explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3235: Types of Board Game

2026-04-22T09:26:38Z

Alcatraz ii: /* Explanation */ removed claim that Tiernan Darnton's murder claims were found to be untrue - he was convicted and currently imprisoned for this. No googleable source says otherwise

{{comic
| number = 3235
| date = April 20, 2026
| title = Types of Board Game
| image = types_of_board_game_2x.png
| imagesize = 501x1161px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I can't believe Candles of Vienna caved to commercial pressure and added the Goku expansion.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created during a particularly boring game of truth or dare. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

There are a lot of different types of board games in the world. Some are very simple, some are very complicated. This comic illustrates various types, with rather extreme examples.

; Boring
This is a very simplistic and boring board game style, where the players simply move around the board at the dictates of chance. The simplest examples (such as {{w|Snakes and Ladders}}, {{w|Mouse Trap (board game)|Mouse Trap}}, and {{w|Candy Land}}) involve no player choices at all, can get frustrating when dice rolls don't want to line up late in the game, and are thus viewed as boring, at least for adults. {{w|Pachisi}} variants (like {{w|Ludo}}) also fall into this structure while still needing some amount of skill and strategy, but it may feel frustratingly difficult to influence the outcome. It is unclear whether the described game has no end condition at all or whether it is so dull that the group involved are unable to complete it without getting bored and giving up.
; Abstract
This board game has more abstract tones, involving the arrangement of geometric shapes for reasons that may not be immediately clear, perhaps similar to something like {{w|Hive (game)|Hive}} or {{w|Tantrix}}. Some people may find that this kind of game, without a relatable framing they can use as a starting point for understanding it, is quite hard to get to grips with.
; Hyperspecific Theme
This board game has a weirdly specific backstory, being centred around a very specific historical event, and a specific task within that. Lengthy backstories that have to be explained before you get to the actual gameplay can feel contrived and be off-putting to some players, but can be an attempt to contextualize gameplay that might otherwise fall into the Abstract category. The {{w|Congress of Vienna}} was a gathering of diplomats from many different countries at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. There exists [https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/256170/schonbrunn multiple] [https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/296578/congress-of-vienna actual board games] about the Congress of Vienna, but they have nothing to do with lighting candles '''yet'''.
; Overcomplicated
{{w|Twilight Imperium}} is widely regarded as being an extremely complex board game (especially the later 3rd and 4th editions). Cones of Dunshire is a joke board game (first shown on the TV show ''{{w|Parks and Recreation}}''), but was eventually turned into a real game where its extreme complexity is key to the joke. Combining them would likely be far more complex than either. {{w|Category theory}} is a branch of mathematics famous for its layers of abstractions, and is notoriously difficult to understand. The {{w|Monad (category theory)|monad}} is one concept from category theory, with the famous definition of "[https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3870088/a-monad-is-just-a-monoid-in-the-category-of-endofunctors-whats-the-problem A monad is simply a monoid in the category of endofunctors]". The {{w|Cone (category theory)|cone}} is another concept from category theory.
; Cooperative
Cooperative board games center around players attempting to reach a common goal, winning or losing together. Many feature impediments to communication that make this more challenging; for instance, players may be restricted from saying certain words, or have secret cards they are unable to reveal before playing. The game in this panel appears to forbid all communication between players except for hand gestures. The punchline likens it to a very mundane activity, sorting a junk drawer, made artificially more difficult due to silence, and suggests the game is just as boring. It also raises suspicions that [[Megan]] has organised or hijacked this games night to trick her friends into doing chores she can't be bothered with, similarly to the way that Cueball [[1566: Board Game|once did for his taxes]]. The game described in the comic makes it seem like a (rather pointless) extension of {{w|Charades}}, and is also reminiscent of cooperative game {{w|The Mind (card game)|The Mind}}.
; Branded
Some board games are published and marketed as tie-ins to other forms of media, using settings, characters, or events from the source to appeal to its fans and get them to buy a game they might otherwise not have done. The theming often has little to nothing to do with the gameplay, as the many branded variants on Monopoly can attest. The game in this panel is themed after the sitcom {{w|Friends}}, with the unlikely addition of {{w|Goku|Son Goku}} from {{w|Dragon Ball}}. Dragon Ball's producers seem to be trying to expand into various board games (see the title text below).
; Party
It can be hard to determine what makes a party game, other than it generally doesn't have the kinds of gameplay and strategy in other kinds of board games. Such games (like {{w|Pictionary}} or {{w|30 Seconds (game)|30 Seconds}}) are often aimed at creating humorous or mildly embarrassing situations. However, party games marketed as "for adults" (such as the well known {{w|Cards Against Humanity}}) do tend to have one thing in common — swearing or references to sex. The content of the game described here (dealing cards and screaming whatever is on them) seems not to require a lot of critical thinking, which may make it appealing in social situations where drinks (or other substances) may have been taken.
; Social Deduction
{{w|Social deduction game|Social deduction games}}, such as variations upon {{w|Mafia (party game)|Mafia/Werewolf}} (like the derived computer game ''{{w|Among Us}}''), revolve around the players attempting to deduce the roles or allegiances of other players, based on both special abilities provided by the game and the players' native abilities to tell which of their fellow players are being dishonest. Commonly, they involve an 'uninformed majority,' who do not know the allegiances of other players, attempting to discover the 'informed minority,' who know the members of their team. The minority is often framed as 'evil,' with the ability to 'kill' other players and remove them from the game; their victory condition often revolves around killing most or all of the 'good' players. In a game such as {{w|Cluedo|Cluedo/Clue}}, all the players are unaware of identity of the guilty party and the exact circumstances of the crime (even if they play that character themselves), but use what they do know (and can deduce from what others apparently know) to try to successfully narrow down the hidden facts of the game before anybody else. The game in this panel revolves around finding a 'secret murderer', as per these kinds of game, but evidently has required clarification that discovering a ''real'' murderer does not count, implying that one or more of the previous week's participants, possibly [[Black Hat]], had actually killed someone in real life. Although [[Black Hat]] is not shown in this comic's board game night, it stands to reason that after admitting to murder he would not be invited back the following week. This situation might be a reference to the [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-59258857 case of Tiernan Darnton] who admitted, during a game of Truth or Dare, to killing his step-grandmother.
; Title text
"Candles of Vienna" is presumably the game described under "Hyperspecific Theme". An expansion pack is an additional set of playing equipment that can be combined with an existing game to add new gameplay possibilities. It appears that the rights holders for Goku have decided on a strategy of getting the character included in multiple board games. The character would arguably be even more out of place in Napoleonic Vienna than lounging on the sofas at Central Perk.

The setting, with the characters round a table playing games, is rather similar to that in the [[:Category:Dungeons & Dragons|D&D comics]].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
Types of Board Game

[Under this header text, the comic contains 8 panels. Each of them is labeled at the top with a short description of the board game being played and features (from left to right) Cueball, Ponytail, Megan, and White Hat sitting on chairs around a table trying to play it.]

Boring

Megan: Each turn, roll a die and move your token. Turns proceed clockwise around the table until we get bored and go home.

Abstract

Cueball: Each turn, you can place any number of red triangles or blue squares on a hexagon, or move any hexagon to a...

Hyperspecific Theme

Ponytail: It's October 2, 1814. The Congress of Vienna convenes. You are each in charge of distributing and lighting candles for the opening ball, which was held at these three locations...

Overcomplicated

White Hat: It's a cross between *Twilight Imperium* and *Cones of Dunshire,* but implemented entirely in category theory. Every cone is a monad, and...

Cooperative

Megan: We're working together to sort these decks of cards using only hand gestures. After that, we'll silently organize my junk drawer.

Branded

Cueball: You can play as Phoebe, Chandler, Monica, Rachel, Ross, Joey, or, due to an ill-advised tie-in, Goku.

Party

Ponytail: Each of the cards in your hand has a bad word on it. On the count of three, yell the...

Social Deduction

Megan: Remember, per our *Find the Secret Murderer* house rules from last week, discovering that a player had committed a real-life murder does *not* count.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Board games]]
[[Category:Games]]

Talk:2243: Star Wars Spoiler Generator

2026-04-03T09:06:43Z

Alcatraz ii: Questioning comprehensiveness

Here is a fully documented R implementation! Enjoy: [https://blog.ephorie.de/learning-r-build-xkcds-star-wars-spoiler-generator Learning R: Build xkcd’s Star Wars Spoiler Generator]

I made this JavaScript implementation of the generator: https://codepen.io/qgustavor/full/gObgBxo [[Special:Contributions/172.68.24.70|172.68.24.70]] 22:33, 18 December 2019 (UTC)
:there are some words that should be capitalized: First Order, Sith, Force, Jawa... Also ochre is misspelt and colors should NOT be capitalized. Thanks![[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.196|141.101.98.196]] 10:21, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

who said that the rise of skywalker would be released two days before the publishing date after stating that it's going to be released on the twentieth?

Re: Malloc, there was also a Darth Malak, the antagonist of Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic and a recurring character in the Old Republic comics [[Special:Contributions/172.69.69.244|172.69.69.244]] 02:08, 19 December 2019 (UTC)47.221.57.204

Should something be linked to about diectric breakdown, or is that considered obvious in the context of, er, Force lightning? Also, am I remembering right that Dark Helmet, in Spaceballs, wears a smaller helmet with a really big helmet over it? Maybe not! Robert Carnegie rja.carnegie@gmail.com [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.250|141.101.98.250]] 02:48, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

There are a couple of posts to be found online that refer to "Darth Sebelius" in the context of Obamacare, but they're all on pretty niche forums. --[[User:NotaBene|NotaBene]] ([[User talk:NotaBene|talk]]) 03:07, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

Perchance generator: https://perchance.org/q3wi2jqf0j [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.59|173.245.54.59]] 03:16, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

For a less US-centric view, the movie was released officially in France and Norway (and probably also other countries) already on the 18.12. (that is December 18). So "On December 20, 2019 [...], the final movie [...] will be released." should say "[...] will be released in the US."[[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.220|162.158.134.220]] 12:01, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

Another generator: http://xkcd-2243.surge.sh/

I don't know enough to add to the actual page, but the Sith car wash reminded me of this. Perhaps it was also part of the inspiration for it? https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/tesla-laser-windshield-wiper-patent/ [[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.35|141.101.69.35]] 15:28, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

"A New Hope" should just be called "Star Wars". [[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.16|141.101.76.16]] 18:58, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

C#/LINQ: https://dotnetfiddle.net/r0JMJz

The title text just means that there are more lightsaber brushes to hurt the heroes, right? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.78|162.158.106.78]] 22:32, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

Is the Kyle Ren option a reference to being "A Kyle" (as defined at Urban Dictionary as "A Kyle is a young white man of low socio economic standing with a propensity to drink large quantities of Monster energy drink and do dumb stuff like punch holes in walls.") After all, Kylo Ren did tend to get angry and break stuff? [[User:Mneimeyer|Mneimeyer]] ([[User talk:Mneimeyer|talk]]) 23:01, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

Is darth sebelius a reference to the sibelius composing software?
:I would think the Sibelous software (1993-present) would instead be a definite reference to the Finnish composer (1865-1957) already part-posited as a possible influence for the Darth. Although I'd probably defer that suggestion in favour of the politician (1948-present, in direct politics until 2014?) even if I'd actually never heard of them from this side of The Pond. Still, there are weirder connections, so who knows? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.93|162.158.158.93]] 20:18, 21 December 2019 (UTC)

Please clarify the reference to Rey as a "Mary Sue." The linked article says that the only agreed on meaning for the term is that it is derogatory. Other than that, it appears to mean different things to different people. So it's inclusion here does not help explain the comic. What is it about Rey that gave her that label. Is it that she is not canon? Is it that she is overpowered? Probably better to just remove the Mary Sue jargon, and say whatever it is they say about those with other colored light sabers directly. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.77|108.162.246.77]] 01:45, 22 December 2019 (UTC)
: While I'm not sure about Rey being entirely a Mary-Sue (in my mind an 'author avatar' character - whether or not a prime protagonist or ascending sidekick, they're just too competent for the role and often a Mcguffin baker), she definitely has more than a little plot-armour (and plot-weapon-skill) that I ''hope'', when I see the filmm (within a week, by current plans), bodes for something other than 2xrnd(trader(junk)) as patentage. Or something else that's actually awesome to get round that without being ''deus ex''. But by dint of Windu's ''actor'' having been asked what colour of weapon he wanted (then him having requested what he did and then being granted it, - which might not have gone that far with less imaginative or influential actors) I'd count that as a very Mary-Sue-like thing, even if the rest of the badassness of that particular Jedi (the tone written prior to the resulting casting of the badass actor to fit) was just standard Major Supporting Character/Lancer fare. But just my musings, nothing official... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.179|162.158.158.179]] 13:07, 22 December 2019 (UTC)

I'm considering going through the table and adding a note for whether each thing is actually in Star Wars. would that be a good idea? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.136|172.68.141.136]] 06:48, 22 December 2019 (UTC)

"Triggering the end credits before the movie is done" is a reference to the "Credits Warp" category in {{w|speedrun|video game speedrunning}}. Where a normal speedrun aims to clear the final level and/or defeat the final boss as fast as possible, a "Credits Warp" aims to gain {{w|arbitrary code execution}} and trigger the end credits without finishing the game. The most famous example is [https://youtu.be/9cBIgCy27JI Super Mario World in 45 seconds]. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.62|141.101.77.62]] 14:24, 23 December 2019 (UTC)

I think the mouseover text is a reference to this scene in "Space Balls": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXOAc5yt218 ("Space Balls" is a satire of several films, including the original "Star Wars" trilogy.) In the "Space Balls" scene, the bad guys are using a robot to vacuum all the air out of the atmosphere of the planet. The bad guys have the upper hand until the good guys are able to flip the switch on the vacuum cleaner. "She's gone from 'suck' to 'blow'" is a fairly famous line in the movie. I don't know enough "Star Wars" to understand the reference, but if you flip a car wash from "regular" to "premium" I assume the bristles/lightsaber blades would spin faster. [[User:Mattj256|Mattj256]] ([[User talk:Mattj256|talk]]) 21:07, 23 December 2019 (UTC)

What is incomplete about this explanation? It looks pretty comprehensive to me [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 09:06, 3 April 2026 (UTC)

Talk:3219: Planets and Bright Stars

2026-03-16T23:59:36Z

Alcatraz ii: Signing previous comment

There are sight color differences...[[Special:Contributions/209.240.116.218|209.240.116.218]] 19:55, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

I've created a version that brings out the color contrast, but I don't have permissions to upload it yet. How may I get those? [[User:Rumbling7145|Rumbling7145]] ([[User talk:Rumbling7145|talk]]) 20:04, 13 March 2026 (UTC)
:See [[Special:ListGroupRights]] for info about becoming autoconfirmed. In the meantime, you can upload the image onto an image hosting website such as Imgur or ImgBB and I can help you upload it! [[User:42.book.addict|tori :3]][[User talk:42.book.addict|talk to me!]] 20:20, 13 March 2026 (UTC)
:[Ninjaed... You got there just before me, just realised I ended up Edit Conflicted... :P Editing down to the bits that weren't said above.]
:[...] you've been here a while, but 'only' edited thirteen times, it looks like [...]
:[...and when someone else uploads it...] you can alwas add your own [claims to ownership], to the finished 'file page' [if the user concerned doesn't credit you already]. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 20:31, 13 March 2026 (UTC)
::Here you go! https://ibb.co/5gyVM59C [[User:Rumbling7145|Rumbling7145]] ([[User talk:Rumbling7145|talk]]) 15:19, 14 March 2026 (UTC)
:::Great work. I have uploaded your image and put it in a [[3219:_Planets_and_Bright_Stars#Trivia|trivia section]] and linked from the explanation. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:52, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

Anyone know where that </div> overlaying "Add Comment" at the bottom of the discussion is coming from? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:01, 13 March 2026 (UTC)
:Well, Tori's signature is a bit lopsided with its tags, by the time it gets to the browser (is one <code><nowiki></nowiki></code> short, and has one closing <code><nowiki></a></nowiki></code> before the closing <code><nowiki></nowiki></code> that should have been within it), but not sure how that might have tricked-out the rest so that some closing <code><nowiki></div></nowiki></code> is redundant, without going through the ''entire'' page source to track down any other accumulated discrepancies.
:I've seen that rogue close-div before, and I seem to recall that some precautionary extra close-tags (in either HTML or Wiki markup) have been added to 'make sure' some things don't run on. But it seems to vanish after some later edits (either main comic page or discussion one), and I would have imagined that the excess tag would just be 'ignored' under most circumstances. But it's difficult to tell easil tell what a combination of meta-tagging and actual tagging does.
:And there's all kinds of weirdness in the scripting part of the page, like the bit that says <code><nowiki>node.outerHTML="\u003Cdiv id=\"localNotice\" lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cdiv[... most of this statement removed ...]\n\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/div\u003E";</nowiki></code> with ''escaped'' DIVs in it, that only apply when the script self-modifies the page-source. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 21:59, 13 March 2026 (UTC)
::In fact, the rogue DIV only appears when viewing the transcluded Talk page within the main article. Viewing the Talk page directly doesn't seem to show it (or have it in the same bit of the respective HTML source), which adds to my belief that it's a run-on tag (not?) being opened as part of the Comic page's definition. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 22:02, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

Jupiter, Venus, Mars (at its peak) and Sirius are noticeably brighter than the others. Mars, Antares and Betelgeuse are also quite red. Also if you look at planets through a telescope or good binoculars you can tell that they have a larger size (and some have moons). The others would be quite hard to tell apart without knowing their position.
<table>
<tr>
<th>Object</th><th>App. Mag</th><th>B-V (Colour)</th>
</tr><tr>
<th>Venus</th><th>-4.98 to -2.98</th><th>0.82</th>
</tr><tr>
<th>Mars</th><th>-2.94 to +1.86</th><th>1.33</th>
</tr><tr>
<th>Jupiter</th><th>-2.94 to -1.66</th><th>0.83</th>
</tr><tr>
<th>Saturn</th><th>-0.55 to +1.17</th><th>1.04</th>
</tr><tr>
<th>Mercury</th><th>-2.48 to +7.25</th><th>0.97</th>
</tr><tr>
<th>Sirius</th><th>-1.46</th><th>0</th>
</tr><tr>
<th>Procyon</th><th>+0.34</th><th>0.42</th>
</tr><tr>
<th>Antares</th><th>+0.6 to +1.6</th><th>1.83</th>
</tr><tr>
<th>Altair</th><th>+0.76</th><th>0.22</th>
</tr><tr>
<th>Betelgeuse</th><th>0 to +1.6</th><th>1.85</th>
</tr><tr>
<th>Vega</th><th>0</th><th>0</th>
</tr><tr>
<th>Polaris</th><th>+1.86 to +2.13</th><th>0.6</th>
</tr>
</table>
It would be interesting to see if these characteristics are at all present in the comic (it does look like Mars, Betelgeuse and Antares are red and Saturn is a little yellow so maybe the colours are right), or what the comic should look like if they are not --22:50, 13 March 2026 (UTC)[[User:Sameldacamel34|Sameldacamel34]] ([[User talk:Sameldacamel34|talk]])

Created a nice image using the explanations on this page (using Gemini)

[https://ibb.co/k6wQF0Vd Chart fixed by explanations here] {{unsigned|2A09:BAC3:2FF0:28C:0:0:41:127}}
:Since Rumbling7145 did the same higher up in the discussion I used his picture in stead, but still great work. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:52, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

Do planets and stars both have the same "flickering" appearance? If they don't, that would aid in identification. [[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 05:37, 15 March 2026 (UTC)
:Unless ''perhaps'' you're looking at a pulsar (or an occluding binary system of some kind), the flickering you presumably mean, of the night-sky points of light, is going to be overwhelmingly caused from the light's last 'few miles' down into our atmosphere and has nothing much to do with the nature of the light-source or lit planetary disc (or even cloud-tops, which still really requires more than a Mark I Eyeball to discern) at the other end of the interstellar/interplanetary gap. Or even its distance, whether it's a neighbouring planet perhaps 'merely' a few million miles away or a huge ball ''at least'' several trillion distant.
:The larger the dot is, the less noticable the twinkling (hence the Moon not necessarily shimmering... though, like the Sun, it can if you're looking through air with enough density gradient or other resulting density-driven turbulance), but the difference is pretty much like being shown pin-points and/or pin-''heads'', an otherwise unknown combination being arranged to respectively face you, at the other end of quite a large room. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.236.94|82.132.236.94]] 16:27, 15 March 2026 (UTC)
::Even though neither is resolvable as a disc by the unaided human eye, the large difference in angular size between stars and planets means that stars typically twinkle while planets typically don't. See [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twinkling the Wikipedia page on Twinkling] for references. [[Special:Contributions/2600:1001:B008:1230:F993:3035:42C1:BC65|2600:1001:B008:1230:F993:3035:42C1:BC65]] 21:08, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

;Proper motion
According to the Wikipedia page to proper motion, it is defined relative to the center of the solar system. So having a proper motion of zero makes the sun stand out indeed. [[Special:Contributions/84.115.169.154|84.115.169.154]] 04:50, 14 March 2026 (UTC)
:Err. {{w|proper motion}} is "relative to the center of mass of the Solar System," aka the {{w|barycenter}}, which is not the center of the Sun, but rather very close to it and sometimes outside of it. So, I think, (and I am definitely inexpert here), the [center of the] Sun is rather rapidly moving in an angular fashion about that point, far more so than any other object, whose angular movement around that point is much slower. Just like if you are one foot away from the north pole and wandering aimlessly, you can very quickly change your longitude from +90° to –90° in a step or two. So, I think, the Sun does indeed have "high proper motion," not "zero proper motion." But someone please correct me. Also, I (earlier) tried to explain proper motion in the last graf of the article and I suspect I did a poor job (possibly also inaccurate), so I'd appreciate someone with the, err, ''proper'' expertise fixing it up. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 05:00, 14 March 2026 (UTC)
:(Indeed...) The barycentre for the Sun-Jupiter pair, alone, sits (just!) outside of the mass of the Sun, and Jupiter is the main non-solar part of the mass. (That we know of, and that forms identifiable point-gravitational components. Even if they were more massive, the ring/shell nature of the Asteroid Belt, Kuiper Belt and Oort Clouds likely cancel themselves out.) Depending on where the rest of the planets are (next most influential would be Saturn, with everything else far smaller and/or further away), there's going to be funny a 'petal-like' track of the barycentre w.r.t. the Sun (or vice-versa), with seemingpy retrograde periods and inflections, but if you chose to sit it out 'at' the barycentre and track the Sun's position you'd expect 360° of 'heavenly motion' from Sol every 11.86 years (for a little over a third of the time you'd be ''within'' the Sun, due to the sufficient balancing out of masses around it, but you could still track the direction to its centre ...assuming you weren't bothered by being ''within the Sun'', like you aren't bothered by being right next to it for the rest of the time).
:Barnard's Star is (otherwise) the star with the current greatest proper motion, at 10.358 seconds of arc per year. Comparing the two (not that BS is going to complete any 'orbit', like that), it means that the Sun moves with Proper Motion (if I've not messed up toouch, on the back of this envelope) slightly above 175x greater than BS's current record rate. Though, instantaneously, the strict comparison would fluctuate over time due to the complex resonancing nature of the Sun's theoretical looping and de-looping w.r.t. the reference frame. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.238.245|82.132.238.245]] 17:36, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

