explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1144: Tags

2024-02-04T13:53:01Z

172.70.130.125: /* Explanation */ added a comma (you need a comma after transition phrases)

{{comic
| number = 1144
| date = December 7, 2012
| title = Tags
| image = tags.png
| titletext = <A>: Like </a>this.&nbsp;
}}

==Explanation==
First of all, this comic clearly annoyed enough web developers to get them to write this long explanation about this comic.

{{w|HTML}} is a markup language used in the development of websites, and is the subject of this comic. Most distinct elements of a webpage – like this paragraph of text, the title of this section, or the logo in the top-left of this page – are enclosed in HTML tags which describe the type of object they are. The comic employs multiple poor HTML practices while asking the rhetorical question of how best to annoy web developers, effectively answering the question that it poses.

In HTML, all elements (except self-closing elements like <code><img></code>) should consist of an open and close tag of the same type <code><div>Like this</div></code>.

HTML (except in its formulation as an XML language—XHTML) has never been case-sensitive, but the practice of using uppercase tags for readability is long outmoded, and the mixing of cases in this example would definitely annoy a developer.

Another basic idea of HTML is that all elements should be properly nested. That is, any element whose open tag occurs inside a div must be closed before the div is closed.

NB: In practice, web browsers will error-correct nearly all these problems.

{| class="wikitable" |
! Correct
! Incorrect
|-
|
<div>
<ol>
<li>Correctly nested</li>
</ol>
</div>
|
<div>
<ol>
<li>Incorrectly nested</li>
</div>
</ol>
|-
|}
The rules of proper nesting also put restrictions on which tags can be placed where — "block" elements, such as <code><div></code> cannot be placed inside "inline" elements, such as <code><span></code>, and inline elements must be placed inside a block element of some kind. Thus, <code><span><div></code> is forbidden, even if the tags are closed in the proper order.

Further, web developers make a distinction between ''semantic'' and ''structural'' elements. Semantic elements contain a clue in their name as to what kind of an element they are — for example, an <code><article></code> tag contains an article, such as a blog post or news article, while an <code><ol></code> tag contains an '''o'''rdered '''l'''ist. (It's wise to note that this is not an absolute rule; it's ''possible'' to put non-article content in an <code><article></code>, it's just not recommended.) Semantic tags do not, however, indicate how their contents are to be displayed; your browser might display an <code><article></code> in the default font, layout, and placement, while mine, a {{w|screen reader}}, might ignore everything on the page except <code><article></code>s.

Structural tags, on the other hand, give no clues as to what they contain; they just indicate how a web page is to be laid out. <code><span></code> and <code><div></code> are structural tags; they can contain anything. Their definitions in HTML simply indicate that <code><div></code> is a block tag (it can affect both what the text looks like and where it is on the page; by default, it is displayed in a separate block from the rest of the text in the page, and has at least one line break before and after its display) and <code><span></code> is an inline tag: it affects what its text looks like, but not where it is on the page. Without additional attributes, it's impossible for a browser to tell what's supposed to be inside a <code><div></code> or a <code><span></code>, which means that my screen reader can't just pluck out the blog posts and read those.

Currently, the standard of usage is shifting toward using semantic tags over structural tags, since they provide more information to browsers and people reading the source code of web pages. HTML5, the most recent version of the standard web development markup language, is introducing many semantically meaningful tags that can be styled using {{w|Cascading Style Sheets|CSS}} to follow the same behavior as a div or span, but that are easier to understand when reading the markup or parsing it with a non-standard browser. For example, <span style="background: #eeeeee;">this is in a span</span> and <div style="background: #eeeeee;">this is in a div.</div>

The title text makes reference to <code>&nbsp;</code>, which is the {{w|HTML#Character and entity references|HTML escape code}} for {{w|non-breaking space}} which is a type of space that will keep two words together, and will not allow word wrapping to separate them. If the words come at the end of a displayed line, how this is handled depends on the browser and on the element's styling; some browsers and styles will force the connected words onto a new line, while others will "overflow" the edge of the container to accommodate the linked words. This is useful, for example, for keeping units with a number so it is easy to spot 100 km instead of needing to hunt for 100<br/>km. Using a non-breaking space at the end of a line, without another word on its trailing end, is only useful in extremely rare and limited circumstances, and does not generally have a purpose.

The title text also uses an <code><A></code> tag, seemingly to indicate an answer. In fact, <code><A></code> is an anchor tag, which creates {{w|hyperlink}}s. It is not an answer tag. This tag is generally used with either the <code>href=</code> (which creates a link to another URL) or <code>name=</code> (which creates a named anchor on the page that can be linked to with <code>href=#</code>) attribute (but not generally both at once). In addition, the placement of <code><A></code> and <code></a></code> (the capitalization here is also irritating to a web developer who values consistency) indicates that ": Like " should be a link or named anchor, but "this." should not. Whether or not to include punctuation in an anchor is a matter of some debate among developers, but including excessive whitespace is generally frowned upon, and the anchor ''should'' include all of the relevant text.

==Transcript==
:[The two tags are colored in grey.]
:<code><div>Q: How do you annoy a web developer?</span></code>

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:How to annoy]]

Talk:2604: Frankenstein Captcha

2022-04-09T03:36:13Z

172.70.130.125: comment

Don't forget it's canon the Frankenstein is the name of the Monster https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1589:_Frankenstein

The other squares contain things that might also be ambiguously named:

There is tortoise/turtle ship/boat/yacht monster Napolean/Nelson

puddle/pond/lake girl/woman magma/lava squash/pumpkin/gourd/..

Frankenstein (sandwich?) (stop sign?) monster

Rocket/spaceship(Or planet/dwarf planet?) (couple?) (traffic light?) monster.

I can't think of any other term for the sandwich, the couple, or the traffic signals. Are these a call back to the self driving car captcha https://xkcd.com/1897/

[[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.125|162.158.159.125]] 16:28, 8 April 2022 (UTC)

:That's neither Nelson nor Napoleon but rather Link from the Legend of Zelda series. He has the shield with a Triforce symbol on it, the hat that's pointed in the back, and a sword that's surprisingly recognizable as the Master Sword despite xkcd's low detail art style.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.43|108.162.245.43]] 16:43, 8 April 2022 (UTC)

I suspect some of the other squares are common “well-actually” topics, eg. a pumpkin/squash is actually a fruit. The “puddle” is a mirage. Row 2 column 2 has a 9 drawn in their hair… a Franken-nine? — Alex

--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.23|162.158.2.23]] 16:38, 8 April 2022 (UTC)

The astronomical body might be a meteoroid? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.77|172.70.114.77]] 16:56, 8 April 2022 (UTC)
:Oh wait, missed the heart crater. nvm that's gotta be Pluto [[Special:Contributions/172.70.230.75|172.70.230.75]] 16:57, 8 April 2022 (UTC)

The sandwich is probably due to pedantry over 'is [x] a sandwich' debates. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.250.67|172.70.250.67]] 17:04, 8 April 2022 (UTC)
:In that case, it should have been a hot dog. ;D
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 17:09, 8 April 2022 (UTC)
:Seems likely. Also reminds me of https://xkcd.com/2301/ [[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.237|172.70.134.237]] 17:18, 8 April 2022 (UTC)

Could the lake/pond tile actually be a fata morgana - given the desert setting implied by the sun and the pyramids? [[User:Captain Nemo|Captain Nemo]] ([[User talk:Captain Nemo|talk]]) 17:13, 8 April 2022 (UTC)
:What lake/pond? There is no water there, man. I think you're just seeing an illusion, created by heat ripples in the air. (I'm kidding; just trying to keep up the "mirage".)
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 17:24, 8 April 2022 (UTC)

The current explanation does not mention the Title Text, nor does it explain the paraphrased quote. I believe the original quote mentions "a line in the sand"? <br />
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 17:11, 8 April 2022 (UTC)

:There's also the classic turn of phrase "There's a thin line between ConceptA and ConceptB" which is what I thought of when I read that. [[User:MAP|MAP]] ([[User talk:MAP|talk]]) 19:19, 8 April 2022 (UTC)

#a tomato is the gold standard for uncertainty in pronunciation
#the sandwich's definition is both precise and vague: nerd fight! Hotdog? Burrito? Pizza? Doughnut?
#in the 1931 the little girl does not run away but is, er, cared for by the monster. the flower is not pictured. --[[User:Misterstick|Misterstick]] ([[User talk:Misterstick|talk]]) 17:26, 8 April 2022 (UTC)

What if the planet ''contains'' Frankenstein (either the monster or the doctor) and you just can't tell at this resolution??! 19:51, 8 April 2022 (UTC)
:The planet also might be ''named'' Frankenstein. Or an asteroid. There isn't one yet, but maybe in the future?
:[https://space.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_named_asteroids_(F-K)#Fr Closest match for name] is "10246 Frankenwald"

A bit disappointed Randall didn't take the opportunity to include the 1972 Edgar Winter Group album "They Only Come Out at Night", which contains the track "Frankenstein." [[Special:Contributions/172.70.131.176|172.70.131.176]] 18:51, 8 April 2022 (UTC)

The turtle may be a reference to "turtle rifle", a series of GAN exercises resulting in producing objects that neural networks recognize as something completely else. A famous one was a turtle-shaped toy, which looked quite like a normal turtle to a human eye, but a characteristic pattern on its shell made neural networks to classify it as a rifle.

