explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3067: SawStart

2025-03-24T15:04:59Z

172.69.33.189:

It's weird seeing a totally empty explanation, also whats the point of sawstop, don't they just use vibrating blades? [[Special:Contributions/104.23.190.110|104.23.190.110]] 12:40, 24 March 2025 (UTC)
:SawStop is for rotating blades, like you would use for sawing wood. I'm sure there's a good reason why they don't use vibrating blades there, the most likely is "wood is harder than a plaster cast". I could also imagine that vibrating blades don't create nice cuts, which doesn't matter with a plaster cast that will be disposed of, but very much matters with wood used for construction. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 13:16, 24 March 2025 (UTC)

empty explanation is freaky woah [[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.204|172.69.194.204]] 12:42, 24 March 2025 (UTC)
:Every explanation is empty, at least for a short amount of time. And this is not the earliest that a comic went up (shortly after midday, UK time, when it's not unknown for them to not arrive until after the midnight at the end of the designated publication day), but it looks like you (both, including first-poster at the top) have had the good luck/fortune to be just casually checking for new changes to old articles on the site and instead get 'first look' at the newest addition to it. Of course, it'll be a few hours before most of the article gets fine-tuned into some form of 'completion'. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.157|172.70.86.157]] 13:23, 24 March 2025 (UTC)
sudo systemctl stop saw-start.service [[Special:Contributions/172.69.208.132|172.69.208.132]] 13:11, 24 March 2025 (UTC)
:yay you saved the world! --[[User:Bb777|hi]] ([[User talk:Bb777|talk]]) 14:08, 24 March 2025 (UTC)

I'm 99% sure that the system is designed to start a ''stopped'' blade up to full speed within milliseconds, not just increase the speed of a spinning blade. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 13:22, 24 March 2025 (UTC)

WAITER, WAITER, MORE [[Black Hat]] PLEASE [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 13:31, 24 March 2025 (UTC)

Because of gyroscopic precession, a still spinning (unstoppable?) blade, removed from its axle and housing, would be /very/ difficult and dangerous to dispose of. I'm a woodworker and I think I'll be having nightmares tonight.
-DW [[Special:Contributions/172.69.23.176|172.69.23.176]] 13:36, 24 March 2025 (UTC)

: At least if it's unstoppable we can use it as a free source of energy! [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.62|172.69.195.62]] 14:01, 24 March 2025 (UTC)

As a woodworker, one note I would like to make is that while the sawblade can be damaged by cartridge activation, it is not required that it be replaced. It is possible to have the blade inspected and potentially repaired and continue to use it. That is addressed in SawStop's FAQ https://www.sawstop.com/sawstop_faq/can-the-blade-be-reused-if-the-safety-system-brake-is-activated/ [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.189|172.69.33.189]] 15:04, 24 March 2025 (UTC)

1529: Bracket

2020-10-15T01:23:24Z

172.69.33.189: /* Trivia */ ce

{{comic
| number = 1529
| date = May 25, 2015
| title = Bracket
| image = bracket.png
| titletext = I'm staring at the "doctor" section, and I can't help but feel like I've forgotten someone.
}}

==Explanation==
A {{w|Bracket (tournament)|tournament bracket}} shows the planned series of matchups in a tournament. In this comic [[Randall]] has shown a plan for a tournament between a wide range of cultural icons, both real and fictional, based mostly on similarities in their names. Various Internet groups have speculated on who would win in a fight between characters from different films. It may be relevant that the film {{w|Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice}} was soon to be released at the time the comic was made where the two eponymous {{w|superheroes}}, {{w|Batman}} and {{w|Superman}}, fight against each other.

