explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2492: Commonly Mispronounced Equations

2021-07-22T17:08:20Z

162.158.74.195: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 2492
| date = July 21, 2021
| title = Commonly Mispronounced Equations
| image = commonly_mispronounced_equations.png
| titletext = "Epsihootamoo doopsiquorps" --the Schrödinger equation for the hydrogen atom
}}

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

This comic is a collection of famous physical and mathematical equations, along with their "correct" pronunciations. Equations are normally voiced out loud either by their names ("Mass–energy equivalence") or by saying the parts out loud using normal linguistic rules ("E equals M C squared"). This comic instead asserts that equations are meant to be said out loud like words, using their own set of phonic rules.
Though this premise may seem absurd, sometimes this kind of pronunciation is used as an abbreviation or a mnemonic device. For example, the equation A=Pert used for compound interest is commonly taught and pronounced as the "pert" equation, while SOH-CAH-TOA is used as a mnemonic for the equations for sine, cosine, and tangent (Sine: Opposite over Hypotenuse, etc.).

List of equations:
* {{w|Newton%27s_law_of_universal_gravitation|Newton's law of universal gravitation}}
* {{w|Mass%E2%80%93energy_equivalence|Mass-energy equivalence}}
* {{w|Pythagorean_theorem|Pythagorean theorem}}
* {{w|Area_of_a_circle|Area of a circle}}
* {{w|Entropy_(information_theory)|Shannon entropy}} and {{w|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diversity_index#Shannon_index)|Shannon index}}
* {{w|Ideal_gas_law|Ideal gas law}}
* {{w|Euler%27s_identity|Euler's identity}}
* {{w|Newton%27s_laws_of_motion|Newton's laws of motion}}
* {{w|Wave_equation|Wave equation}} (c should be c2)
* {{w|Derivative#Definition|General derivative}}
* {{w|Quadratic formula}}
* {{w|Schrödinger_equation|Schrödinger equation}}

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

[Four rows of equations, the top three rows each containing three equations and the bottom row containing two equations. Each equation is enclosed in a rectangular box and has a suggested phonetic pronunciation below it.]

F = G * (m1 * m2)/r^2 
FUH-'''JAM'''-ER

E = m * c^2 
'''EM'''-CAH-TOO

a^2 + b^2 = c^2 
AT-'''BOOT'''-COOT

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category: Language]]

Talk:32: Pillar

2021-06-09T12:52:39Z

162.158.74.195: Added comment about personal experience with light perception. I do not know how to use the signature template.

I have oft wondered about the color thing.
[[Special:Contributions/71.178.11.180|71.178.11.180]] 21:49, 23 October 2012 (UTC)
Bigger problem- how do you know there are other people?

The incessantly thumping bass from your neighbour's "music" is a bit of a clue. :-)
[[User:BinaryDigit|BinaryDigit]] ([[User talk:BinaryDigit|talk]]) 09:23, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Is that Comic Sans (the font) in the top left? [[User:Caagr98|Caagr98]] ([[User talk:Caagr98|talk]]) 15:06, 17 April 2013 (UTC)
:Augh, it is Comic Sans! [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.29|173.245.52.29]] 21:00, 5 February 2014 (UTC)

Also, it could be that Righty doesn't see a pole, but a pillar, as suggested by the title of the comic. That's why he asks, "What pole?", implying, "I only see a pillar". {{unsigned ip|173.245.62.75}}

The song "Shpadoinkle" from Trey Parker and Matt Stone's "Cannibal! The Musical" begins with the line, "The sky is blue, and all the leaves are green." [[User:Trueflint|Trueflint]] ([[User talk:Trueflint|talk]]) 17:15, 4 June 2015 (UTC)

Anecdotally, I don't even perceive colors the same between my eyes. When I stare at a white wall, my left eye perceives it as tinted red, and my right eye perceives it as tinted green. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.34|172.68.141.34]] 03:18, 15 August 2017 (UTC)
:That's really interesting. Was it ever investigated why that is the case? And could that maybe be scientifically relevant? [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 09:12, 24 August 2017 (UTC)
:Does this mean you don't need special glasses to watch a 3D film ?. Just kidding, I hope you get it fixed if you want to or are happy with it as it is. [[User:EditorGonk|EditorGonk]] ([[User talk:EditorGonk|talk]]) 12:34, 20 July 2018 (UTC)

My wife, who's an artist, perceives the sky as purple. We originally thought she was partially colorblind. But after finding out that she sees photographs of the sky inside as the same light blue / cyan as other people, and flowers turn different colors outside, and asking her if a blacklight was the same color as the sky (yes it is), I determined that she sees Ultraviolet Light that the rest of us cannot. Interestingly, this development happened at the same time as she developed a persistent "smear" across her vision, and it's correlated with that time she fell through the ice while skateboarding.

Talk:2271: Grandpa Jason and Grandpa Chad

2020-02-21T18:05:32Z

162.158.74.195: no further research needed

Is the Title Text a callback to 2268 with the "no further research is needed" comment? [[User:Stickfigurefan|Stickfigurefan]] ([[User talk:Stickfigurefan|talk]]) 17:58, 21 February 2020 (UTC)
*That was the first thing that came to my mind. Since researching when people named Jason and Chad became grandparents is far from a top research priority, one can indeed say that further research is not "needed". That said, though, I would have liked to have seen the female counterparts, to indicate what "Grandma" names are also coming into vogue now. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.195|162.158.74.195]] 18:05, 21 February 2020 (UTC)

1501: Mysteries

2020-02-04T00:10:55Z

162.158.74.195: Added details about "You're So Vain"

{{comic
| number = 1501
| date = March 20, 2015
| title = Mysteries
| image = mysteries.png
| titletext = At the bottom left: The mystery of why, when I know I needed to be asleep an hour ago, I decide it's a good time to read through every Wikipedia article in the categories 'Out-of-place artifacts', 'Earth mysteries', 'Anomalous weather', and 'List of people who disappeared mysteriously'.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic shows a graph in which several "mysteries" are mentioned and placed on the graph according to how weird they are on the x-axis and the y-axis indicates whether [[Randall]] has an explanation or not for the mystery. Each item is listed in the [[#Table|table below]].

