explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3164: Metric Tip

2025-11-08T05:32:18Z

Bmwiedemann: +comment

!tsrif --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|Converse]] 21:08, 5 November 2025 (UTC)
:If you like to have fun with first comments, the place to do it is The Daily WTF comment pages. https://thedailywtf.com. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:25, 5 November 2025 (UTC)
Would have helped avoid the Mars Climate Orbiter [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter] feature. [[User:SubtrEM|SubtrEM]] ([[User talk:SubtrEM|talk]]) 07:41, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

I am switching from metric to imperial: I am 1m34.5" --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:18, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
:You mean 1m2'26⅔cm. Or ''very nearly'' 2yd4cm½"..? [[Special:Contributions/82.132.244.220|82.132.244.220]] 12:08, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
::This actually is how I remember how much a Yard is. I am slightly over 2Yards, while being under 2m, so a Yard is a bit less than a meter. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 15:36, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
:::Can I introduce you to the fathom? It's exactly 2 yards, and generally used for harbor depth, but saying you're a fathom tall is technically correct... {{unsigned ip|176.165.208.89|20:21, 6 November 2025 (UTC)}}
::::It's hard to fathom any of this.[[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 09:19, 7 November 2025 (UTC)

Wait, what? ounce can be volume or weight? So you could give the density of a material in oz/oz? Imperial units are really weird... --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:21, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
:That would be highly nonstandard. Density is usually given in pennyweight/cubic barleycorn. [[Special:Contributions/209.188.63.33|209.188.63.33]] 08:52, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
:Not just that - it can be an areal density or a thickness, too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ounce#Other_uses Strictly speaking, though, the imperial measure of volume is not an 'ounce', but a 'fluid ounce' - it's just that Americans have mangled the two together. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 10:21, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
: Weirdly enough, the active ingredient in something like medication is given in mg/oz (fluid ounce, presumably). That's just wrong.--[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 10:35, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

"...are usually effectively one or other measurement of weight..." The grammar here seems wrong and confusing. [[Special:Contributions/2A00:23C5:FE1C:3701:54C4:F71B:724:CBE7|2A00:23C5:FE1C:3701:54C4:F71B:724:CBE7]] 10:30, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
: Better now? [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 10:41, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

I'm so glad I live in a metric country now. Helping people fix their terminally naff cars in the 80s in the UK was a trauma - spanner/socket sizes, like 13/16ths and 10/12ths and 1/2 and... so the guy takes one, not right, asks for the next size up. Well, what size is that then? You mean the six and a quarter eighths, yes? 😪
Oh, and don't get me started on American recipes - you'll very quickly discover that US Imperial and British Imperial are not the same (and far too many American recipes measure stuff in "cups"). So, really, Imperial is complicated enough without translating half into metric! [[Special:Contributions/92.184.141.48|92.184.141.48]] 14:07, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
:Most recipes don't require the measurements to be very precise and you can get away with adding too few.or too much of an ingredient. A "cup" is just a large cup. So for a cup of wheat, just fill a cup or even looser, throw in what you estimate to be a cup.
:Certain bakeware and especially homemade pasta and cakes are picky about the relative quantities (especially of wheat and water), so beware! [[User:IIVQ|IIVQ]] ([[User talk:IIVQ|talk]]) 20:13, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

I ran some numbers, and assuming 28.349523125 grams in an ounce and 16 ounces in a pound, "7 kg and 9 ounces" would be 7255.145708125 grams, assuming the "9 ounces" doesn't involve rounding, while 16 pounds would be 7257.47792 grams, which differs by only about 2.332211875 grams, or about 0.08 ounce - it's possible the weight is actually 16 pounds exactly, which feels like it makes "7 kg and 9 ounces" even worse than it already is. [[User:Conster|Conster]] ([[User talk:Conster|talk]]) 14:13, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
:Don't see why - it's easy to see the equivalence: 7 + 9 = 16. Simples! [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 14:30, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
::This is an interesting coincidence - I made a [https://www.desmos.com/calculator/dqbzb8gfjf desmos] to find other places this happens. Unfortunately, looks like it's just in the 7kg, 9oz case (7257g) and integer multiples of it, up to 30kg. After 30kg, there are no more coincidences like this one. Maybe someone could mention this case in the trivia section. [[User:R128|R128]] ([[User talk:R128|talk]]) 16:04, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

To sell the metric system to Americans, you should make it sound bigger. Americans love big things, and telling them a "metric yard" (a meter) is longer than a yard, or a "metric pound" is weightier (500g) than a pound should work wonders... Except against their most confusing unit, the mile per gallon, that one is a doozy {{unsigned ip|176.165.208.89|20:31, 6 November 2025 (UTC)}}

Of course, one should also use esoteric units. Like: 1 meter, 7 hands, and 175 picolightseconds. [[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 23:17, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
:I prefer 1 smoot 5 cm. [[User:TomtheBuilder|TomtheBuilder]] ([[User talk:TomtheBuilder|talk]]) 03:50, 7 November 2025 (UTC)
:Wait, mpg is confusing to non-Americans? It's just the amount of miles you can drive per gallon of gas used...--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|Converse]] 14:00, 7 November 2025 (UTC)
::It's because we all know that the typical US 'runabout' car is a gas-guzzling monster-truck (despite the bumpiest terrain it encounters being the traffic-calming bumps on the school run) for which the amount of fuel it uses (whether petrol, diesel, aviation fuel or RP-1) is best measured in ''gallons per mile''... ;)
::(Or, more seriously, for even those of us who still habitually deal with miles, we work with the miles/litre 'standard'. And even the older subset of us who still would ''like'' to have stayed with the previous miles-per-gallon know that the US gallon is different from the UK(/Commonwealth) gallon, and yet ''perhaps'' vastly less likely to know the approximate conversion factors for that than the ones between gallons and litres that they normally use to work out "what's that in 'old money'?"...) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.244.181|82.132.244.181]] 15:15, 7 November 2025 (UTC)
:::Miles per liter is how far I can run divided by how much water I consume (in liters) that I would not have consumed had I been sitting down during that time. [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 16:42, 7 November 2025 (UTC)
::::Oh god the US is more confusing than I thought. GALLONS ARE DIFFERENT? --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|Converse]] 16:51, 7 November 2025 (UTC)
::::: See {{w|Gallon#Definitions}} (including this {{w|File:Gasoline_unit.svg|related image}}) and {{w|Comparison of the imperial and US customary measurement systems}}... Enjoy! [[Special:Contributions/2.98.65.8|2.98.65.8]] 19:30, 7 November 2025 (UTC)
::Yes, mpg is not a hard concept, but to me as a German, there are two uncommon units involved there and a reciprocal. An economic car uses 3l/100km here. Try to figure out what that is in mpg. It is 0.8 gallons per 62 miles... so maybe 78 mpg? (assuming I got the right types of miles and gallons) --[[User:Bmwiedemann|Bmwiedemann]] ([[User talk:Bmwiedemann|talk]]) 05:32, 8 November 2025 (UTC)

Re: ''This is worse than saying it all in one single system, as it is much more awkward and confusing for the receiver. '' Is it really? It gives people an idea of what a centimeter is for distances up to 30 cm. Some educational models refer to that as "{{w|instructional scaffolding}}", introducing a simpler version of a system to help people adopt the full system. [[Special:Contributions/181.214.173.156|181.214.173.156]] 20:25, 7 November 2025 (UTC)

3146: Fantastic Four

2025-09-25T00:59:27Z

Bmwiedemann: fix error

{{comic
| number = 3146
| date = September 24, 2025
| title = Fantastic Four
| image = fantastic_four_2x.png
| imagesize = 343x388px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = One perk of being born at 0.88c is that your birthday is over two days long.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was just born. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

The comic is a pun on the {{w|Oberth effect}}, which causes orbital maneuvers to be more efficient when deep into a gravitational well.
The movie referenced is ''{{w|The Fantastic_Four:_First_Steps|The Fantastic Four: First Steps}}'', released in 2025. The comic says that there is a boost because of the propulsion produced by the baby.

This effect is probably negligible.

The title text states that being born at 88% the speed of light results in a birthday that's over two days long. This is due to {{w|time dilation|time dilation}}, and from the perspective of earth. At 0.88 c, the dilation factor γ is 2.1 .

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[Ponytail is facing Cueball with one of her hands out, facing up and towards Cueball.]
:Ponytail: In the new ''Fantastic Four'' movie, their ship doesn't have enough fuel to get home and Sue Storm goes into labor, so they slingshot around a neutron star and fire their engines at periapsis — as Sue has her baby — to get a boost.
:Cueball: Ah yes, the Obirth effect.
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Physics]]

3146: Fantastic Four

2025-09-25T00:57:12Z

Bmwiedemann: Add some math

{{comic
| number = 3146
| date = September 24, 2025
| title = Fantastic Four
| image = fantastic_four_2x.png
| imagesize = 343x388px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = One perk of being born at 0.88c is that your birthday is over two days long.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was just born. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

The comic is a pun on the {{w|Oberth effect}}, which causes orbital maneuvers to be more efficient when deep into a gravitational well.
The movie referenced is ''{{w|The Fantastic_Four:_First_Steps|The Fantastic Four: First Steps}}'', released in 2025. The comic says that there is a boost because of the propulsion produced by the baby.

This effect is probably negligible.

The title text states that being born at 88% the speed of light results in a birthday that's almost two days long. This is due to {{w|time dilation|time dilation}}, and from the perspective of earth. At 0.88 c, the dilation factor γ is 2.1 .

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[Ponytail is facing Cueball with one of her hands out, facing up and towards Cueball.]
:Ponytail: In the new ''Fantastic Four'' movie, their ship doesn't have enough fuel to get home and Sue Storm goes into labor, so they slingshot around a neutron star and fire their engines at periapsis — as Sue has her baby — to get a boost.
:Cueball: Ah yes, the Obirth effect.
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Physics]]

3146: Fantastic Four

2025-09-25T00:48:44Z

Bmwiedemann: link wikipedia time dilation

{{comic
| number = 3146
| date = September 24, 2025
| title = Fantastic Four
| image = fantastic_four_2x.png
| imagesize = 343x388px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = One perk of being born at 0.88c is that your birthday is over two days long.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was just born. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

The comic is a pun on the {{w|Oberth effect}}, which causes orbital maneuvers to be more efficient when deep into a gravitational well.
The movie referenced is ''{{w|The Fantastic_Four:_First_Steps|The Fantastic Four: First Steps}}'', released in 2025. The comic says that there is a boost because of the propulsion produced by the baby.

This effect is probably negligible.

