explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2838: Dubious Islands

2023-10-06T22:56:46Z

Apocolypse101: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2838
| date = October 6, 2023
| title = Dubious Islands
| image = dubious_islands_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x1040px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Running for office in Minnesota on the single-issue platform 'dig a permanent channel through the Traverse Gap because it will make this map more satisfying.'
}}

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

The definition of "island" is a piece of land completely surrounded by bodies of water. In most cases we don't count rivers and canals as the surrounding bodies, although small pieces of land like Manhattan are exceptions.

Randall has ignored this, so he considers large parts of North America as islands because they're separated from other parts of the continent by major rivers, canals, and large lakes.

The Parting of the Waters https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parting_of_the_Waters explains the connection between the Yellowstone and Snake Rivers shown.

It is unclear why Divide Creek https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divide_Creek which connects Hudson's Bay to the Columbia River is not shown on this map.

The title text suggests that a new island could be created by digging a canal through the {{w|Traverse Gap}}, and this is Randall's platform when running for office in Minnesota. This is unnecessary and would create little benefit to residents{{Citation needed}}, but constituents who like interesting maps might vote for him.

These islands are possibly Randall's humorous interpretation of what continued climate change-induced sea level rise might cause.

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

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:2801: Contact Merge

2023-07-13T17:20:48Z

Apocolypse101:

Same person.
:All three of them...[[User:Tier666|Tier666]] ([[User talk:Tier666|talk]]) 08:32, 13 July 2023 (UTC)

Why is he only using John's first name when talking about him, as if Surf King should know who that is, when it's clear they've "never met"?
Shouldn't it be: My phone keeps wanting to merge you with my friend John Smith? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.30|172.71.178.30]] 07:46, 13 July 2023 (UTC)
: Because he's spectacularly unaware, and assumes that everyone that he 'knows' also know each other?[[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.110|172.70.90.110]] 08:16, 13 July 2023 (UTC)
: Because "my friend John" is perfectly specific enough. It could have (if not for the needs of the joke) just as easily been: My phone keeps trying to merge you with one of my other friends. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.247.51|172.69.247.51]] 13:40, 13 July 2023 (UTC)

This is the first XKCD in a long time that I have absolutely no understanding of. Who is Surf King? Even Google doesn't bring anything up (I assumed it was someone well known in the USA but unknown to the few of us that don't live in that country). Please someone post an explanation soon! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.46|162.158.74.46]] 09:06, 13 July 2023 (UTC)
:No one in particular. Just someone named John. The short explanation is that his phone figured out that "Surf King" and "John" are the same person/contact while Cueball remains ignorant. [[User:627235|627235]] ([[User talk:627235|talk]]) 09:18, 13 July 2023 (UTC)
::I see now. I think I was reading too much into it. I usually assume Randall is operating on a level far above my own! [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.146|172.69.79.146]] 10:02, 13 July 2023 (UTC)

I took the "4 years" thing to mean that Cueball had been chatting with SurfKing for 4 years (not an idle chat, but still actively used), and has somehow missed the fact that it's his friend John he's been talking with the whole time. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.38.25|172.70.38.25]] 11:51, 13 July 2023 (UTC)
:Yes, and I think it's probably a group chat. It might not be that unusual for someone to use a nickname in a group chat (maybe because someone else gave them that nickname). The group chat context might also make it more likely that a context would have been established where Cueball might expect that everyone would know who "John" was, though as pointed out above, Cueball is pretty clueless.[[User:Mwphil|Mwphil]] ([[User talk:Mwphil|talk]]) 11:56, 13 July 2023 (UTC)
:: Adding, I think it has to be a group chat because it would be too strange even for Cueball if he started a one-on-one chat with Surf King without knowing who he was, but if some friend added them both to a chat this situation might make sense. [[User:Mwphil|Mwphil]] ([[User talk:Mwphil|talk]]) 12:05, 13 July 2023 (UTC)
::: One more, sorry: This *has* to be a group text because Cueball is @-ing Surf King. You don't need to @ someone if they're the only other person you're talking to. (Also Surf King must be pretty annoyed if he's managed to break out the bold italics in a group text, I don't think most texting services support that.) [[User:Mwphil|Mwphil]] ([[User talk:Mwphil|talk]]) 12:11, 13 July 2023 (UTC)
::(Comment below edit-conflicted by sub-thread thisnisvindented to... Adding this replybafter, but same timestamp.)
::I deliberately left "group chat" unsaid (i.e. leaving it open) because of the lack of correspondants' avatars on the non-self side of the conversation, which seems to be a standard for both actual and xkcdified representation. Though 'tagging' SurfKing might indicate a more broadcast chat, it's as possible/polite to say in a one-to-one (like starting a letter "Dear Aunty Emma", though the envelope it was in was clearly addressed to her). ((This bit written before edit-conflict with Mwphil's triple-indent, above. But answers it anyway, possibly.))
::Anyway, likely possibly its a grouping-agnostic 'chatroom' type thing (or conversation handler) whereby you invite/include at least one other person and it threads all messages with the same full set of contacts together for easy reading (and possible separation from derivative conversations with additions/removals from that set, unless it allows retroactive inclusion/chucking). As said below, I've used many different chat-type methods (though not directly with the "speech bubble" UI as visual theme) and I think we can't pin this down to a particular family of P2P interfaces. But I find the respective thought processes of the two participants (both inside and outside the screenshot shown) more interesting than the more nebulous decisions as to UX/functionality. Strangely for me, being that I'm much more comfortable thinking about code than people where it's just something involving myself.
::But, of course, open to be re-rewritten. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.35|172.70.85.35]] 12:22, 13 July 2023 (UTC)

