explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1642: Gravitational Waves

2016-02-12T19:29:54Z

198.41.235.209: Just some basic proofreading for grammar and flow

{{comic
| number = 1642
| date = February 11, 2016
| title = Gravitational Waves
| image = gravitational waves.png
| titletext = "That last LinkedIn request set a new record for the most energetic physical event ever observed. Maybe we should respond." "Nah."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|I've added some detailed explanation. Someone please proofread / review it. Might need some copy-editing.}}

A {{w|gravitational wave detector}} is a device used to measure {{w|gravitational waves}}, small distortions of {{w|spacetime}} that were first predicted by Albert Einstein in 1916. Gravitational waves are ripples in the spacetime fabric itself. This comic came out the day that a direct observation of gravitational waves was publicly announced.

The wikipedia article on {{w|gravitational waves}} describes them well. In simpler/layman's terms, imagine moving a stone through water while it is partly submerged. It will cause waves on the surface of the water as it moves through it. These waves will spread away from the center of disturbance and as they move, they will cause the water molecules to oscilate around their mean positions. Similar waves are created in space-time fabric when two "heavy" celestial bodies interact with each other. If you concentrate on an area of water-surface (analogous to spacetime fabric) far away from the point of disturbance, you can observe that if the wave causes compression in one direction, it'll cause expansion of the fabric in the other. See [http://www.einstein-online.info/spotlights/gw_waves this page] for nice animations (as well as the {{w|gravitational waves}} wiki page).

Note that anything with a mass will cause a gravitational wave. Just as waves created by small stones are tiny in comparison to waves created by huge rocks in water, the waves from humans moving around will be tiny compared to the waves created by celestial bodies. Also, the bigger the body, the stronger the wave and the farther away it will travel. That is why we can only detect gravity waves from heavy bodies like black holes / neutron stars but not from us moving around.

Now consider spacetime fabric as a thin rubber sheet. If you mark any two points on this sheet and stretch/compress it along the axis joining those two points, the relative positions of these points with respect to their neighboring points do not change, but the distance between them changes. {{w|LIGO}} (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) is a large-scale physics experiment designed to detect this compression/expansion. Two facts need to be remembered to easily understand the experiment. First, speed of light (c) is a constant and velocity of an object is distance divided by time taken to travel that distance. Second, gravitational waves cause opposite effects (compression and expansion) in directions perpendicular to each other. Putting these two together, at {{w|LIGO}}, an experiment is set up, where two perpendicular long tunnels are constructed with apparatus to emit and detect laser beams. The beam from a laser is split into those two tunnels, then after going through tunnel and back again (a few times) brought together. Tunnel lengths are set up in such a way, that in the absence of gravity waves, interference between the two combined beams causes them to cancel one another out. When the gravitational wave passes through earth, it is expected that the two tunnel lengths will differ due to the expansion/compression effect described above. The interference will be incomplete, and light will not cancel out. This observation can be concluded as "detection of the gravitational wave passing through".

Megan, Cueball, and Ponytail are observing the results from a gravitational wave detector. From the patterns in the gravitational waves detected by this instrument, it might be possible to guess the nature of the event. (e.g. Two bodies with dissimilar masses circling a fixed point, two bodies with equal mass circling each other, collision of two massive bodies, etc.) It might also be possible to triangulate the location of the event. Based on these two facts (the location and nature of the event) we might be able to determine which astronomical bodies caused this event (and the status of those bodies afterwards). Thus, it provides an additional medium to observe the universe in addition to telescopes. This new medium might enable us to observe properties that we couldn't observe with the rest of our observation instruments.

However, the scientists in this comic appear to be receiving spam messages, such as invitations from {{w|Linkedin}}, a mortgage offer, and an announcement of a social meetup, rather than observing astronomical events. There is also a joke because the '{{w|Local Group}}' is also the technical name for the group of galaxies containing the Milky Way. It is not clear if these so called "events" are causing gravitational waves to be generated or if someone (alien civilization?) is encoding spam messages in gravitational waves. It is plausible that aliens are using gravity waves to encode their messages, since we do something similar with electromagnetic waves to encode and send our messages. Although this it would take an extremely advanced civilization to achieve gravity wave encoding, since it would require them to control orbits and oscillations of super-massive bodies (think at-least on the scale of the Sun, or typically several hundred times bigger than that). The second conclusion (someone is sending spam encoded in gravity waves) seems more plausible since the title text follows this up with a joke that the message senders have gone such a lengths that they caused the most energetic event recorded ever (maybe they blew up few supernovae). One of the receivers is quite impressed with this and suggests that they have to reply to the spam just because the sender has made such an effort to send the message. The other person is not so impressed.

== Explanation of observed events ==

{| class="wikitable"
| | <b >Event</b>
| | <b >Explanation</b>
|-
| | Black hole merger in Carina (30 M<sub>☉</sub>, 30 M<sub>☉</sub>)
| |
Possibly legitimate result from the gravitational wave detector. M<sub>☉</sub> is a symbol depicting 1 {{w|Solar Mass}} (1.98892×10<sup>30</sup> kg). So the statement means that two blackholes, each weighing 30 times our Sun were observed merging in {{w|Carina (constellation)|Carina}}.
|-
| | Zorlax the Mighty would like to connect on Linkedin
| |
A typical LinkedIn request. Not sure who is Zorlax (the mighty one), but according to title text, he set the record for the most energetic physical event ever observed. He might be looking for a job and this might be him demonstrating (showing-off) his mighty powers instead of simply attaching a resume or filling up his profile. Also, this either means that LinkedIn has now grown outside the Earth, or the Zorlax guy wants to have a job on Earth.
|-
| | Black hole merger in Orion (20 M<sub>☉</sub>, 50 M<sub>☉</sub>)
| |
Again a possibly legitimate observation from the gravitational wave detector. It detected blackhole merger of two bodies. One of them is 20 times heavier than Sun, the other is 50 times heavier than the Sun. Both of them are located in {{w|Orion (constellation)|Orion}}.
|-
| | Mortgage offer from Triangulum Galaxy
| |
{{w|Triangulum Galaxy}}, also known as Pinwheel Galaxy is a spiral galaxy approximately 3 million light-years from Earth. It is not clear if the offer is for a house on Earth or if the advertisers want us to buy house in the Triangulum Galaxy. Either way, unless we humans develop a {{w|Wormhole}} or {{w|Faster-than-light}} travel, we may not be able to take up the offer, even if it is legit.
|-
| | Zorlax the Mighty would like to connect on Linkedin
| |
Same guy who sent us LinkedIn invite moments ago. May imply that Zorlax is desperate, or may be a jab at LinkedIn's persistence in spamming users with unaccepted connections to view and/or accept them.
|-
| | Meet lonely singles in the local group tonight!
| |
The space advertisers are using space-GeoIP technology on a galactic scale to send spam. {{w|Local Group}} is the technical term for group of close-by galaxies that also includes {{w|Milky Way}} (our galaxy). There are more than 54 galaxies and few other celestial objects in the local group. {{w|Local Group}} along with several other local groups form {{w|Virgo Supercluster}}. So, it seems that the advertiser might be targetting ads to everyone in the Virgo Supercluster. However, finding "lonely singles" in 54 galaxies within our local group might be easier said than done for humans here on Earth. This kind of spam was previously joked with in [[713: GeoIP]].
|}

== Trivia ==

This comic was published on a Thursday, not following the normal publish schedule, to coincide with the [https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/feb/11/gravitational-waves-discovery-hailed-as-breakthrough-of-the-century announcement of the discovery of a clear gravitational wave signal] on February 11, 2016. Gravitational waves were detected through the collision of 2 black holes.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball, with arms up, is standing behind Megan who has her hands at her mouth, is standing behind Ponytail who sits in front of a large computer console with a big screen a keyboard and several items on the side (lights and labels). Three wires lead away from the console out of the image to the right.]
:Megan: The gravitational wave detector works! For the first time, we can listen in on the signals carried by ripples in the fabric of space itself!

