2016-11-21T16:37:55Z

162.158.74.36:

2016-10-20T00:51:18Z

162.158.74.36:

{{comic
| number = 1748
| date = October 19, 2016
| title = Future Archaeology
| image = future_archaeology.png
| titletext = "The only link we've found between the two documents is that a fragment of the Noah one mentions Aaron's brother Moses parting an ocean. Is that right?" "... yes. Yes, exactly."
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a continuation of the previous comic, [[1747: Spider Paleontology]], about a time-traveler from the future who has come to see spiders. See [[1747: Spider Paleontology]] for a more complete explanation. The idea is that history is filtered in similar fashion to fossils. What is contemporaneously important, like a spider's web, [http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/newly-discovered-fossils-hint-all-dinosaurs-had-feathers/ dinosaur feathers], or the United States presidential election may not survive. Bandwidth limits may pass seemingly less important but much simpler features like chitin exoskeleton, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp5FaNe-zTM tooth bone], and flood meme.

The joke is that, in the future, the 2000 {{w|Aaron Carter}} pop song "{{w|That's How I Beat Shaq}}" ([http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/aaroncarter/thatshowibeatshaq.html lyrics], [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfhhWA9GF0M video]) is considered as valuable a historical document when researching humans as the Biblical story of {{w|Genesis flood narrative|Noah's Flood}}. While secular historians consider the story of the Flood to be mythical, they still use it to infer facts about the early history of the Middle East, simply because there are a fairly small number of texts surviving from that era. "That's How I Beat Shaq" is, likewise, a fictional story including some true elements; it's just that as long as there are abundant sources documenting life in the year 2000, there's no reason to consult the song in any historical context. Yet it is the latter story that the time travel assumes to be a clearly religious one, while seeing the former as a relatively straightforward survival story. A further layer of humor is that "That's How I Beat Shaq" is an archetypal {{w|David and Goliath}} story—the story of David and Goliath of course being a Biblical one as well.

The title text expands on the joke by saying that the future archaeologists connected the two historical documents via the biblical story of Moses. Moses (a descendant of Noah; the two stories appear close together in the Bible, though not close together chronologically) also had an older biological brother named {{w|Aaron}}; the future species has hastily concluded that Moses' brother and Aaron Carter are one and the same. According to the Bible, God {{w|parting of the Red Sea|parted the Red Sea}} for Moses and the Israelites; this is often referred to, either erroneously or out of simplification, as Moses having parted the Red Sea. Along with Noah's Flood, this is one of the two major times in the Bible that God [[326:_Effect_an_Effect|effects]] grand change on a body or bodies of water.

Both this comic and the previous one have titles of a noun followed by a field of research. This comic was also published the day after [http://what-if.xkcd.com/152/ What-If #152, "Flood Death Valley."]

==Transcript==
:[A four-panel comic featuring Cueball, Megan, and a time-traveler from the distant future, possibly from somewhere other than Earth. The time-traveler is depicted as a solid, floating black dot surrounded by six outwardly-curved segments, surrounded by small dots. In the second panel, the depiction is slightly larger, implying greater focus by Megan and Cueball.]

:[Megan and Cueball walk casually alongside the floating Time-traveller, conversing as they do so.]
:Megan: Since you're from the future, do you know who wins the election?
:Time-traveller: Haven't the faintest idea. Hardly any text has been recovered from your era,
:so we know little about your history and culture.
:Time-traveller: [Quietly] We're mostly here for the spiders, anyway.

:[The Time-traveller stops. Megan and Cueball focus on the Time-traveller.]
:Time-traveller: There are only two written accounts we've reconstructed.
:Time-traveller: We don't know whether they describe real events or myths.

:[The Time-traveller drifts backward, Megan and Cueball, stop and look back toward the Time-traveller.]
:Time-traveller: One is a story about a man who built a boat to survive a great flood.
:Megan: Oh yeah. Noah.
:Cueball: We do like our flood narratives.

