explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2816: Types of Solar Eclipse

2023-08-21T21:04:22Z

172.71.154.229:

{{comic
| number = 2816
| date = August 16, 2023
| title = Types of Solar Eclipse
| image = types_of_solar_eclipse_2x.png
| imagesize = 501x572px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The best place to be for a hug eclipse is a scenic natural area with good views and few clouds. The worst place to be is the lunar surface.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a DARK SHADOW OF A <s>DRAGONITE</s> ULTRA-NECROZMA THAT PERIODICALLY EATS THE SUN - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

There are various different types of {{w|solar eclipse}}. The comic purports to show and name a number of them, initially quite real and accurate before heading into traditional xkcd fantasticality.

The punchline is where he likens an eclipse to a 'hug' of the Moon by the Sun. This is of course, not practically possible. The Sun is about 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers away from the Moon (and Earth). Even if it was somehow moved into touching distance by advanced sci-fi tech or a terrible disaster, the Moon would vaporize on contact with the Sun's plasma, thus not allowing for any sort of hug. In fact, we would not live very long if this happened, as the Earth would also be baked by the Sun's light, then swallowed by its intense gravity.

In the title text, the hug eclipse is mentioned again, this time in regards to where the best location would be to observe the event. First, normal advice is given about how the best way to view the eclipse would be in a scenic and natural area, predicted to have few clouds at the time, from somewhere along the rather narrow 'track of totality' for the day. Then he mentions that the lunar surface would be the worst place to go in a solar hug - as it would be blasted with thousands of degrees of heat from the Sun.

A normal Sun-Moon-Earth eclipse seen from the Moon would either be ineffectual or perfectly normal 'night-time', depending upon your lunar location. A Sun-Earth-Moon eclipse, seen from the Moon would be far more than total (if sought for from the nearside face) due to the much larger size of the Earth blotting out much more of the background, although the 'circular sunset' that gives the fully eclipsed Moon a dull red illumination could be worth seeing.

{| class="wikitable"
!Label
!Image
!Occurs naturally
!Description
|-
|Partial
|Sun partly obscured by an offset occlusion
| Yes
|When the Moon passes between the Earth and part of the Sun's disk but is not perfectly aligned (for any or all observers), the 'shadow' will not cross the center of the Sun. The parts of a full eclipse before second contact and after third contact are also described as partial phases of the eclipsing event.
|-
|Total
|Sun entirely obscured by a slightly larger concentric occlusion
| Yes
|When the Moon is close to perigee (or assisted by the Earth being at aphelion) during an eclipse, the Moon's apparent size is slightly larger than that of the Sun and will cover the whole solar disc. This is an astronomically useful effect, as well as aesthetically interesting to look at, as observers can study solar prominences and the atmosphere of the Sun whilst not being blinded by the glare of the bright 'surface' of the star.
|-
|Annular
|Sun partly obscured by a slightly smaller concentric occlusion
| Yes
|With the Moon nearer its apogee (and/or the Earth at perihelion), the Sun has a larger angular size than the Moon and will not be totally covered even by the most central alignment of each body.
An eclipse can also be called "hybrid" (not illustrated in the diagram), by being seen as both Total and Annular by different observers. Those viewing at more extreme latitudes or more westerly/easterly (the eclipse being closer to dawn and dusk, local time) are viewing both Moon and Sun from slightly further away around the curve of the planet and, as such, the nearer Moon decreases in angular size proportionately greater than the much more distant Sun. Thus they may see annularity in the same eclipse for which others would see totallity.
|-
|Oblate
|Oval Sun obscured by a concentric circle, except for at the edges of its major axis
| No
|If the Sun were a grossly exaggerated oblate (or prolate) spheroid, for any reason, the equatorial (or polar) bulge might extend significantly beyond the original limits of totality, or the narrower radii fall beneath the limits of the nominally annular occlusion.
Here the Sun has a visibly pronounced ovality and the Moon a lesser one (but roughly at right-angles, to add to the disparity). As the current effects that might cause each body to be oblate act in roughly the same plane as each other (both Sun and Moon spin upon roughly the same axis, with respect to the background), it would take more than merely an extreme increase in each's rotation to duplicate this image - however either could be accomplished.
|-
|Interior
|Sun obscured at its edge by a thick ring, leaving its centre visible
| No
|When an occluding object visibly larger than the Sun has a significant hole in the middle, only the rim of the Sun is blocked in the manner of an inverted annular eclipse.
|-
|Cuboid
|Sun obscured by a square cross-section
| No
|In this example, the 'Moon' appears to be a cube-like shape, rather than spherical, thus eclipsing a square portion of the solar disk. It must be turned face-on to Earth (and Sun), as other orientations of a true cubic (or cuboid) object might cause a rectangular or even hexagonal 'shadow'. It is twisted in the other axis (to be a diamond, rather than aligned square), but this will always be a matter more of one's precise viewing point upon the surface of the Earth regardless of the orbital and rotational alignments.
This might be a reference to the video game {{w|Q.U.B.E.}}, where a massive, cube-like alien spaceship passes by the moon and threatens to hit the Earth.
|-
|Transverse
|Obscuring circle drawn as a perpendicular plane intersecting the Sun on a centre-line
| No
|This depicts the solar disc as two dimensional (and at an oblique angle) and the Moon (or its shadow) as a second 2D object somehow passing through the same space. This may be a spoof on the 'flat earth' explanation for the solar eclipse. The intersection of 2D objects in 3D space is the topic of a book, Flatland, that Munroe has referenced repeatedly, such as in [[721: Flatland]].
|-
|Saturnian
|Obscuring circle is given an oblique (shadow) ring system
| Yes, but not from Earth
|Probes sent to Saturn have captured images[https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/13101/spectacular-eclipses-in-the-saturn-system/] of this type of eclipse.
While it is theoretically possible that Saturn (and its rings) could eventually find itself in a position to cause a solar eclipse on Earth (and/or that Earth moves beyond Saturn, or that the Moon gains significant debris rings in its own right), this scenario does not appear to be likely any time soon.{{Citation needed}}
There are Saturnian moons that naturally travel behind their parent planet, but none currently known to be so far from Saturn that they would ever see the Sun and Saturn at similar apparent sizes, and no human is yet in a position to directly see such an effect by any currently available means.
|-
|Hug
|Obscuring shape is pinched over at both sides by the respective overlapping edges of the Sun
| No
|In this image it appears the Sun has extended its 'limbs' to affectionately hold the Moon, which might be problematic in several different ways.{{Citation needed}}
|}

In all these images, the solar disc does not actually have a solid Moon in front of it, but a semi-transparent shadow, more typical of the representation of the Earth's solar shadow as it passes across the face of the Moon in a {{w|lunar eclipse}}. This may be an additional part of the humour, but it is likely an artistic choice made to improve the diagrams' legibility.

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

:[Nine diagrams of solar eclipses are shown in a 3x3 grid layout. The first three are all real solar eclipses, the rest are all ficticious.]
:Caption: Types of Solar Eclipse
:[The Sun is partially covered by a similarly sized Moon:] Partial
:[The Sun is completely covered by a similarly sized Moon:] Total
:[The Sun is partially covered by a slightly smaller Moon, surrounding its shadow:] Annular
:[An oval 'sun' is mostly covered by a round Moon, except at the extremes of its distortions:] Oblate
:[Sun partially covered by a similarly sized 'moon', except for a hole in this moon's center:] Interior
:[Sun partially covered by a square 'moon'-shadow, turned by an arbitrary angle:] Cuboid
:[2D 'sun' being intersected with a 2D 'moon' at a perpendicular angle:] Transverse
:[Sun being partially obscured by a body that has a prominent multi-ring system:] Saturnian
:[Moon is pinched at the sides by the Sun behind it, as if being grabbed:] Hug

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Flatland]]

2783: Ruling Out

2023-05-31T20:25:16Z

172.71.154.229: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2783
| date = May 31, 2023
| title = Ruling Out
| image = ruling_out_2x.png
| imagesize = 295x396px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We were able to replicate and confirm prior authors' detection of a moon orbiting the Earth with high confidence.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a TECTONICALLY-ACTIVE BOT WITH SUBSURFACE OCEANS. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Most science studies are intended to discover new things. In astronomy, the goal is often to find different types of objects in space, or learn how astronomical objects are formed and behave.

But often from studying things that exist, we also learn about limits in the kinds of things that 'can' exist; when this happens, we say that we've ruled out these other phenomena.

Cueball lists a number of obviously impossible{{fact}} objects.

* "Earthlike stars": A play on "Earth-like planets" which scientists are very interested in finding. The Earth is not a star, hence stars cannot be Earthlike.
* "Exoplanets in our solar system": {{w|Exoplanet}}s are by definition not in our solar system.
* "Habitable zone quasars": while not certain by any means, {{w|habitable zone}}s around {{w|quasar}}s have absolutely '''not''' been ruled out.[https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ab1b2f/meta][https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/2364/1/012057/meta]
* "Stars with subsurface oceans": Because the temperatures inside stars are higher than that which can support the existence of liquids as we understand them, stars cannot have subsurface oceans.
* "Tectonically active black holes": Black holes do not have {{w|tectonic plate}}s, so they cannot be tectonically active. There are theories that neutron stars can exhibit tectonic-like movements, but the physics of the 'inside' of a black hole is thought to be so much different.

The joke is that you don't actually have to study anything to come to these almost patently obvious conclusions. The counter-proposals would need far more effort to even justify them as valid theories, by common understanding, and greater still to try to observe any supporting proof.

Some studies are also done to confirm the results of previous studies, to ensure that the conclusions were not mistaken or a fluke. The title text describes a study that was done to confirm the existence of a moon orbiting Earth, although this has been obvious for all of recorded history and most if not almost all of antiquity.

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

{{comic discussion}}

2782: Wikipedia Article Titles

2023-05-29T17:31:22Z

172.71.154.229: /* Explanation */ BLP

{{comic
| number = 2782
| date = May 29, 2023
| title = Wikipedia Article Titles
| image = wikipedia_article_titles_2x.png
| imagesize = 402x439px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I would never stoop to vandalism, but I'm not above discreetly deleting the occasional 'this article contains excessive amounts of detail' tag.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by MERYL STREEP'S SECOND SEAGULL. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Meryl Streep is a famous and often acclaimed actor, for whom there is definitely {{w|Meryl Streep|a Wikipedia article}} covering her biographic details. [[Randall]] apparently has little interest in reading about her. He appears to have slightly more interest in reading about seagulls, which on Wikipedia redirect to the {{w|Gull}} article, because "seagull" is a common colloquial synonym. We don't know how many articles appear in the depicted range of his interest levels in Wikipedia links he encounters.

Streep was a lead actress in a 2001 {{w|Delacorte Theatre}} production of {{w|Anton Chekhov}}'s play, ''{{w|The Seagull}}''.[https://playbill.com/article/the-seagull-opens-its-wings-in-central-park-aug-12-com-98105] Two more units down from "seagull", Randall suggests that a hypothetical Wikipedia link to "Meryl Streep (seagull)", which according to Wikipedia naming conventions would indicate a seagull named Meryl Streep, would be more interesting to him. A further three units beyond is a hypothetical link to an article about a "Meryl Streep Seagull incident", which while probably not conforming to Wikipedia's requirements for sufficiently descriptive article titles,{{acn}} might refer to a notable event which occurred during the production of the 2001 play. According to an [https://www.salon.com/2001/08/27/seagull/ August 27, 2001 article in ''Salon''], "a 40-ish man was found dead in the bushes from a single gunshot wound near the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, just yards away from where Philip Seymour Hoffman offs himself with a single gunshot wound every night as Konstantin Gavrilovich in Anton Chekhov's ''The Seagull.''" However, there is no hint of any direct connection between Streep and the deceased, and it is extremely unlikely that Wikipedia editors would create or allow an article with a title suggesting there may be, as that would violate their [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Biographies_of_living_persons biographies of living persons policy.]

Alternatively, such an article could be about an incident in which a seagull notably caused Meryl Streep problems, or a time when Meryl Streep notably caused problems for a seagull. Or perhaps both of these, or other variations, in multiple incidents as the ''final'' imagined wikipedia page is a {{w|Disambiguation (disambiguation)|'disambiguation page'}} of this, which is a further four units more likely to be clicked upon quicker. Disambiguation pages are only necessary when there are multiple notable articles of sufficiently similar names which must be listed with clarifying details to avoid confusion. However, the titles of disambiguation pages rarely appear in links, as you usually reach them as a result of a search for an ambiguous term such as "{{w|go}}".

The title text suggests that Randall is a Wikipedia {{w|Deletionism and inclusionism in Wikipedia|inclusionist}}, and is not above deleting editorial message boxes claiming that their article contains too much detail.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Chart title:] Hypothetical Wikipedia article titles
:[Chart subtitle:] Ranked by how quickly I would click on them

:[A vertical axis with eleven evenly spaced positions marked along it, without units or magnitudes]
:[An abbreviated arrow to the left of the axis indicates that downwards is:] More quickly
:[Alongside the topmost checkmark:] Meryl Streep
:[Alongside 2nd checkmark:] Seagull
:[Alongside 4th checkmark:] Meryl Streep (seagull)
:[Alongside 7th checkmark:] Meryl Streep seagull incident
:[Alongside 11th, and final visible, checkmark:] Meryl Streep seagull incident (disambiguation)

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Animals]]

2781: The Six Platonic Solids

2023-05-28T11:18:21Z

172.71.154.229: /* Explanation */ from the subreddit

{{comic
| number = 2781
| date = May 26, 2023
| title = The Six Platonic Solids
| image = the_six_platonic_solids_2x.png
| imagesize = 368x370px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Plato made the solids, and five were gifted to the mathematicians. But in secret Plato forged a sixth solid to rule over all the others.
}}

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

This comic imagines an alternate reality where mathematicians discover a new {{w|Platonic solid}} beyond the [https://sites.math.washington.edu/~julia/teaching/445_Spring2013/Paper_Euler.pdf exactly five proven to exist in three-dimensional space.] In four dimensions, there are six {{w|regular polytope}}s, five of which are analogous to the five in 3-D space, and a sixth which is analogous to the {{w|rhombic dodecahedron}}.

In the comic, [[Randall]] reveals the discovery of a new Platonic solid, called the "jorb", which appears to be a roughly conical shape with a round base, a triangular tip, and a rectangular extension at the bottom. Its surface also seems to have parallel grooves or ribs, which may indicate a curved surface. The jorb does not meet the criteria for a Platonic solid, in that the faces must all be {{w|regular polygon}}s of the same shape, and each vertex must join the same number of faces and edges. ([https://www.oglaf.com/annuitcoeptis/ Further detail.]) This could be a reference to the fact that [https://youtube.com/watch?v=_hjRvZYkAgA many regular polyhedra have only been discovered recently], most of which do not fit the naive understanding of a regular polyhedron, having irregular concave external faces, or being infinite or self-intersecting. The name "jorb" may be a reference to the {{w|Homestar Runner}} cartoon "A Jorb Well Done",[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C4ayBHTES0&ab_channel=PodstarRunner] with the shape bearing a resemblance to [http://www.hrwiki.org/wiki/Coach_Z Coach Z]'s hat.

The title text references the ''{{w|Lord of The Rings}},'' in which the "One Ring to Rule Them All" was forged in secret by {{w|Sauron}} to control the wearers of three magic rings given earlier to elves, seven given to dwarves, and nine given to humans, primarily by allowing him to know their location, letting him visualize the wearers and their surroundings, and by allowing him to impose his will on the wearers, which for arcane reasons only worked reliably on the rings given to humans (worn by the nine {{w|Nazgûl}}.) The joke is that Plato forged a sixth Platonic solid, the jorb, to rule the five he "gave" to mathematicians, similarly to how Sauron tried to rule the other magic rings' wearers in Middle-earth with his One Ring.

==Transcript==
:[Six geometrical shapes are shown. All have gray surface areas with different shading to reflect their orientation. There is one shape in the middle with the other five arranged around it roughly in a pentagon. With two at the top, two just below the central and one directly below the central shape. Each shape has a label. The five above the bottom one are names after the platonic solids, and are drawn to look like them. The last one at the bottom has a roughly conical shape with a round base, a triangular tip, and a rectangular extension at the bottom. It surface also seems to have parallel grooves or ribs. Here the labels in reading order with the four rows mentioned above used.]
:Cube
:Dodecahedron
:Icosahedron
:Octahedron
:Tetrahedron
:Jorb

:[Caption below the comic:]
:Mathematicians long believed there were only five platonic solids, all regular polyhedra, until this year's discovery of the Jorb.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Geometry]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:LOTR]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

User talk:ClassicalGames

2023-05-15T23:51:00Z

172.71.154.229:

You can create pages.

I've changed my password for you. [[User:ChristmasGospel|ChristmasGospel]] ([[User talk:ChristmasGospel|talk]]) 23:00, 8 May 2023 (UTC)

:Thank you. You can change your password back and continue to use your own computer. [[User:ClassicalGames|ClassicalGames]] ([[User talk:ClassicalGames|talk]]) 07:28, 9 May 2023 (UTC)

- Don't wait for him to acknowledge. He would ignore your post.

