explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2199: Cryptic Wifi Networks

2019-10-29T07:11:58Z

172.68.142.83: reply

Reminds me of [https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Doctor-Who-Wifi-SSIDs.jpg these] :) [[User:BytEfLUSh|BytEfLUSh]] ([[User talk:BytEfLUSh|talk]]) 00:17, 7 September 2019 (UTC)

It would be nice to check to see if this SSID exists already (using LocationAPI.org, Combain Positioning Service, Google location services, Wiggle, etc.). Could also be interesting to track use of this SSID over time. Of course takes a while for any changes to show up in the search engines. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.166|108.162.245.166]] 02:17, 7 September 2019 (UTC)

:Is there a way to make a https://github.com/freifunk/openwifimap-api/blob/master/API.md query out of a URL? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.82|162.158.255.82]] 14:45, 7 September 2019 (UTC)

Soon those names will be e.g. "StarLink_6514". ;) [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 09:46, 7 September 2019 (UTC)

Could the 46UHZ be a reference to the frequency band, i.e. 5GHz? Maybe this WiFi network was originally configured to operate on an unknown-to-us 46μHz band. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.38.88|172.68.38.88]] 18:49, 7 September 2019 (UTC)

: 46 microHz would be in the submarine communications area. Unlikely to exist on a mountain top. {{unsigned ip|162.158.123.199|10:23, 8 September 2019}}
: Furthermore, since the data transmission rate is limited by the signal frequency, a 46 microHz signal would have extremely dismal performance - many magnitudes slower than 56K dialup modems. At ~6 hours per cycle, you probably couldn't even get 1 byte of data per day. I don't think that would be useful at all! [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 20:52, 8 September 2019 (UTC)
::But think of the range! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.25|162.158.107.25]] 15:54, 21 September 2019 (UTC)

I live in the middle of the forest, even in the winter when there are no leaves to block the way there's only one house even within sight, and yet there are five 802.11* networks in my scan right now. I mean, they're all mine, but still...—[[User:Kazvorpal|Kazvorpal]] ([[User talk:Kazvorpal|talk]]) 23:09, 7 September 2019 (UTC)

"a character with a knit cap is on top of a high mountain in a remote location. He sees" How do we know that Knit Cap is a "he"? We don't, actually . . . . [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.136|162.158.214.136]] 12:19, 8 September 2019 (UTC)

My favorite ISP is linksys! [[User:RandalSchwartz|RandalSchwartz]] ([[User talk:RandalSchwartz|talk]]) 17:42, 8 September 2019 (UTC)

Knit Cap may just have forgotten they have a Toshiba device in their backpack, set to 'hot spot' mode, so it would seem like this cryptic WiFi network is following them, making them feel spooky for no reason. -- [[User:Malgond|Malgond]] ([[User talk:Malgond|talk]]) 07:57, 9 September 2019 (UTC)

This "explanation" is mostly incomprehensible to non-tech people. Can someone create a site ExplainExplainxkcd? Or translate the jargon into English? {{unsigned ip|162.158.39.11|04:54, 9 September 2019}}
: I agree the explanation has devolved into a history lesson in wireless communications, and most of the latter paragraphs are largely unnecessary. The alternate explanations paragraph seems to have grown into a list of ridiculous possibilities. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 12:43, 9 September 2019 (UTC)
::Ridiculous or carefully selected from mindful curation? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.142.83|172.68.142.83]] 07:11, 29 October 2019 (UTC)

Trivia could be a reference to number radio stations that were allegedly tuned on the first receivers before regular broadcasts started. I've heard such (false, obviously) claim somewhere, but cannot find it anywhere. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.32|172.68.50.32]] 11:23, 11 September 2019 (UTC)

u2187 could refer to a [https://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/2187/index.htm unicode character]?
:That's funny, it renders on Android Chrome but not OSX Safari. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.146.166|162.158.146.166]] 21:44, 12 September 2019 (UTC)

What is 48 UHz in lightspeed wavelength? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.134|172.69.22.134]] 23:55, 13 September 2019 (UTC)
:48 microhertz corresponds to a wavelength of 6,200 Gm or 41 AU.[https://converterr.com/frequency-wavelength/48-microhertz-to-wavelength-in-gigametres] The period is 4.1 per day, 5h50m or 29 per week. The alien colony ship? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.46.245|172.68.46.245]] 22:31, 14 September 2019 (UTC)

Sounds like SCP material [[User:CCCVVVA|CCCVVVA]] ([[User talk:CCCVVVA|talk]]) 06:07, 23 September 2019 (UTC)

:[[User:CCCVVVA]] are there any SCP numbers assigned for ordinary visiting alien colony ships yet? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.142.161|172.68.142.161]] 06:59, 29 October 2019 (UTC)

2217: 53 Cards

2019-10-20T04:45:58Z

172.68.142.83: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2217
| date = October 18, 2019
| title = 53 Cards
| image = 53_cards.png
| titletext = Well, there's one right here at the bottom, where it says "53."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a 53-CARD DECK. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In this comic Cueball claims that he has found a way to manipulate a {{w|Standard 52-card deck|52-card deck}} into a 53-card deck with ''only'' shuffling and rearranging. This is absurd, since there is no way for new cards to be incorporated, thus violating the laws of conservation. He backs up this claim with a diagram containing random mathematical jargon and challenges Ponytail to find an error. However, the given math is sufficiently esoteric that an error cannot easily be found. It's possible that the process [[804:_Pumpkin_Carving|involves the Banach-Tarski paradox at some step.]]

The caption below the comic states that this is how Randall feels when talking to someone who likes the theory of {{w|perpetual motion}}, motion of macroscopic bodies that, barring mechanical damage, continues indefinitely. This is impossible according to currently known laws of physics, since such motion would entail producing energy out of nothing in order to overcome friction, but adherents still believe it is possible. The comic draws comparison between conservation of energy and conservation of cards in a deck.

In the title text, Ponytail responds to Cueball's challenge with snark, claiming that the most obvious error is the fact that the formula's result is "53". This doesn't actually prove that there is an error in Cueball's math, but Ponytail refuses to entertain the possibility that 52 items can become 53 items without having any items added to the system in the process – similar to how energy can be transferred but never produced.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:Cueball: I've found a way to turn a 52-card deck into 53 cards by shuffling and rearranging them.
:Ponytail: No, you haven't.
:Cueball: How do you know?! I challenge you to find an error in my math!

:Caption: Every conversation between a physicist and a perpetual motion enthusiast.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Physics]]

2215: Faculty:Student Ratio

2019-10-18T16:54:29Z

172.68.142.83: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2215
| date = October 14, 2019
| title = Faculty:Student Ratio
| image = faculty_student_ratio.png
| titletext = They managed to briefly hit the top of the rankings when they rejected everyone except one applicant, published 5 billion research papers that just said "Hi," and hired one of their graduates for $50 trillion/year (then fired them after 10 microseconds.)
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an XKCD UNIVERSITY RESEARCH PAPER - HI. This explanation needs a discussion of how different forms of instruction modify the effective student-teacher ratio. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Universities are often rated in various ways to help students/parents pick which one to attend. This comic satirizes the very real culture of schools modifying their actions to artificially inflate their ratings. One metric used in ratings is the {{w|Student–teacher ratio|ratio between the number of faculty members to the number of students}}. Typically this is expressed as student-teacher ratio, which normally determines how much time teachers get to spend with individual students. The lower the ratio, i.e., the fewer students per teacher, the smaller classes teachers have to teach, and thus the more attention the teachers can give to each student. However, having many more teachers than student(s), as in this comic, is not very beneficial to the student(s). (For context for international readers, high student-teacher ratios are common and expected in the United States, Randall's home country, whereas some nations especially in Asia sometimes report much lower ratios, often close to 1:1 in some areas).

Another metric commonly used to measure a college's exclusivity and therefore prestige is the college's rejection rate; more prestigious schools get more applicants, and since they can accept only a limited number, they must reject many. Less prestigious schools often accept a higher fraction of their applicants, but some schools will reject students whose test scores, résumé, etc. are much higher than average for the school, since it's likely that college is a "safety school" and the student won't actually go there. This rejection can decrease the school's acceptance rate and make it appear more prestigious. However, if the above-average student does want to attend that school, they are unable to, even though it would be good for both the college and the student.

{{w|Proprietary colleges|For-profit universities}} and {{w|diploma mills}} may use techniques like this to artificially boost their ratings, or use fabricated metrics and {{w|accreditation mills}} to give an inflated appearance of value. {{w|Predatory publishing|Predatory publishers}} and conferences are other techniques used to inflate the perceived value of a school, or to pad curriculum vitae.

In the title text, other metrics are skewed in the school's favor:

*Having a high standard for entry is usually associated with better or high-prestige schools; however, this is subverted by the fact that the school has only one student per class, making for a poor educational experience. {{Citation needed}}

*A high number of research papers would normally indicate a high level of scientific research at the school; however, ''these'' research papers are devoid of any sort of useful information.

*A high hiring rate (percentage of students that have gotten a job after education) and a high average salary after graduation is favorable, as it is one goal for many students attending college. However, the school in question artificially inflates these metrics by having all (one out of one) of their student body be hired by them, producing a 100% hiring rate, and giving them a starting salary that is astronomically high, but not giving them enough employment time to actually gain very much income. $50 trillion/year for 10 microseconds is approximately $15.85 (= $50e12 / (365 * 24 * 60 * 60) * 10e-6) if pay is assumed to be spread constantly over the full 365 days of the year. Assuming fifty-two 40-hour work weeks would make this <abbr title="$66.77=$50e12 / (52 * 5 * 8 * 60 * 60) * 10e-6">$66.77</abbr>. Since xkcd originates in the USA, trillion most likely means 1e12 (i.e., {{w|Long and short scales|short scale}}), as compared to 1e18 (long scale interpretation).

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting hunched over a desk writing while ten people crowd around him, five on each side, all leaning towards him. On the left side they are Hairbun, a Cueball-like man, Hairy, Megan - who speaks, and another Cueball-like man. On the right are Ponytail, a third Cueball-like man, another Megan-like woman, Blondie and finally a fourth Cueball-like man.]
:Megan: How's the work going?
:Cueball: Can you all at least stand back a little?

:[Caption below the panel]:
:My school tried to game the ratings by having a 30:1 faculty:student ratio

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]

Talk:538: Security

2019-10-15T17:10:05Z

172.68.142.83:

I was in a flea market one time when I saw a booth who sold wrenches. They were priced starting at $2. There were even $5 wrenches!
Yes; I did this in response to this comic strip. No; I did not buy one. (I have no need to "crack" a computer. I just wanted to prove that there is a $5 wrench.)
[[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 02:15, 3 November 2012 (UTC)
(Oops... I forgot to log on... I feel... scared.)
[[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 02:15, 3 November 2012 (UTC)

Remember the other comic, talking about how much does your time spent to pick up a penny cost? This applies here too! It's not just $5 for the wrench, there is also the time of the guy who will be hitting with it! Although of course the wrench is amortizable over multiple secret extraction sessions, unless it gets bent too much out of shape. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.5|108.162.246.5]] 20:57, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

I went to the flea market and bought a $5 wrench, then used it to beat the password out of 2^5 nerds. I just wanted to prove that there is a $5 wrench and that it's reasonable to amortize it over multiple extraction sessions. The wrench is still in good shape, even to use as a wrench. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.115|108.162.215.115]] 18:26, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

Why does everyone imagine that the "crypto nerd" will be a "him"? This gendered language is simply reinforcing the sexist stereotypes that serve as the cultural foundation for rape and other symptoms of this sexist worldview. I'm changing this to "him or her"... {{unsigned|Vctr}}
The text of the comic refers to the cryptonerd being a him. Please check yourself before you wreck yourself. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.99|108.162.221.99]] 18:07, 1 May 2015 (UTC)

Same concept as [[416: Zealous Autoconfig]]. [[User:Shanek|Shanek]] ([[User talk:Shanek|talk]]) 12:31, 1 May 2015 (UTC)

What would happen if the owner of the computer used deniable cryptography with some decoy message? -- [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.141|173.245.48.141]] 08:35, 15 July 2015 (UTC)

: As pointed out by the wikipedia article, deniable cryptography might either fool the attackers, or make them keep beating you even after you give them the real password. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.179|198.41.235.179]] 22:48, 13 October 2015 (UTC)

Surely if he's encrypting his PC, he should be using something like 256-bit AES/Rijndael, as it's more secure? [[User:Walale12|Walale12]] ([[User talk:Walale12|talk]]) 10:11, 24 July 2015 (UTC)

I doubt the crypto "nerd"'s nerdiness. RSA is not generally used for disk encryption. It relies on the computation of large primes, a task infeasible for data of such size. Instead, AES is used. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.163|108.162.250.163]] 13:54, 15 January 2016 (UTC)
:Quite often, disk encryption is done in two steps: Instead of generating key directly from passphrase, random symmetrical key is generated and used for actual encryption of whole disk, then encrypted by key generated from passphrase and stored ON the disk. That allows to change the passphrase without reencrypting whole disk. While the algorithm used for encrypting disk could be and often is AES, it's possible to use RSA for the second step. And breaking 4096bit RSA would still be quicker than breaking 256bit AES. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:35, 15 July 2019 (UTC)

Lol. The spelling "wench"
:My game is up! Drat! ;)
:Please sign your comments. - Also this article has been vandalized few times, to change wrench->wench. I now notice that the title text here also says so. On the original page it says wrench. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 06:15, 14 August 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2209: Fresh Pears

2019-10-01T20:07:08Z

172.68.142.83: radical idea

If anyone complains about the wait, Beret Guy can tell them to 'grow a pear'.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.151|162.158.158.151]] 21:04, 30 September 2019 (UTC)

Beret Guy may just have a good idea. Why not put up a seed dispenser with a sign: "Plant a pear tree: 50¢"? Any unwanted seedlings could easily be removed--even accidentally by lawn mowers--within the first few years, and wanted trees would last a long time, benefit the environment, and produce food for people and animals. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.51|162.158.74.51]] 21:31, 30 September 2019 (UTC)
:That is a great idea! I hope some one will try that. [[User:Cow|Cow]] ([[User talk:Cow|talk]]) 23:08, 30 September 2019 (UTC)
::Maybe we could train bio-drones to eat fruit and then excrete the seeds with fertilizer far and wide. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.142.83|172.68.142.83]] 20:07, 1 October 2019 (UTC)

This comic makes me hungry... for apples.
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 04:34, 1 October 2019 (UTC)

I don't think there is much difference between growing apple and pear trees (and most other trees bearing fruit), if you want decent fruits you need to turn to vegetative propagation with grafting, cutting or layering etc. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.109.6|172.69.109.6]] 05:56, 1 October 2019 (UTC)

That's right: almost all tree fruit are vegetatively propagated, mostly by grafting. Including pears. They won't come true from seed, and seedlings generally have greatly inferior fruit. [[User:Mhuben|Mhuben]] ([[User talk:Mhuben|talk]]) 12:42, 1 October 2019 (UTC)

Hmm... perhaps we can speed up one of those. <code>def get_num_unfinished_explanations(): return 0</code>. Done! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.248|141.101.77.248]] 06:58, 1 October 2019 (UTC)

It should also be noted that pears picked ripe off the tree are often inferior to ones that have been picked a week or two early and ripened off the tree. Ripening on the tree produces more gritty particles in the pear as compared to ripening off the tree. These gritty particles are made by cells similar to those that form the stone in peaches. In any case, a pear "fresh off the tree" would either be unripe, or gritty. Unless the machine picks it green and hold it until is completes ripening before dispensing it.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.154|108.162.241.154]] 11:04, 1 October 2019 (UTC)

2207: Math Work

2019-09-29T22:18:21Z

172.68.142.83: /* Explanation */ fix capitalistization

{{comic
| number = 2207
| date = September 25, 2019
| title = Math Work
| image = math_work.png
| titletext = I could type this into a solver, which MIGHT help, but would also mean I have to get a lot of parentheses right...
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by TWO UNKNOWNS. What caused the early 2014 popularity spike of the term, "they did the math"? Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[White Hat]] is observing a {{w|physicist}}, [[Cueball]], who is staring at some (in the comic unreadable) equations and diagrams on a {{w|chalkboard}}. White Hat is neither a physicist nor a {{w|mathematician}}, and seems to glorify those professions. He wishes he understood Cueball's work and "the beauty on display here." People who profess a love for mathematics often cite the beauty they see in pure math, how things work out so perfectly, as the reason they love math.

The joke is that Cueball as a physicist is doing something instead quite simple and relatable: Avoiding hard work. Solving many kinds of constraints for two unknowns isn't necessarily difficult, but can be depending on the details. Cueball clearly thinks a solution is possible but would rather find an easier route. The same could be said about the field of mathematics in general: A proof is beautiful to a mathematician when it provides {{w|aesthetic}} pleasure, usually associated with being easy to understand. A proof is elegant when it is both easy to understand and correct, and mathematical solutions are profound when useful.

A mathematical problem involving two unknowns could be a {{w|system of linear equations}} which can often be solved on paper, a blackboard, in a spreadsheet with solver functions, or by a {{w|computer algebra system}} such as [https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=x%2By%3D10%2C+x-y%3D4&lk=3 WolframAlpha.com.] Linear equations are a typical kind of more general constraint satisfaction problems, which in turn are {{w|mathematical optimization}} problems, where the minimization of a difference from a goal state (such as that all of the constraining equations are true, for example) indicates the extent to which constraints are met. Sometimes such problem solving activity arises naturally from economic transactions according to, for example, the laws of {{w|supply and demand}}, arising in the general context of civilization and ecology (both of which have properties associated with beauty and mathematical elegance.) Problems solved by economics are examples of {{w|distributed constraint optimization}} processes. When economic laws are not sufficiently satisfying constraints, that is a {{w|market failure}}, which indicates that more artificial and manual mathematical work is required, instead of the naturally arising or otherwise automatic methods contemplated by Cueball. Other distributed constraint optimization systems can be {{w|crowdsourcing}} games, such as {{w|FoldIt}} and {{w|Galaxy Zoo}}.

Of the graphic elements on the blackboard, the most distinctive appears to be a pair of wedges from a pie chart, where the radius of the slices is being used to represent another variable than the angles which all pie charts use to represent a primary variable. Since the cartoon is in black and white, the use of color to represent category labels or more variables may be ruled out. Such black-and-white wedges represent two variables, the meaning of which may be unknown to us, let alone their values. The only distributed constraint optimization game which uses such wedges may be the {{w|climate stabilization wedge}} game [https://cmi.princeton.edu/wedges/game from Princeton University.] In that wedge game, angles represent a potential number of gigatons of atmospheric carbon mitigation (out of about 38 for the circle) and radius indicates uptake, or the extent to which the mitigation solution is effective.

That game is an example of a bivariate optimization problem which might not have to be manually solved by anyone, for example under specific assumptions about the market in [https://x.company/projects/foghorn Project Foghorn] [https://www.docdroid.net/WlkWabq/ioc-part-1-prototype-article-in-press.pdf plants] and [https://www.docdroid.net/SRxC3bd/power-to-gas-efficiency.pdf power-to-gas upgrades for natural gas] power plants. If such market-based approaches to distributed constraint satisfaction are successful, then the work in finding the solution would be performed not entirely by physicists, chemical engineers, mathematicians, or intentional crowdworkers playing a game to achieve the optimal solution(s), but instead in even larger part by far more widely distributed crowdworkers who are simply making their own, ideally self-interested choices regarding their demand for {{w|desalination|desalinated}} and {{w|drinking water|potable water}}, {{w|carbon-neutral fuel|carbon-neutral liquid transportation fuel}} and carbon-negative {{w|carbon sequestration|sequestration}} in {{w|fiber-reinforced composite}} lumber, both made from {{w|ocean acidification|carbonate dissolved in seawater}}, and for recycling the carbon in power plant flue exhaust for the {{w|Energy storage|storage of renewable energy}} such as off-peak {{w|wind power}}. The relative beauty, elegance, and simplicity of the possible solutions to such problems is subjective, and might involve strong differences of opinion between outside observers, mathematicians and engineers involved with the details, and {{w|Villain#Sympathetic villain|fossil fuel barons}}, respected and enriched by society for their part in meeting energy demand. (See "All Chemistry Equations" in [[2034: Equations]].)

The title text continues Cueball's thought process, with the possibility of using an automatic equation solver to find the unknowns. Equation solvers are not often considered beautiful ways to address purely mathematical problems, even if they are often the most efficient and in that sense elegant solutions to applied problems in engineering. Using a formal solver with symbolic, numeric, or both methods requires making sure that the constraints (e.g. equations) are entered correctly, with parentheses balanced in their correct locations for the solution to succeed. While the {{w|mathematical beauty|beauty of mathematics}} and pure physics may not be associated with automatic solvers in spreadsheets, general optimization methods are considered elegant in applied physics and engineering, with [http://entsphere.com/pub/pdf/1957%20Jaynes,%20ShannonMaxEntBoltzmann.pdf Jaynes (1957)] cited more than 12,000 times on Google Scholar, including by [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234147180_Maximum_Entropy_Image_Restoration_in_Astronomy a paper cited] by the [https://arxiv.org/abs/1711.01286 first black hole image astronomers] for example.

Record numbers of mathematics interest groups and their forums in which such work is done exist today, from academic journals predating the use of electricity to a plethora of internet math and science fora such as {{w|Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Mathematics|Wikipedia Reference Desks}} and Reddit's [https://reddit.com/r/theydidthemath /r/theydidthemath] forum, which fueled a resurgence of the phrase "they did the math" as a search term in 2014. The proliferation of mathematics fora is certainly also due to the quickly increasing overall level of education and rapidly growing numbers of internet users. Although the original market-focused primary use of {{w|ticker tape}} may be a lost art, the economy is still driven by individual free will leveraging self-interested behavior to achieve social gains for civilization.

==Transcript==
:[White Hat is watching Cueball from a couple of meters away. Cueball is contemplating the formulas and diagrams that fills the blackboard he stands in front of. Cueball holds a chalk in his hand. None of the content on the blackboard is readable, but there is a diagram in the shape of a circle and a another pie shaped diagram. Both are thinking with large thought bubbles above their heads, with small bubbles connecting them and the larger bubble]
:White Hat (thinking): Amazing watching a physicist at work, exploring universes in a symphony of numbers.
:White Hat (thinking): If only I had studied math, I could appreciate the beauty on display here.

:Cueball (thinking): Oh no. This has '''''two''''' unknowns. That's gonna be really hard.
:Cueball (thinking): Ughhhhhhh.
:Cueball (thinking): '''''Think.''''' There's gotta be a way to avoid doing all that work...

