explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2626: d65536

2022-06-01T07:14:37Z

172.68.50.189: Image and title textshould be as that on xkcd.com/2626

{{comic
| number = 2626
| date = May 30, 2022
| title = d65536
| image = d65536.png
| titletext = They're robust against quantum attacks because it's hard to make a quantum system that large.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a HEXAKISMYRIAPENTAKISCHILIAPENTAHECTATRIACONTAKAIHEXAHEDRON - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In binary computing, 16 bit numbers range from 0 to 65535, for a total of 65536 unique numbers, a number which is hence well-known to software engineers. Generating large numbers in a manner that is truly random is a recurring problem in cryptography, required to send private messages to another party. People today still use dierolls to generate private random numbers.

In role-playing games (and occasionally in other tabletop games), dice are often referred to as d''n'' according to their number of faces. A traditional six-faced die would be a d6, and many popular pen-and-paper role-playing games use dice ranging between d4 and d20. While there are larger dice used in tabletop games (most commonly d100), these are usually split into multiple smaller ones to save the hassle of throwing large dice. For example, a d100 is often two d10s rolled together, with one die providing the first digit and the other die giving the second digit — the total number of possible combinations (100) is the product of the number of faces of the two dice (10 * 10). There are, however, "real" {{w|Zocchihedron|d100s}} and similar dice as well, but they are considered specialty dice and often nicknamed "golf balls" to emphasize how large and unwieldy they are. The Zocchihedron (d100) die is also biased because of geometry requiring different sized faces, the next unbiased die is a d120, it is very likely that Cueball's d65536 die is also biased.

Here, Cueball has constructed a d65536 for generating random 16 bit numbers, likely with a [https://www.shapeways.com/product/U9CN6MT6X/d256 3d printer] or other CAM tools. It may have solved the problem of generating large random numbers with fewer die rolls, but presents a new set of challenges from its sheer size, dwarfing an average human. While large in itself, a die that big could still be emulated by rolling multiple dice (e.g. 8 4-faced dice or 16 coin flips) and converting the result into binary before getting the desired number. Part of the humor stems from the the comic completely failing to mention another big problem with this die: Deciding which of the 65536 faces is up. This is another problem with a d100, as many sides appear to be up at once. Similarly horrible hilarity will ensue if such a massive die is cast with enough energy to be random while expect it to stop rolling in a short period of time let alone on a table top or even within a building (which raises the question of whether breaking through a wall or furniture is all part of the randomization or requiring a re-roll as per house rules).

The closest regular shape similar to the depicted in the comic could be a {{w|Goldberg polyhedron}}. However, no such polyhedron exists with exactly 65536 hexagonal faces. The closest Goldberg Polyhedron has a mixture of 65520 hexagons and 12 pentagons, totaling 65532 faces. It is possible to construct a fair die without a matching regular shape by limiting the sides which it could land on and designing those sides to be fair (for instance, a prism with rectangular facets that extend its entire length, and rounded ends to ensure it doesn't balance on end).

The title text references how many cryptographic systems (especially RSA and other factoring-is-hard based systems) are vulnerable to quantum attacks as quantum computing technology develops. The title text is essentially punning on the idea of a "large" quantum system. "Large" in the quantum computing sense would be on the order of 64 qubits each of which would be an atom or two at most. This would still be microscopic and will never be as large as the giant die the comic is centered on; but for a well-observed environment and human rolling without sufficient entropy (consider somebody obsessed with a certain number dropping the die on something soft), a conventional computer could predict some rolls. See also [[538]] for non-mathematical paths of cryptography.

==Trivia==
*If a real d65536 were constructed with each number having an equal area and each printed in 12 point font, the resulting die would be about 5 feet (1.5 meters) in diameter, which isn't several times the size of a person as the comic suggests, but is still large enough to be hilariously inconvenient. If it were made out of standard acrylic, and not hollow, it would weigh about 2 tons (1700kg).
*This die would have a 0.00001526 chance of rolling a natural one (or any other number).
*There are seven 16-bit numbers fully visible in the picture: 30827, 25444, 11875, 28525, 12082, 13874 and 13359. They conceal a message. If these numbers are split big-endian into two 8-bit ASCII characters each, the result is <code>xkcd.com/2624/</code>.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Drawing of a large die with many sides, about ten meters in diameter; Cueball is standing next to it as a size reference. A small portion of the die's surface is zoomed in, showing elongated hexagonal faces with five-digit numbers.]

:[Numbers on the zoomed in part of the die, "..." represents being cut off:]
:30827
:16[bottom part of a line][small circle]
:...38
:11875
:25444
:...[top part of a line]5
:12082
:28525
:3...
:13359
:13874
:2...

:[Caption below the image:]
:The hardest part of securely generating random 16-bit numbers is rolling the d65536.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Cryptography]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

2626: d65536

2022-05-31T09:35:43Z

172.68.50.189: /* Explanation */ improved math of d100's :-)

{{comic
| number = 2626
| date = May 30, 2022
| title = d65536
| image = d65536.png
| titletext = They're robust against quantum attacks because it's hard to make a quantum system that large.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a HEXAKISMYRIAPENTAKISCHILIAPENTAHECTATRIACONTAKAIHEXAHEDRON - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In binary computing, 16 bit numbers range from 0 to 65535 (or 1 to 65536). Generating large numbers randomly is a recurring problem in cryptography.

In roleplaying games (and occasionally in other tabletop games), dice are often referred to as d[number] according to their number of faces. A traditional six-faced die would be a d6, and many popular pen-and-paper roleplaying games use dice ranging between d4 and d20. While there are larger dies used in tabletop games (most commonly d100), these are usually split into multiple smaller ones. For example, a d100 is often two d10s rolled together — the total number of possible combinations (100) is the product of the number of faces of the two dies (10 * 10). There are, however, "real" d100s and similar dice as well, but they are considered specialty dice and often nicknamed "golf balls" to emphasize how unwieldy they are.

Here, Cueball has constructed a d65536 for generating random 16 bit numbers, likely with a [https://www.shapeways.com/product/U9CN6MT6X/d256 3d printer] or other CAM tools. It has solved the problem of being secure from a cryptography standpoint, but presents a new set of challenges from its sheer size, dwarfing an average human. While large in itself, a die that big could still be emulated by rolling multiple dice (e.g. 8 4-faced dice or 16 coin flips) and converting the result into binary before getting the desired number. Part of the humor stems from the the comic completely failing to mention another big problem with this die: Deciding which of the 65536 faces is up.

