explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2662: Physics Safety Tip

2022-08-23T03:22:34Z

172.69.71.32: /* Explanation */ Readded part about ordinary conditions being boring

{{comic
| number = 2662
| date = August 22, 2022
| title = Physics Safety Tip
| image = physics_safety_tip.png
| titletext = In general, avoid exposure to any temperatures, pressures, particle energies, or states of matter that physicists think are neat.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT PHYSICISTS ARE EXCITED ABOUT (STEP AWAY, BUSTER) - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In general, there are very narrow ranges of temperature, pressure, and chemical makeup humans can survive in. Physicists often find these ordinary conditions boring and instead study more extreme conditions, most of which would be quickly lethal to humans — anything from the core of stars to the vacuum of space and many, many things in between. Thus, extreme conditions are very dangerous for most organisms. Even for especially resilient organisms, such as tardigrades, there is a point past which they will [https://what-if.xkcd.com/141/ stop being biology and start being physics], in which case their resilience will not save them. Thus, if a physicist is excited about something, it likely exists in circumstances where your own existence—as well as other life—would meet an end. One (partial) exception is particle beams; {{w|Anatoli Bugorski|people can stick their heads in particle beams and survive—but not unscathed.}} Also, physicists used to be excited about (particles produced by) cosmic rays before they had powerful accelerators.

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

:General Physics Safety Tip:
:[The next line of text is shown in gray.]
:(From ''What If 2'', xkcd.com/whatif2)

:[A flowchart consisting of three rectangular boxes, a diamond box, and three arrows is shown.]

:[The first rectangular box, at the top, is the starting point. It says:]
:Should I stand near this thing?

:[A down-pointing arrow leads to a diamond decision box. Two arrows lead from it, one pointing to the right and labeled "No", the other pointing down and labeled "Yes". The diamond box reads:]
:Are physicists excited about it?

:[The "No" arrow from the diamond box leads to the following rectangular box:]
:Maybe

:[The "Yes" arrow from the diamond box leads to the following rectangular box:]
:No

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Tips]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Flowcharts]]
[[Category:Book promotion]]

2662: Physics Safety Tip

2022-08-22T21:51:43Z

172.69.71.32: /* Explanation */ Mentioned exceptions

{{comic
| number = 2662
| date = August 22, 2022
| title = Physics Safety Tip
| image = physics_safety_tip.png
| titletext = In general, avoid exposure to any temperatures, pressures, particle energies, or states of matter that physicists think are neat.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT PHYSICISTS ARE EXCITED ABOUT (STEP AWAY, BUSTER) - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In general, the circumstances that are required for life are quite boring to a physicist. That's because physicists often study materials in extreme circumstances, which life has not evolved to tolerate and therefore (for most organisms) cannot tolerate very well. Thus, extreme conditions are very dangerous for most organisms. Even for especially resilient organisms, such as tardigrades, there is a point past which they will [https://what-if.xkcd.com/141/ stop being biology and start being physics], in which case their resilience will not save them. Thus, if a physicist is excited about something, it likely exists in circumstances where your own existence—as well as other life—would meet an end. One (partial) exception is particle beams; {{w|Anatoli Bugorski|people can stick their heads in particle beams and survive—but not unscathed.)}} Also, physicists used to be excited about (particles produced by) cosmic rays before they had powerful accelerators.

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

:General Physics Safety Tip:
:[The next line of text is shown in gray.]
:(From ''What If 2'', xkcd.com/whatif2)

:[A flowchart consisting of three rectangular boxes, a diamond box, and three arrows is shown.]

:[The first rectangular box, at the top, is the starting point. It says:]
:Should I stand near this thing?

:[A down-pointing arrow leads to a diamond decision box. Two arrows lead from it, one pointing to the right and labeled "No", the other pointing down and labeled "Yes". The diamond box reads:]
:Are physicists excited about it?

:[The "No" arrow from the diamond box leads to the following rectangular box:]
:Maybe

:[The "Yes" arrow from the diamond box leads to the following rectangular box:]
:No

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Flowcharts]]

2662: Physics Safety Tip

2022-08-22T21:46:14Z

172.69.71.32: add cat

{{comic
| number = 2662
| date = August 22, 2022
| title = Physics Safety Tip
| image = physics_safety_tip.png
| titletext = In general, avoid exposure to any temperatures, pressures, particle energies, or states of matter that physicists think are neat.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT PHYSICISTS ARE EXCITED ABOUT (STEP AWAY, BUSTER) - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In general, the circumstances that are required for life are quite boring to a physicist. That's because physicists often study materials in extreme circumstances, which life has not evolved to tolerate and therefore (for most organisms) cannot tolerate very well. Thus, extreme conditions are very dangerous for most organisms. Even for especially resilient organisms, such as tardigrades, there is a point past which they will [https://what-if.xkcd.com/141/ stop being biology and start being physics], in which case their resilience will not save them. Thus, if a physicist is excited about something, it likely exists in circumstances where your own existence—as well as other life—would meet an end.

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

:General Physics Safety Tip:
:[The next line of text is shown in gray.]
:(From ''What If 2'', xkcd.com/whatif2)

:[A flowchart consisting of three rectangular boxes, a diamond box, and three arrows is shown.]

:[The first rectangular box, at the top, is the starting point. It says:]
:Should I stand near this thing?

:[A down-pointing arrow leads to a diamond decision box. Two arrows lead from it, one pointing to the right and labeled "No", the other pointing down and labeled "Yes". The diamond box reads:]
:Are physicists excited about it?

:[The "No" arrow from the diamond box leads to the following rectangular box:]
:Maybe

:[The "Yes" arrow from the diamond box leads to the following rectangular box:]
:No

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Flowcharts]]

2662: Physics Safety Tip

2022-08-22T21:46:08Z

172.69.71.32: /* Explanation */ Corrected to plural and elaborated that extreme conditions are not only dangerous to humans

{{comic
| number = 2662
| date = August 22, 2022
| title = Physics Safety Tip
| image = physics_safety_tip.png
| titletext = In general, avoid exposure to any temperatures, pressures, particle energies, or states of matter that physicists think are neat.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT PHYSICISTS ARE EXCITED ABOUT (STEP AWAY, BUSTER) - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In general, the circumstances that are required for life are quite boring to a physicist. That's because physicists often study materials in extreme circumstances, which life has not evolved to tolerate and therefore (for most organisms) cannot tolerate very well. Thus, extreme conditions are very dangerous for most organisms. Even for especially resilient organisms, such as tardigrades, there is a point past which they will [https://what-if.xkcd.com/141/ stop being biology and start being physics], in which case their resilience will not save them. Thus, if a physicist is excited about something, it likely exists in circumstances where your own existence—as well as other life—would meet an end.

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

:General Physics Safety Tip:
:[The next line of text is shown in gray.]
:(From ''What If 2'', xkcd.com/whatif2)

:[A flowchart consisting of three rectangular boxes, a diamond box, and three arrows is shown.]

:[The first rectangular box, at the top, is the starting point. It says:]
:Should I stand near this thing?

:[A down-pointing arrow leads to a diamond decision box. Two arrows lead from it, one pointing to the right and labeled "No", the other pointing down and labeled "Yes". The diamond box reads:]
:Are physicists excited about it?

:[The "No" arrow from the diamond box leads to the following rectangular box:]
:Maybe

:[The "Yes" arrow from the diamond box leads to the following rectangular box:]
:No

{{comic discussion}}

2661: Age Milestone Privileges

2022-08-20T18:26:41Z

172.69.71.32: /* Explanation */ Clarified how some states use a minimum age below 18 and made other changes

{{comic
| number = 2661
| date = August 19, 2022
| title = Age Milestone Privileges
| image = age_milestone_privileges.png
| titletext = If you reach 122, you get complete unrevertible editorial control over Jeanne Calment's Wikipedia article.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BABY GOD-EMPRESS MAKING THE PRESIDENT'S LETTER R-RATED - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is a list of "age milestones" in the United States. As usual for Randall, he has added many fictional entries to supplement some real life ones.

