explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2850: Doctor's Office

2023-11-07T09:44:57Z

162.158.34.28: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2850
| date = November 3, 2023
| title = Doctor's Office
| image = doctors_office_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x291px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = "The police told me I can't be a doctor, but whenever they show up I just go into the Google Maps settings page I found and change the house to 'Police Headquarters' and then they have to do what I say."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by THE OFFICIAL WORLDWIDE HEADQUARTERS OF THE NEW YORK TIMES - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In this comic, [[Beret Guy]] has discovered how to add public labels to locations on {{w|Google Maps}}. He has used the tool to label his house as a physician's office, and then proceeded to put on a white lab coat and impersonate a physician, making this another comic with one of his special [[:Category:Beret Guy's Business|businesses]].

As Cueball arrives for a medical consultation, Beret Guy proceeds to do what he does best -- try to sound like a professional through absurdist, oddball dialogue:

{|class = "wikitable"
! Beret Guy !! Normal Phrasing !! Notes
|-
| "Welcome to the doctor!" || "Welcome to my clinic." || Most real outpatient clinics in the US have desk staff that welcome patients, not the physician themself. Doctors don't sit behind a desk waiting for patients to arrive.
|-
| "We're like librarians, but for your bones and blood. || A real doctor wouldn't proactively define their profession to a new patient. If they did so, they might say: "We are trained medical professionals who diagnose and treat illness, provide healthcare advice, and help maintain overall health in our patients." || "Bones and blood" is just one focus of medical education, covering topics like their anatomy and physiology, pathology of related diseases, principles of hematology and orthopedics, clinical diagnosis, and treatment strategies. "Librarian" is not an apt analogy for this knowledge.
|-
| "Uh-oh! This beeper says you're too hot." || "It seems your temperature is elevated according to this thermometer."
|-
| "You should eat some of these little snacks that make you colder." || "I recommend you take some of these fever-reducing medications." || Beret Guy has the medicine already in his hand, suggesting he has only one remedy for whatever condition the patient presents with. Also, in US outpatient care settings it's usually nurses who administer medicine, not doctors, and in either case an order would usually have to be written first. This depends on the medication; in some cases the doctor will have been provided with free samples by the manufacturer, for example.
|-
| "We can make holes in you, but you have to fill out this form first." || "We need to perform a procedure that requires an incision, or use a syringe and needle to either give you an injection or take a blood sample. But before we proceed, you'll need to provide consent by filling out this form." || An incision for a febrile (high temp) patient is not unheard of; it might be needed to address conditions such as abscess drainage, acute appendicitis, an infected wound or gallbladder, or other infections requiring surgical intervention. Injections of antibiotics might also be appropriate to treat a bacterial infection causing a fever, and an injection of an anti-inflammatory could relieve a fever. Taking a blood sample to investigate the cause of an illness is common.
|-
|}

In the third panel, Beret Guy then hands Cueball what's supposed to be a medical consent form, but is in fact a ''New York Times'' crossword puzzle for a Monday on a clipboard. Monday NYT crosswords are the easiest of the week; ''New York Times'' crosswords get more challenging over the week, with Saturday being hardest (Sunday's grid is larger, but has about the same difficulty as Thursday). Beret Guy amusingly misinterprets Cueball's hesitance as being about the difficulty of the crossword.

In the fourth panel, Cueball finally questions whether Beret Guy's claim is accurate, and the facts of the situation are revealed - while Beret Guy wheels in a device labled "MRI" (for "{{w|magnetic resonance imaging}}"). He wonders aloud what the MRI is for and excitedly predicts that it is loud.

* MRI machines are huge and cannot be wheeled in by one person on a dolly. They're typically housed within dedicated rooms and require specialized infrastructure to support their weight, shield their powerful magnetic fields, and maintain their functionality. So either this is just one piece of an MRI machine, or it's mislabled.

* And MRI machines are indeed very loud, known for producing banging sounds and other noises, often reaching up to 100 decibels, due to the rapid switching of their magnetic field gradients during scans. To protect their hearing and reduce discomfort, patients are typically provided with earplugs or headphones.

In the '''title text''', Beret Guy acknowledges that the police ''repeatedly'' cite him for impersonating a physician, but each time he returns to Google Maps and relabels his house "Police Headquarters", thus (by implication) making himself Chief of Police to whose authority the officers must submit - which he may also believe removes evidence for the "impersonating a physician" charge. If this works as claimed, it's another of the [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy|strange powers of Beret Guy]]. But this strategy is unlikely to work in real life; suggesting a Google Maps edit can can take several days to be approved by Google Maps editors, and "Police Headquarters" is not a category selection open to everyday users.

A physician imposter was also featured in [[699: Trimester]], while possibly authentic physicians behaving badly appear in [[938: T-Cells]], [[1471: Gut Fauna]], and [[1839: Doctor Visit]].

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy is sitting at a desk, wearing a lab coat. Cueball is walking in from the right as Beret Guy stretches an arm out towards him in greeting.]
:Beret Guy: Welcome to the doctor!
:Beret Guy: We're like librarians, but for your bones and blood.

:[In a frame-less panel Beret Guy is standing in front of Cueball while holding a device in his hand, which are attached with a coiling wire to a thermometer in Cueball's mouth. He reads something of the device while holding a pill bottle in the other hand.]
:Beret Guy: Uh-oh! This beeper says you're too hot.
:Beret Guy: You should eat some of these little snacks that make you colder.

:[Zoom in on the two persons where Beret Guy is holding a pen up towards Cueball who is holding a clipboard with a newspaper page stuck to it. Cueball is looking down at the page, which has a black picture in the top left corner and lots of unreadable lines across the rest of the page.]
:Beret Guy: We can make holes in you, but you have to fill out this form first.
:Cueball: This is a New York Times crossword.
:Beret Guy: Don't worry, it's a Monday, so it's not too hard.

:[Cueball is watching as Beret Guy drags in a machine labeled "MRI" on a dolly.]
:Cueball: This '''''is''''' a doctor's office, right?
:Beret Guy: Yeah! It used to be my house, but I found the setting on Google Maps to change it.
:Beret Guy: Hey, wanna help find out what this box does? I bet it's loud!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Beret Guy's Business]]
[[Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Medicine]]

Talk:2841: Sign Combo

2023-10-14T12:03:06Z

162.158.34.28:

Theoretically you can get around this limitation by turning off the road before the sign and doing whatever maneuvers you need to out in the wide open area to the right or left of the road. It's not a U-turn if you're not on the road, and you didn't enter a restricted part of a road either, and didn't stop on the road. After which you calmly make a turn onto the road when traffic is clear. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.207|108.162.245.207]] 02:34, 14 October 2023 (UTC)
:I'm pretty sure swerving off of a road is also illegal. [[User:SteveTheNoob|SteveTheNoob]] ([[User talk:SteveTheNoob|talk]]) 04:41, 14 October 2023 (UTC)
:: You can always just pull over - if a cop asks, just tell him you were lost or tired or had to take a phone call. And then take the opportunity to ask about the bloody sign! Anonymous 07:30, 14 October 2023 (UTC)
So does making a three point turn count as a u-turn? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.58.66|172.69.58.66]] 02:40, 14 October 2023 (UTC)
Wouldn't putting it in reverse stop you briefly as you switched from forward acceleration to reverse?
:Yes, this is also an example of Rolle's theorem as seen in [[2042]]. [[User:SteveTheNoob|SteveTheNoob]] ([[User talk:SteveTheNoob|talk]]) 04:56, 14 October 2023 (UTC)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immelmann_turn Immelmann!] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stall_turn Hammerhead!] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_eight Half Cuban Eight!] [[User:Jordan Brown|Jordan Brown]] ([[User talk:Jordan Brown|talk]]) 03:21, 14 October 2023 (UTC)

