explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

977: Map Projections

2014-07-02T23:09:22Z

199.27.128.84: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 977
| date = November 14, 2011
| title = Map Projections
| image = map_projections.png
| titletext = What's that? You think I don't like the Peters map because I'm uncomfortable with having my cultural assumptions challenged? Are you sure you're not... ::puts on sunglasses:: ...projecting?
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Map projection}}, or how to represent the spherical Earth surface onto a flat support (paper, screen...) to have a usable map, is a long-time issue with very practical aspects (navigation, geographical shapes and masses visualization, etc.) as well as very scientific/mathematical ones, involving geometry or even abstract algebra among other things. There is no universal solution to this problem, any 2D map projection will always distort in a way the spherical reality; many projections have been proposed in various contexts, each intending to minimize distortions for specific uses (for nautical navigation, for aerial navigation, for landmass size comparisons, etc.) but having drawbacks from other points of view. Some of them are more frequently used than others in mass media and therefore more well-known than others, some are purely historical and now deprecated, some are very obscure, etc.

[[Randall]] suggests here the idea that someone's "favorite" map projection can reveal aspects of their personality, then goes through a series of them to show what they can mean:

;Mercator
:The {{w|Mercator projection}} was introduced by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569. The main purpose of this map is that at any point the vertical and horizontal scales are the same, so locally i.e. considering only a small part of the map, geographical features (shapes, angles) are well represented, which helps a lot in recognizing them on-the-field, or for local navigation in that small part only. For this reason, that projection (or a close variant) is used in several online mapping services, such as Google Maps, which means that it is frequently encountered by the general public. No angle distortion also means that a straight line on the map corresponds to a course of constant bearing (direction), which was very useful for nautical navigation in the past (and thus made that projection very well-known).

:However, from a global point of view, this projection is radically incorrect in how it shows the size of landmasses (for instance Antarctica or Greenland seem gigantic), and furthermore, it always excludes a small region around each pole (otherwise the map would be of infinite height), so it doesn't provide a complete solution for the problem of map projection. The comic implies that people who like that projection aren't very interested with map issues, and typically use what they are offered without thinking much about it.

;Van der Grinten
:The {{w|Van der Grinten projection}} is not much better than the Mercator. It was adopted by {{w|National Geographic}} in 1922 and was used until they updated to the Robinson projection in 1988.

:The Van der Grinten projection is circular as opposed to the Mercator projection. Circles look happier than squares, leading to the conclusion that people who like the projection are optimistic.

;Robinson
:The {{w|Robinson projection}} was developed by {{w|Arthur H. Robinson}} as a map that was supposed to look nice and is often used for classroom maps. National Geographic switched to this projection in 1988, and used it for ten years, switching to the Winkel-Tripel in 1998.

:{{w|The Beatles}} was a rock band that enjoyed great commercial success in the 1960s. The Beatles, coffee, and running shoes suggest an ordinary, easygoing lifestyle paralleled by the projection.

;Dymaxion
:Also called the Fuller Map, the {{w|Dymaxion Map}} takes a sphere and projects it onto an icosahedron, that is a polyhedron with 20 triangular faces. It is far easier to unwrap an icosahedron than it is to unwrap a sphere into a 2D object and has very little skewing of the poles.

:Randall associates the projection to geek subculture and niche markets:
:*{{w|Isaac Asimov}} was an American science-fiction writer, that (as well as publishing many textbooks) is considered the father of the modern concept of robots. He invented the {{w|Three Laws of Robotics}}. He also worked on more than 500 books throughout his career.
:*{{w|XML}} is the eXtensible Markup Language. It is used to represent data in a format that machines can read and understand, as well as being human-readable. In practice, XML is cumbersome to read.
:*{{w|Vibram FiveFingers|Toed-Shoes}} are a [[1065: Shoes|favorite]] of Randall's to pick on. In society they are seen as a {{w|geek}} clothing item.
:*Brought to the world by {{w|Dean Kamen}}, the {{w|Segway PT}} was supposed to be a device that changed the way cities were built. In reality, most principalities have put in place rules specifically against Segways, making them a frustration to own and use within the law (in some states in Australia, it is illegal to use them on public footpaths or roads). Also, the former owner of {{w|Segway Inc.}}, the late {{w|Jimi Heselden}}, accidentally rode his Segway off a cliff in 2010.
:*{{w|Virtual reality|3D goggles}} are a very niche market only pursued by enthusiasts. In the 1990s the promise of virtual realities was very tantalizing; many companies attempted to perfect it, but fell short of the mark. Also, the phrase "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence" is relevant.
:*{{w|Dvorak Simplified Keyboard|Dvorak}} is an alternate keyboard layout to QWERTY. Where QWERTY was invented to help keep manual typewriters from jamming (by placing the most used keys further away from each other), Dr. {{w|August Dvorak}} performed many studies and found the mathematically optimal keyboard layout to reduce finger travel for right handed typists. While technically better than QWERTY, QWERTY had become the standard. All the keyboards were laid out in QWERTY format, and retraining the brain after becoming a touch typist is extremely difficult.

;Winkel Tripel
:Proposed by {{w|Oswald Winkel}} in 1921, this map tried to reduce a set of three (German: Tripel) main problems with map projections: area, direction, and distance. The {{w|Kavrayskiy VII projection|Kavrayskiy projection}} is very similar to the Winkel Tripel and was used by the USSR, but very few in the Western world know of it.

:The comic links this projection to {{w|hipster}} subculture. The hipster stereotype is to avoid conforming to mainstream fashions. "Post-" refers to a variety of musical genres such as {{w|post-punk}}, {{w|post-grunge}}, {{w|post-minimalism}}, etc. that branch off of other genres.

;Goode Homolosine
:The {{w|Goode homolosine projection}} takes a different approach to skewing a sphere into a roughly circular surface. An orange peel can be taken off of an orange and flattened with fair success; this is roughly the procedure that {{w|John Paule Goode}} followed in creating this projection. Randall is suggesting that people who like this map also prefer relatively easy solutions to other things in life, despite those solutions having nuanced problems that are more difficult to address.

:Common people make arguments that if normal people would run the United States, then the US wouldn't be in the trouble it is. This is from the belief that career politicians are simply out to make money and will only act in the interest of their constituency when their continued easy life is threatened (usually around election time).

:Airline food is another, much maligned, problem. How do you store enough food to feed people on long airplane trips? The common solution is to use some kind of sub-standard microwaveable dinner. Randall is saying that the people in favor of the Goode Homolosine wonder why the airlines don't simply order meals from the restaurants in the airport, store that food, and serve it, rather than using frozen and microwaved food.

:Older cars burned oil like mad fiends, and oil back then would become corrosive to the innards of an engine, so oil had to be changed often. But, with the introduction of synthetic motor oil and better designed engines, new cars only need their oil changed about every 10,000 to 15,000 miles. A common conspiracy theory is that modern automobile oil manufacturers still recommend that car owners change their oil every 3,000-5,000 miles to "drum" up more business, even though that frequency is unnecessary.

:All of these references suggest that people who like the Goode Homolosine projection are fans of easy solutions to problems. However, the solutions would not necessarily work in practice. For instance, the restaurants might have trouble making enough food for the whole plane, and it could get cold before being served. Also, the air conditions [http://www.nbcnews.com/health/one-reason-airline-food-so-bad-your-own-tastebuds-6C10823522 aboard planes] can affect taste, so airlines say they optimize for this. And there is no such thing as a "normal" person, and if there was he/she would have virtually no chance at actually getting into government office.

;Hobo-Dyer
:The {{w|Hobo–Dyer projection}} was commissioned by Bob Abramms and Howard Bronstein and was drafted by Mick Dyer in 2002. It is a modified {{w|Behrmann projection}}. The goal was to be a more visually pleasing version of the Gall-Peters.

:As is discussed in the Gall-Peters explanation, the Gall-Peters was developed to be equal area, so that economically disadvantaged areas can at least take comfort in the fact that their country is represented correctly by area on maps.

:Randall associates the Hobo-Dyer projection to "crunchy granola" — a stereotype associated with vegetarianism, environmental activism, anti-war activism, liberal political leanings, and some traces of {{w|hippie}} culture.

