explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2548: Awful People

2021-11-30T06:56:56Z

172.70.130.209: /* 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 change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT try that other place down by the lake.}}

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{{citation needed}}, it does free Megan from the burden of weighing his opinions equally to her own.

The title-text mentions the “Lake Slayer,” who is referenced in the comic. They mention that a burger joint in town is unsatisfactory, and that the reader should come to a place “by the lake” instead, which might be a plot to lure people to the lake and to be killed.

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. 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]]

Talk:2544: Heart-Stopping Texts

2021-11-22T19:29:01Z

172.70.130.209: comment

I've done a brief explanation of each message -- sorry if I've edit-conflicted anyone! I'm not at all familiar with Joe Rogan, so I might have missed some significance there. [[User:Esogalt|Esogalt]] ([[User talk:Esogalt|talk]]) 19:47, 19 November 2021 (UTC)

The title text is not about a looping video of the car. The text just contains the "image loading" indicator repeating, but never successfully loads the image. That's what makes it so disturbing -- you never actually see the car. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 20:36, 19 November 2021 (UTC)
:It might also indicate that the server(s) upon which the media is stored is being hammered by ''everyone else trying to watch 'your car' and whatever is happening to it''. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.155|172.70.85.155]] 22:08, 19 November 2021 (UTC)

I know it has been said of Twitter: "Every day on Twitter, one person is chosen as the 'main character'. Everyone's goal is ''not'' to have that happen to them." [[User:SpuriousCorrelation|SpuriousCorrelation]] ([[User talk:SpuriousCorrelation|talk]]) 21:14, 19 November 2021 (UTC)

What this "out of the blue" does mean? (I'm not native speaker of English) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.233|162.158.238.233]] 21:45, 19 November 2021 (UTC)
:'The blue' alludes to the clear daylight sky. Something arriving/appearing/dropping/flying "out of the blue" has appeared not just without warning, but there's no reason for you ''not'' to have seen it (e.g. looming out of a foggy night), which sort of implies that it's not just a surprise, but even the fact that you are getting surprised by somethng is surprising.
::(Just to reinterject as author of this piece, I wrote the above/following Paras to Talk-level quality, not Explanation-level. Gratified someone copied this verbatim to the main article but I'd have definitely written it 'better' there. Something like "Out Of The Blue means to arrive totally unepectedly, as if somehow arriving entirely without warning from a cloudless sky <...yada yada yada>". But do put your own rhetoric stamp on it, whoever sets about any edit.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.36|172.70.91.36]] 10:26, 20 November 2021 (UTC)
:I suppose "out of nowhere" or "out of thin air" might be a more understandable phrase, that might have a direct analogue in any other language/Anglophonic-culture-somehow-lacking-this-phrase.
:A very similar phrase is "a bolt from the blue" (a lightning strike from clear skies), and maybe even what the above was conceptually shortened/borrowed from. I imagine some etymology site has the actual facts on this, but that'd be cheating. ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.155|172.70.85.155]] 22:08, 19 November 2021 (UTC)
::Oh yes, in Finnish is a phrase "Kuin salama kirkkaalta taivaalta' (like a ligtning strike from clear sky). First I assumed that this "out of blue" comes from typical sms/whatsapp/signal's speech bubble, but then I realized that there is no an unified color schemes in such apps. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.47|172.69.194.47]] 14:37, 20 November 2021 (UTC)
::: As has been said, "Out of the blue" refers to an adverse event coming from a previously clear sky. My understanding (but feel free to correct me) is that in this precise form it has been coined by aerial combat (aka "dogfight") reports, a context in which getting the jump on an opponent (especially from above) provides a decisive advantage. An opponent appearing "out of the blue" in this context would be a most stressful situation indeed. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.10|141.101.69.10]] 18:08, 21 November 2021 (UTC)

I think this is meant to show prank messages which one could send to someone to cause anxiety, rather than a selection of real ones. The "image loading animation" from the title text seals that, as it is a common prank message strategy to send a gif of just the loading animation to prey on the recipient's curiosity. At the very least, I think we should note the alternate interpretation. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.142.81|172.69.142.81]] 22:50, 19 November 2021 (UTC)
:Possible. But a media-playing app/widget/iframe/canvas/whatever tends to render something of its own while buffering, and it's easy to believe that this is that. So the intent of the comic could be various. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.32|141.101.99.32]] 03:25, 21 November 2021 (UTC)

"Can I call?" is one that I use/recieve semi-regularly, and it's not very stressful. The main use for me is when one party is not too familiar with the other one's schedule. And yes, it'd be used when you're expecting longer conversation, but not necessarily a stressful one - for example, when working on the organisaton of an event and going though some finer details. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.12|141.101.77.12]] 23:22, 19 November 2021 (UTC)
:My mother did this just 9 days before this comic came out. With her, it's always 50:50 between "long" and "serious". That's in a way even more stressful, because I can never know which one it is. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 18:46, 21 November 2021 (UTC)

