explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

998: 2012

2020-01-03T22:22:57Z

162.158.79.149: /* Explanation */ added "citation needed"

<noinclude>:''This page refers to the comic named "2012". For comic #2012, see [[2012: Thorough Analysis]].''</noinclude>
{{comic
| number = 998
| date = January 2, 2012
| title = 2012
| image = 2012.png
| titletext = To compensate for this, I plan to spend 2013 doing nothing but talking about Mayans. My relationships with my friends and family may not fare well.
}}

==Explanation==
This [[:Category:New Year|New Year comic]] is in reference to the fact that the {{w|Maya civilization|Mayans}}, an ancient civilization in the {{w|Central America|America}}s, created a calendar that ends (or, more accurately: restarts) on December 21, 2012. This date is regarded as the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the calendar used by the Mayan culture. Knowing this, some thought that the world was going to end on that date.

Consequently, a lot of people were talking about the Mayans, concerned that the world might end. After December 21, 2012 passed uneventfully, everyone was less concerned about the Mayans, because the world didn't end{{Citation needed}}. It is worthy of note that this comic was published nearly a year ''before'' the "significant" date and that Randall predicted both the hype and the aftermath perfectly.

There is a measure of irony to be had in how the Mayans who still exist today were largely ignored by the doomsayers. "Or acknowledging that huge city-building ancient American civilizations existed at all."

In the final frame, [[Megan]] parodies the phrase, "Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it," applying a twist to suggest an academic context. In most American schools, a Grade Point Average is computed by assigning numeric value to each letter grade: A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, and F=0; receiving high marks (all A's) thus yields a 4.0 GPA. However, if you "Fail to learn from History" — that is, get a failing grade, F, and had at least 3 other classes (not an unusual course load) — you would still get a 3.0 with A's in those other classes. She is making the callous — if roundabout — observation that failing to grasp history, while no doubt troubling, isn't an academic show-stopper (perhaps explaining why so many Americans are so bad at it). Her comment may also be taken to suggest that people who feared the Mayan "prediction" of the end of the world would come to pass had failed to appropriately extrapolate from the numerous other faulty {{w|List of dates predicted for apocalyptic events|predictions of the end of the world}}. In fact the Mayans never actually predicted the end of the world with their calendar, those who failed to learn from history jumped to conclusions yet again.

The title text jokes that to make up for the lack of Mayan discussion, Randall plans to spend 2013 talking solely about Mayans. For obvious reasons, people would probably get sick of this very quickly, hence his comment that his relationships might not fare well. Thankfully, as of 2014, not a single published xkcd comic of 2013 featured any Mayans, so we're pretty sure this promise wasn't kept.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are talking.]
:Cueball: Well, it's 2012.

:[Cueball and Megan in frameless panel.]
:Megan: Yup.
:Megan: Only 354 days left until everybody abruptly stops talking about Mayans.

:[Cueball and Megan in wide panel to fit longer text content.]
:Cueball: Or thinking about Mayans.
:Cueball: Or acknowledging that huge city-building ancient American civilizations existed at all.
:Megan: You know what they say — those who fail to learn from history can still manage a 3.0 if they ace their other subjects.

==Trivia==
*December 21 is the 355th day of the year (and the 356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar and because this comic was released on January 2 and 2012 was a leap year there were exactly 354 days left.
*Two years later another New Years comic with just the new years number as the title was released: [[1311: 2014]]. But actually the content of that comic was more related to the previous comic before this one [[997: Wait Wait]], which is also a New Year comic, that took a look at what could happen in 2012, just as 2014 does for 2014... In 2016 a comic, with only the new year as the name theme, occurred again [[1624: 2016]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:New Year]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|2012]]

Talk:84: National Language

2020-01-01T15:47:11Z

162.158.79.149:

Any idea what she's saying? [[Special:Contributions/76.122.5.96|76.122.5.96]] 08:37, 24 October 2012 (UTC)
:Yes, she's [http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071104151337AAWzYeu introducing herself]: "Hello, my name is Sarah". -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:00, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

Is it worth noting that the United States does not actually ''have'' an official language, at States-wide level? The United Kingdom has English legislated for, while officially recognises various Celtic languages regionally (equivalent to that Cherokee example that may well be a state/sub-state official lingo?). India has English and Hindi on the relevent official national statutes (as well as many and varied other ones listed regionally, IIRC), so may technically demand English usage more so than the US itself.

(It is somewhat an urban legend that the US was just a hair's-bredth away from adopting German as its official language, but still fun to speculate how that might have affected its alliances for either World War, had it been linguistically more connected to the 'other side', and perhaps having a Special Relationship with the different European power thus affecting what side they'd officially support in 1914/1939.)

It's a convention, of course. But there are any number of communities that (many generations since the original settling event) still maintain their own non-Anglo/non-Native language, internally, as a majority tongue for the community. Albeit to various lesser or even effectively insignificant degrees in the grand scheme of things, compared to the national usage of English. (Somewhat mis-spelt English, of course. ;) [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 07:09, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

I did this when my Human Geography teacher asked the class if English should be the United States' official language. Best moment of that class.[[Special:Contributions/173.22.5.38|173.22.5.38]] 04:40, 28 October 2013 (UTC)

That kind of illustrates the point, doesn't it? Either assimilate into the natives or beat them. Naturally, the natives would not be happy about the second option. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.5|108.162.246.5]] 23:00, 27 January 2014 (UTC)

Yeah! Peepl what wanna go inta me cuntri shuld learn dat wat language we speak and how 2 speak it properlys! 17:37, 23 July 2015 (UTC)
:[[1627|Are you for real?]]

The official language of Belize is English, and only 42% speak it there. The rest speak Spanish like all the rest of the countries around them. Belize was settled by the English pirates rather than by the Spanish settlers.

Talk:2230: Versus Bracket

2019-11-20T19:46:29Z

162.158.79.149:

Because I didn't know: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballistic:_Ecks_vs._Sever - "Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever is a 2002 action thriller film directed by Wych Kaosayananda (under the pseudonym of "Kaos"). The film stars Antonio Banderas and Lucy Liu as opposing secret agents who team up to fight a common enemy. It is an international co-production between Canada, Germany and the United States.
The film has been called one of the worst ever made. At the box office, it made $19.9 million on a $70 million budget. With a total of 117 reviews, the highest for a film with a 0% score, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever is the worst reviewed film in the history of Rotten Tomatoes." [[User:Afbach|Afbach]] ([[User talk:Afbach|talk]])

Re: King Kong vs Godzilla - the winner? WikiP notes: "After an underwater battle (off-screen) only Kong resurfaces from the water, and he begins to swim back towards his island home. There is no sign of Godzilla, but the JSDF speculates that it is possible that it survived." We never see another K.K. movie (from Japan, anyway) and plenty more Godzilla so maybe K.K. is just swimming home with his tail between his legs ... er, metaphorically speaking. Godzilla could just be taking a well deserved post-fight nap! Long live Godzilla!! [[User:Afbach|Afbach]] ([[User talk:Afbach|talk]])

There's no clear indication that Kong won, and we know Godzilla survived because he appeared later in additional films. King Kong vs Godzilla looks like a draw to me. ```

Some of these matchups have relatively clear outcomes, e.g. Ford beat Ferrari (at least in the movie), and presumably we can say Kramer won Kramer v. Kramer (well, everybody lost, but...). That in mind, if we fill out the bracket with such nominal wins that lead to matchups, (Kramer v. Ford), do we learn anything interesting? And what does the resulting bracket look like? [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 18:44, 18 November 2019 (UTC)
* Kramer vs. Ford
* Larry Flynt vs. Joe
* King Kong vs. Jason
* ? vs. Predator
* ? vs. Marge
* ? vs. Asterix
* Batman vs. Scott Pilgrim
* ? vs. Plants
(Also, the [https://twitter.com/xkcdbracket @xkcdbracket] twitter account is running a version of the tournament starting 2019-11-19.) [[User:Yomikoma|Yomikoma]] ([[User talk:Yomikoma|talk]]) 22:03, 18 November 2019 (UTC) edited twitter handle/link [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 02:56, 19 November 2019 (UTC)

:I was hoping for a visual presentation of what we know, something like this:
[[File:versus bracket 2x known.png|600px]]
 
[[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 09:17, 19 November 2019 (UTC)
::Thats a good idea. However an image like that is not as easily editable as the wiki itself. Therfore we should first discuss all the winners. As mentioned in this discussion page, all Joe vs volcano, Freddy vs Jason and King Kong vs. Godzilla are debatable in their outcome. (I myself have no strong feelings on either, since I didn't follow any of the 3 franchises. In fact I am only sure about Asterix, Marge and the plants. For all other setups I rely on this wiki. Nevertheless they should be discussed before something static as an image is added.) --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 10:02, 19 November 2019 (UTC)
:::Considering that all of these matchups are derived from the titles of entertainment media (movies, mostly) & considering the outcomes most often depicted in entertainment media, after reading the description "an American housewife against any possible representative from a superhero comics continuity or a company known for its action games", I have to put all my money on Marge. Fictional housewives seem to benefit from plot-armor; the strongest armor there is.
:::[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 18:11, 19 November 2019 (UTC)

Should a table of all the match-ups and their sources be made? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.246.28|162.158.246.28]] 19:16, 18 November 2019 (UTC)

Should this be referencing the other time (or times?) Randall made a silly brackets where all first-round matchups are based on actual oppositions in a particular theme? I'm thinking of [https://xkcd.com/2037/|2037: Supreme Court Bracket]. Also I kinda wonder what happens when the winners of these two brackets clash. [[Special:Contributions/91.164.113.87|91.164.113.87]] 19:22, 18 November 2019 (UTC)

Added this to the Tournament Bracket category for just that reason. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.63.145|172.69.63.145]]

I stole the description directly from [[2037|Supreme Court Bracket]], is that okay? [[User:Duraludon|Duraludon]] ([[User talk:Duraludon|talk]]) 20:22, 18 November 2019 (UTC)

The winner of Freddy vs. Jason is unclear. Freddy's head is severed but he then winks and you hear his laughter implying it is another trick. That is a reoccurring thing with Freddy.

I was excited to see the winner of the bracket. Scott Pilgrim vs Kramer? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.28|172.68.34.28]] 21:09, 18 November 2019 (UTC)
: My non-scientific guy feeling is that the final bracket would be Larry Flynt vs Plants.

