explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1878: Earth Orbital Diagram

2017-08-19T18:41:41Z

162.158.69.57:

I guess first off, we should note the "solstice" is *not* the Bristish equivalent of "equinox" -- they are actually opposites. The equinoxes occur in April and September, when the day & night are equal length, and the solstices occur in June and December, when the length of daylight and nightime, respectively, are at their longest. [[User:JamesCurran|JamesCurran]] ([[User talk:JamesCurran|talk]]) 15:30, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

"Determinant of the date of Easter" refers to the fact that in the Catholic Church (and possibly other Christian denomiations) the date of Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon of Spring, which means it is an astronomical calculation, but completely unrelated to the indicated angle. [[User:JamesCurran|JamesCurran]] ([[User talk:JamesCurran|talk]]) 16:28, 18 August 2017 (UTC)
:Well, everyone celebrates Easter on the same day, right? So it's the first Sunday after the first full moon for everybody. [[User:Berets|Berets]] ([[User talk:Berets|talk]]) 23:20, 18 August 2017 (UTC)
::No, not all denominations agree on the date of Easter; a particular example being the Orthodox church, which usually has Easter a week after the Catholic church, but sometimes as much as five weeks later. The difference is caused by the two denominations using different idealized calendars, both lunar and solar, as well as a slight difference in the definition. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.69.57|162.158.69.57]] 18:41, 19 August 2017 (UTC)
"Astral planes" might as well be a Unicode reference, taking into account Randall's occasional mention of emoji, since emoji reside on one of the astral planes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plane_%28Unicode%29 {{unsigned ip|141.101.105.168}}
:That supplementary planes humorously refer also to {{w|Astral plane|Astral planes}} as mentioned in this explanation.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:54, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

Solstice comes from the Latin ... Sol = Sun .. Sistere = Stand still. It literally means the day the sun stands still and refers to the longest day of the year (summer) and the shortest day of the year (winter). So how does the Sun "stand still". On those days the Earth reaches either end of orbital ellipse and returns around the other side. If you stick a pole in the ground and observe its shadow every day at Noon you will see the shadow grow longer every day from winter to summer and grow shorter every day from summer to winter. The shadow is shortest when the Sun is highest in the sky at mid-summer and the shadow is longest when the sun is lowest in the sky at mid-winter. The sun is either getting higher in the sky or lower in the sky every day. When the Earth is at the end of the ellipse and the transition takes place the shadow will not make any noticeable change from one day to the next and one could say that the "Sun has stood still". [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 19:36, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

I think that Solstice/Equinox thing is a reference to Randall having a hobby of spreading linguistic misinformation, as seen in 1677:Contrails.
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.26.251|172.68.26.251]] 00:32, 19 August 2017 (UTC)

1845: State Word Map

2017-06-09T14:26:58Z

162.158.69.57: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1845
| date = June 2, 2017
| title = State Word Map
| image = state_word_map.png
| titletext = The top search for every state is PORN, except Florida, where it's SEX PORN.
}}

==Explanation==

This is another of the many comics where [[Randall]] used a map of the United States for his joke (see below for examples).

Similar in spirit to [[1138: Heatmap]], this comic pokes fun at many maps that attempt to use data to discern unique characteristics about various sub-regions, in this case {{w|U.S. state|American states}}. This map may have been inspired by [https://twitter.com/GoogleTrends/status/869624196921303040 this map] posted on Twitter by Google Trends the day before the comic was posted. Many web companies use maps like this in viral marketing, but the methodology behind them is pretty weak. The random noise in the data will mean that there will be variations between states even if there is no underlying pattern - and this can be further boosted by statistical tricks. A common one is to show the "most characteristic" or "most distinctive" term for each state. For instance, [http://www.businessinsider.com/most-common-causes-of-death-in-each-state-2014-6?IR=T the most common cause of death is heart disease or cancer] in every US state, but this makes for a boring map. Looking at the [https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2015/14_0395.htm most distinctive cause of death] produces a more interesting map, but it highlights very minor trends - Lousiana is marked as having syphilis as its most distinctive cause of death, even though [https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/stateprofiles/pdf/louisiana_profile.pdf only 15 Louisianans in every 100,000 have the disease] and there were only 22 syphilis deaths in the state over a whole decade. These maps can give a misleading impression of huge variation between states that doesn't really exist.

This map does not say anything real, but says:
:You can make these maps say whatever you want by adjusting the methodology. Half of the time you're just amplifying random noise because the underlying data doesn't vary that much from one state to another. But whatever. Nobody checks this stuff. Just pick whatever normalization lets you make fun of Florida.

The primary joke is that the likelihood of these being the words used most often by the inhabitants of each state is low, rather than accurately representing the most used words Randall has just done exactly what he says he can do (make fun of Florida by putting whatever he wants). He also has not obtained the data from anywhere, just 'Something Something'.

The joke about Florida is that the most used word in Florida is "Florida", which would make people in Florida very self-centered.

The comic continues to make fun of Florida in the title text by saying that Florida searches for ''sex porn'' instead of ''porn'', which is not needed since porn means images and film of people having sex. This is also probably a reference to PornHub's [https://www.pornhub.com/insights/united-states-top-searches data-farming] exercises, where they have periodically released the most frequently searched term by state.

{{w|Florida}} is often the butt of many jokes, including the {{w|Florida Man}} meme and many mocking jibes regarding its {{w|2000 United States presidential election recount in Florida|messy electoral history}}. {{tvtropes|OnlyInFlorida|"Only in Florida" phenomenon}}

Randall previously used a map of the United States as the basis for his comics in [[1767: US State Names]], [[1653: United States Map]], [[1509: Scenery Cheat Sheet]] and in [[1079: United Shapes]].

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the map, with sub caption:]
:<big>Most-Used Word in Each State</big>
:Based on Something Something Search Data

:[Beneath the captions are a colorful map of the United States of America. Each state has one color, but the colors do not change from state to state, but rather between rows of states. The top "row" is purple, the second row is gray-blue, but only goes half across. Where it stops a pink row of states begins. Beneath this runs a yellow row, except it does not take California with it, since it belongs to the next purple line beneath this yellow line. Finally the two states not in the contiguous states as well as the southern states from Texas to Florida are again pink. Inside each state is written one, and only one word (or for small states the word is outside and if needed a line indicates which state it belongs to). The words size depends on the size of the state and the word. If it can fit inside the state it will be written in a font large enough to fill the entire state if possible (in one case a hyphen is used). So a short word, like "lets" in huge Texas becomes huge, but a word like "noise" which has been fitted inside small Massachusets becomes small.]

:[Here are the 50 words written in lines resembling the colors on the map (from left to right). Purple, gray-blue, pink, yellow, purple and pink:]
:You can make these maps say whatever you want
:by adjusting the methodology.
:Half the time you're just amplifying random noise.
:Because the underlying data doesn't vary that much from one state to another.
:But whatever. Nobody checks this stuff. Just pick
:whatever normal-ization lets you make fun of Florida.

==Trivia==
* In [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/0/04/20170602113432%21state_word_map.png the original version of this comic] the border line dividing {{w|New Hampshire}} and {{w|Maine}} was missing, although both states had distinct words attributed to them ("you" for NH and "want" for ME). The error was later corrected by Randall to the current version.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Geography]]
[[Category:Charts]]

1771: It Was I

2016-12-12T13:05:00Z

162.158.69.57: /* Explanation */ Naming the character in the middle

{{comic
| number = 1771
| date = December 12, 2016
| title = It Was I
| image = it_was_i.png
| titletext = It me, your father.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}

We see {{w|Palpatine}}, {{w|Luke Skywalker}} (drawn as an xkcd character) and {{w|Darth Vader}}. The comic starts with a scene from {{w|Return of the Jedi}}, but the tension deflates when the conversation suddenly veers into one of proper grammar.

