explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2492: Commonly Mispronounced Equations

2021-08-08T13:48:58Z

172.70.34.164: /* Equations */ Equation is generally for a Coulomb potential, rather than Hydrogen specifically.

{{comic
| number = 2492
| date = July 21, 2021
| title = Commonly Mispronounced Equations
| image = commonly_mispronounced_equations.png
| titletext = "Epsihootamoo doopsiquorps" --the Schrödinger equation for the hydrogen atom
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a LAGRONJ EYSIBARYMOODMOOSIOYLERSIBRYMOOAMOOBAMOOSIMASIBRSIQORTFAHMOOVYFAHMOOVY. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete: the elided equation in the incomplete notice needs explanation. It would be interesting for more people to weigh in on personal history eliding equations. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is a collection of very commonly used physics and mathematical equations, along with their "correct" pronunciations. Equations are normally voiced out loud either by their names ("Mass–energy equivalence") or by saying the parts out loud using normal linguistic rules ("E equals M C squared"). This comic instead asserts that equations are meant to be said out loud like words, using their own set of phonic rules.

Though this premise may seem absurd, sometimes this kind of pronunciation is used as an abbreviation or a mnemonic device. For example, the equation A=Pert used for compound interest is commonly taught and pronounced as the "pert" equation, while SOH-CAH-TOA, spoken as one word, is used as a mnemonic for the definitions of the main trigonometric functions: sine = opposite/hypotenuse, cosine = adjacent/hypotenuse, and tangent = opposite / adjacent.

Some nerds have both the trait of using equations as commonly as others might chat, and of finding it entertaining to make up new funny sounds ("input", "pwn"). Saying the equations more rapidly can speed up work or make work seem more enjoyable. This phenomenon is called {{w|elision}}.

===Equations===
{| class="wikitable"
!Name
!Representation
!Pronounciation
!Explanation
|-
|{{w|Newton's law of universal gravitation}}
|F = G(m₁m₂/r²)
|Fuh-''JAM''-er
|F, gravitational force, is pronounced /f/. G, the gravitational constant, is prononounced as a soft G /dʒ/. The m's (mass 1 and 2) are both pronounced /m/, and the r (radius) is pronounced /r/. The numbers are unpronounced.
|-
|{{w|Mass–energy equivalence}}
|E = mc²
|''EM''-cah-too
|E, energy, is pronounced as a short E /e/, m (mass) is pronounced /m/, c is pronounced as a hard C /k/, and the exponent "2" is pronounced "two".
|-
|{{w|Pythagorean theorem}}
|a² + b² = c²
|at-''BOOT''-coot
|The side length "a" is pronounced as a short a. The side length "b" is pronounced /b/. The hypotenuse "c" is pronounced as a hard "c" /k/. Each exponent 2 is pronounced /t/ for "two", and the vowel sound /u/ of "two" is used as the filler vowel sound.
|-
|{{w|Area of a circle}}
|A = πr²
|''APP''-er-too
|A, the area, is pronounced as a long a. Pi is pronounced /p/. R is pronounced /r/. 2 is pronounced "two". For added bonus, this becomes very similar to the word "aperture", which can be described as just the area of a circle.
|-
|{{w|Entropy_(information_theory)|Shannon entropy}}
|H = -Σpᵢlog(pᵢ)
|Ha-''SPLOG''-pee
|H, entropy, is pronounced /h/. The minus sign is unpronounced. Sigma, the summation sign, is pronounced /s/. The first pᵢ is pronounced /p/ with the subscript i unpronounced. log, the logarithm function, is pronounced "log" (like a piece of lumber). The second pᵢ is pronounced /pi/, where the subscript i makes the long e sound /i/.
|-
|{{w|Ideal gas law}}
|PV = nrt
|''PAV''-nurt
|
|-
|{{w|Euler's identity}}
|e^(iπ) = -1
|''EYE''-pin
|
|-
|{{w|Newton's_laws_of_motion#Newton's_second_law|Newton's 2nd law of motion}}
|f = ma
|''FEE''-mah
|The equal sign is pronounced as a long e. This becomes similar to FEMA, the {{w|Federal Emergency Management Agency}} in the United States.
|-
|{{w|Wave equation}} (c would conventionally be c²)
|∂²u/∂t² = c(∂²u/∂x²)
|''DOOT'' cah-''DOOX''
|
|-
|{{w|Derivative#Definition|Derivative}}
|f'(x) = lim(h→0) (f(x+h)-f(x))/h
|''FAX''-lim-oh ''FAX''-uh-fox
|
|-
|{{w|Quadratic formula}}
|x = (-b±√(b²-4ac))/2a
|za-''BO''-ba fak-''TOH''-ah
|
|-
|{{w|Schrödinger equation}} for a Coulomb potential
|Eψ = -(ℏ²/2μ)∇²ψ - (q²/r)ψ
|Epsihootamoo doopsiquorps
|The form of the Schrödinger equation intended seems to be '''Eψ''' ''"epsi"'' = − '''(ℏ2/2μ)''' ''"hootamoo"'' '''∇2ψ''' ''"doopsi"'' - '''(q2/r)ψ''' ''"quorps"'' – where the 4πε0 required by SI units is not present due to a more suitable unit convention. (μ is mu, ψ is psi, ∇ is the {{w|Nabla_symbol|nabla or del symbol}} and pronounced /d/ here.).
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[Each equation is bordered, with a pronunciation guide beneath.]

Commonly Mispronounced Equations

'''Row 1'''

F = G m₁m₂/r² 
FUH-'''''JAM'''''-ER

E = mc² 
'''''EM'''''-CAH-TOO

a² + b² = c² 
AT-'''''BOOT'''''-COOT

'''Row 2'''

A = πr² 
'''''APP'''''-ER-TOO

H = -Σpᵢlog pᵢ 
HA-'''''SPLOG'''''-PEE

PV = nrt 
'''''PAV'''''-NURT

'''Row 3'''

e^iπ = -1 
'''''EYE'''''-PIN

F = ma 
'''''FEE'''''-MAH

∂²u/∂t² = c ∂²u/∂x² 
'''''DOOT''''' CAH-'''''DOOX'''''

'''Row 4'''

f'(x) = lim h→0 f(x+h) - f(x) / h 
'''''FAX'''''-LIM-OH '''''FAX'''''-UH-FOX

x = -b ± √(b² - 4ac) / 2a 
ZA-'''''BO'''''-BA FAK-'''''TOH'''''-AH

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category: Language]]

2492: Commonly Mispronounced Equations

2021-08-08T13:39:58Z

172.70.34.164: /* Equations */ Remove 4pi epsilon_0 from the Title Text equation and explain that it is only present due to conventional use of SI units.

{{comic
| number = 2492
| date = July 21, 2021
| title = Commonly Mispronounced Equations
| image = commonly_mispronounced_equations.png
| titletext = "Epsihootamoo doopsiquorps" --the Schrödinger equation for the hydrogen atom
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a LAGRONJ EYSIBARYMOODMOOSIOYLERSIBRYMOOAMOOBAMOOSIMASIBRSIQORTFAHMOOVYFAHMOOVY. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete: the elided equation in the incomplete notice needs explanation. It would be interesting for more people to weigh in on personal history eliding equations. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is a collection of very commonly used physics and mathematical equations, along with their "correct" pronunciations. Equations are normally voiced out loud either by their names ("Mass–energy equivalence") or by saying the parts out loud using normal linguistic rules ("E equals M C squared"). This comic instead asserts that equations are meant to be said out loud like words, using their own set of phonic rules.

Though this premise may seem absurd, sometimes this kind of pronunciation is used as an abbreviation or a mnemonic device. For example, the equation A=Pert used for compound interest is commonly taught and pronounced as the "pert" equation, while SOH-CAH-TOA, spoken as one word, is used as a mnemonic for the definitions of the main trigonometric functions: sine = opposite/hypotenuse, cosine = adjacent/hypotenuse, and tangent = opposite / adjacent.

Some nerds have both the trait of using equations as commonly as others might chat, and of finding it entertaining to make up new funny sounds ("input", "pwn"). Saying the equations more rapidly can speed up work or make work seem more enjoyable. This phenomenon is called {{w|elision}}.

