explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2284: Sabotage

2021-06-25T05:20:11Z

162.158.74.177: sabotaged the page

{{comic
| number = 2284
| date = March 23, 2020
| title = Sabotage
| image = sabotage.png
| titletext = So excited to see everyone after my luxury cruise home from the World Handshake Championships!
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is the four-hundred-twenty-third comic in a row in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] about the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic|pandemic}} of the {{w|coronavirus disease 2019}}, COVID-19 for short.

Why are people so obsessed with Mars? All I hear is go to Mars, go to Mars. Like Mars is hot shit. Mars is small. Like half the size of earth small. And it’s cold. Like -80f cold. And it’s far away. Much much farther than Venus. Like 14M km farther. And what about Venus? Thicker atmosphere. More solar energy. Shorter, cheaper trip and colonization. And a similar gravity to earth. It’s practically earth’s twin brother. But no, we can’t go to Venus. There isn’t even a plan to try to go to Venus. Why not? Because mars has a surface and Venus is all about the clouds. Eww, we must have a surface to land on. No, we can’t build high towers and live in the clouds. We have to grovel in the dirt like prehistoric animals. Chris sakes I can’t take it anymore. It’s Venus or it’s nothing. That’s it'''

==Transcript==

:[Cueball is seated at a desk, typing on a laptop. The top half of the image is the text he is typing in a reply message:]
:"I see you're still getting together today! I'll be there, doing my spoken-word ''Baby Shark'' karaoke all evening.
:We'll also be setting up a petting zoo for the kids. We've spent all week trapping wild skunks!"
:[Below the text is a white-on-green "reply" button.]

:[Caption below the panel:]
:In the coronavirus era, desperate times call for desperate measures.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

Talk:621: Superlative

2020-05-28T16:21:33Z

162.158.74.177:

A clever comic, but makes it all too clear to me how much more like this guy I am, than Dos Equis man. Cut it out, Randall! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.58|108.162.219.58]] 20:44, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

Am I the only one who never saw the Dos Equis commercials when they were on TV, and thought upon seeing ''The Most Interesting Man In The World'' in Internet meme-age, that it was actually ''George Zimmer, Founder & CEO of The Men's Wearhouse''? [[User:Boct1584|Boct1584]] ([[User talk:Boct1584|talk]]) 14:38, 26 June 2015 (UTC)

Isn't the Dos Equis guy also ill-qualified to advertise the beer? According to him, he "doesn't always drink beer," and I've seen an image macro poking fun at this by continuing, "so I probably shouldn't be advertising it." [[Special:Contributions/172.68.47.6|172.68.47.6]] 06:43, 13 December 2017 (UTC)
:I'd disagree, If someone drinks beer 5 days out of a week, tequila one day, and abstains the remaining day then they "don't always drink beer" but still consume a decent quantity of it. "Not always" is an imprecise qualifier since it can cover anything less than 100% of instances.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.177|162.158.74.177]] 16:21, 28 May 2020 (UTC)

475: Further Boomerang Difficulties

2020-05-20T03:29:19Z

162.158.74.177: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 475
| date = September 12, 2008
| title = Further Boomerang Difficulties
| image = further_boomerang_difficulties.png
| titletext = An eternity later, the universe having turned out to have positive curvature and lots of mass, the boomerang hits him in the back of the head.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a sequel of sorts to [[445: I Am Not Good with Boomerangs]], as it deals with the same subject manner with the same panel layout.

The first strip shows [[Cueball]] throwing a boomerang, which doesn't come back. He looks downwards in the rightmost panel as if in shame. In [[939: Arrow]], a boomerang returns to Cueball, which can either be the same Cueball from this comic or another person.

In the second strip he throws another boomerang, which somehow manages to hurt the {{w|ozone layer}} (as indicated by an off-screen voice). This is of course not possible with a boomerang,{{Citation needed}} as the ozone layer is a layer of molecules very high up in the atmosphere.

The third strip shows Cueball throwing something that ''appears'' to be a boomerang, but then [[Megan]] enters and reveals that it was their last banana - which she probably had expected to eat since she calls him an asshole.

The final strip shows Cueball throwing one last boomerang, which breaks the frame of the comic, already after two out of the four frames used in each of the first three strips. Then panning down we find the last panel, much larger and suddenly mainly black instead of white. It shows that this time he was actually inside a spacecraft (which resembles an {{w|Apollo Lunar Module}} in a very bad manner), and the boomerang has just broken out through the hull. We see the boomerang and Cueball tumbling out into space with the escaping air to certain death{{Citation needed}}.

