explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2361: Voting

2020-09-21T15:42:15Z

173.245.52.145:

To current and future readers: Ruth Bader Ginsburg died today. The timing of this comic may even coincide with this fact.
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.67|162.158.74.67]] 03:54, 19 September 2020 (UTC)
: Maybe, but [[Randall]] has posted tons of election articles before, especially expressing his love for Hillary (and thus dislike for Trump). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.228|108.162.216.228]] 04:41, 19 September 2020 (UTC)
:I read it as a "just vote, don't even care who you vote for, but vote" thing. Maybe Randall will show his own ideas later (though I can only imagine the one way that he'll lean, having ruled out ruling ''everyone'' out) but this is only actually anti-Trump insofar as Trump undeniably courts anti-voting (in his favour), more than pretty much any of the ideological-opposites do (in theirs). Don't read much more into this. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.116|162.158.159.116]] 10:36, 19 September 2020 (UTC)
:I {{w|Ruth Bader Ginsburg|looked who she is}} but I'm still unsure how would the comics be related to that. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 03:08, 20 September 2020 (UTC)
:@Hkmaly RBG was one of nine Supreme Court judges. She, like three others, leaned left ("Progressive"). Four lean right ("Conservative"), and one is centrist. Supreme Court judges hold their office for life. They are nominated by the current U.S. President, who historically nominates judges who lean the way they do. In the US, the Supreme Court, as the "Highest Court in the Land", can effectively overturn legislation or otherwise change society - for example, "Roe v Wade" is the Supreme Court ruling that made abortion legal in every State. If you want to change U.S. society to be more like you want, you'll vote for a President who leans your way -- not least because they will take the opportunity to stack the Supreme Court with "your" kind of judge. In early 2016, the majority Republican Senate refused to vote on the Democratic President's nomination because "it was an election year; we'll wait for the next President to be voted in." In late 2020, the majority Republic Senate will apparently fast-track the vote on whomever the Republican President nominates despite the election in less than six weeks. [[User:John.Adriaan|John.Adriaan]] ([[User talk:John.Adriaan|talk]]) 01:42, 21 September 2020 (UTC)

The election isn't two months from now; more like six weeks.
:It's also two months away. Not next month, but the one after that. Just, but it is. (I suppose I wouldn't have said this without also deciding I could remind people to sign the posts with the four tildes.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.36|162.158.155.36]] 15:09, 19 September 2020 (UTC) It's also "less than 2 months from the time of the comic's publication" so there's that. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.53|162.158.74.53]] 10:52, 20 September 2020 (UTC)

"I will brave mobs of vigilantes armed with pistols, rifles and machine guns, to vote this year, if I have to." "OK, now you're just being ridicu... wait, I take that back." [http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/08/trump-wants-to-station-armed-guards-at-2020-polls Trump Wants to Station Armed Guards at the 2020 Polls] [https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/gop-recruits-army-poll-watchers-fight-voter-fraud-no-can-n1217391 GOP recruits army of poll watchers to fight voter fraud no one can prove exists] [[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 05:05, 20 September 2020 (UTC)
: This is missing from the article. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.145|173.245.52.145]] 15:42, 21 September 2020 (UTC)

== Images not loading ==

Images on xkcd are failing to load with error 503 certificate has expired. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.6|162.158.238.6]] 00:32, 21 September 2020 (UTC)

And what-if.xkcd.com too. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.183.197|162.158.183.197]] 00:34, 21 September 2020 (UTC)

:xkcd seems to have fixed itself, although uniXKCD and What-If are still 503-ing. [[User:Bubblegum|bubblegum]]-[[User_talk:Bubblegum|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Bubblegum|contribs]] 03:33, 21 September 2020 (UTC)

2361: Voting

2020-09-21T15:41:38Z

173.245.52.145: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2361
| date = September 18, 2020
| title = Voting
| image = voting.png
| titletext = 'Wait, our state has mail voting. The forms are literally on the kitchen table.' 'Not now, I'm busy researching which channels have sharks in them.'
}}
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by SHARK-FILLED BROKEN GLASS. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The run-up to the {{w|2020 United States elections}}, occurring on November 3, 2020 (less than 2 months from the time of the comic's publication), has been fraught with various overlapping worries about the legitimacy of the forthcoming result. The {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}} has created a new interest in {{w|postal voting|voting by mail}}, at a historically large scale. See {{w|Postal voting in the United States}} for more detail. Cueball, however, is in a very patriotic mood and makes a series of hyperbolic statements to Megan about the trials he would be willing to endure in order to vote in the upcoming elections, none of which would (hopefully), in reality, apply to his or anyone else's circumstance.

Crawling across broken glass might have actually been necessary at some polling sites of the {{w|2001 New York City mayoral election}} primary, which had been scheduled for September 11, 2001, and would have taken place had it not been postponed two weeks due to the {{w|September 11 attacks|terrorist attacks}} of that day. However, as Megan states, their polling sites, unlike those of the 2001 election, don't even feature any especially large windows or other such structures from which broken glass could be derived. The quote, goes back to an October 2019 Ted Cruz interview where he described Beto O'Rourke voters as being so passionately anti-Trump that they will "crawl over broken glass" to vote him out. The saying has since been picked up as an expression by Democrat voters to affirm their desire to vote President Trump out of office.