The title text states that being born at 88% the speed of light results in a birthday that's almost two days long. This is due to {{w|Gravitational time dilation|time dilation}}, and from the perspective of earth.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[Ponytail is facing Cueball with one of her hands out, facing up and towards Cueball.]
:Ponytail: In the new ''Fantastic Four'' movie, their ship doesn't have enough fuel to get home and Sue Storm goes into labor, so they slingshot around a neutron star and fire their engines at periapsis — as Sue has her baby — to get a boost.
:Cueball: Ah yes, the Obirth effect.
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Physics]]

Talk:3112: Geology Murder

2025-07-09T06:40:50Z

Bmwiedemann: Add question

Is it just me, or is xkcd.com being non-responsive? Obviously, it has been successfully grabbed from by the BOT, and I even checked a few "is it down" sites... which say that it's up. But I'm getting nothing back but spinny cursors, going to either xkcd.com or any xkcd.com/<number> ...with no other reason to believe that 'it ''is'' just me', like other clearly running places also not being reachable in my own case. [[Special:Contributions/92.23.2.228|92.23.2.228]] 20:09, 7 July 2025 (UTC)
:It worked fine for me on the first attempt, so I guess it's just you. But when I was submitting the transcript here I got a "make sure you're logged in" error. Resubmitting (without having to re-login) worked. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 20:25, 7 July 2025 (UTC)
:And I got the same error when first submitting the above comment. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 20:25, 7 July 2025 (UTC)
:The transcript silently corrects the spelling error (?) in uncomformably. [[Special:Contributions/208.82.100.219|208.82.100.219]] 21:00, 7 July 2025 (UTC)
::The transcript has been fixed, and it was not a spelling error - it's a geology word. [[Special:Contributions/208.82.100.219|208.82.100.219]] 03:52, 8 July 2025 (UTC)
:It's been intermittently non-responsive and/or landing on error pages for over a month. Speculation ranges from issues with the server to issues with the content-delivery-network (CloudFlare), to a deliberate attack, to AI-scraping bots, to an iron-rich penetration from an alternate universe (just added that one to the list), and probably more. [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 21:07, 7 July 2025 (UTC) [Update: I meant explainxkcd is intermittently non-responsive. xkcd seems as responsive as the rest of the web lately. [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 16:08, 8 July 2025 (UTC)]
::Unless you mean explainxkcd.com (which I know is suffering, in those ways, but for longer), I actually haven't seen xkcd.com itself be like this. Recently or otherwise. Anyway, still not working for me, still ''is'' working for the "is it down" sites. Nor have I got anything strangely redirecting in my <code>hosts</code> file, etc. Also can ping (www.)xkcd.com perfectly happily, tracert gives no particular surprises (e.g. signs of being inconsistently MITMed), and I seem to get 100% connectivity with a ''different'' device at the same time as 0% with this one. So, it looks like "it's just me" in a weird way that ...I shall have to spend some personal time/effort getting a rational explanation for. Hmmm. [[Special:Contributions/92.23.2.228|92.23.2.228]] 22:06, 7 July 2025 (UTC)
::: >''"100% connectivity with a different device at the same time as 0% with this one."'' This month, Cloudflare has been snooty, just at my favorite desktop. And on several sites, from APnews to odd hobby sites. All my newer laptops get in fine. I think Cloudflare is complaining about my aging O/S, which is silly ('''I''' am gonna infect '''them'''??) However I usually get the same robot-check, not a stall or spinner.
:I haven't noticed xkcd.com being non-responsive but I have noticed ''this'' site non-responsive from time-to-time. [[Special:Contributions/47.248.235.170|47.248.235.170]] 22:05, 7 July 2025 (UTC)Pat

Hmm. If material from the banded iron formations was mixed with coal, and subjected to the heat and pressure that create metamorphic rock, would iron be created? There would still be the problem of keeping it free of ground water so it didn't go back to iron oxides. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 04:48, 8 July 2025 (UTC)

Honestly, it feels like the level of evidence and rigor for a lot of evolutionary theory is about on par with the title text. Though I doubt that that was Randall's intent. [[Special:Contributions/2001:8003:6490:9700:66ED:199B:93A7:45ED|2001:8003:6490:9700:66ED:199B:93A7:45ED]] 06:43, 8 July 2025 (UTC)

Haemoglobin is not particularly iron-rich - it contains a single atom of iron. Blood is iron-rich because it contains a lot of haemoglobin. [[Special:Contributions/148.64.15.78|148.64.15.78]] 07:54, 8 July 2025 (UTC)
:Each {{w|Heme}} group has a single iron, but there are multiple hemes(/haemes/hæmes) in a full hemoglobin(/haemoglobin/hæmoglobin) protein structure. (Yes, vastly outnumbered by the rest of the carbons, etc, but still not a singular iron.) [[Special:Contributions/92.23.2.228|92.23.2.228]] 20:50, 8 July 2025 (UTC)

Would it be worth pointing out that geologist are unlikely to act with the urgency required by a murder investigation?[[Special:Contributions/2602:FF4D:128:D56:11B8:2B25:5D50:F4D5|2602:FF4D:128:D56:11B8:2B25:5D50:F4D5]] 23:56, 8 July 2025 (UTC)
:They'll get there eventually. Implacably. Leaving no stone unturned. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 04:32, 9 July 2025 (UTC)

Where does the part about "pipes carrying iron-rich fluid" come from? I don't see that in the comic or title text or transcript. [[User:Bmwiedemann|Bmwiedemann]] ([[User talk:Bmwiedemann|talk]]) 06:40, 9 July 2025 (UTC)

3051: Hardwood

2025-02-15T05:34:46Z

Bmwiedemann: /* Transcript */ add transcript of caption

{{comic
| number = 3051
| date = February 14, 2025
| title = Hardwood
| image = hardwood_2x.png
| imagesize = 273x350px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = They may technically have been softwoods at some point, but they definitely aren't now.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a CARBONIFEROUS FLOORING - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Home remodelers, whether contractors or do-it-yourselfers, can seek to remove layers of modifications to restore some previous condition. An example is to remove carpeting or other covering to restore an earlier, perhaps original, floor. Flooring made of hardwood (oak, maple, etc.) panels, perhaps deprecated by earlier homeowners for comfort or style reasons, can be prized by later homeowners as tastes or fashions change.

In this comic, the remodeler, in this case a contractor, is trying to convince a homeowner (a Cueball) that a prized hardwood floor underlies whatever flooring is currently installed. The joke is that the 'hardwood floor' is actually a fossiliferous coal seam from {{w|Carboniferous|300-350 million years before present}}. This 'floor' probably lies several tens to hundreds of meters (yards) below the foundation of the house, making it impractical, and probably prohibitively expensive, to reach, especially in the context of a 'normal' home remodeling project.

The title text refers to the fact that the {{w|Carboniferous#Plants|plants}} typical of the Carboniferous period of Earth's history would all be classified as {{w|Softwood|"softwoods"}} at best; flowering plants ({{w|Flowering plants|angiosperms}}), the principal source of "hardwoods", would not appear on Earth in any significant numbers for another 220 million years. The joke is that the Carboniferous "softwoods" are all hard now, because they have become petrified and are, essentially, rocks.

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

So you're saying that if we tear up these layers, there's hardwood flooring under here?

...I mean, sort of...

Caption: Home remodelers learn about the Carboniferous

{{comic discussion}}

3051: Hardwood

2025-02-15T04:59:07Z

Bmwiedemann: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 3051
| date = February 14, 2025
| title = Hardwood
| image = hardwood_2x.png
| imagesize = 273x350px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = They may technically have been softwoods at some point, but they definitely aren't now.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a CARBONIFEROUS FLOORING - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Home remodelers, whether contractors or do-it-yourselfers, can seek to remove layers of modifications to restore some previous condition. An example is to remove carpeting or other floor covering to restore an earlier, perhaps original, condition of the house. Original flooring made of hardwood (oak, maple, etc.) panels, perhaps deprecated by earlier homeowners for comfort or style reasons, can be prized by later homeowners as tastes or fashions change.

In this comic, the remodeler, in this case a contractor, is trying to convince a homeowner (a Cueball) that a prized hardwood floor underlies whatever flooring is currently installed. The joke is that the 'hardwood floor' is actually a fossiliferous coal seam from {{w|Carboniferous|300-350 million years before present}}. This 'floor' probably lies several tens to hundreds of meters (yards) below the foundation of the house, making it impractical, and probably prohibitively expensive, to reach, especially in the context of a 'normal' home remodeling project.

The title text refers to the fact that the {{w|Carboniferous#Plants|plants}} typical of the Carboniferous period of Earth's history would all be classified as {{w|Softwood|"softwoods"}} at best; flowering plants ({{w|Flowering plants|angiosperms}}, the principal source of "hardwoods", would not appear on Earth in any significant numbers for another 220 million years. The joke is that the Carboniferous "softwoods" are all hard now, because they have become petrified and are now, essentially, rocks.

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

So you're saying that if we tear up these layers, there's hardwood flooring under here?

...I mean, soft of...

{{comic discussion}}

3035: Trimix

2025-01-09T07:30:17Z

Bmwiedemann: /* Explanation */ +pressure

{{comic
| number = 3035
| date = January 8, 2025
| title = Trimix
| image = trimix_2x.png
| imagesize = 436x259px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = You don't want the nitrogen percentage to be too high or you run the risk of eutrophication.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a FLOATING TRIMIX SCUBA DIVER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{w|Trimix (breathing gas)|Trimix}} is a gas used in SCUBA tanks that consists of {{w|helium}}, {{w|oxygen}}, and {{w|nitrogen}}. The helium is included as a substitute for some of the nitrogen, to reduce the narcotic effect of the breathing gas at depth and to reduce the work of breathing. This comic jokes that if the helium amount is too high, a diver will float away before reaching the water to start a dive, as a helium balloon will do if not securely tethered.

For a standard SCUBA tank to serve as a helium balloon capable of lifting a human diver of average size (not counting extra mass from dive accoutrements such as weight belts), it would need to contain approximately 70 kg of pure helium. This loading is more than an order of magnitude greater than the norm of around 3 kg of gas. It might prove difficult to fit such a tank with a regulator that could deliver the gas evenly and safely, and the absence of oxygen could be detrimental to the diver. Moreover, it would cost on the order of US$2000-4000 to charge the tank, an extra financial burden on an already expensive operation. Additionally, tanks contain pressurized gases, which increases their density. For these reasons, SCUBA divers floating in air are seldom encountered.

The title text asserts that a trimix diver whose gas mix contains an excess of nitrogen runs "the risk of eutrophication". The term {{w|Eutrophication|eutrophication}} describes the process by which nutrients ("fertilizers") accumulate in an environment, typically a body of water, leading to consequences that are often unfortunate for inhabitants or users of that environment. The human body is an ecosystem, but one that is not typically subject to eutrophication due to its manner of acquiring and jettisoning nutrients. Moreover, the nitrogen in trimix is diatomic elemental nitrogen, not the {{w|Nitrogen_fixation|"fixed"}} nitrogen that serves as a component of eutrophication. The diver would not breathe "fixed" nitrogen unless nitrogen-fixing bacteria were somehow incorporated into the SCUBA gear, a complex feature of dubious utility.

