explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1837: Rental Car

2020-05-02T22:51:53Z

172.68.174.128: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1837
| date = May 15, 2017
| title = Rental Car
| image = rental_car.png
| titletext = Technically, both cars are haunted, but the murder ghosts can't stand listening to the broken GPS for more than a few minutes.
}}

==Explanation==

In this comic the couple [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] want to rent a car. The [[:Category:Multiple Cueballs|Cueball-like guy]] from the {{w|car rental}} agency tells them they only have two vehicles available:
* One car that puts its occupants into mortal danger, so much such that it is called ''The Murder Car''. The danger, however, is abstract—the car is haunted by a {{w|ghost}}, and actual death befalls only "maybe one in six". (That is the equivalent of a round of {{w|Russian Roulette}}.) This is the fatality rate for drivers (in this case, Megan), while the rate for passengers is not mentioned.
* The other car, a regular {{w|Sedan (automobile)|sedan}}, has a defective {{w|GPS}} that incessantly gives instructions to go specifically to {{w|Seattle}}, regardless of the driver's intention to go there, and it cannot be turned off.

Megan believes she can ignore this and accepts the less lethal car. The comic suggests that driving with a GPS that tries to guide you to a different destination than that which you wish to visit—so it is always recalculating and asking you to do U-turns—is incredibly annoying. So annoying that given the choice between the persistent low-level annoyance of the GPS on one hand, and the ("low") probability of being murdered on the other, most people will choose the latter option. After all, they might survive murderous ghosts but they feel they will not survive long having to listen to the broken GPS.

According to the title text, the murderous ghosts haunt both cars, but as soon as the car starts driving and the GPS begins to drone on, even the ghost cannot stand listening to the broken GPS and stops possessing it.

Apart from the joke about GPS, this is also a subtle joke on the horrible cars one might get at a car rental service.

It is also possible that the car rental service is trying to drive people away from the haunted car, which we can assume is just a normal car, to get more profit when people come back and take the "haunted" car when their GPS is broken.

==Transcript==
:[A Cueball-like guy standing behind a desk looking at a computer screen services Megan and Cueball on the other side of the desk.]
:Guy: We have two rental cars left.
:Guy: One is the murder car. But don't let the name scare you!
:Guy: It's definitely haunted. But most drivers don't get murdered.
:Guy: Maybe one in six.

:[The guy lifts his hand and looks at Megan and Cueball.]
:Guy: The other is a regular sedan.
:Guy: But it has a GPS that's stuck trying to navigate to Seattle, and you can’t turn it off.
:Megan: ...I can ignore it, right? That's fine.

:[In a frame-less panel Megan and Cueball drive in the sedan.]
:GPS: ''Turn left''
:GPS: ''Recalculating''
:GPS: ''Make a U-turn''
:GPS: ''Recalculating''
:GPS: ''Turn right''
:GPS: ''Make a U-turn''
:GPS: ''Recalculating''

:[Megan and Cueball walk back into the agency with the guy behind his desk. Megan holds out the car keys in one hand.]
:Guy: Back already?
:Megan: We'll take the murder car.
:Guy: Popular choice.

==Trivia==
*With an estimated 1.25 million vehicular deaths globally in 2013[http://www.who.int/gho/road_safety/mortality/traffic_deaths_number/en/] and approx. 1,187 million vehicles on the road in the same year [https://www.statista.com/statistics/281134/number-of-vehicles-in-use-worldwide/], the number of fatalities per vehicle comes to be around 0.1% or about 1 in 950. This number includes trucks and commecial vehicles.
* As of 2014, there were 253 million cars on the road in the US [http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-ihs-automotive-average-age-car-20140609-story.html] and only 32,675 deaths [https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812246], giving a rate of fatalities per car of slightly over 0.01%, or 1 in 7,700)
* The car lethality risk is lower in the US by a factor of 8, compared to the worldwide vehicular lethality risk.

*The global number of haunted cars is not available, but believed to be at least five in number. [http://www.autoblog.com/2014/10/31/five-cursed-haunted-cars/]

*Similarly, while the number of faulty car GPS devices is not available, Garmin recalled 1.3 million Nuvi GPS units in 2011. [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/26/garmin-gps-recall-nuvi_n_695967.html] These recalls were not for bad directions, but for fire hazards.

*There are records of several {{w|Death by GPS | deaths resulting from following faulty GPS directions or maps}}, particularly while traveling in unfamiliar or difficult terrain. [http://www.newser.com/story/214008/woman-killed-after-gps-takes-her-to-wrong-street.html] [http://www.npr.org/2011/07/26/137646147/the-gps-a-fatally-misleading-travel-companion] [https://arstechnica.com/cars/2016/05/death-by-gps/]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]

1493: Meeting

2020-04-15T21:23:29Z

172.68.174.128: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1493
| date = March 2, 2015
| title = Meeting
| image = meeting.png
| titletext = Here at CompanyName.website, our three main strengths are our web-facing chairs, our huge collection of white papers, and the fact that we physically cannot die.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Beret Guy]]'s business, as previously seen in [[1032: Networking]] and [[1293: Job Interview]], is going well, although it is unclear why. The common theme in these three comics is that Beret Guy misuses common business cliches. The following are examples and phrases that [[Randall]] is likely making a joke about:

*"If you're reading this, the web server was installed correctly.™" When a web server is installed automatically (like Apache through a package manager), it typically comes with a minimal configuration meant to deliver a single page saying all is working fine. Usually, a company will then configure the web server to provide actual meaningful content. It appears that in this case Beret Guy's company kept the page as is, but also trademarked the sentence as the company's motto, and proudly displays it under the company logo.

*"CompanyName.website": Companies are usually given descriptive or evocative names; Beret Guy's company, meanwhile, has been given a generic placeholder name that explains nothing about the company or website except that it is a company with a website. Currently, almost every middle-sized company runs a website, so it doesn't mean Beret Guy's company is in the information technology business (but many elements are specifically parodying Google). "[http://Companyname.website Companyname.website]" redirects to xkcd.com.

