849: Complex Conjugate

2018-02-02T22:45:49Z

Chrullrich: /* Explanation */ More math. I hope it's right.

{{comic
| number = 849
| date = January 19th, 2011
| title = Complex Conjugate
| image = complex_conjugate.png
| titletext = Fun fact: if you say this every time a professor does something to a complex-number equation that drops the imaginary part, they'll eventually move the class to another room and tell everyone else except you.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a joke on the common phrase "Shit just got ''real''", meaning that something has suddenly increased in difficulty so it is now a real challenge. [[Cueball]] is standing in front of a board delivering a lesson, and is about to multiply a wavefunction by its complex conjugate. In mathematics, a complex number has a real part (a) and an imaginary part (b*the {{w|imaginary unit}}). The number can be written as a+b{{i}}. The complex conjugate of a number (a+b{{i}}) is a–b{{i}}. When one multiplies a complex number and its conjugate, the result is (a+b{{i}})(a–b{{i}}), which is a2–(b{{i}})2 = a2–b2{{i}}2. The imaginary unit {{i}} is defined as "the square root of –1", hence {{i}}2=–1.

This process yields a result (of a2+b2) that does not have an imaginary part, making it a ''real'' number, which is a play on the aforementioned phrase. Accordingly, Cueball dictates that the people who are not skilled enough should leave.

The title text states that if you joke about this every time it's applicable, that will be annoying enough that the class will ditch you and attempt to take place in another room.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing at a whiteboard covered in equations, one of which is the time dependent Schrodinger equation.]
:Cueball: Okay, anyone who's feeling like they can't handle the physics here should probably just leave now.

:Cueball: Because I'm multiplying the wavefunction by its complex conjugate.
:Cueball: That's right.

:[Dramatic zoom. It appears Cueball is writing on the side of the panel.]
:Cueball: Shit just got ''real''.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Fun fact]]

1950: Chicken Pox and Name Statistics

2018-02-02T22:21:21Z

Chrullrich: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1950
| date = February 2, 2018
| title = Chicken Pox and Name Statistics
| image = chicken_pox_and_name_statistics.png
| titletext = People with all six of those names agree that it's weird that we have teeth, when you think about it for too long. Just about everyone agrees on that, except—in a still-unexplained statistical anomaly—people named "Trevor."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a TREVOR WITH NO TEETH - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic jokes that, because the relative frequency with which newborn children are given certain names has changed (as it always does) over the 23 years since the introduction of the chicken pox vaccine, people with names that were popular before the vaccine was developed are more likely to think that chicken pox is normal while others – whose age group have mostly received the vaccine – don't. This comic is a [[:Category:Fun fact|Fun Fact]].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[The comic is divided into three vertical frames, and a caption.]

:[Title of the first panel:]
:Fraction of kids your age who got chicken pox
:(Very rough US estimates based on DOI:10:15585/mmwr.mm6534a4 and DOI:10.1016/j.vaccine.2012.05.050)
:[A graph is shown with the y-axis ranging from 0 to 100% and the x-axis labeled "Your age:" ranging from 5 to 35. The percentage is close to 0 for ages below 15 and close to 100 for ages above 30.]
:[Arrow pointing at the graph:]
:Vaccine introduced in 1995

:[Title of the second panel:]
:Relative popularity of several names in your age group
:(Source: ssa.gov)
:[A graph is shown with the x-axis labeled "Your age:" ranging from 5 to 35. The graph lists Harper, Sarah, Jaxon, Brian, Brooklyn and Logan. Sarah and Brian are more popular names for older age groups.]

:[Title of the third panel:]
:Chicken pox incidence by name:
:(Very rough estimate)
:: Brian: 75%
:: Sarah: 50%
:: Logan: 20%
:: Brooklyn: 10%
:: Jaxon: 4%
:: Harper: 2%

:[Caption below the panels:]
:Fun Fact: People named "Sarah" and "Brian" think chicken pox is normal and common, and people named "Logan" and "Harper" do not.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Fun fact]]

1950: Chicken Pox and Name Statistics

2018-02-02T22:17:29Z

Chrullrich: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1950
| date = February 2, 2018
| title = Chicken Pox and Name Statistics
| image = chicken_pox_and_name_statistics.png
| titletext = People with all six of those names agree that it's weird that we have teeth, when you think about it for too long. Just about everyone agrees on that, except—in a still-unexplained statistical anomaly—people named "Trevor."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a TREVOR WITH NO TEETH - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic jokes that, because the relative frequency with which newborn children are given certain names has changed (as it always does) over the 23 years since the introduction of the chicken pox vaccine, people with some names are more likely to think that chicken pox is normal while others don't. This comic is a [[:Category:Fun fact|Fun Fact]].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[The comic is divided into three vertical frames, and a caption.]

:[Title of the first panel:]
:Fraction of kids your age who got chicken pox
:(Very rough US estimates based on DOI:10:15585/mmwr.mm6534a4 and DOI:10.1016/j.vaccine.2012.05.050)
:[A graph is shown with the y-axis ranging from 0 to 100% and the x-axis labeled "Your age:" ranging from 5 to 35. The percentage is close to 0 for ages below 15 and close to 100 for ages above 30.]
:[Arrow pointing at the graph:]
:Vaccine introduced in 1995

:[Title of the second panel:]
:Relative popularity of several names in your age group
:(Source: ssa.gov)
:[A graph is shown with the x-axis labeled "Your age:" ranging from 5 to 35. The graph lists Harper, Sarah, Jaxon, Brian, Brooklyn and Logan. Sarah and Brian are more popular names for older age groups.]

:[Title of the third panel:]
:Chicken pox incidence by name:
:(Very rough estimate)
:: Brian: 75%
:: Sarah: 50%
:: Logan: 20%
:: Brooklyn: 10%
:: Jaxon: 4%
:: Harper: 2%

:[Caption below the panels:]
:Fun Fact: People named "Sarah" and "Brian" think chicken pox is normal and common, and people named "Logan" and "Harper" do not.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Fun fact]]

1897: Self Driving

2017-12-12T06:21:49Z

Chrullrich: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1897
| date = October 2, 2017
| title = Self Driving
| image = self_driving.png
| titletext = "Crowdsourced steering" doesn't sound quite as appealing as "self driving."
}}

==Explanation==
This comic references the approach of using {{w|CAPTCHA}}<nowiki>s</nowiki> input to solve problems, particularly those involving image classification, which are not solvable by computers.

Such an approach can serve to create the learning set as the basis for training an {{w|artificial intelligence}} (AI) to better recognize or respond to similar stimuli. This approach was used by Google to identify house numbers for Google Street View, and nowadays Google also uses CAPTCHAs to identify street signs and objects in pictures. This might be a reasonable way to help improve the performance of the AI in a self-driving car that responds to video input, by reviewing images it might encounter and flagging road signs, etc. that it should respond to.

However, the temptation might be to simply sidestep the hard problem of AI by having all instances 'solved' by "offloading [the] work onto random strangers" through CAPTCHAs. For example, this has been used to defeat CAPTCHAs themselves; people were asked to solve CAPTCHAs to unlock pornographic images in a computer game, while the solution for the CAPTCHA was relayed to a server belonging to cybercriminals. (See [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7067962.stm PC stripper helps spam to spread] and [https://doi.org/10.1016/S1353-4858(08)70036-9 Humans + porn = solved Captcha]).

Alarmingly, the developers of this '{{w|Self-driving car|self driving}}' car seem to have gone for the lazy approach. Instead of teaching an AI, the CAPTCHA answer is used in real time to check whether the "self-driving" car is about to arrive at an intersection with a stop sign. This information is pretty critical, as failing to mark the stop could cause an accident. The user is unlikely to respond to the CAPTCHA in time to avert disaster, not to mention that any interruption to the car's internet connection could prove fatal. [[:Category:Self-driving cars|Self driving cars]] has become a recurrent theme on xkcd.

The system depicted is a {{w|Wizard of Oz experiment}} (as is the "Mechanical Turk" which a popular crowdworking system is named after) whereas actual self-driving cars, to the extent that they can use (Re-) CAPTCHA-style human detection systems, would involve an asynchronous decision system. Other synchronous decision systems which actually exist are political voting and money as a token of the exchange value of trade.

The title text explains that this method could be called "crowdsourced steering", {{w|crowdsourcing}} meaning sending the data on the internet to let several users provide their ideas and input on a problem. People would naturally suspect that this is considerably less safe than a car which is actually capable of self-driving; if the internet can barely [[1333: First Date|collectively steer a videogame character]], what chance do they have steering an actual, physical vehicle?

This also suggests that [[Randall]] is a bit skeptical of the current stage of AI, as this doubts whether the AI technology really is working in the way that we expect. It also comments on how what we call 'progress' actually is putting our work onto other people.

==Transcript==
:[Inside a frame there is the following text above an image:]
:To complete your registration, please tell us whether or not this image contains a stop sign:

:[The square image is a drawing of a road leading up to a sign post with a hard to read word at the top part of the eight-sided sign. The sign also has two smaller signs left and right with unreadable text. The image is of poor quality, but trees and other obstacles next to the road can be seen. Darkness around the edges of the image could indicate that it is night and the landscape is only lit up by a cars head lights.]
:Sign: Stop

:[Beneath the image there are two large gray buttons with a word in each:]
:No Yes

:[Beneath the buttons are the following text:]
:Answer quickly – our self-driving car is almost at the intersection.