"There's been an accident, when can you be here to confirm identification?". Also, "Can I call you" (or a variation) is easily my number 1 text message, because if I wanted it to be truly asynchronous I'd send an email and if it was a matter of true urgency I'd call without preamble. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.68.43|141.101.68.43]] 17:29, 21 November 2021 (UTC)

I know someone asked in the comments, but do we really need the explanation for "out of the blue" outside the comments? This page is intended to explain xkcd comics, not commonly used idioms of the English language. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 10:16, 22 November 2021 (UTC)
*If someone wanted to know, I don't see the problem in including that information. --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.209|172.70.130.209]] 19:29, 22 November 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2540: TTSLTSWBD

2021-11-11T13:58:20Z

172.70.130.209:

XKCD 332 should be referenced here. Gyroscopes are not only directly referenced but also the similar observation that they should not work. I am being careful not to edit this page at the moment since it's probably very active. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.38|162.158.62.38]] 04:46, 11 November 2021 (UTC)
: Done! :D [[User:Esogalt|Esogalt]] ([[User talk:Esogalt|talk]]) 06:10, 11 November 2021 (UTC)
"FIRST ANNUAL"?? How does one know that it will be an annual event until the second one takes place??? <PET PEEVE> [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.195|172.70.126.195]] 10:14, 11 November 2021 (UTC)
: Planning is a thing? [[User:Esogalt|Esogalt]] ([[User talk:Esogalt|talk]]) 10:33, 11 November 2021 (UTC)
: It immediately followed the long-running 363-day conference on Things That Seem Like They Should Work But Don’t, so naturally there’ll be another one every year. They didn’t even have to change the banner.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.131|162.158.106.131]] 10:47, 11 November 2021 (UTC)
: There may ''never'' be a second, especially in Randallworld. As a roundworld example, this very year we had the "31st '''First Annual''' Ig Nobel Prize ceremony". ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.35|172.70.90.35]] 12:35, 11 November 2021 (UTC) I once was in a "First Annual Iron Man" competition that wasn't held the following year, so . . . .[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.24|162.158.74.24]] 13:50, 11 November 2021 (UTC)
Uh...I legit want to go to this conference. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.209|172.70.130.209]] 13:58, 11 November 2021 (UTC)

2470: Next Slide Please

2021-11-11T05:00:31Z

172.70.130.209: /* Table of quotes */

{{comic
| number = 2470
| date = May 31, 2021
| title = Next Slide Please
| image = next_slide_please.png
| titletext = "I have nothing to offer but blood--next slide, please--toil--next slide, please--tears, and--next slide, please--sweat."
}}

==Explanation==
This comic presumes that many famous quotes are actually excerpts from {{w|Slide show|slideshow presentations}}, and the text they were reading was split across multiple slides. Splitting sentences across multiple slides can often be a useful tool if there are images accompanying it, which could explain the specific placement of many of "next slide, please" comments. For example, in the quote "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," one can imagine the speaker starting with a slide that showed the prosperity of some people then, in the middle of the sentence, switching to a slide of many people's destitution. When using images this way, it is often better for timing purposes to have control of your own slides. However, Randall claims that, in these speeches, the person making the speech wasn't controlling their slide presentation, so they had to ask the operator to go to the next slide. A common way to ask this is to say "next slide, please", but these requests would have been edited out of the historical transcripts. The comic imagines the places where the slide breaks might have been, and inserts that request.

Most of these quotes are drawn from speeches, which could conceivably have been accompanied by slides or other stage directions ("pause for laughter"), but the list is quite ridiculous as it includes works of literature, where the reader is the one who turns pages as necessary, and speeches from periods of history, such as the {{w|American Revolution}} and {{w|Julius Caesar|Caesar's}} {{w|Veni, vidi, vici}} speech, which predated slide projectors{{Citation needed}}. Even in the quotations that take place in an era with slide projectors, every single one is an instance where the speaker was, quite famously, recorded live — said recordings would show there were in fact no edits, and certainly not any instructions for a slide projector operator. See details in the [[#Table of quotes|table]] below, including the quote in the title text.

The phrase "Next slide, please" is perhaps in a sweet-spot of utility and performance. A rehearsed presentation, with speaker and 'slide handler' working with a tight script, could probably do without off-stage prompting at all, or the better lecturers with an oft-repeated talk could set it all on timings knowing they can keep the changes synchronised with their speech, or vice-versa. But when a cue is necessary, an unambiguous signal should be used, and an audible 'clicker' (or a small and briefly flashed light) has been used historically, especially with pre-electronic slide-shows where the slide-operator at the back of an auditorium needed to clearly discern the intent of the person at the lectern.

In the United Kingdom, the Chief Medical Officer caused some amusement on social media with the constant use of the phrase in coronavirus presentations, culminating in the availability of many mugs and cards with his image and this slogan on, and a campaign[https://uk.gofundme.com/f/buy-chris-whitty-his-own-next-slide-please-clicker] to purchase an automatic clicker for him instead.

