explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1769: Never Seen Star Wars

2016-12-08T14:33:46Z

Halfhat:

Star Wars, pronounced Star Wors, was a very successful sci-fi action adventure movie from the 70s. Due to the success of the film, a sequel was made and is generally considered better than the first. The two movies are so iconic that someone who has not seen one or both of them would be considered unusual. Other sequals have been made, keeping the fanbase of the material constantly hoping for a 3rd movie that is on par with the firat two. Sadly, no such conclusion to the trilogy has arrived. Instead, each attempted sequel(more than half a dozen now) has been not much more than a 90 minute insult to the good taste and intelligence of the fans. This continued abuse of the star wars fanbase has prompted many former fans of the series to forgo watching recent releases, and to disavow ever seeing the original work in the first place. It appears that some of the cast of xkcd be doing likewise.{{unsigned ip|172.68.79.83}}
:DAFUQ?? Seriously, just no...{{unsigned ip|108.162.242.98}}
:The prequels were horrificly bad, but Episode VI was about as good as the original two, and Episode VII is actually better. Also, not including the first two movies, there are 5 sequals/prequals (6 if you include the unreleased Rogue One). That's not over 6. Also, everyone seems to agree that the 3 prequals are the only bad ones in the series (yet). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.60|162.158.2.60]] 10:10, 8 December 2016 (UTC)
::Some people found the Ewoks annoying. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 13:37, 8 December 2016 (UTC)

My first time providing an explanation and transcript! For once I'm early enough, understand the joke, AND had time! LOL! Be kind... :)

(Hey, if I had an account would I still have to do those damned Captchas?) - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.227|162.158.126.227]] 06:54, 7 December 2016 (UTC)
:I assume your account would have to be autoconfirmed. That means its having over a certain "age" and over a certain edit count. I think the age is a couple of days and the edit threshold is fifteen, though this wiki may have those values configured differently. [[User talk:AgentMuffin|~AgentMuffin]]

You mean it is not a reference to the BBC Radio 4 show. As an experience I will give XKCD 9/10. {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.183}}
: It is the go-to example of a film that 'everyone' has seen. Added a not to this effect, although I feel it could be better phrased. Surprised TVTropes doesn't have a page on this. [[User:Luckykaa|Luckykaa]] ([[User talk:Luckykaa|talk]]) 12:34, 7 December 2016 (UTC)

--

I added a few speculations about the number of people who actually have seen the movies (or one of them). If someone find a decent reference feel free to edit that. I also noticed one word play, not sure if it should be explained or not, but probably. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.89|141.101.80.89]] 09:44, 7 December 2016 (UTC)
:The issue with the numbers is that making them worldwide seems to miss the point and ends up being rather misleading. After all, any third world country is likely to have roughly 0 viewers, which brings the statistics down. It has been my impression that the feeling that everybody has seen Star Wars is a very North American thing, especially in America. And the cast of XKCD generally seem to reside in America. Of the billion people estimated viewers, I suspect a FAR higher percentage of them are North American than the precentage of North Americans to the world population (in other words, North America is over-represented in that billion). In the end, the assumption that everybody you encounter while in North America has seen them is actually a fairly reasonably assumption, while a percentage of 15% makes it sound like it's not. Also, there's the implied qualifier of opportunity. Cueball could easily have chosen to watch the films at some point, while there are many people worldwide for whom it has never been an option. And this comic is more about choosing not to, exercising their default option as it were. :) - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.227|162.158.126.227]] 04:06, 8 December 2016 (UTC)
::The author above did mention that distinction but didn't supply any numbers so I took that part out. If we can get a good estimate of the proportion of Americans who have watched the movies then yes, let's use that. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 13:37, 8 December 2016 (UTC)

Is there any canonical evidence Vader didn't eat Jedi though? In the prequel films, he only kills Jedi off-screen. In A New Hope, when he kills Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan disappears. Maybe he just went hungry that day. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.143|141.101.98.143]] 11:38, 7 December 2016 (UTC)
:Isn't there at least one scene in the prequel trilogy of Anakin eating something? Along with that, Vader has to have his helmet on outside his meditation chamber (evidenced by Luke saying Vader will die if Luke takes his helmet off in RotJ). It would be logical that Vader gets his nutrition intravenously or in a smoothie/drink form that he can ingest through his helmet, and Jedi are notoriously hard to turn into a smoothie. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.40|108.162.238.40]]
::Jedi don't have to be the only part of his diet, and we don't know when in Vader's life he starts eating Jedi. Vader presumably drags them back to the meditation chamber when he wants to feast properly. He appears to have the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9ZMb0GOqfo teeth] to do it. Maybe when he's too desperate for Jedi flesh, he blends Jedi corpses using either mechanical or force means. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.143|141.101.98.143]] 19:10, 7 December 2016 (UTC)

--
I think that the explanation should point out that the author differently form cueball is actually a huge fan of the saga with a vast knowlage of the SW lore including obscure expanded universe publications [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.184|141.101.98.184]] 16:01, 7 December 2016 (UTC)

--
It's missing any comment on the "superpower" bit. I'm not sure where to add it and kind of rushed now, so I just leave this note to maybe prod someone else... [[User:MAP|MAP]] ([[User talk:MAP|talk]]) 16:30, 7 December 2016 (UTC)

I think it's time for a Star Wars remake. Like start with the first movie (ep iv). Maybe I'm wrong but I think young people nowadays don't enjoy sci-fi/action movies without a lot of CG. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.218|162.158.91.218]] 06:38, 8 December 2016 (UTC)

As a fan dear god I hope the idea to remake the originals does not catch on. The re-releases were bad enough.

He's updated it with the lines added to the first pannel. [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 14:33, 8 December 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1749: Mushrooms

2016-10-21T22:04:21Z

Halfhat:

;Meaning of the title text?

The way I'm reading this comic, there are several possible meanings to the title text. One definition of "ghost" is "a faint trace of something" - it's possible that mushrooms are a faint trace of whatever other species bridged the gap between plants and animals.

Alternately, it could just be Randall's way of saying not to trust any sentence beginning with the phrase "Evolutionarily speaking" (see comics [[1240]], [[1475]]). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.61|108.162.216.61]] 13:55, 21 October 2016 (UTC)

C-C-C-Combo Breaker! [[User:PeanutVendor|PeanutVendor]] ([[User talk:PeanutVendor|talk]]) 14:08, 21 October 2016 (UTC)

Disagree with stated meaning. Yes, fungi consume dead matter but that would relate them to zombies not ghosts. Suggest that its a reference to asexual reproduction in fungi, that new fungi are born from the broken bodies of its parents. [[User:Kev|Kev]] ([[User talk:Kev|talk]]) 17:05, 21 October 2016 (UTC)

;Growl
Not sure I agree with the explanation of the growl. In the first frame cueball insults the mushroom as Megan explains they are more like animals; the casual/layperson implication there is that, while not necessarily sentient, they are more able to respond to surrounding stimuli (like being aware of being called weird.) So the punchline in the penultimate frame has this not-vegetable more-like-animal mushroom "animate" ... growl [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 15:03, 21 October 2016 (UTC)

;Differences mushroom/plants

Just for a quick overview:
* cell walls in mushrooms consist of chitin (like the exoskeletons of insects) and polysaccharids. Plants have cells walls made from cellulose, animals have cell walls made of protein.
* mushrooms are heterotrophic (they need to take up chemical energy from outside of the body) like animals; while plants use sunlight. Though, some fungi have turned to sunlight or gamma rays (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiotrophic_fungus).
* each fungal cell is simple in structure and function, unlike plants which have much more specialized "organs" (leaves, flowers, roots)
--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.150.228|162.158.150.228]] 16:16, 21 October 2016 (UTC)
: Animals do not have cell walls. All cells (including Plant, fungi and animals) have cell membranes made of lipids with embedded proteins. As above, plants and fungi have cell walls in addition to a cell membrane. Some other things such as bacteria (which are not animals) also have cell walls made of various substances.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.11|108.162.219.11]] 16:55, 21 October 2016 (UTC)

Also note plants are eukaryotic so it's not fair to say "(eukaryotic organisms do not use photosynthesis)". The definition of a eukaryote is the presence of a nucleus not anything to do with heterotrophs (eat others for food) vs. autotrophs (produce their own food).
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.105|162.158.74.105]] 21:35, 21 October 2016 (UTC)

Actually some plants can grow without light, which is parasitic and can't photosythesize at all. Also Rhubarb is grown in the dark (using prestored energy) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhubarb_Triangle [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 22:04, 21 October 2016 (UTC)

explain xkcd:Community portal/Miscellaneous

2016-02-11T11:22:56Z

Halfhat: /* Sightless readers offended by the "It's 'cause you're dumb" tagline. */

<noinclude>{{Community portal}}</noinclude>

== The Community Portal's design ==

{{tl|Community portal}} looks too Wikipedia-ish (because that's where I got it). Someone who can design things should probably fix that. It isn't protected for the time being, though it probably will be in the future (high-visibility template). --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:54, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== Common mistake ==

This affects all pages that ever say "alt text" in reference to the TITLE text on xkcd images. "Alt text" is incorrect; Alt text refers to the text that is shown as an alternative when images are not displayed. Title text is what xkcd uses and is shown as a tool tip-like bubble when images are hovered over.

I would correct this myself but I saw no way to edit the main page. --[[User:Jillysky|Jillysky]] ([[User talk:Jillysky|talk]]) 14:21, 6 August 2012‎ (UTC)

:You actually don't need to edit the main page to fix it, as what's there is just a mirror (transclusion) of the actual content from the comic page, at [[Curiosity]], which is open for editing by anyone. Then again, the "alt-text" in that case is generated by a template, {{tl|comic}}, so that's where we should fix this. The template's code, however, is currently a terrible mess (sorry!), so I went ahead and took care of it. Thanks for catching that! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:24, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

:Ah? So it's wrong, for instance, on http://m.xkcd.com? because of that I took it for granted that we could call it the alt-text... - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 17:38, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

:: Yes. If you look at the page's html source, you'll see:
<nowiki><img
id="comic"
src="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/curiosity.png"
title="As of this writing the NASA/JPL websites are still overloaded. Trying CURIOSITY-REAR-CAM_[256px_x_256px].torrent.SwEsUb.DVDRip.XviD-aXXo.jpg instead."
alt="Curiosity"></nowiki>
::(line breaks added for clarity) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 23:54, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

:::That was my error in the template. I knew "image text" that has been commonly used by Jeff was not techically correct, but I didn't actually go back and confirm it was alt text before I included that tag in the template. That's to Waldir (I believe?) for correcting the template. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:14, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

== When the "official" transcript is wrong? ==
I did [[903: Extended Mind]]. Interestingly, the transcript on xkcd.com is missing the bottom line "When Wikipedia has a server outage, my apparent IQ drops by 30 points." I assume we want a complete transcript, rather than whatever xkcd.com says it is...? [[User:Stevage|Stevage]] ([[User talk:Stevage|talk]]) 04:10, 17 November 2012 (UTC)

:We're focusing on the actual transcript of the comic, not the xkcd.com transcript. The official transcript is usually right, but even Randall makes mistakes sometimes. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 04:24, 17 November 2012 (UTC)

== Milestone: half the comics explained!! ==

Hi all! I'm pleased to announce that we have just broke the 50% mark for xkcd explanations! The page that balanced the count (568 explained, 568 to go, at the time) was [[877: Beauty]], created 01:31 UTC, 21 November 2012 by [[User:Davidy22]]. Congratulations!! :D --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 03:10, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

:The caterer's been called! The punch will be arriving soon! Go [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]! [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 06:53, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

::[[File:freedom.png]] Punch is served! [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 07:11, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

But the Main page says 407 explanations, 731 to go! What's up with that? --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 21:00, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

== Reverse? ==

Why in the Archive why are all the thing up until "Heatmap" in Reverse? Can someone please answer? [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 08:28, 20 February 2013 (UTC)
:Archive? Can you provide a link or screenshot? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:43, 19 February 2013 (UTC)

http://xkcd.com/archive/ [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 08:28, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

::Ah, that's because the comic right after that, rtl, has a right-to-left character in it that flips all the proceeding text. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:13, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

Ah, ok, i see that now. When I 1st saw that RTL I just thought that it was random letters, thankyou for explaining it for me. [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 08:28, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

It also depends on what browser you are on because on Google Chrome it was normal. [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 09:08, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

== Do you think this question was asked by one of the xkcd people? ==

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090301060752AAtYugc [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 08:38, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

== Matthew Reilly ==

I would just like to tell everyone that I asked Matthew Reilly (the author) if he is ever scared that a velociraptor is going to attack him, and he said NO! He clearly needs to start worrying about them! [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 10:45, 22 February 2013 (UTC)

== What can we learn section ==
First of all I love your work. I believe deeper understanding of each XKCD can make a world a better place and I thank you sincerely for starting this webpage. I wanted to ask what you think about "What can we learn?" section I've been adding to some of the pages. Thank you - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 13:27, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

:This site is actually the work of multiple editors working slowly and steadily to fill in explanations for all the old comics. Some of the xkcd comics are incredibly deep - comic [[956]] is such a poignant comic that digs into the DRM issue on so many levels. Your reflections on many of the comics are very much warranted and you're helping us create talk pages with high-quality opening posts, which is great for future discussion on this wiki. It'd be nice if you could refrain from putting headers in talk pages, technical limitations of the wiki make long explanation pages choke when headings are in the discussion page. Other than that, keep up the good work! '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:42, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

::I've put in my 2 cents to comic [[956]], and thank you for teaching me how to comment and link to other comics - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 13:58, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

::: FYI, you can always make pseudo-headings using a horizontal rule and a bold "header", but honestly I think a simple standard opening sentence would suffice. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:14, 2 March 2013 (UTC)

:Oh, and the guy who draws xkcd is called {{w|Randall Munroe}}. So many glowing things to be said about him. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:44, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

::Yes, I can't thank him enough for simplifying complex issues to funny stories, I think it's exactly what our generation needs - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 13:58, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

:I'm in favor of a Mr. Rogers style of 'what lesson can be learned' on the talk page, but make sure your comments don't come across as sanctimonious and holier-than-thou as that can be really off-putting. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 19:06, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

:: You are absolutely correct, I have not thought of that, please trust me I did not do it on purpose. Thank you Mr. Lcarsos - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 19:55, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

Thank you David, and I apologize that I've not made it clear that by your work, I do mean your collective work (the wiki is only as good as all the people behind it). I was trying to put the headers to allow others to find the section easier in case they start looking for it, perhaps I could make a suggestion to make it a standalone section so that others would be encouraged to contribute their own understanding of lessons they have noticed from each comic. I know the lessons I've seen, but I would love to learn from others as much as I hope they can learn from me and Mr. XKCD, thank you. - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 13:48, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

== DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD ==

Hello fellow editors. Do you remember the last time we were hit by a surge of automated spam? Neither do I. ConfirmEdit has really done a number on the volume of spam that we're eating - one spam account has been created since we finished configuring confirmEdit, and zero anon edits have been spam. Zero. Can you say happiness? Can you say party? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:41, 1 March 2013 (UTC)

:Hehe, I'm glad! Thanks for being so relentless on the spam-fighting all this time! Maybe we should make up a new reason to make Jeff remove the /wiki/ in the URL? ;) –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 18:11, 1 March 2013 (UTC)

:: Awesome news! Finally the patrolling feature will be usable: [{{fullurl:Special:RecentChanges|hideanons=1&hidepatrolled=1&from=20121204025000&days=365&limit=1000}} Unpatrolled changes by registered users] / [{{fullurl:Special:RecentChanges|hideliu=1&hidepatrolled=1&from=20121204025000&days=365&limit=1000}} Unpatrolled changes by anonymous users] :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:27, 2 March 2013 (UTC)

== 1000th comic explanation!! ==

Hi all! It apparently went unnoticed that '''we have recently surpassed the mark of 1000 comic explanations!''' Some calculations based on [[:Category:Comics]] and [[Special:NewPages]] led me to the conclusion that the 1000th explanation was [[681: Gravity Wells]], created by [[User:AlexRNL]] just yesterday! Yay! This calls for a celebration, no? Congrats to [[Special:ContributionScores|everyone]] who made this happen! I'll edit [[Mediawiki:Sitenotice]] with a congratulatory message. Way to go, guys! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:04, 10 April 2013 (UTC)
:ps - I also took the opportunity to flesh out our [[explain xkcd|about/history page]]. Please take a look and fix/add any details I might have missed. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:06, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

== Style guide ==
Is there a style guide for this wiki? --[[User:PeterMortensen|PeterMortensen]] ([[User talk:PeterMortensen|talk]]) 20:14, 10 August 2013 (UTC)
:Oh, sorry, I did forget to answer here. A guide on this is not easy, many individual comics do need special layouts because they have content never can match to a style guide. But I will give a try [[Help:Style Guide]].--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:18, 15 August 2013 (UTC)

== Adblock ==

I've whitelisted the site in adblock, but the ads are still blocked.
Anyone know what' going on here and how I can fix it?--[[User:ParadoX|ParadoX]] ([[User talk:ParadoX|talk]]) 04:34, 27 September 2013 (UTC)
:Huh. I was wondering why our impression counts weren't rising. I thought it was just because this site had high turnover. I've changed the webpage that the word whitelisting links to, try the instructions there instead. Project wonderful is our ad provider, and they've been pretty good to us so far. Also, thanks for helping to support the site! '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:40, 27 September 2013 (UTC)
::Great! I don't really mid ads as long as they aren't intrusive. Works now, Hope everyone else does it as well.--[[User:ParadoX|ParadoX]] ([[User talk:ParadoX|talk]]) 05:16, 27 September 2013 (UTC)
::I saw you wrote "the webpage that the word whitelisting links to" so I went to the search box and typed whitelisting. My search didn't yield anything useful: [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?search=whitelisting&go=Go&title=Special%3ASearch]. I don't know how to create the missing page but there oughta be a link for someone like me who searches for whitelist or whitelisting, to take them to the instructions you refer to. [[User:SaxTeacher|SaxTeacher]] ([[User talk:SaxTeacher|talk]]) 10:59, 17 May 2014 (UTC)
:::We already have this linked somewhere, but [https://www.projectwonderful.com/adblock.php this] is the link you want. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:41, 17 May 2014 (UTC)

I normally access this site through the android app "xkcd browser". That app only links to the content part of the site and doesn't show the side bar, so the adds aren't shown either. Might be worth discussing it with the author. [[Special:Contributions/109.158.126.139|109.158.126.139]] 08:06, 27 September 2013 (UTC)

:We support those avenues completely, you don't need to feel bad if you use an app to browse this site. We're only really concerned when we put up ads and our impressions are less than half our page hits, because that essentially means more than half our readers aren't contributing to server costs. That's really hard to deal with. We have enough daily page hits to qualify as web publishers at very big ad agencies, but we've had to settle for relatively low rates at the smaller Project Wonderful because 60% of our users were using adblock, so the agencies rejected us because our valuable "paying" audience was too low for them to consider us. That's been the difference between us using dedicated servers to host the site and hiring a contractor to set it up, and the (admittedly somewhat decent) shared hosting plan that we have to settle for now. We can only afford the shared hosting, because the small-scale advertisers at Project Wonderful don't even pay for full days of advertising; most of the time, we make less per day than the posted $3.90 price. That said, we're grateful that Project Wonderful would take us as a publisher when no one else would, but it really feels like the difference between being accepted to community college and being accepted to an ivy league school. For a similar reason, the Google ads route was not sufficient to satisfy our needs; not a large enough proportion of our users were looking at ads, so we either needed to spam them and degrade the site, or we needed to make them refresh, which makes pages slow and causes needlessly high traffic for a lot of users. We didn't want our ads to make the site worse, because that would drive away users and defeat the purpose of us being a public resource for xkcd readers. We actually decided to go the agency route pretty early, because adsense takes a massive cut of revenues and gives us little control over what ads or advertisers actually showed, which was not okay with us. Whoah, I wrote a lot. I hope it was coherent. Maybe someday I'll collect my thoughts and write a proper summary on how and why we advertise. Also, if you have any questions about anything ad-related, you can always ask us at [[explain xkcd talk:Advertise Here]]. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:15, 27 September 2013 (UTC)

== Feynman? ==

Feynman (both in [[182: Nash|living]] and [[397: Unscientific|zombie]] form) probably deserves an entry in the [[Template:Navbox characters|character navbox]] template doesn't he? [[Special:Contributions/128.250.152.198|128.250.152.198]] 02:21, 1 October 2013 (UTC)
:That's two comics out of 1200+. Three if you count the song. Not quite enough yet. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:27, 1 October 2013 (UTC)
:: If that's the criterion, then we need to get rid of [[Brown Hat]]. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 19:30, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

== Job Interview (Electric Soup) ==

The soup is clearly being poured out of an electric socket. This "electric soup" is probably not a reference to the alcoholic brew favoured by Scottish tramps, but more likely to the virtual nature of the company. {{unsigned|Sulis}}
:Hey, go here [[Talk:1293: Job Interview‎]] for discussions. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:58, 20 November 2013 (UTC)

== Is there a similar, transcripted service for The Oatmeal? ==

Hi everyone - this site is a real gem, I've sent it to a friend of mine who can't read XKCD because she's blind. The transcripts on this site are a real boon!

Does anyone know if there is a similar service for The Oatmeal? I've searched and searched, but found nothing so far.

Thanks :)

Jeff

:As far as I know we are kind of unique in the web comics world. I think we get away with it because Randall publishes all his comics as Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial. We liberally link back to xkcd, and we don't make a penny (The ads are just to cover server expenses, because wikis and the databases that support them get big when you're covering a body of work like xkcd). I haven't looked into the copyright Matt uses for the Oatmeal, but he seems like a cool enough guy to not kill a community transcripting effort of his comics. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 20:32, 4 March 2014 (UTC)

== what if 103: Vanishing Water - comics ==

Please explain the 2nd and the 4th comics from http://what-if.xkcd.com/103/

"Just tried to sail my boat over land, because I didn't learn from that kid in the Zephyr." (who's the kid from Zephyr?)

"A third time?" (maybe whales were dropped twice before in other what-ifs?) [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 21:57, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

:"A third time?" is a reference to a whale falling twice in "Hitchiker's guide to the Galaxy". Been a while, so I don't remember the details of how this fit in, but the second time it happened to the whale, he thought "Not again" or something along those lines. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 18:49, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

Raises the question of if we should explain jokes imbedded in What If comics. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 18:49, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

== Discussion usage ==

Am I being a killjoy in feeling that the discussion section should be mainly limited to discussion on improving the explanation, gathering consensus and that type of thing.
Specifically, the discussion for [[1418: Horse]] is quickly turning into every man and his dog posting a sentence in the style of the comic, which doesn't really add anything to the page other than clutter.

Personally, I'd just delete most of them, but I think I might be turning into a grumpy old bugger... --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 20:32, 10 September 2014 (UTC)
:The discussion is also there for just talking about the comic. Those guys aren't wildly off-topic, there's no need to clamp down on what they get to talk about. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 17:44, 10 September 2014 (UTC)

::Yep, I must just be grumpy and draconian! Lesson learned --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 20:32, 10 September 2014 (UTC)

== 2014 Christmas header ==

Since the header for the site current contains a [http://imgs.xkcd.com/store/store_default.png graphic link to the store] that promises that Randall probably won't ship you a [[:Category:Bobcats|bobcat]], it seems to me that probably ought to be preserved and explained somewhere. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.189|173.245.56.189]] 17:45, 3 December 2014 (UTC)

== XKCD at LanguageLog ==

Arnold Zwicky (of the well-known linguistics blog Language Log) has put together a list of linguistics-related XKCD strips, here: http://arnoldzwicky.org/the-language-of-comics/comics-lists/xkcd-cartoons/ I thought it might be appropriate for a copy of the list (maybe a category) to be created from it. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.79|199.27.133.79]] 03:48, 28 December 2014 (UTC)
:[[:Category:Language]] '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:39, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

== Bookmarklet ==

Hello there, I've created a little bookmarklet (https://ginkobox.fr/shaarli/?a77vQw) and I thought it might be useful for someone out there.

When launched, it adds the 'explain' before xkcd.com and the browser loads the explainxkcd page. I've tested it only on Firefox.

(Contact @ https://ginkobox.fr/wiki/doku.php?id=about) {{unsigned ip|‎108.162.229.100}}

== Is there a RSS feed for What If? ==

Is there a RSS feed for What If?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 11:59, 29 March 2015 (UTC)
:No, because we cover the comics. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:57, 29 March 2015 (UTC)

== My User Page ==

Can someone help me with [[user:17jiangz1|my user page]]? I can't seem to remove the large space on top.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 07:43, 9 April 2015 (UTC)
: The only solution I've found is to remove the contribution scores (data6=...). Not sure what exactly is triggering this bug. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 21:02, 9 April 2015 (UTC)
I am receiving "Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character ""." for <code><pre>{{#expr: {{formatnum:{{#cscore:17jiangz1|pages}}|R}}/{{formatnum:{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}|R}}*100 round 5 }}</pre></code>--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 05:46, 10 April 2015 (UTC)
:Bump?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 06:48, 14 April 2015 (UTC)

== What-If ==

It hasn't updated for 2 weeks. why?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 06:50, 25 April 2015 (UTC)
:Looks like they're on hold for a few months (Until July 14th). Too bad, I enjoyed them. ([http://what-if.xkcd.com/ Look at the top of the What-If page]) --[[User:Zman9600|Zman9600]] ([[User talk:Zman9600|talk]]) 20:24, 6 May 2015 (UTC)
:What is so special about the date and time? Seems very specific: ''July 14th, 2015 at 7:49:59 AM EDT.'' --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.99|141.101.98.99]] 12:48, 28 May 2015 (UTC)
Looks like it's set for the 40th anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz mission launch. {{unsigned ip|108.162.237.158}}

What If updates will resume on July 14th, 2015 at 7:49:59 AM EDT. By that time {{w|New Horizons}} will have it's closest approach to {{w|Pluto}}. See here: http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/ --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:34, 5 June 2015 (UTC)

== thanks for having a working website ==

the search function on xkcd.com was taken off, and now the random function seems to be having issues, but it's nice that here both work [[Special:Contributions/188.114.97.114|188.114.97.114]] 19:09, 9 June 2015 (UTC)
:We do our best. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:27, 9 June 2015 (UTC)

== Ada Munroe ==

The latest [[what if?]] number 139 has a question by "Ada Munroe". Is she related to [[Randall]] in any way? --{{User:17jiangz1/signature|06:57, 09 August 2015}}

== Out of curiosity ==

I notice that whenever someone links to tvtropes.org in an explanation, someone changes the link to the matching page on allthetropes.org. I'm curious as to why that is. Is there some kind of terms of use conflict at play here that an editor should be keeping in mind? [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.156|199.27.128.156]] 06:33, 26 October 2015 (UTC)
:TVtropes does not restrict links to their site, and if this has been happening there are some time-outs that I need to be handing out. Can you point me to some of the edits where this is happening? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:24, 26 October 2015 (UTC)
::The specific example I had was, um, [[1468: Worrying]]. On Jan 3rd the links went to tvtropes.org, and on March 18th they were all changed over to allthetropes.orain.org. I just found it curious, I wasn't sure what the reason for it was [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.47|162.158.255.47]] 10:32, 29 October 2015 (UTC)
:::Reverted. Typically, the reason people change perfectly good links to specific, obscure links in wikis is usually self-advertising. I'll be watching that guy's edits in the future. Thanks for the heads up. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:00, 29 October 2015 (UTC)

== Sightless readers offended by the "It's 'cause you're dumb" tagline. ==

I'll admit, every now and again the comic is over my head. ...because I'm dumb in that particular field. However, blind users who enjoy xkcd must do so through explainxkcd. They are NOT dumb. They are *blind*. Without explainxkcd, they would have no idea what is in the comics panels.

Explainxkcd is a great site. There is no question it provides a service to the internet community.

Please see this thread (last paragraph) on Userfriendly.org. Keep in mind, the end user is sightless and explainxkcd is "viewed" through a screen reader. http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/read.cgi?id=20160207&tid=3930989 (Anonymous)

: The guy on that other site is complaining about that XKCD does not work well in a screen reader -- that is not our problem, but a problem for Randall to solve on his own site. We cannot be the catch all for everything on the internet that Randall broke [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 15:37, 8 February 2016 (UTC)
:: Agreed --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:28, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

Honestly, I never even noticed the tagline in question. Humorous to sighted folks, sure. ...but obviously offensive to those who have no choice but to access xkcd through explainxkcd.

I'll leave it to the administrators or the community to figure something out, if anything at all. Maybe no one cares? I didn't come here to make any suggestions, only to point out how offensive those 4 words are to some users of the website. {{unsigned ip|108.162.238.88}}

:Alright, put a link here in the site notice. What does everyone else think? I'm open to changing it, it's something people complain about fairly periodically and our identity isn't completely tied to the tagline, I feel. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:16, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

::Well, we definitely shouldn't change anything because that particular guy is upset. It's one thing to be offended, but he's also attacking both this site and Randal Monroe. I don't think that sort of behavior should be rewarded. I actually have a rule online where, if someone acts like a jerk to me, I will be kind, but I won't give them what they want. I think a lot of the problems with people being jerks to others is that they still get what they want, so what reason do they have to stop? If he wants us to change it, he should address us like an adult and ask us himself.

::But you claim this is a common complaint. Then I would say we need more info. My instinct would be that people don't understand that it's a joke. But then my solution would be to do what the site is designed to do and explain the joke, rather than take it down. If there's actually something about it that's offensive to an entire class of people, that's different. I am unaware of a stereotype that blind people are stupid, but I'm open to the idea that I don't know.

::I'm not particularly married to the tag line. I actually didn't even notice it was there. But I'm loathe to take it down over a misunderstanding. I can't think of a similarly humorous replacement that would not be offensive, but I can at least suggest "Because nobody knows everything." --[[User:Trlkly|Trlkly]] ([[User talk:Trlkly|talk]]) 09:42, 8 February 2016 (UTC)
:::I've gotten these before. There's a [[Talk:Main_Page#Header_message|slowly growing]] section in the main page discussion page and a complaint buried somewhere in my talk page and they're usually quite unhappy. I pegged it up this time round because there's special needs involved, and a good part of our intended appeal is the transcripts for the blind. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 10:45, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

::Is he one of those people who are so self-centered and 'entitled' that just because they have a disability they assume that everyone is constantly trying to offend them, even in the most unlikeliest of cases? Does he actually believe that the tag line was written with the intention of offending blind people? This is ridiculous. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.71|141.101.106.71]] 11:04, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

"Just in case you feel dumb"? "Some comics may be funnier than they appear"?[[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.198|199.27.130.198]] 09:55, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

How about simply removing it? At least until we find something that isn't offensive to anyone - which might be very hard to obtain. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 10:34, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

Because you're crippled... That's worse I guess. 
But before considering the "you're dumb" tagline, one must think about the name of this wiki. It is called '''Explain''' xkcd, not read xkcd, and explaining is for dumb people, not blind people. 
Maybe one thing we can do is add a "(unless you are just here for the transcript)" subtext, with a link to the transcript section, which has the advantage of both taming offended blind readers (maybe) and provide a direct, "spoilerless" link. --[[User:GuB|GuB]] ([[User talk:GuB|talk]]) 10:40, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

I need explainxkcd for two reasons: being visually impaired, although I can see most of the comics I often miss crucial details that I find only in the transcript; and as a non-American, I lack many cultural references (books, movies, songs, sayings...) that are given in the explanations.
I don't think either of these reasons makes me "dumb". However, I never found the tagline offensive. It was immediately obvious to me that it was meant as humor. Who could seriously think that someone is dumb just because they haven't read the specific book that Randall is parodying in a given comic? Or because they're not familiar with a specific programming language or Unix command? IMHO the tagline *is* funny precisely because very few people can actually "get" all the comics without an explanation. Suggesting that anyone who isn't part of the 0.1% of the population who share all of Randall's abilities and references, is dumb, can't be anything but a joke. Adding to the lot those who can't get the comics because they're blind doesn't make the joke more offensive. It's a sad world where political correctness kills all forms of humor.

On the other hand, the tagline is not an essential part of the site and if a significant number want it removed, so be it.
Zetfr 10:46, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

:Well not everybody's mind works the same way, and some people legitimately cannot grasp humor very easily. They may come to read the explanations precisely because they can't recognize what about a given comic is supposed to be humorous, and they likewise may not be able to tell that the tagline is just a joke. Besides, the tagline is equating a lack of knowledge with a lack of intelligence, which also makes it inaccurate and kind of kills the humor for those who stop and think about it.

:I personally agree with the above "Because nobody knows everything." approach. I would suggest something along the lines of "Because you won't always get the joke." --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.134|108.162.242.134]] 11:06, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

:: This sounds like a bunch of dumb people coming together and suggesting that the rest of people should be more like them (joke intended) [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 15:33, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

: +1 on this. '''Keep'''. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 20:15, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

I vote '''removal''' [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 11:01, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

Mostly agree with Zetfr, it is a rather obvious joke, and this is a website about a webcomic which is mostly about fun, it would be different if this was some serious news portal, but it isn't, and in my humble opinion people who can't take a joke shouldn't even be here. There will always be ranters and people who get offended, we should not let them make decisions for us. I sincerely believe vast majority of people, blind or otherwise, understand it. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]])

:I agree with Zetfr. If a user doesn't understand that it is a joke, then he won't understand XKCD's jokes, either, no matter how much explaination he can get.
:--[[User:Lou Crazy|Lou Crazy]] ([[User talk:Lou Crazy|talk]]) 12:12, 8 February 2016 (UTC)
::I also agree with the above, and like the part of Zetfr about because you need a reader to use the page you do not need to be offended by an obvious joke --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:28, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

if i had a vote i'd say change the "because you're dumb" from text to a picture with alt text of something slightly less rude. "because you're using a screenreader," perhaps. although that would show up on mouseover. meh. whatever. --13:01, 8 February 2016 (UTC)
:and someone isn't "entitled" because they get annoyed about something that doesn't annoy you. as a sighted person i don't even look at the headers on the page. i would imagine that since the text in question is at the top of the page he has to listen to it every single time the page is refreshed. which is annoying enough if it's not insulting. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.161|141.101.106.161]] 13:06, 8 February 2016 (UTC)
:It is bad to have the alt-text saying something differently, but since the current tagline is not offensive to non-blind people then why would it be offensive to a blind person. [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 15:24, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

I vote '''keep''' -- Blind people do not have to come to this site, they can just use xkcd.com directly and if that is not working for blind people then that is Randall's problem not ours. The tag line has been there for years while I have noticed it before and used the site and I have never been offended, if a blind person is offended maybe they should stop using the internet. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.109|162.158.255.109]] 15:18, 8 February 2016 (UTC)
: I second that -- the tag line does not appear to offend non-blind people, it should not offend blind people either [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 15:24, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

Voting '''KEEP''' -- the tag line is a joke, and who is to say that blind people cannot be dumb [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 15:24, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

I vote '''keep''' as well. I don't see any reason to change it; it's not a jab at disabled people, blind or otherwise. The site is called '''explain'''xkcd, and everything here centers around explaining the comic, not being a transcription service. (If that's not the case, then maybe other things need changing too.) I always thought the tagline fit nicely with the "sarcasm" part of xkcd's own tagline. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.26|108.162.216.26]] 15:26, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

I vote '''KEEP and satisfy both sides'''. If you examine the HTML, or use [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/fangs-screen-reader-emulator/ Fangs] (free screen reader), you may notice there is a jump-to-nav div element that lets people with screen readers jump to various parts of the page. The jump-to-nav div is only a few HTML lines below the tagline. I'd recommend:
# Moving the jump-to-nav div to '''before''' the tagline
# Adding a "Jump to Transcript" link in the jump-to-nav div.
# Test it with [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/fangs-screen-reader-emulator/ Fangs] in Firefox to simulate a screen reader.
This way, screen-reader users can jump to the transcript and don't have to hear the tagline every time they visit an explainxkcd.com page.
-- [[User:Hat|Hat]] ([[User talk:Hat|talk]]) 15:44, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

Consider "Do you get it now?" [[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.11|198.41.235.11]] 16:09, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

I vote '''keep''': it's reasonable and no change is warranted

I like the suggestion of '''keeping''' the current tagline, but changing it to an '''image with alttext''' saying something like "because you're using a screenreader". I also vote to move the link to the transcript to above the tagline. [[User:Rileysci|Rileysci]] ([[User talk:Rileysci|talk]]) 17:32, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

I get the joke and I'm not offended by it, but it seems to me that it really sticks out on this site and it doesn't seem consistent with Randall's sense of humor. Everyone on this site is very inclusive and eager to share all perspectives and points of view. I come here both to see the humor that I have the knowledge to understand and to learn more about the world the way Randall sees it. In short, I come here to be one of the lucky 10,000. In fact, I would suggest that as the tag line, "Congratulations! You're one of today's lucky 10,000!". Inside joke that can link to the comic (http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1053:_Ten_Thousand) and it is welcoming. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.170|108.162.245.170]] 18:44, 8 February 2016 (UTC)
: +1 on this. '''Change''' [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 03:45, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

I vote '''keep'''. In case it is not kept then it should be changed to something completely different. Te idea of making a title text to an image I really dislike, although I even more dislike adding anything to the existing one to either refer to people coming for the transcript or making excuses for the obvious joke. This has been a part of the page forever, I have seen it almost every time I come here. To begin with I did feel dumb sometimes, but I was never offended by it, just amused. But of course an explain page is for those who did not get the joke. And there are other pages that explains the comic. I do not know if they have a transcript? But I'm happy to know that some people must really enjoy the detailed transcripts that I usually try to provide. I had just not though about the blind perspective. I more use the transcript to make sure every one agrees on what is seen in the images of the comic. Having said all this, I must admit that the best suggestion for a change so far is the one posted above my post (about the lucky 10,000). :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:28, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

I vote keep, for exactly the reasons explained by Zeftr above. Changing it to an image with alt text would be OK also. [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 20:45, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

:I vote '''Change''' it because it is too easily mistaken as an insult instead of a joke. At least change it to ''Because you are stupid''.... Ah, maybe instead ''Because xkcd is far beyond common knowledge'' or ''Because hardly anyone gets everything'' or ''Because it is usually nerdly esoteric even for geeks''. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.46|108.162.221.46]] 21:39, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

:I vote '''Change'''. I have never been a big fan of the tagline. I don't know everything, but I am certainly not dumb. Also, I echo the reference to (http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1053:_Ten_Thousand). This comic has always been about expanding knowledge, not making you feel guilty for not knowing something.

