explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3228: Day Counter

2026-04-05T19:34:42Z

DL Draco Rex:

Someone has to be first [[Special:Contributions/2401:D005:D402:7A00:780:9D40:A38A:98A0|2401:D005:D402:7A00:780:9D40:A38A:98A0]] 13:14, 3 April 2026 (UTC)
:No, but someone has to be the ''0.99999999999999956th''... [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 21:58, 3 April 2026 (UTC)

In response to the comment added by @[[User:GSLikesCats307|GSLikesCats307]], "When the comic was first published the number was −0.00000000000000017 days": Perhaps Randall was just trying to make things a bit more realistic. I've shown a realistic example that could generate −0.00000000000000044. My experiments didn't find any simple example that could generate −0.00000000000000017. (Which is not to say there isn't one.) —[[User:Scs|Scs]] ([[User talk:Scs|talk]]) 15:15, 3 April 2026 (UTC), edited 15:39, 4 April 2026 (UTC)

The day counter is now showing −0.00000000000000044 on my Windows 11 system using Chrome. Maybe the result differs based on computer/browser combination? [[Special:Contributions/72.218.191.213|72.218.191.213]] 16:16, 3 April 2026 (UTC)

The April Fools dark mode thing was kept! Lets go! [[User:King Pando|King Pando]] ([[User talk:King Pando|talk]]) 16:25, 3 April 2026 (UTC)

This comic was published during NASA's Artemis II moon mission. Could Cueball seeming to be floating above his chair be a reference to null gravity? [[User:PDesbeginner|PDesbeginner]] ([[User talk:PDesbeginner|talk]]) 17:12, 3 April 2026 (UTC)

My guess is that irrational numbers have "infinite digits" in any base, but my math education is not good enough even to know how to start to prove it, an informal confirmation would be appreciated. [[Special:Contributions/5.91.22.162|5.91.22.162]] 22:14, 3 April 2026 (UTC)
:As a decimal in a certain base is just a fraction (with a denominator of a power of the base), numbers with finite decimal expansions must be rational (assuming the base is rational) [[User:Logalex8369|Logalex8369]] ([[User talk:Logalex8369|talk]]) 23:31, 3 April 2026 (UTC)
::Let's all work in base π so we can have irrational discussions that make sense. What's e in base π?[[Special:Contributions/98.22.184.160|98.22.184.160]] 12:49, 4 April 2026 (UTC)
:::I want to meditate on all the transcendental numbers. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 19:32, 4 April 2026 (UTC)

Plot twist: This is accurate, just too precise and able to predict the future. Someone is about to cause one. [[Special:Contributions/47.141.37.161|47.141.37.161]] 05:24, 4 April 2026 (UTC)
:Doesn't have to be predicting the future to be accurate. Maybe it means that the last error occurred 38 picoseconds ago. [[User:Gorcq|Gorcq]] ([[User talk:Gorcq|talk]]) 14:26, 4 April 2026 (UTC)

Surprised that there hasn't been an Artemis II comic yet. --[[User:Funstuff4fun|Funstuff4fun]] ([[User talk:Funstuff4fun|talk]]) 06:12, 4 April 2026 (UTC)

Sorry, new to posting; sorry if I am misunderstanding. The text describes −0.00000000000000044 as a very small negative number. Is this saying that it is close to zero? If so, would that be better expressed as large, rather than small? [[User:Flickerwit|Flickerwit]] ([[User talk:Flickerwit|talk]]) 15:54, 4 April 2026 (UTC)
:The value is very small. The representation of the number is large (or ''fairly'' large, by some certain limited measure). But you wouldn't call 0.9 "smaller", or 'closer to zero'/"0", than "0.8888888888..." under most usages. Even though that might be correct in a string-handling context. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 19:32, 4 April 2026 (UTC)

Considering how close to April Fools this comic is, it could be a remnant of such a prank that they haven't bothered to clean up yet. [[Special:Contributions/2001:1C02:1A9D:9700:A420:F4F:966C:167E|2001:1C02:1A9D:9700:A420:F4F:966C:167E]] 16:32, 4 April 2026 (UTC)

If anyone's wondering, it appears that they made it roughly 5,879 millennia, six centuries, and one decade without an integer overflow error. [[User:DL Draco Rex|DL Draco Rex]] ([[User talk:DL Draco Rex|talk]]) 19:34, 5 April 2026 (UTC)

Talk:3171: Geologic Core Sample

2025-11-23T15:33:43Z

DL Draco Rex:

F1R5T P0ST [[User:Slothscript|Slothscript]] ([[User talk:Slothscript|talk]]) 23:51, 21 November 2025 (UTC)

How do I add a category? It needs to be in the LOTR category. (Wow it’s hard to edit this thing on a phone) [[User:Kirinhatchi|Kirinhatchi]] ([[User talk:Kirinhatchi|talk]])

is netherrack a typo? {{unsigned ip|151.197.190.53|00:24, 22 November 2025 (UTC)}}
:No, it's an extremely weak, dark red rock from Minecraft. [[User:RadiantRainwing|RadiantRainwing]] ([[User talk:RadiantRainwing|talk]]) 00:39, 22 November 2025 (UTC)

andalite is not a rock it's an alien from Animorphs which the author is a fan of. Maybe I'll add it to the Animorphs category page [[User:Whoservelt|Whoservelt]] ([[User talk:Whoservelt|talk]]) 00:28, 22 November 2025 (UTC)

They’re just normal rock types, so perhaps not, but I was wondering if the back-to-back references to granite and diorite is a secondary Minecraft reference, since they were added in the same update (which I always associate with them in general.) [[User:KelOfTheStars!|KelOfTheStars!]] ([[User talk:KelOfTheStars!|talk]]) 01:23, 22 November 2025 (UTC)
:I think it IS another Minecraft reference. Along with granite and diorite, there’s a third in that triad: andesite — which is spelled and pronounced similarly enough to “Andalite” that the two could quite possibly be conflated, especially by someone who is familiar with the latter and “always has to look up” the former.
::Well, it's 'andalite' in the comic, not andesite. I think that's just a passing reference. [[User:DollarStoreBa'al|--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|Converse]]]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al|talk]]) 02:29, 22 November 2025 (UTC)
:It's been a long time since I Minecrafted, but I don't recall any (stock) inclusion of anything so realistic. Raw 'generic' stone (which became cobblestone once mined, unless it was an ore-holding version), sandstone, obsidian (which I'd usually cast) and the indestrutable bedrock - in the 'normal' world. Netherack (I keep wanting to type "nethack"!) in the Nether and maybe something else (other than the general igneous theme, fire and hostiles) ...glowstone? I know there are (were) 'real rock patches', as with many other mods, but I hadn't heard of this being put into vanilla editions (Bedrock, or whatever). Whether it's happened since the Ender got put in, I don't know. I was playing (solo-survival mode, mostly) when there were Endermen, but not yet their own domain for them/the dragon, and basically forgot about it before Microsoft took it on (then had too many other new time-sinks to even consider selling my soul to them)...
:But something like Dwarf Fortress ''does'' have plenty of rock-types (plain 'granite', but also diorite, gabbro, slate, limestone, mudstone, etc, etc, etc, even before getting to ores and gem clusters), for longer even than Minecraft had been around, and I linked into that where I thought appropriate. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.236.186|82.132.236.186]] 17:26, 22 November 2025 (UTC)
:: You've not minecraft in a long time then friend, it's been over a decade since Endermen were added. Here are some more stone types in vanilla minecraft other than the ones you listed: Granite, Andesite, Diorite, Sandstone, Red Sandstone, Tuff, Deepslate, Calcite, Dripstone, Basalt, Blackstone, and End Stone. [[Special:Contributions/199.247.247.123|199.247.247.123]] 19:20, 22 November 2025 (UTC)
::: As another long-lapsed minecrafter, that's news to me. (Could I colour stone, back then, or was that just wool blocks and maybe some modded-in 'concrete'?) Also reminded me more of [https://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Stone DF stones], though, there being a lot of those, and MC looks like it's still not quite as complexity. I love being able to build entire castles in olivine, or cinnabar/[https://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Pitchblende whatever's plentiful enough] (and not ore/flux, or the limited amount best saved for other purposes like colour-coded magmasafe floodgates/levers), without 'cheating' by applying my own hues to them. Mind you, I also prefer pre-Steam ASCII-style (vanilla) DF, as well, easier to understand, sometimes, than trying to understand some of the artwork. [[Special:Contributions/2.98.77.121|2.98.77.121]] 20:08, 22 November 2025 (UTC)
:::Concrete is now an actual thing in minecraft. It's color is basically solid, So it's great for building. [[User:DollarStoreBa'al|--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|Converse]]]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al|talk]]) 00:12, 23 November 2025 (UTC)
Do we make this a table? This comic seems perfect for a table. Maybe 'layer', whether it's real or not, and explanation? [[User:DollarStoreBa'al|--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|Converse]]]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al|talk]]) 01:36, 22 November 2025 (UTC)
:I'll try to work on a a table (given that someone else doesn't beat me to the chase). Also-what happened to your sig? '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 06:31, 22 November 2025 (UTC)
::I was pondering a ";term:definition" approach, and someone beat me to it (but without the definition-indent) and I ran my changes with it. I don't think a table would need more than two columns (excluding "Real?", being "Yes", "No" or "Technically Yes/No, '''but...'''"), so, with the predicted division of vertical space in a table, I think I'd stick with the '''header'''+explanation of the ";:" method. (Can always add a Real/Not Real {{template|Yes}}/{{template|No}}/{{template|Maybe}}-''like'' appending/prepending note to the term-header...) It's not really going to need sortable-table use, etc. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.236.186|82.132.236.186]] 17:26, 22 November 2025 (UTC)

Should reference somewhere that Balrogs having wings is controversial to begin with (see here)[https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Balrogs/Wings] [[Special:Contributions/2601:241:8002:3E0:89D3:137:DFC1:D5B4|2601:241:8002:3E0:89D3:137:DFC1:D5B4]] 04:41, 22 November 2025 (UTC)
:Hadn't read this, when I puut my own thing about it in there. The actual "did they have wings?" bit, in the {{w|Balrog}} page I linked to a section of, is buried within a multiparagraph section, so ''maybe'' your link is better (or a better one in that part, straight-link Balrog on the first mention for the general wikipedia entry).
:Certainly, when I was young (long before Wikipedia, and indeed the Web... Not sure when alt.fan.tolkien started, but I didn't have usenet access before I had academic internet access, but it was already an FAQ when I finally got into that scene), the questions were:
:#So, did a (or 'the', or ''any'', depending on tye context) Balrog have actual wings?
:#If they did, why? Given they were subterranean denizens? (Probably not the exact words, maybe "...living underground".)
:#So how could it be made to fall like that? (Typical answer: "A wizard did it"... Namely Gandalf kept it falling/distracted. Because that was the point.)
:...I may check to see if the collected wisdom of the current ubiquitous fan-led website has any better answers than we would come up with, after our countless geek-hours of discussion after/before/during tabletop RPGing (even if it wasn't LOTR-based, someone could easily have mentioned the balrog, in the context of a viking attack over a narrow bridge, or whatever). [[Special:Contributions/82.132.236.186|82.132.236.186]] 17:26, 22 November 2025 (UTC)
::Balrogs are not naturally subterranean. They're Maiar, just like Sauron and Gandalf. They used to fight in wars and do other evil stuff on the surface. [[User:DL Draco Rex|DL Draco Rex]] ([[User talk:DL Draco Rex|talk]]) 15:33, 23 November 2025 (UTC)

