explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2998: Ravioli-Shaped Objects

2024-10-22T14:13:31Z

172.68.50.91: Comma between links to 1422 and Beret Guy (to help clear up that they're separate links; cf. title text of 1051)

{{comic
| number = 2998
| date = October 14, 2024
| title = Ravioli-Shaped Objects
| image = ravioli_shaped_objects_2x.png
| imagesize = 608x569px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It's a real accomplishment to mess up a ravioli recipe badly enough that the resulting incident touches all four quadrants of the NFPA hazard diamond.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BULGING LITHIUM BATTERY THROW PILLOW BEING EATEN WITH A FORK- Ideally the article would contain grounded explanations of both of the views that bulging lithium batteries are either dangerous or safe. How would an explosion happen, or why would it not? Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{w|Ravioli}} are a kind of stuffed {{w|pasta}} comprising a filling enveloped in thin pasta dough, commonly square shaped, and serving as the object of this comic's table, which can be seen as a kind of {{w|confusion matrix}}. This comic compares four ravioli-shaped objects (square shaped objects with bulging cross-sections due to their filling) with some common actions associated with them. See the [[#Table of ravioli objects|table]] below.

The title text refers to the {{w|NFPA 704}} diagram for hazardous materials, a diamond figure put out by the {{w|National Fire Protection Association}} showing four kinds of fire hazards. A ravioli that touched all four quadrants would be a health hazard, fire hazard, and demonstrate (chemical) reactivity, and have some other miscellaneous hazard(s). The NFPA diamond was previously mentioned in [[2638: Extended NFPA Hazard Diamond]].

===Table of ravioli objects===
{| class="wikitable" | style="background:#E6C3C3;"
! Ravioli-Shaped Objects
! scope="col"| Eat with a fork
! scope="col"| Rest your head on
! scope="col"| Puncture and slurp
! scope="col"| Install in your phone
|-
! scope="row"| {{w|Ravioli}}
| style="background:#C5E6C3;"|Ravioli pasta would indeed be suitable to be eaten with a fork, as shown.
|Ravioli pasta is not structurally strong enough to support the weight of a human head while reclining, and would break and spill its filling over one's head and the object one is resting on. It may also be covered in sauce, adding to the general mess.
|style="background:#FBF8CE;"|If the ravioli filling is fluid enough, one could slurp it out with a straw. This would waste the pasta component, if it were not eaten afterwards.
|Phones are not meant to run on ravioli. Stuffing a phone with a raviolo would cause it to break as shown, spilling the filling through the phone, which is a terrible idea.

There is a mobile app named Ravioli, but it is quite unlikely that Randall had that in his mind.
|-
! scope="row"| {{w|Throw pillow}}
|Throw pillows are made of cloth and are inedible, whether one uses a fork or not.
| style="background:#C5E6C3;"|A throw pillow is meant to be used as head support while reclining on furniture.
|Throw pillows do not usually have liquids inside them. Hence, Cueball finds, to his dismay, that it's empty.
|Throw pillows are significantly bigger than phones and as such can't fit inside them, nor can typical pillows power them. As depicted, the attempt to force a pillow inside the phone has split the latter in half; the top half of the phone is visible on top of the pillow, and a bit of the bottom half can be seen beneath it.
|-
! scope="row"| {{w|Capri Sun}}
|Eating a pouch of sweetened juice with a fork would most likely simply pierce the pouch and spill the liquid all over Cueball.
|style="background:#FBF8CE;"|A Capri Sun would serve as a waterbed of sorts, and wouldn't be unduly uncomfortable in a pinch. However, it's still possible that the pouch could rupture and leave you with a sticky head and no support.
|style="background:#C5E6C3;"|Capri Suns are meant to be drunk like this, and are enjoyed by many.{{citation needed}}
|The phone shown is surrounded by spilled Capri Sun, implying that the attempt to force the two together punctured the pouch. The resulting spillage would most likely just result in the surface of the phone becoming annoyingly sticky, but if the liquid managed to get inside the phone (especially if the cover had been removed to try to put it in the compartment that usually holds the battery) it could cause a more significant and difficult to clean mess. Once actual power is provided (either an actual battery being subsequently used or the device offered external power by cable or inductance charger), the remaining residue could cause any number of further faults, and perhaps even critical component damage.
|-
! scope="row"| Bulging {{w|Lithium-ion battery|Lithium Battery}}
|Bulging lithium batteries are explosive hazards and should not be punctured lest they explode. Additionally the contents of the battery are toxic if one were to somehow manage to eat the burning bits of the battery.
|A lithium battery is a small, hard object, and a bulging one is no exception. Since the bulging comes from a buildup of heat and gas, (the primary gases being hydrogen and carbon dioxide), it would also be a constant fire hazard, which would not be conducive to relaxation.{{cn}} Lithium battery themed throw pillows, which bulge similarly to such batteries, do exist as a novelty item. Notably, these types of batteries are often referred to as "spicy pillows".
|Similarly to the 'eat with a fork' example, puncturing a bulging lithium battery is a bad idea.
|A bulging lithium battery ''could'' be installed in a phone, if one is willing to break the phone a bit (like the screen in the comic) to accommodate the bulging of the battery. More commonly, bulging batteries form inside the phone itself; if you don't usually have reason to charge or store it separately, you might only notice the problem when it causes the case or screen (shown as partly cracked, in the image) to distort significantly. In [[1422: My Phone is Dying]], [[Beret Guy]]'s phone is expanding. Although in his case it is not the normal bulging battery that causes this.
Upon noticing the bulging of a battery, it is strongly suggested that you uninstall it from the device it is in. It is at least no longer good at holding/delivering its power, and may even become at least as {{w|Lithium-ion battery#Fire hazard|hazardous}} as when used in all the other scenarios, so you should [https://www.reading.ac.uk/health-safety-services/fire-safety/lithium-battery-information/i-have-a-swollen-lithium-ion-battery-what-should-i-do ignore it at your peril].
|}

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

:[A 4x4 grid of squares. The columns are labeled: Eat with a fork, rest your head on, puncture and slurp, install in your phone. The rows are: Ravioli, throw pillow, Capri Sun, bulging lithium battery. Each row has an image of each respective item above the title, with the words “Home Sweet Home” on the throw pillow, and “Fruit” on the Capri Sun.]

Top-Left
:Ravioli, eat with a fork: [green]
::[Cueball sits on a chair in front of a table with a jar of sauce on it. He is eating from a plate from ravioli.]
::Cueball: ''Nom Nom Nom''

Top Mid-Left
:Ravioli, Rest your head on: [red]
::[Cueball is lying down on a couch with ravioli smooshed on his head and the couch. Ravioli bits can be seen on the ground]
::Cueball: Eww.

Top Mid-Right
:Ravioli, puncture and slurp: [yellow]
::[Cueball is slurping from a ravioli through a straw. In front of him is table with two plates, presumably with ravioli on them.]
::''Slurp''

Top-Right
:Ravioli, Install in your phone: [red]
::[A phone is shown with bits of ravioli sticking out and tomato sauce is dripping out.]

Top-Mid Left
:Throw pillow, eat with a fork: [red]
::[Cueball sits on a chair in front of a table with a jar of sauce on it. He is poking with a fork at a throw pillow covered in tomato sauce.]
::''Poke poke''

Top-Mid Mid-Left
:Throw pillow, rest your head on: [green]
::[Cueball is looking at his phone and is lying on a couch. His head is resting on a throw pillow.]

Top-Mid Mid-Right
:Throw pillow, puncture and slurp: [red]
::[Cueball is sucking on a straw that is inserted in a pillow.]
::Cueball: Aw man, this one is empty.

Top-Mid Right
:Throw pillow, install in your phone: [red]
::[A phone is shown on a throw pillow that has the words “Home Sweet Home” partially obscured.]

Bottom-Mid Left
:Capri Sun, eat with a fork: [red]
::[Cueball sits on a chair in front of a table with a jar of sauce on it. He has stabbed a Capri Sun on a plate and is now splattered with juice.]

Bottom-Mid Mid-Left
:Capri Sun, rest your head on: [yellow]
::[Cueball is looking at his phone and is lying on a couch. His head is resting on a Capri Sun.]
::Cueball: Honestly kind of comfortable.

Bottom-Mid Mid-Right
:Capri Sun, puncture and slurp: [green]
::[Cueball is drinking from a Capri Sun through a straw.]
::''Sluuurp''

Bottom-Mid Right
:Capri Sun, Install in your phone: [red]
::[A phone is shown to be squishing a Capri Sun. Juice is trickling out.]

Bottom Left
:Bulging lithium battery, eat with a fork: [red]
::[An explosion bordered by 4 skull and crossbones.]

Bottom Mid-Left
:Bulging lithium battery, rest your head on: [red]
::[Cueball is looking at his phone and lying on his couch. His head is resting on a smoldering battery.]
::Cueball: This fire hazard is uncomfortable.

Bottom Mid-Right
:Bulging lithium battery, puncture and slurp: [red]
::[An explosion bordered by 4 skull and crossbones.]

Bottom Right
:Bulging lithium battery, install in your phone: [red]
::[A phone with a bulging back, presumably from the bulging lithium battery. The phone’s screen is cracked in the center.]

==Trivia==
Surprisingly, the bottom right square was [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/4/4f/20241019165156%21ravioli_shaped_objects_2x.png initially marked in <span style="background-color:#C5E6C3"> green </span>] rather than <span style="background-color:#E6C3C3;"> red </span> (or <span style="background-color:#FBF8CE;"> yellow </span>) when it was first uploaded. This square may have been marked in green because, although putting a bulging battery in a mobile phone is not normal usage, it is a situation that can ''arise'' from normal usage when a "healthy" battery begins to fail. One other suggestion was that this was an [[:Category:xkcd Phones|xkcd phone]], and a dodgy battery is part of a 'feature', such as an 'integrated hand warmer' or 'dynamic expansion').

More likely, it was just because Randall automatically went with the default association of "Row N is appopriate for Column N", as is his [[:Category:Confusion matrices|usual design]] for these comics, to which he adds adjustments for other surprises, exceptions and outright jokes.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Confusion matrices]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Phones]]

2637: Roman Numerals

2022-06-25T05:15:06Z

172.68.50.91: /* Explanation */ title text decoding as a table

{{comic
| number = 2637
| date = June 24, 2022
| title = Roman Numerals
| image = roman_numerals.png
| titletext = 100he100k out th1s 1nno5at4e str1ng en100o501ng 15e been 500e5e50op1ng! 1t's 6rtua100y perfe100t! ...hang on, what's a "virtuacy"?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|100reate500 by a LXXXT  - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Roman numerals are an archaic system of representing numbers that uses the letters I, V, X, L, C, D, and M to represent numbers, which each letter representing a consistent value. Specifically, I represents 1, V represents 5, X represents 10, L represents 50, C represents 100, D represents 500, and M represents 1000. The rules for combining Roman numerals next to each other are that a Roman numeral is added to a Roman numeral of equal or lesser value just to its right (e.g., II=1+1=2 because 1≥1, and VI=5+1=6 because 5≥1), and a Roman number is subtracted from a Roman numeral of greater value just to its right (e.g., IV=5-1=4 because 1<5, and IX=10-1=9 because 1<10). (Also, each place must be written separately, e.g., one cannot represent 49 via IL but instead must represent the tens place and ones place separately via XL IX—although the space would not be included in practice).

The modern system of representing numbers is a decimal positional notation using Hindu numerals (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9), which are so-called because they were invented in India. However, because they were introduced to Europe by Arabic merchants, Westerners often call them Arabic or Hindu-Arabic numerals. Instead of concatenating several 1s, the single character 2 represents 1+1, 3 represents 1+1+1, etc… all the way to 9 representing 1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1. Integers larger than nine are represented as a sum of digits multiplied by different powers of ten. Each time a digit is moved one place to the left, the value that it represents is multiplied by ten (e.g., moving 3 to the left, starting in the ones place, changes the value that it represents from three to three tens to three hundreds to three thousands…). Positional notations require a character for the additive identity, 0, to fill in any gaps so that the digits to its left are positioned correctly. The string "4096" represents 4×10<sup>3</sup>+0×10<sup>2</sup>+9×10<sup>1</sup>+6×10<sup>0</sup>.

Thus in Roman numerals a digit always has the same absolute value but may be positive or negative depending on the digit after it, whereas for Hindu-Arabic numerals, a digit's value changes by a power of 10 depending on its absolute position and is never subtracted.

