1439: Rack Unit

2014-10-30T00:23:01Z

Talk:897: Elevator Inspection

2014-08-26T14:31:04Z

173.245.54.153: Three words for you: tamper-resistant Torx

I wonder, how fast does elevator technology advance? Is there like a Moore's law for the speed and safety of elevators or something? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:05, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

This comic has my doubts. If you placed the certificate in the actual elevator, it might be vandalized, stolen, or otherwise destroyed. Of course, you could just put a photocopy of the original certificate in the elevator, but not very many pointy-haired bosses are that clever. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.217|108.162.245.217]] 03:41, 7 June 2014 (UTC)
:That's why the certificate goes behind shatterproof clear plastic in a tamper-resistant frame. Casual vandals seldom carry the right kind of screwdriver. At one job, I used to hear people complain on a regular basis about expired certificates in the cars. Even with a diligent and ongoing maintenance program, an underfunded and overworked inspection bureaucracy can take their own sweet time making the rounds.
:Elevator manufacturers, like submarine sailors, do not like change for its own sake. They don't get very effusive about innovation, so no Moore's law need apply. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.153|173.245.54.153]] 14:31, 26 August 2014 (UTC)

1410: California

2014-08-20T13:24:25Z

173.245.54.153: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1410
| date = August 20, 2014
| title = California
| image = california.png
| titletext = 58% of the state has gone into plaid.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|partial explanation}}
This graph shows the levels of drought over time in the state of {{w|California}} using years on the horizontal axis and latitude on the vertical axis. The graph accentuates the use of the latitude on the vertical axis by visually rotating and stacking multiple maps of California on top of each other.

The geography of California lends itself well to this kind of graphical interpretation because (on a map where north is up) the state is much taller than it is wide, large-scale phenomena like weather patterns are likely to cover much of the "width" of the state but only part of the "height". Because the variation in the west-east direction will be small, a side-on view of the state can be used as the vertical axis in a graph, so that the indicated values are either the average or extreme value across the width of California.

[[Randall]] compiled the data in this graph from data from the [http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/ US Drought Monitor], which is authored by Richard Tinker from {{w|National_Oceanic_and_Atmospheric_Administration|NOAA}}. The colors Randall uses correspond to [http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/AboutUs/ClassificationScheme.aspx drought intensity levels D0-D4] defined on the Drought Monitor site.

The graph shows that in 2000, 2005, and 2010, there were very little or no drought conditions in California, but that the intervening periods have seen increasingly severe droughts. According to the most recent data, the state is entirely in a condition of "severe" or worse drought, with "ludicrous" conditions across approximately half its area. The graph also reveals that 2014 is the first year (since 2000) where the "ludicrous" level has been seen.

The darkest, most severe level of drought is labelled "ludicrous," but a parenthetical remark indicates that the official term is "exceptional.". The term "ludicrous" is a reference from the movie {{w|Spaceballs}}, a {{w|Parody_film|parody}} of various {{w|Science_fiction|Sci-Fi}} movies, where the spaceship Spaceball One accelerates past {{w|Speed of light|light speed}} to ludicrous speed.

The title text is also a reference from the same movie. Lone Starr and Barf in their Winnebago space ship traveling at warp speed are passed by Spaceball One which is traveling at ludicrous speed. The path of Spaceball One is shown as a {{w|Plaid_(pattern)|plaid pattern}} and Barf remarks "They've gone to plaid!" [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk7VWcuVOf0]. With this pattern, the movie is parodying the final travel sequence of the movie {{w|2001:_A_Space_Odyssey_(film)#Jupiter_and_Beyond_the_Infinite|2001: A Space Odyssey}}.