Randall addressed the question "how much helium is needed to lift a human body" in a [https://what-if.xkcd.com/62/ What if?] article. Helium has also featured in comics [https://xkcd.com/2766/ 2766] and [https://xkcd.com/2972/ 2972].

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

:[In a single frame, Cueball is depicted with scuba gear: goggles, breathing tubes, scuba tanks with a small H logo on them, and swimming flippers. He is standing by the shore of a body of water. To the right, he is shown with his scuba tank lifting up, as shown with three lines. Again, he is shown, but his scuba tanks are higher up and he has turned his head.]

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:2680: Battery Life

2024-01-17T12:06:27Z

Bmwiedemann: +phone replacement reason

I found a source saying phones need 1 kWh/year, to the closest 10 kWh. That's quite strange. Better source needed? --[[User:While False|While False]] ([[User talk:While False|speak]]|[[User:While False/explain xkcd museum|museum]]) 04:32, 4 October 2022 (UTC)

/\--- The article cited is from 2013, so quite old, and within the article it even amends the tagline value to 2kWh. iPhone 12 would last about 47 days with a 12kWh battery based on specs (2,815mAh battery, nom voltage 3.8V) and assuming that a charge lasts a full day. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.161|108.162.221.161]] 15:44, 4 October 2022 (UTC) JourneymanWizard

An average iPhone has somewhere around [https://www.macworld.com/article/678413/iphone-battery-capacities-compared-all-iphones-battery-life-in-mah-and-wh.html 12 Wh of capacity], which at 1 kWh/year would imply only ~23% per day. Anecdotally, that's definitely not right. An [https://spectrum.ieee.org/your-phone-costs-energyeven-before-you-turn-it-on IEEE article] claims 4 kWh/year, but I don't have access and only see this in the Google snippet. --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.17|172.69.134.17]] 05:37, 4 October 2022 (UTC)

* What about my S series Samsung?
It has 5000mAh battery, 3,7V voltage, ergo (5 amper * 3,7 volt) = 18,5 watts/hour. It lasts for, roughly, 1 day of heavy use at work (camera, youtube etc., its was my media device) and 2 days of weekend use.

My phone has been in use for 4 years before an upgrade, which gives 366+365+365+365=731+730=1461 day. 1467/7*6 full recharges -- ~1253 recharges. 1253*18,5Wh gives ~18,5kWh*5/4 --- 23,09 kWh; 5,6 kWh per year. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.250.223|172.70.250.223]] 07:18, 4 October 2022 (UTC)

Very old (1980s?) relevant joke preserved at https://www.ariel.com.au/jokes/The_Inventor.html Jake is struggling through a bus station with two huge and obviously heavy suitcases when a stranger walks up to him and asks "Have you got the time?" Jake sighs, puts down the suitcases and glances at his wrist. "It's a quarter to six," he says. "Hey, that's a pretty fancy watch!" exclaims the stranger. Jake brightens a little. 
"Yeah, it's not bad. Check this out" - and he shows him a time zone display not just for every time zone in the world, but for the 86 largest metropolises. He hits a few buttons and from somewhere on the watch a voice says "The time is eleven 'til six" in a very West Texas accent. A few more buttons and the same voice says something in Japanese. Jake continues "I've put in regional accents for each city". The display is unbelievably high quality and the voice is simply astounding. The stranger is struck dumb with admiration. "That's not all", says Jake. He pushes a few more buttons and a tiny but very high-resolution map of New York City appears on the display. "The flashing dot shows our location by satellite positioning," explains Jake. "View recede ten", Jake says, and the display changes to show eastern New York state. "I want to buy this watch!" says the stranger. "Oh, no, it's not ready for sale yet; I'm still working out the bugs", says the inventor. "But look at this", and he proceeds to demonstrate that the watch is also a very creditable little FM radio receiver with a digital tuner, a sonar device that can measure distances up to 125 meters, a printer with thermal paper printout and, most impressive of all, the capacity for voice recordings of up to 300 standard-size books, "though I only have 32 of my favorites in there so far" says Jake. "I've got to have this watch!", says the stranger. "No, you don't understand; it's not ready -" "I'll give you $1000 for it!" "Oh, no, I've already spent more than -" "I'll give you $5000 for it!" "But it's just not -" "I'll give you $15,000 for it!" And the stranger pulls out a checkbook. Jake stops to think. He's only put about $8500 into materials and development, and with $15,000 he can make another one and have it ready for merchandising in only six months. The stranger frantically finishes writing the check and waves it in front of him. "Here it is, ready to hand to you right here and now. $15,000. Take it or leave it." Jake abruptly makes his decision. "OK", he says, and peels off the watch. They make the exchange and the stranger starts happily away. "Hey, wait a minute", calls Jake after the stranger, who turns around warily. Jake points to the two suitcases he'd been trying to wrestle through the bus station. "Don't forget your batteries." [[User:Duard|Duard]] ([[User talk:Duard|talk]]) 02:34, 6 October 2022 (UTC)
* Nice joke, but it feels like it's based on a similar Soviet joke (American engineers could afford cars while Soviet engis were carless). On a serious note, a really rich person (a "shark") could use such a watch for office use / car use.

== "Plugging my phone is a pain" as a modern problem ==

While some folks (like myself) use long (3m/10ft) cords, most people are stuck with 1m charging cables or less. That's indeed a pain if you use your phone a lot. It's also frustrating to deal with charging cables getting old while your phone's charging port is also getting old. However, Energizer's take on the problem (custom 18000mAh phone) doesn't feel good either: the resulting phone feels too heavy. A hefty brick of a ~18000mAh powerbank itself is already too heavy for many pockets, even outside of "skinny jeans" fashion. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.248|162.158.89.248]] 08:47, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
* Oh! By the way, last week, I almost got into a problem. I plugged my phone, went to sleep, woke up without an alarm and assumed it is too early to get out of bed. Then, the street noises made me realize it's actually 9AM already and I am late for work. "So much for XXI century smart devices", I thought. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.248|162.158.89.248]] 08:51, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
::In many ways, smart phones were step backward. My old Nokia phone is easier to hold in hand and can sound an alarm when TURNED OFF (obviously, there is separate circuit for counting time to alarm which remains powered). Granted, for playing games, I needed to buy a separate android game console which is sold as smartphone. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:13, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
::: Funny thing is, early smarties had such a feature as well. Bottom-of-the-barrel cheap Micromax A28 had it (and it was very loud). IIRC, Asus ZenPad (or ZenFone, with 4G) had it as well, shutting down at 4% charge just to have some energy to ring the alarm. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.246.217|172.70.246.217]] 20:12, 6 October 2022 (UTC)

Out of interest, how many people replace their phone because of the battery? There are those who would replace their xkcdPhone3000aIII for an xkcdPhone3000aIV just because you only get the blue-anodised casing with the latter and the limited-edition red-anodised case of the former is ''so'' last week (actually, probably only out six days ago). There are those who will swap when the OS gets a new version (because they might be missing out). There are those who will have to swap because NewApp doesn't support "Pancake" or "Sausagedog" or whatever version of OS it is that's now a year or three behind the curve. There are those who will swap because OldApp is no longer supporting "DoritoSandwiches" (the 5yo OS on their ''very'' well-used device) and they actually don't like giving up on it. Then there are those who will just make do with a dwindling capability (various apps going inoperable, but those that aren't are still being used whilst the rest of the device still works!). And, by the end of that list, you can be sure a charger-plug and/or powerbank is an "Everyday Carry", possibly even an always plugged in essential because even phone/tablet repair places are starting to tell you that they couldn't guarantee to get a replacement battery of the right vintage, or you find out for yourself how hard it was to effect a full repair/transplant. — For the record, I'm definitely towards this end of that list (but get a newer device to run in parallel, to probably start to consider just as unretirable as ''its'' working life starts to be compromised, at various times having perhaps three 'working' generations of device, none of them the current bleeding-edge). [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.171|172.69.79.171]] 13:14, 4 October 2022 (UTC) — P.S.: And, so far, I have ''never'' continued the same (Android/Google) account over to a new device, or worked out how to migrate apps(+data) wholesale across devices, where not already designed with export/import facilities or just have to have the same non-device login details carried over to a sign-in/up dialogue. Must be possible/expected, but I've just never ever tried it. New device, new Gmail! [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.201|172.69.79.201]] 13:22, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
: I decided to upgrade my aforementioned 4 year old smartphone because it used to be a "flagship phone" and now it's a phone with OK perfomance, great display yet low battery life. So yes, it was the "cannot be bothered with the [somewhat degraded] battery" problem. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.86|172.70.211.86]] 14:18, 5 October 2022 (UTC)
:: In fact, my 2017 device initially got all those "charging problems" as well, due to playing too much Ingress on foot. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.141|172.70.210.141]] 14:20, 5 October 2022 (UTC)
:I did bought new phone when the old one not only wasn't able to run on "full" battery for longer than 20 seconds, but when the connected powerbank was not enough to keep it running. However, I suspect that the battery life was shortened by using it in winter(s) and that the powerbank itself had problem as well. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:02, 6 October 2022 (UTC)
:My old phone only got ditched because both the original battery and a spare had both got to the point of not holding more than a couple of hours' charge.[[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.65|172.71.178.65]] 12:09, 6 October 2022 (UTC)
:Apart from the battery, there is the fact that most smartphone vendors stop providing OS updates after two years and leave you with remote-exploits in the bluetooth stack or media libraries. I tried cyanogenmod and lineageos in the past to extend the useful life, but it needs quite some effort and compromises. [[User:Bmwiedemann|Bmwiedemann]] ([[User talk:Bmwiedemann|talk]]) 12:06, 17 January 2024 (UTC)

Anyone else notice that in the third image, Cueball is supporting a 100lb+ phone with one arm, while fiddling with the screen with his other hand? Impressive balance to be able to support a 100lb object with one arm while still standing fully upright. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.163|172.68.174.163]] 14:58, 4 October 2022 (UTC)

It was just a few years ago that the idea of replacing a failing battery was abandoned. With batteries lasting longer and phone generations being shorter, most users would see only a small reduction in time between charges by the time they would be upgrading anyway. I interpreted the comic as the logical next step in that evolution. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.82.65|172.71.82.65]] 19:45, 4 October 2022 (UTC)

I don't get what this one is supposed to be about. https://techxplore.com/news/2022-10-eu-lawmakers-impose-charger-smartphones.html ? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.17|172.69.134.17]] 01:40, 5 October 2022 (UTC)
* Type-C for everyone? I think it's all about the 5V voltage as a "backup standard" for big phones, tablets and laptops. I have 2 smartphones with "fast charging" features. One can run 5V 2A or 9V 1,67A. Another one is a beast, it supports 10V 60W charging while still offering 5V 2A charge as a backup measure. Losing one charger would be unpleasant yet not serious -- another phone's charger would do the job. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.250.87|172.70.250.87]] 20:16, 6 October 2022 (UTC)

2780: Physical Quantities

2023-05-25T04:02:28Z

Bmwiedemann: +explain hubble volume

{{comic
| number = 2780
| date = May 24, 2023
| title = Physical Quantities
| image = physical_quantities_2x.png
| imagesize = 338x183px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The Hubble length is about 1.9 meters lying down; Edwin Hubble was a tall guy.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a tall scientist - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic plays on the name of various constants by simply taking them literally. Each one is treated as describing the body of the scientist after which they are named. For example, Planck length, a unit of distance, is reimagined as Max Planck's height, which, when laying down, can be called "length".

