explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1334: Second

2014-02-24T21:42:35Z

Crudefallout: /* Explanation */ missing word

{{comic
| number = 1334
| date = February 24, 2014
| title = Second
| image = second.png
| titletext = Let me just scroll down and check behind that rock. Annnnd ... nope, page copyright year starts with '19'. Oh God, is this a WEBRING?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Incomplete.}}
{{w|Google}} is a popular search engine. Google's searching algorithms are widely regarded as the most accurate and useful, so if your search terms were sufficiently detailed, you should be finding whatever you were looking for on the first page. If you ever find yourself having to look through the second page, it's (most likely) either because your search terms were too vague, or your query doesn't exist.

[[Cueball]], after failing to find his query in the first page of results, takes a curious peek at the second page for the hell of it; this is represented by a not-at-all subtle metaphor in which Cueball is about to wander into a sun-baked desert. According to the title text, he finds one vaguely relevant webpage, but it's over {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-2000}} years old.

{{w|Desperation}} is a feeling of hopelessness and knowledge of that there will be no satisfying outcome of ones actions.

The title text refers to {{w|webring}}s, in which multiple websites are connected together, usually with a common theme. They connect from one website to the next, eventually leading back to the starting site. They were popular in the 1990's.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball in a desert standing before a rock.]
:Rock: Greetings, stranger.
:Rock: Whatever quest drives you, '''''abandon it.'''''
:Rock: You shall find no answers in these desolate wastes.
:Cueball: I knew I wouldn't.
:Cueball: I guess I... just had to see.

:I hate feeling desperate enough to visit the second page of Google results.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Internet]]

1334: Second

2014-02-24T21:41:56Z

Crudefallout: /* Explanation */ More in depth definition of webring

{{comic
| number = 1334
| date = February 24, 2014
| title = Second
| image = second.png
| titletext = Let me just scroll down and check behind that rock. Annnnd ... nope, page copyright year starts with '19'. Oh God, is this a WEBRING?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Incomplete.}}
{{w|Google}} is a popular search engine. Google's searching algorithms are widely regarded as the most accurate and useful, so if your search terms were sufficiently detailed, you should be finding whatever you were looking for on the first page. If you ever find yourself having to look through the second page, it's (most likely) either because your search terms were too vague, or your query doesn't exist.

[[Cueball]], after failing to find his query in the first page of results, takes a curious peek at the second page for the hell of it; this is represented by a not-at-all subtle metaphor in which Cueball is about to wander into a sun-baked desert. According to the title text, he finds one vaguely relevant webpage, but it's over {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-2000}} years old.

{{w|Desperation}} is a feeling of hopelessness and knowledge of that there will be no satisfying outcome of ones actions.

The title text refers to {{w|webring}}s, in which multiple websites are connected together, usually with a common theme. They connect from one website to the next, eventually leading to the starting site. They were popular in the 1990's.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball in a desert standing before a rock.]
:Rock: Greetings, stranger.
:Rock: Whatever quest drives you, '''''abandon it.'''''
:Rock: You shall find no answers in these desolate wastes.
:Cueball: I knew I wouldn't.
:Cueball: I guess I... just had to see.

:I hate feeling desperate enough to visit the second page of Google results.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Internet]]

1331: Frequency

2014-02-17T21:58:17Z

Crudefallout: /* Explanation */ added correct units, as opposed to rotated 1000 times 43 times.

{{comic
| number = 1331
| date = February 17, 2014
| title = Frequency
| image = frequency.png
| titletext = This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.
}}

Today's comic is animated. While we prepare a gif for the wiki, click on the date above the comic to see the animated version.
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Incomplete.}}
This comic shows a number of common events, ordered in a grid. Each of the events flashes with their average frequency.

For example, statistically a child is born somewhere on the world approximately every 0.24 seconds, or four times per second. Therefore the tile "One birth" blinks about 4 times per second.

The table below lists all the events and their duration / frequency. Some events make reference to other comics.

