explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2439: Solar System Cartogram

2021-03-20T00:38:00Z

172.69.34.246: /* Transcript */ category

{{comic
| number = 2439
| date = March 19, 2021
| title = Solar System Cartogram
| image = solar_system_cartogram.png
| titletext = For sentimental reasons, every active Mars rover is counted as one person, although that's not enough to make Mars more than a dot.
}}

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

In this comic, Randall has made a cartogram showing the planets in the solar system. Cartograms are a type of map in which geographic area is displayed proportionately to some secondary characteristic - in this case, population. It's not clear whether the population in question is human or all life forms, but in this case it doesn't matter. Since the only confirmed life in the Solar System is on Earth, the other planets have a population of 0{{Citation needed}} and are shown as nothing more than dots. This comic is a joke about electoral cartograms. A standard American electoral map is very misleading. Though the split between Democrats and Republicans is about 50-50, most districts are red. That’s because Democrats live in densely packed districts, while Republicans live in rural ones. This has led to the rise of electoral cartograms, where districts are inflated in relation to population, correcting the misimpression that most of American is conservative. Solar system maps are also often misleading. Mapmakers shrink the size difference and space between planets. Here, Randall has mistakenly applied the wrong solution to the problem, with amusing results.

The title text states that, even though the active Mars rovers count as one person each, they are almost nothing compared to Earth's 7,800,000,000 and doesn't make Mars anything more than a dot. There are a total of five rovers at the moment; in chronological order, they are Sojourner, Spirit and Opportunity, Curiosity, and Perseverance. Only the latter two were functional at the time of the comic's publication, giving Mars a rover population of two. (This is a tie for all-time high. Spirit and Opportunity were active together from 2004 to 2010, when Spirit shut down. Opportunity was still active when Curiosity arrived in 2012, and remained so until 2018. With the arrival of Perseverance in 2021, there are again two active rovers. A third rover, China's {{w|Tianwen-1}}, is currently in orbit around Mars and expected to land in May 2021.)

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

:Caption: Most solar system diagrams are misleading.
:Caption: This chart offers a more accurate view by showing the planets sized by population.
:[The eight planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) are shown in order, with equal space between. Each planet is labeled with its name. All planets other than Earth are indistinguishable tiny dots, while Earth is large and clearly drawn. The view is approximately centered on southeast Asia, the region of highest population density.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Maps]]

944: Hurricane Names

2021-03-18T04:00:42Z

172.69.34.246: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 944
| date = August 29, 2011
| title = Hurricane Names
| image = hurricane_names.png
| titletext = After exhausting the OED, we started numbering them. When overlapping hurricanes formed at all points on the Earth's surface, and our scheme was foiled by Cantor diagonalization, we just decided to name them all "Steve". Your local forecast tomorrow is "Steve". Good luck.
}}

==Explanation==
The {{w|World Meteorological Organization}} (WMO) maintains [https://public.wmo.int/en/our-mandate/focus-areas/natural-hazards-and-disaster-risk-reduction/tropical-cyclones/Naming lists] of potential names for {{w|tropical cyclones}} in each {{w|tropical cyclone basin}}; {{w|Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre#Tropical cyclones|Regional Specialized Meteorological Centres (RSMCs) and Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWCs)}} are responsible for assigning those names to tropical cyclones within their respective areas of responsibility. In the {{w|North Atlantic Ocean}} (including the {{w|Gulf of Mexico}} and {{w|Caribbean Sea}} as pictured), the {{w|NOAA}}'s {{w|National Hurricane Center}} (NHC/RSMC Miami) gives names to tropical cyclones (of which {{w|Atlantic hurricane|hurricanes}} are a subset), going through the alphabet (excluding Q, U, X, Y, and Z) and resetting at "A" at the beginning of the year. For example, the North Atlantic storms in 2012 were named "Alberto", "Beryl", "Chris", "Debby", and so on. There are six {{w|Tropical cyclone naming|lists of names}} for the North Atlantic Ocean, which rotate every six years. Storms that are extremely catastrophic are removed from the lists.

If there were more than 21 hurricanes in a season before 2021, the 21-letter alphabet becomes exhausted and the hurricanes are named with Greek letters. This has happened only twice: in the {{w|2005 Atlantic hurricane season}}, see [[1126: Epsilon and Zeta|The Saga of Epsilon and Zeta]], and in the {{w|2020 Atlantic hurricane season}}. In 2021, the World Meteorological Organization [https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/wmo-hurricane-committee-retires-tropical-cyclone-names-and-ends-use-of-greek ended the use of the Greek alphabet] and unveiled a supplementary list of names to be used in event of exhaustion.