Actually, coring previous drilling equipment ''can'' happen. The southern German town of [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebungsrisse_in_Staufen_im_Breisgau Staufen] suffered a geothermal drilling gone wrong (they inserted ground water into anhydrite, which swelled, causing the town to rise). During the investigations, the original drilling equipment was hit in the new core, showing the errors made in the first place. [[Special:Contributions/2001:16B8:A875:DC00:3068:165E:B396:DE72|2001:16B8:A875:DC00:3068:165E:B396:DE72]] 07:33, 22 November 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3160: Document Forgery

2025-10-29T17:11:24Z

DL Draco Rex:

Can someone please make a printable version of this, thank you! [[Special:Contributions/216.126.34.139|216.126.34.139]] 21:26, 27 October 2025 (UTC)

Reminds me of [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70650ely2eo the infamous fake certificate with "verify" spelt wrong]... [[Special:Contributions/2.98.65.8|2.98.65.8]] 21:47, 27 October 2025 (UTC)

It seems like my summary got added on top of the other one somehow. I don't know if anyone wants to try to merge them... [[Special:Contributions/136.47.216.1|136.47.216.1]] 22:04, 27 October 2025 (UTC)

Here are some famous state university that do not have the state in their name: Kent State U., Adams State U., Athens State U., Jacksonville State U.. More on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_state_and_territorial_universities_in_the_United_States --[[Special:Contributions/2001:638:807:507:A761:A61B:43F:6CF1|2001:638:807:507:A761:A61B:43F:6CF1]] 07:59, 28 October 2025 (UTC)
:I'll add that in. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|converse]] 13:09, 28 October 2025 (UTC)

Feels like a similar theme to [[2756: Qualifications]]. [[User:KelOfTheStars!|KelOfTheStars!]] ([[User talk:KelOfTheStars!|talk]]) 14:40, 28 October 2025 (UTC)
:And [[ibm_hc_2]]. Maybe we should make a 'forgery' category. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|converse]] 14:45, 28 October 2025 (UTC)

If Randall really wanted that pun, might he not have made the degree in Document Doctoring? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:57, 28 October 2025 (UTC)
:'Doctoring' implies taking something that means something and (fraudulently) changing it. 'Forging' more definitely includes conjouring it up from just base materials.
:Though I'm not convinced it's intended to ezsentially be a "doctorate of doctoring" (in the non-medical sense), I ''could'' see it being an oblique related-pun as suggested, or at least noteworthy that there's a happy unanticipated coincidence spotted by us. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.237.69|82.132.237.69]] 15:36, 28 October 2025 (UTC)

Is "Philosophy" a catch-all in the USA? Since doctoring a document looks more like an engineering/physics thing to me. [[Special:Contributions/2A02:2455:1960:4000:2146:6F26:4294:2A6A|2A02:2455:1960:4000:2146:6F26:4294:2A6A]] 08:12, 29 October 2025 (UTC)
: In both the UK and the USA, Doctor of Philosophy is a thing across the whole range of academic subjects. The term 'Philosophy' doesn't refer to the narrow sense in which it's mostly used today, but its original sense of wisdom / love of knowledge (the sense in which 'Natural Philosophy' used to be used to refer to the natural sciences). In any case, though, forgery clearly belongs within the Art department. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 09:52, 29 October 2025 (UTC)
::Huh. So PhD is actually short for 'Philosophy Doctor'? Cool! --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|converse]] 14:02, 29 October 2025 (UTC)
:::Technically it's short for ''Philosophiae Doctor'', as opposed to ''Medicinae Doctor'' ('''M.D.''' i.e. Doctor of Medicine) and ''Juris Doctor'' ('''J.D.''' i.e. Doctor of Jurisprudence/Law) or ''Legum Doctor'' ('''LL.D.''' i.e. Doctor of Laws). [[User:DL Draco Rex|DL Draco Rex]] ([[User talk:DL Draco Rex|talk]]) 17:10, 29 October 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3160: Document Forgery

2025-10-29T17:10:38Z

DL Draco Rex:

Can someone please make a printable version of this, thank you! [[Special:Contributions/216.126.34.139|216.126.34.139]] 21:26, 27 October 2025 (UTC)

Reminds me of [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70650ely2eo the infamous fake certificate with "verify" spelt wrong]... [[Special:Contributions/2.98.65.8|2.98.65.8]] 21:47, 27 October 2025 (UTC)

It seems like my summary got added on top of the other one somehow. I don't know if anyone wants to try to merge them... [[Special:Contributions/136.47.216.1|136.47.216.1]] 22:04, 27 October 2025 (UTC)

Here are some famous state university that do not have the state in their name: Kent State U., Adams State U., Athens State U., Jacksonville State U.. More on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_state_and_territorial_universities_in_the_United_States --[[Special:Contributions/2001:638:807:507:A761:A61B:43F:6CF1|2001:638:807:507:A761:A61B:43F:6CF1]] 07:59, 28 October 2025 (UTC)
:I'll add that in. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|converse]] 13:09, 28 October 2025 (UTC)

Feels like a similar theme to [[2756: Qualifications]]. [[User:KelOfTheStars!|KelOfTheStars!]] ([[User talk:KelOfTheStars!|talk]]) 14:40, 28 October 2025 (UTC)
:And [[ibm_hc_2]]. Maybe we should make a 'forgery' category. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|converse]] 14:45, 28 October 2025 (UTC)

If Randall really wanted that pun, might he not have made the degree in Document Doctoring? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:57, 28 October 2025 (UTC)
:'Doctoring' implies taking something that means something and (fraudulently) changing it. 'Forging' more definitely includes conjouring it up from just base materials.
:Though I'm not convinced it's intended to ezsentially be a "doctorate of doctoring" (in the non-medical sense), I ''could'' see it being an oblique related-pun as suggested, or at least noteworthy that there's a happy unanticipated coincidence spotted by us. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.237.69|82.132.237.69]] 15:36, 28 October 2025 (UTC)

Is "Philosophy" a catch-all in the USA? Since doctoring a document looks more like an engineering/physics thing to me. [[Special:Contributions/2A02:2455:1960:4000:2146:6F26:4294:2A6A|2A02:2455:1960:4000:2146:6F26:4294:2A6A]] 08:12, 29 October 2025 (UTC)
: In both the UK and the USA, Doctor of Philosophy is a thing across the whole range of academic subjects. The term 'Philosophy' doesn't refer to the narrow sense in which it's mostly used today, but its original sense of wisdom / love of knowledge (the sense in which 'Natural Philosophy' used to be used to refer to the natural sciences). In any case, though, forgery clearly belongs within the Art department. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 09:52, 29 October 2025 (UTC)
::Huh. So PhD is actually short for 'Philosophy Doctor'? Cool! --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|converse]] 14:02, 29 October 2025 (UTC)
:::Technically it's short for ''Philosophiae Doctor'', as opposed to ''Medicinae Doctor'' ('''M.D.''' i.e. Doctor of Medicine) and ''Juris Doctor'' ('''J.D.''' i.e. Doctor of Jurisprudence/Law) or ''Legum Doctor'' (''LL.D.'' i.e. Doctor of Laws). [[User:DL Draco Rex|DL Draco Rex]] ([[User talk:DL Draco Rex|talk]]) 17:10, 29 October 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3115: Unsolved Physics Problems

2025-07-16T19:23:26Z

DL Draco Rex:

I didn't notice that the linked paper on zink whiskers was from NASA at first, but it was immediately apparent that an American wrote it... The style is super American. "Oh, no! People who ''chose'' to read this paper won't get it unless I write really big and '''EMPHASISE''' words." It's a very "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" style of naming margarine, so to say. [[User:Kapten-N|Kapten-N]] ([[User talk:Kapten-N|talk]]) 07:23, 15 July 2025 (UTC)
:The linked pdf is not a scientific paper, but a slide presentation. I think especially for safety-related presentations it is not uncommon to go a bit over the top with "be aware that this seemingly harmless effect can have serious consequences" -- especially if the risk is seemingly low, but the possible damage is really high. --[[Special:Contributions/134.102.219.31|134.102.219.31]] 08:25, 15 July 2025 (UTC)
:@Kapten-N, your Ameriphobia is duly noted. [[Special:Contributions/76.216.164.118|76.216.164.118]] 14:20, 15 July 2025 (UTC)

It seems that there is a typo on the second panel about the Gallium anomaly. According to Wikipedia "The resulting production of 71Ge was calculated in 2005 to be 79% of expected", not 75%. Should this be mentioned? [[User:Rps|Rps]] ([[User talk:Rps|talk]]) 12:12, 15 July 2025 (UTC)

Unremoved background on the middle title: The middle title has unerased lettering with a slightly different style.{{unsigned ip|92.40.191.220|08:41, 15 July 2025 (UTC)}}

You know, Hair Metal is a thing. Just sayin'. [[Special:Contributions/92.184.140.165|92.184.140.165]] 12:39, 15 July 2025 (UTC)
:If metal inexorably produces hair and unwanted behaviour, which I believe it does, could you explain to me why rock doesn't? [[Special:Contributions/2001:1C00:31C:0:90DD:6826:AA7C:C80F|2001:1C00:31C:0:90DD:6826:AA7C:C80F]] 19:57, 15 July 2025 (UTC)
::Because it absolutely ''refuses'' to be in any way vulnerable to scissors! [[Special:Contributions/92.23.2.228|92.23.2.228]] 22:55, 15 July 2025 (UTC)
::If we can't explain why metal grows hair, why would you think we could explain why rocks don't? [[User:DL Draco Rex|DL Draco Rex]] ([[User talk:DL Draco Rex|talk]]) 19:23, 16 July 2025 (UTC)

If you look closely where it says ‘precise’, it looks like Randall traced it! [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 12:44, 15 July 2025 (UTC)

The zinc whiskers are similar to joke in [[3112: Geology Murder]] where the
dagger-shaped object precipitated within the wound
[[User:KingPenguin|KingPenguin]] ([[User talk:KingPenguin|talk]]) 02:19, 16 July 2025 (UTC)

A rare case where gallium is the somewhat normal behaving metal. [[User:RegularSizedGuy|RegularSizedGuy]] ([[User talk:RegularSizedGuy|talk]]) 13:00, 16 July 2025 (UTC)

3115: Unsolved Physics Problems

2025-07-15T19:39:14Z

DL Draco Rex: Fixed a link I think.

{{comic
| number = 3115
| date = July 14, 2025
| title = Unsolved Physics Problems
| image = unsolved_physics_problems_2x.png
| imagesize = 699x422px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 'Tin pest' makes more sense to me. Tin just doesn't want to be locked down in a shape like that. I get it. But why would any metal want to grow hair??
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by A CURSED METAL FIGURE OF HAIRY. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic is a sequel to comic [[2529: Unsolved Math Problems]], which follows the same format.

{{w|Quantum gravity}} is the problem of determining how {{w|gravity}} interacts with the physics of {{w|quantum mechanics}}. There are {{w|General relativity#Relationship with quantum theory|contradictions}} between the two theories, as currently understood. Gravity is well characterized at large scales and is described well by the theory of {{w|general relativity}}, while quantum physics is easiest to observe at very small scales. This makes it hard to conduct an experiment that includes both phenomena. This has led to a wide range of unifying theories which are difficult to experimentally confirm or refute. In this comic, the question is specifically what part time plays in the quantum-orientated 'supertheory', but left vague and open-ended by considering several different options that may or may not be mutually contradictory.

The second phenomenon, the {{w|Soviet–American Gallium Experiment#Gallium anomaly|Gallium Anomaly}}, is an example of a precise experiment to understand a specific phenomenon. The difference between the expectation and reality is small, but significant, and indicates our models of physics are inaccurate.

