explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2915: Eclipse Clouds

2024-04-03T22:19:34Z

Elli: /* Explanation */ sp

{{comic
| number = 2915
| date = April 3, 2024
| title = Eclipse Clouds
| image = eclipse_clouds_2x.png
| imagesize = 526x251px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The rare compound solar-lunar-nephelogical eclipse
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SOMETHING OBSCURED BY CLOUDS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Following on from [[2914: Eclipse Coolness]], Randall makes another comic about the {{w|Solar eclipse of April 8, 2024|solar eclipse occurring on April 8, 2024}}.

[[Cueball]] is checking the weather forecast. At the time that this comic was posted, much of the eclipse path was projected to be overcast, and Cueball expresses disappointment as someone wishing to watch the Moon slowly block out the Sun (and not the clouds obscuring both). The off-panel voice points out the mild irony that he wanted to see something block out the Sun, so the clouds technically fit his wish, leading Cueball to exclaim that he has a specific taste for things blocking the Sun.

The title-text references the 'alignment' of Sun, Moon ''and'' cloud, describing it as rare, although this is not really as desirable as it might make it sound. Sun/Moon conjunctions are already quite rare, so that the balance against Sun/Moon/no-cloud probabilities isn't really so notable, essentially being the general difference between cloud and no-cloud on any average day for your chosen location.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Cueball sits on an office chair at a desk, typing at his laptop.]
:Cueball: These eclipse weather forecasts are killing me.
:Laptop: ''refresh''

:[Cueball remains at his desk. An off-panel voice from the left speaks.]
:Off-panel voice: So you really want to see something block out the sun...

:[Cueball is still at his desk.]
:Off-panel voice: ...But not a cloud. It has to be the Moon specifically.
:Cueball: '''''My tastes are very singular!'''''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Weather]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Solar eclipses]]

2915: Eclipse Clouds

2024-04-03T22:19:15Z

Elli: /* Explanation */ clar

{{comic
| number = 2915
| date = April 3, 2024
| title = Eclipse Clouds
| image = eclipse_clouds_2x.png
| imagesize = 526x251px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The rare compound solar-lunar-nephelogical eclipse
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SOMETHING OBSCURED BY CLOUDS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Following on from [[2914: Eclipse Coolness]], Randall makes another comic about the {{w|Solar eclipse of April 8, 2024|solar eclipse occurring on April 8, 2024}}.

[[Cueball]] is checking the weather forecast. At the time that this comic was posted, much of the eclipse path was projected to be overcast, and Cueball expresses dissapointment as someone wishing to watch the Moon slowly block out the Sun (and not the clouds obscuring both). The off-panel voice points out the mild irony that he wanted to see something block out the Sun, so the clouds technically fit his wish, leading Cueball to exclaim that he has a specific taste for things blocking the Sun.

The title-text references the 'alignment' of Sun, Moon ''and'' cloud, describing it as rare, although this is not really as desirable as it might make it sound. Sun/Moon conjunctions are already quite rare, so that the balance against Sun/Moon/no-cloud probabilities isn't really so notable, essentially being the general difference between cloud and no-cloud on any average day for your chosen location.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Cueball sits on an office chair at a desk, typing at his laptop.]
:Cueball: These eclipse weather forecasts are killing me.
:Laptop: ''refresh''

:[Cueball remains at his desk. An off-panel voice from the left speaks.]
:Off-panel voice: So you really want to see something block out the sun...

:[Cueball is still at his desk.]
:Off-panel voice: ...But not a cloud. It has to be the Moon specifically.
:Cueball: '''''My tastes are very singular!'''''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Weather]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Solar eclipses]]

User talk:Elli

2021-04-04T12:22:37Z

Elli: lol

== Blue name ==
Hm yes, correcting a few things is enough to have a blue name :] [This post was made by a grammar nazi]. [[User:Beanie|Beanie]] ([[User talk:Beanie|talk]]) 12:44, 11 March 2021 (UTC)
:thanks! [[User:Elli|Elli]] ([[User talk:Elli|talk]]) 12:22, 4 April 2021 (UTC)

User talk:Elli

2021-04-04T12:22:25Z

Elli:

== Blue name ==
Hm yes, correcting a few things is enough to have a blue name :] [This post was made by a grammar nazi]. [[User:Beanie|Beanie]] ([[User talk:Beanie|talk]]) 12:44, 11 March 2021 (UTC)
:{{re|Beanie}} thanks! [[User:Elli|Elli]] ([[User talk:Elli|talk]]) 12:22, 4 April 2021 (UTC)

Jill

2021-03-11T10:50:14Z

Elli: /* Characteristics */ rephrase

{{Infobox character
| image = Science_Girl.png
| imagesize =
| caption = Science Girl as seen in [[1611: Baking Soda and Vinegar]]
| first_appearance = [[585: Outreach]]
}}
'''Science Girl''' is a [[stick figure]] character in [[xkcd]].

She became the first child to have her own character category, and she is usually distinguished by being clearly a child (compared to adults around her or her behavior). Her hair is typically set in a hair bun, but compared to [[Hairbun]] it is more loose, she may have more curly hair, and typically there is a string of hair hanging down her back from the hair bun. As she is usually also clearly a child she cannot be confused with Hairbun under most conditions.

She can have several different variant hair styles though, with [[1058: Old-Timers|two buns]] or no buns but a [[585: Outreach|ponytail]]. The best way to recognize her is from her behavior, where she is very interested in science, and typically more knowledgeable about the subject at hand than the adults around her, which may either results in embarrassment, enlightenment or even dangerous situations depending on how obtuse or condescending the adults around her behave.

==Characteristics==
Science Girl is a minor character in xkcd, but there are several comics where she is the main protagonist (or antagonist in some cases).

She is not necessarily the same character from comic to comic, instead being used to represent the general kid interested in science. She seems, however, to be more of a character like [[Black Hat]], with her ability to make other people feel uncomfortable, than an every woman like [[Hairbun]]. But she is not generic evil, and thus in no way would she represent a young version of [[Danish]].

One of her largest parts is in [[1611: Baking Soda and Vinegar]] (see her character image), which is one of those that becomes dangerous for the obtuse adults. She is also ready to commit crime, even though she knows about environmental issues in [[1659: Tire Swing]] (the only comic with her so far where there are no adults, but it is clear that she is a girl), where she, along with another girl, steal the tires off a man's car, and then fight him. But she may also just induce new interest for science in [[Megan]] as in [[1104: Feathers]], or just display general interest in science as in [[1352: Cosmologist on a Tire Swing]] or the first comic (found so far) with her [[585: Outreach]] (where she only had a ponytail). It was also in this first appearance we learn why she wants to become a scientist.

In three cases she is depicted as a young '''adult woman'''. These are in [[1520: Degree-Off]], where the hair and behavior fit perfectly with a grown up Science Girl, [[1737: Datacenter Scale]], where she appears to be running a data center, and [[2344: 26-Second Pulse]], where she is giving a lecture on an unexplained seismological signal.
*There are other comics with women looking like this, but in those instances there is no scientific context that could relate to science girls so they have been listed as Hairbun for now:
**[[703: Honor Societies]]
**[[708: Sex Dice]]
**[[1601: Isolation]]
**[[1608: Hoverboard]] in every instance.
*Maybe this will be changed later, when the community has had a chance to look into this new character.

==Gallery==
Since Science Girl is depicted in different ways so here is a gallery of some of these different appearances, her first appearance, her standard appearance, two buns and adult:

[[File:Science Girl with ponytail 585.png]][[File:Science_Girl.png]] [[File:Science Girl with two hair buns 1058.png]] [[File:Hair Bun Girl with curly hair and ponytail biologist.png]]

==See also==
*[[:Category:Comics featuring Science Girl|Comics featuring Science Girl]]

{{navbox-characters}}

Category:Ferrets

2021-03-11T10:48:34Z

Elli: typo fix

[[Randall Munroe|Randall's]] brother had a pet {{w|ferret}}. He has only been seen in two comics. The first one included him getting outfitted with wings by Cueball, in the hope that Ferret could fly. This idea was quickly shot down, however, and was explained away as a costume. The idea was not too far off, as he is last seen saving Barrel Boy from a piece of driftwood which he was floating on. The two were last seen flying away into the sunset.

{{navbox-characters}}
[[Category:Animals|ferret]]
[[Category:Characters]]