Done a significant rewrite/expansion to the explanation. My experience of "bubble chats" like the comic is restricted only to screenshots (or illustrations, like this) so I'm extrapolating a lot from all the variations that exist, plus adding extensive IRC/BBS experience which is linked by cross-pollination (pre-web/Web-1.5/etc forming a clear basis for Web2.x and App-based paradigms now handle instant/asynchronous short-form messaging conventions). If I'm totally wrong, I'm sure you'll rip out the bad bits. Wanted also to suggest the possibility that if John hasn't actually been seriously using Surf King for a while (but still has pull-/push-notifications active), it was only Cueball's necro that got him to go back into whatever chat-handler that was set up to handle his surf-dude chat. But it was already very unweildy an Explanation, so I'll only leave this bit of my imagination here - to be more easily ignored/dismissed. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.35|172.70.85.35]] 12:22, 13 July 2023 (UTC)

''The title text implies that Cueball (still unaware of the reality of the sitution) has had second thoughts about the compatability of Surf King/John with himself'' - I disagree with this. I think what the title text is saying that even though Cueball now knows John and Surf King are the same person, he still thinks they wouldn't like each other - this is philosophically confusing to Cueball, and suggests that John has subtle self-hatred issues which only became obvious thanks to Cueball's mistake. [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 13:22, 13 July 2023 (UTC)

Came here because I didn't understand the comic. Now I am even more confused. It would be great if someone could explain the comic in a clear and understandable way. It is possible that there are multiple interpretations, but at the moment they are intermingled. --[[Special:Contributions/172.71.160.55|172.71.160.55]] 14:18, 13 July 2023 (UTC)
: Cueball is in an ongoing chat (possibly a group chat) with someone whose alias is "SurfKing". He tells SurfKing that the contacts manager on his phone is trying to merge "SurfKing" with his friend, John. This has happened repeatedly, but he doesn't realize the cause: John *is* SurfKing. He says that SurfKing should meet John because they both like to surf. SurfKing is outraged by this because he has been talking to Cueball in this chat for four years, and yet Cueball still is unaware that SurfKing is John. In other words, John has been talking to Cueball for four years and Cueball thinks he is some other guy called "SurfKing" after all of this time and never connected the two.
:This sometimes happens in real life, particularly in group chat. You could be chatting with a group of people, not knowing who they all are behind their aliases, and continue for some time. Eventually, you become friends with people whom you have never seen in real life, not realizing that "SurfKing" was just your friend John who likes to surf. Alternatively, you could meet a bunch of people in real life at a surfing competition, giving out your contact info, and "SurfKing" strikes up a conversation later. You think this is a new person you met at the competition and chatted with for years before you find out that this is just your friend's alias. Randall then comments that he wonders who holds the longest record for having done this.[[User:Geek Prophet|Geek Prophet]] ([[User talk:Geek Prophet|talk]]) 16:32, 13 July 2023 (UTC)