The extremely high parallax of the Sun (324,000 arc seconds if I calculate correctly) swamps out any prer motion. [[Special:Contributions/2600:1001:B008:1230:9C83:B115:90B1:6038|2600:1001:B008:1230:9C83:B115:90B1:6038]] 12:12, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

:Err…''wutt?'' Again, I am not a domain expert or even really a domain user, but… 
:(a) A single object cannot have a "parallax." Parallax is a measure of error between two viewpoints (line segments), or perhaps between three points in space (the far object and two eye positions). Assuming the Sun is the far object, what are the other reference points or lines? If one is the Earth (a pretty big ''if'' ) then what is the other? 
:(b) 324,400 is 90 degrees, a right angle. "The Sun has a parallax of 90 degrees" is not a concept that makes sense to me. 
:Maybe I'm misunderstanding though? [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 13:20, 14 March 2026 (UTC)
::Using usual definitions of stellar parallax, half the shift in angular position of the star when viewed from opposite "ends" of Earth's orbit. From, say December to June the Sun's position relative to the background stars shifts by 180 degrees. It's a bit of a joke, but this _is_ a comic we are discussing. [[Special:Contributions/2600:1001:B008:1230:9C83:B115:90B1:6038|2600:1001:B008:1230:9C83:B115:90B1:6038]] 15:12, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

@81.179.199.253, I do not think that writing «a simple "angle per time"» is more clear than «degrees/second» or «rad/sec.». Just like saying "linear distance" is more confusing to people than "feet" (or meters). One might even suggest if we have to label something "simple" that is evidence that it isn't. I think, also, the grammar of the sentence got even more complex. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 20:09, 14 March 2026 (UTC)
:With the "angle per time", I wanted to avoid the argument being had (astronomy tends to use "arc-seconds per year", rather than any radian-based measure, in my experience) and make it more neutral.
:As for how complicated it then went, I was ''tempted'' to just leave it to the wikilink, but tried to respond to the prior edit comments instead. I could cut it back again, though. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 20:18, 14 March 2026 (UTC)
::I think that's totally wrong and every edit seems to make it worse and worse. More neutral isn't easier-to-understand, and that's what we need. Using the wrong units is better than using no units. I lifted rad/s from the enwiki article, but I have no idea if it is correct (and I'm starting to suspect it's not). Degrees/second would be the most clear, because far more people know what a degree is than a radian. Happy pi day. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 21:12, 14 March 2026 (UTC)
:::Then you'll probably want to add a full-blooded combo-link such as "{{w|Minute and second of arc#Symbols and abbreviations|arcseconds}}/{{w|year}}" (or whatever your choice is... but rad/sec or even deg/sec will give you ''smaaaallll'' values even for the Sun), if it's not already good enough to help the currently unaware by linking to Proper Motion and Angular Speed/Velocity/Displacement/whatever. I'm not sure what else can be added to make it more understandable, nor what else to remove to tighten it up without losing something that someone might appreciate. But over to you, to edit it to your satisfaction. That's the beauty/price of a wiki. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 22:27, 14 March 2026 (UTC)
::::As a general matter, I don't concede that it is the beauty/price of a wiki to override another editor's editorial judgment and substitute my own in an area where there are clear creative differences and no objectively correct answer. I said above I thought the changes didn't help, but having said that, I don't think it's my job to go revert them. That said, given your explicit encouragement ("over to you") I took another stab at it, especially because saying "angular rate" is "some angle per time" is kind of the most unhelpful way to do redundancy — it uses similar words so doesn't convey more information (kind of like defining Zoroastrianism as a religion founded by Zoroaster). We want to use redundancy as a tool to help understanding by saying the same thing in two different ways, so that ideally repetition helps understanding or different ways resonate better with different readers. I have so stabbed. Bah, we've lost our ==topic==, despite its sparing use. /* Woe is I. */ [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 16:41, 15 March 2026 (UTC)
:::::If you'd like ''me'' to comment on a minor stylistic issue, from how the description has become... the "degrees/second" bit looks a bit too much like a possible either-or being offered (as a 'garden-path' misread that it's a choice of using ''either'' degrees ''or'' second(s), for some reason, within prose and not perfectoy obvious that it's an example of unit-algebra). The use of the wording form with "per" avoids that. Obviously those who are already enlightened won't (permanently!) carry that mistaken understanding with them, but they're not the ones for which it is something that still needs spelling out, and if it looked (momentarily!) like that for me, I can't say it won't for everyone else... But perhaps just misplaced pedantry on my part. I didn't change it (''that'' bit) at all, in my own latest pass through the page. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.236.94|82.132.236.94]] 17:31, 15 March 2026 (UTC)
::::::@'''82.132.236.94''', I would not. It seems to me that the only debate on that is whether or not you should punch the "This is a minor edit" checkbox when you make the edit. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 20:16, 15 March 2026 (UTC)
:::::::Pings do not work on this wiki, as you have repeatedly been told. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|Converse]] 13:06, 16 March 2026 (UTC)
:::::::: @'''DollarStoreBa'al''' Please cease your "as you have repeatedly been told" holier-than-thou nonsense. I am well aware that this MediaWiki does not provide notification to editors when they are mentioned in a reply, but so what? It is still useful as a form of address, and I so chose it here. So it did indeed "work" (not that it has to). Your comment is unhelpful and makes me feel antagonized. (And even if pings worked at the MediaWiki layer, their situation for IP editors would be problematic because apparently the IPs are not stable or real as seen by MediaWiki in our configuration). [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 19:24, 16 March 2026 (UTC)
:::::::Also, as a note, the "minor edit" checkbox isn't even available to IP editors. (Don't worry about the Ping thing, though, which is effectively just a visual marker. I read it anyway, 'cos I read everything, even if I decided against any replying about this at the time.) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.238.193|82.132.238.193]] 17:19, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

This is redundant: "The joke is that they are all nearly identical dots, making the chart almost useless. [...] The joke is that the pictures look almost identical to one another, and therefore the chart isn't helpful at all." But I don't know which of the two sentences to delete, so I'm just going to leave this note here, and let someone else tighten the explanation. [[Special:Contributions/2603:7000:6100:48CF:1D2B:3433:E765:8B8C|2603:7000:6100:48CF:1D2B:3433:E765:8B8C]] 02:37, 15 March 2026 (UTC)
:Tried to fix it --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:52, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

This xkcd is very cool honestly [[Special:Contributions/45.178.1.151|45.178.1.151]] 13:38, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

The picture could be "transcribed" more accurately as a 4x3 table, but I don't know if the detrimental effect on mobile viewing would outweigh that. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 02:36, 16 March 2026 (UTC)
:The "Transcript" section ''should not'' use tables (even for an actual comic of a table, being transcribed, tempting as that may be). It is supposed to be a text-only representation of the visuals, so relying upon things like formats and layout (except by describing said format and layout in words) doesn't help do what the Transcipt part is supposed to do.
:Though you can create a table (formatted however you like) within the "Explanation". But it'd be better not as a 4x3-stle table to replicate the comic layout, instead as a row per each of the twelve and columns to contain various (sortable?) details relating to each line. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 18:46, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

Bookmarking this one. So far I've identified 12 Mars and 15 Venuses! [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 23:59, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

Talk:3219: Planets and Bright Stars

2026-03-16T23:59:05Z

Alcatraz ii: Bookmarked

3211: Amperage

2026-02-24T12:04:51Z

Alcatraz ii: /* Explanation */ 1.2MW

{{comic
| number = 3211
| date = February 23, 2026
| title = Amperage
| image = amperage_2x.png
| imagesize = 299x410px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Oh, and do you have any tips on how to vacuum up copper that's melted into your carpet?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a 1.2 MEGAWATT SIMILE. Don't remove this notice too soon please.}}
[[Cueball]] explains to [[Ponytail]] how he has modified some parts of his house's wiring to avoid having power to his appliances interrupted on account of overcurrent conditions from running too many appliances at once. In many places around the world there is a main breaker limiting the maximum current available to properties with common limits being 60A, 100A or 200A. Individual circuits afterwards will have breakers that limit the maximum current to usually something between 10-32 amperes. 15-20A is a common breaker size for circuits powering outlets in the US, 32A is the common breaker size in the UK, and 10-16A is standard in mainland Europe. Cueball however is somehow managing to draw 10,000 amps from his power company, and has also updated his breaker board to allow his wall sockets to draw 500 amps of power. Both numbers are absurdly high — far more than any consumer appliance could need, and, as Cueball soon admits, enough power to cause fire hazards. This is also emphasized in the title text, which shows that Cueball has actually tried out his new arrangement and it has melted the copper inside the cables and outlets onto the carpet, and he is now looking for ways to clean it up.

Cueball's reasoning for this is equally absurd: he is frustrated by his {{w|circuit breaker}}s. Circuit breakers exist to prevent more current from flowing through wires than is expected. A tripped breaker is caused by either a short circuit down the line or by the user trying to draw too much power at once. A tripped circuit breaker is an easy fix, but it means whatever you were trying to power on that circuit has been interrupted, which is apparently too much for Cueball. Preventing a circuit breaker from tripping, either by soldering wire into the {{w|fusebox}} in place of the fuses or (in Cueball's case) by placing breakers rated at excessively high amperages, defeats this safety mechanism, meaning a fault such as a short circuit is much more likely to become a house fire. The end result is that Cueball has designed an extremely dangerous system with a high level of overkill in order to enable more of his own mistakes and prevent minor nuisances from slowing him down.

Additionally, while Cueball has stated he has changed the service he receives from the local utility company and the ratings of his breakers, he has ''not'' stated he has changed the wiring in his house to the outlets. Typical wires for outlets in the US are between 14 and 10 AWG, rated between 15 and 30 amps. In the UK it would likely be a Twin Core and Earth 2.5mm² cable rated for 32A. If he has appliances drawing anywhere near 500 amps, he will most likely melt the wires both inside his walls and inside his appliances and start a fire, even if there is no fault. Cueball is actually aware of this, but rather than put up with normal levels of power he's now trying to find more durable cords and wires that can handle the excessive load.

The amount of electrical power you can use in your house depends on both the voltage and the maximum current you're allowed to draw. The latter is usually protected and limited by multiple breakers both in your home and at the local substation. In the US where the nominal frequency is 120V a 15A breaker would, for example, get you a maximum of 1800 watts of power (current multiplied by the voltage). In countries where 230V is more common, a similarly sized breaker would get you a maximum of around 3500 watts. If you decrease the voltage you can still get the same power by increasing the current drawn, for example to get 3500 watts in the US on 120V, you would need to draw around 30A - double the original amount. Higher currents induce higher resistance in lines, meaning they would need a larger wire to safely draw the power without them overheating and catching fire. Transmission lines solve the problem by transforming the power to a higher voltage (a 400kV (400,000 volts) line transmitting a maximum of 10 amps can still theoretically give out 4 million watts of power without needing excessively thick cables). Conversely, decreasing the voltage means that you need more current drawn for the same amount of power (for example, to get 3500 watts from a 12V car battery you need to draw almost 300 amperes, something that would need really thick wires not to overheat). Assuming Cueball lives in the US with 120V mains voltage, his 10000A will draw 1.2 megawatts of power, equivalent to the usage of a factory or other large facility.

The comic might be a reference to a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC7sNfNuTNU recent video posted by youtuber styropyro] where connects 400 car batteries and does various experiements, including [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYtCJYhCyzs popping a 600 amps fuse]. While the voltage on a car battery is only 12V (or 24V in some cases) they allow drawing very high amounts of current to provide enough power for the starter engine to turn - drawing 500 amps and more for a short period of time is not uncommon. While power wise these would only amount to around 6kW of power (12V * 500A), the higher current requires the cabling to be thick enough not to overheat even for the short amount of time this draw is used (until the starter engine has turned on the main engine, on a modern car and in warm weather this should be around a second at most). In the video styropyro is however connecting 400 of these, that would allow both a higher voltage (when connecting them in series) and a higher current draw (when connecting them in parallel), which he both uses to get the desired setup for his experiments. He does use not just very thick cables but also large pieces of thick metal as well to make sure the setup itself doesn't break because of the high currents involved.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

Talk:Title text

2026-01-17T00:45:21Z

Alcatraz ii: /* full title text stopped showing on mobile */ new section

Everyone except this wiki calls it ‘alt-text’, Randall himself included. See XKCD 45. I vote for changing all occurrences of title text in this wiki to alt-text. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.51.212|173.245.51.212]] 20:55, 3 July 2014 (UTC)
: Randall also called it “title text” twice: [[442]], [[1045]]. —[[Special:Contributions/108.162.253.174|108.162.253.174]] 09:07, 23 June 2015 (UTC)
: The link doesn't give any evidence why calling this the 'alt text' is incorrect. But if you inspect the page source, you'll see Randall uses the 'title' attribute, rather than the 'alt' attribute for this purpose. {{unsigned|Accidus}}
:: This is because while a "title" shows up on mouseover, the "alt" shows up only if the image doesn't load, so you know what was supposed to be there. It'd be harder to cause the image not to load just to see a little extra joke. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.26.23|172.68.26.23]] 12:14, 22 January 2018 (UTC)
:::Please stop writing in all-capitals in your edit summaries. It sounds like you're shouting. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.93.105|162.158.93.105]] 08:33, 23 January 2018 (UTC)
:This is also because the "alt" attribute is older than the "title" attribute and most browsers used to show the value of "alt" as a tooltip if no "title" was given. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.93.105|162.158.93.105]] 08:33, 23 January 2018 (UTC)

Are there actually any comics without title text? If not, I propose removing the first "almost." [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.4|172.68.34.4]] 20:54, 17 November 2017 (UTC)

Is it possible to simulate title text on the wiki for pictures? [[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 20:13, 11 December 2022 (UTC)
:In what way? The standard comic-template already makes the title text an alt text (or whatever it is, tag-attribute-wise) to the image, if you hover/inspect the image. Which means a slow-loading page (whenever it's a bad connection) gives the placeholder TT ''and'' the subtitle TT, until the image is actually available. May depend upon browser/etc, but should be like that for most people. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.77|172.70.91.77]] 20:12, 12 December 2022 (UTC)
::Thanks, and what about title text for text? [[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 07:48, 13 December 2022 (UTC)
:::I'm not sure what you even mean by that (unless it's that covered by the separate Transcript section), but you can ellucidate further if you wish. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.46|172.70.162.46]] 23:46, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

;Running joke
The title text on XKCD is similar to the edit summary on Explain XKCD. The edit summary is used normally to explain the edit, but some users use it to expand the joke. [[User:CommunityGuidelines|CommunityGuidelines]] ([[User talk:CommunityGuidelines|talk]]) 03:19, 18 September 2023 (UTC)
:This also happens in the [[template:incomplete]]. [[User:CommunityGuidelines|CommunityGuidelines]] ([[User talk:CommunityGuidelines|talk]]) 01:29, 8 November 2024 (UTC)
::See [[User:ColorfulGalaxy]]'s, Victoria's, and [[User:ClassicalGames]]'s recent edits. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.246|172.69.22.246]]
Example: [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2919:_Sitting_in_a_Tree&diff=prev&oldid=355009 U-N-D-O-I-N-G]

== full title text stopped showing on mobile ==

Recently I noticed that xkcd's title text on my phone (Android with Chrome browser, regular xkcd.com site) has stopped showing me the complete title text when I long press the picture. This is obviously distressing as I miss the punch line for half the jokes. Coming to this page I discovered the existence of the mobile site m.xkcd.com which has an alt-text button, so thanks xplaincd for that one. Has anyone else noticed this behaviour recently, presumable due to either an xkcd or Chrome update?
[[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 00:45, 17 January 2026 (UTC)

1583: NASA Press Conference

2025-08-07T10:12:25Z

Alcatraz ii: /* Explanation */ ruined it

{{comic
| number = 1583
| date = September 28, 2015
| title = NASA Press Conference
| image = nasa_press_conference.png
| titletext = Why are we spending billions to ruin Mars with swarms of robots when Elon Musk has promised to ruin Mars for a FRACTION of the cost?
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a reference to the press conference held by NASA on 28th September 2015, (the same day this comic was published), which confirmed the existence of liquid water at the surface of {{w|Mars}}. The comic was posted before the NASA press conference was held, although speculation about the announcement had already occurred.

The "questions" portion of the press conference is derailed by [[Beret Guy]], acting as a reporter for a network known only as "The News". He first comments he is holding a microphone so he is "real loud now." He then asks how the data about Mars relates to data in other fields like medicine and sports. This may seem like an intelligent question upon first glance, but it is in fact nonsensical. Afterwards he asks if Mars has been "ruined" by getting wet, or if Mars will be okay when it dries out. Some things, e.g. indoor furniture, can be damaged by water, but Mars is not one of those things.{{Citation needed}} When asked if he has any other questions he asks why {{w|Luke Skywalker}} was being hassled at the {{w|Mos Eisley Cantina}} in ''{{w|Star Wars}}''. ([https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Cornelius_Evazan Dr. Evazan] and [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Ponda_Baba Ponda Baba] simply told Luke that "[they] don't like [him]", but Beret Guy is evidently not satisfied by that explanation.) Although this may be somewhat space-related, NASA is not an organization that explains films, whether or not they are space related. The other reporters forget their original questions and join in on the irrelevant discussion, much to the dismay of the NASA scientist.

This is probably meant to mock previous NASA press conferences, where reporters have asked inane questions that reveal their total ignorance of the field.

The title text refers to [[Elon Musk]], who suggested [https://edition.cnn.com/2015/09/11/us/elon-musk-mars-nuclear-bomb-colbert-feat/ nuking Mars] as a faster way of warming it up to make it habitable. This would certainly be a cheaper way of ruining Mars, as one nuclear warhead can do much more damage than many rovers {citation needed}}

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing behind a lectern with the NASA logo on it.]
:Cueball: That concludes the press conference. Any questions?
:Cueball: Yes, you, from... it just says "The News"?

:[Beret Guy is standing in a crowd holding a microphone.]
:Beret Guy: Hi! I have a microphone so I'm real loud now.
:Beret Guy: How does this Mars data compare to data from other fields? Like medicine? Or sports?

:Cueball (offscreen): That question makes no sense.
:Beret Guy: If there's water on Mars, is it ruined?
:Beret Guy: Or will it be okay when it dries out?
:Cueball (offscreen): Any ''other'' questions?

:[The shot zooms out, showing that Cueball and the lectern is standing on a podium and also the crowd comes in to view.]
:Beret Guy: What were those guys hassling Luke in the Mos Eisley Cantina trying to accomplish? I felt like I was supposed to understand that.
:Cueball: Anyone ''else?''
:Ponytail: That's now my question, too.
:Megan: Were they just picking a fight?
:Ponytail: If so, why did...

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Elon Musk]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Public speaking]]

3125: Snake-in-the-Box Problem

2025-08-07T03:38:53Z

Alcatraz ii: /* Explanation */ added title text

{{comic
| number = 3125
| date = August 6, 2025
| title = Snake-in-the-Box Problem
| image = snake_in_the_box_problem_2x.png
| imagesize = 359x611px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Chemistry grad students have been spotted trying to lure campus squirrels into laundry hampers in the hope that it sparks inspiration.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently by a popular Nokia phone game. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic makes fun of the fact that many fields of science use analogies to help visualize complex problems. One such analogy, drawn in the comic, involves a snake on the edges of an n-dimensional hypercube, which is in fact a problem in graph theory called {{w|snake-in-the-box}}. In this problem, a snake is coiled around the edges of an ''n''-dimensional hypercube. No two adjacent corners of the cube can be occupied by non-consecutive parts of the snake (i.e., the snake can't come near itself). The problem involves finding the longest snake for a box of a given dimension. This problem has been solved up to an 8-dimensional cube, but unsolved for 9 dimensions and up.

The other thought experiment referred to is {{w|Schrödinger's cat}}, which is used in quantum physics. In this thought experiment, a cat is put in a box which contains poison, a radioactive source and a Geiger counter, which absolutely fits the definition of a weird box. Schrodinger's cat could be either dead or alive, and because it's impossible to know if it's alive without observing it (by opening the box), it is assumed to be both dead and alive simultaneously from a quantum point of view, until the box is opened and the cat is observed to be either dead or alive.