===Equations===
{| class="wikitable"
!Name
!Representation
!Pronounciation
!Explanation
|-
|{{w|Newton's law of universal gravitation}}
|F = G(m₁m₂/r²)
|Fuh-''JAM''-er
|F, gravitational force, is pronounced /f/. G, the gravitational constant, is prononounced as a soft G /dʒ/. The m's (mass 1 and 2) are both pronounced /m/, and the r (radius) is pronounced /r/. The numbers are unpronounced.
|-
|{{w|Mass–energy equivalence}}
|E = mc²
|''EM''-cah-too
|E, energy, is pronounced as a short E /e/, m (mass) is pronounced /m/, c is pronounced as a hard C /k/, and the exponent "2" is pronounced "two".
|-
|{{w|Pythagorean theorem}}
|a² + b² = c²
|at-''BOOT''-coot
|The side length "a" is pronounced as a short a. The side length "b" is pronounced /b/. The hypotenuse "c" is pronounced as a hard "c" /k/. Each exponent 2 is pronounced /t/ for "two", and the vowel sound /u/ of "two" is used as the filler vowel sound.
|-
|{{w|Area of a circle}}
|A = πr²
|''APP''-er-too
|A, the area, is pronounced as a long a. Pi is pronounced /p/. R is pronounced /r/. 2 is pronounced "two". For added bonus, this becomes very similar to the word "aperture", which can be described as just the area of a circle.
|-
|{{w|Entropy_(information_theory)|Shannon entropy}}
|H = -Σpᵢlog(pᵢ)
|Ha-''SPLOG''-pee
|H, entropy, is pronounced /h/. The minus sign is unpronounced. Sigma, the summation sign, is pronounced /s/. The first pᵢ is pronounced /p/ with the subscript i unpronounced. log, the logarithm function, is pronounced "log" (like a piece of lumber). The second pᵢ is pronounced /pi/, where the subscript i makes the long e sound /i/.
|-
|{{w|Ideal gas law}}
|PV = nrt
|''PAV''-nurt
|
|-
|{{w|Euler's identity}}
|e^(iπ) = -1
|''EYE''-pin
|
|-
|{{w|Newton's_laws_of_motion#Newton's_second_law|Newton's 2nd law of motion}}
|f = ma
|''FEE''-mah
|The equal sign is pronounced as a long e. This becomes similar to FEMA, the {{w|Federal Emergency Management Agency}} in the United States.
|-
|{{w|Wave equation}} (c would conventionally be c²)
|∂²u/∂t² = c(∂²u/∂x²)
|''DOOT'' cah-''DOOX''
|
|-
|{{w|Derivative#Definition|Derivative}}
|f'(x) = lim(h→0) (f(x+h)-f(x))/h
|''FAX''-lim-oh ''FAX''-uh-fox
|
|-
|{{w|Quadratic formula}}
|x = (-b±√(b²-4ac))/2a
|za-''BO''-ba fak-''TOH''-ah
|
|-
|{{w|Schrödinger equation}} for hydrogen
|Eψ = -∇²ψ(ℏ²/2μ) - ψ(q²/4πε₀r)
|Epsihootamoo doopsiquorps
|The form of the Schrödinger equation intended seems to be '''Eψ''' ''"epsi"'' = − '''(ℏ2/2μ)''' ''"hootamoo"'' '''∇2ψ''' ''"doopsi"'' - ('''q'''2/r)ψ''' ''"quorps"'' – where the 4πε0 required by SI units is not present due to a more suitable unit convention. (μ is mu, ψ is psi, ∇ is the {{w|Nabla_symbol|nabla or del symbol}} and pronounced /d/ here.).
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[Each equation is bordered, with a pronunciation guide beneath.]

Commonly Mispronounced Equations

'''Row 1'''

F = G m₁m₂/r² 
FUH-'''''JAM'''''-ER

E = mc² 
'''''EM'''''-CAH-TOO

a² + b² = c² 
AT-'''''BOOT'''''-COOT

'''Row 2'''

A = πr² 
'''''APP'''''-ER-TOO

H = -Σpᵢlog pᵢ 
HA-'''''SPLOG'''''-PEE

PV = nrt 
'''''PAV'''''-NURT

'''Row 3'''

e^iπ = -1 
'''''EYE'''''-PIN

F = ma 
'''''FEE'''''-MAH

∂²u/∂t² = c ∂²u/∂x² 
'''''DOOT''''' CAH-'''''DOOX'''''

'''Row 4'''

f'(x) = lim h→0 f(x+h) - f(x) / h 
'''''FAX'''''-LIM-OH '''''FAX'''''-UH-FOX

x = -b ± √(b² - 4ac) / 2a 
ZA-'''''BO'''''-BA FAK-'''''TOH'''''-AH

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category: Language]]

1493: Meeting

2021-08-05T22:45:35Z

172.70.34.164: the moving finger writes

{{comic
| number = 1493
| date = March 2, 2015
| title = Meeting
| image = meeting.png
| titletext = Here at CompanyName.website, our three main strengths are our web-facing chairs, our huge collection of white papers, and the fact that we physically cannot die.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Beret Guy]]'s business, as previously seen in [[1032: Networking]] and [[1293: Job Interview]], is going well, although it is unclear why. The common theme in these three comics is that Beret Guy misuses common business cliches. The following are examples and phrases that [[Randall]] is likely making a joke about:

*"If you're reading this, the web server was installed correctly.™" When a web server is installed automatically (like Apache through a package manager), it typically comes with a minimal configuration meant to deliver a single page saying all is working fine. Usually, a company will then configure the web server to provide actual meaningful content. It appears that in this case Beret Guy's company kept the page as is, but also trademarked the sentence as the company's motto, and proudly displays it under the company logo.

*"CompanyName.website": Companies are usually given descriptive or evocative names; Beret Guy's company, meanwhile, has been given a generic placeholder name that explains nothing about the company or website except that it is a company with a website. Currently, almost every middle-sized company runs a website, so it doesn't mean Beret Guy's company is in the information technology business (but many elements are specifically parodying Google). "[http://Companyname.website Companyname.website]" redirects to xkcd.com.

*"Welcome to a meeting!" The usual way to start a meeting is to welcome the participants by telling them in which meeting they are (e.g. "Welcome to the meeting on..."). Here, the complete lack of specifics in this sentence is an indication that the meeting has, in fact, no purpose at all, except to be just "A meeting". It could also mean that Beret Guy does not know the proper way to welcome people to a meeting.

*"I'm almost out of words so I'll keep this short." A common theme in the busy world of business is lack of time, so "I'm almost out of time" would be a valid reason for keeping a meeting short, rather than a finite quantity of words. Aside from the fiction movie {{w|A Thousand Words (film)|A Thousand Words}} or people taking a {{w|Vow of Silence}}, people usually don't have a particular quota on the number of words they have or can use. Beret Guy also seems to run out of words in the title text of [[1560: Bubblegum]].

*"Just wanna touch bases." Often business professions will contact a customer to "touch base," meaning to check in for a status update. The use of the plural "bases" suggests Beret Guy does not know what this means. This could also be a word play on the expression "Cover some bases".

*"Self-driving car project" Google has been working on {{w|self-driving cars}}, which usually shouldn't be lost track of and found by the police. The fact that it was launched "by accident" is concerning. It could mean the car was turned on by mistake and then left unattended, or perhaps that a driver of one of their cars fell asleep or otherwise stopped controlling the vehicle, but it is not clear because the accidental launch may refer to the project itself rather than the car. The involvement of the police may imply that the car crashed or otherwise obstructed traffic. That said, 90 miles before crashing was at that time a good result for a self-driving car, especially when you didn't even know you built a self-driving car. What's especially ironic is the implication that the employees were carpooling (sharing a single vehicle for their commute, for reasons of efficiency/economy) in the self-driving car, and yet this carpool activity ended with the car setting off with nobody in it at all. These types of cars were the topic of the later comic [[1559: Driving]], maybe misusing one of Beret Guy's cars. Self-driving cars are a [[:Category: Self-driving cars|recurring topic]] on xkcd.

*"Sales, any luck figuring out who our customers are?" In the real world, when companies want to find out "who [their] customers are", they are talking about learning more about their existing customers (e.g. age groups, interests, genders) in order to more closely match these customers' needs, and to discover ways to attract more of them. Here, Beret Guy and [[Ponytail]] apparently use the phrase literally - they have no records of making any sales. A normal enterprise struggles to sell its products/services in order to get money. Getting cash from an unknown source would lead to serious troubles - failure to comply with tax code, suspicion of money laundering - but overall, most enterprises suffer the opposite problem: they try as hard as they can but don't get enough cash to be profitable (despite keeping precise information about where cash comes from). Note, that the accidental launching of a project would suggest a theme, that large cash infusions for unknown or {{w| Money laundering|unscrupulous}} reasons could imply anonymous {{w|Venture capital|VC}} investors, perhaps amateurs or acting in an overheated market.

*"{{w|Bug tracker}}" usually refers to systems for tracking discovery, analysis, and fixing of software bugs (errors and problems), not the physical location of insects.

*"Web-facing" (title text) usually refers to software or a server that is connected to the internet using a web interface. However, in this case, the term is applied to chairs (likely meaning that they are either materially {{w|Webbing#Furniture|web-plaited}} or placed in front of a computer with internet browsing capability, or both; may also possibly refer to other definitions of "web").

*"White papers" (title text) are usually policy recommendations, but here Beret Guy is likely talking about actual (near-worthless) blank white pieces of paper.

*"Main strengths" (title text) typically refer to one's skills, but "we physically cannot die" may refer to the fact that incorporated companies are in a sense anthropomorphized — they're legally treated as "persons", with the ability to sue and be sued in civil courts; or, just as likely, that Beret Guy and his employees are literally immortal, in which case that would indeed be a great asset which could be used in a variety of ways, from things like making an unstoppable army (though they could still be captured or incapacitated) to investing for a long, long time.

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy is shown in silhouette. Above Beret Guy there is a black sign with white (and grey) text. Above this is his address to those in the meeting:]
:Beret Guy: Welcome to a meeting! I'm almost out of words, so I'll keep this short. Just wanna touch bases.
:[White text in the black sign (''.website'' in grey):]
:CompanyName.website
:''If you're reading this, the web''
:''server was installed correctly.™''

:[Beret Guy stands in front of an office chair and a table talking.]
:Beret Guy: First, a few updates. We've learned from the state police that the self-driving car project we launched by accident during this morning's carpool has come to an end about 90 miles outside of town. Very exciting!

:[Pony tail sits at the table.]
:Beret Guy [off-panel]: Profits are up. Sales, any luck figuring out who our customers are?
:Ponytail: Nope. Money keeps appearing, but we have no idea how or why.
:Beret Guy [off-panel]: Great!

:[Back to the situation from frame two.]
:Beret Guy: Oh, and one last thing—I saw a cool red beetle in the hall. Can someone add it to the bug tracker?
:[person off-panel]: Just did!
:Beret Guy: Thanks!

==Trivia==
*"CompanyName.website" is actually a domain name that was registered on 2014-11-20 and [http://companyname.website which redirects to xkcd.com]. Presumably, it is owned by Randall, for the same reason as in [[305]].