:: Done! [[User:ChristmasGospel|ChristmasGospel]] ([[User talk:ChristmasGospel|talk]]) 22:54, 9 May 2023 (UTC)

User talk:Malgond

2023-05-13T22:54:11Z

172.71.154.229: /* Terrible spam attack on your user page */

Hey, thanks for replying to my table project. I wanted to let you know that I replied to your comment:
>''[...] ... I think it shall be somehow reflected in the table. For example: one column for Message (a value always present), another for Item name (may be empty) and another for Effect (may be empty). Unfortunately, the spreadsheet does not contain the kind of visual representation (a dot, a star, a star with a dot inside, or none at all).''
Yeah I noticed that too, but tbh I don't think it's SO important that needs to be included in the table or even in the entire page. Also, it would be very time-consuming.
> ''the Explanation column is currently a short description (of a planet) and some of its features, the way to get there, only sometimes containing an explanation of what the planet name refers to. These should be separate.''
I don't think they should be separate, because it would mean that the table would get even bigger and navigating it would be harder. You're welcome to add any information in the explanation section, as I'm not editing its contents.
> ''explanation for the Message/Item of "11 squares packed into a larger square" shall have a reference to [[2740:_Square_Packing]] and a short description of the mathematical problem involved.''
I totally agree, and as I said in the initial message (above the table), I plan on adding item-specific explanations next to the item "names".
> ''I also think we may need separate tables for planets (with very general descriptions and directions), features on the planets, possibly one table per planet (containing architecture, vegetation, animals, people etc. - if worth noting or there's some pun or reference), items and messages to be collected by the player (maybe one per planet), and for words spoken by the people and messages written somewhere (again, only if they contain a pun or a reference).''
I'm sorry but the amount of effort I'm putting in this ''"simple"'' table is already IMMENSE. I hope you understand that this would probably require dozens of hours between exploration and formatting. I won't be doing that myself, that's for sure :)

By the way, do you know where to find the coordinates of each planet? Thanks, [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 13:58, 29 April 2023 (UTC)

== Cosmetic suggestion ==

All those <code><nowiki>[[wikipedia:Page_link|Link text]]</nowiki></code> examples, in your rapidly expanding table 'sandboxing', would fit better (from an editing POV) with the {{template|w}}-template we try to use universally for wiki links. Such as <code><nowiki>{{w|Page link|Link text}}</nowiki></code>. (Noting also that the underline/space issue is largely irrelevent in both, under most circumstances, with pipe-delimiting. It's only <code><nowiki>[url://server/various_folders/whatever_filename.html Full URLs space-delimitered from any Link Text]</nowiki></code> where such things as underlines (<code>&amp;</code> reserved-character escaping!) needs quite so much strict honouring at all.)
 Not worth revising all of what you're building up, but if you're making future changes (or ever decide to copy and paste it elsewhere), you might want to try transitioning some/all. Then check the Preview, to make sure you haven't mixed up <code><nowiki>[external_page blah text]</nowiki></code>, <code><nowiki>[[internalised page|blah text]]</nowiki></code> and <code><nowiki>{{w|Wiki Page Title#Optional section|blah text}}</nowiki></code> formats!
 There's also similarly templated {{template|wiktionary}} and {{template|tvtropes}}, amongst others, should you need them. Used right, they make the page source that little nicer to review and keep correct, I find. YMMV. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.152|172.70.91.152]] 10:20, 12 May 2023 (UTC)
:Thanks, I've tried the {{template|w}}-template once, but it didn't seem to work (maybe I've made some trivial mistake), so I switched to another method. Will try again.
::Quick way, if you have the Wiki page that you broadly want already open:
::* Select and copy the main page header/title, e.g. "Leonhard Euler"
::* Put it in the "x" position of "<nowiki>{{w|x}}</nowiki>" ('w' template, told to go to 'x'), to produce {{w|Leonhard Euler}}
::* Optionally add second pipe-separator to add link text where "y" is in "<nowiki>{{w|x|y}}</nowiki>", to produce {{w|Leonhard Euler|a link by other text}}
::* Always a good idea to Preview the edit, and (if you think necessary) follow the nicely-looking/working-looking link (as a new tab/whatever, so you can then come back and Save Changes without fuss) to make sure. I occasionally make stupid errors. Like forgetting the vital "w|" part!
::If you don't have the page already open, but are vaguely sure you have the right idea for a link:
::* Do a "<nowiki>{{w|x}}</nowiki>" (or with "|y" text added) for your chosen "x", e.g. "Euler"
::* Preview it, as above, and follow link as new tab.
::* If you find that it's wrong (not found, entirely wrong thing), vague (sent to disambiguation page) or redirected (''"Euler" redirects here. For other uses, see Euler (disambiguation)'') then you can now find the exact right page, if you're not re-landed there already, and copy that page's title to paste in and rePreview/refollow unless you're happy that you made it good.
::*In this case, it would be a case of "Euler"->"Leonhard Euler", and you ''can'' leave it (if you're happy it does what you need), but there's nothing lost by pasting in the end-point title, usually.
::**People tend to change jump-to-redirect links to jump-to-redirected ones, if they find one; could not have been redirect->redirected link when first authored, even.
::If I want a subsection-anchor link, it takes a bit more thought. And there may be better ways of doing it, but I personally do this:
::* Go to the page I want (straight off new tab, or via intermediate Preview)
::* Look at the Contents section
::* Click on the section/subsection I desire, e.g. under "Contributions to mathematics and physics" the "Physics, astronomy, and engineering" subsection
::** I almost certainly then ''could'' just copy the (sub)header concerned and add it as an #anchor to the "|x|" bit (and might even directly need to if there ''is no'' Table Of Contents, but section headers), but occasionally this isn't quite right, so instead..
::* Copy the address-bar you get (in this case https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonhard_Euler#Physics,_astronomy,_and_engineering is what I got)
::* Put it into the "|x| bit.
::* Strip it down to just the "title#subtitle" bit, e.g. "Leonhard_Euler#Physics,_astronomy,_and_engineering"
::* Optionally (or at least it is if you already have a "|y" replacement text bit, otherwise it's advisable to do, ''or'' [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2637:_Roman_Numerals&curid=25387&diff=312758&oldid=310491 supply a 'copycat' "|y"] that looks more right...) change the underlines to spaces, and possibly replace other 'websafe' encodings with their valid 'normal' characters
::* You now have a link like {{w|Leonhard Euler#Physics, astronomy, and engineering}}, which may or may not be sufficiently demonstrable, or perhaps you'd prefer it {{w|Leonhard Euler#Physics, astronomy, and engineering|with the link text changed}}...
::** Note that following either of ''those'' links give the revised 'websafe' URL of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonhard_Euler#Physics.2C_astronomy.2C_and_engineering with the ".2C"-websafing applied on top, another level of meta-encoding you can edit down, if you somehow have accumulated
::* Obviously do a final test Preview and test New Tab if you're not both confident ''and'' in a rush (which is often when I make big errors that someone else has to correct!)
::...But this is just my own way of keeping myself (usually) on the right road for an edit.
::As long as I remember it's [] for a URL (with optional space+alt text), [[]] for a ''usually'' internal wikilink (with optional pipe+alt text) and {{}} to invoke a template 'shortcut' container, e.g. the "w" one with pipe+title[#etc] (and optional pipe+alt text).
::Also, <code><nowiki>{{w|link}}s</nowiki></code> (like the <code><nowiki>[[longer:link]]s</nowiki></code> it shortcuts), and possibly some other like variations, behaves like the more long-hanx <code><nowiki>{{w|link|Links}}</nowiki></code>, by various forms of wikimedia-magyck. Makes no difference to the page output, how you do it, but if you like a certain style of readability in the edit-level page source then it might be something you'll be happy to adopt.
::HTH, and obviously there are probably other opinions, but this is just my own personal boiling down of the options available! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.101|172.70.90.101]] 15:41, 12 May 2023 (UTC)

== Terrible spam attack on your user page ==

Recently, there has been a whole lot of spam on your user page. Would you mind asking the moderator to semi-protect your page? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.229|172.71.154.229]] 22:54, 13 May 2023 (UTC)

User talk:ColorfulGalaxy

2023-05-11T07:12:35Z

172.71.154.229: Added link

==12==
Hi, what happens in [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:ColorfulGalaxy&curid=25508&diff=301086&oldid=292141 12 edits]? Have a life-changing day in a good way! —[[User:While False|While False]] ([[User:While False/explain xkcd museum|'''museum''']] | [[User talk:While False|talk]] | [[special:Contributions/While_False|contributions]] | [[special:Log/While_False|logs]] | [[Special:UserRights/While_False|rights]] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:While_False&printable=yes printable version] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:While_False&action=info page information] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere/User:While_False what links there] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:RecentChangesLinked&days=30&from=&target=User%3AWhile_False related changes] | [https://www.google.com Google search] | current time: {{CURRENTTIME}}) 21:56, 11 December 2022 (UTC)

: I meant that I need 12 more edits to get [[explain_xkcd:Autoconfirmed_users|autoconfirmed]] so I can create more pages in my user page. The computer that I'm using runs awfully slow. My other computer blocks CAPTCHA automatically. [[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 07:51, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

::Cool —[[User:While False|While False]] ([[User:While False/explain xkcd museum|'''museum''']] | [[User talk:While False|talk]] | [[special:Contributions/While_False|contributions]] | [[special:Log/While_False|logs]] | [[Special:UserRights/While_False|rights]] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:While_False&printable=yes printable version] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:While_False&action=info page information] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere/User:While_False what links there] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:RecentChangesLinked&days=30&from=&target=User%3AWhile_False related changes] | [https://www.google.com Google search] | current time: {{CURRENTTIME}}) 07:58, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

::: I just made it! Thanks for confirming my account! Now I can stop using that slow computer. --[[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 09:08, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

== Google search link ==

A couple of times, recently, you provided a Google search link to something. I don't like following those (with their "q=..." stuff and hangover metadata in other POST data) when you could perhaps give the direct link you intend instead?

i.e. right-clicking on the Google page's item and copying that link is wasteful (and not ''always'' correct), you should instead follow the link you intend and then copy the true address (if proven to be what you wish) from the address-bar. And, even then, best to cut away any "&referer=..." type stuff (and retest the cut down link!) so that everyone who follows you has a bare-bones link that works without having to mess with reconstructing the metadata that means "<nowiki>http://whatever.com/foo/bar/baz.html#indexpoint</nowiki>", or howsoever it should resolve.

Just a tip. To streamline and not unneccessarily obfuscate the use of your contributions... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.77|172.70.91.77]] 15:15, 15 December 2022 (UTC)

== This is probably the first numbered comic whose title... ==

''Probably'' you could just confirm these claims, ''before'' making them? It seems easy enough to do, and you seem to have the time to do it. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.141|172.71.242.141]] 23:25, 12 January 2023 (UTC)

==Help==
I need your help creating these pages and uploading the pictures I needed. Please, please, you know that we are close friends IRL. --[[User:ChristmasGospel|ChristmasGospel]] ([[User talk:ChristmasGospel|talk]]) 20:34, 20 January 2023 (UTC)
:Look, [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User_talk:ColorfulGalaxy&curid=25878&diff=305104&oldid=305057 this is clearly a stupid move] to try to look legitimate. If you're truly IRL friends then it could have waited for an IRL meeting (or whatever other social media blinks you have), at which point your 'friend' could have provided a lot more practical help without waiting for such silly messages. Laughable, really. But do as you're going to do, I'm sure I can't stop you from going through with this clear pretence to whatever end you're leading up to. And no apologies if I'm wrong, just pity. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.230|162.158.34.230]] 19:19, 21 January 2023 (UTC)

== So many broken links on your User page. ==

I presume you are fully aware that pretty much everything you're linking to on your User page is a dead link. Both internal and external ones (even inter-wiki). I presume you are also aware that your quite obvious use of multiple alts and logins is very visible. Either that, or you are remarkably unaware of third parties (with bad MOs) making so many terrible edits in some quite definitely targetted way.

Either way, you might want to just get things working how you want to get things working, and bring it all to fruition, and not leave us all hanging... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.57|172.70.85.57]] 13:39, 4 March 2023 (UTC)

== Who are the other CGs? ==

Do you know [[User:ConscriptGuide]], [[User:CarcassonneGuide]], [[User:ConceptisGallery]], [[User:ConscriptGallery]] and [[User:ChristmasGospel]]? [[User:AndroidTheLucario|AndroidTheLucario]] ([[User talk:AndroidTheLucario|talk]]) 05:54, 11 March 2023 (UTC)
:So it would seem that [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2293:_RIP_John_Conway&diff=308507&oldid=308506 this is you], as well, CG. The question we must all be wondering is why? Quite an army of alt-logins you seem to be building up, and the actions of the less nicely behaving ones (you know which I mean) don't exactly make me feel unconcerned about it.
:It wouldn't be so bad if you were doing useful edits or actually made your Conlang links into a working (and ideally relevant) reference system that we could all enjoy. But you seem to have no intent to do that. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.224|172.70.85.224]] 06:38, 14 March 2023 (UTC)
::The neography reproducing project involves uploading a lot of images, mostly vector images. If you would mind my uploading (Sorry I can't upload currently), then please consider opening a neography wiki on the fandom.com website. My account is used for introducing the [[:Category:Rhythm_Games|rhythm games]]. [[User:ChronoGames|ChronoGames]] ([[User talk:ChronoGames|talk]]) 06:58, 14 March 2023 (UTC)
:::Your explanation makes no sense... Your neography clearly has no real connection to xkcd. The images required here should be xkcd ones (or derived material). You haven't shown absign of contributing any of those. One account (sufficiently validated) is enough to upload, as you'll already know. There's no connection to fandom.com, at all. That's not even a local category (like almost every other link around here, you leave it redlinked). You don't need to create many special logins for anything you have done (for the most part, I can do everything worthwhile for the site with no account at all, and you have a clear history of doing unworthwhile things with many accounts, a number of them now banned.
:::So I call bullshit. I've seen others try to help your 'new users' out, with things you've messed up (done it myself, see above) just to be ignored, and then it becomes clear that you continue with whatever game you think you're playing, under an expanding host of aliases. Not cool. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.151|172.70.91.151]] 13:02, 14 March 2023 (UTC)
::::See [http://langmaker.github.io/db/alp_a2z_index.htm this]. It looks like you're going to combine [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere/User:ConscriptGallery/tagline neography with XKCD quotes]. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.33|162.158.91.33]] 09:04, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
::::Someone had made a request on [http://conlang.fandom.com/wiki/Talk:Portal:Main?diff=196196&oldid=138343 this website]. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.98|172.69.134.98]] 09:49, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
:::::Nothing much to do with here, though, is it? Do it on that site, if it's what they talk about. Or wait for Randall's future comic that ''specifically'' sparks a need here and then Explain it as succinctly or fully as you necessarily feel like you can. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.62|172.71.242.62]] 12:52, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
:The "CG" initial is a requirement for admission in ColorfulGalaxy's group. However, ColorfulGalaxy doesn't want to be referred to by the initials, as a chatbot with nearly the same initials (There are two extra capital letters after the G) came up. [[User:ClassicalGames|ClassicalGames]] ([[User talk:ClassicalGames|talk]]) 06:17, 14 April 2023 (UTC)
::There is actually a successful request to creating a neography wiki, the link is . (or click ) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.229|172.71.154.229]] 07:12, 11 May 2023 (UTC)

== Glossary page ==
Could you create [[User:ConscriptGlossary/Ligature]]? It's related to a recent comic and it is also part of the neography project.

Talk:1757: November 2016

2023-05-11T03:01:29Z

172.71.154.229: undefined

Ok transcript hopefully complete, but please check it over, as I did it while tired and staying up late waiting for the election results. [[User:Wyrme|Wyrme]] ([[User talk:Wyrme|talk]]) 05:43, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

: Spoiler alert: Trump won. --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 16:16, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

The main idea of the comic is stated in the first sentences "If they're [age], you say: "Did you know [thing] has been around for the majority of your life?"
The majority of your life means "more than half your life". For each of the age stated in the comic, something that happened more than half the age ago is stated.
As an example for the first two:
Grand Theft Auto IV was released in 2008, which is 8 years ago. More than 8 years is at the same time more than half of 16 years, which means "the majority of a 16 year old's life"
The next one goes for Rickrolling, which is "a prank and an Internet meme involving an unexpected appearance of the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song 'Never Gonna Give You Up'. The meme is a type of bait and switch using a disguised hyperlink." according to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickrolling wikipedia]. Even if the first reference is from 2007, the same Wiki page says that 'By May 2008, the practice had spread beyond 4chan and became an Internet phenomenon'. May 2008 is more than 8 and a half years ago which is more than half of 17 years.
It goes on and on, with "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters" which is a 2007 American Flash animated surreal comedy film", which again is more than 9 years ago and so on.
Sorry if I'm not clear enough but I hope you got it.
[[User:Anarhistu|Anarhistu]] ([[User talk:Anarhistu|talk]]) 11:19, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

: Yeah, the "majority part" is a bit confusing. I looked up 35 and saw "The Matrix" and I was like "wait, that didn't come out 35 years ago?!". Well, it didn't and that's not what the comic implys. However, it has been around for a MAJORITY (= more than half) of my life. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.202.141|162.158.202.141]] 12:37, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

I'm only 32, but saddened at the entry for 40. C&H was (and still is) one of my favorites. I say we all just take off today and play some Calvinball. Who's with me? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.69.100|162.158.69.100]] 12:48, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

There is this last thing "over 41, we don't care" which I cannot really explain. Maybe the 40+ year olds seen all of these later in their life but why stop at this point? (which is around 1996, according to the "rules")? The internet has been around since way before that and if we take the first popular browser this was about 1993 or so. That would take us to 46. Is there any specific event which might be a reason to stop at 41? [[User:Anarhistu|Anarhistu]] ([[User talk:Anarhistu|talk]]) 13:12, 9 November 2016 (UTC)
: No, people above 40 already feel old, no need for a chart --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.204|162.158.88.204]] 13:18, 9 November 2016 (UTC)
::Jurassic Park, Mrs. Doubtfire, Robin Hood Men In Tights [[Special:Contributions/162.158.69.100|162.158.69.100]] 13:21, 9 November 2016 (UTC)
:::He has previously stopped at a given age and stated that anyone older should feel old already --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:43, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

But if I look in x years, then the entry at current age + x will have been there for (current age +x)/2 + x years, so if I look at it again after my age has doubled, the thing has been there for my entire life.
--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.204|162.158.88.204]] 13:17, 9 November 2016 (UTC)
:Sorry your are completely wrong. If you are 20 now and look at something happening 10 years ago. Then when you are twice as old (40) you look at the same ting and that will then be 30 years old. It will always be 10 years younger than you. There was a mistaken explanation of the title text saying something like what you say, and now I have corrected it. He just means that if you show them this chart again when their age has doubles, you can say that this chart has now existed in the majority of your life. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:43, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

Heh. Randall isn't always prompt in posting new comics early on M/W/F, but this one went up promptly at 12:01am. He deserves to be embarrassed after the communist comic he posted on Monday. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.55.83|172.68.55.83]] 13:31, 9 November 2016 (UTC)
:How the hell did you make out Clinton to be a communist? It's Trump who likes Putin, where Clinton would be more against him... I guess he just thought people needed something that could distract them from the election, since most of his readers (especially after his previous comic) would have rooted for Clinton because of their fear that Trump won. On the other hand most people probably feels old today, after the election, so in that way the comic is a bit of a waste... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:43, 9 November 2016 (UTC)
::Sorry, but we Americans disagree with you. Too bad, so sad. {{unsigned ip|172.68.55.83}}
::: Actually, we Americans chose Clinton, probably by a margin of >1M votes once CA and OR finish counting. [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 22:40, 11 November 2016 (UTC)
::::Almost three million, as it turned out; the margin in the popular vote was greater than the entire population of Chicago. [[User:Whoop whoop pull up|Whoop whoop pull up]] ([[User talk:Whoop whoop pull up|talk]]) 18:04, 4 January 2018 (UTC)

I don't understand how this is supposed to work. If I wanted to make someone feel old, I would pick an event that they think is fairly ancient and tell them: "do you realize you're *more* than twice as old as this?" Here, Randall does the opposite, he says: "did you know you're *less* than twice as old as this", so what? E.g. "Twitter has been around for a majority of your life" is true of anyone who is 0 to 20, so how is it supposed to make a 20-year-old feel old? Did Randall get his comic backwards or am I missing something?
Zetfr 14:26, 9 November 2016 (UTC)
:The idea is that you don't pick events that they think are ancient, you pick events that they think are recent. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.222.138|162.158.222.138]] 16:46, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

The explanation says "The titletext points out that the same chart can be used for the same person much later in their life. However, the major event shifts earlier and earlier into their life; when their age has doubled, the event in the chart has happend in the year of their birth." This makes no mathematical sense - the major event would shift earlier ''into their life'', but not ''in time'', and would remain the same distance from their birth year. What is probably intended is that now ''the chart itself'' will be around for a majority of their life (though I agree with the above commenter that it would probably make one feel young, not old). --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.10.90|172.68.10.90]] 14:54, 9 November 2016 (UTC)
:Exactly, what I wrote above to the other comment on this, and I have tried to correct it in the explanation. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:43, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

I fixed the rest of the blank explanations, such as Gmail, Nintendo Wii, and others. Please fill in the 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force', as I was not able to find information about it anywhere and I have not seen that show, nor the movie itself, so I cannot answer. --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 15:14, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

Actually Randall may be wrong with some of those entries at the current moment. Let's say that somebody is 19 years old, but their 20th birthday is on the 10th of November. The entry for their age is the Nintendo Wii which came 9 years, 11 months and 20 days ago (as of November 9), which is not more than half of the subject's age. I think this occurs on quite a few of those entries, so either the chart is intended to be addressed only to people during their birthdays, or one can make fun of any geek who parades this list for not being rigorous with their maths. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.35|108.162.246.35]] 15:38, 9 November 2016 (UTC)
: That's pretty pedantic. We're so close to the end of the year that we can reasonably assume it means "people who turned X years old in 2016" [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.165|141.101.98.165]]
::I think he just goes for events that is approximately half as old as the person. Only error he seems to have made is with the Matrix, which came when the 35 years old of today was 18, and it has thus only been in their life about 17 years. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:43, 9 November 2016 (UTC)
:Pedantic? This is xkcd we're talking about. Not only that there's a post commenting on this comic's timing regarding the MWF pattern, as on every other similar comic, a fact that should be taken even less seriously, but Randall has greatly shown his support of pedants partly by repeatedly depicting them as empowered in his comics. I think that pedants have to either take responsibility for their demeanour or admit to the fact that their peculiarity does not even have the tradeoff of accuracy it should have. In other words, anyone who bothers others with a list like this better have precise information to offer if they expect to have any reason not to waste others' time. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.35|108.162.246.35]] 05:25, 10 November 2016 (UTC)

36 years old: Half-life has been around half of your life.
18000 years old: Half of the curium-250 atoms have been around half of your life. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.82|108.162.219.82]] 17:58, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

You might be old if you remember watching the Berlin Wall being torn down on television.
You would be even older if you remember reading about the Berlin Wall at the time it was being built.
I remember both ... I read about the wall being built in elementary (primary) school current events. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 21:30, 9 November 2016 (UTC)
:Interesting, but not strange, to bring that wall up today. Since it is today the anniversary for it's destruction in 1989 (17 years ago so would have been good for the 34 years old). And very ironic that a man is then elected on this very day who has promised to build and even bigger wall between his country and another. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:14, 9 November 2016 (UTC)
: If you want to feel really old, just remember that The Hoff sang "Looking for Freedom" in front of the Berlin Wall. ;) [[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.242|198.41.242.242]] 11:01, 10 November 2016 (UTC)
: Correction, 1989 is 27 years ago, half the life of a 54 year-old [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 15:02, 10 November 2016 (UTC)
:::Speaking of 1989, Taylor Swift's musical debut would be a viable alternative to the Wii RTM. [[User:Whoop whoop pull up|Whoop whoop pull up]] ([[User talk:Whoop whoop pull up|talk]]) 18:04, 4 January 2018 (UTC)
::Auch I feel old now, that I could make such a mistake. Thanks for correcting it. But at least I'm not 54 yet, but I do remember the day very well. Just happy Randall raised the bar since his movie ages, so my age is still on the list and so I'm not just in the "rest above 41 group" ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:06, 10 November 2016 (UTC)
::: It happened to me. Twice now, thanks to this comic. The first time was in grad school, when I was a student over the traditional age, Another student put out a survey which asked age at the end, offering various check boxes where I had to check the last one. I howled, "The next box is a pine box!" [[User:Ke4roh|Ke4roh]] ([[User talk:Ke4roh|talk]]) 18:46, 16 November 2016 (UTC)

Randall seems to be confused. If you think Twitter is young, then finding out that it's existed for a majority of your life would make you feel young. If you think Twitter is old, then of course it's been around for a majority of your life, it's old.

