explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2263: Cicadas

2020-02-03T22:48:38Z

172.69.22.218: /* Explanation */ link

{{comic
| number = 2263
| date = February 3, 2020
| title = Cicadas
| image = cicadas.png
| titletext = After a while you adjust to the new cicadian rhythm.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a CICADA GENE in 17 seconds. Just a brief summary to start. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Cicada|Cicadas}} are a species of insect whose nymphs burrow underground and emerge as adults to reproduce several years later. One common species in North America is the 17-year cicada, also known as the {{w|periodical cicada}}. These cicadas form distinct {{w|Periodical_cicadas#Map_of_brood_locations|broods}} which burrow and emerge as a group every 17 years, with different broods starting the cycle at different times. This results in a couple of weeks every 17 years when the cicadas swarm in huge numbers, then vanish just as quickly when the adults die off. Cicadas also make a distinctive buzzing sound, which makes their periodic appearance even more memorable.

In the comic, [[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]] have accidentally created 17-''second'' cicadas using {{w|genetic engineering}}. This means that rather than seeing a massive swarm every 17 years, they have to deal with a swarm every 17 seconds. This makes it very difficult for them to do their work, especially to figure out how the cicadas were created, because the swarm keeps interrupting their work.

The title text is a pun on "{{w|circadian rhythm}}." In particular, it might resemble something said to someone getting adjusted to a new sleep schedule. This entire comic may have been a lead-in to the "cicadian rhythm" punchline.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[ [[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]] are facing each other across a desk. Cueball has a pad of paper in his hand while Ponytail is typing at a laptop.]

:Cueball: What can you tell from genome comparison?
:Ponytail: I think there's a duplication on the --
:Ponytail: ''Look out!''

:[The air is full of flying bugs, many of which have landed on Cueball, Ponytail, the laptop, and the desk. Ponytail and Cueball have their arms up in a futile attempt to shield themselves from the bugs.]

:BZZZZZZZ

:[The bugs are gone and Ponytail and Cueball are again conversing.]

:Ponytail: -- a duplication on the gene right before the cleavage site, so the resulting protein --
:Ponytail: ''Look out!''

:[The air is again full of flying bugs, many of which have landed, and Ponytail and Cueball are again trying to shield themselves.]

:BZZZZZZZ

:[Caption below the strip:]
:Our genetics work has produced 17-second cicadas, but we're having a hard time figuring out how.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Puns]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Animals]]

2263: Cicadas

2020-02-03T22:47:51Z

172.69.22.218: /* Transcript */ pun in title text

{{comic
| number = 2263
| date = February 3, 2020
| title = Cicadas
| image = cicadas.png
| titletext = After a while you adjust to the new cicadian rhythm.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a CICADA GENE in 17 seconds. Just a brief summary to start. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Cicada|Cicadas}} are a species of insect whose nymphs burrow underground and emerge as adults to reproduce several years later. One common species in North America is the 17-year cicada, also known as the {{w|periodical cicada}}. These cicadas form distinct {{w|Periodical_cicadas#Map_of_brood_locations|broods}} which burrow and emerge as a group every 17 years, with different broods starting the cycle at different times. This results in a couple of weeks every 17 years when the cicadas swarm in huge numbers, then vanish just as quickly when the adults die off. Cicadas also make a distinctive buzzing sound, which makes their periodic appearance even more memorable.

In the comic, Cueball and Ponytail have accidentally created 17-''second'' cicadas using {{w|genetic engineering}}. This means that rather than seeing a massive swarm every 17 years, they have to deal with a swarm every 17 seconds. This makes it very difficult for them to do their work, especially to figure out how the cicadas were created, because the swarm keeps interrupting their work.

The title text is a pun on "{{w|circadian rhythm}}." In particular, it might resemble something said to someone getting adjusted to a new sleep schedule. This entire comic may have been a lead-in to the "cicadian rhythm" punchline.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[ [[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]] are facing each other across a desk. Cueball has a pad of paper in his hand while Ponytail is typing at a laptop.]

:Cueball: What can you tell from genome comparison?
:Ponytail: I think there's a duplication on the --
:Ponytail: ''Look out!''

:[The air is full of flying bugs, many of which have landed on Cueball, Ponytail, the laptop, and the desk. Ponytail and Cueball have their arms up in a futile attempt to shield themselves from the bugs.]

:BZZZZZZZ

:[The bugs are gone and Ponytail and Cueball are again conversing.]

:Ponytail: -- a duplication on the gene right before the cleavage site, so the resulting protein --
:Ponytail: ''Look out!''

:[The air is again full of flying bugs, many of which have landed, and Ponytail and Cueball are again trying to shield themselves.]

:BZZZZZZZ

:[Caption below the strip:]
:Our genetics work has produced 17-second cicadas, but we're having a hard time figuring out how.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Puns]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Animals]]

2263: Cicadas

2020-02-03T22:47:17Z

172.69.22.218: /* Explanation */ pun

{{comic
| number = 2263
| date = February 3, 2020
| title = Cicadas
| image = cicadas.png
| titletext = After a while you adjust to the new cicadian rhythm.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a CICADA GENE in 17 seconds. Just a brief summary to start. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Cicada|Cicadas}} are a species of insect whose nymphs burrow underground and emerge as adults to reproduce several years later. One common species in North America is the 17-year cicada, also known as the {{w|periodical cicada}}. These cicadas form distinct {{w|Periodical_cicadas#Map_of_brood_locations|broods}} which burrow and emerge as a group every 17 years, with different broods starting the cycle at different times. This results in a couple of weeks every 17 years when the cicadas swarm in huge numbers, then vanish just as quickly when the adults die off. Cicadas also make a distinctive buzzing sound, which makes their periodic appearance even more memorable.

In the comic, Cueball and Ponytail have accidentally created 17-''second'' cicadas using {{w|genetic engineering}}. This means that rather than seeing a massive swarm every 17 years, they have to deal with a swarm every 17 seconds. This makes it very difficult for them to do their work, especially to figure out how the cicadas were created, because the swarm keeps interrupting their work.

The title text is a pun on "{{w|circadian rhythm}}." In particular, it might resemble something said to someone getting adjusted to a new sleep schedule. This entire comic may have been a lead-in to the "cicadian rhythm" punchline.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[ [[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]] are facing each other across a desk. Cueball has a pad of paper in his hand while Ponytail is typing at a laptop.]

:Cueball: What can you tell from genome comparison?
:Ponytail: I think there's a duplication on the --
:Ponytail: ''Look out!''

:[The air is full of flying bugs, many of which have landed on Cueball, Ponytail, the laptop, and the desk. Ponytail and Cueball have their arms up in a futile attempt to shield themselves from the bugs.]

:BZZZZZZZ

:[The bugs are gone and Ponytail and Cueball are again conversing.]

:Ponytail: -- a duplication on the gene right before the cleavage site, so the resulting protein --
:Ponytail: ''Look out!''