Cueball's original equations in Roman Numeral form are:
<center>I + I = II</center>
<center>II + II = IV</center>
<center>IV + V = IX</center>

Translated properly into more familiar digits, these equations are:
<center>1 + 1 = 2</center>
<center>2 + 2 = 4</center>
<center>4 + 5 = 9</center>

But Randall/Cueball replaced each letter individually with its value in Hindu-Arabic numerals — ignoring the abovementioned rules for interpreting combined Roman numbers, instead using simple concatenation. Specifically, "I" is replaced with "1", "V" is replaced with "5", and "X" is replaced with "10". For example, for IX at the end of the last equation, "I" is replaced with "1", and "X" is replaced with "10", so "IX" becomes "110". Thus, the equations become
<center>1 + 1 = 1 1</center>
<center>1 1 + 1 1 = 1 5</center>
<center>1 5 + 5 = 1 10</center>
where the spaces have been added for clarity.

The joke is that because Hindu numerals do not use the same rules of addition and subtraction as Roman numerals, simple concatenation makes the equations incorrect. For example, 11 is read as 10+1, not 1+1 as it should under the correct rules for interpreting Roman numerals. Randall derives additional humor from the premise that Cueball seems to know Roman numerals better than Hindu numerals (as demonstrated by the fact that he does not recognize that his equations are false when interpreted using the standard rules for Hindu numerals) so that he would do math in Roman numerals and have to remember to convert his equations to Hindu numerals at the end. Schoolchildren in the West have been taught to do math with Hindu numerals, not Roman numerals, for centuries.

In the title text, Randall applies the same idea of replacing Roman numerals with their values in Hindu numerals to strings of English words.

{| style="border:1px solid green;"
|- style="text-align:center;"
| style="background-color:#efefef;" | 100
| he
| style="background-color:#efefef;" | 100
| k
| out
| th
| style="background-color:#efefef;" | 1
| s
|
| style="background-color:#efefef;" | 1
| nno
| style="background-color:#efefef;" | 5
| at
| style="background-color:#efefef;" | 4
| e
| str
| style="background-color:#efefef;" | 1
| ng
| en
| style="background-color:#efefef;" | 100
| o
| style="background-color:#efefef;" | 501
| ng
|
| style="background-color:#efefef;" | 15
| e
| been
|
| style="background-color:#efefef;" | 500
| e
| style="background-color:#efefef;" | 5
| e
| style="background-color:#efefef;" | 50
| op
| style="background-color:#efefef;" | 1
| ng!
|
| style="background-color:#efefef;" | 1
| t's
|
| style="background-color:#efefef;" | 6
| rtua
| style="background-color:#efefef;" | 100
| y
| perfe
| style="background-color:#efefef;" | 100
| t!
|- style="text-align:center;"
| style="background-color:#c0c0c0;" | C
| he
| style="background-color:#c0c0c0;" | C
| k
| out
| th
| style="background-color:#c0c0c0;" | I
| s
|
| style="background-color:#c0c0c0;" | I
| nno
| style="background-color:#c0c0c0;" | V
| at
| style="background-color:#c0c0c0;" | IV
| e
| str
| style="background-color:#c0c0c0;" | I
| ng
| en
| style="background-color:#c0c0c0;" | C
| o
| style="background-color:#c0c0c0;" | DI
| ng
|
| style="background-color:#c0c0c0;" | IV
| e
| been
|
| style="background-color:#c0c0c0;" | D
| e
| style="background-color:#c0c0c0;" | V
| e
| style="background-color:#c0c0c0;" | L
| op
| style="background-color:#c0c0c0;" | I
| ng!
|
| style="background-color:#c0c0c0;" | I
| t's
|
| style="background-color:#c0c0c0;" | VI
| rtua
| style="background-color:#c0c0c0;" | LL/C
| y
| perfe
| style="background-color:#c0c0c0;" | C
| t!
|}

The original string (with letters that would be interpreted as Roman numerals capitalized) is, "CheCk out thIs InnoVatIVe strIng enCoDIng I'Ve been DeVeLopIng! It's VIrtuaLLy perfeCt!" For the first word, "Check," C is replaced with the value of that Roman numeral in Hindu numerals, i.e., "100", in both instances of the word, which results in "100he100k". Unlike in the comic, Randall combines Roman numbers using the proper rules of addition and subtraction. For example, he replaces "IV" with "4", not "15", e.g., "innovative" becomes "1nno5at4e", not "1nno5at15e". (However, "I've" becomes "15e", not "4e", presumably because the apostrophe was removed after, not before, replacing the Roman numerals with Hindu numerals. However, there is not an obvious reason why Randall removed the apostrophe.) However, there are problems with this. One example is that the double L in "virtually" is replaced with 100. This correctly remembers Roman numerals' rule of adding the value of a letter to the value of an equal-valued letter just to its right, but in Roman numerals, a single number should never have multiple Vs, multiple Ls, or multiple Ds, e.g., 100 should be represented by C, not LL. This would mean that a simplistic decoding script would erroneously decode "6rtua100y" to "virtuacy", not "virtually". Thus, this string encoding system is not actually perfect. (Until the modern codification in general use today, Roman numerals weren't standardised that much, so "LL" could have been a tolerated alternative to "C". For more on that, see {{w|Roman_numerals#Classical_Roman_numerals}}. However, having the decoding script use that would not solve the problem but instead would make the decoding script replace Cs with LLs instead, e.g., "delloding sllript".)

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball writing on a wall or a whiteboard.]
:1+1=11
:11+11=15
:15+5=110

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Remember, Roman numerals are archaic, so always replace them with modern ones when doing math.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Math]]

850: World According to Americans

2022-06-08T14:55:32Z

172.68.50.91: /* Table of items in the map */

{{comic
| number = 850
| date = January 21, 2011
| title = World According to Americans
| image = world according to americans.png
| titletext = It's not our fault we caught a group on their way home from a geography bee. And they taught us that Uzbekistan is one of the world's two doubly-landlocked countries!
}}
*A [http://xkcd.com/850_large/ larger version] of this image can be found by clicking the image at xkcd.com - the comic's page can also be accessed by clicking on the comic number above.

==Explanation==

There's a somewhat well-circulated image on the internet entitled "[http://google.com/search?q=the+world+according+to&tbm=isch The World According to Americans]" which plays on the stereotype of the ignorant American. In it, the entirety of Eastern Europe and most of Asia are entitled "commies" and the Middle-East as "evil-doers," and so on. Later, other people created similar maps to re-do the concept. It later spread to other cultures.

This comic is an anti-joke playing on that idea. You expect to see something which plays on the {{w|stereotypes}} that exist in American culture of various parts of the world. However, instead, the map is remarkably well-informed, and shows how sampling bias can be used to conflate results. See below the [[#Table of items in the map|table of items in the map]].

The title text jokes that in fact the only reason that the map is fairly well annotated is that the group of people labeling it were actually on the way back from a {{w|National Geographic Bee|geography bee}}. This could add weight to the 'Ignorant American' stereotype as these individuals should know more than the common person, implying that if even apparent geography buffs use vague labels such as "rest of South America" and "various former Soviet states" instead of using more detailed labels, the average American must be even less geographically knowledgeable (Although, as the illustrators wrote below Cape Horn, the reason they did not draw Antarctica or many South American, Middle Eastern and British countries and the lack of detail may be because the people who asked them to draw this map were beginning to 'look impatient' since they did not get the expected ignorant result.)

A {{w|landlocked country}} is a country that does not border any major bodies of water. Furthering the concept, a {{w|Landlocked_country#Doubly_landlocked|doubly-landlocked}} country is a country that not only has no connection to water, but is only bordered by ''other'' landlocked countries. As the title text states, there are only two such countries in the world as of 2012: {{w|Uzbekistan}} and {{w|Liechtenstein}}. This is the type of fact that may be stereotypically expected of a geography bee competitor.

===Table of items in the map===
{| class="wikitable"
!style="width: 25%;"|Annotation
! Further details
|-
| Hey so what projection should we use? I’ll aim for "Robinson".
| Any flat [[977|map projection]] of a sphere must have inaccuracies. {{w|Mercator projection}} displays shapes well at the expense of size. For example, Mercator's Greenland appears larger than South America, but is actually one eighth the size. {{w|Gall-Peters projection}} does the opposite, showing accurate surface area with distorted ("awful") shapes. {{w|Robinson projection}} compromises between shape & size for aesthetics; hence Greenland is "still too big".
|-
| Did you know Maine is actually the US state closest to Africa?
| The distance is about 5076 km (~3754 mi). Measurement points are {{w|Sail Rock (disambiguation)|Sail Rock (Maine)}}, the most eastern point of the USA, and a point which seems to be the most southern (and as such western) point of el-Beddouza Beach, {{w|Morocco}}. It's not the most western point of Morocco (or Africa), though.
|-
| Do we have to label all the Virgin Islands?
| Which are {{w|Virgin_Islands#Larger_Islands|9 larger}} and about 100 {{w|List of Caribbean islands#British Virgin Islands|smaller}} {{w|List of Caribbean islands#United States Virgin Islands|islands}} - surely a lot of labels.
|-
| French, and I think Dutch and English
| The three separated areas are (from west to east) {{w|Guyana}} (former British colony), {{w|Suriname}} (former Dutch colony) and {{w|French Guiana}} (still officially part of France). The former two often switched between French, Dutch and British colonial rule. The latter was French most times except for a short Portuguese episode.
|-
| Brazil (Portugese-speaking )
Rest of South America (Spanish-speaking)
| In green is Portuguese-speaking (misspelled) Brazil, and in blue are the Spanish speaking Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina.
|-
| {{w|Greenland}} (Still too big!)
Yeah, but the Peters map is awful
| Relating back to the choice of map projection, the apparent size of Greenland is one of the most commonly known projection based inaccuracies. The {{w|Gall-Peters projection}} shows accurate surface area, but with distorted ("awful") shapes.
|-
|Scandanavia
| A typo of {{w|Scandinavia}}. The area shown includes Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark, but the actual area of Scandinavia excludes Finland. The Scandinavian peninsula countries include Norway, Finland, and Sweden, and those can be collectively (and nerdily) referred to as "Fennoscandia."
|-
| Western Europe
Eastern Europe
| The line here approximately follows that of the {{w|Iron Curtain}} that separated the {{w|Warsaw Pact}} states (the Soviet Union and other Communist allies) from the {{w|NATO}} (US-allied) and neutral states. However, all of Germany is included in Western Europe (when during the Cold War it was divided into East and West Germany) while Austria (which was officially neutral in the Cold War but closely tied to the West and therefore blocked off from its Communist neighbors) is marked as Eastern Europe. Here, Eastern Europe also includes the {{w|Balkans}} (the southern peninsula east of Italy), which are usually considered separate. During the Cold War, the Balkans were divided between Soviet-allied Albania (which later left the Pact) and Bulgaria, NATO-allied Greece and Turkey, and Yugoslavia, which was a neutral Communist state. It's also worth noting that there should be a blob of Russian red in the middle of Eastern Europe, representing the Russian exclave of {{w|Kaliningrad oblast}}.
|-
| British Isles
Ireland
| Although {{w|Ireland}} belongs to the {{w|British Isles}} geographically, it does not belong to the {{w|British Islands}} politically. That may be the reason why [https://iecasimile.com/ Ireland] is labeled additionally - to show it's known that Ireland does not belong to the {{w|United Kingdom}}. {{w|Northern Ireland}} does, though.
|-
| Rainforest DRC
| The area shown is actually not completely the {{w|Democratic Republic of the Congo}} (DRC), but since one of the persons who made this map says they don't know the African map very well (see statement below), it's fairly accurate. Also the area called rainforest is somewhat larger than the area depicted as {{w|tropical rainforest}} on Wikipedia.
|-
| So this is one of those things where you point out our ignorance and stereotypes?
Yeah – I mean I freely admit I don’t know the African map very well, which speaks volumes in itself.
| Here two of the persons involved in drawing this map discusses what their lack of knowledge about Africa says about them. The African portion of the map is for sure the most poorly labeled, which lends weight to the stereotype of the 'Ignorant American'. Although it has to be mentioned, that the geography of Africa is in general not well known - at least within the Western world. So that's not really an American thing, here. The few countries which are labeled here mostly are well known because of their unstable political situation or because of their remarkable location. The labeled locations (and the presumably reasons of their "publicity") are west to east, north to south: {{w|Morocco}} ({{w|Arab Spring}}, location), {{w|Algeria}} (Arab Spring, {{w|Algerian Civil War|Civil War}}), {{w|Sahara|Sahara Desert}} (largest hot desert of the world), {{w|Sudan}} ({{w|Second Sudanese Civil War|Civil war}}, Arab Spring), {{w|West Africa}} ({{w|West Africa#Postcolonial eras|Lots of Civil wars}} and thus bad humanitarian situation, {{w|Blood diamond|Blood diamonds}}), {{w|Somalia}} ({{w|Somali Civil War|Civil war}}, {{w|Piracy in Somalia|pirates}}), {{w|Lake Victoria}} (largest lake of Africa, quite remarkable even at large scale maps (as here)), {{w|Mozambique}} ({{w|Mozambican Civil War|Civil war}}), {{w|Angola}} ({{w|Angolan Civil War|Civil War}}) and {{w|Madagascar}} (one of the worlds large island at the east coast - quite remarkable).
|-
| Cape Horn
| {{w|Cape Horn}} is the southern tip of ''South America'', not ''Africa''. The southern tip of Africa is called {{w|Cape Agulhas}}.
|-
| Should we include {{w|Antarctica}}?
Let’s not – these guys are looking impatient
| Here it is made clear that those who came with this assignment are getting impatient since their project of proving how little Americans know about the world has failed miserably. It also shows that if some labels or parts are missing, then it could be because of this and not for lack of knowledge. This is also a joke on the lack of labels that would be required for the map of Antarctica. Drawing Antarctica and labeling it would probably take less time than having the discussion about whether to include it, and then writing that discussion on the map.
|-
| {{w|Aral Sea}} (Gone)
| Formerly one of the largest fresh-water lakes of the world, now actually not completely gone, but almost.
|-
| Various former Soviet states
| Which are (west to east) {{w|Kazakhstan}}, {{w|Turkmenistan}}, {{w|Uzbekistan}}, {{w|Tajikistan}} and {{w|Kyrgyzstan}}. The former {{w|Soviet Union|Union of Soviet Socialist Republics}} was dissolved in 1991 and thus the {{w|Cold War}} ended.
|-
| Middle East
| Drawn here to include {{w|Egypt}} and {{w|Turkey}}. Whether these should be included depends on whether you mean the phrase ''Middle East'' politically or geographically. They are both Muslim countries, but geographically Egypt is in Africa and Turkey is usually not included because of its close affiliation with Europe.
|-
| Boxing Day quake
Wait, "Boxing Day"? There’s no way you’re American.