Initially Palpatine begins saying "It was I who..." In traditional {{w|linguistic prescriptivism|prescriptive}} English grammar, the verb "to be" is a {{w|Indo-European copula|copula}}. This means that in a sentence of the form "A is B", both A ''and'' B are treated like the subject of the sentence. In most Indo-European languages, subjects use the {{w|nominative case}} - although the case system in English has almost died out, ''I'', ''he'', ''she'' and ''we'' are fossils of nominative case pronouns - and the object of the sentence uses the {{w|accusative case}} - ''me'', ''him'', ''her'', ''us''.

This rule is still strong in languages like German, where speakers still use cases and therefore are familiar with how they work. However, English's case system is so weak that most people only know the rule "''I'' goes before a verb, ''me'' comes after a verb or preposition". This gives the correct result in sentences like "It saw me". By extension, speakers therefore often say "It was me" ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNgxyL5zEAk here's a famous example from Vince McMahon]) - logical, but not true to the traditional rules. Luke thinks that there's nothing wrong with this modern sense, as he is a {{w|linguistic descriptivism|descriptivist}}.

However, as Darth Vader points out, "It was I" is not incorrect, and it is a {{w|set phrase}} with a good archaic ring to it suitable for a dramatic revelation from an Emperor. Vader and the Emperor using English archaisms has canon basis in ''Star Wars'', with Vader asking "What is thy bidding, my master?" in ''The Empire Strikes Back''.

Palpatine finally decides to take a third option, and uses "[http://www.papermag.com/it-me-you-and-everyone-we-know-a-look-at-the-webs-most-ambiguous-meme-1427655235.html it me]", a popular meme on Twitter in 2016. Darth Vader, out of embarrassment, begs him not to talk like that again.

One of [[Randall]]'s themes is that grammar pedants apply rules to correct other people long after those rules have fallen out of actual usage. Luke is here being an anti-grammar-pedant, asking the Emperor to disapply the rule. The joke is that he is concentrating on the linguistics of what he is saying, rather than the actual significance of it. See [[890: Etymology]] for another instance of Luke failing to notice semantics.

The title text runs with the joke in the final panel, applying the same meme to Darth Vader's iconic quote "No, I am your father." It could be said that such a phrasing robs the moment of all gravitas, but then again, Yoda managed to coin a phrase like "Do or do not; there is no try", and still be taken seriously.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

[Emperor Palpatine, Luke Skywalker, and Darth Vader in throne room]

Emperor: It was I who allowed the alliance to know the location of the shield generator.

Luke: You mean "It was ''me''." You're following an archaic grammar rule.

Emperor: It was ''me'' who allowed the-

Vader: No, my master, an archaic tone is appropriate here. The sentence sounds-

Emperor: It was ''I'' who allowed-

Luke: Come on, the accusative case is fine. Nominative pronouns are-

Emperor: '''''It me'''''

Emperor: '''''I allowed it'''''

Vader: My master,

Vader: Please never say that again.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Language]]

1769: Never Seen Star Wars

2016-12-07T13:14:34Z

162.158.69.57: /* Explanation */ Reference and motivation are not synonyms. Also, we are not time travelers

{{comic
| number = 1769
| date = December 7, 2016
| title = Never Seen Star Wars
| image = never_seen_star_wars.png
| titletext = If anyone calls you on any weird detail, just say it's from the Jedi Prince book series, which contains so much random incongruous stuff that even most Expanded Universe/Legends fans collectively agreed to forget about it decades ago.
}}

==Explanation==
[[White Hat]] tries to start a conversation with [[Cueball]] about the [[wikipedia:Star Wars|''Star Wars'']] sci-fi film franchise, which Cueball cuts short by stating that he has never seen the movies. This deeply astonishes White Hat. Because the movies are known worldwide and are ingrained into American pop culture, White Hat considers seeing ''Star Wars'' a universal experience.

Cueball reasons that not having watched the films is the "default option". In other words, humans are not born with intrinsic knowledge of the series. In fact, ''Star Wars'' was started very recently on the scale of human existence, so the majority of people ever to exist were never able to watch it. As for why he has not watched ''Star Wars'' despite being fully able to do so, Cueball goes on to say that ''not'' doing most given things is easy, appealing to his own apparent laziness. Another possible reason is that, while it is hard to find information about how many have seen Star Wars (especially given home video releases), one estimate is about 1000 million people have seen at least one of the Star Wars movies. This amounts to 10% of the current world population, so 9/10 will not have seen it. In the US and the rest of the Western world, the fraction of people having seen at least one of the movies may be above 50%, which makes Cueballs factoid incorrect from a statistical point of view, even if he is still right about "not doing something" being the default option.

Another word play here is that "default" means "failure to do something required by duty or law : neglect" according to dictionaries, so it is _literally_ the default option.

When White Hat finally begins to grasp that Cueball has indeed not seen ''Star Wars'', he declares that they must see it very soon or even immediately. When Cueball's response is one of uninterest again, White Hat seemingly calls in social reinforcements to agree with him that watching ''Star Wars'' is the norm. Cueball feels threatened by his friend's unreasonable behavior and quickly removes himself from the situation.

Later, [[Ponytail]] likewise wishes to start a conversation about ''Star Wars'', this time about a new movie coming out. Based on his previous experience, Cueball reconsiders admitting to not having seen the past movies, and instead pretends to be looking forward to the new one. Ponytail then tries to continue the conversation, so Cueball bluffs with an incorrect declaration that Darth Vader eats Jedi, likely constructed from other mentions of the ''Star Wars'' characters that he has overheard throughout his life. Cueball carefully chooses his words to make it seem as if he knows what he is talking about.

However, Ponytail doesn't call him out on this error, instead agreeing with it. Cueball is relieved—expressed as his thinking an onomatopoetic sigh of relief—as he believes he has guessed at an accurate piece of information and has avoided entering a similar situation to the previous one. The punchline of this part of the comic is Ponytail's identical feeling of relief, showing that she likewise hasn't seen ''Star Wars'', is also hiding this fact, and is also glad to not be caught. It may be inferred that Ponytail thinks not starting a conversation about ''Star Wars'' might expose her as someone who doesn't follow the series closely.

The title text is a tip for people like Cueball, to help them hide deception when roped into conversations about the films. It argues that since the ''Jedi Prince'' series of novels established so many strange concepts that don't mesh with most other canon information, it makes for an excellent scapegoat to blame ill-fitting declarations on, seeing as even the most devoted, well informed fan has agreed to forget the entire series. Casually bringing up such a forgotten series might also make the bluffer out to be extremely knowledgeable about the ''Star Wars'' franchise as a whole.

This comic is most likely motivated by a new ''Star Wars'' movie, ''Rogue One'', which will release into American theaters 9 days after the publishing of the strip on December 16, 2016 (exactly a week before the Belgian release of December 14), or ''The Force Awakens'', which had been out for a while at the time.

The huge pop cultural success of Star Wars means it is genuinely surprising to encounter an individual who has not seen it (at least amongst the typical audience of XKCD). The TV series "How I Met Your Mother" had an episode based around this premise, and there is a radio comedy chat show on [[wikipedia:BBC Radio 4|BBC Radio 4]] in the UK titled [[wikipedia:I've Never Seen Star Wars (radio series)|I've Never Seen Star Wars]], in which celebrity guests try out experiences that are common to others, but new to them, as well as a television version.

==Transcript==
[White Hat is facing Cueball while talking to him]
:White Hat: You know the scene on the Death Star where—
:Cueball: Nah, I've never seen ''Star Wars''.

[Close-up of White Hat in a smaller panel]
:White Hat: <big style="background:#000;color:#fff;">''WHAT.''</big>

[White Hat and Cueball are still facing each other]
:White Hat: ''…How?!''
:Cueball: Uh, it was easy?
:Cueball: It was literally the default option.

[Close up of Cueball, White Hat is speaking off-panel]
:White Hat: But… How did you—
:Cueball: Not doing things is my superpower. I'm not doing an infinite number of things ''as we speak!''

[White Hat and Cueball are still facing each other]
:White Hat: We ''have'' to watch it!
:Cueball: Nah, I'm good.

