explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2932: Driving PSA

2024-05-15T11:51:05Z

Bugstomper:

Did the best I could on the explanation, even if it's a bit clunky. [[User:Trogdor147|Trogdor147]] ([[User_talk:Trogdor147|talk]]) 03:59, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

Pretty lame strategy. Even with someone waving me on, when I get past them I'll look to the right to make sure. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 04:22, 14 May 2024 (UTC)
: Right? Just pull into the median in front of the left-turners, then re-assess the situation. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 12:59, 14 May 2024 (UTC)
::Just an FYI: It's illegal to use turn lanes for merging, & illegal to wait mid-intersection. By law, you must not enter the intersection until the right-of-way is clear. No stopping partway through; that can get you a ticket.
::[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 18:07, 14 May 2024 (UTC)
:: As a pedestrian (amongst my other road-uses), I occasionally have to cross a two-lane carriageway (to the median, then across the opposite two-lane carriageway) near a junction (roundabout, in the UK; and the first lane dedicated to turning in (left, equiv. to a US right-turn) to the side-road) and the initial lane is often either entirely empty or jammed up by those trying to turn into the retail park that sits there. I have to juggle the kindness of drivers who will slow (or stay stopped) to let me across their lane with the possibility of having other (faster-moving) traffic still coming up on the other lane. It's possible to use the twixt-lane white line as a kind of unofficial demi-median (the stopped driver will not forget that they let you go there), but I'd rather not surprise the through-traffic lane by giving them an alarming glimpse of a pedestrian maybe about to step out in front of them, so I might try to indicate to the kind driver (with friendly gestures) that I'm observing someone coming up on their offside (due to slight bend, on entry to the junction, they might not see them in their own offside mirror), perhaps even then stand back and wave them past because ''I'' can see a glut of offside traffic, from my head-height position. Or just avoid those times of the day when there's heavy shopping/commuting traffic causing that sort of problem.
:: (Yes, it ''is'' a proper crossing point. Dropped kerbs for those that need dropped kerbs, though not given pelican/zebra/etc explicit crossing markings and signage. An alternate way 'across' is a walk down to a canal that the onward road crosses by bridge, under that bridge on the tow-path and then back to meet the opposite side of the road.)
:: The junction-exit carriageway is far simpler. You can see when traffic is coming down the through-road ''or'' spinning round the island from the RP exit (or U-turning from the first carriageway!) and either there's a third-of-a-mile queue backed up from the next junction or there's no traffic impeding those going that way to leave me with space to cross.
:: The opposite crossing is a matter of the 'easy' junction-exit carriageway (as just given) plus an unrestricted view of the fast-lane, but then you need to catch the eye of any queued turn-lane vehicles (and look at what round-the-roundabout traffic might be holding the front of that queue up, in the near future) to make sure that when you take advantage of a clear offside then the subsequent nearside cars don't start shuffling up. And recognise the oblivious/inconsiderate/obtuse drivers by their general road positioning and attitude at the wheel. (It's a bit of an art, but stood me in good stead so far.)
:: There is also, elsewher, a ''particularly'' akward right-turn (UK, remember) onto a mainish road, that I sometimes need to drive round. It comes in as single-becoming-double lane, but these days that double is buslane and singular other (from the right, the double-becoming-single is also buslane nearside, except for inward turners who aren't in contention with me but ''are'' potentially view-blocking). Between the two carriageways (which merge, at the single-lane side, as two standard single contra-carriageways beyond an actual light-controlled staggered pedestrian crossing) is the central turning refuge that I potentially need to pause in to turn right, and left-approaching traffic may need to pause in (crossing my path) to turn into the road I'm emerging from. The most problematic are the turning-in cars that ''don't signal'' (or far too late), given that everyone (not a bus) has to keep right anyway on this widened stretch, but some of them are keeping right in order to turn right. And driver-to-driver visual communication (or even seeing if they're glancing in your direction/meeting your questioning gaze) is isn't helped by angled windscreens often drowning out (apparent) driver-on-driver visibility by the reflection of the sky above. So it pays to be cautious, and taking a moment before taking apparent cues (arm waves, light flashes, etc) as you think they might be intended. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.248|172.70.160.248]] 15:55, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

Maybe they're not trying to kill Randall, but the person in the other lane. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.225|172.71.154.225]] 05:00, 14 May 2024 (UTC)
:It doesn't even need to be a fatal crash. Maybe the person in the other lane is an obstetrician who will intercede in a complex childbirth, and this "accident" will be major enough that that no longer happens, and the child dies... [[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 06:55, 14 May 2024 (UTC)
::Or possibly the aim is actually to engineer a meet-cute between Randall and the driver of the other car, so that a critical birth can (eventually) take place...[[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.249|172.70.160.249]] 08:24, 14 May 2024 (UTC)
:::Well now I want to see a movie where there is a tragic accident and the dying words of one character to another that survives is to take care of their spouse (critically injured in said accident) and their turbulent and tumultuous relationship as they try to get over both survivors guilt and potentially blaming themselves/each other for the death of that first character. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.38.21|172.70.38.21]] 19:37, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

Just curious, as I'm from Germany - does the USA have no traffic lights? [[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.210|198.41.242.210]] 07:15, 14 May 2024 (UTC)
: They do, and they are placed where you can actually see them --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 12:59, 14 May 2024 (UTC)
: They do, and they're placed where they can be used for Captcha challenges.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.81|172.70.86.81]] 14:28, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

Uncontrolled intersection with a left turn onto a 4-lane road? US road design, combined with US car-centric settlement planning, must have been made by those more clever, trying-harder assassins that Randall mentions in the title text, and it looks like they've got a lot of people on their list. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.229.131|162.158.229.131]] 07:20, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

: If it was a single lane street, and not three-lane road (or stroad), then accepting granting the right of way / waving in would be perfectly safe (assuming that you watch left). --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 07:23, 14 May 2024 (UTC)
: This is very common in some areas such as Tucson, AZ. --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.66|172.70.214.66]] 17:11, 14 May 2024 (UTC)
Ok, but... time traveller asassins don't get sent for random harmless people? Getting not one, but MULTIPLE asassins hell-bent on offing him suggests he's going to do something incredibly bad for the world that they're trying to prevent?? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.103.68|162.158.103.68]] 08:35, 14 May 2024 (UTC)
: Randall isn't random and it's not entirely clear that he's harmless either.{{unsigned ip|172.70.91.146}}
: It seems reasonable to guess that the future assassins were sent to prevent Randall from writing this very same strip, as it was thwarting many of their other future asassination attempts. [[User:Rumormonger Omega|Rumormonger Omega]] ([[User talk:Rumormonger Omega|talk]]) 14:40, 14 May 2024 (UTC)
: You are assuming the assassins are "good guys", it is just as likely that Randall will do something that most of us would regard as a good thing but it impedes the assassin's, or their master's, evil plan; akin to Skynet sending the Terminators to kill Sarah/Young John Connor to remove the human resistance as an effective counter to the machine uprising. There's also the possibility that Randall is part of a "butterfly effect" scenario where he doesn't directly do anything of note, but something he does will have downstream effects that result in someone else doing something impactful to the assassin's preferred future.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.135.56|172.70.135.56]] 16:01, 14 May 2024 (UTC)
: It's quite obvious that one of examples in What If 3 will be used to win World War IV. The assassins from losing side are trying to prevent writing the book, hoping that without it the other side never get so crazy idea. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 19:59, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

Oh boy, a comic about my second-greatest pet peeve on the road! Now if only we could have an xkcd guide to using the acceleration lane. [[User:Phil Srobeighn|Phil Srobeighn]] ([[User talk:Phil Srobeighn|talk]]) 09:51, 14 May 2024 (UTC)
:...and turning signals... [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 09:53, 14 May 2024 (UTC)
:
:As we do not have intersections like this, MY personal pet peeve is people stopping to wave kids over the road. Wrong for SO MANY reasons.
:First, the people in the car usually don't think of the OTHER lane (and kids won't, either).
:Second, I am trying to teach my kids to look left and right and only cross the road when there are no cars. If a car approaches, they are to wait until it has passed. Well, but then the car STOPS and the kid gets irritated and doesn't know what to do, because when they are small they just stare at the car and not at the driver, so they never see the waving. And so we are at a stalemate, the car is just standing there, the kid is just standing there, and chances are the kid will decide to cross the road right at the same moment the driver decides he has waited long enough.--[[Special:Contributions/172.70.243.227|172.70.243.227]] 21:29, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

A corollary PSA would be to ignore the gestures of any passengers in the other car. I've seen passengers in the front seat wave people to go ahead, without the agreement of the person actually driving the car.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.45|172.70.178.45]] 10:29, 14 May 2024 (UTC)Pat

I don't even drive and I hate these people lmao [[User:Psychoticpotato|Psychoticpotato]] ([[User talk:Psychoticpotato|talk]]) 12:40, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

A discussion of the liability issue in this situation. [https://www.allenandallen.com/can-i-be-successfully-sued-for-waving-a-car-in-front-of-me/#:~:text=Yes%2C%20you%20can.%20There%20are%20circumstances%20in%20which,be%20legally%20liable%20for%20injuries%20and%20financial%20losses.] [[User:Philhower|Philhower]] ([[User talk:Philhower|talk]]) 15:55, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

I remember when taking my driver's education class (in New Jersey, in 1987), the instructor made a point of teaching us to ignore civilians waving and to never wave other traffic anywhere. If you wave a car in this manner, and it ends up getting into a collision, you can be held liable for the damage. You could also be charged with directing traffic without authorization - something typically only done by law enforcement officers and road construction crews. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 17:27, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

I must point out, no one has a privilege to go. The "right of way" only refers to the side of the road. Stop using the term wrong. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 20:46, 14 May 2024 (UTC)
:I'm going to assume this is a joke, but for everyone who might believe it, "right of way" {{w|Right_of_way_(traffic)|does}} [https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/right_of_way indeed] [https://www.safemotorist.com/articles/right-of-way/ refer] to the privilege ("right") to use a road ("way").
::Like everything else in the comic and the comments here, that depends on jurisdiction. For example, in Australia "right of way" doesn't exist - at least not as a right that can be asserted. Throughout the road rule legislation, references are made to situations where a driver has to give way to other traffic, but there is nothing that explicitly gives a driver "right of way" over any other traffic. As a driver I am obliged to recognise situations where I have to give priority to other drivers, but there is no explicit right to take priority. The legislation also requires all drivers to do what they can to avoid collisions. [[User:Paddles|Paddles]] ([[User talk:Paddles|talk]]) 23:38, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

I want to clarify that the initial post on this thread is not entirely correct, as it is dependent on the jurisdiction, whether it be on a national level, state level, etc. Where I am from in the United States in the state of Utah, for instance, it is codified in Utah traffic code 41-6a-801 Subsections (3)(b)(i) and (3)(d) (see https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title41/Chapter6A/41-6a-S801.html?v=C41-6a-S801_2015051220150512 if you want) that traffic can turn into the turn lane and wait until the opportunity arises to merge, provided they do not travel further than 500 feet in that lane (in addition to other qualifications that are largely irrelevant to the present subject). While that is inapplicable in the case of this comic, as I do not know of ANY jurisdiction where turning onto a median itself is legal, that does not necessarily mean that it is illegal to turn into a dual direction turn lane and then merge into traffic in all jurisdictions. Apologies if I formatted this comment poorly.[[User:SilentLurker|SilentLurker]] ([[User talk:SilentLurker|talk]]) 23:00, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

If this has happened to Randall several times during the last month alone, then MAYBE he has a habit of stopping his car too far out and/or too far on the left? So that the left-turning time travellers would have difficulties getting past him? Just asking, because this is when people regularly wave ME out. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.77|162.158.154.77]] 08:05, 15 May 2024 (UTC)
:Randall lives in Boston. When I lived in Boston variations on people helpfully waving me to my death was a common occurrence. [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 11:51, 15 May 2024 (UTC)

Applauds rare actually funny use of Citation needed. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.163.121|172.70.163.121]] 10:40, 15 May 2024 (UTC)

Why does the assassin have to be time-travelling? This method would work just as well (or badly) for a regular assassin as long as they can track the car and head them off at busy intersections. As an assassination method, it leaves something to be desired because (1) collisions at 45 mph are not guaranteed to be fatal, especially side or rear collisions where the target is inside a car with modern safety features, and (2) there would be a police investigation and the assassin would have their details taken, at the least. [[User:Comsmomf|Comsmomf]] ([[User talk:Comsmomf|talk]]) 10:46, 15 May 2024 (UTC)

==Churchill's Law==
Just to reframe "''Car that they are waving you into the path of''" into an awkaward phrase NOT ending in a preposition: "''Car into the path of which they are waving you''". (The Churchill thing is a myth, though <https://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/07/04/churchill-preposition/> .) {{unsigned ip|162.158.134.225}}
: Yuck - that construction needs waving into the path of an oncoming car. Or possibly it already has been.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.43.183|172.69.43.183]] 14:31, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

==PSA==

I thought PSA was Peugeot Société Anonyme, and was wondering why this was specific to French Cars.
Or possibly Prostate specific antibody.
Maybe Platform Security Acrhitecture

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PSA

[[Special:Contributions/172.69.43.223|172.69.43.223]] 07:51, 15 May 2024 (UTC)

2913: Periodic Table Regions

2024-03-29T22:39:11Z

Bugstomper: /* Table Sections */ add explanation for boron

{{comic
| number = 2913
| date = March 29, 2024
| title = Periodic Table Regions
| image = periodic_table_regions_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x501px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Cesium-133, let it be. Cesium-134, let it be even more.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a LAWFUL NEUTRAL MURDER WEAPON COMMONLY USED TO MAKE SPARK PLUGS' VOICES SQUEAKY- Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The {{w|periodic table}} is used to arrange {{w|chemical element}}s based on their properties. This comic groups them together into regions.

=== Table Sections ===

{| class=wikitable
! scope="col" | Section
! scope="col" | Real table
! scope="col" | Elements contained
! scope="col" | Explanation
|-
| Slightly fancy protons || Hydrogen || Hydrogen || Hydrogen atoms are a proton and an electron. Since the electron can be removed and you can call that a Hydrogen+ ion, hydrogen is a slightly fancy proton.
|-
| Weird dirt || Group 1 and 2 metals || Lithium, Beryllium || Lithium and beryllium, as some of the lightest elements, have unusual properties compared to heavier metals. Lithium, for instance, is the least dense metal on the periodic table, and beryllium is both toxic and transparent to x-rays.
|-
| Regular dirt || Group 1 and 2 metals || Sodium, Magnesium, Potassium, Calcium || Despite being metals, these are listed as "dirt" rather than "metal." Perhaps this is because they are commonly found in dirt, as they are essential nutrients for plant life (and all other life forms).
|-
| Ends in a number, let it slumber. Ends in a letter, not much better. || Group 1 and 2 metals || Rubidium, Strontium, Cesium, Barium, Francium, Radium || Highly reactive metals, some of which are commonly used as radioactive isotopes (which are known by a number).
|-
| Boring alloy metals. Probably crucial to the spark plug industry or something. (But one of them is radioactive so stay on your toes.) || The left transition metals || Scandium, Vanadium, Chromium, Manganese, Yttrium, Zirconium, Niobium, Molybdeneum, Technetium, Ruthenium, Hafnium, Tantalum, Tungsten, Rhenium || Not actually so boring, but they tend to be used as consituents (sometimes as a small but vital trace) in alloys with specific uses, including {{w|stainless steel}}, {{w|Electric light|bulb filaments}} and {{w|Superconductivity|superconductors}}. A {{w|spark plug}} may use {{w|austenitic stainless steel}}, which includes chromium and (in some cases) molybdenum, for heat and oxidation resistance. {{w|Technetium}} is the lightest element that has no stable isotope.
|-
| Regular metals || The top transition metals || Titanium, Manganese, Iron, Cobalt, Nickel, Copper, Zinc, Aluminum, Silicon || Commonly known metals (and one metalloid, silicon). These all have important uses in construction and other major industries.
|-
| $$$ || The platinum group || Rhodium, Palladium, Silver, Iridium, Platinum, Gold || Rare and highly prized metals.
|-
| Weird metals || The "ordinary metals" and some transition metals || Gallium, Germanium, Cadmium, Indium, Tin, Mercury || These are more obscure than the other metals (except tin and mercury) and tend to have fewer or more specialized uses. Mercury is also the only metal that is liquid at room temperature, and gallium melts just above that at 30 °C (86 °F).
|-
| Boron (fool's carbon) || Boron || Boron || A search for "carbon" in {{w|boron}} finds mention of a number of similarities between the two elements. "Fool's carbon" is analogous to {{w|Pyrite|"fool's gold"}}.
|-
| You are here || Nonmetals || Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorus || Elements involved in biological processes
|-
| Murder weapons || Ordinary metals and metalloids || Arsenic, Antimony, Tellurium, Thallium, Lead, Bismuth, Polonium || Arsenic, thallium, lead, and polonium are highly toxic and have been involved in many notorious poisoning cases. Antimony and tellurium are also hazardous, though to a lesser degree. Bismuth is the odd one out, having little toxicity at all, but it is used in lead free bullets and shot; the compound bismuth subsalicylate is the main ingredient in Pepto-Bismol.
|-
| Safety Goggles required || The halogens || Fluorine, Sulfur, Chlorine, Selenium, Bromine || These elements are highly reactive.
|-
| Very specific health problems || Iodine and radon || Iodine, Radon || Radon can accumulate in buildings, especially in basements and cellars, since it is a gas that is denser than air. Since it is also radioactive, this accumulation can then result in radiation sickness. Iodine is a required nutrient that humans need in trace amounts to remain healthy, with an iodine deficiency typically causing thyroid problems such as goitre. These two specific health problems are entirely unrelated and it is only by coincidence that they are next to each other on the periodic table.
|-
| Lawful Neutral || Noble Gases || Helium, Neon, Argon, Krypton, Xenon || These elements are mostly unreactive.
|-
| Don't bother learning their names – they're not staying long || Astatine and Period 7 from Rutherfordium onwards || Astatine, Rutherfordium, Dubnium, Seaborgium, Bohrium, Hassium, Meitnerium, Darmstadtium, Roentgenium, Copernicum, Nihonium, Flevorium, Moscovium, Livermorium, Tennessine, Oganesson || These elements are hard to produce in large quantities and most of them decay within hours.
|-
| Whoever figures out a better way to fit these up there gets the next Nobel Prize || The internal transition metals || Lanthanum, Cerium, Praesodymium, Neodymium, Promethium, Samarium, Europium, Gadolinium, Terbium, Dysprosium, Holmium, Erbium, Thulium, Ytterbium, Lutetium, Actinium, Thorium, Protactinium, Uranium, Neptunium, Plutonium, Americium, Curium, Berkelium, Californium, Einsteinium, Fermium || The lanthanides and actinides are placed kinda awkwardly "outside" of the main periodic table; alternative ways of displaying the elements, such as just putting them between the alkali earth elements and the transition metals, are usually considered visually less appealing.
|}

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

:[A periodic table with regions labeled.]