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Math]]

Talk:2207: Math Work

2019-09-29T15:49:04Z

172.68.142.83: Fix link

This makes me think of my profession (software engineer) - Normie: "Oh wow, that looks complicated!" Me: wires two pre-existing libraries together and calls it a day [[User:Baldrickk|Baldrickk]] ([[User talk:Baldrickk|talk]]) 09:39, 26 September 2019 (UTC)

;Image of Blackboard
I was looking at the blackboard and was wondering if there were any Easter eggs on it.
Here is the result of my badly cropped photoshopping skills.
[https://drive.google.com/open?id=1kGCrQehNGksE2cSK1WvTJcgdwaZ5cdWe]
idk if it would help to sharpen the image.
--[[User:DarkAndromeda31|DarkAndromeda31]] ([[User talk:DarkAndromeda31|talk]]) 01:25, 26 September 2019 (UTC)
:The only thing that really jumps out at me are the wedges, as portions of pie charts where radius also controls area, evoking the {{w|climate stabilization wedge}} game [https://cmi.princeton.edu/wedges/game from Princeton] where the total area of the disk needing to be mitigated is something like 38 gigatons of atmospheric carbon, and the various mitigation solutions have angles representing potential and radius indicating uptake, the proportion of which represents gigatons mitigated as the wedge area. We can offer that game as an example of a bivariate optimization problem which might not have to be manually solved by anyone, if we assume that the local market for [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ritJrcDKyXNe4Kp2dHBWiFuyBEHvn_81/view surplus potable water, carbon-neutral liquid transportation fuel, and carbon-negative composite lumber for centuries-to-millenia scale sequestration along with wood timber displacement for reforestation] represents locally satisfiable economic demand for N shipping containers of [https://x.company/projects/foghorn Project Foghorn] [https://www.docdroid.net/WlkWabq/ioc-part-1-prototype-article-in-press.pdf plants] and M shipping containers of [https://www.docdroid.net/SRxC3bd/power-to-gas-efficiency.pdf power-to-gas upgrades for natural gas] power plants. That's an example of how a locally market-driven system can solve a bivariate optimization without anyone doing the actual math work in a spreadsheet or otherwise. The economic solution is not necessarily optimal, because even [https://twitter.com/jsalsman/status/1118030378747351040 as powerful as the free market can be,] it isn't necessarily going to find the bivariate optimums for every point on the planet (although it will likely converge asymptotically in some sense) and defectors such as fossil fuel producers are interested in delaying the optimum solution.
:Is that nontangential enough? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.143.18|172.68.143.18]] 20:49, 26 September 2019 (UTC)
::Yes that was far out :-) I'm sure there is nothing interesting hidden in the image. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:36, 27 September 2019 (UTC)
:::Compare the graph at [https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=World+natural+gas+production] with that at [https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=World+wind+power+production]. When will the latter overtake the former? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.142.221|172.68.142.221]] 19:19, 27 September 2019 (UTC)
::::Soon one may hope, but that has nothing to do with the drawings on the blackboard...? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:07, 27 September 2019 (UTC)
:::::"Soon" lacks mathematical precision. How do you feel about {{w|distributed constraint optimization}}? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.142.83|172.68.142.83]] 22:56, 27 September 2019 (UTC)

Does [https://www.wolframalpha.com/ Wolfram Alpha] constitute such a problem solver? Cause both Randall and this site has used it on several occasions. But I have not ever really used such things, and do not know if Wolfram can be used as Cueball thinks about in the comic. But if it could, it could be worth mentioning as a method sometimes used by Randall. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:43, 27 September 2019 (UTC)
:[https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=x%2By%3D10%2C+x-y%3D4&lk=3] is the first bivariate system of equations example. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.134|172.69.22.134]] 17:51, 27 September 2019 (UTC)
::Is that then a yes to my question? ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:07, 27 September 2019 (UTC)
:::Do you think it's more worthwhile to include a general discussion of avoiding the work of solving for two unknowns than the climate wedges? Why do you suggest that the wedges aren't the only distinctive elements on the blackboard? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.142.83|172.68.142.83]] 22:58, 27 September 2019 (UTC)

I only just now noticed that Randall always puts the crossbars on the I in the word "I" and not otherwise. Looking back, he has nearly always done this, even since the first few comics. That's quite a principled yet subtle stance on letterforms. (There are some exceptions, however, such as comic #87, and a period that goes at least from comic #128 to comic #180. I wonder if it would be too typography-nerdy to put them all in a category.) [[Special:Contributions/198.41.231.85|198.41.231.85]] 14:47, 27 September 2019 (UTC)
: Those "crossbars" would be serifs, whereas he normally uses a sans serif font. A sans serif would be quicker/easier to write by hand, but he probably realized early on (perhaps subconsciously) that an I by itself without serifs looks too much like a random line or a numeral 1 so he treats the solo I like a special letter, with serifs. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 15:16, 27 September 2019 (UTC)
::Yes so not something for a category! But funny detail. I have no idea where to put this? Maybe in some part of the format of xkcd? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:07, 27 September 2019 (UTC)

Thank you, person who sees beauty in grammar (Jkrstrt). I thought something looked off when I said "often site the beauty they see" but I didn't catch it until you sighted the error and made it cite instead. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 15:10, 27 September 2019 (UTC)

We need something about the [https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%22they%20did%20the%20math%22 2012 popularity spike of the phrase "They did the math"] with a link to e.g. r/theydidthemath. And ask the Hashtag Research Studies group to figure out the cause of that spike. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.189.19|172.68.189.19]] 15:29, 29 September 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2207: Math Work

2019-09-27T22:58:37Z

172.68.142.83: reply

Talk:2207: Math Work

2019-09-27T22:56:16Z

172.68.142.83: reply

This makes me think of my profession (software engineer) - Normie: "Oh wow, that looks complicated!" Me: wires two pre-existing libraries together and calls it a day [[User:Baldrickk|Baldrickk]] ([[User talk:Baldrickk|talk]]) 09:39, 26 September 2019 (UTC)

;Image of Blackboard
I was looking at the blackboard and was wondering if there were any Easter eggs on it.
Here is the result of my badly cropped photoshopping skills.
[https://drive.google.com/open?id=1kGCrQehNGksE2cSK1WvTJcgdwaZ5cdWe]
idk if it would help to sharpen the image.
--[[User:DarkAndromeda31|DarkAndromeda31]] ([[User talk:DarkAndromeda31|talk]]) 01:25, 26 September 2019 (UTC)
:The only thing that really jumps out at me are the wedges, as portions of pie charts where radius also controls area, evoking the {{w|climate stabilization wedge}} game [https://cmi.princeton.edu/wedges/game from Princeton] where the total area of the disk needing to be mitigated is something like 38 gigatons of atmospheric carbon, and the various mitigation solutions have angles representing potential and radius indicating uptake, the proportion of which represents gigatons mitigated as the wedge area. We can offer that game as an example of a bivariate optimization problem which might not have to be manually solved by anyone, if we assume that the local market for [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ritJrcDKyXNe4Kp2dHBWiFuyBEHvn_81/view surplus potable water, carbon-neutral liquid transportation fuel, and carbon-negative composite lumber for centuries-to-millenia scale sequestration along with wood timber displacement for reforestation] represents locally satisfiable economic demand for N shipping containers of [https://x.company/projects/foghorn Project Foghorn] [https://www.docdroid.net/WlkWabq/ioc-part-1-prototype-article-in-press.pdf plants] and M shipping containers of [https://www.docdroid.net/SRxC3bd/power-to-gas-efficiency.pdf power-to-gas upgrades for natural gas] power plants. That's an example of how a locally market-driven system can solve a bivariate optimization without anyone doing the actual math work in a spreadsheet or otherwise. The economic solution is not necessarily optimal, because even [https://twitter.com/jsalsman/status/1118030378747351040 as powerful as the free market can be,] it isn't necessarily going to find the bivariate optimums for every point on the planet (although it will likely converge asymptotically in some sense) and defectors such as fossil fuel producers are interested in delaying the optimum solution.
:Is that nontangential enough? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.143.18|172.68.143.18]] 20:49, 26 September 2019 (UTC)
::Yes that was far out :-) I'm sure there is nothing interesting hidden in the image. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:36, 27 September 2019 (UTC)
:::Compare the graph at [https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=World+natural+gas+production] with that at [https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=World+wind+power+production]. When will the latter overtake the former? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.142.221|172.68.142.221]] 19:19, 27 September 2019 (UTC)
::::Soon one may hope, but that has nothing to do with the drawings on the blackboard...? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:07, 27 September 2019 (UTC)
:::::"Soon" lacks mathematical precision. How do you feel about {{w|distributed constraint optimization}}? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.142.83|172.68.142.83]] 22:56, 27 September 2019 (UTC)

Does [https://www.wolframalpha.com/ Wolfram Alpha] constitute such a problem solver? Cause both Randall and this site has used it on several occasions. But I have not ever really used such things, and do not know if Wolfram can be used as Cueball thinks about in the comic. But if it could, it could be worth mentioning as a method sometimes used by Randall. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:43, 27 September 2019 (UTC)
:[https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=x%2By%3D10%2C+x-y%3D4&lk=3] is the first bivariate system of equations example. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.134|172.69.22.134]] 17:51, 27 September 2019 (UTC)
::Is that then a yes to my question? ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:07, 27 September 2019 (UTC)

I only just now noticed that Randall always puts the crossbars on the I in the word "I" and not otherwise. Looking back, he has nearly always done this, even since the first few comics. That's quite a principled yet subtle stance on letterforms. (There are some exceptions, however, such as comic #87, and a period that goes at least from comic #128 to comic #180. I wonder if it would be too typography-nerdy to put them all in a category.) [[Special:Contributions/198.41.231.85|198.41.231.85]] 14:47, 27 September 2019 (UTC)
: Those "crossbars" would be serifs, whereas he normally uses a sans serif font. A sans serif would be quicker/easier to write by hand, but he probably realized early on (perhaps subconsciously) that an I by itself without serifs looks too much like a random line or a numeral 1 so he treats the solo I like a special letter, with serifs. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 15:16, 27 September 2019 (UTC)
::Yes so not something for a category! But funny detail. I have no idea where to put this? Maybe in some part of the format of xkcd? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:07, 27 September 2019 (UTC)

Thank you, person who sees beauty in grammar (Jkrstrt). I thought something looked off when I said "often site the beauty they see" but I didn't catch it until you sighted the error and made it cite instead. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 15:10, 27 September 2019 (UTC)

2003: Presidential Succession

2019-09-12T23:07:09Z

172.68.142.83: /* List of specific individuals */

{{comic
| number = 2003
| date = June 6, 2018
| title = Presidential Succession
| image = presidential_succession.png
| titletext = Ties are broken by whoever was closest to the surface of Europa when they were born.
}}

==Explanation==
The {{w|United States presidential line of succession}} is the order of people who serve as president if the current incumbent president is incapacitated, dies, resigns, or is removed from office.

The {{w|Presidential_Succession_Act#Presidential_Succession_Act_of_1947|Presidential Succession Act of 1947}} was an act by the U.S. Congress that revised the presidential order of succession to its current order. This Act, though never challenged in the courts, may not be constitutional for two reasons. First, it is unclear whether members of Congress can be designated in the line of succession. Secondly, the Act allows for a cabinet officer to be "replaced" as acting President by a new Speaker of the House or a new President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

An additional concern regarding the Act is that after the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the line of succession list the members of the Cabinet in the order that their department was established with the oldest departments first, irrespective of the Secretary's personal fitness or appropriateness of the office. The Department of Homeland Security is in charge of the security and protection of the United States and its citizens and would probably already be privy to sensitive intelligence and briefings related to national security, but because it is the latest of the Departments to have been established (in 2003), the Secretary of Homeland Security is all the way at the bottom of the current Presidential line of succession at 18th, behind other Secretaries such as that of Agriculture (9th) and Education (16th).

Another practical concern is that, by including the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate immediately after the Vice President, there is a serious risk that the simultaneous death of the President and Vice President could cause the Presidency to change to the opposing party, which (in the current American political climate) could lead to serious political instability at the precise moment when the country is facing a national crisis, and could even encourage assassinations.

The full text of the Second Report of the Continuity of Government Commission can be found here: <https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/06_continuity_of_government.pdf>. A short, readable summary, including the report's recommended new line of succession, is here: <https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-continuity-of-the-presidency-the-second-report-of-the-continuity-of-government-commission/>. The first 6 members of the commission's list are included in the current line of succession, after which they specificy that 5 new people should be appointed specifically for the purpose of succeeding the presidency if needed. Randall's list begins with these 11 people (stuffing all 5 of the new appointees into #7); afterwards, his list continues with more politicians, actors who have played Presidents, athletes, and others.

Randall's list omits the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, as well as many other cabinet positions. He is probably simply following the commission's report in this. But perhaps he does not find those people qualified to become President of the United States, or is concerned about the constitutionality of lawmakers becoming President. However, he does not seem to be concerned about constitutionality, because he included the entire line of succession to the British throne, most of whom do not meet the requirement to be a natural-born citizen of the United States.{{Citation needed}} {{w|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_Two_of_the_United_States_Constitution#Clause_5:_Qualifications_for_office|Article Two of the US Constitution}} establishes that the President must be a "{{w|Natural-born-citizen clause|natural-born}}" US citizen at least 35 years of age and had lived in the US for the last 14 years.

Randall's list includes several other people who also might not be eligible to become President either because they are not natural-born U.S. citizens (e.g., as of the time of the comic's publication, {{w|Serena Williams}} had withdrawn from her last match in the {{w|French Open}} to {{w|Maria Sharapova}}, who is Russian) or they are under 35 years of age ({{w|Russell Westbrook}}, the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player at the time of the comic's publication, was only 29 years old). These would mainly be athletes due to the relatively global reach of the four major professional sports leagues in North America and the fact that 35 is quite old for a professional athlete, let alone one who is good enough to win the league MVP. Presumably, those who wouldn't qualify for the office of President would be skipped over like in real life -- at the comic's publication, {{w|Elaine Chao}} was the Secretary of Transportation and would normally be 14th in line, but because she is a naturalized citizen of the US (she was born in Taiwan) she would not qualify for the office if the line came to her.

The title text mentions whoever was closest to the surface of {{w|Europa}} when they were born. Europa is a moon of Jupiter and one of the most likely locations in the Solar System for {{w|Habitability of natural satellites|potential habitability}}. Nevertheless it's a completely meaningless way of settling a tie. However, depending on the relative positions of Earth and Jupiter when you were born, you could easily have been tens of millions of kilometers closer. Alternatively, Randall could be playing on how Europa sounds like Europe.

==Order of succession==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!#
!Randall's order
!Current order by the 1947 Act
!Notes
|-
|1
|President
|President
|Not generally considered part of the line of succession, as incumbents cannot "succeed" to their own post. (This should really be item 0 on the list.)
|-
|2
|Vice president
|Vice president
|No change
|-
|3
|Secretary of State
|Speaker of the House of Representatives
|Moved up from 5th position. This is likely a serious suggestion. Existing rules of succession hand Executive power to the leaders of the Legislative branch if the President and Vice-President are both killed or removed from power. This is troubling for a number of reasons. One is that the Executive and Legislative branches are supposed to act as independent checks on one another's power, and so are supposed to be kept separate. Another issue is that the Executive and Legislative branches are frequently controlled by political rivals from different political parties. In such a case, assassins could effectively reverse the results of Presidential elections if they managed to kill the President and Vice-President in a short period of time (which is used as part of the twist ending in ''{{w|White House Down}}''). Additionally, leaders of the House and Senate aren't as deeply connected to the military and diplomatic missions of the country, and so would have a hard time maintaining continuity, particularly if an attack or disaster killed multiple national leaders at once. These problems could all be addressed by keeping the initial Line of Succession confined to the Executive branch of government.
|-
|4
|Secretary of Defense
|President pro tempore of the Senate
|Moved up from 7th position
|-
|5
|Secretary of Homeland Security
|Secretary of State
|Moved up from 19th position, possibly to highlight the Attorney General's place in the current order
|-
|6
|Attorney General
|Secretary of the Treasury
|Moved up from 8th position
|-
|7
|Five people who do not live in Washington DC, nominated at the start of the President's term and confirmed by the Senate
|Secretary of Defense
|{{w|Washington, D.C.}} is the capital of the United States, and is where the {{w|White House}}, the President's residence, is located. Presumably this provision covers the case where much of the government, including positions 1–6 here, are killed by a natural disaster or attack in Washington, D.C.

This suggestion establishes no qualifications for these people, but the fact that they'd need to be confirmed by the Senate suggests that they would be chosen to be competent for the role. It is also unclear if an order is determined among these five or if they take up a joint presidency. This suggestion is taken from the Second Report of the Continuity of Government Commission as a potential mechanism to ensure members of succession are not in Washington DC during a catastrophic attack.
|-
|8
|{{w|Tom Hanks}}
|Attorney General
|Academy Award-winning American actor. This is the first unambiguously unserious suggestion.{{Citation needed}} Tom Hanks is very popular and considered exceptionally likeable by many Americans, but has never served in public office or displayed any particular affinity for politics. He has also never played a president, though he has received a {{w|Presidential Medal of Freedom}}, and appeared in a {{w|Last Week Tonight with John Oliver}} [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyPRssh2rk0 skit], where he rallies five (wax) presidents to action. The implication is that Mr. Hanks would be easily accepted as a leader, based solely on his personal charm.
|-
|9
|State Governors, in descending order of state population at last census
|Secretary of the Interior
|Also taken from Second Report of the Continuity of Government Commission. At the time of publication, the last {{w|United States Census}} was the 2010 Census. As California is the most populous state, its Governor ({{w|Jerry Brown}} at the time of publication) would have been first in line.

See also the {{w|2010_United_States_Census#State_rankings|state population rankings}} and the {{w|list of current United States governors}}. As worded, this criterion would exclude territorial governors (and the Mayor of Washington, D.C.).
|-
|10
|Anyone who won an Oscar for playing a governor
|Secretary of Agriculture
|Oscars, or {{w|Academy Awards}}, are annual film awards awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. At the time of publication, the only Oscar awarded for playing a governor was {{w|Broderick Crawford}}'s 1949 Best Actor award for the fictional Willie Stark in ''{{w|All the King's Men (1949 film)|All the King's Men}}'' (a character based on {{w|Huey Long}}). However, Crawford died in 1986, so would be unable to serve as President.

May be a reference to the {{w|Political career of Arnold Schwarzenegger}}: a highly-lauded actor who became governor of California, but did not win an Oscar or play a governor before being elected. (As a naturalized citizen, he is also ineligible for the Presidency.)
|-
|11
|Anyone who won a Governor's award for playing someone named Oscar
|Secretary of Commerce
|The {{w|Governors Awards}} are an annual award ceremony hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to present lifetime achievement awards within the film industry. As this award is a lifetime achievement award, it does not seem possible that an actor could win this award for simply playing someone named Oscar. Notwithstanding the nature of the award, at the time of publication, no recipient of a Governors Award has played a character named Oscar.

Obviously, the joke is that changing the order of the words from the previous proposal produces something that could actually exist.
|-
|12
|{{w|Kate McKinnon}}, if available
|Secretary of Labor
|Comedic actress famous for being a cast member on {{w|Saturday Night Live}}. She is known for her character work and celebrity impressions. She has recently done impersonations of members of the Trump administration including Spokeswoman {{w|Kellyanne Conway}} and Attorney General {{w|Jeff Sessions}}. She also played {{w|Hillary Clinton}} during the 2016 campaign and presumably would have played her when she was President had she won; but since Clinton lost, McKinnon has not actually played a President.
|-
|13
|Billboard Year-End Hot 100 Singles artists #1 through #10 (for groups, whoever is credited first in name, liner notes, etc)
|Secretary of Health and Human Services
|The {{w|Billboard Hot 100}} is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for singles, published weekly by Billboard magazine. The weekly data is aggregated into a cumulative {{w|Billboard Year-End}} (based on a "year" that ends the third week of November, in order to meet December publication deadlines). At the time of publication, the most recent such list was the {{w|Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2017}}.

Based on that list, the artists considered for the presidential succession would be: {{w|Ed Sheeran}}, {{w|Luis Fonsi}}, {{w|Bruno Mars}}, {{w|Kendrick Lamar}}, Alex Pall (of {{w|The Chainsmokers}}), {{w|Quavo|Quavoius Keyate Marshall}} (of {{w|Migos}}), {{w|Sam Hunt}}, {{w|Dan Reynolds}} (of {{w|Imagine Dragons}}), and {{w|Post Malone}}. There are only nine names instead of ten because The Chainsmokers had two of the top 10 singles in 2017. Of these, only Luis Fonsi (40 years old, born in Puerto Rico) was legally eligible for the office; all the others were too young, and Sheeran is additionally from the United Kingdom.
|-
|14
|The top 5 US astronauts in descending order of total spaceflight time
|Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
|Astronauts are highly respected and rigorously selected, but most have little involvement in politics. According to [https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-station-astronaut-record-holders NASA], the top 5 US astronauts by cumulative space time at the time of publication were: {{w|Peggy Whitson}}, {{w|Jeffrey Williams (astronaut)|Jeff Williams}}, {{W|Scott Kelly (astronaut)|Scott Kelly}}, {{w|Mike Fincke}}, and {{w|Mike Foale}}. However, it is unclear whether Foale would qualify as a natural-born citizen, as he was born in the United Kingdom to a British father and American mother.
|-
|15
|{{w|Serena Williams}} (or, if she lost her most recent match, whoever beat her)
|Secretary of Transportation
|As of the time of publication, Serena Williams was a top female tennis player. She is arguably the greatest female tennis player of all-time, winning 39 {{w|Grand Slam (tennis)|Grand Slam}} titles, including 23 women's singles titles. At the time of publication Serena Williams did win her most recent match (2018 French Open, third round, on June 2nd), although she withdrew from her next match against Maria Sharapova (which perhaps should count as a loss, especially if she withdrew in order to preserve her place in the line of succession and killed everyone in place ahead of her).

If her most recent defeat was to a non-US player, presumably she would be skipped over in line although this is not explicitly stated (the current succession list skips over anyone who would not normally qualify for not being a natural-born US citizen).
|-
|16
|The most recent season NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL MVPs
|Secretary of Energy
|MVP stands for {{w|Most Valuable Player}}. The 4 listed leagues are the major sports leagues in the United States, the {{w|National Basketball Association}} (NBA), the {{w|National Football League}} (NFL), {{w|Major League Baseball}} (MLB), and the {{w|National Hockey League}} (NHL). We're assuming that Randall meant the regular season MVPs of each league, as each league also awards MVPs for their respective championships (or in the case of the NHL's {{w|Conn Smythe Trophy}}, their entire playoffs).

As of the time of publication, the most recent MVPs for the listed sports were {{w|Russell Westbrook}} (NBA), {{w|Tom Brady}} (NFL), {{w|José Altuve}} and {{w|Giancarlo Stanton}} (MLB has two, one for the American League and one for the National League), and {{w|Connor McDavid}} (NHL). Of these, only Brady would qualify for the list - Altuve and McDavid are Venezuelan and Canadian citizens respectively, and Westbrook (29) and Stanton (28) were too young.
|-
|17
|{{w|Bill Pullman}} and his descendants by absolute primogeniture
|Secretary of Education
|American actor, known for playing President Thomas J. Whitmore in the 1996 film ''{{w|Independence Day (1996 film)|Independence Day}}''.

Absolute primogeniture is a form of succession where the oldest direct descendant regardless of gender receives the title. This is contrasted to {{w|Male-preference primogeniture}}, in which males come before females in the order of the throne, whether the males were born first or not. This may be a reference to the British law {{w|Succession to the Crown Act 2013}}, which changed the order of the throne from male-preference primogeniture to absolute primogeniture. This act allows {{w|Princess Charlotte of Cambridge|Princess Charlotte}} to retain her place in line before {{w|Prince Louis of Cambridge|Prince Louis}}.

