the chair offers 360 degrees of freedom. This is a double entendre depending on if "360 degrees" or "360" is interpreted as an object. Although this normally refers to the chair's ability to rotate 360 degrees around the swivel, the chair in the comic has, literally, 360 different {{w|Degrees of freedom (mechanics)|degrees of freedom}}, i.e. axes on which to rotate or extend the chair.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball is shown adjusting a chair.]
:Caption: Adjusting a chair:
:[Cueball presses a button on the bottom of his chair.]
:Chair: CLUNK
:[The seat back of the chair swings backward.]
:[Cueball presses another button.]
:Chair: HISS
:[The chair extends to several times its previous height.]
:[Another button]
:Chair: POOF
:[The seat has expanded greatly.]
:Caption: Two hours later:
:[Cueball attempts to press yet another button on his now-massive chair. It now has 5 bases, two full chairs branching from underneath the seat, two poles coming up from the seat, each with a new seat and two back-to-back seat backs. Yet another seat is supported by a thin rod connecting the two top seats.]
{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

2144: Adjusting a Chair

2019-05-01T17:49:27Z

162.158.255.88: /* Explanation */ branches

{{comic
| number = 2144
| date = May 1, 2019
| title = Adjusting a Chair
| image = adjusting_a_chair.png
| titletext = When I was looking at the box, I should have thought more about what "360 degrees of freedom" meant.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a HUMAN WHO HAS DIFFICULTY ADJUSTING CHAIRS. First edit. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic shows [[Cueball]]'s attempts to adjust a swivelling chair. As many people have experienced, these chairs can be quite difficult to raise, lower, or manoeuvre if one does not know how. This comically culminates in a massive chair with a big central seat and several other chairs branching off of it as Cueball continues trying to adjust it.

Each step gets farther away from what real-life office chairs could do. In sequence, Cueball finds his chair:

1. Being able to recline the seat back. Most chairs do have this ability, which one can use for sitting comfort or perhaps to take a nap.

2. Being able to raise or lower the seat. Most chairs have this ability, but the comic departs from real chairs in two ways. First, it's much higher than any real chair. Second, the spring would not be strong enough to raise a person; otherwise, he'd never be able to get the seat back down again.

3. Being able to have the seat inflate. Although this could be useful (e.g. to help people who need to use extra seat cushions because of hemorrhoids or coccyx injury), it is not a typical office chair capability. However, in addition to simply inflating, Cueball's chair appears to actually make the seat longer and wider. This doesn't seem to have a lot of useful application in office chairs.

4. Putting out branches and growing extra seats and backs. Chairs definitely cannot do this in real life {{Citation needed}} and use cases are doubtful.

The title text makes a joke on a common claim on such chairs, that the chair offers 360 degrees of freedom. This is a double entendre depending on if "360 degrees" or "360" is interpreted as an object. Although this normally refers to the chair's ability to rotate 360 degrees around the swivel, the chair in the comic has, literally, 360 different {{w|Degrees of freedom (mechanics)|degrees of freedom}}, i.e. axes on which to rotate or extend the chair.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball is shown adjusting a chair.]
:Caption: Adjusting a chair:
:[Cueball presses a button on the bottom of his chair.]
:Chair: CLUNK
:[The seat back of the chair swings backward.]
:[Cueball presses another button.]
:Chair: HISS
:[The chair extends to several times its previous height.]
:[Another button]
:Chair: POOF
:[The seat has expanded greatly.]
:Caption: Two hours later:
:[Cueball attempts to press yet another button on his now-massive chair. It now has 5 bases, two full chairs branching from underneath the seat, two poles coming up from the seat, each with a new seat and two back-to-back seat backs. Yet another seat is supported by a thin rod connecting the two top seats.]
{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

2144: Adjusting a Chair

2019-05-01T17:48:12Z

162.158.255.88: /* Explanation */ inflate

{{comic
| number = 2144
| date = May 1, 2019
| title = Adjusting a Chair
| image = adjusting_a_chair.png
| titletext = When I was looking at the box, I should have thought more about what "360 degrees of freedom" meant.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a HUMAN WHO HAS DIFFICULTY ADJUSTING CHAIRS. First edit. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic shows [[Cueball]]'s attempts to adjust a swivelling chair. As many people have experienced, these chairs can be quite difficult to raise, lower, or manoeuvre if one does not know how. This comically culminates in a massive chair with a big central seat and several other chairs branching off of it as Cueball continues trying to adjust it.

Each step gets farther away from what real-life office chairs could do. In sequence, Cueball finds his chair:

1. Being able to recline the seat back. One can use this for sitting comfort or perhaps to take a nap.

2. Being able to raise or lower the seat. Most chairs have this ability, but the comic departs from real chairs in two ways. First, it's much higher than any real chair. Second, the spring would not be strong enough to raise a person; otherwise, he'd never be able to get the seat back down again.

3. Being able to have the seat inflate. Although this could be useful (e.g. to help people who need to use extra seat cushions because of hemorrhoids or coccyx injury), it is not a typical office chair capability. However, in addition to simply inflating, Cueball's chair appears to actually make the seat longer and wider. This doesn't seem to have a lot of useful application in office chairs.

4. Putting out branches and growing extra seats and backs. Chairs definitely cannot do this in real life.{{Citation needed}}

The title text makes a joke on a common claim on such chairs, that the chair offers 360 degrees of freedom. This is a double entendre depending on if "360 degrees" or "360" is interpreted as an object. Although this normally refers to the chair's ability to rotate 360 degrees around the swivel, the chair in the comic has, literally, 360 different {{w|Degrees of freedom (mechanics)|degrees of freedom}}, i.e. axes on which to rotate or extend the chair.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball is shown adjusting a chair.]
:Caption: Adjusting a chair:
:[Cueball presses a button on the bottom of his chair.]
:Chair: CLUNK
:[The seat back of the chair swings backward.]
:[Cueball presses another button.]
:Chair: HISS
:[The chair extends to several times its previous height.]
:[Another button]
:Chair: POOF
:[The seat has expanded greatly.]
:Caption: Two hours later:
:[Cueball attempts to press yet another button on his now-massive chair. It now has 5 bases, two full chairs branching from underneath the seat, two poles coming up from the seat, each with a new seat and two back-to-back seat backs. Yet another seat is supported by a thin rod connecting the two top seats.]
{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

