explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2069: Wishlist

2018-11-07T08:48:15Z

162.158.59.190: /* Explanation */ explain with brief summaries of characters

{{comic
| number = 2069
| date = November 7, 2018
| title = Wishlist
| image = wishlist.png
| titletext = Disappointed that they caved to fan pressure and went with Ruth Bader Ginsburg over Elena Kagan.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Please only mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
''{{w|Super Smash Brothers}}'' (titled as ''Super Smash Bros.'') is a crossover fighting game series published by Nintendo, primarily featuring Nintendo characters. As of publish date, there are 77 playable characters across the 5 games in the series. Starting with the third game, ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'', characters from third-party franchises (non-Nintendo) have been made available.

The comic lists 16 "characters" that Randall wishes were made available in ''Super Smash Bros.'', ranging from plausible playable characters, to the absurd.

Below is a list of the characters mentioned:

; Mario / Luigi hybrid
: {{w|Mario}} and {{w|Luigi}} are characters in the {{w|Super Mario Bros.}} series, one of Nintendo's flagship franchises. They are both playable characters in ''Super Smash Bros.'' A hybrid of these two characters would be interesting.

; The SkiFree monster
: {{w|SkiFree}} is a computer game for Windows released in 1991. The player controls a skier trying to avoid obstacles. After the end of a full run, a monster (possibly the Abominable Snowman) appears, and tries to catch the player.

; Siri
: {{w|Siri}} is the name given to Apple's personal virtual assistant for iOS, macOS, and its other operating systems. It is unclear how Siri would be a playable character in ''Super Smash Bros.''

; Ellie from ''Up''
: Ellie is one of the characters in ''{{w|Up (2009 film)|Up}}'', a 2009 Pixar film. In the beginning of the film, Ellie passes away, leaving her husband Carl alone.

; Zordon
: {{w|Zordon}} is a fictional character from the ''Power Rangers'' franchise who serves as the Rangers' mentor.

; Clippy
: Clippit, commonly nicknamed {{w|Clippy}}, was one of the Office Assistants for Microsoft Office (versions 1997 to 2003). It was an intelligent user interface that assisted users. Clippy (and the other Office Assistants) was negatively received by users, and was eventually removed in Office 2007.

; The Sarlaac
: The {{w|Sarlaac}} is an alien monster that lived in {{w|Tatooine}} in the ''{{w|Star Wars}}'' universe. It is most prominently shown in the film ''{{w|Return of the Jedi}}'', when the main heroes are sentenced to death by being dropped into the Sarlaac's mouth.

; InstallShield Wizard

; Mr. Clean
: {{w|Mr. Clean}} is a brand and mascot for Proctor & Gamble used for all-purpose cleaners and melamine foam cleaners.

; Comet Cursor

; Beto O'Rourke
: {{w|Beto O'Rourke}} is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. Representative for Texas's 16th congressional district since 2013. He was the nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2018 Texas U.S. Senate election, running against Republican incumbent Ted Cruz. O'Rourke received much media attention leading up to the election, with many considering the election abnormally competitive.

; The Monopoly boot
: The "boot" is one of the classic pewter tokens from the board game ''{{w|Monopoly (game)|Monopoly}}''. In 2017, the boot token was retired from the standard version of ''Monopoly''.

; Lot's wife
: Lot and his wife are characters from the book of Genesis in the Bible. According to the book of Genesis, Lot and his family had to {{w|Sodom_and_Gomorrah#In_the_Book_of_Genesis|flee the city of Sodom}}, which was being judged by God for its wickedness. They were commanded to flee and not look back at the city. However, Lot's wife looked back at the city and was turned into a pillar of salt. It is unclear which version of Lot's wife Randall wishes to be playable in the game.

; D.B. Cooper
: {{w|D.B. Cooper}} is the name popularly used to refer to an unidentified man who hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft on November 24, 1971. He extorted $200,000 in ransom and parachuted out of the plane. His identity and whereabouts have never been discovered.

; The Blair Witch
: The Blair Witch is the titular character of the ''{{w|The Blair Witch Project}}'', a 1999 "found footage" supernatural horror film. The film became one of the most successful independent films of all time.

; Mavis Beacon
: ''{{w|Mavis Beacon}}'', properly titled as ''Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing'', is a software program used to teach touch typing. However, many have mistakenly thought that "Mavis Beacon" is an actual person.

Super Smash Brothers is a series of fighting games made by Nintendo, where characters from across nearly all games in its history (along with a handful of characters made by other companies, such as Sonic the Hedgehog and Solid Snake) fight one another. Naturally, fans have suggested new characters to add for approximately as long as the games have been in existence, and few of these suggestions have been implemented. In this comic, Randall makes a number of suggestions, which are outlandish even by the standards of such suggestions.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A bulleted list of items:]
*Mario/Luigi hybrid
*The SkiFree monster
*Siri
*Ellie from ''Up''
*Zordon
*Clippy
*The Sarlaac
*The InstallShield Wizard
*Mr. Clean
*Comet Cursor
*Beto O'Rourke
*The Monopoly boot
*Lot's wife
*D.B. Cooper
*The Blair Witch
*Mavis Beacon

:[Caption below the frame:]
:Super Smash Brothers never did end up adding anyone to my wishlist.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Video games]]

2069: Wishlist

2018-11-07T08:08:35Z

162.158.59.190: /* Transcript */ intro transcript

2066: Ballot Selfies

2018-10-31T18:38:21Z

162.158.59.190: /* Transcript */ copyedit

{{comic
| number = 2066
| date = October 31, 2018
| title = Ballot Selfies
| image = ballot_selfies.png
| titletext = There were actually some good reasons for those laws, but IMO they now do more harm than good. Which raises a question: If there's a ballot measure to strike them down, how can I resist the urge to take a picture of my "yes" vote?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Any comments about the "more harm than good" mentioned in the title text? Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic was published six days prior to the {{w|United States elections, 2018|2018 United States general elections}}, also called {{w|United States midterm election|midterm elections}}, because they happen in the middle of two presidential elections, two years before and after. At the time, the [[xkcd]] header still provided a link to [https://www.vote.org/ vote.org], a website that helps US citizens with essential voting issues, like how to register or how to find their polling locations.

In the United States, "{{w|ballot selfie}}s" refers to the practice of taking a picture of oneself with a completed ballot. These have been declared illegal in many states, as proof that someone has voted a certain way can enable the buying or violent coercion of votes.