There have never been enough cyclones in one season to exhaust both the English and Greek alphabet (which would require more than 45 cyclones in a season; the most so far has been 30), and Randall is hypothesizing what the names would be if this happened. In the comic, the NHC has named the hurricanes using random words out of the {{w|Oxford English Dictionary}} (OED). The humor here is intrinsic: "Hurricane Eggbeater" is a bizarre and hilarious name (and may also refer to how an eggbeater spins and 'destroys' an egg in a similar manner to how a hurricane might affect the surrounding area). The place in the image shown is the Gulf of Mexico and its surroundings, with the land being white, and the ocean, black.

The title text takes this already surreal twist to an even more ridiculous extreme, where an impossibly long hurricane season exceeds 300,000+ storms and exhausts the OED completely. Even when the NHC starts referring to them using {{w|Natural number|counting numbers}}, which will be sufficient to cover an infinite number of hurricanes, they are foiled by a theorem in {{w|set theory}}. In mathematics, the set of all counting numbers is a {{w|countable set}} (as are the set of all integers or all fractions) whereas the set of all points on a surface is an {{w|uncountable set}} (as is the set of all real numbers). {{w|Cantor diagonalization}} is a famous proof that it is impossible to map objects from an uncountable set one-to-one with objects from a countable set. Applying this theorem to hurricanes, if there were to be one hurricane for every possible point on Earth's surface, it would be impossible to assign a distinct counting number to each one. This of course defeats NHC's last-resort naming scheme, but more pertinently, human civilization would be in a ''lot'' of trouble.

At this point, the meteorologists give up and decide to name all the hurricanes "Steve", which is popular on the internet as an arbitrary, generic name. Ironically, this makes "Steve" no longer arbitrary. The reporter then goes on to tell people that their forecast is "Steve" meaning that the hurricanes are everywhere. He says "good luck", which is probably because there are currently hurricanes on all points of the earth's surface at the time of his speaking.

==Transcript==
:[A weather reporter sits behind a desk with an image of the Gulf of Mexico and surrounding land masses displayed to his left. 9 hurricane symbols are scattered across the map, primarily over Cuba.]
:Reporter: After the latest wave of hurricanes, not only have we run through the year's list of 21 names, but we've also used up the backup list of Greek letters. All subsequent storms will be named using random dictionary words.
:Reporter: The newly-formed system in the gulf has been designated "Hurricane Eggbeater", and we once again pray this is the final storm of this horrible, horrible season.

==Trivia==
*There actually was once a {{w|Cyclone Steve}} in the Australian Basin.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:News anchor]]
[[Category:Hurricanes]]

2335: Photo Deposit

2020-07-20T21:12:59Z

172.69.34.246: /* Explanation */ wlinks

{{comic
| number = 2335
| date = July 20, 2020
| title = Photo Deposit
| image = photo_deposit.png
| titletext = It's okay, they scan the serial numbers and make sure you can't deposit the same bill more than once.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BANKNOTE PHOTOCOPIER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Some mobile banking apps allow users to deposit {{w|Cheque|check}}s through the app. The comic parodies this by "depositing" cash via a mobile app. This leads to duplication of the money. Checks cannot be duplicated by this method, as a check is, in some ways, an instruction for one bank to send money to another.

The title text states that the app recognizes the {{w|serial number}}s on the bills and prevents users from depositing them multiple times. It is unknown if multiple users can deposit the same bills. Even with a user being unable to deposit the same bills twice, they will still double the value of their cash, as they have a spendable copy of it in their account and they still have the original which could be spent outside the bank system.

In addition, the system would be highly vulnerable to {{w|Counterfeit money|counterfeiting}}. When depositing or paying with cash, the texture of cash is different from normal paper and therefore is a method to detect counterfeits. (In the U.S., bill are made from a sort of cloth. Other nations such as Canada and the U.K. have started introducing plastic banknotes.) In contrast, the low-resolution camera of a smartphone could be fooled by a printed image, or possibly even an image on a screen, effectively enabling an attacker to clone an arbitrary banknote without actually possessing it; enabling a determined person to arbitrarily lower the purchasing power of existing money significantly, without issuing any new money.

This comic is also related to {{w|fractional reserve banking}}, where banks create money through lending the same money multiple times.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Meghan is holding a (cash) bill in one hand, and is taking a picture of it with her smartphone with her other hand. Cueball is holding a (cash) bill in one hand, and is looking at his smartphone in his other hand.]

:Cueball's phone: Deposit accepted!
:Meghan's phone: click
:[Caption below panel:]
:After a lucrative six hours for us, our bank removed the new feature in their app that let you deposit cash by taking a picture of it.

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

2335: Photo Deposit

2020-07-20T21:08:38Z

172.69.34.246: /* Transcript */ more, categories

{{comic
| number = 2335
| date = July 20, 2020
| title = Photo Deposit
| image = photo_deposit.png
| titletext = It's okay, they scan the serial numbers and make sure you can't deposit the same bill more than once.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BANKNOTE PHOTOCOPIER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Some mobile banking apps allow users to deposit checks through the app. The comic parodies this by "depositing" cash via a mobile app. This leads to duplication of the money. Checks cannot be duplicated by this method, as a check is, in some ways, an instruction for one bank to send money to another.