2143: Disk Usage

2019-04-30T00:06:14Z

162.158.255.88: /* Explanation */ grammar

{{comic
| number = 2143
| date = April 29, 2019
| title = Disk Usage
| image = disk_usage.png
| titletext = Menu -> Manage -> [Optimize space usage, Encrypt disk usage report, Convert photos to text-only, Delete temporary files, Delete permanent files, Delete all files currently in use, Optimize menu options, Download cloud, Optimize cloud , Upload unused space to cloud]
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a monstrosity of a powerpoint presentation. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Computers save their data on memory; traditionally this was known as the hard disk drive, though it is increasingly common that it is not a literal disc and may be made of flash memory (this is traditional in computers such as smartphones). Users can ask the system for a breakdown of the usage of their hard disk, which is usually displayed as a pie chart such as this comic. As with everything else in Randall's computers in the comics, his hard disk usage is... strange.

"Photos" and "Documents" are both common things to see in a disc usage report. Randall has marked a distinction between "photos" and "good photos". The ratio between these two suggests that there is an alarming number of "bad" photos on the computer.

Almost a tenth of the storage is taken up by a single Powerpoint presentation made five years ago. While it may be ridiculously long or detailed, or both, to use so much storage, [http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00062_Why_are_my_PowerPoint_files_so_big-_What_can_I_do_about_it-.htm Powerpoint converts compressed graphics to full-resolution bitmaps as a historical cross-platform compatibility strategy] (especially when conversion from PDF files is involved) so Powerpoint decks much larger than the sum of their component files are still very common.

Full backups of an old phone may have been stored to "settings" by a version of backup or {{w|file synchronization}} software which wanted to keep the resulting backup images in a location away from user control so they would be less likely to modify any of their component files, which might, for example, tend to clobber new versions with the modified old versions. Renaming a device under such circumstances might lead to duplicate backup images.

"System" is another common thing to see in the graph. This contains files the user is not using but the computer needs to run, such as the operating system. Randall has put quotation marks around the word to highlight how nebulous the term actually is and how he has no idea what the system files actually are.

One more possible explanation is that folder names like "Other", "Cache", "System" refer to storing porn while trying to hide this fact by using unsuspicious folder names. Hence the quotes.

The title text references the management UI of a hypothetical disk cleaning utility. The following options are mentioned in its menu:
;Optimize space usage
:A common non-descript phrase often found in such tools.
;Encrypt disk usage report
:Often, one might want to encrypt data on the disk, not reports about said data. This may suggest that the unusual disk usage is embarrassing enough that the user may want to encrypt the usage report, preventing other people from reading it.
;Convert photos to text-only
:Plain-text documents take less space than pictures. Scanned documents can be automatically transcribed (OCR). However, applying such an algorithm to photos will result in garbage.
;Delete temporary files
:Another real option. Temporary files are often not deleted automatically, so deleting them can safe a significant amount of disk space.
;Delete permanent files
:A made-up term, that might refer to the user's documents, pictures, etc. You would not want to delete them.
;Delete all files currently in use
:Deleting files that are in use might result in data loss or program crashes.
;Optimize menu options
:Those options could really do with some optimization. (a reference to the first entry?)
;Download cloud, Optimize cloud
:Here, the cloud probably refers to cloud storage (online storage). Cloud storage would be too large by many orders of magnitude to fit, let alone download onto a desktop computer.
:"Optimize cloud" might again be a reference to "optimize disk usage".
;Upload unused space to cloud
:"Uploading empty space" is a) impossible and b) would result in less space being available, which is the opposite of what a disk cleaner utility is supposed to do.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[This comic shows a pie chart with 10 slices, each with a label and a line pointing to these ten different sized slices. There is a caption above the chart:]
:Disk Space Usage Report

:[The labels on each slice is given in clockwise order starting from the top middle. The percentages are estimated from the image and are noted in the square brackets before the transcript:]

:[8%]: Why are there two full backups of my phone from 2015 deep in a settings folder?
:[23%]: "Other"
:[9%]: "Cache"
:[2%]: Unused
:[21%]: "System"
:[9%]: A single five-year-old PowerPoint presentation
:[6%]: Everything you've streamed since 2017
:[3%]: Documents
:[1%] Good Photos
:[18%] Photos

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Pie charts]]

2143: Disk Usage

2019-04-30T00:04:43Z

162.158.255.88: /* Explanation */ further

{{comic
| number = 2143
| date = April 29, 2019
| title = Disk Usage
| image = disk_usage.png
| titletext = Menu -> Manage -> [Optimize space usage, Encrypt disk usage report, Convert photos to text-only, Delete temporary files, Delete permanent files, Delete all files currently in use, Optimize menu options, Download cloud, Optimize cloud , Upload unused space to cloud]
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a monstrosity of a powerpoint presentation. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Computers save their data on memory; traditionally this was known as the hard disk drive, though it is increasingly common that it is not a literal disc and may be made of flash memory (this is traditional in computers such as smartphones). Users can ask the system for a breakdown of the usage of their hard disk, which is usually displayed as a pie chart such as this comic. As with everything else in Randall's computers in the comics, his hard disk usage is... strange.

"Photos" and "Documents" are both common things to see in a disc usage report. Randall has marked a distinction between "photos" and "good photos". The ratio between these two suggests that there is an alarming number of "bad" photos on the computer.

The fact that almost a tenth of the storage is taken up by a single Powerpoint presentation made five years ago. While it may be ridiculously long or detailed, or both, to use so much storage, [http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00062_Why_are_my_PowerPoint_files_so_big-_What_can_I_do_about_it-.htm Powerpoint converts compressed graphics to full-resolution bitmaps as a historical cross-platform compatibility strategy] (especially when conversion from PDF files is involved) so Powerpoint decks much larger than the sum of their component files are still very common.