Joe does not defeat the volcano. Joe is supposed to throw himself into the volcano as a sacrifice, thus stopping the volcano from accomplishing it's presumed goal of destroying the island. But Joe is blown out of the volcano (and out of any applicable laws of physics) and the volcano does destroy the island. So, clearly, the volcano was victorious. Joe survived the encounter, but did not accomplish the stated goal of the match-up. Give the bracket to the volcano. --[[User:Suttkus|Suttkus]] ([[User talk:Suttkus|talk]]) 02:46, 19 November 2019 (UTC)

They have a fight, Triangle wins. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.55.22|172.69.55.22]] 09:57, 19 November 2019 (UTC)
YAAY TMBG!

What about Kirk vs Picard?? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.82|162.158.214.82]] 12:08, 19 November 2019 (UTC)
:These are all specifically matchups that are titles of movies or TV episodes. (But Picard, obviously.) [[User:Yomikoma|Yomikoma]] ([[User talk:Yomikoma|talk]]) 16:28, 19 November 2019 (UTC)
:: (( Post-Locutus Picard > Kirk > Pre-Locutus Picard <~> Post-Nexus Kirk ... just sayin' )) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.179|162.158.158.179]] 16:46, 19 November 2019 (UTC)

Does this explanation set a record for most spoilers on an explainxkcd page? ... and should we add a spoiler alert?[[User:Boatster|Boatster]] ([[User talk:Boatster|talk]]) 13:04, 19 November 2019 (UTC)
:Apart from Ford vs Ferrari, all content is at least 3 years old. Ford vs Ferraris is set upon historical events, so a spoiler allert shouldn't be needed. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 13:14, 19 November 2019 (UTC)

SCOTT PILGRIM, ZA WARUDO! {{unsigned ip|162.158.158.115}}

Can we agree that:
* Ford beats Kramer - they'll litigate her to death (this isn't Erin Brockovich)
* Joe beats Larry Flynt - he's clearly got luck on his side
* King Kong easily beats Jason
* Teen Titans vs Asterix - who cares? This is clearly the weakest part of the bracket. But let's say Asterix, taking the Titans as similar to the Romans.
* Batman leads Scott Pilgrim until he tries to date Ramona Flowers. winner: Scott Pilgrim

Next round:
* Joe beats Ford (this *is* Erin Brockovich)
* Predator beats Kong. What a cute monkey!
* Marge beats Asterix, because nobody actually cares about Asterix.
* Plants eat Scott Pilgrim (Audrey III?)

Semi Finals:
* Predator beats Joe. Um, that wasn't a question, was it? Who made this bracket anyway? Predator and Alien shouldn't have faced-off until the finals.
* Marge sautes the Plants.

Finals:
* The only way Marge wins is if this is a comedy. Predator. Was there ever any doubt?
[[User:Schnitz|Schnitz]] ([[User talk:Schnitz|talk]]) 00:07, 20 November 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2124: Space Mission Hearing

2019-03-15T17:27:02Z

162.158.79.149:

Spaceship noises? What exactly does a spaceship sound like if you can't hear anything in space? Perhaps this is part of the joke! [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 13:15, 15 March 2019 (UTC)
:Actauly you can - your own spaceship might be producing some sounds. Like sort of humming device.
::Spaceships sound like the computer-generated chirps, whistles, and whooshes used in sci-fi media to make travel through space familiar to those of us who travel through air. I hear little 'pew pew pew' noises come from my computer whenever I burn a cd! [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.198|172.68.65.198]] 13:49, 15 March 2019 (UTC)
:::they add them artificcially like on electric cars, so that you do not get run over by a spaceship when crossing the milkyway. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 14:12, 15 March 2019 (UTC)

And I see that main idea behind this comics - that while we are trying to find some serious reasoning of space programms, the real motive that realy matters - IT IS SPAAAAAAACE!!! Everything else is not enough to justify such expences.
: It could be meaningful to list some reasons for exploring or not exploring space in the article ... There's a TV show about colonizing Mars that makes the point that once we inhabit two planets, we guarantee a future for our race if the planet doesn't survive. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.198|172.68.65.198]] 13:49, 15 March 2019 (UTC)
:: Indeed, the main reasons for exploring space are (so very human) curiosity and need of achievement. Like exploring the lands and seas of Earth in the previous centuries (even if greed was a big factor as well). The former is more rational and largely more fruitful than the latter, in the sense that pursuing curiosity we (the humanity) learn new things while exploring space and advance general science and technology, which eventually (in some cases) leads to improvements of daily life. The need of achievement (hurray! we're first to do it!) is what mostly drives manned exploration, which also provides some scientific results but comes at a vastly greater cost. Given current and near-future advances in robotics, mechatronics, etc. the scientific value/cost quotient of manned exploration is very low compared to robotic missions in my opinion. I'd vote for building a thousand of Mars probes that will take some measurements in a thousand of points on the planet's surface over doing a manned mission that'll visit one spot - for a comparable price. But humans are not entirely rational beings and sometimes do crazy things just for the sake of them. Colonization on the other hand is a completely outworldlish idea. The colony would not survive without constant resupply from Earth - not in any forseeable future state of technology. Maybe in thousands of years, maybe never (i.e. we'd go extinct before we could achieve it). -- [[User:Malgond|Malgond]] ([[User talk:Malgond|talk]]) 14:47, 15 March 2019 (UTC)
::: See {{w|Mars (2016 TV series)}} which basically plays as a mix of advertisement for SpaceX and conventional sci-fi. They've got a surprising amount of how to do this figured out. And I can only imagine the funding comes from people saying "Spaaaaaace" with stars in their eyes. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.149|162.158.79.149]] 17:27, 15 March 2019 (UTC)

I’m glad there’s now a comic featuring literally me. Complicated explanation prior to yelling space and making laser noises. [[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 14:23, 15 March 2019 (UTC)

The "Spaaaaaace" reminds me of the "Spaaace" substitution in 1288. Probably just a coincidence. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.142.77|172.68.142.77]] 17:11, 15 March 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2122: Size Venn Diagram

2019-03-11T21:17:27Z

162.158.79.149:

I think Randall kind of missed an opportunity with the title text: he should have used the new terms as a way to fill the blank areas in the diagram, for instance 'Great Emerald' for the currently empty set Great+Small+Little+Large.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.221|141.101.99.221]] 14:31, 11 March 2019 (UTC)
:No, I think the diagram itself is meant to be completely correct. But I didn't check all 100+ combinations. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 14:57, 11 March 2019 (UTC)
::Yes, I believe the diagram is correct now, but as per the title text Randall will start using new combinations of terms, probably to get their usage mainstream and move the location of the words in the diagram. I'm saying he should have created terms that would fill some blank areas. For instance, his Large Dipper would make Dipper appear in the Big+Little+Large area where we already have League.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.95|141.101.99.95]] 15:16, 11 March 2019 (UTC)
:::I understood what you said (the first time around) and agree. Randall's title text is to acknowledge or engage the patterns he's discovered in the comic (as usual), and he could do that more thoroughly by making up words that would make the chart more balanced. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.100|162.158.78.100]] 16:27, 11 March 2019 (UTC)
:He could also have placed “man” between “little” and “big” just to reference the movie ☺

Any such diagram will inevitably have small lacunae. But "Friendly Giant" is a particularly large one. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.172|162.158.63.172]] 15:21, 11 March 2019 (UTC)

Endian? Scott? Tits?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.112|108.162.219.112]] 15:23, 11 March 2019 (UTC)
:Yeah, what about Little Endian? It's missing! [[Special:Contributions/172.68.143.156|172.68.143.156]] 19:28, 11 March 2019 (UTC)

Besides the transcript of what's in each category, what about a table to explain ''why'' the items categorized as they are, like:
{| class="wikitable"
!Item
!Big
!Great
!Large
!Little
!Small
|-
|Island
|Hawaii
|Cork Harbor, Ireland
|Antilles
|movie
|novel, movie
|-
|Pox
|n/a
|syphilis
|n/a
|n/a
|disease
|-
|White
|BC ski resort
|shark
|pig
|n/a
|butterfly
|}
{Unsigned|172.69.62.160}
:Yeah, it seems reasonable, I like it. Add it [[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 15:57, 11 March 2019 (UTC)
::Second but leave the unused cells blank dont put N/A in the cell. [[User:M|M]] ([[User talk:M|talk]]) 16:15, 11 March 2019 (UTC)

I don't know why, but the shape of this diagram feels really satisfying to me. [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 16:29, 11 March 2019 (UTC)
:For me it’s just hard to look at. [[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 16:41, 11 March 2019 (UTC)
:Came here to say exactly that. The symmetry is really pleasing. I've been considering how effective adding colours would be as well. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 17:55, 11 March 2019 (UTC)
::It looks like these style Venn diagrams are generated by http://bioinformatics.psb.ugent.be/webtools/Venn/ ... haven't tried it myself. Don't know if they invented it or took it from elsewhere. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.149|162.158.79.149]] 21:17, 11 March 2019 (UTC)

Again I wonder if he does these sorts of comics just to see how far we'll take it [[User:Cgrimes85|Cgrimes85]] ([[User talk:Cgrimes85|talk]]) 16:51, 11 March 2019 (UTC)

Uhhh...isn’t the bottom part just the transcript?[[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 17:08, 11 March 2019 (UTC)

2122: Size Venn Diagram

2019-03-11T21:15:20Z

162.158.79.149: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2122
| date = March 11, 2019
| title = Size Venn Diagram
| image = size_venn_diagram.png
| titletext = Terms I'm going to start using: The Large Dipper, great potatoes, the Big Hadron Collider, and Large Orphan Annie.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a Large Terror. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[File:Symmetrical_5-set_Venn_diagram.svg|thumb|upright=0.5|{{w|Branko Grünbaum}}'s multi-set Venn diagram strategy from 1975, less symmetric than Randall's.]]
This comic is a {{w|Venn diagram}} illustrating the complete set of possible intersections of five different size adjectives: "little, "large", "small", and "great", “big”. Each unique intersection contains a short list of nouns that can be preceded by each of its intersecting adjectives.

For example, "flying fox" (a type of bat) appears at the intersection of "large", "small", and "great", because the species {{w|large flying fox}}, {{w|small flying fox}}, and {{w|great flying fox}} all exist, but there is no such species as a "big flying fox" or a "little flying fox". Similarly, humans have organs named the {{w|small intestine}} and {{w|large intestine}}, but no "little intestine", "great intestine", or "big intestine".

Some descriptors are applied in combination to their noun, rather than individually; for example, "planet" is placed in both the "little" and "big" groups in reference to the 2008 video game ''{{w|Little Big Planet}}''.