Based on the standard levels of pedantry, I am surprised that no-one yet has pointed out that we are not supposed to click on ONLY the correct images. Taking the union of both Frankenstein sets should then be accepted (unless we faced union-bashers in the Frankenstein-basher crowd).
:The instructions use standard CAPTCHA language, "only" is understood (otherwise a bot could just click all boxes and the test would be defeated). [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:26, 8 April 2022 (UTC)

But I saw no picture of a [https://reddwarf.fandom.com/wiki/Frankenstein cat]... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.44|172.70.86.44]] 22:25, 8 April 2022 (UTC)

Also, in my experience, CAPTCHAs that ask for "Click all squares with <whatever>" on a non-refreshing grid of otherwise independent images - which I often-enough encounter in this very site - tend to assume exactly three squares are correct. (e.g. it asks for "all tractors", and there are two tractors and some non-tractor vehicle like a road-roller, then it doesn't matter if *I* think that's not actually a tractor, it won't let me past until I've clicked the road-roller). The rules are different for refreshing images (click an image's square, it presents a new image, until eventually every square that had previously been one-or-more picture(s) of the target-type are now all irrelevent to click) or a gridded single-scene (I haven't worked that one out fully... if it's asking for Traffic Lights, do I just need to do the squares ''entirely'' containing such light units/only those with the 'light' part of the units/every single square with even the barest edge of the frame around the lights/all squares even with just the poles/wires suspending the lights up off the ground... sometimes it seems to like what I do, sometimes it retests me, and I don't know if it's unhappy with my choice or so absolutely happy with my choice that it desperately wants me to help the Algorithm just that little bit more). '''*cough*''' Anyway. What I'm saying is, if I was seriously trying to answer this comic's example, I'd be looking for exactly three Frankenstein squares of one (dubious) kind or another. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.44|172.70.86.44]] 22:25, 8 April 2022 (UTC)
:I've seen plenty of this type of CAPTCHA with fewer than 3 correct tiles. Unless I'm not human enough to recognize all the matches.... [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:29, 8 April 2022 (UTC)
:I think you both just proved you are robots. Humans are too dumb to do this level of analysis. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.9|108.162.241.9]] 03:04, 9 April 2022 (UTC)

"Knowledge is Knowing Frankenstein isn’t the Monster, Wisdom is Knowing Frankenstein is the Monster" - https://commons.emich.edu/ac/vol3/iss1/4/ [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.9|108.162.241.9]] 02:56, 9 April 2022 (UTC)

*I have to mention the "lost ending" of ''Frankenstein'' which is found at https://imgur.com/gallery/bCGEw . --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.125|172.70.130.125]] 03:36, 9 April 2022 (UTC)

Talk:910: Permanence

2021-12-07T23:25:05Z

172.70.130.125:

I would marry a girl called epidural. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:40, 17 April 2013 (UTC)
:Thank you, David, for your words of wisdom. You are the kind of people needed in this world. Like Batman. [[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 17:17, 8 March 2019 (UTC)

Server or not, I know myself the feeling of wanting a super-duper high-school-level name. At least I have a system of naming my computers, gaming devices, and (future?) servers.[[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 17:49, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

I usually use some kind of encoded date (related to when the computer was acquired or setup) in the name, probably prefixed by something signify the model or vendor of the computer. Permanency of relevance is guaranteed and it is easier than try to think what the name will means years from now. [[User:Arifsaha|Arifsaha]] ([[User talk:Arifsaha|talk]]) 20:13, 30 October 2014 (UTC)

This appears to be the Debian installer. It's also missing the "<Continue>" button.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.119|108.162.216.119]] 02:38, 1 March 2015 (UTC)

:I assume it only shows up once you have entered a valid hostname. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.22.71|162.158.22.71]] 01:36, 18 October 2016 (UTC)

Use a name that reminds you which computer it is. In a network this can be very important. It should be descriptive but not silly or generic. Trust me on this. [[User:Jakee308|Jakee308]] ([[User talk:Jakee308|talk]]) 03:21, 15 June 2015 (UTC)

I've still called my servers planet names. Even 'Pluto', my build server, works just fine without Pluto being a real planet. -[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.190|162.158.91.190]] 23:06, 23 October 2015 (UTC)

Epidural anesthetics don't make one feel or act "drugged" in the sense of stoned. They can cause hypotension (low blood pressure), which can cause lightheadedness, but that would rarely produce a similar effect to, say, marijuana or LSD. Other side effects can include nausea, backache, and headache (http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Epidural-anaesthesia/Pages/Sideeffects.aspx), none of which would make one want to name one's baby after their cause. {{unsigned|Npsych}}

No, it'll be in many memory files of people! [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 22:59, 29 November 2016 (UTC)

And ''this'' is why my D&D characters have no names 4 sessions in. [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 05:10, 16 February 2018 (UTC)

The use of 'Caroline' may be a reference to the Portal 2 character, especially given Caroline's assumed fate. [[User:petern3|petern3]] ([[User talk:petern3|talk]]) 06:51, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

Is it just me, or is there no period after "Epidural"? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.125|172.70.130.125]] 23:25, 7 December 2021 (UTC)

2548: Awful People

2021-12-01T22:59:35Z

172.70.130.125: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 2548
| date = November 29, 2021
| title = Awful People
| image = awful_people.png
| titletext = Hm, this burger place has a couple of good reviews, but LakeSlayer7 says he got food poisoning there and everyone should try this other place down by the lake instead.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a NORMAL PEER (DEFINITELY NOT A TROLL BOT, TRUST ME, I PROMISE) - Please slay this comment when editing this lake. Do NOT try that burger place with the good reviews.}}

Megan and Cueball are having a conversation about social media. Megan relates a negative comment she got from a stranger about her taste in movies. The twist is that it turns out the person criticizing her was a murderer. Although this does not inherently negate his taste in movies, it does free Megan from the burden of weighing his opinions equally to her own.

The title-text mentions the “LakeSlayer7” which is clearly a reference to the "Lake Slayer" in the comic. They mention, contrary to several other reviewers, that a burger joint in town is unsatisfactory, and that the reader should come to a place “by the lake” instead, which might be (and probably is) a plot to lure people to the lake and to be slain.

In many "[[918: Google+|social]]" and "[[997: Wait Wait|news]]" sites there is a tendency to surface [[258: Conspiracy Theories|negative content]]. This can be [[1111: Premiere|editorial intent]], [[2237: AI Hiring Algorithm|naive algorithms]], or [[1390: Research Ethics|both]], attempting to induce rage to drive "engagement". "Review" sites can exhibit a [[1098: Star Ratings|bias]] in either direction, with minutiae [[937: TornadoGuard|burying]] valid feedback.

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

:[Cueball and Megan are having a conversation while walking.]
:Cueball: The Internet makes it easy to be a jerk and forget the person we're talking to is a human.
:Megan: Yeah...
:Megan: But it also makes us see messages from awful people and assume they come from normal peers.

:[Closeup on Megan. Above Megan is a picture of a "reply" post from a man with sunglasses. The post has a title above it.]
:Megan: Recently I got a mean reply from a stranger. It was minor but it really got to me.
:Post title: Replies to "Favorite Movie"
:Post: Every group has one person who likes that movie, and it's the friend they all secretly hate.

:[Blondie as a news anchor behind a desk. A "News4" logo is displayed on the desk. There is a picture of the man with sunglasses with "Arrested" under his name. His picture is next to a picture of a house with "Breaking" above it. Megan's dialogue appears above the picture, but she herself is not shown in this panel.]
:Megan: Then the next week I saw that guy on the news. He was an actual murderer!

:[Megan and Cueball standing next to each other.]
:Megan: I can't believe I spent a week stressed out that my taste in movies wasn't shared by the East Valley Strangler.
:Cueball: Yeah, at ''least'' wait for a second opinion from the Lake Slayer.

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

1236: Seashell

2021-11-24T04:30:51Z

172.70.130.125: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1236
| date = July 10, 2013
| title = Seashell
| image = seashell.png
| titletext = This is roughly equivalent to 'number of times I've picked up a seashell at the ocean' / 'number of times I've picked up a seashell', which in my case is pretty close to 1, and gets much closer if we're considering only times I didn't put it to my ear.
}}

==Explanation==
This method of relating the probabilities of two events is known as {{w|Bayes' theorem|Bayes' Theorem}}.