:[The air is again full of flying bugs, many of which have landed, and Ponytail and Cueball are again trying to shield themselves.]

:BZZZZZZZ

:[Caption below the strip:]
:Our genetics work has produced 17-second cicadas, but we're having a hard time figuring out how.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Animals]]

2263: Cicadas

2020-02-03T22:45:13Z

172.69.22.218: /* Transcript */ add categories; ce transcript

{{comic
| number = 2263
| date = February 3, 2020
| title = Cicadas
| image = cicadas.png
| titletext = After a while you adjust to the new cicadian rhythm.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a CICADA GENE in 17 seconds. Just a brief summary to start. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Cicada|Cicadas}} are a species of insect whose nymphs burrow underground and emerge as adults to reproduce several years later. One common species in North America is the 17-year cicada, also known as the {{w|periodical cicada}}. These cicadas form distinct {{w|Periodical_cicadas#Map_of_brood_locations|broods}} which burrow and emerge as a group every 17 years, with different broods starting the cycle at different times. This results in a couple of weeks every 17 years when the cicadas swarm in huge numbers, then vanish just as quickly when the adults die off. Cicadas also make a distinctive buzzing sound, which makes their periodic appearance even more memorable.

In the comic, Cueball and Ponytail have accidentally created 17-''second'' cicadas using {{w|genetic engineering}}. This means that rather than seeing a massive swarm every 17 years, they have to deal with a swarm every 17 seconds. This makes it very difficult for them to do their work, especially to figure out how the cicadas were created, because the swarm keeps interrupting their work.

The title text is a pun on "{{w|circadian rhythm}}." In particular, it might resemble something said to someone getting adjusted to a new sleep schedule.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[ [[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]] are facing each other across a desk. Cueball has a pad of paper in his hand while Ponytail is typing at a laptop.]

:Cueball: What can you tell from genome comparison?
:Ponytail: I think there's a duplication on the --
:Ponytail: ''Look out!''

:[The air is full of flying bugs, many of which have landed on Cueball, Ponytail, the laptop, and the desk. Ponytail and Cueball have their arms up in a futile attempt to shield themselves from the bugs.]

:BZZZZZZZ

:[The bugs are gone and Ponytail and Cueball are again conversing.]

:Ponytail: -- a duplication on the gene right before the cleavage site, so the resulting protein --
:Ponytail: ''Look out!''

:[The air is again full of flying bugs, many of which have landed, and Ponytail and Cueball are again trying to shield themselves.]

:BZZZZZZZ

:[Caption below the strip:]
:Our genetics work has produced 17-second cicadas, but we're having a hard time figuring out how.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Animals]]

1164: Home Alone

2019-09-14T03:04:58Z

172.69.22.218: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1164
| date = January 23, 2013
| title = Home Alone
| image = home alone.png
| titletext = Starring Macaulay Culkin.
}}

==Explanation==
''{{w|Home Alone}}'' is a popular 1990 film in which the child protagonist Kevin McCallister (portrayed by {{w|Macaulay Culkin}}) is accidentally left alone in his house when his family goes on vacation, and has to thwart a burglary all by himself. In the movie, McCallister comes up with a variety of ingenious traps and schemes (usually involving {{w|jury rig|jury-rigged}} toys and household items) to harass, injure and eventually incapacitate the burglars, which was the film's defining feature. On a more general level, the films revolve around the classical trope with an [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UnderdogsNeverLose underdog defeating a much stronger opponent] (the burglars), through his own ingenuity. The film spawned a {{w|Home Alone (franchise)|series of sequels}} (4 as of 2012, the first of which also starred Culkin) all with a similar premise to the original.

This strip, however, proposes a {{w|Reboot_(fiction)#Film|reboot}} of the franchise, with the main change to the film being that of an age-reversal, so the story is now about an adult man setting needlessly harmful traps to hurt defenseless children breaking into his house. This would likely be seen as distasteful at the very least, and would probably lead to a negative reputation for the film. The title text adds another punchline when it is revealed that the reboot also stars Macaulay Culkin in the same role. This may suggest that the age-reversal gimmick was done to allow for him to star in the film as the same character despite growing up since the beginning of the franchise. This would be a rather misguided attempt to revive his career, and would probably just prevent any further success.

The scene depicted in the strip is an adaptation of an iconic scene from the first movie (used heavily in advertising) where McCallister hangs two paint cans in strings above the staircase, and let them swing down to hit the burglars in the face.

==Transcript==
:[Aged man standing at the head of a flight of stairs. A paint can on a rope is swinging into a child at the foot of the stairs. A child on the floor is in a semi-fetal position and crying.]
:Child: Ow!!
:Child on floor: Waaaaaaaaa!
:Rejected movie ideas:
:Age-reversed ''Home Alone'' reboot.

{{comic discussion}}

2186: Dark Matter

2019-08-08T00:36:01Z

172.69.22.218: /* Explanation */ several is a better anchor here, since the source lists seven

{{comic
| number = 2186
| date = August 7, 2019
| title = Dark Matter
| image = dark_matter.png
| titletext = To detect dark matter, we just need to build a bird feeder that spins two squirrels around the rim in opposite directions at relativistic speeds and collides them together.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a DARK MATTER SQUIRREL ON A SPINNING BIRD FEEDER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In this comic, [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are talking about {{w|dark matter}}. Megan states that dark matter's density across the solar system is 0.3 GeV/cm3, as claimed by, for example, [https://arxiv.org/abs/1205.4033 Bovy and Tremaine (2012) "On the local dark matter density" in ''Astrophysics of Galaxies''.] Since Cueball likely does not have a science background, he does not understand what this means, so, to clarify, Megan explains that 0.3 GeV/cm3 equates to one squirrel's worth of dark matter for the volume of the Earth. For the last two panels, Cueball conflates this with dark matter actually ''being'' a squirrel for comedic effect, enraging Megan.

The {{w|gigaelectronvolt}} (GeV) is a unit of energy that can be converted to a mass using {{w|Mass%E2%80%93energy_equivalence|Einstein's formula}} ''E'' = ''mc''2. It is typically used for subatomic particles, such as {{w|weakly interacting massive particles}} (WIMPs), one of {{w|Dark matter#Composition of dark matter: baryonic vs. nonbaryonic|several contending possibilities}} for the still-open question of the composition of dark matter, and the one which Megan's uniform density figure assumes constitutes most of it. For example, the mass of a proton is 0.938 GeV/''c''2. However it is frequent to omit the ''c''2 factor and to represent masses in GeV (or MeV). A mass represented as 0.3 GeV is equal to 5.35 × 10−25 grams [https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=0.3+(GeV%2Fc%5E2)+in+grams]. This implies a {{w|squirrel}} has a mass of 580 g [https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=(0.3+(GeV%2Fc%5E2)%2Fcm%5E3)+*+(volume+of+earth)+in+grams] (about 1.3 lb), which is a typical mass among several species of common squirrels.