The individual starting pairings are generally based on common or similar given names or surnames. Some adjacent brackets are "segued" by someone like Jeff Daniels, who segues from a bracket of "Jeff"s into a bracket of "Daniels"es. The bracket itself is fairly arbitrary. Most initial matchups are pairs, although several are trios and there's a quadruplet in the Russels group, while a single entry, {{w|Beyoncé}}, is given a first- and second-round {{w|bye (sports)|bye}}. Most of the participants in the tournament are people, with a few exceptions. {{w|Shallots}} (small onions), {{w|scallops}} (bivalve mollusks), and {{w|scallions}} (green onions) are similar sounding foods, therefore may be confusing for some individuals (perhaps including [[Randall]]). The final grouping on the lower right of the bracket features a several retail stores and a film.

The [[title text]] possibly refers to {{w|Dr. Dre}}, particularly as a reference to his 2001 song "{{w|Forgot About Dre}}". Alternatively, the title text could simply be a reference to the large number of pop culture personas that include the word "Doctor", such as {{w|Gregory House|Doctor House}}, {{w|Mehmet Oz|Dr. Oz}}, {{w|Phil McGraw|Dr. Phil}}, {{w|Dr. Watson}}, {{w|Emmett Brown|"Doc" Brown}}, {{w|Dr. Seuss}}, {{w|Dr Pepper}}, {{w|Doctor Doom}}, {{w|Zoidberg|Dr. Zoidberg}}, {{w|Dr. Horrible}}'s Sing-Along Blog and {{w|List of fictional doctors|many others}}. Another simpler explanation is that it would cause the reader to question "Doctor Who?" answering their own question, although this answer would be incorrect because The Doctor is already present. It could also be a reference to the dual meaning of "The Doctor," either he meant to include Time Lord from Doctor Who and forgot about the EMH from Voyager, or he remember the EMH and forgot the Time Lord.

The incentive for the comic may have been the {{w|2015 French Open|French Open 2015}}, which started on the day of the publication.

The comic inspired several groups to play out versions of the bracket. One user-voting based match-up on twitter, [https://twitter.com/xkcdbracket XKCD Bracket], was featured by Randall on the xkcd home page, with a link at at the top of the website, although the account was not created by Randall. (The link was part of a "news" flash, the other was regarding his book based on [[1133: Up Goer Five]]. See more on this news in that comics explanation). In the final match on July 29, Neil Armstrong defeated Mister Spock (see the [https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CLKJUpFWIAAlDnW.png:orig complete bracket]). The link was removed sometimes before Monday, 10 August 2015, within two weeks of the final result was revealed.

Later Randall has made one smaller but similar bracket in [[1819: Sweet 16]], and then an interactive [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comics]] in 2019, with an even larger bracket for determining the best emoji in [[2131: Emojidome]]. The bracket for this comic was shown with links from the comic during the matches.

===Table of the bracket===
*The names and other entries in the bracket are given here below, sorted to explain why the individual entries have been grouped as they are.
*The first-round match-ups are grouped by shading.