The right one would be: such-and-such has been around for less than 50% of your life.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.112|141.101.98.112]] 15:52, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

Grand Theft Auto IV was merely "popular"?
It set the record for highest first-day earnings across all media types until The Dark Knight was released that summer.
Fun fact: The Dark Knight was added to the National Film Registry last year (2020), along with Shrek. As of that year, there are six 2000s theatrically-released movies on the registry (Memento, Shrek, Real Women Have Curves, Brokeback Mountain, The Dark Knight, and The Hurt Locker).

Just thought I'd mention: the huge edit I did a few days ago was a mixture of fixing incorrect usage (e. g. verb-subject agreement), oddly formal language (was a previous editor perhaps a non-native speaker?), and mostly philosophical.

By philosophical, I mean this: a lot of the material I removed changed the purpose of this wiki (as I perceive it). It's ''Explain'' xkcd, not ''rate'' xkcd. A great deal of what I removed was the past editor saying how good he/she thought each age-reminder was, not explaining the meaning of it. I don't think I completely fixed the article, but I do think I ameliorated that. [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 01:56, 3 March 2022 (UTC)

Today is May 11th, the day of Deep Blue's victory. I guess it's the time for humans to fight back. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.229|172.71.154.229]] NaN:NaN, NaN undefined NaN (UTC)

User talk:ColorfulGalaxy

2023-04-26T08:39:45Z

172.71.154.229:

==12==
Hi, what happens in [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:ColorfulGalaxy&curid=25508&diff=301086&oldid=292141 12 edits]? Have a life-changing day in a good way! —[[User:While False|While False]] ([[User:While False/explain xkcd museum|'''museum''']] | [[User talk:While False|talk]] | [[special:Contributions/While_False|contributions]] | [[special:Log/While_False|logs]] | [[Special:UserRights/While_False|rights]] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:While_False&printable=yes printable version] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:While_False&action=info page information] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere/User:While_False what links there] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:RecentChangesLinked&days=30&from=&target=User%3AWhile_False related changes] | [https://www.google.com Google search] | current time: {{CURRENTTIME}}) 21:56, 11 December 2022 (UTC)

: I meant that I need 12 more edits to get [[explain_xkcd:Autoconfirmed_users|autoconfirmed]] so I can create more pages in my user page. The computer that I'm using runs awfully slow. My other computer blocks CAPTCHA automatically. [[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 07:51, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

::Cool —[[User:While False|While False]] ([[User:While False/explain xkcd museum|'''museum''']] | [[User talk:While False|talk]] | [[special:Contributions/While_False|contributions]] | [[special:Log/While_False|logs]] | [[Special:UserRights/While_False|rights]] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:While_False&printable=yes printable version] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:While_False&action=info page information] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere/User:While_False what links there] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:RecentChangesLinked&days=30&from=&target=User%3AWhile_False related changes] | [https://www.google.com Google search] | current time: {{CURRENTTIME}}) 07:58, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

::: I just made it! Thanks for confirming my account! Now I can stop using that slow computer. --[[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 09:08, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

== Google search link ==

A couple of times, recently, you provided a Google search link to something. I don't like following those (with their "q=..." stuff and hangover metadata in other POST data) when you could perhaps give the direct link you intend instead?

i.e. right-clicking on the Google page's item and copying that link is wasteful (and not ''always'' correct), you should instead follow the link you intend and then copy the true address (if proven to be what you wish) from the address-bar. And, even then, best to cut away any "&referer=..." type stuff (and retest the cut down link!) so that everyone who follows you has a bare-bones link that works without having to mess with reconstructing the metadata that means "<nowiki>http://whatever.com/foo/bar/baz.html#indexpoint</nowiki>", or howsoever it should resolve.

Just a tip. To streamline and not unneccessarily obfuscate the use of your contributions... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.77|172.70.91.77]] 15:15, 15 December 2022 (UTC)

== This is probably the first numbered comic whose title... ==

''Probably'' you could just confirm these claims, ''before'' making them? It seems easy enough to do, and you seem to have the time to do it. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.141|172.71.242.141]] 23:25, 12 January 2023 (UTC)

==Help==
I need your help creating these pages and uploading the pictures I needed. Please, please, you know that we are close friends IRL. --[[User:ChristmasGospel|ChristmasGospel]] ([[User talk:ChristmasGospel|talk]]) 20:34, 20 January 2023 (UTC)
:Look, [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User_talk:ColorfulGalaxy&curid=25878&diff=305104&oldid=305057 this is clearly a stupid move] to try to look legitimate. If you're truly IRL friends then it could have waited for an IRL meeting (or whatever other social media blinks you have), at which point your 'friend' could have provided a lot more practical help without waiting for such silly messages. Laughable, really. But do as you're going to do, I'm sure I can't stop you from going through with this clear pretence to whatever end you're leading up to. And no apologies if I'm wrong, just pity. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.230|162.158.34.230]] 19:19, 21 January 2023 (UTC)

== So many broken links on your User page. ==

I presume you are fully aware that pretty much everything you're linking to on your User page is a dead link. Both internal and external ones (even inter-wiki). I presume you are also aware that your quite obvious use of multiple alts and logins is very visible. Either that, or you are remarkably unaware of third parties (with bad MOs) making so many terrible edits in some quite definitely targetted way.

Either way, you might want to just get things working how you want to get things working, and bring it all to fruition, and not leave us all hanging... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.57|172.70.85.57]] 13:39, 4 March 2023 (UTC)

== Who are the other CGs? ==

Do you know [[User:ConscriptGuide]], [[User:CarcassonneGuide]], [[User:ConceptisGallery]], [[User:ConscriptGallery]] and [[User:ChristmasGospel]]? [[User:AndroidTheLucario|AndroidTheLucario]] ([[User talk:AndroidTheLucario|talk]]) 05:54, 11 March 2023 (UTC)
:So it would seem that [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2293:_RIP_John_Conway&diff=308507&oldid=308506 this is you], as well, CG. The question we must all be wondering is why? Quite an army of alt-logins you seem to be building up, and the actions of the less nicely behaving ones (you know which I mean) don't exactly make me feel unconcerned about it.
:It wouldn't be so bad if you were doing useful edits or actually made your Conlang links into a working (and ideally relevant) reference system that we could all enjoy. But you seem to have no intent to do that. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.224|172.70.85.224]] 06:38, 14 March 2023 (UTC)
::The neography reproducing project involves uploading a lot of images, mostly vector images. If you would mind my uploading (Sorry I can't upload currently), then please consider opening a neography wiki on the fandom.com website. My account is used for introducing the [[:Category:Rhythm_Games|rhythm games]]. [[User:ChronoGames|ChronoGames]] ([[User talk:ChronoGames|talk]]) 06:58, 14 March 2023 (UTC)
:::Your explanation makes no sense... Your neography clearly has no real connection to xkcd. The images required here should be xkcd ones (or derived material). You haven't shown absign of contributing any of those. One account (sufficiently validated) is enough to upload, as you'll already know. There's no connection to fandom.com, at all. That's not even a local category (like almost every other link around here, you leave it redlinked). You don't need to create many special logins for anything you have done (for the most part, I can do everything worthwhile for the site with no account at all, and you have a clear history of doing unworthwhile things with many accounts, a number of them now banned.
:::So I call bullshit. I've seen others try to help your 'new users' out, with things you've messed up (done it myself, see above) just to be ignored, and then it becomes clear that you continue with whatever game you think you're playing, under an expanding host of aliases. Not cool. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.151|172.70.91.151]] 13:02, 14 March 2023 (UTC)
::::See [http://langmaker.github.io/db/alp_a2z_index.htm this]. It looks like you're going to combine [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere/User:ConscriptGallery/tagline neography with XKCD quotes]. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.33|162.158.91.33]] 09:04, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
::::Someone had made a request on [http://conlang.fandom.com/wiki/Talk:Portal:Main?diff=196196&oldid=138343 this website]. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.98|172.69.134.98]] 09:49, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
:::::Nothing much to do with here, though, is it? Do it on that site, if it's what they talk about. Or wait for Randall's future comic that ''specifically'' sparks a need here and then Explain it as succinctly or fully as you necessarily feel like you can. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.62|172.71.242.62]] 12:52, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
:The "CG" initial is a requirement for admission in ColorfulGalaxy's group. However, ColorfulGalaxy doesn't want to be referred to by the initials, as a chatbot with nearly the same initials (There are two extra capital letters after the G) came up. [[User:ClassicalGames|ClassicalGames]] ([[User talk:ClassicalGames|talk]]) 06:17, 14 April 2023 (UTC)

== Glossary page ==
Could you create [[User:ConscriptGlossary/Ligature]]? It's related to a recent comic and it is also part of the neography project.

2767: Recipe Relativity

2023-04-25T19:23:05Z

172.71.154.229: /* Explanation */ unsourced speculation

{{comic
| number = 2767
| date = April 24, 2023
| title = Recipe Relativity
| image = recipe_relativity_2x.png
| imagesize = 303x332px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It says to cut the onions into 1/4" slices, but I'd better correct for length contraction.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an EDITOR MOVING AT 94% OF THE SPEED OF LIGHT. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In this comic, [[Randall]] is cooking a recipe found online. It took him much longer than the recipe said it would, and he concludes that this was due to {{w|time dilation}} as described in the theory of {{w|special relativity}}; that is, the recipe author was moving at 94% of the speed of light, causing relativistic effects, so that only 35 minutes passed for the author while 105 minutes passed for Randall. To calculate the 94% figure, he takes the recipe’s official duration (t’) and his actual duration (t), and then calculates what speed of light fraction would account for the cooking time difference.

Because there is no time dilatation within the same reference frame, the 35 minutes must have passed on the observer's watch who did not travel at 94% of the light speed. If Randall's hypothesis is right, it still took the original cook 105 minutes if he was similarly competent and equipped as Randall.

Randall is likely making fun of 3 related phenomena:
# '''His culinary amateurism''': Randall is making fun of himself by acknowledging it takes him a great deal longer to make a recipe than it apparently should, and then pretending to blame the (inferred) travel at near-lightspeed rather than his own culinary amateurism.
# '''His own pride that this culinary amateurism is better explained by a recipe author moving at 94% of the speed of light''': Randall is pretending to be so cocky that it’s not his skills that are to blame, but the hyperspeed of the recipe author. Finding absurd external reasons for personal shortcomings is funny, and calculating it to two significant digits is funnier.
# '''Online recipes that give optimistic time estimates''': Randall is also poking fun at online recipes that give an idealistically minimum amount of cooking time. The recipe author may assume an ideally (A) equipped kitchen, (B) skilled chef, and (C) chopped and prepared ingredients, such as canned or frozen beans instead of dried black beans which take over an hour to soak and cook.[https://i.ibb.co/sWJR8Vq/Screenshot-2023-04-25-6-28-35-AM.png]

The title text takes this even further, saying that because of {{w|Length contraction|Lorentz contraction}} caused by the recipe author moving close to the speed of light, he should use different sizes for the ingredients. In all likelihood, this wouldn't benefit the outcome of the recipe: in the case of the 1/4" onion slices in the title text, Randall would end up with 0.09" onion slices (≈3/32" or 2.2mm)—far too thin for most people's liking.

==Transcript==
:[In a small square panel the top part is written in black. It looks like a search from the internet and most of the top part of the browser is too small to be read. There are three small squares and a long rectangular address bar. To the right of the first small square which has a triangle inside it pointing down, there are two lines with unreadable text. Then followed by the second square, which are empty, and the address bar with a long line of unreadable text. Finally there are two lines of unreadable text before the last square which has a symbol inside it. Beneath this is a large header which can easily be read:]
:<big>Black bean burrito bowl</big>

:[Beneath this header there is a line with unreadable text, and below that line a thin empty rectangle. Beneath this are the second line of readable text. The last part indicating a time is circled in red. The readable black words are written in normal letters, as opposed to the standard of xkcd with all small caps.]
:Total time: 35 minutes

:[Beneath this there are three more lines of text, but this has all been written in red. Also it uses the standard xkcd all caps text format. The first line is normal text. And the last indication of time is also circled in red as the one above it, and a small double arrow goes between those two red lines around the time.]
:My actual time: 1h 45m
:[Below this there are two lines with equations written in math version, but here given here in text. The second equation is split over two lines. The last result is also circled in red.]
:t=t'/√(1-v2/c2)
:v=c*√(1-(t'/t)2) = c*√(1-(35/105)2) = 0.94c

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I think this recipe author is moving past me at 94% of the speed of light.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

Template:comic/sandbox

2023-04-24T02:06:27Z

172.71.154.229:

<includeonly><metadesc>Explain xkcd is a wiki dedicated to explaining the webcomic xkcd. Go figure.</metadesc><table class="{{{bodyclass|}}}" cellspacing="5" style="background-color: #FFFFFF;
border: 1px solid #AAAAAA; color: black; font-size: 88%;
line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0.5em 0 0.5em 1em; padding: 0.2em;
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margin: 0 4px; padding: 1.5px 0;"
class="plainlinks">[{{#ifexpr:{{{number|-1}}}>=1|https://www.xkcd.com/{{{number}}}/|http://{{{ldomain|www}}}.xkcd.com/{{{lappend}}}/}}Comic {{#ifexpr:{{{number|-1}}}>= 1|#|}}{{{number|}}} {{#if:{{{date|}}}|({{#replace:{{{date}}}| | }})}}]</li>{{#ifexist:{{#expr:{{{number|-2}}}+1}}|{{#ifexpr:{{LATESTCOMIC}}-{{{number}}}>0|<li style="background-color: #6E7B91;
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margin: 0 4px; padding: 1.5px 0;">[[{{#expr:{{{number}}}+1}}{{!}}Next >]]</li><li style="background-color: #6E7B91;
border: 1.5px solid #333333; border-radius: 3px 3px 3px 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 5px 0 gray;
display: inline; font-size: 16px; font-variant: small-caps; font-weight: 600;
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Salve o popolo d'eroi Salve o Patria immortale Son rinati i figli tuoi Con la fede e l'ideale 
Il valor dei guerrieri La vision dei pionieri La vision dell'Alighieri Oggi brilla in tutti i cuor 
Giovinezza, giovinezza Primavera di bellezza Nella vita e nell'asprezza Il tuo canto squilla e va 
Dell'Italia nei confini Son rifatti gli italiani Li ha rifatti Mussolini Per la guerra di domani 
Per la gioia del lavoro Per la pace e per l'alloro Per la gogna di coloro Che la Patria rinnegar 
Giovinezza, giovinezza Primavera di bellezza Nella vita e nell'asprezza Il tuo canto squilla e va 
I poeti e gli artigiani I signori contadini Con orgoglio di italiani Giuran fede a Mussolini 
Non v'è povero quartiere Che non mandi le sue schiere Che non spieghi le bandiere Del fascismo redentor 
Giovinezza, giovinezza Primavera di bellezza Nella vita e nell'asprezza Il tuo canto squilla e va 
Giovinezza, giovinezza Primavera di bellezza Nella vita e nell'asprezza Il tuo canto squilla e va 

This is the basic infobox-style header template used to display [[xkcd]] comics on their own pages, including the comic number (with external link to xkcd), publication date, title, comic image, and title text.

== Sample ==

The following is a sample usage of this template:
{{comic
| number = 16
| date = October 4, 2005
| title = Monty Python -- Enough
| image = monty_python.jpg
| titletext = I went to a dinner where there was a full 10 minutes of Holy Grail quotes exchanged, with no context, in lieu of conversation. It depressed me badly.
}}

== Usage ==

<pre>{{comic
| number =
| date =
| title =
| before =
| image =
| custom =
| imagesize =
| titletext =
| ldomain =
| lappend =
}}</pre>

=== Notes ===

* At least the number, title and image are required.
* The date should be written in the form: January 1, 2006
* The imagesize field is optional.
** The comic's '''width''' will be limited to the set size. Format must be in pixels (eg: "350px")
** The comic's '''height''' may be set by adding an 'x' to the start (eg: "x350px")
** Warning: If the size is larger than the image, the image will be stretched.
* '''before''' is a special field for inserting text before the comic. One use is for extremely large comics (e.g. [[Umwelt]]), to skip to the explanation.
* If the '''custom''' field is not empty, the image field will be ignored and be replaced with any text that you put in the '''custom''' field.
* if '''number''' is left undefined, most of the navigation bar will be disabled.
** '''lappend''' must be defined as <pre>...kd.com/'''lappend'''/</pre> to keep the link to xkcd.com valid.
** If the link is to eg. a blog post (blog.xkcd.com) '''ldomain''' can be defined as <pre>blog</pre> to change the subdomain in the link.