:With the new general acceptance of homosexual, bisexual, and transgender persons, some have begun to invent gender-neutral pronouns so that when referring to a person whose gender is not known they cannot be offended by being referred to by the wrong pronouns. In {{w|Middle English}} 'they' and 'their' were accepted gender-less pronouns that could replace 'he', 'she' as well as be used to represent a crowd, but this usage is considered by some to be grammatically incorrect because of the plural/singular debate ([http://www.merriam-webster.com/video/0033-hisher.htm stupid Victorian Grammarians!]). None of the {{w|gender-neutral pronoun#Invented_pronouns|many attempts at popularizing gender-neutral pronouns}} have achieved any degree of success in the mainstream.

;Plate Carrée
:Also known as the {{w|Equirectangular projection}} has been in use since, apparently, 100 AD. The benefit of this projection is that latitude and longitude can be used as x,y coordinates. This makes it especially easy for computers to graph data on top of it.

:According to the comic, the projection appeals to people who find much beauty in simplicity.

;A Globe!
:In any good discussion there has to be at least one smart-ass. This is a comic about map projections, that is, the science of taking a sphere and flattening it into 2 dimensions. The smart-ass believes that we shouldn't even try: a sphere is, tautologically, the perfect representation of a sphere.

:To quote ''{{w|The Princess Bride}}'': "Yes, you're very smart. Shut up."

;Waterman Butterfly
:Similar to the Dymaxion, the {{w|Waterman butterfly projection}} turns a sphere into an octahedron, and then unfolds the net of the octahedron, which was devised by mathematician {{w|Waterman polyhedron|Steve Waterman}} based upon the work of {{w|Bernard J.S. Cahill}}

:Bernard Cahill published a [http://www.genekeyes.com/B.J.S._CAHILL_RESOURCE.html butterfly map] in 1909. Steve Waterman probably has the only extant "ready to go" map following the same general principles, though Gene Keys may not be far behind. Waterman has a poem with graphics in a similar vein to this xkcd comic that is worth reading.[http://watermanpolyhedron.com/worldmap.html]

:[http://www.progonos.com/furuti/MapProj/Normal/ProjPoly/projPoly2.html Polyhedral projections] like Cahill, Dymaxion or Waterman typically offer better accuracy of size, shape and area than flat projections, at the expense of compass directionality, connectedness, and other complications.

:The joke is that the person responding deeply understands map projections; anyone who knows of this projection is a person that Randall would like to get to know.

;Peirce Quincuncial
:The {{w|Pierce quincuncial projection}} was devised by {{w|Charles Sanders Peirce}} in 1879 and uses {{w|complex analysis}} to make a {{w|conformal mapping}} of the Earth, that conforms except for four points which would make up the south pole.

:{{w|Inception}} was a 2010 movie about {{w|meta}} {{w|lucid dream}}ing. It has a complex story that is difficult to follow and leaves the viewer with many questions at the end, and almost needs to be watched multiple times to be understood.

:The human brain is not well developed to deal with oddly obvious things. One example is that everyone has a skeleton, but everyone is surprised to see a part of their body represented by an X-Ray. Another is the fascinating complexity of the human hand, a machine which is amazingly complex, driven by a complex interplay of electrical and chemical signals; yet is the size of the hand and so useful.

;Gall-Peters
:The {{w|Gall-Peters projection}} is mired in controversy, surprising for a map. {{w|James Gall}} a 19th century clergyman presented this projection in 1855 before the {{w|British Association for the Advancement of Science}}. In 1967, the filmmaker {{w|Arno Peters}} created the same projection and presented it to the world as a "new invention" that put poorer, less powerful countries into their rightful proportions (as opposed to the Mercator). Peters played the marketing game and got quite a few followers of his map by saying it had "absolute angle conformality," "no extreme distortions of form," and was "totally distance-factual" in an age when society was very concerned about social justice. All of these claims were in fact false. The polar regions are horribly distorted, and south of the Mediterranean Sea is "taller" than it should be.

:Anyone who loves such a politically charged map that has become popular by way of marketing stunts, Randall would rather not have anything to do with.

The title text makes a joke that goes to the familiar meme from ''{{w|CSI: Miami}}'', in which the star, David Caruso starts a sentence, then [[:Category:Puts on sunglasses|puts on his sunglasses]] and ends the sentence with a corny pun. In this case, the pun is on {{w|map projection}} and {{w|projection (psychology)|projection}} in Psychology. Psychologic projection is an immature defense mechanism wherein a person who is uncomfortable with their own thoughts and/or actions assumes that another also shares this thought or action and blames that person for thinking/behaving that way, removing some of the negative feelings they have towards themselves. The Sunglasses internet meme has been mentioned previously by xkcd in comics [[626]], [[524]] and possibly others.

==Transcript==
:What your favorite
:'''Map Projection'''
:says about you
:[All of these are organized as Title, a copy of the particular projection underneath, and what it says about you under that.]

:*Mercator
:**You're not really into maps.
:*Van der Grinten
:**You're not a complicated person. You love the Mercator projection; you just wish it weren't square. The Earth's not a square, it's a circle. You like circles. Today is gonna be a good day!
:*Robinson
:**You have a comfortable pair of running shoes that you wear everywhere. You like coffee and enjoy The Beatles. You think the Robinson is the best-looking projection, hands down.
:*Dymaxion
:**You like Isaac Asimov, XML, and shoes with toes. You think the Segway got a bad rap. You own 3D goggles, which you use to view rotating models of better 3D goggles. You type in Dvorak.
:*Winkel-Tripel
:**National Geographic adopted the Winkel-Tripel in 1998, but you've been a W-T fan since ''long'' before "Nat Geo" showed up. You're worried it's getting played out, and are thinking of switching to the Kavrayskiy. You once left a party in disgust when a guest showed up wearing shoes with toes. Your favorite musical genre is "Post–".
:*Goode Homolosine
:**They say mapping the Earth on a 2D surface is like flattening an orange peel, which seems enough to you. You like easy solutions.You think we wouldn't have so many problems if we'd just elect ''normal'' people to Congress instead of Politicians. You think airlines should just buy food from the restaurants near the gates and serve ''that'' on board. You change your car's oil, but secretly wonder if you really ''need'' to.
:*Hobo-Dyer
:**You want to avoid cultural imperialism, but you've heard bad things about Gall-Peters. You're conflict-averse and buy organic. You use a recently-invented set of gender-neutral pronouns and think that what the world needs is a revolution in consciousness.
:*Plate Carrée (Equirectangular)
:**You think this one is fine. You like how X and Y map to latitude and longitude. The other projections overcomplicate things. You want me to stop asking about maps so you can enjoy dinner.
:*A Globe!
:**Yes, you're very clever.
:*Waterman Butterfly
:**Really? You know the Waterman? Have you seen the 1909 Cahill Map it's based— ...You have a framed reproduction at home?! Whoa. ...Listen, forget these questions. Are you doing anything tonight?
:*Peirce Quincuncial
:**You think that when we look at a map, what we really see is ourselves. After you first saw ''Inception'', you sat silent in the theater for six hours. It freaks you out to realize that everyone around you has a skeleton inside them. You ''have'' really looked at your hands.
:*Gall-Peters
:**I ''hate'' you.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Puts on sunglasses]]

Talk:1368: One Of The

2014-05-21T16:52:14Z

199.27.128.84: Oh, please.