The title text imagines using a spinning bird feeder like a {{w|particle accelerator}}, colliding hydrogen atoms at relativistic speeds to detect new and exciting particles like the {{w|Higgs boson}}. Note, however, that accelerating even [https://what-if.xkcd.com/1/ one squirrel] to relativistic velocities would destroy the feeder and be deadly to any birds near the feeder (not to mention the squirrel).

[[:Category:Squirrels|Squirrels]] are a recurring topic on xkcd, but are not a serious alternative to WIMPs as a scientific explanation for the composition of dark matter. Since the September 2015 detection by the {{w|LIGO|Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory}} (LIGO) and subsequent confirmation by the {{w|Virgo interferometer}} of gravitational waves from an unexpectedly large number of merging {{w|black hole|black holes}} larger than those produced by stellar collapse, {{w|primordial black holes}} (PBHs) have become a popular alternative explanation to WIMPs (and squirrels), attracting [https://arxiv.org/abs/1605.04023 proponents at NASA,] and [http://www.buchaltercosmologyprize.org/#announcements other cosmologists] for [https://arxiv.org/abs/1711.10458 several reasons.] However, PBHs remain controversial, because if they constituted more than a very small portion of dark matter, [https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2041-8205/720/1/L67 alternative explanations would be almost entirely excluded.]

==Transcript==
:[Megan walks with Cueball. She is holding a hand out while telling Cueball something.]
:Megan: Dark matter density in the solar system is around 0.3 GeV/cm3
:Cueball: Is... that a lot?

:[As they continue to walk and talk she spreads her arms out.]
:Megan: In terms of mass, it means the Earth contains one squirrel worth of dark matter at any given time.
:Cueball: Wow.

:[In a frame-less panel Cueball stops while Megan walks past him. Megan is face-palming herself while looking down.]
:Cueball: Is there any way to find out which squirrel it is?
:Megan: No, it's not literally-

:[Cueball holds his hand with one finger up in front of Megan, while she has turned towards him and is holding both arms up, possible with balled fist, as she shouts back at him, shown both with large fat letters and with small lines emanating above her head.]
:Cueball: Oh, that explains why they weigh enough to set off those spinning bird feeders!
:Megan: '''''Dark matter isn't squirrels!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Squirrels]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Physics]]

2186: Dark Matter

2019-08-08T00:34:08Z

172.69.22.218: /* Explanation */ link wikipedia's possibilities table

{{comic
| number = 2186
| date = August 7, 2019
| title = Dark Matter
| image = dark_matter.png
| titletext = To detect dark matter, we just need to build a bird feeder that spins two squirrels around the rim in opposite directions at relativistic speeds and collides them together.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a DARK MATTER SQUIRREL ON A SPINNING BIRD FEEDER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In this comic, [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are talking about {{w|dark matter}}. Megan states that dark matter's density across the solar system is 0.3 GeV/cm3, as claimed by, for example, [https://arxiv.org/abs/1205.4033 Bovy and Tremaine (2012) "On the local dark matter density" in ''Astrophysics of Galaxies''.] Since Cueball likely does not have a science background, he does not understand what this means, so, to clarify, Megan explains that 0.3 GeV/cm3 equates to one squirrel's worth of dark matter for the volume of the Earth. For the last two panels, Cueball conflates this with dark matter actually ''being'' a squirrel for comedic effect, enraging Megan.

The {{w|gigaelectronvolt}} (GeV) is a unit of energy that can be converted to a mass using {{w|Mass%E2%80%93energy_equivalence|Einstein's formula}} ''E'' = ''mc''2. It is typically used for subatomic particles, such as {{w|weakly interacting massive particles}} (WIMPs), one of {{w|Dark matter#Composition of dark matter: baryonic vs. nonbaryonic|several contending possibilities}} for the still-open question of the composition of dark matter, and the one which Megan's uniform density figure assumes constitutes most of it. For example, the mass of a proton is 0.938 GeV/''c''2. However it is frequent to omit the ''c''2 factor and to represent masses in GeV (or MeV). A mass represented as 0.3 GeV is equal to 5.35 × 10−25 grams [https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=0.3+(GeV%2Fc%5E2)+in+grams]. This implies a {{w|squirrel}} has a mass of 580 g [https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=(0.3+(GeV%2Fc%5E2)%2Fcm%5E3)+*+(volume+of+earth)+in+grams] (about 1.3 lb), which is a typical mass among several species of common squirrels.

The title text imagines using a spinning bird feeder like a {{w|particle accelerator}}, colliding hydrogen atoms at relativistic speeds to detect new and exciting particles like the {{w|Higgs boson}}. Note, however, that accelerating even [https://what-if.xkcd.com/1/ one squirrel] to relativistic velocities would destroy the feeder and be deadly to any birds near the feeder (not to mention the squirrel).

[[:Category:Squirrels|Squirrels]] are a recurring topic on xkcd, but are not a serious alternative to WIMPs as a scientific explanation for the composition of dark matter. Since the September 2015 detection by the {{w|LIGO|Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory}} (LIGO) and subsequent confirmation by the {{w|Virgo interferometer}} of gravitational waves from an unexpectedly large number of merging {{w|black hole|black holes}} larger than those produced by stellar collapse, {{w|primordial black holes}} (PBHs) have become a popular alternative explanation to WIMPs (and squirrels), attracting [https://arxiv.org/abs/1605.04023 proponents at NASA,] and [http://www.buchaltercosmologyprize.org/#announcements other cosmologists] for [https://arxiv.org/abs/1711.10458 a number of reasons.] However, PBHs remain controversial, because if they constituted more than a very small portion of dark matter, [https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2041-8205/720/1/L67 alternative explanations would be almost entirely excluded.]

==Transcript==
:[Megan walks with Cueball. She is holding a hand out while telling Cueball something.]
:Megan: Dark matter density in the solar system is around 0.3 GeV/cm3
:Cueball: Is... that a lot?

:[As they continue to walk and talk she spreads her arms out.]
:Megan: In terms of mass, it means the Earth contains one squirrel worth of dark matter at any given time.
:Cueball: Wow.

:[In a frame-less panel Cueball stops while Megan walks past him. Megan is face-palming herself while looking down.]
:Cueball: Is there any way to find out which squirrel it is?
:Megan: No, it's not literally-

:[Cueball holds his hand with one finger up in front of Megan, while she has turned towards him and is holding both arms up, possible with balled fist, as she shouts back at him, shown both with large fat letters and with small lines emanating above her head.]
:Cueball: Oh, that explains why they weigh enough to set off those spinning bird feeders!
:Megan: '''''Dark matter isn't squirrels!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Squirrels]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Physics]]

Disappearing Sunday Update

2019-08-06T08:35:57Z

172.69.22.218: /* Unusual Means */ http://www.gridsurvey.com/charts/historicalconcurrency.png

{{comic
| date = August 4, 2019
| title = Disappearing Sunday Update
| image = disappearing_sunday_update.png
| titletext = This comic won't exist in the archives. NOTHING IS REAL.
| ldomain = web.archive.org/web/20190804230254/https://www
| lappend = #
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by UNUSUAL MEANS. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
The comic is a special Disappearing comic that was placed before the normal Monday comic update, which is [[2185|Cumulonimbus]]. The entire comic is an advertisement for [[Randall|Randall's]] upcoming book "[[How To]]".
It was, of course, released on [[:Category:Sunday comics|a Sunday]] (August 4th), becoming only the fifth comic to be released on a Sunday. It is also the first comic that was fully deleted from the xkcd archives, as it was replaced by the normal update.