If you try to link up the rightmost panels, as what was in [[445: I Am Not Good with Boomerangs]], you get a bad story where Cueball is looking down. Then a person (presumably Megan), screams about the ozone layer. We also see Megan call Cueball an asshole

The title text notes that, assuming a theory, that is {{w|Accelerating universe|no longer generally accepted}}, where the universe has a positive (closed) {{w|curvature}} and lots of mass, the boomerang would, after a (very) long time hit Cueball in the back of his head. This would happen because under those conditions the entire universe would eventually fall back on itself in the {{w|Big Crunch}}. Before this happens, everything would again get pressed close together, and it is during this process that the boomerang would finally return to his frozen (but quite possibly preserved) head. (So at least one "success" in four attempts.)

Boomerangs also became a main theme in the interactive comic [[1350: Lorenz]]. The same format of multiple bad endings to the same starting set-up is used in [[1515: Basketball Earth]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is throwing boomerang.]
:[Holding his hands up.]
:[Cueball waits for return; continual waiting.]
:[Cueball is dejected, head hangs low.]

:[Cueball throws boomerang.]
:[Cueball waits for boomerang.]
:Outside: Oh God
:Outside: The ozone layer!
:[Cueball is surprised.]

:[Cueball throws boomerang-like banana.]
:[Cueball waits.]
:[Megan walks in.]
:Megan: That was our last banana.
:Megan: You're such an asshole.
:[Cueball throws boomerang.]
:[Boomerang breaks out of the panel box.]

:[Boomerang breaks out of a spacecraft, followed by Cueball.]

==Trivia==
*Part of this comic and [[939: Arrow]] is the picture for the [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BrickJoke Brick Joke] page on TV Tropes.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Boomerangs]]
[[Category:Physics]]

2254: JPEG2000

2020-01-13T21:52:55Z

162.158.74.177: Initial transcript

{{comic
| number = 2254
| date = January 13, 2020
| title = JPEG2000
| image = jpeg2000.png
| titletext = I was actually a little relieved when I learned that JPEG2000 was used in the DCI digital cinema standard. I was feeling so bad for it!
}}

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

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and another woman are both at a table, facing each other, both working on their own respective computers.]

:[Cueball leans back and stops typing. The woman continues to type.]

:[Cueball looks over at the woman.]
:Cueball: I'm starting to worry that JPEG 2000 isn't catching on as fast as we expected.
:Woman:: Don't worry! We're in this for the long haul.

{{comic discussion}}

2030: Voting Software

2018-08-08T18:49:13Z

162.158.74.177: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2030
| date = August 8, 2018
| title = Voting Software
| image = voting_software.png
| titletext = There are lots of very smart people doing fascinating work on cryptographic voting protocols. We should be funding and encouraging them, and doing all our elections with paper ballots until everyone currently working in that field has retired.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BLOCKCHAIN - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
When other engineers say something is safe, people don't believe them: People are scared of flying and elevators even though they are, statistically, very safe.

But when software engineers say something is dangerious, people don't believe them. (And e-voting is stupidly dangerous)

Blockchain is a relatively new technology that is intended to solve some computer security issues, by making it difficult to doctor old data. However, in the process of solving the old computer security issues it has introduced exciting new computer security issues that have not yet been ironed out. It also doesn't solve input fraud issues, only data-doctoring fraud, so a program that caused the voting machine to record a vote for candidate B whenever a vote for cadidate A occurred (Which can be uploaded to the voting machines through USB, or through the internet which they must be connected to for blockchain), blockchain would not prevent it.

Most computer security specialists are more worried about programs that randomly deliberately miss-record a vote, than people changing the votes after they're already recorded, so blockchain would solve an issue that most computer security specialists are less worried about, while causing exciting new issues. (Perpetual internet connection)

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:Asking aircraft designers about airplane safety:
:Hairbun: Nothing is ever foolproof, but modern airliners are incredibly resilient. Flying is the safest way to travel.

:Asking building engineers about elevator safety:
:Cueball: Elevators are protected by multiple tried-and-tested failsafe mechanisms. They're nearly incapable of falling.

:Asking software engineers about computerized voting:
:Megan: That's ''terrifying''.

:Ponytail: Wait, really?
:Megan: Don't trust voting software and don't listen to anyone who tells you it's safe.
:Ponytail: Why?
:Megan: I don't quite know how to put this, but our entire field is bad at what we do, and if you rely on us, everyone will die.

:Ponytail: They say they've fixed it with something called "blockchain."
:Megan: AAAAA!!!
:Cueball: Whatever they sold you, don't touch it.
:Megan: Bury it in the desert.
:Cueball: Wear gloves.

{{comic discussion}}

634: Date

2018-08-03T23:27:17Z

162.158.74.177: /* Explanation */ recessive alleles are typically denoted with the lowercase form of the letter used to denote a dominant allele, not another unique letter

{{comic
| number = 634
| date = September 9, 2009
| title = Date
| image = date.png
| titletext = Well, the kid's definitely getting the biology geek phenotype.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] (as biologists) are on a first date. As opposed to the usual romantic talk or discussion about each other's histories or character, the comic suggests that 30% of the time, two biologists on a first date will end up making {{w|Punnett square}}s, which non-biologists might not consider very interesting or romantic. The comic may be a play on the idea that couples on a first date might wonder about (or on a very promising date, even discuss) the traits in the other person that might be passed on to potential children.