The title text refers to the {{w|Pitch drop experiment}} which measures the flow of a piece of pitch over many years. At room temperature, tar pitch flows at a very slow rate, taking several years to form a single drop. The title text jokes that Randall tried to include a tile that flashes about once every {{w|decade|ten years}}, but the tiles are all {{w|Animated GIF|animated GIFs}} and the file format does not support animations that long.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Text!!data-sort-type="number"|Period (seconds)!!class="unsortable"|Frequency (per minute)!!class="unsortable"|Frequency (per year, N/I = not interesting)!!class="unsortable"|Explanation
|-
|Heartbeat||0.86||70||36,718,139||
|-
|One birth||0.24||250||131,490,000||
|-
|One death||0.56||107||56,360,000||
|-
|Someone edits Wikipedia||0.67||90||47,100,895||
|-
|Someone buys a vibrator||2.99||20||10,550,000 ||
|-
|China builds a car||1.89||32||16,700,000||
|-
|Japan builds a car||4.01||15||7,870,000||
|-
|Germany builds a car||5.8||10||5,440,000||
|-
|The US builds a car||6.95||8.6||4,540,000||
|-
|Someone else builds a car||1.03||58||30,640,000||
|-
|A European Union resident has their first kiss||5.53||11||5,700,000||
|-
|A US fire department puts out a fire||23||2.6||1,370,000||
|-
|Someone hits a hole-in-one||180||20 times per hour||175,320||A {{w|hole in one}} is a feat in {{w|golf}} in which the player hits the ball directly from the tee into the cup with one shot.
|-
|My turn signal blinks||0.94||64||N/I||See below
|-
|The turn signal of the car in front of me blinks||0.9||67||N/I||This, together with the previous item, forms a reference to [[165: Turn Signals]].
|-
|Earthquake (magnitude 1)||2.43||25||13,000,000||
|-
|Earthquake (magnitude 2)||24.26||2.5||1,300,000||
|-
|Earthquake (magnitude 3)||242.6||15 times per hour||130,000||
|-
|Earthquake (magnitude 4)||2426||1.5 times per hour||13,000||
|-
|A member of the UK parliament flushes a toilet||10.06||6||3,136,938||Note that probably during the daytime in Britain such a toilet is flushed 8.5 times per minute, while at night it is flushed only 1 time per minute.
|-
|An airline flight takes off||0.93||65||34,000,000||
|-
|Someone buys ''To Kill a Mockingbird''||42.05||1.4||750,000||“{{w|To Kill a Mockingbird}}” is a famous novel by {{w|Harper Lee}}.
|-
|Someone's pet cat kills a mockingbird||1.82||33||17,340,000||Whereas the previous item references the well-known book “To Kill a Mockingbird”, this one talks about {{w|Mockingbird|mockingbirds}} being literally killed (in this case, by cats). There are 45 million mockingbirds it the world;[http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Mimus_polyglottos/] this means that according to Randall, cats kill 39% of mockingbirds in one year, i.e. in 2.5 they are able to kill all mockingbirds (excluding the ones that are born in the meantime).
|-
|Someone in Phoenix buys new shoes||1.08||56||29,200,000||Since {{w|Phoenix metropolitan area|metro Phoenix}} has 4,200,000 inhabitants, according to Randall people in Phoenix buy 7 pairs of shoes per capita per year.
|-
|Someone in Phoenix puts on a condom||2.05||29||15,390,000||
|-
|Someone locks their keys in their car||2.43||25||13,000,000||
|-
|A Sagittarius named Amelia drinks a soda||7.79||7.7||4,000,000||This frequency is taken from the number of persons called {{w|Amelia_(given_name)|Amelia}} ([http://howmanyofme.com/ est. 82,572 people in the U.S.]), the number of persons born under the astrological sign of {{w|Sagittarius (astrology)|Sagittarius}} (~1/12th of the population, i.e. approximately 6881 Amelias in the U.S.) and the frequency of soda (soft drinks) being drunk (216 liters per person per year in the U.S.[http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/foo_sof_dri_con-food-soft-drink-consumption]). According to our figures, 6881 Amelias drink 1,44 million liters of soft drinks per year in the United States alone, which means that Randall's figures only account for American Amelias (drinking 356 cc or 12 fl. oz. of soda in each drink).
|-
|A dog bites someone in the US||7.01||8.6||4,500,000||
|-
|Someone steals a bicycle||24.93||2.4||1,265,000||
|-
|A bald eagle catches a fish||2.69||22||11,700,000||
|-
|50,000 plastic bottles are produced||1.27||2.36 million bottles||1.24 trillion||
|-
|50,000 plastic bottles are recycled||4.64||646,552 bottles||340 billion||27% of the plastic bottles manufactured get recycled
|-
|A bright meteor is visible somewhere||1.15||52||N/I||
|-
|Old Faithful erupts||5640||15 times per day||5,595||{{w|Old Faithful}} is a geyser in {{w|Yellowstone National Park}} in the US, that tends to erupt every 65 or 91 minutes. XKCD's period of 1h 36m falls between the [http://geysertimes.org/getGeyserInfo.php?geyserID=2 mean and median of recent Old Faithful eruptions] and corresponds to a [http://geysertimes.org/getSingleEruption.php?id=645135 February 16, 2014 eruption].
|-
|A fishing boat catches a shark||0.83||72||38,000,000||
|-
|Someone in the US is diagnosed with cancer||18.99||3.2||1,660,000|| [[881: Probability]]
|-
|Someone in the US dies from cancer||54.34||1.1||580,000|| [[881: Probability]]
|-
|Someone adopts a dog from a shelter||15.6||3.8||2,000,000||
|-
|Someone adopts a cat from a shelter||21.3||2.8||1,5000,000||
|-
|Someone gets married||0.75||80||42,000,000||
|-
|Someone registers a domain||0.64||94||49,300,000 ||
|-
|Someone in the US buys a house||6.22||9.6||5,000,000||
|-
|Someone in the US gets a tattoo||2.06||29||15,300,000||
|-
|The star PSR J1748-2446AD rotates 1,000 times||1.4||43,000 rotations||N/I||{{w|PSR J1748-2446ad}} is the fastest spinning {{w|pulsar}} known.
|-
|Someone lies about their age to sign up for Facebook||4.32||14||600,000 per month||To sign up for Facebook, [https://www.facebook.com/help/210644045634222 the user must be at least 13 years old].
|-
|Someone breaks an iPhone screen||0.93||65||34,000,000||
|-
|A Little League player strikes out||1.23||49||N/I||{{w|Little League Baseball|Little League}} is a system of local youth baseball and softball competitions. A {{w|strikeout}} is a situation in baseball and softball.
|-
|Someone has sex in North Dakota||1.38||43||22,900,000||Since {{w|North Dakota}} has 723,000 inhabitants (ranked the 48th state), and if we estimate the sexually active population as 80% (and if ''someone'' means ''a couple)'' this means that people in North Dakota have sex 79.1 times a year. It is estimated that 3.93% of the world population has sex on a given day;[http://geography.about.com/od/culturalgeography/a/geographyofsex.htm] Randall's rate for North Dakota is 17.3% which is not low.
|-
|Justin Bieber gains a follower on Twitter||4.73||13||556,000 per month||{{w|Justin Bieber}} is a Canadian pop music singer whose [https://twitter.com/justinbieber Twitter account] is extremely popular
|-
|Someone in Denver orders pizza||1.27||47||2,000,000||
|}

