explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2756: Qualifications

2023-04-07T19:56:16Z

172.69.79.133: /* Explanation */ Punc. pos; unredirected template...

{{comic
| number = 2756
| date = March 29, 2023
| title = Qualifications
| image = qualifications_2x.png
| imagesize = 265x316px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 'So how DID you go from working at the employment records office to becoming president of MIT and CEO of IBM?' 'I guess I just have an eye for opportunities.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a 600-YEAR-OLD BOT waiting for a child to be born to accept its work history - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Black Hat]] is being interviewed for some unidentified position. From the conversation, it seems clear that he has used some prior access to the employment records at some employment record office to fraudulently manufacture a history of having worked there for 600 years. There are some institutions that are extant today with over 600 years of history, but, with the exception of some arms of the {{w|Catholic Church}}, none of their individual offices or departments have existed for that long; also, human lifespans rarely exceed 100 years, never mind 600.{{Citation needed}} He also claims an additional pair of prestigious jobs in the title text, but it is unclear whether these 'facts' were entirely due to false records or, knowing Black Hat's [[498: Secretary: Part 5|other]] [[1094: Interview|interviews]], briefly true but only as a result of false representation/underhanded actions.

His interviewers, Cueball and Hairbun, are not entirely unaware of the implausibility, but Hairbun, at least, seems content to have just verified the validity of the claim. The 'validation' arises from the clearly tainted information source, given the whole chain of supporting evidence that may have been falsified. This is essentially a more elaborate version of Black Hat's ploy in another interview [[125: Marketing Interview|17 years prior]].

Employers often encounter résumés that have implausibly padded experience claims. Most applicants try not to be this implausible, and few employers are so credulous as to take self-supporting lies at face value.

==Transcript==

:[Black Hat sits in an office chair. Cueball, facing him, sits on another office chair at his desk and Hairbun stands behind him. Cueball is holding documents in his hands.]
:Cueball: Impressive résumé.
:Cueball: It says that you have over '''''six hundred''''' years of experience at the employment records office? That can't be right.
:Hairbun: I thought so too, but it checks out.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Job interviews]]

897: Elevator Inspection

2023-03-05T22:05:32Z

172.69.79.133: /* Explanation */ Given the premise, it may not be there to find (out of mere curiosity or investigative necessity).

{{comic
| number = 897
| date = May 11, 2011
| title = Elevator Inspection
| image = elevator inspection.png
| titletext = Even governmental elevator inspectors get bored halfway through asking where the building office is.
}}

==Explanation==
This was the first of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[:Category:Tips|Tips]], that was not a [[:Category:Protip|pro tip]] but more specific an Industry tip.

In the United States, all elevators are subject to building codes and must be inspected on a somewhat-regular basis by city officials. After the inspector runs their rounds, the elevator's passing grade is noted in a certificate which is visibly placed in the elevator. Alternatively, it can be dumped in a filing cabinet in the building office where the owner can forget about it, and a placard is given to the elevator letting the passengers know where the certificate is (usually the aforementioned building office).

This comic is portraying a scenario which supposedly never happens. No-one is ever actually interested in seeing the elevator's certificate, and nobody gets this excited about going to a building office. So, as the caption humorously suggests: many elevators start using the placards for elevators that have not been inspected. No one cares enough to go to the building office and search the files for the certification that may not even exist. And as the title text says, even inspectors themselves get bored before they can get to the building office.

The moral of this comic is if you see an elevator with a notice that says that the "elevator inspection certificate is on file", you do not really know whether the notice is true, and so building owners use the certificates as substitutes for the bother and expense of actually getting their elevators inspected. The flaw in this logic is that, if an elevator were to fail catastrophically, any actual inspection certificate would almost certainly be retrieved and examined as part of the investigation. If the elevator had not been inspected as required, there would be very serious legal consequences. Hence, failing to carry out regular inspections would carry substantial risks.

==Transcript==
:[Two Cueball-like guys and Ponytail, lifting her arms above her head, are in an elevator. Cueball standing next to the door reads the sign above the control panel.]
:Cueball: It says here that the elevator inspection certificate is on file in the building office.
:Friend: Whoa, cool! Let's go look at it!
:Ponytail: That sounds fun!

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Industry tip: Building owners know this never happens. Those signs mark elevators which have never been inspected.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Elevators]]
[[Category:Sarcasm]]
[[Category:Tips]]

1871: Bun Alert

2023-02-25T22:53:54Z

172.69.79.133: If you must, putting it the correct side of the punctuation...

{{comic
| number = 1871
| date = August 2, 2017
| title = Bun Alert
| image = bun_alert.png
| titletext = Since buns range from crepuscular to nocturnal, it's recommended that you enable the scheduled "Do Not Disturb" mode on your phone to avoid being woken by alerts about Night Buns.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic opens with [[Beret Guy]] identifying a "bun", an informal term for a {{w|rabbit}} also used in [[1682: Bun]]. The title text of that former comic specifically refers to sending out a "BUN ALERT" to friends and family with location and photographic evidence of the bun, so in this comic, that concept appears to have been elevated from a simple mass SMS/MMS message to a standalone application.

Upon seeing the bun, Beret Guy uses his phone to send an alert about the "Bun" with a [[wikipedia:Push technology|push notification]]. He is still looking for investors, though such an app would likely not appeal to a wide market.{{Citation needed}} In response to [[Ponytail]]'s confusion, he explains that bunnies are "like loaves of bread that hop" making a pun by comparing rabbits to bread, as "bun" can commonly refer to a small loaf of bread. Beret Guy is known to be fascinated with bakeries, as shown in the comics [[434: xkcd Goes to the Airport]], [[442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel ]], or [[452: Mission]], so it makes sense that this sort of comparison occurs to him. It is known that the word "bun" is similar to the word "pun". Beret Guy has a history of misinterpreting statements and phrases (and often making said misinterpretations correct through some strange power of his), so it is not implausible that he actually genuinely thinks that these "buns" are bread products that somehow behave exactly like rabbits.

As Ponytail leaves, apparently to remove herself from the situation, [[Megan]] hurriedly approaches, excited to see the "bun". This serves as a punchline as, despite Ponytail appearing to be the voice of reason, it seems that Beret Guy's inane bun alert system has gathered a dedicated following after all.

Megan's question "Is it small?" and her amazement when she finds out that it is parallels the idea in [[1682: Bun]] where the bun's size is said to be inversely correlated with its status; smaller buns such as the one in this comic are thought of as higher-ranking "king buns" by the characters in both strips. In real life, smaller rabbits are more likely to simply be young. It is also possible that she simply thinks smaller buns are cuter, which might have been the motivation for the whole bun-ranking system thing in the first place.

The title text refers to buns being {{w|crepuscular}} and {{w|nocturnal}} animals, meaning they are primarily active at twilight and night, respectively. This means that someone with the app would get a lot of notifications while they would most likely be asleep. Many smartphones have a "Do Not Disturb" mode that can be activated so that only select communications (i.e. direct calls) will actually set off the ringer/vibration, and all others will simply be added to the device's notification queue; such a function can be scheduled to automatically activate during the period when the user is asleep. The title text unironically points out a prime example of the need for such a function: if something is likely to notify your device late at night, then you should make sure that those notifications are silenced by the Do Not Disturb function.

The bun alert reappears in [[1903: Bun Trend]], where Beret Guy receives the alert.

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy and Ponytail see a rabbit sitting in the grass; Beret Guy points to the bun.]
:Beret Guy: Bun alert!
:Ponytail: Oh, yeah! Cute!
:Beret Guy: Gotta document this. I'll notify everyone, send out a push alert.
:Ponytail: ...to who?

:[Zoom in on Beret Guy and Ponytail; Beret Guy taps on his phone.]
:Beret Guy: Everyone subscribed to the alert system.
:Ponytail: Alert system?
:Beret Guy: Yeah! We built it over the last few years. It's pretty small. Still looking for investors.
:Ponytail: But...''why'' are you alerting people about rabbits?

:[Zoom out; Beret Guy puts away his phone, points at the bun.]
:Beret Guy: I mean...look at them. They're like loaves of bread that hop.
:Ponytail: I see.
:Beret Guy: ''People need to know.''

:[Zoom on Beret Guy in a frameless panel.]
:Beret Guy: They need to know:
:Beret Guy: '''''There are buns.'''''

:[Ponytail walks off, Megan comes running towards Beret Guy with a phone in her hand.]
:Ponytail: Okay, uhh, I'm gonna go.
:Megan: ''I got the alert!'' Where's the bun? '''''Is it small?'''''
:Beret Guy: ''Extremely.''
:Megan: Oh my God.