:'''Change''': I realize the "It's because you're dumb" tagline follows the sarcastic nature of Randall's humor, but there are enough people who don't get or appreciate that sort of humor and are likely to be more offended by it, special needs or no. Here's my suggestion: "For those of us who don't get it." [[User:KieferSkunk|KieferSkunk]] ([[User talk:KieferSkunk|talk]]) 21:59, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

At what point is "enough" people offended? I've only seen evidence of several (https://xkcd.com/1070/) visually impaired users actually offended by the site, along with a couple people who didn't specify their visual ability. I don't know the traffic on this site, but I would expect it to be on the order of 10^4 or higher. So is this discussion about changing something that a handful of people find offensive? Or is there an actual problem of something inappropriate on the site. If this is all about a couple people finding something offensive, I imagine a few christians might take issue with (https://xkcd.com/709/). Should we start another discussion about accommodating them? Or add a disclaimer that the views expressed by Randall Munroe are his own and do not reflect those of this site? [[User:Beardmcbeardson|Beardmcbeardson]] ([[User talk:Beardmcbeardson|talk]]) 01:25, 9 February 2016 (UTC)
: So you vote to '''keep''' -- right? [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 04:30, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

'''Slightly Change'''-- make it more obviously tongue in cheek. "It's cause we're dumb" or "For those of us who need it" I agree with the point about not complying with people on the internet who can't behave like adults, however I've never found the line particularly funny. Also change the jump-to-nav, as that would just get annoying to hear it every time you open up the site. I am not recommending changing it based on the imagined offenses of others. I just think it could be funnier.[[User:NotLock|NotLock]] ([[User talk:NotLock|talk]]) 06:29, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

'''Keep''' Trying to satisfy everyone is like trying to understand every comic. It probably won't happen. As an example, using the 'one of 10 000' example provided above can insult a bunch of people that are not from the States simply because the comic (and the reference to the comic for that matter) will make them feel left out. My other reasons for voting keep have all been mentioned already. People get insulted so easily, let's try not to encourage this behavior by rewarding it. [[User:Bon|Bon]] ([[User talk:Bon|talk]]) 07:16, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

I vote '''Change''' because I find it slightly offensive myself. If we change it, we should replace it with something that everybody would interpret as humorous, e.g. "Because we can't all be rocket scientists". [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 08:25, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

'''Keep'''. Next thing we know, liberal arts majors will complain about xkcd science being offensive. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.91.229|141.101.91.229]] 10:12, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

I vote for '''change''' or '''remove'''. Regarding the former, while I know it's supposed to be a joke, I never found it humorous myself and, unlike others that wrote before me, I don't think it relates to the humor or sarcasm used by Randall. It being offensive is not part of my motivation for my vote. I agree with some of the suggestions written up to now. Regarding the latter, I don't really think it's existence is necessary. Regardless, changing the div things is a must. [[User:GuiRitter|GuiRitter]] ([[User talk:GuiRitter|talk]]) 16:25, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

I vote for '''change'''. You could keep much of the humour by changing it to something like "because ignorance '''can''' be cured". [[User:Farnz|Farnz]] ([[User talk:Farnz|talk]])

If I may vote (as a happy international user of this site, but not yet a contributor), one more vote for '''Keep''' - at least as "don't change now, because of this specific request, because of perceived offensiveness". For several reasons, which have been mentioned already:

a) I think it's funny. It also fits perfectly with the overall XKCD humor. And the same line of thinking as the book "You are now less dumb" from "YouAreNotSoSmart.com".

b) It's so obviously generic (directed at everyone reading it) I fail to understand how it can be interpreted as insult instead of irony. Even worse: I fail to understand why it should be _especially_ insulting to blind people. Having a transcript for them to use is nice, but it's merely one of the aspects this site provides (and it's not even at the top nor are there pages "transcript only", so blind are no primary audience)

c) If this site decides to actually help blind people more, how about: putting the tagline in the image (so it's not "read every time"), put the transcript at the top / provide pages with only transcripts, so that the original XKCD can be consumed prior to the explanations here (just as non-blind users would see it)

d) this request follows the current Outragism trend, so I do suspect that it's not actually blind people feeling offended, but privileged SJWs thinking about who might possibly feel offended, bringing change to the world where it's not beneficial even for those they claim to support. Comparable to PETA.

While I'm at it - THANK YOU for this site. Most XKCD I mostly understand. But due to being an international reader, some aspects of American Culture I need explainXKCD to grasp, and other aspects it's just nice to see more details, cross-references with other comics, and hidden gems.
[[User:Zefiro|Zefiro]] ([[User talk:Zefiro|talk]]) 18:46, 9 February 2016 (UTC)
:I'm an "international user", too, and I suppose a lot of users of this site are international users who need to be explained some xkcd jokes that would be obvious to any native English speaker living in the US. I don't have an opinion about changing the tagline or keeping it, but I would like to notice that "Because you are dumb" is the kind of joke that would need an explanation - it would be hard for me to tell if it's a joke or an insult. Therefore, an easier joke could have some advantage.--[[User:Pere prlpz|Pere prlpz]] ([[User talk:Pere prlpz|talk]]) 22:16, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

I vote for '''change.''' I know it's a joke, but it's not particularly funny, and can easily be mistaken for an insult. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 20:13, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

I agree with Trlkly (and Isaac(https://xkcd.com/1448/)), more information is needed. The purpose of this site is to explain xkcd (obviously, from the name) so people come here primarily to seek knowledge or a better understanding about xkcd. As long as the explanations or the explainers don't act like white hat (https://xkcd.com/1386/), there should be no reason to take the tagline seriously.--[[User:Beardmcbeardson|Beardmcbeardson]] ([[User talk:Beardmcbeardson|talk]]) 01:20, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

I vote KEEP, but I do support the idea of moving the jump-to to above the tagline. I believe that the tagline is obviously a joke, and that pleaing everyone is nigh impossible. I also strongly oppose the proposal to change it to an image with an alt-text of "because you're using a screen reader." Finally, I do not believe we should change the tagline. We should, if anything, remove it altogether. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.20|173.245.54.20]] 03:33, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

'''Slightly Change''' - I like 199.27.130.198's idea, "Just in case you feel dumb." [[User:Mateussf|Mateussf]] ([[User talk:Mateussf|talk]]) 04:44, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

I vote '''Change''', preferably to something like "The ''Anti'' Thing Explainer; Simple Stuff in Complicated Words!" Only, you know, more complicated to improve the joke. [[User:KitsunePhoenix|Amaroq (KitsunePhoenix)]] ([[User talk:KitsunePhoenix|talk]]) 05:01, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

What about: it's cause you need more context. I also don't like the current tagline, because dumbness would be more the inability to understand than a lack of knowledge.

'''Change''' - First thing first, as suggested, move the jump-to-nav div to before the tagline and add a "Jump to Transcript" link in the jump-to-nav div.

Then also change the tagline: it's not that good, and not that in line with the xkcd humor - it's actually ''directly opposed'' to the spirit of [[1053]]. Some better ones have already been suggested:
*"Some comics may be funnier than they appear"
*"Congratulations! You're one of today's lucky 10,000!"
*"because sometimes we all need a little help"
''Or'' we could even have a bunch of good ones like that out of which one is selected at random when the page is loaded --[[User:Jules.LT|Jules.LT]] ([[User talk:Jules.LT|talk]]) 09:17, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

I like the joke in the tag line (some of us come here because they are to stupid or to lazy to lookup all the information xkcd is joking about)
but I also find it to direct to the user. I want to add some suggestions to Jules.LT [[User:SirKitKat|sirKitKat]] ([[User talk:SirKitKat|talk]]) 10:01, 10 February 2016 (UTC)
* "Error loading tagline, click here to retry."
* "Because it is Monday morning."
* "Because you like explaining jokes."

I think people coming here and complaining because "dumb" appears to be aimed at insulting the blind are hilarious, because another meaning for "dumb" is "unable to speak." If people who were "dumb" in this way were complaining because we are using the other meaning of "dumb" it would be awkward, but degree of visual acuity is not open for the same misinterpretation. [[User:Swordsmith|Swordsmith]] ([[User talk:Swordsmith|talk]])

'''KEEP''' for the same reasons as [[User:Zefiro|Zefiro]]. If change is necessary, fix it so the screen reader doesnt say it aloud. (This ensures the change is propagated to those who have no other recourse for sightless XKCD enjoyment, and is not a ploy by SJWs who can't take sarcastic humor (why are they reading XKCD in the first place?) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.40|108.162.221.40]] 14:06, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

It is super obviously not intended seriously, because xkcd is a technical comic that nobody will understand entirely on the first pass. If it's true, then everybody is dumb. Boo hoo.

The guy in question is under the mistaken impression that Randall runs this site and maliciously hides his transcripts under the tagline. He's also very angry about a lot of things. Sighted people have to look at the tagline every time it loads too, it's at the top of the page.

I vote '''Keep''' because I hate negotiating with terrorists. If it has the effect of filtering out people who enjoy being outraged, then it's doing a service. Image search "stephen fry offensive".

I'd be fine with moving the jump-to-nav div. I'm absolutely against making it an image with a different tagline, because then we would be depriving blind people of the joke. I'm absolutely against changing it to something less offensive. I would settle for removing it entirely, or changing it to something more offensive, such as "It's 'cause you're dumb, and get offended over dumb shit."

Or, you know, make a transcribexkcd.com site. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.217.203|108.162.217.203]] 16:39, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

'''Change''' to one of the cool new suggestions I've seen. I've always been sad about this tagline, and while I love XKCD humor, I just don't think the tagline is funny. It makes me hesitate and sometimes decide not to share this site with others who I think would love the humor, but not the tagline. The issue keeps coming up, and this is just one more way that it irritates people and causes hassle. It's obvious to me that we should find a new tagline, or just drop it for the time being. [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 17:39, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

'''Change''' The word "dumb" used as slang for "unintelligent" or "uneducated" is offensive and many better suggestions have been proposed, which retain the wry humor without the offense. Hiding behind "it's just a joke" is beneath the standards of this site. {{unsigned ip|108.162.245.134}}
:It's not hiding behind "just a joke", it IS the joke. It's tongue-in-cheek. It's so obviously false that you have to intentionally ignore the joke and manufacture offense about something benign. I'll give you that it's not that funny. It's also not that offensive. Why are we talking about something so petty. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.11|108.162.221.11]] 21:11, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

'''Keep'''. I feel like a blind person being insulted by the implication that being sightless somehow makes them unintelligent is a pretty far leap of logic. Not being able to see has no bearing whatsoever on your actual mental acuity. How many actual complaints have there been? One, a few, lots? I don't know, but if it was a significant number I might change my mind. As it stands, though, I think it's pretty clear in the site description that this site is meant for people who don't understand the comic due to its focus on obscure topics and use of technical jargon, being written by a former NASA robot technician with a bent for Linux. Using disabilities as an insult is something I don't condone, but in this case I think it's a case of certain individuals being overly sensitive. Thinking a word as mild as "dumb" is offensive is a bit much, especially since it's often used in contexts other than "uneducated" or "stupid" - I use it to describe myself all the time when I can't word proper-like. I think of it more as "scatter-brained". --[[User:KingStarscream|KingStarscream]] ([[User talk:KingStarscream|talk]]) 18:55, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

'''Change''' I feel like the "Because we can't all be rocket scientists" tagline suggested above is great; I always found the tagline to be a bit annoying because I often know all of a comic except a small part, and I come here for that. It's just unnecessarily confrontational and Randall himself has expressed in https://xkcd.com/1386/ and https://xkcd.com/1053/ that he doesn't agree with insulting ignorance. {{unsigned ip|198.41.235.179}}

'''Change AND Keep''' I get the original joke, but I love some of the new ones too. Randomly rotating tag line appear is my vote, BUT let's make the tag line clickable so that we can explain the tag line .... for those of us who don't get the joke! {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.10}}

'''Keep''', but change the jump-to-nav, and maybe make the tagline clickable. I like the tagline. Someone already said this, but this is explainxkcd, not readxkcd. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.63|108.162.216.63]] 19:37, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

I vote '''Keep''', because it's been there for so long! I remember coming here years ago and looking for the references I didn't get, and the tagline was already there. It's a legacy thing, the one thing remaining from the old website in the new fancy wiki format. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.226.204|198.41.226.204]] 20:47, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

For all you people being offended and claiming that the tagline is contrary to the spirit of xkcd, I give you [https://xkcd.com/386/ xkcd.com/386]. This entire argument is offensive to me, can we remove it? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.11|108.162.221.11]] 21:20, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

'''Keep''' The referenced posting is obviously a troll. And xkcd has transcripts so the story of the self proclaimed blind person with diabetes does not make sense. --23:43, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

Rather than "cuz you're dumb" which both asserts a trait and uses what might not be the best word choice, why not something like "Because you might be ignorant"? Dumb, after all, isn't remediable, though ignorance is. (Also, a consideration, "dumb" can mean "mute," so if there's something with screenreading for blindness, that could be read as assuming more than one disability? ("blind and dumb" akin to "deaf and dumb"?) // Possibly do something akin to the warning on the comic's site itself: "Because you might be a liberal arts major." [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.61|108.162.221.61]] 00:22, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

'''Keep''' because risk of accidental offence is never a good reason to rewrite comedy. If community wants to change suggest "Explaining Xtremely Klever Comedic Drawings"; if only to troll those who insist that the letters XKCD must stand for something (which it doesn't) [[User:Kev|Kev]] ([[User talk:Kev|talk]]) 00:37, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

−
The issue seems to boil down to:

−
Is it funny?

−
Is it overly offensive?

−
And therefore:

−
Is it worth it?

−
Throwing in my opinion, however small:
+

It's amusing to me.
The joke is clear, and universal. Offence may be taken equally by anyone reading.
It fits well.
Possibly have a hidden link for those offended. A rotating tag line could include more jokes, but...
By all means move the navigation.

An explain explainxkcd page that is linked to might work, in the spirit of metahumour.

However, it may not be as serious an issue, as the tag line is easy to ignore. Just moving HTML a bit seems like a logical, cheap and easy solution, and then we can test it. Please note that this has no technical knowledge behind it, just a reading of the above.

So, my vote goes to '''keep''', and shuffle HTML or, in order, link, replace with rotating, modify, remove.
Harmless fun. Possibly have a cookie-based option to permanently hide the tag line.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.160|108.162.250.160]] 00:56, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

Apologies, I have broken formatting in the last few edits, trying to fix it...[[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.160|108.162.250.160]] 00:57, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

: My vote is '''change''', and it's not because of blind people. Let me run you through a very common scenario for new users:
:* You have a person who generally thinks of themselves as quite smart.
:* They read the comics and find most of them extremely funny.
:* They come across a comic they just can't understand.
:* They stare at it for minutes, wondering why they just can't get the joke.
:* Pride already bruised, they eventually give up and turn to Google.
:* "Explain xkcd! That's exactly what I'm looking for!"
:* Click the link.
:* "Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb"
:* Gee, what a lovely welcome. Not.

: Insulting your users the first time you meet them is '''''terrible''''' practice. You're pointing at them and laughing that they didn't understand the joke. You're kicking somebody when they're already down. OK, that is exaggeration, but when you look at the line as a new user, it's not friendly and welcoming; it doesn't encourage you to return. It's just bad UX.

: Now, we could overlook the directed insult if it was indeed funny, but it really isn't. There's nothing witty about it, nothing punny about it, no double-entendres or sly references. It's just an insult.

: Legacy is no reason to keep something that doesn't work. Just because something wasn't picked up as bad practice 5 years ago doesn't mean that it isn't bad practice. Can you imagine if Microsoft kept Clippy around for "legacy reasons"?

: It would be one thing if it were kept because there were no other options, but ''so many'' fantastic alternatives have been suggested:
:* '''It's 'cause we're dumb''' -- Changes it from an insult directed at one person to a statement with an inclusive sense of community. It saying that, hey, you may not understand all the comics, but neither do we! Let's learn together!
:* '''Congratulations! You're one of today's lucky 10,000!''' -- Direct reference to comic which celebrates filling gaps in one's knowledge. Also, as a comic reference, most people won't get it the first time, so make it a link and use it to draw people further in to this wiki!
:* '''Some comics may be funnier than they appear''' -- Actually humorous, containing reference to a very common message we're all familiar with (objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear). Also alludes to the hidden depths to many of the comics, where additional levels of meaning are revealed the more about the subject one knows, which is what this wiki is trying to reveal.
:* '''Error loading tagline, click here to retry.''' -- Looks like the kind of joke you'd actually find in the comments. Clicking the tagline should then do something completely unrelated to reloading the tagline (I dunno, set off some cool JS magic).
:* '''Because it is Monday morning.''' -- Should only be shown on Mondays. Can easily be implemented with parser functions.
:* '''Because sometimes we all need a little help''' -- Gives an understanding tone that's comforting to new users.

: '''TL;DR''': The current tagline is unnecessarily confrontational and projects a bad welcome to new users, and there is nothing particularly clever/funny/important about the current tag line to recommend keeping it, especially with ''so many'' better suggestions on offer. Put it this way, if you were seeing "It's 'cause you're dumb" tag as a suggestion to add to this wiki today, would you choose it over the other options? No? Then make like an old meme and "Let It Go!" [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.157|108.162.249.157]] 05:49, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

: I think the above comment is a perfect example of different mindsets. I discovered this wiki in exactly the way you described. But I was not offended in anyway when seeing the tagline, which I did almost immediately. Rather, it got a little chuckle out of me along with a thought along the lines of "Haha, yeah, maybe I am dumb." If you get offended by such a tagline, it suggests to me that you are not all that certain about your own intelligence in the first place. It's a static bit of text. It was not aimed at the person reading it, it was aimed at EVERYONE reading it. EDIT-I realize this post could be seen as offensive or a personal attack, which it's not, please read the "you" not as the poster of the above mentioned comment, but as a generic for any person reading the comment. [[User:Bon|Bon]] ([[User talk:Bon|talk]]) 07:11, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

: If I remember correctly I've heard it origonally was a pic of Blackhat saying it. Would it be possible to use that on this site. It seems like a decent solution? (I haven't read all of this so I don't know if this has been suggested sorry if it has). Like people have said no one gets all of xkcd, as a nonAmerican there is also a lot of references I don't get. Getting offenend over this does seems pretty pathetic to me. I also use this site for non explanation reasons, that is it often links together comics which is handy, and people often post cool links. But as others have pointed out this site isn't transcriptxkcd or linkxkcd it's explainxkcd, so that's what it should be meant for. Claiming i's offensive o the visually impaired seems pretty silly. All in all, maybe it could do with tweaking to make it more obvious but IMO it's a solid '''keep''' [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 11:22, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

== Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number ==

Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact numLive support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number ber Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact numLive support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number ber Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact numLive support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number ber Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact numLive support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number ber Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact numLive support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number ber Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact numLive support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number ber Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact numLive support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number ber Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact numLive support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number ber Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact numLive support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number ber Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact numLive support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number ber Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact numLive support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number ber Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact numLive support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number ber Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number Live support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact numLive support number 1-888-361-3731 Hp printer customer support contact number ber

1613: The Three Laws of Robotics

2015-12-07T13:09:51Z

Halfhat: /* Explanation */ Hellscape consistancy/

{{comic
| number = 1613
| date = December 7, 2015
| title = The Three Laws of Robotics
| image = the_three_laws_of_robotics.png
| titletext = In ordering #5, self-driving cars will happily drive you around, but if you tell them to drive to a car dealership, they just lock the doors and politely ask how long humans take to starve to death.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Very basic first draft, and I'm pretty inexperienced [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 09:38, 7 December 2015 (UTC) you should also check my awful spelling [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 09:46, 7 December 2015 (UTC)}}
This comic explores alternative orderings of sci-fi author Isaac Asimov's famous {{w|Three Laws of Robotics}}. These laws form the basis of a number of Asimov works of fiction, including most famously, "I, Robot". The comic answers the generally unasked question: "Why are they in that order?"

The joke here is that any alternative ordering of the three laws results in ridiculous worlds; two of these are designated orange (pretty bad) and three results are designated red ("Hellscape").

;Ordering #1:This is the original ordering.
;Ordering #2: The robots value their existence over their job and so would make many much less functional. The silliness of this is portrayed in the accompanying image, where the robot laughs at the idea of doing what it was clearly built to do (explore mars), because of the risk. This personification is augmented by the robot being switched on on earth and ordered by the fleshy human known as [[Megan]]. The personification is humorous since it is a very nonhuman robot.
;Ordering #3: This puts obeying orders above not harming humans which means anyone could send them on a killing spree, resulting in a "Killbot Hellscape"; It should also be noted humour is derived from the superlative nature of "Killbot Hellscape", as well as its over the top accompanying image, where there are multiple mushroom clouds (not necessarily nuclear), it also appears there are no humans, only robots. This is the world we live in.

;Ordering #4:The next would also result in much the same, the only difference here is that they would be willing to kill humans to protect themselves.

;Ordering #5:The penultimate would result in a unpleasant world, though not a full hellscape, where the robots would not only disobey to protect themselves, but also kill if necessary. The absurdity of this one is further demonstrated with the very unhuman robot happily doing repetitive mundane tasks but then threatening its user, the terrified relic of the age of men known as [[Cueball]].

;Ordering #6:The last also results in a hellscape wherein robots not only kill for self defense but will also go on killing sprees if ordered as long as they didn't risk themselves.

The titletext further adding to ordering #5 by noting anyone wishing to trade in their self-driving car could be killed, despite it (currently) being a standard and mundane and (mostly) risk free activity.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

802: Online Communities 2

2015-12-07T12:22:13Z

Halfhat: /* YouTube Region */ Just made that sentence aa bit more clear and readable.

{{comic
| number = 802
| date = October 6, 2010
| title = Online Communities 2
| image = online_communities_2.png
| titletext = Best trivia I learned while working on this: 'Man, Farmville is so huge! Do you realize it's the second-biggest browser-based social-networking-centered farming game in the WORLD?' Then you wait for the listener to do a double-take.
}}
A [http://xkcd.com/802_large/ larger version] of this picture can be found by clicking the comic on xkcd.
{{TOC}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Not all of the regions are fully explained. Many labels aren't even mentioned outside of the transcript. Some towns need to be added for example.}}
This comic shows a map of internet communities where the size of each region roughly corresponds to its size, and its proximity to other regions indicates similarities.

This is the successor of [[256: Online Communities]]. It differs in that it is updated, and furthermore, instead of using the ''membership'' of whichever service to determine its size on the map, it uses its "daily social activity."

The map actually has two super−maps: the online community map is surrounded by the "countries" of E−Mail and SMS ("Instant Messaging"). These, in turn, are surrounded by the "Spoken Language" country (which is odd, considering that e−mail, SMS, and the Internet in general are based on ''written'' language) with its own sub−country, "cell phones" (which ''do'' involve e−mail and the Internet while being the mean medium of SMS's).

At the title text [[Randall]] explains that, using his definition of "most activity per day," Farmville is actually the ''second'' most popular social-network farming game -- the Chinese game Happy Farm was more popular at the time. This strikes many English-speaking xkcd readers as odd, because Farmville is much more famous, leading one to wonder how the it could not be the most played. The phrase "browser-based social-networking-centered farming game" is an example of an [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OverlyNarrowSuperlative overly-narrow superlative.]

===Facebook Region===
The Facebook region deals with social networks, that is, websites oriented towards having people meet.

'''{{w|Facebook}}''' is a social networking site that allows people to meet old real−life friends and make new friends that share similar interests. One of its most notable features is that a member can update a "status" or make normal posts about the happenings of the member's life, complete with pictures, other members "liking" these posts. The size of the Facebook region is not exaggerated; most websites seem to allow "liking" their content or allow/require logging in the website with a Facebook account. There even are cell phones with a "Facebook" button!

*'''{{w|FarmVille}}''' and '''{{w|Farm Town}}''' are Facebook games in which users manage farms. '''{{w|Happy Farm}},''' the Chinese game that inspired the other two, does not require Facebook integration, so it is separated by a solid line from Facebook. The "Unethical Bay" refers to how these games tend to addict players into constantly buying virtual items of questionable value.

*'''People You Can't Unfriend''' refers to people whom, due to real-life expectations and relationships, unfriending them is difficult, no matter how you really feel about them.

*'''Blatherskite River''' refers to the conversations on Facebook, which may be long yet devoid of general meaning or logic.

*'''Data Mines''' refer to the data mining that Facebook does with the interests of its members. This fuels the profitable advertising business at the expense of customer trust.

*'''Plains of Awkwardly Public Family Interactions''' refer to how interactions with family members on Facebook suddenly become more awkward because everyone on Facebook (and sometimes ''off'' Facebook, given that you do not necessarily need to log in if you want to see someone's Facebook account) if you are discussing with your family through post comments.

*'''524,287 Strong for Mersenne Primes''' refers to the communities who gain followers for a cause. A {{w|Mersenne prime}} is a prime number that is 1 less than a power of 2; 524287 is the 7th known Mersenne prime.

*'''Jungle-Bay Mountains of "It's Complicated"''' refers to one of Facebook's options as to what a user's relationship status currently is. A Jungle-Bay Mountain is a complicated and undefined climate, hence the complication.

*'''"Old Facebook" Resistance''' refers to Facebook's earlier users, who have often resisted (and resented) changes made to Facebook as it became more popular.

*'''Privacy Controls''' is located on the map surrounded by a Lava Pool, which is a reference to how difficult it is to find the privacy controls within Facebook.
*'''Niche Market Mountains''' refers to social networks aimed towards more niche markets are located. Similar to how mountains tend to be isolated from mainland, niche social networks tend to be just that: niche, without much interaction with the general populace.
*'''Charred Wasteland of Abandoned Social Networks''' refers to the tons of websites wanting to take advantage of the success of websites like Facebook to compete or even overpower with them. Even so, these websites tend to not have the userbase or even the expertise towards the long-term, hence they become wastelands: environments devoid of life, except the few life forms that are from these wastelands (in this case, the ones who are loyal to the website or which are sadly few).
*In the Charred Wasteland stands '''{{w|Ozymandias}}''', the titular broken statue of Shelley's poem. In the poem, only "two vast and trunkless legs of stone" and a "shattered visage" are all that remain of the once-great statue and both of these features are present in the comic. According to the poem, the pedestal before the broken statue reads "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings..." hence "friend of friends" below Ozymandias on the map.
*In the north are the '''Duckface Mountains''' and the '''Red Cup Mountains'''."Duckface" refers to [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/duck-face this incredibly obnoxious facial expression], and "red cup pictures" are any pictures containing party-goers holding disposable red plastic beverage cups. Facebook is absolutely flooded with both types of pictures.
*In the south is '''Buzzword Bay'''. {{w|Buzzword}}s are words and phrases that make you sound a lot more topical than you actually are, used to garner attention; again, Facebook status updates are commonly filled with buzzwords.

While Facebook is the largest "country" of the Facebook Region, there are a lot of smaller "countries" that represent smaller social networks.

*Below Facebook (and "Old Facebook' Resistance") is '''{{w|Diaspora (social network)|Diaspora}}''', a fully open-source, decentralized, privacy-respecting-and-expecting alternative to Facebook. From what this map tells, Diaspora is little-known, even if Facebook is taken out of the context.
*'''{{w|StudiVZ}}''' is a German-speaking social network similar if not a ripped-off version of Facebook.
*'''{{w|XING}}''' is a German-speaking social platform similar to LinkedIn.
*'''{{w|Ning (website)|Ning}}''' is a service to create custom social websites. Its free services shut down in 2010.
*'''{{w|Taringa!}}''' is a Spanish-speaking social network that is based on a forums. Copyrighted material is frequently found there.
*Next to the Euro(pean) Gulf is '''{{w|Skyrock (social network site)}}''', a French-speaking social network.
*'''{{w|Wer-kennt-wen}}''' is a German-social network somewhat like MySpace.
*'''{{w|Nasza-klasa.pl}}''' or NK, is a Polish-speaking social network based on school relationships.
*'''{{w|Badoo}}''' is a social network primarily based on dating and picture-sharing.
*'''{{w|Classmates.com}}''' is a services in which the user can meet classmates that came from the same high school. The website is probably best known by its memetic advertisement that said [http://dudemanphat.blogspot.com/2005/10/how-am-i-supposed-to-care-about-nick.html "She married him??!! And they've got 7 kids??"] (Incidentally, [http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2003325519_adcouple27.html there is more to the coupled picture than what the advertisement says.])
*'''{{w|Myspace}}''' is a social networking website that is a kind of proto-Facebook: users could customize their one-page websites with whatever they wanted, make their interests and daily lives public, and interact with other users. Back in the mid 2000s, MySpace was the largest social network, many people using the website; however, the surprisingly-less-customizable Facebook ended up taking the place of MySpace. The "bands" country of MySpace refers to how a lot of bands in the day advertised and interacted using the website. Indeed, the latest incarnation of MySpace (in terms of 2013) is more oriented towards band members.
*'''{{w|LinkedIn}}''' is a social network aimed towards people in the workplace, which is why it is adjancent to '''Corporate Bay'''.
*'''{{w|Orkut}}''' was one of Google's first social networks before Google made [https://plus.google.com/ Google+]. It shut down in 2014.
*'''{{w|Hi5}}''' is a social network that is very popular among people in Latin America.
*'''{{w|Renren}}''' ('''「人人」''', "people" in Chinese) is "a Chinese copy of Facebook."
*'''{{w|Bebo}}''' was a social network popular in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It went bankrupt in 2013 and will move away from social networking and into apps.
*'''{{w|Friendster}}''' - One of the first major social networks, it has fallen way off in usage in recent years and was eclipsed by MySpace. It is still popular in Asia.
*'''{{w|VK (social networking website)|Vkontakte}}''' or VK, is the second largest social network service in Europe after Facebook. It is available in several languages, but particularly popular among Russian-speaking users around the world.
*'''{{w|Netlog}}''' is a Belgian social networking website specifically targeted at the global youth demographic.
*'''{{w|Mixi}}''' is an online Japanese social networking service.
*'''{{w|Qzone}}''' is a social networking website, which is big in China. According to a report published by Tencent, possibly surpassing other social networking websites like Facebook and MySpace in China.
*'''{{w|Tuenti}}''' is a Spain-based, social networking service, that has been referred to as the "Spanish Facebook."
*'''{{w|Cloob}}''' is a Persian-language social networking website, mainly popular in Iran. After the locally (and internationally) popular social networking website Orkut was blocked by the Iranian government, a series of local sites and networks, including Cloob, emerged to fill the gap.
*'''{{w|Kaixin001}}''' is a social networking website which ranks as the 13th most popular website in China and 67th overall.
*'''{{w|Piczo}}''' was a privately held blog website for teens. In November 2012, Piczo.com shut down.
*'''{{w|Odnoklassniki}}''' is a social network service for classmates and old friends. It is popular in Russia and former Soviet Republics.
*'''{{w|Adult FriendFinder}}''' is a pornographic dating site.
*'''{{w|Match.com}}''' is a dating site, mainly targeted at people looking for marriage.
*'''{{w|Ok Cupid}}''' is another dating site, however it has been owned by Match.com since 2011.
*'''{{w|PlentyofFish}}''' is yet another dating site, also owned by Match.com since June 2015.
*'''{{w|Sulawesi}}''' is a real-life island in the Indonesian archipelago. It also appears in 256: Online Communities.

===MMO Isle===
MMO's (short form of "MMORPG", short form of "Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Player Game") are websites that host online games where multiple people take the role of a character and play in a setting hosted by the website. These types of games tend to be fantastical in setting. Frequently, missions are added to the game, giving current player more incentive towards playing more.

*'''[https://www.habbo.com/ Habbo Hotel]''' is a website where someone creates a human avatar an interacts in a virtual world that is not that different from the one in real life.
*'''[http://www.clubpenguin.com/ Club Penguin]''' is [http://disney.com/ Disney's] MMO where someone creates a penguin avatar and interacts with other in a more polar, cartoony setting. Club Penguin is aimed towards children.
*'''[http://maplestory.nexon.net/ Maple Story]''' is an MMO that has a more natural setting. The most distinguishing feature of Maple Story is its cartoony pixel art.
*'''[http://www.gamefaqs.com/ GameFAQs]''', while not an MMO, is a website that has the largest repository of walkthoughs, that is, guides that help someone beat a game. GameFAQs is notable for not only its large repository of walkthroughs of games that are across an extreme variety of consoles, handhelds, and even computers (not all of them MMOs), but also the drama that is rumoured to happen in the GameFAQs forums.
*'''[http://www.ign.com/ IGN]''' (full: '''Imagine Games Network'''), while also not an MMO, is the largest website that gives news on video games in general, not just MMOs. Each of the games mentioned in the site have pages that have summaries, reviews, screenshots, other art, videos, and links to news related to its games.
*'''[http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/index.shtml FFXI]''' (full: '''Final Fantasy XI''') is an MMO from SquareEnix, being the first MMO of the popular ''Final Fantasy'' series.
*'''[http://www.runescape.com/community Runescape]''' is an older MMO.
*'''[http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/ Starcraft II]''' is a realtime strategy game with a science fiction setting that heavily involves space travel. While technically not an MMO, it has a significant online multiplayer component.
*'''[http://us.battle.net/wow/en/ WoW]''' (full: '''World of Warcraft''') is the definitive MMO, being not only the most popular and one of the longest-running but also the most expansive (having its own spinoff games, comic books, novels, and even figurines), WOW giving the idea of how an MMO should be. A player can choose from a variety of races, each with its own heavy history.
*'''[http://secondlife.com/ Second Life]''' is similar to Habbo, albeit with a bigger suspension of disbelief (one example being that the player does not need to be a human) and in a 3D setting.
*'''[http://www.nationstates.net/ NationStates]''' is a text-based political simulation game. Notably, some of its traffic comes not from the actual game (which is optional), but the extensive set of political, roleplaying, and general forums attached.
*'''[http://www.urbandead.com/ Urban Dead]''' describes itself as "A Massively Multi-Player Web-Based Zombie Apocalypse", which sums it up pretty well.
*'''[http://www.kingdomofloathing.com KoL]''' (full: '''Kingdom of Loathing''') is a comedic browser-based MMO-ish RPG with minimalistic stick-figure art.
*'''{{w|CDC Games}}''' is a Chinese company reputed to be the largest MMORPG distributor.
*'''{{w|Eve Online|EVE Online}}''' is a science fiction MMO which is notable because of its virtual economy.
*'''{{w|Gaia Online|Gaia}}''' or Gaia Online, while not an MMO, is a forum oriented towards pop culture, including video games and Japanese media. Its most notable feature is the heavy customization possible of a member's pixel-art avatar. Its members tend to roleplay a lot, albeit in a more written, story-based form. Gaia has gained a reputation with its members stealing art and causing drama.
*'''{{w|City of Heroes|CoH}}''' or City of Heroes was a superhero-based MMORPG that was shut down November 2012.

Other notable regions include:
*The '''Mountains of Steam''', referring to the game distribution service [http://store.steampowered.com/ Steam] where people could buy and download video games in general, not just MMOs.
*'''River Grind''' refers to "grinding." In most MMOs, the character is a fighter of some sorts, yet starts at a level 1, signifying the character's aptitude level in combat. The character can level up and gain more aptitude levels through earning experience, of which the most reliable and otherwise common way is the process of "grinding," that is, repeatedly fighting opposing monsters (sometimes of a level notably lower that your character's), gaining experience points from winning these battles until your character gains a level, that is, "levels up". While a practical necessity in strengthening the character, this process can be tiresome, hence the expression "grinding."
*'''Spawn Camp''' refers to "spawn points", the places in combat-oriented MMO's tend to produce ("spawn") random AI-powered creatures, and the act of "spawn camping", in which the player character simply stands behind or around the spawn points to fight the enemy creatures as soon as they appear.
*'''Gulf of Lag''' refers to how the MMO can be slowed down a considerable amount due to the large amount of players simultaneously using the same server, this congestion bogging down the server and frustrating the users.
*'''[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/final-boss-of-the-internet End Guy for the Internet]''' refers to "end bosses," the last — and usually hardest to defeat — "bad guy" in a game (or a section of a game).

===YouTube Region===
The YouTube region refers to websites that are based on user-created content.

'''[https://www.youtube.com/ YouTube]''' is the definitive video website where people can upload videos with the purpose of public viewing, ranging from home movies through official music videos through Let's Plays of people playing video games to questionably-legal uploads of cartoons and films. Google had purchased YouTube.

Many of the sites on the map are just references to {{w|viral video}}s at {{w|YouTube}}:
*'''Viral Shores''' refers to how viral videos (whether they be viral marketing or simply memes) tend to proliferate on YouTube.
*'''Britney''' likely refers to pop singer {{w|Britney Spears}} and the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHmvkRoEowc‎ "Leave Britney Alone" guy].
*'''Maru Gulf''' refers to Maru the Cat, a YouTube celebrity [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/676:_Abstraction also mentioned in xkcd].
*'''Prairie Dog Habitat''' likely refers to the viral video [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1Y73sPHKxw Dramatic Chipmunk] (which is actually a Prairie Dog).
*'''Rick Rolling Hills''' references, well, {{w|Rickrolling}}. More information [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ here]. The "deserted" note likely refers to how Rick Astley himself is tired of the meme, or again, how people tend to leave the video upon getting "Rick Roll'd," never actually going to the video with the express purpose of viewing the video.
*'''Lunar Landing Soundstage''' is, of course, a reference to the {{w|Moon landing conspiracy theories}}, which Randall has railed on before.
*'''{{w|OK Go}} Bay''' refers to the band "OK Go" who have multiple viral music videos on YouTube, most famously [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTAAsCNK7RA "Here it goes again"] featuring treadmills.

The '''HTML5 swamp''' refers to YouTube's spotty support of HTML 5 (an update on HTML that is frequently touting its media capabilities, making HTML 5 a viable alternative to Flash). Of course, by the time the comic was written, HTML 5 was still in its infancy. The Music Video Bay refers to the amount of music videos (official or otherwise) are present in YouTube.

Other counties of the YouTube region include:
*'''[https://vimeo.com/ vimeo]''', a website where people tend to showcase artistic content that they made on their own, notably independent studios.

