explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1904: Research Risks

2017-10-19T12:11:25Z

172.68.78.70:

Entymology? Misspelled "entomology" or (more confusingly) "etymology"?
Psychology lower risk than micology? Absolutely hogwash!
:The comic has been updated, so it was just a typo. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.35|141.101.99.35]] 16:05, 18 October 2017 (UTC)
:How do I update picture. Last update always matches first upload for whatever reason --[[User:Trimutius|Trimutius]] ([[User talk:Trimutius|talk]]) 17:24, 18 October 2017 (UTC)

Molasses storage is misplaced -- should be in the quadrant to its right. See [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Molasses_Flood]. 21 dead and 150 injured. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.52|108.162.219.52]] 14:12, 18 October 2017 (UTC)

Agreed that it did get out and kill people. But only once in something like 200 years and only a few. (Is this where the phrase slower than molasses in January comes from?)
I would not expect that this would be a common danger. (unsigned)

Ah, but there was another [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honolulu_molasses_spill|spill in 2013 in Honolulu]. (I just learned of it from the "See Also" section of the Wikipedia page on the Great Molasses Flood.) That one didn't kill any people (though it was an ecological disaster) but it speaks to risk. Anyway, the item ''is'' in the right quadrant. Arguably is should be further to the right, but also arguably not, since conducting experiments in the area could lead to more accidents.[[User:Jqavins|Jqavins]] ([[User talk:Jqavins|talk]]) 16:08, 18 October 2017 (UTC)
:Only, even assuming there's such a thing as molasses storage research, it's unlikely that your lab is going to contain life-threatening quantities of molasses. It's not as if a few liters escaping could reproduce and turn into thousands of tons. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.35|141.101.99.35]] 16:27, 18 October 2017 (UTC)

Plus how many times have robots escaped from a lab in real life? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.70|172.68.78.70]] 12:11, 19 October 2017 (UTC)

I think entymology is a reference to [https://xkcd.com/1012 1012]
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.95|162.158.91.95]] 14:50, 18 October 2017 (UTC)

I think the title text may have a somewhat humorous naming scheme derived from the Great Molasses Flood Wikipedia discussion page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Great_Molasses_Flood
There's a lengthy discussion about changing the name from "Boston Molasses Disaster" to "Great Molasses Flood". I noticed that Randall used both approaches to describing the events in the title text, but maybe that was a coincidence.

I am not impressed. Movie supervillains often use paleontology (dinosaurs), geology (volcano/earthquake) and astronomy (comets). Also, there is a tendency to pair marine biology with laser-optics. And, to actually dominate the world, a real-life villain will probably need to use cunning linguistics at some level or the other. --[[User:Nialpxe|Nialpxe]], 2017. [[User_talk:Nialpxe|(Arguments welcome)]]
:I had the same initial reaction, but note how Randall didn't write "movie supervillain", but just "supervillain", so you should only take into account what is currently feasible in technology state-of-the-art, or what we can reasonably foresee for the next decade or so. I don't see any madman being able to revive (and control!) dinosaurs, capture a comet or trigger an earthquake in the next 10-20 years. As for shark-mounted lasers, they are cool to show off and inspire fear, but hardly useful to achieve world domination by themselves. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.35|141.101.99.35]] 16:18, 18 October 2017 (UTC)
::When we get into the realm of supervillainy - especially given XKCD's history - we're almost certainly talking fiction. And if we're talking fiction, Randall's forgotten about ''Moonraker'', where astronomy and dentistry both play a significant role in the supervillain's plot, and should thus rate higher on the vertical scale. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.16|172.68.78.16]] 02:42, 19 October 2017 (UTC)

Looks like the "Research Risk" column is just a comment field open for speculation -- can we merge Comments and Research Risk into one column? [[User:Spongebog|Spongebob]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 03:34, 19 October 2017 (UTC)
: I'd suggest it'd be better to have one column for the supervillain risk factors, and one for the escaped research risk factors.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.32|162.158.155.32]] 08:47, 19 October 2017 (UTC)

Interestingly, I referenced the Great Molasses Flood in a tangential comment to comic 1900 - is Randall now browsing this site to find inspiration for new comics? ;o) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.32|162.158.155.32]] 08:53, 19 October 2017 (UTC)

I feel like the linguistics section is missing an opportunity for a Snow Crash joke...[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.29|141.101.99.29]] 10:38, 19 October 2017 (UTC)

Surely the risk of escape from Linguistics should be high - language is inherently hard to contain and control, and often ends up infecting the world with dangerous rubbish like 'solutioning synergistic opportunities going forward'.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.32|162.158.155.32]] 11:34, 19 October 2017 (UTC)

"Fungi cannot move..." - tell that to {{w|Toad_(Nintendo)|this guy}}.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.32|162.158.155.32]] 11:43, 19 October 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1836: Okeanos

