explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2748: Radians Are Cursed

2023-03-12T09:58:49Z

Cosmogoblin:

how do transcript [[Special:Contributions/172.70.127.37|172.70.127.37]] 19:23, 10 March 2023 (UTC)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_degree may be of some help with this one. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.124|162.158.166.124]] 19:44, 10 March 2023 (UTC)

The comic isn't actually correct. A radian is not equal to the length of a circle's radius; it is equal to the length of the radius, multiplied by 2π, divided by the perimeter, which is why it has no units, while the length does. In other words, radian/2pi=length of radius/length of perimeter. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.46.84|172.70.46.84]] 19:51, 10 March 2023 (UTC)

As suggested by the above Wikipedia link, square degrees are in fact often used in astronomical contexts. Also, it's quite standard to say that radian=1; see for example [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SI_derived_unit SI derived unit]. An angle is the ratio between the arc length and the radius, and we just optionally append "radian" for clarity. So 1 = 57.3 degrees is correct; Randall simply used the wrong argument to obtain it. [[User:Aseyhe|Aseyhe]] ([[User talk:Aseyhe|talk]]) 20:57, 10 March 2023 (UTC)
:I always understood radian to be the name of the unit, so by definition 1 radian=1. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:17, 10 March 2023 (UTC)
:It is a shame that astronomers don't use the proper unit for such things: the steradian. It is literally there for describing the 3D equivalent of angle. Oh well... --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.137|172.69.79.137]] 04:16, 11 March 2023 (UTC)
::It is a shame that astronomers don't use the proper for length, preferring ad-hoc units based on the solar system. But if you use a different ad-hoc unit based on the properties of the solar system they throw a hissy fit.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.38.150|172.70.38.150]] 06:51, 12 March 2023 (UTC)

Someone fix the vandalism, how do you upload images? --[[User:Purah126|Purah126]] ([[User talk:Purah126|talk]]) 03:06, 11 March 2023 (UTC)
:I'm doing it but that user needs to be blocked.
:To revert images, scroll down and click the revert link next to the last good version.
:And do not feed the trolls. ~ [[user:megan|Megan]] she/her [[user talk:megan|talk]]/[[special:contribs/megan|contribs]] 03:10, 11 March 2023 (UTC)

On reading this I vividly remembered a maths teacher once asking our class "What's 10% of a straight line?", and the looks of disgust and bewilderment when he said the answer was 18 degrees. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.147|172.70.86.147]] 08:31, 11 March 2023 (UTC)
:I just hope that was Celsius degrees (or Kelvin), rather than Fahrenheit(/Rankine). ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.190|172.71.242.190]] 10:51, 11 March 2023 (UTC)
::If you use Kelvin with degrees you have already lost...[[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.178|172.68.51.178]] 13:29, 11 March 2023 (UTC)

So the volume of the sky is 4/3 π r³ = 7,092,429 cubic degrees

Talk:2568: Spinthariscope

2022-01-15T10:15:42Z

Cosmogoblin:

Someone has already updated the Wikipedia page to mention this comic reference, before anyone here has gotten around to writing the explanation [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 19:56, 14 January 2022 (UTC)

I added an initial explanation, but I don't recognize the references to gallium and tritium (although I know what glowsticks are), so someone else should fill in about that. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 20:13, 14 January 2022 (UTC)

Seems like there's something off with how the "ratio" is worded. It is a safe and legal toy, so the "actual safety and legality" is actually high-ish, right? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.25|172.70.178.25]] 20:44, 14 January 2022 (UTC)

- If "actual safety" is a large number and "apparent safety" is a small number, then their ratio (actual divided by apparent) is a large number. If "sctual safety" is a small number and "apparent safety" is a large number, then their ratio is a small number. So the comic's wording is perfectly fine and logical, and the paragraph about products in the explanation is not needed. (It's also kind of, um, **untrue**, but I'm trying to be kind to whoever wrote it.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.99|172.70.114.99]] 21:44, 14 January 2022 (UTC)

:If you take the amount of screaming in terror (high for the spin-thingie) and DIVIDE by the actual danger (low for the spin-thingie), then you get a ratio that in a rational world would always be close to 1 - the worse something is, the more (rational) people would want it banned. I think his point is that the ho-hum factor, the LACK of protests, for throwing a sharp heavy object high in the air toward a group of other children, divided by the actual danger from said sharp heavy object thrown high toward other children, results in a value on the opposite end of the spectrum. I was one of the kids who threw these things around without thinking, and nobody ever objected. Fortunately, I never saw any kid get killed by them, but that was pure luck. Point being, I don’t think the wording in the comic is wrong; the ‘correction’ is.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.103|108.162.245.103]] 22:35, 14 January 2022 (UTC)

::On second thought, there is something confusing about the wording of the comic: it conflates safety and legality as if they were the same thing, but the fact that they are NOT the same is the problem.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.223|108.162.245.223]] 22:49, 14 January 2022 (UTC)
:::They're not the same, but they're correlated. While the government hasn't always been very dilligent about it, these days dangerous toys usually get banned. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:57, 14 January 2022 (UTC)

::But the comic don’t divide the large/low amount of screaming by the low/large amount of danger, but by the large/low amount of safety for spinthariscope/darts. Hence the formula of the comic results in a number close to 1 for both toys, and a regular toy (low amount of screaming divided by large amount of safety) results in a number closer to zero.
::[[User:While False|While False]] ([[User talk:While False|talk]]) 22:57, 14 January 2022 (UTC)

:::You’re right. The comic is misworded, but not by saying “ratio” instead of “product” - it’s misworded by saying “actual safety” when it means “actual danger” thus giving the ratio a backward meaning.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.77|108.162.245.77]] 23:17, 14 January 2022 (UTC)

::::Just so!
::::[[User:While False|While False]] ([[User talk:While False|talk]]) 23:28, 14 January 2022 (UTC)

:I believe the ratio is apparent danger vs actual danger. So spinthariscope would be 10 apparent danger / 1 actual danger. And the lawn darts would be the opposite end of the spectrum: 1 apparent danger / 10 actual danger. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.185|172.70.214.185]] 22:40, 14 January 2022 (UTC)

:To me it appears that you are describing the “perceived danger to actual danger” ratio, while the comic mentions the “perceived danger to actual safety” ratio, which would be of no extreme value (high number divided by high number) for a spinthariscope. So I think that the current explanation, while cumbersome and against the convention of use of ratios, is mathematically true.
:[[User:While False|While False]] ([[User talk:While False|talk]]) 22:57, 14 January 2022 (UTC)

Make your own Spinthariscope kiddies https://www.instructables.com/Pocket-Size-Spinthariscope/. [[User:Steve|Steve]] ([[User talk:Steve|talk]]) 21:05, 14 January 2022 (UTC)

The {{w|Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Laboratory}}, which was marketed in the early 1950s & contains more energetic radioactive sources (i.e. uranium ores), might possibly be more dangerous. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.143.22|172.70.143.22]] 21:28, 14 January 2022 (UTC)

{{w|Talk:Spinthariscope|The talk page for the Wikipedia article}} has an interesting exposition by an IP in 2010 of why these aren't dangerous and the various isotopes used. [[User:Yngvadottir|Yngvadottir]] ([[User talk:Yngvadottir|talk]]) 21:49, 14 January 2022 (UTC)

And with that simple strip, all existing spinthariscopes sold out. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.237|172.68.50.237]] 01:01, 15 January 2022 (UTC)

I remember the (pre-'80s) lawn-darts in the 'leisure equipment box' that our Cub/Scout unit took to every annual camp and other suitable weekend activities (here in the UK). High-density plastic (possibly with a metal slug enclosed within the 'point', to add to the flights' directional stablisation, but maybe ''just'' plastic) and all points and edges rounded. Probably still dangerous if inadvertently thrown straight-enough upwards with enough force that gravity eventually brings it straight back down upon the unwary head of the thrower (or that of a fellow participant awaiting their turn), but we seemed to avoid that predicament. Things like the hefty hockey-sticks (field-hockey), cricket bats and even threadbare boxing gloves probably caused more injuries that needed treatment. But probably more by good luck than any legitimate physical reason. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.77|172.70.162.77]] 03:09, 15 January 2022 (UTC)

I've just added info about decay chains, that there is beta and gamma radiation as well but at negligible doses. I wanted to give more information, but although I know some spinthariscopes use americium-241, I don't know the isotope of thorium used in others. Does anybody else know? [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 10:15, 15 January 2022 (UTC)

2568: Spinthariscope

2022-01-15T10:13:48Z

Cosmogoblin: /* Explanation */ Added decay chain information.

{{comic
| number = 2568
| date = January 14, 2022
| title = Spinthariscope
| image = spinthariscope.png
| titletext = Other high scorers are melt-in-your-hand aluminum-destroying gallium and tritium-powered glowsticks. Lawn darts are toward the other end.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SPINTHARISCOPE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
As stated in the comic, a {{w|spinthariscope}} is a device with a small amount of radioactive material ({{w|americium}} or {{w|thorium}}) and a screen. When one of the radioactive atoms decays, it emits an {{w|alpha particle}}, which strikes the screen, which emits a small flash of light. You can see these flashes by looking through a lens.

It was invented in 1903 initially as a scientific instrument, but was soon replaced by more accurate and quantitative devices. But the original device was still popular for some time as an educational toy for children, and you can still get them today.

The joke in the comic is that most people have little understanding of radiation, and overreact to any mention that something is radioactive. So when Cueball tells Megan, White Hat, and Ponytail that the toy contains radioactive material, they're shocked and scared. But the amount of radioactive material in the toy is very tiny and the radiation is itself so trivially contained that there's practically no risk from it. The short-ranged {{w|alpha particles}} are likely stopped by the lens through which the harmless flashes of light (from particles that instead hit and neutralise in the internal screen element) are seen. Alpha decay always leads to an unstable decay product, which results in further decay (always gamma decay, and sometimes beta decay as well) which are less easily blocked; but the amount of such radiation from these decay products is negligible.

The caption says that the ratio between the assumed danger and the actual safety is the highest of any known toy. As the actual safety would have to be low for that ratio to be high (while the perceived danger high), the caption appears to suggest that a spinthariscope would be of low safety. However the further examples given in the title text can only be understood as concerning a ratio of perceived danger to actual danger, which would render the claimed large number for the spinthariscope. Therefore the ratio described in the comic, ”apparent danger to actual safety”, is reasonably not the intended one, which instead would be “apparent danger to actual danger”.

The title text mentions some other materials/toys that sound dangerous but aren't. {{w|Gallium}} is a metallic element with a low melting point of 29.76°C (85.568°F) so it will melt in your hand. Additionally, gallium has strange properties when it interacts with aluminum, causing it to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgXNwLoS-Hw "melt"] or become brittle. {{w|Tritium}} is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, but {{w|Tritium radioluminescence|can be used}} to create {{w|glowstick}}s and other lighted objects. Though these two materials might thus seem dangerous, they are actually typically used perfectly safely.

At the opposite end of the spectrum is {{w|lawn darts}}, a toy containing large darts that are thrown into the air to fall back down onto a target that's placed or marked upon the ground quite near the players' positions. Contrary to the spinthariscope, which sounds dangerous but is actually harmless, lawn darts sound relatively innocent but can cause severe injury if you accidentally hit a person (and a few children were even killed), so they were banned in the US in the 1980s. When sharpened, these toys even [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EFAVGIylqE compare] quite favorably to weapons of war.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball, Megan, White Hat, and Ponytail standing in a line. Cueball is holding a spinthariscope. Megan has her arms bent in a defensive position. White Hat has his arms raised in fear and Ponytail is pointing at Cueball.]

:Cueball: It's a spinthariscope, a 1940s toy with a radioactive isotope inside. If you let your eyes adjust to total darkness and look into the lens, you can see the flashes of individual atoms decaying.
:Megan: What??
:White Hat: ''AAAAA!''
:Ponytail: Get it away!

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Fun fact: Spinthariscopes have the highest ratio of "that can't possibly be safe and legal" to actual safety and legality of any known toy.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Fun fact]]

Talk:2317: Pinouts

2020-06-08T21:42:47Z

Cosmogoblin:

Can we add this one to a new category, "Comics that Randall makes just to screw with xkcd wiki contributors"? I can think of plenty of candidates for this category! [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 21:42, 8 June 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2316: Hair Growth Rate

2020-06-07T20:04:17Z

Cosmogoblin:

Based on the rate at which I shed hair, mine must be growing at an above average rate or I'd be completely bald by now.
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 19:23, 5 June 2020 (UTC)

Is this a Dr. Seuss reference? The [https://seuss.fandom.com/wiki/Zed Zed] "all have one strand of hair up on each of their heads, their hair grows very fast, so fast, people say that they need a haircut everyday" [[User:Usernaminator|Usernaminator]] ([[User talk:Usernaminator|talk]]) 21:18, 5 June 2020 (UTC)

So, anybody have some idea how is this related to covid? :-) -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:30, 5 June 2020 (UTC)
: The link is clearly that there are no open barbers now! (THIS IS A JOKE) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.80|162.158.155.80]] 22:54, 5 June 2020 (UTC)
: i was like omigod a normal xkcd they freed randall celebrate celebrate!!!! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.52|108.162.216.52]] 22:38, 5 June 2020 (UTC)

Unrelated to the comic, but I just want to point out that (at least on my monitor), the kerning for "LIVES" in the new header is less than ideal. The "I" and the "V" blend together, looking like an "N" -- at least at the resolution displayed and the distance I view from -- so my mind reads "LNES" and fills in the missing "I" as "black lines matter." Which, for stick figures generally drawn in black on a white background is true, but....[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.61|162.158.74.61]] 23:01, 5 June 2020 (UTC)
: [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1015:_Kerning We all noticed...] [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 20:04, 7 June 2020 (UTC)

==Sound Effect Words==
*ZIIIP. A [https://www.google.com/search?q=%22ziiip%22+sound Google search] finds multiple uses of this sound.
*PWIFF. Off-topic. At [https://code.google.com/archive/p/pwiff/ Google Code Archive] ''pwiff'' is a library written in PHP that allows you to generate [https://www.google.com/search?q=swf+file SWF files].
*FWIP. At [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Fwip urban dictionary] ''fwip'' is a sound effect commonly used in [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=BL BL manga].
*BLIP. At [https://www.google.com/search?q=blip Oxford Dictionaries] ''blip'' is a short high-pitched sound made by an electronic device.
*ZHOOOP. A [https://www.google.com/search?q=%22zhooop%22+sound Google search] finds multiple uses of this sound.
*PEW. At [https://www.google.com/search?q=pew+pew Oxford Dictionaries] ''pew pew'' is the sound made by a laser gun.
--[[User:JohnB|JohnB]] ([[User talk:JohnB|talk]]) 08:58, 6 June 2020 (UTC)
:...while PewPewPewPewPew is the sound of a clerical error, when you have far too much seating to comfortably fit inside the church and end up with zero leg-room. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.121|162.158.154.121]] 11:57, 6 June 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2303: Error Types

2020-05-06T22:52:57Z

Cosmogoblin:

As of the time of this post, the title text is "Type IIII error: Mistaking tally marks for Roman neumerals". Is "neumerals" a typo, or is there a joke in there that I'm missing? [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 22:52, 6 May 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2259: Networking Problems

2020-01-25T09:39:15Z

Cosmogoblin:

I just had an issue the other day with copying disk images to a network drive using <code>smbclient</code> on Linux Mint. The transfer would only run at 1 to 2 MB/s. Then I discovered that if I opened the mounted drive in the GUI file explorer and refreshed the directory where I was copying the image to, it would consistently cause the copy operation to jump to 40 to 60 MB/s and stay there for the rest of the operation. I concluded that <code>smbclient</code> must run on actual sorcery. [[User:Aaron Rotenberg|Aaron Rotenberg]] ([[User talk:Aaron Rotenberg|talk]]) 18:02, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

:Sounds like the explorer is able to create some sort of cache that the transfer is able to use but not create. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 00:36, 25 January 2020 (UTC)

:The original <code>smbclient</code> implementation turned out to be virtually impossible, so the programmers gave up and used <code>import_ai()</code>. Unfortunately they then used <code>ai_solve(network.problems,0,0)</code> to set the maliciousness and capriciousness variables to zero, but a combination of off-by-one and roll-over errors mean that these two variables are maximized. True story. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 09:39, 25 January 2020 (UTC)

Yeah, can confirm that even the high end of 'normal computer problems' can result in belief in the occult and/or paranormal operation of computers. I now attempt to moderate my brainwaves into positive only flow to make sure I do not negatively effect the computer through quantum effects on the bits and operation. If i get frustrated or confused by the computer for an extended time, i put it down and walk away until I have more of a 'can do' attitude. Then of coarse there was that time that.... it may be too late for me, but there are puzzling computer problems to explore so I... remember me as I was. ~Litppunk 18:26, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

"Ghosts generally are not concerned with expressions of belief, but there are some religious traditions that include group clapping and chanting." - I don't think the hover text is related to the ghosts. They seem just like two separate unbelievable things. "Perhaps the ghost in question is the Holy Ghost." - I doubt that is what he is referring to, especially since it is plural 'ghosts' and the Holy Ghost is singular. [[User:Curtobi4|Curtobi4]] ([[User talk:Curtobi4|talk]]) 18:44, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

Clearly seems related to 1457, albeit with much more advanced tech issues. --[[User:GoldNinja|GoldNinja]] ([[User talk:GoldNinja|talk]]) 19:18, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

Clapping hands and saying you believe in fairys is how you prevent Tinkerbell from Dying when you watch Peter Pan.{{unsigned|108.162.241.32}}
:Yeah, the interactive part of the play/movie/comix. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 00:36, 25 January 2020 (UTC)

: '''Pareidolia''' (one of my least favorite words because I can't spell it well enough to google for the correct spelling) is a definite problem for the human brain - we habitually spot patterns where they don't exist. But the problem for software engineers is that spotting patterns that '''DO''' exist is how you find bugs. So distinguishing between real patterns and pareidolia ('i' before 'e' except after 'c'...and 'r'...sometimes...) is a vital part of the job. Clearly Cueball has that problem here. [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 20:48, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

I know it's hyperbole, but are there any actual networking problems that could cause every other packet to be laggy? [[User:Blacksilver|Blacksilver]] ([[User talk:Blacksilver|talk]]) 21:17, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

:Nothing I can think of you'd ever do in a production setup on purpose, but with some really crazy port-channel settings, with the right kind of tiny packets like a SYN, and a downstream bridge or repeater to add in some intentional delay, I think you could. Never underestimate the power of a sufficiently motivated netadmin. [[User:DevAudio|DevAudio]] ([[User talk:DevAudio|talk]]) 22:55, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

The classic 500-mile bug: "We can't send mail more than 500 miles" http://web.mit.edu/jemorris/humor/500-miles

While I don't believe that ghosts have power over computers, I do believe that many of the seemingly random "hiccups" in my computer programs are caused by sunspots. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 22:52, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

Disagree strongly that this has anything to do with seeing patterns where they don't exist. Modern network troubleshooting tools will show you exactly the order that packets were received, and the time they were received at. Although it would be hard to induce the problem described, if it '''were''' induced, you could indeed see it quite clearly and objectively in a packet capture. This comic is more about some of the brain-breakingly twisted ways networking can go awry and all the impossible things it can make you want to believe in the quest to make sense of what we are seeing. [[User:DevAudio|DevAudio]] ([[User talk:DevAudio|talk]]) 23:02, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

: I will correct myself slightly - it would seem from the mouseover text that he is finding a false pattern, but it's not impossible for what he said to be true, it would just require laboratory conditions and someone playing a prank. He could also be seeing a real pattern with some kind of crazy cause involving a sound transducer and either EMI or some intentional sabotage. Yeah, that's waaaay off in left field, but so is the network data Cueball may be actually be seeing. On the whole, I would not fight someone who chose to believe Cueball is seeing a false pattern with the clapping. It's a reasonable interpretation for anyone who hasn't seen the insane things I have when troubleshooting networks. I HAVE seen ghost packets. (It was a weird glitch causing a switch to replay packets from hosts that weren't even connected anymore, not actual paranormal activity.) [[User:DevAudio|DevAudio]] ([[User talk:DevAudio|talk]]) 23:34, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

Strictly speaking, I don't think lag is about how long transmission of a packet takes, which is instead referred to as {{w|network delay}}. Furthermore, from the referenced Wikipedia page, network delay is experienced in each "hop" of the data packet from node to node and includes the following delays: processing delay (time to process the packet header), queuing delay (time packet spends in routing queue), transmission delay (time to push the packet onto the link), and propagation delay (time to travel to destination based on the speed of the link). IMHO, a laggy network connection is one where the network delay is longer than normal due to a temporary problem in one or more of these areas. A connection that is always slow because of low link bandwidth is not laggy, it's just slow. Others may disagree with me. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 03:02, 25 January 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2229: Rey and Kylo

2019-11-16T08:46:48Z

Cosmogoblin:

There should be discussion / analysis around the choice of "pandering" to cosmologists in this comic, as there has been a lot of outrage around the last few star wars movies that they are "pandering" to identities and diversity. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.112|172.68.174.112]] 22:34, 15 November 2019 (UTC)

Of course the Star Wars environs tend to be seen with the hue of conflict and not of peace. Our information derived from that long ago and that far away is going to be greatly red-shifted! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.199|162.158.154.199]] 00:36, 16 November 2019 (UTC)

Is ''The Force Awakens'' really the one that people accuse of pandering? If anything, I would think it's ''The Last Jedi.'' It not only had more progressive elements, it also heavy-handedly sold the "even you can be a Jedi" message to kids. --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.142.22|172.69.142.22]] 04:20, 16 November 2019 (UTC)
: Agreed, I have yet to see The Last Jedi (I tend to be very late, only catching movies when a TV channel airs them. I only just saw Rogue One), and I know I haven't seen the controversial one. The controversy I heard about centred around casting an Asian woman - who I think I've seen in some comedy videos so I expect to spot and recognize her - which casting lured all the racists out into the open (I still dunno why they thought she was a wrong choice, Star Wars has always had a huge variety of races both real and implied, I'm hoping that when I see the movie I'll find out). Then again, the Black Stormtrooper choice in Force Awakens seemed unquestionably pandering, they already established that all stormtroopers are clones of Jango Fett (and indirectly Boba Fett). Recruiting from a clearly non-sympathetic populace makes no sense, raising kidnapped babies (as I recall the explanation here) necessitates pure expense (housing, clothing, feeding, without any payback until they're old enough to fight) and training them themselves, and the problems with both is perfectly encapsulated in The Force Awakens, which is why they went with cloning an elite warrior in the first place, in the hopes of resulting in blindly loyal pre-trained soldiers. Feels like a blatant attempt to add a black character - which is extra stupid since as I recall the Fetts aren't even white anyway! LOL! (I have the exact same objection to making what's-her-face Brienne from Game Of Thrones the Silver Stormtrooper commander - despite that I loved her inclusion - but I haven't heard any complaints about her, probably because we never see her face in that movie) :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:18, 16 November 2019 (UTC)

I have to say I'm disappointed that Randall didn't mention the obvious problems. "A long time ago" - how long? "A galaxy far, far away" - how far? Which galaxy? Without these figures, any intergalactic attempt to pin down the variability of universal constants is doomed to failure. And let's be honest, if we DID have these figures, Kylo and Ren's efforts would likely be superfluous, as we can estimate things like the fine-structure constant through observations of lightsaber physics, Big G from the strength of the Force, and the curvature of spacetime by analyzing hyperspace travel. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 08:46, 16 November 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2122: Size Venn Diagram

2019-03-11T17:55:54Z

Cosmogoblin:

I think Randall kind of missed an opportunity with the title text: he should have used the new terms as a way to fill the blank areas in the diagram, for instance 'Great Emerald' for the currently empty set Great+Small+Little+Large.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.221|141.101.99.221]] 14:31, 11 March 2019 (UTC)
:No, I think the diagram itself is meant to be completely correct. But I didn't check all 100+ combinations. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 14:57, 11 March 2019 (UTC)
::Yes, I believe the diagram is correct now, but as per the title text Randall will start using new combinations of terms, probably to get their usage mainstream and move the location of the words in the diagram. I'm saying he should have created terms that would fill some blank areas. For instance, his Large Dipper would make Dipper appear in the Big+Little+Large area where we already have League.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.95|141.101.99.95]] 15:16, 11 March 2019 (UTC)
:::I understood what you said (the first time around) and agree. Randall's title text is to acknowledge or engage the patterns he's discovered in the comic (as usual), and he could do that more thoroughly by making up words that would make the chart more balanced. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.100|162.158.78.100]] 16:27, 11 March 2019 (UTC)
:He could also have placed “man” between “little” and “big” just to reference the movie ☺

Any such diagram will inevitably have small lacunae. But "Friendly Giant" is a particularly large one. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.172|162.158.63.172]] 15:21, 11 March 2019 (UTC)

Endian? Scott? Tits?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.112|108.162.219.112]] 15:23, 11 March 2019 (UTC)

Besides the transcript of what's in each category, what about a table to explain ''why'' the items categorized as they are, like:
{| class="wikitable"
!Item
!Big
!Great
!Large
!Little
!Small
|-
|Island
|Hawaii
|Cork Harbor, Ireland
|Antilles
|movie
|novel, movie
|-
|Pox
|n/a
|syphilis
|n/a
|n/a
|disease
|-
|White
|BC ski resort
|shark
|pig
|n/a
|butterfly
|}
{Unsigned|172.69.62.160}
:Yeah, it seems reasonable, I like it. Add it [[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 15:57, 11 March 2019 (UTC)
::Second but leave the unused cells blank dont put N/A in the cell. [[User:M|M]] ([[User talk:M|talk]]) 16:15, 11 March 2019 (UTC)

I don't know why, but the shape of this diagram feels really satisfying to me. [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 16:29, 11 March 2019 (UTC)
:For me it’s just hard to look at. [[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 16:41, 11 March 2019 (UTC)
:Came here to say exactly that. The symmetry is really pleasing. I've been considering how effective adding colours would be as well. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 17:55, 11 March 2019 (UTC)

Again I wonder if he does these sorts of comics just to see how far we'll take it [[User:Cgrimes85|Cgrimes85]] ([[User talk:Cgrimes85|talk]]) 16:51, 11 March 2019 (UTC)

Uhhh...isn’t the bottom part just the transcript?[[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 17:08, 11 March 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2091: Million, Billion, Trillion

2018-12-28T17:20:00Z

Cosmogoblin:

I actually think we have ''too many names'' for large numbers. It's really only necessary to introduce a new name when you reach the ''square'' of the previous name. So, we'd still have tens and hundreds, but there's no need for "one thousand, one hundred" when you can just have "eleven hundred". We'd be better off just naming 10^4, 10^8, 10^16, 10^32, and that's already well beyond anything needed for normal usage, with only a handful of names. None of this "quattuordecillion" stuff that no-one can remember without sitting down and working it out. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.86.64|172.68.86.64]] 05:32, 28 December 2018 (UTC)
: And what you get is a super-weird "double-log" scale! The British (and other nations') usage is correct. Anything above thousand is completely abstract for a human being and intuitively nonlinear (some nations - ancient Greeks and others - go as far as ten thousands, a myriad, but this is it). A thousand squared is already far beyond intuition so it is a good candidate for a new unit representing A BIG NUMBER, plus log scale is a good abstraction allowing for rapid expansion in magnitude. So taking Latin numerals and adding an -illion suffix (except the irregular million) for subsequent powers of 10^6 is a really convenient system. Of course, it goes only as far as ordinary Latin numbers go, then you need to invent something else, but at this point it's only for entertainment. For anything physical you probably would never need a number much larger than a googol. -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.90|162.158.90.90]] 09:26, 28 December 2018 (UTC)

: I think we should refrain from saying one usage is correct over the other - that's just arrogant and mean. That said, the current explanation states that usage is different between American and British English, but my reading on Wikipedia (which is already hyperlinked in the explanation) states that in recent decades Britain has declared their use of short units and therefore British English is now the same as American English. The only regions where it appears there is still usage of the long system is in French and Spanish speaking regions, as well as some special cases around the world. Don't shoot the messenger - I'm just repeating what it states on the Wikipedia page. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 10:15, 28 December 2018 (UTC)

:: Rereading the Wikipedia page, it was in 1974 that Britain declared their use of the short scale for large numbers. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 10:19, 28 December 2018 (UTC)

::: Actually, Germany also uses the "long" (i.e. natural) scale to this day, and I remember how much trouble I had understanding the American system. As the second comment above states, the long scale is (prefix)-llion = 10^(prefix*6), or (prefix)-lliard''e'' = 10^(prefix*6+3); whereas in the short system, (prefix)-llion = 10^(prefix*3+3), which is rather less obvious, if you have any intuition for numbers (and a little Latin). [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lange_und_kurze_Skala German Wikipedia] tells me that the long scale was invented 1484/1550 by French mathematicians, and the short one in the 17th century in Italy and France by some geniuses that thought when grouping the digits on paper by three instead of six, they should change the group names to make confusion complete. Also, they claim official usage of the short variant is in USA, Brazil, and English-language finance. The names for the systems, however, are from 1975, from yet another French mathematichan, Geneviève Guitel. --[[User:Khms|Khms]] ([[User talk:Khms|talk]]) 10:59, 28 December 2018 (UTC)

::: East Asian languages such as Japanese actually do use the power-4 scale, with the naming being ten, ten x ten = hundred, hundred x hundred = big'ousand, big'ousand x big'ousand = morebiggienoughty, morebiggienoughty x morebiggienoughty = superbiggienoughty, etc.