The closest regular shape similar to the depicted in the comic could be a {{w|Goldberg polyhedron}}. However no such polyhedron exists with exactly 65536 hexagonal faces. The closest Goldberg Polyhedron has a mixture of 65520 hexagons and 12 pentagons, totaling 65532 faces. It is possible to construct a fair die without a matching regular shape.{{citation needed}}

The title text references how many cryptographic systems (especially RSA and other factoring-is-hard based systems) are vulnerable to quantum attacks as quantum computing technology develops. The title text is essentially punning on the idea of a "large" quantum system. "Large" in the quantum computing sense would be on the order of 64 qubits each of which would be an atom or two at most. This would still be microscopic and will never be as large as the giant die the comic is centered on; but for a well-observed environment and human rolling without sufficient entropy (consider somebody obsessed with a certain number dropping the die on something soft), a conventional computer could predict some rolls. See also [[538]] for non-mathematical paths of cryptography.

==Trivia==
*If a real d65536 were constructed with each number having an equal area and each printed in 12 point font, the resulting die would be about 5 feet (1.5 meters) in diameter. If it were made out of standard acrylic, it would weigh about 2 tons (1700kg).
*This die would have a 0.00001526 chance of rolling a natural one (or any other number).

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

[Drawing of a large die with many sides, about ten meters in diameter; Cueball is standing next to it as a size reference. A small portion of the die's surface is zoomed in, showing elongated hexagonal faces with five-digit numbers.]

[Numbers on the zoomed in part of the die, "..." represents being cut off:]
:30827
:16[bottom part of a line][small circle]
:...38
:11875
:25444
:...[top part of a line]5
:12082
:28525
:3...
:13359
:13874
:2...

[Caption below the image:]
The hardest part of securely generating random 16-bit numbers is rolling the d65536.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Cryptography]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

1457: Feedback

2022-05-28T12:12:21Z

172.68.50.189: Replaced content with "Choose Your Solution! Find the Perfect Domain, Add Microsoft 365, Choose from Virtual Private Servers, Dedicated Servers, Managed WordPress, and SSL Certificates! Militar..."

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1061: EST

2022-05-04T20:52:28Z

172.68.50.189: Undo revision 242664 by Ex Kay Cee Dee (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1061
| date = May 28, 2012
| title = EST
| image = est.png
| titletext = The month names are the same, except that the fourth month only has the name 'April' in even-numbered years, and is otherwise unnamed.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic pokes fun of attempts to "fix" the calendar by making it simpler or more rational, which inevitably result in a system just as complicated. This is an example of the paradox in complexity theory that if you attempt to simplify a system of problems by creating a new system of evaluation for the problems you often have instead made the problem more complex than it was originally.

[[Randall]] advertises his idea for a "Universal Calendar for a Universal Planet". He combines {{w|calendar#Calendars in use|calendar}} definitions with {{w|Time zone|time zone}} definitions. The abbreviation '''EST''' in this comic stands for ''Earth Standard Time'' (hence the title), but it is in itself a joke on the American {{w|Eastern Time Zone|Eastern Standard Time}}. In the rest of the explanation, EST refers to the comic's Earth Standard Time.

===Length of year===
Because there are approximately 365.2422 days in a {{w|solar year}}, various calendars use different means to keep the calendar year in sync with the solar year and the seasons. The Julian Calendar, for example, has leap days every four years, giving it an average year length of 365.25 days. The most widely used system is the {{w|Gregorian calendar}}, which also has leap days every four years, but skips leap days in years divisible by 100 unless the year is also divisible by 400, the latter additions come from Earth's {{w|axial precession}}. This gives it an average year length of 365.2425 days, which is very close to the length of a solar year (see detailed explanation in this video: ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82p-DYgGFjI Earth's motion around the Sun, not as simple as I thought]''). {{w|Calendar reform|Other calendars}} have been proposed, some of which do not count leap days and special "festival days" as a day of the week, in order to make every date fall on the same day of the week every year.

*At "24 hours 4 minutes", EST days are longer, though there are only 360 of them in the year. The extra 4 minutes over the course of 360 days adds up to one standard day, so Randall's EST calendar would at this point have a year that is 361 standard days long. The 24 hours plus 4 minutes length may be a reference to {{w|sidereal day}}, whose duration is 24 hours ''minus'' 4 minutes.

*Running the clock backwards for 4 hours after every full moon gives 8 additional hours at each full moon, twelve or thirteen times in a year. Because a thirteenth full moon will occur once every 2.7 solar years on average, this modification adds 4.1228 standard days to an EST year, bringing it to 365.1228 days.

*The doubling of the non-prime numbers of the first non-reversed hour after each solstice and equinox is a final, very complicated way to bring Randall's EST year in extremely close sync with the solar year. There are 17 prime numbers between 0 and 59 and 43 non-primes. There are 2 equinoxes and 2 solstices each year, so a total of 4x43 = 172 minutes will occur twice. This brings the average length of Randall's EST year to 365.2422 standard days, equal to the solar year to four decimal places.

===Claimed benefits===
Many of the claimed benefits for the calendar are highly dubious:
*While it is fairly ''simple'' to describe, EST is far from simple to understand or put in practice. Clocks in particular would have to regularly undertake very complicated processes like running backwards or duplicating non-prime minutes.
*EST does appear to be fairly ''clearly defined''.
*EST fails completely to be ''unambiguous''. Following each full moon, four hours occur three times, twice forward and once backward. Several minutes are also duplicated, making times during those periods ambiguous.
*The only way EST is ''free of historical baggage'' is that it breaks free of any sensible bits of historical baggage; it keeps such things as the 30-day month and 12-month year, but adopts a different (and variable) length of day that would make it wildly out of sync with the Earth's day-night cycle.
*EST is ''compatible with old units'', as far as seconds, minutes, and hours are concerned, though not for days, months, or years.
*EST is indeed very ''precisely synced with the solar cycle''. The joke is that this has nothing to do with the day/night cycle or the Earth's yearly orbital cycle; the {{w|solar cycle}} is a period of magnetic fluctuation within the sun, lasting 11 Earth years.
*EST is ''free of leap years'', though some EST years are 8 hours longer than others on account of having an extra full moon.
*A calendar ''amenable to date math'' makes it easy to find the length of time between two dates and times by having standardized periods of time. The complex variability of the length of EST years, days, and hours mean it is only ''intermittently'' amenable to date math, which is to say not at all.

===Other features===
The features of the calendar get increasingly bizarre as the description proceeds:

*The {{w|Epoch (reference date)|epoch}} for EST is set by reference to the {{w|Julian calendar}}, which was superseded by the {{w|Gregorian calendar}}. The Epoch would be January 14th 1970 in the Gregorian calendar.

*The different zone for the United Kingdom is a reference to 1 yard being equal to 0.9144 meters, a pun on using {{w|imperial units}} instead of the {{w|metric system}}. This has been the joke before in [[526: Converting to Metric]] and is also mentioned in [[1643: Degrees]].

*Randall does not like {{w|daylight saving time}} (DST) very much, as has been made clear in [[:Category:Daylight saving time|several comics]] both before and after this one. See Narnian time below.