In the title text, Randall declares that he will start intentionally using term combinations that don't appear in the above diagram, presumably to confuse people.

A similar concept can be seen in [[181: Interblag]], but in a tabular form rather than a Venn diagram.

===List of items in the diagram===
The following table lists all size/noun combinations that the Venn diagram can generate, with a description of each.
{| class="wikitable"
!Item
!Big !! Great !! Large !! Little !! Small
|-
|'''Aunt'''
|
| [[wiktionary:great-aunt|sister of one's grandparent]]
|
|
|
|-
|'''Bang Theory'''
|currently-accepted {{w|Big Bang|scientific theory}} that explains the origin of the universe; also a {{w|The Big Bang Theory|TV sitcom}}|| || || ||
|-
|'''Barrier Reef'''
|
|{{w|Great Barrier Reef|world's largest coral reef system}}, off the coast of Australia
|
|
|
|-
|'''Bear Lake'''
|A {{w|Big Bear Lake, California|lake and the community around it}} in the mountains of southern California.
|{{w|Great Bear Lake}}, Northwest Territories is the largest lake entirely in Canada, and the fourth-largest in North America.
|
|
|-
|'''Bend'''
{{w|Big Bend|several geographic locations}}, including a {{w|Big Bend National Park|US National Park}} in Texas
{{w|Great Bend (disambiguation)|several geographic locations}}, including a {{w|Big Bend, Kansas|city in Kansas}} and the description of the S-shaped curving of the {{w|Nile River}} in Egypt and Sudan
|
|
|
|-
|'''Billed Seed Finch'''
|
|{{w|Great-billed seed finch|species of finch}}, described in 1851
|{{w|Large-billed seed finch|species of finch}}, described in 1789
|
|
|-
|'''Blue'''
|nickname for [https://www.ibm.com IBM] and the {{w|New York Giants}}, also [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095250 a movie]
|
|{{w|large blue|various different butterflies}}
|
|{{w|small blue|butterfly}}, smallest found in the UK
|-
|'''Blue Heron'''
|
|{{w|Great Blue Heron|species of heron}} that measures 91–137 cm (36–54 in) long
|
|{{w|Little Blue Heron|species of heron}} that measures about 60 cm (24 in) long
|
|-
|'''Board'''
| Nickname for the {{w|New York Stock Exchange}} || || || ||
|-
|'''Cardiac Vein'''
|
|{{w|Great cardiac vein}}
|
|
|{{w|Small cardiac vein}}
|-
|'''Circle'''
|
|{{w|Great circle|Largest possible circle}} that can be drawn on a sphere; the {{w|equator}} is an example of one on the Earth
|
|?
|?
|-
|'''Claims Court'''
|
|
|
|
|{{w|Small claims court|Judicial court}} that handles cases involving only relatively small amounts of money
|-
|'''enchilada'''
|[[wiktionary:big enchilada|important person]] || || || ||
|-
|'''Depression'''
|
|{{w|Great Depression|Period of prolonged economic downturn}} that affected the world economy in the 1930's
|
|
|
|-
|'''Dipper'''
|{{w|Big Dipper|Subset collection of stars}} in the constellation {{w|Ursa Major}}
|
|
|Another name for the constellation {{w|Ursa Minor}}
|
|-
|'''Emerald'''
|
|
|?
|?
|?
|-
|'''End'''
|?
|?
|
|
|?
|-
|'''Eyed Conger'''
|eel
|
|eel
|
|eel
|-
|'''Flying Fox'''
|
|{{w|Great flying fox}}
|{{w|Large flying fox}}
|
|{{w|Small flying fox}}
|-
|'''Foot'''
|The well known folk-lore monster ''{{w|Bigfoot}}''
|
|
|Main character in the ''{{w|Land Before Time}}'' film series
|''{{w|Smallfoot (film)|Smallfoot}}'' is an animated film that inverts the Bigfoot legend, focusing on a group of yetis that tell stories about humans.
|-
|'''Forest Bat'''
|
|
|bat
|bat
|
|-
|'''Format'''
|
|
|{{w|Large format|anything larger than 4x5 inches in photography}}
|
|
|-
|'''Foundation'''
|?
|
|?
|?
|
|-
|'''Frog'''
|?
|
|?
|?
|?
|-
|'''Game'''
|Large animals hunted for sport or food, usually referring to the African {{w|big five game}} (lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, cape buffalo); can also refer to the NFL's {{w|Super Bowl}}
|{{w|Great Game|19th Century geopolitical competition}} between the British and Russian Empires over control of Afghanistan
|Large animals hunted for sport or food, such as bears or moose
|
|Small animals hunted for sport or food, such as rabbits or ducks
|-
|'''Hadron Collider'''
|
|
|{{w|Large Hadron Collider|particle accelerator}}
|
|
|-
|'''Hearted'''
|?
|?
|?
|
|
|-
|'''House on the Prairie'''
|
|
|
|{{w|Little House on the Prairie|novel}} (later made into a TV show)
|
|-
|'''Intestine'''
|
|
|gut
|
|gut
|-
|'''Island'''
|{{w|Big Island|largest island in Hawaii}}
|{{w|Great Island|in Cork Harbour, Ireland}}
|{{w|Large Island|island in the Antilles, owned by Grenada}}
|{{w|Little Island|several islands named such}}, plus a song in ''{{w|Randy Newman's Faust}}''
|{{w|Small Island (novel)|novel which was made into a movie}}
|-
|'''League'''
|Nickname for top-level competition
|?
|
|{{w|Little League Baseball|Youth baseball organization}}
|
|-
|'''Lies'''
|{{w|Big Little Lies (TV series)|Big Little Lies}}, a novel made into a TV series; also a [[wiktionary:big lie|form of propaganda]]
|
|{{w|Big Little Lies (TV series)|Big Little Lies}}, a novel made into a TV series; also a {{w|Little Lies|Fleetwood Mac song}}
|
|
|-
|'''Magellanic Cloud'''
|
|
|galaxy
|
|galaxy
|-
|'''Millimeter Telescope'''
|
|
|{{w|Large Millimeter Telescope|radio telescope}}
|
|
|-
|'''One'''
|Nickname for any large natural disaster that is expected to happen in the future, such as a tsunami or an earthquake in California
|Nickname for {{w|Wayne Gretzky}}, considered by many to be the greatest ice hockey player of all time
|
|?
|?
|-
|'''Orphan Annie'''
|
|
|
|{{w|Little Orphan Annie|comic strip}}
|
|-
|'''Planet'''
|Part of the video game ''{{w|Little Big Planet}}''
|
|
|Part of the video game ''{{w|Little Big Planet}}''
|
|-
|'''Potatoes'''
|
|
|
|
|[[wiktionary:small potatoes|something relatively unimportant]]
|-
|'''Pox'''
|
|an old name for {{w|syphilis}}
|
|
|{{w|smallpox|a deadly disease}} which was effectively eradicated by 1977
|-
|'''Professor'''
|
|
|{{w|Large Professor|rap artist}}
|{{w|Little Professor|educational math toy}} (also "Little Professor Syndrome", an informal name for autism)
|
|-
|'''Richard'''
|
|
|
|{{w|Little Richard|musician}}
|
|-
|'''Room'''
|
|?
|
|?
|?
|-
|'''Screen'''
|another name for movies
|
|
|
|another name for TV
|-
|'''Sister'''
|[[wiktionary:big sister|older female sibling]]
|
|
|[[wiktionary:little sister|younger female sibling]]
|
|-
|'''Soldiers'''
|
|
|
|?
|{{w|Small Soldiers|1998 movie}} about sentient animated toys at war
|-
|'''Sur'''
|{{w|Big Sur|coastal region of California}} famed for its mountain scenery
|
|
|
|
|-
|'''Terror'''
|
|{{w|Great Terror|One of two periods of violent political repression}}; one during {{w|Reign of Terror|the French Revolution}} between 1793 and 1794, the other in {{w|Great Purge|the Soviet Union under Josef Stalin}} between 1936 and 1938
|
|
|
|-
|'''Time'''
|major
|
|
|
|minor
|-
|'''Toothed Aspen'''
|tree (bigtooth)
|
|tree
|
|
|-
|'''Wall of China'''
|
|{{w|Great Wall of China|Series of fortifications}} over 13,000 miles long that served to protect various Chinese empires from raids and invasion from their north
|
|
|
|-
|'''White'''
|{{w|Big White Ski Resort|ski resort in British Columbia}}
|{{w|Great white shark|species of shark}} or a {{w|Great White|rock band}}
|{{w|Pieris brassicae|a butterfly}} or {{w|Large White pig|a common breed of pig}}
|
|{{w|Dixeia|multiple species}} of {{w|Pieris rapae|butterflies}} are known as small whites
|-
|'''Wonder'''
|
|
|
|?
|?
|-
|'''World'''
|?
|?
|
|?
|?
|}

==Transcript==


:Big: Bang Theory, Enchilada, Board, Sur
:Little: Orphan Annie, House on the Prairie, Richard
:Large: format, Millimeter Telescope, Hadron Collider
:Small: claims court, potatoes
:Great: Barrier Reef, Wall of China, Depression, Terror, aunt

:Big/Great: Bend, Bear Lake
:Big/Small: time, screen
:Big/Little: Dipper, Planet, lies, sister
:Little/Great: Blue Heron
:Little/Large: Professor, Forest Bat
:Big/Large: Toothed Aspen
:Large/Small: intestine, Magellanic Cloud
:Little/Small: wonder, soldiers
:Small/Great: pox, cardiac vein
:Large/Great: Billed Seed Finch

:Big/Large/Great: hearted
:Big/Small/Great: end
:Big/Little/Small: foot
:Big/Little/Great: league
:Little/Large/Great: (none)
:Big/Little/Large: foundation
:Big/Large/Small: Eyed Conger, Blue
:Little/Large/Small: emerald
:Little/Small/Great: circle, room
:Large/Small/Great: flying fox

:Big/Large/Small/Great: game, white
:Big/Little/Small/Great : world, one
:Big/Little/Large/Great : (none)
:Big/Little/Large/Small : frog
:Little/Large/Small/Great : (none)

:Big/Little/Large/Small/Great: Island

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:2070: Trig Identities

2018-11-12T16:58:57Z

162.158.79.149:

I am confused by the insect line. This seems to be true only if s=t.
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.96.209|141.101.96.209]] 19:03, 9 November 2018 (UTC)
:I added a note regarding how similar it sounds to 'sinsec'. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.154|172.68.51.154]] 01:47, 10 November 2018 (UTC)