*"Welcome to a meeting!" The usual way to start a meeting is to welcome the participants by telling them in which meeting they are (e.g. "Welcome to the meeting on..."). Here, the complete lack of specifics in this sentence is an indication that the meeting has, in fact, no purpose at all, except to be just "A meeting". It could also mean that Beret Guy does not know the proper way to welcome people to a meeting.

*"I'm almost out of words so I'll keep this short." A common theme in the busy world of business is lack of time, so "I'm almost out of time" would be a valid reason for keeping a meeting short, rather than a finite quantity of words. Aside from the fiction movie {{w|A Thousand Words (film)|A Thousand Words}} or people taking a {{w|Vow of Silence}}, people usually don't have a particular quota on the number of words they have or can use. Beret Guy also seems to run out of words in the title text of [[1560: Bubblegum]].

*"Just wanna touch bases." Often business professions will contact a customer to "touch base," meaning to check in for a status update. The use of the plural "bases" suggests Beret Guy does not know what this means. This could also be a word play on the expression "Cover some bases".

*"Self-driving car project" Google has been working on {{w|self-driving cars}}, which usually shouldn't be lost track of and found by the police. The fact that it was launched "by accident" is concerning. It could mean the car was turned on by mistake and then left unattended, or perhaps that a driver of one of their cars fell asleep or otherwise stopped controlling the vehicle, but it is not clear because the accidental launch may refer to the project itself rather than the car. The involvement of the police may imply that the car crashed or otherwise obstructed traffic. That said, 90 miles before crashing is a good result for a self-driving car, especially when you didn't even know you built a self-driving car. What's especially ironic is the implication that the employees were carpooling (sharing a single vehicle for their commute, for reasons of efficiency/economy) in the self-driving car, and yet this carpool activity ended with the car setting off with nobody in it at all. These types of car was the topic of the later comic [[1559: Driving]], maybe misusing one of Beret Guy's cars. Self-driving cars is a [[:Category: Self-driving cars|recurring topic]] on xkcd.

*"Sales, any luck figuring out who our customers are?" In the real world, when companies want to find out "who [their] customers are", they are talking about learning more about their existing customers (e.g. age groups, interests, genders) in order to more closely match these customers' needs, and to discover ways to attract more of them. Here, Beret Guy and [[Ponytail]] apparently use the phrase literally - they have no records of making any sales. A normal enterprise struggles to sell its products/services in order to get money. Getting cash from an unknown source would lead to serious troubles - failure to comply with tax code, suspicion of money laundering - but overall, most enterprises suffer the opposite problem: they try as hard as they can but don't get enough cash to be profitable (despite keeping precise information about where cash comes from). Note, that the accidental launching of a project would suggest a theme, that large cash infusions for unknown or {{w| Money laundering|unscrupulous}} reasons could imply anonymous {{w|Venture capital|VC}} investors, perhaps amateurs or acting in an overheated market.

*"{{w|Bug tracker}}" usually refers to systems for tracking discovery, analysis, and fixing of software bugs (errors and problems), not the physical location of insects.

*"Web-facing" (title text) usually refers to software or a server that is connected to the internet using a web interface. However, in this case, the term is applied to chairs (likely meaning that they are either materially {{w|Webbing#Furniture|web-plaited}} or placed in front of a computer with internet browsing capability, or both).

*"White papers" (title text) are usually policy recommendations, but here Beret Guy is likely talking about actual (near-worthless) blank white pieces of paper.

*"Main strengths" (title text) typically refer to one's skills, but "we physically cannot die" may refer to the fact that incorporated companies are in a sense anthropomorphized — they're legally treated as "persons", with the ability to sue and be sued in civil courts; or, just as likely, that Beret Guy and his employees are literally immortal, in which case that would indeed be a great asset which could be used in a variety of ways, from things like making an unstoppable army (though they could still be captured or incapacitated) to investing for a long long time.

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy is shown in silhouette. Above Beret Guy there is a black sign with white (and grey) text. Above this is his address to those in the meeting:]
:Beret Guy: Welcome to a meeting! I'm almost out of words, so I'll keep this short. Just wanna touch bases.
:[White text in the black sign (''.website'' in grey):]
:CompanyName.website
:''If you're reading this, the web''
:''server was installed correctly.™''

:[Beret Guy stands in front of an office chair and a table talking.]
:Beret Guy: First, a few updates. We've learned from the state police that the self-driving car project we launched by accident during this morning's carpool has come to an end about 90 miles outside of town. Very exciting!

:[Pony tail sits at the table.]
:Beret Guy [off-panel]: Profits are up. Sales, any luck figuring out who our customers are?
:Ponytail: Nope. Money keeps appearing, but we have no idea how or why.
:Beret Guy [off-panel]: Great!

:[Back to the situation from frame two.]
:Beret Guy: Oh, and one last thing—I saw a cool red beetle in the hall. Can someone add it to the bug tracker?
:[person off-panel]: Just did!
:Beret Guy: Thanks!

==Trivia==
*"CompanyName.website" is actually a domain name that was registered on 2014-11-20 and [http://companyname.website which redirects to xkcd.com]. Presumably, it is owned by Randall, for the same reason as in [[305]].

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Beret Guy's Business]]
[[Category:Self-driving cars]]

1493: Meeting

2020-04-15T21:23:15Z

172.68.174.128: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1493
| date = March 2, 2015
| title = Meeting
| image = meeting.png
| titletext = Here at CompanyName.website, our three main strengths are our web-facing chairs, our huge collection of white papers, and the fact that we physically cannot die.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Beret Guy]]'s business, as previously seen in [[1032: Networking]] and [[1293: Job Interview]], is going well, although it is unclear why. The common theme in these three comics is that Beret Guy misuses common business cliches. The following are examples and phrases that [[Randall]] is likely making a joke about:

*"If you're reading this, the web server was installed correctly.™" When a web server is installed automatically (like Apache through a package manager), it typically comes with a minimal configuration meant to deliver a single page saying all is working fine. Usually, a company will then configure the web server to provide actual meaningful content. It appears that in this case Beret Guy's company kept the page as is, but also trademarked the sentence as the company's motto, and proudly displays it under the company logo.

