explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2493: Dual USB-C

2021-07-24T16:03:53Z

A(l)Chemist: AC/DC

{{comic
| number = 2493
| date = July 23, 2021
| title = Dual USB-C
| image = dual_usb_c.png
| titletext = Small devices use two-prong USB-AC, but there's also a three-prong version with a USB-B plug as the ground.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a USB-DC PLUG. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

USB-C connectors are the newest version of the USB standard, and were controversial on launch{{citation needed}} for reasons Randall [[927: Standards|previously covered]]. Randall proposes a new type of connector which would see two USB plugs side-by-side able to be inserted simultaneously by housing them inside a {{w|NEMA_connector#NEMA_1|NEMA 1-15P}} plug, more commonly known as a Type A plug, that is usually used on small appliances in the United States to draw AC current. This does not seem to offer any advantages other than reviving the controversy.

Further, the plug introduces several disadvantages, including, but not limited to
*The plug creates the risk of accidentally plugging a USB-C device into a power outlet, which is likely to damage the device as the voltage of a NEMA 1 circuit is about six times as large as the maximum for USB-C. Additionally, mains power outlets typically supply {{w|Alternating_current|alternating current}}, whilst USB devices operate on {{w|Direct_current|direct current}}, which is also likely to result in damage to the device.
*The plug likely wont fit a power outlet (NEMA plug pins have a 6.4×1.5 mm cross-section and the USB-C is 8.4×2.6 mm.)
*Any device meant to be connected to the full plug would need vertical ports, making any theoretical device quite thick.
*The plug could occupy 6+ ports of a USB-C hub with vertical ports, taking up the space to charge 2-6 phones with a single device.
*The plug being mimicked is typically not found in a double male configuration implying that the cord is attached to a device at the other end in a non removable way (Typically, the other end of detachable power cords for appliances is one of the plugs specified in the {{w|IEC_60320|IEC 60320}} standard, so presumably for Randall's connector application would substitute USB-C sockets in a C9 or similar configuration.)

The connector therefore is considered cursed.

The title text indicates that an equivalent for the 3-pronged {{w|NEMA_connector#NEMA_5|NEMA 5-15P}} plug (a.k.a the Type B plug) for AC current could be created easily by incorporating a USB-B plug, which are small and square-shaped and could therefore function as the ground prong. There appears to be no reason to do this other than because both names contain the letter 'B'.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[A picture of a plug with two prongs is shown. Each prong is a USB-C connector.]

:Title: Cursed Connectors #187

:Subtitle: Dual USB-C

{{comic discussion}}

2321: Low-Background Metal

2020-06-17T17:22:03Z

A(l)Chemist: Transcript

{{comic
| number = 2321
| date = June 17, 2020
| title = Low-Background Metal
| image = low_background_metal.png
| titletext = The only effect on the history books were a few confusing accounts of something called 'Greek fire.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a TIME TRAVELER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In this comic, Megan and Black Hat have invented time travel. Time travel is a common trope in Science Fiction, and such a discovery would be likely to change the world as we know it. However, Megan and Black Hat's machine requires the use of metal with little to no radiation, meaning currently available metals are too passively radioactive for safe use. Noting that the only way they can obtain this metal, which is presumably consumed upon use of the machine, is by salvaging it from ancient Roman ships, they use the machine to travel back in time to when the Roman Empire was at its height in order to sink its vessels and in turn create more Roman lead for them to use.

"Low-background metal" presumably refers to {{w|low-background steel}}, which was produced before atmospheric nuclear tests occurred and therefore does not incorporate {{w|radionuclides}} from the air used in its manufacture; physicists use it in experiments detecting radionuclides.

The title text refers to {{w|Greek fire}}, which was an incendiary weapon invented and employed by the Byzantine empire. It was a flammable liquid used in naval combat to set fire to enemy ships, but the details of its manufacture and deployment are vague. Randall proposes a rather outlandish alternative hypothesis: that all records of Greek fire were actually in reference to the modern weapons used by the time travelers.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Megan, Black Hat and Cueball stand around a time machine on a table]
:Megan: Our time machine works.
:Megan: But we're almost out of low-background metal.
:Cueball: What's that?

:Megan: Modern metal is contaminated by fallout from nuclear testing, and lead also has natural radioactivity that fades over time.
:Megan: To shield sensitive equipment, physicists use lead from sunken Roman ships.
:Megan: But shipwreck lead is hard to find.

:Black Hat: How much do we have?
:Megan: Enough for one trip through time.
:Black Hat: ''Hmmm...''

[A helicopter shoots fire at Roman-style ships, causing them to sink]
Fwooosh

{{comic discussion}}

Category:Incomplete explanations

2020-04-22T15:05:04Z

A(l)Chemist: Undo revision 191073 by Tinnitus 911 Revision2 (talk)

This is the category page for incomplete pages that have either incomplete or no explanation, or are missing something else important. To add pages to this category, add {{tl|incomplete}} to their source text.

[[Category:explain xkcd]]

Category:Incomplete explanations

2020-04-20T11:33:15Z

A(l)Chemist:

Category:Incomplete explanations

2020-04-18T09:21:39Z

A(l)Chemist: Undo revision 190861 by Sniper Vision System Review2 (talk)

Category:Incomplete explanations

2020-04-17T13:08:33Z

A(l)Chemist: Replaced content with "This is the category page for incomplete pages that have either incomplete or no explanation, or are missing something else important. To add pages to this category, add {..."

Category:Incomplete explanations

2020-04-13T10:40:47Z

A(l)Chemist: Undo revision 190477 by Back Pain Sos Review (talk)

2288: Collector's Edition

2020-04-08T20:23:28Z

A(l)Chemist: /* Hints */

{{comic
| number = 2288
| date = April 3, 2020
| title = Collector's Edition
| image = collectors_edition.png
| titletext = I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. The hint table needs to be completed. The mechanics should be explained more in-depth, if possible, screenshots of the hints, items in inventory, items-placing mechanics etc. should be added.}}

This was the 2020 April 1st comic. It is a large image, of which only part is visible, but can be dragged around. This space acts as a shared virtual sandbox where viewers can interact. "Items" (small, often humorous images) could be collected from other comics and then placed in this image by viewers. The collection then updated for all viewers in real-time. Multiples of the same item are often seen.

There is a "backpack" at the bottom, similar to backpacks in video games containing items collected by the player. As hinted by the title text, items could be found by visiting different XKCD comics/pages. Randomly, some pages would have a treasure chest which contained the sticker related to the page. The hint would refer to the page which currently had a chest.

The sticker images can be seen at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot_</nowiki>'''XXX'''.png, where XXX is a number from 001-253. Additionally, some images can be found at custom URLs, for example the periodic elements can be found at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/element-</nowiki>'''XX'''.png, where XX is the element, and text loot at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot-words-</nowiki>'''X'''.png, where X is the sentence.

As of April 5, chests are no longer dropped.

===Hints===

{| class="wikitable"
!Hint
!Comic
!Unlocked item
!Item image
!Notes
|-
|Doctors in a row||Maybe [[1529: Bracket]] or [[497: Secretary: Part 4]]? Need confirmation.||Cory Doctorow || [[File:2288_loot_019.png|50px]] || These comics all have the same hint, but only one will have the chest
|-
|Get out the (US) vote||[[2224: Software Updates]]|| Statue of liberty ||[[File:2288_loot_246.png|75px]]||
|-
|Find a box of nice stuff on a picture with words like these|| [[1133: Up Goer Five]] (maybe incomplete) || Signpost || [[File:2288_loot_126.png|75px]] ||
|-
|Plug in or find another power source||[[1373: Screenshot]]|| ||[[File:2288_loot_228.png|50px]] or [[File:miniloot-words-dispenser.png|75px]] (maybe incomplete)||
|-
|Sweet dreams, kitty||[[729: Laser Pointer]] (maybe incomplete)|| Cat licking laser point || [[File:2288_loot_090.png|75px]] ||
|-
|What is this hint pointing to? Hell if I know.||[[28: Elefino]] (maybe incomplete)||2 + lightbulb = boat||[[File:2288_loot_185.png|75px]]||
|-
|Somebody set up us the bomb||[[286: All Your Base]]||Exploding rock||[[File:loot_197.png|75px]]||
|-
|Cowabunga||[[1412: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] (maybe incomplete)||Women Science Fiction Authors || [[File:loot_175.png|75px]] || [[197: Ninja Turtles]] also works
|-
|I want to believe||[[2156: Ufo]]||Ufo||[[File:loot_210.png|75px]]||
|-
|Bleeped||[[290]], [[398]], [[430]], [[447]], [[533]], [[549]], [[677]], [[724]] or [[1671]]|| *$@#! ||[[File:loot_044.png|75px]]||Comics that involve swearing
|-
|why waste time say few word when lot word do trick||[[7]], [[111]], [[139]], [[143]], [[179]], [[217]], [[445]], [[470]], [[822]], [[823]], [[1022]], [[1247]], [[1491]], [[1921]], [[1991]], [[2182]] or [[2231]]|| First Annual Award for Excellence in Being Very Smart ||[[File:loot_159.png|75px]]||
|-
|Cooler than electric scooters||[[139]], [[409]], [[577]], [[578]], [[579]], [[580]] or [[581]]||An electric scooter||[[File:loot_006.png|75px]]||
|-
|Take it from the top||[[1: Barrel - Part 1]] (maybe incomplete)||I am a turtle from [[889: Turtles]] || loot_095.png ||
|-
|I accept the yucca gnocchi, this meal is a success!||[[1713: 50 ccs]] (maybe incomplete)||Man carrying parentheses from [[297: Lisp Cycles]] || loot_031.png ||
|-
|Catch up on the news||[[1699: Local News]] (maybe incomplete)|| || ||
|-
|Participation trophy||[[2288: Collectors Edition]] (maybe incomplete)|| Server rack || loot_096.png ||
|-
|Find an opportunity for a sojourn||[[665]], [[681]], [[695]], [[1091]], [[1504]], [[1613]], [[1663]] or [[2111]]||Opportunity Mars rover from [[2111: Opportunity Rover]]||loot_161.png||
|-
|Tastier than tau day||[[179: e to the pi times i]] (maybe incomplete)||First annual award for excellence in being very smart || loot_159.png || Need to find out the difference between this, and the entry below!
|-
|Tastier than tau day||[[235]], [[396]], [[872]], [[1029]], [[1342]], [[1655]] or [[1967]]|| Pie sign ||loot_056.png|| Published on Pi day
|-
|418 I'm a teapot||[[1866: Russell's Teapot]] (maybe incomplete)||S.S. NASA: Space is Hard || loot_216.png ||
|-
|26th September, 1983||[[2052: Stanislav Petrov Day]]||White dove||loot_205.png||Might also be written "September 26th, 1983". Locale dependent?
|-
|There are 4241 as of Apr 1, 2020||[[1071: Exoplanets]] (maybe incomplete)|| Little girl from [[2264: Satellite]] || loot_151.png ||
|-
|asableiK||[[645: RPS]]|| A reverse Polish hotdog ||loot_079.png|| "Kielbasa" backwards, which is "sausage" in Polish
|-
|Critical mass elements||[[235: Kite]] or [[239: Blagofaire]]|| ||loot_203.png||
|-
|Some Februarys are more equal than others||[[390: Nightmares]]? (maybe incomplete)|| Cueball wheelie from [[272: Linux User at Best Buy]] || loot_036.png || Comic-hint connection largely conjectural; 390 was the first comic published on a leap day.
|-
|Five spice||[[1511: Spice Girl]] or [[1554: Spice Girls]]|| Rock guitarist ||loot_022.png||
|-
|Call the plumber||[[290: Fucking Blue Shells]] (maybe incomplete)|| || loot_058.png ||
|-
|Was it a rat I saw?||[[1632: Palindrome]] (maybe incomplete)|| Cueball with a large sack, pulling a wagon || loot_103.png || or [[1503: Squirrel Plan]] for cueball holding a balloon caught in a ceiling fan.
|-
|Churchill's gonna have to seriously rehydrate||[[1148: Nothing to Offer]]|| Bottle of soda ||loot_045.png||
|-
|Keep coming back|| || || ||
|-
|A new model released each year||Triggered by visiting all xkcd phone comics in order|| || ||
|-
|Tea Time||Maybe [[581: The Race: Part 5]]? Need confirmation.||All our tea ||loot_232.png||
|-
|Try pattern-matching! Look for comic 'bout alphabet?||[[1045: Constraints]]||Two Tetris blocks||loot_092.png||
|-
|Where's Hilbert?||[[195: Map of the Internet]] (maybe incomplete)|| Hilbert Curve || loot_021.png ||
|-
|Science fiction fetish||[[1585: Similarities]]|| ||loot_202.png||
|-
|The first one was funnier||[[11: Barrel - Part 2]] (maybe incomplete)||Falling feather / Sign "The uncomfortable truths well" || loot_250.png / loot_067.png ||
|-
|It's up to over 260 million cycles!||[[1941: Dying Gift]]|| Megan on a tire swing ||loot_127.png||
|-
|Sleeping Beauty is the same everywhere though||[[2233: Aurora Meaning]] (maybe incomplete)|| Sleeping Cat || loot_163.png ||
|-
|On the internet, nobody knows you're an arachnid||[[1530: Keyboard Mash]] (maybe incomplete)|| Cobwebbed frame from [[1135: Arachnoneurology]]|| loot_191.png ||
|-
|Did James Cameron pay for the rice cooker too?||[[1598: Salvage]] (maybe incomplete)||Rice bowl || loot_152.png ||
|-
|Never going to give you up||[[351]], [[389]], [[396]], [[524]], [[573]], [[609]], [[802]], [[1212]], [[1757]] or [[1981]]|| Cueball in car listening to music ||loot_010.png||
|-
|If red touches yellow, that's 24 ohms||[[1604: Snakes]], [[227: Color Codes]]? (maybe incomplete)|| Yoda with an mp3 player from What If || loot_247.png ||
|-
|An enthusiastic but questionable business opportunity||[[1021]], [[1032]], [[1117]], [[1293]], [[1493]], [[1533]], [[1772]], [[1812]], [[1871]], [[1903]], [[1997]], [[2140]], [[2209]] or [[2277]]|| Beret guy with a goat on leash ||loot_115.png||
|-
|Read the fine manual||[[293]], [[434]], [[456]], [[912]], [[1343]] or [[1692]]|| ||Multiple: loot_106.png, miniloot-words-hair.png, miniloot-words-ominous.png, miniloot-words-eruption.png, miniloot-words-flying.png or miniloot-words-ghost.png (maybe incomplete)||
|-
|That thing's undecimodal!||[[1347: t Distribution]] (maybe incomplete)|| Floating tentacled alien || loot_209.png ||
|-
|Actually, it's Myanmar-Shave now||[[491: Twitter]] (maybe incomplete)||Expensive bottle || loot_253.png ||
|-
|You don't have to find all 99||[[121: Balloon]] (maybe incomplete)||Balloon copter || loot_002.png || Or [[51: Malaria]] ?
|-
|Going in circles||[[378: Real Programmers]] (maybe incomplete)|| Cueball spinning in desk chair || loot_098.png ||
|-
|Couldn't you try knitting, or maybe stamp collecting?||[[37]], [[53]], [[60]], [[75]], [[79]], [[148]], [[168]], [[174]], [[236]], [[259]], [[287]], [[296]], [[326]], [[331]], [[389]], [[437]], [[451]], [[559]], [[590]], [[605]], [[687]], [[719]], [[733]], [[790]], [[845]], [[966]], [[1004]], [[1119]], [[1145]], [[1169]], [[1208]], [[1278]], [[1304]], [[1329]], [[1340]], [[1355]], [[1405]], [[1480]], [[1546]], [[1598]], [[1677]], [[1697]], [[1705]], [[1788]], [[1795]], [[1960]], [[1995]], [[2032]], [[2123]], [[2208]] or [[2252]]||Phishing License sign||loot_158.png||Mostly comics that include "My hobby:"
|-
|It's the ciiiiircle of HONK||[[537: Ducklings]] or [[1729: Migrating Geese]]||DUCKLOOP'D?||loot_069.png||
|-
|Fool me twice||Maybe [[880: Headache]]? Need confirmation.|| Raptor Attack || loot_033.png ||The second April fools' comic
|-
|oOOOoooo||Maybe [[316: Loud Sex]]? Need confirmation.|| Sleeping cat || ||
|-
|Maybe we can ask for new wishes||[[879: Lamp]]||Genie and his bottle||loot_004.png||If you place the genie last, you get another genie (indefinitely) - Needs verification, this may also just be a bug!
|-
|HACK THE PLANET||[[1337: Hack]] (maybe incomplete)|| Crash and Burn in the pool from the end of ''Hackers'' || loot_130.png ||
|-
|Monetization haute couteur||[[20]], [[23]], [[55]], [[123]], [[149]], [[150]], [[162]], [[208]], [[231]], [[242]], [[256]], [[273]], [[285]], [[303]], [[327]], [[377]], [[386]], [[420]], [[435]], [[442]], [[482]], [[505]], [[552]], [[556]], [[585]], [[614]], [[627]], [[657]], [[681]], [[688]], [[705]], [[710]], [[802]], [[821]], [[980]], [[1033]], [[1040]], [[1079]], [[1127]], [[1133]], [[1196]], [[1298]] or [[1428]] (maybe false positives)||Two bags of money ||loot_162.png||
|-
|Maybe writing a script would help||[[1319: Automation]]|| ||miniloot-words-eater.png (maybe incomplete)||
|-
|Go big to go small||[[1365: Inflation]]|| ||loot_245.png||
|-
|Are you projecting||[[850]], [[977]], [[1500]], [[1784]], [[1799]], [[2242]] or [[2256]]||Squirrel on a gun||loot_237.png||
|-
|Do spiders really have six legs||[[8]], [[43]], [[126]], [[427]], [[442]] or [[1110]]|| ||loot_007.png||
|-
|Istanbul or Constantinople or St. Trimble's Island?||[[1688: Map Age Guide]]||Cephalopod||loot_071.png||
|-
|Another rulebook?||[[393: Ultimate Game]]|| Merlin in a chair from [[270: Merlin]] ||loot_037.png||
|-
|Moooooon||[[482]], [[681]], [[1276]], [[1291]], [[1300]], [[1389]], [[1458]], [[1515]], [[1633]], [[1738]], [[1878]] or [[2258]]|| MOOOOOON ||loot_192.png||
|-
|Take a flight from LOL to FFS||[[1937: IATA Airport Abbreviations]]|| ||loot_049.png||
|-
|Everyone deserves a second chnace||All comics searched, no matches|| || ||The misspelling is intentional. [[745: Dyslexics]] would have been a good fit
|-
|Community contribution||[[822]], [[823]], [[824]], [[825]], [[826]]|| [Citation Needed] protester from [[285: Wikipedian Protester]] || loot_035.png ||
|-
|On the other side of the wardrobe||[[665: Prudence]], [[969: Delta-P]] or [[2218: Wardrobe]] (maybe incomplete)||Authentic Reindeer pulling sled from [[1776: Reindeer]] || loot_154.png ||
|-
|Today's your lucky day||[[1053: Ten Thousand]] (maybe incomplete)|| Ms. Frizzle || loot_105.png ||
|-
|[This hint has been redacted due to a copyright claim]||[[1005: SOPA]]|| ||loot_038.png||
|-
|Try a different approach||[[55: Useless]] (maybe incomplete)|| Equals sign ||loot_times.png or loot_div.png (maybe incomplete)||
|-
|The cake is a lie!||[[606: Cutting Edge]]|| Cake ||loot_144.png||
|-
|Joanna, fire.||[[322: Pix Plz]]|| Joanna with EMP cannon ||loot_026.png||
|-
|Everything changes from time to time when the fire nation attacks|| [[965: Elements]] || Symposium || ||
|-
|90KG x 300M||[[382: Trebuchet]]|| Trebuchet ||loot_041.png||
|-
|Copyright Enforcement Brigade||[[344: 1337: Part 4]]|| ||loot_046.png||
|-
|Where Cape Town meets Chukotka||[[1500: Upside-Down Map]]|| Crater ||loot_128.png||
|-
|Take a ride in a barrel||View all five barrel comics in reverse order ([[31]], [[25]], [[22]], [[11]], [[1]])|| Cueball at the door to the playpen-ball-filled apartment from [[150: Grownups]] || loot_005.png ||
|-
|Compiling...||[[303: Compiling]]|| ||loot_030.png||
|-
| || [[2288: Collectors Edition]] || Sheeple eye || loot_109.png ||
|-
| || [[2288: Collectors Edition]] || Time machine from [[1747: Spider Paleontology]] || loot_167.png ||
|}

[[File:2288_full.png]]

==Trivia==
* This comic is the 2020 April Fools comic and was supposed to be released Wednesday, April 1st, but did not go live until Friday, April 3. (Friday's comic was published on Saturday.) However, the message below was displayed on the top of the page from Wednesday until the comic finally went live:
<blockquote>
Note: For technical reasons Wednesday's comic will be posted Thursday instead. Apologies for the delay!
</blockquote>
* This is one of the few comics released four days after the previous one. The last time this occurred was [[2224: Software Updates]].
* Placement is limited to 10,000 horizontal units and 5,000 vertical units from the origin. Users received no messages if they try placing something outside the boundary, with a silent fail with the object not being placed.
* Coordinates are relative to the bottom left corner of the canvas. As the default coordinates are (-370,-277) and the origin is in the center, the displayed portion of the canvas can be found to be twice this in magnitude, 740 x 544 units.
* The comic contains 32993 separate images.
* The most common image is loot-30.png, which appears 2576 times.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball stands to the left of a vibrating box.]
:[The words "Collector's Edition" are written above him and boxed.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:April fools' comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Interactive comics]]

File:loot 006.png

2020-04-08T20:21:39Z

A(l)Chemist:

== Licensing ==
{{XKCD file}}

File:loot 159.png

2020-04-08T20:20:44Z

A(l)Chemist:

== Licensing ==
{{XKCD file}}

File:loot 044.png

2020-04-08T20:20:11Z

A(l)Chemist:

== Licensing ==
{{XKCD file}}

File:loot 210.png

2020-04-08T20:19:38Z

A(l)Chemist:

== Licensing ==
{{XKCD file}}

File:loot 175.png

2020-04-08T20:19:08Z

A(l)Chemist:

== Licensing ==
{{XKCD file}}

File:loot 197.png

2020-04-08T20:18:08Z

A(l)Chemist:

== Licensing ==
{{XKCD file}}

File:miniloot-words-dispenser.png

2020-04-08T20:16:08Z

A(l)Chemist:

== Licensing ==
{{XKCD file}}

File:2288 loot 228.png

2020-04-08T20:15:48Z

A(l)Chemist:

== Licensing ==
{{XKCD file}}

File:2288 loot 185.png

2020-04-08T20:09:36Z

A(l)Chemist:

== Licensing ==
{{XKCD file}}

File:2288 loot 090.png

2020-04-08T20:09:16Z

A(l)Chemist:

== Licensing ==
{{XKCD file}}

File:2288 loot 126.png

2020-04-08T20:08:50Z

A(l)Chemist:

== Licensing ==
{{XKCD file}}

File:2288 loot 246.png

2020-04-08T20:08:24Z

A(l)Chemist:

== Licensing ==
{{XKCD file}}

File:2288 loot 019.png

2020-04-08T20:07:57Z

A(l)Chemist:

== Licensing ==
{{XKCD file}}

2288: Collector's Edition

2020-04-08T15:48:31Z

A(l)Chemist: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2288
| date = April 3, 2020
| title = Collector's Edition
| image = collectors_edition.png
| titletext = I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. The hint table needs to be completed. The mechanics should be explained more in-depth, if possible, screenshots of the hints, items in inventory, items-placing mechanics etc. should be added.}}

This was the 2020 April 1st comic. It is a large image, of which only part is visible, but can be dragged around. This space acts as a shared virtual sandbox where viewers can interact. "Items" (small, often humorous images) could be collected from other comics and then placed in this image by viewers. The collection then updated for all viewers in real-time. Multiples of the same item are often seen.

There is a "backpack" at the bottom, similar to backpacks in video games containing items collected by the player. As hinted by the title text, items could be found by visiting different XKCD comics/pages. Randomly, some pages would have a treasure chest which contained the sticker related to the page. The hint would refer to the page which currently had a chest.

The sticker images can be seen at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot_</nowiki>'''XXX'''.png, where XXX is a number from 001-253. Additionally, some images can be found at custom URLs, for example the periodic elements can be found at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/element-</nowiki>'''XX'''.png, where XX is the element, and text loot at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot-words-</nowiki>'''X'''.png, where X is the sentence.

As of April 5, chests are no longer dropped.

===Hints===

{| class="wikitable"
!Hint
!Comic
!Unlocked item
!Item image
!Notes
|-
|Doctors in a row||Maybe [[1529: Bracket]] or [[497: Secretary: Part 4]]? Need confirmation.||Cory Doctorow || loot_019.png || These comics all have the same hint, but only one will have the chest
|-
|Get out the (US) vote||[[2224: Software Updates]]|| Statue of liberty ||loot_246.png||
|-
|Find a box of nice stuff on a picture with words like these|| [[1133: Up Goer Five]] (maybe incomplete) || Signpost || loot_126.png ||
|-
|Plug in or find another power source||[[1373: Screenshot]]|| ||loot_228.png or miniloot-words-dispenser.png (maybe incomplete)||
|-
|Sweet dreams, kitty||[[729: Laser Pointer]] (maybe incomplete)|| Cat licking laser point || loot_090.png ||
|-
|What is this hint pointing to? Hell if I know.||[[28: Elefino]] (maybe incomplete)|| ||loot_185.png||
|-
|Somebody set up us the bomb||[[286: All Your Base]]||Exploding rock||loot_197.png||
|-
|Cowabunga||[[1412: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] (maybe incomplete)||Women Science Fiction Authors || loot_175.png || [[197: Ninja Turtles]] also works
|-
|I want to believe||[[2156: Ufo]]||Ufo||loot_210.png||
|-
|Bleeped||[[290]], [[398]], [[430]], [[447]], [[533]], [[549]], [[677]], [[724]] or [[1671]]|| *$@#! ||loot_044.png||Comics that involve swearing
|-
|why waste time say few word when lot word do trick||[[7]], [[111]], [[139]], [[143]], [[179]], [[217]], [[445]], [[470]], [[822]], [[823]], [[1022]], [[1247]], [[1491]], [[1921]], [[1991]], [[2182]] or [[2231]]|| First Annual Award for Excellence in Being Very Smart ||loot_159.png||
|-
|Cooler than electric scooters||[[139]], [[409]], [[577]], [[578]], [[579]], [[580]] or [[581]]||An electric scooter||loot_006.png||
|-
|Take it from the top||[[1: Barrel - Part 1]] (maybe incomplete)||I am a turtle from [[889: Turtles]] || loot_095.png ||
|-
|I accept the yucca gnocchi, this meal is a success!||[[1713: 50 ccs]] (maybe incomplete)||Man carrying parentheses from [[297: Lisp Cycles]] || loot_031.png ||
|-
|Catch up on the news||[[1699: Local News]] (maybe incomplete)|| || ||
|-
|Participation trophy||[[2288: Collectors Edition]] (maybe incomplete)|| Server rack || loot_096.png ||
|-
|Find an opportunity for a sojourn||[[665]], [[681]], [[695]], [[1091]], [[1504]], [[1613]], [[1663]] or [[2111]]||Opportunity Mars rover from [[2111: Opportunity Rover]]||loot_161.png||
|-
|Tastier than tau day||[[179: e to the pi times i]] (maybe incomplete)||First annual award for excellence in being very smart || loot_159.png || Need to find out the difference between this, and the entry below!
|-
|Tastier than tau day||[[235]], [[396]], [[872]], [[1029]], [[1342]], [[1655]] or [[1967]]|| Pie sign ||loot_056.png|| Published on Pi day
|-
|418 I'm a teapot||[[1866: Russell's Teapot]] (maybe incomplete)||S.S. NASA: Space is Hard || loot_216.png ||
|-
|26th September, 1983||[[2052: Stanislav Petrov Day]]||White dove||loot_205.png||Might also be written "September 26th, 1983". Locale dependent?
|-
|There are 4241 as of Apr 1, 2020||[[1071: Exoplanets]] (maybe incomplete)|| Little girl from [[2264: Satellite]] || loot_151.png ||
|-
|asableiK||[[645: RPS]]|| A reverse Polish hotdog ||loot_079.png|| "Kielbasa" backwards, which is "sausage" in Polish
|-
|Critical mass elements||[[235: Kite]] or [[239: Blagofaire]]|| ||loot_203.png||
|-
|Some Februarys are more equal than others||[[390: Nightmares]]? (maybe incomplete)|| Cueball wheelie from [[272: Linux User at Best Buy]] || loot_036.png || Comic-hint connection largely conjectural; 390 was the first comic published on a leap day.
|-
|Five spice||[[1511: Spice Girl]] or [[1554: Spice Girls]]|| Rock guitarist ||loot_022.png||
|-
|Call the plumber||[[290: Fucking Blue Shells]] (maybe incomplete)|| || loot_058.png ||
|-
|Was it a rat I saw?||[[1632: Palindrome]] (maybe incomplete)|| Cueball with a large sack, pulling a wagon || loot_103.png || or [[1503: Squirrel Plan]] for cueball holding a balloon caught in a ceiling fan.
|-
|Churchill's gonna have to seriously rehydrate||[[1148: Nothing to Offer]]|| Bottle of soda ||loot_045.png||
|-
|Keep coming back|| || || ||
|-
|A new model released each year||Triggered by visiting all xkcd phone comics in order|| || ||
|-
|Tea Time||Maybe [[581: The Race: Part 5]]? Need confirmation.||All our tea ||loot_232.png||
|-
|Try pattern-matching! Look for comic 'bout alphabet?||[[1045: Constraints]]||Two Tetris blocks||loot_092.png||
|-
|Where's Hilbert?||[[195: Map of the Internet]] (maybe incomplete)|| Hilbert Curve || loot_021.png ||
|-
|Science fiction fetish||[[1585: Similarities]]|| ||loot_202.png||
|-
|The first one was funnier||[[11: Barrel - Part 2]] (maybe incomplete)||Falling feather / Sign "The uncomfortable truths well" || loot_250.png / loot_067.png ||
|-
|It's up to over 260 million cycles!||[[1941: Dying Gift]]|| Megan on a tire swing ||loot_127.png||
|-
|Sleeping Beauty is the same everywhere though||[[2233: Aurora Meaning]] (maybe incomplete)|| Sleeping Cat || loot_163.png ||
|-
|On the internet, nobody knows you're an arachnid||[[1530: Keyboard Mash]] (maybe incomplete)|| Cobwebbed frame from [[1135: Arachnoneurology]]|| loot_191.png ||
|-
|Did James Cameron pay for the rice cooker too?||[[1598: Salvage]] (maybe incomplete)||Rice bowl || loot_152.png ||
|-
|Never going to give you up||[[351]], [[389]], [[396]], [[524]], [[573]], [[609]], [[802]], [[1212]], [[1757]] or [[1981]]|| Cueball in car listening to music ||loot_010.png||
|-
|If red touches yellow, that's 24 ohms||[[1604: Snakes]], [[227: Color Codes]]? (maybe incomplete)|| Yoda with an mp3 player from What If || loot_247.png ||
|-
|An enthusiastic but questionable business opportunity||[[1021]], [[1032]], [[1117]], [[1293]], [[1493]], [[1533]], [[1772]], [[1812]], [[1871]], [[1903]], [[1997]], [[2140]], [[2209]] or [[2277]]|| Beret guy with a goat on leash ||loot_115.png||
|-
|Read the fine manual||[[293]], [[434]], [[456]], [[912]], [[1343]] or [[1692]]|| ||Multiple: loot_106.png, miniloot-words-hair.png, miniloot-words-ominous.png, miniloot-words-eruption.png, miniloot-words-flying.png or miniloot-words-ghost.png (maybe incomplete)||
|-
|That thing's undecimodal!||[[1347: t Distribution]] (maybe incomplete)|| Floating tentacled alien || loot_209.png ||
|-
|Actually, it's Myanmar-Shave now||[[491: Twitter]] (maybe incomplete)||Expensive bottle || loot_253.png ||
|-
|You don't have to find all 99||[[121: Balloon]] (maybe incomplete)||Balloon copter || loot_002.png || Or [[51: Malaria]] ?
|-
|Going in circles||[[378: Real Programmers]] (maybe incomplete)|| Cueball spinning in desk chair || loot_098.png ||
|-
|Couldn't you try knitting, or maybe stamp collecting?||[[37]], [[53]], [[60]], [[75]], [[79]], [[148]], [[168]], [[174]], [[236]], [[259]], [[287]], [[296]], [[326]], [[331]], [[389]], [[437]], [[451]], [[559]], [[590]], [[605]], [[687]], [[719]], [[733]], [[790]], [[845]], [[966]], [[1004]], [[1119]], [[1145]], [[1169]], [[1208]], [[1278]], [[1304]], [[1329]], [[1340]], [[1355]], [[1405]], [[1480]], [[1546]], [[1598]], [[1677]], [[1697]], [[1705]], [[1788]], [[1795]], [[1960]], [[1995]], [[2032]], [[2123]], [[2208]] or [[2252]]||Phishing License sign||loot_158.png||Mostly comics that include "My hobby:"
|-
|It's the ciiiiircle of HONK||[[537: Ducklings]] or [[1729: Migrating Geese]]||DUCKLOOP'D?||loot_069.png||
|-
|Fool me twice||Maybe [[880: Headache]]? Need confirmation.|| Raptor Attack || loot_033.png ||The second April fools' comic
|-
|oOOOoooo||Maybe [[316: Loud Sex]]? Need confirmation.|| Sleeping cat || ||
|-
|Maybe we can ask for new wishes||[[879: Lamp]]||Genie and his bottle||loot_004.png||If you place the genie last, you get another genie (indefinitely) - Needs verification, this may also just be a bug!
|-
|HACK THE PLANET||[[1337: Hack]] (maybe incomplete)|| Crash and Burn in the pool from the end of ''Hackers'' || loot_130.png ||
|-
|Monetization haute couteur||[[20]], [[23]], [[55]], [[123]], [[149]], [[150]], [[162]], [[208]], [[231]], [[242]], [[256]], [[273]], [[285]], [[303]], [[327]], [[377]], [[386]], [[420]], [[435]], [[442]], [[482]], [[505]], [[552]], [[556]], [[585]], [[614]], [[627]], [[657]], [[681]], [[688]], [[705]], [[710]], [[802]], [[821]], [[980]], [[1033]], [[1040]], [[1079]], [[1127]], [[1133]], [[1196]], [[1298]] or [[1428]] (maybe false positives)||Two bags of money ||loot_162.png||
|-
|Maybe writing a script would help||[[1319: Automation]]|| ||miniloot-words-eater.png (maybe incomplete)||
|-
|Go big to go small||[[1365: Inflation]]|| ||loot_245.png||
|-
|Are you projecting||[[850]], [[977]], [[1500]], [[1784]], [[1799]], [[2242]] or [[2256]]||Squirrel on a gun||loot_237.png||
|-
|Do spiders really have six legs||[[8]], [[43]], [[126]], [[427]], [[442]] or [[1110]]|| ||loot_007.png||
|-
|Istanbul or Constantinople or St. Trimble's Island?||[[1688: Map Age Guide]]||Cephalopod||loot_071.png||
|-
|Another rulebook?||[[393: Ultimate Game]]|| Merlin in a chair from [[270: Merlin]] ||loot_037.png||
|-
|Moooooon||[[482]], [[681]], [[1276]], [[1291]], [[1300]], [[1389]], [[1458]], [[1515]], [[1633]], [[1738]], [[1878]] or [[2258]]|| MOOOOOON ||loot_192.png||
|-
|Take a flight from LOL to FFS||[[1937: IATA Airport Abbreviations]]|| ||loot_049.png||
|-
|Everyone deserves a second chnace||All comics searched, no matches|| || ||The misspelling is intentional. [[745: Dyslexics]] would have been a good fit
|-
|Community contribution||[[822]], [[823]], [[824]], [[825]], [[826]]|| [Citation Needed] protester from [[285: Wikipedian Protester]] || loot_035.png ||
|-
|On the other side of the wardrobe||[[665: Prudence]], [[969: Delta-P]] or [[2218: Wardrobe]] (maybe incomplete)||Authentic Reindeer pulling sled from [[1776: Reindeer]] || loot_154.png ||
|-
|Today's your lucky day||[[1053: Ten Thousand]] (maybe incomplete)|| Ms. Frizzle || loot_105.png ||
|-
|[This hint has been redacted due to a copyright claim]||[[1005: SOPA]]|| ||loot_038.png||
|-
|Try a different approach||[[55: Useless]] (maybe incomplete)|| Equals sign ||loot_times.png or loot_div.png (maybe incomplete)||
|-
|The cake is a lie!||[[606: Cutting Edge]]|| Cake ||loot_144.png||
|-
|Joanna, fire.||[[322: Pix Plz]]|| Joanna with EMP cannon ||loot_026.png||
|-
|Everything changes from time to time when the fire nation attacks|| [[965: Elements]] || Symposium || ||
|-
|90KG x 300M||[[382: Trebuchet]]|| Trebuchet ||loot_041.png||
|-
|Copyright Enforcement Brigade||[[344: 1337: Part 4]]|| ||loot_046.png||
|-
|Where Cape Town meets Chukotka||[[1500: Upside-Down Map]]|| Crater ||loot_128.png||
|-
|Take a ride in a barrel||View all five barrel comics in reverse order ([[31]], [[25]], [[22]], [[11]], [[1]])|| Cueball at the door to the playpen-ball-filled apartment from [[150: Grownups]] || loot_005.png ||
|-
|Compiling...||[[303: Compiling]]|| ||loot_030.png||
|-
| || [[2288: Collectors Edition]] || Sheeple eye || loot_109.png ||
|-
| || [[2288: Collectors Edition]] || Time machine from [[1747: Spider Paleontology]] || loot_167.png ||
|}

[[File:2288_full.png]]

==Trivia==
* This comic is the 2020 April Fools comic and was supposed to be released Wednesday, April 1st, but did not go live until Friday, April 3. (Friday's comic was published on Saturday.) However, the message below was displayed on the top of the page from Wednesday until the comic finally went live:
<blockquote>
Note: For technical reasons Wednesday's comic will be posted Thursday instead. Apologies for the delay!
</blockquote>
* This is one of the few comics released four days after the previous one. The last time this occurred was [[2224: Software Updates]].
* Placement is limited to 10,000 horizontal units and 5,000 vertical units from the origin. Users received no messages if they try placing something outside the boundary, with a silent fail with the object not being placed.
* Coordinates are relative to the bottom left corner of the canvas. As the default coordinates are (-370,-277) and the origin is in the center, the displayed portion of the canvas can be found to be twice this in magnitude, 740 x 544 units.
* The comic contains 32993 separate images.
* The most common image is loot-30.png, which appears 2576 times.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball stands to the left of a vibrating box.]
:[The words "Collector's Edition" are written above him and boxed.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:April fools' comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Interactive comics]]

2288: Collector's Edition

2020-04-08T15:47:19Z

A(l)Chemist: /* Trivia */

{{comic
| number = 2288
| date = April 3, 2020
| title = Collector's Edition
| image = collectors_edition.png
| titletext = I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. The hint table needs to be completed. The mechanics should be explained more in-depth, if possible, screenshots of the hints, items in inventory, items-placing mechanics etc. should be added.}}

This was the 2020 April 1st comic. It is a large image, of which only part is visible, but can be dragged around. This space acts as a shared virtual sandbox where viewers can interact. "Items" (small, often humorous images) could be collected from other comics and then placed in this image by viewers. The collection then updated for all viewers in real-time. Multiples of the same item are often seen.

