explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:745: Dyslexics

2016-01-09T10:09:33Z

Flewk:

Can someone explain this sentence: "I kept doing 'doing 'doing it wrong' wrong' wrong."? Other than the 3 nested quotes, I don't get the point. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 16:10, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

He's expanding the "it" in "doing it wrong." The joke of the comic itself is that the dyslexics are having difficulty making a mistake--they're doing "doing it wrong" wrong. In the title-text, Randall reveals he was having difficulty doing that wrong--he was doing "doing "doing it wrong" wrong" wrong. --[[User:Hatkirby|Hatkirby]] ([[User talk:Hatkirby|talk]]) 07:17, 4 January 2014 (UTC)

It's a nested statement. Perhaps made clearer with parenthesis. He's {doing [doing (doing it wrong) wrong] wrong}. In other words. He's incorrectly executing the incorrect execution of "doing it wrong" [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.112|199.27.128.112]] 03:27, 2 May 2014 (UTC)

A := "doing it wrong" 
This is referring to the mispelling of 'unite' as 'untie' by the dyslexic designer of the T-shirt.
B := "doing A wrong" == "doing 'doing it wrong' wrong" 
This refers to Randall's purposefully mispelling 'untie' as 'unite' to parody the The Far Side comic (which spelled 'unite' as 'untie').
C := "doing C wrong" == "doing 'doing 'doing it wrong' wrong' wrong" 
This refers to Randall getting confused and writing out 'untie' instead of 'unite'. He is messing up his parody of the The Far Side joke.
Steven Chartis [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.124|108.162.237.124]] 22:48, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

"an invresion" is likely a typo but it's on-topic so I'm totally leaving it there [[Special:Contributions/188.114.97.133|188.114.97.133]] 00:54, 22 February 2015 (UTC)

I actually saw "untie" on first glance... that sukcs... [[User:Flewk|flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 10:09, 9 January 2016 (UTC)

730: Circuit Diagram

2016-01-09T09:23:52Z

Flewk: /* Explanation */ modified magic smoke joke

{{comic
| number = 730
| date = April 21, 2010
| title = Circuit Diagram
| image = circuit_diagram.png
| titletext = I just caught myself idly trying to work out what that resistor mass would actually be, and realized I had self-nerd-sniped.
}}

==Explanation==
Another fine example of [[356|nerd sniping]].
There are pieces of circuit diagrams, road maps, chemical diagrams, and other things all mixed in.
Explanations for each below!

{|class="wikitable table-padding left-align"
!Image Fragment
!width="130px" | Image Location
!Description
|-
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=19|Y=25|W=106|H=37|image=circuit_diagram-019-025-106-037-scale.png|text=A map scale. Lists kilometers and miles as equivalent. And makes the diagram many miles wide.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=15|Y=62|W=40|H=85|image=circuit_diagram-015-062-040-085-antenna.png|text=An antenna. Typical of radio receivers or transmitters. Or the Turtle in LOGO programming language}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=53|Y=60|W=41|H=87|image=circuit_diagram-053-060-041-087-inductor.png|text=A coil or inductor. Normal, but unlabeled.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=107|Y=86|W=85|H=93|image=circuit_diagram-107-086-085-093-cloverleaf.png|text=A {{w|cloverleaf interchange}} or junction is a feature of road networks that does not belong in a circuit diagram. Of course, other types of {{w|p–n junction|junction}} are important in electronics.
A cloverleaf junction has previously been used in comic: [[253: Highway Engineer Pranks]]}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=184|Y=12|W=87|H=63|image=circuit_diagram-184-012-087-063-battery.png|text=A battery. The voltage of square root of two is strange, but getting about 1.41412... volts is not unheard of. This could also indicate an [[wikipedia:Root_mean_square|RMS]] voltage. The marked polarity is also the reverse of what is implied by the symbol (where the larger terminal is positive). A possible reference to [[567: Urgent Mission]].}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=187|Y=110|W=94|H=71|image=circuit_diagram-187-110-094-071-resister.png|text=A 120 ohm resistor is normal enough. "Or to taste" is odd for a circuit diagram and more like instructions from a recipe, e.g., "1 tbsp tomato purée, or to taste".}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=283|Y=50|W=90|H=63|image=circuit_diagram-283-050-090-063-switch.png|text=A normal switch, with a notation to glue it open. Reminiscent of the [http://catb.org/esr/jargon/html/magic-story.html MAGIC/MORE MAGIC] switch.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=337|Y=101|W=69|H=64|image=circuit_diagram-337-101-069-064-transisitor.png|text=A bipolar PNP transistor, except that it has two emitters and no collector.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=52|Y=141|W=79|H=107|image=circuit_diagram-052-141-079-107-compass-points.png|text=Compass points. A map feature, not a circuit feature.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=415|Y=18|W=63|H=58|image=circuit_diagram-415-018-063-058-resister.png|text=A normal resistor, labeled with color code. Brown-Blue-Orange would be 16000 ohms. Resistor color codes are for reading the value on the physical device itself. They would not normally be shown on the circuit diagram, where it's much easier to just write the number, e.g. 16K.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=517|Y=14|W=42|H=32|image=circuit_diagram-517-014-042-032-diode.png|text=A normal diode.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=615|Y=55|W=73|H=74|image=circuit_diagram-615-055-073-074-666timer.png|text=A chip. The normal timer is a "{{w|555_timer_IC|555}}". "666" would be the number of the beast in [http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Rev&c=13&v=18&t=KJV#18 Rev. 13:18]. The pin connected to "?" is the CTRL pin on a normal 555 timer, which would typically be connected to ground (via a decoupling capacitor) if used at all; the implication here seems to be that it would be connected directly to Hell itself.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=632|Y=138|W=69|H=41|image=circuit_diagram-632-138-069-041-bat.png|text=A Batman logo.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=650|Y=211|W=75|H=71|image=circuit_diagram-650-211-075-071-squirrel.png|text=A squirrel, or perhaps a wire bent into the shape of a squirrel. What it does as a circuit element is unclear. [[Category:Squirrels|Squirrels]] have also appeared in past and future xkcd comics.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=606|Y=165|W=54|H=53|image=circuit_diagram-606-165-054-053-inductor.png|text=A coil or inductor, or a spring symbol in Physics force diagrams, probably the latter as it is labeled with an 11-kilogram mass.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=538|Y=209|W=99|H=59|image=circuit_diagram-538-209-099-059-generator.png|text=A 240-volt AC generator (or other power source).}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=483|Y=186|W=111|H=103|image=circuit_diagram-483-186-111-103-shorted-generator.png|text=A shorting wire around a generator. The label reads "Omit this if you're a '''wimp.'''" If this wire is included, it will quickly melt - or worse.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=419|Y=78|W=57|H=75|image=circuit_diagram-419-078-057-075-scarab-beetles.png|text=A jar of {{w|Scarabaeidae|scarab beetles}}.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=482|Y=47|W=28|H=44|image=circuit_diagram-482-047-028-044-variable-resister.png|text=A variable resistor with center tap. Normally, there would be an arrowhead on the center tap.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=507|Y=53|W=22|H=27|image=circuit_diagram-507-053-022-027-capacitor.png|text=A normal capacitor.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=577|Y=318|W=96|H=62|image=circuit_diagram-577-318-096-062-magic.png|text="{{w|Magic Smoke}}" is the legendary stuff that all circuit components require to function. This is why all components cease to function after releasing smoke. }}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=669|Y=315|W=51|H=66|image=circuit_diagram-669-315-051-066-frayed-wires.png|text=Some frayed or dangling wires.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=567|Y=392|W=58|H=48|image=circuit_diagram-567-392-058-048-buoy.png|text=An object which is either a float used in fishing, a {{w|Tippe top}}, or perhaps a {{w|Naval mine|mine}}.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=458|Y=336|W=111|H=86|image=circuit_diagram-458-336-111-086-moral-rectifier.png|text=A {{w|Diode_bridge|bridge rectifier}}, which would normally turn alternating current at the top and bottom into direct current on the left and right. In this case, it is labeled as a "moral rectifier". This is presumably a play on the idea of moral rectitude – it makes your circuit more moral. Why this matters in a circuit is unclear.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=423|Y=259|W=80|H=85|image=circuit_diagram-423-259-080-085-warm-front.png|text=This resembles both the schematic symbol for part of a transformer and the meteorological symbol for a warm front. A {{w|warm front}} is a feature on a {{w|Surface weather analysis|synoptic weather map}}.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=190|Y=199|W=54|H=52|image=circuit_diagram-190-199-054-052-battery.png|text=A normal 50-volt battery.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=173|Y=200|W=89|H=56|image=circuit_diagram-173-200-089-056-shorted-battery.png|text=A battery is grounded on both sides. Something will melt or burn out quickly, unless these are separate "earth ground"s, in which case the ground might get a bit cooked.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=259|Y=198|W=174|H=25|image=circuit_diagram-259-198-174-025-pull-wire.png|text=Text reads "Pull this wire really tight". This kind of physical-property issue may indicate a high-frequency radio device. Or, given the absurdity of the context, it's a silly reference to a "high tension wire."}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=141|Y=211|W=41|H=91|image=circuit_diagram-141-211-041-091-3-8-inch.png|text=A specified 3/8-inch separation. This probably indicates a carefully controlled capacitance issue. Also contradicts the scale of the drawing, by which the distance shown would be about 0.8 miles or 0.8 km.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=173|Y=309|W=92|H=59|image=circuit_diagram-173-309-092-059-eel.png|text=An {{w|electric eel}}. This may be an effective power source in the circuit, capable of producing a shock at up to 600 volts and 1 ampere of current (600 watts), but for less than 2 ms.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=266|Y=307|W=35|H=41|image=circuit_diagram-266-307-035-041-resistor.png|text=A normal resistor.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=222|Y=358|W=34|H=29|image=circuit_diagram-222-358-034-029-capacitor.png|text=A normal capacitor.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=130|Y=335|W=44|H=40|image=circuit_diagram-130-335-044-040-resistor.png|text=A normal resistor, labeled "ë". This may be a play on {{w|e (mathematical constant)|Euler's Number}}, which doesn't normally have a {{w|tréma}} or an {{w|umlaut (linguistics)|umlaut}}. Alternatively instead of being an umlaut or tréma it may indicate the second {{w|derivative}} of e with respect to time in {{w|Newton's notation}}, in which case, as e is a constant, the resistance of this element is zero.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=65|Y=249|W=61|H=92|image=circuit_diagram-065-249-061-092-blender.png|text=This appears to be a blender.{{Citation needed}}}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=20|Y=342|W=115|H=73|image=circuit_diagram-020-342-115-073-arduino.png|text=An {{w|arduino}}, labeled "Arduino, just for blog cred". May refer to the fact that inexpensive, easy-to-integrate single-board computers like the arduino, which have contributed to the rise of {{w|Maker_culture}}, are used and discussed frequently in that culture, and the use of one might impress readers. The comment implies that an arduino is not otherwise needed in this circuit, although it is necessarily hard to tell, given the other components of the circuit.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=39|Y=423|W=118|H=82|image=circuit_diagram-039-423-118-082-meca.png|text=A chip labeled "Most expensive chip available". The small curve at the top is a part of the packaging designed to show its orientation.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=159|Y=428|W=91|H=50|image=circuit_diagram-159-428-091-050-neck-strap.png|text=Labeled "Neck Strap". Perhaps a piece of torture equipment or indicating that the circuit is part of an {{w|electric chair}}? May also be a reference to the grounded wrist straps people working with electronics commonly wear, to prevent accidental static discharges from frying the circuitry.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=147|Y=480|W=110|H=88|image=circuit_diagram-147-480-110-088-switch.png|text=A switch labeled "Hire someone to open and close switch real fast." Possibly meant to perform the function of an oscillator in a more hackish manner and the reason for the neck strap. Could also be a reference to {{w|Maxwell's Demon}}.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=273|Y=498|W=61|H=64|image=circuit_diagram-273-498-061-064-resistor.png|text=A 5 ohm resistor labeled "(decoy)". One end is not attached to anything. Perhaps this indicates wishful thinking that electrons might be tricked into entering this part of the circuit despite the fact that there's nowhere for them to go?}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=307|Y=453|W=103|H=56|image=circuit_diagram-307-453-103-056-tongue.png|text=A pair of contacts, labeled "Touch Tongue Here". Could be referring to the practice of daring someone to touch their tongue to the contacts of a 9V battery.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=301|Y=270|W=45|H=45|image=circuit_diagram-301-270-045-045-frown.png|text=A frowny-face. See the float/mine.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=294|Y=311|W=128|H=124|image=circuit_diagram-294-311-128-124-IC.png|text=A small integrated circuit. The lower gate is an inverter, wired as a free-running oscillator. The upper gate is an XOR wired to act as either a free-running oscillator or a latch. Since the XOR will be slower than the inverter, the overall output of the upper gate is probably very chaotic. Two "input" wires are not connected at all. An additional wire is attached to the top with hot glue. This last wire probably acts to control static electricity and leakage.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=302|Y=235|W=91|H=25|image=circuit_diagram-302-235-091-025-curve.png|text=A caution sign at a curve. Another road feature in the circuit. This is a play on the notion that 90-degree corners on printed circuit board traces can disrupt signal integrity.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=401|Y=455|W=67|H=68|image=circuit_diagram-401-455-067-068-CH3.png|text=A {{w|methyl group}} (chemistry) attached to a corner. If the circuit were an organic chemical, it would be reasonable to find a number of these.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=453|Y=167|W=43|H=93|image=circuit_diagram-453-167-043-093-baloon.png|text=A balloon, possibly blowing in a breeze.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=572|Y=68|W=22|H=43|image=circuit_diagram-572-068-022-043-inductor.png|text=A coil or inductor.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=508|Y=96|W=42|H=20|image=circuit_diagram-508-096-042-020-inductor.png|text=A coil or inductor.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=534|Y=61|W=22|H=31|image=circuit_diagram-534-061-022-031-ground.png|text=A ground connection.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=472|Y=49|W=134|H=140|image=circuit_diagram-472-049-134-140-solderr-blob.png|text=A solder blob covering a portion of the circuit. Normally, this would not be part of the circuit diagram, but a mistake in building the circuit.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=493|Y=443|W=207|H=158|image=circuit_diagram-493-443-207-158-res-rats-nest.png|text=A rats nest of 1 ohm resistors. It is labeled "Oh, so you think you're such a whiz at EE201?" The name EE201 (Electrical Engineering 201) follows US course naming conventions for what appears to be a basic level course in electrical engineering (compare the term {{w|101 (term)|101}}), which would include being taught how to [http://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-Series-and-Parallel-Resistance calculate the effective resistance of various resistor networks]. Performing the calculation on a network this complex would probably be extremely difficult. It appears to work out to 0.75800964845 ohms.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=315|Y=533|W=232|H=200|image=circuit_diagram-362-531-151-167-arena.png|text=An arena, with a few bodies in it. Note the direction of movement enforced by the surrounding diodes, {{w|Mad_Max_Beyond_Thunderdome|"two men enter, one man leaves"}}, a film reference.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=569|Y=653|W=47|H=51|image=circuit_diagram-569-653-047-051-resistor.png|text=A "{{w|pi}}" ohm resistor.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=610|Y=655|W=75|H=70|image=circuit_diagram-610-655-075-070-generator.png|text=A 500-volt AC generator. The wiring to the right shorts out this generator.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=481|Y=682|W=85|H=64|image=circuit_diagram-481-682-085-064-ground.png|text=A ground connection, labeled "Bury deep, but not too deep". This type of ground connection is called an "earth ground" The "too deep" part might be a reference to {{w|Moria (Middle-earth)|Moria}} in Lord of Rings. The dwarves dug too deeply and disturbed a balrog. See also comic [[760]].}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=17|Y=610|W=75|H=73|image=circuit_diagram-017-610-075-073-fishhook.png|text=A ground connection at the end of a curve, looking like a fishhook. Means perhaps "earthed down under", i.e., Australia or the southern hemisphere.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=206|Y=662|W=66|H=45|image=circuit_diagram-206-662-066-045-yarn.png|text=A length of "wire" is labeled "yarn". This probably makes it a terrible conductor.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=102|Y=590|W=93|H=88|image=circuit_diagram-102-590-093-088-fluxcapacitor.png|text=The {{w|DeLorean time machine#Flux capacitor|flux capacitor}} from {{w|Back to the Future}}.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=138|Y=685|W=54|H=24|image=circuit_diagram-138-685-054-024-I95.png|text=A road sign for "I-95". Interstate 95 is the main north-south highway on the east coast of the United States, running from Maine to Florida.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=12|Y=713|W=134|H=36|image=circuit_diagram-012-713-134-036-tothesun.png|text=A connection labeled "To center of Sun". A 93-million-mile circuit is rather large, but...}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=31|Y=753|W=144|H=177|image=circuit_diagram-031-753-144-177-rats-nest.png|text=A rat's nest of wires. Everything winds up being connected. May also be a parody diagram of an [http://i.stack.imgur.com/np2p9.png undirected graph], from graph theory.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=22|Y=513|W=97|H=61|image=circuit_diagram-022-513-097-061-esf.png|text=A label reading "Electrons Single File". If this happens, the resistance in this section of wire would be rather high.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=256|Y=619|W=29|H=39|image=circuit_diagram-256-619-029-039-ground.png|text=A ground connection.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=589|Y=600|W=58|H=46|image=circuit_diagram-589-600-058-046-vibrator.png|text=A vibrator, which would be a motor with an off-center weight attached to it.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=532|Y=779|W=74|H=52|image=circuit_diagram-532-779-074-052-motor.png|text=A motor, labeled "To Scale". This indicates that the physical size and shape of the motor must match the size of the parts around it, or is consistent with the specified scale of the drawing. }}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=662|Y=822|W=73|H=109|image=circuit_diagram-662-822-073-109-holy-ground.png|text=A ground connection, in a beaker labeled "{{w|holy Water}}", possibly creating {{w|Holy ground (religion)|holy ground}}.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=197|Y=740|W=48|H=55|image=circuit_diagram-197-740-048-055-speed.png|text=A sign indicating a speed limit of 55 MPH. This is a rather typical road sign, but inappropriate for a circuit diagram.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=238|Y=706|W=100|H=116|image=circuit_diagram-238-706-100-116-flipflop.png|text=A pair of NOR gates wired as a SR (set-reset) {{w|Flip-flop (electronics)|flip-flop}}. The label reads "May use an actual sandal instead", which is a play on the meanings of the term "{{w|Flip-flops|flip-flop}}".}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=322|Y=708|W=70|H=54|image=circuit_diagram-322-708-070-054-holdingpen.png|text=Something that could be the side view of a fence, labeled "Holding Pen".}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=339|Y=777|W=42|H=49|image=circuit_diagram-339-777-042-049-knot.png|text=A simple overhand knot. Also looks like a pretzel, which would have pretty high resistance.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=191|Y=889|W=149|H=33|image=circuit_diagram-191-889-149-033-ecg.png|text=This appears to be an {{w|Electrocardiography|electrocardiograph}} (ECG) trace, but not the sort that would be seen in a healthy person. If this were a real ECG trace, the absence of large, clear {{w|P wave (electrocardiography)|P waves}} might indicate {{w|Atrial Fibrillation|fine atrial fibrillation}}, but in some recording configurations, P waves are sometimes lost in the noise anyway. Additionally, without a time scale to tell us the ventricular heart rate, it is impossible to make a strong educated diagnosis of any hypothetical disease at all. If we assume it is atrial fibrillation, is not clear if Randall intended this, or if he is just not familiar with how a normal ECG should look.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=223|Y=826|W=82|H=68|image=circuit_diagram-223-826-082-068-photodiode.png|text=A photodiode, labeled "Tear Collector". A photodiode is a light-sensing device.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=373|Y=859|W=49|H=68|image=circuit_diagram-373-859-049-068-lamp.png|text=A lamp. This is not [http://electronicsclub.info/circuitsymbols.htm the symbol used in electrical circuits], but a drawing of a lightbulb.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=450|Y=887|W=65|H=32|image=circuit_diagram-450-887-065-032-inductor.png|text=A coil or inductor.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=537|Y=847|W=120|H=72|image=circuit_diagram-537-847-120-072-inductor.png|text=A coil or inductor, labeled "Take off shirt while wiring this part. Ooh, yeah, I like that."}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=504|Y=860|W=34|H=41|image=circuit_diagram-504-860-034-041-resistor.png|text=A resistor labeled "?". Presumably this means the resistance is unknown.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=459|Y=828|W=55|H=38|image=circuit_diagram-459-828-055-038-resistor.png|text=A resistor labeled "YES". Likely another improper unit - a reference to boolean values YES (TRUE) and NO (FALSE). Depending on the limits of a circuit, a resistor would still have a YES boolean value. Possibly indicating that this is a real resistor, as opposed to the one above it in the circuit, labeled "not a resistor."}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=389|Y=774|W=58|H=53|image=circuit_diagram-389-774-058-053-resistor.png|text=A resistor labeled "8 mm".}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=443|Y=747|W=93|H=84|image=circuit_diagram-443-747-093-084-resistor.png|text=A resistor labeled "Not a resistor; wire just does this". Apparently the wire is or must be physically bent into a zig-zag shape, which would not serve much useful purpose, or perhaps it reflects the fact that any wire has a certain (small) amount of resistance just by being a wire.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=415|Y=863|W=82|H=24|image=circuit_diagram-415-863-082-024-unsure.png|text=A symbol for a feedthrough capacitor, labeled "3 Liters". Probable word-play on "capacity/capacitor." Also similar to the symbol for an orifice or flow restriction used on plumbing or hydraulic diagrams, in which case the "3 Liters" might mean 3 liters per minute or per second.}}
|}

==Transcript==
:See table.

==Trivia==

*This is one of the [[:Category:Footer comics|five footer comics]] linked at the bottom part of the {{xkcd}} website.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Footer comics]]
[[Category:Squirrels]]

730: Circuit Diagram

2016-01-09T09:19:39Z

Flewk: /* Explanation */ added ben franklin glass silk reference

{{comic
| number = 730
| date = April 21, 2010
| title = Circuit Diagram
| image = circuit_diagram.png
| titletext = I just caught myself idly trying to work out what that resistor mass would actually be, and realized I had self-nerd-sniped.
}}

==Explanation==
Another fine example of [[356|nerd sniping]].
There are pieces of circuit diagrams, road maps, chemical diagrams, and other things all mixed in.
Explanations for each below!