The alt-text states that the app recognizes the serial numbers on the bills and prevents users from depositing them multiple times. It is unknown if multiple users can deposit the same bills. Even with a user being unable to deposit the same bills twice, they will still double the value of their cash, as they have a spendable copy of it in their account and they still have the original which could be spent outside the bank system.

In addition, the system would be highly vulnerable to counterfeiting. When depositing or paying with cash, the texture of cash is different from normal paper and therefore is a method to detect counterfeits. (In the U.S., bill are made from a sort of cloth. Other nations such as Canada and the U.K. have started introducing plastic banknotes.) In contrast, the low-resolution camera of a smartphone could be fooled by a printed image, or possibly even an image on a screen, effectively enabling an attacker to clone an arbitrary banknote without actually possessing it; enabling a determined person to arbitrarily lower the purchasing power of existing money significantly, without issuing any new money.

This comic is also related to {{w|fractional reserve banking}}, where banks create money through lending the same money multiple times.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Meghan is holding a (cash) bill in one hand, and is taking a picture of it with her smartphone with her other hand. Cueball is holding a (cash) bill in one hand, and is looking at his smartphone in his other hand.]

:Cueball's phone: Deposit accepted!
:Meghan's phone: click
:[Caption below panel:]
:After a lucrative six hours for us, our bank removed the new feature in their app that let you deposit cash by taking a picture of it.

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

Talk:458: Regrets

2020-03-12T15:50:26Z

172.69.34.246: Comment

Don't know how the original measure was made, but for curiosity's sake I just now checked the current raw Google search results for full-quoted "I should have kissed her" and its variants. That's "should" vs. "shouldn't" vs. "should not" (more imperative?), "have" vs. "...'ve" vs. "of" (to catch the ungrammatical) and of course "him" vs. "her" vs. "them" (plural/ungendered?) vs. "it" (..?).

Here are the figures reported (larger ones having been rounded to "About..." so many thousands). Some results (especially the main "should have kissed her" version) obviously were inclusive of the comic itself and direct references like this Wiki, and blogs from XKCD lovers and XKCD-haters alike who decided to make their own commentary.

{| class="wikitable"
! ..kissed !! Her !! Him !! Them !! It
|-
|Should have || align="right" | 1,120,000 || align="right" | 446,000 || align="right" | 310,000 || align="right" | 859,000
|-
|Shouldn't have || align="right" | 4,100,000 || align="right" | 1,110,000 || align="right" | 6 || align="right" | 1
|-
|Should not have || align="right" | 2,730,000 || align="right" | 542,000 || align="right" | 7 || ="shouldn't have"
|-
|colspan=3|
|-
! ..kissed !! Her !! Him !! Them !! It
|-
|Should've || align="right" | 799,900 || align="right" | 274,000 || align="right" | 94,000 || align="right" | 6
|-
|Shouldn't've || colspan="4" rowspan="2" | (Forced to "shouldn't have"... fair enough.)
|-
|Should not've
|-
|colspan=3|
|-
! ..kissed !! Her !! Him !! Them !! It
|-
|Should of || align="right" | 24,900 || align="right" | 18,500 || align="right" | 1,050 || align="right" | 411
|-
|Shouldn't of || align="right" | 6,840 || align="right" | 6,180 || align="right" | - || align="right" | -
|-
|Should not of || align="right" | 6,840 || align="right" | 6,180 || align="right" | - || align="right" | 1
|}

(Not everything is as intended. The lone "I should not of kissed it" result sends one to "...and i should not of kissed. it is the least i could do...", for example.)

Was going to try alternatives to "kissed", but might have gotten unwieldy. (And imagine the furore at Prism HQ for repeated searches using "killed"!)

I'll just leave this here for analysis and combining related figures however you so feel like. Not sure if the "of" camps are nicely small figures, in comparison, or still too uncomfortably large for my liking... [[Special:Contributions/178.107.249.215|178.107.249.215]] 22:09, 13 June 2013 (UTC)

You should be more concerned with when the original measure was taken. 2008. [[User:Flewk|flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 19:33, 28 December 2015 (UTC)