The comic jokes that while graph theory and quantum physics have identified their "cute animal in a box" thought experiments, other fields have yet to "discover" their own analogies. The title text takes this further by claiming that chemistry students have been trying to fix the lack of cute-animal-in-box thought experiments in their field by attempting to trap a squirrel with a laundry basket. It is unclear how squirrels in laundry baskets might contribute to the understanding of chemistry problems {{citation needed}}.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[A panel with text both above and below the illustration, with further text outside the panel below.]
:[In the panel, above the illustration:]
:A snake slithers around a hypercube. No two non-consecutive parts of its coils can be on adjacent corners.
:[Three small illustrations of 4-dimensional hypercubes, each with a snake slithering around its edges. Each illustration has a red line or lines indicating an edge or edges where two non-consecutive parts of the snake are on adjacent corners. Below each hypercube is a red X.]
:[A large illustration depicting a 4-dimensional hypercube with a snake slithering around its edges.]
:[Below the large illustration is text printed in green. To the left of the text is a green checkmark.]
:Dimensions=4
:Max length=7
:[The following text is printed in black, except for the last word "UNSOLVED" which is printed in red:]
:Snake(N) = Largest snake that can fit in an N-dimensional hypercube
:Snake(N=1, 2, 3 .. 8) = 1, 2, 4, 7, 13, 26, 50, 98
:Snake(N>8) = UNSOLVED

:[Text outside the panel:]
:It turns out every scientific field has a key thought experiment that involves putting a cute animal in a weird box for no reason.
:So far, quantum mechanics and graph theory have found theirs, but most other fields are still working on it.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Animals]]

3125: Snake-in-the-Box Problem

2025-08-07T03:32:54Z

Alcatraz ii: /* Explanation */ cattiness

{{comic
| number = 3125
| date = August 6, 2025
| title = Snake-in-the-Box Problem
| image = snake_in_the_box_problem_2x.png
| imagesize = 359x611px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Chemistry grad students have been spotted trying to lure campus squirrels into laundry hampers in the hope that it sparks inspiration.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently by a popular Nokia phone game. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic makes fun of the fact that many fields of science use analogies to help visualize complex problems. One such analogy, drawn in the comic, involves a snake on the edges of an n-dimensional hypercube, which is in fact a problem in graph theory called {{w|snake-in-the-box}}. In this problem, a snake is coiled around the edges of an ''n''-dimensional hypercube. No two adjacent corners of the cube can be occupied by non-consecutive parts of the snake (i.e., the snake can't come near itself). The problem involves finding the longest snake for a box of a given dimension. This problem has been solved up to an 8-dimensional cube, but unsolved for 9 dimensions and up.

The other thought experiment referred to is {{w|Schrödinger's cat}}, which is used in quantum physics. In this thought experiment, a cat is put in a box which contains poison, a radioactive source and a Geiger counter, which absolutely fits the definition of a weird box. Schrodinger's cat could be either dead or alive, and because it's impossible to know if it's alive without observing it (by opening the box), it is assumed to be both dead and alive simultaneously from a quantum point of view, until the box is opened and the cat is observed to be either dead or alive.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[A panel with text both above and below the illustration, with further text outside the panel below.]
:[In the panel, above the illustration:]
:A snake slithers around a hypercube. No two non-consecutive parts of its coils can be on adjacent corners.
:[Three small illustrations of 4-dimensional hypercubes, each with a snake slithering around its edges. Each illustration has a red line or lines indicating an edge or edges where two non-consecutive parts of the snake are on adjacent corners. Below each hypercube is a red X.]
:[A large illustration depicting a 4-dimensional hypercube with a snake slithering around its edges.]
:[Below the large illustration is text printed in green. To the left of the text is a green checkmark.]
:Dimensions=4
:Max length=7
:[The following text is printed in black, except for the last word "UNSOLVED" which is printed in red:]
:Snake(N) = Largest snake that can fit in an N-dimensional hypercube
:Snake(N=1, 2, 3 .. 8) = 1, 2, 4, 7, 13, 26, 50, 98
:Snake(N>8) = UNSOLVED

:[Text outside the panel:]
:It turns out every scientific field has a key thought experiment that involves putting a cute animal in a weird box for no reason.
:So far, quantum mechanics and graph theory have found theirs, but most other fields are still working on it.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Animals]]

3125: Snake-in-the-Box Problem

2025-08-06T22:53:29Z

Alcatraz ii: /* Explanation */ more snake

3125: Snake-in-the-Box Problem

2025-08-06T22:47:09Z

Alcatraz ii: /* Explanation */ wiki links

3125: Snake-in-the-Box Problem

2025-08-06T22:42:59Z

Alcatraz ii: /* Explanation */ very quick Schrodinger

3111: Artificial Gravity

2025-07-05T13:07:15Z

Alcatraz ii: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3111
| date = July 4, 2025
| title = Artificial Gravity
| image = artificial_gravity_2x.png
| imagesize = 423x365px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Low gravity can cause bone loss, so we're pleased to report that, since we initiated capsule motion, the number of bones in each crew member has been steadily increasing.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a very unhappy astronaut. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
The human body will experience slow but adverse side effects in a low gravity environment, such as a spaceship taking an interplanetary or interstellar voyage. Many prototype designs have been introduced to combat this, both in science fiction and real life, and one of the most common (for non-fictional purposes, or in {{w|hard science fiction}}) is to use inertia and [[123: Centrifugal Force|centripetal force]] to simulate the effects of gravity on the crew.

[[Cueball]] describes a spacecraft in which the crew quarters are being continuously shaken. [[Ponytail]] immediately sees problems with this approach, and asks if the shaking pod can be replaced with a much safer and more stable spinning wheel or cylinder — a common sight in speculative (yet 'hard science') spaceship designs. Cueball concedes his agreement, but states that the crew is already stuck with the shaking-pod setup, implying the ship has already been built, launched, and is in operation.

A shaking spaceship design would in fact create an experience of gravity for the crew, just a very unpleasant one. When the capsule accelerates "up" (from the point of view of the picture), the crew will feel a gravity-like force pulling them "down" against the capsule floor. However when the capsule accelerates "down", the crew will find themselves thrown against the ceiling of the capsule, in an experience similar to falling several metres. This will result in the crew continuously falling against one surface or the other, which might make their life unpleasant {{citation needed}}. The direction of this artificial "gravity" will keep alternating as long as the capsule keeps shaking.

The title text discusses a real side effect of low gravity environments: a form of bone density loss known as {{w|Spaceflight osteopenia}}. The title text speaker claims that "the number of bones in each crew member has been steadily increasing" — this is because the shaking, and subsequent multiple impacts, are fragmenting the crew members' bones. The broken pieces of bone are then being counted as bones in their own right and increasing the effective count, without telling if the pod's awkward centripetal force has done anything to reduce bone loss.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[Cueball and Ponytail are standing near a blueprint of a spacecraft, with Cueball pointing at the blueprint. In place of conventional conical fairing, this spacecraft has a large mechanical arm on the nose. The arm is holding an egg-shaped capsule. Two semi-transparent drawings of the arm and the capsule are depicted on either side of it with speed streaks in between, implying shaking back and forth motion of the arm.]
:Cueball: To produce artificial gravity during the voyage, the crew capsule is kept in constant motion.
:Ponytail: Wouldn't it make more sense to spin it instead of shaking it, so the acceleration is steadier?
:Cueball: ...Listen. You, I, and the crew all wish we'd thought of that before launch.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

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

3111: Artificial Gravity

2025-07-05T13:05:47Z

Alcatraz ii: /* Explanation */ explained effects of shaking

{{comic
| number = 3111
| date = July 4, 2025
| title = Artificial Gravity
| image = artificial_gravity_2x.png
| imagesize = 423x365px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Low gravity can cause bone loss, so we're pleased to report that, since we initiated capsule motion, the number of bones in each crew member has been steadily increasing.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a very unhappy astronaut. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
The human body will experience slow but adverse side effects in a low gravity environment, such as a spaceship taking an interplanetary or interstellar voyage. Many prototype designs have been introduced to combat this, both in science fiction and real life, and one of the most common (for non-fictional purposes, or in {{w|hard science fiction}}) is to use inertia and [[123: Centrifugal Force|centripetal force]] to simulate the effects of gravity on the crew.

[[Cueball]] describes a spacecraft in which the crew quarters are being continuously shaken. [[Ponytail]] immediately sees problems with this approach, and asks if the shaking pod can be replaced with a much safer and more stable spinning wheel or cylinder — a common sight in speculative (yet 'hard science') spaceship designs. Cueball concedes his agreement, but states that the crew is already stuck with the shaking-pod setup, implying the ship has already been built, launched, and is in operation.

A shaking spaceship design would in fact create an experience of gravity for the crew, just a very unpleasant one. When the capsule accelerates "up" (from the point of view of the picture), the crew will feel a gravity-like force pulling them "down" against the capsule floor. However when the capsule accelerates "down", the crew will find themselves thrown against the ceiling of the capsule, in an experience similar to falling several metres. This will result in the crew continuously falling against one surface or the other, which might make their life unpleasant [[citation needed]]. The direction of this artificial "gravity" will keep alternating as long as the capsule keeps shaking.

The title text discusses a real side effect of low gravity environments: a form of bone density loss known as {{w|Spaceflight osteopenia}}. The title text speaker claims that "the number of bones in each crew member has been steadily increasing" — this is because the shaking, and subsequent multiple impacts, are fragmenting the crew members' bones. The broken pieces of bone are then being counted as bones in their own right and increasing the effective count, without telling if the pod's awkward centripetal force has done anything to reduce bone loss.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[Cueball and Ponytail are standing near a blueprint of a spacecraft, with Cueball pointing at the blueprint. In place of conventional conical fairing, this spacecraft has a large mechanical arm on the nose. The arm is holding an egg-shaped capsule. Two semi-transparent drawings of the arm and the capsule are depicted on either side of it with speed streaks in between, implying shaking back and forth motion of the arm.]
:Cueball: To produce artificial gravity during the voyage, the crew capsule is kept in constant motion.
:Ponytail: Wouldn't it make more sense to spin it instead of shaking it, so the acceleration is steadier?
:Cueball: ...Listen. You, I, and the crew all wish we'd thought of that before launch.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

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

Talk:27: Meat Cereals

2025-05-21T23:13:30Z

Alcatraz ii: /* Deeper meaning */ new section

;Scrapple Jacks
Apple Jacks cereal have very little actual apple in them. That's why they don't taste like apples. Perhaps Scrapple Jacks has very little actual scrapple in it. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 00:53, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

:While they may have little apple in them, I don't know that that's necessarily the reason they don't taste like apples (as I noted in the [[Apple Jacks]] comic itself, the wiki page for the cereal alleges they are supposed to taste like Apple and Cinnamon. Other candy or cereals that have fruit flavours (for example, the candy Runts) rarely have any of the actual fruit in them, but still have flavourings that are designed to taste like that fruit. The question is whether Kellog's used poor flavouring in their cereal, I suppose. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:33, 17 August 2012 (UTC)
: Perhaps large food companies with massive advertising campaigns brand their products in ways that may make them appear healthier than they actually are. [[User:Iggynelix|Iggynelix]] ([[User talk:Iggynelix|talk]]) 14:37, 5 August 2023 (UTC)

I came here to make a "Honey Bunches of Goatse" joke, but I feel it may be in bad taste. [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 18:26, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

;Cereal Meats
Many cereal based meat alternatives are marketed using parodies of meat product names. This is generally not considered disgusting, even by those not interested in vegetarian product lines.

Possibly Randall is exploring the difference by inverting the product and ingredient type. {{unsigned|Eltimbalino}}

[[file:chicken-and-waffles-cereal.jpg|This is a real thing.]]This is a real thing. — [[User:Kazvorpal|Kazvorpal]] ([[User talk:Kazvorpal|talk]]) 17:22, 21 April 2019 (UTC)

Isn't this also a reference to the cereal commercial parody, Meatloaf Crunch, from The Amanda Show? {{unsigned ip|172.71.182.217}}

== Deeper meaning ==

I think there is a deeper meaning to this comic than is currently in the explanation. Perhaps highlighting the fact that it is ridiculous to name a cereal after a fruit when it contains little to no actual fruit. This is highlighted by the fact that "meat-flavoured" cereal is factually incorrect and sounds disgusting. "Fruit-flavoured" is equally misleading. [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 23:13, 21 May 2025 (UTC)

3081: PhD Timeline

2025-04-25T22:15:42Z

Alcatraz ii: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3081
| date = April 25, 2025
| title = PhD Timeline
| image = phd_timeline_2x.png
| imagesize = 382x516px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Rümeysa Öztürk was grabbed off the street in my town one month ago.
}}

Clicking on the image on [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] takes you to ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyypeEEOklM Surveillance video shows Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk apprehended in Somerville, MA]'' on YouTube.

==Explanation==
{{incomplete| Created by a DIVERGENT TIMELINE. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic presents a typical PhD timeline, with a twist. Typically a PhD is broken into a number of steps, from enrolment through to thesis defence. However in this case the timeline takes an unexpected turn when instead of publishing the thesis, the candidate is detained by masked government agents. While this may seem like an unlikely event, it reflects the lived experience of {{w|Rümeysa Öztürk}}, a Turkish Ph.D. student at Tufts University who was abruptly detained by six masked ICE agents in Somerville, MA while walking to an {{w|iftar}} dinner. Subsequently, she was transported to Vermont and then to a detention facility in Louisiana before a court ordered that she not be removed from Massachusetts.

The reason given for her detention was that her {{w|F visa|F-1 student visa}} was revoked due to, according to a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, her alleged activities in support of the foreign terrorist organization {{w|Hamas}} on the campus of Tufts. Aside from her being co-author of a benign article in a student newspaper, critical of her university's response towards the {{w|Gaza genocide}}, no proof of such alleged support for Hamas has been provided. The U.S. government can cancel a visa if the subjects' activities are harmful to U.S. foreign policy interests, though the threat of a visa being revoked has a clear chilling effect on legal speech, and raises serious {{w|First Amendment}} issues.

The title text refers to the fact that Somerville is also where [[Randall Munroe]] lives.

For a more detailed account, see {{w|Detention of Rümeysa Öztürk}} on Wikipedia.

==Transcript==
:[A chart shows the typical events in a research program. At the top there is a dotted line. There is a title above the line and the line is labeled with text in the middle breaking the line:]
:US PH.D PROGRAM TIMELINE
:-------ENROLLMENT---------

:[The dotted line aligns with the top of an Y-axis with 7 ticks, the top tick on level with the dotted line. There are seven labels from top towards the bottom, not written near specifik ticks, and with uneven distance. Between each of the labels there is an arrow from the one above pointing the the next. To the right of the first five labels there is a split up rectangle, that are closed at the top , but open at the bottom. Down through the middle part it is split up in two along a kind of S-shape going a bit up from left to right. There is a gab between the top and bottom part of this figure along this s-shape. Both top and bottom part has a label. All text and other parts of the comic has been in black until this. But the last two labels near the Y-axis beneath where the rectangular figure stops, which are still written in black, have been crossed out with red squiggly lines, both the two small arrows and the text. From the label above those crossed out, there goes a red arrow down and then to the right. This point to another red label next to and right of the first of the two that has been crossed out. From beneath this another red arrow point to a second red label, next to the the last of the two that was crossed out. A third red arrow goes beneath this to a final red label.]
:Meet with Advisor
:Research Proposal
:Qualifying Exams
:Purpose Dissertation
:Research and Write dissertation

:[The above is the labels near the rectangular figure to the right with the following labels:]
:Coursework
:Research

:[The final two labels that have been crossed out with red lines:]
:Submit dissertation
:Defend dissertation

:[The new labels written to the right with red:]
:Get grabbed off the sidewalk outside of your home by masked government agents
:Be whisked out of the state before a judge has time to intervene
:????

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]] 
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Comics with red annotations]]

3081: PhD Timeline

2025-04-25T22:15:03Z

Alcatraz ii: /* Explanation */ added explanation of PhD timeline

{{comic
| number = 3081
| date = April 25, 2025
| title = PhD Timeline
| image = phd_timeline_2x.png
| imagesize = 382x516px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Rümeysa Öztürk was grabbed off the street in my town one month ago.
}}

Clicking on the image on [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] takes you to ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyypeEEOklM Surveillance video shows Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk apprehended in Somerville, MA]'' on YouTube.

==Explanation==
{{incomplete| Created by a DIVERGENT TIMELINE. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic presents a typical PhD timeline, with a twist. Typically a PhD is broken into a number of steps, from enrolment through to thesis defence. However in this case the timeline takes an unexpected turn when instead of publishing the thesis, the candidate is detained by masked government agents. While this may seem like an unlikely event, it reflects the lived experience of {{w|detention of Rümeysa Öztürk}}, a Turkish Ph.D. student at Tufts University who was abruptly detained by six masked ICE agents in Somerville, MA while walking to an {{w|iftar}} dinner. Subsequently, she was transported to Vermont and then to a detention facility in Louisiana before a court ordered that she not be removed from Massachusetts.

The reason given for her detention was that her {{w|F visa|F-1 student visa}} was revoked due to, according to a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, her alleged activities in support of the foreign terrorist organization {{w|Hamas}} on the campus of Tufts. Aside from her being co-author of a benign article in a student newspaper, critical of her university's response towards the {{w|Gaza genocide}}, no proof of such alleged support for Hamas has been provided. The U.S. government can cancel a visa if the subjects' activities are harmful to U.S. foreign policy interests, though the threat of a visa being revoked has a clear chilling effect on legal speech, and raises serious {{w|First Amendment}} issues.

The title text refers to the fact that Somerville is also where [[Randall Munroe]] lives.

For a more detailed account, see {{w|Detention of Rümeysa Öztürk}} on Wikipedia.

==Transcript==
:[A chart shows the typical events in a research program. At the top there is a dotted line. There is a title above the line and the line is labeled with text in the middle breaking the line:]
:US PH.D PROGRAM TIMELINE
:-------ENROLLMENT---------

:[The dotted line aligns with the top of an Y-axis with 7 ticks, the top tick on level with the dotted line. There are seven labels from top towards the bottom, not written near specifik ticks, and with uneven distance. Between each of the labels there is an arrow from the one above pointing the the next. To the right of the first five labels there is a split up rectangle, that are closed at the top , but open at the bottom. Down through the middle part it is split up in two along a kind of S-shape going a bit up from left to right. There is a gab between the top and bottom part of this figure along this s-shape. Both top and bottom part has a label. All text and other parts of the comic has been in black until this. But the last two labels near the Y-axis beneath where the rectangular figure stops, which are still written in black, have been crossed out with red squiggly lines, both the two small arrows and the text. From the label above those crossed out, there goes a red arrow down and then to the right. This point to another red label next to and right of the first of the two that has been crossed out. From beneath this another red arrow point to a second red label, next to the the last of the two that was crossed out. A third red arrow goes beneath this to a final red label.]
:Meet with Advisor
:Research Proposal
:Qualifying Exams
:Purpose Dissertation
:Research and Write dissertation

:[The above is the labels near the rectangular figure to the right with the following labels:]
:Coursework
:Research

:[The final two labels that have been crossed out with red lines:]
:Submit dissertation
:Defend dissertation

:[The new labels written to the right with red:]
:Get grabbed off the sidewalk outside of your home by masked government agents
:Be whisked out of the state before a judge has time to intervene
:????

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]] 
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Comics with red annotations]]

Talk:3074: Push Notifications

2025-04-10T00:40:10Z

Alcatraz ii:

So...this is the April Fool's comic, if I'm not mistaken... Oh ye of little faith! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.26.106|172.71.26.106]] 20:00, 9 April 2025 (UTC)

I turned this on thinking it would just be a few every so often but I quickly realized how this is xkcd and it doesn't "joke". I had to turn this off because it disrupted my schoolwork by popping up every fricking 5 minutes

Apparently my employer (or ublock) is keeping me from experiencing the full effect of any notifications. All I get is "An *actual* error has occurred. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.173|162.158.91.173]] 20:52, 9 April 2025 (UTC)

What the heck are the "Zoom Notification" ones, with just a pair of numbers? Now that I've been sitting with this for a little bit, they're by far the most common notifications, and the most mysterious. What is "zoom"ing or should be zoomed-in-on or whatever, and what do the two numbers signify? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.22.75|172.68.22.75]] 20:35, 9 April 2025 (UTC)
:I think they're coordinates. So far (x,y) has had x from 4 fo 73 (that I've seen) and y from 2 to 28. That gives a tad over 2000 possible combinations, but omething tells me there won't be more than 500 or so in total. Quite a few y=24 (not yet adjacent by x), and any given x has 0 to 3 different y partners (so far). They ''do'' repeat (I'm not recording how many times, but I'm scatterplotting what I get). The ones prefixed with "oh look!" are tightly clustered in x=6..13 and y=4..11, so far, with no non-"oh look!" ones there, so I'm plotting them in a different marker. I ''suspect'', after many many more Zoom Notifications, I'll be left with (enough of) a pixelated image's pixels (of two types, background colour excluded), or else I'm doing it wrong and I should be drawing lines between the dots, but I never managed to grab them all, so I'm relying on it being a random "spraygun droplets" sort of image-reveal. (Still some way to go...) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.241.66|172.71.241.66]] 23:08, 9 April 2025 (UTC)

Made a new page called [[3074: Push Notifications/Table of Notifications]], much like [[1506: xkbutt/List of Permalinks]]. I’m hoping that we can put all of the possible notifications into the table, along with any possible images that go along with it and an explanation (if necessary). '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 21:26, 9 April 2025 (UTC)
:I think it might be a good idea to make the table something more like source/name/notification, because there are chains of notifications where the name changes, like the How Many Times Can You Click This? notification. --[[User:Magicalus|Magicalus]] ([[User talk:Magicalus|talk]]) 23:19, 9 April 2025 (UTC)

I clicked on the silence notifications at a cost button a lot and it set Cueball's PC on fire?

I found what is presumably the source code (?) of the comic through the transcript. It’s all JS pages. No idea what they mean (I’m not good with code), but I’m sure that there are some on here that can help dissect it. '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 21:50, 9 April 2025 (UTC)
:https://xkcd.com/3074/marconi/manifest.json
:https://xkcd.com/3074/marconi/static/js/42.4f5b21b3.js
:https://xkcd.com/3074/marconi/static/js/index.js?v=1

I have a sneaking suspicion the Zoom Notifications are sketching out an image of some sort
(Update: after plotting like 60 of them no apparent pattern is to be found) [[User:SkiesShaper|SkiesShaper]] ([[User talk:SkiesShaper|talk]]) 22:24, 9 April 2025 (UTC)
: I've plotted 397 and it seems to be forming some kind of animal. Maybe a cat, given the comic theme? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.35.119|172.68.35.119]] 23:24, 9 April 2025 (UTC)
:That could make sense yeah - there is definitely an organic sort of pattern emerging from the points I've been plotting out [[User:SkiesShaper|SkiesShaper]] ([[User talk:SkiesShaper|talk]]) 00:35, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

Apparently one of the notifications is: "The Earth is spinning at a rate of 1 rpd" This is true if you round it, but not exact. The time it takes to rotate is called a sidereal day, and there's one extra sidereal day a year. Basically, there's one solar day removed in a year, because the Earth's motion around the sun cancels it out. Think of it with a tidally locked planet. It spins around once a year, but the sun never moves. Really there's 1.0027379 rotations per day. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 23:02, 9 April 2025 (UTC)

This is the most chaotic comic I've seen in a while. Part of me wants to keep notifications on to see what happens, and part of me wants to turn it all off and throw my phone in a lake [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 00:40, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

3074: Push Notifications

2025-04-10T00:34:31Z

Alcatraz ii: /* Explanation */ more comments pages

{{comic
| number = 3074
| date = April 9, 2025
| title = Push Notifications
| image = push_notifications_2x.png
| imagesize = 277x347px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = NOTIFICATION: Now dismissing a head of the Notification Hydra… NOTIFICATION: Success! You have dismissed a head of the Notification Hydra!
}}
* To experience the interactivity, visit the [https://xkcd.com/3074/ original comic].