{| class="wikitable"
! Age || Privilege || Description
|-
| 16 || Drive || Legal driving age varies by state in the US. In Randall's state of Massachusetts, 16 is the minimum age to apply for a learner's permit.
|-
| 17 || Attend R-Rated movies alone ||In the US, the Motion Picture Association assigns {{w|Motion_Picture_Association_film_rating_system|ratings}} to movies based on whether content in said movie is generally acceptable to present to minors. A rating of "R" is supposed to prohibit viewing by minors under 17 years of age unless a parent or guardian accompanies them.
|-
| 18 || Vote || The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution prevents a minimum age of voting from being set above eighteen but does not preclude a minimum age below eighteen. Some states allow 17-year-olds to vote in primaries if they must be allowed to vote in the general election, but Randall's state of Massachusetts is not one of them.
|-
| 21 || Buy Alcohol || In the US, the legal drinking age is 21 years, although other countries have a lower drinking age. For example, in Japan the legal age to drink is 20; whilst in the UK a person as young as 16 may have alcohol with a meal, although they are not allowed to buy it themselves.
|-
| 25 || Rent a car || Car rental companies charge higher rates for underage drivers; traditionally the minimum age is 25.
|-`e
| 30 || Run for Senate || This entry is slightly incorrect: one must be at least 30 years old in order to ''become'' Senator, not ''run'' for Senate. Joe Biden was 29 years old when he was first elected to Senate but turned 30 before being sworn in.
|-
| 32 || Rent a Senator's Car || This is the first joke entry in the table. For one thing, most Senators do not rent out their cars, which they probably need to use regularly themselves because they have jobs{{citation needed}} to commute to, and it would be a security hazard to allow random strangers access to their vehicle.
|-
| 35 || Run for president || In the US a person must be at least 35 years old to be eligible to the Office of President.
|-
| 40 || Rent a flying car || A 25 year-old might be able to rent a non-flying car today, but not a flying car, because the technology is not mature enough to the point where they're available to rent. The joke is that by the time a 25 year-old reader becomes 40, the technology will exist and they'll be able to rent a flying car. Unlike the earlier lines, the limitation has nothing to do with their age, just technological development.
Alternatively, even once flying cars are developed, their usage will be more restricted. For example, young people tend to be more vulnerable to radicalization, so some drivers between 25 and 40 might use flying cars for terrorism purposes, e.g., fly them into the World Trade Center.
|-
| 45 || Learn about the god-empress || Obviously, the god-empress does not actually exist because this comic is visible to people under 45 years old.{{citation needed}}. According to [[1413]], she will be public knowledge by 2040 anyway.
|-
| 50 || Join AARP || Full AARP (formerly called the American Association of Retired Persons) membership is available to anyone age 50 and over. {{w|AARP}}
|-
| 50 || Get a shingles vaccine || At the time of the comic, the [https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/shingles/public/shingrix/index.html CDC recommended] that adults 50 years and older get the shingles vaccine called Shingrix (this line was not in the original version of the comic, corrected later)
|-
| 52 || Click to skip captchas || Older people might have more difficulty understanding captchas. Also, they could be more inconvenienced because some older people move more slowly, so it would take them longer to move the mouse, and people would care more about older people anyway. However, this would be impractical to implement because if the computer knew the person's age, it would know that the user is a person, not a bot, so there would be no point in a captcha anyway.
|-
| 55 || Vote for god-empress ||
|-
| 62 || $80 national parks lifetime pass || https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/passes.htm
|-
| 65 || Eligible for Medicare || Medicare is government-run health insurance for older people.
|-
| 67 || Collect Social Security || U.S. individuals may collect reduced Social Security benefits starting at age 62, and they can collect increased Social Security benefits if they wait until age 70.
|-
| 68 || See "Skip ads" button on live tv || Some DVRs and streaming applications have a feature to skip over commercial breaks in recorded programs, but this could not be available in live TV, since it would require jumping forward in time. Time travel is currently impossible.{{citation needed}} ||
|-
| 70 || Run for God-empress || The name suggests that this would also only be available to women.
|-
| 75 || Ride any animal in a national park || The National Parks Service probably could institute this relatively safely because most people over 75 would not be able to run fast enough to outrun/catch up to an animal and mount it{{citation needed}} and would not have the rebellious/risk-taking/adventurous streak that would incline them to try.{{citation needed}}
|-
| 80 || Eligible for Megacare || This is based off of becoming eligible for Medicare at age 65.
|-
| 85 || Click to toggle whether an ad is positive or negative about the product ||
|-
| 90 || Click to make any movie R-rated || It is unclear whether this would actually make the movie less appropriate or change the Motion Picture Association's rating to be erroneous. Also, what if the rating was previously NC-17?
|-
| 100 || Get a letter from the president || In the US (which other milestones, such as running for president starting at age 35, indicate is the country being referred to), you instead get congratulated by the weatherman on the {{w|Today Show}}. However, the United Kingdom is much closer. People there receive a card (formerly a telegram, later a TeleMessage) from the Queen on their 100th birthday. (This is not automatic, but has to be applied for.)
|-
| 102 || (35+67) Collect a presidential pension || The idea behind this joke is that it is the minimum age of presidency plus the minimal age to collect Social Security. There are several reasons why this must be a joke. Two are that Social Security begins 67 years after the person was born, not 67 years after the person's job started, and that the United States government would not bother to set up such a system because the vast majority of people, including former presidents, do not live to 102 years old. In fact, as of 2022, no former United States president has ever lived to 102 years old.
|-
| 105 || Get a birthday card from the god-empress || Being a god-empress would be more important than being the leader of a single country. This would make the god-empresses's time more valuable, so she only has to sent a birthday card to the few people who reach the age of 105.
|-
| 111 || Leave your own birthday party early by putting on a magic ring || This is a reference to the Lord of the Rings where Bilbo leaves his eleventy-first birthday party (the Bilbo Baggins Farewell Birthday Party) invisibly by using The One Ring.
|-
| 118 || Vote 100 times || Presumably a joke meaning the person can vote 100 times in each election. If there were one election at the same time each year, this would actually be the 101st vote the person is eligible to cast in their lifetime. If the sole election of each year were held at a different time of each year, someone who voted in every election might vote for the 100th time at either age 116, 117, or 118. However this milestone would happen earlier because there are often multiple elections per year, e.g., primaries, general elections, and possibly runoffs.
|-
| 120 || Collect the pensions of all elected officials ||
|-
| 125 || Drink alcohol in an R-rated movie while getting a shingles vaccine from the president || This entry references four earlier milestones (attending an R-rated movie, drinking alcohol, becoming President, and getting the shingles vaccine) whose corresponding ages (17, 21, 35, and 50) sum to 123. While not exactly 125, this may have contributed to the inspiration or age selection of this milestone.
|-
| 128 || Age rolls over, become a baby again || {{w|Integer overflow}} happens in computers when there are not enough bits (binary digits) to store the result of a calculation. For example, an unsigned 7-bit number can hold the values 0 to 127 (127 being 27 - 1). When calculating 127+1, a computer might store the value 0 instead of 128, discarding the highest bit. This is also called rollover, and usually happens in computers at powers of two, such as 128.

7-bit numbers are uncommon in today's computers. 8-bit numbers are more common. In signed 8-bit, the value 128 would become either -128 or -0 (depending upon implementation), which means you could have a weird experience of your next phase of life. For unsigned integers of one byte, the correct rollover number would be 256.

However, maybe the system uses just 7 bits (the 8th bit often used to be reserved for parity, or other flagging purposes, and otherwise stripped/ignored) if it has never before needed an eighth bit and this had once seemed like a sufficient form of data-packing with no expectation that this limit would be reached. Computers using such systems would have a Y2K-analogous bug once someone actually reached 128 years old, where anomalous processing might indicate the person to be a baby (or fail in other ways). But that would not have happened yet.

|}

The title text mentions {{w|Jeanne Calment}}, who holds the record for the oldest person ever (there are biblical references to older people, such as {{w|Methuselah}}, who supposedly lived to 969, but their ages haven't been verified). She reportedly was age 122 when the died in 1997. There's some controversy whether Calment actually claimed her mother's records, including birth certificate, as her own. "Editing wars" have been fought over her Wikipedia page. Randall claims that if you match her age you get sole editorial control over that article. However, if anyone managed to exceed her achieved age, presumably they would get their own page (albeit that they should not be encouraged to {{w|Wikipedia:Editing Your Own Page|edit it}} themselves) and hers would cease to be as interesting - although that might depend on what use is made of the unparalleled editorial control now granted.