'''(A)''' I may change my negative view of eugenics, regarding any native speaker of English who ever uses "shouldn't of". <br/>
'''(2)''' But the reason I decided to comment is that there should be an entire Movie Ratings website or app dedicated to counting how many people said "I'm glad I saw [movie]". This is secretly the most brilliant real-world-application idea that the strip has produced, to this very day. Except whatever I see tomorrow as I reread the series, of course.<br/>
'''(III)''' Insider Build 1703 disables alt-numpad for ascii/unicode characters, except in native Metro apps, which Chrome isn't, so I have to hit windowskey-alt-numpad to pretend to search Start for the special character I use regularly, like °, ™, and naïvetè, then copy/paste it...in this case, the long hyphen for my sig. Bleh. <br/>
— [[User:Kazvorpal|Kazvorpal]] ([[User talk:Kazvorpal|talk]]) 15:14, 4 August 2017 (UTC)
:I'd say it's nice to see you, Kazvorpal. But it's not. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.246|172.69.34.246]] 15:50, 12 March 2020 (UTC)

2277: Business Greetings

2020-03-06T18:51:27Z

172.69.34.246: /* Explanation */ wlinks

{{comic
| number = 2277
| date = March 6, 2020
| title = Business Greetings
| image = business_greetings.png
| titletext = We have email and social media now, so we probably don't need to keep exchanging business cards by pressing them gently against each others' faces with an open palm and smearing them around.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an EYEBALL LICKER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic is the third comic in a row about the {{w|2019–20 coronavirus outbreak|outbreak in 2020}} of the {{w|coronavirus}} - {{w|SARS-CoV-2}}. The first comic was [[2275: Coronavirus Name]] and the second [[2276: Self-Isolate]], making all comics of that week about the virus outbreak.

As a reaction to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, people are refraining from personal contact. This leads to changes with customs in the workplace - e.g. {{w|handshake|shaking hands}} at the beginning of a meeting, etc.

The comic shows [[Beret Guy]] addressing his employees at [[:Category:Beret Guy's Business|his eccentric company]] ([[Ponytail]], [[Hairy]] and [[Hairbun]]). He states that they should not overreact to the coronavirus. But at least they should now quit their usual startup procedure at meetings where everyone is "licking each others eyeballs". Virus or not, it is not common for humans to lick anyone's eyeballs at meetings or in any other situation.{{Citation needed}}

The fun thing is that his employers state that they will miss this human contact, but that they at least understand.

Contact between saliva and eyes are a very common way to get the virus spread. But usually this occurs from one person sneezing,
or people touching their faces and eyes, and airborne particles randomly coming in contact with the eye, not by applying the saliva directly to a person's eyeball by means of the tongue.

When the comic was first published, it did not have a title-text. This has almost exclusively occurred previously with special interactive or dynamic comics. Absence of title-text is so unusual that it broke at least one xkcd client ([https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.floern.xkcd Browser for xkcd by Floern]). During the day of the release, the title-text has been added, and it refers to an actual business custom (exchanging {{w|business card}}s), but one which is absurdly altered to promote the spread of disease by touching cards and hands to faces.

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy is standing to the left addressing Ponytail, Hairy and Hairbun sitting in office chairs at a table. Hairbun is at the end of the table. All three have one arm on the table.]
:Beret Guy: I don't think we should overreact to the coronavirus,
:Beret Guy: But it might be time to put an end to the custom of starting business meetings by everyone licking each others' eyeballs.
:Hairy: I'll miss the human contact, but that's fair.
:Hairbun: Gotta change with the times.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Beret Guy's Business]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Social interactions]]

2277: Business Greetings

2020-03-06T18:49:35Z

172.69.34.246: /* Explanation */ more

{{comic
| number = 2277
| date = March 6, 2020
| title = Business Greetings
| image = business_greetings.png
| titletext = We have email and social media now, so we probably don't need to keep exchanging business cards by pressing them gently against each others' faces with an open palm and smearing them around.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an EYEBALL LICKER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic is the third comic in a row about the {{w|2019–20 coronavirus outbreak|outbreak in 2020}} of the {{w|coronavirus}} - {{w|SARS-CoV-2}}. The first comic was [[2275: Coronavirus Name]] and the second [[2276: Self-Isolate]], making all comics of that week about the virus outbreak.

As a reaction to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, people are refraining from personal contact. This leads to changes with customs in the workplace - e.g. shaking hands at the beginning of a meeting, etc.

The comic shows [[Beret Guy]] addressing his employees at [[:Category:Beret Guy's Business|his eccentric company]] ([[Ponytail]], [[Hairy]] and [[Hairbun]]). He states that they should not overreact to the coronavirus. But at least they should now quit their usual startup procedure at meetings where everyone is "licking each others eyeballs". Virus or not, it is not common for humans to lick anyone's eyeballs at meetings or in any other situation.{{Citation needed}}

The fun thing is that his employers state that they will miss this human contact, but that they at least understand.

Contact between saliva and eyes are a very common way to get the virus spread. But usually this occurs from one person sneezing,
or people touching their faces and eyes, and airborne particles randomly coming in contact with the eye, not by applying the saliva directly to a person's eyeball by means of the tongue.