The Sun, currently a yellow dwarf star on the main sequence, will eventually expand into a red giant, then collapse down to a white dwarf when its fuel is exhausted; this will not happen for billions of years, as Megan points out. Because of this, waiting until the sun burns out would result in Cueball's vote not being counted at all, both because it would be after the official deadline for ballots to be cast and because there would no longer be anyone alive on Earth.

As Megan observes, hot coals would most likely not even be present at their polling stations, and although some states have been accused of trying to make voting inconvenient or unsafe, this comic has not yet led any states to prohibit wearing shoes at polling places.

According to Megan, her and Cueball's municipality does not even include a single shark-infested body of water that Cueball would be able to swim through in order to cast his vote. Cueball's solution to this problem is to simply swim back to their location after swimming in his shark-filled channel.

Megan tries in vain to convince Cueball that his proposed actions are unnecessary or even impossible in their area, but, unable to bring him back to reality, she closes the final panel by asking if he'd be willing to put off all of this dangerous stuff until after voting, perhaps so that he will be alive long enough to vote in the first place.

Broken glass, the extinction of humanity, hot coals, and sharks aside, though, Cueball faces the risk of contracting COVID-19 from being in such close proximity to so many other voters, as he seems to plan on voting in person (his words show his desire for activities only possible by way of physical action; in the title text, he also ignores Megan when she says that mail-in voting is available).

In the title text, Megan tells Cueball that he does not need to go to such lengths to vote, as their state has mail-in voting and already sent forms either to cast a ballot or to apply for mail-in ballots. Cueball ignores her and continues looking online for shark-filled channels to swim through. In doing so, he completely negates his professed desire to vote, as he is ignoring the easy path and going after paths that would end up making it impossible to cast his vote.

Randall is making the point that, despite apparent obstruction tactics and threats and attempts to de-legitimize the process, voting is very important (Cueball is using {{w|hyperbole}} to illustrate the importance), and relatively easy (as Megan keeps reminding him). He is also expressing an opinion that the increased danger of government worker corruption or system compromise harming the legitimacy of the voting process due to massive mail-in voting, appears less worrisome than the coronavirus issue from in-person voting, to him.

Randall lives in Massachusetts, a state with majority Democrat media, voters, and government.

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

:[Cueball walks in from right, staring at his phone and talking to Megan.]
:Cueball: I will crawl across broken glass to vote this year if I have to.
:Megan: ...Why would there be broken glass?
:Megan: There aren't even any big windows at our polling place.

:[Cueball raising a finger triumphantly.]
:Cueball: I will wait in line till the sun burns out.
:Megan: Ok, some places have lines, which is awful, but it's usually pretty quick here?
:Megan: Definitely not 5 billion years.

:[Cueball raising a fist.]
:Cueball: I will walk barefoot across hot coals to cast my ballot!
:Megan: Where would you even '''''find''''' coals?
:Megan: You can wear shoes to vote. This scenario makes no sense.

:[Cueball raising a finger, and walking back off-panel to the left]
:Cueball: I will swim across a shark-filled channel!
:Megan: That'll take you '''''way''''' outside our precinct.
:Cueball: '''''Then I'll swim back!'''''
:Megan: Can you do all this stuff '''''after''''' voting?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Sharks]]

2361: Voting

2020-09-21T15:39:49Z

173.245.52.145: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2361
| date = September 18, 2020
| title = Voting
| image = voting.png
| titletext = 'Wait, our state has mail voting. The forms are literally on the kitchen table.' 'Not now, I'm busy researching which channels have sharks in them.'
}}
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by SHARK-FILLED BROKEN GLASS. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The run-up to the {{w|2020 United States elections}}, occurring on November 3, 2020 (less than 2 months from the time of the comic's publication), has been fraught with various overlapping worries about the legitimacy of the forthcoming result. The {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}} has created a new interest in {{w|postal voting|voting by mail}}, at a historically large scale. See {{w|Postal voting in the United States}} for more detail. Cueball, however, is in a very patriotic mood and makes a series of hyperbolic statements to Megan about the trials he would be willing to endure in order to vote in the upcoming elections, none of which would (hopefully), in reality, apply to his or anyone else's circumstance.

Crawling across broken glass might have actually been necessary at some polling sites of the {{w|2001 New York City mayoral election}} primary, which had been scheduled for September 11, 2001, and would have taken place had it not been postponed two weeks due to the {{w|September 11 attacks|terrorist attacks}} of that day. However, as Megan states, their polling sites, unlike those of the 2001 election, don't even feature any especially large windows or other such structures from which broken glass could be derived. The quote, goes back to an October 2019 Ted Cruz interview where he described Beto O'Rourke voters as being so passionately anti-Trump that they will "crawl over broken glass" to vote him out. The saying has since been picked up as an expression by Democrat voters to affirm their desire to vote President Trump out of office.

The Sun, currently a yellow dwarf star on the main sequence, will eventually expand into a red giant, then collapse down to a white dwarf when its fuel is exhausted; this will not happen for billions of years, as Megan points out. Because of this, waiting until the sun burns out would result in Cueball's vote not being counted at all, both because it would be after the official deadline for ballots to be cast and because there would no longer be anyone alive on Earth.

