explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2986: Every Scientific Field

2024-09-18T13:38:44Z

162.158.63.6:

My reading of the comic is completely opposite to the current explanation. Rather than the large section being what 'a disproportionate amount of time is spent on', it's the small section, which is why we've heard of that stuff. To me, the large section represents the bulk of what is there to be studied, but is relatively poorly understood, so the point of the comic is emphasising how little we actually know about stuff in relation to what there is to be known. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.136|172.70.160.136]] 11:16, 17 September 2024 (UTC)
: I didn't like the word 'disproportionate' either, because to me it sounded like an accusation of too much time being spent in the wrong branch, which is not what Randall is saying. I reworded and fleshed out the description. Better now? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.111.167|172.70.111.167]] 11:38, 17 September 2024 (UTC)
: I disagree with "poorly understood" being the central issue, though, rather the branches the general public finds fascinating are often not the scientificially dominating ones. Wasps laying eggs in other insects isn't "poorly understood" at all. It's just that cute baby elephants or pandas draw huge crowds in zoos, whereas 'icky' wasps don't. And e.g. a gyroscope makes for great YouTube videos, but it's no longer a subject of fundamental physics research. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.238|162.158.154.238]] 13:04, 17 September 2024 (UTC)
::I can offer anecdotal evidence that, yes, I would have been perfectly happy not knowing there are more than half a million different kinds of parasitic wasp [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.6|162.158.63.6]] 13:38, 18 September 2024 (UTC)
: It's not really a matter of understanding, it's whether most of the public has even heard of it and knows that scientists are studying it. Randall's point is that most of what scientists study doesn't get much mention in the mainstream press and lay people don't know about it. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:27, 17 September 2024 (UTC)
: I disagree with "dark energy" being a no-interest-for-the-broad-public theme. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.160.70|172.71.160.70]] 08:16, 18 September 2024 (UTC)

== This stupid site is malfunctioning. ==

Hi chat. I'm the infamous #FreePalestine "troll". I would go into another rant, but there is a more pressing matter on our hands here. Whenever I try to access this site, I frequently encounter some "technical difficulties" message, claiming that I can't access the database. It occurs both on the school computers and my own device, so it's probably server-side. Can someone get to the bottom of this?

Cheers! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.48|141.101.105.48]] 19:35, 17 September 2024 (UTC)

:This has been happening to me too. Reloading the tab almost always fixes it, but it’s still annoying nonetheless. [[User:Trogdor147|Trogdor147]] ([[User_talk:Trogdor147|talk]]) 23:49, 17 September 2024 (UTC)
::seems to have been fixed now :) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.33.237|162.158.33.237]] 07:42, 18 September 2024 (UTC)
:::Can we make it so that it it only does this for trolls and vandals?[[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.27|172.69.195.27]] 08:12, 18 September 2024 (UTC)
::::Vunny, I zougt Mossad already did zis :-) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.160.70|172.71.160.70]] 08:16, 18 September 2024 (UTC)
:Hmmm. "Hi, I am a troll..." What a strange claim. Does your point benefit from saying that? (Even "I'm the person that others ''consider'' to be a troll"?) Friendly advice: Under the remit of making a serious and valid observation, you can remain undistinguished behind your latest IP 'identity', because we don't care if you're a first-time poster or a decades-long contributor in this case.
:(As a decade-and-a-bit contributor, if you'll take my word for it, I had of course noticed this occasionally recurring issue had started again but had decided that (if it is sortable) then it didn't need my input to sort.)
:I do care about you not trolling, of course, but it's primarily because you say you're the one (with as little reason to take that as true) that now associate you with it. It doesn't add any value, shall we say? And probably neither does this reaction, but that's also down to your decision to make it a point of information, and having no other way to make my worldview known to you privately... [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.231|172.69.195.231]] 09:37, 18 September 2024 (UTC)

Talk:802: Online Communities 2

2023-12-30T20:21:22Z

162.158.63.6:

I believe I can explain why the e-mail, SMS and Internet areas of the map are surrounded by the "Spoken Language" country. Yes, SMS, e-mail and most of the Internet are "written", but they're more of a "written spoken language", sharing many traits with informal spoken language. Maybe Wikipedia articles and blog posts can be classified as "standard written texts", but most other forms of electronically-mediated communication bare more resemblance to the way we speak: forums, chatrooms, Facebook posts, SMS texts, the usage of acronyms and smiley faces, etc. It's a widely researched phenomenon, and it continues to be a topic in the fields of linguistics, psychology, sociology and education (literacy attainment). As an aspiring linguist myself, I smiled when I noticed that these so-called "written" forms were next to spoken language :) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.10|108.162.215.10]] 22:16, 22 December 2013 (UTC)

I wonder if it's intentional that 4chan looks like a penis...{{unsigned ip|‎65.40.201.44}}

It needs to explain the ferry between 4chan and Gaia. Although, so does a lot of other stuff. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.45|108.162.216.45]] 07:58, 9 December 2013 (UTC)

I am still working on this. However, not only is this a big job, but I also have a lot to do outside here. In fact, I might even take a break from the Internet. I am simply warning others here. [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 04:37, 10 December 2013 (UTC)

about the Catbus Route on 4chan island in the Forums inset: Might it have something to do with the catbus in the animated film Totoro? In the film, the bus appears to have a regular route, or at least standard bus stops. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.40|108.162.219.40]] 07:55, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

Has anyone calculated the size of this (using Sulawesi for scale)? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.150|108.162.221.150]] 00:22, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

This comic makes a brief guest appearance at [//www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=hFAOXdXZ5TM#t=256 4:25] in the MinutePhysics post about magnets. [[User:Fewmet|Fewmet]] ([[User talk:Fewmet|talk]]) 01:46, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

Is there an explanation of why the Twitter area more or less resembles the shape of US/Mexico? If you have a look at the Youtube area then there's Alaska, too. And since Justin Bieber is Canadian and the "Bieber Bay" seems to resemble the Great Lakes... Was Twitter an "US only thing" back in 2010? [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 10:11, 21 January 2015 (UTC)
:Pareidolia. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.56.23|162.158.56.23]] 22:39, 10 January 2016 (UTC)

Kind of cruel that someone linked to TV Tropes up there.--[[Special:Contributions/198.41.239.32|198.41.239.32]] 06:16, 13 March 2015 (UTC)

The "Russia (DJ)" island just next to Sarah Palin's area is probably a reference to her very commented statement that you can see Russia from Alaska,[http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/05/sarah-palin-never-said-can-see-russia-house/] somehow implying that it gave her some kind of expertise in international relations.--[[User:Pere prlpz|Pere prlpz]] ([[User talk:Pere prlpz|talk]]) 10:06, 18 December 2015 (UTC)

I looked, couldn't find anything about the Hidden Internet, Dark Web, Deep Web, etc. I sort of imagine it looks like a deep chasm or river (Styx?) to another world with the likes of the NSA, Wikileaks, Electronic Frontier Foundation on the outskirts. Tor is one entrance (or ferry?) to the Netherworld. -- [[User:GeoWendy|GeoWendy]] 5:41 PM Tuesday, January 26 (UTC)

In what way is this explanation "incomplete" still?! It's marked as today's "incomplete explanation of the day" but it's already sixteen printed pages long. How much more content does there need to be before this site will consider this page to no longer be "incomplete?" Yikes... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.253.18|162.158.253.18]] 20:20, 27 January 2016 (UTC)

MMO is not short for MMORPG. It's just not. MMO means Massively Multiplayer Online. Like Dota 2, which is in no way an RPG. Or maybe Realm of the Madgod. Also not and RPG, but YES an MMO. that little gripe having been posted publicly, however, I've just realized that even if it's the day's incomplete article, nothing's going to happen, so fair warning: I'm going to do it meself.
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.128|162.158.92.128]] 10:48, 5 February 2016 (UTC)

Annoying pedant again, here with another annoyingly pedantic statement. (https://xkcd.com/1405/)
RPG is short for ROLe PLAYING GAME. NOT "ROLE PLAYER GAME" It doesn't matter now, because I fixed it, but if someone who doesn't understand the difference between MMO and MMORPG, they can at least remember to fix "Role Player Game."
Annoying Pedant out. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.128|162.158.92.128]] 10:54, 5 February 2016 (UTC)

There are many things wrong with the part about MMOs.
[[User:AnnoyingInconsistentPedant|AnnoyingInconsistentPedant]] ([[User talk:AnnoyingInconsistentPedant|talk]]) 20:25, 19 March 2016 (UTC)

I added some things to MMO isle. Someone should probably give better descriptions though. I didn't have the time to research: Active Worlds, Smallworlds, UO, EQ. Feel free to add those in if you are looking for something to inprove. [[User:PowerKitten|PowerKitten]] ([[User talk:PowerKitten|talk]]) 15:45, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

It seems like this comic has been "incomplete" for all eternity. This comic is in the "Incomplete explanation spotlight" more than ANY OTHER COMIC. The thing's huge! That's natural! I say this explanation does a pretty good job of explaining most if not every grating detail about this comic! I think we should use the Incomplete Spotlight for comic explanations that are ACTUALLY BAD. So can we stop giving this explanation grief for maybe leaving out a few 5-pixel towns? Thank you and stop fussing.
-A person who thinks this explanation is good

Hey, you can play Club Penguin at https://play.cprewritten.net/ now. Just saying. [[User:Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)|Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)]] ([[User talk:Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)|talk]]) 13:24, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.56|108.162.219.56]] 11:34, 23 April 2016 (UTC)
: No. If an explanation is incomplete, an explanation should be edited until the point where it is as complete as possible. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.86|141.101.104.86]] 16:04, 24 April 2016 (UTC)

I'm not arguing that. I'm saying that there are other explanations that are more incomplete than this one. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.56|108.162.219.56]] 21:04, 26 April 2016 (UTC)

Hold it. Did no one else notice the "Edit War Memorial" in the Wikipedia Talk Island? It's not in the explanation or transcript anywhere. If it's too insignificant to be considered part of an "official" transcript, that's a shame, because I think that's one of the funniest parts, [[User:Trogdor147|Trogdor147]] ([[User talk:Trogdor147|talk]]) 00:48, 3 June 2023 (UTC)

Sad to not see the beamNG.drive forum on here[[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.6|162.158.63.6]] 20:21, 30 December 2023 (UTC)

1140: Calendar of Meaningful Dates

2023-12-21T22:16:29Z

162.158.63.6: refers to specific event, not the whole protests

{{comic
| number = 1140
| date = November 28, 2012
| title = Calendar of Meaningful Dates
| image = calendar of meaningful dates.png
| titletext = In months other than September, the 11th is mentioned substantially less often than any other date. It's been that way since long before 9/11 and I have no idea why.
}}

==Explanation==
The calendar used in the comic is the standard {{w|Gregorian calendar}} of 2012 used by most of Western Civilization. The comic looks at the frequencies of which dates appear in English writings indexed in the {{w|Google Books Library Project}}, by using the {{w|Google Ngram Viewer}} ([http://books.google.com/ngrams link]).

