explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2983: Monocaster

2025-08-28T10:12:07Z

82.132.245.174: /* Explanation */ Forward-trike and reverse-trike pagelinks, for interesting contrasts.

{{comic
| number = 2983
| date = September 9, 2024
| title = Monocaster
| image = monocaster_2x.png
| imagesize = 536x673px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = My competitors say the tiny single tiny caster is unsafe, unstable, and offers no advantages over traditional designs, to which I say: wow, why are you guys so mean? I thought we were friends!
}}

==Explanation==
A caster, also spelled castor, is a small unpowered wheel, usually attached to a swiveling base. They are typically found on carts and office chairs to make them easy to move, and may be placed on heavy appliances to facilitate movement.

Randall has proposed a variant of the skateboard with only one caster on the bottom, the titular "monocaster", and devoted most of the comic to a {{w|Perceptual mapping|perceptual map}} showing the variety of wheeled vehicles. Market strategists and investors use such diagrams as a simple way of representing important differences between products or companies, but where a consumer might be more concerned with features like speed, cost, ease of use, or carrying capacity, this map focuses on the number of wheels (horizontal axis) and the diameter of those wheels (vertical axis).

Each axis uses a logarithmic scale, which is convenient for making the map look more evenly filled but also visually exaggerates the size of the "key gap" that the monocaster is filling, which can be described as "vehicle with a single wheel smaller than 25 cm". The nearest competitors appear to be a two-wheel skateboard sometimes called a {{w|caster board}} (wheel diameter under 8 cm) and a single-wheel self-balancing board resembling a {{w|Onewheel}} (diameter around 25 cm). The Onewheel is sometimes described as a {{w|monowheel}} (though these are traditionally larger like the "1920s monowheel" on the upper left). Randall appears to have combined these two names to create the monocaster. This gives up several of the competitors' features - the caster board's two wheels provide enough stability to propel the vehicle manually, while the Onewheel's single wheel is wide (assisting with sideways balance) and powered by a self-balancing mechanism.

The result resembles a {{w|Balance board#Sphere-and-ring|"Sphere-and-ring" balance board}}, or other types, though these provide limited locomotion potential. The joke depends on the caster's obvious impracticality in this role: the hole in the market was open ''for a reason''. The obvious drawback to any single-wheeled vehicle is that it's difficult to balance: the rider has to avoid falling forward or backward, as well as to either side. This is a major reason why one-wheeled vehicles are uncommon to begin with, but those vehicles which do exist compensate by using relatively large wheels, driven either by human power or a motor, which creates rotational inertia and allows the rider to balance simply by leaning forward.

A single, small, undriven wheel eliminates these balancing forces, meaning that the user would essentially need to balance on a single point. Also, most casters swivel, meaning that the balance point would move around under the rider's feet and make it even more difficult to balance. In addition, there's no apparent means of propulsion, which means the only way to move forward would be to either roll exclusively downhill, or use one foot to push off the ground. Either strategy would make retaining balance almost impossible.

Multiple-wheeled vehicles greatly reduce the issue of balance simply by having multiple points of contact with the ground. The size of the wheels varies greatly; small, rigid wheels are generally suitable only for flat, smooth, rigid surfaces at relatively slow speeds, while vehicles expected to handle high speeds and varying road (and off-road) conditions will necessarily have larger wheels.

The "monocaster" design offers no advantages and would be nearly unrideable, making it obvious why such a vehicle has never been seriously proposed.

The title text extends the joke by listing the disadvantages mentioned above, but not providing a rebuttal. Instead it only attempts an emotional appeal by saying that the competitors are being mean and by commenting that Randall believed they were friends.