The entire comic is a link directly to https://xkcd.com/how-to/. This link is also mentioned in the text of the comic. But as Randall has never learned to make different part of an image into a link the other link mentioned in the text, to his [[Blag]] is not linked from the comic. The link to this is https://blog.xkcd.com/. At the moment of this comics release the top blog post is the one about How To book.

The first part of the comic, the advertisement, includes a drawing of the cover, two sets of pages, showing the open book, and a sampling of the table of contents of the book. The full table of contest can be found in the Blag post mentioned above.

The second part of the comic, the joke, apologizes for various bots that automatically catalog xkcd comics that might break because of this special comic. See more under [[#Unusual Means|Unusual Means]]. This website is one example assigning the comic a number of 2185 despite the comic not having a designated number. The comic even broke the xkcd site itself as the previous comic (2184) had a next button that links to comic 2185 (which does not exist) and displays a [[404]] error (but this was later fixed by giving this comic number 2185, see the [[#Trivia|Trivia]] section, if nothing else then until it disappears!)

One of the bot methods mentioned may be in reference to the recent comic [[2180: Spreadsheets]], where [[Cueball]] debates making a real program to do a task, or to use a Google spreadsheet instead.

In the title text it is stated that: ''This comic won't exist in the archives. NOTHING IS REAL.''. However, as shown in the [[#Trivia|Trivia]] section, Randall had so many problems with his plans for this comic, that he ended up making it a normal numbered comic and thus also put it into the archives, although it was later removed.

==Unusual Means==
Randall notes that ''if you read xkcd through unusual means... ... I hope this ephemeral ghost comic doesn't break them too badly''

Between the dots he suggested different methods of reading xkcd, other than on the {{xkcd}} home page. These methods get progressively sillier (many still need explanations). Here is a list:

; Apps
: The Android app [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.tap.easy_xkcd easyxkcd] was broken by this comic when used in offline mode, as reported [https://github.com/tom-anders/Easy_xkcd/issues/162 here].
; Custom screen-scraping systems
: See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_scraping#Screen_scraping
; Google Reader clones
: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Reader Google Reader] was an RSS/Atom aggregator that Google discontinued in 2013. Enthusiasts created a full-featured work-alike replacement, called [https://theoldreader.com/ The Old Reader.]
; Twitter bots
: Automated posting to [https://twitter.com/ Twitter]
; BASH scripts
: A popular Un*x shell; one might, say, write a script in it to run on one's personal Un*x machine, checking for a new xkcd comic and displaying it somewhere
; Gopher portals
: [https://www.minnpost.com/business/2016/08/rise-and-fall-gopher-protocol/ Gopher] was a method of surfing the Internet that predated the Web (by about five months) and was vastly more popular (for about three years)
; Lynx-based ASCII art browsers
: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx_%28web_browser%29 Lynx] is a text-based Web browser. It can launch external programs to view images, but Randall is suggesting that instead a Lynx variant might convert images to [https://www.asciiart.eu/ ASCII art], which renders images using the 94 visible ASCII keyboard characters
; Third-party Second Life feeds
: [https://secondlife.com/ Second Life] is a virtual world that opened in 2002 and has [http://www.gridsurvey.com/charts/historicalconcurrency.png averaged about 40,000 simultaneous users for the past five years.]
; RFC 2549
: An RFC is a proposal for how to run the Internet. [https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2549 RFC 2549] is about transmitting data using carrier pigeons (this was one of the earliest [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Fools%27_Day April Fools' Day] RFCs).
; Massive Google docs sheets
: See #[[2180]].

Another unusual method is [http://uni.xkcd.com/ UNIXkcd], which was reported here to have broken, but was later working.

==Transcript==
:[Heading:]
:~Special Disappearing Sunday comic~

:[Below the header to the right are the following text:]
:I'm posting this ephemeral Sunday update to let you know that I wrote a book! It's a guide to solving everyday problems in terrible ways using science.
:It comes out next month, and it's available for preorder now.

:[Below this text is an arrow to an image of the book to the left. The arrow comes from this text:]
:The cover looks like this

:[The book is shown to the left as a black rectangle with large blue text and smaller white text. On the book cover, in white drawings, are seen Ponytail with a ladder and either Black or White Hat (hard to say on black background). Both are looking up on Cueball who is floating in the air with a quadcopter beneath either leg, trying to plug in an electric light bulb in a naked lamp hanging down near him. It seems he has already removed the broken light bulb, as he has one in both hands. And now he tries to put in the new one. He could have let Ponytail use the ladder...]
:[The header in blue above it all:] How To.
:[Sub header in white to the left of Cueball:] Absurd Scientific Answers to Common Real-world Problems
:[Author name in blue below the drawing:] Randall Munroe
:[Sub header to this below in white:] Creator of xkcd
:[Sub header to this below in white:] Author of ''what if?'' and ''Thing Explainer''

:[Below the text with the arrow to the book is the following text with an arrow pointing down to an image of two pages in the open book, shown to the right:]
:And the inside looks like this.

:[To the left of the open book are the following text:]
:Chapters include:
:'''How to charge your phone'''
:'''How to throw a pool party'''
:'''How to move'''
:'''How to build a lava moat'''
:'''How to ski'''

:[The open book to the right has almost only unreadable text. The left page shows a drawing of car in front of a trailer which is loaded with about 15 of boxes in four layers. Two stick figures are standing between the car and the trailer, talking with each other. The trailer is not attached to the car. There are some lines of text beneath the drawing and then what appears to be a chapter heading. It probably says something as "How to move", as this is mentioned as a chapter in the text to the left of these pages, but there one of two more unreadable words at the end of that heading. Beneath that the rest of the page is text and at the bottom there seems to be a footnote. The right page shows a house that seems to be floating a couple of meters above the ground, two arrows pointing up to the bottom of the house on either side. A stick figure stands to the left of the house which float at the figures head height. There is text beneath this drawing. Beneath that there is another drawing of a house towed on a truck, which speeds up a steep hill and jumps over a cliff to get to the other side. Seems like it will work. The speed of the truck seems to be very high as indicated by two curly lines indicating exhaust from the truck. It becomes three small clouds further behind the moving house. There is a footnote beneath the drawing. The driver of the truck yells as the truck jumps. This can actually be read:]
:Driver: ''Woooooo''

:[Beneath the above text and pages are another image of the open book with two other pages. This time to the left. This time there is text to the right.]