At the time of publication, Pullman's immediate descendants consisted of three children, with Maesa Pullman being the oldest at age 29. Thus all but Bill Pullman himself were too young for the presidency.
|-
|18
|The entire line of succession to the British throne
|Secretary of Veterans Affairs
|According to the Constitution, only a natural-born citizen of the United States can become President, which means that at least most of the line of succession to the British throne is ineligible. However, it is possible that someone in the line of succession to the British throne either is a dual citizen (especially one who is a U.S. citizen based on place of birth and a British citizen based on having a parent who was a British citizen descended from {{w|Sophia of Hanover}}) or is not British (a person from outside of Britain can become King; for example, some, including George I, were from what is now Germany).

The first 59 names on the list are {{w|Succession_to_the_British_throne#Current_line_of_succession|here}}. [https://lineofsuccession.co.uk/?date=2018-06-06 British Line of Succession on 6 June 2018] shows the list as it was at the comic's publication. American citizens [http://articles.latimes.com/1988-02-11/news/vw-42233_1_royal-house have, at times] been on the list, but no natural-born Americans were on the list when the comic was published. However, after this comic was published {{w|Archie Mountbatten-Windsor}} was born on May 6, 2019; he is currently seventh in the line of succession to the British throne and has US citizenship through his mother {{w|Meghan, Duchess of Sussex}}. As with Mark Foale, though, whether that qualifies as natural-born has not be tested (leaving aside his age and the fact that many royals in his position have historically relinquished their birthright US citizenship voluntarily, which he may choose to do once he reaches age 16). In theory, the full British succession list includes [http://www.wargs.com/essays/succession/2011.html several thousand people] (living descendants of {{w|Sophia of Hanover}} who are not Roman Catholic or otherwise disqualified), and it is possible that one or more such people would also be eligible to be President of the United States beyond Master Archie.

The humor here derives from the fact that the United States was established by declaring independence from the United Kingdom, with rejection of the British monarchy being a basic founding principle, and a core principle of US governance. To appoint the British monarchy to the American presidency would contradict the basic goals of American independence. Alternatively, it may reference the recent wedding of {{w|Prince Harry}} to {{w|Meghan Markle}}, although she is not in the order of succession to the British throne. A similar sequence of events was the plotline of the comedy film ''{{w|King Ralph}}'', which saw an American become the British monarch after the death of the royal family.
|-
|19
|The current champion of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating contest
|Secretary of Homeland Security
|The {{w|Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest}} is an annual American hot dog competitive eating competition sponsored by {{w|Nathan's Famous}} held on July 4th. As of the time of publication, the most recent men's winner was {{w|Joey Chestnut}} and the women's winner was {{w|Miki Sudo}}. At the time of publication, neither was old enough to assume the office.

The comic does not specify whether the men's or women's winner should take office, creating a tie that would be broken by distance from Europa at birth. Had they both been eligible, [https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/29132/was-earth-closer-to-europa-on-1983-11-25-or-1985-07-22 Sudo would have won] by between 0.125 and 4 {{w|Astronomical unit}}s.
|-
|20
|All other US citizens, chosen by a 29-round single-elimination Jousting tournament
|''None''
|Effective for a population up to 536,870,912 individuals (2^29) which would be enough to cover the entire US population (estimated at around 325 million at time of publication), although additional rounds can be added should the population grow further.

This is probably a reference to the {{w|Matter of Britain}} (e.g., {{w|The Sword in the Stone (film)|The Sword in the Stone}}), where, after the death of Uther Pendragon, with no known successor to the throne of England for years, it is decided that the winner of a jousting tournament shall be crowned. However, Arthur, the Wart, pulls the Sword from the Stone.
|}

===List of specific individuals===
Based on the comic's defined criteria for the order of succession, these are the specific individuals in that order, including only people who are otherwise eligible to be the President of United States (35 year old and natural born US citizens who lived in US for last 14 years) '''as of the date the comic was published'''.
#{{w|Donald Trump}} ({{w|President of the United States}})
#{{w|Mike Pence}} ({{w|Vice President of the United States}})
#{{w|Mike Pompeo}} ({{w|United States Secretary of State}})
#{{w|Jim Mattis}} ({{w|United States Secretary of Defense}})
#{{w|Kirstjen Nielsen}} ({{w|United States Secretary of Homeland Security}})
#{{w|Jeff Sessions}} ({{w|United States Attorney General}})
#{{w|Tom Hanks}} (Tom Hanks) As Donald Trump did not appoint anyone to fill position #7 on Randall's line of succession, Hanks immediately follows after Sessions.
#{{w|Jerry Brown}} (Governor of California)
#{{w|Greg Abbott}} (Governor of Texas)
#{{w|Andrew Cuomo}} (Governor of New York)
#{{w|Rick Scott}} (Governor of Florida)
#{{w|Bruce Rauner}} (Governor of Illinois)
#{{w|Tom Wolf}} (Governor of Pennsylvania)
#{{w|John Kasich}} (Governor of Ohio)
#{{w|Rick Snyder}} (Governor of Michigan)
#{{w|Nathan Deal}} (Governor of Georgia)
#{{w|Roy Cooper}} (Governor of North Carolina)
#{{w|Phil Murphy}} (Governor of New Jersey)
#{{w|Ralph Northam}} (Governor of Virginia)
#{{w|Jay Inslee}} (Governor of Washington)
#{{w|Charlie Baker}} (Governor of Massachusetts)
#{{w|Eric Holcomb}} (Governor of Indiana)
#{{w|Doug Ducey}} (Governor of Arizona)
#{{w|Bill Haslam}} (Governor of Tennessee)
#{{w|Mike Parson}} (Governor of Missouri)
#{{w|Larry Hogan}} (Governor of Maryland)
#{{w|Scott Walker (politician)|Scott Walker}} (Governor of Wisconsin)
#{{w|Mark Dayton}} (Governor of Minnesota)
#{{w|John Hickenlooper}} (Governor of Colorado)
#{{w|Kay Ivey}} (Governor of Alabama)
#{{w|Henry McMaster}} (Governor of South Carolina)
#{{w|John Bel Edwards}} (Governor of Louisiana)
#{{w|Matt Bevin}} (Governor of Kentucky)
#{{w|Kate Brown}} (Governor of Oregon) Born in Spain to a member of the US Air Force, should be considered a natural-born citizen until proven otherwise.
#{{w|Mary Fallin}} (Governor of Oklahoma)
#{{w|Dannel Malloy}} (Governor of Connecticut)
#{{w|Kim Reynolds}} (Governor of Iowa)
#{{w|Phil Bryant}} (Governor of Mississippi)
#{{w|Asa Hutchinson}} (Governor of Arkansas)
#{{w|Jeff Colyer}} (Governor of Kansas)
#{{w|Gary Herbert}} (Governor of Utah)
#{{w|Brian Sandoval}} (Governor of Nevada)
#{{w|Susana Martinez}} (Governor of New Mexico)
#{{w|Jim Justice}} (Governor of West Virginia)
#{{w|Pete Ricketts}} (Governor of Nebraska)
#{{w|Butch Otter}} (Governor of Idaho)
#{{w|David Ige}} (Governor of Hawaii)
#{{w|Paul LePage}} (Governor of Maine)
#{{w|Chris Sununu}} (Governor of New Hampshire)
#{{w|Gina Raimondo}} (Governor of Rhode Island)
#{{w|Steve Bullock (American politician)|Steve Bullock}} (Governor of Montana)
#{{w|John Carney (politician)|John Carney}} (Governor of Delaware)
#{{w|Dennis Daugaard}} (Governor of South Dakota)
#{{w|Bill Walker (U.S. politician)|Bill Walker}} (Governor of Alaska)
#{{w|Doug Burgum}} (Governor of North Dakota)
#{{w|Phil Scott (politician)|Phil Scott}} (Governor of Vermont)
#{{w|Matt Mead}} (Governor of Wyoming)
#{{w|Kate McKinnon}} (Kate McKinnon) If she is available. Entries 10 and 11 on Randall's list have no eligible living members.
#{{w|Luis Fonsi}} (Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2017, #2 artist) Fonsi is the only eligible individual under the Billboard criterion.
#{{w|Peggy Whitson}} (Astronaut, 665 days in space)
#{{w|Jeffrey Williams (astronaut)|Jeff Williams}} (Astronaut, 534 days in space)
#{{w|Scott Kelly}} (Astronaut, 520 days in space)
#{{w|Mike Fincke}} (Astronaut, 382 days in space)
#{{w|Mike Foale}} (Astronaut, 374 days in space) Foale was born in the UK but his mother is an American, and he holds dual citizenship with both countries. It isn't clear legally whether this situation would qualify him as being a "natural-born" citizen as US courts have never definitively ruled on what the term means, so similar to Governor Kate Brown his name is included in the list until further notice.
#{{w|Serena Williams}} Serena's place on this list assumes that you do not count her withdrawal against Maria Sharapova as a ''loss''; if that counts as a loss, then subsequent entries move up one position (as Sharapova is ineligible).
#{{w|Tom Brady}} ({{w|National Football League Most Valuable Player Award|NFL MVP}}) The MVPs of all other listed sports leagues are ineligible for the office due to age or nationality.
#{{w|Bill Pullman}} (Bill Pullman) None of his children are old enough to become President at this time.
#''line of succession to the British throne''
#''everyone else'' (Jousting tournament) Assumes that no eligible member of the British order of succession exists due to citizenship issues. The Nathan's Hot Dog Eating champions were too young to hold the office. Further assumes that the number of eligible US Citizens does not exceed 536,870,912.

Based on the comic's defined criteria for the order of succession, these are the specific individuals in that order, including only people who are otherwise eligible to be the President of United States (35 year old and natural born US citizens who lived in US for last 14 years) '''as of the current date'''.
#{{w|Donald Trump}} ({{w|President of the United States}})
#{{w|Mike Pence}} ({{w|Vice President of the United States}})
#{{w|Mike Pompeo}} ({{w|United States Secretary of State}})
#{{w|Mark Esper}} ({{w|United States Secretary of Defense}})
#{{w|Kevin McAleenan}} ({{w|United States Secretary of Homeland Security}}) Kevin McAleenan is currently the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security. It's unclear whether this proposal would include acting officers.
#{{w|William Barr}} ({{w|United States Attorney General}})
#{{w|Tom Hanks}} (Tom Hanks) As Donald Trump did not appoint anyone to fill position #7 on Randall's line of succession, Hanks immediately follows after Barr.
#{{w|Gavin Newsom}} (Governor of California)
#{{w|Greg Abbott}} (Governor of Texas)
#{{w|Andrew Cuomo}} (Governor of New York)
#{{w|Ron DeSantis}} (Governor of Florida)
#{{w|J. B. Pritzker}} (Governor of Illinois)
#{{w|Tom Wolf}} (Governor of Pennsylvania)
#{{w|Mike DeWine}} (Governor of Ohio)
#{{w|Gretchen Whitmer}} (Governor of Michigan) Notably, the first woman on this list.
#{{w|Brian Kemp}} (Governor of Georgia)
#{{w|Roy Cooper}} (Governor of North Carolina)
#{{w|Phil Murphy}} (Governor of New Jersey)
#{{w|Ralph Northam}} (Governor of Virginia)
#{{w|Jay Inslee}} (Governor of Washington)
#{{w|Charlie Baker}} (Governor of Massachusetts)
#{{w|Eric Holcomb}} (Governor of Indiana)
#{{w|Doug Ducey}} (Governor of Arizona)
#{{w|Bill Lee}} (Governor of Tennessee)
#{{w|Mike Parson}} (Governor of Missouri)
#{{w|Larry Hogan}} (Governor of Maryland)
#{{w|Tony Evers}} (Governor of Wisconsin)
#{{w|Tim Walz}} (Governor of Minnesota)
#{{w|Jared Polis}} (Governor of Colorado)
#{{w|Kay Ivey}} (Governor of Alabama)
#{{w|Henry McMaster}} (Governor of South Carolina)
#{{w|John Bel Edwards}} (Governor of Louisiana)
#{{w|Matt Bevin}} (Governor of Kentucky)
#{{w|Kate Brown}} (Governor of Oregon) Born in Spain to a member of the US Air Force, should be considered a natural-born citizen until proven otherwise.
#{{w|Kevin Stitt}} (Governor of Oklahoma) Notably, the first nonwhite person on this list.
#{{w|Ned Lamont}} (Governor of Connecticut)
#{{w|Kim Reynolds}} (Governor of Iowa)
#{{w|Phil Bryant}} (Governor of Mississippi)
#{{w|Asa Hutchinson}} (Governor of Arkansas)
#{{w|Laura Kelly}} (Governor of Kansas)
#{{w|Gary Herbert}} (Governor of Utah)
#{{w|Steve Sisolak}} (Governor of Nevada)
#{{w|Michelle Lujan Grisham}} (Governor of New Mexico)
#{{w|Jim Justice}} (Governor of West Virginia)
#{{w|Pete Ricketts}} (Governor of Nebraska)
#{{w|Brad Little}} (Governor of Idaho)
#{{w|David Ige}} (Governor of Hawaii)
#{{w|Janet Mills}} (Governor of Maine)
#{{w|Chris Sununu}} (Governor of New Hampshire)
#{{w|Gina Raimondo}} (Governor of Rhode Island)
#{{w|Steve Bullock (American politician)|Steve Bullock}} (Governor of Montana)
#{{w|John Carney (politician)|John Carney}} (Governor of Delaware)
#{{w|Kristi Noem}} (Governor of South Dakota)
#{{w|Mike Dunleavy}} (Governor of Alaska)
#{{w|Doug Burgum}} (Governor of North Dakota)
#{{w|Phil Scott (politician)|Phil Scott}} (Governor of Vermont)
#{{w|Mark Gordon}} (Governor of Wyoming)
#{{w|Kate McKinnon}} (Kate McKinnon) If she is available. Entries 10 and 11 on Randall's list have no eligible living members.
#{{w|Adam Levine}} (Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2017, #10 artist) Levine is the only eligible individual under the Billboard criterion, being over 35. He represents {{w|Maroon 5}}.
#{{w|Peggy Whitson}} (Astronaut, 665 days in space)
#{{w|Jeffrey Williams (astronaut)|Jeff Williams}} (Astronaut, 534 days in space)
#{{w|Scott Kelly}} (Astronaut, 520 days in space)
#{{w|Mike Fincke}} (Astronaut, 382 days in space)
#{{w|Mike Foale}} (Astronaut, 374 days in space) Foale was born in the UK but his mother is an American, and he holds dual citizenship with both countries. It isn't clear legally whether this situation would qualify him as being a "natural-born" citizen as US courts have never definitively ruled on what the term means, so similar to Governor Kate Brown his name is included in the list until further notice.
#{{w|Bill Pullman}} (Bill Pullman) {{w|Bianca Andreescu}}, the winner of {{w|Serena Williams}}' last match, is ineligible due to age and nationality. The MVPs of all listed sports leagues are ineligible for the office due to age or nationality. None of Bill Pullman's children are old enough to become President at this time.
#''line of succession to the British throne''
#''everyone else'' (Jousting tournament) Assumes that no eligible member of the British order of succession exists due to citizenship issues. The Nathan's Hot Dog Eating champions were too young to hold the office. Further assumes that the number of eligible US Citizens does not exceed 536,870,912.

==Transcript==
: A proposal for a new presidential line of succession
: Current politics aside, most experts agree the existing process is flawed. The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 is probably unconstitutional on several counts, and there are many practical issues with the system as well.
: (For more, see the surprisingly gripping ''Second Report of the Continuity of Government Commission'', June 2009.)
: Proposed line of succession:
:# President
:# Vice president
:# Secretary of State
:# Secretary of Defense
:# Secretary of Homeland Security
:# Attorney General
:# Five people who do not live in Washington DC, nominated at the start of the president's term and confirmed by the Senate
:# Tom Hanks
:# State Governors, in descending order of state population at last census
:# Anyone who won an Oscar for playing a governor
:# Anyone who won a Governor's award for playing someone named Oscar
:# Kate McKinnon, if available
:# Billboard year-end Hot 100 singles artists #1 through #10 (for groups, whoever is credited first in name, liner notes, etc)
:# The top 5 US astronauts in descending order of total spaceflight time
:# Serena Williams (or, if she lost her most recent match, whoever beat her)
:# The most recent season NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL MVPs
:# Bull Pullman and his descendants by absolute primogeniture
:# The entire line of succession to the British throne
:# The current champion of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating contest
:# All other US citizens, chosen by a 29-round single-elimination Jousting tournament

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Politics]]

2003: Presidential Succession

2019-09-12T23:04:45Z

172.68.142.83: /* List of specific individuals */ Added current leaderboard

{{comic
| number = 2003
| date = June 6, 2018
| title = Presidential Succession
| image = presidential_succession.png
| titletext = Ties are broken by whoever was closest to the surface of Europa when they were born.
}}

==Explanation==
The {{w|United States presidential line of succession}} is the order of people who serve as president if the current incumbent president is incapacitated, dies, resigns, or is removed from office.

The {{w|Presidential_Succession_Act#Presidential_Succession_Act_of_1947|Presidential Succession Act of 1947}} was an act by the U.S. Congress that revised the presidential order of succession to its current order. This Act, though never challenged in the courts, may not be constitutional for two reasons. First, it is unclear whether members of Congress can be designated in the line of succession. Secondly, the Act allows for a cabinet officer to be "replaced" as acting President by a new Speaker of the House or a new President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

An additional concern regarding the Act is that after the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the line of succession list the members of the Cabinet in the order that their department was established with the oldest departments first, irrespective of the Secretary's personal fitness or appropriateness of the office. The Department of Homeland Security is in charge of the security and protection of the United States and its citizens and would probably already be privy to sensitive intelligence and briefings related to national security, but because it is the latest of the Departments to have been established (in 2003), the Secretary of Homeland Security is all the way at the bottom of the current Presidential line of succession at 18th, behind other Secretaries such as that of Agriculture (9th) and Education (16th).

Another practical concern is that, by including the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate immediately after the Vice President, there is a serious risk that the simultaneous death of the President and Vice President could cause the Presidency to change to the opposing party, which (in the current American political climate) could lead to serious political instability at the precise moment when the country is facing a national crisis, and could even encourage assassinations.

The full text of the Second Report of the Continuity of Government Commission can be found here: <https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/06_continuity_of_government.pdf>. A short, readable summary, including the report's recommended new line of succession, is here: <https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-continuity-of-the-presidency-the-second-report-of-the-continuity-of-government-commission/>. The first 6 members of the commission's list are included in the current line of succession, after which they specificy that 5 new people should be appointed specifically for the purpose of succeeding the presidency if needed. Randall's list begins with these 11 people (stuffing all 5 of the new appointees into #7); afterwards, his list continues with more politicians, actors who have played Presidents, athletes, and others.

Randall's list omits the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, as well as many other cabinet positions. He is probably simply following the commission's report in this. But perhaps he does not find those people qualified to become President of the United States, or is concerned about the constitutionality of lawmakers becoming President. However, he does not seem to be concerned about constitutionality, because he included the entire line of succession to the British throne, most of whom do not meet the requirement to be a natural-born citizen of the United States.{{Citation needed}} {{w|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_Two_of_the_United_States_Constitution#Clause_5:_Qualifications_for_office|Article Two of the US Constitution}} establishes that the President must be a "{{w|Natural-born-citizen clause|natural-born}}" US citizen at least 35 years of age and had lived in the US for the last 14 years.

Randall's list includes several other people who also might not be eligible to become President either because they are not natural-born U.S. citizens (e.g., as of the time of the comic's publication, {{w|Serena Williams}} had withdrawn from her last match in the {{w|French Open}} to {{w|Maria Sharapova}}, who is Russian) or they are under 35 years of age ({{w|Russell Westbrook}}, the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player at the time of the comic's publication, was only 29 years old). These would mainly be athletes due to the relatively global reach of the four major professional sports leagues in North America and the fact that 35 is quite old for a professional athlete, let alone one who is good enough to win the league MVP. Presumably, those who wouldn't qualify for the office of President would be skipped over like in real life -- at the comic's publication, {{w|Elaine Chao}} was the Secretary of Transportation and would normally be 14th in line, but because she is a naturalized citizen of the US (she was born in Taiwan) she would not qualify for the office if the line came to her.

The title text mentions whoever was closest to the surface of {{w|Europa}} when they were born. Europa is a moon of Jupiter and one of the most likely locations in the Solar System for {{w|Habitability of natural satellites|potential habitability}}. Nevertheless it's a completely meaningless way of settling a tie. However, depending on the relative positions of Earth and Jupiter when you were born, you could easily have been tens of millions of kilometers closer. Alternatively, Randall could be playing on how Europa sounds like Europe.

==Order of succession==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!#
!Randall's order
!Current order by the 1947 Act
!Notes
|-
|1
|President
|President
|Not generally considered part of the line of succession, as incumbents cannot "succeed" to their own post. (This should really be item 0 on the list.)
|-
|2
|Vice president
|Vice president
|No change
|-
|3
|Secretary of State
|Speaker of the House of Representatives
|Moved up from 5th position. This is likely a serious suggestion. Existing rules of succession hand Executive power to the leaders of the Legislative branch if the President and Vice-President are both killed or removed from power. This is troubling for a number of reasons. One is that the Executive and Legislative branches are supposed to act as independent checks on one another's power, and so are supposed to be kept separate. Another issue is that the Executive and Legislative branches are frequently controlled by political rivals from different political parties. In such a case, assassins could effectively reverse the results of Presidential elections if they managed to kill the President and Vice-President in a short period of time (which is used as part of the twist ending in ''{{w|White House Down}}''). Additionally, leaders of the House and Senate aren't as deeply connected to the military and diplomatic missions of the country, and so would have a hard time maintaining continuity, particularly if an attack or disaster killed multiple national leaders at once. These problems could all be addressed by keeping the initial Line of Succession confined to the Executive branch of government.
|-
|4
|Secretary of Defense
|President pro tempore of the Senate
|Moved up from 7th position
|-
|5
|Secretary of Homeland Security
|Secretary of State
|Moved up from 19th position, possibly to highlight the Attorney General's place in the current order
|-
|6
|Attorney General
|Secretary of the Treasury
|Moved up from 8th position
|-
|7
|Five people who do not live in Washington DC, nominated at the start of the President's term and confirmed by the Senate
|Secretary of Defense
|{{w|Washington, D.C.}} is the capital of the United States, and is where the {{w|White House}}, the President's residence, is located. Presumably this provision covers the case where much of the government, including positions 1–6 here, are killed by a natural disaster or attack in Washington, D.C.

This suggestion establishes no qualifications for these people, but the fact that they'd need to be confirmed by the Senate suggests that they would be chosen to be competent for the role. It is also unclear if an order is determined among these five or if they take up a joint presidency. This suggestion is taken from the Second Report of the Continuity of Government Commission as a potential mechanism to ensure members of succession are not in Washington DC during a catastrophic attack.
|-
|8
|{{w|Tom Hanks}}
|Attorney General
|Academy Award-winning American actor. This is the first unambiguously unserious suggestion.{{Citation needed}} Tom Hanks is very popular and considered exceptionally likeable by many Americans, but has never served in public office or displayed any particular affinity for politics. He has also never played a president, though he has received a {{w|Presidential Medal of Freedom}}, and appeared in a {{w|Last Week Tonight with John Oliver}} [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyPRssh2rk0 skit], where he rallies five (wax) presidents to action. The implication is that Mr. Hanks would be easily accepted as a leader, based solely on his personal charm.
|-
|9
|State Governors, in descending order of state population at last census
|Secretary of the Interior
|Also taken from Second Report of the Continuity of Government Commission. At the time of publication, the last {{w|United States Census}} was the 2010 Census. As California is the most populous state, its Governor ({{w|Jerry Brown}} at the time of publication) would have been first in line.