Items near the top-right corner (such as the {{w|Malaysia Airlines Flight 370|MH 370}} disappearance) are both mysterious and strange. Items near the bottom-left corner (such as Randall's absent-mindedness regarding ice cream) have a clear explanation and are not really strange either. Items near the top-left corner (such as the meaning of ''{{w|You're So Vain}}'') are mysterious but not really strange. Items near the bottom-right corner (such as the {{w|Dyatlov Pass incident}}) have a clear explanation but are quite strange.

The title text refers to the mystery of Randall staying up late to read Wikipedia articles, when he was already supposed to be asleep an hour ago. This is apparently not very unusual for him (see for instance [[214: The Problem with Wikipedia]]). And this mystery actually has an obvious explanation: Following up on an idea that eventually led to today's cartoon.

Some of these mysteries have already been explored in xkcd. See [[950: Mystery Solved]] where Randall "solves" Amelia Earhart, Lost Roanoke Colony, Jimmy Hoffa; [[593: Voynich Manuscript]]; and [[1400: D.B. Cooper]].

Note that [[Randall]] uses similar diagrams in both [[388: Fuck Grapefruit]] and [[1242: Scary Names]] which also contain different items. Both of these also have an extra point mentioned in the title text, but these points are in the title text because they are far off the chart, whereas in this comic it's the description of the point that is too long to fit on the chart. Extra info outside the chart is also used in the title text of [[1785: Wifi]], but this is a line graph.

==Table==
The X axis in the graph indicates weirdness. The table assumes that the item to the far left is 0% (not that weird) and the item to the far right is 100% (weird as hell). The Y axis indicates if Randall has an explanation. The table assumes that the item at the bottom is 100% (Randall has a clear explanation) and the item at the top is 0% (Randall has no explanation).

{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Entry
!Weirdness
!Explainability
!Further details
|-
|MH370
|100%
|0% 
|On 8 March 2014, {{w|Malaysia Airlines Flight 370}} cut off radio contact and diverted from its flight path with 227 passengers aboard, eventually heading over open ocean, eventually crashing in a remote part of the Indian Ocean. The disappearance remains without explanation, although parts were found on Reunion Island in July 2015.
|-
|Lead masks case
|99%
|12% 
|In 1966 two Brazilian electronic technicians were found dead on a hill top. No injuries. {{w|Lead Masks Case|Both were wearing lead masks}}. Circumstantial evidence suggests that the men may have died of drug overdoses, believing that they were able to communicate with aliens.
|-
|Salish Sea feet
|96%
|31% 
|Over a dozen dismembered human feet {{w|Salish Sea human foot discoveries|were found}} between 2007 and 2016 on the coasts of the Salish Sea in British Columbia (Canada) and Washington (United States).
|-
|DB Cooper
|76%
|20% 
|{{w|D. B. Cooper}} was an airplane hijacker who jumped from a plane after successfully extorting a large ransom in 1971. The man's whereabouts remain unknown to this day, though [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2401312/Parachute-used-hijacker-DB-Cooper-escape-stealing-200-000-goes-display.html some of the ransom money has been recovered]. Previously referenced in [[1400: D.B. Cooper]] which compares Cooper to film director {{w|Tommy Wiseau}}. Note that this "Mysteries" comic was published shortly after [http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2zdzik/tommy_wiseau_creator_of_the_room_and_the_new_tv/ Tommy Wiseau did a Reddit AMA.]
|-
|The WOW signal
|55%
|20% 
|The {{w|Wow! signal}} was a strong and clean radio transmission near 1420 MHz received by the Big Ear Radio Observatory at Ohio State University in 1977 that [http://www.universetoday.com/93754/35-years-later-the-wow-signal-still-tantalizes/ appears to have originated from interstellar space.] This is the strongest evidence to date of radio signals transmitted by extraterrestrial intelligent beings.
|-
|Mary Celeste
|70%
|43% 
|The ''{{w|Mary Celeste}}'' was a sailing ship found adrift off the {{w|Azores Islands}}, mysteriously abandoned yet otherwise undisturbed, in 1872. Most likely the crew abandoned ship, wrongly believing it was in danger. Its name has become a watchword for mysteriously abandoned ships.
|-
|UVB-76
|40%
|23% 
|{{w|UVB-76}} is a mysterious shortwave radio station, Possibly serving as a {{w|numbers station}}, apparently originating from Russia, that has broadcast a monotonous buzz tone since 1982 with occasional other content.
|-
|Who Carly Simon is singing about in ''You're So Vain''
|9%
|4% 
|The ironically self-referential lyrics of the 1972 song include "You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you." There has been {{w|You%27re_So_Vain#Subject_of_the_song|much speculation}} regarding the person or persons to whom Simon was referring. Quoting Wikipedia: Simon [has stated] that the song refers to three men, only one of whom she has named publicly, actor Warren Beatty.
|-
|Zodiac letters
|62%
|62% 
|A set of letters were written by the so-called {{w|Zodiac Killer}}, a serial killer who was active in California in the 1960s and 1970s. The letters are [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:Zodiac_Killer#Letters available at Wikisource.] Some of the letters are encoded, only some of which have been deciphered. The killings remain unsolved.
|-
|Dyatlov Pass incident
|93%
|96% 
|On 2 February 1959, nine skiers in the northern Ural Mountains apparently {{w|Dyatlov Pass Incident|fled their tents naked}}. They were found dead, some with physical injuries. Considering his skepticism towards paranormal, conspiracies, or UFO-related phenomena, it is likely that Randall subscribes to the theory that the unusual physical injuries are the natural result of decomposition, and that the nudity of the hikers was due to 'paradoxical undressing' - which occurs in some cases with hypothermia.
|-
|Kentucky meat shower
|85%
|93% 
|In 1876, a number of chunks of meat {{w|Kentucky meat shower|fell from the sky}} in Kentucky; this was possibly [http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/running-ponies/2014/12/01/the-great-kentucky-meat-shower-mystery-unwound-by-projectile-vulture-vomit/ projectile vomit from vultures.]
|-
|Lindbergh baby
|17%
|25% 
|The {{w|Lindbergh kidnapping}} was the kidnapping and murder of 20-month old Charles Lindbergh Jr. in 1932. Various {{w|Lindbergh kidnapping#Controversy|conspiracy theories}} surround the event.
|-
|Lost colony
|74%
|83% 
|The {{w|Roanoke Colony}} was the first English attempt to establish a permanent settlement in the New World. The colony of over a hundred settlers disappeared some time in the late 1580s, with no signs of violence and no definitive evidence as to what happened. However, given the hardships faced by the colonists when they were left and that the buildings in the colony were dismantled, indicating departure was not hurried, it is likely they moved and/or integrated with the local tribes. Which probably accounts for Randall's high "explainable" rating. (See title text of [[950: Mystery Solved]])
|-
|Toynbee tiles
|25%
|34% 
|{{w|Toynbee tiles}} are colorful tiles with cryptic messages that have been found embedded in asphalt in the streets of various midwestern-to-eastern cities in the United States and four South American cities. Analysis has shown that they are linoleum and tarpaper, laid on hot days and pressed into the soft road surface by passing cars.
|-
|Amelia Earhart
|56%
|74% 
|{{w|Amelia Earhart}} and her navigator tried to circumnavigate the earth along the equator in a small airplane in 1937, but {{w|Amelia Earhart#Speculation on disappearance|disappeared}} over the Pacific Ocean without any trace. See also [[950: Mystery Solved]].
|-
|Jimmy Hoffa
|10%
|42% 
|{{w|Jimmy Hoffa}} was an American labor union leader who disappeared in 1975. He is widely believed to have been murdered. (See title text of [[950: Mystery Solved]]). Randall marks this as very much not weird, because Hoffa was heavily involved in organized crime - however he was killed, the motive seems clear.
|-
|Voynich manuscript
|35%
|68% 
|The {{w|Voynich manuscript}} is an illustrated codex hand-written in an unknown writing system. It came to public attention in the early 20th century and probably was written in Italy in the early 15th century. See also [[593: Voynich Manuscript]].
|-
|Loch Ness monster
|64%
|100% 
|The {{w|Loch Ness Monster}} is a supposed animal that reputedly inhabits Loch Ness, a lake in Scotland. Multiple complete scans of the lake using sonar show no evidence of the monster, and the lake ecosystem is far too small to support even a single creature as large as the monster is alleged to be.
|-
|Bigfoot
|60%
|98% 
|{{w|Bigfoot}} is a supposed animal or hominid that reputedly inhabits the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The best piece of evidence for Bigfoot, the {{w|Patterson–Gimlin film}}, retains some mystery - scientists are divided as to whether it's possible for a person in a suit to mimic the walk of the creature in the film - but contains so many features not seen on any real ape (for instance, dark palms and hairy breasts) that few scientists take it seriously. More generally, no corpses or skeletons have ever been found, despite the presence of logging crews in many places where Bigfoots have been seen, and fur and droppings always turns out to be human or from another animal.
|-
|JFK
|38%
|86% 
|The 1963 {{w|Assassination of John F. Kennedy|assassination of President John F. Kennedy}} has inspired many conspiracy theories, beginning almost immediately after the event. The subsequent murder of assassin Lee Harvey Oswald added fuel to the fire by encouraging speculation that he was silenced to cover up the true story. Many of the details that were initially considered weird - for instance, {{w|Single-bullet theory|the path of the bullet}}, which early analysis showed had flown in a strange curve, audio recordings of multiple shots, and discrepancies in Lee Harvey Oswald's life story - have been found to be erroneous. In particular, careful analysis of the positions of Kennedy and Governor John Connally, who was riding in the car with Kennedy and was also struck by the bullet, show that a single bullet could have caused all the wounds suffered by the two men.
|-
|Oak Island money pit
|32%
|98% 
|An indentation in the ground on {{w|Oak Island}} (off the east coast of Nova Scotia, Canada), led to over 200 years of treasure hunting, with the excavations repeatedly hampered by flooding pit collapses. A few flagstones, and periodic layers of logs are all that have been found. Rumours abound as to what it conceals: Marie Antoinnette's jewels, pirate treasure and Shakespeare's manuscripts have all been suggested. It is called The Money Pit, because of all the money that has been wasted in trying to solve the mystery.
|-
|Why I keep putting ice cream back in the fridge instead of the freezer
|0%
|96% 
|Apparently, Randall absent-mindedly puts his ice cream container into the refrigerator rather than into the freezer.
|}