:[Hydrogen:]
:Slightly fancy protons
:[Lithium and beryllium:]
:Weird dirt
:[4 elements below:]
:Regular dirt
:[6 elements further below:]
:Ends in a number, let it slumber
:ends in a letter, not much better
:[Left side of the transition metals group:]
:Boring alloy metals
:Probably critical to the spark plug industry or something
:(but one of them is radioactive so stay on your toes)
:[Most of the top row of the transition metals + aluminum:]
:Regular metals
:[Below the rightmost "regular metals":]
:Weird metals
:[Between "boring alloy metals" and "weird metals":]
:$$$$
:[Boron:]
:Boron (fool's carbon)
:[Top-center of p-block:]
:You are here
:[Top-right of p-block, excluding the rightmost column:]
:Safety goggles required
:[5 uppermost elements of the rightmost column:]
:Lawful neutral
:[Iodine and radon:]
:Very specific health problems
:[Below and to the right of "weird metals":]
:Murder weapons
:[Bottom row from the fourth column onwards:]
:Don't bother learning their names - they're not staying long
:[The lanthanides and actinides below the rest of the table, arrow pointing to a gap in the third column:]
:Whoever figures out a better way to fit these up there gets the next Nobel Prize

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Chemistry]]

Talk:2668: Artemis Quote

2022-09-05T22:34:05Z

Bugstomper:

The first quote is self-referential (and confuses people, when quoted). The second plays unto the myth that the moon landing was staged. It is nice to be able to choose words, which are cited. A great opportunity to confuse people. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.143|172.68.110.143]] 21:09, 5 September 2022 (UTC)

To those of you wondering [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2668:_Artemis_Quote&diff=294177&oldid=294176 why, "<tt>mankind" ,[emphasis</tt>," currently appears in the wikitext,] I would direct you to [[explain xkcd talk:Editor FAQ#Punctuation inside quotes and parentheses]]. I am discouraged by such pettiness. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.59|172.70.214.59]] 21:26, 5 September 2022 (UTC)

Perhaps the first Artemis astronaut to set foot on the moon will prefer to come with her own idea of what to say. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.142.75|172.71.142.75]] 21:55, 5 September 2022 (UTC)
:I'm hoping for interpretive dance. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.59|172.70.214.59]] 22:31, 5 September 2022 (UTC)

The quote in the title text is factually true, adding to the confusion it would cause, as it does not actually claim that the Artemis astronaut is the first human to set foot on the Moon, only that it is a great honor to be the first. [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 22:34, 5 September 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2382: Ballot Tracker Tracker

2020-11-08T22:50:52Z

Bugstomper:

Could this also refer to sites that track whether one’s ballot has been counted? --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.239|172.68.132.239]] 03:31, 7 November 2020 (UTC)

This sense of "calling it" is relatively uncommon, especially for non-native English speakers to encounter. Although having it in quotes is good, some explanation should be added in parentheses. [[Special:Contributions/188.114.110.4|188.114.110.4]] 04:13, 7 November 2020 (UTC)
:See [https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/550851/call-the-race-in-the-election English.stackexchange.com] [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 07:50, 7 November 2020 (UTC)

I remember an earlier comic,Cueball trying to incinerate an incinerator.(xkcd1821),and people tracking trackers(xkcd2376),Maybe there should be a "meta-usage" catogry?(e.g using an incinerator to incinerate another incinerator,using a tracker to track a tracker etc.) [[User:Xkcdjerry|Xkcdjerry]] ([[User talk:Xkcdjerry|talk]]) 13:34, 7 November 2020 (UTC)

The current explanation refers to a ballot tracker as a government site, but I believe they're typically independently provided by either news organizations or political information websites. However, I decided not to edit the explanation yet until someone else confirms they have the same interpretation of the term "ballot tracker" here. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 14:27, 7 November 2020 (UTC)

:Well, I see that the next paragraph talks about "ballot tracker" in the context of my interpretation, so I'm not sure whether to modify the first paragraph that mentions government sites or not, but I would support removing that first part and just simplifying it to talk about the news organization interpretation of the term. Other input from anyone? [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 14:31, 7 November 2020 (UTC)

:I strongly agree that the correct interpretation for "ballot tracker" is the various sites that provided updates on the ongoing ballot counts at the various states. I think the first interpretation of sites where individual voters can check their ballots is wrong. It especially does not make sense to track how quickly those sites update, since one voter can only view the one site for their ballot, and can't see it updating at some frequency. On the other hand I was an example of the topic of this comic. I obsessively refreshed the New York Times tracking pages to add numbers to spreadsheets graphing trends while also refreshing the live blog at fivethirtyeight.com. As a result I noticed that the live blog quoted results from tracker site Decision Desk HQ several minutes before the same results from the states appeared on the NYT tracker page. I consider myself an example of the target of this comic using that interpretation. [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 21:39, 7 November 2020 (UTC)

The article that is linked to is not about tracking tracker sites. The article title is "Tracking Which News Outlets Have Called the Presidential Race in Each State". The article tracks which news sites have called which states. Each such news site presumably has a tracker page for each state in which they display the current reported vote counts. Cueball's tracker tracker is tracking how often each news site's tracker pages are updated with new counts. Each news agency has a "decision desk" which uses the data from their tracking page plus other related information to decide when they will declare a projected win for a candidate in a state. That is referred to as "calling" the race in a state. [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 06:45, 8 November 2020 (UTC)

Well now AP's called it. Biden won. [[User:Bubblegum|bubblegum]]-[[User_talk:Bubblegum|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Bubblegum|contribs]] 06:57, 8 November 2020 (UTC) (hm, my name looks to be in a different font than the timestamp, odd)
:Also, is anyone up for creating a recursive names category?

2382: Ballot Tracker Tracker

2020-11-08T07:10:06Z

Bugstomper: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2382
| date = November 6, 2020
| title = Ballot Tracker Tracker
| image = ballot_tracker_tracker.png
| titletext = Good luck to Democrats in the upcoming Georgia runoff elections, and to the Google Sheets SREs in the current run-on elections.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BALLOT TRACKER TRACKER TRACKER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic was posted 3 days after the 2020 election day in the United States (November 3, 2020). As of the date of posting, the {{w|2020 United States presidential election}} still had not been "called" for either candidate, President {{w|Donald Trump}}, or the challenger, former Vice President {{w|Joe Biden}} by most news outlets. (Decision Desk HQ did project the election for Biden that day, and analyst Nate Silver had stated on Twitter that Trump had no path to victory.) This is atypical for most US presidential elections, which were "called" either on election day or on the morning following.

A major reason for the delay in deciding the results of the election is the greatly increased use of {{w|mail-in ballot}}s, caused by social distancing concerns due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mail-in ballots in some states were counted after the in-person voting, which has caused delays in the vote-counting.

As of the date of posting, the electoral vote counts - as called by most major news organizations - were 253-214 in favor of Biden, with 270 electoral votes needed to win the election. Six states were considered "too close to call", with no determined winner until more ballots were counted. Biden was winning the popular vote by about 4 million.

Cueball in this comic has created an app, doc, or website that tracks in real-time how quickly "ballot trackers" update. A ballot tracker is a web page provided by a news organization that reports updated vote counts as they are published by the states. The news organizations use these counts as the major input to the "decision desks", which are their staff who analyze the ongoing vote results to decide when to declare a projected winner for a state. (See [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/03/upshot/network-race-call-tracker.html "Tracking Which News Outlets Have Called the Presidential Race in Each State"]) Cueball (representing Randall) is anxiously waiting for a resolution to this long election season. He is not only anxiously checking to see if the race has been decided, he is also predicting how close the race is to being decided by constantly checking the ballot trackers to see how they change, as well as keeping track of which sources of tracking information most quickly show updated information on which to base those predictions.

The last line of dialogue in the comic, where Cueball says, "I will breathe when they call it" may refer to the idea that many people hold their breaths when waiting for an important result, so people may hold their breaths until the Presidential race is called. However, since this time around the announcement could have taken days if not weeks longer (it was actually announced the morning after the comic, about 3 1/2 days after the election), holding one's breath until the winner was announced was a bad idea{{Citation needed}}. (President Trump is now attempting the challenge the results in court, which makes holding one's breath until all appeals and recounts are complete an even worse idea than if he had conceded.)

In the title text, Randall wishes good luck to the Democrats in the state of Georgia who are running in later run-off elections. Two Senate seats were being voted on in the state of Georgia in 2020, but no candidate achieved over 50% of the vote in either race. It is highly likely that these runoffs will determine control of the Senate. By law in the state of Georgia, these two races will be decided in "runoff" elections, where the top two candidates from each of the races run against only each other, on January 5, 2021. Randall also wishes good luck to the SREs ({{w|Site Reliability Engineer}}s) of Google Sheets, an online spreadsheet program, who are in charge of maintaining the Google infrastructure while people like him are constantly refreshing their sheets and pulling data. Randall is comparing Georgia's upcoming "runoff" election to the current election, calling it a "run-on" for how long it is taking.

The theme of recursive naming is a recurring one in xkcd, most recently with the "contact tracer tracing program" in [[2376: Curbside]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting behind a desk, pointing at a laptop. White Hat is standing behind him. Crumpled up papers are strewn across the ground. ]
:Cueball: And this tab is my ballot tracker tracker, which tracks how quickly other ballot trackers update.
:White Hat: You should add a tracker for how often you breathe so you don't forget.
:Cueball: '''''I will breathe when they call it.'''''

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

2382: Ballot Tracker Tracker

2020-11-08T07:08:17Z

Bugstomper: /* Explanation */ Made a decision that "ballot tracker" really does not refer to state pages to check one's individual ballot status, and removed that interpretation completely.

{{comic
| number = 2382
| date = November 6, 2020
| title = Ballot Tracker Tracker
| image = ballot_tracker_tracker.png
| titletext = Good luck to Democrats in the upcoming Georgia runoff elections, and to the Google Sheets SREs in the current run-on elections.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BALLOT TRACKER TRACKER TRACKER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic was posted 3 days after the 2020 election day in the United States (November 3, 2020). As of the date of posting, the {{w|2020 United States presidential election}} still had not been "called" for either candidate, President {{w|Donald Trump}}, or the challenger, former Vice President {{w|Joe Biden}} by most news outlets. (Decision Desk HQ did project the election for Biden that day, and analyst Nate Silver had stated on Twitter that Trump had no path to victory.) This is atypical for most US presidential elections, which were "called" either on election day or on the morning following.

A major reason for the delay in deciding the results of the election is the greatly increased use of {{w|mail-in ballot}}s, caused by social distancing concerns due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mail-in ballots in some states were counted after the in-person voting, which has caused delays in the vote-counting.

As of the date of posting, the electoral vote counts - as called by most major news organizations - were 253-214 in favor of Biden, with 270 electoral votes needed to win the election. Six states were considered "too close to call", with no determined winner until more ballots were counted. Biden was winning the popular vote by about 4 million.

Cueball in this comic has created an app, doc, or website that tracks in real-time how quickly "ballot trackers" update. A ballot tracker is a web page provided by a new organization that reports updated vote counts as they are published by the states. The news organizations use these counts as the major input to the "decision desks", which are their staff who analyze the ongoing vote results to decide when to declare a projected winner for a state. (See [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/03/upshot/network-race-call-tracker.html "Tracking Which News Outlets Have Called the Presidential Race in Each State"]) Cueball (representing Randall) is anxiously waiting for a resolution to this long election season. He is not only anxiously checking to see if the race has been decided, he is also predicting how close the race is to being decided by constantly checking the ballot trackers to see how they change, as well as keeping track of which sources of tracking information most quickly show updated information on which to base those predictions.

The last line of dialogue in the comic, where Cueball says, "I will breathe when they call it" may refer to the idea that many people hold their breaths when waiting for an important result, so people may hold their breaths until the Presidential race is called. However, since this time around the announcement could have taken days if not weeks longer (it was actually announced the morning after the comic, about 3 1/2 days after the election), holding one's breath until the winner was announced was a bad idea{{Citation needed}}. (President Trump is now attempting the challenge the results in court, which makes holding one's breath until all appeals and recounts are complete an even worse idea than if he had conceded.)

In the title text, Randall wishes good luck to the Democrats in the state of Georgia who are running in later run-off elections. Two Senate seats were being voted on in the state of Georgia in 2020, but no candidate achieved over 50% of the vote in either race. It is highly likely that these runoffs will determine control of the Senate. By law in the state of Georgia, these two races will be decided in "runoff" elections, where the top two candidates from each of the races run against only each other, on January 5, 2021. Randall also wishes good luck to the SREs ({{w|Site Reliability Engineer}}s) of Google Sheets, an online spreadsheet program, who are in charge of maintaining the Google infrastructure while people like him are constantly refreshing their sheets and pulling data. Randall is comparing Georgia's upcoming "runoff" election to the current election, calling it a "run-on" for how long it is taking.

The theme of recursive naming is a recurring one in xkcd, most recently with the "contact tracer tracing program" in [[2376: Curbside]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting behind a desk, pointing at a laptop. White Hat is standing behind him. Crumpled up papers are strewn across the ground. ]
:Cueball: And this tab is my ballot tracker tracker, which tracks how quickly other ballot trackers update.
:White Hat: You should add a tracker for how often you breathe so you don't forget.
:Cueball: '''''I will breathe when they call it.'''''

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

Talk:2382: Ballot Tracker Tracker

2020-11-08T06:45:59Z

Bugstomper:

Could this also refer to sites that track whether one’s ballot has been counted? --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.239|172.68.132.239]] 03:31, 7 November 2020 (UTC)

This sense of "calling it" is relatively uncommon, especially for non-native English speakers to encounter. Although having it in quotes is good, some explanation should be added in parentheses. [[Special:Contributions/188.114.110.4|188.114.110.4]] 04:13, 7 November 2020 (UTC)
:See [https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/550851/call-the-race-in-the-election English.stackexchange.com] [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 07:50, 7 November 2020 (UTC)

I remember an earlier comic,Cueball trying to incinerate an incinerator.(xkcd1821),and people tracking trackers(xkcd2376),Maybe there should be a "meta-usage" catogry?(e.g using an incinerator to incinerate another incinerator,using a tracker to track a tracker etc.) [[User:Xkcdjerry|Xkcdjerry]] ([[User talk:Xkcdjerry|talk]]) 13:34, 7 November 2020 (UTC)

The current explanation refers to a ballot tracker as a government site, but I believe they're typically independently provided by either news organizations or political information websites. However, I decided not to edit the explanation yet until someone else confirms they have the same interpretation of the term "ballot tracker" here. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 14:27, 7 November 2020 (UTC)

:Well, I see that the next paragraph talks about "ballot tracker" in the context of my interpretation, so I'm not sure whether to modify the first paragraph that mentions government sites or not, but I would support removing that first part and just simplifying it to talk about the news organization interpretation of the term. Other input from anyone? [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 14:31, 7 November 2020 (UTC)

:I strongly agree that the correct interpretation for "ballot tracker" is the various sites that provided updates on the ongoing ballot counts at the various states. I think the first interpretation of sites where individual voters can check their ballots is wrong. It especially does not make sense to track how quickly those sites update, since one voter can only view the one site for their ballot, and can't see it updating at some frequency. On the other hand I was an example of the topic of this comic. I obsessively refreshed the New York Times tracking pages to add numbers to spreadsheets graphing trends while also refreshing the live blog at fivethirtyeight.com. As a result I noticed that the live blog quoted results from tracker site Decision Desk HQ several minutes before the same results from the states appeared on the NYT tracker page. I consider myself an example of the target of this comic using that interpretation. [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 21:39, 7 November 2020 (UTC)

The article that is linked to is not about tracking tracker sites. The article title is "Tracking Which News Outlets Have Called the Presidential Race in Each State". The article tracks which news sites have called which states. Each such new site presumably has a tracker page for each state in which they display the current reported vote counts. Cueball's tracker tracker is tracking how often each news site's tracker pages are updated with new counts. Each news agency has a "decision desk" which uses the data from their tracking page plus other related information to decide when they will declare a projected win for a candidate in a state. That is referred to as "calling" the race in a state. [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 06:45, 8 November 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2382: Ballot Tracker Tracker

2020-11-07T21:39:45Z

Bugstomper:

Talk:2319: Large Number Formats

2020-06-15T06:25:42Z

Bugstomper:

Wouldn't Lincoln be:
Two score and nine score and six score and fourteen score and seven score and one score and eighteen score and two score and three score score and four? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.194|162.158.155.194]] 11:25, 14 June 2020 (UTC)

I've added the way I'm familiar with (Polish) to the "normal person in Europe outside of UK" caveat, but I think this still might be over-generalization to say that all Europe outside UK uses "." separator; I've actually never seen it used, but I've seen "'" used, even though I have no connection whatsoever with Switzerland. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.175|162.158.154.175]] 11:13, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

: Yes. We also use the single apostrophe as a thousands separator in Sweden. And in Excel we use the semicolon in formulas, since the comma is used for decimals.
[[User:Embridioum|Embridioum]] ([[User talk:Embridioum|talk]]) 22:18, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

:: No!? Swedes commonly use blank as thousands separate, eg. 6 500 000. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.183.119|162.158.183.119]] 19:06, 14 June 2020 (UTC)

Would love an explanation of the scientist avoiding rounding one. Would make sense to me with 2.525997..., but as 2.5997... I'm at a loss! {{unsigned ip|198.41.238.106|22:19, 12 June 2020 (UTC)}}
: Truncating the number just before a digit less than 5 so that the final digit is not rounded up. (I do this all the time, and, I am a scientist.) {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.172|00:48, 13 June 2020‎ (UTC)}}
(The above was posted (anonymously?) seconds before I could get mine in, so here it is in the original format.)