The third problem concerns {{w|Whisker (metallurgy)|zinc whiskers}} — a phenomenon that, at first, sounds extremely strange, in which a piece of metal (in this case zinc) can 'grow' hair-like filaments on its surface. Hair is usually thought of as an organic structure, and spontaneous change in a block of metal is not a problem most people would expect. Thus [[Randall]] considers this phenomenon [[:Category:Comics with cursed items|cursed]]. Metal whiskers can cause problems in a lot of electronics, where metal hairs create unwanted electrical connections, or act as antennae. It is hard to see how the other two problems affect most people. Since electronics are ubiquitous, the prevention of metal whiskers is a challenge that affects us widely. Lead has been widely used as an additive to solder for whisker prevention, however lead is toxic.

The title text mentions {{w|tin pest}} — a transformation which causes deterioration of moldable white tin into brittle powdery grey tin in cold weather. Randall considers this an understandable rebellion of the tin against being forced into shapes that we want it to take, whereas he cannot understand the motivation of zinc to grow hair. In reality, metallic elements do not have motivations and intentions.{{Citation needed}}

All of these are real phenomena.

==Transcript==

{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
: The Three Types of Unsolved Physics Problem

: Vague
: [A Feynman diagram of two particles interacting via the electromagnetic force is to the right of Cueball. The diagram is drawn on a curved surface]
: Cueball: What is the nature of time in quantum gravity? Is it a background parameter, a dynamic aspect of spacetime, or an emergent phenomenon?

: Precise
: [A scientific instrument and a nuclear reaction equation of gallium-71 becoming germanium-71 are to Megan's left. The equation says: 71Ga + νe → 71Ge + e- .]
: Megan: Why does the ''S.A.G.E.'' Gallium Neutrino Capture Experiment produce only 75% as much germanium as predicted?

: Cursed
: [A rectangular block of zinc, with whiskers growing out of it, is visible to the right of White Hat]
: White Hat: Why does some metal randomly grow hairs?
: White Hat: It keeps causing short circuits and we have no idea what's going on.
: Voice from off-panel: Is this a joke?
: White Hat: No! Please help!

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics with cursed items]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]

Talk:3028: D&D Roll

2024-12-25T19:55:43Z

DL Draco Rex:

Dice comic. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.181|172.69.22.181]] 04:09, 24 December 2024 (UTC)

And in a pinch, d4s can be used as caltrops. --[[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.210|172.71.147.210]] 05:22, 24 December 2024 (UTC)

I am willing to bet good money that every D&D comic that features the game's name inside the title will either [[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Admin_requests#RSS_Feed_Broken|break the RSS Feed]] or [[User:TheusafBOT]]. '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 10:17, 24 December 2024 (UTC)
:Ah, that's why we never got a good explanation about the one with the D&D players dialling in over AT&T to roleplay S&M sessions while eating M&Ms and drinking A&W. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.4|172.70.90.4]] 13:22, 24 December 2024 (UTC)
::Is this the same issue that causes the page title to be rendered as "D Roll"? [[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 08:50, 25 December 2024 (UTC)
If the D20 is large enough (>30 cm?) and its full volume is made of a heavy metal or alloy, like iron, steel or gold, one can just use it as a "blunt weapon" (that is, the weight is used against the enemy). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.39.208|172.70.39.208]] 17:01, 24 December 2024 (UTC)

Second XKCD on D&D in a few months... I think some cartoonish picked up a new hobby recently. [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 18:25, 24 December 2024 (UTC)

Should have used the d65536. [[User:DL Draco Rex|DL Draco Rex]] ([[User talk:DL Draco Rex|talk]]) 19:55, 25 December 2024 (UTC)

Talk:2916: Machine

2024-04-08T20:51:32Z

DL Draco Rex:

rather late for an april fools comic innit? also there doesn't seem to be anything exciting in this one lol, none of the usual cool exploration easter eggs, as far as i could tell at least [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.76|172.71.178.76]] 16:41, 6 April 2024 (UTC)Erfaniom

: We're exploring crowdsourced human creativity here, in a way, so it can be a lot more interesting then Randall's exploration comics, at least for me, because i did take two years of GCSE psychology and enjoyed it. [[Special:Contributions/172.64.238.130|172.64.238.130]]

Just popped over using Chrome on Android and all I see is four "missing picture" logos spinning around, plus another down the bottom right... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.68.193|141.101.68.193]] 18:13, 6 April 2024 (UTC)
:Okay, followup: it behaves quite differently on the non mobile site. You get two entry points with red balls and yellow balls and you need to place the various gizmos to direct the balls to the correct exit point. Once enough have correctly passed to turn the red X into a green tick, you have the option to submit. If you do, once you have named your design it will be added to the grid with other submissions all of which exist to push red and yellow balls around. (if you come across "Memories of Ragnarok", that's mine) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.134.207|172.71.134.207]] 18:27, 6 April 2024 (UTC)
::The number of inputs appears to vary between 1 and 4, each of a different color, with one color-coded output for each. [[User:Claire Kholin|Claire Kholin]] ([[User talk:Claire Kholin|talk]]) 18:49, 6 April 2024 (UTC)

On the "machine" section, you see lots of "under construction cells". Perhaps this will develop as more are submitted. I notice the "under construction tape" has "DJIA" and "31415", perhaps a reference to "dow jones industrial average" and the first five digits of pi. [[User:Zeimusu|Zeimusu]] ([[User talk:Zeimusu|talk]]) 18:37, 6 April 2024 (UTC)
:Whenever someone submits a cell, it fills in one of the under construction cells. [[User:Claire Kholin|Claire Kholin]] ([[User talk:Claire Kholin|talk]]) 18:49, 6 April 2024 (UTC)

I wanted to add an image for each object, but do not have the necessary access, can someone who has access add the images that I linked in the table so they can be included? [[User:Claire Kholin|Claire Kholin]] ([[User talk:Claire Kholin|talk]]) 18:49, 6 April 2024 (UTC)

I found a discussion with some guy talking about the API at https://euphoria.leet.nu/room/xkcd/ ; this could be useful for the wiki.

<code>
[c+1] now time to try fucking with the api
[c+1] https://incredible.xkcd.com/
[userwithnoaccount] 404
[c+1] it seems there are numbered machines under incredible.xkcd.com/machine/x
[c+1] returns a grid of individual machinlets
[c+1] which are uids like 3a7af27c-5389-5dcb-b660-3feab6be2ceb
[c+1] they're stored at urls like incredible.xkcd.com/folio/3a7af27c-5389-5dcb-b660-3feab6be2ceb
[c+1] there appear to be 33 machines total
[c+1] the json it returns seems to refer to these as "versions"
[c+1] $ curl -s https://incredible.xkcd.com/machine/21 | jq ".version"
21
[c+1] there is a machine/0, but it's all null
[c+1] going to https://incredible.xkcd.com/machine/current redirects to the current machine
[c+1] $ curl -sL https://incredible.xkcd.com/machine/current | jq ".version"
35
[c+1] wait, is that the *total* number of mahcines?
[c+1] i would've thought there'd be more
[c+1] this whole think is rather esoteric
[c+1] Written in rust, too: https://rapier.rs/
[c+1] Uh oh.
https://i.hypercone.us/?v=8e283d
[c+1] HMMM
https://i.hypercone.us/?v=079f8f
[c+1] it seems there is no limit
[c+1] i've uploaded a ~50M title
</code>

[[Special:Contributions/172.70.57.146|172.70.57.146]]

Had quite a lot of fun, added a few 'successful' machines to the grid. Noted that whenever I try to use the Prism that (after a short delay) the comic-pane blanks and I need to refresh the page/get a completely new 'challenge' to start from scratch, so I'm just not using the prism at all (used most of the other items, in combination or 'just the one across the whole board', whichever seems most fun). But it doesn't seem to do what I'd like it to do, which is sort multiple colours from the same inflow into different outflow directions. Which would be ''very'' useful in a 'crossroads' situation, the general solution of directing them cross-path being too prone to random collisions. Also might be useful in the 'submitted machine grid', as I note that errors propagate, whereas adding a filter on all inputs would clean out (dispose of/send off to a valid gate?) the rogue balls. Anyway, gonna have to come back to this later when there's more time... Maybe then I'll even have something useful to add to the Explanation. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.163.31|172.70.163.31]] 19:03, 6 April 2024 (UTC)

The balls appear to be different weights. I just saw a machine that used fans to separate yellows from greens and blues in a sort of 'wheat from the chaff' manner to direct them to their correct outputs. I wonder what other hidden tricks are included. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.1.159|172.68.1.159]] 19:40, 6 April 2024 (UTC)

They're not all accepted, though it makes you think they are. Or something else more complex is going on we haven't realized yet. I made a machine that was working reliably, submitted it, and saw it on the overall grid. Reloading from a different browser I found the same location of the machine, with the same surroundings, but my machine had been replaced. It's nowhere else on the grid either. The first browser still shows it (but not after a reload with a cache clear). I'm not sure if there's some kind of "save" event that needs to happen beyond seeing your machine in the broader one, or if all user collaboration is an illusion, or if the system changes its mind about us somehow.

: Yeah, i've been seeing this too. Please tell me if you find any of my machines, images at https://i.hypercone.us/?v=22d562 , https://i.hypercone.us/?v=ad8e3a , and https://i.hypercone.us/?v=8d4d6a . I want to be one of the few to have added Catalan and Spanish to the grid. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.134.164|172.71.134.164]] 20:56, 6 April 2024 (UTC)

I've added some more observations to the page. Also, a guess which is too uncertain to put on the main page: The ball launcher for the yellows on the far left side misses a lot, and the yellow container isn't the one on the left. So I think the whole machine with crossing streams will result in the colors being sorted in their container order, and possibly have the streams combined and deposited at the bottom just above the containers. --[[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.100|172.71.147.100]] 21:07, 6 April 2024 (UTC)

has anyone seen the boat at the very bottom? [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 21:21, 6 April 2024 (UTC)

trying to see it on Firefox for Ubuntu and it just tells me to "visit xkcd.com to view" - THAT'S WHERE I AM?! Tried clearing website data (but not my entire cache) and that didn't help. Is there something I'm missing?

