explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2405: Flash Gatsby

2022-05-04T19:08:48Z

172.68.110.133: Undo revision 241143 by Ex Kay Cee Dee (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2405
| date = December 30, 2020
| title = Flash Gatsby
| image = flash_gatsby.png
| titletext = Protip: At midnight your excuse for not having read The Great Gatsby can switch from "I'm worried about violating copyright" to "I think my copy requires Flash."
}}

==Explanation==

This comic unfolds over the last few seconds of 2020 and the first few seconds of 2021. [[Cueball]] is attempting to do something requiring the overlap of two eras that only abut: creating an "unauthorized" adaptation of ''The Great Gatsby'', using the Adobe Flash plugin platform.

''{{w|The Great Gatsby}}'' is a classic novel written by {{w|F. Scott Fitzgerald}} in 1925. Copyright law in the United States of America, where ''The Great Gatsby'' was first published, was retroactively extended several times in the 1990s and early 2000s, causing the copyright on ''The Great Gatsby'' to extend [https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/595567/why-the-great-gatsby-isnt-public-domain until the end of 2020]. In 2021, it finally entered the public domain so that it became legal to make a copy without violating copyright law.

{{w|Adobe Flash}}, formerly known as Shockwave Flash, is a web plugin that was commonly used by many websites in the late 1990s and 2000s. It allowed website creators to add animations, sound, and complex logic to build games, videos, and other interactive experiences. Presumably, the Flash version of the novel is some kind of interactive reader, animated cartoon, or perhaps even a game.

Over the years, Adobe Flash was repeatedly exploited by hackers, incurring heavy costs on {{w|Adobe Inc.|Adobe}} as they tried to update Flash against these attacks after rushing features out before stabilizing them. Newer technologies are now able to provide comparable features with more compatibility, more community involvement, and less risk, so support for Flash is being phased out by most web browsers. Adobe officially [https://www.adobe.com/ca/products/flashplayer/end-of-life.html ended support for Flash] after December 31, 2020.

In line with Adobe's decision, [https://www.chromium.org/flash-roadmap#TOC-Upcoming-Changes Chrome is blocking Flash in January]. This will make [https://www.newgrounds.com/games entire internet culture histories spanning many years of making and engaging Flash experiences] unusable for most people. Therefore, Cueball's Flash version of ''The Great Gatsby'' will become legal at the very moment that everyone should stop using it.

In this comic, [[Cueball]] suggests that the withdrawal of Flash support occurs after the copyright expiration rather than simultaneously with it. This is most likely because the applicable copyright law in the United States states that the creative work becomes public domain at the end of the year 2020 and Flash gets disabled at the beginning of the year 2021. So it is conceivable (but not practical) that there is one second when the novel is public domain and Flash is still enabled.

By late 2020, Flash Player was already blocked by most browsers, but could still be whitelisted on individual sites. Using old versions of browsers, or workarounds to run blocked extensions, Cueball's Great Gatsby may still be readable after the official Flash End of Life date of January 1, 2021. Even with these workarounds, Flash Player itself will block Flash content from playing on January 12, 2021, making that the final death date for official modern versions of Flash.

After January 12, Flash content may still be accessible through older builds of Flash Player, and through various archival and emulation projects, such as the [https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_flash_showcase Internet Archive], [https://ruffle.rs/ Ruffle], [https://bluemaxima.org/flashpoint/ BlueMaxima's Flashpoint], and [https://www.getsupernova.com/ SuperNova].

The title wording has a number of possible meanings to it. It's the 'Gatsby' book via the medium of the electronic Flash format. Because of the briefest of availability (at best, a single moment), it appears and disappears again 'in a flash'. Being 'flash' is a very apt description of the millionaire Gatsby character himself ('Flash the cash' is being ostentatious). And, if the endeavor is not actually as legitimate as hoped, the word has also referred to felonious behaviors and forged copies.

The title text references using excuses for not having read a book considered a classic. Before the end of 2020, a possible excuse for not trying to read it was it may not have been available in the format a person wanted it (such as via a flash program in this case) and it might have been illegal (copyright violation) to get it in that format. After 2020, the new excuse to not read it could be a technical one (flash doesn't work/nothing capable of running flash). Both excuses are quite flimsy; it's apparent the person really just doesn't care to read The Great Gatsby.