==Transcript==
:[In a frame at the top left of the panel:]
:'''Mysteries'''

:[A chart with two crossing lines with double arrows. Each arrow is labeled:]
:X-axis left: Not that weird
:X-axis right: Weird as Hell
:Y-axis top: I have no explanation
:Y-axis bottom: Explanation seems pretty clear

:[In the chart there are 22 bullets. Each bullet is labeled. Below the labels are given from top to bottom in each of the four quadrants of the chart:]

:[Top left quadrant:]
:Who Carly Simon is singing about in ''You're So Vain''
:UVB-76
:Lindbergh baby
:Toynbee tiles
:Jimmy Hoffa

:[Top right quadrant:]
:MH370
:Lead Masks Case
:DB Cooper
:The Wow signal
:Salish Sea feet
:Mary Celeste

:[Bottom left quadrant:]
:Voynich manuscript
:JFK
:Why I keep putting ice cream back in the fridge instead of the freezer
:Oak Island Money Pit

:[Bottom right quadrant:]
:Zodiac letters
:Amelia Earhart
:Lost Colony
:Kentucky meat shower
:Bigfoot
:Loch Ness Monster
:Dyatlov Pass incident

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Scatter plots]]
[[Category:Rankings]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Paranormal]]

1791: Telescopes: Refractor vs Reflector

2017-01-27T14:22:32Z

162.158.74.195: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1791
| date = January 27, 2017
| title = Telescopes: Refractor vs Reflector
| image = telescopes_refractor_vs_reflector.png
| titletext = On the other hand, the refractor's limited light-gathering means it's unable to make out shadow people or the dark god Chernabog.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|stub}}
This comic shows two types of telescopes: {{w|Reflecting Telescope|Reflecting}} and {{w|Refracting Telescope|Refracting}}. It first looks like the comic is trying to show that refracting has many flaws, such as expense, size and visibility. However, the punchline invalidates these complaints with the (apparently major) flaw listed with the reflecting telescope: it can't see space vampires. The unstated reason for this is that vampires cannot be seen in a mirror. As space vampires do not exist {{Citation needed}}, this complaint is moot, and the reflecting telescope technically has no flaws in comparison to the refracting telescope. The title text expands on the seeing of supernatural beings, as another negative point is added to the refracting telescope- it apparently can't see shadow people or the Slavic god {{w|Chernabog}}, both of which are apparently equally important to the telescope's merit despite also not existing.