You could obey the title text if it was 45 miles per hour and 65 meters per hour, respectively. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.96|162.158.90.96]] 04:04, 14 October 2023 (UTC)

Take notice of the road markings too. At least here in Europe double white lines are not to be crossed. And they go past the point of the sign.--[[User:Henke37|Henke37]] ([[User talk:Henke37|talk]]) 07:06, 14 October 2023 (UTC)

:Double lines are also "do not cross" in America. And I think in this case it's supposed to be yellow, the dashed-and-solid combo indicates a one-sided passing zone into a lane with on-coming traffic, and double lines in general are only use to separate anti-parallel lanes of traffic, both of which use yellow. "Solid double white lines" do exist, but are only used in very specific cases. Near me, there's a very congested exit, and the solid double whites are used to indicate "no really, you should have switched lanes ages ago, it's too late now!", but since it isn't a Jersey barrier or a line of rods or even a full on median, nobody actually follows the rule. Anonymous 07:30, 14 October 2023 (UTC)

:: BTW in Europe, yellow lines are reserved for temporary use, and then take precedence over any existing white lines. Makes lots of sense, because there are so many construction sites here. (And the yellow lines are actually just adhesive tape.) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.87.102|162.158.87.102]] 08:28, 14 October 2023 (UTC)

And I completely forgot why I was posting in the first place: I think there's good reason to create a full "traffic signs" or "road signs" tag, not just "traffic lights". I know there's a page with a very complicated "this is what the road ahead looks like" sign that just says "good luck", and of course there's "Next Five Miles" and "Ahead Stop". Thoughts? Anonymous 07:58, 14 October 2023 (UTC)

More thoughts: if you must not make a U-turn to the left, you should do it to the right.
And then return on the same lane, because of the double line.
And finally, the sign itself may be valid and not contradicting itself; it is your fault if you got on this road. ;) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.87.102|162.158.87.102]] 08:28, 14 October 2023 (UTC)

In the Netherlands, the message on signs are only valid behind the sign (with the exception of the "precedence way" (voorrangsweg), where outside of built-up areas, the signs are after a junction (though technically... way before the ''next'' junction) , so a driver stopping /u-turning here wouldn't be violating anything except the double white lines.
Also, stopping out of necessity (e.g. the car in front is also stopped) is ''never'' illegal. [[User:IIVQ|IIVQ]] ([[User talk:IIVQ|talk]]) 09:06, 14 October 2023 (UTC)

:Stopping on a road with double white lines to your left may count as obstructing the road, which I can imagine to be illegal in many places? [[User:Gpvos|Gpvos]] ([[User talk:Gpvos|talk]]) 10:02, 14 October 2023 (UTC)

If I had to comply with these instructions, I would just put the car into reverse and argue that I was never "stopped". If I actually saw this in real life, I think I'd just slow down, put on my hazard lights, and make a u-turn when appropriate.[[User:Jsnider3|Jsnider3]] ([[User talk:Jsnider3|talk]]) 10:52, 14 October 2023 (UTC

UK equivalents: [[File:UK_traffic_sign_616.svg|50px]][[File:UK_traffic_sign_614.svg|50px]][[File:UK_traffic_sign_642.svg|50px]]
(Vertically, obviously). ...and Title Text would require suitable numeric alterations on:
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.23|162.158.74.23]][[File:UK_traffic_sign_672.svg|50px]][[File:UK_traffic_sign_670V20.svg|50px]] 11:51, 14 October 2023 (UTC)

1513: Code Quality

2021-02-04T08:40:58Z

162.158.34.28: fix link as it has question mark which doesnt link nicely (garbled)

{{comic
| number = 1513
| date = April 17, 2015
| title = Code Quality
| image = code quality.png
| titletext = I honestly didn't think you could even USE emoji in variable names. Or that there were so many different crying ones.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is the first in the [[:Category:Code Quality|Code Quality]] series:
* [[1513: Code Quality]]
* [[1695: Code Quality 2]]
* [[1833: Code Quality 3]]
* [[1926: Bad Code]]
* [[2138|2138: Wanna See the Code?]]

It is about the apprehension of asking for help from an expert who is a friend. Often we fear that we will be judged and they will think less of us, which is what occurs in this comic.

[[Ponytail]] is about to look at some {{w|source code}} [[Cueball]] has written, and he is warning her that he is self-taught so his code probably won't be written the way she is used to. In spite of Ponytail's initial (polite) optimism, she comments in three increasingly harsh similes (and a fourth in the title text).

First, she suggests that reading his code is like being in a house built by a child, using a hatchet (a small ax) to put together what he thought was a house based on a picture. She is saying that the code shows a lack of command of the language being programmed. This is like the common expression "If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail." New programmers make use of the same techniques repeatedly, using them for situations that they are not intended for.

Second, she suggests that it looks like a salad recipe, written by a corporate lawyer on a phone with auto-correct that only corrected things to formulas from Microsoft Excel. She is saying that the code is verbose and the corrections that were done are illogical. This presumably relates to the developer not being an expert in their craft, and fixing the problems as they come up instead of reexamining the problem and solving it in a better way.

Third, she describes it as a transcript of a couple arguing at a branch of the Swedish retail chain {{w|IKEA}}, which was then randomly edited until the computer compiled it with no errors. She is saying that the intent of the code is unclear due to the seemingly random use of the language. This is very similar to an infinite amount of monkeys bashing away on typewriters for an infinite amount of time eventually producing the complete works of Shakespeare. (A couple's argument may be even less coherent at IKEA than at the average store, since IKEA products always have idiosyncratic names and many of them are difficult to pronounce or transcribe for anyone who doesn't speak Swedish.) This might happen if the code was written so bad that it does not compile, and people edited the code until it compiles so they can see what the code accomplishes. That Cueball's code is in this bad a shape indicates he really hasn't learned the programming language; he just happens to have a program that works in some shape or fashion.

Finally, Cueball makes the rather weak assurance that he will read "a style guide", which articulates the intended use of the language. It seems clear from Ponytail's commentary that his {{w|Software quality|code quality}} would benefit from far more training in computer programming.

The title text refers to {{w|emoji}}. Ponytail's comment implies that some of Cueball's variables contained emoji, perhaps in an effort to capture the emotional content of the arguments which show through the requirements document. Emoji has become a [[:Category:Emoji|recurrent theme]] on xkcd, but this may have been the first comic to use them for a pun.

===Emoji===
Many crying-face emoji are possible if variables can include full Unicode (e.g., 😢,😭,😂,😿,😹), as well as faces with sweat drops that are often mistaken for tears (😪,😥,😰,🥵). In some programming languages it would be impossible to use them in variable names, as the symbols would break the language's syntax rules. Exceptions to this include {{w|Swift (programming language)|Swift}} and {{w|Perl|Perl}} ([http://perldoc.perl.org/5.24.0/perlunicode.html]), but most languages with compilers that support Unicode characters can include this kind of emoji, even for languages that predate Unicode like {{w|C++}} and {{w|Lisp_(programming_language)|Lisp}}.

In any event, Cueball's code may best be represented by a bunch of people crying, as that is the only proper response to it.

===Programming Style===
Although few programming languages require a perfectly rigid style, so long as the code is syntactically accurate, most programmers follow some sort of {{w|Programming style|style}} to make the code easier to read. This includes indenting lines to show levels and using descriptive variable identifiers with special capitalization, (e.g., {{w|camelCase}}, capitalizing each word except for the first in a sentence, or {{w|snake_case}}, separating lowercase words with underscores).

==Transcript==
:[Cueball showing Ponytail his laptop.]
:Cueball: Keep in mind that I'm self-taught, so my code may be a little messy.
:Ponytail: Lemme see - I'm sure it's fine.