:[Caption beneath the frame:]
:So much of "AI" is just figuring out way to offload work onto random strangers.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Self-driving cars]]
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]

Talk:1879: Eclipse Birds

2017-08-22T04:53:57Z

Chrullrich:

Looks more like Megan is the one being sacrificed to me, instead of a generic bird - "Put her down!" would be Cueballs line then. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.204|162.158.90.204]] 06:35, 21 August 2017 (UTC)
:Clearly that is the joke. Have corrected this --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:07, 21 August 2017 (UTC)

It's strange the shadow is coming from the top and not from one side, isn't ? I would be frightened too... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.52|141.101.88.52]] 07:56, 21 August 2017 (UTC)

Would "Kachunk" and "clank clank clank" be onomatopoeia to describe the moving of the blood cauldron, rather than the bird sound? Or, given that the sounds are shown in the same manner as the rest of the bird noises, could this be the birds deliberately mimicking the sound that moving a cauldron could make? Or am I just reading in far too much into this, there is no hidden meaning, and I really need to get out more? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.150|141.101.107.150]] 11:17, 21 August 2017 (UTC)
:I think they are preparing weapons. [[User:Chrullrich|Chrullrich]] ([[User talk:Chrullrich|talk]]) 04:53, 22 August 2017 (UTC)

Why are the "time is upon us" and "blood cauldron" lines labelled as coming from birds? I assumed they were just hysterical people talking from off-panel. --[[User:Flicky|Flicky]] ([[User talk:Flicky|talk]]) 12:12, 21 August 2017 (UTC)
: I've changed the transcript. The sound may originate to birds but that's not clearly shown in the picture.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:22, 21 August 2017 (UTC)

Could it be worth mentioning this comic was released at midnight, before the eclipse?
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.215|108.162.246.215]] 13:39, 21 August 2017 (UTC)

:It was released before midnight! I read it well before midnight yesterday, the day before the eclipse! I think it was closer to 9:00 when it was released. Definitely well before midnight! [[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 16:16, 21 August 2017 (UTC)

::The comic was released at 04:00 UTC on Monday, 21. August 2017. This is midnight at Randall's home (Massachusetts) and the earliest time new releases do happen. Of course more western it was still Sunday. Measured in UTC or EDT the release happened on Monday. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:55, 21 August 2017 (UTC)

I am surprised Randall did not do something animated and/or interactive for such a unique event. Anyone agree? '''--BigMal''' // [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.52|162.158.75.52]] 19:06, 21 August 2017 (UTC)

Aztecs were obviously professionals - that explains how they managed to execute someone before the eclipse ended. I think the birds won't be quick enough. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:55, 21 August 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1854: Refresh Types

2017-06-23T18:49:20Z

Chrullrich:

Similar to [https://xkcd.com/1638/ this comic]. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.83|108.162.212.83]] 14:55, 23 June 2017 (UTC)

Aren't you supposed to use Shift-F5 (at least in chrome) for a hard refresh - not Ctrl - F5. https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/157179?visit_id=1-636338263045956762-2405452703&hl=en&rd=2 {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.136}}
:I believe that's correct. It is likely browser dependent. --[[User:Arccos|Arccos]] ([[User talk:Arccos|talk]]) 15:27, 23 June 2017 (UTC)

:Erratum: The middle hard-refresh option is missing something - it lists only modifier keys. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.142.185|172.68.142.185]] 15:32, 23 June 2017 (UTC)

:It appears that the "hard refresh" option is a real option, but that the keyboard shortcuts in the comic may not be correct. The above user's linked material suggests that the keyboard shortcut for a hard refresh, labeled "Reload the current page, ignoring cached content", is, in Chrome, SHIFT-F5 or CTRL-Shift-R on Windows and APPLE-Shift-R on a keyboard for MacOS. This is in contrast to the comic, which currently lists CTRL-F5, CTRL-Up, and APPLE-UP-R as the shortcuts. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.105|162.158.74.105]] 15:33, 23 June 2017 (UTC)

::That's not an "UP," the symbol ⇧ represents the SHIFT key. Indeed it appears Randall omitted the 'R' inadvertently. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 15:46, 23 June 2017 (UTC)

:Randall says the keys are examples, meaning some may missing. But for me it looks like the most common shortcuts. Except the hard refresh by pressing CTRL+SHIFT, that's nonsense because a F5 or R should follow. I'm sure we will see a picture update soon. Stay tuned...--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:44, 23 June 2017 (UTC)

The missile launch keys can be totally identical for the two-man rule to work; the thing is not that they are interchangeable, but that the locks are too far apart for one person to operate both. [[User:Chrullrich|Chrullrich]] ([[User talk:Chrullrich|talk]]) 18:49, 23 June 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1854: Refresh Types

2017-06-23T18:49:09Z

Chrullrich:

1854: Refresh Types

2017-06-23T18:48:10Z

Chrullrich: It's not.

{{comic
| number = 1854
| date = June 23, 2017
| title = Refresh Types
| image = refresh_types.png
| titletext = The hardest refresh requires both a Mac keyboard and a Windows keyboard as a security measure, like how missile launch systems require two keys to be turned at once.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This is chaos - multiple explanations should be merged and condensed. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This Comic lists five different levels of refresh operations for web applications. The first three (soft, normal, and hard refresh) are different operations done in the browser to request that information be retrieved from the server. The other two (harder and hardest refresh) are further, imaginary operations that perform "refresh" operations on remote resources.

Soft refresh refers to an operation in a web page that requests new information without reloading the page. The given example, Gmail, includes a feature that allows users to pull down new emails without reloading the inbox interface. It is a command given to the web page, rather than to the browser.

A "normal refresh" is a browser operation that reloads portions of a web page that have changed since the original load. It is the refresh operation triggered by refresh buttons in browsers, and will generally accomplish the same thing as a soft refresh, with the additional cost of reloading the web page.

Hard refresh is a less common browser operation that clears any cached files associated with the page before requesting a new copy. Browser caching is a way to store webpage resources locally in order to decrease load time and data transmitted. Hard refreshes are usually used when a webapp has changed in such a way that the cached data is interfering with the proper display of the page. A hard refresh is slower because it forces the browser to download the entire page, but it ensures that the page is displayed as it is currently being served.

"Harder refresh" is a joke that extends the existing naming scheme. The joke is that if a "hard refresh" resets the browser display and cache, a harder refresh should reset the source of the data by cycling power in the data center. Assuming no damage was done, this would reset the memory on the server, erasing any information that had not been written to disk, and setting the server to the state it was in at launch. This would cause considerable downtime, and would be unlikely to help the user at all.

The fifth option, "hardest refresh", moves beyond resetting the source of the data and resets the entire internet back to ARPANET, an early military network which was a forerunner to the modern internet. The implications of this are not made clear, but it should be noted that it wouldn't help to fix any problems a user is experiencing in-browser, as HTTP, the protocol by which web pages are sent, was not developed until late 1990, the year ARPANET was decommissioned.

The Keyboard shortcuts listed for the three real actions are, in fact, standard shortcuts. shortcuts tend to be longer and more complicated for less common operations, and the fake shortcuts play to this idea. The "harder refresh" uses six keys, including the non-standard '[https://askubuntu.com/questions/19558/what-are-the-meta-super-and-hyper-keys HYPER]' key, a feature of the {{w|Space cadet keyboard}}.

The "hardest refresh" shortcut uses fifteen keys, including non-standard ones such as Ø and ⏏. (The latter is the "eject" key found on [older?] Mac keyboards.) The shortcut makes amusing comparisons about a shortcut that includes not only the F5 function key, but also the keys for the letter "F" and the digit "5", as well as the similarity in appearance between O, 0, and Ø.

The title text suggests that the inclusion of both the windows key and command key in the "Hardest refresh" shortcut is a security measure akin to the {{w|Two-man rule}}, as it would require two keyboards to enter.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon. No table is the preferred version, just describe what's in the picture including the special keys.}}
:{| class=wikitable
! Refresh Type
! Example Shortcuts
! Effect
|-
| Soft Refresh
| Gmail REFRESH Button
| Requests update within Javascript
|-
| Normal Refresh
| F5, CTRL-R, ⌘-R
|Refreshes page
|-
|Hard Refresh
| CTRL-F5, CTRL-⇧, ⌘-⇧-R
| Refreshes page including cached files
|-
|Harder Refresh
| CTRL-⇧-HYPER-ESC-R-F5
| Remotely cycles power to datacenter
|-
|Hardest Refresh
|CTRL- ⌘⊞⇧#-R-F5-F-5-ESC-O-0-Ø-⏏-SCROLL LOCK
|Internet starts over from Arpanet
|}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Internet]]

1854: Refresh Types

2017-06-23T18:47:37Z

Chrullrich: F5

{{comic
| number = 1854
| date = June 23, 2017
| title = Refresh Types
| image = refresh_types.png
| titletext = The hardest refresh requires both a Mac keyboard and a Windows keyboard as a security measure, like how missile launch systems require two keys to be turned at once.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This is chaos - multiple explanations should be merged and condensed. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This Comic lists five different levels of refresh operations for web applications. The first three (soft, normal, and hard refresh) are different operations done in the browser to request that information be retrieved from the server. The other two (harder and hardest refresh) are further, imaginary operations that perform "refresh" operations on remote resources.

Soft refresh refers to an operation in a web page that requests new information without reloading the page. The given example, Gmail, includes a feature that allows users to pull down new emails without reloading the inbox interface. It is a command given to the web page, rather than to the browser.

A "normal refresh" is a browser operation that reloads portions of a web page that have changed since the original load. It is the refresh operation triggered by refresh buttons in browsers, and will generally accomplish the same thing as a soft refresh, with the additional cost of reloading the web page.

Hard refresh is a less common browser operation that clears any cached files associated with the page before requesting a new copy. Browser caching is a way to store webpage resources locally in order to decrease load time and data transmitted. Hard refreshes are usually used when a webapp has changed in such a way that the cached data is interfering with the proper display of the page. A hard refresh is slower because it forces the browser to download the entire page, but it ensures that the page is displayed as it is currently being served.