*Narnian time is a reference to the fictitious world of {{w|Narnia (world)|Narnia}} in {{w|CS Lewis}}' book {{w|The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe}} and its sequels. In Narnia, time passes much more quickly than in the real world. You could be in Narnia for several days and only a few minutes would have passed in the real world. However, synchronizing this effect would be impossible because it is not a consistent rate; it fluctuates wildly based on the whims of drama and magic. This and the DST mentioned above should be seen as a pair. Because when a country goes into DST time may not pass, which is basically what happens (more or less) when a child enters into Narnia. Whereas in EST Narnian time is synchronized to normal time, which DST is but for the one hour difference in the real calendar. Using the weird Narnian time was used as the plot in the bottom left drawing in [[821: Five-Minute Comics: Part 3]].

*The Gregorian calendar does not include the year "0"; after "1" BC the next year is "1" AD. Randall's invention fixes this according to correct mathematics, only to reintroduce the problem immediately by arbitrarily omitting the year 1958. The year 1958 is significant because January 1, 1958 is the epoch (time zero) in {{w|International Atomic Time}} (TAI), which is part of the basis for {{w|Coordinated Universal Time}} (UTC). (The main difference is that TAI doesn't add leap seconds.)

*According to the title text, the month of April would become unnamed on odd-numbered years. Although this may have no impact on the mathematics of timekeeping, it would impede ability to refer to the month in writing or conversation. Notably, {{w|April Fools' Day}} could be restricted to the even-numbered years, else observants would be exclaiming the word "Fools!" without the usual informative "April" prefix.

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the frame:]
:xkcd presents
:<big>'''Earth Standard Time'''</big>
:(EST)
:'''A universal calendar for a universal planet'''
:EST is...
:Simple • Clearly defined • Unambiguous
:Free of historical baggage • Compatible with old units
:Precisely synced with the solar cycle • Free of leap years
:Intermittently amenable to date math

:[Inside the frame a list of the details concerning EST is shown:]
:Units
:Second: 1 S.I. second
:Minute: 60 seconds
:Hour: 60 minutes
:Day: 1444 minutes (24 hours 4 minutes)
:Month: 30 days
:Year: 12 months

:Rules
:For 4 hours after every full moon, run clocks backward.
:The non-prime-numbered minutes of the first full non-reversed hour after a solstice or equinox happen twice.

:[In two columns the "Epoch" is put into a contrasting juxtaposition to "Time Zones":]
:Epoch
:00:00:00 EST, January 1st, 1970 = 00:00:00 GMT, January 1st, 1970 (Julian Calendar)
:Time Zones
:The two EST time zones are ''EST'' and ''EST (United Kingdom)''. These are the same except that the UK second is 0.9144 standard seconds.

:[A few further statements:]
:Daylight saving: Countries may enter DST, but no time may pass there.
:Narnian Time: Synchronized✔
:Year Zero: EST ''does'' have a year 0. (However, there is no 1958.)

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Calendar]]
[[Category:Time]]
[[Category:Daylight saving time]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Chronicles of Narnia]]

3: Island (sketch)

2022-05-04T20:52:10Z

172.68.50.189: Undo revision 242454 by Ex Kay Cee Dee (talk)

{{comic
| number = 3
| date = September 30, 2005
| title = Island (sketch)
| image = island_color.jpg
| titletext = Hello, island
}}

==Explanation==
This comic does not present a particular point; it is just a picture drawn by [[Randall]].

The title text may be a play on the classical {{w|"Hello, World!" program|"Hello, world!"}} program, traditionally a first program when learning a new programming language.

==Transcript==
:[A color sketch of an island.]

==Trivia==
*This was the 3rd comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]].
**The previous was [[4: Landscape (sketch)]].
**The next was [[2: Petit Trees (sketch)]].
**This is the only comic that has the same number both on xkcd and on LiveJournal.
*Original title: "Island"
*Original [[Randall]] quote: "I draw these a lot."
*This was one of the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|thirteen first comics]] posted to LiveJournal within 12 minutes on Friday September 30, 2005.
*This comic was posted on [[xkcd]] when the web site opened on Sunday the 1st of January 2006.
**It was posted along [[:Category:First day on xkcd|with all 41 comics]] posted before that on LiveJournal as well as a few others.
**The latter explaining why the numbers of these 41 LiveJournal comics ranges from 1-44.
*One of the original drawings drawn on [[:Category:Checkered paper|checkered paper]].

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal| 03]]
[[Category:First day on LiveJournal| 03]]
[[Category:First day on xkcd]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Checkered paper]]
[[Category:Sketches]]

2150: XKeyboarCD

2022-05-04T20:51:47Z

172.68.50.189: Undo revision 243638 by Ex Kay Cee Dee (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2150
| date = May 15, 2019
| title = XKeyboarCD
| image = xkeyboarcd.png
| titletext = The key caps use LCD displays for all the vowels, so they can automatically adjust over the years to reflect ongoing vowel shifts while allowing you to keep typing phonetically.
}}

==Explanation==
In the same vein (and with the same humor) as the [[:Category:xkcd Phones|xkcd Phone series]], the XKeyboarCD seems to be an overly inventive and borderline ludicrous keyboard intended for some unknown audience. It has an assortment of features (some fairly normal, some more exotic) which give it a..."diverse skill set". This may be in reference to {{w|Space-cadet keyboard}}s which were made for programmers and had several keys not present on standard QWERTY keyboards.

XKeyboarCD is a play on xkcd, and keyboard. (XK eyboar CD)

'''54 Configurable Rubik's Keys'''

The tiles on a {{w|Rubik's cube}} (just 'colours' on actually good cubes, such as Valk cubes) resemble computer keys, so this feature makes fun of that by adding a spinnable Rubik's cube above the keyboard. The implication is that the keys would be 'configured' by twisting the sides of the cube until the desired configuration is reached, although parity means that not all configurations could be reached by conventional means by a 3x3 cube. (Parity exists on 4x4 cubes.) There can be a maximum of 53 keys (the bottom center position can't contain a key because it's the mounting position). Additionally, the top key can't be moved around, so the maximum amount of configurable keys is 52. (The four remaining centers can be moved by rotating the entire cube.) The bottom-facing keys would obviously be hard to see/reach.

