explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3185: Sauropods

2025-12-25T01:37:45Z

DanielLC:

I was going to put in the first draft of an explanation, but that would have meant sticking my neck out... ;) [[Special:Contributions/92.23.2.208|92.23.2.208]] 01:24, 25 December 2025 (UTC)

I also wanted to try explaining, by it's scary, I feel spineless [[Special:Contributions/62.56.149.220|62.56.149.220]] 01:33, 25 December 2025 (UTC)

The title text is referencing [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiders_Georg Spiders Georg]. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 01:37, 25 December 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3103: Exoplanet System

2025-12-20T06:10:59Z

DanielLC:

"Faint dust cloud that will cause several papers to be retracted" could refer to either Fomalhaut b (former proposed exoplanet that turned out to be a dust cloud) or Tabby's Star (star with odd irregular dimming pattern likely due to a dust cloud, but was briefly thought by some to be an alien megastructure the speculation of which caused the media to lose their shit). [[User:Erika lovelace|Erika lovelace]] ([[User talk:Erika lovelace|talk]]) 19:53, 16 June 2025 (UTC)

Somebody should word it better but the idea of a black hole accretion disk having a habitable zone is pretty typical for Randall brand humor. [[Special:Contributions/130.76.187.35|130.76.187.35]] 20:12, 16 June 2025 (UTC)
:I think it's actually a reference to [[wikipedia:Interstellar (film)|''Interstellar'']]. In that movie three planets are sort of in the habitable zone of a giant black hole's accretion disk. Whether that means they have to be in the accretion disk, or whether they can be outside it but still in the habitable zone of the disk's radiation, I'm not sure. -- [[User:Ken g6|Ken g6]] ([[User talk:Ken g6|talk]]) 00:17, 17 June 2025 (UTC)
:An alternative reading of #18 is that the planet may or may not be too hot for rocks to solidify at the surface. (Even if this turns out to be implausible, Randall does stretch the bounds of plausibility on occasion.) [[Special:Contributions/87.75.45.216|87.75.45.216]] 08:36, 17 June 2025 (UTC)
:An accretion disk is also found around a star. So the exoplanet may be in the zone where planets may actually form. (talking about the title text) [[Special:Contributions/129.27.217.99|129.27.217.99]] 08:59, 17 June 2025 (UTC)
:: An accretion disk forms around my desk. Whether or not it counts as habitable is debatable, though. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 09:15, 17 June 2025 (UTC)
:Yeah, the Earth is thought to have formed from the accretion disk of the Sun 4.5b years ago. It probably has nothing to do with black holes. [[User:Robisodd|Robisodd]] ([[User talk:Robisodd|talk]]) 12:12, 17 June 2025 (UTC)
::This is my reading of it too: the planet being within the habitable zone of the accretion disk is (IMO) referencing a very young solar system, discovered at some time before the planets have swept their orbits clear. Therefore although "habitable", it'll be a few hundred million years before even what we hypothesize as the "Late Heavy Bombardment", concomitant with the very earliest traces of life on Earth. In other words, great news for future colonization as long as your hopes for the future are not contingent on there being anyone remotely human still around... [[Special:Contributions/2A01:CB08:E6:7000:910F:2296:2C6D:46C4|2A01:CB08:E6:7000:910F:2296:2C6D:46C4]] 10:27, 18 June 2025 (UTC)
:My read of this is that the planet is habitable but perhaps it "doesn't like" life. [[User:Galeindfal|Galeindfal]] ([[User talk:Galeindfal|talk]]) 13:36, 17 June 2025 (UTC)
:Weird side note: isn't Anne McCaffrey's PERN technically a Habitable planet that passes trough an accretion disk? There's a whole subplot about doing some weird magic-science to stabilize the orbit and stop the inspiraling in the later books. [[Special:Contributions/104.129.192.49|104.129.192.49]] 22:33, 17 June 2025 (UTC)

I'm a little unsure of this so could someone help me confirm my theory? There is a shape in xkcd: Escape Speed that looks quite similar to the "faint dust cloud that will cause several papers to be retracted" shape (in xkcd: Exoplanet System). I'm wondering if xkcd: Exoplanet System might be a map of the xkcd: Escape Speed world? [[User:RedDragon|RedDragon]] ([[User talk:RedDragon|talk]]) 14:53, 17 June 2025 (UTC)RedDragon

I assumed the "fist-sized rock" was something relatively close to the observatory, which is not calibrated properly so it seems to be at the star's distance. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:09, 17 June 2025 (UTC)
:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMiKyfd6hA0 [[Special:Contributions/92.23.2.228|92.23.2.228]] 20:17, 17 June 2025 (UTC)

Could the ‘fist-sized rock’ be a reference to Welcome To Night Vale, in which a character, named Sarah Sultan is a ‘fist-sized river rock’? [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 06:18, 18 June 2025 (UTC)

The intro seems to major a little too heavily on the habitability aspect. Only four of the items in the comic mention habitability - five if you count the 'Earth-like data artifact' - plus the title text. That's not even a third of the total items. Astronomers aren't only interested by worlds that might be habitable - they're excited by the vast array of interesting things out there. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 08:31, 18 June 2025 (UTC)

"Wet Saturn" and "Hot Mars" may also be a reference to Pliny the Elder's Historia Naturalis, Book 2 Chapter 18. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D18

im sorry is this website using biased odds for random comics?? because i’ve got a comic in the last 200 published at least 20 times out of the last 25 i’ve rolled. and 2 of the others were the same non comic [[Special:Contributions/92.40.197.124|92.40.197.124]] 17:11, 2 December 2025 (UTC)
:Unfortunately, [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Miscellaneous#Random Explanation Button bias towards newer articles|yes]], and people have discovered that it's a wiki thing, not specifically anything to do how this site uses its Random button. Though it has been changed to include the set of non-comic page-explanations, as well as numbered/non-numbered comics, which is a fairly new (and deliberate) development. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.237.203|82.132.237.203]] 17:45, 2 December 2025 (UTC)

"(usually to describe our own type of 'non-hot' Jupiter, rather than an explicitly colder-still version)"

Our Jupiter is -110 C. Certainly much colder than a lukewarm Jupiter. I'd argue that a literal "cold Jupiter" would include our own. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 06:10, 20 December 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3153: Hot Water Balloon

2025-10-11T01:56:20Z

DanielLC:

First time making the first draft, so hopefully I did a decent job. [[User:KelOfTheStars!|KelOfTheStars!]] ([[User talk:KelOfTheStars!|talk]]) 21:01, 10 October 2025 (UTC)

I know they're friends and sometimes spend time chatting in fields or hiking together, but has it ever been implied that Cueball and Megan are a romantic couple before? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:38, 10 October 2025 (UTC)
: Cueball and Megan have been stand-ins for Randall and his wife before, specifically during the [[:Category:Cancer|cancer comics]]. Does that count? [[Special:Contributions/199.247.247.123|199.247.247.123]] 22:18, 10 October 2025 (UTC)

How hot is the water? [[Special:Contributions/2603:800C:1200:596A:67A8:C96F:56F6:2AE6|2603:800C:1200:596A:67A8:C96F:56F6:2AE6]] 00:39, 11 October 2025 (UTC)

Water has a lower molar mass than air. So long as it's hot enough to actually boil the water, it might work better. Of course, it will also take a lot of energy to boil the water. And you'd need it significantly hotter than traditional hot air. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 01:56, 11 October 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3077: de Sitter

2025-04-17T09:19:58Z

DanielLC:

the titletext still needs an explanation, but i'm not sure i get the connection to conformal field theory; i suspect it has to do with the explosive rate at which hyperolic space seems to "expand" when travelled through, as a pun on the club expanding at a similar rate? - [[User:Vaedez|Vaedez]] ([[User talk:Vaedez|talk]]) 07:01, 17 April 2025 (UTC)
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.137|162.158.90.137]] 07:21, 17 April 2025 (UTC) I think it's alluding to {{w|AdS/CFT correspondence}}, which I think is a string theory thing.

In hyperbolic space, parallel lines DON'T meet when extended, and in elliptic space they DO. Also, the rotation thing looks strange. In any of the basic geometries you have 360 degrees in a circle. The sum of angles in triangle will be different (smaller than 180 in hyperbolic space, larger in elliptic space). [[Special:Contributions/172.68.213.151|172.68.213.151]] 07:58, 17 April 2025 (UTC)
* Agreed. I went and changed it. Though technically, the stuff about parallel lines is still wrong. Parallel lines don't meet by definition, and spherical geometry doesn't have them. Maybe someone can add a better explanation? [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 09:19, 17 April 2025 (UTC)

The yellow wood is a hyperbolic space.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.4|141.101.99.4]] 08:08, 17 April 2025 (UTC)

maybe a pun on "babysitters are not welcome here" [[User:Translated ORK|Translated ORK]] ([[User talk:Translated ORK|talk]]) 09:08, 17 April 2025 (UTC)

3077: de Sitter

2025-04-17T09:18:55Z

DanielLC: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3077
| date = April 16, 2025
| title = de Sitter
| image = de_sitter_2x.png
| imagesize = 292x459px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Our anti-de Sitter club is small at the moment, but I've started corresponding with the conformal field theory people.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an EXPONENTIALLY EXPANDING BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
An {{w|anti-de Sitter space}} is a space which has hyperbolic (negative) spatial curvature, in which there are less than 180° in a full rotation and two parallel lines will diverge when extended. This is in contrast to a {{w|de Sitter space}} which has elliptic (positive) curvature, more than 180° in a triangle, and two parallel lines will meet. The caption "My house is an anti-de Sitter space" refers instead to their house being against the actual physicist {{w|Willem de Sitter}} which both spatial geometries are named after, because the speaker themselves forbids de Sitter from entering their house.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A note taped to a closed door:]
:20th century Dutch physicist Willem de Sitter is '''''not''''' welcome here

:[Caption below the panel:]
:My house is an anti-de Sitter space.
{{comic discussion}}

3077: de Sitter

2025-04-17T09:17:37Z

DanielLC: The curvatures were backwards.

{{comic
| number = 3077
| date = April 16, 2025
| title = de Sitter
| image = de_sitter_2x.png
| imagesize = 292x459px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Our anti-de Sitter club is small at the moment, but I've started corresponding with the conformal field theory people.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an EXPONENTIALLY EXPANDING BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
An {{w|anti-de Sitter space}} is a space which has hyperbolic (negative) spatial curvature, in which there are more than 360° in a full rotation and two parallel lines will diverge when extended. This is in contrast to a {{w|de Sitter space}} which has elliptic (positive) curvature, less than 360° in a rotation, and two parallel lines will meet. The caption "My house is an anti-de Sitter space" refers instead to their house being against the actual physicist {{w|Willem de Sitter}} which both spatial geometries are named after, because the speaker themselves forbids de Sitter from entering their house.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A note taped to a closed door:]
:20th century Dutch physicist Willem de Sitter is '''''not''''' welcome here

:[Caption below the panel:]
:My house is an anti-de Sitter space.
{{comic discussion}}

Talk:3074: Push Notifications

2025-04-09T23:02:29Z

DanielLC:

So...this is the April Fool's comic, if I'm not mistaken... Oh ye of little faith! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.26.106|172.71.26.106]] 20:00, 9 April 2025 (UTC)

I turned this on thinking it would just be a few every so often but I quickly realized how this is xkcd and it doesn't "joke". I had to turn this off because it disrupted my schoolwork by popping up every fricking 5 minutes

Apparently my employer (or ublock) is keeping me from experiencing the full effect of any notifications. All I get is "An *actual* error has occurred. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.173|162.158.91.173]] 20:52, 9 April 2025 (UTC)

What the heck are the "Zoom Notification" ones, with just a pair of numbers? Now that I've been sitting with this for a little bit, they're by far the most common notifications, and the most mysterious. What is "zoom"ing or should be zoomed-in-on or whatever, and what do the two numbers signify? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.22.75|172.68.22.75]] 20:35, 9 April 2025 (UTC)

Made a new page called [[3074: Push Notifications/Table of Notifications]], much like [[1506: xkbutt/List of Permalinks]]. I’m hoping that we can put all of the possible notifications into the table, along with any possible images that go along with it and an explanation (if necessary). '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 21:26, 9 April 2025 (UTC)

I clicked on the silence notifications at a cost button a lot and it set Cueball's PC on fire?