"Harder refresh" is a joke that extends the existing naming scheme. The joke is that if a "hard refresh" resets the browser display and cache, a harder refresh should reset the source of the data by cycling power in the data center. Assuming no damage was done, this would reset the memory on the server, erasing any information that had not been written to disk, and setting the server to the state it was in at launch. This would cause considerable downtime, and would be unlikely to help the user at all.

The fifth option, "hardest refresh", moves beyond resetting the source of the data and resets the entire internet back to ARPANET, an early military network which was a forerunner to the modern internet. The implications of this are not made clear, but it should be noted that it wouldn't help to fix any problems a user is experiencing in-browser, as HTTP, the protocol by which web pages are sent, was not developed until late 1990, the year ARPANET was decommissioned.

The Keyboard shortcuts listed for the three real actions are, in fact, standard shortcuts. shortcuts tend to be longer and more complicated for less common operations, and the fake shortcuts play to this idea. The "harder refresh" uses six keys, including the non-standard '[https://askubuntu.com/questions/19558/what-are-the-meta-super-and-hyper-keys HYPER]' key, a feature of the {{w|Space cadet keyboard}}.

The "hardest refresh" shortcut uses fifteen keys, including non-standard ones such as Ø and ⏏. (The latter is the "eject" key found on [older?] Mac keyboards.) The shortcut makes amusing comparisons about a shortcut that includes not only the F5 function key, but also the keys for the letter "F" and the digit "5", as well as the similarity in appearance between O, 0, and Ø.

The title text suggests that the inclusion of both the windows key and command key in the "Hardest refresh" shortcut is a security measure akin to the {{w|Two-man rule}}, as it would require two keyboards to enter. This may be something of a joke in-and-of-itself, as the two keys are actually problematically identical.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon. No table is the preferred version, just describe what's in the picture including the special keys.}}
:{| class=wikitable
! Refresh Type
! Example Shortcuts
! Effect
|-
| Soft Refresh
| Gmail REFRESH Button
| Requests update within Javascript
|-
| Normal Refresh
| F5, CTRL-R, ⌘-R
|Refreshes page
|-
|Hard Refresh
| CTRL-F5, CTRL-⇧, ⌘-⇧-R
| Refreshes page including cached files
|-
|Harder Refresh
| CTRL-⇧-HYPER-ESC-R-F5
| Remotely cycles power to datacenter
|-
|Hardest Refresh
|CTRL- ⌘⊞⇧#-R-F5-F-5-ESC-O-0-Ø-⏏-SCROLL LOCK
|Internet starts over from Arpanet
|}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Internet]]

Talk:1850: Air Force Museum

2017-06-14T18:43:10Z

Chrullrich:

And I hear if you have a basic understanding of computer systems and know a reservist Colonel, you can hack into the flight schedule, reserve two fighters fully loaded down with as much ordinance as they can carry, and go on a rescue mission to save your father who was shot down in disputed airspace. [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 18:31, 14 June 2017 (UTC)

:What movie is that? (... at least, I ''hope'' it is a movie.) [[User:Chrullrich|Chrullrich]] ([[User talk:Chrullrich|talk]]) 18:43, 14 June 2017 (UTC)

1850: Air Force Museum

2017-06-14T18:40:28Z

Chrullrich: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1850
| date = June 14, 2017
| title = Air Force Museum
| image = air_force_museum.png
| titletext = I had fun visiting the museum at Dover Air Force Base, unless they don't have a museum, in which case I've never been to Delaware in my life.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete| Perhaps more detail is needed?}}
[[Megan]] asks [[Cueball]] about his day. He tells about his visit to a military {{w|Aviation museum|aircraft museum}} at the {{w|Military air base|air force base}} and lists some of the things he saw. It starts with things you would expect at a typical museum, such as a mix of modern, older, and even older aircraft, before revealing the fact that Cueball was able to watch missiles being loaded, which is something that would be extremely out of place and dangerous at a museum. Realizing this, Cueball remarks that he hopes that he was at a museum, and Megan asks him if he hears helicopters. The implication is that there was no museum to begin with and Cueball went to observe the actual air force base and is now being pursued by the military.

The mention of "planes from different eras" alludes to the fact that military aircraft are often still in use after a much longer time than they were originally designed for. Examples of this are the US Air Force's B-52 bomber, first introduced in 1955 (62 years before the publication of this comic) and the C-160 Transall, which has been in service in, e.g., the German Luftwaffe, since 1967 (50 years before).

The title text builds on this premise. Cueball says that he had fun visiting another Air Force "museum", but he adds that if they don't have a museum (in which case he was trespassing on a military base) then he denies going anywhere near it. Fortunately for Cueball, there is in fact an Air Force museum nearby: the {{w|Air Mobility Command Museum}} about half a mile south of the {{w|Dover Air Force Base}}.

==Transcript==
:[Megan walks from left over to Cueball.]
:Megan: How was your day?
:Cueball: I visited the military aircraft museum over at the Air Force base. It was really neat!

:[Both walking together to the right.]
:Cueball: They have planes from different eras, all kinds of cool equipment, and you can even watch missiles being loaded.

:[Both walking while they contemplate.]

:[Both still walking.]
:Cueball: ...at least, I ''hope'' that was a museum.
:Megan: Do you hear helicopters?

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

1850: Air Force Museum

2017-06-14T18:39:30Z

Chrullrich: /* Explanation */ Old planes.

{{comic
| number = 1850
| date = June 14, 2017
| title = Air Force Museum
| image = air_force_museum.png
| titletext = I had fun visiting the museum at Dover Air Force Base, unless they don't have a museum, in which case I've never been to Delaware in my life.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete| Perhaps more detail is needed?}}
[[Megan]] asks [[Cueball]] about his day. He tells about his visit to a military {{w|Aviation museum|aircraft museum}} at the {{w|Military air base|air force base}} and lists some of the things he saw. It starts with things you would expect at a typical museum, such as a mix of modern, older, and even older aircraft, before revealing the fact that Cueball was able to watch missiles being loaded, which is something that would be extremely out of place and dangerous at a museum. Realizing this, Cueball remarks that he hopes that he was at a museum, and Megan asks him if he hears helicopters. The implication is that there was no museum to begin with and Cueball went to observe the actual air force base and is now being pursued by the military.

The mention of "planes from different eras" alludes to the fact that military aircraft are often still in use after a much longer time than they were originally designed for. Examples of this are the US Air Force's B-52 bomber, first introduced in 1955 (62 years before the publication of this comic) and the C-160 Transall of the German Luftwaffe, which has been in service since 1967 (50 years before).

The title text builds on this premise. Cueball says that he had fun visiting another Air Force "museum", but he adds that if they don't have a museum (in which case he was trespassing on a military base) then he denies going anywhere near it. Fortunately for Cueball, there is in fact an Air Force museum nearby: the {{w|Air Mobility Command Museum}} about half a mile south of the {{w|Dover Air Force Base}}.

==Transcript==
:[Megan walks from left over to Cueball.]
:Megan: How was your day?
:Cueball: I visited the military aircraft museum over at the Air Force base. It was really neat!

:[Both walking together to the right.]
:Cueball: They have planes from different eras, all kinds of cool equipment, and you can even watch missiles being loaded.

:[Both walking while they contemplate.]

:[Both still walking.]
:Cueball: ...at least, I ''hope'' that was a museum.
:Megan: Do you hear helicopters?

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

1849: Decades

2017-06-12T18:58:14Z

Chrullrich: /* Explanation */ Typo.

{{comic
| number = 1849
| date = June 12, 2017
| title = Decades
| image = decades.png
| titletext = In the 90s, our variety radio station used the tagline "the best music of the 70s, 80s, and 90s." After 2000, they switched to "the best music of the 80s, 90s, and today." I figured they'd change again in 2010, but it's 2017 and they're still saying "80s, 90s, and today." I hope radio survives long enough for us to find out how they deal with the 2020s.
}}

==Explanation==

This comic shows, by use on a time-line, an interesting phenomenon where music, fashion, movies and culture created between the years 2000 and 2020 are not commonly grouped into the decade in which they were produced like previous decades. The comic asserts the reason for this is the lack of a single clear term to describe these decades, stating that the term "2000s" is ambiguous (as it could refer to the decade, century or millennium as a whole) and the terms "Aughts" and "Teens" never became the widely accepted terms for these decades.

The time-line in the comic stretches into the future (as of the time of publication) and attempts to name the 2020-2029 decade as the 20s, but does so with an uncertain question mark, presumably because it's (presently) an open question whether this dating convention will be reinstated after a 20-year pause. As the comic points out, common vernacular has managed to operate without clear terms for that grouping for 17 years, and that may have left enough of a mark on our thinking that we'll simply continue to operate in that way. There's an argument to be made grouping culture by decades is fairly arbitrary and not essential in cultural discussions. It should also be considered that that "the twenties" is still occasionally used to refer to the 1920's, and so reusing it to refer to the 2020's could be a source of confusion. It's not impossible that decade-based grouping will fall out of favor all together in the 21st century.

Despite many people pushing for terms like "aughties" and "tens", they never gained much traction among the common crowd.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[A time line across the top of the box marks decades from 1960-2030, and labels inserted under this between the ticks marking each decade describe the following groups]

1960-1970;

60s Music

60s Fashion

60s Movies

60s Culture

1970-1980;

70s Music

70s Fashion

70s Movies

70s Culture

1980-1990;

80s Music

80s Fashion

80s Movies

80s Culture

1990-2000;

90s Music

90s Fashion

90s Movies

90s Culture

2000-2020;

[Sporadically Placed over 2 decades]

Fashion

Culture

Music

Movies

2020-2030;

[In light grey font]

20s Music?