Full backups of an old phone may have been stored to "settings" by a version of backup or {{w|file synchronization}} software which wanted to keep the resulting backup images in a location away from user control so they would be less likely to modify any of their component files, which might, for example, tend to clobber new versions with the modified old versions. Renaming a device under such circumstances might lead to duplicate backup images.

"System" is another common thing to see in the graph. This contains files the user is not using but the computer needs to run, such as the operating system. Randall has put quotation marks around the word to highlight how nebulous the term actually is and how he has no idea what the system files actually are.

One more possible explanation is that folder names like "Other", "Cache", "System" refer to storing porn while trying to hide this fact by using unsuspicious folder names. Hence the quotes.

The title text references the management UI of a hypothetical disk cleaning utility. The following options are mentioned in its menu:
;Optimize space usage
:A common non-descript phrase often found in such tools.
;Encrypt disk usage report
:Often, one might want to encrypt data on the disk, not reports about said data. This may suggest that the unusual disk usage is embarrassing enough that the user may want to encrypt the usage report, preventing other people from reading it.
;Convert photos to text-only
:Plain-text documents take less space than pictures. Scanned documents can be automatically transcribed (OCR). However, applying such an algorithm to photos will result in garbage.
;Delete temporary files
:Another real option. Temporary files are often not deleted automatically, so deleting them can safe a significant amount of disk space.
;Delete permanent files
:A made-up term, that might refer to the user's documents, pictures, etc. You would not want to delete them.
;Delete all files currently in use
:Deleting files that are in use might result in data loss or program crashes.
;Optimize menu options
:Those options could really do with some optimization. (a reference to the first entry?)
;Download cloud, Optimize cloud
:Here, the cloud probably refers to cloud storage (online storage). Cloud storage would be too large by many orders of magnitude to fit, let alone download onto a desktop computer.
:"Optimize cloud" might again be a reference to "optimize disk usage".
;Upload unused space to cloud
:"Uploading empty space" is a) impossible and b) would result in less space being available, which is the opposite of what a disk cleaner utility is supposed to do.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[This comic shows a pie chart with 10 slices, each with a label and a line pointing to these ten different sized slices. There is a caption above the chart:]
:Disk Space Usage Report

:[The labels on each slice is given in clockwise order starting from the top middle. The percentages are estimated from the image and are noted in the square brackets before the transcript:]

:[8%]: Why are there two full backups of my phone from 2015 deep in a settings folder?
:[23%]: "Other"
:[9%]: "Cache"
:[2%]: Unused
:[21%]: "System"
:[9%]: A single five-year-old PowerPoint presentation
:[6%]: Everything you've streamed since 2017
:[3%]: Documents
:[1%] Good Photos
:[18%] Photos

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Pie charts]]

2143: Disk Usage

2019-04-29T23:59:20Z

162.158.255.88: /* Explanation */ explain powerpoint

{{comic
| number = 2143
| date = April 29, 2019
| title = Disk Usage
| image = disk_usage.png
| titletext = Menu -> Manage -> [Optimize space usage, Encrypt disk usage report, Convert photos to text-only, Delete temporary files, Delete permanent files, Delete all files currently in use, Optimize menu options, Download cloud, Optimize cloud , Upload unused space to cloud]
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a monstrosity of a powerpoint presentation. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Computers save their data on memory; traditionally this was known as the hard disk drive, though it is increasingly common that it is not a literal disc and may be made of flash memory (this is traditional in computers such as smartphones). Users can ask the system for a breakdown of the usage of their hard disk, which is usually displayed as a pie chart such as this comic. As with everything else in Randall's computers in the comics, his hard disk usage is... strange.

"Photos" and "Documents" are both common things to see in a disc usage report. Randall has marked a distinction between "photos" and "good photos". The ratio between these two suggests that there is an alarming number of "bad" photos on the computer.

The fact that almost a tenth of the storage is taken up by a single Powerpoint presentation made five years ago. While it may be ridiculously long or detailed, or both, to use so much storage, [http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00062_Why_are_my_PowerPoint_files_so_big-_What_can_I_do_about_it-.htm Powerpoint converts compressed graphics to full-resolution bitmaps as a historical cross-platform compatibility strategy] (especially when conversion from PDF files is involved) so Powerpoint decks much larger than the sum of their component files are still very common.

"System" is another common thing to see in the graph. This contains files the user is not using but the computer needs to run, such as the operating system. Randall has put quotation marks around the word to highlight how nebulous the term actually is and how he has no idea what the system files actually are.

One more possible explanation is that folder names like "Other", "Cache", "System" refer to storing porn while trying to hide this fact by using unsuspicious folder names. Hence the quotes.

The title text references the management UI of a hypothetical disk cleaning utility. The following options are mentioned in its menu:
;Optimize space usage
:A common non-descript phrase often found in such tools.
;Encrypt disk usage report
:Often, one might want to encrypt data on the disk, not reports about said data.
;Convert photos to text-only
:Plain-text documents take less space than pictures. Scanned documents can be automatically transcribed (OCR). However, applying such an algorithm to photos will result in garbage.
;Delete temporary files
:Another real option. Temporary files are often not deleted automatically, so deleting them can safe a significant amount of disk space.
;Delete permanent files
:A made-up term, that might refer to the user's documents, pictures, etc. You would not want to delete them.
;Delete all files currently in use
:Deleting files that are in use might result in data loss or program crashes.
;Optimize menu options
:Those options could really do with some optimization. (a reference to the first entry?)
;Download cloud, Optimize cloud
:Here, the cloud probably refers to cloud storage (online storage). Cloud storage would be too large by many orders of magnitude to fit, let alone download onto a desktop computer.
:"Optimize cloud" might again be a reference to "optimize disk usage".
;Upload unused space to cloud
:"Uploading empty space" is a) impossible and b) would result in less space being available, which is the opposite of what a disk cleaner utility is supposed to do.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[This comic shows a pie chart with 10 slices, each with a label and a line pointing to these ten different sized slices. There is a caption above the chart:]
:Disk Space Usage Report

:[The labels on each slice is given in clockwise order starting from the top middle. The percentages are estimated from the image and are noted in the square brackets before the transcript:]

