explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2289: Scenario 4

2020-04-04T22:50:15Z

GoldNinja:

Should definitely make a note re: this officially-Friday comic releasing late Saturday afternoon (EDT). [[User:TPS|TPS]] ([[User talk:TPS|talk]]) 22:06, 4 April 2020 (UTC)
Or is this actually the april fool comic, except it fooled us by being on a Saturday? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.81|162.158.74.81]] 22:12, 4 April 2020 (UTC) Sam
Perhaps more likely because the actual April Fool's comic (due Wednesday) delayed 'til Friday. [[User:TPS|TPS]] ([[User talk:TPS|talk]]) 22:19, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

The title should probably be changed, the xkcd site uses the numeral "4" whereas we're using the word "four."--[[User:GoldNinja|GoldNinja]] ([[User talk:GoldNinja|talk]]) 22:50, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2279: Symptoms

2020-03-11T18:59:58Z

GoldNinja:

Coronavirus or Covid-19 should be tags. [[User:Netherin5|“That Guy from the Netherlands”]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 17:39, 11 March 2020 (UTC)
:Agreed. Depending on how you count [[2278]], this series has been running continuously since [[2275]]. So this is the 4th or 5th NCOV-2019 comic. The only problem is what should we name the tag? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.211.34|172.68.211.34]] 18:37, 11 March 2020 (UTC)
::"COVID-19" I'd say, for scientific accuracy.--[[User:GoldNinja|GoldNinja]] ([[User talk:GoldNinja|talk]]) 18:59, 11 March 2020 (UTC)

Re. the title text, my reaction would be, "The medicine must not be working. I'd better take more." [[Special:Contributions/172.68.38.120|172.68.38.120]] 18:38, 11 March 2020 (UTC)Pat

1179: ISO 8601

2020-01-29T20:00:14Z

GoldNinja: This isn't relevant to be in the transcript

{{comic
| number = 1179
| date = February 27, 2013
| title = ISO 8601
| image = iso_8601.png
| titletext = ISO 8601 was published on 06/05/88 and most recently amended on 12/01/04.
}}

==Explanation==
When abbreviating the date into numerical form, {{w|Date format by country|various areas of the world}} tend to list the year, month, and day in different orders (as well as with different delimiting symbols), which can cause confusion particularly when the day value is 12 or lower allowing it to be easily interpreted as the month and vice versa. As a {{w|public service announcement}}, this comic states that there is in fact one international standard for writing numeric dates, set by the {{w|International Organization for Standardization}} in its {{w|ISO 8601}} standard: YYYY-MM-DD.

The comic then proceeds to list several discouraged ways of writing out the date of the comic's publication, as they do not match the standard. It begins with several commonly used ones in countries around the world, but then begins to list increasingly uncommon ways, ranging from strange (Roman numerals) to quirky (binary, Unix time) to essentially impossible (painting the numbers onto a black cat).

The title text provides a perfect example of the kind of ambiguity that can arise when non-standard formats are used. The ISO standard was in fact published on 1988-06-05 and amended on 2004-12-01. This is mentioned in the title text in MM/DD/YY format; however, there is no way to naturally figure this out, particularly with the second date. With the year truncated to two digits and all three numbers at 12 or lower, the date referring to December 1, 2004 may well be interpreted as 12 January 2004, or as 2012-01-04.

Date formats was again the subject in [[1340: Unique Date]].

The other mentioned formats are:

{| class=wikitable
! Date !! Explanation
|-
| 02/27/2013
| MM/DD/YYYY, used mostly in the United States.
|-
| 02/27/13
| MM/DD/YY, same as above but with the year shortened to two digits.
|-
| 27/02/2013
| DD/MM/YYYY, used variously in South America, Canada ({{w|Date_and_time_notation_in_Canada|officially uses ISO 8601}}), Australia, New Zealand and Europe.
|-
| 27/02/13
| DD/MM/YY, same as above but with the year shortened to two digits.
|-
| 20130227
| YYYYMMDD, same as ISO 8601 without delimiting punctuation. Allowed by the standard. Technically not ambiguous but is hard to read as a date at first glance.
|-
| 2013.02.27
| YYYY.MM.DD, used in Japan. Same as ISO 8601 except with different punctuation.
|-
| 27.02.13
| DD.MM.YY, used in Germany, Russia, and others.
|-
| 27-02-13
| DD-MM-YY, used in Denmark, Netherlands, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, and others.
|-
| 27.2.13
| D.M.YY. It is common in several areas to abbreviate the month or day to a single digit and drop the leading zero when possible.
|-
| 2013. II. 27.
| YYYY. MM. DD., with month as {{w|Roman numerals}}, used in Hungary.
|-
| 27⁄2-13
| D⁄M-YY, traditional format in Sweden
|-
| 2013.158904109
| Year and decimal fraction of year. 0.158904109 is a decimal approximation of 58/365, with February 27 being the 58th day of the year. This format may be easier to read for computers/programs in some contexts, but is difficult for humans to interpret.
|-
| MMXIII-II-XXVII
| The ISO 8601 standard but written in Roman numerals. Never used as a traditional standard anywhere as it is hard to read, parse, and interpret for no benefit.
|-
| MMXIII LVII⁄CCCLXV
| Year followed by its partial fraction 57/365, all in Roman numerals. Equally useless as the above. As a note, apparently this 'standard' is different from the decimal fraction two rows above, as the decimal fraction notation uses the ''end'' of the day (first day of the year is 1/365 while the last is 365/365), while this uses the ''beginning'' (first day is 0/365 and last is 364/365).
|-
| 1330300800
| {{w|Unix time|UNIX Timestamp}}, a standard method of storing absolute time in many computer systems and defined as the number of seconds since 00:00:00 on 1970-01-01 (UTC). The Unix time listed here appears to mistakenly be for '''2012'''-02-27, which is also mentioned by [[Randall]] in the original transcript. The Unix Timestamp for 2013-02-27 would be 1361923200.
|-
| ((3+3)×(111+1)-1)×3/3-1/33
| A useless format where the numbers 2013, 2, and 27 written as needlessly long arithmetic expressions using just the digits 1 and 3. For additional confusion, the values are delimited by slashes, enabling confusion with the fraction bar. (If evaluated literally, the entire expression evaluates to 670.963, or 671 minus 1 divided by 27.)
|-
|    2  272013
| A nearly impossible to read date "format" that can be considered a parody "compromise" between different formats: rather than argue about the order in which the year, month, and day should be, they are simply all written on top of each other. As a "bonus", there is also no arguing over which separator character to use.
|-
| 10/11011/1101
| The US mm/dd/yy format in {{w|Binary number|binary}}, corresponding to 2/27/13. Never used for obvious reasons.
|-
| 02/27/20/13
| MM/DD/CC/YY, where CC stands for century. This format is never used. Note that while months and days count starting from 1, centuries and years in this format count from 0 for extra confusion. But the CC value is widely used on many operating systems to distinguish between the 20th and 21st century, represented by the values "19" and "20" because 1950 belongs to the 20th century.
|-
| <ruby><rb>0</rb><rb>1</rb><rb>2</rb><rb>3</rb><rb>7</rb><rt>2</rt><rt>3</rt><rt>1</rt><rt>4</rt><rtc style="ruby-position: under"><rt>5</rt><rt></rt><rt>67</rt><rt></rt><rt>8</rt></rtc></ruby>
| An obfuscated format where the small numbers indicate the positions where the large digits should be placed. In this reading, 0 is used at positions 2 and 5, 1 is used on position 3, etc.; the result being 20130227
|-
| [A hissing black cat with "2-27-13" painted on it]
| In Western cultures, black cats and the number 13 are associated with bad luck. The cat might also just be angry that someone covered it in paint.
|}

==Transcript==
:Public Service Announcement:

:Our different ways of writing dates as numbers can lead to online confusion. That's why in 1988 ISO set a global standard numeric date format. This is '''''the''''' correct way to write numeric dates:

::2013-02-27

:The following formats are therefore discouraged:
:*02/27/2013
:*02/27/13
:*27/02/2013
:*27/02/13
:*20130227
:*2013.02.27
:*27.02.13
:*27-02-13
:*27.2.13
:*2013. II. 27.
:*27⁄2-13
:*2013.158904109
:*MMXIII-II-XXVII
:*MMXIII LVII⁄CCCLXV
:*1330300800
:*((3+3)×(111+1)-1)×3/3-1/33
:*   2  272013 [the numbers 2013, 02, and 27 written overlapping each other]
:*10/11011/1101
:*02/27/20/13
:*2053112674378
:*[A black cat with 2-27-13 scrawled across its body in dripping white paint.]
:**Cat: ''Hissss''