*"CompanyName.website": Companies are usually given descriptive or evocative names; Beret Guy's company, meanwhile, has been given a generic placeholder name that explains nothing about the company or website except that it is a company with a website. Currently, almost every middle-sized company runs a website, so it doesn't mean Beret Guy's company is in the information technology business (but many elements are specifically parodying Google). "[http://Companyname.website Companyname.website]" links to xkcd.com.

*"Welcome to a meeting!" The usual way to start a meeting is to welcome the participants by telling them in which meeting they are (e.g. "Welcome to the meeting on..."). Here, the complete lack of specifics in this sentence is an indication that the meeting has, in fact, no purpose at all, except to be just "A meeting". It could also mean that Beret Guy does not know the proper way to welcome people to a meeting.

*"I'm almost out of words so I'll keep this short." A common theme in the busy world of business is lack of time, so "I'm almost out of time" would be a valid reason for keeping a meeting short, rather than a finite quantity of words. Aside from the fiction movie {{w|A Thousand Words (film)|A Thousand Words}} or people taking a {{w|Vow of Silence}}, people usually don't have a particular quota on the number of words they have or can use. Beret Guy also seems to run out of words in the title text of [[1560: Bubblegum]].

*"Just wanna touch bases." Often business professions will contact a customer to "touch base," meaning to check in for a status update. The use of the plural "bases" suggests Beret Guy does not know what this means. This could also be a word play on the expression "Cover some bases".

*"Self-driving car project" Google has been working on {{w|self-driving cars}}, which usually shouldn't be lost track of and found by the police. The fact that it was launched "by accident" is concerning. It could mean the car was turned on by mistake and then left unattended, or perhaps that a driver of one of their cars fell asleep or otherwise stopped controlling the vehicle, but it is not clear because the accidental launch may refer to the project itself rather than the car. The involvement of the police may imply that the car crashed or otherwise obstructed traffic. That said, 90 miles before crashing is a good result for a self-driving car, especially when you didn't even know you built a self-driving car. What's especially ironic is the implication that the employees were carpooling (sharing a single vehicle for their commute, for reasons of efficiency/economy) in the self-driving car, and yet this carpool activity ended with the car setting off with nobody in it at all. These types of car was the topic of the later comic [[1559: Driving]], maybe misusing one of Beret Guy's cars. Self-driving cars is a [[:Category: Self-driving cars|recurring topic]] on xkcd.

*"Sales, any luck figuring out who our customers are?" In the real world, when companies want to find out "who [their] customers are", they are talking about learning more about their existing customers (e.g. age groups, interests, genders) in order to more closely match these customers' needs, and to discover ways to attract more of them. Here, Beret Guy and [[Ponytail]] apparently use the phrase literally - they have no records of making any sales. A normal enterprise struggles to sell its products/services in order to get money. Getting cash from an unknown source would lead to serious troubles - failure to comply with tax code, suspicion of money laundering - but overall, most enterprises suffer the opposite problem: they try as hard as they can but don't get enough cash to be profitable (despite keeping precise information about where cash comes from). Note, that the accidental launching of a project would suggest a theme, that large cash infusions for unknown or {{w| Money laundering|unscrupulous}} reasons could imply anonymous {{w|Venture capital|VC}} investors, perhaps amateurs or acting in an overheated market.

*"{{w|Bug tracker}}" usually refers to systems for tracking discovery, analysis, and fixing of software bugs (errors and problems), not the physical location of insects.

*"Web-facing" (title text) usually refers to software or a server that is connected to the internet using a web interface. However, in this case, the term is applied to chairs (likely meaning that they are either materially {{w|Webbing#Furniture|web-plaited}} or placed in front of a computer with internet browsing capability, or both).

*"White papers" (title text) are usually policy recommendations, but here Beret Guy is likely talking about actual (near-worthless) blank white pieces of paper.

*"Main strengths" (title text) typically refer to one's skills, but "we physically cannot die" may refer to the fact that incorporated companies are in a sense anthropomorphized — they're legally treated as "persons", with the ability to sue and be sued in civil courts; or, just as likely, that Beret Guy and his employees are literally immortal, in which case that would indeed be a great asset which could be used in a variety of ways, from things like making an unstoppable army (though they could still be captured or incapacitated) to investing for a long long time.

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy is shown in silhouette. Above Beret Guy there is a black sign with white (and grey) text. Above this is his address to those in the meeting:]
:Beret Guy: Welcome to a meeting! I'm almost out of words, so I'll keep this short. Just wanna touch bases.
:[White text in the black sign (''.website'' in grey):]
:CompanyName.website
:''If you're reading this, the web''
:''server was installed correctly.™''

:[Beret Guy stands in front of an office chair and a table talking.]
:Beret Guy: First, a few updates. We've learned from the state police that the self-driving car project we launched by accident during this morning's carpool has come to an end about 90 miles outside of town. Very exciting!

:[Pony tail sits at the table.]
:Beret Guy [off-panel]: Profits are up. Sales, any luck figuring out who our customers are?
:Ponytail: Nope. Money keeps appearing, but we have no idea how or why.
:Beret Guy [off-panel]: Great!

:[Back to the situation from frame two.]
:Beret Guy: Oh, and one last thing—I saw a cool red beetle in the hall. Can someone add it to the bug tracker?
:[person off-panel]: Just did!
:Beret Guy: Thanks!

==Trivia==
*"CompanyName.website" is actually a domain name that was registered on 2014-11-20 and [http://companyname.website which redirects to xkcd.com]. Presumably, it is owned by Randall, for the same reason as in [[305]].

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Beret Guy's Business]]
[[Category:Self-driving cars]]

1493: Meeting

2020-04-15T21:22:19Z

172.68.174.128: /* Explanation */ redirects

{{comic
| number = 1493
| date = March 2, 2015
| title = Meeting
| image = meeting.png
| titletext = Here at CompanyName.website, our three main strengths are our web-facing chairs, our huge collection of white papers, and the fact that we physically cannot die.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Beret Guy]]'s business, as previously seen in [[1032: Networking]] and [[1293: Job Interview]], is going well, although it is unclear why. The common theme in these three comics is that Beret Guy misuses common business cliches. The following are examples and phrases that [[Randall]] is likely making a joke about:

*"If you're reading this, the web server was installed correctly.™" When a web server is installed automatically (like Apache through a package manager), it typically comes with a minimal configuration meant to deliver a single page saying all is working fine. Usually, a company will then configure the web server to provide actual meaningful content. It appears that in this case Beret Guy's company kept the page as is, but also trademarked the sentence as the company's motto, and proudly displays it under the company logo.