:[Larger panel with the same setting in the middle, but both Cueball and Megan has taken their arms down. More of the wires from the console can be seen to the right. The computer list six events:]
:Computer: '''''Event:''''' Black hole merger in Carina (30 M<sub>☉</sub>, 30 M<sub>☉</sub>)
:Computer: '''''Event:''''' Zorlax the Mighty would like to connect on Linkedin
:Computer: '''''Event:''''' Black hole merger in Orion (20 M<sub>☉</sub>, 50 M<sub>☉</sub>)
:Computer: '''''Event:''''' Mortgage offer from Triangulum Galaxy
:Computer: '''''Event:''''' Zorlax the Mighty would like to connect on Linkedin
:Computer: '''''Event:''''' Meet lonely singles in the local group tonight!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Social networking]]

Talk:1640: Super Bowl Context

2016-02-09T21:13:02Z

198.41.235.209:

Peyton Manning is a football player who is really good (the only NFL player been MVP five times). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peyton_Manning [[User:Aquaplanet|Aquaplanet]] ([[User talk:Aquaplanet|talk]]) 11:19, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

Am I the only one who finds the last speech pattern weird? Saying "mammals like Payton" seems a little reminiscent of comics [[1541]] and [[1530]]... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.140|162.158.2.140]] 13:30, 8 February 2016 (UTC)
: Don't think so, there is no body snatching involved -- he is simply trying to connect whitehat's statement with some trivia; Mainnings is a human, humans are mammals, retirement is a recent human invention -- the statement is simply just hyper over loaded with irrelevant facts. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.109|162.158.255.109]] 15:12, 8 February 2016 (UTC)
:: Agree with that. Since we are all mamals and all mamals age, many of them via the same processes there is nothing wrong with the statment, only with the timing. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:04, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

Ok, I'm just gonna come out and say it: Coldplay sucks. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.173|198.41.235.173]] 14:03, 8 February 2016 (UTC)
: Is this some pop culture reference I'm missing? (I didn't watch the Super Bowl, so perhaps it's a reference to that?) [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.246|199.27.130.246]] 19:03, 8 February 2016 (UTC)
:: Coldplay played in the Halftime show. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:04, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

The first paragraph at the moment is merely insulting nerds and not really explaining anything. (N.B.: would the "stereotypical Nerd" watch sports, at all?) --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.240|198.41.242.240]] 15:44, 8 February 2016 (UTC)
: I wrote it. I'm a nerd. It is more a self-reflection than an insult. I think it explains everything. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.109|162.158.255.109]] 16:12, 8 February 2016 (UTC)
:: I'm also a nerd, but the generalization given (in the present/former comic explanation) is not a high-fidelity description of me. However, since it's a humorous hyperbole, I'm letting it go with just a "citation needed" stamp. :-)
:: But, hyperbole or not, I did not feel like the rest of it was generally accurate. That is, not all nerds are (or act) the same. The description given seems to match Cueball's depiction in this comic, but does not match "nerds" generally. So I tried to soften it a little, while exercising restraint. (It's the sort of generalization that is funny when it's the joke, but does not seem as appropriate in an ''explanation'' of the joke.)
:: To answer the first point, though, it's hard to define what a "stereotypical nerd" is. If we choose it to be [[wikipedia:Sheldon_Cooper|Sheldon]] (of [[wikipedia:The_Big_Bang_Theory|TBBT]]), then you're right in assuming that a nerd would not be watching sports at all (and would need a reminder of [[1480|last year's Super Bowl comic]]). However, there are many types of nerds. If "nerd" means "someone with an extreme interest in a field" then "sports nerd" can be a synonym for what we called a "jock" back in school.
:: Also, for what it's worth, I work in the software industry, and an alarming (to me) number of engineers are quite interested in sports and sporting events. They might otherwise be called nerds. YMMV. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.246|199.27.130.246]] 19:03, 8 February 2016 (UTC)
:::I have changed this completely. He is not a nerd. He just cannot focus on a normal conversation. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:04, 8 February 2016 (UTC)
:::: You are a nerd. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.109|162.158.255.109]] 23:11, 8 February 2016 (UTC){{Citation needed}}
:::::Well thanks, that must be one of the biggest compliments you can get on explain xkcd ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:24, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

Does anyone else feel that the "maybe next year" line was intentional? Teams that don't win the Super Bowl (or at least their fans) will use the line when their hopes for a ring have been lost. This is particularly apparent in the case of Cleveland Browns fans, who sometimes use the line during pre-season games. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.47|108.162.218.47]] 18:18, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

1634: In Case of Emergency

2016-01-25T18:02:54Z

198.41.235.209: /* Explanation */ Substituted "fire extinguisher" for "fire alarm," as the former is supported by citation and image on Wikipedia.

{{comic
| number = 1634
| date = January 25, 2016
| title = In Case of Emergency
| image = in_case_of_emergency.png
| titletext = I keep first aid kits in those emergency lockers. Sure, it's expensive to have them installed in the wall, but at least for those ones there's no need to pay extra for safety glass.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Is there something normally called emergency lockers that could fit the description. It is used in several books, but is not something described on Wikipedia?}}

Sometimes in order to deter vandalism or avoid accidentally moving/setting off something of importance, an important item like a {{w|Fire_extinguisher|fire extinguisher}} will be covered behind a wall of glass. [https://img1.etsystatic.com/061/1/10935090/il_570xN.750954961_qucc.jpg In case of emergency, break glass] - and retrieve the tool.

However the depicted situation is funny, because the thing behind the breakable glass is a glass repair kit. This is ironic, considering that the only way to reach it is by breaking the glass. One might even use it to fix the glass broken to get it...

In the title text [[Randall]] notes that he keeps his {{w|first aid kit}} in just such a type of emergency locker as shown in the comic. He complains that it is expensive to have them installed in the wall. But then the title text takes a gruesome turn when he continues by saying that at least for those lockers with first aid in them there is no need to pay extra for using {{w|safety glass}} for the cover. Safety glass doesn't break up into shrapnel, so this would be used for the cover of fire alarms, so the user will not cut them selves when breaking the glass to activate the alarm. But Randall indirectly says that since the person breaking the glass, will soon have access to a first aid kid, then if wounded in the process of breaking the normal window glass, they can as well be treated on the spot.

First aid kits and for instance {{w|defibrillators}} can be found at frequent places such as bus stations and shopping malls, but never behind a glass that needs to be broken.

==Transcript==
:[On a box behind a panel of glass, with a hammer hung below the panel, is written:]
:Glass repair kit

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1144: Tags

2016-01-23T09:02:38Z

198.41.235.209:

I literally grimaced when I saw the comic, and then I read the title text and my stomach churned, and then I saw the non-breaking space and I wanted to crawl up in a ball and die. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 06:01, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

:Most people curl up into a ball to die. Well not most people... [[Special:Contributions/192.104.231.235|192.104.231.235]] 17:50, 8 May 2013 (UTC)skrame

I'm a web developer and I didn't find this annoying, although I did roll my eyes. Then I came here to see if there was anything I missed that SHOULD annoy me. No, to annoy a web developer you have to use table tags, blink tags(not supported on most browsers for good reason, annoys anybody when it works), and have a stray !-- inside a tag where it doesn't belong. Also, use any html inside your css file. And have it where it only works in IE. [[User:Ferretwilliams|Ferretwilliams]] ([[User talk:Ferretwilliams|talk]]) 06:11, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

:That's okay, it's easy to implement blink with javascript and changing the display value from hidden to inline every half second. And lots of news sites these days re-implement the marquee tag with a bit of javascript too. What Randall really missed here was an opportunity for the center and font tags. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 06:18, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

:I'm sure Randall didn't want us to die, that's why he didn't go further. :-p [[User:Ctxppc|Ctxppc]] ([[User talk:Ctxppc|talk]]) 18:16, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

Argh. Almost as bad as unclosed left parentheses.(Y'know, like this. [[User:DreamingDaemon|DreamingDaemon]] ([[User talk:DreamingDaemon|talk]]) 10:21, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

:You mean like comic [[859]]?
::That's exactly what I meant... People do that to me in emails because they know it presses my buttons! [[User:DreamingDaemon|DreamingDaemon]] ([[User talk:DreamingDaemon|talk]]) 16:56, 7 December 2012 (UTC)
:::I understand your pain.) {{unsigned ip|108.162.249.189}}
It's been a long while since I coded html (I quit about the time style sheets appeared) but I think the annoying part of <code>&nbsp;</code> is the fact that it appears as the 6 characters instead of a space, not just that it's at the end and could push the text to another line. Doesn't this typically mean that someone copied some code but didn't look carefully at the results when they pasted it into an editor? --[[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 14:27, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

:Either the title text has been parsed - in which case it's actually <code><nowiki>&lt;A&gt;: Like&lt;/a&gt; this&amp;nbsp;</nowiki></code> (and, yes, probably copy/pasted) - or it hasn't (which seems more likely to me), in which case the <code>&nbsp;</code> will show up as a non-breaking space when it is parsed. [[User:Noëlle|Noëlle]] ([[User talk:Noëlle|talk]]) 00:40, 8 December 2012 (UTC)

::The title text is copy/pasted from xkcd, where he escapes the ampersand so that the non-breaking space escape will show up in the title text. He might just be toying with those of us who know about the non-breaking space, as most people (the kind of people that would mis-match div and span and change the case of their tags) don't even know what a non-breaking space would be used for. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 03:37, 8 December 2012 (UTC)

::: I know. :) I was answering Dan's question. Assuming the title text is going into a webpage, either the whole thing is already parsed, in which case the tags will also appear as they currently do, or it's not parsed yet and the <code>&nbsp;</code> will appear properly in the rendered page. :) [[User:Noëlle|Noëlle]] ([[User talk:Noëlle|talk]]) 01:53, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