{|class="wikitable table-padding left-align"
!Image Fragment
!width="130px" | Image Location
!Description
|-
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=19|Y=25|W=106|H=37|image=circuit_diagram-019-025-106-037-scale.png|text=A map scale. Lists kilometers and miles as equivalent. And makes the diagram many miles wide.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=15|Y=62|W=40|H=85|image=circuit_diagram-015-062-040-085-antenna.png|text=An antenna. Typical of radio receivers or transmitters. Or the Turtle in LOGO programming language}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=53|Y=60|W=41|H=87|image=circuit_diagram-053-060-041-087-inductor.png|text=A coil or inductor. Normal, but unlabeled.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=107|Y=86|W=85|H=93|image=circuit_diagram-107-086-085-093-cloverleaf.png|text=A {{w|cloverleaf interchange}} or junction is a feature of road networks that does not belong in a circuit diagram. Of course, other types of {{w|p–n junction|junction}} are important in electronics.
A cloverleaf junction has previously been used in comic: [[253: Highway Engineer Pranks]]}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=184|Y=12|W=87|H=63|image=circuit_diagram-184-012-087-063-battery.png|text=A battery. The voltage of square root of two is strange, but getting about 1.41412... volts is not unheard of. This could also indicate an [[wikipedia:Root_mean_square|RMS]] voltage. The marked polarity is also the reverse of what is implied by the symbol (where the larger terminal is positive). A possible reference to [[567: Urgent Mission]].}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=187|Y=110|W=94|H=71|image=circuit_diagram-187-110-094-071-resister.png|text=A 120 ohm resistor is normal enough. "Or to taste" is odd for a circuit diagram and more like instructions from a recipe, e.g., "1 tbsp tomato purée, or to taste".}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=283|Y=50|W=90|H=63|image=circuit_diagram-283-050-090-063-switch.png|text=A normal switch, with a notation to glue it open. Reminiscent of the [http://catb.org/esr/jargon/html/magic-story.html MAGIC/MORE MAGIC] switch.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=337|Y=101|W=69|H=64|image=circuit_diagram-337-101-069-064-transisitor.png|text=A bipolar PNP transistor, except that it has two emitters and no collector.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=52|Y=141|W=79|H=107|image=circuit_diagram-052-141-079-107-compass-points.png|text=Compass points. A map feature, not a circuit feature.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=415|Y=18|W=63|H=58|image=circuit_diagram-415-018-063-058-resister.png|text=A normal resistor, labeled with color code. Brown-Blue-Orange would be 16000 ohms. Resistor color codes are for reading the value on the physical device itself. They would not normally be shown on the circuit diagram, where it's much easier to just write the number, e.g. 16K.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=517|Y=14|W=42|H=32|image=circuit_diagram-517-014-042-032-diode.png|text=A normal diode.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=615|Y=55|W=73|H=74|image=circuit_diagram-615-055-073-074-666timer.png|text=A chip. The normal timer is a "{{w|555_timer_IC|555}}". "666" would be the number of the beast in [http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Rev&c=13&v=18&t=KJV#18 Rev. 13:18]. The pin connected to "?" is the CTRL pin on a normal 555 timer, which would typically be connected to ground (via a decoupling capacitor) if used at all; the implication here seems to be that it would be connected directly to Hell itself.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=632|Y=138|W=69|H=41|image=circuit_diagram-632-138-069-041-bat.png|text=A Batman logo.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=650|Y=211|W=75|H=71|image=circuit_diagram-650-211-075-071-squirrel.png|text=A squirrel, or perhaps a wire bent into the shape of a squirrel. What it does as a circuit element is unclear. [[Category:Squirrels|Squirrels]] have also appeared in past and future xkcd comics.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=606|Y=165|W=54|H=53|image=circuit_diagram-606-165-054-053-inductor.png|text=A coil or inductor, or a spring symbol in Physics force diagrams, probably the latter as it is labeled with an 11-kilogram mass.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=538|Y=209|W=99|H=59|image=circuit_diagram-538-209-099-059-generator.png|text=A 240-volt AC generator (or other power source).}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=483|Y=186|W=111|H=103|image=circuit_diagram-483-186-111-103-shorted-generator.png|text=A shorting wire around a generator. The label reads "Omit this if you're a '''wimp.'''" If this wire is included, it will quickly melt - or worse.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=419|Y=78|W=57|H=75|image=circuit_diagram-419-078-057-075-scarab-beetles.png|text=A jar of {{w|Scarabaeidae|scarab beetles}}.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=482|Y=47|W=28|H=44|image=circuit_diagram-482-047-028-044-variable-resister.png|text=A variable resistor with center tap. Normally, there would be an arrowhead on the center tap.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=507|Y=53|W=22|H=27|image=circuit_diagram-507-053-022-027-capacitor.png|text=A normal capacitor.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=577|Y=318|W=96|H=62|image=circuit_diagram-577-318-096-062-magic.png|text="{{w|Magic Smoke}}" is the legendary stuff inside a chip that comes out when it fails.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=669|Y=315|W=51|H=66|image=circuit_diagram-669-315-051-066-frayed-wires.png|text=Some frayed or dangling wires.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=567|Y=392|W=58|H=48|image=circuit_diagram-567-392-058-048-buoy.png|text=An object which is either a float used in fishing, a {{w|Tippe top}}, or perhaps a {{w|Naval mine|mine}}.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=458|Y=336|W=111|H=86|image=circuit_diagram-458-336-111-086-moral-rectifier.png|text=A {{w|Diode_bridge|bridge rectifier}}, which would normally turn alternating current at the top and bottom into direct current on the left and right. In this case, it is labeled as a "moral rectifier". This is presumably a play on the idea of moral rectitude – it makes your circuit more moral. Why this matters in a circuit is unclear.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=423|Y=259|W=80|H=85|image=circuit_diagram-423-259-080-085-warm-front.png|text=This resembles both the schematic symbol for part of a transformer and the meteorological symbol for a warm front. A {{w|warm front}} is a feature on a {{w|Surface weather analysis|synoptic weather map}}.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=190|Y=199|W=54|H=52|image=circuit_diagram-190-199-054-052-battery.png|text=A normal 50-volt battery.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=173|Y=200|W=89|H=56|image=circuit_diagram-173-200-089-056-shorted-battery.png|text=A battery is grounded on both sides. Something will melt or burn out quickly, unless these are separate "earth ground"s, in which case the ground might get a bit cooked.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=259|Y=198|W=174|H=25|image=circuit_diagram-259-198-174-025-pull-wire.png|text=Text reads "Pull this wire really tight". This kind of physical-property issue may indicate a high-frequency radio device. Or, given the absurdity of the context, it's a silly reference to a "high tension wire."}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=141|Y=211|W=41|H=91|image=circuit_diagram-141-211-041-091-3-8-inch.png|text=A specified 3/8-inch separation. This probably indicates a carefully controlled capacitance issue. Also contradicts the scale of the drawing, by which the distance shown would be about 0.8 miles or 0.8 km.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=173|Y=309|W=92|H=59|image=circuit_diagram-173-309-092-059-eel.png|text=An {{w|electric eel}}. This may be an effective power source in the circuit, capable of producing a shock at up to 600 volts and 1 ampere of current (600 watts), but for less than 2 ms.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=266|Y=307|W=35|H=41|image=circuit_diagram-266-307-035-041-resistor.png|text=A normal resistor.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=222|Y=358|W=34|H=29|image=circuit_diagram-222-358-034-029-capacitor.png|text=A normal capacitor.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=130|Y=335|W=44|H=40|image=circuit_diagram-130-335-044-040-resistor.png|text=A normal resistor, labeled "ë". This may be a play on {{w|e (mathematical constant)|Euler's Number}}, which doesn't normally have a {{w|tréma}} or an {{w|umlaut (linguistics)|umlaut}}. Alternatively instead of being an umlaut or tréma it may indicate the second {{w|derivative}} of e with respect to time in {{w|Newton's notation}}, in which case, as e is a constant, the resistance of this element is zero.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=65|Y=249|W=61|H=92|image=circuit_diagram-065-249-061-092-blender.png|text=This appears to be a blender.{{Citation needed}}}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=20|Y=342|W=115|H=73|image=circuit_diagram-020-342-115-073-arduino.png|text=An {{w|arduino}}, labeled "Arduino, just for blog cred". May refer to the fact that inexpensive, easy-to-integrate single-board computers like the arduino, which have contributed to the rise of {{w|Maker_culture}}, are used and discussed frequently in that culture, and the use of one might impress readers. The comment implies that an arduino is not otherwise needed in this circuit, although it is necessarily hard to tell, given the other components of the circuit.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=39|Y=423|W=118|H=82|image=circuit_diagram-039-423-118-082-meca.png|text=A chip labeled "Most expensive chip available". The small curve at the top is a part of the packaging designed to show its orientation.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=159|Y=428|W=91|H=50|image=circuit_diagram-159-428-091-050-neck-strap.png|text=Labeled "Neck Strap". Perhaps a piece of torture equipment or indicating that the circuit is part of an {{w|electric chair}}? May also be a reference to the grounded wrist straps people working with electronics commonly wear, to prevent accidental static discharges from frying the circuitry.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=147|Y=480|W=110|H=88|image=circuit_diagram-147-480-110-088-switch.png|text=A switch labeled "Hire someone to open and close switch real fast." Possibly meant to perform the function of an oscillator in a more hackish manner and the reason for the neck strap. Could also be a reference to {{w|Maxwell's Demon}}.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=273|Y=498|W=61|H=64|image=circuit_diagram-273-498-061-064-resistor.png|text=A 5 ohm resistor labeled "(decoy)". One end is not attached to anything. Perhaps this indicates wishful thinking that electrons might be tricked into entering this part of the circuit despite the fact that there's nowhere for them to go?}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=307|Y=453|W=103|H=56|image=circuit_diagram-307-453-103-056-tongue.png|text=A pair of contacts, labeled "Touch Tongue Here". Could be referring to the practice of daring someone to touch their tongue to the contacts of a 9V battery.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=301|Y=270|W=45|H=45|image=circuit_diagram-301-270-045-045-frown.png|text=A frowny-face. See the float/mine.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=294|Y=311|W=128|H=124|image=circuit_diagram-294-311-128-124-IC.png|text=A small integrated circuit. The lower gate is an inverter, wired as a free-running oscillator. The upper gate is an XOR wired to act as either a free-running oscillator or a latch. Since the XOR will be slower than the inverter, the overall output of the upper gate is probably very chaotic. Two "input" wires are not connected at all. An additional wire is attached to the top with hot glue. This last wire probably acts to control static electricity and leakage.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=302|Y=235|W=91|H=25|image=circuit_diagram-302-235-091-025-curve.png|text=A caution sign at a curve. Another road feature in the circuit. This is a play on the notion that 90-degree corners on printed circuit board traces can disrupt signal integrity.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=401|Y=455|W=67|H=68|image=circuit_diagram-401-455-067-068-CH3.png|text=A {{w|methyl group}} (chemistry) attached to a corner. If the circuit were an organic chemical, it would be reasonable to find a number of these.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=453|Y=167|W=43|H=93|image=circuit_diagram-453-167-043-093-baloon.png|text=A balloon, possibly blowing in a breeze.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=572|Y=68|W=22|H=43|image=circuit_diagram-572-068-022-043-inductor.png|text=A coil or inductor.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=508|Y=96|W=42|H=20|image=circuit_diagram-508-096-042-020-inductor.png|text=A coil or inductor.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=534|Y=61|W=22|H=31|image=circuit_diagram-534-061-022-031-ground.png|text=A ground connection.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=472|Y=49|W=134|H=140|image=circuit_diagram-472-049-134-140-solderr-blob.png|text=A solder blob covering a portion of the circuit. Normally, this would not be part of the circuit diagram, but a mistake in building the circuit.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=493|Y=443|W=207|H=158|image=circuit_diagram-493-443-207-158-res-rats-nest.png|text=A rats nest of 1 ohm resistors. It is labeled "Oh, so you think you're such a whiz at EE201?" The name EE201 (Electrical Engineering 201) follows US course naming conventions for what appears to be a basic level course in electrical engineering (compare the term {{w|101 (term)|101}}), which would include being taught how to [http://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-Series-and-Parallel-Resistance calculate the effective resistance of various resistor networks]. Performing the calculation on a network this complex would probably be extremely difficult. It appears to work out to 0.75800964845 ohms.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=315|Y=533|W=232|H=200|image=circuit_diagram-362-531-151-167-arena.png|text=An arena, with a few bodies in it. Note the direction of movement enforced by the surrounding diodes, {{w|Mad_Max_Beyond_Thunderdome|"two men enter, one man leaves"}}, a film reference.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=569|Y=653|W=47|H=51|image=circuit_diagram-569-653-047-051-resistor.png|text=A "{{w|pi}}" ohm resistor.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=610|Y=655|W=75|H=70|image=circuit_diagram-610-655-075-070-generator.png|text=A 500-volt AC generator. The wiring to the right shorts out this generator.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=481|Y=682|W=85|H=64|image=circuit_diagram-481-682-085-064-ground.png|text=A ground connection, labeled "Bury deep, but not too deep". This type of ground connection is called an "earth ground" The "too deep" part might be a reference to {{w|Moria (Middle-earth)|Moria}} in Lord of Rings. The dwarves dug too deeply and disturbed a balrog. See also comic [[760]].}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=17|Y=610|W=75|H=73|image=circuit_diagram-017-610-075-073-fishhook.png|text=A ground connection at the end of a curve, looking like a fishhook. Means perhaps "earthed down under", i.e., Australia or the southern hemisphere.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=206|Y=662|W=66|H=45|image=circuit_diagram-206-662-066-045-yarn.png|text=A length of "wire" is labeled "yarn". This probably makes it a terrible conductor.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=102|Y=590|W=93|H=88|image=circuit_diagram-102-590-093-088-fluxcapacitor.png|text=The {{w|DeLorean time machine#Flux capacitor|flux capacitor}} from {{w|Back to the Future}}.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=138|Y=685|W=54|H=24|image=circuit_diagram-138-685-054-024-I95.png|text=A road sign for "I-95". Interstate 95 is the main north-south highway on the east coast of the United States, running from Maine to Florida.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=12|Y=713|W=134|H=36|image=circuit_diagram-012-713-134-036-tothesun.png|text=A connection labeled "To center of Sun". A 93-million-mile circuit is rather large, but...}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=31|Y=753|W=144|H=177|image=circuit_diagram-031-753-144-177-rats-nest.png|text=A rat's nest of wires. Everything winds up being connected. May also be a parody diagram of an [http://i.stack.imgur.com/np2p9.png undirected graph], from graph theory.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=22|Y=513|W=97|H=61|image=circuit_diagram-022-513-097-061-esf.png|text=A label reading "Electrons Single File". If this happens, the resistance in this section of wire would be rather high.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=256|Y=619|W=29|H=39|image=circuit_diagram-256-619-029-039-ground.png|text=A ground connection.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=589|Y=600|W=58|H=46|image=circuit_diagram-589-600-058-046-vibrator.png|text=A vibrator, which would be a motor with an off-center weight attached to it.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=532|Y=779|W=74|H=52|image=circuit_diagram-532-779-074-052-motor.png|text=A motor, labeled "To Scale". This indicates that the physical size and shape of the motor must match the size of the parts around it, or is consistent with the specified scale of the drawing. }}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=662|Y=822|W=73|H=109|image=circuit_diagram-662-822-073-109-holy-ground.png|text=A ground connection, in a beaker labeled "{{w|holy Water}}", possibly creating {{w|Holy ground (religion)|holy ground}}.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=197|Y=740|W=48|H=55|image=circuit_diagram-197-740-048-055-speed.png|text=A sign indicating a speed limit of 55 MPH. This is a rather typical road sign, but inappropriate for a circuit diagram.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=238|Y=706|W=100|H=116|image=circuit_diagram-238-706-100-116-flipflop.png|text=A pair of NOR gates wired as a SR (set-reset) {{w|Flip-flop (electronics)|flip-flop}}. The label reads "May use an actual sandal instead", which is a play on the meanings of the term "{{w|Flip-flops|flip-flop}}".}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=322|Y=708|W=70|H=54|image=circuit_diagram-322-708-070-054-holdingpen.png|text=Something that could be the side view of a fence, labeled "Holding Pen".}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=339|Y=777|W=42|H=49|image=circuit_diagram-339-777-042-049-knot.png|text=A simple overhand knot. Also looks like a pretzel, which would have pretty high resistance.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=191|Y=889|W=149|H=33|image=circuit_diagram-191-889-149-033-ecg.png|text=This appears to be an {{w|Electrocardiography|electrocardiograph}} (ECG) trace, but not the sort that would be seen in a healthy person. If this were a real ECG trace, the absence of large, clear {{w|P wave (electrocardiography)|P waves}} might indicate {{w|Atrial Fibrillation|fine atrial fibrillation}}, but in some recording configurations, P waves are sometimes lost in the noise anyway. Additionally, without a time scale to tell us the ventricular heart rate, it is impossible to make a strong educated diagnosis of any hypothetical disease at all. If we assume it is atrial fibrillation, is not clear if Randall intended this, or if he is just not familiar with how a normal ECG should look.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=223|Y=826|W=82|H=68|image=circuit_diagram-223-826-082-068-photodiode.png|text=A photodiode, labeled "Tear Collector". A photodiode is a light-sensing device.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=373|Y=859|W=49|H=68|image=circuit_diagram-373-859-049-068-lamp.png|text=A lamp. This is not [http://electronicsclub.info/circuitsymbols.htm the symbol used in electrical circuits], but a drawing of a lightbulb.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=450|Y=887|W=65|H=32|image=circuit_diagram-450-887-065-032-inductor.png|text=A coil or inductor.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=537|Y=847|W=120|H=72|image=circuit_diagram-537-847-120-072-inductor.png|text=A coil or inductor, labeled "Take off shirt while wiring this part. Ooh, yeah, I like that."}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=504|Y=860|W=34|H=41|image=circuit_diagram-504-860-034-041-resistor.png|text=A resistor labeled "?". Presumably this means the resistance is unknown.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=459|Y=828|W=55|H=38|image=circuit_diagram-459-828-055-038-resistor.png|text=A resistor labeled "YES". Likely another improper unit - a reference to boolean values YES (TRUE) and NO (FALSE). Depending on the limits of a circuit, a resistor would still have a YES boolean value. Possibly indicating that this is a real resistor, as opposed to the one above it in the circuit, labeled "not a resistor."}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=389|Y=774|W=58|H=53|image=circuit_diagram-389-774-058-053-resistor.png|text=A resistor labeled "8 mm".}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=443|Y=747|W=93|H=84|image=circuit_diagram-443-747-093-084-resistor.png|text=A resistor labeled "Not a resistor; wire just does this". Apparently the wire is or must be physically bent into a zig-zag shape, which would not serve much useful purpose, or perhaps it reflects the fact that any wire has a certain (small) amount of resistance just by being a wire.}}
{{circuit-diagram-part|X=415|Y=863|W=82|H=24|image=circuit_diagram-415-863-082-024-unsure.png|text=A symbol for a feedthrough capacitor, labeled "3 Liters". Probable word-play on "capacity/capacitor." Also similar to the symbol for an orifice or flow restriction used on plumbing or hydraulic diagrams, in which case the "3 Liters" might mean 3 liters per minute or per second.}}
|}

==Transcript==
:See table.

==Trivia==

*This is one of the [[:Category:Footer comics|five footer comics]] linked at the bottom part of the {{xkcd}} website.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Footer comics]]
[[Category:Squirrels]]

726: Seat Selection

2016-01-09T08:55:15Z

Flewk: /* Explanation */ nightmare at 20,000 feet

{{comic
| number = 726
| date = April 21, 2010
| title = Seat Selection
| image = seat_selection.png
| titletext = Don't click on the wing.
}}

==Explanation==
Many airlines give passengers the opportunity to select a preferred seat when booking a flight. In this case, [[Megan]] appears to be checking in at a kiosk at the airport when she is given the opportunity to select a seat. Rather than selecting a seat on the diagram, Megan clicks on the pilot seat (which is not an actual option for online seating reservations). In the last frame, we see that because she chose the pilot seat she is now permitted to fly the plane. A worried looking pilot stands (or sits) behind her.

The title text says to not click on the wing. The implication is that if you click on the wing you will be forced to sit there. Even if you were able to hold on, this would put you above [https://what-if.xkcd.com/64/ the Death Zone] which is at 7 km. Standard cruising altitude is {{w|Stratosphere#Aircraft_flight|10 km.}}. It will be an unpleasant death as the air is so thin that you actually [https://what-if.xkcd.com/64/ ''lose'' oxygen to the air].

Another interpretation of the title text is a reference to the classic {{w|Nightmare at 20,000 Feet}}.

==Transcript==
:[A seat selection diagram from an airport check-in kiosk is shown.]
:Select desired seat by clicking on the above chart.

:[Megan in a scarf with some suitcases is standing in an airport, contemplating the kiosk.]

:[The cursor indicates the cockpit of the plane.]
:<nowiki>*Click*</nowiki>

:[Megan is in the cockpit of the plane, holding the yoke, with the pilot looking horrified behind her.]
:Megan: WOOOOOOO

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Computers]]

726: Seat Selection

2016-01-09T08:53:45Z

Flewk: /* Explanation */ what if states the opposite; death zone is above 7000m which is lower than commercial airplane altitude; cause of death is oxygen depravation, not freezing;

{{comic
| number = 726
| date = April 21, 2010
| title = Seat Selection
| image = seat_selection.png
| titletext = Don't click on the wing.
}}

==Explanation==
Many airlines give passengers the opportunity to select a preferred seat when booking a flight. In this case, [[Megan]] appears to be checking in at a kiosk at the airport when she is given the opportunity to select a seat. Rather than selecting a seat on the diagram, Megan clicks on the pilot seat (which is not an actual option for online seating reservations). In the last frame, we see that because she chose the pilot seat she is now permitted to fly the plane. A worried looking pilot stands (or sits) behind her.

The title text says to not click on the wing. The implication is that if you click on the wing you will be forced to sit there. Even if you were able to hold on, this would put you above [https://what-if.xkcd.com/64/ the Death Zone] which is at 7 km. Standard cruising altitude is {{w|Stratosphere#Aircraft_flight|10 km.}}. It will be an unpleasant death as the air is so thin that you actually [https://what-if.xkcd.com/64/ ''lose'' oxygen to the air].

==Transcript==
:[A seat selection diagram from an airport check-in kiosk is shown.]
:Select desired seat by clicking on the above chart.

:[Megan in a scarf with some suitcases is standing in an airport, contemplating the kiosk.]

:[The cursor indicates the cockpit of the plane.]
:<nowiki>*Click*</nowiki>

:[Megan is in the cockpit of the plane, holding the yoke, with the pilot looking horrified behind her.]
:Megan: WOOOOOOO

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Computers]]

724: Hell

2016-01-09T06:51:18Z

Flewk: /* Explanation */ religious concept does not exist on wikipedia

{{comic
| number = 724
| date = April 7, 2010
| title = Hell
| image = hell.png
| titletext = There's also a Katamari level where everything is just slightly bigger than you, and a Mario level with a star just out of reach.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Tetris}} is a game where the player has to manipulate falling blocks into forming complete rows, which will then be deleted and give point to the player. This comic is a play on this, presenting the player with a version of the game with a curved bottom that renders forming rows nearly impossible. {{w|Hell}} is a {{w|Religion#Mythology|mythological and/or religious concept}} of a posthumous punishment for wrongdoers, depicted in many religions as eternal torment. Here the Tetris player feels he is in Hell when he tries to play this game.

The title text presents similar situations where frustration is likely to occur.
''{{w|Katamari_(series)|Katamari Damacy}}'' is a video game in which the player controls a sticky sphere which grows by assimilating objects smaller than itself - so extremely frustrating if none of the objects available is smaller than your sphere.
''{{w|Super_Mario_(series)|Super Mario}}'' is a long-running franchise of platforming games; in most of the games which utilize a 3-dimensional engine, levels are completed by collecting large, golden stars - so very frustrating if one is impossible to reach.
The last part may also be a suggestion to the Greek depiction of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantalus Tantalus] in hell; he tried to reach fruit on a tree but every time he grasped for the fruit the branches bent away.
Also see comic [[888: Heaven]], which presents an opposing situation in which the game is trying to help the player win.