*"CompanyName.website": Companies are usually given descriptive or evocative names; Beret Guy's company, meanwhile, has been given a generic placeholder name that explains nothing about the company or website except that it is a company with a website. Currently, almost every middle-sized company runs a website, so it doesn't mean Beret Guy's company is in the information technology business (but many elements are specifically parodying Google). "[http://Companyname.website]" links to xkcd.com.

*"Welcome to a meeting!" The usual way to start a meeting is to welcome the participants by telling them in which meeting they are (e.g. "Welcome to the meeting on..."). Here, the complete lack of specifics in this sentence is an indication that the meeting has, in fact, no purpose at all, except to be just "A meeting". It could also mean that Beret Guy does not know the proper way to welcome people to a meeting.

*"I'm almost out of words so I'll keep this short." A common theme in the busy world of business is lack of time, so "I'm almost out of time" would be a valid reason for keeping a meeting short, rather than a finite quantity of words. Aside from the fiction movie {{w|A Thousand Words (film)|A Thousand Words}} or people taking a {{w|Vow of Silence}}, people usually don't have a particular quota on the number of words they have or can use. Beret Guy also seems to run out of words in the title text of [[1560: Bubblegum]].

*"Just wanna touch bases." Often business professions will contact a customer to "touch base," meaning to check in for a status update. The use of the plural "bases" suggests Beret Guy does not know what this means. This could also be a word play on the expression "Cover some bases".

*"Self-driving car project" Google has been working on {{w|self-driving cars}}, which usually shouldn't be lost track of and found by the police. The fact that it was launched "by accident" is concerning. It could mean the car was turned on by mistake and then left unattended, or perhaps that a driver of one of their cars fell asleep or otherwise stopped controlling the vehicle, but it is not clear because the accidental launch may refer to the project itself rather than the car. The involvement of the police may imply that the car crashed or otherwise obstructed traffic. That said, 90 miles before crashing is a good result for a self-driving car, especially when you didn't even know you built a self-driving car. What's especially ironic is the implication that the employees were carpooling (sharing a single vehicle for their commute, for reasons of efficiency/economy) in the self-driving car, and yet this carpool activity ended with the car setting off with nobody in it at all. These types of car was the topic of the later comic [[1559: Driving]], maybe misusing one of Beret Guy's cars. Self-driving cars is a [[:Category: Self-driving cars|recurring topic]] on xkcd.

*"Sales, any luck figuring out who our customers are?" In the real world, when companies want to find out "who [their] customers are", they are talking about learning more about their existing customers (e.g. age groups, interests, genders) in order to more closely match these customers' needs, and to discover ways to attract more of them. Here, Beret Guy and [[Ponytail]] apparently use the phrase literally - they have no records of making any sales. A normal enterprise struggles to sell its products/services in order to get money. Getting cash from an unknown source would lead to serious troubles - failure to comply with tax code, suspicion of money laundering - but overall, most enterprises suffer the opposite problem: they try as hard as they can but don't get enough cash to be profitable (despite keeping precise information about where cash comes from). Note, that the accidental launching of a project would suggest a theme, that large cash infusions for unknown or {{w| Money laundering|unscrupulous}} reasons could imply anonymous {{w|Venture capital|VC}} investors, perhaps amateurs or acting in an overheated market.

*"{{w|Bug tracker}}" usually refers to systems for tracking discovery, analysis, and fixing of software bugs (errors and problems), not the physical location of insects.

*"Web-facing" (title text) usually refers to software or a server that is connected to the internet using a web interface. However, in this case, the term is applied to chairs (likely meaning that they are either materially {{w|Webbing#Furniture|web-plaited}} or placed in front of a computer with internet browsing capability, or both).

*"White papers" (title text) are usually policy recommendations, but here Beret Guy is likely talking about actual (near-worthless) blank white pieces of paper.

*"Main strengths" (title text) typically refer to one's skills, but "we physically cannot die" may refer to the fact that incorporated companies are in a sense anthropomorphized — they're legally treated as "persons", with the ability to sue and be sued in civil courts; or, just as likely, that Beret Guy and his employees are literally immortal, in which case that would indeed be a great asset which could be used in a variety of ways, from things like making an unstoppable army (though they could still be captured or incapacitated) to investing for a long long time.

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy is shown in silhouette. Above Beret Guy there is a black sign with white (and grey) text. Above this is his address to those in the meeting:]
:Beret Guy: Welcome to a meeting! I'm almost out of words, so I'll keep this short. Just wanna touch bases.
:[White text in the black sign (''.website'' in grey):]
:CompanyName.website
:''If you're reading this, the web''
:''server was installed correctly.™''

:[Beret Guy stands in front of an office chair and a table talking.]
:Beret Guy: First, a few updates. We've learned from the state police that the self-driving car project we launched by accident during this morning's carpool has come to an end about 90 miles outside of town. Very exciting!

:[Pony tail sits at the table.]
:Beret Guy [off-panel]: Profits are up. Sales, any luck figuring out who our customers are?
:Ponytail: Nope. Money keeps appearing, but we have no idea how or why.
:Beret Guy [off-panel]: Great!

:[Back to the situation from frame two.]
:Beret Guy: Oh, and one last thing—I saw a cool red beetle in the hall. Can someone add it to the bug tracker?
:[person off-panel]: Just did!
:Beret Guy: Thanks!

==Trivia==
*"CompanyName.website" is actually a domain name that was registered on 2014-11-20 and [http://companyname.website which redirects to xkcd.com]. Presumably, it is owned by Randall, for the same reason as in [[305]].

