explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1446: Landing

2014-11-12T09:27:54Z

Artod: /* Frame by Frame Breakdown */

{{comic
| number = 1446
| date = November 12, 2014
| title = ???
| image = ???.png
| titletext = ...
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Buckle up, boys.}}
This comic changes over time, tracking the progress of The [http://www.esa.int European Space Agency's] Rosetta Spacecraft Lander. Frames of the comic began appearing at midnight (EST) on November 12, 2014 and updated every five minutes. Together, the images form a [http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip_book flip book].

==Frame by Frame Breakdown==
{| class="wikitable plainlinks table-padding"
|-
!Image
!Day/Time
|-
|[[Media:???.png|00:00:00]]||1/00:00:00
|-
|[[Media:???2.png|00:05:00]]||1/00:05:00
|-
|[[Media:???3.png|00:10:00]]||1/00:10:00
|-
|[[Media:???4.png|00:15:00]]||1/00:15:00
|-
|[[Media:???5.png|00:20:00]]||1/00:20:00
|-
|[[Media:???6.png|00:25:00]]||1/00:25:00
|-
|[[Media:???7.png|00:30:00]]||1/00:30:00
|-
|[[Media:???8.png|00:35:00]]||1/00:35:00
|-
|[[Media:???9.png|00:40:00]]||1/00:40:00
|-
|[[Media:???10.png|00:45:00]]||1/00:45:00
|-
|[[Media:???11.png|00:50:00]]||1/00:50:00
|-
|[[Media:???12.png|00:55:00]]||1/00:55:00
|-
|[[Media:???13.png|01:00:00]]||1/01:00:00
|-
|[[Media:???14.png|01:05:00]]||1/01:05:00
|-
|[[Media:???15.png|01:10:00]]||1/01:10:00
|-
|[[Media:???16.png|01:15:00]]||1/01:15:00
|-
|[[Media:???17.png|01:20:00]]||1/01:20:00
|-
|[[Media:???18.png|01:25:00]]||1/01:25:00
|-
|[[Media:???19.png|01:30:00]]||1/01:30:00
|-
|[[Media:???20.png|01:35:00]]||1/01:35:00
|-
|[[Media:???21.png|01:40:00]]||1/01:40:00
|-
|[[Media:???22.png|01:45:00]]||1/01:45:00
|-
|[[Media:???23.png|01:50:00]]||1/01:50:00
|-
|[[Media:???24.png|01:55:00]]||1/01:55:00
|-
|[[Media:???25.png|02:00:00]]||1/02:00:00
|-
|[[Media:???26.png|02:05:00]]||1/02:05:00
|-
|[[Media:???27.png|02:10:00]]||1/02:10:00
|-
|[[Media:???28.png|02:15:00]]||1/02:15:00
|-
|[[Media:???29.png|02:20:00]]||1/02:20:00
|-
|[[Media:???30.png|02:25:00]]||1/02:25:00
|-
|[[Media:???31.png|02:30:00]]||1/02:30:00
|-
|[[Media:???32.png|02:35:00]]||1/02:35:00
|-
|[[Media:???33.png|02:40:00]]||1/02:40:00
|-
|[[Media:???34.png|02:45:00]]||1/02:45:00
|-
|[[Media:???35.png|02:50:00]]||1/02:50:00
|-
|[[Media:???36.png|02:55:00]]||1/02:55:00
|-
|[[Media:???37.png|03:00:00]]||1/03:00:00
|-
|[[Media:???38.png|03:05:00]]||1/03:05:00
|-
|[[Media:???39.png|03:10:00]]||1/03:10:00
|-
|[[Media:???40.png|03:25:00]]||1/03:25:00
|-
|[[Media:???41.png|03:35:00]]||1/03:35:00
|-
|[[Media:???42.png|03:40:00]]||1/03:40:00
|-
|[[Media:???43.png|03:50:00]]||1/03:50:00
|-
|[[Media:???44.png|04:10:00]]||1/04:10:00
|-
|[[Media:???45.png|04:15:00]]||1/04:15:00
|-
|[[Media:???46.png|04:20:00]]||1/04:20:00
|-
|[[Media:???47.png|04:25:00]]||1/04:25:00
|-
|[[Media:???48.png|04:30:00]]||1/04:30:00
|-
|[[Media:???49.png|04:35:00]]||1/04:35:00
|-
|[[Media:???50.png|04:40:00]]||1/04:40:00
|-
|[[Media:???51.png|04:45:00]]||1/04:45:00
|-
|[[Media:???52.png|04:50:00]]||1/04:50:00
|-
|[[Media:???53.png|04:55:00]]||1/04:55:00
|-
|[[Media:???54.png|05:00:00]]||1/05:00:00
|}

