explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1903: Bun Trend

2022-05-04T02:01:09Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 232702 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1903
| date = October 16, 2017
| title = Bun Trend
| image = bun_trend.png
| titletext = Our experts have characterized the ecological impact of this trend as "adorable."
}}

==Explanation==

In this comic, [[Beret Guy]] takes his bun shenanigans to the state government, reporting to the governor that the number of buns around the capitol has shown a rapid increase. The governor is confused, then finally comes to grasp that Beret Guy is talking about {{w|rabbit}}s, lots of which can be seen if he would just go outside (by the way, there is a ''small'' one '''RIGHT NOW'''!).

Elections in the United States often have a blank spot on the ballot for the voter to write the name of a {{w|write-in candidate}}. Beret Guy thinks he works for the governor because he wrote his name in on the ballot. This does not mean that he actually works for the governor.{{Citation needed}}

The governor finally takes appropriate action by calling security, and Beret Guy confronts his fate with poise and honor. Indeed, the readiness with which he accepts his removal almost seems to suggest that he doesn't belong, which would be an unusual level of awareness for his character. Alternatively, Beret Guy might have misinterpreted the governor's request for security as a question of whether he works in security, or simply ignorance. This also may be an ironic reference to the rapid turnover in {{w|President Trump}}'s staff.

"Buns" have been mentioned previously in [[1682: Bun]] and [[1871: Bun Alert]].

Beret Guy's uncertain position in the government is very similar to the way he treats and operates his business.

In the title text, experts characterize the ecological impact of a large number of bunnies as "adorable" instead of giving information on how the rabbits are affecting the environment.

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy holds a stick and points at a board next to him. The board contains a picture of a rabbit, a data point graph, and other notes.]
:Beret Guy: Good morning, Governor. Our tracking systems show a rapid increase in the number of buns around the Capitol.

:[Hairy is sitting at an office desk and facing Beret Guy in a frameless panel.]
:Hairy: Buns?
:Beret Guy: Yes; there's been a long-term upward trend, but it has accelerated recently.
:Hairy: The trend in... rabbits.
:Beret Guy: Yes.

:[Beret Guy takes out his phone.]
:Hairy: So... so what?
:Beret Guy: So if you want to see some buns, there are lots of them outside!
:[Beret Guy's phone vibrates]
:Phone: ''beep!''
:Beret Guy: Ooh!
:Beret Guy: There's a small one right now!

:[Zoom-in on Beret Guy.]
:Hairy (offscreen): Do you... actually ''work'' for me?
:Beret Guy: Almost certainly. We had an election, right? I wrote my name in on the thing.
:Hairy (offscreen): Security?
:Beret Guy: It's been an honor to serve.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Buns]]
[[Category:Beret Guy's Business]]

308: Interesting Life

2022-05-04T02:00:52Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 233249 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 308
| date = August 27, 2007
| title = Interesting Life
| image = interesting_life.png
| titletext = Quick, fashion a climbing harness out of a cat-6 cable and follow me down.
}}

==Explanation==
'{{w|May you live in interesting times}}' (or, in this comic, 'may you have an interesting life') is supposedly a Chinese saying, except that a few people (usually the worst-case-scenario kind) believe it to actually be a curse, even though it is usually meant in a good way when said. The quote also provides the title of the {{w|Terry Pratchett}} novel {{w|Interesting Times}}, which takes place in a fictional counterpart of China.

[[Cueball]] is shown here as an office worker, a job that, to most people, is the opposite of interesting. This is contrasted with [[Megan]], who is rappelling down the outside of his office building, for no apparent reason other than because she can, and inviting him on an adventure. Things are bound to get at least one kind of "interesting" very fast.

The title text refers to a {{w|Category 6 cable|Cat6}} cable, which is more commonly known as Ethernet cable. It would be easily found in an office building, since it is used to connect computers to a network. Its usefulness as a {{w|climbing harness}} is indeterminate.{{Citation needed}}

==Transcript==
:[On the left hand side of the panel is a cutaway of several floors of an office, in gray. On the right side, a blue sky with clouds, and green hills below. Hanging from a cable is Megan, clearly having rappelled down the side of the building, next to a Cueball at his desk, who is looking at Megan.]
:Megan: You know how some people consider "May you have an interesting life" to be a curse?
:Cueball: Yeah...
:Megan: Fuck those people. Wanna have an adventure?

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

2281: Coronavirus Research

2022-05-04T01:59:36Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 232989 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2281
| date = March 16, 2020
| title = Coronavirus Research
| image = coronavirus_research.png
| titletext = "Also, reading 500 coronavirus papers in a row and not sleeping? Probably not great for you either, but I haven't found any studies confirming that yet. I'll keep looking."
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is the seventh comic in a row in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] about the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}}.

[[Megan]], disheveled and exhausted, has been researching COVID-19 nonstop and is now reporting her findings to [[Cueball]]. She claims to have read all available literature on the subject, but the best she can come up with is an extremely basic fact about {{w|virus}}es—namely that they infect cells and this is bad and should be prevented, which Cueball and just about everybody else already knew. She enthusiastically replies that she now knows this with {{w|error bars}}, which are graphical representations of the variability of data and are used on graphs to indicate the error or uncertainty in a reported measurement. Perhaps because of her sleep deprivation, she is unable to process the information that she has read, or is unable to properly phrase it in words. This is not the first time that Megan has exhaustively researched a topic to the detriment of her own health, see [[1708: Dehydration]].

In the title text, she has a hunch that staying awake long enough to read 500 scientific papers is probably not a good idea, but she hasn't found a study that specifically confirms that. She intends to further compound her exhaustion by continuing to do research rather than just getting some much-needed sleep. Assuming that Megan averages half an hour to find and read each paper, she has been continuously reading for 10.4 days, which is approaching the world record for not sleeping. In 1964, {{w|Randy Gardner (record holder)|Randy Gardner}}, a student in San Diego, California set the then-world record of 11 days and 25 minutes (264.4 hours) without sleeping.

==Transcript==
:[A very disheveled Megan, hair in disorder, walks up to Cueball.]
:Megan: <big>''Hi.''</big>
:Cueball: Hello. You look...fine.

:[In a frame-less panel Megan has stopped next to Cueball.]
:Megan: I have now read virtually every available scientific paper on COVID-19.
:Cueball: Cool, what'd you learn?

:[Megan has raised her palms towards Cueball.]
:Megan: Well it seems this virus wants to get inside your cells.
:Cueball: Mhmm...

:[Megan raises her left arm, with her index finger in the air in front of Cueball's face.]
:Megan: But it's a '''''trap!''''' You shouldn't let it.
:Cueball: I think we knew that.
:Megan: But now I know it with '''''error bars!'''''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Research Papers]]

1954: Impostor Syndrome

2022-05-04T01:59:11Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 232686 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1954
| date = February 12, 2018
| title = Impostor Syndrome
| image = impostor_syndrome.png
| titletext = It's actually worst in people who study the Dunning–Kruger effect. We tried to organize a conference on it, but the only people who would agree to give the keynote were random undergrads.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Impostor_syndrome|Impostor syndrome}} is a common psychological phenomenon where successful individuals are unable to internalize their success and fear being exposed as a "fraud" or "impostor." Events and accomplishments that would seem to be evidence of competence, skill, intelligence, and so forth, are instead viewed (by the person) as luck, timing, and the ability to appear more confident/competent than they actually are.

[[Ponytail]], representing Dr. Adams, is introduced by Megan as "the world's top expert on impostor syndrome." Dr. Adams then demonstrates that she herself (like a relatively large number of women according to some reports [http://www.paulineroseclance.com/pdf/ip_high_achieving_women.pdf]) is afflicted by this syndrome. She realizes this after she reacts to the flattering introduction by starting about "other scholars" whom she deems to be superior to her.

The {{w|Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect|Dunning–Kruger effect}}, mentioned in the title text, is a cognitive bias wherein people who possess comparatively little direct expertise in a given field may unrealistically inflate their estimation of their own level of expertise in that field; while those who actually are highly competent (and especially experts on the topic at hand) are likely to downplay their level of expertise. This cognitive bias arises when people of low relevant ability lack the practical knowledge to validly assess their competence: The criteria for good or poor performance in a given field may not be weighed accurately by someone lacking direct expertise and formal training in that specific field. For instance, a commuter experienced in filtering through traffic quickly may consider themselves to be excellent at driving, while a professional evaluating driving habits may observe adherence to regulations and best practices for safety to be the primary criteria for being a "good" driver.

Conversely, people with extensive knowledge of a given field may develop an acute awareness of the necessarily limited scope of their (or any one person's) expertise. While this effect primarily refers to cognitive ability, it is also sometimes used to refer to people who are competent in one area (and thus not lacking {{w|Metacognition|metacognitive}} skills) believing that their abilities grant them unusually-high aptitude in a different but seemingly related area.

In practice, more expertise still largely correlates to higher confidence in one's expertise (that is to say that competence remains positively correlated with an individual's perception of their own competence), but a lack of the appropriate cognitive skills can result in that perception of competence starting at a high level yet increasing at a slower rate. However, in popular usage, the Dunning–Kruger effect is used to claim that a ''negative'' correlation exists, and that non-experts will claim expertise and confidence at a higher overall level than actual experts.

In the title text, a conference for the Dunning–Kruger effect was having trouble, presumably because the actual researchers were downplaying their knowledge and expertise to the point where they refused to be the keynote speaker, while the random undergrads (who lack experience in the topic) felt sufficiently confident in their knowledge of it to give the keynote. This more closely matches both the secondary usage (as undergrads are unlikely to lack metacognitive skills, but may inflate their understanding) and the popular usage (as the confidence is inverse to the actual competence) than the primary and in-practice observance made in the original research.

==Transcript==
:[Megan points at Ponytail and introduces her to Cueball.]
:Megan: This is Dr. Adams. She's a social psychologist and the world's top expert on impostor syndrome.
:Dr. Adams: Haha, don't be silly! There are lots of scholars who have made more significant…
:Dr. Adams: …Oh my God.

{{comic discussion}}

[[category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Dr. Adams]]
[[category:Comics featuring Megan]]

1605: DNA

2022-05-04T01:58:59Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 233407 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1605
| date = November 18, 2015
| title = DNA
| image = dna.png
| titletext = Researchers just found the gene responsible for mistakenly thinking we've found the gene for specific things. It's the region between the start and the end of every chromosome, plus a few segments in our mitochondria.
}}

==Explanation==
Because we have pretty much {{w|Human Genome Project|mapped the entire human genome}}, it's tempting to think we now know what makes our bodies tick and can start changing things. But just knowing what the individual pieces are, doesn't mean we know how they interact and behave in a complex system like our bodies.

In the comic, [[White Hat]] thinks that mapping the human genome is the same as knowing the {{w|source code}} for a {{w|computer program}}. By studying the source code for a program, a person can often understand why it does what it does, and make effective and fundamental changes to the program's operation. This may be a reference to the hyperbolic [http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/08/17/ray-kurzweil-does-not-understa/ claims of Raymond Kurzweil,] author of {{w|The Singularity is Near}}, that {{w|DNA}} is closely analogous to a computer program. Kurzweil believes that since we have sequenced DNA, we will soon be able to reverse engineer the brain and program a computer to completely simulate all its functions.

[[Megan]] points out that even a complete knowledge of DNA would only provide a partial understanding of our body's workings. Complete knowledge would require an understanding of feedbacks and external processing (such as the interactions of the proteins created by DNA). In addition the comparison is not valid because the human body is so many orders of magnitude more complicated than the computers we have running programs. White Hat is not persuaded, even though Megan points out that DNA has been developed in the most aggressive optimization process in the universe (natural evolution), running for billions of years. White Hat's thought process may be similar to the physicist in [[793: Physicists]] who assumes that any other field is simple because it appears to be similar to something he's seen before.

Finally Megan {{w|Hacker koan|enlightens}} White Hat by making him look at the source code for {{w|Google}}'s front page. In a web browser, the page looks simple; a very plain white page with a search box in the middle plus a few text links and icons, and indeed back in the 1990s Google's {{w|HTML}} code for the page was quite simple. But in less than 20 years, Google developers have vastly expanded it, with over 300 kilobytes of {{w|Minification (programming)|minified}} Javascript and CSS. Looking at some obfuscated source code may make it clearer how misleading even simple looking code can be, and how unreadable correct and well working code can be. This analogy causes White Hat to consider how much more complexity could evolve over billions of years through the relentless forces of nature.

What makes this even worse with DNA is that although it can be thought of as 'source code' it isn't for a language we fully understand, and this code was generated through various natural mechanisms such as {{w|natural selection}}, feedback loops like {{w|homeostasis}}, etc.; possibly even including processes that are not currently known to science. Further, program maintainability is not an issue, so there is no reason for the code to be easy to understand. Additionally, there are many other non-genetic factors such as {{w|epigenetics}}, {{w|maternal effect}} and {{w|environment (biophysical)|environment}}, which change how the genetic code is used. This means that not all parts make sense and that there may be all kinds of side effects and things that have several purposes.

The title text reference to finding the gene that is responsible "for mistakenly thinking we've found the gene for specific things" is a reference to the tendency of news organizations to run headlines making similar claims, often by oversimplifying or misrepresenting the actual study. These claims are based off the common belief that since DNA is a 'source code' for our body it should be possible to pin point the effect of individual genes in much the same way that we could describe the effect each line of code has in a very simple program; leading to people expecting one gene to be associated with each observable human trait. In reality even small traits are the results of hundreds of genes, sometime spread across multiple chromosomes, interacting through complex mechanisms; making it rare that a single gene, or gene sequence, can be definitively stated to be the sole, or primary, cause of a given trait.

The joke of the title text is that the responsible gene is located in ''the region between the start and the end of every {{w|chromosome}}'' meaning that the whole genome, not any one gene or DNA segment, must be considered responsible for the referenced trait, since the interconnected nature of DNA and environment during development means that every gene is at least partially responsible in generating any complex traits. [[Randall]] even includes the {{w|mitochondria}}, recognizing that the short DNA sequences present in these organelles, which are located outside the cell-nucleus, also contribute to development. The organismal chromosome or chromosomes are located in the nucleus, but mitochondria have their own tiny independent genome, reflecting their distant ancestry as separate but symbiotic organisms. This means that the DNA segments coding for any given human trait are not even necessarily all found on the main chromosomes in the nucleus.

Technically a gene is "a locus (or region) of DNA that encodes a functional RNA or protein product", which means that it is a single discrete unit of DNA, with human DNA containing over 20,000 genes. Thus the theoretical gene could not include the entire ''region between the start and the end of every chromosome'' since that region contains thousands of genes, any more than it's possible to say that the ace of clubs is the card everywhere from the top of the full deck of cards to the bottom of it.

Of course if such a gene actually did exist, then we would never be able to correctly identify where it was since we would make a mistake every time we thought we found a gene for something specific. So the whole title text is either a {{w|contradiction}} (they could never find this gene if it was there) and/or it is a {{w|Tautology (logic)|tautology}} since if the gene did exist, then of course it has to be part of our entire DNA. (If it is a tautology it is the second title text using this in just two weeks, the last being [[1602: Linguistics Club]].)

Google's home page for the date this cartoon appeared can be seen at the internet archive: [https://web.archive.org/web/20151118000129/http://www.google.com/ www.google.com homepage (18 Nov 2015)].

Similar discussions between White Hat and Megan can be found in [[1255: Columbus]] and [[1731: Wrong]].