==Trivia==
*In [[1682: Bun]], it was Ponytail who was infatuated with "buns", while Megan was the incredulous one questioning the situation. In this comic, the roles are reversed. This is a strong indication that the characters represented by Ponytail and Megan in this comic are not the same characters from ''1682: Bun''.

*On August 6th, 2017 a [http://jgreenemi.com/bun-alert-an-afternoon-xkcd-project/ real-world Bun Alert] was created by a developer following inspiration from [[1871: Bun Alert]]. The project was shut down by the developer on January 29th, 2018 and no longer sends out alerts, although [https://bunalert.jgreenemi.com/ the webpage] is still accessible.

*On August 8th, 2017 an Android app was created by a developer also following inspiration from [[1871: Bun Alert]]

*On October 5th, 2020 an update to the Android app, along with an iOS app was published. The website is available [https://bunalert.app/ here].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Beret Guy's Business]]
[[Category:Buns]]

Talk:2740: Square Packing

2023-02-22T09:28:53Z

172.69.79.133: will it blend?

I suspect Randall saw the same social media post that I did (or maybe a repost of the same social media post, who knows or cares). I don't really want to make an explanation, but anyone who does, here's a link to a bunch of square packing findings... of course, no hydraulic press allowed for these packings. https://erich-friedman.github.io/packing/squinsqu/ [[User:Tsumikiminiwa|Tsumikiminiwa]] ([[User talk:Tsumikiminiwa|talk]]) 22:07, 20 February 2023 (UTC)

:Yeah, this was on r/mathmemes the other day. [[Special:Contributions/172.64.238.48|172.64.238.48]] 00:03, 21 February 2023 (UTC)

Welcome to the Hydraulic Press Channel. Today we have a set of squares that are usually used in packing problems. You are supposed to fit them into other squares by arranging them. But I think we can get them to fit easier if we put them on the press, and just try to make them smaller. We are going to start with one square, and see how much smaller we can make this. And here we go.

:Needs to include a mention of the "Square Packer Five Meeellion"... [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.141|172.68.51.141]] 16:48, 21 February 2023 (UTC)

The post where I saw this said: “God is dead, and what killed him was learning [the similarly inelegant-appearing n=17 solution].” [[Special:Contributions/172.70.254.216|172.70.254.216]] 13:08, 21 February 2023 (UTC)

[[Special:Contributions/172.70.54.77|172.70.54.77]] 19:26, 21 February 2023 (UTC)
Welcome to the Hydraulic Press channel

What does "s<" mean? [[User:Kev|Kev]] ([[User talk:Kev|talk]]) 22:54, 21 February 2023 (UTC)
:"S" (the size of the square, within which lie the N small squares) is less than the following number. i.e. that any S of that amount or greater is more than enough space to contain N unit squares. But it isn't fully established what the ''smallest'' value of S is, just that it will not be bigger than (or equal to) that provisional limit.
:(Do we need a wikilink to inequality notation in the explanation, then? Maybe you can tell us, Kev.) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.191|172.71.242.191]] 23:17, 21 February 2023 (UTC)

I think I saw this new solution in a paper authored by USPS et al. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.159|108.162.216.159]] 23:33, 21 February 2023 (UTC)

I believe we can get S<3.32 for this problem... if it will Blend. --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.133|172.69.79.133]] 09:28, 22 February 2023 (UTC)

2725: Sunspot Cycle

2023-01-17T06:59:39Z

172.69.79.133: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2725
| date = January 16, 2023
| title = Sunspot Cycle
| image = sunspot_cycle_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x503px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Who can forget the early 2010s memes? 'You know you're a 90s kid if you remember the feeling of warm sunlight on your face.' 'Only 90s kids remember the dawn.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a NINETIES KID WHO FELT SUN - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic seems to be set in an alternative reality where the sun's brightness rises and falls within an 11 year cycle, causing there to be complete darkness for around 10 years. The change in brightness over the cycle is due to sunspots accumulating over half of the cycle. When the sun darkens, standard sunspots appear. When it brightens, fictitious 'bright' sunspots appear in place of the old, dark sunspots.

This is probably a reference to the Solar cycle[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cycle], which is a roughly 11-year cycle of changes in the sun's activity from a period of minimal levels of solar radiation, ejecta, sunspots and solar flares to maximum activity in these areas. Historically this cycle was observed by changes in the sun's appearance, which this comic exaggerates.

This would obviously be impossible{{citation needed}} as not only do sunspots cool the area of the sun where they appear, but during a dark phase, no light is coming from the sun, so the Earth would freeze. Sunspots are also not totally dark; NASA says that each sunspot on its own would glow orange brighter than the full moon.[https://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/workbook/sunspot.html]

The title text indicates the effect on internet memes that this process has. During the 2010's, when '90's kid' memes were still funny, many have changed to reflect that the Earth has been dark since the 2000's, and thus only those born in the 90's and before would remember dawn.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Caption above the comic]:
:Ever wonder why the sun disappears for about 10 years every other decade? This terrifying period of worldwide darkness is a natural consequence of the 11-year sunspot cycle:

:[A graph with "Sunspot number" on the Y axis and "Time" on the X axis. A dashed line increases, then decreases, then slightly increases again. Above the dashed line are eight circles representing the sun with various levels of sunspots, with an arrow between each circle. From left to right: The first circle is clear. The second circle has a few sunspots.]
:Dark sunspots appear.
:[The third circle has a few more, and darker, sunspots.]
:Sunspot number rises.
:[The fourth circle has some large black sunspots with much of the remainder of the circle in gray. Between the fourth and fifth circle is a label:]
:Number falls as sunspots merge.
:[The fifth circle is mostly black. The sixth circle is all black.]
:Sunspots envelop sun, Earth enters years of darkness.
:[The seventh circle is mostly black with a few light areas. The eighth circle is still mostly black but with some larger white areas.]
:Bright sunspots appear, cycle reverses.

:[A second graph is labeled "History" but its Y axis is not labeled. The X axis has the years "1970", "1980", "1990", "2000", "2010", and "2020" labeled. The areas between 1970 and 1980, 1990 and 2000, and approximately 2012 and 2025 are labeled "Sun is bright". The areas between 1980 and 1990, and 2000 and approximately 2012 are labeled "Sun is dark".]
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Timelines]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]

2712: Gravity

2022-12-26T22:33:46Z

172.69.79.133: /* Celestial Bodies */ Interesting, but probably quite unlikely to be Randall's inspiration (with only Little Prince-related visual references),just another thing inspired by TLP itself. Keeping, but neutralising the original suggestion

{{comic
| number = 2712
| date = December 16, 2022
| title = Gravity
| image = gravity_2x.png
| titletext = It's a long way down.
}}

*To experience the interactivity, visit the [http://xkcd.com/2712/ original comic].
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by THE UNIVERSE FROM A PIECE OF FAIRY CAKE- Please continue expanding and describing the various bodies. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In this interactive comic, the viewer pilots a small spaceship throughout a vast area in space. The viewer is capable of exploring various bodies and planets within the play area, many containing easter eggs alluding to the book What If? 2 and previous xkcd comics. The flight mechanics are largely, if not entirely, Newtonian, so the vessel is capable of using the gravity of planets to alter its trajectory or even enter orbit. The spaceship has indicator circles around it which appear when a gravitational body comes into range, showing the direction towards their center of gravity and the size of the body. A circle also appears around the spaceship whenever it collides with a gravitational body, acting as a shield. The shield remains until the player orients the spaceship upright so its landing gear can deploy.

With a keyboard the arrow keys rotate the spaceship and accelerate it forward and backward. You can also use the standard first person shooter keys 'w', 'a', 's' and 'd', and the standard vi text editor navigation keys 'h', 'j', 'k', and 'l' to control the spaceship. Despite some ships having no unique backward texture, all ships can reverse. On mobile the comic will full screen, pressing either side of the center rotates the spaceship, and pressing in the center accelerates it forward.

It is fairly easy to fly between planets as long as you pay attention to orbital mechanics; don't just floor the accelerator. The background stars show your velocity and orientation relative to the nearest gravity well. If you are having difficulties navigating space, point towards a gravity orb and accelerate for only a few seconds. Wait until the background stars spin wildly, and then reduce your velocity to 0 before gently accelerating towards the object.