There's a set of golden arches at Jefferson and Russell, Arguably more identifiable. {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.36}}

:If you are talking about the McDonald's arches, then well played, sir, well played. Definitely more identifiable. --[[User:Dangerkeith3000|Dangerkeith3000]] ([[User talk:Dangerkeith3000|talk]]) 14:57, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

::On the other hand, any ''specific set'' of McDonald's arches isn't very identifiable. One tends to look like any other. --[[User:Aaron of Mpls|Aaron of Mpls]] ([[User talk:Aaron of Mpls|talk]]) 11:12, 16 May 2014 (UTC)

"''Reporters on television and in other media try to only make statements they can verify in fact''"
Seriously??? Maybe once, but not now. The point of this cartoon is largely that reporters are hedging their bets on what's a fact.
When you have prominent reporters like Chuck Todd (one of the most prominent reporters on TV) saying [http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/09/18/inform-the-public-not-my-job-says-chuck-todd/|it's "not his job" to report factual information] but merely to repeat what politicians have said, or everyone on Fox "News" basically ignoring facts in favor of ideology, claiming reporters try to speak only facts is not supported by demonstrable facts.
[[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.84|199.27.128.84]] 16:42, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

: Or maybe it's because of the liability reporters face for reporting even errors made by the police. [http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/12/mistaken-identity-tv-show/8989189/ | Keith Todd or Todd Keith]. [[User:Pallas|Pallas]] ([[User talk:Pallas|talk]]) 19:16, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

:: "''In the complaint, Todd alleges that Eastpointe Police "incorrectly researched" databases and sent the wrong photo, name and information to the network.''" Sounds like the blame is really with the police, not the network. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.84|199.27.128.84]] 16:37, 15 May 2014 (UTC)

::: [http://birmingham.patch.com/groups/around-town/p/msnbcs-caught-on-camera-reality-show-snafu-creates-unreal-problems-for-michigan-man In a lawsuit filed last week in Wayne County Circuit Court, Todd said a snafu incorrectly naming him as the suspect in the “Caught on Camera” program has caused him humiliation, loss of employment and other misery. He’s asking NBC Universal, the Eastpointe Police Department and A One Limousine, to pay an unspecified amount of damages.] [[User:Pallas|Pallas]] ([[User talk:Pallas|talk]]) 20:09, 16 May 2014 (UTC)

: That's generalising. How about: "Seriously??? Maybe once, but not now. The point of this cartoon is largely that US reporters are hedging their bets on what's a fact. When you have prominent US reporters like Chuck Todd (one of the most prominent reporters on US TV) saying [http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/09/18/inform-the-public-not-my-job-says-chuck-todd/|it's "not his job" to report factual information] but merely to repeat what US politicians have said, or everyone on US branch of Fox "News" basically ignoring facts in favor of ideology, claiming US reporters try to speak only facts is not supported by demonstrable facts.{{unsigned ip|108.162.250.211}}

:: Right. Because it's only in the US that reporters fail to do their jobs well. Why, just look at the UK and Australia, for example. Nope, no reporters covering their asses there. Oh, wait. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.84|199.27.128.84]] 16:52, 21 May 2014 (UTC)

I know it's not really part of the joke, but should the explanation say who the reporter is talking about? Who designed the Gateway arch? I'm curious now.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.7|108.162.219.7]] 02:18, 15 May 2014 (UTC)

:The Gateway Arch was designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen and German-American structural engineer Hannskarl Bandel in 1947. As stated on the {{w|Gateway Arch|wikipedia page already linked from explanation}}. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:15, 15 May 2014 (UTC)

Note that the UK celebrates {{w|Mothering Sunday}} on the fourth Sunday in Lent as if it was Mother's Day. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.217|141.101.89.217]] 10:45, 15 May 2014 (UTC)

The explanation text misses the fact that stating "one of the world's greatest moms" is hardly perceived as an actual compliment by the recipient. [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 14:17, 15 May 2014 (UTC)
:Done - also added an explain and a wiki link to pet peeve - something not explained so far. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:53, 15 May 2014 (UTC)

: I don't think Randall misunderstands the practice - he's just pretending that to make a joke. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:16, 16 May 2014 (UTC)
::That is for sure true. I did not write it like that and have now corrected it acordingly [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:26, 16 May 2014 (UTC)
:::Interesting. Do you really think "Randall does not misunderstand anything" (from the history-edit explanation) and so any inaccuracy must be understood as a deliberate part of the joke? Even if the inaccuracy is about a matter outside of his field of expertise and is unnecessary to the joke? Maybe you're right in this case, but I doubt Randall himself would claim to be infallible. [[User:Cs7|Cs7]] ([[User talk:Cs7|talk]]) 20:08, 16 May 2014 (UTC)

No so much a real discussion item, but this is "One of the most useful Explain XKCDs out there"... {{unsigned ip|199.27.128.121}}

The arch is so large that there are rotating pill-elevators inside the rising legs and a large observation lounge at the top. You can look down at the busy barge traffic on the Mississippi far below. {{unsigned ip|108.162.245.117}}

1369: TMI

2014-05-16T16:13:36Z

199.27.128.84: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1369
| date = May 16, 2014
| title = TMI
| image = tmi.png
| titletext = 'TMI' he whispered, gazing into the sea.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|New page -- may still need polishing.}}
"TMI" is an acronym that means "too much information". It is typically used as a response to someone ''oversharing'' — telling details (usually gross, boring, or otherwise unpleasant) that the listener would rather not have heard. Here, however, Cueball may be using it in a more literal and absolute sense: He feels overwhelmed by the colossal amount of information that is now generally available to anyone with an Internet connection — or that exists, period.

The title text may refer to the huge amount of information there is in the ocean (or even in a single drop of water). It could also refer to all the information needed to understand what an ocean is. It is also possible that the title text is a reference to Hemingway's {{w|The_Old_Man_and_the_Sea|The Old Man and the Sea}}, comically simplifying the philosophical discourse of the novel into 'TMI'. Of course, this theory would gain support if Hemingway's novel actually contained the phrase "whispered, gazing into the sea," which it does not. Therefore, the only possible connection between the comic and Hemingway's novel is the word "sea," rendering this theory highly implausible in the minds of other readers.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting at a desk, looking at a laptop.]
:Cueball: Ugh, TMI.

:Offscreen: Oh? What?

:Cueball: Just... Everything.
:Offscreen: ''True.''

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

Talk:1368: One Of The

2014-05-15T16:37:28Z

199.27.128.84:

1368: One Of The

2014-05-15T16:37:06Z

199.27.128.84: /* Explanation */ Theory v practice

{{comic
| number = 1368
| date = May 14, 2014
| title = One Of The
| image = one_of_the.png
| titletext = 'The world's greatest [whatever]' is subjective, but 'One of the world's greatest [whatever]s' is clearly objective. Anyway, that's why I got you this 'one of the world's greatest moms' mug!
}}

==Explanation==

In theory, reporters on television and in other media try to only make statements they can verify in fact. In reality, they often resort to qualifying their statements so that the accuracy of their statements is harder to challenge. To say that something is "the most recognizable" in a city might lead to some disputing whether it really is, and therefore, reporters often get into the habit of hedging any such statement with "one of the."

However, this can be taken to absurd levels, such as when they still reflexively use this construct even when there's vanishingly little opportunity for dispute. As an extreme example, Randall depicts one such reporter using this language about the {{w|Gateway Arch}}. As the most well-known monument in Missouri and the largest free-standing arch in the world, it's really quite indisputable that this would be the most recognizable arch in St. Louis.

The title text refers to mugs (and t-shirts, and other printed items) that say "World's Greatest Mom" or "World's Greatest Dad." Obviously, such a statement is subjective on the part of the family member who gave such a gift. That's fine, because it's not a news report and not supposed to be objective.

But if simply adding "one of the" to something makes it objective, then giving a mug that says "one of the world's greatest moms" to one's mom actually would theoretically have more credibility; it's objective! The title text also refers to {{w|Mothers' Day}}, which in the US was three days before this comic was published.

==Transcript==

:TV anchor: "... and he went on to design the Gateway Arch, one of the most recognizable arches in St. Louis."
:Caption: "Pet peeve: reporters unnecessarily hedging with "one of the"

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Pet Peeves]]

Talk:1368: One Of The

2014-05-15T16:32:51Z

199.27.128.84:

Talk:1368: One Of The

2014-05-14T16:50:13Z

199.27.128.84:

There's a set of golden arches at Jefferson and Russell, Arguably more identifiable.