==Transcript==
00:35:00
:Rosetta: Three hours to separation
00:45:00
:Philae: Has anyone ever tried this before?
00:50:00
:Rosetta: I don't think so.
01:25:00
:Rosetta: Ready to begin pre-delivery burn.
02:20:00
:Rosetta: We are ''go'' for separation!
02:25:00
:Rosetta: We are ''go'' for separation!
:Philae: ''Yessss!''
03:05:00
:Philae: Can I just go now?
03:10:00
:Rosetta: Well it's been a fun 10 years together.
03:25:00
:Rosetta: Well it's been a fun 10 years together.
:Philae: Yeah! ... a little boring maybe.
03:50:00
:Rosetta: Ok, turning on ''concert''. I'll send you signals through the comet, once you're down there, so we can measure what's inside it.
:Philae: Assuming comets even ''have'' insides!
:Rosetta: I'm, uh, pretty sure they do.
04:10:00
:Philae: ''Wheee!''
04:15:00
:Rosetta: Quick, take a picture of me!
:Philae: Just take a selfie
:Rosetta: Can't. No front-facing camera

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]

Talk:881: Probability

2014-01-20T07:06:02Z

Artod:

I've been through this, even though it was a little over a year ago, this strip brings me back to how I tried to rationalise the probabilities to deal with the news, and the only thing I could think of was "I want a better number, god, noodle-monster, anybody, please, give me a better number".

John [[Special:Contributions/60.225.31.6|60.225.31.6]] 00:40, 28 September 2013 (UTC)

Can anyone please provide an update to this page on Randall's fiance's health? Apologies if this is common knowledge.
I agree with John's reaction. I wanted a better number for my wife back in the spring of 2008, and got it. She survived 3 years instead of the (then) predicted average of six months for inflammatory breast cancer. We could have been just an outlier on the low probability end of the curve, but I like to think the medical community is continually improving their curves, and I am very grateful for the extra time. She passed away four days after this strip was posted - which explains why I haven't seen this strip until now.

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.228|108.162.216.228]] 21:26, 28 November 2013 (UTC)Grant

So, how is this incomplete? Can we remove the incompleteness mark? --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.196|173.245.53.196]] 13:02, 19 January 2014 (UTC)

I think the linking to the blog post is more sensitive than explaining it here. Remove tag? --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.207|141.101.98.207]] 14:19, 19 January 2014 (UTC)

What is the dashed line? It kind of looks like it might be the derivative of the solid line.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.214.53|108.162.214.53]] 00:39, 20 January 2014 (UTC)

I think I explained the dashed line, it's a hazard function or at least it would be a plausible hazard function for that kind of survival function. Feel free to improve the formatting or remove the incomplete tag. --[[User:Artod|Artod]] ([[User talk:Artod|talk]]) 07:06, 20 January 2014 (UTC)

881: Probability

2014-01-20T07:03:59Z

Artod: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 881
| date = April 4, 2011
| title = Probability
| image = probability.png
| titletext = My normal approach is useless here, too.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|The difference between the two lines have to be explained.}}

[[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] are sitting on a hospital bed, reading a piece of paper with the statistics for {{w|breast cancer}} survival. It looks like Megan has just been diagnosed with breast cancer. The thick line represents the survival rate distribution (probability to be alive after X years, unconditioned): 81% are alive at 5 years, while 77% survive to 10 years. The dashed line represents the {{w|hazard function}} (in very loose terms, the risk of failing/dying at time t+delta after having survived until time t), which is the rate between the density of the failure distribution and the survival function.

[[Randall]] wrote this comic after his fiancee was diagnosed with breast cancer. Two months after posting this strip, he posted [http://blog.xkcd.com/2011/06/30/family-illness/ this blog post] explaining the cancer strips.

The title text references [[55: Useless|comic #55]]. Cueball's (and Randall's) normal approach -- math -- isn't much help in dealing with ''this'' emotional situation, either.

==Transcript==
:[A plot of years vs. percent, with a solid and a dashed line. The solid line starts at 100%, and drops constantly. The dashed line starts around 85%, rises to 95% after 5 years, then drops.]

