explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1518: Typical Morning Routine

2015-04-29T20:43:43Z

173.245.50.156: Or windows, blackberry or propriatary OS's

{{comic
| number = 1518
| date = April 29, 2015
| title = Typical Morning Routine
| image = typical_morning_routine.png
| titletext = Hang on, I've heard this problem. We need to pour water into the duct until the phone floats up and ... wait, phones sink in water. Mercury. We need a vat of mercury to pour down the vent. That will definitely make this situation better and not worse.
}}

==Explanation==
Waking up to an alarm can be annoying, especially when it is your partner's alarm, and they are slow to wake up and even then have difficulty figuring out how to turn the alarm off. This comic takes this situation to a ridiculous extreme, from whence the comic derives its humor, especially when paired with the title describing this situation as a "Typical Morning Routine". Of course the typical could refer only to the part of the "routine" until the phone is dropped into an air vent.

In this comic, a guy with morning hair is shown using his phone as his alarm clock. We never see who he is sharing the bed with, a person that must get more and more angry with him and his alarm.

It can sometimes be complicated to turn off the alarm on a {{w|smartphone}} when groggy. The guy has apparently exited the alarm app by mistake. In some OSes, simply exiting the app doesn't close it, requiring you to use the app switcher to close it. (As of when this comic was posted, [[Randall]] uses both iOS and Android according to [[1508: Operating Systems]] - although there is no reason to be certain that the character in this comic is using the same operating systems as Randall).

After giving up on shutting the alarm app off, Hairy, in annoyance, gets the brilliant idea of trying to remove the battery (in the dark) to shut off his phone forcefully, instead of just trying to turn it off. However, in this process, he accidentally drops his device down an {{w|air vent}} next to the bed. Such a vent for an {{w|underfloor air distribution}} may not be very deep until it reaches a bend, so the phone can be expected to survive the fall. Usually such a {{w|Register (air and heating)|vent}} will have some sort of grille preventing anything large from falling into it. It's tricky to notice, but there does seem to be a grille, but it could either be missing a few parts due to poor maintenance, or this phone must have been small enough (and fallen in the right way) to slip through it anyway.

If they were a little handy, they would probably be able to open the vent and retrieve the phone. But of course it could either have settled too deep for them to retrieve (sliding further in to the system after the first short fall), or they do not have the tools to do so (maybe they live in a rented apartment). So being unable to get it out, Hairy attempts to remotely {{w|Brick (electronics)|brick}} the phone from his laptop. (That is, erase important system files, which renders the device as useful as a brick).

However, Hairy seems to have accidentally put the device into {{w|airplane mode}} in the confusion, thereby cutting off all {{w|wireless communications}} with the device. Airplane Mode also has a side effect whereby turning off all communication components, the phone uses less energy, so the phone may now last a week, or at least rather longer than the typical day or so. As can be seen in the first two panels, the alarm did not turn on the screen, as it should then have been visible in the comic. This also saves energy. But a smartphone playing loud sounds in airplane mode typically only lasts a day or so before the battery charge runs out.

Rather than finding a solution to the problem with the phone, Hairy proposes that they just move out instead. His unseen partner in the bed replies to this in the title text.

Relevant for the title text: There is a semi-common logic puzzle involving a ping-pong ball falling down a pipe with a kink in it. In this puzzle, the solution is to pour water into the pipe until the ping-pong ball floats up.

In the title text, Hairy's partner, pressed by the threat of having to move out, remembers this problem and attempts to apply it to this situation. Then realizing that phones do not float in water, suggests using {{w|Mercury (element)|mercury}} instead of water. The phone would certainly float on mercury, as it is a very dense liquid (the only metal that is liquid at room temperature). It is though not certain if this would be the case if the phone is lying flat on the surface. In this case the mercury may just push it down towards this surface without getting under it.

The extremely toxic nature of mercury makes pouring it into the air supply a very dangerous idea. Also the required amount of mercury would be extremely expensive. The last line in the title text is Hairy's reply to his partner, dripping with heavy sarcasm, stating that the mercury idea would ''definitely make this situation better and not worse''.

If they were actually ready to pour mercury down the went, or brick the phone (ruining it anyway) then maybe they could just pour enough water into the vent instead, until the phone would shut down by being flooded, therefore short-circuited. This would not work if the phone was waterproof. Some rugged phones and phone cases do actually float on water, and thus using water would work.

Of course, all these great ideas they have would probably not have come up if they had not just been awakened brutally by a very loud alarm that Hairy fails to silence. It is very difficult to think clearly in such a stressful circumstance.

This comic follows a similar storyline to [[349: Success]], as Cueball, like Hairy here, encounters an issue and attempts proceedingly more absurd solutions to the issue.