This is probably completely irrelevant but it seems Randall made a small typo when trying to show a "Scientest trying to avoid rounding up."
I assume it should be 2.525997*10^13. It seems he left out a 5 and a 2 and I say such because whether he forgot the 52 or 25 is up for debate.

Relevant screenshot: [[https://i.imgur.com/NrvOivy.png]]

Also, if I'm just being completely daft and am missing something completely, please feel free to criticize me harshly and I'll go back to my little hideyhole. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.24|108.162.237.24]] 22:21, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

: In reality, a scientist would probably say 6.416*10^13 cm. (Although possible counterpoint, this comic is really about the ''number'' 25,259,974,097,204, not the distance 25,259,974,097,204 inches.) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.207|172.69.33.207]] 22:47, 12 June 2020 (UTC)
:: Centimetres are not an SI unit. it would be 6.416*10^11 m [[Special:Contributions/172.68.255.14|172.68.255.14]] 01:51, 13 June 2020 (UTC)
::: Depends on field. It can easily be 35.67 light minutes. Or 2140 light seconds if you insist on SI units. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:11, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

I believe the "2.5997" was intentional, or at least I thought it was when reading it. At first I thought it was a typo, but Randall calls that number "Scientist ''trying'' to avoid rounding up" which makes me think Randall intentionally made that "mistake" as if the scientist had accidentally forgotten the first two digits (25) and used the remainder of the number (259974...), rounding it to "2.5997x10^13" [[User:Kirypto|Kirypto]] ([[User talk:Kirypto|talk]]) 23:03, 12 June 2020 (UTC)
: Randall fixed it! [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 05:43, 13 June 2020 (UTC)
:: Looks like that was just a typo, Randall replaced it with a new version. [[User:Natg19|Natg19]] ([[User talk:Natg19|talk]]) 02:55, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

As a (not so?) old British person, I approve. Let the Trillions come around later, when it's ''worth'' increasing the prefix to "level 3". Don't waste them on the more petty numbers. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.122|162.158.155.122]] 23:13, 12 June 2020 (UTC)
:I'm also a not-so-old British person, and therefore use the short-scale as a matter of course. But, although I'm too young to ever have used the long scale, I regret its passing, for all that. On a visual level, if a million gives us a chunk of six zeroes, there's a simple elegance to the "bi-", "tri-", "quad-" (etc.) prefixes numerating two chunks, three chunks, four chunks, etc. From a less visual, more linguistically neat perspective, if you've got a million^2, a million^3, a million^4 and so on, then using "bi" to mean two, "tri" to mean three, "quad" to mean four makes sense...because that's what those things mean.[[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 10:32, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

;"Engineering" notation omitted?
I find it somewhat strange that Randall doesn't offer '''25e12''' or any of those variants ('''25.259...*10^12'''). I feel like a lot of "non-normal" people would map billion to E12 instead of requiring a single digit to the left of the decimal point. shrug [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 23:09, 12 June 2020 (UTC)
: Honestly I thought "engineering" notation was a myth invented by HP's calculator division. But I'm personally offended that the programmers' notation 25_259_... was omitted. Maybe Randall still uses Python 2. :-) [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 05:47, 13 June 2020 (UTC)
::Well, just because HP's calculator division invented something doesn't mean it's a myth. They do have the power to invent things and had the market penetration for their names to have power and influence the world; but for sure, having used HP calculators in high school affected how I thought about numbers in college. But I think anyone who works with SI prefixes on a regular basis and reports results using them will appreciate "engineering" notation given the direct correspondence. And, of course, it also corresponds to how "normal" people use write numbers in the millions/billions/trillions, as this comic shows…which was the point… [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 12:03, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

"What's an inch?" [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.119|162.158.62.119]] 23:18, 12 June 2020 (UTC)
: The imaginary nano-scale multiple of the speed of light times Planck's constant. Which, dimensionally, would seem to be kg.m³/s²? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.73|162.158.154.73]] 00:15, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

As an article pointed out to me the other day that seemed obvious after it was said it's a non-tariff trade barrier used as American protectionism that doesn't get tariffed back. {{unsigned ip|172.69.63.81|00:10, 13 June 2020 (UTC)}}

Can someone explain the set theory notation? {{unsigned ip|172.68.255.14|01:56, 13 June 2020 (UTC)}}
: You can use only sets to construct the natural numbers, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_number#Constructions_based_on_set_theory - {{unsigned ip|172.68.215.76|02:20, 13 June 2020 (UTC)}}

It seems nobody has pointed out that the power of 10 in the title text is really just the log(x) of the number, which is in fact very common in scientific contexts -> log(25,259,974,097,204) = 13.4024 [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 02:31, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

The alternative would be for him to write 10^13.402432900872993447734410070128 (Rounded up). Notation that produces a longer string of digits than the original number seems useless on all fronts but somehow even more fun. I like the current explanation, though. It was insightful, IMO. -B- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.126|162.158.106.126]] 17:14, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

We have kept the olden ways here in the north. Miljon (10^6), miljard (10^9), biljon (10^12), biljard (10^15). Also, "biljard" is the same word as the game of pool in Swedish.
[[User:Embridioum|Embridioum]] ([[User talk:Embridioum|talk]]) 07:17, 13 June 2020 (UTC)
:Another thing an Older British Person might argue about is Billiards, the cue-and-ball game. Often, among all the vaiations, it was the three-ball version (white and white-spot cueballs, for each player, and red ball as the common target) on either pocketted or non-pocketted tables (the former mostly as a sop to using an unmodified snooker table) or, explicitly, Bar Billiards with target holes and obstacle pegs (quite common as early coin-operated pay-to-play tables). Only by succumbing to the americanism was Pool (usually 15-ball, spots+stripes+8ball) ever called billiards. Well, ''I'' thought that was interesting... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.136|162.158.159.136]] 12:49, 13 June 2020 (UTC)
::"Why sure I'm a billiard player, certainly mighty proud to say, I'm always mighty proud to say it. I consider that the hours I spend with a cue in my hand are golden." -Harold Hill [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.60|108.162.216.60]] 14:34, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

Also Italian uses the long scale for large numbers, and also in Italian the word for the game of pool coincides with 10^15. Albeit I have to say that I've never heard anyone use bilione and biliardo referring to numbers. We usually stop at miliardo, saying things like "un milione di miliardi" when we need to say those large numbers, or use the scientific notation. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.198.106|172.68.198.106]] 09:04, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

While we're on different languages, how about this one: 1262998704860-vingt-quatre - French person. --[[User:IByte|IByte]] ([[User talk:IByte|talk]]) 11:11, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

:Russian uses the short scale, like million, billion, trillion, quadrillion, etc. But it calls a billion a milliard, and a thousand milliards is a trillion. Why? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.195|172.69.68.195]] 18:09, 13 June 2020 (UTC)
:: Sounds to me like Russia 'inherited' Milliards from its usage by trade partners at one point in time when that was a number people were starting to want to use seriously, but adopted the short-Trillion from a later time when (different) people were needing to discuss higher values and adopt terms for these into their own tongue. If you check the chequered history of what-means-what (before Short and Long scales were mad3 at least self-consistent among their adherents) you could reasonably blame/credit many different sources for each development. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.249|162.158.158.249]] 01:03, 14 June 2020 (UTC)

Why *that* number? OK, so it's a big number (well, maybe not compared to all the other numbers). One oddity is that the prime factors are:

2 2 7 11 82012902913

7 11? Subliminal advertising? If you turn the big prime upside-down calculator style, you get: eigzogzlos8

I'm surprised that 5 and 23 are missing. In fact, that's almost suspicious.
: I think you're overthinking this, or maybe you got nerdsniped. Randall probably just chose a large number with different digits and being a fan of space, this one worked for him. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 08:40, 14 June 2020 (UTC)

I thought in all or most of Europe the thousands separator was a space not a dot. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.4|162.158.238.4]] 03:09, 14 June 2020 (UTC)
: That's actually something interesting I learned from this explanation. I always assumed everyone either used commas (US and UK) or dots (pretty much the rest of at least Europe, never thought much about other continents in this regard) and grouped them in threes. Apparently I was very wrong. The Indian system of grouping digits looks a bit confusing to me, but apparently it corresponds well to their language. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 08:32, 14 June 2020 (UTC)

Please refrain from using new sections in the comment section! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 06:43, 14 June 2020 (UTC)
: What's so bad about them? At least in a comic like this one, where people are actually discussing/commenting on different aspects of the comic, I find sections very helpful to keep track of different conversations. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 08:22, 14 June 2020 (UTC)

Re: Software developer, the "power" operand varies wildly across programming languages, some do indeed use ^, some go for ** and some have to resort to something like a pow(x,y) function, but in the languages/dialects I use most the ** operator binds closer than (has order of precedence over) the * operator, so x*10**y would not be (10x)y as currently suggested in the Explanation. But ^ is the bitwise operator (lower precedence than *), so would do something even more 'interesting' to the result. Now, obviously, different codes for different coves and all - but I'm dredging my memory for all kinds of obscure scripting languages I've not used for years (what does COBOL do..? Forth is Reverse Polish. Lisp(is(more(Forward(Polish))))) not sure which one Randall is basing it on (if it's not just geek-sniping at its finest). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.234|141.101.107.234]] 10:47, 14 June 2020 (UTC)
: The link I provided for "every common programming language" which someone edited to say "most common programming languages" is a site that shows what some code snippets look like in some huge number of languages that includes all the common ones. That's why I said "every" for supporting the scientific notation with e for the exponent, it really is all of them. There is much more variation in the syntax for exponentiation, more using ** than ^ and quite a few only having a function to call instead of an operator symbol. However, every one that does use ^ for exponentiation would parse x*10^13 be x times the 13th power of 10. [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 06:25, 15 June 2020 (UTC)

Speaking as a set theorist, I'd also describe that number as "Pretty small, just slightly bigger than 1." [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.73|162.158.154.73]] 11:44, 14 June 2020 (UTC)

2319: Large Number Formats

2020-06-14T05:29:22Z

Bugstomper: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2319
| date = June 12, 2020
| title = Large Number Formats
| image = large number formats-2.png
| titletext = 10^13.4024: A person who has come back to numbers after a journey deep into some random theoretical field
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic shows how different people express large numbers. This number in question is approximately the distance from the planet Earth to the planet Jupiter as of June 2020, in {{w|inch|inches}} (1 inch = 2.54 cm).

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Number
! Type of person
! Notes
|-
| 25,259,974,097,204
| Normal Person
| This is the full number, written out in the normal fashion, with commas to indicate powers of 1000. Although writing out the number in full is indeed a common action for normal people, the specific comma convention depicted here is only considered normal in the Anglo-Saxon world; conventions for writing large numbers in full vary considerably across cultures. For example, in countries where the comma is used as a {{w|decimal separator}} (including Europe outside the UK), one would write the number as 25.259.974.097.204 (or 25'259'974'097'204 in Switzerland, or 25 259 974 097 204 in Poland, France and Estonia). Under the {{w|Indian numbering system}}, this number would be written as 25,25,997,40,97,204.
|-
| 25 Trillion
| Normal Person
| This is the number, rounded to trillions in the normal fashion.
|-
| 25 Billion
| Old British Person
| In current English usage, across the Anglophonic world with some hold-outs, an n-illion means 10^(3n+3) as per the {{w|short scale}} system popularised by American influence in international trade, so a trillion means 10^12, as above. However, older British English use had an n-illion meaning 10^(6n) (i.e. the simpler calculation of ''million^n''), so a billion meant 10^12. The change stems from a 1974 commitment by Harold Wilson, the Prime Minister of the UK at the time, to change from the {{w|long scale}} (previously often described as the British system) to the short one for all official purposes.

Though not instantly widely adopted for common usage, the mid-'70s could therefore be considered the key turning point between when an older or younger British person learns (as the change filters through the system at various stages of education) what their "Billion"s and "Trillion"s are supposed to represent.

As well as 'traditionalist' British use, the long scale is widely used in the non-Anglophone world, in local language versions, though while the British system tended to infill n-and-a-half powers of the million with the term "thousand n-illion", the suffix "-illi''ard''", or equivalent, is often used for the thousands multiple directly atop the respective "-illion" point.
|-
|2.526x1013
|Scientist
|This number is formatted in {{w|scientific notation}}, using the exponent 1013.
|-
| 2.525997x1013
| Scientist trying to avoid rounding up
| Using as many decimal places as necessary until hitting a digit (0-4) that results in rounding down, even if it goes against the common scientific practice of reporting the correct amount of "significant figures". [[:File:large number formats.png|A previous version of the comic]] had a typo (the number was ''2.5997x1013''), but Randall updated the comic.
|-
| 2.526e13 or
2.526*10^13
| Software developer
| The first example is how the number would be expressed as a floating point number in scientific notation in [https://rosettacode.org/wiki/Literals/Floating_point every common programming language]. The second example is a technically correct way of expressing the same thing in some programming languages in which exponentiation is indicated by the ^ operator. However writing it that way instead of the first way would be considered quirky, as it is written as an instruction to the computer to calculate the product of a number with 10 raised to power 13, instead of just writing the number. A software developer might write it that way if they are a novice who is not familiar with the first notation. Or they could have an unusual personal preference that considers the second version easier to read. Perhaps the joke for the second version is that it is the standard scientific notation with the x for multiplication and superscript for raising to a power replaced with the notation used in many programming languages of * and ^, i.e., a software developer writing down a number in scientific notation, not necessarily while writing a program, would by habit write a * for multiplication and a ^ for exponentiation.
|-
| 25,259,973,541,888
| Software developer who forgot about floats
| The two most common computer {{w|Floating-point arithmetic|floating-point}} formats are the IEEE 754 {{w|Single-precision floating-point format|single-precision}} and {{w|Double-precision floating-point format|double-precision}} representations. These are ''binary'' floating-point formats, representing numbers as the quantity ''a'' × 2''e'', for some fractional number ''a'' and exponent ''e''. Both the values ''a'' and ''e'' have a fixed size in bits, and therefore a finite range. In single-precision, ''a'' and ''e'' have (effectively) 24 and 8 bits, respectively, while in double precision the effective sizes are 53 and 11 bits.

Fully representing the number 25,259,974,097,204 (in any format) requires at least 45 bits. Therefore this number cannot be represented exactly as a single-precision float. The closest possible representations are 0.717931628 × 245 and 0.717931688 × 245; these work out to 25,259,973,541,888 and 25,259,975,639,040, respectively. Of these, the one ending in 888 is considerably closer to the original, so is chosen due to {{w|rounding}}. (Naturally these numbers are represented internally in binary, not decimal; the actual representations, in hexadecimal, are <tt>0x0.b7ca5e</tt> × 2<tt></tt>0x2d and <tt>0x0.b7ca5f</tt> × 2<tt></tt>0x2d.)

In many programming languages, the keyword to request a single-precision floating-point variable is <tt>float</tt>, while the keyword to request double-precision is <tt>double</tt>. It is an easy mistake to make to forget about the limited precision available with type <tt>float</tt>, especially since its name sounds like what you want for "floating point". (Had the programmer remembered to use type <tt>double</tt>, the number 25,259,974,097,204 could have been represented exactly, as <tt>0x0.b7ca5e43c9a000</tt> × 2<tt></tt>0x2d.)
|-
| 1013
| Astronomer
| For extremely large distances, astronomers typically only care about orders of magnitude, e.g. whether a number is 1013, as opposed to 1012 or 1014. Randall often jokes about the lack of precision needed by astronomers, such as in xkcd #[[2205]] where the astronomer-cosmologist is equally willing to make pi equal to one, or ten. The original number is rounded to the nearest power of ten.
|-
| {∅,{∅},{∅,{∅}},{∅,{∅},{...
| Set theorist
| In {{w|Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory}}, the natural numbers are defined recursively by letting 0 = ∅ (the {{w|empty set}}), and ''n'' + 1 = ''n'' ∪ {''n''}. So, every natural number ''n'' is the set of all natural numbers less than ''n'', and since 0 is defined as the empty set, all numbers are nested sets of empty sets. Note that writing out the full number in this fashion would take more than its square in number of characters; that is to say, if each character took up one square centimeter, this "number" would not fit on a square piece of paper whose edge reached to Jupiter.
|-
| 1,262,998,704,860 score and four
| Abraham Lincoln
| In the {{W|Gettysburg Address}}, Lincoln speaks the number "87" as "four score and seven" ("score" meaning "20"). Base-20 or {{w|vigesimal}} numeral systems are or have been used in pre-Columbian-American, African and many other cultures. In French it is used only for higher numbers (e.g. 92 = quatre-vingt-douze). In English it can appear in certain archaic and classic contexts, such as the King James translation of the Bible ("threescore years and ten" to be the life expectancy of a human according to Psalm 90:10). In these cases, a number is written in "score" (multiples of 20) plus a remainder.
|-
| 10^13.4024 ''(title text)''
| A person who has come back to numbers after a journey deep into some random theoretical field
| In some fields of mathematics, especially those dealing with very {{w|large numbers}}, numbers are sometimes represented by raising ten (or some other convenient base) to an oddly precise power, to facilitate comparison of their magnitudes without filling up pages upon pages of digits. An example of this is {{w|Skewes's number}}, which is formally calculated to be ''e''''e''''e''79, but is more commonly approximated as 10101034. 13.4024 is the {{w|common logarithm}} of 25,259,974,097,204 (log10 25,259,974,097,204 = 13.4024329009); thus, this "format" is still mathematically correct, but uncommon.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A panel only with text. At the top there is four lines of explanatory text. Below that there are 5 rows of number formats. There are 2 columns in each row. Each numerical format is in red, with black text explaining the format below it.]