:If you are talking about the McDonald's arches, then well played, sir, well played. Definitely more identifiable. --[[User:Dangerkeith3000|Dangerkeith3000]] ([[User talk:Dangerkeith3000|talk]]) 14:57, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

"''Reporters on television and in other media try to only make statements they can verify in fact''"
Seriously??? Maybe once, but not now. The point of this cartoon is largely that reporters are hedging their bets on what's a fact.
When you have prominent reporters like Chuck Todd (one of the most prominent reporters on TV) saying [http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/09/18/inform-the-public-not-my-job-says-chuck-todd/|it's "not his job" to report factual information] but merely to repeat what politicians have said, or everyone on Fox "News" basically ignoring facts in favor of ideology, claiming reporters try to speak only facts is not supported by demonstrable facts.
[[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.84|199.27.128.84]] 16:42, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1368: One Of The

2014-05-14T16:44:41Z

199.27.128.84:

There's a set of golden arches at Jefferson and Russell, Arguably more identifiable.

:If you are talking about the McDonald's arches, then well played, sir, well played. Definitely more identifiable. --[[User:Dangerkeith3000|Dangerkeith3000]] ([[User talk:Dangerkeith3000|talk]]) 14:57, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

"''Reporters on television and in other media try to only make statements they can verify in fact''"
Seriously??? Maybe once, but not now.
When you have prominent reporters like Chuck Todd (one of the most prominent reporters on TV) saying [http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/09/18/inform-the-public-not-my-job-says-chuck-todd/|it's "not his job" to report factual information] but merely to repeat what politicians have said, or everyone on Fox "News" basically ignoring facts in favor of ideology, claiming reporters try to speak only facts is not supported by demonstrable facts.[[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.84|199.27.128.84]] 16:42, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1368: One Of The

2014-05-14T16:44:04Z

199.27.128.84:

There's a set of golden arches at Jefferson and Russell, Arguably more identifiable.

:If you are talking about the McDonald's arches, then well played, sir, well played. Definitely more identifiable. --[[User:Dangerkeith3000|Dangerkeith3000]] ([[User talk:Dangerkeith3000|talk]]) 14:57, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

"''Reporters on television and in other media try to only make statements they can verify in fact''"
Maybe once, but not now. When you have prominent reporters like Chuck Todd (one of the most prominent reporters on TV) saying [http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/09/18/inform-the-public-not-my-job-says-chuck-todd/|it's "not his job" to report factual information] but merely to repeat what politicians have said, or everyone on Fox "News" basically ignoring facts in favor of ideology, claiming reporters try to speak only facts is not supported by demonstrable facts.[[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.84|199.27.128.84]] 16:42, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1368: One Of The

2014-05-14T16:42:53Z

199.27.128.84: best not to start an explanation with a clearly inaccurate statement

There's a set of golden arches at Jefferson and Russell, Arguably more identifiable.

:If you are talking about the McDonald's arches, then well played, sir, well played. Definitely more identifiable. --[[User:Dangerkeith3000|Dangerkeith3000]] ([[User talk:Dangerkeith3000|talk]]) 14:57, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

"''Reporters on television and in other media try to only make statements they can verify in fact''"
Maybe once, but not now. When you have prominent reporters like Chuck Todd (one of the most prominent reporters on TV) saying [it's "not his job" to report factual information|http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/09/18/inform-the-public-not-my-job-says-chuck-todd/] but merely to repeat what politicians have said, or everyone on Fox "News" basically ignoring facts in favor of ideology, claiming reporters try to speak only facts is not supported by demonstrable facts.[[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.84|199.27.128.84]] 16:42, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1365: Inflation

2014-05-07T17:02:02Z

199.27.128.84:

Space Jam! - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.225.147|108.162.225.147]] 04:51, 7 May 2014 (UTC)
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.63.186|173.245.63.186]] 04:54, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117705/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_1
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.63.186|173.245.63.186]] 04:54, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

I got "basketball" and "Space Jam", but I didn't get why it said Spalding on it. From reading the explanation, I'm guessing it's a brand. Thanks, because I never would have made the connection. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.218|108.162.237.218]] 05:29, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

<strike>Why did Randall choose a basketball? A rugby ball or an american football would fit the shape better</strike> [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 06:12, 7 May 2014 (UTC)
:Because of the curving lines like a basketball on the image. [[User:Fizzle|Fizzle]] ([[User talk:Fizzle|talk]]) 06:17, 7 May 2014 (UTC)
::Added the reasoning for choosing a basketball to represent the universe [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 08:46, 7 May 2014 (UTC)
::I have never heard of the Basketball version - in DK I have mainly heard of it like a balloon. The link is to a book - could someone find a link to a short article where this analogy is used? Also I agree that if you do not know a basketballs lines you would never think of that from the image - as it much more looks like an American football due to the shape. Of course the Space Jam/Michael Jordan title text makes it clear that it is a basketball. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:11, 7 May 2014 (UTC)
:::The only other reference I could find is [http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/cosmology/inflation.html]. I remember the analogy from a Discovery Channel program.[[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 15:31, 7 May 2014 (UTC)
:This is no basketball! The lines on a basketball are different. On a basketball every line intersects exactly 4 times with other lines.
::Looks like a basketball (example [http://tf3dm.com/imgd/l20568-official-nba-spalding-basketball-86751.jpeg]). Remember that the Mollweide projection distorts the lines.[[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 15:31, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

Should the image not be updated to the current one on XKCD? Then this image could be saved on XKCD and linked to from the explanation on the error. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:09, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

What's a basketball? (explain like i'm five <duck>) [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 14:19, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

Megan is not looking at the "actual image captured by the BICEP2 instrument", because BICEP2 has only a 20 degree field of view (targed at the "Southern Hole") http://www.caltech.edu/content/building-bicep2-conversation-jamie-bock
:Correct. The image is from the WMAP.[[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 15:32, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

When I look at the comic at xkcd.com, the bottom image is reversed and 'SPALDING' is backwards (and so thus hard to make out). Is this true for anyone else? --[[User:Dangerkeith3000|Dangerkeith3000]] ([[User talk:Dangerkeith3000|talk]]) 15:53, 7 May 2014 (UTC)
: Noted above, I think. Haven't checked out any explanation but I'm betting someone pointed out "but, it'd have to backwards, as viewed from inside", thus Randall reversed it. A pity, because you're right about it being not as readable. (I'm ''used'' to mirror-writing... but combined with the rest of the image noisiness (unflipped) the reversed version comes out more like "Spajjing" or even "Soajjing", to me, the right-way-round one not suffering from inconveniently-placed splodges ruining the effect.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 16:43, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

"''The concept of an expanding universe is often explained by comparing it with a basketball''"
: "Often" ??? I get that a basketball is used in the comic, to allow for the Space Jam joke. But in all the explanations of an expanding universe I've ever seen, nobody has ever used a basketball. It's always been a balloon. Which makes a great deal more sense since a balloon, unlike a basketball, is something folks typically see actually expand. Claiming a basketball is "often" used seems forced here, an attempt to wedge in a unneeded justification for the Comcast's punchline. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.84|199.27.128.84]] 17:01, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1365: Inflation

2014-05-07T17:01:32Z

199.27.128.84: post hoc justification

Space Jam! - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.225.147|108.162.225.147]] 04:51, 7 May 2014 (UTC)
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.63.186|173.245.63.186]] 04:54, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117705/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_1
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.63.186|173.245.63.186]] 04:54, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

I got "basketball" and "Space Jam", but I didn't get why it said Spalding on it. From reading the explanation, I'm guessing it's a brand. Thanks, because I never would have made the connection. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.218|108.162.237.218]] 05:29, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

<strike>Why did Randall choose a basketball? A rugby ball or an american football would fit the shape better</strike> [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 06:12, 7 May 2014 (UTC)
:Because of the curving lines like a basketball on the image. [[User:Fizzle|Fizzle]] ([[User talk:Fizzle|talk]]) 06:17, 7 May 2014 (UTC)
::Added the reasoning for choosing a basketball to represent the universe [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 08:46, 7 May 2014 (UTC)
::I have never heard of the Basketball version - in DK I have mainly heard of it like a balloon. The link is to a book - could someone find a link to a short article where this analogy is used? Also I agree that if you do not know a basketballs lines you would never think of that from the image - as it much more looks like an American football due to the shape. Of course the Space Jam/Michael Jordan title text makes it clear that it is a basketball. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:11, 7 May 2014 (UTC)
:::The only other reference I could find is [http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/cosmology/inflation.html]. I remember the analogy from a Discovery Channel program.[[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 15:31, 7 May 2014 (UTC)
:This is no basketball! The lines on a basketball are different. On a basketball every line intersects exactly 4 times with other lines.
::Looks like a basketball (example [http://tf3dm.com/imgd/l20568-official-nba-spalding-basketball-86751.jpeg]). Remember that the Mollweide projection distorts the lines.[[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 15:31, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