[White Hat has turned away from Cueball and has his hands to his mouth to shout to people off-panel. Cueball has likewise turned away as he walks away and is speaking back over his shoulder]
:White Hat: ''Hey everyone! This guy's never seen Star Wars!''
:Cueball: Listen, I gotta go.

{|class="wikitable"
|Later…
|}
[Ponytail is looking down at her phone in her left hand while Cueball is facing her]
:Ponytail: Wait, there's a new ''Star Wars''?
:Cueball: Oh, I've nev—
:Cueball: …Yeah! Excited for it! Big fan.

[Ponytail holds her phone to her side, transferred to her right hand, as she and Cueball face each other]
:Ponytail: What'd you think of the last one?
:Cueball: Uh… That Darth Vader, man.
:Cueball: Sure does love eating Jedi.

[Ponytail and Cueball continue facing each other]
:Ponytail: Haha, he sure does!
:Cueball [thinking]: Phew!
:Ponytail [thinking]: Phew!
{{comic discussion}}

1766: Apple Spectrum

2016-12-02T13:36:04Z

162.158.69.57: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1766
| date = November 30, 2016
| title = Apple Spectrum
| image = apple_spectrum.png
| titletext = If I were trapped on a desert island, and could have an unlimited supply of any one type of apple, I'd be like, "How did this situation happen?"
}}

==Explanation==

The comic shows a {{w|spectrum}} of different types of apples, with {{w|Red Delicious}} towards the bad end of the spectrum, and {{w|Honeycrisp}} towards the good end of the spectrum. Although most spectra are only one-dimensional, {{w|Granny Smith}} is on some side branch, implying that the taste is so different from the other two that it deserves its own category. (Perhaps this refers to the fact that the Granny Smith is primarily a cooking apple while the named apples on the main spectrum are normally eaten raw. Additionally, Granny Smith apples have a tart, or sour, flavor with a subtle sweetness.) The rest of the apple types fall somewhere in between. [[Randall]] has previously shown his disdain for Red Delicious apples in footnote 1 in [https://books.google.com/books?id=tgZIBAAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA97#v=onepage&q&f=false this what if]; he also ranked green apples as tastier than red apples in [[388: Fuck Grapefruit]].

In the title text, Randall observes a common type of hypothetical question designed as a creative way to inquire about a person's preferences: If he were on a desert island with an unlimited access to something they like -- in this case, unlimited supply of any one type of apple -- what would he choose? However, Randall gives an unorthodox and unexpected answer to the typically playful hypothetical by taking it literally and questioning how such a situation would occur. How did he get stuck on the island, and how did he get a literally unlimited supply of apples? In reality, a desert island is unlikely to have an unlimited supply of any food{{Citation needed}}, let alone apples.

Another explanation of the title text is that Randall likes at least two varieties of apples. Being able to eat as many apples as he wishes is a good thing, but being forced to eat only one type of apple would be very frustrating for him.

==Transcript==
[A mapping, showing types of apples. Each apple is in a bubble]
<div style="text-align: center;">
Bad <-- Red Delicious -- Regular apples -- Honeycrisp --> Good
 |
 |
 Granny Smith
 |
 V
 Doing their own thing
</div>

{{comic discussion}}

1767: US State Names

2016-12-02T12:55:30Z

162.158.69.57: /* Table of States */ I don't buy the Montessori explanation

{{comic
| number = 1767
| date = December 2, 2016
| title = US State Names
| image = us_state_names.png
| titletext = Technically DC isn't a state, but no one is too pedantic about it because they don't want to disturb the snakes.
}}

==Explanation==
This is just a silly map.

[[Randall]] has taken a {{w|map}} of {{w|the United States of America}} labeled "Geography Challenge: Name all 50 States" and filled in the states with words that sound similar to the states' names. The joke is that Randall is apparently terrible at remembering states by heart, or else that he interpreted "name" as "give a name to" and is giving each state a name similar to but different from its previous name. Additionally, song such as the [https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fifty+nifty+united+states+song 50 Nifty United States] that make these issues seem rarer, thus making it funnier. Below is the table.

===Table of States===
{{incomplete|Some states unfinished. Make wikipedia links. Please explain Verizona again, or the meaning of "Rizon".}}
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Fictional State
! Actual State
! Explanation
|-
| Wilwheaton
| {{w|Washington_State|Washington}}
| {{w|Wil Wheaton}} is an actor and writer
|-
| Organs
| {{w|Oregon}}
| Probably a reference to the game "Organ Trail" which is a parody of the game "The Oregon Trail"
|-
| Cafeteria
| {{w|California}}
| A cafeteria is a kind of restaurant
|-
| Fallout New Vegas
| {{w|Nevada}}
| Fallout New Vegas is set in Nevada
|-
| Idolatry
| {{w|Idaho}}
| Idolatry the worship of a physical object as a god, forbidden in many religions
|-
| mount -a
| {{w|Montana}}
| A command to mount all disk volumes
|-
| Wysiwyg
| {{w|Wyoming}}
| Acronym What You See Is What You Get.
|-
| Uhaul
| {{w|Utah}}
| {{w|U-Haul}} is a company where you can rent vans.
|-
| Verizona
| {{w|Arizona}}
| Verizon has a shared "Rizon" with Arizona. Randall presumably enjoys this.
|-
| Namaste
| {{w|New Mexico}}
| {{w|Namaste}} is a Hindu greeting.
|-
| Hexxus
| Texas
| The antagonist of Ferngully. {{w|FernGully:_The_Last_Rainforest|FernGully}} is said to be the model for the later film "Avatar". This is the second time Hexxus was mentioned in xkcd, the first occurence being in [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1750:_Life_Goals Life Goals]
|-
| Okay
| {{w|Oklahoma}}
| OK is the state's abbreviation.
|-
| Candice
| {{w|Kansas}}
| Candice is a girl's name of Latin origin, meaning "clarity, whiteness" ("canditia").
|-
| Colocated
| {{w|Colorado}}
| Refers to computer servers located in a {{w|Colocation Center}}
|-
| Nebrunswick
| {{w|Nebraska}}
| {{w|New Brunswick}}, a Canadian province. People sometimes write "NB" as the postal abbreviation for Nebraska; in reality, Nebraska is "NE", and while there is no "NB" in the U.S. postal system, New Brunswick is "NB" in the Canadian postal system.
|-
| Dakota
| {{w|South Dakota}}
| Randall seems to have forgotten his directions, so he drops the normal "South" and "North". He may also be teasing that this doesn't matter.
|-
| More Dakota
| {{w|North Dakota}}
| See South Dakota
|-
| Minestrone
| {{w|Minnesota}}
| Minestrone is a thick vegetable soup, originating in Italy.
|-
| Wainscot
| {{w|Wisconsin}}
| A type of wood {{w||Wainscot_panelling|panelling}} covering only the lower half of a wall
|-
| Iota
| {{w|Iowa}}
| Iota is the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet. It was derived from the Phoenician letter Yodh.
|-
| Sk8rbois
| {{w|Illinois}}
| "Skater Boys." {{w|Sk8er Boi}} is a song by Avril Lavigne.
|-
| Mossouri
| {{w|Missouri}}
| The single different letter represents probably a typo (O is adjacent to I in a keyboard). This typo is 22,000 times in Google.
|-
| Arkanoids
| {{w|Arkansas}}
| An arcade game.
|-
| Louisa
| {{w|Louisiana}}
| Louisa, feminine of Louis, is an Old German name meaning "famous warrior".
|-
| Misstate
| {{w|Mississippi}}
| "Mis-" is a prefix meaning “wrong,” “incorrect,” or simply negating. "Misstate" could be a non-state. {{w|Mississipi State University|Miss State}} is a university in Mississippi.
|-
| Bandana
| {{w|Alabama}}
|
|-
| Thennessy
| {{w|Tennessee}}
| {{w|Hennessy}} is a brand of cognac.
|-
| Kennedy
| {{w|Kentucky}}
| The Kennedy family is an American family that has been prominent in American politics, public service, and business during the 20th century.
|-
| That Other One
| {{w|Indiana}}
| 'That Other One' is something someone might say if they were trying to name all the states from memory, and knew where a state was but not what it was called.
|-
| Mishy
| {{w|Michigan}}
| According to the Urban Dictionary, "mishy" means "[http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Mishy mushy and horny at the same time]".
|-
| Oh Hi
| {{w|Ohio}}
| OH-HI-OH is a popular cheer by fans of {{w|Ohio State University}}
|-
| Pencilmania
| {{w|Pennsylvania}}
| [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151935/ Pencil Mania] is a 1932 Tom and Jerry cartoon in which they pull out a pencil and proceed to draw figures in the air
|-
| Newark
| {{w|New York}}
| Newark element14 or simply Newark, is the official distributor of Raspberry Pi. Possible reference to William Gibson's works. Also, many people that live in Newark commute 14 miles to work in New York. A mispronunciation of New York.
|-
| Vermouth
| {{w|Vermont}}
| {{w|Vermouth}} is an Italian alcoholic beverage.
|-
| New Hamper
| {{w|New Hampshire}}
|
|-
| Spanish Maine
| {{w|Maine}}
| The {{w|Spanish Main}} was the mainland Spanish colonial possessions around the Gulf of Mexico.
|-
| Masseuses
| {{w|Massachusetts}}
| Women who give massages professionally.
|-
| Roald Dahl
| {{w|Rhode Island}}
| A British writer, famous for child novels such as {{w|Charlie and the Chocolate Factory}}.
|-
| Connectfour
| {{w|Connecticut}}
| Connect Four is a two-player game, in which the objective is to connect four of your checkers in a row while preventing your opponent from doing the same.
|-
| Nude Juggalos
| {{w|New Jersey}}
| {{w|Juggalo}} is a name given to fans of the group Insane Clown Posse or any other Psychopathic Records hip hop group.
|-
| Delorean
| {{w|Delaware}}
| A {w|DeLorean_DMC-12|car}} famous as the {{w|DeLorean_time_machine time machine car}} in Back to the Future movies
|-
| Maybelline
| {{w|Maryland}}
| {{w|Maybelline}} is a make-up brand.
|-
| District of Colubrids
| {{w|District of Columbia}}
| The{{w|Colubridae}} are the biggest family of snakes, accounting for about two thirds of the world's species. As the title text mentions, the{{w|Washington,_D.C.|District of Columbia}}, although not part of any state, is technically not a state itself, but is usually labeled on the maps like the 50 others for practical reasons. Here, Randall humorously explains the reason as people not wanting to upset the aforementioned snakes by dismissing their district for this pedantic reason.
|-
| Wyvern
| {{w|West Virginia}}
| A {{w|Wyvern}} is a mythical creature.
|-
| Virjayjay
| {{w|Virginia}}
| Virginia is similar to vagina. Vajayjay is slang for vagina.
|-
| Sweet Caroline
| {{w|North Carolina}}
| A {{w|Sweet_Caroline|song}} by Neil Diamond.
|-
| South Caroline
| {{w|South Carolina}}
| A further reference to {{w|Sweet_Caroline|song 'Sweet Caroline'}} by Neil Diamond, similar to 'Dakota' and 'More Dakota.' Plays on similarity between the names 'Caroline' and 'Carolina'.
|-
| George
| {{w|Georgia}}
| Georgia was named for {{w|George II of Great Britain}}
|-
| Fyoridor
| {{w|Florida}}
| Possibly derived from the Russian name Fyodor, as in Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
|-
| Alberta
| {{w|Alaska}}
| A Canadian province.
|-
| Kawaii
| {{w|Hawaii}}
| A Japanese term for cute commonly romanized similar to Hawaii. Possible reference to the 1957 war movie [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050212 The Bridge on the River Kwai]. Not to be confused with {{w|Kauai}}, a Hawaiian island.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
[A map of the United States, with incorrect state names. A title:]