:[8%]: Why are there two full backups of my phone from 2015 deep in a settings folder?
:[23%]: "Other"
:[9%]: "Cache"
:[2%]: Unused
:[21%]: "System"
:[9%]: A single five-year-old PowerPoint presentation
:[6%]: Everything you've streamed since 2017
:[3%]: Documents
:[1%] Good Photos
:[18%] Photos

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Pie charts]]

2143: Disk Usage

2019-04-29T23:53:48Z

162.158.255.88: /* Explanation */ reword slightly

{{comic
| number = 2143
| date = April 29, 2019
| title = Disk Usage
| image = disk_usage.png
| titletext = Menu -> Manage -> [Optimize space usage, Encrypt disk usage report, Convert photos to text-only, Delete temporary files, Delete permanent files, Delete all files currently in use, Optimize menu options, Download cloud, Optimize cloud , Upload unused space to cloud]
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a monstrosity of a powerpoint presentation. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Computers save their data on memory; traditionally this was known as the hard disk drive, though it is increasingly common that it is not a literal disc and may be made of flash memory (this is traditional in computers such as smartphones). Users can ask the system for a breakdown of the usage of their hard disk, which is usually displayed as a pie chart such as this comic. As with everything else in Randall's computers in the comics, his hard disk usage is... strange.

"Photos" and "Documents" are both common things to see in a disc usage report. Randall has marked a distinction between "photos" and "good photos". The ratio between these two suggests that there is an alarming number of "bad" photos on the computer.

The fact that almost a tenth of the storage is taken up by a single powerpoint presentation made five years ago means that it is either a ridiculously long, or ridiculously detailed presentation in order to use so much storage.

"System" is another common thing to see in the graph. This contains files the user is not using but the computer needs to run, such as the operating system. Randall has put quotation marks around the word to highlight how nebulous the term actually is and how he has no idea what the system files actually are.

One more possible explanation is that folder names like "Other", "Cache", "System" refer to storing porn while trying to hide this fact by using unsuspicious folder names. Hence the quotes.

The title text references the management UI of a hypothetical disk cleaning utility. The following options are mentioned in its menu:
;Optimize space usage
:A common non-descript phrase often found in such tools.
;Encrypt disk usage report
:Often, one might want to encrypt data on the disk, not reports about said data.
;Convert photos to text-only
:Plain-text documents take less space than pictures. Scanned documents can be automatically transcribed (OCR). However, applying such an algorithm to photos will result in garbage.
;Delete temporary files
:Another real option. Temporary files are often not deleted automatically, so deleting them can safe a significant amount of disk space.
;Delete permanent files
:A made-up term, that might refer to the user's documents, pictures, etc. You would not want to delete them.
;Delete all files currently in use
:Deleting files that are in use might result in data loss or program crashes.
;Optimize menu options
:Those options could really do with some optimization. (a reference to the first entry?)
;Download cloud, Optimize cloud
:Here, the cloud probably refers to cloud storage (online storage). Cloud storage would be too large by many orders of magnitude to fit, let alone download onto a desktop computer.
:"Optimize cloud" might again be a reference to "optimize disk usage".
;Upload unused space to cloud
:"Uploading empty space" is a) impossible and b) would result in less space being available, which is the opposite of what a disk cleaner utility is supposed to do.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[This comic shows a pie chart with 10 slices, each with a label and a line pointing to these ten different sized slices. There is a caption above the chart:]
:Disk Space Usage Report

:[The labels on each slice is given in clockwise order starting from the top middle. The percentages are estimated from the image and are noted in the square brackets before the transcript:]

:[8%]: Why are there two full backups of my phone from 2015 deep in a settings folder?
:[23%]: "Other"
:[9%]: "Cache"
:[2%]: Unused
:[21%]: "System"
:[9%]: A single five-year-old PowerPoint presentation
:[6%]: Everything you've streamed since 2017
:[3%]: Documents
:[1%] Good Photos
:[18%] Photos

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Pie charts]]

Talk:2143: Disk Usage

2019-04-29T23:52:43Z

162.158.255.88: lol

Seems fine to me!
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.62.40|172.69.62.40]] 20:54, 29 April 2019 (UTC)

Finally managed to contribute something again! It's 00:00 now, so I'll pick this up tomorrow if noone else has by then [[User:Gir|-- //gir.st/]] ([[User talk:Gir|talk]]) 21:56, 29 April 2019 (UTC)

I don't see what's alarming on ratio between good and bad photos. With digital cameras, actually choosing which photos are good takes more time than taking them in first place, so its often skipped. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:47, 29 April 2019 (UTC)

''Why do I feel so seen?!? Explain THAT!'' [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.88|162.158.255.88]] 23:52, 29 April 2019 (UTC)

2143: Disk Usage

2019-04-29T20:31:40Z

162.158.255.88: /* Explanation */

2141: UI vs UX

2019-04-25T05:30:23Z

162.158.255.88: /* Explanation */ reword

{{comic
| number = 2141
| date = April 24, 2019
| title = UI vs UX
| image = ui_vs_ux.png
| titletext = U[unprintable glyph]: The elements a higher power uses to bend that moral arc. U[even more unprintable glyph]: The higher power's overall experience bending that moral arc.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a UX DESIGNER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[https://www.google.com/search?q=UI+vs+UX UI vs UX] is a discussion in software engineering of the differences between {{w|user interface design}} (UI) and {{w|user experience}} design (UX). As explained in the comic, UI design is typically concerned with the elements of the interface that a user encounters, while UX design is more concerned about the user's overall experience in using such interface.

The comic takes this to absurd levels by adding further categories to the discussion with UZ, and other U{X} types of designers. UZ refers to the psychological motivation behind the user behavior interacting with UI and UX.

"The psychological roots of motivation" is a [http://playbook.amanet.org/brian-tracy-the-root-of-motivation/ buzzword phrase] from [http://www.maccoby.com/books/WhyWork.php management theory] which may not have a particularly well-defined meaning. {{w|Motivation}} is itself the psychological root of behavior, and while professional and academic psychologists discuss motivation in depth, distinguishing motivation from its roots is extremely uncommon at best, and something of a redundancy if not a {{w|category mistake}}. "{{w|Self actualization}}" is the most abstract, immaterial form of motivation, meaning the need to find comfort in one's own goals and achievements, available only when more material needs such as those for food, shelter, warmth, security, and a sense of belonging are met. It forms the pinnacle of {{w|Maslow's hierarchy of needs}}.