==Transcript==

:[Cueball is sitting at a desk using his laptop.]
:Off-panel voice: 3... 2... 1... ''Happy New Year!''
:Cueball: Okay, it’s up!
:Cueball: Annnnnd ... support was pulled, it’s down again.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:There's only a very short window of time in which I can post my unauthorized Flash® adaptation of ''The Great Gatsby''.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:New Year]]
[[Category:Protip]] <!-- title text ->

1769: Never Seen Star Wars

2022-05-04T17:52:31Z

172.68.110.133: again an act of vandalism

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

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

Cueball reasons that not having watched the films is the "default option", the option that applies if a person makes no explicit choice. In this case it means that if a person does not make the explicit choice to watch the films, then they remain in their initial state of not having watched them. It has been estimated that about 1 billion people, about 15% of the world's population, have seen at least one of the Star Wars movies. This means that about 85% of people alive today have, intentionally or otherwise, exercised that default option. Even accounting for people who have never had the option of seeing Star Wars movies (through poverty, age, country of residence, and so on), people who have not seen Star Wars are still in the majority.

However, the Star Wars mythology is so frequently referenced in American popular culture{{fact}} that it's difficult to consume a normal media diet in the US without being exposed to enough quotes, clips, references, parodies and analogies to piece together most of the plot and major scenes of the films, even having taken no action to see them. Even without having watched it, it's reasonable that White Hat would expect Cueball to know something about the series. He is right, as it happens, since Cueball is able to recognize that "{{w|Death Star}}" is a ''Star Wars'' reference, and later knows that Darth Vader is a major character and that there exists something known as Jedi.

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

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

However, Ponytail doesn't call him out on this error, instead agreeing with it. Cueball is relieved — expressed as his thinking an onomatopoeic sigh of relief — as he believes he has guessed at an accurate piece of information and has avoided entering a similar situation to the previous one. The punchline of this part of the comic is Ponytail's identical feeling of relief, suggesting that she also hasn't seen ''Star Wars'', and is also bluffing to hide that fact. It may be inferred that Ponytail has had similar experiences to Cueball, and now actually starts a conversation about ''Star Wars'' in order to avoid that social stigma. It might also be viewed as both of them having lost an opportunity to have a conversation with someone else who hasn't seen ''Star Wars'', because both are afraid of how they'll be treated.

The "{{w|Star Wars expanded universe|Expanded Universe}}" (EU) was the term used to refer to canonical content outside of original six motion pictures, including novels, comic books, and video games, which existed in a shared continuity. After the ''Star Wars'' franchise was acquired by Disney it was announced that the "Expanded Universe" would be discontinued and rebranded as "Legends", so that the new ''Star Wars'' movies would not have to adhere to the established EU canon.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

:[A small caption above the single panel.]
:Later...

:[Ponytail is looking down at her phone in her left hand while Cueball is facing her.]
:Ponytail: Wait, there's a new ''Star Wars''?
:Cueball: Oh, I've nev–
:Cueball: ...yeah! Excited for it! Big fan.

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

:[Ponytail and Cueball continue facing each other.]
:Ponytail: Haha, he sure does!
:Cueball (thinking): ''Phew.''
:Ponytail (thinking): ''Phew.''

==Trivia==

* White Hat's attitude during this exchange can be contrasted with [[1053: Ten Thousand]], where Cueball instead handles a similar knowledge gap as an opportunity rather than something horrifying.
* This comic may be inspired by the fact that a new ''Star Wars'' movie, ''{{w|Rogue One}}'', was released into American theaters on December 16, 2016, 9 days after the publishing of the strip.
* The huge pop cultural success of Star Wars means it is genuinely surprising to encounter an individual who has not seen it (at least amongst the typical audience of xkcd). The TV series ''{{w|How I Met Your Mother}}'' had {{w|Do I Know You?|an episode}} based around this premise, and there is a radio comedy chat show on {{w|BBC Radio 4}}, as well as a television version in the UK titled ''{{w|I've Never Seen Star Wars (radio series)|I've Never Seen Star Wars}}'', in which celebrity guests try out experiences that are common to others, but new to them.
* The first panel of the comic was once missing lines connecting the dialogue to whoever is saying it. This was later fixed, and the original version is archived [[:File:never seen star wars old.png|here]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