:::: Crore. Weird word unless you are in or from India. [[User:Snezzy|Snezzy]] ([[User talk:Snezzy|talk]]) 11:48, 28 December 2018 (UTC)

I said this earlier, and I'm going to say it again - the split between use of the short scale and the long scale is NOT a U.S. thing, nor an Atlantic Ocean thing! Just navigate to the hyperlinked page on Wikipedia, and scroll down to the graphic map showing who uses which system to see this very clearly. The majority of the globe uses the short scale except for the following regions: Europe other than Britain, Iran, some countries in Africa, and some countries in Latin America and South America, as well as French speaking regions in otherwise short-scale countries. Notable non-U.S. short-scale countries include Russia and Australia, along with Eastern South America and most of Africa. It's frustrating when people insist on making something about those U.S.A. people that has nothing to do with us. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 14:51, 28 December 2018 (UTC)

: Even the line containing the "In Britian" hyperlink does NOT say what the linked page actually states - that Britain uses the short-scale now, although they used the long-scale quite some time ago (before 1974). [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 14:58, 28 December 2018 (UTC)

The line that includes "Though people in Britain often use the American definition as of the past few decades" is a bit misleading. In fact, the government of Great Britain announced, proclaimed, and declared that they will officially use the short-scale scheme in 1974. If you live there and are still using the long-scale system, then per your countries leadership you are wrong! The short-scale system is YOUR definition, not the American definition. Interestingly, we didn't invent the short-scale system because it was brought to the Americas by Europeans before the United States of America was even founded! We just continued to use it because it's all we knew until Randall came along and pointed out how screwed up the rest of the world is! [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 15:46, 28 December 2018 (UTC)

Long live scientific / exponential notation! 16:19, 28 December 2018 (UTC)~

Set the first tick on the y-axis to have value 0, and set the last tick to have value 5. Then, the y-values of all the y-axis ticks are 0, 1.0053, 1.9973, 3.0127, 3.9947, and 5, approximately as expected. (The x-axis is at y-value -0.9903.) Now, setting the x-axis as the base-10 logarithm, the points' coordinates are as follows: (6, 0.5388); (7, 2.4800); (8, 3.7672); (9, 1.8009); (10, 3.3622); (11, 4.2860); (12, 3.2495); (13, 4.1125); (14, 4.5939). [[User:LegionMammal978|LegionMammal978]] ([[User talk:LegionMammal978|talk]]) 16:24, 28 December 2018 (UTC)

I'd even say that 999,999,999 (especially when worded in full) seems like a way bigger number than 1 billion, despite being one less. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.28|108.162.229.28]] 16:42, 28 December 2018 (UTC)

The graph reminded me of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia#Number_form number-form synaesthesia], which I have. My number shape (and most people's) is different though, and much more curly. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 17:20, 28 December 2018 (UTC)

Talk:2078: Popper

2018-11-29T13:04:29Z

Cosmogoblin:

I think this might have to do with the President's claims regarding climate change, there's no evidence that I'm not wrong [[User:Zachweix|Zachweix]] ([[User talk:Zachweix|talk]]) 18:08, 28 November 2018 (UTC)
:I don't think you're wrong. I've never seen any evidence that you're wrong. I've never met the guy (I've definitely met the guy).
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 19:49, 28 November 2018 (UTC)

I have no evidence to prove that the comic's explanation is incorrect. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.90.112|172.68.90.112]] 18:10, 28 November 2018 (UTC)SiliconWolf

: I haven't failed to find no evidence that doesn't prove that you're not incorrect. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 13:03, 29 November 2018 (UTC)

This comic is almost doubly self-referential. Has Randall done that before? Has anyone asked if somebody has done that before? What about asking that: has that been done before? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.64|172.68.174.64]] 18:39, 28 November 2018 (UTC)

Talk:2078: Popper

2018-11-29T13:03:45Z

Cosmogoblin:

I think this might have to do with the President's claims regarding climate change, there's no evidence that I'm not wrong [[User:Zachweix|Zachweix]] ([[User talk:Zachweix|talk]]) 18:08, 28 November 2018 (UTC)
:I don't think you're wrong. I've never seen any evidence that you're wrong. I've never met the guy (I've definitely met the guy).
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 19:49, 28 November 2018 (UTC)

: I haven't failed to find no evidence that doesn't prove that you're not incorrect. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 13:03, 29 November 2018 (UTC)

I have no evidence to prove that the comic's explanation is incorrect. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.90.112|172.68.90.112]] 18:10, 28 November 2018 (UTC)SiliconWolf

This comic is almost doubly self-referential. Has Randall done that before? Has anyone asked if somebody has done that before? What about asking that: has that been done before? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.64|172.68.174.64]] 18:39, 28 November 2018 (UTC)

Talk:2077: Heist

2018-11-29T13:01:04Z

Cosmogoblin:

You know, this isn't just a movie trope, this is an actual technique that is used ALL the time: https://youtu.be/rnmcRTnTNC8?t=2000 Is this worth mentioning in the explanation? [[User:Cgrimes85|Cgrimes85]] ([[User talk:Cgrimes85|talk]]) 16:42, 26 November 2018 (UTC)

:Probably because it works, and it probably works because real service people are really this bad authenticated. It's even worse in emergency: there is rarely time for proper authentication during emergency ... which is why the criminals would create or fake an emergency to get in. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 00:22, 27 November 2018 (UTC)

:Last place I worked letting a guy in without a current visitor's pass *and* an escort was a termination offense, and they ran drills regularly, and everyone knew someone who knew someone who'd gotten canned for it, or said they knew someone anyway. -- [[User:Resuna|Resuna]] ([[User talk:Resuna|talk]]) 20:36, 28 November 2018 (UTC)

The movie Dope does a reverse cryptocurrency heist. That counts, right? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dope_%282015_film%29

There are no movies about cryptocurrency heists yet (to the best of my knowledge), but this is probably how one would look like.

Tweaked the grammar in the early, short explanation. Didn't fundamentally change the text, but I'm not sure that worrying about being "a minor character" is quite correct as the text of the comic quantifies that as being _in a heist_. Cueball's worries may not just be about his life being nothing more than a minor character in a movie, but possibly also of potential legal / professional liability as an accessory or accomplice. By knowing or supposing that the one asking for access is a criminal and/or should not have access -- and granting it anyway -- that may be enough to charge him with facilitation of the crime [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessory_(legal_term)#Criminal_facilitation as it is (in some jurisdictions) a crime to "provide" a person with "means or opportunity" to commit a crime, "believing it probable that he is rendering aid to a person who intends to commit a crime."]

But he has a white hat! We don't have to worry if they wear a white hat, right? On the other hand, he's "from the building"? What the heck does that mean? Cueball best knock the white hat off to eliminate any cognitive dissonance and then call his supervisor. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.90.112|172.68.90.112]] 19:28, 26 November 2018 (UTC) SiliconWolf

: I interpreted “from the building” as meaning that (he claims) he’s with the people who own the building, while the people who Cueball’s affiliated with (presumably some corporation) just rent it from them. The building owners stand to lose a lot more than the renters if the building burns down, so they presumably want to deal with smoke detectors themselves.
:: From [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6264636/ |"The Building"] might _also_ refer to the TV series about people trapped in skyscaper which is actually an alternate reality. .. But I seriously doubt it. ..or do I? [[User:Iggynelix|Iggynelix]] ([[User talk:Iggynelix|talk]]) 21:40, 26 November 2018 (UTC)

: I thought "from the building" was a clue, like a badly worded phishing msg. I also thought the mouse-over was the typical clueless/naive, not sarcastic [[User:Afbach|Afbach]] ([[User talk:Afbach|talk]])

: Minor characters in movies like this tend to suffer unpleasant consequences ... I figured Cueball was worried about being gunned down, or fed into a wood chipper. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 13:01, 29 November 2018 (UTC)

Is it just me or is that cap really nicely drawn? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.40|162.158.114.40]] 14:46, 27 November 2018 (UTC)

:I was thinking the exact same thing! Randall has really been upping his game over the years! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.244|108.162.245.244]] 15:17, 27 November 2018 (UTC)

Talk:2055: Bluetooth

2018-10-07T12:01:11Z

Cosmogoblin:

Wireless charging standard may be a pun on the word "charging." Vikings were certainly known for "charging" into battle, and so Harald may indeed have invented a "wireless charging standard" or a standardized way for his Vikings to enter a battle. If so, it was unlikely to have used wires. {{unsigned|Tomkonrad}}

Uh, I don't know anything really about Bluetooth, but do they really use accelerometer timing? That doesn't sound right... [[Special:Contributions/172.68.90.88|172.68.90.88]] 17:34, 5 October 2018 (UTC)SiliconWolf
: If you read it again, you should notice that WhiteHat admits that he's lying. Bluetooth doesn't pair that way. He was joking. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 19:05, 5 October 2018 (UTC)

My headphones use NFC to connect to my phone, I just have to hold the two devices together and they connect! Except they don't, in 90% of cases it doesn't react or I have to move it around a lot. But at least I can just turn the headphones and bluetooth on my phone on and they connect! Unless I have used the headphones for a different device previously, then I need to manually initiate the connection on my phone. Or just randomly when it isn't in a connection-making mood right now. But at least they work on all devices with Bluetooth! Except on my old laptop and my desktop PC (with bluetooth dongle), there it either has a horrible audio quality or completely freezes the system. But at least… No. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 17:37, 5 October 2018 (UTC)
: My tablet connects to any Bluetooth audio device, no problem; as long as I make it "Forget" every other device in its pairing list first, otherwise it tries to pair to a device which isn't even around. Also, my Mom's car doesn't have GPS navigation or 4G LTE service, but it doesn't seem to have a way to turn off Bluetooth, 4G, or the OnStar system, either. Also, her friend uses a set of Bluetooth speakers to play audio from her Mac, but you can only connect one speaker at a time unless you run a proprietary app which doesn't work very well. Also, neither my phone nor my tablet will transfer any file larger than 1MB by Bluetooth, since a couple system updates over a year ago (Oh, & only a few file types, too). Also, the audio delay when watching videos with Bluetooth audio is so pronounced I have to use a media player with manual A\V synch controls. Also, controlling a "smart TV" by Bluetooth doesn't work anymore for some reason, unless I install a specific app for each TV brand; Infrared still works fine. Also, I've still never had a Bluetooth headset that continues to work when the playback device is in my pocket & I take a step forward. Also, there's a Bluetooth HCI log file stored in my internal memory which gradually grows to hundreds of megs even though I don't have the setting for that log turned on. Also, whenever I turn Location on, or even exit Airplane mode, Bluetooth, WiFi, & NFC all activate briefly, even though I keep them turned off as much as possible; The icons don't light up, but my other devices show the polling attempts in their logs. I got suspicious enough to do a diagnostic & some scans, but aside from the usual usage-tracking from Google, there doesn't seem to be any spyware or malware installed. Bluetooth is awful. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 19:05, 5 October 2018 (UTC)

I miss the jokes in the incomplete discussion banner. Is there really not enough room for both a quip ''and'' the instructions? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.154|108.162.245.154]] 21:16, 5 October 2018 (UTC)

[https://www.impossible.com/josiah/ Josiah Bluetooth] [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 21:25, 5 October 2018 (UTC)

I tried to share link over bluetooth to three people. For one, it worked completely flawlessly. Second one got the file but then it got lost somehow and was unable to use the content. Third one ... the phones didn't even see each other. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:20, 5 October 2018 (UTC)

This car comes with Bluetooth compatibility. What's Bluetooth? Bluetooth is Bluetooth? What is it? BlUuUuUeEeEeToOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoth [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.70|162.158.78.70]] 13:24, 6 October 2018 (UTC)

I’ve actually had a relatively positive experience with Bluetooth lately, at least compared to how it used to be. These days it’s actually useable, airpods work great to pair easily with other apple devices (usually).

Also where my old car couldn’t be connected to Bluetooth unless you wanted a deafening sound to blare whenever you got a call, and it couldn’t be used to play music, my new car’s media system works pretty well with Bluetooth music, the only annoyance being that when the car is set to a different audio source the phone still tries to route audio to it through Bluetooth, so there is silence when you expect sound from the phone, until you manually change it back to output through its internal speakers.

Bluetooth is still far from perfect, but it’s actually useable now, a huge leap from a few years ago. [[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 16:38, 6 October 2018 (UTC)

It's still hit and miss a lot of times, depending on the devices in question. My friend's car has Bluetooth, and when it worked it worked great. But then every once in a while it would stop working, he'd ask me as his tech friend to try to get it working, and I couldn't... and then he had to take it to the car dealership to get it working. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 20:45, 6 October 2018 (UTC)

I think the "Josiah" is a reference to "Josiah Wedgwood," a famous English entrepreneur and potter. Should this be added? {{unsigned|172.68.141.4|00:39, 7 October 2018}}

:If you think it is a reference, without more, then no it should not be added. If you want to post here what the reasons are (why do you think so?), then we can evaluate them and recommend. But without more, no. Certainly a casual review of {{w|Josiah Wedgwood}} doesn't give any obvious reasons to connect him with "Josiah Bluetooth." p.s.: please sign your posts (with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>). [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 02:04, 7 October 2018 (UTC)

Years ago I bought a Linux-compatible USB Bluetooth dongle. It had several pages of detailed and complex instructions for Windows and Mac, indicating the exact order of operations - if one connected the device before installing drivers and rebooting, for instance, one would have to dig deep into the OS and remove various automatically-installed components - but I couldn't find any instructions for Linux. Finally I found them - it was one line, "Plug the dongle in". Worked perfectly.

On the other hand, my very good headphones, which have the wireless connection on the right ear, still lose connection to my laptop if I turn my head to the right... [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 12:00, 7 October 2018 (UTC)

Talk:2055: Bluetooth

2018-10-07T12:00:43Z

Cosmogoblin:

Wireless charging standard may be a pun on the word "charging." Vikings were certainly known for "charging" into battle, and so Harald may indeed have invented a "wireless charging standard" or a standardized way for his Vikings to enter a battle. If so, it was unlikely to have used wires. {{unsigned|Tomkonrad}}

Uh, I don't know anything really about Bluetooth, but do they really use accelerometer timing? That doesn't sound right... [[Special:Contributions/172.68.90.88|172.68.90.88]] 17:34, 5 October 2018 (UTC)SiliconWolf
: If you read it again, you should notice that WhiteHat admits that he's lying. Bluetooth doesn't pair that way. He was joking. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 19:05, 5 October 2018 (UTC)

My headphones use NFC to connect to my phone, I just have to hold the two devices together and they connect! Except they don't, in 90% of cases it doesn't react or I have to move it around a lot. But at least I can just turn the headphones and bluetooth on my phone on and they connect! Unless I have used the headphones for a different device previously, then I need to manually initiate the connection on my phone. Or just randomly when it isn't in a connection-making mood right now. But at least they work on all devices with Bluetooth! Except on my old laptop and my desktop PC (with bluetooth dongle), there it either has a horrible audio quality or completely freezes the system. But at least… No. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 17:37, 5 October 2018 (UTC)
: My tablet connects to any Bluetooth audio device, no problem; as long as I make it "Forget" every other device in its pairing list first, otherwise it tries to pair to a device which isn't even around. Also, my Mom's car doesn't have GPS navigation or 4G LTE service, but it doesn't seem to have a way to turn off Bluetooth, 4G, or the OnStar system, either. Also, her friend uses a set of Bluetooth speakers to play audio from her Mac, but you can only connect one speaker at a time unless you run a proprietary app which doesn't work very well. Also, neither my phone nor my tablet will transfer any file larger than 1MB by Bluetooth, since a couple system updates over a year ago (Oh, & only a few file types, too). Also, the audio delay when watching videos with Bluetooth audio is so pronounced I have to use a media player with manual A\V synch controls. Also, controlling a "smart TV" by Bluetooth doesn't work anymore for some reason, unless I install a specific app for each TV brand; Infrared still works fine. Also, I've still never had a Bluetooth headset that continues to work when the playback device is in my pocket & I take a step forward. Also, there's a Bluetooth HCI log file stored in my internal memory which gradually grows to hundreds of megs even though I don't have the setting for that log turned on. Also, whenever I turn Location on, or even exit Airplane mode, Bluetooth, WiFi, & NFC all activate briefly, even though I keep them turned off as much as possible; The icons don't light up, but my other devices show the polling attempts in their logs. I got suspicious enough to do a diagnostic & some scans, but aside from the usual usage-tracking from Google, there doesn't seem to be any spyware or malware installed. Bluetooth is awful. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 19:05, 5 October 2018 (UTC)

I miss the jokes in the incomplete discussion banner. Is there really not enough room for both a quip ''and'' the instructions? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.154|108.162.245.154]] 21:16, 5 October 2018 (UTC)

[https://www.impossible.com/josiah/ Josiah Bluetooth] [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 21:25, 5 October 2018 (UTC)

I tried to share link over bluetooth to three people. For one, it worked completely flawlessly. Second one got the file but then it got lost somehow and was unable to use the content. Third one ... the phones didn't even see each other. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:20, 5 October 2018 (UTC)

This car comes with Bluetooth compatibility. What's Bluetooth? Bluetooth is Bluetooth? What is it? BlUuUuUeEeEeToOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoth [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.70|162.158.78.70]] 13:24, 6 October 2018 (UTC)

I’ve actually had a relatively positive experience with Bluetooth lately, at least compared to how it used to be. These days it’s actually useable, airpods work great to pair easily with other apple devices (usually).

Also where my old car couldn’t be connected to Bluetooth unless you wanted a deafening sound to blare whenever you got a call, and it couldn’t be used to play music, my new car’s media system works pretty well with Bluetooth music, the only annoyance being that when the car is set to a different audio source the phone still tries to route audio to it through Bluetooth, so there is silence when you expect sound from the phone, until you manually change it back to output through its internal speakers.

Bluetooth is still far from perfect, but it’s actually useable now, a huge leap from a few years ago. [[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 16:38, 6 October 2018 (UTC)

It's still hit and miss a lot of times, depending on the devices in question. My friend's car has Bluetooth, and when it worked it worked great. But then every once in a while it would stop working, he'd ask me as his tech friend to try to get it working, and I couldn't... and then he had to take it to the car dealership to get it working. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 20:45, 6 October 2018 (UTC)

I think the "Josiah" is a reference to "Josiah Wedgwood," a famous English entrepreneur and potter. Should this be added? {{unsigned|172.68.141.4|00:39, 7 October 2018}}

:If you think it is a reference, without more, then no it should not be added. If you want to post here what the reasons are (why do you think so?), then we can evaluate them and recommend. But without more, no. Certainly a casual review of {{w|Josiah Wedgwood}} doesn't give any obvious reasons to connect him with "Josiah Bluetooth." p.s.: please sign your posts (with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>). [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 02:04, 7 October 2018 (UTC)

Years ago I bought a Linux-compatible USB Bluetooth dongle. It had several pages of detailed and complex instructions for Windows and Mac, indicating the exact order of operations - if one connected the device before installing drivers and rebooting, for instance, one would have to dig deep into the OS and remove various automatically-installed components - but I couldn't find any instructions for Linux. Finally I found them - it was one line, "Plug the dongle in". Worked perfectly.
On the other hand, my very good headphones, which have the wireless connection on the left ear, still lose connection to my laptop if I turn my head to the right... [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 12:00, 7 October 2018 (UTC)

2035: Dark Matter Candidates

2018-08-21T00:29:21Z

Cosmogoblin: /* Explanation */ Orbit lines: crystal spheres

{{comic
| number = 2035
| date = August 20, 2018
| title = Dark Matter Candidates
| image = dark_matter_candidates.png
| titletext = My theory is that dark matter is actually just a thin patina of grime covering the whole universe, and we don't notice it because we haven't thoroughly cleaned the place in eons.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Every section needs to be filled and explained. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{w|Dark matter}} is a hypothetical form of matter used by the vast majority of astronomers to explain the far too high apparent mass of objects at large scales in our universe. In galaxies, stars are orbiting faster than the gravitational force of the sum of the masses of visible matter in the galaxy could cause, and entire galaxies are observed moving much faster around each other than their visible masses could explain. In galactic collisions, the mass can appear to separate from the visible matter, as if the mass doesn't collide but the visible matter does. A small handful of galaxies have been observed to not have this property, suggesting that it is a *thing* that a galaxy can have more or less of and is separable from. At scales of our solar system, those effects are too small and can't be measured. In cosmology, dark matter is estimated to account for 85% of the total matter in the universe.

This comic gives a set of possibilities for what dark matter could possibly be, charted by mass from smallest (given in {{w|Electronvolt#Mass|electronvolts}}) to largest (given in kilograms). Masses in the range 10-15 kg to 10-3 kg are given in grams together with appropriate prefixes, while the ton takes the place of 103 kg.

The joke in this comic is that the range of the mass of the possible particles and objects stretch over 81 powers of ten, with explanations suggested by astronomers covering only some portions of that range. [[Randall]] fills the gaps with highly absurd suggestions.

;Axion
An {{w|axion}} is a hypothetical elementary particle that might be a component of dark matter.

;Sterile neutrino
{{w|Sterile neutrino|Sterile neutrinos}} are hypothetical particles interacting only via gravity. It's an actual candidate for dark matter.

;Electrons painted with space camouflage
{{w|Electron|Electrons}} are fundamental particles which compose the outer layers of atoms. A large number of electrons in the galaxy would be relatively easy to detect, as they not only interact with light (which dark matter does not appear to), but also have a strong electric charge. Presumably, space camouflage is a positively-charged coating which prevents electrons from interacting with light. (Needless to say, this is not an actual candidate for dark matter.) The mass of an electron is about 0.5 MeV which fits well into the graph.

;Neutralino
A {{w|neutralino}} is a hypothetical particle from {{w|Supersymmetry|supersymmetry}}, not something made up by Randall Munroe that sounds vaguely like one. It's an actual candidate for dark matter.

;Q-ball
In theoretical physics, a {{w|Q-ball}} is a stable group of particles. It's an actual candidate for dark matter.

In billiards, a cue ball is the white (or yellow) ball hit with the cue in normal play. In addition, [[Cueball]] is the name explainxkcd uses for the most common xkcd character.

;Pollen
{{w|Pollen}} is a joke candidate, though people with seasonal allergies may suspect that the universe is genuinely made up entirely of pollen in the springtime.

;No-See-Ums
{{w|Ceratopogonidae|No-See-Ums}} are a family (Ceratopogonidae) of small flies, 1–4 mm long, that can pass through most window screens. Another joke candidate.

;Bees
Insects of the clade {{w|bee|Antophila}} are major pollinators of flowering plants. Their flight defies all known fixed wing physics. In recent years {{w|Colony collapse disorder|bees have been disappearing}} at an alarming rate; {{w|The Stolen Earth|Doctor Who explained}} that they are in fact aliens leaving Earth prior to a Dalek invasion.

;8-balls
In pool, the {{w|Pool (cue sports)|8-ball}} is a black ball numbered 8. It's a pun with Q-ball/cue ball. Unless undetected aliens have discovered billiards and become addicted to it, 8-balls are found only on Earth and are, hence, unlikely dark matter candidates.

;Space Cows
Cows are {{w|Bovinae|bovines}} extensively farmed on Earth for milk and meat. Although there is folklore concerning cows {{w|Hey diddle diddle|achieving circum-lunar orbits}}, not to mention their appearance on a {{w|Shindig (Firefly)|space western TV show}}, they have yet to be found elsewhere in the Universe.

;Obelisks, Monoliths, Pyramids
While those human constructions are huge on a human scale, they're negligible at universe-scale. It would take a large number of such constructions, distributed through space, to replicate the effects of dark matter; while a scenario could be envisioned where enough such constructs existed, with properties and distribution allowing them to match observations, this is obviously not a likely explanation.
They often show up in fiction and pseudo-scientific literature as alien artifacts generating immense unknown power out of nowhere, with the most famous and influential example being the three monoliths from {{w|2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|2001: A Space Odyssey}} (with the largest having a mass of about 500,000 tonnes).

;Black Holes ruled out by:
{{w|Black hole|Black holes}} are known to occur in sizes of a few sun masses (about 1030-1031 kg) as remnants of the core of former big stars, as well as in quite large sizes at the centers of galaxies (millions or even billions of sun masses). But recent gravitational wave detections indicate that black holes at 50 or 100 sun masses also exist, though their origin is still not understood. Randall doesn't mention this but some astronomers hope that these could fill at least a part of the gap.

Except the last item, all range below the mass of the sun (2x1030 kg) while the smallest known black hole is about four sun masses.
* Gamma rays: If dark matter were black holes of this size, the black holes would be evaporating in bursts of {{w|Hawking radiation}}, and we'd see a buzz of gamma rays from every direction.
* GRB lensing: {{w|Gamma-ray burst|Gamma-ray bursts}} (GRBs) are the brightest events in the universe and have been observed only in distant galaxies. While gravitational microlensing (see below) is an astronomical phenomenon, it doesn't make much sense here. GRBs are short (milliseconds to several hours) and are often detected only by space-borne sensors for gamma-rays -- rarely at any other wavelengths. Measuring lensing effects would be very difficult. This [https://arxiv.org/abs/1406.3102 paper] discusses the probability of detecting lensing effects caused by {{w|Dark matter halo|galactic halo objects}} among the known GRBs given sufficient objects to represent the missing mass.
* Neutron star data: {{w|Neutron star|Neutron stars}} aren't black holes, but they're also very small highly compact objects at about 1.4-2.16 solar masses. While black holes can't be observed directly, neutron stars are detectable in many wavelengths. The number of them gives a clue about the number of black holes close to the mass of the sun, a number which is far too low to make up dark matter.
* Micro lensing: {{w|Gravitational microlensing}} is a gravitational lens effect. This is a prediction by Einstein's {{w|General Relativity|Theory of General Relativity}} and was first confirmed in 1919 during a solar eclipse, when a star nearby the sun appeared closer to the sun than usual. Astronomers have found many so called {{w|Einstein ring|Einstein rings}} or Einstein crosses where a massive object in front of other galaxies bends the light toward us. Those massive objects may be black holes, but the number is far too low to explain dark matter.
* Solar system stability: Our {{w|Solar system|solar system}} is 4.5 billion years old and has been very stable since shortly after its formation. If not, we wouldn't exist. If dark objects at 1024 kg - 1030 kg (mass of Earth up to mass of Sun) accounted for dark matter and were distributed throughout galaxies, there should be many of them in the vicinity of our solar system and the system wouldn't be stable at all.
* Buzzkill Astronomers: Black holes above a certain size would be impossible to miss, due to the effects they have on nearby matter. But at the mass of some 1030 kg there must be many supernova remnants we still haven't found.

;Maybe those orbit lines on space diagrams are real and very heavy
Any diagram of our solar system (or any solar system) will show lines representing the path the planet takes around its sun. Since planets orbit in ellipses, there will be an ellipse for every planet. These lines don't show real objects, though. Astronomers just draw them on pictures of the solar system to show where the planets move. If you draw a line on a map to give someone directions, that line isn't an object in real life; it's just on the map. If these lines were real, they would be ''huge'' (Earth's would be 940 million km long (2π AU) and Neptune's would be 28 ''billion'' kilometers long). [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0 Powers of Ten (1977)] gives a good sense of just how large these orbit lines need to be in order to be visible in space diagrams. If these orbit lines were also very dense, they would have a huge mass and could possibly account for the missing 85% of the mass in the universe. But they would also constantly be impaling the planets, including the Earth, which would be a problem. A related worry about space travel was expressed in previous centuries; it was thought that the planets were embedded within {{w|Celestial spheres|crystal shells}} (spheres or Platonic solids), and a rocket into space could smash the shells and send planets plummeting to Earth. Another joke candidate.

;Title text
The title text refers to the fact that space is just vast emptiness where a little bit dust could be overseen. Actually the mean density of detectable matter in the universe, according to NASA, is equivalent to roughly [https://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/universe/uni_matter.html 1 proton per 4 cubic meters]. And because this matter is mostly located in galaxies -- and inside there in stars and clouds -- the space between is even more empty. For comparison, one gram hydrogen consists of {{w|Avogadro constant|6.022 x 1023 atoms}}. Like at home wiping with a cleaning cloth in which we can see the dirt that wasn't clearly visible on the surface we have wiped, Randall believes that some few atoms more per cubic meter could stay undetected in the same way. This isn't true because in the space between galaxies astronomers can detect matter as it spreads over thousands or millions cubic light years. Atoms can't hide; there is always radiation.

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

:Dark matter candidates:
:[A line graph is shown and labeled at left quarter in eV and further to the right in g together with some prefixes.]
:[The labels read:]
:µeV, meV, eV, keV, MeV, GeV, TeV, 10-18kg, ng, µg, mg, g, kg, TON, 106kg, 1012kg, 1018kg, 1024kg, 1030kg

:[All items are shown in bars ranging between two approximately values:]
:< 1 µeV - 10 meV: Axion

:1 eV - 10 keV: Sterile neutrino

:0.5 MeV (exactly): Electrons painted with space camouflage

:10 GeV - 10 TeV: Neutralino

:100 TeV - 10-17 kg: Q-ball

:1 ng - 100 ng: Pollen

:0.1 mg - 1 mg: No-See-Ums

:10-1 g (exactly): Bees

:10 g - 100 g: 8-balls

:100 kg - TON: Space cows

:TON - 109 kg: Obelisks, monoliths, pyramids

:109 kg - 1033 kg: Black holes ruled out by:
::109 kg - 1013 kg: Gamma rays
::1013 kg - 1017 kg: GRB lensing
::1015 kg - 1022 kg: Neutron star data
::1021 kg - 1030 kg: Micro lensing
::1024 kg - 1030 kg: Solar system stability
::1030 kg - 1033 kg: Buzzkill astronomers

:1033 kg - >1036 kg: Maybe those orbit lines on space diagrams are real and very heavy

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]

2035: Dark Matter Candidates

2018-08-21T00:21:54Z

Cosmogoblin: /* Explanation */ Doctor Who and bees/CCD

{{comic
| number = 2035
| date = August 20, 2018
| title = Dark Matter Candidates
| image = dark_matter_candidates.png
| titletext = My theory is that dark matter is actually just a thin patina of grime covering the whole universe, and we don't notice it because we haven't thoroughly cleaned the place in eons.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Every section needs to be filled and explained. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{w|Dark matter}} is a hypothetical form of matter used by the vast majority of astronomers to explain the far too high apparent mass of objects at large scales in our universe. In galaxies, stars are orbiting faster than the gravitational force of the sum of the masses of visible matter in the galaxy could cause, and entire galaxies are observed moving much faster around each other than their visible masses could explain. In galactic collisions, the mass can appear to separate from the visible matter, as if the mass doesn't collide but the visible matter does. A small handful of galaxies have been observed to not have this property, suggesting that it is a *thing* that a galaxy can have more or less of and is separable from. At scales of our solar system, those effects are too small and can't be measured. In cosmology, dark matter is estimated to account for 85% of the total matter in the universe.

This comic gives a set of possibilities for what dark matter could possibly be, charted by mass from smallest (given in {{w|Electronvolt#Mass|electronvolts}}) to largest (given in kilograms). Masses in the range 10-15 kg to 10-3 kg are given in grams together with appropriate prefixes, while the ton takes the place of 103 kg.

The joke in this comic is that the range of the mass of the possible particles and objects stretch over 81 powers of ten, with explanations suggested by astronomers covering only some portions of that range. [[Randall]] fills the gaps with highly absurd suggestions.

;Axion
An {{w|axion}} is a hypothetical elementary particle that might be a component of dark matter.

;Sterile neutrino
{{w|Sterile neutrino|Sterile neutrinos}} are hypothetical particles interacting only via gravity. It's an actual candidate for dark matter.

;Electrons painted with space camouflage
{{w|Electron|Electrons}} are fundamental particles which compose the outer layers of atoms. A large number of electrons in the galaxy would be relatively easy to detect, as they not only interact with light (which dark matter does not appear to), but also have a strong electric charge. Presumably, space camouflage is a positively-charged coating which prevents electrons from interacting with light. (Needless to say, this is not an actual candidate for dark matter.) The mass of an electron is about 0.5 MeV which fits well into the graph.

;Neutralino
A {{w|neutralino}} is a hypothetical particle from {{w|Supersymmetry|supersymmetry}}, not something made up by Randall Munroe that sounds vaguely like one. It's an actual candidate for dark matter.

;Q-ball
In theoretical physics, a {{w|Q-ball}} is a stable group of particles. It's an actual candidate for dark matter.