{{w|If}} you put a {{w|seashell}} up to your ear, you might hear {{w|Seashell resonance|a sound similar to the ocean}} apparently inside the shell. But the idea that this sound is actually the sound of the sea is just a popular myth: hold only your hands close to your ears and you will hear the same sound, as it is the sound of your blood moving through your blood vessels that causes the sound. The comic, through an application of Bayes' Theorem, points out that most of the time when you pick up a seashell, you are in fact at the beach next to the real ocean, so hearing the ocean at that location is not all that impressive, but it's just real.

The equation should, however, be read as follows: (The probability that I'm near the ocean, given that I picked up a seashell) is equal to (The probability that I picked up a seashell, given that I'm near the ocean) multiplied by (The probability that I'm near the ocean) divided by (The probability that I picked up a seashell).

The title text points out that most instances where the author has picked up a seashell have been at the beach, and nearly all of the times where he has picked up a seashell and not put it to his ear have been there.

This comic was released late. In the first version, the formula was incorrect, but it has since been corrected.

==Transcript==
:[At the top of the panel is an equation showing Bayes' Theorem for the probability that a person is near the ocean given that they just picked up a seashell.]

:P(I'm near the ocean|I picked up a seashell) =

:P(I picked up a seashell|I'm near the ocean)P(I'm near the ocean)
:------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
:P(I picked up a seashell)

:[The probability that I'm near the ocean given I picked up a seashell equals the probability I picked up a seashell given I'm near the ocean times the probability I'm near the ocean all divided by the probability I picked up a seashell.]

:[Cueball holds a seashell and stands to the left of the panel, to the right, a few birds are flying around and the sound of a wave crashing against the shore is depicted.]
:''Crashhh'' ''Sploosh''

:Statistically speaking, if you pick up a seashell and ''don't'' hold it to your ear, you can probably hear the ocean.

==Trivia==
Note that while this form of Bayes's theorem is often taught in statistics classes, [https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319397559 at least one statistician] tries to show in a philosophical way that unconditional probability does not exist, which would make the equation improper as stated.

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

2544: Heart-Stopping Texts

2021-11-22T19:47:02Z

172.70.130.125: Typo

{{comic
| number = 2544
| date = November 19, 2021
| title = Heart-Stopping Texts
| image = heart_stopping_texts.png
| titletext = Was this your car? [looping 'image loading' animation]
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a LITERAL HEART-STOPPING ROBOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Text messages have become a ubiquitous form of communication in most countries, and have become a basic part of many people's everyday lives. Conversations over text frequently jump straight to the purpose of the communication, without salutation or prelude. Some texts, particularly when delivered without context, can carry implications that cause immediate anxiety.

"Out of the blue" is an English expression meaning "to appear in a sudden and unexpected fashion". 'The blue' alludes to the clear daylight sky. Something arriving/appearing/dropping/flying "out of the blue" has done so not just without warning, but without a reason for you not to have seen it (e.g. looming out of a foggy night), which implies that it's not just a surprise, but even the fact that you are getting surprised by something is surprising.

This comic lists texts that would be worrying to receive with no context, for a variety of reasons. It seems to suggest that sending these is a good way to prank someone; particularly the title text, where deliberately sending an animated loading icon seems like it couldn't be intended for any other purpose. The different messages are explained below.

==== Did you forget what day it is? ====
This implies that the recipient forgot some important event happening today. This could be an important day to a spouse or friend, and a relationship can be damaged by the recipient having forgotten. Or it could mean that the recipient failed to deliver on an important commitment scheduled for that day, which can create a variety of other problems.

==== I bet you're probably getting bombarded with texts right now, huh? ====
This implies that something of major significance has happened, that would make many people want to get in touch with the recipient. There are a lot of possibilities, many of which are negative. The non-specific nature of the text leaves the recipient wondering what has happened, and how bad it is.

==== Did you mean to post that to everyone? ====
Implies that the recipient has made a public post (presumably on some social network, or via mass-text conversation) that was offensive or otherwise inappropriate to post publicly; so much so that the text sender is asking if they perhaps meant it to be forwarded to a more contained group or possibly not even revealed to anyone at all. This is a common occurrence as on many platforms it can be easy to accidentally post something with the wrong visibility or mis-click something private into a media post.

==== Is this your house? ====
{{w|CNN}} is a popular news outlet in the United States. This text implies that the recipient's house has for some reason been mentioned (or probably photographed) in a CNN article. This would mean that a newsworthy event has occurred there, or at least nearby. Many newsworthy events are upsetting, possibly dangerous (eg. a fire, a natural disaster, a violent crime, etc). This might also imply a violation of privacy, as many people would not want to have a picture of their house on national news.

This particular link suggests that the recipient's house was featured in a CNN article from November 19, 2021, the day this comic was published. The next part of the link is the category of the story (e.g. "US", "world", "politics"), which in this case starts with the letter "S" -- either "sports" or "style", going by the top bar of CNN's website. On the plus side, it's probably not as consequential as one of the more prominent categories, but it would still be an unpleasant surprise to find one's house featured in the news.

==== You didn't click on any weird emails recently, did you? ====
{{w|Phishing}} is the practice of sending fraudulent messages to someone in order to steal information (credentials, etc.) from them, infect them with {{w|malware}}, or otherwise perform some undesirable action. One overwhelmingly common form of this is getting people to click on {{w|hyperlink|hyperlinks}} in emails, which generally purport to lead somewhere reputable but instead lead to somewhere controlled by the sender.

This text implies something makes the sender think that the recipient has fallen victim to such an attack. It's common for the victim of such an attack to not be the first to discover it. For example, some attacks hijack the victim's email, and use it to bombard everyone in their contact list with further phishing attempts. If the sender of this text had received such an email, they might suspect an attack. If this has already happened, it's likely to cause major problems.

==== Can I call? ====
While this is a seemingly benign and simple request, texting someone to ask if you can call is usually a sign that the conversation will be long and serious, and the sender wants to ensure that the other party is available for such a discussion. Many such situations are negative (ranging from a breakup to the death of a loved one), and there's a great deal of tension in knowing that something is serious, but not knowing what it is.

==== Wait, do you know Joe Rogan? How does he know your name? ====
{{w|Joe Rogan}} is a public personality, best known for his podcast {{w|The Joe Rogan Experience}}. This message implies that the recipient has been discussed by Rogan for some reason. Similarly to the CNN case, this is likely to cause worry about what possible circumstances would prompt this.

Joe Rogan has recently been in the news for his anti vaccine stance so some people may not want to be associated with him.

==== Why are you trending on Twitter? ====
{{w|Twitter}} is a social network, which – among other features – tracks and shows topics that are currently being discussed by a large number of users on the platform, or "trending". An individual trending across the entire network (unless that person is a public figure) is usually either because they're connected with a news story, or because something they did or wrote has gone viral. There are sufficiently many negative things that can cause such unexpected fame that hearing about it would be worrying..

Twitter in particular is known for frequently involving very heated discussion, and often even the targeting of individuals by mobs who perceive them to have done something wrong.

==== Was this your car? [looping 'image loading' animation] ====
(title text) The past tense ('was') implies that your car no longer exists, with the animation additionally implying an image or a video of it being damaged or destroyed. In addition, it might take a long time for the receiver to realize that the media will never load, during which they will be worried about their car without knowing what happened to it.

==Transcript==

:[Comic heading:]
:Most heart-stopping texts to receive out of the blue

:[A collection of light gray text bubbles in two columns:]

:Did you forget what day it is?

:I bet you're probably getting bombarded with texts right now, huh?

:Did you mean to post that to everyone?

:Is this your house? cnn.com/2021/11/19/S...

:You didn't click on any weird emails recently, did you?

:Can I call?

:Wait, do you know Joe Rogan? How does he know your name?

:Why are you trending on Twitter?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Phones]]
[[Category:Social networking]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

Talk:2229: Rey and Kylo

2021-11-21T06:21:11Z

172.70.130.125: Undo revision 216069 by Tom0099 (talk) fuck off

There should be discussion / analysis around the choice of "pandering" to cosmologists in this comic, as there has been a lot of outrage around the last few star wars movies that they are "pandering" to identities and diversity. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.112|172.68.174.112]] 22:34, 15 November 2019 (UTC)

Of course the Star Wars environs tend to be seen with the hue of conflict and not of peace. Our information derived from that long ago and that far away is going to be greatly red-shifted! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.199|162.158.154.199]] 00:36, 16 November 2019 (UTC)