When the comic was first published, it did not have a title-text. This has almost exclusively occurred previously with special interactive or dynamic comics. Absence of title-text is so unusual that it broke at least one xkcd client ([https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.floern.xkcd Browser for xkcd by Floern]). During the day of the release, the title-text has been added, and it refers to an actual business custom (exchanging business cards), but one which is absurdly altered to promote the spread of disease by touching cards and hands to faces.

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy is standing to the left addressing Ponytail, Hairy and Hairbun sitting in office chairs at a table. Hairbun is at the end of the table. All three have one arm on the table.]
:Beret Guy: I don't think we should overreact to the coronavirus,
:Beret Guy: But it might be time to put an end to the custom of starting business meetings by everyone licking each others' eyeballs.
:Hairy: I'll miss the human contact, but that's fair.
:Hairbun: Gotta change with the times.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Beret Guy's Business]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Social interactions]]

2275: Coronavirus Name

2020-03-03T04:51:42Z

172.69.34.246: Ce

{{comic
| number = 2275
| date = March 2, 2020
| title = Coronavirus Name
| image = coronavirus_name.png
| titletext = It's important to keep the spider from touching your face.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a MUTANT T. ANNEXA WOLF SPIDER WITH COVID-19. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is [[Randall|Randall's]] take on the {{w|2019–20 coronavirus outbreak|coronavirus outbreak}}. As of March 2020, the coronavirus outbreak has infected more than 90,000 people, and has caused more than 3000 deaths.

The disease caused by the virus was officially named {{w|Coronavirus disease 2019|COVID-19}} on 11 February 2020, as "{{w|coronavirus}}" is a category of viruses named for their appearance, which is similar to a halo or crown. However, the virus itself is not called COVID-19, but is called {{w|severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2}} (SARS-CoV-2). So calling the virus or disease "coronavirus" is like calling a specific strain of flu ''The Influenza virus''. However, with extensive media coverage, the name "Coronavirus" has become associated with COVID-19, making it difficult to discuss other types of coronavirus later on.

COVID-19 has a 20% hospitalization rate and a 2% death rate by current estimates, compared to a [https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-myths.html typical rate of around 0.1% for the flu in the US].

In this comic, researchers [[Ponytail]], [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are discussing that it is by now too late to try calling the disease its official name COVID-19, as the name coronavirus has stuck. [[Cueball]] reacts with dismay, since there are many other types of coronaviruses.

The comic becomes absurd when Ponytail compares the coronavirus naming to a "car eating spider" living on top of the skyscrapers of the town, which is also just called "The Spider" even though it is technically a mutated ''{{w|Tigrosa annexa}}'' {{w|wolf spider}}. Everyone know what you mean when you say "Coronavirus", as they do when you mention "The Spider".

[[Megan]] then asks if they should not also do something about the spider, but Ponytail and Cueball agree that they can only tackle one problem at a time, and coronavirus takes up all their time. Only thing is that Ponytail now takes another commute, probably to avoid getting her car eaten.

The title text references the health advice that people avoid touching their face with unwashed hands, in order to prevent infections that they picked up by touching things from entering their mucous membranes. (It's a lot easier for an infection to enter the body through the inside of your nose than your hands.) It is likewise quite important to keep giant spiders from touching your face, but for the dissimilar reason that they'll bite and eat you.

==Transcript==
:[Megan is carrying a box with biohazard symbols on it towards a desk where Ponytail (wearing safety glasses) is working on a laptop, across from Cueball (also wearing safety glasses) who is putting a test tube into a centrifuge. There's also a flask on the desk.]
:Ponytail: Feels like we missed the window for the "COVID-19" renaming. "Coronavirus" is just too catchy.
:Cueball: But it's not specific! There are a lot of coronaviruses.

:[In a frameless panel, Ponytail (still wearing safety glasses) is pointing at a screen or picture showing a modern city skyline with a large spider crawling across three of the high-rise buildings.]
:Ponytail: I think it's fine. It's like, you know the giant spider downtown that sits on the buildings and sometimes eats cars? I think ''technically'' it's a mutant ''T. annexa'' wolf spider, but everyone is just calling it "the spider" and we all know what they mean.

:[Back to the setting from the first panel. Megan is standing and Ponytail had turned towards her and Cueball has stepped back from the machine.]
:Megan: I've been meaning to ask, what's '''''with''''' that spider? Should we...do something?
:Ponytail: Honestly I've been too busy with the virus stuff to look into it-I just changed my commute to avoid Main St.
:Cueball: Yeah, that's fair. One thing at a time.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Spiders]]