I read BBC News, OK?
| On December 26, 2004, a {{w|2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami|huge earthquake}} struck off the coast of Indonesia, causing severe tsunamis. December 26, the day after {{w|Christmas Day}}, is celebrated as {{w|Boxing Day}} in the UK, Canada, Australia, and some other English-speaking countries, but not the US. As such, the earthquake became known as the Boxing Day Quake.
One of the people who came asked these people to draw this map picks up on the use of 'Boxing Day' as something no American would say and questions if this person is, in fact, American. But an American reader of {{w|BBC News}} (part of the British Broadcasting Corporation) may start to use the phrase "Boxing Day" about the Tsunami.
|-
| India -> Mostly Muslim
India -> Mostly Hindu
| In general {{w|India}} is separated in {{w|Religion in India|two religious groups}}. Muslims in the north-west, Hindus in the rest. As visible on the [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Religion_in_India.svg map] in Wikimedia Commons, the area with a predominant Muslim population is far smaller (and mostly concentrated to Kashmir) than depicted in the comic.
|-
| Tibet (contested)
| The area was annexed by the {{w|People's Republic of China}} in the 1950s. Since then there are struggles to gain independence. The marked area is fairly inaccurate, though. Today's {{w|Tibet Autonomous Region}} (former {{w|Kingdom of Tibet}}) is roughly the southern half of the marked area extended a bit to the south-east.
|-
| Kamchatka Peninsula, but I admit I only know this one from Risk
|''{{w|Risk (game)|Risk}}'' is a board game played on a map of the world, where players own territories and battle each other for world domination. The person in the comic admits to knowing {{w|Kamchatka Peninsula}} only from the territory "Kamchatka" in the game. Kamchatka is notable among the territories in the game because it and Alaska are connected, despite being on opposite sides of the board- a fact that can easily be overlooked.
|-
| Koreas
| The two Koreas are the "{{w|Democratic People's Republic of Korea}}" (North Korea) and the "{{w|Republic of Korea}}" (South Korea).
|-
| Japan, duh.
| Well...{{w|Japan}}.
|-
| Taiwan (actually called "The Republic of China" – it's complicated).
| This is a reference to the complicated political history of {{w|Taiwan}}. After the {{w|Chinese Civil War}}, the Nationalists fled {{w|mainland China}} for the island of Taiwan and set up a {{w|martial law in Taiwan|martial law}} there, vowing to return. In the intervening 70 years or so, Taiwan eventually began to transform into a democracy and a country of its own, but hasn't shed the name, or the animosity with China. China and Taiwan are separate countries, but many countries include the latter as part of the former. The government of China also claims {{w|Political status of Taiwan|sovereignty of Taiwan}} and the island ountry is not represented separately by the United Nations...hence the "it's complicated" tag. There is also a missing end-paren here, which is either a typo or a reference to [[859]]. The tag "it's complicated" is one of the options for relationship statuses on Facebook, and denotes two people whose relationship defies the usual labels. In this case, it is the relationship between the countries which is complicated.
|-
| Sulawesi
| As a running gag, the island of {{w|Sulawesi}} (formerly known as Celebes) is depicted in several map-like drawings and charts (see [[256: Online Communities]], [[273: Electromagnetic Spectrum]], [[802: Online Communities 2]], and [[1555: Exoplanet Names 2]]). Of course, there are good reasons to show it on an actual world map like the one here.
|-
| Paupa New Guinea
| A spelling mistake of {{w|Papua New Guinea}}.
|-
| Phillipines
| A spelling mistake of the {{w|Philippines}}.
|-
| Southeast Asia
| {{w|Southeast Asia}} is a region in Asia, which includes Buddhist-majority countries of Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, Muslim-majority countries of Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, and Christian-majority countries of the Philippines and Timor-Leste. However, in this map, Indonesia is depicted separately from the rest of SE Asia.
|-
| Malaysia
| Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia (it is not known why it was excluded on the map)
|-
| Indonesia
| Indonesia is another country in Southeast Asia (it is not known why it was excluded on the map).
|-
| Sri Lanka
| Sri Lanka is a small island country near India.
|-
| Tasmania
| Tasmania is an Australian state.
|}

==Transcript==
:THE WORLD
:According to a Group of
:'''AMERICANS'''
:who turned out to be unexpectedly good at geography, derailing our attempt to illustrate their country's attitude toward the rest of the world.

:[Left to right, up to down.]

:[North of Canada.] Hey so what projection should we use?
:I'll aim for "Robinson."

:[North America.] Alaska; Canada; Hudson Bay; Québec; United States
:Did you know Maine is actually the US state closest to Africa?; Bermuda (British!)

:[Central America.] Baja California (Mexico); Mexico; Central America; Panama Canal; Gulf of Mexico; Cuba; Hispañola; POR.; Jamaica
:Do we have to label all the Virgin Islands?

:[South America.] Rest of South America (spanish-speaking); Brazil (portugese-speaking); French, and I think Dutch and English; Tierra del Fuego

:[Greenland.] Greenland (still too big!); Yeah but the Peters map is awful; Iceland

:[Europe.] British Isles; Ireland; Gibralter; Scandanavia; Western Europe; Eastern Europe; Black sea; Middle East

:[Africa.] Morocco; Algera; Sahara Desert; West Africa; Sudan; Rainforest DRC; Lake Victoria; Somalia; Angola; Mozambique; South Africa; Cape Horn; Madagascar

:[West of DRC.] So this is one of those things where you point out our ignorance and stereotypes?
:Yeah – I mean, I freely admit I don't know the African map very well, which speaks volumes in itself.

:[West Asia.] Russia; Aral sea (Gone); Various former Soviet states; Afghanistan & Pakistan; India; Mostly Muslim; Mostly Hindu

:[Indian Ocea.] Sri Lanka; Boxing Day Quake
:Wait, "Boxing day"? There's no way you're American.
:I read BBC News, OK?

:[East Asia.] Mongolia; Tibet (contested); China; Southeast Asia

:[Pacific Ocean.] Kamchatka Pennisula, but I admit I only know this one from Risk.
:Koreas; Japan, duh.; Taiwan (actually called "The Republic of China." – it's complicated.); Phillipines; Malaysia; Indonesia; Sulawesi; Paupa New Guinea; Australia; Tasmania; New Zealand

:[South of Africa.] Should we include Antarctica?
:Let's not – these guys are looking impatient.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Geography]]
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Board games]]

Talk:2623: Goofs

2022-05-24T18:04:06Z

172.68.50.91: Respect!

I'm getting a 404 error when I try to go to the comic by number. But it shows up on the main xkcd.com home page. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:39, 23 May 2022 (UTC)
: https://xkcd.com/2623/ works for me. [[User:Sollyucko|Sollyucko]] ([[User talk:Sollyucko|talk]]) 16:52, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

Any New Yorkers here to confirm if there's a harpoon store a few blocks from Union Square? If not, that needs to be listed here as a "goof"... I really do love that line suggesting "harpoon stores" are common enough but the nearest one doesn't have an outdoor display. [[User:Ids1024|Ids1024]] ([[User talk:Ids1024|talk]]) 17:18, 23 May 2022 (UTC)
: Remember that it needs to be a harpoon store that was operating in 2018. I think there was a Whalers Я Us near Union Square before it permanently closed during Covid. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.30.33|172.71.30.33]] 20:27, 23 May 2022 (UTC)
:: This comment is facetious, right? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.81|108.162.221.81]] 04:38, 24 May 2022 (UTC)

There may not be a store explicitly called a "harpoon store", but there is at least one diving equipment store that has harpoons. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.65|162.158.78.65]] 17:27, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

I'm glad Randall Munroe also hates CinemaSins. [[User:Lordpipe|Lordpipe]] ([[User talk:Lordpipe|talk]]) 17:32, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

Nobody tell Randall about [[https://www.moviemistakes.com/]] [[User:Kev|Kev]] ([[User talk:Kev|talk]]) 17:41, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

IMDB is also referenced in: [[2441]], [[155]] (ish), and [[1460]] (in the title text) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.174.91|172.70.174.91]] 20:34, 23 May 2022 (UTC)Bumpf

Do any Muppets movies contain billboards for themselves? That feels like something a Muppets movie would do. [[User:GreatWyrmGold|GreatWyrmGold]] ([[User talk:GreatWyrmGold|talk]]) 20:48, 23 May 2022 (UTC)
:I don't remember any in A Muppets Christmas Carol. But it's been a while since I saw it, so... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.145|172.70.90.145]] 22:13, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

as soon as i saw the "goofs" section of the explanation itself i started wheezing harder than i had at any other explainxkcd page ever. whosoever idea that was, you are a genius --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.34.171|172.70.34.171]] 02:09, 24 May 2022 (UTC)
:I just dropped by to say "Bravo!" to whoever worked on the GOOFS section. (I didn't check the page history.) [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 02:39, 24 May 2022 (UTC)
:: I did check the page history but couldn't figure out who started and added to "Goofs." I agree that the section is genius. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.81|108.162.221.81]] 04:38, 24 May 2022 (UTC)
::: It looks like it was [[User:Kev|Kev]] how added the "goofs" section [[User:Kvarts314|Kvarts314]] ([[User talk:Kvarts314|talk]]) 10:19, 24 May 2022 (UTC)
::::Yes he added the first entry, but others have added the rest. I'm uncertain I think it belongs here, but it is funny. Maybe move it down under the transcript?--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:50, 24 May 2022 (UTC)
:::::IMO, it has the same 'status' as a Trivia section (it is one of those in almost every regard, after all), which is traditionally placed post-Teanscript. But I'm not a prescriptionist, at least not in this case, just saying I think it'd be consistent. If you even need my anonymous support for such a trivial within-page move. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.11|141.101.98.11]] 11:57, 24 May 2022 (UTC)
:::::In my opinion it does not "nothing to explain the comic" - quite the contrary: It's the best way to explain what the comic is about. See https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SelfDemonstratingArticle and https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ComicallyMissingThePoint [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 13:17, 24 May 2022 (UTC)
:::::You people are the reason I always press "Go to this comic explanation" first thing I visit. Love you all![[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.91|172.68.50.91]] 18:04, 24 May 2022 (UTC)

Random movie goof validates Randall, as expected:<br>
I picked "The Game", one of my favourites, but also because it's set in SF and has many outdoor scenes.<br>
Sure enough, there were several trivial goofs, but not location-wise.<br>
Check this one out: 'In the end credits, rigging grip Michael Santoro's name is spelled "Micheal".'<br>
Followed by this: 'In the end credits, there's an extra space between actor André Brazeau's first and last names.' [[User:Beechmere|Beechmere]] ([[User talk:Beechmere|talk]]) 04:22, 24 May 2022 (UTC)Beechmere
:This is why there are now different types, so you can jump over the borring to those with plot points, or errors by characthers... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:52, 24 May 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2619: Crêpe

2022-05-18T04:20:50Z

172.68.50.91:

You can almost make the same weird circumflex by using combining diacritics. e, then inverted breve then circumflex. Doesn't seem to render properly with firefox at least --> ȇ̂ [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.241|172.70.114.241]] 14:20, 13 May 2022 (UTC)
: U+2372 is a caret with a tilde through it: ⍲ [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.251|108.162.245.251]] 14:45, 13 May 2022 (UTC)
:: Would you like a crē̂pe? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.32|162.158.63.32]] 20:05, 13 May 2022 (UTC)
:: I looked at a few more unicode things. I'm not too familiar with unicode; there are a few more down curves I think, but I didn't see any way to make it just like the image. I think wiki markup or an embedded image would probably do this best, and may be worthwhile if anybody's excited. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.32|162.158.63.32]] 20:05, 13 May 2022 (UTC)
::: The closest I can find is 🢕, which may render okay on desktop but not mobile as <table style="display: inline-table; line-height: 0.5em; vertical-align: 0.85em;"><tr><td style="font-size: 75%; text-align: center;">🢕 </td></tr><tr><td>crepe</td></tr></table> given that terrible table/css hackery that you'll regret looking at if you find this comment in wikitext. Someone with the patience to codepen up a three cell-tall table with varying font-size:s and line-height:s can probably overlay ∧ and ^ to get the exact shape, but I doubt it would be robustly cross-platform, and of course certainly not across arbitrary fonts, or worse, on mobile because we can't control viewport scaling in wikitext, because that's a head/meta tag. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.25|172.69.33.25]] 21:09, 14 May 2022 (UTC)
::::....does a {{w|Template:Ruby|ruby}} tag work in {{w|Template:Ruby-ja|wikicode}}?? because i see ''table'' in there and thats scary. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.241|172.70.114.241]] 14:52, 15 May 2022 (UTC)
::::: Presumably you tried it. Neither the template or the <nowiki><ruby></nowiki> tag works. Whoever came up with the stroke/fill approach had the right idea: <table style="display: inline-table; line-height: 0.1em; vertical-align: 0.65em;"><tr><td style="font-size: 20%; text-align: center;"><span style="text-fill-color: transparent; text-stroke: 0.5pt currentColor; -webkit-text-fill-color: transparent; -webkit-text-stroke: 0.5pt currentColor;">⮝  </span></td></tr><tr><td>crepe</td></tr></table> [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.36|172.70.211.36]] 00:52, 16 May 2022 (UTC)

: Is it possible to vertically stretch a character? A combination of a "regular" circumflex and a vertically-stretched circumflex might work. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 18:41, 13 May 2022 (UTC)
:: I didn't realise it was actually two circumflexes of different heights. This is pretty visible in the new picture. There might be a taller or shorter circumflex somewhere in unicode, but I think stretching would take mathml or something dunno. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.65|172.70.110.65]] 23:38, 13 May 2022 (UTC)

I think the circumflex is not an "A" but more of a split-and-stretched delta, or an arrowhead. Maybe show a zoom-in of the circumflex (obviously from the 2x image) in the explanation? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.163|108.162.221.163]] 14:47, 13 May 2022 (UTC)Bumpf
: Also, i noticed there are weird white dots past the corners of the border. They are even more visible in the 2x! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.163|108.162.221.163]] 14:50, 13 May 2022 (UTC)Bumpf
: A chevron, perchance? --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.15|172.68.50.15]] 14:52, 13 May 2022 (UTC)

Is it not also a play on "weird flex but OK"? https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/weird-flex-but-okay/ {{unsigned ip|108.162.241.11}}

IPA would be appreciated {{unsigned ip|172.70.110.241}}
: I would say the accepted online versions seem to work well for me:
:* US pronunciation: /kɹeɪp/ ("krayp")
:* UK possibilities: /kɹɛp/, /kɹeɪp/ ("krep" or "krayp")
:** For me, I'd use the former for food (e.g. "Crêpes Suzette") as a fairly direct loan from French,
:** But I'd say the latter for paper (the crinkly-tissue stuff)
:* Fr pronunciation: /kʁɛp/ ("krep", but with that funny French 'r'! ;) )
: YMMV, and possibly different regional British accents (or just who they learnt the terms from) might vary quite wildly. I'm not sure the average Brit truly understand French (typographic) accents. Though possibly we are more inclined to at least try ''something'' than your average American. :p [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.209|172.69.79.209]] 21:18, 13 May 2022 (UTC)
:: In British English it's pronounced 'pancake'. ;o) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.248|162.158.158.248]] 08:19, 16 May 2022 (UTC)

It doesn't really look like an "A". It's more a hollow outline of a circumflex. You can see it more clearly in the 2x version. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.54.247|172.70.54.247]] 19:28, 13 May 2022 (UTC)

The crêpe itself is also in the shape of an accent. -JT {{unsigned ip|162.158.126.55}}

Is this a reference to the vandalism attacks? "crap" and "crêpe" are somewhat similar. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.27|172.70.178.27]] 23:16, 13 May 2022 (UTC)
:There tends to be no acknowledgement at all that Randall takes any notice of what goes on here at the moment. Despite the occasional suspicion that he deliberarely Nerd Snipes us with a comic that is particularly designe to be hard to document 'normally'. I'd say it's a pure co-inky-dink, personally. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.223|172.69.79.223]] 18:55, 14 May 2022 (UTC)
::I admit I have just such a slight suspicion for this very comic. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.25|172.69.33.25]] 21:11, 14 May 2022 (UTC)
If the circumflex is interpreted as a small capital A, it could be considered a form of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_character ruby text], phonetic characters used to transcribe logographic characters. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.189.38|172.68.189.38]] 19:21, 14 May 2022 (UTC)

Am I the only one who thought it is supposed to be some kind of combination of the 3 french accents? one aigu ´ and one grave `above a circonflexe ^ (in many fonts the first two are significantly steeper in my experience)? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.91|172.68.50.91]] 14:28, 16 May 2022 (UTC)

At first I thought it was related to this [https://www.reddit.com/r/linguisticshumor/comments/tfh2xn/new_nasal_dropped/ joke] since I've been seeing a few variations on it recently. But checking the dates makes it look like it wasn't *that* recently, so maybe not. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.50.84|162.158.50.84]] 22:28, 16 May 2022 (UTC)

== dots over letters ==

If, as the current version suggests, a diuretic is in fact a medicine to promote urin excretion, the title text might also refer to the practice of writing one's name in snow using urin and, having diurtetic-induced spare writing fuel, being forced to add diacritic symbols.

The diaeresis is not the same as the umlaut like the description suggests. They're different symbols with different purposes that just happen to look the same. The diaeresis is used to indicate a syllable break before the vowel it's placed on (e.g. naïve), and the umlaut modifies the sound of the vowel it's placed on (e.g. Übermensch). (For clarity, the paragraph above wasn't written by me, it just lacks a signature)[[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.91|172.68.50.91]] 04:20, 18 May 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2619: Crêpe

2022-05-18T04:17:13Z

172.68.50.91:

You can almost make the same weird circumflex by using combining diacritics. e, then inverted breve then circumflex. Doesn't seem to render properly with firefox at least --> ȇ̂ [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.241|172.70.114.241]] 14:20, 13 May 2022 (UTC)
: U+2372 is a caret with a tilde through it: ⍲ [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.251|108.162.245.251]] 14:45, 13 May 2022 (UTC)
:: Would you like a crē̂pe? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.32|162.158.63.32]] 20:05, 13 May 2022 (UTC)
:: I looked at a few more unicode things. I'm not too familiar with unicode; there are a few more down curves I think, but I didn't see any way to make it just like the image. I think wiki markup or an embedded image would probably do this best, and may be worthwhile if anybody's excited. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.32|162.158.63.32]] 20:05, 13 May 2022 (UTC)
::: The closest I can find is 🢕, which may render okay on desktop but not mobile as <table style="display: inline-table; line-height: 0.5em; vertical-align: 0.85em;"><tr><td style="font-size: 75%; text-align: center;">🢕 </td></tr><tr><td>crepe</td></tr></table> given that terrible table/css hackery that you'll regret looking at if you find this comment in wikitext. Someone with the patience to codepen up a three cell-tall table with varying font-size:s and line-height:s can probably overlay ∧ and ^ to get the exact shape, but I doubt it would be robustly cross-platform, and of course certainly not across arbitrary fonts, or worse, on mobile because we can't control viewport scaling in wikitext, because that's a head/meta tag. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.25|172.69.33.25]] 21:09, 14 May 2022 (UTC)
::::....does a {{w|Template:Ruby|ruby}} tag work in {{w|Template:Ruby-ja|wikicode}}?? because i see ''table'' in there and thats scary. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.241|172.70.114.241]] 14:52, 15 May 2022 (UTC)
::::: Presumably you tried it. Neither the template or the <nowiki><ruby></nowiki> tag works. Whoever came up with the stroke/fill approach had the right idea: <table style="display: inline-table; line-height: 0.1em; vertical-align: 0.65em;"><tr><td style="font-size: 20%; text-align: center;"><span style="text-fill-color: transparent; text-stroke: 0.5pt currentColor; -webkit-text-fill-color: transparent; -webkit-text-stroke: 0.5pt currentColor;">⮝  </span></td></tr><tr><td>crepe</td></tr></table> [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.36|172.70.211.36]] 00:52, 16 May 2022 (UTC)

: Is it possible to vertically stretch a character? A combination of a "regular" circumflex and a vertically-stretched circumflex might work. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 18:41, 13 May 2022 (UTC)
:: I didn't realise it was actually two circumflexes of different heights. This is pretty visible in the new picture. There might be a taller or shorter circumflex somewhere in unicode, but I think stretching would take mathml or something dunno. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.65|172.70.110.65]] 23:38, 13 May 2022 (UTC)

I think the circumflex is not an "A" but more of a split-and-stretched delta, or an arrowhead. Maybe show a zoom-in of the circumflex (obviously from the 2x image) in the explanation? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.163|108.162.221.163]] 14:47, 13 May 2022 (UTC)Bumpf
: Also, i noticed there are weird white dots past the corners of the border. They are even more visible in the 2x! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.163|108.162.221.163]] 14:50, 13 May 2022 (UTC)Bumpf
: A chevron, perchance? --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.15|172.68.50.15]] 14:52, 13 May 2022 (UTC)

Is it not also a play on "weird flex but OK"? https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/weird-flex-but-okay/ {{unsigned ip|108.162.241.11}}

IPA would be appreciated {{unsigned ip|172.70.110.241}}
: I would say the accepted online versions seem to work well for me:
:* US pronunciation: /kɹeɪp/ ("krayp")
:* UK possibilities: /kɹɛp/, /kɹeɪp/ ("krep" or "krayp")
:** For me, I'd use the former for food (e.g. "Crêpes Suzette") as a fairly direct loan from French,
:** But I'd say the latter for paper (the crinkly-tissue stuff)
:* Fr pronunciation: /kʁɛp/ ("krep", but with that funny French 'r'! ;) )
: YMMV, and possibly different regional British accents (or just who they learnt the terms from) might vary quite wildly. I'm not sure the average Brit truly understand French (typographic) accents. Though possibly we are more inclined to at least try ''something'' than your average American. :p [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.209|172.69.79.209]] 21:18, 13 May 2022 (UTC)
:: In British English it's pronounced 'pancake'. ;o) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.248|162.158.158.248]] 08:19, 16 May 2022 (UTC)

It doesn't really look like an "A". It's more a hollow outline of a circumflex. You can see it more clearly in the 2x version. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.54.247|172.70.54.247]] 19:28, 13 May 2022 (UTC)

The crêpe itself is also in the shape of an accent. -JT {{unsigned ip|162.158.126.55}}

Is this a reference to the vandalism attacks? "crap" and "crêpe" are somewhat similar. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.27|172.70.178.27]] 23:16, 13 May 2022 (UTC)
:There tends to be no acknowledgement at all that Randall takes any notice of what goes on here at the moment. Despite the occasional suspicion that he deliberarely Nerd Snipes us with a comic that is particularly designe to be hard to document 'normally'. I'd say it's a pure co-inky-dink, personally. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.223|172.69.79.223]] 18:55, 14 May 2022 (UTC)
::I admit I have just such a slight suspicion for this very comic. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.25|172.69.33.25]] 21:11, 14 May 2022 (UTC)
If the circumflex is interpreted as a small capital A, it could be considered a form of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_character ruby text], phonetic characters used to transcribe logographic characters. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.189.38|172.68.189.38]] 19:21, 14 May 2022 (UTC)

Am I the only one who thought it is supposed to be some kind of combination of the 3 french accents? one aigu ´ and one grave `above a circonflexe ^ (in many fonts the first two are significantly steeper in my experience)? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.91|172.68.50.91]] 14:28, 16 May 2022 (UTC)

At first I thought it was related to this [https://www.reddit.com/r/linguisticshumor/comments/tfh2xn/new_nasal_dropped/ joke] since I've been seeing a few variations on it recently. But checking the dates makes it look like it wasn't *that* recently, so maybe not. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.50.84|162.158.50.84]] 22:28, 16 May 2022 (UTC)

== dots over letters ==

If, as the current version suggests, a diuretic is in fact a medicine to promote urin excretion, the title text might also refer to the practice of writing one's name in snow using urin and, having diurtetic-induced spare writing fuel, being forced to add diacritic symbols.