===Table of quotes===
{| class="wikitable"
!Quote
!Attribution
!Context
|-
| "Give me liberty or give me—Next slide, please—death!"
| {{w|Patrick Henry}}, {{w|Give me liberty, or give me death!|at the Second Virginia Convention}} on March 23, 1775, as part of the American Colonies' War of Independence from {{w|Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain}}.
| A quotation from his speech to convince the {{w|Second Virginia Convention}} to provide troops for the {{w|American Revolutionary War}}.
|-
| "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down—Next slide, please—this wall."
| {{w|Ronald Reagan}}, {{w|Berlin Wall Speech}} (1987).
| A speech calling for the opening of the Berlin Wall. This speech was later well known after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, resulting in the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the comic Ronald Reagan is shown next to his slide with a picture of the wall.
|-
| "It was the best of times—Next slide, please—It was the worst of times."
| ''{{w|A Tale of Two Cities}}'', novel by {{w|Charles Dickens}}.
| This is the opening lines of the novel, and one of Dickens' most famous quotations. At the current pace, the opening introduction would have 13 "Next slide, please" instances.
|-
| "We have nothing to fear but—Next slide, please—fear itself."
| {{w|First inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt|Inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt}} in 1933.
| A speech outlining {{w|Franklin D. Roosevelt}}'s plan to recover from the Great Depression. The correct phrasing of this speech is: "the only thing we have to fear is...fear itself".
|-
| "To be or—Next slide, please—not to be, that is the question."
| {{w|To be, or not to be|Quotation}} from the play ''{{w|Hamlet}}'' by {{w|William Shakespeare}}, Act III, Scene 1.
| This speech, in which the character Hamlet contemplates committing suicide, is considered a soliloquy, even though Ophelia was in the room reading a book.
|-
| "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art—Next slide, please—more lovely and—Next slide, please—more temperate."
| Shakespeare's {{w|Sonnet 18}}.
| One of the most famous of Shakespeare's 154 known sonnets. A sonnet is a type of poem and it requires specific rhyming and pacing. The inclusion of "Next slide, please" breaks the poetic flow and unbalances the length of lines, making it unpredictable when a rhyme is supposed to occur.
|-
| "We shall fight—Next slide, please—on the beaches, we shall fight on—Next slide, please—the landing grounds..."
| {{w|Winston Churchill}}, ''{{w|We shall fight on the beaches}}'' speech.
| On 4 June 1940, after the disastrous first weeks of the {{w|battle of France}}, Churchill had to acknowledge a military disaster but convey confidence in victory and will to fight. In the comic Winston Churchill is shown next to his slide of a beach. The beach image shown, shows [[Ponytail]] sitting under a parasol [[Cueball]] sitting on the sand with a drink and a kid playing with a beach-ball, as opposed to {{w|British_anti-invasion_preparations_of_the_Second_World_War#Coastal_crust|the rapidly fortified}} sea-fronts [http://ww2.brightonmuseums.org/defence-measures/ of wartime Britain].
|-
| "Read my lips—Next slide, please—no new taxes."
| {{w|George H. W. Bush}}, {{w|Read my lips: no new taxes|spoken at 1988 Republican National Convention}}
| A significant part of Bush's political platform was the opposition of new taxes. However, after winning the election, he was unable to keep this promise and ultimately did raise taxes in 1990.
|-
| "That's one small step for man—Next slide, please—one giant leap for mankind."
| {{w|Neil Armstrong}}, when he stepped off the {{w|Apollo 11}} lunar module and onto the surface of the Moon.
| The "next slide, please", could be proof of a fake moon landing, although Neil Armstrong strongly insisted that the speech be made on location.{{fact}} The positioning of the "next slide, please" was placed at the intended comma, although there was also a small gap within "one giant" which could also be a potential placement in the audio clip.
Armstrong, it should be noted, claimed to have said "That's one small step for '''a''' man, one giant leap for mankind" and that the '''a''' should be included in the quotation, [https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/armstrongs-famous-small-step-quote-explained-64311878 at least in parenthesis].
|-
| "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears! Next slide, please. I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him."
| {{w|Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears|Spoken by the character Mark Antony}} in the play ''{{w|Julius Caesar (play)|Julius Caesar}}'' by Shakespeare, Act III, Scene 2.
| Takes place after Julius Caesar suffered a few stab wounds in Act III, scene 2. If it were a presentation, the pictures would need to be created between scenes, although the play implies there would barely be enough time in response to a recent event.
|-
| "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of—Next slide, please—a good fortune, must be in want of—Next slide, please—a wife."
| ''{{w|Pride and Prejudice}}'', written by {{w|Jane Austen}}.
| Opening line to the novel, introducing marriage as a motif (and problem) in the novel.
|-
| "Veni, vidi—Velim, pictura proxima—vici."
| {{w|Julius Caesar}}, wrote his famous sentence {{w|Veni, vidi, vici}} in a letter after defeating Pharnaces II (47 BC). The sentence literally means, "I came, I saw, I conquered."
| Caesar used this phrase to refer to a swift, conclusive victory at the {{w|Battle of Zela}}. This is the only "next slide, please" which has been translated into a different language (Latin, in this case).
|-
| "I have nothing to offer but blood--next slide, please--toil--next slide, please--tears, and--next slide, please--sweat." (title text)
| Winston Churchill, ''{{w|Blood, toil, tears and sweat}}'' speech.
| From 1940, shortly after he was appointed the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, when asking for a vote of confidence in the new all-party (unity) cabinet.
It would have to respond to the continuing challenges of the {{w|United_Kingdom_home_front_during_World_War_II|war-footing}} and active conflicts of WW2. The country had already been at war for eight months and was yet to experience Dunkirk, prompting yet another of Churchill's defiant speeches (mentioned above).
|}