==Transcript==
:[White Hat, holding a laptop, is talking to Megan who looks at her smart phone.]
:White Hat: Biology is largely solved. DNA is the source code for our bodies. Now that gene sequencing is easy, we just have to read it.
:Megan: It's not just "source code". There's a ton of feedback and external processing.

:[White Hat, opening his laptop, walks toward a desk and chair past Megan who holds her arms out.]
:Megan: But even if it were, DNA is the result of the most aggressive optimization process in the universe, running in parallel at every level, in every living thing, for four billion years.
:White Hat: It's still just code.

:[White Hat sits down at the desk with his opens laptop, while Megan looks over his shoulder.]
:Megan: OK, try opening google.com and clicking "View Source."
:White Hat: OK,I-...Oh my god.
:Megan: That's just a few years of optimization by Google devs. DNA is thousands of times longer and way, way worse.
:White Hat: Wow, biology is ''impossible''.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Science]]

1694: Phishing License

2022-05-04T01:58:46Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 234311 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1694
| date = June 15, 2016
| title = Phishing License
| image = phishing_license.png
| titletext = Later, walking out of jail after posting $10,000 bail: "Wait, this isn't the street the county jail is on."
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Phishing}} is a scam where a criminal sends emails or other messages (often large numbers of them) pretending to be from a trusted institution in order to obtain passwords, credit card numbers, or other personal details of victims. The term is a neologism, playing on the term "fishing", because the process is likened to dangling bait and waiting for someone to bite. Phishing is illegal under both traditional fraud laws and modern {{w|cybercrime}} laws.

A {{w|fishing license}} is a government-issued permit allowing the catching of fish in controlled waters.

[[Cueball]] saw the sign offering phishing licenses, and was immediately arrested by the receptionist [[Ponytail]] upon applying for one. There is no need for a license for a crime like fraud, so it is dubious an authority would issue them, hence why Cueball should have been more suspicious of the offer. The joke is that the process of offering "phishing licenses" is analogous to the process of phishing itself: they pretend to be a legitimate business and display a sign with a false offer, hoping someone will be fooled into interacting with them. While the ideal phishing attempt is indistinguishable from the real thing, that's generally impossible to attain and there are always some ways to identify it as a scam. But still some people fall into the trap, partly because they don't know what to be on the alert for, and partly because the attempt is often directed at so many people at once that statistically there will be some that will fall for it. Still as Cueball himself states, he should have known it was a scam.

The title text reveals that Cueball's arrest was itself a scam, not an actual police {{W|Sting operation|sting}}, adding even more "phishing" to the phishing for potential phishers. He has been put in jail, but is allowed to walk out after paying a {{w|bail}} of $10,000, only to find that when he gets back out on the street, it is not the street on which the county jail has its address. So Ponytail is actually not trying to capture people who would be interested in scamming people, she is trying to scam those people instead; although this is illegal, it may be rather clever as such people might not be likely to go to the police. Another joke in the title text is that a way to recognize phishing attempts is to look at the address of the website (or in his false prison sentence, the street address instead of the web address).

==Transcript==
:[A sign has an arrow below the text that points toward a sales window in a wall (with glass in front and small semicircular opening at the bottom for transferring money and goods). On each side of the window there are two pieces of paper with illegible text, and there is also one below the window that seems to have some kind of stamp or seal, still illegible). In front of the window [[Cueball]] is addressing [[Ponytail]] who sits behind the window.]
:Sign: <big>Phishing license</big> apply here
:Cueball: Hi, I’d like to apply for a—
:Ponytail: You’re under arrest.
:Cueball: …OK, I should’ve seen that coming.

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

215: Letting Go

2022-05-04T01:58:32Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 233755 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 215
| date = January 26, 2007
| title = Letting Go
| image = letting_go.png
| titletext = At least I never gave her the root password.
}}

==Explanation==
In fiction, a character who has had a romantic relationship end will be shown taking some act to remove a sign of their partner's presence in their life, e.g. removing/selling a wedding or engagement ring, removing the partner's toiletries from the bathroom, or deleting the partner's phone number from a cell phone. This is used to symbolize that the character has accepted the end of the relationship and is ready to move on, no longer pining for their loss or seeking to restore the relationship.

The first three panels imply that [[Cueball]] was presumably in a now-terminated relationship with [[Megan]]. The final panel shows him using the Unix command 'userdel' to delete her user account from his computer. The joke here is that he considers this to be a significant part of accepting that she is no longer a part of his life, where most people would consider it a routine administrative task.

The title text refers to Cueball's thankfulness that he never gave Megan the password to the administrator ('root') account on the computer. It is unclear why this is; he might be worried that she would have used the access to perform [[340|malicious actions]] after the breakup, or simply glad to be spared the need to change the root password. Alternately, it could be a metaphor for marriage and/or a closer emotional relationship, and he is glad that he did not allow her an even greater hold on his heart before the breakup (which would, of course, have entailed commensurately more pain when she did leave him). Not sharing the root password is indicative of a lack of trust in their relationship, which could be a factor in the initial breakdown.

This was only the second time the [[Megan#Name|name Megan]] was used in xkcd, the first time being in [[159: Boombox]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is holding a picture of himself and Megan in a heart; it has been ripped down the middle, separating the two people.]

:[Cueball sits at computer, looking at the picture.]

:[The panel has been inverted. Cueball still sits at the computer with the picture in front of him and his head drooped.]

:[Cueball types on the computer.]
:Text from computer: <code>root@homebox:~# userdel megan</code>

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

1579: Tech Loops

2022-05-04T01:58:23Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 232735 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1579
| date = September 18, 2015
| title = Tech Loops
| image = tech_loops.png
| titletext = And when I think about it, a lot of "things I want to do" are just learning about and discussing new tools for tinkering with the chain.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic is about how much time a geek might spend on a computer just to maintain the system itself, rather than actually using it for something relevant. This can in the worst cases go all the way up to the point where maintaining the system becomes the main goal. Often the operating system (OS) needs periodic updates, which might break some apps which in turn need to be updated; apps themselves might need to be updated, which can create all sort of incompatibilities which the geek then needs to spend time fixing. One term for this is "{{W|dependency hell}}".

Most people consider computers as tools to achieve something else — e.g. to surf the web, play games, read news or balance their bank account — and they would rather not have to spend lots of time on maintaining the OS or the computer if they can avoid it.

Here, however, [[Randall]] finds he's spending most of the time using his computer just for the sake of maintaining the OS or the hardware on said computer. It's tools for the sake of tooling, rather than tools as helpers to build something else.

A hardware equivalent would be the {{w|RepRap Project}}: get a 3D printer and end up spending all the time printing 3D parts for itself instead of creating something else like toys or art.

An alternative interpretation is how a simple task can get maddeningly tricky because of the inherent complexity of the system. An example of this appears in [[949: File Transfer]], where the simple task of sending a file from one computer to another gets practically impossible despite having all kinds of {{w|Cloud computing|cloud}} tools available, many of them designed to perform much more complex tasks with one simple click. In this view, the box labeled "things I actually want to use my computer for" could refer to simple actions like transferring a file and all the rest of the graph are unsuccessful tiring attempts to solve the problem by installing increasingly complex tools which end up not solving the simple problem properly. This is similar to this [http://www.pfccheatsheet.com/fnpgmr90.htm traditional programming joke].

In the title text Randall realizes that what he really wishes to do it often only to learn about and discussing new tools to improve the chain. So in this way it is for sure only a system to support itself. But on the other hand, then the box with things he actually wishes to use the computer for, is then not disconnected from the rest, but an integral part of it all.

Other comics about the same concept are [[349: Success]] and [[763: Workaround]].

==Description of the boxes==
There are 18 boxes in the chart, but only 12 different texts. 16 of the boxes are interconnected. Two are not connected to any other boxes.

Here is a list of all the items explained individually:
*Tool: In this context, a tool is mostly any general purpose computer program. Typical tools are text editors and calendar applications. Randall is presumably spending all his time installing and maintaining tools but never using them for their intended purpose.
**There are two tools which both are related to the updater and both have one entry and one exit. The first tool has an entry from the most active library (most arrows) and the second has an exit to the VM.
*Updater: An application designed to automatically download and install new versions of an already installed program. Referenced in [[1197: All Adobe Updates]]. The time spent in updating an application can't be used to get productive work from the application.
**The updater has one entry from a tool, but also exits to another tool. Two other exits goes to the most active library (most arrows) and to the repository which is the only box without exits.
*{{w|Repository (version control)|Repository}}: For programmers a repository is a database where programs are stored. All modifications of the programs are preserved for posterity, in the same way as the Wikipedia {{w|Help:Page history|View history}} tab.
**There are three entries, but this box has no exits. Thus the information stored here never leaves; this means the programs stored in the repository are not used.
*{{w|Library (computing)|Library}}: In this context, a library is a part of a computer program which is developed separately, with the idea that the library will be used for more than one program and therefore saving effort, as the library has to be developed only once. Often, programs require specific versions of specific libraries that can or can not be available. A typical example of a library often required and not always available is Microsoft's {{w|Framework Class Library}}, more known as {{w|.NET Framework}}.
**There are six libraries. Four of them has one entry and one exit arrow and twice one library exits only to another library. The top left is the most active with two entries and three exits making it the second busiest box in the chart. But most important is the bottom right library that starts everything since this is the only of the interconnected boxes that does not itself have any entry. From this library you can reach all the other connected boxes starting from its only connection: Awful hack from 2009.
*VM: A {{w|Virtual machine}} is a computer program designed to emulate a complete computer. Probably a reference to [[1305: Undocumented Feature]], combined with the next item "Chat client".
**It has two entries as it obviously both need a tool and a hardware workaround to function. It exits to the chat client already mentioned.
*Chat client: an {{w|Online chat}} program, probably a reference to [[1305: Undocumented Feature]], combined with the previous item "VM".
**It has two entries, one from the most active library (most arrows) and one from the already mentioned VM. It exits to the repository which is the only box without exits.
*IRC for some reason: {{w|Internet Relay Chat}}.
**It is connected in a loop (entry and exit) only with Awful hack from 2009.
*Custom settings: Some programs (and especially web sites) assume a fixed setup in the user's computer. Many web pages even state plainly that they are only intended to work in one single browser with some settings enabled. This is a nuisance for users, and it becomes helplessly burdensome when the user must install several programs requiring different settings.
**Is connecting two libraries, exiting to the most active library (most arrows).
*Hardware workaround: Sometimes a problem can be solved by hardware changes. Removing TV tuner or telephone modem cards, changing an USB device from one port to another, opening and closing the CD tray, etc. are operations that, in many cases, have led to solving a problem; most of the time with no one knowing exactly why such an operation should or could have any effect in the computer's behavior.
**Has one entry from the most active library (most arrows) and two exits to VM and Awful hack from 2009
*Awful {{w|Kludge|hack}} from 2009: An example of an awful hack can be found in [[1479: Troubleshooting]]. When an awful hack is necessary, it is often because less awful alternatives do not exist; so awful hacks tend to remain useful for many years. An example can be the 256-character limit in the Windows path for a file, which has been inherited from MS-DOS (way, way before 2009) and is still there up to Windows 10.{{Actual citation needed}}
**This is the most busy box with three entries and three exits. It has an entry from the only box that does not it self have any entries, the bottom right library. Another entry is from the Hardware workaround. It also form a simple entry exit loop with IRC for some reason, that box is not connected to any other boxes. And finally it exits to two libraries. One of these leads to the most active library (most arrows). From this hack all connected boxes can be reached, except the library that only has entry into the hack.
*{{w|Dynamic-link library|DLL}} needed by something: Although "DLL" is a term used by Microsoft Windows, all modern operating systems use dynamic libraries, each with its own name. A dynamic library is a part of a program which is not loaded when the program starts, but rather it's attached "dynamically" to the running process when it is needed. This has the advantage that the dynamic library is not loaded at all if it's not needed, and also several processes which need the same dynamic library can share the same copy in memory.
**This box only leads to two question marks, and not to any of the other items.
*Things I actually want to use my computer for: All the other stuff is thus only there to make it possible to use the computer for these purposes.
**But this box is not in any way related to all the tools libraries etc. mentioned here above. Which are thus in reality not needed at all.

==The tech loops==
:The flow chart described:
:→ means supports (key)
: 
:Things I actually want to use my computer for [isolated box with no links into or out of, by any of the following]
:
:DLL needed by something → ? [two exits to unknowns]
:
:Library (1) → Awful hack from 2009 →
::Awful hack from 2009 → IRC for some reason → Awful hack from 2009 → (Loop)
::Awful hack from 2009 → Library (2) → Library (3) → Repository
::Awful hack from 2009 → Library (4) → Library (5) → Custom Settings → Library (6) →
:::Library (6) → Chat Client → Repository
:::Library (6) → Hardware Workaround →
::::Hardware Workaround → VM → Chat Client → Repository
::::Hardware Workaround → Awful hack from 2009 → (Loop)
:::Library (6) → Tool (1) → Updater →
::::Updater → Repository
::::Updater → Library (6) → (Loop)
::::Updater → Tool (2) → VM → Chat Client → Repository
:
:(Note the Repository node leads to nowhere)

==Transcript==
:[A flow chart 18 boxes linked (or not) with arrows going in several different directions. At the top is an arrow pointing to the right with text under. The rest of the text in the chart is written inside the boxes.]
:[Under arrow:]
:Supports

:[Going from the top below the tip of the arrow and reading left to right and top to bottom the following text is written in the boxes that all are in some way connected with each other. The number of arrows going in and out of each box is noted behind the text in square brackets as [in, out]:]
:Updater [1, 3]
:Tool [1, 1]
:Tool [1, 1]
:Repository [3, 0]
:Library [1, 1]
:Library [2, 3]
:Library [1, 1]
:Chat Client [2, 1]
:VM [2, 1]
:IRC for some reason [1, 1]
:Custom Settings [1, 1]
:Hardware Workaround [1, 2]
:Library [1, 1]
:Awful hack from 2009 [3, 3]
:Library [1, 1]
:Library [0, 1]

:[The last box in the lower middle is not connected to any other boxes but has two exit arrows pointing to two questionmarks.]
:DLL needed by something [0, 2]
:?
:?

:[Box alone at the top right corner, with no connections:]
:Things I actually want to use my computer for [0, 0]

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Every now and then I realize I'm maintaining a huge chain of technology solely to support itself.

==Trivia==
*In the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/2/2b/20150921141046%21tech_loops.png first version] of this comic is said "soley" instead of "solely" in the caption. This was corrected later on the release day.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Flowcharts]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Logic]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]

780: Sample

2022-05-04T01:58:15Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 232680 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 780
| date = August 16, 2010
| title = Sample
| image = sample.png
| titletext = There are two or three songs out there with beeps in the chorus that sound exactly like the clock radio alarm I had in high school, and hearing it makes me think my life since junior year has been a dream I'm about to wake up from.
}}

==Explanation==
This strip suggests that even a band with the most brilliant and catchy music would soon become the most hated band in the world if it included sound effects of car horns, cell phones, or alarm clocks in its songs. Listeners would most likely mistake the sound effects for the real thing, which could cause havoc.

For comparison, "{{w|Indiana Wants Me}}", a 1970 hit single by {{w|R. Dean Taylor}}, had the sound of police sirens removed from later pressings because drivers were reportedly mistaking the sound effects for actual police cars and pulling over.

This can also be a reference to an unusual anti-piracy method, where P2P and Torrent networks are seeded with altered copies of songs that contain obnoxious sounds at random points.