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

Talk:2259: Networking Problems

2020-01-24T19:18:28Z

GoldNinja:

I just had an issue the other day with copying disk images to a network drive using <code>smbclient</code> on Linux Mint. The transfer would only run at 1 to 2 MB/s. Then I discovered that if I opened the mounted drive in the GUI file explorer and refreshed the directory where I was copying the image to, it would consistently cause the copy operation to jump to 40 to 60 MB/s and stay there for the rest of the operation. I concluded that <code>smbclient</code> must run on actual sorcery. [[User:Aaron Rotenberg|Aaron Rotenberg]] ([[User talk:Aaron Rotenberg|talk]]) 18:02, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

Yeah, can confirm that even the high end of 'normal computer problems' can result in belief in the occult and/or paranormal operation of computers. I now attempt to moderate my brainwaves into positive only flow to make sure I do not negatively effect the computer through quantum effects on the bits and operation. If i get frustrated or confused by the computer for an extended time, i put it down and walk away until I have more of a 'can do' attitude. Then of coarse there was that time that.... it may be too late for me, but there are puzzling computer problems to explore so I... remember me as I was. ~Litppunk 18:26, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

"Ghosts generally are not concerned with expressions of belief, but there are some religious traditions that include group clapping and chanting." - I don't think the hover text is related to the ghosts. They seem just like two separate unbelievable things. "Perhaps the ghost in question is the Holy Ghost." - I doubt that is what he is referring to, especially since it is plural 'ghosts' and the Holy Ghost is singular. [[User:Curtobi4|Curtobi4]] ([[User talk:Curtobi4|talk]]) 18:44, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

Clearly seems related to 1457, albeit with much more advanced tech issues. --[[User:GoldNinja|GoldNinja]] ([[User talk:GoldNinja|talk]]) 19:18, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2252: Parenthetical Names

2020-01-10T00:35:51Z

GoldNinja:

Great to see, that dgbrtbot is back on the wiki. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:40, 9 January 2020 (UTC)

This would be especially annoying for World of Darkness tabletop RPGs. Every one of them (Except Orpheus but we don't talk about Orpheus) has a colon in them for stuff. IE Vampire: The Masquerade [[User:Gruetopia|Gruetopia]] ([[User talk:Gruetopia|talk]]) 08:49, 9 January 2020 (UTC)

Daenerys of the House Targaryen (the First of Her Name, The Unburnt, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Protector of the Realm, Lady Regent of the Seven Kingdoms, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons) --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 09:22, 9 January 2020 (UTC)

@Lupo: FTFY: Daenerys (of the House Targaryen) (the First (of Her Name)), (The Unburnt),( Queen (of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men)), (Queen (of Meereen)),( Khaleesi (of the Great Grass Sea)), (Protector (of the Realm)), (Lady Regent (of the Seven Kingdoms)), (Breaker (of Chains)) (and Mother (of Dragons)) {{unsigned|Cellocgw|12:55, 9 January 2020‎}}
:Or alternatively even: Daenerys (of (the House Targaryen (the First of Her Name, (The Unburnt, Queen of the Andals, (the Rhoynar and (the First Men, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi (of the Great Grass Sea, Protector (of (the Realm, Lady Regent (of (the Seven Kingdoms, Breaker (of Chains and Mother (of Dragons[[312|)))))))))))))]] --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 13:03, 9 January 2020 (UTC)
: "...the (First) Men..." "...the (Great) Grass (Sea)..." "...(Lady) Regent..." "... of the (Seven) Kingdoms ..."? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.9|162.158.158.9]] 15:56, 9 January 2020 (UTC)
: I prefet the titles that were (sadly) left out of (HBO's) Game (of Thrones): Tormund (Giantsbane)(, (Tall-)talker)(, (Horn-)blower)(, and Breaker (of Ice))(, Thunderfist)(, Husband (to Bears))(, (the) (Mead-)king (of (Ruddy) Hall))(, Speaker (to Gods))( and Father (of Hosts)(, Commander (of Oakenshield)). I just wanted to see Tormund (properly) introduced to Daenerys… [[User:SDF iain|SDF iain]] ([[User talk:SDF iain|talk]]) 16:07, 9 January 2020 (UTC)
::I also prefer a song (of ice and fire)over game (of thrones)(TV Series) --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 16:47, 9 January 2020 (UTC)
:You forgot Stormborn. Daenerys (Stormborn (of the House Targaryen) (the First (of Her Name))), (The Unburnt),( Queen (of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men)), (Queen (of Meereen)),( Khaleesi (of the (Great (Grass)) Sea)), (Protector (of the Realm)), (Lady Regent (of the (Seven) Kingdoms)), (Breaker (of Chains)) (and Mother (of Dragons)) -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:19, 9 January 2020 (UTC)