The above sample is produced by the following code:

<pre>{{comic
| number = 16
| date = October 4, 2005
| title = Monty Python -- Enough
| image = monty_python.jpg
| titletext = I went to a dinner where there was a full 10 minutes of Holy Grail quotes exchanged, with no context, in lieu of conversation. It depressed me badly.
}}</pre>

[[Category:Templates]]
</noinclude>

Template:sandbox

2023-04-14T08:04:48Z

172.71.154.229: Reverted edit by anti-bomb user

💣<includeonly><metadesc>Explain xkcd is a wiki dedicated to explaining the webcomic xkcd. Go figure.</metadesc><table class="{{{bodyclass|}}}" cellspacing="5"
style="background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA; color: black; font-size: 88%; line-height: 1.5em;
margin: 0.5em 0 0.5em 1em; padding: 0.2em; text-align: center; width:98%; {{{bodystyle|}}}"><tr><td><ul style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 10px;" class="no-link-underline"><li style="background-color: #6E7B91;
border: 1.5px solid #333333; border-radius: 3px 3px 3px 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 5px 0 gray;
display: inline; font-size: 16px; font-variant: small-caps; font-weight: 600;
margin: 0 4px; padding: 1.5px 0;">[[{{#expr:{{{number}}} - 1}}|< Prev]]</li><li style="background-color: #6E7B91;
border: 1.5px solid #333333; border-radius: 3px 3px 3px 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 5px 0 gray;
display: inline; font-size: 16px; font-variant: small-caps; font-weight: 600;
margin: 0 4px; padding: 1.5px 0;"
class="plainlinks">[http://www.xkcd.com/{{{number}}}/ Comic #{{{number}}} {{#if:{{{date|}}}|({{{date}}})}}]</li>{{#ifexist:{{#expr:{{{number}}} + 1}}|<li style="background-color: #6E7B91;
border: 1.5px solid #333333; border-radius: 3px 3px 3px 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 5px 0 gray;
display: inline; font-size: 16px; font-variant: small-caps; font-weight: 600;
margin: 0 4px; padding: 1.5px 0;">[[{{#expr:{{{number}}} + 1}}|Next >]]</li>|<li style="display: inline; font-size: 16px; margin: 0 4px; padding: 1.5px 12px;">                </li>}}</ul></td></tr>{{#if:{{{title|}}}|<tr><td style="font-size: 20px; padding-bottom:10px">'''{{{title}}}'''</td></tr>}}{{#if:{{{before|}}}|<tr><td style="padding-bottom:10px">{{{before}}}</td></tr>}}<tr><td>{{#if: {{{custom|}}} |{{{custom|}}}|{{#if:{{{image|}}}|[[File:{{{image|}}}|{{{imagesize|}}}|{{{titletext|}}}]]}}}}{{#if:{{{imagesize|}}}| [Click comic to enlarge]}}{{#if:{{{titletext|}}}| Title text: {{{titletext}}}}}</td></tr>{{{transcript}}}{{#if: {{{transcript|}}} |<tr><td style="font-size: 50px; padding-bottom:3px; padding-top:10px">Transcript<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">{{{transcript|}}}</div></td></tr>}}</table>{{DEFAULTSORT: {{padleft:{{{number}}}|4}}}}{{#ifeq:{{NAMESPACE}}|{{ns:0}}|{{#ifeq:{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{int:mainpage}}||[[Category:Comics]]{{#if:{{{date|}}}|[[Category:Comics from {{#time:Y|{{{date}}}}}]][[Category:Comics from {{#time:F|{{{date}}}}}]][[Category:{{#time:l|{{{date}}}}} comics]]}}}}|}}</includeonly><noinclude>
This is the basic infobox-style header template used to display [[xkcd]] comics on their own pages, including the comic number (with external link to xkcd), publication date, title, comic image, and title text.

== Sample ==

The following is a sample usage of this template:
{{sandbox
| number = 16
| date = October 4, 2005
| title = Monty Python -- Enough
| image = monty_python.jpg
| titletext = I went to a dinner where there was a full 10 minutes of Holy Grail quotes exchanged, with no context, in lieu of conversation. It depressed me badly.
| transcript= I went to a dinner where there was a full 10 minutes of Holy Grail quotes exchanged, with no context, in lieu of conversation. It depressed me badly.
}}

== Usage ==

<pre>{{comic
| number =
| date =
| title =
| before =
| image =
| custom =
| imagesize =
| titletext =
| transcript=
}}</pre>

=== Notes ===

* At least the number, title and image are required.
* The date should be written in the form: January 1, 2006
* The imagesize field is optional.
** The comic's '''width''' will be limited to the set size. Format must be in pixels (eg: "350px")
** The comic's '''height''' may be set by adding an 'x' to the start (eg: "x350px")
** Warning: If the size is larger than the image, the image will be stretched.
* '''before''' is a special field for inserting text before the comic. One use is for extremely large comics (e.g. [[Umwelt]]), to skip to the explanation.
* If the '''custom''' field is not empty, the image field will be ignored and be replaced with any text that you put in the '''custom''' field.

The above sample is produced by the following code:

<pre>{{comic
| number = 16
| date = October 4, 2005
| title = Monty Python -- Enough
| image = monty_python.jpg
| titletext = I went to a dinner where there was a full 10 minutes of Holy Grail quotes exchanged, with no context, in lieu of conversation. It depressed me badly.
}}</pre>

[[Category:Templates]]
</noinclude>

Template:sandbox

2023-04-07T00:48:31Z

172.71.154.229: remove my name and my real-life acquaintance's name

{{infobox
| bodyclass = vcard

| abovestyle = background-color:#BCD4E6;
| aboveclass = fn
| above = ᏆᎳᏗᎧᎶᎶᏇᏂᏤᏂ (English Version, Alternative Lyrics)

| labelstyle = line-height: 1.3em
| datastyle = line-height: 1.3em

| image = c6h4cl2.png
| caption = ''The Chaotic''

| label1 = Lyrics by
| data1 = [[User:Donald Amadeus Theophilus Gottlieb Trump|Donald ATG Trump]] 
>
| label2 = Music by
| data2 = Owata-P

| label3 = Arranged by
| data3 = Down Left Forte

| label4 = Vocals by
| data4 = The Donald Trump Vocaloid (TBD) Kagamine Len (TBD)

| label5 = In Album
| data5 = The Chaotic April Fools Day Special Album
}}
{{notice|'''Caution: This page may contain spelling issues.''' ''A hidden program may have scrambled some of the words while the lyrics were being copied to this website.''}}
what had I actually written this song for?

<tt>I̦</tt>ẈᏗᎧ̱ᎶᎶ̣Ꮗ̗ẖᏤẖ

and I sang without yet understanding the words in it

<tt>I̦</tt>ẈᏗᎧ̱ᎶᎶ̣Ꮗ̗ẖᏤẖ

I ran outward for seeking the answer to problems

ᏆᎳᏗᎧᎶᎶᏇᏂᏤᏂ

even though in advance I knew that there was nothing where I was to struggle toward

now lets sing now lets dance now lets move now lets chant now

<tt>I̦</tt>ẈᏗᎧ̱ᎶᎶ̣Ꮗ̗ẖᏤẖ

now lets cry now lets yell now lets shout now lets scream out now

<tt>I̦</tt>ẈᏗᎧ̱ᎶᎶ̣Ꮗ̗ẖᏤẖ

and the gogs and the cats and the bulls and the pigs and all

<tt>I̦</tt>ẈᏗᎧ̱ᎶᎶ̣Ꮗ̗ẖᏤẖ
: ''Jealousy and admiration''

now lets rage now lets rave now lets rant now lets rest now lets go the mortality way so
:<table style="display: inline-table; line-height: 0.6em; vertical-align:middle;text-size-adjust:none;"><tr><td style="float:right;">I am</td></tr><tr><td>me is</td></tr></table>going to fight with what?
:Take those I don't recognize as the bad and continue fighting with them.
:''JEALOUSY''


rules and convention are what I hate 
I just dont want to be tied up like that 
That's the reason why I fled and ran away 
thus forgetting the things happening aroundx 

''RULES''

Being told what to do is what I do ''HATE   HATE HATE'' hate 
A bit  ''BAD''Bad  is just what I I want to be a''BAD=JUSTICE'' 

Slipping out of the house in the deepest night 
Wandering carelessly in the the city streets
''I''  ''TREES TREES''

so what is the purpose of my living? 
I just talked with a stray ''cat''cat  about what I had thought 
But the cat, not replying with anything 
Just merely looked down upon me with his thorny eyes 

 After drinking up the C0FFEE that I'd never drink''i'' 
And looking up to the sky, which was cloudy''self-contradiction'' 

:''ENEMY''

:''Thinking ot justice, doing the bad.''

Now I do not know what I am able to do
:''In the end, I do not know that it is the same act and.''

Or care of my situation

and that is why I've been singing and shouting for so long

<tt>I̦</tt>ẈᏗᎧ̱ᎶᎶ̣Ꮗ̗ẖᏤẖ

Still I yell without yet understanding myself at all

<tt>I̦</tt>ẈᏗᎧ̱ᎶᎶ̣Ꮗ̗ẖᏤẖ

Are U able to be satisfied with what U already have

<tt>I̦</tt>ẈᏗᎧ̱ᎶᎶ̣Ꮗ̗ẖᏤẖ

Breaking rules, breaking laws—

In that case, what is that making any changes to U?

Now whoever it is;

I just open my heart to him

⍰⍰⍰⍰⍰⍰⍰⍰⍰⍰

Punish all the bad; in support of the justice

⍰⍰⍰⍰⍰⍰⍰⍰⍰⍰

Just relieving the stress; under armor of justice

⍰⍰⍰⍰⍰⍰⍰⍰⍰⍰

Such stupid behavior that we didnt notice, when others did stop in the way Ah
:''Self-satisfac''
:''My act was completely...''
:''Only completely putting pressure.''

Ah, this song hsant got any sense
:''Putting pressure of sin on unrelated things.''
:''Feel as if beheading monsters.''

This song has never got any sense

This song hasnt it had any sin
:''XX and anything related is what I am jealous of.''

This song has never had any sin

⍰⍰⍰⍰ hsant got any sense

⍰⍰⍰⍰ has never got any sense

⍰⍰⍰⍰ hasnt it had any sin

This song has got a sense of . . .
:''I have absolute right of justice and thus.''
:''Me has absolute right of justics and yhus.''

⍰⍰⍰⍰
:''I DO NOT WANT TO ADMIT''
:''Success from anyone other than me is bad.''
:''I DO NOT I DO NOT WANT TO ADMITWANT TO ADMIT''
:''Therefore, I continue to seek for those guys' faults.''
:''I DO NOT I DO NOT WANT TO ADMITWANT TO ADMIT''

It was not until then that I realise

That what I did experience was only hypocrisy
:''It's that it was all meaningless things.''

And the value of living is what on Earth?

The stray cat has suffocated deep under the water

I threw away that C0FFEE cup that's emptied 
And looked to the sky covered by the darkness 
:''Undifferent Hatred Fancy Disappointment Meangless''
:''[[83|KATAMARI]] OF SHlT''

Now I do not know what I have been doing

What happened in my surroundings

Still yet I've never ever known anything
:''Speaking low of those guys is my pleasure so...''
:''...so thi is why I repeat doing it.''

After that U did laugh at me Loudly and happily

<tt>I̦</tt>ẈᏗᎧ̱ᎶᎶ̣Ꮗ̗ẖᏤẖ

After that I did shove you out fiercely and angrily

<tt>I̦</tt>ẈᏗᎧ̱ᎶᎶ̣Ꮗ̗ẖᏤẖ

"I'm right, U are wrong End of discussion"

<tt>I̦</tt>ẈᏗᎧ̱ᎶᎶ̣Ꮗ̗ẖᏤẖ

U will now disappear Surrounded by nothingness, till I'm totally gone

So now it is time to look back on what U have done

<tt>I̦</tt>ẈᏗᎧ̱ᎶᎶ̣Ꮗ̗ẖᏤẖ
: ''But it is that I am now continuing repeating the same thing.''

Now lets laugh now lets mock now lets sneer now lets envy

<tt>I̦</tt>ẈᏗᎧ̱ᎶᎶ̣Ꮗ̗ẖᏤẖ

Even I, even U, and whoever, and all of them

⍰⍰⍰⍰⍰⍰⍰⍰⍰⍰

now lets rage now lets rave now lets rant now lets rest till were finally rotting away so

1757: November 2016

2023-03-21T09:03:06Z

172.71.154.229: xkcd refers to the whole collection of comics

{{comic
| number = 1757
| date = November 9, 2016
| title = November 2016
| image = november_2016.png
| titletext = Once you've done this, make a note of how old they were. Then, when their age reaches double that, show them this chart again.
}}

==Explanation==
This is yet another comic designed to [[:Category:Comics to make one feel old|make people feel old]], following soon after the last one [[1745: Record Scratch]]. Not so long ago a comic with the very title of the largest bold letters in the caption above the panel was released: [[1686: Feel Old]]. The next comic about feeling old, was released 11 months later, with a similar title, which is special in itself, [[1898: October 2017]] see more on both title and this follow up comic in the [[#Trivia|trivia]] section below.

Specifically this comic contains ''The '''November 2016''' Guide to making people feel old''. (The [[#Trivia|unusual title]] for the comic indicates that it only works during this month). It lists ages between 16 and 41 and links each age to one or more events that happened approximately half that age ago, so 8 years ago for the 16 years old and 20 years ago for the 40 years old etc, which means that a person of that age would have had the mentioned thing in their life for the majority of their life. And then it explains that to make a person of a given [age] feel old, look up the [thing] (or things) connected to it, and say:
:"Did you know [thing] has been around for the majority of your life?"
As an example the '''age 21''' can be used, as it list both the {{w|Xbox 360}} as well as [[xkcd]] itself. The two possible sentences would then be:
:"Did you know that the Xbox 360 has been around for the majority of your life?"
:"Did you know that xkcd has been around for the majority of your life?"

This matches earlier attempts to make people feel old by mentioning how long ago it was that, for instance, a movie comes out as was the case in [[891: Movie Ages]]. (But on this exact day when the comic was released there might have many people who did already feel old and tired - see [[#Trivia|trivia]]). When an event seems to have occurred recently to you, like seeing a movie when you were twenty (with ''{{w|Toy Story}}'') and then suddenly realizing that this was 21 years ago, you will very likely feel old. Since humans' perception of time is not related to how much time has actually passed but rather to important memories, then memories like seeing the first feature-length fully computer-animated movie (''Toy Story'') makes a big impression and may stay vivid in peoples' memories. When they then, after hearing the sentence from this comic, realize that more than half their life has passed since that event, they realize how much time has passed and that makes them feel old.

This is why it affects a 20-year-old to hear that {{w|Twitter}} is ten years old, where this will not have the same impact on a 16-year-old, since they were so young when it came out that they probably feel like it has been around for ever, and you do not feel old by hearing, for instance, something like that the TV was invented before you were born. It thus makes sense to pick something that happened almost midway through a person's life, because they then realize they are now double as old as when they first heard of Twitter. Of course also many ten years old would not have been active on Twitter when it was released, so it may not have that big an impact on those 20 years old today.

The joke at the end is that people over 41 don't need anything to make them feel old, because they already feel old. He thus teases people above 41 years old by claiming they are old, although many people (above 40) would claim you are not old before you retire. This trick was also used to cap the above mentioned [[891: Movie Ages]] to 35 years old, stating anyone as older was already old. But that comic was also released five years ago, and now Randall is himself closing in on 35 at 32 years at the time of this comics release. So he pushed the limit 6 years further, probably for this reason. Now he no longer thinks people at 36 are too old to try to make them feel old. It may be a coincidence, but still interesting, that he stopped the list just before 42, a number Randall has referred to many times in relation to it being the "{{w|Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything}}" in the {{w|Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}}.

The title text points out that the same chart can be used for the same person once they are twice as old. So it urges the user to note down the age of the person it was used on, and then wait until their age reaches double that. So for a 16-year-old that would only be 16 more years until they are 32, but for a 41-year-old it would have to wait until they are 82 years old. When showing them this chart, they will realize that this has existed for half of their life and again have the same type of "feeling old" that this comic is supposed to instigate today.(It will work better if they still remember the joke made on them those many years ago)...

==Table for the guide==
*Explanation of table:
**Person's age as given in the comic.
**Person's birth year. 2016 minus person's age.
**Date of things. For instance a release date, the year that a thing began/happened or a year where it became a phenomenon (in the USA).
**Things as given in the comic. There can be more than one "thing" for each age, so it should be things in plural form.
**Half age - Person's age divided by two, so either an integer or a halved integer (10 or 5.5). This number should never be higher than the last column, which is also the case, when taking release dates into account.
**Years ago - the number of years since the things became "a thing". In order for this thing to have been in a persons life for the majority of their life this need to be larger (or at least equal) than half that person's age. Therefore, this number should be larger than the previous column. If there is more than one thing for a given age, the average year for these things is taken and used to calculate the number of years. This number should be given with a decimal, and is not necessarily in whole or half years. Only one of the entries is more than one year higher than the half age. This has been highlighted in '''bold'''.

{| class = "wikitable"
! Age
! Birth year
! Date of things
! Things
! Explanation
! Half age
! Years ago
|-
| 16
| 2000
| April 29, 2008
| ''{{w|Grand Theft Auto IV}}''
| Popular video game published by {{w|Rockstar Games}}; the 11th title in the ''{{w|Grand Theft Auto}}'' series. The games are often rated as Mature (and thus aimed at adults) and this entrance should not really affect 16 year olds, who may have tried the game now, but should not have played the game when they were only 8 years old.
| 8
| 8.5
|-
| 17
| 1999
| May 2007
| {{w|Rickrolling}}
| A prank and internet meme involving an unexpected appearance of the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song "{{w|Never Gonna Give You Up}}", a bait and switch which has been [[:Category:Rickrolling|referred to often]] in xkcd. Since this was aimed at people who knew the song (from 1987) and were online (mainly young adults in 2007), this entry should not really affect 17 year olds who are unlikely to have been rickrolled when they were only 8.5 years old.
| 8.5
| 9.5
|-
| 18
| 1998
| April 13, 2007
| ''{{w|Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters}}
| American Flash animated surreal comedy film based on the {{w|Adult Swim}} animated series ''{{w|Aqua Teen Hunger Force}}''. This seems to be a joke, as both this movie and the one it was based on are for adults, and the people this targets would only have been 9 when it was released, and probably won't recognize the reference. The joke will fail, because they will not feel old. Very few people have ever heard of this movie, which is probably part of the joke.
| 9
| 9.6
|-
| 19
| 1997
| November 19, 2006
| The {{w|Nintendo Wii}}
| 2006 is the time when the Nintendo Wii was released, with the Wii dominating 2006-2012. Ten year olds were likely to play Wii, and thus as 20 year olds remember and be surprised at how long it is since the first time, and feel old. This is the first entry that might actually work.
| 9.5
| 10.0
|-
| 20
| 1996
| March 2006
| {{w|Twitter}}
| 2006 was a big year. Twitter was created. There were probably only a few 10-11 year olds that used Twitter in the first year of its release, and thus not many twenty year old people today would have been active on Twitter at the very beginning. This will only make that minority of people feel old.
| 10
| 10.7
|-
| 21
| 1995
| November 22, 2005 (Xbox 360), September 30, 2005 (xkcd)
| The {{w|Xbox 360}}, {{w|xkcd}}
| 2005 saw the creation of the Xbox 360, another successful console. [[Randall]] also decided to throw in a 'reference joke', referring to the fact that xkcd was also created in 2005 where the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|first 13 comics]] where released on [[LiveJournal]] on September 30, 2005. As a callback, he has two x words in the same sentence, referring to [[1750: Life Goals]]. The same two words were both in that comic. (Average release date for the two was October 25, 2005). The Xbox will work on the twenty-one year old, for the same reason the Wii above would work. xkcd would not, because it is not directed at pre-teens. They would not have any feelings towards the comic. It is included to make faithful xkcd readers feel old. "Is it really more than 10 years ago I read it first..." (and also for the self-reference).
| 10.5
| 11.0
|-
| 22
| 1994
| 2005 (no specific date)
| {{w|Chuck Norris Facts}}
| Satirical factoids about martial artist and actor {{w|Chuck Norris}} began to appear on the Internet in early 2005. To begin with, they where not centered on Norris, instead focusing {{w|Vin Diesel}}. This makes it difficult to put a precise date on their appearance than "During the year 2005." Chuck Norris has {{w|Chuck_Norris_facts#Norris.27_response|replied to these factoids}} more than once, but the first time was in December 2006, almost two years after the {{w|meme}}s began appearing. The "facts" are mainly based on his series {{w|Walker, Texas Ranger}}, which ran from 1993-2001. Since the series ended when the twenty-two-year-old of today was 7, they were not the target group for the crazy Chuck Norris Facts. It seems unlikely that this entry would work.
| 11
| 11.5
|-
| 23
| 1993
| January 25, 2004
| {{w|Opportunity (rover)|Opportunity}}'s Mars Exploration
| {{w|Opportunity (rover)|Opportunity}} is a {{w|Mars rover}} that landed on Mars on January 25, 2004. Mars Rovers are a [[:Category:Mars rovers|recurring subject]] on xkcd. Even people who were not interested in science were very aware of Opportunity's voyage--it was covered in every type of news medium for a long time.
| 11.5
| 12.8
|-
| 24
| 1992
| February 4, 2004
| {{w|Facebook}}
| Facebook is a social networking service created in 2004 as a competitor to {{w|Myspace}}. It grew quickly to become the #1 social networking service. Since kids under thirteen are not allowed on Facebook, twenty-four-year-olds could not have signed up at the time of its foundation. When it was opened up for anyone in 2006, they would have been fourteen, but that would then only have been 10 years ago. However, today everyone knows about Facebook (and many preteens created accounts by lying about their ages), and to learn that it has existed for half of your life may make you feel old even if you didn't sign up immediately.
| 12
| 12.8
|-
| 25
| 1991
| April 1, 2004 (Gmail), July 9, 2003 (''Pirates of the Caribbean'')
| {{w|Gmail}}, ''{{w|Pirates of the Caribbean (film series)|Pirates of the Caribbean}}''
| Gmail is an email service created by Google. It was originally invitation-only (until 2007), and not marketed to kids, so it is unlikely that many thirteen year olds would have been using it in 2004; however, it has since been opened to anyone, and a lot of 25 year olds use it today. The first movie in the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' franchise, {{w|Curse of the Black Pearl}}, debuted in 2003. Three more movies followed before the release of this comic (average date is November 4, 2003). The movie was rated PG-13 and would likely have been a hit among 12-13 year old kids, so this would make many people born in 1991 feel old.
| 12.5
| 13.0
|-
| 26
| 1990
| January 7, 2003
| {{w|In da Club}}
| Rap song by {{w|50 Cent}}. The song was a #1 hit on multiple charts and in multiple countries. It is very likely that people who were thirteen at its release would have been aware of it, even if they were not "clubbing" themselves yet.
| 13
| 13.8
|-
| 27
| 1989
| September 20, 2002
| ''{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}''
| ''Firefly'' is a space western drama TV series created by {{w|Joss Whedon}}, that became a cult classic. This may be Randall's favorite TV series, and it has been [[:Category:Firefly|referenced often]] in xkcd.
| 13.5
| 14.1
|-
| 28
| 1988
| October 7, 2001
| The {{w|War in Afghanistan}}
| The United States of America invaded Afghanistan shortly after the {{w|September 11 attacks}} (popularly known as 9/11), in an effort to eliminate the terrorist group {{w|al-Qaeda}}. Almost anyone who was 14 in 2001 would have been aware of the war.
| 14
| 15.1
|-
| 29
| 1987
| October 23, 2001
| The {{w|iPod}}
| The iPod was a music playing device created by {{w|Apple Inc.}} in 2001. This would probably make lots of 29 year-olds feel old.s 14-15 year old kids were likely to have had (or wished they had) an iPod.
| 14.5
| 15.0
|-
| 30
| 1986
| May 18, 2001 (''Shrek''), January 15, 2001 (Wikipedia)
| ''{{w|Shrek}}'', {{w|Wikipedia}}
| ''Shrek'' is a popular parody film about fairy tales. It quickly gained a cult following and became a mega-hit, earning it three sequels and a franchise. It was a big hit popular for ages. Fifteen year old were likely to know and love the movie, so they would probably feel old as 30-year-olds realizing it came out half their life ago.