Should the image not be updated to the current one on XKCD? Then this image could be saved on XKCD and linked to from the explanation on the error. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:09, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

What's a basketball? (explain like i'm five <duck>) [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 14:19, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

Megan is not looking at the "actual image captured by the BICEP2 instrument", because BICEP2 has only a 20 degree field of view (targed at the "Southern Hole") http://www.caltech.edu/content/building-bicep2-conversation-jamie-bock
:Correct. The image is from the WMAP.[[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 15:32, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

When I look at the comic at xkcd.com, the bottom image is reversed and 'SPALDING' is backwards (and so thus hard to make out). Is this true for anyone else? --[[User:Dangerkeith3000|Dangerkeith3000]] ([[User talk:Dangerkeith3000|talk]]) 15:53, 7 May 2014 (UTC)
: Noted above, I think. Haven't checked out any explanation but I'm betting someone pointed out "but, it'd have to backwards, as viewed from inside", thus Randall reversed it. A pity, because you're right about it being not as readable. (I'm ''used'' to mirror-writing... but combined with the rest of the image noisiness (unflipped) the reversed version comes out more like "Spajjing" or even "Soajjing", to me, the right-way-round one not suffering from inconveniently-placed splodges ruining the effect.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 16:43, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

"''The concept of an expanding universe is often explained by comparing it with a basketball''"
"Often" ??? I get that a basketball is used in the comic, to allow for the Space Jam joke. But in all the explanations of an expanding universe I've ever seen, nobody has ever used a basketball. It's always been a balloon. Which makes a great deal more sense since a balloon, unlike a basketball, is something folks typically see actually expand. Claiming a basketball is "often" used seems forced here, an attempt to wedge in a unneeded justification for the Comcast's punchline. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.84|199.27.128.84]] 17:01, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1363: xkcd Phone

2014-05-02T16:26:58Z

199.27.128.84: .

I really dislike the tone of the explanation. I mean it's so negative about the features! Not that they are all useful, but isn't this a wiki and should be neutral? It takes also the fun out of it. I would like a screaming while falling phone and the relativity thing would be great for teaching relativity! [[User:RecentlyChanged|RecentlyChanged]] ([[User talk:RecentlyChanged|talk]])

Where can i get one of these? :D [[User:UniTrader|UniTrader]] ([[User talk:UniTrader|talk]]) 04:11, 2 May 2014 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure the "scream when falling" thing and the "flightaware" stuff can be done somehow with Tasker. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.103.206|141.101.103.206]] 04:23, 2 May 2014 (UTC)

;Designer?

I suspect it was either Black Hat or Beret Guy, but I'm not sure which. A collaboration? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.45|173.245.54.45]] 04:47, 2 May 2014 (UTC)

This sounds like something straight out of aperture. {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.55}}

;Simulates alternate speeds of light

Yes, useless as a feature on all the time; but it would be a cool app. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 05:57, 2 May 2014 (UTC)
:Absolutely. Where can I get an app like that?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.225.157|108.162.225.157]] 06:22, 2 May 2014 (UTC)

Travelling at above the simulated speed of light should give an imaginary time dilation, not a negative time dilation.
gamma = 1/sqrt{1-v^2/c^2}
Thus, after such travel, the value of the clock would be a complex number. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.35|108.162.219.35]] 15:42, 2 May 2014 (UTC)

'''Changed the speed of light to 2.99x10^8'''
:You guys should probably clarify that the relativisic affects actually depend on how long your trip is or how long you wait to sync your phone. For relativity to be observable on a 12 hour trip, Minimum speed for a phone would have to be 300 m/s or 3000 m/s for the clock to measure even a microsecond/millisecond difference in time. This is well known thanks to the certain [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_dilation#Velocity_and_gravitational_time_dilation_combined-effect_tests time dilation experiments with planes]. Your GPS chip helps account for an error of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Error_analysis_for_the_Global_Positioning_System#Relativity 7 to 47 microseconds per day]. My point is in terms of time dilation, relativity mattering depends on how long a trip or waiting for synchronization is. By synching, I literally mean with the atomic time clock or with a GPS satellite. The synchronization of your phone with satellites is actually a couple of hundred microseconds, so normally even a light changing clock might not have as noticable changes as you might think. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.225|108.162.238.225]] 13:49, 2 May 2014 (UTC) --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.225|108.162.238.225]] 13:49, 2 May 2014 (UTC)
Yeah sorry forgot to login. does anyone know how to do the indices formatting other than eg 2.99x10(littlex) rather then 2.99x10^x? [[User:Jonv4n|Jonv4n]] ([[User talk:Jonv4n|talk]]) 06:29, 2 May 2014 (UTC)
: Whassup? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.220|141.101.89.220]] 07:43, 2 May 2014 (UTC)

About the attracting insects ... I would expect this to be normal feature in night. Trapping, however ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:08, 2 May 2014 (UTC)
: There are other indications that the phone is at least partly biological, this being the strongest evidence of that. Insects could be the power source for the biological part(s). [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.45|173.245.54.45]] 14:07, 2 May 2014 (UTC)

'''Siri'''

Could the Siri bit be a reference to Portal? When I first read it, I remembered this GLaDOS quote: "Your Aperture Science Weighted Companion Cube will never threaten to stab you, and in fact cannot speak. If your Weighted Companion Cube does speak, please disregard its advice." Could be completely wrong; just a thought. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.51|173.245.54.51]] 10:09, 2 May 2014 (UTC)
:Perhaps Siri is beling likened to the "ATMOS" device in the Doctor Who episode "The Sontaran Stratagem" [[User:Esp666|Esp666]] ([[User talk:Esp666|talk]]) 11:20, 2 May 2014 (UTC)

Lamest. Comic. Ever. And I'm not just saying that because he doesn't mention the Ubuntu Touch OS. ''– [[User:Tbc|tbc]] ([[User talk:Tbc|talk]]) 12:22, 2 May 2014 (UTC)''

'''Realistic case'''

Car telephones and the first cellphones were rather expensive, at least in Germany fake "realistic cases" were sold without any working electronics in it. Usage was to impress silly friends.

I thought this was aimed at the iPhone. Apparently these have an elegant case, but I have never actually seen one. Everyone I know covers their iPhone with some hideous plastic monstrosity, since the design is not practical.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.59|108.162.218.59]] 14:10, 2 May 2014 (UTC)

Could possibly be a reference to the "Realistic" brand, which was used on various products sold by Radio Shack (U.S. electronics retail chain) from 1954 to some time in the '90s.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.76|108.162.219.76]] 16:14, 2 May 2014 (UTC)

'''Screaming when in free fall: my first Android app!'''

I love the bit about screaming when in free fall: that was the first Android app I hacked together back in 2009 (based on the tricorder app). [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 13:49, 2 May 2014 (UTC)

'''Title Text'''

Hover-over title text was truncated; love it.
14:43, 2 May 2014 (UTC)[[User:Pocono Chuck|Pocono Chuck]] ([[User talk:Pocono Chuck|talk]])
: you must have an really old firefox browser -- you should update !!! [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.210|199.27.130.210]] 16:23, 2 May 2014 (UTC)

'''Price includes 2-year Knicks contract.''' ... but a contract with the Knicks would only appeal to pro basketball players.