There is a playable version of this comic at [http://www.kongregate.com/games/banthar/hell-tetris Kongregate], which, unsurprisingly, is frustratingly difficult ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reFPscApObs but not impossible]) to play.

==Transcript==
:[The panel shows the display of a Tetris game where the bottom of the pit is curved into a semicircle making the two blocks at the bottom, a square and a reverse L piece lean crookedly towards each other at the bottom of the pit; an S piece is falling and the next piece is an L piece.]
:Next
:Top
:000000
:Score
:000000
:Level
:01
:[Below the panel:]
:'''HELL'''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Video games]]

706: Freedom

2016-01-09T05:12:45Z

Flewk: /* Explanation */ No mention of Randall in the comic. Explanation should not mention Randall either.

{{comic
| number = 706
| date = February 24, 2010
| title = Freedom
| image = freedom.png
| titletext = Sometimes I'm terrified to realize how many options other people have.
}}

==Explanation==
The left [[Cueball]] comments on the absence of physical enforcement for social norms. The left [[Cueball]] goes through a list of possible things he could do that only his conscience and learned social morals prevent him from doing, including punching someone else in a conversation for no reason at all. This is enough to convince the Cueball on the right who promptly punches the left Cueball in the face.

The title text is a restatement of the first line of the comment, but reversed to show Cueball's newfound realization that the same freedoms apply to other people, to his physical detriment.

This is also an ironic reference to {{w|Zechariah Chafee}}'s oft-quoted line, "Your right to swing your arms ends just where the other man's nose begins."

"Getting on a plane to Fiji" is a reference to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Truman_Show The Truman Show] (1998).

==Transcript==
:Cueball: Sometimes I'm shocked to realize how many options I have.
:Friend: Oh?

:[Cueball shakes his fist.]
:Cueball: Like, at any moment in any conversation, I could just punch the person I was talking to, and all these potentially life-changing events would unfold.

:Cueball: It's only my mental rules that stop me from punching you, or stripping naked, or getting on a plane to Fiji. Sure, rules have reasons. But shouldn't you exercise that freedom at least once before you die?
:Friend: Hmm.

:''WHAM''

:[Cueball is knocked down on the ground, dazed and bruised.]
:Cueball: Okay, I should have seen that coming.
:Friend: But you ''couldn't''! That's the beauty!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]

705: Devotion to Duty

2016-01-09T05:09:22Z

Flewk: /* Explanation */ the last panel does not claim that forces of darkness is opposite to cat blogs; it just states that sysadmins will protect cat blogs from the forces of darkness

{{comic
| number = 705
| date = February 22, 2010
| title = Devotion to Duty
| image = devotion_to_duty.png
| titletext = The weird sense of duty really good sysadmins have can border on the sociopathic, but it's nice to know that it stands between the forces of darkness and your cat blog's servers.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, we see a man talking on a phone. We are unsure of his aims (terrorism, robbery, etc.) but he has taken hostages and cut all links to the outside world, in order to control the situation and prevent the police from observing the interior of the building (as popularly depicted in film and television). Initially all appears to be normal (for a hostage situation) to the reader but then the hostage-taker explains on the phone that someone has entered the building, climbed the air vents to bypass their cordon, effortlessly killing other hostage-takers (who are likely hardened killers with weaponry) on his way to the server room and then ignored the hostages, preferring instead to reconnect the servers to the outside world. The hostage-taker is evidently puzzled by this and explains it to the person on the other end of the phone, who immediately recognizes the reason: the man that entered the building is a "sysadmin" (short for {{w|System administrator}}), and he is concerned that his servers are losing "uptime" to the internet. This evidently concerns the man on the phone, who knows that a good sysadmin is an unstoppable force once started!

This comic is a reference to one of two things (or both): the Hollywood depiction of heroes able to perform superhuman feats in tricky situations (such as John McClane in ''{{w|Die Hard}}'', which the first two panels are a deliberate reference to), or the duty that people impose upon themselves to go above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that they carry out their work (in this case a dutiful sysadmin, concerned for those trying to use his server).

The title text is a simple joke to the fact that the sysadmin will crawl through broken glass and defeat criminals/terrorists (forces of darkness) just so a cat blog(where owners write about their cats) can stay up.

A sysadmin is also mentioned in the title text of [[309: Shopping Teams]].

==Transcript==
:[Bearded criminal is holding a pistol and talking on a mobile phone.]
:Criminal: We took the hostages, secured the building and cut the communication lines like you said.
:Phone: Excellent.

:[Still talking on the phone, waving gun around in the air animatedly.]
:Criminal: But then this guy climbed up the ventilation ducts and walked across broken glass, killing anyone we sent to stop him.

:Phone: And he rescued the hostages?

:[Criminal looking confused and defeated, shoulders hunched and pistol hanging limply at his side.]
:Criminal: No, he ignored them. He just reconnected the cables we cut, muttering something about "uptime".
:Phone: Shit, we're dealing with a ''sysadmin''.

{{comic discussion}}

703: Honor Societies

2016-01-09T05:04:48Z

Flewk:

{{comic
| number = 703
| date = February 17, 2010
| title = Honor Societies
| image = honor_societies.png
| titletext = Hey, why do YOU get to be the president of Tautology Clu-- wait, I can guess.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] has apparently been invited to join an {{w|Honor society|honor society}}, but he considers the reason he should join to be a circular argument: because honorable people are in honor societies and people who are in honor societies are supposedly honorable. He objects that this is a {{w|tautology}}: a claim that something is true because it is true (and thus a meaningless claim). From this he concludes that he might as well be in a "tautology club" and then starts one. Thus [[Randall]] mocks honor society clubs for being pointless.

In the final panel where Cueball has formed the club, [[Ponytail]] asks a new member (a Cueball-like guy) how he found out about them and he tells about their Facebook page. The reference to {{w|Facebook}} mocks {{w|Facebook groups}} whose names refer to a number of members they hope to attract (such as [https://www.facebook.com/pages/I-Bet-I-Can-Find-1000000-People-Who-Dislike-Romanian-Dog-Abusers/109442262492204 I Bet I Can Find 1,000,000 People Who Dislike Romanian Dog Abusers]), usually ostensibly to raise awareness for some issue, but perhaps in fact just for the ego-stroking pleasure of amassing a large number of followers. Tautology Club employs this tactic only for the sake of creating yet another tautology.

Cueball is listing the rules of the club from a podium. The phrase "The first rule of _______ Club" is a reference to the 1999 movie ''{{w|Fight Club}}'' (see also [[922: Fight Club]]), which contains the famous line "The first rule of Fight Club is 'You do not talk about Fight Club,'" a reference to the club's intended secrecy. This phrase has been appropriated for myriad other varieties and parodies, such as the one mentioned in the comic.

The short guys with glasses could be {{w|List_of_FoxTrot_characters#Jason_Fox|Jason Fox}} from the {{w|FoxTrot}} comic (see the first two frames of [[824: Guest Week: Bill Amend (FoxTrot)]].) Although it takes a little imagination to see, the hair, the height, the glasses, and the geek factor fits. Three of the other characters from the audience looks like regular character but also with slightly different hairstyle that the usual. There is a buzz cut version of [[Hairy]], a curly haired version of [[Hair Bun Girl]] with a ponytail (also seen later on) and [[Megan]] is drawn with an uncharacteristically white stripe in her hair.

The answer to the title text would also be a tautology: he gets to be the president because he is the president.

Tautologies were mentioned again in [[1310: Goldbach Conjectures]]. Tautology Club was mentioned in [[1602: Linguistics Club]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball sits at a desk, while some one off-screen answers his question.]
:Cueball: Wait. I should join this honor society to show colleges I'm honorable, and I'm honorable because I'm in an honor society?
:Off-screen voice: Basically, yes.

:[Close up of Cueball.]
:Cueball: Sounds like I could save time by joining the Tautology Club directly.
:Off-screen voice: That's not a real club.
:Cueball: Then I'm starting it.

:[Inserted in a frame crossing the top of the third panels frame is a caption. Cueball is standing on a podium in the right part of the panel speaking. From left to right we find Ponytail, a Cueball-like guy, a short guy with glasses, a buzz cut version of Hairy, a curly haired version of Hair Bun Girl with a ponytail and to the right of Cueball, a girl that looks like Megan although with a uncharacteristically white stripe in her hair.]
:Caption: Tautology Club:
:Ponytail: So how'd you learn about us?
:Cueball-like guy: From your Facebook group, "If 1,000,000 People Join This Group, It Will Have 1,000,000 People In It."
:Cueball: ''Listen up!'' The first rule of Tautology Club is the first rule of Tautology Club.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hair Bun Girl]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]
[[Category:Logic]]

701: Science Valentine

2016-01-09T04:36:00Z

Flewk: /* Explanation */ not arrow through heart, but broken heart

{{comic
| number = 701
| date = February 12, 2010
| title = Science Valentine
| image = science_valentine.png
| titletext = You don't use science to show that you're right, you use science to become right.
}}

==Explanation==

[[Cueball]] is taking a scientific approach to creating a valentine card. Based on the first chart, the recipient is his fiancée since he noted major events (first meeting and engaged, thus they are not married yet, or it should have been noted on the graph). The labels of a heart and smiley represent Cueball's feelings for her and happiness accordingly. This implies that Cueball had love and feelings for someone else before he first met the love he is breaking up with. While they were dating, the feelings and happiness levels were very unstable, as is expected for any new relationship. That later dropped to current levels, probably due to Cueball's lack of love towards her.

In the second panel, there are variables r0,r1,r2, each value at 0.20, -0.61, -0.83 accordingly. This is probably his love at different chronological points in his relationship, r0 being the start. This contradicts the data in the first panel's chart, as is contains no negative values, assuming a {{w|cartesian plane}}.

The text in the space between 2nd and 3rd panels show that [[Randall Munroe]] is against {{w|scientific misconduct}}. It also shows that Cueball's rigorous approach makes him realize that the happiness he derives from the relationship is declining, which presents him with a choice. Will he be a true scientist by accepting data that he doesn't like, or will he be romantic and just make a cute card?

The last panel is a parody of a broken(torn) heart, a common symbol used to represent people falling out of love. The line could be interpreted as a graph of the amount of love between the two or a literal tearing of the heart in two.

He decides that he is a scientist and so presents his significant other with a breakup valentine even though he originally intended it as a confirmation of their love.

The comic may be intended as a cautionary tale to new scientists; while the graph in the leftmost panel shows an apparent correlation between Cueball's love and his happiness, and it shows his happiness is lower than it might be expected to be without his partner, it fails to show that the falling love effects falling happiness-- it may be the case that falling happiness effects falling love, or that both happiness and love are affected by an unidentified factor. For example, temporary external crises may be weighing on Cueball's relationship as well as his happiness.

The title text seems to be him trying to console himself that he did the right thing. You should not use science to prove that your theory is right, but to find out which theory is the right one!

==Transcript==
:I wanted to make you a science valentine
:with charts and graphs of my feelings for you.
:[A graph shows romance and happiness. Romance cuts off, indicating a breakup before the meeting of Cueball and his current significant other, and happiness dips accordingly.
:A line indicates where the couple first met; romance is jagged thereafter, initially upwards but later down.
:Happiness climbs slightly more steadily and then dips again.
:More lines indicate a period of dating and then one of engagement.]
:and the happiness you've brought me.

:But the more I analyzed
:[Cueball works at a computer.]
:r0 = 0.20
:r1 = -0.61
:r2 = -0.83
:the harder it became to defend my hypothesis.

:In science, you can't publish results you know are wrong
:and you can't withhold them because they're not the ones you wanted.

:So I was left with a question: do I make graphs because they're cute and funny,
:[Cueball sits, looking at a sheet of paper.]
:or am I a ''scientist?''

:Enclosed are my results.
:I hope you can find somebody else
:[A jagged, declining graph is superimposed over a red heart.]
:to be your valentine.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Valentines]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Charts]]

699: Trimester

2016-01-09T04:28:43Z

Flewk: /* Explanation */ removed the bit about trimester. It is known by most lay people (adults).

{{comic
| number =699
| date =February 8, 2010
| title =Trimester
| image =trimester.png
| titletext =Also, it's not like anyone actually calls up the Nobel committee to double-check things.
}}

==Explanation==
Some pregnancies are different than others, but a universal truth except in cases of {{w|Cesarean section}} is that a baby will always exit a woman's body through the vagina. [[Cueball]] is wearing a white lab coat and holding a clipboard, looking like a doctor, telling [[Megan]] that until the second trimester, the baby may decide instead to exit through any opening, including the mouth, anus, nose, navel, etc. This is most likely false{{Citation needed}}. The caption reveals the truth, that Cueball simply bought the lab coat, he is not a doctor, and is either pranking Megan, or is impersonating a physician for some other reason.

The expectation that a person in a white coat is a medical expert, or at least a scientist, can be seen in the studies of the placebo effect: people who receive a "sugar pill" from a person who has the authority implied by wearing a lab coat will experience a greater placebo effect than those who receive identical pills from a person in {{w|Mufti (dress)|mufti}}. So doctors wear a white coat in clinic, and the expectation is reinforced. In some medical schools students receive a white coat as part of their graduation and qualification ceremony.

The title text implies also that in addition to faking being a doctor, he has also faked being a Nobel laureate, on the logic that people will not choose to verify this claim.

==Transcript==
:Cueball: Well, until the second trimester, the baby hasn't decided which opening it will exit through.
:Megan: ''What?''
:Cueball: We'll hope for one of the lower ones, so it won't be fighting gravity.

:Did you know you can just ''BUY'' lab coats?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

Talk:699: Trimester

2016-01-09T04:27:22Z

Flewk:

You don't need to call up the Nobel committee, just check Wikipedia. Also, how did Cueball manage to infiltrate the hospital? [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] ([[User talk:Benjaminikuta|talk]]) 18:29, 7 October 2014 (UTC)
: Checking Wikipedia would be just that, checking. Going straight to the source (the Nobel committee) would be double checking... [[User:Mumiemonstret|Mumiemonstret]] ([[User talk:Mumiemonstret|talk]]) 11:10, 17 October 2014 (UTC)
If he were simply pranking Megan as a doctor, he would be checking her patellar reflexes, or looking into her eyes with an ophthalmoscope, or having her say Ahhhh while he looked into her throat with a tongue depressor. The fact that he has chosen to pretend to be an Obstetrician/Gynecologist suggests some ulterior motives. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.171|108.162.219.171]] 04:27, 23 March 2015 (UTC)
: You can prank someone outside of general care. This could just be a prank of opportunity. [[User:Flewk|flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 04:27, 9 January 2016 (UTC)

The use of the word "trimester" does not really add medical authority. It is basically the lab coat combined with the clinic setting. Most people understand what a trimester is without any medical training. "Trimester" is not medical jargon.

699: Trimester

2016-01-09T04:24:07Z

Flewk: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number =699
| date =February 8, 2010
| title =Trimester
| image =trimester.png
| titletext =Also, it's not like anyone actually calls up the Nobel committee to double-check things.
}}

==Explanation==
Some pregnancies are different than others, but a universal truth except in cases of {{w|Cesarean section}} is that a baby will always exit a woman's body through the vagina. [[Cueball]] is wearing a white lab coat and holding a clipboard, looking like a doctor, telling [[Megan]] that until the second trimester, the baby may decide instead to exit through any opening, including the mouth, anus, nose, navel, etc. This is most likely false{{Citation needed}}. The use of the word "trimester" (both in comic title and in Cueball's speech) further reinforces the impression of the Cueball being a medical professional, as this word is rarely used outside of the medical field and many lay people tend to learn it only when they encounter pregnancy situation in the course of their lives. It is an example of the use of a technical jargon in order to sound more credible. The caption reveals the truth, that Cueball simply bought the lab coat, he is not a doctor, and is either pranking Megan, or is impersonating a physician for some other reason.

The expectation that a person in a white coat is a medical expert, or at least a scientist, can be seen in the studies of the placebo effect: people who receive a "sugar pill" from a person who has the authority implied by wearing a lab coat will experience a greater placebo effect than those who receive identical pills from a person in {{w|Mufti (dress)|mufti}}. So doctors wear a white coat in clinic, and the expectation is reinforced. In some medical schools students receive a white coat as part of their graduation and qualification ceremony.

The title text implies also that in addition to faking being a doctor, he has also faked being a Nobel laureate, on the logic that people will not choose to verify this claim.

==Transcript==
:Cueball: Well, until the second trimester, the baby hasn't decided which opening it will exit through.
:Megan: ''What?''
:Cueball: We'll hope for one of the lower ones, so it won't be fighting gravity.

:Did you know you can just ''BUY'' lab coats?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

685: G-Spot

2016-01-08T21:31:19Z

Flewk: /* Explanation */ cueball lowers his head in shame in the last panel, no need for alternative explanation

{{comic
| number = 685
| date = January 6, 2010
| title = G-Spot
| image = g-spot.png
| titletext = The BBC lead was 'The elusive erogenous zone said to exist in some women may be a myth, say researchers who have hunted for it.' I couldn't read it with a straight face.
}}

==Explanation==
The {{w|G-Spot}} is, as the [[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8439000.stm BBC is quoted]] of saying in the title text, an elusive erogenous zone some women claim to have that can be stimulated to enhance their sexual experience. In this comic, a live press conference has been held due to a peer-reviewed study suggesting the G-Spot may not exist. [[Cueball]] (the researcher) initially claims he's not researching the G-Spot, but then admits he can't find it anyway i.e. he has difficulty making his lover orgasm.

==Transcript==
:A study published in the journal of sexual medicine suggests that the g-spot may not actually exist.
:We go live to the researchers' press conference:

:[Reporters, including Ponytail, stand below a Cueball at a podium.]
:Ponytail: Is it true you've been unable to find evidence that the g-spot exists?

:Cueball: My research is in solar cells. I think you have the wrong press conference.

:[Beat panel.]

:[Cueball hangs his head.]
:Cueball: But... yes.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Sex]]
[[Category:Public speaking]]

683: Science Montage

2016-01-08T21:28:15Z

Flewk: /* Explanation */ swapped mass spec with centrifuge as mass spec would be more likely given the conclusion

{{comic
| number = 683
| date = January 1, 2010
| title = Science Montage
| image = science_montage.png
| titletext = The rat's perturbed; it must sense nanobots! Code grey! We have a Helvetica scenario!
}}

==Explanation==
This comic makes fun of the artificially dramatized and simplified depiction of science in movies. The unstated premise seems to be that the scientists are trying to get information about a murderer based on a sample obtained from his clothing. The movie version of events involves the characters doing exciting things with a computer display, lab rats, a laser, and a complicated chemical apparatus. The characters quickly arrive at the firm conclusion that paint on the clothes is from an "{{w|Antimatter|antimatter}} factory" in {{w|Belgrade}}, Serbia. Also, while not directly used in the study, a {{w|Plasma globe|plasma globe}} and {{w|Newton's cradle}} can be seen in the first panel, both devices notoriously useless in any serious scientific study.

The actual science version shows the scientists putting a sample into a machine (likely a {{w|mass spectrometer}}, but perhaps a {{w|centrifuge}}). The machine apparently takes about 2 hours and 20 minutes to analyze the sample (according to the clock on the wall). At the end of this process, the only thing learned is that there is ''probably'' no {{w|barium}} or {{w|radium}} in the sample. This conclusion is not very helpful on its own, and is not even very certain.

There are several major concepts about science and technology that movies tend to distort for the purposes of a more exciting plot, both illustrated here. One is that the work involves a lot of different exciting-looking gadgets. Another is that the analysis can be done very quickly, and results in very certain and significant conclusions. Besides this, the scientists often seem to have access to a database full of trivial information from around the world. In reality, a scientific analysis of some sample or data often only requires a single boring-looking machine, takes quite some time, and provides a limited result that must be interpreted very carefully to have any meaning at all.

The title text further illustrates movie science, depicting one deducing the presence of {{w|nanobots}} simply by observing the behavior of a lab rat. The Helvetica Scenario is a fictional experiment, presented in Switzerland (Helvetica), which assumes that removing only the nucleus (the center of an atom) of a "calcium molecule" in one's skin, but still leaving the electron shell at its position, would cause a massive reaction ending up in heavy mutations. The Helvetica scenario was made up by the BBC comedy show {{w|Look Around You}} in the pilot episode, which can be seen [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4CRCJUmWsM here] (at 6:10). "Code grey" may refer to {{w|Grey goo}}, a hypothetical doomsday scenario involving nanobots.

==Transcript==
:Movie Science Montage

:[Male scientist passes a test tube to a female scientist sitting at a machine. Both are wearing lab coats and goggles. Lights and screens are shining, and a hamster ball and a Newton's cradle stand on a shelf behind them.]

:[A glowing sample next to a rat in a cage. Female scientist is holding a glowing implement; she has another rat in her hand and one on her head. The male scientist is on the phone.]
:Caged Rat: Squeak!

:[Female scientist pulls levers on another machine, which is shooting a laser beam of some sort downwards onto a sample.]

:[Male scientist is operating a complicated-looking chemical apparatus with a scope, flasks, coils, and bubbles.]
:Male Scientist: Paint flecks from the killer's clothing match an antimatter factory in Belgrade!
:Female Scientist (off panel): Let's go!

:Actual Science Montage

:[Two scientists in lab coats and goggles place a sample into a machine. An analog clock on the wall reads 9:05.]

:[The scientists are still standing in front of the machine. The clock now reads 10:10.]
:Machine: ''...whirrrrrr...''

:[The clock now reads 11:25. The male scientist has removed his goggles.]
:Machine: ''...whirrrr...bing!''

:[They examine the sample.]
:Male Scientist: Okay, we've determined there's neither barium nor radium in this sample.
:Female Scientist: Probably.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]
[[Category:Science]]

Talk:683: Science Montage

2016-01-08T21:27:00Z

Flewk:

'Code grey!' may also be a reference to Grey Goo involving nanobots. {{unsigned ip|64.138.135.2}}

In the third panel down of the Real Life montage, Cueball is missing his lab goggles. {{unsigned ip|162.158.145.156}}

: They are in his hands. [[User:Flewk|flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 21:27, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

Talk:681: Gravity Wells

2016-01-08T21:22:32Z

Flewk:

Why is Earth's well's depth listed as 5478km but as 6379km in the inset?
Compare with Mars which has 1286 in both places.
[[Special:Contributions/87.174.225.131|87.174.225.131]] 07:21, 12 April 2013 (UTC)
:Best guess is either a goof, or that the lower number is just for Earth itself, while the greater number is for the Earth/Moon system as a whole. Proportionally speaking, we have the largest moon in the solar system, so maybe it wouldn't nicely fit in the Earth well as easily as Mars's and Jupiter's moons do.--[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 08:28, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

: It ''may'' be the height needed to go from one gravity well to another. You don't have to get all the way up to escape speed for that.