'''Hubble volume'''

In cosmology, a {{w|Hubble volume}} (named for the astronomer Edwin Hubble) is a spherical region of the observable universe.
The Hubble volume is approximately equal to 1031 cubic light years (or about 1079 cubic meters).
The value given in the comic is the volume of Edwin Hubble's body.

'''Schwarzschild radius'''

The {{w|Schwarzschild radius}} of a black hole is the... radius of the black hole: the radius beyond which light cannot escape. Curling up in a ball tends to reduce people's radii, so Karl Schwarzschild's is given as 0.34 m, corresponding to a black hole of about 40 times the mass of Earth.

'''Broca's area'''

{{w|Broca's area}} is part of the brain. It is not a measurement of area in the sense of length times width.

'''Fermi temperature'''

The temperature of an average human is about 37 degrees Celsius, so it makes sense that Enrico Fermi’s temperature was 37 degrees Celsius. However, he is currently dead, so it is unlikely his current temperature is much higher than that of his surroundings{{citation needed}}.

'''Planck length'''

{{w|Planck units}} are naturally-derived measurements invented by Max Planck; the Planck length is one of the smallest meaningful distances. However, Randall measures the length of Max Planck, not the units.

'''Hubble length''' (title text)

A Hubble length is 14.4 billion light years. This is a joke similar to the above play on the Planck length.

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

:[A centered header appears above a list.]
:Reference Physical Quantities
:Hubble volume: 96L
:Schwarzchild radius: 0.34m (curled up)
:Broca's area: 1.7m3
:Fermi temperature: 37°C
:Planck length: 1.76m (lying down)

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Science]]

2780: Physical Quantities

2023-05-25T03:51:41Z

Bmwiedemann: /* Explanation */ add wikipedia links

{{comic
| number = 2780
| date = May 24, 2023
| title = Physical Quantities
| image = physical_quantities_2x.png
| imagesize = 338x183px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The Hubble length is about 1.9 meters lying down; Edwin Hubble was a tall guy.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a tall scientist - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic plays on the name of various constants by simply taking them literally. Each one is treated as describing the body of the scientist after which they are named. For example, Planck length, a unit of distance, is reimagined as Max Planck's height, which, when laying down, can be called "length".

'''Hubble volume'''

In cosmology, a {{w|Hubble volume}} (named for the astronomer Edwin Hubble) is a spherical region of the observable universe.
The Hubble volume is approximately equal to 1031 cubic light years (or about 1079 cubic meters).

'''Schwarzschild radius'''

The {{w|Schwarzschild radius}} of a black hole is the... radius of the black hole: the radius beyond which light cannot escape. Curling up in a ball tends to reduce people's radii, so Karl Schwarzschild's is given as 0.34 m, corresponding to a black hole of about 40 times the mass of Earth.

'''Broca's area'''

{{w|Broca's area}} is part of the brain. It is not a measurement of area in the sense of length times width.

'''Fermi temperature'''

The temperature of an average human is about 37 degrees Celsius, so it makes sense that Enrico Fermi’s temperature was 37 degrees Celsius. However, he is currently dead, so it is unlikely his current temperature is much higher than that of his surroundings{{citation needed}}.

'''Planck length'''

{{w|Planck units}} are naturally-derived measurements invented by Max Planck; the Planck length is one of the smallest meaningful distances. However, Randall measures the length of Max Planck, not the units.

'''Hubble length''' (title text)

A Hubble length is 14.4 billion light years. This is a joke similar to the above play on the Planck length.

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

:[A centered header appears above a list.]
:Reference Physical Quantities
:Hubble volume: 96L
:Schwarzchild radius: 0.34m (curled up)
:Broca's area: 1.7m3
:Fermi temperature: 37°C
:Planck length: 1.76m (lying down)

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Science]]

2780: Physical Quantities

2023-05-25T03:47:45Z

Bmwiedemann: /* Explanation */ fixup wiki formatting

{{comic
| number = 2780
| date = May 24, 2023
| title = Physical Quantities
| image = physical_quantities_2x.png
| imagesize = 338x183px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The Hubble length is about 1.9 meters lying down; Edwin Hubble was a tall guy.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a tall scientist - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic plays on the name of various constants by simply taking them literally. Each one is treated as describing the body of the scientist after which they are named. For example, Planck length, a unit of distance, is reimagined as Max Planck's height, which, when laying down, can be called "length".

'''Hubble volume'''

In cosmology, a Hubble volume (named for the astronomer Edwin Hubble) is a spherical region of the observable universe.
The Hubble volume is approximately equal to 1031 cubic light years (or about 1079 cubic meters).

'''Schwarzschild radius'''

The Schwarzschild radius of a black hole is the... radius of the black hole: the radius beyond which light cannot escape. Curling up in a ball tends to reduce people's radii, so Karl Schwarzschild's is given as 0.34 m, corresponding to a black hole of about 40 times the mass of Earth.

'''Broca's area'''

Broca's area is part of the brain. It is not a measurement of area in the sense of length times width.

'''Fermi temperature'''

The temperature of an average human is about 37 degrees Celsius, so it makes sense that Enrico Fermi’s temperature was 37 degrees Celsius. However, he is currently dead, so it is unlikely his current temperature is much higher than that of his surroundings{{citation needed}}.

'''Planck length'''

Planck units are naturally-derived measurements invented by Max Planck; the Planck length is one of the smallest meaningful distances. However, Randall measures the length of Max Planck, not the units.

'''Hubble length''' (title text)

A Hubble length is 14.4 billion light years. This is a joke similar to the above play on the Planck length.

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

:[A centered header appears above a list.]
:Reference Physical Quantities
:Hubble volume: 96L
:Schwarzchild radius: 0.34m (curled up)
:Broca's area: 1.7m3
:Fermi temperature: 37°C
:Planck length: 1.76m (lying down)

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Science]]

2780: Physical Quantities

2023-05-25T03:46:06Z

Bmwiedemann: +Hubble volume

{{comic
| number = 2780
| date = May 24, 2023
| title = Physical Quantities
| image = physical_quantities_2x.png
| imagesize = 338x183px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The Hubble length is about 1.9 meters lying down; Edwin Hubble was a tall guy.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a tall scientist - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic plays on the name of various constants by simply taking them literally. Each one is treated as describing the body of the scientist after which they are named. For example, Planck length, a unit of distance, is reimagined as Max Planck's height, which, when laying down, can be called "length".

'''Hubble volume'''

In cosmology, a Hubble volume (named for the astronomer Edwin Hubble) is a spherical region of the observable universe.
The Hubble volume is approximately equal to 1031 cubic light years (or about 1079 cubic meters).

'''Schwarzschild radius'''

The Schwarzschild radius of a black hole is the... radius of the black hole: the radius beyond which light cannot escape. Curling up in a ball tends to reduce people's radii, so Karl Schwarzschild's is given as 0.34 m, corresponding to a black hole of about 40 times the mass of Earth.

'''Broca's area'''

Broca's area is part of the brain. It is not a measurement of area in the sense of length times width.

'''Fermi temperature'''

The temperature of an average human is about 37 degrees Celsius, so it makes sense that Enrico Fermi’s temperature was 37 degrees Celsius. However, he is currently dead, so it is unlikely his current temperature is much higher than that of his surroundings{{citation needed}}.

'''Planck length'''

Planck units are naturally-derived measurements invented by Max Planck; the Planck length is one of the smallest meaningful distances. However, Randall measures the length of Max Planck, not the units.

'''Hubble length''' (title text)

A Hubble length is 14.4 billion light years. This is a joke similar to the above play on the Planck length.

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

:[A centered header appears above a list.]
:Reference Physical Quantities
:Hubble volume: 96L
:Schwarzchild radius: 0.34m (curled up)
:Broca's area: 1.7m3
:Fermi temperature: 37°C
:Planck length: 1.76m (lying down)

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Science]]

Talk:2585: Rounding

2022-03-05T04:48:30Z

Bmwiedemann:

Wot no {{w|FFF system|furlongs per fortnight}}? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.126|172.70.91.126]] 23:14, 23 February 2022 (UTC)

: I, too, was initially surprised that Randall hadn't used the standard joke measure. But, then I realized that F/F is so outrageously large that rounding wouldn't offer much advantage. [[User:MAP|MAP]] ([[User talk:MAP|talk]]) 05:10, 24 February 2022 (UTC)

If we're using the table, can I suggest it be fully filled in, but mark "original (rounded)" value cells one key colour and the chosen conversion in another, so that scanning along (not necessarily adjacent/rightwards) then down (always next row) then along... you see the 'bounce around'. And we also get to appreciate what other fractional values ''could'' have been chosen, prior to rounding... Alternately, some flow-charty layout (perhaps contained within a nominally borderless version of the table?) with arrows leading across the width and filling in-between each down-step. Ideas only. I have others, but those seem the best bet to consider. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.113|172.70.85.113]] 01:32, 24 February 2022 (UTC)

Disagree with the current (as of 23:27 US Eastern, 23 February) explanation. According to this site (https://ilovebicycling.com/average-bike-speed/), average downhill bike speed is over 45 mph. Since Cueball doesn't specify "on flat terrain", he should have no problem going 45 without exploiting imprecise conversions. [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 04:30, 24 February 2022 (UTC)
:Huh? This does not say average downhill speed is > 45, it says "fastest". Also why would Cueball need to do this bizarre rounding if he can actually go 45mph? This is an exaggeration because he can only go a typical speed of 17mph.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.145|172.69.33.145]] 04:52, 24 February 2022 (UTC)
::Fastest for average cyclist. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 05:05, 24 February 2022 (UTC)
:As a cyclist of several decades experience, who has indeed attained such speeds on rare (reckless) occasions, I think that "fastest downhill speed for an average rider" is overstated. Maybe it is what average people are capable of on a well-surfaced, steep, straight, non-undulating road with sufficient vision (forward and of anything potentially moving into the road from the side) or at least confidence that you're not dealing with traffic/pedestrians/other unaware cyclists. Oh, and sufficient stopping distance for whatever brakes you have.
:Maybe everybody can do it ''once'', but a good bike-ride should be one you can walk away from at the end.
:(Also, that cycling-centric site might have a different idea of 'average' cyclist. The average person on a bike here can't even put their feet on the pedals correctly. If we're talking club-/competitive-cyclists (but still sub-pro) then I'd much more readily agree, but there are far more people these days who can't even ride on the roadway, it seems.)
:That bike, as drawn, looks like it'll be Okish (if kept well maintained) but not exactly set up as functional downhill racer, nor probably is the rider. I really think the machine probably could be ridden at 20+mph on the flat for as long as the rider can stand to, but the characterisation makes me not confident they're able to maintain that kind of average speed for a [https://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/race-results/22059#anchor long ride], and I think they'd overbake a downhill speed-run too, or (sensibly) be more cautious. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.143|172.70.85.143]] 05:14, 24 February 2022 (UTC)
:: Yep - the speeds on that site are for road bikes. Cueball looks to be riding a hybrid (flat bars), which would tend to put him in a more upright position, creating a higher frontal area and air resistance, and so slowing his progress. That would have even more of an effect at higher speeds. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.43|162.158.159.43]] 11:14, 24 February 2022 (UTC)