Talk:2610: Assigning Numbers

2022-04-23T08:11:16Z

172.68.110.133:

Does this imply that [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del%27s_incompleteness_theorems Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem] isn't correct? And that it's method is bunk? Please help! -Seer [[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.230|162.158.107.230]] 02:08, 23 April 2022 (UTC)
I believe the intention is that the theorem is not part of the set of bad data science, just that they share this one feature.

Isn't the Gödel number for a theorem calculated by multiplying the numbers of the components together, so complicated theorems would have larger numbers? If so, the current explanation that this isn't a good way to judge fields is wrong. I'm not too sure though. [[User:MrCandela|MrCandela]] ([[User talk:MrCandela|talk]]) 05:52, 23 April 2022 (UTC)

I do not believe that the title suggests renumbering theorems with Gödel numbers, but averaging the existing theorem numbers. Or otherwise, MrCandela's suggestion would be the way to go: Complicated Theorems have larger numbers. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.133|172.68.110.133]] 08:10, 23 April 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2610: Assigning Numbers

2022-04-23T08:10:11Z

172.68.110.133:

Does this imply that [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del%27s_incompleteness_theorems Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem] isn't correct? And that it's method is bunk? Please help! -Seer [[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.230|162.158.107.230]] 02:08, 23 April 2022 (UTC)
I believe the intention is that the theorem is not part of the set of bad data science, just that they share this one feature.

Isn't the Gödel number for a theorem calculated by multiplying the numbers of the components together, so complicated theorems would have larger numbers? If so, the current explanation that this isn't a good way to judge fields is wrong. I'm not too sure though. [[User:MrCandela|MrCandela]] ([[User talk:MrCandela|talk]]) 05:52, 23 April 2022 (UTC)

I do not believe that the title suggests renumbering theorems with Gödel numbers, but averaging the existing theorem numbers. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.133|172.68.110.133]] 08:10, 23 April 2022 (UTC)

2579: Tractor Beam

2022-02-09T19:03:58Z

172.68.110.133: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2579
| date = February 9, 2022
| title = Tractor Beam
| image = tractor_beam.png
| titletext = Did you base the saucer shape on pop culture depictions of aliens, or was that stuff based on your ships? Does the rotational symmetry help with ... hey, where are you going?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by AN ANNOYING CUEBALL - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Cueball is being pulled into a spaceship by a beam of light, called a "{{w|tractor beam}}" by Randall. This is a {{tvtropes|AlienAbduction|common trope}} in science fiction, and usually pretty scary for the person involved. However, while Cueball is being pulled up, he asks a series of questions about the beam, about the force on the ship, and about the ship itself. The punch line is the caption - the aliens, frustrated by Cueball's questioning, release him and move on, to presumably find a different human to kidnap and study.

The first set of questions deals with the properties of the beam – how it can be controlled to pull only him (and his clothes), not anything else. He also wonders whether the beam would still continue to lift his shoes if he took them off midway.

As the ship leaves, Cueball continues asking questions, as shown in the title text.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A flying saucer is hovering over some generally flat terrain, with a few rocks and hills in the background. A beam of light is pulling Cueball up towards the ship.]
:Cueball: Does this beam only lift me? How do you avoid pulling up dirt and leaves and stuff? If I kick off my shoes, will they fall?
:Cueball: Is my weight pulling your ship downward? What will happen if a bat flies through the beam?
:Cueball: Hey, why does your ship have those blinky lights? Are they...

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Moments later, the aliens set me back down and left.