:[The Time-traveller drifts slowly further backward. Megan and Cueball, continue standing as they listen intently.]
:Time-traveller: The other is an account of how a man named Aaron Carter defeated a god named Shaq.
:Megan: That one may have been mangled a bit by the eons.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Time travel]]
[[Category:Spiders]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Religion]]

1748: Future Archaeology

2016-10-19T13:26:32Z

162.158.74.36: I'm almost certain that 19th Century Moses Carter was not the connecting thread here.

1745: Record Scratch

2016-10-12T21:58:37Z

162.158.74.36:

{{comic
| number = 1745
| date = October 12, 2016
| title = Record Scratch
| image = record_scratch.png
| titletext = The 78-rpm era was closer to the Civil War than to today.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Are there more details that needs to be added?}}
A vinyl disc (also known as a {{w|gramophone record}}) is a type of storage medium that stores music on the disc with a groove. As the disc turns, a stylus rides along the groove and translates the pattern of the bumps within the groove into sound. This sound then causes a magnetic or piezoelectric transducer to transform the sound into a corresponding electric current, which is then amplified. These are often played on a {{w|phonograph}} (also known as record players (since 1940s) or, most recently, turntables). The noise referred to as a "record scratch" can be caused by someone attempting to stop the record's play by dragging the stylus across the radius of the record, or by stopping the disc's rotation with one's hand (opposing the turntable's rotation). As a result, this is often used as [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RecordNeedleScratch a sound effect in movies] for comedic effect. This type of sound is also often used in hip-hop music; in particular, rapidly and manually rotating the disc in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions.

The comic pokes fun at a movie cliché in which the story opens with [[Cueball]] in some kind of unbelievable predicament, followed by a record scratch, seemingly freezing time as Cueball narrates, "Yup, that's me. You're probably wondering (how I ended up in this situation)." The rest of the story then follows, often by going back in time to depict the events that leads up to the situation of the opening scene. So in this case it would be interesting to know why Cueball is at a party where everyone has wine glasses in their hands, but suddenly one of the glasses (Cueball's or his nearest adversaries) is lying on the floor. And why is both [[Ponytail]] and another Cueball-like guy threatening/pointing at Cueball while [[Megan]] stares at him waiting to see if [[Hairy]] beats him up as he advances ready for fight both fists up. This is what the movies would normally begin to tell after the scratch. At the time of the comic's posting, parodying the cliché, [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/record-scratch-freeze-frame variations on the phrase] had become a popular meme on social media.

As the record scratch continues to be used despite the fact that record players (gramophones) have largely become obsolete technology, [[Randall]] pokes fun at this by beginning this meme by giving the backstory on what that sound actually is, (many people from the younger generation may very well not know this), rather than giving context to the situation via a story. This is yet one more of Randall's comics that is trying to [[:Category:Comics to make one feel old|make people feel old]], and is likely most relevant to those who have actually used vinyl to listen to music, comedy or other recordings.

The title text indicates (in a manner similar to that of [[891: Movie Ages]]) that the "78-rpm era" – referring to the fact that the original industry standard of records making {{w|Gramophone_record#78_rpm_disc_developments|78 revolutions per minute}} (rpm) (1925-1950s) – is now closer to the time of the {{w|American Civil War}} (1861-1865) than it is to present day, another way that Randall is making the reader feel old. Note; these records were not made from vinyl.

==Transcript==
:[In a black area, with jagged edges, at the top of the comic is a sound effect written with white text. Below there are two frames with text. This text is narrated by Cueball standing below with four people around him. Cueball is highlighted by being drawn in the regular way whereas the other four people are drawn in light gray. Cueball has just dropped a wineglass, spilling wine on the floor to the left and dropping the glass, spilling more wine, to the right, He has his arms slightly out, and seems to be turned towards three people to the right, while looking tot he left at Ponytail. Ponytail is holding a glass of wine in one hand and is the other hand up waving her fist at Cueball. On his other side Hairy is advancing towards him with both hands up in fists ready for a fight. (It could be his wine glass dropped on the floor at Cueball's feet as it is also drawn in gray). Behind Hairy is Megan also with a wine glass held in one hand, and behind her is another Cueball-like guy with a wine glass holding one arm out pointing a finger at Cueball.]