Some dates are more (or less) frequently mentioned because they have a special significance. Other dates have correlations for which there doesn't appear to be any obvious reasons. September 11th has also been the date of two significant battles in the War of 1812 (long before it gained notoriety from the 2001 terrorist attacks), particularly one where the British landed in George Washington's own plantation, which likely bolstered its search volume. Yet the significance of the globally significant terrorism incident probably accounts for most of the occurances, since that time.

The date mentioned in the sub-heading (October 17th) is Randall's birthday.

The title text mystery is explained [http://drhagen.com/blog/the-missing-11th-of-the-month/ here]. In summary, many occurrences of "11th" in the writings were actually misread by the Google Books Library Project's [[wikipedia:optical character recognition|optical character recognition]] software and/or [[wikipedia:reCAPTCHA|reCAPTCHA]] users, becoming one of these: <code>IIth</code>, <code>Ilth</code>, <code>iith</code>, <code>lith</code>, <code>llth</code>, <code>1lth</code>, <code>1ith</code>, <code>l1th</code>, <code>nth</code>.

===Date Significance===
The first of each month is generally more mentioned than others, perhaps because such dates are markers of a new month and may be used as landmark dates or deadlines. Similarly, the final day of each month is commonly a deadline day. Other dates have a less mundane significance, for example:
*January 1 is {{w|New Year's Day|New Year's Day}}.
*February 14 is {{w|Valentine's Day}}.
*February 29 only exists during {{w|Leap year|leap years}}.
*March 15 is the {{w|Ides of March}}.
*March 21 is considered the first day of {{w|Spring (season)|spring}}, by a common convention in the northern hemisphere.
*April 1 is {{w|April Fools' Day}}.
*April 15 is {{w|Tax Day|US Individual Income Tax return filing day}}.
*May 1 is {{w|International Workers' Day|International Workers' Day}}, or {{w|May Day|May Day}}.
*June 4 is the {{w|June Fourth Incident}} of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
*June 30 is the end of the {{w|Fiscal Year| fiscal year}} for most American states and local governments.
*July 1 is {{w|Canada Day}}.
*July 4 is {{w|Independence Day (United States)|US Independence Day}}.
*September 11 is the date of the {{w|September 11 attacks|2001 terrorist attacks}} in New York City and Washington, DC. It's the largest number by a big margin, most likely because unlike the other dates it has no special name, it's referred to as "9/11" (or "September 11") almost exclusively.
*December 7 is the date of the {{w|Attack on Pearl Harbor|1941 attack on Pearl Harbor}}.
*December 25 is {{w|Christmas|Christmas}}.
*December 31 is {{w|New Year's Eve|New Year's Eve}}.

==Transcript==
:'''Calendar of Meaningful Dates'''
:Each date's size represents how often it is referred to by name (e.g. "October 17th") in English-language books since 2000
:(Source: Google ngrams corpus)
:[A regular Gregorian calendar laid out in a grid, Sunday first, on a leap year, with some numbers larger or smaller than others. Significant outliers are mentioned in the explanation.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category: Calendar]]
[[Category:Google]]

1639: To Taste

2022-05-11T17:51:51Z

162.158.63.6: Undo revision 266020 by 👖🔥 (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1639
| date = February 5, 2016
| title = To Taste
| image = to_taste.png
| titletext = Look, recipe, if I knew how much was gonna taste good, I wouldn't need you.
}}

==Explanation==
The imprecision of {{w|recipes}} is often a source of frustration to culinary novices, especially the more analytically-minded. [[Cueball]] expects a recipe to provide instructions precise enough that by following them carefully, a cook can create a dish exactly as the recipe author intended. Unfortunately, exact replication is impossible in cooking because of the natural variation of ingredients as well as differences in equipment. In addition, most home cooks lack the tools needed to make precise measurements, such as scales and thermometers. Thus, a recipe for strawberry {{w|smoothies}} might read "add sugar '''to taste'''" because the recipe-writer can't specify precisely how ripe the strawberries are to begin with. In addition, a smoothie recipe would typically specify imprecise quantities of fruit such as "1 banana" or "1 cup of strawberries" (much less precise than specifying the weight). Thus, it is impossible for the cook to determine the correct amount of {{w|sugar}} without actually tasting the drink.

The instruction "to {{w|taste}}" can also be used for ingredients that alter a simple aspect of the food's flavor, such as {{w|sweetness}}, {{w|Taste#Sourness|sourness}}, {{w|Taste#Saltiness|saltiness}} or {{w|Taste#Bitterness|bitterness}} without affecting the quality of the overall dish. Individual preferences can vary wildly and it's not possible for a recipe's author to predict how much the reader will want. Specifying any exact amount in these cases will inevitably lead to the food being too {{w|Bland diet|bland}} for some, while being too {{w|Pungency|strong}} for others.

In this comic, Cueball is shown as having no idea how to cook (or having a ridiculously large sweet tooth), and the suggestion that he is going to add large crates of sugar to a small pot is, of course, silly. This would ruin the dish, as whatever was in the pot would be drowned out by the sugar. Alternatively, he could simply bring in enough sugar to make sure he will not run out of this particular ingredient before it reaches the correct level of sweetness for his taste. This too would display a complete lack of understanding about what it is to cook; even a beginner cook should be able to logically deduce that this is far too much sugar.

Another possible explanation would be that Cueball plans to add as much sugar as possible to the dish and eat it, so that he can sue the recipe book's writer for any ill effects he receives as a result. Needless to say, this would be a complete waste of effort - he would probably lose the lawsuit, and even if he won and received compensation money, he would not be able to enjoy it thanks to his ill health.

The title text is [[Randall|Randall's]] (and Cueball's) personal comment on what he thinks a recipe should do to fulfill his needs. If he knew how much of each ingredient would be appropriate for a given dish, then he would not need the recipe in the first place. The title text actually scolds the recipe for being imprecise. In his view, mixing in imprecise or "use your own judgment" language makes it less of a "recipe" for the dish, and thus less suitable for those looking for the specific instructions to make the dish because they either have no cooking experience, feel they don't have the expertise to make their own decisions, or simply want to follow clearly defined steps without any decision making required.

This is the second comic this week that concerns one of the basic {{w|condiments}} for food, and also regards one of the five {{w|Taste#Basic_tastes|basic tastes}}. The first one, about salt, was [[1637: Salt Mine]]. Lately Randall has made several [[:Category:Food|food related comics]].

==Trivia==
This is the official transcript of 1639, as of May 9, 2019, valid for [[1637: Salt Mine]].
:[Three women and a (stick) figure stand in a salt mine. There's a control panel with two benches in the centre, and two piles of salt to the right. Two figures are talking, and two are shovelling salt into their mouths.]
:Woman 1: So you've build this particle detector in a salt mine to block out cosmic rays?
:Woman 2: Yes. That is definitely why.
:Woman 3 and figure: <<Homf nomf nomf>>

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing near a stove holding a pot just above it. He is looking away from the stove, reading the recipe from a piece of paper he is holding in the other hand.]
:Recipe: ...And add sugar to taste.

:[Cueball has placed the pot on the stove looking at it while holding the paper down along his side.]
:Cueball: ??

:[Cueball leaves the pot and stove to walks off-panel left with the recipe.]

:[Cueball returns backing up to the stove with a dolly loaded with three crates, labeled "sugar". The bottom crate is still not fully inside the panel and the first letter cannot be seen.]
:Sugar
:Sugar
:ugar

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

1638: Backslashes

2022-05-11T17:51:26Z

162.158.63.6: Undo revision 266325 by 👖🔥 (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1638
| date = February 3, 2016
| title = Backslashes
| image = backslashes.png
| titletext = I searched my .bash_history for the line with the highest ratio of special characters to regular alphanumeric characters, and the winner was: cat out.txt | grep -o "[[(].*[])][^)]]*$" ... I have no memory of this and no idea what I was trying to do, but I sure hope it worked.
}}

==Explanation==
Most programming languages use the concept of a {{w|String literal|string}} literal, which is just a text between some delimiters, usually quotes. For example, "Hello, world" is a string literal. The text being represented is ''Hello, world'' without the quotes. However, the quotes are also written to mark the beginning and end of the string. This is a problem when the text itself contains a quote, as in "This is a "quoted" string". The quotes around the word "quoted" are intended to be part of the text, but the {{w|Lexical analysis|language processor}} will likely confuse it for the end of the string, which would thus be two strings with ''quoted'' outside these strings (probably resulting in a syntax error).

To avoid this problem, an {{w|Escape character|escape character}} (usually a backslash) is prepended to non-string-terminating quotes. So, the previous text would be written as "This is a \"quoted\" string". The language processor will substitute every occurrence of \" with only the quote character, and the string terminates at the quote character which does not immediately follow a backslash. In this case the resulting text string would be ''This is a "quoted" string'' as intended.

However, the problem now is that the intended text might contain a backslash itself. For example, the text "C:\" will now be interpreted as an unterminated string containing a quote character. To avoid this, literal backslashes also are escaped with a second backslash, i.e. instead of "C:\" we write "C:\\", where the language processor interprets \\ as one single backslash and the quote terminates the string to give ''C:\'' as the output.

This doubling of backslashes happens in most programming and scripting languages, but also in other syntactic constructs such as {{w|Regular expression|regular expressions}}. So, when several of these languages are used in conjunction, backslashes pile up exponentially (each layer has to double the number of slashes). See example of a backslash explosion and alternatives to avoid this [[#Backslash explosion and alternatives|below]].

This kind of backslash explosion is known as {{w|Leaning toothpick syndrome}}, and can happen in [[1313: Regex Golf|many situations]]. Below is an explanation of all the [[#Entries in the list|entries in the comic]].

The backslash explosion in the title text is about a {{w|Bash (Unix shell)|bash}} command (which uses the backslash to escape arguments) invoking the {{w|grep}} utility which searches for text following a pattern specified by means of a regular expression (which also uses the backslash to escape special characters). This leads to 3 backslashes in a row in the command, which could easily become 7 backslashes in a row if the text being searched for also contains a backslash.