20s Fashion?

20s Movies?

20s Culture?

[Caption below the panel:]
It's weird how for 20 years we stopped grouping our cultural memories by decade because "2000s" is ambiguous and and "Aughts" and "Teens" never really stuck.

{{comic discussion}}

1837: Rental Car

2017-05-15T11:05:24Z

Chrullrich: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1837
| date = May 15, 2017
| title = Rental Car
| image = rental_car.png
| titletext = Technically, both cars are haunted, but the murder ghosts can't stand listening to the broken GPS for more than a few minutes.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete| 🚧 🔨}}

In the comic, the couple wants to rent a car. The rental agency has only two vehicles available:

* One puts its occupants into mortal danger; the danger, however, is abstract and befalls only "maybe one in six".
* The other has a defective GPS that incessantly gives instructions to go somewhere the driver usually does not want to go.

The comic suggests that, given the choice between the persistent low-level annoyance of the GPS on one hand, and the (low) probability of being murdered on the other, some people will choose the latter option because, after all, they might survive murderous ghosts but they feel they will not survive long having to listen to the broken GPS.

According to the title text, the murderous ghosts only haunt the one car because even they cannot stand the broken GPS for long.

==Transcript==
:[A Cueball-like guy standing behind a desk looking at a computer screen services Megan and Cueball on the other side of the desk.]
:Guy: We have two rental cars left.
:Guy: One is the murder car. But don't let the name scare you!
:Guy: It's definitely haunted. But most drivers don't get murdered.
:Guy: Maybe one in six.

:[The guy lifts his hand and looks at Megan and Cueball.]
:Guy: The other is a regular Sedan.
:Guy: But is has a GPS that's stuck trying to navigate to Seattle.
:Megan: ...I can ignore it, right? That's fine.

:[In a frame-less panel Megan and Cueball drives in the Sedan.]
:GPS: Turn left
:GPS: Recalculating
:GPS: Make a U-Turn
:GPS: Recalculating
:GPS: Turn right
:GPS: Make a U-Turn
:GPS: Recalculating

:[Megan and Cueball walk back into the the guy behind his desk. Megan holds out the car keys in one hand.]
:Guy: Back already?
:Megan: We'll take the murder car.
:Guy: Popular Choice.

{{comic discussion}}

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

1837: Rental Car

2017-05-15T11:04:07Z

Chrullrich: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1837
| date = May 15, 2017
| title = Rental Car
| image = rental_car.png
| titletext = Technically, both cars are haunted, but the murder ghosts can't stand listening to the broken GPS for more than a few minutes.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete| 🚧 🔨}}

In the comic, the couple wants to rent a car. The rental agency has only two vehicles available:

* One puts its occupants into mortal danger; the danger, however, is abstract and befalls only "maybe one in six".
* The other has a defective GPS that incessantly gives instructions to go somewhere the driver usually does not want to go.

The comic suggests that, given the choice between the persistent low-level annoyance of the GPS on one hand, and the (low) probability of being murdered on the other, some people will choose the latter option because, after all, they might survive.

According to the title text, the murderous ghosts only haunt the one car because even they cannot stand the broken GPS for long.

==Transcript==
:[A Cueball-like guy standing behind a desk looking at a computer screen services Megan and Cueball on the other side of the desk.]
:Guy: We have two rental cars left.
:Guy: One is the murder car. But don't let the name scare you!
:Guy: It's definitely haunted. But most drivers don't get murdered.
:Guy: Maybe one in six.

:[The guy lifts his hand and looks at Megan and Cueball.]
:Guy: The other is a regular Sedan.
:Guy: But is has a GPS that's stuck trying to navigate to Seattle.
:Megan: ...I can ignore it, right? That's fine.

:[In a frame-less panel Megan and Cueball drives in the Sedan.]
:GPS: Turn left
:GPS: Recalculating
:GPS: Make a U-Turn
:GPS: Recalculating
:GPS: Turn right
:GPS: Make a U-Turn
:GPS: Recalculating

:[Megan and Cueball walk back into the the guy behind his desk. Megan holds out the car keys in one hand.]
:Guy: Back already?
:Megan: We'll take the murder car.
:Guy: Popular Choice.

{{comic discussion}}

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

848: 3D

2017-05-02T14:51:35Z

Chrullrich: /* Explanation */ CERN isn't an acronym today.

{{comic
| number = 848
| date = January 17, 2011
| title = 3D
| image = 3d.png
| titletext = The LINACs in the glasses frames can barely manage one MeV. You should've gone to the screening at CERN.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|String theory}} hypothesizes that there are many more than 3 dimensions, it's just that we can't see the rest because they're "rolled up." A common metaphor is an ant on a tightrope — it has two degrees of freedom, one along the rope and one around it, but from far away we can only see one.

So [[Black Hat]] released his 2D movie about string theory in "3D", and claimed that the third dimension was there — just too small to see.

The title text refers to {{w|linear particle accelerators}}, or "LINACs," which are used to create high-energy particles. Incidentally, the glasses give their particles one mega-electronvolt (symbol {{w|MeV}}) of energy, which is not particularly high for a particle accelerator. The title text suggests that such moviegoers should try the accelerators at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, {{w|CERN}}, since they are widely known for producing the highest energies in the millions of MeV, and thus have the best chance of unraveling the small dimensions of string theory.

==Transcript==
:[People are lined up to see a movie.]
:Premiering Tonight:
:String Theory:
:An Exposé
:Presented In 3D!

:[The people are in a dark theater, fiddling with their glasses.]
:''???''

:[The people approach black hat guy, who's sitting at a desk.]
:Megan: Your movie was a ripoff.
:Cueball: It wasn't 3D at all!
:Black Hat: Was too.
:Black Hat: It's just that the third dimension is tightly rolled up and too small to observe at normal energies.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]
[[Category:Physics]]

1828: ISS Solar Transit

2017-04-25T05:22:05Z

Chrullrich: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1828
| date = April 24, 2017
| title = ISS Solar Transit
| image = iss_solar_transit.png
| titletext = I guess it's also the right setting for pictures of the Moon at night.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[Cueball]] is trying to take a photograph of the {{w|International Space Station}} moving in front of the sun ([https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/international-space-station-transits-the-sun example]).

A normal camera is not able to take a photograph of the sun due to the extreme brightness. This is why Cueball is using a {{w|Astronomical_filter|solar filter}}, which makes the sun look orange instead of white.

Digital cameras need to determine the color temperature of a photograph to correctly display colors. This is done using the {{w|Color_balance|white balance}} setting. The joke here is that Cueball selects the "direct sunlight" option, as he feels it is the option that best suits his unusual situation of directly photographing the sun, even though the "direct sunlight" setting is intended to be used for photographing objects directly illuminated by the sun and not for the sun itself.

The light that reaches the camera sensor from an object illuminated by "direct sunlight" is, in fact, ''indirect'' sunlight, so when photographing the sun itself, the camera receives sunlight that is even more direct than "direct".

The use of a solar filter influences the color temperature, so "custom" would probably be the correct option here. A camera using the "custom" option usually requires you to focus on a white or gray object first to determine the correct setting.

The title text is pointing out that the sunlit side of the moon is also in direct sunlight, which is why we are able to see it, and so "direct sunlight" would actually be the correct setting in this case.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is kneeling in front of a camera attached to a tripod, standing on a small platform, and angled sharply upward toward the sky.]
:Off-screen voice: What's going on?
:Cueball: ISS solar transit. From this spot, the space station should briefly line up with the sun. I got a sun filter and I'm trying to take a picture of it crossing.

:[Image of a very orange sun on a black background, as seen through the camera.]

:Cueball: Perfect. Hmm, I should set the white balance.

:[White balance menu is shown with the following options:]
: - Incandescent
: - Fluorescent
: - Direct sunlight
: - Flash
: - Cloudy
: - Shade
: - Custom

:[Cueball pauses to think.]
:[Selects Direct sunlight.]

{{comic discussion}}

1823: Hottest Editors

2017-04-12T16:59:52Z

Chrullrich: /* Explanation */ Oops... that's when your fingers do it without conscious thought ...

{{comic
| number = 1823
| date = April 12, 2017
| title = Hottest Editors
| image = hottest_editors.png
| titletext = Elon Musk finally blocked me from the internal Tesla repository because I wouldn't stop sending pull requests for my code supporting steering via vim keybindings.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Needs explanation of title text.}}

The comic has a play on the word 'Editor'. The editors from 1995 to 2000 are plain-text editors, popular among many programmers and other computer scientists to edit machine-readable text.
Two of the earlier editors, {{w|Vim (text editor)|Vim}} and {{w|Emacs|Emacs}}, allow the user to perform common actions (like scrolling, marking text, saving or searching) using keyboard shortcuts.
As Vim and Emacs use different shortcuts, someone who is proficient in one editor may have difficulty using the other editor, since the shortcuts are different.
The 'Editor wars' refer to Vim and Emacs users debating heavily on which of the two editors is the best (for which keyboard shortcuts, or bindings, are just one of the arguments employed).
Modern editors (including Notepad++ and Sublime Text) mainly use the shortcuts determined the operating system, again different from Vim and Emacs.

{{w|Notepad++}} is a popular text and source code editor, initially released in 2003. {{w|Sublime Text}} is the current "most popular" text editor according to Randall, released in 2008.

The 2020 editor '{{w|CRISPR}}' is not a text editor, but a technique used to edit DNA. The comic may suggests that we will not be editing digital plain-text files, but DNA in 2020, possibly due to advances in {{w|DNA digital data storage}}.