I wonder if the "answer" in the title text is yet another joke? It goes <A>: Like</A> this  — but A used in this way means Anchor, not Answer. Such a line would appear in the browser as "Like this" (with the word Like blue and underlined), making it a clickable "Like" link. {{unsigned|69.158.169.14}}

: I think there is another joke hidden there: It goes »<A>: Like </A>this« instead of »: <A>Like</A> this« which turns not only »Like« but also the surrounding whitespace and punctuation into a link/anchor. That points to WYSIWYG HTML editors, as it's easy there to select a little bit more than the intended word when creating a link/marking text as bold, etc. [[Special:Contributions/178.201.95.76|178.201.95.76]] 01:03, 8 December 2012 (UTC)

::Actually, the Like wouldn't be blue and underlined BECAUSE it lacks the href. At least in firefox. The <a name> and <a href> are so different that browser apparently don't do either when neither are present. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:48, 8 December 2012 (UTC)

Similarly, it would be nice to address whether you can close a <code><nowiki><div></nowiki></code> with a <code><nowiki></span></nowiki></code>. Obviously you're not supposed to, but would it work? – ''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' <sup>[[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]]</sup> 20:57, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

:Opening but not closing a div tag, depends on how a browser's quirks mode interprets that; I'd expect the browser to have everything fall into that div until it encounters a close tag of an element outside (that the div is nested inside). I'd also expect that encountering a close span without having first pushed an open span tag onto the DOM would simply not be recognized as markup and treated as improperly escaped page content. But, I don't write code for any of the major browsers so this is ''wild'' speculation. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 21:24, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

::You can't close a DIV with a SPAN; they're syntactically different and browsers treat them as such. If you try the code above, the major browsers do exactly as Lcarsos suggests with the open DIV (continue until they find a matching /DIV or until /BODY) and completely ignore the /SPAN (Chrome goes so far as to expunge it from the DOM entirely). The DIV behavior exposes a subtler aspect to the comic, actually - because DIV isn't a semantic element, if a /DIV is missing, it can get very, very difficult to track down where the appropriate /DIV is supposed to go, especially when multiple coders are working on a single long (and, in the worst-case scenario, improperly-nested, multi-file) page. [[User:Noëlle|Noëlle]] ([[User talk:Noëlle|talk]]) 00:39, 8 December 2012 (UTC)

:::Note that "multi-file" is common when it's application output and not static page. Even if the files are supposed to be correctly nested, it may be hard to find which of them isn't, especially taking into account "if"s of template engine. The template engine may not really help you, similarly to some interprets or compilers of programming language which tells you they are missing some closing symbol near the end of file even when the place they are actually missing from is somewhere in the middle, because they paired them incorrectly. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:48, 8 December 2012 (UTC)

There needs to be a little more explanation of what <div> and <span> tags are. I come here to have the jokes I don't get explained, and after a sentence like "Usage of <span> and <div> tags should be kept low, for they have no intrinsic semantic value," I need a site called "explainexplainxkcd.com." [[Special:Contributions/24.224.110.93|24.224.110.93]] 01:17, 9 December 2012 (UTC)

: I clarified in the explanation. Does that look better? [[User:Noëlle|Noëlle]] ([[User talk:Noëlle|talk]]) 01:53, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

::Yes, thanks. I'm afraid I still don't have much idea what <div> and <span> are, but it looks like that's because it would to hard to absolutely fully explain. Thanks! [[Special:Contributions/98.122.166.235|98.122.166.235]] 04:07, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

:::It would, but I'll give it a shot! First, let's establish that DIV and SPAN are HTML elements that surround text or other elements on the page. You generally don't see <code><div></code> by itself; you see <code><div>Some stuff</div></code>. The forward slash in the second tag tells the browser to close the DIV element. (That's the difference between a tag and an element; <code><div></code> and <code></div></code> are both tags, but we refer to <code><div>contents</div></code> as a page element.)

:::Now, to extend the metaphor into the real world, you can think of <code><div></code> as meaning "container" and <code><span></code> as meaning "effect". "Container" doesn't mean very much by itself; it's just "a thing into which you can put other things". Likewise, "effect" just means "a way in which you can change how other things look". ("Effect" isn't necessarily the best term here, but I can't think of a better one.) "Container" provides no clues as to what kind of container it is or what you might find inside; "effect" doesn't really tell you what kind of visual change you're getting.

:::Imagine, then, a Christmas tree. You can put the Christmas tree in a tree stand (<code><div class="tree-stand">Christmas tree</div></code>) or inside a big box (<code><div class="big-box">Christmas tree</div></code>), or both at once if you're feeling saucy (<code><div class="big-box"><div class="tree-stand">Christmas tree</div></div></code>). Note that the closing tag will backtrack through the code and close the first DIV it finds, so that you could put other things inside the big box too: <code><div class="big-box"><div class="tree-stand">Christmas tree</div>Christmas cookies</div></code>. Likewise, you can attach ornaments and tinsel to the tree. Since they're effects that you're adding to the tree, rather than containers into which you're putting the tree, you'd use SPAN: <code><span class="ornaments">Christmas tree</span></code> and/or <code><span class="tinsel">Christmas tree</span></code>.

:::You can even have a Christmas tree with ornaments on the left and tinsel on the right, in a tree stand, inside a big box, with some cookies in the box with it:
:::<code><div class="big-box"></code>
::::<code><div class="tree-stand"></code>
:::::<code><span class="ornaments">Christmas</span> <span class="tinsel">tree</span></code>
::::<code></div></code>
::::<code>Christmas <span class="frosting">cookies</span></code>
:::<code></div></code>
:::(I decided to frost half of the cookies while I was putting them in the box.)

:::There's an important distinction to make here, by the way: the ornaments and tinsel can't help you ''move'' or ''position'' the Christmas tree, and they don't tell you anything about where the tree is, which is why we're using SPAN for them. The big box and tree stand, on the other hand, can be used to move or position the tree, which is why we're using DIV.

:::Meanwhile, HTML5 wants us to use <code><bigtreebox></code> and <code><treestand></code> for the containers, and <code><ornaments></code>, <code><tinsel></code>, and <code><frosting></code> for the effects.

:::Does that make sense? [[User:Noëlle|Noëlle]] ([[User talk:Noëlle|talk]]) 12:14, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

While I'm thinking about it - DIV and SPAN remain very important tags in web development, because even though they're structural and not semantic, the fact remains that there isn't going to be a pre-defined semantic tag for everything you want to do, and not every browser supports making up your own tags (even though they're supposed to). Until HTML5 is finalized (which is currently projected to happen in 2016, if I'm remembering correctly) and everybody starts supporting arbitrary tag definitions (which may be "never"), DIV and SPAN will remain useful as generic "container"/"effect" tags. [[User:Noëlle|Noëlle]] ([[User talk:Noëlle|talk]]) 12:14, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

As an intelligent human, it irks me when other humans are lazy, sloppy, or otherwise stupid. As a developer, I sometimes deal with all three. My annoyance factor is amplified by the fact that developers are (supposedly) educated and should be held to a higher standard. So the question is not "what can you get away with in most browsers", but "what is the established standard." As Mike Holmes would say, "Do it right the first time." - Ixalmida --[[Special:Contributions/208.95.30.82|208.95.30.82]] 18:10, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

:[http://xkcd.com/129/ My personal feelings] aside, this isn't an appropriate forum to debate the worthiness of contemporary use of HTML5. [[User:Noëlle|Noëlle]] ([[User talk:Noëlle|talk]]) 22:12, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

[http://i.imgur.com/T9UM3.png How to '''really''' annoy a web developer.] (Including the &nbsp; joke, along with another mangling of <A>!) [[User:Noëlle|Noëlle]] ([[User talk:Noëlle|talk]]) 03:19, 11 December 2012 (UTC)

It seems to me that this explanation is missing part of the joke in the title text. The Anchor tags are excluding the word "this", while it is VERY common to make a link ONLY the word "this", such as "It should look like <A>this</A>". I wouldn't be surprised if I saw something declare that the word "this" is the most hyperlinked word in the English language, LOL! I cannot believe that excluding the word was accidental. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.209|198.41.235.209]] 09:02, 23 January 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1110: Click and Drag

2016-01-21T09:06:32Z

198.41.235.209:

It's a bit of a stretch, but I think the jellyfish is playing Super Mario Bros..
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.105|173.245.54.105]] 11:36, 12 August 2015 (UTC)

I went all the way west, but when I tried going east when I got to the mario bit I went down and got lost :( [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.246|141.101.98.246]] 21:22, 8 November 2013 (UTC)

Newbie editor here (ducks abuse and fires back). When I saw the lighthouse with Megan and Ponytail @ 1 North, 13 West, I immediately went to [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=59:_Graduation]. --[[User:Philo Pharynx|Philo Pharynx]] ([[User talk:Philo Pharynx|talk]]) 18:23, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