'''Playing on mobile:''' Various additional glitches may occur. Having a starting position slightly below the take-off pad means you're already 'glitched' inside the planet from the off. Escaping the planet may need inverted 'accelerating' (turning perpendicular to the local vertical, and thrusting ''backwards'' until you can glitch back out into more open space. You may also be trapped within the cannonball 'orbit', with seemingly inconsistent collision-detection, such that you can be sat ''with landing gear extended'' upon features (projectile tracks, etc) that seem not to count as solid for most other purposes.

There is no "universal" point of view — the bottom of the window, "down", is oriented towards the object exerting the most gravity upon the player. Multiple things found in this comic draw attention to this, such as how on Earth Ponytail says to White Hat, "I checked downforeveryoneorjustme.com and it says just me", and he replies "Yeah, I guess down isn't down for everyone."

Throughout the play area are coins that change the spaceship into different rockets and non-space based vehicles, including humans.

The comic promotes Randall's new book [https://xkcd.com/what-if-2/ What If? 2], which was released in September and is available for purchase. Many of the planets contain references to various What If? articles.

The comic is similar to [[1608: Hoverboard]], which celebrated Thing Explainer instead.

===Celestial Bodies===

The following is an incomplete table of features:

{|class="wikitable sortable"
!
!
!
!
! colspan="4"|References
!
|-
! ID
! Description
! Transcript
! Tiles (X, Y)
! What If
! XKCD
! Movies
! Other
! Explanation
|-
|<code>origin</code>
|'''Starting planet'''
|
Cueball: "To celebrate the world of ''What If? 2'', here is your very own tiny planet to explore!

Megan: "Welcome!"

Ground caption: "Give someone the science question-and-answer book ''What If? 2'' for the Holidays: xkcd.com/whatif2"

Cueball feeding T-Rex: "Burger?"

Isaac Newton: "Robert Hooke must be down there ''somewhere!''"

Megan to Cueball: "If you ever get lost in space, just fly down. That's where the ground is."

Beret Guy to squirrel: "Hi!"
|(0, 0)
|Y
|
|
|Y
|The starting planet. The player begins on the launch pad in a landed position. Collecting the orbiting cannonball will transform you into a different rocket, although it does not improve your abilities.

Cueball feeding the T-Rex is possibly a reference to What If #78: {{what if|78|T-rex Calories}}.

{{w|Isaac Newton}} is referencing the {{w|Newton's cannonball}} thought experiment, where a cannon is fired at greater and greater speeds until the cannonball goes into orbit. Newton's comment suggests that instead of demonstrating orbits, he is firing repeatedly to hit his rival, {{w|Robert Hooke}}.
|-
|<code>earth</code>
|'''Earth'''
|
"How am I supposed to cause the extinction of the dinosaurs if they keep moving out from under my comet?"

"Unusually high-speed squirrels."

"Jump in! The water's fine!"

"Ugh, the frame rate is really bad out today."

"I don't know why people complain about going down rabbit holes. These lil guys are adorable!"

"Ahh, the mysterious natural wonders of sailing stones"

"I'm Bananas Georg.
Every year our company publishes global per capita banana consumption numbers, so to make the printing easier, I eat enough bananas of December 31st to make sure it's a round number."

"Weird, I feel ''heavier''."

"Hey"

"I checked downforeveryoneorjustme.com and it says just me"
"Yeah, I guess down isn't down for everyone"
|(27867,-35648)
|Y
|Y
|
|Y
|A planet with among other things:
* A {{what if|162|crane dropping a comet}} onto a dinosaur,
* Unusually high speed squirrels (creating a sonic boom)
* Megan inviting Cueball into a pool
* A region where the frame rate is intentionally limited
* A flagpole
* A literal {{w|burrow|rabbithole}} referencing the figuratively speaking [[wikt:rabbit hole|rabbit hole]]
* Someone aiming at a satellite with an arrow
* A lake with an eel
* The {{what if|157|earth-moon firepole}}
* A "doot cone," a reference to [[Volcano Types]]
* Two figures being attacked by a third with a sword
* Two kids playing soccer (Catching the ball will turn the ship into a soccer ball)
* A farmer on a tractor being stuck in gooey candy
* A banana pile being consumed by "Bananas Georg" to make the per capita annual banana count round, referencing the "[https://reallyreallyreallytrying.tumblr.com/post/40033025233/average-person-eats-3-spiders-a-year-factoid Spiders Georg]" meme.
* Megan and Cueball digging a hole (in the center of this planet is the "earth's core", referenced below)
* The {{what if|147|Niagara Falls water being redirected into the LHC}} (Large Hadron Collider)
* Japan(?) leaving earth
* A tube to the bottom of the ocean
* Ponytail and White Hat making a reference to [https://downforeveryoneorjustme.com downforeveryoneorjustme.com]
* Two mini asteroid moons: A tiny version of B612 with Little Prince and the rose, plus one with just Cueball standing on it. They can be found by flying straight up from the Super Mario flagpole.
|-
|
|Earth's core
|
| (28850, -28570)
|
|
|
|
|[[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] floating in a small space in the center of the planet in inverted rotations. Can be legally accessed using a high velocity collision onto the surface of the planet, although requires tapping the up arrow afterwards many, many times.
|-
|<code>europa</code>
|'''Europa'''
|
|(13180, -2540)
|Y
|
|
|Y
|Europa, one of Jupiter's many moons (in real life). A broken, icy crust has a single path into its core.
|-
|
|Europa's crust
|
"It's so unfair we don't get to compete in EuroVision."

"The region of the solar system where liquid water can exist on the surface is the habitable zone, and the region where it can exist beneath the surface of moons is the Eurozone."

"WHIRRRR"
|
|Y
|
|
|
|Europa's crust, with a single entrance into the core demarcated by an octopus leaving a hole.
Cueball states that Europa, with liquid underneath its surface, is in the Eurozone, a pun on the ''other'' Eurozone.

A roomba whirs across the icy crust.

Cueball has a hairdryer and is melting the surface of the crust. A direct reference to {{what if|35|What If's Hairdryer}}.
|-
|
|Europa's core
|"We've always used neutrinos for astronomy, but if we place my 'optical telescope' in orbit above the kryosphere, we could potentially observe the universe using electromagnetic waves. Who knows what else there is out there besides stars! There could be other worlds!"

"Hi, I'm Annie. Welcome to the depths of Europa. There's some weird stuff down here."

"We were caught in a powerful November gale on the Great Lakes outside Whitefish Bay. Our ship foundered and sank here." "This is Jupiter's moon Europa." "It was a REALLY powerful gale."

"Does our book club really need this much secrecy?" "That sounds like a question a SPY would ask."
|
|
|
|Y
|
|A watery ocean with octopi looking out into the great unknown using telescopes. This is a reference to octopus's intelligence here on earth! It may also be a reference to (Spoilers!) a certain 2013 science-fiction film featuring Europa, if not a 1987 book. There's also a secret path leading to a book club, through the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The woman presenting herself as Annie is a reference to Annie Rauwerda, the creator of the popular social media accounts {{w|Depths of Wikipedia}}.
|-
|<code>b612</code>
|'''B-612'''
|
Probe: "Asteroid deflection mission to earth. The package is delivered. Commencing planetary threat neutralization."

Sign: "Welcome to B-612"
|(2610,3700)
|Y
|Y
|
|Y
|A reference to [[618: Asteroid|Asteroid]]. In a tragic turn of events, the Earth-bound asteroid being blown up is the home of {{w|The Little Prince|the little prince}}.

A defunct Australian hard rock band was named {{w|Asteroid B-612}}, probably also named for The Little Prince's planet.
|-
|<code>dogplanet</code>
|'''Dog park planet'''
|
[Dog Park]

"I want more dogs!"

"Ball! Again!"

"I hope it lands soon."

"English adjective order means that you're "Clifford the Big Red Dog" but not "Clifford the Red Big Dog""

"You can't have too many dogs!"

|(1240, 11230)
|Y
|
|
|
|A planet covered in dogs, along with dog walkers, some fences, and a sign that reads "Dog Park". Two dogs watch a ball which is traveling in what appears to be a circular orbit around the planet. One dog is much larger than anything else on the planet. A hole is being dug by two dogs. Visible at the bottom, there is an empty space in the center of the planet in the shape of a dog bone.

Ponytail's explanation of adjective order was originally miswritten, saying "Clifford the Red Big Dog" twice.
|-
| <code>goodhart</code>
|'''What If? 2 scenario planet'''
|
Cueball to White Hat: "The tower over there is the Vehicle Assembly Building, and then behind it is the Vehicle Disassembly Building."