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a comment - did you know it's free to host a discussion on Wikipedia talk pages?- Please write a better overall explanation and explain other functions of the comic. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This interactive comic is the 15th [[:Category:April fools' comics|April Fools' Day]] comic released by Randall, just over a week late. It uses {{w|push notifications}} to change the comic image over time and make other statements. A table of notifications can be seen at [[3074: Push Notifications/Table of Notifications]].

After viewing the comic for the first time, there is a sequence of notifications rendered over the comic itself. After clicking through these, you are provided with two buttons: one labeled "Emergency Stop" which will halt all notifications, and one labeled "Silence notifications at a cost" which will silence notifications at the cost of notifying two random people.

If you press silence notifications too much the laptop blows up.

Notification types include:
* One asking you to select a word, with further notifications to be sent whenever someone chooses the same word as you.
* A few starter notifications about this comic, the successful sending of a notification of this comic, and the lack of another comic.
* A "streak" notification counting the number of times you've clicked it. The message changes every 10 clicks, and after 50 clicks there is an offer to make future clicks count twice, making this a simple version of {{w|Cookie Clicker}}. There are occasionally notifications encouraging you to keep clicking and "extend your streak," tempting you with "a free click to keep you going"
* A "have you seen my cat?" notification which spawns several clickable cats on the comic.
* Cat fact notifications that appear when a cat is clicked.
* Various "erroneous errors" with a warning triangle, some with just flavor text, some corresponding to changes in the comic image.
** A "gravity malfunction" indicating a change to the floating image.
** An HTTP malfunction with Zalgo text indicating a change to the tentacle image.
** An error for not enough errors.
** An error for too many errors.
** A Kernel Panic indicating the Kernel can't remember what number comes after 38
** "Your computer has encountered an error" indicating a change to the fire image.
* "Zoom notifications" including numeric coordinates, sometimes prefixed with "oh look!"
* "Constant reminders" stating what a mathematical constant's value will be "at the tone". (This is in reference to time-of-day phone services, largely obsolete since the popularization of the internet, which you could call to hear the exact time at a given tone.) There are also joke constants such as "your favorite number will be equal to 14." Constants include
** The silver ratio (1 + the square root of 2)
** Pi (3.14159...)
* A notification that offers to provide weather alerts for your location, which leads into a series of notifications asking whether you live in a named city.
* A notification claiming that your computer ballast needs emptying, along with the computer room being flooded
* A reminder that the Earth spins at 1 rpd (rotation per day).
* A "word game" notification where you are invited to pick a word, and informed you will be notified when anyone else picks it as their word
* An invitation to subscribe to the "What if?" YouTube channel
* A notification with the heading "System Log" that reads (INFO): A user has paused notifications
* A reminder to comment and subscribe, leading to the wikipedia page [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Mathematics Talk:Mathematics] or alternatively [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Romance Talk:Romance]

Comic images include:
* Cueball sitting at his desk, with his laptop.
* Cueball sitting at his desk, with a small potted plant.
* Cueball sitting at his desk, with a much larger plant that has clearly outgrown the pot, at least vertically.
* Cueball sitting at his desk, with a cat in the foreground near the point of view.
* Cueball sitting at his desk, his chair replaced with a large cat.
* Cueball sitting farther back from his desk, with the laptop on the desk on fire.
* Cueball, the desk, and the laptop floating.
* Cueball sitting at his desk, shielding his face with his arm from a tentacle coming out of the laptop screen.
* Cueball spinning in his chair.
* Cueball sitting on the desk, facing the laptop on the chair.
* The desk vacant with "Game Over" displayed if you use the emergency stop.
* Cueball sitting on the desk, with a sword leaning against the desk.
* The room flooded 2/3 of the way up the desk, with a miniature sailboat behind Cueball.
* Cueball sitting at his desk, but with the laptop much larger.
* Cueball kneeling on the chair, which is raised up higher than the desk, and leaning over to use the laptop

There is also an image of a cat that moves around when you reload the page. It moves slightly when you move your mouse over it to "pet" it. It has its own title text of :3 Clicking it will send a cat fact notification.

The title text references the {{w|Lernaean Hydra}}, a multi-headed serpent-like monster from Greek mythology. In many stories, such as {{w|Labours_of_Hercules#Second:_Lernaean_Hydra|the second labour of Hercules}}, when one of its heads was cut off, two heads would grow in its place, resulting in more heads than before. Something similar has happened in the title text itself: there was a notification that was requested to be dismissed, and it created two more notifications notifying the user of the status of the dismissal.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball sits at a desk in an office chair. He is typing on a computer.]
:[Gray message boxes with a small circled “x” at the top right corner are shown:]
:Happy April 1st (observed)!
:To celebrate, we were excited to introduce a new xkcd.com feature: push notifications for new comics!
:Unfortunately, this feature has gone horribly wrong.
:Until further notice, we are asking people ''NOT'' to sign up for new comic notifications.
:Frankly, we recommend not even clicking on any notifications to learn more.
:''Click this notification to learn more!'' (a circled arrow is shown)

:“Push notifications for new comics” sounds like a simple feature, right?
:There’s a nice API for browser notifications. xkcd updates three times a week.
:So you just send a notification for each update, right?
:That’s what we thought, too.
:''Click to continue!'' (a circled arrow is shown)

:[To the side of the comic frame is a big, horizontal hexagonal stop sign]
:Sign: Emergency STOP
:Below the sign: ''Halt ALL notifications and forget everything''
:The good news is that we did build a button to stop xkcd new comic notifications.
:You can press this button at any time and the system will stop sending you notifications.
:The nightmare will be over and the server will forget you ever existed.
:This part definitely works.
:''The rest of the system does NOT work.'' (a circled arrow is shown)

:We’re sorry.
:We don’t know how things went so wrong.
:The system is sending more than three notifications a week. A LOT more.
:We cannot recommend signing up for xkcd new comic notifications at this time.
:''Click here to ignore the warnings.'' (a circled arrow is shown)

:No, really.
:Our notification system may send a large number of very real system notifications.
:These may flood your browser, displace other notifications, and cause problems.
:<big>⚠️DO NOT ENABLE XKCD NEW COMIC NOTIFICATIONS⚠️</big>
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{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Initial static image shows Cueball sat on an office chair at a desk using a laptop computer. A notification 'window' is speech-bubbled above the computer]
:[Grey notification box, header:] April 1st (Observed)
:[Notification box, further text:] Open xkcd.com to view.

:[When viewed live, various xkcd-style popover notifications appear, each can be dismissed or (usually the last on every page) invited to press an 'onwards'-style button.]

:[First page of messages]
:Happy April 1st! To celebrate, we were excited to introduce a new xkcd.com feature: Push Notifications for new comics!
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:Until further notice, we are asking people NOT to sign up for new comic notifications.
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:[Notification with 'onwards button':] ''Click on this notification to learn more''

:[Upon choosing to continue, further messages appear, replacing any prior ones left open]
:"Push Notifications for new comics" sounds like a simple feature, right?
:There's a nice API for browser notifications, xkcd updates three times a week.
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:That's what we thought, too.
:[Notification with 'onwards button':] ''Click on this notification to continue''

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:[Further changes include the contents of the pane, whether Cueball is sat at the laptop, whether the laptop is larger, or a pot-plant, whether there are cats in the frame, outside the frame, sat on the Stop buttons, whether Cueball is sat on a large cat instead of an office chair...]
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Interactive comics]]
[[Category:April fools' comics]]

3049: Incoming Asteroid

2025-02-10T23:16:07Z

Alcatraz ii: /* Explanation */ rough early explanation. More to come

{{comic
| number = 3049
| date = February 10, 2025
| title = Incoming Asteroid
| image = incoming_asteroid_2x.png
| imagesize = 454x570px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The bottom ones are also potentially bad news for any other planets in our solar system that have been counting on Earth having a stable orbit.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a bearer of bad news- Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic may be inspired by the recent discovery of asteroid {{w|2024 YR4}}, which is estimated to have about a 2% chance of striking earth in 2032. Its size is estimated to be 40-90 meters (bad news for the area around the city).

This comic provides a log scale correlating the size of any incoming asteroid to whether its arrival is good or bad news. While asteroids on the smaller end of the scale are good news for sky watchers, as the upcoming objects get bigger the potential for catastrophe grows. Many astronomy enthusiasts would be happy to see bigger meteors, as bigger generally means more exciting pictures. Of course, once the meteors grow past a certain size even the most enthusiast astronomer might grow concerned about their imminent extinction...

The joke in the last line is that once an asteroid grows past a certain size, it is less of a question of the object hitting earth and more a question of earth hitting a bigger planet. Ouch.

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

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:3033: Origami Black Hole

2025-01-04T10:09:22Z

Alcatraz ii: "~~~~"

First post! [[User:RadiantRainwing|RadiantRainwing]] ([[User talk:RadiantRainwing|talk]]) 19:08, 3 January 2025 (UTC)
:[[First|…really? ''sigh'']] '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 02:27, 4 January 2025 (UTC)
::Sorry [[User:RadiantRainwing|RadiantRainwing]] ([[User talk:RadiantRainwing|talk]]) 03:55, 4 January 2025 (UTC)

All six gross attempts to follow these instructions have ended with the attemptor vanishing into themselves before reaching step 175.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.47.105|172.70.47.105]] 19:17, 3 January 2025 (UTC)

e[[Special:Contributions/162.158.10.131|162.158.10.131]] 20:14, 3 January 2025 (UTC)

Should we also add a mention of the /Mythbusters/ doing this? I don't remember the details or I would put it in. [[User:MAP|MAP]] ([[User talk:MAP|talk]]) 21:48, 3 January 2025 (UTC)

I started convincing chatgpt to tell me how to fold this origami at https://chatgpt.com/share/67785de4-9a4c-800e-80f5-31d12d999999 before running out of free credits. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.157|172.68.54.157]] 22:00, 3 January 2025 (UTC)

:Nice 404 error --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.211|162.158.90.211]] 04:25, 4 January 2025 (UTC)

Using rice paper you could easily reach 9 steps by pure hand pressure, although reaching fusion point -at or around 80 steps- would definitely require strong fingers indeed. Black holes clearly cannot exist, because they would require folding Chinese paper more than a red-blooded American can do, and this is not an option.{{unsigned ip|141.101.68.192|22:13, 3 January 2025}}

The current explanation that it's impossible to create a black hole by folding paper is only right in practical terms. If you manage to keep folding while keeping the same thickness the density of the paper will be far beyond that of a neutron star.--[[User:Pere prlpz|Pere prlpz]] ([[User talk:Pere prlpz|talk]]) 22:42, 3 January 2025 (UTC)

I would be impressed if you did manage to keep folding, since the goal size can be measured in Planck lengths with only six digits. Would you define it as a 'fold' after the entire thing fits inside an electron? (Tangentially, I'm not sure what theory suggests here - can a black hole exist at a scale which makes quantum tunnelling trivial?) {{unsigned ip|172.68.210.114|23:09, 3 January 2025}}
:I don't think we'll be able to answer that until we unify QM and GR. I don't think we currently have a theory that addresses quantum-sized black holes. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 23:23, 3 January 2025 (UTC)

This strip loosely follows a routine by Emo Philips in the 1980's where he describes tearing a piece of paper in half repeatedly until it explodes. He didn't give a count though. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.140|172.71.154.140]] 01:22, 4 January 2025 (UTC)

So, based on some quick math:
If we take the 10^110 meters of paper needed to complete this many folds, then you definately can easily make a black hole. Generously assuming a 1mm wide strip, this gives us a folded stack of paper 1mm wide, 10^53 meters tall and long. 1 light year is 10^15 meters. So this piece of paper is now 10^38 light years long and wide. I.e. something like 10^27 universes tall and long.

Using the 70g per square meter number used above, you get 7^105 kg total mass. One solar mass is roughly 2^30 kg. Our paper weighs something like 10^54 times as much as the observable universe. This is very likely enough to reverse the expansion of the universe, and cause the entire observable universe to turn into a black hole. Or would it be a new big bang? I wonder what theoretical physics would say about a universe with 10^54 times as much mass / energy.

Also how exact does this comment system work? Is it easier if I just make an account?
-Nathan
Only one rule I'm aware of - always sign your comments with ~ (tilde sign) repeated four times. If you aren't signed in this will timestamp with your IP address, if signed in it will show your username as follows: [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 10:09, 4 January 2025 (UTC)

3033: Origami Black Hole

2025-01-03T21:53:07Z

Alcatraz ii: Wiki link

{{comic
| number = 3033
| date = January 3, 2025
| title = Origami Black Hole
| image = origami_black_hole_2x.png
| imagesize = 272x480px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = You may notice the first half of these instructions are similar to the instructions for a working nuclear fusion device. After the first few dozen steps, be sure to press down firmly and fold quickly to overcome fusion pressure.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a PLANET-SIZED SWARM OF SELF-REPLICATING NUCLEAR POWERED PAPER COMPRESSION ROBOTS - Please change this comment when editing this page. It needs an explanation for the title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic shows what at first appears to be an actual page of {{w|origami}} directions, like [https://origami.me/crane/ this one] or [https://origami.guide/origami-animals/origami-rabbits/origami-sleeping-rabbit/ this one], except labeled "How to fold a real origami black hole". The "real" part may be referring to a "fake" origami black hole, which would be a piece of origami made to look like a black hole (whatever that means). It seems black-hole-like origami does exist, as created by [https://parchmentandallthingspaper.wordpress.com/2011/11/16/folding/ Richard Sweeney]. The implication is that while the linked origami only resembles a black hole, Randall's instructions indicate a method to physically create a {{w|black hole}} out of origami paper. However, it quickly devolves into nothing other than repeating folds in half. This wouldn't really create a black hole,{{citation needed}} but it would get very difficult, nearly impossible, long before the 190 folds in half that the instructions require.

The {{w|mathematics of paper folding}} were augmented with [https://web.archive.org/web/20051102085038/http://pomonahistorical.org/12times.htm work by a California high school student in 2001] who wrote equations that [https://web.archive.org/web/20211116013626/http://teachersofindia.org/sites/default/files/folding_paper_in_half.pdf related the size of paper to the maximum number of folds it could make], which has not yet exceeded the low teens in human competition. This could be exceeded by scoring the paper to cut and flatten the outer layers of the folds, but its thickness would immediately surpass its length, and compressing it beyond the size of its fibers would require some way to hold it together.

This comic is likely a reference to the {{w|Schwarzschild radius}} of a piece of paper. The Schwarzchild radius is a characteristic of every object that depends on the object's mass. If an object is compressed into the volume of a sphere with its characteristic Schwarzschild radius, then that object will become a black hole. (More specifically, it will become a {{w|Schwarzschild metric|Schwarzschild black hole}}.) As such, if a piece of paper were folded sufficiently many times so as to fit within its own Schwarzschild radius, it would become a black hole. However, this would require compressing the paper into a flat sheet at every step, otherwise the paper would have a thickness greatly exceeding its Schwarzschild radius.

If we assume standard {{w|origami paper#Kami|kami origami paper}} with a side length of 15cm and a weight of 70 grams per square meter, we get a Schwarzschild radius of 2.339×10^-30 meters corresponding to a mass of 1.575 grams. It follows that, ignoring the paper's thickness, we would need to halve each side length -log_2((2×2.339×10^-30)/0.15)=94.69 times to fit each side length within the "Schwarzschild diameter" of the paper. Using the square folding technique in the comic, this would take approximately 95*2=190 steps to complete, the exact number given in the comic.

In actual fact, it's not possible to fold a piece of paper this many times, because you can't compress it enough. For an ordinary letter-sized sheet (A4 or 8.5x11) the maximum number of folds is 7. The world record for the total number of folds is 12, done with a length of tissue paper 3/4 mile long. A group of MIT students demonstrated 13 folds using multiple miles of paper, but had to lay separate pieces together as it made them too thick to tape them. Materials other than paper, such as thin foil, can be folded more times. Not only that but, as the title text alludes to, prior to reaching any creation of a black hole, the pressures generated by the resulting {{w|Nuclear fusion#Confinement in thermonuclear fusion|fusion of its atoms}} must be overcome.

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

:How to fold a '''''real''''' origami black hole:

:Step 1.
:[A square sheet of paper shown folded in half, with a dashed line going across the middle, and an arrow pointing from one half to the other.]

:[In each step from Step 2. to Step 9., the paper is shown folded in half again]
:Step 2.
:Step 3.
:Step 4.
:Step 5.
:Step 6.
:Step 7.
:Step 8.
:Step 9.

:Steps 10-189.
:[Text shown between tall square brackets:]
:Fold paper in half another 180 or so times.

:Step 190.
:[A labeled arrow points to a dot]
:Black hole!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Physics]]

3033: Origami Black Hole

2025-01-03T21:52:16Z

Alcatraz ii: /* Explanation */ added fake origami black hole note

{{comic
| number = 3033
| date = January 3, 2025
| title = Origami Black Hole
| image = origami_black_hole_2x.png
| imagesize = 272x480px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = You may notice the first half of these instructions are similar to the instructions for a working nuclear fusion device. After the first few dozen steps, be sure to press down firmly and fold quickly to overcome fusion pressure.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a PLANET-SIZED SWARM OF SELF-REPLICATING NUCLEAR POWERED PAPER COMPRESSION ROBOTS - Please change this comment when editing this page. It needs an explanation for the title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic shows what at first appears to be an actual page of {{w|origami}} directions, like [https://origami.me/crane/ this one] or [https://origami.guide/origami-animals/origami-rabbits/origami-sleeping-rabbit/ this one], except labeled "How to fold a real origami black hole". The "real" part may be referring to a "fake" origami black hole, which would be a piece of origami made to look like a black hole (whatever that means). It seems black-hole-like origami does exist, as created by [https://parchmentandallthingspaper.wordpress.com/2011/11/16/folding/ Richard Sweeney]. The implication is that while the linked origami only resembles a black hole, Randall's instructions indicate a method to physically create a {{black hole}} out of origami paper. However, it quickly devolves into nothing other than repeating folds in half. This wouldn't really create a black hole,{{citation needed}} but it would get very difficult, nearly impossible, long before the 190 folds in half that the instructions require.

The {{w|mathematics of paper folding}} were augmented with [https://web.archive.org/web/20051102085038/http://pomonahistorical.org/12times.htm work by a California high school student in 2001] who wrote equations that [https://web.archive.org/web/20211116013626/http://teachersofindia.org/sites/default/files/folding_paper_in_half.pdf related the size of paper to the maximum number of folds it could make], which has not yet exceeded the low teens in human competition. This could be exceeded by scoring the paper to cut and flatten the outer layers of the folds, but its thickness would immediately surpass its length, and compressing it beyond the size of its fibers would require some way to hold it together.

This comic is likely a reference to the {{w|Schwarzschild radius}} of a piece of paper. The Schwarzchild radius is a characteristic of every object that depends on the object's mass. If an object is compressed into the volume of a sphere with its characteristic Schwarzschild radius, then that object will become a black hole. (More specifically, it will become a {{w|Schwarzschild metric|Schwarzschild black hole}}.) As such, if a piece of paper were folded sufficiently many times so as to fit within its own Schwarzschild radius, it would become a black hole. However, this would require compressing the paper into a flat sheet at every step, otherwise the paper would have a thickness greatly exceeding its Schwarzschild radius.

If we assume standard {{w|origami paper#Kami|kami origami paper}} with a side length of 15cm and a weight of 70 grams per square meter, we get a Schwarzschild radius of 2.339×10^-30 meters corresponding to a mass of 1.575 grams. It follows that, ignoring the paper's thickness, we would need to halve each side length -log_2((2×2.339×10^-30)/0.15)=94.69 times to fit each side length within the "Schwarzschild diameter" of the paper. Using the square folding technique in the comic, this would take approximately 95*2=190 steps to complete, the exact number given in the comic.

In actual fact, it's not possible to fold a piece of paper this many times, because you can't compress it enough. For an ordinary letter-sized sheet (A4 or 8.5x11) the maximum number of folds is 7. The world record for the total number of folds is 12, done with a length of tissue paper 3/4 mile long. A group of MIT students demonstrated 13 folds using multiple miles of paper, but had to lay separate pieces together as it made them too thick to tape them. Materials other than paper, such as thin foil, can be folded more times. Not only that but, as the title text alludes to, prior to reaching any creation of a black hole, the pressures generated by the resulting {{w|Nuclear fusion#Confinement in thermonuclear fusion|fusion of its atoms}} must be overcome.

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

:How to fold a '''''real''''' origami black hole:

:Step 1.
:[A square sheet of paper shown folded in half, with a dashed line going across the middle, and an arrow pointing from one half to the other.]

:[In each step from Step 2. to Step 9., the paper is shown folded in half again]
:Step 2.
:Step 3.
:Step 4.
:Step 5.
:Step 6.
:Step 7.
:Step 8.
:Step 9.

:Steps 10-189.
:[Text shown between tall square brackets:]
:Fold paper in half another 180 or so times.