Nonsense. Lots of "regular" folks would buy this phone it it meant they got to play in the NBA. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.84|199.27.128.84]] 16:26, 2 May 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1358: NRO

2014-04-21T16:12:46Z

199.27.128.84: FTFY

Could what if #32 be valid here? https://what-if.xkcd.com/32/ --[[User:Mralext20|Mralext20]] ([[User talk:Mralext20|talk]]) 07:30, 21 April 2014 (UTC)

: Nah. Spy satellites are usually on geosynced orbits, so they always hover over the same area of the ground, meaning no blur. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.56|108.162.219.56]] 14:17, 21 April 2014 (UTC)

Not only he is using the satellites, he is also using the software - probably something which will highlight recognized target on photo. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:28, 21 April 2014 (UTC)

I always thought this was a reference to the Governments Facial Recognition software they're working on. Combine that with the NSA's spy satellites and you can locate anyone anywhere. Maybe the NRO is a combination of such organizations and technologies (very very deadly) and they're testing it out using a Where's Waldo book. Not only testing the cameras on the satellite's resolution but the facial recognition software's ability to pick out a specific person in a crowd. [[User:Glitch|Glitch]] ([[User talk:Glitch|talk]]) 14:08, 21 April 2014 (UTC)

1358: NRO

2014-04-21T16:10:05Z

199.27.128.84: /* Explanation */ "quite" hard or "slightly" challenging. Which is it?

{{comic
| number = 1358
| date = April 21, 2014
| title = NRO
| image = nro.png
| titletext = 'DISPATCHING DRONE TO TARGET COORDINATES.' 'Wait, crap, wrong button. Oh jeez.'
}}

==Explanation==
''{{w|Where's Waldo}}'' (known in the British original as ''Where's Wally)'' is a children's puzzle book in which you have to locate 'Waldo', a character with a distinctive striped shirt and hat, in a picture crowded with hundreds of characters. He usually is quite hard to find, which makes it challenging. [[Cueball]] and his friend are using satellite imaging to find Waldo, by holding the book up to the sky and viewing it on the computer, presumably using some advanced image processing software to identify Waldo among the crowd. This would require a very advanced camera, as resolutions are usually much lower than would be necessary to resolve the characters in a Where's Waldo book. But since Cueball works at the {{w|National Reconnaissance Office}} (NRO), he probably has access to some powerful satellites and image processing software. The humor in this being, while he could be using that power for much more important things, he's instead trying to solve a simple game.

The title text is implying that Cueball has accidentally launched a drone at the co-ordinates, which would be where he and his friend are standing.

A What If (what-if.xkcd.com) examining the use of the Hubble Telescope for the purpose of examining the earth can be found here: [http://what-if.xkcd.com/32/]

==Transcript==
Cueball and a friend are in a remote area. The friend is holding a ''Where's Waldo?'' book towards the sky.
:Laptop: [Target located]
:Cueball: Got him. Left edge, two inches down.
The National Reconnaissance Office has an unusual approach to ''Where's Waldo''.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1345: Answers

2014-03-21T16:29:09Z

199.27.128.84: fix formatting

Not true. We know that sleep is important for storing memories and cleaning out toxins. http://www.nih.gov/news/health/oct2013/ninds-17.htm [[Special:Contributions/108.162.222.89|108.162.222.89]] 11:06, 21 March 2014 (UTC)
:That report is entitled "Brain may flush out toxins during sleep". Note the "may". Add it to the list of hypotheses. [[User:Jim E|Jim E]] ([[User talk:Jim E|talk]]) 15:49, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

Stupid personalized jokes and the like in this explanation... [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.174|173.245.53.174]] 11:19, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

I'm not sure this is the correct explanation.
The paradox of being confronted daily with a mystery and not trying to solve it is inconsistent with the title text. So this explanation doesn't sound right to me.
I think it's more about defining humanity as seeking for answers, while spending a huge amount of time closing off from the world for apparently no reason.
In other words, IMHO, it's not about "[not being] distracted by this mystery", but about "not being able to investigate any mystery during 1/3 of our life even if we want to".

Also, with my explanation, the original puchline "touché" works better than the the current explanation's suggestion "Which is why it keeps me awake all night". -- Shirluban@[[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.36|108.162.229.36]] 12:28, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

I disagree with the above poster (and agree with the explanation) on the basis of the boldface text... "And nobody knows why". Every human sleeps, so if humans were really curious, someone should have figured out why by now.[[User:Nsimonetti|NikoNarf]] ([[User talk:Nsimonetti|talk]]) 14:23, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

I agree with the original poster. It is interesting how people spend their entire careers studying a life event that they may never experience (consider a man studying the act of giving birth), yet most of us simply take sleep for granted. Now if we could only make sleep more efficient! I think we could spare a couple months worth of study to this. http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1205 [[User:Puck0687|Puck0687]] ([[User talk:Puck0687|talk]]) 14:53, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

We could spare quite a lot more than a couple months on this. First, 1205 talks about the benefit over five years, and for us the benefit would be over an entire lifetime. Furthermore, far more people don't study sleep than study it, so the "couple months" you talk about can be multiplied by the total population of people who benefit (both alive today and yet to live), and divided by the population of people studying sleep. That gets you quite a lot more than two months. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.11|108.162.219.11]] 16:18, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

I've thought for a while that the ''reason'' we sleep is primarily due to the accumulation of adenosine in the brain (?) - who really knows... [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 16:02, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

1343: Manuals

2014-03-17T18:58:14Z

199.27.128.84: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1343
| date = March 17, 2014
| title = Manuals
| image = manuals.png
| titletext = The most ridiculous offender of all is the sudoers man page, which for 15 years has started with a 'quick guide' to EBNF, a system for defining the grammar of a language. 'Don't despair', it says, 'the definitions below are annotated.'
}}

==Explanation==

The chart shows the quality of tools regarding their manual:
*If you don't even need a manual to use a certain tool, that tool tends to help solve problems effectively.
*If you do need a manual, the tool will probably not solve the problems quite as easily.
*Much less helpful are the tools where you need a manual but do not have the manual - these tools tends to create more problems than they solve.
*Even worse are tools where the manuals start with a description of the manual itself (which implies that the manual is very hard to read).

The title text refers to ''sudoers'', a config file for the unix command ''sudo''. ''sudo'' allows users to run a program with elevated permissions, as referenced in [[149: Sandwich]]. Man pages are collections of manuals for different tools, commands, files, and functions on Unix-like systems which can be viewed with the tool ''man''. You only need to type <code>man ''term-to-look-up''</code> in a terminal. There is even a manpage for ''man''. See for instance also the comic [[912: Manual Override]]

The sudoers file specifies which users have sudo access, and which commands they are allowed to run as root. The syntax of the file is very complex, and the manpage uses the {{w|Extended Backus–Naur Form}} (or EBNF) to describe the syntax. The sudoers man page starts off with an explanation of EBNF's grammar, which they reference throughout the rest of the man page in describing the syntax of the sudoers file. This would be a very good example of a manual that starts with a section on “How to Read This Manual”. Also, the [http://linux.die.net/man/5/sudoers sudoers man page] is very long, clocking in at 1504 lines*. In contrast, the [http://linux.die.net/man/1/man manpages man page] only has 566 lines*.

The title text also notes that the manual’s assurance, “don’t despair” because “the definitions below are annotated”, fails to be reassuring, and instead merely emphasizes the length and complexity of the document to read.

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Lines may vary depending on system; these were determined on openSUSE 12.3.