The title text refers to the common sensation of having sounds from the real-world incorporated into a dream, especially as one is waking up. This gives a (false) sensation that is the reverse of the dream described in [[557: Students]]. It implies that the author has been dreaming his entire life since his junior year of high school, which is obviously not true.{{Citation needed}}

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the panel:]
:<big>How to become the most</big>
:<big>hated band in the world:</big>
:Record an album that's nothing but brilliant, catchy instant classics guaranteed popularity and airtime,
:[Cueball is at the steering wheel of a car.]
:Music: So far from hooome but I can't sto— ''HONK''
:Cueball: AUGH! WHAT?
:[Caption below the panel:]
:with a sample of a car horn, cell phone, or alarm clock inserted randomly in each song.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Phones]]

1360: Old Files

2022-05-04T01:58:04Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 233774 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1360
| date = April 25, 2014
| title = Old Files
| image = old_files.png
| titletext = Wow, ANIMORPHS-NOVEL.RTF? Just gonna, uh, go through and delete that from all my archives real quick.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic came out the day after [http://news.sky.com/story/1248397/andy-warhol-originals-found-on-floppy-disk Sky News published the story] of original {{w|Andy Warhol}} artwork, created in 1985 on an {{w|Amiga 1000}}, which was recovered from recently found floppy disks.

[[Cueball]] is shown literally digging through a pile of old files; which is a metaphor for looking through old files on his computer. The layers of the pile are arranged much like geological rock formations where older strata are deeper down than younger layers. The files are in concentric layers because each directory is embedded in the previous directory. Therefore, the "Documents" folder contains an "Old Desktop" folder, which contains a folder with files recovered from an older system, which itself contains a "My Documents" folder, which contains a folder with files copied from a {{w|Zip Disk}} from high school. The result is that files from high school have survived in his present-day machine. These older folders serve as a time capsule of sorts, storing old files from {{w|AOL}}, NYET, and {{w|Kazaa}}. These files are meant to be analogous to the fossils and artifacts found in lower, older rock layers.

The sizes of the files decrease as Cueball goes deeper, since data storage has gotten cheaper over time. When the Zip Drive first came out, it cost $200 USD (plus $20 per 100 MB floppy). As of 2019, $200 could buy you at least an 8 TB portable external hard drive. In the 1990s, during AOL's heyday, 10+ GB hard drives were prohibitively expensive and a terabyte of data was unimaginable to most users.

Deep down, Cueball discovers several files he is surprised about, including a poetry file which embarrasses him as he does not remember writing poetry.

In the title text, he mentions also finding an "{{w|Animorphs}} Novel", which may be a text copy of one of the original books or a fan fiction of the ''Animorphs'' series (his reaction of quickly eradicating it may either be to prevent him being caught with a presumably-illegal copy of an Animorphs book or as a result of embarrassment at his fan fiction - the former is less likely than the latter considering some of the other files mentioned, so it is most likely a fan fiction). The series was released between 1996 and 2001, consistent with the fact that these files were created during Cueball/[[Randall|Randall's]] high school years. The series was extremely popular at the time. Animorphs has already been mentioned in the title text of [[1187: Aspect Ratio]], and later it was the main joke in [[1380: Manual for Civilization]] and [[1817: Incognito Mode]].

===Files and Folders===
The folders and files in detail:

'''Documents''' (47 GB): A large folder containing many of [[Cueball]]'s personal files.
*''misc.txt'': A miscellaneous {{w|text file}}, which could contain anything; possibly just various notes that Cueball is keeping.

*''Video projects'': As video files can take up a lot of space and video projects tend to use a lot of them, this likely makes up a considerable portion of the 47 GB.

'''Old desktop''' (12 GB): A backup from a former computer.
*''{{w|Facebook}} pics'': Pictures that were intended to be added to Facebook (and/or ones which were downloaded *from* Facebook).
*''Pics from other camera'': Unknown pictures from a second camera.
*''Temp'': Temporary folders generally contain cached files and files that are used temporarily to install programs. A folder named "Temp" might also be created by a user to store unimportant text or image files, not intending or caring to give it a more meaningful or specifically explanatory name.
*''Misc {{w|Portable Document Format|PDF}}s'': PDFs are often used for documentation, but could be any collection of digitized books or other documents.
*''{{w|MP3}}'': MP3 is a widely used format for digital audio files.

'''Recovered from drive crash''' (4 GB): When a {{w|Hard disk drive|hard drive}} crashes, some or all data may be recovered.
*''Temp'': Temporary files.
*''Work misc'': Unknown work related projects.
*''{{w|Audiobook|Audio books}}'': Recordings of books being read out loud.

'''My Documents''' (570 MB): {{w|Windows XP}} user accounts came with a "My Documents" folder that was widely used for storing personal files. The items in this archive came from the era when {{w|Windows XP}} was popular.
*''Downloads'': The default download folder for most browsers of the time.
*''{{w|Kazaa}} shared'': Kazaa is a defunct peer-to-peer file sharing program. The "shared" folder is shared with other members.
*''AYB'': {{w|All your base are belong to us|ALL YOUR BASE are belong to us}} is an internet {{w|Meme|meme}} inspired by a bad translation from ''{{w|Zero Wing}}''. Also referenced in [[286: All Your Base]].
*''{{w|Escape Velocity Override|EV Override}}'': An {{w|Apple Macintosh}} video game, released in 1998.
*''[http://rephial.org/ Angband]'': A game named after a fictional stronghold created by {{w|J. R. R. Tolkien}}.
*''{{w|GIF}}s'': An image format widely used for transparent or animated images.
*''{{w|Fight Club}}.wmv'': A movie. As feature movies are typically compressed to 700 megabytes, and this folder only contains 570 MB ''in its entirety'', including 94 MB explicitly in a further sub-folder, this one file must be significantly smaller. It could be of very low quality (e.g. resolution and/or frame-rate), truncated (after a prior failed copy) or even a fake download designed to [https://www.2-spyware.com/fake-codecs-that-drop-widely-spread-malware fool unwary recipients].
*''{{w|Elasto Mania}}'': A physics-simulation game that claims to show real physics.
*''{{w|AOL Instant Messenger|AIM}} Direct Connect files'': Files transferred via AOL Instant Messenger.
*''{{w|4chan}}'': An image-board where users can upload pictures anonymously. Randall impulsively saves pictures from there. This entry is something of an anomaly, the rest of the files at this level were most notable around 1998 to 2001 while 4chan was only launched at the end of 2003. Since this board frequently contains images you wouldn't want to be caught looking at, this folder may be buried to hide it.
*''{{w|ICQ}} logs'': Logs from an instant messaging program introduced in 1996 and no longer commonly used in North America.

'''High school {{w|Zip drive|Zip disk}}''' (94 MB): The most popular form of {{w|superfloppy}}, introduced in 1994 with a capacity of 100 MB.
*''{{w|Korn}} MIDI'': Korn is an American {{w|nu metal}} band formed in 1993. {{w|MIDI}} is a protocol for communication with electronic musical instruments. The result tends to be sounds of low quality (but it heavily depends on how MIDI is played).
*''Photos3'': This is a folder of old photos.
**''{{w|Prom}}'': Pictures taken at prom.
*''lovenote.txt'': An old text file of a {{w|love letter}}, probably to a classmate in high school. Possibly referencing [[340: Fight]].
*''{{w|Gorillas (video game)|Gorillas}}.bas'': A game written in {{w|BASIC}}, to be run on {{w|QBasic}}, and supplied with MS-DOS.
*''Dream.txt'': Some private dreams.Possibly a reference to [[269|269: TCMP]]
*''James.txt'': Perhaps [[James]] is a friend of Randall, and the same as the one who came up with [[107|xkcd #107]].
*''{{w|AOL}}'': An early online and internet service, founded in 1985 and popular in the 1990s.
**''{{w|Citadel (software)|Citadel}}'' - A {{w|BBS}} and email platform that was widely used in the 1980s and early '90s.
*''{{w|QBasic}}'': An {{w|Integrated development environment|IDE}} released by {{w|Microsoft}} in 1991, which was used to write and run computer programs in the BASIC language.
*''NYET'': ''NYET'' was a {{w|Tetris}}-like game for MS-DOS, released in 1988.
*''Jokes.txt'': An old text file of jokes.

'''AAAFILES''' (9.4 MB): Some of [[Cueball]]'s oldest documents, likely prefixed with "AAA" to put the folder at the top of an alphabetically-sorted list.

'''TXT''' (850 K): Old text files, which include poetry he didn't remember writing.

==Transcript==
[Cross-sectional view of what look vaguely like stratigraphic layers underground. A crevice leads down through these concentric layers to a cave-like cavity in the middle, where Cueball is going through the deepest, most central, and incidentally smallest of the files. Above, Megan stands at "ground level", looking down into the crevice.]

:Megan: You OK down there?

:'''Documents''' (47 GB)
::misc.txt
::Video projects
:'''Old desktop''' (12 GB)
::Facebook pics
::Pics from other camera
::Temp
::Misc PDFs
::MP3
:'''Recovered from drive crash''' (4 GB)
::Temp
::Work misc
::Audio books
:'''My Documents''' (570 MB)
::Downloads
::Kazaa shared
::AYB
::EV Override
::Angband
::GIFs
::FIGHT CLUB.wmv
::Elasto Mania
::AIM Direct Connect files
::4chan
::ICQ logs
:'''High school Zip disk''' (94 MB)
::Korn MIDI
::Photos3 (Prom)
::lovenote.txt
::Gorilla.bas
::Dream.txt
::James.txt
::AOL (Citadel)
::QBasic
::NYET
::Jokes.txt
:'''AAAFILES''' (9.4 MB)
:'''TXT''' (850 K)
:Cueball (deep inside the AAAFILES section looking at his txt files): Oh my god. I wrote '''poetry'''.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Animorphs]]
[[Category:Comics featuring James]]
[[Category:Fight Club]]

463: Voting Machines

2022-05-04T01:57:48Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 232862 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 463
| date = August 15, 2008
| title = Voting Machines
| image = voting_machines.png
| titletext = And that's *another* crypto conference I've been kicked out of. C'mon, it's a great analogy!
}}

==Explanation==
In the 2008 Ohio primary elections, there were numerous problems with electronic voting machines, which eventually required many districts to revert to pen and paper. Premier Election Solutions, the company that handled the machines, [http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2008/08/ohio-voting-machines-contained.html blamed these problems] on {{w|McAfee}} antivirus software.

It is not uncommon to see computer software contracts stipulating that the vendor will warrant that software and systems delivered will not contain any viruses or malicious code ("malware") — a knee-jerk reaction to this is for novice management to include malware-scanning "antivirus" software for systems that otherwise are closed. From a computer programming standpoint, having antivirus software on an electronic voting machine doesn't make sense, because ideally the machine shouldn't be connecting to *anything* external (eg the internet, USB, a local network, removable drives, bluetooth...) that would leave it open to malware attacks. While there are many ways that malware can reach a computer, ultimately the computer still has to run executable code that was not distributed with it in the first place, which is something that ''no election machine should encounter'' in normal operation. Hence, the question is whether the voting machine manufacturer has taken the proper precaution preventing any external access.

Ideally, voting machines (as well as ATMs and other single-purpose appliances) should be {{w|embedded system}}s, supposedly making them incapable of doing the things that might necessitate antivirus software. However, in practice, such devices are more commonly built as application programs running on ordinary Windows PCs (inside of custom-shaped cases), and they download software updates over the internet, synchronize voting data to a single "Ballot Box" server over a local network, use USB peripherals which could potentially be replaced by a bad actor, etc. And even embedded systems are vulnerable to many classes of malware.

The comic makes an analogy to a teacher who reassures you that he always wears a condom when teaching. While a condom could be considered "protection," and therefore a good thing, common sense dictates that teachers should never end up in a situation where wearing a condom in school would be useful; this parallels the idea that while security in the form of antivirus software on voting machines could also be considered protection and a good thing, it should never be required. The comment is more likely to make people worried about why the condom is there and what purpose it's serving. Similarly, informed people might worry why a voting machine has any access to malicious executable code.

In panel one, both the {{w|facepalm}} and [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/youre-doing-it-wrong "You're doing it wrong"] are {{w|Internet meme}}s, used to mock someone who made a foolish mistake.

The title text refers to [[153: Cryptography]]. Voting software is also featured in [[2030: Voting Software]].

==Transcript==
:[Caption above panels:]
:Premier Election Solutions (formerly Diebold) has blamed Ohio voting machine errors on problems with the machines' McAfee antivirus software.

:[Cueball is sitting at a computer, facepalming.]
:Cueball: Wait. "Antivirus software"? On voting machines? ''You're doing it wrong.''

:[Cueball's friend enters the frame and speaks to Cueball.]
:Friend: Why? Security is good, right?
:Cueball: Of course. But, well—

:Cueball: Imagine you're at a parent-teacher conference, and the teacher reassures you that he always wears a condom while teaching.

:Friend: Ah. Strictly speaking, it's better than the alternative—
:Cueball: —Yet someone is clearly doing their job horribly wrong.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Banned from conferences]]
[[Category:Cryptography]]
[[Category:Computers]]

189: Exercise

2022-05-04T01:57:31Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 233335 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 189
| date = November 27, 2006
| title = Exercise
| image = exercise.png
| titletext = I haven't had the patience for RPGs in a long time.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Role-playing_game|Role-playing games}} (RPGs) are a pastime commonly associated with {{w|Geek|geeks}} in which players assume the role of a fictional character in a fantasy world. In many RPGs, character evolution and advancement is represented by "leveling up." Through winning battles and, less frequently, completing tasks or missions, characters are awarded experience points (XP), which can be spent on increasing their ratings in attributes (such as strength or speed) or skills (such as bow-hunting or computer hacking). The number of XP awarded is generally proportional to the difficulty of the task completed.

[[Cueball]] is doing {{w|Chin-up|chin-ups}}, a strength-training exercise that targets the latissimus dorsi and biceps. Repeating this exercise over time will improve his ability to do more chin-ups in one go - in other words, he will become stronger. In doing so, he is effectively leveling up his STR (strength) attribute in real life. While doing his chin-ups, he comments that he will soon switch to running - an aerobic exercise that improves endurance - in order to build up his CON (constitution) attribute. Cueball is treating his gym session like an RPG, and observes that, as a self-confessed geek, he would not be as interested in exercising without that link.

The title text implies that since [[Randall]] has lost his patience and ability to play RPG games, likely due to the connection to exercise.

==Transcript==
:Like many geeks, I got a lot more interested in exercise once I made the connection to leveling up.
:[Cueball is doing pull-ups on a bar in a doorframe.]
:Cueball: One more point to STR, then I'll run to work on CON.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Video games]]

465: Quantum Teleportation

2022-05-04T01:57:19Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 233277 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 465
| date = August 20, 2008
| title = Quantum Teleportation
| image = quantum teleportation.png
| titletext = Science should be exactly as cool as the headlines sound. Like the "RUSSIANS CUT APART AND REASSEMBLE DOGS" thing
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Quantum teleportation}} is a method of effectively taking a quantum state that exists in one laboratory and destroying it in the current laboratory and later recreating exactly the same — still unmeasured — quantum state in another laboratory that could potentially be very far away.