The title text adds an additional drawback to a refracting telecsope: it cannot see {{w|Shadow person|Shadow People}} or {{w|Chernobog|Chernabog}}. In reality, "shadow people" are a psychological phenomenon wherein humans ascribe human shapes and movements to shadows in dark spaces. Chernabog is a 12th Slavic diety, whose name translates to ''black god''. His most famous apperance in modern media was in the 1940 Disney movie {{w|Fantasia (1940 film)|''Fantasia''}}.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
[The comic is one panel showing two different telescope designs.]
REFRACTOR
More expensive
Less compact
Chromatic aberration
Reduced Light-gathering

REFLECTOR
Can't see space vampires

Title text:
On the other hand, the refractor's limited light-gathering means it's unable to make out shadow people or the dark god Chernabog
{{comic discussion}}

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

1791: Telescopes: Refractor vs Reflector

2017-01-27T14:18:46Z

162.158.74.195: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1791
| date = January 27, 2017
| title = Telescopes: Refractor vs Reflector
| image = telescopes_refractor_vs_reflector.png
| titletext = On the other hand, the refractor's limited light-gathering means it's unable to make out shadow people or the dark god Chernabog.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|stub}}
This comic shows two types of telescopes: {{w|Reflecting Telescope|Reflecting}} and {{w|Refracting Telescope|Refracting}}. It first looks like the comic is trying to show that refracting has many flaws, such as expense, size and visibility. However, the punchline invalidates these complaints with the (apparently major) flaw listed with the reflecting telescope: it can't see space vampires. The unstated reason for this is that vampires cannot be seen in a mirror. As space vampires do not exist {{Citation needed}}, this complaint is moot, and the reflecting telescope technically has no flaws in comparison to the refracting telescope. The title text expands on the seeing of supernatural beings, as another negative point is added to the refracting telescope- it apparently can't see shadow people or the Slavic god {{w|Chernabog}}, both of which are apparently equally important to the telescope's merit despite also not existing.

The title text adds an additional drawback to a refracting telecsope: it cannot see {{w|Shadow person|Shadow People}} or {{w|Chernobog|Chernabog}}. In reality, "shadow people" are a psychological phenomenon wherein humans ascribe human shapes and movements to shadows in dark spaces. Chernabog is a 12th Slavic diety, whose name translates to ''black god''. His most famous apperance in modern media was in the 1940 Disney movie {{w|Fantasia (1940 film)|''Fantasia''}}.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}

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

1789: Phone Numbers

2017-01-23T20:35:08Z

162.158.74.195: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1789
| date = January 23, 2017
| title = Phone Numbers
| image = phone_numbers.png
| titletext = Texting should work. Unless the message is too long, in which case it gets converted to voicemails, and I think I'm locked out of my voicemail.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Needs more detail and other views}}

[[Cueball]], representing [[Randall]], has several phone numbers stored under a contact entry on his phone for [[White Hat]]. Often, people who have known each other for a long time may have old information recorded for each other, which may no longer be accurate. However, in this case, only one of the phone numbers is (possibly) outdated.

White Hat's answer reveals a complicated history of communication practices. This cobbled-together personal technology is a common theme for Randall.

Also White Hat never actually answers the question originally posed by Cueball. Cueball just wants to know which number to use, and White Hat explains what each one is. This is almost entirely useless information to Cueball. Most cell phone contact lists don't have a way to save details about each number (such as "should always work but doesn't accept texts.") Many do let you label a number as "work" or "cell" but not to the detail that White Hat provides.

==Transcript==
:[White Hat is looking at a smartphone held out by Cueball]
:Cueball: I have five phone numbers for you. Which one should I use?
:White Hat: That first one is my cell- you should use the Google Voice one, since it will forward to my laptop if I'm on WiFi. #5 is my work number, which just forwards to #1. #3 should always work but can't do texts.
:White Hat: You can delete #4. I think.

:[Caption under the panel:] Another reason I never call people.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Smartphones]]

657: Movie Narrative Charts

2017-01-23T16:53:43Z

162.158.74.195: /* {{w|12 Angry Men (1957 film)|12 Angry Men}} */

{{comic
| number = 657
| date = November 2, 2009
| title = Movie Narrative Charts
| image = movie_narrative_charts.png
| titletext = In the LotR map, up and down correspond LOOSELY to northwest and southeast respectively.
}}
*A [http://xkcd.com/657/large/ larger version] of this image can be found by clicking the image at xkcd.com - the comic's page can also be accessed by clicking on the comic number above.

==Explanation==
{{incomplete| Needs more?}}

These charts show movie character interactions. The horizontal axis is time. The vertical grouping of the lines indicates which characters are together at a given time.

=== {{w|Lord_of_the_Rings_film_trilogy|Lord of the Rings Trilogy}} ===
A mass of colored lines weaves back and forth across the chart, representing various characters. Sauron is represented by a red bar at the bottom contained within a huge black bar with branches, that in turn represents his army of nazgul, orcs, etc. Major locations (Moria) and plot points (the breaking of the fellowship) are marked. Gandalf, especially at the beginning, jumps all over the map in a short time. Eagles appear and then disappear a couple of times. Treebeard's line is flat except for the march to Isengard. At the end, the ship to the West drifts off into a corner.

=== {{w|Star_Wars|Star Wars (original Trilogy)}} ===
Luke, mostly accompanied by R2-D2, joins and parts from other sets of characters. There's a dotted alternative path on Jabba's line for the special edition. Yoda appears about halfway through (where Luke's Jedi training is marked). All the surviving lines group up at Endor except for Vader, the Emperor, Luke, and Lando; after the climactic duel, the latter two join the rest.

=== {{w|Jurassic_Park_(film)|Jurassic Park}} ===
The human characters are in black; dinosaurs are in red. Dilophosaurus appears briefly to eat Nedry and then fades out again. The three raptors are together at the beginning, but split up about halfway through. One has a dotted portion of line between "locked up" and "escapes." In the meantime, they cut off the lines of Arnold and Muldoon. The raptor lines all end when t-rex's swoops down to meet them at the end, and all the surviving humans leave together.