The diaeresis is not the same as the umlaut like the description suggests. They're different symbols with different purposes that just happen to look the same. The diaeresis is used to indicate a syllable break before the vowel it's placed on (e.g. naïve), and the umlaut modifies the sound of the vowel it's placed on (e.g. Übermensch). [[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.91|172.68.50.91]] 04:17, 18 May 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2619: Crêpe

2022-05-16T14:28:46Z

172.68.50.91:

Talk:2619: Crêpe

2022-05-16T14:27:44Z

172.68.50.91:

You can almost make the same weird circumflex by using combining diacritics. e, then inverted breve then circumflex. Doesn't seem to render properly with firefox at least --> ȇ̂ [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.241|172.70.114.241]] 14:20, 13 May 2022 (UTC)
: U+2372 is a caret with a tilde through it: ⍲ [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.251|108.162.245.251]] 14:45, 13 May 2022 (UTC)
:: Would you like a crē̂pe? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.32|162.158.63.32]] 20:05, 13 May 2022 (UTC)
:: I looked at a few more unicode things. I'm not too familiar with unicode; there are a few more down curves I think, but I didn't see any way to make it just like the image. I think wiki markup or an embedded image would probably do this best, and may be worthwhile if anybody's excited. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.32|162.158.63.32]] 20:05, 13 May 2022 (UTC)
::: The closest I can find is 🢕, which may render okay on desktop but not mobile as <table style="display: inline-table; line-height: 0.5em; vertical-align: 0.85em;"><tr><td style="font-size: 75%; text-align: center;">🢕 </td></tr><tr><td>crepe</td></tr></table> given that terrible table/css hackery that you'll regret looking at if you find this comment in wikitext. Someone with the patience to codepen up a three cell-tall table with varying font-size:s and line-height:s can probably overlay ∧ and ^ to get the exact shape, but I doubt it would be robustly cross-platform, and of course certainly not across arbitrary fonts, or worse, on mobile because we can't control viewport scaling in wikitext, because that's a head/meta tag. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.25|172.69.33.25]] 21:09, 14 May 2022 (UTC)
::::....does a {{w|Template:Ruby|ruby}} tag work in {{w|Template:Ruby-ja|wikicode}}?? because i see ''table'' in there and thats scary. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.241|172.70.114.241]] 14:52, 15 May 2022 (UTC)
::::: Presumably you tried it. Neither the template or the <nowiki><ruby></nowiki> tag works. Whoever came up with the stroke/fill approach had the right idea: <table style="display: inline-table; line-height: 0.1em; vertical-align: 0.65em;"><tr><td style="font-size: 20%; text-align: center;"><span style="text-fill-color: transparent; text-stroke: 0.5pt currentColor; -webkit-text-fill-color: transparent; -webkit-text-stroke: 0.5pt currentColor;">⮝  </span></td></tr><tr><td>crepe</td></tr></table> [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.36|172.70.211.36]] 00:52, 16 May 2022 (UTC)

: Is it possible to vertically stretch a character? A combination of a "regular" circumflex and a vertically-stretched circumflex might work. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 18:41, 13 May 2022 (UTC)
:: I didn't realise it was actually two circumflexes of different heights. This is pretty visible in the new picture. There might be a taller or shorter circumflex somewhere in unicode, but I think stretching would take mathml or something dunno. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.65|172.70.110.65]] 23:38, 13 May 2022 (UTC)

I think the circumflex is not an "A" but more of a split-and-stretched delta, or an arrowhead. Maybe show a zoom-in of the circumflex (obviously from the 2x image) in the explanation? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.163|108.162.221.163]] 14:47, 13 May 2022 (UTC)Bumpf
: Also, i noticed there are weird white dots past the corners of the border. They are even more visible in the 2x! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.163|108.162.221.163]] 14:50, 13 May 2022 (UTC)Bumpf
: A chevron, perchance? --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.15|172.68.50.15]] 14:52, 13 May 2022 (UTC)

Is it not also a play on "weird flex but OK"? https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/weird-flex-but-okay/ {{unsigned ip|108.162.241.11}}

IPA would be appreciated {{unsigned ip|172.70.110.241}}
: I would say the accepted online versions seem to work well for me:
:* US pronunciation: /kɹeɪp/ ("krayp")
:* UK possibilities: /kɹɛp/, /kɹeɪp/ ("krep" or "krayp")
:** For me, I'd use the former for food (e.g. "Crêpes Suzette") as a fairly direct loan from French,
:** But I'd say the latter for paper (the crinkly-tissue stuff)
:* Fr pronunciation: /kʁɛp/ ("krep", but with that funny French 'r'! ;) )
: YMMV, and possibly different regional British accents (or just who they learnt the terms from) might vary quite wildly. I'm not sure the average Brit truly understand French (typographic) accents. Though possibly we are more inclined to at least try ''something'' than your average American. :p [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.209|172.69.79.209]] 21:18, 13 May 2022 (UTC)
:: In British English it's pronounced 'pancake'. ;o) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.248|162.158.158.248]] 08:19, 16 May 2022 (UTC)

It doesn't really look like an "A". It's more a hollow outline of a circumflex. You can see it more clearly in the 2x version. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.54.247|172.70.54.247]] 19:28, 13 May 2022 (UTC)

The crêpe itself is also in the shape of an accent. -JT {{unsigned ip|162.158.126.55}}

Is this a reference to the vandalism attacks? "crap" and "crêpe" are somewhat similar. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.27|172.70.178.27]] 23:16, 13 May 2022 (UTC)
:There tends to be no acknowledgement at all that Randall takes any notice of what goes on here at the moment. Despite the occasional suspicion that he deliberarely Nerd Snipes us with a comic that is particularly designe to be hard to document 'normally'. I'd say it's a pure co-inky-dink, personally. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.223|172.69.79.223]] 18:55, 14 May 2022 (UTC)
::I admit I have just such a slight suspicion for this very comic. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.25|172.69.33.25]] 21:11, 14 May 2022 (UTC)
If the circumflex is interpreted as a small capital A, it could be considered a form of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_character ruby text], phonetic characters used to transcribe logographic characters. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.189.38|172.68.189.38]] 19:21, 14 May 2022 (UTC)
Am I the only one who thought it is supposed to be some kind of combination of the 3 french accents? one aigu ´ and one grave `above a circonflexe ^ (in many fonts the first two are significantly steeper in my experience)? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.91|172.68.50.91]] 14:27, 16 May 2022 (UTC)

1071: Exoplanets

2022-05-11T18:30:43Z

172.68.50.91: Undo revision 266444 by 👖🔥 (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1071
| date = June 20, 2012
| title = Exoplanets
| image = exoplanets.png
| titletext = Planets are turning out to be so common that to show all the planets in our galaxy, this chart would have to be nested in itself—with each planet replaced by a copy of the chart—at least three levels deep.
}}
*A [http://xkcd.com/1071/large/ larger version] of this image can be found by clicking the image at xkcd.com - the comic's page can also be accessed by clicking on the comic number above.

==Explanation==
An {{w|exoplanet}} is a planet outside of our solar system, orbiting a different sun. [[786: Exoplanets|786]] planets were known in mid-2012: 778 exoplanets and the rest in our Solar System.

Since then, astronomers have found thousands more. In the comic, our {{w|Solar System}}'s eight planets are depicted in the small rectangle above the central text. From this we find that the largest dots (red) and second largest dots (dark brown) indicate planets larger than Jupiter, light brown is roughly {{w|Jupiter}} or {{W|Saturn}}-sized, blue is roughly {{w|Uranus}} or {{w|Neptune}}-sized, and the tiny dots are small {{w|terrestrial planets}} (like {{w|Earth}}).

We only have a few ways of {{w|Discoveries of exoplanets|finding exoplanets}}. Astronomers initially used {{w|doppler spectroscopy}}, which detects minute changes in a star's movement towards or away from us to infer the presence of large gas giants or {{w|brown dwarf}}s. Currently the most successful method is to notice when a star seems to briefly get dimmer on a repeating cycle. This may indicate that a body of matter has passed between that star and us, blocking some of the light. The {{w|Kepler (spacecraft)|Kepler space telescope}} was designed for this purpose, and has made the vast majority of exoplanet discoveries.

Most of Kepler's discoveries are between the sizes of Earth and Neptune, but it's sensitive enough to detect planets smaller than Mercury (if the orbital plane is aligned with us). Kepler is only able to observe relatively close stars in a {{w|File:LombergA1024.jpg|narrow field of view}}. The great number of nearby planets implies there should be {{w|Carl Sagan|billions}} of planets in our galaxy, [[1339|assuming]] our local arm is not uniquely abundant.

The title text refers to this by saying that to show them all, each dot on the chart should hold another chart with the same amount of dots; each of these dots should then also have a similar chart, and then do this one more time for a three level deep chart. This chart would have space for 786^4 planets (786*786*786*786 = 382 billions). Our {{w|Milky Way}} contains about 100-400 billion stars. But if the chart were only two levels deep there would "only" be room for 786^3 = 0.5 billion planets.

This comic's design is similar to the {{w|color perception test|Ishihara Color Test}}, a series of circular pictures made of colored dots, used to detect red-green color blindness. However, Randall's picture probably does not contain a hidden number like it did in [[1213: Combination Vision Test]].

Two different xkcd comics have the title "Exoplanets". The first was [[786: Exoplanets]], and this one was drawn at a time when 786 exoplanets had been found. Probably not a coincidence when it comes to [[Randall]]. This is the first time Randall released a comic with the exact same name as a previous comic. Since then he has done so [[:Category:Comics sharing name|a few times]]. When this comic was released it caused problems on xkcd as the title of the image files were the same for the two comics. This was resolved by renaming the original image adding the year 2010, the year when it was released, two years before this one was released.

See also [[:Category:Exoplanets]] and this {{w|lists of planets#Orbiting other stars|list of lists of exoplanets}}.

==Transcript==
:[An large diagram of dots, mostly of varying shades of brown and greenish yellow, with a number of smaller blue dots, tiny green dots and some larger red dots. At the top of the circle are five lines of text in very different font size.]
:<big>All 786 known</big>
:<big><big><big>planets</big></big></big>
:<small>(as of June 2012)</small>
:<big>to scale</big>
:<small>'''(Some planet sizes estimated based on mass.)'''</small>

:[Below this text is a small section of 8 planets which are framed in a light gray frame with lighter gray background . It is situated right below the above text with only a few planets in between the text and the frame. These planets include two large yellow, two smaller blue two small green and two tiny green planets. A line goes between this frame to another frame with the first word in the text below, that is in a similar frame. The rest of the text follows to the right and then below this first word covering the central part of the circle from just around the center of the circle and a bit below.]
:This is our solar system.
:The rest of these orbit other stars and were only discovered recently.
:Most of them are huge because those are the kind we learned to detect first, but now we're finding that small ones are actually more common.
:We know nothing about what's on any of them. With better telescopes, that could change.
:'''This is an exciting time.'''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Exoplanets]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|Exoplanets02]]

1304: Glass Trolling

2022-05-04T20:37:02Z

172.68.50.91: Undo revision 243702 by Ex Kay Cee Dee (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1304
| date = December 16, 2013
| title = Glass Trolling
| image = glass_trolling.png
| titletext = Plus, when someone finally grabs your glasses and stomps on them, it costs way less than $1,500 to replace them.
}}

==Explanation==
This is another strip in the [[My Hobby]] series.

{{w|Google Glass}} is a set of glasses frames worn like typical glasses that features an optical display and internet connectivity. It responds to voice commands starting with [https://support.google.com/glass/answer/3079305 "OK ''glass''"], for example to initiate video recording or to check tomorrow's weather. Strangers and other people surrounding the user would often find it annoying to hear someone talking to "himself", or to ''Glass''. Also many people who buy the newest gadgets, like Google Glass, like to brag about it, and thus would try to say ''OK Glass'' so loud that other people will notice they have these cool new glasses. This can be very annoying in general!

[[Randall|Randall's]] hobby, is saying "OK, ''glass''" before any sentence while he is only wearing regular glasses. Like here where he (drawn as usual like [[Cueball]], with regular glasses) is checking tomorrow's weather, not on the glasses but on his {{w|smartphone}}. Apparently this is even more annoying to the bystander than if he would actually wear a real ''Google Glass'' while saying so. He thus both annoys other people, mocks people who buy such glasses to brag about them, and in general mocks Google Glass.

In the title text, Randall states that there is an extra benefit by doing this while only wearing regular glasses. Because when someone is finally fed up with the annoyance and rips the glasses off and stomps on them, then it would cost much less for regular glasses than if he had to replace a "Google Glass". These are very expensive - $1,500 at the time of this comic, as the title text says. (Note that regular glasses can also be very expensive, but you could choose to wear your reserve glasses for such a prank...). Also [https://mashable.com/2014/02/26/google-glass-assault/ several people] have claimed to been attacked while wearing Google Glass in San Francisco, with one person claiming [https://mashable.com/2014/04/13/google-glass-wearer-attacked/ their attacker destroyed their Glass].