==Transcript==
:[A list of 12 quotes is given. Above is a large header with a question, and then a description, before the quotes follows. The text above the quotes is centered:]
:<big>'''''Did you know?'''''</big>
:''Transcripts of famous quotes often''
:''leave out the slideshow instructions.''
:''Here’s how these lines actually sounded:''

:[The first six quotations, are written so they fit around an image of Ronald Reagan standing next to his slide showing six segments of the Berlin Wall. A large arrow points down on to the middle segment of the wall. There is something on the ground in front of the wall, could be puddles or debris. The image is to the right, and the two first and last quote goes above and below the image, while the other three stops to the left of the image:]
:"Give me liberty or give me—Next slide, please—death!"
:"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down—Next slide, please—this wall."
:"It was the best of times—Next slide, please—It was the worst of times."
:"We have nothing to fear but—Next slide, please—fear itself."
:"To be or—Next slide, please—not to be, that is the question."
:"Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art—Next slide, please—more lovely and—Next slide, please—more temperate."

:[Below those five quotations is three more quotes to the right of an image showing Winston Churchill standing next to his slide showing a beach. The sun and three small clouds are over the ocean which has white waves on the black water. Ponytail is sitting under a parasol to the left, Cueball is sitting on the sand to the right with a drink in his hands, and behind him is a kid running after a large beach-ball.]
:"We shall fight—Next slide, please—on the beaches, we shall fight on—Next slide, please—the landing grounds..."
:"Read my lips—Next slide, please—no new taxes."
:"That's one small step for man—Next slide, please—one giant leap for mankind."

:[Below this picture is the last three quotations, without any pictures:]
:"Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears! Next slide, please. I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him."
:"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of—Next slide, please—a good fortune, must be in want of—Next slide, please—a wife."
:"Veni, vidi—Velim, pictura proxima—vici."

==Trivia==
* The Blood, toil, tears and sweat speech was the topic of [[1148: Nothing to Offer]] and lists additional items; at the current pace, "next slide, please" would be placed between each item, making that extra-long speech even longer.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ronald Reagan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Winston Churchill]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]] 
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

1670: Laws of Physics

2021-11-09T05:10:29Z

172.70.130.209: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1670
| date = April 20, 2016
| title = Laws of Physics
| image = laws_of_physics.png
| titletext = The laws of physics are fun to try to understand, but as an organism with incredibly delicate eyes who evolved in a world full of sharp objects, I have an awful lot of trust in biology's calibration of my flinch reflex.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Black Hat]], being {{w|Black Hat}}, is deliberately perverting a classic physics demonstration. In the normal version of the demonstration, a heavy ball on a pendulum is pulled to one side until it is almost, but not quite, touching the demonstrator or volunteer's nose or chin. When the ball is released at rest, it swings down and away, then back up to (almost) the same distance in the arc from where it started — but ''never'' (by the laws of physics) farther than where it started. As long as the demonstrator doesn't lean in or push the ball, it's impossible for it to strike them. It's a natural instinct to move away or protect yourself if you see a heavy object moving quickly toward you, but confidence in the physics of the demonstration means there is no reason to flinch. (Sample video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2GdY1OlDpA].)

In this comic, Cueball is not standing at the beginning edge of the ball's movement, but rather at the base of its swing, meaning that the ball will strike him at its maximum speed. Presumably, Black Hat is entirely aware of this and is hoping that Cueball's understanding of physics is insufficient to see through this prank. Judging from the "slack" of the rope, the ball should not hit Cueball in the head but would almost certainly hit him in a lower, and quite painful, place...

The title text refers to the fact when someone flinches during the pendulum experiment, they are commonly accused of not having faith in the laws of physics. Randall is rebutting this argument by stating that, rather than not having faith in science, he is actually in tune with it, specifically the biological processes that led to the flinch reflex. His eyes and his flinch reflex have been calibrated through millions of years of evolution. To instantly dismiss his body's natural reaction when a heavy object comes quickly towards his face does not give enough credit to these mechanisms that successfully kept him (and every one of his ancestors) alive. In other words, while flinching may indicate doubt of the laws of physics, it may equally well indicate trust in the laws of biology.