As [[Ponytail]] is aware of this law, she believes she has identified a solution wherein she will make an {{w|oil painting}} of her voting rather than taking a {{w|photograph}}. A painting being more of an artistic endeavor that doesn't have to faithfully record all aspects of the image, it may well be valid both on grounds of {{w|freedom of speech}} as well as not being a verbatim record of her vote. Of course, this may lead to additional problems. If she intends to paint the portrait herself, of herself (i.e. a {{w|self-portrait}}) casting her vote, it would be very difficult and time consuming to attempt to do that, especially without a mirror, which she apparently doesn't have with her and which is generally not standard issue in voting booths. She could also try to recruit someone else to do the painting, not knowing the level of their artistic talent, however, usually only the person casting the vote is allowed in the booth, and they are expected to close the curtain or otherwise ensure no outside person, like the painter, can view the vote casting act.

While [[Hairbun]] and [[White Hat]] are simply standing in line, [[Megan]] can be seen using a mobile phone - potentially checking for optimal Selfie Filters.

In many US states, changes to state law can be made through the {{w|Initiatives and referendums in the United States|initiative and referendum}} process. The title text refers to the legality of taking a ballot selfie whilst voting against the law against ballot selfies.

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

:[Megan, Ponytail, Cueball, White Hat, and Hairbun are standing in a line with Hairbun in front. All are facing forward to the right except Cueball, who is looking to his left at Ponytail. Megan holds a phone in her hand while Ponytail carries an easel under her left arm and a paintbrush in her right hand.]
:Ponytail: Ballot selfies are illegal in this state, so to immortalize my vote I'm doing an oil painting in the voting booth.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Politics]]

2064: I'm a Car

2018-10-28T03:10:44Z

162.158.59.190: /* Explanation */ Is randall a car?

{{comic
| number = 2064
| date = October 26, 2018
| title = I'm a Car
| image = im_a_car.png
| titletext = I'm the proud parent of an honor student, and the person driving me is proud, too!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Looks complete or mention here why this explanation isn't. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic was released eleven days before the {{w|United States midterm election|United States midterm elections}} on {{w|United States elections, 2018|Tuesday, November 6, 2018}} and even the [[Design_of_xkcd.com#Header|header text]] at the top of the xkcd page had changed a few days before by showing a link to [https://www.vote.org/ vote.org] to help US citizens to register and finding their polling places. [[Randall]] uses a neutral way to encourage people to use the right to rule their governmental representatives. Only before the {{w|United States presidential election, 2016|presidential election, 2016}} he took sides to one party as done in the comic [[1756: I'm With Her]].

This comic shows a car with a {{w|bumper sticker}}, which is generally a thin rectangle piece of plastic with a message on one side and adhesive on the other side in order to stick to a car. This allows the owner of the car to display a message they want to present to whoever is driving behind them or in their vicinity. Bumper stickers are usually used to express a viewpoint, whether personal or political, held by the owner or driver of the car. This comic makes literal the ones that include or allude to the personal pronoun "I" and its variations, i.e. {{w|Grammatical person|first person singular}} statements. Of course the intent is that "I" is referring to the person who put the bumper sticker on the car, but as the sticker is attached to the car the more literal interpretation is that "I" is referring to the car. So the humor is derived by the notion that the car itself is making these statements. (On an even more meta level, the comic could be interpreted as saying that the person who wrote the words in the comic, i.e. [[Randall]], is saying that he is a car.)

The bumper sticker on the car in the comic is a variation of a sticker used to both encourage people to vote, as well as express their political position: "I'm a ___, and I vote" (where the blank is traditionally filled in with "Democrat" or "Republican" or some other political affiliation). However here it is attributed to an automobile which is not [https://resources.lawinfo.com/civil-rights/right-to-vote/what-are-the-requirements-to-be-eligible-to-v.html capable of voting].

The comic could be an indirect reference to the growing "intelligence" of {{w|self-driving cars}}, such that one day they might have the intellect to communicate, vote, and engage in other self-motivated activities. See ‘{{w|Sally (short story)|Sally}}’ by {{w|Isaac Asimov}}.

The title text seems to be another [https://www.positivepromotions.com/proud-parent-of-an-honor-student-bumper-sticker-personalization-available/p/os-3360/ typical message] on a bumper sticker, saying that the driver is a "Proud Parent Of An Honor Student". However, this sticker is a bit longer, since it continues to state that "the person driving me is proud, too". Thus once again it is the car who is the proud parent. And thus maybe it is a car that is the honor student?

==Transcript==
:[The bottom right rear end of a car is shown with a bumper sticker next to the unreadable license plate.]
:I'm a car
:''and I vote''

==Trivia==
*This is the third comic displaying a bumper sticker, after the comics [[80: My Other Car]] and [[1033: Formal Logic]] that came out in 2006 and 2012 respectively.
*Bumper stickers also are mentioned as a future milestone for self-driving cars in [[1925: Self-Driving Car Milestones]].
*Randall also sells bumper stickers with the word "OPINIONS!" on them at the [https://store.xkcd.com/products/opinions-bumper-sticker xkcd-store].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Politics]]

2062: Barnard's Star

2018-10-22T18:19:32Z

162.158.59.190: /* Transcript */ add

{{comic
| number = 2062
| date = October 22, 2018
| title = Barnard's Star
| image = barnards_star.png
| titletext = "Ok, team. We have a little under 10,000 years before closest approach to figure out how to destroy Barnard's Star." "Why, does it pose a threat to the Solar System?" "No. It's just an asshole."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Please edit the explanation below and only mention here why it isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[File:Near-stars-past-future-en.svg|thumb|300px|Distances to the nearest stars from 20,000 years ago until 80,000 years in the future]]
{{w|Barnard's Star}} is a very-low-mass red dwarf about 6 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of {{w|Ophiuchus}}. It is the fourth-nearest known individual star to the {{w|Sun}} (after the three components of the Alpha Centauri system) and the closest star in the Northern Celestial Hemisphere. It is a {{w|Red dwarf}} with a mass of 0.144 Solar masses and it is 7–12 billion years old. Because of this low mass the gravitational force in the core is much lower and thus the fusion rate is far smaller than in the core of the Sun. In fact this star is so dim, even though it's one of the nearest, it can't be seen by the naked eye. The low fusion rate also means that the lifespan of small stars is much longer. While the Sun might last about 10 billion years and huge stars only a few hundred million years, a small Red dwarf has a lifespan of about a trillion years.