Snob Sound:
*'''[https://secure.flickr.com/ Flickr]''', a website where people can upload and share photographs they took.
*'''[http://fotolog.com Fotolog]''', a photo website very popular in South America in 2004-2008, which was used as a social network.
*'''[http://www.last.fm/ Last.fm]''', a music website that is notable of its "scrobbling" feature.
*'''[http://www.deviantart.com/ deviantArt]''', the largest art website, where people can upload, sell, and buy not only art itself, but also video, audio, Flash-work, and even skins (the original purpose of deviantArt). While many big-name/professional people and organizations have their works in deviantArt, the site is more infamous for the large amount of people who upload low-quality fan-art and fan-characters, most notably of media from Japan. Another point of infamy is the large amount of drama that can happen in the website.

*'''[https://www.newgrounds.com/ Newgrounds]''', a website that hosts art, (Flash-based) videos, audio, and (Flash-based) games to which other users can comment and rate. Even so, content from Newgrounds tends to be obscene, though there is a filtering system if a viewer does not wish to see obscene content.
*'''[http://www.chatroulette.com/ Chatroulette]''' is a website where people are randomly paired up with each other and video/text chat.
*'''{{w|Brickshelf}}''' is the online resource for {{w|LEGO}} fans.
*'''[https://tumblr.com/ Tumblr]''', where people could make a blog and post text, pictures, video, audio, quotes, and links. The most distinguishing feature is the ability to "reblog" these posts from other's people's blogs into the user's own blog. Notable features of Tumblr include sketchblogs (where people upload their sketches), Ask blogs (where people answer questions other users ask, the moderators of these blogs usually pretending to be a character from a form of media), and the large amount of "social justice" (where people fight against racism, sexism, and other forms of negative discrimination). (See also [[1043: Ablogalypse]].)
*'''{{w|b3ta}}''' is a popular British website, described as a "puerile digital arts community" by The Guardian.

The '''Isle of teenagers who just discovered macroeconomics''' is a joke about how teenagers tend to think that the world and the economy are a lot simpler than they actually are. Combined with the typical internet mindset, this leads to a lot of teenagers posting blogs and videos and comments on blogs and videos describing how idiotic the government and other red-tape-related adults are.
The '''Snob Sound''' could refer to the large amount of people who look down on others in the surrounding websites (one example being an original artist looking down on people who draw mainly fan-art). '''The Iraq''' is a reference to Miss Teen USA 2007, Ms. Teen South Carolina - Lauren Katlin said "I believe that our education like such as in South Africa and the Iraq everywhere like such as...the US should help the US and should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the asian countries so we are able to build up our future." The usage of "the iraq" became a meme.

===Twitter Region===
*'''Bieber Bay''' is a reference to {{w|Justin Bieber}} a pop singer whose singing sprouted on YouTube and became very popular on Twitter and other social media. He is very much vilified because of his rather feminine appearance and his hordes of fans (called "Beliebers") that seem to support him to ridiculous extents. Lately, though, Justin Beiber has taken a "bad boy" attitude because of all the Beliebers who are willing to defend him no matter what, him partaking in a lot of questionable activities that include tattoos, questionably-legal substances, and buying prostitution, thus lowering his popularity in the general populace.
*'''{{w|Google Buzz}}''' is a former social network attempted by Google. It has since been shut down.
*'''Bit.Ly Mountains''' is a reference to the URL shortening service {{w|bit.ly}}.
*'''Kanye's Isle of Sadness''' is a reference to the musician {{w|Kanye West}}, whose Twitter, at the time, was [http://www.buzzfeed.com/mlew15/25-of-kanye-wests-most-thought-provoking-tweets-h0se famously introspective and stream-of-consciousness].
*'''Sarah Palin USA''' is the Twitter handle of former politician {{w|Sarah Palin}}.
*'''Clueless Politician Coast''' is a reference to the number of politicians on Twitter and other social networks who repeatedly share clueless updates that more often create an uproar than help their election chances.
*'''Desert of Food Updates''' is a reference to the number of pictures of food that are shared on social media (especially Twitter). There has even been some controversy on posting such pictures.
*'''Journalists Trying to Find the Cutting Edge''' is referencing journalists on Twitter trying to keep up with the way that news is gathered and delivered now, despite usually working for a newspaper that publishes once a day.
*'''{{w|SHAQ}}''' is a reference to the former NBA basketball player, {{w|Shaq}}.
*'''{{w|identi.ca}}''' is an open source social networking and micro-blogging service, being an alternative to Twitter.
*''' Breaking! Waves''' is a pun on the fact that so many people used the word "Breaking" at the beginning of tweets that do not warrant that tag that the word has lost most of its meaning and become a joke. It is a pun because waves "break" on the shore.
*'''Web 3.0''' refers to the unofficial term {{w|Web 2.0}}. In this case, "Web 1.0" refers to websites that give information to users. Web 2.0 refers to websites where the users themselves create content. Web 3.0 has sometimes been used as a term. For {{w|semantic web}}, a machine-readable version of the web, but this usage is far from universal.
*'''Hashtag games whose popularity confuses and depresses you''' refers to the game where a user posts something under a particular hashtag and others respond with their own ideas, all tagged under the same phrase. This has been very popular for no clear reason, as Randall notes.

===Geotagged Bay===
*'''{{w|Yelp}}''' is a website where people post reviews of real-life public locations (one example being restaurants).
*'''{{w|Geocaching}}''' is a worldwide GPS scavenger hunt where users upload positions of caches and others will find them and log it online.
*'''{{w|Foursquare}}''' is a location-based social network.
*'''Latitude''' refers to {{w|Google Latitude}}.

===Troll Bay and the Sea of Memes===
*'''{{w|Reddit}}''' is the self-described "front page of the Internet" in which users submit stories, photos and videos and the best are "up-voted" to the top of the page.
*'''{{w|Help:Using talk pages|Wikipedia Talk Pages}}''' refer to the pages where Wikipedia editors discuss how to improve articles.
*'''{{w|Wikia}}''' is a 3rd party wiki software, used in the making of the user-editable encyclopedias of just about any subject matter.
*'''{{w|StumbleUpon}}''' is a website-sharing service.
*'''{{w|Delicious (website)|Delicious}}''' is a bookmarking and bookmark-sharing service.
*'''{{w|Digg}}''' is a former competitor to Reddit in the social-news sphere, but now has been sold and restarted as an aggregator of news stories.
*'''{{w|Slashdot}}''', labeled "/." on the map, is a technical news site.
*'''{{w|Fark}}''' is a community website that allows members to comment on news articles from other sites.
*'''{{w|YTMND}}''' is an acronym for "You're The Man Now, Dog!" It's also a community in which users can create meme-type nonsense by playing music over an image (either static or animated).

===Skype Region===
The Skype Region refers to different IM, or Instant Messaging services, that enable almost-real-time text chatting between multiple people. These often allow services like voice chat and even video calls.

*'''{{w|Skype}}''' is, according to Randall, the most popular of these among the internet. It has many features to allow peer-to-peer voice chats, as well as allowing calls to be made at a price to actual phones.
*'''{{w|AIM}}''' or AOL Instant Messenger is a chat client created by AOL.
*'''GG''' is {{w|Gadu-Gadu}} and instant messenger client popular in Poland.
*'''{{w|Yahoo Messenger}}''' is an instant messenger client by Yahoo.
*'''{{w|Google Talk}}''' is a voice/video chatting service from Google (that Google has been replacing with Hangouts). Google Talk also has an invasion fleet at its shores.
*'''{{w|ICQ}}''' is an older messaging service, albeit with an 18+ requirement (despite pornography not being the point of ICQ).
*'''{{w|Windows Live Messenger}}''', or "MSN", was the messaging service of Microsoft before Microsoft bought Skype. MSN was useful in that people could draw and send pictures to other chatters.
*'''{{w|UseNet}}''' was one of the original ways to communicate on the internet, though people can download (copyrighted) files through the service. Since it is still in use by some, it gets the tag "Still Around!" on the map.
*'''{{w|IRC}} Isles''' refers to the ancestor of Internet-powered chatting. People would have connected to a server and spoke publicly. IRC is still in use (per 2014, notably in getting help from users4. One of those isles is #xkcd which is an IRC community around [[xkcd]].

===Bay of Drama===
*'''{{w|FanFiction.net}}''' is a website where people can submit their fanfiction (stories by fans written about other peoples' media, normally that about popular media). The website tend to have people that are not helpful to those who legitimately want critique of their own stories.
*'''{{w|Xanga}}''' is a blogging service that, while popular at its time, lost out to...
*'''{{w|LiveJournal}}''' was the most popular blogging service before Tumblr.
*'''ONYD''' - Reference to {{w|Oh No You Didn't}}, which is explained in the Blogosphere region.
*'''{{w|Dreamwidth}}''' is a LiveJournal fork emphasizing its open-source nature.

===Blogosphere===
The Blogosphere region contains several general {{w|blog}} topics.
*'''{{w|photo blog|Photo Blogs}}''' are commonly used to chronicle the lives of the authors through photographs.
*'''Diary Blogs''' are another popular use of blogs (and, in fact, the original use) where authors write commentary about their lives.
*'''Bay of Grammar Pedantry''' deals with the fact that, whether due to a lack of proper education, a habit of using "chat-speak" in the text-limited SMS and MMS, or simply due to the (generally) more relaxed nature of the Internet, blog authors tend to write with horrible composition, a point of annoyment to a lot of other people due to the subsequent increased difficulty of reading the horribly-written material.
*'''Fandom Blogs''' are blogs created by a "{{w|fandom}}" which is a community of fans. A fandom blog deals with the subject matter of the respective fandom.
*'''Sea of Zero (0) Comments''' refers to blogs that get very little attention and therefore have no comments.
*'''SpamBlog Straits''' references spammers who use blogs to increase the number of links to their site to try to game search engines.
*'''OffTopic.com''' is a general interest forum that refers to itself as "the largest general discussion forum on the internet."
*Many more straightforward blogs, including:
**'''Writing/Poetry'''
**'''Gossip Blogs'''
**'''Political Blogs'''
**'''Music Blogs'''
**'''Tech Blogs'''
**'''Business Blogs'''
**'''Corporate Blogs'''
**'''Religious Blogs'''
**'''Miscellaneous Blogs'''
*'''Blog Blogs''' - These can refer to blogs that talk about the matter about blogging itself, though they can also refer to blogs which authors use in talking about blogging.

===Blogosphere (Core Region)===
Gossip Blogs:
Each blog below focuses on gossip surrounding celebrities and other well-known persons.
*'''{{w|Jezebel}}''' is a liberally feminist blog, hosted by Gawker.
*'''{{w|deadline.com|Deadline}}''' is an online entertainment news magazine.
*'''{{w|TMZ}}''' is a celebrity news website.
*'''{{w|Gawker}}''' is a blog that is the host of other blogs.
*'''LJ Oh No They Didn't''' - LiveJournal {{w|Oh No They Didn't}} - Oh No They Didn't, also known as ONTD, is the largest community on LiveJournal with over 100,000 members. The community focuses on celebrity gossip and pop culture with most of its posts aggregated from other gossip blogs.
*'''Doucheblog''' refers to blogs that were once insightful but that spiraled into long rants due to relationship changes of their authors.
*'''Isle of Mockery''' is a reference to the fact that some of what these blogs do is mock celebrities or other for doing or saying stupid things on camera.

Liberal Blogs:
Each blog below focuses on American political news with a "liberal" or "progressive" slant. These blogs tend to lean for the Democratic party.
*'''{{w|Huffington Post}}''' is a news blog.
*'''{{w|Paul Krugman}}''' is an American economist who considers himself a liberal.
*'''{{w|Daily Beast}}''' is a news and opinion website focusing on politics and pop culture.
*'''{{w|Talking Points Memo|TPM}}''' is a political journal run by Josh Marshall.
*'''{{w|Ezra Klein}}''' used to have his own site at the Washington Post, but is now the editor of [Vox.com].
*'''{{w|Think Progress}}''' is a political news blog.
*'''{{w|Daily Kos|Kos}}''' is another political blog.

Bay of Flame:
*'''{{w|Politics Daily}}''' is a political journalism website launched by AOL.
*'''CNN Political Ticker''' is CNN's political blog.
*'''{{w|Mediaite}}''' is a news and opinion blog covering politics and entertainment in the media.
*'''{{w|NY Times}}''' is one of the most famous newspapers, thus the comparatively large size of its island.
*'''{{w|The Talk}}''' is a talk show on CBS that discusses the latest headlines "through the eyes of mothers."
*Libertarian Isle (shaped like a {{w|Nolan Chart}})

Conservative Blogs:
Each blog below focuses on American political news with a "conservative" or Republican slant.
*'''{{w|Pajamas Media}}''' is a media company and operator of conservative news.
*'''{{w|Michelle Malkin}}''' is a conservative blogger, political commentator, and author.
*'''{{w|Hot Air}}''' is a news blog founded by Michelle Malkin.
*'''{{w|RedState|Red State}}''' is a political blog.
*'''{{w|American Thinker}}''' is a daily online magazine focused on politics.
*'''{{w|Townhall}}''' is a web publication and print magazine.

Tech Blogs:
*'''{{w|Boy Genius Report}}''' is a weblog that focuses on technology and consumer gadgets.
*'''{{w|Gizmodo}}''' is a news and opinion blog, hosted by Gawker, that talks about life's more technological matters.
*'''{{w|Engadget}}''' is another technology-oriented, albeit independent, blog.
*'''Crunchgear''' is a blog that reviews gadgets and other hardware.
*'''{{w|Techcrunch}}''' is an online publisher of technology industry news.
*'''{{w|Joystiq}}''' is a news and opinion blog that focuses on gaming.
*'''{{w|Kotaku}}''' is another gaming-oriented news/opinion blog, the main difference beig that Kotaku is owned by Gawker.

Assorted:
*'''{{w|BoingBoing}}''' is "i blog about wonderful things", the topics being quite random.
*'''{{w|Lifehacker}}''' is another Gawker blog, is a blog that teaches people how to simplify their lives through 'lifehacking', that is, using their resources in creative wayss. While the subject matter is life in general, there is a significant technological slant.
*'''{{w|Deadspin}}''' is a sports and sports gossip blog founded by Will Leitch.
*'''Meatorama''' is a blog that talks about cooking meat.

===QQ Region===
*'''Baidu Baike''' (「百度百科」, "Baidu Encyclopedia") and '''Hudong''' (「互动百科」, "Interactive Encyclopedia" ) are two Chinese online encyclopedias. Baidu Baike is powered by the same company as Baidu, the search engine popular in China.
* The '''Ma Le Ge Bi''' and the '''Grass Mud Horse Bay''' could refer to the {{w|Baidu 10 Mythical Creatures}}.
* The '''Location of Jia Junpeng''' refers to the Internet meme of {{w|Jia Junpeng}} in 2009 in China.
*'''{{w|Tencent QQ}}''' is a Chinese instant messaging program.
*In English communities "QQ" has several more common definitions:
**An {{w|emoticon}}, representing a face with two large, crying eyes.
**A synonym for "rage quit", in which a video game player quits the game out of sheer frustration. It originated in ''Warcraft II'' multiplayer, where pressing Ctrl+Q+Q would quit the game, and became more widely known in ''World of Warcraft''.
**These definitions are commonly combined, usually to mock the "rage quitter".
*The Gulf of China refers to how sites in the region are based in People's Republic of China ("Red China"). The '''Great Firewall''' refers to {{w|The Great Firewall of China}}, a pun on {{w|The Great Wall of China}}. Similar to how The Great Wall of China was meant to keep intruding nations out of the then-capital of the city, The Great Firewall of China is meant to keep visitors from visiting censored websites. However, either a VPN or remote access to a computer in a "freer" country can circumvent the Firewall. Oddly other Chinese websites (Qzone, Renren etc.) are not enclosed in this zone.

===Forums Islands===
Forums are websites where one person post a topic to which other people can discuss.

While the map has a zoomed in version, this article shall discuss the two bigger islands, first.

*'''[http://www.2ch.net 2channel]''' is a Japanese imageboard that was actually the original inspiration for 4chan.
*'''[http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites Craigslist]''' is a classified advertisement website with sections devoted to just about everything... which formerly included prostitution services, hence the '''The Former Site of Adult Services'''.

In the zoomed-in map, there is...
*'''[https://www.4chan.org/ 4chan.org]''' is an {{w|imageboard}} in which people can upload pictures while others comment on them. The website is infamous for its loose/often non-existent rules, incredibly vulgar userbase, source of new memes, and spawning of trolls. 4chan's random board, known internally as '''/b/''', is almost constantly flooded with porn and image macros. This is why Randall's incarnation of 4chan is shaped like a penis.
*'''420chan''' and '''7chan''', other imageboards in the style of 4chan. Their relative lack of popularity and derivative nature leads a lot of 4chan users to mock them; hence, their position on Randall's map suggests that they're mere wads of semen.
*'''Encyclopedia Dramatica''', labeled '''ED''' on the map, is a wiki site dedicated to chronicling internet memes and other noteworthy sites, events, people, and anything else that catches their attention, their respective articles written in an incredibly arbitrary and vulgar manner. The site is ''heavily'' steeped in the attitude of veteran, vulgar 4chan users. People who have articles in the website tend to react with despair, given not only the cruelty in which the articles talk about the person in question, but the presence of the article means that the person is now an eternal target from the trolls. The user is not in a position of retaliation, since the userbase of Encyclopedia Dramatica and 4chan tends to overpower the victim easily...
:...usually. Due to the founder's talk against the Australian Aboriginals (the founder is Australian), legal action has gone against the founder to the point of the founder having to shut down Encyclopedia Dramatica, founding the far tamer website Oh, Internet! (which is now shut down), instead. Trolls responded by not only uploading their own mirror of the website but also vilifying the former founder forever.
*'''Tunnel to Habbo''' is a reference to [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/pools-closed the 2006 Habbo Hotel Raids], in which hundreds of 4chan Anons simultaneously logged onto Habbo Hotel and proceeded to be as obnoxious as possible, standing in formations of swastikas and penises or body-blocking the swimming pools.
*'''{{w|Catbus}} Route''' is likely a reference to {{w|Lolcat}}s in general.
*'''[http://www.ebaumsworld.com/ eBaum's World]''' is a media-hosting website founded by Eric Bauman. The site has lost a lot of traffic after (quite valid) accusations of stolen content.
*The gulf labelled '''{{w|Anonymous (group)|Anonymous}}''' is a reference to the trolls that label themselves "Anonymous" who recently had gained national acknowledgement because of the group's real-life tirades, including cracking attacks against the Church of Scientology and the founding of WikiLeaks (a website that leaks confidential material related to governments).
*[http://www.somethingawful.com/ SomethingAwful] is a website that is meant to showcase all things "awful". SomethingAwful also has a large trollbase, but they tend to be more honorable than the ones from Encyclopedia Dramatica and 4chan. One example is there being a spotty holding of the no-furries rule in the forums. The forums themselves are famous because of the holding of the Let's Plays of [http://lparchive.org/Dangan-Ronpa/ Dangan Ronpa] and [http://danganronpa2mirror.tumblr.com/ Super Dangan Ronpa 2], which had cooked up public interest to the point of there being an English-language release of the games.
Please note that, due to these Let's Plays being in a forums that frequently hides behind a "paywall" that requires a paid account before accessing, the links provided go to their mirrors.

==Transcript==
:'''Map of Online Communities'''
:Size on map represents volume of Daily Social activity (posts, chat, etc). Based on data gathered over the Spring and Summer of 2010.

:[Two insets on the upper left-hand corner shows that this map is a tiny portion of the huge continent of Spoken Language, encompassing portions of the Internet, Email, and Cell Phones (SMS).]

:[The largest landmass on the map by far, which takes up nearly the entire northern half of the map is "Facebook" - with large states in the south-east of the country labeled 'Farmville' and 'Happy Farm'. There is a much smaller state to the west of these called 'Farm Town'. To the north of these states is a large swath of unremarkable land entitled 'Northern Wasteland of Unread Updates.' This is directly north of the large Dopamine Sea.

:A peninsula on the south-west, just below the Plains of Awkwardly Public Family Interactions, houses many tiny states, such as MySpace, Orkut, LinkedIn, Bebo, & Hi5. It is bordered on the south by Buzzword Bay, which contains several islands of varying sizes. Among these are YouTube and Twitter (the largest), which are separated by the Social Media Consultant Channel. To the south-east of Twitter, across the Sea of Protocol Confusion, is another, equally large island. Most of it is Skype, with the north having two largish states called AIM and Windows Live Messenger. On the south-west part of the island are two smaller states called GG and Yahoo Messenger.

:The Island of Skype is extremely close to, but separated by the Great Firewall (a dashed line), the large landmass of QQ. It's north shore is the Gulf of China and Grass Mud Horse Bay. Outside of these bays, over the Great Firewall are two islands called Craigslist and 2Channel.

:In the Dopamine Sea, off the southern shores of Farmville and Happy Farm, is MMO Isle. Its largest state is WoW, with Runescape, Lineage, Maple Story, Habbo, and the Mountains of Steam among its notable landmarks. To the southeast of the island is the Gulf of Lag, in which sits the CDC Games island, with Eve Online.

:To the east of Twitter is Troll Bay, with such islands as Reddit and Reddit, Digg, Stumbleupon, Delicio.us, and Wikipedia Talk Pages. To their south are the IRC isles, of which one is the tiny island of #xkcd.

:East of these islands, and north of Skype island, is the Sea of Memes. In this sea, to the north of Craigslist and 2Channel, is an archipelago of tiny islands. There is an inset, labeled 'Forums.' (See below.)

:To the southwest of Twitter island, in the Sea of Opinions, are the blog islands. These lie south of the islands in Buzzword Bay, as well. The northernmost islands in this group are centered around the Bay of Drama, on which can be found Diary Blogs, Gossip Blogs, and Livejournal. Gossip Blogs share an island with Political, Music, and Tech Blogs. To the north of this island is a smaller island called Photo Blogs. South of Diary Blogs, and off the southwest coast of Music blogs is a smaller island called Fandom Blogs. South of Tech Blogs, off of which sprouts the small peninsula of Business Blogs, is the Spamblog Straits. On the other side of the straits is a large island made up of Miscellaneous Blogs, with two states demarcated as Religious Blogs and Blog Blogs. Southwest of the Blog Islands is the Sea of Zero (0) Comments.]

:[An inset of a group of islands in the sea of memes located on the lower right corner of the map, labeled 'Forums'. The largest by far is 4chan and /b/. Also found here are D2JSP, JLA Frums, Fan Forum, Something Awful, and many smaller ones, too numerous to list here.]

:[The northeastern third of Gossip/Political/Tech Blogs island is another inset labeled 'Blogosphere (Core)'. This can be found on the lower left corner of the map. Two peninsulas in Political Blogs bookend the Bay of Flame -- these are Liberal Blogs and Conservative Blogs. Between them lie several tiny islands such as Politics Daily, CNN Politcal Ticker, and Mediaite. Off the coast of Liberal Blogs lies the island of NYTimes, off the coast of Conservative Blogs is Libertarian Isle. Between the two lies The Talk. The northern peninsula of Tech Blogs contains places such as Gizmodo, Engadget, Joystiq, and Kotaku.]

:[Text found between the two insets, which are directly below the main map.]
:ABOUT THIS MAP
:Communities rise and fall, and total membership numbers are no longer a good measure of a community's current size and health. This updated map uses size to represent total social activity in a community -- that is, how much talking, playing, sharing, or other socializing happens there. This meant some comparing of apples and oranges, but I did my best and tried to be consistent.

:Estimates are based on the numbers I could find, but involved a great deal of guesswork, statistical inference, random sampling, nonrandom sampling, a 20,000-cell spreadsheet, emailing, cajoling, tea-leaf reading, goat sacrifices, and gut instinct (i.e. making things up).

:Sources of data include Google and Bing, Wikipedia, Alexa, Big-Boards.com, StumbleUpon, Wordpress, Akismet, every website statistics page I could find, press releases, news articles, and individual site employees. Thanks in particular to folks at Last.fm, LiveJournal, Reddit, and the New York Times, as well as sysadmins at a number of sites who shared statistics on condition of anonymity.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Online Communities]]
[[Category:Rickrolling]]

Talk:1613: The Three Laws of Robotics

2015-12-07T12:20:49Z

Halfhat:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PKx3kS7f4A Relevant Computerphile] {{unsigned ip|141.101.84.114}}

I think the second one would also create the "best" robots i.e. ones that have the same level of "free will" as humans do, but won't end up with the robot uprising. X3[[User:International Space Station|International Space Station]] ([[User talk:International Space Station|talk]]) 09:37, 7 December 2015 (UTC)

The second ordering was actually covered in a story by Asimov, where a strengthed third law caused a robot to run around a hazard at a distance which maintained an equilibrium between not getting destroyed and obeying orders. More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runaround_(story) [[User:Gearoid|Gearóid]] ([[User talk:Gearoid|talk]]) 09:45, 7 December 2015 (UTC)

The explanation itself seems pretty close to complete. I'll leave others to judge if the tag is ready to be removed though. [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 12:20, 7 December 2015 (UTC)

1613: The Three Laws of Robotics

2015-12-07T12:19:07Z

Halfhat: /* Explanation */ In correcting my grammar the meaning seems to have been confused. Thanks guys though, this is coming together nicely.

{{comic
| number = 1613
| date = December 7, 2015
| title = The Three Laws of Robotics
| image = the_three_laws_of_robotics.png
| titletext = In ordering #5, self-driving cars will happily drive you around, but if you tell them to drive to a car dealership, they just lock the doors and politely ask how long humans take to starve to death.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Very basic first draft, and I'm pretty inexperienced [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 09:38, 7 December 2015 (UTC) you should also check my awful spelling [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 09:46, 7 December 2015 (UTC)}}
This comic explores alternative orderings of sci-fi author Isaac Asimov's famous {{w|Three Laws of Robotics}}. These laws form the basis of a number of Asimov works of fiction, including most famously, "I, Robot". The comic answers the generally unasked question: "Why are they in that order?"

The joke here is that any alternative ordering of the three laws results in ridiculous worlds; two of these are designated orange (pretty bad) and three results are designated red ("hellscape").

;Ordering #1:This is the original ordering.
;Ordering #2: The robots value their existence over their job and so would make many much less functional. The silliness of this is portrayed in the accompanying image, where the robot laughs at the idea of doing what it was clearly built to do (explore mars), because of the risk. This personification is augmented by the robot being switched on on earth and ordered by the fleshy human known as [[Megan]]. The personification is humorous since it is a very nonhuman robot.
;Ordering #3: This puts obeying orders above not harming humans which means anyone could send them on a killing spree, resulting in a "killbot hellscape"; It should also be noted humour is derived from the superlative nature of "Killbot Hellscape", as well as its over the top accompanying image, where there are multiple mushroom clouds (not necessarily nuclear), it also appears there are no humans, only robots. This is the world we live in.

;Ordering #4:The next would also result in much the same, the only difference here is that they would be willing to kill humans to protect themselves.

;Ordering #5:The penultimate would result in a unpleasant world, though not a full hellscape, where the robots would not only disobey to protect themselves, but also kill if necessary. The absurdity of this one is further demonstrated with the very unhuman robot happily doing repetitive mundane tasks but then threatening its user, the terrified relic of the age of men known as [[Cueball]].

;Ordering #6:The last also results in a hellscape wherein robots not only kill for self defense but will also go on killing sprees if ordered as long as they didn't risk themselves.

The titletext further adding to ordering #5 by noting anyone wishing to trade in their self-driving car could be killed, despite it (currently) being a standard and mundane and (mostly) risk free activity.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

1613: The Three Laws of Robotics

2015-12-07T09:46:37Z

Halfhat: /* Explanation */ Very minor extra detail, I hope I've not gone too far.

{{comic
| number = 1613
| date = December 7, 2015
| title = The Three Laws of Robotics
| image = the_three_laws_of_robotics.png
| titletext = In ordering #5, self-driving cars will happily drive you around, but if you tell them to drive to a car dealership, they just lock the doors and politely ask how long humans take to starve to death.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Very basic first draft, and I'm pretty inexperienced [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 09:38, 7 December 2015 (UTC) you should also check my awfull spelling[[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 09:46, 7 December 2015 (UTC)}}
Thye joke here is that any other order of the three laws of robotics results in riduclas worlds, two of these are given orange (pretty bad) and three results are designated red ("hellscape").

The first alternate one (ordering #2) makes the robots value their existence over their job and so would make many much less functional. The sillyness of this is protrayed in the accopanying image, where the robot laughs at the idea of doing what it was clearly built to do (explore mars), because of the risk. The personification is also humourous since it is a very nonhuman robot, being switched on on earth and ordered by the fleshy human known as [[Megan]], adds to the personification.

The next possible ordering (ordering #3) puts obeying orders above not harming humans which means anyone could send them on a killing spree, resulting in a "killbot hellscape"; It should also be noted humour is derrived from the superlative nature of "Killbot Hellscape" as well as it's over the top accompanying image, where there are multiple mushroom clouds (not necessarily nuclear), it also appears there are not humans, onlty robots. The next (ordering #4) would also result in much the same, the only difference here is that they would be willing to kill humans to protect themselves.

The panultimate (ordering #5) would result in a unpleasant world, though not a full hellscape, where the robots would not only disobey to protect themselves, but also kill if nessasary. The absurdity of this one is further demonstated with the very unhuman robot happilly doing repititive mundane tasks but then threatning it's user, the terrified relic of the age of men known as [[cueball]].

The last (ordering #6) also results in a hellscape wherein robots not only kill for self defense but will also go on killing sprees if ordered as long as they didn't risk themselves.

The titletext further adding to ordering #5 by noting anyone wishing to trade in their selfdriving car could be killed, despite it (currently) being a standard and mundane and (mostly) risk free activity.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

1613: The Three Laws of Robotics

2015-12-07T09:38:26Z

Halfhat: /* Explanation */ I hope this is as close to the standards as expected.

{{comic
| number = 1613
| date = December 7, 2015
| title = The Three Laws of Robotics
| image = the_three_laws_of_robotics.png
| titletext = In ordering #5, self-driving cars will happily drive you around, but if you tell them to drive to a car dealership, they just lock the doors and politely ask how long humans take to starve to death.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Very basic first draft, and I'm pretty inexperienced [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 09:38, 7 December 2015 (UTC)}}
Thye joke here is that any other order of the three laws of robotics results in riduclas worlds, two of these are given orange (pretty bad) and three results are designated red ("hellscape").

The first alternate one (ordering #2) makes the robots value their existense over their job and so would make many much less functional, the sillyness of this is protrayed in the accopanying image, where the robot laughs at the idea of doing what it was clearly built to do (explore mars) because of the risk, the personification is also humourous since it is a very nonhuman robot.

The next possible ordering (ordering #3) puts obeying orders above not harming humans which means anyone could send them on a killing spree, resulting in a "killbot hellscape"; It should also be noted humour is derrived from the superlative nature of "Killbot Hellscape" as well as it's over the top accompanying image. The next (ordering #4) would also result in much the same, the only difference here is that they would be willing to kill humans to protect themselves.

The panultimate (ordering #5) would result in a unpleasant world, though not a full hellscape, where the robots would not only disobey to protect themselves, but also kill if nessasary. The absurdity of this one is further demonstated with the very unhuman robot happilly doing repititive mundane tasks but then threatning it's user.

The last (ordering #6) also results in a hellscape wherein robots not only kill for self defense but will also go on killing sprees if ordered as long as they didn't risk themselves.

The titletext further adding to ordering #5 by noting anyone wishing to trade in their selfdriving car could be killed, despite it (currently) being a standard and mundane and (mostly) risk free activity.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

1611: Baking Soda and Vinegar

2015-12-07T09:20:32Z

Halfhat: /* Explanation */ Woops

{{comic
| number = 1611
| date = December 2, 2015
| title = Baking Soda and Vinegar
| image = baking_soda_and_vinegar.png
| titletext = Sure, it may not meet science fair standards, but I want credit for getting my baking soda and vinegar mountain added to the Decade Volcanoes list.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Does it miss something about the reaction although that may not count as "real" science?}}
In popular fiction (and maybe in part in fact) the "{{w|Sodium bicarbonate|Baking Soda}} and {{w|Vinegar}}" {{w|volcano}} is often a staple image of the science nerd at the science fair (see [https://sciencebob.com/the-erupting-volcano/ example here]), unless all the science nerds are doing ''real'' imaginative science and the student(s) with the volcano exhibit are dragging out the old hackneyed stereotype. It may also be age-dependent, this being something that is relatively advanced science for the lower grades but rather a childish experiment in the hands of older students.

As [[Ponytail]] is probably about to point out, the 'volcano' exhibit doesn't (usually) actually demonstrate anything about volcanic activity, it is just simple chemistry - such as you usually conduct in a simple test-tube - dressed up to look more impressive, often with dye or other additives to make the 'lava' look realistic for the model, but unrelated to the geology it supposedly represents. In most soda volcano projects people don't even explain what's happening.

The girl with hair bun (poossibly [[Danish]]) has made a little more of her volcano, however, as it seems to go beyond simple chemistry. The model replicates many of the dangers (aside from the pure lava) of a volcano, and appears to have been given scaled-down vehicles (not visible in the comic) trying (and failing) to escape the dangers of the resultant mud-flows (a.k.a. {{w|lahar|lahars}} in professional terminology) being modelled. Ponytail contradicts her early reaction by also not liking the more realistic model.

Even more, this is not an isolated 'model volcano' but a vinegar-powered representation of a geological 'hot spot', such as with the islands of Hawaii, in which the spot moves with respect to the Earth's crust (or vice-versa) and generates a new volcano some way off. Despite this model being supported on a table, it appears that the 'project' extends some way beyond that and has somehow contrived further eruptions away from the table, the room and probably even the building.

The 'project' seems to be turning into a very thorough model of a much larger geological process (a {{w|Supervolcano}} like {{w|Yellowstone Caldera|the one}} under {{w|Yellowstone National Park|Yellowstone}}) and destined to produce a ''very real'' {{w|volcanic winter}}. Where a magma-powered volcano could produce vast clouds of dust, preventing the sun's energy from warming the Earth, in this case it's the airborne salt (probably sodium acetate) from the chemical reaction that appears to be in danger of causing crop failure. There's no mention of the corresponding environmental effects of the vast amounts of carbon dioxide (and/or aqueous carbonic acid) necessarily released in proportion to the ejected salt (presumably itself not left in solution).

It is especially troubling that the child even mentions that her model volcano is an offshoot of a baking soda ''super''volcano. Supervolcanoes are massive volcanoes, far larger than even those on the list of {{w|Decade Volcanoes}} (mentioned in the title text), whose eruption would likely trigger species-level extinction events comparable to the dinosaur extinction. Humanity can only hope the child is exaggerating in her description, but the symptoms witnessed by the adult looking out the window suggest otherwise. {{w|Campi Flegrei}} is actually a real life example of her project.

When someone (presumably the dark haired woman) says she wants to stop learning, the girl with the bun grimly states that "Soon, we all will", alluding to their impending doom.

[[Randall]] has mentioned supervolcanoes before in [[1053: Ten Thousand]] (title text) and [[1159: Countdown]], making it a recurring interest of his. The volcano Mount Doom was depicted to the far left in the game [[1608: Hoverboard]] released a week before this comic. It may not be a supervolcano, but quite potent anyway...

In the title text the student expects extra credit for getting her model volcano added to the Decade Volcanoes list, a list maintained by {{w|International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior}} of the worlds most dangerous volcanoes (currently 16). It is either an absurd notion or a very troubling achievement that a science fair project could achieve the threatlevel posed by the likes of {{w|Mount Vesuvius}} (which destroyed ancient Pompeii in Italy, and threatens modern-day Naples in the same manner), {{w|Mount Rainier}} (whose lahars could potentially destroy parts of Seattle) or {{w|Mauna Loa}} (which could create a massive landslide, triggering a major tsunami that would threaten all of Hawaii). But at least that means that it was only a "local" volcano event and not a supervolcano event that she created. But considering the scale of her original model volcano, then the eruption of her supervolcano would probably fit with the difference between a normal single volcano eruption and that of one supervolcano! She kept it to scale!

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail is standing behind a small girl with a hair bun who has one hand up. They are looking at a table with a model volcano.]
:Girl: My science project is a baking soda and vinegar volcano!

:[A larger frame that includes Megan who stands to the right. Ponytail is a little further back and the girl has taken her hand down. The baking soda volcano erupts in a small upwards explosion.]
:Ponytail: Why do people make these? It isn't really even a science project. It doesn't teach anything about-
:Volcano: '''''Foom! '''''

:[Smaller frame again. Ponytail has moved closer to the table, the girl moves around the table to the right, pointing at the volcano while Megan walks closer. The "lava" flows down the volcano on both sides.]
:Girl: See how the baking soda and vinegar mix with mud and ice to form deadly flowing lahars?

:[Zoom in on the girls head close to the stream of lava going down the lower part of the volcano's right slope.]
:Girl: You can see the tiny cars trying to flee.
:Girl: Whoops! Too slow.

:[Zoom in on Ponytail.]
:Ponytail: Um. This is a bit grim.
:Girl (off panel): Learning!

:[The girls stand to the right of the table looking at the now still volcano. Shaky lines surround a sound effect written over the top of this slim frame:]
:''Rumble''

:[Back to showing all three as before. The girl looks at something in her hand (a stopwatch maybe?)]
:Girl: And now we're learning that this volcano is an offshoot of a vinegar hotspot rising from deep within the earth.
:Girl: ''Annnd...''

:[The girls turns away from the table looking right as a loud noise can be heard off-panel, depicted in white text on a wavy black bubble:]
:''Boooom''

:[Megan has walked over to a window to the right. It has the blinds drawn down. She opens a hole in the blinds by pulling down in the middle. It is dark outside. The other two are outside the frame to the left.]
:Girl (off panel): The baking soda supervolcano erupts, injecting clouds of salt into the stratosphere.
:Megan: Why is it getting dark outside?
:Girl (off panel): Learning is fun!

:[We see the girl standing close to the table, of which only the right leg can be seen. She holds up a tablet with a graph showing a rising trend. The other two are both out of the frame.]
:Girl: Sunlight dims. The earth cools. Summer frosts form. Crops die. We check the markets. Grain prices are rising.
:Megan (off panel): I want to stop learning now.
:Girl: Soon, we all will.