Is ''The Force Awakens'' really the one that people accuse of pandering? If anything, I would think it's ''The Last Jedi.'' It not only had more progressive elements, it also heavy-handedly sold the "even you can be a Jedi" message to kids. --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.142.22|172.69.142.22]] 04:20, 16 November 2019 (UTC)
: Agreed, I have yet to see The Last Jedi (I tend to be very late, only catching movies when a TV channel airs them. I only just saw Rogue One), and I know I haven't seen the controversial one. The controversy I heard about centred around casting an Asian woman - who I think I've seen in some comedy videos so I expect to spot and recognize her - which casting lured all the racists out into the open (I still dunno why they thought she was a wrong choice, Star Wars has always had a huge variety of races both real and implied, I'm hoping that when I see the movie I'll find out). Then again, the Black Stormtrooper choice in Force Awakens seemed unquestionably pandering, they already established that all stormtroopers are clones of Jango Fett (and indirectly Boba Fett). Recruiting from a clearly non-sympathetic populace makes no sense, raising kidnapped babies (as I recall the explanation here) necessitates pure expense (housing, clothing, feeding, without any payback until they're old enough to fight) and training them themselves, and the problems with both is perfectly encapsulated in The Force Awakens, which is why they went with cloning an elite warrior in the first place, in the hopes of resulting in blindly loyal pre-trained soldiers. Feels like a blatant attempt to add a black character - which is extra stupid since as I recall the Fetts aren't even white anyway! LOL! (I have the exact same objection to making what's-her-face Brienne from Game Of Thrones the Silver Stormtrooper commander - despite that I loved her inclusion - but I haven't heard any complaints about her, probably because we never see her face in that movie) :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:18, 16 November 2019 (UTC)

:: For me the problem is not the pandering to progressives. The problem is that it made "The Last Jedi" a bad movie, and a very, very bad Star Wars movie (like very out-of-character behavior of Luke, etc.). --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 10:51, 16 November 2019 (UTC)
:: Niceguy: while Star Wars did always have many ''alien'' races, and had Lando as significant (not comic, not first to die, not the usual kind of stereotype) character, there basically ''was'' only Lando as a notable (human) ethnic minority.
:: For my part (white anglo-scottish male, with all the boons and baggage that implies) I have absolutely no problem with the increase in screen-diversity (including the implication that all the Clone Troopers were all basically ethnicly Pacific/New Zealandesque, though by the time of the Original Trilogy it is canon that the Clone Troopers are phased out/supplemented by a regular mix of conscripts/volunteers. Thus, in the OT context, "white guys" as far as we can guess within their armour, as diverse as the rest of the background cast of humans in every aspect but for being very much all male.
:: Then in Force Awakens we find that the Empire's continuity organisation is now definitely more equal-opportunities employer/conscripter/shanghaier (revealed by Finn, and you've got Captain Phasma too though she may not have been through the ranks) though it seems more through necessity rather than a more 'woke' HR policy (in-universe!).
:: But I can take it all as it comes. The imminent one may mess with my headcan(n)on, or fancanon in general, but that remains to be seen. I can probably take it seriously (FCVO...), though I can't take seriously the typical people who use the term Social Justice Warriors - and especially its initialisation - in all seriousness (I don't think Jakub or anyone else here did that, in the way I mean) to define either Them or Us in the kind of arguments that some of the grungier corners of the internet tend to host.
:: Anyway, that's my thoughts on the matter, with all due apologies. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.199|162.158.154.199]] 17:12, 16 November 2019 (UTC)

I have to say I'm disappointed that Randall didn't mention the obvious problems. "A long time ago" - how long? "A galaxy far, far away" - how far? Which galaxy? Without these figures, any intergalactic attempt to pin down the variability of universal constants is doomed to failure. And let's be honest, if we DID have these figures, Kylo and Ren's efforts would likely be superfluous, as we can estimate things like the fine-structure constant through observations of lightsaber physics, Big G from the strength of the Force, and the curvature of spacetime by analyzing hyperspace travel. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 08:46, 16 November 2019 (UTC)
:And something something something (darkside?) by knowing the optimal Mean Free Path in the Kessel Cluster has an upper limit of around 12pc [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.200|162.158.155.200]] 15:05, 17 November 2019 (UTC)

2544: Heart-Stopping Texts

2021-11-20T05:50:29Z

172.70.130.125: /* Did you mean to post that to everyone? */

{{comic
| number = 2544
| date = November 19, 2021
| title = Heart-Stopping Texts
| image = heart_stopping_texts.png
| titletext = Was this your car? [looping 'image loading' animation]
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a LITERAL HEART STOPPING ROBOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Text messages have become a ubiquitous form of communication in most countries, and have become a basic part of many people's everyday lives. Conversations over text frequently jump straight to the purpose of the communication, without salutation or prelude. Some texts, particularly when delivered without context, can carry implications that cause immediate anxiety.

"Out of the blue" is an English expression meaning "to appear in a sudden and unexpected fashion". 'The blue' alludes to the clear daylight sky. Something arriving/appearing/dropping/flying "out of the blue" has done so not just without warning, but without a reason for you not to have seen it (e.g. looming out of a foggy night), which implies that it's not just a surprise, but even the fact that you are getting surprised by something is surprising.

This comic lists texts that would be worrying to receive with no context, for a variety of reasons. It seems to suggest that sending these is a good way to prank someone; particularly the title text, where deliberately sending an animated loading icon seems like it couldn't be intended for any other purpose. The different messages are explained below.

==== Did you forget what day it is? ====
This implies that the recipient forgot some important event happening today. This could be an important day to a spouse or friend, and a relationship can be damaged by the recipient having forgotten. Or it could mean that the recipient failed to deliver on an important commitment scheduled for that day, which can create a variety of other problems.

==== I bet you're probably getting bombarded with texts right now, huh? ====
This implies that something of major significance has happened, that would make many people want to get in touch with the recipient. There are a lot of possibilities, many of which are negative. The non-specific nature of the text leaves the recipient wondering what has happened, and how bad it is.

==== Did you mean to post that to everyone? ====
Implies that the recipient has made a public post (presumably on some social network, or via mass-text conversation) that was offensive or otherwise inappropriate to post publicly; so much so that the text sender is asking if they perhaps meant it to be forwarded to a more contained group or possibly not even revealed to anyone at all. This is a common occurrence as on many platforms it can be easy to accidentally post something with the wrong visibility or mis-click something private into a media post.

==== Is this your house? ====
{{w|CNN}} is a popular news outlet in the United States. This text implies that the recipient's house has for some reason been mentioned (or probably photographed) in a CNN article. This would mean that a newsworthy event has occurred there, or at least nearby. Many newsworthy events are upsetting, possibly dangerous (eg. a fire, a natural disaster, a violent crime, etc). This might also imply a violation of privacy, as many people would not want to have a picture of their house on national news.

==== You didn't click on any weird emails recently, did you? ====
{{w|Phishing}} is the practice of sending fraudulent messages to someone in order to steal information (credentials, etc.) from them, infect them with {{w|malware}}, or otherwise perform some undesirable action. One overwhelmingly common form of this is getting people to click on {{w|hyperlink|hyperlinks}} in emails, which generally purport to lead somewhere reputable but instead lead to somewhere controlled by the sender.

This text implies something makes the sender think that the recipient has fallen victim to such an attack. It's common for the victim of such an attack to not be the first to discover it. For example, some attacks hijack the victim's email, and use it to bombard everyone in their contact list with further phishing attempts. If the sender of this text had received such an email, they might suspect an attack. If this has already happened, it's likely to cause major problems.

==== Can I call? ====
While this is a seemingly benign and simple request, texting someone to ask if you can call is usually a sign that the conversation will be long and serious, and the sender wants to ensure that the other party is available for such a discussion. Many such situations are negative (ranging from a breakup to the death of a loved one), and there's a great deal of tension in knowing that something is serious, but not knowing what it is.

==== Wait, do you know Joe Rogan? How does he know your name? ====
{{w|Joe Rogan}} is a public personality, best known for his podcast {{w|The Joe Rogan Experience}}. This message implies that the recipient has been discussed by Rogan for some reason. Similarly to the CNN case, this is likely to cause worry about what possible circumstances would prompt this.

Joe Rogan has recently been in the news for his anti vaccine stance so some people may not want to be associated with him.

==== Why are you trending on Twitter? ====
{{w|Twitter}} is a social network, which – among other features – tracks and shows topics that are currently being discussed by a large number of users on the platform, or "trending". An individual trending across the entire network (unless that person is a public figure) is usually either because they're connected with a news story, or because something they did or wrote has gone viral. There are sufficiently many negative things that can cause such unexpected fame that hearing about it would be worrying..

Twitter in particular is known for frequently involving very heated discussion, and often even the targeting of individuals by mobs who perceive them to have done something wrong.

==== Was this your car? [looping 'image loading' animation] ====
(title text) The past tense ('was') implies that your car no longer exists, with the animation additionally implying an image or a video of it being damaged or destroyed. In addition, it might take a long time for the receiver to realize that the media will never load, during which they will be worried about their car without knowing what happened to it.

==Transcript==

:[Comic heading:]
:Most heart-stopping texts to receive out of the blue

:[A collection of light gray text bubbles in two columns:]

:Did you forget what day it is?

:I bet you're probably getting bombarded with texts right now, huh?

:Did you mean to post that to everyone?

:Is this your house? cnn.com/2021/11/19/S...

:You didn't click on any weird emails recently, did you?

:Can I call?

:Wait, do you know Joe Rogan? How does he know your name?