:<big>What the way you write large</big>
:<big>numbers says about you</big>
:(Using the approximate current distance
:to Jupiter in inches as an example)

:[First row:]
:25,259,974,097,204
:Normal person
:25 trillion
:Normal person

:[Second row:]
:25 billion
:Old British person
:2.526x1013
:Scientist

:[Third row:]
:2.525997x1013
:Scientist trying to avoid rounding up
:2.526e13 or 2.526*10^13
:Software developer

:[Fourth row:]
:25,259,973,541,888
:Software developer who forgot about floats
:1013
:Astronomer

:[Fifth row:]
:{∅,{∅},{∅,{∅}},{∅,{∅},{...
:Set theorist
:1,262,998,704,860 score and four
:Abraham Lincoln

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category: Programming]]
[[Category: Math]]
[[Category: Astronomy]]
[[Category: Science]]
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]]

2319: Large Number Formats

2020-06-14T04:57:07Z

Bugstomper: alternate explanation for software developer

{{comic
| number = 2319
| date = June 12, 2020
| title = Large Number Formats
| image = large number formats-2.png
| titletext = 10^13.4024: A person who has come back to numbers after a journey deep into some random theoretical field
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic shows how different people express large numbers. This number in question is approximately the distance from the planet Earth to the planet Jupiter as of June 2020, in {{w|inch|inches}} (1 inch = 2.54 cm).

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Number
! Type of person
! Notes
|-
| 25,259,974,097,204
| Normal Person
| This is the full number, written out in the normal fashion, with commas to indicate powers of 1000. Although writing out the number in full is indeed a common action for normal people, the specific comma convention depicted here is only considered normal in the Anglo-Saxon world; conventions for writing large numbers in full vary considerably across cultures. For example, in countries where the comma is used as a {{w|decimal separator}} (including Europe outside the UK), one would write the number as 25.259.974.097.204 (or 25'259'974'097'204 in Switzerland, or 25 259 974 097 204 in Poland, France and Estonia). Under the {{w|Indian numbering system}}, this number would be written as 25,25,997,40,97,204.
|-
| 25 Trillion
| Normal Person
| This is the number, rounded to trillions in the normal fashion.
|-
| 25 Billion
| Old British Person
| In current English usage, across the Anglophonic world with some hold-outs, an n-illion means 10^(3n+3) as per the {{w|short scale}} system popularised by American influence in international trade, so a trillion means 10^12, as above. However, older British English use had an n-illion meaning 10^(6n) (i.e. the simpler calculation of ''million^n''), so a billion meant 10^12. The change stems from a 1974 commitment by Harold Wilson, the Prime Minister of the UK at the time, to change from the {{w|long scale}} (previously often described as the British system) to the short one for all official purposes.

Though not instantly widely adopted for common usage, the mid-'70s could therefore be considered the key turning point between when an older or younger British person learns (as the change filters through the system at various stages of education) what their "Billion"s and "Trillion"s are supposed to represent.

As well as 'traditionalist' British use, the long scale is widely used in the non-Anglophone world, in local language versions, though while the British system tended to infill n-and-a-half powers of the million with the term "thousand n-illion", the suffix "-illi''ard''", or equivalent, is often used for the thousands multiple directly atop the respective "-illion" point.
|-
|2.526x1013
|Scientist
|This number is formatted in {{w|scientific notation}}, using the exponent 1013.
|-
| 2.525997x1013
| Scientist trying to avoid rounding up
| Using as many decimal places as necessary until hitting a digit (0-4) that results in rounding down, even if it goes against the common scientific practice of reporting the correct amount of "significant figures". [[:File:large number formats.png|A previous version of the comic]] had a typo (the number was ''2.5997x1013''), but Randall updated the comic.
|-
| 2.526e13 or
2.526*10^13
| Software developer
| The first example is how the number would be expressed as a floating point number in scientific notation in [https://rosettacode.org/wiki/Literals/Floating_point every common programming language]. The second example is a technically correct way of expressing the same thing in some programming languages in which exponentiation is indicated by the ^ operator. However writing it that way instead of the first way would be considered quirky, as it is written as an instruction to the computer to calculate the product of a number with 10 raised to power 13, instead of just writing the number. A software developer might write it that way if they are a novice who is not familiar with the first notation. Or they could have an unusual personal preference that considers the second version easier to read.
|-
| 25,259,973,541,888
| Software developer who forgot about floats
| The two most common computer {{w|Floating-point arithmetic|floating-point}} formats are the IEEE 754 {{w|Single-precision floating-point format|single-precision}} and {{w|Double-precision floating-point format|double-precision}} representations. These are ''binary'' floating-point formats, representing numbers as the quantity ''a'' × 2''e'', for some fractional number ''a'' and exponent ''e''. Both the values ''a'' and ''e'' have a fixed size in bits, and therefore a finite range. In single-precision, ''a'' and ''e'' have (effectively) 24 and 8 bits, respectively, while in double precision the effective sizes are 53 and 11 bits.

Fully representing the number 25,259,974,097,204 (in any format) requires at least 45 bits. Therefore this number cannot be represented exactly as a single-precision float. The closest possible representations are 0.717931628 × 245 and 0.717931688 × 245; these work out to 25,259,973,541,888 and 25,259,975,639,040, respectively. Of these, the one ending in 888 is considerably closer to the original, so is chosen due to {{w|rounding}}. (Naturally these numbers are represented internally in binary, not decimal; the actual representations, in hexadecimal, are <tt>0x0.b7ca5e</tt> × 2<tt></tt>0x2d and <tt>0x0.b7ca5f</tt> × 2<tt></tt>0x2d.)

In many programming languages, the keyword to request a single-precision floating-point variable is <tt>float</tt>, while the keyword to request double-precision is <tt>double</tt>. It is an easy mistake to make to forget about the limited precision available with type <tt>float</tt>, especially since its name sounds like what you want for "floating point". (Had the programmer remembered to use type <tt>double</tt>, the number 25,259,974,097,204 could have been represented exactly, as <tt>0x0.b7ca5e43c9a000</tt> × 2<tt></tt>0x2d.)
|-
| 1013
| Astronomer
| For extremely large distances, astronomers typically only care about orders of magnitude, e.g. whether a number is 1013, as opposed to 1012 or 1014. Randall often jokes about the lack of precision needed by astronomers, such as in xkcd #[[2205]] where the astronomer-cosmologist is equally willing to make pi equal to one, or ten. The original number is rounded to the nearest power of ten.
|-
| {∅,{∅},{∅,{∅}},{∅,{∅},{...
| Set theorist
| In {{w|Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory}}, the natural numbers are defined recursively by letting 0 = ∅ (the {{w|empty set}}), and ''n'' + 1 = ''n'' ∪ {''n''}. So, every natural number ''n'' is the set of all natural numbers less than ''n'', and since 0 is defined as the empty set, all numbers are nested sets of empty sets. Note that writing out the full number in this fashion would take more than its square in number of characters; that is to say, if each character took up one square centimeter, this "number" would not fit on a square piece of paper whose edge reached to Jupiter.
|-
| 1,262,998,704,860 score and four
| Abraham Lincoln
| In the {{W|Gettysburg Address}}, Lincoln speaks the number "87" as "four score and seven" ("score" meaning "20"). Base-20 or {{w|vigesimal}} numeral systems are or have been used in pre-Columbian-American, African and many other cultures. In French it is used only for higher numbers (e.g. 92 = quatre-vingt-douze). In English it can appear in certain archaic and classic contexts, such as the King James translation of the Bible ("threescore years and ten" to be the life expectancy of a human according to Psalm 90:10). In these cases, a number is written in "score" (multiples of 20) plus a remainder.
|-
| 10^13.4024 ''(title text)''
| A person who has come back to numbers after a journey deep into some random theoretical field
| In some fields of mathematics, especially those dealing with very {{w|large numbers}}, numbers are sometimes represented by raising ten (or some other convenient base) to an oddly precise power, to facilitate comparison of their magnitudes without filling up pages upon pages of digits. An example of this is {{w|Skewes's number}}, which is formally calculated to be ''e''''e''''e''79, but is more commonly approximated as 10101034. 13.4024 is the {{w|common logarithm}} of 25,259,974,097,204 (log10 25,259,974,097,204 = 13.4024329009); thus, this "format" is still mathematically correct, but uncommon.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A panel only with text. At the top there is four lines of explanatory text. Below that there are 5 rows of number formats. There are 2 columns in each row. Each numerical format is in red, with black text explaining the format below it.]

:<big>What the way you write large</big>
:<big>numbers says about you</big>
:(Using the approximate current distance
:to Jupiter in inches as an example)

:[First row:]
:25,259,974,097,204
:Normal person
:25 trillion
:Normal person

:[Second row:]
:25 billion
:Old British person
:2.526x1013
:Scientist

:[Third row:]
:2.525997x1013
:Scientist trying to avoid rounding up
:2.526e13 or 2.526*10^13
:Software developer

:[Fourth row:]
:25,259,973,541,888
:Software developer who forgot about floats
:1013
:Astronomer

:[Fifth row:]
:{∅,{∅},{∅,{∅}},{∅,{∅},{...
:Set theorist
:1,262,998,704,860 score and four
:Abraham Lincoln

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category: Programming]]
[[Category: Math]]
[[Category: Astronomy]]
[[Category: Science]]
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]]

2318: Dynamic Entropy

2020-06-11T14:16:48Z

Bugstomper: use link for a plain link, references are journal article citations

{{comic
| number = 2318
| date = June 11, 2020
| title = Dynamic Entropy
| image = dynamic_entropy.png
| titletext = Despite years of effort by my physics professors to normalize it, deep down I remain convinced that 'dynamical' is not really a word.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This is another one of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[:Category:Tips|Tips]], this time a Science Tip. This time it is a bit special since it came less than three weeks after another Science Tip: [[2311: Confidence Interval]]. This thus became the first time a type of tip, that was not a [[:Category:Protip|Protip]], has been used more than once, and it was even for two "tips comics" in a row.

This Science Tip suggests that if you have a cool new concept, you should call it ''Dynamic entropy'', hence the title.

{{w|Dynamic programming}} is a mathematical optimization method and computer programming method developed by Richard Bellman in the 1950s. The {{w|Dynamic programming#History|History section}} of the Wikipedia article contains the full paragraph from Bellman's autobiography that contains the quote that is in the comic strip. Bellman describes how he was doing mathematical research funded by the military at a time when the Secretary of Defense had a literal pathological fear of the word "research", and by extension, "mathematical". Bellman borrowed the word "dynamic" from physics as being both accurate for his work and as a word that in plain English has positive connotations and is never used in a pejorative sense (expressing contempt or disapproval). The word "dynamic" itself comes from the Greek ''dynamikos'', "powerful", which is a positive meaning in itself, and has been applied to topics in physics that are related to motion and forces and used in ordinary English to refer to things that exert power, force, growth, and change (dynamo, dynamite, and as an adjective). Even though those things aren't always good, when they're bad, we use other words instead (e.g. cancer undergoes {{w|metastasis}}, not "dynamism").

{{w|Entropy}} is a term from physics, specifically statistical mechanics, describing a property of a thermodynamic system. When Claude Shannon developed a mathematical framework for studying signal processing and communications systems, which became known as {{w|Information theory}}, he struggled to come up with a proper name for one mathematical concept in his theory that quantified amount of noise or uncertainty in a signal. Computer scientist John von Neumann noticed the similarity of the equations with some in thermodynamics and suggested, "You should call it entropy, for two reasons. In the first place your uncertainty function has been used in statistical mechanics under that name, so it already has a name. In the second place, and more important, no one really knows what entropy really is, so in a debate you will always have the advantage." (see [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_information_theory&oldid=917334152#Entropy_in_statistical_mechanics History of information theory])

The naming of dynamic programming and of entropy in Information Theory are both examples of scientists choosing a name for what were at least partially very non-scientific seeming reasons. In the one cased because it has only positive and no negative connotations in plain English. In other case because there is much confusion over the meaning of the word so Shannon would be free to adopt it in a new context. [[Randall|Randall]] is claiming that would make them great to put together to name some new concept, contributing toward it becoming as famous as dynamic programming and information theoretic entropy.

Even though the caption implies that "dynamic entropy" would be available as a new name, it has actually been used in physics<ref>Allegrini, P., Douglas, J. F., & Glotzer, S. C. (1999). Dynamic entropy as a measure of caging and persistent particle motion in supercooled liquids. Physical Review E, 60(5), 5714, doi: 10.1103/physreve.60.5714.</ref>, probability<ref>Asadi, M., Ebrahimi, N., Hamedani, G., & Soofi, E. (2004). Maximum Dynamic Entropy Models. Journal of Applied Probability, 41(2), 379-390. Retrieved June 11, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/3216023</ref>, computer science<ref>S. Satpathy et al., "An All-Digital Unified Static/Dynamic Entropy Generator Featuring Self-Calibrating Hierarchical Von Neumann Extraction for Secure Privacy-Preserving Mutual Authentication in IoT Mote Platforms," 2018 IEEE Symposium on VLSI Circuits, Honolulu, HI, 2018, pp. 169-170, doi: 10.1109/VLSIC.2018.8502369.</ref>, and even the term "dynamical entropy" in physics<ref>Green, J. R., Costa, A. B., Grzybowski, B. A., & Szleifer, I. (2013). Relationship between dynamical entropy and energy dissipation far from thermodynamic equilibrium. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(41), 16339-16343.</ref><ref>Słomczyński, W., & Szczepanek, A. (2017). Quantum dynamical entropy, chaotic unitaries and complex Hadamard matrices. IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, 63(12), 7821-7831, doi: 10.1109/TIT.2017.2751507.</ref> and bioscience<ref>Chakrabarti, C. G., & Ghosh, K. (2013). Dynamical entropy via entropy of non-random matrices: Application to stability and complexity in modelling ecosystems. Mathematical biosciences, 245(2), 278-281, doi: 10.1016/j.mbs.2013.07.016.</ref>.

In the title text Randall mentions that, even though his physics professors have continued to use the word "dynamical", "trying to normalize it" by repetitive usage, he remains convinced that it is not really a word. Presumably he doesn't like that it has two suffixes used to make words into adjectives, -ic and -al, as if "dynamic" wasn't already positive enough. The [https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Commonly-Confused-Suffixes-ic-vs-ical.htm#:~:text=Words%20ending%20in%20%E2%80%9C%2Dic%E2%80%9D,are%20notoriously%20difficult%20to%20distinguish Free Dictionary] discusses how -ic and -ical suffixes are confused in many common words and explains their different uses.

The term "dynamical" in physics generally is used in "{{w|Dynamical system}}" or as an adjective to name a concept as applied to dynamical systems such as "dynamical entropy"<ref>Atmanspacher, H. (1997). Dynamical entropy in dynamical systems. In Time, temporality, now (pp. 327-346). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-60707-3_22</ref>.

==References==
<references />

==Transcript==
:[One panel only with text and a few lines and arrows. There are two columns each with a heading. Beneath each heading is a quote written on four lines. Below the quote, in grey font, and indented, starting with a hyphen, with the text aligned to the right of this are five lines of text. This explains who the quote belongs too and where it was stated (in brackets at the end). From the bottom of each of these two gray text paragraphs gray curved arrows goes down to two gray lines. Below each of these two lines are one large word per line. They are again in black text.]
:<big>Dynamic</big>
:"It's impossible to use the word 'dynamic' in the pejorative sense... Thus, I thought 'Dynamic Programming' was a good name."
::- Richard Bellman, explaining how he picked a name for his math research to try to protect it from criticism (''Eye of the Hurricane'', 1984)

:<big>Entropy</big>
:"You should call it 'Entropy'... No one knows what entropy really is, so in a debate you will always have the advantage."
::- John von Neumann, to Claude Shannon, on why he should borrow the physics term in information theory (as told to Myron Tribus)

:::<big><big>'''''Dynamic Entropy'''''</big></big>

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Science Tip: If you have a cool concept you need a name for, try "Dynamic Entropy."