==Transcript==
A graph titled "California Droughts (based on map data from US Drought Monitor/NOAA/Richard Tinker)" where white is no drought, yellow is dry, beige is moderate drought, orange is severe drought, red is extreme drought, and brown is ludicrous ("exceptional") drought. The graph is a contour plot with time in years as the independent variable and California's latitude as the dependent variable.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1410: California

2014-08-20T13:21:49Z

173.245.54.153: attitude, as in not going upside down without meaning to

''and remark that "They've gone plaid!"''
I heard them say:
"They've gone Plait!"
I think it was "They've gone to plaid!" [[User:Chrullrich|Chrullrich]] ([[User talk:Chrullrich|talk]]) 08:16, 20 August 2014 (UTC)
:Correct, the [http://sfy.ru/?script=spaceballs script] contains: They've gone to plaid. [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 08:36, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

Spaceballs was parodying the use of surreal colours and patterns and the like when travelling at high speeds (ludicrous speed in the movie, hence its use in the legend of the graph) in older science fiction movies like 2001 a space odyssey. Plaid refers to the common textile pattern see:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaid_(pattern). Also see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygE01sOhzz0. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.186|141.101.99.186]] 09:30, 20 August 2014 (UTC)
:Spaceballs is really full of movie references! I originally saw the movie on BBC1, so I was surprised to see the Alien reference in the restaurant when I bought the DVD, because the BBC decided to cut the sequence for being distasteful! [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 11:36, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

And here we have evidence of global warming. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.190|173.245.54.190]] 12:54, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

Looking at the color key reminds me of an aviator's scale of turbulence: nil, mild, moderate, severe, extreme. Extreme is when the rotating air overwhelms any possible control input (elevator, rudder, and aileron) so the plane's attitude is at the mercy of the wind, without recourse. AFAIK, plaid turbulence has not been reported by any surviving pilot. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.153|173.245.54.153]] 13:20, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1410: California

2014-08-20T13:20:34Z

173.245.54.153:

''and remark that "They've gone plaid!"''
I heard them say:
"They've gone Plait!"
I think it was "They've gone to plaid!" [[User:Chrullrich|Chrullrich]] ([[User talk:Chrullrich|talk]]) 08:16, 20 August 2014 (UTC)
:Correct, the [http://sfy.ru/?script=spaceballs script] contains: They've gone to plaid. [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 08:36, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

Spaceballs was parodying the use of surreal colours and patterns and the like when travelling at high speeds (ludicrous speed in the movie, hence its use in the legend of the graph) in older science fiction movies like 2001 a space odyssey. Plaid refers to the common textile pattern see:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaid_(pattern). Also see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygE01sOhzz0. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.186|141.101.99.186]] 09:30, 20 August 2014 (UTC)
:Spaceballs is really full of movie references! I originally saw the movie on BBC1, so I was surprised to see the Alien reference in the restaurant when I bought the DVD, because the BBC decided to cut the sequence for being distasteful! [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 11:36, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

And here we have evidence of global warming. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.190|173.245.54.190]] 12:54, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

Looking at the color key reminds me of an aviator's scale of turbulence: nil, mild, moderate, severe, extreme. Extreme is when the rotating air overwhelms any possible control input (elevator, rudder, and aileron) so the plane is at the mercy of the wind, without recourse. AFAIK, plaid turbulence has not been reported by any surviving pilot. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.153|173.245.54.153]] 13:20, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

1409: Query

2014-08-19T01:26:58Z

173.245.54.153: /* Explanation */ basking is more like sunbathing -- "are bathed in a yellow light" might also work

{{comic
| number = 1409
| date = August 17, 2014
| title = Query
| image = query.png
| titletext = SELECT * FROM GHOSTS
}}

==Explanation==
[[Megan]] picks up a strange device that mysteriously asks her to enter a query after stating "LOADED TABLE: PEOPLE / ENTER QUERY." In computer databases, "{{w|Table (database)|tables}}" are groups of similar information consisting of records each having certain attributes. Databases are generally made up of many tables, each containing different types of records. A database for a traditional library might have a "Books" table and a "Cardholders" table with records of all of the books in the library, and all of the people who have library cards. Each table will have different columns for certain attributes for every record. For example, the "Books" table might have columns for "title", "author", "date", etc.

A request from a database by a user is called a "query". {{w|SQL}} (Structured Query Language) is a programming language designed for databases, and has a certain syntax for its queries. A common query is "select" which requests certain information from the database. In the library example, one might select (in plain English) all books written by a certain author or published after a certain date, etc.