Oooh, just had one with four ball-entries (four colours) and ''three'' exits (one caters for two arrows). Pity it's rather complicated to get entries to exits (even if I can merge two of the streams). Might have to give up on it, but I'd like to have seen how it fits in with the 'submited grid'. i.e. someone else gets a two-colour introduction spot. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.119|162.158.74.119]] 22:37, 6 April 2024 (UTC)
:Me again. I'm just refreshing the page, looking at the pattern of entries/exits (just a dozen or so screens in, getting some repeats of pattern, indicating that it's going back to tiles it was suggesting before, probably depends on how many others are contributing and extending...)
:Found another 'double-colour' example. Two yellows ''from the same side'', which probably means that there's a two-yellows been asked to exit from the neighbour (will check shortly).
:Quickly adapting from my spreadsheet notation, "R, Y, G, B" in order, each "(Entry, Exit)", I've been using <dir> of L/R/T/B and a number (nominally percentage, though seems to include only values of 20, 30, 50, 70 and 80, so it ''might'' be more 1/6..5/6?) relating to the distance along from L to R (for T/B) or T to B (for L/R).
:This line is therefore (0,0)(L20+L70,R30+B70)(R80,L80)(T70,L50) ... no reds, two yellow pairings, a red pairing, a blue pairing. Would require at least two path-crossings (but I was going to calculate those things later, and double-colours might confuse my intended simple line-intersection calculation).
:...anyway, spent some time on this message, which might mean I'll get into a 'new batch' of available patterns as people have succeeded some of the challenges that I've been 'swiping left'. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.20|172.70.162.20]] 19:28, 7 April 2024 (UTC)
:...very next click: (0,0)(T30+L20,R20+R70)(R80,L80)(R50,B50), which is clearly the actual left-neighbour of the above. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.19|172.70.162.19]] 19:32, 7 April 2024 (UTC)
:Ok, stopped my refreshing to [https://imgur.com/a/OMFOmzy 'solve' a screen]. First of all I routed both yellows entries (right-upper and upper-right) to one yellow exit (middle-left) and gradually teased the greens across (lower-left to middle-right), as that way I was avoiding a criss-cross of balls, but the the other yellow exit (left-lower) was, of course, invalid.
:Changed it to drop one stream of yellows down towards the lower exit, across the rapidly firing greens (added a fan to filter away the occasional yellow that gets bounced over there, not much of an opportunity to filter falling-greens out of the yellow exit, so apologies to whoever gets the sceen below). Submited as "Two Yellows, One Green!", whether or not that'll save (apparently, I should continue to contribute and not refresh/close, or else the server will not keep the solution?).
:Interestingly, all four adjacent tiles are "Under construction", and if I scroll up... *DARN* the comic has blanked out (nothing there between the upper PREV/RANDOM/NEXT buttons and the lower ones, just whitespace). This may mean that it did not save. This is the kind of 'page crash' I get when I try using a Prism or get too many balls rattling around on top of a Black Hole. Perhaps it doesn't like that I'm scrolling into an Under Construction that shouldn't be there? (But then, why ''is'' it there?)
:Anyway, all extra information for everyone.
:I'll just refresh the page and go back and do some more entry/exit mapping, maybe? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.20|172.70.162.20]] 20:17, 7 April 2024 (UTC)

If you combine a bunch of these silly claw things in the middle by just spamming it, it begins to lag and do some chaotic collisions, even without balls colliding on it. It's curious how it does that seemingly randomly though. I wonder how calculations are added and if there's a tiny sprinkle of RNG. (Also, errors occur and say something about damaging recursion in the Rust programming language, so I guess we know how it was made. It's also pretty weird how there's not a lot of opening combinations? It's possible that the machine loops over in chunks of gears or something (that's what I'll call them). ([[User talk:Leo|talk]]) 13:15, 7 April 2024 (UTC)

If you place a black hole in the centre of a wheel, it makes the wheel behave unpredictably between resets. Sometimes it's almost normal, sometimes it's a lot faster than usual, and sometimes it's stopped but launches balls that touch it with extreme force. I was able to use this to submit a machine which didn't actually let a single ball through after being submitted. https://i.hypercone.us/?v=928bcd [[Special:Contributions/162.158.33.149|162.158.33.149]] 01:19, 7 April 2024 (UTC)

The page says that (and I have taken note of) the ball hue is ''coded'' to certain values, but is there a logic to those values that might be derived from the colour (either as RGB triplet or HSV/other colourspace definition). For example, the two ball-types with zero green component in their makeup are 'unit density' (green is far heavier "green+red" is far lighter, so it's not a simple relationship, unless it converts from °hue, in some way) and the only secondary colour exhibits non-zero drag. There's the possibility that it just derived from "we need different properties, we need different colours, we have no reason to connect either with other deliberately" or even some non-mathematical symbology (fire=red, water=blue(?), earth=green, air(/sunlight?)=yellow). But it makes me wonder what combination of properties cyan/magenta balls might have, if added. (Or is the choice of those four colours constrained, anyway? Though R/G colorblindness is already something of an accessibility failure, if anyone suffers that.) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.205|172.69.194.205]] 17:02, 7 April 2024 (UTC)

[https://pastebin.com/7PAiLnyF Python script to get the URL and title of each Cell in the current machine]

[https://pastebin.com/xBhywGde Result of running that script at the moment] (encoded with ROT13 because pastebin wouldn't let me save it otherwise)
:has anybody at all whatsoever been able to find their creation using this API? [[User:Bellydrum|Bellydrum]] ([[User talk:Bellydrum|talk]]) 21:58, 7 April 2024 (UTC)

[https://pastebin.com/jN5MP2za Result of running that script on the first 42 machines], at least on these it looks like the only difference is that one cell is added each time? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.99.195|172.71.99.195]] 17:22, 7 April 2024 (UTC)

I've submitted four now, none of which was accepted. I tend to spend a lot of time getting them just right. Any hints as to what the acceptance criteria might be? Or do I just stink at this?
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.59.204|172.69.59.204]] 19:47, 7 April 2024 (UTC)

There appears to be a new object: a cat that bats things that touch it.
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.214.39|172.69.214.39]] 20:17, 7 April 2024 (UTC)

Is anyone else experiencing the bug where prisms cause the comic to disappear (leaving only the white background where it was) after a while? It makes viewing the whole machine basically impossible. (On further testing it appears to be firefox-exclusive.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.38|172.70.162.38]] 20:31, 7 April 2024 (UTC)
:I've had the "Prisms break things" from the beginning (before any practical content). As in, trying to use them in a design breaks things. But I ''did'' glance upon their occasional use in the 'view submissions grid'. Right now I'm suffering from "white only" issue (see my "multi-yellow" accounts, above). I ''am'' using Firefox, if that's indeed relevant to this issue, but right now I'm not near any other up-to-date browser I care to use. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.163.31|172.70.163.31]] 21:37, 7 April 2024 (UTC)
:I'm getting the same issue with black holes (which probably makes more sense - put a black hole there and you'd expect everything else to disappear :o) - except that on one occasion I was able to put about 6 black holes in before the 7th one vanished everything.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.121|172.69.194.121]] 09:15, 8 April 2024 (UTC)

Has anyone seen their own cell in the machine at all yet? A manual approval system is probably necessary for obvious reasons, but if so it does seem to be moving quite slowly.
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.65.24|172.69.65.24]] 02:58, 8 April 2024 (UTC)

== Level scrolling bug ==

When one views the whole machine, and scrolls down far enough, everything just disappears, and the comic is completely unresponsive. Has anyone else seen this? [[Special:Contributions/198.41.236.152|198.41.236.152]] 20:38, 7 April 2024 (UTC)

:I'm now seeing the same issue, I wasn't before. (I'm using Chrome) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.20|172.70.162.20]] 21:06, 7 April 2024 (UTC)

::A hard refresh appears to have fixed this for me (same person as above). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.101|141.101.99.101]] 10:28, 8 April 2024 (UTC)

:I've been having this issue as well (I'm using firefox). Opening the site in Edge instead seemed to work around it for me, so it might only affect Firefox (and derivatives). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.163.31|172.70.163.31]] 21:27, 7 April 2024 (UTC)
::See also the 'firefox bug' comments currently immediately above this section. (Please don't ask me to start Edge up, I hate it, won't use it any more than the system requires me to...) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.163.31|172.70.163.31]] 21:37, 7 April 2024 (UTC)

:Update - I did a hard refresh so I could play around with the new additions and I'm no longer encountering the bug, even on firefox. I think the "white screen" bug is fixed now and you just need to hard-refresh to download the fixed JS instead of using the cached one. (same person as 172.70.163.31 and 172.70.162.38) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.16|172.70.86.16]] 11:16, 8 April 2024 (UTC)

==New Category: Ball Pit?==

What do you think about a new category for comics with [[ball pits]]? [[150]], [[219]], [[485]], [[498]], [[2916]]? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.229|162.158.134.229]] 21:50, 7 April 2024 (UTC)

== Prism Use? ==

Can the prism be used to sort balls by color? (or in any other way that is useful and different?) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.61|172.68.34.61]] 12:11, 8 April 2024 (UTC)
:From what I've seen, no. Though may be ''extremely'' susceptible to incident angle. As far as my own use has been, they seem to randomise the trajectory (possibly also do a total-internal-reflection, I've had balls bounce around and exit at ''really'' weird angles), but it's hard to collimate a feed of balls into a single exact track, even straight down from a ceiling-feed (if you have a ceiling feed directly over the floor exit, lucky you, it'll still occasionally perturb balls off to the sides just enough to be bounced out as a gate-miss, unless you add 'funnel' architecture of one kind or another). Oh, and when balls do a lot of 'internal bouncing' it often forced me to reload the comic (overloaded the physics engine?), so could not continue to tweak the same design.
:On the other hand, perhaps this was the ''intent'', and just code/browser failings made it work erratically. Maybe would be an idea to go back and retest for this (anybody who can), do a little !!science!! to be recorded and explained on the page. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.43.183|172.69.43.183]] 12:51, 8 April 2024 (UTC)

== Bugs and Exploits ==

You can use a sword to break the physics on the hinge thingy and create your very own "magnetic hill": https://imgur.com/a/IRZ0AlL [[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.108|162.158.134.108]] 13:02, 8 April 2024 (UTC)
:Hard to tell from that what other fans (perhaps) you've got completely off-clip.
:Those hinge-thingies can definitely be shifted by horizontal (outwith ball-weight pressures), but I've not found them to be reliable components as the "Stop" button (ball reset) seems to let those 'hinges' slring back to level, which might need a re-reset by moving them back past the thing that's holding them off-level.
:I have tried a few things with them:
:*'Ticker' mechanism, almost like a clock escapement, nudged by the rotating 'waterwheel', perhaps to try to release balls through a stream of other balls whilst keeping the path clear of collisions for each set, in turn.
:*'Batch dumper', accumulating a number of balls (above the 'hinge', behind a vertical bulkhead) until there's weight enough to 'open the hatch' and roll them out. (Again, an attempt to reduce collisions, by clumping batches together).
:*Finely configured inclines, by shoving something up into a free end of hinge with better angular resolution (but, as mentioned, this doesn't seem to want to 'hold', so probably would fail upon submission).
:...I had wondered if there was supposed to be a "falling anvil creates a catapult/ballista" idea behind the piece, but we don't ''have'' falling anvils (and definitely not in a repeating manner), and ball-powered catapult (esssentially "clown/acrobat jumps on one end of seesaw, clown/acrobat on other end flies up into the air") also doesn't seem practical.
:I'll try to recreate ''your'' design, work out if there's anything new about it, but right now looks like it's a fan-powered incline-raiser. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.38|172.70.162.38]] 14:23, 8 April 2024 (UTC)
:: No fans! Here's a wider view: https://imgur.com/a/xPJcsor
:: It survives the reset, because the balls falling on the lever push it down to the sword and it gets stuck there every time. But you need to place the sword just right to make the gravity bug happen. And even then it depends on the number of balls in some ways. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.243.27|172.68.243.27]] 14:46, 8 April 2024 (UTC)

== The USS Buoyancy ==

Guys. The Buoyancy. She ''floats''. When all four sets of balls reach the ball pit there aren't further additions. The boat starts floating on them. I've been watching it for a while. It seems she moves left and will probably end up escaping the ball pit. [[User:DL Draco Rex|DL Draco Rex]] ([[User talk:DL Draco Rex|talk]]) 20:44, 8 April 2024 (UTC)
:Update: A new row spawned in and it reset just before the Buoyancy could escape. Here's a screenshot I grabbed a while before the reset, she'd moved further left by the time the reset occurred. https://imgur.com/gallery/8UCASCu [[User:DL Draco Rex|DL Draco Rex]] ([[User talk:DL Draco Rex|talk]]) 20:51, 8 April 2024 (UTC)

Talk:2916: Machine

2024-04-08T20:44:44Z

DL Draco Rex: /* The USS Buoyancy */ new section

Talk:2868: Label the States

2023-12-24T00:38:44Z

DL Draco Rex:

I have not counted the states, but I deeply hope reaching the 64-state count involves splitting Michigan's mitten and peninsula in separate states. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.130|108.162.241.130]] 16:02, 15 December 2023 (UTC)
:I have now counted them. Sadly, with a Unified Michigan, there are 64 states, plus DC, plus those 3 enclave-looking bits in California, Utah and Florida that have the darker outlines. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.214.73|172.69.214.73]] 16:09, 15 December 2023 (UTC)
::Those "enclave" parts are large bodies of water that actually exist. [[User:MAP|MAP]] ([[User talk:MAP|talk]]) 16:14, 15 December 2023 (UTC)
::I am not at all sure that the areas in California, Utah, and Florida are intended to be additional states. They look like Okeechobee (Lake in Florida), Salt Lake (Utah) and the Salton Sea (California), approximately. There does seem to be an additional band of states starting between Oregon and California though- as a supporter of the Great State of Jefferson, I appove![[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 16:17, 15 December 2023 (UTC)
:::They didn't really seem to be; they do have the coastline outlines, instead of the lighter state boundaries. The 64-count did work out without these lakes (though a part of me wishes one of them had been one, because it would have been funny to imply a state formed fully landlocked inside another, and even funnier if that state is just an entire body of water) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.38|108.162.242.38]] 16:26, 15 December 2023 (UTC)
:::: Should have been Salt Lake, if any of them, mostly because its closer to being "salt flats" than a "lake." And also nearly completely valueless as real estate (I've driven through, I forgot to fill my gas tank before leaving the city and in order to reach the nearest gas station I had to drive 10 miles to the next exit in order to turn around, because the tiny village the exit was for didn't have a gas station). [[User:Draco18s|Draco18s]] ([[User talk:Draco18s|talk]]) 21:25, 16 December 2023 (UTC)

I believe I have identified (but not named) all the new states:
# South of Oregon
# South of Idaho
# South of Wyoming
# East of Montana
# East of Wyoming
# South of the previous new state
# East of Arizona
# North of Tennessee
# North of North Carolina
# East of New Hampshire
Additionally, the following states have been stretch and/or split:
# Colorado
# Nebraska
# Arkansa
# Ohio
The distinction between a split state and a new state is purely arbitrary based on what preserves distinctive state corners. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.214.108|172.69.214.108]] 16:35, 15 December 2023 (UTC)
: Personally, would describe the new state as being south of North Carolina. The one to the north better matches the general outline of North Carolina (particularly the Outer Banks and that long, straight northern border). [[Special:Contributions/172.69.247.65|172.69.247.65]] 16:58, 15 December 2023 (UTC)

I added locations for the new states in the explanation. If you think my interpretation is wrong, feel free to change it! [[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Miscellaneous#Help_with_Creating_a_User_Page|Trogdor147]] ([[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Miscellaneous#Help_with_Creating_a_User_Page|talk]]) 16:49, 15 December 2023 (UTC)

Could this be considered in a "series" with other maps like the mixed up states and left out states ones? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.233|162.158.158.233]] 17:19, 15 December 2023 (UTC)

Not sure if it's relevant but the number of 64 (as a power of 2) doesn't seem completely random. Could be a hint towards states in the computer science sense. You could use 6 bit to represent any number of states up to 64 - and you'd already need 6 bit for the actual number of US states.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.129|172.69.22.129]] 17:40, 15 December 2023 (UTC)

someone with better photoshop skills than me should overlay the normal map and point out the inconsistencies! [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 17:51, 15 December 2023 (UTC)
:Overlaying the maps goes beyond my skills with Paint, but I hope showing the real map and xkcd's one with extra states highlighted is clear enough.--[[User:Pere prlpz|Pere prlpz]] ([[User talk:Pere prlpz|talk]]) 18:08, 15 December 2023 (UTC)

Labeled all… INCLUDING Central Dakota, Central Carolina, North Arkansas, West Mexico, Kansorado, Ohindiana, Kentussee, Eyoming, East Hampshire, North Wyoming, West Dakota, South Oregon, Udaho, and Montanyoming. [[User:TenGolf MathHacker|TenGolf MathHacker]] ([[User talk:TenGolf MathHacker|talk]]) 18:53, 15 December 2023 (UTC)
:I propose instead that the state north of Colorado be Wyoming, the one to the west become Wyamping, and the one to the north become Wyvolting. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.22.132|172.71.22.132]] 19:01, 15 December 2023 (UTC)

My proposal (hope the image is fine):

[[File:Labelledstates.png|400x400px]]
[[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 20:00, 15 December 2023 (UTC)

: You've labeled Nebraska as a "new" state for some reason, and it looks like it's been added to the actual description. Someone really ought to fix that. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.118|172.71.154.118]] 08:24, 16 December 2023 (UTC)
:: I, too, object to Nebraska having been marked as one of the added states (and I don't even live there). [[User:Draco18s|Draco18s]] ([[User talk:Draco18s|talk]]) 08:44, 16 December 2023 (UTC)
::: Sorry, european moment. I just took the highlighted map at its word! [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 09:23, 16 December 2023 (UTC)
:::: No worries. I even screwed up the copy *I* did because I had to fix the in-color so it didn't look like ass and missed two of the new states (I love that no one can agree on which Wyoming is the right one, though). [[User:Draco18s|Draco18s]] ([[User talk:Draco18s|talk]]) 21:19, 16 December 2023 (UTC)

Here's my take. [https://imgur.com/a/Cjvybx1] [[User:N-eh|N-eh]] ([[User talk:N-eh|talk]]) 20:02, 15 December 2023 (UTC)
: This is absolutely delightful, Hyperbolic Kansas is my favorite [[User:Terdragontra|Terdragontra]] ([[User talk:Terdragontra|talk]]) 15:15, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

Loving the state name proposals. [https://imgur.com/a/DgWvox5 Here's mine.] [[User:Chasingballoons|Chasingballoons]] ([[User talk:Chasingballoons|talk]]) 21:16, 15 December 2023 (UTC)

: I liked N-eh's names better, except for "Occupied South Oregon and New Worchestershire". Those are truly inspired names.
:: New Worcestershire Sauce would be loaded with maple syrup as a major flavouring. [[User:Nutster|Nutster]] ([[User talk:Nutster|talk]]) 10:06, 17 December 2023 (UTC)

I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but what you have labelled as Kansbraska is actually just Nebraska. Just south of Nebraska is the new state, which I'd tentatively name Nebrahoma or perhaps Oklaska.

The image with the added states highlighted in the explanation has Nebraska highlighted. The correct state highlighted should be the one above Nebraska. [[User:Firestar233|guess who]] ([[User talk:Firestar233|if you want to]] | [[Special:Contributions/Firestar233|what i have done]]) 22:35, 15 December 2023 (UTC)
:The image history just flips between South Dacota (with notch in NE) and Nebraska (with inward corner in SW), without ever marking the new state between them. One half each of Arkansas and Ohio disappeared too. There will probably be some more iterations with similar edit collisions... :D Anyways, the maps are aesthetically pleasing. Good job! --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.87.205|162.158.87.205]] 14:32, 16 December 2023 (UTC)
Very proud of everyone here for somehow managing to edit war over which states to highlight and getting it wrong Four Times In A Row [[User:IloLisipo|IloLisipo]] ([[User talk:IloLisipo|talk]]) 17:31, 16 December 2023 (UTC)
:It's really bothering me that Colorado is currently marked in blue as a new state, when it seems rather obvious by the distorted outlines that "East Utah" (the one entirely West of Texas) is the "new" one... (Also, is ''no one'' going to make a Garfield joke about Wyoming being a made-up state?)
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 02:06, 17 December 2023 (UTC)
:Clearly, the state next to New Mexico is Newer Mexico.

Based on historical precedent, should the state south of Oregon and north of California be called Jefferson?

I think currently the real Tennessee and Arkansas are highlighted. It's hard to tell, but given that the new states tend to be aligned, the real Colorado might also be highlighted. This comment is about the fifth version of the highlighted map image. [[User:DL Draco Rex|DL Draco Rex]] ([[User talk:DL Draco Rex|talk]]) 18:56, 17 December 2023 (UTC)
:I agree, & it looks like the only thing delaying the corrections already called for, is that no one has wanted to do the image editing, to update the blue tiles in the explanation.
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 22:21, 17 December 2023 (UTC)
::Well, given that I've seen no objections over the past roughly a day, I went ahead and did it myself. Someone else can change the explanation text if it needs to be changed. [[User:DL Draco Rex|DL Draco Rex]] ([[User talk:DL Draco Rex|talk]]) 18:27, 18 December 2023 (UTC)
:::Cool, now I fully agree with the highlights. Thanks Draco! (Now waiting for someone to highlight Arkansas, so we are back at the initial version. :D) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.87.164|162.158.87.164]] 14:46, 20 December 2023 (UTC)
::::<nowiki/>*Nebraska—You know, I am an european... --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.87.164|162.158.87.164]] 14:50, 20 December 2023 (UTC)

Any comment on the use of the word "even" in the title text? That phrasing suggests that it's easier to name the states with a blank map. But that obviously makes it harder, not easier. And also, if the map weren't blank there would be no need to name them in the first place. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 02:37, 18 December 2023 (UTC)
:It's easier to name the States with a blank map as opposed to no map at all. [[User:DL Draco Rex|DL Draco Rex]] ([[User talk:DL Draco Rex|talk]]) 04:59, 18 December 2023 (UTC)
:Yup, if asked to "name all the states", unless you particularly have an order in mind (that you can remember, through some mnemonic progression or other) you're prone to stabbibg away at the unordered list, not knowing if you've missed an 'obvious' one, perhaps not even knowing how many you've named, etc. Put an (unlabeled) map in front of you and a pen and you can general see which gaps you've filled (hopefully correctly, but when you realise that you wqnt to fill a neighbour with the same name then you can at least rewrite it/accept that you might have North Dakota/South Dakota the wrong way round but at least you have them both) and zero in on likely bits of memory you need to trawl through ("...another 'southern' state; I've got Arkansas, I've got Tennessee, I've got...").
:Depends upon your own mind (maybe you're a whiz at reciting all states alphabetically/by abbreviation/by area/by population/by support for a given party or politician), but definitely can't hurt. (Unless you miss Rhode Island's small footprint, or get confused about the discontinuity of that one state up in the Great Lakes, or have managed to shuffle the mid-west flyover 'square states' up or down one to leave the gap in ''totally'' the wrong place, or ...) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.211|172.71.242.211]] 13:15, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

Of course I can name all the states. Naming them ''correctly'' is a completely different matter, of course. (And as for naming the "new" states, it's obvious to me that the one beside Maine should be called Secondary.) --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.214.5|172.69.214.5]] 13:34, 18 December 2023 (UTC)
: "Fred", "Bob", "Dan", "Gregory", "Janine", "Hans", "Merryweather", "Caroline", "Jo", "Joe", "Joey", "Jock", "Jack", "George", "Geraldine", "Jerry", "Gerry", "Gary", "Gru", "Gerald", "Gerald Ford", "Henry Ford", "Henry Kissinger", "Henry Hoover", "Henry Dyson", "Henry Electrolux" "Electra", "Oedipus", "Œdipus", "Wikipædia", "FriendsReunited", "anon.penet.fi", "capitals" "LOWERCASE", "Mississippibutwithdoubledvowelsandsingleconsonants", "Fifty-first state", "Old Hampshire", ",", "Z00000L", "xxTattered Pig-Tail Vestxx", "Fred's cousin", "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. [...] It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.", "sic[sic]", "🤮", "ibid", "Ra Ra Rasputin", "Russian Queen", "Rush Limbaugh", "Rishi Sunak", "[[Randall]]"
: ...and, though it isn't a state, "Washington A.C."! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.178|172.71.242.178]] 14:03, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