:[Ponytail sits at desk, Cueball stand behind her.]
:Ponytail: ...Wow. This is like being in a house built by a child using nothing but a hatchet and a picture of a house.

:[Ponytail sits at desk, Cueball stand behind her.]
:Ponytail: It's like a salad recipe written by a corporate lawyer using a phone autocorrect that only knew Excel formulas.

:[Ponytail sits at desk, Cueball stand behind her.]
:Ponytail: It's like someone took a transcript of a couple arguing at IKEA and made random edits until it compiled without errors.
:Cueball: '''''Okay,''''' I'll read a style guide.

==Trivia==
*Emoji can be simulated using {{w|ASCII}} characters, but their roots are mostly separate from ASCII {{w|emoticon}}s. Most languages will allow variable names to include underscores, so some sad face ASCII emoticon will be legal variable names, such as <code>T_T</code>, <code>p_q</code>, <code>ioi</code> etc., but such things rarely show up in software variables. Many more can be made possible using [http://hexascii.com/sad-emoticons/ UTF-8 characters].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Code Quality]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|Code Quality 01]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Emoji]]
[[Category:Cueball Computer Problems]]

Talk:2418: Metacarcinization

2021-01-31T00:12:45Z

162.158.34.28:

Up until the moment I opened the video, I read every instance of "crow" in the comic and explanation as "cow"... Was a bit disappointed by the video! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.40|141.101.105.40]] 19:39, 29 January 2021 (UTC)

I think the crow in the video is actually a hooded crow (Corvus cornix) rather than a jackdaw... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.146|108.162.245.146]] 20:39, 29 January 2021 (UTC)

Good catch. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.129.134|172.68.129.134]] 20:58, 29 January 2021 (UTC)

I think the crow in the video needs more training. Seems she's not really sure how the sledding works. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 01:04, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

Coincidentally, I just heard about a pet/tame duck (called 'Duck') who is regularly bodysurfing with their human in Australia. No idea where crabs come into that. They've probably been eaten by the sharks, or poisoned/envenomated by almost every other creature in and around Australia. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.185|162.158.111.185]] 04:34, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

Tool use is another trait that has independently evolved multiple times, in insects, cephalopods, fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals, presumably because it’s so useful. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.86|162.158.63.86]] 06:36, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

Have a read of "Are we smart enough to know how smart animals are?" by Fran de Waal (W.W. Norton)

I too independently evolved into talking about carcinisation constantly. Hm. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.28|162.158.34.28]] 00:12, 31 January 2021 (UTC)
-----

1937: IATA Airport Abbreviations

2018-01-05T14:26:29Z

162.158.34.28:

{{comic
| number = 1937
| date = January 3, 2018
| title = IATA Airport Abbreviations
| image = iata_airport_abbreviations.png
| titletext = IATA stands for International AirporT Abbreviation.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Expansion needed. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic is making fun of the three-letter codes assigned to mostly all {{w|IATA airport code|airports}} in the world. These codes are overseen by the {{w|International Air Transport Association|IATA (International Air Transport Association)}}. Some airport codes are very intuitive, taking letters from the city name (e.g., DEN for Denver). Other codes are somewhat intuitive, taking a letter or two from the nearby city name but adding an additional letter (e.g., LAX for Los Angeles). Other codes make seemingly no sense at all (e.g., ORD for Chicago's O'Hare International, due to it formerly being named Orchard Field). In many cases, the airport codes appear to have been chosen (or invented) because they are also common abbreviations and acronyms.

If we use the table provided, Randall's friend is flying into Edwards Air Force Base and then down to whatever. This is not a typical flight. In actuality, the friend is flying into Newark tonight and Detroit tomorrow.