=== {{w|12 Angry Men (1957 film)|12 Angry Men}} ===
This is a very famous trial film that tells the story of a jury made up of 12 men as they deliberate the guilt or acquittal of a defendant on the basis of reasonable doubt. Only one of these angry men believe the defendant may be innocent and he argues this against the other 11, eventually convincing them that there is reasonable doubt in the case.

The lines are labeled Juror 1 through Juror 12. They are all perfectly horizontal and parallel.

The joke in the 12 Angry Men graphic is that in the movie all 12 jurors (the angry men) are in the same room for the entire duration of the movie. They never move and they all always interact with each other, hence their lines stay straight and close to each other.

This is actually not entirely true as the movie begins in the court room and a couple of times during the proceedings a few jurors goes into the washroom and have a brief discussion there, and finally in the very last scene two jurors have a brief exchange in front of the courthouse. But basically there is no need for such a narrative chart, and that is the joke.

=== {{w|Primer_(film)|Primer}} ===
The last box is a movie called Primer from 2004, which became a cult classic. It is about a group of engineers who discover a way to time travel, but only in one direction (backwards) and only at the speed of regular time (i.e. you have to stay in the time machine for one hour to move an hour back in time). Because of this, the story ends up having multiple versions of the same person existing at the same time; the plot and time-travel mechanics are notoriously hard to follow, so that it is almost impossible to figure out where each character is at one time, as the comic illustrates.
Three lines start on the left labeled Abe, Aaron, and Granger. They enter a mass of scribbling. Somewhere vaguely towards the end, three lines emerge and fade out, all labeled with question marks.
The chart for ''Primer'' is referenced in the title text of the fourth image in the [[what if?]] ''{{what if|101|Plastic Dinosaurs}}''.

These charts are a reference to the map by infographic pioneer {{w|Charles Joseph Minard}} that details the movements and losses of Napoleon's troops on his failed conquest of Russia.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Either all or only the visible text should be included here. In the latter case a second page with the full transcript should be made}}
These charts show movie character interactions.
The horizontal axis is time. The vertical grouping of the
lines indicate which characters are together at a given time.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Timelines]]
[[Category:LOTR]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Jurassic Park]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:Time travel]]
[[Category:Fiction]]

1788: Barge

2017-01-23T16:02:43Z

162.158.74.195: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1788
| date = January 20, 2017
| title = Barge
| image = barge.png
| titletext = My life goal is to launch a barge into the air and have it land on one of Elon Musk's rockets.
}}

==Explanation==
This is another one of the "[[My Hobby]]" series, where [[Randall]] tells about a strange hobby. With three drawings he shows the concept of his hobby, which is explained in details in the caption.

The launch company {{w|SpaceX}} is currently testing a reusable rocket system, where the {{w|multi-stage rocket|first rocket stage}} is capable of landing back on either the launch pad or an {{w|autonomous spaceport drone ship}} after launch (See [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEr9cPpuAx8 this video] displaying both types of landing, from when the sea landing was successful the first time). The rockets guide themselves in to land by aiming towards a giant launch pad with the "X" from the SpaceX logo painted on it. Randall imagines creating a similar-looking barge and placing it near the intended landing site, except his barge's platform would be hollow in the middle with only a sheet of paper supporting the part where the rocket would land.

Since the paper is painted to look just like the real SpaceX it is presumably the goal of this setup to trick a returning first stage rocket into falling into the sea, similar to the old {{w|trapping pit}}. If a rocket attempts to land on Randall's barge, it will quickly burn through the paper and fall into the sea and explode (see example in video above).

This "my hobby" is probably the most destructive one so far, as it would result in the loss of the nine space rocket engines at the bottom of the first rocket stage. It would also likely be the most expensive even disregarding the costs to others, due to the costs associated with buying and damaging a barge specifically for a prank (though it could potentially be reused if it did not get destroyed by the exploding rocket).

This hobby seems more appropriate for [[Black Hat]], considering that he is a real [[classhole]], showing that Black Hat is as much part of Randall as [[Cueball]].

The title text plays on the incredible difficulty of successfully landing a rocket on a barge, which {{w|Elon Musk}} was the first (and so far only) to do successfully with his SpaceX company (Note that other companies has done something similar at least on land, like {{w|Blue Origin}} who managed to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNRs2gMyLLk return ther first sate] before SpaceX did, but see this video about [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8c7RUjNFDo Why Blue Origin’s rocket landing shouldn’t be compared to SpaceX]).

Reusing rockets like this is a feat that has only recently become possible, some 60 years after the launch of the first satellite {{w|Sputnik 1}}. In the title text Randall thus imagines an even more implausible idea of reversing Elon Musk's idea by launching an entire ''barge'' into the air and then have it land on one of Elon Musk's rockets. Launching a barge in the first place would be tremendously difficult - they are big, heavy and not very {{w|aerodynamic}}. Maneuvering it through the air precisely enough to one come down on top of a rocket would be much more difficult, but if it worked it would certainly destroy the rocket. Randall though thinks the irony of reversing the feat of landing a rocket on a barge is so funny he has made it into one of his life goals.

This comic was published on the week following SpaceX's {{w|List_of_Falcon_9_and_Falcon_Heavy_launches#2017|Iridium 1 mission}}, where the first stage of the rocket which delivered 10 satellites into orbit successfully landed on a barge near California. This was [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLz-M7pki7U filmed from the returning stage 1] and also [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78AxtAyW4Vo from further away] (See more details of the launch [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8wy5sQ2JDE here]). It marked the seventh time SpaceX successfully landed and recovered its booster on a commercial mission.

==Transcript==
:[There is one panel in this comic with the main drawing at the bottom. Two smaller drawings are inserted above this drawing to explain the idea.]

:[The first insert shows a barge with no center and a large piece of paper with the SpaceX logo above the barge.]

:[The second insert shows the paper stretched over the hole.]

:[The main drawing at the bottom shows a cross-section of the barge in water, showing there is only water below the paper. Above the paper the large first stage, without the top part with the payload, of a reusable rocket is attempting to land on the paper on the SapceX logo (not visible in this view). It is still so high above the fake barge that the exhaust fire below the rocket is nowhere near the paper.]

