explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Category:Incomplete explanations

2020-03-14T22:11:09Z

172.68.143.144: Reverting past 3 edits, as they were all spam edits.

This is the category page for incomplete pages that have either incomplete or no explanation, or are missing something else important. To add pages to this category, add {{tl|incomplete}} to their source text.

[[Category:explain xkcd]]

{{incomplete|recursion}}

Talk:2162: Literary Opinions

2019-06-12T16:44:45Z

172.68.143.144: multiple pseudonym authors

let's see WS Burroughs = Tarzan, E.R. Burroughs = Naked Lunch.
CS Lewis Carol
Bruce Stirlling / SM Stirling

Is it just me, or was this comic released earlier than usual? Released just after midnight, EDT. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 08:30, 12 June 2019 (UTC)

:It's just you.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.100|162.158.214.100]] 10:33, 12 June 2019 (UTC)

::Yes, it's unusally early. It happened before, but most of the time the new comics arrived in the late afternoon (central european time). This one was already up when I turned on my computer ~8am. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 11:54, 12 June 2019 (UTC)

Is there any value in adding info about the authors mentioned? [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 13:17, 12 June 2019 (UTC)

: I wanted to add "Elements of Style" to show T.H., er, E.B. (whichever ;-) was more than just a "children's book author". Probably not worth it.[[User:Afbach|Afbach]] ([[User talk:Afbach|talk]])

I don't think this relates to the "Fregoli Delusion"(sp) - they think the same person is using more than one name. [[User:Afbach|Afbach]] ([[User talk:Afbach|talk]])

Shouldn't we discuss authors with multiple pseudonyms? Like JK Rowling and Robert Galbraith, or Nora Roberts and JD Robb, etc... [[Special:Contributions/172.68.143.144|172.68.143.144]] 16:44, 12 June 2019 (UTC)

1019: First Post

2019-06-05T19:11:18Z

172.68.143.144: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1019
| date = February 20, 2012
| title = First Post
| image = first_post.png
| titletext = 'Nuh-uh! We let users vote on comments and display them by number of votes. Everyone knows that makes it impossible for a few persistent voices to dominate the discussion.'
}}

==Explanation==
Many news websites allow users to post comments on an article. The intention is that users can debate the stance(s) or implication(s) made by the article. On most sites, comments are displayed in chronological order. This puts the oldest comments at the top and newest at the bottom.

There are many pitfalls to allowing comments, but this comic refers to one in particular: most users are too busy to read more than just the top few comments. Therefore, if you were able to control the content of those comments, your opinions would be the ones that the majority of users read. If you pay people to do nothing but read the site, you ensure that they will be the first ones to see the article and that their comments (that you pay them to write) will be at the top of the page. In this scenario, the comments being posted appear to convey a particular political belief. The advantage of this is, according to [[Randall]], that it would be much cheaper to employ a college student to perform that task than pay a website for an advertisement. Also, the fact that it is a comment posted by another reader would make it seem as though the opinion was coming from the general population and not a politician or company, as an advertisement would imply. And $20/hour was (and as of this writing still is) significantly higher than the {{w|minimum wage}}, so you'd have no trouble finding willing participants among college students (who are often broke).

This comic is a continuation of [[937: TornadoGuard]] which stated "the problem with star ratings". Apparently, every possible comment ordering policy has its own problems.

The title text refers to systems like {{w|Reddit|Reddit's}} {{w|conversation threading}} which allow users to vote comments up or down and to sort them by the resulting "karma score" (total up-votes minus total down-votes). The same problem persists to some extent: after a few comments are posted and some votes are cast, the handful of comments having received the highest scores among the first dozen of so will receive far better chances at being seen and voted on than comments posted later, and will solidify their places in a positive {{w|Feedback|feedback}} loop. In this way, a few persistent voices can still dominate the discussion, contrary to the claim in the title text, thus creating irony.

The comic's title refers to a once-common form of online posturing where the first user to see the article will comment "First post" or even just "First". The intent is that everyone else see that they were there first and, therefore, must be somehow better than you. This is referred to in both [[269: TCMP]] and [[1258: First]].

==Transcript==
:[A bar graph with two bars. The first bar is much taller than the second. It is marked '$1,500,000', and below the x-axis, is labelled "Cost to buy an ad on every story on a major news site every day until the election. The second bar is much shorter, marked "$200,000', and labelled "Cost to pay five college students $20/hour to camp the site 24/7 and post the first few comments the moment a story goes up, giving you the last word in every article and creating an impression of peer consensus.]
:The problem with posting comments in the order they're submitted.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Bar chart]]
[[Category:Politics]]

1019: First Post

2019-06-05T19:11:02Z

172.68.143.144: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1019
| date = February 20, 2012
| title = First Post
| image = first_post.png
| titletext = 'Nuh-uh! We let users vote on comments and display them by number of votes. Everyone knows that makes it impossible for a few persistent voices to dominate the discussion.'
}}

==Explanation==
Many news websites allow users to post comments on an article. The intention is that users can debate the stance(s) or implication(s) made by the article. On most sites, comments are displayed in chronological order. This puts the oldest comments at the top and newest at the bottom.