As Megan observes, hot coals would most likely not even be present at their polling stations, and although some states have been accused of trying to make voting inconvenient or unsafe, this comic has not yet led any states to prohibit wearing shoes at polling places.

According to Megan, her and Cueball's municipality does not even include a single shark-infested body of water that Cueball would be able to swim through in order to cast his vote. Cueball's solution to this problem is to simply swim back to their location after swimming in his shark-filled channel.

Megan tries in vain to convince Cueball that his proposed actions are unnecessary or even impossible in their area, but, unable to bring him back to reality, she closes the final panel by asking if he'd be willing to put off all of this dangerous stuff until after voting, perhaps so that he will be alive long enough to vote in the first place.

Broken glass, the extinction of humanity, hot coals, and sharks aside, though, Cueball faces the risk of contracting COVID-19 from being in such close proximity to so many other voters, as he seems to plan on voting in person (his words show his desire for activities only possible by way of physical action; in the title text, he also ignores Megan when she says that mail-in voting is available).

In the title text, Megan tells Cueball that he does not need to go to such lengths to vote, as their state has mail-in voting and already sent forms either to cast a ballot or to apply for mail-in ballots. Cueball ignores her and continues looking online for shark-filled channels to swim through. In doing so, he completely negates his professed desire to vote, as he is ignoring the easy path and going after paths that would end up making it impossible to cast his vote.

Randall is making the point that, despite apparent obstruction tactics and threats and attempts to de-legitimize the process, voting is very important (Cueball is using {{w|hyperbole}} to illustrate the importance), and relatively easy (as Megan keeps reminding him). He is also expressing an opinion that the increased danger of government worker corruption or system compromise harming the legitimacy of the voting process due to massive mail-in voting, appears less worrisome than the coronavirus issue from in-person voting, to him.

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

:[Cueball walks in from right, staring at his phone and talking to Megan.]
:Cueball: I will crawl across broken glass to vote this year if I have to.
:Megan: ...Why would there be broken glass?
:Megan: There aren't even any big windows at our polling place.

:[Cueball raising a finger triumphantly.]
:Cueball: I will wait in line till the sun burns out.
:Megan: Ok, some places have lines, which is awful, but it's usually pretty quick here?
:Megan: Definitely not 5 billion years.

:[Cueball raising a fist.]
:Cueball: I will walk barefoot across hot coals to cast my ballot!
:Megan: Where would you even '''''find''''' coals?
:Megan: You can wear shoes to vote. This scenario makes no sense.

:[Cueball raising a finger, and walking back off-panel to the left]
:Cueball: I will swim across a shark-filled channel!
:Megan: That'll take you '''''way''''' outside our precinct.
:Cueball: '''''Then I'll swim back!'''''
:Megan: Can you do all this stuff '''''after''''' voting?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Sharks]]

Talk:2050: 6/6 Time

2018-09-29T20:50:59Z

173.245.52.145: even a broken clock is right twice a day.

This is actually how time worked in ancient Greece, minus the 6 o'clock part. Sunrise was at 12, sunset at 12 and the length of each hour varied depending on the part of the year [[Special:Contributions/172.68.189.163|172.68.189.163]] 16:15, 24 September 2018 (UTC)

Not just Greece but most of medeaval Europe. The concept of a fixed length hour only arises with clockwork. that Noon, the ninth hour, now occurs at the sixth hour - that we call 12 - is mainly due to post black death labour shortages. {{unsigned|Arachrah}}

: Also ancient Rome. I ''think'' Romans borrowed this system from Greeks and it later spread along with the Roman Empire's influence. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.10.22|172.68.10.22]] 16:52, 24 September 2018 (UTC)

:: To be fair, the Romans "borrowed" (stole) a lot of other things from the Greeks, not the least of which was their pantheon. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.172|108.162.216.172]] 18:21, 24 September 2018 (UTC)

::: Or rather, both descended from a common pantheon. (A few gods were re-borrowed wholesale, like Apollo, and I think a few were misidentified, but for the most part this is how it worked.) - [[User:CRGreathouse|CRGreathouse]] ([[User talk:CRGreathouse|talk]]) 16:57, 26 September 2018 (UTC)

: Before clockwork (as mentioned above) was created, variable hours/minutes/seconds were necessary (at least during daylight hours) as the sundial obviously ({{w|citation needed}}) is just based off of the sun's angle in the sky.[[User:Rajakiit|Raj-a-Kiit]] ([[User talk:Rajakiit|talk]]) 17:42, 24 September 2018 (UTC)

:Wait ... labor shortage? How would moving noon help with labor shortage? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 03:41, 25 September 2018 (UTC)

Some facts: {{w|September equinox}} was at 01:54 UTC on September 23 when in the entire US it still was September 22 as can be seen here: [http://aa.usno.navy.mil/seasons?year=2018&tz=-5&dst=1 U.S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department (Apsides and Seasons 2018)]. This comic was released two days later. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:32, 24 September 2018 (UTC)

Could the timing of this comic be related to the [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45366390 EU voting to end DST within its borders?] [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.100|108.162.241.100]] 16:51, 24 September 2018 (UTC)
:This isn't about daylight saving time, which just moves clocks forwards and backwards by one hour in most cases. Cueball refers to an equinox when day and night are both 12 hours. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:05, 24 September 2018 (UTC)
:: This comic is about "unfixably messy and complicated" time standards (of which DST is one) at least as much as equinoxes (which aren't quite what you say they are; I won't get a 12-hour interval between sunrise and sunset at my latitude for another few days yet). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.220|108.162.241.220]] 19:51, 24 September 2018 (UTC)