:[Caption below the panels:]
:My hobby: Hollowing out the center of a barge, stretching paper over the hole painted with the SpaceX logo, and leaving it floating offshore near launch sites.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Elon Musk]]

1787: Voice Commands

2017-01-18T19:10:57Z

162.158.74.195: /* Explanation */

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

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}
The {{w|Dvorak_Simplified_Keyboard|Dvorak keyboard layout}} was designed to replace the {{w|QWERTY}} keyboard layout (the de facto standard keyboard layout, so named for the starting letters in the top row). The Dvorak layout was designed in the belief that it would significantly increase typing speeds over the QWERTY layout. This can be seen, among other ways, by the popular misconception that the placement of letters in the QWERTY standard were deliberately organized to limit typing speed in accommodation the tendency of original mechanical typewriters to jam if two adjacent keys were pressed in quick succession. (In fact, the original QWERTY layout was mostly random, excepting that it is possible to type "typewriter" using only keys on the top row.)

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

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

The sentence Cueball tells his phone translates to "Okay Google send a text" - he says it as if he were typing the sentence on a Dvorak layout with the keyboard set to a QWERTY layout.

The title text is a reference to the fact that many users of DVORAK keyboards claim they may be hard to learn, but they are more movement efficient and put less stress on your fingers due to less movement. For example, see the link at http://www.dvzine.org/zine/10-11.html . This makes little sense in the scenario set up by the comic, as speaking gibberish using oddly placed vowels would be equally difficult, if not in fact harder, on the vocal chords.

The actual text translates to "OKAY GOOGLE SEND A TEXT".

==Transcript==
[Ponytail and Cueball are standing looking at each other. Cueball is holding a phone.]

Ponytail: Can you text it to me?

Cueball: Sure!

Cueball: ''SVAT USSUPD ;DLH A KDBK''

Ponytail: ...What?

Phone: *BEEP*

[Caption under the panel:]

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

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

1787: Voice Commands

2017-01-18T16:50:24Z

162.158.74.195: /* Explanation */

1781: Artifacts

2017-01-04T14:44:05Z

162.158.74.195: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1781
| date = January 4, 2017
| title = Artifacts
| image = artifacts.png
| titletext = I didn't even realize you could HAVE a data set made up entirely of outliers.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic shows [[Cueball]] presenting data that was probably gathered in research. Cueball seems to have made some kind of mistake in either the statistics or the measurement of the undefined subject of his research, thus his data results in many outliers. The word artifact is a wordplay with two meanings. It is either an {{w|Artifact_(archaeology)|artifact such as the Holy Grail}} (as in Indiana Jones) or a fault in your experiment, where you (usually accidentally) influence the measurement with your equipment or unanticipated environmental factors. These are also called {{w|Artifact_(error)|artifacts}}.
An example of an artifact is the measurement of the force between two charged metal spheres (Coulomb force), where the potential of unearthed nearby objects influences the measurement, thus causing an artifact.

The title text refers to the entire data set being "outliers." In statistics, an outlier is an observation point that is distant from other observations. Based on the definition it is impossible for ALL data points to be outliers, but that is what Cueball is being accused of having.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball presenting a line graph]
:Cueball: The data clearly proves that-
:Offscreen voice: Are you Indiana Jones? Because you've got a lot of artifacts there, and I'm pretty sure you didn't handle them right.

{{comic discussion}}

1779: 2017

2017-01-03T19:29:54Z

162.158.74.195: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1779
| date = December 30, 2016
| title = 2017
| image = 2017.png
| titletext = Things are looking good for the eclipse--Nate Silver says Earth will almost definitely still have a moon in August.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|First draft of an explanation,}}

[[Randall]] shares some of his thoughts about 2016, a year that many people eagerly await the end of because of its increased turmoil (terrorist attacks, controversial political events in numerous countries, and, in the United States and Britain, the deaths of an unusually large number of well-known and beloved celebrities). It is also known that Randall is a {{w|Hillary Clinton}} supporter (as shown in the [[1756: I'm With Her]] comic), so an additional reading of that tile could be that we are headed into 2017 "without" a Hillary Clinton presidency.

Instead of simply condemning 2016 as a terrible year and expecting 2017 to be significantly better, [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] observe that much of what made 2016 bad is the effect that it will have upon future years rather than the actual events themselves (for instance, a divisive {{w|United States presidential election, 2016|U.S. presidential election}} has caused significant controversy in 2016, but President-elect {{w|Donald Trump}} will actually take office and begin to affect the world — whether for better or for worse — in 2017). However, Randall also offers a glimpse of hope in the last few panels by observing that, just as all of the bad things in 2016 were unexpected, good things in 2017 that are unexpected are equally likely to happen. As such, he argues that we should hold on to our hope even though things seem difficult right now.

As the conversation unfolds, Megan and Cueball encounter an uprooted tree and cross it like a balance beam. This is a visual metaphor; the dead tree represents the end of the old year, while the crossing represents the transition into the new year. This is similar to the magical toboggan from {{w|Calvin and Hobbes}} that serves as a metaphor for their conversations, mentioned in [[529: Sledding Discussion]] and [[409: Electric Skateboard (Double Comic)]].

The last panel may also serve as a reminder that the world continues to spin on despite all of the turmoil. This is true both literally, as the {{w|solar eclipse|eclipse}} Randall is excited about is caused by the orbits of several celestial bodies lining up just right (the sun, Earth, and moon), but also figuratively, as he notes that prime-numbered years have typically been good ones, and so illustrates the positive attitude that people can choose to take in order to see all that which is good and to spread a little bit more cheerfulness. Randall has had six prime years since his birth, 1987, 1993, 1997, 1999, 2003 and 2011. This could also be a pun referencing the saying "being in his prime years".

Randall previously mentioned his excitement for the {{w|Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017|2017 eclipse}} exactly three years earlier in [[1302: Year in Review]], where Megan complains about 2013 not having an eclipse nor aurora, and hopes they don't cancel the 2017 eclipse.

The title text is a reference to {{w|Nate Silver}} who is well-known (in the United States) as an election polling analyst on {{w|FiveThirtyEight}}. His model allowed for a higher chance that Donald Trump would win the presidency compared to other similar models — though the fact that he still favored a Clinton win may be contributing to getting humor from the idea that he may be "wrong" again, and the Moon could possibly vanish in 2017, making the year definitely worse than 2016. This is accentuated by the qualifier "almost definitely", which is of humorously low confidence for presenting a fact as certain as the Moon not somehow disappearing within the next year.