See also the {{w|2010_United_States_Census#State_rankings|state population rankings}} and the {{w|list of current United States governors}}. As worded, this criterion would exclude territorial governors (and the Mayor of Washington, D.C.).
|-
|10
|Anyone who won an Oscar for playing a governor
|Secretary of Agriculture
|Oscars, or {{w|Academy Awards}}, are annual film awards awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. At the time of publication, the only Oscar awarded for playing a governor was {{w|Broderick Crawford}}'s 1949 Best Actor award for the fictional Willie Stark in ''{{w|All the King's Men (1949 film)|All the King's Men}}'' (a character based on {{w|Huey Long}}). However, Crawford died in 1986, so would be unable to serve as President.

May be a reference to the {{w|Political career of Arnold Schwarzenegger}}: a highly-lauded actor who became governor of California, but did not win an Oscar or play a governor before being elected. (As a naturalized citizen, he is also ineligible for the Presidency.)
|-
|11
|Anyone who won a Governor's award for playing someone named Oscar
|Secretary of Commerce
|The {{w|Governors Awards}} are an annual award ceremony hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to present lifetime achievement awards within the film industry. As this award is a lifetime achievement award, it does not seem possible that an actor could win this award for simply playing someone named Oscar. Notwithstanding the nature of the award, at the time of publication, no recipient of a Governors Award has played a character named Oscar.

Obviously, the joke is that changing the order of the words from the previous proposal produces something that could actually exist.
|-
|12
|{{w|Kate McKinnon}}, if available
|Secretary of Labor
|Comedic actress famous for being a cast member on {{w|Saturday Night Live}}. She is known for her character work and celebrity impressions. She has recently done impersonations of members of the Trump administration including Spokeswoman {{w|Kellyanne Conway}} and Attorney General {{w|Jeff Sessions}}. She also played {{w|Hillary Clinton}} during the 2016 campaign and presumably would have played her when she was President had she won; but since Clinton lost, McKinnon has not actually played a President.
|-
|13
|Billboard Year-End Hot 100 Singles artists #1 through #10 (for groups, whoever is credited first in name, liner notes, etc)
|Secretary of Health and Human Services
|The {{w|Billboard Hot 100}} is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for singles, published weekly by Billboard magazine. The weekly data is aggregated into a cumulative {{w|Billboard Year-End}} (based on a "year" that ends the third week of November, in order to meet December publication deadlines). At the time of publication, the most recent such list was the {{w|Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2017}}.

Based on that list, the artists considered for the presidential succession would be: {{w|Ed Sheeran}}, {{w|Luis Fonsi}}, {{w|Bruno Mars}}, {{w|Kendrick Lamar}}, Alex Pall (of {{w|The Chainsmokers}}), {{w|Quavo|Quavoius Keyate Marshall}} (of {{w|Migos}}), {{w|Sam Hunt}}, {{w|Dan Reynolds}} (of {{w|Imagine Dragons}}), and {{w|Post Malone}}. There are only nine names instead of ten because The Chainsmokers had two of the top 10 singles in 2017. Of these, only Luis Fonsi (40 years old, born in Puerto Rico) was legally eligible for the office; all the others were too young, and Sheeran is additionally from the United Kingdom.
|-
|14
|The top 5 US astronauts in descending order of total spaceflight time
|Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
|Astronauts are highly respected and rigorously selected, but most have little involvement in politics. According to [https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-station-astronaut-record-holders NASA], the top 5 US astronauts by cumulative space time at the time of publication were: {{w|Peggy Whitson}}, {{w|Jeffrey Williams (astronaut)|Jeff Williams}}, {{W|Scott Kelly (astronaut)|Scott Kelly}}, {{w|Mike Fincke}}, and {{w|Mike Foale}}. However, it is unclear whether Foale would qualify as a natural-born citizen, as he was born in the United Kingdom to a British father and American mother.
|-
|15
|{{w|Serena Williams}} (or, if she lost her most recent match, whoever beat her)
|Secretary of Transportation
|As of the time of publication, Serena Williams was a top female tennis player. She is arguably the greatest female tennis player of all-time, winning 39 {{w|Grand Slam (tennis)|Grand Slam}} titles, including 23 women's singles titles. At the time of publication Serena Williams did win her most recent match (2018 French Open, third round, on June 2nd), although she withdrew from her next match against Maria Sharapova (which perhaps should count as a loss, especially if she withdrew in order to preserve her place in the line of succession and killed everyone in place ahead of her).

If her most recent defeat was to a non-US player, presumably she would be skipped over in line although this is not explicitly stated (the current succession list skips over anyone who would not normally qualify for not being a natural-born US citizen).
|-
|16
|The most recent season NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL MVPs
|Secretary of Energy
|MVP stands for {{w|Most Valuable Player}}. The 4 listed leagues are the major sports leagues in the United States, the {{w|National Basketball Association}} (NBA), the {{w|National Football League}} (NFL), {{w|Major League Baseball}} (MLB), and the {{w|National Hockey League}} (NHL). We're assuming that Randall meant the regular season MVPs of each league, as each league also awards MVPs for their respective championships (or in the case of the NHL's {{w|Conn Smythe Trophy}}, their entire playoffs).

As of the time of publication, the most recent MVPs for the listed sports were {{w|Russell Westbrook}} (NBA), {{w|Tom Brady}} (NFL), {{w|José Altuve}} and {{w|Giancarlo Stanton}} (MLB has two, one for the American League and one for the National League), and {{w|Connor McDavid}} (NHL). Of these, only Brady would qualify for the list - Altuve and McDavid are Venezuelan and Canadian citizens respectively, and Westbrook (29) and Stanton (28) were too young.
|-
|17
|{{w|Bill Pullman}} and his descendants by absolute primogeniture
|Secretary of Education
|American actor, known for playing President Thomas J. Whitmore in the 1996 film ''{{w|Independence Day (1996 film)|Independence Day}}''.

Absolute primogeniture is a form of succession where the oldest direct descendant regardless of gender receives the title. This is contrasted to {{w|Male-preference primogeniture}}, in which males come before females in the order of the throne, whether the males were born first or not. This may be a reference to the British law {{w|Succession to the Crown Act 2013}}, which changed the order of the throne from male-preference primogeniture to absolute primogeniture. This act allows {{w|Princess Charlotte of Cambridge|Princess Charlotte}} to retain her place in line before {{w|Prince Louis of Cambridge|Prince Louis}}.

At the time of publication, Pullman's immediate descendants consisted of three children, with Maesa Pullman being the oldest at age 29. Thus all but Bill Pullman himself were too young for the presidency.
|-
|18
|The entire line of succession to the British throne
|Secretary of Veterans Affairs
|According to the Constitution, only a natural-born citizen of the United States can become President, which means that at least most of the line of succession to the British throne is ineligible. However, it is possible that someone in the line of succession to the British throne either is a dual citizen (especially one who is a U.S. citizen based on place of birth and a British citizen based on having a parent who was a British citizen descended from {{w|Sophia of Hanover}}) or is not British (a person from outside of Britain can become King; for example, some, including George I, were from what is now Germany).

The first 59 names on the list are {{w|Succession_to_the_British_throne#Current_line_of_succession|here}}. [https://lineofsuccession.co.uk/?date=2018-06-06 British Line of Succession on 6 June 2018] shows the list as it was at the comic's publication. American citizens [http://articles.latimes.com/1988-02-11/news/vw-42233_1_royal-house have, at times] been on the list, but no natural-born Americans were on the list when the comic was published. However, after this comic was published {{w|Archie Mountbatten-Windsor}} was born on May 6, 2019; he is currently seventh in the line of succession to the British throne and has US citizenship through his mother {{w|Meghan, Duchess of Sussex}}. As with Mark Foale, though, whether that qualifies as natural-born has not be tested (leaving aside his age and the fact that many royals in his position have historically relinquished their birthright US citizenship voluntarily, which he may choose to do once he reaches age 16). In theory, the full British succession list includes [http://www.wargs.com/essays/succession/2011.html several thousand people] (living descendants of {{w|Sophia of Hanover}} who are not Roman Catholic or otherwise disqualified), and it is possible that one or more such people would also be eligible to be President of the United States beyond Master Archie.

The humor here derives from the fact that the United States was established by declaring independence from the United Kingdom, with rejection of the British monarchy being a basic founding principle, and a core principle of US governance. To appoint the British monarchy to the American presidency would contradict the basic goals of American independence. Alternatively, it may reference the recent wedding of {{w|Prince Harry}} to {{w|Meghan Markle}}, although she is not in the order of succession to the British throne. A similar sequence of events was the plotline of the comedy film ''{{w|King Ralph}}'', which saw an American become the British monarch after the death of the royal family.
|-
|19
|The current champion of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating contest
|Secretary of Homeland Security
|The {{w|Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest}} is an annual American hot dog competitive eating competition sponsored by {{w|Nathan's Famous}} held on July 4th. As of the time of publication, the most recent men's winner was {{w|Joey Chestnut}} and the women's winner was {{w|Miki Sudo}}. At the time of publication, neither was old enough to assume the office.

The comic does not specify whether the men's or women's winner should take office, creating a tie that would be broken by distance from Europa at birth. Had they both been eligible, [https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/29132/was-earth-closer-to-europa-on-1983-11-25-or-1985-07-22 Sudo would have won] by between 0.125 and 4 {{w|Astronomical unit}}s.
|-
|20
|All other US citizens, chosen by a 29-round single-elimination Jousting tournament
|''None''
|Effective for a population up to 536,870,912 individuals (2^29) which would be enough to cover the entire US population (estimated at around 325 million at time of publication), although additional rounds can be added should the population grow further.

This is probably a reference to the {{w|Matter of Britain}} (e.g., {{w|The Sword in the Stone (film)|The Sword in the Stone}}), where, after the death of Uther Pendragon, with no known successor to the throne of England for years, it is decided that the winner of a jousting tournament shall be crowned. However, Arthur, the Wart, pulls the Sword from the Stone.
|}

===List of specific individuals===
Based on the comic's defined criteria for the order of succession, these are the specific individuals in that order, including only people who are otherwise eligible to be the President of United States (35 year old and natural born US citizens who lived in US for last 14 years) '''as of the date the comic was published'''.
#{{w|Donald Trump}} ({{w|President of the United States}})
#{{w|Mike Pence}} ({{w|Vice President of the United States}})
#{{w|Mike Pompeo}} ({{w|United States Secretary of State}})
#{{w|Jim Mattis}} ({{w|United States Secretary of Defense}})
#{{w|Kirstjen Nielsen}} ({{w|United States Secretary of Homeland Security}})
#{{w|Jeff Sessions}} ({{w|United States Attorney General}})
#{{w|Tom Hanks}} (Tom Hanks) As Donald Trump did not appoint anyone to fill position #7 on Randall's line of succession, Hanks immediately follows after Sessions.
#{{w|Jerry Brown}} (Governor of California)
#{{w|Greg Abbott}} (Governor of Texas)
#{{w|Andrew Cuomo}} (Governor of New York)
#{{w|Rick Scott}} (Governor of Florida)
#{{w|Bruce Rauner}} (Governor of Illinois)
#{{w|Tom Wolf}} (Governor of Pennsylvania)
#{{w|John Kasich}} (Governor of Ohio)
#{{w|Rick Snyder}} (Governor of Michigan)
#{{w|Nathan Deal}} (Governor of Georgia)
#{{w|Roy Cooper}} (Governor of North Carolina)
#{{w|Phil Murphy}} (Governor of New Jersey)
#{{w|Ralph Northam}} (Governor of Virginia)
#{{w|Jay Inslee}} (Governor of Washington)
#{{w|Charlie Baker}} (Governor of Massachusetts)
#{{w|Eric Holcomb}} (Governor of Indiana)
#{{w|Doug Ducey}} (Governor of Arizona)
#{{w|Bill Haslam}} (Governor of Tennessee)
#{{w|Mike Parson}} (Governor of Missouri)
#{{w|Larry Hogan}} (Governor of Maryland)
#{{w|Scott Walker (politician)|Scott Walker}} (Governor of Wisconsin)
#{{w|Mark Dayton}} (Governor of Minnesota)
#{{w|John Hickenlooper}} (Governor of Colorado)
#{{w|Kay Ivey}} (Governor of Alabama)
#{{w|Henry McMaster}} (Governor of South Carolina)
#{{w|John Bel Edwards}} (Governor of Louisiana)
#{{w|Matt Bevin}} (Governor of Kentucky)
#{{w|Kate Brown}} (Governor of Oregon) Born in Spain to a member of the US Air Force, should be considered a natural-born citizen until proven otherwise.
#{{w|Mary Fallin}} (Governor of Oklahoma)
#{{w|Dannel Malloy}} (Governor of Connecticut)
#{{w|Kim Reynolds}} (Governor of Iowa)
#{{w|Phil Bryant}} (Governor of Mississippi)
#{{w|Asa Hutchinson}} (Governor of Arkansas)
#{{w|Jeff Colyer}} (Governor of Kansas)
#{{w|Gary Herbert}} (Governor of Utah)
#{{w|Brian Sandoval}} (Governor of Nevada)
#{{w|Susana Martinez}} (Governor of New Mexico)
#{{w|Jim Justice}} (Governor of West Virginia)
#{{w|Pete Ricketts}} (Governor of Nebraska)
#{{w|Butch Otter}} (Governor of Idaho)
#{{w|David Ige}} (Governor of Hawaii)
#{{w|Paul LePage}} (Governor of Maine)
#{{w|Chris Sununu}} (Governor of New Hampshire)
#{{w|Gina Raimondo}} (Governor of Rhode Island)
#{{w|Steve Bullock (American politician)|Steve Bullock}} (Governor of Montana)
#{{w|John Carney (politician)|John Carney}} (Governor of Delaware)
#{{w|Dennis Daugaard}} (Governor of South Dakota)
#{{w|Bill Walker (U.S. politician)|Bill Walker}} (Governor of Alaska)
#{{w|Doug Burgum}} (Governor of North Dakota)
#{{w|Phil Scott (politician)|Phil Scott}} (Governor of Vermont)
#{{w|Matt Mead}} (Governor of Wyoming)
#{{w|Kate McKinnon}} (Kate McKinnon) If she is available. Entries 10 and 11 on Randall's list have no eligible living members.
#{{w|Luis Fonsi}} (Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2017, #2 artist) Fonsi is the only eligible individual under the Billboard criterion.
#{{w|Peggy Whitson}} (Astronaut, 665 days in space)
#{{w|Jeffrey Williams (astronaut)|Jeff Williams}} (Astronaut, 534 days in space)
#{{w|Scott Kelly}} (Astronaut, 520 days in space)
#{{w|Mike Fincke}} (Astronaut, 382 days in space)
#{{w|Mike Foale}} (Astronaut, 374 days in space) Foale was born in the UK but his mother is an American, and he holds dual citizenship with both countries. It isn't clear legally whether this situation would qualify him as being a "natural-born" citizen as US courts have never definitively ruled on what the term means, so similar to Governor Kate Brown his name is included in the list until further notice.
#{{w|Serena Williams}} Serena's place on this list assumes that you do not count her withdrawal against Maria Sharapova as a ''loss''; if that counts as a loss, then subsequent entries move up one position (as Sharapova is ineligible).
#{{w|Tom Brady}} ({{w|National Football League Most Valuable Player Award|NFL MVP}}) The MVPs of all other listed sports leagues are ineligible for the office due to age or nationality.
#{{w|Bill Pullman}} (Bill Pullman) None of his children are old enough to become President at this time.
#''line of succession to the British throne''
#''everyone else'' (Jousting tournament) Assumes that no eligible member of the British order of succession exists due to citizenship issues. The Nathan's Hot Dog Eating champions were too young to hold the office. Further assumes that the number of eligible US Citizens does not exceed 536,870,912.

Based on the comic's defined criteria for the order of succession, these are the specific individuals in that order, including only people who are otherwise eligible to be the President of United States (35 year old and natural born US citizens who lived in US for last 14 years) '''as of the current date'''.
#{{w|Donald Trump}} ({{w|President of the United States}})
#{{w|Mike Pence}} ({{w|Vice President of the United States}})
#{{w|Mike Pompeo}} ({{w|United States Secretary of State}})
#{{w|Mark Esper}} ({{w|United States Secretary of Defense}})
#{{w|Kevin McAleenan}} ({{w|United States Secretary of Homeland Security}}) Kevin McAleenan is currently the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security. It's unclear whether this proposal would include acting officers.
#{{w|William Barr}} ({{w|United States Attorney General}})
#{{w|Tom Hanks}} (Tom Hanks) As Donald Trump did not appoint anyone to fill position #7 on Randall's line of succession, Hanks immediately follows after Barr.
#{{w|Gavin Newsom}} (Governor of California)
#{{w|Greg Abbott}} (Governor of Texas)
#{{w|Andrew Cuomo}} (Governor of New York)
#{{w|Ron DeSantis}} (Governor of Florida)
#{{w|J. B. Pritzker}} (Governor of Illinois)
#{{w|Tom Wolf}} (Governor of Pennsylvania)
#{{w|Mike DeWine}} (Governor of Ohio)
#{{w|Gretchen Whitmer}} (Governor of Michigan)
#{{w|Brian Kemp}} (Governor of Georgia)
#{{w|Roy Cooper}} (Governor of North Carolina)
#{{w|Phil Murphy}} (Governor of New Jersey)
#{{w|Ralph Northam}} (Governor of Virginia)
#{{w|Jay Inslee}} (Governor of Washington)
#{{w|Charlie Baker}} (Governor of Massachusetts)
#{{w|Eric Holcomb}} (Governor of Indiana)
#{{w|Doug Ducey}} (Governor of Arizona)
#{{w|Bill Lee}} (Governor of Tennessee)
#{{w|Mike Parson}} (Governor of Missouri)
#{{w|Larry Hogan}} (Governor of Maryland)
#{{w|Tony Evers}} (Governor of Wisconsin)
#{{w|Tim Walz}} (Governor of Minnesota)
#{{w|Jared Polis}} (Governor of Colorado)
#{{w|Kay Ivey}} (Governor of Alabama)
#{{w|Henry McMaster}} (Governor of South Carolina)
#{{w|John Bel Edwards}} (Governor of Louisiana)
#{{w|Matt Bevin}} (Governor of Kentucky)
#{{w|Kate Brown}} (Governor of Oregon) Born in Spain to a member of the US Air Force, should be considered a natural-born citizen until proven otherwise.
#{{w|Kevin Stitt}} (Governor of Oklahoma)
#{{w|Ned Lamont}} (Governor of Connecticut)
#{{w|Kim Reynolds}} (Governor of Iowa)
#{{w|Phil Bryant}} (Governor of Mississippi)
#{{w|Asa Hutchinson}} (Governor of Arkansas)
#{{w|Laura Kelly}} (Governor of Kansas)
#{{w|Gary Herbert}} (Governor of Utah)
#{{w|Steve Sisolak}} (Governor of Nevada)
#{{w|Michelle Lujan Grisham}} (Governor of New Mexico)
#{{w|Jim Justice}} (Governor of West Virginia)
#{{w|Pete Ricketts}} (Governor of Nebraska)
#{{w|Brad Little}} (Governor of Idaho)
#{{w|David Ige}} (Governor of Hawaii)
#{{w|Janet Mills}} (Governor of Maine)
#{{w|Chris Sununu}} (Governor of New Hampshire)
#{{w|Gina Raimondo}} (Governor of Rhode Island)
#{{w|Steve Bullock (American politician)|Steve Bullock}} (Governor of Montana)
#{{w|John Carney (politician)|John Carney}} (Governor of Delaware)
#{{w|Kristi Noem}} (Governor of South Dakota)
#{{w|Mike Dunleavy}} (Governor of Alaska)
#{{w|Doug Burgum}} (Governor of North Dakota)
#{{w|Phil Scott (politician)|Phil Scott}} (Governor of Vermont)
#{{w|Mark Gordon}} (Governor of Wyoming)
#{{w|Kate McKinnon}} (Kate McKinnon) If she is available. Entries 10 and 11 on Randall's list have no eligible living members.
#{{w|Adam Levine}} (Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2017, #10 artist) Levine is the only eligible individual under the Billboard criterion, being over 35. He represents {{w|Maroon 5}}.
#{{w|Peggy Whitson}} (Astronaut, 665 days in space)
#{{w|Jeffrey Williams (astronaut)|Jeff Williams}} (Astronaut, 534 days in space)
#{{w|Scott Kelly}} (Astronaut, 520 days in space)
#{{w|Mike Fincke}} (Astronaut, 382 days in space)
#{{w|Mike Foale}} (Astronaut, 374 days in space) Foale was born in the UK but his mother is an American, and he holds dual citizenship with both countries. It isn't clear legally whether this situation would qualify him as being a "natural-born" citizen as US courts have never definitively ruled on what the term means, so similar to Governor Kate Brown his name is included in the list until further notice.
#{{w|Bill Pullman}} (Bill Pullman) {{w|Bianca Andreescu}}, the winner of {{w|Serena Williams}}' last match, is ineligible due to age and nationality. The MVPs of all listed sports leagues are ineligible for the office due to age or nationality. None of Bill Pullman's children are old enough to become President at this time.
#''line of succession to the British throne''
#''everyone else'' (Jousting tournament) Assumes that no eligible member of the British order of succession exists due to citizenship issues. The Nathan's Hot Dog Eating champions were too young to hold the office. Further assumes that the number of eligible US Citizens does not exceed 536,870,912.

==Transcript==
: A proposal for a new presidential line of succession
: Current politics aside, most experts agree the existing process is flawed. The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 is probably unconstitutional on several counts, and there are many practical issues with the system as well.
: (For more, see the surprisingly gripping ''Second Report of the Continuity of Government Commission'', June 2009.)
: Proposed line of succession:
:# President
:# Vice president
:# Secretary of State
:# Secretary of Defense
:# Secretary of Homeland Security
:# Attorney General
:# Five people who do not live in Washington DC, nominated at the start of the president's term and confirmed by the Senate
:# Tom Hanks
:# State Governors, in descending order of state population at last census
:# Anyone who won an Oscar for playing a governor
:# Anyone who won a Governor's award for playing someone named Oscar
:# Kate McKinnon, if available
:# Billboard year-end Hot 100 singles artists #1 through #10 (for groups, whoever is credited first in name, liner notes, etc)
:# The top 5 US astronauts in descending order of total spaceflight time
:# Serena Williams (or, if she lost her most recent match, whoever beat her)
:# The most recent season NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL MVPs
:# Bull Pullman and his descendants by absolute primogeniture
:# The entire line of succession to the British throne
:# The current champion of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating contest
:# All other US citizens, chosen by a 29-round single-elimination Jousting tournament

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Politics]]

2199: Cryptic Wifi Networks

2019-09-07T21:07:20Z

172.68.142.83: /* Explanation */ blah blah blah

{{comic
| number = 2199
| date = September 6, 2019
| title = Cryptic Wifi Networks
| image = cryptic_wifi_networks.png
| titletext = They actually showed up on the first scan by the first WiFi-capable device.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a Toshiba-U2187-OfficeLink-Net46UHZ. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In the comic, a character with a knit cap is on top of a high mountain in a remote location. He sees a Wifi network name listed on his handheld device, perhaps a cellular telephone. Cryptic {{w|Wi-Fi}} (or Wifi) network names, called {{w|Service set (802.11 network)|Service Set Identifiers}} (SSIDs) are part of the joke about not knowing where the corresponding {{w|wireless router}} is located, suggesting they are unexplained phenomen instead of wireless radio devices. Some of the earliest Wifi devices like printers and {{w|internet}} routers advertised cryptic SSIDs, as do many of them today. In 1998, {{w|Lucent}} introduced the [https://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/Linux/Wavelan-IEEE.html WaveLAN IEEE], the first {{w|integrated circuit}} chip set supporting the IEEE 802.11 wireless {{w|LAN}} protocol, spinning off {{w|Agere Systems}} to produce them in 2000. WiFi followed mid-1990s short-range wireless networks like {{w|Bluetooth}} and radio internet protocols like the 1980s {{w|KA9Q}}, with roots going back to the earliest {{w|ticker tape}} digital telegraphy systems from the mid-1850s. [https://techtalk.gfi.com/the-31-funniest-ssids-ive-ever-seen/ Humorous SSID names] are not uncommon.