Barnard's Star is the star with the greatest apparent motion in the sky. Apparent motion is motion in the sky other than that caused by earth's rotation. Barnard's star is both very close to the sun (as these things go) and moving at a speed of more than 140 km/s toward the Sun. It will make its closest approach to the Sun in approximately 10,000 years, at a distance within about 3.75 light-years.

The image on the right shows different stars near the Sun over 100,000 years and it can be seen that none of them are getting closer than 3 light-years. This is a safe distance to our Solar System and the stars will not influence the orbits of the planets or smaller bodies. It's also obvious that much closer approaches never have happened since the Solar System formed 4.5 billion years ago because otherwise the nearly circular orbits of the planets in the same plane wouldn't be possible.

The title text emphasises that this close approach will not be any hazard to the Solar System, but someone is envious of the long lifetime of Barnard's Star and annoyed by its unpleasant behavior.

=Transcript=
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A black sky is shown with a yellow spot near the bottom, left from the center. Three smaller red spots at the diagonal from top left to bottom right indicate a moving star over time. Above these red spots lines are connected to a text which starts and ends with many A, first growing, and at the end getting smaller:]
:...AAAAHHi Sun! I was here billions of years before you formed and will shine for trillions of years after you dieEEEEEAAA...

[Caption below the frame:]
Sometimes, I wonder what Barnard's Star is saying to the Sun as it performs its 20,000-year-long high-speed flyby.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

2062: Barnard's Star

2018-10-22T16:52:53Z

162.158.59.190: /* Explanation */ wlink

2057: Internal Monologues

2018-10-11T15:48:58Z

162.158.59.190: /* Computer Security */ ce

{{comic
| number = 2057
| date = October 10, 2018
| title = Internal Monologues
| image = internal_monologues.png
| titletext = Haha, just kidding, everyone's already been hacked. I wonder if today's the day we find out about it.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by the internal monologue of someone full of poop (among other things). Please edit the thoughts below until complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comics look at what a typical thought could be for people belonging to different fields of science. In some way this comic has a similar setup to some other kinds of thoughts between such scientific fields presented in [[435: Purity]]. But this comics monologues are not ranked against each other (and it is also not the same fields, except physics, which is represented by [[Cueball]] in both comics).

Many of the things we take for granted every day are, in fact, very weird, as are some of the things that we normally never think of. But if you are into a given field of science, you will often have to think about some of these strange phenomenon and this could make you pause to think about it on a daily basis.

[[Megan]] as a botanist is struck by the fact that trees are made in part from air, as in the carbon dioxide they consume. [[Cueball]], the physicist, finds it weird that he can feel the gravity between an object in his hand (his phone) and the Earth. [[Blondie]] in charge of computer security, wonders when everyone will gets hacked, collapsing our society. [[Hairy]] is a graphic designer who ponders over which fonts stores use for their sign, particularly why it used the font used in the ''Law & Order'' TV series. And finally, [[Ponytail]], studying medicine, has a hard time understanding why people act normally when we are all full of blood, bones, and poop.

Below the different fields thoughts are explained in detail.

If [[Randall]] had included geologists in this comic, this comic, [[913: Core]], would probably explain what they would be thinking about.

In the title text Randall makes a joke regarding Blondie's thoughts. We have already all been hacked... So she would instead wonder when everyone finds out about it.

=== Botany ===
Most of the mass of trees is extracted from the air. [http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/greatmomentsinscience/trees-are-made-from-air/9675642#transcript] More precisely: The bulk of the mass of a tree is composed of cellulose and water. Cellulose is a polysaccharide, a large molecule consisting of many glucose molecules bonded together. Plants make those glucose molecules through photosynthesis: they make them by combining water and carbon dioxide molecules using the energy from sunlight. Plants get the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and arguably the water also as it usually comes from rain which is condensed water vapor.

=== Physics ===
{{w|Gravity}} is one of the four fundamental forces of physics. In everyday experience, most people tend to think of gravity merely as a pervasive downward force, but as a physicist, Cueball is more aware that in fact, all gravitational forces are mutual; any pair of objects will exert an equal and opposite gravitational force on each other, regardless of how big they are. Therefore, he is correct in saying that his phone and the Earth are being "pulled together", and finds it remarkable that he is able to sense this interaction between two objects of such an astronomically disparate size.

=== Computer Security ===
Anyone well versed in computer security understands just how insecure the systems that we depend on actually are.

In the title text it is noted that possibly all our systems are already hacked, and we just haven't found out yet. Since malicious hackers do their work covertly, a successful hack often isn't discovered until days, week, or even years later. By that time they may have successfully hacked many other systems using the same techniques and/or exploiting the same widely unknown or un-patched security flaws. Some recent high profile hacks recently discovered, at the time of this posting, include a [https://securitytoday.com/articles/2018/10/02/facebook-hacked-50-million-users-data-exposed.aspx 50-million user hack of Facebook] and Google+ announcing they are [https://www.blog.google/technology/safety-security/project-strobe/ shutting down the consumer side of Google+], in part due to a security flaw that was discovered and patched months ago.

=== Graphic Design ===
{{w|Graphic designer}}s recognize fonts and design elements, and see how they come together. In this comic, the graphic designer wonders how the ''{{w|Law & Order}}'' font was chosen for a particular storefront's sign. ''Law & Order'' is a police procedural TV series created by Dick Wolf in 1990, which has had various spinoffs. The font used for the title sequence of ''Law & Order'' is called {{w|Friz Quadrata}}, and is also the font used for the signage of the New York Police Department headquarters.

=== Medicine ===
Doctors are well versed in human anatomy, and are likely to think about what is inside of people more than the average person would. And most people would actually like not to think about all the blood and bones we are all carrying around with us. Not to mention the poop or the contents of our stomach that could be considered vomit or the pee etc.

Most people do not think about that the person next to them is actually a skeleton packed in meat and animated by electricity... But Ponytail does, because she is being exposed to this fact all the time through her study of Medicine.

==Transcript==

:[Beneath a two line caption are five characters shown, with their thoughts inside thoughts bubbles. Below them are labels giving their respective fields of science.]
:<big>Internal Monologues</big>
:from various fields

:Botany
:Megan: I can't get over the fact that trees are made of air.

:Physics
:Cueball [looking at a phone in his hand]: It's so weird that I can feel the Earth and my phone being pulled together.