==Transcript==
:[The panel is completely black, with white text. Small lines indicate from where the two voices are coming, and also from where the alarm goes off. A small broken square surrounds the first word spoken.]
:Alarm: '''Bleep Bleep'''
:Voice (right): Urgh
:Voice (left): Your alarm is going off
:Voice (right): Huh?
:Voice (left): Make it stop.
:Voice (right) Urrgh

:[The panel is completely black, with white text. Small lines indicate from where the two voices are coming. Several small lines surrounds the last "sound" which is not spoken. The alarm noise is continued from the previous panel and continues over the top of the frame directly into the next panel.]
:Alarm: '''Bleep Bleep Bleep B'''
:Voice (left): Hit snooze.
:Voice (right): I'm ''trying''. I closed the alarm app and I can't... I'll just pop out the battery.
:Voice (right): Whoops!
:Clang

:[The lights have turned on so it is now a white panel with black text. The voice to the right came from Hairy with morning hair. He is leaning over the side of the bed, looking down the air vent through which he has dropped the phone. The other person to the left is not shown. The alarm noise (now coming from the air vent as visualized by the lines coming out of the vent) still continues from the previous panel and continues over the top of the frame directly into the next panel.]
:Alarm: '''eep Bleep Bleep Ble'''
:Off-Screen voice: Make it stop!
:Hairy: It... fell down the vent.

:[Hairy is sitting in his bed with a laptop. The person to the left is still off-screen. The alarm noise still continues from the previous panel and continues over the top of the frame out of the comic the the right.]
:Alarm: '''ep Bleep Bleep Bleep Ble'''
:Off-Screen voice: Can you brick it remotely?
:Hairy: Trying... I think I fumbled it into airplane mode?
:Off-Screen voice: The battery could last for weeks.
:Hairy: You know, maybe we should just move.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Sarcasm]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]

1518: Typical Morning Routine

2015-04-29T20:41:21Z

173.245.50.156: Take it to the discussion page

{{comic
| number = 1518
| date = April 29, 2015
| title = Typical Morning Routine
| image = typical_morning_routine.png
| titletext = Hang on, I've heard this problem. We need to pour water into the duct until the phone floats up and ... wait, phones sink in water. Mercury. We need a vat of mercury to pour down the vent. That will definitely make this situation better and not worse.
}}

==Explanation==
Waking up to an alarm can be annoying, especially when it is your partner's alarm, and they are slow to wake up and even then have difficulty figuring out how to turn the alarm off. This comic takes this situation to a ridiculous extreme, from whence the comic derives its humor, especially when paired with the title describing this situation as a "Typical Morning Routine". Of course the typical could refer only to the part of the "routine" until the phone is dropped into an air vent.

In this comic, a guy with morning hair is shown using his phone as his alarm clock. We never see who he is sharing the bed with, a person that must get more and more angry with him and his alarm.

It can sometimes be complicated to turn off the alarm on a {{w|smartphone}} when groggy. The guy has apparently exited the alarm app by mistake. In some OSes, simply exiting the app doesn't close it, requiring you to use the app switcher to close it. (As of when this comic was posted, [[Randall]] uses both iOS and Android according to [[1508: Operating Systems]] - although there is no reason to be certain that the character in this comic is using the same operating systems as Randall).

After giving up on shutting the alarm app off, Hairy, in annoyance, gets the brilliant idea of trying to remove the battery (in the dark) to shut off his phone forcefully, instead of just trying to turn it off. (This narrows it down to Android phones, since iPhones do not have consumer removable batteries.) However, in this process, he accidentally drops his device down an {{w|air vent}} next to the bed. Such a vent for an {{w|underfloor air distribution}} may not be very deep until it reaches a bend, so the phone can be expected to survive the fall. Usually such a {{w|Register (air and heating)|vent}} will have some sort of grille preventing anything large from falling into it. It's tricky to notice, but there does seem to be a grille, but it could either be missing a few parts due to poor maintenance, or this phone must have been small enough (and fallen in the right way) to slip through it anyway.

If they were a little handy, they would probably be able to open the vent and retrieve the phone. But of course it could either have settled too deep for them to retrieve (sliding further in to the system after the first short fall), or they do not have the tools to do so (maybe they live in a rented apartment). So being unable to get it out, Hairy attempts to remotely {{w|Brick (electronics)|brick}} the phone from his laptop. (That is, erase important system files, which renders the device as useful as a brick).

However, Hairy seems to have accidentally put the device into {{w|airplane mode}} in the confusion, thereby cutting off all {{w|wireless communications}} with the device. Airplane Mode also has a side effect whereby turning off all communication components, the phone uses less energy, so the phone may now last a week, or at least rather longer than the typical day or so. As can be seen in the first two panels, the alarm did not turn on the screen, as it should then have been visible in the comic. This also saves energy. But a smartphone playing loud sounds in airplane mode typically only lasts a day or so before the battery charge runs out.

Rather than finding a solution to the problem with the phone, Hairy proposes that they just move out instead. His unseen partner in the bed replies to this in the title text.

Relevant for the title text: There is a semi-common logic puzzle involving a ping-pong ball falling down a pipe with a kink in it. In this puzzle, the solution is to pour water into the pipe until the ping-pong ball floats up.