Geography challenge:

'''Name all 50 States'''

| Alabama => Bandana |

| Alaska => Alberta |

| Arizona => Verizona |

| Arkansas => Arkanoids |

| California => Cafeteria |

| Colorado => Colocated |

| Connecticut => Connect Four |

| Delaware => Delorean |

| District of Columbia => District of Colubrids |

| Florida => Fyoridor |

| Georgia => George |

| Hawaii => Kawaii |

| Idaho => Idolatry |

| Illinois => SK8RBOIS |

| Indiana => That Other One |

| Iowa => Iota |

| Kansas => Candice |

| Kentucky => Kennedy |

| Louisiana => Loisa |

| Maine => Spanish Maine |

| Maryland => Maybelline |

| Massachusetts => Masseuses |

| Michigan => Mishy |

| Minnesota => Minestrone |

| Mississippi => Misstate |

| Missouri => Mossouri |

| Montana => mount -a |

| Nebraska => Nebrunswick |

| Nevada => Fallout New Vegas |

| New Hampshire => New Hamper |

| New Jersey => Nude Juggalos |

| New Mexico => Namaste |

| New York => Newark |

| North Carolina => Sweet Caroline |

| South Carolina => South Caroline |

| Ohio => Oh Hi |

| Oklahoma => Okay |

| Oregon => Organs |

| Pennsylvania => Pencilmania |

| Rhode Island => Roald Dahl |

| South Dakota => Dakota |

| /North Dakota => More Dakota |

| Tennessee => Thennessy |

| Texas => Hexxus |

| Utah => Uhaul |

| Vermont => Vermouth |

| Virginia => Virjayjay |

| Washington => Willwheaton |

| West Virginia => Wyvern |

| Wisconsin => Wainscot |

| Wyoming => WYSIWYG |

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Maps]]

1757: November 2016

2016-11-09T19:04:14Z

162.158.69.57: /* Table */ Using decimals for 16, 17 and 18 years

{{comic
| number = 1757
| date = November 9, 2016
| title = November 2016
| image = november_2016.png
| titletext = Once you've done this, make a note of how old they were. Then, when their age reaches double that, show them this chart again.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Need individual explanations.}}
This is yet another comic designed to [[:Category:Comics to make one feel old|make you feel old]].

It lists ages between 16 and 41 and links each age to one ore more events that (should have) happened a little over half their life ago. But it seems [[Randall]] has not been very accurate in his measure of what majority means. For instance for a 16-year-old person (born between December 1999 and November 2000), it lists the release of GTA IV, which was released in April 2008. GTA IV has been around for 8.5 years, i.e. more than half of their life. For the 41-year-old, though, it fits with Toy Story, which was released almost exactly 21 years before this comic in November 1995, and in that year today's 41-year-olds would only have been 20. So that movie has been in their life for the majority of their life. There is also a real mistake with The Matrix from 1999, which is listed against 35-year-olds, but since it is only 17 years ago that the movie was released, the 35-year-olds would have been 18 years old when the movie was released, and thus it has not yet existed for half of their life, and thus also not for the majority.

This matches earlier attempts to make people feel old by mentioning how long ago it was that, for instance, a movie comes out. When an event seems to have occurred recently to you, like seeing a movie when you were twenty-one (with Toy Story) and then suddenly realizing that this was 20 years ago, you will very likely feel old. Since humans' perception of time is not related to how much time has actually passed but rather to important memories, then memories like seeing the first feature-length animated movie (Toy Story) makes a big impression and may stay vivid in peoples' memories. When they then, after hearing the sentence from this comic, realize that half their life has passed since that event, they realize how much time has passed and that makes them feel old.

This is why it affects a 20-year-old to hear that twitter is ten years old, where this will not have the same impact on a 16-year-old, since they were so young when it came out that they probably feel like it has been around for ever, and you do not feel old by hearing that, for instance, the TV was invented before you were born. It thus makes sense to pick something that happened almost midway through a person's life, because they then realize they are now double as old as when they first heard of Twitter.

The joke at the end is that people over 41 don't need anything to make them feel old, because they already feel old. He thus teases people above 41 years old by claiming they are old, although many people (above 40) would claim you are not old before you retire. It may be a coincidence, but still interesting, that he stopped the list just before 42, a number Randall has referred to many times.