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

1611: Baking Soda and Vinegar

2015-12-07T09:20:01Z

Halfhat: /* Explanation */ Added a little more

{{comic
| number = 1611
| date = December 2, 2015
| title = Baking Soda and Vinegar
| image = baking_soda_and_vinegar.png
| titletext = Sure, it may not meet science fair standards, but I want credit for getting my baking soda and vinegar mountain added to the Decade Volcanoes list.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Does it miss something about the reaction although that may not count as "real" science?}}
In popular fiction (and maybe in part in fact) the "{{w|Sodium bicarbonate|Baking Soda}} and {{w|Vinegar}}" {{w|volcano}} is often a staple image of the science nerd at the science fair (see [https://sciencebob.com/the-erupting-volcano/ example here]), unless all the science nerds are doing ''real'' imaginative science and the student(s) with the volcano exhibit are dragging out the old hackneyed stereotype. It may also be age-dependent, this being something that is relatively advanced science for the lower grades but rather a childish experiment in the hands of older students.

As [[Ponytail]] is probably about to point out, the 'volcano' exhibit doesn't (usually) actually demonstrate anything about volcanic activity, it is just simple chemistry - such as you usually conduct in a simple test-tube - dressed up to look more impressive, often with dye or other additives to make the 'lava' look realistic for the model, but unrelated to the geology it supposedly represents. In most soda volcano projects people don't even explain what's happening.

The girl with hair bun (poossibly [[[Danish]]) has made a little more of her volcano, however, as it seems to go beyond simple chemistry. The model replicates many of the dangers (aside from the pure lava) of a volcano, and appears to have been given scaled-down vehicles (not visible in the comic) trying (and failing) to escape the dangers of the resultant mud-flows (a.k.a. {{w|lahar|lahars}} in professional terminology) being modelled. Ponytail contradicts her early reaction by also not liking the more realistic model.

Even more, this is not an isolated 'model volcano' but a vinegar-powered representation of a geological 'hot spot', such as with the islands of Hawaii, in which the spot moves with respect to the Earth's crust (or vice-versa) and generates a new volcano some way off. Despite this model being supported on a table, it appears that the 'project' extends some way beyond that and has somehow contrived further eruptions away from the table, the room and probably even the building.

The 'project' seems to be turning into a very thorough model of a much larger geological process (a {{w|Supervolcano}} like {{w|Yellowstone Caldera|the one}} under {{w|Yellowstone National Park|Yellowstone}}) and destined to produce a ''very real'' {{w|volcanic winter}}. Where a magma-powered volcano could produce vast clouds of dust, preventing the sun's energy from warming the Earth, in this case it's the airborne salt (probably sodium acetate) from the chemical reaction that appears to be in danger of causing crop failure. There's no mention of the corresponding environmental effects of the vast amounts of carbon dioxide (and/or aqueous carbonic acid) necessarily released in proportion to the ejected salt (presumably itself not left in solution).

It is especially troubling that the child even mentions that her model volcano is an offshoot of a baking soda ''super''volcano. Supervolcanoes are massive volcanoes, far larger than even those on the list of {{w|Decade Volcanoes}} (mentioned in the title text), whose eruption would likely trigger species-level extinction events comparable to the dinosaur extinction. Humanity can only hope the child is exaggerating in her description, but the symptoms witnessed by the adult looking out the window suggest otherwise. {{w|Campi Flegrei}} is actually a real life example of her project.

When someone (presumably the dark haired woman) says she wants to stop learning, the girl with the bun grimly states that "Soon, we all will", alluding to their impending doom.

[[Randall]] has mentioned supervolcanoes before in [[1053: Ten Thousand]] (title text) and [[1159: Countdown]], making it a recurring interest of his. The volcano Mount Doom was depicted to the far left in the game [[1608: Hoverboard]] released a week before this comic. It may not be a supervolcano, but quite potent anyway...

In the title text the student expects extra credit for getting her model volcano added to the Decade Volcanoes list, a list maintained by {{w|International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior}} of the worlds most dangerous volcanoes (currently 16). It is either an absurd notion or a very troubling achievement that a science fair project could achieve the threatlevel posed by the likes of {{w|Mount Vesuvius}} (which destroyed ancient Pompeii in Italy, and threatens modern-day Naples in the same manner), {{w|Mount Rainier}} (whose lahars could potentially destroy parts of Seattle) or {{w|Mauna Loa}} (which could create a massive landslide, triggering a major tsunami that would threaten all of Hawaii). But at least that means that it was only a "local" volcano event and not a supervolcano event that she created. But considering the scale of her original model volcano, then the eruption of her supervolcano would probably fit with the difference between a normal single volcano eruption and that of one supervolcano! She kept it to scale!

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail is standing behind a small girl with a hair bun who has one hand up. They are looking at a table with a model volcano.]
:Girl: My science project is a baking soda and vinegar volcano!

:[A larger frame that includes Megan who stands to the right. Ponytail is a little further back and the girl has taken her hand down. The baking soda volcano erupts in a small upwards explosion.]
:Ponytail: Why do people make these? It isn't really even a science project. It doesn't teach anything about-
:Volcano: '''''Foom! '''''

:[Smaller frame again. Ponytail has moved closer to the table, the girl moves around the table to the right, pointing at the volcano while Megan walks closer. The "lava" flows down the volcano on both sides.]
:Girl: See how the baking soda and vinegar mix with mud and ice to form deadly flowing lahars?

:[Zoom in on the girls head close to the stream of lava going down the lower part of the volcano's right slope.]
:Girl: You can see the tiny cars trying to flee.
:Girl: Whoops! Too slow.

:[Zoom in on Ponytail.]
:Ponytail: Um. This is a bit grim.
:Girl (off panel): Learning!

:[The girls stand to the right of the table looking at the now still volcano. Shaky lines surround a sound effect written over the top of this slim frame:]
:''Rumble''

:[Back to showing all three as before. The girl looks at something in her hand (a stopwatch maybe?)]
:Girl: And now we're learning that this volcano is an offshoot of a vinegar hotspot rising from deep within the earth.
:Girl: ''Annnd...''

:[The girls turns away from the table looking right as a loud noise can be heard off-panel, depicted in white text on a wavy black bubble:]
:''Boooom''

:[Megan has walked over to a window to the right. It has the blinds drawn down. She opens a hole in the blinds by pulling down in the middle. It is dark outside. The other two are outside the frame to the left.]
:Girl (off panel): The baking soda supervolcano erupts, injecting clouds of salt into the stratosphere.
:Megan: Why is it getting dark outside?
:Girl (off panel): Learning is fun!

:[We see the girl standing close to the table, of which only the right leg can be seen. She holds up a tablet with a graph showing a rising trend. The other two are both out of the frame.]
:Girl: Sunlight dims. The earth cools. Summer frosts form. Crops die. We check the markets. Grain prices are rising.
:Megan (off panel): I want to stop learning now.
:Girl: Soon, we all will.

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

explain xkcd:Community portal/Coordination

2015-10-31T13:45:05Z

Halfhat: /* New comic, not on the main site. */ new section

<noinclude>{{Community portal}}</noinclude>

== Issue dates ==

Hi Jeff,

As i'm creating pages I struggle with the issue dates of comics. I've added a comment to all pages that contain the (unknown/incorrect) dates. Is there a way to research those dates? --[[User:Rikthoff|Rikthoff]] ([[User talk:Rikthoff|talk]])
: [http://xkcd.com/archive/] if you mouse over the comic name, it will have the date. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:26, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

- if you mouse over comic name in "Archive" section of xkcd.com. Older comics(1-44 or so) might be found in [http://liveweb.archive.org/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/?skip=40 livejournal archive][[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 18:35, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

Should we consider using "2012-08-03" style dates and letting localization "do the right thing"? Most pages so far use "August 3, 2012" style dates, with a few incorrectly doing "August 3rd, 2012"... Presumably the template could do the localizing/localising...--[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 18:39, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

: The date is also available with the [http://xkcd.com/json.html JSON API], which I'm going to use for the [[User_talk:Jeff#Automatic_Import|import]]. I use <nowiki>{{#dateformat: year-month-day}}</nowiki>, MediaWiki should figure out the correct way to display it based on your preferences. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 18:47, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
Moved from [[User talk:Jeff]]. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:15, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== Date? ==

How do I find the date a comic was first posted (to put in the comic header here?) [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 12:26, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

Moved from [[Talk:Main Page]]. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:43, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

Original posting date is listed on xkcd's [[http://xkcd.com/archive/ archive page]] as hover-text for each post. The first 44 comics are all listed as 2006-01-01. Many of these were previously posted on the [[http://liveweb.archive.org/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/?skip=40 livejournal site]], and some dates can be found/inferred by checking there.--[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 17:49, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

== To do list ==

I suggest a todo list to be added here so newcomers will have an idea of concrete things they can do to help. I'll start by moving some items I've been collecting on my user page. Feel free to add more :)

'''Things to do'''
* Complete all entries from the [[List of all comics]]
* [[Special:WantedPages]] lists pages that have links to them but haven't been created yet.
* More topics that could be covered here besides the comics themselves:
** our [https://twitter.com/explainxkcd twitter account]
** the xkcd irc channel (and [http://wiki.xkcd.com its wiki])
** the xkcd blag
** the xkcd forum
** other sites explaining xkcd ([http://xkcdexplained.com/], [http://xkcd.wikia.com], [http://xkcdexplained.wikia.com], [http://xkcdexplainedexplained.tumblr.com/archive], maybe invite members+content of the other wikis in once we're established?)

'''Maintenance'''
* Redirects should be created from the "File:number.png" format to the "File:title.png" format.
* categorization (make sure these lists are empty):
** [[Special:UncategorizedCategories]]
** [[Special:UncategorizedFiles]]
** [[Special:UncategorizedPages]]
** [[Special:WantedCategories]]
* building the web of links:
** [[Special:DeadendPages]] (pages with no links to other pages)
** [[Special:LonelyPages]] (pages that aren't linked to by any others)
* other
** [[Special:DoubleRedirects]]
**: (Took a chunk out of these the good ol' fashioned way, but there's got to be a wiff of Perl or Python to automate this... ? -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:44, 9 August 2012 (UTC))
**:: Well, there's [https://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/mwclient/ mwclient], a Python interface to the mediawiki API which I've used to move the comics to the new names. We could certainly create scripts to perform maintenance tasks and share the snippets here on the wiki. Automated tools will be useful while we establish standards early on. If you'd like help getting started, let me know. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 19:40, 9 August 2012 (UTC)
** convert [[Special:LinkSearch/en.wikipedia.org|wikipedia links]] to the <nowiki>{{w|Lorem ipsum}}</nowiki> format
** use lowercase xkcd everywhere on the wiki (see [http://xkcd.com/about/ How do I write "xkcd"?])

There are more maintenance reports at [[Special:SpecialPages]], for inspiration :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 06:45, 6 August 2012 (EDT)

:: I'd love one of these "To Do" lists for admins as well! :) I'm always forgetting what I need to do! --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 02:35, 12 August 2012 (UTC)
::: There actually isn't much to do that needs admin permissions around here. Right I can think of only a handful of admin-specific tasks:
:::* Keeping an eye on [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Admin requests]] for stuff other editors might need
:::* Keeping an eye on [[:Category:Pages to delete]] (currently populated by {{tl|spam}}), delete the pages, block the spammers
:::* Updating the main page and watching
:::* Implementing any changes, agreed by the community, that require editing Mediawiki pages
:::Maybe others will have other items to add to the list, but for the most part, the things that need to be done are available to all editors: adding the missing comic explanations, describing characters, categorizing, etc. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 19:13, 12 August 2012 (UTC)

Checking the above lists, here are the current stats:
* 0 [[Special:UncategorizedCategories]] (OK)
* 2,000+ [[Special:UncategorizedFiles]], most of them being part of the [[Time]] comic
* 2 [[Special:UncategorizedPages]], both related to the same [[Time]] comic
* a few [[Special:WantedCategories]], all from Babel templates on userpages i believe.
Just a FWIW or TWIMC. :) -- [[Special:Contributions/173.245.51.210|173.245.51.210]] 16:11, 8 November 2013 (UTC)
:The time-related pages can be fixed trivially. The wanted categories are kinda impossible to clear up, as userpages are typically off-limits to everyone except the owner of the userpage, unless they're a spambot. We've made pretty good progress on everything else though. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:43, 8 November 2013 (UTC)
::The wanted categs can be cleared up by ''creating'' them, and adding them to the categ hierarchy. I'm just not familiar enough with said hierarchy. -- [[Special:Contributions/173.245.51.210|173.245.51.210]] 17:09, 8 November 2013 (UTC)

== Date categories ==
I'm not sure the "[[:Category:Comics by month|Comics by month]]", by weekday, etc. Will be much useful, unless for those interested in running some stats. It might be more interesting to have specific months, such as [[:Category:Comics from May 2011]] and so on. What do you think? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 06:45, 6 August 2012 (EDT)
: That was actually next for me: #time:year-month, but I wanted to study the globalization implications. I prefer over-categorizing rather than under-categorizing, since it's comparatively cheap. The assumption is that categories are the same as tags on the old site, and that mediawiki affords us some extra ways to automatically categorize pages in addition to the manual forms starting to emerge (by character, by subject, etc.) To paraphrase an old prof: you can't study what you don't measure; I've been wanting to see if, for example, Monday comics deal certain subjects, while Friday comics deal with another, etc. Not everybody's cup of tea, but of value perhaps to some, and insanely cheap to support both mentally and for the software. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 13:51, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

I also used it to find some date typos for Saturday/Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday comics, which should usually be empty - except for some early entries from livejournal... --[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 21:50, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

It does make it look a bit messy down by the categories... maybe we can skip one or two of these date categories, if people don't still find them useful? [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 21:22, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

== Page names ==

I think we should use the comic number '''and''' the title as the page name. Like so: "112: Baring My Heart". This would allow comics to be sorted by order in categories, but the pages would still have human-readable names for those of us who don't memorize all xkcd comic numbers ;) Thoughts? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 07:23, 6 August 2012 (EDT)

:I agree, for another reason: for instance [[YouTube]] could be either the title of a page explaining how YouTube is referenced in xkcd, or the title of the explanation for comic #202 (titled "YouTube"). I don't know if I'm being clear here, but as we do not control the titles of the comics, that could create confusion with other pages. So using something like [[202: YouTube]] would ensure disambiguation without being really complicated or awkward... And actually prefixing the comic title with its number seems quite relevant to me.
:Additionally, that would solve potential problems such as [[Exoplanets]]: comic [[786]] or [[1071]]?
:[[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 14:33, 6 August 2012 (UTC)
::Beat me to the punch; agreed. Numbers are unique and sequential, but not altogether that meaningful. Names are meaningful but (as we've seen) not unique. Some combination of both would be called for. We'd need to have the plain numbers redirect to the new topic (some double-redirects would need to be fixed up?) and the names would too (with at least one disambiguation page for now, and who knows: maybe more to come?) -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 13:55, 7 August 2012 (UTC)
::Following up on the YouTube discussion above, I'm wondering if we should leverage namespaces more: main:topic is implicitly ''xkcd:topic'' (ie ''main:YouTube'' discusses the xkcd comic, while ''ref:YouTube'' is the place where the pop-culture reference of YouTube is discussed.) Either that, or some other name decoration, such as ''YouTube Explained'', or ... -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 13:59, 7 August 2012 (UTC)
::: Agreed. Number and the name together. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:08, 7 August 2012 (UTC)
:::: Looks like we have consensus. I'll move the pages (I've been meaning to learn how to use [https://sourceforge.net/projects/mwclient mwclient] anyway :D) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 18:01, 7 August 2012 (UTC)
:::: {{done}}, all current pages have been moved. However, I am not sure whether we should keep a space after the colon. What do you guys think? Should it be "112: Baring My Heart" or "112:Baring My Heart"? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 18:20, 7 August 2012 (UTC)
::::: Also, I just realized MediaWiki doesn't allow colons in image Filenames. One solution could be using something like [[:File:786. Exoplanets.png]] or [[:File:786-Exoplanets.png]], but then perhaps we'd have to change the pages name too, for consistency? I'll try to investigate what is the reasoning behind this restriction. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 18:50, 7 August 2012 (UTC)
:::::: Ok, it seems like it's a matter of setting <code><nowiki>$wgIllegalFileChars = '';</nowiki></code> in LocalSettings.php (because it is set as <code>$wgIllegalFileChars = ':';</code> in DefaultSettings.php). <s>Jeff, could you do that please?</s> --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 19:13, 7 August 2012 (UTC)
:::::::: Nevermind, we will probably use a different naming pattern instead. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 20:05, 9 August 2012 (UTC)

::::::: I guess this is my bad for not ciming in on this discussion earlier, but I frankly think that the #: Name is a worse way of doing it just for the reasons of system resources. #:Name is fine from a user standpoint with the '''caveat''' that # and Name both redirect to #:Name. The problem is that this requires 2 redirects minimum for every comic, and the redirect itself takes a bit more time for each article to load, and (as I understand from wikipedia and its dislike of double redirects), every redirect adds to the system load. So if every article lookup by users (who will undoubtedly type either the number or the name, but rarely both) is a redirect, the system load is going to go up.

::::::: As an aside, assuming Jeff is able to install the Cite Extension to add citation referencing (and even if he doesn't), I was expecting to try to create some sort of template in the concept of {{tl|cite comic}} where you could basically pass a single variable (e.g. the comic number) and it would create a proper citation for that comic. Similarly, this naming format will perhaps require a template something like {{tl|comicno}} with a comic number field just to create a quick link that is visibly appealing and links properly to the comic with that number. (ie: {comicno|18} would produce a link like "[[18: Snapple|Snapple]]" or something). I'm wondering though if anyone has any coding ideas for how we might accomplish this other than the hardcode all the titles into a template. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 19:26, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

::::::: PS: I did some mild digging on another wiki, ''Star Trek'''s Memory Alpha wiki, and although all of its episode articles are now titled "episode title (episode)" to avoid disambiguation, which allows you to an episode template by calling the title (which template appends "(episode)" to every entry), they DO have a title-display template: [http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Template:Titles Template:Titles] - with a template subpage for every single episode setting out how the mouseover text should be displayed. It would be possible to do such a template for xkcd just so that comic numbers can be crossreferenced to titles... [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 20:30, 7 August 2012 (UTC)
:::::::: (Hoping this is the right number of colons for proper indentation... ;-) Redirects are one thing, and while probably resulting in possibly two page serves (isn't it really just two hits to the db?) they're natively supported by mediawiki. Even so, if performance is proven to be a real (not just conjectured) problem, can we do something clever, perhaps, with transclusion? Either the number transcludes the title, or vice versa? Might be a case of pre-optimization, though; in the back of my mind, it seems that the rendering engine puts as much effort into transcluding to expand templates as it would to expand a redirect in situ: either case is just a query to the DB to expand the contents of said item. (Enough rambling; anybody have any concrete metrics on this?) -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 06:23, 9 August 2012 (UTC)
:::::::::Hi folks. Just thought I'd state that redirects are completely safe. They don't add any noticeable loading time for the users and the extra resources used by the server are so minor that it's akin to the resources used to type a character in notepad. Pages are also aggressively cached (by default, anyway). If you're interested, the way redirects work in Mediawiki isn't like most other sites handle redirects. It's not loading a page that makes you load another page. Rather, all content is stored in an SQL database. The content is stored under a certain name (eg, "#: Hello World!"). A redirect simply tells Mediawiki to look for the content under a different name. Slightly more work for the server (don't worry, they can handle it), but the page is delivered to the user in roughly the same period of time (if we want to be technical, the page will be slightly larger, due to the "Redirected from whatever" line added to the page (which is mostly there for the purpose of making it easier to fix incorrect redirects). I don't have metrics, but can assure you that it's almost no difference in the end result. {{User:Omega/sig}} 09:11, 9 August 2012 (UTC)

I've been thinking about this some more, and I believe we should choose a different pattern for the page names.
* First, use another separator between comic number and name, since colon is forbidden in files. A simple alternative would be "Comic title (number)", as in [[Michael Phelps (1092)]]. This would additionally allow us to use the {{w|Help:Pipe trick|pipe trick}} when linking to a comic, since content in parenthesis is automatically stripped out: <nowiki>[[Michael Phelps (1092)|]]</nowiki> results in [[Michael Phelps (1092)|Michael Phelps]]. Another effect of this is that by dropping the colon naming scheme we would remove ambiguity with the namespace system, which also uses colons to separate namespaces from pagenames.
* Second, we should probably follow IronyChef's suggestion above and move them to a specific namespace, such as [[Comic:Michael Phelps (1092)]]. Other namespaces could be added for more topics, such as [[Character:Cueball]], [[xkcd:Randall]] (or [[Meta:Randall]]), [[Topic:Velociraptors]], etc. Not only we would be able to generate lists of pages without resorting to categories (which have to be added manually), but we would get lot's of "Random X" for free (random comic, random character, random topic, etc.)
What do you guys think? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 14:29, 9 August 2012 (UTC)
:P.s. - Proper category sorting of the comics would be dealt with by the {{tl|comic}} template, which would also pad the numbers with zeroes to ensure 100 comes after 2, etc.

::+1 on the parens... (but does that mean my recent double-redirect-fixups have been for naught? {{xkcd|541|(grin)}}) ... I couldn't put my finger on it and didn't articulate it earlier, but the fact that colon needed special attention by the software left me a bit uneasy (there must be a reason for them doing that, like namespaces perhaps) so using parentheses-es-es (as {{xkcd|297|long}} as we {{xkcd|859|close}} them {{explain|312|properly}}) seems more the mediawiki way. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 15:03, 9 August 2012 (UTC) (I know you folks don't like my propensity to (over?)categorize, but <nowiki>[[Category:Parentheses]]</nowiki> is just too irresistible... ;-)

:I think, that all of this seem unnecessary complication to me. I don't see any problem with the current system. I think something like [[1092: Michael Phelps]] flows well, is quite readable and easy to insert "as is" in the text (see the links to other comics in [[1048: Emotion]] for instance). As I understand, we would want the image files to be titled exactly the same way as their corresponding article; why, where is the need for that? (to me the simplest way, and most relevant maybe, would be to name them exactly as they are on xkcd.com; maybe with a prefix, like "xkcd - ", so that it cannot mess with other existing images such as from Commons).
:I don't see the point of creating namespaces such as "Character", "Topic", etc.; what is the problem with [[Beret Guy]], [[Randall Munroe]], [[Velociraptors]], and such? with namespaces one will have to put each topic in one box (and one only), where will you put things like [[Stick figure]] or [[My Hobby]] or any other thing that will pop up without clearly belonging to one of these boxes? ''[[1077: Home Organization|just give up]]!'' :-)
:About the "Random X", I like the idea that on xkcd.com, you can get a random ''comic'' (because that's all what is there), but in here you can get a random whatever: you may get a comic explanation, a character, a topic or anything, because in here there is all that.
:I don't think the colon in the comic page names will pose any problem, it cannot mess with anything as long as it is preceded by a number only.
:''In the end,'' I think that adding the number in the comic page names was a good choice, because there would have been real issues otherwise, but for now I would say : "don't fix what is not broken", KISS, and "just give up". :-)
:[[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 16:14, 9 August 2012 (UTC)

:: I have to agree with this. The existing page names are fine in my book, and I don't see any benefits of renaming them all (again). Concerning the random, though, I mentioned an extension in proposals that would allow us to choose a "random page in a category". I don't really care one way or another about character topics. Seem like a lot of maintenance when we don't even have a quarter of the comics explained yet, but whatever. Concerning the image names, I think that simply using the same name as it appears on xkcd is fine. Images are a bit of a "backend", that people don't usually search for (rather, they'd search for the comic and find the image on that page). As well, since all images are hosted on xkcd, they won't be any file name conflicts amongst the comics. {{User:Omega/sig}} 18:04, 9 August 2012 (UTC)

::: Good points (and puns!), all of you. I'd like to address a few specific points (I'll highlight the key takeaways for your convenience):
:::* '''I still prefer parenthesis''' for the simple reason that colons mess with the concept of namespaces (not that it has any effect on the software, which can cope quite well; I'm speaking from a user point of view). Besides, one of the reasons I proposed for having the number first was automatic category sorting, but that backfired (cf. #2 vs. #100).
:::* Re rationale for having image files titled like the comics is that it would allow automatic image inclusion via the {{tl|comic}} template. However, having the prefix is not crucial for that (hadn't thought of this before), so I'll go ahead and remove my suggestion above to allow colons in filenames.
:::* Note that there's no problem with "conflicts" with Commons images: an image uploaded here simply takes precedence regarding an image uploaded to commons under the same name (e.g. [[:File:Irony.jpg]] vs. [[commons:File:Irony.jpg]]). That said, while external conflicts aren't a problem, internal ones are (e.g. [[Exoplanets]]). That, coupled with the "it's just a backend" point made by Omega, is a good argument to '''use the original filenames''' (also, less overhead when uploading a new comic)
:::* I understand the argument against a single primary way to classify a page using namespaces. The category system is more flexible as it allows many-to-many relationships. However, I must point out that the examples you give are no problem at all: [[Meta:Stick figure]] and [[Topic:My Hobby]] ;) So '''I'm still not convinced that using custom namespaces is a bad idea''' or a lost cause or that it won't scale up well. Besides, it makes it very clear what a reader will find on that page (explainxkcd.com/wiki/Topic:Velociraptors is a pretty self-explanatory url). And again, it allows us to use the random feature that is natively implemented on mediawiki, rather than an extension. And "random whatever" is still available, of course :)
:::* IronyChef, by all means, please create [[:Category:Parentheses]] :D
::: --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 20:05, 9 August 2012 (UTC)

:::If we're going to use the numbers in the titles, it seems logical to have the number come first so that comics are essentially sortable by number rather than alphabetically by title; although this probably can be taken care of by changing the sort title, thoug this could be tedious.

:::I don't support new namespaces for comics and characters and whatnot. I don't see what it adds to the wiki, and it just makes the links to each comic page ''even longer'' (no one will EVER correctly search for '''Comic:Snapple (18)''' on their first attempt).

:::I am not claiming to be an expert on redirects. My comment was based on wikipedia pages like {{w|Wikipedia:Double redirects}} where it clearly suggests in the lead that double redirects "waste server resources". I assume this applies (at to a lesser degree) to single redirects. They may not be needless waste like double redirects, but they they do use resources. Granted wikipedia has far larger servers and much more traffic, so it may be more relevant to them than here, but it still would appear to be a resource issue; Database queries are still resource hogs, even if they are simple ones. Not suggesting they aren't safe, but if every comic load is basically a redirect, that is still two queries every time instead of just the occasional one. I'm fine with it; I'm just pointing out the issue. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 16:20, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

::::The reason that double redirects are bad is that linking a redirect to another redirect (a double redirect) causes the first redirect to simply display the content of the second redirect (rather than actually redirecting the page). This appears as simply an arrow and a link (a soft redirect). It uses more system resources because an actual page has to be loaded and displayed, forcing the user to manually click the link and display the proper page (whereas a single redirect would load the correct page and display it). So in other words, a double redirect forces two pages to be loaded, while a single redirect only loads one page, more or less the same as if you went to the actual page title. {{User:Omega/sig}} 21:35, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

::::: Also, regarding the sorting argument for using numbers first: I was the one who originally proposed that, but I overlooked the fact that sorting won't work unless we use padding (e.g. "0001: Comic title"), which is kind of a hack. MediaWiki supports category sort keys natively, so we should be taking advantage of them rather than relying on a specific page title format to achieve the same effect.
::::: As for the namespaces, I think I've presented my arguments for that above; let me know if any of them are unclear. I accept that one may disagree with them, but not that there ''aren't'' any benefits. Note that '''nobody''' will correctly seach for whatever page title we use, unless we use only the numbers as the final title, which I think we all agree is not desirable. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:25, 11 August 2012 (UTC)

::::::Thanks for the double-redirect explanation, Omega. To Waldir; I think people would also correctly search for Comic Titles, at times. Some more than others, for sure. But if you are on XKCD reading a comic that has a title printed, and you want to come here and read the explanation, You would most likely search for either the number or the title that is displayed at xkcd.com. That said, if it's not a resource hog, and we can find a GOOD way to create links to comics easily (ie: I can type in {explain|123} and actually get a proper looking link to that comic's page, I'm cool with that. I really think it will add a lot of time to the edit process to have to manually type in 123: Title for every link to another comic. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:32, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

== Comic Display - another new template ==

I see that the latest comics have changed over to {{tl|comicbox}} from {{tl|comic}}. This might be in response to today's tall narrow comic. I don't see any recent discussions about the {{tl|comicbox}} template. We really need to come to some form of consensus on the comic display issue. I am really not a fan of the {{tl|comicbox}} template, as I arrive at the homepage today and I don't understand what I'm seeing. There is no indication that the text on the right is the Explanation. I wasn't sure if part of it was title text or not. I figured it out, but it's not the easiest thing to see. I also don't think the navbuttons jutting right up against the top of the comic display box looks good.

Eithe way, where I'm going with this is that I think we need to come to a consensus on the form and template used for comic pages. If we choose comicbox, or comic or some other template, it's all good; but we should be editing ONE template to get it working and looking the way we want; rather than bouncing between many templates and creating new ones. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 16:26, 10 August 2012 (UTC)
:Yeah, I was really confused at first, and scrambled through the discussions trying to find what happened. To be honest, I'm more of a fan of the {{tl|comic}} template, with the explanation under a header explaining so. Not to mention with {{tl|comicbox}}, I'm suddenly unsure of what to do with the transcripts. For comparison, [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1093:_Forget&oldid=6199 here] is the {{tl|comic}} template, while [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1093:_Forget&oldid=6209 here] is the {{tl|comicbox}} template. At any rate, no matter what template we're using (I personally prefer {{tl|comic}}, but don't really care that much provided all comics use the same template), I agree that we need some kind of consensus to determine how we're formatting the page. {{User:Omega/sig}} 21:31, 10 August 2012 (UTC)
::Ditto on the confusion (augmented by the confusion of finding where the pertinent discussion has gotten off to; they seem to slip from page to page between visits... ) Anyway, I'm guessing this is a ''de-gustibus'' matter, but regardless of the respective virtues of either template, to my eye the template today's comic was changed to has {{explain|1070|a couple}} cosmetic shortcomings:
::* The typeface is larger than normal. Just a personal preference, but it should be scaled 100% vs adjacent normal wiki text; readers can change the level of zoom if that's too small. Also,
::* the image is vertically centered, so in the case of a disproportionately long explanation (like today's) it appears too far down the page; it really needs to be top-aligned, with the title text close underneath it. Further,
::* for this vertical layout, there's a lot of wasted vertical space when the explanation is so much longer than the image. Rather than having two rigid columns, have we considered '''float:left''' or '''float:right''' style attributes on the image, so that whatever text is left flows to fill the entire space below the image?
:: Finally, to tie this all up with a bow, (and perhaps raising an issue that may have been raised before; I don't recall, because of the shifting locations of discussions hereabouts) ... Is there a need for images to always be shown at 100% size, especially for the more extremely sized ones? Seems to me that the images here really only need to fulfill a refresher role, and clicks through the image should take the reader to the full-sized image on xkcd.com. Legally, I know we have the right to host the images here. But morally, it seems like we shouldn't be taking too much traffic away from xkcd.com as it is RM's bread and butter. Our value-add is the in the form of explanations: long as we can visually tie these explanations with the comic (by having something bigger than a thumbnail, but somewhat smaller than full size, especially for odd-shaped ones) I think we're on the positive side. Thotz? -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 05:23, 11 August 2012 (UTC)
:::I agree with you on all points, although I'm really not a fan of having the text either beside or under the comic. I'd rather it be the same in all cases. In which case, having the text beside the comic won't do, as wide comics wouldn't be very supportive of that. Also, if the explanation is considerably longer than the comic, it just looks a bit strange to me. Float left/right would fix that, but would be a bit harder to implement with the title text (eg, if the title text and image are inside a float left div, does that div have a fixed width or does a long title text push it over?). All in all, I'd rather the text always be below the comic. It's consistent and less problematic. Regarding the size of comics, I'd rather we use the full size in all cases except the "large" comics (defined as the comics that are shown at a reduced size on xkcd itself, such as [[1079: United Shapes]]). Why? Because when I'm reading an explanation to a comic I don't understand, I'm constantly referencing the explanation with the comic itself. Having to open a new tab each time would make that a bit less convenient. {{User:Omega/sig}} 06:38, 11 August 2012 (UTC)
::::For visual experimentation, I've made the theoretically uncontroversial changes of text size (it's now expressed as relative percentage rather than absolute px) and I made the image top-aligned, so comics like {{explain|1093}} show the image near the top of the explanation, despite the explanation being many multiples of that image's height; we can change that back if we don't like them. There are other changes I'd like to make (see above) but I'll wait for general agreement on that (not to mention which template to use.) -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 15:39, 12 August 2012 (UTC)

:::::To respond to all of the previous comments; I echo IronyChef's thought - I built into {{tl|comic}} an imagesize attribute because I believe that the comic should be a managable size on this site; generally not more than say 400px; this creates a "click to enlarge" link which takes the user to the imgae's page. Although I previously thought that a balance needs to be kept because people may start coming to the wiki to read xkcd in the first instance instead of xkcd.com, I also agree with Omega's point that it's potentially unfair to Randall to entice traffic away from xkcd.com. This strengthens my belief that larger comics should be kept to a reasonable size.

:::::Not sure if I said it in this thread, I think we have to look at the purpose of the box itself. In my eyes, the box is designed (like an infobox) to basically show the user the basic facts. Not user-added material or encyclopedia text. The box, in my view, is there to present all of the info about the comic that actually comes from xkcd. The image, the alt text, the title, date and number. Adding the explanation in the box basically makes the explanation look official as part of the comic. The primary content of this site is the explanations. If anything should go under proper wiki-format headers, it's that (in my opinion). The transcript is technically official content, but as I've said elsewhere, in my view, the transcript is secondary info that the comic already contains; it doesn't need to be in the infobox. IronyChef has indentified and fixed a lot of my minor cosmetic issues with the comicbox template, and there are others I don't like either (the title font is a little too weak and the top of the box is touching the bottom of the nav buttons. Don't like those, but again, easily fixable).

::::: I also think while there may be instances like the "Forget" comic which is a list-form comic where having a long vertical list explanation works, a long vertical list is often harder to read and follow than a full-page-width explanation. (even "Forget" has each line of explanation end up being several lines long in {{tl|comicbox}} format.) Worse, the potential to want to fit in the box may limit users from adding to explanations which we shouldn't encourage. If the explanation is twice as long as the comic, there's nothing wrong with that, and it shouldn't look bad by going inside the template. I appreciate the attempt that the verticle comicbox makes to not waste space (using the two-column method) but I don't think this is the way to do it. I think shrinking the comic (and accepting that there will be space on either side) is the best way. As I say, 375px or 400px seem like logical limiters for most comics. This is explainxkcd, so you shouldn't have to scroll way down to get to the explanation. I too sometimes like to view the comic and explain at the same time to check notes as Omega suggests, but I can do that by control+click or shift+clicking the image to enlarge, and comparing in separate windows by tiling them or just switching back and forth - with a larger comic, you'd have to scroll up and down to read both the comic and the explanation anyway. I find I lose my place in the text when I do that. alt+Tabbing for me generally is easier to keep my place in both windows.

:::::The one thing from {{tl|comicbox}} that I do like is that the box is shaded slightly bluegray. I like the separation that creates; on the other hand, xkcd.com has comics posted on white; does it hurt the integrity of any comics to have them posted on blue-grey instead of white? I'd consider changing the background of {{tl|comic}} to a blue-gray (though perhaps lighter than the one on comicbox) if people like that. That's my thoughts[[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 15:10, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

{{outdent|:::::}}
{{tl|ComicBox}} just got a major redesign. It looks more like {{tl|comic}}, but with the addition of a vertical comic mode. Also, bear in mind that {{tl|comic}} doesn't use white for the background. For comics like "Forget", take a look at [[Forget comicbox]]. Looks ok?  [[User:Grep|grep]][[User_talk:Grep|talk]] 15:27, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

:As noted on [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals#Comic Templates]], there is no need to start a new thread there there there is already a thread on the topic here (which you've posted to). Also, if your post was "which template should we use when?" it's not really a "proposal" for the proposals page, and better fits here under coordination.

:That said, I thought this topic was fairly well resolved. Jeff endorsed {{tl|Comic}} in the [[#Header_template]] discussion on this page, and this subsequent discussion seemed to resolve as well with no real consensus that a change from {{tl|comic}} was necessary or beneficial. I don't see the benefit of continuing to build new templates that basially duplicate existing templates with one extra function (vertical mode). That could have been built into the existing template, if it were deemed necessary.

:I personally think there are still pluses and minuses to doing things vertically; It looks a little cluttered to have the comic up on one size and the explanation on the other. If you don't have a high-resolution desktop or you want a non-maximized window, there may not be much space for the explanation which may end up with two or three words per line and be hard to read and annoying. "Forget" was a comic featuring a long list; this made for a very long listed explanation. Most long comics will not have explanations longer than the comic, and we'll have a lot of whitespace to the right of the comic. It just looks cluttered to me. I like having the navbar centered above the comic, not the page (and also in the enclosed comic box). That's personal preference though. I think the better design for vertical comics (is just to reduce their size and put them in the standard box. They otherwise take up too much space. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 16:48, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

*I am not a fan of the discontinuity that comicbox creates as the explanation runs longer than the image. I also feel that we should focus on improving the existing {{tl|comic}} instead of further developing new templates. - [[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 21:38, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

== Template for New Comics ==

To clarify, I'm not talking about a template like {{tl|comic}} or {{tl|comicbox}}, but rather a form to cut/paste for new comics. I'm rather new to large editing of MediaWiki pages, so I'm interested in learning of better ways of doing things.

Recently, I've been copy/pasting [[User:Blaisepascal/newcomictemplate]] to set up the basic form of the page, then editing the various sections. This ensures I get the major bits. I still have to copy/paste the transcript from xkcd.com, fill in the {{tl|comic}} template, and make the number and title redirects by hand.