In the title text, Hairy's partner, pressed by the threat of having to move out, remembers this problem and attempts to apply it to this situation. Then realizing that phones do not float in water, suggests using {{w|Mercury (element)|mercury}} instead of water. The phone would certainly float on mercury, as it is a very dense liquid (the only metal that is liquid at room temperature). It is though not certain if this would be the case if the phone is lying flat on the surface. In this case the mercury may just push it down towards this surface without getting under it.

The extremely toxic nature of mercury makes pouring it into the air supply a very dangerous idea. Also the required amount of mercury would be extremely expensive. The last line in the title text is Hairy's reply to his partner, dripping with heavy sarcasm, stating that the mercury idea would ''definitely make this situation better and not worse''.

If they were actually ready to pour mercury down the went, or brick the phone (ruining it anyway) then maybe they could just pour enough water into the vent instead, until the phone would shut down by being flooded, therefore short-circuited. This would not work if the phone was waterproof. Some rugged phones and phone cases do actually float on water, and thus using water would work.

Of course, all these great ideas they have would probably not have come up if they had not just been awakened brutally by a very loud alarm that Hairy fails to silence. It is very difficult to think clearly in such a stressful circumstance.

This comic follows a similar storyline to [[349: Success]], as Cueball, like Hairy here, encounters an issue and attempts proceedingly more absurd solutions to the issue.

==Transcript==
:[The panel is completely black, with white text. Small lines indicate from where the two voices are coming, and also from where the alarm goes off. A small broken square surrounds the first word spoken.]
:Alarm: '''Bleep Bleep'''
:Voice (right): Urgh
:Voice (left): Your alarm is going off
:Voice (right): Huh?
:Voice (left): Make it stop.
:Voice (right) Urrgh

:[The panel is completely black, with white text. Small lines indicate from where the two voices are coming. Several small lines surrounds the last "sound" which is not spoken. The alarm noise is continued from the previous panel and continues over the top of the frame directly into the next panel.]
:Alarm: '''Bleep Bleep Bleep B'''
:Voice (left): Hit snooze.
:Voice (right): I'm ''trying''. I closed the alarm app and I can't... I'll just pop out the battery.
:Voice (right): Whoops!
:Clang

:[The lights have turned on so it is now a white panel with black text. The voice to the right came from Hairy with morning hair. He is leaning over the side of the bed, looking down the air vent through which he has dropped the phone. The other person to the left is not shown. The alarm noise (now coming from the air vent as visualized by the lines coming out of the vent) still continues from the previous panel and continues over the top of the frame directly into the next panel.]
:Alarm: '''eep Bleep Bleep Ble'''
:Off-Screen voice: Make it stop!
:Hairy: It... fell down the vent.

:[Hairy is sitting in his bed with a laptop. The person to the left is still off-screen. The alarm noise still continues from the previous panel and continues over the top of the frame out of the comic the the right.]
:Alarm: '''ep Bleep Bleep Bleep Ble'''
:Off-Screen voice: Can you brick it remotely?
:Hairy: Trying... I think I fumbled it into airplane mode?
:Off-Screen voice: The battery could last for weeks.
:Hairy: You know, maybe we should just move.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Sarcasm]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]

Talk:392: Making Rules

2015-04-08T14:36:15Z

173.245.50.156: Adding a comment

I always called it "Slug Bug" growing up... have I been wrong this entire time? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.156|173.245.50.156]] 14:36, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1049: Bookshelf

2014-11-05T21:24:14Z

173.245.50.156:

Rig this up to the entire twilight section. Problem solved. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:57, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

Does ''Atlas Shrugged'' have any particular relevance to the strip? [[User:Alpha|Alpha]] ([[User talk:Alpha|talk]]) 02:14, 3 February 2013 (UTC)
::Ayn Rand is pretty controversial, and a lot of people dismiss her books outright. Some of them are an interesting read, though. {{unsigned|217.28.5.48}}

There is a factual inaccuracy in the explanation here — her philosophy is libertarian, not conservative. Please fix that. [[Special:Contributions/46.150.103.149|46.150.103.149]] 14:47, 8 October 2013 (UTC)

"far-right" ??? This very subjective and insulting. But I guess it's the aim of such assertion. [[Special:Contributions/109.255.215.93|109.255.215.93]] 07:47, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Another inaccuracy: Rand herself found the Libertarians, like any political party, to be counterintuitive to her philosophy of Objectivism. Though I think "libertarian" should be changed to "objectivism," I'll leave it and just make a side-note, because one could say that Atlas Shrugged is to Libertarians as the Bible is to Christians. [[User:Jinx|Jinx]] 20:55, 11 April 2014 (UTC)

I have to agree, Objectivism is a philosophy, Libertarianism is a political movement. Although the two have a few overlaps, they are very different things. Rand was adamantly opposed the Libertarian Party and and wrote quite a bit about her objections. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.175|173.245.54.175]] 23:36, 10 August 2014 (UTC)

Does Libertarianism have anything to do with this strip? Why is it included [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.156|173.245.50.156]] 21:24, 5 November 2014 (UTC)