Even advanced users who completely understand the concept often have a hard time figuring out exactly how many backslashes are required in a given situation. It is hopelessly frustrating to carefully calculate exactly the number of backslashes and then noticing that there's a mistake so the whole thing doesn't work. At a point, it becomes easier to just keep throwing backslashes in until things work than trying to reason what the correct number is.

It's unclear whether the regular expression in the title text is valid or not. A long discussion about the validity of the expression has occurred here on this explanation's [[Talk:1638: Backslashes|talk page]]. The fact that many editors of the site, often themselves extremely technically qualified,{{Citation needed}}{{Citation needed}} can't determine whether the expression is valid or not, adds a meta layer to the joke of the comic. This is an example of [[356: Nerd Sniping|nerd sniping]] (oh, the irony\!\!\!\).

===Entries in the list===
*The first four examples have names that are (somewhat) based on what they actually produce:
**'''Backslash''': 1 backslash appropriately named
**'''Real backslash''': 2 backslashes are labeled correctly as they do indeed refer to an escaped backslash.
**'''''Real'' real backslash''': 3 backslashes would refer to an escaped backslash followed by an unescaped one. The first two backslashes would combine to make a ''real backslash'' while the third one would combine with the character following it to form an {{w|Escape sequence|escape sequence}}. The name does thus not make a lot of sense, as this is two escape sequences and not a single "very real" one.
**'''Actual backslash, for real this time''': 4 backslashes form one single backslash escaped twice (the first escaping produces two backslashes, the second escaping doubles each of the backslashes). This is so common that even the documentation for the {{w|Python (programming language)|Python}} regular expression library has a section called [https://docs.python.org/3/library/re.html Regular expression operations] that mentions "\\\\" explicitly. In this case, the backslash has to be escaped once for being part of a regular expression and then ''each'' of these once more as the regular expression needs to be written inside a Python string. This is named in reference to the fact that the previous examples didn't contain enough escaping.
*The remaining five examples of backslashes have more and more occult names (explanations) and do not refer to any more real uses of backslash escapes:
**'''Elder backslash''': 5 backslashes would be a doubly-escaped backslash plus an unescaped one. The reference to {{w|Elder}} in the comic has many meanings. It has become known through fantasy media; Most prominent with the {{w|Elder Days}}, which are the first Ages of {{w|Middle-earth}} in {{w|The Silmarillion}}, the more-or-less prequel to {{w|The Lord of the Rings}}. More recently it has been used in the {{w|Harry Potter}} universe where the ''Deathly Hallow'' called the ''{{w|Magical_objects_in_Harry_Potter#Deathly_Hallows|Elder wand}}'', made from {{w|Sambucus|Elder wood}}, is a very important part of the last book ''{{w|Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows}}''. Other examples are the {{w|Elder Gods}} of the {{w|Cthulhu Mythos}} as well as various 'Elder' magical items and beings in the {{w|Dungeons and Dragons}} mythologies.
**'''Backslash which escapes the screen and enters your brain''': 6 backslashes is a play on the word "escape" as the backslash is supposed to be an "escape character" but obviously not "escaping the screen" and entering your brain. This could also be understood as the programmer getting backslashes on their mind, when they go beyond the ''Elder backslash'' domain...
**'''Backslash so real it transcends time and space ''': 7 backslashes goes further than escaping the screen as they now {{w|Transcendence (philosophy)|transcends}} both {{w|Spacetime|time and space}}
**'''Backslash to end all other text''': 8 backslashes would be a triply-escaped backslash (same as 4 backslashes but with an additional escaping layer). It is said to "end all other text", i.e. there should never be any more text if someone uses eight in a row. But there could be more as indicated in the last example.
**'''The true name of Ba'al, the Soul-Eater''': {{w|Infinity|∞ backslashes}} (11 are shown but followed by "..." to indicate that they continue forever). If you could write an infinite number of backslashes it would actually be ''The true name of {{w|Baal|Ba'al}}, the {{w|Soul eater (folklore)|Soul-Eater}}''. This indicates that if you continue misusing backslashes like this you will end up devoured by a demon, for instance {{w|Beelzebub}}, for being so thoughtless... Ba'al has been mentioned before in [[1419: On the Phone]] and in the title text of [[1246: Pale Blue Dot]].

===Backslash explosion and alternatives===
A reasonable example of a backslash explosion would be a {{w|PHP}} script on a web server which writes {{w|JavaScript}} code with a {{w|Regular Expression}} to be run on the client. If the JavaScript code has to test a string to see if ''it'' has a double-backslash, the Regular Expression to do so would be:
\\\\
where the first two backslashes represent a single backslash and the second two also represent a single backslash, so this searches for two consecutive back slashes.
And the JavaScript would be:
RegExp("\\\\\\\\").test(str);
where every two backslashes means just one backslashes in the string, so the 8 backslashes in JavaScript become 4 backslashes in the Regular Expression.
However, since this JavaScript code is to be written through a PHP script, the PHP code would be:
echo "RegExp(\"\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\").test(str);";
where:
* The word <code>echo</code> is the PHP command for writing something
* The first quote starts the string
* The <code>RegExp(</code> - including the open parenthesis - is written literally
* The <code>\"</code> following that is a literal quote to be written
* The first two slashes produce one single slash
* And so on until 8 backward slashes are written
* The next <code>\"</code> produces a literal quote character
* The <code>).test(str);</code> is written literally
* The next quote finishes the string.
* The final semicolon terminates the <code>echo</code> command
So, the presented scenario has escalated from a simple test for <code>\\</code> to no less than seventeen backslashes in a row without stepping out of the most common operations.

If we go a bit further and try to write a {{w|Java (programming language)|Java}} program that outputs our PHP script, we'd have:
System.out.println("echo \"RegExp(\\\"\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\").test(str);\";");
Here, we have 35 backslashes in a row: the first 34 produce the 17 we need in our PHP script, and the last one is for escaping the quote character. (This comes closer to ''The true name of Ba'al, the Soul-Eater'').

Some programming languages provide alternative matching string literal delimiters to limit situations where escaping of delimiters is needed. Often, one can begin and end a string with either a single quote or a double quote. This allows one to write <code>'This is a "quoted" string'</code> if double quote marks are intended in the string literal or <code>"This is a 'quoted' string"</code> if single quote marks are intended. Both kinds of delimiters can't be used in the same string literal, but if one needs to construct a string containing both kinds of quote marks one can often concatenate two string literals, each of which uses a different delimiter.

Another feature that seems to be popular in modern programming languages is to provide an alternative syntax for string delimiters designed specifically to limit leaning toothpick syndrome. For example, in Python, a string literal starting with <code>r"</code> is a "raw string" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_literal#Raw_strings] in which no escape processing is done, with similar semantics for a string starting with <code>@"</code> in C#. This allows one to write <code>r"C:\Users"</code>  in Python or <code>@"C:\Users"</code> in C# without the need to escape the backslash. This does not allow one to embed the terminating delimiter in the middle of the string and prevents the use of the backslash to encode the newline character as <code>\n</code>, but comes in handy when writing a string encoding of a regular expression in which the backslash is escaping one or more other punctuation characters or a shorthand character class (e.g., <code>\s</code> for a whitespace character). For example, when looking for an anchor tag in HTML, developers may encode the regular expression as <code><[Aa]\s[^>]*></code>. If they express this regular expression as a raw string literal, the code looks like <code>r"<[Aa]\s[^>]*>"</code> instead of <code>"<[Aa]\\s[^>]*>"</code>. The point here is that "leaning toothpick syndrome" is such a real problem that it has influenced programming language implementations.

==Transcript==
:[A list of the names of different numbers of backslashes. After each "item" there is a gray line to the text describing each item. As the text is aligned above each other, the lines becomes shorter as the sequence of backslashes becomes longer until there is just a line with the length of a single hyphen for the last item. There are 1 to 8 backslashes and then 11 plus "..." in the last entry.]
:\------------ Backslash
:\\----------- Real backslash
:\\\---------- ''Real'' real backslash
:\\\\---------- Actual backslash, for real this time
:\\\\\--------- Elder backslash
:\\\\\\-------- Backslash which escapes the screen and enters your brain
:\\\\\\\------- Backslash so real it transcends time and space
:\\\\\\\\------ Backslash to end all other text
:\\\\\\\\\\\...- The true name of Ba'al, the Soul-Eater

==Note on Title Text==
The title text when first published was

I searched my .bash_history for the line with the highest ratio of special characters to regular alphanumeric characters, and the winner was: cat out.txt | grep -o "\\\[[(].*\\\[\])][^)\]]*$" ... I have no memory of this and no idea what I was trying to do, but I sure hope it worked.

It was changed within a few days to

I searched my .bash_history for the line with the highest ratio of special characters to regular alphanumeric characters, and the winner was: cat out.txt | grep -o "[[(].*[])][^)]]*$" ... I have no memory of this and no idea what I was trying to do, but I sure hope it worked.