:[These book pages are also mainly unreadable. At the top of the left page is a drawing of what could be a lake. Two people seems to be standing out in the water, only heads showing above the water. A sign is standing on the brink, is may say "Sorry"? Behind the lake is some mountains in the background. Beneath the drawing is some text of, then a smaller diagram like drawing which may show some black clouds above and below a line in the middle of this drawing. One of the clouds are beneath a curly bracket which are beneath the line. The curly bracket lies down and has the same length as the cloud. Beneath this drawing is more text and then a third drawing at the bottom. Here is shown a cross section of the lake. At the left side of the lake the water is shallow and a stick figure is standing in the water on the bottom, head above water with its arms held up in the air. It is directing its attention to the four stick figure standing on the brink to the left looking at the figure in the water. To the right the lake becomes more than three times as deep. Clouds are above the lake, one large just right of the stick figure and one smaller further right. At the right edge the lakes edge is vertical. On the brink is what may be a diving board protruding over the lake. Something is lying on top of the board. And above is what seems to be another cloud. To the right of the lake is a pile of earth with what appears to be a large black Nuclear bomb (with the nuclear icon on it) stuck with its tip in the pile. On the right page is a line coming down from the top, which then turns to the right ending in an arrow. There is a line of text above the horizontal part of the line. The arrow points to a large heading in two rows. (See below). Beneath the heading are a few lines of text. Then a drawing of a torn map (like an old treasure map whit a X at the end of a trail marked with dots. Mountains indicated with small "^" and coast line is visible. There seems to be text beneath the X. There are text beneath the drawing. Beneath that are a header with a line beneath it, and then text beneath the line.]
:How to Dig a Hole

:[To the right of these pages are the following text:]
:You can learn more and preorder it at '''xkcd.com/how-to'''
:And read an excerpt at '''blog.xkcd.com'''

:[Beneath all this Randall (drawn as Cueball) is telling about the problem this disappearing comic may cause:]
:Randall: If you read xkcd through unusual means, including apps, custom screen-scraping systems, Google reader clones, Twitter bots, bash scripts, gopher portals, lynx-based ASCII art browsers, third-party Second Life feeds, RFC 2549, or massive google docs sheets full of =IMPORTHTML() and =IMAGE() formulas, I hope this ephemeral ghost comic doesn't break them too badly.
:Randall: It will disappear with the normal Monday update.
:Randall: (At least, I think it will. I've never tried this before. So I'm honestly not sure what the server will do.)

==Trivia==
*This August 4th 2019 [[:Category:Sunday comics|Sunday comic]] was first posted on the front page without any number relating to it. Thus breaking the next comic button on xkcd.
**Since it is supposed to be deleted on Monday August 5th 2019, when the next comic arrives on xkcd, it was not supposed to have a number or be in the archive. But seems like this caused too many problems for the xkcd site it self (not just for all the other sites Randall jokes about). So later it was given the next number in the comic list (2185) and was also included in the archive, although it was later removed from the archive and 2185 was assigned to the Monday comic.
*Here are some pictures documenting that the comic at some point between release and the next comics release worked like a normal comic with number 2185 as shown in the web address at the top. (The question is if the next comic will be 2185 and this will disappear?):
*[[File:Disappearing Sunday Update with number 2185.png]]
*It was also part of the archive with the release date shownig when hovering over the title:
*[[File:Archive with Disappearing Sunday Update and date.png]]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]

Talk:1460: SMFW

2019-07-31T21:24:03Z

172.69.22.218:

I'm pretty sure this is supposed a combination of SMH and MFW in particular, meaning that this would say "Shaking My Face When..."
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.218|172.69.22.218]] 21:24, 31 July 2019 (UTC)

Reading this is like listening to the video of that lady who imitates the sound patterns of different languages, but without actually saying any real words! --[[User:Elipongo|Elipongo]] ([[User talk:Elipongo|talk]]) 05:34, 15 December 2014 (UTC)
:link? -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 15:41, 15 December 2014 (UTC)
::https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybcvlxivscw [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.192|199.27.130.192]] 19:56, 15 December 2014 (UTC)
:No. It's absolutely '''nothing''' like that. If this were reddit I'd downvote you. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.180|173.245.54.180]] 19:18, 16 December 2014 (UTC)
::Then you would be in violation of reddit's ostensible community standards, where downvoting is preferred for situations where a comment has a negative impact rather than simply something you disagree with. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.155|108.162.249.155]] 02:42, 2 March 2016 (UTC)

It would sound more natural if it were "''SMFW '''as''' an acronym almost makes sense''". Is the fact that "as" was omitted from that sentence supposed to give us a hint as to what "SMFW" might mean? [[User:Nicksh|Nicksh]] ([[User talk:Nicksh|talk]]) 07:16, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

: Yeah, "as" is ommitted because its meaning is contained within the mystery acronym, so for example "W" may be "When". I don't think "hint" is the right word... I think it's more just like following the format of sentences that use such acronyms to ram home the joke. Substitute TFW and it seems clearer. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.155|108.162.249.155]] 02:46, 2 March 2016 (UTC)

: As "the Internet is for porn", in many contexts SFW, lit. Safe for Work, can be taken to mean sex-free content, while NSFW, Not Safe for Work, would mean sex-positive content, then SMFW might be interpreted to me SM For Work, where SM would be humorously interpreted as some graphically explicit sex-positive content, perhaps SadoMachoism, which outside of paperwork is generally classified NSFW. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.29|199.27.133.29]] 10:31, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

:: And "wtfw it's like smho tbfh, imdb." might be a defensive reaction to those what would not find humour of SM For Work. "what the fooking wut? It's like stick my humble opinion, to be fooking honest, in my dead body. (or database)." [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.29|199.27.133.29]] 10:38, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

:: Additional evidence of SM For Work, would be the posture in the task chair with respect to the desk and laptop (hunched over, feet not resting on ground, etc) seems the opposite of ergonomic advice which might lead to muscle strain, pain and fatigue -- the type of unsexy, self-inflicted torments that workers do to themselves "for work" {{unsigned ip|199.27.133.29}}

: >It would sound more natural
: You're missing the whole point. It's not ''supposed'' to sound natural. It's supposed to look strange and confuse you. That's the joke. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.180|173.245.54.180]] 19:20, 16 December 2014 (UTC)

I thought it was simply 'Save Me From Work' - being unhappy at work is common, and using the internet as a distraction from work is common as well. - So sending a quick message to a friend "SMFW" is a request for them to send you a link or other internet distraction, or otherwise help you come up with an excuse to not be productive. {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.206}}

I thought of So Much For Work as a possible meaning. {{unsigned ip|173.245.50.178}}

SMFW: Single Mode Fiber Waveguide * {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.39}}

I think "SMFW" is a mixture of SMF and MFW: "So Much Fun When". It fits the sentence. The only thing is that Cueball doesn't look like he's having fun.