:Computer security
:Blondie: I wonder if today will be the day everyone gets hacked and it all finally collapses.

:Graphic design
:Hairy: I wonder how that store ended up with the Law & Order font for their sign.

:Medicine
:Ponytail: We're all acting normal even though we're full of blood and bones and poop.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Physics]]

2057: Internal Monologues

2018-10-11T15:46:24Z

162.158.59.190: copyedits

{{comic
| number = 2057
| date = October 10, 2018
| title = Internal Monologues
| image = internal_monologues.png
| titletext = Haha, just kidding, everyone's already been hacked. I wonder if today's the day we find out about it.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by the internal monologue of someone full of poop (among other things). Please edit the thoughts below until complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comics look at what a typical thought could be for people belonging to different fields of science. In some way this comic has a similar setup to some other kinds of thoughts between such scientific fields presented in [[435: Purity]]. But this comics monologues are not ranked against each other (and it is also not the same fields, except physics, which is represented by [[Cueball]] in both comics).

Many of the things we take for granted every day are, in fact, very weird, as are some of the things that we normally never think of. But if you are into a given field of science, you will often have to think about some of these strange phenomenon and this could make you pause to think about it on a daily basis.

[[Megan]] as a botanist is struck by the fact that trees are made in part from air, as in the carbon dioxide they consume. [[Cueball]], the physicist, finds it weird that he can feel the gravity between an object in his hand (his phone) and the Earth. [[Blondie]] in charge of computer security, wonders when everyone will gets hacked, collapsing our society. [[Hairy]] is a graphic designer who ponders over which fonts stores use for their sign, particularly why it used the font used in the ''Law & Order'' TV series. And finally, [[Ponytail]], studying medicine, has a hard time understanding why people act normally when we are all full of blood, bones, and poop.

Below the different fields thoughts are explained in detail.

If [[Randall]] had included geologists in this comic, this comic, [[913: Core]], would probably explain what they would be thinking about.

In the title text Randall makes a joke regarding Blondie's thoughts. We have already all been hacked... So she would instead wonder when everyone finds out about it.

=== Botany ===
Most of the mass of trees is extracted from the air. [http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/greatmomentsinscience/trees-are-made-from-air/9675642#transcript] More precisely: The bulk of the mass of a tree is composed of cellulose and water. Cellulose is a polysaccharide, a large molecule consisting of many glucose molecules bonded together. Plants make those glucose molecules through photosynthesis: they make them by combining water and carbon dioxide molecules using the energy from sunlight. Plants get the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and arguably the water also as it usually comes from rain which is condensed water vapor.

=== Physics ===
{{w|Gravity}} is one of the four fundamental forces of physics. In everyday experience, most people tend to think of gravity merely as a pervasive downward force, but as a physicist, Cueball is more aware that in fact, all gravitational forces are mutual; any pair of objects will exert an equal and opposite gravitational force on each other, regardless of how big they are. Therefore, he is correct in saying that his phone and the Earth are being "pulled together", and finds it remarkable that he is able to sense this interaction between two objects of such an astronomically disparate size.

=== Computer Security ===
Anyone well versed in computer security understands just how insecure the systems that we depend on actually are.

In the title text it is noted that possibly all our systems are already hacked, and we just haven't found out yet. Since malicious hackers do their work covertly, a successful hack often isn't discovered until days, week, or even years later. By that time they may have successfully hacked many other systems using the same techniques and/or exploiting the same widely unknown or un-patched security flaws. Some recent high profile hacks recently discovered, at the time of this posting, include a [[https://securitytoday.com/articles/2018/10/02/facebook-hacked-50-million-users-data-exposed.aspx 50-million user hack of Facebook]] and Google+ announcing they are [[https://www.blog.google/technology/safety-security/project-strobe/ shutting down the consumer side of Google+]] due to a security flaw they knew about months ago.

=== Graphic Design ===
{{w|Graphic designer}}s recognize fonts and design elements, and see how they come together. In this comic, the graphic designer wonders how the ''{{w|Law & Order}}'' font was chosen for a particular storefront's sign. ''Law & Order'' is a police procedural TV series created by Dick Wolf in 1990, which has had various spinoffs. The font used for the title sequence of ''Law & Order'' is called {{w|Friz Quadrata}}, and is also the font used for the signage of the New York Police Department headquarters.

=== Medicine ===
Doctors are well versed in human anatomy, and are likely to think about what is inside of people more than the average person would. And most people would actually like not to think about all the blood and bones we are all carrying around with us. Not to mention the poop or the contents of our stomach that could be considered vomit or the pee etc.

Most people do not think about that the person next to them is actually a skeleton packed in meat and animated by electricity... But Ponytail does, because she is being exposed to this fact all the time through her study of Medicine.

==Transcript==

:[Beneath a two line caption are five characters shown, with their thoughts inside thoughts bubbles. Below them are labels giving their respective fields of science.]
:<big>Internal Monologues</big>
:from various fields

:Botany
:Megan: I can't get over the fact that trees are made of air.

:Physics
:Cueball [looking at a phone in his hand]: It's so weird that I can feel the Earth and my phone being pulled together.

:Computer security
:Blondie: I wonder if today will be the day everyone gets hacked and it all finally collapses.

:Graphic design
:Hairy: I wonder how that store ended up with the Law & Order font for their sign.

:Medicine
:Ponytail: We're all acting normal even though we're full of blood and bones and poop.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Physics]]

1715: Household Tips

2018-09-16T21:05:09Z

162.158.59.190: Undo revision 162776 by 141.101.76.46 (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1715
| date = August 3, 2016
| title = Household Tips
| image = household_tips.png
| titletext = To make your shoes feel more comfortable, smell better, and last longer, try taking them off before you shower.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a continuation of [[1567: Kitchen Tips]], which had four kitchen tips and then a household tip in the title text.

The comic shows [[Cueball]] explaining many things one should already know (and are likely already doing without needing to be told), but telling them like most people usually never do it to comedic effect. Below is a list of the five household tips given:

===In the bathroom===
'''To conserve water, try turning off your shower before leaving home''': Implies that the shower would "normally" be on at all times, which would be very wasteful. The [[what if?]] article "{{what if|91|Faucet Power}}" illustrates similar wasteful and destructive water use. This may be a reference to the common recommendation that people should unplug appliances when they are not in use, as opposed to simply turning them off, as some devices have a "standby" mode that still uses up a small amount of electricity.