There is a "backpack" at the bottom, similar to backpacks in video games containing items collected by the player. As hinted by the title text, items could be found by visiting different XKCD comics/pages. Randomly, some pages would have a treasure chest which contained the sticker related to the page. The hint would refer to the page which currently had a chest.

The sticker images can be seen at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot_</nowiki>'''XXX'''.png, where XXX is a number from 001-253. Additionally, some images can be found at custom URLs, for example the periodic elements can be found at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/element-</nowiki>'''XX'''.png, where XX is the element, and text loot at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot-words-</nowiki>'''X'''.png, where X is the sentence.

As of April 5, chests are no longer dropped.

===Hints===

{| class="wikitable"
!Hint
!Comic
!Unlocked item
!Item image
!Notes
|-
|Doctors in a row||Maybe [[1529: Bracket]] or [[497: Secretary: Part 4]]? Need confirmation.||Cory Doctorow || loot_019.png || These comics all have the same hint, but only one will have the chest
|-
|Get out the (US) vote||[[2224: Software Updates]]|| Statue of liberty ||loot_246.png||
|-
|Find a box of nice stuff on a picture with words like these|| [[1133: Up Goer Five]] (maybe incomplete) || Signpost || loot_126.png ||
|-
|Plug in or find another power source||[[1373: Screenshot]]|| ||loot_228.png or miniloot-words-dispenser.png (maybe incomplete)||
|-
|Sweet dreams, kitty||[[729: Laser Pointer]] (maybe incomplete)|| Cat licking laser point || loot_090.png ||
|-
|What is this hint pointing to? Hell if I know.||[[28: Elefino]] (maybe incomplete)|| ||loot_185.png||
|-
|Somebody set up us the bomb||[[286: All Your Base]]||Exploding rock||loot_197.png||
|-
|Cowabunga||[[1412: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] (maybe incomplete)||Women Science Fiction Authors || loot_175.png || [[197: Ninja Turtles]] also works
|-
|I want to believe||[[2156: Ufo]]||Ufo||loot_210.png||
|-
|Bleeped||[[290]], [[398]], [[430]], [[447]], [[533]], [[549]], [[677]], [[724]] or [[1671]]|| *$@#! ||loot_044.png||Comics that involve swearing
|-
|why waste time say few word when lot word do trick||[[7]], [[111]], [[139]], [[143]], [[179]], [[217]], [[445]], [[470]], [[822]], [[823]], [[1022]], [[1247]], [[1491]], [[1921]], [[1991]], [[2182]] or [[2231]]|| First Annual Award for Excellence in Being Very Smart ||loot_159.png||
|-
|Cooler than electric scooters||[[139]], [[409]], [[577]], [[578]], [[579]], [[580]] or [[581]]||An electric scooter||loot_006.png||
|-
|Take it from the top||[[1: Barrel - Part 1]] (maybe incomplete)||I am a turtle from [[889: Turtles]] || loot_095.png ||
|-
|I accept the yucca gnocchi, this meal is a success!||[[1713: 50 ccs]] (maybe incomplete)||Man carrying parentheses from [[297: Lisp Cycles]] || loot_031.png ||
|-
|Catch up on the news||[[1699: Local News]] (maybe incomplete)|| || ||
|-
|Participation trophy||[[2288: Collectors Edition]] (maybe incomplete)|| Server rack || loot_096.png ||
|-
|Find an opportunity for a sojourn||[[665]], [[681]], [[695]], [[1091]], [[1504]], [[1613]], [[1663]] or [[2111]]||Opportunity Mars rover from [[2111: Opportunity Rover]]||loot_161.png||
|-
|Tastier than tau day||[[179: e to the pi times i]] (maybe incomplete)||First annual award for excellence in being very smart || loot_159.png || Need to find out the difference between this, and the entry below!
|-
|Tastier than tau day||[[235]], [[396]], [[872]], [[1029]], [[1342]], [[1655]] or [[1967]]|| Pie sign ||loot_056.png|| Published on Pi day
|-
|418 I'm a teapot||[[1866: Russell's Teapot]] (maybe incomplete)||S.S. NASA: Space is Hard || loot_216.png ||
|-
|26th September, 1983||[[2052: Stanislav Petrov Day]]||White dove||loot_205.png||Might also be written "September 26th, 1983". Locale dependent?
|-
|There are 4241 as of Apr 1, 2020||[[1071: Exoplanets]] (maybe incomplete)|| Little girl from [[2264: Satellite]] || loot_151.png ||
|-
|asableiK||[[645: RPS]]|| A reverse Polish hotdog ||loot_079.png|| "Kielbasa" backwards, which is "sausage" in Polish
|-
|Critical mass elements||[[235: Kite]] or [[239: Blagofaire]]|| ||loot_203.png||
|-
|Some Februarys are more equal than others||[[390: Nightmares]]? (maybe incomplete)|| Cueball wheelie from [[272: Linux User at Best Buy]] || loot_036.png || Comic-hint connection largely conjectural; 390 was the first comic published on a leap day.
|-
|Five spice||[[1511: Spice Girl]] or [[1554: Spice Girls]]|| Rock guitarist ||loot_022.png||
|-
|Call the plumber||[[290: Fucking Blue Shells]] (maybe incomplete)|| || loot_058.png ||
|-
|Was it a rat I saw?||[[1632: Palindrome]] (maybe incomplete)|| Cueball with a large sack, pulling a wagon || loot_103.png || or [[1503: Squirrel Plan]] for cueball holding a balloon caught in a ceiling fan.
|-
|Churchill's gonna have to seriously rehydrate||[[1148: Nothing to Offer]]|| Bottle of soda ||loot_045.png||
|-
|Keep coming back|| || || ||
|-
|A new model released each year||Triggered by visiting all xkcd phone comics in order|| || ||
|-
|Tea Time||Maybe [[581: The Race: Part 5]]? Need confirmation.||All our tea ||loot_232.png||
|-
|Try pattern-matching! Look for comic 'bout alphabet?||[[1045: Constraints]]||Two Tetris blocks||loot_092.png||
|-
|Where's Hilbert?||[[195: Map of the Internet]] (maybe incomplete)|| Hilbert Curve || loot_021.png ||
|-
|Science fiction fetish||[[1585: Similarities]]|| ||loot_202.png||
|-
|The first one was funnier||[[11: Barrel - Part 2]] (maybe incomplete)||Falling feather / Sign "The uncomfortable truths well" || loot_250.png / loot_067.png ||
|-
|It's up to over 260 million cycles!||[[1941: Dying Gift]]|| Megan on a tire swing ||loot_127.png||
|-
|Sleeping Beauty is the same everywhere though||[[2233: Aurora Meaning]] (maybe incomplete)|| Sleeping Cat || loot_163.png ||
|-
|On the internet, nobody knows you're an arachnid||[[1530: Keyboard Mash]] (maybe incomplete)|| Cobwebbed frame from [[1135: Arachnoneurology]]|| loot_191.png ||
|-
|Did James Cameron pay for the rice cooker too?||[[1598: Salvage]] (maybe incomplete)||Rice bowl || loot_152.png ||
|-
|Never going to give you up||[[351]], [[389]], [[396]], [[524]], [[573]], [[609]], [[802]], [[1212]], [[1757]] or [[1981]]|| Cueball in car listening to music ||loot_010.png||
|-
|If red touches yellow, that's 24 ohms||[[1604: Snakes]], [[227: Color Codes]]? (maybe incomplete)|| Yoda with an mp3 player from What If || loot_247.png ||
|-
|An enthusiastic but questionable business opportunity||[[1021]], [[1032]], [[1117]], [[1293]], [[1493]], [[1533]], [[1772]], [[1812]], [[1871]], [[1903]], [[1997]], [[2140]], [[2209]] or [[2277]]|| Beret guy with a goat on leash ||loot_115.png||
|-
|Read the fine manual||[[293]], [[434]], [[456]], [[912]], [[1343]] or [[1692]]|| ||Multiple: loot_106.png, miniloot-words-hair.png, miniloot-words-ominous.png, miniloot-words-eruption.png, miniloot-words-flying.png or miniloot-words-ghost.png (maybe incomplete)||
|-
|That thing's undecimodal!||[[1347: t Distribution]] (maybe incomplete)|| Floating tentacled alien || loot_209.png ||
|-
|Actually, it's Myanmar-Shave now||[[491: Twitter]] (maybe incomplete)||Expensive bottle || loot_253.png ||
|-
|You don't have to find all 99||[[121: Balloon]] (maybe incomplete)||Balloon copter || loot_002.png || Or [[51: Malaria]] ?
|-
|Going in circles||[[378: Real Programmers]] (maybe incomplete)|| Cueball spinning in desk chair || loot_098.png ||
|-
|Couldn't you try knitting, or maybe stamp collecting?||[[37]], [[53]], [[60]], [[75]], [[79]], [[148]], [[168]], [[174]], [[236]], [[259]], [[287]], [[296]], [[326]], [[331]], [[389]], [[437]], [[451]], [[559]], [[590]], [[605]], [[687]], [[719]], [[733]], [[790]], [[845]], [[966]], [[1004]], [[1119]], [[1145]], [[1169]], [[1208]], [[1278]], [[1304]], [[1329]], [[1340]], [[1355]], [[1405]], [[1480]], [[1546]], [[1598]], [[1677]], [[1697]], [[1705]], [[1788]], [[1795]], [[1960]], [[1995]], [[2032]], [[2123]], [[2208]] or [[2252]]||Phishing License sign||loot_158.png||Mostly comics that include "My hobby:"
|-
|It's the ciiiiircle of HONK||[[537: Ducklings]] or [[1729: Migrating Geese]]||DUCKLOOP'D?||loot_069.png||
|-
|Fool me twice||Maybe [[880: Headache]]? Need confirmation.|| Raptor Attack || loot_033.png ||The second April fools' comic
|-
|oOOOoooo||Maybe [[316: Loud Sex]]? Need confirmation.|| Sleeping cat || ||
|-
|Maybe we can ask for new wishes||[[879: Lamp]]||Genie and his bottle||loot_004.png||If you place the genie last, you get another genie (indefinitely) - Needs verification, this may also just be a bug!
|-
|HACK THE PLANET||[[1337: Hack]] (maybe incomplete)|| Crash and Burn in the pool from the end of ''Hackers'' || loot_130.png ||
|-
|Monetization haute couteur||[[20]], [[23]], [[55]], [[123]], [[149]], [[150]], [[162]], [[208]], [[231]], [[242]], [[256]], [[273]], [[285]], [[303]], [[327]], [[377]], [[386]], [[420]], [[435]], [[442]], [[482]], [[505]], [[552]], [[556]], [[585]], [[614]], [[627]], [[657]], [[681]], [[688]], [[705]], [[710]], [[802]], [[821]], [[980]], [[1033]], [[1040]], [[1079]], [[1127]], [[1133]], [[1196]], [[1298]] or [[1428]] (maybe false positives)||Two bags of money ||loot_162.png||
|-
|Maybe writing a script would help||[[1319: Automation]]|| ||miniloot-words-eater.png (maybe incomplete)||
|-
|Go big to go small||[[1365: Inflation]]|| ||loot_245.png||
|-
|Are you projecting||[[850]], [[977]], [[1500]], [[1784]], [[1799]], [[2242]] or [[2256]]||Squirrel on a gun||loot_237.png||
|-
|Do spiders really have six legs||[[8]], [[43]], [[126]], [[427]], [[442]] or [[1110]]|| ||loot_007.png||
|-
|Istanbul or Constantinople or St. Trimble's Island?||[[1688: Map Age Guide]]||Cephalopod||loot_071.png||
|-
|Another rulebook?||[[393: Ultimate Game]]|| Merlin in a chair from [[270: Merlin]] ||loot_037.png||
|-
|Moooooon||[[482]], [[681]], [[1276]], [[1291]], [[1300]], [[1389]], [[1458]], [[1515]], [[1633]], [[1738]], [[1878]] or [[2258]]|| MOOOOOON ||loot_192.png||
|-
|Take a flight from LOL to FFS||[[1937: IATA Airport Abbreviations]]|| ||loot_049.png||
|-
|Everyone deserves a second chnace||All comics searched, no matches|| || ||The misspelling is intentional. [[745: Dyslexics]] would have been a good fit
|-
|Community contribution||[[822]], [[823]], [[824]], [[825]], [[826]]|| [Citation Needed] protester from [[285: Wikipedian Protester]] || loot_035.png ||
|-
|On the other side of the wardrobe||[[665: Prudence]], [[969: Delta-P]] or [[2218: Wardrobe]] (maybe incomplete)||Authentic Reindeer pulling sled from [[1776: Reindeer]] || loot_154.png ||
|-
|Today's your lucky day||[[1053: Ten Thousand]] (maybe incomplete)|| Ms. Frizzle || loot_105.png ||
|-
|[This hint has been redacted due to a copyright claim]||[[1005: SOPA]]|| ||loot_038.png||
|-
|Try a different approach||[[55: Useless]] (maybe incomplete)|| Equals sign ||loot_times.png or loot_div.png (maybe incomplete)||
|-
|The cake is a lie!||[[606: Cutting Edge]]|| Cake ||loot_144.png||
|-
|Joanna, fire.||[[322: Pix Plz]]|| Joanna with EMP cannon ||loot_026.png||
|-
|Everything changes from time to time when the fire nation attacks|| [[965: Elements]] || Symposium || ||
|-
|90KG x 300M||[[382: Trebuchet]]|| Trebuchet ||loot_041.png||
|-
|Copyright Enforcement Brigade||[[344: 1337: Part 4]]|| ||loot_046.png||
|-
|Where Cape Town meets Chukotka||[[1500: Upside-Down Map]]|| Crater ||loot_128.png||
|-
|Take a ride in a barrel||View all five barrel comics in reverse order ([[31]], [[25]], [[22]], [[11]], [[1]])|| Cueball at the door to the playpen-ball-filled apartment from [[150: Grownups]] || loot_005.png ||
|-
|Compiling...||[[303: Compiling]]|| ||loot_030.png||
|-
| || [[2288: Collectors Edition]] || Sheeple eye || loot_109.png ||
|-
| || [[2288: Collectors Edition]] || Time machine from [[1747: Spider Paleontology]] || loot_167.png ||
|}

==Trivia==
* This comic is the 2020 April Fools comic and was supposed to be released Wednesday, April 1st, but did not go live until Friday, April 3. (Friday's comic was published on Saturday.) However, the message below was displayed on the top of the page from Wednesday until the comic finally went live:
<blockquote>
Note: For technical reasons Wednesday's comic will be posted Thursday instead. Apologies for the delay!
</blockquote>
* This is one of the few comics released four days after the previous one. The last time this occurred was [[2224: Software Updates]].
* Placement is limited to 10,000 horizontal units and 5,000 vertical units from the origin. Users received no messages if they try placing something outside the boundary, with a silent fail with the object not being placed.
* Coordinates are relative to the bottom left corner of the canvas. As the default coordinates are (-370,-277) and the origin is in the center, the displayed portion of the canvas can be found to be twice this in magnitude, 740 x 544 units.
* The comic contains 32993 separate images.
* The most common image is loot-30.png, which appears 2576 times.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball stands to the left of a vibrating box.]
:[The words "Collector's Edition" are written above him and boxed.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:April fools' comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Interactive comics]]

File:2288 full.png

2020-04-08T15:42:59Z

A(l)Chemist: Complete view of comic 2288

== Summary ==
Complete view of comic 2288
== Licensing ==
{{XKCD file derived}}

Category:Incomplete explanations

2020-04-07T14:06:13Z

A(l)Chemist: Spam

Talk:2288: Collector's Edition

2020-04-07T13:27:39Z

A(l)Chemist: Table of images

== The joke ==
Very early on April 1st, Mojang\Microsoft released a version 20w14Infinite build of Minecraft which allows players to create millions of wildly different new worlds by writing text in a book & throwing it through a Nether portal. The world generated depends on what is written in the book, & some specific worlds contain many "starter chests" to help the player in their explorations. Players can share what they wrote in each book with others, allowing multiple players to each access the same new dimensions on their own. In this way, individual single-player Minecraft instances can essentially become a collaboratively evolving game featuring previously nonexistent block types. Given that Randall has done multiple comics referencing Minecraft & seems to be an avid player, & given the presence of "chests" & the "worldbuilding" & collaborative nature of this latest comic, I believe xkcd's April 3rd 2020 comic is a reference to this "final" Minecraft build.
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 14:10, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
:I think this is extremely unlikely. Munroe has comics planned in advance, and a complex interactive comic like this one takes more than a couple hours to make.[[User:Matthias1|Matthias1]] ([[User talk:Matthias1|talk]]) 18:43, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

==The Meta-Message==
Beginning one month earlier with [[2275: Coronavirus Name]] (March 2, 2020) there was a long [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] about the {{w|coronavirus}} pandemic. Superficially this April comic is not about the pandemic, but note that anybody anywhere can affect the comic's globally shared sandbox. Credit [[Randall|Randall]] with engineering a script reminding us that {{w|We%27re_All_In_This_Together|"We're all in this together."}} JohnB [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.215|162.158.74.215]] 19:01, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

==Explanation==
Clicking on the URLs in the explanation return "File not found". I will remove the hyperlink so people are less confused. [[User:Fwacer|Fwacer]] ([[User talk:Fwacer|talk]]) 02:18, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

== How the comic works ==
... is this going to be like [[1190: Time]]? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.63|162.158.74.63]] 04:08, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
: I hope so, otherwise I don't get the joke [[User:Forresthopkinsa|Forresthopkinsa]] ([[User talk:Forresthopkinsa|talk]]) 04:15, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
: The page just went down for me so maybe what we've seen isn't what it's supposed to be? [[User:Avi m|avis_magpie]] ([[User talk:Avi m|talk]]) 04:20, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
Looks like the whole comic was just taken down. [[User:Parzivail|Parzivail]] ([[User talk:Parzivail|talk]]) 04:27, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
: Can confirm - the most recent comic is Pathogen again [[Special:Contributions/162.158.187.207|162.158.187.207]] 04:26, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
It is still up on the mobile website, but only if you directly go to comic page https://m.xkcd.com/2288 [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.146|172.69.22.146]] 05:10, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
: Perhaps this is a collector's edition because it was only up for a limited amount of time? {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.60|05:12, 3 April 2020}}
:: That was my immediate assumption. The title text says, "I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives." And I was viewing the comic by using the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine — which, wouldn't you know it, captured the page exactly once before it went down. Between that and the title "Collector's Edition", I can't help thinking that the comic was actually intended to be viewed this way. Though for what reason, and what intended meaning, I couldn't tell you. …And jeez, in the time it took me to type this, the comic is back, but changed! Oy vey. [[User:NoriMori|NoriMori]] ([[User talk:NoriMori|talk]]) 06:42, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

Maybe it's called collectors edition, because it was only available quite limited and to an unusual time? But that logic doesn't fit with the title text. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 05:14, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
:I doubt that could be caused by "technical difficulties". [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.186|172.69.34.186]] 06:14, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

It looks like it went back up about 5 minutes age. I can't figure out if it's possible to do more than pan right now though. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.120|108.162.215.120]] 06:39, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
:Yeah I see the same thing, looks like they're just testing it live. What a shame :(--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.242|108.162.215.242]] 06:47, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
::what makes you assume that this is testing right now? however it doesn't seem to be very interactive apart from panning through it, and that it seems to chagne over time (the moon from [[1300]] wasn't there a few minutes ago, was it? --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 06:49, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

:It's a giant pan similar to [https://xkcd.com/1110], although it's mostly empty, with some content at [https://xkcd.com/2288/#-361,-161]
. The title reads that you can find world building material, if you scavenge through the archives. I assume, more content will be unlocked as you read through past comics. [[User:Goatfryed|Goatfryed]] ([[User talk:Goatfryed|talk]]) 06:52, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
::That would mean it is individual? That everyone gets their own picture? --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC) Edit: I can kinda rule that out. I get the same picture on my phone and my work laptop, the work laptop is in a different country via vpn, and doesn't share any logins/advertisement ID's apart from explain xkcd with my phone... --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:05, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

Yeah, it definitely changes. The orange swimming pool just showed up now. Also, at the bottom of the page, it says something about "backpack", and what appears to be a reference to some other xkcd comic. For example, "Hint: why waste time say few word when lot word do trick", which I think refers to Up Goer Five. But I have no idea what to do with that info. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.190|172.68.141.190]] 06:55, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
:and the content seems to be related to previous comics and what-ifs... but still no clue what to do apart from exploring the page. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 06:57, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

So I just stumbled upon this and it seems to be exactly as other commentors have theorised: as you read previous comics more stuff gets added to the page. There seems to be some kind of backpack mechanic where you collect items from previous ones somehow, but, perhaps because I've already read all previous comics, that didn't seem to work for me. Instead I just had to click the link above the backpack, which opened the comic in a new tab, and it had a bunch of stuff there. We may need to co-ordinate to figure out if different people end up with different sets of items, and to ensure we have all of them, but I think other than that it should be just a cut and dry thing of making a table with every item in it. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.202|162.158.34.202]] 07:12, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
:Hang on, mine just changed: before there was only 1 pool on the left, now there are two. I only went back to pathogens and then forwards agin. This may be harder than I thought, I'm going to start keeping a screenshot log of actions vs. results. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:17, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
:You may need to try xkcd.com instead of www.xkcd.com - there seems to be an issue with the latter at the moment. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.216|162.158.255.216]] 07:18, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
::Hold up it changed again! This time without a reload! [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:28, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
:::It seems to change periodically, the url does change everytime. New stuff always seems to be added, not old stuff rremoved. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:28, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
::::The URL is related to the coordinates, it changes when you pan the image. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:34, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
::::Timings seem to be random, working on double checking that rn. Highest first number so far is 1127, once it switches agin I'm going to experiement with manually editing the url.

I was briefly able to do things. Open the archieve, navigate it to one of the comics, that are hinted for (e.g. compiling or iata) and when viewing that comic I get a lootbox, with an image I can then place in the 2288. It worked twice, and now it doesn't again... neither with those that have worked before, nor with others I am fairly sure have been placed by other people. (such as galilean moons) --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:21, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
:I'm working on assembling an image log, wonder if we could compare? Also, the two number url could be useful, rn I'm on -1378, -152 [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:25, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
::What do you mean by compare? Also the URL is related to the coordinates, it changes when you pan the image. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:34, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
:::Yh just got that, is that the same for other panning comics (I'm a little new)? And I was wondering if the comic changed per person/system like certain previous comics. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:40, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
::::Just seen a previous comment from you saying it doesn't change cross-system. However, it definetely changes with time, so the question is whether that's per user or done on a sort of universal clock, so we all unlock the same new content at the same time.
:::::I didn't complete writing up the thing I was able to do above... after opening the lootbox I got one image related to the comic I opened in my backpack and was able to place that in the actual 2288, where it now is placed. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:50, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
::::::For me that didn't happen, it started with a loading screen type thing, and then objects just started appearing seemingly at random. I've also noticed some of them dissapear. I feel like the best course of action would be to start with a table of all the different objects, and then see if we can figure out when/why they appear later.
::::::: At least 2 objects appeared, because I placed them. It is a colaboration of many xkcd readers to do this world building here. I placed one of the sword fights around #439,-181 and the non-inverted kite at #-1679,-290 . --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:55, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
::::::::Do you agree that the best course of action would therefore be a table with all the items? [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 08:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
:::::::::Not a big fan of tables, unless there really is content of muliple categories to be entered for one line. A list would do fine I guess? Also I find lists easier to work with. Or what would be the columns you'd set up? --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:08, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
::::::::::Something along the lines of the comic that it's a reference to, an image, and an explanation. Do we know if you find the same sticker at the same comic every time? If so, then that. A list would work well too. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 08:12, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
::::::::::From looking at what image URLs don't 404, it looks like there are 253 stickers, which is quite a lot for a table.[[User:Matthias1|Matthias1]] ([[User talk:Matthias1|talk]]) 10:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
:::::I think we can unlock new elements by reading older comics (seemingly at random, it doesn't work with every comic read) and that everyone can see the changes once they are put on the global picture. If someone could check, I have put berret guy and his goat around (5000,0)
::::::Yep, he's there. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 08:01, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

I almost feel like someone needs to show them this xkcd... https://xkcd.com/169/

It seems to be an interactive canvas. You can find stickers in chests on specific comics and put them in your backpack, and then when you come back here you can choose where to put them on the canvas. The hints in the empty backpack are cryptic references to comics. {{unsigned ip|162.158.107.85}}
:Yep, I figured the same thing, but for me it only worked twice (fly from wtf to lol was a reference to the iata thing and compiling was a reference to the compiling one) - but it didn't work again. Also: Some of the placed images are clearly references to what-if. Like the squirrel on top of an AK47 or the yoda powering an IPOD. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:59, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

I've made a catalog of the stickers but it's only partial because stuff keeps appearing: https://photos.app.goo.gl/dPYeYVpGqu5tqGTt5 [[User:Lev|Lev]] ([[User talk:Lev|talk]]) 08:02, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

I got it. I wrote the steps on reddit and included some screenshots. Feel free to use it to edit this page https://old.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/fu1dt0/xkcd_2288_collectors_edition/fmaqp1w/ [[User:Ufolicker|Ufolicker]] ([[User talk:Ufolicker|talk]]) 09:27, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

Am I too late to participate in this or am I doing something wrong? Where is this hint supposed to appear? I only see an empty backpack and the canvas on which references to different comics are placed. No comic I've visited, either inspired by references on the canvas, nor by random selection has any chest or other interactive components to it. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 09:53, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
:No, you're doing it right. Hints show up in the backpack area. Obviously no one is sure of anything, but even users who have seen hints have reported not seeing hints on a different browser/device. I suspect something similar to [https://xkcd.com/1037/ Umwelt], where different hints are shown to different people. And I think once a chest is picked up, it stops appearing to everyone that could see it, but that's a guess.[[User:Matthias1|Matthias1]] ([[User talk:Matthias1|talk]]) 10:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
::Ok, I was unsure because on my windows 10 laptop I have yet to see a hint. I've tried chrome, firefox and internet explorer. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 11:09, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
:::Finally got it to work in Safari in iOS [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 11:13, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
::::That's really great, Bischoff, we were worried about you. Care to share how you did it, for the benefit of others? [[User:Jimmbo|Jimmbo]] ([[User talk:Jimmbo|talk]]) 14:19, 4 April 2020 (UTC)
::::I took part in the scavenger hunt and about 2 hours ago it stopped showing hints. So I assume it shut down and there is nothing to do anymore.¯\_(ツ)_/¯ [[User:Curse|Curse]] ([[User talk:Curse|talk]]) 15:15, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
:::::I think everybody gets a limited number of hints, and once you've found them all it won't show any more to you, but other people can still get hints. [[User:Pelosujamo|Pelosujamo]] ([[User talk:Pelosujamo|talk]]) 20:09, 4 April 2020 (UTC)
::::::Nope, it's not that. I visited this comic for the first time today, and no hints for me at all. [[User:Dansiman|Dansiman]] ([[User talk:Dansiman|talk]]) 14:16, 5 April 2020 (UTC)

When I view the comic, I don't see the closed box - the screen is absolutely full of stickers. I've not done any scavenger hunting (I'd upload an image, but I don't have permissions to do so) [[User:Kvetch|Kvetch]] ([[User talk:Kvetch|talk]]) 11:10, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

Hints I've seen so far: "The first one was funnier" (chest appeared in comic 1, contained I'm a turtle);
"418 I'm a teapot"
"26th September, 1983" (comic 2052, Stanislav Petrov Day, white dove); [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.135|172.69.134.135]] 11:20, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

Perhaps a table for found chests with no attached hints? I've stumbled across a few but don't know if they're hinted at or not :). [[User:Deranged|Deranged]] ([[User talk:Deranged|talk]]) 11:54, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
:Maybe add a line to the table with a blank first box, the link in the second box, empty third box? Someone will match it up. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.37|162.158.166.37]] 12:21, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

"Churchill's gonna have to rehydrate" is Nothing to Offer. Can't remember what number, I think 1148?

In other news, the bad ads are back ([[Talk:2220: Imagine Going Back in Time/Ads|previous discussion]]) - who's in charge of dealing with them anyway? [[User:Arcorann|Arcorann]] ([[User talk:Arcorann|talk]]) 12:25, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

Could someone post an image showing what it looks like to find a chest on a comic? I've browsed to some of the comics referenced as having chests but couldn't see one so far. Thanks![[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.13|141.101.69.13]] 12:54, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
:I've uploaded a few images on https://imgur.com/gallery/4q1QIW5. Can't upload them here yet, new account [[User:Madsmtm|madsmtm]] ([[User talk:Madsmtm|talk]]) 13:24, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

"The other side of the wardrobe", someone's put in the solution [[2218: Wardrobe]]; but I also found the chest on [[665: Prudence]]. Can there be multiple solutions to the same hint? [[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 13:00, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

Is anyone else having issues with things just not working? I clicked around a bit, it gave me the award in being very smart, and now won't give me any hints or chests. [[User:Crazymachinefan|Crazymachinefan]] ([[User talk:Crazymachinefan|talk]]) 13:57, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
::I am also not getting any hints anymore after getting one chest.[[User:Eesley|Eesley]] ([[User talk:Eesley|talk]]) 14:01, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
:::Nope, nothing to get anymore. [[User:Curse|Curse]] ([[User talk:Curse|talk]]) 15:15, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

The "Was it a rat I saw" hint is probably [[1632: Palindrome]]. I haven't gotten the hint yet, so I can't confirm. [[User:Nvaiko24|Nvaiko24]] ([[User talk:Nvaiko24|talk]]) 14:12, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

Interestingly, the [[1110: Click and Drag]] disables the backpack overlay. Also, anyone have any news on how to get the Go Big to Go Small hint?

I got the "First annual award for excellence in being very smart" on page 7, rather than 179 as stated above. Can't remember what the hint was. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.222|162.158.34.222]] 14:26, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

Found that award on comic 7, too. And "Researchers are reporting record number of sharks (loot 159) on comic 1368, but I'll be damned if I know the hint. Those give me nothing [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.43|162.158.91.43]] 14:44, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

Found another one! It's a bug on a box, loot_007. From comic #442, no idea what hint goes with it. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.7|162.158.74.7]] 15:18, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

For the ooOOOooo hint, I've now gone through every comic, and none of them give a chest. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:41, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
: Well that's just ducky! I'm stuck on that hint. Any way to get the hint to change without losing my collectibles? Anonymous 02:19, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

If you scroll almost directly upward, the Y-coordinate keeps resetting to 5000 (same with downward and -5000. However, if you scroll up and to the side with a slope of less than 1, you eventually get to this URL: https://xkcd.com/#-Infinity,-Infinity which just has the word "[LOADING_]" hand-drawn. -- brad
: I think that's just Javascript floatingpoint math for ya. The loading image just appears while it is trying to load in new tiles --[[User:Jhollowe|Jhollowe]] ([[User talk:Jhollowe|talk]]) 19:11, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

I wrote a script that gives a list of all the loot images that are on the page if we want to make a complete list of loot images, and a list of images that haven't been found yet. --[[User:Jhollowe|Jhollowe]] ([[User talk:Jhollowe|talk]]) 19:11, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

Has anyone else gotten a "miniloot"? I just got "/2288/collectors/static/loot/miniloot-words-laser.png" from [[293: RTFM]] with the hint listed in the above table. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:41, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

In a private window on Firefox, I had previously seen the hint, but it's now disappeared. I got loot_109.png (which is the sheeple eye from [[1013: Wake Up Sheeple]]), and I can place it, but it stays in the inventory. Possible bug? [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:43, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
:Viewable at https://xkcd.com/2288/#453,1003, both eyes posted using the same item. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:50, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

The "tea time" hint seems a bit weird; I found it at [[579: The Race: Part 3]], and others have apparently found it at 581, 578, 479 and maybe elsewhere. Not sure what connection any of those comics have to tea, except that 579 and 479 both have 79 in them and the image is from what-if 79. [[User:Pelosujamo|Pelosujamo]] ([[User talk:Pelosujamo|talk]]) 01:17, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

I don't know if there's an element of "the clue you get depends on the clues you answered"..? Yesterday, when I first visited, it seemed to be giving different hints as I scrolled through/jumped around the comics looking for the answers to earlier hints. Now (after finding three, confirmed as listed in the table) it's just flipping between two of the early once, the "chnace" and "fetish" ones, still undetailed in the table so I can't even cheat) leading me to believe I'm left with those two in my (personal?) 'pool' of hints, and I won't get any more until I answer one or other. Either that or I need to ''place'' my current meagre three discoveries, but I was actually wanting more first so I could be creative in combination... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.93.141|162.158.93.141]] 04:04, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

Are "oOOOoooo" and "oooooooo" different clues? I don't see the second one listed.

Unless I missed something, "Hint: Everyone deserves a second chnace" doesn't refer to a particular comic, but rather something else. I went through comics 500-2288. -- [[User:162.158.92.22|162.158.92.22]] ([[User talk:162.158.92.22|talk]]) 08:29, 4 April 2020‎ (UTC) ''(please sign your comments with <nowiki>~~</nowiki>~~)''
:Probably requires a sequence of comics to be visited in specific order, like "A new model released each year" or "Take a ride in a barrel" [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 11:29, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

Random question--is there a way to edit or delete items once they have been placed? This world is pretty messy.... -- [[User:162.158.74.65|162.158.74.65]] ([[User talk:162.158.74.65|talk]]) 14:12, 4 April 2020‎ ''(please sign your comments with <nowiki>~~</nowiki>~~)''

I had these hints (along with 2 other) hints: oOOOoooo, Keep coming back, Everyone deserves a second chance. I have visited ''every'' comic and every series on [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Comic_series this list], forwards and backwards, and none of them was awarded. They are either glitched or have very unusual requirements. Maybe something with one of the interactive comics? (I even tried collecting all coins in Hoverboard!) Maybe there is something that Randall considers a series but this wiki doesn't? Something else altogether (visit the same comic a number of times, return after elapsed time...)? I am giving up, if someone gets one of these and is up to the challenge, good luck, hopefully I helped a bit with getting a small list of things not to try. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 14:58, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

== Browser agent related issues: Post what browser (Chrome, Firefox; mobile, desktop) you are using here & what issues (if any) you experience when interacting with this comic. ==

On Chrome version 80.0.3987.162 in mobile view, only "Collector's Edition" appears for me. The comic is not scrollable or interactive, & the backpack does not appear. In desktop view, the collectively added content appears, as does the backpack. (I have not tested whether I can add things, yet.)
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 13:52, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

On Chrome version 80.0.3987.163 on desktop, the hint doesn't seem to appear. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:41, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

Firefox 74.0 on desktop - looks like I don't get any hints. Everything else seems to be fine. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.98|162.158.92.98]] 19:59, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

:Apologies if this has been covered, but if you right-click-->inspect the backpack area, can you see the hint in the Java script? I can't find it with Chrome running in Windows 10, but it is entirely possible I don't know how/where to look.[[User:Godzilla|Godzilla]] ([[User talk:Godzilla|talk]]) 21:38, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

On Opera, hint doesn't appear.

In Firefox I have an item in my loot box, I can scroll around the world and the text is "find an empty area". I find an empty area (Damn long way out :P ) and the text changes to "place it" or "Cancel" I can cancel OK, but place it doesn't work at all. Is this a bug or have I hit the limit of my abilities? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.86.34|172.68.86.34]] 01:05, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

:oh...wait...there is a 5 second or more delay from clicking to it appearing. May be caused by the size of the world and number of elements. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.86.34|172.68.86.34]] 01:08, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

Firefox 52.9 Windows XP Doesn't get past "loading" and cannot drag around. However, the backpack does appear and can be closed and opened. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.76|172.68.174.76]] 04:20, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

I tried Samsung browser (mobile, tablet), Chrome (mobile, desktop) and Edge (desktop). At first, only the Samsung browser on only one of the devices worked. Then it glitched, I got infinite Polish sausages and no more hints. It unglitched after deleting browser data. Then glitched after deleting browser data gain (I was stuck and wanted fresh batch of hints, karma is a bitch, I guess). Then it started working again after clearing browser data few more time. Then, on one occasion, I got a set of hints on desktop Chrome in incognito mode. Something weird is going on related to cookies, it seems. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 07:35, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

FireFox/Ubuntu, nothing is working. No bag, no hint, whatever.