To make the transition between editors easier, some editors offer Vim or Emacs key-bindings: the shortcuts will be (roughly) the same as in Vim or in Emacs, so that someone who used to be proficient in one of those editors can proceed to use the keyboard shortcuts in the way he or she was used to.
The comic suggests that in 2025, the Vim key-bindings will be the most popular for editing genes using CRISPR.
This creates a comical effect: CRISPR is a technique that operates on genes, and not on digital hardware, so it does not use a keyboard per se. Consequently, it is surprising that CRISPR would have key bindings. The comic also suggests that in 2025, Vim will make a comeback in DNA editing, thus having 'won' the battle with Emacs.

The title text says that Randall has been banned from the code base of {{w|Tesla, Inc.|Tesla}}, as he keeps sending {{w|pull request}}s (code changes) to steer a Tesla car using Vim keybindings. Not only does this seem impossible, but it seems dangerous to steer a car with a (computer) keyboard. The arguably most important keybindings of a text editor are those to move the editing location (the cursor) around. Vim, in addition to dedicated keys present on most keyboards, supports the use of "h" for moving left, "l" for moving right, "j" for down, and "k" for up. To use these in a vehicular context, up and down would probably, as in many racing games, be mapped to acceleration and braking, respectively. One additional problem with using essentially binary inputs (key pressed or not) as a replacement for a car's steering wheel is achieving different degrees of direction change. Pressing, say, the "h" key could either cause the car to turn its wheels left by a pre-set, fixed amount, or it could turn them left the more the longer the key is held down.

Another question is how to map the exit-without-saving and save-then-exit operations of a text editor to a car. It must be assumed that exit-without-save would cause the car to return to the just-finished trip's origin point, while saving the location would let the car remain in place.

==Transcript==
:Hottest Editors
:--------------------
:1995-2000—[Emacs–Vim Editor war]
:2005—Vim
:2010—Notepad++
:2015—Sublime Text
:2020—CRISPR
:2025—CRISPR (Vim keybindings)

{{comic discussion}}

1823: Hottest Editors

2017-04-12T16:56:48Z

Chrullrich: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1823
| date = April 12, 2017
| title = Hottest Editors
| image = hottest_editors.png
| titletext = Elon Musk finally blocked me from the internal Tesla repository because I wouldn't stop sending pull requests for my code supporting steering via vim keybindings.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Needs explanation of title text.}}

The comic has a play on the word 'Editor'. The editors from 1995 to 2000 are plain-text editors, popular among many programmers and other computer scientists to edit machine-readable text.
Two of the earlier editors, {{w|Vim (text editor)|Vim}} and {{w|Emacs|Emacs}}, allow the user to perform common actions (like scrolling, marking text, saving or searching) using keyboard shortcuts.
As Vim and Emacs use different shortcuts, someone who is proficient in one editor may have difficulty using the other editor, since the shortcuts are different.
The 'Editor wars' refer to Vim and Emacs users debating heavily on which of the two editors is the best (for which keyboard shortcuts, or bindings, are just one of the arguments employed).
Modern editors (including Notepad++ and Sublime Text) mainly use the shortcuts determined the operating system, again different from Vim and Emacs.

{{w|Notepad++}} is a popular text and source code editor, initially released in 2003. {{w|Sublime Text}} is the current "most popular" text editor according to Randall, released in 2008.

The 2020 editor '{{w|CRISPR}}' is not a text editor, but a technique used to edit DNA. The comic may suggests that we will not be editing digital plain-text files, but DNA in 2020, possibly due to advances in {{w|DNA digital data storage}}.

To make the transition between editors easier, some editors offer Vim or Emacs key-bindings: the shortcuts will be (roughly) the same as in Vim or in Emacs, so that someone who used to be proficient in one of those editors can proceed to use the keyboard shortcuts in the way he or she was used to.
The comic suggests that in 2025, the Vim key-bindings will be the most popular for editing genes using CRISPR.
This creates a comical effect: CRISPR is a technique that operates on genes, and not on digital hardware, so it does not use a keyboard per se. Consequently, it is surprising that CRISPR would have key bindings. The comic also suggests that in 2025, Vim will make a comeback in DNA editing, thus having 'won' the battle with Emacs.

The title text says that Randall has been banned from the code base of {{w|Tesla, Inc.|Tesla}}, as he keeps sending {{w|pull request}}s (code changes) to steer a Tesla car using Vim keybindings. Not only does this seem impossible, but it seems dangerous to steer a car with a (computer) keyboard. The arguably most important keybindings of a text editor are those to move the editing location (the cursor) around. Vim, in addition to dedicated keys present on most keyboards, supports the use of "h" for moving left, "l" for moving right, "j" for up, and "k" for down. To use these in a vehicular context, up and down would probably, as in many racing games, be mapped to acceleration and braking, respectively. One additional problem with using essentially binary inputs (key pressed or not) as a replacement for a car's steering wheel is achieving different degrees of direction change. Pressing, say, the "h" key could either cause the car to turn its wheels left by a pre-set, fixed amount, or it could turn them left the more the longer the key is held down.

Another question is how to map the exit-without-saving and save-then-exit operations of a text editor to a car. It must be assumed that exit-without-save would cause the car to return to the just-finished trip's origin point, while saving the location would let the car remain in place.

==Transcript==
:Hottest Editors
:--------------------
:1995-2000—[Emacs–Vim Editor war]
:2005—Vim
:2010—Notepad++
:2015—Sublime Text
:2020—CRISPR
:2025—CRISPR (Vim keybindings)

{{comic discussion}}

1820: Security Advice

2017-04-05T14:25:24Z

Chrullrich: Revert my own edit; should not have gone into the transcript. Apologies.

{{comic
| number = 1820
| date = April 5, 2017
| title = Security Advice
| image = security_advice.png
| titletext = Never give your password or bank account number to anyone who doesn't have a blue check mark next to their name.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Incoplete. TBD:Add list Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The comic depicts a conversation between [[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]], discussing the fact that giving people security advice has failed to improve their internet security, and in some cases even made things worse (such as requiring complicated passwords leading to people leaving post-it notes with their passwords on their screen, leading to huge security risks). As a result Cueball suggests {{w|reverse psychology|giving bad advice instead}}, in hopes of a positive effect. The last panel contains a list these security tips, which are parodies of actual security tips.

The last tip on the image is most likely a reference to Ingmar Bergman's film [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seventh_Seal#Synopsis The Seventh Seal].

{| class="wikitable"
|+Starts with: (Print out this list and keep it in your bank safe deposit box.)
!Security Tip
!Explanation
|-
|Don't click links to websites
|The usual tip is "Don't click on ''suspicious'' website links." The comic's variation instead implies don't click on any links to any websites, or don't use the internet.
|-
|Use prime numbers in your password
|
|-
|Change your password manager monthly
|
|-
|Hold your breath while crossing the border
|This in its self, wouldn't do anything, but if you hold your breath for too long you could pass out when crossing, or look stressed/suspicious. Overall, this would not help you.
|-
|Install a secure font
|
|-
|Use a 2-factor smoke detector
|A new way to keep accounts secure is 2-factor authentication, which usually means you enter your password, and then look for an email (or go into a mobile app) with a code which you then enter into the website. A 2-factor smoke detector would be useless, because it would require you to verify that there is actually a fire with a code, when the purpose of smoke detectors are to warn you about fires you ''don't'' know about.
|-
|Change your maiden name regularly
|A common security question (a type of 2-factor authentication from the previous tip) asks you for your maiden name.
|-
|Put strange USB drives in a bag of rice overnight
|The usual security tip is "Don't plug strange USB drives into your computer," because sometimes attackers put viruses that infect your system when plugged in. This tip implies that you should "put USB drives in a bag of rice overnight" which is a common technique for drying out water damaged devices, due to rice's absorbent qualities. This would not clean the drive of viruses, and unless the drive was wet (perhaps because you found it outside due to it being called "strange") it would not do anything.
|-
|Use special characters like & and %
|
|-
|Only read content published through Tor.com
|
|-
|Use a burner's phone
|
|-
|Get an SSL certificate and store it in a safe place
|
|-
|If a border guard asks to examine your laptop, you have a legal right to challenge them to a chess game for your soul.
|This tip is likely a reference to Ingmar Bergman's film [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seventh_Seal#Synopsis The Seventh Seal]
|}

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

:Ponytail: We've been trying for decades to give people good security advice.
:Ponytail: But in retrospect, lots of the tips actually made things worse.

:Cueball: Maybe we should try to give ''bad'' advice?
:Ponytail: I guess it's worth a shot.

:Security tips
:(Print out this list and keep it in your bank safe deposit box.)
* Don't click links to websites
* Use prime numbers in your password
* Change your password manager monthly
* Hold your breath while crossing the border
* Install a secure font
* User a 2-factor smoke detector
* Change your maiden name regularly
* Put strange USB drives in a bag of rice overnight
* Use special characters like & and %
* Only read content published through Tor.com
* Use a burner's phone
* Get an SSL certificate and store it in a safe place
* If a border guard asks to examine your laptop, you have a legal right to challenge them to a chess game for your soul.

{{comic discussion}}

1820: Security Advice

2017-04-05T14:22:29Z

Chrullrich: /* Transcript */ What I could think of.

{{comic
| number = 1820
| date = April 5, 2017
| title = Security Advice
| image = security_advice.png
| titletext = Never give your password or bank account number to anyone who doesn't have a blue check mark next to their name.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Incoplete. TBD:Add list Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The comic depicts a conversation between [[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]], discussing the fact that giving people security advice has failed to improve their internet security, and in some cases even made things worse (such as requiring complicated passwords leading to people leaving post-it notes with their passwords on their screen, leading to huge security risks). As a result Cueball suggests {{w|reverse psychology|giving bad advice instead}}, in hopes of a positive effect. The last panel contains a list these security tips, which are parodies of actual security tips.