'''Hardcoded Plastic Keys for the 5 Most Useful Emoji'''

This feature parodies the feature of some laptop-keyboards where it is possible to dynamically assign emojis to a small touchscreen area. There is a disaccord between hard-coded, useful and emoji, especially with the large keys in a central position on the keyboard. Which emojis would be "the most useful" is highly subjective. For example in the comic it shows the quite popular laughing with tears emoji, along with the octopus emoji and others. Notably, the "aerial tramway" was once the least-used emoji, and remains very rarely used.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Emoji
! Name
|-
| 😰
| [https://emojipedia.org/face-with-open-mouth-and-cold-sweat/ Anxious Face With Sweat]
|-
| 😂
| [https://emojipedia.org/face-with-tears-of-joy/ Face With Tears of Joy]
|-
| 🐙
| [https://emojipedia.org/octopus/ Octopus]
|-
| 🏇
| [https://emojipedia.org/horse-racing/ Horse Racing]
|-
| 🚡
| [https://emojipedia.org/aerial-tramway/ Aerial Tramway]
|}

'''Serif Lock'''

{{w|Serifs}} are small lines on the ends of certain characters in fonts such as Times New Roman and Georgia. It is dependent on the font, not on the character; "A" is represented by the same code regardless of its font. Since a given font almost always either has or doesn't have serifs, this key seems challenging to implement. This key could be implemented, however, by simply changing between a pair of fonts when it is pressed, or by using the characters in the {{w|Mathematical Alphanumeric Symbols}} block. What's more, the button is placed roughly where left shift is on most keyboards, liable to cause frustration.

'''Unlimited Key Travel'''

Key travel is the distance a key moves between its unpressed and pressed states. In reality, laptop keys only move a few millimeters before bottoming out, and conventional keyboards up to about a centimeter. Increased key travel may make typing more comfortable, up to a point. However, the usefulness of having unlimited key travel is unclear, and the question of how this would be physically possible in the keyboard depicted remains unanswered. The keyboard would have to be infinitely deep to allow unlimited key travel, although pushing it to the near bottom would require infinitely long fingers. At least it is the greatest possible value, trumping any other keyboard.

'''Diagonal Spacebar'''

Instead of a wide key at the bottom that typists can hit easily with either thumb, we now have a tall, narrow key that requires being pressed with the right pinkie. This would not be a good change since most peoples' pinkies are their weakest finger. Some ergonomic keyboards have a slightly curved spacebar or a separated spacebar for each thumb.

'''Arrow Key (Rotate to Adjust Direction)'''

This is essentially a {{w|Jog dial|jog dial}}, or similar {{w|Rotary encoder|rotary encoder}}. These are sometimes used with keyboards: as controls for volume, video editing, or drawing.
Many computer keyboards have four {{w|arrow keys}}: up, left, right, and down. However, the XKeyboarCD just has one that can be rotated. This has the added bonus of allowing the arrow keys to point more than four different directions. In a keyboard, it would be awkward to operate as going from horizontally left to horizontally right, for example, would require the user to rotate the key first and then press it, which wastes precious time when playing a video game like [http://explainxkcd.com/1608 the hoverboard comic], where you have to rapidly press arrow keys to move around. It would not let one press multiple arrow keys at once. Trackpoint devices provide similar joystick-like direction function, but are easier to control with a finger.

'''15 Puzzle-Style Numberpad'''

A {{w|15 puzzle}} is a square containing fifteen smaller squares and one blank spot, which allows the squares to be moved around. The squares are shuffled and then reassembled as a game or pastime, and are usually labelled 1-15 (as is the case here) or, when assembled properly, create a picture. A {{w|Numeric keypad|numberpad}} in this style would be frustrating to use for typing numbers, as they could shift (or be shifted) around, but could provide a fun feature to use as a game. Alternatively the keys could be rearranged as with the Rubik`s keys. How this would be used to generate numeric input is unclear, but the presence of 16 positions suggests {{w|hexadecimal}} input is possible. Keyboard keypads do have around 17 keys, but only 0-9 usually have numbers whereas the XKCD keypad has numbers 1-15 in the middle of the numberpad probably also surrounded by the more conventional arithmetic operators, enter, and decimal point.

'''Ergonomic Design'''

The cylindrical portion of the keyboard is advertised as being an ergonomic design. Most ergonomic keyboards are both curved into a convex shape and split in the middle, with the blocks of keys on either side rotated around the vertical axis. This is done to follow natural arm and finger movements more closely, that is, avoid forcing the user to rotate their arms and hands to match the flat and rectangular key arrangement of a non-ergonomic keyboard. Some ergonomic keyboards come in unconventional form factors, such as vertical keyboards, to allow the user's hands to rest in more neutral positions or to change positions throughout the day, but the cylinder shape presented here is a ''concave'' shape which requires the user to lift and twist his arms to reach certain keys (or roll the cylinder from side to side), which would be an even more strenuous motion than typing on a standard keyboard. The slogan of the keyboard — "for power users and their powerful fingers" — fits this difficulty, but makes no sense as a feature.

====Title Text====

The title text references sound changes in languages. Every language (and indeed, every dialect) routinely undergoes changes in its sounds and phonemes, in a mostly regular and systematic, but not totally predictable way (otherways the dialects would sound the same and also the century, when a shift occurs, and the rate of change are not predictable). While not only vowels are affected, in languages with many vowels such as English, they're particularly likely to shift around and/or merge. While having dynamic keycaps that change can actually come in handy, the feature of only having vowels change in response to sound shifts is a bit less so. One normally enters the spelling and not the pronunciation of words (except with some Asian input systems). The spelling and pronunciation do not change at the same time.

Firstly, while changes in how we pronounce words are always ongoing, the way we write words down tends to stay relatively static, and thahs wiy wuhd faynd thaet werds biykahm ihnkaammpriyhehnsihbuhl duew tuow nhw laager biyigg sphld es thy wor bifffrr. Second, English only uses five glyphs (aeiou) and a variety of methods to represent four times as many vowel sounds, so the software would need to have a way to handling that (in some dialects "bird" and "turn" for example, have the same vowel but are represented by "ir" and "ur", as it also ''can'' be by the "er" in the bird called the "{{w|tern}}" - or not). Third, vowel shifts are not ubiquitous: the {{w|Caught-cot merger}}, for example, is a phenomenon happening across some parts (but not all) of the US and UK. Therefore, while some people would say "caught" and "cot" have the same vowel it should be spelled the same by the keyboard, but others would say they're two different vowels and should not be spelled identically. Fourth, sound shifts tend to occur over a relatively long period of time (in terms of human lifetimes), so a user would probably find the keycaps only change once or twice. All in all, this is not a very useful feature.

An alternative explanation is that the keys actually map to the {{w|International Phonetic Alphabet}} and converts what you type into English words (and the vowel changes). The IPA is an alphabet used in linguistics and language teaching, designed to represent every phoneme present in languages of the world unambiguously, with optional modifiers to indicate more subtle nuances in pronunciation, intonation and speech pathology. This alphabet consists of 107 letters and 56 modifiers (with some letters shared with the Latin and Greek alphabets), which would explain the large number of keys. In that case, the feature remains questionable since it only handles vowel shifts and not consonants, and anybody who'd use an IPA-keyboard would probably need to type out the phonology of other languages and appreciate not having to find a key has moved because English has undergone a vowel shift.