Firefox/Chromium on Ububntu, I seem to see evertything, it looks like this for example: https://ibb.co/BL1gDvX or https://ibb.co/PCByw8f (all add-ons disabled, chrome in standard settings)

== Screenshots ==

Since this appears to be a time-limited event, I decided it would be good idea to save some screenshots for posterity. I have uploaded several screenshots:
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_hint_1.png
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_hint_2.png
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_chest.png
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_chest_open.png
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_place_item.png
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_place_item_cant.png
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_place_item_kitty.png

Add them to the article as you see fit. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 09:29, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

== Spelling ==

I've moved this from [[2288: Collectors Edition]] to [[2288: Collector's Edition]], which is both the correct spelling and the one used on xkcd; but was it misspelled on xkcd earlier, or did the typo originate here? [[User:Pelosujamo|Pelosujamo]] ([[User talk:Pelosujamo|talk]]) 20:09, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

New Comic:

I don't know if anyone has noticed since it's Saturday and xkcd doesn't usually update. But there's been a new comic 22889: Scenario 4. Can someone who knows how and actually has an account add the next page for it.

Thanks,

--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.207|173.245.52.207]] 22:08, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

== Interactivity finished ==

Now that the next comic ([[2289]]) has been published it looks like the ability to interact and find chests has ended. This is going to make it quite difficult to complete the table unless someone manages to reverse-engineer the code. Also noting that whilst there are >250 possible images there are only 80 hints listed in the table. It's not clear if all images were used - perhaps comparing the images in the table to those placed in the comic could help identify any that we don't have known hints for?

I was also wondering if it's worth including a thumbnail of each image in the table, and possibly a separate list of images for which the hint is not known?
[[User:A(l)Chemist|AlChemist]] ([[User talk:A(l)Chemist|talk]]) 10:15, 6 April 2020 (UTC)
:I did some quick ctrl+F in [https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/client/comic/comic.js the client codes] for comic numbers, item names etc. and it doesn't appear to contain the relevant information, must be server-side. Maybe one of the devs listed at the top of the page would leak something if asked nicely? [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 14:35, 6 April 2020 (UTC)

::I managed to extract a list of all the images used in the comic along with how many times they appear. It looks like most are used, but there are a few that aren't. [[User:A(l)Chemist|AlChemist]] ([[User talk:A(l)Chemist|talk]]) 13:27, 7 April 2020 (UTC)

{| class="wikitable"
!Image
!Number of appearances
|-
| loot/element-ae || 3
|-
| loot/element-bl || 10
|-
| loot/element-br || 9
|-
| loot/element-bz || 6
|-
| loot/element-cb || 27
|-
| loot/element-cd || 8
|-
| loot/element-cr || 8
|-
| loot/element-dl || 8
|-
| loot/element-dm || 10
|-
| loot/element-fr || 4
|-
| loot/element-gl || 13
|-
| loot/element-hr || 7
|-
| loot/element-lx || 6
|-
| loot/element-mk || 9
|-
| loot/element-mt || 13
|-
| loot/element-na || 5
|-
| loot/element-ox || 5
|-
| loot/element-pb || 3
|-
| loot/element-pl || 10
|-
| loot/element-pm || 7
|-
| loot/element-pp || 6
|-
| loot/element-rd || 27
|-
| loot/element-rg || 9
|-
| loot/element-sd || 26
|-
| loot/element-sd2 || 16
|-
| loot/element-sf || 14
|-
| loot/element-sn || 20
|-
| loot/element-spacer || 17
|-
| loot/element-st || 8
|-
| loot/element-sy || 7
|-
| loot/element-t || 16
|-
| loot/element-th || 7
|-
| loot/element-tr || 6
|-
| loot/element-uu || 14
|-
| loot/element-vy || 4
|-
| loot/element-wt || 7
|-
| loot/element-wx || 11
|-
| loot/loot_001 || 11
|-
| loot/loot_002 || 351
|-
| loot/loot_003 || 7
|-
| loot/loot_004 || 287
|-
| loot/loot_005 || 48
|-
| loot/loot_006 || 327
|-
| loot/loot_007 || 627
|-
| loot/loot_008 || 10
|-
| loot/loot_009 || 15
|-
| loot/loot_010 || 543
|-
| loot/loot_011 || 22
|-
| loot/loot_012 || 28
|-
| loot/loot_013 || 5
|-
| loot/loot_014 || 13
|-
| loot/loot_016 || 28
|-
| loot/loot_017 || 7
|-
| loot/loot_018 || 6
|-
| loot/loot_019 || 49
|-
| loot/loot_020 || 4
|-
| loot/loot_021 || 622
|-
| loot/loot_022 || 435
|-
| loot/loot_023 || 9
|-
| loot/loot_024 || 22
|-
| loot/loot_025 || 6
|-
| loot/loot_026 || 394
|-
| loot/loot_028 || 11
|-
| loot/loot_029 || 11
|-
| loot/loot_030 || 2576
|-
| loot/loot_031 || 286
|-
| loot/loot_032 || 13
|-
| loot/loot_033 || 34
|-
| loot/loot_034 || 9
|-
| loot/loot_035 || 225
|-
| loot/loot_036 || 279
|-
| loot/loot_037 || 320
|-
| loot/loot_038 || 306
|-
| loot/loot_039 || 18
|-
| loot/loot_040 || 11
|-
| loot/loot_041 || 480
|-
| loot/loot_042 || 2
|-
| loot/loot_043 || 12
|-
| loot/loot_044 || 268
|-
| loot/loot_045 || 365
|-
| loot/loot_046 || 193
|-
| loot/loot_047 || 9
|-
| loot/loot_048 || 1
|-
| loot/loot_049 || 419
|-
| loot/loot_050 || 15
|-
| loot/loot_051 || 57
|-
| loot/loot_052 || 9
|-
| loot/loot_053 || 16
|-
| loot/loot_054 || 10
|-
| loot/loot_055 || 514
|-
| loot/loot_056 || 525
|-
| loot/loot_057 || 11
|-
| loot/loot_058 || 341
|-
| loot/loot_059 || 5
|-
| loot/loot_060 || 8
|-
| loot/loot_061 || 7
|-
| loot/loot_062 || 9
|-
| loot/loot_063 || 7
|-
| loot/loot_064 || 23
|-
| loot/loot_065 || 15
|-
| loot/loot_066 || 21
|-
| loot/loot_067 || 10
|-
| loot/loot_068 || 12
|-
| loot/loot_069 || 409
|-
| loot/loot_070 || 8
|-
| loot/loot_071 || 818
|-
| loot/loot_072 || 6
|-
| loot/loot_073 || 4
|-
| loot/loot_074 || 44
|-
| loot/loot_075 || 5
|-
| loot/loot_076 || 4
|-
| loot/loot_077 || 11
|-
| loot/loot_078 || 17
|-
| loot/loot_079 || 654
|-
| loot/loot_080 || 13
|-
| loot/loot_081 || 7
|-
| loot/loot_082 || 7
|-
| loot/loot_083 || 38
|-
| loot/loot_084 || 7
|-
| loot/loot_085 || 8
|-
| loot/loot_086 || 68
|-
| loot/loot_087 || 18
|-
| loot/loot_088 || 9
|-
| loot/loot_089 || 11
|-
| loot/loot_090 || 495
|-
| loot/loot_091 || 5
|-
| loot/loot_092 || 260
|-
| loot/loot_093 || 12
|-
| loot/loot_094 || 85
|-
| loot/loot_095 || 659
|-
| loot/loot_096 || 10
|-
| loot/loot_097 || 3
|-
| loot/loot_098 || 18
|-
| loot/loot_099 || 16
|-
| loot/loot_100 || 6
|-
| loot/loot_101 || 5
|-
| loot/loot_102 || 21
|-
| loot/loot_103 || 13
|-
| loot/loot_104 || 12
|-
| loot/loot_105 || 337
|-
| loot/loot_106 || 150
|-
| loot/loot_107 || 4
|-
| loot/loot_108 || 2
|-
| loot/loot_109 || 13
|-
| loot/loot_111 || 9
|-
| loot/loot_112 || 11
|-
| loot/loot_113 || 6
|-
| loot/loot_114 || 6
|-
| loot/loot_115 || 484
|-
| loot/loot_116 || 12
|-
| loot/loot_117 || 5
|-
| loot/loot_118 || 17
|-
| loot/loot_119 || 10
|-
| loot/loot_120 || 12
|-
| loot/loot_121 || 96
|-
| loot/loot_122 || 11
|-
| loot/loot_123 || 1
|-
| loot/loot_124 || 5
|-
| loot/loot_125 || 14
|-
| loot/loot_126 || 210
|-
| loot/loot_127 || 157
|-
| loot/loot_128 || 337
|-
| loot/loot_129 || 175
|-
| loot/loot_130 || 559
|-
| loot/loot_131 || 29
|-
| loot/loot_132 || 12
|-
| loot/loot_133 || 10
|-
| loot/loot_134 || 20
|-
| loot/loot_136 || 18
|-
| loot/loot_137 || 4
|-
| loot/loot_138 || 6
|-
| loot/loot_139 || 12
|-
| loot/loot_140 || 6
|-
| loot/loot_141 || 7
|-
| loot/loot_142 || 5
|-
| loot/loot_143 || 10
|-
| loot/loot_144 || 375
|-
| loot/loot_145 || 23
|-
| loot/loot_147 || 8
|-
| loot/loot_148 || 3
|-
| loot/loot_149 || 3
|-
| loot/loot_150 || 8
|-
| loot/loot_151 || 245
|-
| loot/loot_152 || 412
|-
| loot/loot_153 || 27
|-
| loot/loot_154 || 520
|-
| loot/loot_155 || 8
|-
| loot/loot_156 || 13
|-
| loot/loot_157 || 5
|-
| loot/loot_158 || 544
|-
| loot/loot_159 || 401
|-
| loot/loot_160 || 20
|-
| loot/loot_161 || 374
|-
| loot/loot_162 || 1241
|-
| loot/loot_163 || 356
|-
| loot/loot_164 || 10
|-
| loot/loot_165 || 7
|-
| loot/loot_166 || 25
|-
| loot/loot_167 || 676
|-
| loot/loot_168 || 11
|-
| loot/loot_169 || 15
|-
| loot/loot_170 || 9
|-
| loot/loot_171 || 29
|-
| loot/loot_172 || 14
|-
| loot/loot_173 || 63
|-
| loot/loot_174 || 39
|-
| loot/loot_175 || 664
|-
| loot/loot_176 || 12
|-
| loot/loot_177 || 2
|-
| loot/loot_178 || 20
|-
| loot/loot_179 || 10
|-
| loot/loot_180 || 39
|-
| loot/loot_181 || 9
|-
| loot/loot_182 || 8
|-
| loot/loot_183 || 10
|-
| loot/loot_184 || 13
|-
| loot/loot_185 || 310
|-
| loot/loot_186 || 1
|-
| loot/loot_187 || 9
|-
| loot/loot_188 || 8
|-
| loot/loot_189 || 1
|-
| loot/loot_190 || 3
|-
| loot/loot_191 || 445
|-
| loot/loot_192 || 642
|-
| loot/loot_193 || 2
|-
| loot/loot_194 || 1
|-
| loot/loot_195 || 379
|-
| loot/loot_196 || 4
|-
| loot/loot_197 || 456
|-
| loot/loot_198 || 21
|-
| loot/loot_199 || 5
|-
| loot/loot_200 || 7
|-
| loot/loot_201 || 10
|-
| loot/loot_202 || 48
|-
| loot/loot_203 || 184
|-
| loot/loot_204 || 19
|-
| loot/loot_205 || 411
|-
| loot/loot_206 || 53
|-
| loot/loot_207 || 14
|-
| loot/loot_208 || 10
|-
| loot/loot_209 || 429
|-
| loot/loot_210 || 308
|-
| loot/loot_211 || 5
|-
| loot/loot_212 || 9
|-
| loot/loot_213 || 10
|-
| loot/loot_214 || 206
|-
| loot/loot_215 || 15
|-
| loot/loot_216 || 548
|-
| loot/loot_217 || 13
|-
| loot/loot_218 || 9
|-
| loot/loot_219 || 9
|-
| loot/loot_220 || 9
|-
| loot/loot_221 || 10
|-
| loot/loot_222 || 4
|-
| loot/loot_223 || 6
|-
| loot/loot_224 || 9
|-
| loot/loot_225 || 6
|-
| loot/loot_226 || 6
|-
| loot/loot_227 || 13
|-
| loot/loot_228 || 258
|-
| loot/loot_229 || 343
|-
| loot/loot_230 || 23
|-
| loot/loot_231 || 7
|-
| loot/loot_232 || 110
|-
| loot/loot_233 || 10
|-
| loot/loot_234 || 27
|-
| loot/loot_235 || 28
|-
| loot/loot_236 || 2
|-
| loot/loot_237 || 395
|-
| loot/loot_239 || 46
|-
| loot/loot_240 || 8
|-
| loot/loot_241 || 14
|-
| loot/loot_242 || 4
|-
| loot/loot_243 || 5
|-
| loot/loot_244 || 4
|-
| loot/loot_245 || 240
|-
| loot/loot_246 || 254
|-
| loot/loot_247 || 398
|-
| loot/loot_248 || 18
|-
| loot/loot_249 || 3
|-
| loot/loot_250 || 4
|-
| loot/loot_251 || 7
|-
| loot/loot_252 || 8
|-
| loot/loot_253 || 563
|-
| loot/loot_div || 31
|-
| loot/loot_equals || 76
|-
| loot/loot_minus || 34
|-
| loot/loot_plus || 79
|-
| loot/loot_sqrt || 35
|-
| loot/loot_times || 56
|-
| loot/loot-words-birdlike || 9
|-
| loot/loot-words-boat || 3
|-
| loot/loot-words-castle || 4
|-
| loot/loot-words-cat || 3
|-
| loot/loot-words-cinematic || 1
|-
| loot/loot-words-collector || 3
|-
| loot/loot-words-cursed || 3
|-
| loot/loot-words-cycle || 3
|-
| loot/loot-words-doctor || 7
|-
| loot/loot-words-eater || 1
|-
| loot/loot-words-electric || 2
|-
| loot/loot-words-eruption || 3
|-
| loot/loot-words-farm || 4
|-
| loot/loot-words-flock || 2
|-
| loot/loot-words-flying || 1
|-
| loot/loot-words-free || 4
|-
| loot/loot-words-gamma || 1
|-
| loot/loot-words-ghost || 4
|-
| loot/loot-words-hair || 4
|-
| loot/loot-words-harry-potter-and-the || 2
|-
| loot/loot-words-horse || 5
|-
| loot/loot-words-imminent || 5
|-
| loot/loot-words-inspector || 1
|-
| loot/loot-words-ionized || 3
|-
| loot/loot-words-jet || 2
|-
| loot/loot-words-laser || 4
|-
| loot/loot-words-launcher || 3
|-
| loot/loot-words-lifelike || 2
|-
| loot/loot-words-ominous || 2
|-
| loot/loot-words-plasma || 2
|-
| loot/loot-words-sale || 5
|-
| loot/loot-words-sudden || 3
|-
| loot/loot-words-surprise || 10
|-
| loot/loot-words-swarm || 1
|-
| loot/loot-words-sword || 4
|-
| loot/loot-words-teleporter || 4
|-
| loot/loot-words-turtle || 5
|-
| loot/loot-words-unlicensed || 2
|-
| loot/loot-words-vortex || 4
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-birdlike || 12
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-boat || 16
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-castle || 18
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-cat || 7
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-cinematic || 21
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-collector || 8
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-cursed || 15
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-cycle || 7
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-dispenser || 4
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-doctor || 6
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-eater || 12
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-electric || 10
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-eruption || 6
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-farm || 6
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-flock || 4
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-flying || 12
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-free || 5
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-gamma || 12
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-ghost || 14
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-hair || 6
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-harry-potter-and-the || 11
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-horse || 25
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-house || 12
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-imminent || 14
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-inspector || 10
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-ionized || 17
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-jet || 13
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-laser || 8
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-launcher || 11
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-lifelike || 49
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-ominous || 9
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-plasma || 10
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-sale || 7
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-sudden || 10
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-surprise || 9
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-swarm || 9
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-sword || 19
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-teleporter || 12
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-turtle || 36
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-unlicensed || 7
|-
| loot/miniloot-words-vortex || 12
|-
| loot/transparent || 30
|}

Talk:2288: Collector's Edition

2020-04-06T10:15:01Z

A(l)Chemist: /* Interactivity finished */ new section

2288: Collector's Edition

2020-04-04T10:47:35Z

A(l)Chemist: /* Hints */

{{comic
| number = 2288
| date = April 3, 2020
| title = Collectors Edition
| image = collectors_edition.png
| titletext = I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. The hint table needs to be completed. The mechanics should be explained more in depth, if possible, screenshots of the hints, items in inventory, items-placing mechanics etc. should be added.}}

This is an April 1st comic. It is a large image, of which only part is visible, but it can be dragged around. This Space acts as a virtual common sandbox where viewers can interact. "Items" (small, often humorous images) can be 'collected' from other comics and then placed in this image by viewers. The collection then updates for all viewers in real-time. Multiples of the same item are often seen.

There is a "backpack" at the bottom, similar to "backpacks" in video games containing items collected by the player. Items can be found by visiting different XKCD comics/pages. Randomly, some pages will have a treasure chest which will contain the sticker related to the page. It is believed that the hint represents what page currently has a chest.

The sticker images can be seen at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot_</nowiki>'''XXX'''.png, where XXX is a number from 001-253. Additionally, some images can be found at custom URLs, for example the periodic elements can be found at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/element-</nowiki>'''XX'''.png, where XX is the element, and text loot at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot-words-</nowiki>'''X'''.png, where X is the sentence.

===Hints===

{| class="wikitable"
!Hint
!Comic
!Unlocked item
!Item image
!Notes
|-
|Doctors in a row||Maybe [[1529: Bracket]] or [[497: Secretary: Part 4]]? Need confirmation.||Cory Doctorow || loot_019.png || These comics all have the same hint, but only one will have the chest
|-
|Get out the (US) vote||[[2224: Software Updates]]|| Statue of liberty || loot_246.png ||
|-
|Find a box of nice stuff on a picture with words like these|| [[1133: Up Goer Five]] (maybe incomplete) || Signpost || loot_126.png ||
|-
|Plug in or find another power source||[[1373: Screenshot]]|| || loot_228.png ||
|-
|Sweet dreams, kitty||[[729: Laser Pointer]] (maybe incomplete)|| Cat licking laser point || loot_090.png ||
|-
|What is this hint pointing to? Hell if I know.||[[28: Elefino]] (maybe incomplete)|| || ||
|-
|Somebody set up us the bomb||[[286: All Your Base]]||Exploding rock || loot_197.png ||
|-
|Cowabunga||[[1412: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] (maybe incomplete)||Women Science Fiction Authors || loot_175.png || [[197: Ninja Turtles]] also works
|-
|I want to believe||[[2156: Ufo]]||Ufo || loot_210.png ||
|-
|Bleeped||[[1671: Arcane Bullshit]] (maybe incomplete)|| *$@#! || loot_044.png ||
|-
|why waste time say few word when lot word do trick||[[1022: So It Has Come To This]] (maybe incomplete)|| First Annual Award for Excellence in Being Very Smart || loot_159.png ||
|-
|Cooler than electric scooters||[[409: Electric Skateboard (Double Comic)]] (maybe incomplete)||An electric scooter|| loot_006.png ||
|-
|Take it from the top||[[1: Barrel - Part 1]] (maybe incomplete)||I am a turtle from [[889: Turtles]] || loot_095.png ||
|-
|I accept the yucca gnocchi, this meal is a success!||[[1713: 50 ccs]] (maybe incomplete)||Man carrying parentheses from [[297: Lisp Cycles]] || loot_031.png ||
|-
|Catch up on the news||[[1699: Local News]] (maybe incomplete)|| || ||
|-
|Participation trophy||[[2288: Collectors Edition]] (maybe incomplete)|| Server rack || loot_096.png ||
|-
|Find an opportunity for a sojourn||[[1504: Opportunity]] (maybe incomplete)||Opportunity Mars rover from [[2111: Opportunity Rover]] || loot_161.png ||
|-
|Tastier than tau day||[[179: e to the pi times i]] (maybe incomplete)||First annual award for excellence in being very smart || loot_159.png ||
|-
|Tastier than tau day||[[1967: Violin Plots]] (maybe incomplete)|| Pie sign || loot_056.png || Published on Pi day
|-
|418 I'm a teapot||[[1866: Russell's Teapot]] (maybe incomplete)||S.S. NASA: Space is Hard || loot_216.png ||
|-
|26th September, 1983||[[2052: Stanislav Petrov Day]]||White dove || loot_205.png || Might also be written "September 26th, 1983". Locale dependent?
|-
|There are 4241 as of Apr 1, 2020||[[1071: Exoplanets]] (maybe incomplete)|| Little girl from [[2264: Satellite]] || loot_151.png ||
|-
|asableiK||[[645: RPS]]|| A reverse Polish hotdog || loot_079.png || "Kielbasa" backwards, which is "sausage" in Polish
|-
|Critical mass elements||[[235: Kite]] or [[239: Blagofaire]]|| || loot_203.png ||
|-
|Some Februarys are more equal than others||[[390: Nightmares]]? (maybe incomplete)|| Cueball wheelie from [[272: Linux User at Best Buy]] || loot_036.png || Comic-hint connection largely conjectural; 390 was the first comic published on a leap day.
|-
|Five spice||[[1511: Spice Girl]] or [[1554: Spice Girls]]|| Rock guitarist || loot_022.png||
|-
|Call the plumber||[[290: Fucking Blue Shells]] (maybe incomplete)|| || loot_058.png ||
|-
|Was it a rat I saw?||[[1632: Palindrome]] (maybe incomplete)|| Cueball with a large sack, pulling a wagon || loot_103.png || or [[1503: Squirrel Plan]] for cueball holding a balloon caught in a ceiling fan.
|-
|Churchill's gonna have to seriously rehydrate||[[1148: Nothing to Offer]]|| Bottle of soda || loot_045.png ||
|-
|Keep coming back|| || || ||
|-
|A new model released each year||Triggered by visiting all xkcd phone comics|| || ||
|-
|Tea Time||Maybe [[581: The Race: Part 5]]? Need confirmation.||Floor tea ||loot_232.png||
|-
|Try pattern-matching! Look for comic 'bout alphabet?||[[1045: Constraints]]||Two Tetris blocks||loot_092.png||
|-
|Where's Hilbert?||[[195: Map of the Internet]] (maybe incomplete)|| Hilbert Curve || loot_021.png ||
|-
|Science fiction fetish||[[1585: Similarities]]|| || ||
|-
|The first one was funnier||[[11: Barrel - Part 2]] (maybe incomplete)||Falling feather / Sign "The uncomfortable truths well" || loot_250.png / loot_067.png ||
|-
|It's up to over 260 million cycles!||[[1941: Dying Gift]]|| Megan on a tire swing || loot_127.png ||
|-
|Sleeping Beauty is the same everywhere though||[[2233: Aurora Meaning]] (maybe incomplete)|| Sleeping Cat || loot_163.png ||
|-
|On the internet, nobody knows you're an arachnid||[[1530: Keyboard Mash]] (maybe incomplete)|| Cobwebbed frame from [[1135: Arachnoneurology]]|| loot_191.png ||
|-
|Did James Cameron pay for the rice cooker too?||[[1598: Salvage]] (maybe incomplete)||Rice bowl || loot_152.png ||
|-
|Never going to give you up||[[524: Party]] or [[351: Trolling]] (maybe incomplete)|| Cueball in car listening to music || ||
|-
|If red touches yellow, that's 24 ohms||[[1604: Snakes]], [[227: Color Codes]]? (maybe incomplete)|| Yoda with an mp3 player from What If || loot_247.png ||
|-
|An enthusiastic but questionable business opportunity||[[1533: Antique Factory]] or [[1021: Business Plan]] (maybe incomplete)|| Beret guy with a goat on leash || loot_115.png ||
|-
|Read the fine manual||[[1343: Manuals]] or [[293: RTFM]] (maybe incomplete)|| "Configure the network" window with a prompt for hostname || loot_106.png ||
|-
|That thing's undecimodal!||[[1347: t Distribution]] (maybe incomplete)|| Floating tentacled alien || loot_209.png ||
|-
|Actually, it's Myanmar-Shave now||[[491: Twitter]] (maybe incomplete)||Expensive bottle || loot_253.png ||
|-
|You don't have to find all 99||[[121: Balloon]] (maybe incomplete)||Balloon copter || loot_002.png || Or [[51: Malaria]] ?
|-
|Going in circles||[[378: Real Programmers]] (maybe incomplete)|| Cueball spinning in desk chair || loot_098.png ||
|-
|Couldn't you try knitting, or maybe stamp collecting?||[[2123: Meta Collecting]] (maybe incomplete)||Phishing License sign|| loot_158.png ||
|-
|It's the ciiiiircle of HONK||[[537: Ducklings]] or [[1729: Migrating Geese]]||DUCKLOOP'D? || loot_069.png||
|-
|Fool me twice||Maybe [[880: Headache]]? Need confirmation.|| Raptor Attack || loot_033.png ||The second April fools' comic
|-
|oOOOoooo||Maybe [[316: Loud Sex]]? Need confirmation.|| Sleeping cat || ||
|-
|Maybe we can ask for new wishes||[[879: Lamp]]||Genie and his bottle ||loot_004.png || If you place the genie last, you get another genie (indefinitely)
|-
|HACK THE PLANET||[[1337: Hack]] (maybe incomplete)|| Crash and Burn in the pool from the end of ''Hackers'' || loot_130.png ||
|-
|Monetization haute couteur||
[[20: Ferret]] (maybe incomplete)
||Two bags of money ||loot_162.png||
|-
|Maybe writing a script would help||[[1319: Automation]]|| || ||
|-
|Go big to go small||[[1365: Inflation]]|| || loot_245.png ||
|-
|Are you projecting||[[850: World According to Americans]] or [[977: Map Projections]] (maybe incomplete)||Squirrel on a gun||loot_237.png||
|-
|Do spiders really have six legs||[[8: Red spiders]] (maybe incomplete)|| || ||
|-
|Istanbul or Constantinople or St. Trimble's Island?||[[1688: Map Age Guide]]||Cephalopod || loot_071.png ||
|-
|Another rulebook?||[[393: Ultimate Game]]|| Merlin in a chair from [[270: Merlin]] || loot_037.png ||
|-
|Moooooon||[[1300: Galilean Moons]] or [[1291: Shoot for the Moon]] (maybe incomplete)|| MOOOOOON || loot_192.png ||
|-
|Take a flight from LOL to FFS||[[1937: IATA Airport Abbreviations]]|| || ||
|-
|Everyone deserves a second chnace||All comics searched, no matches|| || ||The misspelling is intentional. [[745: Dyslexics]] would have been a good fit
|-
|Community contribution||[[824: Guest Week: Bill Amend (FoxTrot)]], [[825: Guest Week: Jeffrey Rowland (Overcompensating)]], [[826: Guest Week: Zach Weiner (SMBC)]] (maybe incomplete) || [Citation Needed] protester from [[285: Wikipedian Protester]] || loot_035.png ||
|-
|On the other side of the wardrobe||[[665: Prudence]], [[969: Delta-P]] or [[2218: Wardrobe]] (maybe incomplete)||Authentic Reindeer pulling sled from [[1776: Reindeer]] || loot_154.png ||
|-
|Today's your lucky day||[[1053: Ten Thousand]] (maybe incomplete)|| Ms. Frizzle || loot_105.png ||
|-
|[This hint has been redacted due to a copyright claim]||[[1005: SOPA]]|| || ||
|-
|Try a different approach||[[55: Useless]] (maybe incomplete)|| Equals sign || loot_times.png, loot_div.png ||
|-
|The cake is a lie!||[[606: Cutting Edge]]|| Cake || loot_144.png ||
|-
|Joanna, fire.||[[322: Pix Plz]]|| Joanna with EMP cannon || loot_026.png ||
|-
|Everything changes from time to time when the fire nation attacks|| [[965: Elements]] || Symposium || ||
|-
|90KG x 300M||[[382: Trebuchet]]|| Trebuchet || loot_041.png ||
|-
|Copyright Enforcement Brigade||[[344: 1337: Part 4]]|| || loot_046.png ||
|-
|Where Cape Town meets Chukotka||[[1500: Upside-Down Map]]|| Crater || ||
|-
|Take a ride in a barrel||View all five barrel comics in reverse order ([[31]], [[25]], [[22]], [[11]], [[1]])|| Cueball at the door to the playpen-ball-filled apartment from [[150: Grownups]] || loot_005.png ||
|-
|Compiling...||[[303: Compiling]]|| || ||
|-
| || [[2288: Collectors Edition]] || Sheeple eye || loot_109.png ||
|-
| || [[2288: Collectors Edition]] || Time machine from [[1747: Spider Paleontology]] || loot_167.png ||
|}

==Trivia==
* This comic is the 2020 April Fools comic and was supposed to be released April 1st. However, the below message was displayed on the top of the page until early Friday (April 3rd) morning, when the comic finally went live. It remains to be seen if Friday's intended comic will be published later.
<blockquote>
Note: For technical reasons Wednesday's comic will be posted Thursday instead. Apologies for the delay!
</blockquote>
* Placement is limited to 10,000 units from the origin. Users will receive no messages if they try placing something outside the boundary.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball stands to the left of a vibrating box.]
:[The words "Collector's Edition" are written above him and boxed.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:April fools' comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Interactive comics]]

2288: Collector's Edition

2020-04-03T20:15:12Z

A(l)Chemist: /* Hints */

{{comic
| number = 2288
| date = April 3, 2020
| title = Collectors Edition
| image = collectors_edition.png
| titletext = I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is an April 1st comic. It is a large image, of which only part is visible, but it can be dragged around. This Space acts as a virtual common sandbox where viewers can interact. "Items" (small, often humorous images) can be 'collected' from other comics and then placed in this image by viewers. The collection then updates for all viewers in real-time. Multiples of the same item are often seen.

There is a "backpack" at the bottom, similar to "backpacks" in video games containing items collected by the player. Items can be found by visiting different XKCD comics/pages. Randomly, some pages will have a treasure chest which will contain the sticker related to the page. It is believed that the hint represents what page currently has a chest.

The sticker images can be seen at https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot_XXX.png, where XXX is a number from 001-253. Additionally, some images can be found at custom URLs, for example the periodic elements can be found at https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/element-XX.png, where XX is the element, and text loot at https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot-words-X.png, where X is the sentence.

===Hints===

{| class="wikitable"
!Hint
!Comic
!Unlocked item
!Item image
!Notes
|-
|Doctors in a row||[[1529: Bracket]] ||Cory Doctorow || loot_019.png ||
|-
|Get out the (US) vote|| [[2224: Software Updates]] || Statue of liberty || loot_246.png ||
|-
|Find a box of nice stuff on a picture with words like these|| [[1133: Up Goer Five]] || Signpost || loot_126.png ||
|-
|Plug in or find another power source||[[1373: Screenshot]] || || loot_228.png ||
|-
|Sweet dreams, kitty||[[729: Laser Pointer]] || Cat licking laser point || loot_090.png ||
|-
|What is this hint pointing to? Hell if I know.||[[28: Elefino]] || || ||
|-
|Somebody set up us the bomb||[[286: All Your Base]] ||Exploding rock || ||
|-
|Cowabunga||[[1412: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] ||Women Science Fiction Authors || loot_175.png || [[197: Ninja Turtles]] also works
|-
|I want to believe||[[2156: Ufo]] ||Ufo || ||
|-
|Bleeped||[[1671: Arcane Bullshit]]|| *$@#! || loot_044.png ||
|-
|why waste time say few word when lot word do trick||[[1022: So It Has Come To This]] || First Annual Award for Excellence in Being Very Smart || loot_159.png ||
|-
|Cooler than electric scooters||[[409: Electric Skateboard (Double Comic)]]||An electric scooter|| loot_006.png ||
|-
|Take it from the top||[[1: Barrel - Part 1]] ||I am a turtle from [[889: Turtles]] || loot_095.png ||
|-
|I accept the yucca gnocchi, this meal is a success!||[[1713: 50 ccs]] ||Man carrying parentheses from [[297: Lisp Cycles]] || loot_031.png ||
|-
|Catch up on the news|| [[1699: Local News]] || || ||
|-
|Participation trophy|| [[2288: Collectors Edition]] || Server rack || loot_096.png ||
|-
|Find an opportunity for a sojourn||[[1504: Opportunity]] ||Opportunity Mars rover || ||
|-
|Tastier than tau day||[[179: e to the pi times i]] ||First annual award for excellence in being very smart || loot_159.png ||
|-
|Tastier than tau day||[[1967:Violin Plots]] || Pie sign || loot_056.png || Published on Pi day
|-
|418 I'm a teapot||[[1866: Russell's Teapot]] ||S.S. NASA: Space is Hard || ||
|-
|26th September, 1983||[[2052: Stanislav Petrov Day]] ||White dove || ||
|-
|There are 4241 as of Apr 1, 2020|| [[1071: Exoplanets]] || Little girl from [[2264: Satellite]] || loot_151.png ||
|-
|asableiK|| [[645: RPS]] || A reverse Polish hotdog || || "Kielbasa" backwards, which is "sausage" in Polish
|-
|Critical mass elements|| [[235: Kite]] || || loot_203.png ||
|-
|Some Februarys are more equal than others|| [[390: Nightmares]]? || Cueball wheelie from [[272: Linux User at Best Buy]] || || Comic-hint connection largely conjectural; 390 was the first comic published on a leap day.
|-
|Five spice||[[1554: Spice Girls]]|| Rock guitarist || loot_022.png||
|-
|Call the plumber|| [[290: Fucking Blue Shells]] || || loot_058.png ||
|-
|Was it a rat I saw?|| [[1632: Palindrome]] || Cueball with a large sack, pulling a wagon || loot_103.png || or [[1503: Squirrel Plan]] for cueball holding a balloon caught in a ceiling fan.
|-
|Churchill's gonna have to seriously rehydrate||[[1148: Nothing to Offer]]|| Bottle of soda || loot_045.png ||
|-
|Keep coming back|| || || ||
|-
|A new model released each year|| || || || https://xkcd.com/1363/ ? and/or other XKCD Phone comics?
|-
|Tea Time||[[581: The Race: Part 5]] ||Floor tea ||loot_232.png||
|-
|Try pattern-matching! Look for comic 'bout alphabet?||[[1045: Constraints]] || || ||
|-
|Where's Hilbert?||[[195: Map of the Internet]] || Hilbert Curve || loot_021.png ||
|-
|Science fiction fetish|| || || ||
|-
|The first one was funnier||[[11: Barrel - Part 2]]||Falling feather || ||
|-
|It's up to over 260 million cycles!||[[1941: Dying Gift]] || Megan on a tire swing || ||
|-
|Sleeping Beauty is the same everywhere though||[[2233: Aurora Meaning]] || Sleeping Cat || loot_163.png ||
|-
|On the internet, nobody knows you're an arachnid|| [[1530: Keyboard Mash]] || Cobwebbed frame || ||
|-
|Did James Cameron pay for the rice cooker too?||[[1598: Salvage]] ||Rice bowl || loot_152.png ||
|-
|Never going to give you up||[[351: Trolling]] || || ||
|-
|If red touches yellow, that's 24 ohms||[[1604: Snakes]]|| Yoda with an mp3 player from What If || ||
|-
|An enthusiastic but questionable business opportunity||[[1533: Antique Factory]] or [[1021: Business Plan]]|| Beret guy with a goat on leash || loot_115.png ||
|-
|Read the fine manual|| [[1343: Manuals]] or [[293: RTFM]] || "Configure the network" window with a prompt for hostname || loot_106.png ||
|-
|That thing's undecimodal!||[[1347: t Distribution]] || Floating tentacled alien || ||
|-
|Actually, it's Myanmar-Shave now||[[491: Twitter]]||Expensive bottle || ||
|-
|You don't have to find all 99|| [[121: Balloon]] ||Balloon copter || loot_002.png || Or [[51: Malaria]] ?
|-
|Going in circles|| || || ||
|-
|Couldn't you try knitting, or maybe stamp collecting?||[[2123: Meta Collecting]]||Phishing License sign|| loot_158.png ||
|-
|It's the ciiiiircle of HONK||[[537: Ducklings]] ||DUCKLOOP'D? || loot_069.png||
|-
|Fool me twice|| [[880: Headache]] || Raptor Attack || loot_033.png ||The second April fools' comic
|-
|oOOOoooo|| || || || https://xkcd.com/316/ ? definitely not https://xkcd.com/1393/- I got that hint while On that page. ?
|-
|Maybe we can ask for new wishes||[[879: Lamp]] ||Genie and his bottle ||loot_004.png ||
|-
|HACK THE PLANET||[[1337: Hack]] || Crash and Burn in the pool from the end of ''Hackers'' || loot_130.png ||
|-
|Monetization haute couteur||[[20: Ferret]]||Two bags of money ||loot_162.png||
|-
|Maybe writing a script would help||[[1319: Automation]]|| || ||
|-
|Go big to go small|| [[1365: Inflation]] || || loot_245.png ||
|-
|Are you projecting||[[850: World According to Americans]] or [[977: Map Projections]]||Squirrel on a gun||loot_237.png||
|-
|Do spiders really have six legs||[[8: Red spiders]] || || ||
|-
|Istanbul or Constantinople or St. Trimble's Island?||[[1688: Map Age Guide]] ||Cephalopod || ||
|-
|Another rulebook?||[[393: Ultimate Game]]|| Merlin in a chair from [[270: Merlin]] || loot_037.png ||
|-
|Moooooon|| [[1300: Galilean Moons]] || MOOOOOON || ||
|-
|Take a flight from LOL to FFS|| [[1937: IATA Airport Abbreviations]] || || ||
|-
|Everyone deserves a second chnace|| || || ||
|-
|Community contribution|| [[826: Guest Week: Zach Weiner (SMBC)]] || [Citation Needed] protester from [[285: Wikipedian Protester]] || loot_035.png ||
|-
|On the other side of the wardrobe|| [[665: Prudence]] or [[969: Delta-P]] or [[2218: Wardrobe]] ||Authentic Reindeer pulling sled || loot_154.png ||
|-
|Today's your lucky day|| [[1053: Ten Thousand]] || Ms. Frizzle || loot_105.png ||
|-
|[This hint has been redacted due to a copyright claim]|| [[1005: SOPA]] || || ||
|-
|Try a different approach|| [[55: Useless]] || Equals sign || loot_times.png, loot_div.png ||
|-
|The cake is a lie!|| [[606: Cutting Edge]] || Cake || loot_144.png ||
|-
|Joanna, fire.||[[322: Pix Plz]] || Joanna with EMP cannon || loot_026.png ||
|-
|Everything changes from time to time when the fire nation attacks|| [[965: Elements]] || Symposium || ||
|-
|90KG x 300M|| [[382: Trebuchet]] || Trebuchet || loot_041.png ||
|-
|Copyright Enforcement Brigade|| [[344: 1337: Part 4]] || || loot_046.png ||
|-
|Where Cape Town meets Chukotka||[[1500: Upside-Down Map]] || || ||
|-
|Take a ride in a barrel|| || Cueball at the door to the playpen-ball-filled apartment from [[150: Grownups]] || loot_005.png || Reliably triggered by viewing all five barrel comics in reverse order ([[31]], [[25]], [[22]], [[11]], [[1]])
|-
| || [[2288: Collectors Edition]] || Sheeple eye || loot_109.png ||
|-
| || [[2288: Collectors Edition]] || Exploding planet? || loot_167.png ||
|}

==Trivia==
* This comic is the 2020 April Fools comic and was supposed to be released April 1st. However, the below message was displayed on the top of the page until early Friday (April 3rd) morning, when the comic finally went live. It remains to be seen if Friday's intended comic will be published later.
<blockquote>
Note: For technical reasons Wednesday's comic will be posted Thursday instead. Apologies for the delay!
</blockquote>
* Placement is limited to 10,000 units from the origin. Users will receive no messages if they try placing something outside the boundary.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball stands to the left of a vibrating box.]
:[The words "Collector's Edition" are written above him and boxed.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:April fools' comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Interactive comics]]

Talk:Syndication

2019-12-31T20:55:02Z

A(l)Chemist:

Where is this coming from? was this actually online in 2007? Between comics 242 and 243? --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:08, 18 November 2019 (UTC)

Can we discuss the jokes in this comic, like Belgium jokingly being considered a swear word?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.196|108.162.216.196]] 20:12, 22 November 2019 (UTC)
:I think we should. :) You are free to start a list of the items, to explain them, or a discussion here in the discussion page.