: Randall wasn't kidding about the Sun being "very very far down"; its well is 100 times deeper than Jupiter's!
:[[User:Wwoods|Wwoods]] ([[User talk:Wwoods|talk]]) 19:47, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

:: OTOH, from the table above i'm thinking that the 5.4 might be the Venus figure, and it was wrongly placed besides Earth...
:: Secondly, what i found interesting was that the Earth's 6.4 looks so much like its radius! I wonder if it's merely a coincidence, or there's a connection between the two... -- [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.233|141.101.99.233]] 21:25, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::The table is great, it must be included in the article; layout and time is just my problem right now. PRO TIP: Do not care about the x-axis.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:18, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
: The fact that the density of the Earth is 5478 kilograms per cubic kilometer makes me pretty sure it is a typo. [[User:Fewmet|Fewmet]] ([[User talk:Fewmet|talk]]) 03:04, 4 July 2014 (UTC)
:: Hehe, you might be right. That's the best explanation. It would be a strange coincidence otherwise. But your units are wrong: a cubic kilometer of water, ice-cream or Natalie Portmans would be already something like a billion kilograms. Or a trillion, if you are American. Oh, you might be American. In this case: happy 4th of July! -[[Special:Contributions/188.114.102.35|188.114.102.35]] 12:39, 4 July 2014 (UTC)
:::Thanks for catching that (and for the July 4 wishes). It should be kilograms per cubic meter. Looking into that, though, leaves me less sure that is the origin of the problem. I thought I had multiple sources for Earth having a density of 5478 kg/m3, but can find only [//atharvatutorials.com/doc/physics_paper.docx one] (and not a very compelling one at that). I have sounder sources for [//www.universetoday.com/26771/density-of-the-earth/ 5513 kg/m3]. [//nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/earthfact.html 5514 kg/m3], [//www.wolframalpha.com 5515 kg/m3], [//www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Venus_Express/Venus_compared_to_Earth 5520 kg/m3] and [//principles.ou.edu/earth_planet/ 5540 kg/m3]. It may be trivial in that all round to 5500 kg/m3.
::It was corrected on the poster version. Earth's well in the main graphic is marked as 6379km, just like the inset.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.86|108.162.216.86]] 00:19, 21 August 2014 (UTC)

:::I solved for the wells on Earth, Moon and Mars using the equation Randall gave and masses and equatorial radii from NASA, getting 6371 km, 287 km and 1286 km, respectively. [[User:Fewmet|Fewmet]] ([[User talk:Fewmet|talk]]) 23:07, 5 July 2014 (UTC)
The Oberth Effect mentioned in the title text is [//www.askamathematician.com/2013/01/q-how-does-the-oberth-effect-work-and-where-does-the-extra-energy-come-from-why-is-it-better-for-a-rocket-to-fire-at-the-lowest-point-in-its-orbit/ well-explained here] (assuming you are not intimidated by the algebra in squaring a binomial). The gist of it is that using a bit of fuel in a rocket thrust will increase the rocket’s kinetic energy . The higher the kinetic energy at the time of the thrust, the greater the increase in kinetic energy. It works because the energy of the fuel goes into increasing the kinetic energy of the ship and the kinetic energy of the spent fuel. The faster you go, the greater the portion of the energy the ship gets.

The “gravity assist” is also known as the slingshot effect. The [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_assist#Explanation Wikipedia explanation] is good, especially with its diagram. In it a spaceship (or other body) accelerates toward a planet (or moon, star, etc.) in the same direction that body was going. The ship picks up a little of the body’s momentum and so goes faster, although only according to an external reference frame. An observer at rest with respect to that other body would actually see the ship approach and depart with the same speed.

The title text reference to orbital speed is unclear to me. I suppose it just means that the given gravity wells assume you are at rest on the surface of the planet. Then being in orbit (and necessarily having an orbital speed) would mean you are part way out of the well already. [[User:Fewmet|Fewmet]] ([[User talk:Fewmet|talk]]) 02:57, 4 July 2014 (UTC)

If the first stage of a rocket is still supplying lift for a while after its fuel is used up and the stage is cut adrift, would there be any saving in waiting for the next phase to cut in when forward motion is almost ended rather than continuing the burn immediately from the second stage?

The higher the vehicle gets the more productive the fuel becomes.Or is it preferable to continue the journey as fast as possible? {{unsigned|Weatherlawyer}}

My first instinct would be to say burn as continuously as possible. If you wait until your speed is almost zero, you have to use a whole load of energy (fuel) to get back to the speed you were going in the first place. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 17:12, 27 January 2015 (UTC)

:Hence the need to use ultra light containers in the first stage?{{unsigned|Weatherlawyer}}

Maybe the typo is based on Randall's days at NASA? It might already incorporate gravity assists and the Oberth effect. That number might even be what NASA was using as the minimum potential with known cost-effective techniques. [[User:Flewk|flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 21:22, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

Talk:679: Christmas Plans

2016-01-08T21:07:27Z

Flewk:

Interestingly, the comic text could be interpretted as dealing more with classical physics (only by observation do we actually know something) while the hover text is definitely referencing the fact that observing ''does something'' to a quantum system. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.207.61|178.98.207.61]] 12:57, 17 May 2013 (UTC)
A bit of theology: Jews are still waiting for Christ to be born, which makes 'I just don't know when Christmas is.' even more true. [[Special:Contributions/94.232.40.18|94.232.40.18]] 06:05, 29 October 2013 (UTC)
:Strictly speaking, we're waiting for ''the Messiah'' to be born. With any luck, he or she won't get crucified, so it won't be proper to refer to him/her as "Christ". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.209|108.162.219.209]] 07:25, 23 November 2013 (UTC)
::Loosely translated, "Christos" means messiah in (transliterated) Greek. It's descended from "chriein" meaning "annoit". So, yes, Jews are still waiting for Christ. The proper term is still "messiah", though, as it is the equivalent Hebrew term (parallel etymologies even! See [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/messiah Merriam-Webster] for [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/christ both]). Anonymous 18:26, 4 December 2013 (UTC)
:So you can't be Jewish and believe in the Messiah or you can be Jewish but not disblieve in the Law of Moses?
: Sheesh! Jewish scientists have it hard/unyielding/relatively impenetrable.

[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 21:24, 27 January 2015 (UTC)

Does the idea the title text references also apply to infrared thermometers? {{unsigned ip|108.162.250.217}}

Yes, The water is giving off IR radiation, some of it is being reflected back- placing the thermometer will reflect either more or less than the environment around the water (i.e. walls of the room etc.) this will effect a change in the temperature. (this comment is xkcd 326 compliant)[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.44|108.162.216.44]]

Since other people are obviously observing Christmas, its state should already be known, even if not known by Cueball. Schroedinger's cat depends on the fact that no one has observed the state of the cat. [[User:Flewk|flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 21:07, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

678: Researcher Translation

2016-01-08T21:02:35Z

Flewk: /* Explanation */ change 25 years explanation to reflect actual statement

{{comic
| number = 678
| date = December 21, 2009
| title = Researcher Translation
| image = researcher_translation.png
| titletext = A technology that is '20 years away' will be 20 years away indefinitely.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic suggests a translation from the statements of the researcher of a potential new technology. These statements might be found in, for example, an article in a popular science magazine which highlights some cutting-edge research. It reflects the idea that researchers tend to be too optimistic about the future of their research project.

"The fourth quarter of next year": Even if a technological development seems very close to completion, it could still be canceled by some authority other than the lead researcher. This might be due to poor management, or a poor business plan, or even a poor scientific basis which the researcher is hiding or ignoring.

"Five years": The researcher has solved the interesting scientific problems, and assumes that the concept could be picked up by a business, developed to be usable outside of a research lab, designed into a prototype, have a manufacturing process, marketed, and made available to consumers, in only five years. In reality, a lot of exciting-sounding technology may not reach consumers for many years because of difficulties in the business side of things.

"Ten years": Not only does the researcher assume that the business end of things will go smoothly, he also assumes that the rest of his research will go smoothly. In reality, a lot of unforeseen problems could arise during research.

"25+ years": "It has not been conclusively proven impossible" indicates that it has been proven impossible in some context. The researcher simply refuses to accept the impossibility until the proof is conclusive.

"We're not really looking at market applications right now.": In contrast to the above chain of assumptions, in this case the researcher has a working technology but wants to keep it to himself.

Title text: "20 years away indefinitely": Sometimes the technological or engineering challenges for a certain application seem like they could be overcome in 20 years, but in reality the challenges are very difficult. The more the challenges are studied, the harder they are found to be, although there is always hope that a few more advances will do it. An example is {{w|fusion power}}, which has been conceptualized since at least 1946 as a potentially unlimited source of clean energy, but remained an elusive achievement despite projects such as the {{w|National Ignition Facility}} and {{w|ITER}}. The first commercial plant is still indefinitely 20 years away.

A similar table was shown in [[1497: New Products]].

==Transcript==
{| class="wikitable"
!If a researcher says a cool new technology should be available to consumers in...
!What they mean is...
|-
|The fourth quarter of next year
|The project will be canceled in six months.
|-
|Five years
|I've solved the interesting research problems. The rest is just business, which is easy, right?
|-
|Ten years
|We haven't finished inventing it yet, but when we do, it'll be awesome.
|-
|25+ years
|It has not been conclusively proven impossible.
|-
|We're not really looking at market applications right now.
|I like being the only one with a hovercar.
|}

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]

675: Revolutionary

2016-01-08T20:54:04Z

Flewk: /* Explanation */ added title text self reference joke

{{comic
| number = 675
| date = December 14, 2009
| title = Revolutionary
| image = revolutionary.png
| titletext = I mean, what's more likely -- that I have uncovered fundamental flaws in this field that no one in it has ever thought about, or that I need to read a little more? Hint: it's the one that involves less work.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic contrasts brilliant revolutionary scientific thought with the simplistic arrogance of assuming one understands the current scientific theory enough to correct it. The character with the goatee has a degree in {{w|philosophy}}, and perhaps has certain ideas of his own about how the world should fundamentally be described by physics. He has studied Einstein's {{w|theory of special relativity}} for less than an hour and thinks he has found a flaw. When confronted about this, he considers the objection as based in {{w|dogma}}, and remains so confident that he wants to email the "president of physics". His ignorance of the field is emphasized by thinking that the entire field of physics has a president - although certain important organizations such as the {{w|American Physical Society}} do have presidents.

[[Cueball]] concedes that it is possible for such a revolutionary idea to come from a relative outsider. One example is {{w|Albert Einstein}}'s own formulation of {{w|special relativity}}, which came while he was working at a patent office in Switzerland, although he did already have a Ph.D in physics. A {{w|thought experiment}} considers some hypothesis, theory, or principle for the purpose of thinking through its consequences.

The "racecar on a train" idea alludes to thought experiments involving {{w|Frame_of_reference#Simple_example|frames of reference}}, which are important in relativity. If the philosopher had studied more, he would know that this idea is accounted for by the fact that, when a system is moving at nearly the speed of light, any motion within the system that could otherwise cause faster-than-light travel results in the flow of time changing so as to avoid this issue.

The title text is posing a question about the likelihood of two scenarios (possibly to the person with the philosophy degree):
*That decades of work by numerous physicists is fundamentally incorrect, and I found the flaw immediately
*That I need to read a little more

This might be a self-referential title text as this question could be considered a simple thought experiment. The philosopher should be able to overturn his theory using this simple thought experiment which reflects the second panel. While his theory is not widely-believed{{Citation needed}}, the joke is that the philosopher could overturn his first thought experiment (racecar on train) with this thought experiment.

[[Randall]] hints that believing you have found fundamental flaws in a theory is much easier than doing more research on it. This is possibly a statement about using Occam's Razor in arguments, which says the simpler answer is the more likely one, which is commonly brought up in Philosophy. Usually, when someone with little understanding of the subject thinks that they have found a flaw, it takes only a little bit more reading to discover that the flaw is in fact completely explained already.

As an example, lets say a high school student happens to do sqrt(5-6). His calculator tells him 'Error', and he thinks he has uncovered a function which has no answer. In fact, with a little more reading, he would discover that mathematicians have a whole area devoted to this type of mathematics, namely {{w|Imaginary numbers|imaginary numbers}}.

==Transcript==
:Cueball: Yes, science is an open process in which a good idea can come from anybody.

:Cueball: Yes, widely-believed theories are ''on occasion'' overturned by simple thought experiments.

:Cueball: And yes, your philosophy degree equips you to ask interesting questions sometimes.

:[Cueball is talking to a philosopher with a goatee, who is sitting at a computer.]
:Cueball: But you did not just overturn special relativity, a subject you learned about an hour ago, with your "racecar on a train" idea.
:Philosopher: You just don't like that I'm turning a rational eye to your dogma. Hey, what's the email for the president of physics?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]
[[Category:Physics]]

Talk:652: More Accurate

2016-01-08T13:19:59Z

Flewk:

MOST? You mean some aren't?

Our current level of artifical intelligence research is not really far and I doubt anyone would be trying to advance it inside armed machines. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:03, 25 February 2013 (UTC)

: Do you just not notice the high volume of news literature on the current state of drones? The Atlantic wrote a long feature about it recently. --[[User:Quicksilver|Quicksilver]] ([[User talk:Quicksilver|talk]]) 18:58, 20 August 2013 (UTC)

The current level of our artificial intelligence research is high enough for Google to be testing {{w|google driverless car|driverless cars}} on the streets of the Bay Area. Given that, I'm sure the military is at least testing autonomous drones. [[User:Dawfedora|Dawfedora]] ([[User talk:Dawfedora|talk]]) 16:38, 11 July 2013 (UTC)

: As far as I knew, we already have autonomous drones, but there's a law that requires that a human must pull the trigger. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.196|108.162.212.196]] 23:37, 6 January 2014 (UTC)

:: Autonomy is still pre-programmed, just like driverless cars. The Terminator was also just a pre-programmed drone, at least until it started to develop feelings. There are also automated strikes. The only thing that is required is human verification of intel (which is not that great). [[User:Flewk|flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 13:19, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

At ''every'' moment of life we leave the present to enter the future...--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.44|108.162.229.44]] 18:38, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

And the joke is on everyone when the "drone" turns out to be Soundwave. -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.162|108.162.250.162]] 06:26, 10 August 2015 (UTC)

646: Conversations

2016-01-08T12:49:47Z

Flewk: /* Explanation */ included back reference to 623:Oregon

{{comic
| number = 646
| date = October 7, 2009
| title = Conversations
| image = conversations.png
| titletext = If the dysentery graph looks historically inaccurate it's because I got all my data from Oregon Trail.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic humorously links both {{w|dysentery}} and {{w|laptop computers}} with conversations in which one participant is on the {{w|toilet}}.

{{w|Dysentery}} results from viral, bacterial, or parasitic infections in the intestine, and is characterized by severe {{w|diarrhea}}, which means that someone will be on the toilet frequently and/or for a long time. So when dysentery was more prevalent, people spent more time on the toilet and presumably would have to talk to other people while sitting there. Dysentery has largely subsided in the developed world, which is why the graph of dysentery cases falls to near zero over time.

Laptops could cause toilet conversations because {{w|wireless internet}} allows people to carry their laptop anywhere around the house, even to the bathroom. They can still communicate with friends by text, voice, or even video chat, which means people can multitask by holding an online conversation while sitting on the toilet. If the chatting is just in text, then the other person won't have to know that their friend is on the toilet - Hopefully voice and video chat are less common while sitting on the toilet.

There are always ''some'' conversations on the toilet, because the social conventions against it are sometimes ignored or overridden by urgent situations. This explains why the conversations graph does not reach zero in the middle.

The joke in the title text is a direct reference to a previous [[623|comic]] regarding {{w|The_Oregon_Trail_(video_game)|The Oregon Trail}} and dysentery.

The title text refers to the popular educational computer game around the 1980s titled the Oregon Trail. The game purports to educate students about 19th-century {{w|pioneer}} life on the {{w|Oregon Trail}} in the western {{w|United States}}. Among the features in the game is the common occurrence for a party member to die of a disease such as {{w|cholera}}, {{w|typhoid}}, or {{w|dysentery}}. The title text humorously suggests that the data for the graph comes from occurrences of dysentery in the game.

==Transcript==
:[A graph plots time vs. 3 lines.]
:[Dysentery cases starts high, drops to near zero with time.]
:[Laptop sales starts at zero, then raises.]
:[Frequency of conversations in which one participant is on the toilet - falls as dysentery cases falls, then rises again with laptop sales.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]

644: Surgery

2016-01-08T12:38:29Z

Flewk: /* arm instead of brain */

{{comic
| number = 644
| date = October 2, 2009
| title = Surgery
| image = surgery.png
| titletext = Damn. Not only did he not install it, he sutured a 'Vista-Ready' sticker onto my arm.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Linux}} is an {{w|open source}} kernel for an operating system. Linux is notorious for its less-than-perfect support for hardware, although support for most hardware is eventually patched into the official kernel release. [[Cueball]] is here under the impression that support for a USB port can be patched into his arm in a similar fashion to how hardware support can be added to the Linux kernel.

The "{{w|Windows Vista|Vista}}-Ready" sticker in the title text is a humorous indication from the doctor that the patient is "advanced enough" to have Windows Vista installed. The irony is multilayered. There was a [http://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Vista-Capable-lawsuit-against-Microsoft-now-a-1265319.php lawsuit against Microsoft] about promoting not-so-capable computers as "Windows Vista Capable"; they could neither run Vista fully nor smoothly. On top of that, the typical Linux user would not be very enthusiastic about Windows at all; someone who runs Linux has actively chosen an alternative operating system.

==Transcript==
:[A surgeon is standing over a patient on a gurney.]
:Patient: While you're doing the surgery, can you also implant this in my arm?

:Surgeon: A USB port?
:Patient: Just wire it up to some nerves.

:Surgeon: ...This won't let your brain control USB devices, you know.
:Patient: Sure – I just want the hardware.

:Patient: The rest is software; I'm sure there will be a project to patch together support eventually.
:Surgeon: Ah – you're a Linux user, I see.
:Patient: Yeah, how'd you know?
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Linux]]

610: Sheeple

2016-01-08T10:21:17Z

Flewk: /* appearance is not relevant to the comic; tried to improve clarity of first paragraph, failed miserably */

{{comic
| number = 610
| date = July 15, 2009
| title = Sheeple
| image = sheeple.png
| titletext = Hey, what are the odds -- five Ayn Rand fans on the same train! Must be going to a convention.
}}

==Explanation==
"{{w|Sheeple}}" refers to people as sheep, who blindly follow direction without thinking for themselves. The phrase "[[:Category:Sheeple|Wake up Sheeple]]!" has been used in xkcd other times. In this comic, each person on the train considers themselves to be the ''only'' individual mind and everyone around them as "sheeple." Ironically, the reader can see that although each of them thinks about how individual they are, they are all collectively thinking exactly the same thing. The comic can also be taken as a warning to not assume that you have more consciousness than someone else, since for all you know they could think the same about you.

{{w|Ayn Rand}} was a Russian-born American {{w|novelist}} and activist whose most famous books include, ''{{w|Atlas Shrugged}}'', ''{{w|Anthem (novella)|Anthem}}'', and ''{{w|The Fountainhead}}''. She developed a philsophy known as {{w|Objectivism}}, which promotes individual fulfillment (or so-called "rational self-interest") at the expense of collective goals and undertakings. Sheeple coordinates with Ayn Rand's novel, ''Anthem'', set in the distant future in which the word "I" has been abolished and the evils of the communal values have created a new dark age.

A possible further irony can be found in the title text. Rand enthusiasts would seek individualism and independence from social pressures; however, a convention could be interpreted as a social collective of people who have similar interests in a subject. These ideas could arguably be construed to be opposites of each other. However, similar interests does not mean lack of individualism: this can be seen in Ayn Rand's novel "Atlas Shrugged", which features a society of like-minded people centered around the concepts of individualism and {{w|neoliberalism}}.

==Transcript==
:[A thought bubble is shared between the five occupants (four Cueballs and one Ponytail) of a subway car.]
:All: Look at these people. Glassy-eyed automatons going about their daily lives, never stopping to look around and think! I'm the only conscious human in a world of sheep.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]
[[Category:Psychology]]
[[Category:Sheeple]]

Talk:605: Extrapolating

2016-01-08T09:59:19Z

Flewk:

If I post a comment on this page, this page will someday consume all the bandwidth of the world. Eh, what the heck.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.158|108.162.216.158]] 02:45, 1 September 2015 (UTC)

: Don't worry. That's not how bandwidth works. And even it was, its growth can also be extrapolated. [[User:Flewk|flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 09:59, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

603: Idiocracy

2016-01-08T08:02:45Z

Flewk: /* first part needs improvement */

{{comic
| number = 603
| date = June 29, 2009
| title = Idiocracy
| image = idiocracy.png
| titletext = People aren't going to change, for better or for worse. Technology's going to be so cool. All in all, the future will be okay! Except climate; we fucked that one up.
}}
{{incomplete|dysgenics-scientific?, also maybe mention Flynn effect}}

==Explanation==
The title of this comic is a reference to the dystopian comedy ''{{w|Idiocracy}}''. The film postulates that over about 500 years, society will suffer from a massive decrease in intellectual potential. This development is attributed to the fact that people with a lower IQ are believed to be more fertile and thus better able to pass on their genes. The scientifical approach towards a negative correlation between intelligence and fertility is called {{w|dysgenics|intelligence dysgenics}}.

[[Cueball]] professes his approval for the theories represented in the film, and Domed Hat agrees with him, lamenting the gradual decay in intelligence and education. But in panel 3, Domed Hat suddenly reveals that all the "facts" he cited were wrong, and we learn that he doesn't support the dysgenic thesis at all. He turns to accuse Cueball of conceited self-righteousness (using religious zealots as an analogy), harshly condemning intelligence dysgenics as an excuse for feeling superior to the rest of society. Cueball's suggestion of {{w|Birth control movement in the United States|birth control}} for the unintelligent only furthers his attitude. Although it is not named, one thing at work here is the {{w|Dunning-Kruger effect}} — that stupid people don't realize they're stupid.

Domed Hat's punchline, playing on Cueball's birth control suggestion, is a direct insult: it would be better to reproduce with a stupid person than an elitist like Cueball.

It's pretty clear here that [[Randall]] is voicing his opinion through Domed Hat, and using Cueball as a straw man.

The title text reflects the opinion. It makes a few cheery comments on the future, but then finishes on a rather sour note about {{w|climate change}}.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball looking at a DVD cover. White Hat stands next to him.]
:Cueball: ''Idiocracy'' is so true.
:White Hat: I know, right? It used to be that the intelligent, upper classes had more children.

:White Hat: Sadly, the recent reversal of this trend has dragged IQ scores and average education steadily downward.
:Cueball: Depressing, huh?

:White Hat: Yeah, except ''everything I just said was wrong.''
:Cueball: Huh?
:White Hat: Wrong. False. The opposite of true.

:White Hat: You're like the religious zealots who are ''burdened'' by their superiority with the sad duty of decrying the ''obvious'' moral decay of each new generation.
:White Hat: And you're just as wrong.
:Cueball: But look at how popular—
:White Hat: More harm has been done by people panicked over societal decline than societal decline ever did.