{| class="wikitable"
|'''IATA Code''' || '''Actual Assigned City/Airport''' || '''Description in the comic''' || '''Explanation'''
|-
| AMD || {{w|Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport|Ahmedabad}} || {{w|Amsterdam }}|| Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands. Its airport (called {{w|Amsterdam Airport Schiphol|Schiphol}}) has the IATA code AMS. "AMD" is also an abbreviated name for "{{w|Advanced Micro Devices}}", a company that makes computer processors and graphics cards, among other products.
|-
| ANC || {{w|Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport|Anchorage}} || {{w|Ankh-Morpork}} || Ankh-Morpork is a fictional city-state featured in ''{{w|Discworld}}''. ANC is also an abbreviated name for the {{w|African National Congress}}.
|-
| ATL || {{w|Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport|Atlanta}} || Atalantë || Another name for J.R.R. Tolkien's fictional island of {{w|Númenor}} (which is in turn a reference to the sinking of {{w|Atlantis}}). This may also be an intentional misspelling of "Atlanta". ATL may also be an abbreviation for "above the line" - the area in an internet article or post containing the main content; as contrasted with BTL ("below the line") where readers' comments appear.
|-
| BAE || {{w|Barcelonnette – Saint-Pons Airfield|Barcelonnette}} || {{w|Beijing}} || Beijing is the capital of China. {{w|Beijing Capital International Airport|Its airport}} has the IATA code PEK (possibly from Peking, alternate former spelling of its name). "{{w|Bae (word)|Bae}}" is a slang term meaning girlfriend, boyfriend, or significant other. Randall has presumably assigned this to Beijing as, when pronounced as a word, rather than an abbreviation, it resembles the first syllable.
|-
| BLT || {{w|Blackwater Airport|Blackwater}} || {{w|Baltimore}} || A "{{w|BLT}}" is a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich. Baltimore is served by two airports with the codes BWI and MTN.
|-
| BUF || {{w|Buffalo Niagara International Airport|Buffalo}} || {{w|Sunnydale}} || Sunnydale is a fictional California city that serves as the primary setting for ''{{w|Buffy the Vampire Slayer|'''Buf'''fy the Vampire Slayer}}''.
|-
| CLT || {{w|Charlotte Douglas International Airport|Charlotte}} || [CENSORED] || The censored word may be "{{w|clitoris}}". [[Randall]] has used this word in the comic before ([[243: Appropriate Term]]), but it is censored here for comic effect.
|-
| DFW || {{w|Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport|Dallas/Fort Worth}} || Down For Whatever || "Down for Whatever" is an expression used to indicate that one is okay with doing whatever his or her friends are doing in a social situation, or whatever comes up during a social situation.
|-
|DTF || ''not assigned'' || {{w|Dartford}} || "DTF" is an abbreviation used to indicate "Down To Fuck". Dartford is a town in Kent, UK, about 10 miles SE of London. It does not have an airport. The nearest is probably {{w|London City Airport}}, LCY.
|-
| DTW || {{w|Detroit Metropolitan Airport|Detroit}} || Down To Whatever || See "DFW". "Down to Whatever" could indicate that one is getting on a plane with the intention of being fine with whatever the plane's destination turns out to be.
|-
| DWI || ''not assigned'' || Delaware International || "DWI" is an abbreviation for "Driving While Intoxicated" or "Driving While Impaired." Randall notes in the ''what if?'' book that Delaware has no airports. This entry is also a play on the nearby real airport BWI, Baltimore-Washington International.
|-
| EWR || {{w|Newark Liberty International Airport|Newark}} || {{w|Edwards Air Force Base}} || Edwards Air Force Base (which has the IATA code EDW) is a United States Air Force installation in southern California, about 22 miles (35 km) northeast of Lancaster and 15 miles (24 km) east of Rosamond. It is notable for its pivotal role in NASA spaceflight development.
|-
| FFS || ''not assigned'' || {{w|Flagstaff station|Flagstaff Station}} || "FFS" is an abbreviation for "For Fuck's Sake." "FLG" is the code for the Flagstaff Amtrak station.
|-
| FHQ || ''not assigned'' || FHQWHGADS || The string "fhqwhgads" appeared as the first part of the sender name in the email "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lml_AKkhCVY i love you]" sent to Strong Bad in the {{w|Homestar Runner}} cartoons; Strong Bad ended up [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=votBDwhTu1E writing a song] dedicated to the "character", and, after this comic's release, Strong Bad's official Twitter account [https://twitter.com/StrongBadActual/status/948696499885694976 posted about the reference].
|-
| FYI || {{w|Fresno Yosemite International Airport}} || Fayetteville || "FYI" often stands for "For Your Information". Fresno Yosemite International also has the code FAT for Fresno Air Terminal. Fayetteville is the name of many cities in the United States. Fayetteville, NC is the only Fayetteville served by airports: POB and FAY.
|-
| HGM || ''not assigned'' || Hogsmeade || {{w|Places_in_Harry_Potter#Hogsmeade|Hogsmeade}} is a fictional location in the ''{{w|Harry Potter}}'' series.
|-
| HSV || {{w|Huntsville International Airport|Huntsville}} || {{w|Huntsville, Alabama|Huntsville}} || This is one where Randall and the IATA agree. HSV is better known as the Hue-Saturation-Value color space or German soccer club Hamburger SV. It is also Herpes Simplex Virus, a venereal disease.
|-
| IAD || {{w|Washington Dulles International Airport|Washington (Dulles)}} || {{w|Boise Airport|Idaho (Boise)}} || IAD is the symbol for Dulles International Airport (which was originally "DIA" but it was felt that could be confused when hand-written with "DCA", the sign for nearby {{w|Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport}}). The Idaho Falls airport is IDA, while Idaho (Boise) is BOI, so it is unclear why BOI was chosen instead of IDA.
|-
| IUD || Doha || Washington (Dulles) || An "IUD" is an "IntraUterine Device," or form of birth control. Doha is the capital of Qatar in the Middle East and Persian Gulf. The Actual IATA code for Dulles is IAD (see above).
|-
| JFC || ''not assigned'' || {{w|Jefferson City}} || "JFC" is an abbreviation for "Jesus Fucking Christ." JFK is John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York's main airport and one of the most famous in the world. Jefferson City is the state capital of Missouri served by the JEF airport, and also the name of several other cities.
|-
| KUL || {{w|Kuala Lumpur International Airport|Kuala Lumpur}} || {{w|Kingdom of Loathing}} || Kingdom of Loathing is an online, browser-based RPG. It contains an [http://kol.coldfront.net/thekolwiki/index.php/Elemental_International_Airport International Airport], previously lacking a three digit code. Kuala Lumpur is the capital city of Malaysia.
|-
| LAX || {{w|Los Angeles International Airport|Los Angeles}} || Las Angalas || "Las Angalas" is a "Los Angeles" with every vowel replaced with an "a" character. It's sometimes used as a joking nickname for "Los Angeles." The Frank Black song "Los Angeles" uses this pronunciation.
|-
| LOL || {{w|Derby Field|Lovelock}} || {{w|Louisville}} || "LOL" often stands for "Laughing Out Loud". Lovelock is a city in the state of Nevada. Louisville is the largest city in the state of Kentucky. The latter is served by the LJC and the SDF airport.
|-
| MDW || {{w|Midway International Airport|Chicago, IL (Midway)}} || {{w|Midway Atoll}} || Midway Atoll was the site of one of the most significant World War II Pacific naval battles and is the namesake of the Chicago airport. Its actual IATA code is MDY.
|-
| MIA || {{w|Miami International Airport|Miami}} || {{w|Colombo, Sri Lanka}} || MIA stands for "Missing In Action". It is also the stage name of a {{w|M.I.A. (rapper)|rapper of Sri Lankan heritage}}, although as a supporter of separatists from the north and east, where her family are from, she might not appreciate being associated with the southern capital. Colombo, Sri Lanka is served by three airports: CMB, RML (domestic) and BYV (domestic, seaplanes only).
The use of MIA for Colombo may be a reference to the {{w|Columbo_(character)|fictional TV detective Columbo}}, whom one might have consulted in the case of a missing person.
|-
| OMW || ''not assigned'' || {{w|Omaha}} || Eppley Airfield in East Omaha, Nebraska, has an IATA code of OMA. "OMW" is an abbreviation for "On My Way."
|-
| ORD || {{w|O'Hare International Airport|Chicago, IL (O'Hare)}} || {{w|Orlando}} || O'Hare was once known as Orchard Place/Douglas Field, hence ORD. Orlando is served by four airports: ORL, DWS, MCO and SFB
|-
| PDX || {{w|Portland International Airport|Portland}} || Pordlanx || Consider how LAX has a random "X" at the end. And "ORD" is an actual IATA code. Randall messes with "Portland" here in much the same way.
|-
| PHL || {{w|Philadelphia International Airport|Philadelphia, PA}} || {{w|Pittsburgh}} || Pittsburgh International Airport has a IATA code of PIT. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are the two largest cities in Pennsylvania and are at opposite ends of the state.
|-
| SAN || {{w|San Diego International Airport|San Diego}} || San Diego San Juan San Jose San Francisco San Antonio || San Diego International Airport has SAN; nearby airports include Montgomery Field (MYF), MCAS Miramar (NKX), NAS North Island (NZY), Brown Field (SDM), and Gillespie Field (SEE). There are several cities named San Juan or San Jose. Their airport codes are as follows: San Juan, Puerto Rico: SJU and SIG. San Juan, Argentina: UAQ. San Jose, California, USA: SJC. San Jose, Costa Rica: SJO. San Jose, Mexico: SJD. San Jose, Philippines: SJI San Francisco, CA has the airport code of SFO. San Antonio, TX has the airport code of SAT. Randall's plan to assign the code SAN to every place name beginning "San" would likely cause chaos for travellers.
|-
| SEA || {{w|Seattle–Tacoma International Airport|Seattle/Tacoma or SeaTac}} || [Indicates Water Landing] || This is presumably a reference to the fact that "SEA" could be interpreted as "Sea". Unlike some other major airports (e.g., {{w|San Francisco International Airport}} and {{w|LaGuardia Airport}}), SEA is not actually on a major body water, but missing the airport could result in a water landing. The SeaTac airport is located over a mile east of {{w|Puget Sound}}) in the city of {{w|SeaTac,_Washington}}, which is located between the cities of Seattle and Tacoma, in WA. SEA is also a common abbreviation for {{w|Southeast Asia}}.
|-
| SMH || Sapmanga || Smithfield || "SMH" often stands for "Shaking My Head". Sapmanga is a location in Papua New Guinea. There are various cities named Smithfield around the world, none of them having airports.
|-
| STL || {{w|St. Louis Lambert International Airport|St. Louis}} || {{w|Silent Hill}} || Silent Hill is a fictional city appearing in the series of video games and movies with the same name.
|-
| SWF || {{w|Stewart International Airport|Newburgh, New York}} || {{w|Sherwood Forest}} || .swf is the file extension for ShockWave Flash files. "SWF" can also stand for "Single White Female" in personal ads. In legend, {{w|Sherwood Forest}} was the location of Robin Hood's hideout, and Doncaster Sheffield Airport (IATA DSA) was formerly called Robin Hood Airport.
|-
| TBA || Tabibuga || {{w|Tribeca}} || "TBA" often stands for "To Be Announced". Tabibuga is a location in Papua New Guinea. Tribeca (original styled TriBeCa) is an area in New York City, which does not have an airport. The closest airport to it is Downtown Manhattan Heliport (JRB). ''{{w|Angie Tribeca}}'' is an American comedy television series. "TBA" is a similar indication of uncertainty to "TBC", which often stands for "To Be Confirmed".
|-
| TMI || {{w|Tumlingtar Airport| Tumlingtar}} || {{w|Turkmenistan}} International || "TMI" often stands for "Too Much Information". Tumlingtar is a city in Nepal. Turkmenistan is a country in Central Asia which has six airports: ASB, CRZ, KRW, MYP, TAZ and URL. None of them are called "Turkmenistan International", but KRW is called "Turkmenbashi International".
|-
| YYY || {{w|Mont-Joli Airport|Mont-Joli}} || {{w|Toronto}} Downtown || Mont-Joli is a city in Quebec, Canada. The small airport in downtown Toronto is {{w|Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport}}, which has an actual IATA code of YTZ. This may be a play on the below designation for the larger Toronto airport, YYZ. It could also be Randall asking "why why why" some of these codes are so odd. Aside from YTZ, most airports in Canada have IATA code designations beginning with the letter Y, as many codes were created by adding the letter Y to preexisting two letter National Weather Station city designations.
|-
| YYZ || {{w|Toronto Pearson International Airport|Toronto}} || {{w|Toronto Pearson International Airport|Toronto Pearson}} || This one is correct. The band Rush is from Toronto and named an instrumental song after the airport call sign. See {{w|YYZ (instrumental)}}
|-
|}