Talk:2275: Coronavirus Name

2020-03-02T22:28:50Z

172.69.34.246: add

Covid-19 is more dangerous than the flu and has already killed more people. And any death rate that starts with 0.00 and then has a number other than zero can only be called "basically zero" if you value human life very little. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.94.132|162.158.94.132]] 21:49, 2 March 2020 (UTC)
:addendum: this seems to depend on what source you use for the chinese yearly flu death rate. number of deaths is either much higher or somewhat lower.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.123|162.158.91.123]] 21:53, 2 March 2020 (UTC)
:It's Trump taking point that the coronavirus is a hoax and no worse than the flu. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.213|162.158.74.213]] 22:14, 2 March 2020 (UTC)
:At the very least, the fact the virus has over 90,000 confirmed cases makes it a significant disease. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.246|172.69.34.246]] 22:28, 2 March 2020 (UTC)

2275: Coronavirus Name

2020-03-02T22:26:45Z

172.69.34.246: /* Explanation */ remove

{{comic
| number = 2275
| date = March 2, 2020
| title = Coronavirus Name
| image = coronavirus_name.png
| titletext = It's important to keep the spider from touching your face.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a MUTANT T. ANNEXA WOLF SPIDER WITH COVID-19. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is [[Randall|Randall's]] take on the hysteria in the media regarding the {{w|2019–20 coronavirus outbreak|coronavirus outbreak}}. The disease caused by the virus was properly named {{w|Coronavirus disease 2019|COVID-19}} on 11 February 2020, as "{{w|coronavirus}}" is a category of viruses named for their appearance. So it is like calling a specific strain of flu ''The Influenza virus''.

But with all the mass media hysteria going on, the name Coronavirus has been hammered in, so now the COVID-19 strain of coronavirus will always just be known as "coronavirus" making it difficult to discuss other types of coronavirus later on.

COVID-19 has a 20% hospitalization rate and a 2% death rate by current estimates, compared to a typical rate of around 0.1% for the flu in the US.[https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-myths.html]

In this comic, researchers [[Ponytail]], [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are discussing that it is by now too late to try calling the virus its official name COVID-19, as the name coronavirus has stuck. [[Cueball]] reacts with dismay, since there are many other types of coronaviruses.

The comic becomes absurd when Ponytail compares the coronavirus naming to a "car eating spider" living on top of the skyscrapers of the town, which is also just called "The Spider" even though it is technically a mutated ''{{w|Tigrosa annexa}}'' {{w|wolf spider}}. Everyone know what you mean when you say "Coronavirus", as they do when you mention "The Spider".

[[Megan]] then asks if they should not also do something about the spider, but Ponytail and Cueball agree that they can only tackle one problem at a time, and coronavirus takes up all their time. Only thing is that Ponytail now takes another commute, probably to avoid getting her car eaten.

The title text references the health advice that people avoid touching their face with unwashed hands, in order to prevent infections that they picked up by touching things from entering their mucous membranes. (It's a lot easier for an infection to enter the body through the inside of your nose than your hands.) It is likewise quite important to keep giant spiders from touching your face, but for the dissimilar reason that they'll bite and eat you.

==Transcript==
:[Megan is carrying a box with biohazard symbols on it towards a desk where Ponytail (wearing safety glasses) is working on a laptop, across from Cueball (also wearing safety glasses) who is putting a test tube into a centrifuge. There's also a flask on the desk.]
:Ponytail: Feels like we missed the window for the "COVID-19" renaming. "Coronavirus" is just too catchy.
:Cueball: But it's not specific! There are a lot of coronaviruses.

:[In a frameless panel, Ponytail (still wearing safety glasses) is pointing at a screen or picture showing a modern city skyline with a large spider crawling across three of the high-rise buildings.]
:Ponytail: I think it's fine. It's like, you know the giant spider downtown that sits on the buildings and sometimes eats cars? I think ''technically'' it's a mutant ''T. annexa'' wolf spider, but everyone is just calling it "the spider" and we all know what they mean.

:[Back to the setting from the first panel. Megan is standing and Ponytail had turned towards her and Cueball has stepped back from the machine.]
:Megan: I've been meaning to ask, what's '''''with''''' that spider? Should we...do something?
:Ponytail: Honestly I've been too busy with the virus stuff to look into it-I just changed my commute to avoid Main St.
:Cueball: Yeah, that's fair. One thing at a time.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Spiders]]

2275: Coronavirus Name

2020-03-02T22:25:52Z

172.69.34.246: /* Transcript */ ce

{{comic
| number = 2275
| date = March 2, 2020
| title = Coronavirus Name
| image = coronavirus_name.png
| titletext = It's important to keep the spider from touching your face.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a MUTANT T. ANNEXA WOLF SPIDER WITH COVID-19. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is [[Randall|Randall's]] take on the hysteria in the media regarding the {{w|2019–20 coronavirus outbreak|coronavirus outbreak}}. The disease caused by the virus was properly named {{w|Coronavirus disease 2019|COVID-19}} on 11 February 2020, as "{{w|coronavirus}}" is a category of viruses named for their appearance. So it is like calling a specific strain of flu ''The Influenza virus''.