This is great! Keep up the good work! The servers are melting, but keep refreshing if you get a 500 error. Let's get that chart filled out. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:05, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

I've been dragging for ages, and it hasn't looped back on itself yet. Source diving tells me that it's freakin' massive, and it loads in a million separate tiles. Please, let me cry in a corner at the impossible majesty of it all. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]] ([[User talk:Davidy22|talk]]) 06:59, 19 September 2012 (UTC)
:I'm source diving, and I've managed to extend the boundaries massively. Trying to find a way to remove the click and drag restriction on this monstrosity, think I've figured it out. Will have obscenely massive image uploaded within the next few hours. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]] ([[User talk:Davidy22|talk]]) 07:24, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

I swear, it's like he found out about us, and is now saying "Oh, yeah? Well how about this?" Other than the gripes of how hard it's going to be to get this thing explained, this one is pretty epic. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 08:08, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

I started to comment some easter eggs. Come on, we can make it :-). -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:00, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

I found the left hand boundary of the page reasonably quickly. Once you cross the sea you get their pretty fast. I also found an X-Wing coming out of the ground quoting a line from just after the death star trench run. {{unsigned|Chrisnoise}}

==Different methods of viewing the world==
For those who get impatient scrolling around (and are a little savvy): download the .html file for the comic ([http://xkcd.com/1110/index.html index.html]), and also the file [http://imgs.xkcd.com/clickdrag/1110.js 1110.js]. Edit the .html file to use your 1110.js instead of the one from xkcd.com. Then edit 1110.js:
* remove the line "overflow: 'hidden',"
* change the "1"s into "4"s in "for(var y=-1;y<=+1;y++)" and in "for(var x=-1;x<=+1;x++){"
* optionally, remove the line "$remove.remove();" (warning: this will make it take up a lot of memory eventually!)

Then open the local copy in your web browser. Zooming out, scrolling, and zooming back in helps find the easter eggs.
{{unsigned|75.111.63.192}}

The above can be done, without downloading, by putting Chrome or Chromium into developer mode by hitting F12, then altering the very same setting in the page, as you view it --[[User:Kazvorpal|Kazvorpal]] ([[User talk:Kazvorpal|talk]]) 22:28, 25 September 2012 (UTC)

*This Page's instructions say to zoom in and out when browsing the modified local file. My browser skills are rusty. I have Firefox, and when I zoom in and out, it zooms the whole page, rather than just the interesting bit. However, seeing as how there are 16000+ panels, I don't think I want to zoom it out quite so very far anyway. Firefox is notoriously bad when there are lots of images on a page (and yes, it cratered while I was exploring the original page). In any case, can someone clarify the use of zoom? [[Special:Contributions/24.57.210.141|24.57.210.141]] 08:40, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

All is revealed here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4542367 - seriously. Links to downloads, full images, how to link directly to a point of interest and so on. {{unsigned|145.64.134.242}}

Another full view, with pan and zoom http://www.mrphlip.com/xkcd1110/ {{unsigned|207.114.139.254}}

For the pack rats, [http://www.mediafire.com/?u7dac458418phyn here] is a .tar.gz of all the pngs. You can use these to reference where in the comic you are. Files are named <tt><number><north/south><number><east/west>.png</tt>. So 1n8w.png is 1 north, 8 west. Let's get this thing done. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 09:12, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

I've made a full-screen version with cursor control: http://ares.aylett.co.uk/xkcd/ [[User:Axa|Axa]] ([[User talk:Axa|talk]]) 12:51, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

:Seems I'm really too slow, plus I have CSS problems (there are gaps between my rows) but I'll share what I did anyway. Create a file with <code>.html</code> extension with the following content (if you've downlaoded all the images already, you can change the code to use your local files) and you get a map of the world.
<pre class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
<!doctype html>
<html><head><title>Click and Drag</title>
<style>
table {
border-collapse: collapse;
}
td {
padding: 0px;
}
td.s {
background-color: black;
}
</style>
</head><body><table><script>
var x, y, src, cssClass;
for (y = -13; y <= 18; y++) {
document.write('<tr>');
for (x = -33; x <= 47; x++) {
src = (y>=0?(y+1)+'s':-y+'n')+(x>=0?(x+1)+'e':-x+'w');
cssClass = y>=0?'s':'n';
url = "http://imgs.xkcd.com/clickdrag/" + src + ".png";
//url = src + ".png"; // Remove comment to use local files
document.write('<td class=' + cssClass + '><a HREF="' + url + '"><img width="64" height="64" title=' + src + ' src="' + url + '"></a></td>');
}
document.write('</tr>');
}
</script>
</table>
</html>
</pre>
:--[[Special:Contributions/132.230.1.28|132.230.1.28]] 09:58, 19 September 2012 (UTC)
:: I've created a file which looks the very same :-) The gaps between the rows seem to come from the <code><img></code> elements being displayed as inline content, adding some whitespaces to the cells. I now use this css code:
<pre style="margin-left:4em;">* {
padding: 0;
margin: 0;
border: 0;
}
table {
border-collapse: collapse;
border-spacing: 0;
table-layout: fixed;
}
td {
width: 2048px;
height: 2048px;
}
img {
display: block;
}</pre>
::--[[Special:Contributions/84.181.110.126|84.181.110.126]] 15:06, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

This is the best full-size view of the comic: http://xkcd-map.rent-a-geek.de/ [[Special:Contributions/77.191.21.108|77.191.21.108]] 15:02, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

== ZIP upload ==

Hi,

I’ve locally downloaded all the tiles (there is 225 PNG files) and made a ZIP file of them, but when trying to upload it here the [[Special:Upload]] page says: “Permitted file types: png, gif, jpg, jpeg.”
Do I have to upload each tile one by one or is there a way to exceptionally bypass this restriction?
Thanks. — [[User:Ethaniel|Ethaniel]] ([[User talk:Ethaniel|talk]]) 09:13, 19 September 2012 (UTC)
:Mh, seems I’m hours too late… — [[User:Ethaniel|Ethaniel]] ([[User talk:Ethaniel|talk]]) 09:14, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

:I'm not sure we should upload each individual frame for this one. Though, we do need to have a discussion about how we're going to handle/archive/explain this one, because it's going to be big and tedius. Maybe some adventurous and hardy soul can stitch together grids of this so that we don't have the problem of having too much image (a single terapixel image will kill anyone's PC if they try to load it) and having so little (while the grids Randall's created are nice and bite-sized, it's hard to see the whole thing). [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 09:20, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

::I’m going to upload the 225 tiles in few hours: which path is best?
::* <nowiki>[[File:1n1e.png]]</nowiki>
::* <nowiki>[[File:1110/1n1e.png]]</nowiki>
::* <nowiki>[[File:1110: Click and Drag/1n1e.png]]</nowiki>
::There will be of course a template (<nowiki>{{1110|1n1e}}</nowiki>) allowing easy access to individual tiles. ;)
::[[User:Ethaniel|Ethaniel]] ([[User talk:Ethaniel|talk]]) 10:36, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

:::If you are really going to do this, then I think doing <nowiki>[[File:1110: Click and Drag/1n1e.png]]</nowiki> would be the best spot. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 13:53, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

::::Finally I only did the template: direct link to the original tiles is fine too.
::::Thanks for the answer, it may be useful someday. — [[User:Ethaniel|Ethaniel]] ([[User talk:Ethaniel|talk]]) 14:04, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

:::::Sorry for the late response, I had to go to bed (I only got 4 hours of sleep anyways) to be able to get up for work today. The template is massively helpful. I crown you champion. It might be interesting to split up each page into sub-pages of this, and then transclude in the first paragraph from the subpage. So, <nowiki>[[1110: Click and Drag/1n1e]]</nowiki> would have a full description, including links to adjacent/related tiles, but have another template transclude in the synopsis and transcript into the table on this page. That's pie-in-the-sky thinking, and definitely should not be done today while the server is being hammered like it is. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:08, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

It doesn't seem to be a terapixel. There are 225 images of 2048x2048 pixels. The full range is 81x32 tiles, resulting in a 165888x65536 images, at approximately 10 gigapixels. The naming conventions is numberlatitudenumberlongitude.png, where lat can be either n or s, and long can be either e or w. E.g. 1n1e.png, which is the starting image, and they are located at http://imgs.xkcd.com/clickdrag/. {{unsigned|Aufgehaben}}

There's far more than 225 images >> http://lebbeo.us/2012/09/19/not-bbq-fetching-component-images-of-xkcd-comic-1110/ [[Special:Contributions/114.79.57.76|114.79.57.76]] 11:17, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

Seems to me what should happen is that someone should setup a "slippy map" without having to use the browser's zoom in/out capabilities. Think openlayers. -- [[User:Anarcat|Anarcat]] ([[User talk:Anarcat|talk]]) 13:35, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