The original title text seems to be more relevant to the comic, but the revised title text seems to make more sense as a legitimate command line due to the way backslashes are interpreted in regular expressions. See the Discussion below for much more on the topic.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Regex]]
[[Category:Programming]]

Talk:2445: Checkbox

2021-04-01T23:44:40Z

162.158.63.6: Add comment about Audio function on Safari

If left alone, the morse code produced spells "WHAT" (.-- .... .- -) [[User:Ezist|Ezist]] ([[User talk:Ezist|talk]]) 22:50, 1 April 2021 (UTC)

I'm early enough that there isn't a summary yet, and I'm not confident enough to start one, so I'll just drop my thoughts. If you click the checkbox repeatedly, at some point it starts playing Morse code. Presumably, there are a whole lot of different sequences. So far, I've gotten .- - .-- .... (which translates to ATWS; no idea what that means) and ..... (just 5, I think). Meanwhile, the mouseover text is ... --- ..., which is SOS. Any thoughts? What other sequences are there? Or am I totally missing something? (Edit conflict. Looks like Ezist has another one.) [[User:Aerin|Aerin]] ([[User talk:Aerin|talk]]) 22:56, 1 April 2021 (UTC)
: I got something like ATWS at first, but that's just cause I misheard one of the letters, and misinterpreted where the word started/ended. [[User:Ezist|Ezist]] ([[User talk:Ezist|talk]]) 23:03, 1 April 2021 (UTC)

Wait, sorry, I'm back. It apparently has to do with user input. No idea what I pressed to get those results lol. [[User:Aerin|Aerin]] ([[User talk:Aerin|talk]]) 22:57, 1 April 2021 (UTC)

Just a note, but a Morse code legend as well as translations of your input and the website's output are available in the console in browser DevTools. Helpful for those that don't know Morse. [[User:Toadtoad|Toadtoad]] ([[User talk:Toadtoad|talk]])

It looks like Samuel Morse died on April 2, 1872, so that might be why this comic appears today. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.212.218|162.158.212.218]] 23:07, 1 April 2021 (UTC)

"Hi" returns [.... . .-.. .-.. --- -.-.-- / .- -. -.-- -... --- -.. -.-- / --- ..- - / - .... . .-. . ..--..] "HELLO! ANYBODY OUT THERE?" [[User:Piano|Piano]] ([[User talk:Piano|talk]]) 23:09, 1 April 2021 (UTC)

a sequence of repeating "T", or at least more than one "E" [ - - - ] or [ . . . ] will respond back the same sequence, just one "E" will give "WHAT" [[Special:Contributions/172.68.25.253|172.68.25.253]] 23:18, 1 April 2021 (UTC)

"QTH" gives "QTH ARES VALLIS". "QTH" is a code used to ask for position, and Ares Vallis [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ares_Vallis is a place on Mars.] [[User:Ezist|Ezist]] ([[User talk:Ezist|talk]]) 23:27, 1 April 2021 (UTC)

"CHECK" replies "MATE." "CHECKMATE" and "MATE" each reply "WHAT." [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.146|162.158.126.146]] 23:34, 1 April 2021 (UTC)

The js: has anyone tried viewing the JS? There seems to be a file that is just filled with undecipherable Morse. Can anyone interpret this? Just press f12 and look for comic.js or morse.js [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.161|162.158.62.161]] 23:35, 1 April 2021 (UTC)

I tried decoding it. Certainly looks like something binary encoded into text. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.183.153|162.158.183.153]] 23:36, 1 April 2021 (UTC)

Adding onto that, what does the ';D' in .split(';D') (at the very end of morse.js) do? AFAIK it's not a special character in JS

running window.BeepComic.hurryUp() in console gives you immediate response in logs, without waiting for all the beeping to cease

Ah so that's where that script comes from [[Special:Contributions/162.158.183.153|162.158.183.153]] 23:40, 1 April 2021 (UTC)

`BeepComic.send(morse.encode('sudo make me a sandwich'))` <-- convenience, in addition to the hurryUp --rcombs

Does someone else get this uuid DB334AAB-92A1-11EB-8001-8C16454FB02A? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.228|162.158.238.228]] 23:42, 1 April 2021 (UTC)

Audio does not work on Safari as of right now - however, inputting `const AudioContext = webkitAudioContext;` into the browser console before unmuting will allow audio to work on Safari. May want to note this as a 'fix' for the experience? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.6|162.158.63.6]] 23:44, 1 April 2021 (UTC)

1549: xkcd Phone 3

2021-03-29T18:05:59Z

162.158.63.6: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1549
| date = July 10, 2015
| title = xkcd Phone 3
| image = xkcd_phone_3.png
| titletext = If you're not completely satisfied with the phone after 30 days, we will return you to your home at no cost.
}}

==Explanation==
This is the third entry in the ongoing [[:Category:xkcd Phones|xkcd Phone series]] which parodies common smartphone specs by attributing absurd or useless features to a fictional phone that sounds impressive but would actually be very impractical. The previous comic in the series [[1465: xkcd Phone 2]] was released over half a year before this one and the next [[1707: xkcd Phone 4]] was released almost a year later.

;2 AA batteries (not included)

:A phrase usually shown on small, low-powered, electronic devices like remote controllers, and not on cellphones; which use lithium-ion batteries and need to be periodically recharged for continuous use.

:The apparently thin phone (according to the scale as judged by the wristband) would also preclude inserting AA batteries, unless a protruding battery compartment is hidden out of view on the back of the phone.

:Alternatively could mean two Anti-Aircraft (artillery) "batteries" which would be groups of light or medium artillery pieces or missiles (2 to 9 weapons per battery, depending on country, weapon system and organization). In any case, they would badly hamper the portability of the phone.

;Boneless

:Reference to meat or fish products being boneless, i.e. having all the bones removed, making it convenient to cook or eat. Phones do not typically have bones{{Citation needed}}, so this is wholly unremarkable. A possible reference to the iPhone 6's reported problems with its chassis, where it {{w|IPhone 6#Chassis bending|could bend under pressure}}.

:Likely a reference to "Bone Conduction Microphones" implying that needing bones to work is a disadvantage and this phone has the feature of being "Boneless".

:[[xkcd Phone 4]] was instead "seedless".

;Ear screen

:An overcomplicated term for a speaker, connecting a screen which emits light to send visual information and the portion of a speaker which vibrates to send auditory information. Comparing the two makes a speaker a screen for the ear.

:Could also be implying that there's a screen protecting the user's ear from the phone's internals, or the reverse.

;Heartbeat accelerator

:A mashup of heartbeat sensor and accelerometer. May be some sort of external pacemaker. If that's the case, it's worrying that it only accelerates, potentially causing a positive feedback (heart attack). It may also be the result of the phone being so exciting or frustrating that it increases its user's heart rate.

;MobilePay money clip

:While mobile pay is a form of payment involving electronic transfers via cellphone, this model includes a money clip; a way of holding physical bills together, which defeats the purpose of electronic payment. Because you can take cash wherever, this is a "MobilePay" using physical money.

;Siri, or whoever it was we put in here

:A joke on intelligent personal assistants. It also hints that Siri and the like are actual people, trapped inside of phones, which is not the case{{Citation needed}}.

;Instead of being on surface only, screen goes all the way through

:A reference to surface screens. Possible reference to smartphones with screen display wrapping one or more edges, like Samsung Galaxy Note Edge or Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, or dual-screen smartphones with screen on the back (usually e-ink) like YotaPhone 2, or smartphones with minimal bezel like e.g. Sharp AQUOS Crystal.

:Screen going ''all the way through'' would leave no place for innards of smartphone: processor, battery etc., and unless each layer is designed to be semi-transparent to see the inner {{w|voxel}}s the inner displays would be unseeable anyway.

;theknot.com partnership - phone licensed to perform wedding ceremonies and does so at random

:[https://www.theknot.com/ theknot.com] is a website that assists in all stages of wedding planning. Due to this partnering, the phone has apparently obtained legal status as a {{w|Justice of the peace}} capable of performing legally valid marriages. It exerts this capability randomly, however, so the phone's owner (or potentially any other unsuspecting bystander) could suddenly find themselves with a new spouse without their knowledge, generally an undesired effect{{Citation needed}}. Whether this would result in unintentional {{w|bigamy}} or if the phone restricts itself to pairing up singles, or even enacts divorce first if necessary, is left unclear. May be a reference to how same-sex marriage was fully [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obergefell_v._Hodges legalized] in the United States just two weeks prior to the release of this comic.

;Fingerprint randomizer

:Presumably randomises the user's fingerprint, which may or may not be inconvenient depending on the intent of the user. It is not clear whether the device will change the person's fingerprint into a human-like fingerprint that is randomly selected from all possibilities, or if it completely mangles the fingerprint of the user. Either way, physically altering the user's finger to this degree will likely involve a painful process. Likely a cynical reference to fingerprint scanners, which are touted as password replacements.

;USB E (hotswappable)

:A USB port that makes fun of the three current systems, A, B, and recently C, by skipping D completely and jumping to E. The port presumably charges the phone and allows to transfer files like normal, but this kind lets you perform {{w|Hot swapping}} (replacing computer system components without turning the system off) with it, which has always been a feature of USB, so mentioning it is redundant at best.

:May be a reference to the eSATAp (Power over eSATA) hybrid port that is functioning as a USB and eSATA port at the same time. The Serial ATA bus interface has standardized hot swapping support.

;Waterproof, but can drown

:Perhaps a reference to Siri or the person trapped in the phone drowning, but the phone itself staying functional. This is another human-like function, which the first 2 XKCD Phone comics had.

;Foretold by prophecy

:Likely mocking people on the internet who attempt to predict when Apple will release their next device. Might also be a joke on many videogames or fantasy novels, in which the main character is 'the chosen one', because 'the prophecy' foretold it.

;Runs Natively

:Usually a description given to ported software, as this statement doesn't make any sense when referring to hardware (notable {{w|Transmeta Crusoe|exceptions}} to the norm are few and far between). When software writers would like to run their apps on multiple platforms, they usually have three choices: re-compile the source code into each platform's codebase (often requiring tweaking to handle practical differences in resources between the systems); use a specially 'pre-portable' code that you can {{w|write once, run anywhere}}, such as Java, but requires a suitable interpreter to be written for each platform (and may still require code tweaks to absorb differences in implementations); create a specific emulator/virtual machine to allow existing code to 'see' the platform it was written for, despite the underlying system.

:Only the first option is 'running natively', often the most optimised and thus best-performing option, and is usually qualified such as "Runs <Software Name> natively", for particular packages full compiled upon that platform. It would also make little sense for the OS ''itself'' to be non-native, except when intentionally emulating another system (ideally on a more powerful system that can power past the inefficiencies of conversion and translation).

:Or, in this case, it may be that the phone has legs and can literally run.

;Wristband

:Probably mocking trending smart watches, this feature would not be very useful on a full-sized smart phone, as it would be uncomfortable to wear due to its size. Also possibly a follow-up to xkcd Phone 2 being described as a 'phone for your other hand', as the wristband would make it possible to have all three phones accessible at once.

;Wireless discharging

:Some modern smartphones use a system called "wireless charging," in which power is delivered to the phone without a wire. This phone, however, uses wireless technology to discharge the phone, which would be useless given that the phone needs power and removing power from its battery doesn't seem to help... May also refer to the standard behavior of the phone's antenna, which communicates wirelessly via EM radio waves, but discharges the battery in doing so. It could also be simply and literally describing the nature of all cell phones, and indeed all battery-powered electronic devices, to gradually use the battery (discharging) when there are no wires attached (wireless), since wireless also means no power cord is plugged in (and assuming the absence or non-use of the aforementioned wireless charging function, which this phone may not even have). Depending on the avenue of discharge, this may also be related to the heartbeat accelerator, accelerating the user's heartbeat by shocking them. Notably, a few recent flagship phones now have a built in Qi wireless charging pad, so other devices can charge from its battery; this is usually marketed as power-sharing but could also be called wireless discharging.