:Why are you trending on Twitter?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Phones]]
[[Category:Social networking]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

2332: Cursed Chair

2021-11-13T05:00:08Z

172.70.130.125: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2332
| date = July 13, 2020
| title = Cursed Chair
| image = cursed_chair.png
| titletext = The Wirecutter staff called the Herman Miller Siege Perilous "the most cursed product we've ever had to fight" and "nearly as immortal as it boasts."
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is another in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] related to the {{w|2019–20 coronavirus outbreak|2020 pandemic}} of the {{w|coronavirus}} {{w|SARS-CoV-2}}, which causes {{w|COVID-19}}.

[[Beret Guy]] informs [[Cueball]] that he purchased a cursed office chair from a mysterious shop. Cueball isn't sure if he remembers this happening, which is possibly because Beret Guy has [[1772: Startup Opportunity|previously stated]] that he makes a habit of purchasing daily necessities from such stores. Beret Guy then exclaims that the store he bought the chair from was gone when he went to return it, though given his buying preferences, he should perhaps not be so surprised. Cueball suggests that maybe the shop was simply closed due to the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}}, as is the case for wide variety of non-cursed businesses. Beret Guy takes this as proof that the chair somehow caused the pandemic, a claim Cueball meets incredulously. In the final panel, Beret Guy is doing battle with the chair, which taunts him and claims to be immortal (“''I cannot die''”). In fact, most chairs cannot die, because they are not alive{{Citation needed}}. Cueball remarks that it would be simpler to shop at {{w|IKEA}}, a store famous for its minimalist flat-pack furniture, and which does not sell cursed items{{Citation needed}} (although they ''do'' sell “[[2024: Light Hacks|miniature Dyson spheres]]”).

The cursed chair and the boarded-up store are references to the stores that sell cursed items mentioned in [[1772: Startup Opportunity]]. In that comic, the stores vanished without a trace. But the fact the door was boarded is much more likely due to the pandemic or other causes than the store mysteriously disappearing.

Buying an item from a shop you never noticed before, bringing it home, discovering it is cursed, and trying to return it only to discover the shop isn’t there anymore is a popular trope. See {{tvtropes|TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday|The Little Shop That Wasn't There Yesterday}}.

In the title text, the {{w|Siege Perilous}} is the empty seat at the Round Table in Arthurian legend, reserved by Merlin for the knight who would find the {{w|Holy Grail}} (who turns out to be Sir {{w|Galahad}}) and fatal to anyone else who sits in it. {{w|Herman Miller (manufacturer)|Herman Miller}} is an American office furniture company that produced the {{w|Aeron chair}}, which is the basis for [https://www.instagram.com/blantonmuseum/p/BCYaKA4GLrg/ an artwork] by {{w|Glenn Kaino}} called ''The Siege Perilous''. {{w|Wirecutter (website)|''Wirecutter''}} is a website that evaluates and recommends consumer products. From the title text, it sounds like (in the xkcd universe) Wirecutter is used to encountering cursed products,{{Citation needed}} so they didn’t even bother trying to sit in it to test the Siege Perilous’s perilousness (er, ''peril'') before they started fighting it—and emerged victorious, if it’s only ''nearly'' as immortal as it boasts.

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy and Cueball are talking.]
:Beret Guy: Remember how I bought my desk chair from that mysterious shop?
:Cueball: I think so?
:Beret Guy: Turns out the chair was cursed.

:Beret Guy: So I went back to return it, but the shop was gone! The door was boarded up!
:Cueball: I think most of the shops are closed because of coronavirus.

:[Panel of just Beret Guy.]
:Beret Guy: Oh no!
:Beret Guy: ''The curse must have caused the pandemic!
:Cueball (off-panel): What.

:[Beret Guy starts running with a raised sword in a frameless panel.]
:Beret Guy: If I destroy the chair, we can stop the virus!
:Cueball: What.

:[Beret Guy is chasing a floating desk chair.]
:Beret Guy: ''Die, plague-bringer!''
:Desk chair: <span style="color:white; background:black">Hee Hee I can not die</span>
:Cueball: Maybe you should just shop at IKEA.

==Trivia==

* The hotlink image for the comic was initially [https://web.archive.org/web/20200713231037/https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/cursed_chair.png extremely pixelated], but the image displayed on the page was a different URL and looked fine. This was soon fixed.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:COVID-19]]

2539: Flinch

2021-11-09T11:47:24Z

172.70.130.125: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2539
| date = November 8, 2021
| title = Flinch
| image = flinch.png
| titletext = Premed: "Does this count for a physics credit? Can we shorten the string so I can get it done faster? And can we do one where it hits me in the face? I gotta do a thing for first aid training right after."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a WOUNDED PREMED STUDENT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Cueball]] is performing [https://youtu.be/4a0FbQdH3dY?t=1518 a common demonstration of conservation of energy] to a group of bystanders with different science backgrounds: A bowling ball hung on a pendulum. He asks if they'll flinch after the ball is released and swings toward them on its return arc. Black Hat sets up a bowling ball pendulum in [[1670: Laws of Physics]], but sets it up improperly on purpose in an attempt to hurt Cueball.

The first bystander, a physicist ([[Megan]]) understands the principles of the experiment and claims she won't flinch. She knows that, as long as it's just ''released'' (as opposed to being pushed) in still air, then the ball won't return further than its point of release. (If the experiment is conducted outdoors, then it is possible for a sudden wind gust to blow the ball enough for it to return further than its point of release; however, this is unlikely with a bowling ball, which has a large mass compared to its surface area.)

The second bystander, a biologist ([[Hairy]]) seems to indicate that he expects to flinch, but he feels this is natural and doesn't intend to fight it. It is natural, and in fact the body comes with many kinds of {{w|Reflex|automatic reflexes}}. In [[1670: Laws of Physics]], Randall makes a very similar comment in the title text.

The third bystander, an engineer ([[Ponytail]]), knows practice usually differs from theory. She answers Cueball's
question by declaring that his apparatus obviously suspect. Cueball is holding the ball so the
string is visibly curved, not stretched, as when the ball pendulums back. The string and ball
thus start with greater gravitational potential energy (height) and elastic potential energy
than when the ball swings back to the same position over the floor.
The excess energy means a near even chance the ball may move past its starting point on
the first swing, and sometimes pass or not on following swings.

In the title text, a premed student tries to get course work done.

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

:[Cueball holds a bowling ball attached to a string. He is talking to Megan, Hairy, and Ponytail. Between Cueball and the other three is a cross in a circle on the floor.]
:Cueball: If you stand with the bowling ball in front of your face and let go, will you flinch when it swings back?

:[Caption: '''Physicist''']
:Megan: I won't flinch.
:Megan: I trust conservation of energy.

:[Caption: '''Biologist''']
:Hairy: I trust my flinch reflex, which was honed by millions of years of evolution to protect my delicate face. I'm not messing with it.

:[Caption: '''Engineer''']
:Ponytail: I don't trust that you hung that thing up correctly.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

2515: Vaccine Research

2021-11-05T21:05:06Z

172.70.130.125: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2515
| date = September 13, 2021
| title = Vaccine Research
| image = vaccine_research.png
| titletext = Honestly feel a little sheepish about the amount of time and effort I spent confirming "yes, the vaccine helps protect people from getting sick and dying" but I guess everyone needs a hobby.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is another entry in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] related to the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic|2020-21 pandemic}} of the {{w|SARS-CoV-2}} virus, which causes {{w|COVID-19}}, specifically regarding the [[:Category:COVID-19 vaccine|COVID-19 vaccine]].

The comic starts with [[White Hat]] using a common conversational tactic used by vaccine skeptics, and conspiracy theorists, in order to try to persuade others, typically claiming that they did their own research. The phrase "done my own research" is often taken to mean that the speaker is skeptical of the topic, and has done only cursory fact-checking, typically consulting only nonscientific sources that confirm and validate their prior beliefs. However, subverting expectations, it seems that White Hat genuinely had researched the subject deeply, consulting a large number of primary sources, and coming to a conclusion matching the overwhelming scientific consensus that vaccination against COVID-19 is safe and effective. The conclusion he expresses is humorously simple, but entirely in keeping with every expert analysis: "These vaccines are pretty good... Seems like it would be great if lots of people got them."

In the last panel, White Hat asks if there are any efforts to distribute the vaccine, to which [[Cueball]] responds with understated irony. Anyone genuinely informed about the vaccines would have to be aware of the huge scale of vaccine rollout efforts, or of the resistance to them. It strains credulity that someone could read "hundreds of studies" on the topic and not be aware of how many people had been vaccinated. Cueball, however, doesn't mock White Hat's incongruous ignorance, but simply responds that there's been "some effort", which satisfies White Hat.

At the time this strip was posted, only about 42.3% of the world population had been vaccinated against COVID-19. In low income countries, however, distribution has been negligible, and the rate is [https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations below 1.9%].

In the title text, [[Randall]] comments that he feels a little sheepish that he has spent way too much time and effort confirming the statement "yes, the vaccine helps protect people from getting sick and dying". This has been known for a long time despite the {{w|Vaccine hesitancy|anti-vaxxers'}} efforts. But, as he states, this could be seen as a [[:Category:My Hobby|hobby]]. Anti-vaxxers often refer to people who get vaccinated as "sheep".