==Transcript==
[A line graph evidently relating tools, their documentation, and their ability to solve problems. There are four points on the line, one to the left and two to the right of a midpoint.]
: [label to left of midpoint] Solve problems
: [point to left of midpoint] Tools that don't need a manual
: [midpoint] Tools that need a manual
: [label to right of midpoint] Create problems
: [point to right of midpoint] Tools that need a manual but don't have one
: [point farther to right of midpoint] Tools whose manual starts with "How to read this manual"

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1340: Unique Date

2014-03-10T16:34:31Z

199.27.128.84:

My first thought was that he makes fun of people that consider dates like the 12.12.12 as important. As any other date they occur only once and are thus not more special. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.66|108.162.254.66]] 04:37, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

:Good point, I have added something about that. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.117|108.162.246.117]] 04:49, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

Possibly related to the upcoming Pi Day. Also, next year's Pi Day will be 03-14-(20)15, which a few images going around on the Internet have made an annoyingly big deal about. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.64|108.162.237.64]] 06:24, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

So - Maybe I suck at searching (I do), but I can't find any information about us being limited to 4 digits in our calendar system...?[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.107|173.245.53.107]] 08:38, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

:Most of the computer software that handles dates would have problems with more (or less) then four digits. Why bother with variable year length when you can just take the first four characters of "2014-03-10" and it works for the next 8 thousand years? [[Special:Contributions/103.22.200.103|103.22.200.103]] 09:42, 10 March 2014 (UTC)
:Also, most digital displays are limited to four digits for the year. [[Special:Contributions/103.22.200.103|103.22.200.103]] 09:43, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

::And I don't think we actually start address that sooner that in September 9999. It will be Y2K over again! .... not sure where will people of 9999 get {{w|Fortran}} and {{w|Cobol}} programmers, though. Maybe we should freeze some before we run out of them. :-) -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:20, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

:I'm with you. I suppose there may be places where leading zeros are used (somewhere in software where memory space has been set aside, I suppose) but I can't think of '''any''' common system where one has to use five digits when using a four digit number.
:When we get to December 31, 9999 (assuming he Gregorian calendar is still in use (BIG assumption)) the next day will simply be January 1, 10000 because, as you said, the Gregorian calendar isn't limited to four-digit years. And, as I say, anyone who think there is some problem with writing years as four digit numbers is simply demonstrating that they are not someone to take seriously. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.84|199.27.128.84]] 16:32, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

After visiting the website for the "Long Now Foundation", I find I'm left wondering - why, oh why, would they stop at using a five digit year? why not six? eight? ten? sixteen? thirty-two? [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 12:06, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

I think the point in the comic title is that writing years always with 5 digits is as significant as the zero to the left it will take to do so for most of the next 8000 years. [[User:FlavianusEP|FlavianusEP]] ([[User talk:FlavianusEP|talk]]) 12:25, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

My first thought was that the comic was about date formats and yyyy-mm-dd being better than yy-mm-dd or dd.mm.yy. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.138|173.245.53.138]] 12:40, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

== Dynamic? ==

Wanna bet that this comic always shows the current date?--[[User:Henke37|Henke37]] ([[User talk:Henke37|talk]]) 10:23, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

:Haha, that's a great observation! I wish it were so, I'll check again tomorrow. If it's not, someone email Mr. Munroe to make it so, great idea.

:It's 00:07 (11th of March) right now in China where I am currently located and it still shows 10th of March...just for the record [[Special:Contributions/108.162.225.191|108.162.225.191]] 16:13, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

It's funny that Randall seems to have never heard of [http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2550 RFC 2550], which goes than the Long Now Foundation in expanding the representable date range. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.161|173.245.53.161]] 15:05, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

:Technically, there will be another 2014-03-10; on October 3rd. - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.65|108.162.219.65]] 16:01, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1340: Unique Date

2014-03-10T16:32:51Z

199.27.128.84:

My first thought was that he makes fun of people that consider dates like the 12.12.12 as important. As any other date they occur only once and are thus not more special. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.66|108.162.254.66]] 04:37, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

:Good point, I have added something about that. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.117|108.162.246.117]] 04:49, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

Possibly related to the upcoming Pi Day. Also, next year's Pi Day will be 03-14-(20)15, which a few images going around on the Internet have made an annoyingly big deal about. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.64|108.162.237.64]] 06:24, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

So - Maybe I suck at searching (I do), but I can't find any information about us being limited to 4 digits in our calendar system...?[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.107|173.245.53.107]] 08:38, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

:Most of the computer software that handles dates would have problems with more (or less) then four digits. Why bother with variable year length when you can just take the first four characters of "2014-03-10" and it works for the next 8 thousand years? [[Special:Contributions/103.22.200.103|103.22.200.103]] 09:42, 10 March 2014 (UTC)
:Also, most digital displays are limited to four digits for the year. [[Special:Contributions/103.22.200.103|103.22.200.103]] 09:43, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

::And I don't think we actually start address that sooner that in September 9999. It will be Y2K over again! .... not sure where will people of 9999 get {{w|Fortran}} and {{w|Cobol}} programmers, though. Maybe we should freeze some before we run out of them. :-) -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:20, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

:I'm with you. I suppose there may be places where leading zeros are used (somewhere in software, no doubt) but I can't think of any common system where on has to use five digits when using a four digit number.
:When we get to December 31, 9999 (assuming he Gregorian calendar is still in use (BIG assumption)) the next day will simply be January 1, 10000 because, as you said, the Gregorian calendar isn't limited to four-digit years. And, as I say, anyone who think there is some problem with writing years as four digit numbers is simply demonstrating their ridiculousness and is not someone worth debating it with. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.84|199.27.128.84]] 16:32, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

After visiting the website for the "Long Now Foundation", I find I'm left wondering - why, oh why, would they stop at using a five digit year? why not six? eight? ten? sixteen? thirty-two? [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 12:06, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

I think the point in the comic title is that writing years always with 5 digits is as significant as the zero to the left it will take to do so for most of the next 8000 years. [[User:FlavianusEP|FlavianusEP]] ([[User talk:FlavianusEP|talk]]) 12:25, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

My first thought was that the comic was about date formats and yyyy-mm-dd being better than yy-mm-dd or dd.mm.yy. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.138|173.245.53.138]] 12:40, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

== Dynamic? ==

Wanna bet that this comic always shows the current date?--[[User:Henke37|Henke37]] ([[User talk:Henke37|talk]]) 10:23, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

:Haha, that's a great observation! I wish it were so, I'll check again tomorrow. If it's not, someone email Mr. Munroe to make it so, great idea.

:It's 00:07 (11th of March) right now in China where I am currently located and it still shows 10th of March...just for the record [[Special:Contributions/108.162.225.191|108.162.225.191]] 16:13, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

It's funny that Randall seems to have never heard of [http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2550 RFC 2550], which goes than the Long Now Foundation in expanding the representable date range. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.161|173.245.53.161]] 15:05, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

:Technically, there will be another 2014-03-10; on October 3rd. - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.65|108.162.219.65]] 16:01, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

1338: Land Mammals

2014-03-05T21:41:08Z

199.27.128.84: /* Explanation */ grammar and punctuation corrections, and reduced the Stan Lee-ification (!) a bit.

{{comic
| number = 1338
| date = March 5, 2014
| title = Land Mammals
| image = land_mammals.png
| titletext = Bacteria still outweigh us thousands to one--and that's not even counting the several pounds of them in your body.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|The division of animal blocks are clear but only 6 are labeled. Some qualified guesses as to how the other (at least the largest) blocks are divided should be possible...}}

This comic shows the total weight of mankind and other land mammals.
Only in the last century or so have humans, and their pets and livestock, come to occupy such a great proportion of the earth's land mammal mass.

Per the diagram, there are 358 million tons of humans, 864 million tons of pets and livestock, of which 520 million tons comes from cattle, and 34 million tons of wild animals; for a total of 1.3 billion tons.

According to these numbers, the average human weighs 50 kg: 7.16 billion people × 50 kg = 358 billion kg = 358 million tons.

Cattle is by far more heavy than the total human population, but we do manage to outweigh both Sheep and Pigs - which may come as a surprise - as these animals probably by far outweigh the population in the countries that produce the main part of the worlds meat from such animals.

It is interesting to note that the world's heaviest land dwelling animal - the elephant - only takes up one square! It is the only type of wild animal to be singled out in the comic.

There are 8 distinct blocks of wild animal (elephants and 7 others). There are 13 distinct blocks of pets and live stock (only the top 5 are labeled - in order of weight they are: Cattle, Sheep, Pigs, Goats and Horses). Dogs would properly also take up a large part - it could be the 6th largest, the one at the top - but how detailed are the division of species...?

Note that only land dwelling mammals are taken into account - thus no whales. It is not clear as to where, for instance, seals, sea lions and walruses belong - although they could belong to land mammals.

All other types of animals are not included. For instance, the weight of insects would outweigh us by far. Although not as much as the bacteria mentioned in the title text - they outweigh us 1000:1.