There have been three previous New Year's comics with only the year used as the title: [[998: 2012]] in 2012, [[1311: 2014]] in 2014 and [[1624: 2016]] in 2016. This is the first odd-numbered years (and thus of course the first prime year)using only the new year as the title. It is also the first that has such a depressive mood. This thus follows the trend of the other negative comics released after Trump's victory, the first being [[1761: Blame]] and the second being [[1773: Negativity]], which both refer to the negativity on the internet spawned by Trump's election (among other things).

Cueball quips that "Prime years have always been good for [him]", assuming he is the same age as Randall, 1987, 1993, 1997, 1999, 2003 and 2011 have all been good years for him. Of course, we do not know how old Cueball really is, how much thought he actually put into his seemingly off-the-cuff remark, or whether those years were actually good for Randall (although I'm sure one of who can be bothered could answer any one of those questions)

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan walking outdoors]
:Cueball: Can't wait for this stupid year to be over.

:[The two approach a fallen tree]
:Megan: I can. This year made the future scarier. So much of why 2016 was bad was because of the things it sent us into 2017 without.

:[Megan has hopped up onto the tree trunk and begins to walk along it]
:Cueball: You gotta have hope, though.
:Megan: You say that, but you also said all this awful stuff couldn't happen, and it did. You're as clueless as the rest of us.

:[Cueball also walks along the tree trunk as Megan stops and turns to look at him]
:Cueball: Well, if we're wrong about which bad things can happen, it's got to make us at least a ''little'' less sure about which good things can't.

:[Closeup of Megan hopping down from the tree]
:Megan: I guess.

:[A distant shot of Megan and Cueball walking along again]
:Cueball: Plus, 2017 has a cool eclipse in it.
:Megan: Ooh, yeah!
:Cueball: And it's prime. Prime years have always been good for me.
:Megan: Sure, I'll take it.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:New Year]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Nate Silver]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|2017]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Math]]

1775: Things You Learn

2016-12-29T22:18:06Z

162.158.74.195: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1775
| date = December 21, 2016
| title = Things You Learn
| image = things_you_learn.png
| titletext = Guess who has two thumbs and spent the night in an ER after trying to rescue a kitten that ran under his car at a stoplight and climbed up into the engine compartment? And, thanks to antibiotics, will continue having two thumbs? THIS GUY. (P.S. kitten is safe!)
}}

==Explanation==
This graph shows various items of information plotted by two criteria: a horizontal "How Bad Is It If You Don't Know [THING]" axis and a vertical "How Easy It Is To Grow Up Without Learning [THING]" axis. Specifically, the vertical axis measures roughly how likely the average person is to remain ignorant of a particular item. The horizontal axis measures the likelihood and severity of bad consequences arising from such ignorance.

The title text describes an encounter Randall had where a cat climbed into the engine compartment of his car. It probably serves as an explanation for the seemingly out of place point on the graph about how serious cat bites are. The "two thumbs" is a reference to a well known type of jokes among English speakers. One of the most frequent forms is one person interrupting another mid-speech and asking "what has two thumbs and doesn't give a f*ck? THIS GUY!", before pointing to themselves with their thumbs. The idea is that you only direct the attention to your thumbs so that they can point back to you, though mentioning the thumbs was not actually required except as a topic change. Randall plays on an inversion of this joke as he might not have been able to make it at all without the intervention of the ER people. So here the "who has two thumbs", is not a deceiving distraction out of a boring conversation, and the thumbs are actually the focus of the phrase.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Ignorance is Bad !! Ignorance is Easy !! Information !! Comments
|-
| not bad || (very, very) easy || 100 digits of {{w|pi}} || Most people know pi to only a few digits (3.14 or 3.1416). The latter is accurate to almost one part in half a million, which is close enough for almost any practical purpose.
|-
| not bad || (very) easy || Lyrics to "{{w|We Didn't Start the Fire}}" || "We Didn't Start the Fire" is a 1989 hit song by Billy Joel. Its lyrics include brief, rapid-fire allusions to more than 100 headline events between 1949, the year of Joel's birth, and 1989. While the chorus is memorable, the verses of the song are just a list of people, events and random things from popular culture. The average person is somewhat more likely to know the lyrics to Billy Joel's 1989 hit song than 100 digits of pi, but not knowing them doesn't really have any serious consequences.
|-
| (very) bad || (very) easy || That cat bites are really serious and if bitten you need to wash the bite and call a doctor immediately || Most people assume that a cat bite is just a minor injury. In fact, it carries a fairly high risk of infection, which can be dangerous if not treated (by cleaning the bite to reduce the risk, and having a doctor examine the bite victim and apply additional treatments such as antibiotics if needed). At the same time, cat bites are quite rare, as cats default to their claws rather than their teeth when they need to attack something (although cat scratches also carry a high risk of infection, due to cat claws being a breeding ground for bacteria when retracted).
|-
| (very) bad || (very) easy || The red flags for an abusive relationship || It is fairly easy for someone to fall into a pattern of accepting abuse (particularly if the abuser is skilled at emotional manipulation) without realizing it, and the consequences can be mentally and physically devastating.
|-
| (very, very) bad || easy || The {{w|Stroke#Signs_and_symptoms|signs of a stroke}} || The symptoms of a {{w|stroke}} are somewhat variable, including facial drooping, arm weakness and slurred speech, depending on what areas of the brain are affected, and can be mistaken for other conditions. Identifying a stroke quickly and seeking treatment can make the difference between life and death, or between full recovery and permanent impairment.
|-
| bad || easy || Cough into your elbow, not your hand || Covering a cough with the inside of your elbow helps prevent spreading airborne germs and is generally recommended by medical organisations. Coughing into your hand deposits them onto your hand, where they are much more likely to be spread to another person (via handshake, food preparation, shared objects, etc)
|-
| not (too) bad || hard || How to ride a bike || Most children, especially in the United States[http://www.peopleforbikes.org/statistics/category/participation-statistics#youth], learn to ride a bike at a fairly young age. While this is a useful skill to know for both entertainment and transportation, it would generally not be terrible to not learn this skill, particularly if other forms of transporation are readily available.
|-
| not bad (at all) || hard || How to escape movie {{w|quicksand}} || Quicksand in movies is a common trope, and while its physics often differ from real quicksand, escaping from it is commonly done using similar methods (e.g., not struggling, which increases the quicksand's viscosity). Knowing how to escape from quicksand is important if you sink into it, which is a situation most people are very unlikely to encounter in real life. It is much more likely for characters in movies and TV shows, especially in the 1960s, to encounter and become mired in quicksand than for a real individual to do so as real quicksand is a rare occurrence in most climates on Earth.
|-
| not bad (at all) || (very) hard || Lyrics to "{{w|The Twelve Days of Christmas (song)|12 Days of Christmas}}" || Hearing the same Christmas songs over and over each year makes it hard not to learn the lyrics over time. However, the consequences of not doing so are minimal; at most, ignorance of popular culture may leave your friends [[1769|a bit surprised and dismayed]]. Note that this only refers to learning the lyrics of the "Twelve Days of Christmas," not learning all the lyrics. Most people do not know many of the combination once one gets substantially past five. It is very hard to avoid learning some of the lyrics (especially One and Five), but easy to not know many of the later random ones (such as Eight or Eleven).
|-
| not bad (at all) || (very, very) hard || {{w|Theme music|TV theme songs}} || Most children in developed countries grow up watching at least some television. Many of these television shows play the same theme song before the show starts, and many of these have catchy lyrics. Therefore, by repetition, most children will learn at least one of these growing up, and often many.
|-
| bad || hard || That you have to empty the dryer lint trap || A {{w|clothes dryer}} resembles a washing machine, using hot air to heat clothes so that the water evaporates more quickly.