This is achieved by first creating an entangled quantum state in a laboratory and moving one part of the entangled quantum state to a faraway laboratory. Now let's say a scientist desires to teleport the quantum state |ψ⟩ to a faraway lab. The scientists does a specific measurement on the combination of |ψ⟩ and their half of the entangled quantum state, and the outcome of their measurement will be two bits of classical information. They can then telephone over the results of their two bits of information to tell scientists at the faraway lab how to do a measurement on their half of the entangled quantum state, which will recreate the quantum state |ψ⟩ at the faraway lab, effectively teleporting it. This is an important result in quantum mechanics, especially in regards to quantum computing.

The name is misleading in that it does not create an efficient means of transportation via teleportation — something like the {{w|Transporter (Star Trek)|teleporters}} from ''{{w|Star Trek}}'' i.e. a ''conventional teleporter'' — where macroscopic objects like humans (composed of [http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=number+of+atoms+in+a+human&lk=4&num=3 7 × 1027 atoms]) could be teleported to an arbitrary place.

The comic jokes with the fact that news reporters wish to get a story about Star Trek teleporters, and the scientist is angry that there is no interest in his quantum version — the reporters are even disappointed when they write their story. The last panel appears to indicate that this scientist not only has a quantum teleporter, he also has a "regular" teleporter of the type the reporter is asking about, which would be a gigantic news item, as it is one of the biggest challenges of this century (and possibly future ones as well) to build one. He uses the conventional to escape to The Bahamas.

The whole method of quantum teleportation is predicated on being able to first create entangled quantum states and then transport, by conventional means, one-half of the entangled state. Only after this step could you then destroy the shared entangled quantum state, to "teleport" a different quantum state to the new location.

Quantum teleportation is deeply related to {{w|Bell's theorem}} where it's shown that quantum mechanics is incompatible with the idea of local hidden variables and that has been experimentally demonstrated (though a few very small loopholes still have not been conclusively ruled out). Explaining "it's a particle statistics thing" is a great explanation of the related Bell's theorem experiments, which demonstrate quantum entanglement, which is at the root of quantum teleportation. In these experiments, physicists take an entangled quantum state, move it apart, and then randomly decide which direction to measure each side of the quantum states. Through a statistical analysis of the results, you can demonstrate and measure each entangled particle in a randomly chosen direction. The statistical correlations between the particles are consistent with quantum mechanics and inconsistent with any local hidden variable theory; however, this instantaneous wave-function collapse does not break special relativity as wave-function collapse {{w|No-communication theorem|does not allow communication of any information}}. Instead, you can just analyze the correlations after the fact and compare the hypothesis of local hidden variables to the inconsistent hypothesis predicted by quantum mechanics and verify the quantum mechanical prediction.

In the comic, Cueball explains to the reporter that quantum teleportation isn't what reporters build it up to be, before Cueball successfully teleports by switching his teleportation machine from quantum teleportation to regular teleportation.

The title text refers to the controversial 1940s Soviet {{w|Experiments in the Revival of Organisms}} video that depicts a dog's head being cut off and revived. The film is controversial in that the footage is often perceived as being staged, though the {{w|Sergei S. Bryukhonenko|Soviet scientist}} depicted in the video was attempting these sorts of experiments, and this research eventually led to the first Soviet open heart operation in 1957 — another instance of crazy headlines that may not be as interesting to the public when first explained, but may be an important step on the way to some type of practical use. Cutting apart and reassembling dogs could also be a metaphor for quantum teleportation if it were used to transfer dogs' states from a group of particles in one location to a group of particles in another location, which could be described as taking apart dogs and resembling them in a different location, although the word cut would be inaccurate. If this is the case, then Randall is arguing that this particular piece of science is as cool as it seems (because the objects are disassembled then resembled into someone else, as opposed to simply being moved); the reporters are merely disappointed because they were expecting something else.

==Transcript==
:[A Cueball-like reporter and Cueball are facing each other, sitting in chairs.]
:Reporter: So, Quantum Teleportation-
:Cueball: The name is misleading. It's a particle statistics thing.

:[Zoom in on the reporter.]
:Reporter: So it's not like Star Trek? That's boring.

:[Zoom out again to both. Cueball leaves his seat and moves behind it.]
:Cueball: Okay, I'm sick of this. Every time there's a paper on quantum teleportation, you reporters write the same disappointed story.

:[Cueball has gone to a device that was behind him and was out of the scope of the three previous panels. He turns a knob that makes a sound in a zigzag sound buble.]
:Reporter (Off panel): But-
:Cueball: Talk to someone else. I'm going to the Bahamas.
:Knob: ''Click''

:[Inserted panel with a zoom in on the device that is labeled, and the knob is now turned to the right position. Both possible positions are labeled.]
:Label: Teleporter
:Left: Quantum
:Right: Regular

:[Cueball is beamed up in classic Star Trek fashion.]
:''Vrmmm''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Star Trek]]

694: Retro Virus

2022-05-04T01:57:06Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 233780 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 694
| date = January 27, 2010
| title = Retro Virus
| image = retro_virus.png
| titletext = He says this is the year of Linux on the desktop! The world of Windows will fade any moment now!
}}
==Explanation==
This comic uses the word "retro" as a reference to {{w|Retro|retro style}} and "virus" as a reference to {{w|Computer virus|computer viruses}}. This {{w|portmanteau}} is also a double entendre for a {{w|retrovirus}}, which is a type of biological virus.

[[Cueball]] finds himself needing to clean a virus off his {{w|Microsoft Windows|Windows}} machine. Unfortunately, the {{w|Windows Registry|registry}} editor (regedit), a key tool in manipulating Windows, is affected. A coworker comes over and mentions that it has been a while since he has worried about cleaning viruses in the {{w|Windows API#Versions|Win32 API}}.

Cueball responds that {{w|Windows XP}} operating system is still the most popular (which it [http://marketshare.hitslink.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=11&qpcustomb=0&qpsp=2009&qpnp=4&qptimeframe=Y was] in 2010, and remained until mid-2012), but is drowned out by another coworker ([[Ponytail]]) who exclaims that it is as if they are back in 2003. Back then, {{w|Windows XP}} machines were the standard in many places, and were far more often targeted by viruses than other systems, e.g. {{w|Linux}}, {{w|Mac OS X}}, etc.

In the final panel, Cueball's coworkers continue to make fun of him by referencing things that were important back in 2003 like {{w|Howard Dean}}, {{w|Friendster}} or {{w|Kazaa}}. Such things have since fallen largely out of prominence.

The title text is a reference to the {{w|Desktop Linux#Year of Desktop Linux|year of Linux on the desktop}}, which is an expectation that in an upcoming year, Linux will make a large breakthrough and be widely adopted by businesses and personal users. The expectation has been around since about 2000, however, and has not exactly happened (although non-desktop devices running {{w|Android (operating system)|Android}}, a Linux-based OS, are now very common). If it were to happen, the large market share enjoyed by Windows OSes would fade away.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is using a computer.]
:Cueball: Argh, this is frustrating.
:Friend (off-panel): What?

:Cueball: This Windows box has a virus and I can't get RegEdit to-
:Friend (off-panel): Haha, cleaning viruses? Man, what a blast from the past!

:Friend: Check it out! Dude's cleaning Win32 viruses! Remember that?
:Ponytail (off-panel): It's like we're back in 2003!
:Cueball (small): Hey, XP's still the most-

:Friend: Did you get the virus from Kazaa?
:Ponytail (with laptop): Guess what I just read on Howard Dean's Friendster!?
:Cueball (head in hands): Guys...

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Puns]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]

455: Hats

2022-05-04T01:56:50Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 232476 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 455
| date = July 28, 2008
| title = Hats
| image = hats.png
| titletext = ...
}}

==Explanation==
[[Black Hat]] encounters a person who is wearing not one, but two black hats. Black Hat is not a person to be trifled with, but from his reaction, he apparently believes that Two Black Hats represents a considerable danger to him. Black Hat knows how dangerous he is to those with one fewer black hat than him, so he continues the logic and realises that one who has one ''more'' black hat must be proportionally dangerous to him.

If a black hat is assumed to be akin to a badge of rank, then Two Black Hats certainly is superior to him in the capacity and willingness to do evil. Alternatively, and even more worrying, Two Black Hats could be someone who has the desire and the ability to acquire black hats (possibly killing the previous owners in the process if having two black hats really means that the individual is more malevolent than Black Hat), which he then wears like a badge of honor. With all this in mind, Black Hat edges away, keeping Two Black Hats in sight at all times.

This comic is also a metatextual joke about xkcd itself. Because of the comic's simplistic art style and characterization, Black Hat has only two defining physical traits: his hat and his hair, which we see when he takes off his hat, and one defining personality trait, his malevolence. Randall then implies that the two traits must be correlated, so that a black hat signifies malevolence, and accordingly two hats must signify even more malevolence -- an idea that wouldn't make any sense in real life, where a person with two hats would just be making an odd fashion choice.{{Citation needed}}

The title text is simply "..." This may represent the slow-motion pause during which Black Hat's nefarious life flashes before his eyes, as he considers his impending doom. It may also emphasize how the usually witty Black Hat is, for once, speechless. Or the title text is similar to that in [[412: Startled]], where Black Hat also becomes the little one (and with much focus on the black hat, as in this comic). As mentioned there, such a short title text could be due to the fact that it's a somewhat surreal comic, and any further commentary might have detrimentally brought it down to Earth. See also [[82: Frame]], with the same title text, but no relation to black hats.

Two Black Hats makes a reappearance in [[826: Guest Week: Zach Weiner (SMBC)]], down by the restrooms.

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat is walking.]

:[Black Hat stops in front of another man with two Black Hats, the uppermost hat tilted about 45 degrees back.]

:[After two panels, the original Black Hat steps backward, shuddering slightly.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Characters with hats]]

269: TCMP

2022-05-04T01:56:41Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 232983 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 269
| date = May 28, 2007
| title = TCMP
| image = tcmp.png
| titletext = A big obstacle in experimenting with the mind's dream-simulation-engine is holding onto the details as you wake up. With TCMP you can bring back any information you want.
}}

==Explanation==

[[Cueball]] trained himself to type while asleep, so he could communicate from inside his dreams. He calls this ''Trans-Consciousness Messaging Protocol'', or '''TCMP'''. He succeeds in using this system to send a message from inside his dream, but his friends, [[Megan]] and another Cueball, are disappointed when that first message is a {{w|troll (Internet)|trollish}} "F1rst p0st!!", in this case, "trans-reality trolling", instead of something constructive.

Firstposting, or [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=thread%20sniping thread sniping], is the practice of posting short messages to brag to others that you found and saw this content first. This practice was far more common at the time this comic was written, when high-traffic and poorly-moderated social media sites tended to display comments in increasing chronological order by default; as such, the oldest comments would be most prominently displayed at the top, while the newest comments would be buried at the bottom. These days, while low-traffic and closely-monitored forums still use this approach, social media sites instead tend to sort comments by rating, so that the most appreciated comments are given the most prominence and trollish comments like the cliche "F1rst p0st!!" are buried. See also [[1019: First Post]] and [[1258: First]] and regarding trolling [[493: Actuarial]].

"Bell & Watson" refers to {{w|Alexander Graham Bell}} and his assistant {{w|Thomas A. Watson}}. Bell is traditionally credited with inventing the {{w|telephone}}, because he was awarded the patent for it, although {{w|Elisha Gray and Alexander Bell telephone controversy|that is still controversial}}. His first phone call was to Watson in another part of their lab.

The name "TCMP" is likely to be a portmanteau of TCP ({{w|Transmission Control Protocol}}) and ICMP ({{w|Internet Control Message Protocol}}), which are actual protocols used in computer networking.

The title text explains how this protocol, if real, would be of great value in dream research, since you then would not have to worry about forgetting the dreams after waking up like as in [[430: Every Damn Morning]]. You can relay the dreams as you experience them.

A possible downside is that in order for this to work, the dream has to be {{w|Lucid dream|lucid}}, where the dreamer is aware that they are dreaming. This type of dream is very fascinating to [[Randall]], as mentioned in the title text of [[203: Hallucinations]]. Because this method could not be used to study regular dreams, some possibilities for studying dreams would be limited.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball stand with a keyboard next to a bed. The keyboard is connected with a wire to a computer on a desk to the right. He talks to Megan and a Cueball-like friend.]
:Cueball: Hey, help me test the Trans-Consciousness Messaging Protocol.
:Friend: What's that?
:Cueball: I've been training myself to keep my fingers moving slightly as I fall asleep. So I can type from inside dreams.

:[Cueball sits with the keyboard on the bed.]
:Cueball: I'm going to sleep now. My computer will relay my messages to you as I explore the dream world.

:[Cueball stand with the keyboard in a forest with tall trees. The leaves are not visible; they are above the top of the drawing. At the top, there is a frame with text:]
:In the dream:
:Cueball (thinking): So strange to think none of this is real.
:Cueball (thinking): And yet I have this lifeline to the internet back home.

:[Cueball places the keyboard on a stone, bends down, and types.]
:Cueball (thinking): A chance to speak from one reality to another.
:Cueball (thinking): I feel like Bell & Watson. I get to write the inaugural TCMP message.
:Cueball (thinking): Let's see...
:Keyboard: *Type type type*

:[Megan is at the computer, and the Cueball-like friend behind her looks at his message from the dream. At the top, there is a frame with text:]
:Outside:
:Megan: "F1RST P0ST!!"?
:Friend: Great. He's jumped straight to trans-reality trolling.

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

Little Bobby Tables

2022-05-04T01:56:10Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 233625 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{Infobox character
| image = Little Bobby Tables.PNG
| imagesize =
| caption = First drawn drawing in [[342: 1337: Part 2]].
| first_appearance = [[327: Exploits of a Mom]]
}}

'''<code>Robert'); DROP TABLE students;--</code>''', nicknamed '''Little Bobby Tables''', is the youngest son of elite hacker [[Mrs. Roberts]]. His elder sister is [[Elaine Roberts|Help I'm trapped in a driver's license factory Elaine Roberts]]. His "full" name is known to cause problems with some computers. When he was first enrolled in school ([[327: Exploits of a Mom]]), it exploited a vulnerability in the parsing of students' names into the school's student database resulting in the school losing all the student records for the year.

In {{w|SQL}}, commands are terminated by semicolons '''<code>;</code>''' and data is often quoted using single quotes '''<code>'</code>'''. Commands may also be enclosed in parentheses '''<code>(</code>''' and '''<code>)</code>'''. Data is stored in tables of similar items (e.g. '''<code>students</code>''') and individual entries are "rows" in the table. To delete an entire table (and every row of data in that table), you use the command '''<code>DROP</code>''' (e.g. '''<code>DROP TABLE students</code>'''). The '''<code>--</code>''' represents the start of a {{w|Comment_(computer_programming)#SQL|SQL comment}} which ensures that the rest of the command is ignored so an error will not occur.

The exploited vulnerability is that the single quote in the name input was not properly "escaped" by the software. Thus, when the name is embedded into some SQL statement, the quote is erroneously parsed as a closing quote inside that statement, rather than being parsed as part of the name. Lack of such escaping is a common SQL vulnerability; this type of exploit is referred to as {{w|SQL injection}}.

The name Bobby Tables inspired a website, [http://bobby-tables.com/ bobby-tables.com], a guide for beginning programmers to learn the right way to avoid SQL injection in their code. A similarly named character, Mister Rogers, appears in [[884: Rogers St.]], with the same code injection in his middle name. It appears in [[1253: Exoplanet Names]] as one of the suggested planet names.