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

<big>Age Milestones</big> 
and associated privileges

16  Drive 
17  Attend R-rated movies alone 
18  Vote 
21  Buy alcohol 
25  Rent a car 
32  Run for senate 
35  Run for president 
40  Rent a flying car 
45  Learn about the God-Empress 
50  Join AARP 
50  Get a shingles vaccine 
52  Click to skip captchas 
55  Vote for God-Empress 
62  $80 National parks lifetime pass 
65  Eligible for Medicare 
67  Collect Social Security 
68  See "Skip Ads" button on live TV 
70  Run for God-Empress 
75  Ride any animal in a national park 
80  Eligible for MegaCare 
85  Click to toggle whether any ad is positive or negative about the product 
90  Click to make any movie R-rated 
100  Get a letter from the president 
102  (35+67) Collect a presidential pension 
105  Get a birthday card from the God-Empress 
111  Leave your own birthday party early by putting on a magic ring 
118  Vote 100 times 
120  Collect the pensions of all elected officials 
125  Drink alcohol in an R-rated movie while getting a shingles vaccine from the president 
128  Age rolls over, become a baby again

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]] 
[[Category:Wikipedia]]

2661: Age Milestone Privileges

2022-08-20T03:36:14Z

172.69.71.32: /* Explanation */

2659: Unreliable Connection

2022-08-15T22:24:11Z

172.69.71.32: created by an

{{comic
| number = 2659
| date = August 15, 2022
| title = Unreliable Connection
| image = unreliable_connection.png
| titletext = NEGATIVE REVIEWS MENTION: Unreliable internet. POSITIVE REVIEWS MENTION: Unreliable internet.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an UNRELIABLE CONNECTION - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

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

{{comic discussion}}

2650: Deepfakes

2022-07-26T13:42:59Z

172.69.71.32:

{{comic
| number = 2650
| date = July 25, 2022
| title = Deepfakes
| image = deepfakes.png
| titletext = If so great a deductive mind as Arthur Conan Doyle can be fooled by the Cottingley Deepfakes, what chance do we mortals have? Soon our very reality will be dictated by the whims of Frances (9) and Elsie (16).
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a DEEPFAKE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A {{w|deepfake}} is an altered video, designed to deceive by replacing a person in a video. [[White Hat]] believes that this technology will make it difficult to trust videos. However, [[Cueball]] responds by saying that "fakes" have always existed, in photos (either through {{w|photoshopping|alterations by software such as Adobe Photoshop}}, or deliberately staging fakes images, e.g. {{w|Loch Ness Monster#%22Surgeon's photograph%22 (1934)|of the Loch Ness Monster}}) and even more so by people simply lying. White Hat comes around to Cueball's position and says that even the written word is prone to deception and lying.

Scientific studies of deepfakes have produced surprising results, suggesting that they are more likely to increase uncertainty than persuade,[https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2056305120903408] that their increased prevalence could inoculate the public against {{w|disinformation}},[https://dspace.cuni.cz/handle/20.500.11956/150489] and that they are more likely to be shared because of their humorousness than persuasiveness.[http://essay.utwente.nl/91654/] Other studies have found that deepfakes are persuasive, especially among those who are unfamiliar with them.[https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/cyber.2020.0174][https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1780812]

The {{w|complaint tablet to Ea-nasir}} is a 3,800 year-old clay tablet containing the oldest known written complaint, in which a customer complains to a merchant, Ea-nasir, about his copper ingots. Cueball's last statement says that perhaps this complaint could have been a lie to begin with, and there was nothing wrong with Ea-nasir's wares.

The title text references the {{w|Cottingley Fairies}}, a series of five photographs produced in 1917 by two children, Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths, who were 16 and 9, respectively. The photographs appear to show the children playing with fairies in their garden. The photographs received widespread attention when Sir {{w|Arthur Conan Doyle}}, the author of the ''Sherlock Holmes'' stories, used the photos as proof of paranormal phenomena in a 1920 magazine article. Conan Doyle was notable for being a strong proponent of reaching conclusions based on evidence and reason, and also held a deep believe in paranormal and supernatural phenomena. In 1983, Elsie and Frances finally confessed that the photos had been faked, by the simple process of posing cardboard figures cut out of a children's book. Due to recent technical advances, those mere children now could create convincingly realistic fakes.

A similar dilemma was discussed in [[1958: Self-Driving Issues]], where technology does not create a new way to lie, but may make such lies more convincing to certain parties (in the other strip, self-driving cars).

==Transcript==
:[White Hat and Cueball are walking to the right.]
:White Hat: Thanks to deepfakes, soon we won't know what's real anymore. Video will become meaningless.

:[White Hat and Cueball walk on, Cueball lifts one hand with the palm up.]
:Cueball: I dunno.
:Cueball: We've had Photoshop for decades and staged photos for centuries.
:Cueball: It hasn't made photos meaningless.

:[Zoom in on Cueball, who is turned left towards off-panel White Hat.]
:Cueball: The bottleneck for fake stuff isn't technical. The bottleneck is willingness to lie.
:Cueball: "People lying" is a very old problem.
:Cueball: It's a known exploit.

:[Zoom back out on White Hat and Cueball who have stopped. White Hat has a hand on his chin. Cueball holds his hands out to the sides.]
:White Hat: I guess technically we've been able to make '''''text''''' deepfakes for 5,000 years.
:Cueball: Maybe Ea-nasir's copper ingots were actually fine!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Photography]]

2646: Minkowski Space

2022-07-19T20:00:16Z

172.69.71.32: Too many commas in the first sentence; attempted to increase readability. Also fixed misuse of "prior".

{{comic
| number = 2646
| date = July 15, 2022
| title = Minkowski Space
| image = minkowski_space.png
| titletext = My liege, we were able to follow the ship into Minkowski space, but now they've jumped to Hilbert space and they could honestly be anywhere.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by A RELATIVISTIC QUANTUM STATE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Faster than light travel}}, an impossibility in our universe, is often portrayed in science fiction by having spaceships enter (or "jump") into some different realm, termed "hyperspace" or similar {{w|technobabble}}, where superluminal travel can occur before returning to the ordinary universe. In this comic, a spaceship is being chased by an enemy ship. The crew attempt to escape by jumping into {{w|Minkowski space}} which is actually just conventional 3-D space together with time combined into a mathematical object called a {{w|manifold}} used in {{w|special relativity}}. Because Minkowski space is merely a representation of real physical {{w|spacetime}}, "jumping" into it is meaningless and offers no benefit for escaping pursuit, providing the humor of the comic's absurdist joke.

The visual depiction of the spaceships skewed diagonally is based on the graphical {{w|Minkowski diagram}} representation of objects in Minkowski space, where the {{w|world line}} of matter is bounded inside its diagonal {{w|light cone}}.

The mention of distance depending on the observer's frame of reference refers to distances changing when measured in different {{w|inertial frame of reference|inertial frames of reference}}, a concept called the {{w|relativity of simultaneity}}. Here are [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asW78vToNLQ some videos] intended [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xrqj88zQZJg to explain] that concept. The skewing depicted changes the distance between the spaceships in such a way that the tip of the pursuer comes closer to the pursued spaceship, but their centers move further apart. So the question of whether they have come closer is indeterminate for the reader of the comic.

The title text is a status report from someone in the pursuing spaceship to their leader (whom they call "my {{w|Homage (feudal)|liege}}."): following the spaceship to Minkowski space was not a problem, implying (as with fictional hyperspace examples) that they also chose to shift themselves into this other form of perspective. But the pursued ship subsequently jumped to Hilbert space and could now be anywhere. Hiding in {{w|Hilbert space}} is much easier because Hilbert spaces (of which there are many very different varieties, unlike Minkowski space) can have an infinite number of dimensions, and are thus much more complicated than four-dimensional Minkowski spacetime. However, Hilbert space is a mathematical construct used to describe objects such as functions of various parameters and complexity, not physical spatiotemporal reality, so it would be very unusual for a physical object to be represented in Hilbert space. Quantum states can be represented as vectors in Hilbert spaces, so it might relate to the {{w|uncertainty principle}} concerning how the escaped spaceship could be anywhere.

As in the [[2577:_Sea_Chase|Sea Chase]] comic, there was also more than one type of space to jump to here.

==Transcript==
:[A spaceship is being pursued by another spaceship. Both ships have a black part in the front representing a window. They are the same size but different designs. The pursued spaceship to the right has two engines below and a big engine behind. The pursuing spaceship to the left has a V-shaped rear end, and what seems like two weapons on either side pointing forward. At least two persons inside the pursued spaceship are talking to each other, and their text comes out from two starburst on top and bottom of the spaceship.]
:Voice 1: The enemy ship is right behind us!
:Voice 2: Prepare to jump to Minkowski space on my mark.

:[Same setting, with star burst above only. The sound coming from the pursued spaceship is written inside a burst of small lines below the spaceship. Voice 2, by context, is the same as in panel 1.]
:Voice 2: Three... two... one... ''mark!''
:Click

:[Both spaceship are tilted upwards and becomes distorted so they become longer and thinner.]