{| class=wikitable
! scope="col" | Vehicle
! scope=“col” | Number of wheels
! scope=“col” | Wheel Diameter
! scope="col" | Explanation
|-
| 1920s Monowheel || 1 || 3 meters || A monowheel is a vehicle in which the rider sits inside a single, large, hollow wheel. Versions have existed which were hand- or pedal-cranked, but the "1920s" version portrayed here is apparently motor-driven. These vehicles have generally been seen as novelties, as their stability and practicality issues limit their usefulness for actual transport.
|-
| Unicycle || 1 || 45 centimeters || Probably the best known single-wheeled form of transport, a unicycle consists of a single wheel, usually driven directly by pedals, with a seat mounted on top. Due to their difficulty, they are most commonly used as novelties and for comic performances, more than as practical transport.
|-
| OneWheel || 1 || 20 centimeters || A one-wheeled electric skateboard in which the user stands on both sides of a large, central wheel. The design self-balances by increasing the velocity as the user leans forward. This allows balancing and speed control to operate in a single motion.
|-
| Bicycle || 2 || 45 centimeters || A two-wheeled, pedal-driven vehicle. The relatively simple, inexpensive and efficient design of these vehicles makes them practical for transport in a variety of situations. As a result, they've long been among the most popular and widely-produced vehicles in the world.
|-
| Scooter || 2 || 8 centimeters (*) || A two-wheeled vehicle driven either by pushing with a foot or by an electric motor or fuel-powered engine. Scooters are ridden both for recreation and as a form of transportation in cities.
|-
| {{w|Roller shoe}} || 2 || 1 centimeter (*) || Shoes with small wheels built into the back end of the soles, putting them underneath the wearer's heels (which is what the brand-name "{{w|Heelys}}" is derived from). They allow the user access to wheeled movement by pushing off the ground and balancing on the slightly protuding wheels. They are not as fast or comfortable as a dedicated wheeled vehicle, their rolling action is limited to sufficiently flat surfaces and they are not as easy as regular shoes to simply walk in. However, such shoes allow for some degree of both walking ''and'' rolling without having to carry a separate wheeled vehicle, or necessarily having the baseline difficulty of other 'fuller' versions of wearable skates.
|-
| Tricycle || 3 || 20 centimeters || Appears to be a {{w|Big Wheel (tricycle)|"Big Wheel" type}} child's toy, which actually have smaller 'trailing wheels', rather than either {{w|Tricycle#Upright|upright}} or {{w|Tricycle#Recumbent|recumbent}} style cycles for adults which ''usually'' match the wheel-sizes of their bicycle equivalents.
|-
| Scooter (three-wheeled) || 3 || 3 centimeters (*) || Very similar to two-wheeled scooters (see above), but using two wheels in the front instead of three. This increases stability but makes the scooter less maneuverable. The modern 'tail-wheel' variant as shown (usually with lean-and-steer front wheels, rather than handlebar twisting) has superseded the traditional tricycle layout (closely paired rear wheels, single steerable front wheel) that was the more usual three-wheel version of children's scooters in the decades before the millenium. The steering geometries and ride behaviours of each type experience significantly different advantages and flaws, both also handling differently from the typical two-wheel version.
|-
| Monster Truck || 4 || 2.5 meters || Monster trucks are vehicles equipped with (usually four, but sometimes more) outsize wheels. They are almost always driven as part of events where specifically trained drivers use them to perform dangerous stunts and crush smaller vehicles. Because of their size, the danger to other vehicles, often very poor mileage, and design choices that can be in violation of local laws and regulations regarding motorized vehicles, monster trucks are generally illegal to drive on public roads and have to be transported in dedicated trailers, making them poor choices for transport where one has to leave private property.
|-
| Car || 4 || 50 centimeters || Cars are motorized vehicles designed to move one or more people and an amount of goods around fast. While almost all cars have four wheels (discounting reserve wheels), there are a few that have more than four (certain limousines) or fewer (such as the {{w|Reliant Robin}} or {{w|Morgan 3-Wheeler}}). Cars are more expensive than most options on the chart, but they also excel in speed, comfort, and flexibility.