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Beret Guy's Business]]
[[Category:Self-driving cars]]

Talk:2497: Logic Gates

2021-08-03T18:53:07Z

172.70.34.164:

As someone has just Transcripted basically almost all the fine detail I had planned to entable in the Explanation, I shall not now create repetition. Though I had a little more description to the NORXONDOR GOGONAX, in particular, to reference bidirectional (antiparallel) diode pairings (e.g. an LED assembly that glows a different hue depending upon the applied current bias) as probable inspiration, and that latched Flip-Flops surely inspired some part of the Frankensteinian gate-types, too. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.119|141.101.99.119]] 00:08, 3 August 2021 (UTC)

(Also, surprised there was no direct "GONDOR" reference. Or maybe that's because it was ''too'' obvious?) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.211|141.101.99.211]] 00:12, 3 August 2021 (UTC)

: I was also missing a "GONDOR" reference, and all the X's also made me think XEHANORT. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.174|172.70.126.174]] 03:49, 3 August 2021 (UTC)

...So, who's ready to draw up some truth tables? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.211|172.70.126.211]] 01:22, 3 August 2021 (UTC)

I can't get the lines in the bitwise-operation example to align properly; the first one is indented a tad. Can someone please fix that? Thanks... [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 04:11, 3 August 2021 (UTC)

The symbol for norx gate (1-input OR, two outputs) I'd read as a noninverting buffer to increase another gate's usable fan-out. Xand gort resembles the symbol for an [[wikipedia:Operational amplifier|op-amp]]. Given the subtraction that an op-amp does, the xand gort's truth table probably resembles that of the [[wikipedia:Material conditional|"implies" operator]]. [[User:Tepples|Tepples]] ([[User talk:Tepples|talk]]) 04:23, 3 August 2021 (UTC)

the "NORG XORT" is not equivalent to an XOR, as the symbol is round on the right. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.186|141.101.69.186]] 06:39, 3 August 2021 (UTC)

Right, "NORG XORT" would be a XNAND with inverted inputs, though I don't know what the logic table from a XAND or XNAND gate would look like. If De Morgan applies to XAND/XOR the same way as with AND/OR, would a "NORG XORT" then be equivalent to a XOR ? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.129.43|162.158.129.43]] 15:12, 3 August 2021 (UTC)
:: I think it is specifically a hybrid between XOR and NAND. The left edge is curved like OR, and the right edge curved like AND. I did spend some time thinking about XAND, though. One of my ideas was a >2-input AND that is only true if exactly 2 inputs are true. I wonder what qubit gates are like. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.174|108.162.219.174]] 16:16, 3 August 2021 (UTC)

;Logic Gates
It seems to me that their ought to be 16 possible logic gates. Although some would ignore one or both inputs. [[User:Algr|Algr]] ([[User talk:Algr|talk]]) 07:18, 3 August 2021 (UTC)
:Yes. The 74181 4-bit arithmetic logic chip implements all 16 possible binary logic operations. See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/74181 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.94.253|162.158.94.253]] 07:34, 3 August 2021 (UTC)
:As Randall drew gates with two outputs, these would have 256 (16^2) possible functions [[Special:Contributions/162.158.94.252|162.158.94.252]] 15:15, 3 August 2021 (UTC)

there should be a category of comics where it starts out like a normal list and gets weirder and weirder like [[2070:_Trig_Identities|Trig Identities]] [[Special:Contributions/172.70.34.164|172.70.34.164]] 18:53, 3 August 2021 (UTC)Bumpf

2493: Dual USB-C

2021-07-25T18:52:31Z

172.70.34.164: /* Transcript */ Fix apparent typo

{{comic
| number = 2493
| date = July 23, 2021
| title = Dual USB-C
| image = dual_usb_c.png
| titletext = Small devices use two-prong USB-AC, but there's also a three-prong version with a USB-B plug as the ground.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a USB-DC PLUG. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic shows Cursed Connectors #187, indicating that there are many very bad types of connectors and that this comic could be the first in a series of Cursed Connectors, just like the [[:Category:Bad Map Projections|Bad Map Projections]] series. Only time will tell if this actually becomes a series like with the map projections.

{{w|USB-C}} connectors are the newest version of the {{w|USB|USB standard}}, and were controversial on launch{{citation needed}} for reasons [[Randall]] previously covered in [[927: Standards]]. Randall proposes a new type of connector which would see two USB plugs side-by-side able to be inserted simultaneously by housing them inside a {{w|NEMA_connector#NEMA_1|NEMA 1-15P}} plug, more commonly known as a Type A plug, that is usually used in some countries to connect electrical devices to AC current. This does not seem to offer any advantages other than reviving the controversy.

Further, the plug introduces several disadvantages, including, but not limited to
*The plug creates the risk of accidentally plugging a USB-C device into a power outlet, which is likely to damage the device as the voltage of a NEMA 1 circuit is about six times as large as the maximum for USB-C. Additionally, mains power outlets typically supply {{w|Alternating_current|alternating current}}, whilst USB devices operate on {{w|Direct_current|direct current}}, which is also likely to result in damage to the device.
*The outer metal casings of the plugs are usually connected to the device's ground plane, so the casings likely have a low-resistance path between them. Plugging such a device into a power outlet would form a short circuit.
*The plug likely won't fit a power outlet (NEMA plug pins have a 6.4×1.5 mm cross-section and the USB-C is 8.4×2.6 mm.)
*Any device meant to be connected to the full plug would need vertical ports, making any theoretical device quite thick.
*The plug could occupy 6+ ports of a USB-C hub with vertical ports, taking up the space to charge 2-6 phones with a single device.
*The plug being mimicked is typically not found in a double male configuration implying that the cord is attached to a device at the other end in a non removable way (Typically, the other end of detachable power cords for appliances is one of the plugs specified in the {{w|IEC_60320|IEC 60320}} standard, so presumably for Randall's connector application would substitute USB-C sockets in a C9 or similar configuration.)

The connector therefore is considered cursed.

Notably, there's an existing [https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1520/4366/products/type-c-dual-multimedia-adapter-multi-ports-satechi-340267_1024x.jpg?v=1595892279 dual USB-C plug] in use for Macbook-compatible high-performance dongles, among other things, which is remarkably similar but avoids all the above disadvantages.

The title text indicates that an equivalent for the 3-pronged {{w|NEMA_connector#NEMA_5|NEMA 5-15P}} plug (a.k.a the Type B plug) for AC current could be created easily by incorporating a USB-B plug, which are small and square-shaped and could therefore function as the ground prong. There appears to be no reason to do this other than because both names contain the letter 'B'.

Unconventional uses for electric plugs are a recurring topic in xkcd (see [[1293: Job Interview]] and [[1395: Power Cord]]). Combining them with USB was previously explored in [[1406: Universal Converter Box]] among other combinations.

==Transcript==
:[A power cord like plug with two prongs is shown, but each prong is in the shape of USB-C connectors. Above is a title and below is a label.]
:Cursed Connectors #187
:Dual USB-C

{{comic discussion}}

315: Braille

2021-07-25T14:09:24Z

172.70.34.164: /* Explanation */ made the sightation needed not have a redirect

{{comic
| number = 315
| date = September 12, 2007
| title = Braille
| image = braille.png
| titletext = The only big difference I've seen is in colors. Where the regular text reads 'press red button', the braille reads 'press two-inch button'.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Braille}} is a writing system for the blind and {{w|Visual impairment|visually impaired}} using bumps on a paper, slate, etc. However, since most sighted people have no need for braille, and because braille messages may need to convey purely-visual information to blind people, the braille message may be adjusted from the original message. In this case, however, it acts as a jab toward people who are not blind, saying that "sighted people suck," which is obviously not something you would typically see (no pun intended{{Citation needed}}) on informational signs<nowiki>[</nowiki>[[285:_Wikipedian_Protester|SIGHTation needed]]<nowiki>]</nowiki>. Similar "translations" can be found when one deciphers the alien translations on nearly all signs in Futurama.

The title text shows a practical (and more realistic) example of where regular text and braille text may differ. As the visually impaired cannot see color, the label would need to identify some other defining feature of the button in question, such as the given measurement.

==Transcript==
:I learned to read braille a while back, and I've noticed that the messages on signs don't always match the regular text.
:[A sign reads "Third Floor Office" with braille print underneath. Cueball is reading the braille.]
:Cueball (thinking): s-i-g-h-t-e-d-p-e-o-p-l-e-s-u-c-k ... Hey!

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

2493: Dual USB-C

2021-07-24T16:40:25Z

172.70.34.164: /* Explanation */ Added links

{{comic
| number = 2493
| date = July 23, 2021
| title = Dual USB-C
| image = dual_usb_c.png
| titletext = Small devices use two-prong USB-AC, but there's also a three-prong version with a USB-B plug as the ground.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a USB-DC PLUG. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|USB-C}} connectors are the newest version of the {{w|USB|USB standard}}, and were controversial on launch{{citation needed}} for reasons Randall [[927: Standards|previously covered]]. Randall proposes a new type of connector which would see two USB plugs side-by-side able to be inserted simultaneously by housing them inside a {{w|NEMA_connector#NEMA_1|NEMA 1-15P}} plug, more commonly known as a Type A plug, that is usually used on small appliances in the United States to draw AC current. This does not seem to offer any advantages other than reviving the controversy.

Further, the plug introduces several disadvantages, including, but not limited to
*The plug creates the risk of accidentally plugging a USB-C device into a power outlet, which is likely to damage the device as the voltage of a NEMA 1 circuit is about six times as large as the maximum for USB-C. Additionally, mains power outlets typically supply {{w|Alternating_current|alternating current}}, whilst USB devices operate on {{w|Direct_current|direct current}}, which is also likely to result in damage to the device.
*The plug likely wont fit a power outlet (NEMA plug pins have a 6.4×1.5 mm cross-section and the USB-C is 8.4×2.6 mm.)
*Any device meant to be connected to the full plug would need vertical ports, making any theoretical device quite thick.
*The plug could occupy 6+ ports of a USB-C hub with vertical ports, taking up the space to charge 2-6 phones with a single device.
*The plug being mimicked is typically not found in a double male configuration implying that the cord is attached to a device at the other end in a non removable way (Typically, the other end of detachable power cords for appliances is one of the plugs specified in the {{w|IEC_60320|IEC 60320}} standard, so presumably for Randall's connector application would substitute USB-C sockets in a C9 or similar configuration.)