The idea of hitting someone else with a pendulum is also the topic of [[755: Interdisciplinary]] and [[2539: Flinch]].

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat is standing on a ladder, holding a heavy ball attached to a line from above. Cueball stands beneath, where if the ball swings it will smack him in his upper body.]
:Black Hat: Okay, hold still.
:Black Hat: And remember, if you ''really'' believe in the laws of physics, you won't flinch.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

2526: TSP vs TBSP

2021-10-08T17:07:08Z

172.70.130.209:

{{comic
| number = 2526
| date = October 8, 2021
| title = Tsp vs Tbsp
| image = tsp_vs_tbsp.png
| titletext = It's like one teraspoon / when all you need is a kilonife
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic plays a joke on the common liquid measurements of teaspoons (tsp) and tablespoons (tbsp), which are commonly confused. It also plays a joke on metric measurements (which use powers of 10) versus computer measurements (which use powers of 2), which also cause confusion.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{comic discussion}}
Cooking tips: tsp vs tbsp.

Tsp: Teraspoon 1,000,000,000,000 (10^12) spoons

Tbsp: Binary tsp 1,099,511,627,776 (1024^4) spoons

2524: Comet Visitor

2021-10-05T13:34:01Z

172.70.130.209: A joke.

{{comic
| number = 2524
| date = October 4, 2021
| title = Comet Visitor
| image = comet_visitor.png
| titletext = It's a myth that the Great Wall of China is the only human-made structure visible from space--there are LOTS of structures for us to feel self-conscious about!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a PACIFIC MOON FOOT-PATCH - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{w|C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein)|Comet C/2014 UN271}} is a large comet that was discovered in 2014 almost as far from the Sun as the orbit of Neptune, and it will reach its closest approach in 2031, near Saturn's orbit. It's an {{w|Oort Cloud}} comet, with a period of more than 4 million years. Since modern humans ({{w|homo sapiens}}) evolved about 300,000 years ago (although tool-making ancestors were around about 2.5 million years ago), the last time it was among the planets was long before humans evolved.

When a long-period comet comes into the inner Solar System, it's often figuratively called a "visit". But Megan and Cueball treat this more literally. Just as one usually neatens up their home when they're expecting guests, to make a good impression, they realize they need to clean up the Earth and its vicinity in preparation for this "visitor". Cueball starts handing out assignments -- he'll clean up the {{w|Pacific Garbage Patch}}, and suggests that Megan take care of all the debris in orbit. It's also common to put some useful objects out of view without throwing them away (perhaps to prevent someone damaging them), planning on returning them to their normal place after the visit; Cueball suggests doing this with the Mars rovers. And he suggests sweeping up the footprints that NASA astronauts left on the Moon during the Apollo missions. However, since the comet will never be anywhere near Earth and Mars, all this hardly seems necessary; it would be like cleaning up your home because the President or some other dignitary will be somewhere in the same metropolitan area (now do you understand, mom?!). Furthermore, sweeping footprints in the Moon, that Cueball sees as a way of tidying up, would be seen as [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/nasa-looks-to-protect-historic-sites-on-the-moon-47186092/ destroying an invaluable archaeological sites by NASA and other people].

The title text debunks the claim that the {{w|Great Wall of China}} is the only [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_structures_visible_from_space human-made structure visible from outer space]; in fact the Great Wall cannot easily be distinguished from space (as it is very long but not wide), but some other human constructions such as the Pyramids can (and cities are easily visible at night because they emit light).

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

:[Megan sits at a desk in front of a computer, looking to the left off-panel and pointing at the screen]
:Megan: Have you seen this big comet, C/2014 UN271? It'll pass near Saturn's orbit in 10 years.
:[Cueball stands behind Megan, who is now looking at the computer and typing]
:Cueball: Wow, look at the orbital period.
:Megan: Yeah, it hasn't been to this part of the solar system since humans evolved. At '''''least.'''''
:[Cueball starts running off-panel, holding his finger in the air. Megan looks towards him with both arms resting on the back of her chair]
:Cueball: Well, we definitely need to tidy up. I'll start on the Pacific Garbage Patch, you tackle orbital debris.
:Megan: What about the moon footprints?
:Cueball: Sweep them up. Collect the Mars rovers, too! We can put them back once it's gone.