|-
| ATV || 4 || 20 centimeters (*) || ATVs or "all-terrain vehicles" are unenclosed, handlebar-steered vehicles designed for off-road riding. They have four, large, low-pressure tires and a robust suspension system to accommodate rough terrain. They generally aren't designed to carry passengers, and have limited cargo capacity, which limits their usefulness for regular transport. They're generally used either for recreation or for transport in areas without well-maintained roads.
|-
| Skateboard || 4 || 2 centimeters (*) || Skateboards consist of a single board with four, small rigid wheels attached. They are generally propelled by pushing off the ground with one foot. They're commonly used for recreation and trick-riding, but can be used for short-distance transport where well-maintained and flat roads are available.
|-
| Three-Wheel Skates|| 6 || 4 centimeters (*) || Three-wheeled skates are a type of inline skate (shoes with a line of wheels affixed underneath the shoe) that differ from the more commonly used four wheeled inline skates by having three larger wheels. They are inexpensive and easy to maintain, but they require significant skill to use effectively and the user is reliant on smooth surfaces to skate around on. Another downside is that the wheels cannot be removed from the shoes, requiring the user to either carry an extra pair or have an extra pair at their destination.
|-
| Roller Skates|| 8 || 2 centimeters (*) || Roller skates are shoes with small wheels underneath them in a rectangular pattern. This makes roller skates much more stable than inline skates, allowing users to stand on them with more ease. Like inline skates they are cheap and low maintenance, but in order to move any significant distance without support they require a skilled user, smooth surfaces and the user needs backup shoes when taking them off (though there exist strap-on roller skates).
|-
| Semi-Trailer Truck (Articulated Lorry) || 10-18 || 1 meter || A semi-trailer truck is a motorized vehicle designed to pull trailers that can be easily decoupled from the truck itself. This allows the truck to switch trailers and move a different cargo without having to unload the trailer. The name in brackets that was used here (articulated lorry) is a name most commonly used in British English (or "artic", for short), with articulation meaning that the truck can swivel at the point where the truck connects to the trailer. This allows for the truck to make much tighter turns than if it were one long vehicle, which is another advantage of this configuration, with typically more stability than with a {{w|Drawbar (haulage)|drawbar}} attachment. Trucks are designed to haul cargo for long distances, with the cargo in question being either too heavy or too large to carry with a smaller hopper, tanker, hard-/soft-sided container or flatbed placed entirely upon a single truck chassis. They are driven either by drivers employed by a transport company, or by self-employed individuals who haul cargo for a living. A specialized license is required to drive one, and because of their size (even without a trailer), trucks have more limitations on where they can drive and park than normal cars. Like cars, trucks are a source of leisure, but because of the higher cost to purchase, maintain and drive them, they are more often enjoyed for their aesthetics rather than actually driving them for leisure. There are events like races for trucks, and trucks can be given elaborate paint jobs to have them stand out.
The number of wheels is for both the {{w|Tractor unit#Axles|truck}} and a {{w|Semi-trailer#Types|trailer}}, which can each differ vastly between vehicle configurations. The truck in the comic has five ''obvious'' axle-sets (thus at least ten actual wheels): a single pair of front wheels, two pairs of trailer-bearing rear wheels and two pairs of wheels on the trailer itself. The drawing of the truck actually spans the axis range of three wheels (unlikely to be true, and the minimum for a tractor-trailer would normally be six) all the way up to 16, so it's not entirely clear which number (≥10) Randall intends this one to portray. Most of the other illustrations are roughly centered over the relevant number of wheels, but applying this to the truck implies six wheels, which is clearly wrong as illustrated.
|}

