explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3181: Jumping Frog Radius

2025-12-16T12:27:24Z

Gustaveeiffel314:

first[[User:Qwertyuiopfromdefly|Qwertyuiopfromdefly]] ([[User talk:Qwertyuiopfromdefly|talk]]) 05:17, 16 December 2025 (UTC)

Question: Would a correct interpretation be "if a champion jumping frog were to be located just under 1.5 light-days from earth, and if there we're no other gravitational bodies nearby, and if said frog then performed its mightiest jump directly away from earth, then the frog would eventually be overcome by Earth's gravitational field and would eventually land on Earth's surface"? [[User:Pgn674|Pgn674]] ([[User talk:Pgn674|talk]]) 06:26, 16 December 2025 (UTC)
:I guess that is exactly how it should be interpreted. Or more interesting if it was just outside this radius and somehow could gain exactly 4,5 m/s extra speed then it would escape Earth (if there was anything to push of against that was heavy enough to move basically only the frog forward, then that would change the mass behind the frog so... That was why I wrote gain exactly rather than jump). --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:36, 16 December 2025 (UTC)

: or its mightiest jump in any direction (that doesn't cause it to crash through the Earth) since the escape speed is the same in all directions (relevant xkcd:https://what-if.xkcd.com/68/ ) --[[Special:Contributions/178.197.223.163|178.197.223.163]] 09:21, 16 December 2025 (UTC)

The only two variables are rjf and M, so plotting a 2 axis graph plotting the relationship between M and rjf should be possible. [[User:Zabadoh|Zabadoh]] ([[User talk:Zabadoh|talk]]) 08:20, 16 December 2025 (UTC) [''You sign '''after''' your contribution'']

As frogs usually collect on the surface of worlds {{cn}}, the *surface* escape velocity is most important. The crossover point for a planet with earth-like density (5515 kg/m³) is 2.6km, above that, the rjf falls below the surface, and the planet can accumulate frogs. Smaller bodies are, however, usually less dense; an interesting borderline candidate is Chicxulub, which had an rjf of 3-4km, and a radius of 5-6km so could have just about held onto its frogs, for a while at least. [[User:JeffUK|JeffUK]] ([[User talk:JeffUK|talk]]) 10:04, 16 December 2025 (UTC)

It would be interesting to look at the Rjf values ''of a frog'', to consider where new limits are put upon the frog for M-masses that aren't totally dominating the scenario of "frog leaves mass"... [[Special:Contributions/82.132.237.93|82.132.237.93]] 11:03, 16 December 2025 (UTC)

I interpreted it as a reference to the Mark Twain short story The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.
[[User:Gustaveeiffel314|Gustaveeiffel314]] ([[User talk: Gustaveeiffel314|talk]]) 12:25, 16 December

Talk:155: Search History

2024-11-26T04:39:06Z

Gustaveeiffel314: I didn’t read the part before the table

Here's a [http://www.somethingawful.com/d/weekend-web/aol-search-log.php link] to the somethingawful page mentioned in the title text ([http://www.somethingawful.com/d/weekend-web/aol-search-log-2.php part 2], [http://www.somethingawful.com/d/weekend-web/aol-search-log-3.php part 3]). {{unsigned ip|‎141.70.81.143}}

People of the distant future, [https://i.imgur.com/RnwhGYm.png this] is what google looked like today. [[User:Kripmo|Kripmo]] ([[User talk:Kripmo|talk]]) 00:50, 20 November 2015 (UTC)
:Knock knock, distant future here: hardly anything had changed. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.82|108.162.221.82]] 15:03, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
::It's a bit more AI-filled, but not much else has happened. [[User:Psychoticpotato|Psychoticpotato]] ([[User talk:Psychoticpotato|talk]]) 22:33, 20 May 2024 (UTC)

Google actually looked like that?! Truly, the modern world is a wonderful place, compared to the drop-shadow hellscape pictured in this comic. Just look at all that font hinting, and no anti-aliasing in sight! The horror! [[User talk:AgentMuffin|~AgentMuffin]]

Should we create a table explaining each one? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.47.6|172.68.47.6]] 01:24, 17 November 2017 (UTC)
:Yes! I know what I will be doing for the rest of this lesson. [[User:Beanie|Beanie]] ([[User talk:Beanie|talk]]) 09:32, 15 December 2020 (UTC)

It has been just shy of five years since Kripmo's. Google has changed very little, the fonts having slimmed down slightly and very little else.