==Raptors==

I found two raptors. I couldn't even begin to tell you where they are. Follow the left side. Past the oceans and in some grass...somewhere. This is a lot to draw...I wonder how he did it. The shear size of each image, combined with the fact that they seamlessly transition together...when did he start? How much time did he put in? He should have waited one more to get comic 1111, I think. [[Special:Contributions/76.122.5.96|76.122.5.96]] 09:29, 19 September 2012 (UTC)
:The far right also quotes the very first xkcd comic ever. [[Special:Contributions/76.122.5.96|76.122.5.96]] 09:39, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

==Black hat==

I found him in 2 locations, with a weapon both times. The Gatling gun he has on the building above the XKCD What if? cranes looks like he could be waiting to shoot something. Did anyone find anything he might be trying to shoot? [[Special:Contributions/171.161.160.10|171.161.160.10]] 13:09, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

Nevermind. There's nothing there. But there is a hot air balloon below the area I suspected. [[Special:Contributions/171.161.160.10|171.161.160.10]] 13:16, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

==End of the JS file comment==

At the end of the JavaScript file responsible for the map code, there's a comment "/* 50:72:6f:50:75:6b:65:20:69:73:20:61:77:65:73:6f:6d:65 */". Interpreted as hex codes for ASCII text, this reads "ProPuke is awesome". {{unsigned|134.102.219.116}}

Interesting. Google tells me that ProPuke is the handle of a programmer from the UK. This morning, [http://twitter.com/ProPuke on his twitter feed], he posted "57:68:79:2c:20:74:68:61:6e:6b:20:79:6f:75:21". This translates from hex as "Why, thank you!" Also, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:ProPuke his Wikipedia user page] tells us a lot about him too. I wonder if he contributed to the code? [[Special:Contributions/71.201.53.130|71.201.53.130]] 23:24, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

== ==

I've been dragging and clicking for an hour, and I accidentally found the right edge. I started going left, and when I got to the island, I went into the Earth. I followed tunnels and caves down (at one point, there's a massive underground lake and a tree with a man sitting pensively by it (possibly Dawson?)) there until I found the tunnel that ends up going back to the surface in MarioWorld (complete with flag and castle), and went right from there. After the wind turbines, there's a bridge. On the other side of the bridge is a fencepost joke (If you're having fencepost problems, I feel bad for you son: I've got 99 problems but solved for 101). After that, there's a Burj Dubai reference (I assume the radio tower representing it is drawn to scale - it's very tall). After that, I went up a hill that had random farm callouts scattered on it, and on the other side of the hill is a large water tower. After that, there's grassland until the edge, which has Balloon Randall again saying, "I wonder where I'll float next." {{unsigned|67.52.249.244}}

:I'm going to say this is a perfect example of what Randall wanted by creating a world so huge you can explore for hours, get lost, not care, and find yourself again, and keep wondering what you'll discover next. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 18:20, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

==IRC logs or it didn't happen==
When I get home I'll post the logs I have (didn't think to have logging turned on until after the discussion started) so that it won't seem like I'm crazy. I remember Randall saying that a full, uncompressed, single rectangular image would be near a terapixel (the figure was something like 800 gigapixels). [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 16:04, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

== ICC sections ==

The following files have ICC sections:

<pre>
$ grep -l iCCPicc xkcd_grab/*.png
xkcd_grab/11s11e.png
xkcd_grab/11s11w.png
xkcd_grab/16s1e.png
xkcd_grab/17s1e.png
xkcd_grab/19s7e.png
xkcd_grab/1n30e.png
xkcd_grab/1n39e.png
xkcd_grab/2n3w.png
xkcd_grab/3n25e.png
xkcd_grab/4s17w.png
xkcd_grab/6n2w.png
xkcd_grab/8n1w.png
</pre>

(source of the images for me: '<code>git clone "https://github.com/danielribeiro/xkcd_grab.git"</code>')

At first I thought the white/black tiles were a hint to some steganography embedded in the images. Then I found those ICC sections and thought it was just a pun to add a color profile to a black image. But not all of the above are just black and having a color profile for white image parts can actually make sense, so maybe someone else has a clue, why those (and only those) tiles have color profiles...

-- [[User:Xorg|Xorg]] ([[User talk:Xorg|talk]]) 19:55, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

Do a binary compare on the files.

== Jesus ==
Seems that the description insinuates that the "Jesus" reference (1n21w) is intended to be vocative, not expletive. Can somebody substatiate that conclusion, as opposed to the position that Randall meant s/Jesus/Cripe/... ? (I guess this is just a long-winded way of saying [Citation Needed].) -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 03:43, 20 September 2012 (UTC)

Reference to 'footsteps in the sand'. Not expletive.

== dot-code ==
In [http://imgs.xkcd.com/clickdrag/1n7e.png 1 North 7 East] there are dots and lines. What do they mean?

I think its a reference to Super Mario.--[[Special:Contributions/62.180.229.43|62.180.229.43]] 08:47, 20 September 2012 (UTC)

This is a sad, sad day that this had to be explained to someone who reads this comic.

No it's not! It's a Ten Thousand day http://xkcd.com/1053/. --[[User:Ohbejoyful|Ohbejoyful]] ([[User talk:Ohbejoyful|talk]]) 01:24, 22 September 2012 (UTC)

== Bob Ross ==

The reference on 1n 33w seems to be related to Bob Ross, he used similar expressions about where items should live on a canvas
"You know, this is a nice spot. Let's just live here. "

I would like to note that "Bob Ross" would be an excellent name for a ninja turtle.--[[Special:Contributions/98.225.182.131|98.225.182.131]] 08:23, 21 September 2012 (UTC)

la raja amo a bjork y estoy demasiado feliz que venga, pero debeira venir con portishead, ella es la raja y seria un honor presenciar tan buena musica, y teniendo a dos exponentes del trip hop juntas..suerte ojala sea seguro y no se suspenda.ahh y smashing pumpkins es de las bandas que me aconpa;o en su creciemiento, en la adolescencia ojala venga, seria espectacular, por favor si hay que se pueda hacer, avinsen para hacer firmas y weas, ojala viniesen.gracias por los maravillosos conciertos que han estado en chile este ultimo anosuerte!!!

== 48? ==

How are we certain that the maximum radius of the world is only 48 tiles? If I'm reading everything correctly, didn't Randall say that it was much larger than everybody is measuring? Isn't one explanation for this that there may be more than we've found? Does anybody have a script running that is still exploring?

Answer: This line in the 1110.js source file: "var size=[14,48,25,33];" That controls how far you can scroll. Having hit all the edges you know those are the limits too. There are no actual tiles as far down as 25 or as far up as 14, but it means the page just fills that with white or black as needed. It does mean you can't find the whales by simply going to the top left and going along the top to the right since they will be one tile further down. Same with the tunnel at the bottom. It is a number of tiles above the bottom edge of the image. [[User:Lsorense|Lsorense]] ([[User talk:Lsorense|talk]]) 18:12, 24 September 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the answer. In a world filled with secrets, I still wonder if there's a file on the server in more outer-realm locations. :)
: Would be an interesting little project to (lightly) hit the server with out-of-bounds requests, to see what comes back instead of 404s -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:10, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

== More Trivia ==
* There is one (dark dark) green pixel in 9s7e.png. The remainder is all grayscale.
* A number of the images have apparently been updated. Probably with a PNG optimizer, since the displayed data is unchanged.
* The complete 10 gigapixel image, changed to grayscale, can fit into a 15 Megabyte PNG image. (Though having made it, I can't load it in my normal viewers.)
--[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 03:21, 21 September 2012 (UTC)

----

== Updated ==

How do you know the pictures are not uptdated or completed from time to time, adding or moving tiles?