Ponytail to Cueball: "You know how tires pollute the environment with rubber particles? Well, I've developed a solution."

"MMM SPIDERS HOMF HOMF"

Shooting star caption: "THE MORE YOU KNOW"
Sauropod: "Oh no!"

Person on uncontrolled helicopter: "AAAAAA"

Geyser: "Fwoosh!"
Cueball and Megan: "Oooh!"

Giant phone crushing city: "ALERT" "Giant phone crushing city" "Dismiss" "More"

Cueball with jetpack: "Wheeeee!"

Cueball to Megan: "Do you ever look up at the night sky and think, "Wow, I bet those little white dots taste ''delicious!''"

Neighbor: "Why is my house on fire ''again?!''"
Cueball: "Dunno"
Laser captioned: "Laser"

Person with Washington Monument: "Okay, let it drop!"
|(-13300,-3260)
|Y
|Y
|
| Y
| In aerospace, a Vehicle Assembly Building is where spacecraft are constructed. Randall Munroe whimsically refers to the launchpad as the Vehicle Disassembly Building.

Contains a figure in a cave saying "MMM SPIDERS HOMF NOMF", which refers to [[1268: Alternate Universe|Alternate Universe]] and may also be a reference to the [https://reallyreallyreallytrying.tumblr.com/post/40033025233/average-person-eats-3-spiders-a-year-factoid Spiders Georg] meme.

Collecting the small dot above the mountain peak will turn your ship into a flying person figure.
|-
|<code>sun</code>
|'''The Sun'''
| "The sun is governed by magnetohydrodynamics, or 'Magic' for short"

"My countertop!"

"This will make a good soup base"

"Can I touch it yet?" "No, be patient. It's still too hot. Give it another 20 or 30 billion years."

"It's okay. I'm wearing five layers of sunscreen."

TV Anchor: "The forecast for today is lots of sun"

"This should be enough sunscreen"
|(-14950, 12080)
|Y
|Y
|
|
|Difficult to escape from if you hit the core. The description of magnetohydrodynamics is a reference to [[1851: Magnetohydrodynamics]]. Throwing a countertop into the Sun is a reference to {{what if|89|What If? Tungsten Countertop}}
|-
|
|Sun's core
| Cueball: "The core of the sun may seem hot, but it only produces about as much energy per volume as a lizard" Megan: "Wow. So how many lizards are there?" Cueball: "No-one knows."
|
|Y
|
|
|
|Difficult to escape from. Can be escaped by rotating around the sun until an escape-like velocity could be reached. Comparing the sun's heat per volume to reptiles- in this case, lizards- is a reference to {{what if|148|What If? Eat the Sun}}.
|-
|<code>soupiter</code>
|'''Soupiter'''
|"I think it's chicken noodle? Hard to tell."
|(-800, -9040)
|Y
|
|
|
|A model of the solar system filled with soup out to the orbit of Jupiter. As commented by Cueball, noodle soup.
|-
|<code>nojapan</code>
|'''Earth without Japan'''
|"Something is missing."
|(-7680, -5850)
|Y
|
|
|
|Earth, except it's missing japan.
|-
|<code>japanmoon</code>
|'''Just Japan'''
|
|(-5930, -5800)
|Y
|
|
|
|A moon with water surrounding... just Japan.
|-
|<code>pigeons</code>
|'''A blob labeled "Pigeons"'''
|
|(-9020, -2490)
|Y
|
|
|
|A reference to Chapter 6 of What If? 2, where it would take 1.6 x 10^25 pigeons to lift you and a chair up to the halfway point of Australia's Q1 skyscraper.
|-
|<code>enterprise</code>
|'''Starship Enterprise'''
|
|(2389, -60879)
|Y
|
|
|
|Star Trek reference: The Enterprise-C, yes 2344,commanded by Captain Garrett's. While defending a Klingon outpost, the weapons discharges resulted in the creation of a temporal rift, through which the badly damaged Enterprise drifted. In the comic, there is a large, invisible gravity distortion near the Enterprise-C
|-
|<code>qwantz</code>
|'''Dinosaur planet'''
|"Welcome... to Jurassic Park."
| (20403,-49559)
|
|
|Y
|
|An homage to [https://www.qwantz.com/ Dinosaur Comics], a webcomic Randall has mentioned several times before. All the dinosaurs on the planet are black-and-white versions of the clip art dinosaurs in that comic. Also references the Jurassic Park movies, with CEO John Hammond welcoming paleontologists Dr. Sattler and Dr. Grant to the planet. The long grass depicted is a plot point in later films.
|-
|<code>roads</code>
|'''Cat blocking traffic flowing through portals'''
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|<code>outside</code>
|'''Edge of the Universe'''
|"Welcome, traveler!" (found inside the edge of the bubble universe)
| ( 6081, 26138 )
|
|Y
|
|
|It looks like a planet labeled "edge of the universe". Outside the universe, so inside the "edge of the universe" planet, is another universe, the bubble universe, whose outside is labeled "edge of the bubble universe". Hidden entrance is between 10 and 11 'o clock. It is a reference to [[Bubble Universes]].
|-
|<code>roads</code>
|'''A tree larger than the planet it's growing on'''
|
|
|
|Y
|
|
|May be a reference to [[2: Petit Trees (sketch)|Petit Trees]]. More probably, a reference to ''The Little Prince'', a French children's novel about a traveler from a distant asteroid. In the novel, baobab trees are a serious threat to the Prince's home asteroid, as they are so large that their roots would engulf the asteroid entirely. Randall has alluded to The Little Prince numerous times before, especially in what-if articles.
|-
|<code>outside</code>
|'''Milliways'''
|
| in code: <code>[0,-14500]</code> in game: <code>[0,29000]</code>
|
|
|Y
|Y
|A reference to Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe from ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. On one side of the planet, Ponytail, Cueball, Megan, and other characters gather on the patio of the Milliways restaurant; on the other side, the Sojourner rover examines a rock.
|-
|<code>greatattractor</code>
|'''The Great Attractor'''
|
|(-596048, 247952)
|
|Y
|
|
|Beret Guy stands on the surface of a large ball labeled "The Great Attractor". The gravity is extremely strong (over 200 times that of the black holes), leading to various bugs and collision issues. It's a reference to [[Great Attractor]], in which Beret Guy is gravitationally attracted to the Great Attractor more strongly than usual.
|-
|<code>present</code>
|'''Present'''
|
"I didn't do any of my Christmas shopping yet because I was too busy drawing tiny planets."

"I'm done with my shopping! I got everyone What if? 2"

"...You got me my own book?"

"Yeah! I figured that since you wrote it, it must be right up your alley."

"It does make a good gift, though. You can get it at xkcd.com/whatif2"

"I got you this present!"

"Is it an angry bobcat?"

"It might not be."
|in code: <code>[22820,-18920]</code> in game: <code>[45640,37840]</code>
|
|Y
|
|
|The XKCD cast react to giving each other What if 2? as a present. Black Hat gives Cueball a "gift" which he claims "might not be a bobcat", a reference to [[A-Minus-Minus]] A quarter of the planet was missing on the release day, but it's fixed now.
|-
|<code>maw1</code>, <code>maw2</code>, ... <code>maw14</code>
|'''Black hole cluster'''
|
|
|
|
|Y
|
|A cluster of black holes with extremely high gravitational strength, set to the maximum of 2048. Not particularly easy to land on with multiple conflicting gravitational fields, but once landed on, rather difficult to escape. Likely a reference to the [[wikia:w:c:starwars:Maw Cluster|Maw Cluster]] in Star Wars.
|-
|<code>remnant</code>
|'''Remnant'''
|"All right, that's close enough"
"Oh no"

{{w|Walkin' on the Sun|"So don't delay, act now, supplies are running out"}}

"In 5 billion years, the Sun will run out of fuel and suffer gigennial burnout."

"The immense gravity of the sun's remnant means that this is the tallest possible skyscraper."
|(19620, 3800)
|
|
|
|Y
|A stellar remnant, with high gravity (making it difficult to escape, although it's possible to achieve escape velocity by flying sideways). Has various small landmarks, including a "skyscraper" and suspension bridge. There is a set of images of a rocket descending towards the planet, falling and then trying to escape by sledding. The band is performing Smash Mouth's "Walkin' on the Sun".
|-
|<code>steerswoman</code>
|'''Steerswoman Planet'''
|"As a Steerswoman, I have to answer any question anyone asks me, or I'm expelled from the order."
"What's one question that you would be unwilling to answer?"
"Oh no."