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

2579: Tractor Beam

2022-02-09T19:00:44Z

172.68.110.133: /* Explanation */ link

{{comic
| number = 2579
| date = February 9, 2022
| title = Tractor Beam
| image = tractor_beam.png
| titletext = Did you base the saucer shape on pop culture depictions of aliens, or was that stuff based on your ships? Does the rotational symmetry help with ... hey, where are you going?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by AN ANNOYING CUEBALL - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Cueball is being pulled into a spaceship by a beam of light, called a "{{w|tractor beam}}" by Randall. This is a [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AlienAbduction common trope] in science fiction, and usually pretty scary for the person involved. However, while Cueball is being pulled up, he asks a series of questions about the beam, about the force on the ship, and about the ship itself. The punch line is the caption - the aliens, frustrated by Cueball's questioning, release him and move on, to presumably find a different human to kidnap and study.

As the ship leaves, Cueball continues asking questions, as shown in the title text.

In the title text, Cueball asks two more questions about the saucer shape before noticing the ship leaving entirely.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A flying saucer is hovering over some generally flat terrain, with a few rocks and hills in the background. A beam of light is pulling Cueball up towards the ship.]
:Cueball: Does this beam only lift me? How do you avoid pulling up dirt and leaves and stuff? If I kick off my shoes, will they fall?
:Cueball: Is my weight pulling your ship downward? What will happen if a bat flies through the beam?
:Cueball: Hey, why does your ship have those blinky lights? Are they...

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Moments later, the aliens set me back down and left.

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

Talk:2567: Language Development

2022-01-13T12:36:47Z

172.68.110.133:

Has a small, child-size, stick figure been used before? I did not find a category on explainxkcd. This might be an interesting trivia to add. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.129|198.41.242.129]] 18:45, 12 January 2022 (UTC)
: There have definitely been kids on xkcd before. For example: [[1145: Sky Color]] (but I'm sure there are others). --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 20:04, 12 January 2022 (UTC)
:: Other examples are [[674: Natural Parenting]], [[441: Babies]] and [[1650: Baby]] [[User:Kvarts314|Kvarts314]] ([[User talk:Kvarts314|talk]])
:::Yes nothing odd there, but we could of make a category for comics with babies or mentioning babies, but not like a character page... Could that be relevant? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:56, 13 January 2022 (UTC)
:::: I think it would be relevant. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.133|172.68.110.133]] 12:36, 13 January 2022 (UTC)

Actually words linguists use when they try to talk in very old languages sometimes sound like the things my little son might say between his first perfectly pronounced single words.--[[User:Gunterkoenigsmann|Gunterkoenigsmann]] ([[User talk:Gunterkoenigsmann|talk]]) 18:53, 12 January 2022 (UTC)

Someone needs to say “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny”
[[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.151|172.70.206.151]] 18:56, 12 January 2022 (UTC)

Looking at Wiktionary, I believe the child is saying "[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/milk#Etymology_1 Milk] [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/please#Etymology_1 Please]" See also [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h%E2%82%82mel%C7%B5- Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂melǵ-] [[User:Bpendragon|Bpendragon]] ([[User talk:Bpendragon|talk]]) 18:57, 12 January 2022 (UTC)

Hopefully he won't say the proto-Indo-European word for "bear". [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.26|162.158.74.26]] 19:09, 12 January 2022 (UTC)Pat
:You mean *hrktos? 20:45, 12 January 2022 (UTC)
:: Oops. I think a brown one ate my IP address.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.187.92|162.158.187.92]] 20:49, 12 January 2022 (UTC)
:::I think you mean [[2381: The True Name of the Bear|Arth?]] ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:56, 13 January 2022 (UTC)

The pace of early stage development isn't necessarily an indicator for continued development pacing. I didn't start Proto-Indo-European until I was almost 2, but had completed full vowel shift before second grade. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.73|108.162.237.73]] 21:20, 12 January 2022 (UTC)
:I corroborate this. I hadn't made many full sentences in Proto-Indo-European until around 4, but by 3rd grade I had fully changed to modern english. --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.215|172.70.126.215]] 23:12, 12 January 2022 (UTC)