Wikipedia is a an online encyclopedia created in 2001, which anyone can edit. (It is massively linked to from [[explain xkcd]] which has a [[:Category:Wikipedia|Wikipedia category]] for comics like this that reference the website directly). (Average date is March 17, 2001). It is questionable how many kids used Wikipedia during the year it launched. Of course, realizing that before Wikipedia, you had to use a paper encyclopedias may still make a 30 year old feel old.
| 15
| 15.8
|-
| 31
| 1985
| July 14, 2000
| Those X-Men movies
| The {{w|X-Men (film series)|X-Men}} film series, probably only referring to the first trilogy (''{{w|X-Men (film)|X-Men}}'' (July 14, 2000), ''{{w|X2 (film)|X2}}'' (May 2, 2003), ''{{w|X-Men: The Last Stand}}'' (May 26, 2006) - us release dates). The release date refers to the first of these three movies. Presumably Randall is counting the series as existing from the time of the first release. 15-16 year old kids are likely to have loved ''X-Men'', and feel old when they realize it came out half their life ago.
| 15.5
| 16.3
|-
| 32
| 1984
| February 4, 2000
| ''{{w|The Sims}}''
| ''The Sims'' is a simulation video game created by Maxis in 2000 in which you build homes, cities, and families. It was an immediate success upon launch. It seems likely that many people would have played The Sims, and thus many 32 year old people would feel old. This was the one that Randall could have used on himself to feel old. He turned 32 a few weeks before the release of this comic.
| 16
| 16.8
|-
| 33
| 1983
| October 19, 1998
| Autotuned hit songs
| 1998 was when non-audio-professionals became aware of {{w|Auto-Tune|autotuning}} songs. {{w|Cher|Cher's}} song ''{{w|Believe (Cher song)|Believe}}'', released October 19, 1998 {{w|Auto-Tune#In_popular_music|may be the first time}} that most people really noticed autotuning. This is the only entry where there seems to be more than one year between the age of the thing and the half age of the person. However, it is also one of the entries where specific dating is difficult. Because the dates are not specific, it is difficult to judge how it would affect 33 year old people. Autotuning has been a standard for years, so it may make one feel old to know it has around for half your life.
| 16.5
| '''18.1'''
|-
| 34
| 1982
| May 19, 1999
| The {{w|Star Wars Prequels}}
| The Star Wars prequel trilogy (''{{w|Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace}}'' (May 19, 1999), ''{{w|Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones}}'' (May 16, 2002), ''{{w|Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith}}'' (May 19, 2005), us release dates). The {{w|Star Wars}} universe is most likely the [[:Category:Star Wars|most referenced]] movie universe in xkcd. The release date refers to the first of these three movies, because even only taking the first two movies, the average would only be 16 years ago, less than half the age of a 34 year old. These movies were awaited eagerly by many 17 year old kids, so they would remember the release well and feel very old.
| 17
| 17.5
|-
| 35
| 1981
| March 31, 1999
| ''{{w|The Matrix}}''
| Action film created by {{w|The Wachowskis}} (formerly known, at the time of ''The Matrix'', as The Wachowski Brothers). Two more films followed, although they were widely regarded as inferior to the first (by for instance by Randall as seen in [[566: Matrix Revisited]]). ''The Matrix'' was something new and is likely to have influenced 17-18 year old kids, so this entry would likely to produce feelings of age.
| 17.5
| 17.6
|-
| 36
| 1980
| September 28, 1998
| {{w|Pokémon Red & Blue}}
| A popular video game franchise in the {{w|Pokémon}} series, a series [[:Category:Pokémon|often referenced]] in xkcd. The game was first released in Japan in 1996, but not in North America until 1998. It seems likely that many people interested in playing computer games would have played Pokémon games. and in particular this one, which was released when the target group was 18 years old. And now that's half their life ago, perhaps making them feel old.
| 18
| 18.1
|-
| 37
| 1979
| August 29, 1997 (Netflix), June 26, 1997 (Harry Potter), September 15, 1997 (Google)
| {{w|Netflix}}, {{w|Harry Potter}}, {{w|Google}}
| All three are still major things 19 years later. "Harry Potter" refers to the original publishing date of ''{{w|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone}}''. Google refers to the date that the Google domain name was registered. (Average date is 03-07-1997). Harry Potter is widely read, but at the time of its release it was probably not at first taken up by those of 18-19 year old. That may have first come later, maybe with the release of the {{w|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)|first movies}} in 2001, four years later. It may this not be the best example for this age group. Also using Google and Netflix just when they where launched may also not have been so popular among 18-19 year olds in 1997. Still, all three things are big, and to realize that they have been around for half of a life may still make someone feel old.
| 18.5
| 19.4
|-
| 38
| 1978
| May 11, 1997
| Deep Blue's Victory
| {{w|Deep Blue (chess computer)|Deep Blue}} was a {{w|chess computer}}, who defeated {{w|Garry Kasparov}}, the reigning chess champion, in a match in 1997. It was the first chess computer to defeat a world champion under tournament conditions. Randall has a great interest in {{w|chess}} and it is a [[:Category:Chess|recurrent subject]] on xkcd. Unless a 38 year old is interested in chess, they may not even know what Deep Blue, is let alone have any impression of long ago the victory occurred. Chess players and computer nerds (both of whom are very likely to be xkcd fans) would certainly be aware of this particular day.
| 19
| 19.5
|-
| 39
| 1977
| September 13, 1996
| {{w|Murder of Tupac Shakur|Tupac's Death}}
| {{w|Tupac Shakur}} was an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in 1996. Eight of his albums are certified platinum (five released after his death), and he has been ranked as one of the greatest artists of all time. (Rolling Stone ranked him 86/100). It seems likely that many 39 year olds would feel old realizing that 2Pac has been dead for half of their lives.
| 19.5
| 20.2
|-
| 40
| 1976
| December 31, 1995
| The [http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1995/12/31 last ''Calvin and Hobbes'' strip]
| ''{{w|Calvin and Hobbes}}'' is a comic strip by {{w|Bill Watterson}} that ran from November 18, 1985 to December 31, 1995. It is a [[:Category:Calvin and Hobbes|recurring subject]] on xkcd . This comic had a lot of fans among people that are 40 today. Even those who didn't read it during its run may have discovered it later. Even those who didn't notice the ending at the time, might still feel old realizing it was so long ago.
| 20
| 20.9
|-
| 41
| 1975
| November 22, 1995
| ''{{w|Toy Story}}''
| The {{w|Pixar}} animated film ''Toy Story'' was the first feature length digitally-animated film to be released theatrically (and also Pixar's first feature film). Given that this was the first film of its kind, many 20-21 year olds would have seen it. For xkcd fans, such movies might be a big thing. For anyone who saw this movie (and the two sequels) this could cause feelings of age. Side note: 41 year olds might actually feel young when reading this comic in November 2016, because they are the last people to still be expected to feel young before Randall deliberately destroys the feeling.
| 20.5
| 21.0
|-
| >41
| Before 1975
| N/A
| [Don't worry, they've got this covered]
| This joke is that people who are legitimately old already feel old. This could also be a reference to the number 42, 42 being the "{{w|Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything}}" in the {{w|Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}}. He has referenced this number more than once before, for instance in [[1213: Combination Vision Test]] and in the [[1608#Messages_in_Play_Area|messages in the ''Play Area'']] of [[1608: Hoverboard]]. Showing people 42 years or more old this table will make them feel old, when they look for their age and find this. Also, it may disappoint older readers of xkcd, as they do not to get their own humorous half-your-life entry. (See the opposite effect mentioned for the 41 years old above).
| >20.5
| N/A
|}

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the panel:]
:The November 2016
:Guide to making people
:'''feel old'''
:
:[A chart with a list of items to be put into the two first lines above the chart. First there are a line using the first column, then there are two lines using the second column. Below those lines are the two columns with underlined captions above. Between the columns are a long line connecting the two.]
:If they're [age], you say:
:<big>"Did you know</big> [thing] <big>has been around for the majority of your life?"</big>
:
:;Age
::Thing
:
:;16
::Grand Theft Auto IV
:
:;17
::Rickrolling
:
:;18
::''Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters''
:
:;19
::The Nintendo Wii
:
:;20
::Twitter
:
:;21
::The Xbox 360, xkcd
:
:;22
::Chuck Norris Facts
:
:;23
::Opportunity's Mars Exploration
:
:;24
::Facebook
:
:;25
::Gmail, ''Pirates of the Caribbean''
:
:;26
::In da Club
:
:;27
::''Firefly''
:
:;28
::The War in Afghanistan
:
:;29
::The iPod
:
:;30
::''Shrek'', Wikipedia
:
:;31
::Those X-Men movies
:
:;32
::''The Sims''
:
:;33
::Autotuned hit songs

:;34
::The ''Star Wars'' prequels
:
:;35
::''The Matrix''
:
:;36
::''Pokémon Red&Blue''
:
:;37
::Netflix, ''Harry Potter'', Google
:
:;38
::Deep Blue's Victory
:
:;39
::Tupac's Death
:
:;40
::The last ''Calvin and Hobbes'' strip
:
:;41
::''Toy Story''
:
:;>41
::[Don't worry, they've got this covered]

==Trivia==
*The title of this comic is special, and the like has never been seen before. Months have been included in the titles before, and also years, but never like this with a month and a year.
**But since then one more comic like this has been released, see below.
*Of course this also indicates that this comic only really work during November 2016.
**Three earlier comics has used month names in the title, two with specific holiday dates, and one with the month as part of a rhyme:
***[[656: October 30th]]
***[[680: December 25th]]
***[[1595: 30 Days Hath September]]
**And just a year has been used for time (including later comics):
***[[998: 2012]]
***[[1311: 2014]]
***[[1624: 2016]]
***[[1779: 2017]]
*As a side note to the whole idea about feeling old, the chosen release day might not have been the most relevant to post such a comic.
**This comic was released just past midnight on the day that the result of the {{w|2016 United States presidential election}} was determined (i.e. the day after the election on November 8th 2016), so before anything was determined but likely at a time when the first polls showed which way it might end.
**In the previous comic [[1756: I'm With Her]], from Monday the day before the election, Randall had {{w|Political endorsement|endorsed}} {{w|Hillary Clinton}} from the {{w|US Democratic Party|Democratic Party}}.
**Thus a 600 days election campaign finished on this day. It was a very controversial election and the {{w|US Republican Party|Republican}} nominee {{w|Donald Trump}} became {{w|President-elect of the United States}} after winning the election.
**This result had been feared to happen by half of the people of the United States, and the other half had feared that Clinton would win. And many people thus stayed up to follow the election all night. And now the whole thing is over, and the headache starts.
**And on this day Randall tries to make people feel old... It seems likely he did not need to try so hard, as lots of people probably felt much older than their years after all this!
*Almost a year later Randall then released [[1898: October 2017]], the only second comic with this type of title.
**This comic is also designed to make you feel old, thus continuing the trend of this comic.
**But furthermore, in the title text, it references the election from the day before this comic came out, coming full circle on what might make you feel old.
**Could be a reference to above mentioned discussion if it was really needed to make someone feel old on that particular day in November 2016, thus indirectly acknowledging people that had such objections.
**This was also the first release of a comic to make one feel old since this one. Thus reminding people that a year has almost passed already, is in a way another way to make people feel old, if they remember this previous comic.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics to make one feel old]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Pokémon]]
[[Category:Rickrolling]]
[[Category:Social networking]]
[[Category:Mars rovers]]
[[Category:Firefly]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Chess]]
[[Category:Songs]]
[[Category:Calvin and Hobbes]]
[[Category:Harry Potter]]
[[Category:The Matrix]]

1745: Record Scratch

2023-03-21T09:01:34Z

172.71.154.229: Fallen liquid container

{{comic
| number = 1745
| date = October 12, 2016
| title = Record Scratch
| image = record_scratch.png
| titletext = The 78-rpm era was closer to the Civil War than to today.
}}

==Explanation==
A {{w|vinyl disc}} (also known as a {{w|gramophone record}}) is a type of storage medium that stores audio recordings on the disc by carving the audio data into a continuous spiral groove on the surface of the disc. These are typically played on a {{w|phonograph}} (also known as record players (since 1940s) or, most recently, turntables). The player spins the disc as a stationary stylus rides along the groove. The movement of the stylus along the groove is converted by an electromagnetic or piezoelectric transducer into a corresponding electric current, which an amplifier then converts to sound.

The noise referred to as a "record scratch" can be caused by someone attempting to stop a record's play by dragging the stylus across the radius of the record, or by stopping the disc's rotation with one's hand (opposing the turntable's rotation). As a result, this is often used as {{tvtropes|RecordNeedleScratch|a sound effect in movies}} for comedic effect. This type of sound is also often used in hip-hop music; in particular, rapidly and manually rotating the disc in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions.

The comic pokes fun at a movie cliché in which the story opens with the main character in some kind of unbelievable predicament, followed by a record scratch, seemingly freezing time (using the sound of a sudden pausing of a record to symbolize the sudden pausing of time in the movie). As the action in the film is paused, a character narrates something along the lines of, "Yup, that's me. You're probably wondering (how I ended up in this situation)..." The rest of the story then follows, often with the film going back in time to depict the events that leads up to the situation of the opening scene.

In this case, it would be interesting to know why Cueball is at a party where everyone has wine glasses in their hands, but suddenly one of the glasses (Cueball's or his nearest adversary's) is lying on the floor, and it seems like a fight is about to break out. This is what an opening narration might begin to explain (typically in a flashback) after the record scratch. At the time of the comic's posting, parodying the cliché, [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/record-scratch-freeze-frame variations on the phrase] had become a popular meme on social media. As the record scratch continues to be used despite the fact that record players (gramophones) have largely become obsolete technology, [[Randall]] pokes fun at this by beginning this meme by giving the backstory on what that sound actually is, (as many people from the younger generation may very well not know this), rather than giving context to the situation via a story. This is yet one more of Randall's comics that is trying to [[:Category:Comics to make one feel old|make people feel old]], and is likely most relevant to those who have actually used vinyl to listen to music, comedy or other recordings.

The title text indicates (in a manner similar to that of [[891: Movie Ages]]) that the "78-rpm era" – referring to the fact that the original industry standard of records making {{w|Gramophone_record#78_rpm_disc_developments|78 revolutions per minute}} (rpm) (1925-1950s) – is now closer to the time of the {{w|American Civil War}} (1861-1865) than it is to present day, another way that Randall is making the reader feel old. Note; these 78 rpm records were made of shellac, not of vinyl.

Fallen liquid container was also shown in several other comics, such as .

==Transcript==
:[In a black area, with jagged edges, at the top of the comic is a sound effect written with white text. Below there are two frames with text. This text is narrated by Cueball standing below with four people around him. Cueball is highlighted by being drawn in the regular way whereas the other four people are drawn in light gray. Cueball has just dropped a wineglass, spilling wine on the floor to the left and dropping the glass, spilling more wine, to the right, He has his arms slightly out, and seems to be turned towards three people to the right, while looking to the left at Ponytail. Ponytail is holding a glass of wine in one hand and is the other hand up waving her fist at Cueball. On his other side Hairy is advancing towards him with both hands up in fists ready for a fight. (It could be his wine glass dropped on the floor at Cueball's feet as it is also drawn in gray). Behind Hairy is Megan also with a wine glass held in one hand, and behind her is another Cueball-like guy with a wine glass holding one arm out pointing a finger at Cueball.]

:{| class="wikitable"
|style="background-color:black;"|<big>''Record Scratch''</big>
|}
:Cueball (narrating): You're probably wondering what that sound was.
:Cueball (narrating): Well, long ago, music was recorded on vinyl discs...

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Comics to make one feel old]]

2750: Flatten the Planets

2023-03-16T17:48:43Z

172.71.154.229: /* Explanation */ replace original

{{comic
| number = 2750
| date = March 15, 2023
| title = Flatten the Planets
| image = flatten_the_planets_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x647px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We'll turn the asteroid belt into ball bearings to go between different rings orbiting at different speeds.
}}

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

This comic depicts a situation where the solar system is flattened to create a ring system around the Sun. This may be inspired by the {{w|Alderson disk}}, a hypothetical megastructure intended to gain truly massive amounts of living space by constructing a literal disk of matter around a star. This would require several solar systems' worth of matter to do, and materials with a tensile strength beyond what is likely physically possible for any known form of matter. The planets of our solar system would not be suitable for this endeavor;{{Citation needed}} alas, Randall apparently cannot comprehend why {{w|NASA}} is rejecting this proposal to "improve" the planets.

