explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2408: Egg Strategies

2021-01-07T17:27:12Z

Dvgrn: Egg Carton Theory link

I'm not going to get into it because it's not related to these egg cartons, but it is ''really weird'' sitting here explaining a joke while I listen to breaking news on the radio. [[User:Captain Video|Captain Video]] ([[User talk:Captain Video|talk]]) 22:24, 6 January 2021 (UTC)

I really thought it was just me who cared about center of gravity for eggs. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.49|162.158.79.49]] 23:43, 6 January 2021 (UTC)

We keep the hard boiled ones at one end and the fr4esh ones at the other end.

Bring True Neutral (egg carton sits lengthwise in fridge, most convenient egg is removed until carton is empty), I am ''baffled'' by the existence of other "strategies". Do people really do this? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.70|108.162.241.70]] 00:57, 7 January 2021 (UTC)
: True Neutral here, and also putting the carton in the fridge eggless side out (which is consistent with "most convenient egg removed"). The current explanation says that this is "a disaster waiting to happen". Why? As a side-note, as I understand it, the alternate strategies can be convenient if you ''don't'' put the carton lengthwise in the fridge (particularly if you don't put it in the fridge ''at all''). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.183.117|162.158.183.117]] 11:26, 7 January 2021 (UTC)
:: I am also True Neutral - when putting the carton into the fridge end-first it allows me to extract it with the majority of the weight in my hand. It's a disaster if it is inserted the heavy side in first because when I grab the empty end the weight of the eggs can tip them out the other side. As an aside, I was a little insulted to find out that I am not the only person in the world who actually has an "egg carton strategy". I thought I was unique! ;-) [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 13:40, 7 January 2021 (UTC)
::: Ha, no, far from it! Nothing new under the sun, I guess. Here's some documentation of prior art by John McIntosh from 2006, under the title [http://www.urticator.net/essay/6/649.html "Egg Carton Theory"]. [[User:Dvgrn|Dvgrn]] ([[User talk:Dvgrn|talk]]) 17:27, 7 January 2021 (UTC)
: Chiming in on True Neutral strategy, which I also use, with some added thoughts: I also put the heavy end in first, but primarily because I usually have two cartons stacked, where inserting the heavy end on top of the full carton in the fridge makes it easier to push the carton the rest of the way in on top of the bottom carton. Putting it in the other way around, the heavy end is hanging off the bottom carton, resulting in less stability before it's pushed all the way in. If you can't tell, I'm an engineer! [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 14:41, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Being Lawful Good and married to someone who is Chaotic Good, we might sometimes argue over this. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.29|162.158.62.29]] 03:23, 7 January 2021 (UTC) MSS

In Germany, there are two sizes of egg cartons, containing 6 or 10 eggs, respectively. Most refrigerators I’ve seen (in stores or households) contain an egg-holder with six dents, though I also have occasionally seen 10-dent egg holders.
Since I usually buy 20 eggs at the weekly market, my strategy is to transfer the eggs from a package to the egg holder once there are less than 9 left in the package (for the purpose of knowing how many are still left without having to open a package). If there are more than six eggs, the one or two additional eggs are placed lying besides the egg holder.
I think that counts as chaotic neutral. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.68.28|141.101.68.28]] 01:42, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

I've got a niggling feeling that Chaotic Neutral (at least) is wrongly depicted. Too orderly. I'd have put Chaotic Good's pattern there (not necessarily vice-versa, as the current incumbent looks more Lawful or Variation-of-neutrality as well as Good) as attempting to maintain balance but with an element of chance. We don't know what sequence of removal ''led'' to each of these states, of course. That might make much of the difference in how we reach the illustrated states. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.253|162.158.158.253]] 03:03, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

I'd go a little further and swap CG and CN (the current CG being a marginally more ordered and balanced CN) but otherwise agree. CN is the strategy I use when the carton is at risk of being centrally supported while in humid conditions (don't ask), making NG risk bending of the whole carton. LG is actually worse then NG in some circumstances, due to a drastically reduced moment of inertia contributing to the chance of dropping. On the other hand, NG increases the probability of end-shattering if the carton is actually dropped. Overall, different strategies are probably a result of experience, circumstance, relative clumsiness, and hat colour. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.75|162.158.166.75]] 05:43, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

I feel like the chaotic good isn't random. It seems like it could be Braille or something like that, maybe? I don't know, I might looking for patterns where there are none.