:That one and the `cas` aren't making any sense to me. [[User:GreatBigDot|GreatBigDot]] ([[User talk:GreatBigDot|talk]]) 20:02, 9 November 2018 (UTC)
::Oh, the casinus is much important to... What was it? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:15, 9 November 2018 (UTC)
::cas is realtively easy... it is cos(theta)=a/c -> cs(theta)=ao/c -> cas(theta)=o/c; when you realise that the top one isn't zero but o it clicks [[Special:Contributions/141.101.96.209|141.101.96.209]] 23:35, 9 November 2018 (UTC)
:::You made the same error Randall did: you divided by 'o' on the left and multiplied on the right. I think the theme of the page is expanding significantly upon common math errors that were already humorous, like the common proof of 5=3 by dividing and multiplying by zero. The error here is in line with the theme of casual beginner errors. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.154|172.68.51.154]]
:: You can see cin is derived from sin by swapping the positions of c and s. Likewise, Switching the a and o in cos(theta) = a/c gives cas(theta) = o/c i.e. no need for multiplicative consistency. The rule of treating things as a product of terms is implemented fully in the following lines.
::: <math> sin \theta = b/c</math> leading to <math>cin \theta = b/s</math> is algebraically valid if you interpret sin as the product of s, i, n by multiplying both sides by c/s. It is not valid to just "swap" two letters in one equation that is part of a system of equations. You could do the same trick and get <math>cas \theta = a^2/oc</math> from <math>cos \theta = a/c</math> or start with <math>sec \theta = c/a</math> and get <math>cas \theta = c/e</math>. Note for all equations except <math>cas \theta = o/c</math> and switching an <math>s</math> to a <math>t</math> to find <math>tan \theta = insect \theta^2</math>, the equations can be correctly derived by treating trig functions as product of single letter variables and algebraically manipulating them. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.149|162.158.79.149]] 16:58, 12 November 2018 (UTC)

:I think insect is.. a bug.. ;) [[User:Smerriman|Smerriman]] ([[User talk:Smerriman|talk]]) 20:18, 9 November 2018 (UTC)

Is Enchant at target a magic:the gathering reference? [[User:AncientSwordRage|AncientSwordRage]] ([[User talk:AncientSwordRage|talk]]) 20:55, 9 November 2018 (UTC)
:I think it is a Magic: The Gathering reference. Although it is phrased oddly. You'd think it would be "at target enchantment", rather than "target at enchantment". --[[User:Dryhamm|Dryhamm]] ([[User talk:Dryhamm|talk]]) 21:04, 9 November 2018 (UTC)
:: Likely, it refers to the bigbox retailer, Target.

:Voila - s=t.
::That was incredible! (assuming previous poster discovered the extrapolated proof in the description) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.154|172.68.51.154]] 01:47, 10 November 2018 (UTC)
::Combining <math>\cos\theta=\frac{a}{c}</math> and <math>\mathrm{cas}\ \theta=\frac{o}{c}</math> allows you to conclude <math>a^2 = o^2</math>, not <math>a=o</math>.

Somebody added a comment on puns, e.g. that "cin sucks". More explanation is needed. It looks like some kind of a meta-joke. If you ask why, and start interpreting, you see that "b/c" == "because". It might be the answer to why the puns line should be removed, though. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.154|172.68.51.154]]

For the Bot->Boat->Stoat line, this comes from the word game where you add/change letters to make a new word. Start with bot=a/c, multiply by a on both sides gets boat=a^2/c. Multiply by st on both sides and divide b on both sides gets Stoat=a^2/c*St/b.

Uh... people... THE NAME GAME? Hello?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Name_Game

Checking through the math, just working from the real trig identities, without considering Randall's at-first-glance questionable identities like cas theta = o/c, basically everything that does not have a factor of d or 2 in it is equal to 1, and d is equal to 1/2, which then establishes the more questionable identities as tautological, 1=1. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.142.100|162.158.142.100]] 04:09, 10 November 2018 (UTC)

<math>\sec\theta = sect \eta</math> [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.71|141.101.104.71]] 13:36, 10 November 2018 (UTC) AndreasH

Am I the only one who saw t²n²a⁴ as "tuna"? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.233|172.68.58.233]] 14:17, 10 November 2018 (UTC)
:Yes.

<math>\frac{d}{dx}\sec x=\sec x\tan x=</math> sex tanks. [[User:Probably not Douglas Hofstadter|Probably not Douglas Hofstadter]] ([[User talk:Probably not Douglas Hofstadter|talk]]) 21:36, 11 November 2018 (UTC)

2068: Election Night

2018-11-06T15:32:25Z

162.158.79.149: /* Trivia */

{{comic
| number = 2068
| date = November 5, 2018
| title = Election Night
| image = election_night.png
| titletext = "Even the blind—those who are anxious to hear, but are not able to see—will be taken care of. Immense megaphones have been constructed and will be in use at The Tribune office and in the Coliseum. The one at the Coliseum will be operated by a gentleman who draws $60 a week from Barnum & Bailey's circus for the use of his voice."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Please explain the "jiggling needle", not just presenting a reference. Title text is missing at all. Please only mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic compares media coverage on election results in 1896 and 2018.

This is the third comic in a row that deals with elections in the United States; the trio has been published in the week before the {{w|United States elections, 2018}}.

While elections and voting have been a public staple for generations, election coverage by the media can result in {{w|voter fatigue}}. While voter fatigue is considered a major criticism of things like {{w|First-past-the-post_voting|first past the post}} voting systems, media outlets will also contribute.

Here, [[Randall]] is taking a unique opportunity to point out that unlike our recollection of history (which is usually modified by the {{w|misinformation effect}}, where we perceive the past as being easier and find a source to blame for the election night jitters) that in fact, in the past, a bombardment of fireworks every hour was used to convey the hour-by-hour play of the election night, a significantly more jarring effect that couldn't even be turned off. We have progressed, in some ways, to a more opt-in system, rather than the {{w|opt-out}} system of the past, where you had to leave Chicago to avoid the news.

The time traveler from 1896, wearing a {{w|top hat}} (the typical hat used at that time), presents [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] a method how the latest news --over the night-- are published to the public. No broadcasting television or even radio existed then and most newspapers, reaching the readers on the next morning, were printed in the evening before the election results were certain.

The part about the "jiggling needle" may be a reference to the [https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/11/the-new-york-times-election-needle-is-back-with-a-few-new-safety-features New York Times' 2016 presidential election results] webpage,

The title text explains that even blind people are taken care of, as enormous megaphones are installed to convey the news equally unavoidably to others.

==Transcript==

:[Megan and Cueball face each other while talking on the left of the panel]
:Megan: Ugh, I'm just going to hide out for election night. We'll know the results the next day anyway. The drama is so unnecessary.
:Cueball: Yeah. The internet and the 24-hour news have turned elections into a continuous, inescapable media onslaught.
:[A man in a top hat appears on the right side of the panel with a "Poof"]

:[Panel with just the man in a top hat, holding a newspaper]
:Man in a top hat: Hi! I'm a time traveler from 1896. Let me tell you about '''''our''''' election night coverage.
:Man in a top hat: *Ahem*
:Man in a top hat: From the ''Chicago Tribune''

:[Zoom in on head of the man in a top hat]
:Man in a top hat: "Once every hour from the roof of the Great Northern Hotel a series of bombs, which will ascend for several thousand feet, will be fired. Two colors will be used, blue and red."
:Man in a top hat: "Blue to indicate McKinley's election, red to indicate Bryan's election."
:Man in a top hat: "The bombardment of the skies will commence at 7 o'clock and will be repeated hourly."
:[Grey citation]: Chicago Tribune, Oct 30th & Nov 1st, 1896

:[Megan and Cueball on the left looking at the man in the top hat on the right]
:Megan: Yeah, well, we have a ''needle,'' though.
:Man in a top hat: A needle.
:Megan: It jiggles!
:Man in a top hat: Sounds awful.
:Cueball: Listen, you had to be there.

==Trivia==
The character with the large black top hat is wearing a typical hat worn by wealthy men at the late 19th and early 20th century and should not be mixed up with [[Black Hat]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Characters with Hats]]
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Time travel]]

Talk:2068: Election Night

2018-11-05T21:56:23Z

162.158.79.149:

This is an early example of using red and blue to denote candidates and parties. Here, McKinley (R) gets blue and Bryan (D) red; it wasn't standardized on blue for Democrats and red for Republicans until after the 2000 election. NBC News having used red/R and blue/D that year, Tom Brokaw was the first to speak extensively of "red states" and "blue states" elevating that to political meme status and leading to standardization. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.166|162.158.78.166]] 14:36, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

:I was just going to mention the hat :) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.191|108.162.246.191]] 14:57, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

I distinctly remember the reporting during the 1980 election (Reagan vs. Carter) that the TV news used blue for Republicans and red for Democrats. I don't know why they later switched, but I have always assumed that Democrats got offended by the use of red (the color of the USSR's flag and many other communist organizations) for their party. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 15:19, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

:Beyond having one party being red and the other blue, there was no consistent color-coding scheme for the two major parties either from election to election or between news agencies prior to 2000. Both parties still officially list red, white, and blue as their colors. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.149|162.158.79.149]] 15:24, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

::There's a long history about red and blue states, all of which comes directly from the media reporting the different parties. It's interesting to note that in Europe, the liberal parties are red and the conservative parties are blue (opposite of the US), and the fact that red is the color of the USSR has nothing to do with the Democrats "not wanting to be red," they didn't choose the colors. [[User:Zachweix|Zachweix]] ([[User talk:Zachweix|talk]]) 16:51, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
::: Actually liberal parties tend to be in the yellow/orange part of the spectrum (see LibDems in the UK or FDP in Germany), red is for parties with more (historical) socialist leanings (Labour, SDP). [[Special:Contributions/188.114.102.4|188.114.102.4]] 19:25, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
:: European politics, unlike US politics, is multidimensional. [[User:Erkinalp|Erkinalp]] ([[User talk:Erkinalp|talk]]) 16:59, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

:: IIRC, blue was used for incumbents on some stations, red for challengers, and in 2000, blue stuck as the color of the democratic party, {{unsigned ip|162.158.79.107}}

:::It seems to have been chosen pretty much arbitrarily. As much as I follow politics, I never heard of any clear association where the Democrats were blue and Republicans red -- ''or vice versa'' -- until after election night in 2000. Before then, there was no well-known standard as to which party would get which color on a map. The standard colors we have now only stuck based on the coverage from election night (and afterward) in 2000. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.150.46|172.68.150.46]] 17:26, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