;Magnetic stripe

:Likely a dig at the NFC (near-field communication) wireless radio modules in many modern phones. NFC allows, among others functions, mobile payment. This magnetic stripe could be a cheap way to imitate payment functionality, but "compatible" with classic credit cards.

:Magnetic stripes are a data storage method used by devices such as credit cards and key cards to hold and transfer small amounts of information like key codes. Usually cellphones don't have them as they utilize more robust and protected ways to store and transmit data (such as NFC). The magnetic stripe shown would likely be unusable with current magnetic stripe readers due to the phone's thickness, in contrast to that of regular cards, thus breaking all imagined 'compatibility' arguments.

:It would also be very annoying as it seems to block part of the screen.

:However, some modern phones actually have {{w|Magnetic secure transmission}} which allows them to interface wirelessly with magstrip readers by simulating the magnetic field from a passing magnetic stripe.

The phrase "We made another one®©™" is a reference to how phone companies release new phones very often, and the trademarks that surround the phone itself.

The title text is a joke on guarantees and customer service. Usually the advertisement says that if the customer is not satisfied with the product, they'll refund the money and take the product back at no additional cost. In this case they guarantee the customer they'll send him/her home without charge; implying they won't fix or refund anything. Or that due to anticipated but unspecified faults of some kind, the phone's owner will ''need'' help to get back home when things go wrong, and probably be thankful for such assistance, in yet another example of a worryingly non-specific 'reassurance'.

==Transcript==
:[An image of a smartphone lying down, with many labels pointing to it. There is a black stripe across the top left corner of the phone. At the top right something is protruding from the side, like a volume control. There is a wrist band (only partly shown) attached to the middle of each side of the phone. Above the screen are several small features, below only a central square and on the bottom a socket. Clockwise from the top left the labels read:]
:2 AA batteries
:(not included)
:Boneless
:Ear screen
:Heartbeat accelerator
:MobilePay money clip
:Siri, or whoever it was we put in here
:Instead of being on surface only, screen goes all the way through
:theknot.com partnership: Phone licensed to perform wedding ceremonies and does so at random
:Fingerprint randomizer
:USB E
:(hotswappable)
:Waterproof, but can drown
:Foretold by prophecy
:Runs natively
:Wristband
:Wireless discharging
:Magnetic stripe

:[Below the phone:]
:Introducing
:<big><big>The xkcd Phone 3</big></big>
:We made another one®©™

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:xkcd Phones]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|xkcd Phones]]
[[Category:Virtual Assistants]]

2288: Collector's Edition

2021-03-16T16:24:26Z

162.158.63.6: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2288
| date = April 3, 2020
| title = Collector's Edition
| image = collectors_edition.png
| titletext = I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete| some images are missing from the table and some note need to be addressed}}
This was the 2020 April 1st comic. It is a large image, of which only part is visible, but can be dragged around. This space acts as a shared virtual sandbox where viewers can interact. "Items" (small, often humorous images) could be collected from other comics and then placed in this image by viewers. The collection then updated for all viewers in real-time. Multiples of the same item are often seen.

There is a "backpack" at the bottom, similar to backpacks in video games containing items collected by the player. As hinted by the title text, items could be found by visiting different XKCD comics/pages. Randomly, some pages would have a treasure chest which contained the sticker related to the page. The hint would refer to the page which currently had a chest.

The sticker images can be seen at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot_</nowiki>'''XXX'''.png, where XXX is a number from 001-253. Additionally, some images can be found at custom URLs, for example the periodic elements can be found at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/element-</nowiki>'''XX'''.png, where XX is the element, and text loot at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot-words-</nowiki>'''X'''.png, where X is the sentence.

As of April 5, chests are no longer dropped.