But with all the mass media hysteria going on, the name Coronavirus has been hammered in, so now the COVID-19 strain of coronavirus will always just be known as "coronavirus" making it difficult to discuss other types of coronavirus later on.

COVID-19 has a 20% hospitalization rate and a 2% death rate by current estimates, compared to a typical rate of around 0.1% for the flu in the US.[https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-myths.html]

In this comic, researchers [[Ponytail]], [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are discussing that it is by now too late to try calling the virus its official name COVID-19, as the name coronavirus has stuck. [[Cueball]] reacts with dismay, since there are many other types of coronaviruses.

The comic becomes absurd when Ponytail compares the coronavirus naming to a "car eating spider" living on top of the skyscrapers of the town, which is also just called "The Spider" even though it is technically a mutated ''{{w|Tigrosa annexa}}'' {{w|wolf spider}}. Everyone know what you mean when you say "Coronavirus", as they do when you mention "The Spider".

[[Megan]] then asks if they should not also do something about the spider, but Ponytail and Cueball agree that they can only tackle one problem at a time, and coronavirus takes up all their time. Only thing is that Ponytail now takes another commute, probably to avoid getting her car eaten.

The point is that because of all the coverage of the Coronavirus all other world problems are pushed to the back of people's mind. And considering that the virus is likely not really that bad, most people recover faster than from the flu, this is a lot of fuss for nothing. And takes away resources from where they are more urgently needed.

The title text references the health advice that people avoid touching their face with unwashed hands, in order to prevent infections that they picked up by touching things from entering their mucous membranes. (It's a lot easier for an infection to enter the body through the inside of your nose than your hands.) It is likewise quite important to keep giant spiders from touching your face, but for the dissimilar reason that they'll bite and eat you.

==Transcript==
:[Megan is carrying a box with biohazard symbols on it towards a desk where Ponytail (wearing safety glasses) is working on a laptop, across from Cueball (also wearing safety glasses) who is putting a test tube into a centrifuge. There's also a flask on the desk.]
:Ponytail: Feels like we missed the window for the "COVID-19" renaming. "Coronavirus" is just too catchy.
:Cueball: But it's not specific! There are a lot of coronaviruses.

:[In a frameless panel, Ponytail (still wearing safety glasses) is pointing at a screen or picture showing a modern city skyline with a large spider crawling across three of the high-rise buildings.]
:Ponytail: I think it's fine. It's like, you know the giant spider downtown that sits on the buildings and sometimes eats cars? I think ''technically'' it's a mutant ''T. annexa'' wolf spider, but everyone is just calling it "the spider" and we all know what they mean.

:[Back to the setting from the first panel. Megan is standing and Ponytail had turned towards her and Cueball has stepped back from the machine.]
:Megan: I've been meaning to ask, what's '''''with''''' that spider? Should we...do something?
:Ponytail: Honestly I've been too busy with the virus stuff to look into it-I just changed my commute to avoid Main St.
:Cueball: Yeah, that's fair. One thing at a time.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Spiders]]

2275: Coronavirus Name

2020-03-02T22:23:54Z

172.69.34.246: /* Explanation */ more, cleanup

{{comic
| number = 2275
| date = March 2, 2020
| title = Coronavirus Name
| image = coronavirus_name.png
| titletext = It's important to keep the spider from touching your face.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a MUTANT T. ANNEXA WOLF SPIDER WITH COVID-19. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is [[Randall|Randall's]] take on the hysteria in the media regarding the {{w|2019–20 coronavirus outbreak|coronavirus outbreak}}. The disease caused by the virus was properly named {{w|Coronavirus disease 2019|COVID-19}} on 11 February 2020, as "{{w|coronavirus}}" is a category of viruses named for their appearance. So it is like calling a specific strain of flu ''The Influenza virus''.

But with all the mass media hysteria going on, the name Coronavirus has been hammered in, so now the COVID-19 strain of coronavirus will always just be known as "coronavirus" making it difficult to discuss other types of coronavirus later on.

COVID-19 has a 20% hospitalization rate and a 2% death rate by current estimates, compared to a typical rate of around 0.1% for the flu in the US.[https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-myths.html]

In this comic, researchers [[Ponytail]], [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are discussing that it is by now too late to try calling the virus its official name COVID-19, as the name coronavirus has stuck. [[Cueball]] reacts with dismay, since there are many other types of coronaviruses.

The comic becomes absurd when Ponytail compares the coronavirus naming to a "car eating spider" living on top of the skyscrapers of the town, which is also just called "The Spider" even though it is technically a mutated ''{{w|Tigrosa annexa}}'' {{w|wolf spider}}. Everyone know what you mean when you say "Coronavirus", as they do when you mention "The Spider".

[[Megan]] then asks if they should not also do something about the spider, but Ponytail and Cueball agree that they can only tackle one problem at a time, and coronavirus takes up all their time. Only thing is that Ponytail now takes another commute, probably to avoid getting her car eaten.