{| class="wikitable"
!Grouping
!Subgrouping
!Person/Entry
!Known as
!Winning probability
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="4"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Armstrong
|{{w|Louis Armstrong}}
|Jazz-musician
| rowspan="4" |1/32
|-
|{{w|Neil Armstrong}}
|First human on the moon
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Lance Armstrong}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Cyclist
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Stretch Armstrong}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Action figure
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|Jeff *
|Jeff Gordan (Probably {{w|Jeff Gordon}})
|Retired race car driver
| rowspan="9" |1/64
|-
|{{w|Jeff Bridges}}
|Actor in ''King Kong'', ''The Big Lebowski'', ''Iron Man'', ''Tron: Legacy''
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Jeff Daniels}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Actor in ''Dumb and Dumber''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|J* Daniels
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Jack Daniel's|Jack Daniels}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Alcoholic beverages
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="4"|<nowiki>*</nowiki>Well<nowiki>*</nowiki>
|{{w|Orson Welles}}
|Director of ''{{w|Citizen Kane}}'' and known for his {{w|The War of the Worlds (radio drama)|radio-play}} of {{w|H. G. Wells}}' ''{{w|The War of the Worlds}}''
|-
|{{w|H.G. Wells}}
|Author, known for ''The War of the Worlds'' and ''{{w|The Time Machine}}''
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|George Orwell}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Author of ''{{w|Nineteen Eighty-Four}}'' and ''{{w|Animal Farm}}''
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Wells Fargo}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Bank and stage coach company
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="4"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Russell *
|{{w|Kurt Russell}}
|Actor in ''John Carpenter's Escape from L.A.'', ''The Thing'', ''Big Trouble in Little China'', ''Fast & Furious 7''
| rowspan="5" |1/128
|-
|{{w|Russell Brand}}
|Comedian
|-
|{{w|Russell Crowe}}
|Actor in ''Gladiator'', ''A Beautiful Mind'', ''Les Misérables'', ''Noah''
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Russell Simmons}}
|rowspan="2"|Rapper
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Simmons
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Richard Simmons}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Host of exercise program
| rowspan="3" |1/64
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Gene Simmons}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Musician, known from ''KISS''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Gene <nowiki>*</nowiki>
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Gene Hackman}}
|rowspan="2"|Actor
|rowspan="5" |1/96
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|<nowiki>*</nowiki>ckman
|-
|{{w|Hugh Jackman}}
|Actor in the ''{{w|X-Men}}'' franchise as {{w|Wolverine (character)|Wolverine}}
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Alan Rickman}}
|rowspan="2"|Actor in ''Die Hard'', ''Harry Potter'' franchise, ''The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy''
|-
|rowspan="3"|Alan <nowiki>*</nowiki>
|-
|rowspan="2"|Alan Par*
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Alan Parsons}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Musician
|rowspan="7" |1/64
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Alan Partridge}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Fictional radio character
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> McCarthy
|{{w|Jenny McCarthy}}
|Anti-vaccination activist
|-
|{{w|Joseph McCarthy}}
|American Senator known for anti-communist policies.
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Eugene McCarthy}}
|rowspan="2"|Senator and Presidential candidate
|-
|rowspan="3"|<nowiki>*</nowiki>gene<nowiki>*</nowiki>
|rowspan="2"|Eugene <nowiki>*</nowiki>
|-
|{{w|Eugene V. Debs}}
|Labor leader
|-
|rowspan="3"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Wilde*
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Gene Wilder}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actor in ''Young Frankenstein'', ''Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory''
| rowspan="4" |1/96
|-
|rowspan="2"|
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Olivia Wilde}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actress in ''Tron: Legacy'', ''Her'', ''House M.D.''
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Oscar Wilde}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Writer
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Oscar *
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Oscar De La Renta}}
|rowspan="2"|Fashion Designer
|rowspan="3"|1/32
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Oscar De La *
|-
|{{w|Oscar De La Hoya}}
|Boxer
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Jack Nic*
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Jack Nicklaus}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Golf player
| rowspan="9" |1/32
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Jack Nicholson}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Actor in ''One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest'', ''The Shining'', ''The Bucketlist''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|<nowiki>*</nowiki>ichol* / *ickel* / *ickle*
|-
|{{w|Phil Mickelson}}
|Golf player
|-
|{{w|Nicholas Nickleby}}
|Charles Dickens protagonist in the novel by the same name
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|<nowiki>*</nowiki>ryan Adams
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Ryan Adams}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Singer
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Bryan Adams}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Singer
|-

|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Singers with Stage Names Referencing Weight/Games
|{{w|Chubby Checker}}
|Singer famous for "The Twist"
|-
|{{w|Fats Domino}}
|Rock and Roll Singer
|-

|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Colin F*
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Colin Firth}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actor, ''Pride and Prejudice'', ''Love Actually''
| rowspan="5" |1/64
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Colin Farrell}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Actor in ''Daredevil'', ''In Bruges'', ''Total Recall''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|F*rell*
|-
|{{w|Will Ferrell}}
|Comic actor, ''Anchorman'' and ''The Other Guys''
|-
|{{w|The Farrelly Brothers}}
|Comedy film-makers
|-

