https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=78.144.255.82 2026-04-15T03:35:50Z User contributions MediaWiki 1.30.0 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1791:_Telescopes:_Refractor_vs_Reflector&diff=401993 2025-12-18T00:52:43Z

<p>78.144.255.82: /* Explanation */ Spotted a Wikipedia #anchorlink, clearly updated-/revised-at-source. Corrected it, as far as it looks like for current article. Looked around for others (found one other obvious) and rerationalised some other wikilinks in general.</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 1791<br /> | date = January 27, 2017<br /> | title = Telescopes: Refractor vs Reflector<br /> | image = telescopes_refractor_vs_reflector.png<br /> | titletext = On the other hand, the refractor's limited light-gathering means it's unable to make out shadow people or the dark god Chernabog.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> This comic compares two major types of {{w|optical telescope}}s: The {{w|refracting telescope}} and the {{w|reflecting telescope}}. A refracting telescope produces an image with a series of lenses. A reflecting telescope uses mirrors. (A third type, the {{w|catadioptric system}} telescope, uses both mirrors ''and'' lenses. It is not shown here.)<br /> <br /> It first looks like the comic is simply trying to show that refracting has many flaws, such as expense, size and visibility (see more [[#The real problems with refracting telescopes|details below]]). However, the punchline invalidates these complaints with the (apparently major) flaw listed with the reflecting telescope: '''It can't see space vampires'''. <br /> <br /> The unstated reason for this is that {{w|vampire}}s, {{w|Vampire#Protection|according to some cultures}}, cannot be seen in a mirror. As {{w|Space Vampires}} (like earth vampires) are widely believed to be {{w|Vampire#Origins of vampire beliefs|made up}} and thus unlikely to interest most [[1644: Stargazing|stargazers]],{{Citation needed}} this complaint is superfluous, and the reflecting telescope effectively has no flaws in comparison to the refracting telescope. There are other problems, though, with reflecting telescopes see [[#The real problems with reflecting telescope|details below]]. (Also there was a big problem in the [[#Trivia|original version of this comic]]). <br /> <br /> There is, however, the {{w|Bat Nebula}}, but this isn't a true {{w|vampire bat}}. There's also {{w|stellar vampirism}}, where one star in a binary system drains material from its companion (by analogy with the way vampires drain blood from their victims).<br /> <br /> Frequently, however, the right-angle transition at the base of the refractor telescope is done with a prism (an &quot;image erector&quot;). This uses the optical principle of total internal reflection. If mirror-non-appearance of vampires is due to the interaction of evil with silver, a refractor using a prism could still see vampires. On this theory, however, the reflector could too, since modern astronomical mirrors are coated with aluminum, not silver.<br /> <br /> The title text expands on the seeing of supernatural beings, as another negative point is added to the refracting telescope; it apparently can't see {{w|Shadow person|Shadow People}} or the Slavic god {{w|Chernobog|Chernabog}} (sometimes spelled Chernobog), both of which are important although clearly not as important to the telescope's merit as seeing vampires since the fact is only mentioned in the title text. So of course the refracting telescope is still the best. Of course also neither the {{w|Shadow person#History and folklore|shadow people}} nor {{w|Chernobog##Sources|the god}} exists{{Citation needed}} so this would likewise be a moot point. <br /> <br /> In reality, &quot;shadow people&quot; are a psychological phenomenon wherein humans ascribe human shapes and movements to shadows in dark spaces. Chernobog is a 12th century Slavic deity, whose name translates to ''black god''. His most famous appearance in modern media was in the 1940 Disney movie {{w|Fantasia (1940 film)|''Fantasia''}} (and Disney merchandise is also almost the only place that his name is spelled as Randall spelled it, with an &quot;a&quot; in the middle). Because shadows are dark and the god is also dark, they cannot be seen by the refracting telescope due to the reduced light-gathering which has already been mentioned as a drawback in the main comic.<br /> <br /> Telescopes have been the subject of [[:Category:Telescopes|many comics]] on xkcd. Recently one about space telescope was released [[1730: Starshade]] and before that a large &quot;private&quot; telescope was shown in [[1522: Astronomy]].<br /> <br /> ===The real problems with refracting telescopes===<br /> The basic performance of a telescope is determined by its size: a wider telescope catches more light, making it easier to see faint objects, while a longer telescope is better for high magnification viewing. For looking at stars, the width is actually more important. No matter how much you zoom, a star is too far away to make bigger, but with a big aperture, you can see stars too faint for the naked eye. Planets benefit more from magnification, and distant galaxies need both.<br /> <br /> In both respects, it's much easier to make a big reflector telescope than a big refractor one. Since a lens can only be held in place by its edge, the center of a large lens sags due to gravity, distorting the images it produces. This means most refractor telescopes make do with narrow apertures only a couple of inches across. Reflector telescopes are sometimes called &quot;light buckets&quot; because they can have extremely big openings that can catch light from even very faint stars. In addition, because it has a mirror at one end, the reflector telescope is, in effect, twice as long as it appears - a refractor just cannot compete.<br /> <br /> Refracting telescopes were only gradually overtaken by reflecting telescopes, however. In the age of {{W|great refractor}}s, the largest telescopes in the world were refractors. Reflectors at the time had mirrors surfaced in {{W|speculum metal}} that began to tarnish only months after application, negatively affecting telescope performance. This problem was resolved when it became possible to surface a mirror in silver, but the problems with refractive lenses persist. Because of this, the {{w|List of largest optical telescopes historically|largest optical telescopes ever built}} are reflectors, rather than refractors. In addition, a {{w|liquid mirror telescope}} uses a very cheap, but potentially very large mirror - with the drawback that the telescope can only look straight upwards.<br /> <br /> '''Randall's points:'''<br /> *More expensive<br /> **Grinding a high quality lens is more expensive than producing an equivalent mirror - {{w|Crown glass (optics)|crown glass}}, which is needed for good quality telescope lenses, is expensive.<br /> *Less compact<br /> **In theory, a refractor ''could'' be made compact, but the image quality would be awful, because the lens would have to be extremely fat. The longer the telescope is, the less dramatic the focusing needs to be. <br /> *{{w|Chromatic aberration}}:<br /> **In optics, chromatic aberration is an effect resulting from dispersion in which there is a failure of a lens to focus all colors to the same convergence point, producing a rainbow effect around the image familiar to people who wear glasses, and with prisms. It occurs because lenses have different refractive indices for different wavelengths of light. Each color is therefore focused slightly differently by the lens. Mirrors don't have chromatic aberration, since the light is reflected off the front of the mirror. The {{w|achromatic lens}} can reverse this effect, but it's expensive and its size is limited. Nevertheless, before telescope mirrors were perfected in the early 20th century, the best telescopes were achromatic refractors.<br /> ***Note that this effect has also been mentioned in relation to photography by [[Black Hat]] in [[1014: Car Problems]], in a completely different context, but shows this is an issue Randall has considered before.<br /> *Reduced light-gathering<br /> **Apart from generally needing to be smaller than reflector telescopes a further problem comes from glass defects, striae or small air bubbles trapped within the glass. In addition, glass is opaque to certain wavelengths, and even visible light is dimmed by reflection and absorption when it crosses the air-glass interfaces and passes through the glass itself. All of this reduce the light gathered.<br /> <br /> '''Other problems not mentioned by Randall:'''<br /> *Suspending a lens<br /> **Another important difference (and a big reason why large refracting telescopes don't exist) is that the lens of a refracting telescope has to be supported by the edges, so that light can pass through it. As a result there comes a point where it is no longer feasible to mount a large lens in a telescope due to its weight and the need to support it from the edges. In contrast the mirror of a reflecting telescope is supported from behind, and any support structures for the primary mirror are not in the path of the light. As a result, substantially larger mirrors can be easily mounted and supported. As an additional benefit this behind-the-mirror support has led to the creation of {{w|AdaptiveOptics}}, a technique (which is impossible for refracting telescopes) that allows some of the atmosphere's distortions to be corrected for.<br /> *A mirror can be segmented to make a larger reflecting surface out of smaller (and hence easier to build/mount/support) mirrors. By using a {{w|segmented mirror}} it is possible to build an effective aperture much larger than what could be built even from a single mirror, which is itself much larger than the largest possible lens that might be built for a refracting telescope.<br /> <br /> ===The real problems with reflecting telescope===<br /> It is worth noting that (apart from the vampire problem) a reflecting telescope also has disadvantages compared to a refracting telescope: <br /> *The main disadvantage is that in almost all reflecting telescope designs the focal point is directly in front of the mirror, i.e. in between the mirror and the target of interest. <br /> **As a result a {{w|secondary mirror}} is commonly used to direct the focal point somewhere outside of the field of view. However, this secondary mirror (and the struts that support it) will still block part of the field of view - although the focus of the telescope means that the secondary mirror is not visible when looking at distant objects, it will result in diffraction patterns that also hinder the image quality. In fact, this is the source of the {{w|diffraction spike}} around stars which are commonly seen in astronomical images. <br /> *** {{w|Off-axis reflecting telescope|Off-axis telescopes}} avoid the problem of diffraction from in-path obstructions, they also require larger footprints and more complicated mirror shapes compared to their on-axis counterparts.<br /> *A reflecting telescope is also harder to maintain:<br /> **The mirrors need to be very precisely aligned (this is called {{w|collimation}}), and this can be a laborious process. They may also need re-polishing.<br /> **The telescope is open at one end, allowing dust and dirt to enter.<br /> *A reflecting telescope is not very portable. This is why {{w|Birdwatching|bird-spotters}} use small refractor telescopes as an easy way to get a closer view of birds.<br /> <br /> Despite this disadvantage, reflecting telescopes are used almost exclusively in modern astronomy because of practical limitations in making large refracting telescopes. Very few amateur astronomers use refracting telescopes - nowadays, they mostly exist to con people looking for Christmas presents in department stores (just because a telescope promises 100x zoom doesn't mean the image quality is any good!)<br /> <br /> On the other hand, reflecting telescopes help astronomers gaze at Beige Gorgons (mentioned in [[2360: Common Star Types|comic 2360: Common Star Types]]).<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[A one panel comic showing two different telescope designs next to each other with labels above them and a bullet list of points below them. The left drawing will be described first then the right.]<br /> <br /> :[Left:]<br /> :&lt;big&gt;Refractor&lt;/big&gt;<br /> <br /> :[A slim telescope design is shown. At the top the light enters shown in a light yellow shade between two thin parallel light gray lines that just fits inside the opening of the telescope which is slightly wider at the top than at the lens sitting a short way into the opening. The lens causes the light to focus just where the telescope again changes dimensions, and the light enters a small opening at the bottom of the long pipe of the telescope. Here the yellow light is a point as the two gray lines cross each other at that point. The light then broadens slightly again and the thin yellow light cone hits a mirror at the bottom of the telescope and is reflected to the left and out through the eyepiece. Below are the following points:]<br /> :*More expensive<br /> :*Less compact<br /> :*Chromatic aberration<br /> :*Reduced light-gathering<br /> <br /> :[Right:]<br /> :&lt;big&gt;Reflector&lt;/big&gt;<br /> <br /> :[A much broader (more than 150% of the first) but also much shorter (66%) telescope design is shown. At the top the light enters shown in a light yellow shade between two thin parallel light gray lines that still just fits inside the opening of the telescope. On it's way down to the bottom of the telescope the light passes by a small mirror turned down towards the bottom. When the hits the curved bottom mirror light is focus on it's way back back and a small light cone hits the small mirror mentioned before sitting almost at the top of the telescope. This mirror reflects the light to the left into an even thinner light cone that goes out through the eyepiece located near the top of the telescope. Below is the following point:]<br /> :*Can't see space vampires<br /> <br /> ==Trivia==<br /> In an '''[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/b/b2/20170127171253%21telescopes_refractor_vs_reflector.png earlier version]''' of this comic, the eyepiece of the refracting telescope included a mirror, often used with refractors to give an upright image and more comfortable access for the observer. This would of course invalidate the only advantage it has (vampire-visibility) over reflecting telescopes.<br /> <br /> [[Randall]] later corrected this so the '''[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/b/b2/telescopes_refractor_vs_reflector.png current/final version]''' shows the light going straight out of the end.<br /> <br /> An {{w|amici roof prism}} is sometimes used instead of a mirror with refractors, because it does not only deliver an upright image, but also one that is not a mirror image. In a prism, there is only total reflection, which, as opposed to a metal mirror, would probably work on vampires.<br /> <br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> <br /> [[Category:Comics with color]]<br /> [[Category:Telescopes]]<br /> [[Category:Rankings]]<br /> [[Category:Religion]]<br /> [[Category:Disney]]<br /> [[Category:Movies]]</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1683:_Digital_Data&diff=401979 2025-12-17T23:20:00Z

<p>78.144.255.82: </p> <hr /> <div>&lt;!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~--&gt;<br /> Ewww, Verizon? **** them [[User:International Space Station|International Space Station]] ([[User talk:International Space Station|talk]]) 04:58, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br /> ::Don't forget the whole &quot;Verizon Math&quot; incident and Randall's much passed around check image. I'd be surprised if it isn't on 9GAG somewhere.... [[User:Psu256|Psu256]] ([[User talk:Psu256|talk]]) 17:12, 23 May 2016 (UTC) <br /> :: https://xkcd.com/verizon/ [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.16|198.41.238.16]] 02:30, 15 July 2017 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Ironically, the title text on explainxkcd is different from the one on xkcd.com, demonstrating the reinterpretation of text encoded in UTF-8 as if it were encoded in ISO 8859-1. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.85.231|162.158.85.231]] 05:45, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> -Exactly; this nicely proves Randall's point. On my computer, different characters appear in different browsers, but of course in one browser the characters are reproducible.--[[User:Jkrstrt|Jkrstrt]] ([[User talk:Jkrstrt|talk]]) 07:26, 20 May 2016 (UTC) <br /> <br /> Here is the decoded title text:<br /> “If you can read this, congratulations–the archive youʼre you're using still knows about the mouseover text”!<br /> [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.16|108.162.229.16]] 07:51, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :Grungy details:<br /> :*“ -&gt; ''convert to hex'' -&gt; E2-80-9C -&gt; ''UTF8 decode'' -&gt; 0010-000000-011100 -&gt; [http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/201C/index.htm U-201C &quot;LEFT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK&quot;]<br /> :*— -&gt; ''convert to hex'' -&gt; E2-80-94 -&gt; ''UTF8 decode'' -&gt; 0010-000000-010100 -&gt; [http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/2014/index.htm U-2014 &quot;EM DASH&quot;]<br /> :*’ -&gt; ''convert to hex'' -&gt; E2-80-99 -&gt; ''UTF8 decode'' -&gt; 0010-000000-011001 -&gt; [http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/2019/index.htm U-2019 &quot;RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK&quot;]<br /> :*”! -&gt; ''convert to hex'' -&gt; E2-80-9D -&gt; ''UTF8 decode'' -&gt; 0010-000000-011101 -&gt; [http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/201d/index.htm U-201D &quot;RIGHT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK&quot;]<br /> :[[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 17:31, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::The ''convert to hex'' step is really ''encode with Windows-1252''. Also, in the last sequence, the &quot;!&quot; is not part of the encoded quotation mark. The third byte of the quotation mark comes from an unprintable U-009D between the &quot;â€&quot; and the &quot;!&quot;. U-009D isn't a valid Windows-1252 character, so either the encoding is actually a superset of Windows-1252 that includes U-009D, or the encoding process just allowed it.<br /> :: [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.103|162.158.255.103]] 17:26, 21 May 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> He's written you're twice, but one is with a curly apostrophe, often favoured by americans (and maybe brits?), possible because of their keyboard. The simple apostrophe is “just” html-formatted, whereas the curly one has been molested by a UTF-8 / ISO-8859-1 misreading.<br /> --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.16|108.162.229.16]] 07:51, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br /> : I'm British, and I don't have the curly apostrophe anywhere on my keyboard. [[User:Enchantedsleeper|Enchantedsleeper]] ([[User talk:Enchantedsleeper|talk]]) 11:01, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> : I'm American, and I also don't have the curly apostrophe anywhere on my keyboard, but word processing programs (like MS-Word) are configured by default to automatically replace an ASCII apostrophe in a conjunction with the fancy right-single-quote mark. Also when using quotation marks around text those programs automatically replace the repeated single ASCII quotation marks with the fancy left and right quotation marks (single if using single quotes, double if using double quotes). Most people don't care enough to disable that &quot;feature&quot;... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.252.143|162.158.252.143]] 15:13, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :: Ok. I've never experienced that from any text processor (incl. MS Word), so maybe it's dependant on the system locale or another mysterious factor. I've just noticed a prevalence in english language texts online, but an absence in other european languages. Not even french, which has as many or more contractions. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.16|108.162.229.16]] 08:11 21 May 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> This is a phenomenon that has always both fascinated me and frustrated me. I find it fascinating how, even today, data degrades as more and more people copy it (remember the old days when people used to copy VHS tapes, and the further you were from the original tape the more copying artefacts your copy had in it?). It also frustrates me, though, when I'm trying to find an original, undegraded image or video and it seems impossible to find. It's also annoying because it's actually pretty easy to copy something without causing any quality loss, yet practically every copied image on the internet has been degraded in some way or another. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.130|141.101.98.130]] 07:08, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :If you haven't yet, you should check out this guy who ripped and reuploaded his own Youtube video 1000 times: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEIzS_27Vt0 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.222.150|162.158.222.150]] 08:28, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::...and after 100 iterations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6GMvihskBQ ...and the summary of all of them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icruGcSsPp0 [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 16:50, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :It can be frustrating to try to convince new people drawing schematics on the computer to not use 4-way junctions because they don't expect digital images to degrade over multiple generations of copying. This xkcd demonstrates the way multiple generations can degrade even digital images, potentially making it difficult to differentiate two crossing (but electrically separate) signal lines from a 4-way junction on a schematic. Sorry, I'll get off my soap box now. ;-) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.252.143|162.158.252.143]] 15:13, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> It's also funny because just a few moments ago I was trying to compress some video to send to someone. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.130|141.101.98.130]] 07:12, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> http://fotoforensics.com/analysis.php?id=274fcf46426f2da31b057f1652ae5269cfdbd70a.190103 this page highlights the encoding blocks so that the degration of quality can be seen better. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.91.205|141.101.91.205]] 09:42, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :Nice example. Their picture is already a bad copy. While it's still a PNG, it's already reduced in size (600x228 instead of 720x282, 131381 byte instead of 190103). Btw. the file used in this wiki is also slightly different from what I see on xkcd. It's just 3 minutes older and 308 bytes larger. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.83.48|162.158.83.48]] 01:28, 23 May 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> The phenomenon that Randall is making fun of in this comic is actually called a &quot;shitpic&quot; http://www.theawl.com/2014/12/the-triumphant-rise-of-the-shitpic The explanation should probably make reference to that. [[User:Enchantedsleeper|Enchantedsleeper]] ([[User talk:Enchantedsleeper|talk]]) 10:57, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I think the watermarks on the last frame are from an unregistered screenshot tool, not &quot;9gag&quot; or similar. The references to shit pics are interesting, but aren't you over interpreting the whole thing? {{unsigned ip|162.158.83.174}}<br /> : ...You realise that over-interpreting is what this wiki is ''for'', right? Also, not really, since all I said was that a &quot;shitpic&quot; is what this type of degraded image is called. [[User:Enchantedsleeper|Enchantedsleeper]] ([[User talk:Enchantedsleeper|talk]]) 15:03, 23 May 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> There's a 9gag thing in the image, clean your glasses and look again. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.46|173.245.54.46]] 12:15, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Both screenshots from iOS definitely. Safari browser and… anybody knows? Some kind of other web browser? Maybe Chrome or Opera? &lt;Need to finally create account&gt; [[Special:Contributions/162.158.202.152|162.158.202.152]] 15:32, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Apparently Russians have been getting this a lot, as they (up to the point of the existence of UNICODE) have had to deal a lot with people using bad codepages. Example of their post office dealing with a physical package addressed with a bad codepage: http://worldlanguages.wikia.com/wiki/Mojibake?file=Letter_to_Russia_with_krokozyabry.jpg [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 16:54, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Here is the progression as I see it:<br /> *Frame 1 - The original PNG<br /> *Frame 2 - The PNG converted to a JPEG<br /> *Frame 3 - The JPEG as viewed on a mobile browser (Safari on iOS in this case)<br /> *Frame 4 - A screen-shot of the mobile browser uploaded to Tumblr and then stolen by 9GAG<br /> [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.62|173.245.52.62]] 19:37, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Note that while the term &quot;digital&quot; is new, first digital format of information appeared long ago, with the development of standard alphabet. Images hand-drawn on paper can't be copied without loss, but if you write letters in fixed alphabet, it can be copied without errors forever (not counting errors caused by some letters getting out of use through history). Egyptian literature is probably lost due to us not knowing the (very big) full set of hieroglyphs, but [https://el.wikisource.org/wiki/%CE%9F%CE%B4%CF%8D%CF%83%CF%83%CE%B5%CE%B9%CE%B1/%CE%B1 Odyssey] could (and hopefully even was) be stored exactly how it was written. Wouldn't help read it, of course, language changed since then and it would need to be translated which, again, can lose some meaning ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 16:16, 21 May 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> There's a much much older example. RNA and subsequently DNA are digital representations of the protein structures (also digital representations of 3-D molecular shapes). Degradation through copying is 1 source of variation which evolution selects over.[[User:MerlinMM|MerlinMM]] ([[User talk:MerlinMM|talk]]) 11:28, 23 May 2016 (UTC)<br /> :Right. Humans were using digital data for their own reproduction long before they knew what &quot;digital&quot;, &quot;data&quot; or even just &quot;letter&quot; is. DNA even uses primitive error correction techniques. Although when humans finally found out about RNA being digital, they already had other digital formats. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 00:21, 15 July 2017 (UTC)<br /> ::There's nothing primitive at all about DNA error correction techniques, just some people's understanding of them. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.16|198.41.238.16]] 02:35, 15 July 2017 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Is it possible that the watermark in the bottom left of the last panel is supposed to read &quot;drama.tumblr.com&quot;?<br /> --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.67|173.245.52.67]] 20:42, 23 May 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> <br /> The alt text has been fixed, the second &quot;You're&quot; has been removed. {{unsigned ip|141.101.104.80}}<br /> <br /> The phenomenon is related to {{w|Generation loss}} --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 14:50, 27 May 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Btw, does anybody know a digital archive that actually &quot;knows about the title-text&quot;? {{unsigned ip|162.158.17.66}}<br /> <br /> ;Source image updating?<br /> <br /> If you look at the comic on the website, the first couple of frames are much more &quot;decayed&quot; than they are on the wiki copy. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.16|198.41.238.16]] 01:47, 19 December 2016 (UTC)<br /> : The source image has definitely been changed. [http:////imgs.xkcd.com/comics/digital_data.png Here's] the original image, and [http:////imgs.xkcd.com/comics/digital_data_2x.png here's] the new one. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.59.190|162.158.59.190]] 01:13, 23 December 2016 (UTC)<br /> :: Ok, this is weird - earlier today (2018-12-21), I was seeing the low-res version. But this evening, I'm seeing the high-res version. In between, I had linked it from reddit, maybe it switches based on popularity? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.95|172.68.132.95]] 07:23, 22 December 2018 (UTC)<br /> :::I don't think so? I just saw the original comic after it was linked from reddit, still the degraded version. It was actually how I found about the degrading image. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 11:58, 13 March 2019 (UTC)<br /> ::::Getting worser [[Special:Contributions/172.69.69.196|172.69.69.196]] 04:49, 13 April 2019 (UTC)<br /> ::::As briefly described in the explanation, the high-DPI version of the comic is actually worse than the low-DPI version. Since comic [[1084]], xkcd offers higher-quality images if you're viewing it on a high-DPI screen - a tablet, a smartphone, or a high resolution PC or laptop. In a normal comic, the high-DPI image (twice the width and twice the height in pixels) would be sharper and nicer to look at on such a screen. In this comic, however, randall has deliberately made it ''worse'' than the low-DPI image. --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 12:08, 25 December 2020 (UTC)<br /> :::::It's definitely gone downhill since the copy on here was last updated. Go look at the &quot;original&quot; now, it's changed in the last few years. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.210.58|172.68.210.58]] 06:54, 8 September 2023 (UTC)<br /> ::::::Ha! I thought I was going crazy when I saw it on the website today and it was different, even though I'd always viewed it on the same PC. {{unsigned ip|104.32.72.95|22:41, 17 December 2025}}<br /> <br /> Ironically, the special characters across xkcd.com appear to be messed up in a the same way the title text of this comic references--including the title text of this comic itself. It now reads, &quot;“If you can read this, congratulations—the archive you’re using still knows about the mouseover text”!&quot;<br /> [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.124|162.158.63.124]] 01:25, 12 October 2019 (UTC)<br /> : That happens if the page defaults to &quot;Western&quot; encoding. Switch it to UTF-8 and it changes back to the original 'failure'. --[[User:Aaron of Mpls|Aaron of Mpls]] ([[User talk:Aaron of Mpls|talk]]) 05:45, 11 February 2020 (UTC)<br /> <br /> It is 2019. Disney+ has launched. It cropped 19 seasons of Simpsons from 4:3 to 16:9, by just getting rid of the top and bottom of the images. It is the official streaming version of the series. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 10:36, 18 November 2019 (UTC)<br /> <br /> My laptop shows the 2x image instead of the normal image on this comic. Has it been replaced or does my laptop just use the 2x images for some reason?<br /> [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.19|162.158.79.19]] 23:26, 25 February 2021 (UTC)<br /> :As mentioned above, xkcd displays the high-res image to laptops for all cases. It just isn't obvious for most of them. [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 02:25, 30 January 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> It has always bothered me that XKCD explained uses the term &quot;Title Text&quot; to refer to something that is not the text of the HTML title. The Title is in the head of the document and is delimited with &lt;title&gt; and &lt;/title&gt;. The mouseover text does use &quot;title=&quot; as part of the syntax, but it is still the mouseover text. Maybe now that we have an example of Randall getting it right, XKCD explaied can start using the correct term. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.207.56|172.70.207.56]] 15:51, 27 October 2024 (UTC)<br /> :It arises from the image's actual tag, as in: &lt;code&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;//imgs.xkcd.com/comics/WHATEVER.png&quot; &lt;/nowiki&gt;'''title=&quot;THE 'MOUSEOVER' TEXT HERE&quot;'''&lt;nowiki&gt; alt=&quot;ALT TEXT&quot; srcset=&quot;//imgs.xkcd.com/comics/WHATEVER_2x.png 2x&quot; style=&quot;image-orientation:none&quot; /&gt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;/code&gt;<br /> :No, it has nothing to do with the page &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;title&gt;-tag&lt;/nowiki&gt;, but it is the &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;img&gt;-tag's&lt;/nowiki&gt; title ''attribute''. (And, as you can see, it isn't the 'alt-text', either, which tends to reflect the actual page-title and (without underscores/etc) the &quot;WHATEVER&quot; of the image name. At least currently. See also how the [[Title text]] page describes it. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.164|172.69.79.164]] 18:35, 27 October 2024 (UTC)</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2337:_Asterisk_Corrections&diff=401976 2025-12-17T22:07:16Z

<p>78.144.255.82: </p> <hr /> <div>&lt;!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--&gt;<br /> <br /> I think the only spot of the title text quote into which &quot;witchcraft&quot; makes a decent sentence is to replace &quot;next&quot;: &quot;I'd love to meet up, maybe in a few days? Witchcraft week is looking pretty empty&quot; [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.161|173.245.54.161]] 01:02, 25 July 2020 (UTC) Me<br /> :I'd go with replacing &quot;meet up&quot;. &quot;I'd love to witchcraft, maybe in a few days? Next week is looking pretty empty.&quot; [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 01:14, 25 July 2020 (UTC)<br /> :: &quot;I'd love to meet up, witchcraft in a few days? Next week is looking pretty empty.&quot; would be the third interpretation [[User:Multiverse42|Multiverse42]] ([[User talk:Multiverse42|talk]]) 01:39, 25 July 2020 (UTC)<br /> ::Or it could be &quot;I'd love to meet up, maybe witchcraft a few days?&quot; Munroe really loves to mess with people. [[User:A|A]] ([[User talk:A|talk]]) 01:43, 25 July 2020 (UTC)<br /> ::If it can take out a whole sentence, &quot;I'd love to meet up in a few days. [Magic &amp; calendar shredding sounds, first sentence replaced with witchcraft] Next week is looking pretty empty.&quot; would be a pretty satisfying way I would do it IRL. My plan canceling capabilities are absolute witchcraft [[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.82|172.69.71.82]] 08:53, 25 July 2020 (UTC)<br /> : Alternatively, witchcraft replaces maybe: &quot;I'd love to meet up, [how about we practice] witchcraft in a few days?&quot; [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.66|162.158.75.66]] 02:06, 25 July 2020 (UTC)<br /> <br /> A splat? I didn't know that. IME it's just the messed up word resurrected to, summon a beech, auto corrected to the same wrong word. BTW the asterisk on an obsolete keyboard looked like a squished spider, thus 'splat.' {{unsigned ip|162.158.75.72|01:56, 25 July 2020}}<br /> <br /> Asterisks can replace multiple words, right? Something like &quot;I'd like to meet up, maybe witchcraft? Next week is looking pretty empty&quot; could work, yeah? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.135|108.162.246.135]] 04:36, 25 July 2020 (UTC)<br /> :&quot;I'd like witchcraft? Next week is looking pretty empty.&quot; [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.18|162.158.159.18]] 12:35, 25 July 2020 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I have to admit, before reading the title text I was expecting him to either have a sentence with a single replacement which could go in several locations (maybe both a noun and a verb), or a followup text implying that the obvious place to put those corrections wasn't the intended one. This time I feel a little disappointed; a sentence which feels natural with the replacement in several places would have been much more satisfying than one where it's a stretch to find any suitable place. [[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 10:14, 26 July 2020 (UTC)<br /> <br /> does it necessarily have to replace a word? i find &quot;I'd love to meet up, maybe witchcraft in a few days? Next week is looking pretty empty.&quot; to make more sense. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.80|172.68.174.80]] 11:30, 26 July 2020 (UTC)<br /> <br /> <br /> I'd go with replacing &quot;meet&quot;. &quot;I'd love to witchcraft up, maybe in a few days? Next week is looking pretty empty.&quot; --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.54|172.69.34.54]] 21:22, 26 July 2020 (UTC)<br /> <br /> How about including the text before the quote (this is surely cheated a bit, but it's witchcraft so..): I like witchcraft to make it as hard as possible. &quot;I'd love to meet up, maybe in a few days? Next week is looking pretty empty&quot;<br /> Maybe someone can even figure out a version, where interpreting the quote after &quot;witchraft&quot;, i.e. &quot;witchcraft&quot;&quot;, as part of the correction, could make sense. My knowledge of weird english sentence types is limited, since english is not my mother tongue. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.146|162.158.92.146]] 22:20, 26 July 2020 (UTC) WhoCaresAboutMyNameh<br /> <br /> I have NEVER seen splat used this way before. Is it really a thing? I have always used regex (s/wrong/correct). [[User:Vampire|Vampire]] ([[User talk:Vampire|talk]]) 03:28, 27 July 2020 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I usually put the asterisk after the word, rather than before. For example:<br /> <br /> There's smoke coming out of my cat, is that bad?<br /> <br /> car*<br /> <br /> Is that wrong? --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 07:27, 27 July 2020 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :It seems to be centred in the more modern messaging environments. Geeks from a time before Twitter (heck, before the Web!) might have used s///-notation because it was (to them, i.e. people like me) clear, unambiguous and directly parsable by many who were using (say) Usenet. Even if they weren't coders themselves, they may have picked it up. And it was probably that little less 'snappy' and high volume. I mean, early days-of-Web wasn't exactly a competitor on those fronts, and old conventions and priorities still applied in spades, whether 'chat', IRC, a telnet/dial-up BBS or whatever.<br /> :Then came the rapid demographic changes of The Eternal September, and social-messaging revolutions zooming through Web 2.0 and (what I call, but I don't think is 'official') Web 3.0 which basically dumped the masses into the scene of the day and had more time to think up their new way of working than adopting or adapting holdovers from the now minority/archaic lines of communication (I still use [''#''] for feetnete, a lot; luckily it seems understandable enough, still).<br /> :For what it's worth, I understand the asterisk to be footnote-like. You can't actually edit in the referer at the typo/thinko (if you could, you would just correct it!) but there's an implicit one there after the eroor* you make. Which is supposed to be obvious at the time or, at least, when subsequently your attention is called to it.<br /> :So the follow-up opportunity notes a back-referenced correction of the *error, simply and sharply. If maybe not as unambiguously as you might imagine, but that's how it rolls in today's world, daddy-o! You grok my jive, good buddy? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.96|141.101.98.96]] 08:24, 27 July 2020 (UTC)<br /> :Linguists use an asterisk before something made up or erroneous that's being used as an example so, as a Linguistics graduate, I always saw the &quot;*what I really meant&quot; construction as a sort of progression on from this...but it occurs actually that a) really that's the opposite of how linguists use it and b) most people don't know that linguists do that anyway. So it shouldn't have made any sense to me. But it did.<br /> :So it seems that inasmuch as I immediately grasped what it signified despite all that, somehow it must be fundamentally embedded with very powerful levels of meaning! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.131|162.158.154.131]] 13:15, 27 July 2020 (UTC)<br /> ::Sometimes, cunning linguists can blow your mind! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.66|162.158.159.66]] 14:04, 27 July 2020 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :Really, the sentence about riding a horse isn't required for the corrections to have meaning. I showed the corrections without the horse sentence to a group of people, and they still saw the joke. There is enough content in the corrections alone for a human to form a sentence.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.7.97|162.158.7.97]] 21:33, 27 July 2020 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :@WhoCaresAboutMyNameh I like trying to make witchcraft &quot;as hard as possible.&quot; I'd love to meet up, maybe in a few days? Next week is looking pretty empty. {{unsigned ip|172.69.34.232|01:00, 28 July 2020}}<br /> <br /> That's not even how asterisks work, you're supposed to put it at the END* of a word and then the footnote goes at the bottom.<br /> <br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;*&lt;/nowiki&gt;like this.<br /> <br /> Why don't people use carets anymore? {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.58|23:05, 29 July 2020}}<br /> :Because they aren't as easy to type on a mobile phone screen, and most people send their sms by phone not by keyboard. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.135.98|172.69.135.98]] 04:48, 5 August 2020 (UTC)<br /> :If you can go back in time and add the asterisk into your original text, the above comment is useful. If, like everyone else, you can't, it is not. {{unsigned ip|12.35.15.242|21:06, 17 December 2025}}<br /> <br /> As a programmer you put a * before a variable to make a pointer to the variable's location. I thought that was where the convention came from.<br /> <br /> For the sake of the receiver's imagination, I'm glad that the pizza correction didn't come first.[[User:Mumiemonstret|Mumiemonstret]] ([[User talk:Mumiemonstret|talk]]) 13:40, 12 August 2020 (UTC)<br /> <br /> maybe there's something to be said about the order of the corrections? &lt;br/&gt; &quot;i'm gonna ride a horse on the beach at dawn&quot; -&amp;gt; &quot;i'm gonna eat a horse on the beach at dawn&quot; -&amp;gt; &quot;i'm gonna eat a horse on the beach at 3AM&quot; -&amp;gt; &quot;i'm gonna eat a horse on the couch at 3AM&quot; -&amp;gt; &quot;i'm gonna eat a pizza on the couch at 3AM&quot; &lt;br/&gt; also, without the fourth correction, the third becomes slightly more plausible to misread: &quot;i'm gonna eat a couch on the beach at 3AM&quot; --[[User:Winter1760|Winter1760]] ([[User talk:Winter1760|talk]]) 04:53, 18 April 2025 (UTC)</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3181:_Jumping_Frog_Radius&diff=401975 2025-12-17T22:00:39Z

<p>78.144.255.82: </p> <hr /> <div>&lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&gt;<br /> first &lt;!--space added, the lack of it annoyed me more even than the fact that this was a contentless &quot;first&quot; of no value... ~anonIP~--&gt;[[User:Qwertyuiopfromdefly|Qwertyuiopfromdefly]] ([[User talk:Qwertyuiopfromdefly|talk]]) 05:17, 16 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Question: Would a correct interpretation be &quot;if a champion jumping frog were to be located just under 1.5 light-days from earth, and if there we're no other gravitational bodies nearby, and if said frog then performed its mightiest jump directly away from earth, then the frog would eventually be overcome by Earth's gravitational field and would eventually land on Earth's surface&quot;? [[User:Pgn674|Pgn674]] ([[User talk:Pgn674|talk]]) 06:26, 16 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :I guess that is exactly how it should be interpreted. Or more interesting if it was just outside this radius and somehow could gain exactly 4,5 m/s extra speed then it would escape Earth (if there was anything to push of against that was heavy enough to move basically only the frog forward, then that would change the mass behind the frog so... That was why I wrote gain exactly rather than jump). --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:36, 16 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> : or its mightiest jump in any direction (that doesn't cause it to crash through the Earth) since the escape speed is the same in all directions (relevant xkcd:https://what-if.xkcd.com/68/ ) --[[Special:Contributions/178.197.223.163|178.197.223.163]] 09:21, 16 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> The only two variables are rjf and M, so plotting a 2 axis graph plotting the relationship between M and rjf should be possible. [[User:Zabadoh|Zabadoh]] ([[User talk:Zabadoh|talk]]) 08:20, 16 December 2025 (UTC) &lt;sup&gt;[''You sign '''after''' your contribution'']&lt;/sup&gt;<br /> <br /> As frogs usually collect on the surface of worlds {{cn}}, the *surface* escape velocity is most important. The crossover point for a planet with earth-like density (5515 kg/m³) is 2.6km, above that, the rjf falls below the surface, and the planet can accumulate frogs. Smaller bodies are, however, usually less dense; an interesting borderline candidate is Chicxulub, which had an rjf of 3-4km, and a radius of 5-6km so could have just about held onto its frogs, for a while at least. [[User:JeffUK|JeffUK]] ([[User talk:JeffUK|talk]]) 10:04, 16 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> It would be interesting to look at the R&lt;sub&gt;jf&lt;/sub&gt; values ''of a frog'', to consider where new limits are put upon the frog for M-masses that aren't totally dominating the scenario of &quot;frog leaves mass&quot;... [[Special:Contributions/82.132.237.93|82.132.237.93]] 11:03, 16 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I interpreted it as a reference to the Mark Twain short story The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. [[User:Gustaveeiffel314|Gustaveeiffel314]] ([[User talk: Gustaveeiffel314|talk]]) 12:25, 16 December<br /> <br /> I also suspected an allusion to Twain's short story, but then I read it at archive.org/details/celebratedjumpin00twai and found no parallels. The earth's radius wasn't the problem, it was 5 pounds of quail shot. That frog didn't land with a &quot;plop&quot; but &quot;as solid as a gob of mud.&quot; There is no mention of &quot;champion&quot; in the story. The 1865 population of Calaveras County (post Gold Rush) was down below 15,000. That is, the frog shown in #3181 probably came from somewhere else that really knows how to breed frogs with muscular legs, maybe France. Before I risk overthinking this, I'm going to conclude that #3181 is not a Twain reference. [[User:Bismuthfoot|Bismuthfoot]] ([[User talk:Bismuthfoot|talk]]) 14:37, 16 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> What's with all that text in the incomplete explanation warning box? It seems like it belongs in the discussion. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 15:05, 16 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Erm, the current text has a statement that rjf &lt; 4.5m/s for other planetary bodies. Seems like it is mixing measurements, a radius would be a distance, not a velocity. It might be trying to say that other planetary bodies have an ESCAPE VELOCITY of more than 4.5 m/s, so jumping frogs on the surface of those planetary bodies couldn't get out of that planet's gravity well. ~~{{unsigned ip|57.140.32.36|15:53, 16 December 2025}}<br /> :Don't recognise your statement (until I check the current state of the main explanation), but a radius can be defined as a vector, as can a velocity. Pretty sure that's not what it says (or should be saying), but there is a possible interchangability if analysed in the 'right' way. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.237.93|82.132.237.93]] 17:00, 16 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :(ETA: Nope, can't see where &quot;the current text has a statement that rjf &lt; 4.5m/s for other planetary bodies&quot; - Unless I'm missing some obscure reference to it that you're not!) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.237.93|82.132.237.93]] 17:04, 16 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> It might be worth pointing out that frogs found on the surfaces of other planets in our solar system will have other reasons for not being able to jump to escape velocity (eg., they are no longer alive) [[Special:Contributions/2A09:BAC2:6188:123C:0:0:1D1:CF|2A09:BAC2:6188:123C:0:0:1D1:CF]] 01:20, 17 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :A frog does not have to be alive to jump, it could be a mechanical one. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 02:44, 17 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::A mechanical frog couldn't be a ''champion'' jumping frog though, because only biological frogs are allowed to compete. [[Special:Contributions/76.22.93.146|76.22.93.146]] 03:38, 17 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::So perhaps not a champion frog, but rather a frog built by a champion frog builder? (Runners-up for champion frog builder include both of the champion frog’s parents.) [[User:KelOfTheStars!|KelOfTheStars!]] ([[User talk:KelOfTheStars!|talk]]) 21:00, 17 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I disagree with the point about the flawed argument of frogs all being on earth. With a simple assumption that no aliens have transported a frog off world, basic taxonomy says that anything resembling a frog on another planet would infact not be a frog and would be a result of convergent evolution. I also think that aliens moving stuff around is not a common inclusion in physics formulas. So perhaps still falwed but not as strongly flawed as implied in the main text. [[Special:Contributions/2001:14BA:A086:FF00:39D0:B88:A6EF:5F9C|2001:14BA:A086:FF00:39D0:B88:A6EF:5F9C]] 08:28, 17 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : That doesn't negate the point that ''if'' a frog was loose in space, it could be trapped in the gravity well of another planet and end up there rather than Earth. The 'theory', in the way it is expressed, contains the hidden implication that frogs ''start off'' floating around freely - not on any planet. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 09:34, 17 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::There's always the theory of Pan''frogspawn''ia... ;) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.238.175|82.132.238.175]] 11:59, 17 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Hmm.. How about frogs taken to the ISS for experimental purposes? Surely there's one or two if those? [[Special:Contributions/2A00:23C8:253C:101:5BC5:789F:56FB:A042|2A00:23C8:253C:101:5BC5:789F:56FB:A042]] 08:42, 17 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :From a general relativity point of view the ISS is not really different from the surface of Earth. In fact if you factor in the Jumping Frog Radius you can redefine the surface of Earth as englobing the orbit of the ISS, as, basically, the &quot;surface of the Earth&quot; is just some stuff jumbled together by gravity, so this technically applies to the ISS as well. [[Special:Contributions/78.241.48.142|78.241.48.142]] 11:06, 17 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :The ISS isn't in a constant frame of reference to the Earth's surface. If you want to redefine the surface of the Earth as being the &quot;spherical ISS-like sphere&quot; then that's a different body (loosely akin to the differences between analysing static and rotating black holes, for schwarzschild radius purposes). <br /> :In fact, you have to do most of the work to ''get to'' ISS's orbit (far more than 'merely' getting to its altitude), 9.4km/s (ish). You only need about ~1.7km/s more to escape Earth entirely.<br /> :Not quite within Champion Frog reach, of course. Or not a ''single'' CJF, but by using a lot of them, and by careful configuration of a stack of those frogs using the &lt;s&gt;Rocket&lt;/s&gt;Frog Equation, you could probably get at least one small frog to entirely leave Earth's gravitational influence. As you might from Earth, but you'd need a ''lot'' more frogs. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.238.175|82.132.238.175]] 11:59, 17 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::You also all forget that without boosts using fuel the ISS will end up back on the surface of the Earth with the frogs (burning up in the process but the relics would be on Earth again). And it is not said that any frogs could not be outside of Earth but they would be within the rjf radius, and thus be on their way back to this surface, as is the ISS. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:59, 17 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::And if someone's using a 'frog stack', from the ISS, then the initial lower-stack-hop (and the quick return of the stage-1 frog(s) once the stage-2 one(s) hop, and so on, at least until they start drifting past it instead) will probably initiate an even sooner deorbit of the ISS. [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 22:00, 17 December 2025 (UTC)</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3181:_Jumping_Frog_Radius&diff=401937 2025-12-16T21:58:39Z

<p>78.144.255.82: /* Explanation */</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 3181<br /> | date = December 15, 2025<br /> | title = Jumping Frog Radius<br /> | image = jumping_frog_radius_2x.png<br /> | imagesize = 339x243px<br /> | noexpand = true<br /> | titletext = Earth's r_jf is approximately 1.5 light-days, leading to general relativity's successful prediction that all the frogs in the Solar System should be found collected on the surface of the Earth.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|This page was created by an A frog stuck on mars. I have added a bit about the drawing. It is important I think that the planet with the frog has exactly the r&lt;sub&gt;jf&lt;/sub&gt; radius. This means the frog cannot escape but just barely. Is there a physics relation behind the fact that the jumps height seems to be very close to the radius of the planet, i.e. r&lt;sub&gt;jf&lt;/sub&gt;? Also Can someone calculate the size and mass of the largest object from which a champion frog can achieve escape velocity? Are there some named asteroids that are of sow low a mass that it would be possible for frog to jump of? (Of course there are some small enough... but do any of them have real names, like the one named after Randall)? Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br /> The {{w|Schwarzschild radius}} is essentially the size of a {{w|black hole}} -- the maximum distance from the center where gravity is so strong that light can't escape. <br /> <br /> It is part of a solution to {{w|Einstein's field equations}}. It is usually calculated as<br /> :''r''&lt;sub&gt;s&lt;/sub&gt; = (2*''G*M'') / ''c''&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;<br /> where ''G'' is the {{w|gravitational constant}}, ''M'' is the mass of the object, and ''c'' is the {{w|speed of light}}. <br /> <br /> If ''M'' were the mass of the {{w|Earth}}, it would give the Schwarzschild radius for the Earth, which is about 9 mm. (If all of Earth's mass were compressed into a sphere of a bit less than 2 cm in diameter, it would become a black hole.)<br /> <br /> The comic suggests a more useful radius: the ''Jumping Frog radius'' ''r''&lt;sub&gt;jf&lt;/sub&gt;, which is the size of a &quot;planet&quot; such that its gravity keeps a champion {{w|Frog jumping contest|jumping frog}} from being able to achieve {{w|escape velocity}}. Thus [[Randall]] has instead of ''c'', the 299,792,458 m/s speed of light, used a much smaller value of 4.5 m/s, to represent the maximum speed of a jumping frog. It is possible that Randall got that value from [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5661154_Explosive_Jumping_Extreme_Morphological_and_Physiological_Specializations_of_Australian_Rocket_Frogs_Litoria_nasuta this paper], which on page 179 puts an upper limit on the maximum velocity of adult Australian {{w|striped rocket frog}}s at 4.52 m/s. (The frog is shown making a &quot;ribbit&quot; sound, which is made by {{w|Pacific tree frog}}s and their relatives in North America and not by rocket frogs, but it's [https://www.imdb.com/list/ls052470723/ widely attributed to frogs all over the world].)<br /> <br /> The drawing to the right of the formula shows a planet with exactly the radius ''r''&lt;sub&gt;jf&lt;/sub&gt;. Thus the frog can jump really high compared to the planet's size (in this case about as high as the planet's radius), before it unavoidably falls back down, since the small planet is just massive enough to prevent the frog escaping.<br /> <br /> The title text points out that the ''r''&lt;sub&gt;jf&lt;/sub&gt; of the Earth is about 1.5 light days, which is about 7 times the distance to {{w|Pluto}} (compare to the 9 mm Schwarzschild radius). Since Earth's radius is much smaller than this, no frogs will be able to escape, so all frogs that stray into Earth's gravitational well would collect here on Earth. As far as we know, all the frogs in the Solar System are on Earth{{Citation needed}}, so the data apparently matches the theory. However, the reasoning is incorrect, as many other astronomical bodies in our solar system also have ''r''&lt;sub&gt;jf&lt;/sub&gt; greater than their physical radius. If a frog were to be on any of those other bodies, it wouldn't be able to jump away to fall to Earth. A flawed argument neither supports nor refutes the conclusion, although it is true as far as we know that all frogs in the solar system do live on Earth.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[The panel shows a large formula to the left and a small drawing to the right. The formula's right side is drawn above and below the division line:]<br /> :''r''&lt;sub&gt;jf&lt;/sub&gt; = 2''GM'' / (4.5&lt;sup&gt; m&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;small&gt;/&lt;/small&gt;&lt;sub&gt;s&lt;/sub&gt;)&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;<br /> <br /> :[The drawing to the left shows a very small planet with the radius indicated with a labeled dotted arrow pointing from the center straight up to the edge of the planet. A frog is shown jumping on the surface. This is indicated with a parabolic dotted line going from a frog sitting on the surface near the top of the planet, up to the frog shown soaring through the air with its limbs stretched out about as high above the surface as the planet's radius. At this point the frog is making a sound. Then the dotted line goes down to about a quarter of the way around the planet where the frog lands making a noise, with lines around the frog representing the impact.]<br /> :Arrow label: ''r''&lt;sub&gt;jf&lt;/sub&gt; <br /> :Frog: Ribbit<br /> :Landing: Plop<br /> <br /> :[Caption below the panel:]<br /> :More practically useful than the Schwarzschild radius, the '''''Jumping Frog Radius''''' is the radius at which an object's gravitational pull is so strong that even a champion jumping frog can't escape.<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}&lt;noinclude&gt;<br /> [[Category:Physics]]<br /> [[Category:Astronomy]]<br /> [[Category:Animals]]</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3180:_Apples&diff=401930 2025-12-16T19:24:06Z

<p>78.144.255.82: doh!</p> <hr /> <div>&lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&gt;<br /> <br /> As heretical as it is, I almost want to keep the explanation just like this [[User:KelOfTheStars!|KelOfTheStars!]] ([[User talk:KelOfTheStars!|talk]]) 00:09, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :I wasnt going to ruin it, when I saw it like that. But now it's been expanded, I've added in my own thoughts on the subject. Namely elemental number-theory, i.e. the possibility of counting any item just like you count any other item, plus what's going on with the title text, including a slightly kludgy call-back to the fact that (''to have a budget'', that must have people succesfully counting expenditures and purchased values) the Exp. Maths Dept. has clearly trained people in the use of numbers enough for them to now be awkwardly snapping at the heels of the EMD querying the justifiability of at least one of their ongoing studies. (Not sure how long my thoughts will actually last, though, in the light of further editing. But I hope at least some of what I'm getting at will be successfully distilled into any more succinct version.) [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 01:05, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::I guess [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3180:_Apples&amp;oldid=401411 this was the explanation] at the time of this comment!? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:43, 14 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::Oh, that's a good one :) [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:53, 16 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Twelve apples! &amp;lt;*thunder rolls*&amp;gt; Ha! Ha! Ha! [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 04:36, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Oh the irony! How did they count the twelve apples? 0,succ(0),succ(succ(0))..., I bet. This is already heavy math. (For example, what guarantees you that succ(0) exists and has exactly one value 1 and is the successor only of 0? Peano envy.) [[Special:Contributions/2A02:2455:1960:4000:FD7E:5F02:5364:961|2A02:2455:1960:4000:FD7E:5F02:5364:961]] 08:52, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Thank you for starting your counting at 0. I have espoused that zero IS a counting number, as you can't get to 1, unless you first arrive at 0. &quot;Sherman, count how many unicorns there are in this field.&quot; &quot;Um, there are zero, Mr. Peabody.&quot; [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 15:11, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::How'd you &quot;get to&quot; zero? You have to start somewhere and it is arbitrary. You could start at 17, define succ^-1(x) and go back to 1 or 0. Clearly this is inconvenient but not wrong. If you need zero it may make sense to start at zero but if you need negatives it may not matter. If you are teaching you might want to deal with other concepts and not &quot;we start at zero because&quot;. There is no one true set of axioms &amp; definition. Usefulness of Non-Euclidian geometry does not make Euclidian geometry useless.[[User:Lordpishky|Lordpishky]] ([[User talk:Lordpishky|talk]]) 17:35, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> In fact if you really want to nitpick, while most people would accept that 7+5=12 it is demonstrably false that my seven apples plus your 5 apples are equal to a pool of 12 apples. In fact it is demonstrably false that I even have 7 apples. Because no 2 apples are identical they can't be combined together. We may be willing to disregard such gross inaccuracies for the sake of, you know, being able to continue to survive for a little while longer, though. [[Special:Contributions/176.138.186.7|176.138.186.7]] 11:10, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :When you say &quot;seven apples plus 5 apples is 12 apples&quot; you are saying when a set of apples that can be put in a 1-to-1 correspondence with the set of the 1st seven cardinal numbers is combined with a set of apples that can be put in a 1-to-1 correspondence with the set of the 1st five cardinal numbers you get a set that can be put in a 1-to-1 correspondence with the set of the 1st twelve cardinal numbers&quot;. Like Cantor's proof that the cardinality of the unit interval is the same as the unit square. There is such a natural correspondence between (finite) cardinal numbers and strictly positive integers that it can be hard to keep in mind that, in a fussy sense, they are not the same things. [[User:Lordpishky|Lordpishky]] ([[User talk:Lordpishky|talk]]) 05:50, 15 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :The physicists have already shown that all apples are perfect spheres of uniform density and cannot be split into smaller apples. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 15:11, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::Are the perfect spheres bosons or fermions?[[Special:Contributions/76.180.39.133|76.180.39.133]] 15:38, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::Not spinning? spin=0 =&gt; boson.[[User:Lordpishky|Lordpishky]] ([[User talk:Lordpishky|talk]]) 17:35, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> This comic makes me wonder if Randall is aware of us, and if he might someday try to make a comic so bizarre, we become unable to &quot;explain&quot; it at all. Would such a thing be possible? Something so absurd, we're forced to shrug and say &quot;I got nothing&quot;? It's possible I've been awake too long.[[Special:Contributions/69.5.140.194|69.5.140.194]] 18:32, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Cranberry sauce.[[User:Lordpishky|Lordpishky]] ([[User talk:Lordpishky|talk]]) 05:17, 15 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> i think there's a direct connection between this and {{w|Ultrafinitism}}!! [[Special:Contributions/129.64.0.34|129.64.0.34]] 04:56, 14 December 2025 (UTC)Bumpf<br /> <br /> &quot;Okay, with my hrair apples added to your hrair, we have ... let's see ... hrair apples!&quot;<br /> &quot;Incredible! Perfect agreement with the theory!&quot;<br /> It even works with multiple theories!<br /> --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 19:22, 14 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Holy overexplanation, Batman! [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 11:29, 15 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : And yet somehow still seeming to miss the heart of the joke, in that maths rests on proving ''generalizable'' rules, so that any ''specific'' instance of a rule doesn't have to be proven from first principles. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 14:17, 15 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> AI bros must not have a sense of humor because LLM's clearly don't get jokes. Seriously, can we please stop accepting these auto-gen explanations as anything close to being sufficient and work to replace them ASAP? This site functioned fine for years getting well crafted hand written explanations up within 24 hours, but today it seems that editors see the walls of text and just declare mission accomplished.[[User:Sturmovik|Sturmovik]] ([[User talk:Sturmovik|talk]]) 17:12, 15 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :what the... what makes you think you are smarter than everyone???--[[User:Trimutius|Trimutius]] ([[User talk:Trimutius|talk]]) 17:29, 15 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::I don't know about any other edits, most of which actually just looked like honest hand-crafted attempts to me but I must admit that sometimes I feel that maybe [[3126: Disclaimer]] needs applying to some of mine. (I know that my rushed &quot;rejig&quot;, aiming to shave things down again, ended up with some typos. Though you'd be excused for thinking they were AI 'double-bluff' remnants, I suppose.) [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 17:37, 15 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::Within the last year I have been noticing long explanations with a distinct writing style have been appearing after a fairly short period of time. They provide details about the elements of the comics, without a focus on explaining why the joke is funny. It's almost like someome is writing a description of the comic as a LLM prompt and the LLM is returning paragraphs of description of what those elements are. IE the explanation of a &quot;why did the chicken cross the road joke&quot; does not usually involve chickens or roads. In fact, the first paragraph of the original explanation, which I largely kept, reads like the thing that was fed into an LLM with &quot;explain this&quot; taked on in front. Occam's razor, someome is using auto gen to get explanations out quickly.[[User:Sturmovik|Sturmovik]] ([[User talk:Sturmovik|talk]]) 14:10, 16 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::I agree this explanation is way tooo long. I even added this to the incomplete reason, but that has been removed. I still think we at this moment would be better of with the original explanation mentioned in the top post 5+7=12! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:41, 16 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> And then there's the disappearing leprechaun [https://www.math.ucla.edu/~tao/resource/general/131ah.1.03w/leprechaun.htm][[User:Lordpishky|Lordpishky]] ([[User talk:Lordpishky|talk]]) 20:04, 15 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I think the experimental math department has been taking trains leaving Chicago at 9:00pm on Friday's to have weekend getaways using their experimental budget. {{unsigned|Gopher|17:10, 16 December 2025}}</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3180:_Apples&diff=401929 2025-12-16T19:17:08Z