The "OK, ''Glass''" keyword is not useless outside of ''Glass''; in the browser Chrome and the Android/iOS app ''Google Now'', "OK, ''Glass''" is also valid instead of "OK, ''Google''" to initiate a voice command. While Cueball may be using this app, it is not necessarily the case, given that the caption states that Cueball enjoys prefacing everything with the phrase.

It seems generally that Randall is no fan of Google Glass, which was also shown earlier in [[1251: Anti-Glass]].

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the panel:]
:My Hobby:

:[Cueball, wearing regular glasses, is holding his smartphone up in one hand while typing, as shown with two times two small movement lines on either side of the phone. A voice from off-panel right emanates from a starburst at the frame.]
:Cueball: OK, Glass, check tomorrow's weather.
:Cueball: Ooh, snow!
:Off-panel voice: Oh my god, it's somehow even ''more'' annoying than if you had it.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Saying "OK, Glass" before everything while wearing regular glasses.

==Trivia==
Google Glass was a [[:Category:Google Glass|recurring theme]] in xkcd in 2013.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Smartphones]]
[[Category:Google Glass]]
[[Category:Weather]]

315: Braille

2022-05-04T00:48:04Z

172.68.50.91: Undo revision 232729 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 315
| date = September 12, 2007
| title = Braille
| image = braille.png
| titletext = The only big difference I've seen is in colors. Where the regular text reads 'press red button', the braille reads 'press two-inch button'.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Braille}} is a writing system for the blind and {{w|Visual impairment|visually impaired}} using bumps on a paper, slate, etc. However, since most sighted people have no need for braille, and because braille messages may need to convey purely-visual information to blind people, the braille message may be adjusted from the original message. In this case, however, it acts as a jab toward people who are not blind, saying that "sighted people suck," which is obviously not something you would typically see (no pun intended){{Citation needed}} on informational signs.<sup><nowiki>[</nowiki>[[285:_Wikipedian_Protester|SIGHTation needed]]<nowiki>]</nowiki></sup> Similar "translations" can be found when one deciphers the alien translations on nearly all signs in Futurama.

The title text shows a practical (and more realistic) example of where regular text and braille text may differ. As the visually impaired cannot see color, the label would need to identify some other defining feature of the button in question, such as the given measurement.

==Transcript==
:I learned to read braille a while back, and I've noticed that the messages on signs don't always match the regular text.
:[A sign reads "Third Floor Office" with braille print underneath. Cueball is reading the braille.]
:Cueball (thinking): s-i-g-h-t-e-d-p-e-o-p-l-e-s-u-c-k ... Hey!

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

809: Los Alamos

2022-05-04T00:47:45Z

172.68.50.91: Undo revision 234707 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 809
| date = October 22, 2010
| title = Los Alamos
| image = los_alamos.png
| titletext = The test didn't (spoiler alert) destroy the world, but the fact that they were even doing those calculations makes theirs the coolest jobs ever.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic refers to the {{w|Manhattan Project}} at {{w|Los Alamos, New Mexico}}, where in 1945 their development of the first nuclear weapon had progressed to the point that they were going to explode "The Gadget" at {{w|Trinity Site}}. There was genuine concern that some unexpected result was possible, including the scenario about the atmosphere igniting. The scientists were almost certain that it would either work as expected, or just be a dud, but were unable to rule out several other scenarios. The test proceeded, and it worked as expected.

The joke part at the end is a reference to a common {{w|mnemonic}} device for basic {{w|trigonometric}} functions, namely identifying the relationships of ''sine'', ''cosine'', and ''tangent'' with respect to the lengths of a right triangle's edges: '''s'''ine = '''o'''pposite over '''h'''ypotenuse, '''c'''osine = '''a'''djacent over '''h'''ypotenuse, and '''t'''angent = '''o'''pposite over '''a'''djacent (in other words, SOH CAH TOA.) "Steve" becomes concerned by the seriousness of the situation, and wants to make sure that he has not made a mistake on stuff that should be ''very'' elementary to a scientist in his position.

The title text mentions that there are very few jobs where one can say that with seriousness, as normal jobs do not involve technology capable of destroying worlds.{{Citation needed}}

A Steve is referred to in a similar situation in comic [[1532: New Horizons]], where his miscalculations screw up the trajectory of the {{w|New Horizons}} space probe, sending it to Earth instead of Pluto. He would be at least 90 years old if it was to be the same Steve though. A person named Steve also comes up with an inappropriate suggestion in [[1672: Women on 20s]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball raising a hand points to Steve (see later) drawn as another shorter Cueball-like guy, and behind Cueball stand Hairy also looking at Steve. Partly behind Steve's head is a piece of paper on the wall with a circle around a central dot and four arrows pointing in towards the circle from each corner of the paper. Behind Hairy's head is another paper with a graph that looks like a positive third degree polynomial with three non-zero solutions. Between Cueball and Hairy at the level of their hands is a small square with two small dots at the two top corners. Seems like a part of the wall rather than a paper. During the next images the two on either side of Cueball moves their head in front or away from these papers so at least once the hole drawing can be seen. Over the panels top frame there is a frame with a caption:]
:Los Alamos, 1945...
:Cueball: We have a decision. If we've done our math right, this test will unleash heaven's fire and make us as gods.

:[Cueball turns towards Hairy holding his arms out.]
:Cueball: But it's possible we made a mistake, and the heat will ignite the atmosphere, destroying the planet in a cleansing conflagration.

:[In a frame-less panel Steven takes a hand to his chin, while the other two turns towards him.]
:Steve: Wow. Um. Question: Just to double-check— although I'm 99% sure—

:[Cueball, still facing Steve, face-palms himself while Hairy turns away from Steve.]
:Steve: Is it "SOH CAH TOA" or "COH SAH TOA"?
:Cueball: ''Oh, for the love of...'' can someone redo Steve's work?
:Hairy: I don't want to do the test anymore.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Nuclear weapons]]

1051: Visited

2022-05-04T00:47:02Z

172.68.50.91: Undo revision 235132 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1051
| date = May 4, 2012
| title = Visited
| image = visited.png
| titletext = I hate when I read something like '... tension among the BASE jumpers nearly led to wingsuit combat ...', and I get excited because 'wingsuit combat' is underlined, only to find that it's just separate links to the 'wingsuit' and 'combat' articles.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a reference to how an internet browser will make the links of the pages that you have visited a different color than the links that you have not visited. In the case of {{w|Wikipedia}} and other wikis powered by {{w|MediaWiki}}, they are blue for non-visited and purple for visited. In this comic, [[Randall]] is ashamed of the pages he has visited, because with the color changes there is evidence of what he has visited in the past, e.g. {{w|autoerotic asphyxiation}} (possibly while researching [[682: Force]], which features that very Wikipedia page).

The pages that he did visit before are in great contrast with the pages that he hasn't. Pages he didn't click are often difficult, highly intelligent topics, while he only clicks the easy, funny articles with little scientific background on the Wikipedia site.

The title text refers to a common mistake many people make when reading articles on Wikipedia. Words referring to subjects that have an article on Wikipedia are colored in blue. This, however, can cause confusion when two words leading to two separate articles appear together, as the two links appear to be one. However, on hovering the cursor over the article link, only one word at a time is underlined, showing that the links are separate.

It is not possible to determine who this fake article is supposed to be about, but the Macarena band is certainly from Dos Hermanas, Spain. So, it is quite possibly a made-up article from [[Randall]].

==Transcript==
[The following is in the standard format of a Wikipedia article, modified to reflect the content of the comic.]
:...and was a pioneer of literary {{w|social realism}}.

:He was born in {{w|Dos Hermanas}} in the {{w|Andalusia}} region of {{w|Spain}} (not to be confused with {{w|Andalasia}}[link clicked], the kingdom in Disney's ''{{w|Enchanted}}''[link clicked]), which is also the hometown of ''{{w|Macarena, Seville|Macarena}}''[link clicked] band {{w|Los Del Río}}[link clicked],

:His {{w|third novel}}, set during the {{w|Burmese-Siamese war}}, marked the start of a lifelong interest in the {{w|history of Southeast Asia}}. He spent his later years in {{w|Thailand}}, writing his his final novels just a few blocks from the hotel where actor {{w|David Carradine}}[link clicked] died of {{w|Autoerotic Asphyxiation}}[link clicked].

:[Caption below the panel:]
:If I go for a while without clearing my browser history, I start getting embarrassd by which words on Wikipedia show up in purple.

==Trivia==
* In the caption of the comic, embarrassed is spelled incorrectly.
* In the third paragraph, there is an extra "his" in the phrase "writing his his final novels".

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

861: Wisdom Teeth

2022-05-04T00:46:20Z

172.68.50.91: Undo revision 233684 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 861
| date = February 16, 2011
| title = Wisdom Teeth
| image = wisdom_teeth.png
| titletext = I heard the general anesthesia drugs can cause amnesia, so when I woke up mid-extraction I started taking notes on my hand so I'd remember things later. I managed 'AWAKE BUT EVERYTHING OK' before the dental assistant managed to find and confiscate all my pens.
}}

==Explanation==

{{w|Wisdom tooth|Wisdom teeth}}, as many people are no doubt {{w|Wisdom tooth#Post-extraction problems|painfully aware}}, are the third set of molars found in humans. Because human jaws are smaller than other ape jaws, most of us don't have room for a third set of molars, and the teeth become impacted so they grow straight into the other teeth, requiring a painful, debilitating procedure to remove them.

Because recovering from dental surgery often entails a period of rest following the operation and the use of {{w|painkillers|prescription painkillers}} (which have a tendency to make a person go a little loopy), [[Cueball]] prepares to play ''Minecraft'' the entire time. ''{{w|Minecraft}}'' is a PC game known for its addictive qualities; the game itself primarily revolves around a three-dimensional world in which the goal of the player is centered on the aspects of structural creation using blocks found in the environment and the creation of different materials for use in building these structures. Despite its addictive nature, the game doesn't provide the player with a goal, so most people take to building lots of nifty stuff, such as large cities, computers made from the game's built-in redstone (electricity) mechanics, massive scale replicas of Earth, etc.

Cueball's conversation with [[Megan]] indicates that he has previously decided against playing ''Minecraft'' precisely due to its addictive gameplay and lack of internal goal, deeming it unproductive. However, 'productivity' is not something that Cueball believes he can achieve post-extraction, and so Cueball decides that addictive gameplay and lack of internal goal "sounds like the perfect distraction".

Unfortunately for Megan (and any other users of her server), Cueball, while intoxicated with painkillers, has instead opted to flatten an entire continent and sort it into layers (by type of block, presumably). While there's no real indication of how big the continent is, as ''Minecraft'' worlds are randomly generated, sea level in ''Minecraft'' is at Y level 64, which means he sorted at least 65 layers of a continent large enough to be sufficiently developed, so it is clear that this task would take a lot of time. Collecting a block in ''Minecraft'' takes a certain minimum amount of time, depending on the block type, so even if he did everything as fast as he possibly could, there's still a substantial lower bound.

Ironically, in the second panel Megan says she'll set Cueball up on her server, which indicates she probably uses a whitelist to secure the server from griefers who might destroy structures created by others, not expecting that Cueball would do exactly that. The last panel simply illustrates that painkillers tend to make one loopy.

The title text refers to people waking up during surgery. Because anesthesia requires a lot of careful calibration and dosage - there's a reason anesthesiologists are paid hundreds of dollars an hour to be there, after all - it's possible to sometimes get it wrong, resulting in the patient waking up in the middle of the surgery. The three most important parts of anesthetics used for surgery are an analgesic (blocks pain), a sedative (puts you to sleep), and a paralytic (keeps you from moving). The worst-case scenario that most people hear about is when the analgesic and sedative are under-dosed, but the paralytic is correct, leaving the person awake, able to feel pain, but unable to alert the surgeons that anything is wrong. As a result, some countries and medical institutions have passed laws requiring surgeons to monitor brain activity so that these problems can be quickly remedied. The situation the title text is describing, with both the sedative and paralytic wearing out (leaving the person able to write notes), would be quite unlikely. As for confiscating all the pens, it was probably just to keep the patient from disturbing the procedure while the anesthesiologist corrected the dosage.

Sorting a ''Minecraft'' world into layers like this would be a near impossible task, especially in the version of ''Minecraft'', Beta 1.2, that was current when this comic was released, which did not even include the enchantment system that allowed for tools that could mine exceptionally fast, meaning that even the sheer time to mine out such a large area would be astronomical, not even considering the time to replace the blocks in proper layers, or to gather resources for the many tools you would need. In later versions of ''Minecraft'', it is possible to naturally generate worlds that resemble the world in this comic using the "superflat" world generation mode, but this was not a feature in ''Minecraft'' when this comic was released.