A Punnett square is a simple diagram used in biology to determine the probable resulting {{w|genotype}} of cross-breeding two organisms, be they plant or animal (including humans). The diagram shows all possible results of crossing a single {{w|genotype}} from each parent in the offspring genotype following {{w|Mendelian inheritance}}.

For humans and most animals, there are two alleles for each gene, and each parent passes one of their alleles for each gene on to the offspring. The most simple Punnett square is a 2x2 table with a legend of the two paternal alleles on one axis (e.g.: ''A'' and ''A'') and the two maternal alleles on the other axis (e.g.: ''A'' and ''a''). Each box of the Punnett square represents a possible genetic outcome as a result of each each of the alleles being passed on to the offspring (''AA'', ''Aa'', ''AA'' and ''Aa''). For certain genetic traits, one genotype may determine a specific trait in the offspring; e.g. black hair in rats. Certain genotypes have dominant and recessive alleles. An offspring must have both of the recessive alleles to display the recessive trait; in the above example, if "a" was an allele for a recessive trait, the offspring could not have the recessive trait, as there is no possible ''aa'' outcome. This is the basic principles that allows statements to be made that two parents with a certain blood type or eye colour could not possibly have an offspring with a certain other blood type or eye colour.

More complicated Punnett squares can factor in multiple genes and be larger in scale, but ultimately follow the same principle. The premise for the purposes of the comic is that by using Punnett squares, one can assess the likelihood of certain genetic traits (such as hair colour or colour blindness) in their offspring with another person. One would have to know their genetic makeup in general for this to be possible.

While a genotype refers to the genetic makeup of an organism, a {{w|phenotype}} as referenced in the title text refers to the resulting traits (e.g.: Red hair is a phenotype).

The traits mentioned by Cueball and Megan are all genetic traits which can be traced using Punnett squares. That said, at least two of the traits (green eyes and color blindness) are not traits determined by a simple single-gene interaction. {{w|Color blindness#Genetics|Colour blindness}} can be inherited, although there are a significant number of genes that can factor into various types of color blindness. Red green color blindness, the most common variety, is sex linked to the X chromosome. Because of the way X chromosomes are passed, if Cueball's mother was colorblind then Cueball would be, though his faulty X chromosome could only be passed to a daughter who would need another faulty X from her mother to inherent colorblindness. Once thought to have fairly simple genetic factors, eye color is now known to be a factor of at least 15 different genes with almost any parent-child combination possible. Red hair is still believed to be a recessive trait associated with a small number of genes (perhaps even one gene), although other traits once thought to be determined by only one gene have since been proven otherwise.

==Transcript==
:[Two people are sitting at a table, with a candle-lit dinner. Cueball is holding up a sheet of paper, and Megan is scribbling.]
:Cueball: Both my parents were colorblind, so...
:Megan: Hey, if we made more than two, we'd have a better-than-even chance of adorable red hair.
:Cueball: Ooh, and check this: green eyes!
:Trivia: 30% of biologist first dates disintegrate into making Punnett squares.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Romance]]

1986: River Border

2018-04-27T16:14:54Z

162.158.74.177: Explain Alt-text

{{comic
| number = 1986
| date = April 27, 2018
| title = River Border
| image = river_border.png
| titletext = I'm not a lawyer, but I believe zones like this are technically considered the high seas, so if you cut a pizza into a spiral there you could be charged with pieracy under marinaritime law.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a PIERACY [sic] EXPERT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Ponytail explains to Megan that the Missouri-Nebraska state line is based off the river. She then explains that the river once changed course abruptly, and that the state line didn't move with it. That meant that they were on the Missouri side of the river, but in Nebraska. It then occurred to Megan that she could break Nebraska state laws and the police couldn't catch her (because the river was in the way). The final panel shows Megan going to cut a pizza into a spiral. The joke is that Megan thinks it's illegal because nobody does it.