== Trivia ==

Many of {{w|Buckminster Fuller}}'s designs and works were associated with the word "{{w|dymaxion}}", a combination of the words "dynamic", "maximum", and "tension", all words that Fuller himself used a lot in talking about his work, and which are words that simultaneously have use in science and positive connotations in lay English.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Tips]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Physics]]

2318: Dynamic Entropy

2020-06-11T12:22:50Z

Bugstomper: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2318
| date = June 11, 2020
| title = Dynamic Entropy
| image = dynamic_entropy.png
| titletext = Despite years of effort by my physics professors to normalize it, deep down I remain convinced that 'dynamical' is not really a word.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This is another one of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[:Category:Tips|Tips]], this time a Science Tip. This time it is a bit special since it came less than three weeks after another Science Tip: [[2311: Confidence Interval]]. This thus became the first time a type of tip, that was not a [[:Category:Protip|Protip]], has been used more than once, and it was even for two "tips comics" in a row.

This Science Tip suggests that if you have a cool new concept, you should call it ''Dynamic entropy'', hence the title.

{{w|Dynamic programming}} is a mathematical optimization method and computer programming method developed by Richard Bellman in the 1950s. The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_programming&oldid=960681597#History History section] of the Wikipedia article contains the full paragraph from Bellman's autobiography that contains the quote that is in the comic strip. Bellman describes how he was doing mathematical research funded by the military at a time when the Secretary of Defense had a literal pathological fear of the word "research", and by extension, "mathematical". Bellman borrowed the word "dynamic" from physics as being both accurate for his work and as a word that in plain English has positive connotations and is never used in a pejorative sense (expressing contempt or disapproval).

{{w|Entropy}} is a term from physics, specifically statistical mechanics, describing a property of a thermodynamic system. When Claude Shannon developed a mathematical framework for studying signal processing and communications systems, which became known as {{w|Information theory}}, he struggled to come up with a proper name for one mathematical concept in his theory that quantified amount of noise or uncertainty in a signal. Computer scientist John von Neumann noticed the similarity of the equations with some in thermodynamics and suggested, "You should call it entropy, for two reasons. In the first place your uncertainty function has been used in statistical mechanics under that name, so it already has a name. In the second place, and more important, no one really knows what entropy really is, so in a debate you will always have the advantage." (see [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_information_theory&oldid=917334152#Entropy_in_statistical_mechanics History of information theory])

The naming of dynamic programming and of entropy in Information Theory are both examples of scientists choosing a name for what were at least partially very non-scientific seeming reasons. In the one cased because it has only positive and no negative connotations in plain English. In other case because there is much confusion over the meaning of the word so Shannon would be free to adopt it in a new context. [[Randall|Randall]] is claiming that would make them great to put together to name some new concept, contributing toward it becoming as famous as dynamic programming and information theoretic entropy.

Even though the caption implies that "dynamic entropy" would be available as a new name, it has actually been used in physics<ref>Allegrini, P., Douglas, J. F., & Glotzer, S. C. (1999). Dynamic entropy as a measure of caging and persistent particle motion in supercooled liquids. Physical Review E, 60(5), 5714, doi: 10.1103/physreve.60.5714.</ref>, probability<ref>Asadi, M., Ebrahimi, N., Hamedani, G., & Soofi, E. (2004). Maximum Dynamic Entropy Models. Journal of Applied Probability, 41(2), 379-390. Retrieved June 11, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/3216023</ref>, computer science<ref>S. Satpathy et al., "An All-Digital Unified Static/Dynamic Entropy Generator Featuring Self-Calibrating Hierarchical Von Neumann Extraction for Secure Privacy-Preserving Mutual Authentication in IoT Mote Platforms," 2018 IEEE Symposium on VLSI Circuits, Honolulu, HI, 2018, pp. 169-170, doi: 10.1109/VLSIC.2018.8502369.</ref>, and even the term "dynamical entropy" in physics<ref>Green, J. R., Costa, A. B., Grzybowski, B. A., & Szleifer, I. (2013). Relationship between dynamical entropy and energy dissipation far from thermodynamic equilibrium. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(41), 16339-16343.</ref><ref>Słomczyński, W., & Szczepanek, A. (2017). Quantum dynamical entropy, chaotic unitaries and complex Hadamard matrices. IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, 63(12), 7821-7831, doi: 10.1109/TIT.2017.2751507.</ref> and bioscience<ref>Chakrabarti, C. G., & Ghosh, K. (2013). Dynamical entropy via entropy of non-random matrices: Application to stability and complexity in modelling ecosystems. Mathematical biosciences, 245(2), 278-281, doi: 10.1016/j.mbs.2013.07.016.</ref>.

In the title text Randall mentions that, even though his physics professors have continued to use the word "dynamical", "trying to normalize it" by repetitive usage, he remains convinced that it is not really a word. I.e. it would just be something they use, like in this comic, where putting "Dynamic" in front of another word can give it a positive meaning.

The term "dynamical" in physics generally is used in "{{w|Dynamical system}}" or as an adjective to name a concept as applied to dynamical systems such as "dynamical entropy"<ref>Atmanspacher, H. (1997). Dynamical entropy in dynamical systems. In Time, temporality, now (pp. 327-346). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-60707-3_22</ref>.

==References==
<references />

==Transcript==
:[One panel only with text and a few lines and arrows. There are two columns each with a heading. Beneath each heading is a quote written on four lines. Below the quote, in grey font, and indented, starting with a hyphen, with the text aligned to the right of this are five lines of text. This explains who the quote belongs too and where it was stated (in brackets at the end). From the bottom of each of these two gray text paragraphs gray curved arrows goes down to two gray lines. Below each of these two lines are one large word per line. They are again in black text.]
:<big>Dynamic</big>
:"It's impossible to use the word 'dynamic' in the pejorative sense... Thus, I thought 'Dynamic Programming' was a good name."
::- Richard Bellman, explaining how he picked a name for his math research to try to protect it from criticism (''Eye of the Hurricane'', 1984)

:<big>Entropy</big>
:"You should call it 'Entropy'... No one knows what entropy really is, so in a debate you will always have the advantage."
::- John von Neumann, to Claude Shannon, on why he should borrow the physics term in information theory (as told to Myron Tribus)

:::<big><big>'''''Dynamic Entropy'''''</big></big>

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Science Tip: If you have a cool concept you need a name for, try "Dynamic Entropy."

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Tips]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Physics]]

Talk:2318: Dynamic Entropy

2020-06-11T12:18:31Z

Bugstomper:

Can confirm, have never lost an argument. [[User:Dynamic Entropy|Dynamic Entropy]] ([[User talk:Dynamic Entropy|talk]]) 00:45, 11 June 2020 (UTC)

: Allegrini, P., Douglas, J. F., & Glotzer, S. C. (1999). Dynamic entropy as a measure of caging and persistent particle motion in supercooled liquids. Physical Review E, 60(5), 5714, doi: 10.1103/physreve.60.5714.

: Asadi, M., Ebrahimi, N., Hamedani, G., & Soofi, E. (2004). Maximum Dynamic Entropy Models. Journal of Applied Probability, 41(2), 379-390. Retrieved June 11, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/3216023

: Green, J. R., Costa, A. B., Grzybowski, B. A., & Szleifer, I. (2013). Relationship between dynamical entropy and energy dissipation far from thermodynamic equilibrium. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(41), 16339-16343.

: S. Satpathy et al., "An All-Digital Unified Static/Dynamic Entropy Generator Featuring Self-Calibrating Hierarchical Von Neumann Extraction for Secure Privacy-Preserving Mutual Authentication in IoT Mote Platforms," 2018 IEEE Symposium on VLSI Circuits, Honolulu, HI, 2018, pp. 169-170, doi: 10.1109/VLSIC.2018.8502369.
:[[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 01:28, 11 June 2020 (UTC)
::Can someone with knowledge of the reference system in a wiki make the reference appear above the discussion, maybe in a section named References?--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:06, 11 June 2020 (UTC)
:::Done [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 09:13, 11 June 2020 (UTC)

Well bugger me (METAPHOR! METAPHOR!) but my current Master thesis in Computer Science could use that term without much shoehorning. (tl;dr: Binary search trees that adapt, =dynamic, can serve a query series faster than static, and the gain depends on the structure of the query series, =entropy. I prefer the good old "instance optimality", though...) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.122|162.158.159.122]] 08:58, 11 June 2020 (UTC)

This seems to tie in with the recent comic [[2315]]: ''Eventual Consistency'', which is also about entropy (in a thermodynamic(al) sense), but I guess that like the rest of the world I don't know what entropy really is, because if [[wikipedia:Entropy (information theory)|entropy]] is a measure of how "surprising" a variable is, why is everything being flat and spread out evenly called a state of maximum entropy? Everything being the same doesn't sound very surprising to me... --[[User:IByte|IByte]] ([[User talk:IByte|talk]]) 09:08, 11 June 2020 (UTC)
::Because entropy is the ''inverse'' of how "surprising" or organized or full of information a system is. [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 09:27, 11 June 2020 (UTC)

I can think of a number of cases where "dynamic" would be a bad thing, but not necessarily pejorative. The structure of a building had better not be dynamic (think "sudden energetic disassembly"), and when my (salaried, should be steady) paycheck becomes dynamic, I have to talk to HR. Can someone come up with a pejorative? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.212|162.158.78.212]] 11:16, 11 June 2020 (UTC)

2318: Dynamic Entropy

2020-06-11T12:13:26Z

Bugstomper: /* Explanation */ Explain dynamic programming, Bellman's choice of word "dynamic", meaning of "pejorative sense", entropy in physics, information theory, entropy in information theory, how the quotes relate to using the words for a new concept

{{comic
| number = 2318
| date = June 11, 2020
| title = Dynamic Entropy
| image = dynamic_entropy.png
| titletext = Despite years of effort by my physics professors to normalize it, deep down I remain convinced that 'dynamical' is not really a word.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This is another one of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[:Category:Tips|Tips]], this time a Science Tip. This time it is a bit special since it came less than three weeks after another Science Tip: [[2311: Confidence Interval]]. This thus became the first time a type of tip, that was not a [[:Category:Protip|Protip]], has been used more than once, and it was even for two "tips comics" in a row.

This Science Tip suggests that if you have a cool new concept, you should call it ''Dynamic entropy'', hence the title.

{{w|Dynamic programming}} is a mathematical optimization method and computer programming method developed by Richard Bellman in the 1950s. The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_programming&oldid=960681597#History History section] of the Wikipedia article contains the full paragraph from Bellman's autobiography that contains the quote that is in the comic strip. Bellman describes how he was doing mathematical research funded by the military at a time when the Secretary of Defense had a literal pathological fear of the word "research", and by extension, "mathematical". Bellman borrowed the word "dynamic" from physics as being both accurate for his work and as a word that in plain English has positive connotations and is never used in a pejorative sense (expressing contempt or disapproval).

{{w|Entropy}} is a term from physics, specifically statistical mechanics, describing a property of a thermodynamic system. When Claude Shannon developed a mathematical framework for studying signal processing and communications systems, which became known as {{w|Information theory}}, he struggled to come up with a proper name for one mathematical concept in his theory that quantified amount of noise or uncertainty in a signal. Computer scientist John von Neumann noticed the similarity of the equations with some in thermodynamics and suggested, "You should call it entropy, for two reasons. In the first place your uncertainty function has been used in statistical mechanics under that name, so it already has a name. In the second place, and more important, no one really knows what entropy really is, so in a debate you will always have the advantage." (see [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_information_theory&oldid=917334152#Entropy_in_statistical_mechanics History of information theory])

The naming of dynamic programming and of entropy in Information Theory are both examples of scientists choosing a name for what were at least partially very non-scientific seeming reasons. In the one cased because it has only positive and no negative connotations in plain English. In other case because there is much confusion over the meaning of the word so Shannon would be free to adopt it in a new context. [[Randall|Randall]] is claiming that would make them great to put together to name some new concept, contributing toward it becoming as famous as dynamic programming and information theoretic entropy.

Even though the caption implies that "dynamic entropy" would be available as a new name, it has actually been used in physics<ref>Allegrini, P., Douglas, J. F., & Glotzer, S. C. (1999). Dynamic entropy as a measure of caging and persistent particle motion in supercooled liquids. Physical Review E, 60(5), 5714, doi: 10.1103/physreve.60.5714.</ref>, probability<ref>Asadi, M., Ebrahimi, N., Hamedani, G., & Soofi, E. (2004). Maximum Dynamic Entropy Models. Journal of Applied Probability, 41(2), 379-390. Retrieved June 11, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/3216023</ref>, computer science<ref>S. Satpathy et al., "An All-Digital Unified Static/Dynamic Entropy Generator Featuring Self-Calibrating Hierarchical Von Neumann Extraction for Secure Privacy-Preserving Mutual Authentication in IoT Mote Platforms," 2018 IEEE Symposium on VLSI Circuits, Honolulu, HI, 2018, pp. 169-170, doi: 10.1109/VLSIC.2018.8502369.</ref>, and even the term "dynamical entropy" in physics<ref>Green, J. R., Costa, A. B., Grzybowski, B. A., & Szleifer, I. (2013). Relationship between dynamical entropy and energy dissipation far from thermodynamic equilibrium. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(41), 16339-16343.</ref><ref>Słomczyński, W., & Szczepanek, A. (2017). Quantum dynamical entropy, chaotic unitaries and complex Hadamard matrices. IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, 63(12), 7821-7831, doi: 10.1109/TIT.2017.2751507.</ref> and bioscience<ref>Chakrabarti, C. G., & Ghosh, K. (2013). Dynamical entropy via entropy of non-random matrices: Application to stability and complexity in modelling ecosystems. Mathematical biosciences, 245(2), 278-281, doi: 10.1016/j.mbs.2013.07.016.</ref>.

In the title text Randall mentions that, even though his physics professors have continued to use the word "dynamical", "trying to normalize it" by repetitive usage, he remains convinced that it is not really a word. I.e. it would just be something they use, like in this comic, where putting "Dynamic" in front of another word can give it a positive meaning.

The term "dynamical" in physics generally is used in "{{w|Dynamical system}}" or as an adjective to name a concept as applied to dynamical systems such as "dynamical entropy"<ref>Atmanspacher, H. (1997). Dynamical entropy in dynamical systems. In Time, temporality, now (pp. 327-346). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, doi: /10.1007/978-3-642-60707-3_22</ref>.

==References==
<references />

==Transcript==
:[One panel only with text and a few lines and arrows. There are two columns each with a heading. Beneath each heading is a quote written on four lines. Below the quote, in grey font, and indented, starting with a hyphen, with the text aligned to the right of this are five lines of text. This explains who the quote belongs too and where it was stated (in brackets at the end). From the bottom of each of these two gray text paragraphs gray curved arrows goes down to two gray lines. Below each of these two lines are one large word per line. They are again in black text.]
:<big>Dynamic</big>
:"It's impossible to use the word 'dynamic' in the pejorative sense... Thus, I thought 'Dynamic Programming' was a good name."
::- Richard Bellman, explaining how he picked a name for his math research to try to protect it from criticism (''Eye of the Hurricane'', 1984)

:<big>Entropy</big>
:"You should call it 'Entropy'... No one knows what entropy really is, so in a debate you will always have the advantage."
::- John von Neumann, to Claude Shannon, on why he should borrow the physics term in information theory (as told to Myron Tribus)

:::<big><big>'''''Dynamic Entropy'''''</big></big>

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Science Tip: If you have a cool concept you need a name for, try "Dynamic Entropy."

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Tips]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Physics]]

2318: Dynamic Entropy

2020-06-11T10:50:39Z

Bugstomper: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2318
| date = June 11, 2020
| title = Dynamic Entropy
| image = dynamic_entropy.png
| titletext = Despite years of effort by my physics professors to normalize it, deep down I remain convinced that 'dynamical' is not really a word.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a PHYSICS PROFESSOR. Explain what "pejorative sense" means. Should briefly explain dynamic programming, information theory, and entropy, and define the word “dynamical”. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This is another one of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[:Category:Tips|Tips]], this time a Science Tip. This time it is a bit special since it came less than three weeks after another Science Tip: [[2311: Confidence Interval]]. This thus became the first time a type of tip, that was not a [[:Category:Protip|Protip]], has been used more than once, and it was even for two "tips comics" in a row.

This Science Tip suggests, that if you have a cool new concept, you should call it ''Dynamic entropy'', hence the title.

The Wikipedia article on {{w|Dynamic programming}} defines it as a mathematical optimization method and computer programming method developed by Richard Bellman in the 1950s. The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_programming#History History section] of that article contains the full paragraph from Bellman's autobiography that contains the quote that is in the comic strip. Bellman describes how he was doing mathematical research funded by the military at a time that the Secretary of Defense had a literal pathological fear of the word "research", and by extension, "mathematical". Bellman borrowed the word "dynamic" from physics as being both accurate for his work and as a word that in plain English has positive connotations and is never used in a pejorative sense (expressing contempt or disapproval).

[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dynamic/ Merriam-Webster's Dictionary] defines dynamic as "marked by usually continuous and productive activity or change" as well as "of or relating to physical force or energy," among other definitions. [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/entropy/ Additionally, it] defines entropy as "the degree of disorder or uncertainty in a system." So while clearly these two words do mean things, the comic provides two quotes from famous scientists saying that "it's impossible to use the word 'dynamic' in a pejorative sense", and "no one knows what entropy really is". The result is a phrase that can mean whatever the concept's originator wishes it to mean, and cannot possibly be heard in a negative light (as has happened with e.g. "{{w|cold fusion}}").