In billiards, a cue ball is the white (or yellow) ball hit with the cue in normal play. In addition, [[Cueball]] is the name explainxkcd uses for the most common xkcd character.

;Pollen
{{w|Pollen}} is a joke candidate, though people with seasonal allergies may suspect that the universe is genuinely made up entirely of pollen in the springtime.

;No-See-Ums
{{w|Ceratopogonidae|No-See-Ums}} are a family (Ceratopogonidae) of small flies, 1–4 mm long, that can pass through most window screens. Another joke candidate.

;Bees
Insects of the clade {{w|bee|Antophila}} are major pollinators of flowering plants. In recent years {{w|Colony collapse disorder|bees have been disappearing}} at an alarming rate; {{w|The Stolen Earth|Doctor Who explained}} that they are in fact aliens leaving Earth prior to a Dalek invasion.

;8-balls
In pool, the {{w|Pool (cue sports)|8-ball}} is a black ball numbered 8. It's a pun with Q-ball/cue ball. Unless undetected aliens have discovered billiards and become addicted to it, 8-balls are found only on Earth and are, hence, unlikely dark matter candidates.

;Space Cows
Cows are {{w|Bovinae|bovines}} extensively farmed on Earth for milk and meat. Although there is folklore concerning cows {{w|Hey diddle diddle|achieving circum-lunar orbits}}, not to mention their appearance on a {{w|Shindig (Firefly)|space western TV show}}, they have yet to be found elsewhere in the Universe.

;Obelisks, Monoliths, Pyramids
While those human constructions are huge on a human scale, they're negligible at universe-scale. It would take a large number of such constructions, distributed through space, to replicate the effects of dark matter; while a scenario could be envisioned where enough such constructs existed, with properties and distribution allowing them to match observations, this is obviously not a likely explanation.
They often show up in fiction and pseudo-scientific literature as alien artifacts generating immense unknown power out of nowhere, with the most famous and influential example being the three monoliths from {{w|2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|2001: A Space Odyssey}} (with the largest having a mass of about 500,000 tonnes).

;Black Holes ruled out by:
{{w|Black hole|Black holes}} are known to occur in sizes of a few sun masses (about 1030-1031 kg) as remnants of the core of former big stars, as well as in quite large sizes at the centers of galaxies (millions or even billions of sun masses). But recent gravitational wave detections indicate that black holes at 50 or 100 sun masses also exist, though their origin is still not understood. Randall doesn't mention this but some astronomers hope that these could fill at least a part of the gap.

Except the last item, all range below the mass of the sun (2x1030 kg) while the smallest known black hole is about four sun masses.
* Gamma rays: If dark matter were black holes of this size, the black holes would be evaporating in bursts of {{w|Hawking radiation}}, and we'd see a buzz of gamma rays from every direction.
* GRB lensing: {{w|Gamma-ray burst|Gamma-ray bursts}} (GRBs) are the brightest events in the universe and have been observed only in distant galaxies. While gravitational microlensing (see below) is an astronomical phenomenon, it doesn't make much sense here. GRBs are short (milliseconds to several hours) and are often detected only by space-borne sensors for gamma-rays -- rarely at any other wavelengths. Measuring lensing effects would be very difficult. This [https://arxiv.org/abs/1406.3102 paper] discusses the probability of detecting lensing effects caused by {{w|Dark matter halo|galactic halo objects}} among the known GRBs given sufficient objects to represent the missing mass.
* Neutron star data: {{w|Neutron star|Neutron stars}} aren't black holes, but they're also very small highly compact objects at about 1.4-2.16 solar masses. While black holes can't be observed directly, neutron stars are detectable in many wavelengths. The number of them gives a clue about the number of black holes close to the mass of the sun, a number which is far too low to make up dark matter.
* Micro lensing: {{w|Gravitational microlensing}} is a gravitational lens effect. This is a prediction by Einstein's {{w|General Relativity|Theory of General Relativity}} and was first confirmed in 1919 during a solar eclipse, when a star nearby the sun appeared closer to the sun than usual. Astronomers have found many so called {{w|Einstein ring|Einstein rings}} or Einstein crosses where a massive object in front of other galaxies bends the light toward us. Those massive objects may be black holes, but the number is far too low to explain dark matter.
* Solar system stability: Our {{w|Solar system|solar system}} is 4.5 billion years old and has been very stable since shortly after its formation. If not, we wouldn't exist. If dark objects at 1024 kg - 1030 kg (mass of Earth up to mass of Sun) accounted for dark matter and were distributed throughout galaxies, there should be many of them in the vicinity of our solar system and the system wouldn't be stable at all.
* Buzzkill Astronomers: Black holes above a certain size would be impossible to miss, due to the effects they have on nearby matter. But at the mass of some 1030 kg there must be many supernova remnants we still haven't found.

;Maybe those orbit lines on space diagrams are real and very heavy
Any diagram of our solar system (or any solar system) will show lines representing the path the planet takes around its sun. Since planets orbit in ellipses, there will be an ellipse for every planet. These lines don't show real objects, though. Astronomers just draw them on pictures of the solar system to show where the planets move. If you draw a line on a map to give someone directions, that line isn't an object in real life; it's just on the map. If these lines were real, they would be ''huge'' (Earth's would be 940 million km long (2π AU) and Neptune's would be 28 ''billion'' kilometers long). [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0 Powers of Ten (1977)] gives a good sense of just how large these orbit lines need to be in order to be visible in space diagrams. If these orbit lines were also very dense, they would have a huge mass and could possibly account for the missing 85% of the mass in the universe. But they would also constantly be impaling the planets, including the Earth, which would be a problem. Another joke candidate.

;Title text
The title text refers to the fact that space is just vast emptiness where a little bit dust could be overseen. Actually the mean density of detectable matter in the universe, according to NASA, is equivalent to roughly [https://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/universe/uni_matter.html 1 proton per 4 cubic meters]. And because this matter is mostly located in galaxies -- and inside there in stars and clouds -- the space between is even more empty. For comparison, one gram hydrogen consists of {{w|Avogadro constant|6.022 x 1023 atoms}}. Like at home wiping with a cleaning cloth in which we can see the dirt that wasn't clearly visible on the surface we have wiped, Randall believes that some few atoms more per cubic meter could stay undetected in the same way. This isn't true because in the space between galaxies astronomers can detect matter as it spreads over thousands or millions cubic light years. Atoms can't hide; there is always radiation.

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

:Dark matter candidates:
:[A line graph is shown and labeled at left quarter in eV and further to the right in g together with some prefixes.]
:[The labels read:]
:µeV, meV, eV, keV, MeV, GeV, TeV, 10-18kg, ng, µg, mg, g, kg, TON, 106kg, 1012kg, 1018kg, 1024kg, 1030kg

:[All items are shown in bars ranging between two approximately values:]
:< 1 µeV - 10 meV: Axion

:1 eV - 10 keV: Sterile neutrino

:0.5 MeV (exactly): Electrons painted with space camouflage

:10 GeV - 10 TeV: Neutralino

:100 TeV - 10-17 kg: Q-ball

:1 ng - 100 ng: Pollen

:0.1 mg - 1 mg: No-See-Ums

:10-1 g (exactly): Bees

:10 g - 100 g: 8-balls

:100 kg - TON: Space cows

:TON - 109 kg: Obelisks, monoliths, pyramids

:109 kg - 1033 kg: Black holes ruled out by:
::109 kg - 1013 kg: Gamma rays
::1013 kg - 1017 kg: GRB lensing
::1015 kg - 1022 kg: Neutron star data
::1021 kg - 1030 kg: Micro lensing
::1024 kg - 1030 kg: Solar system stability
::1030 kg - 1033 kg: Buzzkill astronomers

:1033 kg - >1036 kg: Maybe those orbit lines on space diagrams are real and very heavy

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]

Talk:1820: Security Advice

2018-08-15T23:39:47Z

Cosmogoblin:

Secret questions are not 2-factor authentication (2FA). They are just a really shitty password, something that you know. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 14:33, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Secret questions are more like 0-factor authentication, since they typically ask for public data. Shirluban [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.106|141.101.88.106]] 14:39, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Even when it isn't public it is often very unsecure - like: "your password has to have upper and lower case letters, numbers" and other requirements - if you forget it just enter the brand of your first car, there are about 20 likely answers (make it 40 if you need to additionally see wether or not it has been capitalized) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.46|162.158.92.46]] 15:18, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Use prime numbers in your password: this would only limit the number of possible passwords for a hacker to check.

Use special characters like & and % : this advice is thoroughly handled in https://xkcd.com/936/ Changing characters into a special one does adds just very little to the search space.
However, a video from Computerphile suggests ''inserting'' a random character somewhere in the password which might actually be rather helpful

[[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.211|162.158.111.211]] 14:53, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

:Note that if you replace any number n with the n-th prime number the security of your password would be really better. So would the length, of course. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:44, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

Maybe you really should use a secure font [https://technet.microsoft.com/library/security/MS15-078 Font related bug] [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.161|162.158.79.161]] 15:13, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Should the blue check mark tip be noted as only being useful on Twitter? Usually, the advice doesn't apply to emails, which are significantly more likely to ask for your less-secret account details, but also significantly less likely to have a blue check mark. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.10|162.158.2.10]] 15:15, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

"If a border guard asks to examine your laptop, you have a legal right to challenge them to a chess game for your soul.", do any of you know exactly what is the original advice here? This is probably different in different countries, but if I recall correctly you can't prevent them from seizing your device, but you are not required to provide them your passwords (but they may give you a hard time or deny your entry if you are not a citizen). Anyone can confirm this? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.22|108.162.216.22]] 15:16, 5 April 2017 (UTC)
:In the UK, police can demand your password if they suspect a crime, and border staff can demand your password even without permission. People can be - and [https://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/10/06/jail_password_ripa/ have been] - imprisoned for not providing a password. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 23:39, 15 August 2018 (UTC)

The rice trick doesn't even work for wet phones. http://www.gazelle.com/thehorn/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Water-Damage-Prevention-and-Recovery.pdf [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.211|162.158.111.211]] 15:33, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

:Yeah - beat me to it! The rice trick doesn't work...not for phones or anything else for that matter. So this is double bad advice. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.69.39|162.158.69.39]] 16:06, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

::As someone who has worked with electronics, educated in electronics design, I find the most effective solution is to remove all power as quickly as possible - unplug it and remove the battery - then let it dry out. Liquid damages by allowing electricity to take paths it shouldn't. No power, no problem. Which is why I don't and will never trust any device which doesn't allow you to quickly pop out the battery (iPads and many iPhones, for example). No battery pull means risk to me. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.88|108.162.219.88]] 07:20, 7 April 2017 (UTC) I finally signed up! This comment is mine. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:07, 13 June 2017 (UTC)

Border guard - I'd like to see a bit more explanation, please, on how Ingmar Berman's film shows a man playing chess with Death, and possibly the infamous subversion of this trope in Bill And Ted's Bogus Journey. As it is, the explanation is only the ''bare bones''. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.52|172.68.34.52]] 17:35, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Checking the padlock icon in your browser is not enough to make sure you're really connected to the site you think. You have to check the domain too, to make sure you're not on a typosquatter domain (e.g. explianxkcd.com instead of explainxkcd.com). For really important thing like banking, you should check for an Extended Validation Certificate (Firefox shows the name of the organization running the website beside the padlock to indicate an EV-Certificate). This means, that the CA checked if the website operator really is who he pretends to be (and take a hefty sum of money for the process). Yeah, i know, security isn't easy. Using the brain still can't be replaced. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.202.160|162.158.202.160]] 20:14, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

:Extended Validation Certificate means that the CA SHOULD have checked ... {{w|Symantec}} for example didn't (and Google is punishing them for it). -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:44, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

''These two characters are often disallowed in passwords because of their relevance to SQL (a common database query language). A badly written security system using SQL could have severe bugs (and vulnerabilities) if these characters were used in a password.'' So instead of fixing the bugs, users are kindly requested/forbidden to use & and % because that would break the system? Relying on empathy instead of fixing the problem, similar to "please don't break in, we're too poor to afford a decent lock". Sounds like Black Hat in a role as security advisor could come up with. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.211|162.158.111.211]] 21:01, 5 April 2017 (UTC)
:: I once saw a funny notification at a login screen. It read: "Only log on if you are an authorized user". Hilarious... [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 13:03, 6 April 2017 (UTC)
::: In reverse, for work I'm supposed to come up with a 2-factor authorization method. A simple password is one factor. I thought the second factor was easy: you also need physical access to a computer in the network. Apparently that's not "technical" enough or something, external advisors tell us that the fact that a hacker needs to physically break in to hack the system doesn't count as a second factor. (if anyone can point to an authority saying that it does I'd be very happy!) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.211|162.158.111.211]] 00:27, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

"Turing-complete kerning specification language in OpenType fonts" needs a citation. Is this just referring to the TeX language in general?

"the US banking system, where there is very little security for direct account drafts, and because of that it is advised there to keep the account number as secret as possible. In contrast, in Europe..." also needs citation. Why is giving out your bank account number more secure in Europe? I googled around a bit but couldn't find any verification of this (aside from discussions on chips vs. magnetic strips, which is a different issue).
--[[User:Tractarian|Tractarian]] ([[User talk:Tractarian|talk]]) 17:29, 6 April 2017 (UTC)

From experience, here in the UK, if I wanted someone to transfer money to me online, I just give them my account number and routing (or "sort") code. People even publish this information on websites.

Specifically, a lot of the rules here place liability on the banks for fraudulent and unauthorised transactions as long as the consumer wasn't careless or breached the rules of their account.

See https://www.directdebit.co.uk/DirectDebitExplained/pages/directdebitguarantee.aspx
https://www.chequeandcredit.co.uk/information-hub/faqs/cheque-fraud

But I can't imagine how anyone could initiate a transaction from my account without forging a document or hacking my online banking details (for electronic transfers).--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.37|162.158.111.37]] 19:33, 6 April 2017 (UTC)

:Yeah from my, Dutch, view that part also seems strange. Like "I'm not telling you my e-mail address so you can't read my e-mail". Also, anyone you ever sent money to gets to know your account number don't they? After that, can they just walk into a bank saying "Hi I'm John, account number 12345, give me $5000 please"? I'd like a comic showing my accountnumber to test how I'd be hurt by telling the whole world :) It gets stranger, in order to get a refund to my credit card I not only had to give my credit card number but the expiry date as well. I always considered the expiry date as a very simple password to prove you have the card itself. This felt more like "You wouldn't want total strangers to put money on your account, would you?" (thinking about it, maybe it's used as a "checksum"). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.211|162.158.111.211]] 22:35, 6 April 2017 (UTC)
::As a North American, around here it seems like allowing someone to know your account number potentially gives a thief a target. If they manage to somehow hack their way into your bank, they now know a valid account number to aim for. Much less suspicious than trying their luck with picking one at random. Also, when we transfer money to each other, the account number doesn't enter into it. I go to my bank's website, start an e-Transfer, and tell it to send X dollars to this email account, and I add a security question - "What's my favourite online comic?" - and the answer - "xkcd". They get the email, select what bank they want to deposit the money to (and login to their bank's website), then give the arranged or known answer to my question. Our account numbers are only used / shared with our own respective banks. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.88|108.162.219.88]] 07:20, 7 April 2017 (UTC) I finally signed up! This comment is mine. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:07, 13 June 2017 (UTC)
:::There is nothing secure on credit card. Even the Card Security Code number is only protected by people not being allowed to store it in database. Yeah I'm sure thieves would comply with this rule. And that e-Transfer ... so, if someone intercepts that email and tells the bank it come to his email address, the bank would send the money to him? Doesn't seem safe either ; email is very insecure way to exchange data. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:44, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

::::That's why these days even credit cards have PIN numbers. And actually, e-Transfers are one of the most secure things I take part in. On both sides of the transfer (i.e. both me and the person I'm paying) we each individually have to have a login setup with our banks, one which uses our bank card number and/or account number (hence part of the reason for a North American's aversion to letting anybody know what it is), and which includes a password like any other login. So, for a person to steal money from me by transfering it out of my account, they'd need my login name (if my bank uses one) or card number or account number - whatever the bank uses to figure out who you are online, plus having to know which one they need to know. The thief can't just set up a new login attached to my account, because I already have one, and banks don't allow a duplicate account. They would also need my password. And for a person to intercept my transfer, in addition to all that (for my recipient this time) they'd also have to intercept the email - which my recipient knows to expect, usually within minutes of when the email will arrive - but also they would need to know the answer to the question I set, which would usually be information you only share with the recipient. I'm reminded of Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, where for security all good people came up with personal security questions to confirm each-others identities. In this case it can be as simple as "Where am I right now?", which you would have discussed when arranging payment, or "Where did we meet?" or "What teacher did we both have?", stuff like that. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.76|162.158.126.76]] 05:53, 12 April 2017 (UTC) Mine too! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:07, 13 June 2017 (UTC)

:::::In the UK in 2008, the UK government lost 25 million sets of bank account details (on two unencrypted CDs sent through the post - this kind of data breach is a common pastime of UK government departments). Jeremy Clarkson claimed there was no security problem, and to prove it, he published his bank account and sort code. Within days somebody had donated £500 from his account to Diabetes UK. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 16:07, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

"Don't click links to web sites" 
Because it is trivial to have a link display "schmoo.com" but actually send you to "dastardlyevil.com" when clicked, this is actually usable advice. If the link displays an website address, one that is correct, highlight and copy the text and paste it directly into a browser's address bar. Barring that, right click on the link, copy the hidden link address, and paste that into the address bar. Of course then you should check carefully that the copied address isn't bougus. [[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 00:49, 9 April 2017 (UTC)
:Usually, any software I use will show the real address in the status bar when I hover the mouse over the link. I always check if these match, and if so, I know I can feel free to click (assuming said agreeing address is one I wish to visit, of course, LOL!) - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.76|162.158.126.76]] 05:53, 12 April 2017 (UTC) I finally signed up! This comment is mine. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:07, 13 June 2017 (UTC)
::I go further - if I'm at all suspicious of a link I'll type it directly. Copy-paste will retain homoglyphs, characters which look similar but aren't; for example explainxkcd.com is correct, but eхplainхkcd.com is not (using the Cyrillic HA in place of the Latin x), and could be registered as an entirely different website. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 16:16, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

"If the smoke detector worked according to the authentication logic it will be less likely to detect smoke, effectively lessening fire safety as compared to a single sensor one"

It'll be less likely to detect fire, but that does not necessarily mean lesser safety. There is a possibility of a "fire alarm that cried wolf" syndrome. If there is ever a real emergency, you really don't want people think "it's probably just another smoking toaster, I have time to take a quick shower and brush my teeth before I leave". --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.52|172.68.54.52]] 08:04, 9 April 2017 (UTC)
:The point here is not more safety but fewer false alarms. Similarly in rooms were you have "smoke" regularly you might either install a detector that doesn't scan for smoke but instead for heat or infrared light or you might install two smoke detectors in the far corners of a larger room, that only give an alarm if they both detect smoke. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.126|162.158.90.126]] 13:28, 9 April 2017 (UTC)
::In a two-alarm system like that, you could have a small fire break out close to one detector that, by the time it has created enough smoke to trigger the far detector and start the alarm, has grown to the point that it has now become difficult to fight, and at the very least has caused considerable damage which could have been prevented if only the first detector had "spoken up" immediately. A system that second-guesses itself is NOT good. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.76|162.158.126.76]] 05:53, 12 April 2017 (UTC) I finally signed up! This comment is mine. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:07, 13 June 2017 (UTC)

== Fourth amendment does not apply to border or customs searches ==

See border search exception: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_search_exception

In fact we don't need the entire paragraph about the fourth amendment.

* Use a burner's phone
While it's possible that "burner" could refer to someone who attends the Burning Man festival, I believe it's more likely this is referring to someone who smokes marijuana, which is a common term in popular informal English. This also makes a nice connection with the part about typical usage of burner phones by drug dealers. --[[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 14:11, 8 June 2017 (UTC)
:Agreed. I feel like there's no question, Randall is referring to a pot smoker, i doubt there was ever any intent by him to reference Burning Man here. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:24, 13 June 2017 (UTC)

The tip in the title text isn’t technically wrong, just misleading, as you shouldn’t give you passwords or bank info to people without blue checkmarks. You also shouldn’t give them to people with blue checkmarks either, of course, but that doesn’t make the tip wrong. [[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 15:44, 10 August 2018 (UTC)

2033: Repair or Replace

2018-08-15T23:12:27Z

Cosmogoblin: /* Explanation */ Added note on courtesy cars

{{comic
| number = 2033
| date = August 15, 2018
| title = Repair or Replace
| image = repair_or_replace.png
| titletext = Just make sure all your friends and family are out of the car, or that you've made backup friends and family at home.
}}

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

This comic compares the repair of cars with that of computers or other similar electronic devices.

Cueball, likely representing Randall, is in his car. He says that there is a weird sound, so Hairy, representing a car mechanic, asks him to lift his {{w|Hood (car)|hood}}, exposing the engine, to further identify the cause of the problem. Cueball then says that his hood latch, the lever used to open the hood, is also broken. The solution, according to Hairy, is to "replace" the car with a new car. In reality, fixing the catch on the hood is a simple task for a skilled mechanic and would not justify writing-off the car.

When a car is malfunctioning, the usual response is to attempt to repair it. A car is designed so that many of the parts can be replaced or adjusted.

By contrast, when a computer or electronic device is malfunctioning, it is often judged to be difficult to repair, and the usual action is to purchase a new device. It is generally possible to replace each part of a desktop or laptop computer, but harder to do so for more integrated devices such as tablets, and almost impossible to repair individual components with faulty or damaged integrated circuits.

Even where replacing a component is relatively easy (needing little more than a set of screwdrivers), the cost of replacement parts can be a significant proportion of the cost of a completely new device, particularly where a user is not technically confident and pays a repair shop to fit new components. Also, the length of the technology "upgrade cycle" - typically around 3-5 years - is roughly the mean failure time of a device's components, users may already be considering a new purchase when their device starts to deteriorate.

It would be extremely inefficient for a car dealership or mechanic to simply "replace" a car when there is a problem with it (although many insurers will provide a temporary replacement "courtesy car" while the car is being repaired). Likewise, Randall asserts that it is also inefficient for electronic devices to be thrown away at the first sign of a problem, and not repaired.

The title text refers to data stored on a computer or electronic device. Before replacing the device, it is recommended to remove and/or {{w|backup}} all your personal files, so that you have future access to them. Randall likens this to having your friends and family exit the vehicle or making backup friends and family before the vehicle is thrown away.

;The economics
Cars are much more expensive than computers or other electronic devices, and become obsolete less quickly. The point at which it becomes cheaper to purchase a new computer or phone rather than repair an old one comes much more quickly.

Also, although the comic implies that replaced electronics are destroyed (like a car pushed into a pit), sometimes they are sent off to be repaired or refurbished elsewhere. This provides a better experience for the customer (they get a working device right away instead of waiting for repair) and is more efficient for the company (a consolidated repair facility can have the experience and equipment to repair a device much more quickly than at a retail location). This assumes that the customer asked the manufacturer for a replacement, and did not throw it away themselves before purchasing a new one.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball sits in a car arriving from the left while Hairy stands in front of it and points to a big black hole on the right behind him.]
:Cueball: My engine's making a weird noise. Can you take a look?
:Hairy: Sure, just pop the hood.
:Cueball: Oh, the hood latch is also broken.
:Hairy: Ok, just pull up to that big pit and push the car in. We'll go get a new one.

:[Caption below the frame:]
:I'm sure the economics make sense, but it still freaks me out how quick companies are to replace computing devices instead of trying to fix them.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Computers]]

2033: Repair or Replace

2018-08-15T23:10:46Z

Cosmogoblin: /* Explanation */ Updated explanation of repairing devices

{{comic
| number = 2033
| date = August 15, 2018
| title = Repair or Replace
| image = repair_or_replace.png
| titletext = Just make sure all your friends and family are out of the car, or that you've made backup friends and family at home.
}}

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

This comic compares the repair of cars with that of computers or other similar electronic devices.

Cueball, likely representing Randall, is in his car. He says that there is a weird sound, so Hairy, representing a car mechanic, asks him to lift his {{w|Hood (car)|hood}}, exposing the engine, to further identify the cause of the problem. Cueball then says that his hood latch, the lever used to open the hood, is also broken. The solution, according to Hairy, is to "replace" the car with a new car. In reality, fixing the catch on the hood is a simple task for a skilled mechanic and would not justify writing-off the car.

When a car is malfunctioning, the usual response is to attempt to repair it. A car is designed so that many of the parts can be replaced or adjusted.

By contrast, when a computer or electronic device is malfunctioning, it is often judged to be difficult to repair, and the usual action is to purchase a new device. It is generally possible to replace each part of a desktop or laptop computer, but harder to do so for more integrated devices such as tablets, and almost impossible to repair individual components with faulty or damaged integrated circuits.

Even where replacing a component is relatively easy (needing little more than a set of screwdrivers), the cost of replacement parts can be a significant proportion of the cost of a completely new device, particularly where a user is not technically confident and pays a repair shop to fit new components. Also, the length of the technology "upgrade cycle" - typically around 3-5 years - is roughly the mean failure time of a device's components, users may already be considering a new purchase when their device starts to deteriorate.

It would be extremely inefficient for a car dealership or mechanic to simply "replace" a car when there is a problem with it. Likewise, Randall asserts that it is also inefficient for electronic devices to be thrown away at the first sign of a problem, and not repaired.

The title text refers to data stored on a computer or electronic device. Before replacing the device, it is recommended to remove and/or {{w|backup}} all your personal files, so that you have future access to them. Randall likens this to having your friends and family exit the vehicle or making backup friends and family before the vehicle is thrown away.

;The economics
Cars are much more expensive than computers or other electronic devices, and become obsolete less quickly. The point at which it becomes cheaper to purchase a new computer or phone rather than repair an old one comes much more quickly.

Also, although the comic implies that replaced electronics are destroyed (like a car pushed into a pit), sometimes they are sent off to be repaired or refurbished elsewhere. This provides a better experience for the customer (they get a working device right away instead of waiting for repair) and is more efficient for the company (a consolidated repair facility can have the experience and equipment to repair a device much more quickly than at a retail location). This assumes that the customer asked the manufacturer for a replacement, and did not throw it away themselves before purchasing a new one.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball sits in a car arriving from the left while Hairy stands in front of it and points to a big black hole on the right behind him.]
:Cueball: My engine's making a weird noise. Can you take a look?
:Hairy: Sure, just pop the hood.
:Cueball: Oh, the hood latch is also broken.
:Hairy: Ok, just pull up to that big pit and push the car in. We'll go get a new one.

:[Caption below the frame:]
:I'm sure the economics make sense, but it still freaks me out how quick companies are to replace computing devices instead of trying to fix them.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Computers]]

Talk:1820: Security Advice

2018-07-22T16:16:26Z

Cosmogoblin:

Secret questions are not 2-factor authentication (2FA). They are just a really shitty password, something that you know. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 14:33, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Secret questions are more like 0-factor authentication, since they typically ask for public data. Shirluban [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.106|141.101.88.106]] 14:39, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Even when it isn't public it is often very unsecure - like: "your password has to have upper and lower case letters, numbers" and other requirements - if you forget it just enter the brand of your first car, there are about 20 likely answers (make it 40 if you need to additionally see wether or not it has been capitalized) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.46|162.158.92.46]] 15:18, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Use prime numbers in your password: this would only limit the number of possible passwords for a hacker to check.

Use special characters like & and % : this advice is thoroughly handled in https://xkcd.com/936/ Changing characters into a special one does adds just very little to the search space.
However, a video from Computerphile suggests ''inserting'' a random character somewhere in the password which might actually be rather helpful

[[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.211|162.158.111.211]] 14:53, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

:Note that if you replace any number n with the n-th prime number the security of your password would be really better. So would the length, of course. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:44, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

Maybe you really should use a secure font [https://technet.microsoft.com/library/security/MS15-078 Font related bug] [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.161|162.158.79.161]] 15:13, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Should the blue check mark tip be noted as only being useful on Twitter? Usually, the advice doesn't apply to emails, which are significantly more likely to ask for your less-secret account details, but also significantly less likely to have a blue check mark. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.10|162.158.2.10]] 15:15, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

"If a border guard asks to examine your laptop, you have a legal right to challenge them to a chess game for your soul.", do any of you know exactly what is the original advice here? This is probably different in different countries, but if I recall correctly you can't prevent them from seizing your device, but you are not required to provide them your passwords (but they may give you a hard time or deny your entry if you are not a citizen). Anyone can confirm this? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.22|108.162.216.22]] 15:16, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

The rice trick doesn't even work for wet phones. http://www.gazelle.com/thehorn/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Water-Damage-Prevention-and-Recovery.pdf [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.211|162.158.111.211]] 15:33, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

:Yeah - beat me to it! The rice trick doesn't work...not for phones or anything else for that matter. So this is double bad advice. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.69.39|162.158.69.39]] 16:06, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

::As someone who has worked with electronics, educated in electronics design, I find the most effective solution is to remove all power as quickly as possible - unplug it and remove the battery - then let it dry out. Liquid damages by allowing electricity to take paths it shouldn't. No power, no problem. Which is why I don't and will never trust any device which doesn't allow you to quickly pop out the battery (iPads and many iPhones, for example). No battery pull means risk to me. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.88|108.162.219.88]] 07:20, 7 April 2017 (UTC) I finally signed up! This comment is mine. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:07, 13 June 2017 (UTC)

Border guard - I'd like to see a bit more explanation, please, on how Ingmar Berman's film shows a man playing chess with Death, and possibly the infamous subversion of this trope in Bill And Ted's Bogus Journey. As it is, the explanation is only the ''bare bones''. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.52|172.68.34.52]] 17:35, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Checking the padlock icon in your browser is not enough to make sure you're really connected to the site you think. You have to check the domain too, to make sure you're not on a typosquatter domain (e.g. explianxkcd.com instead of explainxkcd.com). For really important thing like banking, you should check for an Extended Validation Certificate (Firefox shows the name of the organization running the website beside the padlock to indicate an EV-Certificate). This means, that the CA checked if the website operator really is who he pretends to be (and take a hefty sum of money for the process). Yeah, i know, security isn't easy. Using the brain still can't be replaced. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.202.160|162.158.202.160]] 20:14, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

:Extended Validation Certificate means that the CA SHOULD have checked ... {{w|Symantec}} for example didn't (and Google is punishing them for it). -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:44, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

''These two characters are often disallowed in passwords because of their relevance to SQL (a common database query language). A badly written security system using SQL could have severe bugs (and vulnerabilities) if these characters were used in a password.'' So instead of fixing the bugs, users are kindly requested/forbidden to use & and % because that would break the system? Relying on empathy instead of fixing the problem, similar to "please don't break in, we're too poor to afford a decent lock". Sounds like Black Hat in a role as security advisor could come up with. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.211|162.158.111.211]] 21:01, 5 April 2017 (UTC)
:: I once saw a funny notification at a login screen. It read: "Only log on if you are an authorized user". Hilarious... [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 13:03, 6 April 2017 (UTC)
::: In reverse, for work I'm supposed to come up with a 2-factor authorization method. A simple password is one factor. I thought the second factor was easy: you also need physical access to a computer in the network. Apparently that's not "technical" enough or something, external advisors tell us that the fact that a hacker needs to physically break in to hack the system doesn't count as a second factor. (if anyone can point to an authority saying that it does I'd be very happy!) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.211|162.158.111.211]] 00:27, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

"Turing-complete kerning specification language in OpenType fonts" needs a citation. Is this just referring to the TeX language in general?