===Extinguishing fires===
'''Sick of changing those smoke detector batteries? Eliminate any fires in your house and the batteries may last for months or years!''': A smoke detector on standby consumes much less power than one constantly ringing, since standing by only requires that a detection circuit (which draws little current) be on and an LED flashes a few times a minute (which also consumes very little power), while a buzzer used to sound the alarm uses much energy by comparison. The sentence implies that some people have their fire alarms beeping at all times due to their ongoing fires, and then stop up to change the batteries when they stop working. It is surreal that Cueball would have fires just around his house and not be remotely worried.

Of course, keeping one's house fire-free at (mostly) all times is usually done because of other benefits than just saving on batteries, such as preventing fire and smoke damage to valuable property, infrastructure, and human bodies, as well as keeping the noise level down.

===Toilet bowls===
'''Tired of clogged toilets? Try leaving the lid on the upper chamber and use only the lower bowl!''': The "upper chamber", the toilet's cistern, delivers plain water to the lower bowl at speed to flush the latter. As such, the pipes that direct the water down are not wide enough for waste to pass. There is typically a lid on the upper cistern because it isn't intended to be used, and many modern toilets have a lid that can't be removed without unscrewing the button first, but access is occasionally needed to fix or replace the flushing mechanisms. The lower bowl, as one should be familiar with, is the one intended to receive solid waste or defecation and is connected to the plumbing by pipes wide enough for this purpose. Going in the upper chamber, commonly called an "upper decker", is a well known prank popularized in the season 5 finale of Louie.

===Near the window===
'''Fresh air doesn't have to be expensive. Many windows can be slid up to create a temporary hole without the usual cost and cleanup!''': This suggests that the people he appeals to typically smash a window (or a wall), or simply always turn their air-conditioner on to get fresh air, hence the clean up and expensive replacement of the window or AC parts, once enough fresh air has been obtained or in order to obtain.

===Title text===
'''To make your shoes feel more comfortable, smell better, and last longer, try taking them off before you shower.''': People typically remove all their clothing, including and/or especially shoes (except perhaps for some lightweight sandals to protect the feet in public showers), when showering , so while it is certainly true that removing one's shoes before showering will allow them to last longer and stink less (since shoes that have little opportunity to dry produce malodorous molds), this is not in any way a novel idea.

''Household tips'' are yet another type of [[:Category:Tips|tips comic]].

It is also possible that this comic is a reference to this very wiki. This wiki is here to explain the technical or pop-culture references that might confuse some readers. Not every comic relies on such details for appreciation, though, and Randall will often deliver a more straightforward punchline; this wiki, in the interest of thoroughness, will often explain the obvious.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing outside a bathtub with the shower curtains partly drawn aside hanging outside the tub. The shower head is dripping water as Cueball reaches in turning the closest of the two taps. Below these there is a faucet. There is water on the floor at the bottom of the tub and a pool of water behind Cueball.]
:Cueball: Hi everyone! I'm back with more household tips. To conserve water, try turning off your shower before you leave home.

:[Cueball is holding a bucket and pours water out of it to the right. The water still hangs in the air over a small fire with four flames on the floor. A similar fire is behind him to the left, except it seems thre is a burning item in this fire, and a single flame is on the floor between that and Cueball. A smoke detector (off-panel) goes off in the background as indicated with lines and sounds.]
:Cueball: Sick of changing those smoke detector batteries? Eliminate any fires in your house and the batteries can last for months or years!
:Smoke detector (off panel): Beep beep beep

:[A frame-less panel shows a a toilet with the toilet seat up and also the lid has been removed from the cistern at the top. It is hanging in the air above and behind the cistern. There is an X with an arrow pointing towards the cistern and a checkmark with an arrow pointing towards the toilet bowl.]
:Cueball (off-panel): Tired of clogged toilets? Try leaving the lid on the upper chamber and use only the lower bowl!
:X
:✔

:[Cueball holding a hand up is standing next to an open window where the bottom part has been slid almost up to the top.]
:Fresh air doesn't have to be expensive. Many windows can be slid up to create a temporary hole without the usual cost and cleanup!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Tips]]

Talk:2040: Sibling-in-Law

2018-08-31T16:44:30Z

162.158.59.190: comment

Unless you want to go completely nuts on this topic, avoid reading Jane Austen, where the the term "X-in-law" is used to mean, roughly, "someone to whom you are related for legal reasons". It can be used to refer to, for example, what we today might refer to as step/half-siblings, adopted siblings, etc. [[User:Arcanechili|Arcanechili]] ([[User talk:Arcanechili|talk]]) 15:51, 31 August 2018 (UTC)

> The title text refers to incestual relationships, which are generally frowned upon in Western culture.

How on earth this refers to incest if persons are only legally, not genetically related??? It's just that Randall doesn't know how to call new relatives but cannot stop their arrival.

Yes, I also don't think it refers to incest.

:I'm not sure if that is right or not, but that was my interpretation of that text, based on the "a reason why these two should not be wed." Unless there is a different issue with this, also involving marriage? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.59.190|162.158.59.190]] 16:44, 31 August 2018 (UTC)

2040: Sibling-in-Law

2018-08-31T16:07:41Z

162.158.59.190: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2040
| date = August 31, 2018
| title = Sibling-in-Law
| image = sibling_in_law.png
| titletext = FYI, it turns out "...because I haven't figured out whether he would be my brother-in-law or not" does NOT qualify as a "reason why these two should not be wed."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT-in-law 6 times removed - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic shows the complicated way that English refers to -in-law family relationships. As shown in the comic, your sibling's spouse would be called your "sibling-in-law" (either brother-in-law, or sister-in-law). However, your spouse's brother or sister would also be called the same way (brother-in-law or sister-in-law). The confusion lies with your sibling-in-law's siblings. Randall says they may be your "sibling-in-laws, I think?" and further relations are also possibly considered "sibling-in-laws".

The caption compares "sibling-in-law" to "<X>th cousin <Y> times removed". This family relationship, for example, {{w|Cousin#Basic_definitions|1st cousin once removed}}, is used to describe your 1st cousin's son or daughter or your second cousin's father or mother. The "once removed" indicates that the family relative is one generation above or below yours.

The title text refers to {{w|incest}}ual relationships, which are generally frowned upon in Western culture.