I found what is presumably the source code (?) of the comic through the transcript. It’s all JS pages. No idea what they mean (I’m not good with code), but I’m sure that there are some on here that can help dissect it. '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 21:50, 9 April 2025 (UTC)
:https://xkcd.com/3074/marconi/manifest.json
:https://xkcd.com/3074/marconi/static/js/42.4f5b21b3.js
:https://xkcd.com/3074/marconi/static/js/index.js?v=1

I have a sneaking suspicion the Zoom Notifications are sketching out an image of some sort
(Update: after plotting like 60 of them no apparent pattern is to be found) [[User:SkiesShaper|SkiesShaper]] ([[User talk:SkiesShaper|talk]]) 22:24, 9 April 2025 (UTC)

Apparently one of the notifications is: "The Earth is spinning at a rate of 1 rpd" This is true if you round it, but not exact. The time it takes to rotate is called a sidereal day, and there's one extra sidereal day a year. Basically, there's one solar day removed in a year, because the Earth's motion around the sun cancels it out. Think of it with a tidally locked planet. It spins around once a year, but the sun never moves. Really there's 1.0027379 rotations per day. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 23:02, 9 April 2025 (UTC)

Talk:1699: Local News

2025-01-04T21:58:48Z

DanielLC:

The title text is not saying that a tachyonic antitelephone will be the *achievement* of all time - it is saying that the term 'tachyonic antitelephone' is the greatest *term* of all time.
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.37|141.101.104.37]] 17:15, 27 June 2016 (UTC)Jesper
: I'd say it's more ominous than that. The invention of the tachyonic antitelephone causes a total collapse in human society, ending all forward progress in the sciences. And thus, the term "tachyonic antitelephone" is never surpassed, because it heralds the end of humanity. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.102|108.162.216.102]] 17:22, 27 June 2016 (UTC)

I feel that it is worth mentioning that there was a Star Trek episode in which Captain Picard was warping between three points in time and aimed three tachyon beams at the same point, creating an antitime thingy that ended all life. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.92|108.162.221.92]] 18:38, 27 June 2016 (UTC)
: It would be worth mentioning it's [http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/All_Good_Things..._%28episode%29 All Good Things...], last episode of TNG. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:27, 28 June 2016 (UTC)

== New character category ==
(Added after: I have posted a link to this entry in the [[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#New_character_category_for_blonde_woman_news_reporter_.28from_1699.29|Community portal]] with the same suggestion as here below:) 
A blonde news presenter like this one has been used several times before like in [[1600: MarketWatch]], [[495: Secretary: Part 2]], [[932: CIA]] and [[618: Asteroid]]. And blonde woman with fairly long hair that is clearly neither Megan nor Ponytail has been seen often, like in [[752: Phobia]] and [[1645: Toasts]]. Would it be relevant to have either a new character called ''Blonde news reporter'', or more general ''Blondie'' for both those with news and the other. Or maybe instead one for news reporter as there are also several other news reporters that are not this blonde woman like [[957: Development]], [[756: Public Opinion]], [[1295: New Study]] and [[1391: Darkness]]. There could be a category called ''News reporters'' or similar? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:57, 27 June 2016 (UTC)
:Based on the discussion she is now called [[Blondie]] --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:26, 10 September 2016 (UTC)
:And now there is also a [[:Category:News anchor]] with 15 entries already. Six of these with Blondie as the anchor woman. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:24, 10 September 2016 (UTC)

----

Please add an explanation of the term nonlocality. It is necessary to the strip's main joke! {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.57}}

Is this comic related to the recent new evidence that backward time travel may be impossible? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.165.42|162.158.165.42]] 04:01, 29 June 2016 (UTC)realbart
:Any link to this news? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:19, 29 June 2016 (UTC)

https://mic.com/articles/147150/physicists-have-new-proof-that-backward-time-travel-is-impossible#.n931VgNuq {{unsigned ip|162.158.165.42}}

I wonder, is the concept of a "tachyonic antitelephone" supposed to be a nerdy reference to Steins;Gate, where a phone that could send messages back in time was invented? {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.10}}

: [https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-Tachyonic-Antitelephone-Benford-Book/0fbd29db01362f5bf2859ba8d30f528a29ee6cb9?p2df The term was coined in 1970], so no, unless they had a tachyonic antitelephone. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 21:58, 4 January 2025 (UTC)

Talk:1127: Congress

2024-11-08T00:18:29Z

DanielLC:

Being a stupidly over political (please don't ask me here, this is an xkcd wiki not reddit) kinda guy, this one really interests me. Another one of those amazing visualizations of real-world facts xkcd is so great at. I have no idea what one might write for an explanation that would be useful. Everything is explained in pretty thorough fashion right on the panel... {{unsigned|Renegade4dio}}
:Well, there's always the transcript for us to <strike>waste time</strike> work on. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]] ([[User talk:Davidy22|talk]]) 12:36, 29 October 2012 (UTC)

The first thing that is missing is the explanation why there are two houses. Why never three or four?
I get why monarchy only had advisors but opposition varied with whichever branch of the family had most to lose. So there was a never ending and closely focussed stream of opposition, albeit short-lived if unsuccessful.[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 18:29, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

;Congress as check

Perhaps a pedantic point, but I couldn't leave the description describing Congress as simply a check on the president. That would imply that the president has free reign (literally) and that Congress only acts (or, more often, doesn't act) to veto the president. That is a much more accurate description of the president's role in legislation (or of a pre-modern English Parliament). {{unsigned|208.32.120.10}}

;Typo
There's a typo on the right-hand side of the comic around 1952 - "''Other than these few years after the war; the House [was] under control Democratic control for the entire period ...''". The "was" is missing. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 15:27, 29 October 2012 (UTC)

;definition of conservative is pejorative

Conservatives are not interested in preserving wealth amongst those who have it - they are interested in creating as many opportunities to create wealth as possible by reducing unwanted government regulation and returning to constitutional limitations (aka 10th ammendment) on Federal power. A different view of liberty and rights than what liberals maintain, but highly supported - I find your definition to be highly pejorative. [[User:Ghaller825|Ghaller825]] ([[User talk:Ghaller825|talk]]) 18:59, 29 October 2012 (UTC)

:That went completely over my head, but you're entirely welcome to change it if the definition in the article bothers you. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 09:16, 30 October 2012 (UTC)

::Perhaps the segment could be changed to say "conservatives believe the government should not interfere with a person's wealth", or something very similar. The resistence to government involvement seems to be more consistent across the various degrees of the modern conservative movement. I'll admit that my suggested statement is also false, because almost everyone believes there should be some amount of taxes, and taxes affect wealth. However, it should be more palatable to the political ideology.

:I understand your offense, Ghaller. On the other hand, the current phrasing using "making wealth" is also a loaded term, as many factory workers would feel that they are "the ones who make it" more than the CEOs, but are certainly not getting more money. I'm not saying I agree with that perspective, just that it's a suggestive statement, and this is not the forum to have an endless debate over it. The unsigned comment above me has the best compromise in my opinion, so I will implement it. [[User:Jerodast|- jerodast]] ([[User talk:Jerodast|talk]]) 18:12, 22 December 2012 (UTC)

;Errors
I notice the following: (1) George H.W. Bush is shown as serving in the Senate. He never made it to the Senate, just the House. (2) Abraham Lincoln appears to be shown as serving in the House for about seven years. He only was there for one term (two years). --[[Special:Contributions/99.14.234.119|99.14.234.119]] 02:18, 30 October 2012 (UTC)

It also lists John A. Garfield in the House from 1862 until his election -- it is James A Garfield, not John.

It lists Abraham Lincoln (and the Republican Party of Lincoln's time in general) as right-leaning, even though it's widely accepted that the Republicans of that era (whose base was made up mostly of Northern abolitionists) were the more liberal party, and the Democrats (whose base was comprised in large part by Southern slave-owners) the more conservative. {{unsigned|140.247.0.73}}

;Definition of Liberal

While in the US, liberal might mean left-wing, in the UK it's pretty central and in Australia it's right-wing. Go figure.--[[User:Joe Green|Joe Green]] ([[User talk:Joe Green|talk]]) 04:23, 30 October 2012 (UTC)
:Classical liberalism [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_liberalism] is very different from American liberalism; Americans would recognize it more as Libertarianism. --[[User:Prooffreader|Prooffreader]] ([[User talk:Prooffreader|talk]]) 09:12, 30 October 2012 (UTC)

The socialists are well-known for hijacking the good-sounding misleading names. Such as "liberal" in America or "bolshevik" (a made-up word meaning literally "majoritan", a member of majority) in Russia. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.111|108.162.245.111]] 00:10, 24 January 2014 (UTC)

That comment makes it sound like there's some conspiracy behind the left thinking up good names for their movements. The words themselves don't really mean anything. You don't have to go back too far in US history to find 'liberals' and 'socialists' being demonized as spies and traitors, and even today the right is happy to call the left 'liberal' with strong undertones of 'weak'. Leftist are generally better at naming things I'll grant you, but then almost all leftist movements (barring the Khmer Rouge and cultural revolution era china) have had strong ties to both universities and the entertainment industry, people who are used to being persuasive with words so it's not surprising that they came up with nice friendly sounding terms for their movements.[[User:LostAlone|LostAlone]] ([[User talk:LostAlone|talk]]) 12:17, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

;Typo

In the "How Ideology Is Calculated" section, I note "acccounting".--[[User:Joe Green|Joe Green]] ([[User talk:Joe Green|talk]]) 04:23, 30 October 2012 (UTC)

;Conservative?

He didn't exactly say that Conservatives are interested in preserving wealth amongst those who have it; I think the implication is that "if you made it, you should get to keep it" (or as much of it as possible, hence lower taxes). One ''consequence'' of this is that the ''distribution'' of wealth tends to remain static, in that the rich stay rich and the poor stay (relatively) poorer. Whether or not that consequence is an intentional one is perhaps in the eye of the pejoratively-inclined beholder :-)--[[User:Joe Green|Joe Green]] ([[User talk:Joe Green|talk]]) 04:30, 30 October 2012 (UTC)

:I made an edit to that effect, but it appears to have been wiped out by another editor calling it "right-wing trolling". If you would like to try re-wording it, please do. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 05:05, 30 October 2012 (UTC)

::By changing just a little bit I think I removed most of the negative connotation.[[User:Bugefun|Bugefun]] ([[User talk:Bugefun|talk]]) 05:11, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

;Arteries
Kind of unrelated but the diagram to me looks sort of like arteries and veins, with the red and blue. And the branches look like how they branch off the heart and stuff. [[User:Bugefun|Bugefun]] ([[User talk:Bugefun|talk]]) 05:10, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

;Red inside blue and vice versa
What do the red strands inside the blue section and the blue strands inside the red section represent? It doesn't seem to be explained anywhere.
[[Special:Contributions/199.27.200.82|199.27.200.82]] 14:15, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

:Red on the blue side represents "Conservative Democrats" and Blue on the red side represents "Liberal Republicans". Confusing a bit, but so are both those political terms (lol). It is stated (in small text) on the top right diagram of the comic--[[User:Dangerkeith3000|Dangerkeith3000]] ([[User talk:Dangerkeith3000|talk]]) 14:53, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

;Left vs right - or why this comic is stupid
The traditional definition of left vs right (people attribute all sorts of things to it these days) is the support of change (hence the names progressives vs conservatives, or radicals vs reactionaries). The terminology comes from France where those that advocated reforms to government sat on the left of the chamber and those that wanted to do such things as restore the monarchy sat on the right. Your traditional Burkian conservative (smidgen to the right of the centre) would accept change is inevitable, but must be controlled. To the right of that people that want to maintain the status quo, further right people that want to go back to some "better time". To the left you get the, let change happen as it comes, further left lets make change a "good thing", to the furthest left "lets force change". A large part of the Marxist philosophy is that not only is communism desirable, but inevitable as according to Marx that is the final destination of all societies. Now to my point. Over time the parties have switched sides and often will be left on one issue and right on another. Often the parties themselves were divided (look at the civil rights act's passage) To simply say Democratic Party has always been left and the Republicans have always been is such a gross simplification that is renders the whole image a farce. [[Special:Contributions/192.43.227.18|192.43.227.18]] 01:07, 8 November 2012 (UTC)
:Does it matter? The interesting thing about it isn't left or right, it's the decline in the center. You could completely flip it and it would make little difference. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 00:18, 8 November 2024 (UTC)

;What can we learn from this?
I've learned that our congress (and law in general) is too complex. We are tying to keep outdated laws relevant by using an endless series of exceptions (legally called amendments). I hope someday we will be able to scrap the whole thing and simplify our laws so that our children do not have to spend up to a quarter of their lives learning our mistakes. XKCD, please help us simplify something like law so you don't have to waste your time visualizing something as broken as our understanding of it. - e-inspired [[Special:Contributions/24.51.197.187|24.51.197.187]] 18:36, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

This is something someone needs to contact Randall about. {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.105}}

; Mesage of the day

<div class="toccolours">Today's incomplete explanation of the day is 1127: Congress. Help us fix it!</div>
Yes. We desperately need to fix the Congress... -- [[User:Wesha|Wesha]] ([[User talk:Wesha|talk]]) 19:39, 11 May 2015 (UTC)

It might help to have a corollary chart that tracks gerrymandering, that is the practice of selecting and isolating minority and majority populations in districts so that there is virtually no contest at the time of election. A city can be carved up to include just enough suburban voters to overwhelm what would otherwise have been their political choice. Districts now often resemble convoluted, sinuous serpent creatures rather than geography divided along natural boudaries. If someone could write code that would redraw districts with the following parameters: number of voters, and walking distance to polling places - without regard to income, race, party designation, etc. It would change the map drastically.
At any rate, many districts have been redrawn to control election results. Such a chart would parallel the divisions in congress.[[User:Bralbovsky|Bralbovsky]] ([[User talk:Bralbovsky|talk]]) 00:25, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

Someone could (and probably has) come up with code to do what you suggest, but the courts won't let them use it.