Alright, nobody has touched this for quite a while now, so I might as well. I kinda expected this page to be finished, but it is amazingly not so. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.47.234|172.68.47.234]] 09:50, 27 December 2019 (UTC)
:Hello, it is I again. I have something on my mind. I believe this comic never really was a thing. I will lay out everything I know. The link to the original comic at the top is broken and returns a 404 error. I cannot for the life of me find anything on this comic on Google other than a lone post on the xkcd forums, which could just as well have been posted in either 2007 or 2019, but I can't check because the forums are down. As well, it is odd that this explain xkcd page only came into existence 12 years after the comic was purportedly posted. Taking all of this into account, I have reason to believe that this entire thing has been a fabrication, i.e. that this was made in 2019 by a fan. I'd try to gather more concrete evidence for this, but that's where I run into a dead end. I have no idea how to proceed. I know of exactly one person who could settle this conclusively, which is Randall Munroe himself, but I imagine he has more important things to do. If any of you could prove/disprove my theory, that would be great. In the meantime, sure, I'll just assume this comic did actually get published in 2007. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.168|172.69.34.168]] 10:34, 27 December 2019 (UTC)
::The link does work, it just has an extra '/' at the end. I agree though that there's still something a bit different about the comic to others published at a similar time. The image looks like it's been copied out of a newspaper (although this might be deliberate) and having such a lengthy section of text outside of the comic is unusual. Google claims that the forum post dates from 1st April 2007, but in the absence of any other reference on the main site my guess is that this only appeared on the forums. [[User:A(l)Chemist|AlChemist]] ([[User talk:A(l)Chemist|talk]]) 20:55, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals

2019-11-23T18:22:04Z

A(l)Chemist: /* New transcript */

<noinclude>{{Community portal}}</noinclude>

== Add unexplained strips ==

At the moment, browsing through the explanations using the previous and next buttons is interrupted whenever there's an explanation missing.

I think adding a page with the strip fr all of those with a short message like "no one has explained this yet, want to give it a shot?" would make the wiki easier to browse through and will get more strips explained faster.

:I don't think that would happen. If suddenly it was much easier for people to skip over pages that had no explanation, I think they would do exactly that, skip right over it. On the same side of that coin, If suddenly there are no longer any red links on the [[List of all comics]] then everyone perusing that page assumes that all the comics have been explained and don't need to contribute any more. It's astonishing how quickly an [[589: Designated Drivers|embedded]] red link gets an explanation page created simply to get rid of the red link.

:Secondarily, ''many'' of the pages created recently aren't being created with their numerical and titular redirects. Without the numerical redirect, the comic template can't find that there is a previous/next comic to link to. Every once in a while somebody will go through and try to notice all the pages that don't have their redirects created but it's an unscientific process that only happens occasionally. If we could get every joe blow that comes in and vomits up a poorly done explanation to create the redirects I wouldn't be quite as annoyed at their lack of show-don't-tell-manship. But, since they can't be bothered to put the date in the comic template, I doubt we'll ever get people to create the redirects.

:'''TL;DR:''' No more red links, no more work gets done on the back catalog.

:--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 14:28, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

== xplainkcd.com ==

When I first saw this site I thought it should definitely be at xplainkcd.com or at least redirect from that url {{unsigned|115.166.22.158|12:45, 3 January 2013 (UTC)}}

: I like that idea! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 13:28, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

:Yeah! If it's possible, it would be cool! At least as a redirect. -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:46, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

:Not technically the same thing, but I just took [http://expxkcd.com http://expxkcd.com]. More explanation <del>is</del> was given on the website itself. {{User:Grep/signature|05:10, 29 March 2014}}
::We do that with explainxkcd.com as well, but yay shorter URLs! Mind if I use that for our social media links? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:45, 29 March 2014 (UTC)
:::I had no idea that you did that, but sure, go ahead! If you want, I can change any DNS records if you wish to have it go directly to you guys. {{User:Grep/signature|07:16, 29 March 2014}}
:::In case you were wondering, I just did the following: <code>^/([0-9]+)(/large)?/?$</code> {{User:Grep/signature|07:25, 29 March 2014}}
::::Hrm. We're just matching with <code>^(\d+)/?$</code>. You can keep ownership of the URL if you want, unless you have traffic concerns or whatever and you want us to handle it, which we're very capable of doing. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:47, 29 March 2014 (UTC)

I have made http://www.xkcd.ga and http://www.xkcd.tk both forward to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page. Is this ok? [[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 08:49, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

== Section style and usage ==

I am new here and I'm trying to get up to speed with the culture. I have a few questions about how and where to use sections (== this ==). I am more willing to go with (and enforce) whatever norms there are here, but I have not seen them actually discussed.

# '''Is it OK to create sections in Discussion pages?''' I have been told no, but there are many examples extant of this usage in this Wiki and indeed in Wikipedia.
# '''Section title case''' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Capital_letters#Acronyms Wikipedia's style guide] recommends sentence case, not title case. There are many title cased section headers here.
# '''Links''' I do not have a reference for this but it seems to me putting links in section code (== [[<nowiki>this</nowiki>]] == ) is bad form.

Last note -- it's understood if these bylaws have not yet been written. I can see that a few of you have made a huge personal investment to make this Wiki what it is today, and that is a credit to you all -- this is awesome! As a long-time aficionado of xkcd I applaud your work and look forward to further collaboration.
--[[User:Smartin|Smartin]] ([[User talk:Smartin|talk]]) 04:15, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

:As a general rule, we stick to the standard format that existing pages follow, with an optional trivia section below the transcript. Some zealous editors like to add other sections though, which tend to be for the most part unneeded or redundant. If something you want to add doesn't help to explain the comic in some way, but the inclusion of which would somehow still add to the page, *and* it doesn't fall under the trivia category, a new section is warranted. This isn't the case most of the time though, so editors usually fold the content of extraneous sections into "Explanation" or "Trivia." We have no policy on links in titles, and they're allowed so long as they are appropriate; the link is useful and can't be folded into the section itself. And we use title case for titles cuz it just makes sense. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:08, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

:We generally do not (or at least, discourage) use sections on the talk/discussion pages for explanation pages. This is purely for looks. The comic discussion section of the explanation page looks/feels wrong if there are level 2 section breaks in the transclusion. Also, if the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Table_of_contents Table of Contents] starts showing up on a page, such as on [[Click and Drag]] the sections created on the talk page also show up in the TOC. This gets confusing, and this is why we prefer not to use them on explanation talk pages. Everywhere else we follow standard wiki format and do use sections on the discussion pages.

:Personally, I think that links in section titles looks wrong, but I choose not to be the dictator of style in this matter. :p

:Please feel free to make edits. The worst that happens is someone reverts your edit. If it's a big enough issue and/or you don't seem to be learning from what people are fixing about your edits someone will leave a comment on your talk page. That's it. We might leave a nasty-gram in the edit summary, but oh well. We only ban for malicious intent. Honestly working to better the wiki is good, even if sometimes we grumble about it.

:--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:00, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

::Oh, I just looked at your talk page. I completely forgot that that happened. Don't worry about it. Learning the ropes is part of the experience. Do make edits, and if they're wrong, we'll nudge you in the right direction. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:18, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

I have been moving some trivia sections to directly below the explanation, in order to make it more consistent, and easier to survey and maintain. Often the dividing line between trivia and explanation is not entirely clear, and in articles without a trivia section the end of the explanation very often contains trivia-like information. (e.g. [[1155: Kolmogorov Directions]]) -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:13, 4 January 2013 (UTC)
===Title case doesn't make any sense===
At first sight title case in titles just makes sense. However title case '''never''' makes sense. It's worse than all caps. Besides, only Americans and children like title case. [[Special:Contributions/190.96.48.48|190.96.48.48]] 20:04, 10 August 2013 (UTC)

==New character==
As per [[Talk:1178: Pickup Artists]], the character with hair has appeared in quite a few comics now, and he's starting to become a recurring character. Shall we go ahead with inaugurating him into our list of regular characters, and what name shall we assign him? Current candidate names include Hairy and Harry. Anyone? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:07, 26 February 2013 (UTC)

: I like Harry :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 01:04, 26 February 2013 (UTC)
::Cos made a point in the discussion on [[Talk:1178: Pickup Artists]] that Hairy is directly descriptive, whereas Harry is not obvious to visitors. On the other hand, not all names are descriptive ([[Danish]]) and I think this wiki is entitled to create some xkcd-in-culture, and not just describe. And Harry is quite funny.
::I wonder: has [[Randall]] ever called him anything at all in the transcript? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 21:52, 26 February 2013 (UTC)
:::Well, he's not named in a any official transcripts, but he's already called Harry in quite a few comic explanations. Then again, I do like having a more descriptive name for him. Shall we hold this up to a vote? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:29, 26 February 2013 (UTC)
::::I think we should wait a little for a few more viewpoints to crop up. Also, can someone link to some more comics he's been featured in? I've got [[1028: Communication]], [[1027: Pickup Artist]] and [[1178: Pickup Artists]]. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 23:41, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
:::::I actually like what that anon said: ''Curly''. Second choice: Hairy (being descriptive, a la Black Hat, Beret, Cueball, etc.) While there's talk about in-culture, we've done that with the names Cueball, Beret, etc. It's my opinion that the only names that should be "real" proper names are those that are named in the comic. Megan, Miss Lenhart, etc. Danish (as is discussed below) isn't truly a proper name, but you could argue it's a meta-description (one attributed by Black hat.) So that's my vote: yes for '''Curly''' or '''Hairy''', no for Harry. [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 05:21, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
:::That's right, [[Danish]] is not descriptive, but 1/ that name was suggested because the character [[515: No One Must Know|was called that way in the comic]], which is a tiny bit like a name given by the author (at least more than Harry which we have completely made up), and 2/ in that case it's hard to find a descriptive term: use something that revolves around her black hair (her only descriptive feature), and you easily mix up with [[Megan]]; the only graphical difference is that her hair is ''long'', but what kind of name can you make out of that?
:::For this new character, I suggest Hairy because it comes as the easy solution with every advantage: descriptive, easy to understand, and it's not ugly... I actually see no reason to resort to a made-up name like Harry.
:::[[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 22:29, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

: '''Alright. So the discussion's been had, and the most oft recommended name appears to be Hairy. All in favor, say aye. If more than 1/3 of editors agree and we have more than 6 votes, Hairy it is.''' '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:58, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
:# '''Aye''' '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:58, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
:# '''Aye''' [[User:Guru-45|Guru-45]] ([[User talk:Guru-45|talk]]) 06:14, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
:# '''Aye''' to Hairy. [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 15:43, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
:# '''Aye'''. Harry would be a nice nod to the fact that he's actually hairy, but indeed it's better to avoid inside jokes. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:05, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
:# '''Aye'''. I'm convinced! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 17:52, 3 March 2013 (UTC)
:# '''Aye'''. Hairy. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 20:52, 3 March 2013 (UTC)
::Hooray! We now have a [[:Category:Comics featuring Hairy]], with four pages already! Does anyone feel compelled to create "[[Hairy]]", with a brief description and a nice profile pic like the other characters? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 22:58, 3 March 2013 (UTC)

== Ambiguous characters ==

I've been thinking about the problem of the ambiguity of characters. "Is this really Cueball even though he has an eye and half a nose?", "This is very likely ''not'' x." "Darnit, these arn't Cueballs, these are Randall and his friends!", and so on. The character ambiguity is standard for xkcd (not less so in the early ones), and comes from the very loose or "free" way Randall uses his characters to be whatever he needs at the moment. It's simply often impossible for us to know whether he had e.g. "Cueball" or himself in mind, when drawing a particular comic (and I'd say: probably often both).

I want to suggest that we in general have a likewise rather loose policy towards including characters in the categories for the comics. So that reasonably ambiguous cases should be included in e.g. (does she have a ponytail?) This is not because I believe this or that to really be this or that; I just don't believe in objective truth (here!). I feel that when doing research :) on a character, the borderline cases are often the most interesting ones, and you want to be able to find them through the "Comics featuring miss x"!

I came to think this through now, when I wanted to (and did) list two comics with [[Miss Lenhart]] (?) where she was drawn but not named. Any thoughts on this in general? Other case studies? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 21:17, 5 March 2013 (UTC)
:My take has always been that [[Cueball]], for example, has not been a specific character. There is not ''a'' cueball, per se, distinct from any other cueball... indeed, there are several comics with several cueballs in-frame, and that is the point. I see the cueball character as a wildcard character (pun intended) ready to stand in for anybody (and ''not'' necessarily just Randall; I think those readers who suggest "this ''is'' Randall" are missing the point; he's way more META than that...) [[Megan]], while slightly less generic, still remains the female wild-card significant-other, while Curls seems to be a not-significant-other female used to illustrate a relationship that is transient. Other characters come and go, and when it's important to visually distinguish them from others in the frame, they're given additional characteristics, to wit [[Hairy]], [[Ponytail]], etc.
:Unfortunately, that viewpoint is not commonly held, so I daresay I'm in the minority here.
:-- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:18, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

== Note at the top, about the server error ==

:''This thread was moved to [[MediaWiki talk:Sitenotice]]''

== I've removed "add a comment!" from Discussion heading ==

This does move it to above the line, and the rule stops early. Undo my change if that's more bothering than when the TOC is displayed as "add a comment!Discussion"...

I don't know how to automatically treat level 2 headers as level 3. That may be why Discussion was a level 1 heading earlier.
[[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 11:16, 14 April 2013 (UTC)
:Actually I now noticed there was a short edit war at {{tl|comic discussion}} over whether it should be a level 1 heading, just for this reason. [[User:Waldir]] seems to have conceeded... [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 11:25, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

:: No edit war, hence no (intentional) concession. I reverted a change once, and didn't notice the change being re-implemented by another user. In any case, it is irrelevant now since we actively discourage using headers in talk pages precisely so that they don't display in the TOC for the main comic page, where the discussion page is transcluded to (see the discussion [[#Section style and usage|above]]). This might not scale well for comics that generate lots of discussion. It might be worth discussing our customs (and perhaps write them down somewhere) before performing such changes. What do others think? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:49, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

== Time: The Table ==

Right now on the page [[1190: Time]], we have a whole bunch of tables in the form image-time-hash. The tables take up heaps of vertical space and all have to be collapsed to even be remotely traversible. I propose that we aggregate all the images into one table after Time ends, like so:

{| class="wikitable plainlinks table-padding"
|-
!Image
!Time
!Image
!Time
!Image
!Time
!Image
!Time
|-
|[[Media:time.png|00:00]]||01/00:00||[[Media:time.png|10:00]]||01/10:00||[[Media:time.png|20:00]]||01/20:00||[[Media:time.png|30:00]]||AND MOAR SAMPLE DATAS
|-
|[[Media:time.png|00:30]]||01/00:30||[[Media:time.png|10:30]]||01/10:30||[[Media:time.png|20:30]]||01/20:30||[[Media:time.png|30:30]]||AND MOAR SAMPLE DATAS
|}

The hash values aren't really a part of the comic, they're gibberish for the most part and they take up space that could be used to compact the table, as shown above. Even if we are conservative and make the table only five columns wide to account for smaller screens, we've divided scrolling time by five and eliminated much of the need for annoying collapsed tables and section headers for each day. Constructing the table shouldn't be particularly hard either, as all our current data is in nice regular tables with clear patterns that are easy enough to parse through.

I'm putting this here because the organization of the frame entries would be unintuitive and difficult to change from the edit window, which would make it a poor choice when we're still expanding it and don't even know how long the comic will continue for. It's merely a space-saving trick for after we're sure that the comic is over. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:26, 16 April 2013 (UTC)

:Oh and it'd be really nice if other people could also upload images if you're awake and a new one rolls by. There's gaps in the image record every time I wake up, and I dun likey. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:34, 20 April 2013 (UTC)
:Good work so far; go ahead make it better! :) –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:34, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

==Featured Explanation, and Archival?==

* Wikipedia has featured content. Now that we are close to reaching the goal of all comics explained, I think it makes more sense to have a "featured explanation" which would serve as a sort of a marker for a complete and good explanation. Many comics, and almost all charts are not fully explained/not a good quality explanation.

* We should set up archival of discussion of the most discussed pages, like this one. Its not very pleasing to see comments from July 2012 still lying around here. It becomes hectic at some point.

Just my 2 cents, feel free to discuss. Cheers,
[[Special:Contributions/117.194.88.180|117.194.88.180]] 13:36, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

:We dedicate this wiki to explaining xkcd, and we do actually have a featured comic feature; it changes every week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and we usually manage to fill out the explanation for it within an hour or so of it going up. The most recent comic tends to be the one that most people visiting the wiki care about, so we give it prime space on the front page so they can find it easily. xkcd updates frequently enough that there isn't really that big of a time window for us to feature an article on our front page. Also, we're a volunteer project with quite a bit less manpower than Wikipedia.
:We do need to archive talk pages though. Some of these are getting ridiculously long. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:04, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
::I agree with Davidy22. Archiving topics can be done by anyone, by moving resolved threads to the portal section's corresponding [[explain xkcd talk:Community portal/Proposals|talk page]]. We could start with the threads marked "✓ Closed". [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:42, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

:: The reason I asked for a "featured explanation" was because many of the comic explanations we currently have are sub-par, and we're almost at our initial goal of explaining all comics. A "featured explanation" would drive our editors towards the goal of having complete and good explanation towards all comics, and would allow us to know which explanations need elaboration.
:: P.S. My definition of complete explanation would be - To have a good explanation, To have all categories relevant, To link to any comics related and To explain any technical portions of the comic.
:: [[Special:Contributions/117.194.82.49|117.194.82.49]] 07:45, 8 May 2013 (UTC)
:::That message on the front page is going to link to all the pages marked by the incomplete template. If you find an unsatisfactory explanation, please mark it with <nowiki>{{incomplete}}</nowiki> '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:54, 8 May 2013 (UTC)
:::: By my definition, I think all comics will be incomplete. An incomplete template will be focused more towards improving the worst explanations, while a featured one will be to improve the best ones. Since we already have the former, we should focus on the latter. Just my 2 cents. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.85.82|117.194.85.82]] 06:55, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

== Split the list of all comics ==

[[List of all comics]] is getting larger and larger, which makes it hard to read and hard to edit. How about splitting into parts, say [[List of all comics/1-1000]], [[List of all comics/1001-2000]], etc., or something to that effect? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:39, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

: Done. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.88.176|117.194.88.176]] 10:03, 9 May 2013 (UTC)
::Great job, thanks! [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:09, 9 May 2013 (UTC)
:::And I've added back [[List of all comics (full)]], which allows, for example, listing all comics by alphabetical order.[[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 17:29, 10 May 2013 (UTC)

== Sidebar ads ==

''Moved from [[Talk:Main Page]] –– [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:06, 4 May 2013 (UTC)''

Are they generating significant money? The ones I see are pretty sleazy looking and/or scammy - "Power Companies Hate this Device! - click here to break the laws of thermodynamics!" and "Debt relief program click here to lose more money". How much money are they generating? Can you set any selections to remove the sleazy ads? [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 18:30, 3 April 2013 (UTC)
:Do we have sleazy sidebar ads? Since when? Thanks Google Chrome and AdBlock, I had no idea! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 07:47, 14 April 2013 (UTC)
::People give 20$ a pop to get a bunch of clicks on explainxkcd, and Jeff uses that money to buy a faster server with a hard drive that doesn't have less space than a public toilet with an elephant in it. It'd be really nice if you didn't turn on adblock, the money is appreciated. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:47, 14 April 2013 (UTC)
:::It's a question of me not turning it off specifically every time I visit this site. More importantly, I do think people would be more likely to click the "donate" if it weren't irrelevant ads around it. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 19:29, 14 April 2013 (UTC)
:::Generating money is a great thing. Getting "20$ a pop to get a bunch of clicks" is a bit unclear. Do the ads only generate revenue when clicked on? So EXKCD only gets money when someone actually falls for the sleazy ads? I know lots of people do not like Google - but at least their adsense stuff is relevant to the content of the website, which might generate some legitimate traffic for a legitimate advertiser.... [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 11:48, 19 April 2013 (UTC)
::::Welllll, I didn't pick the ad supplier. You could bring it up with [[User talk:Jeff|Jeff]] if you want, I think he picked the ad provider on basis of which one had a mediawiki plugin or something. If you can link Jeff to a quick and easy way to put adsense on mediawiki, he should change it quickly enough. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:21, 19 April 2013 (UTC)
:::::And I also gather then that they are only a temporary thing? -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:27, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
::::::Until we can buy a server that doesn't poop itself every time a new comic is released, the ads are staying. If you want them to go away sooner, throw more money at Jeff. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:25, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
::::::: The ads are crap. For sure. Wish I didn't have to run them, but I don't trust donations alone to hold up continually some better hosting. The ads really don't bring in that much $$$. I had google adsense before, but Google shutdown my adsense account for unnamed reason after 1 week. This new ad service is way sketchier. If you all think they don't have a place here, I'll ax 'em. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:02, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
::::::: Thanks for the info Jeff. How much ad money are we talking about? Is it calculated on how many ads are displayed or how many are clicked-through? How close to the goal is the server fund? How about a Kickstarter campaign for the server? $10 gets your name on a thankyou webpage or something like that. [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 17:32, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
:::::::: It ain't much, last I looked it was $2 or $3 in 2 weeks. I believe it is based on clicks, it is not nearly as clear as Google adsense. I'm not really interested in doing a Kickstarter. I think the donations will cover the initial start up, I just want to be able to cover the monthly costs as well. A few things are still up in the air. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:24, 25 April 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::Can you find a way to show the donations and ad income on the site, to make it transparent? ––[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:30, 30 April 2013 (UTC)
::::::::: How about a donation amount that you'll take to turn it (the annoying unethical scummy ads) off for a year? Give me a dollar value and I might step up for the good of us all! [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 16:28, 3 May 2013 (UTC)
Since Project wonderful shut down, I block ads even on explainxkcd. The adds are simple and not colourful, which I like, but being part of Google Adsense I block them for keeping my my privacy. I am sad to do this but until there is another, better way to serve them, I have to.

== Economic transparency ==

I think this is very important: How can we make the donations and ad-income transparent, so that we all can see when and how much money is coming in, and how far we are from reaching our goal? – [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 00:35, 24 May 2013 (UTC)
: Sounds fine to me, I think I can put something together. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:52, 28 May 2013 (UTC)
::Hi, may I bump this issue? Or maybe you have done something, and I missed it? Anyway, I would still appreciate it! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 17:43, 22 February 2014 (UTC)
:::Numberssss. I'll get on with it, just need less homework and a few more numbers. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:54, 23 February 2014 (UTC)

I would like to respectfully file a complain. I find the banner advertisement of background checks distasteful. [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] ([[User talk:Benjaminikuta|talk]]) 05:10, 15 July 2014 (UTC)
: Hey [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] - I am the one who approved those ads. But, since you have filed a complaint about them, I have gone ahead and removed them. Thanks. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:52, 15 July 2014 (UTC)

I thank you. [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] ([[User talk:Benjaminikuta|talk]]) 03:36, 17 July 2014 (UTC)

== Using <nowiki><nowiki></nowiki></nowiki> in transcripts to improve accuracy ==

In the transcripts, <nowiki>[[lines]]</nowiki> are being changed to [lines] in order to avoid auto-linking. Why not just surround these with <nowiki><nowiki></nowiki></nowiki> tags and avoid the problem entirely? --[[User:Epauley|Epauley]] ([[User talk:Epauley|talk]]) 04:18, 16 June 2013 (UTC)
:Because it takes less time to type and single brackets are just as readable as double brackets to visitors. It's also a bit more readable in the editor. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:55, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

== Strip Title ==

For someone who commonly browses explainxkcd in place of xkcd, and hence often see the strips for the first time here rather than the parent site, I find it somewhat odd that the 'Title Text' is so poorly displayed given how critical it can be to the strip.

I propose that, while retaining the given name (perhaps moving it top left), the title text be enlarged and relocated to being over the strip as originally intended. {{unsigned ip|175.41.133.18}}
:The title text is placed very well at bottom of the image.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 07:20, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

:I would have to agree with Dgbrt, it's placed nicely at the bottom, and there is no need for it to be moved. My reasoning is that you never actually read the title text first, you read it last. Making it <code>text-align: left;</code> does not make sense, because the image is centered (just like on xkcd.com). I also believe that there is no need for it to be re-sized, mainly due to the fact that it is slightly larger than the title text (for me, at least). {{User:Grep/signature|05:18, 08 September 2013}}

:Plus, if you hover over the image, it's the same as on xkcd.com {{User:Grep/signature|06:13, 08 September 2013}}

:I also agree with Dgbrt and Grep. The title text is kind of a bonus and should not be emphasized more than on the original page. On the original site you only see it before the image, if you have very slow internet access (or very fast eyes) --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:06, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

== Sections in talk pages ==

Is there a reason why there are no sections in talk pages? It is not a very big deal, but especially for longer talk pages it would make editing be much handier, especially when using the preview function (not having to find the section every time). Also it automatically adds a description to the history (thus makes it more easy to look for certain edits, or decide by just looking at the [[Special:RecentChanges]], if a comment should concern you. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:01, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
:When discussion pages are transcluded by the comic discussion template, section headers carry over from talk pages and bad things happen. Using ; to denote headers instead of equals signs works well, and doesn't share transclusion pain. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:04, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

== references ==

Any chance we can add [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Cite/Cite.php cite.php] to this wiki? Most pages don't need it, but some comics take on a life of their own and being able to add reference tags would be really helpful for those. [[User:LadyMondegreen|LadyMondegreen]] ([[User talk:LadyMondegreen|talk]]) 01:33, 9 October 2013 (UTC)
: Cite has been added to the wiki. Thanks for the suggestion! --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 01:35, 17 October 2013 (UTC)

== Stylized writing ==

I understand that this wiki isn't as formal as wikipedia or sites like that but it seems that there are a few questionable practices:

1. The use of questions - when a non-rhetorical or unnecessary question is entered into the explanation.

2. Extremely painted/biased view points - when there is obvious bias in the tone of the explanation of the contributor, in other
words; a lack of neutrality.

3. Extreme repetition/rehashing - the explanation restates things and makes for a long and tedious read when a more straight-forward explanation is possible and clearer.

4. The general informality - "This one's an easy one" "This is simple" "this one's straightforward" "You're an idiot for not understanding this one" etc.

5. Many other practices that make the explanation hard to read, difficult to understand, or plain ugly.

I know that there are disparaging view points on how a comic should be explained, but please let's clean up the site a bit, acknowledge each view point and report on all of them and then tighten up the sloppy writing. Carry out arguments in the talk section, not the explanation. Perhaps we could first try to say the majority view point on the interpretation and then write the alternate explanations, of course this would bring up the debate on which is the majority explanation. Either way, more complete, logical explanations should be given more credence. --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 00:25, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

:I agree with 2-5. 1, on the other hand, is sometimes useful and can contribute the to explanation, although 1 is still a very good point. I would say that you should edit it to have "arguments in the talk" be a 6th point as well. Unfortunately, though, we are not all logical, comic-understanding machines here, so minor deviations of these rules are still to be expected. But I think that overall, these are good rules, even if 2/3 are sort of part of 5.
:[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]], please sign your post with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>{{User:Grep/signature|23:55, 22 October 2013}}

:I understand the use of questions in certain parts. And it was probably better to put the others as sub-categories to five but I wanted to show some common things that can be easily fixed. I know that some explanations require a lot of text and extensive research because of the abstract subjects Randall deals with and that it's difficult to be completely standardized but I think it would be good for us to try to come up with some general things to try to avoid to help the explanations "flow" --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 00:25, 23 October 2013 (UTC)
::Most of that isn't intentional, it's just an awful lot of labor to copy check all the explanations. I've been going through all the current articles and fixing consistency issues, the worst being wrong transcript/title text/dates and the most benign being wikilinks, spelling and trailing spaces. I'm at 682 so far, but my next pass will be on actual language and content, and it'll probably take longer. It takes a while though, and you can totally work on improving language in articles if you want to. Some explanations were pulled from the old blog, some were written and just got lost in the changelog. Copy editing everything we have so far is a very labor-intensive job, and the only way to really deal with it is to knuckle down and do it, or form a wikiproject and hope to heaven that visitors feel charitable enough to join in on it. I'd *probably* push to finish up all our incomplete articles first though, just because that's more directly related to the purpose of the site; tone and style probably comes second to having correct explanations. That doesn't mean you can't do it yourself, it's just that I'll probably only dedicate the subheader on the main page to one project at a time and our current biggest bugbear hasn't been solved yet. I could put up a sitenotice to see if that speeds the process up any. I'll do that when I get back home. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:31, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

== Easy redirect to comic? ==

I've been thinking, and there is one thing that would make navigating to the explained comics easier. My method of browsing is I'll see the comic on xkcd.com first, and if there is something curious about it that I don't quite understand, I'll come here. Sometimes it can be a bit troublesome, going to the homepage and then navigatiing to the right comic. Not too bad, but I'd like an easy way to go direct. So I was thinking, what if you had a redirect such that if you typed in, for example, www.explainxkcd.com/505, you would get redirected to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=505:_A_Bunch_of_Rocks. That would mean that you could get to the comic just from adding an "explain" to the start of the xkcd.com URL. I don't know if that is at all possible, but it would be pretty handy if it happened. Thoughts?
[[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 03:01, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
:[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Technical#Redirect_from_explainxkcd.com.2F1234 That's actually already on the to-do list.] I'm testing it right now and we should have it up soon. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:02, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
:: Awesome :) [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 03:26, 1 November 2013 (UTC)
:::Whoop, forgot to mark this as complete. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:37, 1 November 2013 (UTC)
:::: Done! Copy this and drag it to your bookmarks bar: |javascript: var url = document.URL; document.location = url.replace('xkcd.com','explainxkcd.com');| {{unsigned ip|173.245.52.29}}
:::::The feature requested here has also long since been implemented. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:20, 4 April 2014 (UTC)

== Increase support via prominent display of copyright and license for text submitted to explainxkcd ==

XKCD itself is rather liberally licensed, and gets lots of good will from that. As it says on the bottom of every page "This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License." For details see [http://xkcd.com/license.html xkcd - A Webcomic - License].