The SSID displayed is '''Toshiba-U2187-OfficeLink-Net46UHZ''' which is 33 characters long, unfortunately one character more than are allowed. {{w|Toshiba}} is a multinational electronics conglomerate manufacturing many products including untold multitudes of different kinds of printers over the years. Such devices often have embedded {{w|wireless access point|wireless access points}} including the manufacturer name in the SSID. Many network names contain words like Net, Office or Link. The code might indicate a model U2178 device from Toshiba named (or having an interface program named) OfficeLink, which has a sub-model number or operates on a wireless network designated 46UHZ. That "Hz" is an abbreviation for {{w|Hertz}} suggests that designation may or may not have something to do with the frequency on which the transmitting device operates. Or U2178 could be a serial number for a user or a utility pole. We don't know whether the SSID is connected to a network of more than one or is just one device. The padlock icon indicates that a password is required to communicate. The "join other network" option allows for manually typing SSIDs to attempt to connect with networks which are not configured to display their SSIDs.

While the most likely explanation in an office environment might be a printer plugged in somewhere nearby, other possibilities include a television, cryptocurrency mining rig, speaker, pacemaker, alarm system, fashion accessory, autonomous antimissile defense system node, hobby project, surveillance device, {{w|Loon LLC|balloon}}, distributed denial of service attack platform malware-infested coffee pot, {{w|Starlink (satellite constellation)|satellite}}, vending machine, telecommunication facilities, {{w|Facebook Aquila|solar-powered drone}}, distributed exoskeleton, visiting interstellar civilization, power-to-gas pipeline valve, [http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/2340.html ransomware worm nest,] or anything else in the Wifi {{w|Internet of Things}}. Sometimes, the {{w|ionosphere}} reflects radio waves, vastly increasing the distance that they can travel to and from remote locations.

Network names can be used to track the geographic locations of mobile devices, for example in the {{w|Wi-Fi positioning system}}. Google {{w|street view}} equipment records locations of networks to assist with {{w|geolocation}}. Location information can be searched in tools like [https://wigle.net/ Wigle] or [https://openwifimap.net/ OpenWifiMap]. The {{w|Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers}} (IEEE) committee number for WiFi is {{w|IEEE 802.11|802.11}} which is composed of sub-committees like {{w|IEEE 802.11ad|802.11ad}}, designing the 60 GHz Multiple Gigabit Wireless System (MGWS) and {{w|IEEE 802.11ay|802.11ay}} working on {{w|MIMO|multiple input, multiple output}} (MIMO) bandwidth enhancements. [https://www.toshibatec.com/cnt/products_overseas/printer2/mobile_printer/b-fp3d/ This Toshiba Wifi printer] supports the "802.11 a/b/g/n" Wifi protocols. The {{w|List of router firmware projects|software which produces SSID listings}} is administered by {{w|List of wireless community networks by region|network communities}} and depends on {{w|Wireless mesh network|mesh configurations}}. Alternatives include [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20861948 bluetooth mesh networks] and other {{w|wireless ad hoc network|''ad hoc'' networks}} to provide internet connectivity services.

The title text indicates that the first WiFi networking client interface displayed unexpected SSIDs. If true, this could potentially rule out all of the alternative explanations other than an alien visitation, a software bug, time travel, trans-multiverse or trans-dimensional communication, hardware misconfiguration, or the supernatural. (It is worth noting that cryptic-sounding Wi-Fi networks actually being generated by a time-traveling alien entity as a trap was used as a plot device in the 2013 ''Doctor Who'' episode ''The Bells of Saint John''.)

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

:[A human with a knit cap and a backpack is checking his phone at the highest mountain in a mountainous landscape.]

:Phone: Available WiFi Networks
:Phone: Toshiba-U2187-OfficeLink-Net46UHZ
:Phone: [in gray] Join other network

:[Caption below the comic:]
:Tech Trivia: No one actually knows what devices produce those cryptic WiFi networks. They just appear at random across the Earth's surface.

{{comic discussion}}

2198: Throw

2019-09-06T13:41:11Z

172.68.142.83: /* Throwers and throw items */ first pitch by Carly

{{comic
| number = 2198
| date = September 3, 2019
| title = Throw
| image = throw.png
| titletext = The keys to successfully throwing a party are location, planning, and one of those aircraft carrier steam catapults.
}}
<div class="toclimit-3">{{TOC}}</div>
*To experience the interactivity of this game, visit the {{xkcd|2198|original comic}}.
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by THOR, GOD OF THUNDER. Add the equation for throwing (see comments)? Could we add the animation of the throwers? Transcript of the possible sentences in a table on an extra page. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This is an interactive comic made to celebrate the release of [[Randall|Randall's]] new book, ''[[How To]]''. The comic is based on a chapter in the book.

As the comic celebrates the book, which was released on Tuesday, September 3rd, 2019, the comic was thus also released on a [[:Category:Tuesday comics|Tuesday]] to coincide with the release day, replacing that week's normal Wednesday release. This was the same timing used for another of Randall's book releases, when [[1608: Hoverboard]] came out on the Tuesday when [[Thing Explainer]] came out. Although the Hoverboard comic is much more complex than this one, they are both [[:Category:Dynamic comics|dynamic]] and [[:Category:Interactive comics|interactive]], with [[:Category:Comics with animation|animations]] a part of them.

In this comic the viewer can select a thrower and an object to be thrown, see this [[#Throwers and throw items|table]], and get an animation of how the selected throw would work out, along with an estimated distance of the throw (both in the SI unit meter (m) and in other very arbitrary units; see this [[#Table of distance units|table]] below) if the throw was possible. Impossible throws include those where the thrower is smaller than the thrown object, or tries to throw them selves, which is possible as four objects are also among the throwers.

The formula/guideline is apparently based on a chapter from the new ''How to'' book. One special case to the calculations is Thor's hammer, which is enchanted such that only those deemed "worthy" are able to lift it. As such, despite its mass being liftable by many of the characters, only Thor, God of Thunder (who is canonically worthy), and self-created characters who are well over the human records for height ({{w|List of tallest people|272 cm}}) and/or weight ({{w|List of heaviest people|635 kg}}) are shown to actually be able to throw it. Also Thor is the only one who uses {{w|furlongs}} to measure his distances among the standard throwers. However, it is only because the wight of the hammer is set at 2000 kg and Thor is set to have 1000 times the strength of a regular human, that he is the only one that can throw it. It is not a fixed part of the comic that only he can throw it.

[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/f/f3/2198_Throw_-_Original_without_you.PNG Originally] there where only 7 throwers and 15 things to throw, giving a total of 105 different combinations; see the [[#Table of throw distances|table]] below. But only Thor can throw all 15, with three of the objects (George Washington, Thor's hammer, and the car) unthrowable by any of the other throwers. The smaller critters can throw only a few things, so the total number of throws is much less than 105. Still, there is an animation for all 105 combinations, but with no throw distance for many of these.

But already on day one the comic was out, a new thrower was added with the standard name "You", and this person, with black hair and a [[1350:_Lorenz#Knit_Cap_Girl|knit cap]], was also added to the objects that can be thrown increasing the number of throwers to 8 and objects to be thrown to 16. However it would not be true to say that the number of options now would be 8 x 16 = 128, since the "You" can be customized when selecting it in the throwers menu (nuy not when selecting You in the object menu). When doing so a new window called [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/thumb/4/48/2198_Throw_-_Custom_thrower.PNG/835px-2198_Throw_-_Custom_thrower.PNG Costume thrower] will open up over the comic. The "You" option can then be customized by changing the name (from the default "You"), and defining the height (default 5.8 ft = 1.77 m) and weight (default 160 lb = 72.57 kg), where ft (feet) can be changed to m (meter) and lb (pound) can be changed to kg (kilograms). But when doing so the window will not correct the number from feet to meter etc. but stay the same.

Below the above options there is line with four persons above it, defining a scale of ''athleticism'', the default second option being the drawing of "you" which represents ''Decent'' form (i.e. a normal person). The first on the scale is [[Black Hat]], who thinks moving things is for suckers, thus representing minimal athleticism. "You" in second position is in decent shape and pretty good form, representing decent athleticism. George Washington in third position represents extremely high athleticism, and as he states he threw so well they made him President. Finally the fourth position, representing a champion athlete, shows a person with a helmet with chin strap and googles who states that he trains 36 hours a day by using a time machine. It is thus indicated that such athletes can only be so good by training more than is possible; for instance, if he travels 24 hours back every day, he could use 12 more of these to practice, making it 36 hours on that "normal day" and he would then still have 12 hours to eat and sleep/restitution before his next 36 hours training pass.

Changing away from the decent "You" to one of the other three characters on the athleticism scale does, however, not change the character used for the animation, which stays the same. But still this gives a very large number of different "yous" that can both throw and be thrown.

An unrealistically tall and heavy custom character can throw Thor's hammer, so it is not because it is magically inclined to only be thrown by Thor, it is just that the weight is set to 2000 kg, and only Thor of the standard characters have the strength (1000 times normal human strength) to throw such a heavy object. But if the "you" is big enough the lover athleticy difference to Thor will be compensated by shear wight and height.

Interestingly, Thor can throw a squirrel 257 meters. If a Custom Thrower is created, and they are 200 meters tall and 150 KG, they can throw the squirrel 256 meters (1 meter less than Thor). Thor can throw an acorn 136 meters, and the Custom Thrower will throw it 133 meters. Now, Thor can throw Thor's Hammer 19 meters. The Custom Thrower can throw it 44 meters! Apparently there is more to the enchantment of Thor's Hammer than meets the eye, as it would have been expected that if Thor can throw a squirrel and an acorn farther than an extraordinary human, then certainly he could throw his own enchanted Hammer a longer distance. This is of course because the you thrower now throws from a much higher height than Thor, and thus these two can no longer be compared. [And maybe this section should be deleted?]

The title text refers to throwing a party (a colloquial synonym of hosting a party) and first makes the assumption of actually giving hints for giving a party, and then switching to suggest a mechanism to literally throw a huge object, such as a house with a party going on inside. An {{w|Aircraft_catapult#Steam_catapult|aircraft steam catapult}} is a mechanism to launch aircraft from ships, typically used on aircraft carriers.

==Safety Considerations==
Many of the items, even if technically possible to throw, may not be able to be thrown safely.

For example:
* Depending on how the microwave oven is damaged when it hits the ground, it may still be able to appear to function, but no longer seal properly, and therefore leak dangerously high amounts of microwave radiation.
* Blenders have blades and glass. Even if no one is struck by the flying blender, the broken pieces would be hazardous later if they are not properly disposed of.
* Cars have gasoline and battery acid which may spill if one is thrown.
* A squirrel might bite the person attempting to throw it, which is dangerous as some squirrels have rabies.
* Pikachu could shock (possibly fatally) someone trying to throw it.
* If a person is thrown, that person may be badly injured.

==Throwers and throw items==
*Here is a table with first the throwers and then the objects to be thrown.
**George Washington, Pikachu, and the squirrel are both throwers and throwable objects, as are the costumed option "You".
**For these four this is noted in the explanation. The "You" is also the first object, Washington and Pikachu is no. 11-12 and the Squirrel is also the last object (no. 16) in the object list.

{| class="wikitable" |
! Image
! Name
! Explanation
|-
|[[File:2198 Throw - you.png]]
|'''{{w|human|You}}'''
|'''Can also be thrown'''. The viewer may also choose to create a custom thrower, for instance, themself, inputting a name, height, weight, and general level of athleticism, as measured on a scale from "[[Black Hat]]" to "championship athlete" (a swimmer is pictured). The custom thrower is also selectable as a throwing item, presumably to provide more variety compared to the fixed values of George Washington.
|-
|[[File:2198 Throw - george.png]]
|'''{{w|George Washington}}'''
|'''Can also be thrown'''. He was the first president of the United States of America. There is a myth that a young George Washington threw a silver dollar across the Potomac River, which is more than a mile wide for much of its length; or alternatively that he would throw rocks across the Rappahannock River, which was about 300 feet wide near George's boyhood home. http://kenmore.org/education/kidstuff/legends.html. He is also used as a throwing item to represent the likelihood of a thrower distance with an average human as the projectile. George Washington is shown as a very powerful thrower; the comic makes fun of the flagrant embellishment of Washington's life.
|-
|[[File:2198 Throw - quarterback.png]]
|'''An NFL {{w|quarterback}}'''
|A quarterback in the National Football League is a highly athletic individual. Gridiron football is a full-contact sport that requires durability, speed, and precision. One of the primary skills required of quarterbacks is to be able to throw the football far with precision accuracy.
|-
|[[File:2198 Throw - pikachu.png]]
|'''{{w|Pikachu}}'''
|'''Can also be thrown'''. Pikachu is a species of Pokémon and the mascot of the Pokémon franchise as a whole. Although Pikachu are not normally shown to throw things, the ''Super Smash Bros'' series shows they are perfectly capable of picking things up that do not significantly out-size them. That said, Pikachu is capable of throwing a wide variety of objects through the move Fling, which allows the user to deal damage by throwing its held item (and, incidentally, a Fling TM). Its presence as a throwing item appears to reference the most recently released Pokémon games as of the comic's release, ''Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu'' and ''Pokémon Let's Go Eevee'', where the partner Pokémon of the respective title is not kept in a Poké Ball but thrown into battle when deployed. According to Pokédex entries throughout the series, the average Pikachu is 1'04" (0.4m) tall and weighs 13.2 lbs (6kg). Randall appears to have done his research, as a custom thrower with these stats and default athleticism will have near-identical results to Pikachu for both thrower and thrown item.
|-
|[[File:2198 Throw - carly.png]]
|'''{{w|Carly Rae Jepsen}}'''
|A Canadian music artist with [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgwAywJlo1M marginal throwing ability.]
|-
|[[File:2198 Throw - thor.png]]
|'''{{w|Thor}}'''
|Thor is the god of thunder in Norse mythology, wielding a hammer that returns to its wielder when thrown. He is also {{w|Thor (Marvel Comics)|featured in Marvel comics}} and is portrayed by Chris Hemsworth (listed below) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe series of films. Thor was previously referenced in [[2097: Thor Tools]].
|-
|[[File:2198 Throw - chris hemsworth.png]]
|'''{{w|Chris Hemsworth}}'''
|He is an Australian film actor, best known for his role as Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
|-
|[[File:2198 Throw - squirrel.png]]
|'''A {{w|squirrel}}'''
|'''Can also be thrown'''. It is a small mammal of the family ''Sciuradae'', known for hoarding acorns. Squirrels have been a [[:Category:Squirrels|recurring topic]] on xkcd and have been used in ''What if?'' in lieu of a subject that Randall really doesn't want to draw. Due to their small size, a squirrel is also selectable as a throwing item.
|-
|[[File:2198 Throw - microwave.png]]
|'''A {{w|microwave oven}}'''
|A common household appliance in most American homes, used to heat or reheat food for consumption.
|-
|[[File:2198 Throw - basketball.png]]
|'''A {{w|basketball (ball)|basketball}}'''
|An inflated sphere used as a projectile in the sport of the same name.
|-
|[[File:2198 Throw - blender.png]]
|'''A {{w|blender}}'''
|It is a common household appliance in most American homes, used to shred food or ingredients into slush for consumption or baking.
|-
|[[File:2198 Throw - gold_bar.png]]
|'''A {{w|gold bar}}'''
|It is the form in which gold is cast for storage.
|-
|[[File:2198 Throw - cake.png]]
|'''A {{w|wedding cake}}'''
|It is traditionally a layer cake used for wedding receptions with copious amounts of frosting and figurines of the bride and groom standing upon the top layer. The figurines appear to have been removed before the cake is thrown, as they are before the cake is cut and served.
|-
|[[File:2198 Throw - pingpong.png]]
|'''A {{w|ping pong ball}}'''
|A small plastic sphere designed to bounce, used as a projectile in the sport of table tennis or "ping pong". Notably the ball is much more difficult to throw than the acorn, as its larger size yet much lighter weight causes it to lose more momentum due to air resistance.
|-
|[[File:2198 Throw - acorn.png]]
|'''An {{w|acorn}}'''
|A small nut which serves as a squirrel's primary form of nourishment.
|-
|[[File:2198 Throw - hammer.png]]
|'''{{w|Mjolnir (comics)|Thor's hammer}}'''
|This hammer refers to Mjolnir, an enchanted hammer in the {{w|Marvel universe}} which belongs to {{w|Thor (Marvel Comics)|Thor from Marvels comics}} and can only be lifted by those deemed worthy. It is based on {{w|Mjölnir}} the hammer of Norse God {{w|Thor}}, God of Thunder. In this comic, though, it appears that Mjolnir is just incredibly heavy, and Thor is able to throw it because he is very strong. The custom thrower is also able to throw it if their size and strength are set high enough. Setting aside this customization, Thor is the only standard thrower to be able to throw Thor's hammer. In the movies based on the Marvel universe, Thor is played by Chris Hemsworth, who is also one of the throwers, but in real life, he would of course not be able to throw such a weighty hammer.
|-
|[[File:2198 Throw - javelin.png]]
|'''A {{w|javelin}}'''
|An aerodynamic polearm thrown in Olympic sport.
|-
|[[File:2198 Throw - silver_spin.png]]
|'''A {{w|Dollar coin (United States)|silver dollar}} spinning'''
|A silver coin representing one (1) US dollar in value, as would have been common when George Washington was president. The coin is given two trajectories to choose from when thrown; Here '''spinning''', as one would properly throw a discus.
|-
|[[File:2198 Throw - silver_tumble.png]]
|'''A {{w|Dollar coin (United States)|silver dollar}} tumbling'''
|The coin's other possible trajectory, '''tumbling''', as might result from flipping a coin to make a decision. The spinning coin always goes farther than the tumbling one, since facing the air edge-on leads to a smaller area facing the wind and therefore less air resistance.
|-
|[[File:2198 Throw - car.png]]
|'''A {{w|car}}'''
|It is the most common form of long-distance transport in several well-developed countries.
|}

===Table of throw distances===
{| class="wikitable"
!Item / Thrower
!NFL Quarterback
!George Washington
!Pikachu
!Carly Rae Jepsen
!Thor
!Chris Hemsworth
!Squirrel
|-
|rowspan="2"|'''Microwave oven'''
|10.32 m
|7.76 m
|N/A
|3.67 m
|181.57 m
|6.15 m
|N/A
|-
|33.85 feet
|25.46 feet
|N/A
|82.65 rack units
|1.99 football fields
|138.40 rack units
|N/A
|-
|rowspan="2"|'''Basketball'''
|40.18 m
|33.22 m
|2.34 m
|19.11 m
|113.67 m
|27.99 m
|N/A
|-
|16.74 horses
|19.54 smoots
|75.90 attoparsecs
|11.24 smoots
|1.42 Manhattan blocks
|16.46 smoots
|N/A
|-
|rowspan="2"|'''Blender'''
|16.58 m
|12.45 m
|N/A
|5.89 m
|333.25 m
|9.86 m
|N/A
|-
|9.75 smoots
|40.85 feet
|N/A
|132.51 rack units
|1.66 furlongs
|32.34 feet
|N/A
|-
|rowspan="2"|'''Gold bar'''
|9.73 m
|7.23 m
|N/A
|3.36 m
|549.28 m
|5.69 m
|N/A
|-
|31.93 feet
|23.73 feet
|N/A
|75.65 rack units
|2.73 furlongs
|128.11 rack units
|N/A
|-
|rowspan="2"|'''Wedding cake'''
|8.96 m
|6.75 m
|N/A
|3.2 m
|146.25 m
|5.35 m
|N/A
|-
|29.40 feet
|22.14 feet
|N/A
|72.00 rack units
|1.60 football fields
|120.45 rack units
|N/A
|-
|rowspan="2"|'''Ping-pong ball'''
|11.8 m
|11.63 m
|9.28 m
|11.25 m
|12.53 m
|11.41 m
|4.95 m
|-
|38.72 feet
|38.17 feet
|30.46 feet
|36.92 feet
|41.10 feet
|37.44 feet
|111.37 rack units
|-
|rowspan="2"|'''Acorn'''
|83.00 m
|75.84 m
|28.16 m
|62.85 m
|135.98 m
|67.91 m
|6.53 m
|-
|1.04 Manhattan blocks
|0.95 Manhattan blocks
|16.57 smoots
|26.19 horses
|1.49 football fields
|28.30 horses
|146.85 rack units
|-
|rowspan="2"|'''Thor's Hammer'''
|N/A
|N/A
|N/A
|N/A
|19.32 m
|N/A
|N/A
|-
|N/A
|N/A
|N/A
|N/A
|11.36 smoots
|N/A
|N/A
|-
|rowspan="2"|'''Javelin'''
|56.10 m
|42.04 m
|N/A
|20.12 m
|3028.75 m
|33.09 m
|N/A
|-
|23.37 horses
|17.51 horses
|N/A
|11.84 smoots
|15.06 furlongs
|19.46 smoots
|N/A
|-
|rowspan="2"|'''George Washington'''
|N/A
|N/A
|N/A
|N/A
|136.65 m
|N/A
|N/A
|-
|N/A
|N/A
|N/A
|N/A
|1.49 football fields
|N/A
|N/A
|-
|rowspan="2"|'''Pikachu'''
|15.22 m
|11.41
|N/A
|5.39 m
|332.52 m
|9.03 m
|N/A
|-
|49.94 feet
|37.45 feet
|N/A
|121.18 rack units
|1.65 furlongs
|29.63 feet
|N/A
|-
|rowspan="2"|'''Car'''
|N/A
|N/A
|N/A
|N/A
|27.22 m
|N/A
|N/A
|-
|N/A
|N/A
|N/A
|N/A
|16.01 smoots
|N/A
|N/A
|-
|rowspan="2"|'''Spinning dollar'''
|177.09 m
|143.96 m
|16.91
|92.63 m
|1331.21 m
|115.89 m
|2.20 m
|-
|1.94 football fields
|1.57 football fields
|9.95 smoots
|1.16 Manhattan blocks
|6.53 furlongs
|1.45 Manhattan blocks
|71.41 attoparsecs
|-
|rowspan="2"|'''Tumbling dollar'''
|58.17 m
|53.77 m
|13.92 m
|44.08 m
|84.82 m
|49.03 m
|2.14 m
|-
|24.24 horses
|22.41 horses
|45.67 feet
|18.37 horses
|1.06 Manhattan blocks
|20.43 horses
|69.42 attoparsecs
|-
|rowspan="2"|'''Squirrel'''
|58.64 m
|46.92 m
|2.92 m
|25.44 m
|256.54 m
|38.50 m
|N/A
|-
|24.43 horses
|19.55 horses
|65.71 rack units
|14.97 smoots
|1.28 furlongs
|16.04 horses
|N/A
|}