{{comic discussion}}

2524: Comet Visitor

2021-10-05T06:07:44Z

172.70.130.209:

Talk:2522: Two-Factor Security Key

2021-09-30T10:53:03Z

172.70.130.209:

There are 2FA USB keys (WebAuthn, FIDO2, U2F) such as
https://shop.nitrokey.com/shop/product/nk-fi2-nitrokey-fido2-55 with a hole to attach a keychain - and the item in the last panel looks a bit like such one [[User:Bmwiedemann|Bmwiedemann]] ([[User talk:Bmwiedemann|talk]]) 03:48, 30 September 2021 (UTC)
:: First thing that comes to mind when someone mentions a 2FA security key. 100% most certainly what they are talking about. yubikey/fido2 being the ones that popularized it iirc [[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.177|172.69.71.177]] 04:41, 30 September 2021 (UTC)
:: Yeah, yubikey definitely comes to mind. I wouldn't call 2FA on a phone a 2FA "Key". Perhaps you could call the generator secret a (cryptographic) key, but I don't think that's what this comic is talking about. [[User:Jeffkmeng|Jeffkmeng]] ([[User talk:Jeffkmeng|talk]]) 06:56, 30 September 2021 (UTC)
2FA tokens are actually quite often physical keys that fit on a keychain and produce a secret number to input for authentication. It is only recently that such 2FA key generators have moved into phones. Here is one example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSA_SecurID
[[User:Adron1111|Adron1111]] ([[User talk:Adron1111|talk]]) 06:41, 30 September 2021 (UTC)

The joke here isn't 2FA key vs tumbler-and-pin key, the joke is that all of the configuration pain he's talking about isn't setting up the key to work with his computer or various sites (which one might expect when introducing a new, non-tech-savvy user to 2FA), but rather getting the key onto his keyring. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.67|172.69.34.67]] 07:22, 30 September 2021 (UTC)

Haven't put this in the text (I added some practical "what you know/have/are" stuff, from my own past experience) but I first thought it was that two ''actual'' factors are now on the keyring (insecurely, as per the current last para?). A 'have' item is obviously there, of whatever form, but now (unless it's a second 'have', supposed to be separate) there is also somehow a 'know' one (c.f. those people who have scrawled their bank-card PINs onto their bank-cards, entirely negating that particular safety-factor) or an 'are' one (bits of fingerprint? blood samples?). Possibly now imposssible to use (if not trivially easy to co-steal). Plus, remember that data security has two faces: 1) Only those authorised may access/change data; 2) Those who are authorised should not be deprived of this ability. It is commonly the second that require a second factor (separate email/phone contact) to get around problems with the first (forgotten password), though it isn't really an everyday 2FA application, just a backup 1FA method (as with "Name of first pet", etc). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.34.191|172.70.34.191]] 10:14, 30 September 2021 (UTC)

My immidiate take was that Ponytail was being sarcastic . . . . [[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.209|172.70.130.209]] 10:53, 30 September 2021 (UTC)

2520: Symbols

2021-09-27T19:42:02Z

172.70.130.209: I don't know how to Wiki code a citation. Pls halp.

{{comic
| number = 2520
| date = September 24, 2021
| title = Symbols
| image = symbols.png
| titletext = "röntgen" and "rem" are 20th-century physics terms that mean "no trespassing."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by VERY EXPENSIVE EQUIPMENT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon. Bare-bones explanation is in, but needs much more detail.}}

This comic refers to elements of (mostly mathematical or engineering) notation commonly used in various fields of math and science. Each piece of notation is presented as "symbolizing" not what it specifically means, but a typical ''context'' in which it might be encountered. Many of the individual descriptions look like verbiage that might be found on informational or warnings signs or placards, although typically with a silly edge.

*d⁄dx: An undergrad is working very hard
d/dx is the symbol for a single-variable {{w|Derivative|derivative}}. This is one of the basic operations in {{w|calculus}} and consequently is ubiquitous in the work of undergraduates in the sciences. A hard-working undergraduate in the relevant fields would churn out exercises using this symbol.

*∂⁄∂x: A grad student is working very hard
The replacement of the standard "d" letters with the curly letters "∂" denotes the partial derivative, which generalizes the ordinary derivative to multi-variable calculus. Problems with partial derivatives, especially partial differential equations, can be extremely challenging. Although PDEs would typically be first taught at an undergraduate level, difficult partial derivatives would be encountered in graduate-level work.

*ħ: Oh wow, this is apparently a quantum thing
ħ (pronounced "h-bar") is a symbol used for (the reduced) {{w|Planck's constant}}, a universal, fundamental constant in quantum physics. ħ is equal to the energy of a photon divided by its frequency, and angular momentum in quantum mechanical systems is measured in quantized integer or half-integer units of ħ.

*Rₑ: Someone needs to do a lot of tedious numerical work; hopefully it's not you
The {{w|Reynolds number}} (which is actually usually denoted by "Re," not "Re" as it appears in the comic) is the most important dimensionless group in fluid mechanics. Named for Osborne Reynolds, Re characterizes the relative sizes of inertial and viscous effects in a moving fluid. Large values of Re are indicative of turbulent flow, which cannot usually be solved for analytically, and so numerical modelling is necessary. Accurate numerical studies of high-Reynolds-number flows are notoriously difficult to create and program.