:{| class="wikitable"
|style="background-color:black;"|<big>''Record Scratch''</big>
|}
:Cueball (narrating): You're probably wondering what that sound was.
:Cueball (narrating): Well, long ago, music was recorded on vinyl discs...

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Comics to make one feel old]]

1726: Unicode

2016-08-30T11:49:32Z

162.158.74.36: /* Transcript */ replaced "that" for "this" in "that area"

{{comic
| number = 1726
| date = August 29, 2016
| title = Unicode
| image = unicode.png
| titletext = I'm excited about the proposal to add a "brontosaurus" emoji codepoint because it has the potential to bring together a half-dozen different groups of pedantic people into a single glorious internet argument.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|first time making page. Needs much more work including links, sources and the Brontosaurus reference.}}

Cueball, along with two other figures, is placing traffic signs in a river. As rivers flow according to the landscape, this plan will not work and the river will continue on its course. Cueball is very frustrated by this and is still trying to make the river obey traffic laws. The caption lays out the punchline: the comic compares the useless approach of Cueball attempting to divert a flowing, moving river with fixed signs that do nothing, with the {{w|Unicode Consortium}}'s attempt to define the diverse and ever-changing human language with strict technical standards.

{{w|Unicode}} is a largely successful attempt to have a standard for representing all possible letters, numerals, digits and symbols that make up human writing in all languages. This includes the roman letters used in this article, characters with modifiers like ê (both with the common characters as well as the modifiers selectable separately), ideographic characters like in Chinese, syllabic writing system like Japanese, right-to-left and/or top-to-bottom writing systems, mathematical symbols, emoji, and many other writing systems. The symbols on the signs in the river, are, in fact Unicode, with the warning sign triangle with an exclamation mark ⚠ having code (U+26A0) and the black, rightwards arrow ➡ having code (U+271A). As can be imagined, coping with the wide variety of character sizes, orientations, ways they can be modified, capitalization rules, etc. can get to be very challenging as the Unicode Consortium tries to write rules that accommodate how printed language is actually used.

The title text refers to a proposal to add three dinosaur heads to the official list of emoji. This is likely to stir debate between the following opposing camps:
*those who favor the inclusion of more emoji vs. those who oppose emoji on principle
*those who accept the existence of ''Brontosaurus'' vs. those who deny its status as a species unique from ''Apatosaurus''
*those who favor a traditional, scaly image of dinosaurs vs. those who have accepted the feathered-dinosaur paradigm
*those who point out that two of the dinosaurs in the "Jurassic Emoji" set actually come from the Cretaceous period, and as such renaming is necessary vs. those who think that "Jurassic" is a cooler word
*those who for religious or other reasons deny the existence of dinosaurs.

==Transcript==
[Single panel scene: [[Cueball]] is standing waist-deep in a river. With one arm he is holding on to a traffic sign that says "Detour" with an arrow pointing to the right. The other arm is pointing horizontally. Further up the river is another street sign apparently in around 0.5 metres of water; this sign has an exclamation mark inside a triangle. In the distance on one bank of the river, two people are standing and making gestures, with a sign lying on the ground next to them. Behind them is a parked car on a road that crosses a bridge over the river.]

Cueball: No, go ''this'' way, not —

Are you even ''listening''!?

… ''Hey! That's not what that area is for!''

[Caption]

Watching the Unicode people try to govern the infinite chaos of human language with consistent technical standards is like watching highway engineers try to steer a river using traffic signs.