When districts are drawn without regard to race, some racial groups wind up underrepresented, because they are a substantial percentage of the total population, but are not a majority in a proportional number of districts (for example, if there are 4 districts and they are 25% of the total populations, then they should be able to elect someone from that group in 1 district, but if they are 25% of each district, then members of the other racial group, which is 75% of each district, may get elected in all 4 districts, when it should be just 3). This is considered unfair and a violation of their right to "equal protection", so districts must be drawn along racial lines to comply with court orders to give these groups fairer representation.

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.190|108.162.215.190]] 16:50, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

----

Not intending to worry anyone, but isn't it annoying that the colours are the wrong way around? In the UK we represent the Tories/Conservatives/Republicans with blue and the Labs/labour/democrats with red. This is why it fits that the social democratic reforms promoted by social communism a flown on a red flag and the working capitalists and imperial monarchists are represented by a blue flag. Why the other way round? [[User:Raydleemsc|Raydleemsc]] ([[User talk:Raydleemsc|talk]]) 08:05, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

If this chart was about British politics, the colours would be wrong, but in US those are the standard colors for the parties. Blame mass media if you want [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_states_and_blue_states]] [[User:S42ky|S42ky]] ([[User talk:S42ky|talk]]) 18:51, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

:This is actually a pretty recent thing--and a silly one. Traditionally, each news outlet picked colors independently, and they were pretty evenly split among red for Republican or red for Democrat most years. In 2000, when the election was hung waiting on the Florida recount, everyone on TV was pointing at electoral maps on every broadcast. After two days, NBC switched colors. Other outlets began to follow suit, and once most outlets were using the same color scheme, after which pundits started talking about "red states" and "blue states" as shorthand for states where republicans or democrats won, and we've been stuck with that ever since. So, what made NBC change? Either their news director was annoyed that NBC and the Washington Post (the first paper he read in the morning) used opposite colors, or one of their pundits couldn't remember which colors they used and suggested that the alliterative red=Republican would help him stop screwing it up. Whichever of those is true is the ultimate reason red means Republican. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.180|199.27.130.180]] 12:24, 18 September 2015 (UTC)

:It's a shame this chart doesn't get updated. It's going to need some infrared ink over the next 4 years! [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 14:27, 13 December 2016 (UTC)
::Our country is now led by a GOP monopoly... :( If only Sanders had won the Democratic nomination, we might not be in this mess. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.17|108.162.238.17]] 03:19, 31 January 2017 (UTC)
::: It would be interesting to see a more updated version of this at this point. Never understood US politics, but I'm under the impression your colour amounts would be looking different over the last few years. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.7.97|162.158.7.97]] 22:09, 5 January 2021 (UTC)

There are a lot of "bent texts" that are missing from the transcription. (citation needed) [[User:ConscriptGlossary|ConscriptGlossary]] ([[User talk:ConscriptGlossary|talk]]) 13:24, 21 July 2024 (UTC)
:There's a lot of corrections to be made to the "OCR'ed" text (sic, shouldn't have an apostrope!), because it is not visible and forgotten. I spotted many spacing errors, for example, but whether it's worth the effort of going through that..?
:PS, it's {{template|Citation needed}}. Though doesn't really fit as either the normal (non-xkcd) or local contexts, so not sure why you tried to use it. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.38|172.70.86.38]] 15:01, 21 July 2024 (UTC)

Is there an updated version of this? I feel like partisanship has only gotten worse since this comic was made. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 00:18, 8 November 2024 (UTC)

Talk:3006: Demons

2024-11-01T23:36:12Z

DanielLC:

Instead of an iron pitchfork, he probably uses a silver hammer! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.26.54|172.71.26.54]] 16:34, 1 November 2024 (UTC)

🤓☝ moment [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]])
20:03, 1 November 2024 (UTC)
:Why are his hands backwards??? What did you do to him?! [[User:Psychoticpotato|P?sych??otic?pot??at???o ]] ([[User talk:Psychoticpotato|talk]]) 21:36, 1 November 2024 (UTC)
==New category: Infernal Strips==
What do you think about a new Infernal category for strips with demons or in hell? There are quite a few. [[501]], [[533]]... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.47.10|172.70.47.10]] 17:56, 1 November 2024 (UTC)
:I agree. [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 18:04, 1 November 2024 (UTC)
:: I just tagged a half-dozen strips, but a site admin will have to create the category page itself. It turns out there was some overlap with a "Religion" category, whodathunkit. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.46.243|172.70.46.243]] 19:01, 1 November 2024 (UTC)
:::They were tagged inconsistently (at least two different forms of the category). And as they were all redlinked I undid them all anyway.
:::The proper process is more like:
:::# Say something like ''Hey, I think we need a "Category:<Foo>"'',
:::#* To justify it, identify a handful of comics (or all of them, if you're being thorough). Unless perhaps the comic is called "SOMETHING SOMETHING NUMBER 1" and it very much looks like it's going to be the start of a series, although still might be best to wait for "SOMETHING SOMETHING NUMBER 2".
:::# Get comments (e.g. ''Yes, a good general idea, but it should probably be "Category:<Bar>" to be consistent/accurate/properly-inclusive/etc'') and additions (''Yeah, and comic in #1234 would fit too!'')
:::# When someone who can (e.g. 42, there) decides it's been successfully argued to an agreement (YMMV), they use the final list (and the agreed upon name) to create the category and at least start the process of adding the category memberships.
:::To be honest, though I agree about the relevence of the created [[:Category:Rockets]], as just done, I also think that one was done far too quickly. I'd at least wait a few days after the last "Good idea!", just in case someone who checks in regularly but not frequently (e.g. once a week) has any wise words to add. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.49|162.158.74.49]] 22:14, 1 November 2024 (UTC)

==New category: Classical Thought Experiments==
While I'm at it, I'd also suggest a new category for Classical Thought Experiments, everything from Maxwell's Demon to Schroedinger's Cat to the Trolley Problem. Readers may be familiar with some, but not all of the classical references, and it would be nice to have them all accessible from the same page. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.46.243|172.70.46.243]] 19:01, 1 November 2024 (UTC)
:I can see something like this being useful. Not ''entirely'' sure of the name, but maybe, and I'm not sure what a better one would be. (To start off the discussion, as described above.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.58.21|172.70.58.21]] 22:17, 1 November 2024 (UTC)

There's some [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_(thought_experiment) other demons] made famous by thought experiments. I wonder how Maxwell's Demon would get along with the Evil Demon that tricks people into thinking they're 17th century philosophers. And I'm sure Laplace's Demon already knows how they'd get along. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 23:36, 1 November 2024 (UTC)

Talk:3001: Temperature Scales

2024-10-22T03:38:24Z

DanielLC:

Shouldn't Rankine say "0ºR is set to absolute zero"? {{unsigned ip|172.70.230.29|22:58, 21 October 2024 (UTC)}}

yo,i thought comic 300 was anticlimactic so randall would make this one COOL but sadly not
Same. Hope he does something cool for 3072.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.225|172.69.134.225]] 23:44, 21 October 2024 (UTC)

really he didn't do anything special for this either? come ON randall if you don't do something cool for comic 3072 i will come to your house personally and yell at you [[User:RadiantRainwing|RadiantRainwing]] ([[User talk:RadiantRainwing|talk]]) 23:57, 21 October 2024 (UTC)

 
What's random about Fahrenheit? (Answer: nothing.) 0F is the freezing point of brine, 100F (or 98.7) is the human body temperature. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.65|172.68.54.65]] 00:00, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
:What concentration of brine? (And which specific salt... No, not NaCl, as you might presume but NH4Cl!)
:And body temperature varies a lot ('typically' 36.5–37.5°C or 97.7–99.5°F, though even this range is thought to be too small), across genders, individuals, time of day ''and'' which orifices/surfaces you try to measure it from. (Originally, it was set so that '''90°F''' was to be the 'best guess' of human body temperature. It gradually changed, including via various {{w|Human body temperature#Historical understanding|compounded misunderstandings}} so that the best you can say is that 100°F is arbitrarily ''slightly above'' most afebrile human body temperature measurements.)
:Celsius might be a bit off (arguments about triple-point or STP freezing, etc), but it still has far more physical logic to it. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.188|172.70.160.188]] 01:14, 22 October 2024 (UTC)

Personally, I'm most disappointed that {{w|Delisle scale}} was not represented... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.188|172.70.160.188]] 01:14, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
: I was so hoping for a {{w|Planck temperature}} quip. Like: "Water freezing point: 0; Water boiling point: 0; Notes: 1 = highest possible temperature (1.4E32K) where thermal radiation creates black holes; Cursedness: 0/0" [[Special:Contributions/162.158.164.184|162.158.164.184]] 01:27, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
:: Same here. Freezing is 0.000000000000000000000000000001928 and boiling is 0.0000000000000000000000000000026338. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 03:38, 22 October 2024 (UTC)

I guess I was wrong in my comment on the last comic. sigh. -[[User:Psychoticpotato|P?sych??otic?pot??at???o ]] ([[User talk:Psychoticpotato|talk]]) 01:16, 22 October 2024 (UTC)

It's actually spelled {{w|Wedgwood scale}}, not Wedgewood. [[User:Wilh3lm|Wilh3lm]] ([[User talk:Wilh3lm|talk]]) 01:17, 22 October 2024 (UTC)

I still call the modern version of the "Celsius" scale "centigrade", but if people start nitpicking, I'm happy to switch to "Carolus" to avoid ambiguity. For some reason that tends to annoy people more though. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.22.191|172.68.22.191]] 01:32, 22 October 2024 (UTC)

Talk:488: Steal This Comic

2024-07-20T22:59:24Z

DanielLC:

I'm not sure how credible Natural News is.
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/NaturalNews
Then again, I'm not sure how credible RationalWiki is, either. [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 16:08, 5 April 2013 (UTC)
:I'm not sure how credible The Internet is. [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 06:43, 25 September 2013 (UTC)
:Replacing that NaturalNews link with a link to the same story on The Guardian. --[[User:Alex|Alex]] ([[User talk:Alex|talk]]) 14:26, 4 June 2014 (UTC)
:Just do a google search and be astonished how you don't know how dumb and {{rw|crank}} {{rw|NaturalNews}} is. — [[User:Sqrt-1|The 𝗦𝗾𝗿𝘁-𝟭]] [[User talk:Sqrt-1|talk]] [[Special:Contributions/Sqrt-1|stalk]] 05:27, 7 October 2020 (UTC)
"Steal this Comic" refers to the TPB-related "Steal this Film" and not to "Steal this Book" unless I'm very much mistaken. Also, it needs an explanation of what DMCA 1201 is and why it makes "getting your stuff back" illegal (it is, IIRC, the anti-circumvention clause, which says that breaking DRM, even for a legal purpose, is illegal; thus, getting your stuff back, ordinarily a perfectly legal act, is illegal if it involves getting around the DRM). [[User:Magic9mushroom|Magic9mushroom]] ([[User talk:Magic9mushroom|talk]]) 11:39, 21 December 2015 (UTC)
:The title of "Steal this Film" was itself a reference to "Steal this Book." {{unsigned ip|162.158.56.197}}