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

{{comic discussion}}

2039: Begging the Question

2018-08-29T17:42:38Z

162.158.59.190: /* Explanation */ ce

{{comic
| number = 2039
| date = August 29, 2018
| title = Begging the Question
| image = begging_the_question.png
| titletext = At least we can all agree on the enormity of this usage.
}}

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

This comic makes fun of the constant battle between those who maintain a prescriptive view of language and those who have a descriptive view. In the prescriptive view, language has fixed rules and fixed usage, and any usage that does not adhere to established rules is incorrect. In the descriptive view however, language is malleable and any usage can be correct if it is common and understood by most people.

The comic specifically calls out two phrases which are commonly misused in the prescriptive sense, and whose meanings have changed in modern usage in the descriptive sense:
*Nauseous
''Nauseous'' in its proper form means "causing nausea", while ''nauseated'' means "affected with nausea".

Properly speaking, it is incorrect for Ponytail to say that a food made her ''nauseous'', as this would say that the food made her "causing nausea". As White Hat states, the proper phrasing is that the "the food was nauseous", and it "made [her] feel nauseated". However, "nauseous" as defined as meaning "affected with nausea" has entered common usage.

*Begging the question
Begging the question originally referred to a logical fallacy where an argument assumed its conclusion. In modern usage, it has come to mean to "raise a question or point that has not been dealt with". This is often a point of contention for prescriptivists. However, as the caption explains, Cueball has an entirely different meaning for this phrase that he created himself: "fight a losing battle against changing usage".

The title text also plays on another word commonly argued over by prescriptivists. "Enormity" in its classical usage means either extreme wickedness or a monstrous offense or evil, though it is more commonly used in modern writing as a synonym for enormousness. The title text intentionally exploits the syntactic ambiguity that this creates.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Ponytail, White Hat, and Cueball standing next to each other talking. White Hat has his hand in the air, making a point]
:Ponytail: That food made me nauseous.
:White Hat: No, the ''food'' was nauseous. It made you feel ''nauseated''.
:Cueball: Come on, you're just begging the question.

:[Caption below the frame:]
:I annoy people on all sides by using "beg the question" to mean "fight a losing battle against changing usage".

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Language]]

404: Not Found

2017-10-30T07:32:10Z

162.158.59.190: Dead link rescue!!

{{comic
| number = 404
| date = April 1, 2008
| title = Not Found
| image = not found.png
}}

==Explanation==
There is no xkcd comic numbered 404. Randall did not skip a day, however; he put [[405: Journal 3|405]] up on April 2 (2008), which leads some to see the 404 as an April Fool's joke.

"404" is the HTTP Response Code for "{{w|HTTP 404|Not Found}}". [[Randall]] deliberately skipped comic number 404 in xkcd. Therefore, when people go to {{xkcd|404}} they get a "404 Not Found" error page. (This does not work in all browsers. In newer versions of Internet Explorer a message about the link being broken occurs without the 404 code.)

[[Randall]] has stated that he considers 404 [http://plus.google.com/111588569124648292310/posts/j6w9DkYApya an official, actual comic, albeit a rather avant-garde one], and that for a time he made it possible to find it using the "random" button on xkcd.com.

It may seem like a random coincidence that {{xkcd|403}} came out the day before April 1st 2008. And for sure it must have been by chance that it would come out close to that date when Randall began posting on xkcd. But when Randall noticed this fact, at some point prior to that date, he would, however, have had a chance to influence the release date. In November 2007, less than half a year before this April 1st, he released the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:1337 1337 series] over five consecutive days. That would have moved the release date of 403 from Friday the 4th of April to the Monday it was actually released - making it possible to skip comic 404 as if it came out on April 1st without skipping a comic on a normal release day. There was at least one other series in 2007 to use all five day of a week ([http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Choices Choices]), so maybe he had this planned for a long time?

It is perhaps an interesting point that the very next comic, {{xkcd|405}} includes the line "So, you found me after all."

==Trivia==
*The web comic Comic JK made this spoof of this missing comic in total xkcd style:
**The [https://web.archive.org/web/20100925103935/http://comicjk.com/comic.php/404 comic 404] that could have been.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:April fools' comics]]
[[Category:No title text]]

Talk:1811: Best-Tasting Colors

2017-03-15T20:08:04Z

162.158.59.190:

This is obviously wrong because white chocolate is not [[378|real]] chocolate. Let the flamewar begin. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.34|172.68.54.34]] 15:22, 15 March 2017 (UTC)
:Well, it's not technically chocolate, but it is a derivative -- insert math joke -- and the chart doesn't seem to be concerned with what it is, just with what it's called; after all, that which is called white chocolate by any other name would taste just as sweet, putting some off while others enjoy it. [[User:Nyperold|Nyperold]] ([[User talk:Nyperold|talk]]) 16:44, 15 March 2017 (UTC)

Purple skittles in France taste like blueberry.{{unsigned ip|141.101.69.105}}

Vanilla isn't white.{{unsigned ip|172.68.58.131}}

What are all of the question marks here for? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.251|108.162.246.251]] 15:51, 15 March 2017 (UTC)

I think those question marks at the top are supposed to be bubble gum.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.10|108.162.245.10]] 16:03, 15 March 2017 (UTC)

I suspect this is Randall's take on Fake News™, since it contains verifiably false claims such as coffee and liquorice being bad, and candy floss being better than watermelon

[[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.66|141.101.107.66]] 16:12, 15 March 2017 (UTC)

"In the title text, Randall asserts that his rankings of colors and foods are indisputable (with the exception of chocolate). This is of course ridiculous, as everyone knows that watermelon and strawberry are inherently superior to the likes of Citrus Fruits."...but his rankings of strawberry and of watermelon (x2) are higher than for oranges, lemons, and limes. There is no contradiction here; nothing that is ridiculous. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.118|162.158.78.118]] 16:29, 15 March 2017 (UTC)
: Liquorice, while an acquired taste certainly doesn't belong that far down, I'd take it over a long list of other things on the chart, but then again ... I'm Scandinavian {{unsigned ip|162.158.134.178}}

Hmm. The selection seems quite diverse compared to a standard bag of jelly beans, but doesn't really cover the range of a gourmet brand. I wonder where root beer falls, or Dr Pepper. And that's not even getting into color classification when the bean has more than one color. Personally, when I used to get gourmet jelly bean brands, I would do the squeeze-and-sniff test on a particular shade of brown, because it was used for both coffee and a flavor I liked. I remember Lore Sjöberg having a similar problem with cinnamon and cherry, but if he ever arrived at my solution, I don't know. [[User:Nyperold|Nyperold]] ([[User talk:Nyperold|talk]]) 16:44, 15 March 2017 (UTC)
:Interesting theory that he's talking about flavors of jelly beans, though there's really nothing to indicate he is. But I believe every one of those food flavors are included in, for example, Jelly Belly's lineup (with the possible exception of a White Chocolate flavor). [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 17:00, 15 March 2017 (UTC)