I always liked listening to Mott (the Hoople) but I've never been a fan of Vlad (the Impaler). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.88|162.158.214.88]] 12:14, 9 January 2020 (UTC)
: Didn't he open for Cage (the elephant)? [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 13:27, 9 January 2020 (UTC)

I spent the evening having a jabber with Jabba (the Hut). I listened to some tunes by Benny Goodman (the King (of Swing) ) . Reminds me of the Jewish Mother joke where the first Jewish president finally gets his mother to agree to hold Seder in the White House.[parentheses mine] Mother to her friend Sadie: "I'm having Seder with my son." Sadie: "Oh, your son (the doctor)?" Mother: "No the other one." [[User:Cellocgw|Cellocgw]] ([[User talk:Cellocgw|talk]]) 12:52, 9 January 2020 (UTC)

I am (the pretty sailor soldier of love and justice) Sailor Moon! In the name of (the Moon) I will punish you! -[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.187|173.245.52.187]] 19:42, 9 January 2020 (UTC)

I feel like the chunk about the chunk about the Sonic movie's redesign is a bit pointless, could be shrunken down to "A film featuring the character titled Sonic the Hedgehog is set for release February 2020, of which Cueball is asking his friends if they want to see it or not."--[[User:GoldNinja|GoldNinja]] ([[User talk:GoldNinja|talk]]) 00:35, 10 January 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2251: Alignment Chart Alignment Chart

2020-01-08T23:40:38Z

GoldNinja:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

== Omnispace Classifier ==

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

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

== Chart Position Rationale ==

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

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

:I agree with this, and it's how I first interpreted the comic.--[[User:GoldNinja|GoldNinja]] ([[User talk:GoldNinja|talk]]) 23:40, 8 January 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2251: Alignment Chart Alignment Chart

2020-01-08T17:43:54Z

GoldNinja:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

== Omnispace Classifier ==

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

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

Talk:2241: Brussels Sprouts Mandela Effect

2019-12-14T00:20:33Z

GoldNinja:

Brussels Sprouts Mandella Effect dot Tumblr dot com--[[User:GoldNinja|GoldNinja]] ([[User talk:GoldNinja|talk]]) 00:20, 14 December 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2240: Timeline of the Universe

2019-12-11T19:46:53Z

GoldNinja:

"Cool Bug Epoch" reminds me of the last panel in 1493 and 2191, but it's probably coincidental.--[[User:GoldNinja|GoldNinja]] ([[User talk:GoldNinja|talk]]) 19:44, 11 December 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2240: Timeline of the Universe

2019-12-11T19:44:14Z

GoldNinja:

"Cool Bug Epoch" reminds me of the last panel in 1493 and 1256, but it's probably coincidental.--[[User:GoldNinja|GoldNinja]] ([[User talk:GoldNinja|talk]]) 19:44, 11 December 2019 (UTC)

Syndication

2019-11-22T01:07:36Z

GoldNinja:

{{comic
| date = April 1, 2007
| title = Syndication
| image = syndication.jpg
| ldomain = imgs
| lappend = comics/xkcd_ufs.jpg
| titletext = Complaints should be directed to the xkcd writing staff.
| before = Now that xkcd is carried by United Features Syndicate, there are going to be a few changes to the comic. Obviously, with the rights signed over, it will no longer be published under Creative Commons, and all previous strips will be retroactively un-CC'd and relicensed under UFS terms. All online content will be protected via proprietary DRM. I also recieved a letter outlining topics and content that would be off-limits in the new xkcd. Prohibited content includes:

- Cultural references that would be lost on the average newspaper reader

- Mathematics above the high-school level

- Obscure scientific subjects

- Overt sexual material

- Objectionable words such as fuck, shit, cunt, ass, tits, cock, scrotum, bitch, Belgium, pussy, or twat

- Same-sex relationships

- Star Wars

- Star Trek (Original Series and Enterprise)

- The home phone numbers of White House employees

- Bacon-based currencies

- Erotic use of flywheels

- ExposÃ©s regarding other United Features syndicated characters

- ExposÃ©s regarding the personal lives of United Features Syndicate executives, specifically including CEO Kenneth Lowe

- Teledildonics

- Portrayals of Johnny Cash as an Amway distributor

- Any story that ends with "and that's how my penis got the nickname 'grappling hook'."