"Handle this artifact with great care. It contains a magical wizard's potion which the ancients called 'trinitrotoluene'"
|(-35070,-2500)
|
|
|
|Y
|A reference to the Steerswoman series of books by Rosemary Kirstein. Includes a number of references to the series, including a group of people observing a small object orbiting the planet.

Trinitrotoluene is better known as {{w|TNT}}, a powerful explosive.
|-
|<code>peeler</code>
|'''Peeler'''
|
|(-9270, 620)
|Y
|
|
|
|A reference to the question posed by "What If 2: Lose Weight the Slow and Incredibly Difficult Way". A large potato peeler is seen removing the earth's crust.
|}

===Ships===
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Name
! Description
! Location
! Filename
|-
|Default
|The starting ship.
|It is possible to change back to this ship by collecting a dot located within the Black Hole cluster
|ship2
|-
| Tintin
| Ship in the shape of the {{w|Destination Moon (comics)|moon rocket from Tintin}}
| On the starting planet; can be obtained by collecting the cannonball in orbit
| ship-tintin
|-
| Figure
|Stick figure
|On Goodhart, atop the mountain up which Sisyphus is pushing his boulder.
|ship-figure
|-
| Soccer ball
| Soccer ball shaped ship
| On Earth, between two figures playing ball
|ship-soccer
|-
|Alternative Ship
|Default ship with KSP-style parachutes on both sides of the ship. The parachutes seem to disappear on landing.
|Only available by using console to change Comic.ship = ship1
|ship1
|}

==Data and Maps==

View the data that is embedded in the comic on [[2712: Gravity/Data|this page]].

Maps created by the Community:
*https://bacontime.github.io/xkcd2712 | A zoomable map of the universe with markers for all planets, coins and with the option to highlight secret passages
*https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/zpe7bz/i_rendered_the_entire_what_if_2_universe_as_a/ | The whole universe rendered as one big image

==Hacks==
Various modes and hacks have been found or developed by the community, and can be activated by opening the browser console (F12, Ctrl-Shift-I or Cmd-Option-I to open your browser's developer tools, then choose the Console tab) and typing a command. 
'''Click to expand:''' 

<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed leftAlign" style="width:100%">
 
*'''Speedhack:''' <code>ship.engines = "warp"</code> - Speed hacking, sets speed to 1.4x. set to "standard" to reset to normal speed
*'''Teleport to planet:''' <code>[Comic.voyager.pos.x, Comic.voyager.pos.y] = Comic.planetRects.'''''origin'''''.slice(0,2)</code> - teleport near a planet, in this example near earth. You'll still have to fly a bit towards the nearest planet to reach it. Replace '''''origin''''' with the ID of the planet you want to go to, from the table above.
*'''Teleport to coordinate:''' <code>[Comic.voyager.pos.x, Comic.voyager.pos.y] = '''''[0, -2000]'''''</code> - teleport to an exact coordinate. <code>[0, -2000]</code> happens to take you to the starting area.
*'''Improved radar:''' <code>Comic.wayfinderFarDistance = Infinity</code> - make the direction of all objects visible. This can be hard to understand though.
*'''Chaos Mode:''' <code>ship.engines="infinite improbability drive"</code> - Seems to randomly teleports the ship. A reference to its namesake in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
*'''Insta Death:''' <code>ship.shields = false</code> - Kill the player if they land on a planet, the code never sets it to false, so it seems to be always true.
*'''No Clip:''' <code>noclip = true</code> - Enables noclip. Also disables gravity.
*'''Select ship:''' <code>Comic.ship = "ship-tintin"</code> - Select ship (use filename from list of ships)
*'''Autorotate:''' <code>Comic.cameraRotation = false</code> - View does not rotate with ship
*'''Goggles:''' <code>ze.goggles()</code> - returns a warning: "they do nothing!". This is a reference to Hoverboard, where ''ze.goggles()'' would give you the ability to see false walls. Which itself is most likely a reference to the Simpsons where Radioactive man complains that his safety goggles do nothing against a deluge of acid.
*'''Python:''' <code>python("import antigravity")</code> - reverses gravity, so the ship falls away from planets. A reference to [[353: Python]]. Reset with <code>Comic.gravityConstant = 100</code>.
*'''Light Mode''' <code>Comic.lightMode = true</code> - inverts the color of the comic. reset with <code>Comic.lightMode = false</code>
</div>
 

==Trivia==
The objects in the mini-universe of this browser game are all at fixed positions and do not interact through gravity, however, the ship controlled by the player is affected by gravity. While this makes it technically a relatively easy integration problem (of the position of the player ship forward in time), the integrator used seems to be a relatively simple one - and certainly not a symplectic one, because it does not conserve angular momentum. This can be seen when one manages to get into orbit around some object, e.g. the core of the sun. The orbit slowly decays over time.

The logic for extending the landing legs and landing is rather simple. A ship can (normally) land if it is facing away from the surface it collides with, and if its momentum is more-or-less directed towards the surface. Once landing is triggered, the ship will rotate to face directly away from the object exerting the most gravity on the player, regardless of how sloped the surface is. The only way to get into space again is to accelerate forwards, as neither turning nor accelerating backwards cancels the landed state. All of this can be abused to land on almost everything. To land on the underside of an object, simply point your ship away from the object and slowly accelerate backwards to counteract the force of gravity. Landing on the side of an object is more difficult, as ships cannot accelerate sideways. The first method is to accelerate backwards to launch yourself upwards and towards the object so that at the top of your arc you will collide with the object. Then, rotate your ship accordingly to land. Method two is to just repeatedly slam your back of your ship into the object until you land. Note that with any of these weird landing methods, your ship will turn to face away from the source of gravity and can clip into objects.

Executing <code>window.python("import antigravity")</code> or <code>python("import antigravity")</code> as Javascript on the page will reverse gravity, multiplying the gravity constant by -1.

Executing <code>window.ze.goggles()</code> or <code>ze.goggles()</code> as Javascript on the page will show a warning in the console: "<code>they do nothing!</code>"

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

Welcome!

To celebrate the world of what if? 2, here is your very own planet to explore!

Give someone the science question-and-answer book what if? 2 for Christmas:
xkcd.com/whatif2

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Book promotion]]
[[Category:Interactive comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Bobcats]]

User:TheHYPO

2022-12-06T00:01:02Z

172.69.79.133: Undo revision 300594 by 172.68.66.103 (talk) That's not obviosly useful, assuming an error.

I'm [[wikipedia:meta:user:TheHYPO|User:TheHYPO]] on several Wikimedia projects and I've been commenting on the blog as "TH".

Talk:1107: Sports Cheat Sheet

2022-12-05T12:38:26Z

172.69.79.133:

Thanks to whoever added the hockey mention ("no love" in the comic, for sure). Maybe the comic needs another column for Canada, where hockey can be argued about year-round. (Yes, it's an exaggeration for comic effect.) As for the rest of the world, or at least ex-Commonwealth and neighboring countries (e.g. Australia, India, New Zealand), what about rugby and cricket? --'''BigMal27''' (no account) / [[Special:Contributions/192.136.15.177|192.136.15.177]] 15:29, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

It would probably be either "Hockey" or "Hockey and ..." -- '''No_Account''' (no account)

What point in the season do hockey sticks get bandages?
I used to think at about the half way point they started using them as repairs but now I am wondering if they start off the season with bandages as padding until the players get seasoned.[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 19:25, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

:Forgot to mention that these sports don't have to be professional in nature. I know of plenty US collegiate arguments in both football (e.g. Michigan vs. Notre Dame or Michigan State or Ohio State) and basketball (everyone vs. everyone during the NCAA tournament a.k.a. "March Madness" (TM)). --'''BigMal27''' / [[Special:Contributions/192.136.15.177|192.136.15.177]] 17:33, 12 September 2012 (UTC)
::I'm with you on cricket, though I was always under the impression that rugby was pretty much isolated to ''dahwn undah.'' Nonetheless, I took a slightly different read of the comic, possibly biased by this quip a friend shared: during the SuperBowl, if a team scores, the US reacts. During the cricket world cup, if a team scores, the commonwealth reacts. But if, during the football (aka soccer) world cup, a team scores, the ''world'' reacts. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 13:39, 13 September 2012 (UTC)
:::Irony, you're thinking of Australian Football. Rugby is a different game and much more widespread. It's arguably the national sport of New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Wales. It's a major sport in South Africa, Britain, Ireland, France, Italy and Australia. Argentina are rapidly improving and now compete every year in the southern hemisphere Rugby Championship with Australia, NZ and South Africa. -- [[User:Concrete Gannet|Concrete Gannet]] ([[User talk:Concrete Gannet|talk]]) 14:05, 17 September 2012 (UTC)
:::For us Aussies it this comic would be would be "Cricket + Football + Football + Football + Football" all year round with "Tennis" added in 1-2 weeks, four times a year (the Majors tournaments, aka the Grand Slam tournaments). The four Football codes played professional in Australia are: Australian Rules (major sporting body is the AFL), Rugby League (NRL), Rugby Union (ARU) and Association Football/Soccer (FFA). Unfortunately, Cricket, Football, Football, Football and Football tend to dominate the Australian sporting media so there isn't much opportunity for people to argue about other sports. [Apologies if I've stuffed up any formatting/broken any rules, this is my first time posting] -- '''Grantwhy'''[[Special:Contributions/115.64.240.30|115.64.240.30]] 15:32, 13 September 2012 (UTC)
::::...Mate, you left out the Sydney to Hobart, once a year... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.6.182|162.158.6.182]] 20:34, 29 December 2020 (UTC)

Cricket is a south Wales sport. It is only as popular in north Wales as it is in England. Cricket was once a gentleman's game as it was more akin to watching people shooting at target ...in a game related to chess.