The last tip on the image is most likely a reference to Ingmar Bergman's film [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seventh_Seal#Synopsis The Seventh Seal].

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

:Ponytail: We've been trying for decades to give people good security advice.
:Ponytail: But in retrospect, lots of the tips actually made things worse.

:Cueball: Maybe we should try to give ''bad'' advice?
:Ponytail: I guess it's worth a shot.

:Security tips
:(Print out this list and keep it in your bank safe deposit box.) ''(This will make the '''list''' quite secure, but will not help you.)''
* Don't click links to websites – ''The usual advice is not to click links in unsolicited e-mail, because they might be phishing attempts. Clicking no links whatsoever will seriously degrade your Internet experience.''
* Use prime numbers in your password
* Change your password manager monthly – ''Changing ones '''password''' monthly, using a good password manager, will enhance security but is very cumbersome to do. Changing the password '''manager''' this frequently will lead to data loss while migrating passwords from one to the next.''
* Hold your breath while crossing the border
* Install a secure font – ''This is ridiculous, or is it? There have been successful exploits of bugs in font rendering engines.''
* User a 2-factor smoke detector
* Change your maiden name regularly
* Put strange USB drives in a bag of rice overnight – ''This is a frequently given advice for drying electronics that have become wet. It will not do anything against possible malware stored on a USB drive.''
* Use special characters like & and %
* Only read content published through Tor.com – ''TOR (The Onion Router) is a communications system that uses encrypted connections between many computers, with data packets sent along unpredictable paths in order to avoid interception. Tor.com, on the other hand, is a publishing house that has nothing at all to do with the TOR project.''
* Use a burner's phone
* Get an SSL certificate and store it in a safe place – ''Similar to the advice to store this list itself in a safe deposit box, having an SSL certificate (used to protect communications against eavesdropping and impersonation) and then keeping it so secure that one cannot use it, is not very effective.''
* If a border guard asks to examine your laptop, you have a legal right to challenge them to a chess game for your soul.

{{comic discussion}}

1810: Chat Systems

2017-03-15T09:58:06Z

Chrullrich: /* Chat systems */

{{comic
| number = 1810
| date = March 13, 2017
| title = Chat Systems
| image = chat_systems.png
| titletext = I'm one of the few Instagram users who connects solely through the Unix 'talk' gateway.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|More info needed?}}
The comic shows an {{w|Euler diagram}} with many different {{w|Online chat|chat systems}} connection possibilities and their overlaps. This is used to explain the relationship between social networks and [[Randall|Randall's]] acquaintances who use them. (Euler diagrams should not be confused with {{w|Venn diagram}}s, see more on this [[:Category:Venn diagrams|here]]).

In the world of {{w|social media}} and [[:Category:Social networking|social networking]], it is extremely easy to communicate with people through the various messaging systems provided. Unfortunately, this can also become very confusing when one (such as Randall in this comic) knows many people who use various combinations of the different chat systems.

Below is a [[#Chat systems|table]] with explanation for all 24 mentioned chat systems and below that a list of each systems [[#Euler intersections|intersections]] with the other systems. Several of the systems are already considered old but, like ''The "chat" tab in an old {{w|Google Doc}}'', but some people keep using them, which is part of the joke. There only seems to be one "chat" system which could in no way be said to be an on-line chat system, and that is the ''Wall (bathroom)'' at the bottom, which refers to how people writes notes on public bathroom walls, making it the only extra joke apart from the mess in the main diagram. It may be a reference to [[229: Graffiti]].

In the title text, Randall explains how he is one of the only few {{w|Instagram}} users to use the {{w|Unix}} {{w|Talk_(software)|'talk' gateway}} (an old peer-to-peer chat system whereby users logged into the same UNIX system could privately communicate with each other in a full-screen interface). This implies that he also uses a complicated system of communication.

The ubiquity of standards - here, of messaging systems - was already covered in [[927: Standards]] and people's hesitation to switch off IRC was mentioned in [[1782: Team Chat]]. The same point about people using various chat systems was used in [[1254: Preferred Chat System]]. And famously the hidden chat room mentioned in [[1305: Undocumented Feature]], was later created by Randall through the [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]] [[1506: xkcloud]] - see the [[1506:_xkcloud#Don.27t_contact_us|Don't contact us]] section.

===Chat systems===
*The 24 chat systems are listed with the systems having most people at the top, and that number is also listed before the explanation.
**Notice there are only 23 real systems, as one of the systems is a bathroom wall.
*See below for each systems [[#Euler intersections|intersections]] with the other systems.
{| class="wikitable"
!System
!Number of people in group
!Explanation
|-
| {{w|SMS}}
|39
|Short Message Service; a text-based messaging system connecting most worldwide phone systems that had its beginnings in the 1980s and has since represented the most common form of data transmission for most people. It is principally used to send short text messages between mobile phones, but most phone carriers provide facilities to send-to-email or send-to-voice (for use with landline phones). Most major phone carriers also provide support for email-to-SMS.
|-
| {{w|Email}}
|35
|A popular form of electronic communication that saw first widespread use in the 1960s. It allows you to send electronic "letters" to people using pre-exchanged email addresses. Many people use this platform, hence the large size of the corresponding circle.
|-
| {{w|Hangouts}}
|9
|Google Hangouts is Google's instant messaging system. It can be used to share data and for video chat.
|-
| {{w|Signal_(software)|Signal}}
|8
| An app used for encrypted communications.
|-
| {{w|iMessage}}
|6
|Apple's SMS service
|-
| {{w|IRC}}
|5
|Internet Relay Chat; a chat protocol from the late 1980's that still sees considerable but declining use today. It is an open, freely available protocol with many free client apps available. Communications are principally in text and users typically use an app to connect to an IRC server, which may in turn be connected to other IRC servers. Many clients also provide for file sharing. There are many client and server plugins that provide access to other protocols (such as IRC-Hangouts, etc).
|-
| {{w|Slack_(software)|Slack}}
|5
|A team instant messaging service
|-
| {{w|Twitter|Twitter DM}}
|4
| "Direct messages" between users on Twitter.
|-
| {{w|AOL Instant Messenger|AIM}}
|2
|AOL Instant Messaging service; a popular messaging system from the 1990s that suffered a severe decline in 2005 upon the release of Gmail and Google Chat. It is based on the closed source OSCAR protocol, but AOL created the TOC/TOC2 protocol specifications, and made specifications openly available, for third parties to connect to their service. There have been short-lived dalliances with other protocols since 2008; it has never had direct support for the other widely used protocols here.
|-
|The "chat" tab in an old {{w|Google Doc}}
|2
|Google Docs is an online word processor reminiscent of Microsoft Word. One of the notable features is online collaborative editing, with a rudimentary chat feature for communication. Randall apparently communicates with someone using the chat in an old Google Doc.
|-
| {{w|Facebook_Messenger|FB Messenger}}
|2
|Facebook's chat system.
|-
| {{w|Instagram|Instagram DM}}
|2
|Direct Messaging, a feature of Instagram that allows users to post personal messages to each other.
|-
|{{w|Peach_(social_network)|Peach}}
|2
|Peach is a mobile-based social network introduced in January 2016.
|-
| Telegram
|2
|Could refer to a cloud based instant messaging system by this name ({{w|Telegram (software)|Telegram}}), or to actually sending messages using {{w|telegrams}}. Telegrams were messages sent by electric telegraphy, which were often typed out and hand-delivered to the recipient. This was the first system for rapid communication across long distances that was widely available, originally developed in the 19th century. Naturally, telegraphy is now wildly obsolete (though some local services apparently do still exist) which would explain why Randall communicates with so few people that way.
|-
| {{w|Skype}}
|2
|Microsoft's chat client. It offers VoIP video and audio calls, instant messaging and phoning from within the app.
|-
| {{w|WhatsApp}}
|2
|Billed as encrypted end-to-end chat, allows VoIP chats, text chats, video and image sharing. Caters for group chat as well.
|-
| {{w|WeChat}}
|2
| Started off as a Chinese WhatsApp imitation. WeChat has become a full scale social media with its own news, games and payment system.
|-
|{{w|Apache_HTTP_Server|Apache}} Request {{w|Server_log|Log}}
|1
|A file used by Apache HTML server to log page access requests by users, usually stored as access_log. Its use as a communications tool would require the user to embed their messages in URLs and the admin to look for the messages in the logs. It would be inconvenient and time consuming for both parties. It was implemented soon after here: [https://github.com/mdom/smokesignal github]
|-
| {{w|BlackBerry Messenger|BBM}}
|1
|Blackberry message. A chat system available on {{w|BlackBerry}} phones, now largely obsolete.
|-
| {{w|Snapchat}}
|1
|Snapchat is an image messaging app.
|-
|Wall (bathroom)
|1
|This is the only "other" joke in the comic as this is the only "system" not on-line. Apparently it is a chat system based around writing on the wall in the bathroom. Not an electronic system. It may thus be a reference to [[229: Graffiti]]. Leaving messages on public bathroom walls is a common form of {{w|graffiti}}. It may be used as a support for anonymous conversations. Alternatively, this could mean the person is an extreme introvert, and hides in his bathroom instead of interacting with others, by talking through the wall. It could also be a pun on "communicating through _____" as a bathroom wall is a physical object rather than an interface. It could also refer to someone who has a habit of talking through the wall to people in adjacent stalls of a public bathroom.
|-
|{{w|Wall (Unix)}}
|1
|Short for "write all", the "wall" command copies its input to every user logged into the same Unix system, and so can be used as a primitive chat system.
|-
| {{w|Zephyr (protocol)}}
|1
| Zephyr was designed as an instant messaging protocol and application-suite with a heavy Unix background.
|-
| {{w|ICQ}}
|1
|An older open-source instant messaging application.
|}