Is there a better way? Is there anything my template is missing? [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 14:06, 21 August 2012 (UTC)

:I've created a ruby script that can be given a comic number and it will spit out a text file with the comic template filled out, the transcript, and the comic discussion template. I've finally gotten it to the point that it is usable, so that's why I'm talking about it. It still doesn't pull explanations from the blog, but that's a whole ball of wax in and of itself. I'm on Linux so it's easy to run it and have it spit out files, I assume on Windows if you have ruby installed there is a way to run ruby scripts from the command prompt. Can't tell you where things will pop out, probably in the directory you run it in, but I haven't tested it on Windows yet. I'm also continuing to work on it, so don't assume that any version you download is the final product. Oh, it also spits out the redirect line you put in the number and title pages so you can just copy/paste that.
:I made it because I was going to drive myself insane making hundreds of pages without some kind of automation. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:24, 25 August 2012 (UTC)

::{{tl|create}} was created as a template for the comic list so that it could be autoloaded into comics by linking from [[List of all comics]]. That functionality doesn't seem to be working, unfortunately. For that reason, I added a "transcript" of the create text as documentation on that template. If you goto {{tl|create}}, you will find a template for new comic creation. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 20:20, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

== The name of the ponytail character ==

I remember the community having a name for the female ponytail character (I don't recall if there is a male ponytail character, but in the interest of being complete). Was it simply Ponytail?

In any case, she seems to recur enough to deserve her own Category:Comics featuring ... page. But I don't want to go create it without knowing what we can agree on is her name. So, pony (wow, didn't intend that pun) up your 2 cents. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:28, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

:This comic http://xkcd.com/322/ calls a ponytail'ed female Joanna. Is this the same character as ponytail? She might be different. Community input please. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 01:26, 23 August 2012 (UTC)
::It sounds plausible. Few of the characters are named, and it looks like Ponytail (compare, for example, Elaine Roberts as an adult, who has light hair, but doesn't wear it in a ponytail). The one concern is that in 322, she is clearly acquainted with Black Hat, and in 405 she appears to be friends with Danish, yet Black Hat and Danish don't know each other -- unless he tracked her down via Joanna... [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 04:41, 23 August 2012 (UTC)

== The name of Black Hat's girlfriend ==

[[Black Hat]] has a girlfriend, introduced in [[377: Journal 2]]. She has thicker hair than Megan, and is seen (in [[405: Journal 3]] to be friends with [[Ponytail]]. Is there community-accepted name for her?
:: No, not yet. She seems to have a personality similar to [[Black Hat]] himself --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:48, 22 August 2012 (UTC)
:::I don't really want to create a "Category:Comics featuring Black Hat's girlfriend" if there is a better solution, that's all. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 15:57, 22 August 2012 (UTC)
::::In my own head I've been calling her Summer because she looks like how Randall draws Summer Glau (not a good argument, granted), and in some of the comics she shows up she reminds me of Summer's characters. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:41, 22 August 2012 (UTC)
:::::Or we could call her Dearest or Darling or Danish http://xkcd.com/515/ [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 20:32, 22 August 2012 (UTC)
::::::OK, I've gone with [[Danish]]. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 22:18, 22 August 2012 (UTC)
:::::::P.S. I love you for that. You have my eternal respect. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 22:35, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

Also, now someone needs to update the Characters nav box to include Danish. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 22:51, 22 August 2012 (UTC)
:I found the template on my own (aren't I a [[1032|grown up professional]]?) and updated it. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 22:53, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

== Can we turn off page creation for non-logged in users ==

I'm not very familiar with mediawiki, so I don't know if this would be hard or not. But, it would stop the drive-by spam attacks (the ones that don't create accounts anyway, such nice bots).

My secondary goal in doing this would be to get [[Special:Contributions/‎72.252.145.183|‎72.252.145.183]] and [[Special:Contributions/‎207.204.86.3|‎207.204.86.3]] to make accounts so that there is a way to get a hold of them, give them some feedback, and have them stop adding/spamming spurious categories. Both of them are creating pages with poor/non-existent explanations, sections for the transcript but missing the transcript, haphazardly adding pre-existing categories and adding tons of one-off categories which do nothing to enhance explain xkcd.

[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 19:02, 13 September 2012 (UTC)
:Tag any such comics with {{[[Template:Comic-stub|Comic-stub]]}} and you or someone else can fix it ^^--[[User:Relic|Relic]] ([[User talk:Relic|talk]]) 00:01, 24 September 2012 (UTC)

::I guess you succeeded then ;) I have learned from my mistakes that I made as an anon ([[Special:Contributions/Btx40|take a look]])

::Why didn't you post on [[User talk:72.252.145.183]] or [[User talk:207.204.86.3]] (IPs have talk pages too)? I would have noticed it on either of them. It made me think that this community was more hostile than Wikipedia, which I also have [[wikipedia:User:Btx40|an account]] for --[[User:Btx40|Btx40]] ([[User talk:Btx40|talk]]) 21:14, 11 April 2013 (UTC)

== Tagline categories! ==

It finally struck me that there's that great line sitting top-right on the xkcd site. Yes the [[tagline]]. So, I've created pages for [[:Category:Language|Language]], [[:Category:Romance|Romance]], [[:Category:Math|Math]] already existed. But, I don't have time right now to go hunting down examples of [[:Category:Sarcasm|Sarcasm]]. Can I enlist the help of all the beautiful editors here to go tagging crazy? (Ok, not crazy like insane, but please do comb through everything for these) [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 19:47, 22 October 2012 (UTC)

== Image updates on xkcd ==

Once in a while, Randall changes the image of a particular comic (usually after someone here spotted an error!); for instance, that is the case for [http://xkcd.com/1122/ xkcd 1122 on Electoral Precedents]. It would be nice to still be able to see the original image(s) here as well as the updated version, as the discussion usually references the previous version(s) and therefore sometimes doesn't make sense without the original image in those cases. Also, consider this as a mild suggestion to update the mentioned image on its explanation page. Sorry if I've put this in the wrong place... --[[User:Jay|Jay]] ([[User talk:Jay|talk]]) 14:54, 29 October 2012 (UTC)

:For these most recent comics, someone usually uploads the version that goes public at midnight, and then corrections are uploaded on top of that. As part of the MediaWiki software, you can click on the image, which will take you to its file page, which allows you to see all the versions of the image back to its first creation. I, personally, am not sure if it's possible to link directly to a previous version, but it is there at least.

:Unfortunately, due to an image resizing bug, (that we all hope is being worked on, but it's been months with no progress and no word of work or progress, so hope is dwindling) for larger images you won't be able to see it, until you click on the broken file link which will just take you to the image.

:Hope that helps some. --[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 16:35, 29 October 2012 (UTC)

== The Great Spam Attack Of Thanksgiving 2012 ==

I believe I have now dealt with all the spam that has accumulated on the wiki. I've gone through Recent Changes and personally checked every anonymous edit since 5 this morning, and looked through every new page created. If I've missed something, please edit the page and put {{tl|spam}} at the top. Thank you to all the new editors that stepped up and went to work in the trenches while the rest of us were off stuffing our faces. I think special thanks goes out to [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] and [[User:TheOriginalSoni|TheOriginalSoni]]. I believe what happened is, the first major attack was met with a tepid response of about a month's temp block for all the IPs. But this time, for the flagrant vandalizers they are now on an indefinite ban.

Please, as you continue to notice spam or vandalization, use the {{tl|spam}} template, or add [[:Category:Pages to delete]] to the page (in the event that it's a newly created page). Leave a comment in your edit summary about vandalization clean up and someone with the power to, will deal with it.

--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 06:38, 24 November 2012 (UTC)

:Marked a wee bit that you missed. Typical, I take a day-long trip into China and an unholy mess of spam happens. May I suggest captchas for all anonymous edits for now? I would also like to get all the explanations done, or at least the ones from the blog, so that we can get the /wiki/ out of the URL to throw some of the spammers. The wall-of-text spammers all seem to include links to spam on other poor abused wikis, and I've noticed that all of those wikis also have a /wiki/ somewhere in there URL. It probably won't stop the new anon spammer, but we could probably restrict page creation to registered users only once we're done filling in all the old XKCD pages to cull those twats out too. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 09:27, 24 November 2012 (UTC)

:I have again dealt with the second wave of spam this Thanksgiving holiday (in the U.S. It's the only thing I can think that would be the cause.) and protected a few pages that seem to be repeat targets. If this is any indication of what major US holidays are like we need to get the administration (*ahem* Jeff) to delegate more controls to more users, and more A.I. spam fighting than we currently have (none). There has to be tricks that Wikipedia is using to fight spam. If we get this much, I can't imagine what the wikipedia servers have to daily stand up against, they must have spam fighting tricks, and not just hordes of people that can delete new pages that anonymous spam bots create. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:13, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

::Wikipedia has cluebot, which looks at page blanking and text insertion by anonymous users and reverts suspicious behavior automagically. I could ask cluebot's creator if we could lift the code for use here. It'll be like XERXES.ai, except it'll look for spam instead of spelling errors. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 07:16, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

::Aight, so Cluebot runs off a [https://github.com/cluenet/cluebotng core engine] with a dataset of previous vandalism to work from. We can set the files up on a raspberry pi or something, leave it running and connected to the web and feed it a backlog of past spam to teach it what to look for. Gonna do it after this hellish pile of work is over, unless someone wants to ninja me again. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 07:50, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

:::Cluebot sounds like a wonderful thing to have around here. When I have free time I might try to develop a basic bot that catches the basic kinds of spam and vandals we see here. (Spammers create a user account, create a random page and link to a random page on the internet; Vandals almost always leave an 18 character mixed lower/upper alphanumeric comment and are anonymous, that's unique enough it should be easily catchable)

==Trivia and transcript placement==
The placement of the trivia sections are not consistent on the wiki; sometimes they are placed above the transcript and sometimes below.

The trivia sections are often fun to read, and a good complement to the explanation. On the other hand I have a hard time imagining people coming here to read transcripts (I remember someone suggested collapsable boxes for them). I'm afraid trivia sections below the transcript "disappears" and sometimes won't be noticed at all (especially if the transcript is long). Therefore I propose that trivia sections should follow the explanation, and that the transcripts should be at the bottom of the page.

Another reason for this is that the dividing line between explanation and trivia is not always clear. The end of the explanations tend to accumulate trivia-like information. The natural thing is to just "crop off" a trivia section, where deemed appropriate, and not to move stuff to and fro around the block of transcript. –St.nerol (talk) 15:15, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

:I agree that trivia sections, if present, should come before the transcript. By the way, I think this thread would be more appropriate for the Coordination section of the community portal. If you agree, please move it there. Waldir (talk) 16:32, 6 March 2013 (UTC)
::Moved from Proposals to Coordination! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 23:02, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

:If an explanation contains trivia, that's an issue with the trivia being in the wrong place. Trivia is supposed to contain information that's only tangentially relevant to the comic at hand, and should be kept to the end of the page to keep the rest of the page free of clutter. Also, the comic discussion is at the bottom of every explanation page, but that doesn't seem to have deterred anyone from finding in. We could fix up some kind of collapse box for the transcripts though, since they do tend to be unneeded for most comics. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:16, 7 March 2013 (UTC)
:Alright, I've done a mockup for what the transcript collapse box could look like. It's in our sandbox, like?'''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:16, 7 March 2013 (UTC)

::It looks good!
::I'm not sure it is so easy to differentiate between tangentially relevant, more relevant, and explanatory information. I think there will always be a hazy zone of borderline examples. (By the way, should the explanation/trivia division be based on how ''relevant'' the information is, or on how ''explanatory'' it is?)
::Now that we're getting a collapsible box; where should we place it? I still don't think it is logical to have it between explanation and trivia (if present), but it will matter less. Maybe we should move it up to the top again? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:24, 8 March 2013 (UTC)
:::Trivia in most wikis is reserved for all the junk that doesn't add value to the main purpose of the article. In our case, that would be information that doesn't serve to explain comics, which is what people who visit the site come here looking for. The transcript is useful for cases where an image is ambiguous or easily mistaken, although it's not entirely needed for every comic. If the trivia section ever contains anything that enhances the comic explanation more than the transcript does, it's in the wrong section.
:::The transcript template is probably going to have to get OK'ed by all the other editors round here before we make it a thing. It's quite a big change to make, and we'll have to change every existing page if we want to add it. We'd probably put it where we usually put the transcript if we do add it in though. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 10:44, 8 March 2013 (UTC)
::::Yeah, I hope that the other guys turns up and says something too. Still, the trivia/transcript placement is not standardized, so we need to decide together what's more natural.
::::*Do we want the transcript in a box?
::::*Do we want it on the bottom of the page, or directly below the explanation, or on the top of the page?

::::It ''is'' a borderland between explaining a comic and giving background information, connections to other comics, etc. There's no borderland between those and transcript. Also, all trivia sections I've seen so far has enhanced the explanations more than the transcript. (Probably because I didn't feel need to read it). –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 16:10, 8 March 2013 (UTC)

::::If one actually needs/wants to read the transcript, one presumably wants to compare it directly with how the comic looks. That would be the good reason to place the box close to the comic. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 16:12, 8 March 2013 (UTC)

::::<strike>Sorry I dropped off the face of the planet for a while there. The run up to Spring Break nearly killed me (that's not as figurative as you'd think). I'll write a proper response in the morning, or late afternoon, after I've had enough sleep to recover from ~2 weeks of ~3 hours of sleep a night. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 08:58, 9 March 2013 (UTC)</strike>

::::I think that Trivia belongs at the bottom of the page. We didn't start with putting transcripts on the explanation page, so there isn't a law passed down from the founders to let us know how to slaughter our sheep as sacrifice (wait, that's something else). However, in keeping with Wikipedia's tradition, we put tangentially related information into its own category at the bottom of the page.

::::What defines tangentially related? Well, most of our editors seem to have a good grasp on it, so I didn't think it was necessary to spell out hard and fast rules. I think the group of people that read xkcd frequently are also prone to become draconian, pedantic, rules lawyers, so I hesitate to suggest that we need to impose too much more structure than what we can glean from Wikipedia's many years of existence. This is how I categorize it:
::::*The explanation, which is the main point of the site, should explain all cultural, technological, mathematical, scientific, visual, and linguistic gags that Randall includes.
::::*The transcript, which helps to ensure that people aren't mis-reading the comic. This is also valuable for accessibility, as blind people cannot read images (not yet, OCR isn't that good), which is why I think Randall should publish transcript data as he posts the comics. So, I support the creation of a transcript when the comic first posts, but about a week later someone should go back and replace it with the transcript that Randall publishes so that anything we interpret incorrectly will be corrected.
::::*Discussion. Since we transclude the discussion onto the explanation page anything that comes up as a result of the comic will often be commented on here. E.g. "Did you guys see Reddit blew up after Randall called them out in this comic? [link]"
::::*And lastly trivia. My template test for this one is "Is this really important trivia, but it doesn't add one hoot to the explanation? Then it should go here." What jumps to my mind every time I think of this is [[Click and Drag]]. That is a prime example of a trivia section. It doesn't explain the comic, but it is meta-information about the comic.

::::Why last? Because if the community cares about the points of trivia someone will bring it up. So that content already exists on the page. Duplicating that and putting it up higher makes no sense. What's even worse is having an Explanation, content directly about the comic; Trivia, an interlude with some information that's fun to know and you can stump people at xkcd meet-ups but otherwise useless; and Transcripts, which is directly about the comic again.

::::I would say that Trivia should actually go at the bottom of the page, but the transclusion of the discussion page makes that ugly to my eye. But it should go underneath the Transcript. Not all of the world are "fully functional" "Average" (capital 'A' Average) and "Normal" (capital 'N' Normal) humans, and consideration needs to be spent on them. And the transcript is more relevant information about the comic than any trivia is. If there is trivia that is more relevant than the transcript, it should be worked into the explanation. If a transcript gets long and you believe scrolling is a tedious, laborious task that only proto-humans had to deal with, then add a <code><nowiki>__TOC__</nowiki></code> (the TOC is ugly because of the comic discussion template, which is another discussion) underneath the comic template.

::::--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 12:02, 14 March 2013 (UTC)

:: I think the transcript could be integrated into [[template:comic]], instead of being a separate template, and use a softer and more neutral color (light gray, for example) in the heading. Apart from these details, I agree with the collapsing of the transcript, and being collapsed, its placement isn't really problematic. Right under the comic sounds ok to me. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 02:04, 10 March 2013 (UTC)

:::I think this would be a good option. If the transcript were in the comic template, such that it was comic image, title text, transcript, this would be a good option for screen readers, so that the explanation would be read after the transcript. I am quite in favor of this. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 12:02, 14 March 2013 (UTC)
::::I made a couple of halfhearted attempts at doing that box integration, but it's not as easy as copypasting it into the right place. Will get it done when I'm less busy. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:29, 14 March 2013 (UTC)

== Trivia section for the early comics? ==

I noticed that the early xkcd comics that were [[:Category:Comics posted on livejournal|posted on livejournal]] sometimes have no real explanation (since there is really nothing much to explain), but feature a separate trivia section that mentions the original order, an alternative title text and/or a quote by Randall. Number [[7]] is a good example for it. I was wondering if it were not more practical to integrate the trivia section into the explanation text. Of course, it is strictly speaking not an explanation of the comic's ''contents'', but other explanations give meta information about the comic as well. As somebody in the section above has already mentioned: It is a thin line. I think, a separate trivia section only makes sense when there is 1) a full explanation of the comic that would otherwise be cluttered and 2) the trivia section contains technical meta information that does not add to the understanding of the comic (see [[1110]] for example). I think it more to the point to remove the trivia sections for the early comics altogether, but I thought I ask before anybody has to revert everything ;) -- [[User:LotharW|LotharW]] ([[User talk:LotharW|talk]]) 12:40, 18 October 2013 (UTC)
:That's still trivia that should probably stay in the trivia section, although the explanations for those comics do need work. Even if it's just to inform that reader that the earlier xkcd comics were more doodle-y than modern xkcd. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:53, 18 October 2013 (UTC)

== To all Admins: IP User pages ==

Since IP addresses are often dynamic the IP user pages should stay empty. If a user wants a user page he just can sign in here and there is no problem with links to former IP posts. Editing IP user pages produce just chaos.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:44, 19 October 2013 (UTC)
:You're assuming that because some IP addresses are dynamic, we should bar IPs from creating userpages. For one, that's not true and [[User:50.151.2.168]] has been editing from the same address for a good half year. We cannot force IPs to do anything; see {{w|WP:HUMAN}}. IPs necessarily forfeit admin candidacy and the ability to edit semi-protected pages because of security concerns, but that's the extent of their restrictions on this wiki. {{w|User:76.117.247.55}} is a rather good example of an established IP with his own userpage on mainline Wikipedia. Also, {{w|WP:PAPER}} can likely be applied here; the disk space that a single redirect page takes up is insignificant, and mediawiki is designed to still perform well with many pages in it's database. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:15, 19 October 2013 (UTC)
::I did know you would do an answer like this. But I still fully disagree on this, an IP user is still dynamic and if those users don't like to sign in here they should not have user privileges.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:58, 20 October 2013 (UTC)
:::The only answer I have to that is {{w|WP:HUMAN}}. Our IP users are just as valuable as our registered ones, and they are privy to all benefits that regular users receive except ones that could become problematic with shared IP addresses, like admin candidacy/privileges. That IP has edited from their address for longer than many registered users stay active. IPs are human too. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:22, 20 October 2013 (UTC)
:::: As someone who prefers not using an account here, I fully agree with David. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.62.222|173.245.62.222]] 08:17, 30 December 2013 (UTC)

== "Its Cause Your Dumb" ==

I'm interested in moving away from this tagline. Originally it made sense in our old blog logo in which it was Black Hat saying it, but now out of context it sounds way more condescending. I know people like it, but I don't think it is necessary to sit on the top of every page. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:38, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:Adding the thumbnail of Black Hat back in would be trivial. We can either add it back in, or cut/change it entirely. I'm fine either way, though I did enjoy the old tagline. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:54, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
::''Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.'' is still great. Black Hat is just telling the truth. But this and the "explainxkcd.com/X" should be moved to the bottom of the header.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:29, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
::: I'd like to see Black Hat saying it, but maybe at the bottom of the logo instead. [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 20:40, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

== Transcript Section ==

I've not been able to find any real sort of guideline which says what we do and do not include in the Transcript. From the explanation for [[Talk:1322:_Winter|Strip 1322: Winter]], how much "action" should we be notating in the Transcript. There comes a point when the Transcript becomes a Script and can be used to reenact the strip. If this was the original intention, then perhaps we should state that somewhere. I suggest any text, in English or otherwise should be included either verbatim or described, and other symbols which are not directly related to the actors, such as music notes, charts, graphs, and other objects which significantly affect the plot of the strip. Obviously some good judgement should be exercised and there may be exceptions which crop up. I'd like to hear other comments and views, thanks. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:00, 28 January 2014 (UTC)
:The transcript should be detailed enough that a blind user can tell what happened in the comic. It's there to tell people what happened in the comic image if they were otherwise unable to tell without the transcript. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:35, 28 January 2014 (UTC)
::Aha! Thanks for clearing that up. Is that posted anywhere? [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 21:05, 28 January 2014 (UTC)
:::It‘s somewhere in the old discussion where the standard page layout was determined. If you dig through old community portal topics, you‘ll probably find it. Eventually. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:35, 29 January 2014 (UTC)

== We need a name for the "Total Douchebag" ==

I did say it [[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#New_Character_2 here]] but I think it was the wrong section and I got no responces any way he appears in and [[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/435:_Purity 435]], [[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/796:_Bad_Ex 796]], [[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/826:_Guest_Week:_Zach_Weiner_(SMBC) 826 (guest week)]] and [[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/964:_Dorm_Poster 964]] possibly more. I got a good pic of him too.[[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 19:35, 3 March 2014 (UTC)
:Something smug sounding like Beyond Hat would be good.[[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 19:41, 3 March 2014 (UTC)
::If he shows up in another comic, I'll start a vote to add him. The name "douchebag" has been contested and changed in the past by various anons for justified reasons and I'm sure there's less judgmental names that we could give him, like Goatee. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:44, 3 March 2014 (UTC)

== Undocumented Feature ==

Why is the daily incomplete explanation ''still'' [[1305: Undocumented Feature]]? At this point, the explanation is complete, and it's been the daily incomplete for several days, if not weeks. [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 18:52, 4 June 2014 (UTC)
:Oh, damn, I've been a bit busy recently. I'll get that started again. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:20, 4 June 2014 (UTC)

== Should we have a category for comics with secret messages? ==

Should we have a category for comics with secret messages? Like [[1005: SOPA]]. [[User:Ausr|Ausr]] ([[User talk:Ausr|talk]]) 16:32, 15 June 2014 (UTC)
:How many of them are there? Categories need to apply to a decent number of comics before we make them. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:36, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

== Incomplete explanation of the day - Template changed? ==

Has the template of the "incomplete explanation of the day" box changed?

I'm sure the title of the incomplete page used to be a link, but now it appears in bold, and not a link... {{unsigned|Pudder}}
:It'll look like that if you're on the page that it links to, or if mediawiki messes up. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:42, 29 September 2014 (UTC)

== Incomplete Explanation of the Day needs updating ==

For the last few days, the IED has been set to 887: Future Timeline, when the page has already been set to complete. Is there a specific person in charge of IED, or could I just go ahead and change it whenever I see that the page has been completed?
I'm not entirely sure if this is the correct section of the Community Portal for this question, but I would like to know. [[User:Kirdneh|Kirdneh]] ([[User talk:Kirdneh|talk]]) 18:05, 15 December 2014 (UTC)
:Uh, I do the changing there. I don't do this usually, but I actually think the tag should be readded; the original reason if I recall correctly for the tag being there was that the big ol' table of predictions listed in the comic wasn't complete, and the roots for each one aren't obvious to everyone reading; see the one on 32 bit timestamps, which means little to people unfamiliar with Unix timestamps. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 21:28, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

== Requesting a Third Opinon on 1317: Theft ==

There are two competing interpretations of [[1317: Theft]] (see the end of the discussion for details), leading to its being marked incomplete. Could some other editors take a look? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.191|108.162.216.191]] 14:15, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
: Two unresolved questions. First, is the character in the comic Randall or Hairy? Second, is the character show the victim of identity theft or the perpetrator? [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 18:51, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

== Most character pages are missing infoboxes ==

Please add them if possible. There are two types of character infoboxes currently, "character infobox" for when the category page is "Comics featuring '''''Name'''''"; while "character infobox 2" is for when the character page serves as its own category page. {{unsigned|17jiangz1}}

== Lander ==
Philae has woken up!!! Randal has updated [[1446: Landing]] as a result. I'm about to go out, but can someone please start recording any new comics! --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:11, 14 June 2015 (UTC)
:I'm on it'''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:05, 15 June 2015 (UTC)

== Image issues ==

Can someone fix [[:File:radiation.png]]? {{User:17jiangz1/signature|15:54, 25 August 2015}}
:Wait a little bit, cache takes time to update. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:58, 25 August 2015 (UTC)
:Thanks, it's okay now. {{User:17jiangz1/signature|10:20, 26 August 2015}}

== New comic, not on the main site. ==

http://www.gatesnotes.com/Health/XKCD-Marks-the-Spot It's about Polio eradication [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 13:45, 31 October 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1570: Engineer Syllogism

2015-08-28T11:41:40Z

Halfhat: Created page with "Note the link with 592. ~~~~"

Note the link with 592. [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 11:41, 28 August 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1522: Astronomy

2015-05-08T15:57:00Z

Halfhat:

For a telescope you can be far away, for a magnifying glass or microscope you need a ladder to be nearer to the stars. Microscopes are for biology, telescopes for astronomy.
They have got a similar purpose, but look and are applied differently. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.122|108.162.254.122]] 07:09, 8 May 2015 (UTC)

Seemed like another example of Beret guy contradicting how things work, like how he blows into the power cord and inflated a computer, or how he plugged a cord into a power outlet labeled "COFFEE" and coffee came out. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.168|108.162.238.168]] 07:19, 8 May 2015 (UTC)
:Yes obviously this approach works for Berret Guy because this is what he does. Explanation lacks this fact. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:44, 8 May 2015 (UTC)
:Soup, wasn't it? But yes, for some reason he can actually use a stepladder to get a closer look (and a better one, thanks t the magnifying glass) on the "curtain of the night", which for him ''is'' actually within reach. As if it is just like a stage back-cloth with some form of star-effect (holes and backlight or sewn-in LEDs) as far as he is concerned.
:But what I was actually coming here to say was regarding Astrobiology being a portmanteu (as currently in the explanation). I'm not sure I'd call it that. It's really a perfectly normal compound description of a study area, like many others in science, used to clarify what ''subset'' of biology it is (e.g. paleobiology being the biology of historic organisms, more or less, coming roughly from the greek for "old life study"). Although it does rather hint at it's "the biology of stars themselves", as opposed to the perhaps more accurate exobiology ("outside life study") when it comes to off-Earth life not in (or being) actual stars; or xenobiology ("strange life study"), although that does tend to include oddments of obscure Earth biology and artificial life as well and really doesn't mean the study of extra-terrestrial organisms... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.186|141.101.98.186]] 08:00, 8 May 2015 (UTC)
:: Astrobiology is a perfectly normal word. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrobiology. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.151|173.245.54.151]] 08:49, 8 May 2015 (UTC)
::: Moreover, the wording (which I deleted) implied that Randall invented the word, or that the word is very new: "the word "astrobiology" is the joining of the prefix astro- and biology and refers to ...". Now it says "{{w|Astrobiology}} is ...". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.144|108.162.238.144]] 13:52, 8 May 2015 (UTC)

A minor comment on the incorrect use of the word ''portmanteau'' in the explanation so far: it is defined as [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/portmanteau a word formed by merging the sounds and meanings of two different words], [[wikipedia:portmanteau]]; however, [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/astro- astro-] is a combining form of the the greek word ''aster'' meaning ''star'', used to form compound words, such as ''astro-bio-logy'' (aster-bios-logos: star-life-word). See [[1485]] for an example of the correct use of ''portmanteau''. (someone beat me to it while i was editing this ;-))
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.161|141.101.104.161]] 08:07, 8 May 2015 (UTC)
:Thank you. --{{User:17jiangz1/signature|09:14, 08 May 2015}}

You could view the comic as a theatrical production, Megan's telescope as a prop, and Beret guy is just inspecting the backdrop. The ladder is for comic and aesthetic effect {{unsigned ip|141.101.99.53}}

Aaaaa. Astronomers do not touch telescopes while observing. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.185|173.245.52.185]] 09:23, 8 May 2015 (UTC) Cameron

My first association was the Hubble Space Telescope: Even though there are huge telescopes on earth, most (all?) of them are inferior to the relatively small telescope a few km above earth's surface. Beret Guy could have tried to achive the same effect by climbing a ladder. [[User:Epaminaidos|Epaminaidos]] ([[User talk:Epaminaidos|talk]]) 09:58, 8 May 2015 (UTC)

I'm with 141.101.99.53 - I'm not sure that those white dots are stars. My first thought was that they were flecks of dirt or something on the wall or on the inside of a dome. What Megan is doing there with that huge telescope I don't know, but a telescope of that size is not usually used outdoors where stars can be seen down to the horizon. --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 10:35, 8 May 2015 (UTC)

That seems to be the reason why the Good Telescopes are always on mountains – nearer to the stars and no ladder needed ;-). --[[User:DaB.|DaB.]] ([[User talk:DaB.|talk]]) 11:32, 8 May 2015 (UTC)

I believe the good telescopes are high so they get less atmospheric disturbances. The height of a mountain will still be insignificant compared to distances measured in light years.--The man they call Jayne[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.183|108.162.237.183]] 11:50, 8 May 2015 (UTC)

I actually thought that maybe physics just work differently for him so he was actually standing among the stars (like someone might stand among lightning bugs) and actually examining them.

I don't think the titletext has anything to do with shaking about, I think it's a joke about people being nervious about breaking the microscope. [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 15:57, 8 May 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1520: Degree-Off

2015-05-04T19:07:32Z

Halfhat:

I assume "''Your'' field gathered in the desert to create a new one." refers to the Manhattan Project? {{unsigned ip|173.245.50.74}}
:Yes [[User:Jachra|Jachra]] ([[User talk:Jachra|talk]]) 06:52, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

Chem wants absolutely no part of this conversation. [[User:Jachra|Jachra]] ([[User talk:Jachra|talk]]) 06:52, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are: Conquest, War, Famine, and Death. Is she claiming that her heros have conquered death? [[User:Capncanuck|Capncanuck]] ([[User talk:Capncanuck|talk]]) 06:58, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
: Yeah I didn't get that either. The description as it stands now seems to be implying one of the four horsemen is pestilence, but that's not what my Google search turned up… --[[User:Zagorath|Zagorath]] ([[User talk:Zagorath|talk]]) 15:15, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
::Pestilence [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.176|173.245.56.176]] 07:10, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
:::In Terry Pratchett's book the fourth horsemen is Pestilence. See also {{w|Four_Horsemen_of_the_Apocalypse#As_infectious_disease|Pestilence}}. It was new to me that it was originally Conquest instead of Pestilence which can be read on wiki: {{w|Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse}}. Since Randall is a big fan of Terry Pratchett it is very likely that he refers to "his" version of the four Horsemen. (It is not Terry's invention, but he made it popular amongst people like Randall). As I disagree with the Death version of the title text, I'm not sure that Terry is directly refereed to in this comic, but I'm sure the Bilologist refers to them killing of pestilence (or plauge). --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:23, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
::::There are no humanities on stage, so I think bio can get away with this one.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.23|108.162.218.23]] 17:50, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
::::Maybe it referred to famine. Though that'd be a bit odd. [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 19:05, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

also a possible reference to: https://xkcd.com/435/ ? {{unsigned ip|141.101.75.101}}

The stamp collecting quote is from Ernest Rutherford, not Richard Feynman. {{unsigned ip|141.101.70.43}}

1052 also compares degrees --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.12|141.101.104.12]] 08:36, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

My assumption was that Cueball was giving a long and possibly rambling talk about physics starting with an anecdote about Feynman and ending with one about Rutherford. I didn't consider the quote to be wrongly attributed therefore. {{unsigned ip|141.101.99.71}}

Please be aware that the proper way to link to wikipedia is to use [[Template:w]].--{{User:17jiangz1/signature|10:01, 04 May 2015}}

This may be Randall's indirect way of saying what he thinks of the anti-vaxxers. --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 10:49, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

Does the "killing Pestilence" thing also refer to ''Good Omens'' (co-authored by Pratchett), where Pestilence retired in 1936 "mumbling something about penicillin"? Homusubi

Isn't the comment about vaccines kinda reaching? I don't really see any evidence, even implied, that this comic is referencing the anti-vaccine movement in any way. --[[User:Zagorath|Zagorath]] ([[User talk:Zagorath|talk]]) 13:23, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
:I agree that the anti-vaxer comments are out of place. I don't think they should be included as part of the explanation. [[User:Bmmarti3|Bmmarti3]] ([[User talk:Bmmarti3|talk]])

Isn't the biologist talking in the title text? And isn't biology considered a squishy science? I think the title is directed at the physicist, telling him to get harder skin because he's so easily hurt emotionally. [[User:YourLifeisaLie|Yourlifeisalie]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 14:13, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

I rather doubt that the CAPS in the title text are referring to Pratchett's figure DEATH. In my opinion, the talking-in-CAPS is just meant to infer (further) SHOUTING on the part of the biologist, since she is shouting in the last panel as well. There is no indication whatsoever that the title text should be spoken by anyone other than the biologist herself.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.180|141.101.104.180]] 14:20, 4 May 2015 (UTC)thd

Do chemistry and physics represent a helium atom with biology as the nucleus? It would also explain her hair. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 15:18, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
:I don't see any reason for it to make any sense. It is quite a long shot to think so. However, what explains her hair? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.88|173.245.50.88]] 17:50, 4 May 2015 (UTC)BK201

Might there also be a reference to https://xkcd.com/520/, praising biology just in case. [[User:Tzwenn|Tzwenn]] ([[User talk:Tzwenn|talk]]) 15:22, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

What is the giant bump in infectious diseases around 1925? It seems like it must have been a mayor effect, but I don't know how to google for it.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.99|141.101.104.99]] 17:43, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

:The planet-wide superflu of 1919, which happened because millions decided to go to Europe, camp in filthy trenches for months and then decided to all go back home simultaneously for some reason.

Talk:1520: Degree-Off

2015-05-04T19:05:48Z

Halfhat:

I assume "''Your'' field gathered in the desert to create a new one." refers to the Manhattan Project? {{unsigned ip|173.245.50.74}}
:Yes [[User:Jachra|Jachra]] ([[User talk:Jachra|talk]]) 06:52, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

Chem wants absolutely no part of this conversation. [[User:Jachra|Jachra]] ([[User talk:Jachra|talk]]) 06:52, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are: Conquest, War, Famine, and Death. Is she claiming that her heros have conquered death? [[User:Capncanuck|Capncanuck]] ([[User talk:Capncanuck|talk]]) 06:58, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
: Yeah I didn't get that either. The description as it stands now seems to be implying one of the four horsemen is pestilence, but that's not what my Google search turned up… --[[User:Zagorath|Zagorath]] ([[User talk:Zagorath|talk]]) 15:15, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
::Pestilence [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.176|173.245.56.176]] 07:10, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
:::In Terry Pratchett's book the fourth horsemen is Pestilence. See also {{w|Four_Horsemen_of_the_Apocalypse#As_infectious_disease|Pestilence}}. It was new to me that it was originally Conquest instead of Pestilence which can be read on wiki: {{w|Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse}}. Since Randall is a big fan of Terry Pratchett it is very likely that he refers to "his" version of the four Horsemen. (It is not Terry's invention, but he made it popular amongst people like Randall). As I disagree with the Death version of the title text, I'm not sure that Terry is directly refereed to in this comic, but I'm sure the Bilologist refers to them killing of pestilence (or plauge). --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:23, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
::::There are no humanities on stage, so I think bio can get away with this one.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.23|108.162.218.23]] 17:50, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
::::Maybe it referred to famine. [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 19:05, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

also a possible reference to: https://xkcd.com/435/ ? {{unsigned ip|141.101.75.101}}

The stamp collecting quote is from Ernest Rutherford, not Richard Feynman. {{unsigned ip|141.101.70.43}}

1052 also compares degrees --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.12|141.101.104.12]] 08:36, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

My assumption was that Cueball was giving a long and possibly rambling talk about physics starting with an anecdote about Feynman and ending with one about Rutherford. I didn't consider the quote to be wrongly attributed therefore. {{unsigned ip|141.101.99.71}}

Please be aware that the proper way to link to wikipedia is to use [[Template:w]].--{{User:17jiangz1/signature|10:01, 04 May 2015}}

This may be Randall's indirect way of saying what he thinks of the anti-vaxxers. --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 10:49, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

Does the "killing Pestilence" thing also refer to ''Good Omens'' (co-authored by Pratchett), where Pestilence retired in 1936 "mumbling something about penicillin"? Homusubi

Isn't the comment about vaccines kinda reaching? I don't really see any evidence, even implied, that this comic is referencing the anti-vaccine movement in any way. --[[User:Zagorath|Zagorath]] ([[User talk:Zagorath|talk]]) 13:23, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
:I agree that the anti-vaxer comments are out of place. I don't think they should be included as part of the explanation. [[User:Bmmarti3|Bmmarti3]] ([[User talk:Bmmarti3|talk]])

Isn't the biologist talking in the title text? And isn't biology considered a squishy science? I think the title is directed at the physicist, telling him to get harder skin because he's so easily hurt emotionally. [[User:YourLifeisaLie|Yourlifeisalie]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 14:13, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

I rather doubt that the CAPS in the title text are referring to Pratchett's figure DEATH. In my opinion, the talking-in-CAPS is just meant to infer (further) SHOUTING on the part of the biologist, since she is shouting in the last panel as well. There is no indication whatsoever that the title text should be spoken by anyone other than the biologist herself.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.180|141.101.104.180]] 14:20, 4 May 2015 (UTC)thd

Do chemistry and physics represent a helium atom with biology as the nucleus? It would also explain her hair. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 15:18, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
:I don't see any reason for it to make any sense. It is quite a long shot to think so. However, what explains her hair? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.88|173.245.50.88]] 17:50, 4 May 2015 (UTC)BK201

Might there also be a reference to https://xkcd.com/520/, praising biology just in case. [[User:Tzwenn|Tzwenn]] ([[User talk:Tzwenn|talk]]) 15:22, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

What is the giant bump in infectious diseases around 1925? It seems like it must have been a mayor effect, but I don't know how to google for it.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.99|141.101.104.99]] 17:43, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

:The planet-wide superflu of 1919, which happened because millions decided to go to Europe, camp in filthy trenches for months and then decided to all go back home simultaneously for some reason.