== Locked ==
Will this be unlocked at some point? There are still a number of un-filled-in cells! [[User:Jerodast|- jerodast]] ([[User talk:Jerodast|talk]]) 11:07, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

: I think it was locked as a guard against spam. That was a while ago though, maybe the admins forgot about it. [[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:10, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

:: [{{fullurl:Special:Log|page=1110:_Click_and_Drag}} Special:Log] shows that the unlocking will occur automatically on December 7. Also, [{{fullurl:Special:ListUsers/Jerodast|limit=1}} Special:ListUsers] shows that your account was created on 3 December 2012 at 13:01 UTC. After 3 days and 10 edits, it will be automatcally promoted to autoconfirmed, so tomorrow by this time you will be able to edit semiprotected pages like this one. Only full protection prevents everyone except admins from editing the page (e.g. the main page). Hope this helps :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 14:51, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

==Transcript==
Is there really any need for the bolded Transcript sections for tiles where there is no dialogue? It seems like it just makes the chart heavier. And for example at 1N, 22W, is there any real distinction between the description used before the "'''Transcript'''" compared to the stage directions that come after? [[User:Jerodast|- jerodast]] ([[User talk:Jerodast|talk]]) 14:20, 22 December 2012 (UTC)

==Edges connected==
I found this: [http://baltixy.w.interia.pl/xkcd/1110.htm http://baltixy.w.interia.pl/xkcd/1110.htm]. Looks like the original, but the left and right sides are connected. Should we add this here? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.103|108.162.254.103]] 19:50, 29 January 2014 (UTC)

==You know what would be awesome?==
if you could control one of the stick figures, and walk around and (possibly) interact with objects. Someone should really make that. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.180|173.245.56.180]] 01:23, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

== another click and drag browser ==
hey,how about this?just basic html site,should someone add it here? http://geocities.ws/pluman/clickanddrag/
--[[Special:Contributions/103.22.200.222|103.22.200.222]] 14:54, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

== path to completeness? ==
excuse me, I have no idea what would make it complete? - right now I would say: thumbnails to all listed artifacts (like "man-made structure") - just making screenshots and upload and link? Anything else? Thanks for advise -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.17|162.158.92.17]] 07:53, 3 August 2015 (UTC)
: second: I guess each listed tile should have a short explanation what's to see there?
** some tiles have "Transcript" while there is a full story like in a usual comic, e.g. {{1110|1|n|33|w}}
** others have "transcript" and just describing static things, e.g. {{1110|6|s|17|w}}
** and some more have just plain description, like "Water" e.g. {{1110|1|n|12|w}}
:: what looks best in case 3?
: third: I found incomplete-description : Some of the jokes in the larger world might benefit from an explanation ;-) thx, [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.17|162.158.92.17]] 08:22, 3 August 2015 (UTC)
** Something tells of What if #51 free fall. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.65|108.162.218.65]] 20:11, 5 August 2015 (UTC)
At this point I am not sure what else we can add: The description of the completeness problem talks about jokes in the larger world, but without some clarification on what is meant by that I don't know how to add anything. Furthermore, I think at this point we need to move on to another comic as the incomplete explanation of the day: Click and Drag is just too difficult to add any more information to, and I think if a different comic was chosen you would see a much higher rate of participation in the project. [[User:Bbruzzo|Bbruzzo]] ([[User talk:Bbruzzo|talk]]) 23:37, 14 October 2015 (UTC)

==Video Game Reference==
This immediately brought to mind the game "Unfinished Swan". "The player is a young boy chasing after a swan who has wandered off into a surreal, unfinished kingdom. The game begins in a completely white space where players can throw paint to splatter their surroundings and reveal the world around them." [http://www.giantsparrow.com/games/swan/] The look of the comic is similar and the game has balloons throughout. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.236.223|108.162.236.223]] 13:47, 12 November 2015 (UTC)

== Submarine? Perhaps not. ==

I saw the entry for [http://imgs.xkcd.com/clickdrag/17s5e.png 17 South, 5 East] listed as a submarine. However when I first saw it I immediately thought of a project called the "[https://www.google.com/search?q=blur+building+plan&tbm=isch Blur Building]".

Reasons I don't think it's a sub:
* No rudder
* No propeller
* Not teardrop shaped
* dual conning towers (subs typically have one)

Before editing it I thought I would ask for comment here first. So what do you think? Is it a submarine or the blur building? Or neither?
--[[User:Tsdorsey|Tsdorsey]] ([[User talk:Tsdorsey|talk]]) 17:19, 30 November 2015 (UTC)

== Definitely not a Submarine. ==

It's a {{w|Ross Winans|Winans}} Cigar Boat! Even for xkcd this reference is truly arcane! I recently managed to find these things myself based a vague, twenty year old memory of seeing a strange illustration as a child. Thank god (or the devil, whatever) for Google.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.153|108.162.245.153]] 02:49, 23 December 2015 (UTC)

== Some notes on missing entries ==

As I don't have an account here, I'm going to go ahead and assume I can't add this information myself. But as a Nerd Sniping victim I just went through the entire chart to explore all the elements (primarily the elements I missed on my exploring the actual comic), and I noticed some gaps in the chart:
* 1N3E: There's no mention that Cueball and Megan (I think that's Megan) are attempting to use a small sapling to bridge a gap in this quadrant.
* 17S5E: I feel I must disagree that this thing is a Winans Cigar Boat. I initially took it as a UFO, with the implication that it's being kept secret quite effectively by keeping it underground, the surrounding thatched roofed structures being left over from some ancient tribe which encountered the UFO. I maintain this belief because it has feet/landing gear. I see what I took for a bottom hatch of a UFO could be the bottom part of a ring which a Google Image Search shows looks to be the exposure for a Cigar Boat's large propeller. The top edge matches the second result of this search quite well, the computer rendered image, but the bottom looks like permanently installed feet, useless on such a seafaring vessel.
* 8N6E: Misses the meaning of "canon". Canon, with one N, refers to facts established for a universe - usually one with considerable content establishing a detailed world, like Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, or even Harry Potter - in a way where it counts as part of the "history" of that universe. For example, an official Star Wars novel saying Joe Blow was born November 17th, the book being official makes this fact "canon", meaning all future things (books, movies) should refer to Joe Blow's birthday as November 17th, nothing should say otherwise (or must have an explanation as to the discrepancy). This fact can be counted on in discussions. Conversely, if a fan fiction declares Jill Thrill was born July 20th, this is NOT "canon", as the source isn't an official one which can adjust the universe. The line in this comic appears to be making fun of the similar spellings of "cannon" and "canon", that he is both free from being shot at and from having to stick to known facts of the Star Wars universe.
* 17S6E: Next to the Winans Cigar Boat/UFO are a bunch of thatched roof huts/structures, which isn't mentioned in the table.
* 1N8E: My impression was that these turbines were a reference to xkcd 556: Alternative Energy Revolution (one of the few comics which appear on every comic page). The comic listed, 1378: Turbine, came well after 1110, while 556 had already been released in the past. Also, 556 features several turbines, like here (1378 only shows one), being watched, like here (both times the observer is even the same character, Megan).
* 11S11W and 11E: I find the explanation "This PNG file contains an ICC section which means that the blackness in this image is properly color-coded" to be severely lacking. Firstly, while I have done a lot of image editing, it has all been in JPG and GIF files (okay, some PCX and BMP way back when), I've never used or edited an "ICC section", I don't know what an "ICC section" is or what it does, other than what it says here. I'm sure I'm not alone in this. What does "ICC" even stand for? Secondly, the Wikipedia link is to an article which describes doing color-correction for lighting, for photography and television, things like that, like by using gels. This gives about no clue as to how this is achieved for or applies to a digital image or what effect this should have, especially on black, a decidedly LACK of light and colour. (I know I couldn't see any difference between these tiles and the other black tiles nearby)
* 9S7E: The Trivia says there is a very dark green pixel in here, but I don't see it anywhere. I even saved that tile locally - the tile containing a couple of people mining - to open it in an image editor to zoom better, nothing. I went to the coordinates specified, I still saw no green, even zoomed in to I think 14:1. Finally, using the dropper tool, I found it at the coordinates specified, it says the RGB colour is 0,2,0. It would be best to mention that, that the difference is too infinitesimal to see with the naked eye, even for someone with perfect vision! LOL!

Just trying to contribute how I can. :) - NiceGuy1 (Previously contributed to the Princess Bride comic) [[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.209|198.41.235.209]] 09:06, 21 January 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1242: Scary Names

2016-01-07T04:31:14Z

198.41.235.209:

;Zero Halliburton
What is "A Zero Halliburton briefcase"? [[Special:Contributions/212.232.24.57|212.232.24.57]] 13:24, 24 July 2013 (UTC)

:Zero Halliburton is a luggage brand name, with a line of aluminum attache cases. Not connected to the big company Halliburton, associated with former US Vice President Cheney and the war in Iraq. [[User:Wrybred|Wrybred]] ([[User talk:Wrybred|talk]]) 13:57, 24 July 2013 (UTC)wrybred

::The history of Zero Halliburton luggage does intersect with the founder of Halliburton Company, Erle P. Halliburton. He needed rugged cases, so he started a company to produce them. He sold it to Zero Corporation. [http://www.zerohalliburton.com/about-our-company.html]. ''— [[User:Tbc|tbc]] ([[User talk:Tbc|talk]]) 14:26, 24 July 2013 (UTC)''

::Also of note, Halliburton isn't just "known for" its association with Cheney and the war in Iraq. It's an oil and gas services (i.e. drilling and well managment, inter alia) company. [[User:Orazor|Orazor]] ([[User talk:Orazor|talk]]) 10:50, 29 September 2014 (UTC)

;Military Aide/Secret Service Agent
Isn't the nuclear football carried by a military aide, not a Secret Service agent? [[Special:Contributions/167.165.238.254|167.165.238.254]] 14:18, 24 July 2013 (UTC)

:Probably. I don't really know what I'm talking about. If you think you can improve on what I wrote, go for it! [[User:RouterIncident|RouterIncident]] ([[User talk:RouterIncident|talk]]) 14:24, 24 July 2013 (UTC)