The title text is a pun about the acronym ''IATA'', stating it stands for '''I'''nternational '''A'''irpor'''T''' '''A'''bbreviation. This is as wrong as almost everything else here, because the real ''International Air Transport Association'' is not an organization only responsible for abbreviations in aviation. This acronym also leads to some redundancy in the title by making the true title of the comic be "International Airport Abbreviations Airport Abbreviations."

This comic could be inspired by the [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/02/indian-man-charged-over-airport-bomb-threat-says-phone-operator-misheard recent news] about an Indian businessman charged with making a bomb threat at a Mumbai airport claiming he was misheard by a telephone operator while asking for the {{w|Chhatrapati_Shivaji_International_Airport|BOM}} to {{w|Indira_Gandhi_International_Airport|DEL}} flight status.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A list with abbreviations and their meaning is shown in two columns.]

:[On top left the header reads:]
:Confused by those airport abbreviations used by your friends who fly a lot?

:Just memorize this list!

:[On top right some social media conversation is shown:]
:I'm flying into EWR tonight, then DTW tomorrow.
:[Answer (in blue, two message bubbles):]
:Ok, cool
:I definitely know what those mean without Googling

:[The list:]
:{| class="wikitable style=border:none;"|
|-
| AMD || Amsterdam
| TMI || Turkmenistan International
|-
| BAE || Beijing
| LAX || Las Angalas
|-
| ORD || Orlando
| EWR || Edwards Air Force Base
|-
| IAD || Idaho (Boise)
| PHL || Pittsburgh
|-
| JFC || Jefferson City
| SWF || Sherwood Forest
|-
| IUD || Washington Dulles
| KUL || Kingdom of Loathing
|-
| FYI || Fayetteville
| STL || Silent Hill
|-
| LOL || Louisville
| BUF || Sunnydale
|-
| ATL || Atalante
| TBA || Tribeca
|-
| HGM || Hogsmeade
| SMH || Smithfield
|-
| OMW || Omaha
| BLT || Baltimore
|-
| ANC || Ankh-Morpork
| YYY || Toronto Downtown
|-
| HSV || Hunstville
| YYZ || Toronto Pearson
|-
| SAN || San Diego
| MIA || Colombo, Sri Lanka
|-
| SAN || San Juan
| CLT || [Censored]
|-
| SAN || San Jose
| FHQ || Fhqwhgads
|-
| SAN || San Francisco
| FFS || Flagstaff Station
|-
| SAN || San Antonio
| DTF || Dartford
|-
| DWI || Delaware International
| MDW || Midway Atoll
|-
| DFW || Down for Whatever
| PDX || Pordlanx
|-
| DTW || Down to Whatever
| SEA || [Indicates Water Landing]
|-
|}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Puns]]

Talk:1815: Flag

2017-03-25T02:02:08Z

162.158.34.28:

A vote for me is a vote for bread on every table and a [https://smile.amazon.com/Off-Be-Wizard-Magic-2-0/dp/1612184715/ 73% battery level] until the end of time! [[User:Jameslucas|jameslucas]] ([[User talk:Jameslucas|" "]] / [[Special:Contributions/Jameslucas|+]]) 14:02, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

Given that the design is a screenshot, the flag could be part of an existing logo, e.g. of a U.S. sport association.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.150.82|162.158.150.82]] 14:15, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

The comic states "our NEW country" so I removed the theory it could be a new US flag.
The most recent sovereign state, according to Wikipedia, is South Sudan created in 2011 so we could assume Randall never intended to talk about a real-life country [[Special:Contributions/162.158.234.28|162.158.234.28]] 14:25, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

:It could be referring to new country proposals by techno-libertarians and the like? [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasteading] -[[User:Jules.LT|Jules.LT]] ([[User talk:Jules.LT|talk]]) 14:32, 24 March 2017 (UTC)
:: for instance https://www.cnet.com/news/asgardia-will-be-a-new-nation-in-space-and-you-can-be-a-citizen/ [[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 14:44, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

Note that official flags have an aspect ratio of 3:2 (with a few exceptions, like Switzerland and Nepal). The proposed flag including the notification bar measures 474 x 316 pixels (3*158 x 2*158 pixels), following the standard. If one removes the notification bar the resulting flag is somewhat wider than the standard. [[Special:Contributions/188.114.110.250|188.114.110.250]] 15:06, 24 March 2017 (UTC)
:Those "few" exceptions include 106 of the 189 or so sovereign states. Even that overstates the popularity of 3:2 since some nations have multiple different official flag specifications for different uses or users. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.21|162.158.62.21]] 15:29, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

According to [https://developer.apple.com/ios/human-interface-guidelines/ui-bars/status-bars/ Apple's own documentation], this kind of bar is referred to as a "status bar", and not a "notification bar". --[[User:Jonhaugen|Jonhaugen]] ([[User talk:Jonhaugen|talk]]) 15:28, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

:Key word: Apple. Notification bar is a term used more commonly in Android, largely from the time Android had a pull down notification tray and iOS didn't. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.28|162.158.34.28]] 02:02, 25 March 2017 (UTC)

Since the screenshot is part of the editing process, I don't think this can be interpreted as a mistake. It probably is entirely deliberate. The joke relies on the fact that most of the times when this bar appears, it is a side effect of the way the relevant data (the rest of the image) has been obtained, rather than part of the information itself. Actually, not only can the bar be ignored most of the time, but this is so often true that some people may not pay any attention to it at all. The committee's mistake might not have been that they failed to understand that Randall actually meant for the bar to be there, they might have not noticed it at all (even more likely if they looked at the image in full screen on a similar device). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.184|141.101.88.184]] 16:08, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

The real reason for firing him would most probably be that he made the committee and any decision making bodies up the chain look unprofessional. He may have missed it or intentionally trolled them, but it seems the status bar made it through the committee and all the way to becoming official without getting noticed. That sort of publicity will result in heads rolling, starting with the easiest target, the designer (depending on the state maybe literally, but if he was just fired it's probably not that type of system).--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.102.76|162.158.102.76]] 18:07, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

What kind of barbaric country still relies on 3G? It's like we're going back to the stone age!