|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|J<nowiki>*</nowiki> * *evitt/*ewitt (three names)
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Joseph Gordon-Levitt}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actor in ''Third Rock from the Sun'', ''Dark Knight Rises''
| rowspan="2" |1/32
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Jennifer Love Hewitt}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actress in ''Garfield: The Movie'' 
|-

|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|D* Glover
|{{w|Danny Glover}}
|Actor, ''Lethal Weapon'' series
| rowspan="7" |1/64
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Donald Glover}}
|rowspan="2"|Actor, ''Community'', also a rapper, aka ''Childish Gambino''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Don*
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Donnie Wahlberg}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Singer, ''{{w|New Kids on the Block}}'', actor, ''Blue Bloods''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Wahlberg
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Mark Wahlberg}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Actor in ''The Departed'', ''The Other Guys'', and former hip-hop singer for ''Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|Mark *
|-
|{{w|Mark Ruffalo}}
|Actor, known for his role as {{w|Hulk (comics)|the Hulk}} in the film ''{{w|The Avengers (2012 film)|The Avengers}}''
| rowspan="2" |1/32
|-
|{{w|Mark Shuttleworth}}
|Entrepreneur, founder of {{w|Ubuntu (operating system)|Ubuntu}}
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Pullman
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Philip Pullman}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Author, ''Dark Materials'' and ''The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ''
|rowspan="4"|1/48
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Bill Pullman}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Actor in ''Spaceballs'', and ''Independence Day''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|Bill *
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Bill Paxton}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actor in ''Apollo 13'', ''Aliens''
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Bill Murray}}
|rowspan="2"|Actor in ''Ghostbusters'', ''Groundhog Day''
|rowspan="3"|1/32
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Ghostbusters/SNL alumni
|-
|{{w|Dan Aykroyd}}
|Actor in ''Ghostbusters'', ''The Blues Brothers''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Rogers
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Ginger Rogers}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actress known for dancing with {{w|Fred Astaire}}
|rowspan="2"|1/64
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Mister/Fred Astaire/Rogers
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Confusing reference to {{w|Fred Rogers}} (host of children's show, popularly known as "Mister Rogers") and to {{w|Fred Astaire}} (Dancer, actor, and singer)
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Spock
|{{w|Mister Spock}}
|Character on ''Star Trek'' portrayed by {{w|Leonard Nimoy}}
|rowspan="10"|1/96
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Doctor Spock}}
|rowspan="2"|Author of book on childcare
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="8"|Doctors
|-
|{{w|Doctor Octopus}}
|Villain in Spider-Man comic books
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Doctor Manhattan}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Character in Alan Moore's Watchmen
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Doctor Strangelove}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Character in a movie about nuclear war by {{w|Stanley Kubrick}}
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Doctor Strange}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Sorceror Supreme in Marvel Comics
|-
|{{w|Julius No|Dr. No}}
|Main villain in the {{w|Dr. No (film)|first James Bond movie}}
|-
|The Doctor
|Ambiguous reference to either the {{w|The Doctor (Doctor Who)|main protagonist}} of the science fiction series ''{{w|Doctor Who}}'' or the {{w|Doctor (Star Trek: Voyager)|emergency medical hologram}} in ''{{w|Star Trek: Voyager}}''.
|-
|{{w|Cory Doctorow}}
|Real person - [[:Category:Comics featuring Cory Doctorow| who has been in a number of xkcd comics]]
|-