I believe the breaking of DRM is necessary in certain cases because the media could be associated with specific accounts/computers/IPs/etc. It is not just about the use of iTunes or any other media manager. [[User:Flewk|flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 23:12, 3 January 2016 (UTC)

I deleted the "license" crap. When you buy music - on physical media - you do own it. Copyright law prohibits you from doing some things with it - just like how driving laws prohibit you from doing some things with your car - that doesn't mean you don't own it. CDs, tapes, and LPs usually don't even have shrinkwrap "licenses". You only need a license to do legally restricted stuff. IANAL. PS I hate the CAPTCHAs on this site.Tor user @ [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.47|108.162.218.47]] 04:30, 13 April 2016 (UTC)
:Once you have an account for 5 days (I think), you don't have to answer any CAPTCHAs. [[User:625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8|625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8]] ([[User talk:625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8|talk]]) 21:59, 20 March 2017 (UTC)

There's also System of a Down's album titled "Steal This Album" which is more directly related to the topic of the comic, which is music. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.7|108.162.215.7]] 02:06, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

Black Hat's arms seem too short in the last drawing, or is it just me? [[User:625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8|625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8]] ([[User talk:625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8|talk]]) 21:09, 16 March 2017 (UTC)

I followed directions, yay me[[Special:Contributions/172.68.142.227|172.68.142.227]] 16:34, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

The real thieves and criminals here are the copyright industry. They have stolen all our (humanity's) culture, locked it away behind legal barriers, extracting rents just so we can temporarily enjoy what we used to own. Not only that, but they are also stealing from creators and artists, ripping them off while claiming to be on their side. They are the scum of the earth! [[User:The Cat Lady|-- The Cat Lady]] ([[User talk:The Cat Lady|talk]]) 15:41, 15 August 2021 (UTC)

A very real life example of this is the game darkspore [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darkspore#March_2016_server_closure] check out the link for more information --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.149|172.70.126.149]] 13:49, 8 September 2021 (UTC)

Why not just buy it once, and then pirate it if the system ever breaks? Or buy it but then pirate it immediately if that's more convenient than installing the legal version. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 22:59, 20 July 2024 (UTC)

Talk:1029: Drawing Stars

2024-06-03T09:28:45Z

DanielLC:

They are however, incredibly easy to sew[http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagstar.html] {{unsigned ip|146.115.187.103}}

The nice thing about knowing lots of geometric stars is that I could have easily salvaged that to make a slightly squashed 8-pointed star polygon (a.k.a. octagram, Schläfli symbol {8/3}). --[[User:Quicksilver|Quicksilver]] ([[User talk:Quicksilver|talk]]) 06:11, 17 August 2013 (UTC)

:Same here lol. I tried right after I read it and I actually got a tridecagram {13/5} thing. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.222.148|108.162.222.148]] 16:54, 7 March 2015 (UTC)

The cursor and the drawing looks a bit like [[http://docs.python.org/2/library/turtle.html|Python's turtle mode]], that would explain the "Abort abort" reaction as the user would like to stop the script where it is. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.111|108.162.229.111]] 12:01, 17 July 2015 (UTC)

He actually looks like he's very much on the right track to drawing an octogram. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.226|108.162.219.226]] 21:23, 18 May 2020 (UTC)

Isn't "converting to Judaism" not actually a thing? From memory there are strict rules governing who gets to be Jewish and who doesn't. Someone who isn't born Jewish won't ever be, no matter what.

You can definitely convert to Judaism and jews are commanded to accept converts as jews. Even if you are not born jewish, you can still convert. You might be thinking of being a kohen, which you can only be if your father was a kohen.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.38.46|172.70.38.46]] 03:27, 12 June 2023 (UTC)

Reminds me of the [https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/evil/images/8/88/The_Necronomicon_Gate.png/revision/latest?cb=20150804182543 Necronomicon gate symbol]. It always struck me as looking like someone tried to draw a star, messed up, and then just kept going. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 09:27, 3 June 2024 (UTC)

Talk:1029: Drawing Stars

2024-06-03T09:27:29Z

DanielLC:

They are however, incredibly easy to sew[http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagstar.html] {{unsigned ip|146.115.187.103}}

The nice thing about knowing lots of geometric stars is that I could have easily salvaged that to make a slightly squashed 8-pointed star polygon (a.k.a. octagram, Schläfli symbol {8/3}). --[[User:Quicksilver|Quicksilver]] ([[User talk:Quicksilver|talk]]) 06:11, 17 August 2013 (UTC)

:Same here lol. I tried right after I read it and I actually got a tridecagram {13/5} thing. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.222.148|108.162.222.148]] 16:54, 7 March 2015 (UTC)

The cursor and the drawing looks a bit like [[http://docs.python.org/2/library/turtle.html|Python's turtle mode]], that would explain the "Abort abort" reaction as the user would like to stop the script where it is. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.111|108.162.229.111]] 12:01, 17 July 2015 (UTC)

He actually looks like he's very much on the right track to drawing an octogram. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.226|108.162.219.226]] 21:23, 18 May 2020 (UTC)

Isn't "converting to Judaism" not actually a thing? From memory there are strict rules governing who gets to be Jewish and who doesn't. Someone who isn't born Jewish won't ever be, no matter what.

You can definitely convert to Judaism and jews are commanded to accept converts as jews. Even if you are not born jewish, you can still convert. You might be thinking of being a kohen, which you can only be if your father was a kohen.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.38.46|172.70.38.46]] 03:27, 12 June 2023 (UTC)

Reminds me of the [Necronomicon gate](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/evil/images/8/88/The_Necronomicon_Gate.png/revision/latest?cb=20150804182543) symbol. It always struck me as looking like someone tried to draw a star, messed up, and then just kept going. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 09:27, 3 June 2024 (UTC)

Talk:660: Sympathy

2024-05-31T20:38:21Z

DanielLC:

Someone might want to fix this - I don't know how. When I click the "next" arrow at the top, instead of taking this page to 661, it opens up an entirely new window for 661. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.17|108.162.216.17]] 21:10, 18 November 2015 (UTC)

Terry Pratchett made a similar joke to this in Mort: “The only thing known to go faster than ordinary light is monarchy, according to the philosopher Ly Tin Wheedle. He reasoned like this: you can't have more than one king, and tradition demands that there is no gap between kings, so when a king dies the succession must therefore pass to the heir instantaneously. Presumably, he said, there must be some elementary particles -- kingons, or possibly queons -- that do this job, but of course succession sometimes fails if, in mid-flight, they strike an anti-particle, or republicon. His ambitious plans to use his discovery to send messages, involving the careful torturing of a small king in order to modulate the signal, were never fully expanded because, at that point, the bar closed.”
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.28|162.158.79.28]] 18:50, 7 March 2023 (UTC)

Just commenting to say that "instant" and "moment" are distinctly different measures of time in my view. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.226.129|108.162.226.129]] 12:58, 16 April 2023 (UTC)

I think it's worth noting that it's impossible to save the original brother that way. Any experiment they start now can't send a signal back to before the experiment. Also, to send messages into the spacelike past (times and places that are in the past from every frame of reference), they'd need another person that can feel sibling deaths. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 20:38, 31 May 2024 (UTC)

Talk:1986: River Border

2024-05-29T05:45:57Z

DanielLC:

The title text doesn't have a typo.
[[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:06, 27 April 2018 (UTC)

"It then occurred to Megan that she could break Nebraska state laws and the police couldn't catch her (because the river was in the way)."
:I ''think'' it might actually be because Megan is under the mistaken impression that it's neither Nebraskan nor Missourian territory, so neither set of cops actually have jurisdiction (similar to that thing where apparently there's an area of [https://www.forbes.com/sites/robinandrews/2017/11/26/icymi-you-can-get-away-with-murder-in-part-of-yellowstone-national-park/ Yellowstone] where no one has jurisdiction).
::I believe you're right. The title text seems to confirm this.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.172|162.158.255.172]] 20:03, 27 April 2018 (UTC)
:::While I saw the possibility of the Lawless Unclaimed Territory explanation (i.e. nobody has jurisdiction), I feel very sure the intended meaning is that the state that can get there has no jurisdiction and the state they're in can't get to them because of the river. (Mainly because Unclaimed Territory is a bit of a logical leap, while Cops Are Cut Off is fairly logical and somewhat true. Note the wording that "cops can't do a thing", not "there are no cops"). What amuses me is that I've heard of this location before AND that it is indeed true that there are no bridges, so it is indeed quite true that you can't reach this location from the rest of Nebraska. But of course I'm sure cops wouldn't hesitate to pass through Missouri. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:01, 1 May 2018 (UTC)
::::Good thoughts! I was having a tough time wrapping my head around why the cops wouldn't just use a boat or helicopter, if necessary. That's why I didn't immediately consider it was the river stopping them.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.172|162.158.255.172]] 14:36, 2 May 2018 (UTC)
::That's not quite accurate. It's under federal jurisdiction. The problem is that in order to try someone, they need a jury that's from the state and district of the crime. Yellowstone is all one district, but it barely crosses state lines, so if you're on the edge of it that's in Idaho, you'd need a jury that lives in Yellowstone but also in Idaho, which means they'd have to be from that tiny strip, and there aren't enough people there to form a jury. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 05:45, 29 May 2024 (UTC)

:I'd edit it myself, but I'm not entirely sure if I'm right. Thought I'd bring up the possibility so others could decide. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.47.24|172.68.47.24]] 16:33, 27 April 2018 (UTC)

::I fixed it. [[User:Grabadora304|Grabadora304]] ([[User talk:Grabadora304|talk]]) {{unsigned|Grabadora304}}
:I also read it as the river physically keeping the police out of the region so I added it back (before even reading these comments), but only as a second possibility, leaving the jurisdiction as the primary. Note that the river actually IS a physical barrier, there are no roads across the river there. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 21:07, 27 April 2018 (UTC)

This isn’t the only place in the US, or even in Nebraska, where this has happened. The town of Carter Lake, Iowa is only accessible by car by driving through Omaha.
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.143.84|172.68.143.84]] 17:08, 27 April 2018 (UTC)

'''The story of the similar situation on the Walloon (Belgian)-Dutch border, and the headless corpse.'''
There used to be a situation like this on the border between Visé, Wallonia, Belgium; and Eijsden-Margraten in the Netherlands.
The border used to follow the path of the river Maas/Meuse at the time of the Treaty of London of 1839. Between 1970 en 1979, the river was straightened, and until 2018, the border no longer followed the path of the river. That led to situations similar to the one in this comic ''on both sides of the river''. Especially the Belgian bit at the Dutch side of the river became popular for drug dealings and illicit sexual escapades. At one time, a group of Antwerpians with moustaches proclaimed the area the independent Republic of Snorravia.
In 2012, a headless corpse was discovered there. (I have heard that it was a suicide, though details are scarce.) That lead eventually to a land swap agreed in 2016–2017, effective January 1st, 2018. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/belgium-netherlands-land-swap-agreement-river-meuse-borders-a7445751.html
— [[User:Adhemar|Adhemar]] ([[User talk:Adhemar|talk]]) 21:32, 27 April 2018 (UTC)

: ''The Martian'' allusion - The joke about high seas, piracy, and maritime laws jumped out at me as echoing a joke made in ''The Martain'', which we know is xkcd-approved. Does anyone else think that it's an intentional allusion? [[User:PvOberstein|PvOberstein]] ([[User talk:PvOberstein|talk]]) 23:45, 27 April 2018 (UTC)