Either they have reached stability or it has not been long enough. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.38.98|172.68.38.98]] 03:06, 23 July 2020 (UTC)

I think the table is in the wrong order. It makes more sense for Randall to search "robert bakker paleontologist" first before moving on to the more specific query about bakker. Similarly, it makes more sense for the more general search term "raptor" to be search before more specific queries about types of raptors. Finally, if read top to bottom, the search results present a reasonable line of thought that gradually devolves into absurdity, a common theme that shows up across xkcd comics. I know that this is the opposite of how actual google searches would be presented in real life, but it's reasonable to think that Randall would have sacrificed exact accuracy in favor of a more easily readable format. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.104|108.162.210.104]] 05:53, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
:In google, the most recent search terms are on the top. I did the table with the most recent on the bottom, to make it easier to follow. [[User:Beanie|Beanie]] ([[User talk:Beanie|talk]]) 10:15, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
::Although yes, [[Randall_Munroe|Randall]] didn't seem to pay much attention to how the searches were organized. [[User:Beanie|Beanie]] ([[User talk:Beanie|talk]]) 12:43, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
:::For sure he intended it to be read from top to bottom, even though this would not look like this on Google. I have corrected the table to be in reading order as in the comic. And made a note that this is the wrong order if in real life. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:01, 26 May 2022 (UTC)

Talk:155: Search History

2024-11-25T23:10:26Z

Gustaveeiffel314: Just a comment

1164: Home Alone

2024-11-10T14:46:30Z

Gustaveeiffel314: Updated dates.

{{comic
| number = 1164
| date = January 23, 2013
| title = Home Alone
| image = home alone.png
| titletext = Starring Macaulay Culkin.
}}

==Explanation==
''{{w|Home Alone}}'' is a popular 1990 film in which the child protagonist Kevin McCallister (portrayed by {{w|Macaulay Culkin}}) is accidentally left alone in his house when his family goes on vacation, and has to thwart a burglary all by himself. In the movie, McCallister comes up with a variety of ingenious traps and schemes (usually involving {{w|jury rig|jury-rigged}} toys and household items) to harass, injure and eventually incapacitate the burglars, which was the film's defining feature. On a more general level, the films revolve around the classical trope with an {{tvtropes|UnderdogsNeverLose|underdog defeating a much stronger opponent}} (the burglars), through his own ingenuity. The film spawned a {{w|Home Alone (franchise)|series of sequels}} (5 as of 2024, the first of which also starred Culkin) all with a similar premise to the original.

This strip, however, proposes a {{w|Reboot_(fiction)#Film|reboot}} of the franchise, with the main change to the film being that of an age-reversal, so the story is now about an adult man setting needlessly harmful traps to hurt defenseless children breaking into his house. This would likely be seen as distasteful at the very least, and would probably lead to a negative reputation for the film. The title text adds another punchline when it is revealed that the reboot also stars Macaulay Culkin in the same role. This may suggest that the age-reversal gimmick was done to allow for him to star in the film as the same character despite growing up since the beginning of the franchise. This would be a rather misguided attempt to revive his career, and would probably just prevent any further success.

The scene depicted in the strip is an adaptation of an iconic scene from the first movie (used heavily in advertising) where McCallister hangs two paint cans in strings above the staircase, and let them swing down to hit the burglars in the face.

==Transcript==
:[Bearded man clenching his fists and standing at the head of a flight of stairs. A paint can on a rope is swinging into a child at the foot of the stairs. A child on the floor is in a semi-fetal position and crying.]
:Child: Ow!!
:Child on floor: Waaaaaaaaa!
:Rejected movie ideas:
:Age-reversed ''Home Alone'' reboot.

{{comic discussion}}