Arguably, once you're up to numbers around 45, you're as likely, if not more so, to be rounding to the nearest 5 than the nearest unit (depending on context). So Cueball's initial statement could be taken as suggesting that he can ride at around 42.5 - 47.5mph (rather than 44.5 - 45.5mph). And if he could actually ride at over 45mph then he presumably wouldn't need to add the 'if you round' qualifier, so it could further be taken as just suggesting that he can exceed 42.5mph. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.43|162.158.159.43]] 11:22, 24 February 2022 (UTC)

Note I find it kind of disappointing that the insane "KPH" unit is used in the comic. Nobody uses that in places where speed is actually measured in km/h.
: yes, but we are talking about a US based comic, one of only 3 countries (Myanmar, Liberia, USA) that don't use the metric system for measurement...oh, except for money, but that isn't really metric, it is money ;o) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.190|108.162.250.190]] 00:50, 25 February 2022 (UTC)
:: Erm, I think you'll find the UK uses miles as well. And we're just putting ourselves through a massive political and economic upheaval so that we can have our old imperial weights and measures back (at least, I think that was the point of it all).[[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.24|141.101.77.24]] 16:30, 25 February 2022 (UTC)

Ironically, by the same standards it only takes one conversion to say that he can't move at all on a bike. he goes 0 parsecs, lightyears or AU (for example) per year, decade or century (for example).

Can we remove the rounding errors in the "exact" values in the tables? For instance, the final value should be "45.0000" not "45.0001". In fact, all three values ending with 0001 are rounding errors. (These were probably a result of converting to metric and back, using low precision conversion factors.) [[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 15:49, 24 February 2022 (UTC)
: Yeah, like fathoms/s and yards/s are by definition just a factor 2 apart. I recalculated the values without rounding at any step except the final step, so the rounding errors should be gone now. Also added vincula for repeating digits. [[User:Tharkon|Tharkon]] ([[User talk:Tharkon|talk]]) 19:25, 27 February 2022 (UTC)

Whoever decided to display that information in that table deserves an award. Gg. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.65|172.70.126.65]] 16:38, 24 February 2022 (UTC)

It's nice how the rounding of exact half-integers only ever has to deal with odd-numbers-and-a-half, so Cueball can't be charged with violating the "round to even" rule, nor with violating the "round away from zero" rule. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.131.122|172.70.131.122]] 18:06, 24 February 2022 (UTC)

It looks like Randall picked a starting speed (within a reasonable bike-riding range) to maximize his gain. Groups of starting speeds round to the same final speeds, and some groups have a higher maximum speed earlier in the rounding chain:
::{| class="wikitable"
! Start Speed
(mph)
! Max Speed
(rounded to mph)
! Final Speed
(mph)
|-
|1
|1
|0
|-
|2 to 9
|9
|8
|-
|10
|10
|8
|-
|11 to 16
|16
|15
|-
|17 to 45
|45
|45
|-
|46 to 54
|54
|53
|}[[Special:Contributions/172.70.131.122|172.70.131.122]] 21:24, 24 February 2022 (UTC)
:Are you assuming the exact same chain of conversions, just with different input values? Surely if he'd chosen to start at (say) 16, he'd have chosen whatever ''other'' chain of conversions would have sent him towards some decent high-value. Might have differed only by the initial conversions before it found itself landing on the same late-path, or could be completely different (to get to a different end) as the biased random-walk of choices hit a different useful stride pattern. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.20|141.101.99.20]] 22:39, 24 February 2022 (UTC)
::Yes, I put different starting speeds into the same conversion chain. Perhaps I should have said "He chose a reasonable starting speed and chain of conversions to maximize the gain." I was initially surprised that starting at 16mph ends at 15mph, then decided to plot it. The grouping of ending speeds also surprised me, but in hindsight that's to be expected with multiple round offs. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.17|162.158.75.17]] 23:02, 24 February 2022 (UTC)
:::Not surprising at all. Given any random (not selectively chosen) conversion-then-rounding function, you'd expect about half the time you get a lowered (absolute) value rather than a raised one, for the input number somewhere in the range 1 to infinity. For any pair of measures of unequal scales but sharing zero. (Possibly also viable in non-equal and dislocated scales, like °C and °F, but that's just a hunch that I've not emperically checked, and not applicable here anyway.)
:::The chain chosen was conspicuously optimal to get the starting value 17 to always rise. Possibly by the maximum possible amount, on each chosen step, from amongst all those considered conversions, but I haven't checked this. It even has a viable unit_A=>unit_B for one rounding rise then unit_B=>unit_A for yet another rounding rise, because it happily works like that at the respective points of each scale.
:::But when you start from a different value, you lose the initial upwards-bias in the same 'meshing' and on each subsequent Randall-chosen one. It's pretty much a random sequence, as far as the value that it wasn't designed for is concerned. Logic dictates that it will downplay the value about as often as it will up-play it, for most scenarios. Except maybe at resonant multiple/divisors of the original (which will still chaotically drift, as rounding up .6 for a value would mean rounding down .3 for value/2 or down from .2 for value*2, setting you up for the next function in the adopted sequence to fail), but then 17 is prime so you'd have to start with 34 for that to (sometimes) work.
:::And, assuming the sequence is chosen for maximising upwards, you've got the function at each stage that is selected precisely because ''for that exact state-value'' it is specifically upward-trending, so when you try that in a different context reversion-to-the-mean suggests you're perhaps more likely to hit one of the downward-trends in the relationship.
:::My theory is that for any given starting value, some convert-then-round (from a sufficiently diverse choice of options) will always maximise the resulting magnitude. And that result will always have its own maximal conversion. Although those two operations may be less maximising in combination than a submaximal first operation (maybe, in some cases, a slight ''reduction''?) that 'lands' on a better number for a differing secondary maximiser step to act upon. So a full search-path needs to consider an N-step look-ahead method rooted in a breadth-first trial of each step-1, etc, to optimise the maximiser-optimiser process. But I haven't the time to test it right now. Maybe later! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.77|172.70.162.77]] 00:53, 25 February 2022 (UTC)

A note about the propulsion system in the mouseover text: This system is not entirely novel and was first proposed by Douglas Adams who suggested using the notebooks of waiters in bistros to achieve the desired precision loss. He suggested it should be possible to achieve speeds of round ∞kph (∞mph) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.202.247|162.158.202.247]]
:The books don't mention those details in their description of "bistromathics", and I don't recall them having been added to the radio adaptations. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 23:15, 24 February 2022 (UTC)
::To clarify: the book mentions the waiters' notebooks, but nothing about precision loss or achievable speeds. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 16:55, 25 February 2022 (UTC)
:The Improbability Drive (in the Hitchiker's Guide) also seems somewhat related.
:What relation can that have? I'm looking at {{link|https://hitchhikers.fandom.com/wiki/Bistromathics|this link}}. [[User:GcGYSF(asterisk)P(vertical line)e|GcGYSF(asterisk)P(vertical line)e]] ([[User talk:GcGYSF(asterisk)P(vertical line)e|talk]]) 03:32, 25 February 2022 (UTC)
:The various things that {{w|Hex (Discworld)|Discworld's "Hex"}} can do (including occasionally providing magical teportation) can rely upon it trying lots of 'impossible' things very quickly "before the universe notices". [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.125|162.158.159.125]] 14:19, 25 February 2022 (UTC)
:My favorite "impossible" thing mentioned in the Hitchhiker's Guide is be able to fly by "learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss". I have done this successfully while dreaming, but have never accomplished it while wide awake. But it is surely worth trying. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.49|108.162.219.49]] 15:13, 25 February 2022 (UTC)
::people on ISS miss the ground all day long, while falling at astounding speeds. [[User:Bmwiedemann|Bmwiedemann]] ([[User talk:Bmwiedemann|talk]]) 04:48, 5 March 2022 (UTC)
:Interestingly, it's impossible to get above 45 mph using any of the units Randall used: Converting 45 mph into any of those units always results in either an integral number or a number with fractional part below 0.5, which would result in rounding down. (I've used https://www.unitconverters.net/speed-converter.html for the more common units).--[[Special:Contributions/172.70.250.159|172.70.250.159]] 17:36, 25 February 2022 (UTC)
:It also reminds me of the Dungeons & Dragons "Peasant Railgun," which abuses a queue of readied actions to accelerate a projectile to relativistic velocities. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.163|172.70.110.163]] 19:59, 25 February 2022 (UTC)

"Normally, when you say you can ride a bike at 45 mph if you round, you mean that you can ride at a speed between 44.5 and 45.5, something most people are incapable of doing." When I was MUCH younger, in my late teens or early twenties, I decided to bicycle from a northern suburb of Philadelphia to my home in Hockessin, DE. It was a hot summer day and, only being in average shape, I underestimated my ability to hold up under the heat. A Delaware State Trooper wound up driving me and my bike to my destination. Halfway through my trip, I was going down a long hill on U.S. 1 in Media, PA and decided to see how fast I could go. The speed limit was 55 MPH. My speedometer didn't read that high, but I was passing cars going in the same direction. I estimate I was going at 5-10 MPH faster than the cars, and I'd guess they were going at least 55 MPH. So this statement may be true--most being more than 50%--but I suspect most young men of that age would be capable of 45 MPH and faster.
[[User:Hugh|Hugh]] ([[User talk:Hugh|talk]]) 15:20, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2522: Two-Factor Security Key

2021-09-30T03:48:16Z

Bmwiedemann: Nitrokey?