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Beret Guy's Business]]
[[Category:Self-driving cars]]

2293: RIP John Conway

2020-04-15T21:15:55Z

172.68.174.128: /* Explanation */ remove, way too much speculation on Randall's motives/motivations

{{comic
| number = 2293
| date = April 13, 2020
| title = RIP John Conway
| image = rip_john_conway.gif
| titletext = 1937-2020
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a GLIDER. Needs more in-depth explanation of how the Game Evolves. Include remaining stills from the GIF in the table below. Should also expand more on why Conway is a person of note. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{w|John Horton Conway|John Conway}}, an English mathematician, passed away of [[:Category:COVID-19|COVID-19]] on April 11, 2020. Two days later, [[Randall]] created this [[:Category:Tribute|memorial comic]]. It is the 6th memorial comic, but it is the first released in almost 5 years, since [[1560: Bubblegum]].

One of Conway's most famous creations was the {{w|cellular automaton}} known as {{w|Conway's Game of Life}}. A cellular automaton is a machine composed of cells, each of which can be in a different state. Every generation, each cell in the automaton may transition to a new state depending on a set of rules. (Conway's work in mathematics was vast and various, but he is perhaps best known in the field for discovering the {{w|surreal numbers}}, which inspired Donald Knuth to write a novel which may have been referenced back in [[505: A Bunch of Rocks]].)

Conway's Game of Life is a 2-state automaton (i.e., every cell can be "alive" or "dead") that is implemented on a two-dimensional grid of cells using the {{w|Moore neighborhood}} - this means that each cell can only be influenced by the eight cells directly surrounding it, both orthogonally and diagonally. The transition rules that Conway discovered are as follows:

* If an "alive" cell has no live neighbors, or only one live neighbor, it becomes "dead". (This simulates death by isolation).
* If an "alive" cell has four or more live neighbors, it becomes "dead". (This simulates death by overcrowding).
* If a "dead" cell has exactly three live neighbors, it becomes "alive". (This simulates birth).

Despite the simplicity of these three rules, Conway showed that patterns of amazing complexity can nonetheless develop out of simple cell arrangements. Some patterns do not evolve at all ("still lifes"), some enter a cyclic, repeating state ("oscillators"), and some reproduce their own pattern displaced by an offset, resulting in patterns that can move across the grid under their own power ("gliders" and "spaceships"). This last category is of particular interest, as it allows the Game of Life to transmit information from one location to another, allowing for rich, dynamic behavior and even for the creation of computational machines within the automaton itself.

This comic begins with the shape of a stick figure as the starting cell configuration of the Game of Life. The black cells are "alive" and the white cells are "dead". This configuration then evolves via Conway's rules, disintegrating into nothingness except for a five-cell pattern known as a "glider", which ascends up and to the right. This visually suggests a "soul" breaking away from the disintegrating corporeal body. The glider is perhaps the most iconic pattern of the Game of Life, and is often used symbolically to represent the phenomenon of emergence.

The initial state presented in the comic does actually evolve in that manner, as can be verified by entering the pattern into a cellular automaton simulator such as [http://golly.sourceforge.net/ Golly] or web services such as [https://bitstorm.org/gameoflife/ this one]. It seems that no one else have created this pattern before. At least, despite discussion in the comments, no one has found anything to show that this is not Randall's own discovery of this pattern.

The title text simply states Conway's birth and death year: 1937-2020.

Conway's Game of Life was previously mentioned in [[696: Strip Games]]. Cellular automata was also referenced in [[505: A Bunch of Rocks]].

This comic is the 18th comic in a row (not counting the [[2288: Collector's Edition|April Fools' comic]]) in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] related to the {{w|2019–20 coronavirus outbreak|2020 pandemic}} of the {{w|coronavirus}} {{w|SARS-CoV-2}}, which causes {{w|COVID-19}}. Although this comic is, of course, mainly a tribute to John Conway, the fact that he died of COVID-19 in the middle of this long series of corona related comics by Randall, is relevant. Maybe Randall would have made a tribute anyway. But given the fact that this is the first tribute in five years, it is obviously not something Randall does every time a famous person dies. So could very well be related to the cause of death, that he made this tribute.

==Table of generations==
{| class="wikitable"
!Generation
!Notes
|-
|[[File:Generation 0.jpg|thumb]]||Starting state (or "zeroth generation").
|-
|[[File:Generation 1.jpg|thumb]]||First generation. Note that this image is not aligned with the previous one: the position of all cells has shifted downward by one cell. All further generations are aligned the same as this one.
|-
|[[File:Generation 2.jpg|thumb]]||Second generation.
|-
|[[File:Generation 3.jpg|thumb]]||Third generation.
|-
|[[File:Generation 4.jpg|thumb]]||Fourth generation.
|-
|[[File:Generation 5.jpg|thumb]]||Fifth generation.
|-
|[[File:Generation 6.jpg|thumb]]||Sixth generation. The first appearance of the glider, a well-known formation in Conway's Game of Life.
|-
|[[File:Generation 7.jpg|thumb]]||Seventh generation. The glider takes on its other shape.
|-
|[[File:Generation 8.jpg|thumb]]||Eighth generation. The glider returns to its first shape, pointing right instead of up.
|-
|[[File:Generation 9.jpg|thumb]]||Ninth generation. The glider's second shape again, pointing right instead of up.
|-
|[[File:Generation 10.jpg|thumb]]||Tenth generation. The glider is now in its original form, but one cell higher and one cell to the right. It will continue to progress, cycling through these four states every four generations. The remains of the chaos down below will take two more generations to disappear completely.
|}

==Transcript==
:[A pixelated image of a stick figure using 21 pixels, could be a pixel Cueball, which waves with one hand up while holding the other hand down. The head consist of 7 pixels, the top row of three having two pixels beneath the two outer pixels, thus having two empty pixels beneath the central pixel. The neck and torso is a typical cross made from six pixels. The two legs are two pixels each shifted left and right of the cross. The arm to the left that waves is two pixels one down and the next back up to the level of the cross central beam. The arm to the right has the first pixel similarly but the second pixel continues one further step down. After less than one second it turns out that the image is animated, with the pixels changing according to the rules of Conway's Game of Life. The figure splits into three groups, two of which dissipates in a similar way at the bottom of the panel. The other becomes a 'glider' and moves off to the top-right corner of the image and out of the frame. The animation then repeats.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Tribute]]
[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:Comics with animation]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

2293: RIP John Conway

2020-04-13T18:31:47Z

172.68.174.128:

{{comic
| number = 2293
| date = April 13, 2020
| title = RIP John Conway
| image = rip_john_conway.gif
| titletext = 1937-2020
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a GLIDER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{w|John Horton Conway|John Conway}}, an English mathematician, passed away of {{w|COVID-19}} two days before this comic's release. As such, Munroe created this memorial comic. One of Conway's most famous creations was {{w|Conway's Game of Life}}, which consists of an infinite square grid and rules of how it changes over time. Although the rules are simple, the system supports immense complexity.