The title text claims the region Ponytail and Megan are in is considered the high seas. It sets up a pizza pun about piracy under maritime law: "Pieracy" combines ''pie'' another name for a pizza and "piracy". Marinara sauce is frequently served with pizza, so "Maritime" law is rendered "Marinaritime"

==External Links==
[https://www.google.com/maps/@40.5270132,-95.6954944,10627m/data=!3m1!1e3 Google map of the region suggested by the comic]

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Ponytail and Megan are standing next to a river.]
:Ponytail: This is a cool spot.
:Ponytail: The Missouri-Nebraska state line follows this river. If the river's path changes gradually, the border moves with it.
:[A map is shown.]
:Ponytail: But when it ''abruptly'' changes course, the border stays behind.
:Ponytail: This is a spot where that happened. We're on the Missouri side, but we're in Nebraska.
:[Cuts back to Ponytail and Megan standing.]
:Megan: Wow.
:Megan: So...
:Megan: We can commit all the crimes we want here and the cops can't do a thing!
:[Megan points her finger up.]
:Ponytail: What? No. Why would you even think that?
:Megan: I'm going to cut a pizza into a ''spiral!''
:Ponytail: That's not even illegal!
:Megan: ''Crimes!''
{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1920: Emoji Sports

2017-11-27T14:50:13Z

162.158.74.177:

It seems like in addition to the destructive sports thing, he's also playing on the emojis made from other emojis in multi character Unicode, but as it's 3 in the morning and I can't even remember what things are called I'm not gonna even try to edit right now. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.33|162.158.62.33]] 07:50, 24 November 2017 (UTC)

Hey! An early published comic! 3AM Me And Randall time Thursday night right now. Fun since I only read on Monday and Thursday nights. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:14, 24 November 2017 (UTC)

Actually candle eating isn't so far out there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXg3l_Lnmdo

It seems like the joke in the title is about the fact that a horse winning a HorseHole race wouldn't actually be able to compete anymore (dead or hurt). Which would explain why no horse ever won the 4 different races. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.150.40|162.158.150.40]] 09:58, 24 November 2017 (UTC)
:The horse can easily do the HorseHole last. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:49, 25 November 2017 (UTC)

Re. " the mailbox seems to be missing mail" - If there was mail in there, there wouldn't be room to stuff the owl in.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.239|141.101.104.239]] 11:22, 24 November 2017 (UTC)

What a dumb idea for a comic. It's kinda like comedy central when they run out of ideas, they run South Park day and night, or TruTV running Impractical Jokers episodes because they ran out of other remotely funny stuff. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.113|172.68.58.113]] 11:52, 24 November 2017 (UTC)
: What a dumb idea for a comment. It's kinda like a kid in the playground who doesn't have the imagination to join in with the other kids' games, so decides to just try to spoil them instead.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.239|141.101.104.239]] 09:24, 27 November 2017 (UTC)

Is it worth mentioning that a version of Alligator Jumping appears in the Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album? As befits MP, the sport involves running at a crocodile, then diving into its mouth. There is controversy in the sport regarding whether or not to coat yourself with a marinade. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.85|162.158.111.85]] 12:28, 24 November 2017 (UTC)
: Alligator jumping sort of reminds me of the old [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitfall! Pitfall] series of games. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 15:33, 24 November 2017 (UTC)

I vaguely remember that "Consequence XXXXX" is a thing; finding a reference for that would be helpful. Also, any way to increase the size of the emojis? They're pretty hard to read at the usual font size. -- [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.145|173.245.52.145]] 15:15, 24 November 2017 (UTC)

I don't think the ball in Fancyball is supposed to be giant; they are just emoji and I don't think they're representative of the sizes of the participants/objects in the game. After all, I don't think there is a man the size of a volcano... Also, water-skiing is a sport - is the person jumping over the alligator necessarily confined to snow? Although the person in the emoji does have ski poles so perhaps that is the case. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.76|162.158.34.76]] 15:31, 24 November 2017 (UTC)

Multiplayer 🥑 Might be a reference to polygamy, as there is an app called avocado that is supposed to be a safe app for couples to share within.

I wonder if it might be possible to have a fallback for Emoji that aren't as well supported. I note a few that don't work on my Firefox version. I also wonder how useful the transcripts are with the emoji: do screen readers properly handle them? [[User:Trlkly|Trlkly]] ([[User talk:Trlkly|talk]]) 22:12, 25 November 2017 (UTC)

:I have all on palemoon, which makes me thinking it's not related to browsers, just what font you have installed. Try [https://github.com/eosrei/twemoji-color-font/releases twemoji]. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:49, 25 November 2017 (UTC)

Originally though that the consequence archery is supposed to be about shooting down satellites from orbit while standing on earth, but that would be very hard to do with conventional bow (or, frankly, anything else except rocket). -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:49, 25 November 2017 (UTC)

Regarding the Tinkerball, it can be dangerous for players too, especially if the Fae notices what they plan to do before is too beaten to cast spells. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:49, 25 November 2017 (UTC)

couldn't disagree more with this explanation [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.157|173.245.52.157]] 01:37, 27 November 2017 (UTC)...

How so? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.47.6|172.68.47.6]] 06:34, 27 November 2017 (UTC)

Can we not hedge our bets with "rarity" of mermaids? I'm pretty sure that everyone on this site can agree that mermaids do not exist. Really. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.177|162.158.74.177]] 14:50, 27 November 2017 (UTC)