:Cueball: Look — all we need is a program that limits breeding to—
:[White Hat is walking off panel.]
:White Hat: New theory: Stupid people reproduce more because the alternative is sleeping with ''you.''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat‏‎]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Biology]]

Talk:561: Well

2016-01-05T08:07:07Z

Flewk:

Shouldn't we elaborate on the questioned superiority of DVORAK? --[[Special:Contributions/129.206.196.49|129.206.196.49]] 20:45, 11 October 2013 (UTC)

Actually, QUERTY was not designed to avoid jamming keys. It actually seems to be based on morse code mappings - to suit the majority of early users who were morse code operators. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/fact-of-fiction-the-legend-of-the-qwerty-keyboard-49863249/?no-ist {{unsigned ip|103.22.201.159}}

The final two frames appear to be foreshadowed by the title text within Connected (http://xkcd.com/807/) [[User:Lakeside|Lakeside]] ([[User talk:Lakeside|talk]]) 19:02, 4 November 2013 (UTC)

I like how the 'uncomfortable truth' for the man is that he never meant it when he said 'I love you', but for the woman, it's that she always did! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.223|108.162.219.223]] 23:47, 23 December 2013 (UTC)

What is ironic is that I am setting up a keyboard based on [https://github.com/michaeldickens/Typing Michael Dicken's optimizer]. Also, while I prefer vim (light weight!), I also have Xemacs out of my own choice. [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 20:37, 24 December 2013 (UTC)

:The uncomfortable truth is that both emacs and vi are quite difficult to learn, just in different ways.

:Emacs, after you learn it, allows you to write the highly flexible macros for the text processing but requires to type some very long command names to do most things. Being largely written is Lisp, historically Emacs had also been very slow and memory-hungry but with the modern computers it doesn't matter any more. Oh, and Emacs messes up the proper Tab characters, replacing them with spaces.

:Vi doesn't have this flexibility but has a built-in set of commands extremely well suited to editing the programs. Vi is well-suited for the remote administration because it works well even over the very slow and high-latency connections and allows to do everything with just the alphanumeric keys, thus working even when the handling of the function keys (including arrows ans such) was not set up correctly. One of the newer versions of vi, vim, allows to do some very extensive programmable text manipulation, getting closer to Emacs in this respect; and vim can be set up to mess up the Tab characters just like Emacs. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.5|108.162.246.5]] 21:58, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

::vi is the hell, my keyboard doesn't have a META key... Maybe it's ALT, or ALT+CTRL,... ALT+SHIFT, or ALT+SHIFT+CTRL+ESC+...A hell. But you can rely on vi, it's available on every UNIX based system. So, if you just have a simple Telnet or SSH login you have to figure out how vi does work. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:30, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

The Firefly explanation is too much, especially with the point about airing out of order. I think with the inclusion of Randall's personal preference for Firefly, and its frequent reference by Randall, it would make a lot more sense. [[User:Flewk|flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 08:07, 5 January 2016 (UTC)

561: Well

2016-01-05T08:04:28Z

Flewk: /* Chinese is not spoken in equal measure as English in Firefly, or half of the show would be subtitled and filled with terrible accents */

{{comic
| number = 561
| date = March 27, 2009
| title = Well
| image = well.png
| titletext = I'll concede ergonomics anecdotally, but none of the studies of Dvorak were at all rigorous (the most-cited Navy study was overseen by Dvorak himself). And the 'slow typists down' thing is a myth. Also EMACS RULES VI DROOLS WOOOOOOO!
}}

==Explanation==
This is the first comic in the [[:Category:Well|Well]] series. It was followed by [[568: Well 2]].

Uncomfortable truths are truths that exist, but no one wants to have to think about them.

The first is about ''{{w|Firefly (TV Series)|Firefly}}'', the TV series created by {{w|Joss Whedon}} and canceled by {{w|FOX}}, due to poor ratings performance, after [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ScrewedByTheNetwork airing the first 13 episodes out-of-order]. In ''Firefly'', the main languages spoken are English and Chinese (supposedly in equal measure), because China was the only other world power besides America to go to space (Joss Whedon's own explanation on the DVDs). However, there are [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HumansAreWhite very few actual Asians] on-screen.

The second is about two different keyboard layouts, QWERTY and Dvorak. Early {{w|typewriter}}s used to jam easily if two nearby keys were struck at about the same time. To work around this, the {{w|QWERTY}} layout, named after the first six letters on its keys, scattered common letter combinations around the keyboard, thus greatly avoiding the problem. (A common myth states that this was done to slow typists down; this was not the case.) Later typewriter mechanisms were less prone to jamming, which prompted a few people to try to create alternative layouts, such as {{w|Blickensderfer typewriter|Blickensderfer's DHIATENSOR layout}} in 1892, or the {{w|Dvorak Simplified Keyboard}} in 1932. Such layouts never really caught on; by then, typists were all very used to the QWERTY layout, and were unwilling to take the time and effort to learn a new one.

In the Dvorak layout, {{w|August Dvorak}} placed the most frequently used keys at the most easily accessible places; Dvorak's advocates claim this reduces typing effort and repetitive strain (as mentioned in the title text) while increasing typing speed and accuracy. However, rigorous, unbiased studies have yet to clearly show significant superiority. (As the title text mentions, the most commonly cited study in Dvorak's favor was overseen by Dvorak himself during his US Navy service in World War II.)

The third and fourth truths are connected: they involve the two people receiving them and (presumably) their relationship with each other. Every time [[Cueball]] said "I love you" he never really meant it; wheras [[Megan]] meant it every time she said "I love you". This is very uncomfortable for both!

The title text perpetuates the {{w|Editor war|Emacs vs. vi debate}}. Both {{w|Emacs}} and {{w|Vim (text editor)|Vim}} are text editors that are frequently used as general-language editors of source code. The issue is that, while Emacs is more user-friendly and customizable, vim is more lightweight while needing few keystrokes in text editing. Because of this balance, fans of Emacs and fans of vim end up fighting each other.

In the comic game [[1608: Hoverboard]] there is also a well in the left part of the world. This well has the same type of covered top and at the bottom (it is very deep) there is a girl and above her a coin, like the one thrown into a wishing well. On these links, to images on {{xkcd}}; used in the game, the [http://xkcd.com/1608/980:-1077+s.png top] and the [http://xkcd.com/1608/980:-1073+s.png bottom] of the well can be seen.

==Transcript==
:[A sign sits by a well.]
:The Uncomfortable Truths Well

:[A Cueball-like guy and Ponytail are lined up for the well; the guy throws a coin in.]
:Well: For a universe that's supposed to be half Chinese, Firefly sure doesn't have any Asians.

:[The guy is gone, Cueball and Megsn arrives as a couple lining up behind Ponytail; Ponytail throws a coin in.]
:Well: There's no solid evidence DVORAK's better than QWERTY. The standard histories are urban legends.

:[Just the couple remain; Cueball throws another coin in.]
:Well: You've never said "I love you" and meant it. It was always just words.

:[Megan has presumably also thrown a coin in the well. This is not shown as for the first tree. Cueball waits for her on the other side of the well.]
:Well: You meant it every time.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Sarcasm]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Firefly]]
[[Category:Well]]
[[Category:Emacs]]

Talk:558: 1000 Times

2016-01-05T07:50:37Z

Flewk:

Most honest:
Bailout - 1.7 x 10^11
Bonuses - 1.65 x 10^8
[[User:BruceJohnJennerLawso|BruceJohnJennerLawso]] ([[User talk:BruceJohnJennerLawso|talk]]) 23:39, 17 November 2013 (UTC)
:so what WERE the boni for?
[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 16:54, 30 January 2015 (UTC)
::For bringing money into the company (from the government) according to those executives' contracts {{unsigned ip|198.41.235.59}}

A bit surprised Randall ignored the still significant figure of 0.1% paid out as bonuses instead of being used to help revitalize the economy. [[User:Flewk|flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 07:50, 5 January 2016 (UTC)

Talk:555: Two Mirrors

2016-01-05T07:38:49Z

Flewk:

Am i the only one who think of the ne555?
[[Special:Contributions/87.179.191.141|87.179.191.141]] 21:46, 11 December 2012 (UTC)
:No idea. What I was thinking was who reads books like that?
(There again who responds to sites like this?)
And: Shouldn't the mirrors be at a slight angle to one another?

[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 18:06, 30 January 2015 (UTC)

:A slight angle would amplify with each reflection breaking the chain. It would make more sense for them to be parallel but off-center from one another. [[User:Flewk|flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 07:38, 5 January 2016 (UTC)

552: Correlation

2016-01-05T07:27:01Z

Flewk: /* expanded on the joke and the subtlety between correlation and causation */

{{comic
| number = 552
| date = March 6, 2009
| title = Correlation
| image = Correlation.png
| titletext = Correlation doesn't imply causation, but it does waggle its eyebrows suggestively and gesture furtively while mouthing 'look over there'.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic focuses on the apparent difficulty people have in understanding the difference between {{w|Correlation and dependence|correlation}} and {{w|Causality|causation}}. When two variables (like blood cholesterol levels and heart disease) are positively correlated, it means that as one variable increases so does the other, whereas a negative correlation means that as one variable increases, the other decreases. The human brain is very good at seeing patterns and deducing rules, and the seemingly natural conclusion is that that the one is leading to the other. In the example, that high blood cholesterol causes heart disease.

This may well be true. The positive correlation is certainly not an argument '''against''' such a conclusion. But it is only one type of evidence, and is certainly not proof.

The relationship between diet and blood chemistry and heart disease is a complex one, but simpler examples abound. For example, if you tallied the sales of sunglasses and incidence of skin cancer by region, you would probably find that there is a high positive correlation. That is, in locations where many people buy sunglasses, there are also many cases of skin cancer. Here it would seem silly to believe that wearing sunglasses can cause skin cancer, but this is exactly the same thinking that allowed us to conclude that blood cholesterol causes heart disease. Correlations do have the ability to mislead us. In this example, both sunglasses and skin cancer are directly affected by a third factor (specifically, a climate where many people expose themselves to the sun).

In essence, when two variables are correlated it does not provide evidence that one variable has caused the other. All it says is that their trends move in relation to each other. The correlation could be due to causality, but it could equally be due to other factors, or it could even be a random result.

In this situation [[Cueball]] is explaining to Megan his realization that correlation is not the same thing as causation. He further explains that his belief changed some time after taking a {{w|statistics}} class. [[Megan]], concludes that the course ''caused'' his realization thereby establishing a causation. Cueball's final response of "Well, Maybe." is a self-referential joke as there is not enough information to establish causation, only correlation which the class supposedly would have taught him. Being taught something an academic setting does not necessarily mean a person will readily understand/realize the concept, hence the lack of absolute causation. It could also be a joke on Megan's behalf. Cueball may know whether his new knowledge is caused by the course, but he points out that Megan can't be certain about the causation.

The title text plays on two meanings of the word ''imply'': have as consequence, or insinuate. In the statement {{w|correlation does not imply causation}}, ''correlation'' is here seen as a person, giving you subtle hints where to look for the cause. This is a metaphor for research, where the correlation must be investigated further, perhaps in a wider scope or with the consideration of more variables, so that the reason for it is understood. For example, {{w|Barry Marshall}} and {{w|Robin Warren}} noticed that the presence of ''{{w|Helicobacter pylori}}'' was highly correlated with duodenal ulcer patients. They investigated further. Result: the Nobel Prize in Medicine.

In addition, the title text's reference to waggling eyebrows and gesturing furtively while mouthing "look over there" is clearly a reference to the movie {{w|Ferris Bueller's Day Off}}, in which the character of Cameron Frye tries to alert Ferris that Ferris's father is in the next cab over, and they are about to be discovered ditching school. What Randall is saying with this reference is that Correlation (if it were a character in a movie) is desperately trying to draw attention to Causation without openly stating this intention, and perhaps that correlation is a good place to start when looking for causation.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is talking to Megan.]
:Cueball: I used to think correlation implied causation.

:[Cueball lift his hand while continuing to talk to Megan.]
:Cueball: Then I took a statistics class. Now I don't.

:[Back to the same situation as the first frame.]
:Megan: Sounds like the class helped.
:Cueball: Well, maybe.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Statistics]]

547: Simple

2016-01-05T06:56:20Z

Flewk: /* Explanation did not address the actual dialogue in the comic */

{{comic
| number = 547
| date = February 23, 2009
| title = Simple
| image = simple.png
| titletext = Actually, I think if all higher math professors had to write for the Simple English Wikipedia for a year, we'd be in much better shape academically.
}}

==Explanation==
There are three [[Cueball]]s discussing a {{w|particle accelerator}}. One Cueball asks the others about the "tertiary Free-electron laser ({{w|Free-electron_laser|F.E.L}}) guidance system". As this is a fairly technical topic, we would expect a response filled with scientific jargon. The joke is that the other Cueball instead responds in a much simpler manner. He uses simple phrases such as "smash the right things together" and "that would be very bad".

As the caption below the comic notes, Cueball and/or [[Randall]] has spent the previous night reading the {{w|Simple English Wikipedia}}, a [http://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page simplified version] of {{w|Wikipedia}} intended to be easier to understand, and now he finds himself using similarly simple syntax. For example, the article for a [http://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particle_accelerator particle accelerator] describes it as "a machine that makes really tiny things called particles travel at very high speeds." This is similar to the simple response given by the responding Cueball. In the actual comic, Cueball was able to effectively communicate the dangers of using a broken F.E.L. using simple syntax similar to the style of the Simple English Wikipedia.

From the title text, Randall believes that if people teaching advanced mathematics followed this style, their subject would be more accessible. The implication is that more people would be drawn to studying mathematics and that (naturally) the world would be a better place because of this!

This concept was later revisited in [[722: Computer Problems]], [[1133: Up Goer Five]] and [[1436: Orb Hammer]].

==Transcript==
:[Three Cueball-like guys stand in front of a sketch. The middle Cueball is the protagonist of the comic and will be called Cueball.]
:Left Cueball-like guy: Do you have any thoughts regarding the particle accelerator's tertiary F.E.L. Guidance System?
:Cueball: We can't put the broken part in the machine. It wouldn't smash the right tiny things together. Then the machine might break.
:Cueball: That would be very bad.

:[Caption below the frame:]
:I spent all night reading simple.wikipedia.org, and now I can't stop talking like this.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Simplified language]]

543: Sierpinski Valentine

2016-01-05T04:58:12Z

Flewk: 62: karnaugh valentine is fairly positive, considering it is an ernest love poem

{{comic
| number = 543
| date = February 13, 2009
| title = Sierpinski Valentine
| image = sierpinski valentine.png
| titletext = Especially you mouseover text readers. You're the best. <3
}}

==Explanation==
A {{w|Valentine's Day}} card from [[Randall]] to the xkcd readers. It is written inside a parody of the {{w|Sierpinski Triangle}}, a Sierpinski Valentine.

[[File:SierpinskiTriangle.jpg|frame|A Sierpinski triangle.]]
The {{w|Sierpinski Triangle}} is a fractal pattern made of triangles, covering a space. The way it works is to draw a triangle and draw another (upside down) one in the middle. Choose the upper, left and right triangle and repeat the process. Another valentine in the shape of a heart is [[63: Valentine - Heart]].

The <3 in the title text is an {{w|emoticon}} for a heart and goes out to those of his readers that read the [[Title text|title text]]. Those who read the title text are usually more devoted to know that such a thing exists.

Another relevant comic to the Sierpinski Triangle is [[95: The Sierpinski Penis Game]].

==Transcript==
:[Shows an adaptation of the Sierpinski triangle fractal, using hearts instead of triangles.]
:Happy valentine's day.
::-xkcd

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Valentines]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

Talk:531: Contingency Plan

2016-01-04T02:50:16Z

Flewk:

I don't think the idea is that the parents would kill the child if something went wrong (that would not be responsible parenting.) I think the idea is that the child would not be able to run away from home and there would be no incentive for someone to kidnap the child, since it could not live without insulin from the parents. {{unsigned ip|‎213.203.138.251}}

:Given the story of Jurassic Park I think you are wrong. [[Special:Contributions/184.66.160.91|184.66.160.91]] 16:35, 22 October 2013 (UTC)

::Agreed. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.223|108.162.219.223]] 20:58, 23 December 2013 (UTC)

From what I can find, this comic is confusing type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Giving your child lots of sugar would give them type 2 diabetes, but insulin is only required to treat type 1 diabetes. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.192|199.27.130.192]] 22:46, 14 March 2015 (UTC)

:Severe cases of type 2 diabetes can also be treated with insulin, but whats more important: There is no direct connection between sugar intake and developing type 2. It would be more "efficient" to feed the child with fat-products. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.212|162.158.90.212]] 09:17, 20 October 2015 (UTC)
::By fat-products, I am assuming you mean high-cholesterol or high-trans products. These have not been shown to be as effective than high GI carbohydrates. Other than carbohydrates, sodium has been linked to insulin resistance as well. [[User:Flewk|flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 02:50, 4 January 2016 (UTC)

Talk:530: I'm An Idiot

2016-01-04T02:44:07Z

Flewk:

Does this count as a self-nerd-snipe? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.101|108.162.218.101]] 02:44, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

Anyone have an idea how he made his Mac Mini speak? [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.129|199.27.133.129]] 19:46, 24 September 2014 (UTC)
:Yes. Read the title text. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.83|108.162.216.83]] 03:36, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

osascript -e "set volume 7", if anybody is curious --[[User:Okofish|Okofish]] ([[User talk:Okofish|talk]]) 17:34, 1 May 2015 (UTC)

I like how the doorbell pops out real obviously in the last panel. like 0_0... [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.24|173.245.54.24]]

Explanation seems a bit complicated for such a simple joke. Even the description of a beat panel seems convoluted. [[User:Flewk|flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 02:44, 4 January 2016 (UTC)

527: Keynote

2016-01-04T02:12:17Z

Flewk: Moved Steve Jobs death trivia to trivia section

{{comic
| number = 527
| date = January 7, 2009
| title = Keynote
| image = keynote.png
| titletext = He should be better soon -- now that the Apple Store is getting rid of DRM, Cory Doctorow will get rid of his Steve Jobs voodoo doll.
}}

==Explanation==
According to this comic, {{w|Steve Jobs}}, the founder of the Apple company, lost a lot of weight due to a hormonal problem. Weight loss is, in some cultures, considered an aesthetically good thing, though such is due to its context being a deliberate action in order to remove obesity, which does not seem to be the case here. [[Black Hat]] then mentions that Apple was probably excited to announce its thinnest and lightest CEO in the industry. This comment is a parody of Apple's tendency to release thinner and lighter iterations of its products. Steve Jobs' weight loss would certainly make him a thinner and lighter CEO.

The title text refers to {{w|Cory Doctorow}}, a blogger, journalist and science-fiction author. Doctorow is opposed to the technology called {{w|Digital rights management}} (DRM for short). DRM is designed to protect copyright owner, but often has negative consequenses for consumers. Randall (jokingly) proposes that Steve Jobs is only sick because Doctorow was torturing him with {{w|Voodoo doll}}s for Apple's use of DRM.

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat talking to Cueball sitting at computer.]
:Cueball: Huh - Steve Jobs isn't doing a keynote this year, citing massive weight loss due to some hormonal problem.
:Black Hat: Too bad. I bet Apple was excited about unveiling the thinnest and lightest CEO in the industry.

==Trivia==
Steve Jobs died on October 5, 2011 of pancreatic cancer the day before [[Randall]] released [[961: Eternal Flame]]. Presumably, the cancer was the cause of Jobs' weight loss, although it was not public information at the time the comic was posted.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Steve Jobs]]
[[Category:Sarcasm]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cory Doctorow]]

526: Converting to Metric

2016-01-04T02:05:30Z

Flewk: /* your mom joke grammar */

{{comic
| number = 526
| date = January 5, 2009
| title = Converting to Metric
| image = converting to metric.png
| titletext = According to River, "adequate" vacuuming systems drain the human body at about half a liter per second.
}}
==Explanation==
Most people will eventually develop an intuitive feel for how big certain measurements are (e.g., how long an inch or a foot is, how much a pound weighs). This comic points out that people who were brought up using the {{w|United States customary units|United States system of customary units}} probably don't have the same intuitive understanding for metric units and attempts to provide some benchmarks for these people. Most of the benchmarks are common sense, highly-useful ones (e.g., if it's 30 degrees centigrade [86 °F], you'd be quite comfortable outside dressed for the beach) but some of the benchmarks are humorous and/or completely useless. Benchmarks include:

===Temperature===
* {{w|Extremes on Earth|Earth's hottest}}: 60⁠°C [140 °F]: The hottest temperature recorded on earth is actually {{W|List_of_weather_records#Heat|"only" 56.7}}. There have been reports of ten-twenty degrees higher (70-80⁠°C) but these measurements are not verified or accepted as world records.
* Various heat waves: {{w|Dubai}} is a city in the United Arab Emirates, and is smack-dab in the middle of an equatorial desert, so their heat waves can get ''hot!''. The southern Unites States will typically be a few degrees hotter than the northern United States simply because it's closer to the equator, but as mentioned they're both above "Beach Weather".
*30°C [86 °F]: A little too hot so perfect for a trip to the beach.
*20°C [68 °F]: Is defined as room temperature in many experimental settings. For some this would feel a little cool. But 25°C [77°] would as mentioned be too warm for room temperature...
*10°C [50 °F]: Definitely wear a jacket. Especially if there is just a little breeze.
*0⁠°C [32 °F]: The freezing point of water (32°⁠F)
*-5 to -10°C: In Moscow -10°C is not really that cold - it can go "spit goes clink" cold in {{W|Moscow#Climate|Moscow}}, whereas -5°C [23 °F] in {{W|Boston#Climate|Boston}} may be very cold...
*-20°C: FuckFuckFuckCold and -30°C - Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck!: This is implied to be basically what some people would say when they step outside at this temperature. In reality, it would be best to keep ones's mouth firmly closed. At -30°C, without taking wind chill into account, exposed skin will feel painful in under a minute and frostbite could begin in as little as ten minutes [http://www.ec.gc.ca/meteo-weather/default.asp?lang=En&n=5FBF816A-1]. The differing statements seem to imply that at -20°C, the user would be saying "fuck" repeatedly, whereas at -30°, the user is incapable of closing their mouth after starting the first "fuck", and so extends it into one long one.
*-40⁠°C: Spit goes "clink": As shown in the drawing your spit would freeze ''before'' it hits the ground. This is the crossing point of the two temperature scales i.e. -40°C = -40 °F.

===Length===
*1 cm [.4 inch] : Width of microSD card and 3 cm - Length of SD card: Refers to the {{w|MicroSD card|memory cards}} used in cell phones, digital cameras, etc.
*12 cm [almost 5 inches]: CD-ROM is a common object so nice to know it is a dozen centimeters.
*14 cm [5 1/2 inches]: Most males would probably exaggerate the size of their penis, but 14–15 cm is very average.
*15 cm [almost 6 inches]: A Bic pen
*80 cm [31 1/2 inches]: A typical doorway is also of standard size. This is barely over the minimum size typically required by codes for buildings [30 inches or 76.2 cm], but more than 50% over the size required for aircraft emergency exits. (It may seem illogical that larger doors are required in buildings than in airplanes, given airplanes are arguably more dangerous. However, there is no real disadvantage to using larger doors in buildings, which are not significantly pressurized, but using larger doors in aircraft would increase the force on the door caused by cabin pressure proportionally.)
*1 m [39.37 inches]: {{w|Lightsaber|Lightsaber blade}}: Refers the weapon used in the {{w|Star Wars}} movie franchise. Canonically, the length of a lightsaber's blade varies greatly depending on the setting of the weapon, but "one meter" is by no means a bad approximation.
*170 cm [5 feet, 7 inches]: {{w|Summer Glau}}: Refers to the height of the actress who portrays the character River Tam on the TV show {{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}.
*200 cm [6 feet, 6 and 3/4 inches]: Darth Vader: Refers to the height of the main antagonist from Star Wars.
*2.5 m [a little over 8 feet]: Ceiling - of course very much depending on which type of building you are in!
*5 m [a little over 16 feet]: Car length - also very much depending on the car...
*16 m 4 cm: Human tower of Serenity crew: Again, this refers to the Firefly TV show, which takes place mostly on a space ship called Serenity.
**Presumably, if all the crew of Serenity were stacked on top of each other, this would be their combined height.
**The comic depicts four characters from the show standing on top of each other; the bottom figure is the crew's captain, {{w|Malcolm Reynolds}} in his signature coat. Judging from the other drawing of Summer Glau from the volume section, she is standing on top of the captain.
**The other five members of the crew should also be stacked on top of these four to reach the 16m height - giving them an average height of 1.82 m (12 cm more than Summer Glaus height!)