The title text points out that the same chart can be used for the same person once they are twice as old. So it urges the user to note down the age of the person it was used on, and then wait until their age reaches double that. So for a 16-year-old that would only be 16 more years until they are 32, but for a 41-year-old it would have to wait until they are 82 years old. When showing them this chart, they will remember how old they felt when the user made them feel old the first time by using a line from this list. And then they realize that they are now twice as old, and will thus again feel very very old because of this comic. For about the last half of the list, they will actually have reached an age where many people would consider them old, not just because they might feel old.

==Table==
*Explanation of table:
**Persons age as given in the comic.
**Persons birth year. 2016 minus persons age.
**Date of things. For instance a release date, the year that a thing began/happened or a year where it became a phenomenon (in the US that is, in case if was already a phenomenon somewhere else first).
**Things as given in the comic. There can be more than one "thing" for each age, so it should be things in plural form.
**Half age - Persons age divided by two. This should in principle always be less, than and never larger than the last column. Instances where this rule is not upheld is marked with a '''bold''' number.
**Years ago - the number of years since the things became "a thing". In order for this thing to have been in a persons life for the majority of their life this need to be larger (or at least equal) than half that persons age. So this number should be larger than the column before. If there are more than one thing for a given age, the average year for these things are taken and used to calculate the number of years.

{| class = "wikitable"
! Age
! Birth year
! Date of things
! Things
! Explanation
! Half age
! Years ago
|-
| 16
| 2000
| April 29, 2008
| ''{{w|Grand Theft Auto IV}}''
| Popular video game published by {{w|Rockstar Games}}; the 11th title in the ''{{w|Grand Theft Auto}}'' series
| 8
| 8.5
|-
| 17
| 1999
| May 2007
| {{w|Rickrolling}}
| A prank and internet meme involving an unexpected appearance of the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song "{{w|Never Gonna Give You Up}}". A type of bait and switch.
| 8.5
| 9.5
|-
| 18
| 1998
| April 13, 2007
| ''{{w|Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters}}
| American Flash animated surreal comedy film based on the {{w|Adult Swim}} animated series {{w|Aqua Teen Hunger Force}}. This seems to be a joke, as both this movie and the one it was based on is for adults, and the person this targets would only have been 9 when it was released, and will thus not even recognize the reference. And then the joke will fail as they will not feel old.
| 9
| 9.5
|-
| 19
| 1997
| November 19, 2006
| The {{w|Nintendo Wii}}
| From 2006 onwards is the time when the Nintendo Wii brand (Wii - Wii U) was released, with the Wii dominating 2006-2012 and the Wii U being *a small* part of 2012-2016.
| 9.5
| 10
|-
| 20
| 1996
| March 2006
| {{w|Twitter}}
| 2006 was a big year, in that it lead to the creation of Twitter, a social networking service that is still used to this day.
| 10
| 10
|-
| 21
| 1995
| November 22, 2005 (Xbox), September 2005 (xkcd)
| The {{w|Xbox 360}}, {{w|xkcd}}
| 2005 led to the creation of the Xbox 360, another successful console. [[Randall]] also decided to throw in a 'reference joke', referring to the fact that xkcd was also created in 2005 and fits the criteria of the comic (and as a call back to the recent [[1750: Life Goals]] he has two x words in the same sentence, which where also both used in that comic).
| 10.5
| 11
|-
| 22
| 1994
| 2005
| {{w|Chuck Norris Facts}}
| Satirical factoids about martial artist and actor {{w|Chuck Norris}} which began to appear on the Internet in early 2005.
| 11
| 11
|-
| 23
| 1993
| January 25, 2004
| {{w|Opportunity (rover)|Opportunity}}'s Mars Exploration
| {{w|Opportunity (rover)|Opportunity}} is a Mars rover that landed on Mars on January 25, 2004
| 11.5
| 12
|-
| 24
| 1992
| February 4, 2004
| {{w|Facebook}}
| Facebook was a social networking service created in 2004 as a competitor to {{w|Myspace}} and quickly dominated as the #1 most used social networking service of all time.
| 12
| 12
|-
| 25
| 1991
| April 1, 2004 (Gmail), July 9, 2003 (Pirates of the Caribbean)
| {{w|Gmail}}, ''{{w|Pirates of the Caribbean}}''
| Gmail is an email service created by Google as a replacement to {{w|Hotmail}}. Pirates of the Caribbean, a popular movie franchise, had its first movie {{w|Curse of the Black Pearl}} debut in 2003.
| 12.5
| 12.5
|-
| 26
| 1990
| January 7, 2003
| {{w|In da Club}}
| Rap song by {{w|50 Cent}}
| 13
| 13
|-
| 27
| 1989
| September 20, 2002
| ''{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}''
| ''{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}'' is a space western drama TV series created by Joss Whedon, that became a cult classic
| 13.5
| 14
|-
| 28
| 1988
| October 7, 2001
| The {{w|War in Afghanistan}}
| The United States of America invaded Afghanistan shortly after the events of September 11, 2001, in an effort to eliminate the terrorist group {{w|al-Qaeda}}.
| 14
| 15
|-
| 29
| 1987
| 2001
| The {{w|iPod}}
| The iPod was a music playing device created by {{w|Apple}} in 2001 as a replacement for MP3 players.
| 14.5
| 15
|-
| 30
| 1986
| May 18, 2001 (Shrek), January 15, 2001 (Wikipedia)
| {{w|Shrek}}, {{w|Wikipedia}}
| Shrek is a popular parody film about fairy tales based on the book of the same name. It quickly gained a cult following and became a mega-hit, earning it 3 sequels and a franchise. Wikipedia is a website with articles dedicated for looking up information based on specific tops, created in 2001.
| 15
| 15
|-
| 31
| 1985
| July 14, 2000
| Those X-Men movies
| The {{w|X-Men}} series ({{w|X-Men}}, {{w|X2: X-Men United}}, {{w|X-Men: The Last Stand}}) The rele4ase date refers to the first of these three movies.
| 15.5
| 16
|-
| 32
| 1984
| February 4, 2000
| {{w|The Sims}}
| The Sims is a video game created by Maxis in 2000 as a simulation game where you build homes, cities, and families. It was an immediate success upon launch.
| 16
| 16
|-
| 33
| 1983
| 1998
| Autotuned hit songs
| 1998 was the time period when people realized the capabilities of {{w|Auto-Tune|autotuning}} songs. {{w|Cher|Cher's}} song "{{w|Believe (Cher song)|Believe}}" from 1998 {{w|Auto-Tune#In_popular_music|may be the first time}} that people really noticed this effect.
| 16.5
| 18
|-
| 34
| 1982
| May 19, 1999
| The {{w|Star Wars Prequels}}
| The Star Wars prequel trilogy ({{w|Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace}}, {{w|Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones}}, {{w|Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith}}). The date referes to the release of the first movie.
| 17
| 17
|-
| 35
| 1981
| March 31, 1999
| {{w|The Matrix}}
| Science action film created by the {{w|Wachowski borthers}}
| '''17.5'''
| 17
|-
| 36
| 1980
| 1998 (outside Japan)
| {{w|Pokemon Red & Blue}}
| A popular childrens' video game franchise
| 18
| 18
|-
| 37
| 1979
| April 29, 1997 (Netflix), June 26, 1997 (Harry Potter), September 15, 1997 (Google)
| {{w|Netflix}}, {{w|Harry Potter}}, {{w|Google}}
| All three are major things still today 19 years later. "Harry Potter" refers to the original publishing date of ''{{w|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone}}''. Google refers to the date that the Google domain name was registered.
| 18.5
| 19
|-
| 38
| 1978
| May 11, 1997
| Deep Blue's Victory
| {{w|Deep Blue}} was a {{w|chess computer}}, who defeated {{w|Garry Kasparov}}, the reigning chess champion, in 1997. It was the first chess computer to defeat a world champion under tournament conditions.
| 19
| 19
|-
| 39
| 1977
| September 13, 1996
| Tupac's Death
| {{w|Tupac Shakur}} was an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in 1996.
| 19.5
| 20
|-
| 40
| 1976
| December 31, 1995
| The [http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1995/12/31 last Calvin and Hobbes strip]
| {{w|Calvin and Hobbes}} is a comic strip by {{w|Bill Watterson}} that ran from November 18, 1985 to December 31, 1995.
| 20
| 21
|-
| 41
| 1975
| November 22, 1995
| {{w|Toy Story}}
| The {{w|Pixar}} animated film ''Toy Story'' which was the first feature length animation film to be released theatrically (and thus also Pixar's first feature film)
| 20.5
| 21
|-
| >41
| Before 1975
| N/A
| [Don't worry, they've got this covered]
| This jokes that people legitimately old already feel old. Could be a reference to the number 42, that Randall stopped when this number was supposed to occur. He has referenced this number more than once before, for instance in the [[1608#Messages_in_Play_Area|1608#Messages in the Play Area]] of [[1608: Hoverboard]].
| >20.5
| N/A
|}

==Transcript==

The November 2016
Guide to making people
feel old

[In rectangle]
If they're [age], you say:
"Did you know [thing] has been around for the majority of your life?"