(*) It seems that Randall has made some mistakes in regards to the wheel sizes, especially in the centimeter range of the diagram. Most of the vehicles have bigger wheels and the number would suggest hat he meant inches instead of centimeters. Alternatively, he may have mistakenly recorded the wheels' radius instead of its diameter, as intended.

==Transcript==

:[A chart picturing many wheeled vehicles with a caption below the chart window. The vertical axis is labeled "Wheel Diameter", logarithmic from 1cm to 5m. The horizontal axis is labeled "Number of wheels", logarithmic from 1 to 16. From top left to bottom right, there is a person with a cap, seated in a circle, labeled "1920s monowheel", a monster truck with a skull and a lightning bolt on the side, a lorry (truck), a Cueball on a unicycle moving back and forth, a Cueball on a bicycle, a car, a Cueball using a Onewheel, a Cueball on a child's "Big Wheel" tricycle, a Cueball on a quad, a Cueball standing on a scooter, a Cueball standing on a board with one small wheel bellow, circled and labeled with two question marks, a three-wheel scooter, a skater, a Cueball using three-wheel skates, labeled "three-wheel skates", a Cueball crouching and using skates, and a small Cueball using shoes with wheels (Heelys) moving forward.]
:Caption: My new monocaster board fills a key gap in the wheeled vehicle market.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Scatter plots]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Characters with hats]]
[[Category:Skateboard]]

User talk:Aprilfoolsupdate!

2025-08-28T09:48:47Z

82.132.245.174:

Haha nice try

:I'm just wondering what you are trying to do? And why? As you seem happy to still use this page. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.239.232|82.132.239.232]] 11:57, 18 August 2025 (UTC)

Can you please un-move your User and Talk page? It's confusing and not in the format that is used here. '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 16:46, 27 August 2025 (UTC)

:I concur. Also, Thx$store caused me quite the scare when my talk page was suddenly marked for deletion. I feel we should both remember to talk to experienced editors (namely Victoria, FaviFake, or Kynde) before making templates. They can get messy. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]][[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']][[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 18:37, 27 August 2025 (UTC)

I don’t know how to unmove though. [[User:Aprilfoolsupdate!| Aprilfoolsupdate!]]([[User talk:Aprilfoolsupdate!|talk]]) 23:36, 27 August 2025 (UTC)
:Technically, it wouod be just a 'move back', what you did to move ot, reverse the from/to.
:(There ''may'' be an "undo move" ability, but even a normal edit revert is just "re-edit to replace the newer stuff with the older stuff again", with a bit of text autoadded to the edit summary that says what you asked it to go back from, when it comes down to it. Rewinding anything can be done 'manually', to much the same effect. Of course, it all leaves edit histories and, possibly, whole legacy page-entries.)
:Just avoid leaving a redirect from the 'old' ('older new') location to point to the 'new' ('older old', i.e. original) location, which might be an option given to you. But I've never seen this particular wiki's moving-pages, not having an account and presume (from what I've seen of past moves) that that's something set to have to actively tick to happen.
:Just read the instructions and descriptions on and around the various bits of the webform/controls. You used them once, I think you can use them again.
:Or ''ask'' someone else to do it, who is already well grounded in how to sort out this situation, if you're still unsure. An admin (''the'' admin) might correct blatantly wrong things for you (whether or not you think you want them to), but I'm sure other 'regular' users with a bit of editing under their belt can do almost anything other than actually deleting "To be deleted" pages, so long as they know they're not treading on anybody's toes.
:I can't do anything myself, through deliberate choice, not being a registered user. But I've been around long enough that I hope I can at least advise you (or anyone else who'll take notice) well enough how to work it out for yourself. You really just need to think a little and make sure that what you're doing makes sense. And not to just go ahead and do random things 'because you can', tempting as that may be. ;) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.245.174|82.132.245.174]] 09:48, 28 August 2025 (UTC)

Talk:2877: Fever

2025-08-28T08:55:28Z

82.132.245.174:

I was feeling a bit cold, actually, but now I'm back down to around 94.5 °De... [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.188|172.69.79.188]] 22:11, 5 January 2024 (UTC)