"The arc of one's life" refers to the overall thematic elements present in a person's entire existence, and is used as such in philosophical humor novels such as ''{{w|The World According to Garp}},'' which remarks on how easily the arc of human lives can turn on a single sexual relationship. "Life's experience of time" is a very rare phrase which does not seem to have a coherent meaning across the handful of times it occurs in easily searchable media.

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

:Designer     What they are responsible for

:'''UI'''     Elements of the interface that the user encounters
:'''UX'''     The user's experience of using the interface to achieve goals
:'''UZ'''     The psychological roots of the user's motivation for seeking out the interaction
:'''U∝'''     The user's self-actualization
:'''UΩ'''     The arc of the user's life
:'''U∞'''     Life's experience of time
:'''U⬤'''     The arc of the moral universe

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Programming]]

2141: UI vs UX

2019-04-25T05:28:20Z

162.158.255.88: /* Explanation */ clarify

{{comic
| number = 2141
| date = April 24, 2019
| title = UI vs UX
| image = ui_vs_ux.png
| titletext = U[unprintable glyph]: The elements a higher power uses to bend that moral arc. U[even more unprintable glyph]: The higher power's overall experience bending that moral arc.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a UX DESIGNER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[https://www.google.com/search?q=UI+vs+UX UI vs UX] is a discussion in software engineering of the differences between {{w|user interface design}} (UI) and {{w|user experience}} design (UX). As explained in the comic, UI design is typically concerned with the elements of the interface that a user encounters, while UX design is more concerned about the user's overall experience in using such interface.

The comic takes this to absurd levels by adding further categories to the discussion with UZ, and other U{X} types of designers. UZ refers to the psychological motivation behind the user behavior interacting with UI and UX.

"The psychological roots of motivation" is a [http://playbook.amanet.org/brian-tracy-the-root-of-motivation/ buzzword phrase] from [http://www.maccoby.com/books/WhyWork.php management theory] which may not have a particularly well-defined meaning. {{w|Motivation}} is itself the psychological root of behavior, and while professional and academic psychologists discuss motivation in depth, distinguishing motivation from its roots is less frequent and is something of a redundancy, if not a {{w|category mistake}}. "{{w|Self actualization}}" is the most abstract, immaterial form of motivation, meaning the need to find comfort in one's own goals and achievements, available only when more material needs such as those for food, shelter, warmth, security, and a sense of belonging are met. It forms the pinnacle of {{w|Maslow's hierarchy of needs}}.

"The arc of one's life" refers to the overall thematic elements present in a person's entire existence, and is used as such in philosophical humor novels such as ''{{w|The World According to Garp}},'' which remarks on how easily the arc of human lives can turn on a single sexual relationship. "Life's experience of time" is a very rare phrase which does not seem to have a coherent meaning across the handful of times it occurs in easily searchable media.

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

:Designer     What they are responsible for

:'''UI'''     Elements of the interface that the user encounters
:'''UX'''     The user's experience of using the interface to achieve goals
:'''UZ'''     The psychological roots of the user's motivation for seeking out the interaction
:'''U∝'''     The user's self-actualization
:'''UΩ'''     The arc of the user's life
:'''U∞'''     Life's experience of time
:'''U⬤'''     The arc of the moral universe

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Programming]]

2141: UI vs UX

2019-04-25T05:26:10Z

162.158.255.88: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2141
| date = April 24, 2019
| title = UI vs UX
| image = ui_vs_ux.png
| titletext = U[unprintable glyph]: The elements a higher power uses to bend that moral arc. U[even more unprintable glyph]: The higher power's overall experience bending that moral arc.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a UX DESIGNER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[https://www.google.com/search?q=UI+vs+UX UI vs UX] is a discussion in software engineering of the differences between {{w|user interface design}} (UI) and {{w|user experience}} design (UX). As explained in the comic, UI design is typically concerned with the elements of the interface that a user encounters, while UX design is more concerned about the user's overall experience in using such interface.

The comic takes this to absurd levels by adding further categories to the discussion with UZ, and other U{X} types of designers. UZ refers to the psychological motivation behind the user behavior interacting with UI and UX.

"The psychological roots of motivation" is a [http://playbook.amanet.org/brian-tracy-the-root-of-motivation/ buzzword phrase] from [http://www.maccoby.com/books/WhyWork.php management theory] which may not have a particularly well-defined meaning. {{w|Motivation}} is itself the psychological root of behavior, and while professional and academic psychologists discuss motivation in depth, distinguishing motivation from its roots is less frequent and is something of a redundancy, if not a {{w|category mistake}}. "{{w|Self actualization}}" is the most abstract, immaterial form of motivation, meaning the need to find comfort in one's own goals and achievements, sitting at the pinnacle of {{w|Maslow's hierarchy of needs}}.

"The arc of one's life" refers to the overall thematic elements present in a person's entire existence, and is used as such in philosophical humor novels such as ''{{w|The World According to Garp}},'' which remarks on how easily the arc of human lives can turn on a single sexual relationship. "Life's experience of time" is a very rare phrase which does not seem to have a coherent meaning across the handful of times it occurs in easily searchable media.

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

:Designer     What they are responsible for

:'''UI'''     Elements of the interface that the user encounters
:'''UX'''     The user's experience of using the interface to achieve goals
:'''UZ'''     The psychological roots of the user's motivation for seeking out the interaction
:'''U∝'''     The user's self-actualization
:'''UΩ'''     The arc of the user's life
:'''U∞'''     Life's experience of time
:'''U⬤'''     The arc of the moral universe

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Programming]]

2141: UI vs UX

2019-04-25T05:24:31Z

162.158.255.88: /* Explanation */ doing my best okay

{{comic
| number = 2141
| date = April 24, 2019
| title = UI vs UX
| image = ui_vs_ux.png
| titletext = U[unprintable glyph]: The elements a higher power uses to bend that moral arc. U[even more unprintable glyph]: The higher power's overall experience bending that moral arc.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a UX DESIGNER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[https://www.google.com/search?q=UI+vs+UX UI vs UX] is a discussion in software engineering of the differences between {{w|user interface design}} (UI) and {{w|user experience}} design (UX). As explained in the comic, UI design is typically concerned with the elements of the interface that a user encounters, while UX design is more concerned about the user's overall experience in using such interface.