:[The tilting increases and the distortion is now so pronounced that the spaceships are almost unrecognizable, almost just lines with structure. The distance between the tip of the pursuing spaceship and the pursued becomes shorter in the last two panels, but the distance between their center parts becomes larger. Up to three distinct voices are shown, here, which may include those seen in Panel 1 but with no clear relation.]
:Voice 3: Are they still getting closer?
:Voice 4: I can't tell.
:Voice 5: I think it depends on your frame of reference.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Physics]]

2502: Every Data Table

2022-07-15T01:40:27Z

172.69.71.32: double quotes should not be here - they're not in the original title text and it's not standard form to place quotation marks around title text on the wiki

{{comic
| number = 2502
| date = August 13, 2021
| title = Every Data Table
| image = every data table.png
| titletext = I'm hoping 2022 is relatively normal because I don't know what symbol comes after the asterisk and the dagger.
| imagesize =
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is another entry in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] related to the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}}.

It shows a future data table with one entry for each year from 2017 to 2024, so this table is made at least three years after publication of the comic (presuming it does not depict some form of advanced estimation of trends). The only discernable differences across the eight years are that two years have footnotes as in 2020* and 2021†, whereas the other six years have not.

Sometimes a symbol such as an asterisk (*) or a dagger (†, also called an obelus or obelisk) is used to denote an unusual entry in a table to be explained in a footnote with a matching symbol.

The COVID pandemic has had a large impact on the entire world and one way this can be seen is through strange stats resulting from the effects of the pandemic, at least in 2020 and 2021, the years marked with footnote in the data table. Various statistics such as employment statistics, spending power, holiday miles, pet ownership, births (or at least conceptions), and — naturally — deaths may have been either grossly suppressed/increased for the majority of 2020, and for 2021 may have hardly recovered, partially recovered, renormalized, bounced back with a vengeance or be over-compensated for in the effort to catch up.

Thus Randall concludes that ''every data table'' will look like this one from now on, hence the title of the comic.

In the title text [[Randall]] states that he hopes 2022 is relatively normal. Comically, he doesn't mainly hope for this because he wants the Covid-19 pandemic to end, but rather because he doesn't know what symbol is used after the asterisk and the cross.

It is hard to know what 2022 might be like. Nothing (at the time of this comic being published in August 2021) is exactly back to normal and proper recovery or the resulting compensatory readjustment may not have concluded in time for 2022 to reflect the trends expected based upon pre-2020 figures, and the additional further years that future statistics will record.

Common symbols that are used if the first two are taken include multiple symbols (such as †† or ***), or a series of further single-symbols such as the convention to use a double dagger (‡), the section symbol/silcrow (§), the parallel/double-pipe (‖) and the paragraph symbol/pilcrow (¶). Alternately you could just start and continue the series with superscript numbers (¹, ², ³ ...), especially when you discover a need to frequently clarify {{w|Terry Pratchett|multiple}} and/or {{w|Randall Munroe|nested}} footnotes on each page, or save up a whole chapter of many such references to present them as 'endnotes', upon entirely different pages from the text being referenced.

Unrelated to the usage as English footnote characters, the asterisk and dagger symbol are used in German mainly as the shorthand ''genealogic signs'' to express "born" and "died" respectively (e.g. in encyclopaedias, as the German terms are three-syllable words for both and need to be shortened), so a person that is 2020(*) and 2021(†) would have been alive for only about a year, depending on the months. This symbology is also used on some tomb stones. An optimistic view is the "birth" and "death" of the Coronavirus itself, which would also understandably result in uncertainty on the next symbol in this order, for 2022. Pessimists in this context might suggest to use ∞, which is the symbol for infinity.

Similarly, in biology, species (or genus, etc...) that are possibly extinct are indicated with an asterisk and dagger is used to note the possible extinction (double asterisks indicate taxa believed to be extinct in the wild but known to be extant in cultivation). This of course do not fit well with the Covid-19, which is not close to extinction, and it is also not about to cause the extinction of humans.

Randall, however, seems to have forgotten the potential {{w|monkey's paw}} nature of his wish. 'Relative' requires a comparison between things. It could well be that the whole fall-out of the pandemic becomes the new normal, and future years have no necessity to use symbols to explain how those years come to be like everyone knows they are, while dates before 2020 will be entirely understood as the old-normal. Only 2020 and 2021 may need contextual clarifying, due to the necessary transition/limbo between the earlier unaffected and later fully-adapted scenarios.

== Transcript ==
:[A data table is shown with eight years given. After each year is seven dots. At the end of these dots are unreadable text/scribbles. The table is slanted compared to the panel, so the top year is in the top left corner, partly obscured by the panel, and the dots end at the edge of the panel, so only very small part of the scribles are seen (resembling an eight dot). And at the bottom the year is close to the middle of the panel, but most of the year is below the panel, and only the last three dots are visible. Two years have symbols indicating an unseen footnote.]
:2017.......
:2018.......
:2019.......
:2020*......
:2021†.......
:2022.......
:2023.......
:2024.......

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Every data table from now on

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:Statistics]]

147: A Way So Familiar

2022-07-10T14:10:41Z

172.69.71.32: i'm not sure when this link has ever been correct

{{comic
| number = 147
| date = August 23, 2006
| title = A Way So Familiar
| image = a_way_so_familiar.png
| titletext = Two Hedwig references, an obscure Joey Comeau reference, and a girl with a mohawk. Yes.
}}

==Explanation==
Some {{w|Introversion|introverts}} tend to empathize with other people they perceive as being shy or introverted. Sometimes, their imagination leads them to obscure visions. A person outside the imaginative world can easily see through this and judge it as a delusion.

[[Hairy]] points out that he saw a girl at the bank and probably started having platonic romantic feelings toward her, describing many characteristics that would be impossible to know about her without actually talking to her. Cueball has clearly experienced Hairy's bad judgements before, and so responds with a "Oh no, not again."

In the last panel, the reader finds out that she probably does not look like the sweet girl the reader imagined, having a mowhawk and shoveling (presumably dead) prostitutes into a car. This quickly prompts Cueball to say "back up," wanting to know what exactly had happened.

{{w|Joey Comeau}} is a Canadian writer, best known for the webcomic “A Softer World”. The "obscure" reference is probably to one of the entries in his 'Overqualified' series, another project in which he submits sincere-sounding, but clearly unacceptable, job inquiries to real companies. That particular entry is addressed to the marketing department of Toyota, the makers of the {{w|Toyota Camry}}. The post could be found [https://web.archive.org/web/20150224024339/http://www.asofterworld.com/oq-display.php?id=57 here].

Hedwig refers to the musical'' {{w|Hedwig and the Angry Inch (musical)|Hedwig and the Angry Inch}}'', and the comic references the musical's song "The Origin of Love." This song is based on a satirical idea from {{w|Symposium (Plato)#Aristophanes|Plato's ''Symposium''|}}, whereby every person originally consisted of two bodies joined together; the gods eventually violently tore us apart, and we fall in love when we find the person who was once physically joined to us. This song contains the lyrics:

:''You had a way so familiar''
:''I couldn't recognize''
:'''cause you had blood on your face''
:''I had blood in my eyes''
:''But I could tell by your expression''
:''That the pain down in your soul''
:''Was the same as the one down in mine'' [http://www.amazon.com/Hedwig-Angry-Inch-Vocal-selections/dp/0634068814/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1366215386&sr=1-1&keywords=hedwig+and+the+angry+inch]

The joke is that Hairy seems oblivious to the fact that his imagination is a very obvious delusion. While people could forgive a guy empathizing with a "cute pretty girl," [[Cueball]] seems annoyed by the lack of judgment of Hairy.

==Transcript==
:Hairy: I saw a cute girl outside the bank today. She looked nice.
:Cueball: Oh no, not again. You are the worst judge of these things.
:Hairy: But she was so sweet. Shy, but there was something in her eyes. A pain down in her soul, the same as the one down in mine.
:Cueball: Mm hmm.
:Hairy: The police light played through her mohawk like the sun setting through pine trees as she shoveled the third hooker into the trunk of the Camry...
:Cueball: Back up.