{| class = "wikitable"
! Age
! Thing
|-
| 16
| Grand Theft Auto IV
|-
| 17
| Rickrolling
|-
| 18
| Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters
|-
| 19
| The Nintendo Wii
|-
| 20
| Twitter
|-
| 21
| The Xbox 360, xkcd
|-
| 22
| Chuck Norris Facts
|-
| 23
| Opportunity's Mars Exploration
|-
| 24
| Facebook
|-
| 25
| Gmail, Pirates of the Caribbean
|-
| 26
| In da Club
|-
| 27
| Firefly
|-
| 28
| The War in Afghanistan
|-
| 29
| The iPod
|-
| 30
| Shrek, Wikipedia
|-
| 31
| Those X-Men movies
|-
| 32
| The Sims
|-
| 33
| Autotuned hit songs
|-
| 34
| The Star Wars Prequels
|-
| 35
| The Matrix
|-
| 36
| Pokémon Red & Blue
|-
| 37
| Netflix, Harry Potter, Google
|-
| 38
| Deep Blue's Victory
|-
| 39
| Tupac's Death
|-
| 40
| The last Calvin and Hobbes strip
|-
| 41
| Toy Story
|-
| >41
| [Don't worry, they've got this covered]
|}
{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics to make one feel old]]

1757: November 2016

2016-11-09T19:00:23Z

162.158.69.57: /* Explanation */ Correcting my error

{{comic
| number = 1757
| date = November 9, 2016
| title = November 2016
| image = november_2016.png
| titletext = Once you've done this, make a note of how old they were. Then, when their age reaches double that, show them this chart again.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Need individual explanations.}}
This is yet another comic designed to [[:Category:Comics to make one feel old|make you feel old]].

It lists ages between 16 and 41 and links each age to one ore more events that (should have) happened a little over half their life ago. But it seems [[Randall]] has not been very accurate in his measure of what majority means. For instance for a 16-year-old person (born between December 1999 and November 2000), it lists the release of GTA IV, which was released in April 2008. GTA IV has been around for 8.5 years, i.e. more than half of their life. For the 41-year-old, though, it fits with Toy Story, which was released almost exactly 21 years before this comic in November 1995, and in that year today's 41-year-olds would only have been 20. So that movie has been in their life for the majority of their life. There is also a real mistake with The Matrix from 1999, which is listed against 35-year-olds, but since it is only 17 years ago that the movie was released, the 35-year-olds would have been 18 years old when the movie was released, and thus it has not yet existed for half of their life, and thus also not for the majority.

This matches earlier attempts to make people feel old by mentioning how long ago it was that, for instance, a movie comes out. When an event seems to have occurred recently to you, like seeing a movie when you were twenty-one (with Toy Story) and then suddenly realizing that this was 20 years ago, you will very likely feel old. Since humans' perception of time is not related to how much time has actually passed but rather to important memories, then memories like seeing the first feature-length animated movie (Toy Story) makes a big impression and may stay vivid in peoples' memories. When they then, after hearing the sentence from this comic, realize that half their life has passed since that event, they realize how much time has passed and that makes them feel old.

This is why it affects a 20-year-old to hear that twitter is ten years old, where this will not have the same impact on a 16-year-old, since they were so young when it came out that they probably feel like it has been around for ever, and you do not feel old by hearing that, for instance, the TV was invented before you were born. It thus makes sense to pick something that happened almost midway through a person's life, because they then realize they are now double as old as when they first heard of Twitter.

The joke at the end is that people over 41 don't need anything to make them feel old, because they already feel old. He thus teases people above 41 years old by claiming they are old, although many people (above 40) would claim you are not old before you retire. It may be a coincidence, but still interesting, that he stopped the list just before 42, a number Randall has referred to many times.

The title text points out that the same chart can be used for the same person once they are twice as old. So it urges the user to note down the age of the person it was used on, and then wait until their age reaches double that. So for a 16-year-old that would only be 16 more years until they are 32, but for a 41-year-old it would have to wait until they are 82 years old. When showing them this chart, they will remember how old they felt when the user made them feel old the first time by using a line from this list. And then they realize that they are now twice as old, and will thus again feel very very old because of this comic. For about the last half of the list, they will actually have reached an age where many people would consider them old, not just because they might feel old.

==Table==
*Explanation of table:
**Persons age as given in the comic.
**Persons birth year. 2016 minus persons age.
**Date of things. For instance a release date, the year that a thing began/happened or a year where it became a phenomenon (in the US that is, in case if was already a phenomenon somewhere else first).
**Things as given in the comic. There can be more than one "thing" for each age, so it should be things in plural form.
**Half age - Persons age divided by two. This should in principle always be less, than and never larger than the last column. Instances where this rule is not upheld is marked with a '''bold''' number.
**Years ago - the number of years since the things became "a thing". In order for this thing to have been in a persons life for the majority of their life this need to be larger (or at least equal) than half that persons age. So this number should be larger than the column before. If there are more than one thing for a given age, the average year for these things are taken and used to calculate the number of years.