"the US banking system, where there is very little security for direct account drafts, and because of that it is advised there to keep the account number as secret as possible. In contrast, in Europe..." also needs citation. Why is giving out your bank account number more secure in Europe? I googled around a bit but couldn't find any verification of this (aside from discussions on chips vs. magnetic strips, which is a different issue).
--[[User:Tractarian|Tractarian]] ([[User talk:Tractarian|talk]]) 17:29, 6 April 2017 (UTC)

From experience, here in the UK, if I wanted someone to transfer money to me online, I just give them my account number and routing (or "sort") code. People even publish this information on websites.

Specifically, a lot of the rules here place liability on the banks for fraudulent and unauthorised transactions as long as the consumer wasn't careless or breached the rules of their account.

See https://www.directdebit.co.uk/DirectDebitExplained/pages/directdebitguarantee.aspx
https://www.chequeandcredit.co.uk/information-hub/faqs/cheque-fraud

But I can't imagine how anyone could initiate a transaction from my account without forging a document or hacking my online banking details (for electronic transfers).--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.37|162.158.111.37]] 19:33, 6 April 2017 (UTC)

:Yeah from my, Dutch, view that part also seems strange. Like "I'm not telling you my e-mail address so you can't read my e-mail". Also, anyone you ever sent money to gets to know your account number don't they? After that, can they just walk into a bank saying "Hi I'm John, account number 12345, give me $5000 please"? I'd like a comic showing my accountnumber to test how I'd be hurt by telling the whole world :) It gets stranger, in order to get a refund to my credit card I not only had to give my credit card number but the expiry date as well. I always considered the expiry date as a very simple password to prove you have the card itself. This felt more like "You wouldn't want total strangers to put money on your account, would you?" (thinking about it, maybe it's used as a "checksum"). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.211|162.158.111.211]] 22:35, 6 April 2017 (UTC)
::As a North American, around here it seems like allowing someone to know your account number potentially gives a thief a target. If they manage to somehow hack their way into your bank, they now know a valid account number to aim for. Much less suspicious than trying their luck with picking one at random. Also, when we transfer money to each other, the account number doesn't enter into it. I go to my bank's website, start an e-Transfer, and tell it to send X dollars to this email account, and I add a security question - "What's my favourite online comic?" - and the answer - "xkcd". They get the email, select what bank they want to deposit the money to (and login to their bank's website), then give the arranged or known answer to my question. Our account numbers are only used / shared with our own respective banks. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.88|108.162.219.88]] 07:20, 7 April 2017 (UTC) I finally signed up! This comment is mine. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:07, 13 June 2017 (UTC)
:::There is nothing secure on credit card. Even the Card Security Code number is only protected by people not being allowed to store it in database. Yeah I'm sure thieves would comply with this rule. And that e-Transfer ... so, if someone intercepts that email and tells the bank it come to his email address, the bank would send the money to him? Doesn't seem safe either ; email is very insecure way to exchange data. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:44, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

::::That's why these days even credit cards have PIN numbers. And actually, e-Transfers are one of the most secure things I take part in. On both sides of the transfer (i.e. both me and the person I'm paying) we each individually have to have a login setup with our banks, one which uses our bank card number and/or account number (hence part of the reason for a North American's aversion to letting anybody know what it is), and which includes a password like any other login. So, for a person to steal money from me by transfering it out of my account, they'd need my login name (if my bank uses one) or card number or account number - whatever the bank uses to figure out who you are online, plus having to know which one they need to know. The thief can't just set up a new login attached to my account, because I already have one, and banks don't allow a duplicate account. They would also need my password. And for a person to intercept my transfer, in addition to all that (for my recipient this time) they'd also have to intercept the email - which my recipient knows to expect, usually within minutes of when the email will arrive - but also they would need to know the answer to the question I set, which would usually be information you only share with the recipient. I'm reminded of Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, where for security all good people came up with personal security questions to confirm each-others identities. In this case it can be as simple as "Where am I right now?", which you would have discussed when arranging payment, or "Where did we meet?" or "What teacher did we both have?", stuff like that. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.76|162.158.126.76]] 05:53, 12 April 2017 (UTC) Mine too! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:07, 13 June 2017 (UTC)

:::::In the UK in 2008, the UK government lost 25 million sets of bank account details (on two unencrypted CDs sent through the post - this kind of data breach is a common pastime of UK government departments). Jeremy Clarkson claimed there was no security problem, and to prove it, he published his bank account and sort code. Within days somebody had donated £500 from his account to Diabetes UK. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 16:07, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

"Don't click links to web sites" 
Because it is trivial to have a link display "schmoo.com" but actually send you to "dastardlyevil.com" when clicked, this is actually usable advice. If the link displays an website address, one that is correct, highlight and copy the text and paste it directly into a browser's address bar. Barring that, right click on the link, copy the hidden link address, and paste that into the address bar. Of course then you should check carefully that the copied address isn't bougus. [[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 00:49, 9 April 2017 (UTC)
:Usually, any software I use will show the real address in the status bar when I hover the mouse over the link. I always check if these match, and if so, I know I can feel free to click (assuming said agreeing address is one I wish to visit, of course, LOL!) - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.76|162.158.126.76]] 05:53, 12 April 2017 (UTC) I finally signed up! This comment is mine. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:07, 13 June 2017 (UTC)
::I go further - if I'm at all suspicious of a link I'll type it directly. Copy-paste will retain homoglyphs, characters which look similar but aren't; for example explainxkcd.com is correct, but eхplainхkcd.com is not (using the Cyrillic HA in place of the Latin x), and could be registered as an entirely different website. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 16:16, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

"If the smoke detector worked according to the authentication logic it will be less likely to detect smoke, effectively lessening fire safety as compared to a single sensor one"

It'll be less likely to detect fire, but that does not necessarily mean lesser safety. There is a possibility of a "fire alarm that cried wolf" syndrome. If there is ever a real emergency, you really don't want people think "it's probably just another smoking toaster, I have time to take a quick shower and brush my teeth before I leave". --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.52|172.68.54.52]] 08:04, 9 April 2017 (UTC)
:The point here is not more safety but fewer false alarms. Similarly in rooms were you have "smoke" regularly you might either install a detector that doesn't scan for smoke but instead for heat or infrared light or you might install two smoke detectors in the far corners of a larger room, that only give an alarm if they both detect smoke. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.126|162.158.90.126]] 13:28, 9 April 2017 (UTC)
::In a two-alarm system like that, you could have a small fire break out close to one detector that, by the time it has created enough smoke to trigger the far detector and start the alarm, has grown to the point that it has now become difficult to fight, and at the very least has caused considerable damage which could have been prevented if only the first detector had "spoken up" immediately. A system that second-guesses itself is NOT good. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.76|162.158.126.76]] 05:53, 12 April 2017 (UTC) I finally signed up! This comment is mine. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:07, 13 June 2017 (UTC)

== Fourth amendment does not apply to border or customs searches ==

See border search exception: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_search_exception

In fact we don't need the entire paragraph about the fourth amendment.

* Use a burner's phone
While it's possible that "burner" could refer to someone who attends the Burning Man festival, I believe it's more likely this is referring to someone who smokes marijuana, which is a common term in popular informal English. This also makes a nice connection with the part about typical usage of burner phones by drug dealers. --[[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 14:11, 8 June 2017 (UTC)
:Agreed. I feel like there's no question, Randall is referring to a pot smoker, i doubt there was ever any intent by him to reference Burning Man here. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:24, 13 June 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1820: Security Advice

2018-07-22T16:15:46Z

Cosmogoblin:

Secret questions are not 2-factor authentication (2FA). They are just a really shitty password, something that you know. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 14:33, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Secret questions are more like 0-factor authentication, since they typically ask for public data. Shirluban [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.106|141.101.88.106]] 14:39, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Even when it isn't public it is often very unsecure - like: "your password has to have upper and lower case letters, numbers" and other requirements - if you forget it just enter the brand of your first car, there are about 20 likely answers (make it 40 if you need to additionally see wether or not it has been capitalized) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.46|162.158.92.46]] 15:18, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Use prime numbers in your password: this would only limit the number of possible passwords for a hacker to check.

Use special characters like & and % : this advice is thoroughly handled in https://xkcd.com/936/ Changing characters into a special one does adds just very little to the search space.
However, a video from Computerphile suggests ''inserting'' a random character somewhere in the password which might actually be rather helpful

[[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.211|162.158.111.211]] 14:53, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

:Note that if you replace any number n with the n-th prime number the security of your password would be really better. So would the length, of course. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:44, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

Maybe you really should use a secure font [https://technet.microsoft.com/library/security/MS15-078 Font related bug] [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.161|162.158.79.161]] 15:13, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Should the blue check mark tip be noted as only being useful on Twitter? Usually, the advice doesn't apply to emails, which are significantly more likely to ask for your less-secret account details, but also significantly less likely to have a blue check mark. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.10|162.158.2.10]] 15:15, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

"If a border guard asks to examine your laptop, you have a legal right to challenge them to a chess game for your soul.", do any of you know exactly what is the original advice here? This is probably different in different countries, but if I recall correctly you can't prevent them from seizing your device, but you are not required to provide them your passwords (but they may give you a hard time or deny your entry if you are not a citizen). Anyone can confirm this? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.22|108.162.216.22]] 15:16, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

The rice trick doesn't even work for wet phones. http://www.gazelle.com/thehorn/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Water-Damage-Prevention-and-Recovery.pdf [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.211|162.158.111.211]] 15:33, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

:Yeah - beat me to it! The rice trick doesn't work...not for phones or anything else for that matter. So this is double bad advice. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.69.39|162.158.69.39]] 16:06, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

::As someone who has worked with electronics, educated in electronics design, I find the most effective solution is to remove all power as quickly as possible - unplug it and remove the battery - then let it dry out. Liquid damages by allowing electricity to take paths it shouldn't. No power, no problem. Which is why I don't and will never trust any device which doesn't allow you to quickly pop out the battery (iPads and many iPhones, for example). No battery pull means risk to me. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.88|108.162.219.88]] 07:20, 7 April 2017 (UTC) I finally signed up! This comment is mine. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:07, 13 June 2017 (UTC)

Border guard - I'd like to see a bit more explanation, please, on how Ingmar Berman's film shows a man playing chess with Death, and possibly the infamous subversion of this trope in Bill And Ted's Bogus Journey. As it is, the explanation is only the ''bare bones''. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.52|172.68.34.52]] 17:35, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Checking the padlock icon in your browser is not enough to make sure you're really connected to the site you think. You have to check the domain too, to make sure you're not on a typosquatter domain (e.g. explianxkcd.com instead of explainxkcd.com). For really important thing like banking, you should check for an Extended Validation Certificate (Firefox shows the name of the organization running the website beside the padlock to indicate an EV-Certificate). This means, that the CA checked if the website operator really is who he pretends to be (and take a hefty sum of money for the process). Yeah, i know, security isn't easy. Using the brain still can't be replaced. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.202.160|162.158.202.160]] 20:14, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

:Extended Validation Certificate means that the CA SHOULD have checked ... {{w|Symantec}} for example didn't (and Google is punishing them for it). -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:44, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

''These two characters are often disallowed in passwords because of their relevance to SQL (a common database query language). A badly written security system using SQL could have severe bugs (and vulnerabilities) if these characters were used in a password.'' So instead of fixing the bugs, users are kindly requested/forbidden to use & and % because that would break the system? Relying on empathy instead of fixing the problem, similar to "please don't break in, we're too poor to afford a decent lock". Sounds like Black Hat in a role as security advisor could come up with. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.211|162.158.111.211]] 21:01, 5 April 2017 (UTC)
:: I once saw a funny notification at a login screen. It read: "Only log on if you are an authorized user". Hilarious... [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 13:03, 6 April 2017 (UTC)
::: In reverse, for work I'm supposed to come up with a 2-factor authorization method. A simple password is one factor. I thought the second factor was easy: you also need physical access to a computer in the network. Apparently that's not "technical" enough or something, external advisors tell us that the fact that a hacker needs to physically break in to hack the system doesn't count as a second factor. (if anyone can point to an authority saying that it does I'd be very happy!) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.211|162.158.111.211]] 00:27, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

"Turing-complete kerning specification language in OpenType fonts" needs a citation. Is this just referring to the TeX language in general?

"the US banking system, where there is very little security for direct account drafts, and because of that it is advised there to keep the account number as secret as possible. In contrast, in Europe..." also needs citation. Why is giving out your bank account number more secure in Europe? I googled around a bit but couldn't find any verification of this (aside from discussions on chips vs. magnetic strips, which is a different issue).
--[[User:Tractarian|Tractarian]] ([[User talk:Tractarian|talk]]) 17:29, 6 April 2017 (UTC)

From experience, here in the UK, if I wanted someone to transfer money to me online, I just give them my account number and routing (or "sort") code. People even publish this information on websites.

Specifically, a lot of the rules here place liability on the banks for fraudulent and unauthorised transactions as long as the consumer wasn't careless or breached the rules of their account.

See https://www.directdebit.co.uk/DirectDebitExplained/pages/directdebitguarantee.aspx
https://www.chequeandcredit.co.uk/information-hub/faqs/cheque-fraud

But I can't imagine how anyone could initiate a transaction from my account without forging a document or hacking my online banking details (for electronic transfers).--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.37|162.158.111.37]] 19:33, 6 April 2017 (UTC)

:Yeah from my, Dutch, view that part also seems strange. Like "I'm not telling you my e-mail address so you can't read my e-mail". Also, anyone you ever sent money to gets to know your account number don't they? After that, can they just walk into a bank saying "Hi I'm John, account number 12345, give me $5000 please"? I'd like a comic showing my accountnumber to test how I'd be hurt by telling the whole world :) It gets stranger, in order to get a refund to my credit card I not only had to give my credit card number but the expiry date as well. I always considered the expiry date as a very simple password to prove you have the card itself. This felt more like "You wouldn't want total strangers to put money on your account, would you?" (thinking about it, maybe it's used as a "checksum"). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.211|162.158.111.211]] 22:35, 6 April 2017 (UTC)
::As a North American, around here it seems like allowing someone to know your account number potentially gives a thief a target. If they manage to somehow hack their way into your bank, they now know a valid account number to aim for. Much less suspicious than trying their luck with picking one at random. Also, when we transfer money to each other, the account number doesn't enter into it. I go to my bank's website, start an e-Transfer, and tell it to send X dollars to this email account, and I add a security question - "What's my favourite online comic?" - and the answer - "xkcd". They get the email, select what bank they want to deposit the money to (and login to their bank's website), then give the arranged or known answer to my question. Our account numbers are only used / shared with our own respective banks. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.88|108.162.219.88]] 07:20, 7 April 2017 (UTC) I finally signed up! This comment is mine. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:07, 13 June 2017 (UTC)
:::There is nothing secure on credit card. Even the Card Security Code number is only protected by people not being allowed to store it in database. Yeah I'm sure thieves would comply with this rule. And that e-Transfer ... so, if someone intercepts that email and tells the bank it come to his email address, the bank would send the money to him? Doesn't seem safe either ; email is very insecure way to exchange data. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:44, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

::::That's why these days even credit cards have PIN numbers. And actually, e-Transfers are one of the most secure things I take part in. On both sides of the transfer (i.e. both me and the person I'm paying) we each individually have to have a login setup with our banks, one which uses our bank card number and/or account number (hence part of the reason for a North American's aversion to letting anybody know what it is), and which includes a password like any other login. So, for a person to steal money from me by transfering it out of my account, they'd need my login name (if my bank uses one) or card number or account number - whatever the bank uses to figure out who you are online, plus having to know which one they need to know. The thief can't just set up a new login attached to my account, because I already have one, and banks don't allow a duplicate account. They would also need my password. And for a person to intercept my transfer, in addition to all that (for my recipient this time) they'd also have to intercept the email - which my recipient knows to expect, usually within minutes of when the email will arrive - but also they would need to know the answer to the question I set, which would usually be information you only share with the recipient. I'm reminded of Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, where for security all good people came up with personal security questions to confirm each-others identities. In this case it can be as simple as "Where am I right now?", which you would have discussed when arranging payment, or "Where did we meet?" or "What teacher did we both have?", stuff like that. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.76|162.158.126.76]] 05:53, 12 April 2017 (UTC) Mine too! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:07, 13 June 2017 (UTC)

:::::In the UK in 2008, the UK government lost 25 million sets of bank account details (on two unencrypted CDs sent through the post - this kind of data breach is a common pastime of UK government departments). Jeremy Clarkson claimed there was no security problem, and to prove it, he published his bank account and sort code. Within days somebody had donated £500 from his account to Diabetes UK. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 16:07, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

"Don't click links to web sites" 
Because it is trivial to have a link display "schmoo.com" but actually send you to "dastardlyevil.com" when clicked, this is actually usable advice. If the link displays an website address, one that is correct, highlight and copy the text and paste it directly into a browser's address bar. Barring that, right click on the link, copy the hidden link address, and paste that into the address bar. Of course then you should check carefully that the copied address isn't bougus. [[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 00:49, 9 April 2017 (UTC)
:Usually, any software I use will show the real address in the status bar when I hover the mouse over the link. I always check if these match, and if so, I know I can feel free to click (assuming said agreeing address is one I wish to visit, of course, LOL!) - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.76|162.158.126.76]] 05:53, 12 April 2017 (UTC) I finally signed up! This comment is mine. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:07, 13 June 2017 (UTC)
::I go further - if I'm at all suspicious of a link I'll type it directly. Copy-paste will retain homoglyphs, characters which look similar but aren't; for example explainxkcd.com is correct, but ｅхplainхkcd.com is not (using the Cyrillic HA in place of the Latin x), and could be registered as an entirely different website.

"If the smoke detector worked according to the authentication logic it will be less likely to detect smoke, effectively lessening fire safety as compared to a single sensor one"

It'll be less likely to detect fire, but that does not necessarily mean lesser safety. There is a possibility of a "fire alarm that cried wolf" syndrome. If there is ever a real emergency, you really don't want people think "it's probably just another smoking toaster, I have time to take a quick shower and brush my teeth before I leave". --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.52|172.68.54.52]] 08:04, 9 April 2017 (UTC)
:The point here is not more safety but fewer false alarms. Similarly in rooms were you have "smoke" regularly you might either install a detector that doesn't scan for smoke but instead for heat or infrared light or you might install two smoke detectors in the far corners of a larger room, that only give an alarm if they both detect smoke. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.126|162.158.90.126]] 13:28, 9 April 2017 (UTC)
::In a two-alarm system like that, you could have a small fire break out close to one detector that, by the time it has created enough smoke to trigger the far detector and start the alarm, has grown to the point that it has now become difficult to fight, and at the very least has caused considerable damage which could have been prevented if only the first detector had "spoken up" immediately. A system that second-guesses itself is NOT good. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.76|162.158.126.76]] 05:53, 12 April 2017 (UTC) I finally signed up! This comment is mine. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:07, 13 June 2017 (UTC)

== Fourth amendment does not apply to border or customs searches ==

See border search exception: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_search_exception

In fact we don't need the entire paragraph about the fourth amendment.

* Use a burner's phone
While it's possible that "burner" could refer to someone who attends the Burning Man festival, I believe it's more likely this is referring to someone who smokes marijuana, which is a common term in popular informal English. This also makes a nice connection with the part about typical usage of burner phones by drug dealers. --[[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 14:11, 8 June 2017 (UTC)
:Agreed. I feel like there's no question, Randall is referring to a pot smoker, i doubt there was ever any intent by him to reference Burning Man here. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:24, 13 June 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1820: Security Advice

2018-07-22T16:07:06Z

Cosmogoblin:

Secret questions are not 2-factor authentication (2FA). They are just a really shitty password, something that you know. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 14:33, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Secret questions are more like 0-factor authentication, since they typically ask for public data. Shirluban [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.106|141.101.88.106]] 14:39, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Even when it isn't public it is often very unsecure - like: "your password has to have upper and lower case letters, numbers" and other requirements - if you forget it just enter the brand of your first car, there are about 20 likely answers (make it 40 if you need to additionally see wether or not it has been capitalized) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.46|162.158.92.46]] 15:18, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Use prime numbers in your password: this would only limit the number of possible passwords for a hacker to check.

Use special characters like & and % : this advice is thoroughly handled in https://xkcd.com/936/ Changing characters into a special one does adds just very little to the search space.
However, a video from Computerphile suggests ''inserting'' a random character somewhere in the password which might actually be rather helpful

[[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.211|162.158.111.211]] 14:53, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

:Note that if you replace any number n with the n-th prime number the security of your password would be really better. So would the length, of course. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:44, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

Maybe you really should use a secure font [https://technet.microsoft.com/library/security/MS15-078 Font related bug] [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.161|162.158.79.161]] 15:13, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Should the blue check mark tip be noted as only being useful on Twitter? Usually, the advice doesn't apply to emails, which are significantly more likely to ask for your less-secret account details, but also significantly less likely to have a blue check mark. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.10|162.158.2.10]] 15:15, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

"If a border guard asks to examine your laptop, you have a legal right to challenge them to a chess game for your soul.", do any of you know exactly what is the original advice here? This is probably different in different countries, but if I recall correctly you can't prevent them from seizing your device, but you are not required to provide them your passwords (but they may give you a hard time or deny your entry if you are not a citizen). Anyone can confirm this? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.22|108.162.216.22]] 15:16, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

The rice trick doesn't even work for wet phones. http://www.gazelle.com/thehorn/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Water-Damage-Prevention-and-Recovery.pdf [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.211|162.158.111.211]] 15:33, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

:Yeah - beat me to it! The rice trick doesn't work...not for phones or anything else for that matter. So this is double bad advice. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.69.39|162.158.69.39]] 16:06, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

::As someone who has worked with electronics, educated in electronics design, I find the most effective solution is to remove all power as quickly as possible - unplug it and remove the battery - then let it dry out. Liquid damages by allowing electricity to take paths it shouldn't. No power, no problem. Which is why I don't and will never trust any device which doesn't allow you to quickly pop out the battery (iPads and many iPhones, for example). No battery pull means risk to me. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.88|108.162.219.88]] 07:20, 7 April 2017 (UTC) I finally signed up! This comment is mine. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:07, 13 June 2017 (UTC)

Border guard - I'd like to see a bit more explanation, please, on how Ingmar Berman's film shows a man playing chess with Death, and possibly the infamous subversion of this trope in Bill And Ted's Bogus Journey. As it is, the explanation is only the ''bare bones''. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.52|172.68.34.52]] 17:35, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Checking the padlock icon in your browser is not enough to make sure you're really connected to the site you think. You have to check the domain too, to make sure you're not on a typosquatter domain (e.g. explianxkcd.com instead of explainxkcd.com). For really important thing like banking, you should check for an Extended Validation Certificate (Firefox shows the name of the organization running the website beside the padlock to indicate an EV-Certificate). This means, that the CA checked if the website operator really is who he pretends to be (and take a hefty sum of money for the process). Yeah, i know, security isn't easy. Using the brain still can't be replaced. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.202.160|162.158.202.160]] 20:14, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

:Extended Validation Certificate means that the CA SHOULD have checked ... {{w|Symantec}} for example didn't (and Google is punishing them for it). -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:44, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

''These two characters are often disallowed in passwords because of their relevance to SQL (a common database query language). A badly written security system using SQL could have severe bugs (and vulnerabilities) if these characters were used in a password.'' So instead of fixing the bugs, users are kindly requested/forbidden to use & and % because that would break the system? Relying on empathy instead of fixing the problem, similar to "please don't break in, we're too poor to afford a decent lock". Sounds like Black Hat in a role as security advisor could come up with. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.211|162.158.111.211]] 21:01, 5 April 2017 (UTC)
:: I once saw a funny notification at a login screen. It read: "Only log on if you are an authorized user". Hilarious... [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 13:03, 6 April 2017 (UTC)
::: In reverse, for work I'm supposed to come up with a 2-factor authorization method. A simple password is one factor. I thought the second factor was easy: you also need physical access to a computer in the network. Apparently that's not "technical" enough or something, external advisors tell us that the fact that a hacker needs to physically break in to hack the system doesn't count as a second factor. (if anyone can point to an authority saying that it does I'd be very happy!) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.211|162.158.111.211]] 00:27, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

"Turing-complete kerning specification language in OpenType fonts" needs a citation. Is this just referring to the TeX language in general?

"the US banking system, where there is very little security for direct account drafts, and because of that it is advised there to keep the account number as secret as possible. In contrast, in Europe..." also needs citation. Why is giving out your bank account number more secure in Europe? I googled around a bit but couldn't find any verification of this (aside from discussions on chips vs. magnetic strips, which is a different issue).
--[[User:Tractarian|Tractarian]] ([[User talk:Tractarian|talk]]) 17:29, 6 April 2017 (UTC)

From experience, here in the UK, if I wanted someone to transfer money to me online, I just give them my account number and routing (or "sort") code. People even publish this information on websites.

Specifically, a lot of the rules here place liability on the banks for fraudulent and unauthorised transactions as long as the consumer wasn't careless or breached the rules of their account.

See https://www.directdebit.co.uk/DirectDebitExplained/pages/directdebitguarantee.aspx
https://www.chequeandcredit.co.uk/information-hub/faqs/cheque-fraud

But I can't imagine how anyone could initiate a transaction from my account without forging a document or hacking my online banking details (for electronic transfers).--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.37|162.158.111.37]] 19:33, 6 April 2017 (UTC)

:Yeah from my, Dutch, view that part also seems strange. Like "I'm not telling you my e-mail address so you can't read my e-mail". Also, anyone you ever sent money to gets to know your account number don't they? After that, can they just walk into a bank saying "Hi I'm John, account number 12345, give me $5000 please"? I'd like a comic showing my accountnumber to test how I'd be hurt by telling the whole world :) It gets stranger, in order to get a refund to my credit card I not only had to give my credit card number but the expiry date as well. I always considered the expiry date as a very simple password to prove you have the card itself. This felt more like "You wouldn't want total strangers to put money on your account, would you?" (thinking about it, maybe it's used as a "checksum"). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.211|162.158.111.211]] 22:35, 6 April 2017 (UTC)
::As a North American, around here it seems like allowing someone to know your account number potentially gives a thief a target. If they manage to somehow hack their way into your bank, they now know a valid account number to aim for. Much less suspicious than trying their luck with picking one at random. Also, when we transfer money to each other, the account number doesn't enter into it. I go to my bank's website, start an e-Transfer, and tell it to send X dollars to this email account, and I add a security question - "What's my favourite online comic?" - and the answer - "xkcd". They get the email, select what bank they want to deposit the money to (and login to their bank's website), then give the arranged or known answer to my question. Our account numbers are only used / shared with our own respective banks. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.88|108.162.219.88]] 07:20, 7 April 2017 (UTC) I finally signed up! This comment is mine. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:07, 13 June 2017 (UTC)
:::There is nothing secure on credit card. Even the Card Security Code number is only protected by people not being allowed to store it in database. Yeah I'm sure thieves would comply with this rule. And that e-Transfer ... so, if someone intercepts that email and tells the bank it come to his email address, the bank would send the money to him? Doesn't seem safe either ; email is very insecure way to exchange data. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:44, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

::::That's why these days even credit cards have PIN numbers. And actually, e-Transfers are one of the most secure things I take part in. On both sides of the transfer (i.e. both me and the person I'm paying) we each individually have to have a login setup with our banks, one which uses our bank card number and/or account number (hence part of the reason for a North American's aversion to letting anybody know what it is), and which includes a password like any other login. So, for a person to steal money from me by transfering it out of my account, they'd need my login name (if my bank uses one) or card number or account number - whatever the bank uses to figure out who you are online, plus having to know which one they need to know. The thief can't just set up a new login attached to my account, because I already have one, and banks don't allow a duplicate account. They would also need my password. And for a person to intercept my transfer, in addition to all that (for my recipient this time) they'd also have to intercept the email - which my recipient knows to expect, usually within minutes of when the email will arrive - but also they would need to know the answer to the question I set, which would usually be information you only share with the recipient. I'm reminded of Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, where for security all good people came up with personal security questions to confirm each-others identities. In this case it can be as simple as "Where am I right now?", which you would have discussed when arranging payment, or "Where did we meet?" or "What teacher did we both have?", stuff like that. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.76|162.158.126.76]] 05:53, 12 April 2017 (UTC) Mine too! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:07, 13 June 2017 (UTC)

:::::In the UK in 2008, the UK government lost 25 million sets of bank account details (on two unencrypted CDs sent through the post - this kind of data breach is a common pastime of UK government departments). Jeremy Clarkson claimed there was no security problem, and to prove it, he published his bank account and sort code. Within days somebody had donated £500 from his account to Diabetes UK. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 16:07, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

"Don't click links to web sites" 
Because it is trivial to have a link display "schmoo.com" but actually send you to "dastardlyevil.com" when clicked, this is actually usable advice. If the link displays an website address, one that is correct, highlight and copy the text and paste it directly into a browser's address bar. Barring that, right click on the link, copy the hidden link address, and paste that into the address bar. Of course then you should check carefully that the copied address isn't bougus. [[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 00:49, 9 April 2017 (UTC)
:Usually, any software I use will show the real address in the status bar when I hover the mouse over the link. I always check if these match, and if so, I know I can feel free to click (assuming said agreeing address is one I wish to visit, of course, LOL!) - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.76|162.158.126.76]] 05:53, 12 April 2017 (UTC) I finally signed up! This comment is mine. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:07, 13 June 2017 (UTC)

"If the smoke detector worked according to the authentication logic it will be less likely to detect smoke, effectively lessening fire safety as compared to a single sensor one"

It'll be less likely to detect fire, but that does not necessarily mean lesser safety. There is a possibility of a "fire alarm that cried wolf" syndrome. If there is ever a real emergency, you really don't want people think "it's probably just another smoking toaster, I have time to take a quick shower and brush my teeth before I leave". --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.52|172.68.54.52]] 08:04, 9 April 2017 (UTC)
:The point here is not more safety but fewer false alarms. Similarly in rooms were you have "smoke" regularly you might either install a detector that doesn't scan for smoke but instead for heat or infrared light or you might install two smoke detectors in the far corners of a larger room, that only give an alarm if they both detect smoke. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.126|162.158.90.126]] 13:28, 9 April 2017 (UTC)
::In a two-alarm system like that, you could have a small fire break out close to one detector that, by the time it has created enough smoke to trigger the far detector and start the alarm, has grown to the point that it has now become difficult to fight, and at the very least has caused considerable damage which could have been prevented if only the first detector had "spoken up" immediately. A system that second-guesses itself is NOT good. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.76|162.158.126.76]] 05:53, 12 April 2017 (UTC) I finally signed up! This comment is mine. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:07, 13 June 2017 (UTC)

== Fourth amendment does not apply to border or customs searches ==

See border search exception: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_search_exception

In fact we don't need the entire paragraph about the fourth amendment.