The connector therefore is considered cursed.

The title text indicates that an equivalent for the 3-pronged {{w|NEMA_connector#NEMA_5|NEMA 5-15P}} plug (a.k.a the Type B plug) for AC current could be created easily by incorporating a USB-B plug, which are small and square-shaped and could therefore function as the ground prong. There appears to be no reason to do this other than because both names contain the letter 'B'.

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

:[A picture of a plug with two prongs is shown. Each prong is a USB-C connector.]

:Title: Cursed Connectors #187

:Subtitle: Dual USB-C

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:2492: Commonly Mispronounced Equations

2021-07-22T01:25:18Z

172.70.34.164: trying to figure out how to make "c" an italicized character

I think the wave equation is wrong based on units, but it's been a while. The wave speed ought to be squared. Of course, ''c'' could be a squared speed, but it's usually not. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.34.164|172.70.34.164]] 01:22, 22 July 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2492: Commonly Mispronounced Equations

2021-07-22T01:23:28Z

172.70.34.164: More description of problem.

I think the wave equation is wrong based on units, but it's been a while. The wave speed ought to be squared. Of course, <math>c</math> could be a squared speed, but it's usually not. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.34.164|172.70.34.164]] 01:22, 22 July 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2492: Commonly Mispronounced Equations

2021-07-22T01:22:19Z

172.70.34.164: Wave equation error

I think the wave equation is wrong based on units, but it's been a while. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.34.164|172.70.34.164]] 01:22, 22 July 2021 (UTC)

2372: Dialect Quiz

2021-07-11T05:02:38Z

172.70.34.164: fixed original pronunciation of Οὐρανός Ouranos, usually known as Uranus, as it was originally pronounced [uːranós]

{{comic
| number = 2372
| date = October 14, 2020
| title = Dialect Quiz
| image = dialect_quiz.png
| titletext = Do you make a distinction between shallots, scallops, and scallions? If you use all three words, do they all have different meanings, all the same, or are two the same and one different?
}}

==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}}.

This comic is a parody of online quizzes that offer to compare the user's dialect of American English with others around the country. These quizzes generally contain questions about word usage, names for certain objects, and pronunciations that vary between different regions of the US. There are also quizzes about broader English dialects, but this comic focuses on commonly cited differences between American dialects.

The earliest quiz of this type to be widely disseminated online was the [http://dialect.redlog.net/ Harvard Dialect Survey], conducted in the early 2000s by Bert Vaux and Scott Golder. The survey created maps of the distribution of various word usage (such as pop/soda/coke for a fizzy softdrink) and was a relatively early example of widely shared Internet "viral" content. In 2013, Josh Katz of the New York Times created [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/dialect-quiz-map.html a new version] based on the Harvard survey, which became the Times' [https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/01/-em-the-new-york-times-em-most-popular-story-of-2013-was-not-an-article/283167/ most popular content of 2013] and spread the idea to many more people. Many of the questions in this comic directly derive from entries in those surveys.

Randall's previous two comics have been about election predictions, leading up to the 2020 US General Presidential Election. A prominent predictor of the election results is Nate Silver, who runs the FiveThirtyEight website. [https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/1315348221565206530 @NateSilver538 posted his results] of taking the New York Times version of the survey on October 11, 2020... just three days before this comic was posted. [[2371: Election Screen Time]] specifically suggests that Randall may be spending too much time obsessing over new posts and content from the election predictors. It's coincidental, but likely, that Nate Silver's tweet inspired Randall's post: he was reminded of the 2013 feature from the Times.

{| border =1 width=100% cellpadding=5 class="wikitable"
! # !! Question !! Answers !! Explanation
|-
! 1
|How do you address a group of two or more people?
|style="width: 15%;"|
* A) You
* B) Y'all
* C) I have not been around two or more people for so long that I can't remember
| Reference to the first question of the Times quiz: "How would you address {{w|You#Informal_plural_forms|a group of two or more people}}?" (with options including "you all", "you guys", "y'all", etc.). Option C may reference the significant decrease in human interaction and social contact during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alternatively, it may suggest that some xkcd readers are particularly introverted.
|-
! 2
| How do you pronounce "Penelope"?
|
* A) Rhymes with "Antelope"
* B) Rhymes with "Develop"
| Both the options for this are wrong, making it the first of many quiz questions to be impossible to answer correctly.

Neither Option A's "PEEN-e-lohp" /ˈpiːnɪˌloʊp/ and Option B's "pe-NELL-up" /pɪˈnɛləp/ are a typical pronunciation of this name (beyond mispronunciations). In English, the only correct way to pronounce this name is "pe-NELL-o-pee" /pəˈnɛləpi/, which is not listed. (A) is the answer Juan from Club Dread (2004) would have given, and the way video game parody band "Random Encounters" pronounces their second cat's name. In Questionable Content, this is also the way Faye pronounces Penelope's name in comic 725. Whether this is a coincidence or deliberate is unknown.
|-
! 3
| What do you call the scientific field that studies the stars?
|
* A) Astrology
* B) Agronomy
* C) Cosmetology
| The actual answer is {{w|astronomy}}, which is not listed, though several answers ''are'' listed that sound similar to fields that study stars. {{w|Astrology}} is the pseudo-scientific "study" of the influence of the stars and planets on our lives, including horoscopes, {{w|agronomy}} ''is'' scientific but instead studies agriculture, and {{w|cosmetology}} is the study of cosmetics and makeup (with a name close to {{w|cosmology}}, a branch of astronomy, and {{w|comet}}, an astronomical object). The last may also be referring to the occasionally makeup-heavy faces of movie and television "stars".
|-
! 4
| How do you pronounce "genre"?
|
* A) Gone-ra
* B) Juh-neer
* C) Jen-er-uh
| Reference to a question found on some quizzes: "How do you pronounce ''genre''? ZHAHN-ruh, or JAHN-ruh?"

A majority of (American) English speakers pronounce "genre" as either "'''ZH'''AHN-ruh" /ˈʒɑnrə/ (beginning with the "zh" sound found in "trea'''s'''ure") or "'''J'''AHN-ruh" /ˈdʒɑnrə/ (beginning with the "j" sound in "justice"). Neither of these are listed, and none of the quiz's pronunciation options are common. However, they are close to other words: ''GONE-ra'' /ˈgɑnrə/ sounds like {{w|gonorrhea}} /ˌgɑnəˈriə/, ''juh-NEER'' /dʒəˈnɪər/ is the way the second and third syllables of ''engineer'' are are pronounced, and ''JEN-er-uh'' /ˈdʒɛnərə/ is a word (genera), the plural of {{w|genus}}.
|-
! 5
| You pronounce "Google" with a high-pitched yelp on the...
|
* A) First syllable
* B) Second syllable
| "Google" is not generally pronounced with a high-pitched yelp on either syllable. On the other hand, {{w|Yahoo!}}, a competitor of Google, has advertised its services with a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm5FE0x9eY0 high-pitched yodeling jingle], with the high-pitched yelp on the second syllable (as opposed to {{w|Goofy}}'s [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-70mtXw35c iconic holler], with the high yelp on the first syllable).
|-
! 6
| What do you call the thing on the wall at school that you drink water from?
|
* A) Gutter pipe
* B) Drainpipe
| Reference to a quiz question in the Harvard and Times quizzes, "What do you call the thing from which you might drink water in a school?" Answers included "drinking fountain", "water fountain", and "bubbler". However, the question in this comic implies that school children (or at least the quiz maker) drink out of {{w|Rain gutter|gutter pipes}} or drain pipes, which are used to collect rainwater and/or {{w|sewage|should absolutely not be drunk from.}}
|-
! 7
| How do you pronounce the name for a short silent video file?
|
* A) Animated give
* B) Animated gift
| Reference to the "{{w|Gif}}" pronunciation debate, with people split between pronouncing it "gif" (with the hard-G sound in "graphics") or "jif" (with the soft-G sound in "giraffe"). Both options presented in this quiz use the hard-G sound, but neither option uses the standard pronunciation for the ending of the word, “if”.

The original authors of the standard clarified they intended it to be said as if "jif". Maybe it is entirely appropriate that their product, which lacks any audio stream, was made known to most of its end-users without a sound-guide and left everyone to spontaneously derive their own way of voicing its name.

Also a reference to [https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/gift-as-a-verb how some people dislike the use of the word "gift" as a verb, and think that "give" should be used instead].
|-
! 8
| What do you call the baseball-sized garden bugs that, when poked, glow brightly and emit a warbling scream?
|
* A) What?
* B) Lawn buddies
| There are many different varieties of common insects with distinctive traits and behaviors, some of which even have multiple names; the creatures described "lawn buddies" combine three of these traits into one peculiar and somewhat frightening bug. The fact that no known creature like this exists forms the humor of the two answers: the first is reasonably confused, and the second is alarmingly familiar.

1. The Harvard and Times quizzes actually include the question: "What do you call the {{w|Armadillidiidae|small gray bug}} that curls up into a ball when it’s touched?" (options include "roly-poly," "pill-bug", "potato bug", "doodle bug", etc.).

It is also worth mentioning that "potato bug" itself can refer to three completely different kinds of insect; besides the aforementioned "{{w|Armadillidiidae|small gray bug}}," it can also refer to the {{w|Colorado potato beetle}} or to the {{w|Jerusalem cricket}}. A dialect quiz such as this one might ask the quiz-taker to identify what kind of insect they associate the term with.

2. The {{w|Firefly|Lampyridae}} family of insects do glow (although not exactly "brightly"). These insects emit their light spontaneously, as a mating signal, though they often do emit light when shaken or presumably poked. These are variously called "fireflies," "glowworms," or "lightning bugs;" a dialect quiz might reasonably ask the quiz-taker's preferred term.