==Transcript==
:Cueball, on phone: Hey! Know how you've been bugging me to play Minecraft for the past year? I'm game.
:Megan, on phone: But you said you didn't want to "get hooked and spend days on end moving virtual cubes around while sitting motionless." What changed?

:Cueball, on phone: I'm having my wisdom teeth out, and I'll be useless and doped up on painkillers for the next few days, so that actually sounds like the perfect distraction.
:Megan, on phone: Oh. I'll set you up on our server!

:72 hours later...
:[Megan sitting at computer.]
:Megan, on phone: Hey — starting to feel better? Enjoying the game? Let's see what you've... What the hell? Where ''IS'' everything?

:[View of a Minecraft screen showing a vast empty expanse of land. In Cueball's hotbar is, from left to right, an stone pickaxe, sword, and shovel, seven feathers, 42 torches, a non-enchanted bow, a blank space, 64 blocks of stone and a clock. He has full health and 15 armor points.]
:Megan, offscreen: ...You made the entire continent perfectly flat?
:Cueball, offscreen: And sorted it into layers.
:Megan, offscreen: ...
:Cueball, offscreen: I feel good about things. This is a good game.

:[Cueball sitting on the floor at his laptop, bleeding from the mouth, surrounded by bloody wadded-up tissues and holding a bottle of medication.]
:Megan, on phone: ...What exactly is in the painkillers they gave you?
:Cueball, woozy: I can't read the label because I'm a hologram.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Minecraft]]

2117: Differentiation and Integration

2022-05-04T00:45:44Z

172.68.50.91: Undo revision 234026 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2117
| date = February 27, 2019
| title = Differentiation and Integration
| image = differentiation_and_integration.png
| titletext = "Symbolic integration" is when you theatrically go through the motions of finding integrals, but the actual result you get doesn't matter because it's purely symbolic.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic illustrates the old saying [https://mathoverflow.net/q/66377 "Differentiation is mechanics, integration is art."] It does so by providing a {{w|flowchart}} purporting to show the process of differentiation, and another for integration.

{{w|Derivative|Differentiation}} and {{w|Antiderivative|Integration}} are two major components of {{w|calculus}}. As many Calculus 2 students are painfully aware, integration is much more complicated than the differentiation it undoes.

However, Randall dramatically overstates this point here. After the first step of integration, Randall assumes that any integration can not be solved so simply, and then dives into a step named "????", suggesting that it is unknowable how to proceed. The rest of the flowchart is (we can assume deliberately) even harder to follow, and does not reach a conclusion. This is in contrast to the simple, straightforward flowchart for differentiation. The fact that the arrows in the bottom of the integration part leads to nowhere indicates that "Phone calls to mathematicians", "Oh no" and "Burn the evidence" are not final steps in the difficult journey. The flowchart could be extended by Randall to God-knows-where extents.

It should be noted that Randall slightly undermines his point by providing four different methods, and an "etc", and a "No"-branch for attempting differentiation with no guidelines for selecting between them.

===Differentiation===
'''{{w|Chain rule}}'''

For any <math> \frac{d}{dx}f(x)=f'(x)</math> and <math> \frac{d}{dx}g(x)=g'(x) </math>, it follows that <math> \frac{d}{dx}(f(g(x)))=f'(g(x))\cdot g'(x)</math>.

'''{{w|Power Rule}}'''

For any <math> f(x)=g(x)^a </math> and <math> \frac{d}{dx}g(x)=g'(x) </math>, it follows that <math> \frac{d}{dx}f(x)=a\cdot g(x)^{a-1}\cdot g'(x) </math>.

'''{{w|Quotient rule}}'''

For any <math> \frac{d}{dx}f(x)=f'(x)</math> and <math> \frac{d}{dx}g(x)=g'(x) </math>, it follows that <math> \frac{d}{dx} \frac{f(x)}{g(x)}=\frac{f'(x)\cdot g(x)-f(x)\cdot g'(x)}{(g(x))^2}</math> if <math>g(x)\ne 0</math>.

'''{{w|Product rule}}'''

For any <math> \frac{d}{dx}f(x)=f'(x)</math> and <math> \frac{d}{dx}g(x)=g'(x) </math>, it follows that <math> \frac{d}{dx}(f(x)\cdot g(x))=f'(x)\cdot g(x)+f(x)\cdot g'(x)</math>.

===Integration===
'''{{w|Integration by parts}}'''

The "product rule" run backwards. Since <math>(uv)' = uv' + u'v</math>, it follows that by integrating both sides you get <math> uv = \int u dv + \int v du</math>, which is more commonly written as <math>\int u dv = uv - \int v du</math>. By finding appropriate values for functions <math>u, v</math> such that your problem is in the form <math>\int u dv</math>, your problem ''may'' be simplified. The catch is, there exists no algorithm for determining what functions they might possibly be, so this approach quickly devolves into a guessing game - this has been the topic of an earlier comic, [[1201: Integration by Parts]].

'''{{w|Integration by substitution|Substitution}}'''

The "chain rule" run backwards. Since <math> d(f(u)) = (df(u))du</math>, it follows that <math>f(u) = \int df(u) du</math>. By finding appropriate values for functions <math>f, u</math> such that your problem is in the form <math>\int df(u) du</math> your problem ''may'' be simplified.

'''{{w|Cauchy's integral formula|Cauchy's Formula}}'''

Cauchy's Integral formula is a result in complex analysis that relates the value of a contour integral in the complex plane to properties of the singularities in the interior of the contour. <math> \frac{d^n}{da^n}f(a) = \frac{n!}{2\pi i} \oint_\gamma \frac{f(z)}{\left(z-a\right)^{n+1}}\, dz.</math> It is often used to compute integrals on the real line by extending the path of the integral from the real line into the complex plane to apply the formula, then proving that the integral from the parts of the contour not on the real line has value zero.

'''{{w|Partial_fraction_decomposition#Application_to_symbolic_integration|Partial Fractions}}'''

Partial fractions is a technique for breaking up a function that comprises one polynomial divided by another into a sum of functions comprising constants over the factors of the original denominator, which can easily be integrated into logarithms.

'''Install {{w|Mathematica}}'''

Mathematica is a modern technical computing system spanning most areas. One of its features is to compute mathematical functions. This step in the flowchart is to install and use Mathematica to do the integration for you. Here is a description about the [https://web.archive.org/web/20180727184709/http://reference.wolfram.com/language/tutorial/IntegralsThatCanAndCannotBeDone.html intricacies of integration and how Mathematica handles those]. (It would be quicker to try [https://www.wolframalpha.com Wolfram Alpha] instead of installing Mathematica, which uses the same backend for mathematical calculations.)

'''{{w|Riemann integral|Riemann Integration}}'''

The Riemann integral is a definition of definite integration. <math>\sum_{i=0}^{n-1} f(t_i) \left(x_{i+1}-x_i\right).</math> Elementary textbooks on calculus sometimes present finding a definite integral as a process of approximating an area by strips of equal width and then taking the limit as the strips become narrower. Riemann integration removes the requirement that the strips have equal width, and so is a more flexible definition. However there are still many functions for which the Riemann integral doesn't converge, and consideration of these functions leads to the {{w|Lebesgue integration|Lebesgue integral}}. Riemann integration is not a method of calculus appropriate for finding the anti-derivative of an elementary function.

'''{{w|Stokes' Theorem}}'''

Stokes' theorem is a statement about the integration of differential forms on manifolds. <math>\int_{\partial \Omega}\omega=\int_\Omega d\omega\,.</math> It is invoked in science and engineering during control volume analysis (that is, to track the rate of change of a quantity within a control volume, it suffices to track the fluxes in and out of the control volume boundary), but is rarely used directly (and even when it is used directly, the functions that are most frequently used in science and engineering are well-behaved, like sinusoids and polynomials).

'''{{w|Risch Algorithm}}'''

The Risch algorithm is a notoriously complex procedure that, given a certain class of symbolic integrand, either finds a symbolic integral or proves that no elementary integral exists. (Technically it is only a semi-algorithm, and cannot produce an answer unless it can determine if a certain symbolic expression is {{w|Constant problem|equal to 0}} or not.) Many computer algebra systems have chosen to implement only the simpler Risch-Norman algorithm, which does not come with the same guarantee. A series of extensions to the Risch algorithm extend the class of allowable functions to include (at least) the error function and the logarithmic integral. A human would have to be pretty desperate to attempt this (presumably) by hand.

'''{{w|Bessel function}}'''

Bessel functions are the solution to the differential equation <math> x^2 \frac{dy^2}{dx^2}+x \frac{dy}{dx}+(x^2-n^2)*y=0</math>, where n is the order of Bessel function. Though they do show up in some engineering, physics, and abstract mathematics, in lower levels of calculus they are often a sign that the integration was not set up properly before someone put them into a symbolic algebra solver.

'''Phone calls to mathematicians'''

This step would indicate that the flowchart user, desperate from failed attempts to solve the problem, contacts some more skilled mathematicians by phone, and presumably asks them for help. The connected steps of "Oh no", "What the heck is a Bessel function?" and "Burn the evidence" may suggest the possibility that this interaction might not play out very well and could even get the caller in trouble.
Specialists and renowned experts being bothered - not to their amusement - by strangers, often at highly inconvenient times or locations, is a common comedic trope, also previously utilized by xkcd (for example in [[163: Donald Knuth]]).

'''Burn the evidence'''

This phrase parodies a common trope in detective fiction, where characters burn notes, receipts, passports, etc. to maintain secrecy. This may refer to the burning of one's work to avoid the shame of being associated with such a badly failed attempt to solve the given integration problem. Alternatively, it could be an ironic hint to the fact that in order to find the integral, it may even be necessary to break the law or upset higher powers, so that the negative consequences of a persecution can only be avoided by destroying the evidence.

'''{{w|Symbolic integration}}'''

Symbolic integration is the basic process of finding an antiderivative function (defined with symbols), as opposed to numerically integrating a function. The title text is a pun that defines the term not as integration that works with symbols, but rather as integration as a symbolic act, as if it were a component of a ritual. A symbolic act in a ritual is an act meant to evoke something else, such as burning a wooden figurine of a person to represent one’s hatred of that person. Alternatively, the reference could be seen as a joke that integration might as well be a symbol, like in a novel, because Randall can't get any meaningful results from his analysis.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Two flow charts are shown.]

:[The first flow chart has four steps in simple order, one with multiple recommendations.]
:DIFFERENTIATION
:Start
:Try applying
::Chain Rule
::Power Rule
::Quotient Rule
::Product Rule
::Etc.
:Done?
::No [Arrow returns to "Try applying" step.]
::Yes
:Done!

[The second flow chart begins like the first, then descends into chaos.]
:INTEGRATION
:Start
:Try applying
::Integration by Parts
::Substitution
:Done?
:Haha, Nope!

:[Chaos, Roughly from left to right, top to bottom, direction arrows not included.]
::Cauchy's Formula
::????
::???!?
::???
::???
::?
::Partial Fractions
::??
::?
::Install Mathematica
::?
::Riemann Integration
::Stokes' Theorem
::???
::?
::Risch Algorithm
::???
::[Sad face.]
::?????
::???
::What the heck is a Bessel Function??
::Phone calls to mathematicians
::Oh No
::Burn the Evidence
::[More arrows pointing out of the image to suggest more steps.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Analysis]]
[[Category:Flowcharts]]

2104: Biff Tannen

2022-05-04T00:45:21Z

172.68.50.91: Undo revision 235637 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2104
| date = January 28, 2019
| title = Biff Tannen
| image = biff_tannen.png
| titletext = I can't help myself; now I want to read a bunch of thinkpieces from newspapers in Biff's 1985 arguing over whether the growth of the region into a corporate dystopia was inevitable.
}}

==Explanation==
Cueball is expounding a theory to White Hat regarding the alternate timeline seen in the movie ''{{w|Back to the Future II}}'', in which the character {{w|Biff Tannen}} stole a {{w|DeLorean time machine|time machine}} and used it to travel 60 years into the past to 1955. In that timeline, Future Biff gave his younger self a [https://backtothefuture.fandom.com/wiki/Grays_Sports_Almanac sports almanac] containing 50 years of outcomes of sporting events, which enabled his younger self to earn millions from betting on {{w|horse races}}. The end result of this is that the now-altered present of 1985 has become a corporate dystopia due to the actions of the exceedingly wealthy Biff and his company, BiffCo.

Cueball's theory is that the people now living in this dystopian 1985 would never know that their timeline was altered; as far as they are concerned, theirs ''is'' the true timeline. Because of this, they would seek to analyze every detail of Biff Tannen's rise to power, inventing their own theories as to his success and arguing with each other over the supporting evidence.