The dryer's air exhaust and air filter get gradually covered with {{w|lint (material)|lint}} (a kind of dust composed mainly of fiber) and must be cleaned regularly. Failing to remove the lint can cause the dryer to stop working effectively, introduce lint back onto your clothes, or (in extreme cases) start a fire.
|-
| (very) bad || (very) hard || {{w|Stop, drop and roll}} || This is a technique to extinguish a fire on one's own clothing, and is frequently taught to children for safety. Not knowing it (or forgetting it in a panic when the situation arises) can result in severe burns that could have been avoided by following the recommendation.
|-
| (very) bad || (very) hard || That you have to pay taxes || Most residents of most countries are legally obligated to pay taxes to their government. Penalties for not doing so often include large fines, and possibly prison sentences. Fortunately, it is something that children hear about quite a bit so it is very difficult to grow up without learning that it must be done.
|-
|}

==Rankings==

100% not bad: not bad at all . . . 100%>not-badness≥50%: not bad . . . 50%>not-badness≥0%: not too bad

100% very bad: very, very bad . . . 100%>very badness≥50%: very bad . . . 50%>very badness>0%: bad

100% hard: very, very hard . . . 100%>hardness≥50%: very hard . . . 50%>hardness>0%: hard

100% easy: very, very easy . . . 100%>easiness≥50%: very easy . . . 50%>easiness≥0%: easy

==Transcript==
[A simple x and y graph, with the X labeled "how bad it is if you don't know {thing}", and you labeled "how easy it is to grow up without learning {thing}]

Points on graph from top to bottom on the left side of the x axis:

> 100 digits of pi
> Lyrics to ''We Didn't Start the Fire''
> How to ride a bike
> How to escape movie quicksand
> Lyrics to ''12 Days of Christmas''
> TV theme songs

Points on graph from top to bottom on the right side of the y axis:

> That cat bites are really serious and if bitten you should wash the bite and call a doctor immediately
> Red flags for an abusive relationship
> Signs for a stroke
> Cough into your elbow, not your hand
> That you have to empty the dryer lint trap
> Stop, drop, and roll
> That you have to pay taxes

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]

1777: Dear Diary

2016-12-28T13:48:25Z

162.158.74.195: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1777
| date = December 26, 2016
| title = Dear Diary
| image = dear_diary.png
| titletext = Dear Diary: UNSUBSCRIBE
}}

==Explanation==

[[Black Hat]] is writing in a diary (probably his, but possibly not; see below). His entry starts with the common idiom "Dear diary". In a regular diary entry, this opening is used to give the impression of writing to a trusted friend, the diary being anthropomorphized to take that friend's role. However, where other people would write about their day or put their feelings into words, Black Hat's diary entry consists of a standard phishing scam attempting to request some private information in exchange for a large cash amount which does not exist. In this case, the scam is the famous [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/nigerian-scams Nigerian Royalty scam], where the 'royalty' needs bank details to give money, when it will in fact be taken. [[Black Hat]] apparently is so used to tricking people that even his own anthropomorphized diary is not safe from his pranks. Alternatively, the entry is intended for anyone who looks at his diary without his permission. It's also possible he has obtained someone else's diary and is somehow trying to scam the diary's owner, although it's not clear how that might work. Or, since it is a rather obvious scam, he may simply being trying to scare the diary's owner, perhaps the same child as he traumatized in [[1776|the previous comic]] with a reindeer mutated to look like a spider.

This comic creates a stark contrast by putting together elements that seem similar, but do not belong together, for comedic effect.
* Combining old-school hand written media (a diary) and memes from the electronic age (a phishing attempt as usually found in spam mail).
* Contrasting the very personal, intimate atmosphere of "Dear diary" with something that is normally automatically replicated to millions of mail addresses.
* Opening up with a sentence that might come from a real personal diary (many people will fantasize about being rich or famous in their diaries), and following up with something that nobody would expect from a personal diary.

The title text is similar to [[1675: Message in a Bottle]], which also uses the word "unsubscribe" in an unusual way. The title text also mimics a standard way to get off some mailing lists, so perhaps it's [[Randall]]'s diary that Black Hat is molesting, and therefore the title-text is Randall expressing a desire to be disassociated from it.

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat is seated at a table, writing with a pencil in a diary.]

:Writing: Dear Diary,
:Writing: Hello. I am the Crown Prince of Nigeria. I have recently come into a large fortune, but...

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]

1775: Things You Learn

2016-12-21T16:19:52Z

162.158.74.195: /* Explanation */

1775: Things You Learn

2016-12-21T16:17:26Z

162.158.74.195: /* Explanation */