===Hints===

{| class="wikitable"
!Hint
!Comic
!Unlocked item
!Item image
!Notes
|-
|Doctors in a row||Maybe [[1529: Bracket]] or [[497: Secretary: Part 4]]? Need confirmation.||Cory Doctorow || [[File:2288_loot_019.png|50px]] || These comics all have the same hint, but only one will have the chest
|-
|Get out the (US) vote||[[2224: Software Updates]]|| Statue of liberty ||[[File:2288_loot_246.png|75px]]||
|-
|Find a box of nice stuff on a picture with words like these|| [[1133: Up Goer Five]] (maybe incomplete) || Signpost || [[File:2288_loot_126.png|75px]] ||
|-
|Plug in or find another power source||[[1373: Screenshot]]|| ||[[File:2288_loot_228.png|50px]] or [[File:miniloot-words-dispenser.png|75px]] (maybe incomplete)||
|-
|Sweet dreams, kitty||[[729: Laser Pointer]] (maybe incomplete)|| Cat licking laser point || [[File:2288_loot_090.png|75px]] ||
|-
|What is this hint pointing to? Hell if I know.||[[28: Elefino]] (maybe incomplete)||2 + lightbulb = boat||[[File:2288_loot_185.png|75px]]||
|-
|Somebody set up us the bomb||[[286: All Your Base]]||Exploding rock||[[File:loot_197.png|75px]]||
|-
|Cowabunga||[[1412: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] (maybe incomplete)||Women Science Fiction Authors || [[File:loot_175.png|75px]] || [[197: Ninja Turtles]] also works
|-
|I want to believe||[[2156: Ufo]]||Ufo||[[File:loot_210.png|75px]]||
|-
|Bleeped||[[290]], [[398]], [[430]], [[447]], [[533]], [[549]], [[677]], [[724]] or [[1671]]|| *$@#! ||[[File:loot_044.png|75px]]||Comics that involve swearing
|-
|why waste time say few word when lot word do trick||[[7]], [[111]], [[139]], [[143]], [[179]], [[217]], [[445]], [[470]], [[822]], [[823]], [[1022]], [[1247]], [[1491]], [[1921]], [[1991]], [[2182]] or [[2231]]|| First Annual Award for Excellence in Being Very Smart ||[[File:loot_159.png|75px]]||
|-
|Cooler than electric scooters||[[139]], [[409]], [[577]], [[578]], [[579]], [[580]] or [[581]]||An electric skateboard||[[File:loot_006.png|75px]]||
|-
|Take it from the top||[[1: Barrel - Part 1]] (maybe incomplete)||I am a turtle from [[889: Turtles]] || [[File:loot_095.png|75px]] ||
|-
|I accept the yucca gnocchi, this meal is a success!||[[1713: 50 ccs]] (maybe incomplete)||Man carrying parentheses from [[297: Lisp Cycles]] || [[File:loot_031.png|75px]] ||
|-
|Catch up on the news||[[1699: Local News]] (maybe incomplete)|| || ||
|-
|Participation trophy||[[2288: Collector's Edition]] (maybe incomplete)|| Server rack || [[File:loot_096.png|75px]] ||
|-
|Find an opportunity for a sojourn||[[665]], [[681]], [[695]], [[1091]], [[1504]], [[1613]], [[1663]] or [[2111]]||Opportunity Mars rover from [[2111: Opportunity Rover]]||[[File:loot_161.png|75px]]||
|-
|Tastier than tau day||[[179: e to the pi times i]] (maybe incomplete)||First annual award for excellence in being very smart || [[File:loot_159.png|75px]] || Need to find out the difference between this, and the entry below!
|-
|Tastier than tau day||[[235]], [[396]], [[872]], [[1029]], [[1342]], [[1655]] or [[1967]]|| Pie sign ||[[File:loot_056.png|75px]]|| Published on Pi day
|-
|418 I'm a teapot||[[1866: Russell's Teapot]] (maybe incomplete)||S.S. NASA: Space is Hard || [[File:loot_216.png|75px]] ||
|-
|26th September, 1983||[[2052: Stanislav Petrov Day]]||White dove||[[File:loot_205.png|75px]]||Might also be written "September 26th, 1983". Locale dependent?
|-
|There are 4241 as of Apr 1, 2020||[[1071: Exoplanets]] (maybe incomplete)|| Little girl from [[2264: Satellite]] || [[File:loot_151.png|75px]] ||
|-
|asableiK||[[645: RPS]]|| A reverse Polish hotdog ||loot_079.png|| "Kielbasa" backwards, which is "sausage" in Polish
|-
|Critical mass elements||[[235: Kite]] or [[239: Blagofaire]]|| ||loot_203.png||
|-
|Some Februarys are more equal than others||[[390: Nightmares]]? (maybe incomplete)|| Cueball wheelie from [[272: Linux User at Best Buy]] || loot_036.png || Comic-hint connection largely conjectural; 390 was the first comic published on a leap day.
|-
|Five spice||[[1511: Spice Girl]] or [[1554: Spice Girls]]|| Rock guitarist ||loot_022.png||
|-
|Call the plumber||[[290: Fucking Blue Shells]] (maybe incomplete)|| || loot_058.png ||
|-
|Was it a rat I saw?||[[1632: Palindrome]] (maybe incomplete)|| Cueball with a large sack, pulling a wagon || loot_103.png || or [[1503: Squirrel Plan]] for cueball holding a balloon caught in a ceiling fan.
|-
|Churchill's gonna have to seriously rehydrate||[[1148: Nothing to Offer]]|| Bottle of soda ||loot_045.png||
|-
|Keep coming back|| || || ||
|-
|A new model released each year||Triggered by visiting all xkcd phone comics in order|| Phone screaming "Noooo" || loot_235.png ||
|-
|Tea Time||Maybe [[581: The Race: Part 5]]? Need confirmation.||All our tea ||loot_232.png||
|-
|Try pattern-matching! Look for comic 'bout alphabet?||[[1045: Constraints]]||Two Tetris blocks||loot_092.png||
|-
|Where's Hilbert?||[[195: Map of the Internet]] (maybe incomplete)|| Hilbert Curve || loot_021.png ||
|-
|Science fiction fetish||[[1585: Similarities]]|| ||loot_202.png||
|-
|The first one was funnier||[[11: Barrel - Part 2]] (maybe incomplete)||Falling feather / Sign "The uncomfortable truths well" || loot_250.png / loot_067.png ||
|-
|It's up to over 260 million cycles!||[[1941: Dying Gift]]|| Megan on a tire swing ||loot_127.png||
|-
|Sleeping Beauty is the same everywhere though||[[2233: Aurora Meaning]] (maybe incomplete)|| Sleeping Cat || loot_163.png ||
|-
|On the internet, nobody knows you're an arachnid||[[1530: Keyboard Mash]] (maybe incomplete)|| Cobwebbed frame from [[1135: Arachnoneurology]]|| loot_191.png ||
|-
|Did James Cameron pay for the rice cooker too?||[[1598: Salvage]] (maybe incomplete)||Rice bowl || loot_152.png ||
|-
|Never going to give you up||[[351]], [[389]], [[396]], [[524]], [[573]], [[609]], [[802]], [[1212]], [[1757]] or [[1981]]|| Cueball in car listening to music ||loot_010.png||
|-
|If red touches yellow, that's 24 ohms||[[1604: Snakes]], [[227: Color Codes]]? (maybe incomplete)|| Yoda with an mp3 player from What If || loot_247.png ||
|-
|An enthusiastic but questionable business opportunity||[[1021]], [[1032]], [[1117]], [[1293]], [[1493]], [[1533]], [[1772]], [[1812]], [[1871]], [[1903]], [[1997]], [[2140]], [[2209]] or [[2277]]|| Beret guy with a goat on leash ||loot_115.png||
|-
|Read the fine manual||[[293]], [[434]], [[456]], [[912]], [[1343]] or [[1692]]|| ||Multiple: loot_106.png, miniloot-words-hair.png, miniloot-words-ominous.png, miniloot-words-eruption.png, miniloot-words-flying.png or miniloot-words-ghost.png (maybe incomplete)||
|-
|That thing's undecimodal!||[[1347: t Distribution]] (maybe incomplete)|| Floating tentacled alien || loot_209.png ||
|-
|Actually, it's Myanmar-Shave now||[[491: Twitter]] (maybe incomplete)||Expensive bottle || loot_253.png ||
|-
|You don't have to find all 99||[[121: Balloon]] (maybe incomplete)||Balloon copter || loot_002.png || Or [[51: Malaria]] ?
|-
|Going in circles||[[378: Real Programmers]] (maybe incomplete)|| Cueball spinning in desk chair || loot_098.png ||
|-
|Couldn't you try knitting, or maybe stamp collecting?||[[37]], [[53]], [[60]], [[75]], [[79]], [[148]], [[168]], [[174]], [[236]], [[259]], [[287]], [[296]], [[326]], [[331]], [[389]], [[437]], [[451]], [[559]], [[590]], [[605]], [[687]], [[719]], [[733]], [[790]], [[845]], [[966]], [[1004]], [[1119]], [[1145]], [[1169]], [[1208]], [[1278]], [[1304]], [[1329]], [[1340]], [[1355]], [[1405]], [[1480]], [[1546]], [[1598]], [[1677]], [[1697]], [[1705]], [[1788]], [[1795]], [[1960]], [[1995]], [[2032]], [[2123]], [[2208]] or [[2252]]||Phishing License sign||loot_158.png||Mostly comics that include "My hobby:"
|-
|It's the ciiiiircle of HONK||[[537: Ducklings]] or [[1729: Migrating Geese]]||DUCKLOOP'D?||loot_069.png||
|-
|Fool me twice||Maybe [[880: Headache]]? Need confirmation.|| Raptor Attack || loot_033.png ||The second April fools' comic
|-
|oOOOoooo||Maybe [[316: Loud Sex]]? Need confirmation.|| Sleeping cat || ||
|-
|Maybe we can ask for new wishes||[[879: Lamp]]||Genie and his bottle||loot_004.png||If you place the genie last, you get another genie (indefinitely) - Needs verification, this may also just be a bug!
|-
|HACK THE PLANET||[[1337: Hack]] (maybe incomplete)|| Crash and Burn in the pool from the end of ''Hackers'' || loot_130.png ||
|-
|Monetization haute couteur||[[20]], [[23]], [[55]], [[123]], [[149]], [[150]], [[162]], [[208]], [[231]], [[242]], [[256]], [[273]], [[285]], [[303]], [[327]], [[377]], [[386]], [[420]], [[435]], [[442]], [[482]], [[505]], [[552]], [[556]], [[585]], [[614]], [[627]], [[657]], [[681]], [[688]], [[705]], [[710]], [[802]], [[821]], [[980]], [[1033]], [[1040]], [[1079]], [[1127]], [[1133]], [[1196]], [[1298]] or [[1428]] (maybe false positives)||Two bags of money ||loot_162.png||
|-
|Maybe writing a script would help||[[1319: Automation]]|| ||miniloot-words-eater.png (maybe incomplete)||
|-
|Go big to go small||[[1365: Inflation]]|| ||loot_245.png||
|-
|Are you projecting||[[850]], [[977]], [[1500]], [[1784]], [[1799]], [[2242]] or [[2256]]||Squirrel on a gun||loot_237.png||
|-
|Do spiders really have six legs||[[8]], [[43]], [[126]], [[427]], [[442]] or [[1110]]|| ||loot_007.png||
|-
|Istanbul or Constantinople or St. Trimble's Island?||[[1688: Map Age Guide]]||Cephalopod||loot_071.png||
|-
|Another rulebook?||[[393: Ultimate Game]]|| Merlin in a chair from [[270: Merlin]] ||loot_037.png||
|-
|Moooooon||[[482]], [[681]], [[1276]], [[1291]], [[1300]], [[1389]], [[1458]], [[1515]], [[1633]], [[1738]], [[1878]] or [[2258]]|| MOOOOOON ||loot_192.png||
|-
|Take a flight from LOL to FFS||[[1937: IATA Airport Abbreviations]]|| ||loot_049.png||
|-
|Everyone deserves a second chnace||All comics searched, no matches|| || ||The misspelling is intentional. [[745: Dyslexics]] would have been a good fit
|-
|Community contribution||[[822]], [[823]], [[824]], [[825]], [[826]]|| [Citation Needed] protester from [[285: Wikipedian Protester]] || loot_035.png ||
|-
|On the other side of the wardrobe||[[665: Prudence]], [[969: Delta-P]] or [[2218: Wardrobe]] (maybe incomplete)||Authentic Reindeer pulling sled from [[1776: Reindeer]] || loot_154.png ||
|-
|Today's your lucky day||[[1053: Ten Thousand]] (maybe incomplete)|| Ms. Frizzle || loot_105.png ||
|-
|[This hint has been redacted due to a copyright claim]||[[1005: SOPA]]|| ||loot_038.png||
|-
|Try a different approach||[[55: Useless]] (maybe incomplete)|| Equals sign ||loot_times.png or loot_div.png (maybe incomplete)||
|-
|The cake is a lie!||[[606: Cutting Edge]]|| Cake ||loot_144.png||
|-
|Joanna, fire.||[[322: Pix Plz]]|| Joanna with EMP cannon ||loot_026.png||
|-
|Everything changes from time to time when the fire nation attacks|| [[965: Elements]] || Symposium || ||
|-
|90KG x 300M||[[382: Trebuchet]]|| Trebuchet ||loot_041.png||
|-
|Copyright Enforcement Brigade||[[344: 1337: Part 4]]|| ||loot_046.png||
|-
|Where Cape Town meets Chukotka||[[1500: Upside-Down Map]]|| Crater ||loot_128.png||
|-
|Take a ride in a barrel||View all five barrel comics in reverse order ([[31]], [[25]], [[22]], [[11]], [[1]])|| Cueball at the door to the playpen-ball-filled apartment from [[150: Grownups]] || loot_005.png ||
|-
|Compiling...||[[303: Compiling]]|| ||loot_030.png||
|-
| || [[2288: Collector's Edition]] || Sheeple eye || loot_109.png ||
|-
| || [[2288: Collector's Edition]] || Time machine from [[1747: Spider Paleontology]] || loot_167.png ||
|}

Click “Expand” to see the full image.
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
[[File:2288_full.png]]
</div>

==Trivia==
* This comic is the 2020 April Fools comic and was supposed to be released Wednesday, April 1st, but did not go live until Friday, April 3. (Friday's comic, [[2289: Scenario 4]], was published a day later for a [[2289: Scenario 4#Trivia|very rare Saturday release]].) However, the message below was displayed on the top of the page from Wednesday until the comic finally went live:
<blockquote>
Note: For technical reasons Wednesday's comic will be posted Thursday instead. Apologies for the delay!
</blockquote>
* This is one of the few comics released four days after the previous one. The last time this occurred was [[2224: Software Updates]].
* Placement is limited to 10,000 horizontal units and 5,000 vertical units from the origin. Users received no messages if they try placing something outside the boundary, with a silent fail with the object not being placed.
* Coordinates are relative to the bottom left corner of the canvas. As the default coordinates are (-370,-277) and the origin is in the center, the displayed portion of the canvas can be found to be twice this in magnitude, 740 x 544 units.
* The comic contains 32993 separate images.
* The most common image is loot-30.png, which appears 2576 times.

==Transcript==

:[Cueball stands to the left of a vibrating box.]
:[The words "Collector's Edition" are written above him and boxed.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:April fools' comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Interactive comics]]

2343: Mathematical Symbol Fight

2020-08-10T18:30:00Z

162.158.63.6:

{{comic
| number = 2343
| date = August 7, 2020
| title = Mathematical Symbol Fight
| image = mathematical_symbol_fight.png
| titletext = Oh no, a musician just burst in through the door confidently twirling a treble clef.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a RADIX SCYTHE. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic imagines which {{w|List of mathematical symbols|mathematical symbols}} would be good in a fight if they were made corporeal in two (or three) dimensions. Generally, objects with longer reach and pointier ends wind up on the right ("more useful") side of the scale, and symbols with less reach and more curves tend towards the left ("less useful") side.

Below the chart, with the symbols listed in order of usefulness, eight characters wield eight of the symbols. See the [[#Table of symbols|table]] below for the meaning of each symbol.

The comic invokes {{w|surreal humour}} by suggesting that mathematical symbols could be handled as physical objects in the real world. Another component of the humor is the implication that it is useful to prepare to use mathematical symbols in a fight, even though mathematicians, who use mathematical symbols, usually do not conduct their debates violently <ref>S. Lee and S. Miller,, ''Crystal Dragon'',(Baen, 2005), chapter eight</ref> (though some stories suggest that {{w|Hippasus}} was killed by his fellow Pythagoreans for his proof that irrational numbers exist), and even if they did, they wouldn't use large reproductions of their symbols as weapons.

A straight line is farthest to the "more dangerous" side, which could possibly be a reference to the dangers posed by lines in "Flatland", because their infinitely-sharp endpoints could be difficult to see (particularly their rear end, which does not contain a gleaming eye as their front end does) and would fatally pierce whoever they chose to stab. However, taking a more literal view of the drawings, the straight line does not appear to be any thicker or thinner, or pointier, than any of the other lines.