===Table of distance units===
*This is a table of the alternative distance units shown and their lengths in meters.
**Three of the units shown here are listed in the Wikipedia articles {{w|List of humorous units of measurement}}
**Five the units shown here are listed in the Wikipedia article {{w|List of unusual units of measurement}}.
***Only furlong and foot/feet are not in any of the lists (although a different type of feet is in the last list).
**There are ten alternative units in the source code for the comic. However, the wiffle unit cannot be used, and the light-nanosecond unit is inaccessible except by customization.
**Two of the units are off by an order of magnitude.
{| class="wikitable"
!Unit name
!Length in comic in meters
!Explanation
|-
|{{w|List_of_humorous_units_of_measurement#Wiffle|Wiffles}}
|0.0089
|A Wiffle, also referred to as a WAM for Wiffle (ball) Assisted Measurement, is equal to a sphere 0.089 m (3.5 inches) in diameter – the size of a {{w|Wiffle ball}}, a perforated, light-weight plastic ball frequently used by marine biologists as a size reference in photos to measure corals and other objects. Randall is thus a factor 10 off. While wiffles should be the next unit after rack-units and before feet, the unit conversion typo seems to prevent it from being accessible by any thrower-object combination, as it is now even smaller than the wrong measure for light-nanoseconds. Wiffles have thus only been discovered in the data of the comic, as it seems to be impossible to get it displayed in the comic itself.
|-
|{{w|List of unusual units of measurement#Light-nanosecond|Light-nanoseconds}}
|0.0299
|The light-nanosecond was popularized by Grace Hopper, referring to the length light could travel in a nanosecond. The actual length of a light-nanosecond is 0.299 m, about a foot long, but it seems that [[Randall]] was off by an order of magnitude. This measurement is used for lengths from 1 to 1.06 m, but none of the standard throwers or objects can be thrown for this short a distance, so it is not included in the table above. But with the custom user it is [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/a/a5/2198_Throw_-_Light_nanoseconds_1m.PNG possible to get down to 1 m] where it will then be used, but of course, since it says 33 light-nanoseconds instead of 3 it is wrong. See some examples [[2198:_Throw/Screen-shots#Light_nanoseconds_error|here]].
|-
|{{w|List_of_humorous_units_of_measurement#Attoparsec|Attoparsecs}}
|0.03086
|The parsec is a unit of length used to measure large distances to astronomical objects outside the Solar System. A parsec is defined as the distance at which one {{w|astronomical unit}} subtends an angle of one {{w|arcsecond}}. One parsec is equal to about 3.26 light-years or 31 trillion kilometers (31×1012 km) or 19 trillion miles (19×1012 mi). Atto- is a unit prefix in the metric system denoting a factor of 10−18 or 0.000000000000000001. Together the two-unit exponents will almost cancel out, as 31 trillion kilometers can be written as 3.1×1018cm, meaning that an attoparsec is 3.1 cm. The unit is only used three times in non-customized settings: once for Pikachu and twice for the squirrel. This measurement is used for lengths from 1.06 to 2.69 meters. See [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/79/2198_Throw_-_Attoparsecs_107cm_setings.PNG example here].
|-
|{{w|List_of_unusual_units_of_measurement#Rack_unit|Rack units}}
|0.0445
|A {{w|Rack unit}} (abbreviated U or RU) is a unit of measure defined as 1 3⁄4 inches (44.45 mm). Mainly used to measure the overall height of the likes of {{w|19-inch rack}} frames or the equipment put in there. It is used for lengths from 2.69 to 6.67 meters.
|-
|{{w|Foot (unit)|Feet}}
|0.3048
|One foot is defined as 0.3048 meters. In customary and imperial units, the foot comprises 12 inches and three feet compose a yard. This measurement is used for lengths from 6.67 to 16 meters.
|-
|{{w|List_of_humorous_units_of_measurement#Smoot|Smoots}}
|1.7000
|The {{w|Smoot}} is a nonstandard, humorous unit of length created as part of an MIT fraternity prank. One smoot is equal to {{w|Oliver Smoot}}'s height at the time of the prank, 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m). Mr. Smoot was used to measure the length of the Harvard Bridge (connecting Boston and Cambridge) by being repeatedly laid down along the length of the bridge; the markings indicating distances in smoots along the bridge have been maintained by the fraternity. This measurement is used for lengths from 16 to 36 meters. While the smoot is a nonstandard unit of length, Oliver Smoot has been chairman of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and President of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). ANSI and ISO are among the world's main standardizing bodies, so Randall may indirectly be making the pun that while Smoot's body isn't a standard measure, Smoot has been in charge of bodies that standardize measurements.
|-
|{{w|List_of_unusual_units_of_measurement#Horse|Horses}}
|2.4
|The length of a {{w|horse}} varies a lot with the horse type, breed, age, and genes. In the Wikipedia article on horses, the length of a horse is not even mentioned, only the height and weight. But Randall has used horses for measurements before. A {{w|horse length}} is approximately 8 feet (2.4 m). This measurement is used for lengths from 36 to 75 meters.
|-
|{{w|List_of_unusual_units_of_measurement#Block|Manhattan blocks}}
|80.0
|The numbered streets in {{w|Manhattan}} run east-west and are generally 60 feet (18 m) wide, with about 200 feet (61 m) between each pair of streets. With each combined street and {{w|City block|block}} adding up to about 260 feet (79 m), there are almost exactly 20 blocks per mile. The typical block in Manhattan is 250 by 600 feet (76 by 183 m). When driving in a grid-like city, the {{w|Manhattan distance}} between two points is a concept, although it is also called {{w|Taxicab geometry}}. It seems like it is indeed the combined street and block distance. This measurement is used for lengths from 75 to 131 meters.
|-
|{{w|List_of_unusual_units_of_measurement#Football_field_(length)|Football fields}}
|91.44/109.728
|A football field in the comic is 100 yards or 91.44 m long. An {{w|American football field}} is 100 yards between the end zone although by including those it is actually 120 yards or 109.728 m. Although it is an American comic, it doesn't state that it is an American Football field. A {{w|Football pitch}} in {{w|Association football}} (Soccer) is also often used, and although the length of those varies the usual size for champions league matches is 105 m. This measurement is used for lengths from 131 to 201 meters.
|-
|{{w|Furlongs}}
|201.168
|A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and U.S. customary units equal to one-eighth of a mile. It is part of the {{w|List_of_humorous_units_of_measurement#FFF_units|FFF_units}} of the {{w|FFF system}} for furlong/firkin/fortnight, length, mass and time. One furlong should therefore be 201.168 meters, though the United States does not uniformly use this conversion ratio. Older ratios are in use for surveying purposes in some states. Only Thor's distances are given in furlongs. This measurement is used for lengths of 201 meters (1 furlong) and up. For the standard throwers and items only Thor can throw over 200 m, thus only he uses Furlongs to measure his throws. Given that this is an old unit, and Thor is based on ancient Nordic Mythology, this may seem appropriate.
|}

==Extra pages==
As this comic is very complicated several screen shots and tables are needed for the full explanation. In order to keep this main page easy to use, these pictures and possibly some of the tables will be placed on some extra pages, as has also been done with [[:Category:Comic subpages|other complex comics]] in the past:
*[[2198: Throw/Screen-shots]]

==Transcript==
:[As this is an interactive comic, not all possible text should be given in this transcript. Also, it is not possible to see all the different throwers or objects in one image. This transcript here includes the text that can be found when loading the page, without changing the thrower or object (the default), but also includes the text that can be found by scrolling in the two select "windows" as that would be similar to a long comic where you need to scroll as well as customization options. For further differences that occur by changing the objects refer to a table of all combinations.]

:[A heading with a subheading is above a line, beneath which are a sentence, that is generated by the selections in the two windows beneath this sentence:]
:<big>'''Throw Calculator'''</big>
:This calculator implements the approximate throwing distance estimation model from ''How To'' Chapter 10: ''How to throw things''.

:How far could George Washington throw a Microwave oven?

:[Beneath this sentence are two "windows" with a frame around them, one to the left and one to the right, each with a heading breaking the top frame. Each also has a scroll bar to the right, which allows one to scroll down through 8 different possible selections in the left window and 16 in the right window. There are, depending on the browser zoom level, one or two selections on each line. Each window's content is given here under their respective headings. Each possible selection is a drawing with a caption beneath it.]
:Select a thrower

:*You
:*An NFL Quarterback
:*George Washington
:*Pikachu
:*Carly Rae Jepsen
:*Thor, God of Thunder
:*Chris Hemsworth
:*A squirrel

:Select an object to be thrown
:*You
:*A microwave oven
:*A basketball
:*A blender
:*A gold bar
:*A wedding cake
:*A ping-pong ball
:*An acorn
:*Thor's Hammer
:*A javelin
:*George Washington
:*Pikachu
:*A car
:*A silver dollar (spinning)
:*A silver dollar (tumbling)
:*A squirrel

:[Below the two windows is the result of the animation that will happen when a selection has been made. An animation of the selected thrower throwing (or failing to throw) the selected object is shown, and the object's traveling distance is measured out both in meters (SI units) and in some other unit in brackets below. If the distance is not too long compared to the size of the object and thrower, then both can be seen, and in case the object is soft it may break from the throw.]

:[In the pre-selected version, George Washington throws a microwave oven, which ends up several meters from him lying on a corner broken with its wire lying beneath it. The distance is given under the ruler along which the throw has occurred, with markings for approximately every meter. In this case, there are seven steps even though the distance is above 7 meters:]
:7.76 meters
:(25.46 feet)

:[Clicking on "You" in the thrower box opens a new window over the above described comic parts. some of the comic can still be seen including the thrower and his item, and a new throw occurs every time something is changed in this new window. It is a customization box with several options shown below.]

:Your Name
:____You_____ [can be changed]

:Height
:5.8 ft [number can be changed; ft can be changed to m]

:Mass
:160 lb [number can be changed; lb can be changed to kg]

:Athleticism
:[Below is a scale showing Black Hat, the character depicting You with a knit cap, George Washington, and a person with goggles and a helmet. A marker is set at You, but can be changed. Below the characters are descriptions.]
:Black Hat: Moving objects around is for suckers.
:Minimal
:You: I'm in decent shape and have pretty good form.
:Decent
:George Washington: I'm so good at throwing they made me president.
:Extremely High
:Goggles: I use a time machine to train for 36 hours a day.
:Champion Athlete

:[Once done the box can be clicking on a cross at the top right or just clicking outside the window on the comic behind it. Now the thrower you (and the object you) will have the weight, length and strength chosen and will be able to throw (or be thrown) with these stats. ]

==Trivia==
*The comic refers to Thor as the character from the Marvel comics and movies (and other media), who is himself a reference to the ancient Norse god. In Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, Thor is played by Chris Hemsworth.
*Thor's hammer, Mjölnir, bears an enchantment that prevents any living being from lifting it unless they are "worthy." This is reflected in the simulation by giving Mjölnir a mass of 2,000 kg.
**In-universe, Thor's hammer weighs [https://urbandud.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/detail-128-thors-hammer.jpg?w=550 42.3 pounds].
*The option to customize your own character was added to the comic later.
*Due to a bug, the calculations for the customized person ('you') are incorrect when the mass is specified in pounds
*When the comic came out there was a mistake so the item to be thrown was named the same as the thrower, except for the coins and for when Pikachu and George Washington tried to throw themselves in which case it for instance said:
**[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/9/93/2198_Throw_-_Original_error_George_Himself.PNG How far could George Washington throw himself?]
**But if he picked another object it would write:
***[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/c/c9/2198_Throw_-_Original_error_George_George.PNG How far could George Washington throw George Washington?]
**See more examples [[2198:_Throw/Screen-shots#Errors|here]]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with animation]] 
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]
[[Category:Interactive comics]]
[[Category:Physics]] 
[[Category:American football]] 
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]] 
[[Category:Pokémon]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]] 
[[Category:Religion]] 
[[Category:Squirrels]]
[[Category:Food]] 
[[Category:Basketball]]
[[Category:Sport]] 
[[Category:Book promotion]]
[[Category:How To]]

Talk:2193: Well-Ordering Principle

2019-08-27T06:34:34Z

172.68.142.83: added

Still a "trap": POOF, you're now the worst McFly cosplayer; here's a mirror.
:She asked about people who 'tried' to dress as Marty McFly. So unless Megan has ever tried to dress as him, I don't think she can be the answer.[[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 00:10, 24 August 2019 (UTC)
::_Technically_, Megan never used the formal "I wish" construction: she had "my wish is" and "just show me." Since the genie didn't immediately grant it in response to "my wish is," either (1) it's not possible (see other folks' comments below), (2) like Alex Trebec, he requires the proper format, or (3) we can assume that he'll respond to a direct order ... in which case, Megan will become a McFly cosplayer in a subsequent panel. :p
:Considering that wishing for any of the genie's suggestions would make her a wanted criminal that stole a billion dollars, a housefly in a room full of irritable people, or a genie trapped in a lamp for all eternity, this is hardly a terrible fate. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.66|172.68.65.66]] 14:04, 25 August 2019 (UTC)
:: Beware. The worst Marty McFly may be truly terrible. Or it could be a little kid in a costume they made out of craft paper and colored in crayon, terrible but adorable... but it could involve (1) real lightning, (2) real plutonium, (3) the band McFly, (4) actually a dog in costume, (5) actually a fly in costume, (6) Jeff Goldblum from "The Fly" i.e. fly head not Jeff Goldblum head - in costume, (7) Cthulhu - in costume. (The last and worst trick-or-treat you'll ever see; he would qualify.) rja.carnegie@gmail.com [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.209|162.158.158.209]] 14:36, 26 August 2019 (UTC)
:She only wished to see "their costume". So the genie could trap her by only showing the costume, without letting her know how it looked on the wearer. In fact, the genie can also opt to ignore the "singular they" madness and bury her in a pile of costumes (of everyone who ever wore one for Halloween). [[Special:Contributions/198.41.231.135|198.41.231.135]] 16:50, 26 August 2019 (UTC)

*Are* costumes well-ordered? Even leaving aside the subjectivity of any ranking, there are several different criteria which could be used, and many ways of combining them. (What if the costume which looked least like Marty wasn't the ugliest, nor the one showing least effort?) — Also, may be worth qualifying the explanation of Halloween by mentioning the USA; some other countries don't celebrate it, and of those that do, not all do trick-or-treating or dressing-up &c. [[User:Gidds|Gidds]] ([[User talk:Gidds|talk]]) 00:23, 24 August 2019 (UTC)

::Saying there are different criteria kind of overlaps with saying the ranking is subjective. But far worse, even individual preferences are preorders aka quasiorders, which absolutely does mean that there may not be a worst, or even a set of costumes tied for worst. However, the fact that you can always find someone (e.g. on Amazon Mechanical Turk, or off the street, or on a wiki somewhere) to give you another opinion means that well-foundedness can be rescued with their {{w|mean opinion score}}. I wonder if the genie is powerful enough to know the asymptotic MOS ranking right away, or if it will have to wait for enough Amazon Mechanical Turk HITs to be completed. Given that there must have been at least hundreds of thousands of consumes so far, that could take quite a long time to achieve p<0.05. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.248|172.69.22.248]] 04:00, 24 August 2019 (UTC)
::I've spent way too much time on this, but the more I do, the more I think Randall is trying to say something about the simulation hypothesis, related to the theme on [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th5uJNB7VU8 ''Watch Room''] (warning: somewhat creepy but otherwise ok sci-fi short.) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.134|172.69.22.134]] 12:32, 24 August 2019 (UTC)

I hope this Munroe lowkey challenging the internet, that we might actually celebrate our infamous king (or girl marty queen) of crappy costume. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.58.219|162.158.58.219]] 00:37, 24 August 2019 (UTC)

The "worst McFly" and "even" sounds like there should be a math pun in there somewhere, but I don't see it. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.63.11|172.69.63.11]] 01:36, 24 August 2019 (UTC)

"It's been over 30 years since Back to the Future came out." That makes me feel old. Isn't that something that Munroe does regularly? Should that be mentioned in the explanation? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.88|162.158.214.88]] 10:42, 24 August 2019 (UTC)
:Yes, I am sure there have been at least two comics where the often surprising ages of things formed a central part of the theme, but I can't remember enough about them to find them. Anyone? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.82|162.158.255.82]] 11:55, 24 August 2019 (UTC)
::Just see [[:Category:Comics to make one feel old]] :-). --[[User:DaB.|DaB.]] ([[User talk:DaB.|talk]]) 12:29, 24 August 2019 (UTC)
:::Thanks {{done}} [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.134|172.69.22.134]] 12:38, 24 August 2019 (UTC)

"The real Worst McFly is probably lost to time" is also a pun regarding the fact that ''Back to the Future'' is a time-travel story.--[[User:MCBastos|MCBastos]] ([[User talk:MCBastos|talk]]) 17:20, 24 August 2019 (UTC)

I wonder if this could be trap from Megan - even unintended one: in some stories, the Genie could get into problems if he CANT fulfill the wish ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:07, 24 August 2019 (UTC)

Even if "preference" is a total order (i.e. connex and anti-symmetric, I think both of these are debatable) it isn't necessarily a well order, however, since the set of costumes is finite, there would still be a "worst" one. [[User:Probably not Douglas Hofstadter|Probably not Douglas Hofstadter]] ([[User talk:Probably not Douglas Hofstadter|talk]]) 03:17, 25 August 2019 (UTC)

:It's not a total preorder unless you don't let people have "no opinion" about some pairs, which is an acceptable constraint for preferences based on established objective criteria, but not something so subjective like quality of fashion. In practice, a lot of people are going to have least favorites between which they don't care. Surveys of subjective preferences almost always allow people to say that they don't have opinions or are not sure. Even in technically objective measures, like short- versus long-term bond yield curves, you can sometimes prove that people objectively should have certain preferences upon which they are clearly not acting. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.189.19|172.68.189.19]] 07:40, 25 August 2019 (UTC)

Sounds like a trap -- for the genie. Keep it busy so that it can't inflict "wishes" on others. Much more subtle than "find the last digit of pi", but possibly still a "halting problem" that can never be fully solved.

Actually, this wish is simply if not easily fulfilled, and it may indeed be a trap for Megan. Simply show her every Marty McFly costume ever worn. At some point she would have to have seen the worst, no matter how worst was determined. Depending upon the method, this could take a very long time. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.239|108.162.246.239]] 00:48, 27 August 2019 (UTC)
:Good point; added. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.142.83|172.68.142.83]] 06:34, 27 August 2019 (UTC)

2193: Well-Ordering Principle

2019-08-27T06:33:39Z

172.68.142.83: /* Explanation */ rm speculative paragraph, combine title text explanations; include trap

{{comic
| number = 2193
| date = August 23, 2019
| title = Well-Ordering Principle
| image = well_ordering_principle.png
| titletext = We could organize a nationwide old-photo-album search, but the real Worst McFly is probably lost to time.
}}

==Explanation==
In the comic, [[Megan]] has found a genie lamp. A genie (or {{w|Jinn}}) in a lamp is a supernatural, immortal being from many fairy tales, the most well known that from {{w|Aladdin}}, who grants one or more wishes to the person who frees it, such as by polishing or opening the lamp. Instead of wishing for multiple wishes, flight, money, or other "traditional" wishes, Megan instead wishes to see the worst Marty McFly Halloween costume.

{{w|Marty McFly}}, played by actor {{w|Michael J. Fox}}, is a main character of the science fiction film about time travel ''{{w|Back to the Future (franchise)|Back to the Future}}'', which was released, [[:Category:Comics to make one feel old|we are reminded]], over thirty years ago, starting a series of sequels. The films are popular, so many people dress up as McFly or Doc Brown, the other main character, on {{w|Halloween}}, a holiday on October 31 when it is traditional in the USA to wear {{w|Halloween costume|different costumes}}. McFly's outfit in the original film consists of little more than an orange vest, jean jacket, checkered shirt, jeans, and sneakers. It would seem difficult to get this wrong.

In the final panel, the genie questions why she would wish for something so mundane, when he has the power to grant wishes beyond her wildest dreams. Megan, being savvy of tropes, used in fiction since biblical times, points out that encounters with wish-granting entities often turn out to be traps; genies in fiction will often interpret wishes in ways the wisher did not intend, and particularly mean-spirited ones will {{tvtropes|JackassGenie|twist a mortal's desire into their own personal hell}}. So Megan tries to play it safe by wishing for something innocuous and with little room for harmful side-effects.

The genie may also be reluctant to fulfill the wish due to the insurmountable practical difficulties of fulfilling such subjective, ill-defined request. The {{w|well-ordering principle}} is a mathematical fact stating that every non-empty set of positive integers contains a least element. This principle would apply to Megan's request if there was guaranteed to be an absolute worst costume of Marty McFly. However, subjective {{w|preference}}, while {{w|Reflexive relation|reflexive}} and {{w|Transitive relation|transitive}}, is not {{w|Well-founded relation|well-founded}} (or {{w|Symmetric relation|symmetric}} or necessarily {{w|Antisymmetric relation|antisymmetric}} or {{w|Connex relation|(semi-)connex}} for that matter) and is therefore considered to be a {{w|preorder}}, also called a quasiorder. This means that the genie may not be able to fulfill Megan's wish if the selection is based on the preferences of any one person. For example, the genie may have no opinion on the quality of any McFly costume, or might judge them on criteria completely different from Megan's. Her own criteria might apply to some pairs of costumes but not others, leading to ambiguity as to which is the worst, and no way to say whether any of the candidate possibilities are as bad as the others.

While Megan isn't explicitly wishing for a {{w|Public opinion|common or widely-shared opinion}}, the title text contemplates organizing a "nationwide" search. People's preferences can be combined, such as with a {{w|mean opinion score}} which, while not strictly well-ordered, is usually able to identify a single worst costume, or at least a set of costumes tied for worst place according to aggregate subjective preferences. There are [https://www.docdroid.net/bcKvZmM/preference-aggregation.pdf many other ways to combine preferences] (e.g. voting) but none of them meet all of the criteria considered desirable, as demonstrated by {{w|Arrow's impossibility theorem}}. There is no way to exclude the possibility that even an omniscient and omnipotent genie might be {{w|Omnipotence paradox|technically unable}} to fulfill the wish, at least without, for example, changing one or more persons' preferences or modifying the space-time continuum to retroactively change the quality of some costumes of the past. The genie could fulfill the wish by showing Megan every McFly costume ever worn, which would necessarily show her the worst by any possible definition, but could be the trap she was hoping to avoid because viewing all the "hundreds of thousands" would take an inordinately long time.