I enjoy licorice and white chocolate, and I think strawberry is overrated. Fight me. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.16|162.158.126.16]] 17:34, 15 March 2017 (UTC)

If it is jelly beans it is definitely more agreeable then actual food. Because popcorn jelly beans are awful which explains why there a outlier. It also explains why there split by color.{{unsigned ip|172.68.58.89}}

Wow. I've seen stupidity, I've seen REAL stupidity, and now there comes this comic.
>Liking cotton candy
>Watermelon below strawberry
>Cherry anything higher than dogshit
>Mint below pistachio
>Pistachio anything other than elder god max tier
>green "apple"
>not liking coffee (fucking pleb)
>lemon ranked low
Randall confirmed for a stupid fucking thirteen year old kid with shit taste.{{unsigned ip|173.245.50.96}}

I'm a retard pretending i'm superior by liking certain fruits. {{unsigned ip|162.158.75.52}}

My tastes now rate sweet tastes poorly - as well as sour, so I would down rate candyfloss, but not up rate lemon. The variability of chocolate represents the range from choc flavoured sweet margarine, through to 90% coco solids. My peak preference being about 50-60%. [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 18:14, 15 March 2017 (UTC)

Patrician taste good sir. Though, I respectfully disagree with your opinion on sour only somewhat: Lemons combined with other flavors make lemons pretty dang tasty.{{unsigned ip|173.245.50.96}}

Has anyone figured out what all the question marks in the graph are for yet? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.59.190|162.158.59.190]] 20:08, 15 March 2017 (UTC)

Talk:228: Resonance

2017-03-02T00:56:37Z

162.158.59.190:

How do you guys know which one is Cueball? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.169|108.162.216.169]] 19:52, 10 October 2014 (UTC)
:In general, the first one to talk is referred to as Cueball. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.177|108.162.219.177]] 21:13, 23 March 2015 (UTC)
So, was it because his drink got spilled that Steve screwed up the calculations for the Jupiter slingshot, causing New Horizons to return to Earth (and his eventual demise under a pile of burning spacecraft wreckage)? Does this make Cueball a murderer? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.170|173.245.52.170]] 11:41, 5 June 2015 (UTC)

[https://what-if.xkcd.com/137/ What If?] and [[1532|Xkcd]] mention Steve and New Horizons. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.77|108.162.218.77]] 22:47, 15 November 2015 (UTC)

Is there an explanation of why people's legs tend to want to jiggle like that? I get that and can never explain why. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.59.190|162.158.59.190]] 00:56, 2 March 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1683: Digital Data

2016-12-23T01:13:35Z

162.158.59.190: Proof that the source image for this comic has changed

Ewww, Verizon? **** them [[User:International Space Station|International Space Station]] ([[User talk:International Space Station|talk]]) 04:58, 20 May 2016 (UTC)
::Don't forget the whole "Verizon Math" incident and Randall's much passed around check image. I'd be surprised if it isn't on 9GAG somewhere.... [[User:Psu256|Psu256]] ([[User talk:Psu256|talk]]) 17:12, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

Ironically, the title text on explainxkcd is different from the one on xkcd.com, demonstrating the reinterpretation of text encoded in UTF-8 as if it were encoded in ISO 8859-1. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.85.231|162.158.85.231]] 05:45, 20 May 2016 (UTC)

-Exactly; this nicely proves Randall's point. On my computer, different characters appear in different browsers, but of course in one browser the characters are reproducible.--[[User:Jkrstrt|Jkrstrt]] ([[User talk:Jkrstrt|talk]]) 07:26, 20 May 2016 (UTC)

Here is the decoded title text:
“If you can read this, congratulations–the archive youʼre you're using still knows about the mouseover text”!
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.16|108.162.229.16]] 07:51, 20 May 2016 (UTC)

:Grungy details:
:*â€œ -> ''convert to hex'' -> E2-80-9C -> ''UTF8 decode'' -> 0010-000000-011100 -> [http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/201C/index.htm U-201C "LEFT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK"]
:*â€” -> ''convert to hex'' -> E2-80-94 -> ''UTF8 decode'' -> 0010-000000-010100 -> [http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/2014/index.htm U-2014 "EM DASH"]
:*â€™ -> ''convert to hex'' -> E2-80-99 -> ''UTF8 decode'' -> 0010-000000-011001 -> [http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/2019/index.htm U-2019 "RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK"]
:*â€! -> ''convert to hex'' -> E2-80-9D -> ''UTF8 decode'' -> 0010-000000-011101 -> [http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/201d/index.htm U-201D "RIGHT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK"]
:[[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 17:31, 20 May 2016 (UTC)

::The ''convert to hex'' step is really ''encode with Windows-1252''. Also, in the last sequence, the "!" is not part of the encoded quotation mark. The third byte of the quotation mark comes from an unprintable U-009D between the "â€" and the "!". U-009D isn't a valid Windows-1252 character, so either the encoding is actually a superset of Windows-1252 that includes U-009D, or the encoding process just allowed it.
:: [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.103|162.158.255.103]] 17:26, 21 May 2016 (UTC)

He's written you're twice, but one is with a curly apostrophe, often favoured by americans (and maybe brits?), possible because of their keyboard. The simple apostrophe is “just” html-formatted, whereas the curly one has been molested by a UTF-8 / ISO-8859-1 misreading.
--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.16|108.162.229.16]] 07:51, 20 May 2016 (UTC)
: I'm British, and I don't have the curly apostrophe anywhere on my keyboard. [[User:Enchantedsleeper|Enchantedsleeper]] ([[User talk:Enchantedsleeper|talk]]) 11:01, 20 May 2016 (UTC)

: I'm American, and I also don't have the curly apostrophe anywhere on my keyboard, but word processing programs (like MS-Word) are configured by default to automatically replace an ASCII apostrophe in a conjunction with the fancy right-single-quote mark. Also when using quotation marks around text those programs automatically replace the repeated single ASCII quotation marks with the fancy left and right quotation marks (single if using single quotes, double if using double quotes). Most people don't care enough to disable that "feature"... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.252.143|162.158.252.143]] 15:13, 20 May 2016 (UTC)