==Transcript==
:[Repetitive events are written in grey and arranged in a grid. Each statement pulses to black and then returns to grey at an interval characteristic of the named event.]

{| style="text-align:center;"
|- style="vertical-align: top; background-color:#eeeeee;"
|Heartbeat (0.86 sec)
|One birth (0.24 sec)
|One death (0.56 sec)
|Someone edits Wikipedia (0.67 sec)
|Someone buys a vibrator (2.99 sec)
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|China builds a car (1.89 sec)
|Japan builds a car (4.01 sec)
|Germany builds a car (5.8 sec)
|The US builds a car (6.95 sec)
|Someone else builds a car (1.03 sec)
|- style="vertical-align: top; background-color:#eeeeee;"
|A European Union resident has their first kiss (5.53 sec)
|A US fire department puts out a fire (23 sec)
|Someone hits a hole-in-one (180 sec)
|My turn signal blinks (0.94 sec)
|The turn signal of the car in front of me blinks (0.9 sec)
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|Earthquake (magnitude 1) (2.43 sec)
|Earthquake (magnitude 2) (24.26 sec)
|Earthquake (magnitude 3) (242.6 sec)
|Earthquake (magnitude 4) (2426 sec, 42 min)
|Member of the UK Parliament flushes a toilet (10.06 sec)
|- style="vertical-align: top; background-color:#eeeeee;"
|An airline flight takes off (0.93 sec)
|Someone buys ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' (42.05 sec)
|Someone's pet cat kills a mockingbird (1.82 sec)
|Someone in Phoenix buys new shoes (1.08 sec)
|Someone in Phoenix puts on a condom (2.05 sec)
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|Someone locks their keys in their car (2.43 sec)
|A Sagittarius named Amelia drinks a soda (7.79 sec)
|A dog bites someone in the US (7.01 sec)
|Someone steals a bicycle (24.93 sec)
|A bald eagle catches a fish (2.69 sec)
|- style="vertical-align: top; background-color:#eeeeee;"
|50,000 plastic bottles are produced (1.27 sec)
|50,000 plastic bottles are recycled (4.64 sec)
|A bright meteor is visible somewhere (1.15 sec)
|Old Faithful erupts (5640 sec, 94 min)
|A fishing boat catches a shark (0.83 sec)
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|Someone in the US is diagnosed with cancer (18.99 sec)
|Someone in the US dies from cancer (54.34 sec)
|Someone adopts a dog from a shelter (15.6 sec)
|Someone adopts a cat from a shelter (21.3 sec)
|Someone gets married (0.75 sec)
|- style="vertical-align: top; background-color:#eeeeee;"
|Someone registers a domain (0.64 sec)
|Someone in the US buys a house (6.22 sec)
|Someone in the US gets a tattoo (2.06 sec)
|The star ''PSR J1748-2446ad'' rotates 1,000 times (1.4 sec)
|Someone lies about their age to sign up for Facebook (4.32 sec)
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|Someone breaks an iPhone screen (0.93 sec)
|A little league player strikes out (1.23 sec)
|Someone has sex in North Dakota (1.38 sec)
|Justin Bieber gains a follower on Twitter (4.73 sec)
|Someone in Denver orders a pizza (1.27 sec)
|}