== three dots ==

I don't think the three dots are Surf King not deigning to respond. Aren't three dots (in some chat things?) what you get when someone is typing but hasn't sent the message yet? So Surf King has started to try to respond to this but is too flabbergasted to finish his comment. [[User:Mwphil|Mwphil]] ([[User talk:Mwphil|talk]]) 12:03, 13 July 2023 (UTC)
:I thought there could be three things they could represent:
:*Surf King "had no words" to Cueball's inane reality-ignoring comment, it's his version of 'eye rolling'. Which Cueball didn't understand (fully/correctly).
:*The "your party is typing" symbol. (Although that shouldn't be still there once further messaging (to and from that party) have been added to the chat-sequence.)
:*It's a conversation-manager indication of time passed.
:**And/or that further messages existed in this spot but that are ellided in this view (leaving intro message, for context, and the current foot of the conversation).
:To me, the first makes most sense (flabberghasted and ''did'' type something). The second looks wrong (reason given). The third is clear from context (the time passing), though there's a problem with the alternate/additional 'third' point being that it doesn't help the joke of this being a four year (mostly no-contact?) conversation where Surf King has seemingly forgotten things while Cueball has no grasp of the temporal dislocation.
:But YMMV. And because I wasn't ''totally'' sure I tried to write what I wrote to cover all three main ideas. (It wasn't really dealt with at all when I started my edit regarding it. Any further informed change is of course perfectly welcome, but at least you now have my half-considered lines of thought about all this.) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.153|172.71.178.153]] 12:39, 13 July 2023 (UTC)
:...Forgot to mention the fourth (separate) interpretation I also had.
:*It's a response so long that it's been collapsed behind an icon. Though usually that'd be the first bit of it being shown with an "<expand>" or "<read more...>", as a tappable hotspot, this might not be the case here.
:But ''if'' it's a collapsed paragraph of a long "no, they're both me, you know this because when we last met I..." reply, then it seemingly ''also'' went <sup>Whoosh==></sup><sub>Cueball's head</sub>, at least by the time four further years had passed. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.62|172.70.85.62]] 13:10, 13 July 2023 (UTC)
::About the "Your party is typing" message disappearing, I do think that it's within reasonable comics convention to show things that happen in temporal sequence within the same panel within reasonable limits. (https://readgraphicnovels.blogspot.com/2017/04/read-understanding-comics-graphic-novel-chapter-4-page-2.html) So Randall could be depicting the three dots symbol because it had appeared in the chat before, even though not everything in the panel appears at once. I don't know how much he uses this convention though (well I'm pretty sure there are panels in the strip depicting passage of time within a panel, but I don't know if any work this way).
::My take on John/Surf King typing three dots is that that would be a sort of passive-aggressive reaction, and I think John/Surf King is supposed to be a pretty normal person. Albeit one who's friends with Cueball. This is admittedly my interpretation [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.92|172.70.110.92]] 14:09, 13 July 2023 (UTC)
On reading it, I at least was convinced that this was a conversation taking place today, with John actually typing the three dots. It is true that the "Hey" suggests that this could be a (much) later text, but there is no reason to suppose it is four years later.
:I think this is the only interpretation possible, and the current interpretation is obviously incorrect. --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.92.201|172.70.92.201]] 16:58, 13 July 2023 (UTC)

I thought that rather than there being a long gap between the two parts of the conversation, like the current explanation says, that "Surf King"/John was expressing disbelief that Cueball hadn't understood that they were the same person for the four years that they've been chatting.
[[User:Apocolypse101|Apocolypse101]] ([[User talk:Apocolypse101|talk]]) 17:20, 13 July 2023 (UTC)

2314: Carcinization

2020-06-01T23:02:21Z

Apocolypse101:

{{comic
| number = 2314
| date = June 2, 2020
| title = Carcinization
| image = carcinization.png
| titletext = Nature abhors a vacuum and also anything that's not a crab.
}}

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

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[Cueball and Megan are walking next to each other towards the left.]

Megan: Have you heard of "Carcinization"?

Megan: The tendency of nature to evolve things into crabs.

Cueball: Oh?

[Same scene]

Megan: Yeah, the basic "crab" design has evolved separately a number of times.

Cueball: Evolution just loves making crabs, I guess!

[Narrower panel - Only Megan is seen, still walking, and appearing to shrug.]

Megan: Apparently!

[Two smaller panels, one above the other. The first panel shows Megan continuing to walk along. The second shows Megan turning and looking back to see where Cueball has gone.]

[Megan has stopped walking and is looking at a small crab scuttling along on the ground, which Cueball apparently evolved into.]

Megan: Oh no

{{comic discussion}}

2314: Carcinization

2020-06-01T23:01:16Z

Apocolypse101:

2314: Carcinization

2020-06-01T22:59:45Z

Apocolypse101: Added transcript

{{comic
| number = 2314
| date = June 2, 2020
| title = Carcinization
| image = carcinization.png
| titletext = Nature abhors a vacuum and also anything that's not a crab.
}}

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

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[Cueball and Megan are walking next to each other towards the left.]

Megan: Have you heard of "Carcinization"?
Megan: The tendency of nature to evolve things into crabs.
Cueball: Oh?

[Same scene]
Megan: Yeah, the basic "crab" design has evolved separately a number of times.
Cueball: Evolution just loves making crabs, I guess!

[Narrower panel - Only Megan is seen, still walking, and appearing to shrug.]
Megan: Apparently!

[Two smaller panels, one above the other. The first panel shows Megan continuing to walk along. The second shows Megan turning and looking back to see where Cueball has gone.]