In this comic, Megan tests the device by entering an SQL query into it: "SELECT * FROM PEOPLE WHERE AGE > 30" (show all the people older than 30). It appears that the actual people around her who are over 30 are wrapped in a yellow light, which does not apply to Megan in this query. Megan then tries other experimental queries, presumably to determine whether the results are correct. First, she queries for people with a high annual income (a group that does not include her), then for those who are afraid of flying (which she is). Because the results for herself are valid both times, she then indulges her curiosity by asking who has watched porn in the preceding twelve hours. This suggests that whatever "database" she is accessing is extremely thorough as it contains ongoing records of people's day-to-day activities.

Finally, she types "DROP TABLE PEOPLE". Drop is an SQL command to delete a table. When she enters the command, everybody, including herself, disappears. The implications are unclear. It may be a suggestion that all of reality is a computer program, all of the people are merely "data" in the program, and Megan was somehow granted access to the database for the program.

The title text suggests the possibility that when the people disappeared or "died", their records were moved to a table called "GHOSTS". The query would then, presumably, see all the people that were deleted. In some implementations of SQL, when records are deleted, they are hidden but remain in the database until a "Ghost Cleanup Process" removes the data permanently. The title text may also allude to this process.

==Transcript==
:[Megan picks up a device.]
:Device: ''LOADED TABLE: PEOPLE''
:Device: ''ENTER QUERY''

:[Megan types into the device:] SELECT * FROM PEOPLE WHERE AGE > 30

:[Five people are highlighted.]

:[Megan types:] SELECT * FROM PEOPLE WHERE ANNUAL_INCOME > 100 000

:[One person is highlighted.]

:[Megan types:] SELECT * FROM PEOPLE WHERE AFRAID_OF_FLYING = TRUE

:[Four people, including herself, are highlighted.]

:[Megan types:] SELECT * FROM PEOPLE WHERE HOURS_SINCE_WATCHING_PORN < 12

:[Three people are highlighted.]

:Megan: Neat
:Megan: ...
:[Megan types:] DROP TABLE PEOPLE

:[Everyone disappears; the items they were holding drop to the ground.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

Talk:1409: Query

2014-08-18T19:04:09Z

173.245.54.153: see 327: Exploits of a Mom

----
I assume the Cueball sitting on the box is being accused of being Hairy. I'd say no. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 07:26, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