<p>78.144.255.82: Friday's what? NVM, just signed it for you.</p> <hr /> <div>&lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&gt;<br /> <br /> As heretical as it is, I almost want to keep the explanation just like this [[User:KelOfTheStars!|KelOfTheStars!]] ([[User talk:KelOfTheStars!|talk]]) 00:09, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :I wasnt going to ruin it, when I saw it like that. But now it's been expanded, I've added in my own thoughts on the subject. Namely elemental number-theory, i.e. the possibility of counting any item just like you count any other item, plus what's going on with the title text, including a slightly kludgy call-back to the fact that (''to have a budget'', that must have people succesfully counting expenditures and purchased values) the Exp. Maths Dept. has clearly trained people in the use of numbers enough for them to now be awkwardly snapping at the heels of the EMD querying the justifiability of at least one of their ongoing studies. (Not sure how long my thoughts will actually last, though, in the light of further editing. But I hope at least some of what I'm getting at will be successfully distilled into any more succinct version.) [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 01:05, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::I guess [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3180:_Apples&amp;oldid=401411 this was the explanation] at the time of this comment!? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:43, 14 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::Oh, that's a good one :) [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:53, 16 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Twelve apples! &amp;lt;*thunder rolls*&amp;gt; Ha! Ha! Ha! [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 04:36, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Oh the irony! How did they count the twelve apples? 0,succ(0),succ(succ(0))..., I bet. This is already heavy math. (For example, what guarantees you that succ(0) exists and has exactly one value 1 and is the successor only of 0? Peano envy.) [[Special:Contributions/2A02:2455:1960:4000:FD7E:5F02:5364:961|2A02:2455:1960:4000:FD7E:5F02:5364:961]] 08:52, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Thank you for starting your counting at 0. I have espoused that zero IS a counting number, as you can't get to 1, unless you first arrive at 0. &quot;Sherman, count how many unicorns there are in this field.&quot; &quot;Um, there are zero, Mr. Peabody.&quot; [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 15:11, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::How'd you &quot;get to&quot; zero? You have to start somewhere and it is arbitrary. You could start at 17, define succ^-1(x) and go back to 1 or 0. Clearly this is inconvenient but not wrong. If you need zero it may make sense to start at zero but if you need negatives it may not matter. If you are teaching you might want to deal with other concepts and not &quot;we start at zero because&quot;. There is no one true set of axioms &amp; definition. Usefulness of Non-Euclidian geometry does not make Euclidian geometry useless.[[User:Lordpishky|Lordpishky]] ([[User talk:Lordpishky|talk]]) 17:35, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> In fact if you really want to nitpick, while most people would accept that 7+5=12 it is demonstrably false that my seven apples plus your 5 apples are equal to a pool of 12 apples. In fact it is demonstrably false that I even have 7 apples. Because no 2 apples are identical they can't be combined together. We may be willing to disregard such gross inaccuracies for the sake of, you know, being able to continue to survive for a little while longer, though. [[Special:Contributions/176.138.186.7|176.138.186.7]] 11:10, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :When you say &quot;seven apples plus 5 apples is 12 apples&quot; you are saying when a set of apples that can be put in a 1-to-1 correspondence with the set of the 1st seven cardinal numbers is combined with a set of apples that can be put in a 1-to-1 correspondence with the set of the 1st five cardinal numbers you get a set that can be put in a 1-to-1 correspondence with the set of the 1st twelve cardinal numbers&quot;. Like Cantor's proof that the cardinality of the unit interval is the same as the unit square. There is such a natural correspondence between (finite) cardinal numbers and strictly positive integers that it can be hard to keep in mind that, in a fussy sense, they are not the same things. [[User:Lordpishky|Lordpishky]] ([[User talk:Lordpishky|talk]]) 05:50, 15 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :The physicists have already shown that all apples are perfect spheres of uniform density and cannot be split into smaller apples. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 15:11, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::Are the perfect spheres bosons or fermions?[[Special:Contributions/76.180.39.133|76.180.39.133]] 15:38, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::Not spinning? spin=0 =&gt; boson.[[User:Lordpishky|Lordpishky]] ([[User talk:Lordpishky|talk]]) 17:35, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> This comic makes me wonder if Randall is aware of us, and if he might someday try to make a comic so bizarre, we become unable to &quot;explain&quot; it at all. Would such a thing be possible? Something so absurd, we're forced to shrug and say &quot;I got nothing&quot;? It's possible I've been awake too long.[[Special:Contributions/69.5.140.194|69.5.140.194]] 18:32, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Cranberry sauce.[[User:Lordpishky|Lordpishky]] ([[User talk:Lordpishky|talk]]) 05:17, 15 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> i think there's a direct connection between this and {{w|Ultrafinitism}}!! [[Special:Contributions/129.64.0.34|129.64.0.34]] 04:56, 14 December 2025 (UTC)Bumpf<br /> <br /> &quot;Okay, with my hrair apples added to your hrair, we have ... let's see ... hrair apples!&quot;<br /> &quot;Incredible! Perfect agreement with the theory!&quot;<br /> It even works with multiple theories!<br /> --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 19:22, 14 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Holy overexplanation, Batman! [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 11:29, 15 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : And yet somehow still seeming to miss the heart of the joke, in that maths rests on proving ''generalizable'' rules, so that any ''specific'' instance of a rule doesn't have to be proven from first principles. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 14:17, 15 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> AI bros must not have a sense of humor because LLM's clearly don't get jokes. Seriously, can we please stop accepting these auto-gen explanations as anything close to being sufficient and work to replace them ASAP? This site functioned fine for years getting well crafted hand written explanations up within 24 hours, but today it seems that editors see the walls of text and just declare mission accomplished.[[User:Sturmovik|Sturmovik]] ([[User talk:Sturmovik|talk]]) 17:12, 15 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :what the... what makes you think you are smarter than everyone???--[[User:Trimutius|Trimutius]] ([[User talk:Trimutius|talk]]) 17:29, 15 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::I don't know about any other edits, most of which actually just looked like honest hand-crafted attempts to me but I must admit that sometimes I feel that maybe [[3126: Disclaimer]] needs applying to some of mine. (I know that my rushed &quot;rejig&quot;, aiming to shave things down again, ended up with some typos. Though you'd be excused for thinking they were AI 'double-bluff' remnants, I suppose.) [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 17:37, 15 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::Within the last year I have been noticing long explanations with a distinct writing style have been appearing after a fairly short period of time. They provide details about the elements of the comics, without a focus on explaining why the joke is funny. It's almost like someome is writing a description of the comic as a LLM prompt and the LLM is returning paragraphs of description of what those elements are. IE the explanation of a &quot;why did the chicken cross the road joke&quot; does not usually involve chickens or roads. In fact, the first paragraph of the original explanation, which I largely kept, reads like the thing that was fed into an LLM with &quot;explain this&quot; taked on in front. Occam's razor, someome is using auto gen to get explanations out quickly.[[User:Sturmovik|Sturmovik]] ([[User talk:Sturmovik|talk]]) 14:10, 16 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::I agree this explanation is way tooo long. I even added this to the incomplete reason, but that has been removed. I still think we at this moment would be better of with the original explanation mentioned in the top post 5+7=12! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:41, 16 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> And then there's the disappearing leprechaun [https://www.math.ucla.edu/~tao/resource/general/131ah.1.03w/leprechaun.htm][[User:Lordpishky|Lordpishky]] ([[User talk:Lordpishky|talk]]) 20:04, 15 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I think the experimental math department has been taking trains leaving Chicago at 9:00pm on Friday's to have weekend getaways using their experimental budget. {unsigned|Gopher|17:10, 16 December 2025}}</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2607:_Geiger_Counter&diff=401805 2025-12-15T21:25:02Z

<p>78.144.255.82: </p> <hr /> <div>&lt;!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--&gt;<br /> Vanilla joke, but funny. [[User:Nafedalbi|Nafedalbi]] ([[User talk:Nafedalbi|talk]]) 18:41, 15 April 2022 (UTC)Nafedalbi<br /> :It's Randall's &quot;dad joke&quot;. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 19:23, 15 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> :Honestly, yeah. I impulsively went &quot;wow... Randall's really jumped the stick figure shark.&quot; --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.121|172.70.110.121]] 06:32, 16 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> ::Not me. After plumbing the depths of Unicode and trying to describe a Taylor series expansion from square one, this is a welcome relief. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.81|172.70.214.81]] 07:34, 16 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> : When does an ordinary joke become a dad joke? When it becomes apparent. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.121|172.70.130.121]] 10:31, 16 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> ::When does it become apparent? After the delivery. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.223|172.69.33.223]] 17:30, 16 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> :::When is the best time for delivery? After a pregnant pause. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.199|172.70.178.199]] 15:19, 17 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> ::Many dad jokes will not become apparent until they are full groan. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.189|172.70.210.189]] 15:03, 18 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Randall, come here. Yes, right there. Stand still. THWACK! THWACK THWACK THWACK THWACK THWACK! That is all, you may go now. 20:41, 15 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> The explanation makes clear the side of the pun regarding the Geiger counting clicking, but for non-native English speakers, the phrase &quot;it clicked&quot; meaning &quot;I understood&quot; may need clarification. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.213|162.158.166.213]] 21:17, 15 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Also possibly related to this news story https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/unprotected-russian-soldiers-disturbed-radioactive-dust-chernobyls-red-forest-2022-03-28/<br /> <br /> Calling the pun a parody of another joke is weird. Jokes aren’t parodied. Parodies aren’t made of general things people say. It can be a ''play on'' that other joke, but not a ''parody'' of it. It’s not ''making fun'' of the other joke. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.69|108.162.245.69]] 11:24, 16 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> :I somewhat agree with you. It's a 'type of' pun related to the Tom Swifty, which I edited in just now. I didn't actually remove the claim of parody. Perhaps someone else should also do that without hesitation... (...says I, unerringly!) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.43|162.158.159.43]] 15:06, 16 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Dates for the Trinity Site Open House are April 2 and October 15 for 2022. Bring your own geiger counter. [[User:TCMits|TCMits]] ([[User talk:TCMits|talk]]) 14:15, 16 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> :...and possibly a time-machine? ;) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.43|162.158.159.43]] 15:06, 16 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == Title text: birds sitting on the wire ==<br /> <br /> &quot;Sitting/standing on the wire&quot; is a German idiom (&quot;Auf der Leitung sitzen/stehen&quot;), translated to English literally. It means to not understand something, and is used primarily with concepts that supposedly are easy to understand. For example, not getting a joke. The birds are not part of the German idiom itself. Birds were chosen because they can sit on wires literally (think: Alfred Hichcocks' movie), yet also understand (or not understand) something and thus be subject of the idiom. It's quirky but somewhat works for the joke. If you want to carry on with the idea of literally-translated German idioms, the word &quot;birds&quot; can refer to &quot;funny/strange people&quot;. The title text then translates to: &quot;At first I didn't get why they were warning me about all those funny people who didn't get it, but then I understood.&quot; [[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.46|141.101.69.46]] 22:10, 3 June 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I do not understand the joke in the title text, so if somebody could please write an explanation, that would be great.<br /> Also, this is my first ever full comic description! Yay!<br /> I don't know what categories this fits in, if somebody could also put those in that would be great. [[User:MrYellow04|MrYellow04]] ([[User talk:MrYellow04|talk]]) 19:58, 15 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> :I suggest you stand under a wire with lots of birds on it for a while. It will hit you. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 20:32, 15 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> :Dirty birdy in the sky, why you do that in my eye? Boy I'm glad that cows can't fly! [[User:TCMits|TCMits]] ([[User talk:TCMits|talk]]) 14:15, 16 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> ::I thought they were canaries (toxic gas) {{unsigned ip|180.181.250.224|20:57, 15 December 2025}}<br /> I thought it meant the birds were dangerously mutated because of the radioactivity, but now I understand. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.84|172.69.34.84]] 22:00, 15 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> :Just make sure you don't open your mouth and tilt your head back. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.63|172.70.90.63]] 22:59, 15 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> The title text joke may be understood more easily by reading &quot;stood under&quot; in place of &quot;understood&quot;. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.124|162.158.107.124]] 19:37, 15 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Living in Manhattan, you learn to notice when an area is full of bird droppings and avoid standing there. You also need to pay attention when parking your car. Certain lamp posts (where the lamp is cantilevered over the street) near Central Park often tend to have a large accumulation under them. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.178|108.162.246.178]] 19:47, 15 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I added telegraph wires (UK-only term, possibly, and anachronistic as they are telephone cables, so feel free to change to be US-centric) and birds seem happy to sit on pole-suspended POTS cables as much as power-lines, so the linked heat-effect thing is definitely a minority necessity. I think it's just a perch. Though we probably have more signal-wires. Most(?) streets more than a few decades old have telegraph poles feeding wires to established properties (even if cable/FTTP has been dug into trenches) but mains electricity tends to have been subsurface for much longer, with only HV national/rural-area transmission grids up on pylons/poles. Obviously there ''are'' a lot more perching birds out in the countryside, where they may dominate (but still the 'telegraph' may follow road or rail routes to service the villages and isolated inhabitations along them) but you don't tend to see birds atop the larger lines at all... Too high up? ''Too'' hot? I've seen rooks/etc happily doing a Hitchcock upon a pylon itself, apparently enjoying the communal view. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.63|172.70.90.63]] 18:54, 15 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == Leonard Cohen reference? ==<br /> <br /> It seems to me that the title text has to be somehow referencing one of Leonard Cohen’s better known songs, “Bird on the Wire”, from the very specific phrasing there. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.69|108.162.245.69]] 11:21, 16 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> : It's a fairly common phrase. Including the 1990 Goldie Hawn / Mel Gibson [https://g.co/kgs/QZ6LpN film]. [[User:Iggynelix|Iggynelix]] ([[User talk:Iggynelix|talk]]) 16:23, 16 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :I think it more likely there's some reference meant to birds not getting electrocuted while sitting on power cables-perhaps this is even in a &quot;What If&quot; book? I don't think very likely, but more likely than any Leonard Cohen reference. It's because &quot;both the bird's feet are on the same potential, so electricity does not flow through the bird. The bird also offers greater resistance than the power cable, so the electricity continues to flow through the power cable.&quot; I figured this &quot;explanation&quot; fits here as well as anywhere. [[User:Cuvtixo|Cuvtixo]] ([[User talk:Cuvtixo|talk]]) 21:06, 16 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> ::I think it's a red-herring that the nature of the wire has ''anything'' to do with it. Birds will perch on handy things, whether electrical cables (hopefully with spacings between separate phase-wires/across the insulator 'hangers' significantly more than an idle wing-stretch!), telephonic, washing line, zip-line, etc, etc. A wire just gives more chance for 'mostly open space, beneath which an unaware human is particularly (but not obviously) susceptible to birds voiding their systems' than with a street-lamp arm, a high ledge on a tall building, tree branches or the underside frames of girder-based bridges.<br /> ::Birds do indeed escape (trivial) electrocution on power-lines, but that doesn't help the joke because they can crap on you from ''anything'' that you under-stand (or just by chance, by dint of being birds and occasionally finding they need to let go whilst already in flight... or by direct malice in the case of nest-guarding skuas/etc).<br /> ::Not to disect the comedy frog, or anything, because that would be cold-blooded. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.223|172.69.79.223]] 00:00, 17 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> &quot;Pretty sure eggrolled was just a typo&quot;, as corrected with [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2607:_Geiger_Counter&amp;diff=prev&amp;oldid=230619 this edit]... No, I think not. I've just undone a whole host of (repeated) vandalisms, some of which were to put &quot;eggroll&quot; in as replacements... the rest were equally stupid (or greater). Check edit log for just before now to see what pages I reverted/etc. Because someone is apparently clever enough to edit wiki pages (oh boy, what a smart person, I'm sure nobody of lesser intellect could ''ever'' have accomplished such a thing(!)...). Anyway, good work recorrecting it, whoever you are. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.223|172.69.79.223]] 00:15, 17 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> At first I didn't understand why they were warning me about the boomerang, but then it hit me... (Yes, I may have stolen that joke from Milton Jones.) --[[User:IByte|IByte]] ([[User talk:IByte|talk]]) 09:02, 17 April 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I swear I've seen this exact comic before, why was it reposted? [[User:IJustWantToEditStuff|IJustWantToEditStuff]] ([[User talk:IJustWantToEditStuff|talk]]) 20:43, 23 January 2023 (UTC)</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:645:_RPS&diff=401804 2025-12-15T21:24:12Z

<p>78.144.255.82: </p> <hr /> <div>I know exactly what RPN is but I have no idea what a Polish Sausage is, nor what the &quot;postfixins&quot; joke is about (is a fixin a thing? I've never heard of them). If someone could explain these presumably American terms I'd appreciate it. [[Special:Contributions/82.6.250.231|82.6.250.231]] 14:34, 17 September 2013 (UTC)<br /> :Read the explanation, everything is there.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:45, 17 September 2013 (UTC)<br /> :No it isn't. Anon, the US refers to Kielbasa as Polish Sausage, and &quot;fixins&quot; are condiments such as mustard and chopped onions. I'll update the explanation. [[User:Yomikoma|Yomikoma]] ([[User talk:Yomikoma|talk]]) 17:55, 17 September 2013 (UTC)<br /> ::I didn't know that. Thanks for your help. Further investigations at [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fixins&amp;defid=5919829 urbandictionary] gave me this: &quot;A Southern (USA) word for the supplemental food...&quot;. It does belong only to the south of the US.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:13, 17 September 2013 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I think we should explain the &quot;comic today's you confuses here click if&quot; thing. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.79|108.162.215.79]] 12:27, 29 July 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I think RPS is Rock Paper Scissors.<br /> [[User:Pickaxe24|Pickaxe24]] ([[User talk:Pickaxe24|talk]]) 01:36, 12 January 2017 (UTC)<br /> :Disagree, I see no relation to Rock Paper Scissors. RPS most likely simply means Reverse Polish Sausage. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.88|198.41.242.88]] 08:34, 18 April 2017 (UTC)<br /> <br /> The phrase &quot;fixins&quot; may originate in the South, but I would not say that it &quot;belongs&quot; to them, as I have heard it used by people from several Western states. I cannot say how prevalent it is outside of there, but I would venture to say that it is a common American colloquialism used by at least the South and West. {{unsigned|Highlander}}<br /> :I don't know about like the Great Plains region, If that's what you mean by West, but up here in the Pacific Northwest, I've never heard fixins. Only ever in connection with the Southern dialect.[[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.75|199.27.133.75]] 18:18, 26 November 2014 (UTC)<br /> :I'm from Colorado: I don't know if it's common, but I have certainly heard it (and seen it on menus). [[User:L-Space Traveler|L-Space Traveler]] ([[User talk:L-Space Traveler|talk]]) 23:51, 22 October 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> There is also a level of amusement for the American English speaker owing to confusion on first reading, because &quot;postfix&quot; has its stress (vocal emphasis) on the first syllable, as does &quot;fixins&quot;. So when combined, it's not clear how to parse the whole &quot;word&quot;. --[[User:Bedunkel|BD]] ([[User talk:Bedunkel|talk]]) 04:24, 21 November 2014 (UTC)<br /> :I personally read it along the lines of 'post ,fix ins; that is, with strong emphasis on post and a minor emphasis on fix. Dunno about anyone else. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.75|199.27.133.75]] 18:18, 26 November 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Didn't Yoda speak in Reverse Polish? [[User:Brenda|Brenda]] ([[User talk:Brenda|talk]]) 10:12, 12 June 2018 (UTC)<br /> :No, Yoda spoke in Japanese grammar. Which is not surprising, as the Jedi are (loosely) based on samurai. [[User:Nirdavo|Nirdavo]] ([[User talk:Nirdavo|talk]]) 08:15, 20 June 2023 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I first thought it meant &quot;Revolutions Per Second&quot; when I saw the title. [[User:ChristmasGospel|ChristmasGospel]] ([[User talk:ChristmasGospel|talk]]) 20:27, 20 June 2023 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Shouldn't the mustard have been placed to the right of the sausage if the comic is about RPN? After all, adding the mustard is the last operation so in RPN should appear last. {{unsigned ip|85.186.118.148|20:41, 15 December 2025}}</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3180:_Apples&diff=401798 2025-12-15T19:18:41Z

<p>78.144.255.82: /* Explanation */ Hash Mark is the # symbol, so was incorrectly disambiguated. Using the main term, to avoid confusion.</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 3180<br /> | date = December 12, 2025<br /> | title = Apples<br /> | image = apples_2x.png<br /> | imagesize = 263x364px<br /> | noexpand = true<br /> | titletext = The experimental math department's budget is under scrutiny for how much they've been spending on trains leaving Chicago at 9:00pm traveling at 45 mph.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|This page was created BY A CAR HEADING WEST AT 70MPH. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br /> <br /> Three &quot;experimental mathematicians&quot; have experimentally confirmed the answer to a mathematical query that might normally {{w|word problem (mathematics education)|be described}} to an elementary school class: &quot;If [[Cueball]] has seven apples and [[Hairbun]] has five, how many apples are there in total?&quot; With everyone having literally brought together their stated number of apples, Cueball counts the two groups of apples and states that the total is twelve. [[Blondie]] is very excited that this real world demonstration has perfect agreement with some theory, presumably arithmetic.<br /> <br /> The root of the joke is the conflation of mathematics, an abstract framework, with sciences like physics or chemistry that describe real world phenomena and that require experimental confirmation. In the context of the comic, because most sciences have both theoretical and experimental wings, mathematics should as well, with a humorous example of what &quot;experimental mathematics&quot; would look like. In this case Cueball and Hairbun are literally &quot;testing&quot; the concept of addition by reenacting a word problem in a mathematics textbook. This physical experiment itself is humorous because there is no mathematical difference between adding groups of apples or groups of {{w|tally marks}} on a piece of paper, but the characters would likely consider the latter to be &quot;theoretical&quot;. <br /> <br /> A different take on the joke is that mathematics is inherently experimental, but the &quot;experiments&quot; take the form of rigorously proving concepts, including something as basic as addition, {{w|Foundations of mathematics|from first principles}}. From this angle one would find humor in the fact that the three characters are testing math with physical objects instead of referring to the established proofs. <br /> <br /> The irony is that some aspects of mathematics ''are'' experimental in the manner depicted in the cartoon. Children are often taught that the angles of a triangle sum to 180° by tearing off the points of a paper triangle and using them to construct a straight line. Some aspects of computer science can also be considered &quot;experimental mathematics&quot;, especially at the circuit level where binary logic can be physically used to perform mathematical computation.<br /> <br /> There are real-world cases where &quot;basic addition&quot; doesn't give the mathematical result, when combining certain items that aren't uniform. Measured volumes of two different substances, combined to make a solution, usually results in a volume of the end solution that differs from the sum of the original volumes. When measured volumes of nearly-freezing and nearly-boiling water are combined, the resulting liquid, at an intermediate temperature, will almost always be {{w|Properties of water#Density of water and ice|measurably different}} from the sum of the prior values.<br /> <br /> The title text confirms the comic's point of experimentally reenacting mathematics textbook word problems by reference to the &quot;Two Trains Problem&quot;, a popular type of question to teach students how to solve {{w|System of linear equations|simultaneous linear equations}}, which has previously been alluded to in [[2019: An Apple for a Dollar]]. A [https://mathseasy.quora.com/If-a-train-leaves-station-A-at-9-00-am-and-travels-at-60-miles-per-hour-and-another-train-leaves-station-B-at-10-00-am typical question of this type] asks “If a train leaves station A at 9:00 am and travels at 60 miles per hour, and another train leaves station B at 10:00 am and travels at 80 miles per hour, where will the two trains meet if station A and B are 200 miles apart?” This type of problem is so common that it became a pre-internet meme with many references in popular culture, so Randall has to provide only the setup (&quot;trains leaving Chicago at 9 pm traveling at 45 mph&quot;) to be reasonably sure that the reader will know what he's talking about.<br /> <br /> Unlike apples, chartering real life trains to leave both Chicago and another city to test that class of word problem would present enormous expense to the experimental mathematics department. This expense again implies that the experimental mathematics department is not content with any abstraction, such as using model trains, and must test the word problems as written.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[Hairbun and Cueball stand at the left of the panel. Blondie stands at the right. Between them are two piles of apples, one of seven apples (stacked four on the bottom, two in the middle row, and one on top) and the other of five apples (stacked three on the bottom, and two on top).They are all looking at the apples but Blondie has her arms raised high above her head.]<br /> :Cueball: Okay, with my seven apples added to your five, we have ... let's see ... twelve apples!<br /> :Blondie: Incredible!<br /> :Blondie: Perfect agreement with the theory!<br /> <br /> :[Caption below the panel:]<br /> :Experimental mathematicians<br /> <br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}&lt;noinclude&gt;<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]<br /> [[Category:Math]]<br /> [[Category:Food]]</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3171:_Geologic_Core_Sample&diff=401796 2025-12-15T19:12:15Z

<p>78.144.255.82: /* Explanation */ punc</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 3171<br /> | date = November 21, 2025<br /> | title = Geologic Core Sample<br /> | image = geologic_core_sample_2x.png<br /> | imagesize = 493x790px<br /> | noexpand = true<br /> | titletext = If you drill at the right angle and time things perfectly, your core sample can include a section of a rival team's coring equipment.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|This page was created BY A GEOLOGIC RIBBIT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br /> <br /> This image presents a core sample taken by a slightly overenthusiastic team of geologists. <br /> <br /> A {{w|core sample}} is a cylindrical piece of something, in this case the rock of Earth's crust, obtained with special drills, taken in order to study the layers within. In typical xkcd fashion, the core sample depicted here contains a mix of real rocks found in core samples, and many humorous or fictional additions. It's shown that, on the way down, the coring drills have hit many, many obstacles they really shouldn't have, culminating in the punchline that the geologists have drilled straight through the Earth to the opposite hemisphere and out the other side — far deeper than any core sample could be taken in reality. In the real world the deepest borehole is the [[1330: Kola Borehole]] which attained maximum true vertical depth of 12,262 metres (40,230 ft; 7.619 mi) in 1989. <br /> <br /> ;Topsoil :{{w|Topsoil}} is the uppermost layer of the typical {{w|pedosphere}}, which often needs to be dug through before reaching actual rock. Whether the soil section of the core would actually be retained and counted is up to the nature of the study being made, but it will become clear that this core sample wasn't obtained with much thought of finesse.<br /> ;Till :{{w|Till}} is unsorted glacial sediment, which might underlie the soil layer and form the transition to the foundation rock below.<br /> ;Granite bedrock :{{w|Bedrock}} is solid rock, and there may normally be nothing but more bedrock beneath it until the Earth's {{w|Mantle_(geology)|mantle}}. {{w|Granite}} is a very common igneous rock that could normally form such bedrock.<br /> :There are suggestions, from what is seen beneath it, that this particular layer of 'bedrock' (though being a natural material, at source) has been placed here as a construction base, infilled over with the above layers in this particular spot. <br /> :Bedrock could also be a reference to the unmineable blocks that make up the bottom of the world in Minecraft.<br /> ;Bottomsoil :A fictional counterpart of topsoil. Topsoil is so named because it is generally found on top of other layers, and not to distinguish it from a separate 'bottomsoil' layer. Here, however, there are apparently two layers of soil somehow sandwiching the bedrock layer. Theoretically, the intervening granite could have been laid (as a slab) upon the lowest layers of an excavated area, later to be sampled by this corer ''as if'' a natural layer.<br /> ;Roof/Floor of subway car :These two layers are indications that the drill has broken into a subway tunnel (possibly from amongst those shown in [[1196: Subways]]), dug deep into the rock, or perhaps {{w|Tunnel#Cut-and-cover|cut'n'covered}} into the ground (hence, perhaps, the anomalous granite being added above — though the further tunnel lining/ceiling is not given a label, that would hold up the initial infill of soil). The section of tunnel it penetrated happened to contain a subway train, which has also been 'sampled'. The drill has essentially compressed the 'void' that is the interior of the car and the rest of the tunnel. This may seem to be good luck (given a later layer), but this still doesn't bode well for the subway train that may have been trying to move when the drill started to pierce it.<br /> ;More granite :Granite ''is'' a very common igneous rock.<br /> ;Municipal water main:A pipe has been partly sliced through (enough to one side to not force the collapse of its void). Most water pipes of this size would not normally be forced through rock, only the loose material above it, relying upon pressure to carry water upwards, where necessary.<br /> :However, {{w|combined sewer|drainage systems}} (that rely upon gravity for most of the route) may need at times to be dug deeper to maximize the natural flow. Some {{w|Thames Tideway Tunnel|particularly large projects}} may be excavated deeply through rock, even below some subway lines, though they'll be tunnels/pipes with a far larger bore than seen here, for both construction and capacity reasons.<br /> ;Slightly different granite:There are {{w|QAPF diagram|''many'' subtypes}} of granite, as well as being a lot of it.<br /> ;Piece of screaming spelunker's arm:Cave systems exist underground in many places, though more usually within rock-types more likely to dissolve than granite layers. The main exception might be from {{w|Lava tube|volcanic tunnels}} left in {{w|basalt}}, but that's technically ''still'' not granite, meaning that any cave system here would need explaining.<br /> :{{w|Spelunkers}} (also known as cavers) explore caves, and one must have been in the wrong place when the corer passed through, suffering a clear injury (possibly greater than any that the unknown (but not ''directly'' impacted) subway users might have already suffered). If the spelunker was not already screaming ''before'' the drill came through (perhaps for help, if they were stuck — the size of the cave is unknown, with the open space closed up, as with the subway), losing a chunk of arm will have definitely prompted screams.<br /> ;Cool crystals with no resale value:There are many geological processes that can concentrate elements and compounds in a way that form crystalline minerals. Some are useful as ores, others are valued just as the crystals themselves (for aesthetic reasons or otherwise).<br /> :Whatever these crystals are, as a small seam within the granitic layer just below the spelunker's location, they look nice (or are otherwise interesting), but either have little further application or are just so common that there's no point trying to make use of this deposit (even if they could perhaps be more 'easily' reached by any spelunker not put off by the threat of drillbits).<br /> ;Mangled fragments of drillbit from previous attempt<br /> :When coring rock, it's possible for the tip of the coring drill to encounter problems (like particularly dense and hard rock) that damage it, perhaps by bending its track too much and shearing off the head.<br /> :This latest attempt, probably sent down slightly to the side of the prior one (unless it had managed to gouge out ''just'' the remains of the previous drillpipe, and retain the rock/subway/spelunker layers previously cored out) has encountered the tip of the prior attempt.<br /> :If there's one thing guaranteed to be as tough as a drillbit, it's ''another'' drillbit, which must necessarily be hard enough to cut through the expected rock types. Luckily, the first one was clearly damaged enough, by its prior encounter, that it didn't thwart this next attempt and (perhaps literally) grind it to a halt. Nor, apparently, was there a repeat of whatever issue left that first drill like this.<br /> :Being in the middle of the core, it could be that these bits are meant to be from another attempt to drill the diameter of the Earth from a complete different location. Assuming absurd precision, all such drill holes would meet at the center of the Earth. <br /> ;Some boring intrusive rock that's basically granite but has a name like &quot;diorite&quot; or &quot;andalite&quot; that you always have to look up<br /> :Diorite is a real type of igneous rock — an intermediate between actual granite and {{w|gabbro}} — but an [http://animorphs.fandom.com/wiki/Andalite Andalite] is an alien from the Animorphs book series, which [[Randall]] enjoys and has [[:Category:Animorphs|referenced before]]. Perhaps Randall is &quot;misremembering&quot; the name of {{w|andesite}}, another type of igneous rock, from his [[1223: Dwarf Fortress|knowledge of]] the complex set of reality-inspired rock types encountered in the game {{w|Dwarf Fortress}}. As the sample appears right before the Netherrack sample, it may also be referencing {{w|Minecraft}}, as granite, diorite, and andesite exist in that game as mineable stone types.<br /> ;Netherrack:A dark red, and entirely fictional.{{Citation needed}} stone appearing in Minecraft, with which Randall is [[861: Wisdom Teeth|also well acquainted]]. In Minecraft, Netherrack typically only appears naturally in The Nether, an alternate dimension resembling hell. In the overworld, where the core sample is presumably being taken, Netherrack only naturally forms in ruins of Nether Portals found on the surface, so for it to appear this deep in the sample, it would need to have been placed there by another person, likely while mining. (Some fan theories suggest that the nether is under the overworld, which isn't literally true in-game, but some mods exist that make this true.)<br /> ;Balrog wing:The balrog is a creature in {{w|Lord of the Rings}}, found deep beneath the world, awakened when the dwarves delved too deep and too greedily, as it could be suggested that the geologists are doing here. It was previously encountered in the title text of [[3141: Mantle Model]]. The {{w|Balrog#Characteristics|balrog's wings}} are often discussed, in the context of whether it had them, and therefore whether they could or should have helped it escape the fall that was forced upon it in the books. At least one balrog, however, now appears to have at least one less wing than those it previously had. We do not know if there was any screaming involved.<br /> ;Granite:This label is applied to rock that appears to cover both ends of a 'height' of rock-core that is simplified by a diagrammatic cut. From the context of later layers, this would include a very long length of drilled material that passes into the {{w|Earth's mantle}}, and [[3145: Piercing|perhaps]] at least some of its core, before coming back up through the granite to be found somewhere on the other side of the planet.<br /> <br /> ; Topsoil:Beyond the indeterminate length of granite, the sample transitions back into the loose upper layers, indicating that the exploratory core is now being taken from ascending layers (albeit in a location lacking subways, etc, or just managing to miss everything seen in the preceding section).<br /> ;Cement:On emerging from the other side of the Earth, the geologists have drilled through the foundations of a building.<br /> ;Floorboards / Carpet:These two layers are typical of a reasonably well-equipped residential building — probably the ground floor, without any basement level. The core is coming up inside a furnished room.<br /> ;Possessions of a confused and angry homeowner in the other hemisphere<br /> :The core sample has tunneled up into somebody's house, probably while they are there, and has traveled through some of the furniture, fixtures and/or fittings, to their clear annoyance.<br /> <br /> Apart from the less expected elements to the core that was cut and retrieved (and the sheer impossibility of drilling the necessary several thousand miles 'down' through the Earth, and then drawing that sample back out again), the comic heavily plays upon the fact that someone with the ability and equipment to take this sample is, nevertheless, not as sure about geology as they perhaps ought to be, with almost all rock just being considered 'granite', without any better (or more accurate) qualification.<br /> <br /> The title text suggests that core sampling is a competitive pursuit, in which, with the correct drilling angle, dark arts can be employed to interfere with the coring experiment of a &quot;rival team&quot;. This is, outside of cold war-type pettiness, not considered a constructive approach to science.{{Citation needed}}<br /> <br /> Only about 15% of the Earth's land surface is directly antipodal to other land, which would make this sample less than &quot;typical&quot; if it was aimed directly down through the exact centre of the Earth and back up again (a distance of almost 8,000 miles, or more than 12,000 km). If one were to do this from a random spot of land, one would be much more likely to have the sample terminate in an ocean; the chances of ending up in a house would be even lower. However, considering that the title text mentions drilling at an angle, the 'other hemisphere' point might be not necessarily be at the antipodal point, and there also seems to be the capacity to aim at a more desirable target, in which case this is a &quot;typical&quot; core under ''deliberately'' chosen circumstances. The exact nature of reaching &quot;the other hemisphere&quot; is not expanded upon — it could be as simple as drilling (mostly sideways) a short distance across the {{w|equator}}, or {{w|prime meridian}}, or having to go at least a quarter of the way of a great circle under the planet's surface (slightly over 1.4 times the Earth's radius, by the most direct route), in any direction, such that the two ends cannot be counted as being in any single arbitrary hemisphere.<br /> <br /> This comic comes not long after [[3162: Heart Mountain]], which involved strange stratification, so may be part of the same thought process about the nature, and occasional oddities, of the geologic column.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> {{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br /> :[Caption at the top of the panel:] Typical geologic core sample<br /> :[Below this is a drawing of a cylindrical core sample with various labels, in order from the top of the panel toward the bottom.]<br /> :[A short, dark section of core:] Topsoil<br /> :[A more obviously granular shorter section with a diagonal transition:] Till<br /> :[A light and lightly-marked phase:] Granite bedrock<br /> :[Repeating the Topsoil appearance:] Bottomsoil<br /> :[A short/squat and possibly squeezed 'lump':] Roof of subway car<br /> :[A similar squeezed-out lump:] Floor of subway car<br /> :[A longer length of the 'granite' texture, within which...:] More granite<br /> :[Not quite half of a pipe-width, cut out as a gap perpendicular and not quite all the way across the core:] Municipal water main<br /> :[Slightly more grainy version of the 'granite':] Slightly different granite<br /> :[In a junction between 'granites', an squat, unidentifiable lump:] Piece of screaming spelunker's arm<br /> :[Within a longer granite layer, a short stretch of spiky/crystalline features:] Cool crystals with no resale value<br /> :[Within the same granite layer, an intrusion of mechanical-looking junk:] Mangled fragments of drillbit from previous attempt<br /> :[As per granite, but slightly more grainy:] Some boring intrusive rock that's basically granite but has a name like &quot;diorite&quot; or &quot;andalite&quot; that you always have to look up<br /> :[Dark, cobbly textured stone:] Netherrack<br /> :[Within a stretch of granite, a short, dark but otherwise unidentifiable lump:] Balrog wing<br /> :[At this point, there is a discontinuity indicating that an arbitrary length has been omitted. The sample then resumes:]<br /> :[Still 'granite':] Granite<br /> :[Dark soil texture:] Topsoil<br /> :[Light, fine and sparse 'grains':] Cement<br /> :[Two very short cross-sections, each with contrasting wood-grain stripes:] Floorboards<br /> :[Two very short sections with a textile-base plus piles appearance:] Carpet<br /> :[A mish-mash of 'stuff', possibly including cloth, metal components, grainy wood and 'topped' at the lowest end by something equally puzzling at an angle:] Possesions of a confused and angry homeowner in the other hemisphere<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}&lt;noinclude&gt;<br /> [[Category:Geology]]<br /> [[Category:Charts]]<br /> [[Category:LOTR]]<br /> [[Category:Animorphs]]<br /> [[Category:Minecraft]]</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3180:_Apples&diff=401780 2025-12-15T17:37:22Z

<p>78.144.255.82: </p> <hr /> <div>&lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&gt;<br /> <br /> As heretical as it is, I almost want to keep the explanation just like this [[User:KelOfTheStars!|KelOfTheStars!]] ([[User talk:KelOfTheStars!|talk]]) 00:09, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :I wasnt going to ruin it, when I saw it like that. But now it's been expanded, I've added in my own thoughts on the subject. Namely elemental number-theory, i.e. the possibility of counting any item just like you count any other item, plus what's going on with the title text, including a slightly kludgy call-back to the fact that (''to have a budget'', that must have people succesfully counting expenditures and purchased values) the Exp. Maths Dept. has clearly trained people in the use of numbers enough for them to now be awkwardly snapping at the heels of the EMD querying the justifiability of at least one of their ongoing studies. (Not sure how long my thoughts will actually last, though, in the light of further editing. But I hope at least some of what I'm getting at will be successfully distilled into any more succinct version.) [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 01:05, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :I guess [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3180:_Apples&amp;oldid=401411 this was the explanation] at the time of this comment!? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:43, 14 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Twelve apples! &amp;lt;*thunder rolls*&amp;gt; Ha! Ha! Ha! [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 04:36, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Oh the irony! How did they count the twelve apples? 0,succ(0),succ(succ(0))..., I bet. This is already heavy math. (For example, what guarantees you that succ(0) exists and has exactly one value 1 and is the successor only of 0? Peano envy.) [[Special:Contributions/2A02:2455:1960:4000:FD7E:5F02:5364:961|2A02:2455:1960:4000:FD7E:5F02:5364:961]] 08:52, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Thank you for starting your counting at 0. I have espoused that zero IS a counting number, as you can't get to 1, unless you first arrive at 0. &quot;Sherman, count how many unicorns there are in this field.&quot; &quot;Um, there are zero, Mr. Peabody.&quot; [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 15:11, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::How'd you &quot;get to&quot; zero? You have to start somewhere and it is arbitrary. You could start at 17, define succ^-1(x) and go back to 1 or 0. Clearly this is inconvenient but not wrong. If you need zero it may make sense to start at zero but if you need negatives it may not matter. If you are teaching you might want to deal with other concepts and not &quot;we start at zero because&quot;. There is no one true set of axioms &amp; definition. Usefulness of Non-Euclidian geometry does not make Euclidian geometry useless.[[User:Lordpishky|Lordpishky]] ([[User talk:Lordpishky|talk]]) 17:35, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> In fact if you really want to nitpick, while most people would accept that 7+5=12 it is demonstrably false that my seven apples plus your 5 apples are equal to a pool of 12 apples. In fact it is demonstrably false that I even have 7 apples. Because no 2 apples are identical they can't be combined together. We may be willing to disregard such gross inaccuracies for the sake of, you know, being able to continue to survive for a little while longer, though. [[Special:Contributions/176.138.186.7|176.138.186.7]] 11:10, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :When you say &quot;seven apples plus 5 apples is 12 apples&quot; you are saying when a set of apples that can be put in a 1-to-1 correspondence with the set of the 1st seven cardinal numbers is combined with a set of apples that can be put in a 1-to-1 correspondence with the set of the 1st five cardinal numbers you get a set that can be put in a 1-to-1 correspondence with the set of the 1st twelve cardinal numbers&quot;. Like Cantor's proof that the cardinality of the unit interval is the same as the unit square. There is such a natural correspondence between (finite) cardinal numbers and strictly positive integers that it can be hard to keep in mind that, in a fussy sense, they are not the same things. [[User:Lordpishky|Lordpishky]] ([[User talk:Lordpishky|talk]]) 05:50, 15 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :The physicists have already shown that all apples are perfect spheres of uniform density and cannot be split into smaller apples. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 15:11, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::Are the perfect spheres bosons or fermions?[[Special:Contributions/76.180.39.133|76.180.39.133]] 15:38, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::Not spinning? spin=0 =&gt; boson.[[User:Lordpishky|Lordpishky]] ([[User talk:Lordpishky|talk]]) 17:35, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> This comic makes me wonder if Randall is aware of us, and if he might someday try to make a comic so bizarre, we become unable to &quot;explain&quot; it at all. Would such a thing be possible? Something so absurd, we're forced to shrug and say &quot;I got nothing&quot;? It's possible I've been awake too long.[[Special:Contributions/69.5.140.194|69.5.140.194]] 18:32, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Cranberry sauce.[[User:Lordpishky|Lordpishky]] ([[User talk:Lordpishky|talk]]) 05:17, 15 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> i think there's a direct connection between this and {{w|Ultrafinitism}}!! [[Special:Contributions/129.64.0.34|129.64.0.34]] 04:56, 14 December 2025 (UTC)Bumpf<br /> <br /> &quot;Okay, with my hrair apples added to your hrair, we have ... let's see ... hrair apples!&quot;<br /> &quot;Incredible! Perfect agreement with the theory!&quot;<br /> It even works with multiple theories!<br /> --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 19:22, 14 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Holy overexplanation, Batman! [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 11:29, 15 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : And yet somehow still seeming to miss the heart of the joke, in that maths rests on proving ''generalizable'' rules, so that any ''specific'' instance of a rule doesn't have to be proven from first principles. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 14:17, 15 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> AI bros must not have a sense of humor because LLM's clearly don't get jokes. Seriously, can we please stop accepting these auto-gen explanations as anything close to being sufficient and work to replace them ASAP? This site functioned fine for years getting well crafted hand written explanations up within 24 hours, but today it seems that editors see the walls of text and just declare mission accomplished.[[User:Sturmovik|Sturmovik]] ([[User talk:Sturmovik|talk]]) 17:12, 15 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :what the... what makes you think you are smarter than everyone???--[[User:Trimutius|Trimutius]] ([[User talk:Trimutius|talk]]) 17:29, 15 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :I don't know about any other edits, most of which actually just looked like honest hand-crafted attempts to me but I must admit that sometimes I feel that maybe [[3126: Disclaimer]] needs applying to some of mine. (I know that my rushed &quot;rejig&quot;, aiming to shave things down again, ended up with some typos. Though you'd be excused for thinking they were AI 'double-bluff' remnants, I suppose.) [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 17:37, 15 December 2025 (UTC)</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3180:_Apples&diff=401486 2025-12-15T01:16:52Z

<p>78.144.255.82: /* Explanation */ Rejig.</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 3180<br /> | date = December 12, 2025<br /> | title = Apples<br /> | image = apples_2x.png<br /> | imagesize = 263x364px<br /> | noexpand = true<br /> | titletext = The experimental math department's budget is under scrutiny for how much they've been spending on trains leaving Chicago at 9:00pm traveling at 45 mph.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|This page was created BY A CAR HEADING WEST AT 70MPH. Is there not way too much talk about math concepts that has nothing to do with the simple joke in this comic. Like three paragraphs too much (1+2)? Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br /> <br /> Three &quot;experimental mathematicians&quot; have experimentally confirmed the answer to a mathematical query that might normally {{w|word problem (mathematics education)|be described}} to an elementary school class: &quot;If [[Cueball]] has seven apples and [[Hairbun]] has five, how many apples are there in total?&quot; With everyone having literally brought together their stated number of apples, Cueball counts the two groups of apples and states that the total is twelve. [[Blondie]] is very excited and is excited that this real world demonstration has perfect agreement with some presupposed theory.<br /> <br /> Most people with a basic level of math would be confident that represent this as 7&amp;#8239;+&amp;#8239;5&amp;#8239;=&amp;#8239;12, without needing to count groups of physical objects. However, the title text indicates that there is an entire experimental mathematics department.<br /> <br /> It may be reflecting the most basic step of {{w|Number theory|human mathematics}}: realising that having seven of ''any'' discrete item and combining with five more results in twelve items in total. Numbers alone can therefore be freely used without there ''being'' actual items to prove. {{w|History of ancient numeral systems#Clay tokens|Early accounting methods}} initially used proxy representations of the items, in a form of hybrid literal/symbolic manner, which meant that a collection of apples and a collection of animals could be considered almost as conceptually different, even though the same initial numbers would result in identical end-totals.<br /> <br /> This Experimental Mathematics department may have been working on this type of problem, as part of a mostly pre-mathematical culture. They checking that 7 apples plus 5 apples equals 12 apples after some prior work, perhaps having counted that 7 sheep plus 5 sheep equals 12 sheep (if not several other experimentally-proven summations). Prior to checking the apples, they postulated a theory that extends to other items, such as these apples, but only by using actual apples have they confirmed the continuing truth of it.<br /> <br /> (There are cases where this might not occur, when combining certain items that aren't uniform and discrete. Measuring volumes of two different substances, combined to make a solution, can result in wildly different volumes of the end solution; both greater and lesser. Combining measured volumes of nearly-freezing and nearly-boiling water, the resulting liquid, eventually at an intermediate temperature, can be {{w|Properties of water#Density of water and ice|measureably different}} from the simple combination of the prior values.)<br /> <br /> Branches of science may have a division between the empirical approach (gathering direct evidence or practically demonstrating that something works) and the theoretical (developing abstract models that fit the available information through the use of abstract models). In some cases, advances in theory greatly outpace any direct physical evidence, and may deal with numbers and situations that cannot be readily reproduced or observed. For example, if straying into the territory of irrational or infinitesimal numbers, the usefulness of manifesting with physical objects may be less useful.<br /> <br /> The title text states that, more complicated schoolroom mathematical problems are also pursued. Where the question of how many apples there are in total is simple additive arithmatic, a more advanced problem for older students may require a knowledge of {{w|algebra}} and even {{w|System of equations|simultaneous equations}} to calculate the interesection of values that a described using multple shared variables. A common conceit is to describe it journeys by train (in which a position is directly dependant upon a given time). As with the physically performed experimentations with the number of apples, it is alluded to that these more advanced queries are investigated by members of the department becoming repeat passengets upon a particular Chicago-departing rail service. With, in all likelihood, observers also being assigned to various Chicago-bound services that match the initial problems' various other stipulations<br /> <br /> (In reality, physical trains are probably less reliable incarnations of pure mathematical problems. They are potentially subject to all kinds of delays, even 'non-stop' services may change speed for various reasons and there is no indication that the pure mathematical model being enacted takes account of the train needing to take time to reach even its idealised velocity.)<br /> <br /> Whatever the test(s) using trains might be, however, the cost of either boarding or outright ''commissioning'' the train-journeys is of concern to the department's accountants/auditors, who seem to have number problems of their own; i.e., the depletion of the departmental operating budget.<br /> <br /> <br /> In reality, {{w|experimental mathematics}} is the branch of mathematics which uses computation as opposed to &quot;pure&quot; deductive proof methods. This does not involve &quot;verifying&quot; simple arithmetic, but could encompass e.g. calculating long runs of the digits of pi in search of patterns that may not be 'obvious' from known principles but which could be proven once identified as a candidate for proof.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[Hairbun and Cueball stand at the left of the panel. Blondie stands at the right. Between them are two piles of apples, one of seven apples (stacked four on the bottom, two in the middle row, and one on top) and the other of five apples (stacked three on the bottom, and two on top).They are all looking at the apples but Blondie has her arms raised high above her head.]<br /> :Cueball: Okay, with my seven apples added to your five, we have ... let's see ... twelve apples!<br /> :Blondie: Incredible!<br /> :Blondie: Perfect agreement with the theory!<br /> <br /> :[Caption below the panel:]<br /> :Experimental mathematicians<br /> <br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}&lt;noinclude&gt;<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]<br /> [[Category:Math]]<br /> [[Category:Food]]</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1386:_People_are_Stupid&diff=401484 2025-12-14T22:18:39Z