3. {{w|cicada|Cicadas}} and {{w|Madagascar_hissing_cockroach|cockroaches}} can be large for insects, though nothing approaching the size of a baseball, and can make very loud noises indeed, although it would be a bit of a stretch to describe any of their associated sounds as a "warbling scream."
|-
! 9
| What do you call the misleading lines painted by disgruntled highway workers to trick cars into driving off the road?
|
* A) Prank lines
* B) Devil's Marks
* C) Fool-me lines
* D) Fauxguides
* E) Delaware lines
| Reference to the fact that some quiz questions ask about road features, such as "verge/berm/parking strip/curb strip" and "roundabout/traffic circle/rotary". However, these particular road lines, if they have ever been made, aren't common enough to warrant different names. The Delaware Line was a formation within the Continental Army. Devil's Marks may be a takeoff of [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Devil%27s%20Strip Devil's Strip].

Misleading lines on the road were also mentioned in [[1958: Self-Driving Issues]].
|-
! 10
| What do you call the blue-green planet in the outer Solar System?
|
* A) Uranus
* B) Neptune
| This question references the fact that Uranus and Neptune are quite similar in appearance, as well as the two common pronunciations of Uranus: "YURR-ə-nəss" and "yoo-RAY-nəss" (which sounds like the phrase "{{tvtropes|UranusIsShowing|your anus}}", a favorite joke of little kids). The original pronunciation is "oo-ra-nos", but this is not a common pronunciation among the general public. It also references the fact that Uranus and Neptune are both blue-ish colored planets in the outer solar system and are often confused by people who don't know much about them. Uranus is closer to being the correct answer - it could plausibly be described as cyan, a color intermediate between blue and green - while Neptune is a deep, unambiguous blue.
|-
! 11
| What do you call this tool?
[[File:CloveHammer.png|150px]] (image of a claw hammer)
|
* A) Banger
* B) Nail axe
* C) Wood mage wand
* D) I'm familiar with this tool but have no specific word for it
* E) I have never seen it before
| The only name most people would ever call this tool is a "hammer".

The last two options reference options in many quiz questions along the lines of "I'm familiar with this but have no specific word for it" and "I am not familiar with this" (such as on the pill-bug/roly-poly question on the real quiz). These may appear as options to questions that ask about something that might not exist everywhere, or something which many may not have a word for (for example, some areas of the United States have a name for "sunshowers," while most don't). However, it's a bit absurd for these options to be present for this question (and this question alone), as virtually all users in an English dialect test would be expected to know what a hammer is. This also serves as a bit of reverse perspective on the saying, "{{w|Law of the instrument|When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.}}"
|-
! 12
| What do you call a long sandwich with meats and lettuce and stuff?
|
* A) A long sandwich with meats and lettuce and stuff
* B) A longwich
* C) A salad hot dog
| Reference to a common dialect quiz question: "What do you call a {{w|Submarine sandwich|long sandwich}}?" with options typically including "sub", "hoagie", "hero", etc.

The first answer directly repeats the phrasing of the prompt, painting the person who would answer that way as either very literal-minded or bearing a snarky side. The hot dog answer could refer to the common online discussion: "Is a hot dog a sandwich?, and bears resemblance to jokes playing on synonyms to discredit their need for unique names, i.e. "Beef jerky is just a meat raisin." In this case, the argument would be "A sub sandwich is just a salad hot dog."
|-
! 13
| What do you call the scaly many-legged animal often found in attics?
|
* A) Lightbulb eater
* B) I have no special name for them
* C) I've never looked in my attic
| Another reference to the frequent appearance of quiz questions asking what users call various creepy crawlies.

{{w|Millipedes}} best fit the description. They have many legs, though rarely if ever a thousand of them, as their name (from the Latin word for "thousand feet") suggests. The hard rings that separate an individual's body into segments give the animal a scaly appearance. And of the thousands of species, only a few have common names, hence "no special name for them". The reference to "lightbulb eater" is obscure, but may refer to the tendency of millipedes to congregate in large numbers in dark crevices, or perhaps Randall is simply conjuring more frightening creatures. Perhaps Randall found some in empty (no bulb) light fixtures in his attic, though it is possible this refers to another unknown frightening creature that nobody has a word for.

Normally, questions about uncommon things would include an "I've never seen one" option, like option E in the hammer question. Instead, this question has "I've never looked in my attic" as an option, implying that these creatures are present in all attics, and anyone who doesn't know them would have to have never checked their attic at all, or that they are too afraid of this creature possibly dwelling in their own attic to go look.
|-
! 14
| What do you say when someone around you sneezes?
|
* A) "What was that?"
* B) "Oh, wow."
* C) [Quietly] "Yikes."
| Reference to a question on some quizzes about which of several words/phrases you say in response to a sneeze, with usual answers including "bless you", "God bless you", and "{{w|Gesundheit}}" (from the German word for 'health').

This question may also be referencing the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}} in answer C (and possibly answer B). Sneezing isn't a primary symptom of COVID-19, but most people are hyper-aware of possibly contracting the disease from the people around them so sneezes are treated with suspicion and it's seen as rude to sneeze openly.

It is also possible that a person who has been able to catch a sneeze-producing condition has also caught COVID-19 and, while the sneeze itself isn't ''caused'' by it, the air and various airway fluids so forcefully projected are a possible infective vector with that little extra frisson of concern, given the current situation.
|-
! Title Text
| colspan=2 | Do you make a distinction between shallots, scallops, and scallions? If you use all three words, do they all have different meanings, all the same, or are two the same and one different?
| Phrased similarly to questions like one on the Times quiz, "How do you pronounce the words Mary, merry, and marry?" Options included "all three are pronounced the same", "all three are pronounced differently," or all three combinations of two being the same and one different. Also refers to the naming confusion around {{w|scallions}} and {{w|shallots}} - also known as 'eschalots' - but with the unrelated but similar-sounding {{w|scallops}} substituted in the middle.

'Shallots', 'scallions' and 'eschalots' are names used in different dialects, for various species and cultivars of onion used in cooking, either as a small bulb (especially [[wikipedia:shallot|Allium cepa var. Aggregatum]]) or as a long green leaf (especially [[wikipedia:Allium_fistulosum|Allium fistulosum]]). In many dialects, the green leaf type is called a 'scallion' and the bulb a 'shallot'. In at least one dialect (NSW Australia) the green leaf type is called a 'shallot' and the bulb an 'eschalot'. This causes confusion in recipes posted online. The word 'shallot' is also pronounced with emphasis on either the first or second syllable, as referred to in question 5. Despite the answer options offered, there is no evidence of dialects which use all three terms, or where 'shallot' and 'scallion' are interchangeable. Many people in the US call scallions "green onions", as was joked about in [https://genius.com/Stan-freberg-christmas-dragnet-lyrics Stan Frieberg's Christmas Dragnet parody].

{{w|Scallops}} are invertebrate marine animals similar to oysters and clams, frequently harvested for food. In some regions of the UK and Australia potato {{w|fritters}} are also called 'scallops'. The word 'scallop' itself can be pronounced either as /ˈskɒləp/ or /ˈskæləp/, and its spelling has varied over time in a similar way to that of 'shallot'. However, these are difficult to confuse with shallots or scallions.
|}

==Transcript==

[Box with title at the top]
:<big>Dialect Quiz</big>
[Smaller subtitle underneath]
:Compare answers with your friends!

[Quiz is divided into two columns. Answers to questions are indicated by a letter followed by a closed parentheses, such as A). These letters are greyed out]

[Column 1:]
 
How do you address a group of two or more people?
:A) You
:B) Y'all
:C) I have not been around two or more people for so long that I can't remember

How do you pronounce "Penelope"?
:A) Rhymes with "Antelope"
:B) Rhymes with "Develop"

What do you call the scientific field that studies the stars?
:A) Astrology
:B) Agronomy
:C) Cosmetology

How do you pronounce "genre"?
:A) Gone-ra
:B) Juh-neer
:C) Jen-er-uh

You pronounce "Google" with a high-pitched yelp on the...
:A) First syllable
:B) Second syllable

What do you call the thing on the wall at school that you drink water from?
:A) Gutter pipe
:B) Drainpipe

How do you pronounce the name for a short silent video file?
:A) Animated give
:B) Animated gift

What do you call the baseball-sized garden bugs that, when poked, glow brightly and emit a warbling scream?
:A) What?
:B) Lawn buddies

[Column 2:]
 
What do you call the misleading lines painted by disgruntled highway workers to trick cars into driving off the road?
:A) Prank lines
:B) Devil's Marks
:C) Fool-me lines
:D) Fauxguides
:E) Delaware lines

What do you call the blue-green planet in the outer Solar System?
:A) Uranus
:B) Neptune

What do you call this tool?
 
[Image of a claw hammer]
:A) Banger
:B) Nail axe
:C) Wood mage wand
:D) I'm familiar with this tool but have no specific word for it
:E) I have never seen it before

What do you call a long sandwich with meats and lettuce and stuff?
:A) A long sandwich with meats and lettuce and stuff
:B) A longwich
:C) A salad hot dog

What do you call the scaly many-legged animal often found in attics?
:A) Lightbulb eater
:B) I have no special name for them
:C) I've never looked in my attic

What do you say when someone around you sneezes?
:A) "What was that?"
:B) "Oh, wow."
:C) [Quietly] "Yikes."