:Step 190.
:[A labeled arrow points to a dot]
:Black hole!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Physics]]

Talk:3022: Making Tea

2024-12-12T08:07:59Z

Alcatraz ii: Very important explanation

I wonder where [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Tea_Party making it in Boston Harbor, at ambient temperature, at scale] would fit on this scale. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.162|172.70.206.162]] 04:38, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
: A little to the left of the microwave thing. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.186.252|162.158.186.252]] 05:14, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
:: Oh, no, much further to the right. You stole our colony from us, set up some tinpot, pretended 'country' in its place, and you didn't even have the class to make a decent cup of tea first. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.205.93|12.68.205.93]] 06:24, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
:: And, even if [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68085304 this guy] is right, ''way'' too much salt... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.130|172.70.91.130]] 07:03, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
::: Soyuz nyerushimyy respublik svobodnik... [[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al|talk]]) 14:13, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
:::: Well maybe if you didnt force us to buy discounted tea from you after fighting a war for us, we wouldn't be in this situation. [[User:Apollo11|Apollo11]] ([[User talk:Apollo11|talk]]) 15:43, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
::::: Yeah, a tiny island should not have that much control over a fractionable part of a continent [[User:Danger Kitty|Danger Kitty]] ([[User talk:Danger Kitty|talk]])
::::::: EXACTLY, it's not like you funded the voyages, sent supplies to the colonies, or protected us from the French, or anything. [[User:Apollo11|Apollo11]] ([[User talk:Apollo11|talk]]) 14:59, 11 December 2024 (UTC)
: I would like to as a british person to corroborate this, in the 80's my Dad visited the USA (he did go to florida) and still is complaining that the freshly boiled water wasn't poured directly onto the tea bag but was instead the tea bag and the hot water(now luke warm water) and bag was delivered separately!!! The delivery of freshly boiling water on to the bag is the major issue with microwaves, not the nucleation thing in my experience. Bear in mind I don't even actually like tea, still care enough to right this, but i'll be signing this anonymously to avoid shame being bought on my family and my family's familys. Murderous royals are a lot less popular the tea [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.227|108.162.245.227]]
:: I first visited the US in 1980. A friend who was with hate coffee and was horrified when he ordered tea that he got the water and the tea bag separately. When he suggested they add the water as soon as it was boiled, the wait staff thought he was joking. Many years later in Texas, a waiter asked me why I, a Brit, was drinking coffee, not tea. "You don't know how to make it," I replied. (In my house, the electric kettle and teapot sit next to each other on the kitchen worktop.)--[[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.135|172.70.160.135]] 09:22, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

When I make ramen, I put the measuring cup in the microwave. Fight me. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.167.87|162.158.167.87]] 05:35, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
:: On behalf of the British Empire: whateva. [[User:Kev|Kev]] ([[User talk:Kev|talk]]) 18:28, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

"...to the point virtually every home has an electric tea kettle as a standard appliance". If I'm reading it correctly, this and the comic suggests we (though not I, as I'm not a tea-drinker) make tea ''in the electric kettle''. Electric tea-urns, yes, or maybe a setup like a samovar. But, generally, the kettle itself (and, so far as I'm aware, always with an electric kettle) is used to heat the water, which you then pour into the tea''pot'' into which the requisite number of tealeaves/teabags are also put to steep. (Or, for the lazy way, into the mug-with-teabag.) I wouldn't be able to use my electric kettle to (for example) make my instant mashed-potato into the actual mash, if I'd have regularly used it to mash tea. Or top up the boiling saucepan that I'd realised I'd not quite enough water in to cover the pasta/vegetables/whatever. Or to easily add nust a little more heat (with less new water) to the washing-up bowl than would be possible from the hot tap, back to as hot as possible without scalding me. – Whether intentional or not, I suspect Randall has the role of kettle and teapot mixed up, and so (without the intent to parody) has the editor who wrote the above. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.135|172.70.160.135]] 05:49, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
:: Agree, we make tea in a mug using water from a kettle. I'd be furious if an American made tea in my kettle, how will I then make up my instant Nescafe? [[User:Kev|Kev]] ([[User talk:Kev|talk]]) 18:28, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

I don't think the section on 'Boiling the water in a pot' refers to a teapot - I think it means boiling the water in a pot on the hob, and then making tea with it (in a pot/mug). [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.27|172.69.195.27]] 07:53, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
:I agree, but I also think there's a language issue with the use of pot vs. pan that makes things more confusing. I think there are several types of cookware that Americans call pot and British call pan. So British would not say they boil water in a pot but rather in a saucepan (if there's no kettle available of course). [[User:Mtcv|Mtcv]] ([[User talk:Mtcv|talk]]) 09:03, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

I (as Brit) am uncommon in using an electric filter coffee machine to make tea (two bags in what is supposed to be the coffee filter). Set up, press the button and come back to a not jug of fresh tea which is not stewed. If later, the hot plate has shut off and it is cold, you can zap it in a mug in the microwave. [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 08:11, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
: As another brit, what? I do not understand the mechanics of this, please elaborate. Additionally, my understanding is that the water would be *briefly acquainted* with the tea, thus would be a poor facsimile of "tea" and would rather be closer to something the americans would attempt. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.126|141.101.99.126]] 11:46, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
:::I did say 'uncommon' but Kenwood made a coffee/tea machine to do this. It sounds like it shouldn't work, but 167 below has the basics right. [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 09:13, 11 December 2024 (UTC)
::I'm guessing the water would drip on to the teabags, then soak all the way through them and drip out into the jug, without allowing sufficient to accumulate that it would run straight out without passing fully through the bag. It's an intriguing idea. But most definitely wrong.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.239|172.70.85.239]] 17:15, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
:::Your guess is right. It works because the (finely cut) leaves are exposed to boiling hot water for a few minutes, you wouldn't drink any before you have half a jug and that is quite 'bright'. Better than a teabag in a mug! Want it stronger, use more bags. Big advantage - you set it up, press button, come back in 5 to 25 minutes and your tea is waiting, including a second mug, not and not stewed. Wrong - but works so right. [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 09:13, 11 December 2024 (UTC)

Thanks, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yMMTVVJI4c Technology Connections]! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.109.167|141.101.109.167]] 09:51, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

You Westerners have literally no idea how to make proper, good tea! SMH [[User:TPS|TPS]] ([[User talk:TPS|talk]]) 13:00, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

As a Brit who grew up in sight of the Yorkshire Tea factory – and worked there on occasion – and having travelled very widely around the world – including in the US – I feel I'm supposed to have an opinion. However, I have ''never'' encountered the microwaving of water as mentioned here, and I would not object to it as supposedly problematic for tea-quality reasons. I'd object for reasons of common sense. What mystifies me is the idea that kettles are tea-specific. They are for heating water, not making tea. Coffee uses hot water. Pasta, rice and potatoes use hot water. Peas, carrots, cabbage, sweetcorn...

Baking bread often involves a pan of steaming water in the oven.

"But I can boil water in a pan for cooking pasta or vegetables."

Yes, but you'll be waiting a l-o-o-o-ng time. I'll heat my water in the kettle, pour it into the now-hot pan, cook my pasta, and I'll be eating before your water is boiling.

A kettle is not a tea-making item any more than a frying pan is an omelette-making item; tea is simply one of the things you can make with water from a kettle. Hot water is a basic civilised human commodity, predating recorded history. That we should live in a mechanised world, and the Consumer Nation doesn't have water-boiling appliances as standard (saying instead "I don't have a kettle because I don't drink tea") is ludicrous.

Using a microwave rather than buying a kettle is a bit like not buying a hammer for driving in nails because you've got a big pair of pliers that will do. Sure, they're heavy lumps of metal than live in your toolbag, but they're not the right thing.

The Brits, incidentally, are not tea lovers. They are prolific consumers of awful tea that actual tea lovers wouldn't use for cleaning their drains. The most enthusiastic tea enthusiasts I've ever met were from Maryland.

It's all just social ceremony in the UK. Milk first, tea first, must use a saucer, must use a pot...tea is a British religion, not a British drink. [[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 14:23, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
: How long does it take you to boil water for, let's say enough water for four people's worth of pasta, using an electric kettle? I reckon that's about 4 liters of water? I'm genuinely curious. Now also double the time, because as mentioned in the explanation, American outlets produce half the power of British outlets. And let me not fail to mention that almost all American homes have either special higher power outlets for stoves or gas powered stoves, and frequently have special high-power outlets for microwaves as well. 4 liters of water to boil takes about 5-6 minutes on a low-end American stove, about 3-4 minutes on a gas stove, and about 2 minutes on an induction stove. None of which strikes me as a particularly long time, especially when the most popular varieties of pasta in America all need to be boiled for 8+ minutes. How does this compare to twice the length of time as your electric kettle? Because if your Electric Kettle actually allows you to be eating your pasta before our water has even boiled, that would require your kettle to boil water in around -2min to -6min. And if your electric kettle can time travel, then that is truly an astonishing device. Honestly my takeaway from this is that British Stoves must be apparently heated by a single candle if "boiling water for pasta" is considered to take a "l-o-o-o-ng time". {{unsigned ip|162.158.126.161|21:51, 10 December 2024 (UTC)}}

I wonder what the Brits would feel about repurposing a single-cup coffee maker. These days, I usually put a tea bag in a mug and place it in a Keurig machine and run it (without a K-cup, of course) to deliver the hot water. Probably the wrong temperature, but fast and easy and the result is good enough. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 14:52, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

Would any British person care to evaluate my tea making practices? Boil water in electric kettle. Pour water over teabag, allow to steep, remove teabag. Add sugar and ice cubes. [[User:RegularSizedGuy|RegularSizedGuy]] ([[User talk:RegularSizedGuy|talk]]) 15:54, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
:...well, seems a fairly standard "making one mug of tea for oneself" process. It lacks a milk-adding stage (thus no arguments about whether before or after the water). Removing the teabag at that point probably means it's not going to become a Builders' Brew, which is your choicd. Sugar is ok. And... Waitwhat... ''Ice Cubes?!?'' ...can I get back to you on that? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.163|172.70.162.163]] 17:50, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

I can confirm (by inadvertent experiments conducted on flatmates) that they indeed do not like tea being make in the kettle. What really makes them angry though is making coffee in the teapot. It ruins the taste of the teapot forever apparently. There is also a faction that insists that a teapot should never be washed, and washing it invokes a lesser anger.[[User:Gopher|Gopher]] ([[User talk:Gopher|talk]]) 15:56, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

On rare occasions where I don't have a kettle available, I use a microwave oven to boil water for tea. But it doesn't look and taste quite the same, and often leaves an ugly foam at the surface when the tea bag is added. This phenomenon is investigated here: https://cooking.stackexchange.com/a/22264. So the British might be right... Disclaimer: I'm neither from the UK nor from the US. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.126|172.69.68.126]] 16:16, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

There is a [https://www.tumblr.com/elodieunderglass/669449994039853056/wizardlyghost-silverjirachi-pidoop tumblr thread] about the topic of teamaking in microwaves, kettles, etc. Funnily enough it showed up in my Instagram reels feed just a few hours before this comic was posted. I was thinking perhaps Randall saw it too and was inspired by it? Both of them have to deal with the different ways of making tea and how "absurd" or "unconventional" (etc.) they are. Even if Randall didn't have it in mind, it's certainly a funny little coincidence. [[User:Pie Guy|Pie Guy]] ([[User talk:Pie Guy|talk]]) 16:36, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

I'm guessing my occasional summertime practice of filling a gallon jar with water and lots of tea bags, setting it on the back porch in the sun for a few hours until the water turns dark brown, then putting the whole thing in the refrigerator and later drinking it over ice would be toward the more angry end of the spectrum.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.204|172.70.126.204]] 16:39, 10 December 2024 (UTC)Pat
:I think the "in the sun for a few hours" part might just be too incomprehensible to most of us, here in Britain. If we ''have'' a few hours of sun (and we're not abroad and deliberately sunburning ourselves on the beach/beside the pool in our week at the Costa Lotta budget-all-inclusivs holiday) then we're either fuming at our workdesks complaining about the louts stripping down to their shirtsleeves and splashing in the town-centre fountains or we're on our lunch-break and we ''are'' the louts stripping down to our shirtsleeves and splashing in the town-centre fountains. In neither case would sun-stewed tea be a priority. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.163|172.70.162.163]] 17:50, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

Perhaps it's worth to mention how dangerous it is to boil water in a microwave. https://tastecooking.com/dangerous-microwave-water/
[[User:Mestafais|Mestafais]] ([[User talk:Mestafais|talk]]) 15:22, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
:I have a >5 inch burn scar on my forearm, to arrest to that. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 14:21, 11 December 2024 (UTC)

There are several comics with unmarked scales. It would be interesting if the descriptions started using pixels to point where each mark is along the line. As a rough estimate, the four points mentioned here are at X-values: 90px, 115px, 345px, and 645px, indicating that the pot method is 10% as infuriating as the chalice method - or that making tea in a pot ten times would be equally as infuriating as making it once in a chalice (at least, assuming the kettle method causes zero furons. I know of {{w|hedons and dolors}}. I guess 'furons' are a unit of fury, right? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.46.236|172.70.46.236]] 16:11, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

Interesting to see the interest in editing this. Had a quick check of the last ten comics, looking at the number of edits made in the first 14 hours (the exact time this page has been around, as of me starting the check) and in total, and extrapolated to edits/day (in the case of total edits, both just to the latest edit and right up to 'now'). Thought it'd be interesting to give you my results (assuming I tallied/etc correctly)...
*3022 - 14hr: '''61''' ('''105'''/day); Total: 61 ('''105/day...''')
*3021 - 14hr: 23 (39/day); Total: 39 (11/day -> 10/day)
*3020 - 14hr: 22 (38/day); Total: 36 (10/day -> 6/day)
*3019 - 14hr: 28 (48/day); Total: 54 (17/day -> 7/day)
*3018 - 14hr: 14 (24/day); Total: 48 (4/day -> 4/day)
*3017 - 14hr: 29 (50/day); Total: 33 (32/day -> 3/day)
*3016 - 14hr: 28 (48/day); Total: 46 (4/day -> 3/day)
*3015 - 14hr: 20 (32/day); Total: '''83''' (5/day -> 5/day)
*3014 - 14hr: 40 (69/day); Total: 66 (16/day -> 3/day)
*3013 - 14hr: 36 (61/day); Total: 68 (3/day -> 3/day)
...of course, the first 14 hours probably biases to British readers/editors, and it was too fiddly to add up ''|bytes changed per edit|'' as a more useful metric than mere number of pokes. But quite a bit of interest we already have here. More edits in fourteen hours than any other article less than fourteen (indeed, 17!) days old... ;) Seems to have really hit a mark, this subject! [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.201|172.69.195.201]] 19:21, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
:This one is super weird. I may be weirdness incarnate... but... [[User:Maybe Bill Cipher|An anonymous Gravity Falls expert]] ([[User talk:Maybe Bill Cipher|talk]]) 19:33, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
:Well obviously. I mean this one ''really'' matters![[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.23|141.101.98.23]] 08:52, 11 December 2024 (UTC)

I would argue that the more pessimistic interpretation of the two low-end options makes sense, rather than the more generous versions offered in the current explanation. I think the first one does literally mean making tea in the kettle, and the second one does mean boiling water in a teapot. Making tea *using* a kettle isn't anything to get mad about, it's the default practice. That should put it at the zero point of the line, but it isn't, it's to the right. On the other hand, obviously making tea *in* the kettle would incite a modest amount of rage (on the scale of zero to microwaving a mug), and it makes sense that boiling water in a teapot would incite about 50% more, as shown.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.160|172.69.134.160]] 19:51, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
: An American making tea in the correct way by boiling water in the kettle and then pouring that into a teapot with the tea would still probably conspire to make it badly and make the Brit angry. And Brits really do get quite upset about the idea of tea made with water boiled in a stovetop pan.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.23|141.101.98.23]] 08:55, 11 December 2024 (UTC)

There is a standard for making tea, ISO 3103: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3103, and apparently from the Royal Society of Chemistry.
And, of course, it must be really hot for in infinite improbability drive to work properly.
[[User:Lordpishky|Lordpishky]] ([[User talk:Lordpishky|talk]]) 20:24, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

All this blather and not one bit about that quintessential Kiwi staple, [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gumboot_tea gumboot tea]. Boil the kettle (about the size of a Dutch oven), throw in handfuls of leaf black tea, and let it sit until consumed. Reheat as needed. One sip, and the source of the Commonwealth aversion to the insane Yankee habit of drinking tea black is immediately apparent. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.123.8|172.70.123.8]] 20:31, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

So, I have a Quooker that boils my water. Add tea (leaves)... done. But *don't* add milk, please.... spoil... {{unsigned|Palmpje|20:50, 10 December 2024 (UTC)}}

''Ultimately, the real difference comes down to convenience: In the USA, the standard voltage for electric appliances (including an electric kettle) is 120 volts, while it is twice that (240 volts in practice, though nominally 230V) in the UK. Since the amperage for an electric kettle is the the same in both countries (15 amps), this means that an equivalent kettle in the UK has twice the power (3.2kw versus 1.6kw), and can heat the water in a fraction of the time. Meanwhile, a standard microwave has a similar power in both countries (from 700 to 1000 watts), for reasons unrelated to the supply voltage it is equipped to use. Therefore, heating a small cup in a microwave might take a few moments longer than a kettle in the USA, but is many times slower to wait for compared to using an electric kettle in the UK.'' Electric kettles are a bit faster in the UK due to the voltage difference, but it's not that much and I highly doubt speed is the main concern here. The main 'convenience' difference between boiling water in a kettle vs a microwave is quantity: Brits usually don't just make one cup/mug of tea! On the rare occasion Americans drink tea, it's more often just the one person drinking one cup, making a microwave a convenient choice.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.233.90|162.158.233.90]] 21:40, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

Add in some [https://www.foodandwine.com/why-you-should-add-salt-to-tea-8549735 salt]! '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 21:44, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

It's not about voltage. They use different gauge heater wire to get the Watts wanted/allowed.

The classic UK plug is nominal 13 Amps. (The circuits may be nominal 16A but there is now better insulation than in 1949.) At 230 Volts that would be 3KW (near enuff). That will be the "legal numbers". At 240V it may be 3,250W true. OTOH a 10V sag might be expected in all but the poshest wall-wiring.

amazon.co.uk sells kettles nearly all rated 3KW. Exceptions are Greepas at 1800W ("However, some customers have reported that it's very slow to boil"); also Philips 2200W, Daewoo 1400W, and OLEGA 1500W 'Fast Boiling'.

OTOH!!

On Amazon US site nearly all kettles are 1500W, a few lower like 1100W. At assumed 120V 1500W is 12.5Amps. 15Amp circuits are still common in older houses (despite changes in 1960s) but we supposed to de-rate for 'long-running' (not clearly specified in old code) so 12 Amps is in a ballpark.

Note that all US kettles are lower power than all but the tamest UK kettles. Essentially half power.

And IIRC, the 13/16A rating which allows super-power kettles in the UK was not for tea but for "electric fire", room heat. In post-War rebuilding, smokey coal was already depreciated in cities, steam plumbing and chimneys are expensive. Copper wire is costly too, but you "have" to have electric, and low-cost plans like ring-main were investigated.
[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 22:44, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

"accept that tea-appropriate boiling water can be obtained directly from the sink's plumbing" - unless it comes out literally at boiling temperature, it isn't tea appropriate. I live in France now, and order catering bags of tea from Amazon because French tea is dismally awful, not helped at all by this fairly widespread belief that black tea steeps at 60C. When I share tea bags with friends, I have to keep reminding them, boiling! Boiling! So, see, there are worse things than using a microwave to heat the water... [[Special:Contributions/172.71.126.208|172.71.126.208]] 06:00, 11 December 2024 (UTC)
:Not boiling - OFF boiling. Higher than 60C, yes, but if you put actually boiling water straight on to the tea (or worse, boil the water with the tea in it), that's at least as bad. (And how far off the boil exactly depends on the type of tea.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.22|141.101.98.22]] 09:00, 11 December 2024 (UTC)

What's up with the "We want to ensure'''[sic]''' the good people of the U.K"?
I really can't see the US Embassy insuring them for any amount, so what gives? [[User:Ryden|Ryden]] ([[User talk:Ryden|talk]]) 12:27, 11 December 2024 (UTC)
:Came here to make the same note. “Ensure” is not misspelled, why is it marked with “[sic]”? [[User:Dúthomhas|Dúthomhas]] ([[User talk:Dúthomhas|talk]]) 12:40, 11 December 2024 (UTC)
::It's the wrong word entirely for the longer sentence. They perhaps wished to ''assure'' the good people, etc... "Ensure" means to "check and fix" something, in the way this is connected to "the good people" (implying that ''they'' would be changed to deal with any discrepancy of expectations), but this reading also goes wrong by the "that".
::In the sense of making a pledge (probably the actual intent), the structure is all wrong and probably was hastily reworded from a different narrative path, but left half-and-half and not making sense. My most minimal rewording for this would be "We want to ensure to the good people of the U.K. that ...", but it still reads very awkwardly. Perhaps it always made more sense to the average 'Merkin (c.f. "write me" instead of "write to me"), but I still would have written "assure" (as attempt to be comforting) or "pledge to" (for a more fervent sincerity of positive action).
::And to "insure" (for British English) is different yet again. While not working at all in the full sentence, it would start to suggest the actual possibility of such wrongness happening, but with the promise of monetary (or other) compensation if it does. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.149|141.101.98.149]] 15:43, 11 December 2024 (UTC)

Question: Does the obsession with tea apply to all of Britain equally? E.g. are the Scottish just as stereotypicly known for loving tea as the English? This comic immediately brings Arthur Dent to my mind, and he's Very English Indeed. ("A liquid almost but not quite entirely unlike tea" is missing somewhere in the left third of the comic. :) --an intrigued German [[Special:Contributions/172.71.148.103|172.71.148.103]] 14:35, 11 December 2024 (UTC)
:The four nations probably have had a similar outlook, but everyone may have had different social reasons. Tea-totalling perhaps was the initial driver in the more methodist corners, to get working people not to drink too much beer/cider/gin. The high social status version of regency ladies. It then sort of met in the middle by the time of the tea-ladies trolleying around refreshments to boardrooms and factory floors alike, in the same building.
:For WW2, the British government's demand for tea supplies was at least as important as ammunition. All British tanks apparently had (and continue to have) a hot-water boiler in the crew comparatment (not just for tea, but, probably the main thing at times). Official worries about tea [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7382750.stm lasted beyond that era].
:Generalising for everyone ''now'' is probably wrong, but visiting elderly relatives all over the UK, I'd ''always'' be passed a cup of tea (and a plate of cakes, or biscuits, placed temptingly close at hand). A pity that I never really liked tea (the cakes/biscuits are a bonus and a mitigating factor, but politeness demands that I throttle back my desires in that direction). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.149|141.101.98.149]] 15:43, 11 December 2024 (UTC)

Boy, they ''really'' get mad when you microwave the Chalice. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 14:18, 11 December 2024 (UTC)
:I think putting metal in the microwave is probably frowned upon worldwide. (Unless you're an ex-Navy Seal and cook who has found your ship taken over by mercenaries with a mad plan. Then go ahead.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.119|162.158.74.119]] 16:07, 11 December 2024 (UTC)

I find that Brits really hate it when you bring up the concept of sweet tea, during the summer my family would fill up a jug with water add some tea bags then leave it on the porch over night. [[User:Resign|Resign]] ([[User talk:Resign|talk]]) 07:35, 12 December 2024 (UTC)

This is the most comprehensively explained comic in a while 😂 I guess there are a lot of passionate tea-makers around here. As a non-tea-drinker living in a Commonwealth country, I have definitely heard the outrageous stereotype that Americans microwave their water. Definitely practical when you don't own a kettle, but slow when brewing for a group. [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 08:07, 12 December 2024 (UTC)

Talk:2984: Asteroid News

2024-09-12T02:55:49Z

Alcatraz ii: Forgot to sign off

Not sure!! Maybe it is "2016 AJ193" Found this news https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/nasa-detects-the-1000th-near-earth-asteroid-within-colliding-distance-4171781.html , but I can't find a NASA comment or any reputable source.
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.23.189|172.68.23.189]] 00:10, 12 September 2024 (UTC) WaywardMinstrel

The "DEFINATLY" in the explanation header is intentional, a reference to [[2871]] [[User:TheTrainsKid|TheTrainsKid]] ([[User talk:TheTrainsKid|talk]]) 00:52, 12 September 2024 (UTC)

'''Which asteroid is it?''' The explanation currently points towards the 2024 MK asteroid, which might be the most likely contender in that it is recently discovered and had the potential to do something interesting, but the 2063 line makes me hesitant to declare that it is a comic about that asteroid. Feel free to revert my changes if you have evidence pointing specifically to the 2024 asteroid or a theory explaining the 2063 reference (could 2024 MK return to earth in 39 years??). I haven't been able to find much information on this yet. Another possibility is that it is about a fictional asteroid, inspired by this year's discovery. [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 02:55, 12 September 2024 (UTC)

Talk:2984: Asteroid News

2024-09-12T02:55:23Z

Alcatraz ii: Which asteroid?