==Trivia==
This is the second time that the "xkcd" has been used around a middle word, which uses some of the xkcd letters to form this word. The first was [[1506: xkcloud]] - XKC lou D, to spell ClouD with the C and D from XKCD, in that comic the letters were all lowercase. In this comic the Keyboard, has an X before the word and a C before the D with the xkcd letters capitalized.

==Transcript==
:[Headings above a drawing of a very special keyboard:]
:Introducing the
:<big>XKeyboarCD</big>
:A keyboard for powerful users and their powerful fingers®

:[The keyboard has many more keys than a usual Keyboard. Usual keyboards for stationary computers typically have a few of the rows with 21 keys, and then some with fewer. This Keyboard has 28 keys on the top row. The other rows have special keys that make it difficult to compare, but there is basically also room for 28 in the bottom row, except one spot where there is one key in a space for 2x2 keys. Begining from the bottom and coutning keys there are 27. Skipping those that take up space in two or more rows, when going to the next row from the bottom there are 23, then 24, then 18, then 27 and finally 28 keys in the top row, for a total of 147 keys (vs 105 on a regular keyboard). Then there are 54 extra keys above the keyboard to the left (27 shown) and 156 in 6 rows of 26 to the right for a total of 357 keys 330 shown. All six rows have keys all the way over with no empty space in between, as there are on regular keyboards. Also there are no space between the top row (with F1 button etc) and those below. At each side of the keyboard the keys do no align at the edges, which is normally the case. The keyboard has several special features, most of which are labeled. The only special features that is not labeled is a small square with 2x2 keys that are elevated a bit above all other keys. It is in the region above the normal position of the four arrows. All eight other special features have an arrow pointing to them from their labels. Here below is a description of the labeled items as well as a transcript of their labels. They are listed in the order of their labels first above and then below the keyboard going from left to right.]

:[Five keys close to the QWERTY keys positions have colorful emoji on them. They each take up the space of 2x2 normal keys, although it is not clear if all the "normal" keys have the same size:]
:Hardcoded plastic keys for the 5 most useful emoji
:😰 😂 🐙 🏇 🚡

:[A cube with 3x3 keys on each side hangs above the keyboard to the left supported by a small rod. Three sides are fully visible, 27 keys:]
:54 configurable Rubik's keys

:[Just right of the middle above the main keyboard is a cylinder with keys inside in 6 rows of 26 keys (126 in all). It either decreases in diameter into it making it look almost like a tunnel, or is drawn as if it almost disappear in the far distance, being much deeper than it should be.]
:Ergonomic design

:[In the region where the normal numberpad would be there are 15 numbers from 1 to 15 in a 4x4 grid leaving space for an empty key hole. There is a row of keys both above and below this grid. The numbers do not come in order from 1 to 15, but rather in a jumble. Also the empty hole is not a full key spot. Instead it is in the second row of numbers, with a bit more space to the left than to the right of the middle of the three keys.]
:
:{| class="wikitable"
|+15 puzzle-style numberpad
|-
|1
|8
|4
|12
|-
|7
|Empty area
|11
|3
|-
|15
|6
|10
|9
|-
|2
|5
|13
|14
|}

:[To the left in the second row (below the Caps Lock position) the outer key is twice as wide as the other normal keys.]
:Serif Lock

:[An arrow points to the eight key in the bottom row, but is probably just referring to all the keys in general:]
:Unlimited key travel

:[There is a segment of the keyboard that seems to be empty of keys, but still white like the rest of the keys, not black as where keys are actually missing. It is where on a regular keyboard, the normal keys are separated from the special function keys. But it turns out it is indeed a long key going vertically:]
:Diagonal spacebar

:[Where the four arrow keys are on a regular keyboard there is a 2x2 key segment that only has one key in the middle with black background around it. It has an arrow head on it pointing right. That is if the key had not been turned about 45 degree counter clockwise, so the arrow points up to the right.]
:Arrow key (rotate to adjust direction)

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Emoji]]

911: Magic School Bus

2022-05-04T20:51:18Z

172.68.50.189: Undo revision 242143 by Ex Kay Cee Dee (talk)

{{comic
| number = 911
| date = June 13, 2011
| title = Magic School Bus
| image = magic school bus.png
| titletext = At my OLD school, we used Microsoft Encarta 2005.
}}

==Explanation==
''{{w|The Magic School Bus}}'' is a series of educational children's books in the US that was adapted in the mid-nineties into an animated {{w|television}} show. The series centers on a class of children whose teacher {{w|Ms. Frizzle}} makes use of the titular magic school bus to take her students on a variety of magical field trips that allow them to experience various scientific topics first hand, such as the inner anatomy of the human body, the effects of friction, what goes on inside a beehive, and many others.

In this comic, however, Ms. Frizzle initially takes the students onto the bus apparently for one of these field trips to explore the way batteries work, but then for whatever reason, she has the students get off the bus again and simply resorts to looking up the {{w|Wikipedia}} article about {{w|Battery (electricity)|batteries}}. The implied joke is that, with the advent on resources like Wikipedia, it's no longer necessary for Ms. Frizzle to take the students on half-hour long trips in the bus to experience whatever phenomenon they are studying that day (which is what the third panel symbolizes) - Wikipedia effectively answers the question quickly and easily. An alternative answer is that Ms. Frizzle has just gotten lazy, and has resorted to looking up the answers to the students' questions on Wikipedia instead of taking them on field trips. The alternative seems more likely, since the third panel shows them still going on an adventure, however briefly it takes to get to the library/computer lab.

The red and white checkered rocket in the bottom-right of the third panel can possibly be a reference to The Adventures of Tintin ''{{w|Destination Moon (comics)|Destination Moon}}'' and {{w|Explorers on the Moon}}, in which Tintin goes to the moon in a rocket that is similar, if not identical, to the one depicted. To the bottom-left is a green {{w|Ciliate}}, a single celled life-form covered in hair-like fibres. At the top right are a set of {{w|Planetary gears}}. To the top left is a ringed planet, perhaps {{w|Uranus}} and in the background is a complex {{w|Feynman diagram}}.

The child who is asking the question looks similar to Wanda, one of the regular students in the class who often asked the questions that set the field trips in motion. Ralphie, the student in the second panel with the backward hat, was another student who often asked these questions. The students in the class were shown to be from many backgrounds (i.e. some of the students were black, another was Asian, etc.), something Randall appears not to have added into this comic, despite it being in color.

The title text is a reference to Phoebe, one of the students in Ms. Frizzle's class, who would regularly make a remark beginning with "At my old school..." (Phoebe used to go to a different school, unlike many of the other students in the class) to express wonder at how unusual were the events of Ms. Frizzle's field trips (e.g. "At my old school, we never rode on bees!"). Phoebe actually said that so much that in an episode where she goes back to her old school, the sign out front labels it as "Phoebe's old school".