== Appearances ==
In the five comics he is referenced he is only drawn three times. The first two is in the [[:Category:1337|1337 series]] where he is drawn as a Cueball-like kid. See picture above. But then he also appears as a young man with long curly hair, looking very much like a woman in [[884: Rogers St.]] Here it is only the title text that reveals that this is Bobby, that and the fact that [[Randall]] in the official transcript does not mention the gender, but only that it is a person.

Here is how he looks in that comic: 
[[File:Adult Bobby Tables.PNG]]

There have been suggestions that the Robert in the table in [[596: Latitude]] was Bobby, but given that [[Black Hat]] has never had any relation to him in the other comics, and that [[Rob]] has, it seems more likely that the Robert is Rob.

== Example of SQL injection ==

A typical, unsecured SQL command vulnerable to SQL injection would be something like:

database.execute("INSERT INTO students (name) VALUES ('" + name + "');");

where <code>name</code> is a variable which is filled with the name to be inserted into the database. With a regular name, this would result in the following SQL command to be sent to the database system:

INSERT INTO students (name) VALUES ('Elaine');

However, with Little Bobby Tables's full name, the SQL command would be:

INSERT INTO students (name) VALUES ('Robert'); DROP TABLE students;--');

Or, if split after each <code>;</code>:

INSERT INTO students (name) VALUES ('Robert');
DROP TABLE students;
--');

The first commands inserts the name <code>Robert</code> into the database as in the first example. The second command however completely deletes the table <code>students</code>. The remainder is a comment to prevent syntax errors with the apostrophe and the closing parenthesis.

== Real Life occurrence ==

In French-speaking countries, apostrophes are a common character in street names. More often than not, French speakers unwittingly trigger SQL injection bugs when trying to order something from a US shop. In Italy, they are often part of town names, too (e.g. {{w|L'Aquila}}). Apostrophes are also found in a great many Irish surnames, often resulting in similar problems and/or data validation errors.

In 2020 the British corporate register accepted a registration for ""><SRC=HTTPS://MJT.XSS.HT> LTD", which was soon renamed "THAT COMPANY WHOSE NAME USED TO CONTAIN HTML SCRIPT TAGS LTD" to avoid a cross-site scripting problem. [https://forum.aws.chdev.org/t/cross-site-scripting-xss-software-attack/3355/8 Discussion on the Companies House Developer Forum]

==See also==
*[[:Category:Comics featuring Little Bobby Tables|Comics featuring Little Bobby Tables]]

{{navbox-characters}}
[[Category:Characters]]

990: Plastic Bags

2022-05-04T01:55:57Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 232920 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 990
| date = December 14, 2011
| title = Plastic Bags
| image = plastic_bags.png
| titletext = The high I feel when I actually remember to bring my reusable bags to the store--and take them inside rather than leaving them in the parked car--can last for days.
}}

==Explanation==
This is another comic with one of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[:Category:Fun fact|fun facts]].

In the United States, at the time this comic was written, most {{w|grocery stores}} used to provide {{w|plastic shopping bag|plastic bags}} free; as well as a "bagger," whose only job is to bag the groceries — although sometimes this function is performed by the cashier. An exception to this rule might be "extreme discount" stores, such as {{w|Aldi}}. Customers are rarely, if ever, expected to bag their own groceries, even if they bring a reusable bag. It follows that sometimes a bagger might become a bit overzealous and use too many bags for too few products. This comic is mocking this tendency to go overboard, which is incredibly wasteful. The last frame takes this practice to its absurd and frustrating end, showing a {{w|reusable bag}} that has been double bagged with plastic bags. Exactly why bags are provided is probably a topic best left to academic discussion, but suffice to say that it is the state of the industry in the U.S. Perhaps grocery chains are concerned that if they did not provide free plastic bags, customers would defect, instead, to a competitor. Most shoppers view plastic bags and bagging by the store as givens.

Relatively recently, some U.S. jurisdictions have begun to join {{w|Phase-out of lightweight plastic bags|more and more}} governments world-wide to either ban plastic bags, charge customers for them, or generate taxes on each sold bag. Using Washington, DC ([[Randall]]'s home turf) example, as of 2010 customers are charged a $0.05 tax (again, by the local government and NOT by the grocery store) for each plastic bag, and receive an equivalent rebate for each reusable bag. While today it is accepted as a fact of life, the tax angered many at its adoption, even spurring some to claim that they would do their shopping in the next state over (in this case, Virginia), driving 5 or 10 miles to save 5 or 10 cents (this would address the theme of wasting money to save a trivial amount, addressed by [[Randall]] in [[951|951: Working]]). The tax has since become accepted as a fact of life, and has been quite successful at its initial goal of reducing the amount of bags discarded in area rivers and streams.

The title text refers to the idea that while many attempt to make the environmentally-conscious decision to bag their groceries with {{w|reusable bags,}} thereby keeping plastic bags out of landfills, sometimes they forget to bring their bags with them from the car, or even leave the bags at home altogether. Randall is commenting on the sense of euphoria he derives from a relatively simple task: remembering to bring the reusable bags to the grocery store '''''and''''' taking them into the store, rather than the good feeling from helping clean up the environment.

==Transcript==
::Fun Fact: Stores have a competition to see who can spread your items across the most plastic shopping bags.

:[5 items placed in a single bag; heaviest item placed at the bottom.]
:Bag Packer: Here you go!
:Shopper: Thanks!

:[Same items; heaviest item now placed in separate bag.]
:Bag Packer: Here you go!
:Shopper: Oh, that's easier to carry.

:[Heavy item is now double bagged.]
:Bag Packer: Here you go!
:Shopper: Double-bagging the big stuff makes sense...

:[The other 4 items are now split into 2 separate bags.]
:Bag Packer: Here you go!
:Shopper: That's a bit wasteful...

:[The 2 separate bags are now double bagged.]
:Bag Packer: Here you go!
:Shopper: You just put five items in six bags.

:[Every item is now in its own, double-bagged bag.]
:Bag Packer: Here you go!
:Shopper: OK! I give up! I'll buy a reusable bag!

:[Reusable bag is double-bagged.]
:Bag Packer: Here you go!
:Shopper: Augh!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Fun fact]]

842: Mark

2022-05-04T01:55:30Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 233001 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 842
| date = January 3, 2011
| title = Mark
| image = mark.png
| titletext = I'm a solipsistic conspiracy theorist. I'm sure I must be up to something, and I will not stop until I find out what.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, [[Science Girl]] asks [[Cueball]] about a mark on his arm. He apparently believes he is part of a secret society, so secret that he doesn't know anything about the society. His belief in the existence of the society, and that he is a part of it, stem from one contact with an 'agent'. Most people would immediately dismiss the idea of such a secret society, especially with no evidence of its existence, and no knowledge of the goals or even whether it is inherently good or evil.

Six years after being 'chosen', Cueball finds the scrap of paper with an address on it, and the can of {{w|kerosene}}. Both of these events are not unlikely, and easily explained as simple coincidences, but Cueball somehow sees this as a command that he must burn down the house. Cueball shows that he is willing to put other people's lives at risk, destroy property and possessions, and face the possibility of prison, all because of one event six years prior.

Cueball's belief in the society, his delusional linking of the address and kerosene, and his actions in burning down the house, show how badly he wants to be part of something bigger, and to find meaning in the "Chaos of Life".

The punchline refers to an old grade school/middle school prank (Urban Dictionary: [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pen15+club pen 15 club], [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pen15 Pen 15].) You'd typically walk up to an unsuspecting schoolmate and ask them if he wants to join the Pen Fifteen Club. You'd tell them that to join, you merely have to write the club name on them. You'd then write "PEN15" on their hand or arm, and everyone would laugh at them because it looks like "PENIS". (In a common variant, it is simply called the Pen Club, 15 is the victim's "member number", and the pranksters write "PEN13" and "PEN14" on themselves.) In this case, [[Cueball]] fell victim to this prank as a child without ever figuring out the joke, and the ink somehow never got washed off by showers or baths or removed by shedding skin. In reality, it would be unlikely for such a mark to last for so long.

As for the title text, {{w|solipsism}} is the philosophical idea that only your own mind is sure to exist while other minds can't be really known and so those other minds are not proved to be real. In this context it might mean that the only one who can conspire would be you, hiding the truth from yourself.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Science Girl are talking.]
:Science Girl: What's that on your arm?
:Cueball: The mark of a secret society.

:Science Girl: If it's secret, why tell me-
:Cueball: Because I know nothing. I can't betray them because I don't know who they are. I was chosen by an agent 20 years ago. That was my first and last direct contact.
:Cueball: It's safer that way.

:Six years later I found a piece of paper in the street with an address on it. The next day I found a can of kerosene in my garage that I'm sure I never bought.
:[The panel represents these actions by highlighting the mentioned objects in a world of gray.]

:I didn't know whose house it was. I just knew that I'd been given my orders. And I carried them out.
:[A dark figure holding the kerosene is silhouetted against a flame.]

:Cueball: I don't know who or what we're fighting.
:Cueball: Maybe we're the bad guys.
:Cueball: It doesn't matter to me.

:Cueball: It's enough to know that there are forces working beneath the chaos of life, and I'm a ''part'' of them.

:Cueball: That whatever this "Pen Fifteen" club is,
:Cueball: I'm ''in'' it.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Penis]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Science Girl]]

1621: Fixion

2022-05-04T01:55:18Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 234268 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1621
| date = December 25, 2015
| title = Fixion
| image = fixion.png
| titletext = My theory predicts that, at high enough energies, FRBs and perytons become indistinguishable because the detector burns out.
}}

==Explanation==
The second [[:Category:Christmas|Christmas comic]] in a row, the first being [[1620: Christmas Settings]].

This comic was released on {{w|Christmas}} day as a present from [[Randall]] to all {{w|physicists}}. It introduces a new particle, the ''Fixion'', which explains everything. The word "Fixion" can be read as a pun: Either it can mean something like "fix-i-on," with "[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-on#Suffix -on]" being a suffix for many particles, and this particle being able to "fix" things; or it means "fiction".

In physics, there are still many {{w|List of unsolved problems in physics|big questions and mysteries}}. There are many phenomena which don't seem to fit, and we don't know how to explain yet. The "Fixion" is satirically presented as a particle which acts as a {{w|Deus ex machina}}, (see also {{tvtropes|DeusExMachina|tvtropes}}), which solves all of these mysteries without any serious fundamental reasons.

The style of the chart suggests a {{w|Feynman diagram}} - an easy way of drawing particle interactions. Every time there is an interaction, the main central Fixion-line changes direction. Typically, {{w|fermions}} (the "solid" particles like {{w|electrons}} and {{w|quarks}}) are shown with solid lines, {{w|photons}} (and generally the weak-force-carrying {{w|bosons}}) are shown with wavy lines, {{w|gluons}} with spiraling lines and other mediating particles (such as {{w|pions}} in the {{w|nuclear force}}, or the {{w|Higgs boson}}) with a dotted line. Randall obeys these rules only very loosely, which makes sense - many of the things involved in this Feynman diagram are either so theoretical that they have no widely used standard representation, or would never appear in a sensible diagram (spacecraft, for instance). All mentioned types of lines - and even more types - are presented in the diagram. All that the Fixion does is described in the [[#Table of Phenomena|table below]].

The title text is a continuation of one of the jokes already mentioned in the main comic (fourth phrase from the top to the left) about {{w|Fast radio burst}}s (FRBs) and {{w|Peryton (astronomy)|perytons}}. See explanation in the last entry in the [[#Table of Phenomena|table below]].