{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" | Planet
! colspan="2" | Thickness
|-
!Inches
!Millimeters
|-
| Mercury || 1/8" || 3.2 mm
|-
| Venus || 1" || 25 mm
|-
| Earth || 3/4" || 19 mm
|-
| Mars || 0.01" || 0.25 mm
|-
| Jupiter || 18" || 460 mm
|-
| Saturn || 3" || 76 mm
|-
| Uranus || 1/8" || 3.2 mm
|-
| Neptune || 1/16" || 1.6 mm
|}

The title text explains what would happen to the asteroid belt if this was done. He is proposing that the asteroids should be turned into ball bearings to go in between the planetary discs. There is enough matter in the asteroid belt to do this,{{Actual citation needed|Surely depends upon the size and radial density of the inserted race of bearings}} and furthermore it implies that the discs would actually have small gaps between them. Unless the discs were made of material with impossibly high tensile strength, the whole structure would soon be torn apart by the relative forces between the inner and outer fringes of each disc trying to both 'orbit' at the rate more suited to a radial distance somewhere between the two, and crushing the bearings placed between adjacent ones. Although less so than with a single structural disc rotating at any single given compromise rotation (or not at all).

==Transcript==
:[This comic depicts a situation where the planets of the Solar System are flattened using a roller pin to create a contiguous ring system around the Sun, with each planet taking up the part within their orbit to the next planet (or the Sun).]

:[The top part shows a normal image of the Solar System with the eight planets orbiting the Sun, and their orbits shown as circles. The Sun is yellow and the planets have approximately the color they typically are shown in. Earth has more features than the other three rocky planets. Jupiter has clear features including the red spot, while Saturn has its rings. Beneath this is a broad arrow pointing down.]
:↓
:[The arrow points to a roller pin. A similar arrow points down to the next image.]
:↓
:[The second large image shows the Solar System with the planets flattened to fill out the gap between the Sun and each of the planets, so they each cover the area of the circle within their orbits, into the next planet (or the Sun). Each segment has kept a similar color as used for the planets in the first image. The Sun is not flattened and is now the center of a huge ring with eight different colors, some with patterns, mainly Earth, but also Jupiter and Saturn's discs show features.]

:[Beneath this to the right is a side view of the flattened Earth, with its thickness indicated with two arrows pointing in at the top and up at the bottom of two dotted lines continuing where the "Earth" stops. A label has been written between these two lines, and the thickness is compared to US quarter and penny coins.]
:Earth
:3/4"

:[Below this and going all the way across the panel is a side view with a segment of the Sun to the left followed by all the flattened planets, labeled with their name and their thicknesses. Arrows point to the relevant segment from the three rocky planets other than Earth. Above Jupiter and Saturn is a label between two arrows. Text alternates between being above and below the planets. Their thicknesses differ quite a lot, with Mars being the thinnest and Jupiter by far the thickest. Cueball stands on the flattened Earth.]
:← Not to scale →
:Mercury 1/8"
:Venus: 1"
:Earth 3/4"
:Mars 250 microns
:Jupiter 18"
:Saturn 3"
:Uranus 1/8"
:Neptune 1/16"

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I don't know why NASA keeps rejecting my proposals to improve the Solar System

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Space]]

Talk:2750: Flatten the Planets

2023-03-15T23:07:13Z

172.71.154.229: corrections and commas

I have to wonder, would you slide down to the sun, or be flung outwards? [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 19:39, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
: The discs are centered on the orbit of the parent planet, and presumably rotating at the same frequency as the parent planet's orbit. That means the inner edge of each disc is going slower than you'd need to orbit the Sun at that distance, and the outer edge faster. If you moved inward from the original planet's orbit, the Sun's gravity would pull you in, but when you crossed the boundary to the next disc, you'd get flung back outward.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.61|162.158.62.61]] 19:58, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
::No Each planet fills out the space within their orbit into the next planet. Easy to see as the outer edge of Neptune's orbit is the same as with the planet flattened. There is a distance from Mercury to the Sun indicated. Maybe because it would melt if it got any closer? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:03, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
:::First, they're rings not discs, but I'm skeptical of the math. And it looks to me like the ring's edges are halfway between the orbits, with Neptune extended outwards the same distance as halfway to Uranus's orbit. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.4|172.69.22.4]] 20:08, 15 March 2023 (UTC)

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: right;"
|-
! Planet !! Volume (109 km3) !! Orbital radius (109 km) || halfway to prior || halfway to next || Annulus area (109 km2) || Thickness (cm)
|-
| Mercury || 61 || 58 || 29 (to 0) || 83 || 19,000 || 321
|-
| Venus || 928 || 108 || 83 || 129 || 30,637 || 3,029
|-
| Earth || 108 || 150 || 129 || 189 || 59,942 || 1,802
|-
| Mars || 163 || 228 || 189 || 504 || 685,794 || 24
|-
| Jupiter || 1,4310,00 || 779 || 504 || 1,107 || 3,051,847 || 46,890
|-
| Saturn || 827,130 || 1,434 || 1,107 || 2,154 || 10,726,236 || 7,711
|-
| Uranus || 68,340 || 2,873 || 2,154 || 3,684 || 28,061,145 || 244
|-
| Neptune || 62,540 || 4,495 || 3,684 || 5,304 (symmetry) || 45,743,348 || 137
|}

:::: The volumes in this table are at 2 different scales. Only the Mercury to Mars volumes are at 1010 km3. Jupiter to Neptune are at 1012 km3 [[User:Sandor|Sandor]] ([[User talk:Sandor|talk]]) 21:01, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
::::: Thanks, fixed; I had the scale wrong for the radii too. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.231|172.71.158.231]] 21:16, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
:::Someone please double-check this, I think Randall is off by a factor of 1000. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.229|172.71.154.229]] 21:37, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
:::: I did my own spreadsheet, and my figures agree with Randall's (roughly). I think your thinkness figures are mostly out by 1000, and a few of your volume figures also have the wrong scale (Mercury is smaller than Mars, and the giants are too big by a factor of 10). [[User:Sandor|Sandor]] ([[User talk:Sandor|talk]]) 22:07, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
::::: 61 * 10^9 km^3 is [https://www.google.com/search?q=61+*+10%5E9+km%5E3+in+cm%5E3 6.1 × 10^25 cm^3], 19000 * 10^9 km^2 is [https://www.google.com/search?q=19000+*+10%5E9+km%5E2+in+cm%5E2 1.9 × 10^23 cm^2], and (6.1 × 10^25 cm^3) / (1.9 × 10^23 cm^2) is [https://www.google.com/search?q=%286.1+%C3%97+10%5E25+cm%5E3%29+%2F+%281.9+%C3%97+10%5E23+cm%5E2%29 3.2 meters]. I'm afraid I'm correct. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.145|172.69.22.145]] 22:31, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
::::: According to {{w|List_of_Solar_System_objects_by_size#Objects_with_radius_over_400_km}} yes I had Mars wrong (corrected) but the others are roughly correct. I stand by my claim that Randall is in error. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.86|172.71.154.86]] 22:39, 15 March 2023 (UTC)

This makes about as much sense as other Flat Earth theories. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.200.137|172.70.200.137]] 20:00, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
:But this would actually be a flat Earth. Albeit with a rather larger surface area ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:03, 15 March 2023 (UTC)

2750: Flatten the Planets

2023-03-15T23:03:27Z

172.71.154.229: /* Explanation */ fix mistakes

{{comic
| number = 2750
| date = March 15, 2023
| title = Flatten the Planets
| image = flatten_the_planets_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x647px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We'll turn the asteroid belt into ball bearings to go between different rings orbiting at different speeds.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an OFF BY THREE ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE ERROR. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:'''''Note: it appears that [[Randall]] has underestimated the disk thicknesses by a factor of 1,000.''' [[Talk:2750:_Flatten_the_Planets|See talk]].''

This comic depicts a situation where the solar system is flattened to create a ring system around the Sun. This may be inspired by the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alderson_disk Alderson Disk], a hypothetical megastructure intended to gain truly massive amounts of living space by constructing a literal disk of matter around a star. This would require several solar systems' worth of matter to do, and materials with a tensile strength beyond what is likely physically possible for any known form of matter. The planets of our solar system would not be suitable for this endeavor.

{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" | Planet
! colspan="2" | Incorrect thickness as depicted
! colspan="2" | Correct thickness
|-
!Inches
!Millimeters
!Imperial
!Metric
|-
| Mercury || 1/8" || 3.2 mm || 11' || 3.2 m
|-
| Venus || 1" || 25 mm || 99' || 30 m
|-
| Earth || 3/4" || 19 mm || 59' || 18 m
|-
| Mars || 0.01" || 0.25 mm || 9" || 24 cm
|-
| Jupiter || 18" || 460 mm || 1539' || 469 m
|-
| Saturn || 3" || 76 mm || 253' || 77 m
|-
| Uranus || 1/8" || 3.2 mm || 8' || 2.4 m
|-
| Neptune || 1/16" || 1.6 mm || 5' || 1.4 m
|}

==Transcript==
:[This comic depicts a situation where the solar systems planets is flattened using a roller pin to create a contiguous ring system around the Sun, with each planet taking up the part within their orbit to the next planet (or the Sun).]

:[The top part shows a normal image of the Solar System with the eight planets orbiting the Sun, and their orbits shown as circles. The Sun is yellow and the planets have approximately the color they typically are shown in. Earth has more features than the other three rocky planets. Jupiter has clear features including the red spot, while Saturn has it's rings. Beneath this is a broad arrow pointing down]
:↓
:[The arrow points to a roller pin. A similar arrow points down to the next image.]
:↓
:[The second large image shows the Solar System with the planets flattened to fill out the gap between the Sun and each of the planets, so they each cover the area of the circle within their orbits, into the next planet (or the Sun). Each segments has kept a similar color as used for the planets in the first image. The Sun is not flattened and is now the center of a huge ring with eight different colors, some with patterns, mainly earth, but also Jupiter and Saturn's disc shows features.]

:[Beneath this to the right is a side view of the flattened Earth, with its thickness indicated with two arrows pointing in at the top and up at the bottom of two dotted lines continuing where the "Earth" stops. A label has been written between these two lines, and the thickness are compared to US quarter and penny coins.]
:Earth
:3/4"

:[Below this and going all the way across the panel is a side view with a segment of the Sun to the left followed by all the flattened planets, labeled with their name and their thicknesses. Arrows point to the relevant segment from the three rocky planets other than Earth. Above Jupiter and Saturn is a label between two arrows. Text alternates between being above and below the planets. Their thickness differs quite a lot, with Mars the thinnest and Jupiter by far the thickest. Cueball stands on the flattened Earth.]
:Not to scale
:Mercury 1/8"
:Venus: 1"
:Earth 3/4"
:Mars 250 microns
:Jupiter 18"
:Saturn 3"
:Uranus 1/8"
:Neptune 1/16"

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Space]]

Talk:2750: Flatten the Planets

2023-03-15T21:37:07Z

172.71.154.229: ???

I have to wonder, would you slide down to the sun, or be flung outwards? [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 19:39, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
: The discs are centered on the orbit of the parent planet, and presumably rotating at the same frequency as the parent planet's orbit. That means the inner edge of each disc is going slower than you'd need to orbit the Sun at that distance, and the outer edge faster. If you moved inward from the original planet's orbit, the Sun's gravity would pull you in, but when you crossed the boundary to the next disc, you'd get flung back outward.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.61|162.158.62.61]] 19:58, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
::No Each planet fills out the space within their orbit into the next planet. Easy to see as the outer edge of Neptune's orbit is the same as with the planet flattened. There is a distance from Mercury to the Sun indicated. Maybe because it would melt if it got any closer? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:03, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
:::First, they're rings not discs, but I'm skeptical of the math. And it looks to me like the ring's edges are halfway between the orbits, with Neptune extended outwards the same distance as halfway to Uranus's orbit. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.4|172.69.22.4]] 20:08, 15 March 2023 (UTC)

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: right;"
|-
! Planet !! Volume (1010 km3) !! Orbital radius (109 km) || halfway to prior || halfway to next || Annulus area (109 km2) || Thickness (cm)
|-
| Mercury || 6.1 || 58 || 29 || 83 || 19000 || 321
|-
| Venus || 9.3 || 108 || 83 || 129 || 30637 || 304
|-
| Earth || 10.8 || 150 || 129 || 189 || 59942 || 180
|-
| Mars || 1.6 || 228 || 189 || 504 || 685794 || 2
|-
| Jupiter || 143100 || 779 || 504 || 1107 || 3051847 || 46890
|-
| Saturn || 82700 || 1434 || 1107 || 2154 || 10726236 || 7710
|-
| Uranus || 6800 || 2873 || 2154 || 3684 || 28061145 || 242
|-
| Neptune || 6300 || 4495 || 3684 || 5304 || 45743348 || 138
|}

:::: The volumes in this table are at 2 different scales. Only the Mercury to Mars volumes are at 1010 km3. Jupiter to Neptune are at 1012 km3 [[User:Sandor|Sandor]] ([[User talk:Sandor|talk]]) 21:01, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
::::: Thanks, fixed; I had the scale wrong for the radii too. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.231|172.71.158.231]] 21:16, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
:::Someone please double-check this, I think Randall is off by a factor of 100. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.229|172.71.154.229]] 21:37, 15 March 2023 (UTC)

This makes about as much sense as other Flat Earth theories. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.200.137|172.70.200.137]] 20:00, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
:But this would actually be a flat Earth. Albeit with a rather larger surface area ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:03, 15 March 2023 (UTC)

802: Online Communities 2

2023-03-13T02:08:38Z

172.71.154.229: Disclaimer

{{comic
| number = 802
| date = October 6, 2010
| title = Online Communities 2
| image = online_communities_2.png
| titletext = Best trivia I learned while working on this: 'Man, Farmville is so huge! Do you realize it's the second-biggest browser-based social-networking-centered farming game in the WORLD?' Then you wait for the listener to do a double-take.
}}
A [http://xkcd.com/802_large/ larger version] of this picture can be found by clicking the comic on xkcd.
{{TOC}}

==Explanation==
This comic shows a map of internet communities where the size of each region roughly corresponds to its size, and its proximity to other regions indicates similarities.

This is the successor of [[256: Online Communities]]. It differs in that it is updated, and furthermore, instead of using the ''membership'' of whichever service to determine its size on the map, it uses its "daily social activity."

The map actually has two super−maps intended to show the relative usage of types of communication: the online community map is surrounded by the much larger "countries" of E−Mail, SMS ("Instant Messaging") and "Cell Phones," which in turn are surrounded by the even huger "Spoken Language." It is unclear whether "Cell Phones" is intended to represent an independent region, or whether it is meant to be a sub-region of "Spoken Language." The ambiguity is exacerbated by the fact that cell phones are the primary medium of SMS, and are also used to access email and online communities. It's also unclear why other forms of communication, such as handwritten letters, are not included.

At the title text [[Randall]] explains that, using his definition of "most activity per day," Farmville is actually the ''second'' most popular social-network farming game - the Chinese game Happy Farm was more popular at the time. This strikes many English-speaking xkcd readers as odd, because Farmville is much more famous, leading one to wonder how it could not be the most played. The phrase "browser-based social-networking-centered farming game" is an example of an [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OverlyNarrowSuperlative overly-narrow superlative.]

===Facebook Region===
The Facebook region deals with social networks, that is, websites oriented towards having people meet.

'''{{w|Facebook}}''' is a social networking site that allows people to meet old real−life friends and make new friends that share similar interests. One of its most notable features is that a member can update a "status" or make normal posts about the happenings of the member's life, complete with pictures, other members "liking" these posts. The size of the Facebook region is not exaggerated; most websites seem to allow "liking" their content or allow/require logging in the website with a Facebook account. There even are cell phones with a "Facebook" button!

*'''{{w|FarmVille}}''' and '''{{w|Farm Town}}''' are Facebook games in which users manage farms. '''{{w|Happy Farm}},''' the Chinese game that inspired the other two, does not require Facebook integration, so it is separated by a solid line from Facebook. The "Unethical Bay" refers to how these games tend to addict players into constantly buying virtual items of questionable value.

*'''People You Can't Unfriend''' refers to people whom, due to real-life expectations and relationships, unfriending them is difficult, no matter how you really feel about them.

*'''Blatherskite River''' refers to the conversations on Facebook, which may be long yet devoid of general meaning or logic.

*'''Data Mines''' refer to the data mining that Facebook does with the interests of its members. This fuels the profitable advertising business at the expense of customer trust.

*'''Plains of Awkwardly Public Family Interactions''' refer to how interactions with family members on Facebook suddenly become more awkward because everyone on Facebook (and sometimes ''off'' Facebook, given that you do not necessarily need to log in if you want to see someone's Facebook account) if you are discussing with your family through post comments.

*'''524,287 Strong for Mersenne Primes''' refers to the communities who gain followers for a cause. A {{w|Mersenne prime}} is a prime number that is 1 less than a power of 2; 524287 is the 7th known Mersenne prime.

*'''Jungle-Bay Mountains of "It's Complicated"''' refers to one of Facebook's options as to what a user's relationship status currently is. A Jungle-Bay Mountain is a complicated and undefined climate, hence the complication.

*'''"lamebook bay"''' refers to the online website "lamebook", where users post photos of funny things that happen on Facebook (these can include statuses, "fails", put-downs and images.)

*'''"Old Facebook" Resistance''' refers to Facebook's earlier users, who have often resisted (and resented) changes made to Facebook as it became more popular.

*'''Privacy Controls''' is located on the map surrounded by a Lava Pool, which is a reference to how difficult it is to find the privacy controls within Facebook.

*'''Niche Market Mountains''' refers to social networks aimed towards more niche markets are located. Similar to how mountains tend to be isolated from mainland, niche social networks tend to be just that: niche, without much interaction with the general populace.
*'''Charred Wasteland of Abandoned Social Networks''' refers to the tons of websites wanting to take advantage of the success of websites like Facebook to compete or even overpower with them. Even so, these websites tend to not have the userbase or even the expertise towards the long-term, hence they become wastelands: environments devoid of life, except the few life forms that are from these wastelands (in this case, the ones who are loyal to the website or which are sadly few).
*In the Charred Wasteland stands '''{{w|Ozymandias}}''', the titular broken statue of Shelley's poem. In the poem, only "two vast and trunkless legs of stone" and a "shattered visage" are all that remain of the once-great statue and both of these features are present in the comic. According to the poem, the pedestal before the broken statue reads "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings..." hence "friend of friends" below Ozymandias on the map.
*In the north are the '''Duckface Mountains''' and the '''Red Cup Mountains'''."Duckface" refers to [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/duck-face this incredibly obnoxious facial expression], and "red cup pictures" are any pictures containing party-goers holding disposable red plastic beverage cups. Facebook is absolutely flooded with both types of pictures.
*In the south is '''Buzzword Bay'''. {{w|Buzzword}}s are words and phrases that make you sound a lot more topical than you actually are, used to garner attention; again, Facebook status updates are commonly filled with buzzwords.

While Facebook is the largest "country" of the Facebook Region, there are a lot of smaller "countries" that represent smaller social networks.

