1245: 10-Day Forecast

2013-07-31T20:13:44Z

86.0.4.180: /* Explanation */ Reordering

{{comic
| number = 1245
| date = July 31, 2013
| title = 10-Day Forecast
| image = 10 day forecast.png
| titletext = Oh, definitely not; they don't have Amazon Prime.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}

The 10-day forecast is a prediction of the weather extending 10 days into the future (with varying degrees of accuracy). However, when [[Cueball]] checks the forecast for his local area, it predicts extreme lightning storms, a plague of insects, people running screaming, and the appearance of what appears to be the anti-Christ. The anti-Christ appears on Tuesday, and then the world ends (hence why all forecasts after that are labeled "Tuesday"). When asked about this, [[Megan]] explains that Cueball put a minus (-) sign in front of his ZIP code, and that all negative ZIP codes are like that. A {{w|Zone Improvement Plan|ZIP code}} is a numeric postal code used in the United States, but many more countries use similar systems. And because you can identify the geographical location it is also often used to specify a local region for the purposes of weather reports.

In the title text, Megan agrees with Cueball's desire not to move to that ZIP code area, the punchline being that her reason is not to avoid the apocalypse, but to retain access to Amazon Prime, which shows that her priorities are amusingly warped. The service Amazon Prime is provided by {{w|Amazon.com|Amazon}}, where the user pays a flat by a yearly fee and in exchange he/she gets access a number of "enhanced" Amazon services, including free two-day shipping, free access to a library of streaming videos, and the ability to borrow books.

==Transcript==
:

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

1215: Insight

2013-05-22T18:36:46Z

86.0.4.180: /* Transcript */ Capitalisation of Google Glass

{{comic
| number = 1215
| date = May 22, 2013
| title = Insight
| image = insight.png
| titletext = The great thing is, the sentence is really just a reminder to the listener to worry about whatever aspects of the technology they're already feeling alarmist about, which in their mind gives you credit for addressing their biggest anxieties.
}}

==Explanation==
[[White Hat]] is giving a profound insight into <Google Glass>. This insight, however, can be given, sounding just as profound, for any other new technology that comes around (hence the angled brackets around ''Google Glass''). This, of course, means it is not profound at all, as it has no actual insight into {{w|Google Glass}} (or any other technology).

The title text hilights a common trait of human listeners. The above sentence is constructed in such a way as to trigger the listener's reservations from the new technology. The sentence sounds profound, not because it has any actual insights, but because it causes the listener to fill in the missing insights with his own, pre-existing, thoughts on the matter. Not only does this cause [[Cueball]] to regard White Hat as insightful, but it also causes Cueball to think that White Hat agrees with whatever it is that Cueball fears <Google Glass> for.

==Transcript==
:White Hat: Maybe before we rush to adopt <Google Glass> we should stop to consider the consequences of blithely giving this technology such a central position in our lives.
:Don't have any insights about a new technology? Just use this sentence! It makes you sound wise and you can say it about virtually anything.

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

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1245: 10-Day Forecast

1215: Insight