I edited this wiki for the first time :)
Well, it was just the transcript but a first time is still a first time [[User:DNA Diva|DNA diva]] ([[User talk:DNA Diva|talk]]) 22:33, 5 January 2024 (UTC)
::Welcome on board (I have the most edits ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:01, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
:The only complaint I have about the Transcript is that... it isn't really a Transcript if it has a table rather than explaining how it has a table. We can, and do, essentially have a tabular table in the Explanation. The Transcript really should be there so that text-searches or screen-readers that aren't advanced enough to understand the formatted layout get a 'free text' description to look at.
: I know [[2313: Wrong Times Table|other Transcripts]] use html/mediawiki tables, perhaps where you got the idea. But they shouldn't. Check out those that "do a table without the markup". For some, it's [[2502: Every Data Table|simple]], for others it's [[1026: Compare and Contrast|not as simple]] (or it's [[2723: Outdated Periodic Table|very simple]] but almost takes more effort to descripe in Transcript prose than in the wikimarkup version). And there are [[1070: Words for Small Sets|others with formatting issues]] creeping into the Transcript that I might take against how it was done (Transcripts that actually reproduce text effects (boldness, colour, justification, size) should also ":[describe the text effect]" too, but that one introduces bold title (actually a "definition list" markup, which sort of increases context of the content).
: ...sorry, long message. I absolutely love that we're getting new editors. I think you can probably "detabularise the table" easy enough, though, without having wasted too much effort (you seem like got the actual table-markup right enough that you didn't have to think too much, so I count most of your 'effort' being the actual transcription of the comic text - and that's exactly what a re-Transcription effort would straight up preserve as most important!). Just thought I'd opine that in order to adhere to practices here (long standing; long enough to have gained a few long-standing 'wrong ways to do it', as in the ones I note above!) you might like to consider tweaking it accordingly.
: Or I could do it, but that might be plain rude. (Rud''er''?)
: Leaving it open to your choice (or the huge argument between descriptivists and formattists!)... [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.164|172.69.79.164]] 01:05, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
:: Thank you so much for the feedback! I reformatted the transcript [[User:DNA Diva|DNA diva]] ([[User talk:DNA Diva|talk]]) 03:09, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
:::I disagree that tables cannot be used in the transcript or that formaling cannot be used. As long as the text is written correctly you search for it! We have used formaling in the transcript all the time. And yes we do not describe where the text is bold or italic. But use formatting. But the description of the image or the format of the table is important for those who need it to understand the comic! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:10, 6 January 2024 (UTC)

Another reference to the 2003 movie ''{{w|The Core}}''. We should add a category. --[[Special:Contributions/172.71.114.123|172.71.114.123]] 00:03, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
:Actually we should! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:01, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
::And now we have it: [[:Category:The Core]]! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:30, 6 January 2024 (UTC)

''45°C–100°C: Only a few people could survive such external temperatures, for extended periods, ...''
Wow, I am glad that I survived the 65°C at Filsen in summer 2019.
Although temperatures dropped below 40°C at night, not everyone survived it. :(
—Actually I was thinking about [[wikipedia:Sauna|Sauna]]s, they reach 80°C, but are used much shorter than I always thought (15 minutes, thank you Wikipedia). --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.247.117|172.70.247.117]] 00:36, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
:I contributed the above. I did originally have it much longer than "for extended periods", but cut it back to just that. Really, once you get above an ambient temperature of 42.somethingDegreesC (that covers most of the operational ranges that the usual references give), you're getting parboiled. At best. Sweating just doesn't help enough to keep most bodies cool in an environment that hot. (If the body is doing it to itself, then you've got something bad going on. Or you've decided to {{w|2,4-Dinitrophenol|make your body 'burn hotter'}}, artificially...)
:I'm open to it being reworded (how could I not be?), but I cut it back from a "loadsa-links" version to the rather short and snappy (and linkless, I now realise!) assertion you see before you. I'm sure you (plural-you!) will run with whatever you (ditto) think best. I was actually originally just going to mark the point at which the rather short list of core-body temperature ranges was being subtly(?) changed into environmental temperature ranges, anyway. (i.e., somewhere within the 45-100 range, you definitely stop being the former and (apart from some rather (un)fortunate survivors of fires/atom-bomb-blasts) pivot very much into being the latter). [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.164|172.69.79.164]] 01:05, 6 January 2024 (UTC)