==Trivia==

*The xkcd Twitter account posted a [https://twitter.com/xkcd/status/1316484953480323072 series of Twitter polls] asking the questions in this comic.
**How do you address a group of two or more people?
***You (31.2%)
***Y'all (33.5%)
***'''Can’t remember anymore (35.3%)'''
**How do you pronounce “Penelope”?
***'''Rhymes with “antelope” (58.6%)'''
***Rhymes with “develop” (41.4%)
**What do you call the scientific field that studies the stars?
***Astrology (34.5%)
***Agronomy (18.5%)
***'''Cosmetology (47%)'''
**How do you pronounce "genre"?
***Gone-ra (24.7%)
***Juh-neer (18.8%)
***'''Jen-er-uh (56.5%)'''
**Do you pronounce "Google" with a high-pitched yelp on the...
***'''First syllable (63.6%)'''
***Second syllable (36.4%)
**What do you call the thing on the wall at school that you drink water from?
***Gutter pipe (32.9%)
***'''Drainpipe (67.1%)'''
**How do you pronounce the name for a short silent video file?
***Animated give (29.6%)
***'''Animated gift (70.4%)'''
**What do you call the baseball-sized garden bugs that, when poked, glow brightly and emit a warbling scream?
***What? (48.6%)
***'''Lawn buddies (51.4%)'''
**What do you call the misleading lines painted by disgruntled highway workers to trick cars into driving off the road?
***Prank/fool-me lines (14.8%)
***Devil's marks (22%)
***Fauxguides (22.5%)
***'''Delaware lines (40.6%)'''
**What do you call the blue-green planet in the outer solar system?
***'''Uranus (51.7%)'''
***Neptune (48.3%)
**What do you call this tool? 🔨
***'''Banger (29.7%)'''
***Nail axe (22%)
***Wood mage wand (29.1%)
***Don't know/not familiar (19.2%)
**What do you call a long sandwich with meats and lettuce and stuff?
***'''That description verbatim (43.1%)'''
***A longwich (33.2%)
***A salad hot dog (23.7%)
**What do you call the scaly many-legged animal often found in attics?
***Lightbulb eater (29.5%)
***Don't have a name for it (19%)
***'''Never looked in my attic (51.5%)'''
**What do you say when someone around you sneezes?
***"What was that?" (8.6%)
***"Oh, wow." (17.1%)
***'''[quietly] "Yikes." (74.3%)'''
*Shallots, scallops, and scallions ran against each other in [[1529: Bracket]]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:COVID-19]]

2487: Danger Mnemonic

2021-07-10T03:26:52Z

172.70.34.164:

{{comic
| number = 2487
| date = July 10, 2021
| title = Danger Mnemonic
| image = danger_mnemonic.png
| titletext = It's definitely not the time to try drinking beer before liquor.
}}

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

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

{{comic discussion}}

2487: Danger Mnemonic

2021-07-10T03:26:43Z

172.70.34.164:

{{comic
| number = 2487
| date = July 10, 2021
| title = Danger Mnemonic
| image = danger_mnemonic.png
| titletext = It's definitely not the time to try drinking beer before liquor.
}}

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

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

{{comic discussion}}

1971: Personal Data

2021-07-05T22:59:51Z

172.70.34.164: more accurate

{{comic
| number = 1971
| date = March 23, 2018
| title = Personal Data
| image = personal_data.png
| titletext = Do I just leave money in my mailbox? How much? How much money do they need, anyway? I guess it probably depends how the economy is doing. If stocks go up, should I leave more money in my mailbox or less?
}}

==Explanation==
This is another comic poking fun at adults who have trouble dealing with grown-up issues.

The comic starts with [[Cueball]] wondering what "{{w|personal data}}" is, saying he doesn't understand what it is, and it is an abstract concept. [[Ponytail]] follows by pointing out she doesn't understand what "{{w|Economy|the economy}}" is, and conjecturing that it is related to "{{w|Stock|stocks}}", although admitting that she also does not understand what stocks are. The punchline comes when [[White Hat]] says that he doesn't understand what "{{w|taxes}}" are and asks if he really has to pay them and to whom. This surprises Cueball and Ponytail, who promptly advise him to learn about that one soon. The title text has White Hat asking another series of tax-related questions that adults are expected to know already, further compounding his troubles. See details on these four difficult [[#Topics|topics]] below.

The joke is that White Hat has mistakenly associated taxes with the economy and personal data as "grown-up" topics which are too confusing to fully grasp. Like the other two topics, taxes are a complex issue which many adults don't fully understand and have a vague sense that they should know more about or interact with. However, most people can remain passively ignorant about the significance of the economy or personal data without it disrupting their lives; this is not true of taxes, which people must actively pay and file annually or suffer financial and possibly criminal penalties.

White Hat not knowing what taxes are indicates that he may not have paid his taxes in previous years, which would be alarming since tax evasion is punishable as a crime. Ponytail's remark that he should do this ideally in the next few weeks is referring to this year's US {{w|Tax Day (United States)|Tax Day}} which falls on April 17, 2018, less than four weeks after the release of this comic. So if you do not have your tax preparation under control, it is time to research how it works now.

This is not the first time [[Randall]] has made a comic about people having trouble understanding the US tax system in relation to an approaching tax day. Other instances include the title text of [[1805: Unpublished Discoveries]] from March the year before this comic, and this one from August 2015: [[1566: Board Game]].

===Topics===
This comic references several advanced topics that people commonly talk about, but may not actually understand well:

====Personal data====
Personal data is usually thought of as any information that pertains to a private person. But this definition is very vague and can encompass a huge variety of data ranging from very sensitive (Social Security number, bank account details, passwords) to less sensitive (first name, color of pet cat). Different people also have different ideas of what information is considered sensitive. For example, some may want eagerly to share the location of their weekend activity with the world, whereas others may prefer not to let everyone know their location.

Even though it is generally advised to keep personal data private and not to expose it to the public or to companies (especially online, e.g. Facebook and Google), not everyone agrees on the level of privacy that should be afforded to the data. Some hold the view that even innocent-looking personal data can be harvested and used for unsavory purposes (for example, a health insurance company can use social media posts about eating fast food as a cause to raise premiums, or a government can use cat pictures as evidence of pet ownership and demand license fees), and therefore all personal data should be strictly controlled. Others hold the view that sometimes it is worth exchanging some degree of privacy for other conveniences (for example, meeting friends by sharing their location info or getting cheaper prices from targeted advertising based on web browsing history).

Personal data breaches were in the news a few days before the publishing of this comic when the UK's Channel Four released an investigative documentary about political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. Among the revelations of the documentary were that the company had used Facebook to not only harvest the personal data of users taking their polls, but the friends and family of those users, without their knowledge or consent. They used this information to attempt to influence both the {{w|2016 United States presidential election}} and the {{w|2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum|UK's Brexit vote}}. This sparked an ongoing discussion about the security of personal data and the role of social media in securing it. Such data breaches has been the topic of at least one previous comic: [[1286: Encryptic]].

Technological changes in the past few decades have made personal data much easier to collect, share, and analyze in bulk, raising new questions and concerns that have not been considered before. Even people who can define what data is personal to them may not realize the full extent of how others might use it, or how it impacts their lives.

====The economy====
The economy, at a basic level, is the circulation of money which enables productivity. For example, a bus driver might use their money to watch a movie, the movie producer might use their revenue (gathered from the bus driver and many others) to purchase editing software, the software maker might use their revenue (from the movie producer and others) to buy food, and the food producer might use that money to take a bus, thus returning the money back to the bus driver. The total amount of money has not changed, it merely circulated in a loop, but everyone in the loop received benefits and produced value in the form of goods or services.

The real world economy has much larger and more complex networks of buyers and producers compared to the example above, but nevertheless it works on the same principle. Many people correctly associate the economy with money (or stocks in Ponytail's case), but may not understand the full picture.

Circulation of money is critical to a healthy economy. In a recession, financial hardship causes people to spend less money, which leads to fewer goods being produced, fewer jobs available, and people earning and spending even less money. That is why (somewhat counter-intuitively) governments need to spend ''more'' money during a recession in order to infuse money back into the economy and get it circulating again. The Federal Reserve lowering interest rates is also a planned, strategic move to increase the money supply, which encourages investment and economic growth.

Randall made a comic where stock and economy was an integral part of the largest of the panels: [[980: Money]]

====Stocks====
Stocks in this context refers to companies listed on public stock exchanges, in which investors can buy and sell an economic stake, or share of the company's ownership. Companies offer stocks as a way to raise funds for its operation and expansion, selling off partial ownership of the company in exchange for cash. Investors mainly trade stocks for financial gain as well, collecting part of the company's profits as dividends and potentially selling the same shares at a higher price later.

The value of stocks depends on a subjective valuation of the company. Stock price generally rises if the company is doing well and investors expect it to keep growing and make more profit. It generally falls if the company is doing poorly and investors don't see a brighter future. However, it is also influenced easily by external factors like political climate, release of (mis-)information, or even investors' mood. It is very hard even for experts to predict stock price movements accurately. This is why scientists should not think they can figure out the stock market, which was the topic of this comic: [[1570: Engineer Syllogism]].

Through pension funds, mutual funds and other investment vehicles, a large portion of the population of developed countries have an indirect stake in the success (or otherwise) of many of the businesses that make up a significant element of the economy (see above). An economy that is experiencing healthy growth would generally see the value of those businesses increase, and that is reflected in the value at which investors would be willing to buy and sell those shares. So a growing economy would tend to associated with rising stock prices.

In the past, stock ownership has been tracked using paper certificates which owners can hold and store, like cash. Nowadays most stock transactions are performed electronically and no physical items are sent. The intangibility of shares and volatility in price makes stocks feel like only a virtual concept that can be hard to grasp.

====Taxes====
Taxes are money that governments collect from people under their jurisdiction in order to fund government agencies providing public services. To answer White Hat's other questions (including the ones in the title text):
* Almost every adult with income is incentivised to pay taxes (or at least submit a tax return showing no taxes owed).
* Tax returns and payments are submitted to the government (Internal Revenue Service for federal taxes in the US).
* The amount is calculated based on income and deductions as defined by applicable tax laws.
* How much they're incentivised is defined by the government's budget, which is renewed periodically.
* How the economy is doing does have some impact on how the budget is planned.
* Stock prices may have an impact on a person's reported income, but this is not a major concern for most people, as it is unlikely that they receive much of their income from stocks.
* Do not leave money in your mailbox, period! It will not be mailed, and may end up stolen. If you want to send money through the postal service, you need a money order.