I think this new flag represents a part of USA (3 states) that has either split with the rest due to the current president or are the three states that was left after the other 47 left. This makes sense with Randall's views of Trump and the colour stars and stripes is so clearly a reference to the Stars and Stripes also given Randall is from the states and as he was asked to make the flag. Maybe it is Massechusets, Conneticut and New York that had formed an independent country? ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:30, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

Is the notification bar a standard one for some OS or common system, or has Randall invented it? Probably not an interesting comment, but I'm curious if that layout actually exists. Would seem an awful waste of screen real-estate devoting a third of the bar to an almost meaningless "signal strength" metric -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.109|162.158.154.109]] 20:29, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1815: Flag

2017-03-25T02:01:27Z

162.158.34.28:

A vote for me is a vote for bread on every table and a [https://smile.amazon.com/Off-Be-Wizard-Magic-2-0/dp/1612184715/ 73% battery level] until the end of time! [[User:Jameslucas|jameslucas]] ([[User talk:Jameslucas|" "]] / [[Special:Contributions/Jameslucas|+]]) 14:02, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

Given that the design is a screenshot, the flag could be part of an existing logo, e.g. of a U.S. sport association.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.150.82|162.158.150.82]] 14:15, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

The comic states "our NEW country" so I removed the theory it could be a new US flag.
The most recent sovereign state, according to Wikipedia, is South Sudan created in 2011 so we could assume Randall never intended to talk about a real-life country [[Special:Contributions/162.158.234.28|162.158.234.28]] 14:25, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

:It could be referring to new country proposals by techno-libertarians and the like? [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasteading] -[[User:Jules.LT|Jules.LT]] ([[User talk:Jules.LT|talk]]) 14:32, 24 March 2017 (UTC)
:: for instance https://www.cnet.com/news/asgardia-will-be-a-new-nation-in-space-and-you-can-be-a-citizen/ [[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 14:44, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

Note that official flags have an aspect ratio of 3:2 (with a few exceptions, like Switzerland and Nepal). The proposed flag including the notification bar measures 474 x 316 pixels (3*158 x 2*158 pixels), following the standard. If one removes the notification bar the resulting flag is somewhat wider than the standard. [[Special:Contributions/188.114.110.250|188.114.110.250]] 15:06, 24 March 2017 (UTC)
:Those "few" exceptions include 106 of the 189 or so sovereign states. Even that overstates the popularity of 3:2 since some nations have multiple different official flag specifications for different uses or users. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.21|162.158.62.21]] 15:29, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

According to [https://developer.apple.com/ios/human-interface-guidelines/ui-bars/status-bars/ Apple's own documentation], this kind of bar is referred to as a "status bar", and not a "notification bar". --[[User:Jonhaugen|Jonhaugen]] ([[User talk:Jonhaugen|talk]]) 15:28, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

:Key word: Apple. Notification bar is a term used more commonly in Android, largely from the time Android had a pull down notification tray and iOS didn't.

Since the screenshot is part of the editing process, I don't think this can be interpreted as a mistake. It probably is entirely deliberate. The joke relies on the fact that most of the times when this bar appears, it is a side effect of the way the relevant data (the rest of the image) has been obtained, rather than part of the information itself. Actually, not only can the bar be ignored most of the time, but this is so often true that some people may not pay any attention to it at all. The committee's mistake might not have been that they failed to understand that Randall actually meant for the bar to be there, they might have not noticed it at all (even more likely if they looked at the image in full screen on a similar device). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.184|141.101.88.184]] 16:08, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

The real reason for firing him would most probably be that he made the committee and any decision making bodies up the chain look unprofessional. He may have missed it or intentionally trolled them, but it seems the status bar made it through the committee and all the way to becoming official without getting noticed. That sort of publicity will result in heads rolling, starting with the easiest target, the designer (depending on the state maybe literally, but if he was just fired it's probably not that type of system).--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.102.76|162.158.102.76]] 18:07, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

What kind of barbaric country still relies on 3G? It's like we're going back to the stone age!

I think this new flag represents a part of USA (3 states) that has either split with the rest due to the current president or are the three states that was left after the other 47 left. This makes sense with Randall's views of Trump and the colour stars and stripes is so clearly a reference to the Stars and Stripes also given Randall is from the states and as he was asked to make the flag. Maybe it is Massechusets, Conneticut and New York that had formed an independent country? ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:30, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

Is the notification bar a standard one for some OS or common system, or has Randall invented it? Probably not an interesting comment, but I'm curious if that layout actually exists. Would seem an awful waste of screen real-estate devoting a third of the bar to an almost meaningless "signal strength" metric -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.109|162.158.154.109]] 20:29, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

1747: Spider Paleontology

2017-03-17T09:34:06Z

162.158.34.28: Confusing wording.

{{comic
| number = 1747
| date = October 17, 2016
| title = Spider Paleontology
| image = spider_paleontology.png
| titletext = Whenever you see a video of birds doing something weird, remember: Birds are a small subset of dinosaurs, so the weirdness of birds is a small subset of the weirdness of dinosaurs.
}}

==Explanation==
This Monday comic was the first in a series of two comics that continued in the next release [[1748: Future Archaeology]] on Wednesday. Both comic in this series have titles of a noun followed by a field of research. It was a so far unused release schedule and it was the first time in six years two related comics were released in the same week. See more under the [[:Category:Time traveling Sphere|Time traveling Sphere]] series.

A {{w|time travel|time-traveler}} (the black floating energy Sphere) visits the present day from the far future. {{w|Spiders}} are the Sphere civilization's current craze, just as {{w|dinosaurs}} are currently our craze. The {{w|Jurassic Park}} media franchise began with the {{w|Jurassic Park (film)|first film}} in 1993 and the year before the release of this comic in 2016, the fourth movie {{w|Jurassic World}} were released with at least {{w|Jurassic_Park#Fifth_film_.282018.29|one more film}} in development. We also have {{w|Dinosaur World (theme parks)|theme parks}} and kids dressing up as dinosaurs.

The time-traveler arrives in the presence of [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]], and tells them who it is and why it is here, to see spiders which they learned about through {{w|fossils}} (See the explanation of the next comic about the strange fact that it speaks English). Megan points it towards a spider sitting in its web; the Sphere is awestruck to see the object of its obsession in the living flesh - but seeing it sitting in it's web the Sphere asks why it has been caught. And Megan realizes that it when only knowing about spiders from fossils, it could come as a big surprise that the spiders sit in their webs like this. {{w|Spider web|Spider silk}} does in fact {{w|Spider#Fossil_record|fossilize in amber}} (and most fossils of spiders are also found in {{w|amber}} due to the soft body of spiders which do not easily {{w|petrify}}). But the reason we clearly know that these threads is made of silk would be the spider's web is because we can compare fossils with the spiders of today. If not for the fact that we knew about spiders' webs in advance it would be hard to say if we would have made the connection from the amber fossils. The Sphere is thus surprised to see the spider in a web since they had not understood any possible hint of spider webs in the fossil records, from which the Sphere's civilization gathered all their knowledge of spiders. Spiders have been on Earth at {{w|Spider#Evolution|least for 380 million years}} and are still thriving and more than 40,000 species are known.

We, with our current knowledge, know that webs are an essential part of a spider's life. Making sense of a spider's life is practically impossible without including their webs. However, the future-people have done so until now; discovering how wrong they are is bound to become an intense experience for them.

Megan immediately connects the fact that the Sphere did not even know about spider web to our current understanding of dinosaurs: If a future civilization think they understand spiders based on fossil, while missing something as essential as their web, what are the human civilization missing about dinosaurs? Cueball quickly catches on, and Megan asks if they can borrow the time-machine to experience their own revelations about dinosaurs just like the revelation the Sphere has just had about spiders.

The title text calls back to one of [[Randall|Randall's]] favorite facts (see [[1211: Birds and Dinosaurs]]) - that {{w|birds}} are technically part of the {{w|clade}} ''Dinosauria''. Birds do lots of weird stuff - like [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eakKfY5aHmY starlings flocking], [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7QZnwKqopo the dances of birds of paradise], [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjE0Kdfos4Y lyrebird mimicry] or [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii_w8og8RXg petrels puking stomach oil]. Randall says that for every time a birds does something weird then it is likely that dinosaurs would have had equally strange behaviors, and birds are only a small subset of all dinosaurs. So there would have been even more strange behaviors among the dinosaurs than among the present days birds. It is, however, basically impossible to tell from the fossil record. All we know is that dinosaurs had features such as display feathers (like on a {{w|Peafowl}} (a descendant of dinosaurs), {{w|neck frill|neck frills}}, and crests (like on the {{w|Dimetrodon}}, which lived before the dinosaur with which it is not related) which likely played a role in mating and territorial shows.