But I found nothing on most pages of explainxkcd about copyright or licensing, and it discouraged me from contributing or donating. Finally, as I was writing this proposal up, I found a link on the editing page here: [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Copyrights explain xkcd:Copyrights - explain xkcd] saying that "''The Explain XKCD wiki is generally licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license (CC-BY-SA-3.0)''". That notice should be more prominent on the site, with at least a link on each page. [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 15:27, 5 November 2013 (UTC)
:This should be mentioned at the main page, including a reference to the xkcd origin.
:BTW: NO DOUBLE SPACES after a sentence. Are you US guys still using a typewriter? It's not rendered at a web page and stupid like Gallons, Miles, Foots, and much more unique US behaviours. But that's just a joke beside.
:The licence hint is much more important, you are just correct.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:12, 5 November 2013 (UTC)
::Added a creative commons icon to the footer of the page, next to the powered by mediawiki button. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:16, 5 November 2013 (UTC)

== New Comics Bot ==

Would there be need for such a thing?
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.52|108.162.231.52]] Synthetica
:Nice idea, I never thought about that before. I will do some tests on existing comics to check if this could reduce the current number of error posts for a new article. When that is ready and working I will talk to some admins. My bot account [[User:DgbrtBOT|DgbrtBOT]] was originally intended for [[1190: Time]] picture uploads, but I never have used it because Time was over. Creating the new pages should be easy in general, avoiding errors will cost some more work. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:31, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
::If you can get dgbrtBOT to do that, that'd help us an awful lot. It'd allow us to get rid of the ifexist cases in template:LATESTCOMIC as well, since the bot could change automatically that whenever a new comic goes up. It'll also help us get new comics down almost the moment they pop up, since the bot could sample several times a minute until a comic is posted. So long as it gets the general pattern right so that we have a correct page set up, we're good. An admin can come in sometime later to clean up categories and image urls and other piddly easy-to-fix details. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:54, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
:::I will work on this next weekend, just local scripts and no updates here. I also will talk about my results before any automatic updates will be activated. My first focus is on creating the new pages in the general pattern, LATESTCOMIC and also the page "All comics" are maybe a bonus later. And of course all my scripts will be open source.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:44, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
::::The first version is ready and I will test it at my local wiki. If everything goes well I could activate it for Wednesday (2013-11-13). LATESTCOMIC and "All comics" are on my roadmap, but first I want produce correct new pages here. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:00, 10 November 2013 (UTC)
:::::Righty ho. Here goes. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:36, 10 November 2013 (UTC)
Even when my automatic local wiki test did fail today, just a damn wrong password, I will activate the bot here for Wednesday. It will only run from 4:00 PM until 8:00 PM UTC. You will not see my possible updates at [[Special:RecentChanges]] unless you click ''Show bots'' at the top of that page. LATESTCOMIC and "All comics" are not covered, but this is at my TODO list until this test will be successful. Give me a '''GO''' or '''NO-GO''' for this test.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:49, 11 November 2013 (UTC)
:Easily a GO, I'll be ready to clean up if anything goes wrong. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:08, 11 November 2013 (UTC)
::So be ready on Wednesday for the clean up. My worst case is ''it simply does not work'', second worse scenario is still that I could delete some contend already posted here, but I'm trying to avoid this. ''Huston'', the countdown clock is counting. I'm joking about this because I really want to be confident about this ''BOT'' or ROBOT or uncontrolled action here.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:28, 12 November 2013 (UTC)
:::The bot can't do anything that I can't reverse. I can even restore a backup from an hour before the bot's edits if it manages to break the database. How quickly does it poll xkcd, by the way? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:53, 12 November 2013 (UTC)

First live test here (comic 1289). Please delete this page: [[Simple_Answers:_1289]]. Since my local wiki did not provide this templates I could not see this error before. In general the bot will update pages differ to any existing pages, but when it is not changed no update will happen. I'm fixing this errors at my script and do a second test here soon. I want to see it's producing correct pages until the bot will do it's work when I'm sleeping.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:31, 12 November 2013 (UTC)
:Ok, test are done here, BOT is scheduled for the next update. Polling is every five minutes on Mon, Wed, and Fri from 04:00 until 08:00 UTC. Let's see how it will work.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:08, 12 November 2013 (UTC)
::Couldja ramp that up to once/twice a minute, push the start time back by an hour, and the end time by a few hours? Also, is it possible to terminate it once it finds a comic for a certain day? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:45, 13 November 2013 (UTC)
:::It worked! Though it posted the comic 5 minutes past post time. We has technology now, we can afford to poll faster and closer, yeah? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:32, 13 November 2013 (UTC)
Uhh, it worked... I will increase the polls when I'm more confident about the release times. Today it was approx. 05:00 UTC (GMT) or 01:00 EST (Randall's time zone). Looks like he is still at daylight saving time, would have been 00:00 EDT. The polls will be increased to one minute when I'm sure about the Standard Release Time (SRT). Next steps for the next update on Friday are:
:The "All comics" page.
:The LATESTCOMIC template.
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:54, 13 November 2013 (UTC)
:The LATESTCOMIC template is included for the next run, it just simply has to return a number. But it's still the most critical part because if it does not work the Main Page is broken. I will change this to a better solution using that IFEXIST syntax soon. The list of all comics is still at my ToDo list. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:06, 14 November 2013 (UTC)
::The desired content of the LATESTCOMIC template should be just the comic number. If we can get out of having to poll multiple IFEXIST statements to find the latest comic, that would be a fantastic boon to our server performance. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:43, 15 November 2013 (UTC)
:::OK, it did work today so I will not change this. Next step is the list for all comics.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 11:10, 15 November 2013 (UTC)
Next run will include an update on the "All comics" page. I'm crossing my fingers. When this update is also successful I will document my Bot at the Bot user page [[User:DgbrtBOT]]. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:15, 17 November 2013 (UTC)
:Oh, I forgot this detail: The bot is starting at 00:00 EST (RLT - Randall local time), which is 04:00 UTC and 05:00 MET for me. It polls every 5 minutes until 23:55 MET (22:55 UTC, 18:55 RLT) the main page until a new comic is found. I do not poll the comic number because I want to avoid 404 message logs at the servers.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:30, 17 November 2013 (UTC)
:Something went wrong there. That's gonna need fixing. I am enjoying the looks of the apparently faster polling though. Maybe you could also set the start time to 00:00:05 EST to catch the on-time xkcd releases within ten seconds? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:33, 18 November 2013 (UTC)
::Uh, what a mess. I will do some more tests at my local wiki. At the next time I will do a check against the number from the LATESTCOMIC template, only the next number will be processed. The test against my local history did fail because of some cleanups after testings.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 08:18, 18 November 2013 (UTC)
:::I don't like mess. So the BOT got many more checks before posting here but the bot was starting at 05:00 local time for me. I'm really asleep at that time. The mess here was covered, but I do need another GO for the next attempt. Otherwise I will just do a test to my local wiki.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:35, 18 November 2013 (UTC)
No GO so far, my next test will run only at my local wiki.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:16, 19 November 2013 (UTC)
:My script is here: [https://github.com/dgbrt/explainXKCD_update explainXKCD_update]. At my current test "explainxkcd.com" is commented out and "localhost" is active. Since I don't like mess and the bot does act while I am sleeping the next update must be done manually here. I'm hoping the bot will be ready for the next update on Friday.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:15, 19 November 2013 (UTC)
::Bot is ready for Friday, everything went smooth at my last local test today. The bot did find the latest comic at 04:05 UTC and all essential pages were properly created. So I will activate it for this site again. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:57, 20 November 2013 (UTC)
Bot did work as expected. So I name it release 1.1337, the next planed release will be 2.1337 (beta) because of this two issues:
*"Include any categories below this line." will be removed because it doesn't make any sense any more.
*BETA: I want to use the full template features at [[List of all comics]], just ensuring that the pictures are working properly. No need for this at the most comics, but the BOT doesn't cover all possibilities on corrupt file names like we have had in "Pi vs. Tau". The picture was without that dot. My bot just shows the real link it did upload here.
I'm pretty sure we will have some issues on this bot, but for general pages it should work. So the bot will be active on Mon,Wed,Fri from 0:00 EST (or EDT) every five minutes until it did found a new comic, on success the bot does not poll any more.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:51, 22 November 2013 (UTC)
:Aww, it's a bot. It doesn't need to rest or take time off to do other stuff. It can totally poll once or more times per minute. Also, if you set the start time to a few seconds after midnight, Randall time, when he uploads a comic on-time, you'll get it within a few seconds as opposed to having to wait for the next polling. As for the image names, maybe you could convert spaces in the comic name to underscores, compare the two comic names you have and use that to decide which version of the template to use? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:08, 22 November 2013 (UTC)
::I have to avoid that the bot is running twice, Internet Timeouts and more. And the comics are also published later sometimes. Look at my release [https://github.com/dgbrt/explainXKCD_update 1.1337], release 2.1337 will be later, Maybe I should start at 2 minutes after 0:00, but let's see right now how the bot does work. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:38, 23 November 2013 (UTC)
Uhh, what a huge discussion here. The bot will get a major update soon: Scheduler does start it once and until a comic is found and uploaded it here or an other limit is reached (maybe the end of the day) the bot will poll by a small delay. But every poll is still an entire download from the main page, When a new comic is found bot stops.
:Why, you could use http://xkcd.com/info.0.json, right?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.52|108.162.231.52]] 07:38, 2 December 2013 (UTC)Synthetica
::The BOT performs perfect and I prefer to analyze the original page. A title text like the one from today (a text showing a link) will be covered in the future.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 10:35, 2 December 2013 (UTC)
A great enhancement would be also covering a new comic like 1190 Time was. I'm looking forward on this, some ideas, it does require a complete analyse of the page and then finding some strange content.
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:05, 27 November 2013 (UTC)

== Require description for 'incomplete' tags ==
I've been trying to fix some of the incompletes, but several explanation pages I've come across are tagged incomplete without any reason given. The reason should be a required part of the tag. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.223|173.245.52.223]] 03:35, 7 December 2013 (UTC)
:This incomplete tags are just older than the recent change of that template. Current adds require a description, but it's not easy to figure out all that old reasons. If someone does find a reason, please just add it. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:22, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

== Should there be a subwiki to cover the shop links that appear above the comic? ==

The current one (as of writing) is [http://imgs.xkcd.com/store_news/store_gd_b11_1ze4.png] but this is a different than the usual, and there was also a third in between these.
[[User:Rsranger65|Rsranger65]] ([[User talk:Rsranger65|talk]]) 06:00, 8 December 2013 (UTC)
:Those are very ephemeral. They aren't going to exist for very long, I don't know how valuable it would be to archive that stuff. We could probably do it, but having to figure out another naming convention and all for advertisements doesn't appeal to me at the current moment. If you can flesh it out, I'd love to see how you think we should do it. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:24, 8 December 2013 (UTC)

== New Character ==

OK, I think we need a name for the character with a goatee and glasses in comics [[435: Purity]], [[796: Bad Ex]] and [[964: Dorm Poster]] as well as possibly others. Edit: oh and I suggest Goatee and Glasses Guy, but I'm open for suggestions Edit 2: also in [[826: Guest Week: Zach Weiner (SMBC)]] Halfhat {{unsigned|Halfhat}}
edit 3: Another sighting [[954: Chin-Up Bar]] [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 16:57, 13 January 2014 (UTC)
: In the transcript, he is called "Person with Glasses and a Goatee" --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:39, 21 March 2014 (UTC)
:: "Glasses Guy", "Goatee Guy" are both probably descriptive enough! --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:41, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

== What If Comics ==

Hi, I was thinking, maybe at some point we should do the comics in the ''What If?'' section, like [http://what-if.xkcd.com/imgs/a/36/cornstarch_bitcoins.png this one.] [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 20:01, 13 January 2014 (UTC)
: Start creating the pages for them! --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:36, 21 March 2014 (UTC)
: I think I can start creating one or two pages for What If, if that helps... [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 16:14, 5 April 2014 (UTC)
:: If nobody has any problem with it, I'm gonna give it a try later. :) [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 13:14, 8 April 2014 (UTC)
:::I thought they were already pretty self-explanatory though. Also, how are we gonna organize and present them? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:31, 8 April 2014 (UTC)
::::I totally agree with David: Read the entire What-If page and follow the links provided by Randall. No one of us can do that better in depth. But an overview page for this site is maybe not a bad idea, we just need a proper link here — a link at the main menu on the left. Translations to other languages are just another issue. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:37, 8 April 2014 (UTC)
:::::Yes, I was thinking of an overview, summarizing the contents and discoveries of each what if page. Not to mention, we could also organize what if pages by categories, such as physics/love.
:::::Would you like me to post here an example of what I would write? That way we can decide if it's worthy of creating an actual page. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 12:53, 9 April 2014 (UTC)
:Adding pages for What If? posts would be very helpful. Although the articles themselves are obviously self-explanatory, there are almost as many subtle references, running gags, and in-jokes in What If? posts these days as in the comics themselves.
I often visit explain xkcd when I feel like I'm missing an inside joke or a pop culture reference in a comic, and it would be very helpful to many people (especially those from other cultures/subcultures) to have the same service.
For example, today's What If? contains multiple allusions to the Superman Movie, a running Citation Needed joke, and a whole comic that is a not-so-subtle dig at Elon Musk and the Hyperloop. It would be awesome if the community here at explainxkcd could tackle stuff like that.
Anonymous 20:05, 31 July 2014 (UTC)

I agree. I don't understand the mouseover text on the first image in "Snow Removal", for example. [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] ([[User talk:Benjaminikuta|talk]]) 22:57, 23 February 2015 (UTC)

== Transcripts ==

The whole point of the transcripts is to have those who are unable to view images to still be able to read the comic, right?

Then why is it required to stick to strictly official transcripts, where sometimes rewriting them slightly would make them flow better or otherwise get the ideas across better? I've tried rewriting a few, but they get reverted. I think that having easier-to-understand transcripts would be more important than strictly following official transcripts; what do you think? (For a few examples, see [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=207:_What_xkcd_Means&diff=60061&oldid=57400 this edit] and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=995%3A_Coinstar&diff=59862&oldid=57316 this edit]. [[User:Zowayix|Zowayix]] ([[User talk:Zowayix|talk]]) 17:38, 19 February 2014 (UTC)
:We use the original transcript to try and deduce original author intent if it's unclear from the image. I remember one comic where Beret Guy was off in the distance and it was difficult to distinguish him from the image, but the official transcript said it was him. We don't stick to the original transcript if it's obviously wrong, or it has typographical errors: see [[Laser Scope]]. Those edits seem to be mainly targeted at language and clarity, and should be fine. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:06, 19 February 2014 (UTC)
::Would it be helpful to have another (optional) section for expanding on the official transcripts? I too think it could be helpful, especially for complex images (such as 1079/United Shapes [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1079]). Or does supplemental description belong in the Explanation sections? Cheers. [[User:Karenb|Karenb]] ([[User talk:Karenb|talk]]) 23:00, 20 March 2014 (UTC)
:::Naaah, how many people even know there's an original transcript? If the original is wrong, change it. If your additions begin to verge on explanatory, move eet to the trivia/explanation sections. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:52, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

== "Characters in this Comic" section ==

Should there be a "Characters in this Comic" section in each comic explanation? (I feel like this should be longer but don't have anything else to say.) [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 23:33, 11 May 2014 (UTC)

:There is a Category section at the bottom of each comic. Just scroll down and you will see any character belonging to a specific comic. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:50, 12 May 2014 (UTC)

== Adding the Radiation chart from XKCD ==

Hi
As there are already other comics with explanations even though they are not part of the number system.
This one does not seem to have any yet:
http://xkcd.com/radiation/
And as it is very alike the Money strip (the unexplained of the week) so I think it should be explained as well.
If you agree please add it as I'm not sure how to do that.

Best regards
:[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:47, 7 June 2014 (UTC)

== Reddit comments? ==

There should be a link in each comics explanation page somewhere linking to the comment section for the relevant comic on /r/xkcdcomic or reddit.
:The reddit comments page isn't ''that'' close to what we do though. If this is more popular, we'll do it, though there'll need to be a fair bit of post-hoc editing since I don't think there's a standard URL scheme for all the past comics. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:15, 23 June 2014 (UTC)
:I just came here to ask if we could do this, but I looked into it and it wouldn't be simple. Could we write a bot to run on the xkcd subreddit to post the link here? --[[User:Eluvatar|Eluvatar]] ([[User talk:Eluvatar|talk]]) 05:53, 6 November 2017 (UTC)

== Not insulting new users ==

I am writing a response to a vulnerability assessment. I have included a link to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/936 noting that it contains a good explanation of the relative security of passwords vs passphrases. I just noticed that the top of that page contains "Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb." Looks like I'll have to find a different site to link to. --[[User:Pascal|Pascal]] ([[User talk:Pascal|talk]]) 17:33, 28 June 2014 (UTC)
:I agree. While I'm sure it can seem cute or funny in various circles, that text has always seemed immature and inappropriate to me, and I'm sure to many folks we'd like to invite to the site. I suggest that it be changed. [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 19:52, 23 March 2015 (UTC)

:The XKCD http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/936 suggestion for password is actually not that good. [http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/62832/is-the-oft-cited-xkcd-scheme-no-longer-good-advice read here] for some more discussion. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.253.6|162.158.253.6]] 23:49, 10 March 2016 (UTC)

:I also agree. I'm not here because I'm stupid, I'm here because I don't know something and I'm hoping this site can help. It's off putting to have that text there, and there's no benefit to it. What about just repeating the thing at the top of XKCD.com: "Romance, Sarcasm, Math, and Language: Explained"?

I agree, and there is actually a very long talk page started about this subject in the miscellaneous section. Eventually people voted to keep it, but the main argument on that side was that that was the way things had always been. I am fairly new to the site (this is actually my first post on it), so I don't know how these things work, but I do think that that should be changed. There were actually a large number of good proposals for replacements with the other one, and I thought it would be funny if there was a randomly selected character every time you loaded a page, with each character having their own tagline. Is there any way to try to get this changed again?[[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.52|172.68.78.52]]

== RSS feed ==

Is there an RSS feed (or some equivalent) of Explain XKCD available? It's helpful for those using feed readers, and superior to the primary XKCD RSS since there are explanations and the mouse over text is transcribed for the lazy. Thanks [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.154|108.162.219.154]] 08:24, 28 August 2014 (UTC)
:[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:NewPages&feed=atom&hideredirs=1&limit=90&offset=&namespace=0&username=&feed=&tagfilter= Why yes, we do!] It's the regular new pages log that all wikis have. It's a little ugly at the moment, and sometimes junk gets in there when a bot chucks spam at us, so a nicer feed is in the works, but the linked one should do you excellently for now. When the nice one is done, you'll see it in the sidebar below the "Help" button. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:31, 28 August 2014 (UTC)

== Navigation Pane Link - Categories ==

How about having a link to the "Special:Categories" page in the navigation pane?

A fair amount of effort has gone into categorising the comics, and at the moment it isn't particularly obvious how to browse by category. Is this worth doing?{{unsigned|Pudder}}
:Space on the sidebar is on a premium. I dunno, I'd probably be against it, but I want to hear what other admins say as well. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:45, 29 September 2014 (UTC)

== Alternate realities what if would benefit from a wiki entry ==

The what if entry from the end of November 2014 providing excerpts from alternate reality what ifs would benefit from an explain page.
I suspect these may have been typos that have been made into jokes, but some of the humor might not be apparent to all.
I doubt I have access (or maybe know how) to set it up myself.

Cheers {{unsigned ip|199.27.133.42}}

: Made it. Check out [[What If: 120: Alternate Universe What Ifs]]. [[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 09:10, 26 December 2014 (UTC)
::We don't actually have a structure for what if pages in general, so I'll have to take that down, but when we do we can make pages for every what if. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:57, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

== Secondary URLs? ==

I have made http://www.xkcd.ga and http://www.xkcd.tk both forward to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page. Is this ok? [[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 08:50, 26 December 2014 (UTC)
:While we probably won't advertise them because we can't guarantee the uptime of third-party URLs, and they add an additional redirect layer and lack our shortened URL features, you're free to purchase and link URLs to us independently. We are not owned by Randall and as such cannot claim to actually be xkcd, so I'm not hugely comfortable with you using the plain name "xkcd" to link to us; a url in the format http://www.xkcd.[TLD] should by rights link to the main xkcd site, but no trademark claim has been made or likely will be made, so you should be fine with doing whatever you want to do with URL redirects '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:57, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

== LaTeX (Or MathML, TeX) support? ==

[[1489:_Fundamental_Forces|In the most recent comic at the time of posting]], there was use of formulae, being: Fgravity = G m1m2/d2 Fstatic = Ke q1q2/d2 
There are probably many more comics using formulae that cannot be rendered properly without the use of LaTeX or something. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Displaying_a_formula help page on Wikipedia] says that the following should work: <math>F_{gravity}=G\frac{m_1m_2}{d^2}</math> <math>F_{static}=K_e\frac{q_1q_2}{d^2}</math>
Provided that one has to set <source lang="php" enclose="none">$wgUseTeX = true;</source> in [[mw:Manual:LocalSettings.php|LocalSettings.php]]. Is there any reason for this to be disabled? If there is, is there any alternative? —[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.95|141.101.106.95]] 21:18, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

:The wgUseTeX flag was deprecated in mediawiki 1.18 in a move to simplify base mediawiki and move niche features into seperate plugins. I vaguely remember this being requested in the past, can't find any evidence of me implementing it. I'll try it now, see what stopped me last time. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:12, 21 February 2015 (UTC)
:Ah, there's a bit of configuration work to it and I was busy at the time probably. I'll put it on the growing to do list on my userpage. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:20, 21 February 2015 (UTC)
This problem is '''solved'''. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:03, 15 June 2018 (UTC)

== Merge Cueball & Rob ==

At the risk of posting this idea too many places and annoying everyone, I would like to propose that we consider merging [[Cueball]] and [[Rob]] and redirecting Cueball to Rob, much as [[Cutie]] now redirects to [[Megan]]. The most common name given for a Cueball-like character in the strip is "Rob". Like Megan, he is not always named. Also, like Megan, Rob tends to have distinct characteristics such as being a nerdy alter-ego to Randall (e.g. [[1168: tar]]) just as Megan often is the appearance given to comic representations of Randall's wife (see [[1141: Two Years]], before hair loss). Megan and Cueball appear to have a relationship (e.g. [[159: Boombox]]) and Megan clearly hangs out with Rob in ways not inconsistent with adventurous couples (e.g. [[782: Desecration]]). Finally, comics that feature both [[Black Hat]] and "Cueball" seem to depict them as friends and possibly roommates. However, we learn in [[1102: Fastest-Growing]] that Black Hat's roommate is named "Rob".

In short, I believe if [[159: Boombox]] had called "Cueball" "Rob" we would've rewritten both Cutie and Cueball to redirect there. Because we learned that "Cueball's" name is actually Rob much later (I think the earliest occurrences are [[647: Scary]], and [[716: Time Machine]]; the first time he is seen with Megan in a capacity that might indicate a relationship is [[782: Desecration]]). [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 19:05, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

:As I answered your comment on [[1496: Art Project]] Rob is [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Comics_featuring_Rob already listed] as part of the category for Comics featuring Cueball: and this is listed as the first entry when going to the page for [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Comics_featuring_Cueball Category:Comics featuring Cueball]. Cueball is such an integral part of explain xkcd that I do not think any other users wish to change. Also the 9 incidences with Rob is maybe a specific person and at the time Randall did not think to give him any features. Also Cueballs have no specific behavior as you allude to. Neither has Megan. You can always find several Cueballs and Megans that behave a certain way. But then you can find many other comics where they behave the opposite way. Thus Rob and Cueball should not be merged. Also there are several comics with more than one Cueball. And here we have this problem: It is typically the first who writes the transcript who decides who of the Cueballs (or Megans) he feels represents the "real" Cueball. However, there is no real behavior of Cueball. So who should decide. I could change all these transcripts so it becomes the other character who becomes Cueball, because I think that the first transcriber did it wrong. And this is why in a comic with more than one Cueball (where neither is called Rob or the like) neither of the two should be called Cueball. It would still be in the category with Cueball, because that is just comics with a Cueball like character no matter how many. But they cannot be named Cueball and friend or Rob and friend (unless Rob's name is mentioned!) They could be called Cueball 1 and Cueball 2, but then guy or man would be better. I know several places have comics with two Cueballs where someone has designated one of them Cueball and the other friend of foe etc. But this should be corrected so none of these are called Cueball. Same should go for more than one Megan. But this is very rare, and I have only found one other than ''Art project'' and here only one Megan had any lines. The problem with different opinions on which Cueball is which came for the first time up with Megan in ''Art project'': The two Megan-like characters was first named (left to right) Megan and Danish. Then unidentified girl and Megan. Then Megan and unidentified girl, then two Megan like girls with short and long hair and finally you reverted it to my first change away from Danish to unidentified girl and Megan. (I can live with that as there is difference in hair length and behavior). But as far as I see it Cueball is not Rob as well as Megan should have continued to be called Cutie (but I would not like to change that now, as I have grown fond of Megan). But at the time the change was done I believe it was wrong. The same fondness for the name Cueball also makes me sure that no one else would wish to call him Rob, even if that is as much his name as Megan is Cuties... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:57, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

::My argument is that it is inertia and sentiment ("fond of Megan") that prevents an objective, equal treatment here. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 22:47, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

::Also, regarding the analogy made above to Danish. I am fine with a nickname when Randall hasn't named a character. So she was "unidentified girl" and then became "Danish". But, when we named her "Danish", we went back to "Journal 1" and other places and renamed her. My proposal is that we should go back through and rename "Cueball" as "Rob". Alternatively, we should reinstate "Cutie" for cases in which it is not clear that a character is "Megan" per se, but just Megan in her "everywoman" capacity. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 00:00, 12 March 2015 (UTC)

I'm not sure how to post a poll, but I see the following options:

1) Status quo: Cueball for all unidentified males without distinct characteristics (e.g. hats), Megan for all shoulder-length brunettes. Rob only for named Cueballs. Multiple Cueballs in a comic mean one is named Cueball and others get named "Friend", etc.

2) Symmetry 1: Cueball/Rob stays as is. Unnamed brunettes get named "Cutie". "Megan" like "Rob" is reserved for comics in which a name is used.

3) Symmetry 2: Megan stays as is. Rob is the default for indistinct males. "Cueball" page redirects to "Rob" (as "Cutie" now redirect to "Megan").

4) Expunge all Cueballs from multi-Cueball comics: Basically the status quo, except that in comics with multiple Cueballs none are named "Cueball" and are just all given names "Man 1", "Man 2", etc.

I am ambivalent regarding options 2 or 3. I could live with 1 if there is consensus for it, but I don't like it. 4 is a disaster in my mind and gains nothing. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 22:47, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

:We are probably the only one who reads these post...? But anyway as is clear I'm for 4. Which has been used several places already.´I can live with 1. I think 2 and 3 are disasters. Also it would be completely confusing for those who have used this page for many years. Why do you bring this up now? Is it because of the multiple Megan comics, or have you just signed up here, and dislike that it doesn't follow the rules you would have expected?--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:19, 12 March 2015 (UTC)
::I suggest instead that we create a category for multiple Cueballs, so it is easy to explain why the Cueball is not a specific character, and thus can never be Rob (except when it is clear from the text), or be expected to behave a certain way. And in reverse we make a Named Megan category so it is easy to find the few (three?) where she has been named. This by the way has nothing to do with the other suggestions, so I might just do that to get an overview. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:19, 12 March 2015 (UTC)
::: It seems more consistent to me to use [[Cutie]] for all unnamed "Megans" and reserve "Megan" for named comics. Thus, Rob is '''a''' Cueball and Megan is '''a''' Cutie. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 13:30, 13 March 2015 (UTC)

::::I've read through some of your discussions (Here, Kynde's talk page, Art Project discussion), and thought I might put my thoughts forwards. Essentially we have three questions here:
::::1) Should we merge Cueball and Rob, and rename all Cueballs as Rob?
::::2) Should we rename all Megans as Cutie, except where she is explicitly named?
::::3) Once questions 1 & 2 are answered, what do we do where the 'same' character appears multiple times in one comic?

::::*I understand the objective argument for renaming Cueball to Rob, however I'm unconvinced of the importance of being entirely objective, and I can't imagine Cueball being renamed to anything other than Cueball.
::::*I think its fairly clear where the Cueball label has come from, even if it might not be immediately obvious to some. Even if readers don't make the link between Cueball's head and a cue-ball, it is quite a generic label, which I think fits well with the transient every-man nature of Cueball's usage.
::::*There is something far more specific about the name Rob, which suggests that he is the same character every time. The origin of the name isn't obvious, which I think would be likely to cause confusion.
::::This brings me to conclude that for me, the answer to Q1 has to be that Cueball should stay as Cueball, unless explicitly named something else.

::::The question of changing Megan to Cutie is one where I am less confident. Following the arguments I've made above, the outcome has to be that we rename to Cutie unless specifically named Megan, however I am not entirely convinced. The name Megan has a history, there are surely lots of people who now know her as Megan, what do we really stand to gain from all the work of changing to Cutie? I would also suggest that the name Cutie may not be accepted well by those with strong feminist views.

::::As far as multi-character comics, I don't have time right now, but I will come back later and add my thoughts. Now that we've only got a few incomplete comics, we've had to resort to discussing renaming characters!--[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:07, 13 March 2015 (UTC)
:::::I agree with the reasons for keeping Cueball and Megan. And also that Cutie is such a loaded word, that it should never have been used anyway. This I did not immediately think about, but Cutie sounds like something from either a porn movie, or else a Bond Babe... Like the phrase from one of those movies: "Hello, I'm Plenty..." Then we should have to find a third name. And everyone here knows her as Megan. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:24, 15 March 2015 (UTC)
::::::I have created the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Multiple_Cueballs Category:Multiple Cueballs] to locate them and to show how often there are more than one. Feel free to add any I haven't found yet. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:45, 16 March 2015 (UTC)

I think Rob is Black Hat's roommate and Megan's boyfriend/partner/husband (see above). The "Cueball" in comics such as [[159: Boombox]] and [[542: Cover-Up]] should, in my view, be renamed "Rob", even though he is not explicitly called that in those comics. Most other "Cueball" comics can stay unchanged. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 00:43, 14 March 2015 (UTC)
:I have left my reason to disagree also with this on the two comics talk page. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:24, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

In my opinion, it is quite clear that [[Randall]] has chosen to name the main male protagonist [[Rob]], for the few occasions where he needs characters to call upon each other, in the same way as he has chosen [[Megan]] for the main female protagonist. We should therefore try to overcome our nostalgia, follow Randall, and call the common male protagonist Rob. The problem with multiple cueballs can most often be resolved by identifying the protagonist, from the first-person narration or the general perspective. Thus, in [[525: I Know You're Listening]] Rob is the comic's "I", to the left. In [[1110: Click and Drag]], Rob is obviously flying with a balloon. In [[610: Sheeple]] Rob is arguably the guy in the foreground facing us. Non-Rob "cueballs" we could refer to as "friend" "man", etc. In this way roughly half of the "multiple cueballs" would be resolved. I think I can live with a few unclear cases, like [[220: Philosophy]]. [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:22, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

:A featureless character has been ''specifically'' named Rob in 9 comics, compared with 968 'Comics featuring Cueball'. I believe it is fundamentally flawed to assert that because a featureless character is named Rob in less than 1% of appearances, that all featureless characters should therefore be assumed to be Rob. As I've discussed above, I think that Rob strongly implies a specific person, whereas Cueball is a vague 'everyman' character. I feel it would be a huge error to change all Cueballs to Robs.--[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 17:37, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

::The problem with that logic is that "Megan" is only named in a small number of comics (fewer that "Rob"). So we should have a different name for an unnamed generic female. [[Cutie]] is fine, but if people perceive that as sexist, then another name, maybe "Cuegirl" or "Brunette" would work. (Side note: I doubt "Cutie" would be perceived as sexist and there's history there.) What I '''do''' find sexist is the fact that there is asymmetry between male and female "everyperson"s. In sum, I would say there is at less evidence to support naming Megan-everywoman "Megan" in all cases as there is to name Rob-everyman (here called "Cueball") "Rob" in all cases. Asymmetry here ignores the fact that Randall clearly intends his name to be "Rob" and also that we are using a proper name for everywoman but a contrived name for everyman, while creating an artificial distinction between Rob and Cueball and smearing out any possible distinction between Megan-everywoman and Megan-properName. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 13:18, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

:::As I put in my earlier comment (see above), I do agree that the logical conclusion is that Megan should no longer be named Megan, and should have an equivalent generic name. As an aside, I'm quite partial to your suggestion of Cuegirl. I disagree with your assertion that "Randall clearly intends his name to be Rob", and I think that is the central point of this discussion. I don't believe that there is anywhere near enough evidence to assign a specific name to what I believe is a generic character. If we want to go for formal logic, consider the syllogism "Some non descipt characters are called Rob, there are many non-descript characters, therfore all non-descript characters are called Rob". The conclusion simply does not follow. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 14:22, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

::::Great, I vote for Cuegirl & Cueball :: Megan & Rob! [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 01:31, 31 March 2015 (UTC)

I agree with Djbrasier's and St.nerol's arguments, and I too feel that the arguments against dealing with this in an objective, symmetrical and logical way seem mostly based on nostalgia. Either we agree that a few named instances of the everywoman are sufficient to generalize to the (vastly more numerous) unnamed instances, and apply the same standard to the everyman, which is only consistent (and even more justified in the case of Rob since he is named in more comics than Megan), or we decide that the extrapolation is unjustified and we revert the Cutie-->Megan merge. The alternative --having double standards and deciding things based on historical baggage and emotional attachment rather than rationality-- makes no sense for followers of the comic that ''literally invented'' nerd-sniping!

I'd also add that, as a non-native speaker, "cueball" doesn't ring any immediate bells unless the connection to cue balls is pointed out explicitly -- so actually Rob works even better as a generic name than Cueball. We have already [[#New character|agreed previously]] that clarity is better than cleverness when we named [[Hairy]], forgoing the less obvious alliteration "Harry", so I vote we use the name Randall ''actually'' gave us, let go of our attachments to a creation he never endorsed, and honor our collective nerdiness by doing the logical thing: apply our standards uniformly and adopt Rob the same way we adopted Megan. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 06:09, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

:I've already put my thoughts forward above, so I won't repeat the same ground I've covered, other than to say I believe it would be a mistake to turn all Cueballs into Robs. While I will admit to having some nostalgia for the name Cueball, that isn't a major facet of my argument. I believe that any generic name is better than a specific name. Call them Stickboy & Stickgirl if you want! I know there are a fairly significant number of contributors and visitors who do not have English as their first language, but I don't believe that is a reason to choose a specific name, rather than a generic name, even if the origin of the latter isn't immediately obvious to all. It would be interesting to know whether each of us sees Cueball as always being the same person, or Cueball *is* Randall, or Cueball is just a changeable everyman.

:To me, he is a changeable everyman, who I guess may represent or be based on: Randall, his friends, family or acquaintances, famous people, someone he saw in the street, or a completely made up character used to fill a specific role in the comic. The reason I argue againt merging Rob & Cueball is that the Cueball I see is this morphing and fluid character, and to use a specific name to tie him down to being the same character all the time runs completely counter to that. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 08:31, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

:: Understood, and sorry for mischaracterizing your argument (the nostalgia part does cloud the discussion though). I suppose I would be somewhat ambivalent to either have Rob+Megan, or Cueball+Cutie -- Cuegirl doesn't work because she has hair :) --, in the interests of reason and symmetry. But I lean slightly towards Rob+Megan because those are names Randall actually gave us, while anything else is our own invention and thus has no claim to legitimacy other than popular support.
:: Particularly, while I understand your concern about shoehorning the various personality traits the Cueballs show in different comics into a single persona, that doesn't seem to have been a problem for Megan -- not to mention real people ''are'' indeed complex and multi-faceted beings (or "morphing and fluid", to use your terms) rather than one-dimensional caricatures. Heck, even Black Hat has his romantic side! :) So in light of that, I don't think we have to worry about ruining Cueball by naming him Rob -- if anything, that'd add more depth to him as a character! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:35, 10 April 2015 (UTC)
:::I'm still very much against changing things here. Call it nostalgia, but there are many users who will never read these arguments, who one day comes back and cannot find Megan or Cueball, and will ask who the heck are Cuegirl/Cutie. I'm completely with Pudder on the problem with giving Cueball the name Rob. It just doesn't make sense. I agree that we have a inconsistency with Megan. But then everyone who uses this page a few times, becomes familiar with that name. However the main problem with all your great ideas is this. Who should correct the either 984 pages where Cueball is mentioned because he is a part of it (and all the other pages relevant to him or where he is exactly mentioned because he isn't part of the comic) and/or who should do the same for 487 comics (plus loose pages) for Megan. Unless those in favor for changing the names will do this, then the discussion is moot. It is already clearly stated in the relevant pages that these two characters are generic and that they have been named but a few times. So what more can we do unless someone is willing to use several days to change this back. I sincerely doubt you can keep the correct syntax if you just try a brute force replacement? There are so many interconnecting links etc. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:21, 25 April 2015 (UTC)

I completely disagree with merging Cueball and Rob. Rob has [[276|Emily]] and [[632|Lisa]] as girlfriends, and Cueball has Megan. Rob also lives a more action-filled and stereotypical life compared to Cueball. --[[User:Youforgotthisthing|Youforgotthisthing]] ([[User talk:Youforgotthisthing|talk]]) 13:14, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

I think the main stances here are clear:
* Keep as is
* Rename Cuball to Rob
* Change Megan back to Cutie/Cuegirl
Since keeping it status quo wouldn't change anything and is asymmetrical, I'll go over the others:
* Rename Cueball to Rob - Arguments:
** Randall gave him this name;
** It would offer symmetry to Megan;
** If the Cutie -> Megan logic is to be followed (as she was changed once named in the comics) then Cueball should be Rob;
** Even though cueball is a generic everyman name, Rob seems more like a name you could give anyone and would be more recognizable to non-native English speakers.
* Change Megan back to Cutie/Cuegirl - Arguments:
** It would cause symmetry again, letting her have an everywoman name;
** Nostalgia for Cueball;
** Megan is not always the same character, so she should not always have the name Megan

I happen to agree with the idea of merging Cueball and Rob, but I'm not closed to the idea of Cutie/Cuegirl. The main problem is that these characters are typically interchangeable everymen/everywomen and there can be more than one in a comic. So another question is what we should do for multiple Cueballs/Robs. In my opinion, we should have all the comics with more than one depict them as Man 1, Man 2, etc. --[[User:Sensorfire|Sensorfire]] ([[User talk:Sensorfire|talk]]) 17:04, 20 May 2015 (UTC)
:Well I disagree. The users are used to refeer to these characters now by these names. It is also impractical to try to change them all. Megan is rarely twice in a comic. Maybe she is more the same like Black Hat is. But it is made clear that they are not the same in every comic in their pages. If there are muliple Cueballs but one is the main protagonist then he us cueball. If none can be singled out then Cueball like guy to the left/right can be used. I have done that for tbose cases I have found so far ([[:Category:Multiple_Cueballs|49 today]]).--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:58, 7 June 2015 (UTC)

Well, somebody pointed out that the title text of [[1783: Emails]] suggests that the Cueball in the comic is most certainly not Rob, and calling the main comic character 'Man 1' as above would be silly. And on top of all this, 'Cueball' occurs so much we would probably need to take a regex to every explanation in [[:Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]. [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 14:50, 9 January 2017 (UTC)

Why hasn't anyone thought of the name "Hairball"? {{unsigned ip|172.68.189.187}}
:Please don't forget to sign your posts. And everybody should read this first: [[Characters]] and [[Rob]]. For short: Rob is a named Cueball. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 11:57, 15 June 2018 (UTC)

== How to fit explanations of new classes of xkcd-related mysteries into the site: what-if, t-shirts, posters, special comics etc. ==

I suggest that the [http://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:About explain xkcd] page should explain how this site is laid out, and what sorts of things are explained here besides the online numbered xkcd comics that come out three times a week.

For example, there is the [[A Smarter Planet]] series, and there are ideas for explaining some of the [http://what-if.xkcd.com/ What-If] series. I'd like to add my explanation of the [https://gist.github.com/nealmcb/398af29a72f7b3efc202 XKCD Greek t-shirt, with mathematical, scientific and engineering uses for greek letters] and perhaps some other t-shirts, posters and the like.

But I can't even figure out how to find non-numbered-comic-explanations, without going thru the entire [[Special:AllPages]] listing, which includes a huge set of unnumbered aliases as well as the numbered ones.