<p>78.144.255.82: Undo revision 401483 by 2001:56A:FE12:8E00:B822:6CD7:E8B9:1ABD (talk) All unsigned. Part inserted into another's comment. Adds little.</p> <hr /> <div>On average yes, an individual is of average intelligence. But taken as a population of a whole, well, that's a different story entirely. Randall needs a vacation, ever since he jumped the shark with the dead baby it just feels like the downward trend is getting steeper. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.135|108.162.210.135]] 13:20, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> ::&quot;A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it.&quot; - Kay, Men in Black 1997 {{unsigned ip|172.71.30.187|01:33, 6 September 2024}}<br /> :I don't really think that he jumped the shark. I don't quite get what you are trying to say, and individual can't be of average intelligence. You must first define the average, if we take the mean intelligence of the whole population, then take a person from the sample, then we say that the individual is of average intelligence. You can't say people is stupid while referring to the whole population, because of the definition of stupid, if we take a sample of low IQ people then those people are going to be of average intelligence within the sample, the same goes to the whole population. So this comic is perfectly valid. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.192|108.162.212.192]] 04:50, 27 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> ::I know this is a lot later, but I believe that OP was referring to the difference between mean and median measures of intelligence. More than 50% of the population can be below average intelligence if the distribution is skewed right. [[User:NotLock|NotLock]] ([[User talk:NotLock|talk]]) 03:36, 12 August 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Isn't that a reference to the Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence? [[Special:Contributions/103.22.200.119|103.22.200.119]] 04:49, 25 June 2014 (UTC)krayZpaving<br /> <br /> White Hat being burned? This certainly will not end here.--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.102.208|141.101.102.208]] 04:52, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> '''''Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.''''' This wiki is founded on the very principle that people are stupid. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.223.29|108.162.223.29]] 05:35, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> : You make an intelligent point, which I both appreciate and like. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.222.50|108.162.222.50]] 13:41, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> ::Awww, it's just a joke, it's not personal or anything! '''[[User:Davidy22|&lt;u&gt;{{Color|#707|David}}&lt;font color=#070 size=3&gt;y&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;font color=#508 size=4&gt;²²&lt;/font&gt;]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|&lt;tt&gt;[talk]&lt;/tt&gt;]] 13:43, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> This comment is one that makes me scratch my head and wonder... surely Randall is able to see that intelligence is not a relative but rather an absolute thing (if one were to kill the 10% most intelligent people the rest wouldn't get dumber, nor smarter). Surely intelligence is not to be measured in units of the common denominator. Surely it is obvious that 2nd panel is a pure strawman. Sigh...<br /> Oh and btw an IQ of 100 is the median, not the average. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.17|141.101.104.17]] 09:18, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> : I am wondering if the explanation should not include a mention of the Median/Mean problem because it is entirely possible for a majority of a population to be above or below some mean (average) statistic depending on the distribution. Also stupidity is a standard that is not dependent on either median or mean.[[User:Sturmovik|Sturmovik]] ([[User talk:Sturmovik|talk]]) 11:46, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> : The IQ of 100 is actually defined to be the median AND the average (and also the mode). It is also defined that the distibution around the IQ of 100 is a perfect bell curve. The IQ just tells you how many people in the world have your IQ (It is also defined that two values that have same distance from hundred, e.g. 80 and 120 have the same amount of people, 'cause it's a perfect bell curve (this means that there are as many people with IQ 120 as people with IQ 80). If the overall population gets more intelligent they have to make the IQ tests harder, so that 100 is again the average and median (This really happened). This and some other things are reasons why I think that IQ tests are BS. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.93.219|141.101.93.219]] 14:01, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> :: &quot;A test device with numerous correlates measures an amount of environmental influences beside innate determinants, therefore bullshit&quot;... What are your other objections to I.Q. testing? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.221|141.101.89.221]] 14:17, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> The mocking &quot;award&quot;, which is an analogy of saying &quot;intelligence isn't everything&quot; (an EXTREMELY common cliche), reflects the fact that Randall, like just about anyone, is oblivious to the magnitude of the totality of positive correlates of intelligence, and even (TRIGGER WARNING, TABOO CONCEPT AHEAD) I.Q. Intelligence, I.Q., not only makes you happier, it also makes you more helpful to other people, more creative, more socially stable, better-to-do, less susceptible to mental illnesses, more likely to remember events in your life, etc. etc. etc... Basically, there isn't a positive trait or quality of life with which intelligence doesn't correlate. But people positively LOATHE awareness of how highly intelligence, in fact, matters. Hence the vehement denial whenever someone indicates its importance, all the &quot;I know an intelligent person who is miserable/mean/...&quot;, all stressing of exceptions, all ridicule of the notion of intelligence in general, all the &quot;don't think about it&quot;-mentality, all writing off of I.Q. as &quot;antiquated, grossly limited, racist, metric&quot; rather than the extremely potent predictor that it is. tl;dr Randall at all, take time to actually STUDY intelligence or the g factor before you mock it like that. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 09:25, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> : IQ is based on an arbitrary test and isn't necessarily accurate or reliable. Cognitive ability (which IQ does not accurately measure) WOULD make you more creative, have better memory, etc. I don't know anything about the mental illness thing, but it doesn't make you happier- you can be extremely intelligent but still have a miserable life. Also many &quot;geniuses&quot; in history have emotional issues and unbalanced lives. Intelligence doesn't make you more helpful, either. Yes, you might be more ABlE to help others, but only if you were educated, and only if you WANT to. Plus, this is a webcomic poking fun at people generalizing humanity, not an in-depth analysis of IQ. This whole argument is pointless, and I don't know why I just wasted a bunch of time on it... I guess I have fallen for the trap described by comic 386, Duty Calls. [[User:Random xkcd Fan|Random xkcd Fan]] ([[User talk:Random xkcd Fan|talk]]) 00:41, 26 October 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> : In other words (and this is going to be my last addendum to this note, because it is a vast subject), whenever people say (or imply, as in the comic's case) that &quot;intelligence isn't everything&quot;, the question to ask in return is, &quot;okay, now what is the degree to which intelligence enables, facilitates, contributes to, 'the rest' to which you're opposing intelligence here?&quot;. People minimise the depth and breadth of the intellectual substrate of achievement. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 09:33, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> : Also, Randall (and everyone saying that) is being highly unjust in equating &quot;people aren't smart&quot; with &quot;people aren't as smart as me&quot;. A perfectly valid alternative sense is, &quot;people aren't as smart as to be rationally expected to contribute to rather than damage the discussion/situation/position at hand&quot;--having the objective good, the objective recognition that certain situations (for instance, a certain online conversation which is expected to be competent) require certain minimal intellectual thresholds (for instance, an I.Q. of 120), in mind rather than egotic comparison. Lower intelligence, deny it all you please, comes with temperamental problems for instance. Selection for intelligence will largely filter them out. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 09:46, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :: tl;dr of my entire production here: people must learn that BOTH situations of the Dunning-Kruger are equally harmful, the one that's less often considered perhaps actually even more so. Mistaken self-perception as intelligent is bad for the individual, but refusal to acknowledge the importance of one's own cognitive capacity (which is as good as universal in intelligent people--&quot;I am not that smart&quot; (who hasn't heard that one innumerable times?), &quot;I just like doing thing x, my proficiency in it has nothing to do with my intelligence or I.Q.&quot;, &quot;I have areas in which I'm 'stupid' too&quot;, &quot;effort counts too&quot;) has societal consequences, of contributing to erroneous dismissal of the notions of intelligence &amp; I.Q. &amp; g etc. Shutting up for good now. Night. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 10:11, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::: GAHHHHH just one more thing. Consider this: the fact that people dismiss I.Q. is the best indicator of how important a trait it really is. Thing is, people would not feel compelled by modesty to deny its importance had it not been vitally integral to many, many things. We deny what we value, so to give hope to those who lack that thing (to comfort those who lack intelligence). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 10:15, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :::: Okay, no offense, but maybe you should calm down a bit. It's just a WEBCOMIC, not the Universal Decree of All Things Correct and Accepted as True. Also, I'm pretty sure you're overthinking it. Randall is just poking fun at those who say, &quot;oh, people are stupid, you know&quot;. Cueball isn't seriously giving statistics (although I do agree with his logic- intelligence is NOT absolute, it's relative. And IQ is obsolete; it's based on arbitrary tests and vary based on things like race and social class, which should be evidence enough that it isn't some divine, and 100% precise way of calculating cognitive ability). Cueball is simply making fun of White Hat's statement that &quot;people are stupid&quot;. Also the comic generally points out making remarks about the human race as a whole doesn't help anything... {{unsigned|Random xkcd Fan}}<br /> <br /> :::: Hey 141.101.89.211... I wonder if you have something to say, but despite my best efforts, I'm having trouble following everything you're saying - I have a feeling you were a bit emotional (perhaps tired?) when writing that, or you might have had fewer &quot;more things&quot; immediately following &quot;I'm done&quot; statements. If you're up for it, I'd appreciate you taking the time to make sure you're saying what you want to say, and ''then'' say it, because you seem to at least have good grammar (though there ''were'' a few British spellings... :-D), so I suspect you probably have a good point. It's also conceivable that I'm just not smart enough to get what you're saying (?) or perhaps it's just too ''early'' for me. BTW the best way of making sure I see what you're saying would probably be to let me know on my [[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk page]]... might even have the conversation there if you'd prefer. Thanks for your time. [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 11:25, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> : I don't know why you think that 141.101.89.211... No where does the comic say that. The mocking award is simply mocking people who '''may or may not''' have higher intelligence than the people they're addressing taking a Better Than Thou attitude because they think they do. In other words: &quot;Higher intelligence doesn't give you an excuse to act like a jerk.&quot; I'm sure you can agree with that too [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.218|108.162.245.218]] 04:42, 26 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I would add one &quot;people are stupid&quot; angle not yet mentioned: judging by behavior, most groups of people are less intelligent that any member of that group individually. This is valid even for the &quot;all people&quot; group - just look at the planet. Surprisingly, judging by content of most wikis, the &quot;editors of wiki&quot; groups seems to immune. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:05, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> : Good point--conforming to pressures of one's group or one's position to the detriment of one's judgment is a separate personality trait. The phenomenon is remedied by intelligence, but independent from it. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 10:11, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> : Beat me to it. I'd like to add that even individual people have their occasional stupid and intelligent moments, with the stupid ones typically being of greater magnitude. Thus, it's not unreasonable to say that the average actions of people are at least slightly less intelligent than the average intelligence of most people on most days. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.83|173.245.55.83]] 12:13, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> : Similar to the statement in the film &quot;Men In Black&quot;. Agent J says, &quot;Why the big secret [about the aliens among us]? People are smart. They can handle it.&quot; Agent K responds, &quot;A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it.&quot; [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.45|108.162.221.45]] 01:15, 26 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I can't believe people say things like that, man, people are stupid [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 10:52, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Thanks for the Lake Wobegon references. Not only is it on-target, but I take personal joy seeing mentions of uniquely Minnesotan culture anywhere I can find them. --BigMal27, Minnesota-born, Minnesotan-raised // [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.88|173.245.55.88]] 11:53, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Instead of saying, &quot;People are stupid,&quot; we would do better to say &quot;People make poor decisions / statements / judgments.&quot; And this, for multiple reasons, few of them I suspect tied to basal intelligence. Stage of life, level of health and stress, experience relative to the topic, level of education and the quality of that education, cultural idiotic beliefs that interfere with optimal choices, and a zillion others. Plus, as a large percentage of humans are either just coming online in experience and education, or are winding down in health and mental function, we are guaranteed to see a large percentage of stupid decisions right across the IQ landscape. No help for it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.217|108.162.246.217]] 13:04, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> : I.Q. affects level of health and stress, rate of acquisition of experience, level of education, quality of education obtained, preference of cultural beliefs. It doesn't seem to defy reason that it affects the zillion other factors, too. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.221|141.101.89.221]] 13:17, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> : Remember, in interaction between psychological and social factors, the question is never of *existence* of a connection, but of its magnitude. It is fine to posit a multitude of environmental factors that determine (ir)rationality, but as long as such position keeps people from connecting I.Q. with those factors' actual occurrence (how much I.Q. does it take to finish a good school? to develop a habit of reading a book every month? this is not at all trivial question, and it needs to be resolved with more than anecdotal evidence of &quot;I know an intelligent illiterate person&quot;), there might be an elephant buried underneath the room which no one knows about. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.221|141.101.89.221]] 13:25, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I know Cueball's explanation can be construed to illustrate otherwise; but I doubt the comic was meant to be a comment on the relative intelligence of humanity. It seems more likely, to me, that the purpose of the comic was to comment on the stonewalling that the mindset, &quot;I'm better than you,&quot; induces. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.35|108.162.216.35]] 15:12, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> The cartoon never mentions I.Q. at all, Just &quot;Average Intelligence&quot;, so the Mean/Median discussion is moot. As for the other discussion on this page, I'm just going to quote Blaise Pascal: &quot;I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time&quot; [[User:Jim E|Jim E]] ([[User talk:Jim E|talk]]) 16:00, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> As mentioned above, in other comments that it's hard to find a way to indent from, there's a difference between different 'average's. (To compare &quot;the median&quot; with &quot;the average&quot; is not a good way of doing it, because one needn't know whether you're talking mean or mode in the second sense. I could even say that I have more than the average number of arms, for a human.) The assumption that the median [i]and[/i] mean (and, perhaps, also mode) are a single location at which 100IQ can be placed is dependant upon the bell curve being symmetrical. Just one hyper-intelligent could skew the mean well above the median. (Ok, so we're talking about comic-book &quot;hyper&quot;ness, to make it significant, in a world's worth of population, but the principle still stands for any more manageable population.) And about IQ tests being recalibrated... there is already a common convention that there's a score-adjuster (or a look-up table, based on this) that gives you different IQs for the same number of correct answers but for people of different ages (and sometimes male/female). Which seems to me like &quot;we give up trying to be demographically neutral, let's just find how well different people answer in our test and then work out where their own arbitrary sub-group's bell-curve stradles&quot;. That said, I like IQ tests. I do well in them, and have fun doing them, even if I don't actually believe in them any more than I believe in Sudoku puzzles! And, sorry, I ended up typing far more than I had intended... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.193|141.101.99.193]] 16:31, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I see a lot of discussion on intelligence, but nothing on &quot;losing faith in humanity&quot;. The way I see it everywhere is not in response to stupid people, but to acts of inhumanity. Random acts of violence and hate, for example. Or not random, but large scale. &quot;Restored my faith in humanity&quot; comments often refer to the opposite (in my experience) which involve random acts of kindness, or large-scale altruism. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.161|108.162.237.161]] 08:48, 26 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> What about people using Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp and any other &quot;social network web 2.0&quot; thing? They certainly aren't an individual or small group, they are stupid and I've lost my faith in them. :) {{unsigned ip|173.245.56.166}}<br /> <br /> There are distributions where majority of the population would indeed be below average. Luckily for humanity, intelligence is on a bell curve! I am happy beyond words that this is the case. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.31}}<br /> <br /> This has to be one of the most entertaining boring conversations I've ever come across! Brilliant! (Or not.) [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 14:12, 26 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I think when someone says &quot;people are stupid&quot;, they actually usually mean something like &quot;people systematically make mistakes that I feel are readily avoidable&quot;, rather than making an actual judgement regarding general intelligence. So this comic feels rather off to me. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.113|173.245.48.113]] 08:01, 27 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :If you read xkcd long enough, you'll find a lot of Randall's comics feel &quot;off.&quot; {{unsigned ip|108.162.212.215}}<br /> <br /> Interestingly, the people making comments about average people being stupid tend to be, eh, below-average-smart themselves. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.217|108.162.246.217]] 00:47, 28 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :&quot;Interestingly,&quot; huh? You sound smart. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.215|108.162.212.215]] 14:39, 30 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> When I say &quot;People are stupid&quot; I mean that a group of people making a decision is much stupider than a person. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.215|108.162.246.215]] 04:33, 28 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> '''&quot;No, people aren't stupid. On average, people are of average intelligence.&quot;'''<br /> <br /> Hey, guys. Consider that average intelligence ''is'' stupid. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.215|108.162.212.215]] 14:39, 30 June 2014 (UTC)<br /> : Yeah, this is how I've always interpreted &quot;People are stupid&quot; it means, considering we all think we're a smart species, our average intelligence is really low. It's not &quot;I'm better than everybody/average/most people&quot; but &quot;Everybody/the average person/most people is/are worse than most people believe&quot; [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.216|141.101.99.216]] 13:15, 15 July 2014 (UTC)<br /> :: You stupid, stupid humans. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.52|162.158.255.52]] 02:25, 25 September 2015 (UTC)<br /> <br /> What if the distribution of intelligence is bimodal? If no one is of &quot;average&quot; intelligence, might the more extreme stupidity of a large portion of the population give the impression that the actual average is lower than it appears? [[User:Bppubjr|Bppubjr]] ([[User talk:Bppubjr|talk]]) 14:48, 1 July 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> &quot;People is dumb.&quot; [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.164|173.245.52.164]]<br /> <br /> All the (admittedly online) IQ tests I've done have always been focussed on logic, mental manipulation of shapes, maths, deduction etc. While this favours those with a certain type of brain, I can't help but think it is heavily biased against those with creative types of thinking. Hand me a paintbrush and canvas, and my logical brain is of no help at all --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:17, 20 October 2014 (UTC)<br /> :Intelligence is the ability of learning, the use of logic and solving problems. While being creative is good, necessary and a very useful thing by itself, is NOT intelligence. So a person could be creative and being dumb at the same time, or the opposite. Also, there are not different kind of brains. The whole left-brain vs right-brain thing is a myth: http://www.livescience.com/39373-left-brain-right-brain-myth.html [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.29|173.245.48.29]] 21:07, 25 March 2015 (UTC)<br /> <br /> <br /> Not XKCD's best work. This is a normal response that smarter people initially feel when encountering others, having taking themselves as the baseline. This actually reflects a lack of elitism, where you expect other people to be the same as you and are surprised they are not (pretty much the opposite as portrayed here). Case in point is Freeman Dyson. Here's an excerpt from the Atlantic Monthly piece on him:<br /> <br /> The prodigy in question, Freeman Dyson, now middle-aged, stared ahead, his incessant concentration on the road unbroken. He seemed mesmerized by the oncoming pavement, or by some idea or formulation glimpsed in the immateriality beyond the pavement. I asked him whether as a boy he had speculated much about his gift. Had he asked himself why he had this special power? Why he was so bright?<br /> <br /> Dyson is almost infallibly a modest and self-effacing man, but tonight his eyes were blank with fatigue, and his answer was uncharacteristic.<br /> <br /> “That’s not how the question phrases itself,” he said. “The question is: why is everyone else so stupid?”<br /> <br /> [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.124|108.162.241.124]] 00:41, 6 November 2015 (UTC)<br /> <br /> '''386 + 1000?'''<br /> <br /> In Duty Calls (386) http://http://xkcd.com/386/ people were just wrong. Fast forward 1000 strips and they are stupid. [[User:Hananc|Hananc]] ([[User talk:Hananc|talk]]) 13:55, 23 July 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> <br /> I disagree with the author here. Due to ambiguities of language it can correctly be said that most people are stupid. On one hand, we have the strict definition of average intelligence: it is defined by the intelligence of the average. If, however, one defines intelligence based on each person's average use of what they have, well, averaged over time, most people don't use what they have. That is why I assert that most people are stupid: because they have the ability to be average or above, but in practice their lack of thinking leads to decisions as bad of those who would score far worse on any real or theoretically perfect test.<br /> <br /> note: The form of testing and its accuracy is irrelevant. It's just a score generated by a process.<br /> <br /> [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.16|172.68.174.16]] 07:37, 13 November 2018 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Anybody else notice how '''TRIGGER WARNING: DO NOT READ IF YOU CAN'T TAKE CRITICISM''' might be proving [[White Hat]]'s idea right? Just look at the arguments! Note: While not all people are stupid, a moderate percentage of internet contributers have been observed to act stupidly.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.21|108.162.242.21]] 19:50, 6 November 2019 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == Analysis of definitions ==<br /> <br /> 1. &quot;People are X&quot; can mean either &quot;all people are X&quot; (1a) or &quot;most people possess the property Y at least to the degree X&quot; (1b), in this case &quot; a majority of people are unintelligent enough to be called stupid&quot;<br /> <br /> 2. &quot;Stupid&quot; can mean &quot;below average intelligence&quot; (2a) or &quot;less smart than a reference value (ex. the intelligence of the speaker, or how intelligent the speaker would like humans to be, or than required to deal with a task or problem at hand)&quot; (2b).<br /> <br /> Now we just need to go through the combinations of the definitions.<br /> <br /> 1a/2a. All people have intelligence below average. Impossible by definition of &quot;average&quot;.<br /> <br /> 1b/2a. A majority of people have below average intelligence. Possible if the distribution curve is skewed, i.e. if most people have intelligence slightly below average and some people are a lot smarter than the average. My sample, however, says that the opposite is the case, though it might also be skewed in respect to general population.<br /> <br /> 1a/2b. No people are smart enough for X. Possible depending on the definition of &quot;enough&quot;. The speaker is very probably not the smartest human being in existence, but some statements such as &quot;no living human have demonstrated enough intelligence to formulate a definite proof of Riemann hypothesis as of yet&quot; are objectively true.<br /> <br /> 1b/2b. Most people are not smart enough for X. Again possible depending on the definition, moreso as most if not all problems could be solved well enough if all or most people just cooperated better and prioritized the global good over their own.<br /> <br /> Therefore, the statement can be fine as long as the speaker has a good reason to say it in a particular context and/or includes himself in it. In any other case, Cueball's reaction is justified. {{unsigned ip|172.68.65.20|16:45, 10 February 2021}}<br /> <br /> I have to disagree with this comic. Yes, on average, people are of average intelligence. However, if the average intelligence is &quot;stupid&quot;, then the average person is stupid. [[User:R3TRI8UTI0N|R3TRI8UTI0N]] ([[User talk:R3TRI8UTI0N|talk]]) 00:11, 30 March 2023 (UTC)<br /> :As long as you're happy with calling half* of all people ''very'' stupid.<br /> :* - Or you could be mean and assume it's an extreme outlier dragging the number down.<br /> :Which begs the question how smart one needs to be to be considered smart. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.56|172.70.85.56]] 00:49, 30 March 2023 (UTC)</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3179:_Fishing&diff=401463 2025-12-13T19:43:40Z

<p>78.144.255.82: </p> <hr /> <div>&lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&gt;<br /> The tug on a fishing line would be measured in newtons, not kilograms. [[Special:Contributions/76.187.17.7|76.187.17.7]] 04:30, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : It's at least a C+ [[Special:Contributions/65.35.15.18|65.35.15.18]] 05:12, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : Yes, but he is not measuring the force, he is measuring the &quot;weight&quot; (mass) of the thing he thinks he hooked. (e.g. a 5 lb fish)[[Special:Contributions/2603:8000:5E00:2913:EE02:2D56:E960:2CDE|2603:8000:5E00:2913:EE02:2D56:E960:2CDE]] 05:21, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::[[123:_Centrifugal_Force]] --[[Special:Contributions/88.65.244.212|88.65.244.212]] 20:18, 12 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::He can't be weighing the object, it is under water. He can only be estimating its mass. BTW, the Earth is weightless, as it is in free fall. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 15:02, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> <br /> YAY BERET GUY![[User:Mathmaster|Mathmaster]] ([[User talk:Mathmaster|talk]])<br /> <br /> Beret Guy's estimate is, of course, absurd (or it would be for anyone else). His lifting capacity, the breaking points of his line and rod, the buoyancy of his boat and the force to break loose an individual piece of rock (the lowest of which would mark the upper bounds for his estimate) are (many) orders of magnitude lower than the force required to haul a 10^24 kg catch into the boat [citation needed, I guess] [[User:627235|627235]] ([[User talk:627235|talk]]) 11:42, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :He's not saying that he can reel it in, just estimating the size of the &quot;fish&quot; he's hooked. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:57, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :When he pulls, there is a little bit of give (infinitesimal) as the planet moves - he might be sensing that and estimating based on it. Assuming you know the properties of the fishing line, like its stretch, and of the boat's surface area, buoyancy. I don't see why it wouldn't be possible to estimate given perfect knowledge of the water, boat, line, forces, etc, even if the Earth is much more massive than the boat being pulled downwards [[User:R128|R128]] ([[User talk:R128|talk]]) 15:22, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :At that massive scale, wouldn’t the upper bound of weight he could detect the buoyancy of the boat - beyond that he is no longer pulling anything up, but pulling himself down - so that the resistance he feels is the buoyancy keeping the boat up? [[Special:Contributions/71.17.36.59|71.17.36.59]] 16:18, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :You have to have a 'feel' for the potential elongation of the line (which depends a bit upon knowing how much you've deployed), the properties of the rod and (at least for fish, which weigh 'nothing', when they wish to be neutrally buoyant, but have a muscle-related resistive power and a degree of swim-bladder 'weight adjustment) the pseudo-weight that a given size of likely catch (of a likely species) fights against your line-tug with. You can get fooled that a static-snag is actively fighting you if you think you're ''only'' dealing with a fairly shallow fish when you've managed to snag onto something somewhat deeper so that the resonance of your attempts to pull give you the feeling of a reaction that's more just some kind of Young's Modulus/Hooke's Law artefact. It all feels completely different from a fish finally wrested entirely out of the water, and even allows a catch that's heavier than the eventual breaking-stress of your line (or weight+its effort to be greater than that) to be gradually played towards you while in the water, tiring it and bringing it into reach of your grasp/catch-net that will do the actual work of landing it.<br /> :Though, in this case, I think that Beret Guy ''knows'' how much line he is using/etc, and that he's hooked a planet (however that feels) rather than a more actively resisting (and tiring) seacreature. But by the ''very subtle'' reaction of the body to 'test tugs' (accounting for how this also moves the boat) he has correctly (within an order of magnitude!) assessed its 'dry mass'.<br /> :(A cynic might ask what ''other'' masses he might have caught, between Earth-sized and the next most massive mass that's hookable in this manner... a large part of the Titanic..? Having established that it 'tugs back' more than the latter, then Earth would be the only logical target to lead to such a 'logical guess' of mass. Though even establishing that it isn't a massive shipwreck probably needs extremely well tuned supersenses to rule out. So we can probably still consider it a preternatural Skill Of Beret Guy, even to do that.) [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 19:56, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Planets don't have a catch size limit. By definition, a planet has cleared its neighborhood, meaning there's no need to maintain a breeding population. Now, dwarf planets and small solar system bodies are a different story, and the rules are rather strict. [[Special:Contributions/209.188.63.98|209.188.63.98]] 19:08, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :I don't know whether you're ''supposed'' to throw planets back, if they're too small, but everybody knows that ''nobody tosses a dwarf''... [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 22:11, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :: Throwing planets back can have catastrophic effects on the local neighbourhood if you're not very careful about ''how'' you throw them back. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 09:40, 12 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Beret Guy is surprisingly inaccurate on this one. You'd need to divide the actual weight of Earth by 6 to his estimated weight. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#FF0000&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#00873E&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 19:23, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : I was wondering about that, and at first considered that he was either only referring to the mass of the Earth's crust (two orders of magnitude lighter), or including the mantle (factor or 4 heavier). Both options are way off. It's probably just a Fermi estimate. [[Special:Contributions/2A02:590:1200:E001:EC09:A5D:4C27:42F3|2A02:590:1200:E001:EC09:A5D:4C27:42F3]] 21:32, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : He did say it was *at least* 10^24, which is not wrong... But you're right, he is off by quite a bit. [[User:R128|R128]] ([[User talk:R128|talk]]) 13:44, 12 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :: I'd like to see you do any better. ;) [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 19:31, 12 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::: Just gave a rock a tug. Feels like six trillion trillion kilos, roughly. lmao [[User:R128|R128]] ([[User talk:R128|talk]]) 20:03, 12 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Any reason to believe this is an ocean instead of a lake? I changed the transcript to make it more generic, but like &quot;seafloor&quot; better than &quot;bottom,&quot; so would change it back if there is some reason to know it is an ocean. [[User:Bobthegoat123|Bobthegoat123]] ([[User talk:Bobthegoat123|talk]]) 19:48, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Has anyone considered that Beret Guy might be fishing on a different PLANET entirely? That would the explain the different mass he found. [[Special:Contributions/47.152.132.12|47.152.132.12]] 19:03, 12 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :What different mass? &quot;At least 10&lt;sup&gt;24&lt;/sup&gt; kilograms&quot; is pretty darn close. ''And'' not even slightly excessive. Seems like a (very) good estimate of the Earth's mass to me. [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 19:29, 12 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :: The Earth's mass is 5.97 x 10&lt;sup&gt;24&lt;/sup&gt; kilograms. The actual mass of the Earth is around 6 times 10&lt;sup&gt;24&lt;/sup&gt;. [[Special:Contributions/47.152.132.12|47.152.132.12]] 03:25, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::: Yes, pretty darned close, given the magnitude. Almost 97% the same, comparing ln/ln. [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 19:43, 13 December 2025 (UTC)</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1561:_Water_Phase_Diagram&diff=401460 2025-12-13T19:24:54Z

<p>78.144.255.82: If we're differentiating... not much actual chemistry, there, that isn't more like (material) physics.</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 1561<br /> | date = August 7, 2015<br /> | title = Water Phase Diagram<br /> | image = water_phase_diagram.png<br /> | titletext = Vanilla Ice was produced in small quantities for years, but it wasn't until the 90s that experimenters collaborated to produce a sample that could survive at room temperature for several months. <br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> This is a modified version of the {{w|phase diagram}} for {{w|water}}. A &quot;phase diagram&quot; is a chart that shows the states, or &quot;phases&quot;, that a substance will be in under various temperatures and pressures. {{w|Ice#Phases|Water's phases}} are particularly well-studied; on the [https://webhome.phy.duke.edu/~hsg/363/table-images/water-phase-diagram.gif real phase diagram for water], there are a great many phases listed.<br /> <br /> Most people are familiar with three phases of water — solid ({{w|ice}}), liquid (water), and gas ({{w|Water vapor|vapour}}) — and with the fact that an increase in temperature will cause water to change from one state to another. The gas and liquid phases are quite straightforward; however, there is in fact not one single solid phase of water, but a variety of numbered phases (&quot;ice I&quot; through &quot;ice XVI&quot; are currently recognized), several of which are divided into sub-categories. Ordinary, everyday ice that forms on most parts of the Earth's surface is known as &quot;{{w|Ice Ih|ice I&lt;sub&gt;h&lt;/sub&gt;}}&quot; (&quot;ice one-h&quot;). Most of the more unusual forms of ice only form under very {{w|high pressure}}.<br /> <br /> [[Randall]]'s phase diagram starts out realistically, though slightly simplified in several ways. For one, ice I&lt;sub&gt;h&lt;/sub&gt; is simply called &quot;ice&quot;. It is focused in on a narrower area than the more complete diagram linked earlier; on that version, the &quot;ice V&quot; region is quite small, and &quot;ice III&quot; is barely visible, whereas both are quite plain to see on Randall's diagram. Lastly, where most phase diagrams have pressure increase upwards, Randall has the pressure scale increase downwards, this has been chosen to make it possible for the jokes to appear at the bottom of the chart. Else the comic would not be funny for the average reader.<br /> <br /> Because, as the diagram continues downwards and the pressure increases, the jokes begin. Beyond the moderately high-pressure forms of ice (ice II, III and V), a real phase diagram has ice VI; Randall has &quot;Vanilla Ice (ice VI)&quot;. {{w|Vanilla Ice}} is the stage name of a white rap/hip-hop artist from the 1990s; the initials of Vanilla Ice, and the Roman numeral six, are both VI. Vanilla Ice's biggest hit, &quot;{{w|Ice Ice Baby}}&quot;, used samples from the earlier song &quot;{{w|Under Pressure}}&quot;, by {{w|David Bowie}} and {{w|Queen (band)|Queen}}; accordingly, on Randall's diagram, the &quot;Vanilla Ice&quot; region transitions to &quot;David Bowie &amp; Queen&quot; when it is under (even higher) pressure.<br /> <br /> Further references to &quot;Ice Ice Baby&quot; are found in the title text. Near the beginning of the song, Vanilla Ice raps the line, &quot;All right stop, collaborate and listen&quot;. The unusual choice of &quot;collaborate&quot; in this line has made it memorable, and the word is used in the title text (in a more typical context). The phrase &quot;survive at room temperature for several months&quot; is likely a reference to &quot;Ice Ice Baby&quot; being Vanilla Ice's only major hit, humorously suggesting he faded out of the public view after a few months of fame. Finally, even the word &quot;sample&quot; may be deliberately chosen as a reference to the sampling of &quot;Under Pressure&quot;. &quot;Ice Ice Baby&quot; was written in 1983, but in {{w|Ice_Ice_Baby#Lyrics_and_music|1990}} Vanilla Ice finally admitted that he used unmodified samples from &quot;Under Pressure&quot; and paid royalties to Queen and Bowie. The title text of [[1434: Where Do Birds Go]] whimsically suggests another possible phase of water/ice.<br /> <br /> Randall has referenced &quot;Ice Ice Baby&quot; and &quot;Under Pressure&quot;, separately and together, on many previous occasions, notably in [[159: Boombox]] and [[210: 90's Flowchart]]. The gag of having the performers of &quot;Under Pressure&quot; also being literally under pressure was also used in [[1040: Lakes and Oceans]]. The ''[[what if? (blog)|what if?]]'' that was current at the time of this comic's publication was [https://what-if.xkcd.com/138/ 138: Jupiter Submarine], which began with an even more fanciful phase diagram: that of a submarine. It also contains a reference to the songs &quot;Under Pressure&quot; and &quot;Ice Ice Baby&quot; in one figure, and &quot;Can't Touch This&quot; by M.C. Hammer in the title text of that figure (which generated similar controversy for sampling &quot;Superfreak&quot; by Rick James).<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[A phase diagram is shown with eight labeled regions.]<br /> <br /> :[The horizontal axis, increasing in value to the right is labeled:]<br /> :Temperature<br /> <br /> :[The vertical axis, increasing in value downwards is labeled:]<br /> :Pressure<br /> <br /> :[Region alongside the &quot;Pressure&quot; axis covering about half of its length is labeled:]<br /> :Ice<br /> <br /> :[Region spanning top-right corner of graph, i.e. higher temperatures and lower pressures. The region is labeled:]<br /> :Water vapor<br /> <br /> :[Region below &quot;Water vapor&quot; and to the right of &quot;Ice&quot; is labeled:]<br /> :Liquid water<br /> <br /> :[Three small regions below &quot;Ice&quot; are going from left to right on the same pressure region, the last ending just under &quot;Liquid water&quot;. They are each labeled:]<br /> :Ice II<br /> :Ice III<br /> :Ice V<br /> <br /> :[Region below &quot;Ice II&quot;, &quot;Ice III&quot;, &quot;Ice V&quot; and &quot;Liquid water&quot; is labeled:]<br /> :Vanilla Ice<br /> :(Ice VI)<br /> <br /> :[Below &quot;Vanilla Ice&quot; there is a dashed line with two arrows pointing downwards. The region below the dashed line is labeled:]<br /> :David Bowie &amp; Queen<br /> <br /> ==Trivia==<br /> [[File:WaterPhaseEdit.png|frame|A lower-contrast version of the original image, showing [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phase_diagram_of_water.svg the real phase diagram for water] from Wikipedia.]]<br /> In the [(explainxkcd.com link) original version of the comic], a small image was faintly visible just below and to the right of the &quot;Water vapor&quot; label. It appeared to be a copy of an actual [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phase_diagram_of_water.svg phase diagram for water from Wikipedia]. The image has since been removed, lending support to speculation that it was an error (perhaps an image Randall referred to in drawing the comic, but accidentally left in the final result). Alternatively, it may have been deliberate—suggestions include its presence being a '''water'''mark, or a reference to the &quot;Full text of the Wikipedia article on pareidolia&quot; joke in the [[1551: Pluto]] comic.<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> [[Category: Charts]]<br /> [[Category: Music]]<br /> [[Category:Physics]]<br /> [[Category:Comics edited after their publication]]</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1729:_Migrating_Geese&diff=401459 2025-12-13T19:21:54Z

<p>78.144.255.82: /* Table of labels */ Being slightly pedantic, for the sake (or annoyance, depending upon their nationalist tendencies) of the Northern Irish.</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 1729<br /> | date = September 5, 2016<br /> | title = Migrating Geese<br /> | image = migrating_geese.png<br /> | titletext = &quot;Hey guys! I have a great idea for a migration!&quot; &quot;Dammit, Kevin.&quot;<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{w|Bird migration|Migrating}} refers to the changing of a habitat, which happens every year with birds like {{w|geese}} that travel long distances to avoid cold seasons and get back to the food in the summer time. When geese fly to their new habitat, they tend to fly in a very clear {{w|V formation}}. The V formation improves the efficiency of flying birds, particularly over long migratory routes. All the birds except the first fly in the upwash from one of the wingtip vortices of the bird ahead. The upwash assists each bird except for the &quot;leading&quot; one in supporting its own weight in flight, saving them up to 20% of the energy needed.<br /> <br /> It should be noted that geese do have family structures with adult geese in &quot;alpha&quot; positions, but not a strict ranking order. An individual's position in formation flights is coincidental and constantly changing, so that the goose at the point of the formation can pull back and rest in the V wings while others &quot;lead&quot; the skein. Popular earlier beliefs about an &quot;alpha goose&quot; heading a formation for the entire flight is a myth, easily disproved by watching geese formations in flight. <br /> <br /> This comic shows such a formation with 20 geese, with several geese and areas in the V formation labeled, giving different roles to the geese and assigning these areas a new meaning. See the [[#Table of labels|table below]].<br /> <br /> Apart from a &quot;twin engine&quot; goose in the bottom right arm of the V the only part of the formation that would not normally be seen is Kevin, who flies off at a 45-degree angle. In that direction there is no aerodynamic help from the other birds, and in the title text the rest of the geese also exclaim, &quot;Dammit, Kevin&quot; when he (again?) tells them that he has a great new idea for a migration (maybe referring to the new direction). This is either a reference to the fact that migrating birds manage to consistently arrive in the same general area every year, or to the way that vacations are sometimes suggested (by humans): &quot;I thought of an idea for a vacation...&quot; This was only the second time the name Kevin was used in xkcd for a fictive person, see more in [[1795:_All_You_Can_Eat#Kevin|this trivia]].<br /> <br /> ===Table of labels===<br /> {| class=&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> !Name<br /> !Explanation<br /> |-<br /> |Head Goose<br /> (4th in line to the British throne)<br /> |Supposedly, this goose is in line to become the newest monarch of the United Kingdom after the deaths of the three (humans) who were ahead of it at the time of the comic’s publication ({{w|Charles III|Charles, Prince of Wales}}; {{w|William, Prince of Wales|William, Duke of Cambridge}}; {{w|Prince George of Wales|Prince George of Cambridge}}[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Succession_to_the_British_throne]). In actuality the fourth in line to the British throne was then {{w|Princess Charlotte of Wales|Princess Charlotte of Cambridge}}. As of the death of {{w|Elizabeth II|the Queen}}, in 2022, she gained one place and the new fourth in line became {{w|Prince Louis of Wales}} (her younger brother).<br /> In North America, the best-known goose migration is that of {{w|Canada goose|Canada geese}} to the US east coast. Canada used to be part of the {{w|British Empire}} and remains a member of the {{w|Commonwealth of Nations}}, so a &quot;Canadian&quot; goose would be well situated to stand within the succession (excepting, of course, for the fact that it's a goose). As the main rules of {{w|succession to the British throne}} are being Protestant and directly related to {{w|Sophia of Hanover}}, who died in 1714, the line of succession is long. [http://www.wargs.com/essays/succession/2011.html Very long.] Though there probably aren't any geese in that list (even Catholic ones), the head goose being deemed the fourth in line (or the fourth in line being deemed a head goose) may be mocking the concept of the line of succession and/or any perception of the arbitrary nature of its membership. It could also be that, in this comic, geese have their own politics, and so the head goose is actually 4th in line to rule the geese in the United Kingdom (and possibly any other geese-realms in personal union with British geese, such as Canada)<br /> |-<br /> |Quarterback<br /> |A {{w|quarterback}} is a position in {{w|American football}}, usually placed in the second row of an American football formation, just like the associated goose. On nearly every non-kicking play, the quarterback is the player who stands behind the center and receives the ball to start the play. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually considered the leader of the team, and is often responsible for calling the play.<br /> |-<br /> |Comptroller<br /> |A {{w|comptroller}} is a position in many corporations and some governments. An officer of this title is responsible for the oversight of financial operations and ensuring that accounting is conducted accurately. <br /> |-<br /> |Migration abort goose<br /> |This might be a reference to launch abort capsules used in rockets to safely land astronauts in the case of a critical stage failure. Or it could be operated like an abort button aborting the entire migration for all geese.<br /> |-<br /> |Twin-Engine Model<br /> |This goose has two tails offset on each side of the center of the goose, instead of one tail in the middle like the rest. The &quot;tails&quot; also extend beyond the wings, which makes it look like a Twin-Engine aircraft, which has two engine nacelles: one on each wing instead of one incorporated into the single fuselage. Randall later made eight other plane/bird combinations like this in [[1824: Identification Chart]].<br /> |-<br /> |CIA Informant<br /> |A person, usually a criminal, that surreptitiously provides information to the {{w|Central Intelligence Agency}} (CIA), a foreign intelligence agency of the United States federal government. If these geese are from Canada, the CIA might have inserted an informant to be kept up to date on their activities. However, it is unlikely that the CIA would have great interest in the migratory patterns of geese.{{Citation needed}} This is also potentially a reference to the {{w|Birds aren't Real}} satirical conspiracy theory.<br /> |-<br /> |Backups<br /> |These are geese that are not used in the formation so they can replace other geese in their positions in case they have problems performing their task. This may also be a pun/joke about technology/data &quot;migrations&quot; where backups should be taken liberally due to risk of data loss.<br /> |-<br /> |Shock Front<br /> | A shock front is the front boundary of a {{w|shock wave}} created by either a {{w|sonic boom}} or another explosion in a fluid/gas. It can also refer to the shock wave itself. A V-shaped shock-wave called a '{{w|Bow shock (aerodynamics)|bow shock}}', similar in appearance to the V-shaped goose formation, is generated by a supersonic object. Since geese fly subsonically in normal circumstances {{Citation needed}}, they do not generate a shock wave. But of course, this set of geese may be somewhat different considering the involvement of CIA and stealth technology.<br /> |-<br /> |Missing Valence Geese<br /> |In Chemistry, {{w|Valence (chemistry)|valence}} electrons are the electrons in the outermost &quot;layer&quot; which change places when chemical reactions happen. As there is an optimal number of electrons in a layer, if there are missing valence electrons, atoms which can fill in these gaps tend to react with the atoms having the missing electrons. In case of &quot;electron sharing&quot; (aka covalent bond) molecules result from such an encounter. The comic suggests a second geese formation that has proper &quot;valence geese&quot; in the appropriate position could bond (=merge) with this one into a larger formation. A normal geese V formation like the one in the comic has one side longer than the other and this is possibly Randall's explanation for the phenomenon.<br /> In reality, geese do form V-shaped flocks, since the rear geese can profit aerodynamically from the vortices created by the front geese, and that way the overall flock requires less energy. So there is actually some evolutionary sense for additional geese to fill the &quot;valence holes&quot;. It is thus a little weird that there are two backup geese close to these valence vacancies, as they should then have filled them up...<br /> |-<br /> |Stealth cargo being escorted <br /> |The formation is forming a protective surrounding around an empty space in the middle which in a military formation could contain protected cargo. As there is no cargo visible in the geese formation, it is titled &quot;{{w|Stealth technology|stealth}}&quot;. This would be a nice [[:Category:Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theory]] to spread.<br /> |-<br /> |Kevin<br /> |An obnoxious blowhard who insists on trying new, poorly thought-out ideas, completely ignorant no one else in the group wants to try it out with him. &quot;Kevin&quot; is an internet meme (especially in Europe) where it's the stereotypical name of the village idiot. Kevin is usually urged to stop talking, ironically congratulated, etc. It’s due to the fact that this name was given [https://www.quora.com/Why-does-the-name-Kevin-have-so-many-negative-connotations-in-modern-Germany-Is-it-really-because-of-Kevin-Costner mainly in low socioeconomic class] (so Kevins will probably have poor education) and possibly because it was [https://translate.google.fr/translate?sl=fr&amp;tl=en&amp;js=y&amp;prev=_t&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;u=http%3A%2F%2Fprenoms.doctissimo.fr%2Ftop-prenoms-annee-1991.html&amp;edit-text=&amp;act=url way too common around the ’90s].<br /> <br /> Around the time of this comic's release Kevin was a &quot;go-to name&quot; for [[Randall]], seen in [[1719: Superzoom]] as well as What-If #83 as a placeholder name for the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.<br /> <br /> The name may also be a reference to the intelligent and playful bird [http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Kevin Kevin], from the Disney/Pixar movie {{w|Up (movie)|Up}}, or [https://youtu.be/OyqdoxTEmdg Kevin] from {{w|South Park}}. “Dammit, Kevin” may be a reference to the meme [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/moon-moon Moon Moon], a mentally-challenged wolf whose pack (along with other animals) responds to his strange actions with “God dammit, Moon Moon”.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[Caption above the panel:]<br /> :Understanding Migration of Geese<br /> <br /> :[20 geese are shown flying in a typical migratory V-formation. As they are shown in silhouette it is not possible to determine if they are seen from above or from below. They are flying toward the top of the image with the first goose close to the top in the middle of the image. There is one head goose, and then there are 7 geese in the left arms and 9 geese in the right arm. Behind the left arm there are two stragglers that are not in line with the others, but closer to the middle than those above and not as close to each other as the rest but still flying in the same direction. Finally there is one goose at the bottom right corner flying at a 45 degree angle away from the other to the right. The first goose is flapping its wing, which is also the case with six other geese, no. 4 and 6 in the left and 3, 5 and 6 in the right arm as well as the middle of the two in the rear towards the middle. The rest are soaring with straight wings and all of these look the same except no. 7 in the right arm which has two tails, which both goes ahead of the wings, making it look like a plane with two engines. The head goose and 5 of the 9 geese in the right arm as well as the one bottom right are labelled with and arrow pointing to them from the label. The front goose has the label in front to the left, the other have it in front to the right, except the second last in the arm which has the label inside the V and one flying away which has the label right above it. The two behind and right of the left arm have one label behind them with two arrows from the label pointing at both geese. There is a thick curvy line in front of geese no. 3 to 5 in the left arm. In front of that line is a thinner broken line. In front of this is a label written with the same curvature. There are two areas surrounded by dotted lines. The first one is behind the last of the left arms geese, extending in the same direction for a distance of about two geese. It has a label above and left with and arrow pointing to it. The other area is in the middle of the V forming a loose triangular structure with a label inside.]<br /> :Head goose: Head goose &lt;small&gt;(4&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt; in line to the British throne)&lt;/small&gt;<br /> :Right no. 1: Quarterback<br /> :Right no. 3: Comptroller<br /> :Right no. 5: Migration abort goose<br /> :Right no. 7: Twin-engine model<br /> :Right no. 8: CIA informant<br /> :Bottom right corner: Kevin<br /> :Behind center: Backups<br /> :In front of left no. 3-5: Shock front<br /> :Empty area behind left arm: Missing valence geese<br /> :Empty area in center: Stealth cargo being escorted<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> <br /> [[Category:Animals]]<br /> [[Category:American football]]<br /> [[Category:Aviation]]</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3180:_Apples&diff=401422 2025-12-13T01:07:34Z

<p>78.144.255.82: </p> <hr /> <div>&lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&gt;<br /> <br /> As heretical as it is, I almost want to keep the explanation just like this [[User:KelOfTheStars!|KelOfTheStars!]] ([[User talk:KelOfTheStars!|talk]]) 00:09, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I wasnt going to ruin it, when I saw it like that. But now it's been expanded, I've added in my own thoughts on the subject. Namely elemental number-theory, i.e. the possibility of counting any item just like you count any other item, plus what's going on with the title text, including a slightly kludgy call-back to the fact that (''to have a budget'', that must have people succesfully counting expenditures and purchased values) the Exp. Maths Dept. has clearly trained people in the use of numbers enough for them to now be awkwardly snapping at the heels of the EMD querying the justifiability of at least one of their ongoing studies. (Not sure how long my thoughts will actually last, though, in the light of further editing. But I hope at least some of what I'm getting at will be successfully distilled into any more succinct version.) [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 01:05, 13 December 2025 (UTC)</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3180:_Apples&diff=401421 2025-12-13T01:05:55Z

<p>78.144.255.82: </p> <hr /> <div>&lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&gt;<br /> <br /> As heretical as it is, I almost want to keep the explanation just like this [[User:KelOfTheStars!|KelOfTheStars!]] ([[User talk:KelOfTheStars!|talk]]) 00:09, 13 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I wasnt going to ruin it, when I saw it like that. But now it's been expanded, I've added in my own thoughts on the subject. Namely elemental number-theory, i.e. the possibility of counting any item just like you count any other item, plus what's going on with the title text, including a slightly kludgy call-back to the fact that (''to have a budget'', that must have people succesfully counting expenditures and purchased values) the Exp. Maths Dept. has clearly trained people in the use of numbers enough for them to now be awkwardly snapping at the heels of the EMD querying the justifiability of at least one of their ongoing studies. [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 01:05, 13 December 2025 (UTC)</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3180:_Apples&diff=401417 2025-12-13T00:57:43Z

<p>78.144.255.82: /* Explanation */ Title text. Too wordy?</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 3180<br /> | date = December 12, 2025<br /> | title = Apples<br /> | image = apples_2x.png<br /> | imagesize = 263x364px<br /> | noexpand = true<br /> | titletext = The experimental math department's budget is under scrutiny for how much they've been spending on trains leaving Chicago at 9:00pm traveling at 45 mph.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|This page was created BY 7+5=13 APPLES. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br /> <br /> In the comic, a group of three &quot;experimental mathematicians&quot; has experimentally confirmed the answer to a math story problem that might normally appear in elementary school: &quot;If Cueball has seven apples and Hairbun has five, how many apples are there?&quot; Cueball counts the two groups of apples and states that the total is twelve. Blondie agrees that this is noteworthy. <br /> <br /> Most people with a basic level of math would represent this as 7+5=12 and be confident of the answer without needing to count groups of physical objects. However, the title text states that there is an entire experimental math department dedicated to testing out common story problems in the real world, as if there was some doubt that {{w|Number theory|the theories}} were sound.<br /> <br /> It may also be an allusion to the most basic step of human mathematics, that of realising that seven of ''any'' conceived item plus five more of it will be twelve such items in total, and that numbers alone can therefore represent items without there ''being'' actual items to prove their own totals. {{w|History of ancient numeral systems#Clay tokens|Early accounting methods}} initially used proxy representations of the items, in a form of hybrid literal/symbolic manner, which meant that the combining of numbers of apples and combining numbers of livestock could be considered almost as different concepts, even though they had the same total sum applied only to different products.<br /> <br /> It is possible that this Experimental Mathematics department has been working on this particular level of problem, as part of a mostly pre-mathematical culture. They are just now checking that 7 apples plus 5 apples equals 12 apples, after perhaps extrapolating from the recently confirmed fact that (e.g.) 7 sheep plus 5 sheep equals 12 sheep. Their theory that this extends to apples (and any other items they have tested before this point) has so far not managed to support the {{w|null hypothesis}} in which it might not.<br /> <br /> Many branches of science have a known division between the empirical approach (gathering direct evidence or practically demonstrating that something works) and the theoretical (developing abstract models that fit the available information without fully testing them). High-quality experiments tend to be difficult and expensive, so rigorous testing is normally reserved for problems that someone considers sufficiently important or interesting. Math often deals with numbers and situations that cannot be reliably reproduced. The department's focus on confirming what most people already know may face difficulties when applying for grant funding.<br /> <br /> On top of the simple problem that requires simple addition (and possibly subtraction) to fully understand the answer of, the title text goes on to cover a slightly more complicated schoolroom mathematical problem, one which generally requires at least some understanding of multiplication and division (though more advanced problems of this type might require moving into the realms of algebra, and the nature of {{w|System of equations|simultaneous equations}} in particular). These may take the analagous form of a train (or other vehicle) setting off at a given time and constant speed along a given hypothetical route, and comparing that against other trips made to/from the same location. As with the hyper-practical experimentations with the number of apples, these more advanced queries are being investigated by directly examining the real-world incarnations of the terms of the problem. It seems that enough identical repetitions have been attempted, at least of a particular Chicago-departing rail service, to have worried those who oversee the financial accounts. (Presumably the accountants at least know enough about numbers to know that the acceptible number of purchased train tickets plus yet more purchased train tickets is adding up to more train tickets purchased than the accountants can consider to be justified.)<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> {{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}&lt;noinclude&gt;</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3180:_Apples&diff=401416 2025-12-13T00:39:02Z

<p>78.144.255.82: /* Explanation */</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 3180<br /> | date = December 12, 2025<br /> | title = Apples<br /> | image = apples_2x.png<br /> | imagesize = 263x364px<br /> | noexpand = true<br /> | titletext = The experimental math department's budget is under scrutiny for how much they've been spending on trains leaving Chicago at 9:00pm traveling at 45 mph.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|This page was created BY 7+5=13 APPLES. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br /> <br /> In the comic, a group of three &quot;experimental mathematicians&quot; has experimentally confirmed the answer to a math story problem that might normally appear in elementary school: &quot;If Cueball has seven apples and Hairbun has five, how many apples are there?&quot; Cueball counts the two groups of apples and states that the total is twelve. Blondie agrees that this is noteworthy. <br /> <br /> Most people with a basic level of math would represent this as 7+5=12 and be confident of the answer without needing to count groups of physical objects. However, the title text states that there is an entire experimental math department dedicated to testing out common story problems in the real world, as if there was some doubt that {{w|Number theory|the theories}} were sound.<br /> <br /> It may also be an allusion to the most basic step of human mathematics, that of realising that seven of ''any'' conceived item plus five more of it will be twelve such items in total, and that numbers alone can therefore represent items without there ''being'' actual items to prove their own totals. {{w|History of ancient numeral systems#Clay tokens|Early accounting methods}} initially used proxy representations of the items, in a form of hybrid literal/symbolic manner, which meant that the combining of numbers of apples and combining numbers of livestock could be considered almost as different concepts, even though they had the same total sum applied only to different products.<br /> <br /> It is possible that this Experimental Mathematics department has been working on this particular level of problem, as part of a mostly pre-mathematical culture. They are just now checking that 7 apples plus 5 apples equals 12 apples, after perhaps extrapolating from the recently confirmed fact that (e.g.) 7 sheep plus 5 sheep equals 12 sheep. Their theory that this extends to apples (and any other items they have tested before this point) has so far not managed to support the {{w|null hypothesis}} in which it might not.<br /> <br /> Many branches of science have a known division between the empirical approach (gathering direct evidence or practically demonstrating that something works) and the theoretical (developing abstract models that fit the available information without fully testing them). High-quality experiments tend to be difficult and expensive, so rigorous testing is normally reserved for problems that someone considers sufficiently important or interesting. Math often deals with numbers and situations that cannot be reliably reproduced. The department's focus on confirming what most people already know may face difficulties when applying for grant funding.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> {{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}&lt;noinclude&gt;</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1292:_Pi_vs._Tau&diff=401403 2025-12-12T21:20:25Z