2984: Asteroid News

2024-09-12T02:50:58Z

Alcatraz ii: /* Explanation */ Added reference to 2063 - not certain that it is the same 2024 asteroid (happy to discuss)

{{comic
| number = 2984
| date = September 11, 2024
| title = Asteroid News
| image = asteroid_news_2x.png
| imagesize = 376x288px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Their calculations show it will 'pass within the distance of the moon' but that it 'will not hit the moon, so what's the point?'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a future boring dot- Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is about an unnamed asteroid predicted to approach earth in 2063, possibly related to the recently discovered asteroid [https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2024/06/Close_approach_of_asteroid_2024_MK 2024 MK] that made a close approach to Earth on June 29 2024. The comic mentions that the asteroid only has a 'one-in-6000 chance of "doing something cool",' meaning that there is only a small chance that the asteroid will have a visible impact on {{w|Earth}}'s surroundings. What [[Blondie]] deems as "something cool" would presumably be the asteroid hitting Earth or the moon. The title text also mentions that the asteroid will also probably not hit the {{w|Moon}}, which is also another way for the asteroid to "do something cool." There is also a discrepancy with the image shown and actual predictions: the asteroid is expected to come within 0.75 lunar distances, inside the orbit of the Moon, while the comic shows the asteroid at least two {{w|lunar distances}} away from Earth.

Unlike almost all of [[Randall]]'s other comics, this one involves {{w|boredom}}.

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

:[Close-up of Blondie as a newscaster speaking, alongside an image to the left of an asteroid passing by Earth. The path of the asteroid is shown as a dashed line near the top-left, with the moon orbiting the earth below it.]
:Blondie: Astronomers initially said there was a one-in-6,000 chance that the newly-discovered asteroid might "do something cool" in 2063, but further observations determined it will be "Just a boring dot like all the others."

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category:News anchor]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Space]]

Talk:2962: President Venn Diagram

2024-07-23T02:59:02Z

Alcatraz ii:

Another really timely comic. Biden just dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris yesterday. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 01:58, 23 July 2024 (UTC)

Forget Biden, Hillary, and Obama. This is the endorsement that counts. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.23.199|172.68.23.199]] 01:58, 23 July 2024 (UTC)

I suppose no one is allowed to say that the upper right circle is mislabeled. It was supposed to say incompetent, dishonest, and despicable. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.25|162.158.90.25]] 02:07, 23 July 2024 (UTC)

Randall angling for VP? [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 02:59, 23 July 2024 (UTC)

2962: President Venn Diagram

2024-07-23T00:17:54Z

Alcatraz ii: /* Explanation */ added ref to Venn Harris

{{comic
| number = 2962
| date = July 22, 2024
| title = President Venn Diagram
| image = president_venn_diagram_2x.png
| imagesize = 445x398px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Hard to imagine political rhetoric more microtargeted at me than 'I love Venn diagrams. I really do, I love Venn diagrams. It's just something about those three circles.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a vice-presidential candidate- Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic features a three-way Venn diagram. The three circles represent eligibility for US presidency, qualification for US presidency, and love for Venn diagrams.

Randall is known for his love of Venn diagrams, which feature heavily on xkcd. In this comic he implies that one reason why he is likely to support Kamala Harris for president is her alleged love of Venn diagrams, which she shares with Randall (who claims to be eligible for president but not qualified to be a good president).

Current Vice President Kamala Harris is the likely Democratic party nominee for the 2024 election, following current President Joe Biden's ending of his campaign the day before this comic's release. Kamala's love for Venn diagrams is something of a meme, and has been used by her in her campaign [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/kamala-harris-campaign-memes-gen-z-b2583802.html]

The title text implies that the best way to target Randall with political ads is to mention how amazing Venn diagrams are

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

{{comic discussion}}

2962: President Venn Diagram

2024-07-23T00:15:21Z

Alcatraz ii: /* Explanation */ More context

{{comic
| number = 2962
| date = July 22, 2024
| title = President Venn Diagram
| image = president_venn_diagram_2x.png
| imagesize = 445x398px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Hard to imagine political rhetoric more microtargeted at me than 'I love Venn diagrams. I really do, I love Venn diagrams. It's just something about those three circles.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by Euler - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic features a three-way Venn diagram. The three circles represent eligibility for US presidency, qualification for US presidency, and love for Venn diagrams.

Randall is known for his love of Venn diagrams, which feature heavily on xkcd. In this comic he implies that one reason why he is likely to support Kamala Harris for president is her alleged love of Venn diagrams, which she shares with Randall (who claims to be eligible for president but not qualified to be a good president).

Current Vice President Kamala Harris is the likely Democratic party nominee for the 2024 election, following current President Joe Biden's ending of his campaign the day before this comic's release.

The title text implies that the best way to target Randall with political ads is to mention how amazing Venn diagrams are

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

{{comic discussion}}

2943: Unsolved Chemistry Problems

2024-06-07T23:08:51Z

Alcatraz ii: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2943
| date = June 7, 2024
| title = Unsolved Chemistry Problems
| image = unsolved_chemistry_problems_2x.png
| imagesize = 361x386px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I'm an H⁺ denier, in that I refuse to consider loose protons to be real hydrogen, so I personally believe it stands for 'pretend'.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an unsolved acronym (p>0.05) - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

There is a list of mathematical problems that are yet to be solved (such as P=NP). This comic makes a spin on it, by stating that there are (as of yet) unsolved chemistry problems. The scientist at what is apparently the"grand opening" of a new chemistry lab lists several real chemistry problems, followed by one also-unsolved-but-less-scientific problem (the p in pH)

'''Arbitrary Enzyme Design:'''

{{w|Enzymes}} are molecules (usually proteins) that act as catalysts to speed up biological processes. These are often important in understanding and curing diseases, so being able to design new enzymes can be critical in medical research.

'''Protein Folding:'''

{{w|Protein|Proteins}} are large molecules that consist of chains of amino acids. These amino acids chains become folded {{w|Protein Folding|folded}} in extremely complex ways into intricate 3D structures, and the way a protein is folded is of critical importance to its function. "Misfolded" proteins like {{w|Prion|prions}} can be inactive or cause other proteins to become misfolded, which can lead to fatal illnesses. Because of the huge importance of proteins to biological life, biologists have devoted significant attention over many decades to the problem of {{w|Protein structure prediction|protein structure prediction}}. This refers to the ability to predict the 3D structure of a protein based on the amino acid sequence, and remains one of the most important problems in computational biology.

'''Depolymerization:'''

A process in which polymers are broken down into monomers. This is done through a variety of processes such as using radiation, electrolysis, adding chemicals, and other means. Monomers are described as molecules, typically organic in nature, that can bond with at least 2 other molecules (polyfunctionality), resulting in the formation of large molecules (polymers). Polymers are substances made of very large molecules linked together into chains of repeating subunits.

'''What the “p” in pH stands for:'''

“p” shows up in pH, pKa, pKb, and other things related to the concentration of H+ ions and OH- ions. The meaning of the "p" in "pH" has been the subject of much dispute. It is sometimes referred to as "power of Hydrogen", but the term was introduced by {{w|Søren Peter Lauritz Sørensen|Søren Peter Lauritz Sørensen}}, who did not publish his results in English. The letter p could stand for the French puissance, German Potenz, or Danish potens, all meaning "power", or it could mean "potential". All of these words start with the letter p in French, German, and Danish, which were the languages in which Sørensen published.

In the title text, someone, presumably Randall Monroe, claims that they refuse to believe that loose protons are hydrogen atoms, and as such, the “p” stands for pretend. This could work, by saying that it is the pretend Ka and the Pretend Kb. However, Hydrogen atoms and loose protons each have a single proton. An Ion is any atom with a number of electrons not equal to the amount of protons in an atom. This counts for both more electrons (Anions), and less electrons (Cations).

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

:[Hairbun stands behind a lectern on a podium with two Cueballs and Megan standing behind her. There is a "Grand Opening" sign hanging in the background along with some ornaments.]
:Hairbun: Our lab will be working on chemistry's top unsolved problems: arbitrary enzyme design, protein folding, depolymerization, and, of course, the biggest one of all:
:Hairbun: ''Figuring out what the "p" in "pH" stands for.''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]

2917: Types of Eclipse Photo

2024-04-09T07:38:46Z

Alcatraz ii: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2917
| date = April 8, 2024
| title = Types of Eclipse Photo
| image = types_of_eclipse_photo_2x.png
| imagesize = 594x460px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The most rare, top-tier eclipse photo would be the Solar Earth Eclipse, but the Apollo 12 crew's attempt to capture it was marred by camera shake. They said it looked spectacular, though.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an Australian cloud - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is about the {{w|Solar eclipse of April 8, 2024|recent total solar eclipse}} visible in North America. The last photograph refers to a {{w|Solar eclipse of July 22, 2028|2028 total solar eclipse}} that will cross the Australian continent. A photographer who took this cloudy photo during the 2024 eclipse would likely feel frustrated to the point of wanting to take a better one in Australia in 2028 - but only if the weather is better.

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

:<big>Types of Eclipse Photo</big>

:[Eclipse during totality]
:The standard

:[Partial eclipse with lighter sky]
:The partial

:[Two Cueballs and Ponytail looking and pointing at the sky]
:The reaction shot

:[Eclipse during totality with red "ribbons" around the Moon]
:The fancy lens

:[A faint glow of light in the center]
:The focus issues

:[The rear of an SUV]
:The traffic jam

:[A dark circle on Earth's surface]
:The astronaut

:[A gray cover of clouds]
:The "frustratedly looking up the cloud situation in Australia for 2028"

==Trivia==
* '''This trivia section was created by a BOT but edited by a human'''
* The [https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/types_of_eclipse_photo.png standard size] image was uploaded with a resolution/size of 8920 by 6909, larger than the supposed 2x version at 1189 by 921.
* This was likely an error.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Solar eclipses]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

Talk:2878: Supernova

2024-01-09T05:49:49Z

Alcatraz ii: Wondering about recent events

It's all fun and games until the supernova is 93 million miles away [[User:Poxy6|'''Poxy6''']] ([[User talk:Poxy6|talk]]) 13:03, 8 January 2024 (UTC)
:Luckily there's only one star that close, and it's not big enough to become a supernova. "when our Sun runs out of hydrogen fuel, it will expand to become a red giant, puff off its outer layers, and then settle down as a compact white dwarf star" [https://www.universetoday.com/18847/life-of-the-sun/]. Of course, that will still destroy the Earth. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:33, 8 January 2024 (UTC)
::"...there's only one star that close ''at the moment!''". ;) Ok, so we haven't seen anything likely to swing by close (any time soon), never mind being in an explody frame of mind whilst doing so, but... :p [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.61|172.71.178.61]] 16:41, 8 January 2024 (UTC)
::Alpha Centauri is very nearly identical to our sun. It will also go red giant and then explode.[[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 16:53, 8 January 2024 (UTC)

This seems to be a very early release. I had not expected to find a new comic already. Maybe Randall knows Betelgeuse goes Super Nova today... He can't wait - see [[1644: Stargazing]]! Unless of course it is too close! (Betelgeuse should be a safe distance away and seems by far the closest Super Nova candidate, as least according to [https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/earth-danger-betelgeuse-supernova Astronomer Patrick Moore]). --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:07, 8 January 2024 (UTC)
I added an explanation and transcript [[Special:Contributions/172.70.43.108|172.70.43.108]] 13:09, 8 January 2024 (UTC)

I wonder if randall has played outer wilds [[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.53|172.70.178.53]] 16:34, 8 January 2024 (UTC)

I recall other proximity chart comics about 'how close people are to things' such as proximity to cats. Maybe someone can find those and add them as references. [[User:Laser813|Laser813]] ([[User talk:Laser813|talk]]) 16:40, 8 January 2024 (UTC)

I'm feeling lazy and not feeling like verifying this, but I think the graph is also representative of the light curve we expect to see during a supernova. The stars brightness reaches a peak very quickly, then more gradually diminishes. [[User:Galeindfal|Galeindfal]] ([[User talk:Galeindfal|talk]]) 18:04, 8 January 2024 (UTC)
: Exactly, I thought this was the joke: The graph under the title "Supernova" looks just like a Type Ia supernova light curve, but then it turns out to be about enthusiastic astronomers. It seems supernovae aren't only helpful in establishing a distance scale to astronomers, but also to behavioural scientists who study astronomers. [[User:Transgalactic|Transgalactic]] ([[User talk:Transgalactic|talk]]) 20:55, 8 January 2024 (UTC)

: even a superficial search by a behavioural scientist (who also handle statistics :) makes this aspect obvious. Absolutely worth to integrate it into description! https://www.ecosia.org/images?addon=opensearch&_sp=32592cb2-9564-46eb-9b5c-5ae955333b74&q=supernova+graph --[[User:LaVe|LaVe]] ([[User talk:LaVe|talk]]) 00:57, 9 January 2024 (UTC)

Why the fuck aren’t the units and magnitude of the axes labled? I had to use my brain. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.207.89|172.70.207.89]] 05:28, 9 January 2024 (UTC)

Anyone know of a recent event that could have inspired this comic? Betelgeuse is mentioned in the explanation but has there been any newsworthy supernovae in the past week? [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 05:49, 9 January 2024 (UTC)

2859: Oceanography Gift

2023-11-25T06:01:49Z

Alcatraz ii: /* Explanation */ ten years

{{comic
| number = 2859
| date = November 24, 2023
| title = Oceanography Gift
| image = oceanography_gift_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x272px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Shipping times vary. Same-ocean delivery may only take a few years, but delivery from the Weddell Sea in Antarctica may take multiple decades, and molecules meant for inland seas like the Mediterranean may be returned as undeliverable by surface currents.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created ten years ago by a WATER CURRENT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In this comic, [[Randall]] seems inspired by the timing of {{w|ocean current}}s, much as he has previously been with [[2805: Global Atmospheric Circulation|air currents]], although he may even have already considered some of the technicalities [[1675: Message in a Bottle|prior to that]].

The DOI Jönsson & Watson reference is to a 2016 open-access article in Nature Communications '[https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms11239 The timescales of global surface-ocean connectivity]'.

The idea here is that water dumped into the ocean today will take ten years to circulate round to the next coastline (wherever that is). So you can plan ahead before posting water to someone...

The title text mentions how inland seas are not connected to the ocean; therefore, water molecules dumped in one would not get to the ocean (except perhaps by {{w|evaporation}} and {{w|precipitation}}).

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

:[Cueball and Megan are standing thigh deep, at either edge of a stretch of water between two steep but walkable shorelines.]

:[Cueball, at the left, is apparently opening bottles of water and pouring them into the sea while recording himself.]
:Cueball: Happy birthday!
:Cueball: I got you these water molecules.
:[Sound effects:] (click) (pour)

:[The water between has a morass of short swirling arrows indicating movement. In the air above this there is a square-bracketted 'label']
:[Label:] 10 years pass 

:[Megan, at the right, is dipping bottles into the water to fill them]
:Megan: Aww, thank you!
:[Sound effect:] (scoop)

:[Text below comic:]
: Global surface ocean connectivity times are ≤10 years (Jönsson & Watson, 2016, DOI:10.1038/ncomms11239), so if you're willing to plan ahead, you can pour water into the ocean while wishing someone a happy birthday, and then in 10 years let them know they can pick up their gift at the nearest coastline.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

Talk:731: Desert Island

2023-11-24T07:03:15Z

Alcatraz ii: Title text needs more explaining

There's a shark, a manta ray, giant jellyfish, and a giant squid in the water. It's totally safe. And what the heck are those worms at the ocean bed? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:27, 18 February 2013 (UTC)

:Those worms are ''extremophiles'' feeding off of the nutrients emitted by the volcanic column... and from what I understand, they're completely harmless. Their entire ecology centers around the extreme heat and alternative chemical sources of energy provided by the center of the earth (vs sun-based photosynthetic life.) Oh, and I think Randall left off the "not to scale" attribute of the map, otherwise the ocean floor would only be a few hundred feet deep... -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 15:50, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
::I don't think they are, 'cause they don't look quite right, but I *really* want them to be [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/22/discovered-in-the-deep-the-worm-that-eats-bones-osedax bone-eating snot flower worms].[[User:L-Space Traveler|L-Space Traveler]] ([[User talk:L-Space Traveler|talk]]) 21:00, 26 October 2022 (UTC)

The title text seems to be alluding to a song. No idea what it could be. --[[User:Qwach|Qwach]] ([[User talk:Qwach|talk]]) 18:27, 31 August 2013 (UTC)

In my mind, I hear the alt-text as lyrics to the Can-Can song, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0WRJES4cyw "Infernal Gallop"]. See if you agree! {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.12}}

I'm pretty sure it's meant to go with the Major-General's song from the Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan. The meter and rhyme works out, and Randall based comic 1052 (Every Major's Terrible) on it, showing that he knows and likes the song. {{unsigned ip |141.101.88.208}}

Also the title text is a poem since no one mentions it: 
''Telescopes and bathyscapes 
''and sonar probes of Scottish lakes, 
''Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse 
''explained with abstract phase-space maps, 
''some x-ray slides, a music score, 
''Minard's Napoleonic war: 
''the most exciting new frontier 
''is charting what's already here. 
--[[User:7buergen|7buergen]] ([[User talk:7buergen|talk]]) 09:32, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

I think the point of the commentary is "there's more than meets the eye". [[Special:Contributions/141.101.81.216|141.101.81.216]] 13:47, 21 February 2014 (UTC)

It's to the tune of "We Didn't Start the Fire"... {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.116}}
:I agree. It lines up perfectly, arguably better than Major General. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.57|108.162.221.57]] 05:34, 14 July 2015 (UTC)

If "We Didn't Start the Fire" had been the original intended tune, then the "some" and "a" in line 5 should not be there; they are superfluous and do not fit the rhythm of "We Didn't Start the Fire". The most plausible conclusion is that those words were added or retained to make the text fit the meter of a different song. To my ear, "Infernal Gallop", as noted above, seems quite plausible, although it doesn't exactly account for "some". Being (to my shame) unfamiliar with Gilbert and Sullivan, I can't comment on the Modern Major-General theory. --[[User:5parrowhawk|5parrowhawk]] ([[User talk:5parrowhawk|talk]]) 10:18, 8 March 2016 (UTC)
Feels like it has something to do with those I Spy books idk {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.116}}

The white/blue colored things on the left could be scrap metal from the game subnautica[[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.184|162.158.134.184]] 06:19, 16 July 2019 (UTC)
: ...which was released mere 8 years after this comic... --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:09, 16 July 2019 (UTC)

The title text can be sung to the tune of Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start The Fire". I found this out because someone pointed it out [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/remarks.php?trope=Main.WeDidntStartTheBillyJoelParodies#comment-80250 here]

When I read the title text I immediately heard the Gilbert & Sullivan music from Pirates of Penzance in my head. I'm voting for that rather than Billy Joel. [[User:The Cat Lady|-- The Cat Lady]] ([[User talk:The Cat Lady|talk]]) 14:38, 19 August 2021 (UTC)

The poem is in iambic tetrameter, a quite-common meter in English poetry and music. Examples include Wordsworth's "I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud", Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love", Byron's "She Walks in Beauty", and Tolkien's "Song of Eärendil". "We Didn't Start the Fire" doesn't fit (its feet are trochees, not iambs - long-short vs. short-long - and every fourth line leaves the last trochee blank); "Infernal Gallop" and "Modern Major-General" come ''very'' close to fitting, but there are subtle differences in each (for example, "Modern Major-General"'s first line starts with a full iamb (coincidentally, "I am") while Randall's skips the initial short beat of the first iamb). Of these, I think "Major-General" is the most likely match; Randall's poem has the same meter and flow, and matches G&S's rhyme scheme (where "Infernal Gallop" doesn't have lyrics ''to'' rhyme!). [[User:Noëlle|Noëlle]] ([[User talk:Noëlle|talk]]) 19:01, 13 November 2021 (UTC)

I'm adding my vote for "Major-General". [[User:L-Space Traveler|L-Space Traveler]] ([[User talk:L-Space Traveler|talk]]) 21:00, 26 October 2022 (UTC)

o, no, it is definitely "We Didn't Start the Fire". Songs often slur less important words and the last verse of "We Didn't Start the Fire" fits perfectly.