{{w|Encarta|Microsoft Encarta 2005}} was a digital encyclopedia that was often used in school settings for learning with the aid of computers. Arguably, with the advent of Wikipedia, programs like Encarta have become relatively less widely used, which is part of the joke in the title text.

==Transcript==
:[A girl sits at a desk in a classroom, and the teacher stands before her. The teacher has a blue dress and blonde hair piled on her head in a bun. The girl raises her hand, the teacher raises both arms above her head, a pointer in one hand.]
:Girl: Ms. Frizzle, how do batteries work?
:Ms. Frizzle: To the bus!

:[Ms. Frizzle and the children are shown getting onto the bus.]

:[The bus, with Ms. Frizzle at the helm and a child's face in every window, soars through a rainbow void filled with a giant amoeba, a rocket, an epicyclic gear, a planet with rings, and a Feynman diagram.]

:[The bus is parked, and the occupants have gotten out. The children stand around Ms. Frizzle, and she stands at a desk with a computer on it, typing.]
:Computer: Wikipedia - Batteries

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]

689: FIRST Design

2022-05-04T20:34:33Z

172.68.50.189: Undo revision 242803 by Ex Kay Cee Dee (talk)

{{comic
| number = 689
| date = January 15, 2010
| title = FIRST Design
| image = first_design.png
| titletext = Pool on the roof must've sprung a leak.
}}

==Explanation==
Two members of a team are designing a robot for the 2010 {{w|FIRST Robotics Competition}}, in which teams design robots to push soccer balls into their team's goals. The final design for this team's robot is a trailer with a matchbox on a telescoping pole and the actual robot, a mobile platform with an umbrella on top and pusher in front.

This is an underhanded design, exploiting the presence of a heat-activated {{w|sprinkler system}} at the venue and lack of water resistance in the opposing team's equipment.

When the event starts, the robot moves off and deploys its umbrella. The trailer extends its arm, causing a lit match to set off the sprinkler, which causes the opposing robots to short out and malfunction. This allows the umbrella-protected robot to score goals without opposition.

This may also be referencing how FIRST is famous for its bending of the rules, as loopholes are not only not against the rules, they are encouraged. This would be shown best by how Team 67 designed a robot that utilized a loophole, which allowed them to control a robot using an Xbox Kinect during the time where the robot is supposed to be autonomous. (This loophole has been removed in the rules for more recent competitions.) Note, however, that this would be simply illegal based of the [https://www.firstinspires.org/sites/default/files/uploads/resource_library/frc/game-and-season-info/archive/2010/2010-breakaway-complete-manual.pdf 2010 FRC Breakaway rules], as rule S01 under section 7.3.1 Safety prevents dangerous robots from competing and R02 points E and F under section 8.3.1 Safety & Damage Prevention prevent "Flammable gases" and "Any devices intended to produce flames or pyrotechnics.". This rule could be bypassed if the sprinkler could also be triggered by smoke, which is the case in at least some venues, in which case a few capacitors in a circuit designed to destroy them could trigger the sprinkler system.

In addition, this comic may be a reference to the water game meme in FRC, where most students really want a game to involve water, even though this is unlikely to ever happen due to the safety concerns about using electronics near water.

The title text is an excuse presented by the umbrella robot team, presumably because they won but are facing disqualification. This excuse seems weak because none of the venues have a rooftop pool.{{Citation needed}} The comment "the pool on the roof must've sprung a leak" is a quote from the 1995 movie "Hackers".

==Transcript==
:Team Member 1 (out of panel): Wow, this is a much better design.
:Team Member 2 (out of panel): Let's build it.
:[A blueprint depicting a robot design for the FIRST competition. It consists of a standard mobile platform, with a pusher blade at the front. Additional parts include an umbrella on top and a trailer unit consisting a telescoping pole with a matchbox and match on top.]

:Referee (out of panel): Go!
:''CLICK''
:[A FIRST competition field, with teams at opposite ends. Various robots appear on the field, and the team whose design appears above activates their robot.]

:[The robot's trailer unit detaches as the telescoping pole begins to extend, and the mobile platform with umbrella rolls forward.]
:''VRRR''
:''CLICK''

:[Telescoping pole extends further.]
:''VRRRR''

:[Telescoping pole extends further.]
:''VRRRR''

:[Telescoping pole extends further, approaching a sprinkler head fixture.]
:''VRRR''

:[Telescoping pole stops extending, placing the matchbox and match very near the sprinkler head fixture.]

:[The mobile platform stops moving.]

:[The umbrella deploys, extending beyond the dimensions of the mobile platform.]
:''FWOOMP''

:[The match box and match are lit beneath the sprinkler head.]
:''FWOOSH''

:[The heat from the match triggers the sprinkler's valve, and water sprays out of the sprinkler into the room below.]
:''PSSSSHH''

:[Water pours from the sprinkler onto the competition field, causing the electrical components of the opposing team's robotics platform to short and malfunction. The opposing team appears distressed and confused.]
:''FZZZT''
:''BWooooooo!!!''

:[The initial robot, still protected by its umbrella, pushes along the balls toward the goal zone without any difficulty.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Robots]]
[[Category:Soccer]]

1166: Argument

2022-05-04T00:58:12Z

172.68.50.189: Undo revision 234678 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1166
| date = January 28, 2013
| title = Argument
| image = argument.png
| titletext = The misguided search for a perpetual motion machine has run substantially longer than any attempted perpetual motion machine.
}}

==Explanation==
[[File:PerpetualMotion.png|right|400px|thumb|It should be obvious how {{rw|Perpetual_motion#Energy_cycles|perpetual motion}} doesn't work.]]
A {{w|perpetual motion machine}} is a hypothetical device that is supposed to move infinitely with no external forces helping it, thus providing an unlimited source of energy. The existence of such an object would contradict the laws of thermodynamics, so perpetual motion machines are known to be impossible.

A conspiracy theory called {{rw|free_energy_suppression|Free energy suppression}} asserts that it really is possible to get infinite energy and special interest groups have worked to hide it. In the comic, Randall says that he posted to a forum dedicated to the idea back in 2004, and the thread is still active — it kept on going forever, like the perpetual motion machine they desire (in contrast with real attempts to build such a machine, which all stop quite soon). Of course, the reason the thread continues is that its advocates continue to add energy to it, in the form of comments. "Hot air", if you will.

The {{w|second law of thermodynamics}} states that the {{w|entropy}} of an ''isolated'' system never decreases. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2knWCuzcdJo See this video about entropy]. Thus, even if you could build a perpetual motion machine, you wouldn't be able to use it to produce energy that could be consumed by another device.