Though the explanation eventually touches on this (perhaps multiple editors got in there and shuffled this nearer the end) I believe it should really have ''started'' with something about how Language Development (in a child) is being confused/conflated with Language Development (in human (pre)history). It would get straight to the point, I believe. It could then continue to go the further mile in getting into the deconstruction of it all. I'm leaving it unedited by myself, for now, because it deserves a lot more text-shuffling and refining than I can promise to do myself right now, but putting this idea out there to pique the interest of other possible editors. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.79|172.70.85.79]] 21:29, 12 January 2022 (UTC)
:I have done this now. Originally I and someone else both submitted a really long description at the same time and my "merge" in my limited time was just to put my text after his. Now that I have more time, I've gone through and tried to weave the two in a more logical way, and have it starting with the basic explanation of the joke. I'm new to contributing at this level so if someone wants to check it over to make sure it looks good, feel free. [[User:Levininja|Levininja]] ([[User talk:Levininja|talk]]) 00:34, 13 January 2022 (UTC)

"Old English developed out of Proto-Germanic. Modern English developed out of Old English with many additions from French..." According to John McWhorter, English is the product of Germanic tongues (spoken by Angles or Saxons?) creolized with the local Celtic languages such as the ancestors of Welsh and Cornish. That involved a blending of grammar and some vocabulary. Later came pidginizing with Norse speech of the Vikings, where details like case inflections were blurred or lost. Romance borrowings came yet a bit later, with 1066 and all that Norman Conquest business. 
McWhorter's ''Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English'' is perhaps worth a read; hope I haven't mutilated the gist of it too much. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.245|172.70.110.245]] 01:01, 13 January 2022 (UTC)

I second a mention/explanation of the whole "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny" idea mentioned above. In biological evolution that turned out to be an error, and it's obviously an error here, too. [[User:Mschmidt62|Mschmidt62]] ([[User talk:Mschmidt62|talk]]) 02:34, 13 January 2022 (UTC)

If the baby is speaking Proto-Indo-European (with some emerging Germanic) at age 1, and Elizabethan English by age 2, is anyone able to work out by what age they would be speaking our present form of English? --[[User:Enchantedsleeper|enchantedsleeper]] ([[User talk:Enchantedsleeper|talk]]) 10:23, 13 January 2022 (UTC)

2562: Formatting Meeting

2022-01-03T09:03:55Z

172.68.110.133: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2562
| date = December 31, 2021
| title = Formatting Meeting
| image = formatting_meeting.png
| titletext = Neither group uses iso 8601 because the big-endian enthusiasts were all at the meeting 20 years ago.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a LOCAL VERSION OF DR SEUSS, WHO IS NOT JONATHAN SWIFT - Needs wikification and consideration of whether there is a relation to new year's eve. Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In the United States, it's common to write dates numerically in the format ''month/day/year'' -- 2/3/22 means February 3, 2022 (the century is often omitted when it's obvious that the date is around the current time). In Europe, the usual order is ''day/month/year'' - so 2/3/22 is 2nd March, 2022.

"Localization" is the technique used in software to make it accept input and display output in the formats most natural to users in their locations. For example, in the United States numbers use commas "," to separate thousands and a decimal point "." to separate the decimal values, while in large areas of the EU it is the reverse. And the textual output will be translated to the local language. Naturally, this also includes displaying dates in the local format, as described above. Localization may also include the adoption of the tax law to the location, for instance when adopting software made for the US to the UK.

The joke in this comic is that two dates are shown on the same display related to meetings regarding localization. The date of the meeting of the US team is localized in the US format, while the EU team's meeting is localized in the European format, and these two dates about a month apart happen to be formatted the same (there are many such pairs of dates, as long as the day of the month is between 1 and 12). Cueball needs to explain that the European meeting will be a month later than the US meeting, to avoid confusion due to the ambiguity (which is ironic, since localization is intended to reduce confusion).

{{w|ISO-8601}} (that is, standard number 8601 as promulgated by the International Organization for Standardization since 1988) specifies a date format of YYYY-MM-DD (e.g. 2021-12-31), which results in dates being listed in chronological order when sorted stringwise. The ISO format is called "{{w|big-endian}}", which refers to the fact that the largest unit in the date (the year) comes first; the European format is instead "{{w|little-endian}}", while the American format is "{{w|middle-endian}}" (or "mixed-endian") since the unit given first is the one whose size is in the middle. (Regular numerals are also written with the largest place values on the left – for example, the first 2 in 2021 is the thousands place – though whether this convention is big-endian or little-endian depends on whether the numbers are being read in the context of left-to-right or right-to-left text. The "endianness" terms are most often used in reference to whether the address of a value in the computer memory is the location of the most significant or least significant cell, though they originate in a [https://www.ling.upenn.edu/courses/Spring_2003/ling538/Lecnotes/ADfn1.htm Jonathan Swift story] about a war over which end of the egg to eat first.) This standard was also mentioned in [[1179: ISO 8601]].