Even though the caption implies that "dynamic entropy" would be available as a new name, it has actually been used in physics<ref>Allegrini, P., Douglas, J. F., & Glotzer, S. C. (1999). Dynamic entropy as a measure of caging and persistent particle motion in supercooled liquids. Physical Review E, 60(5), 5714, doi: 10.1103/physreve.60.5714.</ref>, probability<ref>Asadi, M., Ebrahimi, N., Hamedani, G., & Soofi, E. (2004). Maximum Dynamic Entropy Models. Journal of Applied Probability, 41(2), 379-390. Retrieved June 11, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/3216023</ref>, computer science<ref>S. Satpathy et al., "An All-Digital Unified Static/Dynamic Entropy Generator Featuring Self-Calibrating Hierarchical Von Neumann Extraction for Secure Privacy-Preserving Mutual Authentication in IoT Mote Platforms," 2018 IEEE Symposium on VLSI Circuits, Honolulu, HI, 2018, pp. 169-170, doi: 10.1109/VLSIC.2018.8502369.</ref>, and even the term "dynamical entropy" in physics<ref>Green, J. R., Costa, A. B., Grzybowski, B. A., & Szleifer, I. (2013). Relationship between dynamical entropy and energy dissipation far from thermodynamic equilibrium. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(41), 16339-16343.</ref><ref>Słomczyński, W., & Szczepanek, A. (2017). Quantum dynamical entropy, chaotic unitaries and complex Hadamard matrices. IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, 63(12), 7821-7831, doi: 10.1109/TIT.2017.2751507.</ref> and bioscience<ref>Chakrabarti, C. G., & Ghosh, K. (2013). Dynamical entropy via entropy of non-random matrices: Application to stability and complexity in modelling ecosystems. Mathematical biosciences, 245(2), 278-281, doi: 10.1016/j.mbs.2013.07.016.</ref>.

In the title text Randall mentions, that even though his physics professors has continued to use the word "dynamical", "trying to normalize it" by repetitive usage, he remains convinced that it is not really a word. I.e. it would just be something they use, like in this comic, where putting "Dynamic" in front of another word can give it a positive meaning.

The term "dynamical" in physics generally is used in "{{w|Dynamical system}}" or as an adjective to name a concept as applied to dynamical systems such as "dynamical entropy"<ref>Atmanspacher, H. (1997). Dynamical entropy in dynamical systems. In Time, temporality, now (pp. 327-346). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, doi: /10.1007/978-3-642-60707-3_22</ref>.

==References==
<references />

==Transcript==
:[One panel only with text and a few lines and arrows. There are two columns each with a heading. Beneath each heading is a quote written on four lines. Below the quote, in grey font, and indented, starting with a hyphen, with the text aligned to the right of this are five lines of text. This explains who the quote belongs too and where it was stated (in brackets at the end). From the bottom of each of these two gray text paragraphs gray curved arrows goes down to two gray lines. Below each of these two lines are one large word per line. They are again in black text.]
:<big>Dynamic</big>
:"It's impossible to use the word 'dynamic' in the pejorative sense... Thus, I thought 'Dynamic Programming' was a good name."
::- Richard Bellman, explaining how he picked a name for his math research to try to protect it from criticism (''Eye of the Hurricane'', 1984)

:<big>Entropy</big>
:"You should call it 'Entropy'... No one knows what entropy really is, so in a debate you will always have the advantage."
::- John von Neumann, to Claude Shannon, on why he should borrow the physics term in information theory (as told to Myron Tribus)

:::<big><big>'''''Dynamic Entropy'''''</big></big>

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Science Tip: If you have a cool concept you need a name for, try "Dynamic Entropy."

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Tips]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Physics]]

2318: Dynamic Entropy

2020-06-11T10:14:46Z

Bugstomper: /* Explanation */ defined "dynamical" with wikipedia reference

Talk:2318: Dynamic Entropy

2020-06-11T09:27:27Z

Bugstomper:

Can confirm, have never lost an argument. [[User:Dynamic Entropy|Dynamic Entropy]] ([[User talk:Dynamic Entropy|talk]]) 00:45, 11 June 2020 (UTC)

: Allegrini, P., Douglas, J. F., & Glotzer, S. C. (1999). Dynamic entropy as a measure of caging and persistent particle motion in supercooled liquids. Physical Review E, 60(5), 5714, doi: 10.1103/physreve.60.5714.

: Asadi, M., Ebrahimi, N., Hamedani, G., & Soofi, E. (2004). Maximum Dynamic Entropy Models. Journal of Applied Probability, 41(2), 379-390. Retrieved June 11, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/3216023

: Green, J. R., Costa, A. B., Grzybowski, B. A., & Szleifer, I. (2013). Relationship between dynamical entropy and energy dissipation far from thermodynamic equilibrium. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(41), 16339-16343.

: S. Satpathy et al., "An All-Digital Unified Static/Dynamic Entropy Generator Featuring Self-Calibrating Hierarchical Von Neumann Extraction for Secure Privacy-Preserving Mutual Authentication in IoT Mote Platforms," 2018 IEEE Symposium on VLSI Circuits, Honolulu, HI, 2018, pp. 169-170, doi: 10.1109/VLSIC.2018.8502369.
:[[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 01:28, 11 June 2020 (UTC)
::Can someone with knowledge of the reference system in a wiki make the reference appear above the discussion, maybe in a section named References?--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:06, 11 June 2020 (UTC)
:::Done [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 09:13, 11 June 2020 (UTC)

Well bugger me (METAPHOR! METAPHOR!) but my current Master thesis in Computer Science could use that term without much shoehorning. (tl;dr: Binary search trees that adapt, =dynamic, can serve a query series faster than static, and the gain depends on the structure of the query series, =entropy. I prefer the good old "instance optimality", though...) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.122|162.158.159.122]] 08:58, 11 June 2020 (UTC)

This seems to tie in with the recent comic [[2315]]: ''Eventual Consistency'', which is also about entropy (in a thermodynamic(al) sense), but I guess that like the rest of the world I don't know what entropy really is, because if [[wikipedia:Entropy (information theory)|entropy]] is a measure of how "surprising" a variable is, why is everything being flat and spread out evenly called a state of maximum entropy? Everything being the same doesn't sound very surprising to me... --[[User:IByte|IByte]] ([[User talk:IByte|talk]]) 09:08, 11 June 2020 (UTC)
::Because entropy is the ''inverse'' of how "surprising" or organized of full of information a system is. [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 09:27, 11 June 2020 (UTC)

2318: Dynamic Entropy

2020-06-11T09:22:23Z

Bugstomper: /* References */

2318: Dynamic Entropy

2020-06-11T09:21:01Z

Bugstomper: called out one of the references that uses "dynamical entropy"

Talk:2318: Dynamic Entropy

2020-06-11T09:13:35Z

Bugstomper:

2318: Dynamic Entropy

2020-06-11T09:12:00Z

Bugstomper: Moved references to immediately after explanation

2318: Dynamic Entropy

2020-06-11T03:18:59Z

Bugstomper: Added citations for existing uses of "dynamic entropy" and "dynamical entropy" in various sciences

Talk:2318: Dynamic Entropy

2020-06-11T03:07:33Z

Bugstomper: removed duplicate

Talk:2318: Dynamic Entropy

2020-06-11T01:28:55Z

Bugstomper:

2289: Scenario 4

2020-05-12T08:57:09Z

Bugstomper: /* Trivia */

{{comic
| number = 2289
| date = April 4, 2020
| title = Scenario 4
| image = sequence-four.png
| titletext = Remember, models aren't for telling you facts, they're for exploring dynamics. This model apparently explores time travel.
}}
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Needs elaborating on the comic, and needs an explanation of the title text.}}

Although not directly mentioned, this comic is probably the 14th comic in a row (not counting the [[2288: Collector's Edition|April Fools' 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}}.

In [[2278: Scientific Briefing]], [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] were briefing [[White Hat]] on things that were getting bad, hoping to convince him to do something about them. He chose to wait until things actually got bad. Evidently, that has happened, and now Megan and Cueball are delivering another briefing on just how much "Bad Stuff" there might be, according to their models.

In the context of the information (and misinformation) explosion associated with the COVID-19 pandemic (ongoing at the time that this comic was published), many graphs have been shown highlighting the prevalence of the disease - the number of cases at any one time and place, and the change in the number of cases over time. That being said, the graphs shown could easily apply to any number of scenarios where an upward trend is bad.

Several of these graphs have attempted to predict the future, using statistical tools ("models") to process existing data and generate a forecast. Inputs to the model(s) may include different assessments of, for example, the number of COVID-19 cases that have been recorded. Four scenarios are presented here, presumably showing what a particular model (probably only one despite the reference to "new modelS" in the comic) forecasts given different, unspecified, inputs.

Megan and Cueball present four scenarios, only three of which are possible.
* The first, "best case" scenario recalls "flatten the curve" graphs that predict an occurrence will eventually cease to increase altogether. Using COVID-19 as an example, if strictest measures are put into place and adhered to, all those who have contracted COVID-19 will eventually be reported, and no further victims will contract it.
* The second and third scenarios are increasingly worse cases, predicting that the occurrence will continue unceasingly. Again using COVID-19 as an example, the less measures are put into place or adhered to, the more COVID-19 cases that will occur. Scenario 3 appears to indicate an exponential increase best suited to a log scale; "pretty bad" is an understatement.
* The fourth curve is not possible, as each point along the x-axis represents a specific time point. If the curve passes the same time point twice (as it does) then this means that on a given day there were two different number of cases. E.g. on the 1st of April there would have been both 100 and 1000 people infected, which makes no sense at all. The only way to make sense of it would be by using the common trope in science fiction of time traveling creating an alternate timeline in which events are different, thus the cases could be 100 in one timeline and 1000 in a different timeline. Hence the remark, "this model explores time travel", in the title text. This is a brain cramp to visualize, and the consequences of it actually happening would be calamitous on several levels. Real modelers might encounter such "graphing errors" while they are developing their models, entering data (especially if there are time-conversion errors), and testing their functions, but persons who went so far as to present such glitches in public, except for a laugh as here, would likely be asked to hand in their modeler's cards.
** The 'time travel' remark is also suggestive of certain particle-physics phenomena captured in {{w|Feynman diagram}}s. Mathematically, an antiparticle moving forward in time looks like its equivalent particle moving backwards in time, so a particle-antiparticle annihilation or creation event could be interpreted as a single particle switching directions in time. In the context of this scenario, it is possible to read the fourth chart as predicting that the bad stuff will start traveling backwards in time as it increases, which we would see as a great quantity of "bad anti-stuff" appearing and decaying in number just as the "bad stuff" increases, until the two quantities meet at the halfway point and mutually annihilate. Even though there will be no more bad stuff after the annihilation (or time-reversal) event, particle-antiparticle annihilation releases enormous energies that might be even more catastrophic than whatever the bad stuff itself was.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Cueball are standing in front of a large graph, with "Time" along the horizontal axis and "Bad Stuff" along the vertical axis. The curve on the graph shows a generally shallow upward slope.]
:Megan: Our new models outline a few possible scenarios.
:Cueball: #1 is the best scenario.

:[The graph now shows a much steeper curve, before flattening out far in the future, similar to a logistic curve.]
:Megan: Scenario 2 is not so great.

:[The graph now climbs quite quickly, approximating an exponential curve.]
:Cueball: Scenario 3 would be pretty bad.

:[The graph starts curling up, like the exponential curve, but continues curving back, so that it no longer qualifies as a function, and may indicate time-travel to the past.]
:Megan: Then there is scenario 4.
:Megan: We '''''think''''' it's a graphing error.
:Cueball: If not, we '''''definitely''''' want to avoid it.

==Trivia==
*This is the first [[:Category:Saturday comics|Saturday comic]] since 2006.
**It was released on Saturday since the previous comic was the [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]] for 2020.
***The release of this comic, [[2288: Collector's Edition]], had been [[2288:_Collector's_Edition#Trivia|delayed two days]] because of technical difficulties with the complex interactive nature of the comic.
***Thus the planned Wednesday release of this week was thus postponed to Friday.
****To not cheat us from the planned Friday release, this comic was thus released the day after on Saturday.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Time travel]]

2289: Scenario 4

2020-04-05T14:59:23Z

Bugstomper: I removed the last edit "The only solace..." If you are going to try to make sense of the silly graph, it's in the reference frame of the time travellers. The rest of the world moves forward in time starting with everything worse. Not much solace.

{{comic
| number = 2289
| date = April 4, 2020
| title = Scenario 4
| image = sequence-four.png
| titletext = Remember, models aren't for telling you facts, they're for exploring dynamics. This model apparently explores time travel.
}}
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by GRAPHING ERRORS. Needs elaborating on the comic, and needs an explanation of the title text.}}
In [[2278: Scientific Briefing]], [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] were briefing [[White Hat]] on things that were getting bad, hoping to convince him to do something about them. He chose to wait until things actually got bad. Evidently, that has happened, and now Megan and Cueball are delivering another briefing on just how much "Bad Stuff" there might be, according to their models.

This is another comic in the coronavirus series. In the context of the information (and misinformation) explosion associated with the COVID-19 pandemic (ongoing at the time that this comic was published), many graphs have been shown highlighting the prevalence of the disease - the number of cases at any one time and place, and the change in the number of cases over time. That being said, the graphs shown could easily apply to any number of scenarios where an upward trend is bad.

Several of these graphs have attempted to predict the future, using statistical tools ("models") to process existing data and generate a forecast. Inputs to the model(s) may include different assessments of, for example, the number of COVID-19 cases that have been recorded. Four scenarios are presented here, presumably showing what a particular model (probably only one despite the reference to "new modelS" in the comic) forecasts given different, unspecified, inputs.

Megan and Cueball present four scenarios, only three of which are possible.
* The first, "best case" scenario recalls "flatten the curve" graphs that predict an occurrence will eventually cease to increase altogether. Using COVID-19 as an example, if strictest measures are put into place and adhered to, all those who have contracted COVID-19 will eventually be reported, and no further victims will contract it.
* The second and third scenarios are increasingly worse cases, predicting that the occurrence will continue unceasingly. Again using COVID-19 as an example, the less measures are put into place or adhered to, the more COVID-19 cases that will occur. Scenario 3 appears to indicate an exponential increase best suited to a log scale; "pretty bad" is an understatement.
* The fourth curve is not possible, as each point along the x-axis represents a specific time point. If the curve passes the same time point twice (as it does) then this means that on a given day there were two different number of cases. E.g. on the 1st of April there would have been both 100 and 1000 people infected, which makes no sense at all. The only way to make sense of it would be by using the common trope in science fiction of time traveling creating an alternate timeline in which events are different, thus the cases could be 100 in one timeline and 1000 in a different timeline. Hence the remark, "this model explores time travel", in the title text. This a brain cramp to visualize, and the consequences of it actually happening would be calamitous on several levels. (Real modelers might encounter such "graphing errors" while they are developing their models and testing their functions, but persons who went so far as to present such glitches in public, except for a laugh as here, would likely be asked to hand in their modeler's cards.)

==Trivia==

This is the first [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Saturday_comics Saturday comic] since 2006.

==Transcript==
Panel 1: [ Megan and Cueball are standing in front of a large graph, with Time along the horizontal axis and ''Bad Stuff'' along the vertical axis. The curve on the graph shows a generally shallow upward slope. ]

Megan: Our new models outline a few possible scenarios.

Cueball: #1 is the best scenario.

Panel 2: [ The graph now shows a much steeper curve, before flattening out far in the future, similar to a logistic curve. ]

Megan: Scenario 2 is not so great.

Panel 3: [ The graph now climbs quite quickly, approximating an exponential curve. ]

Cueball: Scenario 3 would be pretty bad.

Panel 4: [ The graph starts curling up, like the exponential curve, but continues curving back, so that it no longer qualifies as a function, and may indicate rear-ward time-travel. ]

Megan: Then there is scenario 4. We '''think''' it's a graphing error.

Cueball: If not, we ''definitely'' want to avoid it.
[[Category:COVID-19]]
{{comic discussion}}

2289: Scenario 4

2020-04-05T07:10:17Z

Bugstomper: Additional explanation as to how the curve bending backwards is related to time travel

Talk:2289: Scenario 4

2020-04-05T02:24:47Z

Bugstomper:

Should definitely make a note re: this officially-Friday comic releasing late Saturday afternoon (EDT). [[User:TPS|TPS]] ([[User talk:TPS|talk]]) 22:06, 4 April 2020 (UTC)
Or is this actually the april fool comic, except it fooled us by being on a Saturday? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.81|162.158.74.81]] 22:12, 4 April 2020 (UTC) Sam
Perhaps more likely because the actual April Fool's comic (due Wednesday) delayed 'til Friday. [[User:TPS|TPS]] ([[User talk:TPS|talk]]) 22:19, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

The title should probably be changed, the xkcd site uses the numeral "4" whereas we're using the word "four."--[[User:GoldNinja|GoldNinja]] ([[User talk:GoldNinja|talk]]) 22:50, 4 April 2020 (UTC)
I accidentaly originally put it under Sequence Four. It shows in the image name.