Is it bother anyone that there are different numbers of eggs in each carton? At least there should have been two boxes for each alignment, one with an even number of eggs and one with odd.
:: I was thinking precisely this. Can lead to a sense of "apples and oranges" otherwise. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.49|108.162.216.49]] 15:51, 7 January 2021 (UTC)MeZimm

Talk:993: Brand Identity

2019-08-30T18:02:18Z

Dvgrn: Further confirmation that there's nothing new under the sun

Notice that the sugar is inverted? Weird.
--Classhole 23:22, 24 January 2013 (UTC)
:Weird, the hot sauce is also inverted [[User:BlueRoll18|BlueRoll18]] ([[User talk:BlueRoll18|talk]]) 02:38, 7 February 2013 (UTC)
:::While the sugar and hot sauce are unusual in that you can easily read the packaging, I don't think they are supposed to be in the same product range. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 16:25, 8 December 2014 (UTC)
:Possibly a reference to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_sugar_syrup inverted sugar syrup]. [[User:Liyang|Liyang]] ([[User talk:Liyang|talk]]) 05:44, 5 May 2015 (UTC)

NONAME in Canada uses yellow boxes with black text but basically the same idea.
--Pundawg 18:56, 19 February 2013 (UTC)

I didn't get this joke because I grew up eating "Slim Price" food branded exactly this way. -lolo {{unsigned ip|99.120.200.86}}

There's a brand called "Ja!" from the Rewe group in Germany that uses this exact concept somewhat, but nowadays, the packages contain pictures and illustrations of all kinds, and aren't as white, simple and plain as they used to be in the past. See: http://www.rewe.de/besser-einkaufen/ja/produkte-und-infos.html
--Rolfhub 23:25, 14 September 2013

:Here is some old image of the designs: [https://web.archive.org/web/20040503194438im_/http://www.rewe-ja.de/nxMODULES/nxCONTENTER/content/1_425Bild1.jpg]. It's not as simple as in the comic, but it's certainly the same idea. -- [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.39|108.162.219.39]] 20:25, 24 April 2014 (UTC)

:Ah, dear old "Ja!"... it saved my life back when I was a broke student. Anyway, also the M-Budget line from Swiss Migros recently started adding pictures to its product, but before that it was all green packaging with black writing. Wonerful --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.31|108.162.229.31]] 13:36, 26 May 2014 (UTC)
::"Ja!" is a very successful brand sold in Germany (and more countries) offered by {{w|REWE}}. The products are presented in a white cover, just showing the word "Ja!" ("Yes!" in English) and much smaller the content of the product. Maybe this could also be mentioned at the trivia section. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:55, 26 May 2014 (UTC)

I think the lack of URL is just to troll the consumers. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.63.180|173.245.63.180]] 00:33, 13 November 2013 (UTC)

Actually several brands in the Netherlands did this before the comic was posted. They switched to a red/white two-colour scheme with the product in large letters in English. The problem was, that multiple brands did this, which made them look very similar. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.95|141.101.75.95]] 16:09, 8 December 2014 (UTC)
Hey, something seems wrong with the IP logging. The logged IP is not mine. -- [[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.95|141.101.75.95]] 16:11, 8 December 2014 (UTC)
: About multiple brands looking the same. Contrary to "tragedy of the commons", "prisoners dilemma", or "what if everyone act like that" https://xkcd.com/958/ , this is not a problem. It would actually be approaching utopia. When people look for distinguishing features, they would have to, like, read the nutrition on the back, or look for comparison prices. I.e. relevant info, instead of "oh shiny". /David A [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.33|141.101.80.33]] 05:36, 24 August 2016 (UTC)

For a couple of decades this exact thing existed: http://www.google.com/search?q=black+on+white+generic+brand+products In fact I'm certain that that is the joke.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.156|108.162.215.156]] 07:38, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