The title text may explain why Megan is interested in this wish: any means available to her would be restricted to a geographic area's (nationwide) photographs or drawings from memory. It is likely the worst costume was either never photographed, or isn't remembered accurately by those who saw it (it is lost to time). By asking the genie to show her, she might be able to see the truly worst costume without being restricted to only those for which evidence remains. Such a wish fulfillment might even require actual time travel to the time and location where the costume existed. The title text can also be interpreted as [[Randall|Randall's]] wish to know about the worst costume. So this is not Megan but Randall who has the wish to see this costume. The best we can do today is to look through all the available photos of McFly costumes. But even if one of those could be agreed upon to be the worst, there is no guarantee that there is not even worse versions that is not documented for posterity. In this interpretation, what Randall really would like is to use a dangerous genie wish to get around these difficulties.

An additional, subtle pun plays on the word "well". In European folklore, {{w|Wishing_well|water wells}} are often associated with spirits which may grant wishes, similar to genies. Thus, Megan's explanation of why she made a simple request of the genie is a statement of her "well-ordering principle"; her principle for ordering wishes from wells. (See also the [[:Category:Well|Well series]]).

==Transcript==
:[Megan rubs a lamp held in her hands. A genie appears from the end of the lamp. The genie resembles the top half of Cueball's body, with a head, torso, and crossed arms, but with a squiggle representing a puff of smoke in place of his legs.]
:Genie: Greetings, mortal. You have freed me. I will grant you one wish.
:Megan: Hmm.

:[Megan holding the lamp to her side. The genie is off-panel.]
:Megan: It's been over 30 years since ''{{w|Back to the Future}}'' came out. Since then, probably hundreds of thousands of people have tried to dress as Marty McFly for Halloween.
:Genie: OK, and?

:[Megan, holding the lamp to her side, talking to the genie, who is floating in the air.]
:Megan: Of those people, one of them must have done the worst job.
:Megan: My wish is to see their costume.

:[Megan still holding the lamp and talking to the genie. The genie is exasperated, and has his hands raised.]
:Genie: Not a billion dollars? Flight? Infinite wishes?
:Megan: These wish things are always traps.
:Megan: Just show me the worst McFly and we'll call it even.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category: Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics to make one feel old]]
[[Category: Fiction]]
[[Category: Math]]

2193: Well-Ordering Principle

2019-08-24T12:12:03Z

172.68.142.83: /* Explanation */ wording

{{comic
| number = 2193
| date = August 23, 2019
| title = Well-Ordering Principle
| image = well_ordering_principle.png
| titletext = We could organize a nationwide old-photo-album search, but the real Worst McFly is probably lost to time.
}}

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

{{w|Marty McFly}}, played by actor Michael J. Fox, is the main character of the film series ''{{w|Back to the Future (franchise)|Back to the Future}}''. As it is a popular film and series, many people may dress up as Marty McFly or Doc Brown, the other main character of the series, on {{w|Halloween}}, a holiday on October 31 where it is traditional to dress up in {{w|Halloween costume|different costumes}}.

In the comic, Megan has found a genie lamp. A genie in a lamp is a supernatural being in many stories known to give one or more wishes to its finder. Instead of wishing for multiple wishes, flight, money, or other "traditional" wishes, Megan instead wishes to see the picture of the worst costume of Marty McFly on Halloween. Marty McFly's outfit in the films is relatively simple, consisting of little more than an orange vest, jean jacket, shirt, jeans, and sneakers. It would seem difficult to get this wrong.

In the final panel, the genie questions why she would wish for something so mundane, when he has the power to grant wishes beyond her wildest dreams. Megan, being savvy of tropes used in fiction since biblical times, points out that encounters with wish-granting entities often turn out to be traps; genies in fiction will often interpret wishes in ways the wisher did not intend, and particularly mean-spirited ones will {{tvtropes|JackassGenie|twist a mortal's desire into their own personal hell}}. So Megan tries to play it safe by wishing for something innocuous and with little room for harmful side-effects.

The {{w|well-ordering principle}} is a mathematical fact stating that every non-empty set of positive integers contains a least element. This principle would apply to Megan's request if there was guaranteed to be an "absolute worst" costume of Marty McFly. However, subjective {{w|preference}}, while [[wikipedia:Reflexive relation|reflexive]] and [[wikipedia:Transitive relation|transitive]], is not [[wikipedia:Well-founded relation|well-founded]] (or [[wikipedia:Symmetric relation|symmetric]], [[wikipedia:Antisymmetric relation|antisymmetric]], or [[wikipedia:Connex relation|(semi-)connex]], for that matter) and is therefore considered to be a {{w|preorder}}, also called a quasiorder. This means that the genie may not be able to fulfill Megan's wish if the selection is based on the preferences of any one person. For example, the genie may have no opinion on the quality of any McFly costume, or might judge them on criteria completely different from Megan's. Her own criteria might apply to some pairs of costumes but not others, leading to technical ambiguity as to which is the worst, and no way to say whether any of the candidate possibilities are as bad as the others.

While Megan isn't explicitly wishing for a common or widely-shared opinion, the title text contemplates organizing a "nationwide" search. People's preferences can be combined, such as with a {{w|mean opinion score}} which, while not strictly well-ordered, is usually able to identify a single worst costume, or at least a set of costumes tied for worst place according to aggregate subjective preferences. There are [https://www.docdroid.net/bcKvZmM/preference-aggregation.pdf many other ways to combine preferences] (e.g. voting) but none of them meet all of the criteria considered desirable, as demonstrated by {{w|Arrow's impossibility theorem}}.

The title text may explain why Megan is interested in this wish: any means available to her would be restricted to a geographic area's (nationwide) photographs or drawings from memory. It is likely the worst costume was either never photographed, or isn't remembered accurately by those who saw it (it is lost to time). By asking the genie to show her, she would be able to see the truly worst costume, without being restricted to those for which evidence remains.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Megan rubs a lamp held in her hands. A genie appears from the end of the lamp. The genie resembles the top half of Cueball's body, with a head, torso, and arms, but with a squiggle representing a puff of smoke in place of his legs.]
:Genie: Greetings, mortal. You have freed me. I will grant you one wish.
:Megan: Hmm.

:[Megan holding the lamp to her side. The genie is off-panel.]
:Megan: It's been over 30 years since ''{{w|Back to the Future}}'' came out. Since then, probably hundreds of thousands of people have tried to dress as Marty McFly for Halloween.
:Genie: OK, and?

:[Megan, holding the lamp to her side, talking to the genie, who is floating in the air.]
:Megan: Of those people, one of them must have done the worst job.
:Megan: My wish is to see their costume.

:[Megan still holding the lamp and talking to the genie.]
:Genie: Not a billion dollars? Flight? Infinite wishes?
:Megan: These wish things are always traps.
:Megan: Just show me the worst McFly and we'll call it even.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category: Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category: Fiction]]

2193: Well-Ordering Principle

2019-08-24T12:05:56Z

172.68.142.83: /* Explanation */ clarify

{{comic
| number = 2193
| date = August 23, 2019
| title = Well-Ordering Principle
| image = well_ordering_principle.png
| titletext = We could organize a nationwide old-photo-album search, but the real Worst McFly is probably lost to time.
}}

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

{{w|Marty McFly}}, played by actor Michael J. Fox, is the main character of the film series ''{{w|Back to the Future (franchise)|Back to the Future}}''. As it is a popular film and series, many people may dress up as Marty McFly or Doc Brown, the other main character of the series, on {{w|Halloween}}, a holiday on October 31 where it is traditional to dress up in {{w|Halloween costume|different costumes}}.

In the comic, Megan has found a genie lamp. A genie in a lamp is a supernatural being in many stories known to give one or more wishes to its finder. Instead of wishing for multiple wishes, flight, money, or other "traditional" wishes, Megan instead wishes to see the picture of the worst costume of Marty McFly on Halloween. Marty McFly's outfit in the films is relatively simple, consisting of little more than an orange vest, jean jacket, shirt, jeans, and sneakers. It would seem difficult to get this wrong.

In the final panel, the genie questions why she would wish for something so mundane, when he has the power to grant wishes beyond her wildest dreams. Megan, being savvy of tropes used in fiction since biblical times, points out that encounters with wish-granting entities often turn out to be traps; genies in fiction will often interpret wishes in ways the wisher did not intend, and particularly mean-spirited ones will {{tvtropes|JackassGenie|twist a mortal's desire into their own personal hell}}. So Megan tries to play it safe by wishing for something innocuous and with little room for harmful side-effects.

The {{w|well-ordering principle}} is a mathematical fact stating that every non-empty set of positive integers contains a least element. This principle would apply to Megan's request if there was guaranteed to be an "absolute worst" costume of Marty McFly. However, subjective {{w|preference}}, while [[wikipedia:Reflexive relation|reflexive]] and [[wikipedia:Transitive relation|transitive]], is not [[wikipedia:Well-founded relation|well-founded]] (or [[wikipedia:Symmetric relation|symmetric]], [[wikipedia:Antisymmetric relation|antisymmetric]], or [[wikipedia:Connex relation|(semi-)connex]], for that matter) and is therefore considered to be a {{w|preorder}}, also called a quasiorder. This means that the genie may not be able to fulfill Megan's wish if the selection is based on the preferences of any one person. For example, the genie may have no opinion on the quality of any McFly costume, or might judge them on criteria completely different from Megan's. Her own criteria might apply to some pairs of costumes but not others, leading to technical ambiguity as to which is the worst, but no way to say whether any of the candidate possibilities are as bad as the others.

While Megan isn't explicitly wishing for a common or widely-shared opinion, the title text contemplates organizing a "nationwide" search. People's preferences can be combined, such as with a {{w|mean opinion score}} which, while not strictly well-ordered, is usually able to identify a single worst costume, or at least a set of costumes tied for worst place according to aggregate subjective preferences. There are [https://www.docdroid.net/bcKvZmM/preference-aggregation.pdf many other ways to combine preferences] (e.g. voting) but none of them meet all of the criteria considered desirable, as demonstrated by {{w|Arrow's impossibility theorem}}.

The title text may explain why Megan is interested in this wish: any means available to her would be restricted to a geographic area's (nationwide) photographs or drawings from memory. It is likely the worst costume was either never photographed, or isn't remembered accurately by those who saw it (it is lost to time). By asking the genie to show her, she would be able to see the truly worst costume, without being restricted to those for which evidence remains.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Megan rubs a lamp held in her hands. A genie appears from the end of the lamp. The genie resembles the top half of Cueball's body, with a head, torso, and arms, but with a squiggle representing a puff of smoke in place of his legs.]
:Genie: Greetings, mortal. You have freed me. I will grant you one wish.
:Megan: Hmm.

:[Megan holding the lamp to her side. The genie is off-panel.]
:Megan: It's been over 30 years since ''{{w|Back to the Future}}'' came out. Since then, probably hundreds of thousands of people have tried to dress as Marty McFly for Halloween.
:Genie: OK, and?

:[Megan, holding the lamp to her side, talking to the genie, who is floating in the air.]
:Megan: Of those people, one of them must have done the worst job.
:Megan: My wish is to see their costume.

:[Megan still holding the lamp and talking to the genie.]
:Genie: Not a billion dollars? Flight? Infinite wishes?
:Megan: These wish things are always traps.
:Megan: Just show me the worst McFly and we'll call it even.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category: Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category: Fiction]]

2193: Well-Ordering Principle

2019-08-24T12:04:34Z

172.68.142.83: /* Explanation */ another example: disjoint preference chains

{{comic
| number = 2193
| date = August 23, 2019
| title = Well-Ordering Principle
| image = well_ordering_principle.png
| titletext = We could organize a nationwide old-photo-album search, but the real Worst McFly is probably lost to time.
}}

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

{{w|Marty McFly}}, played by actor Michael J. Fox, is the main character of the film series ''{{w|Back to the Future (franchise)|Back to the Future}}''. As it is a popular film and series, many people may dress up as Marty McFly or Doc Brown, the other main character of the series, on {{w|Halloween}}, a holiday on October 31 where it is traditional to dress up in {{w|Halloween costume|different costumes}}.

In the comic, Megan has found a genie lamp. A genie in a lamp is a supernatural being in many stories known to give one or more wishes to its finder. Instead of wishing for multiple wishes, flight, money, or other "traditional" wishes, Megan instead wishes to see the picture of the worst costume of Marty McFly on Halloween. Marty McFly's outfit in the films is relatively simple, consisting of little more than an orange vest, jean jacket, shirt, jeans, and sneakers. It would seem difficult to get this wrong.

In the final panel, the genie questions why she would wish for something so mundane, when he has the power to grant wishes beyond her wildest dreams. Megan, being savvy of tropes used in fiction since biblical times, points out that encounters with wish-granting entities often turn out to be traps; genies in fiction will often interpret wishes in ways the wisher did not intend, and particularly mean-spirited ones will {{tvtropes|JackassGenie|twist a mortal's desire into their own personal hell}}. So Megan tries to play it safe by wishing for something innocuous and with little room for harmful side-effects.

The {{w|well-ordering principle}} is a mathematical fact stating that every non-empty set of positive integers contains a least element. This principle would apply to Megan's request if there was guaranteed to be an "absolute worst" costume of Marty McFly. However, subjective {{w|preference}}, while [[wikipedia:Reflexive relation|reflexive]] and [[wikipedia:Transitive relation|transitive]], is not [[wikipedia:Well-founded relation|well-founded]] (or [[wikipedia:Symmetric relation|symmetric]], [[wikipedia:Antisymmetric relation|antisymmetric]], or [[wikipedia:Connex relation|(semi-)connex]], for that matter) and is therefore considered to be a {{w|preorder}}, also called a quasiorder. This means that the genie may not be able to fulfill Megan's wish if the selection is based on the preferences of any one person. For example, the genie may have no opinion on the quality of any McFly costume, or might judge them on criteria completely different from Megan's. Her own criteria might apply to some pairs of costumes but not others, leading to technical ambiguity as to which is the worst, but no way to say whether any of the candidate possibilities are as bad as the others.

While Megan isn't explicitly wishing for a common or widely-shared opinion, the title text contemplates organizing a "nationwide" search. People's preferences can be combined, such as with a {{w|mean opinion score}} which, while not strictly well-ordered, is usually able to identify a single worst costume, or at least a set of costumes tied for worst according to aggregate subjective preferences. There are [https://www.docdroid.net/bcKvZmM/preference-aggregation.pdf many other ways to combine preferences] (e.g. voting) but none of them meet all of the criteria considered desirable, as demonstrated by {{w|Arrow's impossibility theorem}}.

The title text may explain why Megan is interested in this wish: any means available to her would be restricted to a geographic area's (nationwide) photographs or drawings from memory. It is likely the worst costume was either never photographed, or isn't remembered accurately by those who saw it (it is lost to time). By asking the genie to show her, she would be able to see the truly worst costume, without being restricted to those for which evidence remains.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Megan rubs a lamp held in her hands. A genie appears from the end of the lamp. The genie resembles the top half of Cueball's body, with a head, torso, and arms, but with a squiggle representing a puff of smoke in place of his legs.]
:Genie: Greetings, mortal. You have freed me. I will grant you one wish.
:Megan: Hmm.

:[Megan holding the lamp to her side. The genie is off-panel.]
:Megan: It's been over 30 years since ''{{w|Back to the Future}}'' came out. Since then, probably hundreds of thousands of people have tried to dress as Marty McFly for Halloween.
:Genie: OK, and?

:[Megan, holding the lamp to her side, talking to the genie, who is floating in the air.]
:Megan: Of those people, one of them must have done the worst job.
:Megan: My wish is to see their costume.

:[Megan still holding the lamp and talking to the genie.]
:Genie: Not a billion dollars? Flight? Infinite wishes?
:Megan: These wish things are always traps.
:Megan: Just show me the worst McFly and we'll call it even.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category: Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category: Fiction]]

2193: Well-Ordering Principle

2019-08-24T03:53:20Z

172.68.142.83: /* Explanation */ jean jacket

2193: Well-Ordering Principle

2019-08-24T03:52:08Z

172.68.142.83: /* Explanation */ reword

2193: Well-Ordering Principle

2019-08-24T03:49:16Z

172.68.142.83: /* Explanation */ reword to explain

2193: Well-Ordering Principle

2019-08-24T03:46:54Z

172.68.142.83: /* Explanation */ MOS

Talk:2193: Well-Ordering Principle

2019-08-24T03:42:06Z

172.68.142.83: extend

2193: Well-Ordering Principle

2019-08-24T03:36:43Z

172.68.142.83: /* Explanation */ binary relation nerdity

2193: Well-Ordering Principle

2019-08-24T03:29:48Z

172.68.142.83: /* Explanation */ reword to explain

2193: Well-Ordering Principle

2019-08-24T03:28:30Z

172.68.142.83: /* Explanation */ fix links

2193: Well-Ordering Principle

2019-08-24T03:27:07Z

172.68.142.83: /* Explanation */ preference is a preorder

Talk:2193: Well-Ordering Principle

2019-08-24T03:21:11Z

172.68.142.83: preference is a preorder

2003: Presidential Succession

2019-01-22T00:56:19Z

172.68.142.83: /* Order of succession */ Distance from Europa tiebreaker as applied to Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest

{{comic
| number = 2003
| date = June 6, 2018
| title = Presidential Succession
| image = presidential_succession.png
| titletext = Ties are broken by whoever was closest to the surface of Europa when they were born.
}}

==Explanation==
The {{w|United States presidential line of succession}} is the order of people who serve as president if the current incumbent president is incapacitated, dies, resigns, or is removed from office.

The {{w|Presidential_Succession_Act#Presidential_Succession_Act_of_1947|Presidential Succession Act of 1947}} was an act by the U.S. Congress that revised the presidential order of succession to its current order. This Act, though never challenged in the courts, may not be constitutional for two reasons. First, it is unclear whether members of Congress can be designated in the line of succession. Secondly, the Act allows for a cabinet officer to be "replaced" as acting President by a new Speaker of the House or a new President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

An additional concern regarding the Act is that after the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the line of succession list the members of the Cabinet in the order that their department was established with the oldest departments first, irrespective of the Secretary's personal fitness or appropriateness of the office. The Department of Homeland Security is in charge of the security and protection of the United States and its citizens and would probably already be privy to sensitive intelligence and briefings related to national security, but because it is the latest of the Departments to have been established (in 2003), the Secretary of Homeland Security is all the way at the bottom of the current Presidential line of succession at 18th, behind other Secretaries such as that of Agriculture (9th) and Education (16th).

Another practical concern is that, by including the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate immediately after the Vice President, there is a serious risk that the simultaneous death of the President and Vice President could cause the Presidency to change to the opposing party, which (in the current American political climate) could lead to serious political instability at the precise moment when the country is facing a national crisis, and could even encourage assassinations.

The full text of the Second Report of the Continuity of Government Commission can be found here: <https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/06_continuity_of_government.pdf>. A short, readable summary, including the report's recommended new line of succession, is here: <https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-continuity-of-the-presidency-the-second-report-of-the-continuity-of-government-commission/>. The first 6 members of the commission's list are included in the current line of succession, after which they specificy that 5 new people should be appointed specifically for the purpose of succeeding the presidency if needed. Randall's list begins with these 11 people (stuffing all 5 of the new appointees into #7); afterwards, his list continues with more politicians, actors who have played Presidents, athletes, and others.

Randall's list omits the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, as well as many other cabinet positions. He is probably simply following the commission's report in this. But perhaps he does not find those people qualified to become President of the United States, or is concerned about the constitutionality of lawmakers becoming President. However, he does not seem to be concerned about constitutionality, because he included the entire line of succession to the British throne, most of whom do not meet the requirement to be a natural-born citizen of the United States.{{Citation needed}} {{w|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_Two_of_the_United_States_Constitution#Clause_5:_Qualifications_for_office|Article Two of the US Constitution}} establishes that the President must be a "{{w|Natural-born-citizen clause|natural-born}}" US citizen at least 35 years of age and had lived in the US for the last 14 years.

Randall's list includes several other people who also might not be eligible to become President either because they are not natural-born U.S. citizens (e.g., as of the time of the comic's publication, {{w|Serena Williams}} had withdrawn from her last match in the {{w|French Open}} to {{w|Maria Sharapova}}, who is Russian) or they are under 35 years of age ({{w|Russell Westbrook}}, the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player at the time of the comic's publication, was only 29 years old). These would mainly be athletes due to the relatively global reach of the four major professional sports leagues in North America and the fact that 35 is quite old for a professional athlete, let alone one who is good enough to win the league MVP. Presumably, those who wouldn't qualify for the office of President would be skipped over like in real life -- at the comic's publication, {{w|Elaine Chao}} was the Secretary of Transportation and would normally be 14th in line, but because she is a naturalized citizen of the US (she was born in Taiwan) she would not qualify for the office if the line came to her.

The title text mentions whoever was closest to the surface of {{w|Europa}} when they were born. Europa is a moon of Jupiter and one of the most likely locations in the Solar System for {{w|Habitability of natural satellites|potential habitability}}. Nevertheless it's a completely meaningless way of settling a tie. However, depending on the relative positions of Earth and Jupiter when you were born, you could easily have been tens of millions of kilometers closer. Alternatively, Randall could be playing on how Europa sounds like Europe.

==Order of succession==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!#
!Randall's order
!Current order by the 1947 Act
!Notes
|-
|1
|President
|President
|Not generally considered part of the line of succession, as incumbents cannot "succeed" to their own post. (This should really be item 0 on the list.)
|-
|2
|Vice president
|Vice president
|No change
|-
|3
|Secretary of State
|Speaker of the House of Representatives
|Moved up from 5th position. This is likely a serious suggestion. Existing rules of succession hand Executive power to the leaders of the Legislative branch if the President and Vice-President are both killed or removed from power. This is troubling for a number of reasons. One is that the Executive and Legislative branches are supposed to act as independent checks on one another's power, and so are supposed to be kept separate. Another issue is that the Executive and Legislative branches are frequently controlled by political rivals from different political parties. In such a case, assassins could effectively reverse the results of Presidential elections if they managed to kill the President and Vice-President in a short period of time (which is used as part of the twist ending in ''{{w|White House Down}}''). Additionally, leaders of the House and Senate aren't as deeply connected to the military and diplomatic missions of the country, and so would have a hard time maintaining continuity, particularly if an attack or disaster killed multiple national leaders at once. These problems could all be addressed by keeping the initial Line of Succession confined to the Executive branch of government.
|-
|4
|Secretary of Defense
|President pro tempore of the Senate
|Moved up from 7th position
|-
|5
|Secretary of Homeland Security
|Secretary of State
|Moved up from 19th position, possibly to highlight the Attorney General's place in the current order
|-
|6
|Attorney General
|Secretary of the Treasury
|Moved up from 8th position
|-
|7
|Five people who do not live in Washington DC, nominated at the start of the President's term and confirmed by the Senate
|Secretary of Defense
|{{w|Washington, D.C.}} is the capital of the United States, and is where the {{w|White House}}, the President's residence, is located. Presumably this provision covers the case where much of the government, including positions 1–6 here, are killed by a natural disaster or attack in Washington, D.C.