*Below Facebook (and "Old Facebook' Resistance") is '''{{w|Diaspora (social network)|Diaspora}}''', a fully open-source, decentralized, privacy-respecting-and-expecting alternative to Facebook. From what this map tells, Diaspora is little-known, even if Facebook is taken out of the context.
*'''{{w|StudiVZ}}''' is a German-speaking social network similar if not a ripped-off version of Facebook.
*'''{{w|XING}}''' is a German-speaking social platform similar to LinkedIn.
*'''{{w|Ning (website)|Ning}}''' is a service to create custom social websites. Its free services shut down in 2010.
*'''{{w|Taringa!}}''' is a Spanish-speaking social network that is based on a forums. Copyrighted material is frequently found there.
*Next to the Euro(pean) Gulf is '''{{w|Skyrock (social network site)}}''', a French-speaking social network.
*'''{{w|Wer-kennt-wen}}''' is a German-social network somewhat like MySpace.
*'''{{w|Nasza-klasa.pl}}''' or NK, is a Polish-speaking social network based on school relationships.
*'''{{w|Badoo}}''' is a social network primarily based on dating and picture-sharing.
*'''{{w|Classmates.com}}''' is a service in which the user can meet classmates that came from the same high school. The website is probably best known by its memetic advertisement that said [http://dudemanphat.blogspot.com/2005/10/how-am-i-supposed-to-care-about-nick.html "She married him??!! And they've got 7 kids??"] (Incidentally, [http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2003325519_adcouple27.html there is more to the coupled picture than what the advertisement says.])
*'''{{w|Myspace}}''' is a social networking website that is a kind of proto-Facebook: users could customize their one-page websites with whatever they wanted, make their interests and daily lives public, and interact with other users. Back in the mid 2000s, MySpace was the largest social network, many people using the website; however, the surprisingly-less-customizable Facebook ended up taking the place of MySpace. The "bands" country of MySpace refers to how a lot of bands in the day advertised and interacted using the website. Indeed, the latest incarnation of MySpace (in terms of 2013) is more oriented towards band members.
*'''{{w|LinkedIn}}''' is a social network aimed towards people in the workplace, which is why it is adjacent to '''Corporate Bay'''.
*'''{{w|Orkut}}''' was one of Google's first social networks before Google made [https://plus.google.com/ Google+]. It shut down in 2014.
*'''{{w|Hi5}}''' is a social network that is very popular among people in Latin America.
*'''{{w|Renren}}''' ('''「人人」''', "people" in Chinese) is "a Chinese copy of Facebook."
*'''{{w|Bebo}}''' was a social network popular in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It went bankrupt in 2013 and will move away from social networking and into apps.
*'''{{w|Friendster}}''' - One of the first major social networks, it has fallen way off in usage in recent years and was eclipsed by MySpace. It is still popular in Asia.
*'''{{w|VK (social networking website)|Vkontakte}}''' or VK, is the second largest social network service in Europe after Facebook. It is available in several languages, but particularly popular among Russian-speaking users around the world.
*'''{{w|Netlog}}''' is a Belgian social networking website specifically targeted at the global youth demographic.
*'''{{w|Mixi}}''' is an online Japanese social networking service.
*'''{{w|Qzone}}''' is a social networking website, which is big in China. According to a report published by Tencent, possibly surpassing other social networking websites like Facebook and MySpace in China.
*'''{{w|Tuenti}}''' is a Spain-based, social networking service, that has been referred to as the "Spanish Facebook."
*'''{{w|Cloob}}''' is a Persian-language social networking website, mainly popular in Iran. After the locally (and internationally) popular social networking website Orkut was blocked by the Iranian government, a series of local sites and networks, including Cloob, emerged to fill the gap.
*'''{{w|Kaixin001}}''' is a social networking website which ranks as the 13th most popular website in China and 67th overall.
*'''{{w|Piczo}}''' was a privately held blog website for teens. In November 2012, Piczo.com shut down.
*'''{{w|Odnoklassniki}}''' is a social network service for classmates and old friends. It is popular in Russia and former Soviet Republics.
*'''{{w|Adult FriendFinder}}''' is a pornographic dating site.
*'''{{w|Match.com}}''' is a dating site, mainly targeted at people looking for marriage.
*'''{{w|Ok Cupid}}''' is another dating site, however it has been owned by Match.com since 2011.
*'''{{w|PlentyofFish}}''' is yet another dating site, also owned by Match.com since June 2015.
*'''{{w|Sulawesi}}''' is a real-life island in the Indonesian archipelago. It also appears in 256: Online Communities.

===MMO Isle===
MMOs (short form of "Massive Multiplayer Online Game") are online games where multiple people take the role of a character and play in a setting hosted by the game.

*'''[https://www.habbo.com/ Habbo Hotel]''' is a website where someone creates a human avatar an interacts in a virtual world that is not that different from the one in real life.
*'''{{w|Club Penguin}}''' is [http://disney.com/ Disney's] former MMO where someone creates a penguin avatar and interacts with other in a more polar, cartoony setting. Club Penguin is aimed towards children. It has been shut down near the end of March 2017.
*'''[http://maplestory.nexon.net/ Maple Story]''' is an MMO that has a more natural setting. The most distinguishing feature of Maple Story is its cartoony pixel art.
*'''[http://www.gamefaqs.com/ GameFAQs]''', while not an MMO, is a website that has the largest repository of walkthoughs, that is, guides that help someone beat a game. GameFAQs is notable for not only its large repository of walkthroughs of games that are across an extreme variety of consoles, handhelds, and even computers (not all of them MMOs), but also the drama that is rumoured to happen in the GameFAQs forums.
*'''[http://www.ign.com/ IGN]''' (full: '''Imagine Games Network'''), while also not an MMO, is the largest website that gives news on video games in general, not just MMOs. Each of the games mentioned in the site have pages that have summaries, reviews, screenshots, other art, videos, and links to news related to its games.
*'''[http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/index.shtml FFXI]''' (full: '''Final Fantasy XI''') is an MMO from SquareEnix, being the first MMO of the popular ''Final Fantasy'' series.
*'''[http://www.runescape.com/community Runescape]''' is an older MMO.
*'''[http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/ Starcraft II]''' is a realtime strategy game with a science fiction setting that heavily involves space travel. While technically not an MMO, it has a significant online multiplayer component.
*'''[http://us.battle.net/wow/en/ WoW]''' (full: '''World of Warcraft''') is the definitive MMO, being not only the most popular and one of the longest-running but also the most expansive (having its own spinoff games, comic books, novels, and even figurines), WOW giving the idea of how an MMO should be. A player can choose from a variety of races, each with its own heavy history.
*'''[http://secondlife.com/ Second Life]''' is similar to Habbo, albeit with a bigger suspension of disbelief (one example being that the player does not need to be a human) and in a 3D setting.
*'''[http://www.nationstates.net/ NationStates]''' is a text-based political simulation game. Notably, some of its traffic comes not from the actual game (which is optional), but the extensive set of political, roleplaying, and general forums attached.
*'''[http://www.urbandead.com/ Urban Dead]''' describes itself as "A Massively Multi-Player Web-Based Zombie Apocalypse", which sums it up pretty well.
*'''[http://www.kingdomofloathing.com KoL]''' (full: '''Kingdom of Loathing''') is a comedic browser-based MMO-ish RPG with minimalistic stick-figure art.
*'''{{w|CDC Games}}''' is a Chinese company reputed to be the largest MMORPG distributor.
*'''{{w|Eve Online|EVE Online}}''' is a science fiction MMO which is notable because of its virtual economy.
*'''{{w|Gaia Online|Gaia}}''' or Gaia Online, while not an MMO, is a forum oriented towards pop culture, including video games and Japanese media. Its most notable feature is the heavy customization possible of a member's pixel-art avatar. Its members tend to roleplay a lot, albeit in a more written, story-based form. Gaia has gained a reputation with its members stealing art and causing drama. The ferry that links the gaia island with 4chan was most likely due to the "boxxy" row, where vlogger boxxy posted videos of her using gaia, which then were circulated on 4chan. This resulted in a division of the sites users, and many more hacking attacks, including a DDOS attack on 4chan itself.
*'''[https://www.everquest.com EverQuest]''' (full: '''EverQuest''') is one of the first MMO's, it's still running and has a huge number of expansions.
*'''[https://www.uo.com UO]''' (full: '''Ultima Online''') along with EverQuest this was one of the first and longest running MMO's.

*'''{{w|City of Heroes|CoH}}''' or City of Heroes was a superhero-based MMORPG that was shut down November 2012.
*'''[http://atlantica.nexon.net/ Atlantica]''' (full: '''Atlantica Online''') is a turn-based MMORPG.
*'''[http://lineage.plaync.com/ Lineage]''' is a Korean MMORPG, it's North American servers were closed 2011/06/29 due to being unprofitable.
*'''[http://www.lineage2.com/en/ Lineage II]''' is a Korean MMORPG, mainly played in Asia along with its predecessor. It adopted a Free to Play model on 2011/11/30.
*'''{{w|SubSpace (video game)|SubSpace}}''' was a 2D, topdown shooter released in 1997. The servers have been shut down, but it continues to operate through the work of fans. It's widely considered an early entry into the MMO genre due to its unprecedentedly high player count.

Other notable regions include:
*The '''Mountains of Steam''', referring to the game distribution service [http://store.steampowered.com/ Steam] where people can buy and download video games in general, not just MMOs. There is also an extensive [http://steamcommunity.com/ community] where users can share content, and instant messaging chat by text, voice, or game streaming.
*'''River Grind''' refers to "grinding." In most MMOs, the character is a fighter of some sorts, yet starts at a level 1, signifying the character's aptitude level in combat. The character can level up and gain more aptitude levels through earning experience, of which the most reliable and otherwise common way is the process of "grinding," that is, repeatedly fighting opposing monsters (sometimes of a level notably lower that your character's), gaining experience points from winning these battles until your character gains a level, that is, "levels up". While a practical necessity in strengthening the character, this process can be tiresome, hence the expression "grinding."
*'''Spawn Camp''' refers to "spawn points", the places where AI-powered enemies and players who have died in-game respawn, and the act of "spawn camping", in which the player character simply stands behind or around the spawn points to fight the enemy creatures or respawning players as soon as they appear.
*'''Gulf of Lag''' refers to how the MMO can be slowed down a considerable amount due to the large amount of players simultaneously using the same server, this congestion bogging down the server and frustrating the users.
*'''[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/final-boss-of-the-internet End Guy for the Internet]''' refers to "end bosses," the last — and usually hardest to defeat — "bad guy" in a game (or a section of a game).

===YouTube Region===
The YouTube region refers to websites that are based on user-created content.

'''[https://www.youtube.com/ YouTube]''' is the definitive video website where people can upload videos with the purpose of public viewing, ranging from home movies through official music videos through Let's Plays of people playing video games to questionably-legal uploads of cartoons and films. Google had purchased YouTube.

Many of the sites on the map are just references to {{w|viral video}}s at {{w|YouTube}}:
*'''Viral Shores''' refers to how viral videos (whether they be viral marketing or simply memes) tend to proliferate on YouTube.
*'''Britney''' likely refers to pop singer {{w|Britney Spears}} and the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHmvkRoEowc‎ "Leave Britney Alone" guy].
*'''Maru Gulf''' refers to Maru the Cat, a YouTube celebrity [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/676:_Abstraction also mentioned in xkcd].
*'''Prairie Dog Habitat''' likely refers to the viral video [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1Y73sPHKxw Dramatic Chipmunk] (which is actually a Prairie Dog).
*'''Rick Rolling Hills''' references, well, {{w|Rickrolling}}. More information [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ here]. The "deserted" note likely refers to how Rick Astley himself is tired of the meme, or again, how people tend to leave the video upon getting "Rick Roll'd," never actually going to the video with the express purpose of viewing the video.
*'''Lunar Landing Soundstage''' is, of course, a reference to the {{w|Moon landing conspiracy theories}}, which Randall has railed on before.
*'''{{w|OK Go}} Bay''' refers to the band "OK Go" who have multiple viral music videos on YouTube, most famously [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTAAsCNK7RA "Here it goes again"] featuring treadmills.

The '''HTML5 swamp''' refers to YouTube's spotty support of HTML 5 (an update on HTML that is frequently touting its media capabilities, making HTML 5 a viable alternative to Flash). Of course, by the time the comic was written, HTML 5 was still in its infancy. The Music Video Bay refers to the amount of music videos (official or otherwise) are present in YouTube.

Other counties of the YouTube region include:
*'''[https://vimeo.com/ vimeo]''', a website where people tend to showcase artistic content that they made on their own, notably independent studios.

Snob Sound:
*'''[https://secure.flickr.com/ Flickr]''', a website where people can upload and share photographs they took.
*'''[http://fotolog.com Fotolog]''', a photo website very popular in South America in 2004-2008, which was used as a social network.
*'''[http://www.last.fm/ Last.fm]''', a music website that is notable of its "scrobbling" feature.
*'''[http://www.deviantart.com/ deviantArt]''', the largest art website, where people can upload, sell, and buy not only art itself, but also video, audio, Flash-work, and even skins (the original purpose of deviantArt). While many big-name/professional people and organizations have their works in deviantArt, the site is more infamous for the large amount of people who upload low-quality fan-art and fan-characters, most notably of media from Japan. Another point of infamy is the large amount of drama that can happen in the website.

*'''[https://www.newgrounds.com/ Newgrounds]''', a website that hosts art, (Flash-based) videos, audio, and (Flash-based) games to which other users can comment and rate. Even so, content from Newgrounds tends to be obscene, though there is a filtering system if a viewer does not wish to see obscene content.
*'''[http://www.chatroulette.com/ Chatroulette]''' is a website where people are randomly paired up with each other and video/text chat.
*'''{{w|Brickshelf}}''' is the online resource for {{w|LEGO}} fans.
*'''[https://tumblr.com/ Tumblr]''', where people could make a blog and post text, pictures, video, audio, quotes, and links. The most distinguishing feature is the ability to "reblog" these posts from other's people's blogs into the user's own blog. Notable features of Tumblr include sketchblogs (where people upload their sketches), Ask blogs (where people answer questions other users ask, the moderators of these blogs usually pretending to be a character from a form of media), and the large amount of "social justice" (a highly controversial political movement). (See also [[1043: Ablogalypse]].)
*'''{{w|b3ta}}''' is a popular British website, described as a "puerile digital arts community" by The Guardian.

The '''Isle of teenagers who just discovered macroeconomics''' is a joke about how teenagers tend to think that the world and the economy are a lot simpler than they actually are. Combined with the typical internet mindset, this leads to a lot of teenagers posting blogs and videos and comments on blogs and videos describing how idiotic the government and other red-tape-related adults are.
The '''Snob Sound''' could refer to the large amount of people who look down on others in the surrounding websites (one example being an original artist looking down on people who draw mainly fan-art). '''The Iraq''' is a reference to Miss Teen USA 2007, in which Ms. Teen South Carolina, Lauren Katlin, said "I believe that our education like such as in South Africa and the Iraq everywhere like such as...the US should help the US and should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries so we are able to build up our future." The usage of "the Iraq" has became a meme.

===Twitter Region===
*'''Bieber Bay''' is a reference to {{w|Justin Bieber}}, a pop singer whose singing sprouted on YouTube and became very popular on Twitter and other social media. He is very much vilified because of his rather feminine appearance and his hordes of fans (called "Beliebers") that seem to support him to ridiculous extents. Lately, though, Justin Beiber has taken a "bad boy" attitude because of all the Beliebers who are willing to defend him no matter what, him partaking in a lot of questionable activities that include tattoos, questionably-legal substances, and buying prostitution, thus lowering his popularity in the general populace.
*'''{{w|Google Buzz}}''' is a former social network attempted by Google. It has since been shut down.
*'''Bit.Ly Mountains''' is a reference to the URL shortening service {{w|bit.ly}}.
*'''Kanye's Isle of Sadness''' is a reference to the musician {{w|Kanye West}}, whose Twitter, at the time, was [http://www.buzzfeed.com/mlew15/25-of-kanye-wests-most-thought-provoking-tweets-h0se famously introspective and stream-of-consciousness].
*'''Sarah Palin USA''' is the Twitter handle of former politician {{w|Sarah Palin}}.
*'''Clueless Politician Coast''' is a reference to the number of politicians on Twitter and other social networks who repeatedly share clueless updates that more often create an uproar than help their election chances.
*'''Desert of Food Updates''' is a reference to the number of pictures of food that are shared on social media (especially Twitter). There has even been some controversy on posting such pictures.
*'''Journalists Trying to Find the Cutting Edge''' is referencing journalists on Twitter trying to keep up with the way that news is gathered and delivered now, despite usually working for a newspaper that publishes once a day.
*'''SHAQ''' is a reference to the former NBA basketball player, {{w|Shaq}}.
*'''{{w|identi.ca}}''' is an open source social networking and micro-blogging service, being an alternative to Twitter.
*''' Breaking! Waves''' is a pun on the fact that so many people used the word "Breaking" at the beginning of tweets that do not warrant that tag that the word has lost most of its meaning and become a joke. It is a pun because waves "break" on the shore.
*'''Web 3.0''' refers to the unofficial term {{w|Web 2.0}}. In this case, "Web 1.0" refers to websites that give information to users. Web 2.0 refers to websites where the users themselves create content. Web 3.0 has sometimes been used as a term for {{w|semantic web}}, a machine-readable version of the web, but this usage is far from universal.
*'''Hashtag games whose popularity confuses and depresses you''' refers to the game where a user posts something under a particular hashtag and others respond with their own ideas, all tagged under the same phrase. This has been very popular for no clear reason, as Randall notes.

===Geotagged Bay===
*'''{{w|Yelp}}''' is a website where people post reviews of real-life public locations (one example being restaurants).
*'''{{w|Geocaching}}''' is a worldwide GPS scavenger hunt where users upload positions of caches and others will find them and log it online.
*'''{{w|Foursquare}}''' is a location-based social network.
*'''Latitude''' refers to {{w|Google Latitude}}.

===Troll Bay and the Sea of Memes===
*'''{{w|Reddit}}''' is the self-described "front page of the Internet" in which users submit stories, photos and videos and the best are "up-voted" to the top of the page.
*'''{{w|Help:Using talk pages|Wikipedia Talk Pages}}''' refer to the pages where Wikipedia editors ostensibly discuss how to improve articles.
*'''{{w|Wikia}}''' (later Fandom) is a website offering free-of-charge wiki hosting, using a variant of Wikimedia's MediaWiki, allowing users to create user-editable encyclopedias of just about any subject matter, although it has more recently introduced an entertainment blog named "Fandom powered by Wikia" and eventually adopted that branding for the wiki farm as well.
*'''{{w|StumbleUpon}}''' was a website-sharing service, it shut down in 2018.
*'''{{w|Delicious (website)|Delicious}}''' is a bookmarking and bookmark-sharing service.
*'''{{w|Digg}}''' is a former competitor to Reddit in the social-news sphere, but now has been sold and restarted as an aggregator of news stories. The lifeboats refer to the mass exodus of users from Digg to rival news aggregator Reddit that occurred after Digg's glitchy and unpopular "v4" redesign in August 2010.
*'''{{w|Slashdot}}''', labeled "/." on the map, is a technical news site.
*'''{{w|MetaFilter}}''', labeled "MeFi" on the map, is a long-running community blog.
*'''{{w|Fark}}''' is a community website that allows members to comment on news articles from other sites.
*'''{{w|YTMND}}''' is an acronym for "You're The Man Now, Dog!" It's also a community in which users can create meme-type nonsense by playing music over an image (either static or animated).
*'''{{w|Free Republic}}''' is a right-wing conservative activist forum.

===Skype Region===
The Skype Region refers to different IM, or Instant Messaging services, that enable almost-real-time text chatting between multiple people. These often allow services like voice chat and even video calls.

*'''{{w|Skype}}''' is, according to Randall, the most popular of these among the internet. It has many features to allow peer-to-peer voice chats, as well as allowing calls to be made at a price to actual phones.
*'''{{w|AIM}}''' or AOL Instant Messenger is a chat client created by AOL.
*'''GG''' or {{w|Gadu-Gadu}} is an instant messenger client popular in Poland.
*'''{{w|Yahoo Messenger}}''' is an instant messenger client by Yahoo.
*'''{{w|Google Talk}}''' is a voice/video chatting service from Google (that Google has been replacing with Hangouts). Google Talk also has an invasion fleet at its shores.
*'''{{w|ICQ}}''' is an older messaging service, albeit with an 18+ requirement (despite pornography not being the point of ICQ).
*'''{{w|Windows Live Messenger}}''', or "MSN", was the messaging service of Microsoft before Microsoft bought Skype. MSN was useful in that people could draw and send pictures to other chatters.
*'''{{w|Usenet}}''' was one of the original ways to communicate on the internet, though people can download (copyrighted) files through the service. Since it is still in use by some, it gets the tag "Still Around!" on the map.
*'''{{w|IRC}} Isles''' refers to the ancestor of Internet-powered chatting. People would have connected to a server and spoke publicly. IRC is still in use (as of 2014), notably in getting help from other users. One of those isles is #xkcd which is an IRC community around [[xkcd]].