===Euler intersections===
Here is a list of each item and its intersections from left top to right bottom is:
*Skype - none, Email
*Email - none, Skype, SMS, Slack, Hangouts, IRC, ICQ, iMessage, Signal, WhatsApp, Zephyr, FB Messenger, Instagram DM, BBM, Telegram, Twitter DM
*SMS - none, Email, Slack, Hangouts, IRC, Snapchat, iMessage, Signal, WeChat, WhatsApp, Zephyr, FB Messenger, Instagram DM, Peach, BBM, Twitter DM
*AIM - none
*Slack - Email, SMS, Hangouts, IRC, Signal
*Hangouts - Email, SMS, Slack, IRC, Signal
*IRC - Email, SMS, Slack, Hangouts, Signal
*Snapchat - SMS
*ICQ - Email
*iMessage - Email, SMS, Signal, FB Messenger
*Signal - Email, SMS, Slack, Hangouts, IRC, iMessage, Zephyr, Instagram DM
*WeChat - SMS
*WhatsApp - Email, SMS
*Zephyr - Email, SMS, Signal
*FB Messenger - Email, SMS, iMessage
*Instagram DM - Email, SMS, Signal
*Peach - SMS
*BBM - Email, SMS
*Telegram - none, Email
*Twitter DM - none, Email, SMS
*The "chat" tab in an old Google Doc - none
*Apache Request Log - none
*Wall (Unix) - none
*Wall (bathroom) - none

==Transcript==
:[A large panel with a complicated Euler diagram with 24 circle like drawings representing various chat systems. Most circles are embedded into others as two of the circles (SMS and Email) are much larger than all the others and many of the circles are overlapping each other in complicated ways. But five circles are single separate circles with no connections to others, and three more of the smaller circles are partly outside all others circles. Seven are fully embedded inside one or more circles without crossing any of the circles around them. Those five that do not overlap in any way with the two large circles do also not overlap with each other or any of the other circles. Inside all circles there are at least one character, but the two large circles have 39 (SMS) and 35 (Email) characters. All other have between one and nine characters. In total there are 57 characters. The characters are mainly standard characters like Cueball, Megan, Ponytail and Hairy. But also others are present. There is only one Blondie, and some with a white hair bun (but none drawn like Hairbun). It is noticeable that there are no characters with hats of any kind.]

:[Here follows a list of each chat systems name, the names are written on a break in the lines at the top of their circles. They are from left top to right bottom:]
:Skype
:Email
:SMS
:AIM
:Slack
:Hangouts
:IRC
:Snapchat
:ICQ
:iMessage
:Signal
:WeChat
:WhatsApp
:Zephyr
:FB Messenger
:Instagram DM
:Peach
:BBM
:Telegram
:Twitter DM
:The "chat" tab in an old Google Doc
:Apache Request Log
:Wall (Unix)
:Wall (bathroom)

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I have a hard time keeping track of which contacts use which chat systems.

==Trivia==
*There are 57 characters in the comic. Here is a version of the comic with numbered characters for reference:
[[File:1810 Chat System numbered.PNG]]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Social networking]]

1792: Bird/Plane/Superman

2017-01-30T17:52:46Z

Chrullrich: /* Notes */

{{comic
| number = 1792
| date = January 30, 2017
| title = Bird/Plane/Superman
| image = bird_plane_superman.png
| titletext = You can apply special translucent films to your windows to help keep birds/Superman from accidentally flying into them.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}

This comic is a logical comparison of observations to resolve the classic comic book trope of: "Look, up in the sky... It's a bird!... It's a plane!... It's Superman!" Taking the random citizens' declarations at face value -- a quite exaggerated position -- this comic aims to help such clueless folks identify the airborne object.

The observations compared range from the mundane to the bizarre.

=== Notes ===

*Mid-air sex involving planes is usually involving passengers (and potentially air crew), not the plane itself. However, this may be referring to in-flight refueling, or this incident where one plane landed atop another in mid-air: http://avstop.com/news/plantcity.html
*Some planes may be able to intentionally purge their septic tanks mid-flight, depending on the design of the waste interlocks, especially assuming the controls are inside the cockpit or cabin. As the TV show ''MythBusters'' has shown, a leaky septic disposal system can unintentionally lose liquid waste and cause a "blue ice" sighting on the ground.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! !! Bird !! Plane !! Superman
|-
| Carries people || || ✓ || ✓
|-
| Often flies in groups || ✓ || ✓ ||
|-
| Created in 20th century || || ✓ || ✓
|-
| Uses magnetic navigation || ✓ || ✓ ||
|-
| Enthusiast community obsesses over small coloration details || ✓ || ✓ || ✓
|-
| Preyed on by cats || ✓ || ||
|-
| Occasional mid-air sex || ✓ || ✓ || ✓
|-
| Eaten during seasonal feasts || ✓ || ||
|-
| Propelled by flapping || ✓ || ||
|-
| Sometimes loses ability to fly, needs to sunbathe to regain it || ✓ || || ✓
|-
| Can take a punch || || ✓ || ✓
|-
| Mating behaviour often observed by a hidden David Attenborough || ✓ || || Not that we know of
|-
| Capable of intentionally releasing poop mid-flight || ✓ || || ✓
|-
| Chases and eats bugs || ✓ || || Only when bored
|-
|}

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1788: Barge

2017-01-23T10:26:33Z

Chrullrich:

Any reason why the background is black in this one? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.234.34|162.158.234.34]] 16:35, 20 January 2017 (UTC)
:Black background...huh? [[User:GoonPontoon|GoonPontoon]] ([[User talk:GoonPontoon|talk]]) 18:27, 20 January 2017 (UTC)
::The xkcd Browser Android app, at least, uses black outside the rectangular comic image for this one instead of the usual white. It usually does that for dark-background comics like [[312]]. I don’t know if it gets the color from the site somehow or uses its own heuristics, but either way this isn’t the first time it’s made the “wrong” choice. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.148|162.158.78.148]] 18:40, 20 January 2017 (UTC)

When did the fine print at the bottom of the xkcd homepage change? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.122.102|162.158.122.102]] 18:08, 20 January 2017 (UTC)
:A few weeks ago, exactly when I'm not sure.
:Actually, [[footnote|for quite a while]] [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 21:22, 20 January 2017 (UTC)
::Where do we put this kind of information on this wiki? Very funny but not so great as the one about the humour --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 23:16, 20 January 2017 (UTC)

What exactly would cause a rocket to explode when it lands on this trick-barge (and into water)? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.48|141.101.105.48]] 08:52, 23 January 2017 (UTC)
:If the computer thinks it landed on a solid barge, it will turn off the engine, and the rocket will tip over, crash into the remaining hull, and explode. If the computer does not think it landed, the engine will enter the water and either go out (tip over, explode) or cause a steam explosion followed by a fuel tank explosion. [[User:Chrullrich|Chrullrich]] ([[User talk:Chrullrich|talk]]) 10:26, 23 January 2017 (UTC)

I'm not sure it is intended to be destructive, so much as scaling up of the everyday. You know how satisfying it is when you open a new jar of coffee or spread and get to punch the paper seal with a spoon? Randall has previously referred to these little pleasures, like cleaning the dryer fluff in https://xkcd.com/1346/ . [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.244|141.101.98.244]] 09:32, 23 January 2017 (UTC)

1751: Movie Folder

2016-10-27T08:03:13Z

Chrullrich: The Significance of Prepositions.

{{comic
| number = 1751
| date = October 26, 2016
| title = Movie Folder
| image = movie_folder.png
| titletext = That's actually the original Japanese version of A Million Random Digits, which is much better than the American remake the book was based on.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Are there more to some of the titles? Are there other similar situations with these two guys?}}

[[Cueball]] is looking through [[Black Hat|Black Hat's]] downloaded movies, which are all adaptations of non-literary works, improbable sequels, and/or crossovers between very disparate properties. Cueball reacts with increasing incredulity to Black Hat's collection, while Black Hat casually responds with equally unlikely (non-)explanations. Knowing Black Hat, his movie folder is deliberately weird just to provoke this kind of reaction.

In the real world, there are movies which can provoke similar shock. For example, many successful films get {{w|direct-to-video}} (or, now, {{w|direct-to-digital}}) sequels and spinoffs, often featuring none of the original cast and which get very little marketing. Therefore, someone might be surprised to know that there's an ''{{w|American Psycho 2}}'', a ''{{w|Starship Troopers 3: Marauder|Starship Troopers 3}}'', a ''{{w|Dr. Dolittle: Tail to the Chief|Dr. Dolittle 4}}'', or a ''{{w|Bring It On: Fight to the Finish|Bring It On 5}}''. [[Randall]] previously made fun of the proliferation of direct-to-video sequels in [https://what-if.xkcd.com/65/ What If: Twitter Timeline Height], with at least 27 ''Land Before Time'' films (in reality, there were 14).

Another source of weird titles are {{w|mockbuster}}s. When a film uses a {{w|public domain}} property as its basis, or a title that is too generic to trademark, other studios will simply create their own films and pretend that they're a sequel to the more famous film. Examples include ''{{w|Titanic II (film)|Titanic II}}'', ''{{w|Troll 2}}'', ''{{w|Troll 3}}'', the ''other'' ''{{w|Quest for the Mighty Sword|Troll 3}}'', and ''{{w|War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave}}''.

Marketing wheezes have also produced some crossovers almost as unexpected as those in the comic — ''{{w|Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde}}'', ''{{w|Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery}}'' and ''{{w|Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter}}''.

A similar setting with Cueball and Black Hat also discussing movies was seen in [[493: Actuarial]]. Back then Black Hat was still reading newspapers.