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

288: Elevator

2014-02-01T02:38:44Z

Crudefallout: /* Added a vaguish location, edited earlier edit after reading history. */

{{comic
| number = 288
| date = July 11, 2007
| title = Elevator
| image = Elevator.jpg
| titletext = Quick, try it with 'LOVE'.
}}

==Explanation==
Cueball is in an elevator, and notices that, beneath the certificate of [[Elevator Inspection]], mandatory in all U.S. elevators at least, there are buttons for Floor 1, 2, 3, and 4, and then a mysterious unlabeled button. Possible logical conclusions he might have made include (1) there is a fifth floor (reachable by pushing the bottom button) which for some reason is not labeled; (2) the button has some other function (a common one is to stop the elevator wherever it may be, whether exactly aligned with a floor or not) but again, is mistakenly not labeled; or (3) the panel with the buttons is from a template used for various elevators with up to five floors, and as this particular elevator only goes to four floors the bottom button is unlabeled and nothing will happen if he pushes it.

He has, however, chosen to accept a different explanation: the fifth button is not currently assigned, but giving it a label will assign it to whatever floor (or other function) he can give it. The possibilities are truly endless. And so, the intrepid Cueball writes “Zeppelin” on a slip of paper, tapes it next to the unassigned button, thereby assigning it to move the elevator not to Floor 3 or Floor 5 but to Zeppelin. And it works – the elevator opens aboard a zeppelin (or dirigible or airship or blimp) floating in the air, high above a land with many lakes (likely in northern country near the poles, such as Canada or a part of Russia).

The title text is most likely a reference to the Aerosmith song “Love in an Elevator,” which really is about sex in an elevator. However, it would also be great if one could reach the elevation of love by getting there in a magic elevator.

==Transcript==
:[Elevator panel, with a Certificate of Inspection and five floor buttons, numbered 1–4. The fifth button is unlabeled.]
:[Cueball thinks.]
:[Cueball writes something on a small piece of paper.]
:[Cueball tapes it onto the panel.]
:[Elevator panel, with the same Certificate and buttons, and with the piece of paper labeling the fifth button “Zeppelin”.]
:[Cueball presses the new “Zeppelin” button.]
:[Elevator moves.]
:Elevator: ''Ding''
:[Cueball is looking out the door of a Zeppelin. The Zeppelin is flying over a green landscape with many lakes.]

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Airships]]

288: Elevator

2014-02-01T02:31:33Z

Crudefallout: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 288
| date = July 11, 2007
| title = Elevator
| image = Elevator.jpg
| titletext = Quick, try it with 'LOVE'.
}}

==Explanation==
Cueball is in an elevator, and notices that, beneath the certificate of [[Elevator Inspection]], mandatory in all U.S. elevators at least, there are buttons for Floor 1, 2, 3, and 4, and then a mysterious unlabeled button. Possible logical conclusions he might have made include (1) there is a fifth floor (reachable by pushing the bottom button) which for some reason is not labeled; (2) the button has some other function (a common one is to stop the elevator wherever it may be, whether exactly aligned with a floor or not) but again, is mistakenly not labeled; or (3) the panel with the buttons is from a template used for various elevators with up to five floors, and as this particular elevator only goes to four floors the bottom button is unlabeled and nothing will happen if he pushes it.

He has, however, chosen to accept a different explanation: the fifth button is not currently assigned, but giving it a label will assign it to whatever floor (or other function) he can give it. The possibilities are truly endless. And so, the intrepid Cueball writes “Zeppelin” on a slip of paper, tapes it next to the unassigned button, thereby assigning it to move the elevator not to Floor 3 or Floor 5 but to Zeppelin. And it works – the elevator opens aboard a zeppelin (or dirigible or airship or blimp) floating in the air, high above a land with many lakes (likely in northern Canada or Siberia).

The title text is most likely a reference to the Aerosmith song “Love in an Elevator,” which really is about sex in an elevator. However, it would also be great if one could reach the elevation of love by getting there in a magic elevator.

==Transcript==
:[Elevator panel, with a Certificate of Inspection and five floor buttons, numbered 1–4. The fifth button is unlabeled.]
:[Cueball thinks.]
:[Cueball writes something on a small piece of paper.]
:[Cueball tapes it onto the panel.]
:[Elevator panel, with the same Certificate and buttons, and with the piece of paper labeling the fifth button “Zeppelin”.]
:[Cueball presses the new “Zeppelin” button.]
:[Elevator moves.]
:Elevator: ''Ding''
:[Cueball is looking out the door of a Zeppelin. The Zeppelin is flying over a green landscape with many lakes.]

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Airships]]