Alternatively, Rₑ could stand for electronic {{w|transition dipole moment}} in a molecule. This appears in quantum-mechanical calculations of transition probabilities and also includes a lot of unpleasant numerical work.

*(Ta⁴ - Tb⁴): You are at risk of skin burns
The {{w|Stefan-Boltzmann law}} says that a perfectly absorbing ("black body") source emits electromagnetic radiation with a power per unit area of σT4, where σ is a known constant and T is the absolute temperature. The quantity (Ta4 – Tb4) thus appears in any calculation of purely radiative energy transfer between two bodies, one at temperature Ta and the other at Tb. When radiative transfer is large enough to be the most important form of heat interchange, it is normally also large enough to sear the skin with thermal or ultraviolet burns.

*NA: You are probably about to make an incredibly dangerous arithmetic error
NA, or {{w|Avogadro's number}}, is the number of molecules in a mole of a substance—roughly the number of protons plus neutrons in 1 gram of matter. This is an enormous number, exactly 6.022 140 76 × 10²³, or 602 214 076 000 000 000 000 000. Adding up molecular weights and converting between grams and moles of several substances is a lot of arithmetic on a scale where intuition won't help you catch mistakes. Working with NA, it is easy to make errors of one or more powers of ten without noticing. If this kind of error is made in the calculation of the stoichiometrically correct amount of a reagent in a chemical reaction, it is possible to accidentally create dangerous amounts of unwanted chemical products.

*µm: Careful, that equipment is expensive
{{w|Micrometre|Micrometer}}s are a very small unit of distance. Micrometers are commonly used to measure wavelengths in the infrared, and infrared detectors are very expensive, compared with visible wavelength counterparts. Of course, micrometers are used as a measurement of distance in other contexts, but any distance-measuring device capable of accurately measuring micrometer distances would also be expensive. Similarly, tools used to create or calibrate items within micrometer tolerances can also be expensive.

*mK: Careful, that equipment is very expensive
Kelvin is a temperature scale proportional to Celsius, but taking absolute zero as its zero point instead of the freezing point of water. {{w|Millikelvin}}s (1/1000 of a Kelvin) are used for high precision temperature work. Frequently this is used in processes of cooling temperatures to near absolute zero - such as superconductors or other quantum effects that occur when atoms are almost still. This is suggesting that the symbol appears on a sensitive experimental system probing quantum mechanical behavior that would likely only exist in an advanced laboratory. Any equipment that works down at mK temperatures, or at least to mK precision and accuracy, is likely to be very expensive.

*nm: Don't shine that in your eye
{{w|Nanometer}}s are frequently seen in the listed wavelengths for lasers. Pointing a visible or infrared laser at someone's eye is notoriously dangerous; the tightly-focused coherent light can cause permanent damage very quickly.

*eV: Definitely don't shine that in your eye
{{w|Electron volt}} energies are typical of moderate-energy particle beams, produced by accelerating electrons (or protons) over macroscopic voltages. These particle beams can be {{w|Anatoli Bugorski|even more damaging}} to soft tissues than optical-wavelength lasers.

*mSv: You are about to get into an Internet argument
The {{w|millisievert}} is a unit of radiation dose absorbed. It is actually a very small dosage, but the joke refers to Internet trolls debating the effects of low-dose radiation sources, such as 5G wireless networks. [[Randall|Randall's]] comment may also be referring to [https://xkcd.com/radiation/ this chart].

*mg/kg: Go wash your hands
This unit measures the dose of a drug or other chemical in milligrams per kilogram of body mass. If the appropriate dose - or worse, the lethal dose - is measured in mg/kg (parts per million), then the substance may be quite toxic.

*µg/kg: Go get in the chemical shower
A unit 1/1000 times the size of mg/kg. If a dosage is measured in micrograms per kilogram (parts per billion), any accident probably requires whole-body decontamination procedures.

*π or τ: Whatever answer you get will be wrong by a factor of exactly two
π is defined as the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, while τ is defined as the ratio of a circle's circumference to its radius (thus 2πs). {{w|pi|π}} has been used as the primary constant for describing the circumference and area of circles for millennia, but proponents of {{w|Turn (angle)|τ}} claim that τ is actually more natural in most contexts, since it makes working in radians more straightforward. The joke here is that whichever constant you use, it will probably be the wrong one (off by a factor of two, one way or the other) for the formula you are trying to use. The debate over Tau vs Pi was solved by Randall in this compromise: [[1292: Pi vs. Tau]].

The title text refers to two non-SI units of radiation measurement, {{w|Roentgen (unit)|röntgen}} and {{w|Roentgen equivalent man|rem}}. In the mid-20th century when they were in use, the dangers of radiation weren't as well understood as today, so an area with radiation that was noteworthy back then is probably dangerous ( https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-28/france-is-still-cleaning-up-marie-curie-s-nuclear-waste ), hence the no trespassing part.