- Computer-computer cybersex

- Swordfights between white people

- Bitch & Animal

- Sexualization of Mt. Rushmore

- Staplers as mÃ©lÃ©e weapons

- Road trip buddy comedies starring Tank Girl and William Howard Taft

- Eric S. Raymond performing in Cirque du Soleil

- Hats with buckles

- Licking of nipples atop a moving train

The internet is the past. Newspapers are the future! See you in the funny papers.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an EROTIC FLYWHEEL. Needs a list explaining all the changes required. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is a non-numbered [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]], and is the first April fools' joke preformed on xkcd. This comic, formatted similarly to other posts such as [[Blue Eyes]]. The post describes xkcd becoming syndicated into a newspaper, changing from a webcomic. Newspapers are notorious for censorship of content, and Randal describes all the changes that would be required of the comic, the humor coming from their progressive absurdity.

==Transcript==
:[A Cueball and his Cueball-like friend are standing in some sort of grassy area.]
:Cueball: Why did the computer cross the road?
:Friend: I don't know.

:Cueball: I don't know either! Computers are so complicated!
:Friend: LOL!

:Editor's note: "LOL" is an online acronym for "laughing out loud." It alerts you to something funny, so keep an eye out!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:April fools' comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics_with_color]]
[[Category:Extra_comics]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]

Talk:2228: Machine Learning Captcha

2019-11-14T00:54:38Z

GoldNinja:

Seems remarkably similar to [https://xkcd.com/1897/ this comic]. Is he running out of ideas? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.146.166|162.158.146.166]] 00:33, 14 November 2019 (UTC)
: I don't see much connection, other than them both being about CAPTCHAs.--[[User:GoldNinja|GoldNinja]] ([[User talk:GoldNinja|talk]]) 00:54, 14 November 2019 (UTC)

2150: XKeyboarCD

2019-05-15T16:29:03Z

GoldNinja:

{{comic
| number = 2150
| date = May 15, 2019
| title = XKeyboarCD
| image = xkeyboarcd.png
| titletext = The key caps use LCD displays for all the vowels, so they can automatically adjust over the years to reflect ongoing vowel shifts while allowing you to keep typing phonetically.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a KEY BOAR USING AN XKEYBOARCD. Title Text not yet explained. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In the same vein as the [[:Category:xkcd Phones|xkcd Phone series]], the XKeyboarCD seems to be an overly inventive and borderline ludicrous keyboard intended for some unknown audience. It has an assortment of features (some fairly normal, some more exotic) which give it a..."diverse skill set".

*'''54 Configurable Rubik's Keys'''
The smaller cubes on a {{w|Rubik's cube}} resemble computer keys, so this feature makes fun of that by adding a spinnable Rubik's cube above the keyboard.

*'''Hardcoded Plastic Keys for the 5 Most Useful Emoji'''
This feature parodies the feature of some laptop-keyboards where it is possible to dynamically assign emojis to a small touchscreen area. Which Emojis would be "the most useful" is highly subjective. For example in the comic it shows the quite popular laughing with tears emoji, along the octopus emoji and others. Notably, the "aerial tramway" was once the least-used emoji, and remains very rarely used.
The large size and central position of the keys make their usefulness even more questionable.

*'''Serif Lock'''
{{w|Serifs}} are small lines on the ends of certain characters in fonts such as Times New Roman and Georgia. It is dependent on the font, not on the key pressed; "A" is represented by the same code regardless of its font. Since a given font almost always either has or doesn't have serifs, this key seems challenging to implement. This key could be implemented, however, by simply changing between a pair of fonts when it is pressed. What's more, the button is placed roughly where left Shift is on most keyboards, liable to cause frustration.

*'''Unlimited Key Travel'''
On a keyboard, key travel refers to the distance the key moves between its unpressed and pressed states. In reality, laptop keys only move a few millimeters before bottoming out, and conventional keyboards up to about a centimeter. An increased key travel may make typing more comfortable. However, the usefulness of having unlimited key travel is unclear, and the question of how this would be physically possible in the keyboard depicted remains unanswered.