The joke in the title text is that someone attempting to interpret the improperly formatted date as if it were expressed in the standardized ISO-8601 format, might read the date as March 22, 2002, so they went to the meeting almost 20 years ago. Unless the announcement of the meetings was made 2 decades in advance, there's a paradox that these participants would have taken the date from an announcement in the far future. However this interpretation of the date is necessarily incorrect: ISO-8601 format specifies four-digit years, two-digit months, and two-digit days. Therefore "2/3/22” ''cannot'' be an ISO-8601 date, as "2" must be rendered as "0002", and "3" must be "03". Even if the leading zeroes were omitted in violation of ISO-8601, the year would become Year 2, not Year 2002. Since the standard always uses a 4 digit 'YYYY' format in the first field, and no common formatting uses YYYY-DD-MM, any date written in ISO-8601 is easily recognized and (comparatively) unambiguously interpretable as YYYY-MM-DD. Dates written in Y-M-DD or MM-DD-YY or other formats are (officially) formatted improperly.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball sitting next to a screen, which displays]:
:Localization working group
:Upcoming meetings
:<hr>
:US Team: 2/3/22
:EU Team: 2/3/22

:Cueball: And the European formatting and localization team will meet a month later...

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Calendar]]

Talk:2561: Moonfall

2021-12-30T07:33:39Z

172.68.110.133:

Well, it did fund 8 out of 10 seasons of Mythbusters[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 19:11, 29 December 2021 (UTC)
:What is "it"? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:58, 29 December 2021 (UTC)
::Explosions, probably. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:15, 29 December 2021 (UTC)

This synopsis makes me eager to never ever see this tripe, which the comic failed to achieve. Thank you, explainxkcd, for saving me time and money.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.18|162.158.107.18]] 20:03, 29 December 2021 (UTC)
:It doesn't sound much different from most other action blockbusters, like the "Terminator" franchise, or "Armageddon". And it will probably be better than the "Transformer" movies. As Cueball and Megan indicate, it's mostly about watching lots of things blow up, not about plausibility. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:57, 29 December 2021 (UTC)
:”…only to find out that our Moon is not what we think it is.” – Wait, what, the moon isn’t cheese?? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.183.164|162.158.183.164]] 22:32, 29 December 2021 (UTC)

Only thing less likely than Moon suddenly getting on collision course is that we will be able to prevent the collision. Wait. I see he lowered the bar even more with only THREE people somehow fixing it without help of rest of NASA ... how do they even get to space without help? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:14, 29 December 2021 (UTC)
:"[O]ne astronaut from her past, Brian Harper and a conspiracy theorist K.C. Houseman" is grammatically confusing. That could be either three people (assuming it's an omitted Oxford comma) or one person (an astronaut named Brian Harper who spreads conspiracy theories under the pseudonym "K.C. Houseman"). It needs at least one more comma if "Brian Harper" is supposed to be an appositive [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.77|162.158.78.77]] 06:06, 30 December 2021 (UTC)
:: I believe it's a quote. So the grammatical errors are on the movie producers. ----

2561: Moonfall

2021-12-29T20:34:40Z

172.68.110.133: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2561
| date = December 29, 2021
| title = Moonfall
| image = moonfall.png
| titletext = Novel ideas and cool explosions are both good, but what I really want from a movie is novel ideas ABOUT cool explosions.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by COOL EXPLOSIONS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The comic seems to be referring to the new upcoming 2022 movie ''[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5834426/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 Moonfall]''. Its director, {{w|Roland Emmerich}}, is know for blowing up things in his movies, as shown in [https://www.gq.com/video/watch/explosions-the-roland-emmerich-supercut the Roland Emmerich Supercut], as well as for factual inaccuracies in his work (from the scientific implausibility of his many disaster movies to ''[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1521197/ claiming that William Shakespeare did not write Shakespeare's plays]).