===Table of Phenomena===
*Below, all the phenomena mentioned in the comic (and in the title text) have been listed and described.
*The order is the top left phenomenon first, and then alternating between right and left down to the bottom and then the title text at the end.
{| border =1 width=100% cellpadding=5 class="wikitable"
|'''Phenomenon''' || '''In the comic''' || '''Description''' || '''Solved?'''
|-
| Main component of dark matter
|| An arrow points to the very first part of the main line.
|| Our best measurements of the universe predict that visible matter is only about one-sixth of the matter in the universe; the remaining matter is "{{w|dark matter}}" that cannot be seen. The leading candidates for dark matter are {{w|weakly interacting massive particles}} (WIMPs). These would be new, undiscovered forms of matter which barely interact except through gravity and thus give off little or no light. Some of the dark matter is likely made up of {{w|Massive compact halo objects}} (MACHOs); effectively dead stars too dim to see. MACHOs are probably only a minority of the dark matter, however. Studies of two colliding galaxy clusters suggest that dark matter can pass through other matter without slowing down, unlike ordinary matter. Moreover, calculations of the elements produced during the {{w|big bang}} - which match the observed distribution of elements in the universe very precisely - don't leave room for enough additional {{w|protons}} and {{w|neutrons}} to form the dark matter.
|| No. Proving the nature of dark matter will most likely win someone a {{w|Nobel Prize}}.
|-
| Confines quarks and gluons
|| An arrow points to the very first part of the main line.
|| {{w|Quark confinement}} means that we never see particles with {{w|colour charge|color charge}} (i.e. {{w|quark}}s and {{w|gluon}}s) on their own. They only exist in groups that cancel out the color charge. Try to separate the groups, and the energy you add will instead cause new particles to pop into existence. Quarks are also referenced in [[474: Turn-On]], [[1418: Horse]] and in [[1731: Wrong]].
|| The basic facts of confinement are well understood, but some of the details are too complicated to tease out.
|-
| Neutralizes monopoles
|| An arrow points to the first solid line into the main line, from left and upwards. This is thus a solid particle merging with the Fixion.
|| {{w|Magnetic monopoles}} (e.g., a north charge without a south charge) should exist according to many {{w|Grand Unified Theory|grand unified theories}} (GUTs) and {{w|String theory|string theories}}, but none have ever been seen.
|| No! Despite claims that pop up in the news every year, creating a monopole-like state in the magnetic spins of a crystal is not the same as creating a real monopole.
|-
| Suppresses antimatter in early universe
|| No arrow.
|| The universe today is made almost entirely of matter. {{w|Antimatter}} and matter are identical, except that the charges are opposite. Antimatter and matter "{{w|Annihilation|annihilate}}" when they come into contact. So why is the universe made of matter? Why didn't the universe have equal amounts of both, and if it did, why didn't it annihilate itself immediately? This is a big question in physics today. The Fixion would explain this by its ability to suppress the formation of antimatter in the early universe. Antimatter is also referenced in [[683: Science Montage]], [[826: Guest Week: Zach Weiner (SMBC)]], and [[1731: Wrong]] as well as being the subject of the [[what if?]] ''{{what if|114|Antimatter}}''. It was also mentioned in another ''what if?'': ''{{what if|79|Lake Tea}}''.
|| Lots of theories, no conclusive evidence for any yet. The most notable theories revolve around the {{w|weak interaction}}, which has been shown to treat matter and antimatter asymmetrically. Now that the {{w|Higgs boson}} has been found, the biggest project for the {{w|Large Hadron Collider}} experiments is to try to crack this.
|-
| Spontaneously emits dark energy
|| Two arrows points to two dotted lines going out left and downwards below the first solid line. It is thus two mediating particles that go out from the Fixon.
|| Prior to the 1990s, most {{w|cosmologists}} expected that the universe's expansion after the Big Bang would either slow down or stay constant. In 1998, cosmologists discovered that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating. Under {{w|Einstein|Einstein's}} theory of {{w|general relativity}}, the observed acceleration predicts that ordinary matter and dark matter make up about 30% of the universe's total energy, with the rest coming in the form of "{{w|dark energy}}." The nature of dark energy is not certain. However, the leading candidate is that space itself has intrinsic energy (either constant or variable), and so as space expands, the energy of the universe increases.
|| Again, Nobel Prize territory.
|-
| Mediates proton decay, but then hides it.
|| An arrow points to three lines going to and from the main line. The outer line does not connect with the main line. The three lines probably represent the 3 quarks a proton is made of, and how a proton is usually drawn in Feynman diagrams (see for example [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_decay#/media/File:Beta_Negative_Decay.svg Beta Negative Decay]). The diagram represents a proton decaying, mediated by the Fixion, however then recombining. Presumably the hypothetical Fixion causes protons to decay all the time, however according to the diagram the quarks recombine again which makes the process impossible to detect.
|| Many GUTs predict that {{w|proton decay|protons will decay}}, but experiments have shown the proton to have a half-life of at least 1033 years - very much longer than the {{w|age of the universe}} (1.38x1010 years).
|| It's not ''necessarily'' a problem. All theories predict that proton decay is a very slow process (1032+ years), which is consistent with the current data.
|-
| Introduces dispersion in perytons from kitchen microwaves, explaining fast radio bursts
|| Two arrows point to four wavy lines. The waves of the lines have different wavelength. The one line coming out left is of the same wavelength as the top of the three coming out right. The two below each decrease in wavelength compared to the one before them. Maybe this is not meant to represent photon-like particles, but are just different frequencies of microwaves from the microwave oven – thus relating to the subject.
|| {{w|Fast radio burst}}s (FRBs) are unexplained bursts of radio-frequency energy from space, that could even be extragalactic signals, with speculations that they might be signs of {{w|extraterrestrial intelligence}}. {{w|Peryton (astronomy)|Perytons}} are things that ''look like'' FRBs, but come from Earth (specifically, from the {{w|microwave oven}} at {{w|Parkes Observatory}}). Randall's Fixion makes some perytons change frequency distribution so they appear to come from space; thus meaning all FRBs come from microwave ovens.
|| No, but it's probably something very big - a star collapsing to a {{w|black hole}} or (as now looks likely) a {{w|magnetar}} (magnetic neutron star)
|-
| Broken symmetry causes ϴ=0, explaining unobserved neutron dipole moment
|| An arrow points to the part of the main line just before the first wavy line.
|| The {{w|neutron electric dipole moment}} is a measure of how balanced electric charge is inside the neutron. ϴ (theta) is a number in {{w|quantum chromodynamics}} (QCD) which quantifies the breaking of a type of symmetry called {{w|CP violation|CP symmetry}}. If ϴ is not 0, one result of this should be a neutron dipole moment. {{w|Symmetry breaking}} is a common explanation of effects in some areas of theoretical physics (for instance, it's an important part of {{w|Peter Higgs|Higgs'}} theory about why particles have mass), but normally it explains why a value is ''not'' zero. Presumably the Fixion would break CP symmetry independently of QCD, which would mean that ϴ can be 0 while preserving observed CP-breaking effects.
|| Again, it's not (yet) a problem - the predicted dipole moment is tiny, and we're only just reaching the point when we can measure it that accurately.
|-
| Causes alpha effect
|| No arrow.
|| The {{w|alpha effect}} is a weird effect from chemistry, where putting an "alpha" atom with a {{w|lone pair}} of electrons close to a molecule makes the molecule more likely to give up its electrons.
|| Lots of competing explanations.
|-
| Covers naked singularities
|| No arrow – but the text is situated next to the middle of the three wavy lines going right.
|| A {{w|naked singularity}} is like a black hole without an {{w|event horizon}}. So far no naked singularity has been observed (except, arguably, the big bang) and the {{w|cosmic censorship hypothesis}} suggests they can't exist, although some people have suggested ways of making them. Randall has mentioned these in the [[what if?]] article [http://what-if.xkcd.com/140/ Proton Earth, Electron Moon].
|| Not necessarily something that needs explaining - none have been seen, and most theories say they don't exist. If support grows for {{w|loop quantum gravity}}, then we might have to start really searching.
|-
| Intercepts certain gravitational waves before they're observed.
|| An arrow points to a spiraling line going upwards to the left, so this is drawn like a gluon.
|| If {{w|gravity}} behaves like {{w|Fundamental interaction|the other forces}}, it must be conveyed by waves. At the time of the comic's publication, our best detector, {{w|LIGO}} had yet to detect any {{w|gravitational waves}}, though this is probably just due to the low probability of events that would be detectable. Only extreme events like {{w|binary black hole}} mergers are detectable with the current setup. The proposed {{w|LISA Pathfinder}} spacecraft will be able to see things like orbiting black holes and {{w|neutron stars}}.
|| In February 2016, researchers at LIGO [http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/12/science/ligo-gravitational-waves-black-holes-einstein.html reported the detection of gravitational waves].
|-
| Causes coronal heating
|| No arrow – but the text is situated next to the middle of the three wavy lines going right.
|| For some reason the outer layer of the {{w|sun}} (the {{w|corona}}) is hotter than most reasonable theories predict. This is for instance mentioned in Randall’s new book ''[[Thing Explainer]]'' in the entry about the sun. This can also be seen on the [[Thing Explainer#Preview Pages|back cover of the book]].
|| It's a mystery, but it possibly has something to do with waves in the corona (for example, the {{w|High Resolution Coronal Imager}} has seen "braids" in the corona that whip around and unravel themselves).
|-
| Higgs-ish
|| As this is just a property of the Fixion there is no arrow.
|| The {{w|Higgs boson}} is a manifestation of the Higgs field... but many supersymmetry and string theories predict multiple Higgs-like particles. It's almost a prerequisite of any new theory that it has a Higgs-ish element. So the Fixion blends in with this.
|| N/A
|-
| Superluminally smooths anisotropies in early universe (but adds faint polarization for BICEP3 to find)
|| An arrow points to the point of the main line just below the bottom space probe.
|| The {{w|Cosmic Microwave Background}} (CMB) is incredibly uniform. In fact it is so uniform that the conclusion is that these areas must have been in contact at some time in the early universe. But with the universe being infinite, and the speed of light being finite, most parts of the universe will never be able to interact (any more at least). The explanation usually given for the uniformity is that the universe expanded really fast in the beginning during what is called the {{w|Inflationary epoch}}. {{w|BICEP_and_Keck_Array#BICEP2|BICEP2}} is a {{w|radio telescope}} at the South Pole whose operators claim to have seen polarization in the CMB indicative of inflation. (See [[1365: Inflation]] that references BICEP2's results). The Fixion would fix the problem since it would allow {{w|Faster-than-light|superluminal}} smoothing of the early anisotropies to explain the smoothness observed today, but also add just enough signal that the new {{w|BICEP_and_Keck_Array#BICEP3|BICEP3}} telescope would be able to find it.
|| As stated, {{w|Inflation (cosmology)|inflation}} is the standard explanation and it holds up fairly well. Other studies haven't seen the polarization that BICEP2 has - the {{w|Planck (spacecraft)|Planck space telescope}} also suggests that the BICEP2 team were looking at an unusually dusty bit of space, which could cause polarization. Hopefully this will improve with the BICEP3 data that should be published in 2016.
|-
| Accelerates certain spacecraft during flybys
|| Two arrows point to two solid lines going away from the main line (left and right). At the end of each line there is a space craft with satellite dish and solar panels, representing the items that the Fixion interacts with.
|| This refers to the {{w|flyby anomaly}} which is sometimes (but not always, one in three {{w|Flyby_anomaly#Observations|according to Wikipedia}}) seen when spacecraft fly close to Earth, where they pick up more speed than expected. It's not always seen – for instance the {{w|Rosetta (spacecraft)|Rosetta}} space probe which had an anomaly when passing Earth the first time had no flyby anomaly the next two times it passed Earth like this. Two other probes have shown similar anomalies, but the probe depicted (the same on both sides of the Fixion) looks like Rosetta, the other two don't look like this. Also Randall has depicted Rosetta before in [[1446: Landing]]. (Previously another anomaly for space probes, a deceleration this time known as the {{w|Pioneer Anomaly}}, has been mentioned in the title text of [[502: Dark Flow]]).
|| It could be an unpredicted quirk of gravity and relativity... or it could be experimental error.
|-
| Triggers Siberian sinkholes
|| No arrow, but it is right next to the solid line with an arrow going into the main line just before the first hole where the main line disappears and becomes dotted. Thus it could be a reference also to these holes.
|| Recently (2014), several {{w|sinkholes}} opened up in {{w|Yamal_Peninsula#Yamal_craters |remote parts}} of Siberia. The explanation is currently unknown.
|| While there are lots of weird theories, there's a good chance they were caused by {{w|Arctic methane release}} due to melting {{w|permafrost}} which is probably caused by {{w|global warming}}. See ([http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/mystery-of-the-siberian-holes-at-the-end-of-the-world-solved-scientists-offer-explanation-9642988.html Mystery of the Siberian holes… solved]).
|-
| Melts ice in "Snowball Earth" scenario
|| No arrow.
|| {{w|Snowball Earth}} is the theory that the whole planet was covered in ice at some point. To melt all that ice by the {{w|greenhouse effect}} would require far more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than seems plausible. However, if volcanoes were to deposit black soot on the surface of the ice, it would start absorbing heat more efficiently (in scientific terms, the Earth's {{w|albedo}} would decrease) and that would also make the planet heat up.
|| There are {{w|Snowball_Earth#Scientific_dispute|scientific dispute}} regarding the theory for a Snowball Earth. There is no conclusive evidence that it ever occurred, but those in favor have presented lots of {{w|Snowball_Earth#Evidence|evidence}}…
|-
| Transports neutrinos faster than light, but only on certain days through one area of France
|| An arrow points to the part of the main line that becomes dotted between the two “{{w|wormholes}}”. This is where the neutrinos move faster than light…
|| Refers to the {{w|faster-than-light neutrino anomaly}}, where it seemed that a neutrino beam from {{w|CERN}} on the France/Switzerland border to the {{w|OPERA experiment}} in Italy traveled faster than light. Scientists were not able to reproduce the result. This Neutrino experiment was also mentioned in [[955: Neutrinos]].
|| In the end, there was no mystery, just a [http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112551696/cern-confirms-neutrinos-not-faster-than-light/ defective cable causing a measurement error].
|-
| Suppresses sigma in experiments
|| No arrow but the last solid line, with an arrow pointing left, that is going away from the main line, point almost directly at it.
|| Sigma (σ) refers to the {{w|standard deviation}} - a mathematical measure of how much an observed value differs from the expected value. For a formal scientific discovery in particle physics, the standard is 5 sigma which means that there is about a 1 in 3.5 million chance that the results were caused by random errors (of course, they could be caused by ''systematic'' errors, such as measurement problems). Some tantalizing experiments have found interesting results at 3 or 4 sigma but either can't reach 5 sigma or {{w|Oops-Leon|are subsequently dis-proven}}. The question is, does the way the Fixion works here in this comic push the sigma value one way or the other? Does it suppress the value so it goes below or above the level of significance? Is it artificially pushed in the direction so a result seems like it is significant when it is not (see for instance [[882: Significant]]), or is it the other way around so that some experiments, which could have found what the experimenters wanted to find, did not because the sigma has been artificially lowered below the proof threshold? Either way it is a very annoying fact of the Fixion, but it would explain a lot, and probably also make it very hard to find the Fixion because of this intrinsic behavior.|| N/A
|-
| My theory predicts that, at high enough energies, FRBs and perytons become indistinguishable because the detector burns out.
|| From the title text.
|| This is a continuation of the joke already mentioned above regarding fast radio bursts (FRBs) and perytons. GUTs normally predict that all the forces we see are the different low-energy versions of a single force which can only be seen at extremely high energies (much higher than any Earth-based collider could produce). A high-energy FRB would be a {{w|gamma ray burst}} and if it came from a close enough object, would obliterate all life on the hemisphere of Earth facing the burst. It would also wreck the sensitive electronics at Parkes Observatory. This "high energy unification" is stated in a way reminiscent of the unification of electromagnetic and weak forces at high energies; but unlike the latter, it involves two things only "appearing" (or, in this case, not appearing) to be the same, not actually becoming the same.
|| N/A
|}

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the panel:]
:A Christmas gift for physicists:
:The '''Fixion'''
:A new particle that explains everything

:[A chart resembling a Feynman diagram is shown. It begins with a solid line coming down at the top, going a little to the left. The line continues downwards all the time, but changes direction 16 times before exiting at the bottom almost straight under the starting point. At every point where it changes direction, there is some kind of “interaction” with something outside this line. There are 19 phrases, 10 on the left and 9 on the right. 11 of these are distinct labels for points on the line as 14 gray curved arrows points between these 11 phrases to specific points on the line. Three of the phrases on the left has two arrows pointing to two different, but close, parts of the line. The main central line is solid all the way, except at the very bottom, where it “disappears” inside a hole only to “reappear” later from a similar hole. Between these two holes the line is dotted. The lines going away (or to) the main line can be straight and solid, straight and dotted, wavy lines (with different waviness), even looking like a spiral. Two straight solid lines ends up at two space probes, and finally the last two straight solid lines coming in (and out) on either side of the “hole” in the line has arrow pointing in and out. Below the phrases will be listed in reading order, taking one on each side alternatingly. Above each is described if there are any arrow and, if there are, what they points at.]

:[Left: Arrow pointing to the very first part of the main line:]
::Main component of dark matter

:[Right: Arrow pointing to the very first part of the main line, but below the previous arrow:]
::Confines quarks and gluons

:[Left: Arrow points to the first solid line going left and upwards:]
::Neutralizes monopoles

:[Right: No arrow:]
::Suppresses antimatter in early universe

:[Left: Two arrows points to two dotted lines going out left and downwards below the first solid line:]
::Spontaneously emits dark energy

:[Right: Arrow pointing to several lines going almost parallel with the main line. The first line closest to the arrow is not connected with the main line. It bends closer to the other lines in the middle. The next line is connected to the main line, and is thus actually two lines going in to the main line. The same goes for the inner line, where there is some distance between the entry and exit, as the middle of these three lines connect to the main line in between. In principle there are four lines going in/out and one not connected, but it looks like three lines:]
::Mediates proton decay but then hides it

:[Left: One arrow points to the first wavy line (7 peaks) coming out and up towards the dotted lines above. A second arrow points further down the main line where there are three more wavy lines coming out, but to the right, they are all of the same length and go almost straight right, only a little down. The first has as short a wave length as the line above to the left, but as it is shorter it only has 6 peaks. Then the wavelength decreases to a very long one for the last, 5 peaks and then 3 peaks. The arrow points almost where the middle wavy line exits the main line:]
::Introduces dispersion in perytons from kitchen microwaves, explaining fast radio bursts

:[Right: An arrow point to the part of the main line between the three parallel lines and the first wavy line:]
::Broken symmetry causes ϴ=0, explaining unobserved neutron dipole moment

:[Left: No arrow:]
::Causes alpha effect

:[Right: No arrow, but right next to the middle of the three wavy line:]
::Covers naked singularities

:[Left: An arrow points to a spiraling line going upwards to the left:]
::Intercepts certain gravitational waves before they're observed.