There are many pitfalls to allowing comments, but this comic refers to one in particular: most users are too busy to read more than just the top few comments. Therefore, if you were able to control the content of those comments, your opinions would be the ones that the majority of users read. If you pay people to do nothing but read the site, you ensure that they will be the first ones to see the article and that their comments (that you pay them to write) will be at the top of the page. In this scenario, the comments being posted appear to convey a particular political belief. The advantage of this is, according to [[Randall]], that it would be much cheaper to employ a college student to perform that task than pay a website for an advertisement. Also, the fact that it is a comment posted by another reader would make it seem as though the opinion was coming from the general population and not a politician or company, as an advertisement would imply. And $20/hour was (and as of this writing still is) is significantly higher than the {{w|minimum wage}}, so you'd have no trouble finding willing participants among college students (who are often broke).

This comic is a continuation of [[937: TornadoGuard]] which stated "the problem with star ratings". Apparently, every possible comment ordering policy has its own problems.

The title text refers to systems like {{w|Reddit|Reddit's}} {{w|conversation threading}} which allow users to vote comments up or down and to sort them by the resulting "karma score" (total up-votes minus total down-votes). The same problem persists to some extent: after a few comments are posted and some votes are cast, the handful of comments having received the highest scores among the first dozen of so will receive far better chances at being seen and voted on than comments posted later, and will solidify their places in a positive {{w|Feedback|feedback}} loop. In this way, a few persistent voices can still dominate the discussion, contrary to the claim in the title text, thus creating irony.

The comic's title refers to a once-common form of online posturing where the first user to see the article will comment "First post" or even just "First". The intent is that everyone else see that they were there first and, therefore, must be somehow better than you. This is referred to in both [[269: TCMP]] and [[1258: First]].

==Transcript==
:[A bar graph with two bars. The first bar is much taller than the second. It is marked '$1,500,000', and below the x-axis, is labelled "Cost to buy an ad on every story on a major news site every day until the election. The second bar is much shorter, marked "$200,000', and labelled "Cost to pay five college students $20/hour to camp the site 24/7 and post the first few comments the moment a story goes up, giving you the last word in every article and creating an impression of peer consensus.]
:The problem with posting comments in the order they're submitted.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Bar chart]]
[[Category:Politics]]

2159: Comments

2019-06-05T17:38:48Z

172.68.143.144: explanation

{{comic
| number = 2159
| date = June 5, 2019
| title = Comments
| image = comments.png
| titletext = NPR encourages you to add comments to their stories using the page inspector in your browser's developer tools. Note: Your comments are visible only to you, and will be lost when you refresh the page.
}}

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

This comic represents a news article that shows how easy it is to dominate the comment section of an article by creating shill comments to support any desired narrative of the community's opinion. The joke here is that this is precisely what has occurred for this article. The top five comments are assorted ways of affirming the article's text. However, the final commenter seems freaked out that a comment she wrote was in an article. It's possible that she is just an innocent victim of this who's legitimately scared, but it could also be that she is a shill for the opposite side that wasn't fast enough to post.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[Single panel comic depicting a screenshot of an Internet article, showing the article title, lines of wavy characters representing the article text, and several comments from readers of the article...]

Backlash: Internet users are outraged over news stories using a handful of random comments to support arbitrary narratives!

:[Head of a girl with short hair:]
::I can't believe how easy it is to create an impression of peer consensus.

:[Head of a guy:]
::This dynamic is so easily manipulated and it freaks me out. xkcd.com/1019

:[Full picture of a girl with hair bun:]
::Everytime I share something and a friend responds "Haha, did you see the top comments..." it just reminds me how influential these things are in shaping the impressions of even relatively internet-savvy readers.

:[Head of a guy who looks like Cueball on a black background:]
::NPR got rid of comments in 2016 when they realized they all came from a handful of visitors posting hundreds of times a month.

:[Full picture of two guys:]
::Eventually social norms will adapt to this stuff, but it needs to hurry up.

:[Head of a girl with ponytail:]
::I have nine followers and created my account last month; how am I being quoted in this news article??