==Friends reference==
Should the episode of Friends be referenced in explanation in which Ross tries to name all states or he doesn't get Thanksgiving Turkey and eventually comes in the middle of the night to eat with list of 50 states while aware Nevada is there twice? Meanwhile Joey's list way more than 50 states and accuses Ross of making stuff up as he listed 'Utah'?
Script of episode: https://www.livesinabox.com/friends/season7/708cdld.htm
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.103.162|162.158.103.162]] 09:37, 18 December 2023 (UTC)
:I, uh, think this might be a bit of a reach. [[User:DL Draco Rex|DL Draco Rex]] ([[User talk:DL Draco Rex|talk]]) 00:38, 24 December 2023 (UTC)

Talk:2868: Label the States

2023-12-18T18:27:09Z

DL Draco Rex:

I have not counted the states, but I deeply hope reaching the 64-state count involves splitting Michigan's mitten and peninsula in separate states. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.130|108.162.241.130]] 16:02, 15 December 2023 (UTC)
:I have now counted them. Sadly, with a Unified Michigan, there are 64 states, plus DC, plus those 3 enclave-looking bits in California, Utah and Florida that have the darker outlines. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.214.73|172.69.214.73]] 16:09, 15 December 2023 (UTC)
::Those "enclave" parts are large bodies of water that actually exist. [[User:MAP|MAP]] ([[User talk:MAP|talk]]) 16:14, 15 December 2023 (UTC)
::I am not at all sure that the areas in California, Utah, and Florida are intended to be additional states. They look like Okeechobee (Lake in Florida), Salt Lake (Utah) and the Salton Sea (California), approximately. There does seem to be an additional band of states starting between Oregon and California though- as a supporter of the Great State of Jefferson, I appove![[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 16:17, 15 December 2023 (UTC)
:::They didn't really seem to be; they do have the coastline outlines, instead of the lighter state boundaries. The 64-count did work out without these lakes (though a part of me wishes one of them had been one, because it would have been funny to imply a state formed fully landlocked inside another, and even funnier if that state is just an entire body of water) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.38|108.162.242.38]] 16:26, 15 December 2023 (UTC)
:::: Should have been Salt Lake, if any of them, mostly because its closer to being "salt flats" than a "lake." And also nearly completely valueless as real estate (I've driven through, I forgot to fill my gas tank before leaving the city and in order to reach the nearest gas station I had to drive 10 miles to the next exit in order to turn around, because the tiny village the exit was for didn't have a gas station). [[User:Draco18s|Draco18s]] ([[User talk:Draco18s|talk]]) 21:25, 16 December 2023 (UTC)

I believe I have identified (but not named) all the new states:
# South of Oregon
# South of Idaho
# South of Wyoming
# East of Montana
# East of Wyoming
# South of the previous new state
# East of Arizona
# North of Tennessee
# North of North Carolina
# East of New Hampshire
Additionally, the following states have been stretch and/or split:
# Colorado
# Nebraska
# Arkansa
# Ohio
The distinction between a split state and a new state is purely arbitrary based on what preserves distinctive state corners. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.214.108|172.69.214.108]] 16:35, 15 December 2023 (UTC)
: Personally, would describe the new state as being south of North Carolina. The one to the north better matches the general outline of North Carolina (particularly the Outer Banks and that long, straight northern border). [[Special:Contributions/172.69.247.65|172.69.247.65]] 16:58, 15 December 2023 (UTC)

I added locations for the new states in the explanation. If you think my interpretation is wrong, feel free to change it! [[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Miscellaneous#Help_with_Creating_a_User_Page|Trogdor147]] ([[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Miscellaneous#Help_with_Creating_a_User_Page|talk]]) 16:49, 15 December 2023 (UTC)

Could this be considered in a "series" with other maps like the mixed up states and left out states ones? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.233|162.158.158.233]] 17:19, 15 December 2023 (UTC)

Not sure if it's relevant but the number of 64 (as a power of 2) doesn't seem completely random. Could be a hint towards states in the computer science sense. You could use 6 bit to represent any number of states up to 64 - and you'd already need 6 bit for the actual number of US states.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.129|172.69.22.129]] 17:40, 15 December 2023 (UTC)

someone with better photoshop skills than me should overlay the normal map and point out the inconsistencies! [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 17:51, 15 December 2023 (UTC)
:Overlaying the maps goes beyond my skills with Paint, but I hope showing the real map and xkcd's one with extra states highlighted is clear enough.--[[User:Pere prlpz|Pere prlpz]] ([[User talk:Pere prlpz|talk]]) 18:08, 15 December 2023 (UTC)

Labeled all… INCLUDING Central Dakota, Central Carolina, North Arkansas, West Mexico, Kansorado, Ohindiana, Kentussee, Eyoming, East Hampshire, North Wyoming, West Dakota, South Oregon, Udaho, and Montanyoming. [[User:TenGolf MathHacker|TenGolf MathHacker]] ([[User talk:TenGolf MathHacker|talk]]) 18:53, 15 December 2023 (UTC)
:I propose instead that the state north of Colorado be Wyoming, the one to the west become Wyamping, and the one to the north become Wyvolting. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.22.132|172.71.22.132]] 19:01, 15 December 2023 (UTC)

My proposal (hope the image is fine):

[[File:Labelledstates.png|400x400px]]
[[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 20:00, 15 December 2023 (UTC)

: You've labeled Nebraska as a "new" state for some reason, and it looks like it's been added to the actual description. Someone really ought to fix that. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.118|172.71.154.118]] 08:24, 16 December 2023 (UTC)
:: I, too, object to Nebraska having been marked as one of the added states (and I don't even live there). [[User:Draco18s|Draco18s]] ([[User talk:Draco18s|talk]]) 08:44, 16 December 2023 (UTC)
::: Sorry, european moment. I just took the highlighted map at its word! [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 09:23, 16 December 2023 (UTC)
:::: No worries. I even screwed up the copy *I* did because I had to fix the in-color so it didn't look like ass and missed two of the new states (I love that no one can agree on which Wyoming is the right one, though). [[User:Draco18s|Draco18s]] ([[User talk:Draco18s|talk]]) 21:19, 16 December 2023 (UTC)

Here's my take. [https://imgur.com/a/Cjvybx1] [[User:N-eh|N-eh]] ([[User talk:N-eh|talk]]) 20:02, 15 December 2023 (UTC)
: This is absolutely delightful, Hyperbolic Kansas is my favorite [[User:Terdragontra|Terdragontra]] ([[User talk:Terdragontra|talk]]) 15:15, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

Loving the state name proposals. [https://imgur.com/a/DgWvox5 Here's mine.] [[User:Chasingballoons|Chasingballoons]] ([[User talk:Chasingballoons|talk]]) 21:16, 15 December 2023 (UTC)

: I liked N-eh's names better, except for "Occupied South Oregon and New Worchestershire". Those are truly inspired names.
:: New Worcestershire Sauce would be loaded with maple syrup as a major flavouring. [[User:Nutster|Nutster]] ([[User talk:Nutster|talk]]) 10:06, 17 December 2023 (UTC)

I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but what you have labelled as Kansbraska is actually just Nebraska. Just south of Nebraska is the new state, which I'd tentatively name Nebrahoma or perhaps Oklaska.

The image with the added states highlighted in the explanation has Nebraska highlighted. The correct state highlighted should be the one above Nebraska. [[User:Firestar233|guess who]] ([[User talk:Firestar233|if you want to]] | [[Special:Contributions/Firestar233|what i have done]]) 22:35, 15 December 2023 (UTC)
:The image history just flips between South Dacota (with notch in NE) and Nebraska (with inward corner in SW), without ever marking the new state between them. One half each of Arkansas and Ohio disappeared too. There will probably be some more iterations with similar edit collisions... :D Anyways, the maps are aesthetically pleasing. Good job! --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.87.205|162.158.87.205]] 14:32, 16 December 2023 (UTC)
Very proud of everyone here for somehow managing to edit war over which states to highlight and getting it wrong Four Times In A Row [[User:IloLisipo|IloLisipo]] ([[User talk:IloLisipo|talk]]) 17:31, 16 December 2023 (UTC)
:It's really bothering me that Colorado is currently marked in blue as a new state, when it seems rather obvious by the distorted outlines that "East Utah" (the one entirely West of Texas) is the "new" one... (Also, is ''no one'' going to make a Garfield joke about Wyoming being a made-up state?)
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 02:06, 17 December 2023 (UTC)
:Clearly, the state next to New Mexico is Newer Mexico.

Based on historical precedent, should the state south of Oregon and north of California be called Jefferson?

I think currently the real Tennessee and Arkansas are highlighted. It's hard to tell, but given that the new states tend to be aligned, the real Colorado might also be highlighted. This comment is about the fifth version of the highlighted map image. [[User:DL Draco Rex|DL Draco Rex]] ([[User talk:DL Draco Rex|talk]]) 18:56, 17 December 2023 (UTC)
:I agree, & it looks like the only thing delaying the corrections already called for, is that no one has wanted to do the image editing, to update the blue tiles in the explanation.
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 22:21, 17 December 2023 (UTC)
::Well, given that I've seen no objections over the past roughly a day, I went ahead and did it myself. Someone else can change the explanation text if it needs to be changed. [[User:DL Draco Rex|DL Draco Rex]] ([[User talk:DL Draco Rex|talk]]) 18:27, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

Any comment on the use of the word "even" in the title text? That phrasing suggests that it's easier to name the states with a blank map. But that obviously makes it harder, not easier. And also, if the map weren't blank there would be no need to name them in the first place. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 02:37, 18 December 2023 (UTC)
:It's easier to name the States with a blank map as opposed to no map at all. [[User:DL Draco Rex|DL Draco Rex]] ([[User talk:DL Draco Rex|talk]]) 04:59, 18 December 2023 (UTC)
:Yup, if asked to "name all the states", unless you particularly have an order in mind (that you can remember, through some mnemonic progression or other) you're prone to stabbibg away at the unordered list, not knowing if you've missed an 'obvious' one, perhaps not even knowing how many you've named, etc. Put an (unlabeled) map in front of you and a pen and you can general see which gaps you've filled (hopefully correctly, but when you realise that you wqnt to fill a neighbour with the same name then you can at least rewrite it/accept that you might have North Dakota/South Dakota the wrong way round but at least you have them both) and zero in on likely bits of memory you need to trawl through ("...another 'southern' state; I've got Arkansas, I've got Tennessee, I've got...").
:Depends upon your own mind (maybe you're a whiz at reciting all states alphabetically/by abbreviation/by area/by population/by support for a given party or politician), but definitely can't hurt. (Unless you miss Rhode Island's small footprint, or get confused about the discontinuity of that one state up in the Great Lakes, or have managed to shuffle the mid-west flyover 'square states' up or down one to leave the gap in ''totally'' the wrong place, or ...) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.211|172.71.242.211]] 13:15, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

Of course I can name all the states. Naming them ''correctly'' is a completely different matter, of course. (And as for naming the "new" states, it's obvious to me that the one beside Maine should be called Secondary.) --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.214.5|172.69.214.5]] 13:34, 18 December 2023 (UTC)
: "Fred", "Bob", "Dan", "Gregory", "Janine", "Hans", "Merryweather", "Caroline", "Jo", "Joe", "Joey", "Jock", "Jack", "George", "Geraldine", "Jerry", "Gerry", "Gary", "Gru", "Gerald", "Gerald Ford", "Henry Ford", "Henry Kissinger", "Henry Hoover", "Henry Dyson", "Henry Electrolux" "Electra", "Oedipus", "Œdipus", "Wikipædia", "FriendsReunited", "anon.penet.fi", "capitals" "LOWERCASE", "Mississippibutwithdoubledvowelsandsingleconsonants", "Fifty-first state", "Old Hampshire", ",", "Z00000L", "xxTattered Pig-Tail Vestxx", "Fred's cousin", "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. [...] It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.", "sic[sic]", "🤮", "ibid", "Ra Ra Rasputin", "Russian Queen", "Rush Limbaugh", "Rishi Sunak", "[[Randall]]"
: ...and, though it isn't a state, "Washington A.C."! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.178|172.71.242.178]] 14:03, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