There are 2FA USB keys (WebAuthn, FIDO2, U2F) such as
https://shop.nitrokey.com/shop/product/nk-fi2-nitrokey-fido2-55 with a hole to attach a keychain - and the item in the last panel looks a bit like such one [[User:Bmwiedemann|Bmwiedemann]] ([[User talk:Bmwiedemann|talk]]) 03:48, 30 September 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2481: 1991 and 2021

2021-06-26T20:32:12Z

Bmwiedemann: fix formatting

It's 7:12p and I'm on android at m.xkcd.com . There is no alt text, and the "see also" link directs back to the same page. The comic is fun though, people will be thinking about time travel as technology takes off. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.179|162.158.62.179]] 23:14, 25 June 2021 (UTC)
:There is no title-text on firefox on PC either. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.59|162.158.79.59]] 23:16, 25 June 2021 (UTC)
::The title text is botched. Instead the comic is wrapped in an <code>a</code> (hyperlink) element: <code><a href=""Oh, and our computers all have cameras now, which is nice during the pandemic lockdowns." "The WHAT.""></code>. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.152|141.101.98.152]] 23:24, 25 June 2021 (UTC)
:::I reckon the backend interface for posting a comic must have a field for the title text and a field for the "see also" link, and someone put the text in the wrong field. Easy mistake to make, hopefully fixed soon. -- [[User:Peregrine|Peregrine]] ([[User talk:Peregrine|talk]]) 02:33, 26 June 2021 (UTC)

Wasn't the federal no lasers pointed at airplanes law was in acted to prevent laser guided missile attacks against airlines? Not laser attacks in general? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.129.136|172.68.129.136]] 01:24, 26 June 2021 (UTC)
:Sure, someone may have suggested that, but the truth is that anyone who has access to guided missiles (IE state-level actors and military forces) isn't going to be bound by federal law anyway [[User:Defaultdotxbe|Defaultdotxbe]] ([[User talk:Defaultdotxbe|talk]]) 02:37, 26 June 2021 (UTC)
::My thoughts too. At first I took it as White Hat thinking that there were military attacks with lasers capable of shooting down planes… but a federal law against that would, as you say, not be heeded by those doing such things. On reflection I decided that White Hat is envisioning that ordinary citizens have laser guns and have taken to shooting them at planes, the way road signs get shot at by ordinary guns in reality. -- [[User:Peregrine|Peregrine]] ([[User talk:Peregrine|talk]]) 02:46, 26 June 2021 (UTC)
:In short, '''no'''. 18 USC §39A, the federal law criminalizing the pointing of laser pointers at airplanes, was not enacted to prevent missile attacks against airlines. It was enacted to help combat kids (and others) causing real injury to airline personnel in what they thought were harmless pranks (they're not harmless). [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 03:46, 26 June 2021 (UTC)

It's interesting that Mr. 2021 summarizes the entire Internet/World Wide Web with "it's really easy to send news stories to your friends". The Internet certainly existed in 1991, but the advancement in that area over 30 years is pretty significant. I'm not sure how I would sum that up to someone from 30 years ago in a single comic panel, but I think it would come out differently than what we see here. [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 03:57, 26 June 2021 (UTC)
:I saw the ratio of advertisements with www.foo.com in it rise only at the end of the 90s which was when the Internet started to get mainstream adoption. Before Google, it was not so easy to find relevant content with Altavista and friends. [[User:Bmwiedemann|Bmwiedemann]] ([[User talk:Bmwiedemann|talk]]) 20:31, 26 June 2021 (UTC)

It's not so much the range of cordless phones that is of significant change, but the computing power inside the phone that made the most advancement since 1991. Phones at that time could only make phone calls! Texting didn't become available until 1992 and games and everything else we do on them was later. To me "range" means the connection range which improved a lot, but is still not as signficant as "range of use" [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 12:17, 26 June 2021 (UTC)
:Does "cordless phones" refer to cellphones? That's the "wireless" industry. Cordless phones are landline phone handsets that don't have a cord connecting them to the wall, and he's talking about the distance they can be from the base station. Mentioning these is a joke because so many people have cut the cord entirely, abandoning their landlines in favor of just using cellphones. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 12:59, 26 June 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2481: 1991 and 2021

2021-06-26T20:31:38Z

Bmwiedemann: +comment on internet uptake.

It's 7:12p and I'm on android at m.xkcd.com . There is no alt text, and the "see also" link directs back to the same page. The comic is fun though, people will be thinking about time travel as technology takes off. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.179|162.158.62.179]] 23:14, 25 June 2021 (UTC)
:There is no title-text on firefox on PC either. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.59|162.158.79.59]] 23:16, 25 June 2021 (UTC)
::The title text is botched. Instead the comic is wrapped in an <code>a</code> (hyperlink) element: <code><a href=""Oh, and our computers all have cameras now, which is nice during the pandemic lockdowns." "The WHAT.""></code>. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.152|141.101.98.152]] 23:24, 25 June 2021 (UTC)
:::I reckon the backend interface for posting a comic must have a field for the title text and a field for the "see also" link, and someone put the text in the wrong field. Easy mistake to make, hopefully fixed soon. -- [[User:Peregrine|Peregrine]] ([[User talk:Peregrine|talk]]) 02:33, 26 June 2021 (UTC)

Wasn't the federal no lasers pointed at airplanes law was in acted to prevent laser guided missile attacks against airlines? Not laser attacks in general? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.129.136|172.68.129.136]] 01:24, 26 June 2021 (UTC)
:Sure, someone may have suggested that, but the truth is that anyone who has access to guided missiles (IE state-level actors and military forces) isn't going to be bound by federal law anyway [[User:Defaultdotxbe|Defaultdotxbe]] ([[User talk:Defaultdotxbe|talk]]) 02:37, 26 June 2021 (UTC)
::My thoughts too. At first I took it as White Hat thinking that there were military attacks with lasers capable of shooting down planes… but a federal law against that would, as you say, not be heeded by those doing such things. On reflection I decided that White Hat is envisioning that ordinary citizens have laser guns and have taken to shooting them at planes, the way road signs get shot at by ordinary guns in reality. -- [[User:Peregrine|Peregrine]] ([[User talk:Peregrine|talk]]) 02:46, 26 June 2021 (UTC)
:In short, '''no'''. 18 USC §39A, the federal law criminalizing the pointing of laser pointers at airplanes, was not enacted to prevent missile attacks against airlines. It was enacted to help combat kids (and others) causing real injury to airline personnel in what they thought were harmless pranks (they're not harmless). [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 03:46, 26 June 2021 (UTC)

It's interesting that Mr. 2021 summarizes the entire Internet/World Wide Web with "it's really easy to send news stories to your friends". The Internet certainly existed in 1991, but the advancement in that area over 30 years is pretty significant. I'm not sure how I would sum that up to someone from 30 years ago in a single comic panel, but I think it would come out differently than what we see here. [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 03:57, 26 June 2021 (UTC)
I saw the ratio of advertisements with www.foo.com in it rise only at the end of the 90s which was when the Internet started to get mainstream adoption. Before Google, it was not so easy to find relevant content with Altavista and friends. [[User:Bmwiedemann|Bmwiedemann]] ([[User talk:Bmwiedemann|talk]]) 20:31, 26 June 2021 (UTC)

It's not so much the range of cordless phones that is of significant change, but the computing power inside the phone that made the most advancement since 1991. Phones at that time could only make phone calls! Texting didn't become available until 1992 and games and everything else we do on them was later. To me "range" means the connection range which improved a lot, but is still not as signficant as "range of use" [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 12:17, 26 June 2021 (UTC)
:Does "cordless phones" refer to cellphones? That's the "wireless" industry. Cordless phones are landline phone handsets that don't have a cord connecting them to the wall, and he's talking about the distance they can be from the base station. Mentioning these is a joke because so many people have cut the cord entirely, abandoning their landlines in favor of just using cellphones. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 12:59, 26 June 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2467: Wikipedia Caltrops

2021-05-24T16:26:28Z

Bmwiedemann: links added to transcript

2467: Wikipedia Caltrops

2021-05-24T16:17:02Z

Bmwiedemann: link czech hedgehog wiki page

{{comic
| number = 2467
| date = May 24, 2021
| title = Wikipedia Caltrops
| image = wikipedia_caltrops.png
| titletext = Oh no, they set up a roadblock which is just a sign with the entire 'Czech hedgehog' article printed on it.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by A WIKIPEDIA CRAWL INEVITABLY REACHING "PHILOSOPHY". Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Wikipedia is a website that manages to permanently alter the flow of time, a dilemma what has been discussed previously in [[214|214: The Problem with Wikipedia]]

A '{{w|Czech hedgehog}}' is an anti-tank obstacle made of metal, and would be an effective roadblock.

Randall has a collection of Wikipedia links. They include:

{{w|1994 Caribbean Cup#Anomaly}}: A football game where group stage qualification rules had unintended consequences

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

Cueball drives a car, followed by another car. A number of paper slips with wikipedia links are distributed from the back of the car:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubbly_Creek
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsagate
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pheasant_Island
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_death_triangle
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_YAL-1
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1808_mystery_eruption
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Caribbean_Cup#Anomaly
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkalong_glider
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fastest_animals#Invertebrates
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_ice_cube
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hairy_Hands
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_laser
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1916_Cumberland_vs._Georgia_Tech_football_game
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_far_future
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_0
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defence_Scheme_No._1
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_of_Earth#Introversion
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_colors
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burned_house_horizon
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unexplained_sounds
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_area
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebright_Azimuth

Caption: I have a collection of wikipedia links to throw behind my car if I'm ever being chased by someone as easily distracted as me.

{{comic discussion}}

2467: Wikipedia Caltrops

2021-05-24T16:13:55Z

Bmwiedemann: add transcript.

{{comic
| number = 2467
| date = May 24, 2021
| title = Wikipedia Caltrops
| image = wikipedia_caltrops.png
| titletext = Oh no, they set up a roadblock which is just a sign with the entire 'Czech hedgehog' article printed on it.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by A WIKIPEDIA CRAWL INEVITABLY REACHING "PHILOSOPHY". Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Wikipedia is a website that manages to permanently alter the flow of time, a dilemma what has been discussed previously in [[214|214: The Problem with Wikipedia]]

A 'Czech hedgehog' is an anti-tank obstacle made of metal, and would be an effective roadblock.