::Yes. "Cheney noted that the president is accompanied at all times by a military aide carrying a 'football' that contains launch codes for nuclear weapons. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/21/AR2008122100869.html] ''— [[User:Tbc|tbc]] ([[User talk:Tbc|talk]]) 14:26, 24 July 2013 (UTC)''

:::I assume it's called 'football' because in the USA footballs are usually carried by hand. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 15:16, 24 July 2013 (UTC)

::::Early plans for nuclear war against the Soviets were codenamed "Dropkick". [[Special:Contributions/193.67.17.36|193.67.17.36]] 16:23, 24 July 2013 (UTC)

;Helvetica Scenario
I think the "Helvetica Scenario" explanation is wrong, but I don't know enough about it to feel comfortable editing. Here's an article I found that makes more sense. http://enigmauniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Helvetica_Scenario (I didn't watch the Youtube clip since I'm at work, so maybe that's what the clip refers to. It should be explained in the article instead.) [[User:Trek7553|Trek7553]] ([[User talk:Trek7553|talk]]) 14:45, 24 July 2013 (UTC)

:To the best of my knowledge, the page you linked to is a work of fiction on a role-playing wiki. The references to calcium imply that it is based off of the Look Around You segment, but with its own added elements for the sake of role-playing. [[User:RouterIncident|RouterIncident]] ([[User talk:RouterIncident|talk]]) 14:53, 24 July 2013 (UTC)

::I changed this section. The video is correct, but the horror scene is just showing a possible result of the Helvetica experiment.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:19, 25 July 2013 (UTC)

:::That sounds much better now. [[User:RouterIncident|RouterIncident]] ([[User talk:RouterIncident|talk]]) 18:06, 25 July 2013 (UTC)

:::: I know what you mean but I like the statement "...the page you linked to is a work of fiction..." - the Helvetica Scenario is a work of fiction! But yes, that is a derivative work, the original source being Look Around You.

:::: Having just looked at the edits, Dgbrt is getting seriously confused. The Helvetica Scenario is not real, and is completely made up by the TV program Look Around You. Urban dictionary is entirely based on the original invention by L.A.Y. It is not a real thing!

;Arbitrary Scariness Formatting
I have a slight issue with the artificial percentage scale given for entries in the chart. First of all it assumes a linear chart that is measured in percentages. Secondly, it assumes Flesh-eating Bacteria is 100% scariest thing and scariest-sounding thing existant. Just because it's the highest on the chart doesn't make it "100%" (again, percentage seems like an arbitrary scale to assign) [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 16:22, 24 July 2013 (UTC)

:I disagree on your second point. The explanation expresses the scariness of something as a percentage of Flesh-eating Bacteria BECAUSE it is an arbitrary scale. It doesn't imply that the bacteria is the scariest possible thing. I think this is the best way; it's better than saying "Grey goo isn't as scary sounding, but is scarier than..." for all possible combinations of every item.<br>Also on your first point, it doesn't assume the chart is measured in percentages (although it does assume linearity). [[Special:Contributions/174.88.154.131|174.88.154.131]] 12:30, 25 July 2013 (UTC)

::How about we just give the pixel coordinates and point out that the scale is arbitrary (or not defined by the comic). Percentage would suggest that the scale is in some way linear, which you actually cannot conclude from the graph. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 13:08, 25 July 2013 (UTC)

::Initially I had written out "Not very scary", "Somewhat scary", "Fairly scary", etc. but it seemed simpler and much easier to read and sort to simply use arbitrary percentages. [[User:RouterIncident|RouterIncident]] ([[User talk:RouterIncident|talk]]) 14:55, 25 July 2013 (UTC)
:As there are no values or units listed, Randall's dots are fairly arbitrary, probably plotted relative to each other and to a roughly-equal apparent-to-actual-scariness line. So isn't it a little silly to argue about the listing of an arbitrary scale for these arbitrary values? [[Special:Contributions/138.162.8.57|138.162.8.57]] 15:57, 25 July 2013 (UTC)

::In my opinion the percentages are over interpreting the comic. But since it is here it should be explained as position on the graph relative to zero.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:19, 25 July 2013 (UTC)

:::The percentages are perfectly fine. They just need to be interpreted as what they are: percentages of scary, relative to flesh eating bacteria. Flesh eating bacteria = 1 unit of scary. In this situation 110% isn't just a metaphor. If the bacteria was the scariest thing nothing would be off the chart. [[User:Db|db]] ([[User talk:Db|talk]]) 06:11, 17 November 2013 (UTC)

Really I think the point of the comic is how superficial perception and reality fail to correlate. That's what is so notable about flesh eating bacteria. It lives up to it's name. A rare thing indeed. [[User:Db|db]] ([[User talk:Db|talk]]) 06:11, 17 November 2013 (UTC)

What is missing about the transcript? It describes the comic panel perfectly. there is no dialogue to include. could you please be more specific about what you feel is missing from the transcript? @dgbrt [[User:Mrarch|Mrarch]] ([[User talk:Mrarch|talk]]) 00:37, 3 December 2013 (UTC)
:A transcript should not contain a sentence like: "Items within the scatter plot are listed in the table above." --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 11:02, 3 December 2013 (UTC)
::I think that the transcript should not contain anything except for the text in the comic. They should be used for searching, not for reconstructing comics completely in text form. --[[User:Bob|Bob]] 13:00, 3 April 2014

; What about kassler with mustard?
Some items are strangely placed on the Y axis, aren't they? "Mustard gas" sounds more horrifying to Randall than "Criticality incident"? "Kessler syndrome" more than "Demon core"? Both sound like food to me. [[User:Mumiemonstret|Mumiemonstret]] ([[User talk:Mumiemonstret|talk]]) 11:36, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

Elephant's Foot should have a place here [[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.209|198.41.235.209]] 04:31, 7 January 2016 (UTC)

704: Principle of Explosion

2015-12-21T20:14:59Z

198.41.235.209: /* Explanation */ small corrections

{{comic
| number = 704
| date = February 19, 2010
| title = Principle of Explosion
| image = principle_of_explosion.png
| titletext = You want me to pick up waffle cones? Oh, right, for the wine. One sec, let me just derive your son's credit card number and I'll be on my way.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball|Cueball's]] friend (who also looks like Cueball) explains the {{w|principle of explosion}}, a classical law of logic, that says that if you start out with propositions ({{w|axiom}}s) that contradict each other, it is possible to derive (prove) any statement you want in the language you are working in, true or false.

Cueball then proceeds to misinterpret (perhaps intentionally) that you can derive any ''fact'' about the physical world. His formula of {{w|propositional logic}} in the third panel reads "'''P''' and not '''P'''", where '''∧''' is the formal logic symbol for "and" and '''<sup>¬</sup>''' is the symbol for "not". '''P''' stands for a proposition. As "'''P''' and not '''P'''" is shorthand for "'''P''' is both true and false", this forms a contradiction from which the principle of explosion can begin. Humorously and to his friend's bewilderment he then successfully manages to 'derive' the phone number for his friend's mom.

:'''An example from math''': If you assume that √2 is a rational number, you can 'prove' things that are obviously false, such as the fact that some numbers must be both even and odd. Consequently, you can draw the conclusion that √2 must be an irrational number (provided such a thing exists at all! - luckily, it does and obeys the same calculation rules as for rational numbers; this is how {{w|proof by contradiction}} works.))

:This can be seen in a {{w|Truth Table}}:
:{| class="wikitable"
|-
! P
! ¬P
! P ∧ ¬P
! P ∧ ¬P ⇒ Q
|-
| T
| F
| F
| T
|-
| F
| T
| F
| T
|}

:The formula P ∧ ¬P ⇒ Q is true in every possible interpretation. No matter what propositions are substituted for P and Q the implication is true. So if a single example of a contradiction were found, then every proposition would be true, (and simultaneously false).

After deriving the phone number Cueball instantly calls his friends mom, who turns out to be Mrs. Lenhart. She asks Cueball out, without any preamble, to his friend's vexation. It does not get better when it is obvious that she wishes to drink "cheap" {{w|boxed wine}} with him, and Cueball is free tonight! There is definitely a hint of {{w|Mrs. Robinson}} over Mrs. Lenhart here.

Maybe it is [[Miss Lenhart]] who has married, or she is the mother of both Miss Lenhart and Cueball's friend? She could, in fact, be Cueball's school teacher. He obviously knew her name and is ready to go to her place in an instant.

In the title text we hear more of Cueball's (one-sided) conversation with Mrs. Lenhart. She asks him to pick up waffle cones, a variety of {{w|ice cream cone}}. And when he sounds bewildered by this she explains that it is for drinking the wine. This is probably not a very good idea, since waffles are typically not water proof and would also dissolve into the wine. But it could also be considered kinky; something Mrs. Lenhart's son would not like to hear about. The rest of the title text is just more of the main comic's derivation joke, since Cueball will use a second to derive her sons (his ex-friends) credit card number, so he can buy the cones at his expense.