God I feel awful for the Civil war vets with PTSD who decided to reside in Chicago. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.11|172.69.33.11]] 17:05, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

What is the 'Needle' referring to? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.142.4|162.158.142.4]] 17:46, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
: The Traumatic Needle can be found here... https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/11/the-new-york-times-election-needle-is-back-with-a-few-new-safety-features {{unsigned ip|162.158.106.126}}

I was reading this, expecting the last page (or the title text) to have someone commenting that lecturing to modern people about how things were in the past is a pretty trivial or bizarre waste of something as momentous as time travel; and top hat guy to reply that he didn't come to bring them a message, he's just avoiding the fireworks because he's fed up of the modern election-night media circus. -- [[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 17:50, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

Does anyone have a source for the 1896 reporting via fireworks referred to here? I've done a few Google searches, but so far haven't found anything. Historic issues of the Chicago Tribune is behind a paywall, so I can't go look there directly. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 18:40, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
: I assume Randall made this up? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.171|173.245.48.171]] 18:49, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
::Telling from [https://img.newspapers.com/img/thumbnail/349884040/250/150/5939_4729_418_251/0/yes/5893_4842_511_25.jpg this snippet], it seems legit. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.172|172.68.50.172]] 18:54, 5 November 2018 (UTC) ::: It is legit, scroll through the first result here:[https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/search/#lnd=1&query=blue+to+indicate+McKinley%27s+election&ymd=1896-11-01]. (Update: I have no idea how to format this properly, somebody that knows how please fix this and feel free to remove this message) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.149|162.158.79.149]] 21:56, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

'''Papal conclave'''

No one else sees parallels to the {{w|Papal conclave#Smoke colors|smoke colors}} after a papal conclave? It's white and black there, but the principle is the same (no telecommunication, ...) --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:15, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

Talk:2068: Election Night

2018-11-05T21:53:58Z

162.158.79.149:

This is an early example of using red and blue to denote candidates and parties. Here, McKinley (R) gets blue and Bryan (D) red; it wasn't standardized on blue for Democrats and red for Republicans until after the 2000 election. NBC News having used red/R and blue/D that year, Tom Brokaw was the first to speak extensively of "red states" and "blue states" elevating that to political meme status and leading to standardization. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.166|162.158.78.166]] 14:36, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

:I was just going to mention the hat :) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.191|108.162.246.191]] 14:57, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

I distinctly remember the reporting during the 1980 election (Reagan vs. Carter) that the TV news used blue for Republicans and red for Democrats. I don't know why they later switched, but I have always assumed that Democrats got offended by the use of red (the color of the USSR's flag and many other communist organizations) for their party. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 15:19, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

:Beyond having one party being red and the other blue, there was no consistent color-coding scheme for the two major parties either from election to election or between news agencies prior to 2000. Both parties still officially list red, white, and blue as their colors. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.149|162.158.79.149]] 15:24, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

::There's a long history about red and blue states, all of which comes directly from the media reporting the different parties. It's interesting to note that in Europe, the liberal parties are red and the conservative parties are blue (opposite of the US), and the fact that red is the color of the USSR has nothing to do with the Democrats "not wanting to be red," they didn't choose the colors. [[User:Zachweix|Zachweix]] ([[User talk:Zachweix|talk]]) 16:51, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
::: Actually liberal parties tend to be in the yellow/orange part of the spectrum (see LibDems in the UK or FDP in Germany), red is for parties with more (historical) socialist leanings (Labour, SDP). [[Special:Contributions/188.114.102.4|188.114.102.4]] 19:25, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
:: European politics, unlike US politics, is multidimensional. [[User:Erkinalp|Erkinalp]] ([[User talk:Erkinalp|talk]]) 16:59, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

:: IIRC, blue was used for incumbents on some stations, red for challengers, and in 2000, blue stuck as the color of the democratic party, {{unsigned ip|162.158.79.107}}

:::It seems to have been chosen pretty much arbitrarily. As much as I follow politics, I never heard of any clear association where the Democrats were blue and Republicans red -- ''or vice versa'' -- until after election night in 2000. Before then, there was no well-known standard as to which party would get which color on a map. The standard colors we have now only stuck based on the coverage from election night (and afterward) in 2000. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.150.46|172.68.150.46]] 17:26, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

God I feel awful for the Civil war vets with PTSD who decided to reside in Chicago. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.11|172.69.33.11]] 17:05, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

What is the 'Needle' referring to? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.142.4|162.158.142.4]] 17:46, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
: The Traumatic Needle can be found here... https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/11/the-new-york-times-election-needle-is-back-with-a-few-new-safety-features {{unsigned ip|162.158.106.126}}

I was reading this, expecting the last page (or the title text) to have someone commenting that lecturing to modern people about how things were in the past is a pretty trivial or bizarre waste of something as momentous as time travel; and top hat guy to reply that he didn't come to bring them a message, he's just avoiding the fireworks because he's fed up of the modern election-night media circus. -- [[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 17:50, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

Does anyone have a source for the 1896 reporting via fireworks referred to here? I've done a few Google searches, but so far haven't found anything. Historic issues of the Chicago Tribune is behind a paywall, so I can't go look there directly. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 18:40, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
: I assume Randall made this up? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.171|173.245.48.171]] 18:49, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
::Telling from [https://img.newspapers.com/img/thumbnail/349884040/250/150/5939_4729_418_251/0/yes/5893_4842_511_25.jpg this snippet], it seems legit. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.172|172.68.50.172]] 18:54, 5 November 2018 (UTC) ::: It is legit, scroll through the first result here:[https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/search/#lnd=1&query=blue+to+indicate+McKinley%27s+election&ymd=1896-11-01].

'''Papal conclave'''

No one else sees parallels to the {{w|Papal conclave#Smoke colors|smoke colors}} after a papal conclave? It's white and black there, but the principle is the same (no telecommunication, ...) --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:15, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

Talk:2068: Election Night

2018-11-05T15:24:25Z

162.158.79.149:

2066: Ballot Selfies

2018-11-01T18:34:25Z

162.158.79.149: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2066
| date = October 31, 2018
| title = Ballot Selfies
| image = ballot_selfies.png
| titletext = There were actually some good reasons for those laws, but IMO they now do more harm than good. Which raises a question: If there's a ballot measure to strike them down, how can I resist the urge to take a picture of my "yes" vote?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Any comments about the "more harm than good" mentioned in the title text? Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic was published six days prior to the {{w|United States elections, 2018|2018 United States general elections}}, also called {{w|United States midterm election|midterm elections}}, because they happen in the middle of two presidential elections, two years before and after. At the time, the [[xkcd]] header still provided a link to [https://www.vote.org/ vote.org], a website that helps US citizens with essential voting issues, like how to register or how to find their polling locations.

In the United States, "{{w|ballot selfie}}s" refers to the practice of taking a picture of oneself with a completed ballot. These have been declared illegal in many states.

Without proof of how a vote was cast, if someone bribed (or even violently coerced) a voter to vote for candidate A, the voter could just vote 'B' and the coercer would be unable to tell whether they voted as instructed. This is at the heart of the concept of "a secret ballot". But if ballot-selfies or other proof-of-vote mechanisms are permitted then the evil-doer can demand verification that the voter did what they were coerced to do - and this jeopardizes the idea of a truly free and fair election.

However, since some voting machines produce a paper receipt showing the choices the voter made - and many jurisdictions permit use of a postal ballot - there are plenty of other ways to circumvent the law in those places. So the ban on ballot selfies is not entirely justifiable unless those other lines of coercion are also ruled out.

On the other hand, the desire to take and distribute ballot selfies often comes from an excitement in participating in the voting process and the desire to share that excitement in the hopes of encouraging others to vote, and anything that helps get more people to the polls is generally considered to be a good thing.

This dual threat/benefit has led some states to explicitly legalize ballot selfies, other states to specifically disallow them and even levy steep financial penalties, while the rest are still debating or ignoring the issue[https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/10/25/13389980/ballot-selfie-legal-illegal].

As [[Ponytail]] is aware of this law, she believes she has identified a solution wherein she will make an {{w|oil painting}} of her voting rather than taking a {{w|photograph}}. A painting being more of an artistic endeavor that doesn't have to faithfully record all aspects of the image, it may well be valid both on grounds of {{w|freedom of speech}} as well as not being a verbatim record of her vote - thereby preserving the secrecy of the ballot. Of course, making a painting of her vote may lead to additional problems. If she intends to paint the portrait herself, of herself (i.e. a {{w|self-portrait}}) casting her vote, it would be very difficult and time consuming to attempt to do that, especially without a mirror, which she apparently doesn't have with her and which is generally not standard issue in voting booths. She could also try to recruit someone else to do the painting, not knowing the level of their artistic talent, however, usually only the person casting the vote is allowed in the booth, and they are expected to close the curtain or otherwise ensure no outside person, like the painter, can view the vote casting act.

While [[Hairbun]] and [[White Hat]] are simply standing in line, [[Megan]] can be seen using a mobile phone - potentially checking for optimal Selfie Filters{{Citation needed}}.

In many US states, changes to state law can be made through the {{w|Initiatives and referendums in the United States|initiative and referendum}} process, which can be initiated and pursued by any citizen.

The title text refers to the legality of taking a ballot selfie whilst voting against the law against ballot selfies.

==Transcript==
:[Megan, Ponytail, Cueball, White Hat, and Hairbun are standing in a line with Hairbun in front. All are facing forward to the right except Cueball, who is looking to his left at Ponytail. Megan holds a phone in her hand while Ponytail carries an easel under her left arm and a paintbrush in her right hand.]
:Ponytail: Ballot selfies are illegal in this state, so to immortalize my vote I'm doing an oil painting in the voting booth.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Politics]]

2054: Data Pipeline

2018-10-04T01:00:56Z

162.158.79.149: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2054
| date = October 3, 2018
| title = Data Pipeline
| image = data_pipeline.png
| titletext = "Is the pipeline literally running from your laptop?" "Don't be silly, my laptop disconnects far too often to host a service we rely on. It's running on my phone."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Please direct all data pipelines to the explanation below and only mention here why it isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In the first panel [[Cueball]] shows [[Ponytail]] and [[White Hat]] a Data Pipeline he has constructed that, as he puts it, <nowiki>'collects and processes all the data we need'</nowiki>. This implies that the three are running some sort of project that requires data processing. Ponytail assumes that this data pipeline is an unstable mess of scripts that will cease to function correctly should any unexpected input be received. Cueball responds by telling her reluctantly that this is very likely, although he seems to hope that it might not be. Ponytail then seems impressed and expresses this to him. She, however, gets interrupted by Cueball who tells her that the system just malfunctioned and collapsed. He, however, states that he can fix it, making it seem like this cycle of patching and collapsing could repeat infinitely, or until all problems have been patched. [[Code Quality|Knowing Cueball's code, though,]] it seems more likely he can't patch it.