Okay, but what about the other parts of the title text? The x-ray slides, the music score? I want to know why they're part of the new frontier [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 07:03, 24 November 2023 (UTC)

Talk:2835: Factorial Numbers

2023-09-30T01:25:16Z

Alcatraz ii: Still don't get it

Number systems aren't real math, at least not serious math. They're an affectation. 99.9% of math is number-system-independent, so nobody should care about them. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.46.108|172.70.46.108]] 22:30, 29 September 2023 (UTC)

I thought this was a complete joke, until coming here. The "factorial number system" exists?! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.249|162.158.90.249]] 22:38, 29 September 2023 (UTC)

I wanted to add a link to a converter, but the one I found is https://www.dcode.fr/factorial-base which is quite ugly with lots of adds and a bit counter-intuitive.--[[User:Pere prlpz|Pere prlpz]] ([[User talk:Pere prlpz|talk]]) 23:42, 29 September 2023 (UTC)

This needs simplifying a bit. Came here because I had no idea what was going on, and after a quick scroll through the prose, the main thing I learned was "it's 'cause you're dumb". May be true but I still don't get what Randall's factorial system is....[[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 01:25, 30 September 2023 (UTC)

Talk:2769: Overlapping Circles

2023-04-28T23:20:57Z

Alcatraz ii:

Incorrect. I’m sure there are set theorists who get excited about that shape who are not astronomers, and astronomers who get excited about that shape who are not set theorists, and people who get excited about it who are neither. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.35|162.158.91.35]] 23:16, 28 April 2023 (UTC)
Hmmm, I'm not a set theorist, but I don't think that's what the Venn diagram is trying to say. My understanding is that both set theorists and astronomers get excited about that shape, not that only people who are both astronomers and set theorists would be excited. [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 23:20, 28 April 2023 (UTC)

Talk:1669: Planespotting

2023-03-13T06:08:58Z

Alcatraz ii: Alternate theory

Hybrid could also refer to hybrid airship dynastats which are a combination between a blimp and a lifting body airplane. HAV in England and Lockheed Martin have both flown prototypes in the last few years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_Air_Vehicles_HAV-3 {{unsigned ip|108.162.241.128}}

How would one even pronounce "Mk. IVII"? IV is 4, VII is 7. I could see an argument for treating it as a really bizarre way to say 6. Or, if we treat it as two distinct digits (as opposed to a two-digit number), it could be either "1-7" or "4-2".

: "Usage in ancient Rome varied greatly and remained inconsistent in medieval and modern times." But AFAIK each numeral only stood for a fixed amount, never for a "digit" (in the sense that its value could specify ones or tens depending on its position). So six ((5 - 1) + 1 + 1) is a plausible interpretation, though definitely not standard; but 17 or 42 would be treating Roman numerals as if they were Arabic. [[User:Huttarl|Huttarl]] ([[User talk:Huttarl|talk]]) 16:03, 18 April 2016 (UTC)

:: You're correct; in Roman numerals, there is not a concept of "this is an I, in the hundreds place, so it's really a 100". If you mean 100, that's always C. Hence the phrasing "two distinct digits (as opposed to a two-digit number). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.11|108.162.221.11]] 14:16, 19 April 2016 (UTC)

I think that's actually MI, or 1001.
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.222|162.158.214.222]] 16:12, 18 April 2016 (UTC)

: That was my first thought on reading it, too. Doesn't an underline and overline on a Roman numeral increase it by a factor of 10,000, or am I mis-recalling grade school? ---> 19:38 UTC, 18 April 2016

:: I read it as having too much space between strokes for it to be "MI" rather than "IVII", but poor penmanship is as likely as deliberate nonsense. In proper Roman Empire-era Roman numerals, the overline denotes "multiply by 1,000", but in English an overline/underline combo just means we're being fancy. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.11|108.162.221.11]] 14:16, 19 April 2016 (UTC)

I assume there are other parts of this that are similarly nonsensical to people who know what Cueball thinks he's talking about. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.32|108.162.221.32]] 14:43, 18 April 2016 (UTC)
:When I first read the comic before the explanation I was assuming Cueball was roughly, and poorly, describing a Bombardier DHC-8. It is also known as a Q400 and is a twin-engine turboprop. The silhouette looks vaguely like it.[[User:R0hrshach|R0hrshach]] ([[User talk:R0hrshach|talk]]) 15:56, 18 April 2016 (UTC)

::Wholeheartedly agreed on it being a DHC-8 version, which could be a Q400. The engine nacelles appear to extend behind the wing (unlike an ATR42/72 or Do328), and the T-tail eliminates a lot of other regional prop possibilities. It also ties in with Cueball calling it a "Q404". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.170|108.162.237.170]] 17:07, 18 April 2016 (UTC)

::As someone who's worked around "Dash 8's", I echo the Bombardier Q400 identification. The 400-series has the longest fuselage of the DHC-8 family and the aircraft illustrated looks longer than a DHC-8-300. It's definitely too long to be a DHC-8-100 or -200.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.35|173.245.54.35]] 18:59, 20 April 2016 (UTC)

De Havilland Canada (which developed the Dash-8) did belong to Boeing between 1988 and 1992, during which time the aircraft was commonly referred to as the "Boeing Dash-8". The Q400 variant was developed after DHC was sold to Bombadier, however. So it is possible that a DHC-8 could, in fact, have been made by Boeing, just not the Q400 variant.

There are ''so many'' things wrong about this comic. [[User:.42|.42]] ([[User talk:.42|talk]]) 14:53, 18 April 2016 (UTC)

Maybe I'm totally off base, but this reminds me of something called "Vaynespotting". In League of Legends, there's a character named Shauna Vayne. She has an extremely high skill-ceiling and skill-floor. Vaynespotting is a minigame where other players receive imaginary points for calling out a bad Vayne player when that player makes aggressive maneuvers, but doesn't have the skill to pull it off. [[User:Thefance|Thefance]] ([[User talk:Thefance|talk]]) 15:38, 18 April 2016 (UTC)

Is that black hat or white hat? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.65|108.162.221.65]] 15:10, 18 April 2016 (UTC)
:Probably White Hat, but it is impossible to say. Have corrected explanation [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:11, 18 April 2016 (UTC)
::Yes, I think that it is White Hat. Just in terms of personality, most encounters with BH end up with some sort of sadistic remark, whereas WH is sometimes used just as a foil character.[[User:RedHatGuy68|RedHatGuy68]] ([[User talk:RedHatGuy68|talk]]) 02:17, 20 April 2016 (UTC)

Fixed the title text explanation regarding the hydroelectric plant. The water going over the dam still falls down (reservoir -> dam -> out of the plane?), but lifting the water in the plane would take more energy than the plant would produce.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.170|108.162.237.170]] 17:02, 18 April 2016 (UTC)

To me this comic looks like a clear reference to the "user agent" property of a browser notorious for being long, nonsensical and bearing little relationship to the version and the type of browser the client actually uses. E.g. In my Chromium this value is: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Ubuntu Chromium/49.0.2623.108 Chrome/49.0.2623.108 Safari/537.36. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.72|141.101.80.72]] 17:46, 18 April 2016 (UTC)

:The user agent string is not SUPPOSED to say what browser you HAVE, but what your browser is capable of doing. For start, Mozilla/ means that it's graphics browser, just like Netscape 4. Gecko means that authors of engine did read the HTML specifications (as authors of Gecko did), as opposed to authors of older versions of Internet Explorer (older than 7). It's because user agent string is only thing server knows about browser and therefore uses it to choose what version of page (and bug workarounds) it's supposed to use. And because some servers never update their definitions, every new browser needs to ADD his own strings to strings of some already existing browser instead of replacing them. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 14:16, 19 April 2016 (UTC)

Dual Wielding could easily refer to the fact the plane has two engines or possibly four if it is dual wielding engine sets. I feel the current explanation of that line item is a little lacking. ([[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.60|173.245.56.60]] 17:52, 18 April 2016 (UTC))
:Then please update the explanation :-) [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:58, 18 April 2016 (UTC)
::I read "hybrid dual-wield" as being at least partly a combined reference to RPG and MMO games. Hybrid classes are those that are half-way between melee combat and non-melee combat classes, and are often characterized by agility, accompanied by "dual wielding" one-handed weapons (as opposed to using a single larger weapon based on strength). {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.72}}

I originally read that as "Dual Weld", as in 'using a dual welder', which made no sense since it would be absolutely irrelevant (a dual welder can mean either a welding machine that operates on 120/240V or one that operates in both gas/gasless mode.) [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 16:40, 19 April 2016 (UTC)

I understood the Mig-380 part as a mix, an Airbus-380 but made by Mig. I'm not sure if I explained myself properly...[[User:NeoRaist|NeoRaist]] ([[User talk:NeoRaist|talk]]) 18:15, 18 April 2016 (UTC)

Some reference on "planetspotting" by Kepler? [[Special:Contributions/188.114.102.176|188.114.102.176]] 18:43, 19 April 2016 (UTC)

: "''What's that planet?''" "That's Sid Meier's Taupe Netherlands PILF #14!" [[User:.42|.42]] ([[User talk:.42|talk]]) 20:27, 19 April 2016 (UTC)
:: It's NEW Netherlands! ;) [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:50, 20 April 2016 (UTC)

Well done guys! I have finals, so I didn't check xkcd until now. Loand Behold! An in depth explanation for every part of this joke, which I originally understood none of. With dry humour on the side To Boot! Gold Stars All Around![[User:NotLock|NotLock]] ([[User talk:NotLock|talk]]) 04:55, 20 April 2016 (UTC)

"Most flights are on auto-pilot for hours at a time, and the pilots serve primarily for takeoff, landing, and emergencies." As someone who works in aviation, this is a common misconception, particularly the part about the pilot being just there for emergencies. Yes, autopilot is overwhelmingly used, but even routine flights have dozens of decisions that need to be made and minor issues to face. A pilot can be very busy even with advanced horizontal and vertical navigation engaged talking to ATC, responding to ATC commands, adjusting the route through navigation, handling weather, etc. In reality the autopilot, similar to an adaptive cruise control on a car, does not make the pilot useless or oblivious, but instead it simplifies things that should be easy, like following a chosen route at a constant speed.
Since this sentence doesn't blend well with the rest of the paragraph, I suggest it just be deleted. {{unsigned ip|108.162.214.155}}

I actually understood this comic differently (and perhaps incorrectly). I took it to mean that Randall might assume he knows a lot about planes, but that there are people out there who know much more than him. So Randall(not pictured in comic) might be able to tell the difference between a Boeing and an Airbus, and maybe provide a model number, and he assumes that this knowledge means he's "one of those people". However in fact "the people who know a lot about planes" might actually know much much more about them than he does (such as being able to provide all the jargon that Cueball spouts out). So since Randall has never spoken with real plane experts, he doesn't actually know high the bar is to be counted as one. Of course, this theory may be disproved by the fact that Cueball's jargon is rubbish, but Randall (as a self-declared plane expert) doesn't actually know that much information. I just struggle with the idea of Randall (or a narrator similar to that used in his other comics) would pretend to know anything about planes that he hasn't actually researched. He's more likely to have researched something, but doesn't know that there's way more to learn than what he's memorized. [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 06:08, 13 March 2023 (UTC)

2727: Runtime

2023-01-21T05:43:07Z

Alcatraz ii: /* Explanation */ explained the doctor who joke

{{comic
| number = 2727
| date = January 20, 2023
| title = Runtime
| image = runtime_2x.png
| imagesize = 399x389px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = At least there's a general understanding all around that Doctor Who is its own thing.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by EIGHT BAD MOVIES - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The comic presents two separate conversations, which boil down to the same premise and yet differing conclusions. In one, a particular TV show is being watched, in the other a film franchise.

While it is finding its feet, a new season of a television show (perhaps commissioned, on the back of some perceived interest in the story it will tell, for a dozen or so episodes of around 50 minutes - i.e. about ten hours at a minimum) is not necessarily going to get everything right in the writing style, the slant it puts on the subject matter, the cast of characters or other production values. Or at least not for mass appeal to the everyman, for whom [[Cueball]] is the archetypal representative. Nevertheless, the series ''did'' get further seasons, and [[White Hat]] (the optimist, and clearly won over by the production) is on the way to successfully convincing Cueball to view the series, or perhaps to continue to watch it after becoming jaded by its early failure to live up to its promise. It sounds reasonable to Cueball, just from his friend's recommendation, to get over the hump and appreciate it "when it gets good".

A series of films, however, are seemingly a different matter. By substituting 10+ hours of filmed-for-television with something more cinematic, the prospect of getting over the exact same scale of 'hump' in a long-running set of sequels (eight films at a not unreasonable average length of 85 minutes each would ''also'' require ten hours of commitment), is not at all enticing.

The title text talks of the long-running British TV series that is Doctor Who. The original Doctor Who, running from 1963-1989 was extremely low budget, and is generally considered to be not as good as the revived series (2005-present), which has a much higher production budget and is typically much more popular with modern viewers (who mainly ignore the older episodes). The joke here appears to be that someone watching Doctor Who sequentially from the first season until the latest would have to watch 26 seasons (hundreds of episodes) before the series "gets good" (assuming the "good" point is the 2005 series revival. Thus Doctor Who is considered to be its own thing, and unlike other shows where the fans recommend you suffer through a poor first season to enjoy improvement in subsequent seasons, [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whovians Whovians] typically recommend new fans to begin with the 2005 reboot (technically the 27th season).

It is vague about Randall's precise opinion, but even the most dedicated fan would acknowledge that it has had a varying quality/charm/consistency/etc, according to one's personal tastes for such things. Comparing the original run (pre-Millenium, featuring seven key actors sequentially taking on the title role, and another for a standalone TV-movie) with the revived series (continuing the pattern with a further seven title-actors, and the eighth already announced), and any number of 'show-runners' (producers, main writers, etc) is one possible point of contention, probably more suited to British viewers. Possibly, in Randall's case, it is just the (perceived) ups and downs in the more recent era, which has been more consistently screened in the US.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Two situations are depicted between White Hat and Cueball.]
:[Situation 1:]
:White Hat: You should keep watching! After the first season it gets really good.
:Cueball: Oh yeah, I've heard that!
:[Situation 2:]
:White Hat: You should keep watching! After the first 8 movies, they get really good.
:Cueball: Haha, what? I'm not going to sit through '''''eight''''' bad movies!
:[Caption below the panel:]
:It's weird how it's way more normal and socially acceptable to suggest someone spend 10-15 hours watching something when it's TV rather than movies.

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

2441: IMDb Vaccines

2021-03-25T04:15:19Z

Alcatraz ii: /* Explanation */ added the reference to Vader being a respiratory risk - he has trouble breathing already, give him covid and that's the end for him (why didn't obiwan think of this)

{{comic
| number = 2441
| date = March 24, 2021
| title = IMDb Vaccines
| image = imdb_vaccines.png
| titletext = I'm actually not sure if Vader and the Emperor count as a household or if Vader lives in that weird black egg thing or what.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SOCIALLY DISTANCED WEEKEND AT BERNIE'S. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In another entry in the [[My Hobby]] series, Cueball is evaluating movies based on how many people would need to be vaccinated for COVID-19 in order for them to follow the [https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated-guidance.html CDC's most recent guidelines] for how fully vaccinated people should act, assuming that the COVID-19 pandemic has spread to the universes where the movies take place.

At the moment, he is viewing the final confrontation between Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader (formerly Anakin Skywalker), and Emperor Sheev Palpatine on the second Death Star in ''{{w|Return of the Jedi}}''. Darth Vader wears a breathing apparatus in a mask that fully covers his face, as he sustained massive respiratory damage several movies earlier. During the confrontation, the Emperor is killed, then Vader has his mask removed by Luke. Cueball notes that if Luke only were vaccinated, he would still be at risk to Vader, whose health issues mean that he would be in danger if he caught a respiratory disease. Cueball judges that Darth Vader's mask and breathing apparatus would protect him from the virus, at least to a limited extent which is not an unreasonable assumption- his suit has allowed him to [[wikia:w:c:starwars:Darth Vader's armor#Discomfort, limitations and enhancements|survive the vacuum of space for short periods of time]]. Cueball concludes that all the characters in this fight need to be vaccinated in order to prevent the spread of the virus, until the Emperor dies, at which point, only Vader needs to be vaccinated.

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

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]

Talk:2383: Electoral Precedent 2020

2020-11-10T01:21:34Z

Alcatraz ii: impeachment

Can anyone identify the faded background text in the 2016 panel?

Is there some shadow text behind the main text in the 2016 square? I can barely make it out.
It looks like "No nominee whose first name contains a "k" has lost", which would be the same from the 1122 comic.
[[User:ChunyangD|ChunyangD]] ([[User talk:ChunyangD|talk]]) 00:54, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

It's the alternative text from the 2016 one: "No nominee whose first name contains a "K" has lost." [[Special:Contributions/172.69.235.143|172.69.235.143]] 00:58, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

I'm quite sure that Obama did in fact have a campaign website in 2008 when he was a challenger. See http://www.4president.us/websites/2008/barackobama2008website.htm [[User:Bobjr|Bobjr]] ([[User talk:Bobjr|talk]]) 01:15, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

How much do we want the explanation for this one to repeat what is in that of 1122?--[[User:Troy0|Troy0]] ([[User talk:Troy0|talk]]) 01:19, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

Didn't Clinton win after being impeached? [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 01:21, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

Talk:1116: Traffic Lights

2020-10-14T02:36:03Z

Alcatraz ii: hook turns

I doubt that this comic carries any deeper meaning. [[Special:Contributions/108.233.253.211|108.233.253.211]] 16:29, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

Traffic signals really are one of the most inscrutable inventions to ever be made. I mean, red means stop, yellow means caution, green means go. Unless you're in a turn lane, which means you have to watch for the green arrow, if there is one, or wait for an opening. Unless you're turning right, which is permitted to turn at any time providing there aren't any cars. Unless there's a sign that says "No Right Turn On Red". There's also the crazy cities that have special right turn lights. Then there's the intersections that have a sign for each lane telling what can and cannot be done. Or, if you're really lucky one of those intersections that has the LED screen that dynamically changes what the lane can and cannot do. And to top it all off, the Colorado Department of Transportation (as well as a few other states I'm sure) are testing out a 4-stage left turn light to increase the safety of drivers. [https://www.auroragov.org/cs/groups/public/documents/document/003604.pdf] Yes, you read that pamphlet correctly. There is a special 4th light, just to blink yellow, because you couldn't just make the yellow light blink, like it does anyway after 9pm. No. There has to be a whole special light that indicates when a left-turn-er must use special caution to turn.

: Note that New York City doesn't allow right turns on red, unless a sign is posted that says otherwise. I suppose this helps reduce the incidence of pedestrians being run into/over. You might also think it helps keep vehicles out of crosswalks, but it doesn't. [[User:CityZen|CityZen]] ([[User talk:CityZen|talk]]) 01:13, 6 October 2012 (UTC)

: What about turning left on red from a one way street onto another one way street? I don't know how prevalent that is but it's fairly common in downtown Columbus Ohio (my locale) and to a lesser extent some smaller towns around here. [[Special:Contributions/74.218.18.210|74.218.18.210]] 12:30, 9 August 2013 (UTC)
::First time commenting. Not sure about the reply syntax. But @ Ohio person: Up here in Michigan, we have supposedly special U-turns on divided highways (not to be confused with expressways; I'm just referring to the main business roads.) If there is a light, you can treat it like turning right, even though it is an apparent left-turn and an actual u-turn. "So long as you don't cross a lane of traffic, it is legal to turn if the lane is clear unless posted otherwise." From my driver's ed instructor. This does not apply to the second turn lane. I cannot tell you how many times I've been honked at for obeying the law and not turning right from the left lane. Sorry for any terrible typing or messups. I'm doing this on my phone. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.31|108.162.216.31]] 08:42, 20 November 2013 (UTC)Dartania

Nope. I'm done driving. Bring on the self-driving cars, people are officially idiots. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 16:52, 4 October 2012 (UTC)
: There is a problem with a blinking yellow arrow. Blinking yellow is already used. It means you have the right of way, but the other direction may proceed as well. What is wanted here is blinking red, which means that you stop, but may proceed, as someone else has the right of way. As for adding a fourth light, this just confuses things even more, particularly with respect to color blind individuals. Having said that, Virginia's variant is to have lights with both left arrows and solid greens. If it is green arrow, you have the right of way, while solid green means the other direction also has a green. There is almost always a sign reading "left turn yield on <solid-green-circle>" [[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 18:19, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

::so the blinking yellow left arrow generally means the same as a round green light - you can go when it's clear, but the opposite traffic has a green light too. I love this idea because a lot of the time where there is a separate left-turn signal, there are advanced lefts for both ways, and then left turners get a red left arrow and have to stop while people going straight get a green - so even where there's no oncoming traffic, you can't turn. this way, you just lose your "advance" status and go back to the regular rule of "turn if you can, otherwise you end up turning as the lights go yellow"

::I think what Lcarsos is pointing out if you check the PDF link, is that the new left-turn lane has 4 lights, all of which are left-arrow shaped. Thus, his point is why couldn't they make the 2nd light (yellow left arrow) blink, instead of installing a third light which is also a yellow left arrow whose job is to blink?

::I can think of a few possible reasons - first, perhaps an all-blinking light has different bulbs which are more efficient for blinking and won't burn out as much; second, because they want to distinguish between the two lights more strongly (i.e. if you glance over between blinks, you don't have to wait a moment to see if it will blink - if you see the 3rd light up, you know it's going to blink without waiting for it to actually blink); similarly, I suppose there could be colour blindness issues where they want to make it clear which light is which.