{| class = "wikitable"
! Age
! Birth year
! Date of things
! Things
! Explanation
! Half age
! Years ago
|-
| 16
| 2000
| April 29, 2008
| ''{{w|Grand Theft Auto IV}}''
| Popular video game published by {{w|Rockstar Games}}; the 11th title in the ''{{w|Grand Theft Auto}}'' series
| 8
| 8
|-
| 17
| 1999
| May 2007
| {{w|Rickrolling}}
| A prank and internet meme involving an unexpected appearance of the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song "{{w|Never Gonna Give You Up}}". A type of bait and switch.
| 8.5
| 9
|-
| 18
| 1998
| April 13, 2007
| ''{{w|Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters}}
| American Flash animated surreal comedy film based on the {{w|Adult Swim}} animated series {{w|Aqua Teen Hunger Force}}. This seems to be a joke, as both this movie and the one it was based on is for adults, and the person this targets would only have been 9 when it was released, and will thus not even recognize the reference. And then the joke will fail as they will not feel old.
| 9
| 9
|-
| 19
| 1997
| November 19, 2006
| The {{w|Nintendo Wii}}
| From 2006 onwards is the time when the Nintendo Wii brand (Wii - Wii U) was released, with the Wii dominating 2006-2012 and the Wii U being *a small* part of 2012-2016.
| 9.5
| 10
|-
| 20
| 1996
| March 2006
| {{w|Twitter}}
| 2006 was a big year, in that it lead to the creation of Twitter, a social networking service that is still used to this day.
| 10
| 10
|-
| 21
| 1995
| November 22, 2005 (Xbox), September 2005 (xkcd)
| The {{w|Xbox 360}}, {{w|xkcd}}
| 2005 led to the creation of the Xbox 360, another successful console. [[Randall]] also decided to throw in a 'reference joke', referring to the fact that xkcd was also created in 2005 and fits the criteria of the comic (and as a call back to the recent [[1750: Life Goals]] he has two x words in the same sentence, which where also both used in that comic).
| 10.5
| 11
|-
| 22
| 1994
| 2005
| {{w|Chuck Norris Facts}}
| Satirical factoids about martial artist and actor {{w|Chuck Norris}} which began to appear on the Internet in early 2005.
| 11
| 11
|-
| 23
| 1993
| January 25, 2004
| {{w|Opportunity (rover)|Opportunity}}'s Mars Exploration
| {{w|Opportunity (rover)|Opportunity}} is a Mars rover that landed on Mars on January 25, 2004
| 11.5
| 12
|-
| 24
| 1992
| February 4, 2004
| {{w|Facebook}}
| Facebook was a social networking service created in 2004 as a competitor to {{w|Myspace}} and quickly dominated as the #1 most used social networking service of all time.
| 12
| 12
|-
| 25
| 1991
| April 1, 2004 (Gmail), July 9, 2003 (Pirates of the Caribbean)
| {{w|Gmail}}, ''{{w|Pirates of the Caribbean}}''
| Gmail is an email service created by Google as a replacement to {{w|Hotmail}}. Pirates of the Caribbean, a popular movie franchise, had its first movie {{w|Curse of the Black Pearl}} debut in 2003.
| 12.5
| 12.5
|-
| 26
| 1990
| January 7, 2003
| {{w|In da Club}}
| Rap song by {{w|50 Cent}}
| 13
| 13
|-
| 27
| 1989
| September 20, 2002
| ''{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}''
| ''{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}'' is a space western drama TV series created by Joss Whedon, that became a cult classic
| 13.5
| 14
|-
| 28
| 1988
| October 7, 2001
| The {{w|War in Afghanistan}}
| The United States of America invaded Afghanistan shortly after the events of September 11, 2001, in an effort to eliminate the terrorist group {{w|al-Qaeda}}.
| 14
| 15
|-
| 29
| 1987
| 2001
| The {{w|iPod}}
| The iPod was a music playing device created by {{w|Apple}} in 2001 as a replacement for MP3 players.
| 14.5
| 15
|-
| 30
| 1986
| May 18, 2001 (Shrek), January 15, 2001 (Wikipedia)
| {{w|Shrek}}, {{w|Wikipedia}}
| Shrek is a popular parody film about fairy tales based on the book of the same name. It quickly gained a cult following and became a mega-hit, earning it 3 sequels and a franchise. Wikipedia is a website with articles dedicated for looking up information based on specific tops, created in 2001.
| 15
| 15
|-
| 31
| 1985
| July 14, 2000
| Those X-Men movies
| The {{w|X-Men}} series ({{w|X-Men}}, {{w|X2: X-Men United}}, {{w|X-Men: The Last Stand}}) The rele4ase date refers to the first of these three movies.
| 15.5
| 16
|-
| 32
| 1984
| February 4, 2000
| {{w|The Sims}}
| The Sims is a video game created by Maxis in 2000 as a simulation game where you build homes, cities, and families. It was an immediate success upon launch.
| 16
| 16
|-
| 33
| 1983
| 1998
| Autotuned hit songs
| 1998 was the time period when people realized the capabilities of {{w|Auto-Tune|autotuning}} songs. {{w|Cher|Cher's}} song "{{w|Believe (Cher song)|Believe}}" from 1998 {{w|Auto-Tune#In_popular_music|may be the first time}} that people really noticed this effect.
| 16.5
| 18
|-
| 34
| 1982
| May 19, 1999
| The {{w|Star Wars Prequels}}
| The Star Wars prequel trilogy ({{w|Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace}}, {{w|Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones}}, {{w|Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith}}). The date referes to the release of the first movie.
| 17
| 17
|-
| 35
| 1981
| March 31, 1999
| {{w|The Matrix}}
| Science action film created by the {{w|Wachowski borthers}}
| '''17.5'''
| 17
|-
| 36
| 1980
| 1998 (outside Japan)
| {{w|Pokemon Red & Blue}}
| A popular childrens' video game franchise
| 18
| 18
|-
| 37
| 1979
| April 29, 1997 (Netflix), June 26, 1997 (Harry Potter), September 15, 1997 (Google)
| {{w|Netflix}}, {{w|Harry Potter}}, {{w|Google}}
| All three are major things still today 19 years later. "Harry Potter" refers to the original publishing date of ''{{w|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone}}''. Google refers to the date that the Google domain name was registered.
| 18.5
| 19
|-
| 38
| 1978
| May 11, 1997
| Deep Blue's Victory
| {{w|Deep Blue}} was a {{w|chess computer}}, who defeated {{w|Garry Kasparov}}, the reigning chess champion, in 1997. It was the first chess computer to defeat a world champion under tournament conditions.
| 19
| 19
|-
| 39
| 1977
| September 13, 1996
| Tupac's Death
| {{w|Tupac Shakur}} was an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in 1996.
| 19.5
| 20
|-
| 40
| 1976
| December 31, 1995
| The [http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1995/12/31 last Calvin and Hobbes strip]
| {{w|Calvin and Hobbes}} is a comic strip by {{w|Bill Watterson}} that ran from November 18, 1985 to December 31, 1995.
| 20
| 21
|-
| 41
| 1975
| November 22, 1995
| {{w|Toy Story}}
| The {{w|Pixar}} animated film ''Toy Story'' which was the first feature length animation film to be released theatrically (and thus also Pixar's first feature film)
| 20.5
| 21
|-
| >41
| Before 1975
| N/A
| [Don't worry, they've got this covered]
| This jokes that people legitimately old already feel old. Could be a reference to the number 42, that Randall stopped when this number was supposed to occur. He has referenced this number more than once before, for instance in the [[1608#Messages_in_Play_Area|1608#Messages in the Play Area]] of [[1608: Hoverboard]].
| >20.5
| N/A
|}

==Transcript==

The November 2016
Guide to making people
feel old

[In rectangle]
If they're [age], you say:
"Did you know [thing] has been around for the majority of your life?"

{| class = "wikitable"
! Age
! Thing
|-
| 16
| Grand Theft Auto IV
|-
| 17
| Rickrolling
|-
| 18
| Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters
|-
| 19
| The Nintendo Wii
|-
| 20
| Twitter
|-
| 21
| The Xbox 360, xkcd
|-
| 22
| Chuck Norris Facts
|-
| 23
| Opportunity's Mars Exploration
|-
| 24
| Facebook
|-
| 25
| Gmail, Pirates of the Caribbean
|-
| 26
| In da Club
|-
| 27
| Firefly
|-
| 28
| The War in Afghanistan
|-
| 29
| The iPod
|-
| 30
| Shrek, Wikipedia
|-
| 31
| Those X-Men movies
|-
| 32
| The Sims
|-
| 33
| Autotuned hit songs
|-
| 34
| The Star Wars Prequels
|-
| 35
| The Matrix
|-
| 36
| Pokémon Red & Blue
|-
| 37
| Netflix, Harry Potter, Google
|-
| 38
| Deep Blue's Victory
|-
| 39
| Tupac's Death
|-
| 40
| The last Calvin and Hobbes strip
|-
| 41
| Toy Story
|-
| >41
| [Don't worry, they've got this covered]
|}
{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics to make one feel old]]

Talk:1756: I'm With Her

2016-11-07T19:48:17Z

162.158.69.57: /* Not all comics have to be humorous */ new section

Instead of comic, post contained a political statement. I am not amused. I want a refund. I don't vote, and I don't even live anywhere near USA. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.96.102|141.101.96.102]] 18:40, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

The "I'm with her" and H with an arrow are CLEARLY the respective campaign slogan and campaign logo for Hillary Clinton, not some vagueness having to do with bringing a significant other. --[unsigned]
:I see it more as him endorsing voting regardless of who you vote for (as evidenced by half the comic is about "Here's how you vote" without any mention of candidates or issues) and the endorsing Clinton part is an add-on as if to say "This is how I'm voting; vote for her if you agree with me." [[User:Jeudi Violist|Jeudi Violist]] ([[User talk:Jeudi Violist|talk]]) 18:39, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

Has Randall endorsed a presidential candidate before? --[[User:Dfeuer|Dfeuer]] ([[User talk:Dfeuer|talk]]) 17:14, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
He supported Obama on his blog in '08, not in the comic though.