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:2148: Cubesat Launch

2019-05-10T20:24:42Z

172.68.143.144:

Ahh, yes kites! Or actually, that is a '''very''' strong kite with very strong thread. Must be nice to knock-off a spacecraft! - [[Special:Contributions/162.158.231.24|162.158.231.24]] 15:29, 10 May 2019 (UTC)
(P. S. Please don't interrupt ANY space launch, kids!)

To whomever edited the explanation to say the Megan is planning to board the Cubesat rocket: Cubesat rockets launch cubesats only. There is no place for astronauts. If Megan boarded the rocket, she would die from lack of air (among other things). [[Special:Contributions/172.68.90.112|172.68.90.112]] 16:28, 10 May 2019 (UTC)SiliconWolf

This is weird. The first time I went to the page, I sow a bunch of conspiracy theory nonsense, but when I go back, all of that stuff has been deleted. I thank you, whoever did this, but who the heck made all that conspiracy theory stuff? -Spongepants Squarebob
:I believe there's one user who just keeps spouting random conspiracy theorist stuff on a few of the recent comics and who seems to go by the motto "Soon the truth will be revealed" or something. We usually revert all of their edits as soon as possible. (Also sign your comments!) [[User:Jason|Jason]] ([[User talk:Jason|talk]]) 18:44, 10 May 2019 (UTC)
::Yeah...a while back, on comic 2133, someone edited it to say "This comic references the non-existent 'Event Horizon Telescope', an international project dedicated to deceiving the masses into thinking that black holes are real, in accordance with the whims of the Zionist conspiracy."
::So...yeah. That happened. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.143.144|172.68.143.144]] 20:24, 10 May 2019 (UTC)

2144: Adjusting a Chair

2019-05-01T16:38:19Z

172.68.143.144: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2144
| date = May 1, 2019
| title = Adjusting a Chair
| image = adjusting_a_chair.png
| titletext = When I was looking at the box, I should have thought more about what "360 degrees of freedom" meant.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a HUMAN WHO HAS DIFFICULTY ADJUSTING CHAIRS. First edit. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic shows [[Cueball]]'s attempts to adjust a swiveling chair. As many people have experienced, these chairs can be quite difficult to raise, lower, or maneuver if one does not know how. This comically culminates in a massive chair with a big central seat and several other chairs branching off of it as Cueball continues trying to adjust it.

Each step gets farther away from what real-life office chairs could do. In sequence, Cueball finds his chair:

1. Being able to recline the seat back. One can use this for sitting comfort or perhaps to take a nap.

2. Being able to raise or lower the seat. Most chairs have this ability, but the comic departs from real chairs in two ways. First, it's much higher than any real chair. Second, the spring would not be strong enough to raise a person; otherwise, he'd never be able to get the seat back down again.

3. Being able to have the seat inflate is not a typical capability. In addition to simply inflating, Cueball's chair appears to actually make the seat longer and wider.

4. Putting out branches. Chairs definitely cannot do this in real life.{{Citation needed}}

The title text makes a joke on a common claim on such chairs, that the chair offers 360 degrees of freedom. Although this normally refers to the chair's ability to rotate 360 degrees around the swivel, the chair in the comic has, literally, 360 different {{w|Degrees of freedom (mechanics)|degrees of freedom}}, i.e. axes on which to rotate or extend the chair.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball is shown adjusting a chair.]
:Caption: Adjusting a chair:
:[Cueball presses a button on the bottom of his chair.]
:Chair: CLUNK
:[The seat back of the chair swings backward.]
:[Cueball presses another button.]
:Chair: HISS
:[The chair extends to several times its previous height.]
:[Another button]
:Chair: POOF
:[The seat has expanded greatly.]
:Caption: Two hours later:
:[Cueball attempts to press yet another button on his now-massive chair. It now has 5 bases, two full chairs branching from underneath the seat, two poles coming up from the seat, each with a new seat and two back-to-back seat backs. Yet another seat is supported by a thin rod connecting the two top seats.]
{{comic discussion}}

2144: Adjusting a Chair

2019-05-01T16:37:30Z

172.68.143.144: /* Explanation */ Numbers

{{comic
| number = 2144
| date = May 1, 2019
| title = Adjusting a Chair
| image = adjusting_a_chair.png
| titletext = When I was looking at the box, I should have thought more about what "360 degrees of freedom" meant.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a HUMAN WHO HAS DIFFICULTY ADJUSTING CHAIRS. First edit. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic shows [[Cueball]]'s attempts to adjust a swiveling chair. As many people have experienced, these chairs can be quite difficult to raise, lower, or maneuver if one does not know how. This comically culminates in a massive chair with a big central seat and several other chairs branching off of it as Cueball continues trying to adjust it. Chairs cannot do this in real life.{{Citation needed}}

Each step gets farther away from what real-life office chairs could do. In sequence, Cueball finds his chair:

1. Being able to recline the seat back. One can use this for sitting comfort or perhaps to take a nap.

2. Being able to raise or lower the seat. Most chairs have this ability, but the comic departs from real chairs in two ways. First, it's much higher than any real chair. Second, the spring would not be strong enough to raise a person; otherwise, he'd never be able to get the seat back down again.