:[Right: No arrow, but right next to the bottom of the three wavy line:]
::Causes coronal heating

:[Left: No arrow:]
::Higgs-ish

:[Right: A long arrow point to the point of the main line just below the line pointing to the bottom (and left) of the space probes:]
::Superluminally smooths anisotropies in early universe (but adds faint polarization for BICEP3 to find)

:[Left: One arrows point towards the point on the main lines where a solid line goes to the right and up and another arrow points on another solid line going away from the main line towards left and down. At the end of both lines are drawn spacecrafts with satellite dish and solar panels:]
::Accelerates certain spacecraft during flybys

:[Right: No arrow, but right next to the solid line with an arrow going into the main line just before the first hole where the main line disappears and becomes dotted:]
::Triggers Siberian sinkholes

:[Left: No arrow:]
::Melts ice in "Snowball Earth" scenario

:[Right: Arrow points to the dotted part of the main line between the two holes:]
::Transports neutrinos faster than light, but only on certain days through one area of France

:[Left: No arrow but the last solid line, with an arrow pointing left, that is going away from the main line, point almost directly at it:]
::Suppresses sigma in experiments

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Christmas]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Space probes]]
[[Category:Puns]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Portmanteau]]
[[Category:Singularity]]

2172: Lunar Cycles

2022-05-04T01:54:28Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 233211 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2172
| date = July 5, 2019
| title = Lunar Cycles
| image = lunar_cycles.png
| titletext = The Antikythera mechanism had a whole set of gears specifically to track the cyclic popularity of skinny jeans and low-rise waists.
}}

==Explanation==

This comic shows a mixture of real, scientific lunar cycles and cycles that are comedic or fictional in nature.

*'''Nodal precession:''' The Moon's orbital plane is tilted slightly compared to the Earth's orbital plane around the sun (the {{w|ecliptic}}). This tilt is why we don't constantly see eclipses; most of the time, the Moon's orbital plane is tilted higher or lower than the Sun, so they generally don't cross each other. The two points at which these planes ''do'' cross are called {{w|lunar nodes}}. {{w|Nodal precession}} is the gradual rotation of these nodes over time, a gyroscopic consequence of Earth's equatorial bulge. For the Moon this follows an 18.6 year cycle.

*'''Apsidal precession:''' All orbits have two points where the orbiting body is either closest to, or furthest away from, the thing they are orbiting. These points are called {{w|apsides}}, and the imaginary line between them is called the ''line of apsides''. {{w|Apsidal precession}} is the gradual rotation of this line over time, which occurs in cycles of around 8.9 years for the Moon.

*'''Phase:''' {{w|Lunar phase}} describes the change in shape of the sunlit side of the Moon as viewed from the Earth's surface, which is caused by the changing angle between Moon and Sun as the Moon revolves around the Earth. The cycle of lunar phases takes 29.5 days, a figure referred to as the ''synodic month''.

*'''Distance:''' Because the Moon's orbit around the Earth is elliptical, its distance from the Earth varies slightly over the course of an orbit. This means that the moon's distance also follows a cycle which is the same as the length of one lunar orbit: approximately 27.5 days. This figure is referred to as the ''anomalistic month''. Note that the synodic month is (perhaps counterintuitively) two days ''longer'' than the sidereal month - or to put it another way, it takes 2 more days for the Moon's phases to cycle than it does for the Moon to go around the Earth. This is due to the fact that the Earth is also moving ''around'' the Sun while the phases are going on, which means that the Moon has to spend 2 extra days "catching up" to the point at which the lunar phase cycle can restart.

*'''Earth-Moon relative size''': This is a joke cycle; the Earth and Moon do not physically change size, nor does the Moon ever become larger than the Earth. This may be playing on the idea that the Moon often ''appears'' to change size to viewers on Earth, due to various factors; most commonly, this is due to the {{w|Moon illusion}}, which tricks the brain into perceiving the Moon as much larger than it really is. There are also so-called {{w|supermoon}}s, which occur when the full moon coincides with the Moon's closest approach to Earth; these actually do increase the Moon's apparent size, although by a relatively insignificant amount.

*'''Lunar shape:''' Again, this is a joke cycle; the Moon does not actually change shape. A shape intermediate between circle and square is known as a {{w|squircle}}, a subclass of the {{w|superellipse}}.

*'''Lunar mood:''' The moon does not have a mood, although humans can have moods that fluctuate over time, sometimes with a regularity akin to a cycle. Ironically, the section of the graph that shows a good (i.e. happy) mood has the graph line curving up then down like the mouth of a frown, and for the bad (unhappy) mood it curves down and then up, as in the mouth of a smile.

* The final diagram shows many different cycles superimposed on each other, highlighting areas where several cycles are coinciding. This is likely satirizing the media trend of overhyping astronomical coincidences and giving them grand-sounding names:
:*The light gray "phase × distance" plot does not correspond to the product of periods given for phase and distance, which [https://i.imgur.com/0i0mcPn.png look like this] instead.
:*A [[wikipedia:harvest moon|harvest moon]] is the traditional name for the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox, but there is nothing astronomically significant about it.
:*A [[wikipedia:Supermoon|supermoon]] is a full or new moon when the Moon is closest to the Earth, resulting in a slightly larger-than-usual apparent size. A full supermoon is roughly 14% larger in diameter than when the Moon is furthest away. See also [[1394: Superm*n]].
:*A [[wikipedia:blue moon|blue moon]] is the extra full moon in years with 13 full moons, which happens once every two or three years (hence the phrase "once in a blue moon"). Blue moons don't look any different from regular full moons.
:*A [[wikipedia:blood moon|blood moon]] refers to the moon during a lunar eclipse.
:*While the popularity of '''skinny jeans''' ([[wikipedia:Slim-fit pants|slim-fit pants]]) does change over time, the idea that this is connected to a lunar cycle is also a joke.
:*The [[wikipedia:Golden Age of Television|Golden Age of Television]] is said to have occurred in the 1940s and 50s, and the 2000s.
:*'''Pork''' {{w|Mooncake|'''moon'''cakes}} have been prepared in the rural areas west of Shanghai since more than a thousand years ago, for the Chinese {{w|Mid-Autumn Festival}}.
:*[https://scryfall.com/card/m20/120/vampire-of-the-dire-moon "The Vampire of the '''Dire Moon'''"] is a recently introduced, uncommon card from the {{w|Magic: The Gathering}} card game.
:*{{w|Astrology}} is a pseudoscience which claims that the positions of the celestial bodies can be used to predict human affairs. The chart jokingly suggests that astrology actually ''does'' work, but only within a very specific two-week timeframe.
:*Finally, while the idea of a '''total eclipse of the sea''' seems absurd, [https://www.deepseanews.com/2017/08/what-happens-in-the-sea-during-a-solar-eclipse/ an eclipse was famously used to explain the migration of maritime animals]:
:::''biologists were beginning to unravel the mystery of this ‘false bottom’–a layer in the ocean that looks the the sea floor on the sounder but isn’t–which covered much of the ocean. This false bottom rises in up at night and sinks down during the day. This rising and falling is in fact caused by the largest migration of animal on Earth–everything from fish, shrimp and jellyfish, moving hundreds of meters in unison up and down each day.... the moon moved into its place in front of the sun, daylight rapidly faded, and the scientists solved the migration mystery: the deep layer of animals began to rise. Bioluminescent creatures started to shine, and nocturnal creatures started a frantic upward thrust. As the world grew darker, they swam upward nearly 80 meters. But this frantic migration didn’t last long. As the moon receded and the sun revealed itself, the massive animal layer did an about-face, scrambling back into the safety of the darkness.''
:: (Backus, Clark, and Wing (1965) [https://sci-hub.tw/10.1038/205989a0 "Behaviour of certain marine organisms during the solar eclipse of July 20, 1963"] ''Nature'' '''4975:'''989-91.)
The '''{{w|Antikythera_mechanism|Antikythera mechanism}}''' mentioned in the title text is an ancient Greek machine, rediscovered in 1901, designed to calculate astronomical positions. The title text jokes that there is a set of gears on said mechanism that is used to predict the popularity of "skinny jeans" and "low-rise waists." Since it was likely created in the 1st or 2nd century B.C., it is impossible for the creators to have had any knowledge of skinny jeans or low-rise waists - both are modern-day clothing fashions{{citation needed}}.

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

:Understanding lunar cycles

:Nodal precession
:[A diagram showing a broad cosine-like wave with wavelength labelled as 18.6 years. To the right are two diagrams showing an orbital cycle moving in and out of plane.]

:Apsidal precession
:[A diagram similar to the one above but with a slightly shorter wavelength, labelled as 8.9 years. To the right are two diagrams showing an elliptical orbit around a planet and the same orbit rotated.]

:Phase
:[A diagram similar to those above with a shorter wavelength, labelled as 29.5 days. To the right is a diagram showing four phases of the moon: New, Waxing crescent, Waxinf gibbos, Full.]

:Distance
:[A diagram similar to those above with a shorter wavelength, labelled as 27.5 days. To the right is a diagram showing the distance of the moon from the Earth over time, with distances marked by arrows.]

:Earth-Moon relative size
:[A wave with long wavelength with an arrow pointing to the minimum labelled 'Earth bigger' and an arrow pointing to the maximum labelled 'Moon bigger'. To the right are two diagrams of the moon and Earth, one showing the Earth bigger than the Moon and the other showing the Moon bigger than the Earth.]

:Lunar shape
:[A wave with long wavelength with an arrow pointing to the minimum labelled 'Circle' and an arrow pointing to the maximum labelled 'Square'. To the right is a diagram showing a circle, a circle transforming into a square with outward arrows at each corner and a square transforming into a circle with inward arrows.]

:Lunar mood
:[A wave with long wavelength with an arrow pointing to the minimum labelled 'Bad' and an arrow pointing to the maximum labelled 'Good'. To the right are four emojis: :), :|, :(, :|]

:[A superimposed graph of all the above waves. Different points on the graph are labelled: Harvest moon, Supermoon, Blue moon, Skinny Jeans popular, Super blood moon, Golden age of TV, Dire moon, Pork moon, Two week window in which astrology works, Total eclipse of the sea.]

[[Category:Astronomy]]

{{comic discussion}}

1964: Spatial Orientation

2022-05-04T01:54:20Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 232611 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1964
| date = March 7, 2018
| title = Spatial Orientation
| image = spatial_orientation.png
| titletext = Here, if you know the number of days until the vernal equinox, I can point you to the theater using my pocket Stonehenge.
}}

==Explanation==
Location in space is always relative, as we cannot observe empty space itself and find an absolute location. Planets are subject to different types of motion, including rotation, precession, and others.

;The Earth (rotation)
[[Cueball]] starts by stating that as he is facing west, the Earth's spin will be carrying him backwards. Except at the poles, everything on Earth's surface is being rotated to the east, "toward" the rising sun in the east or "away" from the setting sun in the west.

On the equator, Earth's spin is about 464 meters per second (with 464 m being 1/60 of 1/60 of 1/24 of Earth's equatorial circumference of 40070 km, based on the number of seconds in a day, ignoring the difference between sidereal and ephemeris days). So, on the equator at sunrise, on the day of a March or September equinox, this spin, by itself, would take someone toward the sun at about 464 meters per second.

This spin would be slower than 464 m/s at 39 degrees North. The average radius of the Earth is 6371 km. This means that the distance from a line between the poles through the center of the Earth to a point on Earth's surface at 39°N is approximately 6371 km times the cosine of 39° (0.68 radians), which is 4951 km. So, the distance around the Earth along the 39° latitude "line" is 2π times 4951 km, which is about 31,109 km. (This estimate ignores the oblateness of the Earth.) The rotation of the Earth on its axis would transport points on Earth at 39° latitude to the east at 360 meters per second (1/60 of 1/60 of 1/24 of 31,109). Determining how the direction that is currently east for Cueball is oriented relative to the sun and the solar system depends on some of the issues Cueball identifies later.

;The Earth (orbit)
Cueball then seemingly corrects himself in his head, having accounted for the fact that the Earth is also revolving around the sun.

The Earth's orbit around the sun is counter-clockwise, when viewed from above the North Pole looking down. Earth's counterclockwise orbit around the sun means that, for most latitudes, the direction the Earth is moving around the sun corresponds roughly to west at noon, and east in the middle of the night. The Earth is spinning, so "east" from any given location on the surface is not always the same direction relative to the sun.

The speed of the Earth's orbit around the sun depends on the time of year. The Earth moves faster around the sun when it is closest to the sun in early January, and slower when it is far away in early July (which may be counterintuitive to those in the in the northern hemisphere). However, Earth's average orbital speed is reportedly about 29.78 kilometers per second, with Earth's average distance from the sun being a bit less than 150 million kilometers. Earth's orbit around the sun is nearly circular, with an eccentricity of just 0.0167.

;Earth's tilted axis
Cueball knows that the earth's axis is tilted (by 23°) relative to its orbit around the Sun and knows that he is 39° north of the equator, but is unsure how to combine this information to figure out his orientation relative to the plane of the solar system.

The Earth’s orbit around the Sun, under Keplerian assumptions, is an ellipse, which lies within a plane. Furthermore, the entire solar system, to some extent, lies within a plane, since the orbital inclinations of Mars and the gas and ice giants are within 2½° of Earth’s and the orbital inclinations of a major body in the solar system (such as a planet) rarely, if ever, varies from that of another by more than 8°. With the exception of Eris, all planets and dwarf planets have an orbital inclination within about 30° of Earth’s.

Cueball is attempting to determine where the plane of the solar system lies with regard to him. Ignoring any possible difference between Earth’s orbit and this plane, and assuming that Cueball is standing on flat ground, the angle between the line from the center of the earth through Cueball (which runs through his body parallel to his legs and spine if he is standing straight up) and the plane of the solar system can be expressed in terms of two angles: the angle between the plane of Earth’s equator and the solar plane, and the angle between the Earth’s equatorial plane and the vertical line through Cueball. Cueball is at 39°N, so if Cueball is standing straight up, the angle between the plane of the Earth’s equator and the long axis of his body is also 39°. As stated in the comic, Earth’s axis is currently tilted by about 23.4° (an amount which is very slowly decreasing as part of a 41,000 year cycle).

Cueball is trying to determine whether to add together 39° and 23° to get the angle between himself and the solar system’s plane or subtract them. The answer depends on the time of day and the time of year. On the day of the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere (around June 21), the north pole is tilted toward the sun, so at the longitude that is currently experiencing solar noon, the solar plane passes through a point that is 23° north of the equator. So, if it is solar noon on the summer solstice, Cueball should subtract the angles to find that the direction his body is pointing is roughly 16° away from the solar plane. If he were to somehow lean so that he could tilt his body 16° to the south, the solar plane would pass through the vertical axis of his body and his scalp would be pointed directly toward the sun. On the other hand, on the day when the northern hemisphere is experiencing the winter solstice (around December 21), the northern hemisphere is pointing away from the sun, so at solar noon on that day, he would add the angles together to find that his vertical stance is 62° away from the plane of the solar system. (The sun is never truly directly overhead at latitudes further from the equator than 23.4°. At arctic latitudes that are less than 23.4° from the north pole – more than 67° north of the equator - the sun is not visible on the day of the winter solstice even when it is noon.)

If it is not a solstice day, or if it is not noon, the calculations could become more complicated. The comic was uploaded roughly two weeks before the northern hemisphere’s spring equinox. Cueball notices that the sun is “passing over his left shoulder” as he faces west. At temperate latitudes in the northern hemisphere, the sun would be to the left of a person facing west around midday almost any time of year, although how many degrees to the left depends on the calculations discussed above.