<p>78.144.255.82: A w-template version.</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 1292<br /> | date = November 18, 2013<br /> | title = Pi vs. Tau<br /> | image = pi vs tau.png<br /> | titletext = Conveniently approximated as e+2, Pau is commonly known as the Devil's Ratio (because in the octal expansion, '666' appears four times in the first 200 digits while no other run of 3+ digits appears more than once.)<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> This is yet another of [[Randall]]'s [[:Category:Compromise|compromise comics]]. A few mathematicians argue as to whether to use {{w|pi}}, which is the ratio between a circle's circumference and its diameter, or {{w|Turn (angle)#Proposals for a single letter to represent 2π|tau}}, which is the ratio between a circle's circumference and its radius.<br /> <br /> Some consider pi to be the wrong convention and are in favor of using tau as ''the'' circle constant; see the [http://tauday.com/tau-manifesto Tau Manifesto], which was inspired by the article &quot;[http://www.math.utah.edu/~palais/pi.html Pi is wrong!]&quot; by mathematician Robert Palais and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iUh_CSjaSw publicized by Vi Hart] (video was made private). Others consider proponents of tau to be foolish and remain loyal to pi (see the [https://proper-pi-manifesto.com/ Pi Manifesto]). Of course, regardless of which convention is used, the change is merely in notation — the underlying mathematics remains unaltered. Still, the choice of pi vs. tau can affect the clarity of equations, analogies between different equations, and how easy various subjects are to teach.<br /> <br /> Most people know π (pi) by the approximation 3.14, but do not know τ (tau) which, by definition, is twice as large as pi. Randall is suggesting using &quot;pau&quot;, which is a {{w|portmanteau}} of &quot;pi&quot; and &quot;tau&quot;, as a number situated, appropriately enough, halfway between pi and tau, i.e. 1.5 pi or 0.75 tau. But of course his number would be inconvenient, as this value does not naturally turn up when working with circles or other mathematical constructs, so there are no commonly used formulas that would use pau.<br /> <br /> The title text claims that pau can be approximated by e+2, as both values are roughly 4.71 — a similarity that holds little since it requires another irrational constant, {{w|E (mathematical constant)|e}} (although knowing the value of pau is somewhat more helpful in remembering e to 2 digits.){{Citation needed}} It also attributes the nickname &quot;Devil's Ratio&quot; to pau, due to the sequence {{w|Number of the Beast|666}} supposedly appearing four times in the first 200 digits of pau when expressed in the {{w|octal}} base. However, this is not the case, and was likely due to an error in the computer system used by WolframAlpha; for more details see below.<br /> <br /> The tau vs. pi controversy was later mentioned in [[2520: Symbols]].<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[On the left is a &quot;forbidden&quot;-style slashed circle with the π symbol, captioned &quot;Pi&quot;. On the right is a &quot;forbidden&quot;-style slashed circle with 2π, captioned &quot;Tau&quot;. Between these is 1.5π, captioned &quot;Pau&quot;.]<br /> :[Caption below the panel:]<br /> :A compromise solution to the Pi/Tau dispute<br /> <br /> ==Math details==<br /> Possibly, [[Randall]] used [http://www.wolframalpha.com/ Wolfram|Alpha] to calculate the result (he uses it a lot, for example ''{{what if|70|The Constant Groundskeeper}}'' or ''{{what if|62|Falling With Helium}}'').<br /> However, when the comic was published, there was a bug in Wolfram|Alpha so that, when getting 200 octal digits from &quot;pau&quot;, it just calculates the decimal value rounded to 15 significant digits (this is 4.71238898038469) and expands that as octal digits as far as needed.<br /> <br /> This gives a periodically repeating number. In the first 200 digits of the octal expansion, the sequences 666 and 6666 do occur, twice and once, respectively. There are 4 occurrences, however, in the first three hundred and ten (310 in base 8 equals 200 in base 10) digits:<br /> &lt;pre&gt;<br /> 4.554574376314416445676661714336617116240444076666510533533077631151350452060436452476274022621206136310000177621674175071262255702044274154476005744176002676623042402346036604733130522524127534777714554305412763636566643022106616734723661726160312772574551366370203115523402704104015532221722772357666&lt;/pre&gt;<br /> This expansion does indeed contain 666 (the {{w|Number of the beast|number of the beast}}) four times (with one instance as 6666). It also contains 0000, 222, 444, and 7777, but they only appear once in a run.<br /> <br /> In the first 500 digits of the actual octal expansion of pau, we also find that 6666 occurs once, and 666 occurs two other times:<br /> &lt;pre&gt;<br /> 4.55457437631441644323623451447505012242547157301565031476335452700304316771261165505467475703133125234035147165764643331727311243102010764472707236245737216402204376521550655442201431161557425156344621363625174410110777026111560241174471252241762037163367420573533032164702576626667446275343255043345060027305171025475041452166612112500275317166412767657355633417212140135534536541060452450664011414377406267077573054507036064406511117752700327100355213521015136220621644573043264505244325316526666260&lt;/pre&gt;<br /> (Note that this contains 500 digits after the octal point.) No other run of 3 or more repeated digits (e.g. 111) occurs as many times, although 1111 occurs once, 111 occurs once elsewhere, and 333 and 777 also occur once each. 9 other strings of 3 digits occur 4 times, namely 164, 362, 521, 644, 432, 730, 043, 216, and 450, and only 573 occurs more often, as it occurs 6 times. Therefore, if 6666 is counted as two occurrences of 666, it is actually the joint second most common string of three numbers in the first 500 digits.<br /> <br /> {{w|Mathematical coincidence|Coincidentally}}, e+2 is also very similar to 1.5 pi, although only to a few digits.<br /> &lt;pre&gt;<br /> 1.5π = 4.71238898038...<br /> e+2 = 4.71828182845...<br /> &lt;/pre&gt;<br /> <br /> ==Trivia==<br /> *For Pi, the sequence '666' occurs for the first time at position 2440. Many more occurrences can be found here: [http://www.angio.net/pi/ The Pi-Search Page].<br /> *In the discussion it has been theorized that Randall used [[356: Nerd Sniping|nerd sniping]], in which case he was aware of the mistake in Wolfram!<br /> *For an entertaining introduction to the concept of tau, see this [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG7vhMMXagQ Vi Hart video].<br /> *In March 2018 the video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcPTiiiYDs8 How pi was almost 6.283185...] was released on why Pi could just as well have been Tau (6.28), since {{w|Leonhard Euler|Euler}}, who used the letter Pi in his books, used it for both what we call Pi and Tau today... This very comic is also briefly shown in a segment regarding the controversy about these two versions of &quot;Pi&quot;.<br /> *Note that &quot;pau&quot; is Catalan for peace, which might make it a good solution for the pi/tau dispute.<br /> *Also, note that &quot;pau&quot; is the Portuguese word for &quot;stick&quot;, as well as, in Brazilian Portuguese, a very common slang for &quot;penis&quot;. This may add to the humor (although childishly) for Portuguese-speaking readers, though it is fair to presume that it was not Randall's intention to do so.<br /> *Pau is a [https://wildwoodhealth.com/pau-chinese-steam-buns/ Chinese dish], a filled bun which is round and yummy{{Citation needed}}.<br /> *Pau is also {{w|Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques|a city of south-western France}}.<br /> *Finally, &quot;pau&quot; means &quot;finished&quot; in Hawaiian.<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> <br /> [[Category:Comics with color]]<br /> [[Category:Math]]<br /> [[Category:Compromise]]</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3179:_Fishing&diff=401396 2025-12-12T19:31:46Z

<p>78.144.255.82: </p> <hr /> <div>&lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&gt;<br /> The tug on a fishing line would be measured in newtons, not kilograms. [[Special:Contributions/76.187.17.7|76.187.17.7]] 04:30, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : It's at least a C+ [[Special:Contributions/65.35.15.18|65.35.15.18]] 05:12, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : Yes, but he is not measuring the force, he is measuring the &quot;weight&quot; (mass) of the thing he thinks he hooked. (e.g. a 5 lb fish)[[Special:Contributions/2603:8000:5E00:2913:EE02:2D56:E960:2CDE|2603:8000:5E00:2913:EE02:2D56:E960:2CDE]] 05:21, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> YAY BERET GUY![[User:Mathmaster|Mathmaster]] ([[User talk:Mathmaster|talk]])<br /> <br /> Beret Guy's estimate is, of course, absurd (or it would be for anyone else). His lifting capacity, the breaking points of his line and rod, the buoyancy of his boat and the force to break loose an individual piece of rock (the lowest of which would mark the upper bounds for his estimate) are (many) orders of magnitude lower than the force required to haul a 10^24 kg catch into the boat [citation needed, I guess] [[User:627235|627235]] ([[User talk:627235|talk]]) 11:42, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :He's not saying that he can reel it in, just estimating the size of the &quot;fish&quot; he's hooked. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:57, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :When he pulls, there is a little bit of give (infinitesimal) as the planet moves - he might be sensing that and estimating based on it. Assuming you know the properties of the fishing line, like its stretch, and of the boat's surface area, buoyancy. I don't see why it wouldn't be possible to estimate given perfect knowledge of the water, boat, line, forces, etc, even if the Earth is much more massive than the boat being pulled downwards [[User:R128|R128]] ([[User talk:R128|talk]]) 15:22, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :At that massive scale, wouldn’t the upper bound of weight he could detect the buoyancy of the boat - beyond that he is no longer pulling anything up, but pulling himself down - so that the resistance he feels is the buoyancy keeping the boat up? [[Special:Contributions/71.17.36.59|71.17.36.59]] 16:18, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :You have to have a 'feel' for the potential elongation of the line (which depends a bit upon knowing how much you've deployed), the properties of the rod and (at least for fish, which weigh 'nothing', when they wish to be neutrally buoyant, but have a muscle-related resistive power and a degree of swim-bladder 'weight adjustment) the pseudo-weight that a given size of likely catch (of a likely species) fights against your line-tug with. You can get fooled that a static-snag is actively fighting you if you think you're ''only'' dealing with a fairly shallow fish when you've managed to snag onto something somewhat deeper so that the resonance of your attempts to pull give you the feeling of a reaction that's more just some kind of Young's Modulus/Hooke's Law artefact. It all feels completely different from a fish finally wrested entirely out of the water, and even allows a catch that's heavier than the eventual breaking-stress of your line (or weight+its effort to be greater than that) to be gradually played towards you while in the water, tiring it and bringing it into reach of your grasp/catch-net that will do the actual work of landing it.<br /> :Though, in this case, I think that Beret Guy ''knows'' how much line he is using/etc, and that he's hooked a planet (however that feels) rather than a more actively resisting (and tiring) seacreature. But by the ''very subtle'' reaction of the body to 'test tugs' (accounting for how this also moves the boat) he has correctly (within an order of magnitude!) assessed its 'dry mass'.<br /> :(A cynic might ask what ''other'' masses he might have caught, between Earth-sized and the next most massive mass that's hookable in this manner... a large part of the Titanic..? Having established that it 'tugs back' more than the latter, then Earth would be the only logical target to lead to such a 'logical guess' of mass. Though even establishing that it isn't a massive shipwreck probably needs extremely well tuned supersenses to rule out. So we can probably still consider it a preternatural Skill Of Beret Guy, even to do that.) [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 19:56, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Planets don't have a catch size limit. By definition, a planet has cleared its neighborhood, meaning there's no need to maintain a breeding population. Now, dwarf planets and small solar system bodies are a different story, and the rules are rather strict. [[Special:Contributions/209.188.63.98|209.188.63.98]] 19:08, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :I don't know whether you're ''supposed'' to throw planets back, if they're too small, but everybody knows that ''nobody tosses a dwarf''... [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 22:11, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :: Throwing planets back can have catastrophic effects on the local neighbourhood if you're not very careful about ''how'' you throw them back. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 09:40, 12 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Beret Guy is surprisingly inaccurate on this one. You'd need to divide the actual weight of Earth by 6 to his estimated weight. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#FF0000&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#00873E&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 19:23, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : I was wondering about that, and at first considered that he was either only referring to the mass of the Earth's crust (two orders of magnitude lighter), or including the mantle (factor or 4 heavier). Both options are way off. It's probably just a Fermi estimate. [[Special:Contributions/2A02:590:1200:E001:EC09:A5D:4C27:42F3|2A02:590:1200:E001:EC09:A5D:4C27:42F3]] 21:32, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : He did say it was *at least* 10^24, which is not wrong... But you're right, he is off by quite a bit. [[User:R128|R128]] ([[User talk:R128|talk]]) 13:44, 12 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :: I'd like to see you do any better. ;) [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 19:31, 12 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Any reason to believe this is an ocean instead of a lake? I changed the transcript to make it more generic, but like &quot;seafloor&quot; better than &quot;bottom,&quot; so would change it back if there is some reason to know it is an ocean. [[User:Bobthegoat123|Bobthegoat123]] ([[User talk:Bobthegoat123|talk]]) 19:48, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Has anyone considered that Beret Guy might be fishing on a different PLANET entirely? That would the explain the different mass he found. [[Special:Contributions/47.152.132.12|47.152.132.12]] 19:03, 12 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :What different mass? &quot;At least 10&lt;sup&gt;24&lt;/sup&gt; kilograms&quot; is pretty darn close. ''And'' not even slightly excessive. Seems like a (very) good estimate of the Earth's mass to me. [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 19:29, 12 December 2025 (UTC)</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3179:_Fishing&diff=401395 2025-12-12T19:29:54Z

<p>78.144.255.82: </p> <hr /> <div>&lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&gt;<br /> The tug on a fishing line would be measured in newtons, not kilograms. [[Special:Contributions/76.187.17.7|76.187.17.7]] 04:30, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : It's at least a C+ [[Special:Contributions/65.35.15.18|65.35.15.18]] 05:12, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : Yes, but he is not measuring the force, he is measuring the &quot;weight&quot; (mass) of the thing he thinks he hooked. (e.g. a 5 lb fish)[[Special:Contributions/2603:8000:5E00:2913:EE02:2D56:E960:2CDE|2603:8000:5E00:2913:EE02:2D56:E960:2CDE]] 05:21, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> YAY BERET GUY![[User:Mathmaster|Mathmaster]] ([[User talk:Mathmaster|talk]])<br /> <br /> Beret Guy's estimate is, of course, absurd (or it would be for anyone else). His lifting capacity, the breaking points of his line and rod, the buoyancy of his boat and the force to break loose an individual piece of rock (the lowest of which would mark the upper bounds for his estimate) are (many) orders of magnitude lower than the force required to haul a 10^24 kg catch into the boat [citation needed, I guess] [[User:627235|627235]] ([[User talk:627235|talk]]) 11:42, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :He's not saying that he can reel it in, just estimating the size of the &quot;fish&quot; he's hooked. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:57, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :When he pulls, there is a little bit of give (infinitesimal) as the planet moves - he might be sensing that and estimating based on it. Assuming you know the properties of the fishing line, like its stretch, and of the boat's surface area, buoyancy. I don't see why it wouldn't be possible to estimate given perfect knowledge of the water, boat, line, forces, etc, even if the Earth is much more massive than the boat being pulled downwards [[User:R128|R128]] ([[User talk:R128|talk]]) 15:22, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :At that massive scale, wouldn’t the upper bound of weight he could detect the buoyancy of the boat - beyond that he is no longer pulling anything up, but pulling himself down - so that the resistance he feels is the buoyancy keeping the boat up? [[Special:Contributions/71.17.36.59|71.17.36.59]] 16:18, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :You have to have a 'feel' for the potential elongation of the line (which depends a bit upon knowing how much you've deployed), the properties of the rod and (at least for fish, which weigh 'nothing', when they wish to be neutrally buoyant, but have a muscle-related resistive power and a degree of swim-bladder 'weight adjustment) the pseudo-weight that a given size of likely catch (of a likely species) fights against your line-tug with. You can get fooled that a static-snag is actively fighting you if you think you're ''only'' dealing with a fairly shallow fish when you've managed to snag onto something somewhat deeper so that the resonance of your attempts to pull give you the feeling of a reaction that's more just some kind of Young's Modulus/Hooke's Law artefact. It all feels completely different from a fish finally wrested entirely out of the water, and even allows a catch that's heavier than the eventual breaking-stress of your line (or weight+its effort to be greater than that) to be gradually played towards you while in the water, tiring it and bringing it into reach of your grasp/catch-net that will do the actual work of landing it.<br /> :Though, in this case, I think that Beret Guy ''knows'' how much line he is using/etc, and that he's hooked a planet (however that feels) rather than a more actively resisting (and tiring) seacreature. But by the ''very subtle'' reaction of the body to 'test tugs' (accounting for how this also moves the boat) he has correctly (within an order of magnitude!) assessed its 'dry mass'.<br /> :(A cynic might ask what ''other'' masses he might have caught, between Earth-sized and the next most massive mass that's hookable in this manner... a large part of the Titanic..? Having established that it 'tugs back' more than the latter, then Earth would be the only logical target to lead to such a 'logical guess' of mass. Though even establishing that it isn't a massive shipwreck probably needs extremely well tuned supersenses to rule out. So we can probably still consider it a preternatural Skill Of Beret Guy, even to do that.) [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 19:56, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Planets don't have a catch size limit. By definition, a planet has cleared its neighborhood, meaning there's no need to maintain a breeding population. Now, dwarf planets and small solar system bodies are a different story, and the rules are rather strict. [[Special:Contributions/209.188.63.98|209.188.63.98]] 19:08, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :I don't know whether you're ''supposed'' to throw planets back, if they're too small, but everybody knows that ''nobody tosses a dwarf''... [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 22:11, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :: Throwing planets back can have catastrophic effects on the local neighbourhood if you're not very careful about ''how'' you throw them back. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 09:40, 12 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Beret Guy is surprisingly inaccurate on this one. You'd need to divide the actual weight of Earth by 6 to his estimated weight. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#FF0000&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#00873E&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 19:23, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : I was wondering about that, and at first considered that he was either only referring to the mass of the Earth's crust (two orders of magnitude lighter), or including the mantle (factor or 4 heavier). Both options are way off. It's probably just a Fermi estimate. [[Special:Contributions/2A02:590:1200:E001:EC09:A5D:4C27:42F3|2A02:590:1200:E001:EC09:A5D:4C27:42F3]] 21:32, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : He did say it was *at least* 10^24, which is not wrong... But you're right, he is off by quite a bit. [[User:R128|R128]] ([[User talk:R128|talk]]) 13:44, 12 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Any reason to believe this is an ocean instead of a lake? I changed the transcript to make it more generic, but like &quot;seafloor&quot; better than &quot;bottom,&quot; so would change it back if there is some reason to know it is an ocean. [[User:Bobthegoat123|Bobthegoat123]] ([[User talk:Bobthegoat123|talk]]) 19:48, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Has anyone considered that Beret Guy might be fishing on a different PLANET entirely? That would the explain the different mass he found. [[Special:Contributions/47.152.132.12|47.152.132.12]] 19:03, 12 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :What different mass? &quot;At least 10&lt;sup&gt;24&lt;/sup&gt; kilograms&quot; is pretty darn close. ''And'' not even slightly excessive. Seems like a (very) good estimate of the Earth's mass to me. [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 19:29, 12 December 2025 (UTC)</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3179:_Fishing&diff=401394 2025-12-12T19:29:19Z

<p>78.144.255.82: </p> <hr /> <div>&lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&gt;<br /> The tug on a fishing line would be measured in newtons, not kilograms. [[Special:Contributions/76.187.17.7|76.187.17.7]] 04:30, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : It's at least a C+ [[Special:Contributions/65.35.15.18|65.35.15.18]] 05:12, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : Yes, but he is not measuring the force, he is measuring the &quot;weight&quot; (mass) of the thing he thinks he hooked. (e.g. a 5 lb fish)[[Special:Contributions/2603:8000:5E00:2913:EE02:2D56:E960:2CDE|2603:8000:5E00:2913:EE02:2D56:E960:2CDE]] 05:21, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> YAY BERET GUY![[User:Mathmaster|Mathmaster]] ([[User talk:Mathmaster|talk]])<br /> <br /> Beret Guy's estimate is, of course, absurd (or it would be for anyone else). His lifting capacity, the breaking points of his line and rod, the buoyancy of his boat and the force to break loose an individual piece of rock (the lowest of which would mark the upper bounds for his estimate) are (many) orders of magnitude lower than the force required to haul a 10^24 kg catch into the boat [citation needed, I guess] [[User:627235|627235]] ([[User talk:627235|talk]]) 11:42, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :He's not saying that he can reel it in, just estimating the size of the &quot;fish&quot; he's hooked. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:57, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :When he pulls, there is a little bit of give (infinitesimal) as the planet moves - he might be sensing that and estimating based on it. Assuming you know the properties of the fishing line, like its stretch, and of the boat's surface area, buoyancy. I don't see why it wouldn't be possible to estimate given perfect knowledge of the water, boat, line, forces, etc, even if the Earth is much more massive than the boat being pulled downwards [[User:R128|R128]] ([[User talk:R128|talk]]) 15:22, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :At that massive scale, wouldn’t the upper bound of weight he could detect the buoyancy of the boat - beyond that he is no longer pulling anything up, but pulling himself down - so that the resistance he feels is the buoyancy keeping the boat up? [[Special:Contributions/71.17.36.59|71.17.36.59]] 16:18, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :You have to have a 'feel' for the potential elongation of the line (which depends a bit upon knowing how much you've deployed), the properties of the rod and (at least for fish, which weigh 'nothing', when they wish to be neutrally buoyant, but have a muscle-related resistive power and a degree of swim-bladder 'weight adjustment) the pseudo-weight that a given size of likely catch (of a likely species) fights against your line-tug with. You can get fooled that a static-snag is actively fighting you if you think you're ''only'' dealing with a fairly shallow fish when you've managed to snag onto something somewhat deeper so that the resonance of your attempts to pull give you the feeling of a reaction that's more just some kind of Young's Modulus/Hooke's Law artefact. It all feels completely different from a fish finally wrested entirely out of the water, and even allows a catch that's heavier than the eventual breaking-stress of your line (or weight+its effort to be greater than that) to be gradually played towards you while in the water, tiring it and bringing it into reach of your grasp/catch-net that will do the actual work of landing it.<br /> :Though, in this case, I think that Beret Guy ''knows'' how much line he is using/etc, and that he's hooked a planet (however that feels) rather than a more actively resisting (and tiring) seacreature. But by the ''very subtle'' reaction of the body to 'test tugs' (accounting for how this also moves the boat) he has correctly (within an order of magnitude!) assessed its 'dry mass'.<br /> :(A cynic might ask what ''other'' masses he might have caught, between Earth-sized and the next most massive mass that's hookable in this manner... a large part of the Titanic..? Having established that it 'tugs back' more than the latter, then Earth would be the only logical target to lead to such a 'logical guess' of mass. Though even establishing that it isn't a massive shipwreck probably needs extremely well tuned supersenses to rule out. So we can probably still consider it a preternatural Skill Of Beret Guy, even to do that.) [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 19:56, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Planets don't have a catch size limit. By definition, a planet has cleared its neighborhood, meaning there's no need to maintain a breeding population. Now, dwarf planets and small solar system bodies are a different story, and the rules are rather strict. [[Special:Contributions/209.188.63.98|209.188.63.98]] 19:08, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :I don't know whether you're ''supposed'' to throw planets back, if they're too small, but everybody knows that ''nobody tosses a dwarf''... [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 22:11, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :: Throwing planets back can have catastrophic effects on the local neighbourhood if you're not very careful about ''how'' you throw them back. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 09:40, 12 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Beret Guy is surprisingly inaccurate on this one. You'd need to divide the actual weight of Earth by 6 to his estimated weight. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#FF0000&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#00873E&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 19:23, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : I was wondering about that, and at first considered that he was either only referring to the mass of the Earth's crust (two orders of magnitude lighter), or including the mantle (factor or 4 heavier). Both options are way off. It's probably just a Fermi estimate. [[Special:Contributions/2A02:590:1200:E001:EC09:A5D:4C27:42F3|2A02:590:1200:E001:EC09:A5D:4C27:42F3]] 21:32, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : He did say it was *at least* 10^24, which is not wrong... But you're right, he is off by quite a bit. [[User:R128|R128]] ([[User talk:R128|talk]]) 13:44, 12 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Any reason to believe this is an ocean instead of a lake? I changed the transcript to make it more generic, but like &quot;seafloor&quot; better than &quot;bottom,&quot; so would change it back if there is some reason to know it is an ocean. [[User:Bobthegoat123|Bobthegoat123]] ([[User talk:Bobthegoat123|talk]]) 19:48, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Has anyone considered that Beret Guy might be fishing on a different PLANET entirely? That would the explain the different mass he found. [[Special:Contributions/47.152.132.12|47.152.132.12]] 19:03, 12 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :What different mass? &quot;At least 10&lt;sup&gt;24&lt;/sup&gt; kilogras&quot; is pretty darn close. ''And'' not even slightly excessive. Seems like a (very) good estimate of the Earth's mass to me. [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 19:29, 12 December 2025 (UTC)</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:67:_Nerd_Girls&diff=401393 2025-12-12T19:22:06Z

<p>78.144.255.82: </p> <hr /> <div>On the off chance that there is an XKCD reader that isn't already familiar with it, the full text of the shirt that is only partially visible in the comic is, &quot;Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!&quot;[[User:Mwburden|mwburden]] ([[User talk:Mwburden|talk]]) 19:20, 23 October 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> : Which is itself a parody of a quote &quot;Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.&quot; (from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.236.85|108.162.236.85]] 00:59, 7 January 2016 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ; out of curiousity, how many times has this page been vandalized<br /> we all know why. {{unsigned|Headphones the stickman|18:17, 12 December 2025}}<br /> :Assuming you mean [[67: Nerd Girls]] (not [[Talk:67: Nerd Girls]], which hasn't been), it hasn't been vandalised that many times at all. And those are basically when someone vandalised ''every'' page they could, not just this.<br /> :So, no... you actually don't know why. [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 19:22, 12 December 2025 (UTC)</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3178:_Hyperacute_Interdynamics&diff=401392 2025-12-12T19:16:08Z

<p>78.144.255.82: </p> <hr /> <div>&lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&gt;<br /> Explanatings!!! &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#FF0000&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#00873E&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 02:37, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :E X P L A N A T E ! E X P L A N A T E ! E X P L A N A T E ! &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#FF0000&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#00873E&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 02:42, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::Incomprehension is futile - you will be explanated. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 09:43, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> A black hole with the mass of the sun would have a Schwarzschild radius of 2.95 km. So it would take some significant revisions to theory to accommodate a grapefruit-sized object with that mass. Perhaps if it's digested by a squirrel, it gets smaller? [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 03:32, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :hopefully quite a bit smaller, given the size of the squirrel in this example. [[User:KelOfTheStars!|KelOfTheStars!]] ([[User talk:KelOfTheStars!|talk]]) 05:15, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : Not terribly impressed with the science chops of these &quot;unifiers&quot; if they can't work out what's gonna happen here. Hint: it's no happy dance for the squirrel. [[Special:Contributions/2605:59C8:160:DB08:CDB6:FE7F:1FC9:524|2605:59C8:160:DB08:CDB6:FE7F:1FC9:524]] 16:28, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> I see this discussed quite rarely but there are actually solutions to the Einstein equations with solar masses and grapefruit sizes, like an expanding de-Sitter space. There are no stationary solutions though. {{unsigned ip|2a02:3030:a0c:e3f1:ada8:b26b:c5f5:9345|11:50, 12 December 2025}}<br /> <br /> ''Eastern Gray Squirrel.... measures 16-20 inches (approx. 40-50 centimeters) .... would be too big for Hyperacute Interdynamics (10-30cm (~4&quot;-12&quot;)) to apply.'' Clearly a squirrel's tail can be neglected (see: '''spherical cow theory'''), being a very skinny (even rat-like) whip with bulky but insignificant fritz. ''The '''head and body length''' is from 23 to 30 cm (9.1 to 11.8 in)'' -- Wikipedia ---- Also, a bit north of Randall's place, we have lots of &quot;Red Squirrels&quot; which are significantly smaller than East Gray tree-rats. ''&quot;Red squirrels are much smaller than greys and measure about 35centimetres including their tails and grow to around 350grams.&quot;'' - (YouTube) Our locals say &quot;chipmunk&quot; but I knew chipmunks from Sequoya Nat Park and these aint them. --[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 06:45, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :I'm from Randall's area and we always called chipmunks chipmunks. Yes, we heard of red squirrels, but only saw gray squirrels and chipmunks. Massachusetts has a population with steadfast opinions. Doubt it? Try driving in Boston. [[Special:Contributions/173.188.192.138|173.188.192.138]] 14:09, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : Lots of red squirrels in SE Mass (&quot;South Shore&quot;). They don't like cities much. Very intelligent animals. [[Special:Contributions/2605:59C8:160:DB08:CDB6:FE7F:1FC9:524|2605:59C8:160:DB08:CDB6:FE7F:1FC9:524]] 16:15, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::Would the tail be excluded? Yes it's an extension, but it's certainly a part of the squirrel, and as such would contribute to it's length. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#FF0000&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#00873E&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 14:36, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::[[File:Squirrel and soccer ball.png]]<br /> :::I don't think there's a prblem. When the squirrel is sat passively, it fits (roughly) within the size constraints and is therefore fully explainable via Hyperacute Interdynamics. Once it starts running around and jumping, with its tail trailing behind it, the predictive ability of theory lessens (needn't be a cliff-edge of understanding, could even smoothly sustain ''near-''perfect accuracy for the {{w|Black giant squirrel}}, at least at rest, just isn't so fundemnentally precise any more) but HI is entirely accurate again the moment it stops to nibble a nut.<br /> :::Though do squirrels eat grapefruit? (Solar-massive ones or otherwise.) I know someone left out pumpkin flesh, on a fallen tree in a woods near me, clearly from having created a Jack-O-Lantern for this year's Halloween (and apparently not thought to try making a few batches of pumpkin soup, for whatever reason), and it sat there for weeks (until it disintigrated) with no sign of either squirrels (American greys, unfortunately) or birds partaking of the 'feast'. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.236.87|82.132.236.87]] 17:55, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::Every year during Jack-o-Lantern season, squirrels are constantly trying to eat them even before they start rotting. I believe they're, once again, American Grays. They do indeed partake in feasts here, at least. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#FF0000&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#00873E&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 18:47, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::Assuming, like me, that IP is in the UK... perhaps our 'invasive' Greys (hence the 'unfortunately'?) just haven't yet got used to the proliferation of pumpkins (we always used to make do with turnips, round here, until comparatively recent absorption of the US-style traditions). And the native reds are now far less likely to be near significant population so probably don't partake very much on such human bounty. [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 19:43, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Should we think of a name for this young cueball? He's been around quite a lot but still anonymous.--[[User:Darth Vader|Darth Vader]] ([[User talk:Darth Vader|talk]]) 21:13, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Where does the &quot;three pillars&quot; of physics in the current explanation come from? I thought it was just Relativity and Quantum mechanics? Isn't thermodynamics explained by Quantum mechanics? (IMO it also makes the joke funnier if there isn't a third pillar being deleted by hyperacute interdynamics, but a third pillar made up full cloth). ([[User:Wowitschris|Wowitschris]] ([[User talk:Wowitschris|talk]]) 21:58, 9 December 2025 (UTC))<br /> <br /> I thought the third pillar would be classical physics? There doesn't seem to be an official or consensus definition of the pillars of physics (that I can find by googling), so the third may forever remain a mystery. Unless it was Hyperacute Interdynamics all along. [[Special:Contributions/70.110.132.22|70.110.132.22]] 01:52, 10 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> maybe the real third pillar was the friends we made along the way [[User:Headphones the stickman|Headphones the stickman]] ([[User talk:Headphones the stickman|talk]]) 19:47, 10 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I think &quot;hyperacute interdynamics&quot; is a reference to &quot;hyperfine interactions&quot;, which is a subject in physics that I don't know much about. {{unsigned ip|150.135.165.38|22:01, 11 December 2025}}<br /> ::Actually, it is probably a portmanteau of what you cited, &quot;thermodynamics&quot;, and something else. Any guesses where &quot;acute&quot; came from? --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 12:48, 12 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::The squirrels can be pretty a-cute.[[Special:Contributions/2601:1C2:1885:FE80:B9D2:10D5:B5BE:1E67|2601:1C2:1885:FE80:B9D2:10D5:B5BE:1E67]] 15:44, 12 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> hyper=hyper, acute=fine, inter=inter, dynamics=interactions<br /> I'm pretty sure it's a play on &quot;hyperfine interactions&quot; {{unsigned ip|150.135.165.39|17:11, 12 December 2025}}<br /> :Or, indeed &quot;hyper=hyper, acute=fine, inter=inter, dynamics=actions&quot;. [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 19:16, 12 December 2025 (UTC)</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3178:_Hyperacute_Interdynamics&diff=401354 2025-12-11T22:13:24Z

<p>78.144.255.82: </p> <hr /> <div>&lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&gt;<br /> Explanatings!!! &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#FF0000&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#00873E&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 02:37, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :E X P L A N A T E ! E X P L A N A T E ! E X P L A N A T E ! &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#FF0000&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#00873E&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 02:42, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::Incomprehension is futile - you will be explanated. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 09:43, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> A black hole with the mass of the sun would have a Schwarzschild radius of 2.95 km. So it would take some significant revisions to theory to accommodate a grapefruit-sized object with that mass. Perhaps if it's digested by a squirrel, it gets smaller? [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 03:32, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :hopefully quite a bit smaller, given the size of the squirrel in this example. [[User:KelOfTheStars!|KelOfTheStars!]] ([[User talk:KelOfTheStars!|talk]]) 05:15, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : Not terribly impressed with the science chops of these &quot;unifiers&quot; if they can't work out what's gonna happen here. Hint: it's no happy dance for the squirrel. [[Special:Contributions/2605:59C8:160:DB08:CDB6:FE7F:1FC9:524|2605:59C8:160:DB08:CDB6:FE7F:1FC9:524]] 16:28, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ''Eastern Gray Squirrel.... measures 16-20 inches (approx. 40-50 centimeters) .... would be too big for Hyperacute Interdynamics (10-30cm (~4&quot;-12&quot;)) to apply.'' Clearly a squirrel's tail can be neglected (see: '''spherical cow theory'''), being a very skinny (even rat-like) whip with bulky but insignificant fritz. ''The '''head and body length''' is from 23 to 30 cm (9.1 to 11.8 in)'' -- Wikipedia ---- Also, a bit north of Randall's place, we have lots of &quot;Red Squirrels&quot; which are significantly smaller than East Gray tree-rats. ''&quot;Red squirrels are much smaller than greys and measure about 35centimetres including their tails and grow to around 350grams.&quot;'' - (YouTube) Our locals say &quot;chipmunk&quot; but I knew chipmunks from Sequoya Nat Park and these aint them. --[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 06:45, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :I'm from Randall's area and we always called chipmunks chipmunks. Yes, we heard of red squirrels, but only saw gray squirrels and chipmunks. Massachusetts has a population with steadfast opinions. Doubt it? Try driving in Boston. [[Special:Contributions/173.188.192.138|173.188.192.138]] 14:09, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : Lots of red squirrels in SE Mass (&quot;South Shore&quot;). They don't like cities much. Very intelligent animals. [[Special:Contributions/2605:59C8:160:DB08:CDB6:FE7F:1FC9:524|2605:59C8:160:DB08:CDB6:FE7F:1FC9:524]] 16:15, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::Would the tail be excluded? Yes it's an extension, but it's certainly a part of the squirrel, and as such would contribute to it's length. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#FF0000&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#00873E&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 14:36, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::[[File:Squirrel and soccer ball.png]]<br /> :::I don't think there's a prblem. When the squirrel is sat passively, it fits (roughly) within the size constraints and is therefore fully explainable via Hyperacute Interdynamics. Once it starts running around and jumping, with its tail trailing behind it, the predictive ability of theory lessens (needn't be a cliff-edge of understanding, could even smoothly sustain ''near-''perfect accuracy for the {{w|Black giant squirrel}}, at least at rest, just isn't so fundemnentally precise any more) but HI is entirely accurate again the moment it stops to nibble a nut.<br /> :::Though do squirrels eat grapefruit? (Solar-massive ones or otherwise.) I know someone left out pumpkin flesh, on a fallen tree in a woods near me, clearly from having created a Jack-O-Lantern for this year's Halloween (and apparently not thought to try making a few batches of pumpkin soup, for whatever reason), and it sat there for weeks (until it disintigrated) with no sign of either squirrels (American greys, unfortunately) or birds partaking of the 'feast'. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.236.87|82.132.236.87]] 17:55, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::Every year during Jack-o-Lantern season, squirrels are constantly trying to eat them even before they start rotting. I believe they're, once again, American Grays. They do indeed partake in feasts here, at least. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#FF0000&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#00873E&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 18:47, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::Assuming, like me, that IP is in the UK... perhaps our 'invasive' Greys (hence the 'unfortunately'?) just haven't yet got used to the proliferation of pumpkins (we always used to make do with turnips, round here, until comparatively recent absorption of the US-style traditions). And the native reds are now far less likely to be near significant population so probably don't partake very much on such human bounty. [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 19:43, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Should we think of a name for this young cueball? He's been around quite a lot but still anonymous.--[[User:Darth Vader|Darth Vader]] ([[User talk:Darth Vader|talk]]) 21:13, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Where does the &quot;three pillars&quot; of physics in the current explanation come from? I thought it was just Relativity and Quantum mechanics? Isn't thermodynamics explained by Quantum mechanics? (IMO it also makes the joke funnier if there isn't a third pillar being deleted by hyperacute interdynamics, but a third pillar made up full cloth). ([[User:Wowitschris|Wowitschris]] ([[User talk:Wowitschris|talk]]) 21:58, 9 December 2025 (UTC))<br /> <br /> I thought the third pillar would be classical physics? There doesn't seem to be an official or consensus definition of the pillars of physics (that I can find by googling), so the third may forever remain a mystery. Unless it was Hyperacute Interdynamics all along. [[Special:Contributions/70.110.132.22|70.110.132.22]] 01:52, 10 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> maybe the real third pillar was the friends we made along the way [[User:Headphones the stickman|Headphones the stickman]] ([[User talk:Headphones the stickman|talk]]) 19:47, 10 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I think &quot;hyperacute interdynamics&quot; is a reference to &quot;hyperfine interactions&quot;, which is a subject in physics that I don't know much about. {{unsigned ip|150.135.165.38|22:01, 11 December 2025}}</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3179:_Fishing&diff=401353 2025-12-11T22:11:44Z

<p>78.144.255.82: </p> <hr /> <div>&lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&gt;<br /> The tug on a fishing line would be measured in newtons, not kilograms. [[Special:Contributions/76.187.17.7|76.187.17.7]] 04:30, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : It's at least a C+ [[Special:Contributions/65.35.15.18|65.35.15.18]] 05:12, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : Yes, but he is not measuring the force, he is measuring the &quot;weight&quot; (mass) of the thing he thinks he hooked. (e.g. a 5 lb fish)[[Special:Contributions/2603:8000:5E00:2913:EE02:2D56:E960:2CDE|2603:8000:5E00:2913:EE02:2D56:E960:2CDE]] 05:21, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> YAY BERET GUY![[User:Mathmaster|Mathmaster]] ([[User talk:Mathmaster|talk]])<br /> <br /> Beret Guy's estimate is, of course, absurd (or it would be for anyone else). His lifting capacity, the breaking points of his line and rod, the buoyancy of his boat and the force to break loose an individual piece of rock (the lowest of which would mark the upper bounds for his estimate) are (many) orders of magnitude lower than the force required to haul a 10^24 kg catch into the boat [citation needed, I guess] [[User:627235|627235]] ([[User talk:627235|talk]]) 11:42, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :He's not saying that he can reel it in, just estimating the size of the &quot;fish&quot; he's hooked. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:57, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :When he pulls, there is a little bit of give (infinitesimal) as the planet moves - he might be sensing that and estimating based on it. Assuming you know the properties of the fishing line, like its stretch, and of the boat's surface area, buoyancy. I don't see why it wouldn't be possible to estimate given perfect knowledge of the water, boat, line, forces, etc, even if the Earth is much more massive than the boat being pulled downwards [[User:R128|R128]] ([[User talk:R128|talk]]) 15:22, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :At that massive scale, wouldn’t the upper bound of weight he could detect the buoyancy of the boat - beyond that he is no longer pulling anything up, but pulling himself down - so that the resistance he feels is the buoyancy keeping the boat up? [[Special:Contributions/71.17.36.59|71.17.36.59]] 16:18, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :You have to have a 'feel' for the potential elongation of the line (which depends a bit upon knowing how much you've deployed), the properties of the rod and (at least for fish, which weigh 'nothing', when they wish to be neutrally buoyant, but have a muscle-related resistive power and a degree of swim-bladder 'weight adjustment) the pseudo-weight that a given size of likely catch (of a likely species) fights against your line-tug with. You can get fooled that a static-snag is actively fighting you if you think you're ''only'' dealing with a fairly shallow fish when you've managed to snag onto something somewhat deeper so that the resonance of your attempts to pull give you the feeling of a reaction that's more just some kind of Young's Modulus/Hooke's Law artefact. It all feels completely different from a fish finally wrested entirely out of the water, and even allows a catch that's heavier than the eventual breaking-stress of your line (or weight+its effort to be greater than that) to be gradually played towards you while in the water, tiring it and bringing it into reach of your grasp/catch-net that will do the actual work of landing it.<br /> :Though, in this case, I think that Beret Guy ''knows'' how much line he is using/etc, and that he's hooked a planet (however that feels) rather than a more actively resisting (and tiring) seacreature. But by the ''very subtle'' reaction of the body to 'test tugs' (accounting for how this also moves the boat) he has correctly (within an order of magnitude!) assessed its 'dry mass'.<br /> :(A cynic might ask what ''other'' masses he might have caught, between Earth-sized and the next most massive mass that's hookable in this manner... a large part of the Titanic..? Having established that it 'tugs back' more than the latter, then Earth would be the only logical target to lead to such a 'logical guess' of mass. Though even establishing that it isn't a massive shipwreck probably needs extremely well tuned supersenses to rule out. So we can probably still consider it a preternatural Skill Of Beret Guy, even to do that.) [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 19:56, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Planets don't have a catch size limit. By definition, a planet has cleared its neighborhood, meaning there's no need to maintain a breeding population. Now, dwarf planets and small solar system bodies are a different story, and the rules are rather strict. [[Special:Contributions/209.188.63.98|209.188.63.98]] 19:08, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :I don't know whether you're ''supposed'' to throw planets back, if they're too small, but everybody knows that ''nobody tosses a dwarf''... [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 22:11, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Beret Guy is surprisingly inaccurate on this one. You'd need to divide the actual weight of Earth by 6 to his estimated weight. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#FF0000&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#00873E&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 19:23, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : I was wondering about that, and at first considered that he was either only referring to the mass of the Earth's crust (two orders of magnitude lighter), or including the mantle (factor or 4 heavier). Both options are way off. It's probably just a Fermi estimate. [[Special:Contributions/2A02:590:1200:E001:EC09:A5D:4C27:42F3|2A02:590:1200:E001:EC09:A5D:4C27:42F3]] 21:32, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Any reason to believe this is an ocean instead of a lake? I changed the transcript to make it more generic, but like &quot;seafloor&quot; better than &quot;bottom,&quot; so would change it back if there is some reason to know it is an ocean. <br /> [[User:Bobthegoat123|Bobthegoat123]] ([[User talk:Bobthegoat123|talk]]) 19:48, 11 December 2025 (UTC)</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3178:_Hyperacute_Interdynamics&diff=401350 2025-12-11T20:02:26Z

<p>78.144.255.82: /* Explanation */ Reverting 'smart quotes' in all places but imperial measurement notation. Following Wikipedia policy to use *standard* 's and &quot;s for most quoting/punctuation purposes.</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 3178<br /> | date = December 8, 2025<br /> | title = Hyperacute Interdynamics<br /> | image = hyperacute_interdynamics_2x.png<br /> | imagesize = 696x265px<br /> | noexpand = true<br /> | titletext = Our models fall apart where the three theories overlap; we're unable to predict what happens when a nanometer-sized squirrel eats a grapefruit with the mass of the sun.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|This page was created BY A STAR WITH THE MASS OF A SQUIRREL. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br /> [[Miss Lenhart]] is teaching a class, a recurring theme on [[xkcd]]. She correctly describes two of the three pillars of physics: {{w|general relativity}}, concerning very large objects, and {{w|quantum mechanics}}, concerning very small objects. The third pillar is {{w|thermodynamics}}, but she replaces this with the fictional ''hyperacute interdynamics'', which supposedly specifically covers objects 10 – 30&amp;#8239;cm (~4″ – ~12″) in size and 200 – 700&amp;#8239;g (0.44&amp;#8239;lb – 1.54&amp;#8239;lb) in mass.<br /> <br /> When a student points out that the application of hyperacute interdynamics is quite limited, Miss Lenhart responds by stating that this is made up for by the fact that it is apparently very accurate and precise, giving {{w|squirrel}}s and {{w|grapefruit}} as examples of objects that it is able to perfectly describe, since they fit the necessary size and weight specifications (though see below). Her comment that there are hopes to unify this system with the other two reflects the efforts of physicists to {{w|Quantum gravity|unify}} general relativity with quantum mechanics, so far without success.<br /> <br /> While there is no actual field called hyperacute interdynamics, there is one of {{w|mesoscopic physics}}, described as the study of materials of an &quot;intermediate size&quot;. The upper end of mesoscopic physics studies objects whose length is measured in micrometers — much smaller and lighter than those that hyperacute interdynamics would study, so the analogy is not perfect. On the other hand, it happens fairly frequently in science that two separate length scales may be studied by different fields with no overlap. In this situation, innovations are, in principle, possible by trying to fill in this gap. An example is that structural biology is concerned with proteins and protein-sized objects, while cell biology is concerned with organelles; experimental techniques for studying phenomena between these two scales were less well-established until the development, in the 2010s, of cryo-electron microscopy.<br /> <br /> The title text extends the riff on unification, noting that, under the current system, measurements which require elements from all three pillars are impossible. The example given — when a nanometer-sized squirrel (suggesting an understanding of equivalence across both quantum mechanics and hyperacute interdynamics) eats a grapefruit with the mass of the Sun (similarly, general relativity meshing with hyperacute interdynamics) — would cover all three domains. Such objects are not known to occur in real life, so it is unknown how or why scientists would be trying to measure them. A black hole with the mass of the Sun would have a Schwarzschild radius of 2.95&amp;#8239;km, so it would take some significant revisions to theory to accommodate a grapefruit-sized object with that mass, before even considering how a squirrel of such small size (but more normal mass) could exist ''and'' eat the former object. (By way of comparison, a black hole with the mass of Neptune — 1.024&amp;#8239;×&amp;#8239;10&lt;sup&gt;26&lt;/sup&gt;&amp;#8239;kg — would have a Schwarzschild radius of 15.2&amp;#8239;cm&amp;nbsp;/ 6.0″, about the size of a large grapefruit.)<br /> <br /> The {{w|eastern gray squirrel}}, which is the most prevalent squirrel in Massachusetts (where [[Randall]] lives), measures 16–20 inches (approx. 40–50 centimeters) on average when fully grown — outside the range of sizes given for hyperacute interdynamics to apply. It does, however, weigh between 400 and 600 grams — within the weight range. Whether hyperacute interdynamics would apply, then, would appear to depend on whether the 'and' in Miss Lenhart's statement is inclusive (a {{w|Union (set theory)|union}} of candidates from the two separately applicable ranges) or exclusive (only items within the {{w|Intersection (set theory)|intersection}} of both stipulations), though the title text suggests that the former is the more logical.<br /> <br /> Individually, the head-and-body size and the tail size of the eastern gray squirrel are each within the hyperacute effective size (though potentially not mass). If they were modelled individually, or if the squirrel curled up, then they may become able to be effectively modelled by hyperacute interdynamics, even if the entire, stretched out squirrel cannot. This shows the absurdity of hyperacute physics, with such a strict cut-off making it easy for objects to enter and exit the hyperacute effective size. By contrast, relativity and quantum mechanics slowly become worse at describing reality as size increases/decreases.<br /> <br /> Some squirrels, such as the {{w|Borneo black-banded squirrel}}, do entirely fit into the hyperacute effective size and mass.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[Miss Lenhart is teaching a classroom holding a finger up in front of the class. Two students can be seen sitting at desks in front of her, a Cueball like boy is on the first row and Jill, taking notes, is in the second row.]<br /> :Miss Lenhart: Modern physics rests on three main pillars:<br /> :General relativity, which describes very massive objects,<br /> <br /> :[Close up of Miss Lenhart.]<br /> :Miss Lenhart: Quantum Mechanics, which describes very small objects, <br /> <br /> :[In a frame-less panel the view zooms back out, but shows only Miss Lenhart.]<br /> :Miss Lenhart: and Hyperacute Interdynamics, which describes objects 10-30cm in size and 200-700g in mass.<br /> <br /> :[The panel zooms back in to a close up of Miss Lenhart.]<br /> :Student (off-panel): That last one seems kind of limited.<br /> :Miss Lenhart: Yeah, but over it's domain it's '''''really''''' precise. Absolutely '''''nails''''' squirrels and grapefruit.<br /> :Miss Lenhart: Someday we hope to unify it with the other two.<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}&lt;noinclude&gt;<br /> <br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Jill]] &lt;!--Cueball is not a child, this is a school with children so the child is not Cueball--&gt;<br /> [[Category:Physics]]<br /> [[Category:Squirrels]]<br /> [[Category:Food]]</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3179:_Fishing&diff=401349 2025-12-11T19:56:12Z

<p>78.144.255.82: </p> <hr /> <div>&lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&gt;<br /> The tug on a fishing line would be measured in newtons, not kilograms. [[Special:Contributions/76.187.17.7|76.187.17.7]] 04:30, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : It's at least a C+ [[Special:Contributions/65.35.15.18|65.35.15.18]] 05:12, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : Yes, but he is not measuring the force, he is measuring the &quot;weight&quot; (mass) of the thing he thinks he hooked. (e.g. a 5 lb fish)[[Special:Contributions/2603:8000:5E00:2913:EE02:2D56:E960:2CDE|2603:8000:5E00:2913:EE02:2D56:E960:2CDE]] 05:21, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> YAY BERET GUY![[User:Mathmaster|Mathmaster]] ([[User talk:Mathmaster|talk]])<br /> <br /> Beret Guy's estimate is, of course, absurd (or it would be for anyone else). His lifting capacity, the breaking points of his line and rod, the buoyancy of his boat and the force to break loose an individual piece of rock (the lowest of which would mark the upper bounds for his estimate) are (many) orders of magnitude lower than the force required to haul a 10^24 kg catch into the boat [citation needed, I guess] [[User:627235|627235]] ([[User talk:627235|talk]]) 11:42, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :He's not saying that he can reel it in, just estimating the size of the &quot;fish&quot; he's hooked. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:57, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :When he pulls, there is a little bit of give (infinitesimal) as the planet moves - he might be sensing that and estimating based on it. Assuming you know the properties of the fishing line, like its stretch, and of the boat's surface area, buoyancy. I don't see why it wouldn't be possible to estimate given perfect knowledge of the water, boat, line, forces, etc, even if the Earth is much more massive than the boat being pulled downwards [[User:R128|R128]] ([[User talk:R128|talk]]) 15:22, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :At that massive scale, wouldn’t the upper bound of weight he could detect the buoyancy of the boat - beyond that he is no longer pulling anything up, but pulling himself down - so that the resistance he feels is the buoyancy keeping the boat up? [[Special:Contributions/71.17.36.59|71.17.36.59]] 16:18, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :You have to have a 'feel' for the potential elongation of the line (which depends a bit upon knowing how much you've deployed), the properties of the rod and (at least for fish, which weigh 'nothing', when they wish to be neutrally buoyant, but have a muscle-related resistive power and a degree of swim-bladder 'weight adjustment) the pseudo-weight that a given size of likely catch (of a likely species) fights against your line-tug with. You can get fooled that a static-snag is actively fighting you if you think you're ''only'' dealing with a fairly shallow fish when you've managed to snag onto something somewhat deeper so that the resonance of your attempts to pull give you the feeling of a reaction that's more just some kind of Young's Modulus/Hooke's Law artefact. It all feels completely different from a fish finally wrested entirely out of the water, and even allows a catch that's heavier than the eventual breaking-stress of your line (or weight+its effort to be greater than that) to be gradually played towards you while in the water, tiring it and bringing it into reach of your grasp/catch-net that will do the actual work of landing it.<br /> :Though, in this case, I think that Beret Guy ''knows'' how much line he is using/etc, and that he's hooked a planet (however that feels) rather than a more actively resisting (and tiring) seacreature. But by the ''very subtle'' reaction of the body to 'test tugs' (accounting for how this also moves the boat) he has correctly (within an order of magnitude!) assessed its 'dry mass'.<br /> :(A cynic might ask what ''other'' masses he might have caught, between Earth-sized and the next most massive mass that's hookable in this manner... a large part of the Titanic..? Having established that it 'tugs back' more than the latter, then Earth would be the only logical target to lead to such a 'logical guess' of mass. Though even establishing that it isn't a massive shipwreck probably needs extremely well tuned supersenses to rule out. So we can probably still consider it a preternatural Skill Of Beret Guy, even to do that.) [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 19:56, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Planets don't have a catch size limit. By definition, a planet has cleared its neighborhood, meaning there's no need to maintain a breeding population. Now, dwarf planets and small solar system bodies are a different story, and the rules are rather strict. [[Special:Contributions/209.188.63.98|209.188.63.98]] 19:08, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Beret Guy is surprisingly inaccurate on this one. You'd need to divide the actual weight of Earth by 6 to his estimated weight. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#FF0000&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#00873E&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 19:23, 11 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Any reason to believe this is an ocean instead of a lake? I changed the transcript to make it more generic, but like &quot;seafloor&quot; better than &quot;bottom,&quot; so would change it back if there is some reason to know it is an ocean. <br /> [[User:Bobthegoat123|Bobthegoat123]] ([[User talk:Bobthegoat123|talk]]) 19:48, 11 December 2025 (UTC)</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3179:_Fishing&diff=401346 2025-12-11T19:24:59Z

<p>78.144.255.82: /* Explanation */</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 3179<br /> | date = December 10, 2025<br /> | title = Fishing<br /> | image = fishing_2x.png<br /> | imagesize = 317x500px<br /> | noexpand = true<br /> | titletext = 'That's definitely above the catch-and-release size minimum for planetesimals.' 'I'm going to throw it back anyway.'<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|This page was created BY A FISH WITH THE WEIGHT OF THE SUN. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br /> [[Ponytail]] and [[Beret Guy]] are fishing in the middle of a body of water, and Beret Guy has hooked a rock. Similarly to the common meme that sees people catching objects such as boots and shopping trollies, he exclaims that it “feels like a big one”. Fishers may judge the size of a fish by the amount of resistance they feel on the line, using their judgement of what a given mass and power of fish feels like when submerged and resisting the leverage of their fishing rod, and non-fish objects that are 'hooked' (especially those stuck in the sediment at the bottom) can seem to be reacting like a proper catch. (Also, the boat would be pulled down when reeling, so they could only tell that their downward pull is greater than the boat’s buoyancy.) In this case, though, Beret Guy can apparently feel that it must be “at least 10&lt;sup&gt;24&lt;/sup&gt; kilograms” — that is, an object the size of the {{w|Earth}} in its entirety, whose mass can be estimated at approximately 6.0&amp;nbsp;× 10&lt;sup&gt;24&lt;/sup&gt; kilograms (~13.1&amp;nbsp;× 10&lt;sup&gt;24&lt;/sup&gt; pounds at standard gravitational acceleration of the Earth).<br /> <br /> Catch-and-release sizes restrict what sizes of catch of various species can be kept, generally to protect stocks. There may be minimum sizes (to protect young fish and ensure that they can reach mature reproductive age) or maximum sizes (to protect existing breeding populations). The title text claims the Earth is large enough to be kept, suggesting that {{w|planetesimals}} ({{w|asteroids}} and {{w|comets}}, for example) might be considered immature, and that they might be expected to eventually grow to ‘adult’ planet size. Beret Guy is big-hearted enough to want to release the planet back after reeling it in, even though he could keep it. Or sportsmanlike, in allowing the catch to be potentially recaught by the next 'lucky' individual.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> {{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br /> :[Ponytail and Beret Guy are sitting in a boat in the ocean, both holding fishing rods. One large fish and four smaller fish are seen swimming in the water, with three of the smaller fish in a group. Ponytail's fishing rod is about halfway down to the ocean floor, while Beret Guy has hooked his fishing line on a large rock sticking up from the seafloor.]<br /> :Beret Guy: It feels like a big one! At least 10&lt;sup&gt;24&lt;/sup&gt; kilograms!<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}&lt;noinclude&gt;<br /> <br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]<br /> [[Category:Geology]]<br /> [[Category:Physics]]<br /> [[Category:Sport]]<br /> [[Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User_talk:DollarStoreBa%27al&diff=401269 2025-12-10T19:57:04Z