===Speed===
:Here both the SI unit m/s as well as the more used unit kph (km per hour) is given.
*5 kph [3 mph] - 1.5 m/s: Walking at a normal pace
*13-25 kph [8-15 mph]: Jogging to sprinting.
*35 kph [21.75 mph] - 10 m/s: Fastest human: As of 2009, the fastest a human has been recorded to run in a single sprint is actually 45 kph, a record set by {{w|Usain Bolt}}.
*45-55 kph: Both cats and rabbits go much faster than normal people.
*75 kph [46.6 mph] - 20 m/s: Raptor: It's a comic written by [[Randall]], of course a reference to the {{w|velociraptors}} from ''{{w|Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park}}'' was going to be here.
*100 kph - 25 m/s: A slow highway (62 mph).
*110 kph [68.35 mph] - 30 m/s: Interstate (65 mph): Refers to the {{w|Interstate|American highway system}}. (65 mph would actually be only 104.6 kph.)
*120 kph - 35 m/s: Speed you actually go when it says "65": People routinely break the aforementioned speed limit, and the police typically don't mind as long as it's not posing any danger. For the record, 120 kph is 74 mph.
*140 kph - 40 m/s (87-89mph): Raptor on hoverboard: The {{w|hoverboard}} is probably a reference to the ''{{w|Back to the Future Part II}}'', though it's a fairly common trope in older science fiction stories. Randall obviously did a lot of google searching on this subject the week before - see [[522: Google Trends]].

===Volume===
*3 ml: The amount of blood in a fieldmouse. A similar amount is used in comic [[434: xkcd Goes to the Airport]], but instead of a fieldmouse, the measurement of blood is of a churchmouse, an imaginary animal created by Lewis Carroll. Click [[434: xkcd Goes to the Airport|here]] for a more on [[434: xkcd Goes to the Airport|comic 434]].
*5 ml: A teaspoon - a very common measure.
*30 mL: Nasal passages and 40mL - Shot glass: The comic points out that you could just about fill a shot glass using the mucus from your nose. Since shot glasses are usually used for mixed drinks, the comic jokes that this mucus could constitute a new, disgusting drink - and this is depictured in the drawing.
*350 ml: Soda can (this is roughly correct for the cans used in the U.S., which hold 12 fluid ounces; in Europe, soda cans commonly hold 330ml or 500 ml).
*500 ml: Water bottle (this is the also the volume of a European water bottle).
*3 L: Two-liter bottle: Refers to a bottle which contains two liters (in the US usually soda). There is debate as to the reason for the discrepancy in volume. It may be a reference to stereotypical Americans consuming a lot of high-calorie foods and drinks. The simpler explanation would be that it is a joke. The two-liter bottle is named using its volume. Labeling it with a volume of three liters is the joke.
*5 L: An adult male has about 5 L of blood in his body (An ''adequate'' vacuuming system could drain this blood out in 10 s - as per the title text!)
*30 L: Milk crate: Refers to a {{w|Milk crate|type of small box}} originally used to transport milk but now often in demand to be used as bicycle basket, storage spaces, etc.
*55 L: Summer Glau: Again, this refers to the actress from Firefly.
*65 L: {{w|Dennis Kucinich}}: An American politician belonging to the {{w|Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic party}}, noted for his relatively strong (for the US) leftist views.
*75 L: {{w|Ron Paul}}: An American politician belonging to the rival {{w|Republican Party (United States)|Republican party}}, noted for his strong rightist views.
*200 L: Volume of refrigerator.
*As shown in the drawing of this part of the comic, the three persons mentioned above - Glau, Kucinich and Paul (summing up to 195 L) - could in principle all fit inside a standard refrigerator. Cueball thus attempts to push them all inside of one - though it would obviously be very uncomfortable for all parties involved to be trapped in such a small space with not much room between them (not to mention practically impossible).

===Mass===
*3 g: {{w|M&M's|Peanut M&M}}: A small chocolate candy with a peanut inside
*100 g: Cell phone - this very much depends on the age of the cell phone, and the type etc.
*500 g [1 lb.]: A bottle of water contains 500 ml according to the volume section and thus have mass of 500 g.
*1–3 kg: Different types of laptops. The newest and the best is the lightest...
*5 kg [11 lb.]: {{w|LCD monitor}}: A modern flat-screen-style monitor.
*15 kg: {{w|CRT monitor}}: An older-style, cathode ray tube-based monitor.
**This ends the section on computer screens, which overrode the normal sequence by weight as the next two feline inspired entries are lighter than the two before. This was presumably done so that the reader's eye will be confused or amused at seeing (in the comic's caseless captioning font) CRT immediately followed by CAT in the vertical text column.
*4 kg: Cat and 4.1 kg - Cat (with caption): Refers to the internet's love of putting {{w|Lolcat|captions on cats}}. Usually, this is done in a graphics program, but here the cat is actually physically carrying around his caption. The "with caption" part is most likely a reference to [[262: IN UR REALITY]], where [[Black Hat]] glues captions to cats, after running out of staples.
*60 kg [130 lb.]: Lady - for instance if she is Summer Glau - could be her again depicted in the comic - average weight of an adult woman.
*70 kg [150 lb.]: Dude - here depicted as Cueball who is the average guy, and 70 kg is average weight for an adult man.
*150 kg: Shaq: {{w|Shaq|Shaquille O'Neal}}, a famously tall basketball player.
*200 kg [440 lb.]: Your mom
*220 kg: Your mom (incl. 20 kg of cheap jewelry) and
*223 kg: Your mom (also incl. 3 kg of makeup)
*The last three refer to a common type of {{w|Your mom}} joking insult whereby someone insults someone else's mother in a creative way. Here, the comic slyly calls your mom fat, then implies she wears way too much jewelry and finally also almost 7 pounds of makeup. This is a common theme in [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Your_Mom xkcd]. (Twenty kg of "cheap" jewelry has several times the volume than 20 kg of gold jewelry, because of the difference in density.)

===Title text===
The title text refers once again to Summer Glau's Firefly character, {{w|River Tam}}, who (after being subjected to a long series of medical experiments) is severely mentally ill and often comes out with macabre — though scientifically accurate — pronouncements.

==Transcript==
:'''Guide to Converting to Metric'''

:[There are five frames with tables for different units. Between the two upper frames is the following text:]
:The key to converting to metric is establishing
:new reference points. When you hear "26°C",
:instead of thinking "That's 79°F" you should think,
:"that's warmer than a house but cool for swimming."
:Here are some helpful tables of reference points:

:[The frame to the left of the above text:]
:Temperature:
:{| class="wikitable"
|60°C||Earth's hottest
|-
|45°C||Dubai heat wave
|-
|40°C||Southern US heat wave
|-
|35°C||Northern US heat wave
|-
|30°C||Beach weather
|-
|25°C||Warm room
|-
|20°C||Room temperature
|-
|10°C||Jacket weather
|-
|0°C||Snow!
|-
| -5°C||Cold day (Boston)
|-
| -10°C||Cold day (Moscow)
|-
| -20°C||Fuckfuckfuckcold
|-
| -30°C||Fuuuuuuuuuuck!
|-
| -40°C||Spit goes "clink"
|}
:[Next to the last three entries we see Cueball spitting on the ground. The spit bounces.]
:Cueball: Ptoo
:Spit: Clink!

:[The frame to the right of the above text:]
:Length
:{| class="wikitable"
|1 cm||Width of microSD card
|-
|3 cm||Length of SD card
|-
|12 cm||CD diameter
|-
|14 cm||Penis
|-
|15 cm||BIC pen
|-
|80 cm||Doorway width
|-
|1 m||Lightsaber blade
|-
|170 cm||Summer Glau
|-
|200 cm||Darth Vader
|-
|2.5 m||Ceiling
|-
|5 m||Car-length
|-
|16 m 4 cm||Human tower of Serenity crew
|}
:[To the right of the table is a human tower of four of the people from the Serenity crew. The head of the upper person is right below the first entry.]

:[The frame below to the left:]
:Speed
:{| class="wikitable"
|kph|| m/s||
|-
|5||1.5||Walking
|-
|13||3.5||Jogging
|-
|25||7||Sprinting
|-
|35||10||Fastest human
|-
|45||13||Housecat
|-
|55||15||Rabbit
|-
|75||20||Raptor
|-
|100||25||Slow highway
|-
|110||30||Interstate (65 mph)
|-
|120||35||Speed you actually go when it says “65”
|-
|140||40||Raptor on hoverboard
|}

:[The frame below in the middle:]
:Volume
:{| class="wikitable"
|3 mL||Blood in a fieldmouse
|-
|5 mL||Teaspoon
|-
|30 mL||Nasal passages
|-
|40 mL||Shot glass
|-
|350 mL||Soda can
|-
|500 mL||Water bottle
|-
|3 L||Two-liter bottle
|-
|5 L||Blood in a human male
|-
|30 L||Milk crate
|-
|55 L||Summer Glau
|-
|65 L||Dennis Kucinich
|-
|75 L||Ron Paul
|-
|200 L||Fridge
|}
:[Next to the entry on nasal passages and shoot glass (starting one entry higher and finishing one entry lower) are the following text:]
:So, when it's blocked
:the mucus in your
:nose could about
:fill a shot glass.
:[Below this text is a drawing of a mucus filled shot glass.]
:Related: I've
:invented the
:worst mixed
:drink ever.
:[Below this next to the four last entries we see Cueball shoving Summer Glau, Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul into an open fridge. Above the fridge in a loosely drawn ellipse are the following text:]
:55+65+75<200

:[The frame below to the right:]
:Mass
:{| class="wikitable"
|3 g||Peanut M&M
|-
|100 g||Cell phone
|-
|500 g||Bottled water
|-
|1 kg||Ultraportable laptop
|-
|2 kg||Light-medium laptop
|-
|3 kg||Heavy laptop
|-
|5 kg||LCD monitor
|-
|15 kg||CRT monitor
|-
|4 kg||Cat
|-
|4.1 kg||Cat (with caption)
|-
|60 kg||Lady
|-
|70 kg||Dude
|-
|150 kg||Shaq
|-
|200 kg||Your mom
|-
|220 kg||Your mom (incl. cheap jewelry)
|-
|223 kg||Your mom (also incl. makeup)
|}
:[Next to the entries of cat and cat (with caption) are two drawings of cats. The second one has a caption across its chest.]
:Cat (with caption): Mrowl?
:[Below this and next to the lady and dude entries (and the Shaq entry) are drawings of Megan and Cueball.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:Your Mom]]
[[Category:Firefly]]

526: Converting to Metric

2016-01-04T02:03:29Z

Flewk: /* fridge 200 L */

{{comic
| number = 526
| date = January 5, 2009
| title = Converting to Metric
| image = converting to metric.png
| titletext = According to River, "adequate" vacuuming systems drain the human body at about half a liter per second.
}}
==Explanation==
Most people will eventually develop an intuitive feel for how big certain measurements are (e.g., how long an inch or a foot is, how much a pound weighs). This comic points out that people who were brought up using the {{w|United States customary units|United States system of customary units}} probably don't have the same intuitive understanding for metric units and attempts to provide some benchmarks for these people. Most of the benchmarks are common sense, highly-useful ones (e.g., if it's 30 degrees centigrade [86 °F], you'd be quite comfortable outside dressed for the beach) but some of the benchmarks are humorous and/or completely useless. Benchmarks include:

===Temperature===
* {{w|Extremes on Earth|Earth's hottest}}: 60⁠°C [140 °F]: The hottest temperature recorded on earth is actually {{W|List_of_weather_records#Heat|"only" 56.7}}. There have been reports of ten-twenty degrees higher (70-80⁠°C) but these measurements are not verified or accepted as world records.
* Various heat waves: {{w|Dubai}} is a city in the United Arab Emirates, and is smack-dab in the middle of an equatorial desert, so their heat waves can get ''hot!''. The southern Unites States will typically be a few degrees hotter than the northern United States simply because it's closer to the equator, but as mentioned they're both above "Beach Weather".
*30°C [86 °F]: A little too hot so perfect for a trip to the beach.
*20°C [68 °F]: Is defined as room temperature in many experimental settings. For some this would feel a little cool. But 25°C [77°] would as mentioned be too warm for room temperature...
*10°C [50 °F]: Definitely wear a jacket. Especially if there is just a little breeze.
*0⁠°C [32 °F]: The freezing point of water (32°⁠F)
*-5 to -10°C: In Moscow -10°C is not really that cold - it can go "spit goes clink" cold in {{W|Moscow#Climate|Moscow}}, whereas -5°C [23 °F] in {{W|Boston#Climate|Boston}} may be very cold...
*-20°C: FuckFuckFuckCold and -30°C - Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck!: This is implied to be basically what some people would say when they step outside at this temperature. In reality, it would be best to keep ones's mouth firmly closed. At -30°C, without taking wind chill into account, exposed skin will feel painful in under a minute and frostbite could begin in as little as ten minutes [http://www.ec.gc.ca/meteo-weather/default.asp?lang=En&n=5FBF816A-1]. The differing statements seem to imply that at -20°C, the user would be saying "fuck" repeatedly, whereas at -30°, the user is incapable of closing their mouth after starting the first "fuck", and so extends it into one long one.
*-40⁠°C: Spit goes "clink": As shown in the drawing your spit would freeze ''before'' it hits the ground. This is the crossing point of the two temperature scales i.e. -40°C = -40 °F.

===Length===
*1 cm [.4 inch] : Width of microSD card and 3 cm - Length of SD card: Refers to the {{w|MicroSD card|memory cards}} used in cell phones, digital cameras, etc.
*12 cm [almost 5 inches]: CD-ROM is a common object so nice to know it is a dozen centimeters.
*14 cm [5 1/2 inches]: Most males would probably exaggerate the size of their penis, but 14–15 cm is very average.
*15 cm [almost 6 inches]: A Bic pen
*80 cm [31 1/2 inches]: A typical doorway is also of standard size. This is barely over the minimum size typically required by codes for buildings [30 inches or 76.2 cm], but more than 50% over the size required for aircraft emergency exits. (It may seem illogical that larger doors are required in buildings than in airplanes, given airplanes are arguably more dangerous. However, there is no real disadvantage to using larger doors in buildings, which are not significantly pressurized, but using larger doors in aircraft would increase the force on the door caused by cabin pressure proportionally.)
*1 m [39.37 inches]: {{w|Lightsaber|Lightsaber blade}}: Refers the weapon used in the {{w|Star Wars}} movie franchise. Canonically, the length of a lightsaber's blade varies greatly depending on the setting of the weapon, but "one meter" is by no means a bad approximation.
*170 cm [5 feet, 7 inches]: {{w|Summer Glau}}: Refers to the height of the actress who portrays the character River Tam on the TV show {{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}.
*200 cm [6 feet, 6 and 3/4 inches]: Darth Vader: Refers to the height of the main antagonist from Star Wars.
*2.5 m [a little over 8 feet]: Ceiling - of course very much depending on which type of building you are in!
*5 m [a little over 16 feet]: Car length - also very much depending on the car...
*16 m 4 cm: Human tower of Serenity crew: Again, this refers to the Firefly TV show, which takes place mostly on a space ship called Serenity.
**Presumably, if all the crew of Serenity were stacked on top of each other, this would be their combined height.
**The comic depicts four characters from the show standing on top of each other; the bottom figure is the crew's captain, {{w|Malcolm Reynolds}} in his signature coat. Judging from the other drawing of Summer Glau from the volume section, she is standing on top of the captain.
**The other five members of the crew should also be stacked on top of these four to reach the 16m height - giving them an average height of 1.82 m (12 cm more than Summer Glaus height!)

===Speed===
:Here both the SI unit m/s as well as the more used unit kph (km per hour) is given.
*5 kph [3 mph] - 1.5 m/s: Walking at a normal pace
*13-25 kph [8-15 mph]: Jogging to sprinting.
*35 kph [21.75 mph] - 10 m/s: Fastest human: As of 2009, the fastest a human has been recorded to run in a single sprint is actually 45 kph, a record set by {{w|Usain Bolt}}.
*45-55 kph: Both cats and rabbits go much faster than normal people.
*75 kph [46.6 mph] - 20 m/s: Raptor: It's a comic written by [[Randall]], of course a reference to the {{w|velociraptors}} from ''{{w|Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park}}'' was going to be here.
*100 kph - 25 m/s: A slow highway (62 mph).
*110 kph [68.35 mph] - 30 m/s: Interstate (65 mph): Refers to the {{w|Interstate|American highway system}}. (65 mph would actually be only 104.6 kph.)
*120 kph - 35 m/s: Speed you actually go when it says "65": People routinely break the aforementioned speed limit, and the police typically don't mind as long as it's not posing any danger. For the record, 120 kph is 74 mph.
*140 kph - 40 m/s (87-89mph): Raptor on hoverboard: The {{w|hoverboard}} is probably a reference to the ''{{w|Back to the Future Part II}}'', though it's a fairly common trope in older science fiction stories. Randall obviously did a lot of google searching on this subject the week before - see [[522: Google Trends]].

===Volume===
*3 ml: The amount of blood in a fieldmouse. A similar amount is used in comic [[434: xkcd Goes to the Airport]], but instead of a fieldmouse, the measurement of blood is of a churchmouse, an imaginary animal created by Lewis Carroll. Click [[434: xkcd Goes to the Airport|here]] for a more on [[434: xkcd Goes to the Airport|comic 434]].
*5 ml: A teaspoon - a very common measure.
*30 mL: Nasal passages and 40mL - Shot glass: The comic points out that you could just about fill a shot glass using the mucus from your nose. Since shot glasses are usually used for mixed drinks, the comic jokes that this mucus could constitute a new, disgusting drink - and this is depictured in the drawing.
*350 ml: Soda can (this is roughly correct for the cans used in the U.S., which hold 12 fluid ounces; in Europe, soda cans commonly hold 330ml or 500 ml).
*500 ml: Water bottle (this is the also the volume of a European water bottle).
*3 L: Two-liter bottle: Refers to a bottle which contains two liters (in the US usually soda). There is debate as to the reason for the discrepancy in volume. It may be a reference to stereotypical Americans consuming a lot of high-calorie foods and drinks. The simpler explanation would be that it is a joke. The two-liter bottle is named using its volume. Labeling it with a volume of three liters is the joke.
*5 L: An adult male has about 5 L of blood in his body (An ''adequate'' vacuuming system could drain this blood out in 10 s - as per the title text!)
*30 L: Milk crate: Refers to a {{w|Milk crate|type of small box}} originally used to transport milk but now often in demand to be used as bicycle basket, storage spaces, etc.
*55 L: Summer Glau: Again, this refers to the actress from Firefly.
*65 L: {{w|Dennis Kucinich}}: An American politician belonging to the {{w|Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic party}}, noted for his relatively strong (for the US) leftist views.
*75 L: {{w|Ron Paul}}: An American politician belonging to the rival {{w|Republican Party (United States)|Republican party}}, noted for his strong rightist views.
*200 L: Volume of refrigerator.
*As shown in the drawing of this part of the comic, the three persons mentioned above - Glau, Kucinich and Paul (summing up to 195 L) - could in principle all fit inside a standard refrigerator. Cueball thus attempts to push them all inside of one - though it would obviously be very uncomfortable for all parties involved to be trapped in such a small space with not much room between them (not to mention practically impossible).

===Mass===
*3 g: {{w|M&M's|Peanut M&M}}: A small chocolate candy with a peanut inside
*100 g: Cell phone - this very much depends on the age of the cell phone, and the type etc.
*500 g [1 lb.]: A bottle of water contains 500 ml according to the volume section and thus have mass of 500 g.
*1–3 kg: Different types of laptops. The newest and the best is the lightest...
*5 kg [11 lb.]: {{w|LCD monitor}}: A modern flat-screen-style monitor.
*15 kg: {{w|CRT monitor}}: An older-style, cathode ray tube-based monitor.
**This ends the section on computer screens, which overrode the normal sequence by weight as the next two feline inspired entries are lighter than the two before. This was presumably done so that the reader's eye will be confused or amused at seeing (in the comic's caseless captioning font) CRT immediately followed by CAT in the vertical text column.
*4 kg: Cat and 4.1 kg - Cat (with caption): Refers to the internet's love of putting {{w|Lolcat|captions on cats}}. Usually, this is done in a graphics program, but here the cat is actually physically carrying around his caption. The "with caption" part is most likely a reference to [[262: IN UR REALITY]], where [[Black Hat]] glues captions to cats, after running out of staples.
*60 kg [130 lb.]: Lady - for instance if she is Summer Glau - could be her again depicted in the comic - average weight of an adult woman.
*70 kg [150 lb.]: Dude - here depicted as Cueball who is the average guy, and 70 kg is average weight for an adult man.
*150 kg: Shaq: {{w|Shaq|Shaquille O'Neal}}, a famously tall basketball player.
*200 kg [440 lb.]: Your mom
*220 kg: Your mom (incl. 20 kg of cheap jewelry) and
*223 kg: Your mom (also incl. 3 kg of makeup)
*These last refers to a common type of {{w|Your mom}} joking insult whereby someone insults someone else's mother in a creative way. Here, the comic slyly calls your mom fat, then implies she wears way too much jewelry and finally also almost 7 pounds of makeup. This is a common theme in [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Your_Mom xkcd]. (Twenty kg of "cheap" jewelry has several times the volume than 20 kg of gold jewelry, because of the difference in density.)

===Title text===
The title text refers once again to Summer Glau's Firefly character, {{w|River Tam}}, who (after being subjected to a long series of medical experiments) is severely mentally ill and often comes out with macabre — though scientifically accurate — pronouncements.

==Transcript==
:'''Guide to Converting to Metric'''

:[There are five frames with tables for different units. Between the two upper frames is the following text:]
:The key to converting to metric is establishing
:new reference points. When you hear "26°C",
:instead of thinking "That's 79°F" you should think,
:"that's warmer than a house but cool for swimming."
:Here are some helpful tables of reference points:

:[The frame to the left of the above text:]
:Temperature:
:{| class="wikitable"
|60°C||Earth's hottest
|-
|45°C||Dubai heat wave
|-
|40°C||Southern US heat wave
|-
|35°C||Northern US heat wave
|-
|30°C||Beach weather
|-
|25°C||Warm room
|-
|20°C||Room temperature
|-
|10°C||Jacket weather
|-
|0°C||Snow!
|-
| -5°C||Cold day (Boston)
|-
| -10°C||Cold day (Moscow)
|-
| -20°C||Fuckfuckfuckcold
|-
| -30°C||Fuuuuuuuuuuck!
|-
| -40°C||Spit goes "clink"
|}
:[Next to the last three entries we see Cueball spitting on the ground. The spit bounces.]
:Cueball: Ptoo
:Spit: Clink!