I've taken a stab towards that by editing the About page to point to some categories (and to start with a little overview), but since I'm just poking around, I might have missed some things. [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 19:40, 23 March 2015 (UTC)

== Link to "Special pages" on main page ==

I think there should be a link to [[Special:SpecialPages]] on the main-page--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 11:55, 29 March 2015 (UTC)
:Special pages is a default feature in every mediawiki installation. It's also in the sidebar of every page, and it's not relevant to xkcd. Why does it merit space on the main page? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:56, 29 March 2015 (UTC)

== Science comic ==

Should the Science Magazine comic be added? http://m.sciencemag.org/content/342/6154/58.full [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 03:14, 4 April 2015 (UTC)
:I think that would be a great idea. Could there be other copyright rules when the comic has been published on Science? It there anyway to find out if Randall also has a link to it from (or has it on) xkcd? As he has done with the other [[:Category:Extra_Comics|Extra_Comics]]. And how do we create such a page, if there can be no link directly to xkcd (at the top of the comic)? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:24, 30 April 2015 (UTC)

== "what if?" section? ==

I would like to start a new "what if?" section explaining and discussing what if pages.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 06:08, 8 April 2015 (UTC)
:Why does it need to exist? The main xkcd comic needs it, because Randall tends to be obtuse at times, but the what if articles are sourced and written out already. Supposedly, they're already explanations to questions sent in to Randall. Why do we need to explain explanations? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:29, 8 April 2015 (UTC)
::Explaining them indeed seems unnecessary, but we could certainly catalog and summarize them. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:38, 10 April 2015 (UTC)
::The images on what if? also have title texts that could further be explained, and we could organize what if pages by categories, as well as provide summaries. There are also subtle references, running gags, and in-jokes in What If? that should be explained.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 08:44, 11 April 2015 (UTC)
::This https://what-if.xkcd.com/120/ is a example of a what if that could do with some explanations.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 08:47, 11 April 2015 (UTC)
:::That's one of 135 what-ifs, and it's entirely self referential and can be figured out by reading the rest of the archive. The substance of the majority of pages is going to be incredibly thin, Randall doesn't tend to leave much for explanation. Comics that are simple one-shot images are our least used pages for good reason, and the what-if images pretty much all fall into that category, or are used to illustrate Randall's point that he makes in the immediately preceding paragraph. We could archive/catalog all the what-if pages and be a second archive button for the series, though there's a little less value to that than the archiving we did for [[Time]] and [[Externalities]] because there's already an archive along the same lines on the main site. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:14, 11 April 2015 (UTC)
::::I think the main value we could add is a summary (TL;DR style) of each entry, in a short Q&A format. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:13, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
If we are going forward with this, is there anyway to find the date in which the what if was first published?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 09:01, 11 April 2015 (UTC)
:At the bottom of the page, there's an archive button. Click that. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:14, 11 April 2015 (UTC)
Well, fact is, the [[what if?]] page is much, '''much''' larger now. [[User:Nk22|Nk22]] ([[User talk:Nk22|talk]]) 11:52, 20 April 2015 (UTC)
:Thank you, Nk22! I've added a link from the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd About explain xkcd] page. {{unsigned|Nealmcb}}

== Userscript ==

Hello there, just wrote a simple userscript that adds an 'Explain' button to the original xkcd.com

https://gist.github.com/magazov/934de662d60c9fb5fea9

You can run it via Greasemonkey, Tampermonkey and other similar plugins :)

[[Image:Screen_Shot_xkcd_button.png]]
{{unsigned|Magazovski}}

:Yeah, there's a few of these floating around. In the future, could you use an imgur link instead of uploading stuff like that to the wiki? Thanks. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:02, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

::So maybe explainxkcd should host & maintain one of them? --[[User:Magazovski|Magazovski]] ([[User talk:Magazovski|talk]]) 09:30, 22 April 2015 (UTC)
:::Why would we host an image hosting site? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:17, 23 April 2015 (UTC)
::::He means we could host and maintain a userscript to help our fans get here from xkcd.... [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 14:36, 9 May 2015 (UTC)
:::::Hum, that's not a bad idea. I'll put it on the list of things to do. Although, if they're already here, why do they need a userscript to help them get here? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:34, 11 May 2015 (UTC)
::::::For people who mainly view the comics through the official site, but sometimes need an explanation of the comic. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 09:23, 11 May 2015 (UTC)

== Updating the incomplete comic of the day ==

Currently, I think the incomplete comic of the day should be changed more often (i.e. daily), since the incomplete comics are piling up, and most users aren't seeing the notice, as it is dismissible.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 11:40, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

:While I agree that the comic of the day could be changed more often, I wouldn't say that the incomplete comics are ''piling up''. Over the months I've been active here, the number of incomplete comics had fallen considerably. In fact if you check the comics which are still marked as incomplete, most of them are one where a significant effort would be required to complete them. For example the large comics (Money, Time, Congress) or dynamic comics (Externalities, Click & Drag, Pixels). --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:32, 23 April 2015 (UTC)
::Yeah. Of the 15 incomplete "pages," only 10 of them are actual comics that need the attention, and the full count is still dropping. I've been keeping it on single comics as of late because the remaining actual incomplete comics have been cycled through ~3 times already, with no significant effort made on them, because they're such monumental pieces of work. Making the message dismissable is by design, we are a service first and foremost, we're not trying that hard to make visitors do our work for us. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:17, 23 April 2015 (UTC)

== Infrequently recurring minor charachters ==

Should we just group all of the characters that are not of enough significance to warrant their own character page into a single page (i.e. [[Other Minor Characters]])? --{{User:17jiangz1/signature|02:58, 09 May 2015}}
:See comic [[1000]] for a sample of what this entails. Also, what value to we stand to provide by cataloging every unique character that has appeared in xkcd? Does it help us explain the comics any better? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:32, 9 May 2015 (UTC)

== Comic page creation ==

Is comic page creation not automated? If it isn't, then [[Help talk:How to add a new comic explanation]] should be created.--{{User:17jiangz1/signature|14:19, 26 May 2015}} 14:19, 26 May 2015 (UTC)

:Comic explanation was, at one point, automated. However, the bot ran on a schedule, and so sometimes there would be a few hours between a new comic being posted and the page getting created. Some editors just can't wait that long, so they do the bot's work before the bot even gets going. I agree that this page should be created and be kept up to date. Historically no one has read any of the help pages I've written. ;p [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:42, 26 May 2015 (UTC)

:However, I think that the page should be [[Help:Comic Explanation Page Creation]]. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:43, 26 May 2015 (UTC)

== Re-proposing merging Cueball and Rob ==

Okay, so this was previously [[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#Merge_Cueball_.26_Rob discussed] but I felt that it was worth bringing up again. Really, at this point, there's no logical reason why the two should not be merged, or Megan and Cutie should be un-merged. Rob and Cueball clearly seem to be the same person, at least when cueball appears as a specific character. In the instances where there are multiple Cueballs, we should just refer to them as Man 1, Man 2, and so on. Can we get a vote or something this time? Yes, I understand that Cueball isn't always the same character. But neither is [[Megan]], and yet we always refer to the short black haired girl (formerly [[Cutie]]) as Megan. If that logic applies to her, it applies to Rob. It's pretty clear that Randall intended to name the character Rob, as most named Cueballs are named Rob and not Fred or something.

In short: Please don't bring nostalgia into this, it's really not relevant. Changing Cueball to Rob or Megan back to Cutie (or Cuegirl?) would have symmetry and make sense. {{unsigned ip|Sensorfire}}
:I'm ok with dumping a marginal character page that only served to add confusion to character identification in new comics, but this was a subject of contention before so we probably need to see more of people's thoughts first. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:03, 5 September 2015 (UTC)

:I agree: let's list the arguments for both sides, ensure that everyone agrees with the objectiveness of that listing, and then vote. If there's support for this plan, and nobody does it first, I'll take a stab at producing a first draft of the summary. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 23:57, 14 September 2015 (UTC)

:Randall is currently on a booktour. So, how about, instead of us (without the ability to read minds) arguing about his intention or who is/isn't the same character, someone go see him and ask? Then we'll know with absolute 100% certainty. [[User:WaltG123|WaltG123]] ([[User talk:WaltG123|talk]]) 04:49, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
::Randall never called either character Cueball and Cutie so of course this is not his names. Asking him would make no meaning at all. For any user of xkcd it will create lots of confusion to change the names of Megan and Cueball now. Regarding Rob he is already listed as Cueball in his category. And Cueballs have been called other names several times. Rob is just the only one that has been used a few times. I agree that it may have been wrong to call her Megan, (the name has been used like three times?) Similar it is just as wrong to call Black Hat's girlfriend [[Danish]], a nick name used once. But it is actually very nice to have a real name or at least useful name when speaking of characters. And it has also been mentioned that Cutie could be perused as a sexist name, so we should not move back to that. Well recently even [[Hairbun]] has her name changed from Hairbun girl since a user thought that was a problem given it most often was a grown woman. So I think we should stick to the solution of the previous debate and leave Cueball, Rob and Megan alone as they are! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:56, 29 June 2016 (UTC)

== Adjective phrases ==

Overwhelmed with the need to be picayune, I am compelled to point out that on the homepage there is the sentence that begins "There are a lot of comics that don't have set in stone explanations..." This sentence contains a adjective phrase which should be hyphenated thus: "set-in-stone"

Please pretend that I have said something witty here, as I am too tired to think of anything funny. {{unsigned|Gamewriter}}
:Is it actually grammatically wrong in it's current state? Huh. I guess I'll change it. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:42, 1 November 2015 (UTC)

::This is long after the fact, but I'll throw my two cents in on Davidy22's question. Yes, it is wrong. If the 'set in stone' phrase were after the word explanations ("explanations set in stone") it would not require hyphens, but used as an adjective before the noun ("set-in-stone explanations") it requires them. D Miller [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.41|108.162.221.41]] 18:26, 21 March 2016 (UTC)

== Update MediaWiki ==

You are currently using MediaWiki 1.19.17. It's ''really'' outdated. Maybe update to 1.26.2, the current recommended stable version? There is an [[mw:Manual:Upgrading|official guide]] for that. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.77|141.101.80.77]] 12:03, 24 January 2016 (UTC) (PS my IP address is wrong it's not what you think it is)

== Rename Hair Bun Girl ==

The character [[Hair Bun Girl]] was named in April 2015. There wasn't any discussion of the name at the time, so I'd like to open that discussion now please.

At present we have several other characters named after distinctive visual features: [[Ponytail]], [[Black Hat]], [[White Hat]], [[Beret Guy]], and arguably [[Hairy]] and [[Cueball]]. In all but one of those cases, the name matches the distinctive feature itself, without the addition of "guy", "girl", etc. Given the number of comics that Beret Guy is in it's probably too late to modify his name, but it's not too late for Hair Bun Girl.

Besides the consistency issue, there's also the inaccuracy of referring to a grown woman with the term "girl", particularly when the character has been presented as older than [[Megan]]. I'd really like to fix this while her number of appearances is still manageable.

The name "Hairbun" has been proposed and I think that matches really nicely with Ponytail in particular.

[[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 04:23, 9 February 2016 (UTC)
:As the "guy" who created the Hair Bun Girl characther, I have no objection to changing the name. I did not think about the issue with girl/woman, probably because I'm not native English speaker. (And with the Beret Guy as an example). Jkshapiro was so kind as to [[User_talk:Kynde#Hair_Bun_.22Girl.22|ask my opinion]] before starting this discussion. At first I thought that ''Hairbun'' was a little weird, but then again so is Ponytail in this context. So I '''support''' the change to '''Hairbun'''! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:06, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

I vote '''change''' Hair Bun to Hairbun and '''keep''' girl. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 21:02, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

OK, I'm going ahead. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 02:47, 25 March 2016 (UTC)
:Well as I said I would not mind, but you cannot say you got any other to agree with you on this though. Mimek wished to keep girl... It will be a huge job to get all the instances correct, also be careful no to change those places where the talk is of a girl who has a hair bun. You cannot just change all placed with hair bun girl to Hairbun, in case is actually says the hair bun girl about a small girl who has a hair bun! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:59, 25 March 2016 (UTC)
::Seems no one cares, so I will remove the notes now. Great job Jkshapiro with changing the names. I like the new name now :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:35, 2 April 2016 (UTC)

== Mobile friendly website ==

Can we get a mobile friendly version of the wiki? If we already have one, what about forwarding the main site to it when viewed on a phone? [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 20:59, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

Ditto. And/or an app. I would like to be able to keep track of which comics/explanations I have read. [[User:Calion|Calion]] ([[User talk:Calion|talk]]) 13:36, 31 July 2019 (UTC)

== New categories ==

I think there may be a need to propose a standard way to decide on categories: what new ones are needed, what are the prerequisites for creating a new category, how to maintain new categories and make sure they are actually used when they apply etc. For now I have gathered all previous discussions about new categories under this section. -- [[User:Malgond|Malgond]] ([[User talk:Malgond|talk]]) 13:39, 17 February 2016 (UTC)
:I think that whenever there are more than 4-5 comics that you wish to refer to in a given explanation because they are of the same topic as the current comic, then having a category is much to prefer rather than listing 5, 6 or 7 comics. I have made several categories for these instances, for instance for sport including the most used sports. At the time being I keep them up to date. One of the things this site does so well is giving you an easy way to find a specific comic even though you cannot remember the title of any precise quotes etc. If you just have an idea of what the topic was you might find it based on the categories. In this way I do not think we can have too many categories. As long as they describe a recurring subject. Only fault is that there seems to be no way to search for a comic based on more than one category? That would be great. In some cases even only 3 comics in a category can make sense. For instance I would be sorry to see this one go [[:Category:Puts on sunglasses]] (and I did not make it!) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:09, 19 February 2016 (UTC)
::For instance I have long wished for categories that covered all the space probe related comics, particularly all those referencing the Mars rovers. So today I made them with 16 and 9 comics in them already. [[:Category:Space probes]] [[:Category:Mars rovers]]. I hope people will generally think this was a great idea! :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:42, 20 February 2016 (UTC)
:::And [[:Category:The Lion King]]... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:47, 1 March 2016 (UTC)

=== Category: Protip ===

Anyone for adding ''Protip'' as a [[:Category:Comic series|Comic series]]. I have found five so far: [[653]], [[711]], [[1022]], [[1047]] and [[1156]]. (There are also a few comics with a protip title text.) -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:25, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

:I think that qualifies as a recurring topic (thus worthy of a category), but not as a series, where you can see a clear sequence. In fact, [[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]] has the same limitation, for what I suggest it to be removed from [[:Category:Comic series]]. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:42, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

::Seconded. Looks general and common enough to be a category. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:57, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

:::Okay, great! Do you think that the ones with a "protip:" title text should be included? Besides, I think I might be the one responsiple for moving My Hobby from [[:Category:Comics by topic|Comics by topic]] to Comic series. I felt that all the My Hobby comics were about different topics, but maybe i've got to narrow an interpretation of the word "topic". -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:31, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

:::: Can you link to the protip-in-title-text comics?
:::: As for My Hobby, note that categories aren't mutually exclusive. They can be in the "my hobby" topic, and each of them further categorized as appropriate: music, math, etc. Makes sense? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 03:45, 5 January 2013 (UTC)
:::: I just searched for protip in the xkcd search bar. Here: [[1084]], [[427]]. And yes, makes sense. I've moved My Hobby back to "by topic". -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:06, 5 January 2013 (UTC)

=== Category: Sports ===

How about creating a new "Sports" category? [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 15:31, 28 January 2013 (UTC)
:Well, maybe. Everyone aren't so keen on new categories here. Which comics are you thinking of, for a start? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 20:32, 28 January 2013 (UTC)
::We definitely need to reach an agreement as a community on when to create new categories. Something simple like a minimum of 3 (or, say, 5) existing comics. Since we're already at the proposals' portal... what do you guys think about that? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:44, 28 January 2013 (UTC)
:::My opinion: Five would be enough to qualify. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 09:31, 29 January 2013 (UTC)
::::I vote for four. But it should also be a reasonable thing to categorize, like sports, not like "sports with Cueball containing at least three anagram words". Wich sholdn't be a problem. :) But the best name choice could be tricky sometimes. e.g. "Film & television", Film & TV", "Film", "Films", or "Movies"? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:59, 29 January 2013 (UTC)
:::
::::Agreed, five should be enough to create the category without having to discuss it. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:50, 26 February 2013 (UTC)
: OK, let's start with [[588: Pep Rally|588]], [[1092: Michael Phelps|1092]], [[904: Sports|904]] and [[1107: Sports Cheat Sheet|1107]]. Should be able to find a few more. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 05:00, 29 January 2013 (UTC)
::Yeah, it's a broad subject so there are probably several more. -[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:59, 29 January 2013 (UTC)
:::I found another one, sort of, in [[929:Speculation|929]] (although it hasn't been explained yet). Should I get the ball rolling (no pun intended) on setting up the category? Don't wanna do it unilaterally and get yelled at. ;) [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 06:18, 30 January 2013 (UTC)
::::I think you should. On a wiki, getting stuck in discussions which die without a conclusion, to the point that motivated people give up without having done anything, is definitely counter-productive, and phrases like [[wikipedia:Wikipedia:Be bold|Wikipedia:Be bold]] are here to remind us of that. Seems like people agreed that you ''could'', and after a while nobody said that you ''shouldn't'', so I'd say do it. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:50, 26 February 2013 (UTC)
:I did it without looking here first, because it was obvious there were many [[:Category:Sport|sport comics]]. I have even created four under categories (only one was there before, Chess). There are 10 comics at present that are related to other sports than the five under categories. And given the way Randall thinks about sport (not very much) he still has plenty of comics about the subject. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:33, 14 February 2016 (UTC)

=== Category: Sex ===

I think we should also create a Sex category. There's no ''doubt'' we can find more than three examples. I'll start looking for them and post the ones I find in here; again, I don't wanna create a large category by myself without community consent. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 09:20, 2 February 2013 (UTC)
*OK, the ones for Category: Sex that I've found so far are [[443]], [[219]], [[550]], [[1026]], [[575]], [[468]], [[592]], [[320]], [[1101]], [[417]], [[713]], [[672]], [[230]], [[436]], [[940]], [[532]], [[649]], [[176]], [[1006]], [[596]] and [[717]], and I'm sure there are many more. Should we create this category? [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 23:17, 3 February 2013 (UTC)

:Same as [[#Category: Sports|above]], do it. Oh, already did; well, all the better. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:53, 26 February 2013 (UTC)

=== Category: Flowcharts ===

Hello, the line "Randall has made use of flowcharts before." in today's comic explanation made me want a [[:Category:Flowcharts|flowcharts category]] to navigate into...

As it didn't exist, I proceeded to create it, but as the log says, [[User:lcarsos|lcarsos]] deleted such a category in November, saying ''"Insufficient differentiation from Category:Comics with charts, diluting the depth of comics tagged charts"''.

I don't agree with that, and I think we could profit from such a subcategory. I found those pages fitting it:
* [[94: Profile Creation Flowchart]]
* [[210: 90's Flowchart]]
* [[488: Steal This Comic]]
* [[627: Tech Support Cheat Sheet]]
* [[844: Good Code]]
* [[851: Na]]
* [[854: Learning to Cook]]
* [[1195: Flowchart]]

So? - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 10:59, 5 April 2013 (UTC)
:Weell if you're willing to take charge of the category and personally make sure it's added to all relevant comic explanations, go ahead. The usual objection to making new categories is that we admins can't remember all the categories when we're reviewing new explanations, but it's K if you're willing to take up that responsibility yourself. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:17, 5 April 2013 (UTC)
:
:: OK. I did it without waiting for further replies, because I think it will be especially profitable today (to viewers).
:: It doesn't seem a big issue to me if the correct category is not added when a new explanation is made: a passing editor will do it later on... But hey, I'm OK with taking special care of adding pages to this category.
:: [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 12:28, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

::: I just want to add that Cos' view is indeed the appropriate way to work in wikis: there is no concept of a single author for a page, category, or piece of text, and the workload is meant to be distributed among several editors: it is not necessary that any single editor remembers all existing categories, or knows the wiki markup by heart, or knows how to work with all the features of mediawiki, etc. The reason why wikis can be edited by anyone is precisely a recognition that there *will* be errors and any page can be improved somehow. That reasoning against categories should, IMO, be abandoned, or at most only kept as the opinion of some editors. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 22:00, 6 April 2013 (UTC)

Isnt there a page which lists all the categories? If not, there should be one, and it should be accessible to all. Such a page could be useful when trying to quick-add categories to comics. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.83.155|117.194.83.155]] 13:43, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
:Yes, there is. [[Special:Categories]]. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:07, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
::Of course, there's a gazillion of 'em, over several pages, so I understand any reluctance to add new categories (having just suggested a new one myself which I feel is justified, but knowing that the upkeep needed may be the key point of contention so remaining philosophical about it).
::A solution perhaps to carry over from another locale that I frequent is to have a "Categories of Character" page, a "Categories of Object" one, perhaps "Categories of Event", and a "Categories of Publication". For each new comic someone can easily check the shorter Character categories list against those present, the Object list against itemsin use, Events, etc, and of course the Publication one has the "Tuesday Comic"/equivalent, and other date-based ones (although isn't that automatic from templated creation? ...never added a comic, but would imagine it is). After that it's a trawl through the miscelania categories (perhaps a meta-category just for them?). But, yeah, a lot of work to set up. Wouldn't wish it on anyone who wasn't already willing to do it, and I remain an anon-IP person right now so can hardly commit ''myself'' as volunteer maintainer of this. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 17:20, 22 June 2013 (UTC)

=== Category: (Barred/banned from?) Conferences ===

I come here after realising I erroneously posted (in reply) to the Main page Talk, being anonymous (or at least IP-only) and without a list of qualifying articles to support me, just yet, but still wish to put forward the above category before I forget. There's no apparent equivalent, that I found, but it's definitely a recurring meme. I should be back (named or otherwise) with my suggested list of members, if someone else doesn't get there first, but I thought I'd start with the placemarker. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 16:41, 22 June 2013 (UTC)
:Ok, so I got the bee in my bonnet and spent a few minutes actually looking into this. Revising "Barred from Conferences" (actually more often "Banned" or even "Thrown out of"/equivalent) to just "Conferences", the subset of comics that I can easily find that are involved is *[[153]], *[[177]], *[[365]], *[[410]], *[[463]], *[[541]], [[545]], [[685]], [[829]] and [[867]], but I'm sure there are more recent ones that I didn't spot/recall. One alternative title to "Conferences" is "Presentations", and I'm sure if I'd searched for that I'd have found more potential candidates (less some that might ''exit'' the renamed category). The asterisked ones ''do'' deal with being barred/banned/thrown out/etc, making it still a suitable category in its own right, IMO, but I'll leave it up to your combined musings to decide. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 17:07, 22 June 2013 (UTC)
::I add [[690]] to the list. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:12, 13 September 2013 (UTC)

::: Great suggestions! I created [[:Category:Public speaking]] and [[:Category:Banned from conferences]]. I also added [[Wikipedian Protester]] to the mix, of course :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:59, 13 November 2013 (UTC)

=== Category: Wishes ===

[http://explainxkcd.com/1391/ Several] [http://explainxkcd.com/1086/ comics] [http://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/152:_Hamster_Ball now] [http://xkcd.com/879/ exist] that talk about wishes - probably more. Should there be a category for this? [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 23:22, 7 July 2014 (UTC)
:Doesn't seem significant enough. If you promise to maintain the category you can make it yourself, although it will be cleared out if it gets neglected as new comics are released. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 15:20, 8 July 2014 (UTC)

=== Category: Artificial Intelligence ===

Hello world.

There are a handful of comics involving Ai - [[1540]], [[1530]], [[1450]] and [[948]] for instance - and maybe it's an idea to give them their own category {{unsigned|Nk22}}

:The usual objection to new categories is that they get abandoned and are too narrow for other people to think of picking them up. If you're going to own it and update it with new comics, you can make it. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 21:01, 23 June 2015 (UTC)

=== Category: Size Comparisons ===
There are numerous comics comparing sizes of things. I can't get a list right now, but off the top of my head, radiation dosages, money, today's comic, and space shuttles in horses. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 19:23, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

===Category: Katamari Damacy ===

There are quite a few comics about this game. [[User:DPS2004|DPS2004]] ([[User talk:DPS2004|talk]])

== Adding Ratings for Explanations ==

I found [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1652 today's explanation] excellently written however that is not always the case. Frequently explanations are walk through of the conversation that are too wordy without any succinct explanation of why or how a strip is funny -- while many of those low quality explanations are not strictly "incomplete" they could benefit from a careful rewrite. I was wondering if we should add a rating tool such as " ''Was this explanation helpful? yes/no'' " so as to identify explanation that could benefit from improvement without having to be tagged as "incomplete". [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 17:57, 8 March 2016 (UTC)
:We have a rather prominent discussion page for feedback, do we really need an additional add-on for this? I did a little research and found that other wikis use [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Semantic_Rating semantic rating] and [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:ArticleRatings article ratings], which I can install if enough other users want it. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:54, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

== New Speculation Sections ==

I often see a lot of speculation and conjecture within the explanation of the comic itself. I don't think it has any place in the explanation but I know many editors enjoy speculating and interpreting the comic and the meaning behind it so I've decided to start this discussion on whether we should provide a section where we can provide different speculations.

What I am thinking would not be like the discussion page, where comments are made and discussed, but an edited and reviewed section which outlines different speculations and interpretations of the comics themselves and perhaps even the author's intent.

Of course tone and presentation should be held to the same standards of the comic explanation but I think this would be a good way to better organize a review of the comic.

I have been away too long to remember if there are any comic explanations with something like this so I have no idea how well it would work.

As an example;

This part from comic 1642: [[Gravitational Waves]]

" It seems that Randall knew in advance about this announcement because this comic was published on a Thursday, not following the normal publish schedule, to coincide with the announcement "

Is well supported, and rather likely correct, conjecture which belongs in the body of the explanation because not only is it backed by strong evidence but it provides background on the comic and the time in which the comic was released and aids in understanding the comic itself.

However, this part from comic 478: [[The Staple Madness]]

"From just reading the comic by itself, one may presume that in the last panel, Cueball has been stapled to the ceiling (as obvious evidence to Megan that Beret Guy has indeed been abusing her staple gun). According to the comic's official transcript, however, it is in fact God who is speaking."

Is almost as equally well supported and certainly a valid interpretation of simply the comic. It is only refuted by the official transcript. I believe it is important to acknowledge and may even be a more humorous interpretation than the one which is provided by the official transcript.

If we added a speculation section (or something of the sort) then we would have a place to talk about this interpretation more freely and expound upon it more.

[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 15:16, 13 May 2016 (UTC)
: Problem is the whole "explanation" is actually conjecture. None of us the author, we're all just guessing. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 15:23, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

: Many of the current explanations are conjecture, that's true but not every explanation. Providing information on the science or mathematics behind a particular comic is not conjecture. Stating whether the author intended to belittle the field or state that one field is superior over another (unless fairly explicitly stated) is. And there are many things which can be inferred without being simple speculation. Not every comic would need a section like this, and not every comic needs a trivia section, and I'm not ready to start adding this proposed section myself. But I think it should be considered. [[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 15:35, 13 May 2016 (UTC)
::The intention of the discussion pages was to serve as a place for people to put their conjecture and reaching interpretations of the comics. They're presented alongside the explanation to make people's interpretations more readily visible. Some people may have trouble distinguishing an ungrounded interpretation of a comic from an explanation of it, and they will insert weak text into explanations. If you find something you disagree with, feel free to bring it up in the discussion section and edit it out of the explanation liberally '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:17, 17 May 2016 (UTC)

== Unixkcd ==

Hello everyone. I was just wondering: is there anything on http://uni.xkcd.com/. Because I was just looking and the only thing I found on Unixkcd is a mention of a bug in [[1350]]. There is not even a mention on the April fools article.
:There's nothing on this site, there's a couple of novel tidbits on the xkcd site that are at best tangentially related to the comic, as Randall originally intended to make xkcd.com his personal site for hosting his own projects. That particular one doesn't show up in any comics. Also, proposals might not be the best place to put this. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:46, 21 May 2016 (UTC)
::I added the unixckd information to [[721: Flatland]]. According to [https://vimeo.com/78912850 Randalls Øredev 2013 talk] unixkcd was the April Fools' prank for April 1st 2010. [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 09:00, 1 December 2017 (UTC)

== New character category for blonde woman news reporter (from 1699) ==

From today's comic [[1699: Local News]] I just got the idea that there may be needing a new category for either blonde woman and/or comics with news reports. I posted this [[Talk:1699:_Local_News#New_character_category|post]], in the talk page of that comic. Any comments, and if agreeing that there might be one or two different character categories needed then please suggest what they should be called. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:00, 27 June 2016 (UTC)
:Agree with Blondie as new character name and with adding a category for news reports. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 00:47, 28 June 2016 (UTC)
:Agree with new character category for Blondie --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 12:38, 28 June 2016 (UTC)
:: Thanks for the replies. Could be nice with a few more chipping in. One issue I just found is [[Miss Lenhart]] and ambiguous situations like in comic [[59: Graduation]], where I would remove the miss reference. But then miss would be a sub category of Blondie (or Blonde? which Randall cals the girl in 59) as [[Rob]] is for [[Cueball]]... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:07, 9 July 2016 (UTC)
:: I think blondie is fine for a name. Miss Lenhart is another character who uses a similar design so I think treating her like Rob is perfectly acceptable. The only thing more I think we should discuss is the role blondie plays in most of the comics (Like how cueball is an everyman, whitehat is often a strawman, Blackhat is blackhat etc.) [[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 12:04, 13 July 2016 (UTC)
:::There are also these two that looks like Blondie: [[Mrs. Roberts]] or her daughter [[Elaine Roberts]]. I think this is part of why no one has made the category, as there are already three named women with the same hair. But there are so many other comics with this kind of woman, that I think she should be created. I hope I will get the time, but if anyone has any other ideas than just calling them "Blondie" and letting the other three be an subcategory like Rob is of Cueball then say so now before anyone creates Blondie. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:19, 24 August 2016 (UTC)
:::Agree with new character category and characters with the same appearance as sub-categories [[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 18:04, 24 August 2016 (UTC)

Based on the discussion she is now called [[Blondie]] --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:27, 10 September 2016 (UTC)
 And now there is also a [[:Category:News anchor]] with 15 entries already. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:22, 10 September 2016 (UTC)

== fix a page ==

The page Comics featuring Summer Glau is missing:
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/526:_Converting_to_Metric {{unsigned ip|108.162.241.130}}
:Done. In the future, you can add categories yourself, just scroll to the bottom and follow the template the others go by. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:56, 7 July 2016 (UTC)

== New xkcd book out. ==

Any chance of posting a section of explanation pages for the cartoons in the new xkcd book, hopefully explaining some of the cryptic red notes? Thanks! {{unsigned ip|199.27.133.102}}

== Business Plan category ==

I propose renaming [[:Category:Beret Guy's Business]] into Business Plans, and adding it to [[1721: Business Idea]] [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 08:15, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
::(Note I added a ":" to your category link to show the link instead of adding this page to the category. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:43, 10 September 2016 (UTC))
:No of course not, that comic is about [[Cueball]]. This is Beret Guy's business we are talking about here. This category is not about business idea but about what [[Beret Guy]] does just like the page with [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]. Both are used in the explanation of who he is. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:43, 10 September 2016 (UTC)

== Comics with header text ==

Several comic have some header text, such as [[851]] or [[1052]]. Shouldn't there be a category for them or something? I think it is quite a notable feature. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 15:23, 16 September 2016 (UTC)
:I feel like it's not a particularly defining feature, it feels like making a category for comics that have frames with no borders or something, it's just a technique Randall uses. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:35, 21 September 2016 (UTC)
::To me it feels more like a second title text. It is not technically part of the comic itself, but is a separate piece of information included with it on the xkcd website. There is a category for comics without title text, this is the same, only reverse, in my humble opinion [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 07:13, 24 September 2016 (UTC)

== purpose of detailed transcripts ==

There are two styles of comic descriptions in the transcripts. Some
are fairly terse, giving only the information required to understand
the comic (e.g. "Cueball is talking to Megan, who looks excited").
Others give lots of graphic details, as if one should be able to
reconstruct the picture from the description (e.g. "Cueball, on the
left, is talking to Megan, on the right. His left hand is pointing to
her. Megan's arms are raised above her head and her excitement is
shown by short lines around her head..." and so on). The former style
used to be the norm, the latter has become increasingly
common in recent months.

Being visually impaired, I am extremely pleased with the terse style
of transcript, and have no interest in the verbose style. To me it is
useless and sometimes fairly annoying. Of course, this is a community
and I can happily live with it if others find it useful.

So, I'd like to know who needs detailed, graphical transcripts, and
for what purpose? Were they requested by some users, or did those
writing transcripts just decide to adopt this new style? If there is
a clearly identified reason for describing pictures in detail, fine.
If not, I vote for switching back to the old, terse style.

Zetfr 14:10, 27 September 2016 (UTC)

:Sorry we did not see this at the time. As we can see you finally found ears for you comment after [[1798]] and a new discussion has begun on [[User_talk:Kynde#Transcript_TLDR.3B|my user page]]. (Should probably have been here?) But anyway I'm responsible for your problems, and I will try to write less in the transcript and add "other important" either below in the trivia or below the main comic (as maybe - Detailed image description...) It was meant as a way to search for any thing in the comic if you needed it. I guess most people do not read the transcript, so of course annoying if it is not useful for those who always need to read it. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:21, 17 February 2017 (UTC)

== Rename Science Girl "Jill" ==

Following the Precedent of "[[Megan]]" and "[[Danish]]" (but oddly enough not [[Rob]]), I propose that we rename [[Science Girl]] Jill, as per [[1662]]. This could serve to give her an easier name and to use in cases where the character doesn't have a connection with science but seems to be the same girl. [[User:Sensorfire|Sensorfire]] ([[User talk:Sensorfire|talk]]) 18:19, 26 October 2016 (UTC)
:The only time she's called Jill is in Jack and Jill comics (of course), and the only reason you'd want to do that is since [[Randall]] displays them similarly. In some cases Science Girl is even clearly older. We might do that if there was a [[Child-Blackhaired-Ponytail]] character, but these characters are always either Science Girl or Jill. Also, Jill has very, very few appearances anyway. [[User:Jacky720|Jacky720]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]]) 21:37, 2 December 2016 (UTC)

== Make an official transcript site ==
I've already taken the liberty of making {{template|transcript}}, and think we, together, can do better- which is why I'm implementing [https://jackm.000webhost.com/transcript.html this site], in order to display the official transcript in its intended format. However, it is bugged, and could do better if moved to explain xkcd. Is anyone in on this? [[User:Jacky720|Jacky720]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]]) 21:36, 2 December 2016 (UTC)
:The transcript site doesn't seem to be accessible. Is the project dead? If it's not I can try to help. [[User:Errpell|Errpell]] ([[User talk:Errpell|talk]]) 21:06, 11 July 2017 (UTC)

== HTTPS Links Back to XKCD Interfere with Random Button ==

The Links back to the comics that are present just above the comic itself on the wiki pages (and adjacent to the next and previous links) provides an HTTPS link back to XKCD. However, this interferes with users who want to click that link, and then click `random` - because `c.xkcd.com` does NOT support HTTPS, and thus clicking 'random' after returning to xkcd from explainxkcd does not work. These links should be switched back to HTTP.

--[[User:9000 volts|9000 volts]] ([[User talk:9000 volts|talk]]) 21:15, 13 December 2016 (UTC)

== Rearrange for our visually impaired friends. ==

I have a great friend who is blind and he uses this site to "read" XKCD so we can talk about it. However, there are two things that he finds frustrating. The first, while it means no harm and most readers gloss over it, when listening to the content of the page every day it can become demeaning to hear "it's because you're dumb" every time. I certainly agree, I use explain XKCD because I am significantly dumb-er than Randall, but my friend uses it because he's blind. This is not that big of a deal, but a friendly suggestion.

The second suggestion is to move the transcript section to the top before the explanation so as not to spoil the content of the comic with user explanation right away--in the case that those listening to the article are in fact smart enough to get the joke before needing an explanation.

Thanks for your consideration.

== Incomplete in spotlight ==

The incomplete comic in spotlight should be changed more often, the current one is not even incomplete. [[User:Dontknow|Dontknow]] ([[User talk:Dontknow|talk]]) 16:52, 31 March 2017 (UTC)

== Duplicate Navigation tools at bottom of page (please!) ==

I'm enjoying revisiting xkcd canon through the lens of Explain, but frustrated that after studiously reading through the explanation and discussion, I have to scroll back up to the top to get to the Next button.
What would the harm be in duplicating the buttons at the foot of each page?
Thanks for considering this.
Regards

That would be nice, would help a lot. Also, please sign your comments with four tildes. [[User:Dontknow|Dontknow]] ([[User talk:Dontknow|talk]]) 19:46, 2 May 2017 (UTC)

== JSON endpoint ==
There is a [http://www.xkcd.com/info.0.json endpoint] to retrieve information about the comics on the xkcd website. However the info there is not complete, specially when it comes to the transcripts. explainxkcd should provide a similar interface. It would be very useful specially for bots/scripts. The commmunity could help completing the information on the xkcd website and/or provide a new interface. The transcript are already retrieved from this website and a copy can be found [https://github.com/nhatzHK/randi/blob/master/json/xkcd.references.json here]. If there isn't already a complete file or databse with all the information, this file could help building it. However, this document has been compiled by scraping the html of explainxkcd, so there's some errors in it. These errors can be avoid with a clear and easy to access interface like JSON, similar to what is available on the xkcd website. [[User:Errpell|Errpell]] ([[User talk:Errpell|talk]]) 20:43, 11 July 2017 (UTC)
:Maybe there is a mediawiki addon to support a JSON file. Any ideas? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:08, 1 August 2017 (UTC)

== Suggestion for small improvement to interface ==
Am I the only one that wishes the Previous / Next buttons were repeated at the bottom of the page? After reading the explanation, I often want to go to the next one in sequence.
(Obviously, I don't check this wiki every day :)
Scrolling back to the top isn't hard, but having the buttons near the bottom would make navigation easier.

Hope you agree!
Murray in NJ

PS: Aha! I see others have suggested the same thing :) {{unsigned ip|162.158.75.232}}
:This was also mentioned before. I don't agree because the layout is based on the original xkcd site. '''Protip''': Do not "scroll back", just use your keyboard. The magic key is called "Home". --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:14, 1 August 2017 (UTC)

== Category for The Little Prince? ==

How many comics need to feature/mention a certain thing before we need a category?

I think there are enough featuring the Little Prince to deserve a Category of its own.

== mediawiki things ==

could admin please update to the latest version of mediawiki and add the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Skin:Timeless?useskin=timeless timeless skin], thx. also would help if you added <code>line-height: 1.5em</code> to the edit box (<code>#wpTextbox1</code>) while making it taller to compensate, or added the 2010 code editor to aid readability. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.4|162.158.92.4]] 11:50, 4 January 2018 (UTC)

== The state of "incomplete" explanations and an unified policy ==

Hello, everybody. Recently I went through the "incomplete" explanations and I saw several problems... I think I better split this into sections.

'''1) Many seemingly old and complete explanations are marked either with various creative variations of the auto-generated tag or something along the lines of "rough draft".''' I have personally removed several incomplete tags during the last days, sometimes adding few information before doing so, but usually not. But there are so many of them and it just would not feel right to take it upon myself to reap them all, so, if anyone can spare a few minutes to quickly scan them and remove (or update, in some cases) the tags, it would be nice. Here is a list of explanations with this particular problem, for convenience: [[1874]], [[1906]], [[1908]], [[1912]], [[1915]], [[1919]], [[1925]], [[1926]], [[1929]], [[1930]], [[1937]]

1940 and 1941 also seem complete IMO, but given how recent they are, they could be given some time.

'''2) Some incomplete tags seem like abuse of the feature.''' [[1909]] is probably the best example of this. Table might be nice, but it is not necessary to explain the comic, it would be just "gilding". There is nothing wrong about perfecting complete articles, but marking an article incomplete because someone got an idea how it could be done (and is too lazy to do it themselves) should be discouraged IMO. Other examples: [[1904]] - here I actually disagree with the proposal - why should information that does not represent percentages be represented using them? - but that's my personal view. [[1895]] - this one is asking for further perfection of a perfective information. [[1688]] - a '''huge''' example, asks for something that would require quite a lot of effort without helping anyone understand the comic, a cool project, but not needed for the article to be complete. [[1701]] - I really don't think this is necessary and the explanation is already twice the size I'd expect for such simple comic (*obligatory personal opinion disclaimer*).

'''3) Some tags are just... vague.''' [[1856]] and [[1733]]. "Someone could maybe improve this" applies to pretty much everything in the universe, sorry.