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

Talk:973: MTV Generation

2021-11-05T20:33:15Z

172.69.71.32:

Yeah, so it made them bad parents. Still a valid complaint. On a side note, how old must White Hat be to be dismissive of the MTV generation himself? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:19, 9 March 2013 (UTC)

Actually it's worse. The MTV generation is nearly 50. Some are grandparents. -[[Special:Contributions/74.213.186.41|74.213.186.41]] 15:52, 28 March 2013 (UTC)
:Especially those who watched MTV in the late 1980s, when the style of videos changed from abstract art to soft porn.[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 15:25, 15 August 2014 (UTC)

After 4 years of living in fear Roy Batty apparently died a dreadful death without a whimper. A very brave and "manly" creature. We should act now. There may still be time![[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 17:48, 22 January 2015 (UTC)

Well, Seebert, this comic was published in 2011. Back then, the MTV generation was in their late thirties and early forties.

Hello from 10 years later! That generation is now in their '''50's'''. --mezimm [[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.32|172.69.71.32]] 20:33, 5 November 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2536: Wirecutter

2021-11-03T20:42:47Z

172.69.71.32:

Note: they don't say they tried out a large number of ''religions'' but a large number of '''belief systems'''. This could include things like "Libertarianism" or "Monarchists". (By CWALLENPOOLE, but not signed in.)
:But the picture of the article title says “The Best Religion” [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.233|108.162.216.233]] 20:31, 1 November 2021 (UTC)

The phrase "highly controversial" should not be used in the explanation. For the record, I am opposed to the things listed in that sentence and my objection is not based in a desire to defend them. Religion itself might be said to be "highly controversial" so the use in the last sentence is both superfluous and biased. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.82.53|172.70.82.53]] 00:34, 2 November 2021 (UTC)

I really want this article to be real. ----Dave
: Me too. I did something similar in my early 20s, and feel such an article honestly done would be a great help to many. In fact, the current description is slightly inaccurate- in that even lifelong practitioners, do usually have a wandering time in early adulthood if not given direction. Such an article would give some direction.[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 15:03, 2 November 2021 (UTC)

The major problem with trying multiple religions is that to fully test a religion you need to die - and most people only die once, with the ability to die multiple times being exclusive feature of small number of religions. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 04:49, 2 November 2021 (UTC)
:I ain't mad Hkmaly, but the idea that a religion's primary purpose is to promote a vision of the afterlife is alien to a lot of religions (including my own flavor of Judaism), whose policy on the hereafter is "afterlife, shmafterlife, pass the bagels." Hence also my edits toning down the "religions are about provable belief claims" rhetoric (eyeroll). ----Ben
::Reviewers rarely fully test tech items. (e.g. they often don't cover complete lifecycle costs - what happens to the device after it dies, how easy is it to move on to a new one, etc.) Don't have to test everything to have a meaningful review.
::Many religions make claims about impacts in this life. (e.g., intercessory prayer) Such claims are eminently testable. A comparative review would be interesting. I am only aware of a few such tests, mostly comparing a single product to general average or to no intervention {{w|Efficacy of prayer}}. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.167|108.162.245.167]] 19:18, 3 November 2021 (UTC)

It doesn't look like the search bar text says "search," but I can't make out what it actually says.--[[User:KrazyKat|KrazyKat]] ([[User talk:KrazyKat|talk]]) 06:33, 2 November 2021 (UTC)
:Maybe it says Seance, since for "seach" the high stoke from the H is missing. -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.203.10|162.158.203.10]] 07:33, 2 November 2021 (UTC)
::or Sermon maybe, that would fit the theme
:Could be Search with large S and smaller caps for the rest? Anyone subscribe to the NYT and care to visit the actual WireCutter site to see the formatting? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.147.195|172.70.147.195]] 12:40, 2 November 2021 (UTC)
:: Don't need to be a subscriber to see the site. It says "Show me the best..." [[User:Paddles|Paddles]] ([[User talk:Paddles|talk]]) 13:26, 2 November 2021 (UTC)

I don't want to sound controversial but tithing would be a refreshing change comparing to current tax systems [[User:Tkopec|Tkopec]] ([[User talk:Tkopec|talk]]) 10:31, 2 November 2021 (UTC)
: Agreed- 10% is much less than the near 50% I'm paying when I figure it all in.[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 15:03, 2 November 2021 (UTC)
:: You really want to pay tithes AND taxes? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.63|108.162.249.63]] 18:54, 2 November 2021 (UTC)

Last night I was writing a huge thing about religions' almost universal reluctance to be 'tried out' (lestways allowing easy unsubscription at the end)  but on reflection, after a night's sleep, I'm wondering if they just had 70+ 'mystery shoppers' tasked to report back on one assigned 'product' each, their reports aggregated so this didn't matter too much (to the overall report-writers, at least). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.175|172.70.85.175]] 14:31, 2 November 2021 (UTC)

Also, the 'religious' wars metaphor extends quite easily to different platforms, yet (say) laptop reviews might compare a set of Windows vs a Mac or two (vs Chromebook, and maybe others) as options. And when it comes to keyboards, the QWERTY-Othodoxy and the Dvorak-Reformists both have bad (and untrue) things to say about each other, when 'enough time' with any given layout should be good enough to prosper in that. (That said, I had a {{w|Casio_FX-702P|programmable calculator}} from the '80s until it gave up the ghost some time post-Millenium, and I really did not get on with its ''alphabetical''-order keyboard all that time, perhaps because I was QWERTYing almost everywhere else.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.175|172.70.85.175]] 14:31, 2 November 2021 (UTC)
:In the case of religions though, the wars are not allegorical, they are literal. Nothing else in human experience really compares to the effects of a religious war (except ''maybe'' our wars to support a certain socioeconomic idealogy). The impact of format wars don't even come close; even if you count Uranium VS Thorium. This comic doesn't really draw a ''comparison'' between reviewing religions & reviewing products; so much as it ''contrasts'' the enormous differences in how we approach the two subjects... 
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 17:41, 2 November 2021 (UTC)

(Also also: QWERTY with UK-layout is my own personal sub-sect, with occasional need to adapt to US-layout (physically printed keycaps and/or what the computer ''thought'' was plugged in) with " and # and ~ characters amongst the main jumbled up ones, and no easy £ access. Which wasn't actually as unnerving as being in the 'wrong' bit of Belfast, but had the same subtle note of discordant undertone to it until I shifted my mental gears or ideally corrected the situation satisfactorarily by configuration.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.175|172.70.85.175]] 14:31, 2 November 2021 (UTC)

There's a book by John S. Dunne, ''The Way of All the Earth'', that advocates essentially trying out religions while keeping one foot in one's own (Dunne describes it as "crossing the abyss and crossing back"). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.158|162.158.74.158]] 17:17, 2 November 2021 (UTC)

Surprised no-one has yet mentioned this joke was done in almost exactly the same way on the UK satirical TV show TW3 in 1963 by David Frost (of later Frost/Nixon fame). --- jg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRZWyfERiCc

I was just looking for psychological/psychiatrical papers that say something about the frequency of mental illnesses by religion. Maaaaaaaaaayyybeeeeeeeeee there is a religion that is clearly superior to other religions in that regard, and so government health officials could make a recommendation to change to a specific religion. :-P --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.57|162.158.88.57]] 10:58, 3 November 2021 (UTC)
:But then, illnesses (as well as the symptoms of the same illness) depend on the culture, so my sardonic idea was probably left unresearched...--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.106|162.158.91.106]] 12:23, 3 November 2021 (UTC)

Feels like there should be a line in there about how religion is itself often "that which determines what is valued" and therefore very hard to treat objectively. So, for example, if your religion taught that discipline was inherently good, you would think less of another religion that specifically warned against the dangers of excessive discipline. Meanwhile, a member of that religion might think YOUR religion was worse, because - according to the tenets of THEIR religion - you put TOO MUCH emphasis on discipline, while you think your emphasis is correct and THEY are wrong for not having it.
Now, granted, people might want different things from their technology - one person might want user-friendliness, another might value greater customizability - but religion is different in that it, in itself, informs our understandings of "what is valuable". It would be like if Apple users actively began extolling the benefits of user-friendliness BECAUSE they are Apple users and Apple itself is what taught them to value user-friendliness, while Linux users were originally indifferent but BECAME fans of customizability BECAUSE they used Linux. (And yes, there can be cult-like elements of both fandoms, but hopefully the distinction I'm drawing here is reasonably clear: religion tells you what is valuable, technology does not.)