==Friends reference==
Should the episode of Friends be referenced in explanation in which Ross tries to name all states or he doesn't get Thanksgiving Turkey and eventually comes in the middle of the night to eat with list of 50 states while aware Nevada is there twice? Meanwhile Joey's list way more than 50 states and accuses Ross of making stuff up as he listed 'Utah'?
Script of episode: https://www.livesinabox.com/friends/season7/708cdld.htm
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.103.162|162.158.103.162]] 09:37, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

File:label the states 2x highlighted.png

2023-12-18T18:21:39Z

DL Draco Rex: DL Draco Rex uploaded a new version of File:label the states 2x highlighted.png

== Summary ==
Derivative of [[:File:label_the_states_2x.png]] with added states highlighted.
== Licensing ==
{{XKCD file derived}}

Talk:2868: Label the States

2023-12-18T04:59:10Z

DL Draco Rex:

Talk:2868: Label the States

2023-12-17T18:56:02Z

DL Draco Rex:

Talk:2850: Doctor's Office

2023-11-04T04:10:56Z

DL Draco Rex:

Why wouldn't Randal post this on a Monday instead of a Friday?[[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.65|162.158.166.65]] 22:05, 3 November 2023 (UTC)

added transccccccccc [[User:Certified_nqh|Me]][[[285: Wikipedian Protester|''citation needed'']]][[Category:Pages using the "citation needed" template]] 22:06, 3 November 2023 (UTC)

Should [[699: Trimester]] be mentioned in the explanation anywhere?--[[Special:Contributions/172.69.58.190|172.69.58.190]] 02:11, 4 November 2023 (UTC)
:eh. probably. [[User:Certified_nqh|Me]][[[285: Wikipedian Protester|''citation needed'']]][[Category:Pages using the "citation needed" template]] 02:15, 4 November 2023 (UTC)

Here before fans inevitably figure out which crossword number it is [[User:SomeoneIGuess|someone, i guess]]([[User talk:SomeoneIGuess|talk i guess]]|[[Special:Contributions/SomeoneIGuess|le edit list]]) 02:45, 4 November 2023 (UTC)

What terms, exactly, are malapropisms in the second panel? Did someone misuse a fancy word and nobody else bother to check it's meaning, or is there something I'm missing? [[User:DL Draco Rex|DL Draco Rex]] ([[User talk:DL Draco Rex|talk]]) 04:10, 4 November 2023 (UTC)

Talk:2630: Shuttle Skeleton

2022-06-12T18:04:27Z

DL Draco Rex:

Well, I know what "paint job" I'm putting on the pirate shuttle, in my next TTRPG session. 
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 13:12, 8 June 2022 (UTC)

TaxOnomy.

The joke here is about a recent California court case (https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/06/us/california-bees-fish-court-ruling-scn-trnd/index.html) which declared bumblebees to be considered fish under the California Endangered Species Act. The definition of "fish" listed in the act included invertebrates, which is why skeletons are relevant. [[User:Clam|Clam]] ([[User talk:Clam|talk]]) 14:36, 8 June 2022 (UTC)
:I don't know if this comic is related to the bee/fish ruling or not. There have been many earlier works where the skeleton of a fictional person or creature has been shown (the Simpsons, Lego man, etc). [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 17:14, 8 June 2022 (UTC)

Could someone explain why this is a mammal skeleton and not say, something related to a crocodile or a bird? Currently there's only a hint what makes it look like one. Which doesn't say that much to someone who doesn't know mammal skeletons too well. TIA! [[User:Chichak|Chichak]] ([[User talk:Chichak|talk]]) 17:09, 8 June 2022 (UTC)
:That's a good question, since there are lots of skeletal analogues among all the vertebrates. Crocodiles and birds only have 4 toes on their rear legs, so that could be part of it. It may just be an overall resemblance to whales, which we already know are mammals. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 18:06, 8 June 2022 (UTC)
::Well it definitely wouldn't be fish. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 18:36, 8 June 2022 (UTC)
::I'm actually confused about this. Mammals do not have ribs going all the way to the hips. Those look more like reptile ribs. 23:30, 8 June 2022 (UTC)
:::The head of this shuttle looks a lot more like a whale's head, specifically a toothed whale like a sperm whale. The arms are closer to the paddle-like structure of whale arms, but much longer, to be able to form the wings and control surfaces at the back. Having the ribs continue all the way to the pelvis, like a snake, would be an adaptation to give structure to the cargo doors, but that would likely impede their ability to open. Also, I do not know of any mammal that have ribs above the shoulder blades. The clavicles should be there [[User:Nutster|Nutster]] ([[User talk:Nutster|talk]]) 16:28, 9 June 2022 (UTC)
::::Those are extended transverse processes of the cervical ribs, or at least that's how I interpreted them. Note that the transverse processes are evolutionary descendants of what were ribs in an ancestor. [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 17:51, 9 June 2022 (UTC)
:::::To me, there's definite impression of a bat skeleton, most notably that the fingers are hugely elongated to become the formers for the wings and the legs/feet are small enough to be nearly useless for anything more than basic gripping.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.215|108.162.245.215]] 16:08, 11 June 2022 (UTC)

These "citation needed" tags are getting ridiculous, but I do wonder about whether any space craft had plastic parts. Metal, yes. Carbon fiber, yes. Plastic? I doubt it. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 17:14, 8 June 2022 (UTC)
:They SHOULD be ridiculous, so good job. Regarding the question, I guess space craft may have plastic cup holder for example. The plastic parts are unlikely to be on outside, but inside, why not? In Apollo 13, they were using plastic bags for something at least. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 18:36, 8 June 2022 (UTC)
:: I was just thinking about the skeleton, you're right. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 22:08, 8 June 2022 (UTC)

This comic was unexpectedly terrifying. Not sure what I expected, but it wasn't this.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.62|108.162.246.62]] 20:43, 8 June 2022 (UTC)

I was just reading D'Arcy Thompson's "On Growth and Form". (John Tyler Bonner's 1969 abridgement of the 1942 edition.) At the end of the book, Thompson draws skulls on a grid, such as an early ancestor of the horse, Hyracotherium, and then distorts the grid in a uniform way to produce a new sketch that resembles a related species. He then used the same technique to demonstrate that other species were not "missing links" between those two species, because he could not distort the grid to make them fit. [[User:Tanana|Tanana]] ([[User talk:Tanana|talk]]) 02:41, 9 June 2022 (UTC)
:I'd be very wary of someone using a form of personal incredulity to demonstrate something (c.f. the "junkyard+tornado->jumbo jet" 'counter-'argument). I'm not aware of the book, but it sounds like it's anti-evolution, by your telling of it, and picking a case where you can 'find' a simple distortion that works across two examples doesn't then invalidate the intermediate stages for which there's no reason to believe a consistent evolutionary pressure would create similarly smooth transitions at all stages you get to observe. It's observing the end-points of a random-walk and then being surprised at where the walker has managed to visit along the way. The term "missing link" is also outdated (those who use it these days tend to then require additional missing links be found betwixt any now-found 'links' and their neighbours, rather than ever be usefully satisfied) but I suppose might have still been a bit more mainstream back in 1942.
:So sounds like a fun book to read (I like a good cryptozoology/gods-were-aliens book, too!) but I'd be wary about it not having aged well (as I would with bits of the Origin Of Species, though it has held up surpisingly well), and I hope you're also reading it in a suitable frame of mind and not taking it (or passing it on) at face-value. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.147|172.70.162.147]] 09:04, 9 June 2022 (UTC)
Yes, the book (On Growth and Form) is certainly dated in places (first edition was in 1917). But I wouldn't characterize his arguments as being completely anti-evolutionary. It's just that he notices many instances where the physical forces on organisms seem to be directing the form of the organisms. He doesn't explain the exact mechanism of change. (At least in the abridged edition.) He's pretty searchable with Google Images. [[User:Tanana|Tanana]] ([[User talk:Tanana|talk]]) 20:36, 9 June 2022 (UTC)
:Maybe search when I can spare time. Sounds a bit Lamarckian, too... ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.77|172.70.162.77]] 23:04, 9 June 2022 (UTC)
By way of explanation, I think I thought of D'Arcy Thompson because of his strong emphasis on how physics and mechanics (could) contribute to biological forms. Mr. Munroe seems to be playing with some of the same ideas. [[User:Tanana|Tanana]] ([[User talk:Tanana|talk]]) 03:50, 10 June 2022 (UTC)

Well that's horrifying. [[User:TheLonelySandPerson|TheLonelySandPerson]] ([[User talk:TheLonelySandPerson|talk]]) 01:39, 9 June 2022 (UTC)

On a related note, the Apollo Lunar Module was a completely different design early on, but slowly evolved into its familiar crab-like shape through convergent evolution. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.26.59|172.71.26.59]] 03:14, 9 June 2022 (UTC)
:Carcinization strikes again.[[Special:Contributions/172.71.94.73|172.71.94.73]] 07:25, 9 June 2022 (UTC)

What’s up with the “type of fish or shark”? Sharks are a type of fish, the “or shark” doesn’t make sense?
:Presumably Randall was thinking "bony fish". Maybe that was too technical to be funny. [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 12:44, 9 June 2022 (UTC)
:((Edit conflict, and I'm really just expanding upon Nit's summary, but having written it now, here you are...)) It's messy, but often sharks are (paraphyletically) kept out of the "fish" category. Similarly to how mammals, amphibians, etc of the ''tetrapoda'' are actually descended from the "fish" superclass (under its classical branch name, of course). Thus to separate from the bony-fish (and possibly other subtrees, across which the common term "fish" might alply), sharks may be deemed not-fish for classification purposes and it is often good practice to do so.
:Common names confuse matters: a dogfish (shark) is very far related from a starfish, at least as much as a seahorse is more fish (very so, in fact!) than equine. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.128|172.70.91.128]] 12:54, 9 June 2022 (UTC)
:: If bees can be classified as fish, then so can sharks! But wouldn't be easier to just expand the definition of endangered species to include invertebrates, rather than lumping things clearly where they do not belong? But, hey, what do I know? I am just a scientist, not a lawyer. [[User:Nutster|Nutster]] ([[User talk:Nutster|talk]]) 16:21, 9 June 2022 (UTC)
Just for clarification, a California court has not ruled that bees are a type of fish. They ruled that when a law specifically states "for the purposes of this law, X includes Y," it means that for the purposes of that law X includes Y. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.26.151|172.71.26.151]] 16:58, 9 June 2022 (UTC)
:It's very like the old "Beavers are fish, for the purpose of eating at Lent/etc" from the Catholic church. Except that I presume they ''aren't'' effectively encouraging the eating of bees/fish, in lieu of anything else... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.43|162.158.159.43]] 18:53, 9 June 2022 (UTC)
::Yep, Catholics can now eat beaver, capybara, or bees on Friday. But not Space Shuttles.[[Special:Contributions/172.71.22.21|172.71.22.21]] 20:13, 9 June 2022 (UTC)

Hello, I've replaced the CNN video with an NBC archive video because the CNN video is georestricted to US only (You can check restrictions using https://polsy.org.uk/stuff/ytrestrict.cgi, checking https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfnvFnzs91s returns a nearly-red map except for the US). - [[Special:Contributions/172.68.253.61|172.68.253.61]] 18:42, 9 June 2022 (UTC)