The hours/minutes/seconds get really short/long in the polar regions. {{unsigned ip|162.158.74.243}}

The caption can also be referring to the alteration of time zones for political reasons, such as China having only one now rather than the five it used to use, or the Republic of Kiribati pushing the International Date Line east of its entire territory.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.140|172.69.22.140]] 17:50, 24 September 2018 (UTC)

Here is a YouTube video explaining the Japanese system (and how they created mechanical clocks to support it) - [https://youtu.be/3iclecbIgN0?t=135 Begin Japanology - Clocks and Watches]. -- [[User:Dhericean|Dhericean]] ([[User talk:Dhericean|talk]]) 18:15, 24 September 2018 (UTC)

Swatch time: Still more sensible than any other division of the day I've ever heard.

Seriously though, isn't it about time we all switched to metric? 10 segments in a day, not 24. 100 units in a segment. Straightforward, easy to figure pay rates, & pretty simple to convert to & from.

Increments of 24 & 60 have no relevance to anything these days. The only reason to continue using a 24hr day is because "that's how it's been done for ages" & that's no excuse for anything.

[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 18:23, 24 September 2018 (UTC)
:I wouldn't mind redefining the division of a day. My problem would be with redefining the second, which would necessarily be a consequence of switching to metric time, and thus also the three base and nineteen derived SI units that depend on the current definition of s.
:If you can switch us to metric time without redefining the length of a second, nor having an excessive number of leap seconds, I'm all for that. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.118|108.162.241.118]] 21:19, 24 September 2018 (UTC)
::Sure, quit worrying about what "day" it is. This probably won't be practical until most of the population is living off-world, but there's a bunch of SF novels where time is simply measured in "seconds", people say "back in a kilosec" and stuff like that. -- [[User:Resuna|Resuna]] ([[User talk:Resuna|talk]]) 13:08, 27 September 2018 (UTC)
:The length of a day isn't even constant. If you had even divisions, the length of those divisions would be changing constantly. "'It's been done that way for ages' is no excuse" is irrelevant reasoning. A consistent system of time is needed (because good luck updating every computer constantly), and any one consistent method is as good as another because they can all be converted to each other (much like feet and meters can be). The one that's been in use the longest tends to have the most support. It's similar to how people don't have much of a reason to change keyboard layouts even though QWERTY or AZERTY or whatever regional preference may not actually be the most efficient. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.210.34|172.69.210.34]] 23:52, 24 September 2018 (UTC)

:{{w|Decimal time|You are not first with this idea}}. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 03:51, 25 September 2018 (UTC)

Here's a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5wpm-gesOY Youtube video] that talks about just how bad time systems can get. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.210.34|172.69.210.34]] 23:52, 24 September 2018 (UTC)

Jewish practice today still uses the system of relative hours (see Wikipedia quotes, below). The earliest and latest times where various prayers must be said, and a variety of other time-based obligations are based on specific numbers of relative hours since dawn. Most of the time, this isn't a problem, but Jews living in extreme latitudes can find this very difficult. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 15:59, 25 September 2018 (UTC)

Weird numbers and the metric system? Before you try to get rid of 24 and 60 from time, why not get rid of the weird number that runs all through the metric system: 10. It really doesn't have any relevance except to a fluke of biology. And don't forget, they started with one ten millionth of the distance from the north pole to the equator, through Paris. --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 20:17, 25 September 2018 (UTC)

Some ICs use 65536 "seconds" per day internally, for example, 6AM is 0x4000 and 6PM is 0xC000. {{unsigned ip|162.158.106.126}}

Could this also possibly relate to the quote "Even a broken clock is right twice a day," except in this case, it's twice a year? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.145|173.245.52.145]] 20:50, 29 September 2018 (UTC)

'''From Wikipedia'''

In Judaism, an hour is defined as 1/12 of the time from sunrise to sunset, so, during the winter, an hour can be much less than 60 minutes, and during the summer, it can be much more than 60 minutes. This proportional hour is known as a sha'ah z'manit (lit. "temporal hour" [[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/temporal_hour]]). A Jewish hour is divided into 1080 halakim (singular: helek) or parts. A part is 3⅓ seconds or 1/18 minute. The ultimate ancestor of the helek was a small Babylonian time period called a barleycorn, itself equal to 1/72 of a Babylonian time degree (1° of celestial rotation).[6] These measures are not generally used for everyday purposes. {{unsigned|Kg}}

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_calendar#Day_and_hours Wikipedia: Hebrew Calendar: Days and hours]

Also:

In old times, the hour was detected by observation of the position of the sun, or when the first three stars appeared in the night sky. During the first six hours of the day, the sun is seen in the eastern sky. At the sixth hour, the sun is always at its zenith in the sky, meaning, it is either directly overhead, or parallel (depending on the hemisphere). Those persons living in the Northern Hemisphere, the sun at noon time will appear overhead slightly towards the south, whereas for those living in the Southern Hemisphere, the sun at noon time will appear overhead slightly towards the north. From the 6th and a half hour to the 12th hour, the sun inclines towards the west, until it sets. The conclusion of a day at the end of twilight may slightly vary in minutes from place to place, depending on the elevation and the terrain. Typically, nightfall ushers in more quickly in the low-lying valleys, than it does on a high mountaintop.