My view is that the "Fahrenheit" equivalent column should be deleted; it's more unhelpful than helpful, and thus gets in the way. Getting rid of it would clean up the table to focus more on the actual explanation. No one is being helped by translating large Celsius temperatures into Fahrenheit equivelants. But before doing, I'd like to see if there's strong disagreement. [[User:Laser813|Laser813]] ([[User talk:Laser813|talk]]) 02:50, 6 January 2024 (UTC)

:I see no problem in it being there. It is a US page and a US based comic. That Randall is all for SI units doesn't mean we should not include the scale in US temperature range even if it is one of the most stupid of the units they cling on to. I'm from Denmark where we use SI units (Celsius is just a Kelvin scale plus 273,15 degrees). So I would say no to removing it. Also Randall includes it in the first entry! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:01, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
::Just looking at how {{w|Fahrenheit#History|Fahrenheit}} was defined and redefined (changing the value in process) makes obvious how stupid unit it is. I really don't understand why anyone is using it. Compared to it, foot makes much more sense. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 17:58, 7 January 2024 (UTC)

At our current technological level, the conversations in a few of the treatments are impossible. [[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]]) 01:52, 8 January 2024 (UTC)

I think 37 Celsius is a round number for MAXIMUM normal core temperature - you're probably lower just now - and 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit is a precise conversion of an imprecise figure. It's worth knowing your personal normal temperature - across the menstrual cycle, if that applies to you - to be able to say that you have a fever significantly above your personal norm. Your norm probably is lower than 37 / 98.6. Also, these days, you're likely to aim an electronic thermometer onto or into a body part which is naturally cooler, and only estimate the temperature of your insides. However, this is not what Planned Parenthood recommends, and that's between you and them. Robert Carnegie rja.carnegie@gmail.com [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.28|172.70.90.28]] 12:54, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
:Per wikipedia, a study in the 19th century pegged the mean (without mentioning the variance) at 36.88 C / 98.38 F, which are equally precise. That got commonly reported as 37 C / 98.4 F, which loses more precision on the Celsius value than on the Fahrenheit value, but those are both reasonable ways to round the values in and of themselves. Then apparently someone noticed that precisely 37 C converts to precisely 98.6 F, and started reporting 37 C / 98.6 F. So, yes, the Fahrenheit value is overly precise. (But the typical range now is reported as 36.5–37.5 C / 97.7–99.5 F, and given that body temperature is generally higher when we're awake, it seems likely that "you're probably *higher* just now." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_body_temperature#Historical_understanding [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.30|162.158.154.30]] 22:33, 8 January 2024 (UTC)


Isn’t XKCD/Randall American, and therefore lots of viewers of XKCD American? [[User:《プロキシ》|《プロキシ》(XKCD addict)]] ([[User talk:《プロキシ》|talk]]) 21:37, 27 August 2025 (UTC)
:Yes, he is. His readership ''may or may not be'' (I'm definitely not, you seem to be not, I know of several other editors who are from yet other nations, but that's just explainxkcd.com, I wouldn't personally know how much traffic xkcd.com itself gets from 'overseas').
:But (if about why he used °C rather than °F, except for the initial parallel conversion), he's from a scientific background where celsius degrees (if not degrees celsius) are more immediately useful in calculation, and (US-based or otherwise) his audience is of a generally geeky bent and can roll with it not being either degrees Fahrenheit (after a while, it's just an 'easy' 5/9ths or 9/5ths to convert, either way, with negligable additional linear offset) ''or'' degrees Kelvin (for the same magnitude but with just the "off by 273.15" experience).
:At worst, it gets treated as an additional part of the joke that the viewer might come to expect, with 'odd units of measurement'. But probably not full intended like that, or he'd have probably gone into [[3001: Temperature Scales|even 'weirder' units]]. I, for one, wouod enjoy seeing the Delisle scale used more often... ;) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.245.174|82.132.245.174]] 08:55, 28 August 2025 (UTC)