* Use a burner's phone
While it's possible that "burner" could refer to someone who attends the Burning Man festival, I believe it's more likely this is referring to someone who smokes marijuana, which is a common term in popular informal English. This also makes a nice connection with the part about typical usage of burner phones by drug dealers. --[[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 14:11, 8 June 2017 (UTC)
:Agreed. I feel like there's no question, Randall is referring to a pot smoker, i doubt there was ever any intent by him to reference Burning Man here. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:24, 13 June 2017 (UTC)

Talk:2014: JWST Delays

2018-07-02T17:39:35Z

Cosmogoblin:

Haha - I made this same graph 2 weeks ago! [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 17:39, 2 July 2018 (UTC)

2001: Clickbait-Corrected p-Value

2018-06-01T17:46:09Z

Cosmogoblin: /* Transcript */ Formatting cleanup (incomplete)

{{comic
| number = 2001
| date = June 1, 2018
| title = Clickbait-Corrected p-Value
| image = clickbait_corrected_p_value.png
| titletext = When comparing hypotheses with Bayesian methods, the similar 'clickbayes factor' can account for some harder-to-quantify priors.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Please first explain p-value. Most people don't know. - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic references ''hypothesis testing'' in statistics. When one wishes to determine if a given assumption is statistically supported by the data, a ''hypothesis test'' may be used. Usually, such a test takes the form of a null hypothesis, H0, which basically states that the status quo is maintained (here, that chocolate has ''no effect'' on athletic performance). The alternative hypothesis, H1, is the one the statistician wishes to put to the test (here, that chocolate ''increases'' athletic performance). Normally, the mathematician would gather data, run some calculations, and come up with a ''p-value''. This is the probability that the sample's results were obtained solely by chance, assuming that the null hypothesis is held to be true. Thus, the lesser the p-value, the less likely the null hypothesis is true. Below a certain point, usually 5% or 1%, we reject H0 and accept H1 to be true.

In this version, the p-value is corrected by a factor which increases when readers click a headline stating that H1 is true, and decreases when people click a headline stating that H0 is true. This has the effect of ''increasing'' the p-value if readers favor H1 over H0, leading to a greater chance of ''H0'' being accepted. This seems to operate under the assumption that whatever clickers of clickbait believe, the reverse is likely to be true.

As the statistical results now depend on people's beliefs about the hypothesis, this is as far from actual science as one can get.

Clickbait is the practice of using deceptive or manipulative headlines to entice readers to click on a dubious news story, often with the purpose of generating ad revenue.

This comic calculates the p-value of clickbait article and videos, nowadays very common on the web. The formula depicted is commonly known as the Bayes theorem, and a more common expression of that theorem is p(A|B) = p(B|A) * p(A) / p(B). Here, it depicts the odds of a clickbait article being clicked depending on two different headlines.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Wrong layout, and the Math extension is not installed yet.}}
Clickbait-Corrected p-Value :

PCL = Ptraditional * click(H1)/click(H0)}

H0 : NULL hypothesis ("Chocolate has no effect on athletic performance")

H1 : Alternative hypothesis ("Chocolate boosts athletic performance")

click(H) : Fraction of test subjects who click on a headline announcing that H is true

"When comparing hypotheses with Bayesian methods, the similar 'clickbayes factor' can account for some harder-to-quantify priors.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Statistics]]

1990: Driving Cars

2018-05-07T17:43:34Z

Cosmogoblin: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1990
| date = May 7, 2018
| title = Driving Cars
| image = driving_cars.png
| titletext = It's probably just me. If driving were as dangerous as it seems, hundreds of people would be dying every day!
}}

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

This comic is a joke about how dangerous cars are. It says how it is a giant machine, and Cueball is only able to drive it because he took a driving test. The joke is in the hover text, "It's probably just me. If driving were as dangerous as it seems, hundreds of people would be dying every day!" Of course, hundreds of people do die every day in cars, but this amount is minuscule compared to the population of the United States.

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

Cueball: Time to accelerate this giant machine up to terrifying speeds and steer it using my hands, which I am allowed to do because I took a 20-minute test in high school!

Below comic: Driving freaks me out.

{{comic discussion}}

1990: Driving Cars

2018-05-07T17:43:12Z

Cosmogoblin: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1990
| date = May 7, 2018
| title = Driving Cars
| image = driving_cars.png
| titletext = It's probably just me. If driving were as dangerous as it seems, hundreds of people would be dying every day!
}}

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

This comic is a joke about how dangerous cars are. It says how it is a giant machine, and Cueball is only able to drive it because he took a driving test. The joke is in the hover text, "It's probably just me. If driving were as dangerous as it seems, hundreds of people would be dying every day!" Of course, hundreds of people do die every day in cars, but this amount is minuscule compared to the population of the United States.

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

{{comic discussion}}

Cueball: Time to accelerate this giant machine up to terrifying speeds and steer it using my hands, which I am allowed to do because I took a 20-minute test in high school!

Below comic: Driving freaks me out.

Talk:1988: Containers

2018-05-02T17:51:56Z

Cosmogoblin:

Pretty much a description of my social interactions ... [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 17:51, 2 May 2018 (UTC)

1988: Containers

2018-05-02T17:51:04Z

Cosmogoblin: /* Transcript */ Typo fixes

{{comic
| number = 1988
| date = May 2, 2018
| title = Containers
| image = containers.png
| titletext = All services are microservices if you ignore most of their features.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by SOME GLUED TOGETHER SERVERS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Docker (software)|Docker}} is a computer program that performs operating-system-level virtualization also known as containerization. It is developed by Docker, Inc. White Hat was complaining about how everyone was using Docker, and then Cueball went on about how he wanted to use a tablet as a wall display. He went on about how he tried programming it, but he eventually gave up and glued two smartphones together. The joke is that he achieved software enlightenment, even though he didn't code any software.

Many (most? all?) programmers these days rely heavily on previously written code found online, eg StackExchange. This has the advantage that it takes less work, and if it's well written and documented, can be easily customised for the specific task and environment at hand. It has the disadvantage that it's also easy to incorporate it into other software without fully understanding how it works; in theory, an entire program can be developed from such code, by "gluing together stuff that you don't understand".

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

(White Hat is sitting at a computer. Cueball is standing behind him.)
:White Hat: Man, Docker is being used for everything.
:White Hat: I don't know how I feel about it.
:Cueball: Story time!

(Cueball is standing by himself)
:Cueball: Once, long ago, I wanted to use an old tablet as a wall display.

(A picture of Cueball's imagined tablet)
:Cueball: I had an app and a calendar webpage that I wanted to show side by side, but the OS didn't have split-screen support.
:Cueball: So I decided to build my own app.

(White Hat and Cueball as before, but White Hat has turned to face Cueball)
:Cueball: I downloaded the SDK and the IDE, registered as a developer, and started reading the language's docs.

(A picture of two phones glued together, held on a backing board)
:Cueball: Then I realized it would be way easier to get two smaller phones on eBay and glue them together.
:Cueball: On that day, I achieved software enlightenment.

(White Hat and Cueball as before, facing each other)
:White Hat: But you never learned to write software.
:Cueball: No, I just learned how to glue together stuff that I don't understand.
:White Hat: I...OK, fair.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

1988: Containers

2018-05-02T17:49:57Z

Cosmogoblin: /* Transcript */ Added italics

{{comic
| number = 1988
| date = May 2, 2018
| title = Containers
| image = containers.png
| titletext = All services are microservices if you ignore most of their features.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by SOME GLUED TOGETHER SERVERS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Docker (software)|Docker}} is a computer program that performs operating-system-level virtualization also known as containerization. It is developed by Docker, Inc. White Hat was complaining about how everyone was using Docker, and then Cueball went on about how he wanted to use a tablet as a wall display. He went on about how he tried programming it, but he eventually gave up and glued two smartphones together. The joke is that he achieved software enlightenment, even though he didn't code any software.

Many (most? all?) programmers these days rely heavily on previously written code found online, eg StackExchange. This has the advantage that it takes less work, and if it's well written and documented, can be easily customised for the specific task and environment at hand. It has the disadvantage that it's also easy to incorporate it into other software without fully understanding how it works; in theory, an entire program can be developed from such code, by "gluing together stuff that you don't understand".

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

(White Hat is sitting at a computer. Cueball is standing behind him.)
:White Hat: Man, Docker is being used for everything.
:White Hat: I don't know how to feel about it.
:Cueball: Story time!

(Cueball is standing by himself)
:Cueball: Once, long ago I wanted to use an old tablet as a wall display.

(A picture of Cueball's imagined tablet)
:Cueball: I had an app and a calendar webpage that I wanted to show side by side, but the OS didnt have split-screen support.
:Cueball: So I decided to build my own app.

(White Hat and Cueball as before, but White Hat has turned to face Cueball)
:Cueball: I downloaded the SDK and the IDE, registered as a developer, and started reading the language's docs.

(A picture of two phones glued together, held on a backing board)
:Cueball: Then I realized it would be way easier to get two smaller phones on eBay and glue them together.
:Cueball: On that day, I achieved software enlightenment.

(White Hat and Cueball as before, facing each other)
:White Hat: But you never learned to write software.
:Cueball: No, I just learned how to glue together stuff that I don't understand.
:White Hat: I...OK, fair.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

1988: Containers

2018-05-02T17:49:06Z

Cosmogoblin: /* Transcript */ Added picture descriptions

{{comic
| number = 1988
| date = May 2, 2018
| title = Containers
| image = containers.png
| titletext = All services are microservices if you ignore most of their features.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by SOME GLUED TOGETHER SERVERS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Docker (software)|Docker}} is a computer program that performs operating-system-level virtualization also known as containerization. It is developed by Docker, Inc. White Hat was complaining about how everyone was using Docker, and then Cueball went on about how he wanted to use a tablet as a wall display. He went on about how he tried programming it, but he eventually gave up and glued two smartphones together. The joke is that he achieved software enlightenment, even though he didn't code any software.

Many (most? all?) programmers these days rely heavily on previously written code found online, eg StackExchange. This has the advantage that it takes less work, and if it's well written and documented, can be easily customised for the specific task and environment at hand. It has the disadvantage that it's also easy to incorporate it into other software without fully understanding how it works; in theory, an entire program can be developed from such code, by "gluing together stuff that you don't understand".

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

(White Hat is sitting at a computer. Cueball is standing behind him.)
:White Hat: Man, Docker is being used for everything.
:White Hat: I don't know how to feel about it.
:Cueball: Story time!

(Cueball is standing by himself)
:Cueball: Once, long ago I wanted to use an old tablet as a wall display.

(A picture of Cueball's imagined tablet)
:Cueball: I had an app and a calendar webpage that I wanted to show side by side, but the OS didnt have split-screen support.
:Cueball: So I decided to build my own app.

(White Hat and Cueball as before, but White Hat has turned to face Cueball)
:Cueball: I downloaded the SDK and the IDE, registered as a developer, and started reading the language's docs.

(A picture of two phones glued together, held on a backing board)
:Cueball: Then I realized it would be way easier to get two smaller phones on eBay and glue them together.
:Cueball: On that day, I achieved software enlightenment.

(White Hat and Cueball as before, facing each other)
:White Hat: But you never learned to write software.
:Cueball: No, I just learned how to glue together stuff that I don't understand.
:White Hat: I...OK, fair.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

1988: Containers

2018-05-02T17:40:56Z

Cosmogoblin: /* Explanation */ "Glue together ..."

Talk:1944: The End of the Rainbow

2018-01-20T18:19:11Z

Cosmogoblin:

Hey, an early comic that I understand! Typed up a transcript (though the description of the first panel was already there, and the empty explanation already had the Incomplete Explanation set as "Created by a LEPRECHAUN"), but using an iPad and typing in Notes to avoid editing conflicts, so I can't see the comic while I'm typing. So the inherent magic of the Telephone Game comes into play, where the mind likes to summarize and put into different words, LOL! I think I managed to get it completely accurate, though. I'll see if I can come up with an explanation shortly. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 07:10, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

If you think about leprechauns while thinking about pots of gold then there will indeed be leprechauns at both ends.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.125|162.158.166.125]] 08:09, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

There is a *huge* difference between 10^-7 and 10^7... just fyi[[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.82|162.158.2.82]] 08:12, 19 January 2018 (UTC)
:This is one of those cases where the phrase "Orders Of Magnitude" comes in, LOL! Kind of glad someone else beat me to providing an explanation now, not my goof. LOL! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:22, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

I don't think that the part about solar gold volume is correct. The density used only applies to gold in solid state in room temperature, and the Sun is neither. In a way, gold indise Sun has the volume of the Sun itself. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.168|162.158.90.168]] 10:41, 19 January 2018 (UTC)
: Yes I realized that a few minutes after posting my original edit, and added a parenthesis to explain that I used the volume that much gold would have on Earth-like conditions. Not that the fact has any concrete application anyway, but I thought it would show that the claim that there is more gold in the Sun than water on Earth can't simply be pictured as an ocean volume of gold. Maybe there's a sea somewhere that's about the right volume and you could say "taking all the gold from the Sun would fill <that particular sea>" [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.16|141.101.88.16]] 11:21, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

:There may be more gold in the sun than water in the oceans but the oceans have a higher concentration of gold than the sun does. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.62.136|172.69.62.136]] 11:40, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

Leprechauns live on the night side of the Sun to avoid being incinerated, that's why we can't see them from this side.
Zetfr 12:46, 19 January 2018 (UTC)
:The night side... Of the sun... Is there a cartoon about this? I feel like there needs to be a cartoon about this. Just one observation: On the night side of the sun, there's no moon? Or if there is, what's lighting it up? ;D This is even better than the "dark" side of the Moon.
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 15:33, 19 January 2018 (UTC)
::Reminds me of this [https://www.reddit.com/r/vexillology/comments/7awoek/nepal_space_exploration_flag/dpdetpi/ Reddit conversation] [[Special:Contributions/162.158.167.138|162.158.167.138]] 09:42, 20 January 2018 (UTC)

"far more than a [...] leprechaun's pot of gold" - I'm pretty sure a leprechaun's pot of gold is self-refilling, and therefore infinite.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.204|162.158.111.204]] 13:06, 19 January 2018 (UTC)
:Oh no, the pot is just a container they had handy; The pot of gold is the measure of their ransom. ... No idea why I feel so sure of that. I don't think I want to re-read all the lore I studied as a kid to find the source...
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 15:33, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

did anyone else notice that the cone from the clouds to your eye isn't actually a cone, since it's slightly truncated at the point, otherwise we'd see an ideal point (i.e. not see it.) just me, then. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.170|162.158.88.170]] 13:08, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

I think the logic of the title text is: gold is at the other end of the rainbow is there, because in that moment the person (his/her brain) is thinking about the gold. To put in a dumber way: when you think about gold, then gold is in your brain, ergo if your brain is one end of the rainbow, and you're wondering if there's gold at the end of the rainbow, then in a self-fulfilling way, it is. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.82|162.158.238.82]] 13:53, 19 January 2018 (UTC) .tnm

:I don't think the current title-text explanation makes any sense: The title-text portion of the comic doesn't seem to reference leprechauns at all. Was the comic edited after being posted?
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 15:33, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

:I fixed the title text explanation. Also does this comic imply that if someone thinks about carnivorous giant neon zombie tomatoes while looking at a rainbow, then they exist at one end? ;) [[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 15:45, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure the numbers are completly wrong, 0.3 parts per trillion probably comes from [https://www.quora.com/Is-there-any-gold-in-the-sun-If-so-how-much-gold-could-be-contained-in-it here] (because the same article was used as a reference at some point in the history of the explanation), but I think this is the ratio of atoms, not mass. The answer on quora uses the same value of 0.3 parts per trillion but instead of 6*10^17 kg of gold, deduces from that number that there is 10^20 kg of golds. One atom of gold is ~195 times as heavy as one atom of hydrogen, and since the Sun is mostly hydrogen and also some heavier elements, the mass of gold over the average mass of atoms in the Sun should be a little below 195. The ratio between 10^20 and 6*10^17 is 167.
There's still a ratio of 20 between that value (10^20 kg) of the mass of gold on the sun and the one [https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=(abundance+gold+sun)+*+(mass+sun) from wolframalpha], and I'm quite expecting Randall to have used the latter, which is of 2 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_large_numbers quintillion] tons of gold on the Sun, IE "quintillions of tons" as expressed by Megan. Maybe that value is wrong, but I think it should be mentionned to show that Randall probably didn't just make up a number. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.16|141.101.88.16]] 17:42, 19 January 2018 (UTC)
:I've attempted to get to the bottom of this - Wikipedia gives limited sources. A search for [[https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=(abundance+gold+sun)|(abundance+gold+sun) on WolframAlpha]] gives 10^-7% by mass, but again, their references don't seem to support that (at least from a brief scan). Quora cites [[http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?1968PASAu...1..133A&data_type=PDF_HIGH&filetype=.pdf&type=PRINTER&whole_paper=YES|a 1968 paper] but I can't read that very well - I've attempted to analyse their data but I'm afraid I've been unable to determine how Quora reached their ".3 parts per trillion" from that paper. (I might drag out some textbooks and try again later.) In any case these two numbers are in wild disagreement, even if we assume Quora meant atomic ratios and multiply their number by 197 (atomic mass of gold; gold only has one stable isotope).
:As mentioned, WolframAlpha's number gives 2.0x10^21 kg, or 2 quintillion tonnes, whereas Quora's gives 6.0x10^17 kg, or 0.0006 quintillion tonnes (0.12 quintillion tonnes if we mutiply by 197).
:Of course, none of these results are small! I'd be happy with a pot of gold of even half a quadrillion tonnes. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 20:26, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

How can 'more than' be off by a factor of anything, given that it's non-specific? It could be 'fractionally more than' or 'a thousand times more than'.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.204|162.158.111.204]] 18:07, 19 January 2018 (UTC)
:In this case, because the true amount is LESS than, not more than. (The author of that part of the explanation assumed the minimum amount that could be called "quintillions" is 2 quintillion, and the calculated true amount is 4000 times smaller.) [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 20:30, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

Okay, I've got a different quibble about sizes here. Despite the fact that the sun is so far away from the earth that it appears as a relatively small disk in the sky, the sun is thousands of times LARGER than our planet. As such, the longer cone in Megan's explanation is such a gross oversimplification of the way light from the sun works as to be wildly inaccurate. If anything, this cone should be reversed (larger at the sun's end) to illustrate the portion of the sun's light energy that actually hits the whole planet, let alone just the area that any person is looking at when they see a rainbow. (Granted, the angle of the cone would be extremely shallow due to the distances involved, but it would still be larger-to-smaller, not smaller-to-larger as explained here.) The cone as she describes it only makes sense if we're talking about a very small portion of the sun's surface emitting that light. It's unclear to me if this was meant to be a flawed, oversimplified or metaphorical explanation (in which case it's not very clear), or if Randall was actually attempting to explain how this works, but this particular comic feels pretty far "off" to me in that respect, compared to similar comics he's done in the past. [[User:KieferSkunk|KieferSkunk]] ([[User talk:KieferSkunk|talk]]) 02:27, 20 January 2018 (UTC)
:That occurred to me as well. The cone is just from a single point (in the comic's diagram, the centre of the apparent disc of the sun).
:A ray diagram would show that each ray traces a single path, which means it does in fact come from a single point on the sun. For a given colour, therefore, this is correct; the various paths for the rainbow's ring of colour would indeed trace out a cone, from a single point. Other colours would trace out a different cone, but the difference would be the arrival point (on your retina), not the departure point (on the sun).
:My explanation is slightly lacking, in that (a) I haven't considered the variable distances to each individual raindrop, and (b) a verbal description is nothing compared to a diagram. I may try to draw one later, if I have time. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 18:19, 20 January 2018 (UTC)

Talk:1944: The End of the Rainbow

2018-01-19T20:30:40Z

Cosmogoblin:

Hey, an early comic that I understand! Typed up a transcript (though the description of the first panel was already there, and the empty explanation already had the Incomplete Explanation set as "Created by a LEPRECHAUN"), but using an iPad and typing in Notes to avoid editing conflicts, so I can't see the comic while I'm typing. So the inherent magic of the Telephone Game comes into play, where the mind likes to summarize and put into different words, LOL! I think I managed to get it completely accurate, though. I'll see if I can come up with an explanation shortly. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 07:10, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

If you think about leprechauns while thinking about pots of gold then there will indeed be leprechauns at both ends.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.125|162.158.166.125]] 08:09, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

There is a *huge* difference between 10^-7 and 10^7... just fyi[[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.82|162.158.2.82]] 08:12, 19 January 2018 (UTC)
:This is one of those cases where the phrase "Orders Of Magnitude" comes in, LOL! Kind of glad someone else beat me to providing an explanation now, not my goof. LOL! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:22, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

I don't think that the part about solar gold volume is correct. The density used only applies to gold in solid state in room temperature, and the Sun is neither. In a way, gold indise Sun has the volume of the Sun itself. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.168|162.158.90.168]] 10:41, 19 January 2018 (UTC)
: Yes I realized that a few minutes after posting my original edit, and added a parenthesis to explain that I used the volume that much gold would have on Earth-like conditions. Not that the fact has any concrete application anyway, but I thought it would show that the claim that there is more gold in the Sun than water on Earth can't simply be pictured as an ocean volume of gold. Maybe there's a sea somewhere that's about the right volume and you could say "taking all the gold from the Sun would fill <that particular sea>" [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.16|141.101.88.16]] 11:21, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

:There may be more gold in the sun than water in the oceans but the oceans have a higher concentration of gold than the sun does. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.62.136|172.69.62.136]] 11:40, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

Leprechauns live on the night side of the Sun to avoid being incinerated, that's why we can't see them from this side.
Zetfr 12:46, 19 January 2018 (UTC)
:The night side... Of the sun... Is there a cartoon about this? I feel like there needs to be a cartoon about this. Just one observation: On the night side of the sun, there's no moon? Or if there is, what's lighting it up? ;D This is even better than the "dark" side of the Moon.
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 15:33, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

"far more than a [...] leprechaun's pot of gold" - I'm pretty sure a leprechaun's pot of gold is self-refilling, and therefore infinite.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.204|162.158.111.204]] 13:06, 19 January 2018 (UTC)
:Oh no, the pot is just a container they had handy; The pot of gold is the measure of their ransom. ... No idea why I feel so sure of that. I don't think I want to re-read all the lore I studied as a kid to find the source...
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 15:33, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

did anyone else notice that the cone from the clouds to your eye isn't actually a cone, since it's slightly truncated at the point, otherwise we'd see an ideal point (i.e. not see it.) just me, then. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.170|162.158.88.170]] 13:08, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

I think the logic of the title text is: gold is at the other end of the rainbow is there, because in that moment the person (his/her brain) is thinking about the gold. To put in a dumber way: when you think about gold, then gold is in your brain, ergo if your brain is one end of the rainbow, and you're wondering if there's gold at the end of the rainbow, then in a self-fulfilling way, it is. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.82|162.158.238.82]] 13:53, 19 January 2018 (UTC) .tnm

:I don't think the current title-text explanation makes any sense: The title-text portion of the comic doesn't seem to reference leprechauns at all. Was the comic edited after being posted?
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 15:33, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

:I fixed the title text explanation. Also does this comic imply that if someone thinks about carnivorous giant neon zombie tomatoes while looking at a rainbow, then they exist at one end? ;) [[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 15:45, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure the numbers are completly wrong, 0.3 parts per trillion probably comes from [https://www.quora.com/Is-there-any-gold-in-the-sun-If-so-how-much-gold-could-be-contained-in-it here] (because the same article was used as a reference at some point in the history of the explanation), but I think this is the ratio of atoms, not mass. The answer on quora uses the same value of 0.3 parts per trillion but instead of 6*10^17 kg of gold, deduces from that number that there is 10^20 kg of golds. One atom of gold is ~195 times as heavy as one atom of hydrogen, and since the Sun is mostly hydrogen and also some heavier elements, the mass of gold over the average mass of atoms in the Sun should be a little below 195. The ratio between 10^20 and 6*10^17 is 167.
There's still a ratio of 20 between that value (10^20 kg) of the mass of gold on the sun and the one [https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=(abundance+gold+sun)+*+(mass+sun) from wolframalpha], and I'm quite expecting Randall to have used the latter, which is of 2 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_large_numbers quintillion] tons of gold on the Sun, IE "quintillions of tons" as expressed by Megan. Maybe that value is wrong, but I think it should be mentionned to show that Randall probably didn't just make up a number. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.16|141.101.88.16]] 17:42, 19 January 2018 (UTC)
:I've attempted to get to the bottom of this - Wikipedia gives limited sources. A search for [[https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=(abundance+gold+sun)|(abundance+gold+sun) on WolframAlpha]] gives 10^-7% by mass, but again, their references don't seem to support that (at least from a brief scan). Quora cites [[http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?1968PASAu...1..133A&data_type=PDF_HIGH&filetype=.pdf&type=PRINTER&whole_paper=YES|a 1968 paper] but I can't read that very well - I've attempted to analyse their data but I'm afraid I've been unable to determine how Quora reached their ".3 parts per trillion" from that paper. (I might drag out some textbooks and try again later.) In any case these two numbers are in wild disagreement, even if we assume Quora meant atomic ratios and multiply their number by 197 (atomic mass of gold; gold only has one stable isotope).
:As mentioned, WolframAlpha's number gives 2.0x10^21 kg, or 2 quintillion tonnes, whereas Quora's gives 6.0x10^17 kg, or 0.0006 quintillion tonnes (0.12 quintillion tonnes if we mutiply by 197).
:Of course, none of these results are small! I'd be happy with a pot of gold of even half a quadrillion tonnes. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 20:26, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

How can 'more than' be off by a factor of anything, given that it's non-specific? It could be 'fractionally more than' or 'a thousand times more than'.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.204|162.158.111.204]] 18:07, 19 January 2018 (UTC)
:In this case, because the true amount is LESS than, not more than. (The author of that part of the explanation assumed the minimum amount that could be called "quintillions" is 2 quintillion, and the calculated true amount is 4000 times smaller.) [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 20:30, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

Talk:1944: The End of the Rainbow

2018-01-19T20:26:40Z

Cosmogoblin:

Hey, an early comic that I understand! Typed up a transcript (though the description of the first panel was already there, and the empty explanation already had the Incomplete Explanation set as "Created by a LEPRECHAUN"), but using an iPad and typing in Notes to avoid editing conflicts, so I can't see the comic while I'm typing. So the inherent magic of the Telephone Game comes into play, where the mind likes to summarize and put into different words, LOL! I think I managed to get it completely accurate, though. I'll see if I can come up with an explanation shortly. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 07:10, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

If you think about leprechauns while thinking about pots of gold then there will indeed be leprechauns at both ends.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.125|162.158.166.125]] 08:09, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

There is a *huge* difference between 10^-7 and 10^7... just fyi[[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.82|162.158.2.82]] 08:12, 19 January 2018 (UTC)
:This is one of those cases where the phrase "Orders Of Magnitude" comes in, LOL! Kind of glad someone else beat me to providing an explanation now, not my goof. LOL! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:22, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

I don't think that the part about solar gold volume is correct. The density used only applies to gold in solid state in room temperature, and the Sun is neither. In a way, gold indise Sun has the volume of the Sun itself. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.168|162.158.90.168]] 10:41, 19 January 2018 (UTC)
: Yes I realized that a few minutes after posting my original edit, and added a parenthesis to explain that I used the volume that much gold would have on Earth-like conditions. Not that the fact has any concrete application anyway, but I thought it would show that the claim that there is more gold in the Sun than water on Earth can't simply be pictured as an ocean volume of gold. Maybe there's a sea somewhere that's about the right volume and you could say "taking all the gold from the Sun would fill <that particular sea>" [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.16|141.101.88.16]] 11:21, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

:There may be more gold in the sun than water in the oceans but the oceans have a higher concentration of gold than the sun does. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.62.136|172.69.62.136]] 11:40, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

Leprechauns live on the night side of the Sun to avoid being incinerated, that's why we can't see them from this side.
Zetfr 12:46, 19 January 2018 (UTC)
:The night side... Of the sun... Is there a cartoon about this? I feel like there needs to be a cartoon about this. Just one observation: On the night side of the sun, there's no moon? Or if there is, what's lighting it up? ;D This is even better than the "dark" side of the Moon.
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 15:33, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

"far more than a [...] leprechaun's pot of gold" - I'm pretty sure a leprechaun's pot of gold is self-refilling, and therefore infinite.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.204|162.158.111.204]] 13:06, 19 January 2018 (UTC)
:Oh no, the pot is just a container they had handy; The pot of gold is the measure of their ransom. ... No idea why I feel so sure of that. I don't think I want to re-read all the lore I studied as a kid to find the source...
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 15:33, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

did anyone else notice that the cone from the clouds to your eye isn't actually a cone, since it's slightly truncated at the point, otherwise we'd see an ideal point (i.e. not see it.) just me, then. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.170|162.158.88.170]] 13:08, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

I think the logic of the title text is: gold is at the other end of the rainbow is there, because in that moment the person (his/her brain) is thinking about the gold. To put in a dumber way: when you think about gold, then gold is in your brain, ergo if your brain is one end of the rainbow, and you're wondering if there's gold at the end of the rainbow, then in a self-fulfilling way, it is. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.82|162.158.238.82]] 13:53, 19 January 2018 (UTC) .tnm

:I don't think the current title-text explanation makes any sense: The title-text portion of the comic doesn't seem to reference leprechauns at all. Was the comic edited after being posted?
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 15:33, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

:I fixed the title text explanation. Also does this comic imply that if someone thinks about carnivorous giant neon zombie tomatoes while looking at a rainbow, then they exist at one end? ;) [[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 15:45, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure the numbers are completly wrong, 0.3 parts per trillion probably comes from [https://www.quora.com/Is-there-any-gold-in-the-sun-If-so-how-much-gold-could-be-contained-in-it here] (because the same article was used as a reference at some point in the history of the explanation), but I think this is the ratio of atoms, not mass. The answer on quora uses the same value of 0.3 parts per trillion but instead of 6*10^17 kg of gold, deduces from that number that there is 10^20 kg of golds. One atom of gold is ~195 times as heavy as one atom of hydrogen, and since the Sun is mostly hydrogen and also some heavier elements, the mass of gold over the average mass of atoms in the Sun should be a little below 195. The ratio between 10^20 and 6*10^17 is 167.
There's still a ratio of 20 between that value (10^20 kg) of the mass of gold on the sun and the one [https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=(abundance+gold+sun)+*+(mass+sun) from wolframalpha], and I'm quite expecting Randall to have used the latter, which is of 2 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_large_numbers quintillion] tons of gold on the Sun, IE "quintillions of tons" as expressed by Megan. Maybe that value is wrong, but I think it should be mentionned to show that Randall probably didn't just make up a number. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.16|141.101.88.16]] 17:42, 19 January 2018 (UTC)
:I've attempted to get to the bottom of this - Wikipedia gives limited sources. A search for [[https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=(abundance+gold+sun)|(abundance+gold+sun) on WolframAlpha]] gives 10^-7% by mass, but again, their references don't seem to support that (at least from a brief scan). Quora cites [[http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?1968PASAu...1..133A&data_type=PDF_HIGH&filetype=.pdf&type=PRINTER&whole_paper=YES|a 1968 paper] but I can't read that very well - I've attempted to analyse their data but I'm afraid I've been unable to determine how Quora reached their ".3 parts per trillion" from that paper. (I might drag out some textbooks and try again later.) In any case these two numbers are in wild disagreement, even if we assume Quora meant atomic ratios and multiply their number by 197 (atomic mass of gold; gold only has one stable isotope).
:As mentioned, WolframAlpha's number gives 2.0x10^21 kg, or 2 quintillion tonnes, whereas Quora's gives 6.0x10^17 kg, or 0.0006 quintillion tonnes (0.12 quintillion tonnes if we mutiply by 197).
:Of course, none of these results are small! I'd be happy with a pot of gold of even half a quadrillion tonnes. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 20:26, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

How can 'more than' be off by a factor of anything, given that it's non-specific? It could be 'fractionally more than' or 'a thousand times more than'.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.204|162.158.111.204]] 18:07, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

1944: The End of the Rainbow

2018-01-19T19:26:48Z

Cosmogoblin: /* Explanation */ Added references to gold/water statistics

{{comic
| number = 1944
| date = January 19, 2018
| title = The End of the Rainbow
| image = the_end_of_the_rainbow.png
| titletext = The retina is the exposed surface of the brain, so if you think about a pot of gold while looking at a rainbow, then there's one at BOTH ends.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Edited by a leprechaun. We are here. We are watching. The bit about percentages of the mass of the Sun should be made more readable. Also need to explain title text.}}
[[Megan]] appears to reference the myth that at the end of every {{w|rainbow}} lies a {{w|leprechaun}}'s pot of gold. Instead of claiming that leprechauns and their gold don't exist, [[Cueball]] offers the refutation that, technically, rainbows are circles, so they do not have an end.