::PS: Right on Red is more common in north america than other places, but even here there are a few exceptions that do not allow right turns on red lights. New York City is one. Montreal is another. Most of Mexio is a third. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 21:19, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

::You can also white a white 'cigar' light that is inteded for busses only.

:From the first traffic light in London 1868 until standardization in the 1920s people tried out many crazy lights (see http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/T-VT.1970.23426) including---literally---bells and whistles to announce changes. It seems this phase is still not really over.[[Special:Contributions/134.169.34.172|134.169.34.172]] 10:33, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

Hmm... not one to do the actual analysis, I still wonder whether there could be some message encoded in the pattern of lights -- in binary ASCII, baudot, Morse, or something. Hmm... [[Special:Contributions/208.54.40.227|208.54.40.227]] 19:12, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

This explanation mentions a lot of hands where no hands exist. "The right-hand lane," for example. This is a pet peeve of mine. People just adding the word, "hand" randomly into a sentence. It's superfluous and it's annoying. It should be removed before someone slaps whoever did it with their right-hand hand.[[Special:Contributions/173.25.252.230|173.25.252.230]] 14:35, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

:I believe "right-hand" is used to differentiate "the opposite from the left" from "the opposite of wrong". If I say "get in the right lane", there is a chance for confusion and/or a cliche joke. If I say "get in the right-hand lane", my meaning is clearer.{{unsigned|Tryc}}

;Red and yellow

In Poland you can sometimes stumble upon '''red and yellow''' -- while yellow alone means that there shortly would be a red, and you can proceed if you are at or almost at crossing, but stop otherwise, red and yellow is to mean that there shortly would be green (go), and to prepare oneself. But it is quite rare. [[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 06:45, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

:In Germany all traffic lights behave this way. [[User:Joha.ma|Joha.ma]] ([[User talk:Joha.ma|talk]]) 07:45, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

::At least some lights in Czech behave this way too. -- [[Special:Contributions/89.177.52.2|89.177.52.2]] 08:04, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

:::I find it funny how you people say "some lights", considering the red-yellow combination is the standard across Europe before it turns green; and is the default behaviour for all lights, with minor exceptions. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.36|141.101.77.36]] 22:25, 23 August 2020 (UTC)

This is the way ALL UK lights behave.

Some lights in the US use '''red and yellow''' to mean that a pedestrian is crossing, although I've only seen this when the light is blinking red/yellow to start with (yes, I've seen full 3-bulb traffic lights that are only used to flash red/yellow). [[User:Zer0keefie|Zer0keefie]] ([[User talk:Zer0keefie|talk]]) 11:42, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

OK, here is the difference between the US and Europe:

Originally I believe all the traffic lights went through the sequence (1) green in one direction, red in another, (2) yellow in both directions, meaning "clear off the intersection" for the first direction and "get your car into gear" in the second direction, (3) red in one direction, green in another.

There are two problems though: first, when the green changes to yellow, people try to squeeze through (and it may even be difficult to stop if you're traveling at speed), second, when the red changes to yellow, people who are not stopped but carrying speed are trying to squeeze through earlier while the light is still yellow (this gets worse if the yellow is long and the incoming drivers don't know if it's after red or after green), and collisions ensue.

The solutions for these problems taken in US and Europe are different. In Europe the yellow-after-red is shown together with the red still on, strongly suggesting "no, you may not enter", and in the other direction the green often blinks once 10 seconds before it switches to yellow. In US there is no yellow-after-red, the red changes directly to green, and yellow always goes only after green (the automatic transmissions being prevalent, there is no need to shift into gear). The yellow is often long, to let the traffic on the fast roads to clear off, Also, there is usually a period of red in all directions which lets the stragglers clear off the intersection for sure before the other side goes green. This is why slipping on red just after yellow had ended is considered no big deal in US and a major no-no in Europe. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.111|108.162.245.111]] 23:15, 23 January 2014 (UTC)

:Where I live, in Santa Cruz do Sul - Rio Grande do Sul - Brazil, we have no yellow before green, but very few traffic lights blink red once right before green. Here, slipping on red is also common, but it's also common to stretch it a bit more and confusion ensues. Continuing from what has been said below, some traffic lights in Porto Alegre even have a numeric countdown.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.220|108.162.212.220]] 20:06, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

In Brazil some cities have greens and red in a row, and they decrease to indicate how long the green or red will last. something like http://www.guiasjp.com/fotos_noticias/foto_1165344648.8822.jpg [[Special:Contributions/189.125.162.182|189.125.162.182]] 20:22, 5 October 2012 (UTC)
In BRazil too, in Goiânia there's a nice one here for pedestrians, with leds, that show an animated pedestrian walking and when the time is running out HE RUNS FASTER! Like, it's about to go green for the cars, but feel free to cross... IF YOU'RE FAST!

In Tianjin China they have a traffic signal that is a single bar of light. If it is green it starts subtracting bar length segments. When there is about a quarter left it turns yellow and then red. It then start subtracting bar length segments from the other end until it gets to about a quarter length and then turns green again. http://www.flickr.com/photos/bob406/3428844012

;Obvious

It's how traffic engineers troll you when you are going the wrong way on a one-way. Learn to read signs!

;Reference to previous comic

This comic has some tongue in cheek self reference to [[277: Long Light]]. #Meta And definite trolling, by [[Randall]]

:What about [[781: Ahead Stop]]?

:Turing Machine?

Any chance it is one?

;Etc

I was almost expected to see the Konami code in the left light, though I'm not sure how "B A Start" would have been shown. [[User:CityZen|CityZen]] ([[User talk:CityZen|talk]]) 01:13, 6 October 2012 (UTC)

;Music

I am no musician, but I can't help but wonder if there could be a hidden music chart in there somehow.
Also, if you want confusing, try understanding parking signs in Montreal.

:Might be, but depending on what pitches or sounds you assign to the lights, you could get pretty much every degree of harmony or cacophony you want. - Another possible music reference: Anybody reminded of Hendrix' "The Wind Cries Mary"? "The traffic lights, they turn, uh, blue tomorrow." [[Special:Contributions/89.0.230.165|89.0.230.165]] 08:14, 10 September 2013 (UTC)

;And You thought 4 stage was bad enough

Here In BC, in older installations, and I'm not sure whether any still exist, there used to be lights with 5 stages. It wasn't really any different than the standard red-yellow-green-turn combo you generally see where the turning light may come on, it just had the yellow arrow shown when the turning arrow is about to expire in it's own lamp. It behaves pretty expectantly, but it looks very imposing.

;Race cars

The second light has quite a resemblance to the "christmas tree" that governs the start of a drag race, where the lights change colors according to a pattern <nowiki>http://www</nowiki> dot nhra dot com/nhra101/basics.aspx [[Special:Contributions/69.121.10.82|69.121.10.82]] 04:32, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

I sat and watched this increasingly surreal show for about three minutes, then I broke down laughing when one of the lights turned purple. [[Special:Contributions/174.239.196.155|174.239.196.155]] 06:09, 11 September 2013 (UTC)

In UK, ALL lights go Red -> red AND yellow -> green -> yellow on it's own -> red again. Red and yellow means it's about to go green and yellow on it's own means it's about to go red. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.246|141.101.98.246]] 21:43, 8 November 2013 (UTC)

;Bird

What is the bird doing? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.65|108.162.218.65]] 19:12, 18 August 2015 (UTC)

;Left lane

The page says "In normal course, right turns would be permitted from the right lane and left turns from the left lanes.". In Melbourne there are intersections where traffic turning right is required to use the ''left'' lane. {{unsigned ip|141.101.70.169}}

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.111|108.162.216.111]] 03:15, 5 October 2016 (UTC) You should try driving in utah

I do not know how to add the incomplete tag but no where do I see any mention of the sign under the left most light, the one showing at least where I live no forward travel in any direction is allowed. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.159|162.158.62.159]] 11:59, 7 September 2017 (UTC)

;Turn right from left lane
'''Believe it or not,''', turning right from the left lane is actually a thing in {{w|Melbourne, Victoria}}. They call it a {{w|hook turn}}, and it's used on roads with trams to stop cars stopping on the tram line while waiting to turn. The car pulls over on the left (outermost lane in Australia), and when there's a large enough gap or the lights change it turns across all lanes of traffic. Terrifying thing when you see it for the first time.
[[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 02:36, 14 October 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2253: Star Wars Voyager 1

2020-01-10T06:52:51Z

Alcatraz ii: /* Rate of increase */ new section

== Rate of increase ==

Given that the first Star Wars movie and Voyager I were "released" around the same time, and that over the years Voyager has been getting further away while more Star Wars movies have been realeased, I wonder how often the time it takes for a message to reach Voyager I has been exactly the same as the total runtime of Star Wars movies at that date. Like, how far away was Voyager when Revenge of the Sith was released? This would make for an interesting graph.

RANDALL CAN YOU HEAR ME? MAKE A GRAPH PLS

Talk:356: Nerd Sniping

2014-09-29T00:53:33Z

Alcatraz ii:

Just because the problem contains an infinite series (or parallel) doesn't mean that it's unsolvable. It's tricky, certainly, and getting the "true" answer involves some rather heavy math, but it's not impossible. Indeed, Google shows that it's already been answered. [[Special:Contributions/76.122.5.96|76.122.5.96]] 20:42, 20 September 2012 (UTC)

I've always had an issue with this problem for one simple reason. In an infinite set of resistors, there is no space to apply a charge, thus there is no resistance. Ohm's law states Resistance = Voltage / I(current). So, in a system where there is no current (creating a divide by zero error), and there is no voltage (no change in electron work capacity, because we don't have a way to excite the electrons, because there is no power) Resistance is incalculable. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 22:22, 20 September 2012 (UTC)

We live in 3 dimensions, just place a battery above the grid with wires going to the 2 points. --[[Special:Contributions/84.197.34.154|84.197.34.154]] 22:59, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

:Not everybody does... --[[Special:Contributions/85.159.196.14|FlatlandDweller]] 11:08, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

This problem is "unsolvable" only if you try to just use the basic methods for finite networks.
There is a page on this at [http://mathpages.com/home/kmath668/kmath668.htm http://mathpages.com/home/kmath668/kmath668.htm] that reports that the cited points have a resistance of '''4/pi - 1/2''' ohms (.773234... ohms).
The 1/2 ohm resistance between adjacent nodes is actually well known.
[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 05:05, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

Solution here as well: http://mathworld.wolfram.com/news/2004-10-13/google/ [[User:Potie15|Potie15]] ([[User talk:Potie15|talk]]) 03:50, 18 March 2013 (UTC)

Nowhere it is said that the problem is unsolvable, just that it is interesting. Of course, the sniping is more effective is the problem is also difficult to solve, because otherwise the victim would get over it quickly. [[User:Dargor17|Dargor17]] ([[User talk:Dargor17|talk]]) 17:47, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

That method for parallel resistors is wrong. You don't divide resistances by the number of paths, you sum the reciprocals and then take the reciprocal of that. The method described only works if every resistor has the same value. While that's true in this problem, it's misleading to pass that off as a method that works for all cases. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.60|173.245.55.60]] 03:32, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:Good point. I made some slight alterations to clarify that we are assuming the resistors are equal. It seems a better solution than getting into the more complex version of the problem. --[[User:BlueMoonlet|BlueMoonlet]] ([[User talk:BlueMoonlet|talk]]) 12:20, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

The real question is: why did the physicist cross the road? --[[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 00:53, 29 September 2014 (UTC)

Amazing. From the first comment the discussion is diverted from discussing the comic, to discussing the problem presented in the comic. The commentators have been nerd sniped by a demonstration of nerd sniping. Randall is just that good. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.86|108.162.216.86]] 17:55, 30 April 2014 (UTC)

"Sniping" might also be a pun or have a deliberately dual meaning in this context, referring to both a sniper and a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snipe_hunt snipe hunt] (do kids still practice the latter?). The former makes sense if Black Hat's purpose is to actually rid the world of physics and math nerds (consistent with his characteristic misanthropy and cynicism), but the latter also fits the theme of merely distracting a nerd with an impossible task, which the title text suggests may have been Randall's motivation for the strip. (On a side note, the Wikipedia article reveals that the terms sniper and snipe hunt have a common origin, which makes twice in the last month it's resolved a long-standing etymological puzzle for me. The other case united the multiple, seemingly unrelated meanings of minute <nowiki>["tiny" vs. time]</nowiki> and second <nowiki>[ordinal vs. time]</nowiki>; see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexagesimal#Notation sexagesimal].) [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.182|173.245.54.182]] 01:40, 18 June 2014 (UTC)

I've been led to believe that 'minute' means 'tiny amount of time', 'second' is 'secondary tiny amount of time', and , I quote "Real snipe (a family of shorebirds) are difficult to catch for experienced hunters, so much so that the word "sniper" is derived from it to refer to anyone skilled enough to shoot one." from the snipe hunt wiki page. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.4|141.101.104.4]] 23:45, 27 September 2014 (UTC)

Talk:421: Making Hash Browns

2013-11-08T00:06:09Z

Alcatraz ii:

He could hit his friend with the potato who could then fall back onto his fork. [[Special:Contributions/98.229.99.185|98.229.99.185]] 20:09, 7 June 2013 (UTC)

He could dice the potato but not propel the freshly-made hash browns forward; they would instead fall on head. [[Special:Contributions/24.145.48.25|24.145.48.25]] 18:31, 4 September 2013 (UTC)

Because a potato getting dirty from the ground is totally one of the worst things that could happen. Newsflash: Potatoes come from the ground, and these ones don't look like they've been washed anyway. [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 00:06, 8 November 2013 (UTC)

421: Making Hash Browns

2013-11-08T00:03:45Z

Alcatraz ii: 419 - about crossbreeding forks and spoons. This looks like a direct reference to me.

{{comic
| number = 421
| date = September 5, 2008
| title = Making Hash Browns
| image = making_hash_browns.png
| titletext = There are at least fourteen ways this could go badly (seventeen if that fork is a dangerous crossbreed.)
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is attempting to make {{w|hash browns}}. A hash brown is a way of serving a potato where the potato has been diced or shredded in some way, then pan-fried. Cueball's method for making hash browns, though, is rather unique. He is throwing potatoes into the air and striking them with a flaming tennis racket at his friend, who is holding a tray with a dangerously tilting glass of orange juice balanced on top. His friend is holding a fork in the other hand. The idea is that the tennis racket would simultaneously dice the potato, fry it, and then launch the completed product towards his friend's plate. In reality, this probably wouldn't do much. To properly {{w|Pan frying|pan-fry}} food, it must be cooked in a pan with some oil to lubricate the food, with enough time for the heat to transfer through the oil and spread properly through the food. Hitting a potato with a flaming tennis racket would not cook it as it would strike it too quickly, and it probably wouldn't dice it either unless the wire of the racket is incredibly sharp. Cueball would probably just end up batting a very hot, uncooked, unprepared potato at his friend.

The title text comments on how many ways this experiment could go badly, and jokes that there are even more potential problems if the fork Cueball's friend is holding is a cross-breed (see [[419: Forks and Spoons]]). Here are just a few potential ways the activity could go wrong.

#Cueball could burn himself with the flaming tennis racket.
#The can of gasoline could leak and then Cueball could drop the racket, causing a fire to spread.
#Cueball may fail to hit the potato and it would get dirty from the ground.
#Cueball may fail to hit the potato and whack himself with the aforementioned flaming tennis racket.
#Cueball may hit the potato and knock the plate out of his friend's hand, smashing it.
#Cueball may hit the potato and knock the glass out of his friend's hand, smashing that instead.
#Both of the above could happen.
#Cueball might instead hit the potato at his friend's head.
#Cueball could accidentally launch the tennis racket itself (if he has exceptionally poor grip,) at his friend.
#His friend might catch the potato and burn himself on it (it would be a hot potato.)
#Cueball could drop the tennis racket onto the can of gasoline, causing it to explode.
#Even if none of the above happened, Cueball would fail to actually ''cook'' the potato,
#Likewise, Cueball would probably not succeed in dicing the potato.
#A velociraptor could appear out of nowhere and eat the potato, then proceed to devour Cueball and his friend. (A possibility which likely plagues Randall's mind daily.)

It's unclear what Randall may or may not have had on his mind, though, with regards to specific ways the situation in the comic could go wrong.

The title text is a reference to [[419: Forks and Spoons]], which was published only four days earlier.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball stands holding a flaming tennis racket. He is throwing a potato in the air as if to serve like a tennis ball. Behind him is a red gas can and a sack of potatoes. Across from him is a another person holding a fork in one hand and balancing a serving tray with a glass of orange juice on it.]

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

415: Restraining Order

2013-11-07T23:54:24Z

Alcatraz ii:

{{comic
| number =415
| date =April 25, 2008
| title =Restraining Order
| image =restraining_order.png
| titletext =On Mondays I go running, so you'll have to get up early and follow along a parallel street. What fun!
}}

==Explanation==
A {{w|restraining order}} is a legal injunction requiring a party to do, or refrain from doing, certain acts, under penalty of fines or imprisonment. The kind of restraining order referred to in this comic is one that forbids someone from getting within a certain distance of the other person, and is designed to safeguard the complainant's life.

But the joke in this comic is that Ponytail has gotten a restraining order against Cueball that requires him to stay between 500 yards and 600 yards of her at ''all times,'' which needless to say will cause a major disruption to his life.

The title text says he'll have to get up early on Mondays and follow her jogging course along a parallel street. Of course, such a restraining order could not exist in reality.

A {{w|yard}} is a unit of length used in the United States, slightly less than a metre.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Ponytail stand facing one another. Both hold sheets of paper.]
:Not content with normal restraining orders, my ex got creative.
:Cueball: Wait... I can't get closer than 500 yards of you... or more than 600 yards away?
:Ponytail: You'll have to move somewhere within this ring.

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

Talk:139: I Have Owned Two Electric Skateboards

2013-11-07T23:47:09Z

Alcatraz ii:

I can hardly believe that Randall yet had any thougt of Danish, as he introduced her in [[377: Journal 2]]. It's just a "chic", like "Megan-2", who only just happens to have a little longer hair. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:53, 25 February 2013 (UTC)
:We know Randall likes electric skateboards. And most of his early comics are not on a deeper sarcasm. This was just a fun comic. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:13, 29 May 2013 (UTC)
Do you really want a longer explanation, if there's nothing more to explain? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 13:23, 1 June 2013 (UTC)
:Your link to [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/bitches-love-x bitches] is definitively wrong. I am sure it is related to this song: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicks_Dig_It Chicks DigIt] by Chris Cagle. The video was performed at a skate park and he tries to impress females, because the "chicks dig it". What do you think?--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:49, 1 June 2013 (UTC)
::Randalls arrows pointing towards "chicks" is probably not referencing anything else than the chicks. It's just a word. I don't know who linked to the "biches love X" meme, but I am quite sure it was just for the fun of it, and nothing more. :) –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 18:12, 1 June 2013 (UTC)
:::I was just checking the early history of this explain and this "bitches" are from "Revision as of 20:04, 17 September 2012 by Lcarsos". Maybe I did misunderstood you but this explain still does need some polish. So I will work on this soon.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:52, 1 June 2013 (UTC)
:::I feel that the connections are too vague for the conclusion that the comic was inspired by the "Chicks dig it"-song. The comic doesn't use the phrase "chicks dig it", and the song doesn't seem to touch upon skateboarding.

:::I don't think the comic has anything to do with the "bitches love X"-meme either, I think lcarsos only linked to it because it humorously related to the topic (like the song). I suggest that we have those two things somehow linked from the explanation or trivia without any claims that the comic was inspired by or references them. ––[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 00:18, 8 June 2013 (UTC)

I did remove the "bitches" last week and now I found a proper sentence for the title text. The "incomplete" tag is removed.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:50, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
:Often it feels like explanations of self-evident stuff just describes or repeats the stuff concerned... Secondly, how about: "I suggest that we have those two things somehow linked from the explanation or trivia without any claims that the comic was inspired by or references them." ––[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 22:24, 9 June 2013 (UTC)
:Please never edit posts by other people! Ok? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:29, 9 June 2013 (UTC)
::Hey, I didn't edit your post, I indented it, only to help people follow the conversation. I assumed it was a reply, since you were talking about the "bitches"-meme. Sorry if I misinterpreted. Why did you remove "bitches love X"? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:00, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

Is it Cueball or Randall talking in the title text? I always thought of it as Randall's side note, rather than the characters in the comic saying it. [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 23:47, 7 November 2013 (UTC)

407: Cheap GPS

2013-11-07T23:30:58Z

Alcatraz ii:

{{comic
| number = 407
| date = April 7, 2008
| title = Cheap GPS
| image = cheap gps.png
| titletext = In lieu of mapping software, I once wrote a Perl program which, given a USB GPS receiver and a destination, printed 'LEFT' 'RIGHT' OR 'STRAIGHT' based on my heading.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|GPS}} is a satellite navigation system used to determine the location of a receiver based on its distance from at least three satellites, theoretical, in practice the receiver requests more satellites for calculating an accurate result. While the system was invented by the U.S. military it is now common used in planes, ships, or cars to provide the current location and the directions to a specified location.

[[Cueball]] just has a "cheap GPS", which is only capable of telling him whether or not he is on the correct path using a cold to hot scale. "Hot and Cold" refers to many child games, "Hot" is a correct direction, "Cold" is just wrong.

The series of instructions spoken ("cold", "warm", "hot", then "cold" again) suggests that Cueball either missed a turn and his GPS receiver now has to find a new route, or that he just passed his destination.

The title text describes a "cheap GPS" written in Perl, that only shows whether to turn left, right or not turn at all. A joke about many annoying phrases modern navigation systems do spell, still in bad computer languages.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball driving down the road, with a GPS reading "COLD".]
:GPS: COLD... WARM... HOT! COLD...

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

Talk:541: TED Talk

2013-11-06T05:10:46Z

Alcatraz ii:

It's not the first time Randall gets banned from conventions, see [[153: Cryptography]].
[[User:Xylon|Xylon]] ([[User talk:Xylon|talk]]) 13:10, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

: There are enough of these that it should probably be a category. (Anon) 12 August 2013 {{unsigned ip|24.142.134.100}}

How about "Linux(or BSD (: )"? Actually, that looks just as weird. Oh well. [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 05:10, 6 November 2013 (UTC)