'''4) A policy proposal.''' Here comes the second half of the topic title. There appear to be two conflicting schools of thoughts among editors. Some seem to prefer long, meticulously detailed explanations. Others, including myself, prefer short and concise explanations. On more than one occasion, this has led to mess, so I think there should be some official policies about what kind of information should be considered considered necessary, useful, and superfluous. Obviously, every comic is different, and defining hard rules for this is impossible, so maybe "guideline" is a better word than "policy" here. Here are some suggestions about what this guideline could contain (please, take this as a "sub-suggestion", if a guideline gets accepted, but will end up containing nothing out of this, I will still be happy):

* NECESSARY: named people, groups, organizations, websites, works of art, geographic locations etc. should be briefly introduced, unless they can be presumed to be universally known (e.g. Google, Shakespeare, New York). Obscure words should be defined. Scientific and technical terms should be explained.
* SUPERFLUOUS: recursive explanations - an explanation that mentions concepts that themselves need explaining, but were not relevant to the comic itself.

I guess that's it. Maybe a little disclaimer that I don't have much time now, so I may not be here to further lead this discussion. Maybe I should have waited with posting this when I do have time, but that may not be for a long time, so for what it's worth, here it is.
--[[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 12:16, 13 January 2018 (UTC)

:Your "policy (or guideline) proposal" is that what's widely excepted here. There are some overwhelming explanations and you are welcome to help on more precise writings. But in general there is no censorship here, less important content may be moved to a trivia section below the transcript. Irrelevant content (who decides that?) may be moved to the talk page with a given reason. I'm also a fan of "short and concise explanations" but who will judge what this really is? Further more I really dislike many of those tables, it's bad layout. But changing this takes a lot of work. [[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:51, 19 May 2018 (UTC)

::The main reason why I want there to be an official policy is so the process of marking explanations as complete can be more straightforward. There would be a community-approved list of things an explanation needs to contain, if an explanation has all that, it is complete. Of course there would still be lot of room for interpretation because every comic is different and coming up with rules that fit all is impossible, but I believe this could still be a massive improvement over the current state.
::Also, '''please''', when I say something is merely a sub-suggestion, I mean it. Your reply gives me the feeling you understood my proposal as something along the lines of "We should make it an official policy that explanations should look like this:", whereas it was more along the lines of "There should be an official policy about what explanations should contain. Here is an example of what such policy could maybe look like:" [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 06:49, 22 June 2018 (UTC)
:::In general I don't think this is a big issue. The vast majority (99%) of the comics is ''not'' marked as incomplete and those you are citing here should be discussed at the corresponding talk pages. Thus I don't see a ''massive improvement'' anyway.
:::However we can enhance the proper section at the [[explain xkcd:Editor FAQ|Editor FAQ]] by one or two concise sentences. But when you say ''"There should be..."'' nothing would happen; that's why I say: ''"We should make it"''. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 09:36, 23 June 2018 (UTC)

== Tables vs bold text ==

There are many, many, many comics with several things mentioned in the comic that need to be individually explained, and there are two ways we can do it, one being tables (for example: [[1930: Calendar Facts]]), the other being using bold text to separate paragraphs into sections (for example: [[1972: Autogyros]]). The thing is for the most cases, it seems like we should be using tables, but then using bold text to seperate paragraphs looks better, and is also easier... So when should we use tables, and when bold text? [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 12:20, 15 June 2018 (UTC)
:IMHO we have far too much tables - a structured floating text is much easier to read. Consider this:
:*A ''List of all planets in our solar'' system with a few columns for distance (in km, mi, and AU), size, and temperature. That's a classical table.
:*The table in [[1930: Calendar Facts]] contains far too much text in many cells. Try to read this on a smartphone. And furthermore on my ''Google Chrome for Android'' all the tables from this comic are not shown at all when using the ''Simplified View''.
:*Or compare this: [[1363: xkcd Phone]] and [[1549: xkcd Phone 3]]. I prefer the floating text and even more when I'm using a mobile device.
:But that's only my opinion.
:Nevertheless I'm also working on a real mobile version of this Wiki (similar to Wikipedia) and that will require some restrictions to the layout to get it properly rendered. But this will not happen before the FIFA World Cup 2018 is over ;) --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:17, 15 June 2018 (UTC)
::Agreed. Narrow columns with simple facts are ok, but longer text should not be put in a table. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 10:15, 18 June 2018 (UTC)
::: I second this. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 11:22, 27 August 2018 (UTC)
::::Please check also this new [[explain xkcd:Editor FAQ|Editor FAQ]] and the belonging talk page. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:04, 27 August 2018 (UTC)

== Add the comic to the edit page ==

While editing the explanation, it would be nice to be able to see the comic on that same page, especially for the transcript. (it's difficult for mobile editors to see two pages at once)
:Please sign your comments, and that’s not possible from what I know, considering how this website is set up. (I can still edit fine on mobile) [[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 13:49, 15 March 2019 (UTC)

== Dark theme/night mode ==

Should I explain this?

It's for all of us who edit the wiki at 1am and like our retinas.

Firefox has a [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/dark-theme-enhanced/?src=recommended Dark Theme Extension], and it looks pretty good on the Wiki. [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dark-theme-for-google-chr/annfbnbieaamhaimclajlajpijgkdblo Chrome does too], but I haven't tried it out.

== Change dates to match ISO 8601. ==

Can we change the timestamps to match [[1179: ISO 8601]]? I'm surprised this hasn't been suggested earlier [[User:9yz|9yz]] ([[User talk:9yz|talk]]) 20:33, 5 April 2019 (UTC)

== Add bookmark ==

I have used some simple javascript to create a bookmarklet that automatically opens the wiki-page of the xkcd page that you are reading. I would like to provide it on the wiki. It works as follows.

1. Make a bookmark, give it a recognizable name.
2. For the url, enter the following: javascript: document.location = document.URL.replace('xkcd.com','explainxkcd.com');
3. Create the bookmark. To use it, open any xkcd page and click it to go to the corresponding wiki page.

Thanks for considering.
[[User:Kwonunn|Kwonunn]] ([[User talk:Kwonunn|talk]]) 18:27, 3 May 2019 (UTC)

== Regarding using facebook like and google captcha - Privacy concerns ==

Considering that they track users across various sites, it is not in the best interests of the users' privacy.

https://complianz.io/google-recaptcha-and-the-gdpr-a-possible-conflict/ - This article explains the issues better than I can.

Especially the users who use VPNs affected more - it takes noticeably longer and more tries to pass the google captcha. Preventing/dis-incentivizing new contributors from behind a VPN. There is anecdotal evidence (in the form of reddit posts) that google captcha discriminates firefox users and allow chrome users to get simpler challenges or none at all.

The Facebook like button is an iframe. Users visiting this page(s) have not explicitly consented to being tracked by facebook and google.

I am speculating here, but from the amount of data these two items are gathering, it seems possible to de-anonymize the users who are behind a vpn. I don't trust either of these companies to not grab the free data. In the article listed above, it seems captcha alone can capture a screenshot of the pages without users' (explicit) consent. I haven't read through all the privacy and terms.

Captcha is necessary for avoiding spam. There are alternatives. Anything but google one should suffice. Regarding the facebook like button, I think that should be replaced by a link to the facebook page.

== Removing unnecessary 3-comic categories? ==

I count eight categories on explainxkcd that satisfy the following properties: 1. They have only three comics in them. 2. They aren't really a comic series; they just feature or reference a comic theme. 3. They aren't Featuring some person or character. In short, they seem to have no real reason to exist. (They're [[:Category:Spice_Girls|t]][[:Category:Wind_turbine|h]][[:Category:CubeSats|e]][[:Category:Ender%27s_Game|s]][[:Category:Optimization|e]] [[:Category:Git|o]][[:Category:FernGully|n]][[:Category:Giraffes|e]]s.) So my proposal: remove them. -[[User:Account|Account]] ([[User talk:Account|talk]]) 20:37, 9 November 2019 (UTC)
:In addition, there are [[:Category:Sketches|t]][[:Category:BSD|h]][[:Category:Emacs|i]][[:Category:Identity_Theft|r]][[:Category:Katamari_Damacy|t]][[:Category:Super_Bowl|e]][[:Category:The_Matrix|e]][[:Category:Tournament_bracket|n]][[:Category:Traffic_light| ]][[:Category:Trebuchet|m]][[:Category:Wingsuit|o]][[:Category:Euler_diagrams|r]][[:Category:Pedantic|e]] four-comic categories that also seem rather in need of deletion.
:: Shouldn't the community at least have some time to expand on these categories, in case they're currently incomplete? For example, [[:Category:The Matrix]] is on your list and now contains 7 strips, and [[:Category:Tournament bracket]] got its 5th entry after your post. Even if they're not, a theme category can save some typing in the search box (and is probably also cheaper in terms of server resources than all the searches it'll eliminate). [[User:Promethean|Promethean]] ([[User talk:Promethean|talk]]) 22:43, 21 November 2019 (UTC)
:::So what do you think the limit should be for categories? Should we create a category when two comics mention the same topic? Three? --[[User:Account|Account]] ([[User talk:Account|talk]]) 16:28, 22 November 2019 (UTC)
::::Three seems reasonable to me, and I could see a case being made for two. Categories aren't expensive. [[User:Promethean|Promethean]] ([[User talk:Promethean|talk]]) 00:17, 23 November 2019 (UTC)

== New transcript ==

The transcripts in the comic pages are quite inconsistent, especially in the brackets where you have to describe what happens in the panels. If I understand correctly, the transcripts are for people to copy the text in the comic without having to type them out. If that's the case, then I think propose a new transcript. This transcript should have the comic with the words erased, and then the copy-pasteable words on top of that. Such a transcript would have no room for error, which would let anyone contribute to a seamless transcript.
:The aim of the transcript is to provide a text-only version of the comic that would allow someone who is visually impaired to use a text-to-speech converter to understand the comic and also in a machine readable format for searching (see the [[explain_xkcd:Editor_FAQ#What_is_the_format_of_the_transcript_section?|Editor FAQ]]). Anything using mark-up, images or anything other than plain text will interfere with this and so should be avoided in the transcript. [[User:A(l)Chemist|AlChemist]] ([[User talk:A(l)Chemist|talk]]) 18:22, 23 November 2019 (UTC)

2229: Rey and Kylo

2019-11-15T20:35:00Z

A(l)Chemist: Transcript

{{comic
| number = 2229
| date = November 15, 2019
| title = Rey and Kylo
| image = rey_and_kylo.png
| titletext = We're like 10+ movies in and the focus has been almost entirely on the WARS half.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by R2D2. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Kylo, we shouldn't fight! Let's set aside our differences and work together to measure the local properties of space, just in case someone in the far future is watching from another galaxy and wants our help to constrain the expansion rate!

[Caption below comic]
The new Star Wars totally panders to cosmologists

{{comic discussion}}

2225: Voting Referendum

2019-11-06T20:36:40Z

A(l)Chemist: First past the post

{{comic
| number = 2225
| date = November 6, 2019
| title = Voting Referendum
| image = voting_referendum.png
| titletext = The weirdest quirk of the Borda count is that Jean-Charles de Borda automatically gets one point; luckily this has no consequences except in cases of extremely low turnout.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a VOTING SYSTEM. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
The main part of this comic is a ballot on the subject of voting methods—that is, of ways to choose one or more winning options from a set of options at an election.

The first three options are shown with radio buttons, a standard ccomputer convention for a choice where the user may make only one selection, and they are indeed methods where a voter selects one and only one option.

The first listed, '''first-past-the-post''', is a common method used in the USA, UK, and Canada where an election will select only one winner. Each voter selects one preferred candidate, and the one with the most votes wins, even if that is a small fraction of the total (the winner of the UK Parliamentary seat for Belfast South in 2015 did not even receive a quarter of the vote).

The second listed, the '''top-two primary,''' is the system used in California for USA House of Representatives elections. Candidates from all parties and from no party all appear on one ballot at the primary (unlike most states, where each party’s primary is a separate race, winners then proceeding to the first-past-the-post general election). The two highest finishers then contest the general election, even if both are from the same party, and even if one had an absolute majority in the primary. (This is because the Constitution requires that representatives be elected on the same day, and having a seat decided in advance via the primary would violate this.)

The third, the '''Louisiana primary''', is more like the traditional runoff system, in that the second part of the election is not held if one candidate has a clear majority (one vote more than the combined total of all other candidates). In this case, though, the primary is held on the national Election Day, and any needed runoffs are held on a later date. This also resembles the system used in France, where the runoff is known as the "deuxième tour" (the "premier tour" being the main election).

The next option is '''cumulative voting''', in which each voter gets as many votes as there are seats to be filled, and may distribute them as he chooses among one or more candidates. This system was long used to select the Illinois House of Representatives; its most common use today is in choosing corporate boards of directors. A computer would typically represent this kind of choice with multiple columns of radio buttons (one per vote), each candidate represented by one row (as we see here).

The next two methods involve voting yes or no on each option presented, which the comic represents with the traditional metaphor of a checkbox.

'''Approval voting''' is the single-winner version of this system, in which the most-approved-of candidate is the winner. This system is not in widespread use, but was adopted in 2018 if Fargo, ND, USA.

Under '''multiple non-transferable vote,''' a voter may vote for up to ''k'' candidates (in a ''k''-winner election), and the ''k'' highest vote-getters win. This system resembles cumulative voting, but without the ability to concentrate votes on candidates. Its use in the USA has been largely outlawed because it allows a cohesive majority of voters to claim all of the seats and thus to deny the minority any representation whatsoever.

The next three methods involve allowing voters to rank their preferred alternatives from best to worst, represented by numeric entry fields.

The simplest of these, '''instant runoff''' voting, is increasingly popular for single-winner elections. The conventional runoff (in which the top candidates run again if there is no clear majority), as described above, requires holding a second election, printing new ballots, renting the voting spaces, and otherwise incurring additional cost. Under the instant-runoff system, voters indicate their lower preferences on the same ballot as their main vote, and the runoff election is "held" by using this data.

The '''single transferable vote''' system extends this concept to multiple-winner elections. A candidate wins by reaching a vote total of (''v''/(''k''+1))+1, or just enough to prevent there from being too many winners. Excess votes for a winner are then distributed to those voters’ next choices, as are those cast for the bottom candidates eliminated when no additional winners can otherwise be determined. The Republic of Ireland elects its lower house, the Dáil, by this system.

Under the '''Borda count''' system, each ballot is counted as 1 points for the last choice, 2 for next-to-last, and so on up to ''n'' for the first choice among ''n'' candidates. The highest point-earner(s) win)s(. This system may also be calculated as 1 point for first choice, 2 for second, etc., with the lowest total winning; this variant, called the "cross-country vote" (due to its resemblance to the scoring system of the sport of cross-country running), is used by the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s various selection committee as one step in choosing championship tournament fields.

Finally, '''range voting''' allows a voter to give any value in a range (say 0 to 10) to each candidate, with the highest total winning. (If the range contains only two values, this reduces to the approval system.) Our imaginary voter is asked to choose the point on the range by way of a slider, the classic computer metaphor for it.

The punchline is that the whole referendum is a chicken-and-egg problem: in order to accomplish the purpose of a referendum, one needs to know how the votes will be translated into a result, but in this case, determining that rule is the purpose of the referendum....

The alt text refers to the inventor of the Borda count (for whom it is named), implying that the use of the system includes a ballot in which he gets one vote. This vote would be quickly drowned out by any sensible quantity of actual votes.

The day before this comic's publication was an election day throughout the USA, primarily for local and state issues (normal elections for federal offices of the President, Senate, and House of Representatives are always in even years), so the topic of today's comic highlights many different methods for conducting elections and counting votes. The comic depicts an election ballot referendum for voters to select the method to be used in future elections.

* '''First past the post'''
The aim of political elections is to determine which of the candidates standing for election is favoured by the majority of voters. In a simple two person contest, this process is trivial, since whichever candidate receives the most votes will be the one that the majority of voters prefer. This {{w|First-past-the-post_voting}} system works well for simple cases, but for elections with more than two candidates this system may result in a candidate being elected who less than 50% of the voters would prefer.

For example, in a contest with three candidates; A, B and C, where candidate A received 41% of the vote, candidate B 40% and candidate C 19%, then candidate A will be elected, even though some of the voters who chose candidate C might have preferred candidate B as their second choice instead of candidate A, leading to a result which pleases fewer than half of the population.

Despite this drawback, First Past the Post voting continues to be used for political elections in many countries including the US and UK, which historically have both had two main parties receiving the majority of votes. The First Past the Post system has received much criticism, particularly from smaller parties who may loose out, however supporters promote the simplicity of the system compared to other methods.

* '''Top-two primary'''

* '''Louisiana primary'''

* '''Cumulative voting'''

* '''Approval voting'''
In this system, each candidate is listed as a yes/no choice, where the voters can choose which candidate they approve of winning the election, and which ones they do not approve of. The winner of the election is the candidate with the highest approval rate.

In the XKCD ballot, the approval option is presented as a checkbox, where a check in the box is "approve" or an empty box is "disapprove".

* '''Multiple non-transferable vote'''

* '''Instant runoff voting'''
In this system, people vote for all the candidates, or perhaps their favorite three, but assign different preferences to each candidate they vote for, as in 1 for their first choice, 2 for the second, 3 for their third, etc. If enough people vote for a candidate as their first choice to clear 50%, that person wins. If not, the person with the least votes gets eliminated, and anyone who voted for that person has their next (slightly less favorable) choice automatically move up a rung. The 50% mark is again checked, and if no winner another lowest-voted candidate is eliminated. Eventually one candidate will emerge victorious, and overall that person will have been liked by the voters more than anyone else. The advantages of this system are there is rarely a need to have another election if things are close (the information is already there to "instantly" recalculate the vote based on additional voter preferences), and there is no concept of a "spoiler" candidate taking votes away from your favorite. If people are truly voting their favorite, second favorite, etc., no vote need be seen as being thrown away. For example, a voter really likes the Hippo candidate even though few others do. They can still vote that candidate #1 and the apparently-popular Giraffe candidate 2nd, knowing that if Hippo is eliminated, they have still voted for Giraffe and that vote counts. If it turns out people secretly really like Hippo, however, that candidate actually has a real chance because people are not trying to guess what candidate everyone else will vote for in order to ensure Vulture doesn't get in.

On this weird XKCD ballot, we see this type of ranking between this type of voting (''Instant runoff voting'') and the two that follow (''Single transferable vote'' and ''Borda count'').

* '''Single transferable vote'''
In the

* '''Borda count'''

==Transcript==
Voting Referendum

Which voting system should we use?

* (empty radio button) First past the post
* (empty radio button) Top-two primary
* (filled radio button) Louisiana primary
* (two filled, one empty radio button) Cumulative voting
* (checked box) Approval voting
* (checked box) Multiple non-transferrable vote
* (box marked "3") Instant runoff voting
* (box marked "1") Single transferrable vote
* (box marked "2") Borda count
* (slider with value slightly below half) Range voting

The referendum went well, but we can't figure out how to count the ballots.

{{comic discussion}}

2225: Voting Referendum

2019-11-06T20:23:25Z

A(l)Chemist: Introduction

2183: Icon Swap

2019-07-31T19:55:26Z

A(l)Chemist: histogram

{{comic
| number = 2183
| date = July 31, 2019
| title = Icon Swap
| image = icon_swap.png
| titletext = Someone's probably working on an eBook app where, if you stop reading right before some plot twist happens, the app will wait a while and then send you a breaking news alert about what's happening, prompting you to open it and read the next few pages to learn more.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an UNDISCOVERED PLOT TWIST. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Randall denies having a {{w|social media addiction}}. However, he concludes that he must have some problem, as he opens his social media / news apps many times a day. He tries to remedy this addiction by swapping the app icon with that of an eBook reader, so opening the "social media app" would lead to the eBook reader, and vice versa. This topic is similar to one he went over in [[477: Typewriter]], where he is compulsively trying to check news websites despite using a typewriter. In this case, when he swaps a social media/news app with his {{w|E-book}}, he ends up reading more books (as shown by the graph) because he is used to having his media app in its place, and is opening it up through {{w|muscle memory}}.

This results in the punch line, where he says that this causes him to read "a half-dozen" books before realizing his problem and not opening his reader as often.

As shown in the graph, he later switches the icons back, or swaps the eBook reader icon with a different icon, causing another spike in his reading habits.

In the title text, Randall says that there is probably an eBook app in development that will use "breaking news alerts", typically sent as {{w|push notifications}}, about what is happening in the book, to prompt readers to continue reading more pages. This parallels how a news app works, which would send an alert when a new event occurs.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A histogram of books finished over time. Spikes occur at certain points, with arrows marked "Icon Swap" pointing to the point before them]

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I'm not saying I have a problem compulsively checking news and social media on my phone, but when I replace the social media app icon with my eBook reader, I read a half-dozen books before I get used to the change.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]

2172: Lunar Cycles

2019-07-06T09:28:17Z

A(l)Chemist: Very rough transcript. Explanation of diagrams needs a lot more work.

{{comic
| number = 2172
| date = July 5, 2019
| title = Lunar Cycles
| image = lunar_cycles.png
| titletext = The Antikythera mechanism had a whole set of gears specifically to track the cyclic popularity of skinny jeans and low-rise waists.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a MOONBOT. Joke cycle explanations need to be expanded and title text needs to be explained. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic shows a mixture of real, scientific lunar cycles and cycles that are comedic or fictional in nature.

*'''Nodal precession:''' The comic shows that the moon's {{w|nodal precession}} follows an 18.6 year cycle. This is true. What this means is that the points in its orbit where the moon crosses the equator (called the ascending and descending nodes) move westward, taking just over 18.6 years to complete a 360-degree cycle.

*'''Apsidal precession:''' The comic shows that the moon's apsidal precession follows an 8.9 year cycle. This is true. What this means is that the major axis of the moon's orbit - the line between the periapsis (nearest point) and apoapsis (furthest point from Earth) of its orbit - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_precession precesses] eastward, taking about 8.9 years to complete a 360-degree cycle.

*'''Phase:''' The comic also shows that phase has a 29.5 day cycle. This is true. This is the synodic month. Because the lunar cycle is based on how the sun's light shines on the moon as seen from earth, it is determined by the relative positions of the earth, moon, and sun. Because the earth has moved, very roughly, 1/12 of the way around the sun during a lunar month, it takes extra time for the moon to reach the point where it is is fully lit again, so this is longer than a sidereal month. A synodic month, or the time from one full moon to another, is about 29.5 days as stated.

*'''Distance:''' The comic shows that distance has a 27.5 day cycle. This is true. A sidereal month, which is essentially the time it takes the moon to go around the earth, is approximately this length (although the mean time for a sidereal month may be closer to 27.3 days). Because the moon's orbit around the earth is elliptical and not perfectly circular, with a periapsis of about 362600 km earth-moon distance and an apoapsis of about 405400 km earth-moon distance, the distance to the moon essentially follows this cycle with times of peak distance about 27 and a half days apart.

*'''Earth-Moon relative size''': The idea that there is a cycle in which the moon becomes larger than the earth is a joke.

*'''Lunar shape:''' The idea that there is a cycle in which the moon becomes a square and then a circle again is a joke. Mathematically these shapes between a circle and square are a subclass of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superellipse superellipses] called [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squircle squircles].

*'''Lunar mood:''' The idea that there is a cycle in which the moon becomes happy, then neutral, then upset, then neutral is a joke. Ironically, the section of the graph that shows a good (i.e. happy) mood has the graph line curving up then down like the mouth of a frown, and for the bad (unhappy) mood it curves down and then up, as in the mouth of a smile.

*The final image shows many different cycles superimposed on each other.
**'''Supermoon:''' see [[1394:_Superm*n]].
**'''Super blood moon:''' a blood moon refers to the moon during a lunar eclipse.
**While the popularity of '''skinny jeans''' does change over time, the idea that this is connected to a lunar cycle is also a joke.
*The '''{{w|Antikythera_mechanism|Antikythera mechanism}}''' mentioned in the title text is an ancient Greek machine, rediscovered in 1901, designed to calculate astronomical positions.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:Understanding lunar cycles

:Nodal precession
:[A diagram showing a broad cosine-like wave with wavelength labelled as 18.6 years. To the right are two diagrams showing an orbital cycle moving in and out of plane.]

:Apsidal precession
:[A diagram similar to the one above but with a slightly shorter wavelength, labelled as 8.9 years. To the right are two diagrams showing an elliptical orbit around a planet and the same orbit rotated.]

:Phase
:[A diagram similar to those above with a shorter wavelength, labelled as 29.5 days. To the right is a diagram showing four phases of the moon: New, Waxing crescent, Waxinf gibbos, Full.]

:Distance
:[A diagram similar to those above with a shorter wavelength, labelled as 27.5 days. To the right is a diagram showing the distance of the moon from the Earth over time, with distances marked by arrows.]

:Earth-Moon relative size
:[A wave with long wavelength with an arrow pointing to the minimum labelled 'Earth bigger' and an arrow pointing to the maximum labelled 'Moon bigger'. To the right are two diagrams of the moon and Earth, one showing the Earth bigger than the Moon and the other showing the Moon bigger than the Earth.]

:Lunar shape
:[A wave with long wavelength with an arrow pointing to the minimum labelled 'Circle' and an arrow pointing to the maximum labelled 'Square'. To the right is a diagram showing a circle, a circle transforming into a square with outward arrows at each corner and a square transforming into a circle with inward arrows.]

:Lunar mood
:[A wave with long wavelength with an arrow pointing to the minimum labelled 'Bad' and an arrow pointing to the maximum labelled 'Good'. To the right are four emojis: :), :|, :(, :|]

:[A superimposed graph of all the above waves. Different points on the graph are labelled: Harvest moon, Supermoon, Blue moon, Skinny Jeans popular, Super blood moon, Golden age of TV, Dire moon, Pork moon, Two week window in which astrology works, Total eclipse of the sea.]

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:2170: Coordinate Precision

2019-07-02T19:43:26Z

A(l)Chemist: Table disrupting Main page

The coordinates seem to show a NASA building, so in the end you're still soing something space related. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.55.196|172.69.55.196]] 19:47, 1 July 2019 (UTC)Some random European.
:The more precise coordinates are actually in the middle of the Rocket Garden at the Visitor's Center of the Kennedy Space Center complex. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 19:58, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

The atom-level coordinates are obtained by appending digits of e and pi to the Rocket Garden coordinates. [[User:Ichoran|Ichoran]] ([[User talk:Ichoran|talk]]) 20:21, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

I always find it very funny to see all those decimals. Regular GPS devices have an uncertainty of 3 meters if there is no interference from trees, buildings or whatever. That puts you at about 4 to 5 decimals I guess. [[User:Palmpje|Palmpje]] ([[User talk:Palmpje|talk]]) 20:26, 1 July 2019 (UTC)
:A Google Maps webpage URL includes coordinates to seven decimal places. [[User:EmuSam|EmuSam]] ([[User talk:EmuSam|talk]]) 20:48, 1 July 2019 (UTC)
::Sure but out there with your handheld GPS or normal consumer device that includes a GPS receiver you won't get more precision than about 3 meters. And when your at the higher latitudes you're probably not getting that. [[User:Palmpje|Palmpje]] ([[User talk:Palmpje|talk]]) 20:52, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

So combining this comic with #2169, is Randal suggesting he'll be at the Rocket Garden on July 28th (much as he did in #240)? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.208|108.162.216.208]] 20:47, 1 July 2019 (UTC)
:It says ''June'' 28th. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.22|162.158.126.22]] 20:52, 1 July 2019 (UTC)
::No, the date of that comic is June 28, but the title text says: [AT THE JULY 28TH MEETING] --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:51, 1 July 2019 (UTC)
:::Ah, that makes sense. For some reason my app only showed the first part of the tirle text --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.94|162.158.126.94]] 23:04, 1 July 2019 (UTC)
::::The COMIC says "June 28th." The TITLE TEXT says "July 28th." Apparently the government computer predictive text was trained from different input. [[User:Mwburden|mwburden]] ([[User talk:Mwburden|talk]]) 15:26, 2 July 2019 (UTC)

Regrettably, there are two dimensions missing, Z and T. Without Z (elevation)+/- you could be in space or in a neutrino detector. T is only relevant for dynamic objects, but there again, the Americas are going West at a measurable rate! [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 21:30, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

The seventh row is likely a reference to comic number 1358 where two stick figures try to find waldo via satellite. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.226.125|172.69.226.125]] 21:44, 1 July 2019 (UTC) kisara, 21:42, 1 July 2019 (utc)

10^-40 degrees on the surface of the earth translates to about 0.7 planck lengths. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.234|162.158.106.234]] 21:50, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

Do the coordinates 28.5234°N, 80.6830°W really correspond to the tip of the Delta rocket? I checked and it was pointing to a small patch of ground next to the rocket, not the tip of the rocket itself. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 00:20, 2 July 2019 (UTC)
:No, you need to go to five decimal places to get the rocket. In that respect, I think he might be off by one digit of precision in his descriptions. [[User:Jeremyp|Jeremyp]] ([[User talk:Jeremyp|talk]]) 12:04, 2 July 2019 (UTC)

I would like to mention that neither number seems to fit into a standard double float value. I made a fiddle showing this. [https://dotnetfiddle.net/k7yK0Y#] [[User:Ansarya|Ansarya]] ([[User talk:Ansarya|talk]]) 01:48, 2 July 2019 (UTC)
:Floats are stored base 2, so representing them exactly as decimal often requires many more digits than is actually necessary (for complicated number theory reasons, a float can always be represented exactly as decimal, which would not be true if floats were stored in base 3). For this reason, programming languages that can format floats round them, usually to a number of digits where it will be possible to reconstruct the original float (though C# apparently takes off a couple extra digits, since those digits are almost never significant). To illustrate this, I used Rust to print many more digits of a float than would be shown normally [https://play.rust-lang.org/?version=stable&mode=debug&edition=2018&gist=6796c2459ceabea1a03d7113b676dd8f]. The latitude coordinate in the comic could be the result of printing a double precision float, but the longitude coordinate could not be. Also note that it takes almost 50 digits to reach an exact base 10 representation, even though only 14 or 15 of those digits are actually needed to reconstruct the original float. [[User:Probably not Douglas Hofstadter|Probably not Douglas Hofstadter]] ([[User talk:Probably not Douglas Hofstadter|talk]]) 18:01, 2 July 2019 (UTC)

May be my pet peeve... ...but adding an additional error to every piece of input data [and maybe every intermediate result] in order to show that either the precision the original measurement ends here or that all further digits of the measurement read "0" often introduces an error that can add up surprisingly quickly => I personally prefer raw floats that indicate there probably was no error analysis to rounded data and won't get tired on telling people to explicitely state what precision they can expect.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.70|162.158.114.70]]

If the smallest subnormal 32 bit float is a Planck length, then the largest 32 bit float is 10 sextillion times the diameter of the observable universe. If the value 1.0 of a 64 bit float is a cubic Planck length, then the largest float is 100 sextillion ''googol'' times the volume of the observable universe. [[User:Probably not Douglas Hofstadter|Probably not Douglas Hofstadter]] ([[User talk:Probably not Douglas Hofstadter|talk]]) 17:21, 2 July 2019 (UTC)

It'd be neat to have a map that shows the precision of given coordinates; like how Google Maps shows transparent blue circle with a wider radius if it's location detection isn't very precise. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.170.76|172.69.170.76]] 19:10, 2 July 2019 (UTC)

Something about the formatting of the table seems to be messing up the main page. Not sure what it is, but it happens just after the '110 km (70 mi)' so might be related to the span. Not a major problem as it's fine on the comic page and the main page will change tomorrow anyway. [[User:A(l)Chemist|AlChemist]] ([[User talk:A(l)Chemist|talk]]) 19:43, 2 July 2019 (UTC)

2157: Diploma Legal Notes

2019-06-01T17:35:20Z

A(l)Chemist: Some trivia

{{comic
| number = 2157
| date = May 31, 2019
| title = Diploma Legal Notes
| image = diploma_legal_notes.png
| titletext = If you're planning to challenge the royal family, you should probably wait 6-8 weeks, since a number of the younger ones have diplomas and Kate was actually on the varsity lightsaber team at St Andrews.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a CHALLENGER TO THE BRITISH THRONE with a working light-sabre, who thinks the layout is very ugly of this explanation. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

A class of 2019 graduate, presumably for some college or university, is given some rather unusual privileges for graduating.

A common line in degree granting ceremonies is "the degree of X is conferred with all the rights and privileges pertaining thereto." This dates from the Roman Empire and continued through the rise of the university as an institution in medieval times. In the Roman era, the rights and privileges accorded to physicians and scholars included exemption from certain civic duties and military services, immunity from certain levies and from being summoned to court unduly, and even granting a state salary. In the medieval era, rights generally mirrored those of ecclesiastical figures and included immunity from civil law (instead scholars were subject to canon, or church law), as well as safe conduct on their travels between jurisdictions.

While true that some degrees do grant professional privileges today, generally additional accreditation beyond the degree is required (passing the bar, medical certification, etc.) to gain anything most people would consider a privilege or right or incur any obligation. (The obligation to pay your student loans back exists regardless of completing your degree).

; You may now legally perform marriages and arrest people.
: Depending on the jurisdiction, these may or may not be privileges that one already has by virtue of being in a particular jurisdiction or being part of a particular culture.

: In some cultures, a couple might be recognized as married if they meet certain conditions (as opposed to being legally recognized by a religious or civil authority), such as being recognized by the community or after the {{w|Inuit_women#Family_structure_and_marriage|birth of their first child}}. Because states often provide benefits (tax reductions, social services, etc) for being married, they often require that, in order to receive the benefits, that a marriage have a registered person recognize the marriage, which is likely the privilege that this graduating class' diploma is supposedly granting.

: In common law jurisdictions, {{w|Citizen's arrest|citizen's arrest}} is legal without a warrant in some situations, although in many cases, it is better to let a police officer arrest criminals due to potential legal and safety issues that might arise. The privilege granted by graduating might grant or extend this privilege, depending on where the graduating class is located.

; If you have your diploma with you, you can use grocery store express lanes with any number of items.
: It has become common for a small number of checkout lanes of a larger store to be explicitly reserved as "express" lanes for the use of those with, for example, fewer than 10 items. This lets someone with a few items (handheld, in a basket, or possibly in a low-capacity cart) who will pass through quickly avoid being held up by people purchasing larger numbers of items who will take longer.

: In some cases, shoppers may try to argue the true meaning of "fewer than N items" in their favor, for example by arguing that "3 for the price of 2" promotions should only count as two items. The prevailing interpretation of "express" may be driven by the opinion of the surrounding shoppers who are also queuing for an express checkout lane and who may express displeasure at the taking of such liberties.

: Whether or not it is genuinely more beneficial to have the privilege of using the express lane with any number of items is [http://theintrepid.blogspot.com/2009/09/choosing-fastest-checkout-counter.html arguable] due to various complex factors, but the new holder of the diploma (who is, ironically, now possibly capable of defining the number of items more rigorously depending upon the academic subject just mastered) need not concern themselves with counting the number of items in their basket or ever needing to wait behind slow shoppers ever again (provided they always carry their diploma with them when they do their shopping).

; All graduates are entitled to delete one word of their choice from the Oxford English Dictionary.
: The {{w|Oxford English Dictionary}} (OED) is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press. It is unclear what benefit deleting a word from the OED would provide, and doing so would prevent anyone else from looking up the word which would typically be seen as a disadvantage. As the OED is often used as an authority on which words are valid words in the English language (for example for word games such as {{w|Countdown (game show)|Countdown}}), perhaps the intention is that such "deleted" words are in fact removed from the English language itself.

: A different interpretation is the right to delete literally one word. While mostly useless, it could be used to alter some definitions, removing some details or even completely reversing the meaning by deleting "not".

: The OED [https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/explore/how-many-words-are-there-in-the-english-language/ contains around 228000 words]. Given that US universities and colleges alone are expected to award [https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372 around 1.9 million bachelor's degrees] each year, this policy could lead to a rapid collapse of the OED.

; The university will mail you your working lightsaber within 6-8 weeks.
: Doctoral degree recipients wear various forms of dress or other items. For example, in Finland a [https://www.jyu.fi/en/academic-events/degrees-ceremony/instructions/doctoral-hat-and-sword doctoral sword] is traditional. A {{w|lightsaber}} is a fictional weapon from the {{w|Star Wars}} universe which is used in a manner similar to a sword but which would likely be highly-regulated if it did exist in the real world due to its extreme power (in Star Wars, lightsabers are capable of cutting or burning through most materials and is only stopped by another lightsaber).

: "6-8 weeks" is a [https://meta.stackexchange.com/a/19514/184432 meme made popular on Stack Overflow] meaning that the person making the estimate has no idea how long something is actually going to take or whether it's even going to happen at all.

; You can send mail without stamps.
: The {{w|Franking#Franking_privilege|franking privilege}} allows sending mail without stamps and is often granted to legislators conducting "official business." A group of legislators elected at the same time may sometimes be referred to as the "class of ''year''" (such as [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/28/us/politics/congress-freshman-class.html "the congressional freshman class of 2019..."]), which may be seen as a parallel to a year of graduates from a university.

; You have earned the right to challenge the British royal family to {{w|trial by combat}}. If you defeat them all, the throne is yours.
: "Trial by combat" or "ritual combat" was a manner to settle disputes where two individuals would engage in a duel, with the winner being declared right. This type of ritual combat was depicted in the film ''{{w|Black Panther (film)|Black Panther}}'', with the winner of the combat declared the king of Wakanda. T'Challa, the Black Panther, was victorious in a fight against M'Baku, but was defeated by Erik Killmonger.

: The {{w|British royal family}} consists of the descendants and relatives of the current Queen, Queen Elizabeth II. However, {{w|Succession_to_the_British_throne|the line of succession}} to the throne consists of potentially over 4,000 individuals. The British royal family was also referenced in [[2003: Presidential Succession]].

; You may now ignore "Do Not Pet" warnings on airport security dogs.
: Security dogs are typically kept at airports for the purpose of identifying explosives, drugs, or other prohibited items both within baggage intended for loading onto an aircraft or, especially in the case of explosives, within bags while they are in the airport buildings themselves. The dogs are trained to identify the prohibited items by smell, and will display a visible reaction when the unique smell of such items is identified through a sealed bag. This provides an efficient and discrete method for checking the contents of bags, in addition to x-ray scanners.