In the title text, Ponytail or White Hat proceeds to question how such an important system can run on such a small computer. However, Cueball makes it worse by saying he uses his phone due to the better connection. While this might make the pipeline functional, it also makes it far more fragile.

This comic is a logical continuation of the Code Quality series ([[1513: Code Quality]], [[1695: Code Quality 2]] and [[1833: Code Quality 3]]), further highlighting Cueball's coding ineptitude and Ponytail's exasperation with it.

It's quite common for somebody who codes for enjoyment with most of their time to attempt to automate absolutely everything that is done. Whenever a rote task is seen, a programmer thinks, "why is a human doing this when the time could be spent making a computer do it automatically, forever?" Unfortunately, without the advent of strong artificial intelligence, one of the places this begins breaking down is in aggregating information from multiple sources.

People tend to publish their data via a variety of different channels, and as they are not programmers and don't share the value of consistency and computer-processability, it is all in completely different formats. Some data is only available in print. Some data is only available as photographs. Some data is only available as written reports. A certain kind of nerd will see this situation and become excited, seeing the opportunity to automate something that nobody else thinks is reasonable to put the energy into. They begin writing scripts that process all the different formats that all the data is in, and eventually get the whole thing working! They can then, in theory, make a number of mind-numbing data-processing jobs obsolete.

Google has put a lot of energy into conquering this challenge on many, many fronts around the decade of the 2000s, making data more processable everywhere, and possible hastening the advent of those strong artificial intelligences, which would thrive off of the availability of already-digitized information. A notable project was google books, where libraries were scoured for non-digital information and it was all painstakingly scanned. Additionally, organizations have been increasingly pressured to offer their information in standardized formats that can all be processed the same way. This continued pressure is giving more and more results, but because it must be implemented by humans who gain little immediately from the process, it is rare that adherence to the guidelines is universal.

The workaround of building many small programs that handle all the quirks is the domain of "scraping" -- downloading information intended to be presented to a human, running it through software that has been pre-programmed with what patterns to expect, and normalizing and making use of the data.
Anybody who has, as a mere individual, attempted this goal, quickly realizes that as soon as the data source has the smallest change, the data becomes garbage. Often it becomes garbage in a way that is laborious to hunt down and understand, and may not even be noticed. This would be tragic for a corporation that was relying on the results, and would be like a trojan horse, destroying them from the inside.

Privately, though, many hobbyists can make money by collecting data that is useful to them and processing it more effectively, using computer code, than their peers do. Because they are consistently personally invested in their data pipeline, they just hack up fixes as problems occur. One website that has been maintained this way for many years is piperka.net, which is run by a single hobbyist and provides a centralized place for tracking most webcomics, including xkcd itself, using this very method of data scraping. Additionally, many companies have refined data scraping to be quite effective and reliable, such as mint.com which allows customers to consolidate their financial information all in one place.

Artificial intelligence is developing to the point that some computers are scraping data very effectively and reliably, but usually creating advanced, robust, scraping algorithms is not worth the effort -- it is more efficient to get the providers of the data to just offer it in a normalized way, hire a human to do the task, or make money through something that doesn't require as diverse processing. Hence there has been this niche filled by those hobbyists willing to put the heuristic effort in.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball is standing with an open laptop, showing it to Ponytail and White Hat.]
:Cueball: Check it out - I made a full automated data pipeline that collects and processes all the information we need.

:[Ponytail is looking down at Cueball's laptop.]
:Ponytail: Is it a giant house of cards built from random scripts that will all completely collapse the moment any input does anything weird?

:[Borderless beat panel]

:[Cueball looks at his laptop.]
:Cueball: It... ''might'' not be.
:Ponytail: I guess that's someth-
:Cueball: Whoops, just collapsed. Hang on, I can patch it.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Cueball Computer Problems]]

2049: Unfulfilling Toys

2018-09-21T18:26:27Z

162.158.79.149: /* Glass Glow Stick */

{{comic
| number = 2049
| date = September 21, 2018
| title = Unfulfilling Toys
| image = unfulfilling_toys.png
| titletext = We were going to do a falling-apart Rubik's cube that was just 27 independent blocks stuck together with magnets, but then we realized it was actually really cool and even kind of worked, so we cut that one.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a Stretch Armstrong made out of hard plastic. Please edit the explanation below and only mention here why it isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic lists and illustrates a number of classic toys that are missing a key piece of that makes them work or that makes them unique. As such, they are not much fun.

====Rigid Slap Bracelet====
Slap Bracelets are flexible bars that when you hit them on your arm they twist and become a bracelet. A rigid one would not twist and would be deeply frustrating

====Sealed Stomp Rocket====
A stomp rocket has a rubber pouch full of air, connected via a hose to a cylinder containing a tightly-fitting rocket on a stick. By stomping on the pouch, the air is forced into the cylinder launching the rocket into the air. By sealing the air channel, the rocket would stay in the cylinder and the person would just be bounced into the air by the pouch -- acting like the world's smallest bouncy house -- or the pouch will burst rending the toy even more useless.

====Pump-only Supersoaker====
A supersoaker is a water gun that works by first pumping air into the gun, which introduces air pressure next to the water, then releasing the water using the gun's trigger -- the extra pressure from the pumped air makes the water go much further than a regular water gun. In this version, the water cannot be released, so the fun part of the water gun -- getting to spray your friends -- isn't there.

====Glass Glow Stick====

In a classic glow-stick, made of flexible plastic, one much first bend it enough to break the glass cylinder inside. This allows the chemicals inside to mix and begin glowing within the plastic tube. If the entire tube were made of actual glass, however, it would not only shatter into many sharp glass pieces, but would also cover the hands of the unfortunate user with a mixture of harmful chemicals.

====Wingless Sky Dancer====

In the traditional toy, a doll or figure with folded-up wings sits on top of a hand-held device with a wrapped string or other mechanism that lets it spin the doll very fast. As the doll spins, centripetal force causes the wings to unfold and provide lift, and the doll rises up in the air and flies, spinning, sometimes going quite high. Without the wings, the doll will spin but otherwise remain flightless.

====No-strings-attached Yo-yo====
In a traditional yo-yo, one attaches a string to their finger and the other end of the string is loosely attached to the yo-yo, such that it will hold the yo-yo but the yo-yo can still spin. In this case, the string is included but not attached to the yo-yo, so the yo-yo, when it reaches the end of the string, will keep going instead of coming back to the person or spinning at the end of the string.

This one actually exists and some people are even quite good at it. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5P-fdrlBg8 for example.
====Title-text: Falling-Apart Rubik's cube====
In order to build the magnetic Rubik's cube, you would need to embed magnets (like the little hockey-puck shaped ones for magnetic bulletin boards) in the the uncolored (inward-facing) sides of each cube. You would need to take care to have the correct pole of each magnet facing outward in order for it to work, but you can achieve that by having the corners and the central outside cubes use one pole (say north) facing outward and have the edge and center (hidden) cube use the other pole (say south) facing outward. In that way each piece would be attracted to its correct neighboring piece and if you rotated a side, it would resist turning until you got half way around, then it would be drawn into the correct new position.

This also exists, is rather functional, and is the only way to make fun Rubik's cube shapes such as 1x5x5.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
{{comic discussion}}

1811: Best-Tasting Colors

2017-03-18T17:59:59Z

162.158.79.149:

{{comic
| number = 1811
| date = March 15, 2017
| title = Best-Tasting Colors
| image = best_tasting_colors.png
| titletext = I recognize that chocolate is its own thing on which reasonable people may differ. Everything else here is objective fact.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Add and fill in a table for the various foods used. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In this comic, [[Randall]] rates colors based on tastiness of various flavors the colors are typically associated with, probably in jellybeans. The colors are sorted, with the highest ranking colors at the top. Within each color, several individual items are placed at points marked by dots along a tastiness X-axis. For example, watermelon is rated as less tasty than cotton candy, within the pink color band.

Several colors contain regions along their axes labeled as "???". It is not clear what the purpose of these is. Perhaps they indicate regions in which Randall is unable to think of any examples, and is inviting the reader to speculate. For instance, are there any pink-colored foods more tasty than watermelon (5.5, on a scale from 1 to 9) but less tasty than cotton candy (8.5)?

A couple of the question marks imply an arbitrary tastiness assigned to a color that is not derived from an actual data point, however. For instance, the only blue datapoint is "blue raspberry", assigned a ranking of 5.5. But the range assigned to blue as a whole is 4 to 8. The regions either side of blue raspberry are labelled with ???.

In the title text, Randall asserts that his rankings of colors and flavors are indisputable (with the exception of chocolate). This is a jab at the reception of his previous comic [[388: Fuck Grapefruit]], a comic ranking fruits based on their tastiness which Randall claims is the most controversial piece he has ever published.

