2916: Machine

2024-04-07T06:22:47Z

Digin: recently witnessed that

{{comic
| number = 2916
| date = April 5, 2024
| title = Machine
| image = machine_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x740px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The Credible Machine
}}* To experience the interactivity, visit the [https://xkcd.com/2916/ original comic].

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a WELL OILED ROBOT. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This is the 14th [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]] released by [[Randall]]. The previous April fools' comic was [[2765: Escape Speed]] from 2023, which was released on Wednesday, April 19, 2023.

Once again an April Fool's Day Comic came out late, as Randall did not release this on April 1st, even though April 1st did fall on a Monday, a normal release day. It first came four days later with the Friday release on April 5th. That this is to be considered an April fools' comic, in spite of the later release, was confirmed on the xkcd Facebook page, see the [[#Trivia|trivia section]] below.

This is a spin on the game {{w|The Incredible Machine}}.

Upon loading the page, you are presented with marbles being added to a box by geared wheels, with a button to open a “tool panel”. You are encouraged by Cueball to direct the marbles into a little “output” gear, and that marbles have a lifespan of 30 seconds to reduce clutter. There are large and small boards available for use, as well as some gimmicky stuff like prisms that sort marbles by color, and fans that blow marbles around.

The comic starts in a main screen where the user can create a {{w|Rube Goldberg machine}} in a "Cell" where the goal is to route a constant stream of colored balls from an input on the ceiling or a wall to outputs of a matching color on the walls or floor. After the comic is first opened a window pops up over the machine where Cueball in a lab coat tells you to route the balls from the inputs to the outputs. If any balls are left in your cell for more than 30 seconds, they fade away. The first time a ball fades away another popup informs you that the balls are removed for security reasons. When you have built a machine which succeeds in routing enough balls to the output, a popup will prompt you to submit your cell to be added to the public machine.

[Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/41510c.png]
[Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/4ec76a.png]
[Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/96a68a.png]

The different ball colors have different physical properties. Red balls are more bouncy than other balls, green balls are heavier, and yellow balls are lighter and slightly bouncy. The following values were extracted from the code:
{| class="wikitable"
! Color
! Mass
! Density
! Restitution (bounciness)
! Linear damping (drag)
|-
! Blue
| 0.08
| 1
| 0
| 0
|-
! Red
| 0.08
| 1
| 0.8
| 0
|-
! Green
| 0.75
| 9.325
| 0
| 0
|-
! Yellow
| 0.024
| 0.3
| 0.6
| 2
|}

The button in the bottom right corner brings you to a page where you can drag around to view all of the machines that have been submitted, with a title for each in the upper left corner. In this view you can see that all of the outputs are also inputs for another cell, except for the top row where the inputs come from off screen and the lowest row which output through a launcher of some kind to a set of four colored-coded containers far below. Any empty cells are marked off by yellow tape with the words "UNDER CONSTRUCTION" as well as "DJIA ↑ 31415" once in each cell. "DJIA" stands for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, with "DJIA ↑ 31415" indicating that it rose to 31415 points, 31415 being the first five digits of pi, without the period.

When you press submit, you will see your creation placed on the grid. However if you refresh that cell will likely be under construction or replaced with someone else's machine. However, other people's machines are consistently placed, so it appears that there is some moderation process selecting a machine for each cell out of the machines submitted by users.

The grid is 12 cells wide, and grows in height. The largest size observed so far is 12x44, for a total of 528 cells. The machine's height is determined by the lowest cell; This can be either your submitted cell, or a cell created by another user.

Whenever balls reach the bottom of the grid, they are directed towards 4 containers, one of each color. Below the containers is a pit. If no balls are entering the containers or pit, it will be empty. If one or two streams of balls are making it, Cueball and Megan sit in a small boat named the USS Buoyancy. More streams of balls are likely to add more changes.