I hope I fixed it correctly [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 02:17, 5 April 2020 (UTC)

Another instance of a graph with poor labels ("bad stuff"), even without the time travel. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.225|162.158.158.225]] 23:54, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

The issue of time-traveling COVID-19 problems has already be considered in Onion Public Radio's The Topical. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3GQwOcsChQ Apologies for any poor rule-following as this is my first edit. [[User:RandomEdditMemory|RandomEdditMemory]] ([[User talk:RandomEdditMemory|talk]]) 00:00, 5 April 2020 (UTC)RandomEditMemory

The time travel in this comic is probably a reference to the time offset resulting from the April Fool's comic, but possibly coincidentally the comic showed up here in New Zealand in the morning of the April 5 change to Standard Time when the clocks did turn back an hour. [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 01:55, 5 April 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2289: Scenario 4

2020-04-05T02:17:45Z

Bugstomper:

Should definitely make a note re: this officially-Friday comic releasing late Saturday afternoon (EDT). [[User:TPS|TPS]] ([[User talk:TPS|talk]]) 22:06, 4 April 2020 (UTC)
Or is this actually the april fool comic, except it fooled us by being on a Saturday? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.81|162.158.74.81]] 22:12, 4 April 2020 (UTC) Sam
Perhaps more likely because the actual April Fool's comic (due Wednesday) delayed 'til Friday. [[User:TPS|TPS]] ([[User talk:TPS|talk]]) 22:19, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

The title should probably be changed, the xkcd site uses the numeral "4" whereas we're using the word "four."--[[User:GoldNinja|GoldNinja]] ([[User talk:GoldNinja|talk]]) 22:50, 4 April 2020 (UTC)
I accidentaly originally put it under Sequence Four. It shows in the image name.
I hope I fixed it correctly [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 02:17, 5 April 2020 (UTC)

Another instance of a graph with poor labels ("bad stuff"), even without the time travel. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.225|162.158.158.225]] 23:54, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

The issue of time-traveling COVID-19 problems has already be considered in Onion Public Radio's The Topical. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3GQwOcsChQ Apologies for any poor rule-following as this is my first edit. [[User:RandomEdditMemory|RandomEdditMemory]] ([[User talk:RandomEdditMemory|talk]]) 00:00, 5 April 2020 (UTC)RandomEditMemory

The time travel in this comic is probably a reference to the time offset resulting from the April Fool's comic, but possibly coincidentally the comic showed up here in New Zealand in the morning of the April 5 change to Standard Time when the clocks did turn back an hour. [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 01:55, 5 April 2020 (UTC)

2289

2020-04-05T02:15:58Z

Bugstomper: Change redirect to be to renamed page

#REDIRECT [[2289: Scenario 4]]

Talk:2289: Scenario 4

2020-04-05T02:14:48Z

Bugstomper: Bugstomper moved page Talk:2289: Scenario Four to Talk:2289: Scenario 4: Change title of page to match actual title of comic

Should definitely make a note re: this officially-Friday comic releasing late Saturday afternoon (EDT). [[User:TPS|TPS]] ([[User talk:TPS|talk]]) 22:06, 4 April 2020 (UTC)
Or is this actually the april fool comic, except it fooled us by being on a Saturday? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.81|162.158.74.81]] 22:12, 4 April 2020 (UTC) Sam
Perhaps more likely because the actual April Fool's comic (due Wednesday) delayed 'til Friday. [[User:TPS|TPS]] ([[User talk:TPS|talk]]) 22:19, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

The title should probably be changed, the xkcd site uses the numeral "4" whereas we're using the word "four."--[[User:GoldNinja|GoldNinja]] ([[User talk:GoldNinja|talk]]) 22:50, 4 April 2020 (UTC)
I accidentaly originally put it under Sequence Four. It shows in the image name.

Another instance of a graph with poor labels ("bad stuff"), even without the time travel. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.225|162.158.158.225]] 23:54, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

The issue of time-traveling COVID-19 problems has already be considered in Onion Public Radio's The Topical. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3GQwOcsChQ Apologies for any poor rule-following as this is my first edit. [[User:RandomEdditMemory|RandomEdditMemory]] ([[User talk:RandomEdditMemory|talk]]) 00:00, 5 April 2020 (UTC)RandomEditMemory

The time travel in this comic is probably a reference to the time offset resulting from the April Fool's comic, but possibly coincidentally the comic showed up here in New Zealand in the morning of the April 5 change to Standard Time when the clocks did turn back an hour. [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 01:55, 5 April 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2289: Scenario Four

2020-04-05T02:14:48Z

Bugstomper: Bugstomper moved page Talk:2289: Scenario Four to Talk:2289: Scenario 4: Change title of page to match actual title of comic

#REDIRECT [[Talk:2289: Scenario 4]]

2289: Scenario 4

2020-04-05T02:14:47Z

Bugstomper: Bugstomper moved page 2289: Scenario Four to 2289: Scenario 4: Change title of page to match actual title of comic

2289: Scenario Four

2020-04-05T02:14:47Z

Bugstomper: Bugstomper moved page 2289: Scenario Four to 2289: Scenario 4: Change title of page to match actual title of comic

#REDIRECT [[2289: Scenario 4]]

2289: Scenario 4

2020-04-05T02:12:55Z

Bugstomper: Step 1 of changing Scenario Four to Scenario 4, change title in metadata

Talk:2289: Scenario 4

2020-04-05T01:59:02Z

Bugstomper:

Should definitely make a note re: this officially-Friday comic releasing late Saturday afternoon (EDT). [[User:TPS|TPS]] ([[User talk:TPS|talk]]) 22:06, 4 April 2020 (UTC)
Or is this actually the april fool comic, except it fooled us by being on a Saturday? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.81|162.158.74.81]] 22:12, 4 April 2020 (UTC) Sam
Perhaps more likely because the actual April Fool's comic (due Wednesday) delayed 'til Friday. [[User:TPS|TPS]] ([[User talk:TPS|talk]]) 22:19, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

The title should probably be changed, the xkcd site uses the numeral "4" whereas we're using the word "four."--[[User:GoldNinja|GoldNinja]] ([[User talk:GoldNinja|talk]]) 22:50, 4 April 2020 (UTC)
I accidentaly originally put it under Sequence Four. It shows in the image name.

Another instance of a graph with poor labels ("bad stuff"), even without the time travel. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.225|162.158.158.225]] 23:54, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

The issue of time-traveling COVID-19 problems has already be considered in Onion Public Radio's The Topical. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3GQwOcsChQ Apologies for any poor rule-following as this is my first edit. [[User:RandomEdditMemory|RandomEdditMemory]] ([[User talk:RandomEdditMemory|talk]]) 00:00, 5 April 2020 (UTC)RandomEditMemory

The time travel in this comic is probably a reference to the time offset resulting from the April Fool's comic, but possibly coincidentally the comic showed up here in New Zealand in the morning of the April 5 change to Standard Time when the clocks did turn back an hour. [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 01:55, 5 April 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2289: Scenario 4

2020-04-05T01:55:24Z

Bugstomper:

Should definitely make a note re: this officially-Friday comic releasing late Saturday afternoon (EDT). [[User:TPS|TPS]] ([[User talk:TPS|talk]]) 22:06, 4 April 2020 (UTC)
Or is this actually the april fool comic, except it fooled us by being on a Saturday? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.81|162.158.74.81]] 22:12, 4 April 2020 (UTC) Sam
Perhaps more likely because the actual April Fool's comic (due Wednesday) delayed 'til Friday. [[User:TPS|TPS]] ([[User talk:TPS|talk]]) 22:19, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

The title should probably be changed, the xkcd site uses the numeral "4" whereas we're using the word "four."--[[User:GoldNinja|GoldNinja]] ([[User talk:GoldNinja|talk]]) 22:50, 4 April 2020 (UTC)
I accidentaly originally put it under Sequence Four. It shows in the image name.

Another instance of a graph with poor labels ("bad stuff"), even without the time travel. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.225|162.158.158.225]] 23:54, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

The issue of time-traveling COVID-19 problems has already be considered in Onion Public Radio's The Topical. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3GQwOcsChQ Apologies for any poor rule-following as this is my first edit. [[User:RandomEdditMemory|RandomEdditMemory]] ([[User talk:RandomEdditMemory|talk]]) 00:00, 5 April 2020 (UTC)RandomEditMemory

The time travel in this comic is probably a reference to the time offset resulting from the April Fool's comic, but possibly coincidentally the comic showed up here in New Zealand in the early morning of the April 5 change to Standard Time when the clocks did turn back an hour. [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 01:55, 5 April 2020 (UTC)

2241: Brussels Sprouts Mandela Effect

2019-12-14T00:45:23Z

Bugstomper: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2241
| date = December 13, 2019
| title = Brussels Sprouts Mandela Effect
| image = brussels_sprouts_mandela_effect.png
| titletext = I love Brussels Sprouts Mandela Effect; I saw them open for Correct Horse Battery Staple.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a TASTY BRUSSELS SPROUT. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
The {{w|False_memory#Mandela_Effect|Mandela Effect}} is a pseudoscience explanation for a {{w|false memory}} shared by multiple people that says it is a real memory of people who had lived in a parallel world where the memory was true. False memories may arise via suggestibility, activation of associated information, the incorporation of misinformation, and source misattribution, and they can be shared, sometimes widely, when one of these triggers happens to many people in a population.

{{w|Brussels sprouts}} are a leafy vegetable from the cabbage family, which were cultivated in Brussels, Belgium in the 13th century, giving them their name. Many adults and children [https://www.camdenliving.com/blog/why-do-we-hate-brussel-sprout dislike Brussels sprouts], perhaps because of their bitterness.

Cueball was one of these people who had a dislike for Brussels sprouts, but after trying them recently, he had a change of heart, and likes them now. He feels "misled" by the public dislike for Brussels sprouts. Megan chimes in and also notes that there is a [https://npr.org/773457637 newer cultivar of Brussels sprouts] (incorrectly linked by Randall, see [[#Trivia]] section), from around 15 years ago, which may taste better than the "original" cultivar of Brussels sprouts that Cueball grew up eating.

It seems that others have grown to like Brussels sprouts nowadays, which Cueball calls a Brussels Sprouts Mandela Effect - that they now have a "false" shared memory of Brussels sprouts not tasting good caused by having lived in a past reality where Brussel sprouts really were bitter.

In the last panel, Ponytail tricks Cueball into thinking that licorice, [https://www.nbcnews.com/healthmain/why-do-so-many-us-hate-black-licorice-few-theories-963738 another widely disliked food], is good tasting. Additionally, she claims that {{w|Silica_gel#Desiccant|silica gel packets}} are actually edible and taste delicious. This is very false, and potentially dangerous. Silica gel packets are typically used as a desiccant, to keep electronics and other moisture sensitive items dry. They are typically marked "[https://www.123rf.com/photo_72752039_single-silica-gel-packet-isolated-on-white-background-.html Do Not Eat]", to warn people of their danger.

The title text is referencing "Brussels Sprouts Mandela Effect" as {{tvtropes|AGoodNameForARockBand|a good name for a musical band}}, and humorously suggests "Correct Battery Horse Staple" is also a band, though it is a reference to a previous comic ([[936: Password Strength]]).

==Trivia==
The URL given is [https://npr.org/773457633 npr.org/773457633] but this seems to be an error; the actual URL is number 77345763'''7''' ([https://text.npr.org/s.php?sId=773457637 plain HTML version] or [https://npr.org/773457637 full site]).

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

:[Ponytail, Cueball, and Megan standing in a line]
:Cueball: I always thought of Brussels sprouts as terrible, but they're actually really good! I can't believe I let everyone mislead me!

:[Frameless panel just showing Megan]
:Megan: It's not just you! Farmers developed a less-bitter cultivar like 15 years ago.*
:<nowiki>*</nowiki>npr.org/773457633

:[Ponytail, Cueball, and Megan standing in a line. Megan is holding her arm away from her.]
:Megan: Now the whole world is having this revelation, one person at a time. It's like a real Mandela effect. We secretly switched to the parallel universe where Brussels sprouts taste good.
:Cueball: ''Cool.''

:[Ponytail, Cueball, and Megan standing in a line. Ponytail is holding up one finger.]
:Ponytail: Also, licorice is good now.
:Cueball: Whoa, really?
:Megan: This is a trap.
:Ponytail: And those silica gel packets that say "Do not eat"? '''''Delicious.'''''
:Cueball: ''I knew it.''

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

2227: Transit of Mercury

2019-11-11T23:12:53Z

Bugstomper: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2227
| date = November 11, 2019
| title = Transit of Mercury
| image = transit_of_mercury.png
| titletext = For some reason the water in my pool is green and there's a weird film on the surface #nofilter
}}

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

The hashtag #nofilter is used to punctuate posts containing strong, often unpopular, opinions. This hashtag is also quite common on instagram, where it is typically used to humblebrag about having encountered situations so photogenic that no further image enhancement ("filter") is required to prepare them for general advertisement.

In this comic, the hashtag is used to cap off posts about situations where failure to use proper filtering equipment has led to damage or decay of personal property.

The caption below the panel refers to the recent infrequent occurrence of the transit of the planet Mercury across the Sun, which appeared from Earth as a small black dot moving against the background of the Sun. Photographing the transit requires a special lens filter to prevent the intense light from the Sun from burning out the camera's sensor.

The title text refers to a swimming pool growing green scum in the absence of a water purification and filtration system.

==Transcript==
[Panel showing the sun partially obscured by clouds. The image is very bright and blown out, with no details visible.]

[Caption below the panel:]

This photo of the transit of Mercury fried my telescope's imaging sensor [Frowning Face Emoji] #nofilter

{{comic discussion}}

2227: Transit of Mercury

2019-11-11T23:12:09Z

Bugstomper: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2227
| date = November 11, 2019
| title = Transit of Mercury
| image = transit_of_mercury.png
| titletext = For some reason the water in my pool is green and there's a weird film on the surface #nofilter
}}

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

The hashtag #nofilter is used to punctuate posts containing strong, often unpopular, opinions. This hashtag is also quite common on instagram, where it is typically used to humblebrag about having encountered situations so photogenic that no further image enhancement ("filter") is required to prepare them for general advertisement.

In this comic, the hashtag is used to cap off posts about situations where failure to use proper filtering equipment has led to damage or decay of personal property.

The caption below the panel refers to the recent infrequent occurrence of the transit of the planet Mercury across the Sun, which appeared from Earth as a small black dot moving against the background of the Sun. Photographing the transit requires a special lens filter that prevent the intense light from the Sun from burning out the camera's sensor.

The title text refers to a swimming pool growing green scum in the absence of a water purification and filtration system.

==Transcript==
[Panel showing the sun partially obscured by clouds. The image is very bright and blown out, with no details visible.]

[Caption below the panel:]

This photo of the transit of Mercury fried my telescope's imaging sensor [Frowning Face Emoji] #nofilter

{{comic discussion}}

2224: Software Updates

2019-11-05T06:32:16Z

Bugstomper: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 2224
| date = November 5, 2019
| title = Software Updates
| image = software_updates.png
| titletext = Everything is a cloud application; the ping times just vary a lot.
}}

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

As time passes, upgrades to most products are inevitable, with software being no exception.

However, as many updates create multiple versions, support for all of them can become a bit of a hassle for the company that creates them, so old versions frequently become unsupported after some years, or in some cases even months, of their releases.

For users that prefer to stay on old editions because of unfavorable changes in the newer programs, this can mean that they are left unsupported, causing them to become more susceptible to hard to solve bugs, newly discovered security vulnerabilities, or incompatibilities with newer versions of operating system or other software.

The punchline of the comic is the caption underneath the panel, "All software is software as a service". {{w|Software as a Service}} (SaaS) is a software licensing and delivery model in which software runs on the vendor's computers (servers), accessed by customers remotely. The software is said to run "in the cloud" as "cloud applications". Customers purchase subscription licenses. Since the only copy of the software is that which the vendor runs on their own computers, all customers use the one latest version of the software, which is upgraded whenever the vendor chooses to. If the vendor removes or changes a feature that the customer prefers, or introduces a bug, the customer has no ability to remain with an older version. A major benefit of SaaS is that the customer never has to do anything to upgrade to the latest version of the software to get fixes to newly discovered bugs or security vulnerabilities. A major disadvantage of SaaS is that the customer may lose some feature of the software that they depend on, or get impacted by a new bug that is introduced by an upgrade to the software, and has no ability to run the older version.

With traditionally marketed software that they purchase to run on their own computers, customers can choose not to upgrade. Vendors will stop providing support for their oldest versions, which can cause problems for those customers who do not upgrade when bugs or security vulnerabilities are discovered, or newer versions of operating systems require changes in the software. A customer may eventually be forced into the bind of having to upgrade just to be able to run the software, but then lose the feature in the software that they depend on.

Since vendors eventually stop supporting the older versions of software, and over time more problems may appear that make it more difficult to continue to run the unsupported versions, in a way all software has the same disadvantages that SaaS presents by forcing everyone to upgrade. In that sense "All software is Software as a Service".

The title text refers to a different aspect of cloud applications. Since they run "in the cloud" on remote computers, they are subject to the effects of network speed to the servers. The time for data to be sent to a server and a response to be received back is called the "ping time". Since all software requires data to travel from one place to another, perhaps from a user's computer to a server in their office, you could say that they are all cloud applications, just that some have very fast ping times. That doesn't really make sense and ignores that what makes something a "cloud application" includes that it runs on a server in a remote location. The joke is like saying that everyone is a remote worker, their commute times just vary a lot.

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

[A graph with Time on the X-axis and Software Version Number on the Y-axis. The upper line is labeled]

Newest Version

[which shows the version number of each new version of the software at the time it is released. The lower line is labeled]

Oldest Supported Version

[which shows the version number of the oldest version that the vendor of the software provides support for at each time. The area between the two lines is shaded and is labeled]

Support Zone

[At each point in time, the vertical column of shaded area goes from the oldest version that is supported then up to the latest version that is available then. At each version number point, the horizontal shaded area goes from the time that version was released to the time that support for that version was dropped]

[Inside the shaded ares is a solid line that is labeled at the start point with]

First Install

[which is the version and the time at which the author first installed the software. The line itself is labeled]

My current version

[which shows the version number the author has installed at any time. The line goes up at each time that he upgraded to a new version.]