<p>78.144.255.82: /* exp template thing? */</p> <hr /> <div>Speak through the interdimentional portal<br /> <br /> [[User:DollarStoreBa'al/Mistakes|My mistakes]]<br /> <br /> ==General Chitchat and such==<br /> Hey, as per your comment on [[Main Page#Create my user page]], I created your pages. Welcome to the wiki! Please always remember to sign your comments with &lt;nowiki&gt;--~~~~&lt;/nowiki&gt;, and ask in the [[explain xkcd:Community portal|Community portal]] if you don't know something. If you want, you can read the [[explain_xkcd:Editor_FAQ#Why_can.27t_I_upload_pictures_or_create_pages.3F|the Editor FAQ]]! Welcome. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:02, 25 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :Thanks! [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 19:11, 25 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :hi btw :) [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 15:11, 27 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::hello, how are you doing this fine morning, my dear fellow? [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 16:03, 27 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ==Hiyo==<br /> :I'm trying to lurk less and be friendly so I just thought I'd ah drop in :) [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 15:53, 3 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> :: Bello. me editor guy who edit much. edit fun! [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 17:00, 3 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::hahahahaha edit fun indeed. [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 15:20, 4 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::Question: How do you add those user boxes that you have on your page? Those would be nice to have. [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 16:52, 6 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::copy and paste this and remove the nowiki tag: <br /> <br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;{{Userbox | border-c = #255 | border-s = 1 | info-s = 9 | id = alastor jumpscare | info = [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|This user has a pet cannibal deer.]] | float = left}}&lt;/nowiki&gt; and replace it with what you desire, for example:<br /> <br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;{{Userbox | border-c = #255 | border-s = 1 | info-s = 9 | id = ;) | info = [[User:DollarStoreBa'al|This user _____ ]] | float = left}}&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 14:50, 11 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::::::Dude thanks! [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 13:48, 17 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::::You're very welcome dear. WEE WOO [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 14:18, 19 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ==Wow==<br /> Am I so cool that I got a mention on your user page just because I showed you how to make userboxes? I mean, if I am... thanks. [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 14:44, 25 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Yes. Yes you are. [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 15:43, 25 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::YAY TYSM i will get you free jambalaya for you immediately due to that (if you're into that) [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 14:19, 28 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::: No need. Also, I see you're from Louisiana. [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 03:44, 29 March 2025 (UTC)]]<br /> ::::Haha or maybe I just like jambalaya :). Also you are not 4029 hHHA [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 14:17, 8 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ==The 5s and Es and Os==<br /> Reply to this if you've figured out what the meaning of the thingy on my user page is.<br /> :it's base 3 [[User:CalibansCreations|'''&lt;span style=&quot;color:#ff0000;&quot;&gt;Caliban&lt;/span&gt;''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 09:07, 9 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> :: :O [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 14:31, 9 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> :: Nope! I'll give you a hint: talk to sam. [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 14:33, 9 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> https://voca.ro/1Akmh0zRqa8Q [[User:CalibansCreations|'''&lt;span style=&quot;color:#ff0000;&quot;&gt;Caliban&lt;/span&gt;''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 16:02, 9 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> :uhhh...[[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 20:41, 11 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::sorry, that's not it. Don't know what to say to that.[[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 17:54, 14 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> You have one week! Hint: beep boooop --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[DSBContribs |'''''My life choices''''']] 16:30, 6 May 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :Morse code? [[User:BobcatInABox|BobcatInABox]] ([[User talk:BobcatInABox|talk]]) 19:33, 8 May 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::Morse code of what? You are very, very close.--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[DSBContribs |'''''My life choices''''']] 20:47, 8 May 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Time's up! If you put this into [https://morsecode.world/international/translator.html/] and click play, you get the intro to Bad Apple. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[DSBContribs |'''''My life choices''''']] 14:44, 13 May 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :It's better than [[2869: Puzzles]] [[User:BobcatInABox|BobcatInABox]] ([[User talk:BobcatInABox|talk]]) 11:11, 14 May 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == Want to do some repetitive work? ==<br /> <br /> Hey dollar, I noticed you're very active here! I don't have a ton of time, but I recently overhauled the template {{tl|comic}} to add many new features. While we figure out [[Header text]], would you be interested in editing the contents of about 50 pages (the early xkcd comics) to make these new features work? It's a lot of repetitive work, you'd just need to make the same small edits on 50 pages. (If you're interested in why the OG comics were in a different order, see [[LiveJournal]]). Just let me know and I'll finish the documentation for the template! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 17:13, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :What exactly would I be doing to get these features to work? [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 17:18, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::If it isn't super-complex wikitext things I can totally help! --[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al | Converse]]&lt;/sup&gt; 19:21, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Right so you'd just need to move things around and remove some useless code. This process adds a second white navigation bar at the bottom to browse the OG comics in the original order.<br /> [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1:_Barrel_-_Part_1&amp;diff=374851&amp;oldid=373457 You can follow this example]. The steps are:<br /> <br /> Start from [[4|comic number 4]]:<br /> #Based on the short sentence written above the explanation, add &quot;ognumber =&quot;, &quot;ogprev =&quot;, and &quot;ognext =&quot; (so the navbar can work)<br /> #Add &quot;oglink =&quot;, and move ONLY the link from &quot;before&quot; to &quot;oglink&quot; (so from HTTPS://..... until the end of the link, move that to &quot;oglink&quot;)<br /> #Now, from the edit preview, copy the original title.<br /> #Delete everything in &quot;before =&quot; now that you moved the link<br /> #Add &quot;ogtitle =&quot; and paste the original title that you copied.<br /> #Finally, in &quot;titletext&quot;, add two couples of apostrophes (&lt;nowiki&gt;''&lt;/nowiki&gt;) in these places: https://imgur.com/a/BewKKr1<br /> #Now save the changes, and click the new white &quot;Next &gt;&quot; button you just created to go to the next one!<br /> And you're done! It's much simpler when you try it. Of course you don't have to do it, feel free to work on the header text! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 20:41, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> me am do. --[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al | Converse]]&lt;sup&gt;[https://www.explainxkcd.--[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 11:05, 26 April 2025 (UTC)com/wiki/index.php/S--[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 11:05, 26 April 2025 (UTC)pecial:Contributions/DollarStoreBa%27al My life choices]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; 20:51, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :Oh and I added friendly errors for when you forget to add one of the &quot;og&quot; labels. Just note that if you don't provide &quot;ognumber&quot;, the cool white navbar won't show up. Remember to always insert a pipe before a label, like this &quot;'''|''' ognumber =&quot;. And once you get to comic 55 you're done! That's the last one --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 20:58, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Hey, I don't really understand where I'm supposed to put these. --[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al | Converse]]&lt;sup&gt;[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa%27al My life choices]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; 21:01, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Nevermind, I got this. --[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al | Converse]]&lt;sup&gt;[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa%27al My life choices]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; 21:05, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Erm nope the OGnumber, OGprev, and OGnext you should take from the first sentence above the explanation. For example [[24]] says it's sixth. Anyways, I found a pretty big bug in the template, so I guess we should stop until it's fixed. The Original title doesn't show up! Arghhh! I'll fix it.<br /> :I'll let you know when you can continue. Thanks! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 21:18, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> alright, sounds good! Dang tho. Let me know and I'll get right back to it. --[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al | Converse]]&lt;sup&gt;[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa%27al My life choices]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; 13:45, 25 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :Hey, I, um, undid all your edits because they broke the template haha. I guess this was more complex that I thought! Don't worry, I'll finish them myself over time. I'm more experienced than I thought it seems! Thanks for trying to help anyways! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:52, 25 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::Reviewing them, it seems you were not isolating the link correctly and leaving there some HTML elements that closed other open HTML elements that weren't finished! It did look, interesting, at least! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:55, 25 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::So sorry about that, I noticed those random Html elements. Thought they were part of the bug. oops. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:16pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[DSBContribs |'''''My life choices''''']] 22:45, 25 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::::No worries! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 11:05, 26 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ==excuse me==<br /> <br /> but it appears you have discovered that I was a spammer in a past account or maybe this account. who's to say anymore? anyway i'm trying to fix that hehe [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 14:02, 7 May 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ==template==<br /> <br /> What is a template? What’s a {{Trout}} and {{Whale}}?<br /> &lt;br&gt;<br /> If it looks weird, click edit [[User:Aprilfoolsupdate!| &lt;sup&gt;April&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;fools&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;update&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;!]]([[User talk:Aprilfoolsupdate!|talk]]) 12:20, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> : I'm assuming you're asking what a template is and not about sea life. Templates are basically shortcuts that we use for commonly used things. For example, &lt;nowiki&gt;{{cn}}&lt;/nowiki&gt; creates {{cn}}. You can create one pretty easily. I made those because they're commonly used on Wikipedia, and wanted to transfer them here. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 13:41, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::how can I create one? [[User:Aprilfoolsupdate!| &lt;sup&gt;April&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;fools&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;update&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;!]]([[User talk:Aprilfoolsupdate!|talk]]) 13:21, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :::Here's something that may be able to help: &lt;nowiki&gt;{{AprilFoolsHelp}}&lt;/nowiki&gt; --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 13:43, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::::thxxxxxxxxx [[User:Aprilfoolsupdate!| &lt;sup&gt;April&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;fools&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;update&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;!]]([[User talk:Aprilfoolsupdate!|talk]]) 13:46, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :::::You are very welcome! I hope you are excited to start contributing to the wiki! --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 13:46, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::::::By the way, please don't be afraid to ask me any questions at all. If I can, I will help! --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 13:48, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :::::::Thanks [[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]], which is &lt;nowiki&gt;{{Thx$store}}&lt;/nowiki&gt; (if I can call you that)<br /> <br /> ==Template Tips==<br /> Ok. Sorry, needed to get that out of my system. Thank you for the supplement. Truly. It's a good warning. Just please don't start randomly insulting people towards the end. This is a wiki. Speak the facts, and nothing more. In this case, the facts are:<br /> *Templates are easy to create.<br /> *It's useful to learn from other templates.<br /> Those are the facts. Now, you're done. Don't go on to insult them about how they're too stupid to do something useful.<br /> :No insult intended, no mention at all of stupidity, just the obvious eagerness. Tried only to give caution not to run before you've learnt how (and, ideally, where) to walk. All edits show up, to anyone looking. The initial query had not been answered, when I started the reply, and I had to hastily rewrite things to fit back in on the end.<br /> :To the above, I'd add:<br /> :*Know what purpose your template will have.<br /> :That way you're less likely to create something that you later regret, give or take a rename/delete. (If you want anything totally deleted, it may take a long time, a meanwhile you can only edit it 'clear', but still findable and the history checkable.) Most templates are ''not'' there to add pictures of sealife, but to grease the wheels of common (or not so common) Explanation page scenarios. And we might even thank you for a good shortcut for something we maybe never realised was needed before.<br /> :For a more technical 'manual', {{w|Help:A quick guide to templates}} might be a useful next read, and from there jump around into other Help: items. There's a lot you ''can'' do, though you certainly won't want to use it all right from the start. Take your time and know ''why'' you're doing something, as well as ''what'.<br /> :Good luck for the future, I've probably said as much as you need me to say for now. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.246.73|82.132.246.73]] 17:39, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :While this is very useful, it would be nice if you posted this on [[User:Aprilfoolsupdate!]]'s talk page. He's the one learning the ropes, and it would probably be very useful to him. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 17:47, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ==Requests/favors==<br /> If you need anything done, reach out to me! I'll let you know what I can do to help you! --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 19:49, 15 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Hi [[User:DollarStoreBa'al | DollarStoreBa'al]], are you good enough to have the link to my user page? [[User:Aprilfoolsupdate!| &lt;sup&gt;April&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;fools&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;update&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;!]]([[User talk:Aprilfoolsupdate!|talk]]) 01:57, 18 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :Done! --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 15:56, 18 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ==Hello again Darling :D==<br /> I'm back after the summer hello sir O) [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 13:59, 26 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :A fellow school-based follower of the truth, I see! Welcome back, and I wish thee well on your adventures. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 14:00, 26 August 2025 (UTC) P.S. I use monobook style now.<br /> <br /> ==Category thing==<br /> Hey, can someone tell me why my talk page is on 'pages to delete?' {{unsigned|DollarStoreBa'al|18:08, 27 August 2025 (UTC)}}<br /> :I have tracked it down to {{diff|383609|this edit}} by [[User:Aprilfoolsupdate!]], where they used a (fairly useless and unnecessary) template (that they created themselves) called &lt;nowiki&gt;Template:Thx$store&lt;/nowiki&gt; to thank you for helping to teach them the process of creating a new template. Since I marked that template for deletion, when the comment calls for the template, it also marks your talk page for deletion. I have changed it so that the template is replaced with the text that it would substitute in and your page is no longer marked for deletion. Also signed off your unsigned comment. '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:pink&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#B1E4E3&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 18:30, 27 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::When someone says &quot;I have tracked it down&quot; you know they mean business. Thanks, that's quite reassuring. Another mystery IP (not sure if it's the same guy as today) did warn him not to make meaningless templates. Of course, I also made a meaningless template, so.... --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 18:33, 27 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == {{w|Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/ltbdl}} ==<br /> <br /> they think we're the same person, ha. [[user:lett‪herebedarklight|raeb]] 02:29, 2 September 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :I did not think this is what I would come back to. That's wild and hilarious. <br /> <br /> :They are raeb<br /> <br /> :And I am Dollar<br /> <br /> :And we are not the same person<br /> <br /> --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#023020&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000080&quot;&gt;'''''converse'''''&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt; 13:42, 3 September 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::OMG THEY BANNED YOU WTF? I've pleaded your case, but idk if they'll respond. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#023020&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000080&quot;&gt;'''''converse'''''&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt; 13:49, 3 September 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::Okay, wait a second. A checkuser does checks on User IPs. If you were found guilty, that means that you were editing under the same IP as me. By any chance, do you go to school in Lincoln, NE? --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#023020&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000080&quot;&gt;'''''converse'''''&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt; 14:04, 3 September 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::one, revert your case pleading, it's silly and won't help, and two, we're &quot;very unlikely&quot; to be the same person according to checkuser, don't panic. maybe link them here. (i don't go to school in lincoln.) [[user:lett‪herebedarklight|raeb]] 15:00, 3 September 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::Ok, now it's weird. I didn't know you couldn't have alt accounts, even if you explicitly stated that they were, indeed, alt accounts. Seems a bit strict if you ask me. Also, 1+1=Window, not Yes. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#023020&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000080&quot;&gt;'''''converse'''''&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt; 22:53, 3 September 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ==Can you please help me==<br /> I helped you with the userboxes. Now I need your help. How do I get my sig to be something besides what it is now? [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 19:34, 9 September 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Hi there, Tori here. If you want to change your signature, go to your preferences page on the top right of the website (it's next to your Talk page and Watchlist). Scroll down until you see the signatures section and change it. If you need help figuring out wikitext, feel free to shoot me a message on my [[user talk:42.book.addict|talk page]]! '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:pink&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#B1E4E3&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 01:32, 10 September 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == Template:what if? chapters ==<br /> <br /> Sorry, but what's the point of creating a template for what if chapters? What do you intend to use it for? '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:#3a795e&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#ce5f15&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 16:28, 3 October 2025 (UTC)<br /> :I intended it as a workaround in order to edit two pages at once. (those being the blog page and the chapters page). I noticed there was a discrepancy between the tables on the two pages, and I created a workaround for it. Also, it's faster than copy-pasting, now that the load times are astronomical. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#023020&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000080&quot;&gt;converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt; 16:30, 3 October 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::Sounds good! '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:#3a795e&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#ce5f15&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 16:40, 3 October 2025 (UTC)<br /> Ok I'm sorry but I had to change it back. Here are a few drawbacks:<br /> #Now people reading our summaries can't edit them directly.<br /> #The history is gone. You should've moved the page, not copy and paste. Both for copyright attribution (see {{w|WP:CWW}}) and for maintenance, to see when and why something was added.<br /> #Now we need to transclude the table on 1 more page (servers!), and the pages that were already transcluding the page (except [[what if? (blog)]]) now are transcluding both the page AND the template.<br /> And most importantly: there wasn't any discrepancy between the pages that transcluded the pages, just as there is no discrepancy now. The table was the exact same.<br /> <br /> Could you explain what discrepancy you saw? The code and text behind the original [[What If? Chapters]] page, the blog page, the new template you created, and any other pages transcluding [[What If? Chapters]] was truly identical (and still is, just with the added issues listed above.).<br /> <br /> Also; templates are not supposed to be edited frequently. A template is created in order to save time writing the same code on dozens or hundreds of pages. The table both needs to be edited and is only transcluded on a few pages. These are the pages in which the page was transcluded: [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:WhatLinksHere/What_If%3F_chapters&amp;hidelinks=1&amp;hideredirs=1] --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 10:04, 4 October 2025 (UTC)<br /> :There were just some chapter summaries I saw that were different between the blog page and the chapters page. I'm not angry about this, thanks for bringing up the points which I am not advanced enough to see. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#023020&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000080&quot;&gt;converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt; 12:55, 6 October 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::Huh, that's odd. The only difference between the two is that the last header cell on the left becomes highlighted in yellow when transcluded. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 19:16, 7 October 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == Current signature. ==<br /> <br /> I've noticed that your signature does &lt;all the fancy stuff&gt;&lt;NEWLINE&gt;&lt;space&gt;&lt;timestamp&gt;. Might be a good idea to remove the &lt;NEWLINE&gt; before the (presumably auto-appended) &lt;space&gt;&lt;timestamp&gt; as it currently puts your<br /> timestamp like this.<br /> <br /> Which is ''probably'' not what you'd intended. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.245.74|82.132.245.74]] 20:47, 4 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :......Nope, didn't intend that. I'll see if I can fix it. (not signing this because... well, you know) --DSB {{unsigned|DollarStoreBa'al|21:12, 4 November 2025 (UTC)}}<br /> ::I've found the issue. I was trying to make my signature in times new roman using [[Template:TNR]]. This template uses div for it's styling. For some reason, it's inserting &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/nowiki&gt; between the signature and timestamp rather than after. Is there a way to get the &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/nowiki&gt; to go after the timestamp rather than before (which is what I was intending)? Thanks! --DSB {{unsigned|DollarStoreBa'al|21:18, 4 November 2025 (UTC)}}<br /> :::Standard advice is to not use div-tags in your custom .sig, for exactly this reason. You should be able to do the same (except for the undesired newline-forcing) with span-tagging where you invoked div-tags.<br /> :::The way it rendered (must basically have been subst:ed between what you used and how it renders), I didn't know you'd used the TNR template. If that's for character-length reasons then a &quot;TNRspan&quot; template (or something ''not'' four characters longer, if you're extremely tight for space) would have to be used.<br /> :::Or change the TNR so &lt;code&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;{{TNR|span=yes}}&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;/code&gt; will specially 'return' you your no-Div version (that's the nice-looking version; you could also have it do something like responding to &lt;code&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;{{{1}}}&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;/code&gt; being &quot;s&quot; or &quot;1&quot;, if you can only afford to extend by two extra characters). That makes the one template dual-use, instead of making another template.<br /> :::TIMTOWTDI. But you'll know what you want to do, I can only give vague pointers. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.245.74|82.132.245.74]] 22:22, 4 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::Weird. I changed the TNR template to &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/nowiki&gt; instead of &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;, but upon testing it's still doing that weird newline thing. {{unsigned|DollarStoreBa'al|14:11, 5 November 2025 (UTC)}}<br /> :::::Finally fixed. I can't get the timestamp to also be TNR, but at least it doesn't auto-newline. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 14:15, 5 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::::That looks not too bad, though the timestamp is sans-serif again. Though ''might' in part be browser-dependant as to how it looks (mine may react only to the 'serif' and not the full 'Times New Roman', giving a TNR''-like'' serif-font that works good adjacent to the non-specific choice of sans-serif font. Also, at first glance, there's a mystery as to why the timestamp is '''''BOLD+ITALIC''' (or maybe STRONG+EMPHASIS, for the pedants).<br /> ::::::The structure is probably as follows, rewritten just for visual representation/explanation. Formatting that you do is in ()s, my explanatory notes are in ** and * pairs:<br /> **start of 'fixed text' signature insertion**<br /> (SPANopen style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;)<br /> --<br /> (BOLD+ITALICstart)<br /> (LINKpage)User:DollarStoreBa'al<br /> (LINKtext)<br /> (SPANopen style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;)<br /> DollarStoreBa'al<br /> (SPANclose, i.e. end:style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;)<br /> (LINKclose)<br /> (SUPERSCRIPTopen)<br /> (LINKpage)User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al<br /> (LINKtext)<br /> (SPANopen style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;)<br /> Converse<br /> (SPANclose, i.e. end:style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;)<br /> (LINKclose)<br /> (SUPERSCRIPTclose)<br /> *expected to be an /implied/ (BOLD+ITALICSclose), here*<br /> *check HTML source for why not?*<br /> (SPANclose, i.e. end: style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman...etc&quot;)<br /> **end of 'fixed text' signature insertion**<br /> **start of 'timestamp' signature insertion**<br /> *BOLD+ITALICS is still active?*<br /> *but all /other/ formats ended by the most recent (SPANclose)*<br /> 14:15, 5 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> **end of 'timestamp' signature insertion**<br /> ::::::Without looking at exactly what you're doing behind the scenes, I'm not ''entirely'' sure, but I think the {{template|TNR}} includes a close-Span tag, preventing that from 'rolling on' into the timestamp bit.<br /> ::::::Exactly how the '''''BOLD+ITALIC''''' rolls on, I don't know without checking the HTML source. Might be an intentional function of the wikimarkup-to-HTML conversion that 'remembers' that formatting and reapplies it as necessary, at least until a 'forced' end-of-scope (end of a Div or P tag, a Br/Hr monotag, new ordered/unordered list item (or changing the list-level), table cell/row transitions, and then there's the next (same/different) &quot;:&quot;-prepended indented follow-up lines and (of course) double-newlines) to force even no-prefix lines into paragraph-breaks. All of these (and other less obvious wikimarkup scenarios) probably translate to a hard /div closure in the HTML.<br /> ::::::Does {{template|TNR}} currently close its own Span? Does removing that Span-end let it 'roll on' over the timestamp? If you do that, does the insert-signature process close off all remaining Spans ''after'' the timestamp? (Normally, a signature is followed by a newline+newline or at least a newline+:nextlinehasindents, but if you add a P.S. comment after a timestamp that benefits from an unclosed formatting rlling through, does anything add a closure to stop it rolling through onto the P.S...? Can't test this, myself, directly, but it'd be interesting to find out!)<br /> ::::::Note that I don't know if you intended TNR to be used anywhere else. But by changing it from Div-based to Span-based it changes how it looks if I &quot;{{TNR|use it here}}&quot;, and if you then make it so that it open-Spans but never close-Spans then it would change the appearance of this paragraph even further.<br /> ::::::...ouch. Actually, I had assumed it would currently (as 'span-only', opening and closing) not linefeed, browserside, but currently it adds a forced break, and doesn't even have any way of knowing how many indents (if any) to add before the continuation text.<br /> ::::::Though if nobody else is using it for ''anything else'', it shouldn't matter. Just pointing out that (''if they are'') changes you make to fine-tune your signature ''could'' have collateral effects for other people who use TNR when it does one thing but then find that it's doing another thing.<br /> ::::::Creating a template 'just for your own use' is Ok-ish, but you might just want to note its purpose and (current) peculiarities in case someone thinks that it's intended for a more general purpose, and in a more logical manner than you've had to make it 'work' just for you.<br /> ::::::It's also known for templates to contain imbalanced markup, with either how it is used or the presence of a second 'closing' template (see {{template|cot}} and {{template|cob}}, that mark the 't'op and 'b'ottom of a 'co'llapsable area) making the final result properly balanced in the end. But mostly you'd expect internal closure of anything the template started, whether Spanny or Divvy in nature, or justify it and make it obvious without digging through the actual template-code itself.<br /> ::::::But I don't know how useful all of this is, to you or those coming along afterwards (before or after further template tweaks, etc). I'm just trying to pass on everything I think could be helpful, knowing that a lot of it could be 'beyond helpful', i.e. actually quite irrelevent. If not incomprehsible. (If not wrong, given I can't even test many assumptions, directly!) But here it is, anyway. HTH, HAND. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.244.89|82.132.244.89]] 16:24, 5 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::::I'm using the TNR template because it looks cool, but it also does have a purpose. It's used in early Taglines and header texts. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 16:53, 5 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::::Having tried many things, I've found that including the TNR template at all is messing up the timestamp. I'll see if there's another way to include the template without that, but idk if there is a way. In the meantime, here's my new Sig: &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 17:25, 5 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :{{outdent|:::::}}<br /> :((I researched,cchecked and wrote the following followup whilst you were replying, just aboce. You've answered some of my points, plus seem happy with as it is now, but still posting it given the thought I put into it... ;) Not that I actually think that it's necessary as helpful as I might have hoped it to be, in the end! Absolutely no reply expected, if you're happy to say nothing more.))<br /> :Ok, actually looked at the HTML source, now, neutering the 'raw' markup, whitespacing it and adding **commentary**:<br /> **start signature, fixed text**<br /> **default formatting**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;<br /> **formatting is now TNR**<br /> --<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;b&gt;<br /> **formatting is TNR+Bold**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;i&gt;<br /> **formatting is TNR+Bold+Italics**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;a href=&quot;/wiki/index.php/User:DollarStoreBa%27al&quot; title=&quot;User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al&quot;&gt;<br /> **formatting is TNR+B+I and a link..**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;<br /> **...which is coloured**<br /> DollarStoreBa'al<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/span&gt;<br /> **back to TNR+B+I link, no colour**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/a&gt;<br /> **back to TNR+B+I, no link<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;sup&gt;<br /> **TNR+B+I+Superscript**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;a class=&quot;mw-selflink selflink&quot;&gt;<br /> **TNR+B++Sup and a link (to this page, in this specific instance)**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;<br /> **TNR+B+I+Sup link is coloured**<br /> Converse<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/span&gt;<br /> **TNR+B+I+Sup link, no colour**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/a&gt;<br /> **TNR+B+I+Sup, no link**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/sup&gt;<br /> **TNR+B+I, normal-script again**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/span&gt;<br /> **this should have removed TNR, *and* the 'inner' B+I too...**<br /> ** (Although this is not what you wanted, it's what you should get!) **<br /> **...but apparently we're now just with B+I**<br /> ** (This might be my own browser's interpretation, not everyone's.) **<br /> **this is the inbuilt transition between fixed-sig and time-sig**<br /> **a space is here, then...**<br /> 14:15, 5 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/i&gt; ** (Your signature markup does not ask for this!) **<br /> **just Boldness left**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/b&gt; ** (Your signature markup does not ask for this!) **<br /> **neutral format again**<br /> **end of signature**<br /> :What goes with the &quot;TNR+B+I&quot; going to &quot;B+I&quot;, I don't know. Unless they've changed the HTML spec regarding this in the last decade or three.<br /> :The wiki-server back end was smart enough to add the close-Italics and close-Bold, at the end of the signature (''perhaps'', knowing that these were imminent a 'smart' error-checking by the browser's HTML-renderer let their formats persist, when otherwise they would not have? ...odd, but possible). Possibly it would have also closed the TNR-span, after the B-closure,cif not already asked to do so by the end of the TNR-template?<br /> :...so...<br /> :#First 'fix', remove the &lt;code&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/span&gt;&lt;/code&gt; from TNR. See how that affects any newly applied signatures (it won't change old ones).<br /> :#Also see how/if it changes the indent-loss above my &quot;...ouch&quot; line, above.<br /> :#''Also'' also chase down if TNR gets used ''anywhere else'' in this wiki, at the moment, and check that you've not broken anything else that other people might have used it for.<br /> :If the first fix works and the third thing isn't a problem (ignore the second issue, I'm happy for it to change), then you're sorted. Otherwise (no fix, or even further broken in ways that aren't any good for anyone) reverse the change to where it works best for everyone and accept it not working precisely how you think you want it.<br /> :If it fixes, as suggested, I'd also be interested how signing with &lt;code&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;~~~~ and more text&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;/code&gt; works. (i.e. does it TNR the &quot;and more text&quot;?) Not that it's important, just my own curiosity.<br /> :And think about a more advanced explanation on TNR's page, if it's going to be 'an odd template' in any way, like being Span-opener without being a Span-closer.<br /> :That's all. Over to you, nothing more I can do (I could change TNR's code, but not then test it with your signature), but ''maybe'' I've done enough to help. Without too much confusion. I'll let you sort the rest out on your own, unless there's anything specific that arises to follow-up with. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.246.131|82.132.246.131]] 17:45, 5 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::tbh I'm good. Besides, I have no clue how to convert that raw HTML into usable wikitext (idk how to code, planning to learn someday). Either way, works fine. Also, you commentary has made me realize how complex my sig actually is. Times New Roman+Bold+Italics, which is a link which is colored. {{unsigned|DollarStoreBa'al|19:21, 5 November 2025 (UTC)}} &lt;br&gt;&lt;!--actually, I think the error was an accidental {{w start and ]] end in the prior section that 'meshed' with an example of a closing }} in the latest contribution, but the RTLishness probably didn't help. Fixed that, though. --&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> Ummm... Do you know that your current signature is sort of 'unmunged'? As in, you're making the markup show by 'escaping' the markup characters entirely so they don't (properly) act as markup, but as literal text. (You had it working ok(ish), not sure when it went wrong, without scrolling through your Talk contributions.) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.236.186|82.132.236.186]] 17:34, 22 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Addendum - had a deeper look, it was broken for 14:00, 20 November 2025, for [[Talk:3170: Service Outage]], but had worked until 20:27, 19 November 2025, for [[Talk:3168: Beam Dump]]. Whatever you did to your profile, between those two times, maybe undo it? Wasn't caused by any public page edit (like the TNR-template), nor can I think of how you'd break that without being obvious. Anyway, FYI.<br /> :(My guess is that you copied it out to somewhere, to edit, that thing auto-obfuscated the markup for its own visual reasons, then the copy back was done of the 'ruined' markup version. I haven't gone through it with a toothcomb, to see what your intended hanges may have been. And maybe you even intended ''this''... Until I read a page 'normally', not just zourcewise, I hadn't spotted that your long signature-markup was now so... 'literal'. And can't imagine it should be. ) 17:57, 22 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::I may or may not have INTENTIONALLY unchecked 'treat above as wikitext', simply to confuse people :) &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 00:08, 23 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::&quot;Complicated signatures contain a lot of code (&quot;markup&quot;) that is revealed in the edit window, and can take up unnecessary amounts of narrative space, which can make both reading and editing harder.&quot; -{{w|WP:SIG#Guidelines and policies|WP:SIG}} '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:#3a795e&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#ce5f15&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 02:10, 23 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::Your signature literally has more characters than mine. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 02:24, 25 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::Does it matter? Your un-wikitexted signature takes up far more characters than 255 (498 to be precise). It's also a pain in the ass to read and is bound to confuse anybody who sees it. '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:#3a795e&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#ce5f15&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 02:48, 25 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == {{w|WP:REDIRECT}} ==<br /> As per {{w|WP:REDIRECT#Purposes of redirects|Wikipedia policy}}, redirects are only to be made for typos that are &quot;likely misspellings (for example, Condoleeza Rice redirects to Condoleezza Rice). Note: this criterion typically does not apply to redirects from typos in the template namespace; consensus is that such typos, unless they are very common, should remain as red links until they are fixed.&quot; '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:#3a795e&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#ce5f15&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 03:19, 11 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Ahhhhhhh. Alright, noted. {{unsigned|DollarStoreBa'al|14:17, 11 November 2025 (UTC)}}<br /> ::GOD DAMMIT!!!! &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 19:05, 11 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::Easily done. Don't worry. I nearly intervened myself, but thought you might fix it yourself soon enough.<br /> :::it also makes me wonder if you have any opinions about [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals#Additional templates to complement 'unsigned' ones|this recent idea]] that you reminded me of, if you/42 would consider it useful in such situations. It's not had any other input beyond the fellow anonIP originator, but (wordiness/edit-errors aside) I like what was said. It's a pity that nobody's even said they don't like it. Or don't understand it. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.246.151|82.132.246.151]] 20:14, 11 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::I did skim through it a bit the other day when it was posted, but it was so dense that I probably only remember/understand 50% of it. The IP editor made some pretty good points, but it's not like I'm very good at making templates either. Maybe [[User:FaviFake]] or [[User:Lettherebedarklight]] can do something about it. '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:#3a795e&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#ce5f15&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 20:34, 11 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::I'm not actually too sure about this. How would be let newer users (who may not know about the template) to retrosign? &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 20:37, 11 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::::Well, those who don't know how to (or that they have to) sign probably aren't the target audience. ;) There are plenty of templates that even I probably wouldn't remember until I went looking for what's there, or found out about by someone else using it. (It's how I know about {{template|outdent}}, for example.)<br /> ::::::But the principle's simple enough. Duplicate the unsigned templates as retrosigned ones, and remove the nagging bit. Favi or Darklight could do it simply enough, if they think there's reason to. I could do it, except for the little matter of not being allowed to. Also, I'm not the one trying to sell the idea, just seemed an apt de-stresing comment for the circumstance we had. (Nice though this conversation is, it really needs the propsal(s) to be replied to, if anything.) I'm just hoping you feel calmer, now, Ba'al... :p [[Special:Contributions/82.132.245.237|82.132.245.237]] 03:42, 12 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> {{outdent|::::::}}<br /> Wait was that proposal written by you, IP? The format seemed AI-generated but i really did not read it for more than 10 seconds. [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:38, 12 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Having read it..... yeah, that's about as far from AI generated as you can get. I've seen IP use that format in the past, and the content is very explainxkcd-term heavy. I don't think AI would be able to generate the words 'unsigned templates as retrosigned'. Nobody except us understands what that means. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 18:52, 12 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::Not me-IP (the IP in the above bit), but probably one of the other long-standing-if-occasional-IPs that there must be.<br /> ::Also very much me-''like'', so the linguistic flourishes mesh well with what I understand/might write myself.<br /> ::In lieu of them saying anything more, themselves, I've already decided to do my bit to try to 'translate' the core idea to Muggle-speak. If I'm able to bridge the gap without being wrong about either/both! [[Special:Contributions/82.132.244.30|82.132.244.30]] 19:25, 12 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ==3==<br /> vv4dh&lt;iwumbd i7rig s9 vddr aowe<br /> <br /> BAABBABBABABABABAABBABABBAABAABABBBAABAABAAAAABBABABBABABBAAAABAAABBABABBAAAABAABABBBAABAABAAAAABBABABBABABBAAAABAABAABABABAAABBABBABBBAABAABAAAAABBABABABBABAAAABBAABAABB BAAABAABABABBABBAABBBAAAAAAAAAABABAABABAAAABAAAAAAABBBA<br /> <br /> USETHEVISIONFROMYOURCHILDSEYE {{unsigned ip|204.137.100.1|08:19, 13 November 2025 (UTC)}}<br /> :Oh, hello there! what do you have for us today, codeman? &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 14:22, 13 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::Starting from scratch, and dismissing (for the moment) the possibility of it being the 'cluetext' as a rotating key, the first looks polymorphic, in some manner, as the obvious repeat-letters that the known plaintext will have aren't all repeated in the ciphertext (and repeats in the ciphertext aren't matches in the known plaintext. It's also ''perhaps'' not subject to the main fatal flaw in Enigma (''other'' than the &quot;the message-senders use predictable original plaintext&quot; thing) that means that a character never maps to itself, as there are indeed (at least) two same-&gt;SAME mappings.<br /> ::Though given it is mapped to a changed-case (compared to what we expect from code#1) and includes alphabetic-to-punctuation-via-numeric transitions, my first assessment is that (with the exception of spaces being preserved/specially treated, as per usual) it also maps between A-Z input and a wider output.<br /> ::The most obvious idea is an XOR-based progression (prior code/plain character v.s. each subsequent one), but if done straight from ASCII codes that's going to give you far more weirdness than lower-cass-plus-occasional-punctuation. Which suggests perhaps a more proprietry enumeration/de-enumeration (it's not a shifted-6-bit output, so I won't try a shifted 5-bit input).<br /> ::...back to the cluetext. It's not the same-length as the ciphered phrase (if it had, I'd have assumed it was concocted as the &quot;one time pad&quot;), either with or without counting the spaces. But ''perhaps'' it's a Playfair cipher (less obvious than &quot;PASSWORDPASWORDPASSWORD...&quot;, when analysing for patterns), but I haven't got time to check that properly, right now, and I still think there's a non-linear (but trivial) relationship. Perhaps simpler than what I've already thought of.<br /> ::The 'As and Bs' I haven't yet really looked into, beyond ruling out that it's a direct binary expansion (at least in 8-bits, 28 characters of that, and one spare bit, ignoring the space, or 32x 7-bits plus 1). It seems to be 225 A+Bs (3x3x5x5; so 3x75, 5x45, 9x25 and 15x15 (square, which ''might' be significant) are the main splits), if I'm not barking up the wrong tree. But I have other things to do right now, so the next flash of inspiration will have to wait. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.231.193|82.132.231.193]] 18:03, 13 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::&quot;Agreed. Let's reset. The previous codes both started with 'Transmission X of four'. This looks similar, so it's safe to assume that 'ds4cdebsjbsx u;g6w hf whyb' equals 'transmission three of four'. This is actually very good for us, because we can map each number to their translated version:<br /> *d=t<br /> *s=r<br /> *4=a<br /> *c=n<br /> *d=s (perhaps a mistake)<br /> *e=m<br /> *b=i<br /> *j=s (wait...)<br /> *b=s????????????????&lt;br&gt;<br /> Cool, that didn't work at all. It's probably double-encoded, or it's using a very strong code (maybe a vigenere?). Whatever it is, substitution doesn't work on it. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 19:05, 13 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::That was my first-g [[Special:Contributions/82.132.245.151|82.132.245.151]] 21:40, 13 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> The Bs and As appear to be either a bacon Cipher (UO LUM E ZERO ONE ONE ZERO ONE TWO ZERO MINUS FOUR ALL CAP) or a Caesar Cipher, though if it's the latter it would need to be double-encoded like last time, because the most coherent option it's giving me is POOP POP POP OP OP OP OOP POP OPPO OP OOP OP P POOP OOP OO OO OPPO POP POP OPPO OO OP OO OPPO POP POO OOP OOP OP P POOP OOP OO OO OPPO POP POP OPPO OO OP OOP OOP OP OP OO OPPO P POP P POOP OOP OO OO OPPO POP OPPO POO OOP POOP OOP P POO OP OOP OP OPPO P POOP P POO OO OO OO OOP OP OOP OP OO OOP OO OO OO OP P PO. Something tells me they weren't trying to make potty jokes.<br /> :::Based on the fact that we're on this specific wiki, I'll assume that it's the first one for now. It's referencing Volume 0 (I think I know where they got the idea for this). The rest of the numbers are now 110120-4. I'll go check the page. 18:52, 13 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::Page 110120 has this poem on it, in the 'cypher' section:<br /> THE START OF THE TENTH-FAVORITE WORD USED BY BENDER&lt;br&gt;<br /> THE TOON THAT WENT SOUTH WHILE COMMANDED BY ENDER&lt;br&gt;<br /> THE NUMBER OF LIGHTS THAT PICARD SAID WERE ON&lt;br&gt;<br /> AND THE CLASS OF THE PLANET WHERE KIRK SHOUTED &quot;KHAAAN!&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> THE RINGS FOR THE MEN MINUS RINGS FOR THE ELVES&lt;br&gt;<br /> AND THE PRODUCT MOD 10 OF A FIVESOME OF TWELVES&lt;br&gt;<br /> THE END OF A CODE NES GAMERS KNOW&lt;br&gt;<br /> AND THE BASE USED TO MODEL HOW QUICKLY THINGS GROW&lt;br&gt;<br /> WHEN THEY'RE XOR'D TOGETHER THE CHECKSUM IS &quot;E&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> WHICH WILL TELL YOU YOU'VE GOT THE PENULTIMATE KEY&lt;br&gt;<br /> ::::...This is the penultimate key, if there are four messages. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 19:05, 13 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::I've not had any further time to look at this, but:<br /> :::::*If I were devising an actually useful secret code, the first one (which is clearly a character-to-character mapping, though not a static one) would involve a little more trickery than an 'unsalted' progression, and the second (clearly a bitwise represenation) should probably be repackaged back into a full 'alphanumeric' token set (e.g. base64 or UUEncoded 'text friendly' outputs, but perhaps rotated a bit to disguise the tell-tale signs of that kind of output.<br /> :::::**In fact, I might have used Gray-Code tables, even a mini form of a LZW-ish token-stream compression algorithm, to further thwart analysis by making it not even a consistent change in entropy from original character to the resulting output string. With such a single short 'message', it probably could have defied any realistic form of frequency-analysis, or at least made for hypothetically 'sensible' alternative decodings emerge from parts of the data, when choosing the 'right' wrong decoding methods.<br /> :::::*However, bear in mind that (though with greater challenges, from the #1 code to #2, so presumably even more for #3) these are codes that are ''supposed to be cracked''. Well, maybe #4 (or even the final set of 4x4 characters that's ultimately puzzle #5) will be 'fiendish'-level, but #3 shouldn't be more than 'devilishly difficult' to work out.<br /> :::::*I didn't know &quot;Bacon Cipher&quot;, by that name, but it looks like you've got that worked out by (assisted) brute force. I might have tripped up over the U+V and I+J equivalences, initially, but the composer has clearly used the 'classical' version in a straight manner.<br /> :::::*Taking that as done, though, we're left with the backforming of the TRANSMISSION message, if only so we know what (different) apparent nonsense the &quot;x@hc&quot; should become. Where I'd focus, is on what caused &quot;ISSI&quot; to be &quot;bsjb&quot;. Why, three characters later, has the encoding ended up on the same output char (could suggest a three-character Playfair key), yet the 'S' characters, positioned &quot;S..SS&quot; became &quot;d..sj&quot; (so ''not'' a 3-char key). Positioning the 'clue phrase' against the characters gives &quot;V..I&quot; against the &quot;I..I&quot;-&gt;&quot;b..b&quot;, so it's not being the same by dint of coincidentally similar transformations from the keyphrase.<br /> :::::But that's still an analysis that I'm doing with the presumption of it being deliberately somewhat obscure (having somehow 'discovered' part of the encoding secret). It's probably only going to be more hidden in plain sight, as part of the 'game', but still helps to know how you'd approach a more deliberately obscure method of coding. Hence how I broke the semaphor one ...well, mostly... without realising that it actually was semaphor. (If you hadn't have settled the Bacon Code solution, I might have tried looking at it being morse-based, with ambiguous character/word boundaries.)<br /> :::::Anyway, when I pop back here and find that you/someone else has fully solved it, I'll probably kick myself for entirely missing the most obvious answer. Also I can't seem get &quot;CE4Q60AE&quot; (or alternatives/variations that I've tried) to give me a checksum of &quot;E&quot; (or 0xE?). So, if that's actually important, I might have something else wrong. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.245.151|82.132.245.151]] 21:40, 13 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::::YOUARERIGHT {{unsigned ip|204.137.100.1|14:03, 14 November 2025 (UTC)}}<br /> :::::::About what? What are we right about? &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 14:04, 14 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == User rights ==<br /> <br /> I noticed you created my [[User:GreyFox|user page]] but did not create my talk page or give me the rights to do so myself. Why is this the case? [[User:GreyFox|GreyFox]] ([[User talk:GreyFox|talk]]) 17:25, 24 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :OMG so sorry. Fully forgor. Should be fixed now. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 02:25, 25 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == Minor edits ==<br /> <br /> Just FYI, you can mark in preferences under the editing tab for all edits to be marked as minor so that we don't clog up the Recent Changes page so much, as people can click &quot;Hide minor edits&quot;. '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:#3a795e&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#ce5f15&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 21:30, 2 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ;...whoops. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#023020&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000080&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 21:30, 2 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == /WORKPAGE ==<br /> <br /> Wow. While doing maintenance work, I found your workpage. I've always known it existed, but just brushed it off and let you work alone. I don't know how much it means to you, but I'm really proud and happy of how far you've come. In just a couple months you've been able to make a pretty sizable impact here. By the way, I love the work you've been doing on there. Please keep it up! &lt;3 '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:#3a795e&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#ce5f15&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 10:40, 3 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :It means a lot to me. Thanks for the encouragement! &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#023020&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000080&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 14:00, 3 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == Have another look at the Disappearing Sunday Update images ==<br /> <br /> *[[:File:Disappearing Sunday Update with number 2185.png]] - has a browser address bar<br /> *[[:File:Archive with Disappearing Sunday Update.png]] - Thumbnail History versions had an address bar, and it *used* to have the 'disappeared comic', perhaps least useful of the three, as it currently is, being the only one of the three not currently linked-to. Might be worth trying to find out what Kynde was trying to do, there.<br /> *[[:File:Archive with Disappearing Sunday Update and date.png]] - was marked for deletion, as &quot;identical&quot;, but it wasn't, had a hover-text date on it. Don't know if that's still useful (not being used as a linked image?), but I wouldn't make that my first deletion, especially as it's a linked-to page.<br /> ...needs double-checking, really, to make sure that things that aren't totally useless are not thrown out just because they look useless at a glance. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.239.140|82.132.239.140]] 18:57, 4 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Good catch, and now fixed. Thanks for letting me know! &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#FF0000&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#00873E&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 18:59, 4 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == exp template thing? ==<br /> <br /> Please could you have a look at [[Template talk:explain]]? [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 19:40, 10 December 2025 (UTC)&lt;!--forgot this!--&gt;<br /> <br /> ...also, why exactly did you think [[Template:exp]] was needed? Looks like it once existed but was actually removed because (except for some other relic uses, that also seemingly aren't used) it serves no actual purpose. [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 19:57, 10 December 2025 (UTC)</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Template_talk:xkcd&diff=401268 2025-12-10T19:53:43Z

<p>78.144.255.82: </p> <hr /> <div>==Removing added category==<br /> Using this template adds a category to the page called &quot;Links to xkcd #&quot;. The template also adds a category called &quot;Links to xkcd.com&quot;. Seems to me that there's a bit of redundancy there. Personally, I think a category telling us that the page links to a certain comic is rather unnecessary. It would cause major category spam on pages listing a large number of links to different xkcd articles. As well, I can't really think of any practical use for the category. The &quot;Links to xkcd.com&quot; category could have potential use when combined with AWB, but having both makes it completely redundant. At any rate, I propose we remove the &quot;Links to xkcd #&quot; category from the template. {{User:Omega/sig}} 09:28, 9 August 2012 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :I think in both cases we can simply use Mediawiki's [[Special:LinkSearch]], e.g. [[Special:LinkSearch/xkcd.com]] --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:03, 9 August 2012 (UTC)<br /> ::I put them in, and if there are better tools for tracking references to, say, xkcd.com, then by all means, let's leverage those instead. I'll take out the numbered category, and we can see how it goes... -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 13:38, 9 August 2012 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == Latest edit ==<br /> <br /> A possibly quite useful {{diff|401245|edit}}, just done there.<br /> <br /> Might I suggest that, to build upon &quot;To link to an explanation of a specific comic, use [[Template:exp]].&quot; it might be better to say &quot;...an explanation on this site, use...&quot;.<br /> <br /> Although I'm not sure why someone would {{exp|1234|link to anything here like this}} rather than [[1234|link to anything here like ''this'']]. Is that template even needed?<br /> :*Adding to my own edit: it seems to be only used, as proxy, by [[Template:Comicbox square or vertical]], [[Template:Comicbox horizontal]], [[Template:Comicbox sandbox]] and be redirected to by [[Template:explain]]... Haven't checked which of ''those'' are actually in use, though! 19:34, 10 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> (Also just had to add in a noinclude 'start tag', to &quot;exp&quot;'s template page... couldn't work out what I was doing wrong in my Preview, until I posted it fully and checked around. ;) [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 19:26, 10 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> : Oh, wait... you ''just created'' [[Template:exp]]. It's not a relic that you adjusted the xkcd template to allow for..? Why? [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 19:53, 10 December 2025 (UTC)</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Template:Kick&diff=401267 2025-12-10T19:48:32Z

<p>78.144.255.82: See comment added to Delete tag.</p> <hr /> <div>#REDIRECT [[Template:kick]]<br /> [[Category:Pages to delete]] &lt;!-- no reason for this. Or else create a redirect from {{KICK}} too - but we don't really do that, excepting {{Citation needed}} and {{Actual citation needed}} variations, which I think are just pandering to laziness anyway. --&gt;</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Template_talk:TemplateTutorial&diff=401265 2025-12-10T19:44:51Z

<p>78.144.255.82: Undo revision 401251 by DollarStoreBa'al (talk) Looks like asking what it renders as, by example. Yes, it's a redlink. That's what was being discussed. Page is deletable, anyway.</p> <hr /> <div>Heyyyyyyy can someone please edit these instructions? Maybe the mystery 82 IP? I'm not good at these sorts of things, and I would like assistance with etiquette, rules surrounding templates, etc. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#023020&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000080&quot;&gt;'''''converse'''''&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt; 16:15, 28 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> :When I made a correction, you just made it wrong again. (Hint: what does {{someTemplateName}} look like..?) I'm not correcting it again.<br /> :There are plenty of instructional pages 'out there', for those with the patience to learn. I'm not supportive of &quot;Hey guys, all you need to do is ...blah blah blah..., and now let us all create many new templates, most of which will be infoboxes!&quot;. Can't stop you, but I won't encourage it.<br /> :My remaining advice is, as already said elsewhere by me and others: Know what you want any given template ''for''. Which you've pretty much failed to do, in almost every attempt (including this one - it's not even a very good use for a template). And if you ''do'' think of something that's useful, not just something for yourself, propose it in the Portal area. Let it be discussed. Check that there's nothing like it, or an easier way of doing it. Above all, work out the right name before you even ''create'' Template:someSillyNameXYZ123, so you don't have to move it (or mark it for deletion) down the line.<br /> :This is as far as I'm now inclined to go, and it's as much my final(?) instructions to ''you'', personally. I wouldn't have even seen this page, except I misclicked on your edit instead of the one I was hoping to read. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.186.65|82.132.186.65]] 21:24, 28 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> [[Category:Pages to delete]]</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User_talk:DollarStoreBa%27al&diff=401264 2025-12-10T19:40:27Z