This comic begins with the shape of a stick figure as the starting configuration, which then evolves according to the rules of the Game of Life. The pattern breaks into three parts, two of which stay at the same level as the original figure's feet before rapidly melting away, and a third (called a "glider") that ascends up and to the right. Randall may be suggesting a soul breaking apart from the rapidly disintegrating corporeal remains here.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A pixelated image of a stick figure. The image is animated, and soon splits into two groups, one of which dissipates. The other becomes a glider and moves off to the top-right corner of the image before repeating the animation. The movements obey Conway's Game of Life]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Tribute]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

Talk:2291: New Sports System

2020-04-09T01:18:12Z

172.68.174.128: "I really want to see this happen now :D"

Note that the title text goes at the end of the explanation, not within the transcript section. I've removed it twice now. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 00:41, 9 April 2020 (UTC)

I really want to see this happen now :D [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.128|172.68.174.128]] 01:18, 9 April 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2279: Symptoms

2020-03-12T20:01:21Z

172.68.174.128:

Coronavirus or Covid-19 should be tags. [[User:Netherin5|“That Guy from the Netherlands”]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 17:39, 11 March 2020 (UTC)
:Agreed. Depending on how you count [[2278]], this series has been running continuously since [[2275]]. So this is the 4th or 5th NCOV-2019 comic. The only problem is what should we name the tag? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.211.34|172.68.211.34]] 18:37, 11 March 2020 (UTC)
::"COVID-19" I'd say, for scientific accuracy.--[[User:GoldNinja|GoldNinja]] ([[User talk:GoldNinja|talk]]) 18:59, 11 March 2020 (UTC)
:::I just added a [[:Category:SARS-CoV-2]] since {{W|Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2}} indicates that's the current official name. BTW, reCAPTCHA got very aggressive after I tagged the second page. I don't suppose there's a proper place to complain? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.89|172.69.33.89]] 19:10, 11 March 2020 (UTC)
::::I would use [[:Category:COVID-19]] instead. If I'm reading the Wikipedia articles correctly, SARS-CoV-2 is the ''virus'', while COVID-19 is the ''disease''. And "COVID-19" is actually in fairly common use in the media compared to SARS-CoV-2. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.38.56|172.68.38.56]] 19:51, 11 March 2020 (UTC)
:::::That makes sense. But I'm not going thru that many reCAPTCHAs again. (I'm also not likely to make an account at this time, or to respond to further messages here. Sorry.) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.46.179|172.68.46.179]] 20:24, 11 March 2020 (UTC)
::::::You not creating account really doesn't make sense. Done. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:20, 11 March 2020 (UTC)
:::::::I think Category:Corona virus would have been better. Since that is what everyone calls it and what it will be remembered as later. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:27, 12 March 2020 (UTC)
:::::::There are now many references to COVID-19 instead of Coronavirus. It seems to be replacing the former, socially speaking. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.227|108.162.246.227]] 14:39, 12 March 2020 (UTC)

Re. the title text, my reaction would be, "The medicine must not be working. I'd better take more." [[Special:Contributions/172.68.38.120|172.68.38.120]] 18:38, 11 March 2020 (UTC)Pat

Again? I get that this pandemic is a big deal, but I was really hoping Randall would be a little more creative and come up with some other topics to talk about. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 14:35, 12 March 2020 (UTC)
:I have no clue if he's just jumping on the bandwagon to stay relevant or if he's legitimately extremely panicked over it. --[[User:Youforgotthisthing|Youforgotthisthing]] ([[User talk:Youforgotthisthing|talk]]) 19:49, 12 March 2020 (UTC)
::Or for that matter if he, like most intelligent people, is dealing with what little danger there is by making fun of the people who are legitimately extremely panicked over it.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.128|172.68.174.128]] 20:01, 12 March 2020 (UTC)

Hey, a hummingbird is only 80fps? That's nothing, people are now buying gaming monitors with 260 fps just because they claim they can see frame tear. [[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 17:40, 12 March 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2276: Self-Isolate

2020-03-04T22:49:45Z

172.68.174.128: twitter link and snippit

Where should it be documented that this image links to a tweet (that this feels like it is in response to)? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.76|172.68.174.76]] 22:29, 4 March 2020 (UTC)
:Twitter link: https://twitter.com/kakape/status/1235319133585248259 Quote: "...Social distancing may mean staying further apart from each other physically in coming weeks..." -Kai Kupferschmidt [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.128|172.68.174.128]] 22:49, 4 March 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2274: Stargazing 3

2020-02-28T23:15:31Z

172.68.174.128:

I think the "you can't turn them off by throwing rocks at them like the old ones" is a reference to a reddit comment in a thread about older generations refusing to learn new technology, or something to that extent. One comment detailed a humorous story wherein they had been helping a village install electricity/light bulbs, and this grandmother of the household kept shattering all the bulbs by throwing rocks at them to turn them off, refusing to learn how to use them correctly. I'm trying to search for this, but no luck so far. If this was not a reference to that thread but merely a coincidence, my apologies for making you read all of this. [[User:Wigglebeans|Wigglebeans]] ([[User talk:Wigglebeans|talk]]) 20:55, 28 February 2020 (UTC)wigglebeans
: I remember that comment as well. I feel like it was in ask reddit, but I can't seem to find it either. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.128|172.68.174.128]] 23:15, 28 February 2020 (UTC)

1299: I Don't Own a TV

2020-02-15T06:57:34Z

172.68.174.128: fixed minor typo

{{comic
| number = 1299
| date = December 4, 2013
| title = I Don't Own a TV
| image = i_dont_own_a_tv.png
| titletext = Theory: Smugness is proportional to the negative second derivative of TV ownership rate with respect to time.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is [[:Category:Charts|yet another graph]], describing how people who don't own a television feel throughout several time periods. While televisions have existed since 1928, regular scheduled broadcasts of television programs did not begin until the late 1940s. So before the 1950s, it was common not to own a television and therefore most people's feelings about it would be fairly neutral. This changed as televisions became cheaper and more people started owning them, meaning that if someone didn't own a television, it was generally because they couldn't afford one. This might lead to someone feeling embarrassment when admitting they don't have a television.