:How exactly can you commit suicide by beheading? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 04:46, 28 April 2018 (UTC)
::He could have committed suicide by slitting his throat, then something happened that caused his head to fall off. But who knows? [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 07:30, 28 April 2018 (UTC)
:::Or by putting on the [[https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blindpanic.com%2Fhumor%2Fvecna.htm Head of Vecna]] [[User:Kazzie|Kazzie]] ([[User talk:Kazzie|talk]]) 05:48, 30 April 2018 (UTC)
::A guillotine would be a handy device for a suicidal beheading. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 13:37, 30 April 2018 (UTC)
:I’M SORRY, THEY FOUND A HEADLESS CORPSE??? [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 18:32, 3 February 2024 (UTC)
::Well, would you expect them to find a headless ''non-''corpse just wandering around enjoying the scenery? (Well, not looking at the scenery. Or listening to it/smelling it. Feeling the breeze in its hair..? Body-hair, maybe, like the chest (if it was a male headless person?) unless it was even more exposed than that, but while I know that there's a Germanic tradition of naturism, not sure how Dutch/Walloon would react to a headless ''and'' nude person walking around. There'd be questions to ask. Not that I know how they'd get their answers, either.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.179|141.101.98.179]] 19:38, 3 February 2024 (UTC)

Wait, so, basically, two people buy plots of land with river flowing between them, after years the river changes course, and they go to court and hire experts to find ''why'' the river changed course and, depending on the outcome, one person can win a chunk of land the other person had paid for? And this is common in 21st century law systems? That's quite depressing. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 09:44, 28 April 2018 (UTC)
:...Except these aren't the property lines of people buying land, these are the borders of subsections of a country. If two people had bought land at this spot, one would now be on the other side (but would still live in Nebraska), the other just wouldn't have waterfront property any more (but would still have property in Missouri). [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 03:38, 1 May 2018 (UTC)
::I was not talking about the comic itself, but about this part of the explanation
In cases of pure accretion, it is possible for a parcel of land to be entirely eroded away on one side of a river, and have material be added to the opposite side of the river. In such cases, one property owner could lose all their land.
::...and
In the real world, however, river systems undergo both accretion and avulsion multiple times over a period of time. This makes the determination of property lines along riverine boundaries one of the most complicated aspects of boundary surveying.
::I am by no means expert, maybe it's just poorly worded explanation, but it certainly gave me the impression that something as arbitrary as the cause of a river changing course can affect whether or not someone gets to keep their land, which is by itself as absurd as the very fact they can lose land due to river changing course. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 08:16, 3 May 2018 (UTC)

:Jaalenja, you are correct in your reading of my text. A person can lose land due to a river or stream changing location, but since this is due to accretion/reliction, it happens very slowly, over decades. Year by year, a property on the outside of a bend of a river will be eroded by natural forces. Over decades of erosion it's possible to lose acres of land. Given enough time, it's conceivable that an entire property could be eroded, but that's pretty rare. Conversely, a property on the inner side of a bend can gain silt, then sand, then rocks, and eventually vegetation. The time scales that these occurrences happen are usually over generations, which is why most people don't worry about it.

:Quick changes are the avulsive river movements, and in those cases, the property boundary doesn't change, because it was a sudden occurrence and the property didn't get destroyed in the process. It may seem like an odd system, but it has been held to be the most equitable way to deal with such natural forces by the English common law system and later on, the American legal system.[[User:Surveyorap|Surveyorap]] ([[User talk:Surveyorap|talk]]) 01:45, 23 May 2018 (UTC)

Congrats Randy, your title text made me claw my eyes out. Thankfully, I know kung-touch-typing-fu. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.11.155|172.68.11.155]] 11:29, 28 April 2018 (UTC)

I removed the incomplete because I can't imagine how this explanation could be made any more complete than it is. In fact, this is one of most complete explains I've seen. Great job everybody! [[User:Gbisaga|Gbisaga]] ([[User talk:Gbisaga|talk]]) 18:15, 28 April 2018 (UTC)

I read the title text as a joke on 'pier'acy and 'marina'time law, as a freshwater-based set of puns rather than a pizza set. [[User:Phineas81707|Phineas81707]] ([[User talk:Phineas81707|talk]]) 05:03, 6 June 2018 (UTC)

Can't believe there was no mention of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bir_Tawil Bir Tawil], the only habitable area on earth that isn't claimed by a country. It's basically exactly the scenario Megan supposes to be happening in the comic (minus the river) - one country claims one border and the other country claims a different border so they both claim the same area, but the way the borders are drawn, Bir Tawil is claimed by neither country. Edited to add a mention. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.82|162.158.255.82]] 04:42, 7 April 2021 (UTC)

Talk:899: Number Line

2024-05-15T06:17:22Z

DanielLC:

Where does sqrt(-1) go? [[Special:Contributions/67.78.183.206|67.78.183.206]] 19:07, 2 January 2013 (UTC)

:It goes up (literally above 0). A number line can be extended to a complex plane with sqrt(-1) as the unit of measurement in the vertical direction. Or at least, that's where it actually goes. I don't know where Randall would put it. [[Special:Contributions/75.69.96.225|75.69.96.225]] 01:04, 5 March 2013 (UTC)

I'm sorry...are you indicating the ACTUAL location for an IMAGINARY number? {{unsigned|‎74.213.186.41}}

Yes, that's exactly where it is (up to switching clockwise for counterclockwise). There is nothing strange about providing a location for imaginary or complex numbers, the location described is logical, and the adjective 'imaginary' is an artifact of nomenclature and nothing more.[[Special:Contributions/173.48.140.216|173.48.140.216]] 20:40, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

In fact, complex numbers are nearly more real than real ones! Complex analysis really opened my eyes to how much "stepping out" can help in solving problems. The complex notion of analyticity yields fruit in real analysis. Extensions to hypercomplex numbers are weirder, however. --[[User:Quicksilver|Quicksilver]] ([[User talk:Quicksilver|talk]]) 20:27, 17 August 2013 (UTC)

Analyticity must be an imaginary word, and therefore would be found one unit directly above any dictionary. [[Special:Contributions/50.203.89.169|50.203.89.169]] 14:19, 9 October 2013 (UTC)
:Oh my god, I can't believe how hard I laughed at that. Would an imaginary friend actually be above you then? I'm going to use that sometime. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.61|108.162.219.61]] 21:25, 24 April 2014 (UTC)
:"I'm sorry, you have reached an imaginary number. Please rotate the phone by 90 degrees and try again."[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.250|141.101.98.250]] 17:01, 21 October 2017 (UTC)

Is unexplored a map reference? [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 17:53, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

Note that the digits 5 and 6 do not show up on any of the numbers in the comic, reinforcing the fact that the integers 5 and 6 are unexplored. [[User:Blitzer|Blitzer]] ([[User talk:Blitzer|talk]]) 02:34, 15 May 2014 (UTC)
:So the 5th digit of pi can not be known either? [[User:Tharkon|Tharkon]] ([[User talk:Tharkon|talk]]) 03:56, 12 July 2014 (UTC)
:: The ''wha''th digit of pi? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.119|108.162.215.119]] 01:59, 1 January 2015 (UTC)
Thank God (or someone else, I'm not choosy) that the SCP link here still works. The rest of the site's gone private. {{unsigned ip|108.162.250.223}}

It appears that Wikipedia had noticed the implications of the title text here. The message now says that it might never be complete, but can be expanded with reliably sourced articles. I'm not 100% sure it's due to Randall's involvement, but I like to think so. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.17|141.101.104.17]] 22:01, 9 December 2014 (UTC)

I am not American, but the linked Wikipedia Article does not support the claims about president's day being observed between the 2 birthdays of Washington and Lincoln in general, but just that in some states Lincoln is also referenced on that day. Even if it was put as a day between these birthdays by definition and on purpose, I do not see the reference here... Especially as this number is given as specific, unlike presidents day, which can occur in a range of days... Someone who knows more of American culture, and also what "observed" (which would link it to holidays....) can mean in English language please revert this. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 12:41, 18 September 2019 (UTC)

The link to "bleem" does not work for me, but the word can be found in Urban Dictionary. ——[[Special:Contributions/172.69.63.161|172.69.63.161]] 02:12, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

While 8 is not the "largest even prime", 9 is in fact the ''lowest odd composite'' number. So 8 is the largest in the unbroken line of natural numbers that are even ''or'' prime (or whatever 1 is). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.205|141.101.76.205]] 10:48, 18 January 2023 (UTC)

:1 is a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_(ring_theory) unit]. With natural numbers, that's literally just 1, but when you extend the concept of primes to arbitrary rings there's more like that so it's worth giving a name to. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 06:17, 15 May 2024 (UTC)

Surely Gird is a reference to Bleem and to the philosophical concepts of Grue and Bleen? Just as they derive from Blue and Green, so we would have Bird and Gleem. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.98.86|172.71.98.86]] 20:33, 29 November 2023 (UTC)

1 pixel <nowiki>~</nowiki> 0.012
start of unexplored zone <nowiki>~</nowiki> 4.381
end of unexplored zone <nowiki>~</nowiki> 6.714
length of unexplored zone <nowiki>~</nowiki> 2.333
coincedence? [[User:Plushiefan4111|plushie fan]] ([[User talk:Plushiefan4111|talk]]) 00:07, 30 November 2023 (UTC)

For f(f(x))=11x, one example is: write x=a*11^b where a%11>0. If a%11 is odd, let f(x)=(a+1)11^b; otherwise a%11 is even, let f(x)=(a-1)11^(b+1).[[Special:Contributions/172.71.222.235|172.71.222.235]] 03:01, 1 December 2023 (UTC)

Even simpler, let f(x)=-x for x<0 and f(x)=-11x for x>=0.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.175.54|172.70.175.54]] 17:46, 3 December 2023 (UTC)

How is Tau also called "Twice Euler's constant"? IMO, the name Tau, or the value 6.28~, equals to and is used to replace 2pi, so it is not related to "Twice Euler's constant". --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.146|162.158.166.146]] 08:33, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Talk:2913: Periodic Table Regions

2024-03-30T03:23:09Z

DanielLC:

Working on the table catalog. For ones that are part of multiple groups, I used the one that takes up the most. For split ones like Mn, I put them both. For Cs, please don't change it because Randall's American and that's how he would think of it. I know what all the elements are so please don't edit conflict me. --[[User:Purah126|Purah #126]] ([[User talk:Purah126|talk]]) 20:50, 29 March 2024 (UTC)

:I'm done. Again, please don't have an edit war over cesium and aluminum. --[[User:Purah126|Purah #126]] ([[User talk:Purah126|talk]]) 20:50, 29 March 2024 (UTC)
::What about Hahnium? ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.163.31|172.70.163.31]] 20:54, 29 March 2024 (UTC)
:::That's only for some people in Berkeley, if someone can find evidence that he's used it before in a comic then sure lol. --[[User:Purah126|Purah #126]] ([[User talk:Purah126|talk]]) 21:12, 29 March 2024 (UTC)
::::At times, dubnium, hassium, meitnerium ''and'' darmstadtium were considered for naming after Otto Hahn, and it reached several stages of international deliberation.
::::I actually learnt my chemistry in a (UK) lab with a wall-poster periodic table that had Hahnium shown on it. But I can't quite remember in what position, nor can I remember enough of the other differences (there being several) from the actual 'official' namings, so cannot be sure exactly what provenance it had. Pre '92, though, which rules out some of the options.
::::...but memorable enough for me to 'keep an eye out' for the fate of the name in later years. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.43.243|172.69.43.243]] 21:56, 29 March 2024 (UTC)

What about the two categories implied by "Ends in a number, let it slumber. Ends in a letter, not much better"? Which elements are in which? -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 01:36, 30 March 2024 (UTC)
:I'd say "all in both". Any given "fooium" is going to be a reactive element that (especially as you go further down) is nasty to deal with 'raw'. But not as nasty as "fooium-123", which highly suggests a nuclear decay product that will further decay. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.218|172.71.178.218]] 02:39, 30 March 2024 (UTC)

Correcting some errors in the stuff about radon led me to add perhaps too much information about how it's formed, how it accumulates in basements, and how it causes health problems. I spent a few years in a lab whose primary research focus was on uranium mine waste and its consequences, so I've got some bias and blind spots. Others may want to edit it down. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 01:39, 30 March 2024 (UTC)

I'm too lazy to add this myself, but should there be something in the explanation about the overlap between "weird metals" and "murder weapons? (I checked over it quickly, correct me if there is already something about it) EDIT - just realized this could be due to mercury being in "murder weapons" - Thexkcdnerd 02:02, 30 March 2024 (UTC)