(Also, why all the Judaism-specific stuff now?) --mezimm [[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.106|172.69.68.106]] 16:42, 3 November 2021 (UTC)

Rather than picking one religion - join them all. Slag-blah takes a militant agnostic approach (we don't know, and neither do you). So they believe in/practice all religions (one a day for a year, so their calendar is 7,823 days long). From [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428210028/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/buckcomic.php?date=20071222 Buck Godot Zap Gun for Hire - Learning about Slag-blah by Phil Foglio, Dec. 2007] Sadly hard to find online, but here is the relevant page from the archive. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.167|108.162.245.167]] 19:18, 3 November 2021 (UTC)
:But religion exists to provide a stable, comforting mega-philosophy that sentients use to establish a code of conduct and to help prepare themselves for entropy or death. Adherents of Slag-Blah are sure of ''nothing''. --mezimm [[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.32|172.69.71.32]] 20:42, 3 November 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2534: Retractable Rocket

2021-10-29T01:52:30Z

172.69.71.32: /* 0% Penis Joke? */

However it is done, note that the base of the 'first stage' extends/retracts in advance of the bit further up, as can be seen by the panelling position in the standing/extending/extended/retracted frame-sequence. Which might be worth noting if you're wanting to copy the technology. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.185|172.70.85.185]] 03:09, 28 October 2021 (UTC)

: I think this might be theoretically possible, ignoring the apparently topological outer skin of the "rocket", with some kind of steerable [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_fountain space fountain]. Accelerating the astronauts at 10g for about two minutes might be survivable, and could limit the overall length to just over 800 miles. Though the shroud only has to extend to where the atmosphere is "sufficiently" thin. No idea whether this kind of design would tend to fall over when finished or not. -- [[User:Ken g6|Ken g6]] ([[User talk:Ken g6|talk]]) 04:24, 28 October 2021 (UTC)
::I believe it is 100% impossible. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:45, 28 October 2021 (UTC)
:::Only things which are 100% impossible are the ones mathematically proven so. All physical laws - including basic stuff like thermodynamic laws - are theories based on statistics and confirmed by statistics, but just because something didn't happened since the beginning of universe doesn't mean it can't happen. For example, even assuming no proton in whole universe ever decayed doesn't mean it's impossible: there are indeed theories that {{w|Proton decay|protons decay}} with half-life about 1031 to 1036 years. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:37, 28 October 2021 (UTC)

If (as it appears) the Bot created the page with various references to "Retract'''i'''ble" rarher than "Retract'''a'''ble", does this mean Randall made that error initially? (I say this as the guy who failed to notice he'd put "re'''su'''able" in his Transcript edit. ;) ) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.129|172.70.162.129]] 03:54, 28 October 2021 (UTC)

: Looks like yep, Randall originally made that error persistently, as the image here still has "retractible" in the comic, but the image on xkcd.com has been updated. Not sure how this is usually handled, I think it's mentioned in the FAQ.
: Edit: okay, I've uploaded the new image, and added a trivia bit about the original. No idea how to update the page URL, that'll have to be someone else. [[User:Esogalt|Esogalt]] ([[User talk:Esogalt|talk]]) 04:02, 28 October 2021 (UTC)

In my own opinion I think this is actually a brilliant idea, if you think outside the box. Imagine those floppy noodle blow up baloons they use at car dealerships and the like. Now replace the continuous membrane with a membrane combined with multiple stages of internal baffles that can collapse and move around vertically, and scale the whole thing up. Now think about a straw. What if we engineered a straw that reaches all the way to the target (and then back into the atmosphere), and inflate it? we could have [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThothX_Tower] the ThothX tower but that is a stacked kevlar cell system that only reaches 12 miles in height. The weight is not truly supported by the air, but rather by the tensile strength of the membranes. The question is how much air we'd need to move and how big would it need to be to function. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.69.182|172.69.69.182]] 04:45, 28 October 2021 (UTC)

Is there a compelling reason to refer to the countdown as spoken by "Tannoy" rather than "PA" or "Loudspeaker" or something? I had to look up what that was. [[User:Esogalt|Esogalt]] ([[User talk:Esogalt|talk]]) 05:09, 28 October 2021 (UTC)
:I have correct to a count down voice. We have no idea how it emanates. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:44, 28 October 2021 (UTC)

I tried to update the page and image URLs to fix the misspelling, and I think it mostly worked. But if you click the "Next" button from the previous comic it doesn't work so smoothly. Anyone know how to fix that?? [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 05:40, 28 October 2021 (UTC)
: <strike>Erm, this seems to have broken the main page as well. I've found [[https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Moving_a_page]], which says to use the "Move" option in the "More" menu at the top of the page. Did you use that?</strike> Never mind, I think I was just the victim of cache weirdness. [[User:Esogalt|Esogalt]] ([[User talk:Esogalt|talk]]) 05:51, 28 October 2021 (UTC)

As a rule, when you’re correcting someone else’s mistake, proofread your correction, or you might make a new mistake that will leave “it is” mark on explainxkcd. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.105|162.158.106.105]] 09:13, 28 October 2021 (UTC)

When I first read this comic, I thought it was a KSP reference. I feel like half the rockets I build do that if I don’t add struts. I realized in a second it was extending and not just noodling but it made me laugh, and then I laughed again after understanding the real joke. I got two jokes out of one. --[[User:BlackBeret|BlackBeret]] ([[User talk:BlackBeret|talk]]) 11:36, 28 October 2021 (UTC)

=== 0% Penis Joke? ===
It's hard for me to believe this is in no way a penis joke; particularly with the falling over rather than gracefully retracting, afterward. Is everyone truly certain there's ''not'' a penis joke intended, here? 
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 14:06, 28 October 2021 (UTC)
:I don\'t think so. --[[User:GcGYSF(asterisk)P(vertical line)e|GcGYSF(asterisk)P(vertical line)e]] ([[User talk:GcGYSF(asterisk)P(vertical line)e|talk]]) 18:29, 28 October 2021 (UTC)
:Me neither. randall hasn't done anything even remotely like that since over a thousand comics ago. kinda sad, really [[Special:Contributions/172.70.34.165|172.70.34.165]] 19:58, 28 October 2021 (UTC)Bumpf
:How was the joke ... "Who can tell me which organ of the human body expands to 10 times its usual size when stimulated?" ... ... iris of the human eye. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:18, 28 October 2021 (UTC)

Of course it's (also) a penis joke! https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jun/11/digested-week-should-we-tell-jeff-bezos-his-rocket-looks-like-a-penis

Talk:2480: No, The Other One

2021-10-26T23:30:27Z

172.69.71.32:

We might want a table for this comic, with three columns: one for the name of the town, one for which state the copycat is in, and one for the original. We could also add a column for "why the original is well known," but that might be a bit much. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.124|108.162.245.124]] 20:38, 23 June 2021 (UTC)
: I agree, this feels like a very table-able comic. Especially to get all the cities and not make readers try to see "hey, did I miss one?" [[Special:Contributions/172.70.117.158|172.70.117.158]] 20:49, 23 June 2021 (UTC)
:: I think the term copy-cat should not be used here, since Lincoln, IL, for instance is older and carries the name longer than Lincoln, NE.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.74|162.158.88.74]] 21:05, 23 June 2021 (UTC)
::: Although the people in Lincoln, UK (also Boston, Washington, Richmond, Plymouth, Newhaven...) might have prior claims - Richmond is an even more interesting case, in fact. And of course I also recognise Lisbon and others. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.244|141.101.98.244]] 21:26, 23 June 2021 (UTC)
:::: May I suggest merging the first two columns and just listing [City, State] under "Place name in comic"? [[User:MajorBurns|MajorBurns]] ([[User talk:MajorBurns|talk]]) 21:38, 23 June 2021 (UTC)

In the map there are (at least) three Lincoln, two Jamestown, five Houston... [[User:Vdm|Vdm]] ([[User talk:Vdm|talk]]) 20:52, 23 June 2021 (UTC)
: There is a Jamestown in NY and PA also. I would expect to find a Jamestown in at least half of the states. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 22:06, 23 June 2021 (UTC)

There seems to be an extra dot in the northeast corner of Colorado - It looks like it might correspond with the Atlanta label, but there is no Atlanta in Colorado. Based on the position of the dot I'm guessing it may correspond to Akron or Yuma.--[[User:MajorBurns|MajorBurns]] ([[User talk:MajorBurns|talk]]) 21:56, 23 June 2021 (UTC)
: Google Maps says there's an Atlanta, Colorado, but it is in the south-east corner of the state, not where the dot is. It looks like it is in the middle of nowhere outside of Springfield. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 00:42, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