Gradually, television ownership increased until eventually, nearly every household had at least one television, and those that did not were more and more likely to do so by choice rather than due to poverty. The graph therefore peaks at around the year 2000, when many people would be proud to say that they did not own a television. [[Randall]] suggests that these people would feel smug because they are resisting a popular trend (owning a television) which the rest of the public take part in. The graph tails downwards at the end, suggesting that Randall believes that people are becoming less smug. This could be because of the abundance of video content and other forms of entertainment on the internet and mobile devices. So, according to Randall, people are returning to not owning a television simply because it's not necessary and these people therefore feel neutral towards their lack of a television.

Another point of view is that, with the advent of the Internet for news and weather along with video-on-demand services such as Netflix, televisions have become obsolete for some households and thus not owning one can be seen as moving with the times, or those that don't own one see those that still have one as old-fashioned, hence the smug. However in recent times television has become imbued with new technologies such as Internet access (known as smart TVs) and thus owning a television is seen as trendy again, thus the level of smugness drops.

The initial upturn from embarrassment to smugness may also be a commentary on the quality of television programs over that period. In the 1950s and 1960s, television was a major source of news and information. Those without televisions might feel that they were missing out of the important stories of the day. Also, the limited number of stations and lack of recording devices meant that discussions of the previous night's television programming was far more inclusive, with more people watching the same programs at the same time. Until the advent of PVRs, the prior night's television programming was a popular "water cooler" topic (i.e. something discussed socially at the office the next day). This means that that those who had missed out on those programs might feel socially "out of the loop".

By contrast, since 2000, many programs were criticized as poor quality or "mindless", e.g. daytime talk shows and reality shows. So, someone might feel more smug for not watching so-called "mindless television". Similarly, as television viewership increased from the 1950s through the 2000s, it is possible that other activities such as reading has decreased; especially given that the younger generation today don't remember a time without television. So, someone who did not own a television set might feel more smug because they take part in more "beneficial" activities like reading, exercise, and studying.

The title text suggests that whether people feel embarrassed or smug doesn't depend directly on what percentage of the population owns TVs (TV ownership rate) or even on how quickly this percentage is growing (derivative of TV ownership rate with respect to time); instead it depends on how the change in this percentage is speeding up or slowing down (second derivative of TV ownership rate with respect to time). Specifically, as the rate at which people adopt TV ownership accelerates (positive second derivative of TV ownership rate with respect to time), people who don't own one feel embarrassed (negative smugness); and as the market is saturated and the rate at which people adopt TV ownership slows down (negative second derivative of TV ownership rate with respect to time), people who don't own one feel smug (positive smugness). If people feel twice as embarrassed/smug when this rate of acceleration/deceleration doubles, then we have Randall's formulation: "smugness is proportional to the negative second derivative of TV ownership rate with respect to time".

As evidence for this, the adoption of TV ownership should theoretically follow a {{w|Sigmoid function|sigmoid curve}}, which is the graph of something that starts small, grows in a spurt, and then approaches a maximum capacity (in this case 100%). [https://www.desmos.com/calculator/4j2ybqwfnc The negative second derivative of a sigmoid curve] looks very much like Randall's graph.

==Transcript==
:[A graph is shown with an x- and y-axis.]
:How people feel when they say
:"I don't own a TV"
:<small>by year</small>
:[The x-axis is labled: 1950, 2000, today.]
:[The y-axis is labled ''neutral'' at zero, ''smug'' at top, and ''embarrassed'' to the bottom.]
:[A plot, similar to a negative sine curve between approximately 1960 and 2000, is shown in red, starting at 1950, moving into negative values, reaching the zero level again at the beginning of the 1980s, reaching its maximum shortly after 2000, and decreasing again until today. An arrow shows the current direction.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Timelines]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Math]]

explain xkcd:Editor FAQ

2020-02-15T06:56:37Z

172.68.174.128: Undoing spam. No need to thank me.

'''Frequently Asked Questions for editors'''

This FAQ is a short description about editing pages at this wiki. Please read this carefully and if you have any further questions do not hesitate to enter them into this [[explain xkcd talk:Editor FAQ|talk page]].

For general questions please read first the MediaWiki help pages about [[mw:Help:Editing pages|Editing pages]] or look at the full overview here: [[mw:Help:Contents|Help Contents]]. You also can use your preferred search engine by entering "MediaWiki mytopic". Change mytopic to the theme you're searching for, i.e. "MediaWiki tables" will show you many useful sites about editing tables.

Please always use the preview button to verify your edit before finally pressing the save button.

This FAQ focuses only on topics related to this specific Wiki.

==What is the general layout of a comic page?==
In general, you don't have to care about this because the pages are generated by a bot nearly immediately after a new comic is released. If the bot fails please follow exactly the instructions here [[User:dgbrtBOT]] to do all the needed actions.

The layout and order is always this:
*Comic ''picture'' with the ''title text'' below
*''Explanation''
*''Transcript''
*''Trivia'' (optional)
*''Discussion'' (embedded Talk page)
*List of non standard ''categories''

==What should I include in the explanation?==
Everything is welcome as long as it explains the content of the comic. Everybody can edit here and when others disagree about your contributions they may change it.

==In which cases are tables meaningful, and when are they not?==
At the transcript tables should never be used, even when there is a table in the comic image it should be described by text.