:[A simple table.]
:{| class="wikitable"
|-
|  5 years
| 81%
|-
| 10 years
| 77%
|}

:[Cueball and Megan are sitting on a bench, next to an IV drip hanging from a rack. Cueball is holding a paper.]
:Cueball: You know, probability used to be my favorite branch of math
:Cueball: Because it had so many real-life applications.

:[They embrace, faces together.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Cancer]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Statistics]]

1165

2013-01-25T09:06:09Z

Artod: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1165
| date = January 25, 2013
| title = Amazon
| image = amazon_1165.png
| titletext = Amazon.com took a surprise early lead with 'Time required to transport a package from Iquitos, Peru to Manaus, Brazil' but then lost it at 'Minutes to skeletonize a cow'.
}}

==Explanation==

==Transcript==

:Round 14
:Estimated outflow volume
:in cubic meters per second
:[A cube of water representing the outflow of the Amazon]
:Amazon 220,000
:[A pile of boxes representing the outflow of Amazon.com]
:Amazon.com 0.9
:Advantage: Amazon

{{comic discussion}}

1165

2013-01-25T09:05:52Z

Artod: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1165
| date = January 25, 2013
| title = Amazon
| image = amazon_1165.png
| titletext = Amazon.com took a surprise early lead with 'Time required to transport a package from Iquitos, Peru to Manaus, Brazil' but then lost it at 'Minutes to skeletonize a cow'.
}}

==Explanation==

==Transcript==

:Round 14
:Estimated outflow volume
:in cubic meter per second
:[A cube of water representing the outflow of the Amazon]
:Amazon 220,000
:[A pile of boxes representing the outflow of Amazon.com]
:Amazon.com 0.9
:Advantage: Amazon

{{comic discussion}}

1165

2013-01-25T08:58:36Z

Artod: Created page with "{{comic | number = 1165 | date = January 25, 2013 | title = Amazon | image = amazon_1165.png | titletext = Amazon.com took a surprise early lead with 'Time..."

Talk:1152: Communion

2012-12-27T11:53:14Z

Artod:

This was one of the reasons early Christians were persecuted by the Romans. They thought the Christians were cannibals. [[Special:Contributions/76.20.159.250|76.20.159.250]] 00:53, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

:Did they actually though that or did they only used it as pretext for persecution? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:20, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

Isn't he making fun of that doctrine?[[User:Guru-45|Guru-45]] ([[User talk:Guru-45|talk]]) 07:16, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

Transubstantiation isn't about bread literally turning into flesh. I don't know how to explain it properly, but it is based on Middle Age Christian philosophy (scholastic, St. Thomas, I think) that differentiates the accidents (appearance, taste etc.) of a thing from its true substance. Transubstantiation means that the bread becomes flesh (acquires the substance of Jesus' flesh) even though it retains the appearance and all qualities of bread.
This doctrine is of course highly outdated and I can't think of why the Catholics haven't dropped it yet. It also causes a lot of confusion. --[[User:Artod|Artod]] ([[User talk:Artod|talk]]) 09:07, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

:If it's middle age Christian, what was the explanation before that? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:20, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

::I would think that the original interpretation is symbolism. Jesus and his diciples were eating the {{w|passover}} meal, and the central piece was a {{w|Korban Pesach|sacrifical lamb}}. I think that it's a way for Jesus to say that the purpouse of the lamb is becoming dated, cause I'm about to be murdered, and that is what will save you in the end, not sacrifices. From start christians have called him the {{w|Lamb of God}}. Hope you had a merry Christmas! -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:14, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

:::In fact, Wikipedia does have a pretty good article about transubstantiation.--[[User:Artod|Artod]] ([[User talk:Artod|talk]]) 11:53, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

Talk:1152: Communion

2012-12-27T09:07:06Z

Artod:

This was one of the reasons early Christians were persecuted by the Romans. They thought the Christians were cannibals. [[Special:Contributions/76.20.159.250|76.20.159.250]] 00:53, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

Isn't he making fun of that doctrine?[[User:Guru-45|Guru-45]] ([[User talk:Guru-45|talk]]) 07:16, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

Transubstantiation isn't about bread literally turning into flesh. I don't know how to explain it properly, but it is based on Middle Age Christian philosophy (scholastic, St. Thomas, I think) that differentiates the accidents (appearance, taste etc.) of a thing from its true substance. Transubstantiation means that the bread becomes flesh (acquires the substance of Jesus' flesh) even though it retains the appearance and all qualities of bread.
This doctrine is of course highly outdated and I can't think of why the Catholics haven't dropped it yet. It also causes a lot of confusion. --[[User:Artod|Artod]] ([[User talk:Artod|talk]]) 09:07, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