I've gotta say this is the most confusing skeleton I've seen. It's certainly a vertebrate (spine? check. skull? check), and it's certainly at least a tetrapod (girdles? check. 1 proximal limb bone, two distal limb bones per limbs? check.), and definitely at least a basal reptile. However, it is correct that mammals (modern synapsids) don't have ribs going down to their hips. Additionally, if those holes in the top of the skull are supposed to be the temporal fenestrae, those are the highest-placed temporal fenestrae I've seen on a synapsid. Usually they're much lower (as an example: in a human, our temporal fenestrae are the space under our zygomatic arch - our "cheekbone," though in all fairness humans are actually poor examples of many things in synapsids). Also, the lack of a third phalanx on any of the digits is throwing me for a loop; I'm sure there are mammals that lose some phalanges on all digits, but for the life of me I can't think of one (even a horse has all three phalanges on the one digit they keep). TL;DR: this skeleton looks more like that of a diapsid reptile than a mammal, in my opinion. (My only qualification is that I have a masters in biology, and, for a year or so, I studied under a paleontologist who specialized in the split between diapsids and synapsids) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.248.143|172.69.248.143]] 18:45, 10 June 2022 (UTC)
:I believe those are the eye sockets. The temporal fenestrae would have to be below them, and largely hidden from the top view. A side view would probably have made identification easier.[[User:DL Draco Rex|DL Draco Rex]] ([[User talk:DL Draco Rex|talk]]) 18:04, 12 June 2022 (UTC)

I provided the requested citation concerning Georg Steller's extinction, so I removed the "Citation Needed". [[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]]) 02:59, 12 June 2022 (UTC)
:I would have linked to {{w|Georg Wilhelm Steller|his Wikipedia page}}, myself, for general wikisolidarity/not-having-the-padlock-icon, but probably a matter of taste... ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.5|172.70.162.5]] 10:46, 12 June 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2549: Edge Cake

2021-12-04T05:07:20Z

DL Draco Rex:

The cake being all edges is a reference to everything about her birth being an edge case.
[[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.227|172.70.110.227]] 03:41, 2 December 2021 (UTC)
: It seems likely that the title of the comic is a related pun: her birthday is an edge case, and so she has an edge cake.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.221|162.158.106.221]] 04:22, 2 December 2021 (UTC)
So is Hairbun officially named Emily now, sort of like how all instances of Megan are Megan even though she's only called that once? I know all the names here are just placeholders of convenience, but even then I've never know what the rules for naming are. [[User:Captain Video|Captain Video]] ([[User talk:Captain Video|talk]]) 06:11, 2 December 2021 (UTC)
: Well, Megan is referred to multiple times in the xkcds as "Megan", while the one time Hairbun was called Emily, it referred to the real{{citation needed}} Emily Dickinson. So, probably not. [[User:Bubblegum|bubblegum]]-[[User_talk:Bubblegum|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Bubblegum|contribs]] 02:44, 3 December 2021 (UTC)

Edge pieces on cake are often sought after because they hold more frosting, for cakes which are frosted while out of the pan. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.23|172.70.134.23]] 06:37, 2 December 2021 (UTC)
: I have an impression that Cueball is delighted by having only edge pieces, however some cakes edge pieces may be either sought for or avoided, depending on one's tastes. E.g. tarts have more crispy base cake content and less filling at the edges. One person may go for the filling, another for the crispy base. -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.102.11|162.158.102.11]] 09:50, 2 December 2021 (UTC)

So it seems the events in the comic happened on Apr 1., as the "last month" birthday could be either Feb 28. or 29. -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.102.11|162.158.102.11]] 09:50, 2 December 2021 (UTC)
:Not necessarily. Remember, Emily can have her birthday ''whenever she wants'', so the date this comic is set as is entirely arbitrary. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.51|172.70.178.51]] 12:26, 2 December 2021 (UTC)

Are there any particular existing arctic international flights that could have been the one Emily was born on? -- [[Special:Contributions/256.256.256.256|256.256.256.256]] 15:51, 2 December 2021 (UTC)
:There are a few possibities (at least pre-COVID, and obviously we'd be looking historically in this case anyway) as [https://interestingengineering.com/polar-routes-flights-that-go-over-earths-poles might be shown here]. There's two possible (but neither definite) International Datelines on the comic diagram, in case they help orient which from/to directions might have been diverted further in or out of their own kinks in the flightpath to coincide with 90°N. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.77|172.70.162.77]] 16:21, 2 December 2021 (UTC)

Expanded copies of this comic have been appearing on other comics, so large that it fills the whole screen for me. Is anyone else having this problem? [[User:Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)|Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)]] ([[User talk:Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)|talk]]) 22:24, 2 December 2021 (UTC)
:Someone (check the [[Special:RecentChanges|Recent Changes]] page, if you want) has been vandalising a lot of things. Currently I see a picture of an amphibious avian creature on this article's top (if I still need to revert it myself, I will do, but I've seen others have already been reverting other recent vandalism, so I may not need to by the time I've checked again). This very clever individual is obiviously mentally superior to us all(!) the way they can edit wiki pages seemingly at will... Impressive, eh? At some point I'm sure we'll get back to normlal, however boring that may be. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.67|172.70.90.67]] 23:33, 2 December 2021 (UTC)

Not to be too pedantic but isn't rotation a FREQUENCY, not a SPEED? [[User:Skulker|Skulker]] ([[User talk:Skulker|talk]]) 03:19, 3 December 2021 (UTC)
:Depends on the context (and scale). The convention is usually speed for rotation (surface(distance/time) when it's relevant, angular(revolutions/time) otherwise) to avoid conflicts with wave frequency (which is independent of speed). Also they can be freely converted, though converting to and from surface speed requires an additional radius term. The exception is, if comparing periodicity, sometimes frequency is used when it has special relevance (Ex: resonance) -- [[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.200|172.69.68.200]] 02:59, 4 December 2021 (UTC)

Tempted to add a link in the Trivia section to the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Warrimoo Wikipedia] or [https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ss-warrimoo/ Snopes] pages on the SS Warrimoo, a ship that (reportedly) was on the intersection of the Equator and the International Date Line at the stroke of midnight on January 1, 1900, with a number of interesting implications that follow. There's no way to prove that it actually happened, but it's fun to imagine and is somewhat similar to the premise of the comic. --mezimm [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.15|108.162.221.15]] 14:33, 3 December 2021 (UTC)

Many airplanes actually have limitations written into their operating manuals that prohibit flying north of 89 deg. N or south of 89 deg. S, mostly just so that the navigation software doesn't have to deal with the singularity. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.187|172.69.71.187]] 23:48, 3 December 2021 (UTC)

Is it not possible that Emily's birth happened to occur at the same moment that the contract specified transfer of ownership? Additionally, is it not possible that the airplane took off from within UTC+13:00 or UTC+14:00 and that the moment of Emily's birth happened to occur in the brief one-or-two hour period in which it was March 1st at that airport, but February 28th in UTC-12:00? UTC-11:00 is inhabited, so it would be possible that ownership of an airplane that took off from within UTC+14:00 was transferred to a company based out of UTC-11:00 during the one-hour period that it was February 28th in UTC-11:00 and March 1st in UTC+14:00 and that, at that exact moment, it was passing over the North Pole. [[User:DL Draco Rex|DL Draco Rex]] ([[User talk:DL Draco Rex|talk]])

Talk:2385: Final Exam

2020-11-15T17:12:04Z

DL Draco Rex:

Perhaps add a note about how multiple people trying to achieve the same goal would be impossible, so therefore it would be a test of game theory to see how the final grades end up. You'd want to be the last one to make all the changes. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.197|162.158.107.197]] 23:51, 13 November 2020 (UTC)
:It's a contest to hack the grades ''and'' to lock out all of the other students from making further changes. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 00:49, 14 November 2020 (UTC)
Title text seems to be a reference to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guess_2/3_of_the_average.
[[User:Anonymous3|Anonymous3]] ([[User talk:Anonymous3|talk]]) 01:10, 14 November 2020 (UTC)

The current "change every fifth answer to the bubble below it" explanation appears to make the implausible assumption that the exam is multiple-choice. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 03:19, 14 November 2020 (UTC)

Clearly the optimal solution for both courses is to change the grade to be ''out of 0'', thus a score of 0 being a perfect score and also meet the requirements for Game Theory. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.165.54|162.158.165.54]] 03:28, 14 November 2020 (UTC)

:great idea! i was considering adding fake students to be statistical extremes but your solution allows all students to ace both courses. [[User:Ocæon|ocæon]] ([[User talk:Ocæon|talk]]) 14:46, 14 November 2020 (UTC)

OMG I want so much to take this class, what an excellent final exam![[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.208|172.68.65.208]] 05:09, 14 November 2020 (UTC)

I think the explanation above is largely correct, but I assumed this was a Zoom reference. Since during lockdown the many students she is addressing should be experiencing this through a remote meeting, for which Zoom is often chosen (I'd love an explanation as to why THAT is). Zoom has notorious security flaws which any cybersecurity student should be failed for accepting.
--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.96|162.158.159.96]] 05:11, 14 November 2020 (UTC)
:What if they run it in sandboxed virtual machine? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 20:45, 14 November 2020 (UTC)

No mention of Bobby Tables? [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 06:29, 14 November 2020 (UTC)
:That was a mom intentionally hacking multiple systems. Not just school, but also population census systems. This is limited to a single test. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.38|141.101.98.38]] 21:08, 14 November 2020 (UTC)

the zero length exam reminds me of 'zero day' exploits, the students have zero time to respond to the exam requirements before the conclusion of the exam. [[User:Ocæon|ocæon]] ([[User talk:Ocæon|talk]]) 14:39, 14 November 2020 (UTC)

I feel like Randall missed a golden opportunity for Danish (instead of generic Ponytail) to prof these classes — this seems right up her alley. [[User:TPS|TPS]] ([[User talk:TPS|talk]]) 16:17, 14 November 2020 (UTC)

1) Hack my Cybersecurity grade, 2) Hack the professor's computer to remove the requiring link to the grade in the other course. -Diana

There is exactly one Nash Equilibria if you set the utility function to be the sum of the cyber security grade and the game theory grade. And it would be to give yourself a 100% in cyber security - Philip Geißler

This cartoon reminded me of a programming class I took as a Freshman at MIT (Spring 1974) where the first lecture described the way the programming projects were submitted and automatically graded. "Some of you may be considering finding a way to hack the grading program to just give you a good grade. This is an acceptable way to pass this course, since it is our analysis that subverting the grading program in this way demonstrates mastery of the subject matter." OK, I know this isn't a comment about the comic, but I lust felt like tossing it in. And more relevant (possibly) was the fact that being the last semester the course was taught, the final exam questions were all inside computer programming jokes. [[User:MAP|MAP]] ([[User talk:MAP|talk]]) 21:55, 14 November 2020 (UTC)

Given that the grade to be manipulated is only the grade of the final exam of Cybersecurity (and therefore not the grade for the entire class), but the grade that it affects is the grade for the entire Game Theory class, that there is no reason not to collaborate, and that how "closeness" is calculated is unclear, the ideal solution is to set the grade of every Cybersecurity student who is not also a Game Theory student to 100, and set the grade of every Cybersecurity student who is also a Game Theory student to 100(100-a)/(125-a), where a is the percentage of Cybersecurity students who are also Game Theory students. This ensures all Cybersecurity students who are also Game Theory students get a perfect 4.0 GPA in Game Theory while reducing their Cybersecurity score by the smallest possible amount. [[User:DL Draco Rex|DL Draco Rex]] ([[User talk:DL Draco Rex|talk]]) 17:12, 15 November 2020 (UTC)