However, in the third panel, it becomes clear that this has all merely been Cueball's elaborate setup for a bad pun, causing White Hat to voice his disapproval.

;''Back to the Future II''
This comic is based on ''{{w|Back to the Future II}}''. In this movie, the character {{w|Biff Tannen}} steals the {{w|DeLorean time machine|time machine}}, which is the main plot device, and uses it to go back in time from 2015 to 1955. He then gives Marty McFly’s [https://backtothefuture.fandom.com/wiki/Grays_Sports_Almanac sports almanac], containing the outcomes of 50 years (1950–2000) worth of sporting events, to his own younger self. His younger self uses this sports almanac to make millions by successfully betting on {{w|horse races}}. He then forms a company, and calls it [https://backtothefuture.fandom.com/wiki/BiffCo BiffCo]. In the movie, the protagonists reverse this, by going back to 1955 and stealing the almanac back soon after Biff delivered it. It is heavily implied that the universe where BiffCo exists, also called “[https://backtothefuture.fandom.com/wiki/1985A 1985A]” in the movie, stops existing after this change, since the Biff from 1985A tries to kill Marty to stop him from doing this. However, [[Cueball]] imagines the 1985A timeline as continuing to exist in parallel, rather than being destroyed by the almanac heist as the movie seems to imply. This is consistent with the {{w|multiverse}} theory.

The movie is set in the fictional town of {{w|Hill Valley (Back to the Future)|Hill Valley, California}}. When the protagonists return to 1985, they find that Biff has turned the town’s “Courthouse Square” into a 27-story casino, and generally taken over Hill Valley. This has apparently resulted in the town being overrun by armed gangs, and beset by crime, violence, corruption, and an overall atmosphere of quasi-dystopian misery. This is what Cueball refers to as “the decline of the city, and general social decay”.

;Counterfactuals
Cueball mentions that this universe – that is, the 1985A ''Back to the Future'' timeline – would not have any ''counterfactuals'' to work with. This is often short, in {{w|epistemology}}, for {{w|counterfactual conditionals}}, that is, conditional statements about what ''would'' be true if something ''were'' true that we know for a fact is not true. Randall’s “[[what if?]]” series is based on counterfactuals, since it explores hypotheticals—conditionals which are contrary to fact. For example, the first “what if?” post, about what would happen if you tried to hit a baseball that was thrown at 90% the speed of light, is a counterfactual, because we know for a fact that a baseball has never been thrown at such a speed{{Citation needed}}. In the case of the 1985A universe, they would not have any information on the ''counterfactuals'', that is, the facts about [https://backtothefuture.fandom.com/wiki/Timeline_1 what would happen] if Biff did not have this almanac.

;''Hillbilly Elegy''
''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillbilly_Elegy Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis]'' is a book, published in June 2016, that gives an account of growing up in a poor {{w|Rust Belt}} town, and gives a broader, probing look at the struggles of America’s white working class. This comic is a play on the title of this book, which has been described as explaining the “social, regional, and class” issues in white working-class America. The white American working class was a key factor in the {{w|2016 United States presidential election|election}} of U.S. President Donald Trump, and many critics have interpreted the book as an explanation of his election, which was deemed improbable by many analysts before it happened. {{w|Netflix}} had [https://deadline.com/2019/01/netflix-hillbilly-elegy-ron-howard-movie-deal-40m-1202541118/ purchased the rights] to an upcoming film adaptation of the book three days before this comic, prompting another wave of criticism of the book’s theories.

Cueball is proposing a similarly-titled book, set in the ''Back to the Future II'' 1985A timeline, that would describe the supposed factors leading to the rise of Biff Tannen in Hill Valley. In that universe, while the rise of Biff—and the subsequent decay of the city—is the result of his using a future sports almanac to cheat at sports betting, the rest of the population would have to guess at the structural societal issues that might have caused Biff’s otherwise inexplicable success. Thus, Cueball compares such blind guessing with the analysis contained in ''Hillbilly Elegy''.

;White Hat’s reaction
This makes [[White Hat]] angry. This may be for various reasons:

*Because it’s such a painfully long setup for a really stupid pun.
*There is a decent chance that the book White Hat is currently reading is ''Hillbilly Elegy''. If he is enjoying it, this would make the joke more insulting to him, as it compares the book to useless theorizing about an event which was really caused by {{w|Time travel|time traveling}}.
*After seeing the similarity alluded to by Cueball between our current reality and a reality where the book ''Hill Valley Elegy'' is written, he might imagine that we may be living in a world where Trump’s election was {{w|Determinism|predetermined}}, just as Biff’s rise to power was predetermined by time travel. If he opposes Donald Trump politically, it would probably frustrate him to imagine that being optimistic for the future would be in vain, as any social change he might hope for may be simply predetermined not to happen, perhaps by time travelers.

;Relationship to political events
[[Randall]] is known to have [[1756: I'm With Her|supported Hillary Clinton]], the main opponent of Donald Trump, in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, having made a comic just to promote her and several [[Sad comics]] followed Trump’s election. This may add to explaining the comic in the following ways:

*Randall may have made this comic as an insult to a book which supposedly explains the election of the candidate he opposed, by comparing it to useless (and wrong) theorizing.
*The comic may be intended as an insult to Trump himself, by comparing the {{w|Dystopia|dystopian}} 1985A universe, where Biff rose to power (albeit not as President) to the actual universe, where Trump was elected to the presidency.
*The comic may be an allusion to {{w|Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections|alleged Russian tampering}} of the 2016 U.S. elections: Randall may be proposing that it is futile to attribute Donald Trump’s rise to power to any set of structural societal issues, that may have acted indirectly, while ignoring the hidden, speculated, but far more direct cause of foul play, just as it would be futile to analyze Biff Tannen’s rise to power by similar means, ignoring the impact of foul play via time travel and a sports almanac.

The title text continues the comparison to the election situation by mentioning thinkpieces from newspapers that would appear in the ''Back to the Future II'' 1985A universe where Biff has taken over. Various thinkpieces did appear in real life newspapers in an attempt to explain Trump’s rise to power after his election, and asking whether it was inevitable.

As ''{{w|Back to the Future II}}''’s important [https://backtothefuture.fandom.com/wiki/October_21 October 2015] setting date approached, commentators began noting the similarities between the older version of the character Biff Tannen and then presidential candidate Donald Trump. When the comparison was brought to the attention of the film’s writer, {{w|Bob Gale}}, in an interview, he [https://www.thedailybeast.com/back-to-the-future-writer-biff-tannen-is-based-on-donald-trump# claimed] that elements of Tannen’s personality were actually based on Trump, who was already well known in the late 1980s for his work in real estate and tabloid controversies. Thus, there is a real connection between Biff Tannen and Donald Trump. This supports the comparison between the two made by Randall. That being said, actor {{w|Thomas F. Wilson|Tom Wilson}} has [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4lYCaFx3Og denied] that his performance of the role was in any way based on Trump.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball talks while walking up behind White Hat, who is reading in an armchair.]
:Cueball: You know, in the universe where Biff Tannen took Marty McFly’s sports almanac back in time, the people wouldn’t have any counterfactuals to work with.
:Cueball: Their world would be ''the'' world.

:[In a frame-less panel White Hat turns his head to look at Cueball as he keeps talking.]
:Cueball: They would have spent decades debating which structural problems enabled the rise of BiffCo, the decline of the city, and general social decay.
:Cueball: Everyone would find reasons it confirmed their pet theory.

:[White Hat turns his head back to his book.]
:Cueball: I'm going to write a book set in that universe. I'll call it ''Hill Valley Elegy''.
:White Hat: ... I ''hate'' you.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Time travel]]
[[Category:Back to the Future]]

110: Clark Gable

2022-05-04T00:44:44Z

172.68.50.91: Undo revision 232865 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 110
| date = June 2, 2006
| title = Clark Gable
| image = clark_gable.jpg
| titletext = Frankly, my dear, I don't give a BITCH ASS SHIT FUCK DAMN
}}

==Explanation==
"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" is the signature catchphrase from the 1939 movie ''{{w|Gone With The Wind (film)|Gone With The Wind}}'', which starred {{w|Clark Gable}} and {{w|Vivien Leigh}}. The phrase is spoken by Gable's character {{w|Rhett Butler}} as his last line, in answer to {{w|Scarlett O'Hara}} (Leigh) asking "Where shall I go? What shall I do?" The response indicates that Butler is no longer interested in O'Hara. This lack of interest, and the mention of the word "damn," which was considered profanity at the time of releasing the film, led to the line being voted the #1 movie line of all time in 1995's American Film Institute ranking.

[[Randall Munroe|Randall]] suggests that the line as written was not supposed to contain profanity, but the actor, Gable, inserted it, due to having {{w|Tourette's Syndrome}}, which is a neurological condition that is stereotypically characterized by bouts of random, uncontrollable cursing (and repetition of phrases/words).

The title text contains a more stereotypical Tourette's Syndrome outburst of several profanities in a row shouted mid-sentence.

==Transcript==
:[Famous image of ''Gone with the Wind'' with Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) kissing Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh).]
:The line was actually supposed to be "Frankly, my dear, I couldn't care less." It's just that Clark Gable had Tourette's.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

1480: Super Bowl

2022-05-04T00:43:54Z

172.68.50.91: Undo revision 234687 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1480
| date = January 30, 2015
| title = Super Bowl
| image = super_bowl.png
| titletext = My hobby: Pretending to miss the sarcasm when people show off their lack of interest in football by talking about 'sportsball' and acting excited to find someone else who's interested, then acting confused when they try to clarify.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, [[Cueball]], representing [[Randall]], explains that even though he does not care about sports and is tempted to be scornful about others' obsession with them, he understands that people feel vulnerable about stuff they care about. And he will for sure be fed up with all the talk about the {{w|Super Bowl}} discussions and arguments over the coming weeks. (The comic was released on a Friday two days before {{w|Super Bowl XLIX}}, the championship game of the 2014 {{w|NFL}} season held on 2015-02-01).

However, since other people tolerate his interest in odd things like {{w|meteorology}} and the {{w|Philae (spacecraft)|''Philae'' lander}} (see [[1324: Weather]] and [[1446: Landing]]), he recognizes that he should show the same consideration to them. This is an invocation of the {{w|Golden Rule}}, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you".

In the last frame, he tells us that instead of celebrating the sports event on Sunday, he will be celebrating friendship (through listening to his friends) and, as a side note, snacking (as they are very frequently brought to Super Bowl-watching events). This suggests that the value of friendship trumps the discomfort of watching human activities that seem uninteresting to him – and of course, the free snacks also help ameliorate his discomfort.

The title text continues the "[[My Hobby]]" trope characteristic of some ''xkcd'' comics: here, Randall references people who scornfully refer to popular sports such as football, basketball, and/or baseball as "sportsball" and creates discomfort for them by pretending to be interested in this imaginary sport. This makes it appear as though they are in fact interested in sports when they are not, exposing their snobbishness. (It is worth noting that there is [https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/sportsball-wii-u/ a Wii U game by that name].)

In a distant past, Cueball spent his time differently during the Super Bowl - see [[60: Super Bowl]]. (This was the second time that two xkcd comics have shared the [[:Category:Comics sharing name|exact same name]]). The year after he continued the trend with a Super Bowl related comic to "celebrate" the event: [[1640: Super Bowl Context]]. Between the 2006 comic and this one there were no other Super Bowl related comics coming out in relation to the Super Bowl.

See also [[1107: Sports Cheat Sheet]] and two other comics where he jokes with sport in general: [[904: Sports]] and [[1507: Metaball]]. He again directly mentions lack of knowledge in [[1859: Sports Knowledge]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball standing.]
:Cueball: I don't know much about sports, which can be culturally isolating, so it's tempting to get vocal and defensive about not following them.
:Cueball: Caring about something makes people vulnerable, so ''not'' caring gives you power.

:[Pictures of a weather map and ''Philae'' in the background.]
:But I know things I'm into don't always sound interesting to 100% of the people around me, and it means a lot when they sometimes try to listen anyway - and maybe even find themselves sharing some of my excitement!

:[Cueball pointing to self.]
:Cueball: So while everyone is going on about the Super Bowl on Sunday, let me tell you what ''I'll'' be doing:

:[Cueball standing again.]
:Cueball: Listening!
:Cueball: Hooray for friendship!
:Cueball: <small>Also, eating snacks.</small>
:Cueball: <small>Hooray for snacks!</small>

== Trivia ==
This comic shares title with [[60: Super Bowl]], published February 6, 2006. This appears to be [[:Category:Disambiguation pages|only the second time]] that two ''xkcd'' comics have borne the same name. The first was [[786: Exoplanets]], published August 30, 2010, and [[1071: Exoplanets]], published June 20, 2012.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:American football]]
[[Category:Sport]]
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[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Weather]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|Super Bowl 2]]
[[Category:Super Bowl]]