2017-05-13T13:08:28Z

172.68.78.70:

Take it from here guys. Also, glad the website is back online! [[User:Nialpxe|Nialpxe]] ([[User talk:Nialpxe|talk]]) 06:58, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

"Who else is watching..." is used as some form of community bonding on Youtube to connect with other people re-watching (or watching for the first time) (much) older videos at a later date. COmpare with "Who else got here from XKCD [or similar]" if the video was linked from a particular site and it's users are trying to recognize each other. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.222.76|162.158.222.76]] 07:03, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

Yay! The website's finally back online! --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|'''JayRules''XKCD''' ]][[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|what's up?]] 11:35, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

Isn't often Randall does color. Hmmm, must be Fake. :) --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.11|108.162.238.11]] 11:37, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

"When I went on a boat I dropped my phone can you look for it" I wonder if this is supposed to mean that the phone [insert name here] dropped is the one live-streaming or if [insert name here] is asking the people on the live-stream to look for his phone. --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|'''JayRules''XKCD''' ]][[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|what's up?]] 11:49, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

Crafting might not be a Minecraft reference, as lots of games have crafting. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.206.52|172.68.206.52]] 12:54, 12 May 2017 (UTC)
:Fixed it. --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|'''JayRules''XKCD''' ]][[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|what's up?]] 13:30, 12 May 2017 (UTC)
:First time I read that, I was thinking along the lines of a Let's Play with a MMO. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.70|172.68.78.70]] 13:08, 13 May 2017 (UTC)

"[T]he ocean... is not a small place[citation needed]" is flat out hilarious. I just want to show my appreciation for whoever put 'citation needed' in there. I'm going to spend the next several days just thinking about how funny that is. [[User:IonFreeman|IonFreeman]] ([[User talk:IonFreeman|talk]]) 13:38, 12 May 2017 (UTC)
:Honestly, I feel that joke is ''way'' too overused on this wiki [[Special:Contributions/172.68.142.197|172.68.142.197]] 16:19, 12 May 2017 (UTC)
::I only can remember it being used twice, and this was one of those two. [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 16:33, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

Did anyone notice the subtle style changes to xkcd? The buttons at the top have their glow going beyond the black line now, and (less noticable) your mouse needs to be one pixel farther into the comic to see the mouseover text. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.82|172.68.34.82]] 18:24, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1835: Random Obsessions

2017-05-12T13:10:01Z

172.68.78.70:

I'm clearly behind on some things here. I know about all of these except "sandwiches" and "bacon". [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 04:51, 12 May 2017 (UTC)
:Some reference to a rise in "sandwich debate" online (Google trends or something) would be very helpful. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 04:53, 12 May 2017 (UTC)
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/is-a-hot-dog-a-sandwich is one of the threads of this meme but the meme does go further than just hotdogs --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.4|162.158.2.4]] 07:36, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

I added some description of the bacon fad, I wasn't sure if/where the Know Your Meme entry fits but here it is (http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/cultures/bacon) in case some other editor wants to put it in[[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.11|108.162.238.11]] 13:09, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

Talk:21: Kepler

2017-02-16T18:40:10Z

172.68.78.70:

[[User:Rikthoff|Rikthoff]] ([[User talk:Rikthoff|talk]]) The date of issue of this comic is off. Does anybody have the correct issue date?
:It appears to be accurate; it's the date from [[Randall]]'s xkcd LiveJournal entry. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 02:21, 16 August 2012 (UTC)
Sorry, I fixed the date (to livejournal date) on August 8, 2012 but did not see/update talk page.--[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 18:39, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

I thought it was a reference to the Kepler telescope being pointed in the same direction for a long time, but I don't really know enough to be sure about that [[Special:Contributions/198.41.230.81|198.41.230.81]] 02:14, 17 April 2015 (UTC)
:It could be, Kepler was planned to be launched around the time this comic was originally published, but it was delayed due to budget cuts. While I think Kepler's Second Law explanation seems more relevant to the joke in the comic, I have updated the explanation and trivia sections to include Project Kepler. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.70|172.68.78.70]] 18:40, 16 February 2017 (UTC)

There is a [[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#Merge_Cueball_.26_Rob|community portal discussion]] of what to call Cueball and what to do in case with more than one Cueball. I have added this comic to the new Category:Multiple Cueballs. Since the store manager Cueball has the interesting part of this comic, I have listed him as Cueball. Just made a note that the other guy also looks like Cueball.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:13, 16 March 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1785: Wifi

2017-01-13T05:23:44Z

172.68.78.70: comment

This, I believe, is in reference to things like [https://www.dd-wrt.com/site/ DD-WRT], where someone with knowledge may install it to 'improve' your router. If done right, it can increase the speed and stability, if not, it can brick it. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.70|172.68.78.70]] 05:23, 13 January 2017 (UTC)