Talk:1488: Flowcharts

2015-02-18T18:21:56Z

Halfhat:

A little bit more of 730? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.108|141.101.80.108]] 06:53, 18 February 2015 (UTC)
:More along the lines of 94, 210, 518, 627, 844, 845, and 1195, though I see similarities with 730. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 07:09, 18 February 2015 (UTC)
How should we do the transcript? [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 07:09, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

You could do the transcript as a number list formatted like: "[Title of item] IF YES(GOTO X), IF NO(GOTO Y)" (where "X" and "Y" are the numbers on the list for the corresponding next option). Derek [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.107|108.162.216.107]] 13:25, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

I would just like to say that I find some of the linked spiral-images ''very'' disturbing. Although for some they'd be the same even ''without'' the spirals, admitedly. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.188|141.101.98.188]] 09:47, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

I believe this will end up being one of the most challenging explanations yet (of those that are completely explicable) - got quite a task up ahead... -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 10:35, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Normally (for a flowchart) the Start symbol should not have an input. The electrical circuit is not a rectifier! Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.103|108.162.254.103]] 10:59, 18 February 2015 (UTC) In the newly corrected version, it is. [[User:Knob creek|Knob creek]] ([[User talk:Knob creek|talk]]) 16:58, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

OCD comment: There appear to be two lines missing, 1) from scatter plots to data or axis, 2) from the bottom of positive or negative DC terminal to the negative terminal of the battery. Also, I would be happier if the two left hand diodes of the full wave rectifier were reversed.

Either I was really tired this morning, or the spiral was not actually present in the first version of this comic.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.98|108.162.254.98]] 13:00, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

It seems like the options for the "Do you like flowcharts?" box should be reversed (only putting someone through the flowchart if they say they like flowcharts). I think it makes less sense to have the first option "annoy" someone with a flowchart option until they say they don't like flowcharts, then put them through a flowchart. Derek [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.107|108.162.216.107]] 13:31, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

I see no evidence that the "time or your happiness" box is asking you to "choose whichever you value more". The graph shows your happiness as a function of time, not "your time" (it's not as if you were asked to choose between, say, more happiness or more spare time for yourself). I think it is just asking you to choose which axis of the graph you want to follow. The flowchart for the line graph and the scatter plot are similar; since "X or Y" is not interpreted as a question about value, why should "time or your happiness" be?
Zetfr 14:00, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

The comment on the Fibonacci and Golden Spirals being the same is not correct. According to Wikipedia{{w|Golden_Spiral|[1]}}{{w|Fibonacci_number|[2]}}: "A Fibonacci spiral '''approximates''' the golden spiral using quarter-circle arcs inscribed in squares of integer Fibonacci-number side." - [[User:Prometheusmmiv|Prometheusmmiv]] ([[User talk:Prometheusmmiv|talk]]) 14:55, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Randall has uploaded a new version, it fixes some missing lines: The scatter graph is now connected, as is the DC terminal, and the battery is now in a circuit. Some of the explaination above needs updating [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.47|141.101.99.47]] 15:32, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Clicking on the image takes you to http://xkcd.com/spiral/
:Good catch about http://xkcd.com/spiral/ ! --[[User:Guest|Guest]] ([[User talk:Guest|talk]]) 17:46, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

'''NOTE''' this comic has been changed, oddly. http://xkcd.com/1488/ [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 18:21, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1474: Screws

2015-01-18T17:34:03Z

Halfhat:

It is my opinion that "Phillip's Head" (the bloody sack) is actually a reference to "King Philip" ''(note the spelling with only one 'L')'', an American Indian of the Wompanoag tribe in the latter 1600s who was the leader of an uprising against the settlers of Plymouth Colony. He was killed in 1676 and his corpse mutilated, with the head separated from the body and the body itself dismembered. The head was spiked and carried to Plymouth Settlement, eventually being placed on the Plymouth Colony Fort where it was left to languish for some 25 years. The head (by now merely a jawless skull) was eventually secreted away by a colonial family that was friendly to him; they kept King Philip’s head for many generations before giving it to his descendants.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.217.161|108.162.217.161]] 09:58, 18 January 2015 (UTC)

This page is now on the first page of google for "uranium screw". [[User:Mrmakeit|Mrmakeit]] ([[User talk:Mrmakeit|talk]]) 05:31, 16 January 2015 (UTC)
:And as of now, this page is the #1 result for "uranium screw". The second is the xkcd fora thread on this comic, and the third is our home page. [[User:NealCruco|NealCruco]] ([[User talk:NealCruco|talk]]) 16:47, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

I don't think that patent is the right one, it seems to describe a uranium decontamination procedure, not a screw made of uranium like in the comic. [[User:LeoDeQuirm|LeoDeQuirm]] ([[User talk:LeoDeQuirm|talk]]) 05:46, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure the "uranium screw" is just a reference to the fact that the head of the screw appears to have split in two ("fissioned"), as opposed to a normal flat head screw that still has the edges connected. [[User:Sam887|Sam887]] ([[User talk:Sam887|talk]]) 05:50, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

Just a shot in the dark here, but a company that sells uranium ore and radiological equipment happens to also sell screws for one of its Geigers that look just like the screw cross-section in the comic. [http://www.uraniumrocks.com/products/replacement-circuit-board-mount-screws-for-victoreen-cdv-700-short] [[User:Conqu2|Conqu2]] ([[User talk:Conqu2|talk]]) 06:01, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

I was wondering if the "uranium screw" was referring to the Demon Core -- two hemispherical domes that Louis Slotin was holding apart with a screwdriver. Then I remembered the Demon Core was plutonium, not uranium. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.119|173.245.48.119]] 06:49, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

There are ferrous alloys containing (depleted, of course ;-) uranium for "increase[d] toughness and strength". [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrouranium] [[User:Knob creek|Knob creek]] ([[User talk:Knob creek|talk]]) 09:21, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

I think the be was going for apple's pentalobe screw with the 5 pointed star {{unsigned ip|108.162.238.162}}

I don't think the uranium screws are named for their use in stuff to do with uranium, as I have both seen and used screws that look like that before. It's basically a flat head screw whose divot extends all the way across the face of the screw. I agree more with the previous commentor who notes that the screw looks like it has fissioned. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.182|108.162.237.182]] 06:34, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

An actual rivet is neither a screw nor a bolt; it's a fastener that is placed and then has one end plastically deformed -- traditionally by a rivet gun, but more often in smaller sizes by some sort of press or clamp. (Pop rivets are hollow, and are deformed by pulling a cone-sheaped wedge into the open end of the hollow core.) There's no way to remove one except to destroy it (drill it out or cut one end off). The item pictured could also be the head of a carriage bolt, but that's no help if you can't get at the other end of the bolt. Randall is slightly pessemistic, though: there *are* some "security" screws and bolts that use a slightly-elliptical domed head that's hard to tell from a rivet; they can be unscrewed, but only with a matching slightly-elliptical socket. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.70|199.27.133.70]] 06:35, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

All of which can be removed by a sonic screwdriver. Totally a real thing. {{unsigned ip|173.245.50.86}}

Could the "cursed -1" be a Nethack reference? I don't know if Dungeons and Dragons has the "blessed/uncursed/cursed" status, but in Nethack cursed items with negative enchantments (denoted "cursed -whatever") are a pretty common occurrence. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.25|199.27.133.25]] 07:31, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

In Nethack, Cursed objects cannot be removed. Seems appropriate. At first I thought it was a pozidrive screw head. Posts on the fission screw head: where have you seen screws whose divot does *not* extend across the head? {{unsigned ip|199.27.128.230}}

[[User:Kreuiter|Kreuiter]] ([[User talk:Kreuiter|talk]]) 08:03, 16 January 2015 (UTC)from wikipedia: Louis Philippe Joseph d'Orléans (13 April 1747 – 6 November 1793) commonly known as Philippe, was a member of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, the ruling dynasty of France. He actively supported the French Revolution and adopted the name Philippe Égalité, but was nonetheless guillotined during the Reign of Terror

I don't think it is specifically a reference to Nethack as a lot of ol games (both video and tabletop) use the mechanic of non removable cursed objects. It is common enough in my opinion that we could argue about until we are blue in the face and get nowhere. {{unsigned ip|108.162.237.193}}

uranium screw may be a reference to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Slotin#Criticality_accident Louis Slotin], who died when he was using a screw driver to seperate two halves of a plutonium sphere as part of a science demonstration, and triggered a large burst of radiation when his hand slipped.
--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.59|108.162.216.59]] 08:28, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

I'm thinking it might benefit the article to include a place in the wikitable for the correct term for each drive socket. Of course their are not correct terms for each of them. Not to mention rivets and Phillip's heads don't even have drive sockets. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.189|173.245.56.189]] 09:04, 16 January 2015 (UTC)BLuDgeons

If you suggest cursed-1 is because if misuse - I in first place thought of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_screw_drives#Pozidriv] as the cursed one - because Philipps and Pozidriv are slightly incompatible and causes damage. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.18|108.162.254.18]] 09:09, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

:+1, the cursed one looked to me like pozidriv at the first glance, and it's really cursed as interchanging them leads to damage ... And the most fun is when you get some Chinese crap that looks like pozidriv but it doesn't fit so you use philips which doesn't quite fit too but at least it can be inserted and you end up damaging both the driver and the screw :-/ --kavol, [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.96|108.162.254.96]] 10:02, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

Is it really true that Phillips head are 'commonly used in construction'? At least in Europe they were replaced by Pozidriv in the 1990's and these days by Torx. {{unsigned|Popup}}
:As a former (late 2000s to 2012, pre-college) construction worker in California, Texas, and Oklahoma, yes. Philips are very common in construction here. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.243|108.162.221.243]] 06:08, 17 January 2015 (UTC)

Maybe this depends on the quality of the product? If i look around, i find lots of products held together by phillips screws and only a few (usually more hi-tech and expensive) one with torx screws. [[User:Knob creek|Knob creek]] ([[User talk:Knob creek|talk]]) 09:28, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

:er, what do you call "a product"? - If "construction" is mentioned, I imagine things like wooden skeleton of a roof, fastening of windows/doors, self-tapping screws, wallplug screws ... and it's almost 100% pozidriv and torx here in central Europe. ("Almost" accounts for imports by non-european companies.) If I imagine metal constructions, from racks to bridges, hex and inbus (= hex slot) prevail. --kavol, [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.96|108.162.254.96]] 10:02, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

:: Granted I'm not in the construction trade, and I'm in UK rather than continental Europe, but I have never seen Torx used in construction. In my experience, the majority is Pozi, and the rest is Phillips. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 13:06, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

Perhaps a reference to http://xkcd.com/927/ - Standards? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.79.61|141.101.79.61]]

Phillips screws have a larger number for larger size, not smaller. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.35}}

I'm surprised Randall didn't include square/Robertson screws/drivers. Just as bad as hex-recess, but when you actually USE them they are great! Combination Robertson-Phillips are good too but rarer. And do NOT get me started about the untold types of tamper-proof designs... --BigMal // [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.209|108.162.216.209]] 13:06, 16 January 2015 (UTC)
:The most awkward, I find, are star-shaped (5/6-pointer) screws with a central 'post' that requires a hole-ended screwdriver-bit of the appropriate shape to be used (may also aid in positive positioning of the tool, but not much more than normally so SFAICT it's just there to be awkward without the right tools by manufacturer-mandated professionals). Luckily, I've ''got'' screwdriver-heads for just about every conceivable 'uncursed' screwhead (48 different types and sizes in one handy kit alone, not even counting socket-heads and 'cursed' screw drilling-outers). Especially good for laptop repair, to get around deliberately proprietry systems with small and (deliberately) akward screws; as opposed to bicycle repair, which I'm sure is usually for the stated practical torque reasons. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.247|141.101.98.247]] 13:59, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

"cursed -1 <something>" is definitely a standard NetHack item description format, but it applies to D&D too. In general, "cursed" means you cannot remove the item, and the number is describing the item's effectiveness compared to a standard (+0) version of the item. In this case, both can be appropriate: "cursed" because -as noted- you cannot remove it in the normal way. "-1" probably comes from being unable to tighten the screw far enough to fully satisfy its purpose: maybe the joint is slightly loose, or the head of the screw is left slightly protruding, so that it easily catches on other things.
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.80|141.101.80.80]] 13:28, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

Rather than two (still) separate fissile hemispheres, that 'gap' is obviously a continuation of material around the back of a schematic cross-section of a whole sphere with a core currently missing. I think the fissile plug will be inserted/fired at the required juncture to fill this, from the side. Very like the device in the film The Fifth Protocol, for easy cinematic reference of the concept. (Noting that 'gun-type' nuclear devices tend to fire the 'enclosing' larger subcritical mass, spheroidal or cylindrical ''onto'' the smaller and fixed 'plug' to fill the gap between it and the surrounding neutron reflector jacket. For several very good reasons. Thus that sphere would be shoved onto the currently missing 'core', although it makes the reflector assembly and positioning a bit more complex as well, compared with a cylindrical sleeve.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.247|141.101.98.247]] 13:49, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

The Cursed -1 Phillips Head is much more likely to be a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_screw_drives#Pozidriv Pozidriv] head than a worn Philips head. The cursed -1 implication if used with a Philips driver is certainly deserved. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.101|141.101.106.101]] 14:59, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

Re: Uranium Screw... see http://www.google.com/patents/US20060088457{{unsigned ip|108.162.219.97}}

Uranium screws were used in the assembly of the Fat Man nuclear bomb. All parts of the tamper were made with natural uranium, including the screws and hinges:
http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2014/11/10/fat-mans-uranium/
[[User:Rocbolt|Rocbolt]] ([[User talk:Rocbolt|talk]]) 15:34, 16 January 2015 (UTC)rocbolt

[[User:Rocbolt]] has it right. It's not a metaphor or a joke. https://www.google.com/search?q=%22uranium%20screws%22%20%2dxkcd [[User:Pesthouse|Pesthouse]] ([[User talk:Pesthouse|talk]]) 15:41, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

Did anyone notice that the "shortcut icon" of the page was changed together with this comic? Its sort of blurred: http://i.imgur.com/ArEbL5r.jpg?1 compared to the original image http://xkcd.com/s/919f27.ico {{unsigned ip|141.101.80.4}}

Possibly a reference to Apple's iPhone "tamper-resistant" screws http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentalobe_screw [[Special:Contributions/188.114.98.252|188.114.98.252]] 17:38, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

Screws made of uranium were used to hold the tamper plug of the fissile core of the Trinity nuclear device together. I think that's what "Uranium Screw" refers to, and why the screw is radiating: it is radioactive. [[User:Arnold Chiari II|Arnold Chiari II]] ([[User talk:Arnold Chiari II|talk]]) 15:35, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

Not sure why the page says depleted Uranium. I think they were natural uranium, which is radioactive. Rocbolt's reference supports this [[User:Arnold Chiari II|Arnold Chiari II]] ([[User talk:Arnold Chiari II|talk]]) 21:26, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

Depleted uranium is nearly pure U-238, which '''is''' radioactive, but has a half-life 6X longer than U-235.

Technically, a rivet '''is''' a bolt, but the usage of ''bolt'' to refer to a non-threaded object with a head is archaic.

I have seen a few objects that look like "flat head", where the slot doesn't extend all the way out to the edge, but precious few, compared to the fairly common "standard" woodscrew, where the slot goes all the way to the edge, as shown at "uranium screw".

I thought "Cursed -1" was a clever double reference to the common RPG meme and to what happens after someone has confounded Philips, Pozidriv, or Reed and Prince with one of the others and the fireworks from using a tool designed for one on a screw of another type.--[[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.197|199.27.128.197]] 00:32, 17 January 2015 (UTC)

Could the Amazon one be a reference to star ratings? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.167|108.162.221.167]] 01:58, 17 January 2015 (UTC)

My thoughts exactly. And another thing: the slot of the flathead doesn't go "through" because this makes for a visual +/- gag. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.230.221|108.162.230.221]] 20:22, 17 January 2015 (UTC)

The rivet could also be a nail. While a nail isn't a screw, neither is a rivet. [[User:Glen442|Glen442]] ([[User talk:Glen442|talk]]) 03:20, 17 January 2015 (UTC)

I think the bit about "Phillip's Head" is an obvious note about the frustration of dealing with different screw types -- as in "I'm so frustrated dealing with all these screw types I'm going to find the inventor of the Phillips head screw and chop his head off!" {{unsigned ip|199.27.133.137}}

Shouldn't that be 'an allen key' and not a wrench? I'm willing to acknowledge the inventor (Allen) but it's a key, not a wrench, by any definition. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.135|141.101.104.135]] 23:34, 17 January 2015 (UTC)

Isn't Philip's head a joke about his frustration with types of screws? [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 17:34, 18 January 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1464: Santa

2014-12-24T12:12:38Z

Halfhat:

Merry Christmas! --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 06:29, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

I think I have done the transcript... [[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 06:38, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

And I did the explanation and put everything in there, I think. Looks like we're already pretty much done! [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.174|173.245.56.174]] 06:44, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

It should maybe be mentioned that this comic is a turn of the screw on the many "The physics of Santa" joke articles - The usual chain e-mail or satire web page calculations that take it seriously the logistical calculations for Santa and end up concluding that he should beat the speed of light to deliver the presents. Randall doesn't settle on calculating the logistics for reindeer performance or route planning, he goes a step further and makes the calculations for the refuse. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.49.106|173.245.49.106]] 08:31, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

Well maybe all those calories are what allows him to move at the insane relativistic speeds needed to visit every house on Christmas eve. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.56|108.162.216.56]] 08:47, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

We have video proof of how Santa handles this! http://youtu.be/b9TTz3R5SmI --[[User:Elipongo|Elipongo]] ([[User talk:Elipongo|talk]]) 09:03, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

No Christmas cat.? [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 12:12, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1386: People are Stupid

2014-06-25T10:52:10Z

Halfhat:

Isn't that a reference to the Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence? [[Special:Contributions/103.22.200.119|103.22.200.119]] 04:49, 25 June 2014 (UTC)krayZpaving

White Hat being burned? This certainly will not end here.--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.102.208|141.101.102.208]] 04:52, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

'''''Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.''''' This wiki is founded on the very principle that people are stupid. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.223.29|108.162.223.29]] 05:35, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

This comment is one that makes me scratch my head and wonder... surely Randall is able to see that intelligence is not a relative but rather an absolute thing (if one were to kill the 10% most intelligent people the rest wouldn't get dumber, nor smarter). Surely intelligence is not to be measured in units of the common denominator. Surely it is obvious that 2nd panel is a pure strawman. Sigh...
Oh and btw an IQ of 100 is the median, not the average. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.17|141.101.104.17]] 09:18, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

The mocking "award", which is an analogy of saying "intelligence isn't everything" (an EXTREMELY common cliche), reflects the fact that Randall, like just about anyone, is oblivious to the magnitude of the totality of positive correlates of intelligence, and even (TRIGGER WARNING, TABOO CONCEPT AHEAD) I.Q. Intelligence, I.Q., not only makes you happier, it also makes you more helpful to other people, more creative, more socially stable, better-to-do, less susceptible to mental illnesses, more likely to remember events in your life, etc. etc. etc... Basically, there isn't a positive trait or quality of life with which intelligence doesn't correlate. But people positively LOATHE awareness of how highly intelligence, in fact, matters. Hence the vehement denial whenever someone indicates its importance, all the "I know an intelligent person who is miserable/mean/...", all stressing of exceptions, all ridicule of the notion of intelligence in general, all the "don't think about it"-mentality, all writing off of I.Q. as "antiquated, grossly limited, racist, metric" rather than the extremely potent predictor that it is. tl;dr Randall at all, take time to actually STUDY intelligence or the g factor before you mock it like that. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 09:25, 25 June 2014 (UTC)
: In other words (and this is going to be my last addendum to this note, because it is a vast subject), whenever people say (or imply, as in the comic's case) that "intelligence isn't everything", the question to ask in return is, "okay, now what is the degree to which intelligence enables, facilitates, contributes to, 'the rest' to which you're opposing intelligence here?". People minimise the depth and breadth of the intellectual substrate of achievement. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 09:33, 25 June 2014 (UTC)
: Also, Randall (and everyone saying that) is being highly unjust in equating "people aren't smart" with "people aren't as smart as me". A perfectly valid alternative sense is, "people aren't as smart as to be rationally expected to contribute to rather than damage the discussion/situation/position at hand"--having the objective good, the objective recognition that certain situations (for instance, a certain online conversation which is expected to be competent) require certain minimal intellectual thresholds (for instance, an I.Q. of 120), in mind rather than egotic comparison. Lower intelligence, deny it all you please, comes with temperamental problems for instance. Selection for intelligence will largely filter them out. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 09:46, 25 June 2014 (UTC)
:: tl;dr of my entire production here: people must learn that BOTH situations of the Dunning-Kruger are equally harmful, the one that's less often considered perhaps actually even more so. Mistaken self-perception as intelligent is bad for the individual, but refusal to acknowledge the importance of one's own cognitive capacity (which is as good as universal in intelligent people--"I am not that smart" (who hasn't heard that one innumerable times?), "I just like doing thing x, my proficiency in it has nothing to do with my intelligence or I.Q.", "I have areas in which I'm 'stupid' too", "effort counts too") has societal consequences, of contributing to erroneous dismissal of the notions of intelligence & I.Q. & g etc. Shutting up for good now. Night. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 10:11, 25 June 2014 (UTC)
::: GAHHHHH just one more thing. Consider this: the fact that people dismiss I.Q. is the best indicator of how important a trait it really is. Thing is, people would not feel compelled by modesty to deny its importance had it not been vitally integral to many, many things. We deny what we value, so to give hope to those who lack that thing (to comfort those who lack intelligence). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 10:15, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

I would add one "people are stupid" angle not yet mentioned: judging by behavior, most groups of people are less intelligent that any member of that group individually. This is valid even for the "all people" group - just look at the planet. Surprisingly, judging by content of most wikis, the "editors of wiki" groups seems to immune. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:05, 25 June 2014 (UTC)
: Good point--conforming to pressures of one's group or one's position to the detriment of one's judgment is a separate personality trait. The phenomenon is remedied by intelligence, but independent from it. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 10:11, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

I can't believe people say things like that, man, people are stupid [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 10:52, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1385: Throwing Rocks

2014-06-23T18:14:38Z

Halfhat:

Current explanation says the rock in the second panel is seen "possibly sinking the boat." Whoever typed this apparently didn't notice the undisturbed leaf boat, floating approximately 2 feet away from the splash. - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.240.36|108.162.240.36]] 04:38, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

My boat sunk! THANKS, OBAMA! - [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.153|173.245.56.153]] 05:32, 23 June 2014 (UTC)
:SURE... BLAME OBAMA WHEN IT WAS BUSH WHO STARTED IT. ''(Sorry! Couldn't resist.)'' [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.239|103.22.201.239]] 11:15, 23 June 2014 (UTC)
:: Heh. Thanks. That started the day with a laugh. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.39|199.27.133.39]] 16:48, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

Did we already know both Beret Guy and Megan are left handed? [[User:Wrybred|Wrybred]] ([[User talk:Wrybred|talk]]) 12:20, 23 June 2014 (UTC)wrybred
: They could be ambidextrous. Seriously I suspect that was easier to draw with them facing that way. And them facing the other way is just wrong.[[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 18:14, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

Vinland != America
: "Vinland was the name given to an area of North America by Norse Vikings..." per Wikipedia. (Providing actual info rather than just yelling "NO!" is always more helpful. But I'll take your comment (and you posting it anonymously) was intended as being in the spirit of the comments Randall's poking fun at.) [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.39|199.27.133.39]] 16:52, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

Since "Leaf" Ericson is a pun on Leif, I think Vinland is a pun for Finland, but with the prefix "Vin" from "Vine". All of these puns make sense since the boat is made from a leaf.
:Try reading the wikipedia entry for Vinland. That makes a lot more sense. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.240.30|108.162.240.30]] 15:18, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

Is it just me or does this sound a lot like the game discordian game "Sink"? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.240.30|108.162.240.30]] 15:15, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

The explanation says Megan's comment is in contrast, I felt it was more of a comparison or a parallel. News articles go away once they're a week old in some places, various comments could be seen as thrown rocks or stones. Am I the only one who read it this way? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.63|173.245.55.63]] 15:27, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

Happy Leif Erikson day, everyone! Jinga-hinga-durga! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.171|141.101.98.171]] 17:15, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1385: Throwing Rocks

2014-06-23T18:14:09Z

Halfhat:

Current explanation says the rock in the second panel is seen "possibly sinking the boat." Whoever typed this apparently didn't notice the undisturbed leaf boat, floating approximately 2 feet away from the splash. - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.240.36|108.162.240.36]] 04:38, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

My boat sunk! THANKS, OBAMA! - [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.153|173.245.56.153]] 05:32, 23 June 2014 (UTC)
:SURE... BLAME OBAMA WHEN IT WAS BUSH WHO STARTED IT. ''(Sorry! Couldn't resist.)'' [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.239|103.22.201.239]] 11:15, 23 June 2014 (UTC)
:: Heh. Thanks. That started the day with a laugh. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.39|199.27.133.39]] 16:48, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

Did we already know both Beret Guy and Megan are left handed? [[User:Wrybred|Wrybred]] ([[User talk:Wrybred|talk]]) 12:20, 23 June 2014 (UTC)wrybred
: They could be ambidextrous. Seriously I suspect that was easier to draw with them facing that way. And them facing the other way is just wrong.

Vinland != America
: "Vinland was the name given to an area of North America by Norse Vikings..." per Wikipedia. (Providing actual info rather than just yelling "NO!" is always more helpful. But I'll take your comment (and you posting it anonymously) was intended as being in the spirit of the comments Randall's poking fun at.) [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.39|199.27.133.39]] 16:52, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

Since "Leaf" Ericson is a pun on Leif, I think Vinland is a pun for Finland, but with the prefix "Vin" from "Vine". All of these puns make sense since the boat is made from a leaf.
:Try reading the wikipedia entry for Vinland. That makes a lot more sense. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.240.30|108.162.240.30]] 15:18, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

Is it just me or does this sound a lot like the game discordian game "Sink"? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.240.30|108.162.240.30]] 15:15, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

The explanation says Megan's comment is in contrast, I felt it was more of a comparison or a parallel. News articles go away once they're a week old in some places, various comments could be seen as thrown rocks or stones. Am I the only one who read it this way? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.63|173.245.55.63]] 15:27, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

Happy Leif Erikson day, everyone! Jinga-hinga-durga! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.171|141.101.98.171]] 17:15, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

Talk:953: 1 to 10

2014-04-05T11:53:18Z

Halfhat:

One of correct answers is P = 1 + 1 - |sgn(10 - 1 - 1)|

(|x| is absolute value of x, sgn(x) is 1 when x > 0, 0 when x = 0, and -1 when x < 0)

If 10 = 1 + 1, then P = 10 - |sgn(0)| = 10 - |0| = 10

If 10 > 1 + 1, then P = 1 + 1 - |sgn(10 - 1 - 1)| = 1 + 1 - |1| = 1

If 10 < 1 + 1, then P = 1 + 1 - |sgn(10 - 1 - 1)| = 1 + 1 - |-1| = 1

So P is 10 iif the question was is in binary, and 1 iif it was not in binary.

[[Special:Contributions/93.73.186.104|93.73.186.104]] 16:26, 6 February 2013 (UTC)
:The absolute value is unnecessary. When is 10 ever less than 1+1?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.202|108.162.219.202]] 20:28, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

I don't think the explanation is right, I mean i don't know binary but i don't think the joke is that he's saying a 4 as in 100% [[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 00:23, 7 November 2013 (UTC)
:A 4 is not 100%, but a 3/4 is always 75%. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.206|108.162.212.206]] 22:47, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

1.(1) is the best answer I've got [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 11:53, 5 April 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1052: Every Major's Terrible

2014-04-03T18:59:54Z

Halfhat:

Panel 1's cueball is in the same pose as Rodin's "The Thinker"

Panel 4 background is the periodic table of elements.

Panel 5, Fowler's Toad emits a noxious secretion that irritates skin and mucous membranes (it was previously thought to cause warts)

Panel 6, Psychology = a serial killer with a chainsaw, Sociology = hobo; Social Psych = hobo serial killer with chainsaw.

Panel 15, LISP, Scheme, and other computer languages with an excess of parentheses.

Panel 16, biohazard symbol

Panel 19, bongos were played by Richard Feynman

Panel 27, fear of snakes, study of reptiles

Panel 28, a picture of a stomach, pun on "stomach" being slang for "tolerate"

Panel 30, words in all lowercase like e.e.cummings

-- [[Special:Contributions/75.103.23.206| 75.103.23.206 ]] 22:04, 7 December 2012‎
:Hobo serial killer with chainsaw? Social psych sounds awesome!
:[[Special:Contributions/24.2.217.188|24.2.217.188]] 22:42, 22 October 2013 (UTC)
----
In panel 22 (History), what's the theme connecting the years 1935, 1969, and 1991?
[[User:Wwoods|Wwoods]] ([[User talk:Wwoods|talk]]) 15:40, 21 May 2013 (UTC)

----
This explanation is very small for that big comic. I am starting to add the transcript and after that I will do more investigations to that opera. This should be the key to explain all the panels.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:13, 21 May 2013 (UTC)

:The answer won't lie in the song, trust me. Pirates of Penzance is probably my favorite comic opera out there. Plus Randall gives that the lie in saying you can use the tune from the elements song (a well-known parody) or even Marry Poppins (similar tune, but not exactly the same). I think each panel is just a reference to the words, I don't think that Randall is actually involving The Pirates of Penzance in any way other than the tune. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.211|173.245.52.211]] 20:53, 9 December 2013 (UTC)
----
Feynman was also known for being a ladies' man, so the two girls in panel 19 are significant IMHO.
--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.117|141.101.80.117]] 13:51, 25 December 2013 (UTC)
----
Needs explanation what does it mean to '''choose a major''', and what '''major''' is in this context. Note every reader is from U.S.A.; different countries have different higher education systems. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 10:56, 9 January 2014 (UTC)
:True that. 'Graduation' in Brazil means 'Undergraduation' in the US. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.105|108.162.254.105]] 03:51, 1 February 2014 (UTC)
----
"Math's just physics unconstrained by precepts of reality" - that isn't a binary tree, its a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bifurcation_diagram bifurcation diagram] from chaos theory. And, sorry, it has nothing to do with the Banach–Tarski paradox - that's just mindless name-dropping.
[[User:Davidbak|Davidbak]] ([[User talk:Davidbak|talk]]) 20:54, 10 February 2014 (UTC)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRexBMPeRTo[[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 18:59, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

explain xkcd:Community portal/Coordination

2014-03-03T19:41:57Z

Halfhat: /* We need a name for the "Total Douchebag" */

explain xkcd:Community portal/Coordination

2014-03-03T19:35:59Z

Halfhat: /* We need a name for the "Total Douchebag" */

explain xkcd:Community portal/Coordination

2014-03-03T19:34:17Z

Halfhat: /* We need a name for the "Total Douchebag" */ new section

1318: Actually

2014-03-02T17:36:57Z

Halfhat: Fixed a transcript error

{{comic
| number = 1318
| date = January 17, 2014
| title = Actually
| image = actually.png
| titletext = Protip: You can win every exchange just by being one level more precise than whoever talked last. Eventually, you'll defeat all conversational opponents and stand alone.
}}

==Explanation==
The image shows a sphere, a simple model for the shape of the Earth. Six people stand on its surface, talking about ways to best describe it, starting with a flat surface, the first belief held, and ending with general relativity. As the statements form a circle, the very first statement can lead recursively off the last, as described below.

The statements in detail:

;Actually, measurements suggest it's flat.
* This statement is located at the top of the sphere in the comic, making it most likely to be read first. Given no other context, it will be interpreted as referring to the Earth; i.e. "The Earth is flat." This references the earliest view of our planet's surface.
;Actually, it's a sphere.
* This refers to the second earliest view of our planet's surface, as a ball with uniform radius everywhere.
;Actually, it's an oblate spheroid.
* This clarifies the previous statement; an {{w|oblate spheroid}} has a wider radius at the equator than through the poles. On Earth, this occurs because a rotating body tends to bulge at the equator, where the matter experiences greater centrifugal forces (analogous to experiencing more force at the outside of a round-a-bout rather than at the center). This is known as the {{w|equatorial bulge}}.
;Actually, it's a shape defined by the EGM96 coefficients.
* This adds even more clarification to the previous statement; the {{w|EGM96|Earth Gravitational Model 1996}} is a detailed map of the Earth's gravitational field, which is not as uniform as a pure oblate spheroid would suggest.
;Actually, it's that plus local topography.
* This adds an almost unnecessary level of clarification to the previous; obviously the Earth's surface is not a smooth shape but rather contains numerous mountains, hills, valleys, etc. which constitute "local topography".
;Actually, it's embedded in a universe that's curved.
* This shifts the perspective from the actual shape of the Earth to the "shape" of the space around it. According to {{w|General relativity}}, our planet's gravity bends the space-time around it, making it curved. At the time General relativity was discovered, it was not conclusively known whether the {{w|Shape of the universe|whole universe was flat or curved}}.
;Actually, measurements suggest it's flat.
* Looping around to the first statement and given the context from the previous one, this can now be interpreted as "the universe is flat" rather than "the Earth is flat". Recent measurements of the universe's shape strongly suggest that it is more or less completely flat rather than curved.
* This could also refer to Thomas Friedman's 2005 book "The World is Flat" which discusses globalization and the idea of the world as a level playing field of equal opportunity for commerce.
;Actually...
* The next two statements could also be interpreted as referring to the universe rather than the Earth - but they would no longer continue to be more precise than the previous ([[Cueball|Cueball's]]) statment.
* The text will not continue on to form a ''recursive loop'' - as the statement about the EGM (by [[Megan]]) would no longer make sense in context of the universe - and the same would be true for the next two statements.
;Title text
The title text pulls the whole comic tegether, pointing out that each statement in the comic is more precise than the previous. Unlike the loop in the comic, someone who does this will likely eventually win any real-life debate. The phrase "stand alone" refers to driving away all conversation, resulting in no one wanting to speak to the person.

==Transcript==
:[Six people are standing upon a white circle as if it were a miniature planet. Each person is facing the reader and says something to the person on their right. All texts are displayed as a near-continuous stream over their heads to form one circle that encloses the whole picture.]
:[From topmost, going clockwise.]
::Cueball: '''''Actually,''''' measurements suggest it's flat.
::Ponytail: '''''Actually,''''' it's a sphere.
::White Hat: '''''Actually,''''' it's an oblate spheroid.
::Megan: '''''Actually,''''' it's a shape defined by the EGM96 coefficients.
::Hairy 1: '''''Actually,''''' it's that plus local topography.
::Hairy 2: '''''Actually,''''' it's embedded in a universe that's curved.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Language]]

1322: Winter

2014-01-27T16:33:33Z

Halfhat: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1322
| date = January 27, 2014
| title = Winter
| image = winter.png
| titletext = Stay warm, little flappers, and find lots of plant eggs!
}}

==Explanation==
Beret Guy and Cueball (or White Hat?) are walking. Beret Guy is making several remarks about the situation. It is cold, there is ice to walk on, and the birds are chirping in the trees. When making these observations, however, he does not use the conventional terms. Instead he uses word compounds, similar to "[[1133: Up Goer Five|Up Goer Five]]". When Cueball brings up Beret Guy's choice of vocabulary, he retorts by declaring that the name does not matter, as long as the things themselves are what they should be. This is the same concept that is communicated in the line from the Shakespearean play, "Romeo and Juliet": "What's in a name? That which we call {{w|A rose by any other name would smell as sweet|a rose/by any other name would smell as sweet}}."

The title text further builds upon this idea.

;Dictionary

*The sky is cold: The air is cold
*floor water: puddle
*too hard to drink: frozen
*handcoats: mittens ''or'' gloves
*spacelight: sun
*flappy planes: birds
*beeping: chirping
*stick towers: trees
*little flappers: baby birds
*plant eggs: seeds

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy talking with Cueball, walking through a cold forest with ice on the ground]
:Beret Guy: The sky is cold and the floor water is too hard to drink.
:Beret Guy: But I have my handcoats and the spacelight is warm.
:Beret Guy: Listen–the flappy planes are beeping in the stick towers.
:[Cueball stops. Beret Guy walks off-panel]
:Cueball: Those are all the wrong words for those things.
:Beret Guy: Maybe.
:Beret Guy: But the things themselves are all right. So who cares?
:[Birds chirping. Cueball resumes walking]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Language]]

1322: Winter

2014-01-27T16:32:52Z

Halfhat: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1322
| date = January 27, 2014
| title = Winter
| image = winter.png
| titletext = Stay warm, little flappers, and find lots of plant eggs!
}}

==Explanation==
Beret Guy and Cueball (or White Hat?) are walking. Beret Guy is making several remarks about the situation. It is cold, there is ice to walk on, and the birds are chirping in the trees. When making these observations, however, he does not use the conventional terms. Instead he uses word compounds, similar to "[[1133: Up Goer Five|Up Goer Five]]". When Cueball brings up Beret Guy's choice of vocabulary, he retorts by declaring that the name does not matter, as long as the things themselves are what they should be. This is the same concept that is communicated in the line from the Shakespearean play, "Romeo and Juliet": "What's in a name? That which we call {{w|A rose by any other name would smell as sweet|a rose/by any other name would smell as sweet}}."

The title text further builds upon this idea.