The page header credits several people for helping to create the comic:
<blockquote>"Today's comic was created with [https://chromakode.com/ Max Goodhart], [https://github.com/spyhi Ed White], [https://twitter.com/uh_oh_thats_bad Alex Garcia], [https://twitter.com/cotrone Kevin Cotrone], [http://burningcandle.io/ Conor & Ami Stokes], [https://liranuna.com/ Liran Nuna], [https://www.instagram.com/fading_interest/ Patrick], [https://manishearth.github.io/ Manish Goregaokar], [https://github.com/benley Benjamin Staffin], [https://github.com/ayust Amber], and [https://github.com/dyfrgi Michael Leuchtenburg] with physics by [https://rapier.rs/ Rapier]."</blockquote>
----
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"
|+ List of objects
|-
! Description !! Effect !!
|-
| Plank || Static || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/a8b809.png]
|-
| Hammer || Static || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/2d6deb.png]
|-
| Sword || Static || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/f245b2.png]
|-
| Hinged scoop || Rotates around its hinge, tries to stay upright with a springy effect || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/1b1e79.png]
|-
| Anvil || Static || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/81ef42.png]
|-
| Brick || Static || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/7b3961.png]
|-
| Fan || Blows away balls in front of it. Different colours are affected by differing amounts (red balls are lightest, and can be levitated above an upward-facing fan).|| [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/4d5467.png]
|-
| Pillow || Balls will not bounce if they hit it || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/e2cc7d.png]
|-
| Round bumper || Bounces balls away at significantly higher speed || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/67d78e.png]
|-
| Triangle bumper left || Bounces balls away at significantly higher speed || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/7c8f8d.png]
|-
| Triangle bumper right || Bounces balls away at significantly higher speed || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/625a2e.png]
|-
| Attractor/Black Hole || Pulls balls toward center, can be resized || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/88f05f.png]
|-
| Repulsor || Repels balls away from center, can be resized || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/f2a087.png]
|-
| Prism || "Refracts" balls as they enter and exit || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/bc114c.png]
|-
| Wheel || Spins normally (anticlockwise), deflects balls, can jam with enough resistance (e.g. glut of balls or against other elements). || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/f31887.png]
|-
| "Good job" trophy || ? || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/1193be.png]
|-
| Glass cup || ? || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/b0c4c6.png]
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"
|+ Characters
|-
! Description !! Image
|-
| Ponytail with raised arms || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/85dcb9.png]
|-
| Ponytail standing || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/120110.png]
|-
| Cueball with raised arms || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/b6e607.png]
|-
| White Hat || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/079478.png]
|-
| Knit Cap sliding? || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/bcbc01.png]
|-
| Knit Cap || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/0bb944.png]
|-
| Helmet? || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/406d05.png]
|-
| Probably Deterministic sign || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/10b2dc.png]
|-
| Squirrel || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/f5efa6.png]
|-
| Rabbit || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/4d5b81.png]
|-
| Cat || [Media:https://xkcd.com/2916/client/static/0d16d5.png]
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[Cueball with lab coat, intro popup]
Cueball: Balls falling into your cell should be routed to the outputs at a steady rate.

[Cueball with lab coat, warning popup]
Cueball: For security reasons, balls that remain in your device for more than 30 seconds will be removed and destroyed.

[Cueball with lab coat, submit popup]
Cueball: Congratulations! Your contraption has passed all tests. Press [submit button] to submit it to be added to the machine!

==Trivia==
*When Randall posted a [https://www.facebook.com/TheXKCD/posts/pfbid0Cs97awQZi1ZiaEXouAex9tXrwAS3qJV3RmAiuCq5uvZQwqZVMgDmcqJ7JU9LYodYl link to this comic] on his [https://www.facebook.com/TheXKCD Facebook feed], he directly wrote that it was a late April Fools' Day!
**MACHINE
**Happy Belated April Fool's Day!
*This thus ends any discussion of whether this should be seen as an April Fool's comic or not.
**It just came out 4 days late. This has also happened several times since [[Garden]].
[[File:2916 Machine Facebook April fools' confirmation.png]]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:April fools' comics]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]
[[Category:Comics with animation]]
[[Category:Interactive comics]]

Talk:2863: Space Typography

2023-12-04T22:17:26Z

Digin:

Are the dot's actually roughly in line with the distances?

[[Special:Contributions/172.71.135.78|172.71.135.78]] 21:31, 4 December 2023 (UTC)

Yes they are. I eyeballed with a screenruler and calculated

* 0.40 AU for Mercury (Should be 0.37)
* 0.72 AU for Venus (0.72)
* 1 AU for earth (reference)
* 1.54 AU for Mars (1.52)
* 5.24 AU for Jupiter (4.98)

[[Special:Contributions/162.158.202.94|162.158.202.94]] 21:48, 4 December 2023 (UTC)

But what size font?[[User:Danger Kitty|Danger Kitty]] ([[User talk:Danger Kitty|talk]])

The number of "e"s between h and r required to make Saturn line up is about 59 (tested using 27.2 pt font) [[User:Digin|Digin]] ([[User talk:Digin|talk]]) 22:17, 4 December 2023 (UTC)

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2916: Machine

Talk:2863: Space Typography