explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1759: British Map

2016-11-14T15:30:16Z

172.68.78.126:

The actual location for Braintree should be Essex not North Yorkshire.
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.171|141.101.98.171]] 15:22, 14 November 2016 (UTC)<nowiki>Insert non-formatted text here</nowiki>

Could Highland be a reference to Highlander? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.84|173.245.52.84]] 15:27, 14 November 2016 (UTC)

12: Poisson

2016-10-25T23:27:19Z

172.68.78.126: /* Trivia */

{{comic
| number = 12
| date = December 22, 2005
| title = Poisson
| image = Poisson.jpg
| titletext = Poisson distributions have no value over negative numbers
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] expresses himself as a {{w|Poisson distribution}}.

A {{w|Poisson distribution}} is a distribution that shows the probability of a given number of events occurring in a fixed interval of time or space. The X axis typically represents the "number of events" while the Y axis is a decimal representing the probability (i.e. 0.5 for 50% probability) a given number of events will occur in that fixed interval of time or space. It is commonly represented by a bar graph, or a scatter graph (sometimes with a line connection to show a trend, even though there is no actual value for non-integers).

What's important to note for this comic is that this distribution only has data points on non-negative integers and is not continuous through decimal numbers or (as the image text tells us) negative numbers because events can't occur 0.3 of a time, or -2 times.

After implying that the concept of a person being a mathematical distribution is irrational, [[Black Hat]] suggests he is "less than zero". Since the Poisson distribution doesn't exist or has no value at negative values, Cueball either leaves or disappears magically.

Hence, the punchline is the same as the title text: Cueball doesn't exist to Black Hat anymore, because he has a value less than zero. Another one of the early comics where Randall explains the joke in the title text.

Also, because a Poisson Distribution is memoryless, The figure claiming to be the distribution may simply be repeating the fact as a reference to this.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball talking to Black Hat]
:Cueball: I'm a poisson distribution!

:Cueball: Still a Poisson distribution!
:Black Hat: What the hell, man. Why do you keep saying that?

:Cueball: Because I'm totally a poisson distribution.
:Black Hat: I'm less than zero.

:[Cueball is gone; Black Hat is whistling.]

==Trivia==
*This comic was posted on [[xkcd]] when the [http://www.escologics.com web site] opened on Sunday the 1st of January 2006.
**It was posted along [[:Category:First day on xkcd|with the 41 comics]] posted before that on [[LiveJournal]].
**But this comic, as well as [[5: Blown apart]] also released that day, were never posted on LiveJournal.
*The release date is given from [http://wayback.archive.org/web/*/http:////www.xkcd.com//Poisson.jpg - wayback.archive]. At least the 22nd of December was the first crawl date.
**This also explains that it was "released" on a Thursday.
**On xkcd it was released for the first time to the public on Sunday the 1st of January 2006.
*One of the original drawings drawn on [[:Category:Checkered paper|checkered paper]].
*[[Randall]] was still experimenting with character design, as Cueball has a face in the first two frames.
*This is the first appearance of Black Hat on xkcd.
**However Black Hat appeared in [[24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey]] which was released almost 3 months before this one on LiveJournal.

{{Comic discussion}}

[[Category:First day on xkcd]]
[[Category:Checkered paper]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Math]]

Talk:1743: Coffee

2016-10-11T10:41:54Z

172.68.78.126:

For me as a non-native speaker this XKCD looks like the guests ordered Ground Coffee and Cueball didn't realize that ground might come von "grind". [[User:Gunterkoenigsmann|Gunterkoenigsmann]] ([[User talk:Gunterkoenigsmann|talk]])--
: I hadn't even noticed that pun, thanks! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.87|108.162.221.87]] 10:16, 7 October 2016 (UTC)
:: Thanks for catching all the puns, that helped make the comic funnier. ''Explain xkcd'' at its best. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 01:35, 9 October 2016 (UTC)

With "I'm a regular Starbuck" Megan says, she is a regular visitor of Starbuck and has learned her skills there watching. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.83.168|162.158.83.168]] 08:10, 7 October 2016 (UTC)
: Since the Starbucks coffee chain writes their name as a plural, I just assumed it was a cross-referential joke about the Starbuck character on Battlestar Galactica. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.87|108.162.221.87]] 10:16, 7 October 2016 (UTC)
: I also like to think "Starbuck" here refers as much to the Battlestar Galactica character here as to the coffee shop. I'm pretty sure he is the one who explained how things worked in the show. Being from another time & planet, his explanations were usually a crude interpretation of actuality and were funnier for being mostly right but decidedly odd. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.89|173.245.48.89]] 19:04, 7 October 2016 (UTC)
: On Capitain Ahab's ship in Moby Dick there was a chef mate named Starbuck. But I fail to see a connection to this XKCD. -- [[User:Gunterkoenigsmann|Gunterkoenigsmann]] ([[User talk:Gunterkoenigsmann|talk]]) 20:25, 9 October 2016 (UTC)