This comic may be a sort of spiritual successor to [[2281: Coronavirus Research]].

==Transcript==
:[White Hat is talking to Cueball.]
:White Hat: I've been hearing about vaccines.
:White Hat: But I decided to do my ''own'' research.

:[In a frame-less panel White Hat continues to talk to Cueball.]
:White Hat: So I spent months on the Internet reading hundreds of studies.

:[Close up of White Hat as he speaks to Cueball, who replies from off-panel.]
:White Hat: And wow, I gotta say,
:White Hat: these vaccines are pretty good.
:Cueball (off-panel): Oh, really.

:[Zoomed back out, to White Hat and Cueball talking.]
:White Hat: Yeah, seems like it'd be great if lots of people got them.
:White Hat: Is anyone working on that?
:Cueball: There's been some effort.
:White Hat: Okay, cool.

==Trivia==
*This comic is listed as released on 2021-09-13 in the [https://xkcd.com/archive/ archive on xkcd] - thus a normal Monday release.
**However it was not released until well past midnight in mainland US, and even an hour after midnight in Hawaii.
**So in principle this comic was first released on a Tuesday in all parts of the US.
**But since Randall himself list this as released on a Monday, his date will be used here.
***It was however probably still Monday on {{w|Baker Island}} a US atoll, lying almost on the {{w|International Date Line}}.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:COVID-19 vaccine]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]

Talk:2529: Unsolved Math Problems

2021-10-16T04:29:03Z

172.70.130.125:

Center panel possibly related to "The drunkards walk" and theories on randomised motion.
https://www.quantamagazine.org/random-walk-puzzle-solution-20160907/
More references https://mathworld.wolfram.com/RandomWalk.html

Someone's gotta point out that "walking randomly on a grid, never visiting the same square twice" would rapidly trap you in a corner (even the example has a 50/50 chance of that happening on the next move) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.125|172.70.130.125]] 04:29, 16 October 2021 (UTC)

2525: Air Travel Packing List

2021-10-07T10:38:32Z

172.70.130.125:

{{comic
| number = 2525
| date = October 6, 2021
| title = Air Travel Packing List
| image = air_travel_packing_list.png
| titletext = I know the etiquette is controversial, but I think it's rude when the person in front of me reclines their seat into the bell of my trumpet.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an AIRBORNE TRUMPETER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic is about a proposed air-travel packing list, and the humor is that many people who have not been flying during Covid might have forgotten what to pack. Most of the items are already found on the plane, SOUND like they would be useful on a plane, or could be useful in (the unlikely event of) a plane crash. Here is a quick summary of each:

{| class="wikitable"
! Item
! Explanation
|-
|Seat cushion
|This can be used as a flotation device in a crash and is provided by the airline. Some people may also bring their own cushions for comfort.
|-
|Parachute
|Parachutes are normally used to slow down your falling out of the sky to a relatively safe speed in case of a severe problem with your aircraft, and are routinely used as a safety device by (para)glider pilots, test pilots, military aircraft crew and in similar situations when being unable to land safely is a significant concern. A parachute won't be very useful in a typical passenger airplane (even a small one) as there is no way to safely exit such a plane in-flight. Even the airplanes used to voluntarily exit from while they're perfectly good (as some crazy people do) need to be specifically designed or modified for the purpose such as having wide sliding doors that are unaffected by airflow. However, there were single cases of people being ejected or sucked out of a passenger airplane; in such case a parachute could by arguably useful.
|-
|Wing glue
|to repair wings in the event of damage, potentially in a crash. unclear on how you would apply mid-flight
|-
|{{w|Air horn}}
|An air horn uses compressed air to make a very loud noise very easily. This may be important for drawing attention to yourself in the event of a crash. Typically, emergency lifejackets on a plane are provided with a light and whistle for this purpose. The noise of an air horn might prove more effective for this purpose than a whistle, but it would become useless as soon as the compressed air ran out. Its inclusion is probably meant to suggest that the word 'air' in its name indicates that it's designed for use in an aircraft. Using one in a non-emergency situation would infuriate everyone else on the plane.
|-
|{{w|Sextant}}
|In combination with star charts, a sextant can be used to determine your position based on the location of stars in the night sky. In a crash, you could use this to find your way home, but sextants are rarely used so most people would not know how to operate one. If you've got a homing beacon, it probably makes more sense to just activate that and wait for help to arrive.
|-
|Nose plugs and goggles for pressure
|Nose plugs and goggles are commonly used in swimming but would be useless for dealing with cabin pressurization or depressurization. Since your mouth and nose are interconnected, nose plugs would be useless on their own. Trying to hold your breath in a sudden depressurization event will cause lung damage, so nose plugs wouldn't be a good thing, even if you could also seal off your mouth. Goggles would also not be useful. During depressurization, the air would just seep out. During pressurization, they would just become uncomfortable and difficult to remove.
|-
|Airplane shoes
|like slippers, to keep feet warm and comfy on long flights.
|-
|Navigation crystal
|mystical form of navigation, presumably to help you home after a crash.
Crystals that polarize light can be used as a compass [http://www.polarization.com/viking/viking.html].
|-
|Spare batteries in case the plane runs out
|Planes will generally use more power than any battery small enough to be easily packed in a bag can provide. They will generally use either 115V AC at 400Hz or 28V DC, both of which are very uncommon outside of aviation. The plane will almost never use its own batteries anyway, getting its electric power from the APU, engines, or, in emergencies, the ram air turbine.
|-
|Birdseed
|so you can attract birds, and use THEM to fly the plane in case of crash
|-
|Homing beacon
|Once activated, a homing beacon will send out a continuous radio signal so that rescuers can find your location. These can be very useful in a plane crash, but planes already carry them, so you don't need to pack one yourself.
|-
|Meteorite antidote
|Meteorites are pieces of space rocks that make it all the way to the ground. They can cause injury but they aren't poisonous{{Citation needed}}, so an antidote would not help.
|-
|USB wing connector
|this is a just a wire connector, but because it has wing in the name is on the list. alternatively, the plane wings connect by USB, and this can be used to reattach wings.
|-
|Emergency siren
|USE IN CASE OF EMERGENCY
|-
|Spare flaps
|Flaps can be moved to adjust the lift/drag ratio of a wing, generally during takeoff and landing. Flaps are very large and mounted on the wing, outside the passenger compartment, so bringing spares would be very difficult and completely useless. Flaps failing to come down can also usually be remedied by just landing at a longer runway.
|-
|{{w|Mouthpiece (brass)|Mouthpiece}} (pandemic restriction; airlines still provide the trumpet)
|a part of a brass instrument like a trumpet. Randall jokes that trumpets are provided on airplanes (which would be very obnoxious to other passengers), but due to the pandemic you cannot use a shared mouthpiece.
|-
|Luggage ballast
|for keeping your luggage upright in the water. obviously.
|-
|Flag (international flights)
|To identify your country of origin. Other flags are also used to communicate between boats without electricity, in the event the boats are in distress, so they could be used in the event of a crash.
|-
|Decoy tickets
|Maybe these would used as a distraction so you can sneak onto the plane without paying.
|-
|Keys to the plane
|Though some pushed for it after a plane was stolen in the {{w|2018 Horizon Air Q400 incident}}, planes do not require keys to activate like a car does.
|}

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

<big>Air Travel Packing List</big>

If you haven't flown in a while, you might not remember what you need to bring. Use this handy checklist to pack!

[Two columns of lists of items. Each item is preceded by a checkbox.]
*Seat cushion
*Parachute
*Wing glue
*Air horn
*Sextant
*Nose plugs and goggles for pressure
*Airplane shoes
*Navigation crystal
*Spare batteries in case the plane runs out
*Birdseed
*Homing beacon
*Meteorite antidote
*USB wing connector
*Emergency siren
*Spare flaps
*Mouthpiece (pandemic restriction; airlines still provide the trumpet)
*Luggage ballast
*Flag (international flights)
*Decoy tickets
*Keys to the plane

{{comic discussion}}

2525: Air Travel Packing List

2021-10-07T10:37:43Z

172.70.130.125: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2525
| date = October 6, 2021
| title = Air Travel Packing List
| image = air_travel_packing_list.png
| titletext = I know the etiquette is controversial, but I think it's rude when the person in front of me reclines their seat into the bell of my trumpet.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an AIRBORNE TRUMPETER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic is about an air-travel packing list, and the humor is that many people who have not been flying during Covid might have forgotten what to pack. Most of the items are already found on the plane, SOUND like they would be useful on a plane, or could be useful in (the unlikely event of) a plane crash. Here is a quick summary of each:

{| class="wikitable"
! Item
! Explanation
|-
|Seat cushion
|This can be used as a flotation device in a crash and is provided by the airline. Some people may also bring their own cushions for comfort.
|-
|Parachute
|Parachutes are normally used to slow down your falling out of the sky to a relatively safe speed in case of a severe problem with your aircraft, and are routinely used as a safety device by (para)glider pilots, test pilots, military aircraft crew and in similar situations when being unable to land safely is a significant concern. A parachute won't be very useful in a typical passenger airplane (even a small one) as there is no way to safely exit such a plane in-flight. Even the airplanes used to voluntarily exit from while they're perfectly good (as some crazy people do) need to be specifically designed or modified for the purpose such as having wide sliding doors that are unaffected by airflow. However, there were single cases of people being ejected or sucked out of a passenger airplane; in such case a parachute could by arguably useful.
|-
|Wing glue
|to repair wings in the event of damage, potentially in a crash. unclear on how you would apply mid-flight
|-
|{{w|Air horn}}
|An air horn uses compressed air to make a very loud noise very easily. This may be important for drawing attention to yourself in the event of a crash. Typically, emergency lifejackets on a plane are provided with a light and whistle for this purpose. The noise of an air horn might prove more effective for this purpose than a whistle, but it would become useless as soon as the compressed air ran out. Its inclusion is probably meant to suggest that the word 'air' in its name indicates that it's designed for use in an aircraft. Using one in a non-emergency situation would infuriate everyone else on the plane.
|-
|{{w|Sextant}}
|In combination with star charts, a sextant can be used to determine your position based on the location of stars in the night sky. In a crash, you could use this to find your way home, but sextants are rarely used so most people would not know how to operate one. If you've got a homing beacon, it probably makes more sense to just activate that and wait for help to arrive.
|-
|Nose plugs and goggles for pressure
|Nose plugs and goggles are commonly used in swimming but would be useless for dealing with cabin pressurization or depressurization. Since your mouth and nose are interconnected, nose plugs would be useless on their own. Trying to hold your breath in a sudden depressurization event will cause lung damage, so nose plugs wouldn't be a good thing, even if you could also seal off your mouth. Goggles would also not be useful. During depressurization, the air would just seep out. During pressurization, they would just become uncomfortable and difficult to remove.
|-
|Airplane shoes
|like slippers, to keep feet warm and comfy on long flights.
|-
|Navigation crystal
|mystical form of navigation, presumably to help you home after a crash.
Crystals that polarize light can be used as a compass [http://www.polarization.com/viking/viking.html].
|-
|Spare batteries in case the plane runs out
|Planes will generally use more power than any battery small enough to be easily packed in a bag can provide. They will generally use either 115V AC at 400Hz or 28V DC, both of which are very uncommon outside of aviation. The plane will almost never use its own batteries anyway, getting its electric power from the APU, engines, or, in emergencies, the ram air turbine.
|-
|Birdseed
|so you can attract birds, and use THEM to fly the plane in case of crash
|-
|Homing beacon
|Once activated, a homing beacon will send out a continuous radio signal so that rescuers can find your location. These can be very useful in a plane crash, but planes already carry them, so you don't need to pack one yourself.
|-
|Meteorite antidote
|Meteorites are pieces of space rocks that make it all the way to the ground. They can cause injury but they aren't poisonous{{Citation needed}}, so an antidote would not help.
|-
|USB wing connector
|this is a just a wire connector, but because it has wing in the name is on the list. alternatively, the plane wings connect by USB, and this can be used to reattach wings.
|-
|Emergency siren
|USE IN CASE OF EMERGENCY
|-
|Spare flaps
|Flaps can be moved to adjust the lift/drag ratio of a wing, generally during takeoff and landing. Flaps are very large and mounted on the wing, outside the passenger compartment, so bringing spares would be very difficult and completely useless. Flaps failing to come down can also usually be remedied by just landing at a longer runway.
|-
|{{w|Mouthpiece (brass)|Mouthpiece}} (pandemic restriction; airlines still provide the trumpet)
|a part of a brass instrument like a trumpet. Randall jokes that trumpets are provided on airplanes (which would be very obnoxious to other passengers), but due to the pandemic you cannot use a shared mouthpiece.
|-
|Luggage ballast
|for keeping your luggage upright in the water. obviously.
|-
|Flag (international flights)
|To identify your country of origin. Other flags are also used to communicate between boats without electricity, in the event the boats are in distress, so they could be used in the event of a crash.
|-
|Decoy tickets
|Maybe these would used as a distraction so you can sneak onto the plane without paying.
|-
|Keys to the plane
|Though some pushed for it after a plane was stolen in the {{w|2018 Horizon Air Q400 incident}}, planes do not require keys to activate like a car does.
|}

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

<big>Air Travel Packing List</big>

If you haven't flown in a while, you might not remember what you need to bring. Use this handy checklist to pack!

[Two columns of lists of items. Each item is preceded by a checkbox.]
*Seat cushion
*Parachute
*Wing glue
*Air horn
*Sextant
*Nose plugs and goggles for pressure
*Airplane shoes
*Navigation crystal
*Spare batteries in case the plane runs out
*Birdseed
*Homing beacon
*Meteorite antidote
*USB wing connector
*Emergency siren
*Spare flaps
*Mouthpiece (pandemic restriction; airlines still provide the trumpet)
*Luggage ballast
*Flag (international flights)
*Decoy tickets
*Keys to the plane

{{comic discussion}}

641: Free

2021-10-06T04:13:56Z

172.70.130.125: Adding the necessary inside joke

{{comic
| number = 641
| date = September 25, 2009
| title = Free
| image = free.png
| titletext = Asbestos is bad; definitely get the one on the right. Wait -- this one over here has no swine flu! Now I can't decide.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Asbestos}} is a fibrous material most commonly known and used for its heat-resistant properties. It was commonly used in housing insulation until its astonishingly destructive effects on human lungs were discovered. The use of asbestos in housing is now banned, but asbestos is still quite common in laboratory hot pads, as well as in concrete industrial buildings where the risk of it getting into the air is minimal.

The comic depicts a common advertising trick taken to an absurd extreme; quite clearly all of the cereal products depicted are asbestos-free, but most have opted not to advertise that fact (if it even occurred to them at all) because it should be obvious. A more realistic example can be found in {{w|Confectionery|confectionery}} products, wherein the term "{{w|fat}} free" might be applied when it's clear that {{w|sugar}}, {{w|gelatin}}, and other ingredients involved in the product are in no way related to, or contain, fat. Note that in some countries, like Germany for example, this practice is actually not allowed, since it counts as "misleading advertising".

Ironically, the "asbestos-free" disclaimer could also cause a customer to ''distrust'' the product on the grounds of {{w|Damning with faint praise|damning by faint praise}}—if the best thing they can say about a product is that it doesn't contain a toxic building material, do we really want to know what actually ''is'' in this stuff?

The claim in the title text—that the product has no {{w|swine flu}}—is equally superfluous, as any food product containing disease-causing viruses would be subject to recalls, severe fines, and quite a few people losing their jobs; the fact that the product is actually on a supermarket shelf implies that it already has a stellar reputation for not causing serious illness{{Citation needed}}. The use of it here could also be a reference to [[574: Swine Flu]].

* GenCo probably stands for {{w|Generic brand|Generic}} or General Company and may be a reference to {{w|General Mills}}

* [http://ghostbusters.wikia.com/wiki/Stay_Puft_Marshmallows Stay Puft] is also the company that produces marshmallows in the movie franchise [[wikipedia:Ghostbusters_%28franchise%29| Ghostbusters]].

* [http://redfarmnyc.com/ RedFarm] is a Chinese restaurant in NYC.

Misleading advertising is also the subject of the previous comic [[624: Branding]], and of subsequent comics [[870: Advertising]] and [[993: Brand Identity]].

==Transcript==
:[A shelf holds 3 boxes of cereal. Each box shows a bowl of cereal.]
:GenCo Ⓞat Cereal
:StayPuft Oat Cereal
:RedFarm Oat Cereal (with additional text in a star) Asbestos-free!
:I hate whatever marketer first realized you could do this.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:532: Piano

2021-09-24T13:03:00Z

172.70.130.125: Added comment about misunderstanding the joke

Maybe I'm wrong here, but by looking at the size of the piano compared with Cueball and having read the title text, I wonder if the joke might be that he wished for a 4-5 inch penis instead? I wasn't sure enoough to go ahead an change it though.{{unsigned|Athang}}
: If you look at the piano compared to Cueball's forearm plus hand, they are approximately the same length. Considering how the average male human is slightly shorter in height (1.7 m) than a grand piano is long (2 m), a to-scale pianist would be slightly shorter than Cueball's forearm. The average length of a 1.7 m tall person's forearm plus hand is about 47 cm, so the pianist would need to be about 40 cm. (1.7:2 = 0.85 ratio. 47 cm * 0.85 = 40 cm.) 40 cm is almost 16 inches. In [[526: Converting to Metric]], 14 cm is labeled "penis", and according to the {{w|Kinsey Institute}}, the largest medically recorded was 13.5 inches (34 cm).