It is unclear what the Sphere is. Since it states that the spiders they know of is from fossils from your planet, it seems likely that the Sphere is neither human nor from our planet. So most likely they are a space traveling species. Hence it seems unlikely that they are humans. The appearance as a sphere may either be an indication that they did not travel in person but rather only looks out at the past through the energy sphere, or it may be that these aliens are actually spheres, floating as energized objects in space. In that case this is an actual alien floating in front of Megan and Cueball. The Spheres civilization did already have the spider craze before they invented time travel. It seems like the first the Sphere decided to use time travel for was to go back to see real spiders on Earth. This also tells us that they are from so far into the future that there are no spiders left. Of course with climate changes etc. going on, that may not necessarily be too far into the future. As long as the human race (or knowledge of spiders) has also disappeared from Earth. But since the Sphere it self tells us that it comes from a distant future, the setting is not related to how fast humans and spiders becomes extinct. As is seen in the next follow up comic, there is very little left of our current civilization, and no records of spiders and their webs.

This is the second comic with special mentioning of a science related directly to spiders, the first being [[1135: Arachnoneurology]].

In this comic Randall manages to combine no less than three of his favorite recurring subjects with [[:Category:Time travel|time travel]], [[:Category:Spiders|spiders]] and, of course, [[:Category:Dinosaurs|dinosaurs]].

==Transcript==
:[The Sphere, a time-traveler depicted as a solid floating black energy sphere surrounded by six outwardly-curved segments) seems to have materialized in front of Megan and Cueball who is in the right part of the panel facing left towards it. The Sphere looks like this except in the zoom in from panel two. A voice emanates from the Sphere.]
:Sphere: I'm here from the distant future!
:Megan: Cool! What for?
:Sphere: ''Spiders!''

:[A close-up of the Sphere, still depicted as a black sphere, but not perfectly round at this zoom level and also clearly with some white dots in the dark area. It is also now surrounded by seven (rather than six) narrow rays with irregular dots between the rays. Megan answers it from off-panel.]
:Sphere: We've learned about your planet's spiders from fossils.
:Sphere: There's a whole spider craze. We have spider theme parks, spider movies, spider costumes...
:Sphere: Such beautiful animals!
:Megan (off-panel): I guess...

:[Same setting as in the first panel but Megan is pointing left past the Sphere.]
:Sphere: Now we've got time travel, so I'm here to see one for myself!
:Megan: Sure! There's one over there!

:[The Sphere floats over a leafless branch sticking out of the ground. A spider web is strung between the left border of the panel (four spokes) and the branch (three spokes). A spider (almost as large as the Sphere) sits in the center of the web. Megan answers it from off-panel.]
:Sphere: ''Woowwww!''
:Sphere: What's that giant net it's caught in?
:Megan (off-panel): You mean its web?
:Sphere: Its what?

:[Same setting as in the first panel.]
:Megan: Oh, right, fossils. So you wouldn't know about...

:[In a frame-less panel only Megan is shown facing left while she ponders. Beat panel.]
:Megan: ...

:[Again a scene similar to the first.]
:Megan: Oh my God. Dinosaurs must have been ''so weird''.
:Cueball: Holy crap, yeah.
:Megan: Listen, can we borrow your time machine?

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Time traveling Sphere]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Time travel]]
[[Category:Spiders]]
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]
[[Category:Animals]]

1787: Voice Commands

2017-02-07T19:35:39Z

162.158.34.28: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1787
| date = January 18, 2017
| title = Voice Commands
| image = voice_commands.png
| titletext = Dvorak words may sound hard to pronounce, but studies show they actually put less stress on the vocal chords.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic [[Cueball]] has shown [[Ponytail]] something relevant to her on his smartphone and she asks if he can send it to her. He agrees but then says something completely incomprehensible to Ponytail, but obviously his phone understands and sends the message with a beep.

The caption explains that he was speaking using the {{w|Dvorak_Simplified_Keyboard|Dvorak keyboard layout}} but on a normal {{w|QWERTY}} keyboard layout (Dvorak, named after its creator August Dvorak, was designed to replace the de facto standard QWERTY keyboard layout in English-speaking countries). The Dvorak layout was designed in the belief that it would significantly increase typing speeds over the QWERTY layout. This can be seen, among other ways, by the popular misconception that the placement of letters in the QWERTY standard were deliberately organized to limit typing speed in accommodation to the tendency of original mechanical typewriters to jam if two adjacent keys were pressed in quick succession. (In fact, the original QWERTY layout was designed to help type American Morse code and subsequently optimized a bit for different users [http://hackaday.com/2016/03/15/the-origin-of-qwerty/], [http://kanji.zinbun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~yasuoka/publications/PreQWERTY.html].)

This fact was one of the uncomfortable truths from [[561: Well]], and jokes centered on this have become a [[:Category:Dvorak|recurrent theme]] on xkcd.

Even as other arguably better layouts were proposed over the years since the introduction of the QWERTY keyboard, QWERTY remains the standard due to widespread use.

Using Dvorak for speech to text, however, makes no sense whatsoever as there is no keyboard, real, virtual, or otherwise, involved in speaking. Even the virtual keyboard (usually QWERTY layout but often changeable) included in most phones and tablet devices is not used when speaking to the phone.

The sentence Cueball tells his phone translates to "Okay Google send a text" - he says it as if he were typing the sentence on a Dvorak layout with the keyboard set to a QWERTY layout. How such words would be pronounced is a mystery, as the letters in the words are merely substituted with others with no regard to phonetics; without standardized pronunciations, a speech-to-text program would be useless, it may be expected to {{w|Georgian phonetics|sounds like pseudo-Georgian gibberish}}. To add to the confusion, one of the words in Cueball's sentence includes a semi-colon (which may be pronounced as a stop) as one of its letters.

The title text is a reference to the fact that many users of Dvorak keyboards claim they may be hard to learn, but they are more movement efficient and put less stress on your fingers due to less movement. For example, see the link at http://www.dvzine.org/zine/10-11.html . This makes little sense in the scenario set up by the comic, as speaking gibberish using oddly placed vowels would be equally difficult, if not in fact harder, on the vocal cords. The use in the title text of 'vocal chords' rather than 'vocal cords' may be a reference to a stenograph (a typewriter used by a court stenographer) using multiple keys pressed at the same time, called a 'chord', to produce a single letter.

Using a Dvorak layout on a smartphone (for actual typing, not voice commands) is possible, but the very features that make it desirable in a physical touch-typing environment are drawbacks on a swipe-enabled keyboard. A placement designed to alternate a typist's left and right hands requires the finger of a swipist to travel back and forth across the keyboard more often. Fitting commonly-used letters onto the typist's home row reduces finger movement but makes many words the swipist enters indistinguishable. On a QWERTY swipe keyboard, four English words can be entered by swiping right to left from P to T: "pot", "pit", "put", and "pout"; however, setting the layout to Dvorak causes this to happen with many more common sets of words.

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail is looking at Cueball facing her, and he looks down at the smartphone he is holding in his hand.]
:Ponytail: Can you text it to me?
:Cueball: Sure!
:Cueball: ''Svat ussupd ;dlh a kdbk''
:Ponytail: ...What?
:Phone: ''*Beep*''

:[Caption under the panel:]
:Setting my phone's speech recognition to Dvorak was a pain at first, but it's more efficient in the long run.