At the explanation tables only make sense when the content is compact. When a single row contains more than a small item like a number, a small phrase, or something similar a table isn't the proper layout because it's hard to read. Instead it should be written in floating text chapters with distinct headers above (see next section below.)

Instead of using a two-column table (e.g. "sentence from comic", "explanation"), consider using a description list (''bold text''). Place a semicolon (<code>;</code>) at the beginning of the sentence to be explained and a colon (<code>:</code>) at the beginning of each paragraph of the explanation, like this (from [[1987: Python Environment#Explanation|1987]]):
; Anaconda Python
: Anaconda is a Python distribution for data science and machine learning related applications.
: A second paragraph for the explanation.

The Wikipedia's {{w|WP:WHENTABLE#Appropriate use|Manual of Style/Tables}} describes it best:
<blockquote>Often a list is best left as a list. Before reformatting a list into table form, consider whether the information will be more clearly conveyed by virtue of having rows and columns. If so, then a table is probably a good choice. If there is no obvious benefit to having rows and columns, then a table is probably not the best choice. </blockquote>

==What is the proper layout for headers?==
For headlines you have to use Wiki-style code. The simplest way is a preceding semicolon at the beginning of the line which causes the entire line to be rendered in bold.

On large explanations it can be handy to divide it into subsections. In this case the header is written like this: <code><nowiki>===Sub header===</nowiki></code>. But in most cases the simple semicolon is just enough.

==What is the format of the transcript section?==
The transcript should describe the content (think about explaining the comic to a visually impaired person, or to someone on phone). It should do this in a compact manner, and cite all written words. Every line should begin with an indent (a simple <code>:</code> at the beginning), and every panel from the comic should be separated by a blank line. The transcript must not contain any links, nor rich math markup, which once again relies on visuals. Tables should generally be avoided, although not all transcripts comply with this. Furthermore the title text is not included in the transcript. Checking the pages for the older comics will help understand this.

==One or two spaces after a period? And what about newlines?==
There is a controversy if one or two spaces after a period ending a sentence should be used. The fact is that even three or more spaces are rendered as only one.
Furthermore a single newline is also just rendered as a space.

A new paragraph like this needs an empty line before, not just a single newline. Click the edit/source button to see how this chapter is written.

==What belongs to the trivia section?==
As implied by the section name, it's just trivia, consisting of unimportant odds-and-ends related to the comic. Since this wiki focuses on explaining this section is not part of the default layout. If a word has been misspelled in the comic or title text, or the image was originally broken at xkcd and reuploaded... basically the things that don't belong in the explanation but should still be mentioned, then it should be mentioned in the trivia section.

==How do I behave on the talk page (discussion)?==
Everybody can add here any thoughts about the comic and more. Please follow the common netiquette and don't be rude. Unless you are replying to a previous comment, in which you should add a colon before your comment, you should add comments at the bottom. Every comment has to be signed at the end with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> or just click the sign button [[File:Button sig.png]] at the top of the editor.

==What does the incomplete tag mean?==
There are two templates to indicate that an explanation or the transcript do need further rework. Just enter <nowiki>{{incomplete|YOUR REASON}}</nowiki> or respectively <nowiki>{{incomplete transcript|YOUR REASON}}</nowiki> and don't forget to enter a proper reason to replace the filler text left by the bot (Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.), or if the reason said in the tag has been dealt with. The reason at the transcript is not shown to the viewer.

==How do I enter links to other pages?==
The three mostly used options are:
*an internal link like <code><nowiki>[[Cueball]]</nowiki></code> which renders like this: [[Cueball]]
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**just write the URL and it will be shown like this: http://www.example.com
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**and add a text: <code><nowiki>[http://www.example.com Example Homepage]</nowiki></code> everything after the first space is shown: [http://www.example.com Example Homepage]

==Why can't I upload pictures or create pages?==
Only registered and trusted users can create pages or upload images. After the registration you have to wait at least three days and you must have done a small amount of edits, then you will be able to create pages and upload images at will.

==How do I embed images?==
This Wiki isn't a picture book, use this feature only sparingly and reduce the size as much as possible. An example can be seen here: [[1400: D.B. Cooper]]. The syntax in this case is <code><nowiki>[[File:DBCooper.jpg|thumb|150px|Cooper]]</nowiki></code> and the picture is taken from Commons, the main source for Wikipedia images. The full syntax can be found at [[mw:Help:Images|MediaWiki]].

You also can upload pictures directly to this Wiki by using the [[Special:Upload]] link from the menu. But do not violate any copyright rules or it will be deleted. And when the picture is available at Commons there is no need to upload it here.

==The picture at xkcd was updated, how do I upload this here?==
Sometimes the initial picture at [[xkcd]] contains typos or other errors. When that has been fixed the comic picture here should also be updated. Save the picture from xkcd to your local PC but be careful, there are two versions available. We here use only the smaller version ''picture.png'' and not the larger one ''picture_2x.png''. So change <code><nowiki>https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/picture_2x.png</nowiki></code> to <code><nowiki>https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/picture.png</nowiki></code> when your browser shows the 2x version.

To update it here just click the image in the comic page and then click "Upload a new version of this file" below the file history. And please be patient, you won't see your upload immediately because it still comes from the cache at the server. But when you see your upload in the file history everything is OK. Just wait...

==How do I enter mathematical or chemical formulas?==
You can use the Math markup <code><nowiki><math>...</math></nowiki></code>. The other known code from Wikipedia <code><nowiki><chem>...</chem></nowiki></code> is NOT supported yet. It's based on LaTeX syntax and a general overview can be found at this {{w|Help:Displaying a formula|Wikipedia help page}} -- don't use it unless you understand what you are doing.

Furthermore never use this markup at the ''transcript'' because that math code is rendered to a picture -- at the transcript we try to describe the comic ''image'' by ''words'', a picture there wouldn't be helpful.

==Is the ''Citation needed'' template here similar to the analog at Wikipedia?==
Simple answer: NO. In fact that template just links to [[285: Wikipedian Protester]], a comic from July 4, 2007 and was meant to be a joke. Adding this template to every comic doesn't explain anything at all (that's what this Wiki aims to do) and should be placed only when there is a deeper sense of humor.