explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1252: Increased Risk

2013-08-16T11:18:44Z

192.136.15.178: /* Transcript */ First cut at transcript. Pretty easy for this one ----BigMal

{{comic
| number = 1252
| date = August 16, 2013
| title = Increased Risk
| image = increased_risk.png
| titletext = You may point out that strictly speaking, you can use that statement to prove that all risks are tiny--to which I reply HOLY SHIT WATCH OUT FOR THAT DOG!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}

==Transcript==
:Ponytail: We should go to the north beach. Someone said the south beach has a 20% higher risk of shark attacks.
:Cueball: Yeah, but statistically, taking three beach trips instead of two increases our odds of getting shot by a swimming dog carrying a handgun in its mouth by '''''50%!'''''
:Beret Guy: Oh no! This is our third trip!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]

1241: Annoying Ringtone Champion

2013-07-22T11:26:48Z

192.136.15.178: /* Transcript */ "Annoying" --> "Awful" (copy edit; check the comic) --BigMal

{{comic
| number = 1241
| date = July 22, 2013
| title = Annoying Ringtone Champion
| image = annoying_ringtone_champion.png
| titletext = It beat out 'Clock radio alarm', 'B-flat at 194 decibels', 'That noise from Dumb & Dumber', and 'Recording of a sobbing voice begging you to answer'.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic satires the annoying ringtones some people have on their mobile phones. Some will even go as far as to use ringtones that resemble everyday sounds, including but not limited to: doorbells, coughing, alarm noises, or in this case, the buzzing of a mosquito. Although seemingly harmless, these ringtones can get annoying to some people, which is what this comic is getting at.

The title text refers to four slightly-less-annoying ringtones: a clock radio alarm, B-flat at 194 decibels, "that noise" from Dumb & Dumber, and a "recording of a sobbing voice begging you to answer." The noise from Dumb & Dumber is referring to the point in the movie when Harry and Lloyd asked "do you want to hear the most annoying sound in the world" and began making loud fax machine noises.

==Transcript==

:[Cueball and Black Hat face each other. Black Hat is holding out his phone]
:Black Hat's phone:hMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM...
:Cueball: Augh!
:Black Hat: Oh, I've gotta take this.
By unanimous decision, the winner of the Awful Ringtone Championship is "The sound a mosquito makes as it buzzes past your ear"

{{comic discussion}}

1206: Einstein

2013-05-01T17:57:16Z

192.136.15.178: /* Explanation */ Type fix: theorys --> theories

{{comic
| number = 1206
| date = May 1, 2013
| title = Einstein
| image = einstein.png
| titletext = Einstein was WRONG when he said that provisional patent #39561 represented a novel gravel-sorting technique and should be approved by the Patent Office.
}}

==Explanation==
Nobel laureate and ''Time'' Person of the Century {{w|Albert Einstein}} is often considered one of the smartest and most influential men in world history. His theories revolutionized our understanding of the Universe and inspired generations of scientists. In this comic, [[Cueball]] indicates to a friend that he is working on an experiment that may disprove Einstein. The implication is that Cueball is conducting a formal scientific experiment which may disprove one of Einstein's scientific theories. The second frame, however, implies that the Einsteinian "theory" Cueball's experiment may disprove is an offhand (and subjective) remark by Einstein about the availability of good sandwiches.

There are two possible interpretations/explanations for this comic, which is slightly vague:

The first possibility is that [[Randall]] is playing with the notion that everything Einstein said constitutes words to live by: A casual observation on the quality of sandwiches is treated as a major hypothesis, and Cueball is in fact conducting a formal scientific experiment which may "disprove" the statement.

This would not be the first time that xkcd has addressed people taking scientists too seriously. In [[947: Investing]], Randall comments on how people put too much credence in a joke Einstein made in passing, and in [[799|comic 799]] we see {{w|Stephen Hawking}} in a similar predicament, every word he says taken as a major declaration.