This suggestion establishes no qualifications for these people, but the fact that they'd need to be confirmed by the Senate suggests that they would be chosen to be competent for the role. It is also unclear if an order is determined among these five or if they take up a joint presidency. This suggestion is taken from the Second Report of the Continuity of Government Commission as a potential mechanism to ensure members of succession are not in Washington DC during a catastrophic attack.
|-
|8
|{{w|Tom Hanks}}
|Attorney General
|Academy Award-winning American actor. This is the first unambiguously unserious suggestion.{{Citation needed}} Tom Hanks is very popular and considered exceptionally likeable by many Americans, but has never served in public office or displayed any particular affinity for politics. He has also never played a president, though he has received a {{w|Presidential Medal of Freedom}}, and appeared in a {{w|Last Week Tonight with John Oliver}} [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyPRssh2rk0 skit], where he rallies five (wax) presidents to action. The implication is that Mr. Hanks would be easily accepted as a leader, based solely on his personal charm.
|-
|9
|State Governors, in descending order of state population at last census
|Secretary of the Interior
|Also taken from Second Report of the Continuity of Government Commission. At the time of publication, the last {{w|United States Census}} was the 2010 Census. As California is the most populous state, Gov {{w|Gavin Newsom}} would be first in line.

See also the {{w|2010_United_States_Census#State_rankings|state population rankings}} and the {{w|list of current United States governors}}. As worded, this criterion would exclude territorial governors (and the Mayor of Washington, D.C.).
|-
|10
|Anyone who won an Oscar for playing a governor
|Secretary of Agriculture
|Oscars, or {{w|Academy Awards}}, are annual film awards awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. At the time of publication, the only Oscar awarded for playing a governor was {{w|Broderick Crawford}}'s 1949 Best Actor award for the fictional Willie Stark in ''{{w|All the King's Men (1949 film)|All the King's Men}}'' (a character based on {{w|Huey Long}}). However, Crawford died in 1986, so would be unable to serve as President.

May be a reference to the {{w|Political career of Arnold Schwarzenegger}}: a highly-lauded actor who became governor of California, but did not win an Oscar or play a governor before being elected. (As a naturalized citizen, he is also ineligible for the Presidency.)
|-
|11
|Anyone who won a Governor's award for playing someone named Oscar
|Secretary of Commerce
|The {{w|Governors Awards}} are an annual award ceremony hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to present lifetime achievement awards within the film industry. As this award is a lifetime achievement award, it does not seem possible that an actor could win this award for simply playing someone named Oscar. Notwithstanding the nature of the award, at the time of publication, no recipient of a Governors Award has played a character named Oscar.

Obviously, the joke is that changing the order of the words from the previous proposal produces something that could actually exist.
|-
|12
|{{w|Kate McKinnon}}, if available
|Secretary of Labor
|Comedic actress famous for being a cast member on {{w|Saturday Night Live}}. She is known for her character work and celebrity impressions. She has recently done impersonations of members of the Trump administration including Spokeswoman {{w|Kellyanne Conway}} and Attorney General {{w|Jeff Sessions}}. She also played {{w|Hillary Clinton}} during the 2016 campaign and presumably would have played her when she was President had she won; but since Clinton lost, McKinnon has not actually played a President.
|-
|13
|Billboard Year-End Hot 100 Singles artists #1 through #10 (for groups, whoever is credited first in name, liner notes, etc)
|Secretary of Health and Human Services
|The {{w|Billboard Hot 100}} is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for singles, published weekly by Billboard magazine. The weekly data is aggregated into a cumulative {{w|Billboard Year-End}} (based on a "year" that ends the third week of November, in order to meet December publication deadlines). At the time of publication, the most recent such list was the {{w|Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2018}}.

Based on that list, the artists considered for the presidential succession would be: {{w|Drake}}, {{w|Ed Sheeran}}, {{w|Bebe Rexha}}, {{w|Camila Cabello}}, {{w|Post Malone}}, {{w|Cardi B}}, {{w|Zedd}} (Anton Zaslavi), and {{w|Adam Levine}} of {{w|Maroon 5}}. There are only eight names instead of ten because Drake and Post Malone each had two of the top 10 singles in 2018. Of these, only Adam Levine (39 years old) is legally eligible for the office. Everyone else is too young and several (Drake [Canada], Sheeran [UK], Camila Cabello [Cuba], and Zedd [Russia]) are not natural born citizens.
|-
|14
|The top 5 US astronauts in descending order of total spaceflight time
|Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
|Astronauts are highly respected and rigorously selected, but most have little involvement in politics. According to [https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-station-astronaut-record-holders NASA], the top 5 US astronauts by cumulative space time are: {{w|Peggy Whitson}}, {{w|Jeffrey Williams (astronaut)|Jeff Williams}}, {{W|Scott Kelly (astronaut)|Scott Kelly}}, {{w|Mike Fincke}}, and {{w|Mike Foale}}. However, it isn't clear whether Foale would qualify as a natural-born citizen as he was born in the UK and his father is British but his mother is American.
|-
|15
|{{w|Serena Williams}} (or, if she lost her most recent match, whoever beat her)
|Secretary of Transportation
|As of the time of publication, Serena Williams was a top female tennis player. She is arguably the greatest female tennis player of all-time, winning 39 {{w|Grand Slam (tennis)|Grand Slam}} titles, including 23 women's singles titles. At the time of publication Serena Williams did win her most recent match (2018 French Open, third round, on June 2nd), although she withdrew from her next match against Maria Sharapova (which perhaps should count as a loss, especially if she withdrew in order to preserve her place in the line of succession and led the terrorist attack that killed everybody in place ahead of her).

If her most recent defeat was to a non-US player, presumably she would be skipped over in line although this is not explicitly stated (the current succession list skips over anyone who would not normally qualify for not being a natural-born US citizen).
|-
|16
|The most recent season NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL MVPs
|Secretary of Energy
|MVP stands for {{w|Most Valuable Player}}. The 4 listed leagues are the major sports leagues in the United States, the {{w|National Basketball Association}} (NBA), the {{w|National Football League}} (NFL), {{w|Major League Baseball}} (MLB), and the {{w|National Hockey League}} (NHL). We're assuming that Randall meant the regular season MVPs of each league, as each league also awards MVPs for their respective championships (or in the case of the NHL's {{w|Conn Smythe Trophy}}, their entire playoffs).

As of the time of publication, the most recent MVPs for the listed sports were {{w|Russell Westbrook}} (NBA), {{w|Tom Brady}} (NFL), {{w|José Altuve}} and {{w|Giancarlo Stanton}} (MLB has two, one for the American League and one for the National League), and {{w|Connor McDavid}} (NHL). Of these, only Brady would qualify for the list - Altuve and McDavid are not US citizens (the former is from Venezuela and the latter from Canada), and Westbrook (29) and Stanton (28) are too young.
|-
|17
|{{w|Bill Pullman}} and his descendants by absolute primogeniture
|Secretary of Education
|American actor, known for playing President Thomas J. Whitmore in the 1996 film ''{{w|Independence Day (1996 film)|Independence Day}}''.

Absolute primogeniture is a form of succession where the oldest direct descendant regardless of gender receives the title. This is contrasted to {{w|Male-preference primogeniture}}, in which males come before females in the order of the throne, whether the males were born first or not. This may be a reference to the British law {{w|Succession to the Crown Act 2013}}, which changed the order of the throne from male-preference primogeniture to absolute primogeniture. This act allows {{w|Princess Charlotte of Cambridge|Princess Charlotte}} to retain her place in line before {{w|Prince Louis of Cambridge|Prince Louis}}.

As of the present, Pullman's immediate descendants consist of three children, with Maesa Pullman being the oldest at age 29, so all are currently too young for the presidency.
|-
|18
|The entire line of succession to the British throne
|Secretary of Veterans Affairs
|According to the Constitution, only a natural-born citizen of the United States can become President, which means that at least most of the line of succession to the British throne is ineligible. However, it is possible that someone in the line of succession to the British throne either is a dual citizen (especially one who is a U.S. citizen based on place of birth and a British citizen based on having a parent who was a British citizen descended from {{w|Sophia of Hanover}}) or is not British (a person from outside of Britain can become King; for example, some, including George I, were from what is now Germany).

The first 57 names on the list are {{w|Succession_to_the_British_throne#Current_line_of_succession|here}}, as of the time of publication. [https://lineofsuccession.co.uk/?date=2018-06-06 British Line of Succession on 6 June 2018] shows the list as it was at the comic's publication. American citizens [http://articles.latimes.com/1988-02-11/news/vw-42233_1_royal-house have, at times] been on the list, but no natural-born Americans are currently in the top 100. In theory, however, the full British succession list includes [http://www.wargs.com/essays/succession/2011.html several thousand people] (living descendants of {{w|Sophia of Hanover}} who are not Roman Catholic or otherwise disqualified), and it is possible that one or more such people would also be eligible to be President of the United States.

The humor here derives from the fact that the United States was established by declaring independence from the United Kingdom, with rejection of the British monarchy being a basic founding principle, and a core principle of US governance. To appoint the British monarchy to the American presidency would contradict the basic goals of American independence. Alternatively, it may reference the recent wedding of {{w|Prince Harry}} to {{w|Meghan Markle}}, although she is not in the order of succession to the British throne (and she is planning to give up her U.S. citizenship in favour of British citizenship, so her children (who would come immediately after Harry in the British line of succession) would not be born U.S. citizens either). A similar sequence of events was the plotline of the comedy film ''{{w|King Ralph}}'', which saw an American become the British monarch after the death of the royal family.
|-
|19
|The current champion of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating contest
|Secretary of Homeland Security
|The {{w|Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest}} is an annual American hot dog competitive eating competition sponsored by {{w|Nathan's Famous}} held on July 4th. As of the time of publication, the most recent men's winner is {{w|Joey Chestnut}} and the women's winner is {{w|Miki Sudo}}. At the time of publication, neither was old enough to assume the office.

The comic does not specify whether the men's or women's winner should take office, creating a tie that would be broken by distance from Europa at birth. Had they both been eligible, [https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/29132/was-earth-closer-to-europa-on-1983-11-25-or-1985-07-22 Sudo would have won] by between 0.125 and 4 {{w|Astronomical unit}}s.
|-
|20
|All other US citizens, chosen by a 29-round single-elimination Jousting tournament
|''None''
|Effective for a population up to 536,870,912 individuals (2^29) which would be enough to cover the entire US population (estimated at around 325 million at time of publication), although additional rounds can be added should the population grow further.

This is probably a reference to the {{w|Matter of Britain}} (e.g., {{w|The Sword in the Stone (film)|The Sword in the Stone}}), where, after the death of Uther Pendragon, with no known successor to the throne of England for years, it is decided that the winner of a jousting tournament shall be crowned. However, Arthur, the Wart, pulls the Sword from the Stone.
|}

===List of specific individuals===
Based on the comic's defined criteria for the order of succession, these are the specific individuals in that order, including only people who are otherwise eligible to be the President of United States (35 year old and natural born US citizens who lived in US for last 14 years) '''as of the date the comic was published'''.
# {{w|Donald Trump}} ({{w|President of the United States}})
#{{w|Mike Pence}} ({{w|Vice President of the United States}})
#{{w|Mike Pompeo}} ({{w|United States Secretary of State}})
#{{w|Jim Mattis}} ({{w|United States Secretary of Defense}})
#{{w|Kirstjen Nielsen}} ({{w|United States Secretary of Homeland Security}})
#{{w|Matthew Whitaker}} ({{w|Acting United States Attorney General}})
#{{w|Tom Hanks}} (Tom Hanks) As Donald Trump did not appoint anyone to fill position #7 on Randall's line of succession, Hanks immediately follows after Sessions.
#{{w|Jerry Brown}} (Governor of California)
#{{w|Greg Abbott}} (Governor of Texas)
#{{w|Andrew Cuomo}} (Governor of New York)
#{{w|Ron Desantis}} (Governor of Florida)
#{{w|J. B. Pritzker}} (Governor of Illinois)
#{{w|Tom Wolf}} (Governor of Pennsylvania)
#{{w|Mike DeWine}} (Governor of Ohio)
#{{w|Gretchen Whitmer}} (Governor of Michigan)
#{{w|Brian Kemp}} (Governor of Georgia)
#{{w|Roy Cooper}} (Governor of North Carolina)
#{{w|Phil Murphy}} (Governor of New Jersey)
#{{w|Ralph Northam}} (Governor of Virginia)
#{{w|Jay Inslee}} (Governor of Washington)
#{{w|Charlie Baker}} (Governor of Massachusetts)
#{{w|Eric Holcomb}} (Governor of Indiana)
#{{w|Doug Ducey}} (Governor of Arizona)
#{{w|Bill Lee (Tennessee politician|Bill Lee}} (Governor of Tennessee)
#{{w|Mike Parson}} (Governor of Missouri)
#{{w|Larry Hogan}} (Governor of Maryland)
#{{w|Tony Evers}} (Governor of Wisconsin)
#{{w|Tim Walz}} (Governor of Minnesota)
#{{w|Jared Polis}} (Governor of Colorado)
#{{w|Kay Ivey}} (Governor of Alabama)
#{{w|Henry McMaster}} (Governor of South Carolina)
#{{w|John Bel Edwards}} (Governor of Louisiana)
#{{w|Matt Bevin}} (Governor of Kentucky)
#{{w|Kate Brown}} (Governor of Oregon) Born in Spain to a member of the US Air Force, should be considered a natural-born citizen until proven otherwise.
#{{w|Kevin Stitt}} (Governor of Oklahoma)
#{{w|Ned Lamont}} (Governor of Connecticut)
#{{w|Kim Reynolds}} (Governor of Iowa)
#{{w|Phil Bryant}} (Governor of Mississippi)
#{{w|Asa Hutchinson}} (Governor of Arkansas)
#{{w|Laura Kelly}} (Governor of Kansas)
#{{w|Gary Herbert}} (Governor of Utah)
#{{w|Steve Sisolak}} (Governor of Nevada)
#{{w|Michelle Lujan Grisham}} (Governor of New Mexico)
#{{w|Jim Justice}} (Governor of West Virginia)
#{{w|Pete Ricketts}} (Governor of Nebraska)
#{{w|Brad Little}} (Governor of Idaho)
#{{w|David Ige}} (Governor of Hawaii)
#{{w|Janet Mills}} (Governor of Maine)
#{{w|Chris Sununu}} (Governor of New Hampshire)
#{{w|Gina Raimondo}} (Governor of Rhode Island)
#{{w|Steve Bullock (American politician)|Steve Bullock}} (Governor of Montana)
#{{w|John Carney (politician)|John Carney}} (Governor of Delaware)
#{{w|Kristi Noem}} (Governor of South Dakota)
#{{w|Mike Dunleavy (politician)|Mike Dunleavy}} (Governor of Alaska)
#{{w|Doug Burgum}} (Governor of North Dakota)
#{{w|Phil Scott (politician)|Phil Scott}} (Governor of Vermont)
#{{w|Mark Gordon}} (Governor of Wyoming)
#{{w|Kate McKinnon}} (Kate McKinnon) If she is available. Entries 10 and 11 on Randall's list have no eligible living members.
#{{w|Adam Levine}} (Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2018, #10 artist) Levine is the only eligible individual under the Billboard criterion.
#{{w|Peggy Whitson}} (Astronaut, 665 days in space)
#{{w|Jeffrey Williams (astronaut)|Jeff Williams}} (Astronaut, 534 days in space)
#{{w|Scott Kelly}} (Astronaut, 520 days in space)
#{{w|Mike Fincke}} (Astronaut, 382 days in space)
#{{w|Mike Foale}} (Astronaut, 374 days in space) Foale was born in the UK but his mother is an American, and he holds dual citizenship with both countries. It isn't clear legally whether this situation would qualify him as being a "natural-born" citizen as US courts have never definitively ruled on what the term means, so similar to Governor Kate Brown his name is included in the list until further notice.
#{{w|Serena Williams}} (Serena Williams or the most recent opponent to defeat her)
#{{w|Bill Pullman}} (Bill Pullman) As none of the major sports MVP's are yet 35, Bill Pullman is next on the list. None of his children were old enough to become President at the time.
#''line of succession to the British throne''
#''everyone else'' (Jousting tournament) Assumes that no eligible member of the British order of succession exists due to citizenship issues. The Nathan's Hot Dog Eating champions were too young to hold the office. Further assumes that the number of eligible US Citizens does not exceed 536,870,912.

==Transcript==
: A proposal for a new presidential line of succession
: Current politics aside, most experts agree the existing process is flawed. The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 is probably unconstitutional on several counts, and there are many practical issues with the system as well.
: (For more, see the surprisingly gripping ''Second Report of the Continuity of Government Commission'', June 2009.)
: Proposed line of succession:
:# President
:# Vice president
:# Secretary of State
:# Secretary of Defense
:# Secretary of Homeland Security
:# Attorney General
:# Five people who do not live in Washington DC, nominated at the start of the president's term and confirmed by the Senate
:# Tom Hanks
:# State Governors, in descending order of state population at last census
:# Anyone who won an Oscar for playing a governor
:# Anyone who won a Governor's award for playing someone named Oscar
:# Kate McKinnon, if available
:# Billboard year-end Hot 100 singles artists #1 through #10 (for groups, whoever is credited first in name, liner notes, etc)
:# The top 5 US astronauts in descending order of total spaceflight time
:# Serena Williams (or, if she lost her most recent match, whoever beat her)
:# The most recent season NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL MVPs
:# Bull Pullman and his descendants by absolute primogeniture
:# The entire line of succession to the British throne
:# The current champion of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating contest
:# All other US citizens, chosen by a 29-round single-elimination Jousting tournament

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Politics]]

Talk:1806: Borrow Your Laptop

2017-03-04T01:48:07Z

172.68.142.83:

I can only imagine the mouse wheel. I use a free spinner, so it sounds fun... And something to get my machine to hate me
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.159|162.158.62.159]] 13:59, 3 March 2017 (UTC)

One assumes this is a software development environment or similar

{|
!Statement
!Explanation
|-
|Oh, just hit both shift keys to change over to QWERTY.
| Likely has keyboard in DVORAK
|-
|Caps lock is control. And spacebar is capslock.
| Changing Caps Lock to a "more useful" key is common. However to change an even larger key to be capslock (Space) is odd
|-
|And two-finger scroll moves through time instead of space.
|Two finger scrolling is often used to move through a document or application on a mousepad or touchscreen device - this could be seen as moving through space (despite the cursor not actually being real). Randall is presumerably making a comment re: Space Time continuum or similar?
|-
|Once I've used a computer for a while no one else will ever use it again.
|It is unlikely that any user who tries using a computer configured like this would be expecting it and would find the workflow very hard - they are unlikely to ask again to use Cueball's computer
|}
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.197|141.101.99.197]] 07:55, 3 March 2017 (UTC)

Just a minor point QWERTY is not the standard "Roman" keyboard but "English" as "French" is AZERTY and German is something else. The other thing is that just the change from US to UK can really mess things up, $>£ is trivial as @ not only moves, but the symbol keys all seem to do different things. [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 08:58, 3 March 2017 (UTC)
:Yeah, in the UK I often have to use a Windows box misconfigured as US, where @ is in the wrong place. At work, one had a postit note explaining how to get the @ symbol, until I spent all of 5 seconds fixing it. Worse though is Apple, who insist on using US keyboard layout even in the UK. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 09:24, 3 March 2017 (UTC)
::Have tried to change this. I have a keyboard that has qwerty at the top, but it is not English as we have letters not used in the English language (ÆØÅ) which moved all kinds of other keys around. So we can type on an English qwerty keyboard, but not find all the special keys. The layout is though still called qwerty, albeit the Danish version. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:40, 3 March 2017 (UTC)

I'm surprised that no one has pointed out the impossibility of changing from DVORAK to QWERTY by pressing both shift keys, seeing as most laptops have hardware keyboards.
unless he has somehow rigged a voltronesque keyboard or he has a touchscreen keyboard or an onscreen one.
[[User:Dudeonyx|Dudeonyx]] ([[User talk:Dudeonyx|talk]]) 09:20, 3 March 2017 (UTC)
: Dvorak users typically just change the keymap. Since it's designed for touch typing,there's no real point to lettering on the keys [[User:Luckykaa|Luckykaa]] ([[User talk:Luckykaa|talk]]) 09:36, 3 March 2017 (UTC)
::(Wrote this before Luckykaa posted but had an edit conflict with him so only replies to the first comment here:)
::The keyboard is probably QWERTY but the keys assigned to these are in the dvorak layout. If Cueball can type ten fingered dvorak blindly then it is no concern for him that the keys would give a different letter than what is on the keys! See other dvorak comics as referenced in the explanation. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:40, 3 March 2017 (UTC)

The part "The next point on the list makes little sense" is not exactly true. Swapping caps lock with ctrl is actually quite common (if extravagant), google it. Some do it because they are used to some old layout (probably either pre-PC era or from the Unix world, see some Sun keyboards from the 90s). Most do it because ctrl is useful but small (especially on laptops), while caps lock is a large, rarely used key. Opinions on the ergonomy of this vary, trending towards negative, although there certainly are avid supporters.

So, the line actually starts like something you may actually hear in real life (I know I have). And then you get to... SPACE?!? Why would you turn space into a caps lock?! That's where the joke hits. It's not that the whole point of the list makes little sense, it's that it takes an existing, somewhat justified but controversial idea and turns it on its head midway through. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.102.76|162.158.102.76]] 09:29, 3 March 2017 (UTC)
:Is that not also what is made clear in the explanation now? It is not the only joke with the last being the scroll time travel. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:40, 3 March 2017 (UTC)

Apple has a feature actually called time machine to go back to old file versions. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.62|162.158.88.62]] 12:00, 3 March 2017 (UTC)

Sounds like my laptop. Because I primarily use the nipple as a pointer,and the trackpad is in a good position for the thumb, I changed the trackpad to be a scrollpad, so it doesn't move the cursor, it moves content. I have given up on trying to explain the setup, they always end up just scrolling around on the screen and tapping the trackpad like it was a mouse-button.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.70|162.158.114.70]] 15:03, 3 March 2017 (UTC)

Any chance that "spacebar is caps lock" is a reference to [[1172: Workflow]]? [[User:Tkil|Tkil]] ([[User talk:Tkil|talk]]) 16:38, 3 March 2017 (UTC)
:NO.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 01:20, 4 March 2017 (UTC)

Older computer users will recall that before the introduction of the (now standard) 101-key keyboard, it was quite common for the Ctrl key to be immediately to the left of the A key, where Caps Lock is now. Touch typists from the 70's or 80's had a hard time converting to the new placement; I personally rewired the first 101-key keyboard I got to put Ctrl back "where it belonged". (This was long before keyboard remapping software was a thing.) [[User:Mr. I|Mr. I]] ([[User talk:Mr. I|talk]]) 16:47, 3 March 2017 (UTC)
:Focus on this comic. There is no 70's or 80's keyboard.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 01:19, 4 March 2017 (UTC)

;Cueball is NOT Randall
Randall writes comics -- not an autobiography! So unless there is a strong evidence Cueball is NOT Randall. Think about other comics and what Randall all must have been done. Or does anyone really have a proof??? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 01:16, 4 March 2017 (UTC)
:I believe any time the caption text is written in first-person it is assumed that Randall is talking about himself. In that case, Cueball here would be a stand-in for Randall, albeit taken to the extreme.--[[Special:Contributions/172.68.142.83|172.68.142.83]] 01:48, 4 March 2017 (UTC)