Another type of comic where movie titles needs to be guessed from strange versions of the title was previously used in the [[:Category:Synonym Movies|Synonym Movies]] series.

=== Black Hat's downloaded movies ===
{|class="wikitable"
! Title
! Explanation
|-
| ''Lorem Ipsum: The Movie'' || ''{{w|Lorem Ipsum}}'' are the first two words of a common block of garbled Latin filler text used by typesetters to layout pages before real text is available. This title implies that this movie is entirely random filler with no meaningful content, although according to the Internet Movie Database, there is a 2011 movie titled [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2032487/ Lorem Ipsum].
|-
| ''Titanic XCVIII'' || The most famous film about the ship ''{{w|RMS Titanic|Titanic}}'' is {{w|James Cameron|James Cameron's}} {{w|Titanic (1997 movie)|''Titanic''}} from 1997. But there have been {{w|List of films about the RMS Titanic|several since then}} (at least five) some of which where probably trying to cash in on the name, especially the one called ''{{w|Titanic II (film)|Titanic II}}'', which is about a ship in 2012 called ''Titanic II''. But the producers probably hoped some people would buy the DVD believing it was a sequel to the 1997 movie, a real mockbuster, originally released directly for TV. Black Hat's dialogue implies the preceding films are about at least 97 different ''Titanic''s which all sank, creating an artificial reef, and this film is about the 98th (Roman numerals XCVIII = 98) hitting that reef (rather than an iceberg). As ''Titanic'' rests on the Atlantic sea floor at a depth of 3,784 m (12,415 feet), each of the previous ''Titanic''s would need to a) settle immediately on top of its predecessor and b) increase the height of the "reef" by about 40 m (128 feet) on average. The original ''Titanic'' was 53 m (175 feet) tall and (assuming a and b above), the keel of the 98th ship would sink to a depth of 20 m (65 feet). However, it would be impossible to stack only 97 ''Titanic'' replicas in a more than 3 km high pile in this location to reach this height.
|-
| ''Debbie Did 9/11'' || A combination of ''{{w|Debbie Does Dallas}}'', a 1970s porn film about a young woman trying for a cheerleader squad, and a {{w|9/11 conspiracy theory}}. Actual ''Debbie Does Dallas'' sequels include 5 numbered ones, two titled ''Debbie Does Dallas Again'', several with subtitles, and some parodies, unofficial sequels and spinoffs that — like the title quote here — change what Debbie does. IMDb lists, among others, ''Debbie Does Iowa'', ''Debbie Does Wall Street'', ''Debbie Does 'em All'' and ''Debbie Does Damnation''. But it is always Does and never Did... However, in this kind of movie when she does something it of course means to have sex, while {{w|September 11 attacks|9/11}} is a historical event.
|-
| ''Time Jam: A Connecticut Huskie on King Arthur's Court'' || A combination of the novel ''{{w|A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court}}'' by {{w|Mark Twain}} and the 1996 movie ''{{w|Space Jam}}''. Mark Twain's story is one of the first {{w|time travel}} stories, while ''Space Jam'' stars {{w|Michael Jordan}} and features the {{w|Looney Tunes}} cartoon characters playing basketball against aliens. The huskie is a reference to the University of Connecticut sports teams called the {{w|Connecticut Huskies}}, most notably their basketball team. So in this movie it is one of these Connecticut players who gets Time Jammed (rather than Space Jammed) back to the fictional {{w|King Arthur|King Arthur's}} {{w|Court (royal)|court}} in the late 5th and early 6th centuries AD. An additional basketball reference is the use of "''on'' King Arthur's Court" rather than the original "''in'' King Arthur's Court".
|-
| ''Harold and Kumar Go to Howl's Moving Castle'' || A combination of ''{{w|Harold and Kumar go to White Castle}}'' — about the meandering and very adult adventures of {{w|Harold and Kumar}} (a pair of stoners) — and ''{{w|Howl's Moving Castle (film)|Howl's Moving Castle}}'' — a tender, often philosophical children's {{w|anime}} film by {{w|Hayao Miyazaki}}, based on a novel by {{w|Diana Wynne Jones}}.
|-
| ''A Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates'' || This is actually {{w|A Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates|a real book from 1955}} (also referenced in [[1210: I'm So Random]]) — back before scientists had access to computers that could easily generate random numbers, this book was very useful for statistics and for setting up scientific experiments. The book is {{w|File:Random digits.png|literally just a list of numbers}}, so there would be no movie in it except for flashing numbers on a screen. Black Hat comments that the movie came before the book, which was a {{w|novelization}} of the film. The '''title text''' says that the movie is an adaptation of Japanese version. But in the modern world 'Arabic' digits are nearly universal, so it is hard to understand how an adaptation would be different from the Japanese original, unless they used {{w|Japanese numerals}} (which are rarely used for mathematical purposes). It is very common that great/successful Japanese movies (and other countries' great movies) are made into (often mediocre) American remakes, like the famous horror movie ''{{w|Ring (film)|Ring}}'' from 1998, which was remade in America as ''{{w|The Ring (2002 film)|The Ring}}'' in 2002.
|-
| ''Michael Bay's The Vagina Monologues'' || ''{{w|The Vagina Monologues}}'' is a famous play by {{w|Eve Ensler}}. It consists entirely of a series of women talking frankly about their bodies, their sexuality and their lives. There's no place in it for explosions, but {{w|Michael Bay}} (who is known especially for the modern {{w|Transformers (film series)|Transformers movies}} as well as ''{{w|The Rock (film)|The Rock}}'' and ''{{w|Armageddon (1998 film)|Armageddon}}'', and is also known for his [http://www.thewrap.com/megan-fox-quit-transformers-over-michael-bays-abuse-17614/ rather unfeminist behavior] and excessive explosions in the movies he directs) found a way. Black Hat comments that he found it good despite all those {{w|Computer-generated imagery|CGI}} explosions.
|}

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat is sitting in an armchair, with the right arm on the armrest and looking at his smartphone held in his left hand, when a voice from behind him (off-panel left) addresses him. It turns out in the next panels that it is Cueball.]
:Cueball (off-panel): Your movie folder is so ''weird''. Where do you find all this stuff?
:Black Hat: Dunno.
:Black Hat: Around.

:[In an frame-less panel Cueball is seen sitting in an office chair at a desk facing left. He is looking at Black Hat's computer while typing on the keyboard which is on a shelve lower than the regular desk surface. Black Hat replies to his queries from behind him off-panel right.]
:Cueball: ''Lorem Ipsum: The Movie?''
:Cueball: ''Titanic XCVIII?''
:Black Hat (off-panel): That series gets good when they start hitting the reef created by all the previous wrecks.

:[Cueball leans in closer to the screen.]
:Cueball: ''Debbie Did 9/11?''
:Cueball: ''Time Jam: A Connecticut Huskie on King Arthur's Court?''
:Black Hat (off-panel): Really underrated ''Space Jam'' sequel.

:[Zoom in on the scene so nothing beneath the keyboard is visible. The screen and Cueballs head almost spans the width of the panel.]
:Cueball: ''Harold and Kumar Go to Howl's Moving Castle?''
:Cueball: ''A Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates?''
:Black Hat (off-panel): That's the original-the book was a novelization.

:[Back to Black Hat sitting in the chair as in the first panel, but leaning a bit further back and the arm on the armrest has been moved closer to him.]
:Cueball (off-panel): ''Michael Bay's The Vagina Monologues!?''
:Black Hat: It's pretty good, despite all the CGI explosions.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Fiction]]

1351: Metamaterials

2016-09-16T12:49:33Z

Chrullrich: /* Transcript */ Mention the color change.

{{comic
| number = 1351
| date = April 4, 2014
| title = Metamaterials
| image = metamaterials.png
| titletext = If I developed a hue-shifting metamaterial, I would photobomb people's Instagram pics with a sheet of material that precisely undid the filter they were using.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Metamaterials}}, artificially-created structures typically made from several materials in a microscopic checkerboard pattern, are famous for allowing bizarre optical properties, such as {{w|Metamaterial cloaking|invisibility cloaks}}. This comic imagines that metamaterials can change the color of light passing through them.

In the real world a metamaterial can alter the spatial distribution of light and also its frequency, like done in {{w|Fluorescent lamp}}s — but this would not resemble the entire picture in a different color. In photography many {{w|Photographic filter#Color conversion|filters}} are used to enhance the quality and appearance of the image. These filters do not alter colors but block some of them, so the result is shown in a different color than the original. Nevertheless, no application like this is able to switch a single color to another as it can be done by most modern computer photo programs.

[[Megan]] uses a box made of her metamaterial to switch the colors of the cliché Valentine's Day poem, "{{w|Roses are red}}, violets are blue, sugar is sweet and so are you."

The title text references this with [[Randall]] pondering making a metamaterial that reverses the effect of {{w|instagram}} filters, likely by placing the material between the camera and the subject just before the picture is taken without the photographer noticing - a so-called {{W|photobombing}}. Instagram is a photo application that applies one of a variety of filters like {{w|Color theory|hue-shift}} or contrast adjustments meant to simulate the look of old photographs. These filters may be able to interchange blue and red - as they are not real material filters.

==Transcript==
:[An image of a violet that is colored red.]
:Megan (off-screen):
:Violets are red.
:[An image of a rose that is colored blue.]
:Megan (off-screen):
:And roses are blue.
:[Megan and Cueball are standing around a table, on which a screen is in front of the rose and violet. Megan is in front of a lectern with a mic. All of this is on a stage.]
:Megan:
:When metamaterials
:[Same scene, but Megan moves the screen away from in front of the rose and violet. It is revealed that the flowers' actual colors are those from the original poem, i.e. the violet is blue and the rose is red.]
:Megan:
:Alter their hue.

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