[Megan has stopped walking and is looking at a small crab scuttling along on the ground, which Cueball apparently evolved into.]
Megan: Oh no

{{comic discussion}}

2215: Faculty:Student Ratio

2019-10-15T00:02:14Z

Apocolypse101: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 2215
| date = October 15, 2019
| title = Faculty:Student Ratio
| image = faculty_student_ratio.png
| titletext = They managed to briefly hit the top of the rankings when they rejected everyone except one applicant, published 5 billion research papers that just said "Hi," and hired one of their graduates for $50 trillion/year (then fired them after 10 microseconds.)
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a GRADUATE. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Schools are usually rated for students to pick which one to attend. One of the metrics that schools use is a ratio between the number of faculty members to the number of students. Normally, this determines how much teachers get to spend individual time with students. The lower the ratio, the smaller classes teachers have to teach, and thus notice individual students more.
However, having more teachers than students is a bad idea, as many people trying to teach one person is normally a bad idea, as an individual student would not be that much help, and that one teacher would suffice for the job. {{Citation needed}}

In the title text, other metrics are skewed to be in the school's favor.

Having a high standard for entry (which is usually associated with high prestige or better schools) is subverted by the fact that it is near impossible for one to get in, thus making the school undesirable to try and apply to.

A high amount of research papers would normally indicate a high number of scientific studies conducted at the school, however the messages are devoid of any sort of useful information.

A high hiring rate (percentage of students that have gotten a job after education) is favorable, as it is the endgame for many students attending these types of schools. However, the school in question artificially inflated it by having 1 out of their one students be hired by them (having a 100% hiring rate) and giving them a starting salary that is very high, but not giving them enough time to actually reasonably gain that amount.

$50 trillion/year for 10 microseconds is approximately $15.85 (= 10 / 10^6 / 3600 / 24 / 365 * 50*10^12).

==Transcript==
[Cueball is sitting hunched over a desk writing while 10 professors crowd around him.]

Female Professor: "How's the work going?"

Cueball: "Can you all at least stand back a little?"

[Caption below the panel]:
My school tried to game the ratings by having a 30:1 faculty:student ratio

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

[Cueball sits at a desk, with five faculty members to his left and five to his right. Among the faculty members are Ponytail, two versions of Megan, and at least four other versions of Cueball.]

:Fourth faculty member from the left: How's the work going?
:Cueball at desk: Can you all at least stand back a little?

My school tried to game the ratings by having a 30:1 faculty:student ratio

{{comic discussion}}

2215: Faculty:Student Ratio

2019-10-15T00:01:00Z

Apocolypse101: Added transcript

{{comic
| number = 2215
| date = October 15, 2019
| title = Faculty:Student Ratio
| image = faculty_student_ratio.png
| titletext = They managed to briefly hit the top of the rankings when they rejected everyone except one applicant, published 5 billion research papers that just said "Hi," and hired one of their graduates for $50 trillion/year (then fired them after 10 microseconds.)
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a GRADUATE. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Schools are usually rated for students to pick which one to attend. One of the metrics that schools use is a ratio between the number of faculty members to the number of students. Normally, this determines how much teachers get to spend individual time with students. The lower the ratio, the smaller classes teachers have to teach, and thus notice individual students more.
However, having more teachers than students is a bad idea, as many people trying to teach one person is normally a bad idea, as an individual student would not be that much help, and that one teacher would suffice for the job. {{Citation needed}}

In the title text, other metrics are skewed to be in the school's favor.

Having a high standard for entry (which is usually associated with high prestige or better schools) is subverted by the fact that it is near impossible for one to get in, thus making the school undesirable to try and apply to.

A high amount of research papers would normally indicate a high number of scientific studies conducted at the school, however the messages are devoid of any sort of useful information.

A high hiring rate (percentage of students that have gotten a job after education) is favorable, as it is the endgame for many students attending these types of schools. However, the school in question artificially inflated it by having 1 out of their one students be hired by them (having a 100% hiring rate) and giving them a starting salary that is very high, but not giving them enough time to actually reasonably gain that amount.

$50 trillion/year for 10 microseconds is approximately $15.85 (= 10 / 10^6 / 3600 / 24 / 365 * 50*10^12).

==Transcript==
[Cueball is sitting hunched over a desk writing while 10 professors crowd around him.]

Female Professor: "How's the work going?"

Cueball: "Can you all at least stand back a little?"

Title Text: They managed to briefly hit the top of the rankings when they rejected everyone except one applicant, published 5 billion research papers that just said "Hi," and hired one of their graduates for $50 trillion/year (then fired them after 10 microseconds.)
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[Cueball sits at a desk, with five faculty members to his left and five to his right. Among the faculty members are Ponytail, two versions of Megan, and at least four other versions of Cueball.]

:Fourth faculty member from the left: How's the work going?
:Cueball at desk: Can you all at least stand back a little?

My school tried to game the ratings by having a 30:1 faculty:student ratio

{{comic discussion}}