While the concept of paying taxes is simple, the processing of filling out the paperwork is often complex and laborious. This is because the calculations leading to the final tax amount needs to take many many factors into account:
* Everyone has a different amount of income, and taxes are usually not a simple number or fixed percentage of income.
* Some taxes are withheld ahead of time (e.g. employers usually deduct taxes from pay checks before employees receive them), while others are not (e.g. no one takes away taxes before a waiter collects their tip).
* Different forms of income can be disincentivised differently (e.g. salary vs. investment gains).
* Some expenses can be incentivised (e.g. medical costs, charitable donations, retirement savings).
* There are multiple different taxes (federal vs. state and local, income tax vs. sales tax, etc.) that can affect each other.
... and much more.

Many people would not be familiar enough with the tax code to be able to do all their paperwork alone.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is talking to Ponytail and White Hat. Both of them are looking at Cueball.]
:Cueball: Everyone keeps talking about "personal data." To be honest, I don't really know what it ''is''.
:Cueball: I mean, I understand the idea and know it's a thing I should protect. But it's so... abstract.

:[Close-up on Ponytail.]
:Ponytail: Yeah.
:Ponytail: It's like "the economy." I don't really know what the economy is, if we're getting specific. I know stocks going up is good. For people who own stocks, at least.
:Ponytail: Whatever "stocks" are.

:[White Hat responds with his arms slightly out and palms open. Both Ponytail and Cueball are looking at him.]
:White Hat: Yeah, or taxes. Everyone talks about taxes. What '''''are''''' they? Do '''''I''''' have to pay them? And to who?
:Cueball: OK, wait, you definitely need to learn about that one.
:Ponytail: Yeah, ideally sometime in the next few weeks.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Stock Market]]

1971: Personal Data

2021-07-05T22:57:52Z

172.70.34.164: wrong count

{{comic
| number = 1971
| date = March 23, 2018
| title = Personal Data
| image = personal_data.png
| titletext = Do I just leave money in my mailbox? How much? How much money do they need, anyway? I guess it probably depends how the economy is doing. If stocks go up, should I leave more money in my mailbox or less?
}}

==Explanation==
This is another comic poking fun at adults who have trouble dealing with grown-up issues.

The comic starts with [[Cueball]] wondering what "{{w|personal data}}" is, saying he doesn't understand what it is, and it is an abstract concept. [[Ponytail]] follows by pointing out she doesn't understand what "{{w|Economy|the economy}}" is, and conjecturing that it is related to "{{w|Stock|stocks}}", although admitting that she also does not understand what stocks are. The punchline comes when [[White Hat]] says that he doesn't understand what "{{w|taxes}}" are and asks if he really has to pay them and to whom. This surprises Cueball and Ponytail, who promptly advise him to learn about that one soon. The title text has White Hat asking another series of tax-related questions that adults are expected to know already, further compounding his troubles. See details on these four difficult [[#Topics|topics]] below.

The joke is that White Hat has mistakenly associated taxes with the economy and personal data as "grown-up" topics which are too confusing to fully grasp. Like the other two topics, taxes are a complex issue which many adults don't fully understand and have a vague sense that they should know more about or interact with. However, most people can remain passively ignorant about the significance of the economy or personal data without it disrupting their lives; this is not true of taxes, which people must actively pay and file annually or suffer financial and possibly criminal penalties.

White Hat not knowing what taxes are indicates that he may not have paid his taxes in previous years, which would be alarming since tax evasion is punishable as a crime. Ponytail's remark that he should do this ideally in the next few weeks is referring to this year's US {{w|Tax Day (United States)|Tax Day}} which falls on April 17, 2018, less than four weeks after the release of this comic. So if you do not have your tax preparation under control, it is time to research how it works now.

This is not the first time [[Randall]] has made a comic about people having trouble understanding the US tax system in relation to an approaching tax day. Other instances include the title text of [[1805: Unpublished Discoveries]] from March the year before this comic, and this one from August 2015: [[1566: Board Game]].

===Topics===
This comic references several advanced topics that people commonly talk about, but may not actually understand well:

====Personal data====
Personal data is usually thought of as any information that pertains to a private person. But this definition is very vague and can encompass a huge variety of data ranging from very sensitive (Social Security number, bank account details, passwords) to less sensitive (first name, color of pet cat). Different people also have different ideas of what information is considered sensitive. For example, some may want eagerly to share the location of their weekend activity with the world, whereas others may prefer not to let everyone know their location.

Even though it is generally advised to keep personal data private and not to expose it to the public or to companies (especially online, e.g. Facebook and Google), not everyone agrees on the level of privacy that should be afforded to the data. Some hold the view that even innocent-looking personal data can be harvested and used for unsavory purposes (for example, a health insurance company can use social media posts about eating fast food as a cause to raise premiums, or a government can use cat pictures as evidence of pet ownership and demand license fees), and therefore all personal data should be strictly controlled. Others hold the view that sometimes it is worth exchanging some degree of privacy for other conveniences (for example, meeting friends by sharing their location info or getting cheaper prices from targeted advertising based on web browsing history).

Personal data breaches were in the news a few days before the publishing of this comic when the UK's Channel Four released an investigative documentary about political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. Among the revelations of the documentary were that the company had used Facebook to not only harvest the personal data of users taking their polls, but the friends and family of those users, without their knowledge or consent. They used this information to attempt to influence both the {{w|2016 United States presidential election}} and the {{w|2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum|UK's Brexit vote}}. This sparked an ongoing discussion about the security of personal data and the role of social media in securing it. Such data breaches has been the topic of at least one previous comic: [[1286: Encryptic]].

Technological changes in the past few decades have made personal data much easier to collect, share, and analyze in bulk, raising new questions and concerns that have not been considered before. Even people who can define what data is personal to them may not realize the full extent of how others might use it, or how it impacts their lives.

====The economy====
The economy, at a basic level, is the circulation of money which enables productivity. For example, a bus driver might use their money to watch a movie, the movie producer might use their revenue (gathered from the bus driver and many others) to purchase editing software, the software maker might use their revenue (from the movie producer and others) to buy food, and the food producer might use that money to take a bus, thus returning the money back to the bus driver. The total amount of money has not changed, it merely circulated in a loop, but everyone in the loop received benefits and produced value in the form of goods or services.

The real world economy has much larger and more complex networks of buyers and producers compared to the example above, but nevertheless it works on the same principle. Many people correctly associate the economy with money (or stocks in Ponytail's case), but may not understand the full picture.

Circulation of money is critical to a healthy economy. In a recession, financial hardship causes people to spend less money, which leads to fewer goods being produced, fewer jobs available, and people earning and spending even less money. That is why (somewhat counter-intuitively) governments need to spend ''more'' money during a recession in order to infuse money back into the economy and get it circulating again. The Federal Reserve lowering interest rates is also a planned, strategic move to increase the money supply, which encourages investment and economic growth.

Randall made a comic where stock and economy was an integral part of the largest of the panels: [[980: Money]]

====Stocks====
Stocks in this context refers to companies listed on public stock exchanges, in which investors can buy and sell an economic stake, or share of the company's ownership. Companies offer stocks as a way to raise funds for its operation and expansion, selling off partial ownership of the company in exchange for cash. Investors mainly trade stocks for financial gain as well, collecting part of the company's profits as dividends and potentially selling the same shares at a higher price later.

The value of stocks depends on a subjective valuation of the company. Stock price generally rises if the company is doing well and investors expect it to keep growing and make more profit. It generally falls if the company is doing poorly and investors don't see a brighter future. However, it is also influenced easily by external factors like political climate, release of (mis-)information, or even investors' mood. It is very hard even for experts to predict stock price movements accurately. This is why scientists should not think they can figure out the stock market, which was the topic of this comic: [[1570: Engineer Syllogism]].

Through pension funds, mutual funds and other investment vehicles, a large portion of the population of developed countries have an indirect stake in the success (or otherwise) of many of the businesses that make up a significant element of the economy (see above). An economy that is experiencing healthy growth would generally see the value of those businesses increase, and that is reflected in the value at which investors would be willing to buy and sell those shares. So a growing economy would tend to associated with rising stock prices.

In the past, stock ownership has been tracked using paper certificates which owners can hold and store, like cash. Nowadays most stock transactions are performed electronically and no physical items are sent. The intangibility of shares and volatility in price makes stocks feel like only a virtual concept that can be hard to grasp.

====Taxes====
Taxes are money that governments collect from people under their jurisdiction in order to fund government agencies providing public services. To answer White Hat's other questions (including the ones in the title text):
* Almost every adult with income is incentivised to pay taxes (or at least submit a tax return showing no taxes owed).
* Tax returns and payments are submitted to the government (Internal Revenue Service for federal taxes in the US).
* The amount is calculated based on income and deductions as defined by applicable tax laws.
* How much they're incentivised is defined by the government's budget, which is renewed periodically.
* How the economy is doing does have some impact on how the budget is planned.
* Stock prices may have an impact on a person's reported income, but this is not a major concern for most people, as it is unlikely that they receive much of their income from stocks.
* Do not leave money in your mailbox, period! It will not be mailed, and may end up stolen. If you want to send money through the postal service, you need a money order.

While the concept of paying taxes is simple, the processing of filling out the paperwork is often complex and laborious. This is because the calculations leading to the final tax amount needs to take many many factors into account:
* Everyone has a different amount of income, and taxes are usually not a simple number or fixed percentage of income.
* Some taxes are withheld ahead of time (e.g. employers usually deduct taxes from pay checks before employees receive them), while others are not (e.g. no one takes away taxes before a waiter collects their tip).
* Different forms of income can be disincentivised differently (e.g. salary vs. investment gains).
* Some expenses can be incentivised (e.g. medical costs, charitable donations, retirement savings).
* There are multiple different taxes (federal vs. state and local, income tax vs. sales tax, etc.) that can affect each other.
... and much more.