The three supposed comments show humorous forms of {{rw|pseudoscience|scientific ignorance}}:

#The first comment is simply wrong; neither pole of a {{w|magnet}} reverses {{w|entropy}}.
#The second comment confuses the {{w|first law of thermodynamics}} (conservation of energy) with {{w|Isaac Asimov}}'s {{w|Three Laws of Robotics|First Law of robotics}} (robots may not injure humans).
#The third comment invalidly conflates the notions of {{w|physical law}} and {{w|Law of the United States|US law}}, hoping for {{rw|pseudolaw|legal loopholes}} to make a {{w|flywheel}} spin forever. Perhaps Congress would repeal the law of gravity on one side.

Furthermore, the avatar being used by the second poster is that of a power strip plugged into itself, which is often jokingly thought of as a perpetual motion machine.

The title text refers to the fact that inventors have been trying to create perpetual motion machines, but have all failed to succeed. But given the fact that they all failed, each attempted perpetual motion machine stopped running at some point, while the search has never stopped.

==Transcript==
:[A page from a very long thread on "Free Energy Forum."]
:'''Thread:''' You're all crackpots who don't understand thermodynamics.
:Page 547 of 547
:Poster 1: No, idiot, only the ''north'' end of a magnet increases entropy. The south end decreases it.
:Poster 2: I wiki'd this "First Law" and I don't see the issue. My device isn't a robot and doesn't harm humans.
:Poster 3: What if we trick the government into only suppressing the ''left'' side of the flywheel?
:Ironically, the argument I started on a perpetual motion forum in 2004 shows no signs of slowing down.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Science]]

1090: Formal Languages

2022-05-04T00:57:44Z

172.68.50.189: Undo revision 236370 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1090
| date = August 3, 2012
| title = Formal Languages
| image = formal_languages.png
| titletext = [audience looks around] 'What just happened?' 'There must be some context we're missing.'
}}

==Explanation==

This joke is a play on the phrase {{w|context-free grammar}}, which is a technical term used in {{w|formal languages|formal language}} theory.

Cueball crashes Megan's speech on formal language theory, nonsensically shouts "Grammar!" without any context, and runs off. Because the gag is delivered in a particularly obtuse manner, the title text clears things up by having the confused audience mention "missing context", thus having them unwittingly explain the joke.

The concept of context-free grammar is incredibly nuanced and nigh impossible to rephrase in layman's terms. Luckily, the joke only interprets the phrase "context-free grammar" literally, so no understanding of the actual subject is required.

A context-free grammar can be described as a dictionary, translating single symbols to one or multiple symbols, who then are replaced again, until no further replacements are possible. If a string of symbols adheres to this grammar, it can be reconstructed solely by following these kind of orders.

==Transcript==
:[A large banner is hanging over a podium, where a speaker (Megan) is standing behind a lectern. Cueball crashes through the left side of the panel, scattering glass.]
:Banner. 10th Annual Symposium on Formal Languages
:''Crash''

:[Cueball stops in front of Megan spreads out his hands and shouts:]
:Cueball: Grammar!

:[Cueball then runs off the right side of the panel, so swiftly he leaves a cloud of dust in his wake. Megan at the podium just looks after him silently.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Logic]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Public speaking]]
[[Category:Puns]]

1651: Robotic Garage

2022-04-21T08:43:08Z

172.68.50.189: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1651
| date = March 4, 2016
| title = Robotic Garage
| image = robotic_garage.png
| titletext = But listen, if getting your car out from under the pile is REALLY important to you, we do have an axe you can borrow.
}}

==Explanation==
In some cities, {{w|automated parking system}}s (aka robotic garages) are used to reduce the amount of space needed to store cars, as opposed to traditional parking buildings. The robotic system eliminates the needs for ramps and circulation/reversing areas. Normally, they work by having the user drive their car onto an elevator and get out, after which the elevator lifts or lowers the car into a compact storage space. Here [[Cueball]] drives up to what he believes to be a garage of this type operated by [[Black Hat]]. However, instead of an elevator carefully moving it into a storage space, a robotic claw simply picks up the car and dumps it in a bin of cars.

This type of parking option will not only break the car, but also make it impossible to take out if the car is at the bottom, hence the cars are ''{{w|Stack_(abstract_data_type)|stacked}}''.

Cueball reacts quite well to this treatment of his car when Black Hat tells him that later they just dump out the bin (full of cars) and he can then pick his own out from the pile. (Maybe he knows Black Hat well enough not to try to argue with him?) This is of course not possible with such heavy objects.{{Citation needed}} Cueball continues to be benign about this absurd situation, which becomes even more absurd when he asks if Black Hat could at least make sure his car is not at the bottom (when it is dumped out with all the other cars). But Black Hat falls back on his excuse "Robots aren't magic," implying that such a feat is beyond the realm of possibility. It would, of course, be quite possible to prevent the damage that Cueball fears if they were using a normal automated parking system.

In the title text he at least gives Cueball an option: he can borrow an axe, if it is really important for him to get the car out from the pile. Although in this situation, an axe would be a nearly useless tool (which, knowing him, is most likely Black Hat's intent), only allowing Cueball to laboriously hack through any other car that lies in the way on top of his own; and still it would not help much, because if his car is at the bottom, it will be even more destroyed than from just being dumped into the bin to begin with.

This is just one of many situations where Black Hat has an evil or just mean/crazy plan in progress. It's for instance not the first time that Black Hat has treated other people's car with great disrespect, although in [[562: Parking]], the guy with the car had it coming!

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat points left while talking to Cueball inside his small car.]
:Black Hat: Just pull onto the receiving platform.
:Cueball: Cool-I've always wanted to try one of these futuristic robotic garages.

:[Cueball has driven the car onto a platform in front of a stop to the left. He is just walking of the platform towards Black Hat.]

:[Zoom out reveals a robotic crane arm, that sits on top of the stop from the previous panel, which turns out to be a huge platform for this robot arm. The robotic arm picks up the car with its two fingers and lifts it into the air with a finger on the hood and the other below the car. Black Hat and Cueball look on.]
:Cueball: Um.

:[This panel pans over to the center of the robotic arm, to reveal a large bin with a label to the robots left. The robot arm holds the car almost straight up in the air, but over the bin.]
:Label: Cars

:[The robotic arm open up to release the car which crashes down into the bin, a sound already emanating from it when the rear end of the car (with one wheel still showing) is still visible.]
:Car: ''Crunch''
:Label: Cars

:[Zoom back to Black Hat and Cueball standing at the end of the empty platform.]
:Black Hat: We'll dump out the bin when you get back and you can pick out your car from the pile.
:Cueball: Can you at least make sure it's not on the bottom?
:Black Hat: Look, robots aren't magic.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Robots]]

1651: Robotic Garage

2022-04-21T08:42:43Z

172.68.50.189: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1651
| date = March 4, 2016
| title = Robotic Garage
| image = robotic_garage.png
| titletext = But listen, if getting your car out from under the pile is REALLY important to you, we do have an axe you can borrow.
}}

==Explanation==
In some cities, {{w|automated parking system}}s (aka robotic garages) are used to reduce the amount of space needed to store cars, as opposed to traditional parking buildings. The robotic system eliminates the needs for ramps and circulation/reversing areas. Normally, they work by having the user drive their car onto an elevator and get out, after which the elevator lifts or lowers the car into a compact storage space. Here [[Cueball]] drives up to what he believes to be a garage of this type operated by [[Black Hat]]. However, instead of an elevator carefully moving it into a storage space, a robotic claw simply picks up the car and dumps it in a bin of cars.