The plot of ''Moonfall'' is scientifically preposterous, making it potentially "cringe-worthy" for someone who enjoys "hard" science fiction:

:In Moonfall, a mysterious force knocks the Moon from its orbit around Earth and sends it hurtling on a collision course with life as we know it. With mere weeks before impact and the world on the brink of annihilation, NASA executive and former astronaut Jo Fowler is convinced she has the key to saving us all - but only one astronaut from her past, Brian Harper and a conspiracy theorist K.C. Houseman believe her. These unlikely heroes will mount an impossible last-ditch mission into space, leaving behind everyone they love, only to find out that our Moon is not what we think it is. —Centropolis Entertainment, [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5834426/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl quoted at IMDB]

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan walking to the right]]
:Megan: Are you excited for ''Moonfall''?
:Megan: or cringing?
:Cueball: Well...

:[Closeup on Cueball]]
:Cueball: I like when stories are grounded in good science because it's exciting to expand our ideas of what's possible.

:[Zoomed back out to Cueball and Megan walking to the right. Cueball has his palms raised]
:Cueball: But I also support giving Roland Emmerich as much money as he wants to make cool spaceship noises and smash moons into things.
:Megan: Excited to expand our ideas of how much stuff can explode at once.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category: Fiction]]
[[Category: Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category: Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category: Comics featuring real people]]

2547: Siren

2021-11-27T09:00:53Z

172.68.110.133: Wrong directions

{{comic
| number = 2547
| date = November 26, 2021
| title = Siren
| image = siren.png
| titletext = Directions from CITY OF TROY to ITHACA / Total time: 10y 54d 14h 25m / Warning: Route crosses an international border / route includes capture by the goddess Calypso / route includes a ferry
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a ODYSSEUS’S BROKEN GPS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{w|Odysseus}} is the hero of the Greek epic ''{{w|Odyssey}}'' by {{w|Homer}}. The poem concerns the journey of Odysseus back home to his homeland from the newly defeated Troy, however he inadvertently angered Poseidon causing the journey to take 10 years. In the poem, {{w|Circe}} warns Odysseus of the {{w|siren (mythology)|sirens}}, who sing beautiful songs that lure sailors to the shore, their boat sinking before they reach it due to jagged rocks surrounding the islands. This comic suggests that Odysseus was being told to ignore a {{w|Satellite navigation device|GPS}}, rather than the Sirens. GPSs did not exist during the time the poem was written {{citation needed}}, so this is not the case.

A navigation system giving wrong directions can happen, for example, due to outdated or incomplete map data. Sometimes users can file an error report with the provider of the navigation system and hope that they fix the problem in a software update. This is what Circe already did multiple times. However, the error was not fixed, so she has to resort to telling Odysseus to ignore the route.

The title text shows what the route description could have looked like, had Odysseus indeed used a modern navigation system. It includes the start and destination of the route, the estimated duration and warnings about special circumstances of the journey.

Normally, the sea voyage from the City of Troy to Ithaca should take much less than ten years. For Odysseus it took so long because of the many obstacles he had to face, so the navigation system would have some sort of clairvoyance function built in.

"Route crosses an international border" and "Route includes a ferry" are standard warnings included in a route description. The latter alludes to the fact that Odysseus made the voyage by sea. "Route includes capture by the goddess Calypso" is not normally something that a navigation system would warn about.

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

:[Circe is speaking to Odysseus.]
:Circe: Remember, Odysseus:
:Circe: As you pass the rocks you will hear a woman calling out to you, urging you to stray from your path, but plug your ears and hold your course, for her beguiling lies will draw you to a watery grave.
:Circe: I don't know ''why'' they can't just fix it. I keep filing error reports.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Circe was actually just telling Odysseus to ignore his GPS.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:2543: Never Told Anyone

2021-11-18T03:55:23Z

172.68.110.133:

Possible alternative explanation: It's a quick one-time two-factor authentication code that is generated with an app like google auth, or sent by sms, and is only valid for a minute or too. A password would still be needed,and therefore it would be almost completely useless.
[[User:Billsmithsmithbill22|Billsmithsmithbill22]] ([[User talk:Billsmithsmithbill22|talk]]) 02:16, 18 November 2021 (UTC) Bill Smith
:That's how I interpreted it, too. Password recovery links are usually very long strings, not just 6 digits. The joke is that the email or SMS with the 2FA code usually warns not to disclose the code, even though it can't be reused. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 02:43, 18 November 2021 (UTC)

263827 is prime, is that worthy of a mention? {{unsigned}}
:If you think it is a factor! (...of a semiprime, maybe.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.141|172.70.90.141]] 03:48, 18 November 2021 (UTC)

Could "I never told anyone *this* before" be a wordplay on the fact that it is a one-time code, which means if she told anyone else before it would have been a different one?
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.133|172.68.110.133]] 03:55, 18 November 2021 (UTC)

2536: Wirecutter

2021-11-03T09:50:27Z

172.68.110.133: /* Explanation */ more explanations for budget and upgrade picks

{{comic
| number = 2536
| date = November 1, 2021
| title = Wirecutter
| image = wirecutter.png
| titletext = This was always going to be a controversial Wirecutter post, but what really got them in trouble were their 'budget' and 'upgrade' picks.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BUDGET SUBGENIUS- Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

''{{w|Wirecutter (website)|Wirecutter}}'' is a product review website owned by ''The New York Times''. Randall is parodying the website by having them "review" the 70 most popular [[:Category:Religion|religion]]s. Product review websites typically make posts with the "best" X, e.g. "Best smartphones", or "Best laptops". These reviews are useful for consumers trying to choose among the wide variety of products available.

There is also {{w|List of religions and spiritual traditions|a wide variety of religions}}. However, unlike electronic devices, a person does not usually choose their religion; they are taught one during childhood and most remain in that religion their entire life. Changing religions is a significant life event. More specifically, many variants of the three major {{w|Abrahamic religions}} promote {{w|Religious exclusivism|exclusivity}}, and do not recognize other religions as valid. They emphasize the importance of belief in specific creeds. Members of those religions might not recognize a reviewer as having truly "tried" their religion if their intent was always to move on to another.

A post "reviewing" religions is sure to stir up controversy, as most religious followers are passionate about their religious beliefs and don't want to be compared against other religions. {{w|Religious_war|Literal wars}} have been fought over the idea one religion could be superior to another, and it is not a wound most practitioners are willing to reopen any time soon. Moreover, religions are typically chosen for more fundamental reasons -- such as by comparing the likelihood that each religion makes accurate claims, or the efficacy of each religion in promoting an ethical life, or the connection a practitioner feels to the religion's rituals, metaphors, and images, or by privileging a preexisting cultural or family connection to a particular tradition -- not by comparing gimmicky features or price.

The title text mentions "budget" and "upgrade" picks, which are subcategories for reviewers - cheaper options and options that are good for upgrading your current product to a newer one. Neither of these categories are typical categories for religions {{Citation needed}} and would further anger their adherents. The association of religion and money could allude to various controversial topics such as {{w|tithe|tithing}}, {{w|indulgences}}, {{w|televangelism}}, or {{w|Prosperity theology}}; the website's potential pick of {{w|Judaism}} for the budget category would also understandably "really get them in trouble" as it would be widely regarded as {{w|economic antisemitism|antisemitic}}. The idea of a religion "upgrade" evokes the highly divisive concept of {{w|supersessionism}} among the major Abrahamic religions, which would be guaranteed to cause further outcry no matter which one of those the article would pick for the category.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A New York Times Wirecutter article. There is the NYT logo and Wirecutter logo in the top left. Also in the top of the page is a search bar, a user account icon, and 7 "header" level hyperlinks with illegible text. The article title is as follows:]
:The Best Religion
:By Wirecutter Staff

:[The words "Wirecutter Staff" are followed by illegible text presumably representing the date of the article. Below are icons for Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, and save.]

:[The article's image depicts Cueball shrugging in the center of the picture with many question marks floating above him. The content of the article is as follows:]

:What does it all mean? Our reviewers tried out over 70 of the most popular belief systems. Here's what they found...

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]