|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|J* Lewis
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Jerry Lee Lewis}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Rock and Roll singer
|rowspan="9"|1/32
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Jerry Lewis}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Comedian and former chairman of charitable organization
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Jenny Lewis}}
|rowspan="2"|Indie singer-songwriter
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Sounds like *"enny"
|-
|{{w|Xeni Jardin}}
|Digital commentator, Boing Boing co-editor
|-
|rowspan="4"|Chris *
|rowspan="2"|Chris * (Avengers actors)
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Chris Evans (actor)|Chris Evans}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actor, ''Captain America''
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Chris Hemsworth}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actor, ''Thor''
|-
|rowspan="2"|Chris P*
|{{w|Chris Pine}}
|Actor, ''Star Trek''
|-
|{{w|Chris Pratt}}
|Actor, ''Guardians of the Galaxy''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|S*all*o*s Foods
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Shallots}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Small onions
|rowspan="3"|1/96
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Scallops}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Bivalve mollusks
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Scallions}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Green onions
|-

|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Suz* (Similar phonetics)
|{{w|Siouxie Sioux}}
|Rock singer
|rowspan="2"|1/64
|-
|{{w|Suzanne Vega}}
|Folk rock singer-songwriter
|-

|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Arnold *
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Tom Arnold (actor)|Tom Arnold}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actor; ex-husband of {{w|Roseanne Barr}}
|rowspan="4"|1/48
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Arnold Palmer}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Golf player
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|A* Palmer
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Amanda Palmer}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Singer/songwriter
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Wes *
|{{w|Wes Craven}}
|Film maker
|rowspan="10"|1/64
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Wes Anderson}}
|rowspan="2"|Movie Director
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|* Anderson
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Paul Thomas Anderson}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Film maker
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|P*ul Anderson
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Poul Anderson}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Science fiction author
|-
|rowspan="3"|Sirs
|rowspan="2"|Sir Walter *
|{{w|Sir Walter Scott}}
|Scottish poet and writer
|-
|{{w|Sir Walter Raleigh}}
|British explorer of Virginia
|-

|rowspan="2"|Fran* Drake
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Sir Francis Drake}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|British explorer, 2nd to circumnavigate the Earth
|-
|
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Frank Drake}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Astrophysicist, SETI pioneer
|-
|rowspan="5"|"Van"
|rowspan="3"|Van *
|{{w|Van Halen}}
|Rock band
|rowspan="3"|1/96
|-
|{{w|Van Morrison}}
|Singer/songwriter
|-
|{{w|Van Wilder}}
|Comedy film
|-

|rowspan="2"|R* Van Winkle
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Robert Van Winkle}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|AKA Vanilla Ice, rapper
|rowspan="3"|1/64
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Rip Van Winkle}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Fictional character
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|Rip/Torn
|-
|{{w|Rip Torn}}
|Elmore Rual "Rip" Torn, actor on ''Cross Creek'', ''Larry Sanders Show''
|rowspan="2"|1/32
|-
|{{w|Natalie Imbruglia}}
|Singer of "Torn"
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Businesses with the word "Body" in their name
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|The Body Shop}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Shop
|rowspan="6"|1/64
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Bath and Body Works}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Shop
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Businesses with the word "Bath" in their name
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Bed Bath and Beyond}}
|rowspan="2"|Shop
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|Beyon*
|-
|{{w|Beyond Thunderdome}}
|Motion picture
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Beyoncé}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Singer
|1/16

|}

==Trivia==
*The "Chris" group (Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pine, Chris Pratt) was later referenced in Chris Pine's opening monologue for SNL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGurtL83zhY
*Shallots, scallops and scallions were mentioned together in [[2372: Dialect Quiz]].