The title text refers to a {{w|Treble clef}}, which is not a mathematical symbol but rather a {{w|List of musical symbols|musical symbol}}. The note of concern in the text suggests musical symbols may be viewed in such fights as exotic or especially dangerous. See also the last entry in the table below.

==Table of symbols==
{| class="wikitable"
! Symbol
! Meaning
! Notes on using in a fight
|-
| ℝ
|The set of [[wikipedia:real number|real number]]s
|[[Megan]] seems to be struggling with a giant version of this symbol.
|-
| θ
|[[wikipedia:Theta#Mathematics_and_science|Theta]]
|This symbol is not very sharp, and [[White Hat]] is unable to use it in combat. It would not work as a good shield due to the hole in the symbol, but it possibly could be thrown. (The later version of Xena's chakram had a bar in the middle.)
|-
| ∅
|[[wikipedia:Empty set|Empty set]]
|Similarly shaped to theta, but identified as being slightly more useful, presumably because the parts of the bar that extend beyond the circle can be used as thrusting weapons. Alternatively, the round nature of the symbol makes it easier to handle for defense, by holding on to the line and using the edge of the circular part to block.
|-
| ∞
|infinity
|Could be gripped between the rings and used as a blunt instrument.
|-
| >
|Greater than
|Could be used to thrust with the point, but lacks a grip by which to do so. If held by one leg, the angle and balance is wrong to use it as a pick.
|-
| ∝/α
|[[wikipedia:Proportionality_(mathematics)#Direct_proportionality|Direct Proportionality]] or lowercase {{w|Alpha#Mathematics and science|alpha}}
|Could be brandished by the ring and used to thrust with the prongs, but the two prongs extending at 90-degree angles make thrusting motions awkard.
|-
| ∪
|{{w|union (set theory)}}
|Could be used as a boomerang, which is {{tvtropes|PrecisionGuidedBoomerang|notoriously less practical in real life than in fiction}}
|-
| ∈/ϵ
|{{w|Element (mathematics)|member of}} (set theory) or the "lunate" lowercase {{w|Epsilon#Symbol|epsilon}}
|[[Cueball]] is holding this in the manner of a Klingon "{{w|Bat'leth}}" from the ''Star Trek'' franchise. The Bat'leth is [https://youtu.be/VsElSDXPgSA infamous] among swordfighters for being rather impractical, and that the Klingon warrior race would have been better suited using swords like humans. It seems Randall agrees, as the ∈ is quite far on the left of the chart.
|-
| π
|[[wikipedia:Pi|pi]]
|Could be used as a hammer, but the two handles would make doing so impractical.
|-
| ∀
|"{{w|Universal quantification|for all}}"
|Could be held by the crossbar clenched in a fist, and then used as a {{w|push dagger}}, with the legs acting as a guard. Or could be held by the legs.
Compared to the similar Δ (delta) the point is sharper, the grip is closer to the point so it would be easier to control (keep the weapon from twisting). Unclear why it is listed as much less effective than the delta. Perhaps the guard legs are too long?
|-
| ∂
|{{w|∂}} ([[wikipedia:Partial derivative|partial derivative]] or [[wikipedia:Boundary_(topology)|boundary operator]])
|It's not clear why Randall ranks this symbol as so much less effective than the similarly-shaped 𝜌, but the curl in the "tail" of the ∂ would give it a shorter lever arm when swung and would disrupt the balance.
|-
| +
|[[wikipedia:Plus_and_minus_signs#Plus_sign|Plus]]
|Maybe thrown like a {{w|shuriken}}?
|-
| Ψ
|[[wikipedia:Psi#Mathematics|Psi]]
|It could be used as a slightly-less-functional trident or pitchfork, with a shorter handle. More particularly, it resembles a {{w|Sai (weapon)|sai}} (which, funnily enough, is how "Psi" is pronounced).
|-
| ≠
|not equal sign
|Could be gripped by the crossbar, using the lengths to puncture. Notably, the equal sign (=) is absent from the chart, likely because the lengths are separate and would not be used as a single entity.
|-
| ~
|[[wikipedia:Tilde#Mathematics|tilde]], meaning "approximately", equivalent, or several transforms of a function
|A potentially dangerous throwing weapon. Could also be similar to a wavy bladed dagger ({{w|Kris}}) or a sword ({{w|Flame-bladed sword}}).
|-
| #
|[[wikipedia:Cardinality|Cardinality]], [[wikipedia:Connected_sum|connected sum]] (knot theory), or [[wikipedia:Primorial|primorial]].
|[[Blondie]] uses this symbol, gripping it by two of the prongs on one side. The other three prongs could thus be swung at opponents, but being sharp on all sides would pose a threat to the user as well as the opponent.
|-
| Δ
|[[wikipedia:Delta_(letter)|Delta]]
|Could be held with one bar clenched in a fist, and then used as a {{w|push dagger}}. Unclear why listed as much more effective than ∀. Also, delta could be thrown like a star.
|-
| ⇒
|[[wikipedia:Material_conditional|Material consequence]] or [[wikipedia:Logical_consequence|Logical consequence]], meaning "implies"
|The point is nice, but having two poles (or one board-like thick handle, if the shape is drawn "closed" at the back) would be difficult to wield. A collection of them might make a nice defensive pike line.
|-
| ⋅
|multiplication sign
|Functionally a ball, and could therefore be thrown as a projectile weapon, or scattered on the ground as a trip hazard.
|-
| ζ
|{{w|Zeta#Mathematics_and_science|Zeta}}
|Could be sharpened into a scythe or curved saber, depending on the curvature and length of the 'tail' at the bottom.
|-
| ℵ
|[[wikipedia:Aleph_number|Aleph number]]
|The irregular shape of the symbol leads to edges and points on all sides; thus it could be brandished or thrown in the manner of a shuriken.
|-
| Γ
|uppercase Greek letter {{w|Gamma#Uppercase|Gamma}}
|If this letter is formed with {{w|serif}}s, it could be used as an axe or hook, and if it is made {{w|sans-serif}}, it would make a powerful pick or war hammer.
|-
| √
|{{w|radix}} sign
|Randall has drawn this sign with a long overbar, which makes it useful like a {{w|Pole weapon|pole arm}}. [[Black Hat]] has chosen this symbol in his fight against [[Hairy]]
|-
| ''ρ''
|{{w|Prime_constant|italic rho}}
|[[Ponytail]] is brandishing this symbol against [[Danish]], apparently using it like a club or hammer and striking with the curve.
|-
| ∮
|{{w|contour integral}}
|This symbol is drawn with a very tight center, giving it an almost identical figure to the regular integral symbol. Presumably, the added bulk for marginal additional use earns it a rating of 'less effective'.
|-
| ∫
|{{w|integral}}
|Could be used in the manner of a shepherd's crook, or as a {{w|Bill (weapon)|billhook}}. Could be used as a {{w|spear thrower}}, combined with ⋅ or ⇀.
|-
| →
|Implies; X→Y means that if X is true, then Y is also true
|[[Danish]] is brandishing this symbol against Ponytail, apparently using it like a spear or other polearm.
|-
| ⊥
|{{w|up tack}} or falsum, indicating a false proposition in logic, perpendicular lines in geometry, or the bottom element in a partial order
|Used as a {{w|war hammer}} (held by the long stem), the opponent would be struck with either leg of the top of the T. Held by the short legs (like a wishbone), could be used as a two handed sword.
(If tipped with a knapped stone head, it could become a {{w|Folsom point|falsum point}}.)
|-
| ⇀
|{{w|Vector notation}}
|Could be used as a single-barbed spear. It is unclear why this is listed as more useful than the 'implies' arrow.
|-
| ––
|{{w|Fraction#Vocabulary|Fraction bar}} (division) or {{w|Overline#Math_and_science|overline}} (complex conjugate or mean).
|[[Hairy]] is brandishing this symbol against Black Hat. The single shaft would allow it to be used in the manner of a {{w|quarterstaff}}, {{w|bō}}, or other {{w|stick-fighting}} weapon. Of the symbols shown in the comic, Randall considers this one the most useful in a fight, presumably because of its greater reach than the vector arrow and its simplicity compared to the radix root symbol.
|-
| 𝄞
|{{w|Treble clef}}
|Mentioned in the title text; this is not a mathematical symbol, but a musical symbol. The treble clef is a much more complicated symbol than those used in mathematics, hence the musician's "confidence" in his weapon. The curve at the bottom could be used as a hook, the upper curl could be used as a blunt weapon, and the tight curl of the center would serve as a better defensive shield than theta.
|}

==Notes==
<references />

==Transcript==
:[A chart is shown with 30 different symbols arranged above a line with arrows in both ends and with 17 ticks between the arrow heads. The symbols are mostly in two rows, but the first two symbols from the left do not have another symbol above them, and towards the right there are a segment with three rows of symbols. Above the symbols there is a heading and a subheading. And beneath those there is a long arrow pointing right with a label above it.]
:<big>Mathematical Symbols</big>
:By how useful they would be in a fight
:More useful
: ℝ ∅ > ∝ π + Ψ ~ ⇒ ⋅ Γ √ ∮ ∫ ⇀
: θ ∞ ∪ ∈ ∀ ∂ ≠ # Δ ζ ℵ ''ρ'' → ⊥ ––

:[Below the double arrow line are eight characters that fight each other in groups of two by using some of the symbols shown above them as weapons. They have chosen symbols that are almost above them in the chart.]
:[Megan is awkwardly handling a giant "ℝ" holding it up against White Hat who is holding a "θ" with both hands, as a shield.]
:[Cueball is holding an "∈" in both hands, with its "tines" pointed towards Blondie, who is swatting at him with a "#".]
:[Ponytail is leaping at Danish, swinging a "''ρ''" like an axe, while Danish is leaning back and thrusting a "→" back at her.]
:[Black Hat is swinging a long "√" like a polearm at Hairy, who is holding a long "⎯" defensively.]