The conventional Jewish way of calibrating the time of day is to reckon the "first hour" of the day with the rise of dawn (Hebrew: עמוד השחר‬), that is to say, approximately 72 minutes before sunrise, and the end of the day commencing shortly after sunset when the first three medium-size stars have appeared in the night sky. From the moment of sunset when the sun is no longer visible until the appearance of the first three medium-size stars is a unit of time called evening twilight (Hebrew: בין השמשות‬). In the Talmud, twilight is estimated at being the time that it takes a person to walk three quarters of a biblical mile (i.e. 1,500 cubits, insofar that a biblical mile is equal to 2,000 cubits). According to Maran's Shulhan Arukh, a man traverses a biblical mile in 18 minutes, meaning, one is able to walk three quarters of a mile in 13½ minutes. According to Maimonides, a man walks a biblical mile in 24 minutes, meaning, three quarters of a mile is done in 18 minutes. In Jewish law, the short period of dusk or twilight (from the moment the sun has disappeared over the horizon until the appearance of the first three stars) is a space of time whose designation is doubtful, partly considered day and partly considered night. When the first medium-size star appears in the night sky, it is still considered day; when the second star appears, it is an ambiguous case. When the third star appears, it is the beginning of the first hour of the night. Between the break of dawn and the first three medium-size stars that appear in the night sky there are always 12 hours.

In the Modern Age of astral science and of precise astronomical calculations, it is now possible to determine the length of the ever-changing hour by simple mathematics. To determine the length of each relative hour, one needs but simply know two variables: (a) the precise time of sunrise, and (b) the precise time of sunset. Since the actual day begins approximately 72 minutes before sunrise, and ends 13½ minutes after the sun has already set and can no longer be seen over the horizon (according to Maran), or 18 minutes (according to Maimonides), by collecting the total number of minutes in any given day and dividing the total number of minutes by 12, the dividend that one is left with is the number of minutes to each hour. In summer months, when the days are long, the length of each hour during daytime can be as much as 77 minutes or more, whereas the length of each hour during nighttime can be less than 42 minutes.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relative_hour_(Jewish_law) Wikipedia: Relative hour (Jewish law)] {{unsigned|Shamino}}

'''Compound time'''

It struck me that 6/6 would be a musical time signature with six beats each of wich were a sixth note - so someing like dotted quaver. {{unsigned|Arachrah}}

'''Similarity in Temperature'''

The arbitrary selection of sunrise and sunset seems to take stab at how celsius is defined - at freezing and boiling points of water (at least before 1954), which can also shift with elevation. But of course fahrenheit is even worse. [[User:Colonelheero|Colonelheero]] ([[User talk:Colonelheero|talk]]) 19:12, 25 September 2018 (UTC)

'''Corrections required'''

The second paragraph is just wrong in stating that sunrise and sunset are determined by longitude. The time of sunrise and sunset vary both by longitude and latitude. Picture the nearly sinewave shape of the terminator line on a Mercator map. Only when the sun crosses the ecliptic does the terminator become a "square wave" and the sunrise and sunset are the same regardless of latitude.

Also the statement that at 12am the sun isn't always at the zenith is a strong understatement; 12am is midnight and the sun would be closer to the nadir point than to the zenith point. The correction would be to refer to 12pm. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.70.179|172.69.70.179]] 01:48, 26 September 2018 (UTC)

2050: 6/6 Time

2018-09-24T18:06:19Z

173.245.52.145: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2050
| date = September 24, 2018
| title = 6/6 Time
| image = 6_6_time.png
| titletext = You know how einstein figured out that the speed of light was constant, and everything else had to change for consistency? My theory is like his, except not smart or good.
}}

The original image has a link to a previous comic [https://xkcd.com/1061/ 1061: EST] which is explained [[1061: EST|here]].

==Explanation==

{{incomplete|Please edit the explanation below and only mention here why it isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Cueball here suggests a regional time system similar to that used in many societies prior to the invention of mechanical time keeping [[https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/experts-time-division-days-hours-minutes/]] [https://wiki.samurai-archives.com/index.php?title=Telling_Time Japan during the Edo period], where the day is separated into two parts based on night and day and then subdivided by hour, minute, and second to give season-variable lengths for each. The caption, though vague, can be assumed to relate to the gradual deviation of certain regions from the Coordinated Universal Time zones with "Daylight Savings Time" that is observed inconsistently and smaller regions opting for awkward fractional increments of deviation from Greenwich Mean Time.