Of course we have no proof that he is actually speaking to Mrs. Lenhart. It could just be a prank he is pulling on his annoying mathematically interested friend. All he needed was to have looked her phone number up in advance.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball's Cueball-like friend is talking to him.]
:Friend: If you assume contradictory axioms, you can derive anything. It's called the principle of explosion.
:Cueball: ''Anything?'' Lemme try.

:[Cueball is writing on a piece of paper on a desk.]

:[Cueball is holding up a piece of paper to his friend, while holding a phone.]
:Cueball: Hey, you're right! I started with '''P∧<sup>¬</sup>P''' and derived your mom's phone number!
:Friend: That's not how that works.

:[The friend is looking at the piece of paper, while Cueball is talking to someone on a phone. The desk from before can be seen to the right.]
:Cueball: Mrs. Lenhart?
:Friend: Wait, this ''is'' her number! How—
:Cueball: Hi, I'm a friend of— Why, yes, I ''am'' free tonight!
:Friend: ''Mom!''
:Cueball: No, box wine sounds lovely!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Logic]]

674: Natural Parenting

2015-12-21T16:05:05Z

198.41.235.209: /* Explanation */ simple fixes...

{{comic
| number = 674
| date = December 11, 2009
| title = Natural Parenting
| image = natural_parenting.png
| titletext = On one hand, every single one of my ancestors going back billions of years has managed to figure it out. On the other hand, that's the mother of all sampling biases.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic relates to the anxiety of having a first child, particularly an unplanned child, and is a play on the double meaning of the expression "do what comes naturally".

Doing what comes naturally is a euphemism for couples pairing off and forming intimate relationships, including sex. It is also advice given to new parents, advising them not to second guess themselves so much, to alleviate the stress that comes with parenting.

The couple [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] find themselves as unexpected parents. Both parents experience anxiety over how to manage their life with the child. The new father defuses the situation and states that parenting can not be that hard and they should just do what comes naturally. Naturally the couple to find themselves with a second child. This adds insult to injury as now they have two children and still no idea about how to parent. As the first child was an "accident" the birth of the child was because of instinctual urges. Therefore, assuming nothing has changed in their relationship it would be natural if they produced another child.

The title text claims that parenting can't be too hard because, up to the present, all of your ancestors have produced an unbroken line of children who figured out how to raise at least one child that is able to continue this unbroken chain. [[Randall]] jokes that this is the "mother" of all {{w|sampling bias}}es: Had any one of our ancestors failed at being parents by producing a child that did not successfully breed, we would not exist. Therefore this sampling is heavily skewed by sampling only those that were successful in at least one instance. It does not take into account the number of people in the past who do not have any lineage today to speak of, or the number times our ancestors failed at being parents to children we are not directly descended from.
The baby says, "Baby!", either copying Cueball, or saying its name, Pokémon-style. This is also the topic of [[441: Babies]] and [[1384: Krypton]].

===Attachment Parenting===
Natural parenting may be an allusion to {{w|attachment parenting}}. This strategy for child-rearing normally entails extended nursing and encourages positive reinforcement. Sometimes modern medicine and processed foods are restricted as well. Natural parenting approaches can vary greatly from parent to parent. Because of the awkwardness and stigma of breastfeeding, as well as its traditionalism, attachment parenting can elicit powerful opinions from both its opponents and proponents. Various media and politicians have seized on this hot topic, as well as motherhood in general. Extreme natural parenting methods became the notorious cover story of TIME Magazine in May 2012.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are standing with a baby in between them.]
:Cueball: Oh man, we made a baby.
:Megan: ''Don't panic. Don't panic.''
:Baby: Baby!

:Cueball: Parenting can't be that hard. Let's just do what comes naturally.

:[Beat frame.]

:Soon:
:[There are now two babies in between them.]
:Megan: Aw, crap.

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

1530: Keyboard Mash

2015-11-06T19:57:03Z

198.41.235.209: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1530
| date = May 27, 2015
| title = Keyboard Mash
| image = keyboard mash.png
| titletext = WHY DON'T YOU COME HANG OUT INSIDE MY HOUSE. WE CAN COOK BREAD AND CHAT ABOUT OUR INTERNAL SKELETONS.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is chatting with [[White Hat]], who says he is frustrated because a barking dog is preventing him from sleeping and White Hat mashes the {{w|keyboard}} to show his frustration. Keyboard mashing is often used in this way where the user makes their hands spasm across the keyboard, creating a line of text that can be compared to an angry groan in real life. Cueball is about to give some advice, but is confused by a quirk in what White Hat typed. All the characters he typed (except one) were on the home row of the QWERTY keyboard, the row starting with the letters A, S, D, and F, in the middle of the keyboard. The letters A, S, D, F, J, K, and L (all from the home row) are scattered throughout the text, but there is a 7 (which comes from the numbers row, on top of the keyboard) in the middle of this text. Cueball, wonders how White Hat put a seven in there, because if White Hat was keyboard mashing and touched the 7 key, he likely would have hit any of the QWERTY row keys because of keyboard mashing hand spasms, but he didn't. All the other characters were on the home row. White Hat berates Cueball for always focusing on strange, tiny details. When the final panel shows what's going on where White Hat is, we see that a giant {{w|spider}} has imprisoned him in a web and is talking to Cueball, which explains how the keyboard mashing "White Hat" did was strange.

The reason the dog was barking appears to be because the giant spider was lurking nearby. Little did White Hat know that the dog was alerting him of the spider. When the spider notices that White Hat mentions the barking dog to Cueball, the spider apparently restrains White Hat and takes over typing. Another possibility is that the "dog" barking is actually White Hat, as he is seen making grunts from beneath the spider's silk. It can be seen in the last panel that the spider is typing with 3 legs, which explains how the 7 key would have been pressed.

The statement "I am a normal human typing with my human hands" is [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SuspiciouslySpecificDenial an oddly specific assertion] from the giant spider that it is actually a human, a claim that would normally be taken for granted and had not really been cast into doubt by Cueball's inquiries about how "7" got into a string of home-row keystrokes.

The title text invitation ends with a similar statement, suggesting that they "...CHAT ABOUT OUR INTERNAL SKELETONS", which spiders (unlike humans) do not possess. This implies that the spider also wants to trap and possibly eat Cueball as well, or actually hang out with him in an attempt to make friends. "...HANG OUT INSIDE MY HOUSE" may also have a double meaning, as White Hat is actually "hanging" from the ceiling inside his house. Also another oddity is that the spider asks Cueball to cook bread, although bread is actually baked, and in any case this isn't a common pastime during the night. The final oddity is that the title text is written in all caps which is usually interpreted as shouting and would not be used in a casual invitation.

The central theme of the comic is a vindication of Cueball's world-view, wherein tiny oddities such as the appearance of a numeral in a keyboard mash merit investigation. In the real world, the appearance of a "7" in the middle of a home row keyboard mash is more likely attributable to {{w|Rollover (key)#Key jamming and ghosting|key ghosting}}.

In the title text of [[1541: Voice]] there is again a reference to a sentence that could be uttered correctly by a human, but would never be used in real life. But a non-human entity that tries to blend in as a human, may inadvertently use such a "wrong" sentence to try to ensure other people think they are indeed humans. It is a direct reference to the type of sentence used in the title text here.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball approaches his desktop computer, which has emitted a message seemingly from White Hat as it displays a picture of him.]
:New chat message

:[Below the chat log is shown with White Hat's comments on the left in gray frames and Cueball's comments to the right in white frames. The first post in a row from each person is labeled with their picture at the end of a small arrow in the frame]:
:White Hat: Can't sleep. Stupid dog keeps barking.
:White Hat: So frustrating. FJAFJKLDSKF7JKFDJ
:Cueball: Ugh, I'm sorry. Maybe you could...
:Cueball: ... Okay, wait. I have to ask.
:Cueball: How did you hit a "7" in the middle there?
:White Hat: Huh?
:White Hat: I was just randomly keyboard mashing.
:Cueball: Sorry, Right.
:White Hat: Anyway,
:Cueball: I know this is silly, but like... All your hands were clearly right on the home row.
:Cueball: I don't get how one finger could have stretched up to the "7".
:White Hat: Why do you always fixate on these bizarre details?
:Cueball: I don't know.
:Cueball: Sorry.
:White Hat: It's weird, is all.

:[Chat transcript continues above White Hat's laptop, as it started in the first panel over Cueball's computer. But now we see a human-sized spider suspended from the ceiling by web is using three of its legs to type on the laptop. Behind the spider, White Hat is suspended from the ceiling upside down, almost totally encased in spider web. He tries to speak. Between them, a chair has been knocked over onto its back.]
:Spider (as White Hat in the chat): I am a normal human typing with my human hands.
:Cueball (chat): Yeah, of course. I know.
:White Hat (speaking): '''Mmm!! Mmph!!!'''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Spiders]]
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]