:: Ok. I've never experienced that from any text processor (incl. MS Word), so maybe it's dependant on the system locale or another mysterious factor. I've just noticed a prevalence in english language texts online, but an absence in other european languages. Not even french, which has as many or more contractions. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.16|108.162.229.16]] 08:11 21 May 2016 (UTC)

This is a phenomenon that has always both fascinated me and frustrated me. I find it fascinating how, even today, data degrades as more and more people copy it (remember the old days when people used to copy VHS tapes, and the further you were from the original tape the more copying artefacts your copy had in it?). It also frustrates me, though, when I'm trying to find an original, undegraded image or video and it seems impossible to find. It's also annoying because it's actually pretty easy to copy something without causing any quality loss, yet practically every copied image on the internet has been degraded in some way or another. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.130|141.101.98.130]] 07:08, 20 May 2016 (UTC)

:If you haven't yet, you should check out this guy who ripped and reuploaded his own Youtube video 1000 times: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEIzS_27Vt0 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.222.150|162.158.222.150]] 08:28, 20 May 2016 (UTC)

::...and after 100 iterations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6GMvihskBQ ...and the summary of all of them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icruGcSsPp0 [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 16:50, 20 May 2016 (UTC)

:It can be frustrating to try to convince new people drawing schematics on the computer to not use 4-way junctions because they don't expect digital images to degrade over multiple generations of copying. This xkcd demonstrates the way multiple generations can degrade even digital images, potentially making it difficult to differentiate two crossing (but electrically separate) signal lines from a 4-way junction on a schematic. Sorry, I'll get off my soap box now. ;-) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.252.143|162.158.252.143]] 15:13, 20 May 2016 (UTC)

It's also funny because just a few moments ago I was trying to compress some video to send to someone. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.130|141.101.98.130]] 07:12, 20 May 2016 (UTC)

http://fotoforensics.com/analysis.php?id=274fcf46426f2da31b057f1652ae5269cfdbd70a.190103 this page highlights the encoding blocks so that the degration of quality can be seen better. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.91.205|141.101.91.205]] 09:42, 20 May 2016 (UTC)

:Nice example. Their picture is already a bad copy. While it's still a PNG, it's already reduced in size (600x228 instead of 720x282, 131381 byte instead of 190103). Btw. the file used in this wiki is also slightly different from what I see on xkcd. It's just 3 minutes older and 308 bytes larger. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.83.48|162.158.83.48]] 01:28, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

The phenomenon that Randall is making fun of in this comic is actually called a "shitpic" http://www.theawl.com/2014/12/the-triumphant-rise-of-the-shitpic The explanation should probably make reference to that. [[User:Enchantedsleeper|Enchantedsleeper]] ([[User talk:Enchantedsleeper|talk]]) 10:57, 20 May 2016 (UTC)

I think the watermarks on the last frame are from an unregistered screenshot tool, not "9gag" or similar. The references to shit pics are interesting, but aren't you over interpreting the whole thing? {{unsigned ip|162.158.83.174}}
: ...You realise that over-interpreting is what this wiki is ''for'', right? Also, not really, since all I said was that a "shitpic" is what this type of degraded image is called. [[User:Enchantedsleeper|Enchantedsleeper]] ([[User talk:Enchantedsleeper|talk]]) 15:03, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

There's a 9gag thing in the image, clean your glasses and look again. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.46|173.245.54.46]] 12:15, 20 May 2016 (UTC)

Both screenshots from iOS definitely. Safari browser and… anybody knows? Some kind of other web browser? Maybe Chrome or Opera? <Need to finally create account> [[Special:Contributions/162.158.202.152|162.158.202.152]] 15:32, 20 May 2016 (UTC)

Apparently Russians have been getting this a lot, as they (up to the point of the existence of UNICODE) have had to deal a lot with people using bad codepages. Example of their post office dealing with a physical package addressed with a bad codepage: http://worldlanguages.wikia.com/wiki/Mojibake?file=Letter_to_Russia_with_krokozyabry.jpg [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 16:54, 20 May 2016 (UTC)

Here is the progression as I see it:
*Frame 1 - The original PNG
*Frame 2 - The PNG converted to a JPEG
*Frame 3 - The JPEG as viewed on a mobile browser (Safari on iOS in this case)
*Frame 4 - A screen-shot of the mobile browser uploaded to Tumblr and then stolen by 9GAG
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.62|173.245.52.62]] 19:37, 20 May 2016 (UTC)

Note that while the term "digital" is new, first digital format of information appeared long ago, with the development of standard alphabet. Images hand-drawn on paper can't be copied without loss, but if you write letters in fixed alphabet, it can be copied without errors forever (not counting errors caused by some letters getting out of use through history). Egyptian literature is probably lost due to us not knowing the (very big) full set of hieroglyphs, but [https://el.wikisource.org/wiki/%CE%9F%CE%B4%CF%8D%CF%83%CF%83%CE%B5%CE%B9%CE%B1/%CE%B1 Odyssey] could (and hopefully even was) be stored exactly how it was written. Wouldn't help read it, of course, language changed since then and it would need to be translated which, again, can lose some meaning ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 16:16, 21 May 2016 (UTC)

There's a much much older example. RNA and subsequently DNA are digital representations of the protein structures (also digital representations of 3-D molecular shapes). Degradation through copying is 1 source of variation which evolution selects over.[[User:MerlinMM|MerlinMM]] ([[User talk:MerlinMM|talk]]) 11:28, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

Is it possible that the watermark in the bottom left of the last panel is supposed to read "drama.tumblr.com"?
--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.67|173.245.52.67]] 20:42, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

The alt text has been fixed, the second "You're" has been removed. {{unsigned ip|141.101.104.80}}

The phenomenon is related to {{w|Generation loss}} --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 14:50, 27 May 2016 (UTC)

Btw, does anybody know a digital archive that actually "knows about the title-text"? {{unsigned ip|162.158.17.66}}

;Source image updating?

If you look at the comic on the website, the first couple of frames are much more "decayed" than they are on the wiki copy. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.16|198.41.238.16]] 01:47, 19 December 2016 (UTC)
: The source image has definitely been changed. [http:////imgs.xkcd.com/comics/digital_data.png Here's] the original image, and [http:////imgs.xkcd.com/comics/digital_data_2x.png here's] the new one. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.59.190|162.158.59.190]] 01:13, 23 December 2016 (UTC)