;Dictionary

*The sky is cold: The air is cold
*floor water: puddle
*too hard to drink: frozen
*handcoats: mittens ''or'' gloves
*spacelight: sun
*flappy planes: birds
*beeping: chirping
*stick towers: trees
*little flappers: birds
*plant eggs: seeds

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy talking with Cueball, walking through a cold forest with ice on the ground]
:Beret Guy: The sky is cold and the floor water is too hard to drink.
:Beret Guy: But I have my handcoats and the spacelight is warm.
:Beret Guy: Listen–the flappy planes are beeping in the stick towers.
:[Cueball stops. Beret Guy walks off-panel]
:Cueball: Those are all the wrong words for those things.
:Beret Guy: Maybe.
:Beret Guy: But the things themselves are all right. So who cares?
:[Birds chirping. Cueball resumes walking]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Language]]

Talk:1322: Winter

2014-01-27T09:05:59Z

Halfhat:

I feel like he's referencing a song but I can't make the things fit anything. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.53|108.162.219.53]] 06:05, 27 January 2014 (UTC)

Amusingly, I feel, the German for gloves is "Handschuh" (plural "Handschuhe)" as in
hand shoe(s). [[Special:Contributions/173.245.49.72|173.245.49.72]] 09:05, 27 January 2014 (UTC)

I still think that's whitehat, he is again making an argument that is getting beaten [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 09:05, 27 January 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1321: Cold

2014-01-25T18:29:03Z

Halfhat:

I really hate when articles on science get a POV tag. Science isn't politics (hint: evolution and gravity aren't POV either). Related to the comic, I just had a similar rant on Facebook in the last week or two where I linked to [http://www.skepticalscience.com/print.php?r=54 this article] when someone said it was too cold for Global Warming. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.64|108.162.237.64]] 12:24, 24 January 2014 (UTC)

I really hate it when people think the global warming scam is science, when it really is nothing more than politics masquerading as science. The IPCC has been proven to be a bunch of liars, and really there's nothing left but a bunch of whining left-wing lunatics who are desperately clinging to their hope of continuing to use this lie to raise energy prices/taxes. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.17|108.162.219.17]] 12:55, 24 January 2014 (UTC)
:Well you're wrong, and apparently delusionally paranoid about what the political left wants, but the bigger question is why is this in a wiki discussion page? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.117|108.162.249.117]] 13:21, 24 January 2014 (UTC)

Although it doesn't directly mention it, this is partly related to people's confusion over the difference between 'weather' and 'climate' - the former being what the conditions are at a given moment in time, and the latter referring to long-term trends.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.228|141.101.98.228]] 14:52, 24 January 2014 (UTC)

I think the one with whit wolly hat is whitehat [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 16:10, 24 January 2014 (UTC)

Randall has cherry picked data for his conclusion and the graph in the comic. The full history is available from the NWS. The one for my home town can be found here http://www.erh.noaa.gov/iln/climo/below0.php The 1970's were unusually cold, which makes the present seem warmer by comparison. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.254|108.162.210.254]] 16:33, 24 January 2014 (UTC)

Apparently Randall hasn’t seen this:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/All_palaeotemps.png

To quote Michael Z. Williamson:
29 years in the last century is not an "average" of the last 300 million years.

Any finding based on that "average" is complete bullshit. You may as well use 1300-1305 hours on Apr 23 as your "average." You'll be about as accurate, and save time over actual data collection. {{unsigned ip|173.245.55.67}}

The claim that 0 Fahrenheit / -17 Celsius is ''really fucking cold'' is supported by [[526: Converting to Metric]]. [[User:Fryhole|Fryhole]] ([[User talk:Fryhole|talk]]) 00:41, 25 January 2014 (UTC)
:We've been getting some ball-chilling winter with the cold fronts suddenly appearing in Florida, which is a drastic change from the sweaty weather just last week. I've added "fuckfuckfuckcold" to my personal lexicon. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.64|108.162.237.64]] 04:16, 25 January 2014 (UTC)

Is that possibly WHITE HAT not CUEBALL (except for the last panel)?

The one in black is not black hat.
He sits around memorising weather data, and lack malice. [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 18:29, 25 January 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1321: Cold

2014-01-24T16:10:48Z

Halfhat:

explain xkcd:Sandbox

2014-01-17T15:39:07Z

Halfhat:

__NOINDEX__
Make changes, try things out, or just have fun with the wiki here! Just leave everything above the line alone, please.
------
[[stupidddddddddd]]
[[stupid]]
[[xkcd]]
[[explain xkcd]]
{{#expr:1220+({{CURRENTWEEK}}-23)*3+{{#switch:{{CURRENTDOW}}|1|2=0|3|4=1|5|6|0=2}}}}
15:39, 17 January 2014 (UTC)
{{Comicbox sandbox
| number =
| date =
| title =
| image =
| titletext =
}}

201: Christmas GPS

2014-01-14T17:12:07Z

Halfhat: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 201
| date = December 25, 2006
| title = Christmas GPS
| image = christmas gps.png
| titletext = If it's over water, and you can't get a boat or revise the rules to preserve the makeout, there is no helping you.
}}

==Explanation==
In the comic Cueball has gotten a GPS and asks Megan what to do with it. She suggest that they take their current coordinates and modify the latitude and longitude with a simple function based on their birthdays, thereby pointing to an arbitrary, non-random location. For example, if Cueball was born on let's say April 1, 1986 and Megan on August 12, 1988 and they are somewhere in New York ([https://toolserver.org/~geohack/geohack.php?pagename=New%20York%20City&params=40.768062_N_-73.98468_E_type:landmark 40.768062,-73.98468]), the coordinate they type will make ([https://toolserver.org/~geohack/geohack.php?params=40.040186_N_-73.081288_E_type:landmark 40.040186, -73.081288]). The good thing about keeping the number before the decimal point is that the distance is still realistic to get to by car. Megan suggests to make out in this place. This procedure is similar to [[Geohashing]].

The comic is a Christmas comic, since it came online on Christmas Day 2006.

The title text suggests if the location you make for yourself (and girlfriend) is over water (which the example above happens to be), you either need to find a boat or find some rule that you can preserve the promise of making out, and if you can't do either, then there is no way you'd get to make out.

==Transcript==
:Cueball: Check it out-I got a GPS receiver for Christmas! What should we do with it?

:Megan: Let's take our latitude & longitude, put our birthdays after the decimal points, then go to that spot and make out.

:[Cueball is in love.]

:Merry Christmas from XKCD{{sic}}
:[Car driving off in to the distance.]

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

376: Bug

2014-01-13T20:47:45Z

Halfhat: Just added a bit more

{{comic
| number = 376
| date = January 28, 2008
| title = Bug
| image = bug.png
| titletext = The universe started in 1970. Anyone claiming to be over 38 is lying about their age.
}}

==Explanation==
In computer systems, time is measured starting from some arbitrarily chosen point. That particular time is known as the "{{w|Unix time|epoch}}" for that system. The {{w|UNIX}} operating system internally uses an epoch of January 1, 1970, and measures the time as a number of seconds from then. Since this was intended only for things internal to the OS (File last modified times and the like), using 1-Jan-1970 was safe as no UNIX systems existed before that date.

Dates before January 01, 1970 are represented by negative values. At 03:14:08 on January 19, 2038 the 32-bit versions of the Unix time stamp will cease to work, as it will overflow the largest value that can be held in a signed 32-bit number. The 64-bit version will expire at 15:30:08 December 4, 292,277,026,596.

[[Cueball]] has clearly misused the system date in some way, his friend makes a pun by combining "Epoch" with "Epic Fail" - a colloquial term meaning "a very big mistake was made".

The title text takes the joke to the next level, claiming that the entire universe began when Unix did, and therefore no one can be older than 38 (at the time of the comic), which would explain away the bug since no later dates would be needed. This is also similar to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Thursdayism#Last_Thursdayism Last Thursdayism].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball sits at a computer, staring at the screen and rubbing his chin in thought. A friend stands behind him.]
:Cueball: Weird - My code's crashing when given pre-1970 dates.
:Friend [pointing at the computer]: Epoch fail!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Programming]]

376: Bug

2014-01-13T20:47:06Z

Halfhat: Just added a bit more

{{comic
| number = 376
| date = January 28, 2008
| title = Bug
| image = bug.png
| titletext = The universe started in 1970. Anyone claiming to be over 38 is lying about their age.
}}

==Explanation==
In computer systems, time is measured starting from some arbitrarily chosen point. That particular time is known as the "{{w|Unix time|epoch}}" for that system. The {{w|UNIX}} operating system internally uses an epoch of January 1, 1970, and measures the time as a number of seconds from then. Since this was intended only for things internal to the OS (File last modified times and the like), using 1-Jan-1970 was safe as no UNIX systems existed before that date.

Dates before January 01, 1970 are represented by negative values. At 03:14:08 on January 19, 2038 the 32-bit versions of the Unix time stamp will cease to work, as it will overflow the largest value that can be held in a signed 32-bit number. The 64-bit version will expire at 15:30:08 December 4, 292,277,026,596.

[[Cueball]] has clearly misused the system date in some way, his friend makes a pun by combining "Epoch" with "Epic Fail" - a colloquial term meaning "a very big mistake was made".

The title text takes the joke to the next level, claiming that the entire universe began when Unix did, and therefore no one can be older than 38 (at the time of the comic), which would explain away the bug. This is also similar to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Thursdayism#Last_Thursdayism Last Thursdayism].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball sits at a computer, staring at the screen and rubbing his chin in thought. A friend stands behind him.]
:Cueball: Weird - My code's crashing when given pre-1970 dates.
:Friend [pointing at the computer]: Epoch fail!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Programming]]

376: Bug

2014-01-13T20:45:25Z

Halfhat: Added a detail, I hope.

{{comic
| number = 376
| date = January 28, 2008
| title = Bug
| image = bug.png
| titletext = The universe started in 1970. Anyone claiming to be over 38 is lying about their age.
}}

==Explanation==
In computer systems, time is measured starting from some arbitrarily chosen point. That particular time is known as the "{{w|Unix time|epoch}}" for that system. The {{w|UNIX}} operating system internally uses an epoch of January 1, 1970, and measures the time as a number of seconds from then. Since this was intended only for things internal to the OS (File last modified times and the like), using 1-Jan-1970 was safe as no UNIX systems existed before that date.

Dates before January 01, 1970 are represented by negative values. At 03:14:08 on January 19, 2038 the 32-bit versions of the Unix time stamp will cease to work, as it will overflow the largest value that can be held in a signed 32-bit number. The 64-bit version will expire at 15:30:08 December 4, 292,277,026,596.

[[Cueball]] has clearly misused the system date in some way, his friend makes a pun by combining "Epoch" with "Epic Fail" - a colloquial term meaning "a very big mistake was made".

The title text takes the joke to the next level, claiming that the entire universe began when Unix did, and therefore no one can be older than 38 (at the time of the comic). This is also similar to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Thursdayism#Last_Thursdayism Last Thursdayism].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball sits at a computer, staring at the screen and rubbing his chin in thought. A friend stands behind him.]
:Cueball: Weird - My code's crashing when given pre-1970 dates.
:Friend [pointing at the computer]: Epoch fail!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Programming]]

explain xkcd:Community portal/Coordination

2014-01-13T20:40:57Z

Halfhat: /* "Its Cause Your Dumb" */

178: Not Really Into Pokemon

2014-01-13T20:05:59Z

Halfhat:

{{comic
| number = 178
| date = October 11, 2006
| title = Not Really Into Pokemon
| image = not_really_into_pokemon.png
| titletext = As of this writing, Ubuntu 6.10 and Firefox 2.0 have left my computer a complete mess.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Pokémon}} is a widely popular, animated, children's television show; {{w|collectible card game}}; and videogame series that involves a young trainer going out to explore the world to catch Pokémon, creatures of wild variety (ranging from [http://www.veekun.com/dex/pokemon/rhydon/ armoured dinosaurs that have drills for horns] to [http://www.veekun.com/dex/pokemon/genesect robotic bugs that change their type depending on the items that they are holding]). When the trainer comes across wild Pokémon or other trainers, they use their Pokémon to fight the other.

The Pokémon universe currently contains {{w|List_of_Pok%C3%A9mon|over 700}} different types of Pokémon, and new ones are being added every so often (much like new releases of computer software). Also, the names can sound very strange or silly to someone not familiar with them. In this comic, [[Black Hat]] is dismissing {{w|Ubuntu}}, an open-source computer operating system, as a Pokémon because it has a strange/silly name. The "condescension" comes from the fact that usually only children are "into" Pokémon.

The title text refers to the complications that new software releases can have on computers, especially if either the release is a(n) alpha/beta release or if the computer is rather old. After all, said title text does paint a picture of 2 computer programs physically fighting each other inside the computer and making a mess in the process, as if they were Pokémon.

==Transcript==
:I have found the perfect phrase for condescendingly dismissing anything:
:Cueball: Have you seen the new Ubuntu release?
:Black Hat: Nah, I'm not really into Pokémon.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Linux]]
[[Category:Pokémon]]

explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals

2014-01-13T20:01:24Z

Halfhat: /* What If Comics */ new section

<noinclude>{{Community portal}}</noinclude>

== Add unexplained strips ==

At the moment, browsing through the explanations using the previous and next buttons is interrupted whenever there's an explanation missing.

I think adding a page with the strip fr all of those with a short message like "no one has explained this yet, want to give it a shot?" would make the wiki easier to browse through and will get more strips explained faster.

:I don't think that would happen. If suddenly it was much easier for people to skip over pages that had no explanation, I think they would do exactly that, skip right over it. On the same side of that coin, If suddenly there are no longer any red links on the [[List of all comics]] then everyone perusing that page assumes that all the comics have been explained and don't need to contribute any more. It's astonishing how quickly an [[589: Designated Drivers|embedded]] red link gets an explanation page created simply to get rid of the red link.

:Secondarily, ''many'' of the pages created recently aren't being created with their numerical and titular redirects. Without the numerical redirect, the comic template can't find that there is a previous/next comic to link to. Every once in a while somebody will go through and try to notice all the pages that don't have their redirects created but it's an unscientific process that only happens occasionally. If we could get every joe blow that comes in and vomits up a poorly done explanation to create the redirects I wouldn't be quite as annoyed at their lack of show-don't-tell-manship. But, since they can't be bothered to put the date in the comic template, I doubt we'll ever get people to create the redirects.

:'''TL;DR:''' No more red links, no more work gets done on the back catalog.

:--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 14:28, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

== xplainkcd.com ==

When I first saw this site I thought it should definitely be at xplainkcd.com or at least redirect from that url {{unsigned|115.166.22.158|12:45, 3 January 2013 (UTC)}}

: I like that idea! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 13:28, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

:Yeah! If it's possible, it would be cool! At least as a redirect. -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:46, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

== Section style and usage ==

I am new here and I'm trying to get up to speed with the culture. I have a few questions about how and where to use sections (== this ==). I am more willing to go with (and enforce) whatever norms there are here, but I have not seen them actually discussed.

# '''Is it OK to create sections in Discussion pages?''' I have been told no, but there are many examples extant of this usage in this Wiki and indeed in Wikipedia.
# '''Section title case''' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Capital_letters#Acronyms Wikipedia's style guide] recommends sentence case, not title case. There are many title cased section headers here.
# '''Links''' I do not have a reference for this but it seems to me putting links in section code (== [[<nowiki>this</nowiki>]] == ) is bad form.

Last note -- it's understood if these bylaws have not yet been written. I can see that a few of you have made a huge personal investment to make this Wiki what it is today, and that is a credit to you all -- this is awesome! As a long-time aficionado of xkcd I applaud your work and look forward to further collaboration.
--[[User:Smartin|Smartin]] ([[User talk:Smartin|talk]]) 04:15, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

:As a general rule, we stick to the standard format that existing pages follow, with an optional trivia section below the transcript. Some zealous editors like to add other sections though, which tend to be for the most part unneeded or redundant. If something you want to add doesn't help to explain the comic in some way, but the inclusion of which would somehow still add to the page, *and* it doesn't fall under the trivia category, a new section is warranted. This isn't the case most of the time though, so editors usually fold the content of extraneous sections into "Explanation" or "Trivia." We have no policy on links in titles, and they're allowed so long as they are appropriate; the link is useful and can't be folded into the section itself. And we use title case for titles cuz it just makes sense. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:08, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

:We generally do not (or at least, discourage) use sections on the talk/discussion pages for explanation pages. This is purely for looks. The comic discussion section of the explanation page looks/feels wrong if there are level 2 section breaks in the transclusion. Also, if the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Table_of_contents Table of Contents] starts showing up on a page, such as on [[Click and Drag]] the sections created on the talk page also show up in the TOC. This gets confusing, and this is why we prefer not to use them on explanation talk pages. Everywhere else we follow standard wiki format and do use sections on the discussion pages.

:Personally, I think that links in section titles looks wrong, but I choose not to be the dictator of style in this matter. :p

:Please feel free to make edits. The worst that happens is someone reverts your edit. If it's a big enough issue and/or you don't seem to be learning from what people are fixing about your edits someone will leave a comment on your talk page. That's it. We might leave a nasty-gram in the edit summary, but oh well. We only ban for malicious intent. Honestly working to better the wiki is good, even if sometimes we grumble about it.

:--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:00, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

::Oh, I just looked at your talk page. I completely forgot that that happened. Don't worry about it. Learning the ropes is part of the experience. Do make edits, and if they're wrong, we'll nudge you in the right direction. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:18, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

I have been moving some trivia sections to directly below the explanation, in order to make it more consistent, and easier to survey and maintain. Often the dividing line between trivia and explanation is not entirely clear, and in articles without a trivia section the end of the explanation very often contains trivia-like information. (e.g. [[1155: Kolmogorov Directions]]) -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:13, 4 January 2013 (UTC)
===Title case doesn't make any sense===
At first sight title case in titles just makes sense. However title case '''never''' makes sense. It's worse than all caps. Besides, only Americans and children like title case. [[Special:Contributions/190.96.48.48|190.96.48.48]] 20:04, 10 August 2013 (UTC)

== Protip ==

Anyone for adding ''Protip'' as a [[:Category:Comic series|Comic series]]. I have found five so far: [[653]], [[711]], [[1022]], [[1047]] and [[1156]]. (There are also a few comics with a protip title text.) -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:25, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

:I think that qualifies as a recurring topic (thus worthy of a category), but not as a series, where you can see a clear sequence. In fact, [[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]] has the same limitation, for what I suggest it to be removed from [[:Category:Comic series]]. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:42, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

::Seconded. Looks general and common enough to be a category. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:57, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

:::Okay, great! Do you think that the ones with a "protip:" title text should be included? Besides, I think I might be the one responsiple for moving My Hobby from [[:Category:Comics by topic|Comics by topic]] to Comic series. I felt that all the My Hobby comics were about different topics, but maybe i've got to narrow an interpretation of the word "topic". -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:31, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

:::: Can you link to the protip-in-title-text comics?
:::: As for My Hobby, note that categories aren't mutually exclusive. They can be in the "my hobby" topic, and each of them further categorized as appropriate: music, math, etc. Makes sense? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 03:45, 5 January 2013 (UTC)
:::: I just searched for protip in the xkcd search bar. Here: [[1084]], [[427]]. And yes, makes sense. I've moved My Hobby back to "by topic". -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:06, 5 January 2013 (UTC)

== Category: Sports ==

How about creating a new "Sports" category? [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 15:31, 28 January 2013 (UTC)
:Well, maybe. Everyone aren't so keen on new categories here. Which comics are you thinking of, for a start? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 20:32, 28 January 2013 (UTC)
::We definitely need to reach an agreement as a community on when to create new categories. Something simple like a minimum of 3 (or, say, 5) existing comics. Since we're already at the proposals' portal... what do you guys think about that? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:44, 28 January 2013 (UTC)
:::My opinion: Five would be enough to qualify. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 09:31, 29 January 2013 (UTC)
::::I vote for four. But it should also be a reasonable thing to categorize, like sports, not like "sports with Cueball containing at least three anagram words". Wich sholdn't be a problem. :) But the best name choice could be tricky sometimes. e.g. "Film & television", Film & TV", "Film", "Films", or "Movies"? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:59, 29 January 2013 (UTC)
:::
::::Agreed, five should be enough to create the category without having to discuss it. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:50, 26 February 2013 (UTC)
: OK, let's start with [[588: Pep Rally|588]], [[1092: Michael Phelps|1092]], [[904: Sports|904]] and [[1107: Sports Cheat Sheet|1107]]. Should be able to find a few more. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 05:00, 29 January 2013 (UTC)
::Yeah, it's a broad subject so there are probably several more. -[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:59, 29 January 2013 (UTC)
:::I found another one, sort of, in [[929:Speculation|929]] (although it hasn't been explained yet). Should I get the ball rolling (no pun intended) on setting up the category? Don't wanna do it unilaterally and get yelled at. ;) [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 06:18, 30 January 2013 (UTC)
::::I think you should. On a wiki, getting stuck in discussions which die without a conclusion, to the point that motivated people give up without having done anything, is definitely counter-productive, and phrases like [[wikipedia:Wikipedia:Be bold|Wikipedia:Be bold]] are here to remind us of that. Seems like people agreed that you ''could'', and after a while nobody said that you ''shouldn't'', so I'd say do it. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:50, 26 February 2013 (UTC)

== Category: Sex ==

I think we should also create a Sex category. There's no ''doubt'' we can find more than three examples. I'll start looking for them and post the ones I find in here; again, I don't wanna create a large category by myself without community consent. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 09:20, 2 February 2013 (UTC)
*OK, the ones for Category: Sex that I've found so far are [[443]], [[219]], [[550]], [[1026]], [[575]], [[468]], [[592]], [[320]], [[1101]], [[417]], [[713]], [[672]], [[230]], [[436]], [[940]], [[532]], [[649]], [[176]], [[1006]], [[596]] and [[717]], and I'm sure there are many more. Should we create this category? [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 23:17, 3 February 2013 (UTC)

:Same as [[#Category: Sports|above]], do it. Oh, already did; well, all the better. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:53, 26 February 2013 (UTC)

==New character==
As per [[Talk:1178: Pickup Artists]], the character with hair has appeared in quite a few comics now, and he's starting to become a recurring character. Shall we go ahead with inaugurating him into our list of regular characters, and what name shall we assign him? Current candidate names include Hairy and Harry. Anyone? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:07, 26 February 2013 (UTC)

: I like Harry :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 01:04, 26 February 2013 (UTC)
::Cos made a point in the discussion on [[Talk:1178: Pickup Artists]] that Hairy is directly descriptive, whereas Harry is not obvious to visitors. On the other hand, not all names are descriptive ([[Danish]]) and I think this wiki is entitled to create some xkcd-in-culture, and not just describe. And Harry is quite funny.
::I wonder: has [[Randall]] ever called him anything at all in the transcript? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 21:52, 26 February 2013 (UTC)
:::Well, he's not named in a any official transcripts, but he's already called Harry in quite a few comic explanations. Then again, I do like having a more descriptive name for him. Shall we hold this up to a vote? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:29, 26 February 2013 (UTC)
::::I think we should wait a little for a few more viewpoints to crop up. Also, can someone link to some more comics he's been featured in? I've got [[1028: Communication]], [[1027: Pickup Artist]] and [[1178: Pickup Artists]]. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 23:41, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
:::::I actually like what that anon said: ''Curly''. Second choice: Hairy (being descriptive, a la Black Hat, Beret, Cueball, etc.) While there's talk about in-culture, we've done that with the names Cueball, Beret, etc. It's my opinion that the only names that should be "real" proper names are those that are named in the comic. Megan, Miss Lenhart, etc. Danish (as is discussed below) isn't truly a proper name, but you could argue it's a meta-description (one attributed by Black hat.) So that's my vote: yes for '''Curly''' or '''Hairy''', no for Harry. [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 05:21, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
:::That's right, [[Danish]] is not descriptive, but 1/ that name was suggested because the character [[515: No One Must Know|was called that way in the comic]], which is a tiny bit like a name given by the author (at least more than Harry which we have completely made up), and 2/ in that case it's hard to find a descriptive term: use something that revolves around her black hair (her only descriptive feature), and you easily mix up with [[Megan]]; the only graphical difference is that her hair is ''long'', but what kind of name can you make out of that?
:::For this new character, I suggest Hairy because it comes as the easy solution with every advantage: descriptive, easy to understand, and it's not ugly... I actually see no reason to resort to a made-up name like Harry.
:::[[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 22:29, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

: '''Alright. So the discussion's been had, and the most oft recommended name appears to be Hairy. All in favor, say aye. If more than 1/3 of editors agree and we have more than 6 votes, Hairy it is.''' '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:58, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
:# '''Aye''' '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:58, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
:# '''Aye''' [[User:Guru-45|Guru-45]] ([[User talk:Guru-45|talk]]) 06:14, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
:# '''Aye''' to Hairy. [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 15:43, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
:# '''Aye'''. Harry would be a nice nod to the fact that he's actually hairy, but indeed it's better to avoid inside jokes. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:05, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
:# '''Aye'''. I'm convinced! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 17:52, 3 March 2013 (UTC)
:# '''Aye'''. Hairy. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 20:52, 3 March 2013 (UTC)
::Hooray! We now have a [[:Category:Comics featuring Hairy]], with four pages already! Does anyone feel compelled to create "[[Hairy]]", with a brief description and a nice profile pic like the other characters? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 22:58, 3 March 2013 (UTC)

== Ambiguous characters ==

I've been thinking about the problem of the ambiguity of characters. "Is this really Cueball even though he has an eye and half a nose?", "This is very likely ''not'' x." "Darnit, these arn't Cueballs, these are Randall and his friends!", and so on. The character ambiguity is standard for xkcd (not less so in the early ones), and comes from the very loose or "free" way Randall uses his characters to be whatever he needs at the moment. It's simply often impossible for us to know whether he had e.g. "Cueball" or himself in mind, when drawing a particular comic (and I'd say: probably often both).

I want to suggest that we in general have a likewise rather loose policy towards including characters in the categories for the comics. So that reasonably ambiguous cases should be included in e.g. (does she have a ponytail?) This is not because I believe this or that to really be this or that; I just don't believe in objective truth (here!). I feel that when doing research :) on a character, the borderline cases are often the most interesting ones, and you want to be able to find them through the "Comics featuring miss x"!

I came to think this through now, when I wanted to (and did) list two comics with [[Miss Lenhart]] (?) where she was drawn but not named. Any thoughts on this in general? Other case studies? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 21:17, 5 March 2013 (UTC)
:My take has always been that [[Cueball]], for example, has not been a specific character. There is not ''a'' cueball, per se, distinct from any other cueball... indeed, there are several comics with several cueballs in-frame, and that is the point. I see the cueball character as a wildcard character (pun intended) ready to stand in for anybody (and ''not'' necessarily just Randall; I think those readers who suggest "this ''is'' Randall" are missing the point; he's way more META than that...) [[Megan]], while slightly less generic, still remains the female wild-card significant-other, while Curls seems to be a not-significant-other female used to illustrate a relationship that is transient. Other characters come and go, and when it's important to visually distinguish them from others in the frame, they're given additional characteristics, to wit [[Hairy]], [[Ponytail]], etc.
:Unfortunately, that viewpoint is not commonly held, so I daresay I'm in the minority here.
:-- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:18, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

== Note at the top, about the server error ==

:''This thread was moved to [[MediaWiki talk:Sitenotice]]''

== Category: Flowcharts ==

Hello, the line "Randall has made use of flowcharts before." in today's comic explanation made me want a [[:Category:Flowcharts|flowcharts category]] to navigate into...

As it didn't exist, I proceeded to create it, but as the log says, [[User:lcarsos|lcarsos]] deleted such a category in November, saying ''"Insufficient differentiation from Category:Comics with charts, diluting the depth of comics tagged charts"''.

I don't agree with that, and I think we could profit from such a subcategory. I found those pages fitting it:
* [[94: Profile Creation Flowchart]]
* [[210: 90's Flowchart]]
* [[488: Steal This Comic]]
* [[627: Tech Support Cheat Sheet]]
* [[844: Good Code]]
* [[851: Na]]
* [[854: Learning to Cook]]
* [[1195: Flowchart]]

So? - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 10:59, 5 April 2013 (UTC)
:Weell if you're willing to take charge of the category and personally make sure it's added to all relevant comic explanations, go ahead. The usual objection to making new categories is that we admins can't remember all the categories when we're reviewing new explanations, but it's K if you're willing to take up that responsibility yourself. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:17, 5 April 2013 (UTC)
:
:: OK. I did it without waiting for further replies, because I think it will be especially profitable today (to viewers).
:: It doesn't seem a big issue to me if the correct category is not added when a new explanation is made: a passing editor will do it later on... But hey, I'm OK with taking special care of adding pages to this category.
:: [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 12:28, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

::: I just want to add that Cos' view is indeed the appropriate way to work in wikis: there is no concept of a single author for a page, category, or piece of text, and the workload is meant to be distributed among several editors: it is not necessary that any single editor remembers all existing categories, or knows the wiki markup by heart, or knows how to work with all the features of mediawiki, etc. The reason why wikis can be edited by anyone is precisely a recognition that there *will* be errors and any page can be improved somehow. That reasoning against categories should, IMO, be abandoned, or at most only kept as the opinion of some editors. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 22:00, 6 April 2013 (UTC)

Isnt there a page which lists all the categories? If not, there should be one, and it should be accessible to all. Such a page could be useful when trying to quick-add categories to comics. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.83.155|117.194.83.155]] 13:43, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
:Yes, there is. [[Special:Categories]]. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:07, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
::Of course, there's a gazillion of 'em, over several pages, so I understand any reluctance to add new categories (having just suggested a new one myself which I feel is justified, but knowing that the upkeep needed may be the key point of contention so remaining philosophical about it).
::A solution perhaps to carry over from another locale that I frequent is to have a "Categories of Character" page, a "Categories of Object" one, perhaps "Categories of Event", and a "Categories of Publication". For each new comic someone can easily check the shorter Character categories list against those present, the Object list against itemsin use, Events, etc, and of course the Publication one has the "Tuesday Comic"/equivalent, and other date-based ones (although isn't that automatic from templated creation? ...never added a comic, but would imagine it is). After that it's a trawl through the miscelania categories (perhaps a meta-category just for them?). But, yeah, a lot of work to set up. Wouldn't wish it on anyone who wasn't already willing to do it, and I remain an anon-IP person right now so can hardly commit ''myself'' as volunteer maintainer of this. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 17:20, 22 June 2013 (UTC)

== I've removed "add a comment!" from Discussion heading ==

This does move it to above the line, and the rule stops early. Undo my change if that's more bothering than when the TOC is displayed as "add a comment!Discussion"...

I don't know how to automatically treat level 2 headers as level 3. That may be why Discussion was a level 1 heading earlier.
[[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 11:16, 14 April 2013 (UTC)
:Actually I now noticed there was a short edit war at {{tl|comic discussion}} over whether it should be a level 1 heading, just for this reason. [[User:Waldir]] seems to have conceeded... [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 11:25, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

:: No edit war, hence no (intentional) concession. I reverted a change once, and didn't notice the change being re-implemented by another user. In any case, it is irrelevant now since we actively discourage using headers in talk pages precisely so that they don't display in the TOC for the main comic page, where the discussion page is transcluded to (see the discussion [[#Section style and usage|above]]). This might not scale well for comics that generate lots of discussion. It might be worth discussing our customs (and perhaps write them down somewhere) before performing such changes. What do others think? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:49, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

== Time: The Table ==

Right now on the page [[1190: Time]], we have a whole bunch of tables in the form image-time-hash. The tables take up heaps of vertical space and all have to be collapsed to even be remotely traversible. I propose that we aggregate all the images into one table after Time ends, like so:

{| class="wikitable plainlinks table-padding"
|-
!Image
!Time
!Image
!Time
!Image
!Time
!Image
!Time
|-
|[[Media:time.png|00:00]]||01/00:00||[[Media:time.png|10:00]]||01/10:00||[[Media:time.png|20:00]]||01/20:00||[[Media:time.png|30:00]]||AND MOAR SAMPLE DATAS
|-
|[[Media:time.png|00:30]]||01/00:30||[[Media:time.png|10:30]]||01/10:30||[[Media:time.png|20:30]]||01/20:30||[[Media:time.png|30:30]]||AND MOAR SAMPLE DATAS
|}

The hash values aren't really a part of the comic, they're gibberish for the most part and they take up space that could be used to compact the table, as shown above. Even if we are conservative and make the table only five columns wide to account for smaller screens, we've divided scrolling time by five and eliminated much of the need for annoying collapsed tables and section headers for each day. Constructing the table shouldn't be particularly hard either, as all our current data is in nice regular tables with clear patterns that are easy enough to parse through.

I'm putting this here because the organization of the frame entries would be unintuitive and difficult to change from the edit window, which would make it a poor choice when we're still expanding it and don't even know how long the comic will continue for. It's merely a space-saving trick for after we're sure that the comic is over. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:26, 16 April 2013 (UTC)

:Oh and it'd be really nice if other people could also upload images if you're awake and a new one rolls by. There's gaps in the image record every time I wake up, and I dun likey. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:34, 20 April 2013 (UTC)
:Good work so far; go ahead make it better! :) –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:34, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

==Featured Explanation, and Archival?==

* Wikipedia has featured content. Now that we are close to reaching the goal of all comics explained, I think it makes more sense to have a "featured explanation" which would serve as a sort of a marker for a complete and good explanation. Many comics, and almost all charts are not fully explained/not a good quality explanation.

* We should set up archival of discussion of the most discussed pages, like this one. Its not very pleasing to see comments from July 2012 still lying around here. It becomes hectic at some point.

Just my 2 cents, feel free to discuss. Cheers,
[[Special:Contributions/117.194.88.180|117.194.88.180]] 13:36, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

:We dedicate this wiki to explaining xkcd, and we do actually have a featured comic feature; it changes every week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and we usually manage to fill out the explanation for it within an hour or so of it going up. The most recent comic tends to be the one that most people visiting the wiki care about, so we give it prime space on the front page so they can find it easily. xkcd updates frequently enough that there isn't really that big of a time window for us to feature an article on our front page. Also, we're a volunteer project with quite a bit less manpower than Wikipedia.
:We do need to archive talk pages though. Some of these are getting ridiculously long. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:04, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
::I agree with Davidy22. Archiving topics can be done by anyone, by moving resolved threads to the portal section's corresponding [[explain xkcd talk:Community portal/Proposals|talk page]]. We could start with the threads marked "✓ Closed". [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:42, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

:: The reason I asked for a "featured explanation" was because many of the comic explanations we currently have are sub-par, and we're almost at our initial goal of explaining all comics. A "featured explanation" would drive our editors towards the goal of having complete and good explanation towards all comics, and would allow us to know which explanations need elaboration.
:: P.S. My definition of complete explanation would be - To have a good explanation, To have all categories relevant, To link to any comics related and To explain any technical portions of the comic.
:: [[Special:Contributions/117.194.82.49|117.194.82.49]] 07:45, 8 May 2013 (UTC)
:::That message on the front page is going to link to all the pages marked by the incomplete template. If you find an unsatisfactory explanation, please mark it with <nowiki>{{incomplete}}</nowiki> '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:54, 8 May 2013 (UTC)
:::: By my definition, I think all comics will be incomplete. An incomplete template will be focused more towards improving the worst explanations, while a featured one will be to improve the best ones. Since we already have the former, we should focus on the latter. Just my 2 cents. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.85.82|117.194.85.82]] 06:55, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

== Split the list of all comics ==

[[List of all comics]] is getting larger and larger, which makes it hard to read and hard to edit. How about splitting into parts, say [[List of all comics/1-1000]], [[List of all comics/1001-2000]], etc., or something to that effect? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:39, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

: Done. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.88.176|117.194.88.176]] 10:03, 9 May 2013 (UTC)
::Great job, thanks! [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:09, 9 May 2013 (UTC)
:::And I've added back [[List of all comics (full)]], which allows, for example, listing all comics by alphabetical order.[[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 17:29, 10 May 2013 (UTC)

== Sidebar ads ==

''Moved from [[Talk:Main Page]] –– [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:06, 4 May 2013 (UTC)''

Are they generating significant money? The ones I see are pretty sleazy looking and/or scammy - "Power Companies Hate this Device! - click here to break the laws of thermodynamics!" and "Debt relief program click here to lose more money". How much money are they generating? Can you set any selections to remove the sleazy ads? [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 18:30, 3 April 2013 (UTC)
:Do we have sleazy sidebar ads? Since when? Thanks Google Chrome and AdBlock, I had no idea! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 07:47, 14 April 2013 (UTC)
::People give 20$ a pop to get a bunch of clicks on explainxkcd, and Jeff uses that money to buy a faster server with a hard drive that doesn't have less space than a public toilet with an elephant in it. It'd be really nice if you didn't turn on adblock, the money is appreciated. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:47, 14 April 2013 (UTC)
:::It's a question of me not turning it off specifically every time I visit this site. More importantly, I do think people would be more likely to click the "donate" if it weren't irrelevant ads around it. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 19:29, 14 April 2013 (UTC)
:::Generating money is a great thing. Getting "20$ a pop to get a bunch of clicks" is a bit unclear. Do the ads only generate revenue when clicked on? So EXKCD only gets money when someone actually falls for the sleazy ads? I know lots of people do not like Google - but at least their adsense stuff is relevant to the content of the website, which might generate some legitimate traffic for a legitimate advertiser.... [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 11:48, 19 April 2013 (UTC)
::::Welllll, I didn't pick the ad supplier. You could bring it up with [[User talk:Jeff|Jeff]] if you want, I think he picked the ad provider on basis of which one had a mediawiki plugin or something. If you can link Jeff to a quick and easy way to put adsense on mediawiki, he should change it quickly enough. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:21, 19 April 2013 (UTC)
:::::And I also gather then that they are only a temporary thing? -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:27, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
::::::Until we can buy a server that doesn't poop itself every time a new comic is released, the ads are staying. If you want them to go away sooner, throw more money at Jeff. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:25, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
::::::: The ads are crap. For sure. Wish I didn't have to run them, but I don't trust donations alone to hold up continually some better hosting. The ads really don't bring in that much $$$. I had google adsense before, but Google shutdown my adsense account for unnamed reason after 1 week. This new ad service is way sketchier. If you all think they don't have a place here, I'll ax 'em. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:02, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
::::::: Thanks for the info Jeff. How much ad money are we talking about? Is it calculated on how many ads are displayed or how many are clicked-through? How close to the goal is the server fund? How about a Kickstarter campaign for the server? $10 gets your name on a thankyou webpage or something like that. [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 17:32, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
:::::::: It ain't much, last I looked it was $2 or $3 in 2 weeks. I believe it is based on clicks, it is not nearly as clear as Google adsense. I'm not really interested in doing a Kickstarter. I think the donations will cover the initial start up, I just want to be able to cover the monthly costs as well. A few things are still up in the air. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:24, 25 April 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::Can you find a way to show the donations and ad income on the site, to make it transparent? ––[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:30, 30 April 2013 (UTC)
::::::::: How about a donation amount that you'll take to turn it (the annoying unethical scummy ads) off for a year? Give me a dollar value and I might step up for the good of us all! [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 16:28, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

== Economic transparency ==

I think this is very important: How can we make the donations and ad-income transparent, so that we all can see when and how much money is coming in, and how far we are from reaching our goal? – [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 00:35, 24 May 2013 (UTC)
: Sounds fine to me, I think I can put something together. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:52, 28 May 2013 (UTC)

== Using <nowiki><nowiki></nowiki></nowiki> in transcripts to improve accuracy ==

In the transcripts, <nowiki>[[lines]]</nowiki> are being changed to [lines] in order to avoid auto-linking. Why not just surround these with <nowiki><nowiki></nowiki></nowiki> tags and avoid the problem entirely? --[[User:Epauley|Epauley]] ([[User talk:Epauley|talk]]) 04:18, 16 June 2013 (UTC)
:Because it takes less time to type and single brackets are just as readable as double brackets to visitors. It's also a bit more readable in the editor. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:55, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

== Category: (Barred/banned from?) Conferences ==

I come here after realising I erroneously posted (in reply) to the Main page Talk, being anonymous (or at least IP-only) and without a list of qualifying articles to support me, just yet, but still wish to put forward the above category before I forget. There's no apparent equivalent, that I found, but it's definitely a recurring meme. I should be back (named or otherwise) with my suggested list of members, if someone else doesn't get there first, but I thought I'd start with the placemarker. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 16:41, 22 June 2013 (UTC)
:Ok, so I got the bee in my bonnet and spent a few minutes actually looking into this. Revising "Barred from Conferences" (actually more often "Banned" or even "Thrown out of"/equivalent) to just "Conferences", the subset of comics that I can easily find that are involved is *[[153]], *[[177]], *[[365]], *[[410]], *[[463]], *[[541]], [[545]], [[685]], [[829]] and [[867]], but I'm sure there are more recent ones that I didn't spot/recall. One alternative title to "Conferences" is "Presentations", and I'm sure if I'd searched for that I'd have found more potential candidates (less some that might ''exit'' the renamed category). The asterisked ones ''do'' deal with being barred/banned/thrown out/etc, making it still a suitable category in its own right, IMO, but I'll leave it up to your combined musings to decide. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 17:07, 22 June 2013 (UTC)
::I add [[690]] to the list. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:12, 13 September 2013 (UTC)

::: Great suggestions! I created [[:Category:Public speaking]] and [[:Category:Banned from conferences]]. I also added [[Wikipedian Protester]] to the mix, of course :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:59, 13 November 2013 (UTC)

== Strip Title ==

For someone who commonly browses explainxkcd in place of xkcd, and hence often see the strips for the first time here rather than the parent site, I find it somewhat odd that the 'Title Text' is so poorly displayed given how critical it can be to the strip.