Smoke more fucking weed could be a replacement for something like "Bloody hell" or "Shit the bed".
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.252|141.101.98.252]] 09:05, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

So why doesn't "xkcd" appear on the acronyms list? --[[User:Koveras|Koveras]] ([[User talk:Koveras|talk]]) 09:47, 15 December 2014 (UTC)
: Because xkcd isnt an acronym. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.61|108.162.216.61]] 09:56, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

I would like to add STFW ("Search the fucking web", [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/STFW]) as an acronym that SMFW is close to (same except for the second letter)...but there might be enough examples? [[User:Aquaplanet|Aquaplanet]] ([[User talk:Aquaplanet|talk]]) 11:07, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

SMFW makes perfect sense. Shaking my face when (SMH+MFW) an acronym almost makes sense. {{unsigned|Sederts}}
:Seconded, "Shaking my face when" seems to be the best decryption so far... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.249|108.162.219.249]] 23:12, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

See My Face When an acronym almost makes sense... makes perfect sense. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.4|141.101.99.4]] 13:26, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

"So Much Frustration When an acronym ''almost'' makes sense."
: +1 -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 15:44, 15 December 2014 (UTC)
: I'd also like to add in my +1 on this -- [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.188|108.162.216.188]] 19:39, 15 December 2014 (UTC)
: +1 [[User:Ursushoribilis|Ursushoribilis]] ([[User talk:Ursushoribilis|talk]]) 15:33, 21 December 2014 (UTC)

"What to feel when it's like some message has only to be f...ing hashtags, is mostly deep bafflement." [[User:Ackegard|Ackegard]] ([[User talk:Ackegard|talk]]) 14:35, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

None of these are acronyms. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.115|199.27.128.115]] 14:55, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

So Much F*cking Want. So, uh. Yeah. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.124|108.162.237.124]] 15:10, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

Small Men Fear Women [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.39|108.162.216.39]] 15:27, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

So Many Fucking Ways an acronym almost makes sense. Makes sense to me. {{unsigned ip|108.162.230.209}}

Staring, Mildly Frustrated When...? [[User:Kirdneh|Kirdneh]] ([[User talk:Kirdneh|talk]]) 17:50, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

"SMHO" could also be related to "LMHO," or "Laughing My Head Off." So, "Shaking My Head Off"? Something that makes you shake your head so hard it might fall off? [[User:Shanek|Shanek]] ([[User talk:Shanek|talk]]) 16:12, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

SMFW is an initialism. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.230.131|108.162.230.131]] 16:45, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

<pedantic>Initialisms are only acronyms when they can be pronounced </pendantic> [[User:Sideshowtanley|Sideshowtanley]] ([[User talk:Sideshowtanley|talk]]) 17:16, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

: smif-whaa? (smfw) wha-ti-fuh? (wtf) zik-cid? (xkcd) Can be pronounced or intended to be pronounced? Two very different things. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.64|108.162.216.64]] 01:47, 16 December 2014 (UTC)

I was thinking "So M*therf*cking what?" as the meaning for the acronym, but Randall is more arcane than that :) [[Special:Contributions/173.245.49.148|173.245.49.148]] 17:49, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

"Social Media Forum Warrior" is what came to my mind. I may have been on the internets for too long. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.137|141.101.104.137]] 19:22, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

Could be an example of a stacked acronym with an acronym recursively nested in an acronym. Or it could be a portmanteau of two acronyms. Is there a term for a portmanteau of two acronyms? Portmonym? Acmanteau? --[[User:Gbleck|Gbleck]] ([[User talk:Gbleck|talk]]) 19:31, 15 December 2014 (UTC)gbleck

It's not meant to make sense. It's a play on acronyms not making sense. It is a single statement in a single sentence, but the play is on the fact that the acronym doesn't make sense. {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.207}}

Smacks My Face When an acronym almost makes sense. {{unsigned ip|108.162.238.160}}

Two things - 1) these are all abbreviations, not acronyms - no-one goes around saying "Smfw" - they'd say "S.M.F.W."; 2) WTFW is "whatever the fuck works" - used quite often on a couple of forums I've been on. [[User:Grutness|Grutness]] ([[User talk:Grutness|talk]]) 23:11, 15 December 2014 (UTC)
: I think there are two different, valid definitions of acronyms. Personally the first "acronym" I think of as an example is ATM machine, which you're saying is an abbreviation. I guess some people draw the line if it uses the initials of words, and other draw the line at being pronounced. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.187|108.162.215.187]] 12:45, 16 December 2014 (UTC)
:Of course you're suffering from RAS Syndrome when you say "ATM Machine", anyway, whatever you call it. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.245|141.101.98.245]] 13:17, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

Maybe it's So My Face When an ancryonom alost makes sense [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.203|141.101.98.203]] 18:53, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

TDEMSYR!!! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.217|141.101.89.217]] 10:03, 16 December 2014 (UTC)

Maybe “SMFW” could mean “So Much Fun When” — wait, that makes too much sense. [[User:Jolbucley|Jolbucley]] ([[User talk:Jolbucley|talk]]) 02:28, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

I thought it meant "So Much For Work" Something I would mutter to myself when distracted by XKCD [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.222|108.162.250.222]] 04:54, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

Couldn't SMFW mean "Sorta My Face When"?
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.27|108.162.231.27]] 05:11, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

PCMCIA! (People cant memorize computer industry acronyms). SMFW... Somewhat Mediocre For Work? Specialy Mindbogling For Work? Super Mario Friday Workout? Something Might Fall When? Streets Must Freeze Wednesdays! Should Mum Fry Warderobe? Show Me Fried Wintercoat! Steve Must Find Wholesaler. (for fried wintercoat, indeed). So Many "Friction" Words! Should Maybe First... Whatever. Somewhat Memorable First Words? So, Maybe, Fire Works. Sh!t May Fly Wherever. (And I refuse to write down the more NSFW options) -[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.234|173.245.53.234]] 21:32, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

"(if one discounts IMDB, which is only there to make an already obnoxious sentence completely absurd)" I actually think it's who the message is addressed to, compare "WTF, NSA?". The message then expresses incredulous disappointment in something IMDB, or more likely the user base, did (like a 1-star review for Firefly). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.136|141.101.104.136]] 11:42, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

You guys are all missing the obvious meaning: "'''S'''o '''M'''any '''F'''eel(ing)s '''W'''hen an acronym almost makes sense."
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.217.71|108.162.217.71]] 01:46, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

I interpreted it as "Show Me Five Ways". [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.204|173.245.54.204]] 04:25, 3 January 2015 (UTC)

Some Mother Fucking Way {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.192}}

Well, MFW can mean "motherfucking win", so my first thought was "such motherfucking win". [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.211|141.101.98.211]] 19:14, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

Acronym <> Initialism. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.95}}

SMFW could also be "So Much Fucking Work".[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.199|173.245.56.199]] 15:16, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

See my face when... is ironic considering Cueball's face consists of a blank circle. Cueball's slumped posture may imply he is lamenting the lack of facial expression.[[User:JBinSV|JBinSV]] ([[User talk:JBinSV|talk]]) 07:00, 14 February 2015 (UTC)