==See also==
*[[636: Brontosaurus]]
* [http://unicode.org/L2/L2016/16072-jurassic-emoji.pdf Jurassic Emoji proposal]; [http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2016/16103-jurassic-fdbk.pdf initial feedback]; [http://www.courtneymilan.com/dino/ Proposer's timeline/status page]
* [http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/26a0/index.htm Unicode Character 'WARNING SIGN']
* [http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/27a1/index.htm Unicode Character 'BLACK RIGHTWARDS ARROW']
* [http://www.unicode.org/mail-arch/unicode-ml/y2016-m08/0103.html Discussion about this comic on the Unicode mailinglist]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

1720: Horses

2016-08-15T14:17:06Z

162.158.74.36: /* Transcript */ Palm-up isn't until second panel

{{comic
| number = 1720
| date = August 15, 2016
| title = Horses
| image = horses.png
| titletext = This car has 240% of a horse's decision-making ability and produces only 30% as much poop.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Very rough}}

[https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/10/are-consumers-automakers-and-insurers-really-ready-for-self-driving-cars/ The programming] of {{w|self-driving cars}} has been in the news lately, as engineers and philosophers debate what rules the cars should follow in dangerous situations (for instance, what to do when forced to choose between hitting a pedestrian or swerving into oncoming traffic). [[Randall]], in the form of [[Ponytail]], suggests one approach for solving this problem: to think of the car as behaving like a horse, using its own intelligence and ignoring dangerous commands in the interests of self-preservation. Ponytail claims that in the old days, riding a horse, or driving a horse drawn vehicle, was less dangerous than {{w|drunk driving}} today. Given the higher speed and the denser traffic today this is likely true.

Car engines are traditionally measured in {{w|horsepower}}, which (roughly) compares the power output of the engine to that of a horse. Randall suggests that an equivalent should be done for the computers in self-driving cars, comparing the car's ability to mitigate for a drunk driver and/or avoid obstacles to that of a horse. [[White Hat]] is either a salesman (as he has [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/9/9f/lorenz_-_sale_2.png been before] in [[1350: Lorenz]] or [[260: The Glass Necklace]]) or has just bought the car himself, bragging about its abilities to either his customers of friends, [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]], in the final panel. He tells that the car has 200 horsepower (on the higher-end of average for a family vehicle) and 3.5 horse-intelligences in the computer. The latter statement is harder to compare to that of a human, drunk or not, or to that of a self driving car.

Note that riding a horse while drunk is in fact still dangerous and illegal in many places (for example, {{w|Licensing Act 1872|the UK and Ireland}}). A badly-driven horse can toss-off its owner, trample passersby, fall on bad surfaces, and destroy any wagon or carriage it's pulling. A self-driving car should be able to understand road rules, which a horse will not - which is presumably why the cars in the comic and the title text are both specified as being more intelligent than a horse.

The same car, if it's White Hat's own car, or the same or another car, if he is a sales man, is mentioned in the title text. The car has 240% of a horse's decision-making ability while producing only 30% as much poop. So even with 3.5 horse-intelligences it may only have 2.4 times the decision-making ability (assuming it's the same car). A cars "poop" would be it's exhaust, which is usually not found on the road in the form of apples... But it's weight could be measured and compared to that of the poop from a horse.

In [[887: Future Timeline]] dogs driving cars are mentioned...

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail walks right with Cueball.]
:Ponytail: Drunk driving was less of a problem before cars. If you got on your horse drunk and fell asleep, it could just walk home.

:[Zoom in on Ponytail's torso; she holds up a palm to proffer an idea.]
:Ponytail: And if you tried to ride into a tree, the horse could be like "No."
:Ponytail: Forget human drivers – ''that's'' the benchmark we should be judging self-driving cars against.

:[The front end of a car, with the bottom of the windshield and the right side mirror just inside the panel is parked before White Hat. He is holding his hand, palm up, out to the left to indicate his car as he brags about it to Megan and Cueball standing in front of him admiring the car. At the top left of the panel a small frame with a caption is placed over the panels frame:]
:Soon:
:White Hat: This baby has 200 horses under the hood and 3.5 in the computer.
:Megan and Cueball: Ooooh!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Animals]]