<p>78.144.255.82: /* exp template thing? */</p> <hr /> <div>Speak through the interdimentional portal<br /> <br /> [[User:DollarStoreBa'al/Mistakes|My mistakes]]<br /> <br /> ==General Chitchat and such==<br /> Hey, as per your comment on [[Main Page#Create my user page]], I created your pages. Welcome to the wiki! Please always remember to sign your comments with &lt;nowiki&gt;--~~~~&lt;/nowiki&gt;, and ask in the [[explain xkcd:Community portal|Community portal]] if you don't know something. If you want, you can read the [[explain_xkcd:Editor_FAQ#Why_can.27t_I_upload_pictures_or_create_pages.3F|the Editor FAQ]]! Welcome. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:02, 25 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :Thanks! [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 19:11, 25 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :hi btw :) [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 15:11, 27 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::hello, how are you doing this fine morning, my dear fellow? [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 16:03, 27 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ==Hiyo==<br /> :I'm trying to lurk less and be friendly so I just thought I'd ah drop in :) [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 15:53, 3 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> :: Bello. me editor guy who edit much. edit fun! [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 17:00, 3 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::hahahahaha edit fun indeed. [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 15:20, 4 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::Question: How do you add those user boxes that you have on your page? Those would be nice to have. [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 16:52, 6 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::copy and paste this and remove the nowiki tag: <br /> <br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;{{Userbox | border-c = #255 | border-s = 1 | info-s = 9 | id = alastor jumpscare | info = [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|This user has a pet cannibal deer.]] | float = left}}&lt;/nowiki&gt; and replace it with what you desire, for example:<br /> <br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;{{Userbox | border-c = #255 | border-s = 1 | info-s = 9 | id = ;) | info = [[User:DollarStoreBa'al|This user _____ ]] | float = left}}&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 14:50, 11 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::::::Dude thanks! [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 13:48, 17 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::::You're very welcome dear. WEE WOO [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 14:18, 19 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ==Wow==<br /> Am I so cool that I got a mention on your user page just because I showed you how to make userboxes? I mean, if I am... thanks. [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 14:44, 25 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Yes. Yes you are. [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 15:43, 25 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::YAY TYSM i will get you free jambalaya for you immediately due to that (if you're into that) [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 14:19, 28 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::: No need. Also, I see you're from Louisiana. [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 03:44, 29 March 2025 (UTC)]]<br /> ::::Haha or maybe I just like jambalaya :). Also you are not 4029 hHHA [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 14:17, 8 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ==The 5s and Es and Os==<br /> Reply to this if you've figured out what the meaning of the thingy on my user page is.<br /> :it's base 3 [[User:CalibansCreations|'''&lt;span style=&quot;color:#ff0000;&quot;&gt;Caliban&lt;/span&gt;''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 09:07, 9 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> :: :O [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 14:31, 9 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> :: Nope! I'll give you a hint: talk to sam. [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 14:33, 9 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> https://voca.ro/1Akmh0zRqa8Q [[User:CalibansCreations|'''&lt;span style=&quot;color:#ff0000;&quot;&gt;Caliban&lt;/span&gt;''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 16:02, 9 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> :uhhh...[[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 20:41, 11 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::sorry, that's not it. Don't know what to say to that.[[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 17:54, 14 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> You have one week! Hint: beep boooop --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[DSBContribs |'''''My life choices''''']] 16:30, 6 May 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :Morse code? [[User:BobcatInABox|BobcatInABox]] ([[User talk:BobcatInABox|talk]]) 19:33, 8 May 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::Morse code of what? You are very, very close.--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[DSBContribs |'''''My life choices''''']] 20:47, 8 May 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Time's up! If you put this into [https://morsecode.world/international/translator.html/] and click play, you get the intro to Bad Apple. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[DSBContribs |'''''My life choices''''']] 14:44, 13 May 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :It's better than [[2869: Puzzles]] [[User:BobcatInABox|BobcatInABox]] ([[User talk:BobcatInABox|talk]]) 11:11, 14 May 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == Want to do some repetitive work? ==<br /> <br /> Hey dollar, I noticed you're very active here! I don't have a ton of time, but I recently overhauled the template {{tl|comic}} to add many new features. While we figure out [[Header text]], would you be interested in editing the contents of about 50 pages (the early xkcd comics) to make these new features work? It's a lot of repetitive work, you'd just need to make the same small edits on 50 pages. (If you're interested in why the OG comics were in a different order, see [[LiveJournal]]). Just let me know and I'll finish the documentation for the template! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 17:13, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :What exactly would I be doing to get these features to work? [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 17:18, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::If it isn't super-complex wikitext things I can totally help! --[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al | Converse]]&lt;/sup&gt; 19:21, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Right so you'd just need to move things around and remove some useless code. This process adds a second white navigation bar at the bottom to browse the OG comics in the original order.<br /> [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1:_Barrel_-_Part_1&amp;diff=374851&amp;oldid=373457 You can follow this example]. The steps are:<br /> <br /> Start from [[4|comic number 4]]:<br /> #Based on the short sentence written above the explanation, add &quot;ognumber =&quot;, &quot;ogprev =&quot;, and &quot;ognext =&quot; (so the navbar can work)<br /> #Add &quot;oglink =&quot;, and move ONLY the link from &quot;before&quot; to &quot;oglink&quot; (so from HTTPS://..... until the end of the link, move that to &quot;oglink&quot;)<br /> #Now, from the edit preview, copy the original title.<br /> #Delete everything in &quot;before =&quot; now that you moved the link<br /> #Add &quot;ogtitle =&quot; and paste the original title that you copied.<br /> #Finally, in &quot;titletext&quot;, add two couples of apostrophes (&lt;nowiki&gt;''&lt;/nowiki&gt;) in these places: https://imgur.com/a/BewKKr1<br /> #Now save the changes, and click the new white &quot;Next &gt;&quot; button you just created to go to the next one!<br /> And you're done! It's much simpler when you try it. Of course you don't have to do it, feel free to work on the header text! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 20:41, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> me am do. --[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al | Converse]]&lt;sup&gt;[https://www.explainxkcd.--[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 11:05, 26 April 2025 (UTC)com/wiki/index.php/S--[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 11:05, 26 April 2025 (UTC)pecial:Contributions/DollarStoreBa%27al My life choices]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; 20:51, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :Oh and I added friendly errors for when you forget to add one of the &quot;og&quot; labels. Just note that if you don't provide &quot;ognumber&quot;, the cool white navbar won't show up. Remember to always insert a pipe before a label, like this &quot;'''|''' ognumber =&quot;. And once you get to comic 55 you're done! That's the last one --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 20:58, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Hey, I don't really understand where I'm supposed to put these. --[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al | Converse]]&lt;sup&gt;[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa%27al My life choices]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; 21:01, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Nevermind, I got this. --[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al | Converse]]&lt;sup&gt;[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa%27al My life choices]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; 21:05, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Erm nope the OGnumber, OGprev, and OGnext you should take from the first sentence above the explanation. For example [[24]] says it's sixth. Anyways, I found a pretty big bug in the template, so I guess we should stop until it's fixed. The Original title doesn't show up! Arghhh! I'll fix it.<br /> :I'll let you know when you can continue. Thanks! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 21:18, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> alright, sounds good! Dang tho. Let me know and I'll get right back to it. --[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al | Converse]]&lt;sup&gt;[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa%27al My life choices]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; 13:45, 25 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :Hey, I, um, undid all your edits because they broke the template haha. I guess this was more complex that I thought! Don't worry, I'll finish them myself over time. I'm more experienced than I thought it seems! Thanks for trying to help anyways! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:52, 25 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::Reviewing them, it seems you were not isolating the link correctly and leaving there some HTML elements that closed other open HTML elements that weren't finished! It did look, interesting, at least! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:55, 25 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::So sorry about that, I noticed those random Html elements. Thought they were part of the bug. oops. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:16pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[DSBContribs |'''''My life choices''''']] 22:45, 25 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::::No worries! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 11:05, 26 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ==excuse me==<br /> <br /> but it appears you have discovered that I was a spammer in a past account or maybe this account. who's to say anymore? anyway i'm trying to fix that hehe [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 14:02, 7 May 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ==template==<br /> <br /> What is a template? What’s a {{Trout}} and {{Whale}}?<br /> &lt;br&gt;<br /> If it looks weird, click edit [[User:Aprilfoolsupdate!| &lt;sup&gt;April&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;fools&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;update&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;!]]([[User talk:Aprilfoolsupdate!|talk]]) 12:20, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> : I'm assuming you're asking what a template is and not about sea life. Templates are basically shortcuts that we use for commonly used things. For example, &lt;nowiki&gt;{{cn}}&lt;/nowiki&gt; creates {{cn}}. You can create one pretty easily. I made those because they're commonly used on Wikipedia, and wanted to transfer them here. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 13:41, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::how can I create one? [[User:Aprilfoolsupdate!| &lt;sup&gt;April&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;fools&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;update&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;!]]([[User talk:Aprilfoolsupdate!|talk]]) 13:21, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :::Here's something that may be able to help: &lt;nowiki&gt;{{AprilFoolsHelp}}&lt;/nowiki&gt; --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 13:43, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::::thxxxxxxxxx [[User:Aprilfoolsupdate!| &lt;sup&gt;April&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;fools&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;update&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;!]]([[User talk:Aprilfoolsupdate!|talk]]) 13:46, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :::::You are very welcome! I hope you are excited to start contributing to the wiki! --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 13:46, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::::::By the way, please don't be afraid to ask me any questions at all. If I can, I will help! --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 13:48, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :::::::Thanks [[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]], which is &lt;nowiki&gt;{{Thx$store}}&lt;/nowiki&gt; (if I can call you that)<br /> <br /> ==Template Tips==<br /> Ok. Sorry, needed to get that out of my system. Thank you for the supplement. Truly. It's a good warning. Just please don't start randomly insulting people towards the end. This is a wiki. Speak the facts, and nothing more. In this case, the facts are:<br /> *Templates are easy to create.<br /> *It's useful to learn from other templates.<br /> Those are the facts. Now, you're done. Don't go on to insult them about how they're too stupid to do something useful.<br /> :No insult intended, no mention at all of stupidity, just the obvious eagerness. Tried only to give caution not to run before you've learnt how (and, ideally, where) to walk. All edits show up, to anyone looking. The initial query had not been answered, when I started the reply, and I had to hastily rewrite things to fit back in on the end.<br /> :To the above, I'd add:<br /> :*Know what purpose your template will have.<br /> :That way you're less likely to create something that you later regret, give or take a rename/delete. (If you want anything totally deleted, it may take a long time, a meanwhile you can only edit it 'clear', but still findable and the history checkable.) Most templates are ''not'' there to add pictures of sealife, but to grease the wheels of common (or not so common) Explanation page scenarios. And we might even thank you for a good shortcut for something we maybe never realised was needed before.<br /> :For a more technical 'manual', {{w|Help:A quick guide to templates}} might be a useful next read, and from there jump around into other Help: items. There's a lot you ''can'' do, though you certainly won't want to use it all right from the start. Take your time and know ''why'' you're doing something, as well as ''what'.<br /> :Good luck for the future, I've probably said as much as you need me to say for now. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.246.73|82.132.246.73]] 17:39, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :While this is very useful, it would be nice if you posted this on [[User:Aprilfoolsupdate!]]'s talk page. He's the one learning the ropes, and it would probably be very useful to him. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 17:47, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ==Requests/favors==<br /> If you need anything done, reach out to me! I'll let you know what I can do to help you! --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 19:49, 15 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Hi [[User:DollarStoreBa'al | DollarStoreBa'al]], are you good enough to have the link to my user page? [[User:Aprilfoolsupdate!| &lt;sup&gt;April&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;fools&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;update&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;!]]([[User talk:Aprilfoolsupdate!|talk]]) 01:57, 18 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :Done! --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 15:56, 18 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ==Hello again Darling :D==<br /> I'm back after the summer hello sir O) [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 13:59, 26 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :A fellow school-based follower of the truth, I see! Welcome back, and I wish thee well on your adventures. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 14:00, 26 August 2025 (UTC) P.S. I use monobook style now.<br /> <br /> ==Category thing==<br /> Hey, can someone tell me why my talk page is on 'pages to delete?' {{unsigned|DollarStoreBa'al|18:08, 27 August 2025 (UTC)}}<br /> :I have tracked it down to {{diff|383609|this edit}} by [[User:Aprilfoolsupdate!]], where they used a (fairly useless and unnecessary) template (that they created themselves) called &lt;nowiki&gt;Template:Thx$store&lt;/nowiki&gt; to thank you for helping to teach them the process of creating a new template. Since I marked that template for deletion, when the comment calls for the template, it also marks your talk page for deletion. I have changed it so that the template is replaced with the text that it would substitute in and your page is no longer marked for deletion. Also signed off your unsigned comment. '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:pink&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#B1E4E3&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 18:30, 27 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::When someone says &quot;I have tracked it down&quot; you know they mean business. Thanks, that's quite reassuring. Another mystery IP (not sure if it's the same guy as today) did warn him not to make meaningless templates. Of course, I also made a meaningless template, so.... --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 18:33, 27 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == {{w|Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/ltbdl}} ==<br /> <br /> they think we're the same person, ha. [[user:lett‪herebedarklight|raeb]] 02:29, 2 September 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :I did not think this is what I would come back to. That's wild and hilarious. <br /> <br /> :They are raeb<br /> <br /> :And I am Dollar<br /> <br /> :And we are not the same person<br /> <br /> --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#023020&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000080&quot;&gt;'''''converse'''''&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt; 13:42, 3 September 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::OMG THEY BANNED YOU WTF? I've pleaded your case, but idk if they'll respond. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#023020&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000080&quot;&gt;'''''converse'''''&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt; 13:49, 3 September 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::Okay, wait a second. A checkuser does checks on User IPs. If you were found guilty, that means that you were editing under the same IP as me. By any chance, do you go to school in Lincoln, NE? --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#023020&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000080&quot;&gt;'''''converse'''''&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt; 14:04, 3 September 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::one, revert your case pleading, it's silly and won't help, and two, we're &quot;very unlikely&quot; to be the same person according to checkuser, don't panic. maybe link them here. (i don't go to school in lincoln.) [[user:lett‪herebedarklight|raeb]] 15:00, 3 September 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::Ok, now it's weird. I didn't know you couldn't have alt accounts, even if you explicitly stated that they were, indeed, alt accounts. Seems a bit strict if you ask me. Also, 1+1=Window, not Yes. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#023020&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000080&quot;&gt;'''''converse'''''&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt; 22:53, 3 September 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ==Can you please help me==<br /> I helped you with the userboxes. Now I need your help. How do I get my sig to be something besides what it is now? [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 19:34, 9 September 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Hi there, Tori here. If you want to change your signature, go to your preferences page on the top right of the website (it's next to your Talk page and Watchlist). Scroll down until you see the signatures section and change it. If you need help figuring out wikitext, feel free to shoot me a message on my [[user talk:42.book.addict|talk page]]! '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:pink&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#B1E4E3&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 01:32, 10 September 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == Template:what if? chapters ==<br /> <br /> Sorry, but what's the point of creating a template for what if chapters? What do you intend to use it for? '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:#3a795e&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#ce5f15&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 16:28, 3 October 2025 (UTC)<br /> :I intended it as a workaround in order to edit two pages at once. (those being the blog page and the chapters page). I noticed there was a discrepancy between the tables on the two pages, and I created a workaround for it. Also, it's faster than copy-pasting, now that the load times are astronomical. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#023020&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000080&quot;&gt;converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt; 16:30, 3 October 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::Sounds good! '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:#3a795e&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#ce5f15&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 16:40, 3 October 2025 (UTC)<br /> Ok I'm sorry but I had to change it back. Here are a few drawbacks:<br /> #Now people reading our summaries can't edit them directly.<br /> #The history is gone. You should've moved the page, not copy and paste. Both for copyright attribution (see {{w|WP:CWW}}) and for maintenance, to see when and why something was added.<br /> #Now we need to transclude the table on 1 more page (servers!), and the pages that were already transcluding the page (except [[what if? (blog)]]) now are transcluding both the page AND the template.<br /> And most importantly: there wasn't any discrepancy between the pages that transcluded the pages, just as there is no discrepancy now. The table was the exact same.<br /> <br /> Could you explain what discrepancy you saw? The code and text behind the original [[What If? Chapters]] page, the blog page, the new template you created, and any other pages transcluding [[What If? Chapters]] was truly identical (and still is, just with the added issues listed above.).<br /> <br /> Also; templates are not supposed to be edited frequently. A template is created in order to save time writing the same code on dozens or hundreds of pages. The table both needs to be edited and is only transcluded on a few pages. These are the pages in which the page was transcluded: [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:WhatLinksHere/What_If%3F_chapters&amp;hidelinks=1&amp;hideredirs=1] --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 10:04, 4 October 2025 (UTC)<br /> :There were just some chapter summaries I saw that were different between the blog page and the chapters page. I'm not angry about this, thanks for bringing up the points which I am not advanced enough to see. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#023020&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000080&quot;&gt;converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt; 12:55, 6 October 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::Huh, that's odd. The only difference between the two is that the last header cell on the left becomes highlighted in yellow when transcluded. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 19:16, 7 October 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == Current signature. ==<br /> <br /> I've noticed that your signature does &lt;all the fancy stuff&gt;&lt;NEWLINE&gt;&lt;space&gt;&lt;timestamp&gt;. Might be a good idea to remove the &lt;NEWLINE&gt; before the (presumably auto-appended) &lt;space&gt;&lt;timestamp&gt; as it currently puts your<br /> timestamp like this.<br /> <br /> Which is ''probably'' not what you'd intended. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.245.74|82.132.245.74]] 20:47, 4 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :......Nope, didn't intend that. I'll see if I can fix it. (not signing this because... well, you know) --DSB {{unsigned|DollarStoreBa'al|21:12, 4 November 2025 (UTC)}}<br /> ::I've found the issue. I was trying to make my signature in times new roman using [[Template:TNR]]. This template uses div for it's styling. For some reason, it's inserting &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/nowiki&gt; between the signature and timestamp rather than after. Is there a way to get the &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/nowiki&gt; to go after the timestamp rather than before (which is what I was intending)? Thanks! --DSB {{unsigned|DollarStoreBa'al|21:18, 4 November 2025 (UTC)}}<br /> :::Standard advice is to not use div-tags in your custom .sig, for exactly this reason. You should be able to do the same (except for the undesired newline-forcing) with span-tagging where you invoked div-tags.<br /> :::The way it rendered (must basically have been subst:ed between what you used and how it renders), I didn't know you'd used the TNR template. If that's for character-length reasons then a &quot;TNRspan&quot; template (or something ''not'' four characters longer, if you're extremely tight for space) would have to be used.<br /> :::Or change the TNR so &lt;code&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;{{TNR|span=yes}}&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;/code&gt; will specially 'return' you your no-Div version (that's the nice-looking version; you could also have it do something like responding to &lt;code&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;{{{1}}}&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;/code&gt; being &quot;s&quot; or &quot;1&quot;, if you can only afford to extend by two extra characters). That makes the one template dual-use, instead of making another template.<br /> :::TIMTOWTDI. But you'll know what you want to do, I can only give vague pointers. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.245.74|82.132.245.74]] 22:22, 4 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::Weird. I changed the TNR template to &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/nowiki&gt; instead of &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;, but upon testing it's still doing that weird newline thing. {{unsigned|DollarStoreBa'al|14:11, 5 November 2025 (UTC)}}<br /> :::::Finally fixed. I can't get the timestamp to also be TNR, but at least it doesn't auto-newline. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 14:15, 5 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::::That looks not too bad, though the timestamp is sans-serif again. Though ''might' in part be browser-dependant as to how it looks (mine may react only to the 'serif' and not the full 'Times New Roman', giving a TNR''-like'' serif-font that works good adjacent to the non-specific choice of sans-serif font. Also, at first glance, there's a mystery as to why the timestamp is '''''BOLD+ITALIC''' (or maybe STRONG+EMPHASIS, for the pedants).<br /> ::::::The structure is probably as follows, rewritten just for visual representation/explanation. Formatting that you do is in ()s, my explanatory notes are in ** and * pairs:<br /> **start of 'fixed text' signature insertion**<br /> (SPANopen style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;)<br /> --<br /> (BOLD+ITALICstart)<br /> (LINKpage)User:DollarStoreBa'al<br /> (LINKtext)<br /> (SPANopen style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;)<br /> DollarStoreBa'al<br /> (SPANclose, i.e. end:style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;)<br /> (LINKclose)<br /> (SUPERSCRIPTopen)<br /> (LINKpage)User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al<br /> (LINKtext)<br /> (SPANopen style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;)<br /> Converse<br /> (SPANclose, i.e. end:style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;)<br /> (LINKclose)<br /> (SUPERSCRIPTclose)<br /> *expected to be an /implied/ (BOLD+ITALICSclose), here*<br /> *check HTML source for why not?*<br /> (SPANclose, i.e. end: style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman...etc&quot;)<br /> **end of 'fixed text' signature insertion**<br /> **start of 'timestamp' signature insertion**<br /> *BOLD+ITALICS is still active?*<br /> *but all /other/ formats ended by the most recent (SPANclose)*<br /> 14:15, 5 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> **end of 'timestamp' signature insertion**<br /> ::::::Without looking at exactly what you're doing behind the scenes, I'm not ''entirely'' sure, but I think the {{template|TNR}} includes a close-Span tag, preventing that from 'rolling on' into the timestamp bit.<br /> ::::::Exactly how the '''''BOLD+ITALIC''''' rolls on, I don't know without checking the HTML source. Might be an intentional function of the wikimarkup-to-HTML conversion that 'remembers' that formatting and reapplies it as necessary, at least until a 'forced' end-of-scope (end of a Div or P tag, a Br/Hr monotag, new ordered/unordered list item (or changing the list-level), table cell/row transitions, and then there's the next (same/different) &quot;:&quot;-prepended indented follow-up lines and (of course) double-newlines) to force even no-prefix lines into paragraph-breaks. All of these (and other less obvious wikimarkup scenarios) probably translate to a hard /div closure in the HTML.<br /> ::::::Does {{template|TNR}} currently close its own Span? Does removing that Span-end let it 'roll on' over the timestamp? If you do that, does the insert-signature process close off all remaining Spans ''after'' the timestamp? (Normally, a signature is followed by a newline+newline or at least a newline+:nextlinehasindents, but if you add a P.S. comment after a timestamp that benefits from an unclosed formatting rlling through, does anything add a closure to stop it rolling through onto the P.S...? Can't test this, myself, directly, but it'd be interesting to find out!)<br /> ::::::Note that I don't know if you intended TNR to be used anywhere else. But by changing it from Div-based to Span-based it changes how it looks if I &quot;{{TNR|use it here}}&quot;, and if you then make it so that it open-Spans but never close-Spans then it would change the appearance of this paragraph even further.<br /> ::::::...ouch. Actually, I had assumed it would currently (as 'span-only', opening and closing) not linefeed, browserside, but currently it adds a forced break, and doesn't even have any way of knowing how many indents (if any) to add before the continuation text.<br /> ::::::Though if nobody else is using it for ''anything else'', it shouldn't matter. Just pointing out that (''if they are'') changes you make to fine-tune your signature ''could'' have collateral effects for other people who use TNR when it does one thing but then find that it's doing another thing.<br /> ::::::Creating a template 'just for your own use' is Ok-ish, but you might just want to note its purpose and (current) peculiarities in case someone thinks that it's intended for a more general purpose, and in a more logical manner than you've had to make it 'work' just for you.<br /> ::::::It's also known for templates to contain imbalanced markup, with either how it is used or the presence of a second 'closing' template (see {{template|cot}} and {{template|cob}}, that mark the 't'op and 'b'ottom of a 'co'llapsable area) making the final result properly balanced in the end. But mostly you'd expect internal closure of anything the template started, whether Spanny or Divvy in nature, or justify it and make it obvious without digging through the actual template-code itself.<br /> ::::::But I don't know how useful all of this is, to you or those coming along afterwards (before or after further template tweaks, etc). I'm just trying to pass on everything I think could be helpful, knowing that a lot of it could be 'beyond helpful', i.e. actually quite irrelevent. If not incomprehsible. (If not wrong, given I can't even test many assumptions, directly!) But here it is, anyway. HTH, HAND. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.244.89|82.132.244.89]] 16:24, 5 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::::I'm using the TNR template because it looks cool, but it also does have a purpose. It's used in early Taglines and header texts. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 16:53, 5 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::::Having tried many things, I've found that including the TNR template at all is messing up the timestamp. I'll see if there's another way to include the template without that, but idk if there is a way. In the meantime, here's my new Sig: &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 17:25, 5 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :{{outdent|:::::}}<br /> :((I researched,cchecked and wrote the following followup whilst you were replying, just aboce. You've answered some of my points, plus seem happy with as it is now, but still posting it given the thought I put into it... ;) Not that I actually think that it's necessary as helpful as I might have hoped it to be, in the end! Absolutely no reply expected, if you're happy to say nothing more.))<br /> :Ok, actually looked at the HTML source, now, neutering the 'raw' markup, whitespacing it and adding **commentary**:<br /> **start signature, fixed text**<br /> **default formatting**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;<br /> **formatting is now TNR**<br /> --<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;b&gt;<br /> **formatting is TNR+Bold**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;i&gt;<br /> **formatting is TNR+Bold+Italics**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;a href=&quot;/wiki/index.php/User:DollarStoreBa%27al&quot; title=&quot;User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al&quot;&gt;<br /> **formatting is TNR+B+I and a link..**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;<br /> **...which is coloured**<br /> DollarStoreBa'al<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/span&gt;<br /> **back to TNR+B+I link, no colour**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/a&gt;<br /> **back to TNR+B+I, no link<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;sup&gt;<br /> **TNR+B+I+Superscript**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;a class=&quot;mw-selflink selflink&quot;&gt;<br /> **TNR+B++Sup and a link (to this page, in this specific instance)**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;<br /> **TNR+B+I+Sup link is coloured**<br /> Converse<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/span&gt;<br /> **TNR+B+I+Sup link, no colour**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/a&gt;<br /> **TNR+B+I+Sup, no link**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/sup&gt;<br /> **TNR+B+I, normal-script again**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/span&gt;<br /> **this should have removed TNR, *and* the 'inner' B+I too...**<br /> ** (Although this is not what you wanted, it's what you should get!) **<br /> **...but apparently we're now just with B+I**<br /> ** (This might be my own browser's interpretation, not everyone's.) **<br /> **this is the inbuilt transition between fixed-sig and time-sig**<br /> **a space is here, then...**<br /> 14:15, 5 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/i&gt; ** (Your signature markup does not ask for this!) **<br /> **just Boldness left**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/b&gt; ** (Your signature markup does not ask for this!) **<br /> **neutral format again**<br /> **end of signature**<br /> :What goes with the &quot;TNR+B+I&quot; going to &quot;B+I&quot;, I don't know. Unless they've changed the HTML spec regarding this in the last decade or three.<br /> :The wiki-server back end was smart enough to add the close-Italics and close-Bold, at the end of the signature (''perhaps'', knowing that these were imminent a 'smart' error-checking by the browser's HTML-renderer let their formats persist, when otherwise they would not have? ...odd, but possible). Possibly it would have also closed the TNR-span, after the B-closure,cif not already asked to do so by the end of the TNR-template?<br /> :...so...<br /> :#First 'fix', remove the &lt;code&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/span&gt;&lt;/code&gt; from TNR. See how that affects any newly applied signatures (it won't change old ones).<br /> :#Also see how/if it changes the indent-loss above my &quot;...ouch&quot; line, above.<br /> :#''Also'' also chase down if TNR gets used ''anywhere else'' in this wiki, at the moment, and check that you've not broken anything else that other people might have used it for.<br /> :If the first fix works and the third thing isn't a problem (ignore the second issue, I'm happy for it to change), then you're sorted. Otherwise (no fix, or even further broken in ways that aren't any good for anyone) reverse the change to where it works best for everyone and accept it not working precisely how you think you want it.<br /> :If it fixes, as suggested, I'd also be interested how signing with &lt;code&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;~~~~ and more text&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;/code&gt; works. (i.e. does it TNR the &quot;and more text&quot;?) Not that it's important, just my own curiosity.<br /> :And think about a more advanced explanation on TNR's page, if it's going to be 'an odd template' in any way, like being Span-opener without being a Span-closer.<br /> :That's all. Over to you, nothing more I can do (I could change TNR's code, but not then test it with your signature), but ''maybe'' I've done enough to help. Without too much confusion. I'll let you sort the rest out on your own, unless there's anything specific that arises to follow-up with. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.246.131|82.132.246.131]] 17:45, 5 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::tbh I'm good. Besides, I have no clue how to convert that raw HTML into usable wikitext (idk how to code, planning to learn someday). Either way, works fine. Also, you commentary has made me realize how complex my sig actually is. Times New Roman+Bold+Italics, which is a link which is colored. {{unsigned|DollarStoreBa'al|19:21, 5 November 2025 (UTC)}} &lt;br&gt;&lt;!--actually, I think the error was an accidental {{w start and ]] end in the prior section that 'meshed' with an example of a closing }} in the latest contribution, but the RTLishness probably didn't help. Fixed that, though. --&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> Ummm... Do you know that your current signature is sort of 'unmunged'? As in, you're making the markup show by 'escaping' the markup characters entirely so they don't (properly) act as markup, but as literal text. (You had it working ok(ish), not sure when it went wrong, without scrolling through your Talk contributions.) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.236.186|82.132.236.186]] 17:34, 22 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Addendum - had a deeper look, it was broken for 14:00, 20 November 2025, for [[Talk:3170: Service Outage]], but had worked until 20:27, 19 November 2025, for [[Talk:3168: Beam Dump]]. Whatever you did to your profile, between those two times, maybe undo it? Wasn't caused by any public page edit (like the TNR-template), nor can I think of how you'd break that without being obvious. Anyway, FYI.<br /> :(My guess is that you copied it out to somewhere, to edit, that thing auto-obfuscated the markup for its own visual reasons, then the copy back was done of the 'ruined' markup version. I haven't gone through it with a toothcomb, to see what your intended hanges may have been. And maybe you even intended ''this''... Until I read a page 'normally', not just zourcewise, I hadn't spotted that your long signature-markup was now so... 'literal'. And can't imagine it should be. ) 17:57, 22 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::I may or may not have INTENTIONALLY unchecked 'treat above as wikitext', simply to confuse people :) &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 00:08, 23 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::&quot;Complicated signatures contain a lot of code (&quot;markup&quot;) that is revealed in the edit window, and can take up unnecessary amounts of narrative space, which can make both reading and editing harder.&quot; -{{w|WP:SIG#Guidelines and policies|WP:SIG}} '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:#3a795e&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#ce5f15&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 02:10, 23 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::Your signature literally has more characters than mine. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 02:24, 25 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::Does it matter? Your un-wikitexted signature takes up far more characters than 255 (498 to be precise). It's also a pain in the ass to read and is bound to confuse anybody who sees it. '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:#3a795e&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#ce5f15&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 02:48, 25 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == {{w|WP:REDIRECT}} ==<br /> As per {{w|WP:REDIRECT#Purposes of redirects|Wikipedia policy}}, redirects are only to be made for typos that are &quot;likely misspellings (for example, Condoleeza Rice redirects to Condoleezza Rice). Note: this criterion typically does not apply to redirects from typos in the template namespace; consensus is that such typos, unless they are very common, should remain as red links until they are fixed.&quot; '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:#3a795e&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#ce5f15&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 03:19, 11 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Ahhhhhhh. Alright, noted. {{unsigned|DollarStoreBa'al|14:17, 11 November 2025 (UTC)}}<br /> ::GOD DAMMIT!!!! &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 19:05, 11 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::Easily done. Don't worry. I nearly intervened myself, but thought you might fix it yourself soon enough.<br /> :::it also makes me wonder if you have any opinions about [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals#Additional templates to complement 'unsigned' ones|this recent idea]] that you reminded me of, if you/42 would consider it useful in such situations. It's not had any other input beyond the fellow anonIP originator, but (wordiness/edit-errors aside) I like what was said. It's a pity that nobody's even said they don't like it. Or don't understand it. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.246.151|82.132.246.151]] 20:14, 11 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::I did skim through it a bit the other day when it was posted, but it was so dense that I probably only remember/understand 50% of it. The IP editor made some pretty good points, but it's not like I'm very good at making templates either. Maybe [[User:FaviFake]] or [[User:Lettherebedarklight]] can do something about it. '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:#3a795e&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#ce5f15&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 20:34, 11 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::I'm not actually too sure about this. How would be let newer users (who may not know about the template) to retrosign? &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 20:37, 11 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::::Well, those who don't know how to (or that they have to) sign probably aren't the target audience. ;) There are plenty of templates that even I probably wouldn't remember until I went looking for what's there, or found out about by someone else using it. (It's how I know about {{template|outdent}}, for example.)<br /> ::::::But the principle's simple enough. Duplicate the unsigned templates as retrosigned ones, and remove the nagging bit. Favi or Darklight could do it simply enough, if they think there's reason to. I could do it, except for the little matter of not being allowed to. Also, I'm not the one trying to sell the idea, just seemed an apt de-stresing comment for the circumstance we had. (Nice though this conversation is, it really needs the propsal(s) to be replied to, if anything.) I'm just hoping you feel calmer, now, Ba'al... :p [[Special:Contributions/82.132.245.237|82.132.245.237]] 03:42, 12 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> {{outdent|::::::}}<br /> Wait was that proposal written by you, IP? The format seemed AI-generated but i really did not read it for more than 10 seconds. [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:38, 12 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Having read it..... yeah, that's about as far from AI generated as you can get. I've seen IP use that format in the past, and the content is very explainxkcd-term heavy. I don't think AI would be able to generate the words 'unsigned templates as retrosigned'. Nobody except us understands what that means. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 18:52, 12 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::Not me-IP (the IP in the above bit), but probably one of the other long-standing-if-occasional-IPs that there must be.<br /> ::Also very much me-''like'', so the linguistic flourishes mesh well with what I understand/might write myself.<br /> ::In lieu of them saying anything more, themselves, I've already decided to do my bit to try to 'translate' the core idea to Muggle-speak. If I'm able to bridge the gap without being wrong about either/both! [[Special:Contributions/82.132.244.30|82.132.244.30]] 19:25, 12 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ==3==<br /> vv4dh&lt;iwumbd i7rig s9 vddr aowe<br /> <br /> BAABBABBABABABABAABBABABBAABAABABBBAABAABAAAAABBABABBABABBAAAABAAABBABABBAAAABAABABBBAABAABAAAAABBABABBABABBAAAABAABAABABABAAABBABBABBBAABAABAAAAABBABABABBABAAAABBAABAABB BAAABAABABABBABBAABBBAAAAAAAAAABABAABABAAAABAAAAAAABBBA<br /> <br /> USETHEVISIONFROMYOURCHILDSEYE {{unsigned ip|204.137.100.1|08:19, 13 November 2025 (UTC)}}<br /> :Oh, hello there! what do you have for us today, codeman? &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 14:22, 13 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::Starting from scratch, and dismissing (for the moment) the possibility of it being the 'cluetext' as a rotating key, the first looks polymorphic, in some manner, as the obvious repeat-letters that the known plaintext will have aren't all repeated in the ciphertext (and repeats in the ciphertext aren't matches in the known plaintext. It's also ''perhaps'' not subject to the main fatal flaw in Enigma (''other'' than the &quot;the message-senders use predictable original plaintext&quot; thing) that means that a character never maps to itself, as there are indeed (at least) two same-&gt;SAME mappings.<br /> ::Though given it is mapped to a changed-case (compared to what we expect from code#1) and includes alphabetic-to-punctuation-via-numeric transitions, my first assessment is that (with the exception of spaces being preserved/specially treated, as per usual) it also maps between A-Z input and a wider output.<br /> ::The most obvious idea is an XOR-based progression (prior code/plain character v.s. each subsequent one), but if done straight from ASCII codes that's going to give you far more weirdness than lower-cass-plus-occasional-punctuation. Which suggests perhaps a more proprietry enumeration/de-enumeration (it's not a shifted-6-bit output, so I won't try a shifted 5-bit input).<br /> ::...back to the cluetext. It's not the same-length as the ciphered phrase (if it had, I'd have assumed it was concocted as the &quot;one time pad&quot;), either with or without counting the spaces. But ''perhaps'' it's a Playfair cipher (less obvious than &quot;PASSWORDPASWORDPASSWORD...&quot;, when analysing for patterns), but I haven't got time to check that properly, right now, and I still think there's a non-linear (but trivial) relationship. Perhaps simpler than what I've already thought of.<br /> ::The 'As and Bs' I haven't yet really looked into, beyond ruling out that it's a direct binary expansion (at least in 8-bits, 28 characters of that, and one spare bit, ignoring the space, or 32x 7-bits plus 1). It seems to be 225 A+Bs (3x3x5x5; so 3x75, 5x45, 9x25 and 15x15 (square, which ''might' be significant) are the main splits), if I'm not barking up the wrong tree. But I have other things to do right now, so the next flash of inspiration will have to wait. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.231.193|82.132.231.193]] 18:03, 13 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::&quot;Agreed. Let's reset. The previous codes both started with 'Transmission X of four'. This looks similar, so it's safe to assume that 'ds4cdebsjbsx u;g6w hf whyb' equals 'transmission three of four'. This is actually very good for us, because we can map each number to their translated version:<br /> *d=t<br /> *s=r<br /> *4=a<br /> *c=n<br /> *d=s (perhaps a mistake)<br /> *e=m<br /> *b=i<br /> *j=s (wait...)<br /> *b=s????????????????&lt;br&gt;<br /> Cool, that didn't work at all. It's probably double-encoded, or it's using a very strong code (maybe a vigenere?). Whatever it is, substitution doesn't work on it. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 19:05, 13 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::That was my first-g [[Special:Contributions/82.132.245.151|82.132.245.151]] 21:40, 13 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> The Bs and As appear to be either a bacon Cipher (UO LUM E ZERO ONE ONE ZERO ONE TWO ZERO MINUS FOUR ALL CAP) or a Caesar Cipher, though if it's the latter it would need to be double-encoded like last time, because the most coherent option it's giving me is POOP POP POP OP OP OP OOP POP OPPO OP OOP OP P POOP OOP OO OO OPPO POP POP OPPO OO OP OO OPPO POP POO OOP OOP OP P POOP OOP OO OO OPPO POP POP OPPO OO OP OOP OOP OP OP OO OPPO P POP P POOP OOP OO OO OPPO POP OPPO POO OOP POOP OOP P POO OP OOP OP OPPO P POOP P POO OO OO OO OOP OP OOP OP OO OOP OO OO OO OP P PO. Something tells me they weren't trying to make potty jokes.<br /> :::Based on the fact that we're on this specific wiki, I'll assume that it's the first one for now. It's referencing Volume 0 (I think I know where they got the idea for this). The rest of the numbers are now 110120-4. I'll go check the page. 18:52, 13 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::Page 110120 has this poem on it, in the 'cypher' section:<br /> THE START OF THE TENTH-FAVORITE WORD USED BY BENDER&lt;br&gt;<br /> THE TOON THAT WENT SOUTH WHILE COMMANDED BY ENDER&lt;br&gt;<br /> THE NUMBER OF LIGHTS THAT PICARD SAID WERE ON&lt;br&gt;<br /> AND THE CLASS OF THE PLANET WHERE KIRK SHOUTED &quot;KHAAAN!&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> THE RINGS FOR THE MEN MINUS RINGS FOR THE ELVES&lt;br&gt;<br /> AND THE PRODUCT MOD 10 OF A FIVESOME OF TWELVES&lt;br&gt;<br /> THE END OF A CODE NES GAMERS KNOW&lt;br&gt;<br /> AND THE BASE USED TO MODEL HOW QUICKLY THINGS GROW&lt;br&gt;<br /> WHEN THEY'RE XOR'D TOGETHER THE CHECKSUM IS &quot;E&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> WHICH WILL TELL YOU YOU'VE GOT THE PENULTIMATE KEY&lt;br&gt;<br /> ::::...This is the penultimate key, if there are four messages. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 19:05, 13 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::I've not had any further time to look at this, but:<br /> :::::*If I were devising an actually useful secret code, the first one (which is clearly a character-to-character mapping, though not a static one) would involve a little more trickery than an 'unsalted' progression, and the second (clearly a bitwise represenation) should probably be repackaged back into a full 'alphanumeric' token set (e.g. base64 or UUEncoded 'text friendly' outputs, but perhaps rotated a bit to disguise the tell-tale signs of that kind of output.<br /> :::::**In fact, I might have used Gray-Code tables, even a mini form of a LZW-ish token-stream compression algorithm, to further thwart analysis by making it not even a consistent change in entropy from original character to the resulting output string. With such a single short 'message', it probably could have defied any realistic form of frequency-analysis, or at least made for hypothetically 'sensible' alternative decodings emerge from parts of the data, when choosing the 'right' wrong decoding methods.<br /> :::::*However, bear in mind that (though with greater challenges, from the #1 code to #2, so presumably even more for #3) these are codes that are ''supposed to be cracked''. Well, maybe #4 (or even the final set of 4x4 characters that's ultimately puzzle #5) will be 'fiendish'-level, but #3 shouldn't be more than 'devilishly difficult' to work out.<br /> :::::*I didn't know &quot;Bacon Cipher&quot;, by that name, but it looks like you've got that worked out by (assisted) brute force. I might have tripped up over the U+V and I+J equivalences, initially, but the composer has clearly used the 'classical' version in a straight manner.<br /> :::::*Taking that as done, though, we're left with the backforming of the TRANSMISSION message, if only so we know what (different) apparent nonsense the &quot;x@hc&quot; should become. Where I'd focus, is on what caused &quot;ISSI&quot; to be &quot;bsjb&quot;. Why, three characters later, has the encoding ended up on the same output char (could suggest a three-character Playfair key), yet the 'S' characters, positioned &quot;S..SS&quot; became &quot;d..sj&quot; (so ''not'' a 3-char key). Positioning the 'clue phrase' against the characters gives &quot;V..I&quot; against the &quot;I..I&quot;-&gt;&quot;b..b&quot;, so it's not being the same by dint of coincidentally similar transformations from the keyphrase.<br /> :::::But that's still an analysis that I'm doing with the presumption of it being deliberately somewhat obscure (having somehow 'discovered' part of the encoding secret). It's probably only going to be more hidden in plain sight, as part of the 'game', but still helps to know how you'd approach a more deliberately obscure method of coding. Hence how I broke the semaphor one ...well, mostly... without realising that it actually was semaphor. (If you hadn't have settled the Bacon Code solution, I might have tried looking at it being morse-based, with ambiguous character/word boundaries.)<br /> :::::Anyway, when I pop back here and find that you/someone else has fully solved it, I'll probably kick myself for entirely missing the most obvious answer. Also I can't seem get &quot;CE4Q60AE&quot; (or alternatives/variations that I've tried) to give me a checksum of &quot;E&quot; (or 0xE?). So, if that's actually important, I might have something else wrong. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.245.151|82.132.245.151]] 21:40, 13 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::::YOUARERIGHT {{unsigned ip|204.137.100.1|14:03, 14 November 2025 (UTC)}}<br /> :::::::About what? What are we right about? &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 14:04, 14 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == User rights ==<br /> <br /> I noticed you created my [[User:GreyFox|user page]] but did not create my talk page or give me the rights to do so myself. Why is this the case? [[User:GreyFox|GreyFox]] ([[User talk:GreyFox|talk]]) 17:25, 24 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :OMG so sorry. Fully forgor. Should be fixed now. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 02:25, 25 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == Minor edits ==<br /> <br /> Just FYI, you can mark in preferences under the editing tab for all edits to be marked as minor so that we don't clog up the Recent Changes page so much, as people can click &quot;Hide minor edits&quot;. '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:#3a795e&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#ce5f15&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 21:30, 2 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ;...whoops. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#023020&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000080&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 21:30, 2 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == /WORKPAGE ==<br /> <br /> Wow. While doing maintenance work, I found your workpage. I've always known it existed, but just brushed it off and let you work alone. I don't know how much it means to you, but I'm really proud and happy of how far you've come. In just a couple months you've been able to make a pretty sizable impact here. By the way, I love the work you've been doing on there. Please keep it up! &lt;3 '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:#3a795e&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#ce5f15&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 10:40, 3 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :It means a lot to me. Thanks for the encouragement! &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#023020&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000080&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 14:00, 3 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == Have another look at the Disappearing Sunday Update images ==<br /> <br /> *[[:File:Disappearing Sunday Update with number 2185.png]] - has a browser address bar<br /> *[[:File:Archive with Disappearing Sunday Update.png]] - Thumbnail History versions had an address bar, and it *used* to have the 'disappeared comic', perhaps least useful of the three, as it currently is, being the only one of the three not currently linked-to. Might be worth trying to find out what Kynde was trying to do, there.<br /> *[[:File:Archive with Disappearing Sunday Update and date.png]] - was marked for deletion, as &quot;identical&quot;, but it wasn't, had a hover-text date on it. Don't know if that's still useful (not being used as a linked image?), but I wouldn't make that my first deletion, especially as it's a linked-to page.<br /> ...needs double-checking, really, to make sure that things that aren't totally useless are not thrown out just because they look useless at a glance. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.239.140|82.132.239.140]] 18:57, 4 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Good catch, and now fixed. Thanks for letting me know! &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#FF0000&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#00873E&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 18:59, 4 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == exp template thing? ==<br /> <br /> Please could you have a look at [[Template talk:explain]]? [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 19:40, 10 December 2025 (UTC)&lt;!--forgot this!--&gt;</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User_talk:DollarStoreBa%27al&diff=401263 2025-12-10T19:39:56Z