SMHO is similar to SWMBO, "She Who Must Be Obeyed"; a passive aggressive reference to one's wife. Also why has no one noted that the title of the comic itself is a false acronym? XKCD stands for nothing. Randall is so meta even this comic… [[User:Saspic45|Saspic45]] ([[User talk:Saspic45|talk]]) 14:22, 25 January 2016 (UTC)

SMFW = so much fun when. "So much fun when an acronym almost makes sense."
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.49|108.162.216.49]] 14:13, 26 January 2016 (UTC)

I went ahead and added the bit about xkcd not standing for anything.[[User:Saspic45|Saspic45]] ([[User talk:Saspic45|talk]]) 22:50, 28 January 2016 (UTC)

Might as well try. “Shaking my face when” [[User:Netherin5|“That Guy from the Netherlands”]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 14:18, 21 May 2019 (UTC)

Shaking my face when an acronym almost makes sense. What the f**k when it's like, shaking my head over (this) to be f**king honest. IMDb. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.4|162.158.126.4]] 06:01, 31 July 2019 (UTC) Cye

2180: Spreadsheets

2019-07-27T20:47:35Z

172.69.22.218: /* Explanation */ typo

{{comic
| number = 2180
| date = July 24, 2019
| title = Spreadsheets
| image = spreadsheets.png
| titletext = My brother once asked me if there was a function to produce a calendar grid from a list of dates in Google Sheets. I replied with a single-cell formula that took in a list of dates and outputted a calendar. It used SEQUENCE(), REGEXMATCH(), and a double-nested ARRAYFORMULA(), and it locked up the browser for 15 seconds every time it ran. I think he learned a lot about asking me things.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a REGEXREPLACE(). Need to explain the Google Sheets fucntions. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[Cueball]] is doing some task on his computer, with an {{w|Shoulder angel|angel and devil on both sides of him}}, trying to influence his work. The angel is telling him to do things the "right" way, while the devil is telling him to do his work using a {{w|spreadsheet}}, which is considered by professional software engineers to be a shortcut or a hack.{{Citation needed}}

Spreadsheets provide an array of cells, which can contain information or instructions. Spreadsheets are a common {{w|end-user development}} tool, allowing non-developers to easily create code. However they can be hard to maintain, thus they are often mocked by developers as a wrong approach to programming. Although it is not clear from the cartoon that this is meant, the "right" alternative to using a spreadsheet for some task may involve a database or a more general programming language.

The punch line comes when the angel becomes so intrigued by the spreadsheet functions, Google Sheets in particular, that it gives up trying to dissuade Cueball, and asks for more information from the devil.

In the title text, Randall mentions a time when he created a calendar grid in Google Sheets using a list of dates. This is described as being done in a "single-cell formula", and taking a long time to run. This shows the power and complexity of spreadsheets. The procedure taking a long time to run, and freezing up the computer for 15 seconds every time it ran, was probably not what Randall's brother had in mind when he requested help. His brother learned he might need to be wary about what he gets back when asking Randall for assistance.

All functions mentioned in this comic can be found in {{w|Google Sheets}}, but functions similar to some of them can be found in most modern spreadsheet applications.

'''[https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3098245?hl=en REGEXREPLACE](text, regular_expression, replacement)''' ⇒ Replaces part of a text string with a different text string using {{w|Regular expression|regular expressions}}.

'''[https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3093275?hl=en ARRAYFORMULA](array_formula)''' ⇒ Enables the display of values returned from an array formula into multiple rows and/or columns and the use of non-array functions with arrays.

'''[https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3093343?hl=en QUERY](data, query, [headers])''' ⇒ Runs a [https://developers.google.com/chart/interactive/docs/querylanguage Google Visualization API Query Language] query across data.

'''[https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3093339?hl=en IMPORTHTML](url, query, index)''' ⇒ Imports data from a table or list within an HTML page.

'''[https://support.google.com/docs/answer/9368244?hl=en SEQUENCE](rows, columns, start, step)''' ⇒ Returns an array of sequential numbers, such as 1, 2, 3, 4.

'''[https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3098292?hl=en REGEXMATCH](text, regular_expression)''' ⇒ Whether a piece of text matches a regular expression.

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

[Cueball is at his computer. In the air on either side of him are an angel version of Cueball, with a halo and wings, and a devil version of Cueball, with horns and a pitchfork.]
[The angel's dialogue appears in regular print, while the devil's dialogue appears in white print in black speech balloons.]
:Angel: Don't use a spreadsheet! Do it '''''right'''''.
:Devil: But a spreadsheet would be so '''''easy'''''.
:Angel: In the long run you'll regret it!

[Closeup on Cueball, the angel, and the devil.]
:Angel: Take the time to write ''real'' code.
:Devil: Just paste the data! Tinker until it works!
:Devil: Build a labyrinth of REGEXREPLACE() and ARRAYFORMULA()!
:Devil: ''Feel the power!''

[Closeup on the devil.]
:Angel (off-panel): Fight the temptation!
:Devil: Ever tried QUERY() in Google Sheets? It lets you treat a block of cells like a database and run SQL queries on them.

[Another shot of Cueball at his computer with the angel and devil at either side.]
:Angel: Don't listen to--
:Angel: ... wait, really?
:Devil: Yes, and let me tell you about IMPORTHTML() ...
:Angel: ''Oooh...''

==Trivia==

Spreadheets used for complex tasks, evolving into complex algorithms was also the punchline of [[1667: Algorithms]].

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

2180: Spreadsheets

2019-07-27T20:45:40Z

172.69.22.218: /* Explanation */ summary of what is a spreadsheet, remove excess words

{{comic
| number = 2180
| date = July 24, 2019
| title = Spreadsheets
| image = spreadsheets.png
| titletext = My brother once asked me if there was a function to produce a calendar grid from a list of dates in Google Sheets. I replied with a single-cell formula that took in a list of dates and outputted a calendar. It used SEQUENCE(), REGEXMATCH(), and a double-nested ARRAYFORMULA(), and it locked up the browser for 15 seconds every time it ran. I think he learned a lot about asking me things.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a REGEXREPLACE(). Need to explain the Google Sheets fucntions. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[Cueball]] is doing some task on his computer, with an {{w|Shoulder angel|angel and devil on both sides of him}}, trying to influence his work. The angel is telling him to do things the "right" way, while the devil is telling him to do his work using a {{w|spreadsheet}}, which is considered by professional software engineers to be a shortcut or a hack.{{citation needed}}

Spreadsheets provide an array of cells, which can contain information or instructions. Spreadsheets are a common {{w|end-user development}} tool, allowing non-developers to easily create code. However they can be hard to maintain, thus they are often mocked by developers as a wrong approach to programming. Although it is not clear from the cartoon that this is meant, the "right" alternative to using a spreadsheet for some task may involve a database or a more general programming language.