Is there any particular point Randall would be making where 2 females and only one male, out of 5 each, have watch porn in the last half day? [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 07:26, 18 August 2014 (UTC)
:I wasn't sure about one of those 'females', because of the various visual cues.
:What do we know/can assume about the figures? From Left to Right...
:Dark-haired ponytail and mobile phone, on own: *above 30*, not high-earning, flies easily, not a recent porn viewer. (Possibly she's a professional woman, but not smashed through the glass ceiling.)
:Assumed Megan with the 'device', standing apart: less than 30yo, not high-earning, *fears flying* (hence her inspiration), not a recent porn viewer. (Could this be the archetypal Megan, or just ''a'' Megan?)
:Taller cueball, in 1-to-1 conversation: *above 30*, not high-earning, flies easily, not a recent porn viewer. (Grown up, doubtless socially comfortable.)
:Shorter, buzzcut cueball, in 1-to-1 conversation: *above 30*, *high earner*, flies easily, not a recent porn viewer. (Probably an pre-middle-aged Exec "going places", perhaps his success and choice of 'young' haircut are as a result of a mild case of Napoleon syndrome, but if people will talk to him he's probably not being a dick about his success.)
:Sitting ponytail, in conference: less than 30yo, not high-earning, flies easily, *recent viewed porn*. (From the companions and the position, probably high 20s recent graduate relaxing with a long-term social group.)
:Sitting cueball, in conference: *above 30*, not high-earning, flies easily, not a recent porn viewer. (Another graduate, early 30s, probably exercises in order to find that sitting position relaxing. Part of the same social group.)
:Sitting flowinghair, in conference: *above 30*, not high-earning, *fears flying*, *recent viewed porn*. (''Sex indeterminate'' as that hair could indicate a metrosexual male. By 30 the look is probably starting to wearing thin, but still not overly embaressing. It certainly doesn't look like (s)he has settled down in a familial relationship yet, but has quite obviously flown the parental nest and is now with friends from college/university. Or might have been met on a round-the-world backpacking holiday and discovered they were from his own home city, except for the fear of flying (unless worked passage on ships). Probably knows all the cool scenes in this city, though, so well worth socialising in the park with.)
:Perched cueball, with icecream, hanging out: less than 30yo, not high-earning, flies easily, not a recent porn viewer. (Probably a teenager, with a close-cropped haircut. Might or might not know the other two behind him, but hard to tell what he thinks except perhaps "I've got an ice-cream! Yay!" Perhaps after a busy day of not-watching-porn.)
:Leaning ponytail, with device, hanging out: less than 30yo, not high-earning, *fears flying*, not a recent porn viewer. (Teenage girl. Big on social networking. Probably not so big on face-to-face-talking.)
:Smallest cueball, with device, hanging out: less than 30yo, not high-earning, *fears flying*, *recent viewed porn*. (Teenage boy. Typical teenage boy. As girl, but probably in-between Tweeting with the girl next to him he's serrupticiously viewing a video someone sent him (see his furtive look?), and maybe of the girl next to him. Or something 'sexted' ''from'' her, if that wouldn't count for her SELECTion on that criteria. One way or another, ''probably'' with the sound off.)
:...what's more, presumably none of those fiogures were Terminator Units, Alien Shapeshifting Lizards or ''already'' ghosts of some kind (or whatever class of individual would not belong in TABLE PEOPLE). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.7|141.101.99.7]] 09:34, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

::Thats racism! I mean speciesm. Alien Shapeshifting Lizards are people too! -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:15, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

Sounds a lot like watch_dogs. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.201|108.162.229.201]] 07:42, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

Is this Zuckerberg's phone? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.34|108.162.254.34]] 09:33, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

Is there any particular reason this comic isn't appearing on the homepage at the moment? For some reason xkcd.com is displaying 1408 "March of the Penguins". No actual navigation on the site will take me to this comic, I have to manually type /1409 into the URL bar. --[[User:Zagorath|Zagorath]] ([[User talk:Zagorath|talk]]) 10:20, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

I'm under the impression that Megan is using the device to look for potential mates. The age and income queries point to this, the other two are less common but still make sense in the context of a relationship. Finding no one who matches all of her criteria, she then deletes the list.
[[User:Dromaeosaur|Dromaeosaur]] ([[User talk:Dromaeosaur|talk]]) 10:41, 18 August 2014 (UTC)
:Well, there's obviously something to the idea of those directing her choices (for positive ''or'' negative selection purposes - I assume <=30 && >$100k, but would she want someone who shares her fear and would ''never'' suggest a plane trip, or someone who could be reassuring when one ''is'' taken? And someone who is 'wholesome' or likely to be open-minded about pornography?) but, although it's likely there's no Mr(/Mrs) Right, she finds just proclaims it "neat" and only seems to inadvertently 'tidy up' (albeit too much), rather than doing it in deliberate (if again misjudged) frustration... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.7|141.101.99.7]] 11:39, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

Why does the explanation call it "SQL-esque"? That looks like fully valid SQL to me. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.230.119|108.162.230.119]] 10:49, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

I think the comic is a reference to "Big Data" and the claim I read this morning that one organisation has a file on 10% of the world's population with around 1500 pieces of information on each of them. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.194|141.101.98.194]] 12:27, 18 August 2014 (UTC) Dan