[One point of that line is labeled]

An update finally breaks a feature I'm unwilling to lose

[That point is at a time where the Newest Version line goes up and My Current Version stays horizontal for the rest of the time line, showing that he is unwilling to upgrade any more]

[The My Current Version line to the right of the shaded area is labeled]

??? The Abyss

[with an arrow pointing to the right in the direction of increasing time. That is the time of unknown effects as he continues to use an increasingly old version of the software that does not receive any of the new features, bug and security fixes, or compatibility upgrades that are released in the new versions]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Programming]]

Talk:2224: Software Updates

2019-11-05T03:51:28Z

Bugstomper:

Not related to this comic in particular, but the advertisements on this site have become a little (well, actually well past that) too obtrusive for use on a computer that won't let you install an ad blocker (like, uh, a managed Chromebook). Oh, imagine trying to use a computer that won't let you install something as necessary in 2019 as an ad blocker in 2019. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.59.42|172.68.59.42]] 01:11, 5 November 2019 (UTC)

Really? For me it's only a tiny rectangular ad in the bottom left when I disable my blocker. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.20|172.69.34.20]] 01:53, 5 November 2019 (UTC)

I bet that this is in reference to the removal of close other tabs from Chrome. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.37|173.245.54.37]] 03:23, 5 November 2019 (UTC)

: I doubt it. The feature is easily duplicated by simply tearing out the tab you want to keep and then closing the other window. I doubt that would be a dealbreaker. Plus, well, Chrome doesn't play nice with trying to stay on the older version. [[User:Trlkly|Trlkly]] ([[User talk:Trlkly|talk]]) 03:29, 5 November 2019 (UTC)

It's not so clear to me that SaaS requires the software to run in the Cloud. Adobe's Creative Cloud is argued to be Software as a Service, but the programs actually run on the local system. [[User:Trlkly|Trlkly]] ([[User talk:Trlkly|talk]]) 03:29, 5 November 2019 (UTC)

The definition in the Wikipedia article on SaaS includes that requirement. I would describe Adobe Creative Cloud more like the way its Wikipedia article does, as providing a combination of software applications delivered on a subscription model, mobile apps, and cloud services, with only the latter being the SaaS part. [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 03:51, 5 November 2019 (UTC)

2224: Software Updates

2019-11-05T03:42:55Z

Bugstomper: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 2224
| date = November 5, 2019
| title = Software Updates
| image = software_updates.png
| titletext = Everything is a cloud application; the ping times just vary a lot.
}}

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

As time passes, upgrades to most products are inevitable, with software being no exception.

However, as many updates create multiple versions, support for all of them can become a bit of a hassle for the company that creates them, so old versions frequently become unsupported after some years, or in some cases even months, of their releases.

For users that prefer to stay on old editions because of unfavorable changes in the newer programs, this can mean that they are left unsupported, causing them to become more susceptible to hard to solve bugs, newly discovered security vulnerabilities, or incompatibilities with newer versions of operating system or other software.

The punchline of the comic is the caption underneath the panel, "All software is software as a service". {{w|Software as a Service}} (SaaS) is a software licensing and delivery model in which software runs on the vendor's computers (servers), accessed by customers remotely. The software is said to run "in the cloud" as "cloud applications". Customers purchase subscription licenses. Since the only copy of the software is that which the vendor runs on their own computers, all customers use the one latest version of the software, which is upgraded whenever the vendor chooses to. If the vendor removes or changes a feature that the customer prefers, or introduces a bug, the customer has no ability to remain with an older version. A major benefit of SaaS is that the customer never has to do anything to upgrade to the latest version of the software to get fixes to newly discovered bugs or security vulnerabilities. A major disadvantage of SaaS is that the customer may lose some feature of the software that they depend on, or get impacted by a new bug that is introduced by an upgrade to the software, and has no ability to run the older version.

With traditionally marketed software that they purchase to run on their own computers, customers can choose not to upgrade. Vendors will stop providing support for their oldest versions, which can cause problems for those customers who do not upgrade when bugs or security vulnerabilities are discovered, or newer versions of operating systems require changes in the software. A customer may eventually be forced into the bind of having to upgrade just to be able to run the software, but then lose the feature in the software that they depend on.

Since vendors eventually stop supporting the older versions of software, and over time more problems may appear that make it more difficult to continue to run the unsupported versions, in a way all software has the same disadvantages that SaaS presents by forcing everyone to upgrade. In that sense "All software is Software as a Service".

The title text refers to a different aspect of cloud applications. Since they run "in the cloud" on remote computers, they are subject to the effects of network speed to the servers. The time for data to be sent to a server and a response to be received back is called the "ping time". Since all software requires data to travel from one place to another, perhaps from a user's computer to a server in their office, you could say that they are all cloud applications, just that some have very fast ping times. That doesn't really make sense and ignores that what makes something a "cloud application" includes that it runs on a server in a remote location. The joke is like saying that everyone is a remote worker, their commute times just vary a lot.

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

[A graph with Time on the X-axis and Software Version Number on the Y-axis. The upper line is labeled]

Newest Version

[which shows the version number of each new version of the software at the time it is released. The lower line is labeled]

Oldest Supported Version

[which shows the version number of the oldest version that the vendor of the software provides support for at each time. The area between the two lines is shaded and is labeled]

Support Zone

[At each point in time, the vertical column of shaded area goes from the oldest version that is support then up to the latest version that is available then. At each version number point, the horizontal shaded area goes from the time that version was released to the time that support for that version was dropped]

[Inside the shaded ares is a solid line that is labeled at the start point with]

First Install

[which is the version and the time at which the author first installed the software. The line itself is labeled]

My current version

[which shows the version number the author has installed at any time. The line goes up at each time that he upgraded to a new version.]

[One point of that line is labeled]

An update finally breaks a feature I'm unwilling to lose

[That point is at a time where the Newest Version line goes up and My Current Version stays horizontal for the rest of the time line, showing that he is unwilling to upgrade any more]

[The My Current Version line to the right of the shaded area is labeled]

??? The Abyss

[with an arrow pointing to the right in the direction of increasing time. That is the time of unknown effects as he continues to use an increasingly old version of the software that does not receive any of the new features, bug and security fixes, or compatibility upgrades that are released in the new versions]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Programming]]

2224: Software Updates

2019-11-05T03:00:10Z

Bugstomper: /* Explanation */

2224: Software Updates

2019-11-05T02:59:28Z

Bugstomper: /* Explanation */

2224: Software Updates

2019-11-05T02:58:25Z

Bugstomper: /* Explanation */

Talk:2210: College Athletes

2019-10-02T19:13:38Z

Bugstomper: /* "... but he curries on..."?? */

This was posted ''way'' earlier than usual. Still technically Wednesday 00:02 UTC, but usual posting is mid-late afternoon UTC. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.134|172.69.22.134]] 01:00, 2 October 2019 (UTC)
:I noticed that too. That's really weird... I wonder what caused it? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.211.244|172.68.211.244]] 06:14, 2 October 2019 (UTC)
::It happens from time to time. See e.g. discussion of [[2188:_E_Scooters]]. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 06:56, 2 October 2019 (UTC)
Note that the joke about how to pluralize names ("Steph Currys" vs. "Stephs Curry") is also present in "How to win an election" in the "How to" book. There it's in the form of "Bob Caseys" vs. "Bobs Casey". [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.221|162.158.91.221]] 07:53, 2 October 2019 (UTC)

So glad this site exists! I came here thinking the explanation would be about how to cook curry :-)[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.185|141.101.99.185]] 11:28, 2 October 2019 (UTC)

I don't think 'signature play' was an intentional pun on the signature (aka type) of a function, but great catch. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.181|162.158.62.181]] 12:47, 2 October 2019 (UTC)

Is the category [[:Category:Comics featuring real people]] applicable here? It does seem to feature some comics where real people are only mentioned... Others with real people are not in that category... --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 12:56, 2 October 2019 (UTC)
:Added to the category. Makes sense to me. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.107|172.69.33.107]] 18:48, 2 October 2019 (UTC)

== "... but he ''curries'' on..."?? ==

The explanation includes the sentence "Ponytail doesn't believe him but he ''curries'' on...".

I don't see a reason for the use of "curries" vs. the normal "carries", except that the explanation writer is adding an additional (unnecessary) pun. I'd suggest changing it back to the idiomatic "carries on". -- 16:34, 2 October 2019 (UTC)

The explanation states that Cueball is implying that his school is from a state other than California, but I don't see any such implication in the comic. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.35|162.158.79.35]] 18:20, 2 October 2019 (UTC)

Second panel "Our state gave..." [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 19:13, 2 October 2019 (UTC)

2210: College Athletes

2019-10-02T14:31:05Z

Bugstomper: /* Add link to short description of Y Combinator that is too good not to mention */

{{comic
| number = 2210
| date = October 2, 2019
| title = College Athletes
| image = college_athletes.png
| titletext = Their signature play is the three-point combinator, a recursive offense which is guaranteed not to halt and continues accumulating points until the buzzer.
}}

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

[[Ponytail]] is reading from her phone about the [https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB206 California Fair Pay to Play act], which was signed into law on September 30, 2019, two days before this comic was released. It gives college athletes the rights to their name and face (images) for financial gain, in contrast to {{w|NCAA}} rules which require that athletes be unpaid.

[[White Hat]], thinks this is a good thing, but then [[Cueball]] claims that his state has passed an even better law which ''gave college players rights to use the names and images of any California athletes''. Note that Cueball's state is thus not California, so it is very weird they can use names from another state.

Ponytail doesn't believe him but he ''curries'' on claiming that all members of his school's basketball team thus have changed their name to {{w|Steph Curry}}, after the NBA Player of the same name He plays for the {{w|Golden State Warriors}}, a Californian team. Cueball explains in particular, that only one player copied the name from the NBA player, then another member of the team copied the name from that player, and so on.

This is of course an error, since they only had right to use names of California athletes, and as this is another state than California, they could not have used the law to use the name of one of their fellow team mates. Mistake by Randall, or Cueball that is just making a joke...

Because as it turns out in his final remark, all this has only been the setup for his grand joke, when he tells Ponytail that this process is known as "Currying". This is a play on both the name "Curry" used here, as well as the mathematical procedure called {{w|currying}}, named after mathematician {{w|Haskell Curry}}. This is very typical Cueball, and Ponytail almost fell for it, and thus claims that she hates him!

Currying is when a multi-variable function is broken down into a sequence of single-variable functions, each of which outputs a new function until the final variable is consumed. For example, the function f(x,y,z) can be curried into f(x)(y)(z), where f is a function that consumes x and produces a function f(x), which in turn consumes y, yielding the function f(x)(y), and that in turn is a function f(x)(y) which consumes the parameter z to finally produce f(x)(y)(z), which is equal to the original f(x,y,z). This is not commonly used in most areas of math except for foundational logic but it is widely used in functional programming.

When Cueball says ''a team made up entirely of Steph Currys'', White Hat questions what the plural form should be, and is it instead should have been ‘''Stephs Curry''’? This is referring to the pluralization of phrases where a noun is followed by a modifier of some sort, such as ''attorneys general'', ''parts unknown'', ''heirs apparent'', ''mothers-in-law'', and so on. In these cases, plurals are formed by pluralizing the noun parts of the phrases; however, some of these are rare or foreign enough that speakers of English don't always identify them correctly and pluralize the last word instead, e.g. *''attorney generals''.

The title text is a computer science joke, saying that the Steph Currys basketball team's signature play is the "three-point combinator", a joke on the {{w|three-point play}} in basketball, and a type of {{w|Fixed-point_combinator#Y_combinator|fixed-point combinator}} called the [https://rosettacode.org/wiki/Y_combinator Y Combinator], introduced by Haskell Curry. The description of "three-point combinator" is dense with word play that relates to the Y Combinator, which is used to implement {{w|recursive}} methods in functional programming languages, has notable properties relating to halting (see: the {{w|Halting_problem|Halting Problem}}), and has a common form in which a second argument is used as a counter that is increased by one with each recursive call until termination. "Signature play" may also be a play on words, as currying transforms a {{w|Type_signature#Method_signature|method signature}}.

In this case, when this move is performed, it will just keep accumulating points, as it is guaranteed it cannot halt and will not stop until the time runs out and the buzzer that ends the game is activated. Such a move can of course not be a part of a real basketball game, and more of a nod to the Golden State Warriors' reputation as a high-scoring, nearly-unstoppable offense widely-known for three-point shooting.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball, Ponytail and White Hat are having a conversation. Ponytail is checking her phone.]
:Ponytail: Oh, huh. California passed a law giving college athletes full rights to their names and images.
:White Hat: Good, I think?

:[Cueball holds his hand up in a fist, while Ponytail, holding her phone down, and White hat looks at him.]
:Cueball: That's nothing. '''''Our''''' state gave college players rights to use the names and images of '''''any''''' California athletes.
:Ponytail: It did not.

:[In a frame-less panel Cueball holds his hands out, Ponytails phone is gone and White Hat puts a hand to his chin.]
:Cueball: Sure it did!
:Cueball: That's how our school fielded a basketball team made up entirely of Steph Currys.
:White Hat: Or is the plural "Stephs Curry"?

:[Cueball holds both hands up in front of him. Ponytail has her arms down but she is balling her hands into fists.]
:Cueball: They didn't all copy the original Steph, though. One player got the rights to his name, then the next player got it from them, and so on.
:Cueball: This process is known as "currying".
:Ponytail: ...I hate you so much.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Sport]]
[[Category:Basketball]]

2210: College Athletes

2019-10-02T14:04:41Z

Bugstomper: /* Y Combinator is not itself recursive, it relates to recursion. Fix that but don't try to include every highly technical detail */

{{comic
| number = 2210
| date = October 2, 2019
| title = College Athletes
| image = college_athletes.png
| titletext = Their signature play is the three-point combinator, a recursive offense which is guaranteed not to halt and continues accumulating points until the buzzer.
}}

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

[[Ponytail]] is reading from her phone about the [https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB206 California Fair Pay to Play act], which was signed into law on September 30, 2019, two days before this comic was released. It gives college athletes the rights to their name and face (images) for financial gain, in contrast to {{w|NCAA}} rules which require that athletes be unpaid.

[[White Hat]], thinks this is a good thing, but then [[Cueball]] claims that his state has passed an even better law which ''gave college players rights to use the names and images of any California athletes''. Note that Cueball's state is thus not California, so it is very weird they can use names from another state.

Ponytail doesn't believe him but he ''curries'' on claiming that all members of his school's basketball team thus have changed their name to {{w|Steph Curry}}, after the NBA Player of the same name He plays for the {{w|Golden State Warriors}}, a Californian team. Cueball explains in particular, that only one player copied the name from the NBA player, then another member of the team copied the name from that player, and so on.

This is of course an error, since they only had right to use names of California athletes, and as this is another state than California, they could not have used the law to use the name of one of their fellow team mates. Mistake by Randall, or Cueball that is just making a joke...

Because as it turns out in his final remark, all this has only been the setup for his grand joke, when he tells Ponytail that this process is known as "Currying". This is a play on both the name "Curry" used here, as well as the mathematical procedure called {{w|currying}}, named after mathematician {{w|Haskell Curry}}. This is very typical Cueball, and Ponytail almost fell for it, and thus claims that she hates him!

Currying is when a multi-variable function is broken down into a sequence of single-variable functions, each of which outputs a new function until the final variable is consumed. For example, the function f(x,y,z) can be curried into f(x)(y)(z), where f is a function that consumes x and produces a function f(x), which in turn consumes y, yielding the function f(x)(y), and that in turn is a function f(x)(y) which consumes the parameter z to finally produce f(x)(y)(z), which is equal to the original f(x,y,z). This is not commonly used in most areas of math except for foundational logic but it is widely used in functional programming.

When Cueball says ''a team made up entirely of Steph Currys'', White Hat questions what the plural form should be, and is it instead should have been ‘''Stephs Curry''’? This is referring to the pluralization of phrases where a noun is followed by a modifier of some sort, such as ''attorneys general'', ''parts unknown'', ''heirs apparent'', ''mothers-in-law'', and so on. In these cases, plurals are formed by pluralizing the noun parts of the phrases; however, some of these are rare or foreign enough that speakers of English don't always identify them correctly and pluralize the last word instead, e.g. *''attorney generals''.

The title text is a computer science joke, saying that the Steph Currys basketball team's signature play is the "three-point combinator", a joke on the {{w|three-point play}} in basketball, and a type of {{w|Fixed-point_combinator#Y_combinator|fixed-point combinator}} called the Y Combinator, introduced by Haskell Curry. The description of "three-point combinator" is dense with word play that relates to the Y Combinator, which is used to implement {{w|recursive}} methods in functional programming languages, has notable properties relating to halting (see: the {{w|Halting_problem|Halting Problem}}), and has a common form in which a second argument is used as a counter that is increased by one with each recursive call until termination. "Signature play" may also be a play on words, as currying transforms a {{w|Type_signature#Method_signature|method signature}}.

In this case, when this move is performed, it will just keep accumulating points, as it is guaranteed it cannot halt and will not stop until the time runs out and the buzzer that ends the game is activated. Such a move can of course not be a part of a real basketball game.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball, Ponytail and White Hat are having a conversation. Ponytail is checking her phone.]
:Ponytail: Oh, huh. California passed a law giving college athletes full rights to their names and images.
:White Hat: Good, I think?

:[Cueball holds his hand up in a fist, while Ponytail, holding her phone down, and White hat looks at him.]
:Cueball: That's nothing. '''''Our''''' state gave college players rights to use the names and images of '''''any''''' California athletes.
:Ponytail: It did not.

:[In a frame-less panel Cueball holds his hands out, Ponytails phone is gone and White Hat puts a hand to his chin.]
:Cueball: Sure it did!
:Cueball: That's how our school fielded a basketball team made up entirely of Steph Currys.
:White Hat: Or is the plural "Stephs Curry"?

:[Cueball holds both hands up in front of him. Ponytail has her arms down but she is balling her hands into fists.]
:Cueball: They didn't all copy the original Steph, though. One player got the rights to his name, then the next player got it from them, and so on.
:Cueball: This process is known as "currying".
:Ponytail: ...I hate you so much.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Sport]]
[[Category:Basketball]]