==Trivia==
*Dvorak was also mentioned in [[977: Map Projections]], and it seems likely that Randall took a look at that comic before making [[1784: Bad Map Projection: Liquid Resize]] which where released the week before this comic.
**So it is realistic that the reason this comic came out now, was because Randall was thus reminded about his aversion to people advocating for Dvorak enabling people to type faster than on QWERTY.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Smartphones]]
[[Category:Dvorak]]

1795: All You Can Eat

2017-02-07T19:23:39Z

162.158.34.28: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1795
| date = February 6, 2017
| title = All You Can Eat
| image = all_you_can_eat.png
| titletext = After my absent-mindedness resulted in a bad posterboard-related stomachache, I learned to do the sign-making place last.
}}

==Explanation==
An all-you-can-eat {{w|buffet}} is when a restaurant will charge you once for entry and then continuously serve you more food at no additional cost until you have eaten all-you-can-eat. Part of the "[[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]]" series, this comic shows [[Randall]] wishes to prepend "all-you-can-eat" to random stores. With the exception of the pet store, these stores do not sell food, so the very idea of eating their product would be ridiculous[[[285|''citation needed'']]]. However, this is what Randall's stunt makes the stores he defaces seem to advertise. Most people would not seriously consider eating the products these stores sell even with the signs suggesting they should, as it is just a monumentally stupid idea[[[285|''citation needed'']]].

In the title text, Randall seems to have fallen for his own prank. After he puts the "all-you-can-eat" sign onto the signmakers' place, he proceeds to heed his own sign literally and eat the posterboards that he is supposed to make signs from. To remind himself not to make the same mistake again, he tells himself to "do the sign-making place last."

Note that some pets are considered food in some cultures; rabbits are commonly kept as pets as well as served as food, dogs are consumed in some areas in eastern Asia, guinea pigs in South America and Africa, and [http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/alf/images/9/92/Cat_sandwich.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20110128060130 some fictional characters are known for eating cats]. Even more normally, a cat owner that wants to buy an "all you can eat" bird feast for their cat would be happy with this last store. Aside from pets, pet stores also sell pet food, and while frowned upon by some, it is common practice to give human nutrition supplements to pets and vice versa. Some animal snacks are considered very tasty by many people, and there even exist several brands of snacks designed to be eaten both by people and their pets so that the owners could feel somehow closer to their beloved companion. Premium pet foods are made to standards that are no worse than standards for human food, so eating them poses no health risks in the short term - long term, most pet diets would fail to deliver right balance of nutrients needed by humans.

It should also be noted that sometimes "all-you-can-eat" is used to mean "unlimited usage". An all-you-can-eat data plan, for example, is another way to say unlimited data. If this definition of the word were used, all-you-can-eat would mean "unlimited copies of our product for a one time fee".

Also, in one episode of his television show, Soupy Sales is informed that his dog has stolen a tire and eaten part of it.

It is not really possible to read the obscured part of the first two signs, although it is pretty clear that the first and last letters in the first sign are A and k. And also since the A is taller than the white sign, this first letter must be larger than the others which do not show above the white sign. There could be room for anything from 8 to many more letters hidden as it can be seen in the second line below that the I's take up much less space than the other letters. But from the letters below it would be likely there were 9 (maybe including a space) if no I's were used resulting in a word or two like this "A _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ k".

The last sign is though clearly readable and it says "Kevin's Pet Store". There actually exists a [http://kevinspetshopcom.weebly.com/ web page with the name "Kevin's Pet Shop"], supposedly located in Texas, but there is very limited information on the page. See more about the use of Kevin in xkcd in the [[#Kevin|trivia]] below.

An all-you-can-eat hair salon actually makes sense... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapsalon

==Transcript==
:[The comic shows the facades of four stores next to each other on a street, with the sidewalk shown in front of them. To the top of each store's name there has been appended white signs. Three of the white signs partially cover the name part of the sign above three of the stores, but the fourth sign is placed entirely above the text of the third store. Thus that white sign's top is higher up than the building's.]

:[First store from the left has one small rectangular section next to the door and then a larger window. The first section may be a poster with information about the store. It could also be a small window. Through the large window (or on it) two rectangular signs can be seen with unreadable text. There are also three half circles at the bottom of the large window, possibly chairs or tires on display. On the normal sized door there hangs an open/closed sign, but no text is visible. On the stores sign the top line of text, likely with the name of the store, is obscured by the white sign so most of the letters are completely covered. Less than half of the first capital letter and ditto for the last letter is visible. It looks like the first letter is an "A", and the last a "k".]
:White sign: All-you-can-eat
:Store sign: Discount Tires

:[Second store from the left has two posters over each other, the top one with unreadable text, the bottom a picture of a person with messy black hair, seen from the torso and up. Next to this is a double door with large windows from below the middle and up near the top. Next to the door there is a small window. On the stores sign the top line of text, likely with the name of the store, is completely obscured by the white sign. This line is shorter than the white sign, but the letters are taller, so top and bottom of the letters can be seen. But it is not easy to guess any letters.]
:White sign: All-you-can-eat
:Store sign: Hair Salon

:[Third store from the left has two posters over each other, but the lower poster is smaller and more to the right. Both has unreadable text, and the top one also some kind of image with two tilted rectangles. Similarly there are three signs above each other with different size and text on the right side of the store. Between them is a large open door. Wider than the double doors of store two, but there is no sign of the doors. Inside the store there are two signs, one hanging down from two rods from the ceiling, both with unreadable text. The one from the ceiling is in the center the other is partly obscured by the door frame to the left. Left and right there are two rectangular structures, which both goes behind the frame. The left is taller. In the middle there is one broad but low rectangular structure with another higher rectangle on top, which does not go to either side of the one below. The white sign on this store is slightly tilted, and most of it is above the top of the store, and thus also almost completely above the store sign. Only the top of the first and last letter in the last word in the top line is touched by the sign.]
:White sign: All-you-can-eat
:Store sign: Lumber and
:Store sign: Flooring Depot

:[Fourth store from the left has a window to the left. Behind the window is a flat surface on which two rectangular structures are standing on their long sides. Over the lowest to the left there is sign with unreadable text. Below the window there is a thins sign with more text. The normal sized door has a window from below the middle and up. There are three several signs up the left sign, and possible another three small signs at the bottom of the window. The top right corner has a curved line around the corner. No text is visible on the door. Next to the door is another square. It could be a window of a place to post things. There are one large posters to the left with unreadable text and to the top right another smaller white rectangle. Below along the bottom of the square there are three small rectangles shown in full, and two more is only partly shown, which could indicate that it is a window and that they are inside the store. On the stores sign the top line of text, with the name of the store, is obscured by the white sign. The name is just a bit longer than the white sign, and as the letters are a bit higher than in store two it can be deduced that it says "Kevin's".]
:White sign: All-you-can-eat
:Store sign: Pet Store

:[Caption below the frame:]
:My hobby: Going out at night and adding "all-you-can-eat" to every store's sign

==Trivia==
===Kevin===
*The name Kevin has been used twice before this comic and quite recently.
**That makes this comic the third with a Kevin in only 77 comics:
***In [[1719: Superzoom]], Kevin he worked in a shop that sold superzoom cameras.
***In [[1729: Migrating Geese]], Kevin was the different goose
***In [[1795: All You Can Eat]] (this one), Kevin has a pet shop, with his name in the shops name.
**In the previous 1718 comics there seems to have been no use of Kevin except when referring to real persons like:
***Actors [[1412: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|Kevin]] [[599: Apocalypse|Bacon]] or [[1555: Exoplanet Names 2|Costner]]
***[[1392: Dominant Players|Chess players]] Gariett and Durant.
**So maybe Kevin is Randall's new go to name when he just needs one!
***This has also been discussed in the Geese comic, see the last entry in the [[1729:_Migrating_Geese#Table of labels|table]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Food]]