And that is without counting the part of our body weight that consist of bacteria: Several pounds. A fact that most people would properly like to ignore - which is a good reason to mention it here. These pounds are already counted as part of the total human weight.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:Earth's Land Mammals by weight

:[After a block to indicate the size of each block:] = 1,000,000 tons

:[Dark gray block:] Humans [Light gray block:] Our pets and livestock [Green block:] Wild animals

:[The rest of the comic consist of blocks representing the weight of mammals. Some of the blocks are labeled:]
:Cattle
:Pigs
:Goats
:Sheep
:Elephants
:Horses

:[Bottom text:]
:Data from Vaclav Smil's The Earth's Biosphere: Evolution, Dynamics, and Change, Plus a Few Other Sources

{{comic discussion}}

1338: Land Mammals

2014-03-05T21:37:19Z

199.27.128.84: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1338
| date = March 5, 2014
| title = Land Mammals
| image = land_mammals.png
| titletext = Bacteria still outweigh us thousands to one--and that's not even counting the several pounds of them in your body.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|The division of animal blocks are clear but only 6 are labeled. Some qualified guesses as to how the other (at least the largest) blocks are divided should be possible...}}

This comic shows the total weight of mankind and other land mammals.
Only in the last century or so have humans, and their pets and livestock, come to occupy such a great proportion of the earth's land mammal mass.

Per the diagram, there are 358 million tons of humans, 864 million tons of pets and livestock, of which 520 million tons comes from cattle, and 34 million tons of wild animals; for a total of 1.3 billion tons.

According to these numbers, the average human weighs 50 kg: 7.16 billion people × 50 kg = 358 billion kg = 358 million tons.

Cattle is by far more heavy than the total human population, but we do manage to outweigh both Sheep and Pigs - which may come as a surprise - as these animals probably by far outweigh the population in the countries that produce the main part of the worlds meat from such animals.

It is interesting to note that the worlds heaviest land dwelling animal - the elephant - only takes up one square! It is the only type of wild animal to be singled out in the comic.

There are 8 distinct blocks of wild animal (elephants and 7 others). There are 13 distinct blocks of pets and live stock (only the top 5 are labeled - in order of weight they are: Cattle, Sheep, Pigs, Goats and Horses). Dogs would properly also take up a large part - it could be the 6th largest - the one at the top? But how detailed are the division of species...?

Note that only land dwelling mammals is taken into account - thus no whales. It is not clear as to where for instance seals, sea lions and walruses belongs - although they should belong to land mammals.

All other types of animals are not included. For instance the weight of insects would outweigh us by far. Although not as much as the bacteria mentioned in the title text - they outweigh us 1000:1!

And that is without counting the part of our body weight that consist of bacteria: Several pounds. A fact that most people would properly like to ignore - which is a good reason to mention it here. These pounds are already counted as part of the total human weight!

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:Earth's Land Mammals by weight

:[After a block to indicate the size of each block:] = 1,000,000 tons

:[Dark gray block:] Humans [Light gray block:] Our pets and livestock [Green block:] Wild animals

:[The rest of the comic consist of blocks representing the weight of mammals. Some of the blocks are labeled:]
:Cattle
:Pigs
:Goats
:Sheep
:Elephants
:Horses

:[Bottom text:]
:Data from Vaclav Smil's The Earth's Biosphere: Evolution, Dynamics, and Change, Plus a Few Other Sources

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1334: Second

2014-02-24T17:21:25Z

199.27.128.84:

Reference to how much Google knows about us and the 'Filter Bubble'?
OTOH could just be a straight-forward observation of the search habits of most people - if I don't find what you're looking for on the first page , I try to refine my search terms rather than goto page 2 .
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.225.132|108.162.225.132]] 05:52, 24 February 2014 (UTC)
:But you can remember a time when you ''did'' go to the second or third page with some frequency, back when the Gooooooooooogle at the bottom of each page was rendered in text and your mom thought it was just so cool that the red 'o' showed her which page she was on. [[User:Jameslucas|jameslucas]] ([[User talk:Jameslucas|" "]] / [[Special:Contributions/Jameslucas|+]]) 14:32, 24 February 2014 (UTC)
::What do you mean, “back when”? The Gooooooooooogle still behaves the way you described. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.64|108.162.254.64]] 16:58, 24 February 2014 (UTC)
Interestingly, some research <citation missing> shows that Google's results are oriented more towards commercial results than other vendors, meaning that if you are looking for a non-commercial answer you might need to look at the second page (or switch search providers). [[User:Randymack|Randymack]] ([[User talk:Randymack|talk]]) 12:45, 24 February 2014 (UTC)
:I really want to see that citation. --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 15:09, 24 February 2014 (UTC)
::You could probably Google for it... :) [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.84|199.27.128.84]] 17:16, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

The dictionary definition of "desperation" looks a bit out of place. What's the point in it? Also, is there an explanation for the talking rock? A mention to the symbolic over dramatization of the incident? [[User:Dulcis|Dulcis]] ([[User talk:Dulcis|talk]]) 15:43, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

Are we sure it's a desert? I know it mentions "desolate wastes", but it looks an awful lot like a seashore to me, not a desert. —[[User:Scs|Scs]] ([[User talk:Scs|talk]]) 17:09, 24 February 2014 (UTC)
:I can see that, but fairly certain it's a desert. His footprints linger to the right. If he were wading in water they'd not last. And the rock on the left has several smaller pebbles around it, which would be covered if the rock were in water. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.84|199.27.128.84]] 17:21, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

I think the title text is referring to the results from searching for a number like "19". Instead of information about nineteen, you get lots of pages which tangentially refer to it, such as "President correcting discrimination against 19 Jewish, Hispanic and African American soldiers" or pages with a copyright year of 19xx. -[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.7|108.162.219.7]] 17:10, 24 February 2014 (UTC)
:The title text actually says "page copyright year starts with '19'." I don't know how that can be interpreted as anything other than a reference to a year. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.84|199.27.128.84]] 17:21, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1334: Second

2014-02-24T17:16:13Z

199.27.128.84:

Reference to how much Google knows about us and the 'Filter Bubble'?
OTOH could just be a straight-forward observation of the search habits of most people - if I don't find what you're looking for on the first page , I try to refine my search terms rather than goto page 2 .
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.225.132|108.162.225.132]] 05:52, 24 February 2014 (UTC)
:But you can remember a time when you ''did'' go to the second or third page with some frequency, back when the Gooooooooooogle at the bottom of each page was rendered in text and your mom thought it was just so cool that the red 'o' showed her which page she was on. [[User:Jameslucas|jameslucas]] ([[User talk:Jameslucas|" "]] / [[Special:Contributions/Jameslucas|+]]) 14:32, 24 February 2014 (UTC)
::What do you mean, “back when”? The Gooooooooooogle still behaves the way you described. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.64|108.162.254.64]] 16:58, 24 February 2014 (UTC)
Interestingly, some research <citation missing> shows that Google's results are oriented more towards commercial results than other vendors, meaning that if you are looking for a non-commercial answer you might need to look at the second page (or switch search providers). [[User:Randymack|Randymack]] ([[User talk:Randymack|talk]]) 12:45, 24 February 2014 (UTC)
:I really want to see that citation. --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 15:09, 24 February 2014 (UTC)
:: You could probably Google for it... :) [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.84|199.27.128.84]] 17:16, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

The dictionary definition of "desperation" looks a bit out of place. What's the point in it? Also, is there an explanation for the talking rock? A mention to the symbolic over dramatization of the incident?[[User:Dulcis|Dulcis]] ([[User talk:Dulcis|talk]]) 15:43, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

Are we sure it's a desert? I know it mentions "desolate wastes", but it looks an awful lot like a seashore to me, not a desert. —[[User:Scs|Scs]] ([[User talk:Scs|talk]]) 17:09, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

I think the title text is referring to the results from searching for a number like "19". Instead of information about nineteen, you get lots of pages which tangentially refer to it, such as "President correcting discrimination against 19 Jewish, Hispanic and African American soldiers" or pages with a copyright year of 19xx. -- [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.7|108.162.219.7]] 17:10, 24 February 2014 (UTC)