==Transcript==
:[A tournament bracket. With the names listed in groups on the left-hand side and right-hand side as shown below. Within individual groups the names are ordered in match-ups, two, three or even four in the first match. The last name on the right, Beyoncé, is not even matched for first round. The winners goes on to the next match, but there are many that skips some of the matches up until the quarterfinals, so some need to win 5 matches to reach the quarterfinals, others only need to win 4 of 3, and Beyoncé only 2. After the first level, the match-ups are always between two names. The two sides join up in a final in the middle, where the winner of the left side has a place for the name below and the winner of the right a place for the name above a central rectangular frame with place for the winners name. Below the pairing in the first round matches are mentioned above each of the clear groupings of the bracket.]
:{| class="wikitable" style="background:transparent;border:none;width:100%;"
| style="background:transparent;border:none;"|
 [These are paired two and two.]
 Louis Armstrong
 Neil Armstrong
 Lance Armstrong
 Stretch Armstrong

 [These are paired two and two.]
 Jeff Gordan
 Jeff Bridges
 Jeff Daniels
 Jack Daniels

 [These are paired two and two.]
 Orson Welles
 H.G. Wells
 George Orwell
 Wells Fargo

 [The first four, two, three and two are paired.]
 Kurt Russell
 Russell Brand
 Russell Crowe
 Russell Simmons
 Richard Simmons
 Gene Simmons
 Gene Hackman
 Hugh Jackman
 Alan Rickman
 Alan Parsons
 Alan Partridge

 [The first four, three and two are paired.]
 Jenny McCarthy
 Joseph McCarthy
 Eugene McCarthy
 Eugene V. Debs
 Gene Wilder
 Olivia Wilde
 Oscar Wilde
 Oscar De La Renta
 Oscar De La Hoya

 [These are paired two and two.]
 Jack Nicklaus
 Jack Nicholson
 Phil Mickelson
 Nicholas Nickelby

 [These are paired.]
 Ryan Adams
 Bryan Adams

 [These are paired.]
 Chubby Checker
 Fats Domino

 [These are paired two and two.]
 Colin Firth
 Colin Farrell
 Will Ferrell
 The Farrelly Brothers

 [These are paired.]
 Joseph Gordon-Levitt
 Jennifer Love Hewitt

 [These are paired two and two.]
 Danny Glover
 Donald Glover
 Donnie Wahlberg
 Mark Wahlberg
 Mark Ruffalo
 Mark Shuttleworth

| style="background:transparent;border:none;"|
 [The first three and two are paired.]
 Philip Pullman
 Bill Pullman
 Bill Paxton
 Bill Murray
 Dan Aykroyd

 [The first two, and then three times three are paired.]
 Ginger Rogers
 Fred Rogers|Mister/Fred Astaire/Rogers
 Mister Spock
 Doctor Spock
 Doctor Octopus
 Doctor Manhattan
 Doctor Strangelove
 Doctor Strange
 Dr. No
 The Doctor
 Cory Doctorow

 [These are paired two and two.]
 Jerry Lee Lewis
 Jerry Lewis
 Jenny Lewis
 Xeni Jardin

 [These are paired two and two.]
 Chris Evans
 Chris Hemsworth
 Chris Pine
 Chris Pratt

 [These are paired.]
 Shallots
 Scallops
 Scallions

 [These are paired.]
 Siouxie Sioux
 Suzanne Vega

 [These are paired.]
 Tom Arnold
 Arnold Palmer
 Amanda Palmer

 [These are paired two and two.]
 Wes Craven
 Wes Anderson
 Paul Thomas Anderson
 Poul Anderson

 [These are paired two and two.]
 Sir Walter Scott
 Sir Walter Raleigh
 Sir Francis Drake
 Frank Drake

 [The first three, two and two are paired.]
 Van Halen
 Van Morrison
 Van Wilder
 Robert Van Winkle
 Rip Van Winkle
 Rip Torn
 Natalie Imbruglia

 [The first four are paired two and two the last is the only one not paired.]
 The Body Shop
 Bath and Body Works
 Bed Bath and Beyond
 Beyond Thunderdome
 Beyoncé
|}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cory Doctorow]]
[[Category:Doctor Who]]
[[Category:Star Trek]]
[[Category:Tournament bracket]]

2370: Prediction

2020-10-13T00:04:49Z

172.69.33.189: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 2370
| date = October 9, 2020
| title = Prediction
| image = prediction.png
| titletext = You'd think it'd be easy to just bet money against these people, but you have to consider the probability of them paying up.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|There is definitely not a 50/50 chance this was created by a BOT. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is about misunderstanding {{w|probability}}. Sometimes people will incorrectly assume that if one event is likelier than another to occur, then that event WILL occur, or that if one names two or more outcomes, they are equally likely to occur when in fact they might have different probabilities.