Randall has a collection of Wikipedia links. They include:

{{w|1994 Caribbean Cup#Anomaly}}: A football game where group stage qualification rules had unintended consequences

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

Cueball drives a car, followed by another car. A number of paper slips with wikipedia links are distributed from the back of the car:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubbly_Creek
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsagate
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pheasant_Island
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_death_triangle
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_YAL-1
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1808_mystery_eruption
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Caribbean_Cup#Anomaly
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkalong_glider
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fastest_animals#Invertebrates
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_ice_cube
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hairy_Hands
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_laser
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1916_Cumberland_vs._Georgia_Tech_football_game
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_far_future
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_0
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defence_Scheme_No._1
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_of_Earth#Introversion
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_colors
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burned_house_horizon
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unexplained_sounds
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_area
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebright_Azimuth

Caption: I have a collection of wikipedia links to throw behind my car if I'm ever being chased by someone as easily distracted as me.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:2467: Wikipedia Caltrops

2021-05-24T16:05:47Z

Bmwiedemann: more links

most of the links:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubbly_Creek
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsagate
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pheasant_Island
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_death_triangle
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_YAL-1
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1808_mystery_eruption
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Caribbean_Cup#Anomaly
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkalong_glider
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fastest_animals#Invertebrates
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_ice_cube
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hairy_Hands
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_laser
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1916_Cumberland_vs._Georgia_Tech_football_game
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_far_future
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_0
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defence_Scheme_No._1
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_of_Earth#Introversion
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_colors
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burned_house_horizon
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unexplained_sounds
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_area
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebright_Azimuth
[[User:Bmwiedemann|Bmwiedemann]] ([[User talk:Bmwiedemann|talk]]) 16:00, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2467: Wikipedia Caltrops

2021-05-24T16:00:22Z

Bmwiedemann: more links

some of the links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubbly_Creek
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsagate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pheasant_Island
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_death_triangle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_YAL-1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1808_mystery_eruption
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Caribbean_Cup#Anomaly
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkalong_glider
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fastest_animals#Invertebrates
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_ice_cube
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hairy_Hands
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_laser
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1916_Cumberland_vs._Georgia_Tech_football_game
[[User:Bmwiedemann|Bmwiedemann]] ([[User talk:Bmwiedemann|talk]]) 16:00, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2467: Wikipedia Caltrops

2021-05-24T15:56:14Z

Bmwiedemann:

Talk:2403: Wrapping Paper

2020-12-26T02:41:56Z

Bmwiedemann: Add how to catch a lion

Merry Christmas{{unsigned|bubblegum}}

I was reminded of the old http://bjornsmaths.blogspot.com/2005/11/how-to-catch-lion-in-sahara-desert.html

The method of inverse geometry: We place a spherical cage in the desert and enter it. We then perform an inverse operation with respect to the cage. The lion is then inside the cage and we are outside.
[[User:Bmwiedemann|Bmwiedemann]] ([[User talk:Bmwiedemann|talk]]) 02:41, 26 December 2020 (UTC)

2400: Statistics

2020-12-19T06:03:30Z

Bmwiedemann: link to extracted chart image

{{comic
| number = 2400
| date = December 18, 2020
| title = Statistics
| image = statistics.png
| titletext = We reject the null hypothesis based on the 'hot damn, check out this chart' test.
}}

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

This comic is another comic in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] related to the {{w|2019–20 coronavirus outbreak|2020 pandemic}} of the {{w|coronavirus}} {{w|SARS-CoV-2}}, which causes {{w|COVID-19}}.

The main focus of the comic is a graph showing cases of COVID-19 versus time for two groups: one group was vaccinated and the other group was not. Graphs are ways to visualize data, and almost always indicate specific values. This graph does not; it simply has two lines. The higher line ("placebo group") rises in a steep curve. The lower line ("vaccine group") follows the first for a bit but then levels out to a much slower rate of climb. The caption eschews statistical analysis in favor of a holistic assessment: the vaccine is clearly working; just look how far apart those lines are.

This comic was released one day after the [https://www.fda.gov/media/144434/download FDA's Dec 17th briefing document for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine] was released. The document includes the following [https://www.zq1.de/~bernhard/images/share/mRNA-1273-trial.png chart]: [[File:FDA_Modena_Dec17.png]]

The advice here could be seen as the inverse of the "science tip" in [[2311: Confidence Interval]], in which the data was so ''bad'' that its error bars fell outside of the graph and were not shown.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Shown is a graph with the x-axis labeled "time" and the y-axis labeled "COVID cases." There is a black line on the graph labeled "placebo group", which has a roughly linear slope moving toward the top right corner. There is a red line labeled "vaccine group", which follows the black line for about an eighth of the width of the graph before leveling off.]
:[Caption beneath the graph]:
:Statistics tip: Always try to get data that's good enough that you don't need to do statistics on it

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:Tips]]

Talk:2329: Universal Rating Scale

2020-07-07T01:33:45Z

Bmwiedemann: fixup

There are several things that UNC might stand for, but to me none of them suggests a rating scale. Open to suggestions, of course. [[User:JohnB|JohnB]] ([[User talk:JohnB|talk]]) 00:10, 7 July 2020 (UTC)
: I think the most likely candidate from {{w|UNC|w:UNC}} is the numismatic code for an {{w|uncirculated coin}}. —[[User:Scs|Scs]] ([[User talk:Scs|talk]]) 00:49, 7 July 2020 (UTC)

I don’t think A/AA/AAA are battery sizes, but rather [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_rating credit rating]. That is also consistent with their positions in the upper half of the scale.--[[Special:Contributions/172.69.235.142|172.69.235.142]] 00:37, 7 July 2020 (UTC)

A+ reminded me of {{w|European Union energy label}} ratings - but it is also in the credit rating list -- [[User:Bmwiedemann|Bmwiedemann]] ([[User talk:Bmwiedemann|talk]]) 01:31, 7 July 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2329: Universal Rating Scale

2020-07-07T01:31:26Z

Bmwiedemann: suggest source for A+

There are several things that UNC might stand for, but to me none of them suggests a rating scale. Open to suggestions, of course. [[User:JohnB|JohnB]] ([[User talk:JohnB|talk]]) 00:10, 7 July 2020 (UTC)
: I think the most likely candidate from {{w|UNC|w:UNC}} is the numismatic code for an {{w|uncirculated coin}}. —[[User:Scs|Scs]] ([[User talk:Scs|talk]]) 00:49, 7 July 2020 (UTC)

I don’t think A/AA/AAA are battery sizes, but rather [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_rating credit rating]. That is also consistent with their positions in the upper half of the scale.--[[Special:Contributions/172.69.235.142|172.69.235.142]] 00:37, 7 July 2020 (UTC)

A+ reminded me of {{w|European Union energy label}} ratings - it is not in the credit rating list -- [[User:Bmwiedemann|Bmwiedemann]] ([[User talk:Bmwiedemann|talk]]) 01:31, 7 July 2020 (UTC)

2329: Universal Rating Scale

2020-07-07T00:45:38Z

Bmwiedemann: add "up to eleven" meme link

{{comic
| number = 2329
| date = July 6, 2020
| title = Universal Rating Scale
| image = universal_rating_scale.png
| titletext = There are plenty of finer gradations. I got 'critically endangered/extinct in the wild' on my exam, although the curve bumped it all the way up to 'venti.'
}}

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

Traditional scales that have been blended for the comic
: '''Scale of zero to ten''' (but with an 11, because people often add that to exaggerate - see {{w|up to eleven}} about the meme)
:: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11
: '''Competitive scores''', such as in the Olympics (ordinarily from 0.0 to 10.0, perfect)
:: 10.0
: '''Scale of agreement'''
:: strongly disagree, disagree, agree, strongly agree
: '''School grades''' (there are also B, C, D, and others with + or -)
:: F, A, A+
: '''Restaurant or entertainment ratings'''
:: 1 star, 2 stars, 3 stars, 4 stars
: '''Conservation status''' (this is only a subset of the nine groups in an international convention)
:: extinct, critical, endangered, least concern
: '''Starbucks brand beverage sizes''' (there is also trenta)
:: tall, grande, venti
: '''MPAA age-apropriate film ratings since 1966''' (there is also R)
:: G, PG, PG-13, NC-17
: '''ESRB age-appropriate ratings''' (there is also E for everyone)
:: 10+, T for teen
: '''Happiness emojis'''
:: Frowny face, neutral face, smiley face
: '''Goodness''' (might also have expected P, E)
:: F, G, VG
::: Note that F and G appear in multiple traditional scales
: '''Hurricane/cyclone strengths''' (ordinarily categorized from 1 to 5)
:: Category 5
: '''Tornado intensities''', enhanced Fujita scale (ordinarily categorized from 0 to 5)
:: EF-5
: '''Screw thread pitch''', Unified Thread Standard (also UNF and UNEF)
:: UNC (Unified National Coarse)
: '''Battery sizes''' (there are many more: C, D, AAAA, etc.)
:: AA, AAA

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

: [Caption above the frame:]
: Universal Rating Scale
:
: [A vertical scale, with 45 gradations, labeled]
: 0
: 1
: Strongly Disagree
: F
: [star] ☆
: Extinct
: Tall
: 2
: G
: Critical
: [frowny face] ☹
: 3
: endangered
: [two stars] ☆☆
: PG
: Disagree
: VG
: 4
: Grande
: 5
: PG-13
: [neutral face] 😐
: 6
: T for Teen
: 7
: [three stars] ☆☆☆
: Agree
: Venti
: 8
: Least Concern
: [smiley face] ☺
: A
: Strongly Agree
: Category 5
: EF-5
: NC-17
: UNC
: AA
: [four stars] ☆☆☆☆
: A+
: S
: AAA
: 10
: 10.0
: 11

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

2327: Oily House Index

2020-07-02T03:35:43Z

Bmwiedemann: fix typo

{{comic
| number = 2327
| date = July 1, 2020
| title = Oily House Index
| image = oily_house_index.png
| titletext = We're underwater on our mortgage thanks to the low price of water.
}}

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

In economics, an {{w|index (economics)|index}} is a statistical measure of change in a representative group of individual data points. Common indices include NASDAQ (a measure of a range of stock prices) and a consumer price index (a measure of retail prices)

This chart demonstrates an invented index, the "oily house index", which measures a ratio of oil price to average house prices, over time.

The numerator is the average price of a new home (presumably in the US), in USD per square foot ($/sqft). It does not specify what kind of home, or where. One available metric is the [https://www.statista.com/statistics/682549/average-price-per-square-foot-in-new-single-family-houses-usa/ average price per square foot of floor space in new single-family houses in the United States] which was $118.91 in 2019. The caption refers to converting the ''mortgage'' of the new house (that is, how much the purchaser borrowed, which could be zero), while the definition simply refers to the ''new home price'' (the total value). It is not clear which of these two is used in the chart.

The denominator is the price of oil in USD per {{w|barrel (unit)|barrel}} ($/BBL). This is also not well defined, although the chart's caption suggests that it is based on crude oil. There are many different indices for different blends of oil in different locations, such as [https://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/wti.asp West Texas Intermediate], which is a crude oil commonly used as a global oil benchmark. (Others include Brent and Dubai Crude). The WTI price fluctuated around $55-60 throughout 2019. A barrel is a standard unit of oil volume, defined as 42 U.S. gallons (roughly 5.615 cubic feet or 0.16 cubic metres).

The index is high when house prices are high and oil prices are low (such as during the 1999 oil glut), and low when house prices are low and oil prices are high (such as during the 1979 energy crisis).