There should be a comment on the fact that people have included that last row inside the table, [such as here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_periodic_table#Predicted_structures_of_an_extended_periodic_table). It makes it really long, but there's a pretty basic pattern you can extend endlessly. Every other row, you lengthen it by four more than the previous pairs of rows. Though I understand the way orbitals work that make that useful doesn't really apply after you get too far down. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 03:23, 30 March 2024 (UTC)

Talk:2780: Physical Quantities

2024-03-23T06:24:16Z

DanielLC:

Planck Length here actually refers to the length of Planck himself. The same may apply to other names. [[User:Unreliable Connection|2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[User talk:Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 03:02, 25 May 2023 (UTC)
: And here I was thinking it meant the length of Planck ''planking''. [[User:Thisfox|Thisfox]] ([[User talk:Thisfox|talk]]) 22:00, 25 May 2023 (UTC)

I wonder if this is alluding to the [[wikipedia:Smoot|Smoot]], a unit of measure devised by MIT students to represent the height of Oliver R. Smoot. Probably worth a mention in the description nonetheless. [[User:Trimeta|Trimeta]] ([[User talk:Trimeta|talk]]) 03:45, 25 May 2023 (UTC)

Hawking radiation: ~100 W (through heat)

: I'm pretty sure he loses most of his heat through conduction and convection. Radiation should be much smaller. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 06:24, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

Planking is a thing.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planking_(fad) One pretends that one is a board, or plank. Are some funny pics. The opposite of planking would be good god how? How can even a cat!?!! [Special:Contributions/172.69.58.161|172.69.58.161]] 06:26, 25 May 2023 (UTC)

Hubble length is {{w|Hubble Space Telescope|13.2 m}}. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.64|141.101.98.64]] 10:30, 25 May 2023 (UTC)

The m³ unit for Broca's area is surely a typo, right? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.94.47|162.158.94.47]] 14:55, 25 May 2023 (UTC)
:That would be my guess. I sent a note to Randall to ask. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 21:24, 25 May 2023 (UTC)
::The comic has been corrected to m2 now. ~underhat

Just a couple of others: 1 Watt is what it takes to invent the condensing steam engine and Euler's number doesn't exist, because he died before telephones were invented. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.247.45|172.69.247.45]] 15:08, 25 May 2023 (UTC)
:There are lots of <someone>'s Number constants. We could have an entire phonebook of these. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 17:53, 25 May 2023 (UTC)
::I tried phoning Graham's Number, once. I'm still not yet finished dialling! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.186|172.70.91.186]] 19:22, 25 May 2023 (UTC)
:::I thought you meant Alexander Graham Bell's number. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.129|172.69.22.129]] 23:04, 25 May 2023 (UTC)
::::Shouldn't AG Bell's number be 1? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:03, 27 May 2023 (UTC)
:::::Or 2. (Thomas Watson being on 1.) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.231|172.69.79.231]] 18:14, 27 May 2023 (UTC)
:Chandresekhar's Limit = 3 pints? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 17:53, 25 May 2023 (UTC)
:Don't forget that numbers are now [[2721|Euler letters]]! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.137|172.70.85.137]] 20:41, 25 May 2023 (UTC)

From a friend, regarding Fermi's current temperature:
''The typical ground temperature of a burial plot in Chicago depends on the depth and the season. According to the Illinois State Climatologist Office, the average soil temperature at 4 inches depth ranges from about 25°F in January to about 75°F in July. The average soil temperature at 8 inches depth ranges from about 30°F in January to about 77°F in July. These measurements are made under grass, so the soil temperature under other ground covers or under bare ground may vary somewhat from those shown here. In the winter, when the ground is frozen, cemeteries are able to continue burying the dead by using special equipment such as frost rippers or steamers to break through the frozen layer of soil. They also use heaters or blankets to keep the graves open until the burial service is completed.'' [[User:RandalSchwartz|RandalSchwartz]] ([[User talk:RandalSchwartz|talk]]) 23:09, 25 May 2023 (UTC)
:Assuming his grave is 6 feet deep and his body is at 5 feet deep, he's going to be below the frost line, which is 40" in Chicago, so the temperature is never going to drop below 32°F. Based on the charts at https://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Cooling/EarthTemperatures.htm, he should see temperatures ranging from 40° to 62°. Interestingly enough, at that depth, the soil temperature will lag behind the surface temperature enough that the coldest temperatures will be in March and the warmest will be in September. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.89|162.158.63.89]] 03:36, 26 May 2023 (UTC)

Pretty sure the Schwarzschild radius is the radius of a curled up child, not of Mr. Schwarzschild. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.203.40|162.158.203.40]] 08:49, 26 May 2023 (UTC)

: 68cm diameter of a person curled up seems about right. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.139.32|172.68.139.32]] 15:23, 26 May 2023 (UTC)

Besides Smoot, there's [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erd%C5%91s_number Erdős number].

: The Erdős number (Hungarian: [ˈɛrdøːʃ]) describes the "collaborative distance" between mathematician Paul Erdős and another person, as measured by authorship of mathematical papers.

: The Erdős number or Paul Erdős is 0. Anyone who collaborated with him has Erdős number 1, and anyone who collaborated with someone with Erdős number 1 (but not Paul Erdős himself) has Erdős number 2 - and so on. Taking this comic's interpretation, the Erdős number should be either 1, 'cause there was only one Paul Erdős, or 0, because he's dead. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.139.32|172.68.139.32]] 15:23, 26 May 2023 (UTC)

:: What is the Erdős number of Kevin Bacon? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.207|172.71.178.207]] 15:21, 30 May 2023 (UTC)

::: I believe infinite, as he has published no relevant papers. {{unsigned ip|172.71.178.171|16:17, 26 October 2023}}
:::: That'd be 'undefined', then. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.7|172.70.90.7]] 23:52, 27 October 2023 (UTC)

: There's also the Helen: a unit of beauty named after Helen of Troy [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_(unit)]
:: I believe ''Système international d'unités'' wishes, in a reversal from the kilogram, treat the millihelen (mH) as the fundemental base unit. But they are having trouble finding a better definition prototype than the original platinum-iridium ship. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.68|172.70.91.68]] 08:51, 31 May 2023 (UTC)

Actually, anyone using Celsius degrees on daily basis, would write 36.6 degrees as human body temperature. 37 is slightly elevated. So 37 looks like "American converted known value from Farenheit scale" {{unsigned|172.68.138.182|12:18, 29 May 2023}}
:Well, 33.2–38.2°C (or 91.8–100.8°F, if you prefer, give or take the rounding in both) can actually be ''normal'', given acceptible changes in conditions (environmental) and condition (physiological). And of course it depends on which way you measure the core/surface temperature, even for the same person at the same instant. But it's the oft-quoted value. And just because it normally drifts doesn't mean that it hasn't ''ab''normally drifted, so can still be taken as a cue to check why it's a degree or three off the 'standard'.
:I suspect you could be more exacting with an uncomplaining long-dead corpse, but perhaps you don't need quite so much analysis when you already know that it's a long-dead corpse you're dealing with, once you've gotten past the need to assess the rate of insect pupation/etc. ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.132|172.70.85.132]] 13:08, 29 May 2023 (UTC)

Talk:2251: Alignment Chart Alignment Chart

2024-03-01T07:15:03Z

DanielLC:

OK, hope someone will now explain it after I created this page. I'm lost on this one ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:49, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

Arrgh, edit conflict! [[User:Kev|Kev]] ([[User talk:Kev|talk]]) 11:55, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure the Punnet Square is ''also'' a meme template...[[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.229|162.158.154.229]] 15:59, 7 January 2020 (UTC)

I vaguely remember Randall to refer to the clay-sand diagram (or whatever it is called) as his all time favorite diagram on what-if somewhere. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 12:35, 6 January 2020 (UTC)
:You vaguely remember "Starsand" from https://what-if.xkcd.com/83/ with the quote "Fortunately, there's a wonderful chart by the US Geologic Survey that answers all these questions and more. For some reason, I find this chart very satisfying—it's like the erosion geology edition of the electromagnetic spectrum chart." directly applicabe to this chart[[User:Tier666|Tier666]] ([[User talk:Tier666|talk]]) 17:57, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

I fear any attempt to "explain" the CIE chromaticity diagram will devolve into arguments about why Randall chose it. I have found that folks outside the world of optics or neurooptical studies have a hard time understanding why the raw colors available in single wavelengths comprise that short curvy line inside the full colorspace. The way our brain processes the relative signal strengths from the different types of retinal cones is quite amazing. [[User:Cellocgw|Cellocgw]] ([[User talk:Cellocgw|talk]]) 12:57, 6 January 2020 (UTC)
:CGW I'm shocked! Surely you know that single-wavelengths are the curvy outer boundary while the inner curvy line shows the response to blackbody spectra. ;-) -Fred [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.61|173.245.52.61]] 19:55, 6 January 2020 (UTC)
::Thanks for that; I was about to question the statement myself. All in all, I feel the current explanation of the chromaticity diagram doesn't really explain much, and seems unnecessarily biased to boot. I know just enough about chromaticity to think it's wrong but not enough to correct it. [[User:LtPowers|LtPowers]] ([[User talk:LtPowers|talk]]) 19:58, 6 January 2020 (UTC)
:::I agree that explanation isn't great, if it's not improved when I have free time tonight I'll take a stab at it. Or maybe CelloCGW will, since he IS an optics guru (which is why I had to raz him).[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.61|173.245.52.61]] 20:13, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

@Fred - mea culpa. I should think before writing. Fortunately :-), the ratio of the colorspace to any 1-dimensional line's area is still infinite! [[User:Cellocgw|Cellocgw]] ([[User talk:Cellocgw|talk]]) 20:33, 6 January 2020 (UTC) .... now that someone did post some explanation of CIE, more comments. The current CIE spec may be paywalled, but it has changed little if at all over the last 40 or 50 years, so it's not all that hard to get the values. There are several sites (naturally I've lost the URLs) which provide algos to convert HSM to RGB to HSV and so on. See Wikipedia, https://law.resource.org/pub/us/cfr/ibr/003/cie.15.2004.tables.xls , and similar repositories [[User:Cellocgw|Cellocgw]] ([[User talk:Cellocgw|talk]]) 20:44, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

:I redid the CIE explanation - focusing on describing the diagram, rather than one thing it might get used for (e.g. black body). I think the diagrams on the right are labeled chaotic because they are not some neat geometric shape over-all. I didn't really follow much of what was there, so feel free to revive some of it if it seems useful. (My background in color theory comes from computer science and graphics, rather than from physics or hardware design.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.201|162.158.107.201]] 00:57, 7 January 2020 (UTC)
::It's better! Though it might be nice to explain what the x and y coordinates on the CIE diagram represent. (I personally have no clue, even after perusing Wikipedia.) As for chaoticness and shape, really CN and CE are the one two that aren't simple geometric shapes; even CG is a trapezoid. [[User:LtPowers|LtPowers]] ([[User talk:LtPowers|talk]]) 15:04, 8 January 2020 (UTC)

I'm only familiar with 4th and 5th edition, but should the "Good/neutral/evil:" axis eplanation be changed to "selfless deeds or selfish deeds"? Good and evil are highly subjective ("One person's 'freedom fighter' is another person's 'terrorist'.") but at least in 5e the axis is explained as risking/sacrificing yourself for the benefit of others (Good) vs. sacrificing others for your own benefit (Evil). Also, the explanation of the CN character may benefit from dividing which parts of the explanation are "chatoic" vs "neutral". Finally the "lacking rhyme or reason" part of chaotic is highly debated within D&D circles. There are certainly people who play that way, but there are also others who feel that chaotic characters have just as much motivation and goals as a lawful or neutral character just that part of their motivation is to act contrarily to Tradition/Authority. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.186.54|162.158.186.54]] 14:37, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

: It seems from this page that even nerds tend to interpret the alignment system by the ‘common sense’ meaning of the names instead of the detailed explanation. I once simply went through the Wikipedia article, which cited the second edition IIRC: ‘lawful’ means sticking to ''some'' code of conduct, whereas ‘chaotic’ is a pure opportunist or behaves randomly. ‘Good’ and ‘evil’ indeed mean selfless vs selfish deeds, but afaik in one of the official explanations ‘evil’ meant exercising authority over others—so all managers would be ‘evil’ automatically. [[User:Aasasd|Aasasd]] ([[User talk:Aasasd|talk]]) 16:42, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