The comic takes this to absurd levels by adding further categories to the discussion with UZ, and other U{X} types of designers. UZ refers to the psychological motivation behind the user behavior interacting with UI and UX.

"The psychological roots of motivation" is a [http://playbook.amanet.org/brian-tracy-the-root-of-motivation/ buzzword phrase] from [http://www.maccoby.com/books/WhyWork.php management theory] which may not have a particularly well-defined meaning. {{w|Motivation}} is itself the psychological root of behavior, and while professional and academic psychologists discuss motivation in depth, distinguishing motivation from its roots is less frequent and is something of a redundancy, if not a {{w|category mistake}}. "{{w|Self actualization}}" is the highest form of motivation, sitting at the pinnacle of {{w|Maslow's hierarchy of needs}}.

"The arc of one's life" refers to the overall thematic elements present in a person's entire existence, and is used as such in philosophical humor novels such as ''{{w|The World According to Garp}},'' which remarks on how easily the arc of human lives can turn on a single sexual relationship. "Life's experience of time" is a very rare phrase which does not seem to have a coherent meaning across the handful of times it occurs in easily searchable media.

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

:Designer     What they are responsible for

:'''UI'''     Elements of the interface that the user encounters
:'''UX'''     The user's experience of using the interface to achieve goals
:'''UZ'''     The psychological roots of the user's motivation for seeking out the interaction
:'''U∝'''     The user's self-actualization
:'''UΩ'''     The arc of the user's life
:'''U∞'''     Life's experience of time
:'''U⬤'''     The arc of the moral universe

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Programming]]

526: Converting to Metric

2016-02-16T19:21:59Z

162.158.255.88: /* Temperature */

{{comic
| number = 526
| date = January 5, 2009
| title = Converting to Metric
| image = converting to metric.png
| titletext = According to River, "adequate" vacuuming systems drain the human body at about half a liter per second.
}}
==Explanation==
Most people will eventually develop an intuitive feel for how big certain measurements are (e.g., how long an inch or a foot is, how much a pound weighs). This comic points out that people who were brought up using the {{w|United States customary units|United States system of customary units}} probably don't have the same intuitive understanding for metric units and attempts to provide some benchmarks for these people. Most of the benchmarks are common sense, highly-useful ones (e.g., if it's 30 degrees Celsius [86 °F], you'd be quite comfortable outside dressed for the beach) but some of the benchmarks are humorous and/or completely useless. Benchmarks include:

===Temperature===
* {{w|Extremes on Earth|Earth's hottest}}: 60⁠ °C [140 °F]: The hottest temperature recorded on earth is actually {{W|List_of_weather_records#Heat|"only" 56.7 °C}}. There have been reports of ten-twenty degrees higher (70-80 ⁠°C) but these measurements are not verified or accepted as world records.
* Various heat waves: {{w|Dubai}} is a city in the United Arab Emirates, and is smack-dab in the middle of an equatorial desert, so their heat waves can get ''hot!''. The southern Unites States will typically be a few degrees hotter than the northern United States simply because it's closer to the equator, but as mentioned they're both above "Beach Weather".
*30 °C [86 °F]: A little too hot so perfect for a trip to the beach.
*20 °C [68 °F]: Is defined as room temperature in many experimental settings. For some this would feel a little cool. But 25 °C [77 °F] would as mentioned be too warm for room temperature...
*10 °C [50 °F]: Definitely wear a jacket. Especially if there is just a little breeze.
*0⁠ °C [32 °F]: The freezing point of water (32 °⁠F).
*-5 to -10 °C: In Moscow -10 °C is not really that cold - it can go "spit goes clink" cold in {{W|Moscow#Climate|Moscow}}, whereas -5 °C [23 °F] in {{W|Boston#Climate|Boston}} may be very cold.
*-20 °C: FuckFuckFuckCold and -30 °C - Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck!: This is implied to be basically what some people would say when they step outside at this temperature. In reality, it would be best to keep ones's mouth firmly closed. At -30 °C, without taking wind chill into account, exposed skin will feel painful in under a minute and frostbite could begin in as little as ten minutes [http://www.ec.gc.ca/meteo-weather/default.asp?lang=En&n=5FBF816A-1]. The differing statements seem to imply that at -20 °C, the user would be saying "fuck" repeatedly, whereas at -30 °C, the user is incapable of closing their mouth after starting the first "fuck", and so extends it into one long one.
*-40⁠ °C: Spit goes "clink": As shown in the drawing your spit would freeze ''before'' it hits the ground. This is the agreement point of the two temperature scales i.e. -40 °C = -40 °F.

See also [[1643: Degrees]] about not being able to choose between the two temperature scales.