==Transcript==
:[A list with 14 different scientific constants/symbols are shown. Next to each symbol is a description. Above the list is a heading and beneath that a subheading.]
:::::<big>Symbols</big>
::::And what they mean

:::d⁄dx    An undergrad is working very hard
:::∂⁄∂x    A grad student is working very hard
:::ħ       Oh wow, this is apparently a quantum thing
:::Rₑ     Someone needs to do a lot of tedious numerical work; hopefully it's not you
:(Ta⁴ - Tb⁴)    You are at risk of skin burns
:::NA    You are probably about to make an incredibly dangerous arithmetic error
:::µm    Careful, that equipment is expensive
:::mK    Careful, that equipment is very expensive
:::nm    Don't shine that in your eye
:::eV     '''''Definitely''''' don't shine that in your eye
:::mSv  You are about to get into an internet argument
::µg/kg      Go wash your hands
::µg/kg      Go get in the chemical shower
::π or τ      Whatever answer you get will be wrong by a factor of exactly two

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:5G]]

Talk:2515: Vaccine Research

2021-09-15T13:19:21Z

172.70.130.209:

Too bad White Hat and Randall didn't bother to research the other half of the question. YES, vaccines work to save lives. But There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch, and you need to research *both* sides of any question, not just the side you agree with.[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 12:52, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
: I really don't want this to turn into a long debate, but how do you know White Hat/Randall didn't find anything about the risks of vaccines? They never claim that and the fact that White Hat calls the vaccines "pretty good" instead of something like "perfect" would suggest he's aware of the downsides but considers the benefits to outweigh the risks. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 13:27, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
:: Since that's left ambiguous (deliberately?), one possible reading of the comic is as a joke on how "my own research" just reinforces prior beliefs, whatever they were. This reading doesn't play as well with the understatement in the punchline, though. --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.157|172.69.71.157]] 21:20, 14 September 2021 (UTC)

I don't trust the "scientists", so I decided to do my own research. Anyway, I need 5000 people for a double-blind clinical trial, so DM me if you know anyone interested.
[[User:Svízel přítula|Svízel přítula]] ([[User talk:Svízel přítula|talk]]) 13:25, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
: That's exactly where I thought this comic was going to go when I read the first panel. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.133.217|172.68.133.217]] 18:07, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
:It so happens that I did register to participate in vaccine trials. They didn't call on me yet, so I'm available. Reach out to the Coronavirus Prevention Network here: https://www.coronaviruspreventionnetwork.org/ and maybe I can be one of your subjects. [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 03:23, 15 September 2021 (UTC)

I'm unsure whether I'd call Cueball's response "nonchalant", nor that there's any indication as to his motives being deceptive. I read it more as US-style "irony", or UK-style "understatement as intensifier". --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.157|172.69.71.157]] 21:20, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
: I read it as sarcastic, too. Perhaps the explanation should be updated. Sarcasm would also suggest that clearly White Hat doesn't know about the effort because they've spent so much time reading the already produced research on the "100s of Studies" [[User:Sem 1983|Sem 1983]] ([[User talk:Sem 1983|talk]]) 21:26, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
:: Yeah, I did that. Hope my rework didn't suck. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.193|108.162.221.193]] 21:47, 14 September 2021 (UTC)

Should we tag this as a Tuesday comic, or as a Monday comic? This comic was posted on the site on Tuesday, but the "official publication date" per https://xkcd.com/archive/ says it to be 9/13 (Monday). [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.183|172.69.34.183]] 22:03, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
:If Randall states it is a Monday comic I think we should leave it as such, but it could be stated in a trivia that the comic was first released on Tuesday. Do we know exactly when it was released, and was it for sure Tuesday all over the world at that moment? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:15, 15 September 2021 (UTC)
::It was later than its usual timeframe (hello from the UK where the ''exception'' seems to be that "today's" comic arrives "today" - usually they're an hour or three post-midnight) but if Randall the same nonchanlent attitude towards waking hours as me then even post 5AM might be 'intended' to count... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.5|162.158.88.5]] 10:56, 15 September 2021 (UTC)

Did Randall misspell “sheepish” or is there a subtle joke in the title text? It reads “sheapish” as of this comment. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.87|172.70.130.87]] 23:14, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
:Says "sheepish" at 03:22 UTC Tuesday. [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 03:23, 15 September 2021 (UTC)
::It also was the correct spelling when [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2515:_Vaccine_Research&oldid=218005 this page was created] by the bot here on explain. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:52, 15 September 2021 (UTC)
:::I’m feeling gaslit. May need to check my eyesight.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.209|172.70.130.209]] 13:19, 15 September 2021 (UTC)

:I missed the use of "sheepish" on my first read, until this comment pointed it out. I suspect this is a reference to how some people refer to others as "sheep" for believing what experts are telling them. This should probably be included somehow. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 12:05, 15 September 2021 (UTC)