He could have said any number of clever things about the election, and all he did was put up a campaign sign. Disappointing. [[User:Gmcgath|Gmcgath]] ([[User talk:Gmcgath|talk]]) 17:37, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

what a cuck --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.63|172.68.51.63]] 17:45, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
:: leaving aside the most ridiculous slur of the past few years, I don't know what else did you expect from Randall. I guess you must have stumbled upon this wiki by chance and have never heard of xkcd before.--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.130|141.101.98.130]] 17:59, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
:: AHAHAHAHA. *Ahem.* Hooray for pejorative misappropriation of a kink. /s [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.55|108.162.246.55]] 19:07, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

This is the first time I still don't get the joke even after reading the explainxkcd page [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.123|108.162.219.123]] 18:09, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
== Bit disappointing... ==

I was hoping for a comic today. oh well. Interesting to see how he's planning to vote, though - it's a shame that there are no candidates this year in favor of strong encryption.

Funny how females outdo males in this 'comic' but in terms of frequency and of elevation. Oh well. xkcd has long been overrepresenting females, it was to be expected. <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>

Seriously? You're whinging 'what about the men?' in a geek web comic?! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.212|108.162.215.212]] 18:21, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

The only disappointing this are comments like those two above. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.201.96|162.158.201.96]] 18:11, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
: Females being overrepresented in comics like xkcd (but also other ones) with respect to their controlled interest in science in reality is a fact. Therefore, you are calling facts disappointing. How geeky of you. <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>
:: So, your real problem is that Randall likes using female stick figures, yes? Also, why are you afraid to "un-nowiki" your signature...? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.201.96|162.158.201.96]] 19:15, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
::: No. Allow me to repeat my point as you had apparently misunderstood: 'females being overrepresented'. This is something else than 'females being represented'. The more you know, the less chance there is for you to accidentally twist another person's words as misogyny/sexism. Also, identity is not relevant to discussion. <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>

A little disappointing to have a normally lighthearted comic dive seriously into politics, if even for one strip. Not really a fan of either candidate, but would like to see stuff like this stay above the fray.
:Completely agreed. [[User:SeanAhern|SeanAhern]] ([[User talk:SeanAhern|talk]]) 18:27, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

This is a first... comics 500 and 1130 (possibly 1131 too) were related to the election, but didn't endorse a candidate. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.89|108.162.219.89]] 18:41, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

I came here to see what the tone of the comments were going to be. I was half expecting to find an all-out flamewar in progress. I was happy to see that the comments have not devolved into the kind of attacks that one would expect to find pretty much anywhere else on the Internet. Geeks are the best people. :) [[User:Mwburden|mwburden]] ([[User talk:Mwburden|talk]]) 18:47, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

I'm very dissappointed. Randall never took sides before and - be it as it may - this comic is not a comic but plain out political campaign. Up until now I held xkcd in EXTREMELY high esteem - this comic put a serious dent in that opinion..
--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.60|162.158.91.60]] 18:56, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
: I'm really torn about this one. On the one hand I feel that you HAVE to take sides in this one, if your only other option is Donald Trump... on the other hand, I never liked when web comics express political opinions. It will always end in a flame war and almost never have anything to do with the web comic itself. Randall should've just put up a "go vote becaues it's important" sign without taking sides. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.201.96|162.158.201.96]] 19:17, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
: Don't let the door hit you on the way out. I'm sure there are other comics out there that would agree with your ideology. [[User:Sturmovik|Sturmovik]] ([[User talk:Sturmovik|talk]]) 19:25, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
:Randall should do whatever Randall thinks he should do. Should he put up "go read about global warming" comics instead of take the side of AGW? If you think this example is an inappropriate one to use in contrasting this comic with the current political election cycle then you've completely ignored the stances of the two popular candidates. But back to the original point: if you don't like XKCD anymore because of this one comic then go find another comic or start your own. All of art is an expression of the person. Randall knew not everyone would like his beliefs when he pushed this out to the world and is obviously prepared to deal with any consequences of taking a stand on his website. I, for one, applaud him for doing so

Can you help list all the characters in the transcript? From left to right; they're Joanna (ponytail with EMP cannon) from [[322]]; Black Hat; unknown with kite; White Hat; possibly Miss Lenhart (but his hair is somewhat different from [[1519]]); unknown possibly Megan; cueball; unknown woman with glasses; Hairbun; Beret Guy; Cueball with toy sword from [[303]]. [[User:B jonas|B jonas]] ([[User talk:B jonas|talk]]) 19:10, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

Good for Randal. I had been noticing how many Hillary leaning artists had been pulling their punches this election, likely out of fear of trolling or loss of revenue. You want to know what courage looks like? This is is. [[User:Sturmovik|Sturmovik]] ([[User talk:Sturmovik|talk]]) 19:25, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

Title text hasn't been explained yet. Is it a reference to the German chancellor Angela Merkel's phrase "Wir schaffen das!'? Don't know if Clinton has a slogan like Obama's "Yes, we can!".

I find (linking to )this civicinnovation website rather questionable. They want to audit peoples address books based on who the names in there might vote for? That sounds like Erich Mielkes wildest dreams come true. Even German newspapers (where i'm from), which are 100% anti-Trump, have in the last days noted concern about the methods of Clintons supporters bullying the other side, and this is a disquieting new piece in that picture. I'll hope this is just a ploy to step up with Trump on the ''bad manners'' side. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.160|162.158.91.160]] 19:37, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

== Not all comics have to be humorous ==

From [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comics#Etymology]
:The English term ''comics'' derives from the humorous (or "[[wikt:comic|comic]]") work which predominated in early American newspaper comic strips; usage of the term has become standard for non-humorous works as well.

1754: Tornado Safety Tips

2016-11-02T14:31:49Z

162.158.69.57: My mistake. Undo revision 129816 by 162.158.69.56 (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1754
| date = November 2, 2016
| title = Tornado Safety Tips
| image = tornado_safety_tips.png
| titletext = It's a myth that you can never cross mountains safely, but be sure you understand how the climatic situation there will affect your parent thunderstorm.
}}
==Explanation==
There is a Public Safety Advisory (PSA) poster with safety tips with regards to {{w|tornadoes}}. At first glance, you would think it contains information about how to stay safe in tornadoes, but since [[Black Hat]] has made the poster you should take a better look.

It turns out that is is actually written for tornadoes themselves on how to stay as safe as possible, i.e. continue to exist.

It is thus in no way helpful for people who actually live in an area that experience tornadoes. It is not possible to follow most of the guidelines, as they are intended for tornadoes. But the advice a human could follow would only take you towards places which can sustain tornadoes.

The title text simply adds more tornado advice.

===Table of tips===
{{incomplete|Fill out explanations}}
{|class="wikitable"
! Tornado Safety Tips
! Explanation
|-
|Avoid low-lying cool air ||
|-
|Keep your downdrafts and updrafts from mixing ||
|-
|Seek out warm and humid surface air layers ||
|-
|Don't let rain-cooled air choke off your circulation ||
|-
|Avoid letting your supercell merge with a squall line ||
|-
|'''Title text''': It's a myth that you can never cross mountains safely, but be sure you understand how the climatic situation there will affect your parent thunderstorm. ||
|}

==Transcript==
:[Beneath a large caption there are two pictures above each other to the left and a bullet list with five points to the right of the pictures. The top picture shows a black tornado beneath a white cloud. It is wreaking something on the ground. To the right of the debris is a house and to the left some trees. The picture below shows Black Hat from the waist and up.]
:<big>'''Tornado Safety Tips'''</big>
:* Avoid low-lying cool air
:* Keep your downdrafts and updrafts from mixing
:* Seek out warm and humid surface air layers
:* Don't let rain-cooled air choke off your circulation
:* Avoid letting your supercell merge with a squall line

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]