:[The frame to the right of the above text:]
:Length
:{| class="wikitable"
|1 cm||Width of microSD card
|-
|3 cm||Length of SD card
|-
|12 cm||CD diameter
|-
|14 cm||Penis
|-
|15 cm||BIC pen
|-
|80 cm||Doorway width
|-
|1 m||Lightsaber blade
|-
|170 cm||Summer Glau
|-
|200 cm||Darth Vader
|-
|2.5 m||Ceiling
|-
|5 m||Car-length
|-
|16 m 4 cm||Human tower of Serenity crew
|}
:[To the right of the table is a human tower of four of the people from the Serenity crew. The head of the upper person is right below the first entry.]

:[The frame below to the left:]
:Speed
:{| class="wikitable"
|kph|| m/s||
|-
|5||1.5||Walking
|-
|13||3.5||Jogging
|-
|25||7||Sprinting
|-
|35||10||Fastest human
|-
|45||13||Housecat
|-
|55||15||Rabbit
|-
|75||20||Raptor
|-
|100||25||Slow highway
|-
|110||30||Interstate (65 mph)
|-
|120||35||Speed you actually go when it says “65”
|-
|140||40||Raptor on hoverboard
|}

:[The frame below in the middle:]
:Volume
:{| class="wikitable"
|3 mL||Blood in a fieldmouse
|-
|5 mL||Teaspoon
|-
|30 mL||Nasal passages
|-
|40 mL||Shot glass
|-
|350 mL||Soda can
|-
|500 mL||Water bottle
|-
|3 L||Two-liter bottle
|-
|5 L||Blood in a human male
|-
|30 L||Milk crate
|-
|55 L||Summer Glau
|-
|65 L||Dennis Kucinich
|-
|75 L||Ron Paul
|-
|200 L||Fridge
|}
:[Next to the entry on nasal passages and shoot glass (starting one entry higher and finishing one entry lower) are the following text:]
:So, when it's blocked
:the mucus in your
:nose could about
:fill a shot glass.
:[Below this text is a drawing of a mucus filled shot glass.]
:Related: I've
:invented the
:worst mixed
:drink ever.
:[Below this next to the four last entries we see Cueball shoving Summer Glau, Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul into an open fridge. Above the fridge in a loosely drawn ellipse are the following text:]
:55+65+75<200

:[The frame below to the right:]
:Mass
:{| class="wikitable"
|3 g||Peanut M&M
|-
|100 g||Cell phone
|-
|500 g||Bottled water
|-
|1 kg||Ultraportable laptop
|-
|2 kg||Light-medium laptop
|-
|3 kg||Heavy laptop
|-
|5 kg||LCD monitor
|-
|15 kg||CRT monitor
|-
|4 kg||Cat
|-
|4.1 kg||Cat (with caption)
|-
|60 kg||Lady
|-
|70 kg||Dude
|-
|150 kg||Shaq
|-
|200 kg||Your mom
|-
|220 kg||Your mom (incl. cheap jewelry)
|-
|223 kg||Your mom (also incl. makeup)
|}
:[Next to the entries of cat and cat (with caption) are two drawings of cats. The second one has a caption across its chest.]
:Cat (with caption): Mrowl?
:[Below this and next to the lady and dude entries (and the Shaq entry) are drawings of Megan and Cueball.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:Your Mom]]
[[Category:Firefly]]

526: Converting to Metric

2016-01-04T02:02:00Z

Flewk: /* 3 liter joke */

{{comic
| number = 526
| date = January 5, 2009
| title = Converting to Metric
| image = converting to metric.png
| titletext = According to River, "adequate" vacuuming systems drain the human body at about half a liter per second.
}}
==Explanation==
Most people will eventually develop an intuitive feel for how big certain measurements are (e.g., how long an inch or a foot is, how much a pound weighs). This comic points out that people who were brought up using the {{w|United States customary units|United States system of customary units}} probably don't have the same intuitive understanding for metric units and attempts to provide some benchmarks for these people. Most of the benchmarks are common sense, highly-useful ones (e.g., if it's 30 degrees centigrade [86 °F], you'd be quite comfortable outside dressed for the beach) but some of the benchmarks are humorous and/or completely useless. Benchmarks include:

===Temperature===
* {{w|Extremes on Earth|Earth's hottest}}: 60⁠°C [140 °F]: The hottest temperature recorded on earth is actually {{W|List_of_weather_records#Heat|"only" 56.7}}. There have been reports of ten-twenty degrees higher (70-80⁠°C) but these measurements are not verified or accepted as world records.
* Various heat waves: {{w|Dubai}} is a city in the United Arab Emirates, and is smack-dab in the middle of an equatorial desert, so their heat waves can get ''hot!''. The southern Unites States will typically be a few degrees hotter than the northern United States simply because it's closer to the equator, but as mentioned they're both above "Beach Weather".
*30°C [86 °F]: A little too hot so perfect for a trip to the beach.
*20°C [68 °F]: Is defined as room temperature in many experimental settings. For some this would feel a little cool. But 25°C [77°] would as mentioned be too warm for room temperature...
*10°C [50 °F]: Definitely wear a jacket. Especially if there is just a little breeze.
*0⁠°C [32 °F]: The freezing point of water (32°⁠F)
*-5 to -10°C: In Moscow -10°C is not really that cold - it can go "spit goes clink" cold in {{W|Moscow#Climate|Moscow}}, whereas -5°C [23 °F] in {{W|Boston#Climate|Boston}} may be very cold...
*-20°C: FuckFuckFuckCold and -30°C - Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck!: This is implied to be basically what some people would say when they step outside at this temperature. In reality, it would be best to keep ones's mouth firmly closed. At -30°C, without taking wind chill into account, exposed skin will feel painful in under a minute and frostbite could begin in as little as ten minutes [http://www.ec.gc.ca/meteo-weather/default.asp?lang=En&n=5FBF816A-1]. The differing statements seem to imply that at -20°C, the user would be saying "fuck" repeatedly, whereas at -30°, the user is incapable of closing their mouth after starting the first "fuck", and so extends it into one long one.
*-40⁠°C: Spit goes "clink": As shown in the drawing your spit would freeze ''before'' it hits the ground. This is the crossing point of the two temperature scales i.e. -40°C = -40 °F.

===Length===
*1 cm [.4 inch] : Width of microSD card and 3 cm - Length of SD card: Refers to the {{w|MicroSD card|memory cards}} used in cell phones, digital cameras, etc.
*12 cm [almost 5 inches]: CD-ROM is a common object so nice to know it is a dozen centimeters.
*14 cm [5 1/2 inches]: Most males would probably exaggerate the size of their penis, but 14–15 cm is very average.
*15 cm [almost 6 inches]: A Bic pen
*80 cm [31 1/2 inches]: A typical doorway is also of standard size. This is barely over the minimum size typically required by codes for buildings [30 inches or 76.2 cm], but more than 50% over the size required for aircraft emergency exits. (It may seem illogical that larger doors are required in buildings than in airplanes, given airplanes are arguably more dangerous. However, there is no real disadvantage to using larger doors in buildings, which are not significantly pressurized, but using larger doors in aircraft would increase the force on the door caused by cabin pressure proportionally.)
*1 m [39.37 inches]: {{w|Lightsaber|Lightsaber blade}}: Refers the weapon used in the {{w|Star Wars}} movie franchise. Canonically, the length of a lightsaber's blade varies greatly depending on the setting of the weapon, but "one meter" is by no means a bad approximation.
*170 cm [5 feet, 7 inches]: {{w|Summer Glau}}: Refers to the height of the actress who portrays the character River Tam on the TV show {{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}.
*200 cm [6 feet, 6 and 3/4 inches]: Darth Vader: Refers to the height of the main antagonist from Star Wars.
*2.5 m [a little over 8 feet]: Ceiling - of course very much depending on which type of building you are in!
*5 m [a little over 16 feet]: Car length - also very much depending on the car...
*16 m 4 cm: Human tower of Serenity crew: Again, this refers to the Firefly TV show, which takes place mostly on a space ship called Serenity.
**Presumably, if all the crew of Serenity were stacked on top of each other, this would be their combined height.
**The comic depicts four characters from the show standing on top of each other; the bottom figure is the crew's captain, {{w|Malcolm Reynolds}} in his signature coat. Judging from the other drawing of Summer Glau from the volume section, she is standing on top of the captain.
**The other five members of the crew should also be stacked on top of these four to reach the 16m height - giving them an average height of 1.82 m (12 cm more than Summer Glaus height!)

===Speed===
:Here both the SI unit m/s as well as the more used unit kph (km per hour) is given.
*5 kph [3 mph] - 1.5 m/s: Walking at a normal pace
*13-25 kph [8-15 mph]: Jogging to sprinting.
*35 kph [21.75 mph] - 10 m/s: Fastest human: As of 2009, the fastest a human has been recorded to run in a single sprint is actually 45 kph, a record set by {{w|Usain Bolt}}.
*45-55 kph: Both cats and rabbits go much faster than normal people.
*75 kph [46.6 mph] - 20 m/s: Raptor: It's a comic written by [[Randall]], of course a reference to the {{w|velociraptors}} from ''{{w|Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park}}'' was going to be here.
*100 kph - 25 m/s: A slow highway (62 mph).
*110 kph [68.35 mph] - 30 m/s: Interstate (65 mph): Refers to the {{w|Interstate|American highway system}}. (65 mph would actually be only 104.6 kph.)
*120 kph - 35 m/s: Speed you actually go when it says "65": People routinely break the aforementioned speed limit, and the police typically don't mind as long as it's not posing any danger. For the record, 120 kph is 74 mph.
*140 kph - 40 m/s (87-89mph): Raptor on hoverboard: The {{w|hoverboard}} is probably a reference to the ''{{w|Back to the Future Part II}}'', though it's a fairly common trope in older science fiction stories. Randall obviously did a lot of google searching on this subject the week before - see [[522: Google Trends]].

===Volume===
*3 ml: The amount of blood in a fieldmouse. A similar amount is used in comic [[434: xkcd Goes to the Airport]], but instead of a fieldmouse, the measurement of blood is of a churchmouse, an imaginary animal created by Lewis Carroll. Click [[434: xkcd Goes to the Airport|here]] for a more on [[434: xkcd Goes to the Airport|comic 434]].
*5 ml: A teaspoon - a very common measure.
*30 mL: Nasal passages and 40mL - Shot glass: The comic points out that you could just about fill a shot glass using the mucus from your nose. Since shot glasses are usually used for mixed drinks, the comic jokes that this mucus could constitute a new, disgusting drink - and this is depictured in the drawing.
*350 ml: Soda can (this is roughly correct for the cans used in the U.S., which hold 12 fluid ounces; in Europe, soda cans commonly hold 330ml or 500 ml).
*500 ml: Water bottle (this is the also the volume of a European water bottle).
*3 L: Two-liter bottle: Refers to a bottle which contains two liters (in the US usually soda). There is debate as to the reason for the discrepancy in volume. It may be a reference to stereotypical Americans consuming a lot of high-calorie foods and drinks. The simpler explanation would be that it is a joke. The two-liter bottle is named using its volume. Labeling it with a volume of three liters is the joke.
*5 L: An adult male has about 5 L of blood in his body (An ''adequate'' vacuuming system could drain this blood out in 10 s - as per the title text!)
*30 L: Milk crate: Refers to a {{w|Milk crate|type of small box}} originally used to transport milk but now often in demand to be used as bicycle basket, storage spaces, etc.
*55 L: Summer Glau: Again, this refers to the actress from Firefly.
*65 L: {{w|Dennis Kucinich}}: An American politician belonging to the {{w|Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic party}}, noted for his relatively strong (for the US) leftist views.
*75 L: {{w|Ron Paul}}: An American politician belonging to the rival {{w|Republican Party (United States)|Republican party}}, noted for his strong rightist views.
*200 L: Volume of refrigerator.
*As shown in the drawing of this part of the comic, the three persons mentioned above - Glau, Kucinich and Paul (summing up to 195 L) - could in principle all fit inside a standard refrigerator. Cueball thus attempts to push them all inside of one - though it would obviously be very uncomfortable for all parties involved to be trapped in such a small space with not much room between them.

===Mass===
*3 g: {{w|M&M's|Peanut M&M}}: A small chocolate candy with a peanut inside
*100 g: Cell phone - this very much depends on the age of the cell phone, and the type etc.
*500 g [1 lb.]: A bottle of water contains 500 ml according to the volume section and thus have mass of 500 g.
*1–3 kg: Different types of laptops. The newest and the best is the lightest...
*5 kg [11 lb.]: {{w|LCD monitor}}: A modern flat-screen-style monitor.
*15 kg: {{w|CRT monitor}}: An older-style, cathode ray tube-based monitor.
**This ends the section on computer screens, which overrode the normal sequence by weight as the next two feline inspired entries are lighter than the two before. This was presumably done so that the reader's eye will be confused or amused at seeing (in the comic's caseless captioning font) CRT immediately followed by CAT in the vertical text column.
*4 kg: Cat and 4.1 kg - Cat (with caption): Refers to the internet's love of putting {{w|Lolcat|captions on cats}}. Usually, this is done in a graphics program, but here the cat is actually physically carrying around his caption. The "with caption" part is most likely a reference to [[262: IN UR REALITY]], where [[Black Hat]] glues captions to cats, after running out of staples.
*60 kg [130 lb.]: Lady - for instance if she is Summer Glau - could be her again depicted in the comic - average weight of an adult woman.
*70 kg [150 lb.]: Dude - here depicted as Cueball who is the average guy, and 70 kg is average weight for an adult man.
*150 kg: Shaq: {{w|Shaq|Shaquille O'Neal}}, a famously tall basketball player.
*200 kg [440 lb.]: Your mom
*220 kg: Your mom (incl. 20 kg of cheap jewelry) and
*223 kg: Your mom (also incl. 3 kg of makeup)
*These last refers to a common type of {{w|Your mom}} joking insult whereby someone insults someone else's mother in a creative way. Here, the comic slyly calls your mom fat, then implies she wears way too much jewelry and finally also almost 7 pounds of makeup. This is a common theme in [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Your_Mom xkcd]. (Twenty kg of "cheap" jewelry has several times the volume than 20 kg of gold jewelry, because of the difference in density.)

===Title text===
The title text refers once again to Summer Glau's Firefly character, {{w|River Tam}}, who (after being subjected to a long series of medical experiments) is severely mentally ill and often comes out with macabre — though scientifically accurate — pronouncements.

==Transcript==
:'''Guide to Converting to Metric'''

:[There are five frames with tables for different units. Between the two upper frames is the following text:]
:The key to converting to metric is establishing
:new reference points. When you hear "26°C",
:instead of thinking "That's 79°F" you should think,
:"that's warmer than a house but cool for swimming."
:Here are some helpful tables of reference points:

:[The frame to the left of the above text:]
:Temperature:
:{| class="wikitable"
|60°C||Earth's hottest
|-
|45°C||Dubai heat wave
|-
|40°C||Southern US heat wave
|-
|35°C||Northern US heat wave
|-
|30°C||Beach weather
|-
|25°C||Warm room
|-
|20°C||Room temperature
|-
|10°C||Jacket weather
|-
|0°C||Snow!
|-
| -5°C||Cold day (Boston)
|-
| -10°C||Cold day (Moscow)
|-
| -20°C||Fuckfuckfuckcold
|-
| -30°C||Fuuuuuuuuuuck!
|-
| -40°C||Spit goes "clink"
|}
:[Next to the last three entries we see Cueball spitting on the ground. The spit bounces.]
:Cueball: Ptoo
:Spit: Clink!

:[The frame to the right of the above text:]
:Length
:{| class="wikitable"
|1 cm||Width of microSD card
|-
|3 cm||Length of SD card
|-
|12 cm||CD diameter
|-
|14 cm||Penis
|-
|15 cm||BIC pen
|-
|80 cm||Doorway width
|-
|1 m||Lightsaber blade
|-
|170 cm||Summer Glau
|-
|200 cm||Darth Vader
|-
|2.5 m||Ceiling
|-
|5 m||Car-length
|-
|16 m 4 cm||Human tower of Serenity crew
|}
:[To the right of the table is a human tower of four of the people from the Serenity crew. The head of the upper person is right below the first entry.]

:[The frame below to the left:]
:Speed
:{| class="wikitable"
|kph|| m/s||
|-
|5||1.5||Walking
|-
|13||3.5||Jogging
|-
|25||7||Sprinting
|-
|35||10||Fastest human
|-
|45||13||Housecat
|-
|55||15||Rabbit
|-
|75||20||Raptor
|-
|100||25||Slow highway
|-
|110||30||Interstate (65 mph)
|-
|120||35||Speed you actually go when it says “65”
|-
|140||40||Raptor on hoverboard
|}

:[The frame below in the middle:]
:Volume
:{| class="wikitable"
|3 mL||Blood in a fieldmouse
|-
|5 mL||Teaspoon
|-
|30 mL||Nasal passages
|-
|40 mL||Shot glass
|-
|350 mL||Soda can
|-
|500 mL||Water bottle
|-
|3 L||Two-liter bottle
|-
|5 L||Blood in a human male
|-
|30 L||Milk crate
|-
|55 L||Summer Glau
|-
|65 L||Dennis Kucinich
|-
|75 L||Ron Paul
|-
|200 L||Fridge
|}
:[Next to the entry on nasal passages and shoot glass (starting one entry higher and finishing one entry lower) are the following text:]
:So, when it's blocked
:the mucus in your
:nose could about
:fill a shot glass.
:[Below this text is a drawing of a mucus filled shot glass.]
:Related: I've
:invented the
:worst mixed
:drink ever.
:[Below this next to the four last entries we see Cueball shoving Summer Glau, Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul into an open fridge. Above the fridge in a loosely drawn ellipse are the following text:]
:55+65+75<200

:[The frame below to the right:]
:Mass
:{| class="wikitable"
|3 g||Peanut M&M
|-
|100 g||Cell phone
|-
|500 g||Bottled water
|-
|1 kg||Ultraportable laptop
|-
|2 kg||Light-medium laptop
|-
|3 kg||Heavy laptop
|-
|5 kg||LCD monitor
|-
|15 kg||CRT monitor
|-
|4 kg||Cat
|-
|4.1 kg||Cat (with caption)
|-
|60 kg||Lady
|-
|70 kg||Dude
|-
|150 kg||Shaq
|-
|200 kg||Your mom
|-
|220 kg||Your mom (incl. cheap jewelry)
|-
|223 kg||Your mom (also incl. makeup)
|}
:[Next to the entries of cat and cat (with caption) are two drawings of cats. The second one has a caption across its chest.]
:Cat (with caption): Mrowl?
:[Below this and next to the lady and dude entries (and the Shaq entry) are drawings of Megan and Cueball.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:Your Mom]]
[[Category:Firefly]]

Talk:526: Converting to Metric

2016-01-04T01:58:29Z

Flewk:

Why is 3L a two-liter bottle?[[Special:Contributions/75.69.96.225|75.69.96.225]] 21:16, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

:Because this is America and we supersize our sodas! {{unsigned ip|72.68.9.56}}

:It is the volume of the bottle itself. I have added this explanation. [[User:Sten|Sten]] ([[User talk:Sten|talk]]) 22:39, 29 August 2013 (UTC)

:A 2L bottle doesn't take 3L of space, not even close. I also think it's a reference to overly large drinks in the US. But even if it isn't, the current explanation is wrong. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.34|108.162.229.34]] 22:28, 12 December 2013 (UTC)

: I suspect he's just messing with us, because the approximate volume of a two-liter bottle should be obvious. Many beverages sold in the US are already labeled in metric. Soda is routinely sold in one and two liter bottles, with three-liter bottles common in some markets. Bottled water is often sold in liters and half-liters. Liquor and wine are sold in 375 and 750 mL bottles. Also, since 1 quart = 946 mL, an approximate (+/- 5%) mental conversion from quarts to liters is already quite easy. [[User:Fryhole|Fryhole]] ([[User talk:Fryhole|talk]]) 01:35, 25 January 2014 (UTC)

:: Yes. He is just joking. The name of the bottle contains its volume. The 3 liter measurement is a joke. It would be like saying a cup has 2 cups of volume. [[User:Flewk|flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 01:58, 4 January 2016 (UTC)

My names River, that is all --[[Special:Contributions/139.216.242.254|139.216.242.254]] 02:52, 29 August 2013 (UTC)

:Tick tock, goes the clock, 'till River kills the Doctor

Earth's hottest is 70,7 °C... [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.29|199.27.128.29]] 03:06, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

:The world record as per wikipedia (and Guiness) is "only" 56.7. See corrected explanation above. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:03, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

There was an incomplete asking for checking all measures and also for making sure that the references to serenity and velociraptors was mentioned. I did this, the last two by assigning the categories (firefly), and then also creating a new [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Your_Mom category:Your Mom]. I now consider this explanation complete. Although if someone will speculate two whom the remaining two from the Serenity crew tower then please do so ;-) [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:03, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

:Simon and Kaylee is my guess. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.85|173.245.55.85]] 22:17, 30 June 2014 (UTC)

The speed of rapors given here is very different from [[135: Substitute]]. [[User:B jonas|B jonas]] ([[User talk:B jonas|talk]]) 14:58, 25 March 2014 (UTC)

This sentence in the 'Mass' section has a [small] error: 'This is a common theme in XKCD.'-- it should be 'xkcd', not 'XKCD'. See the website for Randall's personal opinion on this. Anyways, it's small, but kinda stands out if your a reeallyy hardcore fan. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.73|173.245.55.73]] 05:39, 9 April 2014 (UTC)
:Thanks for your hint, an update is done. But please add your comments here at the bottom. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:26, 9 April 2014 (UTC)

-40 degrees centigrade is also -40 degrees Fahrenheit! The only such temperature.--DrMath 07:51, 7 July 2014 (UTC)

This is tagged with "Featuring real people" -- I don't see any real people in here, should we removethat tag? [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 02:21, 25 July 2014 (UTC)

: It refers to Shaq, Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich, Summer Glau, your mom... --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 08:18, 29 September 2014 (UTC)

Ron Paul is not a republican though. [[User:YourLifeisaLie|Yourlifeisalie]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 16:33, 5 May 2015 (UTC)

kph got me confused, because "km/h" is the usual way of displaying kilometers per hour. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.212|162.158.90.212]]

As a Maine resident I concur with this sentiment: "at -30°, the user is incapable of closing their mouth after starting the first "fuck", and so extends it into one long one." However, try uttering the word "fuck" without closing your mouth... uck-uck-uck... {{unsigned ip|Npsych}}

524: Party

2016-01-04T01:38:32Z

Flewk:

{{comic
| number = 524
| date = December 31, 2008
| title = Party
| image = party.png
| titletext = I wonder what 2008 meme will go bizarrely mainstream in 2009 like rickrolling did in 2007-2008. I accidentally <noun>? Yo, dawg? Place your bets now!
}}

{{incomplete|CSI meme?}}
==Explanation==
This [[:Category:New Year|New Year comic]] plays out at, what is probably, a {{w|New Year}} party thrown by [[Danish]]. (The previous New Year day comic in 2007 was also related to a wild party: [[364: Responsible Behavior]]).