=== Chart ===

;{{w|1979 oil crisis|1979 energy crisis}}
:In the wake of the {{w|Iranian Revolution}}, global oil supply reduced by only 4%, but caused widespread panic and a huge increase in oil price.
;The {{w|Gulf War}} (August 1990 - Feb 1991)
:The Gulf War (August 1990 - Feb 1991) was the invasion of Iraq by the US, which decreased oil supplies and caused a spike in prices.
;1999 oil glut
:In early 1999, Iraq increased its oil production, while the Asian Financial Crisis reduced demand. Prices briefly fell to as low as $16.[https://oilprice.com/Energy/Oil-Prices/A-Recent-History-Of-Oil-Prices-History-About-To-Repeat-Itself.html]
;Ceiling height
:Reinforcing the connection with the metaphorical house filled with oil, "ceiling height" here is shown at somewhere just below 10 feet. The standard ceiling height in US homes is 9 feet for ground floor, and 8 feet on higher floors. [https://rethority.com/standard-ceiling-height/]
;Oil and housing crashes partly cancel out
:As a result of the {{w|financial crisis of 2007-2008}}, oil prices crashed from $147/BBL in July 2008 to $30 in December 2008. Meanwhile, {{w|United States housing bubble|falling house prices}}, which had partially triggered the financial crisis, continued to slump across the US, with the Case-Shiller home price index reporting its largest ever price drop in December 2008. Since both oil price and house prices were falling, the effect of dividing one by the other means that the index didn't change significantly, remaining around 8-15 feet.
;{{w|2010s oil glut}}
:In 2014-16 there was a serious surplus of {{w|crude oil}}, partially caused by increasing shale oil from the US and Canada, a slowdown in demand from China, and increasing fuel efficiency and use of renewable energy. Prices dropped from $125/BBL from 2012 to below $30 in January 2016. By October 2018, prices had recovered to $85/BBL. ]
;OHI briefly became infinite as oil prices reached zero in 2020
:In April 2020, the {{w|coronavirus pandemic}} dramatically reduced vehicle and air transport, crashing oil demand. Oil prices actually went to zero, and even below, several times: oil producers paying consumers to take their oil, to avoid the costs of storing it.[https://www.afr.com/markets/commodities/oil-market-in-turmoil-as-price-falls-below-zero-20200421-p54lz3] Dividing anything by zero yields infinity, hence the "infinite oily house index". The graph should actually wrap around to the negative axis at this point.

The comic then applies {{w|dimensional analysis}} to this index: dividing $/sqft by $/bbl yields a result whose dimension is a linear measurement, which can be called length. 1 barrel is 42 gallons, a gallon is 231 cubic inches, and a cubic foot is 123=728 cubic inches, so a barrel is approximately 5.6146 cubic feet and a cubic foot is approximately 0.1781 barrel. The average price per square foot of a new single-family dwelling in the USA in 2019 was about $119/square foot, while the price of oil in mid 2019 was about $60/BBL or $10.7/cubic foot. Dividing $119/square foot by $10.7/cubic foot gives approximately 11.1 foot. This is slightly lower than the value shown on the chart of around 15.

The chart's caption then interprets that length as the depth that a new home could be filled with the crude oil that could be purchased with its price.

=== Title text ===
The title text, "We're underwater on our mortgage thanks to the low price of water" is a pun. A mortgage on a property is considered to be "underwater"[https://www.investopedia.com/terms/u/underwater-mortgage.asp] when the value of the mortgage exceeds the value of the property. This is bad for both the owner (who owes more money than the property is worth) and the bank (who now have a loan which is not fully secured against a default: if the property owner defaults, the bank will lose money in selling the property).

The title text is hinting at an alternative index based on the ratio of house price to the price of water instead of oil. If the price of water fell, then the index would rise, causing the house to be even deeper in water (following the metaphor of the index as filling the house with physical water). This situation could arise even if the property value remained high, although Randall may be humorously suggesting that the increase in the index would literally flood the property with water, which would then damage it, obviously decreasing its value. (If the index continues to be computed on average house prices, then this single event would not materially impact the index as a whole.)

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

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Line graphs]]

2324: Old Days 2

2020-06-27T05:15:26Z

Bmwiedemann: specify distributed nature of git

{{comic
| number = 2324
| date = June 24, 2020
| title = Old Days 2
| image = old_days_2.png
| titletext = The git vehicle fleet eventually pivoted to selling ice cream, but some holdovers remain. If you flag down an ice cream truck and hand the driver a floppy disk, a few hours later you'll get an invite to a git repo.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a GIT ICE-CREAM VAN. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In this sequel to [[1755: Old Days]], which was released more than 3.5 years ago, the conversation continues, as if no time has passed, between (young) [[Cueball]] and (old) [[Hairbun]] about computer programming in the past. As in the first comic in [[:Category:Old Days|this series]], Cueball, having only a faint idea of just how difficult and byzantine programming was "in the old days", asks Hairbun to enlighten him on the specifics. Hairbun promptly seizes the opportunity to screw with his head.

The claims:
* The cloud was smaller and called a "Mainframe" and was near Sacramento.
** This is a joke on many {{w|Cloud computing|cloud services}} replacing {{w|mainframe}}s. Both systems were or are used to provide an expansive quantity of computing capability by enabling users to use only some of the available resources, sharing with other users. In those early days, it is true that large mainframes would handle multiple people's jobs at once, using techniques like {{w|time-sharing}} (although they were not necessarily located near {{w|Sacramento}}, the capital of California.). What's more, the basic ideas behind how cloud computing are used go way back. {{w|Multics}} was an early time-sharing system designed to "support a computing utility similar to the telephone and electricity utilities". The idea was similar to the cloud, where anybody could just hook up and get computing service, as well as other services built into the mainframe. For this reason, many of the computer security concepts we have today - such as {{w|Kernel_(operating_system)|kernelized operating systems}} - come from early systems like Multics.
* It was on the state landline.
** In the days of mainframes, remote users often used {{w|landline}}s (i.e. hard wired telephone connections) to communicate, via {{w|dial-up modem}}s, and so users would have to disconnect for making phone calls. Even in the age of all landlines, there was never such a thing as "the state landline", imagined as an immense shared {{w|Party line (telephony)|party line}} to which the governor would have priority access for making calls.
* No memory protection; instead, people would call around to ask whether anyone else using an address, and Microsoft's early foothold in computing was because of {{w|Bill Gates}} lying about his usage of addresses.
** {{w|Memory protection}} protects storage from access by other programs or users. Many computer systems provide hardware and operating systems to support this. Hairbun is correct in that this sort of code was not well-developed early on. She claims that management of the memory was all done manually by agreement of the developers, and the only way to check if editing a particular address in the Mainframe was safe was physically asking all the other developers if they were already using it. In early PCs it was common to use specific memory locations, defined by the operating system or the hardware itself, to communicate with the operating system or perform particular functions such as direct graphical memory addressing rather than code compiling to pass through multiple Hardware Abstraction Layers. Her implication is that Bill Gates took advantage of this honor system to restrict people not working for {{w|Microsoft}} from making changes, allowing the company to take ownership of a lot of code - another fib with a grain of truth in it, based on Microsoft's excessive usage of limited standard-mandated pools. For example, out of 256 possible identifiers for {{w|partition type}} shared between all operating systems running on IBM PC compatible hardware, 65 entries are allocated to miscellaneous variants of FAT and NTFS systems, 38 of them originating from Microsoft itself - including esoteric variants like "Corrupted fault-tolerant FAT16B mirrored master volume."
* "Git" was a van that drove around gathering tapes to copy, and the term "pull request" came from the van physically pulling over when signaled with an air horn.
** {{w|Git}} is a {{w|distributed version control system}}, which manages copies of a coding project to prevent and resolve conflicts from multiple people editing the project at once. It works by having individual contributors {{w|Pull request|pull}} the project onto their device, make their changes, and then push those changes back to be integrated into the master copy. The term "pull request" is primarily used after a user has pushed their new code and is requesting that those changes be integrated into the primary codebase, i.e. that the primary developer would pull those changes into the main branch. Bulk data used to be stored on {{w|magnetic tape}}; in order for version control to exist at this time, there would have to be a master tape that was copied and physically distributed to each contributor, and then the edited tapes would be gathered afterward and conflicts resolved. Hairbun claims that Git provided this service back then using vans. In reality, Git did not exist until 2005, long after digital computers and networked servers became widely accessible and the "early internet" was history. Other systems for providing the same functionality existed for decades before this, with {{w|Source Code Control System}} (SCCS) having been released in 1972. Even this software was implemented primarily for multiple users accessing the same system, rather than users on separate, unconnected ones. Physically carrying storage devices around ({{w|sneakernet}}) has sometimes been used where electronic communication or bandwidth was not available. For example, motorcycle drivers on a regular route, carrying flash drives to remote communities (see {{w|delay-tolerant networking}}).
* Before terminals we all used punch cards, which were originally developed to control looms, and so the Mainframe would produce sweaters when code was run.
** Another initial truth going into complete nonsense. It is true that some looms were controlled by {{w|punch card}}s (dating back to 1745), and so were early computer precursors. At the same time {{w|Charles Babbage}} used them around 1830 to control his {{w|Analytical Engine}}. However, Hairbun's statement is that because of this, the ''same'' punch card machines would run both ''simultaneously'', such that feeding a set of cards to compile code would necessarily cause a sweater to be produced by the connected loom, which was then sent to the developer. For one: a loom doesn't produce sweaters, but a piece of fabric (which is often patterned if punch cards are involved). And it's not likely that any punch patterns used in computer coding would be interpretable as a suitable pattern for a sweater.
* (From the title text) You can still hand in a floppy disk to an ice cream truck and get an invite to a git repo a few hours later.
** Git repo is short for Git {{w|Repository (version control)|repository}}, the place where all the files associated with a project are stored. Hairbun tries to convince Cueball that modern ice cream truck drivers service Git in the same way she says the vans did before and that it's still possible to give them a {{w|floppy disk}} (a magnetic storage device) in order to gain access to a repo. The ice cream industry has no connection to computing.{{Citation needed}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[In a slim panel, Cueball and Hairbun are walking together to the right. Hairbun has her palm raised.]
:Cueball: What was the Internet like in the olden days, for a developer?
:Hairbun: Oh, things were very different.

:[Cueball and Hairbun have stopped walking. Zoomed in on Hairbun.]
:Hairbun: The cloud was a lot smaller. It was called a "mainframe" and it was near Sacramento.
:Hairbun: It was on the state landline, so the whole industry paused when the governor had to make a phone call.

:[Zoomed back out. Hairbun has her palm raised.]
:Hairbun: There was no memory protection. If you wanted to write to an address, you would call around to ask whether anyone else was using it.
:Hairbun: Often Bill Gates would say he was, even when he wasn't. That's how Microsoft got its early foothold.
:Cueball: Wow.

:[Zoomed back in Hairbun. Cueball responds off-screen.]
:Hairbun: "Git" was originally a van that circled around gathering data tapes to copy and distribute. We all took turns driving it.
:Hairbun: When you saw it coming you'd blow an air horn to request that it pull over.
:Hairbun: That's where "pull request" came from.
:Cueball (off-screen): Oh, neat!

:[Cueball and Hairbun continue walking to the right. Hairbun has her palm raised.]
:Hairbun: Before terminals, we all used punch cards, which were originally developed to control looms.
:Hairbun: Early mainframes would produce a sweater each time you ran your code.
:Hairbun: Eventually we got them to stop. We had enough sweaters.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Old Days]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|Old Days]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Version Control]]