Jersey Shore PA - I just drove from New Jersey across the state of Pennsylvania, and saw the sign for Jersey Shore in the mountains in the middle of PA. What the? Turns out there was a town founded by two brothers from New Jersey called Waynesburg. When a neighboring town wanted to insult them by calling them "Jersey Shore" they went ahead and officially made Jersey Shore the name of the town. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Shore,_Pennsylvania https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Shore,_Pennsylvania]. I wonder how many people turn off the highway in the middle of PA wanting to go to the Jersey Shore hundreds of miles away. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 22:06, 23 June 2021 (UTC)

Why no Hollywood, Florida? [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood,_Florida https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood,_Florida]
: Same reason there's no Richmond, Dublin, or Pittsburg (admittedly, a different spelling), California, just to name some of the closest ones to me. The map would be solid black if it labeled every "other one." [[User:Borglord|Borglord]] ([[User talk:Borglord|talk]]) 01:57, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

..''No'' Springfields? Really? There's gotta be 30+ of them! [[User:Danish|Danish]] ([[User talk:Danish|talk]]) 02:00, 24 June 2021 (UTC)
:The comic doesn't seem to include the duplicates that are fairly well known, like Hollywood, FL. And the prevalence of Springfield is well known due to "The Simpsons". I think Groening chose that name ''because'' it wouldn't be associated with any particular state. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 04:06, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

`The most frequently occurring community name varies through the years. In a past year, it was "Midway" with 212 occurrences and "Fairview" in second with 202. More recently, "Fairview" counted 288 and "Midway" 256. The name "Springfield" is often thought to be the only community name appearing in each of the 50 States, but at last count it was in only 34 states.` https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-most-common-citytown-name-united-states [[User:Steve|Steve]] ([[User talk:Steve|talk]]) 02:48, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

The comic has been updated to remove Charlestown and move Salem, CT. The extra dot in Colorado remains, however. The image attachment has been updated, but I think I'm still seeing the cached version. [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 03:47, 24 June 2021 (UTC)
: While we're on the subject, I thought it was more likely referencing {{w|Charles Town, West Virginia|Charles Town, WV}}. There are quite a lot of {{w|Charlestown}} locations and I don't think any of them are particularly famous. Which is probably why it was removed. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 13:54, 25 June 2021 (UTC)

Since so many of the names are duplicated multiple times, shouldn't the title be "No, ''An'' Other One"? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 04:06, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

I'm surprised he missed Minneapolis, Kansas (about 75 miles west of Manhattan). Though maybe it would've made Kansas too crowded. --[[User:Aaron of Mpls|Aaron of Mpls]] ([[User talk:Aaron of Mpls|talk]])

:I'm surprised he missed Duluth, GA too, but we can't have everything we want. ( --Don from Rochester . . . but not from New York ;^) Oh yeah; there's also a Buffalo in MN too. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.34.190|172.70.34.190]] 11:00, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

::In Indiana, there's also another Nashville, another Columbus, a Kokomo... even a Mexico. If every fairly well-known place name were included, wherever it was duplicated, it would need one of those scrollable mega-maps, just to fit it all. -- Just visiting from Indiana, 12:53 UTC 24 June 2021

I'd like to see a map of all these. Lines linking each of the dots to the location of the more famous town. Possibly with lines in different colours connecting to the oldest and largest other ones, where they're not the same as the most famous one. (I suspect a significant number of the "oldest" lines would point off the right edge of the image) [[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 08:37, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

:There's also a Bowling Green, Missouri. [[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 13:12, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

I wish Lansing Illinois (just south of Chicago off I-80) had made the list. When I was traveling there for work, our hotel reservations were frequently messed up, because the central booking office had us in Michigan. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.144|172.70.130.144]] 13:17, 24 June 2021 (UTC)
: Reminds me of the time a "Microsoft tech support" scammer called and claimed to be calling from Lansing despite obviously being in a call center in India. When we asked what state Lansing was in, he claimed to be calling from "Lansing, Miami." [[Special:Contributions/172.69.63.121|172.69.63.121]] 13:41, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

I feel like there is an opportunity for adding "Other examples not in comic" such as Brooklyn, Iowa or the absurd number of Mount Pleasants [[User:OddOod|OddOod]] ([[User talk:OddOod|talk]])

: At first, I thought about suggesting this, as well. But, it would be an enormous list (orders of magnitude longer than the ones that _are_ in the comic), and therefore not really tenable. For example, I sometimes describe the place I live as being on the line from Jamaica to Florida, adjacent to Jacksonville and just off Halifax. That's Florida, MA and the rest in southern Vermont. That's four just within 20 miles of where I sit. Also, I grew up in Bristol (RI, not England), but there are about 40 places in the US with that name. And, on a different tack the nearby "city" actually promotes itself in being the _only_ place named Brattleboro. [[User:MAP|MAP]] ([[User talk:MAP|talk]]) 22:27, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

I can't believe they missed Dublin and/or Albany in the SF bay area in California!

I actually have a place in Bangor,NY it confuses people all the time [[User:Mr.Do|Mr.Do]]

Is the {{w|Washington_(state)|State of Washington}} not considered more significant than a mere district? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.35.149|172.69.35.149]] 18:14, 24 June 2021 (UTC)
: I mean, Washington DC is the capital of the entire country, so both are very significant. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.97|172.69.33.97]] 20:08, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

Ontario, CA - I have gotten packages that originated in Ontario, CA and wondered why they were shipping from Canada, until I realized that they were coming from Ontario, California. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 20:57, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

How did Lebanon come to be such a popular name (sixth most common according to the Wikipedia list)? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.182|162.158.92.182]] 09:04, 25 June 2021 (UTC)

How about entries for what the lesser-known city is known for? I can start: Austin MN is home of Hormel, maker of Spam, and features the Spam Museum. Who is next? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.58|172.70.126.58]] 10:29, 25 June 2021 (UTC)
:Richmond, VT is home of a person (also apparently given the job of "Weigher Of Coal") who helped to establish the name of Spam (as in unwanted advertising)... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.79|141.101.99.79]] 11:14, 25 June 2021 (UTC)

So, anyway, the Transcript is both empty and marked incomplete. Really, it would at best be a Transcriptised non-tabular list of the named places, grouped to their 'other one' states. I can't see much more that can be done, save for "line-drawn state lines and dots" being mentioned. It's very much an inferior copy of the table itself, but definitely should be there to fulfil the general needs of the Transcript. I'll do it myself if nobody else has (or otherwise resolved) by the time the next comic goes up. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.79|141.101.99.79]] 11:14, 25 June 2021 (UTC)
:Agree that there should be a transcript. It should mention what type of map and that all states have their abbreviation in gray text. Then proceed approximately in reading order giving each states abbreviation and then the cities mentioned in each state. That would be great. Do not have the time the next week, else this was something I often have done with large transcripts. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:54, 25 June 2021 (UTC)
::I prepped a version that satisfies almost all your demands, already, except that it's arranged alphabetical to state ID, because that seemed more logical to dive into than to try a 'reading order' of any kind. I also took a couple of other small liberties with the usual Transcript notation to improve understanding, not having found a prior example that has done this in a 'better' way. I'll pop it in right now and then leave it to the multitudinous Gods Of Wikiediting to correct it, 'correct' it, improve it and 'improve' it as they see fit. Fill yer boots! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.124|141.101.98.124]] 21:42, 25 June 2021 (UTC)

here is a challenge: find a regex that matches all the cities in this map in the top half of the US, but not the ones in the bottom half. have fun and dont use the auto-regex-golf thing, thats just no fun. :) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.63.7|172.69.63.7]] 16:40, 25 June 2021 (UTC)Bumpf
:Unless I misunderstand you, it's probably impossible. Houston in Ohio is in the top half of the map (however you define that line) while the Houston in the usual Alaska map-discontinuity is in the bottom half of the map. And I bet that a moment's search will find others amongst the shared names. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.104|141.101.99.104]] 17:35, 25 June 2021 (UTC)
::Bowling Green (OH and FL) splits even on true latitude, at well within each band of top/bottom value ranges. Assuming you don't add the home-state code (which could be the only thing needed to even try to regex, if you do), there's no wedge you can apply. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.105|162.158.158.105]] 22:10, 25 June 2021 (UTC)
:Using Automatic tools is always fun! fun-ctional. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.183|162.158.91.183]] 12:32, 28 June 2021 (UTC)

Bloomington MN is an odd one — it is both larger
by area and by population than Bloomington IN! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.206|141.101.98.206]] 20:31, 25 June 2021 (UTC)
:Bloomington, IL is comparable in population and slightly larger in area than Bloomington, IN; Bloomington, MN has IL beat in both metrics. If counting Bloominton-Normal, IL as one twinned city, it easily beats both [[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.87|172.70.130.87]] 01:51, 30 August 2021 (UTC)
Even if there's no plans for a wall around Mexico, NY, maybe that's who Trump expected would pay for his wall. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 13:19, 26 June 2021 (UTC)

I'm really annoyed that he included Portland. Doesn't everybody know about Portland, ME?