===Table===

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! scope="col"| Color
! scope="col"| Item
! scope="col"| Explanation
! scope="col"| Rating (Approx.)
|-
|Pink
|{{w|Cotton Candy}}
|Randall seems to like cotton candy. This treat is sold in many places, most notably carnivals.
|95%
|-
|Pink
|Watermelon
| Watermelon is a fruit that is used as a processed candy flavoring, especially in hard candies, and is usually very sweet and pink in color. It is made of 95 percent actual water.
|63%
|-
|Red
|Strawberry
|Strawberries are a red, seeded fruit which are usually sweet and red. They are of relatively small size.
|93%
|-
|Red
|Cherry
|Cherries are red fruits that are normally very tart in taste.
|86%
|-
|Red
|Raspberry
|Raspberries are reddish-pink fruits (though Randall lists them under red) that are in the more tart category of fruits.
|55%
|-
|Blue
|Blue Raspberry
|Rare in pure form, blue raspberries are, well, self-descriptive. Most prominent in being used as a popular frozen drink flavor (alongside cherry).
|57%
|-
|Green
|Green Apple
|Green apples are usually more sweet than red apples, which are not listed, and are Randall's favorite apple. He mentioned a dislike for red apples in his what if? Blog
|84%
|-
|Green
|Watermelon (Rind?)
| While the red part of a watermelon and the pink watermelon flavoring used in candy are widely eaten and sweet, the green rind is hard and not normally eaten.
|60%
|-
|Green
|Mint
|Mint is a herb that can be considered as spicy by some people, which makes it unappealing to them.
|38%
|-
|Green
|Lime
|Limes are a green, sour fruit sharing many traits with lemons. These are rarely eaten as fruit, but can be served with water or beer.
|31%
|-
|Green
|Pistachio
|Pistachios are green nuts. Randall seems unsure of where to place these on the chart.
|47% to 70%
|-
|White
|Vanilla
|Randall is likely playing with expectations here. Vanilla and vanilla bean are both dark brown, not white. But vanilla ice cream is white thanks to the cream, milk, and sugar used in its creation. The brown is nearly invisible in the ice cream, either as vanilla extract mixed in or as minute flakes of vanilla bean in exceptional vanilla ice creams.
|65%
|-
|White
|White Chocolate
|{{w|White chocolate}} is disliked by many people who assert that it is "not real chocolate" because it contains no cocoa solids and is mainly cocoa butter and sugar.
|19%
|-
|Brown
|Caramel
|Caramel is a liquid-like substance usually drizzled on desserts. "Caramel" can also refer to the coloring. Randall seems to enjoy caramel less than many people.
|19%
|-
|Brown
|Coffee
|While widely enjoyed by many people, coffee is a bitter beverage (or bean). Many people add sugar and/or cream to their coffee (or cover the beans in chocolate) to make it palatable. Clearly Randall does not like black coffee (coffee with no sweeteners or additives)
|5%
|-
|Brown
|Chocolate
|Chocolate is given a very wide range. While widely recognized as a classic candy, containing the chemical {{w|phenylethylamine}} which literally makes the human brain happier, there are also very staunch and not rare people who clearly and adamantly don't like it. There are also many varieties of chocolate with varying degrees of sweetness -- and, not coincidentally, colors to help differentiate them. Randall deems the whole situation too complex to assign to only one data point.
|38% to 86%. (range of text area)
|-
|Orange
|{{w|Popsicle_(brand)#Related_snacks|Creamsicle}}
|Orange creamsicle is an ice pop sold by Popsicle. It is known as a favorite among the Popsicle lineup.
|47%
|-
|Orange
|Orange
|Oranges are round fruits similar in size to an apple. Randall appears to dislike oranges, maybe because of their slightly sour flavoring or the difficulty of opening one up.
|25%
|-
|Yellow
|Popcorn?!
|Popcorn is a very popular food item, but not for its flavor. By itself it has nearly no flavor, and the usual toppings of salt and butter are some of the most basic cravings the human tongue asks for.
|5%
|-
|Yellow
|Lemon
|Lemons by themselves have a very strong sour flavor. Many people, apparently including Randall, do not like this taste raw or on its own, though some do. To make lemons appealing to those who don't like very sour things, they are instead added as ingredients in a much larger dish, often with sugar added to balance the sourness.
|27%
|-
|Purple
|Grape
|Randall apparently does not like {{w|Concord grape}}s, a small, oval-like fruit. He did not list green grapes, though.
|15%
|-
|Black
|Licorice
|Most Americans tend to find {{w|licorice}} a very unpleasant flavor. It would appear that Randall resides within that majority.
|0.1%
|}

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

:Best-Tasting Colors
:[A scale from "bad" to "good"]
:1. Pink - watermelon, ???, cotton candy
:2. Red - raspberry, cherry, strawberry
:3. Blue - ???, blue raspberry, ???
:4. Green - lime, mint, pistachio??, watermelon, green apple
:5. White - ???, white chocolate, ???, vanilla, ???
:6. Brown - coffee, caramel ? [However you feel about chocolate] ?
:7. Orange - orange, creamsicle
:8. Yellow - popcorn?!, lemon
:9. Purple - grape
:10. Black - licorice

{{comic discussion}}

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

1406: Universal Converter Box

2017-02-04T16:21:41Z

162.158.79.149: /* Trivia */

{{comic
| number = 1406
| date = August 11, 2014
| title = Universal Converter Box
| image = universal_converter_box.png
| titletext = Comes with a 50-lb sack of gender changers, and also an add-on device with a voltage selector and a zillion circular center pin DC adapter tips so you can power any of those devices from the 90s.
}}

==Explanation==
Converter boxes are used to connect two or more devices together which otherwise couldn't be, due to differently shaped plugs, different voltages, or different protocols of communication.

Converter boxes or converter cables are commonly found for several of the plugs at the top of the list - such as from USB to micro-USB. As this is supposed to be a Universal Converter Box, there are many connections.

The humour from this comic comes from the sheer number of [[927: Standards|different standards]] that all claim to be the universal way to connect two devices, in their target market, as well as the progressively ridiculous conversions that this box is capable of doing, for example, converting audio from a 1/8 inch / 3.5 mm headphone jack, into a variety of fuel suitable for running your car.

A connector is capable of making a connection to another connector only if the connectors are of the same style and the opposite gender ("male" connector is plug, "female" connector is socket), except for rare "genderless" connectors, such as the token ring mentioned above. Gender changers are devices with two connectors of the same gender. The "circular center pin DC adapter tips" in the title text are barrel jack power plugs. There are a large number of these style connectors, and many of these devices look the same. This leads to frustration

===Different connectors===
The plugs are numbered from top to bottom and incremented for every wire that comes directly out of the converter box.

====Left side====
#{{w|VGA connector|VGA}} (Video Graphics Array): This a video connector (standard is blue) that connects computers and monitors or projectors. It has fifteen pins in a D-shell. It's still one of the common type of video connectors.
#{{w|Digital Visual Interface|DVI}} (Digital Visual Interface): This a video connector (standard is white) that uses a D-shell with flat pins. DVI is not compatible with VGA ports,
#{{w|HDMI}} (High Definition Multimedia Interface): This is an audio video connector that supports high definition video and audio.
#{{w|Thunderbolt (interface)|Thunderbolt}}: Thunderbolt can transfer both video signals to a monitor, audio signals to speakers, and send and receive data at the same time, over the same port.
#{{w|IEEE 1394|Firewire}} (IEEE 1394): A bidirectional data transfer connector, similar to USB, Firewire is used for networking computers, and connecting audio/video equipment to computers.
#{{w|Component video|Component}} and {{w|RCA connector|RCA}}: Both component video and RCA are ways of transmitting video and audio signals. RCA is the name of the connector type. RCA uses one plugs per audio channel (e.g. left and right channels). RCA (composite) uses one plug for video where component uses three: Y (luma), Pb (Blue - Y), Pr (Red - Y).
#{{w|Phone connector (audio)|1/8" audio/video}} (3.5 mm phone connector): Best known as a headphone plug, but also used for other audio equipment and for some video equipment.
#{{w|Parallel port}}: A port that used to be used to connect printers to PCs.
#{{w|S-Video (analog video standard)|S-video}}: A video with the video signal split in Y (luma) and C (chroma).
#{{w|In-flight entertainment#History|Airline pneumatic tube audio}}: The seat would contain the loudspeaker, and the headphone connected to this unit with a pneumatic tube to conduct the sound.
#{{w|PS/2 port|PS/2}}, PS/3 and PS/4: The PS/2 connector was used for mouse and keyboard connections in older computers; it has been superseded by USB. There are no PS/3 or PS/4 connectors. This is a play on the {{w|PlayStation}} line of video game consoles, which have recently seen their second, third, and fourth generations abbreviated to PS2, PS3, and PS4.
#{{w|NEMA connector|120V AC}}: This style of plug is used for domestic power outlets in the US, Canada, Mexico, and some other parts of the Americas. The pin marked "removable" is the ground pin. Not every device requires a ground pin, and some lower power sockets do not have a hole for it.
#{{w|Floppy disk|Floppy}}, {{w|Parallel ATA|IDE}}, {{w|Hard disk drive|2.5"}}, {{w|SCSI connector|SCSI}}: These are {{w|Insulation-displacement connector|IDC connectors}} for connecting to media drives to processors using different numbers of pins, and hence different widths of {{w|Ribbon cable|cable}}. Despite this similarity, real plugs would not work with break-away parts as the pinout has no similarities and the connectors are keyed differently.

====Right side====
#{{w|USB#Connectors and plugs|USB}}: Also known as USB-A. USBs are used for connecting various devices to computers, each other, and to power supplies and chargers. The USB standard has multiple connectors. Some of the others are below.
#USB (weird other end): Also known as USB-B.
#mini-USB/micro USB: Alternate smaller connections for USB communication.
#macro USB: A joke about a larger version of USB.
#{{w|F connector}}: A type of coaxial plug used for various television signals and for cable modems.
#{{w|Optical fiber connector|Fiber}}: Optical fiber cables are used for various data transmission purposes and are often connected to devices with only a connector on the device, and none on the cable.
#{{w|Registered jack#RJ11, RJ14, RJ25 wiring|RJ11}}/{{w|Ethernet over twisted pair|Ethernet}}: Ethernet connections, which use a {{w|TIA/EIA-568|TIA/EIA-568 connector}} (often mistakenly called RJ45 because of its visual similarity), are the most common fixed wire connection for computer networking. The RJ11 connector is used for land-line telephones.
#{{w|Token ring}}: The token ring was a late-80s competitor to Ethernet for fixed-wire network connections. Its connectors were large and boxy, but were unique in that they were genderless.
#{{w|MagSafe}}: Magnetically-attached power connectors used on Apple devices. The original MagSafe (introduced in 2006) was later replaced by MagSafe 2 (introduced in 2012); both come in "L" and "T" shapes as shown here for MagSafe and MagSafe 2, respectively, but are incompatible. MagSafe 3 and 4 do not actually exist yet (and probably never will, now Apple is using {{w|USB-C}} to charge its laptops). Also, the MagSafe 4 "connector" appears to be broken this is a joke about the {{w|MagSafe#Defects|poor quality}} of the original MagSafe 1 cables.
#{{w|Bluetooth#Communication and connection|Bluetooth dongle}}: A USB device that allows the converter to connect via the {{w|Bluetooth}} wireless networking standard to accessories like phones and computers for audio, general purpose file transfer, mouse and keyboard interaction and a wide variety of other uses.
#{{w|SCART}}: An audio/video connector mostly used in Europe; it replaced other connectors like component video, but has itself been superseded by HDMI.
#{{w|Tin can telephone|String}}: For connecting to a "tin can telephone", an analogue device for transmitting sound through a physical connection rather than electronically or via radio waves. Probably also a reference to {{w|CAN bus}}.
#{{w|Fuel dispenser#Nozzles|Fuel nozzle}}, with a switch to choose between different {{w|octane rating}}s and {{w|diesel fuel}}: Dispensers for fossil fuels used to power internal combustion engines.