The expensive coffee filter comment might be a reference to the ridiculously high prices for vacuum cleaner bags. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.85.249|162.158.85.249]] 08:12, 7 October 2016 (UTC)
: Ironic, since Dyson vacuums are "bagless" & use a canister instead. (Which is disgusting, by the way.) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.87|108.162.221.87]] 10:16, 7 October 2016 (UTC)
:: Actually even Dyson vacuums have at least two filters in them. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.127|141.101.98.127]] 10:21, 7 October 2016 (UTC)
::: Filters, but not bags. Emptying & subsequently cleaning the removable canister on a bagless vacuum can be hazardous for anyone with allergies (or just anyone, if the canister contains toxic or noxious materials); Not that most vacuum-cleaners aren't basically big dust blowers anyway. Inboard HEPA filters mitigate the dust issue during use, but emptying the canister itself can be a delicate & irritatingly messy task. Aside from the bag material wasted during disposal, bag-vacuums are in some respects very much preferable to bagless. Personally, I recommend eschewing vacuum-cleaners entirely, avoiding wall-to-wall carpeting like the plague, & using area rugs which can be removed for a thorough cleaning (on BOTH sides). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.87|108.162.221.87]] 11:17, 7 October 2016 (UTC)
:::::why don't you just vacuum out the canister? {{unsigned ip|162.158.74.105}}
Can you actually "hoover" something up with a Dyson? ;-) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.22.72|162.158.22.72]] 08:37, 7 October 2016 (UTC)
: Decidedly not! That's like saying you are "rollerblading" when you are actually just inline-skating, or calling any cola a "Coke". You don't go toyotaing in your Chevrolet & you don't Colgate your teeth; such branding idioms really annoy me. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to gutenberg some compuserve post-its before my redenbachers are done kenmoring. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.87|108.162.221.87]] 10:16, 7 October 2016 (UTC)
::This may be a UK v. US English issue, my British friends all refer to vacuuming as "hoovering." Through usage over years, some proper nouns become 'ordinary' nouns (e.g., linoleum, jacuzzi, etc.). [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 03:19, 8 October 2016 (UTC)
::Additionally, there are many places in the US (especially in the south/southeast) where all colas (and sometimes, all sodas in general) are called 'Coke' and all tissues are called Kleenex. Additionally, none of the proper nouns you mentioned as examples are often used as verbs, whereas 'to hoover' is in regular usage, as is 'to google,' even when the action is performed with a different search engine. Finally, the term 'Rollerblading' is so commonly used instead of the phrase 'in-line skating' that it's lost its capitalization. This entire conversation is pointless in its pedanticity.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.220|108.162.237.220]] 23:31, 9 October 2016 (UTC)
::OMG, I had always assumed that "to hoover" came from the tendency of the FBI to suck up enormous quantities of information, and was referencing the former director. Sort of like how "the Don Ameche" meant "the telephone" to my parents' generation because of his role as Alexander G. Bell.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.126|172.68.78.126]] 10:41, 11 October 2016 (UTC)

megan explicitly calls them "grounds," probably because that's what they're called on the packet. no one mentioned beans. what made you think of beans? also, she's heard of "starbucks" and thinks it's a collection, and, since she is just one person she calls herself a starbuck. oh well. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.84|141.101.98.84]] 11:54, 7 October 2016 (UTC)

''are made of plastic and would melt or ignite if placed over direct heat from a stove'' – no, they wouldn’t; not as long as there is liquid water in it. You can even use a paper-cup to boil water. --[[User:DaB.|DaB.]] ([[User talk:DaB.|talk]]) 17:03, 7 October 2016 (UTC)
: I thought about that too but it depends on the thermal conductivity of the material. Paper cups are thin enough to transmit the flame's heat to the water efficiently; the same is not true of a styrofoam cup. (Another word that is technically still a trademark, by the way.) I suspect a vacuum-cleaner canister would be thick enough and enough of an insulator that it would get damaged. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 01:35, 9 October 2016 (UTC)

::Also, some kinds of plastics, while not directly melting, will become "plastics" enough to bend under weight even in temperatures near boiling water. PET bottles will not survive boiling water, for example. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 15:21, 9 October 2016 (UTC)

Another reason why the coffee will be very expensive: if you throw a package of beans on the ground, you need many, many, many beans, as there is not enough surface on the beans to make the water brown and give the water any taste. With ground coffee you can get several cans out of one package, the method illustrated here needs at least one package per try. --[[User:Anonymous guest]] [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.29|141.101.104.29]] 20:19, 7 October 2016 (UTC)

I think this might also be related to the The Coffee Test, proposed by Goertzel as a way to measure [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_general_intelligence Artificial general inteligence]. By this standards they really seem to be "fake adults". [[User:Qbolec|Qbolec]] ([[User talk:Qbolec|talk]]) 15:16, 9 October 2016 (UTC)

When I first saw this cartoon - I thought that the point was that our heroes had looked online for a way to do this - and somehow tripped over one of those old vacuum cleaner adverts where the salesperson throws coffee grounds and water onto your rug, then vacuums it up to have it look like new. I'm not sure that was what was in Randalls head - but it's another interpretation of the cause of the error that is being made in the story. [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 01:37, 10 October 2016 (UTC)