I am not sure the phase diagram is for Water - that has nine solid phases. Surely it is merely a simple example.
[[User:Arachrah|Arachrah]] ([[User talk:Arachrah|talk]]) 16:52, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

As an interesting note, this comic's alt-text also ends with a period inside of a quote. This was discussed at length in the previous comic. [[User:Agrasin|Agrasin]] ([[User talk:Agrasin|talk]]) 16:52, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

I'm just upset that both a soil diagram and the QAPF were included, but not the TAS. Where's the love for extrusive igneous rocks? [[User:Mergelong|Mergelong]] ([[User talk:Mergelong|talk]]) 18:22, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

BTW, I offer my condolences and wish luck to the person who's going to make a transcript of this comic. [[User:Aasasd|Aasasd]] ([[User talk:Aasasd|talk]]) 22:28, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

"lawful heterozygous silty liquid" Is this not him being Lawfull, having inherited different forms of a particular gene from each parent, and basically a bag full of salt water? [[User:Nappy|Nappy]] ([[User talk:Nappy|talk]]) 07:51, 7 January 2020 (UTC)

A phase diagram was also used in https://what-if.xkcd.com/138/ [[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.7|162.158.89.7]] 08:23, 7 January 2020 (UTC)

The phase diagrams for oxygen and radon look similar to the Lawful Neutral one here. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.166|172.68.34.166]] 23:06, 8 January 2020 (UTC)

Is it coincidence that the evil chaotic diagram looks a bit like a brain? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.9|162.158.158.9]] 10:52, 9 January 2020 (UTC)

Made a "real" one using actual picts from the internet based on this comic ... but ALSO using his comic. Meta, meta, meta, maybe? https://imgur.com/gallery/CagOh8s

I'm fairly certain that Randall is classifying himself using the Omnispace classifier, rather than referencing "the true neutral, neutral good, lawful good, and lawful neutral charts in the Alignment Chart Alignment Chart." as the current description suggests. If you look at the Omnispace classifier, Silt, Liquid, Heterozygous, and Lawful Good all share a common point on the chart. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.207|172.69.68.207]] 17:55, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

It is unclear to me why the explanation claims that the chart in the comic is missing the low central vowel ä. The official IPA chart does not include this vowel, and the use of a diaresis to indicate centralization, like all other diacritics for indicating relative articulation, are given in a separate section from the main chart. Granted, the vowel chart on Wikipedia does include ä, but there is no reason that we should expect XKCD to do the same. That said, the omission of ɐ is quite odd, and seems to be an error. {{unsigned|IcarusProblem|01:40, 12 December 2023}}
== Omnispace Classifier ==

I think the Omnispace Classifier is meant to be a horrific Frankenstein amalgamation of the other 8 kinds of chart. Theoretically it can "classify anything" since it can classify anything the other 8 can, but practically it would obviously be totally useless, or at least a lot less useful than just using the specific chart that works for the situation. [[User:Pureawes0me|Pureawes0me]] ([[User talk:Pureawes0me|talk]]) 12:09, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

In the description of the Omnispace Classifier, saying "the diagram created for this comic is considered to be chaotically evil." is wrong. The diagram created for this comic is ''not'' an Omnispace Classifier, it is an alignment chart. It's even in the title "Alignment Chart Alignment Chart". [[User:Pureawes0me|Pureawes0me]] ([[User talk:Pureawes0me|talk]]) 14:11, 8 January 2020 (UTC)
:I concur. [[User:LtPowers|LtPowers]] ([[User talk:LtPowers|talk]]) 15:04, 8 January 2020 (UTC)
I feel the "Omnispace Classifier" is actually chaotic evil due to its mishmash of axes, which change randomly in topic and direction depending where you look on the graph. --[[User:GoldNinja|GoldNinja]] ([[User talk:GoldNinja|talk]]) 17:43, 8 January 2020 (UTC)

== Chart Position Rationale ==

The page currently tries to explain each chart's position based on the content of the chart, e.g. the political compass chart is lawful because politics relates to laws. I think this is wrong: the charts are arranged based on their properties ''as charts''. It's not based on whatever it is they represent. This feels more in character with how Randall tends to do things. It also avoids making a bunch of value judgments about various topics. [[User:Khaim|Khaim]] ([[User talk:Khaim|talk]]) 23:05, 8 January 2020 (UTC)

Possible explanations for each chart:
* Soil chart: Information-dense, continuous, triangular
* Punnett square: Simple, square
* IPA vowel chart: Irregular shape
* Phase diagram: Square, continuous
* Alignment chart: "A is A"
* CIE chromaticity diagram: Irregular shape, ''curved'', nonlinear
* Political compass: Square (lawful), highly subjective, not very useful
* QAPF rock diagram: Diamond shape is misleading since it's actually two ternary charts stuck together, not very useful (unless you're a geologist?)
* Omnispace classifier: Totally made up, irregular, completely useless
[[User:Khaim|Khaim]] ([[User talk:Khaim|talk]]) 23:31, 8 January 2020 (UTC)

:I agree with this, and it's how I first interpreted the comic.--[[User:GoldNinja|GoldNinja]] ([[User talk:GoldNinja|talk]]) 23:40, 8 January 2020 (UTC)
:Well, the point is to make any connection to both axis of the chart. Your explanations do not do that properly either. e.g. for IPA vowel chart "Irregular shape" does not explain why it would be considered "good", while it is one of maybe more possible reasons for being considered chaotic. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:39, 9 January 2020 (UTC)

== XKCD Alignment Chart ==

A while back, I was searching for an XKCD alignment chart, with no success, so I made one. It is not perfect, so I'm wondering what other opinions on the alignment of the characters are.

Lawful Good- Beret

Neutral Good- Ponytail

Chaotic Good- Mrs. Roberts

Lawful Neutral-Cueball

Neutral Neutral- Megan

Chaotic Neutral- White hat

Lawful Evil- Hairy

Neutral Evil- Danish

Chaotic Evil- Black Hat

--[[User:Fallencrow305|Fallencrow305]] ([[User talk:Fallencrow305|talk]]) 22:10, 28 July 2016 (UTC)

:What about Help I'm trapped in a drivers license factory Elaine Roberts? --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 15:48, 29 September 2016 (UTC)
::Or Hairbun? Or Science Girl? Here are my predictions: Elaine - Chaotic Good, Hairbun - Lawful Good, Science Girl - Lawful Neutral --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 16:00, 29 September 2016 (UTC)

:What? How can Beret Guy be anything other than chaotic?— {{unsigned|}}

:You did:
:{| class="wikitable"
|-
! !! Lawful !! Neutral !! Chaotic
|-
! Good !! Beret || Ponytail || Mrs. Roberts
|-
! Neutral !! Cueball || Megan || White Hat
|-
! Evil !! Hairy || Danish ||Black Hat
|}
:'''[[User:While False|While False]] ([[User talk:While False|speak]] | [[User:While False/explain xkcd museum|museum]]) 18:10, 17 October 2022 (UTC)'''

...while I see the slight logic of moving the above section away from the Main Page "Talk", it is only associated with this Explanation by having a common subject. Perhaps should have been re-asserted under a suitable bit of the Community Portal, or the (Talk of the) umbrella page for all characters? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.147|172.70.86.147]] 15:54, 17 February 2023 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure the Punnett square is neutral because the effect of a genetic combination can be good (resistance to HIV) or evil (Huntington disease). [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 03:36, 26 February 2024 (UTC)

I object to the soil chart being lawful good. Two of the categories are concave. You can mix sandy loam with sandy loam and get loam, or silt loam with silt loam and get silt. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 07:15, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Talk:2709: Solar System Model

2022-12-10T06:30:37Z

DanielLC:

Like the [https://outerwilds.fandom.com/wiki/Quantum_Moon Quantum Moon] from Outer Wilds. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 06:30, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2332: Cursed Chair

2020-07-13T23:41:39Z

DanielLC:

why so pixelated?
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.206|162.158.34.206]] 23:06, 13 July 2020 (UTC) xkcd addict #40571

I'm pretty sure if he shops at IKEA he'd try to read one of the names and accidentally summon a demon. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 23:41, 13 July 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2328: Space Basketball

2020-07-04T00:36:19Z

DanielLC:

I'd just like to point out that this assumes cueball's odds of sinking a basket remain at 30% after hundreds/thousands of shots. One would think he would improve with practice.
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.75|162.158.62.75]] 23:53, 3 July 2020 (UTC)Duban
: Randall expresses as much in the title text. --[[User:NotaBene|NotaBene]] ([[User talk:NotaBene|talk]]) 00:00, 4 July 2020 (UTC)

Cueball's odds of 30 consecutive baskets are 0.3^30 = 2.06*10^-16. Earth is hit by about 6100 meteors per year, and a basketball hoop has a radius of 9 inches. Using that it will be hit about once every 5.09*10^11 years. In order for it to be even, Cueball would have to do approximately one trial every 55 minutes. Since he'll start over each time he misses, it works out to once attempt every 38.6 minutes. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 00:36, 4 July 2020 (UTC)

Talk:1910: Sky Spotters

2019-04-09T22:29:36Z

DanielLC: Relevant xkcd

Stargazers are not dangerous - they ignore anything closer than moon. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 00:54, 2 November 2017 (UTC)
:To many current administrations, pointing out provable facts can be *very* dangerous.
:[[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.190|162.158.75.190]] 04:16, 2 November 2017 (UTC)
::I just read the same sentence about Centaurs in the first Harry Potter book (reading for my daughter). But they would spot moving objects at night, and notice it were not stars, mentioning on their forums how annoying those light sources are ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:30, 2 November 2017 (UTC)

The solution for the committee in the third panel might be to disguise their drones as birds which are very common for the time and place in which the drones are operating. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.112|162.158.75.112]] 15:14, 2 November 2017 (UTC)
:The real solution is to attach surveillance cameras to birds. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.40|108.162.216.40]] 15:29, 2 November 2017 (UTC)
:: The real solution is cyborg birds with embedded surveillance cameras.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.32|162.158.155.32]] 09:57, 3 November 2017 (UTC)
::: The real solution is Google Balloon Internet, Google Glass, Google Home, Google Phone, Google Watch, Google TV, Google Mail, Google Calendar, Google Keep, Google Search, Google Photos, Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Street View, Google YouTube, Google Car, Google Window, Google Door, Google Bed, Google Bike, Google Shoes, Google Arm, Google Pet, Google Lifemate, Google Mind, Google Overlord.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.103|162.158.111.103]] 14:28, 3 November 2017 (UTC)
:::: [[792: Password Reuse|Relevant xkcd]] --[[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 22:29, 9 April 2019 (UTC)

Just paint it the color of the sk-oh wait. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.47.114|172.68.47.114]] 18:15, 2 November 2017 (UTC)
:Like this color: [[1556: The Sky]], and also check this [[1145: Sky Color]] ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:30, 2 November 2017 (UTC)

I see the military-industrial complex has been on and redacted the truth about UFOs.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.32|162.158.155.32]] 09:59, 3 November 2017 (UTC)

Might the title text also refer to the video game Homefront balloon release incident? The Marine Mammal Center responded directly to that incident. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.69.196|162.158.69.196]] 18:43, 3 November 2017 (UTC)

Talk:2100: Models of the Atom

2019-01-18T05:56:00Z

DanielLC:

No mention of the Platonic solid model? [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 05:56, 18 January 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2031: Pie Charts

2018-08-10T19:00:52Z

DanielLC:

I wonder if it is a coincidence that this came out the same week as Android Pie [[User:Zachweix|Zachweix]] ([[User talk:Zachweix|talk]]) 15:34, 10 August 2018 (UTC)

[[User:Zachweix|Zachweix]] [[Special:Diff/161046|seems]] to want to share this link: [https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/FOX-News-Chart-Fails-Math-73711092.html Fox News] --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 16:56, 10 August 2018 (UTC)
:What's wrong with the link? The link in that page is exactly the type of pie chart to which he is referring [[User:Zachweix|Zachweix]] ([[User talk:Zachweix|talk]]) 16:57, 10 August 2018 (UTC)

:: But that's the wrong place to put it. I'm not even sure that it fits anywhere in the article, but it ''definitely'' doesn't fit in the "who created this page" part of the "this page is incomplete" tag. --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 17:18, 10 August 2018 (UTC)

That's not a hyperbolic plane. It's more like a cone, but with more than 360 degrees instead of less. I don't know the proper term for it. It has curvature zero everywhere except the center, which is a singularity. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 19:00, 10 August 2018 (UTC)