But now that cheating is widespread in Asia and even the British are getting caught at it, nobody watches it these days. People still interested in cricket go to their local clubs and have a pint with friends while reality goes on in the back-ground.

I get the impression that nobody is interested in American Rugby because they all wear padding and the rules are either too complex to follow or too stupid to believe. Probably both. Basketball looks interesting but hard work. Why not just play a longer game outside, with your feet? (Nobody is going to watch men play rounders, [REMOVED A HOMOPHOBIC SLUR].)[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 19:25, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

:Is there a way of removing comments? This one gives me hives. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.133|172.69.79.133]] 12:38, 5 December 2022 (UTC)

The problem with the suggestion in the mouse over text is that everyone would have the same opinion on the same day! A better idea would be to have an App which selects from two or more oposing opinions and feed you a random one each day. (Personally being 'European' I'd prefer it to be more like the US! Sooo fed up with football discussions.) Steve B
:Then you run into the problem of two people who rely in that app falling into a sports discussion with each other rather than something else. If I were to find someone expressing the same canned opinion that I have from the twitter feed, at least I can say "who cares about sports, let's talk about something important: vi or emacs?". The twitter feed is best for someone who wants to fake sports knowledge to fit in. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 16:12, 12 September 2012 (UTC)
:The idea behind the twitter feed is to give people who really isn't interested in sport (aka. nerds) the opportunity to interact with so called normal people. It is just a variation on the http://bluffball.co.uk/ site refered to by [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKHyqjHqQLU#t=32s an The IT Crowd episode]. Two users of the twitter feed would have more important subjects to discuss (like for example vi vs. emacs) [[User:Pmakholm|Pmakholm]] ([[User talk:Pmakholm|talk]]) 18:12, 12 September 2012 (UTC)
:: I would suggest that after two or three days having the same (tweeted) opinion, two people in that situation would begin to suspect they are soulmates, and fall in love - I mean recognize the strange similarities and figure out a way to indicate their source subtly and then agree they don't have to be posers -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 14:15, 30 January 2015 (UTC)
What is with the sports bent that Randall is on? Two sports comics in three weeks? Has this happened before? [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 15:36, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

:He was on a Wikipedia kick about a year ago . . . 4 comics in about 5 weeks or so.--[[User:Joehammer79|Joehammer79]] ([[User talk:Joehammer79|talk]]) 22:07, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

Would that opinion even fit into a Twitter post? [[Special:Contributions/76.122.5.96|76.122.5.96]] 20:55, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

:You are right. The sample tweet in the title text is 164 characters long. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 21:18, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

::It would fit if the parenthetical explanations were removed though. [[Special:Contributions/76.127.162.20|76.127.162.20]] 12:03, 13 September 2012 (UTC)

:::Kind of need those if you don't understand the sport to begin with. They provide necessary context. For example, disambiguation between teams: I could mention "Minnesota" and without context it could mean either the Twins (MLB), Vikings (NFL), Timberwolves (NBA), Wild (NHL), Lynx (WNBA), other various professional teams ("lesser" sports, womens teams, minor leagues), or any of the University of Minnesota (NCAA Div. I) teams: football, basketball (mens & womens), hockey (mens & womens), baseball & softball, wrestling, gymnastics, swimming & diving, golf... --'''BigMal27''' / [[Special:Contributions/192.136.15.149|192.136.15.149]] 12:18, 13 September 2012 (UTC)

Here's a comment I was thinking about integrating into the explanation, but decided it was probably too picky.
:Arguably, Randall cut this off too early; over years, the Major Leagues have added additional rounds of playoffs, so that the championship round, the World Series, sometimes now spills over into November, rather than ending in mid October as the graph would suggest. (It varies because the {{w|Major League Baseball postseason}} consists of one single elimination round, one best of five round, and two best of seven rounds.) It may be a meta-joke: the guy who needs the cheat sheet to keep track of sports seasons lacked the info to compile the cheat sheet.
I do have a slight tendency to overthink things. Anyone who thinks it adds to the explanation is welcome to insert it. [[User:DCB4W|DCB4W]] ([[User talk:DCB4W|talk]]) 19:25, 13 September 2012 (UTC)

It's entirely missing a third category named "South Korea", whose entire column should be Starcraft 2.[[User:Chaoslux|Chaoslux]] ([[User talk:Chaoslux|talk]]) 20:53, 14 September 2012 (UTC)

Here's an actual Twitter feed inspired by this comic: https://twitter.com/XKCDSports
:This Twitter feed is now defunct. :( --[[User:Ricketybridge|Ricketybridge]] ([[User talk:Ricketybridge|talk]]) 16:53, 12 May 2014 (UTC)

The opinion here between "US" and "Non-US" is a caricature of US-centric view. First it dismisses all other countries, as the world would be cut between the US and another country "Non-US". The consequence is to ignore Canada. Then it confuses single sport to argue about and common topic of understanding, maybe as a frustration of not sharing this topic. {{unsigned|Eric957}}
:I'm not sure if it was your intent, but it is funny that you say the consequence of this sort of US centric view is to just "ignore Canada"... -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.162|108.162.250.162]] 01:26, 24 June 2015 (UTC)
::I suspect that was intentional. After all, Canada is just America Jr.

:I think the joke probably only works from an American perspective, where it may seem like the rest of the world only plays football. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.39.211|162.158.39.211]] 17:27, 6 November 2016 (UTC) Davy

I deleted a very nice wiki markup version of the comic, useless fror the blind, and copied the official transcript from the source code of the comic <div id="transcript" style="display: none">. This [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1107:_Sports_Cheat_Sheet&diff=next&oldid=52922] was apparently useful, but in fact was detrimental to the function of a transcript [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.149|173.245.50.149]] 20:39, 14 October 2015 (UTC)

With all the “Autometalogolex” tshirts and heck going around, I’ll be damned if someone hasn’t created the twitter feed mentioned in the title text. I mean. Has anyone looked into this? [[User:Szeth Pancakes|Szeth Pancakes]] ([[User talk:Szeth Pancakes|talk]]) 06:33, 25 February 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2697: Y2K and 2038

2022-11-12T20:00:30Z

172.69.79.133:

Y2K issues solved back in 1996. Even wrote a letter to the Board of Trustees.
2038 Problems are not-my-concern. Retired 9/30/2022.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.236|172.70.110.236]]
:Many of the people who helped solve the Y2K problem were pulled out of retirement. Lots of the issues were in old COBOL software, and there weren't enough active programmers who were competent in COBOL. So keep your resume ready. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 20:07, 11 November 2022 (UTC)

this is so weird I just finished a research assignment on the Y2038 problem [[Special:Contributions/172.71.166.223|172.71.166.223]] 18:27, 11 November 2022 (UTC)

Somewhere there is an essay about the unexpected synergy between the Y2K bug and the burgeoning open source movement, which may or may not be useful for the explanation. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.243|172.70.214.243]] 20:18, 11 November 2022 (UTC)
:https://www.livehistoryindia.com/story/eras/india-software-revolution-rooted-in-y2k is a fascinating essay too. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.151|172.70.214.151]] 21:03, 11 November 2022 (UTC)
:I wouldn't be surprised if there's such an essay, but I suspect it's more of a coincidence. The late 90's was also when the Internet was really taking off, and that may be more of a contributor. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 23:04, 11 November 2022 (UTC)
::All involved what epidemiologists call coordinated or mutually reinforcing causes, IMHO. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.231|172.71.158.231]] 01:41, 12 November 2022 (UTC)