==Trivia==
*Here is a list of symbols from left to right (by rightmost edge):
** ℝ θ ∅ ∞ > ∪ ∝ ∈ ∀ π ∂ + ≠ Ψ # ~ △ ζ ⇒ ⋅ ℵ Γ ''ρ'' √ → ∮ ∫ ⊥ ⇀ ––
**Note: Where two symbols had similar right-most edges, the overlay grid on an ASUS pro-art display was used to decide which one went further right.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Rankings]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Danish]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Music]]

Talk:395: Morning

2020-07-08T21:24:04Z

162.158.63.6:

I always thought she was seeing airplanes, satellites, planets, or stars. --[[Special:Contributions/67.243.62.50|67.243.62.50]] 03:01, 28 September 2013 (UTC)

"Seeing dead pixels in the sky" seems like a rehash of an important quote in some work. Any ideas on what that work is? [[Special:Contributions/24.104.10.45|24.104.10.45]] 06:16, 21 October 2013 (UTC)

:It's like that quote from CJ in the first season of West Wing: We can all be better teachers.
:It sounds so deep you think they must have borrowed it from somewhere. But no, it's original. Kudos to Randall. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.223|108.162.219.223]] 21:37, 3 January 2014 (UTC)
:It's reminiscent of the opening sentence of Neuromancer: The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.174|173.245.55.174]] 04:28, 17 September 2015 (UTC)

Btw, if anyone is curious, life's resolution is approximately [http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=1+inch+%2F+1+planck+length 1.572×10^33 DPI] [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.213|108.162.212.213]] 16:29, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

:And its framerate is, ignoring relativistic effects, roughly [https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=1+second+%2F+1+planck+time 1.8549×10^43 FPS]. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.10|162.158.106.10]] 17:19, 5 July 2020 (UTC)

IMO, the unspoken big picture is that during a prairie winter you can get "white out" conditions when an overcast sky matches the color of snow cover. This eliminates all shadows and you can walk face first into a snow drift without seeing it. The whole world looks like dead pixels. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.87}}

"It is likely what she is seeing is a star or other stellar object." I'm not sure this bit fits the context of the image. It is supposed to be dead pixels, and stellar objects don't often pop out of no where (unless an infinite improbability drive is involved). [[User:Kirdneh|Kirdneh]] ([[User talk:Kirdneh|talk]]) 21:08, 30 December 2014 (UTC)

It may just be me, but I thought the dead pixels she is seeing form the words "And seeing dead pixels in the sky.", making the comic self-referential in a typical xkcd way. Does anyone agree with me? [[User:Richmond tudor|Richmond tudor]] ([[User talk:Richmond tudor|talk]]) 06:35, 13 January 2015 (UTC)

Has nobody else noticed the several square pixels depicted in the sky? Zoom in, Gramps! [[Special:Contributions/199.27.129.11|199.27.129.11]] 02:41, 28 August 2015 (UTC)

Am I the only one that doesn't actually think the pixels are there just to annoy the reader like it says in the explanation? It seems like they're there because the text says so. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.51|108.162.216.51]] 17:46, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

I didn't notice the red and green dots until this page "explained" it. Until then, I conjectured that the "dead pixels" were snowflakes that had fallen from the sky to the ground. The trees look like evergreens, which made me think of winter. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.6|162.158.63.6]] 21:24, 8 July 2020 (UTC)

2329: Universal Rating Scale

2020-07-07T01:24:21Z

162.158.63.6: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2329
| date = July 6, 2020
| title = Universal Rating Scale
| image = universal_rating_scale.png
| titletext = There are plenty of finer gradations. I got 'critically endangered/extinct in the wild' on my exam, although the curve bumped it all the way up to 'venti.'
}}

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

Traditional scales that have been blended for the comic
: '''Scale of zero to ten''' (but with an 11, because people often add that to exaggerate - see {{w|up to eleven}} about the meme)
:: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11
: '''Competitive scores''', such as in the Olympics (ordinarily from 0.0 to 10.0, perfect)
:: 10.0
: '''Scale of agreement'''
:: strongly disagree, disagree, agree, strongly agree
: '''School grades''' (there are also B, C, D, and others with + or -)
:: F, A, A+
: '''Restaurant or entertainment ratings'''
:: 1 star, 2 stars, 3 stars, 4 stars
: '''Conservation status''' (this is only a subset of the nine groups in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species)
:: extinct, critical, endangered, least concern
: '''Starbucks brand beverage sizes''' (there is also trenta)
:: tall, grande, venti
: '''{{w|MPAA}} age-apropriate film ratings since 1966''' (there is also R)
:: G, PG, PG-13, NC-17
: '''{{w|ESRB}} age-appropriate ratings''' (there is also E for everyone, E10+ for Everyone 10+, M for Mature, and AO for Adults Only)
:: T for teen
: '''Happiness emojis'''
:: Frowny face, neutral face, smiley face
: '''Coin grades'''
:: F, G, VG, UNC for fair, good, very good, uncirculated
: '''Hurricane/cyclone strengths''' (ordinarily categorized from 1 to 5)
:: Category 5
: '''Tornado intensities''', enhanced Fujita scale (ordinarily categorized from 0 to 5)
:: EF-5
: '''Credit (and other) ratings'''
:: A, AA, AAA

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

: [Caption above the frame:]
: Universal Rating Scale
:
: [A vertical scale, with 45 gradations, labeled]
: 0
: 1
: Strongly Disagree
: F
: [star] ☆
: Extinct
: Tall
: 2
: G
: Critical
: [frowny face] ☹
: 3
: endangered
: [two stars] ☆☆
: PG
: Disagree
: VG
: 4
: Grande
: 5
: PG-13
: [neutral face] 😐
: 6
: T for Teen
: 7
: [three stars] ☆☆☆
: Agree
: Venti
: 8
: Least Concern
: [smiley face] ☺
: A
: Strongly Agree
: Category 5
: EF-5
: NC-17
: UNC
: AA
: [four stars] ☆☆☆☆
: A+
: S
: AAA
: 10
: 10.0
: 11

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]

Talk:2316: Hair Growth Rate

2020-06-11T05:29:23Z

162.158.63.6: /* Sound Effect Words */

Based on the rate at which I shed hair, mine must be growing at an above average rate or I'd be completely bald by now.
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 19:23, 5 June 2020 (UTC)

Is this a Dr. Seuss reference? The [https://seuss.fandom.com/wiki/Zed Zed] "all have one strand of hair up on each of their heads, their hair grows very fast, so fast, people say that they need a haircut everyday" [[User:Usernaminator|Usernaminator]] ([[User talk:Usernaminator|talk]]) 21:18, 5 June 2020 (UTC)

So, anybody have some idea how is this related to covid? :-) -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:30, 5 June 2020 (UTC)
: The link is clearly that there are no open barbers now! (THIS IS A JOKE) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.80|162.158.155.80]] 22:54, 5 June 2020 (UTC)
: i was like omigod a normal xkcd they freed randall celebrate celebrate!!!! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.52|108.162.216.52]] 22:38, 5 June 2020 (UTC)

Unrelated to the comic, but I just want to point out that (at least on my monitor), the kerning for "LIVES" in the new header is less than ideal. The "I" and the "V" blend together, looking like an "N" -- at least at the resolution displayed and the distance I view from -- so my mind reads "LNES" and fills in the missing "I" as "black lines matter." Which, for stick figures generally drawn in black on a white background is true, but....[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.61|162.158.74.61]] 23:01, 5 June 2020 (UTC)
: [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1015:_Kerning We all noticed...] [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 20:04, 7 June 2020 (UTC)

First time I post here, I hope I do it right. You say "we never see what sort of hairstyle White Hat has under his hat", but we actually do: [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1624:_2016] [[Special:Contributions/188.114.103.205|188.114.103.205]] 22:25, 9 June 2020 (UTC)

Should we add a long to the What if page where he mentions 1 massive hair? I think it had something to do with whales hiding down planes.

==Sound Effect Words==
*ZIIIP. A [https://www.google.com/search?q=%22ziiip%22+sound Google search] finds multiple uses of this sound.
*PWIFF. Off-topic. At [https://code.google.com/archive/p/pwiff/ Google Code Archive] ''pwiff'' is a library written in PHP that allows you to generate [https://www.google.com/search?q=swf+file SWF files].
*FWIP. At [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Fwip urban dictionary] ''fwip'' is a sound effect commonly used in [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=BL BL manga].Isn't FWIP the sound made when Spiderman casts a web?
*BLIP. At [https://www.google.com/search?q=blip Oxford Dictionaries] ''blip'' is a short high-pitched sound made by an electronic device.
*ZHOOOP. A [https://www.google.com/search?q=%22zhooop%22+sound Google search] finds multiple uses of this sound.
*PEW. At [https://www.google.com/search?q=pew+pew Oxford Dictionaries] ''pew pew'' is the sound made by a laser gun.
--[[User:JohnB|JohnB]] ([[User talk:JohnB|talk]]) 08:58, 6 June 2020 (UTC)
:...while PewPewPewPewPew is the sound of a clerical error, when you have far too much seating to comfortably fit inside the church and end up with zero leg-room. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.121|162.158.154.121]] 11:57, 6 June 2020 (UTC)

Talk:1006: Sloppier Than Fiction

2020-05-28T21:30:43Z

162.158.63.6:

To me this is the lesson that sometimes we miss the most obvious thing: If you felt like you needed to do something that WASN'T technically cheating, perhaps what you shared WASN'T technically love. So if it was not love our beerded (at least I think it's a beer in his cup) friend lost, what was it? - e-inspired [[Special:Contributions/98.211.199.84|98.211.199.84]] 15:21, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

: The positive strings attached to that quasi-love? --[[User:Quicksilver|Quicksilver]] ([[User talk:Quicksilver|talk]]) 06:47, 17 August 2013 (UTC)

" Oh and FYI, if anyone ever says "It wasn't technically cheating"... it was cheating. " -> This is only true for the more orthodox kinds of relationships. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.29|108.162.229.29]] 02:07, 29 January 2014 (UTC)
Agreed. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.29|108.162.216.29]] 19:40, 26 February 2015 (UTC)

:The point they're trying to make - and the joke in the comic - is that if you ever have to justify something as "technically not cheating", you've overstepped a boundary, regardless of how orthodox your relationship is. More to the point, if your partner is upset by something you did, telling them it was technically ok isn't going to get you anywhere. The joke is that goatee guy did something that hurt his girlfriend's feelings, then summarily dismissed her opinion when she tried to talk about it. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.11|173.245.54.11]] 21:19, 28 January 2016 (UTC)

The "not technically cheating" bit in my eyes simply makes it very clear that Goatee Guy is indeed an "unlikeable character". Ugh. Right with you on this one, Cueball! {{unsigned ip|108.162.222.38}}

Honestly, is nobody going to give Goatee Guy the benefit of the doubt? We know next to nothing about what actually happened. {{unsigned ip|162.158.58.123|19:44, October 24, 2017‎}}

As a man with a goatee, I object to Randall's depictions of our demographic in this [[675: Revolutionary|and]] [[796: Bad Ex|other]] [[435: Purity|comics]]. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.6|162.158.63.6]] 21:30, 28 May 2020 (UTC)