However, Megan counters that if one considers the path light takes to form a rainbow, then it forms a two-cone structure, where the Sun (the vertex of the outer cone) emits light rays that move towards the Earth (forming the faces of the outer cone), then reflect off water droplets located at just the right angle (the circular base) to reach our eyes (the vertex of the inner cone). Thus, such a rainbow structure ''can'' be said to have "ends", represented by the vertices of the two cones: one at the eye of the viewer, and another at the light source (usually the sun).

Megan then says that the Sun is indeed a pot of gold. The Sun is approximately 1.989 × 10^30 (1 nonillion 989 octillion) kilograms[https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/sunfact.html], and its abundance of gold is approximately 0.3 parts per trillion[http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?1968PASAu...1..133A&data_type=PDF_HIGH&filetype=.pdf&type=PRINTER&whole_paper=YES]. Based on these numbers, the sun contains 5.967 × 10^17 (596 quadrillion 700 trillion) kilograms of gold. This equates to 5.967 × 10^14 (596 trillion 700 billion) metric tons of gold. As such, Megan's statement that the sun contains "quintillions of tons of gold" is off by a factor of roughly 4000. But the amount of gold within the sun is far more than a pot's worth nonetheless.

The amount of water in the oceans is about 1.35 × 10^18 (1 quintillion 350 quadrillion) metric tons[https://phys.org/news/2014-12-percent-earth.html]. This means that Megan's next statement (that there is more gold in the sun than water in the oceans) is off by a factor of roughly 2300 (though it would have been true if the previous one was).

Cueball then asks about leprechauns. Megan replies that the leprechauns all died when the Sun formed, implying all the gold in the Sun is actually the remnants of leprechaun gold. However, she does not consider the explanation where the leprechaun is on the other end of the rainbow...

The title text suggest that, since the pot of gold exists in the brains of people thinking about it, and the retina is the foremost part of the brain for the light perception, it can be argued that, in addition to existing in the sun as the comic explains, the gold (and leprechauns) also exist at the other end, in the retina and brain of the person seeing the rainbow.

==Transcript==

:[Megan and Cueball are walking.]
:Megan: There's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
:Cueball: Rainbows are circles. They have no end.
:Megan: Not quite!

:[In a borderless panel, a multi-part graphic is shown depicting what Megan is describing off-panel: a short cone inside a longer cone, with the longer cone having its point starting at the Sun, the shorter cone having its point at a miniature Cueball's head, and both cones sharing the same circular base. The diagram is repeated from 3 different perspectives to make the structure easier to grasp.]
:Megan (off-panel): A '''rainbow''' is light leaving the Sun, bouncing off the clouds, and converging on your eye. It's an inside-out two-ended cone.

:[Megan and Cueball are still walking.]
:Megan: One end of that cone is your retina.

:[A wider view of the same scene, with Megan and Cueball walking on a dark ground.]
:Megan: The other end is the Sun—which contains quintillions of tons of gold. There's more gold in the Sun than water in the oceans.
:Cueball: So there ''is'' a pot of gold!
:Cueball: What about leprechauns?
:Megan: All incinerated as the sun formed. Very sad.

==Trivia==

As of January 19, 2017, the value of gold is 42,692.98 USD per kilogram. Based on this, all of the gold in the sun is worth 2.5474901 × 10^22 (25 sextillion 474 quintillion 901 quadrillion) USD.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics_featuring_Megan]]
[[Category:Comics_featuring_Cueball]]

1862: Particle Properties

2017-07-12T17:35:04Z

Cosmogoblin: /* Explanation */ Updated spin number

{{comic
| number = 1862
| date = July 12, 2017
| title = Particle Properties
| image = particle_properties.png
| titletext = Each particle also has a password which allows its properties to be changed, but the cosmic censorship hypothesis suggests we can never observe the password itself—only its secure hash.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Table needs to be filled out with remaining explanations}}
A table is presented comparing the range (maxmium and minimum value) and scale (how big number increments are) of several measures. The table begins by listing properties pertinent to {{w|particle physics}} as the title sugests, but after failing to provide a good indication of {{w|Flavour (particle physics)|flavor}}, quickly devolves to other domains, such as role playing games (such as D&D) and sports.

{| class=wikitable
! Property
! Scale
! Explanation
|-
| Electric charge
| [-1,1]
| A particle can either have a negative charge (noted by -1), a positive charge (noted by +1), or no (neutral) charge (noted by 0). Subatomic particles (quarks) have charges of ± ⅓ or ± ⅔, but cannot exist on their own (they must be combined to create a particle with integer charge).
The charge is shown in increments of a third from -1 to +1 which are the only know charges of the fundamental particles; however there are some exotic particles with twice integer charge e.g. the recently discovered double charmed Xi baryon with charge of +2.
|-
| Mass
| [0,∞) in kg
| Mass is the measure of an object or particle's resistance to force, as well as its ability to distort spacetime (its gravitational attraction).
Theoretically, any object's mass could approach infinity, but mass cannot be below 0. Some particles, such as photons, have zero rest mass and are therefore massless.
|-
| Spin number
| (-∞,∞) (Intervals of ½)
| Spin is an intrinsic properties of particles, Spin is a relativistic form of angular momentum. The spin of a particle determines what statistics the particle follows, half odd integer spin particles are classified as fermions and integer spin particles are bosons.
Two fermions cannot have exactly the same state, this is known as the Pauli exclusion principle. Thus for fermions to exist in the same position, they must have opposite spins, of + ½ and - ½. It follows that a maximum of two identical fermions (e.g. two electrons) may exist in the same position.
|-
| Flavor
| Misc. quantum numbers
| Flavor is a series of quantum numbers that do not fit neatly onto a set of dimensional axis
|-
| Color charge
| 3D coordinate system with R, G and B axes
| Color charge can be Red Green or Blue, the color of a particle must sum to white so a particle can be RGB or Red anti-Red or equivalent. The color charge confines the quarks, separating quarks requires so much energy that jets of particles are created, so color is a property inferred as it cannot be observed on its own. This is the last entry currently used to describe particles by particle physicists.
|-
| Mood
| [😠,😄] on a number line
| Mood particles are not considered to have emotion but Randall implies that there is a quantized 5 point scale which would have some effect of the properties of the particle.
|-
| Alignment
| 3x3 grid with varying shades (columns Good-Evil, rows Lawful-Chaotic)
| The "Alignment" tab corresponds with the {{w|Alignment (Dungeons & Dragons)|Alignments}} grid of ''{{w|Dungeons & Dragons}}'', where characters are traditionally given one of nine ideological alignments, with "Lawful", "Neutral" and "Chaotic" on one axis and "Good", "Neutral" and "Evil" on the other. This may be a reference to the now defunct names of the two heaviest known quarks: truth and beauty.
|-
| Hit points
| [0,∞)
| Video games often have values for players and other entities that represent health (also called hit points or HP). Generally there is not necessarily a limit on this value, but it does not often go below 0 as the zero value is considered "dead" (or some equivalent).
|-
| Rating
| 5-star scale
| The five-star rating system is often used to rate films, TV shows, restaurants, and hotels. Randall has previously criticized this system in [[937: TornadoGuard]] and [[1098: Star Ratings]].
|-
| String type
| Bytestring-Charstring
|
|-
| Batting average
| [0,100) in %
|
|-
| Proof
| [0,200)
| This refers to {{w|alcohol proof}}, which is the measure of the amount of ethanol in a beverage by volume. The proof of a beverage is two times the percentage of ethanol, so the maximum value is 200.
|-
| Heat
| No jalapeños - 3 jalapeños, increasing
| Spicy peppers are measured by the intensity of the spicy flavor, usually ranging from values like "mild" to "hot". The gray jalapeño likely represents negligible or no spicy taste in the food.
|-
| Street value
| [0,∞) in $
|
|-
| Entropy
| ''This already has like 20 different confusing meanings, so it probably means something here, too.''
| The term "entropy", which {{w|History of entropy|began}} as a {{w|Entropy (classical thermodynamics)|thermodynamic measure}}, has since been adopted {{w|Entropy in thermodynamics and information theory|by analogy}} into {{w|Entropy (disambiguation)|multiple seemingly unrelated domains}}. The table doesn't seem to know what domain it is in, but (possibly in a desperate attempt to hide this) deems it safe to assume the unknown domain uses the term "entropy" for ''something''!
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:<big>Particle Properties in Physics</big>
{| class=wikitable
! Property
! Type/scale
|-
| Electric charge
| [Scale with -1, 0 and +1 labeled]
|-
| Mass
| [Scale with 0, 1kg and 2kg labeled]
|-
| Spin number
| [Scale with -1, -½ 0, ½ and 1 labeled]
|-
| Flavor
| (Misc. quantum numbers)
|-
| Color charge
| [3D plot with R, G and B axes] (Quarks only)
|-
| Mood
| [Scale labeled with 5 emoticons, from angry to happy]
|-
| Alignment
| [3x3 grid with varying shades] Good-Evil, Lawful-Chaotic
|-
| Hit points
| [Scale starting from 0]
|-
| Rating
| [Star rating of 3.5/5 stars]
|-
| String type
| Bytestring-Charstring
|-
| Batting average
| [Scale from 0% to 100%]
|-
| Proof
| [Scale from 0 to 200]
|-
| Heat
| [Scale labeled with pepper icons, from 0 to 3]
|-
| Street value
| [Scale with $0, $100 and $200 labeled]
|-
| Entropy
| (This already has like 20 different confusing meanings, so it probably means something here, too.)
|}

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

1862: Particle Properties

2017-07-12T17:31:57Z

Cosmogoblin: /* Explanation */ Updated electric charge

{{comic
| number = 1862
| date = July 12, 2017
| title = Particle Properties
| image = particle_properties.png
| titletext = Each particle also has a password which allows its properties to be changed, but the cosmic censorship hypothesis suggests we can never observe the password itself—only its secure hash.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Table needs to be filled out with remaining explanations}}
A table is presented comparing the range (maxmium and minimum value) and scale (how big number increments are) of several measures. The table begins by listing properties pertinent to {{w|particle physics}} as the title sugests, but after failing to provide a good indication of {{w|Flavour (particle physics)|flavor}}, quickly devolves to other domains, such as role playing games (such as D&D) and sports.

{| class=wikitable
! Property
! Scale
! Explanation
|-
| Electric charge
| [-1,1]
| A particle can either have a negative charge (noted by -1), a positive charge (noted by +1), or no (neutral) charge (noted by 0). Subatomic particles (quarks) have charges of ± ⅓ or ± ⅔, but cannot exist on their own (they must be combined to create a particle with integer charge).
The charge is shown in increments of a third from -1 to +1 which are the only know charges of the fundamental particles; however there are some exotic particles with twice integer charge e.g. the recently discovered double charmed Xi baryon with charge of +2.
|-
| Mass
| [0,∞) in kg
| Mass is the measure of an object or particle's resistance to force, as well as its ability to distort spacetime (its gravitational attraction).
Theoretically, any object's mass could approach infinity, but mass cannot be below 0. Some particles, such as photons, have zero rest mass and are therefore massless.
|-
| Spin number
| (-∞,∞) (Intervals of 1/2)
| Spin is an intrinsic properties of particles, Spin is a relativistic form of angular momentum. The spin of a particle determines what statistics the particle follows, half odd integer spin particles are classified as fermions and integer spin particles are bosons.
Two fermions cannot have exactly the same state, this is the Pauli exclusion principle.
|-
| Flavor
| Misc. quantum numbers
| Flavor is a series of quantum numbers that do not fit neatly onto a set of dimensional axis
|-
| Color charge
| 3D coordinate system with R, G and B axes
| Color charge can be Red Green or Blue, the color of a particle must sum to white so a particle can be RGB or Red anti-Red or equivalent. The color charge confines the quarks, separating quarks requires so much energy that jets of particles are created, so color is a property inferred as it cannot be observed on its own. This is the last entry currently used to describe particles by particle physicists.
|-
| Mood
| [😠,😄] on a number line
| Mood particles are not considered to have emotion but Randall implies that there is a quantized 5 point scale which would have some effect of the properties of the particle.
|-
| Alignment
| 3x3 grid with varying shades (columns Good-Evil, rows Lawful-Chaotic)
| The "Alignment" tab corresponds with the {{w|Alignment (Dungeons & Dragons)|Alignments}} grid of ''{{w|Dungeons & Dragons}}'', where characters are traditionally given one of nine ideological alignments, with "Lawful", "Neutral" and "Chaotic" on one axis and "Good", "Neutral" and "Evil" on the other. This may be a reference to the now defunct names of the two heaviest known quarks: truth and beauty.
|-
| Hit points
| [0,∞)
| Video games often have values for players and other entities that represent health (also called hit points or HP). Generally there is not necessarily a limit on this value, but it does not often go below 0 as the zero value is considered "dead" (or some equivalent).
|-
| Rating
| 5-star scale
| The five-star rating system is often used to rate films, TV shows, restaurants, and hotels. Randall has previously criticized this system in [[937: TornadoGuard]] and [[1098: Star Ratings]].
|-
| String type
| Bytestring-Charstring
|
|-
| Batting average
| [0,100) in %
|
|-
| Proof
| [0,200)
| This refers to {{w|alcohol proof}}, which is the measure of the amount of ethanol in a beverage by volume. The proof of a beverage is two times the percentage of ethanol, so the maximum value is 200.
|-
| Heat
| No jalapeños - 3 jalapeños, increasing
| Spicy peppers are measured by the intensity of the spicy flavor, usually ranging from values like "mild" to "hot". The gray jalapeño likely represents negligible or no spicy taste in the food.
|-
| Street value
| [0,∞) in $
|
|-
| Entropy
| ''This already has like 20 different confusing meanings, so it probably means something here, too.''
| The term "entropy", which {{w|History of entropy|began}} as a {{w|Entropy (classical thermodynamics)|thermodynamic measure}}, has since been adopted {{w|Entropy in thermodynamics and information theory|by analogy}} into {{w|Entropy (disambiguation)|multiple seemingly unrelated domains}}. The table doesn't seem to know what domain it is in, but (possibly in a desperate attempt to hide this) deems it safe to assume the unknown domain uses the term "entropy" for ''something''!
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:<big>Particle Properties in Physics</big>
{| class=wikitable
! Property
! Type/scale
|-
| Electric charge
| [Scale with -1, 0 and +1 labeled]
|-
| Mass
| [Scale with 0, 1kg and 2kg labeled]
|-
| Spin number
| [Scale with -1, -½ 0, ½ and 1 labeled]
|-
| Flavor
| (Misc. quantum numbers)
|-
| Color charge
| [3D plot with R, G and B axes] (Quarks only)
|-
| Mood
| [Scale labeled with 5 emoticons, from angry to happy]
|-
| Alignment
| [3x3 grid with varying shades] Good-Evil, Lawful-Chaotic
|-
| Hit points
| [Scale starting from 0]
|-
| Rating
| [Star rating of 3.5/5 stars]
|-
| String type
| Bytestring-Charstring
|-
| Batting average
| [Scale from 0% to 100%]
|-
| Proof
| [Scale from 0 to 200]
|-
| Heat
| [Scale labeled with pepper icons, from 0 to 3]
|-
| Street value
| [Scale with $0, $100 and $200 labeled]
|-
| Entropy
| (This already has like 20 different confusing meanings, so it probably means something here, too.)
|}

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

1862: Particle Properties

2017-07-12T17:27:45Z

Cosmogoblin: Moved all remaining explanations into the table

{{comic
| number = 1862
| date = July 12, 2017
| title = Particle Properties
| image = particle_properties.png
| titletext = Each particle also has a password which allows its properties to be changed, but the cosmic censorship hypothesis suggests we can never observe the password itself—only its secure hash.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Table needs to be filled out with remaining explanations}}
A table is presented comparing the range (maxmium and minimum value) and scale (how big number increments are) of several measures. The table begins by listing properties pertinent to {{w|particle physics}} as the title sugests, but after failing to provide a good indication of {{w|Flavour (particle physics)|flavor}}, quickly devolves to other domains, such as role playing games (such as D&D) and sports.

{| class=wikitable
! Property
! Scale
! Explanation
|-
| Electric charge
| [-1,1]
| A particle can either have a negative charge (noted by -1), a positive charge (noted by +1), or no (neutral) charge (noted by 0). The charge is shown in increments of a third from -1 to +1 which are the only know charges of the fundamental particles, there are some exotic, particles with twice integer charge e.g. the recently discovered double charmed Xi baryon
|-
| Mass
| [0,∞) in kg
| Mass is the measure of an object or particle's resistance to force, as well as its ability to distort spacetime (its gravitational attraction).
Theoretically, any object's mass could approach infinity, but mass cannot be below 0. Some particles, such as photons, have zero rest mass and are therefore massless.
|-
| Spin number
| (-∞,∞) (Intervals of 1/2)
| Spin is an intrinsic properties of particles, Spin is a relativistic form of angular momentum. The spin of a particle determines what statistics the particle follows, half odd integer spin particles are classified as fermions and integer spin particles are bosons.
Two fermions cannot have exactly the same state, this is the Pauli exclusion principle.
|-
| Flavor
| Misc. quantum numbers
| Flavor is a series of quantum numbers that do not fit neatly onto a set of dimensional axis
|-
| Color charge
| 3D coordinate system with R, G and B axes
| Color charge can be Red Green or Blue, the color of a particle must sum to white so a particle can be RGB or Red anti-Red or equivalent. The color charge confines the quarks, separating quarks requires so much energy that jets of particles are created, so color is a property inferred as it cannot be observed on its own. This is the last entry currently used to describe particles by particle physicists.
|-
| Mood
| [😠,😄] on a number line
| Mood particles are not considered to have emotion but Randall implies that there is a quantized 5 point scale which would have some effect of the properties of the particle.
|-
| Alignment
| 3x3 grid with varying shades (columns Good-Evil, rows Lawful-Chaotic)
| The "Alignment" tab corresponds with the {{w|Alignment (Dungeons & Dragons)|Alignments}} grid of ''{{w|Dungeons & Dragons}}'', where characters are traditionally given one of nine ideological alignments, with "Lawful", "Neutral" and "Chaotic" on one axis and "Good", "Neutral" and "Evil" on the other. This may be a reference to the now defunct names of the two heaviest known quarks: truth and beauty.
|-
| Hit points
| [0,∞)
| Video games often have values for players and other entities that represent health (also called hit points or HP). Generally there is not necessarily a limit on this value, but it does not often go below 0 as the zero value is considered "dead" (or some equivalent).
|-
| Rating
| 5-star scale
| The five-star rating system is often used to rate films, TV shows, restaurants, and hotels. Randall has previously criticized this system in [[937: TornadoGuard]] and [[1098: Star Ratings]].
|-
| String type
| Bytestring-Charstring
|
|-
| Batting average
| [0,100) in %
|
|-
| Proof
| [0,200)
| This refers to {{w|alcohol proof}}, which is the measure of the amount of ethanol in a beverage by volume. The proof of a beverage is two times the percentage of ethanol, so the maximum value is 200.
|-
| Heat
| No jalapeños - 3 jalapeños, increasing
| Spicy peppers are measured by the intensity of the spicy flavor, usually ranging from values like "mild" to "hot". The gray jalapeño likely represents negligible or no spicy taste in the food.
|-
| Street value
| [0,∞) in $
|
|-
| Entropy
| ''This already has like 20 different confusing meanings, so it probably means something here, too.''
| The term "entropy", which {{w|History of entropy|began}} as a {{w|Entropy (classical thermodynamics)|thermodynamic measure}}, has since been adopted {{w|Entropy in thermodynamics and information theory|by analogy}} into {{w|Entropy (disambiguation)|multiple seemingly unrelated domains}}. The table doesn't seem to know what domain it is in, but (possibly in a desperate attempt to hide this) deems it safe to assume the unknown domain uses the term "entropy" for ''something''!
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:<big>Particle Properties in Physics</big>
{| class=wikitable
! Property
! Type/scale
|-
| Electric charge
| [Scale with -1, 0 and +1 labeled]
|-
| Mass
| [Scale with 0, 1kg and 2kg labeled]
|-
| Spin number
| [Scale with -1, -½ 0, ½ and 1 labeled]
|-
| Flavor
| (Misc. quantum numbers)
|-
| Color charge
| [3D plot with R, G and B axes] (Quarks only)
|-
| Mood
| [Scale labeled with 5 emoticons, from angry to happy]
|-
| Alignment
| [3x3 grid with varying shades] Good-Evil, Lawful-Chaotic
|-
| Hit points
| [Scale starting from 0]
|-
| Rating
| [Star rating of 3.5/5 stars]
|-
| String type
| Bytestring-Charstring
|-
| Batting average
| [Scale from 0% to 100%]
|-
| Proof
| [Scale from 0 to 200]
|-
| Heat
| [Scale labeled with pepper icons, from 0 to 3]
|-
| Street value
| [Scale with $0, $100 and $200 labeled]
|-
| Entropy
| (This already has like 20 different confusing meanings, so it probably means something here, too.)
|}

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

1862: Particle Properties

2017-07-12T17:23:14Z

Cosmogoblin: /* Explanation */ Updated mass definition

{{comic
| number = 1862
| date = July 12, 2017
| title = Particle Properties
| image = particle_properties.png
| titletext = Each particle also has a password which allows its properties to be changed, but the cosmic censorship hypothesis suggests we can never observe the password itself—only its secure hash.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Table needs to be filled out with remaining explanations}}
A table is presented comparing the range (maxmium and minimum value) and scale (how big number increments are) of several measures. The table begins by listing properties pertinent to {{w|particle physics}} as the title sugests, but after failing to provide a good indication of {{w|Flavour (particle physics)|flavor}}, quickly devolves to other domains, such as role playing games (such as D&D) and sports.

{| class=wikitable
! Property
! Scale
! Explanation
|-
| Electric charge
| [-1,1]
| A particle can either have a negative charge (noted by -1), a positive charge (noted by +1), or no (neutral) charge (noted by 0).
|-
| Mass
| [0,∞) in kg
| Mass is the measure of an object or particle's resistance to force, as well as its ability to distort spacetime (its gravitational attraction).
Theoretically, any object's mass could approach infinity, but mass cannot be below 0. Some particles, such as photons, have zero rest mass and are therefore massless.
|-
| Spin number
| (-∞,∞) (Intervals of 1/2)
|
|-
| Flavor
| Misc. quantum numbers
|
|-
| Color charge
| 3D coordinate system with R, G and B axes
|
|-
| Mood
| [😠,😄] on a number line
|
|-
| Alignment
| 3x3 grid with varying shades (columns Good-Evil, rows Lawful-Chaotic)
|
|-
| Hit points
| [0,∞)
| Video games often have values for players and other entities that represent health (also called hit points or HP). Generally there is not necessarily a limit on this value, but it does not often go below 0 as the zero value is considered "dead" (or some equivalent).
|-
| Rating
| 5-star scale
| The five-star rating system is often used to rate films, TV shows, restaurants, and hotels. Randall has previously criticized this system in [[937: TornadoGuard]] and [[1098: Star Ratings]].
|-
| String type
| Bytestring-Charstring
|
|-
| Batting average
| [0,100) in %
|
|-
| Proof
| [0,200)
| This refers to {{w|alcohol proof}}, which is the measure of the amount of ethanol in a beverage by volume. The proof of a beverage is two times the percentage of ethanol, so the maximum value is 200.
|-
| Heat
| No jalapeños - 3 jalapeños, increasing
| Spicy peppers are measured by the intensity of the spicy flavor, usually ranging from values like "mild" to "hot". The gray jalapeño likely represents negligible or no spicy taste in the food.
|-
| Street value
| [0,∞) in $
|
|-
| Entropy
| ''This already has like 20 different confusing meanings, so it probably means something here, too.''
|
|}

The term "entropy", which {{w|History of entropy|began}} as a {{w|Entropy (classical thermodynamics)|thermodynamic measure}}, has since been adopted {{w|Entropy in thermodynamics and information theory|by analogy}} into {{w|Entropy (disambiguation)|multiple seemingly unrelated domains}}. The table doesn't seem to know what domain it is in, but (possibly in a desperate attempt to hide this) deems it safe to assume the unknown domain uses the term "entropy" for ''something''!

The "Alignment" tab corresponds with the {{w|Alignment (Dungeons & Dragons)|Alignments}} grid of ''{{w|Dungeons & Dragons}}'', where characters are traditionally given one of nine ideological alignments, with "Lawful", "Neutral" and "Chaotic" on one axis and "Good", "Neutral" and "Evil" on the other. This may be a reference to the now defunct names of the two heaviest known quarks: truth and beauty.