Most people would not be familiar enough with the tax code to be able to do all their paperwork alone.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is talking to Ponytail and White Hat. Both of them are looking at Cueball.]
:Cueball: Everyone keeps talking about "personal data." To be honest, I don't really know what it ''is''.
:Cueball: I mean, I understand the idea and know it's a thing I should protect. But it's so... abstract.

:[Close-up on Ponytail.]
:Ponytail: Yeah.
:Ponytail: It's like "the economy." I don't really know what the economy is, if we're getting specific. I know stocks going up is good. For people who own stocks, at least.
:Ponytail: Whatever "stocks" are.

:[White Hat responds with his arms slightly out and palms open. Both Ponytail and Cueball are looking at him.]
:White Hat: Yeah, or taxes. Everyone talks about taxes. What '''''are''''' they? Do '''''I''''' have to pay them? And to who?
:Cueball: OK, wait, you definitely need to learn about that one.
:Ponytail: Yeah, ideally sometime in the next few weeks.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Stock Market]]

Talk:1976: Friendly Questions

2021-06-27T18:16:22Z

172.70.34.164:

same
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.160|162.158.238.160]] 15:57, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

>How many apples have you eaten?

IS THAT A JOJO REFERENCE? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.211.82|172.68.211.82]] 16:22, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

:Are you referring to the singer or the NY restaurant? [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 19:32, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

::He's referring to the manga, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. In it, Zeppeli asks Dio, "How many lives have you sucked away to heal those wounds?" Dio responds, "Do you remember how many breads you've eaten in your life?" [sic] [[Special:Contributions/172.69.54.63|172.69.54.63]] 21:29, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

:::Ok, thanks. Would not have gotten that in a lifetime! Your IP addresses are very close to each other - do you two know each other, or is this particular manga more popular than one might think? [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 23:01, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

::::It’s definitely a well known manga, with numerous internet memes spawned from it. Personally, I’m experiencing a Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon with it since Team Fortress 2 just had an update including an outfit that looks like the main character Jotaro Kujo. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.211.82|172.68.211.82]] 04:34, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

:::::You thought it was Cueball, but it was me DIO![[Special:Contributions/172.69.63.103|172.69.63.103]] 22:54, 15 September 2019 (UTC)

I can relate way too much to this comic. Then again, I bet most of us here relate to xkcd in general, and are probably logically, socially inept, nerds. [[User:Linker|Linker]] ([[User talk:Linker|talk]]) 17:54, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

The last one of these was published a mere 15 comics ago. I assume this is becoming some sort of satirical how-to series.
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.211.112|172.68.211.112]] 22:46, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

:Nah, Randall has just returned to some of his old themes recently. Check out the categories! Oh, and should we try to get the numbers on how many apples an average guy eats in his lifetime? I fell like maybe we could just write it, as a fun fact. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 23:51, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

::As I pointed out in 1961, not so much "returning to old themes" with this topic, because he never really left it. Someone started a Social Awkwardness catagory (called "Social interactions" for some reason) after that last one, and I "quickly" zipped through all the previous comics to fill in the category. There were something like 5 in the two year "gap" there was supposed to be. :) Actually, as soon as I saw this one I rushed to ExplainXKCD to make sure this one was added, LOL! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:09, 6 April 2018 (UTC)

I would assume "Do you like apples" might be weird unless there is some apple context, but at least answerable. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 00:47, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

Noone else feels like this could be a reference to the - by now a few weeks old - news story in which the US president used a note on how to show human emotions to the vicitims of a massshooting? [[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 05:26, 5 April 2018 (UTC) I feel that way as well, it was my first thought upon reading. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.4|108.162.229.4]] 15:51, 5 April 2018 (UTC)
:Probably not given as the note just reminded him to show empathy, it wasn't a guide on how to handle human interactions.[[User:Mulan15262|Mulan15262]] ([[User talk:Mulan15262|talk]]) 14:03, 7 April 2018 (UTC)

The "I should go" reminds me of Mass Effect token phrase when ending dialogues. Could that be relevant to the post? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.61|162.158.111.61]] 13:07, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

I find it unlikely that Randall is referencing the highly misogynistic and socially problematic Adams in this comic, and frankly the assumption that he is indicates minimal familiarity with either author and their outside work.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.52|172.68.141.52]] 17:30, 5 April 2018 (UTC)
--[[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.52|172.68.141.52]] 17:30, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

and the post-it being titled "Normal Human Conversation" which implies the existence of other post-its with titles such as "Abnormal Human Conversation" or "Normal Cat Conversation".
Does it, really? If I find a recipe titled "Delicious French fries", should I expect recipes for "disgusting French fires" and "delicious Chinese fries" to be part of the book? "Abnormal" conversation presumably comes naturally to Cueball, so he does not need a note for that, and he is probably not trying to communicate with animals, so he does not need notes for that, either. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 06:35, 6 April 2018 (UTC)
: Absolutely agree. I removed that part. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 09:25, 6 April 2018 (UTC)

Reminds me of Donald Trump's cue notes for the meeting with students after the Florida school shooting in the Middle of February. Questions were e.g. '1. What would you most want me to know about your experience' and '5. I hear you'. Personally I am glad that a politician takes an effort and prepares. He should not be publicly shamed for this situation and possible social awkwardness per se (as long as he keeps positive and friendly attitude to people, what is not always the case) and I did not like the generally disapproving public reaction to the cuesheet and the questions on it. (I am not from the US.) Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.180|141.101.105.180]] 10:04, 6 April 2018 (UTC)

:Sorry, but Trump doesn't get a 'social anxiety" pass on that incident. When it comes to harassing private citizens, condemning immigrants, corporations or entire countries, races and ethnic minorities, trade pacts and trading partners, declaring who is "treasonous" or who needs to be executed, etc. he has no trouble speaking and seems to not even care what he says. The fact that he needs crib notes on how to be sympathetic and caring points to the fact that he is unfamiliar with those concepts. [[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 00:52, 8 April 2018 (UTC)
:I think Randall is autistic. It seems like exactly what someone with that would experience (also, in ''What if?'' he said something along the lines of "12 people is a generous estimate for me". [[Special:Contributions/172.70.34.164|172.70.34.164]] 18:16, 27 June 2021 (UTC)

2475: Health Drink

2021-06-17T01:43:59Z

172.70.34.164: /* Explanation */ added explanatory link

{{comic
| number = 2475
| date = June 11, 2021
| title = Health Drink
| image = health_drink.png
| titletext = You'd need to keep track of so many people! Would you use, like, Excel or something? Far too fancy for a simple country nanoenzyme developer like me.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a NANOENZYME. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic pokes fun at health fads, alternative medicine and the like. It points out that many such products will go out of their way to market themselves as legitimate and cutting-edge by using impressive-sounding scientific terms, yet fail to perform even the most basic part of actual science: running a randomized controlled trial to find out if the drink actually helps fight infections. When [[Cueball]] points this out, [[White Hat]] reacts as though this process is highly advanced and unreasonable, which clearly demonstrates that his product is either nonsensical or an active scam (or both).

{{w|Enzymes}} are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. For example, certain proteins aid digestion by breaking down large molecules. Every cell of the human body produces lots of enzymes; the suggestion that people may be lacking them is frequently used as a basis to peddle pseudoscientific products. Nanoenzymes are synthetic materials that perform similar functions to ordinary enzymes; although they may be useful for treating specific diseases and conditions, the average person will probably not find them beneficial. {{w|Amino acids}} are the chemicals that make up proteins, and therefore all natural enzymes are made from amino acids anyway. White Hat's claim use of the term is not particularly explanatory and is likely used to impress and bewilder his audience, so that they are more likely to buy the product.

The comic may reference the FDA's decision [https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2021/06/08/the-aducanumab-approval three days earlier] to approve a drug for Alzheimer treatment, without direct evidence of efficacy.

The title text further showcases White Hat's incompetence. First, he suggests keeping track of large numbers of people in a clinical trial by storing their data in {{w|Microsoft Excel}}, a popular spreadsheet application. Despite the insistence of many companies and government agencies throughout the years, [https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/excel-database-sonal-kanabar Excel is not a database], and it should not be used to store other people's personal and medical information. He then complains that Excel is too "fancy", and then calls himself a "simple country nanoenzyme developer" — this is a parody of the idiom [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SimpleCountryLawyer "simple country lawyer,"] a trained professional who pretends to be an average joe to garner sympathy. {{w|Nanomaterials}} are developed using specialized equipment in laboratories by people who are extremely well-versed in science; the notion of comparing one of these scientists to a 'simple country' ''anything'' is ludicrous, and the idea that they would find Excel daunting and overcomplicated is equally so. It's ironic that the person with the seemingly very complicated work and production would be unable to perform the simple procedures which Cueball has suggested in order to make his claims rigorous and supported with evidence. In this, White Hat is demonstrating his complete incompetence and lack of knowledge into what his product actually does.

==Transcript==
:[White Hat holding a bottle and standing next to Cueball]
:White Hat: My new health drink is packed with amino acid nanoenzymes that I designed to train your immune system to fight infections!
:Cueball: Can you give it to some people and see if they get sick less often?
:White Hat: Whoa, that sounds '''''way''''' too complicated.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]

Talk:2477: Alien Visitors

2021-06-17T01:08:51Z

172.70.34.164:

Good point, for those believing aliens help build the pyramids, if those aliens had already encountered say the MGM pyramid in Las Vegas, would they have helped people build a different kind of monument? Or it's stone pyramids regardless of the level of development? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.34.164|172.70.34.164]] 01:08, 17 June 2021 (UTC)