===Length===
*1 cm [.4 inch] : Width of microSD card and 3 cm - Length of SD card: Refers to the {{w|MicroSD card|memory cards}} used in cell phones, digital cameras, etc.
*12 cm [almost 5 inches]: CD-ROM is a common object so nice to know it is a dozen centimeters.
*14 cm [5 1/2 inches]: Most males would probably exaggerate the size of their penis, but 14–15 cm is very average.
*15 cm [almost 6 inches]: A Bic pen
*80 cm [31 1/2 inches]: A typical doorway is also of standard size. This is barely over the minimum size typically required by codes for buildings [30 inches or 76.2 cm], but more than 50% over the size required for aircraft emergency exits. (It may seem illogical that larger doors are required in buildings than in airplanes, given airplanes are arguably more dangerous. However, there is no real disadvantage to using larger doors in buildings, which are not significantly pressurized, but using larger doors in aircraft would increase the force on the door caused by cabin pressure proportionally.)
*1 m [39.37 inches]: {{w|Lightsaber|Lightsaber blade}}: Refers the weapon used in the {{w|Star Wars}} movie franchise. Canonically, the length of a lightsaber's blade varies greatly depending on the setting of the weapon, but "one meter" is by no means a bad approximation.
*170 cm [5 feet, 7 inches]: {{w|Summer Glau}}: Refers to the height of the actress who portrays the character River Tam on the TV show {{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}.
*200 cm [6 feet, 6 and 3/4 inches]: Darth Vader: Refers to the height of the main antagonist from Star Wars.
*2.5 m [a little over 8 feet]: Ceiling - of course very much depending on which type of building you are in!
*5 m [a little over 16 feet]: Car length - also very much depending on the car...
*16 m 4 cm: Human tower of Serenity crew: Again, this refers to the Firefly TV show, which takes place mostly on a space ship called Serenity.
**Presumably, if all the crew of Serenity were stacked on top of each other, this would be their combined height.
**The comic depicts four characters from the show standing on top of each other; the bottom figure is the crew's captain, {{w|Malcolm Reynolds}} in his signature coat. Judging from the other drawing of Summer Glau from the volume section, she is standing on top of the captain.
**The other five members of the crew should also be stacked on top of these four to reach the 16 m height - giving them an average height of 1.82 m (12 cm more than Summer Glaus height!)

===Speed===
:Here both the SI unit m/s as well as the more used unit kph (kilometers per hour, km/h) is given.
*5 kph [3 mph] - 1.5 m/s: Walking at a normal pace
*13-25 kph [8-15 mph]: Jogging to sprinting.
*35 kph [21.75 mph] - 10 m/s: Fastest human: As of 2009, the fastest a human has been recorded to run in a single sprint is actually 45 kph, a record set by {{w|Usain Bolt}}.
*45-55 kph: Both cats and rabbits go much faster than normal people.
*75 kph [46.6 mph] - 20 m/s: Raptor: It's a comic written by [[Randall]], of course a reference to the {{w|velociraptors}} from ''{{w|Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park}}'' was going to be here.
*100 kph - 25 m/s: A slow highway (62 mph).
*110 kph [68.35 mph] - 30 m/s: Interstate (65 mph): Refers to the {{w|Interstate|American highway system}}. (65 mph would actually be only 104.6 kph.)
*120 kph - 35 m/s: Speed you actually go when it says "65": People routinely break the aforementioned speed limit, and the police typically don't mind as long as it's not posing any danger. For the record, 120 kph is 74 mph.
*140 kph - 40 m/s (87-89 mph): Raptor on hoverboard: The {{w|hoverboard}} is probably a reference to the ''{{w|Back to the Future Part II}}'', though it's a fairly common trope in older science fiction stories. Randall obviously did a lot of google searching on this subject the week before - see [[522: Google Trends]].

===Volume===
*3 mL: The amount of blood in a fieldmouse. A similar amount is used in comic [[434: xkcd Goes to the Airport]], but instead of a fieldmouse, the measurement of blood is of a churchmouse, an imaginary animal created by Lewis Carroll. Click [[434: xkcd Goes to the Airport|here]] for a more on [[434: xkcd Goes to the Airport|comic 434]].
*5 mL: A teaspoon - a very common measure.
*30 mL: Nasal passages and 40 mL - Shot glass: The comic points out that you could just about fill a shot glass using the mucus from your nose. Since shot glasses are usually used for mixed drinks, the comic jokes that this mucus could constitute a new, disgusting drink - and this is depicted in the drawing.
*350 mL: Soda can (this is roughly correct for the cans used in the U.S., which hold 12 fluid ounces; in Europe, soda cans commonly hold 330 mL or 500 mL).
*500 mL: Water bottle (this is the also the volume of a European water bottle).
*3 L: Two-liter bottle: Refers to a bottle which contains two liters (in the US usually soda). There is debate as to the reason for the discrepancy in volume. It may be a reference to stereotypical Americans consuming a lot of high-calorie foods and drinks. The simpler explanation would be that it is a joke. The two-liter bottle is named using its volume. Labeling it with a volume of three liters is the joke.
*5 L: An adult male has about 5 L of blood in his body (An ''adequate'' vacuuming system could drain this blood out in 10 s - as per the title text!)
*30 L: Milk crate: Refers to a {{w|Milk crate|type of small box}} originally used to transport milk but now often in demand to be used as bicycle basket, storage spaces, etc.
*55 L: Summer Glau: Again, this refers to the actress from Firefly.
*65 L: {{w|Dennis Kucinich}}: An American politician belonging to the {{w|Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic party}}, noted for his relatively strong (for the US) leftist views.
*75 L: {{w|Ron Paul}}: An American politician belonging to the rival {{w|Republican Party (United States)|Republican party}}, noted for his strong rightist views.
*200 L: Volume of refrigerator.
*As shown in the drawing of this part of the comic, the three persons mentioned above - Glau, Kucinich and Paul (summing up to 195 L) - could in principle all fit inside a standard refrigerator. Cueball thus attempts to push them all inside of one - though it would obviously be very uncomfortable for all parties involved to be trapped in such a small space with not much room between them (not to mention practically impossible).