*'''Diagonal Spacebar'''
A diagonal spacebar wouldn't be very useful, as many typists are used to having a spacebar at the bottom, and there's no reason to change it.

*'''Arrow Key (Rotate to Adjust Direction)'''
Most computers have four arrow keys: up, left, right, and down. However, the XKeyboarCD just has one that can be rotated. This has the added bonus of allowing the arrow keys to point more than four different directions. While theoretically useful and innovative, this comes at the cost of compatibility with certain programs, such as older video games.

*'''15 Puzzle-Style Numberpad'''
A 15 Puzzle is a square containing fifteen smaller squares and one blank spot, which allows the squares to be moved around. The squares are shuffled and then reassembled as a game or pastime, and are usually labelled 1-15 (as is the case here) or, when assembled properly, create a picture. A numberpad in this style would be frustrating to use for typing numbers, as they could shift (or be shifted) around, but could provide a fun feature to use as a game. How this would be used to generate numeric input is unclear, but the presence of 16 positions suggests {{w|hexadecimal}} input is possible.

*'''Ergonomic Design'''

The cylindrical portion of the keyboard is advertised as being an ergonomic design. Ergonomic keyboards do tend to be curved, to follow natural arm and finger movements more closely, and some ergonomic keyboards come in unconventional form factors, such as vertical keyboards, to allow the user's hands to rest in more neutral positions or to change positions throughout the day. However, the cylinder shape presented here requires the user to lift and twist his arms to reach certain keys, which would be an even more strenuous motion than typing on a standard keyboard.

*'''Title Text'''

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Introducing the
XKeyboarCD
A keyboard for powerful users and their powerful fingers

[Arrow to the various features of a keyboard labelling them.]

54 Configurable Rubik's Keys

Hardcoded Plastic Keys for the 5 Most Useful Emoji

Serif Lock

Unlimited Key Travel

Diagonal Spacebar

Arrow Key (Rotate to Adjust Direction)

15 Puzzle-Style Numberpad

Ergonomic Design
{{comic discussion}}

2148: Cubesat Launch

2019-05-10T16:14:17Z

GoldNinja:

{{comic
| number = 2148
| date = May 10, 2019
| title = Cubesat Launch
| image = cubesat_launch.png
| titletext = Luckily, the damages were partly offset by the prize money we got from accidentally winning the nearby water skiing championship tournament.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a Launch Accident Investigator. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The comic begins with Megan telling Cueball that being officially part of a CubeSat launch is very expensive, however she gives a much cheaper alternative idea: use a fishing line connected to a drone to connect to the shuttle, them supposedly board that shuttle via the fishing line.

In reality, this plan would have failed for multiple reasons. 1. Security (hopefully) would have prevented the drone from reaching the rocket. 2. The drone would not have been able to attach itself to the rocket in a way that would remain secure. 3. The fishing line would not hold - either the rocket exhaust would have severed it or the weight of the fishing line itself would have become more than it's tensile strength could withstand. 4. Weight is an EXTREMELY important number during launch. The extra weight of the drone, the fishing line, the air drag from the drone and the line; all would have combined to make the rocket 'heavier'. This unexpected extra weight would not have been calculated during fueling the rocket and the rocket would run out of propellant before achieving orbit. 5. An atmospheric drone cannot function in space. It's not rated for the extreme temperatures. It's not able to receive or transmit signals to the surface, it's not shielded from radiation, it's not able to maneuver without air. 6. Even if we assume that the rocket still achieves orbit and the fishing line is magically strong enough to resist it's own weight and keep from snapping, the weight would drag down anything attached to it - the drone would not stay in orbit.

Whatever her plan was, the plan goes wrong almost immediately. The rocket begins to tilt from the unexpected weight and causes the rocket to go off course. Megan and Cueball get tangled in the fishing line and are carried away. It is presumed that the rocket crashes not long after. Megan and Cueball miraculously survive and are brought to an investigative board to explain their actions. Megan attempts to defend herself using flawed logic: something was bound to go wrong sooner or later, so it's not my fault that I was the cause.

The title text describes that the supposedly huge damages they caused were mostly covered by the earnings from a water skiing championship, which Cueball and Megan seemingly won by being carried across the water by the shuttle.

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

{{comic discussion}}