3. Being able to have the seat inflate is not a typical capability. In addition to simply inflating, Cueball's chair appears to actually make the seat longer and wider.

4. Putting out branches is beyond the pale of any office chair.

The title text makes a joke on a common claim on such chairs, that the chair offers 360 degrees of freedom. Although this normally refers to the chair's ability to rotate 360 degrees around the swivel, the chair in the comic has, literally, 360 different {{w|Degrees of freedom (mechanics)|degrees of freedom}}, i.e. axes on which to rotate or extend the chair.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball is shown adjusting a chair.]
:Caption: Adjusting a chair:
:[Cueball presses a button on the bottom of his chair.]
:Chair: CLUNK
:[The seat back of the chair swings backward.]
:[Cueball presses another button.]
:Chair: HISS
:[The chair extends to several times its previous height.]
:[Another button]
:Chair: POOF
:[The seat has expanded greatly.]
:Caption: Two hours later:
:[Cueball attempts to press yet another button on his now-massive chair. It now has 5 bases, two full chairs branching from underneath the seat, two poles coming up from the seat, each with a new seat and two back-to-back seat backs. Yet another seat is supported by a thin rod connecting the two top seats.]
{{comic discussion}}

Talk:2136: Election Commentary

2019-04-12T21:18:25Z

172.68.143.144:

A lot of election commentary falls under the category of Bayesian inference. The various news agencies have prior distributions for the votes from all of the precincts, and update their estimates of the final total votes based on the precincts that have reported so far. Thus, "Candidate X is leading Candidate Y in votes received, but since only the precincts that previously have favoured X-like candidates have reported in so far, and they aren't giving X as much a lead as expected, we think this means Y will win overall." [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.208|162.158.63.208]] 18:11, 12 April 2019 (UTC)

Anybody else getting tired of whiny Californicators and New Yorkers trying to use their superior population to dictate to the rest of the country how to live? [[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 20:12, 12 April 2019 (UTC)
:No, I'm tired of small communities trying to use "oh but added up we have a larger population than you!" to try and justify insulting California and New York.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.143.144|172.68.143.144]] 21:12, 12 April 2019 (UTC)
::Except for they don't, because they still don't. You can add together the populations of all the other states combined and not have a majority of voters.[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 21:14, 12 April 2019 (UTC)
::: California population: 40 million. New York population: 20 million. US population: 330 million. Please check your sources next time.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.143.144|172.68.143.144]] 21:18, 12 April 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2136: Election Commentary

2019-04-12T21:12:45Z

172.68.143.144:

2136: Election Commentary

2019-04-12T21:09:23Z

172.68.143.144: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2136
| date = April 12, 2019
| title = Election Commentary
| image = election_commentary.png
| titletext = This really validates Jones's strategy of getting several thousand more votes than Smith. In retrospect, that was a smart move; those votes were crucial.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by XOF NEWSBOT 3000. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic is a joke about the way newscasters commentate elections, and how they make it far more complicated than it needs to be in an election in which the candidate with the most votes wins. It's not uncommon for these methods to be used to imply the election is neck-and-neck long past the point one candidate has an insurmountable lead.

Smith has 55384 votes, while Jones has 59102 votes. Instead of comparing the votes as one number, and admitting that Jones' four thousand vote lead is likely going to earn him the lead, Cueball compares each digit to see which is larger. Ultimately he implies that Smith has a chance to win, ''if only he could pull ahead in the thousandths digit'' and secure a dramatic upset.

It should be noted that for U.S. Presidential elections, the candidate with more votes does not necessarily win, and instead the winner is determined by which candidate leads in which state, are actually more complicated than depicted, and require 52 separate comparisons (51 to determine who is leading in each of 50 states and the District of Columbia, and then one to compare the candidates' total electoral vote).

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

:[Cueball is presenting a graphic on his left that shows two names followed by five digits]
:Cueball: Smith is leading in 3 of the 5 digits, and is tied in another. But Jones has a solid lead the thousands place, if Smith can't catch up there, it's over.

:Smith  5 5 3 8 4
:::tie X ✓ ✓ ✓
:::tie ✓ X X X
:Jones  5 9 1 0 2

:[Caption below the panel:]
:A lot of election commentary just consists of ways to add up who has more votes.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]