This type of parking option will not only break the car, but also make it impossible to take out if the car is at the bottom, hence the cars are ''{{w|Stack_(abstract_data_type)|stacked}}''.

Cueball reacts quite well to this treatment of his car when Black Hat tells him that later they just dump out the bin (full of cars) and he can then pick his own out from the pile. (Maybe he knows Black Hat well enough not to try to argue with him?) This is of course not possible with such heavy objects.{{Citation needed}} Cueball continues to be benign about this absurd situation, which becomes even more absurd when he asks if Black Hat could at least make sure his car is not at the bottom (when it is dumped out with all the other cars). But Black Hat falls back on his excuse "Robots aren't magic," implying that such a feat is beyond the realm of possibility. It would, of course, be quite possible to prevent the damage that Cueball fears if they were using a normal automated parking system.

In the title text he at least gives Cueball an option: he can borrow an axe, if it is really important for him to get the car out from the pile. Although in this situation, an axe would be a nearly useless tool{{Citation needed}} (which, knowing him, is most likely Black Hat's intent), only allowing Cueball to laboriously hack through any other car that lies in the way on top of his own; and still it would not help much, because if his car is at the bottom, it will be even more destroyed than from just being dumped into the bin to begin with.

This is just one of many situations where Black Hat has an evil or just mean/crazy plan in progress. It's for instance not the first time that Black Hat has treated other people's car with great disrespect, although in [[562: Parking]], the guy with the car had it coming!

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat points left while talking to Cueball inside his small car.]
:Black Hat: Just pull onto the receiving platform.
:Cueball: Cool-I've always wanted to try one of these futuristic robotic garages.

:[Cueball has driven the car onto a platform in front of a stop to the left. He is just walking of the platform towards Black Hat.]

:[Zoom out reveals a robotic crane arm, that sits on top of the stop from the previous panel, which turns out to be a huge platform for this robot arm. The robotic arm picks up the car with its two fingers and lifts it into the air with a finger on the hood and the other below the car. Black Hat and Cueball look on.]
:Cueball: Um.

:[This panel pans over to the center of the robotic arm, to reveal a large bin with a label to the robots left. The robot arm holds the car almost straight up in the air, but over the bin.]
:Label: Cars

:[The robotic arm open up to release the car which crashes down into the bin, a sound already emanating from it when the rear end of the car (with one wheel still showing) is still visible.]
:Car: ''Crunch''
:Label: Cars

:[Zoom back to Black Hat and Cueball standing at the end of the empty platform.]
:Black Hat: We'll dump out the bin when you get back and you can pick out your car from the pile.
:Cueball: Can you at least make sure it's not on the bottom?
:Black Hat: Look, robots aren't magic.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Robots]]

Talk:386: Duty Calls

2022-03-13T19:10:56Z

172.68.50.189: Cunningham's Law

Doesn't look like anyone's touched this during its spotlight as the Incomplete Article of the Day. But really, what else can we say? [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.66|199.27.128.66]] 03:06, 14 November 2013 (UTC)

Maybe how deeply compelling the "need" to fix something wrong on the Internet is? It's not just a plain correction.... it gnaws at you...[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.8|108.162.219.8]] 03:17, 14 November 2013 (UTC)

Tried to flesh out/improve the analysis. Still needs some editing for clarity [I'm not sure how formal the tone of this wiki is supposed to be?] but hopefully it's an improvement on the previous edit. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.56|108.162.216.56]] 17:47, 14 November 2013 (UTC)

I think its good. Hits on all the points, unless anyone sees differently I think it adequately explains the comic. I think all the editing from here is flow and stylistic stuff. And that's minimal. --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 20:22, 14 November 2013 (UTC)

It's a Cunningham's law reference, guys, that's it. {{unsigned ip|141.101.106.155}}

The title "Duty Calls" has a double meaning. One that Cueball needs to go "fix" the internet and that he needs to "be" with his S/O. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.47|108.162.216.47]] 21:04, 26 August 2015 (UTC){{unsigned ip|127.0.0.1}}

I think this explanation misses the case when someone is ''factually'' wrong on the internet, and doesn't just have a different opinion. For example, when someone on Facebook "discovers" that the Mercator map projection is "wrong" and that the "true" one is Gall-Peters (true story), I believe even Randall would feel the need to say something. But of course, the border between factual errors and arguing is very thin... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.150.64|162.158.150.64]] 09:50, 8 June 2017 (UTC)

What about when you are legitimately trying to help someone?

Oh dear, Cueball represents me here. [[User:Beanie|Beanie]] ([[User talk:Beanie|talk]]) 11:52, 23 March 2021 (UTC)

See [https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cunningham%27s_Law Cunningham's Law]

Category:Cursed Connectors

2022-03-04T21:51:15Z

172.68.50.189:

This series of "cursed" USB-type connectors began with "Cursed Connectors #187", [[2493: Dual USB-C]], in July 2021. The second installment was released two comics later with "Cursed Connectors #65": [[2495: Universal Seat Belt]]. This was eventually followed three weeks later by "Cursed Connectors #102": [[2503: Memo Spike Connector]].

[[Randall]] had already made a similar series, [[:Category:Bad Map Projections|Bad Map Projections]], which also uses a similar number system, with the first comic already beginning with a high number for the first bad projection, #107. Similar to this series, the second projection has a lower number than the first (#79).

However, these connectors are not real connectors. What is meant by "cursed" is uncertain; likely, though, they are "cursed" due to not being functional. Presumably the use of the term takes inspiration from the widespread meme referring to "cursed images" and the [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/cursed-image like] A jab at all the different connectors in existence, and how they often break down, maybe because people try to jam them into the wrong sockets because they have so many different types.

The connectors get a number, which if taken seriously would mean there are at least 280 cursed connectors. So far they have the following numbers (listed in number order rather than release order; the first two were released in the opposite order).
:<nowiki>#65</nowiki>: [[2495: Universal Seat Belt|Universal Seat Belt]]
:<nowiki>#78</nowiki>: [[2589: Outlet Denier|Outlet Denier]]
:<nowiki>#102</nowiki>: [[2503: Memo Spike Connector|Memo Spike Connector]]
:<nowiki>#187</nowiki>: [[2493: Dual USB-C|Dual USB-C]]
:<nowiki>#280</nowiki>: [[2507: USV-C|USV-C]]

This may give promise of several more comics with cursed connectors.

[[Category:Comic series]]