<p>78.144.255.82: /* exp template thing? */ new section</p> <hr /> <div>Speak through the interdimentional portal<br /> <br /> [[User:DollarStoreBa'al/Mistakes|My mistakes]]<br /> <br /> ==General Chitchat and such==<br /> Hey, as per your comment on [[Main Page#Create my user page]], I created your pages. Welcome to the wiki! Please always remember to sign your comments with &lt;nowiki&gt;--~~~~&lt;/nowiki&gt;, and ask in the [[explain xkcd:Community portal|Community portal]] if you don't know something. If you want, you can read the [[explain_xkcd:Editor_FAQ#Why_can.27t_I_upload_pictures_or_create_pages.3F|the Editor FAQ]]! Welcome. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:02, 25 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :Thanks! [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 19:11, 25 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :hi btw :) [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 15:11, 27 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::hello, how are you doing this fine morning, my dear fellow? [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 16:03, 27 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ==Hiyo==<br /> :I'm trying to lurk less and be friendly so I just thought I'd ah drop in :) [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 15:53, 3 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> :: Bello. me editor guy who edit much. edit fun! [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 17:00, 3 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::hahahahaha edit fun indeed. [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 15:20, 4 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::Question: How do you add those user boxes that you have on your page? Those would be nice to have. [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 16:52, 6 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::copy and paste this and remove the nowiki tag: <br /> <br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;{{Userbox | border-c = #255 | border-s = 1 | info-s = 9 | id = alastor jumpscare | info = [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|This user has a pet cannibal deer.]] | float = left}}&lt;/nowiki&gt; and replace it with what you desire, for example:<br /> <br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;{{Userbox | border-c = #255 | border-s = 1 | info-s = 9 | id = ;) | info = [[User:DollarStoreBa'al|This user _____ ]] | float = left}}&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 14:50, 11 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::::::Dude thanks! [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 13:48, 17 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::::You're very welcome dear. WEE WOO [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 14:18, 19 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ==Wow==<br /> Am I so cool that I got a mention on your user page just because I showed you how to make userboxes? I mean, if I am... thanks. [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 14:44, 25 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Yes. Yes you are. [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 15:43, 25 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::YAY TYSM i will get you free jambalaya for you immediately due to that (if you're into that) [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 14:19, 28 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::: No need. Also, I see you're from Louisiana. [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 03:44, 29 March 2025 (UTC)]]<br /> ::::Haha or maybe I just like jambalaya :). Also you are not 4029 hHHA [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 14:17, 8 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ==The 5s and Es and Os==<br /> Reply to this if you've figured out what the meaning of the thingy on my user page is.<br /> :it's base 3 [[User:CalibansCreations|'''&lt;span style=&quot;color:#ff0000;&quot;&gt;Caliban&lt;/span&gt;''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 09:07, 9 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> :: :O [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 14:31, 9 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> :: Nope! I'll give you a hint: talk to sam. [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 14:33, 9 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> https://voca.ro/1Akmh0zRqa8Q [[User:CalibansCreations|'''&lt;span style=&quot;color:#ff0000;&quot;&gt;Caliban&lt;/span&gt;''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 16:02, 9 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> :uhhh...[[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 20:41, 11 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::sorry, that's not it. Don't know what to say to that.[[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 17:54, 14 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> You have one week! Hint: beep boooop --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[DSBContribs |'''''My life choices''''']] 16:30, 6 May 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :Morse code? [[User:BobcatInABox|BobcatInABox]] ([[User talk:BobcatInABox|talk]]) 19:33, 8 May 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::Morse code of what? You are very, very close.--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[DSBContribs |'''''My life choices''''']] 20:47, 8 May 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Time's up! If you put this into [https://morsecode.world/international/translator.html/] and click play, you get the intro to Bad Apple. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[DSBContribs |'''''My life choices''''']] 14:44, 13 May 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :It's better than [[2869: Puzzles]] [[User:BobcatInABox|BobcatInABox]] ([[User talk:BobcatInABox|talk]]) 11:11, 14 May 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == Want to do some repetitive work? ==<br /> <br /> Hey dollar, I noticed you're very active here! I don't have a ton of time, but I recently overhauled the template {{tl|comic}} to add many new features. While we figure out [[Header text]], would you be interested in editing the contents of about 50 pages (the early xkcd comics) to make these new features work? It's a lot of repetitive work, you'd just need to make the same small edits on 50 pages. (If you're interested in why the OG comics were in a different order, see [[LiveJournal]]). Just let me know and I'll finish the documentation for the template! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 17:13, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :What exactly would I be doing to get these features to work? [[User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al|talk]]) 17:18, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::If it isn't super-complex wikitext things I can totally help! --[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al | Converse]]&lt;/sup&gt; 19:21, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Right so you'd just need to move things around and remove some useless code. This process adds a second white navigation bar at the bottom to browse the OG comics in the original order.<br /> [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1:_Barrel_-_Part_1&amp;diff=374851&amp;oldid=373457 You can follow this example]. The steps are:<br /> <br /> Start from [[4|comic number 4]]:<br /> #Based on the short sentence written above the explanation, add &quot;ognumber =&quot;, &quot;ogprev =&quot;, and &quot;ognext =&quot; (so the navbar can work)<br /> #Add &quot;oglink =&quot;, and move ONLY the link from &quot;before&quot; to &quot;oglink&quot; (so from HTTPS://..... until the end of the link, move that to &quot;oglink&quot;)<br /> #Now, from the edit preview, copy the original title.<br /> #Delete everything in &quot;before =&quot; now that you moved the link<br /> #Add &quot;ogtitle =&quot; and paste the original title that you copied.<br /> #Finally, in &quot;titletext&quot;, add two couples of apostrophes (&lt;nowiki&gt;''&lt;/nowiki&gt;) in these places: https://imgur.com/a/BewKKr1<br /> #Now save the changes, and click the new white &quot;Next &gt;&quot; button you just created to go to the next one!<br /> And you're done! It's much simpler when you try it. Of course you don't have to do it, feel free to work on the header text! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 20:41, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> me am do. --[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al | Converse]]&lt;sup&gt;[https://www.explainxkcd.--[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 11:05, 26 April 2025 (UTC)com/wiki/index.php/S--[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 11:05, 26 April 2025 (UTC)pecial:Contributions/DollarStoreBa%27al My life choices]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; 20:51, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :Oh and I added friendly errors for when you forget to add one of the &quot;og&quot; labels. Just note that if you don't provide &quot;ognumber&quot;, the cool white navbar won't show up. Remember to always insert a pipe before a label, like this &quot;'''|''' ognumber =&quot;. And once you get to comic 55 you're done! That's the last one --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 20:58, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Hey, I don't really understand where I'm supposed to put these. --[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al | Converse]]&lt;sup&gt;[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa%27al My life choices]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; 21:01, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Nevermind, I got this. --[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al | Converse]]&lt;sup&gt;[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa%27al My life choices]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; 21:05, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Erm nope the OGnumber, OGprev, and OGnext you should take from the first sentence above the explanation. For example [[24]] says it's sixth. Anyways, I found a pretty big bug in the template, so I guess we should stop until it's fixed. The Original title doesn't show up! Arghhh! I'll fix it.<br /> :I'll let you know when you can continue. Thanks! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 21:18, 24 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> alright, sounds good! Dang tho. Let me know and I'll get right back to it. --[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al | Converse]]&lt;sup&gt;[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa%27al My life choices]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; 13:45, 25 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :Hey, I, um, undid all your edits because they broke the template haha. I guess this was more complex that I thought! Don't worry, I'll finish them myself over time. I'm more experienced than I thought it seems! Thanks for trying to help anyways! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:52, 25 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::Reviewing them, it seems you were not isolating the link correctly and leaving there some HTML elements that closed other open HTML elements that weren't finished! It did look, interesting, at least! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:55, 25 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::So sorry about that, I noticed those random Html elements. Thought they were part of the bug. oops. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:16pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[DSBContribs |'''''My life choices''''']] 22:45, 25 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::::No worries! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 11:05, 26 April 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ==excuse me==<br /> <br /> but it appears you have discovered that I was a spammer in a past account or maybe this account. who's to say anymore? anyway i'm trying to fix that hehe [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 14:02, 7 May 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ==template==<br /> <br /> What is a template? What’s a {{Trout}} and {{Whale}}?<br /> &lt;br&gt;<br /> If it looks weird, click edit [[User:Aprilfoolsupdate!| &lt;sup&gt;April&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;fools&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;update&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;!]]([[User talk:Aprilfoolsupdate!|talk]]) 12:20, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> : I'm assuming you're asking what a template is and not about sea life. Templates are basically shortcuts that we use for commonly used things. For example, &lt;nowiki&gt;{{cn}}&lt;/nowiki&gt; creates {{cn}}. You can create one pretty easily. I made those because they're commonly used on Wikipedia, and wanted to transfer them here. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 13:41, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::how can I create one? [[User:Aprilfoolsupdate!| &lt;sup&gt;April&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;fools&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;update&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;!]]([[User talk:Aprilfoolsupdate!|talk]]) 13:21, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :::Here's something that may be able to help: &lt;nowiki&gt;{{AprilFoolsHelp}}&lt;/nowiki&gt; --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 13:43, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::::thxxxxxxxxx [[User:Aprilfoolsupdate!| &lt;sup&gt;April&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;fools&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;update&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;!]]([[User talk:Aprilfoolsupdate!|talk]]) 13:46, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :::::You are very welcome! I hope you are excited to start contributing to the wiki! --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 13:46, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::::::By the way, please don't be afraid to ask me any questions at all. If I can, I will help! --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 13:48, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :::::::Thanks [[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]], which is &lt;nowiki&gt;{{Thx$store}}&lt;/nowiki&gt; (if I can call you that)<br /> <br /> ==Template Tips==<br /> Ok. Sorry, needed to get that out of my system. Thank you for the supplement. Truly. It's a good warning. Just please don't start randomly insulting people towards the end. This is a wiki. Speak the facts, and nothing more. In this case, the facts are:<br /> *Templates are easy to create.<br /> *It's useful to learn from other templates.<br /> Those are the facts. Now, you're done. Don't go on to insult them about how they're too stupid to do something useful.<br /> :No insult intended, no mention at all of stupidity, just the obvious eagerness. Tried only to give caution not to run before you've learnt how (and, ideally, where) to walk. All edits show up, to anyone looking. The initial query had not been answered, when I started the reply, and I had to hastily rewrite things to fit back in on the end.<br /> :To the above, I'd add:<br /> :*Know what purpose your template will have.<br /> :That way you're less likely to create something that you later regret, give or take a rename/delete. (If you want anything totally deleted, it may take a long time, a meanwhile you can only edit it 'clear', but still findable and the history checkable.) Most templates are ''not'' there to add pictures of sealife, but to grease the wheels of common (or not so common) Explanation page scenarios. And we might even thank you for a good shortcut for something we maybe never realised was needed before.<br /> :For a more technical 'manual', {{w|Help:A quick guide to templates}} might be a useful next read, and from there jump around into other Help: items. There's a lot you ''can'' do, though you certainly won't want to use it all right from the start. Take your time and know ''why'' you're doing something, as well as ''what'.<br /> :Good luck for the future, I've probably said as much as you need me to say for now. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.246.73|82.132.246.73]] 17:39, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :While this is very useful, it would be nice if you posted this on [[User:Aprilfoolsupdate!]]'s talk page. He's the one learning the ropes, and it would probably be very useful to him. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 17:47, 7 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ==Requests/favors==<br /> If you need anything done, reach out to me! I'll let you know what I can do to help you! --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 19:49, 15 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Hi [[User:DollarStoreBa'al | DollarStoreBa'al]], are you good enough to have the link to my user page? [[User:Aprilfoolsupdate!| &lt;sup&gt;April&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;fools&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;update&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;!]]([[User talk:Aprilfoolsupdate!|talk]]) 01:57, 18 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :Done! --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 15:56, 18 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ==Hello again Darling :D==<br /> I'm back after the summer hello sir O) [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 13:59, 26 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :A fellow school-based follower of the truth, I see! Welcome back, and I wish thee well on your adventures. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 14:00, 26 August 2025 (UTC) P.S. I use monobook style now.<br /> <br /> ==Category thing==<br /> Hey, can someone tell me why my talk page is on 'pages to delete?' {{unsigned|DollarStoreBa'al|18:08, 27 August 2025 (UTC)}}<br /> :I have tracked it down to {{diff|383609|this edit}} by [[User:Aprilfoolsupdate!]], where they used a (fairly useless and unnecessary) template (that they created themselves) called &lt;nowiki&gt;Template:Thx$store&lt;/nowiki&gt; to thank you for helping to teach them the process of creating a new template. Since I marked that template for deletion, when the comment calls for the template, it also marks your talk page for deletion. I have changed it so that the template is replaced with the text that it would substitute in and your page is no longer marked for deletion. Also signed off your unsigned comment. '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:pink&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#B1E4E3&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 18:30, 27 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::When someone says &quot;I have tracked it down&quot; you know they mean business. Thanks, that's quite reassuring. Another mystery IP (not sure if it's the same guy as today) did warn him not to make meaningless templates. Of course, I also made a meaningless template, so.... --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Atomic Age;font-size:12pt;color:red;&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']]&lt;/sup&gt;[[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 18:33, 27 August 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == {{w|Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/ltbdl}} ==<br /> <br /> they think we're the same person, ha. [[user:lett‪herebedarklight|raeb]] 02:29, 2 September 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :I did not think this is what I would come back to. That's wild and hilarious. <br /> <br /> :They are raeb<br /> <br /> :And I am Dollar<br /> <br /> :And we are not the same person<br /> <br /> --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#023020&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000080&quot;&gt;'''''converse'''''&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt; 13:42, 3 September 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::OMG THEY BANNED YOU WTF? I've pleaded your case, but idk if they'll respond. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#023020&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000080&quot;&gt;'''''converse'''''&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt; 13:49, 3 September 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::Okay, wait a second. A checkuser does checks on User IPs. If you were found guilty, that means that you were editing under the same IP as me. By any chance, do you go to school in Lincoln, NE? --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#023020&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000080&quot;&gt;'''''converse'''''&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt; 14:04, 3 September 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::one, revert your case pleading, it's silly and won't help, and two, we're &quot;very unlikely&quot; to be the same person according to checkuser, don't panic. maybe link them here. (i don't go to school in lincoln.) [[user:lett‪herebedarklight|raeb]] 15:00, 3 September 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::Ok, now it's weird. I didn't know you couldn't have alt accounts, even if you explicitly stated that they were, indeed, alt accounts. Seems a bit strict if you ask me. Also, 1+1=Window, not Yes. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#023020&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000080&quot;&gt;'''''converse'''''&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt; 22:53, 3 September 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ==Can you please help me==<br /> I helped you with the userboxes. Now I need your help. How do I get my sig to be something besides what it is now? [[User:Definitely Bill Cipher|⯅A dream demon⯅]] ([[User talk:Definitely Bill Cipher|talk]]) 19:34, 9 September 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Hi there, Tori here. If you want to change your signature, go to your preferences page on the top right of the website (it's next to your Talk page and Watchlist). Scroll down until you see the signatures section and change it. If you need help figuring out wikitext, feel free to shoot me a message on my [[user talk:42.book.addict|talk page]]! '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:pink&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#B1E4E3&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 01:32, 10 September 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == Template:what if? chapters ==<br /> <br /> Sorry, but what's the point of creating a template for what if chapters? What do you intend to use it for? '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:#3a795e&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#ce5f15&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 16:28, 3 October 2025 (UTC)<br /> :I intended it as a workaround in order to edit two pages at once. (those being the blog page and the chapters page). I noticed there was a discrepancy between the tables on the two pages, and I created a workaround for it. Also, it's faster than copy-pasting, now that the load times are astronomical. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#023020&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000080&quot;&gt;converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt; 16:30, 3 October 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::Sounds good! '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:#3a795e&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#ce5f15&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 16:40, 3 October 2025 (UTC)<br /> Ok I'm sorry but I had to change it back. Here are a few drawbacks:<br /> #Now people reading our summaries can't edit them directly.<br /> #The history is gone. You should've moved the page, not copy and paste. Both for copyright attribution (see {{w|WP:CWW}}) and for maintenance, to see when and why something was added.<br /> #Now we need to transclude the table on 1 more page (servers!), and the pages that were already transcluding the page (except [[what if? (blog)]]) now are transcluding both the page AND the template.<br /> And most importantly: there wasn't any discrepancy between the pages that transcluded the pages, just as there is no discrepancy now. The table was the exact same.<br /> <br /> Could you explain what discrepancy you saw? The code and text behind the original [[What If? Chapters]] page, the blog page, the new template you created, and any other pages transcluding [[What If? Chapters]] was truly identical (and still is, just with the added issues listed above.).<br /> <br /> Also; templates are not supposed to be edited frequently. A template is created in order to save time writing the same code on dozens or hundreds of pages. The table both needs to be edited and is only transcluded on a few pages. These are the pages in which the page was transcluded: [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:WhatLinksHere/What_If%3F_chapters&amp;hidelinks=1&amp;hideredirs=1] --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 10:04, 4 October 2025 (UTC)<br /> :There were just some chapter summaries I saw that were different between the blog page and the chapters page. I'm not angry about this, thanks for bringing up the points which I am not advanced enough to see. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#023020&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000080&quot;&gt;converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt; 12:55, 6 October 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::Huh, that's odd. The only difference between the two is that the last header cell on the left becomes highlighted in yellow when transcluded. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 19:16, 7 October 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == Current signature. ==<br /> <br /> I've noticed that your signature does &lt;all the fancy stuff&gt;&lt;NEWLINE&gt;&lt;space&gt;&lt;timestamp&gt;. Might be a good idea to remove the &lt;NEWLINE&gt; before the (presumably auto-appended) &lt;space&gt;&lt;timestamp&gt; as it currently puts your<br /> timestamp like this.<br /> <br /> Which is ''probably'' not what you'd intended. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.245.74|82.132.245.74]] 20:47, 4 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :......Nope, didn't intend that. I'll see if I can fix it. (not signing this because... well, you know) --DSB {{unsigned|DollarStoreBa'al|21:12, 4 November 2025 (UTC)}}<br /> ::I've found the issue. I was trying to make my signature in times new roman using [[Template:TNR]]. This template uses div for it's styling. For some reason, it's inserting &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/nowiki&gt; between the signature and timestamp rather than after. Is there a way to get the &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/nowiki&gt; to go after the timestamp rather than before (which is what I was intending)? Thanks! --DSB {{unsigned|DollarStoreBa'al|21:18, 4 November 2025 (UTC)}}<br /> :::Standard advice is to not use div-tags in your custom .sig, for exactly this reason. You should be able to do the same (except for the undesired newline-forcing) with span-tagging where you invoked div-tags.<br /> :::The way it rendered (must basically have been subst:ed between what you used and how it renders), I didn't know you'd used the TNR template. If that's for character-length reasons then a &quot;TNRspan&quot; template (or something ''not'' four characters longer, if you're extremely tight for space) would have to be used.<br /> :::Or change the TNR so &lt;code&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;{{TNR|span=yes}}&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;/code&gt; will specially 'return' you your no-Div version (that's the nice-looking version; you could also have it do something like responding to &lt;code&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;{{{1}}}&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;/code&gt; being &quot;s&quot; or &quot;1&quot;, if you can only afford to extend by two extra characters). That makes the one template dual-use, instead of making another template.<br /> :::TIMTOWTDI. But you'll know what you want to do, I can only give vague pointers. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.245.74|82.132.245.74]] 22:22, 4 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::Weird. I changed the TNR template to &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/nowiki&gt; instead of &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;, but upon testing it's still doing that weird newline thing. {{unsigned|DollarStoreBa'al|14:11, 5 November 2025 (UTC)}}<br /> :::::Finally fixed. I can't get the timestamp to also be TNR, but at least it doesn't auto-newline. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 14:15, 5 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::::That looks not too bad, though the timestamp is sans-serif again. Though ''might' in part be browser-dependant as to how it looks (mine may react only to the 'serif' and not the full 'Times New Roman', giving a TNR''-like'' serif-font that works good adjacent to the non-specific choice of sans-serif font. Also, at first glance, there's a mystery as to why the timestamp is '''''BOLD+ITALIC''' (or maybe STRONG+EMPHASIS, for the pedants).<br /> ::::::The structure is probably as follows, rewritten just for visual representation/explanation. Formatting that you do is in ()s, my explanatory notes are in ** and * pairs:<br /> **start of 'fixed text' signature insertion**<br /> (SPANopen style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;)<br /> --<br /> (BOLD+ITALICstart)<br /> (LINKpage)User:DollarStoreBa'al<br /> (LINKtext)<br /> (SPANopen style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;)<br /> DollarStoreBa'al<br /> (SPANclose, i.e. end:style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;)<br /> (LINKclose)<br /> (SUPERSCRIPTopen)<br /> (LINKpage)User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al<br /> (LINKtext)<br /> (SPANopen style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;)<br /> Converse<br /> (SPANclose, i.e. end:style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;)<br /> (LINKclose)<br /> (SUPERSCRIPTclose)<br /> *expected to be an /implied/ (BOLD+ITALICSclose), here*<br /> *check HTML source for why not?*<br /> (SPANclose, i.e. end: style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman...etc&quot;)<br /> **end of 'fixed text' signature insertion**<br /> **start of 'timestamp' signature insertion**<br /> *BOLD+ITALICS is still active?*<br /> *but all /other/ formats ended by the most recent (SPANclose)*<br /> 14:15, 5 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> **end of 'timestamp' signature insertion**<br /> ::::::Without looking at exactly what you're doing behind the scenes, I'm not ''entirely'' sure, but I think the {{template|TNR}} includes a close-Span tag, preventing that from 'rolling on' into the timestamp bit.<br /> ::::::Exactly how the '''''BOLD+ITALIC''''' rolls on, I don't know without checking the HTML source. Might be an intentional function of the wikimarkup-to-HTML conversion that 'remembers' that formatting and reapplies it as necessary, at least until a 'forced' end-of-scope (end of a Div or P tag, a Br/Hr monotag, new ordered/unordered list item (or changing the list-level), table cell/row transitions, and then there's the next (same/different) &quot;:&quot;-prepended indented follow-up lines and (of course) double-newlines) to force even no-prefix lines into paragraph-breaks. All of these (and other less obvious wikimarkup scenarios) probably translate to a hard /div closure in the HTML.<br /> ::::::Does {{template|TNR}} currently close its own Span? Does removing that Span-end let it 'roll on' over the timestamp? If you do that, does the insert-signature process close off all remaining Spans ''after'' the timestamp? (Normally, a signature is followed by a newline+newline or at least a newline+:nextlinehasindents, but if you add a P.S. comment after a timestamp that benefits from an unclosed formatting rlling through, does anything add a closure to stop it rolling through onto the P.S...? Can't test this, myself, directly, but it'd be interesting to find out!)<br /> ::::::Note that I don't know if you intended TNR to be used anywhere else. But by changing it from Div-based to Span-based it changes how it looks if I &quot;{{TNR|use it here}}&quot;, and if you then make it so that it open-Spans but never close-Spans then it would change the appearance of this paragraph even further.<br /> ::::::...ouch. Actually, I had assumed it would currently (as 'span-only', opening and closing) not linefeed, browserside, but currently it adds a forced break, and doesn't even have any way of knowing how many indents (if any) to add before the continuation text.<br /> ::::::Though if nobody else is using it for ''anything else'', it shouldn't matter. Just pointing out that (''if they are'') changes you make to fine-tune your signature ''could'' have collateral effects for other people who use TNR when it does one thing but then find that it's doing another thing.<br /> ::::::Creating a template 'just for your own use' is Ok-ish, but you might just want to note its purpose and (current) peculiarities in case someone thinks that it's intended for a more general purpose, and in a more logical manner than you've had to make it 'work' just for you.<br /> ::::::It's also known for templates to contain imbalanced markup, with either how it is used or the presence of a second 'closing' template (see {{template|cot}} and {{template|cob}}, that mark the 't'op and 'b'ottom of a 'co'llapsable area) making the final result properly balanced in the end. But mostly you'd expect internal closure of anything the template started, whether Spanny or Divvy in nature, or justify it and make it obvious without digging through the actual template-code itself.<br /> ::::::But I don't know how useful all of this is, to you or those coming along afterwards (before or after further template tweaks, etc). I'm just trying to pass on everything I think could be helpful, knowing that a lot of it could be 'beyond helpful', i.e. actually quite irrelevent. If not incomprehsible. (If not wrong, given I can't even test many assumptions, directly!) But here it is, anyway. HTH, HAND. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.244.89|82.132.244.89]] 16:24, 5 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::::I'm using the TNR template because it looks cool, but it also does have a purpose. It's used in early Taglines and header texts. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 16:53, 5 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::::Having tried many things, I've found that including the TNR template at all is messing up the timestamp. I'll see if there's another way to include the template without that, but idk if there is a way. In the meantime, here's my new Sig: &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 17:25, 5 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :{{outdent|:::::}}<br /> :((I researched,cchecked and wrote the following followup whilst you were replying, just aboce. You've answered some of my points, plus seem happy with as it is now, but still posting it given the thought I put into it... ;) Not that I actually think that it's necessary as helpful as I might have hoped it to be, in the end! Absolutely no reply expected, if you're happy to say nothing more.))<br /> :Ok, actually looked at the HTML source, now, neutering the 'raw' markup, whitespacing it and adding **commentary**:<br /> **start signature, fixed text**<br /> **default formatting**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;<br /> **formatting is now TNR**<br /> --<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;b&gt;<br /> **formatting is TNR+Bold**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;i&gt;<br /> **formatting is TNR+Bold+Italics**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;a href=&quot;/wiki/index.php/User:DollarStoreBa%27al&quot; title=&quot;User:DollarStoreBa&amp;#39;al&quot;&gt;<br /> **formatting is TNR+B+I and a link..**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;<br /> **...which is coloured**<br /> DollarStoreBa'al<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/span&gt;<br /> **back to TNR+B+I link, no colour**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/a&gt;<br /> **back to TNR+B+I, no link<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;sup&gt;<br /> **TNR+B+I+Superscript**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;a class=&quot;mw-selflink selflink&quot;&gt;<br /> **TNR+B++Sup and a link (to this page, in this specific instance)**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;<br /> **TNR+B+I+Sup link is coloured**<br /> Converse<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/span&gt;<br /> **TNR+B+I+Sup link, no colour**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/a&gt;<br /> **TNR+B+I+Sup, no link**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/sup&gt;<br /> **TNR+B+I, normal-script again**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/span&gt;<br /> **this should have removed TNR, *and* the 'inner' B+I too...**<br /> ** (Although this is not what you wanted, it's what you should get!) **<br /> **...but apparently we're now just with B+I**<br /> ** (This might be my own browser's interpretation, not everyone's.) **<br /> **this is the inbuilt transition between fixed-sig and time-sig**<br /> **a space is here, then...**<br /> 14:15, 5 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/i&gt; ** (Your signature markup does not ask for this!) **<br /> **just Boldness left**<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/b&gt; ** (Your signature markup does not ask for this!) **<br /> **neutral format again**<br /> **end of signature**<br /> :What goes with the &quot;TNR+B+I&quot; going to &quot;B+I&quot;, I don't know. Unless they've changed the HTML spec regarding this in the last decade or three.<br /> :The wiki-server back end was smart enough to add the close-Italics and close-Bold, at the end of the signature (''perhaps'', knowing that these were imminent a 'smart' error-checking by the browser's HTML-renderer let their formats persist, when otherwise they would not have? ...odd, but possible). Possibly it would have also closed the TNR-span, after the B-closure,cif not already asked to do so by the end of the TNR-template?<br /> :...so...<br /> :#First 'fix', remove the &lt;code&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;/span&gt;&lt;/code&gt; from TNR. See how that affects any newly applied signatures (it won't change old ones).<br /> :#Also see how/if it changes the indent-loss above my &quot;...ouch&quot; line, above.<br /> :#''Also'' also chase down if TNR gets used ''anywhere else'' in this wiki, at the moment, and check that you've not broken anything else that other people might have used it for.<br /> :If the first fix works and the third thing isn't a problem (ignore the second issue, I'm happy for it to change), then you're sorted. Otherwise (no fix, or even further broken in ways that aren't any good for anyone) reverse the change to where it works best for everyone and accept it not working precisely how you think you want it.<br /> :If it fixes, as suggested, I'd also be interested how signing with &lt;code&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;~~~~ and more text&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;/code&gt; works. (i.e. does it TNR the &quot;and more text&quot;?) Not that it's important, just my own curiosity.<br /> :And think about a more advanced explanation on TNR's page, if it's going to be 'an odd template' in any way, like being Span-opener without being a Span-closer.<br /> :That's all. Over to you, nothing more I can do (I could change TNR's code, but not then test it with your signature), but ''maybe'' I've done enough to help. Without too much confusion. I'll let you sort the rest out on your own, unless there's anything specific that arises to follow-up with. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.246.131|82.132.246.131]] 17:45, 5 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::tbh I'm good. Besides, I have no clue how to convert that raw HTML into usable wikitext (idk how to code, planning to learn someday). Either way, works fine. Also, you commentary has made me realize how complex my sig actually is. Times New Roman+Bold+Italics, which is a link which is colored. {{unsigned|DollarStoreBa'al|19:21, 5 November 2025 (UTC)}} &lt;br&gt;&lt;!--actually, I think the error was an accidental {{w start and ]] end in the prior section that 'meshed' with an example of a closing }} in the latest contribution, but the RTLishness probably didn't help. Fixed that, though. --&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> Ummm... Do you know that your current signature is sort of 'unmunged'? As in, you're making the markup show by 'escaping' the markup characters entirely so they don't (properly) act as markup, but as literal text. (You had it working ok(ish), not sure when it went wrong, without scrolling through your Talk contributions.) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.236.186|82.132.236.186]] 17:34, 22 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Addendum - had a deeper look, it was broken for 14:00, 20 November 2025, for [[Talk:3170: Service Outage]], but had worked until 20:27, 19 November 2025, for [[Talk:3168: Beam Dump]]. Whatever you did to your profile, between those two times, maybe undo it? Wasn't caused by any public page edit (like the TNR-template), nor can I think of how you'd break that without being obvious. Anyway, FYI.<br /> :(My guess is that you copied it out to somewhere, to edit, that thing auto-obfuscated the markup for its own visual reasons, then the copy back was done of the 'ruined' markup version. I haven't gone through it with a toothcomb, to see what your intended hanges may have been. And maybe you even intended ''this''... Until I read a page 'normally', not just zourcewise, I hadn't spotted that your long signature-markup was now so... 'literal'. And can't imagine it should be. ) 17:57, 22 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::I may or may not have INTENTIONALLY unchecked 'treat above as wikitext', simply to confuse people :) &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 00:08, 23 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::&quot;Complicated signatures contain a lot of code (&quot;markup&quot;) that is revealed in the edit window, and can take up unnecessary amounts of narrative space, which can make both reading and editing harder.&quot; -{{w|WP:SIG#Guidelines and policies|WP:SIG}} '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:#3a795e&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#ce5f15&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 02:10, 23 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::Your signature literally has more characters than mine. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 02:24, 25 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::Does it matter? Your un-wikitexted signature takes up far more characters than 255 (498 to be precise). It's also a pain in the ass to read and is bound to confuse anybody who sees it. '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:#3a795e&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#ce5f15&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 02:48, 25 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == {{w|WP:REDIRECT}} ==<br /> As per {{w|WP:REDIRECT#Purposes of redirects|Wikipedia policy}}, redirects are only to be made for typos that are &quot;likely misspellings (for example, Condoleeza Rice redirects to Condoleezza Rice). Note: this criterion typically does not apply to redirects from typos in the template namespace; consensus is that such typos, unless they are very common, should remain as red links until they are fixed.&quot; '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:#3a795e&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#ce5f15&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 03:19, 11 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Ahhhhhhh. Alright, noted. {{unsigned|DollarStoreBa'al|14:17, 11 November 2025 (UTC)}}<br /> ::GOD DAMMIT!!!! &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 19:05, 11 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::Easily done. Don't worry. I nearly intervened myself, but thought you might fix it yourself soon enough.<br /> :::it also makes me wonder if you have any opinions about [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals#Additional templates to complement 'unsigned' ones|this recent idea]] that you reminded me of, if you/42 would consider it useful in such situations. It's not had any other input beyond the fellow anonIP originator, but (wordiness/edit-errors aside) I like what was said. It's a pity that nobody's even said they don't like it. Or don't understand it. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.246.151|82.132.246.151]] 20:14, 11 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::I did skim through it a bit the other day when it was posted, but it was so dense that I probably only remember/understand 50% of it. The IP editor made some pretty good points, but it's not like I'm very good at making templates either. Maybe [[User:FaviFake]] or [[User:Lettherebedarklight]] can do something about it. '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:#3a795e&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#ce5f15&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 20:34, 11 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::I'm not actually too sure about this. How would be let newer users (who may not know about the template) to retrosign? &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 20:37, 11 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::::Well, those who don't know how to (or that they have to) sign probably aren't the target audience. ;) There are plenty of templates that even I probably wouldn't remember until I went looking for what's there, or found out about by someone else using it. (It's how I know about {{template|outdent}}, for example.)<br /> ::::::But the principle's simple enough. Duplicate the unsigned templates as retrosigned ones, and remove the nagging bit. Favi or Darklight could do it simply enough, if they think there's reason to. I could do it, except for the little matter of not being allowed to. Also, I'm not the one trying to sell the idea, just seemed an apt de-stresing comment for the circumstance we had. (Nice though this conversation is, it really needs the propsal(s) to be replied to, if anything.) I'm just hoping you feel calmer, now, Ba'al... :p [[Special:Contributions/82.132.245.237|82.132.245.237]] 03:42, 12 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> {{outdent|::::::}}<br /> Wait was that proposal written by you, IP? The format seemed AI-generated but i really did not read it for more than 10 seconds. [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:38, 12 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Having read it..... yeah, that's about as far from AI generated as you can get. I've seen IP use that format in the past, and the content is very explainxkcd-term heavy. I don't think AI would be able to generate the words 'unsigned templates as retrosigned'. Nobody except us understands what that means. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 18:52, 12 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::Not me-IP (the IP in the above bit), but probably one of the other long-standing-if-occasional-IPs that there must be.<br /> ::Also very much me-''like'', so the linguistic flourishes mesh well with what I understand/might write myself.<br /> ::In lieu of them saying anything more, themselves, I've already decided to do my bit to try to 'translate' the core idea to Muggle-speak. If I'm able to bridge the gap without being wrong about either/both! [[Special:Contributions/82.132.244.30|82.132.244.30]] 19:25, 12 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ==3==<br /> vv4dh&lt;iwumbd i7rig s9 vddr aowe<br /> <br /> BAABBABBABABABABAABBABABBAABAABABBBAABAABAAAAABBABABBABABBAAAABAAABBABABBAAAABAABABBBAABAABAAAAABBABABBABABBAAAABAABAABABABAAABBABBABBBAABAABAAAAABBABABABBABAAAABBAABAABB BAAABAABABABBABBAABBBAAAAAAAAAABABAABABAAAABAAAAAAABBBA<br /> <br /> USETHEVISIONFROMYOURCHILDSEYE {{unsigned ip|204.137.100.1|08:19, 13 November 2025 (UTC)}}<br /> :Oh, hello there! what do you have for us today, codeman? &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 14:22, 13 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::Starting from scratch, and dismissing (for the moment) the possibility of it being the 'cluetext' as a rotating key, the first looks polymorphic, in some manner, as the obvious repeat-letters that the known plaintext will have aren't all repeated in the ciphertext (and repeats in the ciphertext aren't matches in the known plaintext. It's also ''perhaps'' not subject to the main fatal flaw in Enigma (''other'' than the &quot;the message-senders use predictable original plaintext&quot; thing) that means that a character never maps to itself, as there are indeed (at least) two same-&gt;SAME mappings.<br /> ::Though given it is mapped to a changed-case (compared to what we expect from code#1) and includes alphabetic-to-punctuation-via-numeric transitions, my first assessment is that (with the exception of spaces being preserved/specially treated, as per usual) it also maps between A-Z input and a wider output.<br /> ::The most obvious idea is an XOR-based progression (prior code/plain character v.s. each subsequent one), but if done straight from ASCII codes that's going to give you far more weirdness than lower-cass-plus-occasional-punctuation. Which suggests perhaps a more proprietry enumeration/de-enumeration (it's not a shifted-6-bit output, so I won't try a shifted 5-bit input).<br /> ::...back to the cluetext. It's not the same-length as the ciphered phrase (if it had, I'd have assumed it was concocted as the &quot;one time pad&quot;), either with or without counting the spaces. But ''perhaps'' it's a Playfair cipher (less obvious than &quot;PASSWORDPASWORDPASSWORD...&quot;, when analysing for patterns), but I haven't got time to check that properly, right now, and I still think there's a non-linear (but trivial) relationship. Perhaps simpler than what I've already thought of.<br /> ::The 'As and Bs' I haven't yet really looked into, beyond ruling out that it's a direct binary expansion (at least in 8-bits, 28 characters of that, and one spare bit, ignoring the space, or 32x 7-bits plus 1). It seems to be 225 A+Bs (3x3x5x5; so 3x75, 5x45, 9x25 and 15x15 (square, which ''might' be significant) are the main splits), if I'm not barking up the wrong tree. But I have other things to do right now, so the next flash of inspiration will have to wait. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.231.193|82.132.231.193]] 18:03, 13 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::&quot;Agreed. Let's reset. The previous codes both started with 'Transmission X of four'. This looks similar, so it's safe to assume that 'ds4cdebsjbsx u;g6w hf whyb' equals 'transmission three of four'. This is actually very good for us, because we can map each number to their translated version:<br /> *d=t<br /> *s=r<br /> *4=a<br /> *c=n<br /> *d=s (perhaps a mistake)<br /> *e=m<br /> *b=i<br /> *j=s (wait...)<br /> *b=s????????????????&lt;br&gt;<br /> Cool, that didn't work at all. It's probably double-encoded, or it's using a very strong code (maybe a vigenere?). Whatever it is, substitution doesn't work on it. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 19:05, 13 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::That was my first-g [[Special:Contributions/82.132.245.151|82.132.245.151]] 21:40, 13 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> The Bs and As appear to be either a bacon Cipher (UO LUM E ZERO ONE ONE ZERO ONE TWO ZERO MINUS FOUR ALL CAP) or a Caesar Cipher, though if it's the latter it would need to be double-encoded like last time, because the most coherent option it's giving me is POOP POP POP OP OP OP OOP POP OPPO OP OOP OP P POOP OOP OO OO OPPO POP POP OPPO OO OP OO OPPO POP POO OOP OOP OP P POOP OOP OO OO OPPO POP POP OPPO OO OP OOP OOP OP OP OO OPPO P POP P POOP OOP OO OO OPPO POP OPPO POO OOP POOP OOP P POO OP OOP OP OPPO P POOP P POO OO OO OO OOP OP OOP OP OO OOP OO OO OO OP P PO. Something tells me they weren't trying to make potty jokes.<br /> :::Based on the fact that we're on this specific wiki, I'll assume that it's the first one for now. It's referencing Volume 0 (I think I know where they got the idea for this). The rest of the numbers are now 110120-4. I'll go check the page. 18:52, 13 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::Page 110120 has this poem on it, in the 'cypher' section:<br /> THE START OF THE TENTH-FAVORITE WORD USED BY BENDER&lt;br&gt;<br /> THE TOON THAT WENT SOUTH WHILE COMMANDED BY ENDER&lt;br&gt;<br /> THE NUMBER OF LIGHTS THAT PICARD SAID WERE ON&lt;br&gt;<br /> AND THE CLASS OF THE PLANET WHERE KIRK SHOUTED &quot;KHAAAN!&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> THE RINGS FOR THE MEN MINUS RINGS FOR THE ELVES&lt;br&gt;<br /> AND THE PRODUCT MOD 10 OF A FIVESOME OF TWELVES&lt;br&gt;<br /> THE END OF A CODE NES GAMERS KNOW&lt;br&gt;<br /> AND THE BASE USED TO MODEL HOW QUICKLY THINGS GROW&lt;br&gt;<br /> WHEN THEY'RE XOR'D TOGETHER THE CHECKSUM IS &quot;E&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> WHICH WILL TELL YOU YOU'VE GOT THE PENULTIMATE KEY&lt;br&gt;<br /> ::::...This is the penultimate key, if there are four messages. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 19:05, 13 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::I've not had any further time to look at this, but:<br /> :::::*If I were devising an actually useful secret code, the first one (which is clearly a character-to-character mapping, though not a static one) would involve a little more trickery than an 'unsalted' progression, and the second (clearly a bitwise represenation) should probably be repackaged back into a full 'alphanumeric' token set (e.g. base64 or UUEncoded 'text friendly' outputs, but perhaps rotated a bit to disguise the tell-tale signs of that kind of output.<br /> :::::**In fact, I might have used Gray-Code tables, even a mini form of a LZW-ish token-stream compression algorithm, to further thwart analysis by making it not even a consistent change in entropy from original character to the resulting output string. With such a single short 'message', it probably could have defied any realistic form of frequency-analysis, or at least made for hypothetically 'sensible' alternative decodings emerge from parts of the data, when choosing the 'right' wrong decoding methods.<br /> :::::*However, bear in mind that (though with greater challenges, from the #1 code to #2, so presumably even more for #3) these are codes that are ''supposed to be cracked''. Well, maybe #4 (or even the final set of 4x4 characters that's ultimately puzzle #5) will be 'fiendish'-level, but #3 shouldn't be more than 'devilishly difficult' to work out.<br /> :::::*I didn't know &quot;Bacon Cipher&quot;, by that name, but it looks like you've got that worked out by (assisted) brute force. I might have tripped up over the U+V and I+J equivalences, initially, but the composer has clearly used the 'classical' version in a straight manner.<br /> :::::*Taking that as done, though, we're left with the backforming of the TRANSMISSION message, if only so we know what (different) apparent nonsense the &quot;x@hc&quot; should become. Where I'd focus, is on what caused &quot;ISSI&quot; to be &quot;bsjb&quot;. Why, three characters later, has the encoding ended up on the same output char (could suggest a three-character Playfair key), yet the 'S' characters, positioned &quot;S..SS&quot; became &quot;d..sj&quot; (so ''not'' a 3-char key). Positioning the 'clue phrase' against the characters gives &quot;V..I&quot; against the &quot;I..I&quot;-&gt;&quot;b..b&quot;, so it's not being the same by dint of coincidentally similar transformations from the keyphrase.<br /> :::::But that's still an analysis that I'm doing with the presumption of it being deliberately somewhat obscure (having somehow 'discovered' part of the encoding secret). It's probably only going to be more hidden in plain sight, as part of the 'game', but still helps to know how you'd approach a more deliberately obscure method of coding. Hence how I broke the semaphor one ...well, mostly... without realising that it actually was semaphor. (If you hadn't have settled the Bacon Code solution, I might have tried looking at it being morse-based, with ambiguous character/word boundaries.)<br /> :::::Anyway, when I pop back here and find that you/someone else has fully solved it, I'll probably kick myself for entirely missing the most obvious answer. Also I can't seem get &quot;CE4Q60AE&quot; (or alternatives/variations that I've tried) to give me a checksum of &quot;E&quot; (or 0xE?). So, if that's actually important, I might have something else wrong. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.245.151|82.132.245.151]] 21:40, 13 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::::YOUARERIGHT {{unsigned ip|204.137.100.1|14:03, 14 November 2025 (UTC)}}<br /> :::::::About what? What are we right about? &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 14:04, 14 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == User rights ==<br /> <br /> I noticed you created my [[User:GreyFox|user page]] but did not create my talk page or give me the rights to do so myself. Why is this the case? [[User:GreyFox|GreyFox]] ([[User talk:GreyFox|talk]]) 17:25, 24 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> :OMG so sorry. Fully forgor. Should be fixed now. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#E3C6BE&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#CC9A8B&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 02:25, 25 November 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == Minor edits ==<br /> <br /> Just FYI, you can mark in preferences under the editing tab for all edits to be marked as minor so that we don't clog up the Recent Changes page so much, as people can click &quot;Hide minor edits&quot;. '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:#3a795e&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#ce5f15&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 21:30, 2 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ;...whoops. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#023020&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000080&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 21:30, 2 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == /WORKPAGE ==<br /> <br /> Wow. While doing maintenance work, I found your workpage. I've always known it existed, but just brushed it off and let you work alone. I don't know how much it means to you, but I'm really proud and happy of how far you've come. In just a couple months you've been able to make a pretty sizable impact here. By the way, I love the work you've been doing on there. Please keep it up! &lt;3 '''[[User:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:9pt;color:#3a795e&quot;&gt;42.book.addict&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User talk:42.book.addict|&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Cormorant Garamond;font-size:6pt;color:#ce5f15&quot;&gt;Talk to me!&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;''' 10:40, 3 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :It means a lot to me. Thanks for the encouragement! &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#023020&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000080&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 14:00, 3 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == Have another look at the Disappearing Sunday Update images ==<br /> <br /> *[[:File:Disappearing Sunday Update with number 2185.png]] - has a browser address bar<br /> *[[:File:Archive with Disappearing Sunday Update.png]] - Thumbnail History versions had an address bar, and it *used* to have the 'disappeared comic', perhaps least useful of the three, as it currently is, being the only one of the three not currently linked-to. Might be worth trying to find out what Kynde was trying to do, there.<br /> *[[:File:Archive with Disappearing Sunday Update and date.png]] - was marked for deletion, as &quot;identical&quot;, but it wasn't, had a hover-text date on it. Don't know if that's still useful (not being used as a linked image?), but I wouldn't make that my first deletion, especially as it's a linked-to page.<br /> ...needs double-checking, really, to make sure that things that aren't totally useless are not thrown out just because they look useless at a glance. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.239.140|82.132.239.140]] 18:57, 4 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Good catch, and now fixed. Thanks for letting me know! &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#FF0000&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#00873E&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 18:59, 4 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == exp template thing? ==<br /> <br /> Please could you have a look at [[Template talk:explain]]?</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Template_talk:xkcd&diff=401260 2025-12-10T19:34:19Z

<p>78.144.255.82: /* Latest edit */</p> <hr /> <div>==Removing added category==<br /> Using this template adds a category to the page called &quot;Links to xkcd #&quot;. The template also adds a category called &quot;Links to xkcd.com&quot;. Seems to me that there's a bit of redundancy there. Personally, I think a category telling us that the page links to a certain comic is rather unnecessary. It would cause major category spam on pages listing a large number of links to different xkcd articles. As well, I can't really think of any practical use for the category. The &quot;Links to xkcd.com&quot; category could have potential use when combined with AWB, but having both makes it completely redundant. At any rate, I propose we remove the &quot;Links to xkcd #&quot; category from the template. {{User:Omega/sig}} 09:28, 9 August 2012 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :I think in both cases we can simply use Mediawiki's [[Special:LinkSearch]], e.g. [[Special:LinkSearch/xkcd.com]] --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:03, 9 August 2012 (UTC)<br /> ::I put them in, and if there are better tools for tracking references to, say, xkcd.com, then by all means, let's leverage those instead. I'll take out the numbered category, and we can see how it goes... -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 13:38, 9 August 2012 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == Latest edit ==<br /> <br /> A possibly quite useful {{diff|401245|edit}}, just done there.<br /> <br /> Might I suggest that, to build upon &quot;To link to an explanation of a specific comic, use [[Template:exp]].&quot; it might be better to say &quot;...an explanation on this site, use...&quot;.<br /> <br /> Although I'm not sure why someone would {{exp|1234|link to anything here like this}} rather than [[1234|link to anything here like ''this'']]. Is that template even needed?<br /> :*Adding to my own edit: it seems to be only used, as proxy, by [[Template:Comicbox square or vertical]], [[Template:Comicbox horizontal]], [[Template:Comicbox sandbox]] and be redirected to by [[Template:explain]]... Haven't checked which of ''those'' are actually in use, though! 19:34, 10 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> (Also just had to add in a noinclude 'start tag', to &quot;exp&quot;'s template page... couldn't work out what I was doing wrong in my Preview, until I posted it fully and checked around. ;) [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 19:26, 10 December 2025 (UTC)</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Template_talk:xkcd&diff=401259 2025-12-10T19:26:52Z

<p>78.144.255.82: /* Latest edit */</p> <hr /> <div>==Removing added category==<br /> Using this template adds a category to the page called &quot;Links to xkcd #&quot;. The template also adds a category called &quot;Links to xkcd.com&quot;. Seems to me that there's a bit of redundancy there. Personally, I think a category telling us that the page links to a certain comic is rather unnecessary. It would cause major category spam on pages listing a large number of links to different xkcd articles. As well, I can't really think of any practical use for the category. The &quot;Links to xkcd.com&quot; category could have potential use when combined with AWB, but having both makes it completely redundant. At any rate, I propose we remove the &quot;Links to xkcd #&quot; category from the template. {{User:Omega/sig}} 09:28, 9 August 2012 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :I think in both cases we can simply use Mediawiki's [[Special:LinkSearch]], e.g. [[Special:LinkSearch/xkcd.com]] --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:03, 9 August 2012 (UTC)<br /> ::I put them in, and if there are better tools for tracking references to, say, xkcd.com, then by all means, let's leverage those instead. I'll take out the numbered category, and we can see how it goes... -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 13:38, 9 August 2012 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == Latest edit ==<br /> <br /> A possibly quite useful {{diff|401245|edit}}, just done there.<br /> <br /> Might I suggest that, to build upon &quot;To link to an explanation of a specific comic, use [[Template:exp]].&quot; it might be better to say &quot;...an explanation on this site, use...&quot;.<br /> <br /> Although I'm not sure why someone would {{exp|1234|link to anything here like this}} rather than [[1234|link to anything here like ''this'']]. Is that template even needed?<br /> <br /> (Also just had to add in a noinclude 'start tag', to &quot;exp&quot;'s template page... couldn't work out what I was doing wrong in my Preview, until I posted it fully and checked around. ;) [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 19:26, 10 December 2025 (UTC)</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Template:exp&diff=401258 2025-12-10T19:25:04Z

<p>78.144.255.82: Was wondering why it was 'including'... ;)</p> <hr /> <div>&lt;includeonly&gt;[https://explainxkcd.com/{{{1|}}} {{{2|Explanation of comic {{{1|}}}}}}]&lt;/includeonly&gt;&lt;noinclude&gt;<br /> <br /> This template provides a shortcut markup for creating a link to any comic explanation.<br /> <br /> '''Usage:''' &lt;nowiki&gt;{{exp|comic number|optional link text}}&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> '''Examples:'''<br /> *&lt;nowiki&gt;{{exp|1040}}&lt;/nowiki&gt; results in [https://explainxkcd.com/1040 1040].<br /> <br /> *&lt;nowiki&gt;{{exp|1040|Server Problem}}&lt;/nowiki&gt; results in [https://explainxkcd.com/1040 Lakes and Oceans] (links to the same page, but with the link text &quot;Server Problem&quot; instead of &quot;1040&quot;).<br /> <br /> *'''(recommended)'''&lt;nowiki&gt; {{xkcd|1040|1040: Server Problem}}&lt;/nowiki&gt; results in [https://explainxkcd.com/1040 1040: Lakes and Oceans] (links to the same page, but with the link text &quot;Server Problem&quot; instead of &quot;1040&quot;).<br /> <br /> Note that the styling of the links (the icon after them) is defined in [[MediaWiki:Common.css]].<br /> <br /> To link directly to a comic in xkcd.com, use [[Template:xkcd]].<br /> <br /> [[Category:Templates]]<br /> &lt;/noinclude&gt;</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Template_talk:xkcd&diff=401257 2025-12-10T19:22:45Z

<p>78.144.255.82: /* Latest edit */ new section</p> <hr /> <div>==Removing added category==<br /> Using this template adds a category to the page called &quot;Links to xkcd #&quot;. The template also adds a category called &quot;Links to xkcd.com&quot;. Seems to me that there's a bit of redundancy there. Personally, I think a category telling us that the page links to a certain comic is rather unnecessary. It would cause major category spam on pages listing a large number of links to different xkcd articles. As well, I can't really think of any practical use for the category. The &quot;Links to xkcd.com&quot; category could have potential use when combined with AWB, but having both makes it completely redundant. At any rate, I propose we remove the &quot;Links to xkcd #&quot; category from the template. {{User:Omega/sig}} 09:28, 9 August 2012 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :I think in both cases we can simply use Mediawiki's [[Special:LinkSearch]], e.g. [[Special:LinkSearch/xkcd.com]] --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:03, 9 August 2012 (UTC)<br /> ::I put them in, and if there are better tools for tracking references to, say, xkcd.com, then by all means, let's leverage those instead. I'll take out the numbered category, and we can see how it goes... -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 13:38, 9 August 2012 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == Latest edit ==<br /> <br /> A possibly quite useful {{diff|401245|edit}}, just done there.<br /> <br /> Might I suggest that, to build upon &quot;To link to an explanation of a specific comic, use [[Template:exp]].&quot; it might be better to say &quot;...an explanation on this site, use...&quot;.<br /> <br /> Although I'm not sure why someone would {{exp|1234|link to anything here like this}} rather than [[1234|link to anything here like ''this'']]. Is that template even needed?</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1676:_Full-Width_Justification&diff=401249 2025-12-10T18:58:49Z

<p>78.144.255.82: /* Explanation */ Tidying punctuation of ACN tag. Commented out the &quot;as of two days later&quot;, as (if/when citation is fulfilled) we should have far better enumeration of how long it lasted (or is still lasting?).</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 1676<br /> | date = May 4, 2016<br /> | title = Full-Width Justification<br /> | image = full_width_justification.png<br /> | titletext = Gonna start bugging the Unicode consortium to add snake segment characters that can be combined into an arbitrary-length non-breaking snake.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> The comic refers to an irritating problem in laying out text to fit from margin to margin, the problem of {{w|justification (typesetting)|justification}}, where you want multiple-line text to line up on the left side (common), the right side (less common), or both sides, which is commonly called full justification. This strip is dealing with how to make text fit such that it lines up on both sides while still looking good. Sometimes, as with a shorter word between two long words like &quot;relationship between [[:wikt:deindustrialization|deindustrialization]],&quot; there's no universal good way to make the typography work. It is a difficult problem to make text look good and be easily legible especially in a narrow space, with the biggest issue being how to handle words that are too long to fit nicely.<br /> <br /> The comic shows several solutions to this problem, some realistic and others less so, but each partly or wholly unsatisfying.<br /> <br /> &quot;'''Giving up'''&quot; essentially means not attempting full justification for a particular line, which means it will not fit with the rest of the layout.<br /> <br /> &quot;'''Letter spacing'''&quot; involves a conspicuously large amount of whitespace between letters, sometimes suggesting a reading where each letter is a word until the reader recognizes what is intended. This method is in somewhat common use in newspaper and magazine layout, where it is generally known by the name &quot;tracking&quot; (distance between all letters) and &quot;kerning&quot; (distance between particular pairs of letters that fit together easily). However, letter spacing is unavailable for justification purposes in some languages (such as German), in which it is used for emphasis, as italics are in English.<br /> <br /> &quot;'''Hyphenation'''&quot; can be confusing because it requires suspended recognition of the full word, confusing the eye into seeing, in the given case, the non-words &quot;deindus&quot; and &quot;trialization&quot;. This creates difficulty in both pronouncing and parsing the word. Moreover, the decision of when and where to hyphenate is non-trivial, particularly for automated text layout; for example, breaking a word and leaving only two &quot;orphaned&quot; letters on the following line is generally considered an illegal hyphenation. Nevertheless, hyphenation is a very common means of handling extreme cases. The hyphenation option is most compact, yielding the extra word &quot;ecological&quot;.<br /> <br /> &quot;'''Stretching'''&quot;, in which individual letters are displayed as wider than usual so that a word will take up more space, appears visually unnatural and unfamiliar, and may present technical difficulties in rendering.<br /> <br /> Adding &quot;'''filler'''&quot; words is generally undesirable: in the worst case, the meaning may be unintentionally altered, or the tone might be rendered too informal, as in the given example, and even in the best case, the text becomes less concise and potentially more difficult to read. Automation is also difficult. However, filler words added by a human, especially the original author of the text, are the least visually conspicuous, and may be the most practical solution in some scenarios.<br /> <br /> Finally, adding a decorative image like &quot;'''snakes'''&quot; (but not necessarily snakes in particular) to fill the extra space is a justification practice of significant historical interest (it was particularly common for illuminated manuscripts in the medieval era and remained prominent until the invention of the printing press) but little modern relevance. There may be a particular absurdity to using a snake as it can be read as a word, such as &quot;the relationship between snake deindustrialization&quot; as would be done similar to a {{w|rebus}}.<br /> <br /> In modern text layout programs, some combination of the above strategies may be used to achieve the most visually consistent effect. For example, in one case, hyphenation might be the best option to split a very long word, while another line might be too long by only one or two letters, in which case the program could apply a very slight degree of extra letter spacing, too small for the average reader to notice.<br /> <br /> The title text suggests that in order to facilitate the &quot;snakes&quot; method of &quot;solving&quot; the problem, the {{w|Unicode Consortium}}, the organization in charge of the common text standard {{w|Unicode}}, should add &quot;snake-building characters&quot; (similar in concept to the existing {{w|Box Drawing}} block), to allow variable-length snake images to be used as filling. Currently, there are at least six snake characters in Unicode, not including at least ten more Egyptian hieroglyphs that represent specific snakes, some in specific combination with other hieroglyphs: [http://unicode-search.net/unicode-namesearch.pl?term=SNAKE]<br /> *[https://codepoints.net/U+1DC2 U+1DC2] &amp;nbsp; &lt;big&gt;&amp;#x1DC2;&lt;/big&gt; &amp;nbsp; &lt;big&gt;[S&amp;#x1DC2;]&lt;/big&gt;<br /> **A diacritical {{w|combining character}} used in Americanist phonetic notation to indicate lenis (weak) articulation.<br /> *[https://codepoints.net/U+2E92 U+2E92] &amp;nbsp; &lt;big&gt;&amp;#x2E92;&lt;/big&gt;<br /> **A {{w|CJK character}} which might be interpreted as &quot;snake&quot;.<br /> *[https://codepoints.net/U+8675 U+8675] &amp;nbsp; &lt;big&gt;&amp;#x8675;&lt;/big&gt;<br /> **Another CJK character meaning &quot;snake&quot;.<br /> *[https://codepoints.net/U+86C7 U+86C7] &amp;nbsp; &lt;big&gt;&amp;#x86C7;&lt;/big&gt;<br /> **Another CJK character meaning &quot;snake&quot;.<br /> *[https://codepoints.net/U+1D9DC U+1D9DC] &amp;nbsp; &lt;big&gt;&amp;#x1D9DC;&lt;/big&gt;<br /> **One of the poorly-supported characters in the {{w|signWriting|signwriting block}}.<br /> *[https://codepoints.net/U+1F40D U+1F40D] &amp;nbsp; &lt;big&gt;&amp;#x1F40D;&lt;/big&gt;<br /> **An {{w|emoji}} snake.<br /> <br /> One of the hieroglyphs ([https://codepoints.net/U+13192 U+13192 EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPH I009A]) is described in [https://mjn.host.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/egyptian/unicode/tablemain.html source documents] as HORNED VIPER CRAWLING OUT OF ENCLOSURE, so it is literally a snake-building character. 𓆒 This is the character in question.<br /> <br /> &quot;Non-breaking&quot; in the title text refers to a similar process as zero-width joiners and no-break HTML and CSS; the whole snake would shift down if it were too wide to fit on a given line. This suggestion would likely be rejected; the Unicode consortium is very specific about which characters are added,{{Citation needed}} and always require a good reason{{Citation needed}} before adding a character or set of characters to the standard. Strange decisions by the consortium have previously been referenced in [[1253: Exoplanet Names]], [[1513: Code Quality]], and [[1525: Emojic 8 Ball]].<br /> <br /> Within an hour or two of this comic being published, a thread on the subject started on the Unicode Consortium’s official Unicode Mailing List.{{Actual citation needed}} &lt;!-- As of two days later, it’s still running. --&gt;<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> Strategies for full-width justification<br /> <br /> [Below the caption is a column with six boxes, each showing a different &quot;strategy&quot; for justification which is annotated beside it. Here the annotation is written at the top and the text below. The top and bottom of the text is cut of in the middle, but as it can be &quot;read&quot; this is written anyway. Only for hyphenation does an extra word appear at the end. In the last with snakes, a snake is drawn to cover the entire space from the end of between to the right border.]<br /> <br /> &lt;dl&gt;&lt;!-- Note: the CSS is set important and directly on the &lt;dd&gt; to avoid being upset by any current or future stylesheet. If the text is rendered &quot;plain&quot; it still should look about right --&gt;<br /> &lt;dt&gt;Giving up&lt;/dt&gt;<br /> &lt;dd style=&quot;text-align:justify!important;text-justify:inter-word!important;width:10.5em&quot;&gt;their famous paper<br /> &lt;span style=&quot;white-space:nowrap&quot;&gt;on the relationship&lt;/span&gt;<br /> between<br /> deindustrialization<br /> and the growth of&lt;/dd&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;dt&gt;Letter spacing&lt;/dt&gt;<br /> &lt;dd style=&quot;text-align:justify!important;text-justify:inter-word!important;width:10.5em&quot;&gt;their famous paper<br /> &lt;span style=&quot;white-space:nowrap&quot;&gt;on the relationship&lt;/span&gt;<br /> &lt;span style=&quot;white-space:nowrap&quot;&gt;b e t w e e n&lt;/span&gt;<br /> deindustrialization<br /> and the growth of&lt;/dd&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;dt&gt;Hyphenation&lt;/dt&gt;<br /> &lt;dd style=&quot;text-align:justify!important;text-justify:inter-word!important;width:10.5em&quot;&gt;their famous paper<br /> &lt;span style=&quot;white-space:nowrap&quot;&gt;on the relationship&lt;/span&gt;<br /> &lt;span style=&quot;white-space:nowrap&quot;&gt;between deindus-&lt;/span&gt;<br /> trialization and the growth of ecological&lt;/dd&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;dt&gt;Stretching&lt;/dt&gt;<br /> &lt;dd style=&quot;text-align:justify!important;text-justify:inter-word!important;width:10.5em&quot;&gt;their famous paper<br /> &lt;span style=&quot;white-space:nowrap&quot;&gt;on the relationship&lt;/span&gt;<br /> &lt;span style=&quot;transform:scaleX(2.4) translateX(28%);;display:inline-block&quot;&gt;between&lt;/span&gt;<br /> deindustrialization<br /> and the growth of&lt;/dd&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;dt&gt;Filler&lt;/dt&gt;<br /> &lt;dd style=&quot;text-align:justify!important;text-justify:inter-word!important;width:10.5em&quot;&gt;their famous paper<br /> &lt;span style=&quot;white-space:nowrap&quot;&gt;on the relationship&lt;/span&gt;<br /> between crap like<br /> deindustrialization<br /> and the growth of&lt;/dd&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;dt&gt;Snakes&lt;/dt&gt;<br /> &lt;dd&gt;their famous paper&lt;br&gt;<br /> on the relationship&lt;br&gt;<br /> between 🐍 [a snake filling the gap]&lt;br&gt;<br /> deindustrialization&lt;br&gt;<br /> and the growth of&lt;/dd&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;/dl&gt;<br /> <br /> ==Trivia==<br /> *The full text (with alternate changes) reads:<br /> ::''...their famous paper on the relationship between [crap like]/[ 🐍 ] deindustrialization and the growth of [ecological]...''<br /> *An approach not depicted is to treat justification as part of a spherical typesetting strategy which allows words to move between lines even where this is not locally optimal. Its net effect in a case like this is to pull words from the previous line for use as filler. This approach is used by {{w|TeX}}.<br /> *In Arabic, it is common to stretch the lines connecting letters as a relatively elegant and satisfying resolution to this problem. This trick is called &quot;{{w|kashida}}&quot; (كشيدة). There does in fact exist a Unicode character, U+0640: (ـ), to help with this: using it to extend &quot;كشيدة&quot; would result in something like &quot;كـــــشـــيـــدة&quot; (which, incidentally, looks a lot like a snake).<br /> *Jim Chapman, developer of Windows 10 e-reader app Freda, has implemented snake-justification in the app, now available on the [https://www.microsoft.com/store/apps/9wzdncrfj43b Windows Store]. For best results, use the 'settings' screen to switch 'hyphenation' to 'no', 'use snakes' to 'yes', and choose a large font size (33 or so). Then pick a book with long words and justified text, and read it in a narrow window.<br /> *The comic has been discussed on the [http://www.unicode.org/mail-arch/unicode-ml/y2016-m05/0004.html Unicode Mailing List].<br /> *The typesetting system [http://www.sile-typesetter.org/ SILE] implemented snake justification on the same day the comic was published.<br /> *&quot;Line Fillers&quot; depicting animals (including snakes) were widely used in [http://www.medievalcodes.ca/2016/04/line-fillers.html medieval book art].<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> [[Category:Animals]]<br /> [[Category:Unicode]]</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3177:_Chessboard_Alignment&diff=401184 2025-12-09T21:25:06Z