Speaking of which, what comes after Generation Z? Generation AA? ZA? Z.1? Help! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.243|172.70.214.243]] 07:24, 12 November 2022 (UTC)
:{{w|Generation Alpha}} [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.53|172.69.34.53]] 07:27, 12 November 2022 (UTC)
::[[1962|Zuckerbergs Army.]] --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 15:18, 12 November 2022 (UTC)

I've been unable to confirm this so I'm moving it here: A major problem had struck IBM mainframes on and after August 16, 1972 (9999 days before January 1, 2000) that caused magnetic tapes that were supposed to be marked "keep forever" instead be marked "may be recycled now."{{Actual citation needed}} [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.231|172.71.158.231]] 07:37, 12 November 2022 (UTC)

Does the arrow move over time? ... should it? (I think so!) It could be done server side and only regulars would [see, sic] that it changes over time. Then... perhaps we could see different versions of the strip cached on the Internet. --[[Special:Contributions/172.71.166.158|172.71.166.158]] 08:30, 12 November 2022 (UTC)
It isn't, of course, but if it was a .GIF with ultralong replace-cycles then only those who ''kept the image active'' would see the arrow move in real-time. (It would reset to ''now's'' "now" upon each (re)loading, so it would have an even more exclusive audience, aside from those that cheat with image(-layer) editing. ;) ) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.57|172.70.162.57]] 13:32, 12 November 2022 (UTC)

Should we mention anything about that it is that specific year in a specific calendar? As far as I know there was also {{w|Japanese_calendar_era_bug|fear of a similiar bug in Japan}} recently. However Wikipedia seems not to be up to date about it. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 15:18, 12 November 2022 (UTC)

Does anyone know of an actual program or OS that stored the year as two characters instead of a single byte? I have (and had back then) serious doubts that any problems existed. Even the reported government computers had people born prior to 1900 entered, so they already had to have better precision than "just tack on 1900." Even using a single signed byte would still have been good for another 5 years from now. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 17:22, 12 November 2022 (UTC)
:In my experience (I lived and worked through the Y2K preparations) it wasn't so much "an actual program", or necessarily a fundemental limitation of an entire OS (though the roots of the problem effectively date back to key decisions surrounding the developmet of the IBM System/360 in the 1960s), but a matter of how data was held in human-readable but space-saving format. Someone in the '70s (or even up into into the '90s) may have decided their system could store some date as the six characters representing DDMMYY (or ay of the other orders) secure in the knowledge that the century digits were superfluus - and would have perhaps sent the footprint of a standard record over some handy packable length for the system, say 128 bytes. Which was a lot in those days.
:(If the year ''value'' had been recorded in 16bit binary, or even 2x7bit or doubled 6-bit, it could have been as good for the computer, but ''oh the fuss'' to convert to and from a human-orientated perspective. And it worked neatly enough, right?)
:And a useful implementaion might be used, in some form or other for a long time... Sometimes the storage system is upgraded (kilobytes? ha, we have megabytes of space now!) and the software to handle it might be ported and even rewritten, but at each stage the extra data has to match the old program, and the new program has to read and write the current data, however kludged it actually is. And it works, at least under the care of those who dabble in the dark arts of its operation. And not many others are bothered or even have any idea of what ;ies beneath the surface.
:Until somebody starts to audit the issue and asks everyone to poke around and check things... Thenthings get sorted in-situ ''or'' a much needed (YMV!) change of process is swapped in, in the place of old and (possibly) incorrect hacks. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.133|172.69.79.133]] 20:00, 12 November 2022 (UTC)

User:Kynde

2022-11-12T00:27:17Z

172.69.79.133: Undo revision 298604 by 172.70.127.68 (talk) Doesn't dignify leaving this unchallenged,

*I have been promoted to [[Special:ListUsers/sysop|Admin]] by [[User:Jeff|Jeff]] on [[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'s [[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Coordination#New_admins|suggestion]].
**It is an honor so hope I can live up to the responsibility.
**I may not see all notes in the admin board, but if you need me to read something, then post a note in my [[User talk:Kynde|Talk page]].
*A big fan of anything xkcd :)
*Discovered xkcd through the "new" ''[[what if?]]'' section
**Then proceeded to reading the weekly xkcd strip and started reading from the beginning of the xkcd comic.
*I found that I needed this page to fully understand and appreciate many of the comics.
**And now I'm one of the biggest contributors and have made it my specialty to do huge transcripts like this one for [[980: Money/Transcript|980: Money]] and this one for [[1608: Hoverboard/Transcript|1608: Hoverboard]] (as well as basically all on these [[1608:_Hoverboard#Extra_Hoverboard_pages|extra hoverboard pages]] and the [[1608:_Hoverboard#Table_with_references|table]]!)
*At the moment of writing this I'm working on a table for describing the 1000 characters in [[1000: 1000 Comics]].
**To complete that I first needed to [[1000: 1000 Comics/Numbered images|number the images]] which was also a big task...
**By the way given that I may still miss seeing several of the comics between 600-1000 I may no be the best to recognize these 1000. But with the table maybe others will help.
*Recently the physically tallest comic in xkcd history [[1732: Earth Temperature Timeline]] also took me some time:
**Made both the transcript and the table.
**And is now in the process of filling out said table, so the 1000 project has been halted for now.
*For a couple of years my activity has been quite low, as I got to be caught up in this nonsense: [[1705: Pokémon Go]].
**It has taken the time I spend here, but at least I get more fresh air and exercise. :-)
**I have not quite editing here, but the projects above will not be finished by me anytime soon.

==Favorites==
I have so far (May 2014) only progressed through the first 400 comics (+ references) but have read all the new since October 2013. So there may be many favorites waiting for me. (Reached no. 400 on May 28th 2014, then 480 September 15th 2014 - slow progress at the moment. 500 in November. 530 reached in January 2015. 540 march 2015. 550 June 2015. 560 mid June 2015. 570 end of July 2015. 582 September 1st 2015. 585 October 20th. 591 February 14th 2016. Finally reaching 600 on 2016-07-30 - the problem is that every time I open a new comic, there seems to be so much to improve on the explanations, especially the transcript and the details missing).

This is just a list of some comics I really appreciate:
*[[1314: Photos]]
*[[289: Alone]]
*[[1024: Error Code]]
*[[505: A Bunch of Rocks]]
*[[355: Couple]]
*[[356: Nerd Sniping]]
*[[372: To Be Wanted]]
*[[420: Jealousy]]
*[[435: Purity]] (Hey - I'm a physicist - what would you expect?)
*[[438: Internet Argument]]
*[[482: Height]]
*[[562: Parking]]
*[[150: Grownups]]
*[[540: Base System]]
*[[1141: Two Years]]
*[[1123: The Universal Label]]
*[[1515: Basketball Earth]]
*[[1519: Venus]]
*[[1520: Degree-Off]]
*[[1534: Beer]]. (I do not like beer!)
*[[551: Etch-a-Sketch]]
*[[926: Time Vulture]]
*[[1608: Hoverboard]]
*[[1633: Possible Undiscovered Planets]] (Hey I guessed he would post a comic about this [[Talk:1632: Palindrome|the day before]] the release :-)
*[[1644: Stargazing]] (This is how I feel about astronomy ;-)
*[[980: Money]]
*[[872: Fairy Tales]] - I do that when I try to read for my children while very sleepy (talk on that is. I do not know what I say :-)
*[[260: The Glass Necklace]]
*[[1731: Wrong]]
*[[1732: Earth Temperature Timeline]] (and basically anything in the new Category [[:Category:Climate change]] about global warming).
*[[1576: I Could Care Less]]
*[[388: Fuck Grapefruit]] (Was just looking for a quick link to this comic from my favorites only to discover it was missing from the list! Fuck Coconuts! ;-)
*[[2287: Pathogen Resistance]] - Fuck Corona - I love pasta.

2697: Y2K and 2038

2022-11-11T22:23:03Z

172.69.79.133: /* Transcript */ More accurate. Left of "2000" is at start of 2000's section (overlaps two further years), right edge of "2038" is *end* of 2037 (start of unseen 2038 section, but overlaps two more prior years) and centre of 2019 is above 2019's start.