1136: Broken Mirror

2012-11-21T08:58:07Z

Artod: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1136
| date = November 19, 2012
| title = Broken Mirror
| image = broken_mirror.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = 'I see you're in this mood again.' 'I am always in this mood.'
}}

==Explanation==
It is a {{w|Mirror#Mirrors_and_superstition|common superstition}} that breaking a mirror will result in 7 years of bad luck. [[Black Hat]] is mocking the superstition while ostensibly subscribing to it saying that breaking the mirror results in the "illusion that my actions somehow influence" a world governed by nothing other than chance.

[[Black Hat]]'s comment is a reference to the second part of the {{w|Dilemma_of_determinism|dilemma of determinism}} in which an {{w|Indeterminism|indeterministic}} view of reality contradicts our apparent {{w|Free will|free will}}, i.e. if our actions are governed by chance, then we do not have free will and cannot influence the world (see also [http://www.informationphilosopher.com/freedom/standard_argument.html the Randomness Objection]). Black hat refers to free will as an [http://www.informationphilosopher.com/freedom/illusionism.html illusion], and satirically states that breaking the mirror causes him to continue to live under this illusion.

The "indifferent hand of probability" is an indirect reference to the "{{w|Invisible hand|invisible hand of the market}}", a term used in economics to describe the self-regulating behavior of the marketplace.

"Eccles. 9:2" refers to the Bible book "Ecclesiastes," specifically chapter 9 verse 2 ("All things come alike to all. There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked; to the good, to the clean, to the unclean, to him who sacrifices, and to him who doesn’t sacrifice. As is the good, so is the sinner; he who takes an oath, as he who fears an oath." King James 2000 Bible). Black Hat is not going to clean the shards, thus being "unclean", but according to a literal and superficial reading of Ecclesiastes, the clean and the unclean share a common destiny. Thus according to his interpretation of Ecclesiastes, it doesn't matter whether Black Hat is clean or unclean, he will suffer the same fate regardless. In reality, Black Hat will likely get glass in his feet, as Cueball warned him in the previous panel. More likely, Ecclesiastes is referring to the common long-term fate of all men (i.e. death), as opposed to a short-term fate like getting glass in your feet.

"My fate is as these shards" parallels Ecclesiastes 3:19: "Man's fate is like that of the animals".

"All is vanity" is also from Ecclesiastes, specifically the introduction to chapter 1. The mirror is often associated with the vice of {{w|Vanity#Symbolism_of_vanity|vanity}}. There is also a drawing with an optical illusion titled "All is Vanity" by {{w|Charles Allan Gilbert}}, which alternately depicts a woman admiring herself at a dressing table, (also referred to as a "{{w|Vanity_(dressing-table)|vanity}},") or alternately (when viewed at a distance) a human skull. The table Black Hat is standing before is also called a vanity," and a mirror associated with that is often referred to as a "vanity mirror", describing its relationship to the furniture.

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat and Cueball stand in a bedroom. There is a broken mirror on the floor at Black Hat's feet]
:Black Hat: Oops. Guess this means seven more years of the illusion that my actions somehow influence the indifferent hand of probability which governs our lives.

:[Black Hat looks down at the broken shards of glass on the floor]

:Cueball: Plus like half an hour of sweeping.
:Black Hat: No, I think I'll leave it.
:Cueball: You'll get glass in your feet.

:Black Hat: Eccles. 9:2—All things come alike to all: to the clean, and to the unclean.
:My fate is as these shards.
:Cueball: Dude, chill. It's just a vanity mirror.
:Black Hat: ''All'' is vanity mirrors.

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

Talk:1131: Math

2012-11-07T08:55:23Z

Artod:

Sorry, I don't know how to upload the correct image. - Artod

Talk:1131: Math

2012-11-07T08:54:45Z

Artod: Created page with "Sorry, I don't know how to upload the correct image."

Sorry, I don't know how to upload the correct image.

1131: Math

2012-11-07T08:53:50Z

Artod: Created page with "{{comic | number = 1131 | date = November 7, 2012 | title = Math | image = math.png | imagesize = | titletext = As of this writing, the only thing that's 'raz..."

{{comic
| number = 1131
| date = November 7, 2012
| title = Math
| image = math.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = As of this writing, the only thing that's 'razor-thin' or 'too close to call' is the gap between the consensus poll forecast and the result.
}}

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