:Alternatively, the title text might have been saying "Good thing [the genie] didn't make [his penis] smaller [than it was before?], or [his penis would] need someone three inches tall to play [with] it." [[User:Tryc|Tryc]] ([[User talk:Tryc|talk]]) 15:20, 28 June 2013 (UTC)

:The extremely clear implication is that he asked for a 12-inch pianist, echoing the original joke. Occam's Razor and Megan's response support this view. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.223|108.162.219.223]]

Currently, this comic is listed as being in the "My Hobby" series, but it doesn't fit the series description. It's not phrased as if this is Randall's hobby, it's more situation-specific than the other My Hobby comics, and the title doesn't start with "My Hobby:". Should it be removed from the list? [[User:Sciepsilon|Sciepsilon]] ([[User talk:Sciepsilon|talk]]) 22:19, 5 October 2013 (UTC)
:The first two words from Cueball are: "My hobby...". The category is appropriate here. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:16, 6 October 2013 (UTC)
:Agreed. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.223|108.162.219.223]]
:Disagreed. It has nothing to do with the other "my hobby" comics, which all describes some weird trolling activity. This is just a guy making miniatures, a much more normal hobby. The ensuing panels of discussion doesn't fit the pattern either. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.119|108.162.254.119]] 20:21, 30 January 2014 (UTC)
:Also disagreed. The "my hobby" comics are about Randall's, and not Cueball's (albeit his alter-ego) hobbies. They all begin vey clearly with the phrase "My hobby:" in superscript before describing that hobby for comedic effect. Here, Cueball's hobby is not the subject and punchline of the comic, but rather the set-up for the joke about the size of his erm... member. It might meet the letter, but misses the spirit of the "my hobby" rubric. Any person searching for a comic in the "my hobby" series would be pretty surprised to find this one. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.21|108.162.219.21]] 08:47, 29 May 2014 (UTC)
::I agree with the disagreement, it's clearly not a My Hobby entry. But I still think it wouldn't hurt to have it in that category, for inclusiveness. Clearly, some subset of the proles think of it that way, so including it will help them, meanwhile harm nobody else. —[[User:Kazvorpal|Kazvorpal]] ([[User talk:Kazvorpal|talk]]) 14:56, 29 August 2017 (UTC)

Wow. I really misunderstood this joke. I thought he had asked a genie and just assumed it went wrong, when it actually went right. I thought Megan showing up was the result of the genie, and that her hobby was playing miniature pianos (perhaps using some finger extenders, like those things for Halloween that make your hands bigger and further out, but in reverse). And that she was intrigued by Cueball because she likes his hobby. Penis joke goes woosh. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.125|172.70.130.125]] 13:03, 24 September 2021 (UTC)

;The pianis<s>t</s> section
Because ''someone'' doesn't understand the joke, I'll explain it here: "Twelve-inch penis" sounds similar to "twelve-inch pianist", so the genie in the joke and the genie mentioned in the comic misheard it as the other. Try saying it out loud in English. <small>[[User:MrGameZone|0100011101100001011011010110010101011010011011110110111001100101]] ([[User talk:MrGameZone|talk page]])</small> 04:34, 3 June 2014 (UTC)

:There is no mention of a "twelve-inch pianist" at this comic at all! And jokes I can find only misunderstandings on words like bucks/ducks and similar. The penis issue is always only raised at some comments. Furthermore the spelling "penis(t)" for "pianist" would be bad English — does this slang really exist? If so it has to be explained. Second: The link at the explain doesn't explain the penis issue. And finally citing the title text "Good thing he didn't make it smaller, or it'd need someone three inches tall to play it." would mean that a three inches tall Megan would have to "play" with a much smaller penis. Those penis jokes are still annoying, Randall just mentions a piano. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:10, 3 June 2014 (UTC)

::''Twelve. Inch. Piano.''

::The "bucks/ducks" jokes are ''directly'' based off of the "twelve-inch pianist" joke.

::It's a pun. "Pianist" sounds like "penis", and "penis" sounds like "pianist". Seriously, the only difference between the two is the "an".

::The link ''does'' address the "penis/pianist" issue. Read the last line carefully. It says that because of the genie's poor hearing, instead of the wish he wanted, he got a twelve-inch pianist. He wished for a twelve-inch penis and ended up with a twelve-inch pianist.

::And the "three-inch person playing with a three-inch penis" just came from Tryc horribly overthinking it. The title text says that if Cueball made a three-inch piano instead of a twelve-inch one, the genie would've misheard "three-inch pianist" as "three-inch penis", which is less preferable to a twelve-inch one.

::I'm trying my best to not be rude, but the joke is right there and you can't notice it. <small>[[User:MrGameZone|0100011101100001011011010110010101011010011011110110111001100101]] ([[User talk:MrGameZone|talk page]])</small> 21:23, 3 June 2014 (UTC)
:::I still can't see that Randall does mention any "Twelve Inch" issues here. So, if that is the first imagination to some people it has to be EXPLAINED. The link here isn't helpful, Gooogle neither.
:::According to all my findings I would recommend a first section to explain the comic itself and then a second section how "penis-addicted" people would interpret this.
:::And remember the miniature trebuchet from [[1190: Time]]. Also a penis???
:::--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:41, 3 June 2014 (UTC)

::::Ughhhhhhhh it's getting harder and harder to explain this to you
::::Could someone help me out, here? <small>[[User:MrGameZone|0100011101100001011011010110010101011010011011110110111001100101]] ([[User talk:MrGameZone|talk page]])</small> 06:49, 4 June 2014 (UTC)

:::::I'm trying it simple: If this is a common joke somewhere in the US, maybe Midwest, or East, or wherever it has to be explained by that manner.
:::::The link to [http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/old90/304.html rec.humor.funny] isn't a helpful explain because there is NO penis at this entire page.
:::::I'm only calling for a better explain!
:::::--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:19, 4 June 2014 (UTC)
::::::The cited joke is an obvious pun on penis, without which the joke is dead. The comic is an obvious reversal of the obvious pun. There is ample provided context. If you can't provide concrete evidence/sources to refute the concrete source cited in the explanation, don't keep marking it as incomplete on the grounds that you don't get it. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:22, 4 June 2014 (UTC)
:::::::I was calling for a better explain. Done now by me and I still do not claim it's perfect. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:17, 4 June 2014 (UTC)
::::::::So my NON PERFECT edit is removed by admin David. But please understand that the "In the original..." statement implies that the page on "rec.humor.funny" is the original. There is still no explain to the origin of this original penis joke for non native English speakers. Even Goooogle isn't helpful. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:34, 5 June 2014 (UTC)
:::::::::The explanation already provides a source for the joke, an explanation and guides the punchline for the slow. Your version of the explanation introduced six grammatical errors and omits context for the joke that the comic is derived from. Googling "Pianist penis genie joke" returns a pagefull of relevant results, including two Q/A sites where people ask for it to be explained, a Reddit thread where the original joke is discussed in great detail and the xkcd forum page for the comic where people repeatedly refer to the cited joke as the basis of the comic. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:48, 5 June 2014 (UTC)
::::::::::Throwing in the towel. I was trying to get a better explain for non native English speakers. I accept this knock out. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:45, 5 June 2014 (UTC)

I find it interesting that for at least two of the Penis related comics there has been a very long discussion with Dgbrt before he could accept (or accept his defeat here on these pages) that Randall (as he actually often does) makes these kind of juvenile penis jokes (or your mother etc.) The other one I have seen is [[450: The Sea]] [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:50, 7 July 2014 (UTC)
:I always thought the joke was supposed to be that the asked for a miniature pianist, and Megan's response was sarcasm.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.217.89|108.162.217.89]] 02:18, 26 March 2015 (UTC)

;MY HOBBY

It reads"[[my hobby]] is ..." should it be included in the series? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.148|108.162.218.148]] 01:43, 28 August 2015 (UTC)
:There is some discussion on this point near the top of the discussion section. It seems to have been agreed that the comic doesn't fit the normal style of the typical 'My Hobby' comics, and therefore wasn't really appropriate to be in that category. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 07:49, 28 August 2015 (UTC)

Talk:2510: Modern Tools

2021-09-02T10:09:43Z

172.70.130.125:

Note that this is the second time Randall tried to tell bash and zsh apart. (First time was in [[1678]].) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.83|162.158.88.83]] 05:44, 2 September 2021 (UTC)
:Great memory. Has added it to this first attempt at an explanation. Do not know enough about these files, environment etc. so I hope someone will improve. Rare I come here and there is nothing added to the explanation yet. Only your coment showed me I was not here first. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 06:48, 2 September 2021 (UTC)
You can generate makefiles today with a number of causal language models. I wonder what other approaches there are. [[User:Baffo32|Baffo32]] ([[User talk:Baffo32|talk]]) 10:02, 2 September 2021 (UTC)

Is randall literally just making jokes for himself and nobody else at this point? Even if someone knows what this all means, I doubt it many of them find it funny. - [[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.125|172.70.130.125]] 10:09, 2 September 2021 (UTC)