===Trivia===
For some interfaces, such as USB, the female side is standard to the device while the male side is standard to the cable. For other interfaces, such as the RS-232 serial port, the conventions vary or there is no convention.

The "universal" connector here doesn't support the proper RS-232, with the closest surrogate available being RJ-11. The other nearest analog would be the parallel port, available in Centronix and D-25-pin connectors.

The SCSI connectors have been available as the "internal" connectors (see the "break-away" above) of 2 different widths, Centronix, 2 widths of the mini-D connectors with the easily bendable pins, 3 widths of the more reliable pin-less mini-connectors, and high-speed serial.

Not only is there gender and connector type, but there are also different standards on what data/power is connected on each pin of the connector. Building a working connection often involved getting 3 or 4 adapters connected in a sequence to produce the right connector, gender and pin-out.

Barrel jack power plugs were developed in the 1980s. The "barrel" has an inner diameter an outer diameter, and different style pins.

A D-shell is a trapezoidal metal skirt that protects the pins, prevents the connector from being plugged in the wrong way, and makes the physical connection more secure.

A VGA was developed in 1987, and with new versions being developed since then.

DVI can be configured to support multiple modes such as DVI-D (digital only), DVI-A (analog only), or DVI-I (digital and analog).

HDMI has slowly been replacing DVI and VGA ports on newer devices due to the simplicity and the smaller footprint and overall dimensions.

Thunderbolt is far faster than almost any connector on the market for transferring data. However, the limited adoption by manufacturers, the higher costs of the hardware, and the security concerns inherent to the interface have limited the adoption by consumers.

Because Firewire is designed to allow {{w|backplane}} access and {{w|direct memory access}} (DMA) to devices, there are additional conversion and security issues with it.

The phone connector diameter of 1/8" is only an approximation using {{w|Imperial units}}. The standard actually specifies a size in the {{w|Metric system}} of 3.5 mm. The video plug has 3 contacts (Tip, Ring and Sleeve) and the audio has 4 contacts (Tip, Ring, Ring and Sleeve).

While no longer common in homes or offices, parallel connections are still used in some {{w|embedded system}}s.

Airline pneumatic tube audio was used by in-flight entertainment systems manufactured from 1963 until 1979.

Note that while AC adapters are necessary—and widely available—to suit sockets in other countries, this "universal" converter does not feature any other AC power plugs, but this could be accommodated using adapters.

{{w|Cheater plug}}s exist to connect a NEMA grounding-type plug (three prongs) to a NEMA non-grounding receptacle (two slots), but the use of such an adapter can be hazardous if the grounding tab is not connected to electrical ground. A safer alternative is to replace the outlet with a {{w|Residual-current device|Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI)}} breaker outlet.

The computer media drive connectors are unlike the motherboard-powering connectors from the Power Supply Unit of a PC, which may involve multiple additional 4, 6 and 8-pin 'breakout' supply cables that have this feature and specially 'keyed' pin-sheaths as well to allow forward/backward compatibility between various versions of PSU and motherboard that could be used (and power-hungry GPUs of various kinds, as well).

Note that some embedded systems such as cash registers actually do use larger USB connectors to include 12V and/or 24V power connections. These are not, however, called "macro-USB", and are not as large.

Other countries often use RJ11-ended cables with locally-specific adapter-ends, e.g. the BS 6312 in Britain. Broadband microfilters may make use of this difference by splitting a relevant telephone plug standard into the local non-RJ11 style of telephone plug for an "audio-only" pass-through socket and an RJ11 for the router/modem to be cabled up to for the abstracted "data-only" signal — making an adapter for this will be nearly impossible.

There are two common systems for showing octane numbers on fuel pumps; the numbers shown (87, 91, 93) most closely map to {{w|Octane rating#Anti-Knock Index (AKI) or (R+M)/2|Anti-Knock Index}} values which is used for the North American market and a number of other countries, the other system used in the rest of the world is Research Octane Number. In the AKI system; 87 octane (91 RON) is regular US, 91 octane (95 RON) is regular European, 93 octane (98 RON) is premium European, and in US both 91 and 93 are considered premium/super depending on the regulations of a particular state. Some states, such as California, forbid the sale of the gasoline above 91 octane. Only very rarely could both 91 and 93 be found at the same gas station. The typical line-up is "regular" (87), "plus" (89), and "premium"/"super" (depending on the state and on the fuel brand, 91, 92 or 93 octane). A standard diesel nozzle (24mm) is slightly larger diameter than a standard petrol nozzle (21mm) so you cannot tank diesel into a petrol car but if this nozzle has the petrol nozzle diameter you are still able to tank with it into some diesel cars. Some manufacturers such as Volkswagen fit a misfueling guard and fuel filler neck cap or have redesigned the fuel filler to prevent a petrol nozzle being used in a diesel car.

Since the release of this comic, Apple has created a magnetic charging cable for its Apple Watch, which functions in the same manor as the current MagSafe 1 & 2 by using a magnet to connect to the device. This new charger looks identical to the fictional MagSafe 3 in the comic.

==Transcript==
:[Universal converter box with wires to connectors:]
:VGA
:DVI
:HDMI
:Thunderbolt
:Firewire
:Component
:[sharing connectors with Component:]
:RCA
:1/8" Audio
:1/8" Video
:Parallel Port
:S-Video
:Airline Pneumatic Tube Audio
:PS/2/3/4
:120V AC
::[pointing to ground pin:]
::Removable
:Floppy/IDE/2.5"/SCSI
::[pointing to sections in IDC connector:]
::Break here
:USB
:USB with (weird other end)
:Mini-USB
:Micro USB
:Macro USB
:F Connector
:Fiber
:RJ11
:Ethernet
:Token Ring
:MagSafe
:MagSafe 2
:MagSafe 3
:MagSafe 4
:Bluetooth Dongle
:SCART
:String (fits most cans)
:[Fuel nozzle with selector for:]
:87/91/93/Diesel

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

1784: Bad Map Projection: Liquid Resize

2017-01-22T13:26:29Z

162.158.79.149: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1784
| date = January 11, 2017
| title = Bad Map Projection: Liquid Resize
| image = bad_map_projection_liquid_resize.png
| titletext = This map preserves the shapes of Tissot's indicatrices pretty well, as long as you draw them in before running the resize.
}}

==Explanation==
There is no perfect way to draw a map of the world on a flat piece of paper. Each one will introduce a different type of distortion, and the best projection for a given situation is sometimes very disputed. [[Randall]] previously explored 12 different projections in [[977: Map Projections]], and expressed his disdain for some types he sees as less efficient but whose users feel superior. None of them are really good as any 2D map projection will always distort in a way the spherical reality, and a map projection that is useful for one aspect (like navigation, geographical shapes and masses visualization, etc.) will not be so for all the others. Local maps of smaller areas can be quite accurate, but the idea of both these map projection comics is to map the entire globe on a flat surface.

This comic suggests that there are many other projections than the 12 from the previous map projection comic, and Randall seems to have an entire list, of which at least 107 are "Bad Map Projections." The one presented here is #107 and is it called the "Liquid Resize." It is unclear if he includes the previous 12 in this list. Quite possibly he does, since all 2D projections of the surface of a 3D sphere will be bad in certain respects.

The ''Liquid Resize'' map projection, however, is not only useless for most map applications -- as the size, shape, and position of most countries are quite distorted -- but it's creation includes two steps which are outright counterproductive. If the list is sorted from best to worst it may be hard to find a worse projection method than this, so finding 106 projections better than this one seems realistic!

First, this method needs a planar map projection as its starting point, thus compounding the problems right off the bat. Planar projections are relatively accurate near the center but heavily distorted toward the edges. A famous example of a planar projection is the logo of the {{w|United Nations}}. Planar projections are just about useful for 3D graphics rendering, if the user needs a quick, inexpensive way to store map textures that will later be attached to a sphere.

Second, the map uses [https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/content-aware-scaling.html Photoshop's content aware resizing tool], a very questionable choice. (Using a Photoshop tool for a task it is not intended for was also used in [[1685: Patch]] where a GNU patch tool was replaced with Adobe Photoshop's patch tool to compile code.) The content aware resizing tool resizes images by identifying what it thinks are important details and preserving these, while shrinking or stretching less detailed areas. For example, [http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/710073-content-aware-scaling when used on a face], the algorithm detects that the eyes and mouth are important details and tries to keep these in place, while stretching the skin around it. When applied to a map, this means that areas with lots of countries - and therefore lots of detail - such as Europe, West Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean and Central America/the Caribbean are relatively unchanged, while big countries like India, China and the US are very warped. The choices that the resizing tool makes are also dependent on the exact visual features of the original map, such as the choice of not having any topography or infrastructure drawn on, or not including a latitude/longitude grid, so what areas are deemed as unimportant is even more arbitrary than it would be on, say, a photographic picture of the Earth.

[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/content-aware-scaling Bad content aware scaling] is already a meme. This projection does do a good job, however, of making almost every country clearly visible and indicating which countries are neighbors.
South America fits into Africa almost as it did in the era of the super-continent {{w|Pangaea}}.

{{w|Tissot's indicatrices}} are equally sized small circles overlaid on a globe to show the distortion of a particular map projection; if the map distortion distorts the shapes or areas of countries, it will do the same to the circles. The title text suggests that the shapes of Tissot's indicatrices would be pretty well preserved by the Liquid Resize transformation, 'as long as you draw them in before running the resize'. This is a joke. "Drawing them in before running the resize" means that a different projection would be generated (probably preserving the indicatrices themselves), making the use of the indicatrices meaningless, sort of like cheating. In fact by drawing them small enough there will be no resizing at all.

==Transcript==
:[Caption at the top of the panel:]
:Bad map projection #107:
:<big>The Liquid Resize</big>
:A political map compressed using Photoshop's content-aware resizing algorithm to cut down on unused blank space

:[Below the caption there is a map of the world divided and colored by political boundaries, with outlines around each continent in black and around each country in dark gray. Antarctica is colored in light gray, bodies of water in white, and countries in pale shades of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. The map is heavily distorted, with Africa in the center and the other continents curving around it, approximating the bounds of a square with rounded corners. The oceans have been removed but also huge countries like the US, Australia, Brazil, Russia and especially India and Argentina have been heavily distorted while areas in the center with many smaller countries like Africa and Europe is almost unchanged.]

{{comic discussion}}

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