The title text refers to Einsteins {{w|Special relativity|special theory of relativity}} which postulates that the speed of light is the same for all observers, regardless of the motion of the light source (or the observers). An observer at high speed measures the same speed of light as an observer with no motion, measured from the same light source. In classical physics the speed of the moving observer would be added up but in special relativity this isn't true, instead the time runs slower for the moving observer. And additional to this {{w|Time dilation|time dilation}} there is also a {{w|Length contraction|length contraction}} without which the geometry wouldn't work.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball and White Hat are walking.]
:Cueball: Under my time system, the sun rises at 6 am and it sets at 6 pm, as it '''''should'''''.
:Cueball: The length of the second is different each day and night, and the current time shifts with your latitude and longitude.
:Cueball: Today is one of the two days each year when my clocks run at the same speed as everyone else's.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Time standards are so unfixably messy and complicated that at this point my impulse is just to try to make them worse.
{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Time]]

2050: 6/6 Time

2018-09-24T17:39:16Z

173.245.52.145: adding about general application of this form of time keeping prior to invention of mechanical clocks

{{comic
| number = 2050
| date = September 24, 2018
| title = 6/6 Time
| image = 6_6_time.png
| titletext = You know how einstein figured out that the speed of light was constant, and everything else had to change for consistency? My theory is like his, except not smart or good.
}}

The original image has a link to a previous comic [https://xkcd.com/1061/ 1061: EST] which is explained [[1061: EST|here]].

==Explanation==

{{incomplete|Please edit the explanation below and only mention here why it isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Cueball here suggests a regional time system similar to that used in many societies prior to the invention of mechanical time keeping [[https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/experts-time-division-days-hours-minutes/]] [https://wiki.samurai-archives.com/index.php?title=Telling_Time Japan during the Edo period], where the day is separated into two parts based on night and day and then subdivided by hour, minute, and second to give season-variable lengths for each. The caption, though vague, can be assumed to relate to the gradual deviation of certain regions from the Coordinated Universal Time zones with "Daylight Savings Time" that is observed inconsistently and smaller regions opting for awkward fractional increments of deviation from Greenwich Mean Time.

The title text refers to Einsteins {{w|Special relativity|special theory of relativity}} which postulates that the speed of light is the same for all observers, regardless of the motion of the light source (or the observers). An observer at high speed measures the same speed of light as an observer with no motion, measured from the same light source. In classical physics the speed of the moving observer would be added up but in special relativity this isn't true, instead the time runs slower for the moving observer. And additional to this {{w|Time dilation|time dilation}} there is also a {{w|Length contraction|length contraction}} without the geometry wouldn't work.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball and White Hat are walking.]
:Cueball: Under my time system, the sun rises at 6 am and it sets at 6 pm, as it '''''should'''''.
:Cueball: The length of the second is different each day and night, and the current time shifts with your latitude and longitude.
:Cueball: Today is one of the two days each year when my clocks run at the same speed as everyone else's.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Time standards are so unfixably messy and complicated that at this point my impulse is just to try to make them worse.
{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Time]]

Talk:380: Emoticon

2018-06-05T12:09:27Z

173.245.52.145:

This ''may'' also be a reference or allusion to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Langford#Basilisks David Langford's basilisks], which are computer-generated images (mostly fractals) that kill or otherwise incapacitate people by triggering faults or overloads common to human neuropathways. ...I think it's just about the humor in a mythological basilisk's power transferring via emoticons, though. [[User:JET73L|JET73L]] ([[User talk:JET73L|talk]]) 16:05, 8 February 2013 (UTC)

<BSLSK05> :) {{unsigned ip|173.72.159.14}}

Perhaps Cueball isn't dead, but petrified, because he saw the eyes indirectly? Like in Harry Potter. [[Special:Contributions/121.99.61.70|121.99.61.70]] 21:10, 15 July 2013 (UTC)

:The X'd eyes and skull floating above [[Cueball]] indicates that the basilisk was, indeed, successful in its task. For those concerned about the paradox between "Cueball"'s untimely demise in this comic and his future appearances, consider this a parallel reality. Your brain is safe! [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 05:50, 22 September 2013 (UTC)
:: Maybe a Poincaré recurrence time passes between this comic and the next one. {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.5}}

:: ...or just consider that 'Cueball' is simply the name of the 'species' of stick figure here. Otherwise, the Cueball here would still be [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Talk:169:_Words_that_End_in_GRY missing a hand, literally.] [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 03:16, 16 December 2013 (UTC)
::: Of course, there's no way we can tell it's not a prosthesis. --[[User:Alex|Alex]] ([[User talk:Alex|talk]]) 19:51, 17 May 2014 (UTC)
Is this the last comic with a CRT monitor? [[Special:Contributions/89.243.117.162|89.243.117.162]] 20:57, 14 August 2013 (UTC)
:Good question, I did add a category for this so we can collect them.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:26, 21 August 2013 (UTC)
::The CTR category was deleted by Davidy so the puzzle is left unsolved [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:10, 16 May 2014 (UTC)

It would be extraordinarily like xkcd to include a reference to [[http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Roko%27s_basilisk Roko's Basilisk]] and make it literal, in a manner similar to how other debates and ideas in computer science, mathematics, and other fields became actual battles. Consider [[http://xkcd.com/804/ Pumpkin Carving]] or [[http://xkcd.com/704/ Principle of Explosion]], where ideas from set theory and logic manifest directly in the world. Warning: some folk find the thought experiment of Roko's Basilisk disturbing. {{unsigned ip|108.162.238.166}}
:As noted above, the reference is more likely to Langford's basilisks (though the rest of your comment fits just as well). Though now I at least have an idea why is Roko's Basilisk named that... I kept wondering "why is this thought experiment in any way similar to a basilisk?" --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.81.74|141.101.81.74]] 06:37, 9 November 2015 (UTC)
::For that matter, this particular comic is early enough that it actually ''predates'' the Roko's Basilisk story. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.81.78|141.101.81.78]] 15:24, 10 November 2015 (UTC)

;What's up with the explanation??