NYC here - I had no idea about Portland, ME [[Special:Contributions/172.70.117.92|172.70.117.92]] 01:44, 3 July 2021 (UTC)

Here's how he might have come up with this list. (1) Find all duplicates in a list of U.S. city names. (2) Select the top 100 (searched on the web, occurring on the web, etc.) names (or enough to fill the comic nicely). An alternate (2) is select the top 100 (or some number) largest cities of those.
Moscow,ID

I likewise wondered about the omission of Hollywood, FL (as well as Miami, OH) but it’s true that it can’t list every single one. It would be interesting to list some of the other pronunciation differences, as is currently done for Newark. (E.g., Albany, GA is pronounced al-BEN-ee) [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 18:15, 2 July 2021 (UTC)
:I think you mean Oxford, Ohio; home to Miami *University*. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami,_Ohio] [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.117|162.158.166.117]] 07:28, 15 July 2021 (UTC)
:There's also Cleveland, Mississippi; Princeton, Indiana; and Jackson, New Jersey. [[User:JsfasdF252|JsfasdF252]] ([[User talk:JsfasdF252|talk]]) 00:18, 6 August 2021 (UTC)

In the New England area, there are quite a few towns with duplicate names, probably brought over with the colonists. Seems all the New England states have a Milford, a Bedford, a Plymouth, A Belmont, a Winchester...

How do you miss London, OH?

Talk:549: Westley's a Dick

2021-10-22T20:06:29Z

172.69.71.32: hot IP-on-IP argument action

This is a bit too much story... --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 05:52, 22 December 2013 (UTC)
:Not really: if you don't know ''The Princess Bride'' story, but want to understand this comic, it is the right amount of information. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 11:39, 22 December 2013 (UTC)
::Nope, NeatNit is right. The first time I read this I had never seen the movie nor read the book. I stopped reading when I reached the title "Westly", so as to avoid spoilers for the movie. And the explanation up to that point was sufficient for me to understand the comic, and in fact was still too much story. Having since FINALLY seen the movie (and it did not live up to the hype. I enjoyed it, but jeez), I still contend those sections should be removed. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:29, 9 June 2017 (UTC)
: You mean there are people who read XKCD and ''dont'' know the story of ''The Princess Bride''?? But yeah, Westley has been a merciless murderer for the last few years, and they kind of gloss over it. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.62.210|173.245.62.210]] 04:30, 28 February 2014 (UTC)

You committed one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is Never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well know, Never give too long an explanation of a movie! {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.32}}
::Reply to both the above comments: I have seen the movie, but I'm sure many xkcd readers have not. Also I could hardly remember any details from the movie, and certainly not the one about rolling down a cliff or the "as you wish" reply. And since it is important to know about the Dread Pirate and the prince as well as the Spaniard to understand the comic, it is almost impossible to explain less of the movie and still get all this info into the explanation. I would not even have know it was from that film based on the comic. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:12, 11 June 2015 (UTC)
:::I presume he was just taking the opportunity to make a joke using dialogue from the film. I think your explanation is spot on, FWIW.[[User:Mattdevney|Mattdevney]] ([[User talk:Mattdevney|talk]]) 15:39, 12 June 2015 (UTC)

I presume that fans have discussed the option that Westley was lying about the whole Dread Pirate Roberts story to cover up something he doesn't want Buttercup to worry about? I always thought the comment "I'd hardly be a dread pirate if I didn't." was kind of an admission, rather than a boast. Everything following it could be seen as an attempt to keep the secret. See the trope [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KeepingSecretsSucks Keeping Secrets Sucks] although, in this case, it obviously didn't end up in [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife The Masquerade Will Kill Your Dating Life][[User:Mattdevney|Mattdevney]] ([[User talk:Mattdevney|talk]]) 15:39, 12 June 2015 (UTC)

Another thing to keep in mind is that he was help captive for several years ("Good night, Westley. I'll probably kill you in the morning."). The movie indicates that this went on for a while, but doesn't indicate when exactly the original DPR retired, from what I recall. Hence this could be a case of reading too much into a detail of the film—though done for humorous effect, of course. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.193|108.162.237.193]] 10:41, 17 June 2015 (UTC)

As someone who has never seen the movie nor read the book, I can concur that there is FAR too much movie explanation here. I used to confuse it with Princess Diaries and had no interest in rectifying this omission as I dismised it as girly movie fluff, no hurry. It was only when an episode of The Goldbergs clarified it for me that I discovered the confusion - and that there's some My Name Is/father killing line - as I know Princess Diaries is far too recent to be mentioned in The Goldbergs. I stopped reading at the line that offers a movie synopsis "here", and felt I understood the comic well enough, and in fact there was already too much about the movie by this point. Since I skipped the entire sections titled for (presumably) character names from Princess Bride, they are clearly not required in order to understand the comic. Call me NiceGuy1 :) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.166|108.162.218.166]] 04:09, 1 January 2016 (UTC) I finally signed up! This comment is mine. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:15, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

The Princess Bride wasn't "written" by William Goldman but originally by S. Morgenstern. William Goldman "abridged" the book (I've read it) changing NO WORD but leaving out big boring passages (shortening the book). -- [[special:contribs/162.158.90.191]]
: OK, but outside of the book's narrative Morgenstern is a ''nom de plume'' of Goldman. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.32|172.69.71.32]] 20:06, 22 October 2021 (UTC)

2528: Flag Map Sabotage

2021-10-15T11:41:53Z

172.69.71.32: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2528
| date = October 13, 2021
| title = Flag Map Sabotage
| image = flag_map_sabotage.png
| titletext = Delaware hopes to explore the western edge of areas marked with the Belgian flag, once the tornadoes die down.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a GOD-EMPEROR OF LESSER MARYLAND - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The comic refers to a type of map that colors countries using the national flag designs; see [https://i.pinimg.com/originals/41/0f/36/410f3661d1cee3b255b82a111f99d242.jpg here] for such a map of Europe. Randall proposes a new flag which is specifically designed to troll such maps. Most obviously, the flag includes its own legend, which uses multiple common flag colors to indicate random regional attributes. Hence, the mere act of placing this flag on a map would cause people to misinterpret this legend as applying to the entire map, given wildly false information about regions of other countries. This trick is reminiscent of [[327: Exploits of a Mom]], with Mrs. Robert's son <code>Robert'); DROP TABLE Students;--</code>.

In addition to the legend, the flag consists of two red fields, one of which has an irregular-shaped border, the other of which is a straight line. The irregular shape is similar to a geographical border based on natural features (such as rivers and coastlines), while borders which are not based on such features tend to be straight lines. Red is the most common color on national flags, so if any bordering country had red on their flag, it would risk bordering these red fields, confusing where the border lay (as well as designating the entire red region as "greater Delaware"). If this flag is intended for the USA (although the text mentions "our new country"), the red regions would be continuous with the red strips on both sides of Canada's flag and the red field on the right of Mexico's flag, disguising the border still further.

The title text refers to the flag of Belgium, which consists of three vertical stripes in the order (left to right) black, yellow, and red. The western part of Belgium would, according to the legend, be unexplored, while the eastern part would be Greater Delaware. The middle would therefore be a tornado zone separating the unexplored area from Greater Delaware. Depending on how the flags are aligned it might be possible to explore from the south, where the blue-white-red stripes of the French flag contain another piece of Greater Delaware that may be conveniently located to help said exploration. Exploring from the Netherlands (red, white, and blue horizontal stripes) is not viable as rebel forces are positioned between Greater Delaware and the unexplored region.

This is not the first time Randall has made a flag for a new country! See [[1815: Flag]]

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A flag displays a white country-shaped area surrounded by a red field. Inside the shape sits a map legend.]

:Map Legend
:[Bright blue rectangle] Disputed territory
:[Green rectangle] Newly independent
:[Blue rectangle] Demilitarized zone
:[Yellow rectangle] Tornado warning
:[Dark blue rectangle] Held by rebel forces
:[Red rectangle] Greater Delaware
:[Black rectangle] Unexplored

:[Caption below panel]
:Our new country's flag sabotages those maps where geographic areas are colored in with flag patterns.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Maps]]