Saying that an event is more likely to happen than not to happen is not the same as saying that the event is definitely going to happen. At the same time, even if the event not happening is possible, it's not 50/50 odds that the event will happen. People have difficulties understanding statements like "event A has a 70% probability to happen" and internally understanding it to be one of the two misconceptions above.

Some don't like probability statements because they are not definite and therefore cannot be proven wrong. For example, if a probability statement says "event A has a 1% probability to happen" and event A actually happens, that does not prove the statement wrong, because the statement admits of the possibility of event A happening.

For example, FiveThirtyEight famously gave Trump a higher odds of winning the 2016 U.S. presidential election than most other models did just before the election, but still not more likely ([https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/ 28.6%]) than his opponent. However, many readers at the time interpreted that as "Trump is definitely going to lose", and after he won that election, blasted FiveThirtyEight for getting its prediction "wrong". However, that interpretation is mistaken. 28.6% means Trump had a real chance at winning, between throwing a coin twice and both times landing on heads (1/4 or 25%) and throwing a normal 6-sided die and getting a 1 or 2 (1/3 or 33.333...%), both of which events are intuitively possible. Or, in tabletop gaming terms, Trump's likelihood of winning was slightly lower than that of passing a flat check with a DC of 15 (6/20 or 30%).

The correct interpretation of a probability statement like "event A has a 70% probability to happen" is that in the long run, of those events you give 70% probabilities to, about 70% of them end up happening. If, for example, 99% of those events ended up happening, the 70% probabilities you gave those events may likely be wrong (you should've given probabilities closer to 99%), even though you "called" almost all events correctly (in the sense that 70% means the events are more likely to happen than not to happen, and almost all of them happened). Looking back at your predictions and seeing if the results are what you should expect is called {{w|Calibration (statistics)|calibration}} ([https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/checking-our-work/ example]).

In the last panel, it is shown that [[Cueball]] anticipated this lack of understanding, so he plays pre-recorded audio of his prediction for the conversation.

The title text says that these people are gullible enough to the point that they would accept a disadvantageous bet. However, it also says that the probability that they might not actually go through with paying the bet if they lose brings into question whether to propose the bet is actually worth it. Randall has previously made allusions to betting on fallaciously claimed probabilities in comics such as [[1132: Frequentists vs. Bayesians]] and [[955: Neutrinos]].

The comic doesn't rule out the possibility that event A and event B aren't directly related. For example, it is more likely to flip a coin and get a head than to roll a 6-sided die and get a 6. This is a fairly pointless observation in most cases, except perhaps if one is trying to explain the probability of an unfamiliar event by comparison with something very familiar.

At the time of writing, the 2020 United States presidential and congressional elections are less than a month away. This is a time when polls showing one or the other candidate leading are common, and may be misinterpreted to mean that the candidate is certain to win. Additionally, after the 2016 election saw Donald Trump, the trailing candidate in the polls, winning, many also interpreted this to mean that the polls were useless and/or wrong, or even go beyond this and take an adverse poll prediction as a perversely authoritative indication that the exact opposite result (which they would favour) is now a certainty. Cueball has previously shown an interest in U.S. election polling, for example in [[500: Election]].

==Transcript==
:[White Hat and Cueball standing next to each other. Cueball has his palm out.]
:Cueball: Event A is more likely than Event B.

:[White Hat touches chin thoughtfully]
:White Hat: So you're saying that Event A will happen.
:Cueball: No, Event B could also happen.