The charge is shown in increments of a third from -1 to +1 which are the only know charges of the fundamental particles, there are some exotic, particles with twice integer charge e.g. the recently discovered double charmed Xi baryon

Spin is an intrinsic properties of particles, Spin is a relativistic form of angular momentum. The spin of a particle determines what statistics the particle follows, half odd integer spin particles are classified as fermions and integer spin particles are bosons.
Two fermions cannot have exactly the same state, this is the Pauli exclusion principle.
Flavor is a series of quantum numbers that do not fit neatly onto a set of dimensional axis
Color charge can be Red Green or Blue, the color of a particle must sum to white so a particle can be RGB or Red anti-Red or equivalent. The color charge confines the quarks, separating quarks requires so much energy that jets of particles are created, so color is a property inferred as it cannot be observed on its own. This is the last entry currently used to describe particles by particle physicists.
Mood particles are not considered to have emotion but Randdal implies that there is a quantized 5 point scale which would have some effect of the properties of the particle.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:<big>Particle Properties in Physics</big>
{| class=wikitable
! Property
! Type/scale
|-
| Electric charge
| [Scale with -1, 0 and +1 labeled]
|-
| Mass
| [Scale with 0, 1kg and 2kg labeled]
|-
| Spin number
| [Scale with -1, -½ 0, ½ and 1 labeled]
|-
| Flavor
| (Misc. quantum numbers)
|-
| Color charge
| [3D plot with R, G and B axes] (Quarks only)
|-
| Mood
| [Scale labeled with 5 emoticons, from angry to happy]
|-
| Alignment
| [3x3 grid with varying shades] Good-Evil, Lawful-Chaotic
|-
| Hit points
| [Scale starting from 0]
|-
| Rating
| [Star rating of 3.5/5 stars]
|-
| String type
| Bytestring-Charstring
|-
| Batting average
| [Scale from 0% to 100%]
|-
| Proof
| [Scale from 0 to 200]
|-
| Heat
| [Scale labeled with pepper icons, from 0 to 3]
|-
| Street value
| [Scale with $0, $100 and $200 labeled]
|-
| Entropy
| (This already has like 20 different confusing meanings, so it probably means something here, too.)
|}

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

Talk:1814: Color Pattern

2017-03-22T15:19:44Z

Cosmogoblin:

This link, note 1, may help whomever is going to be editing the comic explanation, I don't have time this morning. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moir%C3%A9_pattern] [[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 13:40, 22 March 2017 (UTC)

Did a quick google and copy/pasted from the Wikipedia page on Moiré patterns. [[User:Xseo|Xseo]] ([[User talk:Xseo|talk]]) 13:51, 22 March 2017 (UTC)
:This is a copyright infringement. The contents of Wikipedia are not in the {{w|public domain}}. When using text from Wikipedia anywhere, you must indicate the license (CC-BY-SA 3.0).--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.150.82|162.158.150.82]] 13:58, 22 March 2017 (UTC)
::This is fine. Wikipedia text is licensed for re-use by anybody, provided the original is referenced; Xseo referenced the source material in his comment above, and an explicit link is given in the article; furthermore, this entire website is CC-BY-SA 3.0, as indicated in the footer on every page. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 15:16, 22 March 2017 (UTC)

I can't be the only one for whom the note emoji are not showing up.
:I don't see them either. I'm running Chrome 48 Portable. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.225|162.158.62.225]] 14:18, 22 March 2017 (UTC)
::Running Chrome 57, Chromium 53, and Firefox 52; the note emoji doesn't work on any of these (Linux Mint 17.3 64-bit). I wonder why? [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 15:19, 22 March 2017 (UTC)

AFAIK moiree patterns would not show up on an image that have been *properly* sampled, such moiree patterns are IIRC a byproduct of poorly sampled digital images. See WP for "aliasing" and "digital sampling" for reference. My two cents... [[User:Todor|Todor]] ([[User talk:Todor|talk]]) 14:31, 22 March 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1814: Color Pattern

2017-03-22T15:19:28Z

Cosmogoblin:

This link, note 1, may help whomever is going to be editing the comic explanation, I don't have time this morning. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moir%C3%A9_pattern] [[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 13:40, 22 March 2017 (UTC)

Did a quick google and copy/pasted from the Wikipedia page on Moiré patterns. [[User:Xseo|Xseo]] ([[User talk:Xseo|talk]]) 13:51, 22 March 2017 (UTC)
:This is a copyright infringement. The contents of Wikipedia are not in the {{w|public domain}}. When using text from Wikipedia anywhere, you must indicate the license (CC-BY-SA 3.0).--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.150.82|162.158.150.82]] 13:58, 22 March 2017 (UTC)
::This is fine. Wikipedia text is licensed for re-use by anybody, provided the original is referenced; Xseo referenced the source material in his comment above, and an explicit link is given in the article; furthermore, this entire website is CC-BY-SA 3.0, as indicated in the footer on every page. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 15:16, 22 March 2017 (UTC)

I can't be the only one for whom the note emoji are not showing up.
:I don't see them either. I'm running Chrome 48 Portable. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.225|162.158.62.225]] 14:18, 22 March 2017 (UTC)
::Running Chrome 57, Chromium 53, and Firefox 52; the note emoji doesn't work on any of these (Linux Mint 17.3 64-bit). I wonder wy? [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 15:19, 22 March 2017 (UTC)

AFAIK moiree patterns would not show up on an image that have been *properly* sampled, such moiree patterns are IIRC a byproduct of poorly sampled digital images. See WP for "aliasing" and "digital sampling" for reference. My two cents... [[User:Todor|Todor]] ([[User talk:Todor|talk]]) 14:31, 22 March 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1814: Color Pattern

2017-03-22T15:16:29Z

Cosmogoblin:

This link, note 1, may help whomever is going to be editing the comic explanation, I don't have time this morning. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moir%C3%A9_pattern] [[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 13:40, 22 March 2017 (UTC)

Did a quick google and copy/pasted from the Wikipedia page on Moiré patterns. [[User:Xseo|Xseo]] ([[User talk:Xseo|talk]]) 13:51, 22 March 2017 (UTC)
:This is a copyright infringement. The contents of Wikipedia are not in the {{w|public domain}}. When using text from Wikipedia anywhere, you must indicate the license (CC-BY-SA 3.0).--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.150.82|162.158.150.82]] 13:58, 22 March 2017 (UTC)
::This is fine. Wikipedia text is licensed for re-use by anybody, provided the original is referenced; Xseo referenced the source material in his comment above, and an explicit link is given in the article; furthermore, this entire website is CC-BY-SA 3.0, as indicated in the footer on every page. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 15:16, 22 March 2017 (UTC)

I can't be the only one for whom the note emoji are not showing up.
:I don't see them either. I'm running Chrome 48 Portable. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.225|162.158.62.225]] 14:18, 22 March 2017 (UTC)

AFAIK moiree patterns would not show up on an image that have been *properly* sampled, such moiree patterns are IIRC a byproduct of poorly sampled digital images. See WP for "aliasing" and "digital sampling" for reference. My two cents... [[User:Todor|Todor]] ([[User talk:Todor|talk]]) 14:31, 22 March 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1810: Chat Systems

2017-03-14T17:09:46Z

Cosmogoblin:

"Wall (bathroom)" might be a reference to the Spaceballs movie. President Skroob is using the bathroom when he gets a video call from one of his officers. "Ahh! I told you never to call me on this wall! This is an unlisted wall!" [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.112|172.68.54.112]] 16:31, 13 March 2017 (UTC)
:Or "Wall (bathroom)" is just a pun on "Wall (Unix)". That would explain why only these two have disambiguation, and not "Telegram" or "Peach". See also how both Walls are next to each other. Shirluban [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.106|141.101.88.106]] 11:54, 14 March 2017 (UTC)

From the explain section (User: Cosmogoblin): See [https://www.dropbox.com/s/8xpd3iggd47x51q/1810.ods this spreadsheet on Dropbox] for a list of each person in the diagram, as a basis for more complex analysis.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:48, 13 March 2017 (UTC)

Man, IRC is not old. I remember using it at college in 1996... Oh, wait.{{unsigned ip|172.68.26.65}}

I'm pretty sure that says '''Wall (Unix)''', not '''Wall (Linux)'''. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.131|162.158.79.131]] 17:16, 13 March 2017 (UTC)

He left off the chat tab on wikipedia :o){{unsigned ip|172.68.86.100}}

He also left off [https://discordapp.com/ Discord]. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.160|108.162.241.160]] 23:22, 13 March 2017 (UTC)
:He also also left off explain xkcd talkpages. [[User talk:AgentMuffin|~AgentMuffin]]
::Just curious - has Randall ever directly referenced explainxkcd? I know that he relies on us in minor ways, and I'm sure he reads explain, but I can't recall any actual references. And I'm having great difficulty thinking of a good Google search term to check! [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 17:09, 14 March 2017 (UTC)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Euler_and_Venn_diagrams.svg Humorous diagram comparing Euler and Venn diagrams]--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:06, 13 March 2017 (UTC)

To whom are the individuals unique to some sets talking to? eg those in Apache Request logs, and wall (unix) and wall (bathroom)? I suppose there is no reason to assume anyone is receiving their messages.......[[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.160|108.162.241.160]] 18:37, 13 March 2017 (UTC)

:I'd assume that the diagram is the ways Randall communicates with people. So the person in the Apache Logs circle would be the only person he is able to reach using this method. Likely meaning that for the really big circles (like email), a person outside the circle doesn't necessarily mean they don't use email; just that Randall doesn't have their address. --(bah, I can't remember my username on here. Old laptop was left logged in) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.109|162.158.154.109]] 20:37, 13 March 2017 (UTC)

This seems related to #1254, and maybe #1789 as well. Randall really has a problem with his friends' bizarre methods of communicating.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.5|172.68.132.5]] 18:44, 13 March 2017 (UTC)

;Related comics
I've created this new section at the bottom of the explain section. Those references don't explain much but moving it to a trivia section would move this out of sight for the reader. Since many writers like to find such references this chapter groups them all together. Any suggestions? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:04, 13 March 2017 (UTC)
:Related: #1305 [[User:BMB|BMB]] ([[User talk:BMB|talk]]) 08:01, 14 March 2017 (UTC)

;Transcript
I'm thinking it may be best to do the transcript by listing each person and the circles in which they are present, possibly condensing people in identical circles with the number in parentheses. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.246.82|162.158.246.82]] 22:23, 13 March 2017 (UTC)
:I'm also thinking about this. But the persons are some sticky figures like Cueball and so on; the character itself is unimportant... Important are all the "Chat Systems" and their connections together. That's not easy to transcribe.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:31, 13 March 2017 (UTC)
:: I think the easiest way is to use the "mathematical approach": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Set_(mathematics) [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 07:14, 14 March 2017 (UTC)

;XMPP
He forgot Jabber!{{unsigned ip|198.41.242.7}}

I explained the title text and how a Euler diagram works. Please add onto my explanation. --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|'''JayRules''XKCD''' ]][[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|what's up?]] 13:29, 14 March 2017 (UTC)

1810: Chat Systems

2017-03-13T16:37:25Z

Cosmogoblin: /* Explanation */ Added link to spreadsheet

{{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|Needs explanation of each of the different protocols/systems.}}
In the world of social media, connecting to and communicating with friends, relatives, and other acquaintances can be extremely easy, but due to the large amount of networks and systems through which to communicate, and the selective nature of the people using them, it can be difficult to keep track of who uses which system(s), and thus, communication can be more complicated by social media as well.

The ubiquity of standards - here, of messaging systems - was already covered in [[927: Standards]].

See [https://www.dropbox.com/s/8xpd3iggd47x51q/1810.ods this spreadsheet on Dropbox] for a list of each person in the diagram, as a basis for more complex analysis.

==Transcript==
:[a Venn diagram with a large number of circles for various chat systems, overlapping in complicated ways]
:I have a hard time keeping track of which contacts use which chat systems.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1806: Borrow Your Laptop

2017-03-03T09:24:32Z

Cosmogoblin:

One assumes this is a software development environment or similar

{|
!Statement
!Explanation
|-
|Oh, just hit both shift keys to change over to QWERTY.
| Likely has keyboard in DVORAK
|-
|Caps lock is control. And spacebar is capslock.
| Changing Caps Lock to a "more useful" key is common. However to change an even larger key to be capslock (Space) is odd
|-
|And two-finger scroll moves through time instead of space.
|Two finger scrolling is often used to move through a document or application on a mousepad or touchscreen device - this could be seen as moving through space (despite the cursor not actually being real). Randall is presumerably making a comment re: Space Time continuum or similar?
|-
|Once I've used a computer for a while no one else will ever use it again.
|It is unlikely that any user who tries using a computer configured like this would be expecting it and would find the workflow very hard - they are unlikely to ask again to use Cueball's computer
|}
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.197|141.101.99.197]] 07:55, 3 March 2017 (UTC)

Just a minor point QWERTY is not the standard "Roman" keyboard but "English" as "French" is AZERTY and German is something else. The other thing is that just the change from US to UK can really mess things up, $>£ is trivial as @ not only moves, but the symbol keys all seem to do different things. [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 08:58, 3 March 2017 (UTC)

Yeah, in the UK I often have to use a Windows box misconfigured as US, where @ is in the wrong place. At work, one had a postit note explaining how to get the @ symbol, until I spent all of 5 seconds fixing it. Worse though is Apple, who insist on using US keyboard layout even in the UK. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 09:24, 3 March 2017 (UTC)

I'm surprised that no one has pointed out the impossibility of changing from DVORAK to QWERTY by pressing both shift keys, seeing as most laptops have hardware keyboards.
unless he has somehow rigged a voltronesque keyboard or he has a touchscreen keyboard or an onscreen one.
[[User:Dudeonyx|Dudeonyx]] ([[User talk:Dudeonyx|talk]]) 09:20, 3 March 2017 (UTC)

what if?

2017-03-02T21:23:27Z

Cosmogoblin: /* Articles */ My thoughts on freezer vs. toaster

:''Not to be confused with [[17: What If]].''
[[File:whatifbanner.jpg]]

'''''[http://what-if.xkcd.com/ what if?]''''' is a blog hosted on the [[xkcd]].com domain and written by [[Randall Munroe]] with entries posted [http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/once-in-a-blue-moon.html occasionally]. Before publishing the what if? book, articles were posted weekly.

On the blog, Randall uses his degree in physics and strong scientific background to discuss hypothetical physics questions apparently submitted by readers.
Since 2014, there's also a book of the blog.

Unlike other sites which answer readers' questions, ''what if?'' typically takes the question beyond the original scope likely intended by the reader and takes it to some extreme for humorous effect. For example, in {{what if|1|the first article}}, he discusses what would happen if a baseball were pitched at 90% of the speed of light. After effectively describing what would occur as a nuclear explosion, leveling the stadium and the surrounding mile radius, he concludes with the note ''"A careful reading of official Major League Baseball Rule 6.08(b) suggests that in this situation, the batter would be considered 'hit by pitch', and would be eligible to advance to first base."''

The questions Randall tackles range from realistic possibilities (e.g. the probability of achieving a {{what if|2|perfect SAT score by guessing}}) to completely fictional questions (e.g. {{what if|3|How much Force power}} can {{w|Yoda}} output?). In his explanations, Randall, often uses diagrams in an ''xkcd'' style. Regardless of the context, Randall tends to take the questions extremely literally and responds seriously to them, even if they are whimsical (such as the Yoda question). This is clear from his response to the question of what would happen if everybody on Earth stood together and {{what if|8|jumped at the same time}}. After acknowledging that the question has been answered elsewhere, he recaps the result, but then focuses more intently on the unasked resulting issue of the aftermath of everyone on Earth being magically transported to one location as they all try to return home.

This site is not under [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License] like [[xkcd]] is.

==Release schedule==
*The two first articles were released on the same day, Tuesday July 10, 2012, probably to get the blog going, and let users of xkcd see that there was going to be more.
**After that they were released weekly for almost three years, with just a few times with two (and once three) weeks between releases, up until article 136 was released on April 12, 2015 (2 years and 40 weeks).
**First after 25 releases was there a two week Christmas break before article 26 was released on December 31, 2012.
**After that there were five more two weeks break, one three week break (before December 11, 2014) and two releases in a row (133-134 towards the end of this period of 136 articles), where the release dates where shifted so the two came out over three weeks' time with about 1.5 weeks between them.
**The second break came a year after the first and was also a Christmas break before article 77 was released on December 31, 2013
**Then from August 2014 there came several two week breaks, one in August, one in September and two in November, the last lasting three weeks into December, and on top of that the normal two weeks Christmas break.
**After this less orderly period there came a period of 10 weeks in a row with 10 releases starting on January 1, 2015.
*The release day was fixed to once a week on a given weekday, except for a few articles that were delayed a day (or two) in one week, but then next week's article would again be released on the normal day.
**To begin with the release day was '''Tuesdays''', and the third article was released a week after the first two on Tuesday July 17, 2012.
**The release day shifted to '''Wednesday''' from article 100 released on Wednesday June 11, 2014.
**The release day shifted once more to '''Thursday''' from article 117 released on Thursday October 23, 2014.
**The final six articles in this period were released on four different week days, only two of them with one week apart.
*The result of the above is that over the first 144 weeks 136 articles where released with never more than 3 weeks between releases. As the first two were released on week 1, this means that there were 134 articles released over the next 143 weeks, meaning there were only 9 weeks without an article.
*After article 136 was released on April 12, 2015, Randal took a '''13 weeks break''' from updates until July 14, 2015.
**At the time Randall wrote a note stating "What If updates are temporarily on hold, and will resume on July 14th, 2015 at 7:49:59 AM EDT."
**This was the date and time that the {{w|New Horizons}} probe achieved its closest approach to {{w|Pluto}}.
**The article 137 from July 14, 2015 was about the New Horizons probe.
*After the break only three articles were released, two more were released after article 137 over three weeks, the last article 139 released on August 4, 2015.
**But then there were '''two more breaks''', so only one more article was released in 2015, with article 150 released after more than 6 weeks on September 18, 2015.
*First after 17 more weeks releases began again with article 141 on Tuesday January 16, 2016.
**After that articles began coming out regularly with a total of 9 releases out before the end of March 2016, mainly on Tuesdays to begin with, then one on a Friday before the last two came on Saturdays with two weeks breaks before each, the last being article 149 on March 26, 2016.
*Since then only three more articles were released in 2016, the first two with about 8 weeks between them and then more than 12 weeks.
**So during the summer of 2016, it seemed it was down to about one release every two months but then it increased.
*The what if? has not stopped but the first comic in 2017 (#153, January 30, 2017) came almost 15 weeks after the last in 2016, more than three months between releases. This was so far the second longest break.
**But the next one (#154) was indeed released only a bit more than week after the one with 15 weeks break, and then less than 3 weeks after followed yet an article on February 28 2017.
**It was almost a year ago that two comics had been released with less than two full weeks between them (that was #147 released February 26, 2016). So the year following that only 8 articles where released including both #147 and #154. Interesting to see if they will begin appearing regularly again during the spring of 2017, as seems possible with three comics in less than a month.
*See more details for breaks in the releases in the table with a list of all the [[#Articles|articles]] down below.
**At the moment it seems impossible to guess when a new post is released so:
**'''It would be nice if anyone noticing a new post, that they made a note in the discussion of the next comic released.'''

==The book==
Randall announced his ''what if?'' book on 12 March 2014 in [http://blog.xkcd.com/2014/03/12/what-if-i-wrote-a-book/ the blag]. It was published on September 2, 2014, and the UK edition of the book was published on September 4, 2014. It is the 2nd book published by Randall.
[[Image:What_If?.jpeg|frame|The general cover of the book]]
It is just like 'xkcd:volume 0' a compilation of some questions from the website, but half of them are new.

In the UK edition of the book, Randall included a preface about his thoughts on the units used in the UK. (The Metric System)
====Summary====
'''The summary on the back of the book reads:'''

''Randall Munroe left NASA in 2005 to start up his hugely popular site XKCD 'a web comic of romance, sarcasm, math and language' which offers a witty take on the world of science and geeks. It now has 600,000 to a million page hits daily. Every now and then, Munroe would get emails asking him to arbitrate a science debate. 'My friend and I were arguing about what would happen if a bullet got struck by lightning, and we agreed that you should resolve it . . . ' He liked these questions so much that he started up What If.

*If your cells suddenly lost the power to divide, how long would you survive?
*How dangerous is it, really, to be in a swimming pool in a thunderstorm?
*If we hooked turbines to people exercising in gyms, how much power could we produce?
*What if everyone only had one soulmate?
*When (if ever) did the sun go down on the British empire?
*How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live?
*What would happen if the moon went away?

''In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations, and consults with nuclear reactor operators. His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity, studded with memorable cartoons and infographics. They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion. Far more than a book for geeks, WHAT IF: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions explains the laws of science in operation in a way that every intelligent reader will enjoy and feel much the smarter for having read.''

'''The summary on the back of the UK edition of the book reads:'''

''Hey! Thanks for looking at my book. If you're thinking about buying it, here are some things you might want to know:''

Humans can't digest the cellulose in paper, but if we could, eating this book would give you about 2,300 calories (including the cover).

This book can't stop most bullets; if you want to use it for armour, you may want a lot more than one copy.

If you have a good arm, you could probably throw this book about 45 feet. With practice, it's possible to throw a book every 800 milliseconds, which means that if human attackers are sprinting towards you, you'll have three or four chances to hit them before they reach you. If, on the other hand, you're being attacked by a coyote, it's higher top speed means you'll have only one chance to hit it. Aim carefully.

''HIDDEN FEATURE: The inside of this book has words and pictures, plus a special UK foreword.'' It answers many important questions, including whether you could jump from a plane with a helium tank and inflate balloons fast enough to slow your fall and survive (yes) and whether you could hide from a supersonic windstorm in Finland (yes, but it won't help).

==Trivia==
*There is an easy way to link to a given what if? story by using [[Template:what if|a template]]. For instance write the following:
**<nowiki>See the [[what if?]] ''{{what if|147|Niagara Straw}}''.</nowiki>
*Copy paste the above text and correct the number and the title to get this result:
**See the [[what if?]] ''{{what if|147|Niagara Straw}}''.