The punch line comes when the angel becomes so intrigued by the spreadsheet functions, Google Sheets in particular, that it gives up trying to dissuade Cueball, and asks for more information from the devil.

In the title text, Randall mentions a time when he created a calendar grid in Google Sheets using a list of dates. This is described as being done in a "single-cell formula", and taking a long time to run. This shows the power and complexity of spreadsheets. The procedure taking a long time to run, and freezing up the computer for 15 seconds every time it ran, was probably not what Randall's brother had in mind when he requested help. His brother learned he might need to be wary about what he gets back when asking Randall for assistance.

All functions mentioned in this comic can be found in {{w|Google Sheets}}, but functions similar to some of them can be found in most modern spreadsheet applications.

'''[https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3098245?hl=en REGEXREPLACE](text, regular_expression, replacement)''' ⇒ Replaces part of a text string with a different text string using {{w|Regular expression|regular expressions}}.

'''[https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3093275?hl=en ARRAYFORMULA](array_formula)''' ⇒ Enables the display of values returned from an array formula into multiple rows and/or columns and the use of non-array functions with arrays.

'''[https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3093343?hl=en QUERY](data, query, [headers])''' ⇒ Runs a [https://developers.google.com/chart/interactive/docs/querylanguage Google Visualization API Query Language] query across data.

'''[https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3093339?hl=en IMPORTHTML](url, query, index)''' ⇒ Imports data from a table or list within an HTML page.

'''[https://support.google.com/docs/answer/9368244?hl=en SEQUENCE](rows, columns, start, step)''' ⇒ Returns an array of sequential numbers, such as 1, 2, 3, 4.

'''[https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3098292?hl=en REGEXMATCH](text, regular_expression)''' ⇒ Whether a piece of text matches a regular expression.

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

[Cueball is at his computer. In the air on either side of him are an angel version of Cueball, with a halo and wings, and a devil version of Cueball, with horns and a pitchfork.]
[The angel's dialogue appears in regular print, while the devil's dialogue appears in white print in black speech balloons.]
:Angel: Don't use a spreadsheet! Do it '''''right'''''.
:Devil: But a spreadsheet would be so '''''easy'''''.
:Angel: In the long run you'll regret it!

[Closeup on Cueball, the angel, and the devil.]
:Angel: Take the time to write ''real'' code.
:Devil: Just paste the data! Tinker until it works!
:Devil: Build a labyrinth of REGEXREPLACE() and ARRAYFORMULA()!
:Devil: ''Feel the power!''

[Closeup on the devil.]
:Angel (off-panel): Fight the temptation!
:Devil: Ever tried QUERY() in Google Sheets? It lets you treat a block of cells like a database and run SQL queries on them.

[Another shot of Cueball at his computer with the angel and devil at either side.]
:Angel: Don't listen to--
:Angel: ... wait, really?
:Devil: Yes, and let me tell you about IMPORTHTML() ...
:Angel: ''Oooh...''

==Trivia==

Spreadheets used for complex tasks, evolving into complex algorithms was also the punchline of [[1667: Algorithms]].

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

Talk:2179: NWS Warnings

2019-07-23T12:36:50Z

172.69.22.218:

== Transcript ==

I tried to start one, but it's going to be hard to do the list of warnings right.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.190|108.162.215.190]] 00:33, 23 July 2019 (UTC)

Well I've gone ahead and added all the warnings that I could. The only way to know the ones that are just "Advisory", "Watch", or "Warning" on the left hand side is if we talk to Randall himself. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.46.113|172.68.46.113]] 00:50, 23 July 2019 (UTC)

All NWS statements are color coded and the few that I know off the top of my head (Severe T-Storm, Hurricane) seem to match with Randall's coloring. Idk who filled out the transcript of warnings and if they already did this, but if everything thing else we know marches, we could use that to determine the remaining one.

Also on a separate note, Gale Warning is listed twice. Once in the top left in full and again along the right side where it's cut off as "Gale War". [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.76|162.158.126.76]] 01:57, 23 July 2019 (UTC)

Went through the [https://www.weather.gov/help-map NWS List of Warnings] and updated all the cut off warnings as accurately as I could, I'm not sure about the Severe Weather Statement, the color is rather close to Rip Current Statement too. [[User:Multiverse|Multiverse]] ([[User talk:Multiverse|talk]]) 03:05, 23 July 2019 (UTC)

OT: When I first read the Blizzard Warning in the south-east, I thought it was a Buzzard Warning; I think that is not on the NWS list of warnings, alerts and advisories. It seems like pretty much everything is there except an Amber Alert, but that is handled by other agencies. [[User:Nutster|Nutster]] ([[User talk:Nutster|talk]]) 03:26, 23 July 2019 (UTC)

Maybe we should add colors of the warnings to the transcript, but there seems to be so many colors and shades and my command of English color adjectives is not adequate. -- [[User:Malgond|Malgond]] ([[User talk:Malgond|talk]]) 07:38, 23 July 2019 (UTC)

== Gale War ==
Ok, so it's possibly Gale Warning; but a war between the North Wind and Dorothy in Oz would be something worth warning about surely? [[User:Kev|Kev]] ([[User talk:Kev|talk]]) 01:11, 23 July 2019 (UTC)

== Weather for the past week ==

~~There was a flash flood watch near maryland, would that relate?~~
:A massive heat wave affected a large portion of the USA this past weekend. I'm willing to bet that was the inspiration for this comic. https://twitter.com/NWS/status/1152708819291688960 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.124|108.162.241.124]] 11:57, 23 July 2019 (UTC)

== What's the pun? ==

I don't think the real (or the only) pun is in NWS having to go on vacation sometimes. I feel (but I am not a U.S. resident) that the comic refers to NWS or any other agency issuing too many or too broad warnings, making them somewhat useless and annoying. That's my impression regarding my own country's alerting system at least. The comic, in usual Randall's style, just takes it to the extreme, vacation being only an excuse. Any comments from U.S. residents regarding real-life alerts? -- [[User:Malgond|Malgond]] ([[User talk:Malgond|talk]]) 07:49, 23 July 2019 (UTC)
:I think the cartoon is illustrating that too many warnings is a bad thing. You have similar problems with computers and airlines (where once the pilots removed wiring to stop the constant unnecessary warnings). Warnings tend to be additive through mission creep and contradictory, meaning too much noise and not enough signal getting through to the end user who lacks the cognitive load to make appropriate actions. [[User:Kev|Kev]] ([[User talk:Kev|talk]]) 09:37, 23 July 2019 (UTC)
::I agree, the cartoon probably is playing off of the extreme number of weather warnings issued these days. I think I've gotten "extreme heat" warnings for the past week straight, and I can't remember the last time I went a week without some kind of extreme weather warning, like a thunderstorm, fog, heat, cold, ... you know, normal things.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.34|162.158.126.34]] 11:23, 23 July 2019 (UTC)

What a good day to live in East North Carolina. And pleasant weather for anyone who happens to be searching for the Red October!