===Bay of Drama===
*'''{{w|FanFiction.net}}''' is a website where people can submit their fanfiction (stories by fans written about other peoples' media, normally that about popular media). The website tends to have people that are not helpful to those who legitimately want critique of their own stories.
*'''{{w|Xanga}}''' is a blogging service that, while popular at its time, lost out to...
*'''{{w|LiveJournal}}''' was the most popular blogging service before Tumblr.
*'''ONYD''' - Reference to {{w|Oh No You Didn't}}, which is explained in the Blogosphere region.
*'''{{w|Dreamwidth}}''' is a LiveJournal fork emphasizing its open-source nature.

===Blogosphere===
The Blogosphere region contains several general {{w|blog}} topics.
*'''{{w|photo blog|Photo Blogs}}''' are commonly used to chronicle the lives of the authors through photographs.
*'''Diary Blogs''' are another popular use of blogs (and, in fact, the original use) where authors write commentary about their lives.
*'''Bay of Grammar Pedantry''' deals with the fact that, whether due to a lack of proper education, a habit of using "chat-speak" in the text-limited SMS and MMS, or simply due to the (generally) more relaxed nature of the Internet, blog authors tend to write with horrible composition, a point of annoyment to a lot of other people due to the subsequent increased difficulty of reading the horribly-written material.
*'''Fandom Blogs''' are blogs created by a "{{w|fandom}}" which is a community of fans. A fandom blog deals with the subject matter of the respective fandom.
*'''Sea of Zero (0) Comments''' refers to blogs that get very little attention and therefore have no comments.
*'''SpamBlog Straits''' references spammers who use blogs to increase the number of links to their site to try to game search engines.
*'''OffTopic.com''' is a general interest forum that refers to itself as "the largest general discussion forum on the internet."
*Many more straightforward blogs, including:
**'''Writing/Poetry'''
**'''Gossip Blogs'''
**'''Political Blogs'''
**'''Music Blogs'''
**'''Tech Blogs'''
**'''Business Blogs'''
**'''Corporate Blogs'''
**'''Religious Blogs'''
**'''Miscellaneous Blogs'''
*'''Blog Blogs''' - These can refer to blogs that talk about the matter about blogging itself, though they can also refer to blogs which authors use in talking about blogging.

===Blogosphere (Core Region)===
Gossip Blogs:
Each blog below focuses on gossip surrounding celebrities and other well-known persons.
*'''{{w|Jezebel}}''' is a liberally feminist blog, hosted by Gawker.
*'''{{w|deadline.com|Deadline}}''' is an online entertainment news magazine.
*'''{{w|TMZ}}''' is a celebrity news website.
*'''{{w|Gawker}}''' is a blog that is the host of other blogs.
*'''LJ Oh No They Didn't''' - LiveJournal {{w|Oh No They Didn't}} - Oh No They Didn't, also known as ONTD, is the largest community on LiveJournal with over 100,000 members. The community focuses on celebrity gossip and pop culture with most of its posts aggregated from other gossip blogs.
*'''Doucheblog''' refers to blogs that were once insightful but that spiraled into long rants due to relationship changes of their authors.
*'''Isle of Mockery''' is a reference to the fact that some of what these blogs do is mock celebrities or other for doing or saying stupid things on camera.

Liberal Blogs:
Each blog below focuses on American political news with a "liberal" or "progressive" slant. These blogs tend to lean for the Democratic party.
*'''{{w|Huffington Post}}''' is a news blog.
*'''{{w|Paul Krugman}}''' is an American economist who considers himself a liberal.
*'''{{w|Daily Beast}}''' is a news and opinion website focusing on politics and pop culture.
*'''{{w|Talking Points Memo|TPM}}''' is a political journal run by Josh Marshall.
*'''{{w|Ezra Klein}}''' used to have his own site at the Washington Post, but is now the editor of [Vox.com].
*'''{{w|Think Progress}}''' is a political news blog.
*'''{{w|Daily Kos|Kos}}''' is another political blog.

Bay of Flame:
*'''{{w|Politics Daily}}''' is a political journalism website launched by AOL.
*'''CNN Political Ticker''' is CNN's political blog.
*'''{{w|Mediaite}}''' is a news and opinion blog covering politics and entertainment in the media.
*'''{{w|NY Times}}''' is one of the most famous newspapers, thus the comparatively large size of its island.
*'''{{w|The Talk}}''' is a talk show on CBS that discusses the latest headlines "through the eyes of mothers."
*Libertarian Isle (shaped like a {{w|Nolan Chart}})

Conservative Blogs:
Each blog below focuses on American political news with a "conservative" or Republican slant.
*'''{{w|Pajamas Media}}''' is a media company and operator of conservative news.
*'''{{w|Michelle Malkin}}''' is a conservative blogger, political commentator, and author.
*'''{{w|Hot Air}}''' is a news blog founded by Michelle Malkin.
*'''{{w|RedState|Red State}}''' is a political blog.
*'''{{w|American Thinker}}''' is a daily online magazine focused on politics.
*'''{{w|Townhall}}''' is a web publication and print magazine.

Tech Blogs:
*'''{{w|Boy Genius Report}}''' is a weblog that focuses on technology and consumer gadgets.
*'''{{w|Gizmodo}}''' is a news and opinion blog, hosted by Gawker, that talks about life's more technological matters.
*'''{{w|Engadget}}''' is another technology-oriented, albeit independent, blog.
*'''Crunchgear''' is a blog that reviews gadgets and other hardware.
*'''{{w|Techcrunch}}''' is an online publisher of technology industry news.
*'''{{w|Joystiq}}''' is a news and opinion blog that focuses on gaming.
*'''{{w|Kotaku}}''' is another gaming-oriented news/opinion blog, the main difference being that Kotaku is owned by Gawker.

Assorted:
*'''{{w|BoingBoing}}''' is "i blog about wonderful things", the topics being quite random.
*'''{{w|Lifehacker}}''' is another Gawker blog, is a blog that teaches people how to simplify their lives through 'lifehacking', that is, using their resources in creative wayss. While the subject matter is life in general, there is a significant technological slant.
*'''{{w|Deadspin}}''' is a sports and sports gossip blog founded by Will Leitch. It has since been acquired by Gawker
*'''Meatorama''' is a blog that talks about cooking meat.

===QQ Region===
*'''Baidu Baike''' (「百度百科」, "Baidu Encyclopedia") and '''Hudong''' (「互动百科」, "Interactive Encyclopedia" ) are two Chinese online encyclopedias. Baidu Baike is powered by the same company as Baidu, the search engine popular in China.
* The '''Ma Le Ge Bi''' and the '''Grass Mud Horse Bay''' could refer to the {{w|Baidu 10 Mythical Creatures}}.
* The '''Location of Jia Junpeng''' refers to the Internet meme of {{w|Jia Junpeng}} in 2009 in China.
*'''{{w|Tencent QQ}}''' is a Chinese instant messaging program.
*In English communities "QQ" has several more common definitions:
**An {{w|emoticon}}, representing a face with two large, crying eyes.
**A synonym for "rage quit", in which a video game player quits the game out of sheer frustration. It originated in ''Warcraft II'' multiplayer, where pressing Ctrl+Q+Q would quit the game, and became more widely known in ''World of Warcraft''.
**These definitions are commonly combined, usually to mock the "rage quitter".
*The Gulf of China refers to how sites in the region are based in People's Republic of China ("Red China"). The '''Great Firewall''' refers to {{w|The Great Firewall of China}}, a pun on {{w|The Great Wall of China}}. Similar to how The Great Wall of China was meant to keep intruding nations out of the then-capital of the city, The Great Firewall of China is meant to keep visitors from visiting censored websites. Oddly other Chinese websites (Qzone, Renren etc.) are not enclosed in this zone.

: ''Some non-American users may find the term "The Great Firewall of China" offensive.''

===Forums Islands===
Forums are websites where one person post a topic to which other people can discuss.

While the map has a zoomed in version, this article shall discuss the two bigger islands, first.

*'''[http://www.2ch.net 2channel]''' is a Japanese imageboard that was actually the original inspiration for 4chan.
*'''[http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites Craigslist]''' is a classified advertisement website with sections devoted to just about everything... which formerly included prostitution services, hence the '''The Former Site of Adult Services'''.

In the zoomed-in map, there is the following:
*'''[https://www.4chan.org/ 4chan.org]''' is an {{w|imageboard}} in which people can upload pictures while others comment on them. The website is infamous for its loose/often non-existent rules, incredibly vulgar userbase, source of new memes, and spawning of trolls. 4chan's random board, known internally as '''/b/''', is almost constantly flooded with porn and image macros. This is why Randall's incarnation of 4chan is roughly shaped like a penis.
*'''420chan''' and '''7chan''', other imageboards in the style of 4chan. Their relative lack of popularity and derivative nature leads a lot of 4chan users to mock them; hence, their position on Randall's map suggests that they're mere wads of semen.
*'''Encyclopedia Dramatica''', labeled '''ED''' on the map, is a wiki site dedicated to chronicling internet memes and other noteworthy sites, events, people, and anything else that catches their attention, generally in a very satirical manner. The site is heavily populated by 4chan users. Many people are offended by the articles and talks that go on in the wiki and forum, which is perhaps the reason that it appears to be represented as a wad of sperm. The image of sperm also makes sense since ED is used as a messaging center for the group "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_(group) Anonymous]" which is represented in the map as part of the testicles of the 4chan island(see below at the gulf named Anonymous).
*'''Tunnel to Habbo''' is a reference to [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/pools-closed the 2006 Habbo Hotel Raids], in which hundreds of 4chan Anons simultaneously logged onto Habbo Hotel and proceeded to be as obnoxious as possible, standing in formations of swastikas and penises or body-blocking the swimming pools.
*'''{{w|Catbus}} Route''' is likely a reference to {{w|Lolcat}}s in general.
*'''[http://www.ebaumsworld.com/ eBaum's World]''' is a media-hosting website founded by Eric Bauman. The site has lost a lot of traffic after (quite valid) accusations of stolen content.
*The gulf labelled '''{{w|Anonymous (group)|Anonymous}}''' is most likely a reference to the leaderless, anonymous international network called "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_(group) Anonymous]" which is composed of (mainly) anarchic activist hackers. Anonymous was created on the /b/ messaging board of 4chan, hence why the bay of Anonymous is on the coast of /b/. Also, the fact that the bay is in the "testicles"(/b/) of the 4chan island "penis" is referring to how Anonymous was created on 4chan, in the same way that sperm is created in the testicles of a penis, possibly a subtle jab at the group.

To the south and east is an archipelago of islands representing various regional and special-interest forums. Moving clockwise from 4chan island is
* '''Storm 2K''' is an online website hosting information on tropical cyclones and tools for tracking them, and has a forum with multiple categories and threads for discussion on tropical cyclones, as well as multiple tropical cyclone models and reconnaissance information.
* '''Skyscraper city''' is an internet forum website for skyscraper hobbyists and enthusiasts.
* An island containing two websites related to women, namely
** '''Wizaz.pl''' is a Polish website, presumably for women, with a forum filled with discussions mainly about beauty, health, women, hobbies, and fun.
** '''Baby and bump''' is a self-described "pregnancy forum, baby and parenting community."
An island contaning
** '''ForoCoches''' is a very popular Spanish (as in from Spain) forum mainly about automobiles, but holds discussions on virtually any topic.
** '''Bodybuilding.com''' is(as you can hopefully tell) a website for bodybuilders. It contains a forum for general discussions on bodybuilding that includes topics such as supplements, exercises, and nutrition.
** '''Bokt.nl''' calls itself the largest community on the topic of horses. A Dutch website, it holds topics about virtually anything involving horses.
** '''Cruise Critic''' is a website with a large forum about cruises in general.
* '''Lay it low''' is a website for discussing lowriding(changing a car so that its ground clearance go lower than the clearance of the original design from the manufacturer.
* '''[http://www.twoplustwo.com/ Two plus two]''' is a poker & gambling forum
* An island containing:
** '''Fan forum'''
** '''[http://www.facethejury.us/ Face the jury]''' is an online forum, originally founded for users to upload pictures of themselves to be judged by other users
** A smaller nearby island is '''Datalounge'''
* An island containing gaming-related sites
** '''D2JSP'''
** '''EA UK'''
** '''Gametrailers'''
* Smaller islands next to the D2JSP island are
** '''Steam powered'''
** '''World of players'''
** '''Nedgaf'''
** '''Overclock'''
* A smaller island of regional and special-interest forums:
** '''[http://digitalspy.com/ Digital Spy]''', a British media and entertainment news service
** '''[http://www.onliner.by/ onliner.by]''', a Belarusian digital technology forum
** Zona Ford
** '''[http://lowyat.net/ lowyat]''', a large Malaysian technology forum
** exbil
** '''[http://www.macrumors.com/ MacRumors]''', an Apple news and discussion site
** Adjacent to this, an island labelled '''[http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/ Whirlpool Forums]''', a large Australian broadband and technology forum. The drawing reflects Australia being an island continent separated from other countries.
* An island made up of several European forums:
** '''[http://www.jlaforums.com/ JLA Forums]'''
** '''[http://www.fok.nl/ fok.nl]''', a Dutch forum site that is one of the largest internet communities in the Netherlands
** '''[http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/ The Student Room]''', a British forum and wiki for secondary and tertiary students
** '''[http://www.boards.ie/ boards.ie]''' "Now Ye're talking", a popular Irish forum site
** '''[http://www.forum.hr/ forum.hr]''', a Croatian forum
** '''rus-chat''', possibly a reference to [http://rus-chat.de/ rus-chat.de]
* The largest single-site island is [http://www.somethingawful.com/ SomethingAwful], a website that is meant to showcase all things "awful". SomethingAwful also has a large trollbase, but they tend to be more honorable than the ones from Encyclopedia Dramatica and 4chan. One example is there being a spotty holding of the no-furries rule in the forums. The forums themselves are famous because of the holding of the Let's Plays of [http://lparchive.org/Dangan-Ronpa/ Dangan Ronpa] and [http://danganronpa2mirror.tumblr.com/ Super Dangan Ronpa 2], which had cooked up public interest to the point of there being an English-language release of the games. (Note that, due to these Let's Plays being in a forums that frequently hides behind a "paywall" that requires a paid account before accessing, the links provided go to their mirrors.)

==Transcript==
:'''Map of Online Communities'''
:Size on map represents volume of Daily Social activity (posts, chat, etc). Based on data gathered over the Spring and Summer of 2010.

:[Two insets on the upper left-hand corner shows that this map is a tiny portion of the huge continent of Spoken Language, encompassing portions of the Internet, Email, and Cell Phones (SMS).]

:[The largest landmass on the map by far, which takes up nearly the entire northern half of the map is "Facebook" - with large states in the south-east of the country labeled 'Farmville' and 'Happy Farm'. There is a much smaller state to the west of these called 'Farm Town'. To the north of these states is a large swath of unremarkable land entitled 'Northern Wasteland of Unread Updates.' This is directly north of the large Dopamine Sea.

:A peninsula on the south-west, just below the Plains of Awkwardly Public Family Interactions, houses many tiny states, such as MySpace, Orkut, LinkedIn, Bebo, & Hi5. It is bordered on the south by Buzzword Bay, which contains several islands of varying sizes. Among these are YouTube and Twitter (the largest), which are separated by the Social Media Consultant Channel. To the south-east of Twitter, across the Sea of Protocol Confusion, is another, equally large island. Most of it is Skype, with the north having two largish states called AIM and Windows Live Messenger. On the south-west part of the island are two smaller states called GG and Yahoo Messenger.

:The Island of Skype is extremely close to, but separated by the Great Firewall (a dashed line), the large landmass of QQ. It's north shore is the Gulf of China and Grass Mud Horse Bay. Outside of these bays, over the Great Firewall are two islands called Craigslist and 2Channel.

:In the Dopamine Sea, off the southern shores of Farmville and Happy Farm, is MMO Isle. Its largest state is WoW, with Runescape, Lineage, Maple Story, Habbo, and the Mountains of Steam among its notable landmarks. To the southeast of the island is the Gulf of Lag, in which sits the CDC Games island, with Eve Online.

:To the east of Twitter is Troll Bay, with such islands as Reddit and Reddit, Digg, Stumbleupon, Delicio.us, and Wikipedia Talk Pages. To their south are the IRC isles, of which one is the tiny island of #xkcd.

:East of these islands, and north of Skype island, is the Sea of Memes. In this sea, to the north of Craigslist and 2Channel, is an archipelago of tiny islands. There is an inset, labeled 'Forums.' (See below.)

:To the southwest of Twitter island, in the Sea of Opinions, are the blog islands. These lie south of the islands in Buzzword Bay, as well. The northernmost islands in this group are centered around the Bay of Drama, on which can be found Diary Blogs, Gossip Blogs, and Livejournal. Gossip Blogs share an island with Political, Music, and Tech Blogs. To the north of this island is a smaller island called Photo Blogs. South of Diary Blogs, and off the southwest coast of Music blogs is a smaller island called Fandom Blogs. South of Tech Blogs, off of which sprouts the small peninsula of Business Blogs, is the Spamblog Straits. On the other side of the straits is a large island made up of Miscellaneous Blogs, with two states demarcated as Religious Blogs and Blog Blogs. Southwest of the Blog Islands is the Sea of Zero (0) Comments.]

:[An inset of a group of islands in the sea of memes located on the lower right corner of the map, labeled 'Forums'. The largest by far is 4chan and /b/. Also found here are D2JSP, JLA Frums, Fan Forum, Something Awful, and many smaller ones, too numerous to list here.]

:[The northeastern third of Gossip/Political/Tech Blogs island is another inset labeled 'Blogosphere (Core)'. This can be found on the lower left corner of the map. Two peninsulas in Political Blogs bookend the Bay of Flame -- these are Liberal Blogs and Conservative Blogs. Between them lie several tiny islands such as Politics Daily, CNN Politcal Ticker, and Mediaite. Off the coast of Liberal Blogs lies the island of NYTimes, off the coast of Conservative Blogs is Libertarian Isle. Between the two lies The Talk. The northern peninsula of Tech Blogs contains places such as Gizmodo, Engadget, Joystiq, and Kotaku.]

:[Text found between the two insets, which are directly below the main map.]
:ABOUT THIS MAP
:Communities rise and fall, and total membership numbers are no longer a good measure of a community's current size and health. This updated map uses size to represent total social activity in a community -- that is, how much talking, playing, sharing, or other socializing happens there. This meant some comparing of apples and oranges, but I did my best and tried to be consistent.

:Estimates are based on the numbers I could find, but involved a great deal of guesswork, statistical inference, random sampling, nonrandom sampling, a 20,000-cell spreadsheet, emailing, cajoling, tea-leaf reading, goat sacrifices, and gut instinct (i.e. making things up).

:Sources of data include Google and Bing, Wikipedia, Alexa, Big-Boards.com, StumbleUpon, Wordpress, Akismet, every website statistics page I could find, press releases, news articles, and individual site employees. Thanks in particular to folks at Last.fm, LiveJournal, Reddit, and the New York Times, as well as sysadmins at a number of sites who shared statistics on condition of anonymity.

==Trivia==
*A print version of this comic is available in the [https://store.xkcd.com/products/online-communities-poster xkcd store].

{{comic discussion}}

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