:[A frameless panel]
:White Hat: So you're saying it's 50/50.
:Cueball: No, it's definitely not 50/50.

:[Cueball produces a phone]
:White Hat: Sounds like you have no idea what will happen.
:Cueball: And yet I knew exactly how this conversation would go. Here, listen:
:[Cueball clicks a button on his phone]
:<nowiki>*Click*</nowiki>
:Phone: ''Then you'll say, "So it's 50/50"''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:Phones]]

2371: Election Screen Time

2020-10-13T00:03:34Z

172.69.33.189: /* Explanation */ clarify, not necessarily debate related

{{comic
| number = 2371
| date = October 12, 2020
| title = Election Screen Time
| image = election_screen_time.png
| titletext = Feels like I picked a bad year to try to start having a healthy relationship with political news.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by ELECTION UPDATES. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Cueball]] is looking at his phone, which informs him of time spent doing two activities: Staying updated about important election events (26m) and unimportant election events (9h14m). Both the wording on the phone and the title text suggest that too much time has been spent on trivial election minutiae.

This comic was probably created because of the upcoming {{w|2020 United States presidential election}} between the incumbent, President {{w|Donald Trump}} and the challenger, former Vice President {{w|Joe Biden}}.

The title text is referring to the wide amount of news coverage during this election season.

==Transcript==

[Cueball is looking at his phone screen time report. The screen appears above his head]

Screen Time Report
:Staying informed about politics like a good civic minded person
:..26m
:Reading election updates that won't affect your actions in any way but slightly improve your knowledge about what's going to happen in a few weeks
:.................................................9h14m

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

Talk:2346: COVID Risk Comfort Zone

2020-10-09T20:31:19Z

172.69.33.189: /* Relative mask sizes */

The current text seems more like a comment than an explanation. [[User:Darthpoppins|Darthpoppins]] ([[User talk:Darthpoppins|talk]]) 21:03, 14 August 2020 (UTC)

: I see "explanation" crossing over into "comment". Comment often is a necessary part of xkcd explanation since Randall's mind works funny. In this case I think the comic shows *some* ways to say "no" in *one* situation, but neither is comprehensive. Also, in this case, Cueball isn't being "invited" but directed if someone says "You have to come inside", although we don't know if the context is "Come see the virtual reality room I just installed" or "Could you instead just tell me your electricity meter reading?" So you could say "No" but it may defeat the purpose of your journey. Better would be "What about the coronavirus?" although you are already not on the same page about that. Nevertheless, I think what's called for is negotiation. This can include exploring whether the other person has, or has had, the virus, and whether you have, or will pretend that you may have it. I also favour holding your breath while you pass close to someone. Robert Carnegie rja.carnegie@gmail.com [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.71|162.158.154.71]] 15:38, 15 August 2020 (UTC)

I'm just going to put the original explanation here:
As a fourth option, Randall might consider taking the advice that "'No' is a complete sentence" -- we don't know the context of the situation presented here, but unless there truly is some urgent reason that he would ordinarily "''have''" to go inside but for COVID (and from the second option, we know there's no such emergency here), he's just being invited inside, and he doesn't need to provide any justification at all for refusing.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.14|108.162.245.14]] 00:25, 15 August 2020 (UTC)

== Mis-centered headline ==

I notice the comic's headline is inexplicably aligned over the first and second panels, rather than the full width of the comic, and it bothers me that nobody is talking about that. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.137|162.158.74.137]] 05:02, 15 August 2020 (UTC)

== Relative mask sizes ==

Inside Cueball's mask is much smaller/covers less of his face than outside Cueball's mask. However, neither the dialogue nor Title Text mention it. It seems that Inside Cueball's mask might leave his nose or mouth exposed. Perhaps Randall considered this as a topic in the comic, but later discarded it yet left the mask sizes different?
: Only barrel boy and the girl in Spanish class have a nose and mouth, no other xkcd characters have faces, so that doesn't quite apply