One thing I find interesting is what I see as an implication that <del>5/10</del> (sorry: 6/10) of the people pictured would not have a "device" on them at the time they were dropped with the PEOPLE table - certainly ''more'' than half of people have a device (or at least an ID or set of keys or something)... perhaps being contained within their clothing -- which apparently is dropped along with the associated person -- means THOSE devices were dropped along with the clothing (cascading?); however, being in the hands of the associated person means a certain level of disassociation... idunno... pick pick pick away at the joke! ALSO, seems like the time since someone watched porn would have to be computed (wouldn't be stored in the table as a field itself, but computed from a field like time_last_watched_porn and datediff... or else some user-defined function)... FINALLY - would have been great to see the result of an INSERT or UPDATE statement prior to dropping... ah well - [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 14:10, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

See [[327: Exploits of a Mom]]. That is all. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.153|173.245.54.153]] 19:04, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

User talk:Kynde

2014-08-01T23:41:55Z

173.245.54.153: /* Thank you */ new section

Hi, please do not remove the Cueball references here. He is a standard character. The category [[:Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] gives just an overview about all comics showing this stick figure. And just one is him, not defined by Randall but by us. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:10, 8 May 2014 (UTC)
:But who should define who Cueball is? You? I could see him as both here. And somebody did. You have just corrected back so that the Cueball in the explain is switched to the other charachter in the transcript. At least one of these should then be changed to match the other. It is thus also clear that people have different views of what Cueball stands for. Is he the one trolling, or is he the one who knows which movie Blade Runner is? [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:35, 10 May 2014 (UTC)
:By the way - I did not remove the reference to the chategory - but only in the text as described above. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:38, 10 May 2014 (UTC)

== Thank you ==

I like what you did at [[1402: Harpoons]]. Thank you. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.153|173.245.54.153]]

Talk:1402: Harpoons

2014-08-01T19:00:50Z

173.245.54.153: Whales were killed with a lance, not with harpoons

I took the sentient space craft joke to be a reference to the movie "Dark Star".

Harpoon is a brand of rum. Did a bottle make it into space? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.196|108.162.219.196]] 12:55, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

: I tried to find who makes it but wasn't able to find a definitive source. I added http://www.harpoon-rum.eu/ for now but it would be nice to have the link to the canonical source. Any pointers? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:24, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

: It's only headcannon. (ref to xkcd #1401) A headcannon which fires a harpoon. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.80|108.162.216.80]] 17:52, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

Did this comic upload quite late in the day for anyone else? Is anyone else experiencing or did anyone else experience that "Latest Comic" is still going to 1401 as ix XKCD.com and XKCD.com/#

"This is obviously a joke, as sentient spacecraft cannot be created with current technology." Yeah, will need a citation on that... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.148|108.162.229.148]] 13:23, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

Definitely a joke. Appolo 12’s call sign was Yankee Clipper, and a clipper ship would not carry any harpoons.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.129|108.162.216.129]] 14:04, 1 August 2014 (UTC)
: I'd believe someone might have smuggled some Harpoon (or even any brand of) rum up there, then brought it back down with them, ingested or otherwise (thus the drop right after the mission). Alternately, "incident" could be something more along the lines of losing an empty bottle of rum during a spacewalk (farfetched as it may be) and it reentering the atmosphere(?) - probably no more than stories, though - nothing official probably exists about anything like that going up or down in any manner.

Moby Dick is, let's say, extremely far-fetched. It was not the ship that was hunting the whale and harpooning it by itself. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.143|141.101.104.143]] 17:27, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

Could the Apollo 12 bump possibly be a reference to Futurama? "We're whalers on the moon, we carry a harpoon" [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.246|199.27.130.246]] 15:51, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

==Whale killing==
Saying "sailors would throw harpoons at a whale until it died" betrays a limited understanding of the process. Harpoons were barbed, and were meant to stick in the whale while it sounded (went deep.) A length of (about half-inch) rope kept the harpoon connected to the whaleboat. After the whale was exhausted (from towing the whaleboat while trying to shake off the harpoon? idk) the whaleboat could approach it, and the boatswain (''not'' the harpooner) would kill it with an unbarbed lance. Holling Clancy Holling's ''Seabird'' shows how it was done, with pictures and all. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.153|173.245.54.153]] 19:00, 1 August 2014 (UTC)