In the first panel, we see [[Black Hat]] telling [[Cueball]] that he has hired {{w|Rick Astley}} to show up at a party for a girl. Rickrolling is where one is redirected to a video of Rick Astley singing "{{w|Never Gonna Give You Up}}" via a weblink purporting to be something else. It was later extended to any situation where the song is used disruptively, such as during a party. When Cueball assumes Rick Astley is going to perform a live {{w|rickroll}}, Black Hat assures him that Rick is not actually going to sing.

We then see the girl in question (Danish, Black Hat's girlfriend) talking with [[Ponytail]], notice Rick Astley as he enters her party. Like Cueball, Danish expects Rick Astley is going to sing and rickroll her live, and when he does not, his presence causes her to hear the song in her head instead, and she flees the room screaming. Black Hat has essentially rickrolled her in her own mind.

When Ponytail then asks Rick Astley what he did, he slowly [[:Category:Puts on sunglasses|puts on sunglasses]] and answers "that, my dear, is how I roll", which references both rickrolling and the [http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/115813/origin-of-how-we-i-roll|"that's how I roll"] meme.

Although the identity of the girl Black Hat is pranking is not stated by [[Randall]] (he refers to her as Girl 1 but he has also never given an official name to "Danish" - that is an explain xkcd name), she may be Danish, Black Hat's girlfriend. Danish was introduced in the Journal storyline ([[377: Journal 2]]), some time prior to this comic. She does not act like Danish - however, Black Hat is a master and he could know that "not getting Rick rolled" would freak her out.

The title text refers to the fact that rickrolling first appeared in 2007 (on {{w|4chan}}) and became viral for over a year. Giving that this is a New Year comic it is this relevant to asks what meme will replace Rickrolling in the new year, 2009. Although [[Randall]] makes reference to the "[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/xzibit-yo-dawg Xzibit Yo Dawg]" and "[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-accidentally I accidentally...]" photocaptioning memes, {{w|memebase}} entries suggest the "Keep Calm and Carry On" meme may well have become the most popular (and most enduring, as of 2013) meme of 2009.

==Transcript==
:Black Hat: And so I hired Rick Astley to show up at her party.
:Cueball: And rickroll her? Isn't that a little...last year?
:Black Hat: Ah, but he's not going to sing.

:Danish: Hey is that Rick Astley?
:Ponytail: I think it is. He just came in.
:Danish: Oh no. Brace yourself.

:Danish: Wait. He's just standing there. Where's the song?
:Danish: He's staring at me.
:Danish: This is a little creepy.

:Danish: What's going on?
:Danish: That's actually ''Rick Astley'' staring at me.
:Danish: What's he doing?
:Danish: Oh God, I keep expecting it, hearing it in my head.

:[Danish pulls at her hair.]
:Danish: Just do it already!
:[Danish runs off stage right.]
:Danish: Aaaaaaaa

:[Danish slams the door leaving Ponytail and Rick Astley]
:Door: Slam

:Ponytail: Mr. Astley?
:Rick Astley: Yes?
:Ponytail: What did you ''do'' to her? What ''was'' that?

:Rick Astley: That, my dear,

:[Rick Astley puts on sunglasses.]

:Rick Astley: Is how '''''I''''' roll.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:New Year]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Danish]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Puts on sunglasses]]
[[Category:Rickrolling]]
[[Category:Music]]

Talk:524: Party

2016-01-04T01:37:08Z

Flewk:

''Yo, dawg, I heard you like to be rickrolled, so I rolled Rick into a rickroll so you could be Rick rickrolled rolled!'' [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 09:27, 25 September 2013 (UTC)

Is it me, or is having Astley put on a pair of sunglasses to deliver a dry punchline reminiscent of CSI: Miami, where Horatio Caine gets in a clever one-liner at the end of the opening tag, almost always while donning sunglasses? [[User:GeniusBooks|GeniusBooks]] ([[User talk:GeniusBooks|talk]])
:I can't imagine it would be anything else at this point. -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.162|108.162.250.162]] 04:59, 30 June 2015 (UTC)
::That makes the most sense. [[User:Flewk|flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 01:37, 4 January 2016 (UTC)

Talk:510: Egg Drop Failure

2016-01-04T00:42:35Z

Flewk:

Newborn birds can't fly. I call shenanigans on this comic. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 11:08, 22 November 2012 (UTC)

: The contraption was so well built that it took several months for it to land; hence the hatching and ability to fly. [[User:Flewk|flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 00:42, 4 January 2016 (UTC)

Oh, so that's where the soup comes from! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.64|108.162.221.64]] 09:29, 26 August 2015 (UTC)

Talk:488: Steal This Comic

2016-01-03T23:12:11Z

Flewk:

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)
"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)

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)

Talk:458: Regrets

2015-12-28T19:33:43Z

Flewk:

Don't know how the original measure was made, but for curiosity's sake I just now checked the current raw Google search results for full-quoted "I should have kissed her" and its variants. That's "should" vs. "shouldn't" vs. "should not" (more imperative?), "have" vs. "...'ve" vs. "of" (to catch the ungrammatical) and of course "him" vs. "her" vs. "them" (plural/ungendered?) vs. "it" (..?).

Here are the figures reported (larger ones having been rounded to "About..." so many thousands). Some results (especially the main "should have kissed her" version) obviously were inclusive of the comic itself and direct references like this Wiki, and blogs from XKCD lovers and XKCD-haters alike who decided to make their own commentary.

{| class="wikitable"
! ..kissed !! Her !! Him !! Them !! It
|-
|Should have || align="right" | 1,120,000 || align="right" | 446,000 || align="right" | 310,000 || align="right" | 859,000
|-
|Shouldn't have || align="right" | 4,100,000 || align="right" | 1,110,000 || align="right" | 6 || align="right" | 1
|-
|Should not have || align="right" | 2,730,000 || align="right" | 542,000 || align="right" | 7 || ="shouldn't have"
|-
|colspan=3|
|-
! ..kissed !! Her !! Him !! Them !! It
|-
|Should've || align="right" | 799,900 || align="right" | 274,000 || align="right" | 94,000 || align="right" | 6
|-
|Shouldn't've || colspan="4" rowspan="2" | (Forced to "shouldn't have"... fair enough.)
|-
|Should not've
|-
|colspan=3|
|-
! ..kissed !! Her !! Him !! Them !! It
|-
|Should of || align="right" | 24,900 || align="right" | 18,500 || align="right" | 1,050 || align="right" | 411
|-
|Shouldn't of || align="right" | 6,840 || align="right" | 6,180 || align="right" | - || align="right" | -
|-
|Should not of || align="right" | 6,840 || align="right" | 6,180 || align="right" | - || align="right" | 1
|}

(Not everything is as intended. The lone "I should not of kissed it" result sends one to "...and i should not of kissed. it is the least i could do...", for example.)

Was going to try alternatives to "kissed", but might have gotten unwieldy. (And imagine the furore at Prism HQ for repeated searches using "killed"!)

I'll just leave this here for analysis and combining related figures however you so feel like. Not sure if the "of" camps are nicely small figures, in comparison, or still too uncomfortably large for my liking... [[Special:Contributions/178.107.249.215|178.107.249.215]] 22:09, 13 June 2013 (UTC)

You should be more concerned with when the original measure was taken. 2008. [[User:Flewk|flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 19:33, 28 December 2015 (UTC)

Talk:456: Cautionary

2015-12-28T19:28:45Z

Flewk:

Isn't 'Talk to your kids about...' from a famous Unilever ad? [[Special:Contributions/101.174.52.183|101.174.52.183]] 09:47, 2 June 2013 (UTC)

Is this Megan? Her hair seems awfully curly and it says she's his cousin. Is there an official transcript? [[User:Theo|Theo]] ([[User talk:Theo|talk]]) 20:46, 14 August 2013 (UTC)
:Official transcripts, if they do exist, do not contain names in general. These names are just an invention by some communities like this wiki. So, if you have a better stick figure which would match her, talk about this.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:16, 14 August 2013 (UTC)
::She is clearly not Megan. I propose to call her ''cousin''. [[User:Xhfz|Xhfz]] ([[User talk:Xhfz|talk]]) 22:20, 13 October 2013 (UTC)
::There exists an official transcript for each comic, available to see in the page's source code. According to a comment in [[1037:_Umwelt]], Randall does apparently not type those, but is seemingly done by Davean, his friend maintaining the server. (Note: this is just a guess) [[User:Vgr|Vgr]] ([[User talk:Vgr|talk]]) 11:22, 22 October 2013 (UTC)
::I don't think that this is Megan either. I propose to call her Alice, though, in reference to cryptography. [[User:Official.xian|Official.xian]] ([[User talk:Official.xian|talk]]) 19:46, 10 July 2014 (UTC)

::I think we're all forgetting something very important here: It's a true story, therefore she has a real name. If we really wanted her correct name, we'd be pestering Randall for it. Anonymous 23:26, 18 August 2014 (UTC)
:::And since it's a true story Cueball here's probably meant to be Randall himself. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:57, 14 November 2014 (UTC)
::::And the hair not reminiscent of Megan.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.25|173.245.55.25]] 17:26, 18 March 2015 (UTC)
:::::Then why has nobody fixed it to say Cousin instead of Megan?... [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.166|173.245.54.166]] 19:42, 3 April 2015 (UTC)
::::::Done. I'm not sure abiut the hyperlinks though, if they're supposed to be on every reference to curball then someone shoulf add those. [[User:Bbruzzo|Bbruzzo]] ([[User talk:Bbruzzo|talk]]) 15:28, 26 August 2015 (UTC)

The last paragraph is taking quite a leap. While she has obviously learned over the 3 months, we have no idea if she is actually building her kernel in a critical and meaningful way. Does not fit with actual comic. [[User:Flewk|flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 19:28, 28 December 2015 (UTC)

Talk:450: The Sea

2015-12-28T18:33:40Z

Flewk:

Umm...before changing the page shouldn't there be some discussion here? There was a bunch of other stuff that got deleted. [[Special:Contributions/69.122.106.29|69.122.106.29]] 03:22, 31 May 2013 (UTC)

;Justification of "male enhancement" theory

DGBert wrote that there's no justification for the idea of the first pump being a penis-enlarging pump. What other theory do you have about (a) a pump, that (b) makes someone larger and (c) improves their self-image?
:If you have any hints not only coming from your own brain you are welcome. This wiki is "Explain" and not "Speculate". --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:59, 31 May 2013 (UTC)

(Do we have Word Of God about this or many other 'Explanations'? An awful lot of this Wiki is speculation, without it.) Personally, while the first pump could be either kind of pump, the title text asking for ''another'' in order to drain the sea means that the first (regardless of which way one's mind snaps, on reading) was not intended to be a sea-draining pump. Randall also often does something akin to "one-lead-element Markov Chaining", and "how small I am" leading to a penis pump fits his sense of absurdist humour. Even if it isn't initially that, it's still akin to being a {{w|Garden path sentence}} (only more of a disfluent paragraph version) when parsing. All IMO. YMMV. HTH. HAND.
''[[Special:Contributions/178.107.249.215|178.107.249.215]] 13:40, 14 June 2013 (UTC)''

;Totally agree with "male enhancement" explanation

The previous explanation (last edited by [[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]]) was:

<blockquote>
In this comic, Cueball compares himself to a very large sea and realizes how small he is. The initial implication is that this causes him to be humble and realize his small place on the planet -- a common sentiment expressed in poetry and blogs.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
The punchline "I should get one of those pumps" induces humor by reversing the expectation: as he thinks about how small he is compared to the sea, he starts wanting to buy a pump, presumably take out the sea water so the sea could be smaller and not so much a threat to his self-image anymore. It shows that he really hasn't learned anything and is still egotistical.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
The title text creates additional humor by reversing the expectation yet again, by saying that he wanted another pump to drain the sea, meaning that the purpose of the first pump was not to drain the sea. This leads the reader to ponder what possible use the first pump was to have, and how it was going to make him bigger.
</blockquote>

This, to me, felt weak, was overly complex, and ignored what seems a painfully obvious point. The number of "male enhancement" products being marketed by junk-mail at the time was a frequent source of humour, and something that anyone with an e-mail account (and a poor junk-mail filter) dealt with on a frequent basis. Ref: [http://www.google.ca/trends/explore?q=penis%20pump#q=penis%20pump%2Cmale%20enhancement&cmpt=q|Google Trends on Male Enhancement]

Note, the line is: "... one of '''those''' pumps." This wording indicates that Randall is referring to something that he expects the reader to realize is topical. If he meant a generic pump, he would NOT have used the keyword "those". People ignorant of the junk mail of the day, and the function of penis pumps, would understandably not get the joke.
''[[User:MisterSpike|MisterSpike]] ([[User talk:MisterSpike|talk]]) 10:16, 26 June 2013 (UTC)''

;Totally agree with previous explanation. [[User:Undee|Undee]] ([[User talk:Undee|talk]]) <nowiki>12:01, 30 October 2013 (UTC)</nowiki>

; A question for Dgbrt
Did you know that in English the sentences ''I'm small'' and ''I'm big'' sometimes mean ''my penis is small''[http://im-small.tumblr.com/] and ''my penis is big''?[http://es.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=big&defid=3086531][http://wtfcontent.com/wtf-2500.htmlhttp://wtfcontent.com/wtf-2500.html] [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.84|173.245.50.84]] 13:44, 18 February 2014 (UTC)

: I seriously take issue with that statement as well - I suggest using "can also mean" rather than "mean" or "sometimes mean" [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 13:55, 18 February 2014 (UTC)

;A question to me (Dgbrt)
This explain should be discussed with [[Randall]]. This comic doesn't belong to SEX, most man don't use a "Penis Pump" because it's nonsense. If Randall did joke about this item we would get a better claim on this. This explain still does not cover the meanings by the author. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:29, 18 February 2014 (UTC)
:I was asking because if you didn't know the meaning of "I'm small" then you obviously didn't think about a penis pump until you came here. People who knew in advance the meaning of "I'm small"" immediately thought of a penis pump. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.84|173.245.50.84]] 13:05, 19 February 2014 (UTC)

First, I agree that without the tagline, the first thought is about the ocean. I am reminded of the Norse myth about Thor being tricked by the giants to "drink the ocean" in what he thought was a beer (or mead or ale) drinking contest. The phrase to drink the ocean does appear in colloquial english (american).

There are at least two popular cultural allusions here that north american readers would be familiar with. One is the Austin Powers movies. When Austin is unfrozen there is an elaborate scene where they are returning his personal effects and one of them is a swedish penis pump. The scene goes on and on as he tries to deny it. The second thought is an episode from Seinfeld where George goes into the ocean, his bathing trunks fall off and his male member is reduced to the point that his date laughs. The rest of the episode goes includes George trying to convince everyone that he is actually reasonably endowed. His explanation is "shrinkage". I think this second argument might be more compelling if cueball were walking out of the ocean where it is obvious that he is a victim of shrinkage. Without that visual we would have to imagine he is thinking back to a past event. For those readers unfamiliar with the ocean, or male member(s), the effect, I believe is based on cold so would last until core body temperature returned to normal. Your mileage may vary. {{unsigned|Mcjoker|01:13, 19 February 2014}}

The links that direct to tumblr should be labelled NSFW. I do regularly follow the wiki and a select discussions, even at work during breaks(or while the code compiles). They do carry no warning as of now. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.67|173.245.55.67]] 21:48, 5 March 2014 (UTC)BK201
:No good reason to link to a generic porn tumblr, even if it's below-average-penis-size-themed. The Urban Dictionary link, I think, suffices. --[[User:Alex|Alex]] ([[User talk:Alex|talk]]) 10:28, 26 May 2014 (UTC)

;Some statements
*Thanks for removing tumblr links.
*This explain is still the worst here, the urbandictionary link doesn't explain a penis relationship as well
*The urbandictionary page links to penis but the hell there a millions of other objects could be small and big
When I'm standing at night alone at a shore of a sea I'm thinking about the vastness of all beyond me, but not about pumping up my penis. Furthermore I'm pretty sure most people all over the world think the same. So, if US or American male citizens have a major problem with their own pee-pee it has to be explained in a much better way. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:28, 26 May 2014 (UTC)
:I came here without thinking about penis pumps. But after reading the explain it was so obvious to me that it is about a penis pump. It would only be a funny comic becuase of this. And Randall use infantile humor all the time. I think the only reason Dgbrt is against this is that he hoped it was one of the beautiful comics that Randall also does from time to time and then also that he did not get the joke himsefl :-) Explain is perfect, although I have now changed layot to explain in the order that you could get the joke before reading title text and after. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 05:31, 26 June 2014 (UTC)
::See also the discussion page of this penis joke comic: [[532: Piano]] :-) {{unsigned|Kynde}}

This explanation is ridiculous - I'm quite sure that the "pumps" reference shoes of the same name (just do an image search for pumps) which are high heeled and therefore adressing directly the problem of being too small. No penis needed for the joke IMO. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.17|141.101.104.17]] 08:07, 12 October 2014 (UTC)

: Why do you believe it is ridiculous? As has been stated before, Randall makes use of penis jokes fairly frequently (see Category:Penis) The usage of the word pump for shoes may be different in different places (backed up as you say by a google image search showing high heeled shoes), but I have always known pumps as being flat shoes. Regardless, why would Cueball only want 'one' pump, to stand slightly taller but a bit wobbly?! As a native english speaker, I have no doubt in my mind that 'one of those pumps' refers to a penis pump. To answer some of the non-penis-pump statements:
*most man don't use a "Penis Pump" because it's nonsense - I agree most men don't actually use them, and the actual long-term results of use are supposedly dubious, but it only matters that a penis pump is supposed to make a man 'bigger' (penis size, ego, self-worth, etc)
*When I'm standing at night alone at a shore of a sea I'm thinking about the vastness of all beyond me, but not about pumping up my penis. Furthermore I'm pretty sure most people all over the world think the same. - Again, I agree with you, but thats what this joke is, it sets you up to think its going to be one thing (maybe a beatuiful philospohical statement or something), then suddenly pulls an unexected crude twist.
*if US or American male citizens have a major problem with their own pee-pee it has to be explained in a much better way - Across many (most?) cultures, male penis size is linked to manliness. Some cultures regard bigger as better, others smaller as better. In the US (Randall's background), there is the implication that bigger is better, which leads on to the joke. {{unsigned|Pudder}}

If you just read the panels, you will think of a water pump to drain the ocean which taunts Cueball so. The actual punchline comes from the title text; you realize the first pump must be something other than a water pump. This is when "how small I really am" takes on a whole new meaning. The explanation is correct... however, it is poorly worded and convoluted. [[User:Flewk|flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 18:33, 28 December 2015 (UTC)

Talk:440: Road Rage

2015-12-28T17:56:04Z

Flewk:

;Incomplete (as of August 26, 2013)
*At the title text Black Hat is avoiding a crash.
*While many explains are monster explains, here is the WIFI missing, this explain is just more a transcript.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:44, 26 August 2013 (UTC)
The idea is that the tailgater (I'll name him Phil for ease of understanding) will be distracted while he contemplates his loss, so when Black Hat slams on the brakes, Phil hopefully won't have enough stopping distance to avoid a collision, slamming into Black Hat's car. The accident is always caused by the car behind, meaning Phil will be at fault.[[User:Lyusternik|Lyusternik]] ([[User talk:Lyusternik|talk]]) 15:26, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

Okay, I've been bold, completely rewrote the explanation AND removed the incomplete banner. It now looks less like a transcript and (I think) everything is covered. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.161|173.245.53.161]] 17:28, 19 February 2014 (UTC)

Whew, I've been more offensive than Black Hat in the past and I'm still happy today that I did survive this. I did not slam the brake, no stoplight, just releasing my foot from the gas pedal at high speed and my car slowed down without any warning to the one behind me. There was happily no accident and NEVER TRY SOMETHING LIKE THIS. But after this incident the guy did slam his own brake and he never did try to overtake me again. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:36, 2 June 2014 (UTC)

In light of the last paragraph of the explanation, I wish Randall's drawing made it clear whether BH and Danish were wearing seatbelts. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.52|173.245.54.52]] 19:45, 30 October 2015 (UTC)

No one tried to guess at why the shot in the dark worked? I thought it might have something to do with the fact that tailgaters tend to be reckless drivers and he had caused someone to die before due to his reckless driving. [[User:Flewk|flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 17:56, 28 December 2015 (UTC)

Talk:439: Thinking Ahead

2015-12-28T17:47:56Z

Flewk:

I don't think the girl pictured is Megan, it seems to me that it's another girl and he is conflicted about talking to her because of unresolved feelings with Megan, which may come back to bite him if he doesn't explore them fully before becoming committed to another. Due to the beginning of the description it seems like this is just a silly mistake.{{unsigned ip|50.198.145.13}}
:It's fixed, and look at the trivia.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:24, 26 August 2013 (UTC)
::Where is this original transcript that I have seen people mention several times?[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 05:40, 12 June 2014 (UTC)
:::I believe it might be xkcd volume 0? --[[User:Flewk|flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 17:47, 28 December 2015 (UTC)

438: Internet Argument

2015-12-28T17:44:38Z

Flewk: /* cancer trolls... */

{{comic
| number = 438
| date = June 18, 2008
| title = Internet Argument
| image = internet argument.png
| titletext = It's easier to be an asshole to words than to people.
}}

{{incomplete|comic has nothing to do with trolls or cancer}}
==Explanation==
Since the first time the internet made possible to have written real-time conversations with people in remote locations, it was found that most people tend to use harsh language in these conversations much more often than they would with regular spoken face-to-face conversations.
This effect is similar to what happens when people drive a car: they're much more likely to get exasperated or angry at other drivers than they would when not driving.

Also, some people collectivelly known as {{w|Troll (Internet)|Troll}}s find it funny to disrupt other people's conversations in internet forums, posing as innocent speakers. Examples of this can be entering a conversation between cancer patients suggesting the use of some "miracle" cure, or just asking simple, obvious questions and then pretending to not understand the answers. Most probably, trolls wouldn't have this behavior if they were speaking to a group of people in real life. A similar concept is wikiterror, where someone intentionally includes false information in Wikipedia to see how long it lasts before someone notices.

In the first two panels, [[Cueball]] is having some harsh words and probably insults with an other troll. [[Megan]] takes one of Cueball and flies him to the other one, so they see each other face to face. In this situation, they both remain silent as none of them find anything to say to the other.

When Megan returns Cueball to his original computer, both keep their conversation, but without the insults.

The title text just summarizes the whole idea into a single sentence.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is typing profanities into his computer.]
:[Friend is typing profanities into his computer.]
:[Megan floats in behind Cueball.]
:[Megan lifts Cueball.]
:[They are flying over mountains.]
:[Megan and Cueball are floating in front of the friend and his computer.]
:[She sets Cueball down in front of the friend and his computer.]
:[Megan lifts Cueball again.]
:[They are flying.]
:[Megan sets Cueball down in his chair at his computer.]
:[Cueball is typing at his computer.]
:[Friend is typing at his computer.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Internet]]