Talk:2024: Light Hacks

2018-07-26T09:23:43Z

DanielLC:

We all know what we thinking, right :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECLvFLkvY7Y

Dyson spheres are the future but we’ll never see one in our lifetime, right? Maybe we can build small ones around candles and things as practice. Great art display for your local makerspace! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.100|162.158.63.100]] 11:03, 25 July 2018 (UTC)

Here’s a real light hack: https://hackaday.com/2016/02/29/fake-window-brings-natural-light-into-basement/ [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.183|162.158.62.183]] 15:21, 25 July 2018 (UTC)

I used to think life hacks were cool. Then I read a few of them and realized they were just Hints from Heloise with a cooler, hipper name.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.59.30|172.68.59.30]] 16:17, 25 July 2018 (UTC)Pat

:Pro-tip: Use these five simple tricks to turn any Life Hack into instant click-bait!
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 17:57, 25 July 2018 (UTC)

This Ikea lamp is more sci-fi: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00311498/ [[User:CityZen|CityZen]] ([[User talk:CityZen|talk]]) 20:16, 25 July 2018 (UTC)
:I'm proud to say I actually have that lamp in my bedroom [[User:Faultwire|I'm me(citation needed)]] ([[User talk:Faultwire|talk]]) 23:33, 25 July 2018 (UTC)

What's the comment about infrared studies being '''inconclusive''' about? I was under the impression that infrared light was one of the big reasons we knew there weren't any Dyson Spheres nearby. Is the comic referring to a study or something I haven't heard of, or am I overthinking this? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.243|162.158.74.243]] 02:33, 26 July 2018 (UTC)

:I think she just meant infrared studies to find out if they have them at IKEA. Referencing the fact that that's what you'd use to look for real Dyson spheres. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 09:23, 26 July 2018 (UTC)

I figured out indirect (diffused) lighting in 1982, in McCutcheon Hall at Purdue University. The central hall had lots of light, but no observable, central light source. I discovered that the light came from hidden fluorescent tubes, diffused against a plastered ceiling. The light we saw, came from overhead, in every direction. The basic outcome is: the more quanta you have, the less precise your measurement can be. OTOH, fewer quanta cast a sharper shadow.

The frosted bulb diffuses the shadows of the filament. The bulb's reflector can be an offset to the diffusion.

Talk:1822: Existential Bug Reports

2017-04-10T19:08:13Z

DanielLC:

Could the crisis be tied to the fact that SUPPORT for the hardware is now broken, so the issue itself and the workaround may not get successfully submitted, recorded, seen, or addressed? --BigMal // [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.52|162.158.75.52]] 14:54, 10 April 2017 (UTC)

It may (or may not) be worthy of note that this mirrors 2016 Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson's workaround for global warming. When asked about it he said, "Should we take the long-term view when it comes to global warming? I think that we should. And the long-term view is that in billions of years, the sun is going to actually grow and encompass the Earth, right."
--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.69.243|162.158.69.243]] 17:22, 10 April 2017 (UTC)

There are workarounds for Earth being devoured by the sun. [https://qntm.org/moving Here's a few]. Five and seven seem somewhat plausible. Also, we could leave the planet. A worse problem is the heat death of the universe. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 19:08, 10 April 2017 (UTC)

1657: Insanity

2016-03-21T06:24:51Z

DanielLC: /* Explanation */ Fixed my link formatting.

{{comic
| number = 1657
| date = March 18, 2016
| title = Insanity
| image = insanity.png
| titletext = I looked up "insanity" in like 10 different dictionaries and none of them said anything like that. Neither did the DSM-4. But I'll keep looking. Maybe it's in the DSM-5!
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic [[White Hat]] quotes a famous "definition of {{w|insanity}}" (usually [https://www.quora.com/Did-Einstein-really-define-insanity-as-doing-the-same-thing-over-and-over-again-and-expecting-different-results/answer/Peter-Baskerville?srid=z3OX attributed] to {{w|Albert Einstein}}, but actually from [https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Narcotics_Anonymous Narcotics Anonymous])

[[Cueball|Cueball's]] answer applies the quote to the action of quoting that quote. White Hat seems to have quoted that quote quite a few times already, expecting people to change their behavior which hasn't happened so far. So according to that definition of insanity, it is insane to keep quoting the definition of insanity, expecting people to change their behavior because of that.

[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/insane Merriam-Webster] defines "insane" as "mentally disabled."

The title text implies that [[Randall]] would be "insane" according to the quote he used in the comic because he has repeatedly searched for a definition of insanity that matches the one quotes in the comic and of course always gets a negative result, since this is a personal quote not a definition. Besides searching in lots of {{w|dictionary|dictionaries}}, he also looked in the {{w|Diagnostic_and_Statistical_Manual_of_Mental_Disorders|DSM-4}} (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition). The DSM-5 has been available since May 18, 2013 and he plans to look into it... expecting different results. Since he won't find it, he is from the quote insane, but of course since this turns out to not be the definition of insanity then he might not be anyway.

This comic follows a pattern similar to [http://xkcd.com/1339/ When You Assume].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is walking towards the right of the panel with White Hat walking behind him holding a finger up as to make a point.]
:White Hat: They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
:Cueball: You've been quoting that cliché for years. Has it convinced anyone to change their mind yet?

==Trivia==
*Given that xkcd revolves around pedantics and precise syntax, it appears Randall made an error by citing "DSM-4", as there's no such thing. DSM-IV (1994) and DSM-IV-tr (2000) are editions prior to DSM-5 (2013). With that error, Randall missed a chance for a secondary implicit comment about "neurotic shrinks" turning the APA policy change to switch from Roman numerals to decimal digits with DSM-5 into a huge internal controversy, as well as comparing the xkcd text about rigid doctrinal hypocrisy to the social fluidity of indirectly legally defined so-called mental illnesses, when both DSM-III and DSM-IV have had interim text revisions.
*"Insanity" does not appear as a word in DSM-5, but appears twice in DSM-IV, once in DSM-IV-tr. One of those instances is a reference in the introduction only to early 19th century attempts to classify "idiocy/insanity", as a US Census statistical category, and not a medical one per se. The other, which was removed from DSM-IV-tr, isn't a clinical definition, but descriptive of fears due to hallucinogens, of "insanity or death". OED 3rd Edition (subscription online only) discusses archaic medical, literature, and legal meanings, from the 16th to 19th centuries, and sidenotes in red the caveat that the word first included in 1900 is overdue for updates not completed for the current edition of OED. Their definition is cited as based on archaic legal usage, not medical usage.

{{comic discussion}}

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

1657: Insanity

2016-03-21T06:24:18Z

DanielLC: /* Explanation */ Added correct source for the quote.

{{comic
| number = 1657
| date = March 18, 2016
| title = Insanity
| image = insanity.png
| titletext = I looked up "insanity" in like 10 different dictionaries and none of them said anything like that. Neither did the DSM-4. But I'll keep looking. Maybe it's in the DSM-5!
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic [[White Hat]] quotes a famous "definition of {{w|insanity}}" (usually [https://www.quora.com/Did-Einstein-really-define-insanity-as-doing-the-same-thing-over-and-over-again-and-expecting-different-results/answer/Peter-Baskerville?srid=z3OX attributed] to {{w|Albert Einstein}}, but actually from [Narcotics Anonymous https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Narcotics_Anonymous])

[[Cueball|Cueball's]] answer applies the quote to the action of quoting that quote. White Hat seems to have quoted that quote quite a few times already, expecting people to change their behavior which hasn't happened so far. So according to that definition of insanity, it is insane to keep quoting the definition of insanity, expecting people to change their behavior because of that.

[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/insane Merriam-Webster] defines "insane" as "mentally disabled."

The title text implies that [[Randall]] would be "insane" according to the quote he used in the comic because he has repeatedly searched for a definition of insanity that matches the one quotes in the comic and of course always gets a negative result, since this is a personal quote not a definition. Besides searching in lots of {{w|dictionary|dictionaries}}, he also looked in the {{w|Diagnostic_and_Statistical_Manual_of_Mental_Disorders|DSM-4}} (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition). The DSM-5 has been available since May 18, 2013 and he plans to look into it... expecting different results. Since he won't find it, he is from the quote insane, but of course since this turns out to not be the definition of insanity then he might not be anyway.

This comic follows a pattern similar to [http://xkcd.com/1339/ When You Assume].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is walking towards the right of the panel with White Hat walking behind him holding a finger up as to make a point.]
:White Hat: They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
:Cueball: You've been quoting that cliché for years. Has it convinced anyone to change their mind yet?

==Trivia==
*Given that xkcd revolves around pedantics and precise syntax, it appears Randall made an error by citing "DSM-4", as there's no such thing. DSM-IV (1994) and DSM-IV-tr (2000) are editions prior to DSM-5 (2013). With that error, Randall missed a chance for a secondary implicit comment about "neurotic shrinks" turning the APA policy change to switch from Roman numerals to decimal digits with DSM-5 into a huge internal controversy, as well as comparing the xkcd text about rigid doctrinal hypocrisy to the social fluidity of indirectly legally defined so-called mental illnesses, when both DSM-III and DSM-IV have had interim text revisions.
*"Insanity" does not appear as a word in DSM-5, but appears twice in DSM-IV, once in DSM-IV-tr. One of those instances is a reference in the introduction only to early 19th century attempts to classify "idiocy/insanity", as a US Census statistical category, and not a medical one per se. The other, which was removed from DSM-IV-tr, isn't a clinical definition, but descriptive of fears due to hallucinogens, of "insanity or death". OED 3rd Edition (subscription online only) discusses archaic medical, literature, and legal meanings, from the 16th to 19th centuries, and sidenotes in red the caveat that the word first included in 1900 is overdue for updates not completed for the current edition of OED. Their definition is cited as based on archaic legal usage, not medical usage.

{{comic discussion}}

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

Talk:1636: XKCD Stack

2016-01-29T08:51:03Z

DanielLC:

I just came here. AM I IN THE FUTURE? ''I'm in the future!'' {{unsigned ip|199.27.130.246}}
:We are in the future together.{{unsigned|KingSupernova}}
::But if there are no comments, aren't we in the past? The distant past, before the beginning of the comments? ...Watch out for raptors!{{unsigned ip|162.158.2.227}}

Would you two sign your comments, please? --[[User:PsyMar|PsyMar]] ([[User talk:PsyMar|talk]]) 07:17, 29 January 2016 (UTC)
:It was actually three people '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:12, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

Right now it says that we aren't yet at the stage of having a CPU in Minecraft. That's not true. SethBling has implemented BASIC [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4e7PjRygt0 using only command blocks, armor stands, and banners]. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 08:50, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1636: XKCD Stack

2016-01-29T08:50:16Z

DanielLC:

I just came here. AM I IN THE FUTURE? ''I'm in the future!'' {{unsigned ip|199.27.130.246}}
:We are in the future together.{{unsigned|KingSupernova}}
::But if there are no comments, aren't we in the past? The distant past, before the beginning of the comments? ...Watch out for raptors!{{unsigned ip|162.158.2.227}}

Would you two sign your comments, please? --[[User:PsyMar|PsyMar]] ([[User talk:PsyMar|talk]]) 07:17, 29 January 2016 (UTC)
:It was actually three people '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:12, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

Right now it says that we aren't yet at the stage of having a CPU in Minecraft. That's not true. SethBling has implemented BASIC <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4e7PjRygt0">using only command blocks, armor stands, and banners</a>. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 08:50, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1634: In Case of Emergency

2016-01-25T10:10:46Z

DanielLC:

Just attempted my first transcript... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.163|108.162.249.163]] 07:22, 25 January 2016 (UTC)

Can someone please explain the title text?? When I search for "emergency locker" on google images, I get some disconcerting results... [[Special:Contributions/198.41.243.238|198.41.243.238]] 08:20, 25 January 2016 (UTC)

Probably means something like this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/St-John-Ambulance-Lockable-Cabinet/dp/B003KK6948 [[User:Jdluk|Jdluk]] ([[User talk:Jdluk|talk]]) 09:36, 25 January 2016 (UTC)

What I've wanted to do is have a normal one with a fire extinguisher, and next to it have a fireplace with a hammer in the back and a sign that says "In case of glass, extinguish fire." [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 10:10, 25 January 2016 (UTC)