: Although the dogs often work in private areas of the airport, they may sometimes be seen in public areas such as to inspect the bags of people waiting in check-in queues and in such cases petting the dogs is prohibited for multiple reasons. Petting the dog will likely prevent it from carrying out its job, and in some cases the dogs may be aggressive to unsolicited contact. Petting the dog may also be used as a distraction in an attempt to slip poisoned food into the dogs mouth, or to distract the dog from a bag that the person petting the dog knows to be suspect. As such, the dogs typically carry a warning to not pet them and someone who ignores the warning will likely be held up for questioning. However, according to this comic, the holder of the diploma is supposedly permitted to pet such dogs with no consequences despite the warnings.

The title text builds on the items about lightsabers and the British royal family and advises that, because several of the younger royals also have diplomas, they have received their lightsaber already. Thus you should wait at least the 6-8 weeks until your lightsaber arrives to have a fair chance, given that lightsabers is a very lethal weapon. Also some of them may even be proficient with the weapon. Special mention goes to {{w|Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge}}, aka Kate Middleton, who was supposedly on the {{w|Varsity_team#Varsity_in_the_United_Kingdom|varsity}} lightsaber team at {{w|St Andrew's School, Pangbourne|St Andrews}}.

==Transcript==
:[An official document with a title at the top between two images of graduation hats on either side:]

:<big>Congratulations, Class of 2019!</big>

:Your diploma grants you many new powers and privileges. These include:
:* You may now legally perform marriages and arrest people.
:* If you have your diploma with you, you can use grocery store express lanes with any number of items.
:* All graduates are entitled to delete one word of their choice from the Oxford English Dictionary.
:* The university will mail you your working lightsaber within 6-8 weeks.
:* You can send mail without stamps.
:* You have earned the right to challenge the British royal family to trial by combat. If you defeat them all, the throne is yours.
:* You may now ignore "Do Not Pet" warnings on airport security dogs.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

2153: Effects of High Altitude

2019-05-22T20:12:41Z

A(l)Chemist: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 2153
| date = May 22, 2019
| title = Effects of High Altitude
| image = effects_of_high_altitude.png
| titletext = If she'd lived in Flagstaff (elevation 6,903 feet), Cruella de Vil would only have needed 89 dalmatians for her coat.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a HIGH BOT. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic starts out with a three effects of high altitude related to the air getting "thinner" and the lower air pressure. {{w|Denver}} is one mile (1609 meters) above sea-level (as marked on the steps of the State Capitol). At this elevation, the [http://www.altitude.org/air_pressure.php average atmospheric pressure] is about 83% of sea level pressure, or about 840 mBar, and [https://www.vcalc.com/wiki/KurtHeckman/Gravity+Acceleration+by+Altitude gravity] is 99.94% normal, or 9.801 m/s2 instead of 9.806 m/s2. This has a number of effects:

* Water {{w|boiling|boils}} at 202 degrees F (94 degrees C), slightly lower than the baseline 212 degrees F (100 degrees C) it takes at sea level.
* Baseballs and golf balls fly slightly farther.
* {{w|Sunburn}} develops faster because there less atmosphere above to filter out harmful ultraviolet rays.

As usual for xkcd, the effects of high altitude are extended in a comically absurd manner, applying this "slightly less" rule to things that have nothing to do with altitude:

* {{w|Scrabble}} is a board game where each letter is assigned a point value based on its frequency of use in the edition's language. The comic claims all letters are worth 16% more. When applied to the {{w|Scrabble_letter_distributions#English|normal values for the Scrabble tiles in English}}
** Q is worth 12 instead of 10
** X is worth 9 instead of 8
** Y is worth 5 instead of 4
* A common {{w|superstition}} states that breaking a mirror causes 7 years of bad luck. The comic claims that at higher altitudes, only 5½ years are caused. It is unclear whether this implies that people living at higher altitudes have more or less luck.
* Marketing campaigns will often state "X is the new Y" to draw the audience of Y in toward the newer X. When used with age, usually at 10 year intervals ("40 is the new 30" is the slogan referenced), it is an attempt to convince an older audience that they can share in an experience commonly associated with a younger audience. At higher elevations, the comic claims, people can use or do things designated for an even younger audience
* German band {{w|Nena (band)|Nena}}'s hit ''99 Red Balloons'' (an English adaptation of the original song called ''{{w|99 Luftballons}}'') is a song about a global (not necessarily nuclear) war started by a large clump of balloons mistaken for enemy aircraft (although the original German song refers to "UFO's aus dem All", the lyrics of the English-language song say "There's something here from somewhere else" which does not imply extraterrestrial origins, merely that the object is not of domestic origin; and "the war machine springs to life", which implies that a rival nation on earth is thought to be the culprit). The comic claims that if launched from a higher altitude, 94 balloons would have sufficed.
* {{w|420 (cannabis culture)|4:20}} is a code word for {{w|cannabis}} and has evolved in some circles to be the socially acceptable hour to consume cannabis. This has in turn evolved into a joke that when checking the time and finding it is exactly 4:20, people will add "blaze it" as a reference. The comic claims that, at higher altitudes, the socially acceptable time decreases, so if there is an elevation of one mile, the socially acceptable time would be 4:17 and therefore, marijuana jokes are made earlier. This joke is probably related to the {{w|Cannabis in Colorado|legalization of recreational marijuana use in Colorado}}.

* Referenced in the title text, ''{{w|One Hundred and One Dalmatians (franchise)|One Hundred and One Dalmatians}}'' is a children's book and Disney franchise based on it, where the villain, {{w|Cruella de Vil}}, aims to capture and kill 99 Dalmatian puppies to have the perfect spotted fur coat (the title comes from adding to them the two that try to save them). The comic claims that, at a higher altitude, she would only have needed 89 Dalmatians, possibly implying that puppies at higher altitudes are bigger, or that Cruella de Vil at high altitudes is smaller.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:Effects of high altitude
:How life is different at one mile above sea level
:(e.g. in Denver)

:[Eight small panels, each containing an image with a caption at the top:]

:Water boils at 202°F
:[A cooker with a pan with steam rising from it]

:Baseballs and golf balls fly 5-10% farther
:[A baseball flying through the air]

:Sunburns develop significantly faster
:[Five wavy arrows hitting a curved surface]

:Scrabble letters are worth 16% more
:[Scrabble tiles for letters Q, X and Y]

:Breaking a mirror only causes 5 1/2 years of bad luck
:[Cueball looking down at a broken hand mirror on the floor]

:40 is the new 28
:[Cueball and Megan are talking. Megan is gesturing]
:Megan: 50 is the new 40, and when you account for elevation it's more like 37.

:Nuclear war can be started with only 94 red balloons.
:[Five black balloons]

:People make Marijuana jokes slightly earlier
:Cueball and Ponytail are talking. Ponytail is looking at her phone]
:Cueball: Hey, what time is it?
:Ponytail: 4:17 Blaze it!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

2153: Effects of High Altitude

2019-05-22T19:52:25Z

A(l)Chemist: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 2153
| date = May 22, 2019
| title = Effects of High Altitude
| image = effects_of_high_altitude.png
| titletext = If she'd lived in Flagstaff (elevation 6,903 feet), Cruella de Vil would only have needed 89 dalmatians for her coat.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a HIGH BOT. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic starts out with a three effects of high altitude related to the air getting "thinner" and the lower air pressure. {{w|Denver}} is one mile (1609 meters) above sea-level (as marked on the steps of the State Capitol). At this elevation, the [http://www.altitude.org/air_pressure.php average atmospheric pressure] is about 83% of sea level pressure, or about 840 mBar, and [https://www.vcalc.com/wiki/KurtHeckman/Gravity+Acceleration+by+Altitude gravity] is 99.94% normal, or 9.801 m/s2 instead of 9.806 m/s2. This has a number of effects:

* Water {{w|boiling|boils}} at 202 degrees F (94 degrees C), slightly lower than the baseline 212 degrees F (100 degrees C) it takes at sea level.
* Baseballs and golf balls fly slightly farther.
* {{w|Sunburn}} develops faster because there less atmosphere above to filter out harmful ultraviolet rays.

As usual for xkcd, the effects of high altitude are extended in a comically absurd manner, applying this "slightly less" rule to things that have nothing to do with altitude:

* {{w|Scrabble}} is a board game where each letter is assigned a point value based on its frequency of use in the edition's language. The comic claims all letters are worth 16% more. When applied to the {{w|Scrabble_letter_distributions#English|normal values for the Scrabble tiles in English}}
** Q is worth 12 instead of 10
** X is worth 9 instead of 8
** Y is worth 5 instead of 4
* A common {{w|superstition}} states that breaking a mirror causes 7 years of bad luck. The comic claims that at higher altitudes, only 5½ years are caused. It is unclear whether this implies that people living at higher altitudes have more or less luck.
* Marketing campaigns will often state "X is the new Y" to draw the audience of Y in toward the newer X. When used with age, usually at 10 year intervals ("40 is the new 30" is the slogan referenced), it is an attempt to convince an older audience that they can share in an experience commonly associated with a younger audience. At higher elevations, the comic claims, people can use or do things designated for an even younger audience
* German band {{w|Nena (band)|Nena}}'s hit ''99 Red Balloons'' (an English adaptation of the original song called ''{{w|99 Luftballons}}'') is a song about a global (not necessarily nuclear) war started by a large clump of balloons mistaken for enemy aircraft (although the original German song refers to "ÜFO's aus dem All", the lyrics of the English-language song say "There's something here from somewhere else" which does not imply extraterrestrial origins, merely that the object is not of domestic origin; and "the war machine springs to life", which implies that a rival nation on earth is thought to be the culprit). The comic claims that if launched from a higher altitude, 94 balloons would have sufficed.
* {{w|420 (cannabis culture)|4:20}} is a code word for {{w|cannabis}} and has evolved in some circles to be the socially acceptable hour to consume cannabis. This has in turn evolved into a joke that when checking the time and finding it is exactly 4:20, people will add "blaze it" as a reference. The comic claims that, at higher altitudes, the socially acceptable time decreases, so if there is an elevation of one mile, the socially acceptable time would be 4:17 and therefore, marijuana jokes are made earlier. This joke is probably related to the {{w|Cannabis in Colorado|legalization of recreational marijuana use in Colorado}}.

* Referenced in the title text, ''{{w|One Hundred and One Dalmatians (franchise)|One Hundred and One Dalmatians}}'' is a children's book and Disney franchise based on it, where the villain, {{w|Cruella de Vil}}, aims to capture and kill 99 Dalmatian puppies to have the perfect spotted fur coat (the title comes from adding to them the two that try to save them). The comic claims that, at a higher altitude, she would only have needed 89 Dalmatians, possibly implying that puppies at higher altitudes are bigger, or that Cruella de Vil at high altitudes is smaller.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:Effects of high altitude
:How life is different at one mile above sea level
:(e.g. in Denver)

:[8 small panels, each containing an image with a caption at the top]

:Water boils at 202°F
:[A cooker with a pan with steam rising from it]

:Baseballs and golf balls fly 5-10% farther
:[A baseball flying through the air]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

Talk:2141: UI vs UX

2019-05-19T09:32:17Z

A(l)Chemist: Spam removal

The comic as a whole is making fun of how meta software developers get about the user experience, seeking to name all the different types of interactions a user can have with an app or webpage.
This comic is massive for me on my desktop (chrome); I wonder if this is a joke about bad UX or if it is a genuine error? [[User:Fwacer|Fwacer]] ([[User talk:Fwacer|talk]]) 18:50, 24 April 2019 (UTC)

:It's not this big on xkcd.com. Did it start this big and got fixed on the original site? Update: replaced with the image from xkcd.com which was much smaller. [[User:Cgrimes85|Cgrimes85]] ([[User talk:Cgrimes85|talk]]) 18:55, 24 April 2019 (UTC)

::Looks like it is fixed now, but yes it was also that big on xkcd.com initially. [[User:Fwacer|Fwacer]] ([[User talk:Fwacer|talk]]) 19:19, 24 April 2019 (UTC)
:It's bad U[even more unprintable glyph]. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.226.114|172.68.226.114]] 08:27, 30 April 2019 (UTC)
To me, it comes across as a hyperbolic play on the common confusion between the meaning of UI and UX. [https://twitter.com/sdw/status/709853249407361024] [[User:Ahiijny|Ahiijny]] ([[User talk:Ahiijny|talk]]) 19:06, 24 April 2019 (UTC)

It makes sense that it would be alpha and omega, but I originally thought it was the "proportional" symbol. I only ask because alpha is lowercase and omega is uppercase, although perhaps this was to avoid confusion with the Latin "A". [[User:Cgrimes85|Cgrimes85]] ([[User talk:Cgrimes85|talk]]) 19:13, 24 April 2019 (UTC)
:Concerning the lowercase/uppercase difference, since alpha is the beginning and omega is the end, then consider that in the beginning we are born little and then grow up - we start out as lowercase and end up as uppercase. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 19:30, 24 April 2019 (UTC)

This is a joke on integration, yes?[[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.129|172.69.68.129]] 19:33, 24 April 2019 (UTC)
: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice" -- I guess the big in the comic being about the arc of the moral universe can reference the fight against segregation and thus for integration...
:: I meant mathematical integration...

I'm happy with the explanations I just added for everything but "Life's experience of time" -- does anyone know what that phrase is from? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.133.54|172.68.133.54]] 05:48, 25 April 2019 (UTC)
:I thought it was made by a U[unprintable glyph] designer. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.226.64|172.68.226.64]] 07:40, 25 April 2019 (UTC)

No UK - well that is about par [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.240|141.101.107.240]] 20:45, 25 April 2019 (UTC)

On what level are those idiots who say "user doesn't need this setting, it would only confuse him"? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:20, 25 April 2019 (UTC)
:UG2 - user second-guessing. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.142.197|172.68.142.197]] 06:27, 26 April 2019 (UTC)

Why has Randall chosen this particular set of characters? Why Z? Why alpha and omega - the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, used in the bible quote "i am the alpha and omega" i.e. the beginning and the end, but what link with the subject? Or is it just a sequence of increasingly improbable characters from latin through Greek, then glyphs then unprintable glyphs..?
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.82|108.162.229.82]] 07:34, 26 April 2019 (UTC) Dancergraham

:UX comes after UI in the alphabet, and so Randall first extended that to the last letter of the Latin alphabet, then Greek. Infinity then also makes sense, but I don't know about the bullet. [[User:Oliphaunt|Oliphaunt]] ([[User talk:Oliphaunt|talk]]) 09:08, 26 April 2019 (UTC)
:Other than being the last letter of the Latin alphabet, I can't come up with any other meaning for "Z" to represent something in psychology. As for the remaining symbols, I think alpha might represent the "a" in actualization or the beginning of the user's awareness or life because alpha represents beginning. Since Omega means the end, this likely represents the end of the user's life, which determines the length of the arc of their life. I believe the infinity symbol is a reference to how time looks to the typical life of a user, since it extends well before and after a user's life. Lastly, I think the black circle might represent a view of morality as either a black hole or a dark subject. This is just my impressions. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 13:31, 26 April 2019 (UTC)
::I did think about "Z" representing Zen, but I'm not sure how that connects with psychology. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 13:57, 26 April 2019 (UTC)
:: Zychology...[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.95|162.158.91.95]] 14:29, 29 April 2019 (UTC)

My initial thought was that the black circle represents the "black point message" that crashed apps like whatsapp a while ago. I never saw it personally but Tom Scott did a video on it last year. It might be a commentary on how understanding of the universe's moral arc could be considered untouchable/unobtainable. [[User:Blik|Blik]] ([[User talk:Blik|talk]]) 14:30, 26 April 2019 (UTC)
:I took the black circle as a Black Hole - that changes the arc of everything in the Universe! [[User:John.Adriaan|John.Adriaan]] ([[User talk:John.Adriaan|talk]]) 02:14, 29 April 2019 (UTC)

Hmm. It looks like UY got skipped. The study of the user's motivation and goals. Like UI and UX, it's a real thing. But that's really the job of concept or marketing.

Talk:2141: UI vs UX

2019-05-18T09:20:58Z

A(l)Chemist: Undo revision 174269 by Gaia's Protocol Review9 (talk) - Remove advertising

Talk:2148: Cubesat Launch

2019-05-18T09:18:09Z

A(l)Chemist: Space suits

I have added an important point to the explanation regarding the impossibility of this plan - Mission Control should have scrubbed the launch as soon as someone noticed the drone anywhere near the rocket. The failure of this to happen means that Mission Control was negligent and they bear major responsibility for the failure than the mission, more so than Megan. I can't believe such an obvious point was missed by previous editors though - would you launch a rocket if you saw a drone near it?[[Special:Contributions/172.68.253.53|172.68.253.53]] 07:12, 11 May 2019 (UTC)

Ahh, yes kites! Or actually, that is a '''very''' strong kite with very strong thread. Must be nice to knock-off a spacecraft! - [[Special:Contributions/162.158.231.24|162.158.231.24]] 15:29, 10 May 2019 (UTC)
(P. S. Please don't interrupt ANY space launch, kids!)

To whomever edited the explanation to say the Megan is planning to board the Cubesat rocket: Cubesat rockets launch cubesats only. There is no place for astronauts. If Megan boarded the rocket, she would die from lack of air (among other things). [[Special:Contributions/172.68.90.112|172.68.90.112]] 16:28, 10 May 2019 (UTC)SiliconWolf

This is weird. The first time I went to the page, I saw a bunch of conspiracy theory nonsense, but when I go back, all of that stuff has been deleted. I thank you, whoever did this, but who the heck made all that conspiracy theory stuff? -Spongepants Squarebob {{unsigned ip|172.68.38.64}}
:I believe there's one user who just keeps spouting random conspiracy theorist stuff on a few of the recent comics and who seems to go by the motto "Soon the truth will be revealed" or something. We usually revert all of their edits as soon as possible. (Also sign your comments!) [[User:Jason|Jason]] ([[User talk:Jason|talk]]) 18:44, 10 May 2019 (UTC)
::Yeah...a while back, on comic 2133, someone edited it to say "This comic references the non-existent 'Event Horizon Telescope', an international project dedicated to deceiving the masses into thinking that black holes are real, in accordance with the whims of the Zionist conspiracy."
::So...yeah. That happened. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.143.144|172.68.143.144]] 20:24, 10 May 2019 (UTC)
:::Yeah, one anti-Semitic lunatic vandalizing explanations and talk pages, mostly focusing on the space related comics. We can't ban all IP editors, so the mods are blocking any user accounts he tries to make, which makes him have to type in a CAPTCHA (which can be quite annoying) every time he wants to vandalize a page. Plus we can just instantly revert his edits, making him waste his efforts. Sooner or later he'll get tired of this and leave. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 21:41, 10 May 2019 (UTC)
::::Do NOT blame that user for Explain XKCD using Cloudflare which makes ALL edits looking like being done by Cloudflare IPs. There is enough stuff he can be blamed for, no need to add something he can't influence. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:16, 10 May 2019 (UTC)
:::::??? What I was trying to say was that even though there's only one vandal doing this, Explain xkcd uses Cloudflare which makes edits looking like being done by Cloudflare IPs, so even though there are several IP vandals they're all the same person. I'm not blaming that vandal for Explain xkcd using Cloudflare. Anyways, I've removed that bit, sorry if it caused any misunderstanding. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 22:54, 10 May 2019 (UTC)

The explanation says the inclusion of the additional cubesat would cause the rocket to fail to reach its desired orbit. That is ridiculous. Yes, the unplanned for weight would have an effect, but given the overall weight of the rocket the weight of a single additional cubesat would be close to immaterial. CERTAINLY well within the safety margins. This isn't ''The Cold Equations''." [[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.55|162.158.107.55]] 05:26, 11 May 2019 (UTC)
:I agree. The three pounds or so would be surely less than normal variation in loaded fuel mass, either due to measuring uncertainty during loading or evaporation while standing on the launch pad. I've added 'citation needed' but I am somewhat inclined to remove that point completely. -- [[User:Malgond|Malgond]] ([[User talk:Malgond|talk]]) 12:00, 13 May 2019 (UTC)

How does it work, you ask? CRYSTALS!!! HAHAHAHAHA - Dr. D

In addition to the problems already mentioned, there's yet another one. At best this scheme could attach a cubesat to the aerodynamical fairing around the rocket's payload. However the fairing is detached as soon as it's aerodynamically feasible to do so (ie. well below orbital altitude) both to save weight and to prevent the fairing from contributing to the orbital debris problem. So the cubesat wouldn't even get to space, much less to orbit. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.166|162.158.238.166]] 08:13, 12 May 2019 (UTC)

Is the "Space exploration will never be completely safe" line a reference to this? https://yarchive.net/air/perfect_safety.html [[User:Tait marconi|Tait marconi]] ([[User talk:Tait marconi|talk]]) 15:39, 13 May 2019 (UTC)

I am VERY surprised that one of the "Reasons this is impossible and won't work" isn't "Even if this all worked as intended, Megan would be in space with no space suit, either freezing or suffocating to death." :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 03:03, 18 May 2019 (UTC)
:My interpretation of the comic is that Megan is trying to launch the box that she is holding into space, rather than herself. Still, even though the incomplete banner has gone it doesn't mean that the explanation is definitive, so always feel free to add alternative explanations where appropriate. [[User:A(l)Chemist|AlChemist]] ([[User talk:A(l)Chemist|talk]]) 09:18, 18 May 2019 (UTC)

2148: Cubesat Launch

2019-05-11T14:04:19Z

A(l)Chemist: Added link as edit history suggests I'm not the only one who had to look this up

{{comic
| number = 2148
| date = May 10, 2019
| title = CubeSat Launch
| image = cubesat_launch.png
| titletext = Luckily, the damages were partly offset by the prize money we got from accidentally winning the nearby water skiing championship tournament.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a launch accident investigator. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

A {{w|CubeSat}} (aka U-class spacecraft) is a miniature artificial-satellite with cubic dimensions of 10 cm × 10 cm × 11.35 cm (~ 4 in × 4 in × 4.5 in), and masses of about 1.33 kg (2.9 lbs) per unit. CubeSats are put into orbit from the International Space Station or launched as secondary payloads. As of January 2019, at least 900 CubeSats have successively achieved orbit, and at least 80 have been destroyed in launch failures. They typically function as Earth observation satellites, amateur radio emitters as well as testing prototype small-satellite technology.

The comic begins with [[Megan]] telling [[Cueball]] that being officially part of a CubeSat launch is very expensive, but she has an idea for a much cheaper alternative: use a fishing line on a drone to attach to a rocket just before launch, with the CubeSat attached to the other end of the fishing line so it gets pulled into space.

In reality, this plan would fail for multiple reasons.

# Security would presumably prevent the drone from reaching the rocket.
# Even if Megan were to pilot the drone past security undetected, the launch would have been scrubbed as soon as any observer noticed the drone near the rocket and tell Mission Control, who would order a countdown halt and stop the rocket launch, which prevents Megan from launching her CubeSat in the first place - after which Security would locate the drone's user and take her into custody.
# The unshielded CubeSat would likely be destroyed by aerodynamic forces.
# The drone would not be able to attach itself to the rocket in a way that would remain secure.
# The fishing line would not hold - either the rocket exhaust would sever it, or the force from the CubeSat, gravity, and the acceleration of the rocket would become more than its tensile strength could withstand.
# Precise weight is an important number during launch. The extra weight of the drone, the fishing line, the air drag from the drone, and the CubeSat all would combine to put more downward force on the rocket. This unexpected extra weight would not have been calculated and could turn the rocket off-course, along with making it spend more propellant in countering the forces exerted this way. This may result in the rocket not achieving the planned orbit, and may have to orbit at a lower altitude.

Upon realizing her plan, Cueball immediately responds with "uh-oh", indicating his concern, but Megan assures him that it will be fine, before piloting the drone towards the rocket. She successfully connects the drone to the rocket, and the rocket lifts off.

Whatever her plan was, it goes wrong almost immediately. The unexpected force on the rocket from the side causes it to tilt and go off course (implied that it's not due to the comparatively small force of the CubeSat, but because Cueball is standing on the fishing line). Perhaps if the rocket's control software employed {{w|adaptive control}} techniques, it could have maintained control in the presence of this unexpected force. Megan and Cueball get tangled in the fishing line and are carried away. While the fate of the rocket is not shown, it is likely that its unplanned {{w|Attitude_control|attitude change}} would activate the automatic termination sequence or result in manual activation of the destruction protocol.

Megan and Cueball miraculously survive and are brought to an investigative board to explain their actions. Megan attempts to defend herself using flawed logic: something was bound to go wrong sooner or later, so it's not her fault that she was the cause. This logic does not account for the fact that this particular rocket's chance to crash was greatly increased by the drone attempting to connect to it. She isn't totally to blame for the accident anyways, since the launch should have been scrubbed as soon as the drone came anywhere near the rocket, and the failure of Mission Control to do so is negligence on their part, and hence they are more responsible for the failure of the mission than Megan and Cueball as they did not follow proper protocol and allowed the launch to occur under unsafe conditions.

The title text describes that the supposedly huge damages they caused were partly covered by the earnings from a water skiing championship, which Cueball and Megan presumably won by being dragged across the water by the rocket. This might be a tangential reference to an incident in the {{w|The Adventures of Tintin|Tintin}} adventure ''{{w|The Black Island}}'', where the {{w|Thomson and Thompson|Thompson Twins}} blunder into and win an aerobatics competition when they compel a mechanic with no flying experience into taking off in pursuit of that volume's antagonists.

Additionally, this is not the first comic to discuss CubeSats; they were also mentioned in [[1866: Russell's Teapot]] and in [[1992: SafetySat]].

Megan's last sentence in the comic is similar to the topic and title text from [[2146: Waiting for the But]] published only four days earlier. This is probably a coincidence though since sentences in that form are not uncommon for excuses. In this scenario the second part could be along the lines of "...but if one can't afford a spot on a cubesat launch, one needs to take risks."

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Megan and Cueball talking. Megan is holding a cube attached to a drone by string.]
:Megan: A spot on a CubeSat launch costs a lot, but you can get a drone and a spool of fishing line for cheap.
:Cueball: Uh oh.

:[A wide shot of Megan flying the drone.]
:Megan: No no, watch.
:Megan: This is gonna go great.

:[Wide shot of a rocket launch with drone and string approaching from the right.]

:[Drone attached to rocket.]
:Off-panel (probably Megan): Perfect!

:[Vapor cloud at bottom of rocket.]
:Foom

:[Rocket taking off, tilting in the direction of the string.]
:Off-panel: Should it be tilting already?
:Off-panel: Hey, move your leg.

:[Megan and Cueball struggling in tangle of string whilst holding cube.]
:Megan: Ugh, let go, I can get-
:Cueball: -No, lift your ''other'' arm-

:[Three small panels of rocket tilting increasingly to the right and down as if pulled by the string.]

:[Megan and Cueball flying through the air, attached to the string. Two onlookers flee.]
:''AAAAAA''

:[A disheveled looking Megan and Cueball both with plaster casts on their arms stand before four members of an interview panel at a table labeled 'Launch accident investigation board'].
:Megan: Listen.
:Megan: Space exploration is never going to be completely safe.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Drones]]
[[Category:Space]]

2148: Cubesat Launch

2019-05-10T20:11:32Z

A(l)Chemist: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 2148
| date = May 10, 2019
| title = Cubesat Launch
| image = cubesat_launch.png
| titletext = Luckily, the damages were partly offset by the prize money we got from accidentally winning the nearby water skiing championship tournament.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a Launch Accident Investigator. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The comic begins with [[Megan]] telling [[Cueball]] that being officially part of a {{w|CubeSat}} launch is very expensive, but she has an idea for a much cheaper alternative: use a fishing line on a drone to attach to a rocket just before launch, with the cubesat attached to the other end of the fishing line so it gets pulled into space.

In reality, this plan would fail for multiple reasons.

# Security would presumably prevent the drone from reaching the rocket.
# The drone would not be able to attach itself to the rocket in a way that would remain secure.
# The fishing line would not hold - either the rocket exhaust would sever it, or the force from the cubesat, gravity, and the acceleration of the rocket, would become more than its tensile strength could withstand.
# Precise weight is an EXTREMELY important number during launch. The extra weight of the drone, the fishing line, the air drag from the drone, and the cubesat all would combine to put more downward force on the rocket. This unexpected extra weight would not have been calculated during fueling of the rocket and the rocket may run out of propellant before achieving the planned orbit.

Whatever her plan was, it goes wrong almost immediately. The unexpected force on the rocket from the side causes it to tilt and go off course (unrealistically due to the comparatively small force of the cubesat). Perhaps if the rocket's control software employed {{w|adaptive control}} techniques, it could have maintained control in the presence of this unexpected force. Megan and Cueball get tangled in the fishing line and are carried away. It is implied that the rocket crashes not long after. Megan and Cueball miraculously survive and are brought to an investigative board to explain their actions. Megan attempts to defend herself using flawed logic: something was bound to go wrong sooner or later, so it's not her fault that she was the cause. This logic does not account for the fact that this particular rocket's chance to crash was greatly increased by the drone attempting to connect to it.

The title text describes that the supposedly huge damages they caused were partly covered by the earnings from a water skiing championship, which Cueball and Megan presumably won by being dragged across the water by the rocket.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Megan and Cueball talking. Megan is holding a cube attached to a drone by string.]
:Megan: A spot on a cubesat launch costs a lot, but you can get a drone and a spool of fishing line for cheap.
:Cueball: Uh oh.

:[A wide shot of Megan flying the drone.]
:Megan: No, watch. This is gonna go great.

:[Wide shot of a rocket launch with drone and string approaching from the right.]

:[Drone attached to rocket.]
:Off-panel: Perfect!

:[Vapor cloud at bottom of rocket.]
:Foom

:[Rocket taking off, tilting in the direction of the string.]
:Off-panel: Should it be tilting already?
:Off-panel: Hey, move your leg.

:[Megan and Cueball struggling in tangle of string whilst holding cube.]
:Megan: Ugh, let go, I can get-
:Cueball: -No, lift your other arm-

:[Three small panels of rocket tilting increasingly to the right and down as if pulled by the string.]

:[Megan and Cueball flying through the air, attached to the string. Two onlookers flee.]
:Aaaaaa

:[A disheveled looking Megan and Cueball both with plaster casts on their arms stand before four members of an interview panel at a table labeled 'Launch accident investigation board'].
:Megan: Listen. Space exploration is never going to be completely safe.
{{comic discussion}}

2144: Adjusting a Chair

2019-05-03T16:55:27Z

A(l)Chemist: Raise/lower

{{comic
| number = 2144
| date = May 1, 2019
| title = Adjusting a Chair
| image = adjusting_a_chair.png
| titletext = When I was looking at the box, I should have thought more about what "360 degrees of freedom" meant.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an EDITOR WITH TOO MANY DEGREES OF FREEDOM. Needs review. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic shows [[Cueball]]'s attempts to adjust a swivelling chair. As many people have experienced, these chairs can be quite difficult to raise, lower, or manoeuvre if one does not know how. This comically culminates in a massive chair with a big central seat and several other chairs branching off of it as Cueball continues trying to adjust it.

Each step gets farther away from what real-life office chairs could do. In sequence, Cueball finds his chair:

# Being able to recline the seat back. Many chairs do have this ability, which one can use for sitting comfort or perhaps to take a nap.
# Being able to raise or lower the seat. Most chairs have this ability, but the comic departs from real chairs in two ways. First, it's much higher than any real chair. Second, he can raise the height while sitting on it; under normal design, pressing the raise/lower lever while sitting on the chair is how one ''lowers'' the seat, using one's own weight to depress the spring or hydraulic piston. However, it's not uncommon to find a chair that has worn out or been improperly calibrated, so that it does rise even when sat on (especially with lighter people), or does not lower even when not sat upon with the lever active.
# Being able to have the seat inflate. Although this could be useful (e.g. to help people who need to use extra seat cushions because of hemorrhoids or coccyx injury), it is not a typical office chair capability. However, in addition to simply inflating, Cueball's chair appears to actually make the seat longer and wider. This doesn't seem to have a lot of useful application in office chairs.
# Putting out branches and growing extra seats and backs. Chairs definitely cannot do this in real life{{Citation needed}} and use cases are doubtful.

The title text refers to a common claim on such chairs, that the chair offers 360 degrees rotation and several degrees of freedom. This is a double entendre depending on if "360 degrees" or "degrees of freedom" is interpreted as an object. However, here it means there are 360 {{w|Degrees of freedom (mechanics)|mechanical degrees of freedom}}, which is the number of independent parameters that define the configuration of an object; in other words, the chair has 360 different levers and options, far more than a standard chair{{Citation needed}}.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is shown adjusting a chair by pressing a button on the bottom of the chair. There is a caption in a frame over the tope of the panel:]
:Adjusting a chair:

:[The seat back of the chair swings backward with him rather fast as shown by a few movement lines.]
:Chair: ''Clunk''

:[Cueball leans forward against the new chair position and presses another button.]

:[The chair extends to several times its previous height, very fast as shown by many lines beneath the seat.]
:Chair: ''Hiss''

:[At the top of this very high seat Cueball leans forward and presses another button.]

:[The seat expands in all directions, so Cueball only sits in the middle of it with his legs on top of the inflated cushion.]
:Chair: ''Poof''

:[The chair is now a massive contraption. It has 5 bases, each with wheels as the original chair. The mains seat is in the middle of the contraption with a single trunk going up from the five bases connecting them and the large cushion of the seat. Two entire chairs are branching out from underneath this central seat, they are each hanging in a thin wire more or less upside down to each side of the main trunk. Two poles are coming up from the central seat, each with a new seat and two back-to-back seat backs. Yet another seat is supported by a thin rod connecting the two top seats, looking almost like a table between the two chairs. Cueball, is still on the main seats cushion. He is holding on to one of the poles above him as he leans down and attempts to press yet another button beneath the seat. There is a caption in a frame over the tope of the panel:]
:Two hours later...

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

2141: UI vs UX

2019-04-24T19:03:41Z

A(l)Chemist: Formating. Still haven't figured out how to do spaces properly

{{comic
| number = 2141
| date = April 24, 2019
| title = UI vs UX
| image = ui_vs_ux.png
| titletext = U[unprintable glyph]: The elements a higher power uses to bend that moral arc. U[even more unprintable glyph]: The higher power's overall experience bending that moral arc.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a UX DESIGNER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:Designer     What they are responsible for

:UI     Elements of the interface that the user encounters
:UX     The user's experience of using the interface to achieve goals
:UZ     The psychological roots of the user's motivation for seeking out the interaction
:Uα     The user's self-actualization
:UΩ     The arc of the user's life
:U∞     Life's experience of time
:U•     The arc of the moral universe

{{comic discussion}}

2141: UI vs UX

2019-04-24T18:55:52Z

A(l)Chemist: Transcript

{{comic
| number = 2141
| date = April 24, 2019
| title = UI vs UX
| image = ui_vs_ux.png
| titletext = U[unprintable glyph]: The elements a higher power uses to bend that moral arc. U[even more unprintable glyph]: The higher power's overall experience bending that moral arc.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a UX DESIGNER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:Designer What they are responsible for

:UI Elements of the interface that the user encounters
:UX The user's experience of using the interface to achieve goals
:UZ The psychological roots of the user's motivation for seeking out the interaction
:U{alpha} The user's self-actualization
:U{omega} The arc of the user's life
:U{infinity} Life's experience of time
:U{Black dot} The arc of the moral universe

{{comic discussion}}

2135: M87 Black Hole Size Comparison

2019-04-10T19:40:34Z

A(l)Chemist: Formating

{{comic
| number = 2135
| date = April 10, 2019
| title = M87 Black Hole Size Comparison
| image = m87_black_hole_size_comparison.png
| titletext = I think Voyager 1 would be just past the event horizon, but slightly less than halfway to the bright ring.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a REALLY REALLY BIG BLACK HOLE. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic shows the picture taken of black hole M87 by the Event Horizon Telescope the day this comic was published. Overlaid on the picture is a scale image of the Solar System, showing the Sun, Pluto (the most well-known {{w|dwarf planet}}), and Voyager 1, a deep-space probe and the farthest from Earth.

The point of the comic seems to be to indicate the hugeness of M87 and the awe-inspiring thing that space is.

The Event Horizon Telescope was also referenced just [[2133|two comics prior]].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:Size comparison:
:The M87 Black Hole
:And
:Our Solar System

:EHT Black Hole Image
:Source: NSF

[An image of the M87 black hole captured by the event horizon telescope on the day that this comic was published is shown. A white ring about 1/4 of the diameter of the central black portion of the image is labelled with an arrow as 'Pluto'. A small white circle at the centre of the image is labelled with an arrow as 'Sun'. A small white dot on the right hand edge of the central black portion of the image is labelled with an arrow as 'Voyager 1']

{{comic discussion}}

2135: M87 Black Hole Size Comparison

2019-04-10T19:39:03Z

A(l)Chemist: Transcript

{{comic
| number = 2135
| date = April 10, 2019
| title = M87 Black Hole Size Comparison
| image = m87_black_hole_size_comparison.png
| titletext = I think Voyager 1 would be just past the event horizon, but slightly less than halfway to the bright ring.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a REALLY REALLY BIG BLACK HOLE. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic shows the picture taken of black hole M87 by the Event Horizon Telescope the day this comic was published. Overlaid on the picture is a scale image of the Solar System, showing the Sun, Pluto (the most well-known {{w|dwarf planet}}), and Voyager 1, a deep-space probe and the farthest from Earth.

The point of the comic seems to be to indicate the hugeness of M87 and the awe-inspiring thing that space is.

The Event Horizon Telescope was also referenced just [[2133|two comics prior]].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Size comparison:
The M87 Black Hole
And
Our Solar System

EHT Black Hole Image
Source: NSF

[An image of the M87 black hole captured by the event horizon telescope on the day that this comic was published is shown. A white ring about 1/4 of the diameter of the central black portion of the image is labelled with an arrow as 'Pluto'. A small white circle at the centre of the image is labelled with an arrow as 'Sun'. A small white dot on the right hand edge of the central black portion of the image is labelled with an arrow as 'Voyager 1']

{{comic discussion}}