A key part of the humour is that a significant number of people believe Einstein's physical theories (particularly Special and General Relativity) to be wrong: its universal promotion in scientific literature is ascribed to a conspiracy. This attitude has been lampooned before in xkcd [[808|comic 808]] and [[675|comic 675]].

The second possiblity is that Cueball is simply trying to impress his friend by using "technically accurate" language to imply that he is involved in important scientific work whereas in reality all is doing is buying sandwiches and hoping to find a good one.

The title text demonstrates the ability to "disprove" Einstein while not challenging his scientific work but rather one of his decisions in his capacity as a patent clerk at the Swiss Patent Office at the time he published his first major papers (previously alluded to in [[1067: Pressures]]). According to [https://www.ige.ch/en/about-us/einstein/frequently-asked-questions.html the Einstein FAQ] on the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property's website, patent #39561 is one of several patents that "we can assume ... were personally examined by Einstein". A PDF of the patent, which was indeed a gravel sorter, can be found [https://www.ige.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/Institut/d/i109401.pdf here] (in German).

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and friend eating at a table.]
:Cueball: I'm currently conducting an experiment which may prove Einstein wrong!
:Friend: Ooh, exciting!

:1947:
:[Einstein and Cueball walking.]
:Einstein: It's ''impossible'' to find a good sandwich in this town.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

Talk:1156: Conditioning

2013-01-04T20:50:47Z

192.136.15.178:

... the main problem with this idea is that the probability of any particular driver to driver repeately around that place is not so high. Of course, if similarly conditioned animals would be on multiple places ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 08:48, 4 January 2013 (UTC)
:Depending on the animal (species), and assuming a stable or growing "local wildlife" population, the conditioned ones may 1) eventually fan out (including migration) and teach other individuals or 2) breed, teach their offspring, and the offspring will fan out. Eventually -- we can only hope -- the average density EVERYWHERE per square mile of individuals would be above a given threshold to be effective 24/7. Problem solved! --BigMal27 / [[Special:Contributions/192.136.15.177|192.136.15.177]] 12:19, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

Up the ante in rural areas by using not crumbs, but bacon, or deer musk ... nah, that would be evil.[[Special:Contributions/24.79.11.46|24.79.11.46]] 13:18, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

If anything this would just get drivers to close their windows and not solve the problem because loud bass still penetrates car windows. {{unsigned|12.235.98.130}}
:If I were a bass-loving driver, I still wouldn't want birds and squirrels (et cetera) coming at my car! Better to kill the "music" or avoid the area. But it appears to be a hollow victory due to the comment below. --BigMal27 / [[Special:Contributions/192.136.15.178|192.136.15.178]] 20:50, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

The general problem I see: once drivers get educated, animal conditioning has to be kept up, or animals will forget about basses, which would be the exact same nuisance it is trying to address. Otherwise, wildlive would forget to associate basses with food, and thus fail to educate drivers. Kind of a Volterra cycle. Edit: the paragraph before is not mine, someone forgot to sign.[[Special:Contributions/46.142.12.21|46.142.12.21]] 18:59, 4 January 2013 (UTC) madd

Talk:1149: Broomstick

2012-12-20T12:31:43Z

192.136.15.178:

Anyone have any thoughts on the title text? Is that intended to suggest that Toto was an annoyance that Dorothy was happy to be rid of? I'm not really sure why (if) it's supposed to be funny... [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 15:50, 19 December 2012 (UTC)

:I figured it was a kind of loophole closing. With a lot of movies, you have viewers that go "well if the protagonist had just done 'this', then they could have saved a lot of trouble." But in this "easier" scenario, what reason would the witch have to trust Dorothy? Collateral is often used to ensure that one party will keep up their end of a deal, so it helped to seal this one. [[Special:Contributions/76.122.5.96|76.122.5.96]] 16:11, 19 December 2012 (UTC)

:I agree that the intention was to close a loophole, but I also was unable to fathom that Dorothy would leave Toto behind. It would be ''way'' out of character for her. If Dorothy had been a more self-centered character, then the title text would be a lot funnier. [[User:Smperron|Smperron]] ([[User talk:Smperron|talk]]) 11:38, 19 December 2012 (EST)