The explanation is super messy, can someone who understands it fix it? {{unsigned ip|162.158.133.120}}

Why is the Basilisk a 5 year old male?

410: Math Paper

2018-01-19T03:23:15Z

173.245.52.145: tvtropes warning

{{comic
| number = 410
| date = April 14, 2008
| title = Math Paper
| image = math_paper.png
| titletext = That's nothing. I once lost my genetics, rocketry, and stripping licenses in a single incident.
}}

==Explanation==
The math paper [[Cueball]] is in the process of describing in this comic, turns out to be nothing but an elaborate set up for a joke about {{w|imaginary friend}}s by taking the concept of "{{w|friendly number}}s" into the complex (imaginary) plane, which comprises complex numbers that have both a real and an imaginary part (see details [[#Math|below]]).

Cueball is challenged on this setup by his superiors, specifically the Cueball-like guy sitting at the end of the table, who look straight through his first line up for the joke, and ask him directly if this is just a build-up for this joke. Cueball tries at first to look like he has no idea what he's talking about, then lowers his head, in shame, and finally tries to state that ''it might not be'' such a setup. But it is too late now.

Such a pun is both so obvious and so terrible that Cueball's superiors deem that he should no longer have a {{w|Licence to kill (concept)|license to ''math''}} and they thus revoke Cueball's "math license". Of course you do not need a math license, but that is part of the comic's concept along the lines mentioned here below and further elaborated in the title text.

It is a [[:Category:Banned from conferences|recurring theme]] in earlier xkcd comics that Cueball (or [[Randall]]) ends up being banned from holding presentations at conferences after a presentation turns out to be just an elaborate pun.

The title text takes the joke a step further, with the added hilarity of making the audience question exactly how Cueball/Randall was able to work a {{w|striptease}} into a presentation about {{w|genetic engineering}} and {{w|astrophysical}} rocket study (or possibly genetics and rockets into a striptease) and then even manage to lose all three licenses in one go. This is what TV Tropes calls a "{{tvtropes|NoodleIncident|noodle incident}}".

The whole comic is basically Randall making the joke that Cueball never got around to, but packing it up so we think it is about something else. Randall has often made such feeble jokes, but by putting them into a context where someone listening may comment on how bad that joke is or have to explain the joke, it somehow becomes alright, and he can get away with these jokes anyway. (See for instance [[18: Snapple]]).

===Math===
An {{w|imaginary number}} is a number that can be written as a real number multiplied by the imaginary unit ''i'', which is defined by its property ''i2 = -1'' (an impossibility for regular, "{{w|real numbers}}", for which all squares are positive). The name "imaginary number" was coined in the 17th century as a derogatory term, since such numbers were regarded by some as fictitious or useless, but over time many applications in science and engineering have been found.

An imaginary number ''bi'' can be added to a real number ''a'' to form a {{w|complex number}} of the form ''a+bi'', (the formula shown at the bottom of Cueball's slide ), where ''a'' and ''b'' are called, respectively, the real part and the imaginary part of the complex number. If ''a'' and ''b'' are both integers, the complex number is called a {{w|Gaussian integer}} (as Cueball mentions). The {{w|complex plane}} is an X-Y plot with a on the X axis and b on the Y axis. (Such a plane is shown at the bottom of Cueball's slide).

Joel Bradbury (once) had the below cited and wonderful explanation of {{w|friendly number}}s on his site:

:What are Friendly Numbers?
:We need first to define a divisor function over the integers, written σ(n) if you're so inclined. To get it first we get all the integers that divide into n. So for 3, it's 1 and 3. For 4, it's 1, 2, and 4, and for 5 it's only 1 and 5.

:Now sum them to get σ(n). So σ(3) = 1 + 3 = 4, or σ(4) = 1 + 2 + 4 = 7, and so on.

:For each of these n, there is something called a characteristic ratio. Now that's just the divisors function over the integer itself: σ(n)/n. (This is the formula shown at the top of Cueball's slide). So the characteristic ratio where n = 6 is σ(6)/6 = 12/6 = 2.

:Once you have the characteristic ratio for any integer n, any other integers that share the same characteristic are called friendly with each other. (This is what is written in the frame in Cueball's slide, spelling friendly numbers as ''friendly #s''). So to put it simply a friendly number is any integer that shares its characteristic ratio with at least one other integer. The converse of that is called a solitary number, where it doesn't share its characteristic with anyone else.

:1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are solitary. 6 is friendly with 28; σ(6)/6 = (1+2+3+6)/6 = 12/6 = 2 = 56/28 = (1+2+4+7+14+28)/28 = σ(28)/28.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball holding a pointing stick is using it to point at an equation on a panel. He is looking right. There several parts of the panel that can be read. At the top there is a formula. Below is a frame with text. Below again to the left is a X-Y plot with small dots all over all four quadrants, probably indicating the complex numbers with b on the Y and a on the X axis. Finally right of this is yet another formula.]
:Cueball: In my paper, I use an extension of the divisor function over the Gaussian integers to generalize the so-called "friendly numbers" into the complex plane.
:Panel:
::σ(n)/n = d(n)
::Friendly #s share d(n)
::For a + bi...