==Articles==
*Below is a list of the articles released in the what if? blog.
**This list can also be found in the [https://what-if.xkcd.com/archive/ acrhive section] on the what if? blog.
**But here more data can be added...
{| class="wikitable " |
! No.
! Title
! Release date
! Weeks since last release
! Question(s) answered / Topic
! Comment/Short note on subject
|-
| 1 || {{what if|1|Relativistic Baseball}} || July 10, 2012 || || What would happen if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90% the speed of light? || The very first what if? The result would be some kind of nuclear explosion.
|-
| 2 || {{what if|2|SAT Guessing}} || July 10, 2012 || 0.0 || What if everyone who took the SAT guessed on every multiple-choice question? How many perfect scores would there be? || This second article was released on the same day as the first, probably to get the blog going, and let users of xkcd see that there was going to be more. No one would get a perfect score
|-
| 3 || {{what if|3|Yoda}} || July 17, 2012 || 1.0 || How much Force power can Yoda output? || First regular release. From here on standard release day was Tuesday.
|-
| 4 || {{what if|4|A Mole of Moles}} || July 24, 2012 || 1.0 || What would happen if you were to gather a mole (unit of measurement) of moles (the small furry critter) in one place? || As a mole is such a high number this would be tricky.
|-
| 5 || {{what if|5|Robot Apocalypse}} || July 31, 2012 || 1.0 || What if there was a robot apocalypse? How long would humanity last? || Humanity would survive if the robots cared about keeping themselves alive as well. If not, then we all die.
|-
| 6 || {{what if|6|Glass Half Empty}} || August 7, 2012 || 1.0 || What if a glass of water was, all of a sudden, literally half empty? || As in a vacuum? It would explode.
|-
| 7 || {{what if|7|Everybody Out}} || August 14, 2012 || 1.0 || Is there enough energy to move the entire current human population off-planet? ||
|-
| 8 || {{what if|8|Everybody Jump}} || August 21, 2012 || 1.0 || What would happen if everyone on earth stood as close to each other as they could and jumped, everyone landing on the ground at the same instant? ||
|-
| 9 || {{what if|9|Soul Mates}} || August 28, 2012 || 1.0 || What if everyone actually had only one soul mate, a random person somewhere in the world? ||
|-
| 10 || {{what if|10|Cassini}} || September 4, 2012 || 1.0 || What would the world be like if the land masses were spread out the same way as now - only rotated by an angle of 90 degrees? ||
|-
| 11 || {{what if|11|Droppings}} || September 11, 2012 || 1.0 || If you went outside and lay down on your back with your mouth open, how long would you have to wait until a bird pooped in it? ||
|-
| 12 || {{what if|12|Raindrop}} || September 18, 2012 || 1.0 || What if a rainstorm dropped all of its water in a single giant drop? ||
|-
| 13 || {{what if|13|Laser Pointer}} || September 25, 2012 || 1.0 || If every person on Earth aimed a laser pointer at the Moon at the same time, would it change color? ||
|-
| 14 || {{what if|14|Short Answer Section}} || October 2, 2012 || 1.0 ||
* How long would the Sun last if a giant water hose were focused upon it? My sixth grade brother, Adam, asked me this.
* What if you shined a flashlight (or a laser) into a sphere made of one-way mirror glass?
* If Michael Phelps could hold his breath indefinitely, how long would it take for him to reach the lowest point in the ocean and back if he swam straight down and then straight back up?
* In the first Superman movie, Superman flies around Earth so fast that it begins turning in the opposite direction. This somehow turns back time [... ] How much energy would someone flying around the Earth have to exert in order to reverse the Earth's rotation?
* How fast would you have to go in your car to run a red light claiming that it appeared green to you due to the Doppler Effect?
* What would happen if you opened a portal between Boston (sea level) and Mexico City (elev. 8000+ feet)?
* When my wife and I started dating she invited me over for dinner at one time. Her kitchen had something called Bauhaus chairs, which are full of holes, approx 5-6 millimeters in diameter in both back and seat. During this lovely dinner I was forced to liberate a small portion of wind and was relieved that I managed to do so very discretely. Only to find that the chair I sat on converted the successful silence into a perfect, and loud, flute note. We were both (luckily) amazed and surprised and I have often wondered what the odds are for something like that happening. We kept the chairs for five years but despite laborious attempts it couldn't be reproduced.
||
|-
| 15 || {{what if|15|Mariana Trench Explosion}} || October 9, 2012 || 1.0 || What if you exploded a nuclear bomb (say, the Tsar Bomba) at the bottom of the Marianas Trench? ||
|-
| 16 || {{what if|16|Today's topic: Lightning}} || October 16, 2012 || 1.0 ||
* How dangerous is it, really, to be in a pool during a thunderstorm?
* What would happen if you were taking a shower when you were struck by lightning? Or standing under a waterfall?
* What would happen if you were in a boat or a plane that got hit by lightning? Or a submarine?
* What if you were changing the light at the top of a radio tower and lightning struck? Or what if you were doing a backflip? Or standing in a graphite field? Or looking straight up at the bolt?
* What would happen if lightning struck a bullet in midair?
* What if you were flashing your BIOS during a thunderstorm and you got hit by lightning?
||
|-
| 17 || {{what if|17|Green Cows}} || October 23, 2012 || 1.0 || If cows could photosynthesize, how much less food would they need? ||
|-
| 18 || {{what if|18|BB Gun}} || October 30, 2012 || 1.0 || In Armageddon, a NASA guy comments that a plan to shoot a laser at the asteroid is like “shooting a b.b. gun at a freight train.” What would it take to stop an out-of-control freight train using only b.b. guns? ||
|-
| 19 || {{what if|19|Tie Vote}} || November 6, 2012 || 1.0 || What if there's LITERALLY a tie? || The release date in the archive is the wrong year 2013.
|-
| 20 || {{what if|20|Diamond}} || November 13, 2012 || 1.0 || If a meteor made out of diamond and 100 feet in diameter was traveling at the speed of light and hit the earth, what would happen to it? ||
|-
| 21 || {{what if|21|Machine Gun Jetpack}} || November 20, 2012 || 1.0 || Is it possible to build a jetpack using downward firing machine guns? ||
|-
| 22 || {{what if|22|Cost of Pennies}} || November 27, 2012 || 1.0 || If you carry a penny in your coin tray, how long would it take for that penny to cost you more than a cent in extra gas? ||
|-
| 23 || {{what if|23|Short Answer Section II}} || December 4, 2012 || 1.0 ||
* If my printer could literally print out money, would it have that big an effect on the world?
* What would happen if you exploded a nuclear bomb in the eye of a hurricane? Would the storm cell be immediately vaporized?
* If everyone put little turbine generators on the downspouts of their houses and businesses, how much power would we generate? Would we ever generate enough power to offset the cost of the generators?
* Using only pronounceable letter combinations, how long would names have to be to give each star in the universe a unique one word name?
* I bike to class sometimes. It's annoying biking in the wintertime, because it's so cold. How fast would I have to bike for my skin to warm up the way a spacecraft heats up during reentry?
* How much physical space does the internet take up?
* What if you strapped C4 to a boomerang? Could this be an effective weapon, or would it be as stupid as it sounds?
||
|-
| 24 || {{what if|24|Model Rockets}} || December 11, 2012 || 1.0 || How many model rocket engines would it take to launch a real rocket into space? ||
|-
| 25 || {{what if|25|Three Wise Men}} || December 18, 2012 || 1.0 || The story of the three wise men got me wondering: What if you did walk towards a star at a fixed speed? What path would you trace on the Earth? Does it converge to a fixed cycle? ||
|-
| 26 || {{what if|26|Leap Seconds}} || December 31, 2012 || 1.9 || Every now and then we have to insert a leap second because the Earth’s rotation is slowing down. Could we speed up Earth’s rotation, so that we do not need Leap Seconds? || The first two weeks Christmas break
|-
| 27 || {{what if|27|Death Rates}} || January 8, 2013 || 1.1 || If one randomly chosen extra person were to die each second somewhere on Earth, what impact would it have on the world population? ||
|-
| 28 || {{what if|28|Steak Drop}} || January 15, 2013 || 1.0 || From what height would you need to drop a steak for it to be cooked when it hit the ground? ||
|-
| 29 || {{what if|29|Spent Fuel Pool}} || January 22, 2013 || 1.0 || What if I took a swim in a typical spent nuclear fuel pool? Would I need to dive to actually experience a fatal amount of radiation? How long could I stay safely at the surface? ||
|-
| 30 || {{what if|30|Interplanetary Cessna}} || January 29, 2013 || 1.0 || What would happen if you tried to fly a normal Earth airplane above different Solar System bodies? ||
|-
| 31 || {{what if|31|FedEx Bandwidth}} || February 5, 2013 || 1.0 || When - if ever - will the bandwidth of the Internet surpass that of FedEx? ||
|-
| 32 || {{what if|32|Hubble}} || February 12, 2013 || 1.0 || If the Hubble telescope were aimed at the Earth, how detailed would the images be? ||
|-
| 33 || {{what if|33|Ships}} || February 19, 2013 || 1.0 || How much would the sea level fall if every ship were removed all at once from the Earth's waters? ||
|-
| 34 || {{what if|34|Twitter}} || February 26, 2013 || 1.0 || How many unique English tweets are possible? How long would it take for the population of the world to read them all out loud? ||
|-
| 35 || {{what if|35|Hair Dryer}} || March 5, 2013 || 1.0 || What would happen if a hair dryer with continuous power was turned on and put in an airtight 1x1x1 meter box? ||
|-
| 36 || {{what if|36|Cornstarch}} || March 12, 2013 || 1.0 || How much cornstarch can I rinse down the drain before unpleasant things start to happen? ||
|-
| 37 || {{what if|37|Supersonic Stereo}} || March 19, 2013 || 1.0 || What if you somehow managed to make a stereo travel at twice the speed of sound, would it sound backwards to someone who was just casually sitting somewhere as it flies by? || Assuming the stereo is indestructible then yes.
|-
| 38 || {{what if|38|Voyager}} || March 26, 2013 || 1.0 || With today's technology, would it be possible to launch an unmanned mission to retrieve Voyager I? ||
|-
| 39 || {{what if|39|Hockey Puck}} || April 2, 2013 || 1.0 || How hard would a puck have to be shot to be able to knock the goalie himself backwards into the net? ||
|-
| 40 || {{what if|40|Pressure Cooker}} || April 9, 2013 || 1.0 || Am I right to be afraid of pressure cookers? What's the worst thing that can happen if you misuse a pressure cooker in an ordinary kitchen? ||
|-
| 41 || {{what if|41|Go West}} || April 16, 2013 || 1.0 || If everybody in the US drove west, could we temporarily halt continental drift? ||
|-
| 42 || {{what if|42|Longest Sunset}} || April 23, 2013 || 1.0 || What is the longest possible sunset you can experience while driving, assuming we are obeying the speed limit and driving on paved roads? ||
|-
| 43 || {{what if|43|Train Loop}} || April 30, 2013 || 1.0 || Could a high-speed train run through a vertical loop, like a rollercoaster, with the passengers staying comfortable? ||
|-
| 44 || {{what if|44|High Throw}} || May 7, 2013 || 1.0 || How high can a human throw something? ||
|-
| 45 || {{what if|45|ISS Music Video}} || May 14, 2013 || 1.0 || Is [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo this] the most expensive music video ever? ||
|-
| 46 || {{what if|46|Bowling Ball}} || May 21, 2013 || 1.0 || I've been told that if the Earth were shrunk down to the size of a bowling ball, it would be smoother than said bowling ball. My question is, what would a bowling ball look like if it were blown up to the size of the Earth? ||
|-
| 47 || {{what if|47|Alien Astronomers}} || May 28, 2013 || 1.0 || Let's assume there's life on the the nearest habitable exoplanet and that they have technology comparable to ours. If they looked at our star right now, what would they see? ||
|-
| 48 || {{what if|48|Sunset on the British Empire}} || June 4, 2013 || 1.0 || When (if ever) did the Sun finally set on the British Empire? ||
|-
| 49 || {{what if|49|Sunless Earth}} || June 11, 2013 || 1.0 || What would happen to the Earth if the Sun suddenly switched off? ||
|-
| 50 || {{what if|50|Extreme Boating}} || June 18, 2013 || 1.0 || What would it be like to navigate a rowboat through a lake of mercury? What about bromine? Liquid gallium? Liquid tungsten? Liquid nitrogen? Liquid helium? ||
|-
| 51 || {{what if|51|Free Fall}} || June 25, 2013 || 1.0 || What place on Earth would allow you to freefall the longest by jumping off it? What about using a squirrel suit? ||
|-
| 52 || {{what if|52|Bouncy Balls}} || July 2, 2013 || 1.0 || What if one were to drop 3,000 bouncy balls from a seven story parking structure onto a person walking on the sidewalk below? Should the person survive, what would be the number of bouncy balls needed to kill them? What injuries would occur and what would the associated crimes be? || The release date in the archive is the wrong month June.
|-
| 53 || {{what if|53|Drain the Oceans}} || July 9, 2013 || 1.0 || How quickly would the ocean's drain if a circular portal 10 meters in radius leading into space was created at the bottom of Challenger Deep, the deepest spot in the ocean? How would the Earth change as the water is being drained? ||
|-
| 54 || {{what if|54|Drain the Oceans: Part II}} || July 16, 2013 || 1.0 || Supposing you did {{what if|53|Drain the Oceans}}, and dumped the water on top of the Curiosity rover, how would Mars change as the water accumulated? ||
|-
| 55 || {{what if|55|Random Sneeze Call}} || July 23, 2013 || 1.0 || If you call a random phone number and say “God bless you”, what are the chances that the person who answers just sneezed? On average, not just in spring or fall. ||
|-
| 56 || {{what if|56|Restraining an Airplane}} || July 30, 2013 || 1.0 || If you wanted to anchor an airplane into the ground so it wouldn't be able to take off, what would the rope have to be made out of? ||
|-
| 57 || {{what if|57|Dropping a Mountain}} || August 6, 2013 || 1.0 || What if a huge mountain—Denali, say—had the bottom inch of its base disappear? What would happen from the impact of the mountain falling 1 inch? What about 1 foot? What if the mountain's base were raised to the present height of the summit, and then the whole thing were allowed to drop to the earth? ||
|-
| 58 || {{what if|58|Orbital Speed}} || August 12, 2013 || 0.9 ||
* What if a spacecraft slowed down on re-entry to just a few miles per hour using rocket boosters like the Mars-sky-crane? Would it negate the need for a heat shield?
* Is it possible for a spacecraft to control its reentry in such a way that it avoids the atmospheric compression and thus would not require the expensive (and relatively fragile) heat shield on the outside?
* Could a (small) rocket (with payload) be lifted to a high point in the atmosphere where it would only need a small rocket to get to escape velocity?
||
|-
| 59 || {{what if|59|Updating a Printed Wikipedia}} || August 20, 2013 || 1.1 || If you had a printed version of the whole of (say, the English) Wikipedia, how many printers would you need in order to keep up with the changes made to the live version? ||
|-
| 60 || {{what if|60|Signs of Life}} || August 27, 2013 || 1.0 || If you could teleport to a random place of the surface of the Earth, what are the odds that you'll see signs of intelligent life? ||
|-
| 61 || {{what if|61|Speed Bump}} || September 3, 2013 || 1.0 || How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? ||
|-
| 62 || {{what if|62|Falling With Helium}} || September 10, 2013 || 1.0 || What if I jumped out of an airplane with a couple of tanks of helium and one huge, un-inflated balloon? Then, while falling, I release the helium and fill the balloon. How long of a fall would I need in order for the balloon to slow me enough that I could land safely? ||
|-
| 63 || {{what if|63|Google's Datacenters on Punch Cards}} || September 17, 2013 || 1.0 || If all digital data were stored on punch cards, how big would Google's data warehouse be? ||
|-
| 64 || {{what if|64|Rising Steadily}} || September 24, 2013 || 1.0 || If you suddenly began rising steadily at one foot per second, how exactly would you die? Would you freeze or suffocate first? Or something else? ||
|-
| 65 || {{what if|65|Twitter Timeline Height}} || October 1, 2013 || 1.0 || If our Twitter timelines (tweets by the people we follow) actually extended off the screen in both directions, how tall would they be? ||
|-
| 66 || {{what if|66|500 MPH}} || October 8, 2013 || 1.0 || If winds reached 500 mph, would it pick up a human? ||
|-
| 67 || {{what if|67|Expanding Earth}} || October 15, 2013 || 1.0 || How long would it take for people to notice their weight gain if the mean radius of the world expanded by 1cm every second? (Assuming the average composition of rock were maintained.) ||
|-
| 68 || {{what if|68|Little Planet}} || October 22, 2013 || 1.0 || If an asteroid was very small but supermassive, could you really live on it like the Little Prince? ||
|-
| 69 || {{what if|69|Facebook of the Dead}} || October 29, 2013 || 1.0 || When, if ever, will Facebook contain more profiles of dead people than of living ones? ||
|-
| 70 || {{what if|70|The Constant Groundskeeper}} || November 5, 2013 || 1.0 || How big of a lawn would you have to have so that when you finished mowing you'd need to start over because the grass has grown? ||
|-
| 71 || {{what if|71|Stirring Tea}} || November 12, 2013 || 1.0 || I was absentmindedly stirring a cup of hot tea, when I got to thinking, "aren't I actually adding kinetic energy into this cup?" I know that stirring does help to cool down the tea, but what if I were to stir it faster? Would I be able to boil a cup of water by stirring? ||
|-
| 72 || {{what if|72|Loneliest Human}} || November 19, 2013 || 1.0 || What is the furthest one human being has ever been from every other living person? Were they lonely? ||
|-
| 73 || {{what if|73|Lethal Neutrinos}} || November 26, 2013 || 1.0 || How close would you have to be to a supernova to get a lethal dose of neutrino radiation? ||
|-
| 74 || {{what if|74|Soda Planet}} || December 3, 2013 || 1.0 || How much of the Earth's currently-existing water has ever been turned into a soft drink at some point in its history? ||
|-
| 75 || {{what if|75|Phone Keypad}} || December 10, 2013 || 1.0 || I use one of those old phones where you type with numbers—for example, to type "Y", you press 9 three times. Some words have consecutive letters on the same number. When they do, you have to pause between letters, making those words annoying to type. What English word has the most consecutive letters on the same key? ||
|-
| 76 || {{what if|76|Reading Every Book}} || December 17, 2013 || 1.0 || At what point in human history were there too many (English) books to be able to read them all in one lifetime? ||
|-
| 77 || {{what if|77|Growth Rate}} || December 31, 2013 || 2.0 || What height would humans reach if we kept growing through our whole development period (i.e. till late teens/early twenties) at the same pace as we do during our first month? || The second two weeks Christmas break
|-
| 78 || {{what if|78|T-rex Calories}} || January 7, 2014 || 1.0 || If a T-rex were released in New York City, how many humans/day would it need to consume to get its needed calorie intake? ||
|-
| 79 || {{what if|79|Lake Tea}} || January 14, 2014 || 1.0 || What if we were to dump all the tea in the world into the Great Lakes? How strong, compared to a regular cup of tea, would the lake tea be? ||
|-
| 80 || {{what if|80|Pile of Viruses}} || January 21, 2014 || 1.0 || What if every virus in the world were collected into one area? How much volume would they take up and what would they look like? ||
|-
| 81 || {{what if|81|Catch!}} || January 28, 2014 || 1.0 || Is there any way to fire a gun so that the bullet flies through the air and can then be safely caught by hand? e.g. shooter is at sea level and catcher is up a mountain at the extreme range of the gun. ||
|-
| 82 || {{what if|82|Hitting a comet}} || February 5, 2014 || 1.1 || Astrophysicists are always saying things like "This mission to this comet is equivalent to throwing a baseball from New York and hitting a particular window in San Francisco." Are they really equivalent? ||
|-
| 83 || {{what if|83|Star Sand}} || February 11, 2014 || 0.9 || If you made a beach using grains the proportionate size of the stars in the Milky Way, what would that beach look like? ||
|-
| 84 || {{what if|84|Paint the Earth}} || February 18, 2014 || 1.0 || Has humanity produced enough paint to cover the entire land area of the Earth? ||
|-
| 85 || {{what if|85|Rocket Golf}} || February 25, 2014 || 1.0 || Assuming that you have a spaceship in orbit around the Earth, could you propel your ship to speeds exceeding escape velocity by hitting golf balls in the other direction? If so, how many golf balls would be required to reach the Moon? ||
|-
| 86 || {{what if|86|Far-Traveling Objects}} || March 4, 2014 || 1.0 || In terms of human-made objects, has Voyager 1 travelled the farthest distance? It's certainly the farthest from Earth we know about. But what about the edge of ultracentrifuges, or generator turbines that have been running for years, for example? ||
|-
| 87 || {{what if|87|Enforced by Radar}} || March 11, 2014 || 1.0 || I've occasionally seen "radar enforced" on speed limit signs, and I can't help but ask: How intense would radio waves have to be to stop a car from going over the speed limit, and what would happen if this were attempted? ||
|-
| 88 || {{what if|88|Soda Sequestration}} || March 18, 2014 || 1.0 || How much CO2 is contained in the world's stock of bottled fizzy drinks? How much soda would be needed to bring atmospheric CO2 back to preindustrial levels? ||
|-
| 89 || {{what if|89|Tungsten Countertop}} || March 25, 2014 || 1.0 || How far would a tungsten countertop descend if I dropped it into the Sun? ||
|-
| 90 || {{what if|90|Great Tree, Great Axe}} || April 3, 2014 || 1.3 ||
''If all the seas were one sea, 
''What a great sea that would be! 
''If all the trees were one tree, 
''What a great tree that would be! 
''If all the men were one man, 
''What a great man that would be! 
''If all the axes were one axe, 
''What a great axe that would be! 
''And if the great man took the great axe, 
''And cut down the great tree, 
''And let if fall into the great sea, 
''What a great splish-splash that would be!'' 
... How great would all of these things be?
||
|-
| 91 || {{what if|91|Faucet Power}} || April 8, 2014 || 0.7 || I just moved into a new apartment. It includes hot water but I have to pay the electric bill. So being a person on a budget ... what's the best way to use my free faucet to generate electricity? ||
|-
| 92 || {{what if|92|One-Second Day}} || April 15, 2014 || 1.0 || What would happen if the Earth's rotation were sped up until a day only lasted one second? ||
|-
| 93 || {{what if|93|Windshield Raindrops}} || April 22, 2014 || 1.0 || At what speed would you have to drive for rain to shatter your windshield? ||
|-
| 94 || {{what if|94|Billion-Story Building}} || April 29, 2014 || 1.0 || My daughter — age 4.5 — maintains she wants a billion-story building. It turns out not only is that hard to help her appreciate this size, I am not at all able to explain all of the other difficulties you'd have to overcome. ||
|-
| 95 || {{what if|95|Pyramid Energy}} || May 6, 2014 || 1.0 || What took more energy, the building of the Great Pyramid of Giza or the Apollo Mission? If we could convert the energy to build the Great Pyramid, would it be enough to send a rocket to the Moon and back? ||
|-
| 96 || {{what if|96|$2 Undecillion Lawsuit}} || May 14, 2014 || 1.1 || What if Au Bon Pain lost [http://loweringthebar.net/2014/05/2-undecillion-dollar-demand.html this lawsuit] and had to pay the plaintiff $2 undecillion? ||
|-
| 97 || {{what if|97|Burning Pollen}} || May 20, 2014 || 0.9 || What if you were to somehow ignite the pollen that floats around in the air in spring? Other than being a really bad idea, what effect would it have? ||
|-
| 98 || {{what if|98|Blood Alcohol}} || May 27, 2014 || 1.0 || Could you get drunk from drinking a drunk person's blood? ||
|-
| 99 || {{what if|99|Starlings}} || June 3, 2014 || 1.0 || I was watching [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eakKfY5aHmY this video] and was wondering: How many birds there would need to be for gravity to take over and force them into a gargantuan ball of birds? ||
|-
| 100 || {{what if|100|WWII Films}} || June 11, 2014 || 1.1 || Did WWII last longer than the total length of movies about WWII? For that matter, which war has the highest movie time:war time ratio? || From here on standard release day was Wednesday.
|-
| 101 || {{what if|101|Plastic Dinosaurs}} || June 18, 2014 || 1.0 || As plastic is made from oil and oil is made from dead dinosaurs, how much actual real dinosaur is there in a plastic dinosaur? ||
|-
| 102 || {{what if|102|Keyboard Power}} || June 25, 2014 || 1.0 || As a writer, I'm wondering what would be the cumulative energy of the hundreds of thousands of keystrokes required to write a novel. ||
|-
| 103 || {{what if|103|Vanishing Water}} || July 2, 2014 || 1.0 || What would happen if all the bodies of water on Earth magically disappeared? ||
|-
| 104 || {{what if|104|Global Snow}} || July 9, 2014 || 1.0 || From my seven-year-old son: How many snowflakes would it take to cover the entire world in six feet of snow? (I don't know why six feet...but that's what he asked.) ||
|-
| 105 || {{what if|105|Cannibalism}} || July 16, 2014 || 1.0 || How long could the human race survive on only cannibalism? ||
|-
| 106 || {{what if|106|Ink Molecules}} || July 23, 2014 || 1.0 || Suppose you were to print, in 12 point text, the numeral 1 using a common cheap ink-jet printer. How many molecules of the ink would be used? At what numerical value would the number printed approximately equal the number of ink molecules used? ||
|-
| 107 || {{what if|107|Letter to Mom}} || July 30, 2014 || 1.0 || What’s the fastest way to get a hand-written letter from my place in Chicago to my mother in New Jersey? ||
|-
| 108 || {{what if|108|Expensive Shoebox}} || August 13, 2014 || 2.0 || What would be the most expensive way to fill a size 11 shoebox (e.g. with 64 GB MicroSD cards all full of legally purchased music)? || The third two weeks break.
|-
| 109 || {{what if|109|Into the Blue}} || August 20, 2014 || 1.0 || If I shot an infinitely strong laser beam into the sky at a random point, how much damage would it do? ||
|-
| 110 || {{what if|110|Walking New York}} || August 27, 2014 || 1.0 || Could a person walk the entire city of NY in their lifetime? (including inside apartments) ||
|-
| 111 || {{what if|111|All the Money}} || September 2, 2014 || 0.9 || People sometimes say "If I had all the money in the world ..." in order to discuss what they would do if they had no financial constraints. I'm curious, though, what would happen if one person had all of the world's money? ||
|-
| 112 || {{what if|112|Balloon Car}} || September 17, 2014 || 2.1 || My 12-year-old daughter is proposing an interesting project. She is planning to attach a number of helium balloons to a chair, which in turn would be tethered by means of a rope to a Ferrari. Her 13-year-old friend would then drive the Ferrari around, while she sits in the chair enjoying uninterrupted views of the countryside. Leaving aside the legal and insurance difficulties, my daughter is keen to know the maximum speed that she could expect to attain, and how many helium balloons would be required. || The fourth two weeks break.
|-
| 113 || {{what if|113|Visit Every State}} || September 24, 2014 || 1.0 || How fast could you visit all 50 states? ||
|-
| 114 || {{what if|114|Antimatter}} || October 1, 2014 || 1.0 || What if everything was antimatter, EXCEPT Earth? ||
|-
| 115 || {{what if|115|Into the Sun}} || October 8, 2014 || 1.0 || When I was about 8 years old, shoveling snow on a freezing day in Colorado, I wished that I could be instantly transported to the surface of the Sun, just for a nanosecond, then instantly transported back. I figured this would be long enough to warm me up but not long enough to harm me. What would actually happen? ||
|-
| 116 || {{what if|116|No-Rules NASCAR}} || October 15, 2014 || 1.0 || If you stripped away all the rules of car racing and had a contest which was simply to get a human being around a track 200 times as fast as possible, what strategy would win? Let's say the racer has to survive. ||
|-
| 117 || {{what if|117|Distant Death}} || October 23, 2014 || 1.1 || What is the farthest from Earth that any Earth thing has died? || From here on standard release day was Thursday.
|-
| 118 || {{what if|118|Physical Salary}} || October 30, 2014 || 1.0 || What if people's incomes appeared around them as cash in real time? How much would you need to make to be in real trouble? ||
|-
| 119 || {{what if|119|Laser Umbrella}} || November 13, 2014 || 2.0 || Stopping rain from falling on something with an umbrella or a tent is boring. What if you tried to stop rain with a laser that targeted and vaporized each incoming droplet before it could come within ten feet of the ground? || The fifth two weeks break.
|-
| 120 || {{what if|120|Alternate Universe What Ifs}} || November 20, 2014 || 1.0 || Dispatches from a horrifying alternate universe ||
|-
| 121 || {{what if|121|Frozen Rivers}} || December 11, 2014 || 3.0 || What would happen if all of the rivers in the US were instantly frozen in the middle of the summer? || The only tree weeks break, the sixth break in total.
|-
| 122 || {{what if|122|Lava Lamp}} || December 18, 2014 || 1.0 || What if I made a lava lamp out of real lava? What could I use as a clear medium? How close could I stand to watch it? ||
|-
| 123 || {{what if|123|Fairy Demographics}} || January 1, 2015 || 2.0 || How many fairies would fly around, if each fairy is born from the first laugh of a child and fairies were immortal? || The third two weeks Christmas break, the seventh break in total
|-
| 124 || {{what if|124|Lunar Swimming}} || January 8, 2015 || 1.0 || What if there was a lake on the Moon? What would it be like to swim in it? Presuming that it is sheltered in a regular atmosphere, in some giant dome or something. ||
|-
| 125 || {{what if|125|Bowling Ball}} || January 15, 2015 || 1.0 || You are in a boat directly over the Mariana Trench. If you drop a 7kg bowling ball over the side, how long would it take to hit the bottom? ||
|-
| 126 || {{what if|126|Stairs}} || January 22, 2015 || 1.0 || If you made an elevator that would go to space (like the one you mentioned in the billion-story building) and built a staircase up (assuming regulated air pressure) about how long would it take to climb to the top? ||
|-
| 127 || {{what if|127|Tug of War}} || January 28, 2015 || 0.9 || Would it be possible for two teams in a tug-o-war to overcome the ultimate tensile strength of an iron rod and pull it apart? How big would the teams have to be? ||
|-
| 128 || {{what if|128|Zippo Phone}} || February 5, 2015 || 1.1 || What in my pocket actually contains more energy, my Zippo or my smartphone? What would be the best way of getting the energy from one to the other? And since I am already feeling like Bilbo in this one, is there anything else in my pocket that would have unexpected amounts of stored energy? ||
|-
| 129 || {{what if|129|Black Hole Moon}} || February 12, 2015 || 1.0 || What would happen if the Moon were replaced with an equivalently-massed black hole? If it's possible, what would a lunar ("holar"?) eclipse look like? ||
|-
| 130 || {{what if|130|Snow Removal}} || February 19, 2015 || 1.0 || I've long thought about putting a flamethrower on the front of a car to melt snow and ice before you drive across it. Now I've realized that a flamethrower is impractical, but what about a high-powered microwave emitter? ||
|-
| 131 || {{what if|131|Microwaves}} || February 27, 2015 || 1.1 || I have had a particular problem for as long as I can remember. Any time I attempt to heat left over Chinese food in a microwave, it fails to heat completely through somewhere. Usually the center but not always and usually rice, but often it will be a small section of meat. It's baffling and has made me automatically adjust heating times to over 2 minutes. In most cases this tends to heat the bowl or plate more than the food. So I suppose the question is what is the optimal time to heat left over Chinese food in the microwave, how about an 800 watt microwave? || The release date in the archive is the wrong year 2014. From here on there seems to no longer be a standard release day for some time.
|-
| 132 || {{what if|132|Hotter than Average}} || March 7, 2015 || 1.1 || I saw a sign at a hot springs tub saying "Caution: Water is hotter than average" with water at about 39°C. Although they were presumably trying to say "hotter than the average swimming pool," this got me wondering: What is the average temperature of all water on the Earth’s surface, and how does that temperature compare to 39°C? ||
|-
| 133 || {{what if|133|Flagpole}} || March 17, 2015 || 1.4 || So, you're falling from a height above the tallest building in your town, and you don't have a parachute. But wait! Partway down the side of that skyscraper there's a flagpole sticking out, sans flag! You angle your descent and grab the pole just long enough to swing around so that when you let go you're now heading back up toward the sky. As gravity slows you and brings you to a halt, you reach the top of the skyscraper, where you reach out and pull yourself to safety. What's the likelihood this could happen? || The first of two longer shifts in release day two weeks in a row which resulted in only two releases over three weeks, resulting in the eight break in total.
|-
| 134 || {{what if|134|Space Burial}} || March 28, 2015 || 1.6 || I've often joked I'd like to have my remains put into orbit. Not in a "scatter my ashes" sense, but, like, "throw my naked corpse out the airlock" sense. Honestly, my main motivation is to baffle someone in the distant future, but it's an interesting scientific question: what would happen to my body in orbit over the course of years, decades or centuries? || The second of two longer shifts in release day two weeks in a row which resulted in only two releases over three weeks, resulting in the eight break in total.
|-
| 135 || {{what if|135|Digging Downward}} || April 5, 2015 || 1.1 || What would happen if I dug straight down, at a speed of 1 foot per second? What would kill me first? ||
|-
| 136 || {{what if|136|Spiders vs. the Sun}} || April 12, 2015 || 1.0 || Which has a greater gravitational pull on me: the Sun, or spiders? Granted, the Sun is much bigger, but it is also much further away, and as I learned in high school physics, the gravitational force is proportional to the square of the distance. ||
|-
| 137 || {{what if|137|New Horizons}} || July 14, 2015 || 13.3 || What if New Horizons hits my car? || The second longest break up til summer 2016, the only one to have been announced. The ninth break in total.
|-
| 138 || {{what if|138|Jupiter Submarine}} || July 28, 2015 || 2.0 || What if you released a submarine into Jupiter's atmosphere? Would it eventually reach a point where it would float? Could it navigate? || The sixth two weeks break, tenth break in total.
|-
| 139 || {{what if|139|Jupiter Descending}} || August 4, 2015 || 1.0 || If you did {{what if|138|fall into Jupiter's atmosphere in a submarine}}, what would it actually look like? What would you see before you melted or burned up? ||
|-
| 140 || {{what if|140|Proton Earth, Electron Moon}} || September 18, 2015 || 6.4 || What if the Earth were made entirely of protons, and the Moon were made entirely of electrons? || First and shortest of two long breaks in a row, the 11th break in total.
|-
| 141 || {{what if|141|Sunbeam}} || January 12, 2016 || 16.6 || What if all of the sun's output of visible light were bundled up into a laser-like beam that had a diameter of around 1m once it reaches Earth? || Second and longest break so far of two long breaks in a row, the 12th break in total. From here on standard release day was again Tuesday.
|-
| 142 || {{what if|142|Space Jetta}} || January 20, 2016 || 1.1 || What if I tried to re-enter the atmosphere in my car? (a 2000 VW Jetta TDI). Would it do more environmental damage than it is already apparently doing? ||
|-
| 143 || {{what if|143|Europa Water Siphon}} || January 26, 2016 || 0.9 || What if you built a siphon from the oceans on Europa to Earth? Would it flow once it's set up? (We have an idea for selling bottled Europa water.) ||
|-
| 144 || {{what if|144|Saliva Pool}} || February 2, 2016 || 1.0 || How long would it take for a single person to fill up an entire swimming pool with their own saliva? ||
|-
| 145 || {{what if|145|Fire From Moonlight}} || February 9, 2016 || 1.0 || Can you use a magnifying glass and moonlight to light a fire? ||
|-
| 146 || {{what if|146|Stop Jupiter}} || February 16, 2016 || 1.0 || I understand that the New Horizons craft used gravity assist from Jupiter to increase its speed on the way to Pluto. I also understand that by doing this, Jupiter slowed down very slightly. How many flyby runs would it take to stop Jupiter completely? ||
|-
| 147 || {{what if|147|Niagara Straw}} || February 26, 2016 || 1.4 || What would happen if one tried to funnel Niagara Falls through a straw? || From here on there is no longer any standard release days.
|-
| 148 || {{what if|148|Eat the Sun}} || March 12, 2016 || 2.1 || What percentage of the Sun's heat (per day) does the population of Earth eat in calories per year? What changes could be made to our diets for the amount of calories to equal the energy of the Sun? || The seventh two weeks break, 13th break in total.
|-
| 149 || {{what if|149|Pizza Bird}} || March 26, 2016 || 2.0 || My boyfriend recently took a flight on a plane with wifi, and while he was up there, wistfully asked if I could send him a pizza. I jokingly sent him a photo of a parrot holding a pizza slice in its beak. Obviously, my boyfriend had to go without pizza until he landed at JFK. But this raised the question: could a bird deliver a standard 20" New York-style cheese pizza in a box? And if so, what kind of bird would it take? || The eight two weeks break, 14th break in total.
|-
| 150 || {{what if|150|Tatooine Rainbow}} || May 23, 2016 || 8.3 || Since rainbows are caused by the refraction of the sunlight by tiny droplets of rainwater, what would rainbow look like on Earth if we had two suns like Tatooine? || First two months break of at least two in a row, the 15th break in total.
|-
| 151 || {{what if|151|Sun Bug}} || July 21, 2016 || 8.4 || How many fireflies would it take to match the brightness of the Sun? || Second two months break of at least two in a row, the 16th break in total. The release date in the archive is the wrong month June. It was released [http://web.archive.org/web/20160718014924/http://what-if.xkcd.com/ between 18-20 July], as the link here was posted on the 20th. But on the [http://web.archive.org/web/20160724210016/https://what-if.xkcd.com/archive/ archive page] is says it was released on June 21, which should probably have been July 21.
|-
| 152 || {{what if|152|Flood Death Valley}} || October 18, 2016 || 12.6 || Since Death Valley is below sea level could we dig a hole to the ocean and fill it up with water? || After two 8 weeks breaks this one waited almost three months. Regarding the question it could be done, but why did the guy asking the question whish to do such a horrible thing Randall ends up asking back. Most of the what if? goes with citing temperature records and other trivia actually naming a Jeopardy master. At least two comics coming out right after this was referencing this article. [[1748: Future Archaeology]] and [[1750: Life Goals]].
|-
| 153 || {{what if|153|Hide the Atmosphere}} || January 30, 2017 || 14.9 || Earth’s atmosphere is really thin compared to the radius of the Earth. How big a hole do I need to dig before people suffocate? || With close to 15 weeks this was the second longest break between articles so far. The hole needs to be Very big it turns out, but under the right circumstances a five mile hole over the entire state of Texas might suffice... But beware of messing with the Texans.
|-
| 154 || {{what if|154|Coast-to-Coast Coasting}} || February 8, 2017 || 1.3 || What if the entire continental US was on a decreasing slope from West to East. How steep would the slope have to be to sustain the momentum needed to ride a bicycle the entire distance without pedaling? || The article is about the slope needed to be able to coast on a bike, without using the pedals, across mainland USA. It turns out the ramp would need to be five miles high (8 km) to make this possible, and that would be at a speed slower than walking. Also you would need oxygen the first third of the way down... Unlike the last article, out after almost a 15 weeks break, this one was released only a bit more than week after that. It is almost a year ago that two comics have been released with less than two full weeks between them (that was #147 released February 26, 2016). In that year (assuming no more comics before February 26 2017), only 8 articles where released including both 147 and this one. Interesting to see it they will begin appearing regularly again during the spring of 2017.
|-
| 155 || {{what if|155|Toaster vs. Freezer}} || February 28, 2017 || 2.9 || Would a toaster still work in a freezer?|| With less than 3 weeks between releases, releases seems to have become more regular in the beginning of 2017. The question is not asked of Randall this time, but rather one he has found discussed on [http://www.maximumfun.org/my-brother-my-brother-and-me/mbmbam-343-sauce-doctors-blessing Episode 343] of the {{w|My Brother, My Brother and Me|advice podcast}} ''[http://www.maximumfun.org/shows/my-brother-my-brother-and-me My Brother, My Brother and Me]'' (links are those given in the article) where the three brothers McElroy are discussing a {{w|Yahoo! Answers}} question. They did not answer the question but Randall does and it is quite easy so he puts it a the top: The Toaster wins! Since it heats with 1000+ watts of heat production where a freezer only cools with 100-150 watts. Although the freezer may be up to three times as effective, it is no match for the toaster, which also heats the bread locally inside it self. A nice way to explain this, is that to a toaster any human environment feels cool, so a freezer at 258 K (-15 °C) compared to room temperature of typically 293 K (20 °C), seems like a small difference compared to the temperature of the toasters heating element of about 900 K (over 600 °C). So it makes no real difference to the toaster where it is. But please don't try this at home, and also not outside in {{w|Winnipeg}}, Canada to avoid getting eaten by wolves.
If the question is "would a toaster still toast bread in a freezer?" the answer requires no maths at all; since toasters work by radiating heat (effecting a chemical change and increased temperature), and freezers work by convecting heat away (reducing the temperature), then no matter how powerful the freezer and how wussy the toaster, the chemical change would still occur (though your toast might be very cold).
|}



[[Category:Meta]]

1805: Unpublished Discoveries

2017-03-01T16:20:19Z

Cosmogoblin: /* Transcript */ Character names

{{comic
| number = 1805
| date = March 1, 2017
| title = Unpublished Discoveries
| image = unpublished_discoveries.png
| titletext = If you must know, I'm currently researching how to save this emailed tax form as a regular PDF so I can print and sign it. Our work isn't a lock for the Nobel, but we're in the running.
}}

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

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
Ponytail: When you make a big scientific discovery, it takes a while to get it published. Right?

Megan: Mm hmm.

Ponytail: So there are probably several research teams out there who are sitting on Nobel-Prize-worthy discoveries, but haven't told the rest of us yet.

Megan: Makes sense.

Ponytail: Sooo... What are you working on?

Megan: It isn't me!

Ponytail: I promise I won't tell.

Megan: Shoo! Go bother someone else.
{{comic discussion}}

1805: Unpublished Discoveries

2017-03-01T16:17:46Z

Cosmogoblin: /* Transcript */ First draft

{{comic
| number = 1805
| date = March 1, 2017
| title = Unpublished Discoveries
| image = unpublished_discoveries.png
| titletext = If you must know, I'm currently researching how to save this emailed tax form as a regular PDF so I can print and sign it. Our work isn't a lock for the Nobel, but we're in the running.
}}

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

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
When you make a big scientific discovery, it takes a while to get it published. Right?

Mm hmm.

So there are probably several research teams out there who are sitting on Nobel-Prize-worthy discoveries, but haven't told the rest of us yet.

Makes sense.

Sooo... What are you working on?

It isn't me!

I promise I won't tell.

Shoo! Go bother someone else.
{{comic discussion}}

1792: Bird/Plane/Superman

2017-01-30T18:42:29Z

Cosmogoblin: /* Notes */ Added to "capable of intentionally releasing poop mid-flight"

{{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|title text}}

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 ===

*Some birds are capable of carrying a small human, but this happens extremely rarely (although hoax stories are often reported). Most planes are created specifically designed to carry human passengers, although many are cargo planes with humans only acting as crew, and autonomous drones without humans also exist. Superman, a comic book character created in 1933, is an alien with superpowers, including the power of unaided flight. He often carries other people with him, such as girlfriends or rescued victims of various villains.
*Birds evolved from dinosaurs, appearing as early as the Late Jurassic period, roughly 150 million years ago. The first successful flight of a powered heavier-than-air craft took place on December 17, 1903. Superman first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #1, published on April 18, 1938.
*Cats kill several billion birds a year, often - but not always - eating them. There are no records of a cat successfully catching and eating either a plane or Superman.
*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
*Birds often poop during flight; it is arguably more important to shed excess mass while flying, to increase efficiency. 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. Superman, being more or less human, is certainly capable of pooping during flight, but this would generally result in unnecessary drycleaning bills.
* Many bird species prey on insects and similar-sized animals. Planes often fly into and kill insects (as well as birds), but this is unintentional and doesn't provide them with nutritional value. Superman is not known for eating insects, but Randall implies that he does sometimes, but only when he's bored.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{| class="wikitable"
! !! 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}}