:Definitely to close a loophole. Dorothy has something the Witch wants that Dorothy doesn't need except the crazy witch wants to hurt her for them. The Wizard seems to have what she needs but won't give it except for what the witch wants. A trade seems much easier. But of course, who would trust the witch (and why would the untrusting witch start trusting)? All things considered, if you're in a strange land with freaky creatures and frighteningly perverse singalongs, you might consider a Scottish terrier a small price to pay to return to a Kansas farm which, while dull, is far superior to that crazy place. :) [[User:Chriss|Chriss]] ([[User talk:Chriss|talk]]) 16:49, 19 December 2012 (UTC)Chriss

:Cairn Terrier, original to the books and continued in the movie. Smaller and less feisty than a Scottie.A loyal breed, he probably escaped from the WWW after the trade, and is flying home with Dorothy and the Professor, unseen down in the bottom of the balloon basket.[[Special:Contributions/24.79.11.46|24.79.11.46]] 21:52, 19 December 2012 (UTC)

:Megan never struck me as much of a dog person. [[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 17:19, 19 December 2012 (UTC)

:Just wondering if Wizzard wants to see the broom, why not to show that to him, even let him touch that, than return it to the Witch, collect the pupy from her and merry on my way ? Kind of complicating the quest again, but retaining the all-for-friend appearance. [[User:prom|prom]] 1:13, 20.12.2012 (CET)

== The movie, not the book ==

Since the book had {{w|Silver Shoes}} and the movie had {{w|Ruby Slippers}}, I think it's probably best to avoid discussion of the book... I've removed the reference to the Nome King - who doesn't appear in the movie or even that first Oz book. – ''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' <sup>[[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]]</sup> 18:02, 19 December 2012 (UTC)

== Black Hat Guy ==

Anyone else notice Black Hat Guy in the balloon? How do you add the tag for "Comics with Black Hat Guy"?

:I dont think that is Black Hat Guy.. This guy's hat is taller. It also wouldn't fit into Black Hat Guy's character, as Megan is essentially tricking him into thinking she's killed the witch.

== Singing? ==

Due to the absence of lyrics, I assumed it was humming or whistling, not singing. --BigMal27 // [[Special:Contributions/192.136.15.178|192.136.15.178]] 12:31, 20 December 2012 (UTC)

877: Beauty

2012-11-21T12:34:16Z

192.136.15.178: /* Transcript */ Typo: "resistatn" --> "resistant"

{{comic
| number = 877
| date = March 25, 2011
| title = Beauty
| image = beauty.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = The best hugs are probably from hagfish, which can extrude microscopic filaments that convert a huge volume of water around them to slime in seconds. Instant cozy blanket!
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic [[Ponytail]]'s statement in the first is proved wrong by [[Megan]]'s actions throughout the comic and the statement in the image text, to the point where she retracts and changes her statement.

Concerning the {{w|hagfish}} - "Their unusual feeding habits and slime-producing capabilities have led members of the scientific and popular media to dub the hagfish as the most "disgusting" of all sea creatures."

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail and Cueball are discussing science. They are interrupted by an off-panel shout.]
:Ponytail: The problem with scientists is that you take the wonder and beauty out of everything by trying to analyze it.
:Megan: Dude!

:[Megan runs across the panel, carrying a microscope and a slime mold.]
:Megan: My plasmoidal slime molds have heightened pigment production! Check out that yellow color! That actually makes them zinc-resistant. Amazing, huh?

:[The slime mold is proferred to the same human who was speaking earlier. The close up hides Megan's face.]
:Ponytail: It looks like dog barf.
:Megan: Hah, yeah! F. Septica is nicknamed "dog vomit slime mold." Cool, huh? Check out my slides!

:[Megan has set down the microscope on the floor of the panel, and the slime mold is jiggling.]
:Ponytail: Okay, never mind: What's wrong with scientists is that you ''do'' see wonder and beauty in everything.
:Ponytail: Oh God, it's ''moving!''
:Megan: It wants to hug you! So cute!

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