The point is that because of all the coverage of the Coronavirus all other world problems are pushed to the back of people's mind. And considering that the virus is likely not really that bad, most people recover faster than from the flu, this is a lot of fuss for nothing. And takes away resources from where they are more urgently needed.

The title text references the health advice that people avoid touching their face with unwashed hands, in order to prevent infections that they picked up by touching things from entering their mucous membranes. (It's a lot easier for an infection to enter the body through the inside of your nose than your hands.) It is likewise quite important to keep giant spiders from touching your face, but for the dissimilar reason that they'll bite and eat you.

==Transcript==
:[Megan is carrying a box with biohazard symbols on it towards a desk where Ponytail (wearing safety glasses) is working on a laptop, across from Cueball (also wearing safety glasses) who is putting a test tube into a centrifuge. There's also a flask on the desk.]
:Ponytail: Feels like we missed the window for the "Covid-19" renaming. "Coronavirus" is just to catchy.
:Cueball: But it's not specific! There are a lot of coronaviruses.

:[In a frameless panel, Ponytail (still wearing safety glasses) is pointing at a screen or picture showing a modern city skyline with a large spider crawling across three of the high-rises.]
:Ponytail: I think it's fine. It's like, you know the giant spider downtown that sits on the buildings and sometimes eats cars? I think ''technically'' it's a mutant ''T. annexa'' wolf spider, but everyone is just calling it "the spider" and we all know what they mean.

:[Back to the setting from the first panel. Megan is standing and Ponytail had turned towards her and Cueball has stepped back from the machine.]
:Megan: I've been meaning to ask, what's '''''with''''' that spider? Should we...do something?
:Ponytail: Honestly I've been too busy with the virus stuff to look into it-I just changed my commute to avoid Main St.
:Cueball: Yeah, that's fair. One thing at a time.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Spiders]]

2273: Truck Proximity

2020-02-28T19:05:05Z

172.69.34.246: /* Transcript */ ce

{{comic
| number = 2273
| date = February 26, 2020
| title = Truck Proximity
| image = truck_proximity.png
| titletext = See also: Farm animals and dinosaurs. I am so confident that there exists children's media that involves dinosaurs driving trucks on a farm that I'm writing this without even Googling to check.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a DINOSAUR DRIVING A TRUCK ON A FARM. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is a graph showing the relationship between time spent in proximity to trucks and level of knowledge about different types of trucks. For the general populace the two tend to go together: people who do not spend much time around trucks are less likely to have knowledge about trucks, and people who spend more time around trucks are more likely to have knowledge about trucks. People with jobs or hobbies involving trucks spend a lot of time with them and must know how they work, so they fit this trend but at a higher level on both axes.

The outlier group presented here are parents of small children. Small children think trucks are cool and learn a lot about them, and then share this knowledge with their parents. The children themselves might be counted into the "people with truck-related hobbies" but parents won't and are unlikely to go near any truck. They might also ''try'' to keep their children away from them, which is why they have less proximity to trucks than most normal people.

The title text presumes that this graph could also be made about dinosaurs and farm animals. [[Randall]] confidently states that children like dinosaurs and farms and trucks, and so there must be multimedia featuring all three at once. In fact, books about dinosaurs driving tractors on farms do exist ([https://www.amazon.com/Dinosaur-Farm-Penny-Dale/dp/0763699365 Dinosaur Farm!] and [https://www.amazon.com/Dinosaur-Farm-Frann-Preston-Gannon/dp/1454911328 Dinosaur Farm] are two examples), as are books about them driving trucks ([https://www.amazon.com/Dinosaur-Rescue-Penny-Dales-Dinosaurs/dp/0857631675 Dinosaur Rescue!]) as well as TV shows about dinosaurs that ARE trucks ({{w|Dinotrux}}). Not all three together [https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/f9zvra/childrens_media_that_involves_dinosaurs_driving/ so far], apparently trucks and farms do not mix very well.

==Transcript==
:[A chart is shown with two axes. Each axis has a label with an arrow pointing from the label towards higher values. No values are shown.]
:X-axis: Knowledge of different types of trucks
:Y-axis: Proximity to trucks in daily life

:[Three sections are marked on the chart with dotted lines, drawn in imperfect ellipses. The first two circumscribe areas along the diagonal X=Y. A large one takes up about two thirds of the length starting from the origin, and a smaller one is separated a bit from the first one, but continuing the trend of X=Y. This takes up less than a third at the top right. Below this, close to the X-axis is a third even smaller section, its outer edge is as far to the right at the one at the top. Each of these three sections has a label written inside. From largest to smallest these are:]
:Normal people
:People with truck related jobs or hobbies
:Parents of children age 2-5

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]
[[Category:Animals]]