I propose that, while retaining the given name (perhaps moving it top left), the title text be enlarged and relocated to being over the strip as originally intended. {{unsigned ip|175.41.133.18}}
:The title text is placed very well at bottom of the image.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 07:20, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

:I would have to agree with Dgbrt, it's placed nicely at the bottom, and there is no need for it to be moved. My reasoning is that you never actually read the title text first, you read it last. Making it <code>text-align: left;</code> does not make sense, because the image is centered (just like on xkcd.com). I also believe that there is no need for it to be re-sized, mainly due to the fact that it is slightly larger than the title text (for me, at least). {{User:Grep/signature|05:18, 08 September 2013}}

:Plus, if you hover over the image, it's the same as on xkcd.com {{User:Grep/signature|06:13, 08 September 2013}}

:I also agree with Dgbrt and Grep. The title text is kind of a bonus and should not be emphasized more than on the original page. On the original site you only see it before the image, if you have very slow internet access (or very fast eyes) --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:06, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

== Sections in talk pages ==

Is there a reason why there are no sections in talk pages? It is not a very big deal, but especially for longer talk pages it would make editing be much handier, especially when using the preview function (not having to find the section every time). Also it automatically adds a description to the history (thus makes it more easy to look for certain edits, or decide by just looking at the [[Special:RecentChanges]], if a comment should concern you. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:01, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
:When discussion pages are transcluded by the comic discussion template, section headers carry over from talk pages and bad things happen. Using ; to denote headers instead of equals signs works well, and doesn't share transclusion pain. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:04, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

== references ==

Any chance we can add [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Cite/Cite.php cite.php] to this wiki? Most pages don't need it, but some comics take on a life of their own and being able to add reference tags would be really helpful for those. [[User:LadyMondegreen|LadyMondegreen]] ([[User talk:LadyMondegreen|talk]]) 01:33, 9 October 2013 (UTC)
: Cite has been added to the wiki. Thanks for the suggestion! --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 01:35, 17 October 2013 (UTC)

== Stylized writing ==

I understand that this wiki isn't as formal as wikipedia or sites like that but it seems that there are a few questionable practices:

1. The use of questions - when a non-rhetorical or unnecessary question is entered into the explanation.

2. Extremely painted/biased view points - when there is obvious bias in the tone of the explanation of the contributor, in other
words; a lack of neutrality.

3. Extreme repetition/rehashing - the explanation restates things and makes for a long and tedious read when a more straight-forward explanation is possible and clearer.

4. The general informality - "This one's an easy one" "This is simple" "this one's straightforward" "You're an idiot for not understanding this one" etc.

5. Many other practices that make the explanation hard to read, difficult to understand, or plain ugly.

I know that there are disparaging view points on how a comic should be explained, but please let's clean up the site a bit, acknowledge each view point and report on all of them and then tighten up the sloppy writing. Carry out arguments in the talk section, not the explanation. Perhaps we could first try to say the majority view point on the interpretation and then write the alternate explanations, of course this would bring up the debate on which is the majority explanation. Either way, more complete, logical explanations should be given more credence. --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 00:25, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

:I agree with 2-5. 1, on the other hand, is sometimes useful and can contribute the to explanation, although 1 is still a very good point. I would say that you should edit it to have "arguments in the talk" be a 6th point as well. Unfortunately, though, we are not all logical, comic-understanding machines here, so minor deviations of these rules are still to be expected. But I think that overall, these are good rules, even if 2/3 are sort of part of 5.
:[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]], please sign your post with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>{{User:Grep/signature|23:55, 22 October 2013}}

:I understand the use of questions in certain parts. And it was probably better to put the others as sub-categories to five but I wanted to show some common things that can be easily fixed. I know that some explanations require a lot of text and extensive research because of the abstract subjects Randall deals with and that it's difficult to be completely standardized but I think it would be good for us to try to come up with some general things to try to avoid to help the explanations "flow" --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 00:25, 23 October 2013 (UTC)
::Most of that isn't intentional, it's just an awful lot of labor to copy check all the explanations. I've been going through all the current articles and fixing consistency issues, the worst being wrong transcript/title text/dates and the most benign being wikilinks, spelling and trailing spaces. I'm at 682 so far, but my next pass will be on actual language and content, and it'll probably take longer. It takes a while though, and you can totally work on improving language in articles if you want to. Some explanations were pulled from the old blog, some were written and just got lost in the changelog. Copy editing everything we have so far is a very labor-intensive job, and the only way to really deal with it is to knuckle down and do it, or form a wikiproject and hope to heaven that visitors feel charitable enough to join in on it. I'd *probably* push to finish up all our incomplete articles first though, just because that's more directly related to the purpose of the site; tone and style probably comes second to having correct explanations. That doesn't mean you can't do it yourself, it's just that I'll probably only dedicate the subheader on the main page to one project at a time and our current biggest bugbear hasn't been solved yet. I could put up a sitenotice to see if that speeds the process up any. I'll do that when I get back home. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:31, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

== Easy redirect to comic? ==

I've been thinking, and there is one thing that would make navigating to the explained comics easier. My method of browsing is I'll see the comic on xkcd.com first, and if there is something curious about it that I don't quite understand, I'll come here. Sometimes it can be a bit troublesome, going to the homepage and then navigatiing to the right comic. Not too bad, but I'd like an easy way to go direct. So I was thinking, what if you had a redirect such that if you typed in, for example, www.explainxkcd.com/505, you would get redirected to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=505:_A_Bunch_of_Rocks. That would mean that you could get to the comic just from adding an "explain" to the start of the xkcd.com URL. I don't know if that is at all possible, but it would be pretty handy if it happened. Thoughts?
[[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 03:01, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
:[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Technical#Redirect_from_explainxkcd.com.2F1234 That's actually already on the to-do list.] I'm testing it right now and we should have it up soon. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:02, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
:: Awesome :) [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 03:26, 1 November 2013 (UTC)
:::Whoop, forgot to mark this as complete. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:37, 1 November 2013 (UTC)

== Increase support via prominent display of copyright and license for text submitted to explainxkcd ==

XKCD itself is rather liberally licensed, and gets lots of good will from that. As it says on the bottom of every page "This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License." For details see [http://xkcd.com/license.html xkcd - A Webcomic - License].

But I found nothing on most pages of explainxkcd about copyright or licensing, and it discouraged me from contributing or donating. Finally, as I was writing this proposal up, I found a link on the editing page here: [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Copyrights explain xkcd:Copyrights - explain xkcd] saying that "''The Explain XKCD wiki is generally licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license (CC-BY-SA-3.0)''". That notice should be more prominent on the site, with at least a link on each page. [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 15:27, 5 November 2013 (UTC)
:This should be mentioned at the main page, including a reference to the xkcd origin.
:BTW: NO DOUBLE SPACES after a sentence. Are you US guys still using a typewriter? It's not rendered at a web page and stupid like Gallons, Miles, Foots, and much more unique US behaviours. But that's just a joke beside.
:The licence hint is much more important, you are just correct.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:12, 5 November 2013 (UTC)
::Added a creative commons icon to the footer of the page, next to the powered by mediawiki button. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:16, 5 November 2013 (UTC)

== New Comics Bot ==

Would there be need for such a thing?
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.52|108.162.231.52]] Synthetica
:Nice idea, I never thought about that before. I will do some tests on existing comics to check if this could reduce the current number of error posts for a new article. When that is ready and working I will talk to some admins. My bot account [[User:DgbrtBOT|DgbrtBOT]] was originally intended for [[1190: Time]] picture uploads, but I never have used it because Time was over. Creating the new pages should be easy in general, avoiding errors will cost some more work. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:31, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
::If you can get dgbrtBOT to do that, that'd help us an awful lot. It'd allow us to get rid of the ifexist cases in template:LATESTCOMIC as well, since the bot could change automatically that whenever a new comic goes up. It'll also help us get new comics down almost the moment they pop up, since the bot could sample several times a minute until a comic is posted. So long as it gets the general pattern right so that we have a correct page set up, we're good. An admin can come in sometime later to clean up categories and image urls and other piddly easy-to-fix details. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:54, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
:::I will work on this next weekend, just local scripts and no updates here. I also will talk about my results before any automatic updates will be activated. My first focus is on creating the new pages in the general pattern, LATESTCOMIC and also the page "All comics" are maybe a bonus later. And of course all my scripts will be open source.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:44, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
::::The first version is ready and I will test it at my local wiki. If everything goes well I could activate it for Wednesday (2013-11-13). LATESTCOMIC and "All comics" are on my roadmap, but first I want produce correct new pages here. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:00, 10 November 2013 (UTC)
:::::Righty ho. Here goes. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:36, 10 November 2013 (UTC)
Even when my automatic local wiki test did fail today, just a damn wrong password, I will activate the bot here for Wednesday. It will only run from 4:00 PM until 8:00 PM UTC. You will not see my possible updates at [[Special:RecentChanges]] unless you click ''Show bots'' at the top of that page. LATESTCOMIC and "All comics" are not covered, but this is at my TODO list until this test will be successful. Give me a '''GO''' or '''NO-GO''' for this test.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:49, 11 November 2013 (UTC)
:Easily a GO, I'll be ready to clean up if anything goes wrong. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:08, 11 November 2013 (UTC)
::So be ready on Wednesday for the clean up. My worst case is ''it simply does not work'', second worse scenario is still that I could delete some contend already posted here, but I'm trying to avoid this. ''Huston'', the countdown clock is counting. I'm joking about this because I really want to be confident about this ''BOT'' or ROBOT or uncontrolled action here.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:28, 12 November 2013 (UTC)
:::The bot can't do anything that I can't reverse. I can even restore a backup from an hour before the bot's edits if it manages to break the database. How quickly does it poll xkcd, by the way? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:53, 12 November 2013 (UTC)

First live test here (comic 1289). Please delete this page: [[Simple_Answers:_1289]]. Since my local wiki did not provide this templates I could not see this error before. In general the bot will update pages differ to any existing pages, but when it is not changed no update will happen. I'm fixing this errors at my script and do a second test here soon. I want to see it's producing correct pages until the bot will do it's work when I'm sleeping.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:31, 12 November 2013 (UTC)
:Ok, test are done here, BOT is scheduled for the next update. Polling is every five minutes on Mon, Wed, and Fri from 04:00 until 08:00 UTC. Let's see how it will work.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:08, 12 November 2013 (UTC)
::Couldja ramp that up to once/twice a minute, push the start time back by an hour, and the end time by a few hours? Also, is it possible to terminate it once it finds a comic for a certain day? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:45, 13 November 2013 (UTC)
:::It worked! Though it posted the comic 5 minutes past post time. We has technology now, we can afford to poll faster and closer, yeah? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:32, 13 November 2013 (UTC)
Uhh, it worked... I will increase the polls when I'm more confident about the release times. Today it was approx. 05:00 UTC (GMT) or 01:00 EST (Randall's time zone). Looks like he is still at daylight saving time, would have been 00:00 EDT. The polls will be increased to one minute when I'm sure about the Standard Release Time (SRT). Next steps for the next update on Friday are:
:The "All comics" page.
:The LATESTCOMIC template.
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:54, 13 November 2013 (UTC)
:The LATESTCOMIC template is included for the next run, it just simply has to return a number. But it's still the most critical part because if it does not work the Main Page is broken. I will change this to a better solution using that IFEXIST syntax soon. The list of all comics is still at my ToDo list. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:06, 14 November 2013 (UTC)
::The desired content of the LATESTCOMIC template should be just the comic number. If we can get out of having to poll multiple IFEXIST statements to find the latest comic, that would be a fantastic boon to our server performance. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:43, 15 November 2013 (UTC)
:::OK, it did work today so I will not change this. Next step is the list for all comics.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 11:10, 15 November 2013 (UTC)
Next run will include an update on the "All comics" page. I'm crossing my fingers. When this update is also successful I will document my Bot at the Bot user page [[User:DgbrtBOT]]. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:15, 17 November 2013 (UTC)
:Oh, I forgot this detail: The bot is starting at 00:00 EST (RLT - Randall local time), which is 04:00 UTC and 05:00 MET for me. It polls every 5 minutes until 23:55 MET (22:55 UTC, 18:55 RLT) the main page until a new comic is found. I do not poll the comic number because I want to avoid 404 message logs at the servers.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:30, 17 November 2013 (UTC)
:Something went wrong there. That's gonna need fixing. I am enjoying the looks of the apparently faster polling though. Maybe you could also set the start time to 00:00:05 EST to catch the on-time xkcd releases within ten seconds? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:33, 18 November 2013 (UTC)
::Uh, what a mess. I will do some more tests at my local wiki. At the next time I will do a check against the number from the LATESTCOMIC template, only the next number will be processed. The test against my local history did fail because of some cleanups after testings.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 08:18, 18 November 2013 (UTC)
:::I don't like mess. So the BOT got many more checks before posting here but the bot was starting at 05:00 local time for me. I'm really asleep at that time. The mess here was covered, but I do need another GO for the next attempt. Otherwise I will just do a test to my local wiki.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:35, 18 November 2013 (UTC)
No GO so far, my next test will run only at my local wiki.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:16, 19 November 2013 (UTC)
:My script is here: [https://github.com/dgbrt/explainXKCD_update explainXKCD_update]. At my current test "explainxkcd.com" is commented out and "localhost" is active. Since I don't like mess and the bot does act while I am sleeping the next update must be done manually here. I'm hoping the bot will be ready for the next update on Friday.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:15, 19 November 2013 (UTC)
::Bot is ready for Friday, everything went smooth at my last local test today. The bot did find the latest comic at 04:05 UTC and all essential pages were properly created. So I will activate it for this site again. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:57, 20 November 2013 (UTC)
Bot did work as expected. So I name it release 1.1337, the next planed release will be 2.1337 (beta) because of this two issues:
*"Include any categories below this line." will be removed because it doesn't make any sense any more.
*BETA: I want to use the full template features at [[List of all comics]], just ensuring that the pictures are working properly. No need for this at the most comics, but the BOT doesn't cover all possibilities on corrupt file names like we have had in "Pi vs. Tau". The picture was without that dot. My bot just shows the real link it did upload here.
I'm pretty sure we will have some issues on this bot, but for general pages it should work. So the bot will be active on Mon,Wed,Fri from 0:00 EST (or EDT) every five minutes until it did found a new comic, on success the bot does not poll any more.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:51, 22 November 2013 (UTC)
:Aww, it's a bot. It doesn't need to rest or take time off to do other stuff. It can totally poll once or more times per minute. Also, if you set the start time to a few seconds after midnight, Randall time, when he uploads a comic on-time, you'll get it within a few seconds as opposed to having to wait for the next polling. As for the image names, maybe you could convert spaces in the comic name to underscores, compare the two comic names you have and use that to decide which version of the template to use? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:08, 22 November 2013 (UTC)
::I have to avoid that the bot is running twice, Internet Timeouts and more. And the comics are also published later sometimes. Look at my release [https://github.com/dgbrt/explainXKCD_update 1.1337], release 2.1337 will be later, Maybe I should start at 2 minutes after 0:00, but let's see right now how the bot does work. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:38, 23 November 2013 (UTC)
Uhh, what a huge discussion here. The bot will get a major update soon: Scheduler does start it once and until a comic is found and uploaded it here or an other limit is reached (maybe the end of the day) the bot will poll by a small delay. But every poll is still an entire download from the main page, When a new comic is found bot stops.
:Why, you could use http://xkcd.com/info.0.json, right?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.52|108.162.231.52]] 07:38, 2 December 2013 (UTC)Synthetica
::The BOT performs perfect and I prefer to analyze the original page. A title text like the one from today (a text showing a link) will be covered in the future.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 10:35, 2 December 2013 (UTC)
A great enhancement would be also covering a new comic like 1190 Time was. I'm looking forward on this, some ideas, it does require a complete analyse of the page and then finding some strange content.
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:05, 27 November 2013 (UTC)

== Require description for 'incomplete' tags ==
I've been trying to fix some of the incompletes, but several explanation pages I've come across are tagged incomplete without any reason given. The reason should be a required part of the tag. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.223|173.245.52.223]] 03:35, 7 December 2013 (UTC)
:This incomplete tags are just older than the recent change of that template. Current adds require a description, but it's not easy to figure out all that old reasons. If someone does find a reason, please just add it. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:22, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

== Should there be a subwiki to cover the shop links that appear above the comic? ==

The current one (as of writing) is [http://imgs.xkcd.com/store_news/store_gd_b11_1ze4.png] but this is a different than the usual, and there was also a third in between these.
[[User:Rsranger65|Rsranger65]] ([[User talk:Rsranger65|talk]]) 06:00, 8 December 2013 (UTC)
:Those are very ephemeral. They aren't going to exist for very long, I don't know how valuable it would be to archive that stuff. We could probably do it, but having to figure out another naming convention and all for advertisements doesn't appeal to me at the current moment. If you can flesh it out, I'd love to see how you think we should do it. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:24, 8 December 2013 (UTC)

== New Character ==

OK, I think we need a name for the character with a goatee and glasses in comics [[435: Purity]], [[796: Bad Ex]] and [[964: Dorm Poster]] as well as possibly others. Edit: oh and I suggest Goatee and Glasses Guy, but I'm open for suggestions Edit 2: also in [[826: Guest Week: Zach Weiner (SMBC)]] Halfhat {{unsigned|Halfhat}}
edit 3: Another sighting [[954: Chin-Up Bar]] [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 16:57, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

== What If Comics ==

Hi, I was thinking, maybe at some point we should do the comics in the ''What If?'' section, like [http://what-if.xkcd.com/imgs/a/36/cornstarch_bitcoins.png this one.] [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 20:01, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

1316: Inexplicable

2014-01-13T19:25:33Z

Halfhat: I've had a go at fixing any english errors

{{comic
| number = 1316
| date = January 13, 2014
| title = Inexplicable
| image = inexplicable.png
| titletext = 'It has a ghost in it. Take it back.' 'No.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Incomplete, and explanation was written by someone who doesn't have English as their native language, so it probably has inaccuracies.}}

In this comic, Cueball's laptop has a problem. After just a few types and clicks, Megan concludes that the laptop is haunted. A Similar problem can be seen in [[1084: Server Problem]], where Megan recommends Cueball to wait for the Singularity. The title text suggests that Megan insists that Cueball resume possession of his laptop, as she is unsettled by the ghost; Cueball simply refuses, seeing an opportunity to make his problem hers. (Or possibly Cueball is trying to return the laptop to the store where he bought it.)

Another possible explanation could be that the comic is a play on how non technical users see computers and technology in general. Often a non-technical person will anthropomorphise a gadget and give it a personality with quirks. In this case a Ghost. When they have problems they usually give the device to a slightly more technical person to deal with who may or may not be able to deal with said problems. This may end up confirming (in their mind) the personality of the device.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is frustrated at a laptop.]
:Cueball: ''ARGH!''
:Megan (off-screen): What?
:Cueball: Why do I always have these inexplicable, impossible-to-diagnose computer problems?

:[Megan walks towards Cueball.]
:Cueball: After six hours of this, I've concluded nothing works or makes sense. I give up on logic.
:Megan: *sigh* Gimme. I'll figure it out.
:Cueball: You won't.

:[The laptop is now off the desk, and Megan is offscreen again.]
:''type type''
:''click''
:?
:''type type''
:''type''
:???

:[Megan has returned, a closed laptop in hand.]
:Cueball: How'd it go?
:Megan: Your computer is literally haunted.
:Cueball: ''Told'' you.

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

253: Highway Engineer Pranks

2014-01-13T19:20:27Z

Halfhat:

{{comic
| number = 253
| date = April 25, 2007
| title = Highway Engineer Pranks
| image = highway_engineer_pranks.png
| titletext = Prank #11: Boston
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|reason I don't think this goes into nearly enough detail about each setup[[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 19:20, 13 January 2014 (UTC)}}
This deviant design given makes the {{w|cloverleaf interchange}} inescapable. The tangled interchange below gives you zero choice; and the unconventional {{w|roundabout|rotary}} makes all the cars supercollide.

{{w|Boston}} is a (slightly more complicated) prank in itself. A common fiction is that the streets evolved from old cowpaths; but in the 17th century they avoided swamps and marshes and followed shorelines before the original peninsula comprising the city was expanded with landfill in the 19th century. {{w|Transportation in Boston#Road infrastructure|Boston's road infrastructure}} in general lacks a {{w|street grid}}. On top of that, roads change names and lose and add lanes seemingly at random.

==Transcript==
:[Each panel depicts a highway intersection.]
:The Inescapable Cloverleaf:
:[Roads lead onto the rings for each leaf, but then are trapped in the circles. Minor roads also allow travel between the rings.]

:The Zero-Choice Interchange:
:[On and off-ramps exist, but they lead back to the same lane they disconnected from.]

:The Rotary Supercollider:
:[The roads lead into a traffic circle, and then a loop reverses the direction of flow so all the roads run into each other.]

{{comic discussion}}

899: Number Line

2014-01-13T19:15:23Z

Halfhat:

{{comic
| number = 899
| date = May 16, 2011
| title = Number Line
| image = number line.png
| titletext = The Wikipedia page List of Numbers opens with "This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it."
}}

== Explanation ==
{{incomplete}}
Once again, Randall seems to be just messing around, this time with a number line.

*'''Negative numbers''' have the same magnitude as positive numbers but can only be used to represent the removal of that same magnitude (hence the term "difference" being used for subtraction).

*'''0.99'''.... is {{w|0.999...|provably equal to 1}} because there is no number between 0.99.... and 1.

*The '''{{w|golden ratio}}''' or "phi" is the number (1 + sqrt(5)) / 2, about 1.61803. It has many interesting mathematical properties, mostly relating to geometry, and has occasional appearances in nature, such as spirals formed by the seeds in sunflowers. It is also subject to many less credible claims, such as the belief that phi appears in {{w|Parthenon}} (a well-disputed claim) or that rectangles proportioned after phi are somehow more aesthetically pleasing. Basically, awesome math clouded with pareidolic pseudoscience.

*'''Forbidden Region''' and '''Unexplored''' are both map jokes.

*'''{{w|e (mathematical constant)|e}}''' (Euler's number) is 2.71828... and '''π''' (pi) is 3.14159265...

*'''2.9299372''' is a President's Day reference. It is the average of e and pi just as the American Presidents' Day is always observed on the 3rd Monday of February (between {{w|George Washington}} and {{w|Abraham Lincoln}}'s birthdays). (For non-US residents, Washington and Lincoln were the 1st and 16th Presidents of the USA, respectively. Each has a celebrated place in American history.)

*'''{{w|Gird}}''' is a purely fictional number. (The glyph that Randall uses seems to resemble an older shape of the digit 4, such as seen on [http://www.bl.uk/learning/images/mappinghist/large2296.html archaic maps].). Canon and orthodox are references to organised religions. Gird could be a reference to any or all of:
** [http://www.strangehorizons.com/2000/20001120/secret_number.shtml Bleem] - a fictional integer between 3 and 4
** iCarly's [http://icarly.wikia.com/wiki/Derf Derf] - a fictional integer between 5 and 6
** George Carlin's [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bleen Bleen] - a fictional integer between 6 and 7
** [http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-033 SCP-033] - a fictional number that causes freaky things to happen

*'''Site of the Battle of 4.108''' is another map joke, implying that 4.108 is an actual location, where an eponymous battle was previously fought. It may be a reference (or homage) to the {{w|Battle of Wolf 359}}, a famous military conflict in the fictional universe of Star Trek.

*It is often the case in the media that "It has been 7 years..." or "In the last 7 years..." etc. It is made to seem like a believable statistic but cannot always be true. Alternatively, it is intended as an absurd joke that the number 7 is just "not to be believed".

*'''8''' is not the largest even prime. 2 is. A joke intended for those who clearly know that the claim is false.

*The last entry seems to be a reference to {{w|discrete mathematics}}, which rarely deals with numbers higher than 9. It finishes off the tone of the comic that seems to be shaping the number line terms of what is commonly useful to certain areas of applied mathematics, rather than a complete, accurate version of the number line.

*The title text is a literalist joke implying that Wikipedia would like its "{{w|List of numbers}}" page to include every number from negative infinity to infinity. It could also be a reference to {{w|Gödel's incompleteness theorems}}, which Randall has used as comic fodder before [http://xkcd.com/468/]. Gödel's theorems roughly assert that a number theory could never be fully complete. The equivalent for just a sheer list of numbers is {{w|Cantor's diagonal argument}}, which is a "proof of the uncountability of the real numbers." Therefore, if Wikipedia ever did have a "{{w|List of numbers}}," it would perforce forever be incomplete, no matter how much it was expanded. Both Gödel's incompleteness theorems and Cantor's diagonal argument feature prominently in {{w|Gödel, Escher, Bach}} by Douglas Hofstadter, to whom Randall devoted a later comic[http://xkcd.com/917/].

== Transcript ==
:[Number line ranging from -1 to 10.]
:[Arrow pointing left, towards negative numbers] Negative "imitator" numbers (do not use)
:[Line right before the number one] 0.99... (acutally 0.0000000372 less than 1)
:[Line at the golden ratio.] Φ - Parthenon; sunflowers; golden ratio; wait, come back, I have facts!
:[Line at a region between two and 2.2] forbidden region
:[Line at Euler's number.] e
:[Line a bit before 3] 2.9299372 (e and pi, observed)
:[Line at π.] π
:[Line at 3.5 with a ribbon as the numeral] Gird - accepted as canon by orthodox mathematicians
:[Line a bit after 4.] site of battle of 4.108
:[Blob between 4.5 and 6.5 labeled unexplored.]
:[Line at seven.] Number indicating a factoid is made up ("every 7 years...", "science says there are 7...", etc)
:[Line at eight.] Largest even prime
:[Line at 8.75.] If you encounter a number higher than this, you"re not doing real math

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

899: Number Line

2014-01-13T19:13:43Z

Halfhat:

{{comic
| number = 899
| date = May 16, 2011
| title = Number Line
| image = number line.png
| titletext = The Wikipedia page List of Numbers opens with "This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it."
}}

== Explanation ==
{{incomplete}}
Once again, Randall seems to be just messing around, this time with a number line.

*'''Negative numbers''' have the same magnitude as positive numbers but can only be used to represent the removal of that same magnitude (hence the term "difference" being used for subtraction).

*'''0.99'''.... is {{w|0.999...|provably equal to 1}} because there is no number between 0.99.... and 1.

*The '''{{w|golden ratio}}''' or "phi" is the number (1 + sqrt(5)) / 2, about 1.61803. It has many interesting mathematical properties, mostly relating to geometry, and has occasional appearances in nature, such as spirals formed by the seeds in sunflowers. It is also subject to many less credible claims, such as the belief that phi appears in {{w|Parthenon}} (a well-disputed claim) or that rectangles proportioned after phi are somehow more aesthetically pleasing. Basically, awesome math clouded with pareidolic pseudoscience.

*'''Forbidden Region''' and '''Unexplored''' are both map jokes.

*'''{{w|e (mathematical constant)|e}}''' (Euler's number) is 2.71828... and '''π''' (pi) is 3.14159265...

*'''2.9299372''' is a President's Day reference. It is the average of e and pi just as the American Presidents' Day is always observed on the 3rd Monday of February (between {{w|George Washington}} and {{w|Abraham Lincoln}}'s birthdays). (For non-US residents, Washington and Lincoln were the 1st and 16th Presidents of the USA, respectively. Each has a celebrated place in American history.)

*'''{{w|Gird}}''' is a purely fictional number. (The glyph that Randall uses seems to resemble an older shape of the digit 4, such as seen on [http://www.bl.uk/learning/images/mappinghist/large2296.html archaic maps].) Gird could be a reference to any or all of:
** [http://www.strangehorizons.com/2000/20001120/secret_number.shtml Bleem] - a fictional integer between 3 and 4
** iCarly's [http://icarly.wikia.com/wiki/Derf Derf] - a fictional integer between 5 and 6
** George Carlin's [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bleen Bleen] - a fictional integer between 6 and 7
** [http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-033 SCP-033] - a fictional number that causes freaky things to happen
Canon and orthodox are reference to organised religion.

*'''Site of the Battle of 4.108''' is another map joke, implying that 4.108 is an actual location, where an eponymous battle was previously fought. It may be a reference (or homage) to the {{w|Battle of Wolf 359}}, a famous military conflict in the fictional universe of Star Trek.

*It is often the case in the media that "It has been 7 years..." or "In the last 7 years..." etc. It is made to seem like a believable statistic but cannot always be true. Alternatively, it is intended as an absurd joke that the number 7 is just "not to be believed".

*'''8''' is not the largest even prime. 2 is. A joke intended for those who clearly know that the claim is false.

*The last entry seems to be a reference to {{w|discrete mathematics}}, which rarely deals with numbers higher than 9. It finishes off the tone of the comic that seems to be shaping the number line terms of what is commonly useful to certain areas of applied mathematics, rather than a complete, accurate version of the number line.

*The title text is a literalist joke implying that Wikipedia would like its "{{w|List of numbers}}" page to include every number from negative infinity to infinity. It could also be a reference to {{w|Gödel's incompleteness theorems}}, which Randall has used as comic fodder before [http://xkcd.com/468/]. Gödel's theorems roughly assert that a number theory could never be fully complete. The equivalent for just a sheer list of numbers is {{w|Cantor's diagonal argument}}, which is a "proof of the uncountability of the real numbers." Therefore, if Wikipedia ever did have a "{{w|List of numbers}}," it would perforce forever be incomplete, no matter how much it was expanded. Both Gödel's incompleteness theorems and Cantor's diagonal argument feature prominently in {{w|Gödel, Escher, Bach}} by Douglas Hofstadter, to whom Randall devoted a later comic[http://xkcd.com/917/].

== Transcript ==
:[Number line ranging from -1 to 10.]
:[Arrow pointing left, towards negative numbers] Negative "imitator" numbers (do not use)
:[Line right before the number one] 0.99... (acutally 0.0000000372 less than 1)
:[Line at the golden ratio.] Φ - Parthenon; sunflowers; golden ratio; wait, come back, I have facts!
:[Line at a region between two and 2.2] forbidden region
:[Line at Euler's number.] e
:[Line a bit before 3] 2.9299372 (e and pi, observed)
:[Line at π.] π
:[Line at 3.5 with a ribbon as the numeral] Gird - accepted as canon by orthodox mathematicians
:[Line a bit after 4.] site of battle of 4.108
:[Blob between 4.5 and 6.5 labeled unexplored.]
:[Line at seven.] Number indicating a factoid is made up ("every 7 years...", "science says there are 7...", etc)
:[Line at eight.] Largest even prime
:[Line at 8.75.] If you encounter a number higher than this, you"re not doing real math

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

User:Halfhat

2014-01-13T18:15:43Z

Halfhat: Created page with "Hi, I'm Halfhat I'm currently new here and just learning so I may make mistakes, but I do want to help make this place even better :) ~~~~"

Hi, I'm Halfhat I'm currently new here and just learning so I may make mistakes, but I do want to help make this place even better :) [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 18:15, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

98: Fall Apart

2014-01-13T18:02:11Z

Halfhat:

{{comic
| number = 98
| date = May 5, 2006
| title = Fall Apart
| image = fall_apart.jpg
| titletext = #pugglewumper Tashari got me some ink pens! I've been experimenting with them.
}}

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete}}
Despite [[Randall]] being enthusiastic about receiving ink pens, he experimented them in a contrastingly depressing comic the subject matter dealing with how the uncertainty of time can bring elements that can cause a relationship to fall apart, a feeling made concrete when even the comic itself fall apart, representing their 'world falling apart' when their relationship does... Even the people's attempts to rescue the relationship end up in ruins, leading to the ruins of the individual and in one case isolation.

==Transcript==
:[Various people struggle as the comic disintegrates. Toward the top, people are standing calmly, some holding hands. As the parts of the comic break apart, people try to reach for each other, hold parts together, or curl up into a ball. By the bottom, a person is falling, surrounded by pieces of the comic.]

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

1304: Glass Trolling

2014-01-13T17:58:17Z

Halfhat:

{{comic
| number = 1304
| date = December 16, 2013
| title = Glass Trolling
| image = glass_trolling.png
| titletext = Plus, when someone finally grabs your glasses and stomps on them, it costs way less than $1,500 to replace them.
}}

==Explanation==

{{w|Google Glass}} is a set of glasses frames worn like typical glasses that features an optical display and internet connectivity. It responds to voice commands starting with [https://support.google.com/glass/answer/3079305 "OK ''glass''"], for example to initiate video recording or to check tomorrow's weather. Strangers and other people surrounding the user would often find it annoying to hear someone talking to "himself", or to ''Glass''.

[[Cueball]] is checking tomorrow's weather and says "OK, ''glass''" while he is only wearing regular glasses. Apparently this is even more annoying to the bystander than if Cueball actually would wear a ''Glass''.

In the title text, a bystander is eventually fed up with the annoyance and smashes the glasses to the ground. If they were an actual ''Google Glass'', they would have cost a fortune to replace, regular glasses are much less costly.

The "OK, ''Glass''" keyword is not useless outside of ''Glass''; In the ''Android/iOS'' app ''Google Now'', "OK, ''Glass''" is also valid instead of "OK, ''Google''" to initiate a voice command. While it's likely that Cueball uses this app, it's not necessarily the case. Just because he holds a smartphone in his hand, doesn't mean that he is using it.

This is another strip in the [[My Hobby]] series.

==Transcript==
:My Hobby:
:Cueball: Ok, Glass, check tomorrow's weather.
:Cueball: Ooh, snow!
:Off-frame-bystander: Oh my god, it's somehow even ''more'' annoying than if you had it.
:Saying "Ok, Glass" before everything while wearing regular glasses.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

Talk:899: Number Line

2014-01-13T17:53:15Z

Halfhat:

Where does sqrt(-1) go? [[Special:Contributions/67.78.183.206|67.78.183.206]] 19:07, 2 January 2013 (UTC)

:It goes up (literally above 0). A number line can be extended to a complex plane with sqrt(-1) as the unit of measurement in the vertical direction. Or at least, that's where it actually goes. I don't know where Randall would put it. [[Special:Contributions/75.69.96.225|75.69.96.225]] 01:04, 5 March 2013 (UTC)

I'm sorry...are you indicating the ACTUAL location for an IMAGINARY number? {{unsigned|‎74.213.186.41}}

Yes, that's exactly where it is (up to switching clockwise for counterclockwise). There is nothing strange about providing a location for imaginary or complex numbers, the location described is logical, and the adjective 'imaginary' is an artifact of nomenclature and nothing more.[[Special:Contributions/173.48.140.216|173.48.140.216]] 20:40, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

In fact, complex numbers are nearly more real than real ones! Complex analysis really opened my eyes to how much "stepping out" can help in solving problems. The complex notion of analyticity yields fruit in real analysis. Extensions to hypercomplex numbers are weirder, however. --[[User:Quicksilver|Quicksilver]] ([[User talk:Quicksilver|talk]]) 20:27, 17 August 2013 (UTC)

Analyticity must be an imaginary word, and therefore would be found one unit directly above any dictionary. [[Special:Contributions/50.203.89.169|50.203.89.169]] 14:19, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

Is unexplored a map reference? [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 17:53, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals

2014-01-13T16:57:24Z

Halfhat: /* New Character */