:[The audience to the right of Cueball consist of two Cueball-like guys (one in front and one in the back) and between them are Hairbun, with glasses, and Megan. They sit around a table, only Hairbun is on the near side. The Cueball-like guy sitting to the right is at the end of the table, the other two are on the far side. The Cueball at the end of the table is talking, the other three have turned to look at him:]
:Guy at the end of the table: Hold on. Is this paper simply a giant build-up to an "imaginary friends" pun?

:[Back to Cueball who stands speechless.]

:[One more beat panel with Cueball who now looks down.]

:[Zoom out to Cueball and the front end of the table with the Cueball-like guy who has not spoken yet and Hairbun who now looks at Cueball. Cueball looks up again and speaks. The guy at the end of the table speaks off panel.]
:Cueball: It might not be.
:Guy at the end of the table (off panel): I'm sorry, we're revoking your math license.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Banned from conferences]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Puns]]

Talk:1920: Emoji Sports

2017-11-24T15:15:13Z

173.245.52.145: More comments

It seems like in addition to the destructive sports thing, he's also playing on the emojis made from other emojis in multi character Unicode, but as it's 3 in the morning and I can't even remember what things are called I'm not gonna even try to edit right now. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.33|162.158.62.33]] 07:50, 24 November 2017 (UTC)

Hey! An early published comic! 3AM Me And Randall time Thursday night right now. Fun since I only read on Monday and Thursday nights. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:14, 24 November 2017 (UTC)

Actually candle eating isn't so far out there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXg3l_Lnmdo

It seems like the joke in the title is about the fact that a horse winning a HorseHole race wouldn't actually be able to compete anymore (dead or hurt). Which would explain why no horse ever won the 4 different races. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.150.40|162.158.150.40]] 09:58, 24 November 2017 (UTC)

Re. " the mailbox seems to be missing mail" - If there was mail in there, there wouldn't be room to stuff the owl in.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.239|141.101.104.239]] 11:22, 24 November 2017 (UTC)

What a dumb idea for a comic. It's kinda like comedy central when they run out of ideas, they run South Park day and night, or TruTV running Impractical Jokers episodes because they ran out of other remotely funny stuff. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.113|172.68.58.113]] 11:52, 24 November 2017 (UTC)

Is it worth mentioning that a version of Alligator Jumping appears in the Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album? As befits MP, the sport involves running at a crocodile, then diving into its mouth. There is controversy in the sport regarding whether or not to coat yourself with a marinade. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.85|162.158.111.85]] 12:28, 24 November 2017 (UTC)

I vaguely remember that "Consequence XXXXX" is a thing; finding a reference for that would be helpful. Also, any way to increase the size of the emojis? They're pretty hard to read at the usual font size. -- [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.145|173.245.52.145]] 15:15, 24 November 2017 (UTC)

867: Herpetology

2015-04-26T22:51:30Z

173.245.52.145: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 867
| date = March 2, 2011
| title = Herpetology
| image = herpetology.png
| titletext = Birds are Aves, which is part of the clade Theropoda, which is in Saurischia, which is in Dinosauria. Those birds outside our windows are dinosaurs. We can clear out the rest of our brains because we now have the best fact.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Herpetology}} is the branch of {{w|zoology}} that studies {{w|reptiles}} and {{w|amphibians}}. {{w|Ornithology}} is the branch of zoology that studies {{w|birds}}.

At an ornithology conference, Ponytail is using the {{w|Cladistics}} method by showing a {{w|Cladogram}} to argue that the combining of amphibians and reptiles into a single field of study is misguided. In terms of their {{w|Evolutionary history of life|evolutionary history}}, reptiles are more closely related to birds (and even to mammals) than to amphibians. She states, in a patronizing way, that the study of reptiles should more properly be combined into her own field.

Herpetologists would rightly see this view as a threat to their territory, their budgets and even their existence.

The claim made by the ornithologist is fundamentally correct; the evolutionary history of those groups did actually diverge in that way. So, instead of arguing the science, Megan, the presenter at the herpetology conference resort to a personal attack on the profession of ornithology. At their own conference, they retaliate with a chart that purports to demonstrate that douchebags and ornithologists are more closely related to each other than either are to "nice people", and they can therefore be grouped into an encompassing "asshole" classification.

Since the intent of the earlier presentation was presumably to rile herpetologists rather than achieve any particular scientific goal, this response seems appropriate.

In the title text, birds are class {{w|Aves}} which is a subset of the suborder {{w|Theropoda}} which is a subset of the order {{w|Saurischia}} and the superorder {{w|Dinosauria}}. Under the normal rules of classification, this means that all birds are technically dinosaurs.

This was also shown in more detail later in [[1211: Birds and Dinosaurs]]

==Transcript==
:Ornithology conference:
:[Graph showing a large tree split between amphibians and reptiles.]
:Ponytail: As you can see, herpetology is a silly field; reptiles are actually more closely related to birds and mammals than to amphibians. It should really be broken up, with lizards folded into ornithology.

:Herpetology conference:
:[Graph showing a large tree split between nice people and ornithologists.]
:Megan: As you can see, ornithologists are actually assholes.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Public speaking]]
[[Category:Biology]]