I believe this may be a reference to the film Repo Man. {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.170}}

I don't know how common [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muji Muji] stores are in the US (where I imagine most readers reside), but this is basically what they've been doing since the 1980s. [[User:Liyang|Liyang]] ([[User talk:Liyang|talk]]) 05:33, 5 May 2015 (UTC)

Soylent 2.0 is doing this exact thing: https://soylent-production-herokuapp-com.global.ssl.fastly.net/static/images/drink_secondary_messaging_block1.3571d250b954.jpg Interestingly, that image is very similar to this comic.03:36, 7 February 2016 (UTC)

I was at walmart the other day and noticed a brand doing this, without even a brand name. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 20:31, 23 March 2016 (UTC)

;/* Trivia */

Randall made a mistake as the ketchup is labeled "kerhup" {{unsigned ip|108.162.245.118}}
:No, if you zoom in it'sthe letters 'TC', which overlap slightly because of the cramped bottle. {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.133 }}

Why is the tea box green except for inside the A?[[User:Bbrk24|Bbrk24]] ([[User talk:Bbrk24|talk]]) 00:23, 4 May 2016 (UTC)
:It's actually yellow; you may wish to check to see if you are colorblind. There are many errors in filling in spaces that should be colored, though. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.244.79|108.162.244.79]] 01:33, 9 July 2016 (UTC)

This comics have spawned a thread on reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/nkytu/brand_identity/ . It appears there was a '''no-brand car''' i Japan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muji#History /David A [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.33|141.101.80.33]] 05:02, 24 August 2016 (UTC)

The generic milk is in a plain glass or plastic container on the shelves of the grocery section of this store, not in the refrigerated cooler. Milk stocked in this location will spoil rapidly. Only aseptically packaged milk can sit on a warm shelf for extended periods without spoiling. [[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]])

What product is [18]? If this contains, as I read, {{w|Cervical cap}}s it makes no sense to sell them in a bulk pack as a cervical cap is a reusable contraceptive device. Or does it refer to [https://www.amazon.com/Gynotex-Dry-Sponge-Tampons-Pack/dp/B00U1K7DH2/ref=lp_12588685011_1_1_a_it?srs=12588685011&ie=UTF8&qid=1487934169&sr=8-1 soft tampons] as menstrual management device? The latter would fit better to the picture, but not to the text... As I am from Germany, I am not familiar with the common products offered in a supermarket. Perhaps anyone can help? --[[User:LaVe|LaVe]] ([[User talk:LaVe|talk]]) 10:59, 24 February 2017 (UTC)

Why would 6 and 7 be errors when many brands of crackers have multiple flavors with the packaging just changing to show the flavor difference. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.231|162.158.62.231]] 13:31, 24 August 2017 (UTC)

I would buy clearly labeled "shampoo", "conditioner" etc. The ones sold in the stores where I live list the brand, the product effect, some slogans, what it contains or smells like, some more slogans, bottle volume etc. And in a tiny font somewhere between the lines, the actual product type. :( [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.178|108.162.241.178]] 23:56, 24 October 2017 (UTC)

Apparently, the Pathmark supermarket chain used to employ exactly this strategy: https://www.retroist.com/2018/01/30/no-frills-products-pathmark/ [[Special:Contributions/172.69.54.69|172.69.54.69]] 20:41, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

Why are there so many unreadable ones? There could be Lays and stuff. Maybe Kleenex. But at least put more real brands. Or don't. [[User:StillNotOriginal|StillNot]][[User talk:StillNotOriginal|Original]] 21:01, 20 May 2018 (UTC)

[http://www.publicgoods.com Public Goods] seems to be the most recent high-profile company to adopt this kind of simplified black-on-white, one-choice-per-product labeling. Clearly this idea is as old as the hills. In fact, every single commodity product found on shelves in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascaux Lascaux Caves] is labeled just like this. [[User:Dvgrn|Dvgrn]] ([[User talk:Dvgrn|talk]]) 18:02, 30 August 2019 (UTC)