===Mass===
*3 g: {{w|M&M's|Peanut M&M}}: A small chocolate candy with a peanut inside
*100 g: Cell phone - this very much depends on the age of the cell phone, and the type etc.
*500 g [1 lb.]: A bottle of water contains 500 mL according to the volume section and thus have mass of 500 g.
*1–3 kg: Different types of laptops. The newest and the best is the lightest...
*5 kg [11 lb.]: {{w|LCD monitor}}: A modern flat-screen-style monitor.
*15 kg: {{w|CRT monitor}}: An older-style, cathode ray tube-based monitor.
**This ends the section on computer screens, which overrode the normal sequence by weight as the next two feline inspired entries are lighter than the two before. This was presumably done so that the reader's eye will be confused or amused at seeing (in the comic's caseless captioning font) CRT immediately followed by CAT in the vertical text column.
*4 kg: Cat and 4.1 kg - Cat (with caption): Refers to the internet's love of putting {{w|Lolcat|captions on cats}}. Usually, this is done in a graphics program, but here the cat is actually physically carrying around his caption. The "with caption" part is most likely a reference to [[262: IN UR REALITY]], where [[Black Hat]] glues captions to cats, after running out of staples.
*60 kg [130 lb.]: Lady - for instance if she is Summer Glau - could be her again depicted in the comic - average weight of an adult woman.
*70 kg [150 lb.]: Dude - here depicted as Cueball who is the average guy, and 70 kg is average weight for an adult man.
*150 kg: Shaq: {{w|Shaq|Shaquille O'Neal}}, a famously tall basketball player.
*200 kg [440 lb.]: Your mom
*220 kg: Your mom (incl. 20 kg of cheap jewelry) and
*223 kg: Your mom (also incl. 3 kg of makeup)
*The last three refer to a common type of {{w|Your mom}} joking insult whereby someone insults someone else's mother in a creative way. Here, the comic slyly calls your mom fat, then implies she wears way too much jewelry and finally also almost 7 pounds of makeup. This is a common theme in [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Your_Mom xkcd]. (20 kg of "cheap" jewelry has several times the volume than 20 kg of gold jewelry, because of the difference in density.)

===Title text===
The title text refers once again to Summer Glau's Firefly character, {{w|River Tam}}, who (after being subjected to a long series of medical experiments) is severely mentally ill and often comes out with macabre — though scientifically accurate — pronouncements. In Firefly episode "Safe" (season 1, episode 7), she says: "The human body can be drained of blood in 8.6 seconds given adequate vacuuming systems."

==Transcript==
:'''Guide to Converting to Metric'''

:[There are five frames with tables for different units. Between the two upper frames is the following text:]
:The key to converting to metric is establishing
:new reference points. When you hear "26°C",
:instead of thinking "That's 79°F" you should think,
:"that's warmer than a house but cool for swimming."
:Here are some helpful tables of reference points:

:[The frame to the left of the above text:]
:Temperature:
:{| class="wikitable"
|60°C||Earth's hottest
|-
|45°C||Dubai heat wave
|-
|40°C||Southern US heat wave
|-
|35°C||Northern US heat wave
|-
|30°C||Beach weather
|-
|25°C||Warm room
|-
|20°C||Room temperature
|-
|10°C||Jacket weather
|-
|0°C||Snow!
|-
| -5°C||Cold day (Boston)
|-
| -10°C||Cold day (Moscow)
|-
| -20°C||Fuckfuckfuckcold
|-
| -30°C||Fuuuuuuuuuuck!
|-
| -40°C||Spit goes "clink"
|}
:[Next to the last three entries we see Cueball spitting on the ground. The spit bounces.]
:Cueball: Ptoo
:Spit: Clink!

:[The frame to the right of the above text:]
:Length
:{| class="wikitable"
|1 cm||Width of microSD card
|-
|3 cm||Length of SD card
|-
|12 cm||CD diameter
|-
|14 cm||Penis
|-
|15 cm||BIC pen
|-
|80 cm||Doorway width
|-
|1 m||Lightsaber blade
|-
|170 cm||Summer Glau
|-
|200 cm||Darth Vader
|-
|2.5 m||Ceiling
|-
|5 m||Car-length
|-
|16 m 4 cm||Human tower of Serenity crew
|}
:[To the right of the table is a human tower of four of the people from the Serenity crew. The head of the upper person is right below the first entry.]

:[The frame below to the left:]
:Speed
:{| class="wikitable"
|kph|| m/s||
|-
|5||1.5||Walking
|-
|13||3.5||Jogging
|-
|25||7||Sprinting
|-
|35||10||Fastest human
|-
|45||13||Housecat
|-
|55||15||Rabbit
|-
|75||20||Raptor
|-
|100||25||Slow highway
|-
|110||30||Interstate (65 mph)
|-
|120||35||Speed you actually go when it says “65”
|-
|140||40||Raptor on hoverboard
|}

:[The frame below in the middle:]
:Volume
:{| class="wikitable"
|3 mL||Blood in a fieldmouse
|-
|5 mL||Teaspoon
|-
|30 mL||Nasal passages
|-
|40 mL||Shot glass
|-
|350 mL||Soda can
|-
|500 mL||Water bottle
|-
|3 L||Two-liter bottle
|-
|5 L||Blood in a human male
|-
|30 L||Milk crate
|-
|55 L||Summer Glau
|-
|65 L||Dennis Kucinich
|-
|75 L||Ron Paul
|-
|200 L||Fridge
|}
:[Next to the entry on nasal passages and shoot glass (starting one entry higher and finishing one entry lower) are the following text:]
:So, when it's blocked
:the mucus in your
:nose could about
:fill a shot glass.
:[Below this text is a drawing of a mucus filled shot glass.]
:Related: I've
:invented the
:worst mixed
:drink ever.
:[Below this next to the four last entries we see Cueball shoving Summer Glau, Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul into an open fridge. Above the fridge in a loosely drawn ellipse are the following text:]
:55+65+75<200

:[The frame below to the right:]
:Mass
:{| class="wikitable"
|3 g||Peanut M&M
|-
|100 g||Cell phone
|-
|500 g||Bottled water
|-
|1 kg||Ultraportable laptop
|-
|2 kg||Light-medium laptop
|-
|3 kg||Heavy laptop
|-
|5 kg||LCD monitor
|-
|15 kg||CRT monitor
|-
|4 kg||Cat
|-
|4.1 kg||Cat (with caption)
|-
|60 kg||Lady
|-
|70 kg||Dude
|-
|150 kg||Shaq
|-
|200 kg||Your mom
|-
|220 kg||Your mom (incl. cheap jewelry)
|-
|223 kg||Your mom (also incl. makeup)
|}
:[Next to the entries of cat and cat (with caption) are two drawings of cats. The second one has a caption across its chest.]
:Cat (with caption): Mrowl?
:[Below this and next to the lady and dude entries (and the Shaq entry) are drawings of Megan and Cueball.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:Your Mom]]
[[Category:Firefly]]