{{comic
| number = 2697
| date = November 11, 2022
| title = Y2K and 2038
| image = y2k_and_2038_2x.png
| imagesize = 527x190px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It's taken me 20 years, but I've finally finished rebuilding all my software to use 33-bit signed ints.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a Y2K-BRICKED BOT (MADE JAN 1, 1970). Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[File:Year 2038 problem.gif|thumb|An animation of the 2038 bug in action. The {{w|integer overflow}} error occurs at 03:14:08 UTC on 19 January 2038.]]

The Y2K bug, or more formally, the {{w|year 2000 problem}}, was the computer errors caused by two digit software representations of calendar years not correctly handling the year 2000, such as by treating it as 1900 or 19100. The {{w|year 2038 problem}} is a similar issue with timestamps in {{w|Unix time}} format, which will overflow their {{w|Signed number representations|signed}} 32-bit binary representation on January 19, 2038.

While initial estimates were that the Y2K problem would require about half a trillion dollars to address, there was widespread recognition of its potential severity several years in advance. Concerted efforts among organizations including computer and software manufacturers and their corporate and government users reflected unprecedented cooperation, testing, and enhancement of affected systems costing substantially less than the early estimates. A major problem struck IBM mainframes as early as August 16, 1972 (9999 days before Y2K) that made tape files that were supposed to be marked “keep forever” instead be marked “may be recycled now”, but on New Year's Day 2000, few major errors actually occurred. Those that did usually did not disrupt essential processes or cause serious problems, and the few of these that did were usually addressed in days to weeks. The software code reviews involved allowed correcting other errors and providing various enhancements which often made up at least in part for the the cost of correcting the date bug.

It is unclear whether the 2038 problem will be addressed as effectively in time, but documented experience with the Y2K bug and increased software modularity has allowed many otherwise vulnerable systems to already upgrade to wider timestamp and date formats, so there is reason to believe that it may be even less consequential and expensive. The 2038 problem has been previously mentioned in [[607: 2038]] and [[887: Future Timeline]].

The caption in this comic provides a punchline: everyone should have completed their "Y2K recovery" as it has been a full 22 years since the year 2000. It is highly unlikely that there are more than a very few consequential older systems that still suffer from this bug, and any modern systems have already been built to handle the years 2000 and later.

The title text refers to replacing the 32-bit signed Unix time format with a hypothetical new 33-bit signed {{w|Integer (computer science)|integer}} time and date format, which is very unlikely as almost all contemporary computer data structure formats are allocated no more finely than in 8-bit bytes. Taking 20 years to develop and implement such a format is not entirely counterproductive, as it would add another 68 years of capability, but it is far more counterproductive than upgrading to the widely available and supported 64-bit Unix time replacement format and software compatibility libraries.

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

[A timeline rectangle with 37 short diviiding lines betweem the two ends, defining it into 38 minor sections, with the label "2000" above, associated with the leftmost edge, "2038" associated with the rightmost edge and "2019" directly over the centremost division that starts the section which covers that year, which is also extended to form a dotted line divided the whole height of the timeline into two equal 19-section halves. The left half has the label "Recovering from the Y2K bug" and the right half is labeled "Preparing for the 2038 bug". An triangular arrowhead labeled "Now" is also above indicating a rough position most of the way through the section that would represent the year 2022.]

[Caption:] Reminder: By now you should have finished your Y2K recovery and be several years into 2038 preparation

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Calendar]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Timelines]]

Talk:1372: Smartwatches

2022-11-05T22:15:53Z

172.69.79.133: Undo revision 298244 by 172.70.115.29 (talk) Not worth dignifying it as a comment.

I like how much detail Randall put into the damage of the smartphone and smartwatches.[[User:MrGameZone|0100011101100001011011010110010101011010011011110110111001100101]] ([[User talk:MrGameZone|talk page]]) 09:44, 23 May 2014 (UTC)

About the transcript, it seems that I added one at the same time someone else did. I like mine better, but I won't be offended if someone else changes it back to the first revision. Also, feel free to re-format.[[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 13:19, 23 May 2014 (UTC)

:I am reminded of this:
:http://thedoghousediaries.com/4974
:...even so, I still would like a Samsung SWatch Note III complete with a watch app (downloaded by the Play Store or F-Droid, of course)! [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 14:55, 23 May 2014 (UTC)
::It's a space-statoin![[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 12:35, 26 May 2014 (UTC)

Maybe it's just me, but the explanation regarding the */# keys on Bell phone seems irrelevent. There's nothing inherent about those keys that make a comparison to cellular phones logical, at least not that I'm aware of.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.61|108.162.216.61]] 16:35, 23 May 2014 (UTC)
:It's especially irrelevant because Randall says he modded a handset, not an entire phone. There exist novelty bluetooth handsets of a similar style on the market; Randall's artistic touch is to have a cord dangling from it with a frayed end.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.83|108.162.218.83]] 02:48, 25 May 2014 (UTC)
::To make it clearer: the standard handset on a WE2500 (12 key touch-tone), the WE1500 (10 key touch-tone; they didn't make a lot of these, but they're out there) and the WE500 (dial with the numbers outside around the dial) was a G1 handset. This handset replaced the F1, standard on the WE302 (dial with the numbers inside the finger-holes; commonly called the "Lucy" phone since the only place it's seen these days is on "I Love Lucy" re-runs). The G1 handset is still (imho) the most comfortable handset ever made to cradle between your shoulder and your ear to free up your hands. And the WE500 is (again imho) one of the greatest examples of industrial design ever created. {{unsigned|Faboofour}}

I question the assumption that the smartwatches are working. The watch keeps displaying the time of 10:13. Even if it had just turned 10:13 I don't think the entire mod could be done in sub 60 seconds. That said, I love the reuse of the sawn screen protector to protect the screen on the smartwatches.
:The watches also defy gravity. I question the assumption that they aren't just a dream. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.218|108.162.237.218]] 08:23, 26 May 2014 (UTC)
:Perhaps each frame represents exactly 12 hours of work? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.36|108.162.216.36]] 20:04, 26 May 2014 (UTC)
:: +1, but don't forget the careful attention shown to maintaining the battery at the same level for those 12 hour periods -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 13:40, 28 May 2014 (UTC)

The phone mentioned was one of the earliest ([http://xkcd.com/1368/ One of]) to present the # and * keys and the format has been unchanged since the implementation of cellular phones. It could be argued that the user has the same presented interface for dialing as on cellular phones so modding a 2500 should be completely reasonable.
[[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.106|199.27.128.106]] 20:07, 23 May 2014 (UTC)

Just a side note: While this could well be the world's first flip iPhone, it would not be the first flip smartphone.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.83|108.162.218.83]] 02:54, 25 May 2014 (UTC)

:Perhaps the whole comics is just a long lead to "flip iPhone" pun (on "flip phone") --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 10:34, 25 May 2014 (UTC)

No mention of the cringe factor? The entire operation, from the second frame to the title text suggests crude handling of equipment, resulting in damaged and unrefined products. Rendall spared no time in detailing the broken and damaged aspect of each component used in this "procedure". I strongly believe he did so on purpose.[[User:Dulcis|Dulcis]] ([[User talk:Dulcis|talk]]) 16:46, 29 May 2014 (UTC)

The warning mentions that sawing through your phone could be harmful due to battery acid, but what about screwing on hinges? That could be just as dangerous. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.13|173.245.54.13]] 19:02, 11 June 2014 (UTC)justsayin

The warnings at the end are entirely irrelevant! first of all, nowhere does it say (or show) that randall is in fact cutting through the glass or the battery of the iphone, and were i do this project, i would certainly use a hacksaw to cut through the case of the iphone after removing the screen and battery and any other components. using a household hinge in place of a more elegant design hilights the hilarity and DIY nature of the project. as far as the comment above regarding the apparent 'broken clock', the illustration is merely a proposal on a possible methodology. when i draw a diagram or even a set of instructions for someone, i don't take the time to change minute details from frame to frame![[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.29|173.245.55.29]] 18:39, 29 November 2014 (UTC)
:Also, there is no way that you could be electrocuted by cutting a phone in half because:
1: the battery is not powerful enough (i think)
2: the electricity would go through the saw, not your hand
3: the saw probably has a plastic/wood/rubber handle, and none of those conduct electricity.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.180|173.245.56.180]] 19:12, 5 June 2015 (UTC)

This would be awesome (if it was done better), because it would be smaller than a normal phone, and the screen would be protected.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.180|173.245.56.180]] 19:12, 5 June 2015 (UTC)

I came here specifically to see if anyone had made one (as with Hell Tetris)... disappointed. :-( [[Special:Contributions/172.70.223.92|172.70.223.92]] 21:24, 4 October 2022 (UTC)