<p>78.144.255.82: </p> <hr /> <div>&lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&gt;<br /> ...Honestly, kinda don't get this one... &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#FF0000&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#00873E&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 02:27, 6 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :ohhhhhh... &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#FF0000&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#00873E&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 02:28, 6 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> wait how do comments work[[User:Avrayter|Avrayter]] ([[User talk:Avrayter|talk]]) 02:52, 6 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I don’t understand what the title text is saying. Can someone explain it to me? [[User:Logalex8369|Logalex8369]] ([[User talk:Logalex8369|talk]]) 03:05, 6 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Well, since we live on a sphere, drawing a line across the surface is actually drawing on one big circle, called a great circle. this means that it's impossible to draw lines on the surface of the earth that never meet - if you draw two lines, straight north on 2 ends of the USA, they meet at the north pole. If you continue the lines after that, they also meet at the south pole, and continuing that, you're all the way back where you started - you've just drawn 2 big circles. --[[User:Utdtutyabthsc|Utdtutyabthsc]] ([[User talk:Utdtutyabthsc|talk]]) 04:43, 7 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> when I read the title, I thought of D&amp;D Alignment, and now I want one [[Special:Contributions/93.36.184.70|93.36.184.70]] 07:31, 6 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Did the math for 'aiming' at geostatinary satellite from while being level. https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=arccos%286371%2Fsqrt%2842%2C164%5E2%2B6371%5E2%29%29 . If anybody wants to check my math please do so.--[[User:Trimutius|Trimutius]] ([[User talk:Trimutius|talk]]) 19:06, 6 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> {{w|Geodesics on an ellipsoid}} are a bit more complicated than those for a sphere (and Earth isn't really even purely ellipsoidal). The geodesics aren't actually great circles, nor even closed curves except for those tilted at specific angles. The curve could cover an extremely large distance before visiting a position within a specific displacement from its starting point. However, because the ellipsoid in always convex, even though the radius of curvature is different depending on location and direction, two geodesics that start parallel should always converge [citation needed]. [[User:SammyChips|SammyChips]] ([[User talk:SammyChips|talk]]) 17:33, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> Do you have to consider other boards to avoid castling through check? [[Special:Contributions/2600:100C:B29E:1DBD:C9D:1FF3:39A0:FC2E|2600:100C:B29E:1DBD:C9D:1FF3:39A0:FC2E]] 20:19, 6 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :The whole fuss could be eliminated by just choosing an 'altitude'/radius from Earth's barycentre and ignoring such localised variations (off-spheroid or even off-ellipsoid) in which particular contour line is applicable for the intersection of a 'spherically level' projection out from one board to another. Even with two separate (elipsoidally-dictated) offsets from perpendicular axis off of board (maybe even also with the diagonals), itnkay be possible to elevate/bury boards sufficiently (against local surface height) to make both(/all) round-the-world offsets an integer number of squares, to within the stated tolerances, for every vertical change in distance, ''v'', it would adjust the horizontal offset ''h'' by ''2.pi.v''<br /> <br /> I think a funnier title text would've been: Bfi8(!!!) [[User:Fephisto|Fephisto]] ([[User talk:Fephisto|talk]]) 06:22, 6 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :...I didn't want if before but now i do.--[[User:Utdtutyabthsc|Utdtutyabthsc]] ([[User talk:Utdtutyabthsc|talk]]) 04:44, 7 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I suspect allusions to modern physics. The exact alignment of chess boards reminds me of the exactness needed to build laser resonators. <br /> The chess piece hopping from one board to another reminds me of quantum tunneling. The title text reminds me of light following geodetic lines in general relativity.<br /> There might be a specific quantum effect that is meant here, but I don't know. [[Special:Contributions/195.52.146.164|195.52.146.164]] 06:29, 6 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> For anyone wondering: This is not legal, because even though &quot;The bishop may move to any square along a diagonal on which it stands&quot; FIDE defines a diagonal as &quot;A straight line of squares of the same colour, running from one edge of the board to an adjacent edge&quot;, meaning it always ends on the edge. [[Special:Contributions/85.76.137.112|85.76.137.112]] 07:29, 6 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Moving from one board to another reminds me of a variety of chess variants. You know the ones: bughouse chess, Alice chess, ''5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel''. (I'm still trying to find a way to get Randall to try out that last one.) [[User:ISaveXKCDpapers|ISaveXKCDpapers]] ([[User talk:ISaveXKCDpapers|talk]]) 10:01, 6 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Not sure how to express well mathematics of great circles, to make it clear, that it is not just longitudal lines but in any direction really. I fixed the basics, but right now it still says something potentially misleading.--[[User:Trimutius|Trimutius]] ([[User talk:Trimutius|talk]]) 14:36, 6 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :I think this was my biggest edit on this wiki, but I think I managed to make a decent explanation of the math of how this works. Also split it off from the going into space variant.--[[User:Trimutius|Trimutius]] ([[User talk:Trimutius|talk]]) 18:14, 6 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Should this comic go in &lt;code&gt;Category:Comics_with_color&lt;/code&gt;? --[[Special:Contributions/175.34.54.104|175.34.54.104]] 11:33, 6 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I think in white's position, the only moves that could prevent ...Nd5# are Qa4+, Qxd4, and various moves to e2. I don't hold out much hope for white. To me, this says the bishop move is a desperate attempt by the bishop to survive a bit longer. It made a king sacrifice. --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 13:54, 6 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :My impression (without trying to recreate the exact play-by-play that got there) is that middle-white's defence 'exploded', they (forced or unforced) sent up to six pawns forward, losing three, dramatically unshielding the King in a very unsafe manner and (through exposure to the black Queen, later assisted by the Knight to plug potential movements) was left with no choice other than to advance white-King out there to get out of various checks.<br /> :But I'm intrigued by the 'rules', of pieces escaping to the other board. Does middle-white play in turn with middle-black, but may (as their turn) move middle-white pieces around the right board without regard (either way) of the right-white/right-black turn-taking? The asynchrony (could pepper right-board movement with timely movements ahead and/or behind right-white's turn, to support them against right-black with additional 'intersticial' moves (until middle-black, or even left-black, opts to move pieces over there as well). Or act as strictly' &quot;second move for white&quot;? What happens when MW's King is mated (as it surely will, ''especially'' if MW is opting to move off-board pieces rather than fight the 'local' game)? Their pieces are taken away? Inherited? Continue to 'double-tap' their moves alongside the native player of the board? They're now entirely unfettered by MB's move to which they now don't need to wait to respond?<br /> :Alternatively, it's a piece given ''to'' Right-White (until, perhaps, RW moves it, like any other piece, back into MW's game in their own play-order). There could be an exodus of MW pieces (bishops, rooks, queen only, with the right position opportunities; assuming you can't move to mid-board positions two or more times to allow knights and king to eventually enter full 'exile'; a couple of pawns could make it across, with complicity of an opponent, but only if you can end ''and capture'' upon tween-board spaces), and left-board players could even decide to send rooks/queens to the right-board for a comicated ''melee'' of chess.<br /> :And, however it happens, does this also apply for boards properly aligned (or diagonally-aligned) front-to-back (leapfrogging to other boards, unseen, in further rows of competition 'up/down' of this row-of-three). And, ignoring the strictly planar nature hinted at in the comic, an 'Earth Sandwich' of board and antipodal-board could be interesting... allowing a Queen (for example) to flow off this board in ''all eight'' directions to land on the other board (in some modes, arriving on the new board in the same direction as they left the first one... unless that's set up at right-angles... although it wouldn't bother a queen... could be troublesome if pawns are allowed to keep moving off-board, for as long as it takes, to arrive ''not necessarily'' on the respective home-row of the destination grid... or have them become obligate-backwards/sideways-advancing 'borrowed' pawns, if that's how the boards (mis-)align?).<br /> :No matter what the governing body says about board-edges, I need to know more about the practical limits and opportunities to this obscure rule! [[Special:Contributions/82.132.239.11|82.132.239.11]] 16:44, 6 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :The bishop knew their team was about to lose, so they decided to join another team’s play instead. [[User:Logalex8369|Logalex8369]] ([[User talk:Logalex8369|talk]]) 16:51, 6 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::You'd have thought a bishop would have had more faith! [[Special:Contributions/82.132.239.11|82.132.239.11]] 17:36, 6 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Gonna copy my code for #3139 and make this. {{unsigned ip|2601:441:4b7c:580e::1003|01:53, 7 December 2025 (UTC)}}<br /> <br /> The comic says &quot;square boundary lines follow great circles&quot; not &quot;chess boards follow great circles&quot; it also shows phantom squares not a general diagonal path. Phantom square size would change as the square boundary lines propagated around the world. Assuming this is the largest chess board possible on these great circle square boundary lines then all the great circle lines would converge to a point 1/4 of the way around the earth then spread to an inverted arrangement at the antipod before invertong again and returning to the original board. Personally i do not think a chess piece could be moves through a square of 0 size. The change in phantom square size would put a limit on how far apart boards of the same size could be and still have micrometer alignment. Boards of different sizes could be much farther apart. [[Special:Contributions/2605:8D80:13E4:22E2:1334:F7C:C3AE:B198|2605:8D80:13E4:22E2:1334:F7C:C3AE:B198]] 17:06, 7 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :My take on it was that since the boundaries of each square converge over distance because of following great circles around the Earth, if you place another standard size chess board some larger distance away, the lines of one wouldn't align with the lines of the other to the required level of precision. [[User:SammyChips|SammyChips]] ([[User talk:SammyChips|talk]]) 16:14, 8 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::I did a little calculating, and it seems that the convergence along a single rank (row) is only 1 micrometer over somewhere between 30 and 40 kilometers for standard sizes for the board and squares. If one end of the boards are aligned along the same great circle, the opposite end of each would fall out of alignment with each other within 4 to 5 kilometers. Of course, the distance would be more if the tolerance was a greater number of micrometers. Please feel free to figure it out yourself and confirm. Also, those distances would make sense only for lateral moves. Diagonal moves would require diagonal alignment between the boards, and the concept of alignment between diagonals of squares would be a bit more complicated and even more sensitive to interpretation, but a good argument could be made that it would be constrained by limits similar to those of the lateral case. [[User:SammyChips|SammyChips]] ([[User talk:SammyChips|talk]]) 17:58, 8 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Ancient chess lore has it that there was a tournament where the players were sitting so tight that one castled with the rook of his neighbor... [[Special:Contributions/2A02:2455:1960:4000:99BF:C5C8:4018:D8A0|2A02:2455:1960:4000:99BF:C5C8:4018:D8A0]] 18:32, 7 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Player Elimination - How would this actually work? If White Player A has pieces on White Player B's board, and White Player A loses, does that mean his pieces on Player B's board all disappear? Or does any King getting checkmated eliminate both players? Or does Player A putting on Player B's board essentially 'donate' the piece to Player B? If it does, then it Player B plays King to Player A's board, does that eliminate Player B? If Player A (left) has cleared out Kingside pieces and his kingside rook, can he castle across boards? [[User:Fephisto|Fephisto]] ([[User talk:Fephisto|talk]]) 14:37, 8 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> The text currently says, &quot;A perfect line of chessboards placed end-to-end on the surface of an Earth-sized sphere ... would form a great circle&quot;, which isn't quite right because a line of chessboards has some width to it and therefore isn't a line. You could align chessboards to form a great circle out of their left edges, or their right edges, or any one inter-square line. Not sure how to fix this. [[User:DKMell|DKMell]] ([[User talk:DKMell|talk]]) 18:04, 8 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> {{w|Geodesics on an ellipsoid}} are a bit more complicated than those for a sphere (and Earth isn't really even purely ellipsoidal). The geodesics aren't actually great circles, nor even closed curves except for those tilted at specific angles. The curve could cover an extremely large distance before visiting a position within a specific displacement from its starting point. However, because the ellipsoid is always convex, even though the radius of curvature is different depending on location and direction, two geodesics that start parallel should always converge {{citation needed}}. [[User:SammyChips|SammyChips]] ([[User talk:SammyChips|talk]]) 17:34, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Aside from raising/lowering source and (where necessary) target boards to be level ''and'' realign to be square-accurate (divide the current mismatch, beyond the minor tolerance allowance, by 2.pi and shift the board(s) up or down by that amount... Perhaps move further to invoke resonance of all axes of distance, especially if on an ellipsoid, by choosing overlapping resonances in their near-integer multiples of the respective distances), one need not have to conform to the geoidal multi-term hybrid elliposodal shape, but merely take radius-from-the-core as the (identical) altitude, irrespective of local Mean Sea Level or other gravitic isoline contouring. This may involve towers/blimps and mineshafts/submersibles to match up everything, despite actual local geodic variation, but if you're measuring round-the-world distances to micrometer-accuracy then it's just a matter of applying that same accuracy to the obvious solution. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.236.87|82.132.236.87]] 18:22, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::Are we creating a {{w|Dyson swarm}} out of chess boards now? :D [[User:SammyChips|SammyChips]] ([[User talk:SammyChips|talk]]) 19:38, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::One Problem I see with following a circular route against the gravitational isoclines is that if the boards are not tilted to be aligned with the gravitational gradient then hopefully there would be enough friction to keep the pieces from sliding off, and if they are tilted then the vertical misalignment might not be small enough to be within the tolerance. [[User:SammyChips|SammyChips]] ([[User talk:SammyChips|talk]]) 21:16, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::{{w|Chess set#Pocket and travel sets}}..? [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 21:25, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Level doesn't mean &quot;parallel to the surface of the Earth&quot;, it means perpendicular to the Earth's gravitational force.[[User:Dosbears|Dosbears]] ([[User talk:Dosbears|talk]])</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3178:_Hyperacute_Interdynamics&diff=401178 2025-12-09T19:43:25Z

<p>78.144.255.82: </p> <hr /> <div>&lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&gt;<br /> Explanatings!!! &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#FF0000&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#00873E&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 02:37, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :E X P L A N A T E ! E X P L A N A T E ! E X P L A N A T E ! &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#FF0000&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#00873E&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 02:42, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::Incomprehension is futile - you will be explanated. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 09:43, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> A black hole with the mass of the sun would have a Schwarzschild radius of 2.95 km. So it would take some significant revisions to theory to accommodate a grapefruit-sized object with that mass. Perhaps if it's digested by a squirrel, it gets smaller? [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 03:32, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :hopefully quite a bit smaller, given the size of the squirrel in this example. [[User:KelOfTheStars!|KelOfTheStars!]] ([[User talk:KelOfTheStars!|talk]]) 05:15, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : Not terribly impressed with the science chops of these &quot;unifiers&quot; if they can't work out what's gonna happen here. Hint: it's no happy dance for the squirrel. [[Special:Contributions/2605:59C8:160:DB08:CDB6:FE7F:1FC9:524|2605:59C8:160:DB08:CDB6:FE7F:1FC9:524]] 16:28, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ''Eastern Gray Squirrel.... measures 16-20 inches (approx. 40-50 centimeters) .... would be too big for Hyperacute Interdynamics (10-30cm (~4&quot;-12&quot;)) to apply.'' Clearly a squirrel's tail can be neglected (see: '''spherical cow theory'''), being a very skinny (even rat-like) whip with bulky but insignificant fritz. ''The '''head and body length''' is from 23 to 30 cm (9.1 to 11.8 in)'' -- Wikipedia ---- Also, a bit north of Randall's place, we have lots of &quot;Red Squirrels&quot; which are significantly smaller than East Gray tree-rats. ''&quot;Red squirrels are much smaller than greys and measure about 35centimetres including their tails and grow to around 350grams.&quot;'' - (YouTube) Our locals say &quot;chipmunk&quot; but I knew chipmunks from Sequoya Nat Park and these aint them. --[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 06:45, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :I'm from Randall's area and we always called chipmunks chipmunks. Yes, we heard of red squirrels, but only saw gray squirrels and chipmunks. Massachusetts has a population with steadfast opinions. Doubt it? Try driving in Boston. [[Special:Contributions/173.188.192.138|173.188.192.138]] 14:09, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> : Lots of red squirrels in SE Mass (&quot;South Shore&quot;). They don't like cities much. Very intelligent animals. [[Special:Contributions/2605:59C8:160:DB08:CDB6:FE7F:1FC9:524|2605:59C8:160:DB08:CDB6:FE7F:1FC9:524]] 16:15, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::Would the tail be excluded? Yes it's an extension, but it's certainly a part of the squirrel, and as such would contribute to it's length. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#FF0000&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#00873E&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 14:36, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::[[File:Squirrel and soccer ball.png]]<br /> :::I don't think there's a prblem. When the squirrel is sat passively, it fits (roughly) within the size constraints and is therefore fully explainable via Hyperacute Interdynamics. Once it starts running around and jumping, with its tail trailing behind it, the predictive ability of theory lessens (needn't be a cliff-edge of understanding, could even smoothly sustain ''near-''perfect accuracy for the {{w|Black giant squirrel}}, at least at rest, just isn't so fundemnentally precise any more) but HI is entirely accurate again the moment it stops to nibble a nut.<br /> :::Though do squirrels eat grapefruit? (Solar-massive ones or otherwise.) I know someone left out pumpkin flesh, on a fallen tree in a woods near me, clearly from having created a Jack-O-Lantern for this year's Halloween (and apparently not thought to try making a few batches of pumpkin soup, for whatever reason), and it sat there for weeks (until it disintigrated) with no sign of either squirrels (American greys, unfortunately) or birds partaking of the 'feast'. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.236.87|82.132.236.87]] 17:55, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::::Every year during Jack-o-Lantern season, squirrels are constantly trying to eat them even before they start rotting. I believe they're, once again, American Grays. They do indeed partake in feasts here, at least. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#FF0000&quot;&gt;DollarStoreBa'al&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;sup&gt;[[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|&lt;span style=&quot;color:#00873E&quot;&gt;Converse&lt;/span&gt;]]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 18:47, 9 December 2025 (UTC)<br /> :::::Assuming, like me, that IP is in the UK... perhaps our 'invasive' Greys (hence the 'unfortunately'?) just haven't yet got used to the proliferation of pumpkins (we always used to make do with turnips, round here, until comparatively recent absorption of the US-style traditions). And the native reds are now far less likely to be near significant population so probably don't partake very much on such human bounty. [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 19:43, 9 December 2025 (UTC)</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3177:_Chessboard_Alignment&diff=401024 2025-12-08T20:43:28Z

<p>78.144.255.82: /* Explanation */ Correcting the markup for the intended thing... though I thought this was already said somewhere above..? (Can't find it, was it edited out?)</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 3177<br /> | date = December 5, 2025<br /> | title = Chessboard Alignment<br /> | image = chessboard_alignment_2x.png<br /> | imagesize = 397x289px<br /> | noexpand = true<br /> | titletext = Luckily, the range is limited by the fact that the square boundary lines follow great circles.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|This page was created BY AN ALIGNED BISHOP. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br /> The comic shows an overhead view of three chess boards side by side, with an average of two players facing each other across the boards. Yellow squares (used to show the available or actual movement of a given piece) have been marked leading from the starting position of the middle board's right bishop (F1) to the upper-right. The path continues beyond the edge of the middle board, across four columns of empty space or unseen table, and ends in the top left corner (A8) of the right board. The right board has only one rook (black rectangle) while the other two boards each have two, so it is implied that the bishop has captured the rook, and the player who made the move is now apparently paying attention to (and plausibly co-playing with the neighbouring player on) the board he has moved his piece to. The text below jokingly claims that if you align chess boards exactly, pieces can cross the boundary like this. This is not legal in normal chess,{{Citation needed}} but fits into [[Randall]]'s long history of comics about unusual chess rules or boards.<br /> <br /> The position on the left board is from a blitz game played between Judit Polgar and Magnus Carlsen in Madrid in 2022.[https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2325478] The middle board's position seems to have followed (up until before this cross-boards move) the game seen in [[3045: AlphaMove]].<br /> <br /> The title text refers to the fact that chess boards are normally placed approximately level (parallel to the surface of the Earth). As such there are two different possible interpretations of the title text, whether you are following geodesics on the surface of the Earth (any great circle) or following the geodesics of spacetime (leaving the Earth and going into space).<br /> <br /> ; Following great circles<br /> A perfect line of chessboards placed end-to-end on the surface of an Earth-sized sphere (or on perfectly placed tables on that sphere) would form a {{w|great circle}} - the longest possible path around that sphere, as well as only straight path on spheres. This rule would allow chess moves between boards that were kilometers (or even whole countries) apart in any direction, along {{w|great circles}} of the Earth, as any straight line on any sphere or ellipsoid can be extended all the way across. If following the great circle along the ground was considered a straight line, then it would also be possible for each side's rooks, bishops and queen to capture their counterparts in the other color's back row, or, in a later game, they would be able to teleport between left and right sides, or jump onto the other side of any diagonal for pieces that move diagonally, as it would be possible to go around planet following any horizontal, vertical or diagonal line of the chessboard. If no other chessboard were involved it would make it into [https://www.chessvariants.org/shape.dir/torus_standard_board.html Torus chess], but only for pieces that can move an unlimited amount of squares. There is a caveat to this though: the size of a square would have to divide the great circle exactly, with a precision down to micrometers. Quite possibly only one direction would work, if any at all, since Earth is not a perfect sphere, so distance around the Earth would differ in different directions. Notable exceptions would be the South and North Poles, where all great circles are the same. While the North Pole is in the {{w|Arctic Ocean}}, so you won't be able to stay level there easily, at the South Pole there is the {{w|Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station}}, where this variant of chess could be more interesting if you had the correct size of board squares, with both verticals and horizontals working. Alternatively, you could replace squares on the chessboard with rectangles. The difference between vertical and horizontal length would not have to be more than 0.08%, which at regular chessboard size would result in difference of less than 0.5mm, which will be barely noticeable. Replacing squares with rectangles presents a problem, because if you want for chessboard to always be aligned, the required dimensions would depend on the latitude where the chessboard is located, and you would need to put the chessboard at a precise angle on top. Having many different chessboards for different latitudes would not be sustainable.{{Citation needed}}<br /> <br /> When you have to pick a single direction that works for looping your own chessboard then there are three options for orienting the chessboard:<br /> * If you choose a horizontal line, then you will get a limited variant of {{w|Cylinder chess}}, where only the Queen and Rooks can utilize the wraparound, and only when moving horizontally.<br /> * If you choose a vertical line, it is technically also a cylinder for Rooks and Queens, but it will create an interesting dynamic, where players would be able to exchange queens and rooks in the first 2 turns (for example, doing this opening: 1. Qxd8+ Kxd8 2. Rxh8 Rxa1).<br /> * If you choose a diagonal, then it will result in Queens and Bishops being able to jump over all pieces (they cannot switch to a different diagonal, as in cylinder chess, as all diagonals will loop on themselves), though they would have to have visibility of one of the edges of the chess board. Also, they cannot jam themselves in-between 2 or more pieces, as they would emerge on the opposite side of the diagonal. Most likely, diagonal works only in one of the two possible directions too, so there is an extra choice there (unless you are at one of the Earth's poles, where you can make both diagonal directions work).<br /> <br /> ; Following the geodesics of spacetime<br /> While nearby boards would appear to be in the same plane, the curvature of the Earth would cause boards more distant than 3.57 meters away to be in planes so different that the squares would be more than a micrometer off from the ideal straight lines leading off the board. It is thus implied that each infinite-range piece's valid path is a straight line of virtual squares that eventually leads into space. Straight lines would have to be in the overall spacetime of the universe along a {{w|Geodesics in general relativity|geodesic}}. This would not rule out motion to another board on another celestial body or spaceship, though delivery of a chess piece across this distance would be impractical{{Citation needed}} and other objects in space would move so fast relative to your board that they would be in alignment for only a fraction of a second, unless it is a satellite in a {{w|geostationary orbit}}. If you want to be level with Earth and 'aim' your chessboard at a geostationary satellite, you would have to be at latitude of around 81.4° in either Arctic or Antarctic, because those orbits are so far away from the Earth. So chess games would have to take place at some {{w|List of northernmost settlements|arctic research station}} ({{w|Station Nord, Greenland}} being the optimal) or somewhere on the continent of {{w|Antarctica}} (the best research station there would be {{w|Sobral Base}}, though not as good as Station Nord). If this interpretation is accepted then this can be considered a second comic in a week about [[3174: Bridge Clearance|distances extending past typical boundaries]].<br /> <br /> [[:Category:Chess|Chess]] is a common recurring theme on xkcd.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> {{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br /> <br /> :[An aerial view of three chess-games, with six players shown, in each case with white at the near-side of board (towards the bottom of the comic panel) and each having reasonably developed game positions.&lt;!-- which I won't describe, both for brevity and for possible misrecognition of the low-detail depiction of each piece--&gt;]<br /> :[The middle board has yellow highlight on the squares from white's King's Bishop's original position, diagonally forward-right to the respective edge square of the board, then four more squares in the gap between boards until ending on the black Queen's Rook square of the right-hand board, which appears now to have three white bishops, one of them on this rook's starting square.<br /> :[There is just one black rook, elsewhere on the right board, whether or not the other was lost to middle-board's bishop, and the middle board has only one bishop (and is lacking three pawns, with just two others still in their starting positions), for white, with apparently their King sent forward-left by two successive diagonal moves but no other major pieces having noticably relocated.]<br /> :[The middle board's near-side player has now also moved across to pay attention to the right hand board, leaving only his opponent facing his original board.]<br /> <br /> :[Text below the main scene's panel:] It doesn't happen often because it requires micrometer precision, but if two chess boards are '''''perfectly''''' aligned, it's actually legal to move pieces between them.<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}&lt;noinclude&gt;<br /> [[Category:Chess]]<br /> [[Category:Comics with color]]</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1870:_Emoji_Movie_Reviews&diff=400968 2025-12-07T19:29:15Z

<p>78.144.255.82: ...even if I'm occasionally fooled by unnecessary newlines and stop reading the source further down...</p> <hr /> <div>&lt;!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and not delete this comment.--&gt;<br /> There are many ways that a movie can be bad. It could have uninteresting characters, a bad plot, stupid dialogue, poor filming etc. Very likely the Emoji movie suffers from all of these problems. I should add that Jar Jar Binks from Star Wars fame was widely hated by anyone over 8 years old but my 5-year-old loved him. Could the same thing be true for Emojis? [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 18:00, 31 July 2017 (UTC)<br /> :So, similar to the minions movie series? 20:00, 31 July 2017 (UTC)[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.125|141.101.104.125]]<br /> ::The minions and the &quot;prequel&quot; (I don't know the english title) are not only watched and enjoyed by children - at least in Germany - but also by young adults. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.5|198.41.242.5]]<br /> :::Es gibt kein Prequel zu den Minions. Die Minions sind das Prequel zu &quot;Ich, einfach unverbesserlich&quot;, also &quot;Despicable Me&quot;.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.206|162.158.88.206]] 11:08, 2 August 2017 (UTC)<br /> :::I can see how happy pills would be popular among the Germanic depressives. :P [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.100|162.158.75.100]] 20:37, 31 July 2017 (UTC)<br /> :::Of the Star Wars prequels, the one which had the most of Jar Jar Binks was the first one, whose English name was Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. And you should note that Rtanenbaum wasn't talking about the whole movie, but specifically the character of Jar Jar Binks (the clutz alien with long floppy ears). Plus, I think most adults (or &quot;anyone over 8 years old&quot;) hated him for how he spoke, so other language adaptations might have made him better, LOL! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:03, 1 August 2017 (UTC)<br /> :::: Well, at least not in Germany XD [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 06:24, 1 August 2017 (UTC)<br /> :i am 9 and i still love jar jar binks[[Special:Contributions/2605:59C8:24B8:5A10:E9A8:B4C2:39AD:E230|2605:59C8:24B8:5A10:E9A8:B4C2:39AD:E230]] 12:43, 7 December 2025 (UTC)[[Media:Example.ogg]]<br /> <br /> Sorry, does anyone genuinely believe that the writers would not actually know about the eggplant? Out of dozens, nay hundreds of useless icons, this one would have been unconsciously selected by random chance? {{unsigned ip|162.158.2.160}}<br /> :Cueball even asks, &quot;was that on purpose?&quot;. {{unsigned ip|162.158.146.22}}<br /> <br /> Possible title text explanation: The idea doesn't survive in the real world because (A) people typically don't express emotion by turning their head upside down, and (B) it's rare that you run into a person who is thinking (a very jaded, cynical view of humanity popular among internet users). [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.22|172.68.54.22]] 14:43, 1 August 2017 (UTC)<br /> :I think probably the title text is more trying to emphasize the fact that emoji can be used in ambiguous/nuanced ways, as much or more than other methods of communication. [[User:Berets|Berets]] ([[User talk:Berets|talk]]) 22:33, 1 August 2017 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Considering the last comic also happens to be about reviews, is it possible Randall made a subtle comment about the Emoji Movie in 1869? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.254.108|172.68.254.108]] 17:43, 1 August 2017 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Am I the only one, wanting to watch that movie now, in order to actually verify and explain the plot summary for this site, and to be able to make a first hand guess wether the egggplant joke was a joke? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.115|162.158.89.115]]<br /> :You are not alone, LOL! This comic actually gave me interest in seeing the movie, I had virtually no interest before this. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 03:03, 4 August 2017 (UTC)<br /> ::Am I alone? After reading some news articles, wiki, and this comic I know I really do NOT need to see this movie. And furthermore I even don't need Emojis... ;-) --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:38, 4 August 2017 (UTC)--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:38, 4 August 2017 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I'm not a big emoji user, so I never knew the eggplant was a penis-representative. But this quote: &quot;''... a sly stand-in for a penis, due to its similar shape.''&quot; had me wondering. No penis I know looks like that (the emoji itself), unless the writer has a familiarity with saline-injection porn! [[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 02:55, 6 August 2017 (UTC)<br /> <br /> &quot;there is a very low chance of there being a 'piracy app', as an app such as this would not be allowed on any online app store.&quot; Unless it's a piracy app store. Android allows to install apps from APKs, and jailbroken iphones -- from IPA files, I think. [[User:ShareDVI|ShareDVI]] ([[User talk:ShareDVI|talk]]) 08:14, 7 August 2017 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Was ''Sausage Party'' 'trying to be controversial on purpose'? I didn't see it, but it just looked like a typical adult comedy to me. [[User:PvOberstein|PvOberstein]] ([[User talk:PvOberstein|talk]]) 18:14, 14 August 2017 (UTC)<br /> <br /> <br /> You know, there was a rant by Durex there is no condom emoji. As example, Durex offered to remove useless emoji and add condom emoji instead. Joke isz they used eggplan as example of useless emoji.<br /> <br /> I guess that's how eggplans became the meme AND the innuendo. <br /> Please sign your comment like this--[[Special:Contributions/172.70.34.91|172.70.34.91]] 01:23, 11 December 2021 (UTC)</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1870:_Emoji_Movie_Reviews&diff=400967 2025-12-07T19:27:47Z

<p>78.144.255.82: You may be nine years old, but you should at least learn to not mess up what you're replying to...</p> <hr /> <div>&lt;!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and not delete this comment.--&gt;<br /> There are many ways that a movie can be bad. It could have uninteresting characters, a bad plot, stupid dialogue, poor filming etc. Very likely the Emoji movie suffers from all of these problems. I should add that Jar Jar Binks from Star Wars fame was widely hated by anyone over 8 years old but my 5-year-old loved him. Could the same thing be true for Emojis? [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 18:00, 31 July 2017 (UTC)<br /> :So, similar to the minions movie series? 20:00, 31 July 2017 (UTC)[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.125|141.101.104.125]]<br /> ::The minions and the &quot;prequel&quot; (I don't know the english title) are not only watched and enjoyed by children - at least in Germany - but also by young adults. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.5|198.41.242.5]]<br /> :::Es gibt kein Prequel zu den Minions. Die Minions sind das Prequel zu &quot;Ich, einfach unverbesserlich&quot;, also &quot;Despicable Me&quot;.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.206|162.158.88.206]] 11:08, 2 August 2017 (UTC)<br /> :::I can see how happy pills would be popular among the Germanic depressives. :P [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.100|162.158.75.100]] 20:37, 31 July 2017 (UTC)<br /> :i am 9 and i still love jar jar binks[[Special:Contributions/2605:59C8:24B8:5A10:E9A8:B4C2:39AD:E230|2605:59C8:24B8:5A10:E9A8:B4C2:39AD:E230]] 12:43, 7 December 2025 (UTC)[[Media:Example.ogg]]<br /> <br /> :::Of the Star Wars prequels, the one which had the most of Jar Jar Binks was the first one, whose English name was Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. And you should note that Rtanenbaum wasn't talking about the whole movie, but specifically the character of Jar Jar Binks (the clutz alien with long floppy ears). Plus, I think most adults (or &quot;anyone over 8 years old&quot;) hated him for how he spoke, so other language adaptations might have made him better, LOL! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:03, 1 August 2017 (UTC)<br /> :::: Well, at least not in Germany XD [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 06:24, 1 August 2017 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Sorry, does anyone genuinely believe that the writers would not actually know about the eggplant? Out of dozens, nay hundreds of useless icons, this one would have been unconsciously selected by random chance? {{unsigned ip|162.158.2.160}}<br /> :Cueball even asks, &quot;was that on purpose?&quot;. {{unsigned ip|162.158.146.22}}<br /> <br /> Possible title text explanation: The idea doesn't survive in the real world because (A) people typically don't express emotion by turning their head upside down, and (B) it's rare that you run into a person who is thinking (a very jaded, cynical view of humanity popular among internet users). [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.22|172.68.54.22]] 14:43, 1 August 2017 (UTC)<br /> :I think probably the title text is more trying to emphasize the fact that emoji can be used in ambiguous/nuanced ways, as much or more than other methods of communication. [[User:Berets|Berets]] ([[User talk:Berets|talk]]) 22:33, 1 August 2017 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Considering the last comic also happens to be about reviews, is it possible Randall made a subtle comment about the Emoji Movie in 1869? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.254.108|172.68.254.108]] 17:43, 1 August 2017 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Am I the only one, wanting to watch that movie now, in order to actually verify and explain the plot summary for this site, and to be able to make a first hand guess wether the egggplant joke was a joke? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.115|162.158.89.115]]<br /> :You are not alone, LOL! This comic actually gave me interest in seeing the movie, I had virtually no interest before this. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 03:03, 4 August 2017 (UTC)<br /> ::Am I alone? After reading some news articles, wiki, and this comic I know I really do NOT need to see this movie. And furthermore I even don't need Emojis... ;-) --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:38, 4 August 2017 (UTC)--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:38, 4 August 2017 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I'm not a big emoji user, so I never knew the eggplant was a penis-representative. But this quote: &quot;''... a sly stand-in for a penis, due to its similar shape.''&quot; had me wondering. No penis I know looks like that (the emoji itself), unless the writer has a familiarity with saline-injection porn! [[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 02:55, 6 August 2017 (UTC)<br /> <br /> &quot;there is a very low chance of there being a 'piracy app', as an app such as this would not be allowed on any online app store.&quot; Unless it's a piracy app store. Android allows to install apps from APKs, and jailbroken iphones -- from IPA files, I think. [[User:ShareDVI|ShareDVI]] ([[User talk:ShareDVI|talk]]) 08:14, 7 August 2017 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Was ''Sausage Party'' 'trying to be controversial on purpose'? I didn't see it, but it just looked like a typical adult comedy to me. [[User:PvOberstein|PvOberstein]] ([[User talk:PvOberstein|talk]]) 18:14, 14 August 2017 (UTC)<br /> <br /> <br /> You know, there was a rant by Durex there is no condom emoji. As example, Durex offered to remove useless emoji and add condom emoji instead. Joke isz they used eggplan as example of useless emoji.<br /> <br /> I guess that's how eggplans became the meme AND the innuendo. <br /> Please sign your comment like this--[[Special:Contributions/172.70.34.91|172.70.34.91]] 01:23, 11 December 2021 (UTC)</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3045:_AlphaMove&diff=400966 2025-12-07T19:19:03Z

<p>78.144.255.82: </p> <hr /> <div>&lt;!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--&gt;<br /> Ask Tom Murphy VII to get on this [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.103|141.101.99.103]] 22:50, 31 January 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> This has actually been done and tested against other strange algorithms:<br /> https://youtu.be/DpXy041BIlA?t=729<br /> <br /> I have attempted to run the proposed bot against itself — if I haven't made any errors, here are the resulting games:<br /> <br /> Rounding down:<br /> 1. e4 e6 2. f3 f5 3. e5 g5 4. d4 d5 5. exd6 g4 6. d7+ Kf7 7. dxc8=N Ke8 8. fxg4 h6 9. gxf5 Kd7 10. g4 h5 11. fxe6+ Ke8 12. g5 Na6 13. h3 Nc5 14. h4 Ne7 15. Kd2 Ne4+ 16. Ke1 Nf5 17. g6 Nf6 18. g7 Ng3 19. gxf8=N Nge4 20. Ke2 Ng4 21. Kf3 Ngf2 22. Ke2 Nh3 23. Ke3 Nhf2 24. Nb6 Nh3 25. Na4 Nhf2 26. Nac3 Nxc3 27. Kxf2 Nxd1+ 28. Kf3 Qc8 29. c4 Ne3 30. Ke4 Nf5 31. Kd3 Ng3 32. e7 Nxh1 33. Kc2 Qb8 34. d5 Kxe7 35. d6+ Kf6 36. dxc7 Nf2 37. c8=R Ng4 38. Kd2 Nh2 39. Ke3 Ng4+ 40. Kd4 Nh2 41. Kd5 Nxf1 42. Nc3 Nh2 43. Nce2 Ng4 44. Nd4 Nh6 45. Nd7+ Kf7 46. Ndf3 Qd6+ 47. Ke4 Qd2 48. Nf8 Qd5+ 49. Ke3 Qd2+ 50. Ke4 Qd5+ 51. Ke3 Qd2+ 52. Ke4<br /> <br /> Rounding up:<br /> 1. f3 f5 2. e4 f4 3. d4 e6 4. e5 g6 5. g3 fxg3 6. c3 g2 7. d5 gxf1=Q+ 8. Kxf1 exd5 9. Ke2 d6 10. Kd3 g5 11. Kd2 dxe5 12. Ke2 d4 13. Kd3 dxc3+ 14. Ke3 e4 15. Ne2 exf3 16. Ng1 f2 17. Nxc3 fxg1=N 18. Qc2 Kd7 19. Ne2 h6 20. Qa4+ Ke6 21. Qb3+ Ke7 22. Qb4+ Ke8 23. Qb5+ Kf7 24. Qa6 Kg7 25. Qa4 Kg6 26. Qb3 Kg7 27. Qb4 Kh7 28. Qb5 Kg7 29. Qa6 Nc6 30. Nxg1 Na5 31. Qb6 Kh7 32. Qb3 Kg6 33. Qb4 Kg7 34. Qb6 Kh7 35. Qb3 Kg6 36. Qb4 Kg7 37. Qb6<br /> <br /> Rounding down code:<br /> const { Chess } = require(&quot;chess.js&quot;);<br /> <br /> const chess = new Chess();<br /> while (!chess.isGameOver()) {<br /> const moves = chess.moves();<br /> moves.sort((a, b) =&gt; b.localeCompare(a));<br /> const move = moves[Math.floor(moves.length / 2)];<br /> chess.move(move);<br /> }<br /> console.log(chess.pgn());<br /> <br /> To round up, swap the a and b in the sort function.<br /> <br /> Both games end in a threefold repetition draw. The game with rounding down does, in fact, have 6 knights in it, so I believe he did code this to see what would happen.<br /> <br /> [[User:Ohpointfive|Ohpointfive]] ([[User talk:Ohpointfive|talk]]) 22:52, 31 January 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> To elaborate on the Tom VII point - this is the YouTube video that possibly inspired the comic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpXy041BIlA [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.179|141.101.98.179]] 22:55, 31 January 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Specifically, it's the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpXy041BIlA&amp;t=1483 Arithmetic Player at 24:43] set to ½. [[User:ChaoticNeutralCzech|ChaoticNeutralCzech]] ([[User talk:ChaoticNeutralCzech|talk]]) 17:52, 1 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Unfortunately for white, it's mate in 1 with Bb4# [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.124|162.158.90.124]] 23:25, 31 January 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Even if white makes a different move, its still forced mate in one. RIP XKCD Bot. [[User:Redacted II|Redacted II]] ([[User talk:Redacted II|talk]]) 00:53, 1 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Well, for most options. Queen to a4 puts Black in check, forestalling an immediate move to mate White; capturing the knight de-threatens enough squares around the king that Black can't check next turn without leaving an escape route. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.176.28|172.70.176.28]] 17:45, 1 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> ::I also see either Qb3 or pawn to a3 as setting up a defense against the Black bishop's impending checkmate, even without the Black check. (The Qa4+ move would also do this as a side effect.)[[Special:Contributions/165.225.213.98|165.225.213.98]] 16:43, 29 July 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> &lt;s&gt;Although it wouldn't change the outcome much (either by changing black's move or white's general options), I'm currently not understanding why Kd4 isn't on the list of options at this point in time. So long since I played serious(ish) chess, and the only reason I could think of is that it's probibited by some strict ortbodox game rule recognising the ''potential'' moving of the knight out of the way (in the next white move-cycle). But I'd have treated that later option as forbidden, as a revealing-mate. But, as I said, it's been a while, so maybe I'm just blind to something like a sweeping bishop-range that disbars this (much as the near knight, bishop and pawn disbars four out of the five moves).&lt;/s&gt; ...darn, it's just clicked. That's the AlphaMoved white-knight's destination (before that, the black queen was entirely covering that square, and double-teaming one of the adjacent black-knight covered squares), I'd been thinking that was the piece's origin (with the empty highlighted square as its destination) until I'd finally read the highlighted movelist item properly and deciphered it as Knight To King Two (done), not the (intention of) Knight To King's Bishop One. So ignore the above. Although, just to note, for the Black Queen to have even achieved that position would probably have required at least ''one'' normally-sacrificial exposure to the deadly white Q/B/R pieces guarding the obvious entry, give or take the algorithmic development of their (and the &quot;gateway pawns&quot;') current positions. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.104|141.101.99.104]] 02:00, 1 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> :Follow-up... As far as the black queen is concerned, I suppose she could have done d6, (x?)g3 then f2, in-between the other black and white moves made, largely safe from the white 'defence'. Or to d4 then f2, if white Queen's Pawn was shielding still. (Appears to have been taken, but it would have been bold to have done that with the queen, for a normally immediate pawn-queen exhange!) A bolder/more opportunistic set of moves than I would have tried, either. Even (unknowingly) against AlphaMove, I'd have been wary of the unconventionally developing white disposition actually being an idiot-trap (and I'm really not that far off being an idiot, insofar as chess). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.162|172.70.162.162]] 02:17, 1 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> The explanation gives both O-O and 0-0 as notations for castling and then explains why 0-0 can never occur, even though O-O can be sorted pretty centrally. So, which is the correct notation? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.250.91|172.71.250.91]] 09:14, 1 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> :According to the [https://ia802908.us.archive.org/26/items/pgn-standard-1994-03-12/PGN_standard_1994-03-12.txt pgn spec], section 8.2.3.3: they are capital Os and not zeros [[Special:Contributions/172.68.3.96|172.68.3.96]] 15:10, 1 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I'm pretty sure we're looking at a retrograde puzzle. [[User:Ohpointfive|Ohpointfive]] is onto something here, with the six knights on the board a strong indicator. The question is, of course, where is the joke? White plays Alphamove all along and must have started with e4 (rounding down) or f3 (rounding up). Both are consistent with the end position. So from my point of view, the joke is <br /> * either that the &quot;stronger engine&quot; is not a strong engine at all but maybe the same algorithm, rounding up instead of down<br /> * or that black doesn't win this position (in real chess, White is of course toast) because its algorithm is even worse<br /> @Ohpointfive, could you run the two versions against each other? --[[User:Pganon|Pganon]] ([[User talk:Pganon|talk]]) 15:55, 1 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I created a playable version of this game in like 10 minutes using ChatGPT ;) <br /> <br /> https://enn-nafnlaus.github.io/AlphaMove/alphamove.html<br /> <br /> Git page here:<br /> <br /> https://github.com/enn-nafnlaus/AlphaMove<br /> <br /> -- [[User:Rei|Rei]] 17:52, 1 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I checked, castling and en passant both work. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.245.25|172.68.245.25]] 19:26, 1 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> @Pganon certainly:<br /> White rounding down vs. black rounding up:<br /> 1. e4 f5 2. f3 f4 3. d4 e6 4. e5 g6 5. d5 exd5 6. g3 fxg3 7. c4 g2 8. h3 gxf1=Q+ 9. Kd2 Kf7 10. Kc3 Ke8 11. Kc2 Kf7 12. Kb3 Ke8 13. Kc2 Kf7 14. Kb3 Ke8 15. Kc2<br /> White rounding up vs. black rounding down:<br /> 1. f3 e6 2. e4 f5 3. e5 g5 4. d4 d5 5. f4 gxf4 6. h3 h5 7. h4 Kd7 8. Kd2 Kc6 9. Kd3 Kb6 10. Ke2 Kb5 11. Ke1+ Kb4 12. Ke2 Kb5 13. Ke1+ Kb4 14. Ke2 Kb5<br /> <br /> The first game is quite exciting, with black at one point having a chance at checkmate in one, but alas too many available pawn moves drives the winning move Qxc4# far past the center of the list. The second game is much less exciting.<br /> <br /> [[User:Ohpointfive|Ohpointfive]] ([[User talk:Ohpointfive|talk]]) 21:30, 1 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Here's a question: What is the quickest way to checkmate AlphaMove? Here's the quickest that I have found so far:<br /> # f3 d5<br /> # e4 d5xe4<br /> # f4 e5<br /> # g3 Bg4<br /> # d4 Qxd4<br /> # f5 e3<br /> # f6 Qxd1#<br /> Thus, we have mate in seven. This might be good to mention outside the comments section as a demonstration tha AlphaGo is not very good (not to mention failing to attack black's queen with a less valuable piece), but a quicker checkmate might be possible, in which case we should mention that instead.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.207.159|172.70.207.159]] 11:08, 2 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> : Checkmating Alphamove is easy. Getting checkmated *by* Alphamove is challenging. You basically have to forget everything you know about normal chess. -- [[User:Rei|Rei]] ([[User talk:Rei|talk]]) 14:48, 2 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :: Fastest mate against Alphamove playing Black 3 moves (natural max), White 5 moves (exhaustive search), selfmate 9 moves - problem composers and mathematicians solve that in a jiffy. See here: https://chess.stackexchange.com/questions/46651/fastest-win-against-xkcds-alphamove [[Special:Contributions/172.70.248.29|172.70.248.29]] 09:11, 3 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> One possible move, Kd2, is missing! /[[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.164|141.101.76.164]] 17:41, 2 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> :That can't be done. The Knight isn't between d2 and the Q@f2 at the point that the moves are being compiled. The Ne2 hasn't happened yet (we now see it, as having moved there, ''as a result'' of Ne2 being selected from the list, so ''next'' turn the King could move there, assuming the game isn't lost (or black decides to do something ''else'' which prevents it, for some strange reason). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.25|162.158.74.25]] 18:47, 2 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I [https://lichess.org/analysis/r1b1k2r/1pp1nppp/8/p1b1p3/2PnpP1P/2K5/PP3q2/RNBQ1BNR_w_kq_-_0_1?color=white put the position before White's move into Lichess] and it says it's mate in 12 for Black. <br /> <br /> On a related note, I'm also wondering how they got to the comic position in the first place. Anyone want to try constructing a proof game? [[User:Arcorann|Arcorann]] ([[User talk:Arcorann|talk]]) 03:30, 3 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> A lot of the explanation is based on a round-up version of AlphaMove. It should round down for even lists like the title text says. The [https://enn-nafnlaus.github.io/AlphaMove/alphamove.html example implementation] is wrong too. The first move should be e4, not f3. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.187.55|162.158.187.55]] 07:25, 3 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> If there ever was an explanation that needed to be broken up into three paragraphs and a Detail section, this is it. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.142.30|172.71.142.30]] 17:19, 3 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> It is not mentioned what happens when there is a tie for the middle move (for an even number of possible moves). Is it then chosen &quot;at random&quot;? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.102|162.158.155.102]] 19:38, 3 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> :The title text discusses it, so presumably that's the principle we should consider at play. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.6.110|162.158.6.110]] 21:23, 3 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Why is there still a pawn on a2? It would seem that a3 would be the first move, followed by a4. {{unsigned ip|172.69.135.191|23:20, 3 February 2025 (UTC)}} <br /> : a3 would be the first ''in the list'' for the compilation of first move (then a4, then [b-h] x [2-3], then four &quot;N&quot;-moves. The middle of the list would therefore (depending upon round-up or round-down) &quot;e4&quot; or &quot;f3&quot;. Assuming e4, the next white move list is going to be seven pawns that can move to self.3 or self.4, one that can move to self.5, with some B-moves between b4 and c3, a K-move, five N-moves and a number of Q-moves. pawn on a2 just doesn't get a look-in, move-wise, at least not until after a lot of moves (possibly designed by the opponent ''specifically' to remove moves from anything that isn't pawn-move from a2 to a3 or a4. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.33.252|162.158.33.252]] 15:48, 4 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> What does this mean? The current explanation includes a paragraph starting with &quot;The actual middle of the list might vary away from the usual alphabetic median if the moves (and the pieces removed by the opponent) are heavily biased to a particular subset of player-pieces.&quot; I can't make head or tail of this, but maybe that's just 'cause I'm dumb. Why would the middle of the list be different from the median? It should be re-worded to be clearer, or perhaps removed. [[User:DKMell|DKMell]] ([[User talk:DKMell|talk]]) 22:43, 3 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> : As an example, when the King is in check, there are far fewer legal moves, but they might include (or be limited to) interposing with a bishop, so that a bishop actually does get moved. That differs from the _usual_ median, even though the median function is still being used. [[User:JimJJewett|JimJJewett]] ([[User talk:JimJJewett|talk]]) 06:56, 4 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> : Several ways of reading &quot;alphabetic median&quot;, one is that, in a-z, the m/n point is the median, or divide between the two halves. But of course not all letters are used (a-h as no-prefix pawn-destinations, B, K, N, Q, R as non-pawn prefices to destinations, a capturing pawn-move will start with x (of a-h and ''then'' an x, if needing disambiguationg, and then there's O-O and O-O-O). That's already overbalanced, so that 'g' is the 'middle' of the first-letters (unweighted by whatever actual opportunities, or lack of them, there are).<br /> : But, in any given board position, the lower-case letters tend to be pawns with (initially) two possible moves, generally just one move, ''maybe'' up to four (a first-move pawn given 1/2-step forward options ''and'' given two different options to capture away from its current file, where near-neighbour pawns require the disambiguation to be used) A queen can (where not restrained, until (possible capturing whilst) hitting the edge-of-board) have 28 moves (seven positions front/back, seven left/right, similar on the two diagonals). Rooks and Bishops might have 14 move-to positions. The kNight might have up to 8 'landing spots'. Initially, apart from the kNight with two moves, they of course have no opportunity to do anything. As the game develops, though, whatever you prior preconceived 'median' might be, in the alphabetically-sorted list, the gaining (by gaining opportunity to move) eand losing (by a piece being capture) adjusts the move-state's 'middle' of all valid-moves up and down the alphabet. Probably never as far as an unambiguous pawn-capture, or a first-file pawn move (or disambiguated capture from that positions), but it'll change a lot.<br /> : How to concisely explain this, I don't know. Especially as I'm just running off the various possibilities off the top of my head, and might have forgotten some of the 'algebraic' notation's subtleties. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.33.252|162.158.33.252]] 15:48, 4 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> This comic reminds me of suckerpinch's &quot;Elo World&quot; video, where he made a whole bunch of similarly single-minded chess engines and ranked them against each other. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpXy041BIlA - If I recall correctly there was an alphabet-based one but it picked the first result rather than the middle result. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.23.136|172.68.23.136]] 01:01, 11 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Is there any series of moves to be checkmated by alphamove?[[User:799571388|799571388]] ([[User talk:799571388|talk]]) 11:34, 14 February 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> also invoked in chesszoo simulation. --[[User:Bb777|hi]] ([[User talk:Bb777|talk]]) 01:40, 24 March 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> maybe someone should put alphamove into the chess zoo simulation with each piece having their own alpha move algorithm. [[User:Aprilfoolsupdate!|Aprilfoolsupdate!]] ([[User talk:Aprilfoolsupdate!|talk]]) 09:08, 14 May 2025 (UTC)<br /> :(Didn't somebody already suggest this, ages ago? Maybe I dreampt that!) Chess Zoo deliberately has zero chances of pieces taking other pieces, so you could simulate white and black's options on their own without having to respect each other's turns. But you would have to still work out if it's &quot;simultaneous chess&quot;, every piece is autonomous and always has a choice of move, per 'game tick', or (like &quot;sequential chess&quot;) the AlphaMove algorithm chooses the one move of ''all'' pieces' possible moves that it will make. And, because the zoo-board is much bigger than 8x8, the coordinate-square names could favour particular pieces; unless you use different coordinates according to the practical limits of a given piece-'class' (small for the pawn-enclosures, larger for the 'royal' king/queen areas) or even overlapping bounds (in the case of the rook/bishop/knight ones), in which case other alphanumeric spreads apply. So several decisions need to be applied to ''how'' AlphaMove applies to the ChessZoo 'board', or 'boards'.<br /> :Might be easier to apply to something like [[839: Explorers]], though. See if the on-ship conflict can ever be resolved? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.182|172.70.91.182]] 13:31, 14 May 2025 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Is it even possible to lose to this bot? I mean, I bet it is, but if it is, how would one go about doing it? {{unsigned ip|216.162.60.49|02:07, 7 December 2025}}<br /> :I did it! Qd8# for the loss. I had K on a8 behind pawns on a7 and b7. Now, who wants to try to reverse engineer my game? [[User:Heleatunda|Heleatunda]] ([[User talk:Heleatunda|talk]]) 05:04, 7 December 2025 (UTC)</div>

78.144.255.82 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3177:_Chessboard_Alignment&diff=400932 2025-12-06T18:46:23Z

<p>78.144.255.82: /* Explanation */</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 3177<br /> | date = December 5, 2025<br /> | title = Chessboard Alignment<br /> | image = chessboard_alignment_2x.png<br /> | imagesize = 397x289px<br /> | noexpand = true<br /> | titletext = Luckily, the range is limited by the fact that the square boundary lines follow great circles.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|This page was created BY AN ALIGNED BISHOP. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br /> The comic shows an overhead view of three chess boards side by side, with an average of two players facing each other across the boards. Yellow squares (used to show the available or actual movement of a given piece) have been marked leading from the starting position of the middle board's right bishop (F1) to the upper-right. The path continues beyond the edge of the middle board, across four columns of empty space or unseen table, and ends in the top left corner (A8) of the right board. The right board has only one rook (black rectangle) while the other two boards each have two, so it is implied that the bishop has captured the rook, and the player who made the move is now apparently paying attention to (and plausibly co-playing with the neighbouring player on) the board he has moved his piece to. The text below jokingly claims that if you align chess boards exactly, pieces can cross the boundary like this. This is not legal in normal chess,{{Citation needed}} but fits into Randall's long history of comics about unusual chess rules or boards.<br /> <br /> The title text refers to the fact that chess boards are normally placed approximately level (parallel to the surface of the Earth). As such there are two different possible interpretations of the title text, whether you are following geodesics on the surface of the Earth (any great circle) or following the geodesics of spacetime (leaving the Earth and going into space).<br /> <br /> The second board's position seems to have followed (up until before this cross-boards move) the game seen in [[3045: AlphaMove]].<br /> <br /> ; Following great circles<br /> A perfect line of chessboards placed end to end on the surface of an Earth-sized sphere (or on perfectly placed tables on that sphere) would form a {{w|great circle}} - the longest possible path around that sphere, as well as only straight path on spheres. Rule would allow chess moves between boards that were kilometers (or even whole countries) apart in any direction, along {{w|great circles}} of the Earth, as any straight line on any sphere or ellipsoid can be extended all the way across. If following the great circle along the ground was considered a straight line, then it would also be possible for each side's rooks, bishops and queen to capture their counterparts in the other color's back row, or in later game they would be able to teleport between left and right side, or jump on the other side of any diagonal for pieces that move diagonally, as it would be possible to go around planet following any horizontal, vertical or diagonal line of the chessboard, if no other chessboard were involved it would make it into [https://www.chessvariants.org/shape.dir/torus_standard_board.html Torus chess], but only for pieces that can move unlimited amount of squares. There is a caveat to it though, size of a square would have to divide the great circle exactly with a precision down to micrometer, so quite possibly only one direction would work if any at all, as Earth is not a perfect sphere, so distance around the Earth would differ in different directions.<br /> <br /> When you have to pick a single direction that works for looping your own chessboard then there are three options of orienting the chessboard:<br /> * If you choose horizontal line, then you will get a limited variant of {{w|Cylinder chess}}, where only Queen and rooks can utilize the wrap around, and only when moving horizontally<br /> * If you choose vertical line, it is technically also a cylinder for rooks and queens, but it will create an interesting dynamic, where players would be able to exchange queens and rooks in first 2 turns, for example doing this opening: 1. Qxd8+ Kxd8 2. Rxh8 Rxa1<br /> * If you choose diagonal, then it basically will result in Queens and Bishops to be able to jump over all pieces (they cannot switch to a different diagonal, like it would happen in cylinder chess, as all diagonal will loop on itself), though they would have to have visibility of one of the edges of the chess board and also as they would emerge on the opposite side of the diagonal they cannot jam themselves in-between 2 or more pieces. Also most likely diagonal works only in one of the 2 possible directions too, so there is an extra choice there.<br /> <br /> ; Following geodesics of spacetime<br /> While nearby boards would appear to be in the same plane, the curvature of the Earth would cause boards more distant than 3.57 meters away to be in planes so different that the squares would be more than a micrometer off from the ideal straight lines leading off the board. It is thus implied that each infinite-range piece's valid path is a straight line of virtual squares that eventually leads into space. Straight line would have to be in overall spacetime of the universe along a {{w|Geodesics in general relativity|geodesic}}, it would not rule out motion to another board on another celestial body or spaceship, though delivery of a chess piece across this distance would be impractical{{Citation needed}} and other objects in space would move so fast relatively to your board they would be in alignment only for fraction of a second, unless it is a satellite in a {{w|geostationary orbit}}. If this interpretation is accepted then this can be considered a second comic in a week about [[3174: Bridge Clearance|distances extending past typical boundaries]].<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> {{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br /> <br /> :[An aerial view of three chess-games, with six players shown, in each case with white at the near-side of board (towards the bottom of the comic panel) and each having reasonably developed game positions.&lt;!-- which I won't describe, both for brevity and for possible misrecognition of the low-detail depiction of each piece--&gt;]<br /> :[The middle board has yellow highlight on the squares from white's King's Bishop's original position, diagonally forward-right to the respective edge square of the board, then four more squares in the gap between boards until ending on the black Queen's Rook square of the right-hand board, which appears now to have three white bishops, one of them on this rook's starting square.<br /> :[There is just one black rook, elsewhere on the right board, whether or not the other was lost to middle-board's bishop, and the middle board has only one bishop (and is lacking three pawns, with just two others still in their starting positions), for white, with apparently their King sent forward-left by two successive diagonal moves but no other major pieces having noticably relocated.]<br /> :[The middle board's near-side player has now also moved across to pay attention to the right hand board, leaving only his opponent facing his original board.]<br /> <br /> :[Text below the main scene's panel:] It doesn't happen often because it requires micrometer precision, but if two chess boards are '''''perfectly''''' aligned, it's actually legal to move pieces between them.<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}&lt;noinclude&gt;<br /> [[Category:Chess]]<br /> [[Category:Comics with color]]</div>

78.144.255.82