An easier way to identify a line that is aligned with the solar plane would be to simply point directly at the sun (without hurting his eyes). Since the distance between Cueball and the center of the Earth is minuscule compared to the distance between the Earth and the Sun, if he simply points directly at the Sun (preferably without looking directly at it), his arm and finger will be pointing in a direction that is basically perpendicular to the line connecting the Earth and Sun, which obviously lies on the plane of the Earth's orbit. The Earth's position will have changed minimally in the eight minutes it took the sun's light to reach earth, so the apparent direction to the sun matches the actual direction. However, this will only provide one line that lies on the plane of the solar system and a line is insufficient to uniquely identify a plane.

;The Moon
Cueball knows about the Moon's path across the sky and knows that its orbit around the Earth appears counter-clockwise when viewed from above the North Pole, but is confused about whether the Moon is moving toward the Sun or away from it.

Like the Earth, the Moon, when viewed from above Earth’s North Pole, both orbits counterclockwise and rotates on its axis counterclockwise (with equal rotational periods such that the same side of the moon always faces us). (In fact, almost every body in the Solar System both orbits the body it is orbiting counterclockwise and spins on its axis counterclockwise, with the rotational axes of Venus and Uranus being major exceptions.)

A new moon happens when the moon is closer to the sun than the earth is, thus casting the near side of the moon in darkness because it is the far side of the moon that is facing the sun. Conversely, a full moon happens when the moon is on the other side of the Earth from the sun; this is why a lunar eclipse can only occur during a full moon. In that sense, it could be said that the moon is moving perpendicular to the line between it and the sun at the time of the full moon and the new moon, moving toward the sun after the full moon until the next new moon, and moving away from the sun after the new moon until the next full moon.

In another sense, since the moon is orbiting the Earth and the Earth’s orbit around the sun is elliptical, it could be said that the moon is getting closer to the sun whenever Earth is moving toward its perihelion, the point in its orbit that is closest to the sun, around January 2 to January 5, and moving away as the Earth moves toward its aphelion, the point in its orbit that is furthest from the sun, around July 3 to July 6. (Yes, the Earth is closest to the sun in January, despite what those in the northern hemisphere who are tilted away from the sun at that time may think.) In yet another sense, since the Moon follows the path of the Earth, and the Earth’s orbit around the Sun is roughly circular, and the instantaneous motion of an object in a circular orbit is always perpendicular to the radius connecting it to the orbited body, it could be said that the moon is always moving perpendicular to the line connecting the Earth and Sun, which is at most a fraction of a degree away from the line connecting the Moon and the Sun.

The semi-major axis of the moon’s orbit around the Earth (the furthest distance between the Moon and the center of its orbit) is 384,400 km. Compared to the semi-major axis of Earth’s orbit around the Sun, which is 149,600,000 km, the axis of the Moon’s orbit is only 0.26% as large. The Moon’s orbital period is 27.3 days, but its synodic period (the time between full moons; the time it takes the moon to reappear at the same point in the sky) is 29.5 days.

Cueball internally attempts to orient himself amidst the galactic chaos but is confused and has to restart. It is then revealed to the reader, that some passersby were only trying to ask Cueball for directions to the theater, and he was just grossly overthinking it. (A recurring theme in xkcd. See: [[222: Small Talk]], [[439: Thinking Ahead]], [[1643: Degrees]]). One can imagine Cueball having his mind in astrophysics so much that he needs to calculate the angle of the road relative to the plane of the galaxy to determine which way a destination is in conversational terms.

In the title text, Cueball mentions he has a pocket Stonehenge. During the equinoxes the sun lines up with the actual Stonehenge's pillars. Assuming you were at the actual monument, armed with the date you could calculate the cardinal directions based on the sun's location relative to the pillars.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball appears to be tilted on a descending slope, with his arms held out. There is a thought bubble above his head, with the top, left and right of the bubble cut off due to its size. His thoughts are arranged into four paragraphs in the bubble.]
:Cueball (thinking): I'm facing West so the Earth's spin is carrying me backward. But our orbit is carrying me forward around the Sun.
:The Sun is passing over my left shoulder. I'm at 39°N, so I'm tilted. But wait, Earth's axis is tilted by 23°. Do I add or subtract that to get the tilt of the Solar System?
:Ok, I see the Moon. It follows the Sun's path, but is it moving toward it or away? I know it orbits counterclockwise from the North...
:My head hurts. Let me start over.

:[Two off-screen voices coming from the bottom right of the panel.]
:Off-screen voice #1: He's just standing there. Hey, do you know which way the theater is or not?
:Off-screen voice #2: Let's ask someone else.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I spend way too much time trying to work out my orientation relative to other stuff in the universe.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

1356: Orbital Mechanics

2022-05-04T01:54:11Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 233199 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1356
| date = April 16, 2014
| title = Orbital Mechanics
| image = orbital_mechanics.png
| titletext = To be fair, my job at NASA was working on robots and didn't actually involve any orbital mechanics. The small positive slope over that period is because it turns out that if you hang around at NASA, you get in a lot of conversations about space.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Randall]] roughly plots how high school physics, undergraduate-level physics and a job at {{w|NASA}} somewhat increased his knowledge of {{w|orbital mechanics}}. But this learning was apparently nothing compared to the "direct" experience of playing ''{{w|Kerbal Space Program}}'', a rocket building and piloting {{w|open world|sandbox game}}.

Orbital mechanics can be somewhat counterintuitive. The art of changing orbits involves relative velocities, positions, and times in complex interactions. As soon as you try deviating from a perfectly regular orbit, or start having to deal with {{w|N-body problem}}s and {{w|orbital resonance}}s, you have to coordinate your movements in possibly counterintuitive ways. One example is that if you want to reach an object ahead of you, on the same orbit, you actually have to 'brake' to reach a lower orbit. Once at that lower orbit, your angular velocity is faster, and you can start to overtake your target. After that manoeuver, you then have to accelerate to increase your orbital altitude again, which will end up reducing your angular speed so that you intercept your target.

At the title text Randall admits that at the time when he did work at NASA he was not involved in orbital mechanics—which is also true for most other NASA employees—but everybody was talking about this which in the end did increase his knowledge a little, as can be seen in the curve after the ''Job at NASA'' arrow.

==Transcript==
:How Well I Understand Orbital Mechanics:
:[There is a graph with the x-axis labeled as 'time' increasing to the right. The y-axis is unlabeled but it can be assumed that it could be labeled 'understanding'.]
:The line stays flat until the first bump, which is annotated "Took High School Physics".
:The line decreases, then grows to a higher maximum with the annotation "Got Physics Degree".
:There is a small amount of decrease until a gradual bump in the graph labeled "Actual Job At NASA".
:It gradually decreases to pre-NASA levels, but then begins to increase exponentially. The annotation reads "Started Playing Kerbal Space Program".

==Trivia==
*The {{w|Kerbal Space Program}} was featured as one of the frames in the [[1350: Lorenz]] April Fools project, in [[1244: Six Words]], in the title text of [[1106: ADD]] and in [http://what-if.xkcd.com/85/ What If? 85: Rocket Golf].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Kerbal Space Program]]

1877: Eclipse Science

2022-05-04T01:53:59Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 233182 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1877
| date = August 16, 2017
| title = Eclipse Science
| image = eclipse_science.png
| titletext = I was thinking of observing stars to verify Einstein's theory of relativity again, but I gotta say, that thing is looking pretty solid at this point.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is the second of five consecutive comics published in the week before and during the {{w|solar eclipse}} occurring on Monday, {{w|Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017|August 21, 2017}} which was visible as a total solar eclipse within a band across the {{w|contiguous United States}} from west to east and visible as a partial eclipse across the entire contiguous United States and beyond. The other comics are [[1876: Eclipse Searches]], [[1878: Earth Orbital Diagram]], [[1879: Eclipse Birds]], and [[1880: Eclipse Review]].

This comic reflects on various reasons scientists have for being interested in a total solar eclipse. An eclipse is an astronomical event, which most laypeople associate with science and thus might assume would be of interest to scientists. However, when the reporter probes Megan on scientific interest on the eclipse, Megan gives short and sarcastic answers, downplaying any experimental significance of the phenomenon and indicating that her only interest is in spectacle rather than science. She also makes the point that science is no more involved in an eclipse than any other spectator event, and does not work to observe phenomena without any interest in discovery. Eclipses are well-understood events and there is no lack of models for explaining the physics behind them; the alignment of bodies in space is a result of orbital mechanics which are present at all times, making the whole event only significant to the observer.

While some astronomers might be testing elaborate hypotheses during an eclipse, for other scientists (e.g. organic chemists and paleontologists) it is just a once in a long time (maybe even once in a lifetime) event which is visually interesting. Some biologists may, however, be collecting data on the behavior of animals during an eclipse, which is poorly understood due to its rarity.

Megan's point is that in 2017 (and for several decades/centuries previous) eclipses are thoroughly understood. Wikipedia has a listing of {{w|List_of_solar_eclipses_in_the_21st_century|every eclipse that will occur in the 21st Century}}, to include the coordinates and time of greatest eclipse. While eclipses offer a unique opportunity for ground based observation of the Sun's outer layers the majority of the study of the sun is done by satellites that do not require an eclipse to take readings.

The title text refers to a {{w|Tests_of_general_relativity#Deflection_of_light_by_the_Sun|1919 experiment during an eclipse}} to observe gravitational deflection of light waves. The 1919 experiment was the first strong experimental confirmation of Einstein's then-new theory. One century later, general relativity {{w|Tests_of_general_relativity|has been tested and confirmed in so many different ways}} that ''pretty solid'' is a vast understatement.

==Transcript==
:[Hairy is speaking into a microphone while interviewing Megan.]
:Hairy: Tell us, are you scientists excited for the eclipse?
:Megan: Sure, lots of people are!

:[Zoom in on Megans head.]
:Hairy (off-panel): Is this a big moment for science?
:Megan: It's a big moment for the sky.

:[Same setting as first panel in a wider panel.]
:Hairy: Are people really excited enough about science to travel to see it?
:Megan: Honestly, it's not that scientific. I mean, it's cool if you're into astronomy, but it's also cool if you're, like, aware of the sun.

:[Same setting.]
:Hairy: But there's lots of science involved.
:Megan: I guess? There's lots of science involved in the Olympics, but you don't need to be a scientist to watch.

:[Megan holds a hand out towards Hairy.]
:Megan: It's not like the concept is all that arcane or mathematical. It's a thing going in front of another thing.

:[Zoom in on Megan holding both arms out.]
:Hairy (off-panel): Then why are you so excited?
:Megan: I'm excited because it's a nearly once-in-a-lifetime chance to watch the sun go dark, hear birds freak out, and see a glowing ring appear in the sky with a sunset on every horizon.

:[Back to same setting as in the first panel.]
:Hairy : Will you be making any scientific observations?
:Megan: I will be like, "Holy shit, look at the sky."
:Megan: Maybe also "This is so cool."
:Megan: We'll see!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Total Solar Eclipse 2017]]

2114: Launch Conditions

2022-05-04T01:53:51Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 233076 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2114
| date = February 20, 2019
| title = Launch Conditions
| image = launch_conditions.png
| titletext = Though I do think the tiny vent on one of the boosters labeled "O-RING" is in poor taste.
}}

==Explanation==

An image of a rocket (presumably a {{w|Long March 5}}) with a progressively larger white cloud around it is shown, but no external object for scale is visible until the third panel.
It is then revealed to be a model or miniature when Ponytail walks into the shot.

The dialog reveals the miniature rocket is a domestic {{w|humidifier}} appliance, using its plumes of water mist to mimic the appearance of the exhaust plume of a full-size rocket.

Modern rocket launches are backed by a ''Sound Suppression System'' avoiding damages to the rocket itself, the payload, or humans inside. This system drops vast amounts of water into the exhaust of the rocket engines and the water vaporizes immediately. This vapor mainly interrupts the sound reflections from the ground. This reduces the sound to a level the rocket can withstand but also produces a big cloud of water mist. The cloud at the ground consists mostly of water and not the exhaust of the rocket engines. This article shows how the system works: [https://interestingengineering.com/nasa-sound-suppression-system-prevents-rocket-from-exploding NASA's Incredible Sound Suppression System Prevents Rockets from Exploding (interestingengineering.com)].

Some rockets use liquid hydrogen as a fuel, especially for upper stages, so steam is the combustion product.

This comic was posted the day after the death of Peter Cosgrove was reported. He was known for photographing many Space Shuttle launches.

The title text references the failed o-ring that led to the {{Wikipedia|Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|disintegration of the ''Challenger'' Space Shuttle}}.
This disaster was a focal point of controversy, which Richard Feynman played a key {{w|Rogers_Commission_Report#Role_of_Richard_Feynman|role in piercing}}. The o-ring in question failed to expand at freezing temperatures, resulting in a leak of gas around the edges that was visible as a small vapor plume on the recording. The launch was pushed to a day with lower temperatures than the engineers had planned for. For the humidifier to vent the water mist from this opening is indeed in poor taste, even though the model does not resemble a shuttle.

==Transcript==
:[A rocket sits on a launch pad and the tower to the left has retracted its access arms. The engines seem to have just started firing and a small cloud at the bottom is visible.]

:[The rocket still sits on the pad but the cloud is growing and extending to both sides on the ground.]

:[Ponytail's head, much larger than the rocket, appears above the rocket on the right. The cloud covers the full ground and hides a bigger part of the rocket.]

:[Zoom out. Ponytail stands behind a pedestal with a rocket model on top and the cloud is all around the bottom of the rocket and below.]
:Off screen: It's still pretty dry in here.
:Ponytail: I love the new humidifier, though.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Space]]

389: Keeping Time

2022-05-04T01:53:42Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 232991 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 389
| date = February 27, 2008
| title = Keeping Time
| image = keeping_time.png
| titletext = You can identify them ahead-of-time -- they lead with their left foot when the music starts.
}}

==Explanation==
[http://imgs.xkcd.com/blag/xkcd_389.mp3 Listen to the music] played here.

A member of a marching band, after spending seasons marching in time to their music for their shows, ends up naturally walking with the rhythm of any music they hear around them, like at a shopping mall. Pausing the music for a split second would throw off the rhythm, supposedly enough to cause them to fall. The line of music in the comic is a piano reduction of a well-known song, linked [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ here]. [[Randall]] talks about this music line in one of his [https://youtu.be/z_zwyJ6IYR0?t=35m48s talks].

This comic is part of the “My Hobby" series.

The title text refers to the fact that almost all marching bands start marching with the left foot, so marching band members tend to naturally start with the left foot.

==Transcript==
:My Hobby:
:Pausing in-store music for a split second and watching the ex-marching band kids stumble.
:[On a balcony overlooking a supermarket, Cueball presses a button on a pedestal. The in-store music, the first four bars of a well-known song, pauses briefly after the third bar, and one of the store's patrons falls on her face.]
:''FWOMP''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Rickrolling]]

1765: Baby Post

2022-05-04T01:53:35Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 234665 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1765
| date = November 28, 2016
| title = Baby Post
| image = baby_post.png
| titletext = [bzzzt] "REMEMBER TO CHECK IN FOR YOUR FLIGHT TO LONDON." "My wha-" [bzzzt] "YOUR UBER WILL ARRIVE IN FOUR MINUTES."
}}

==Explanation==

In this comic, [[Cueball]] is questioned about a series of posts made to his {{w|Facebook}} account. He explains the posts as the result of leaving his daughter (a baby, according to the title) unattended with his tablet. This is very common for parents with small children in modern times. Children tend to be fascinated with touchscreen devices, which include many entertainment options for small children (such as the mentioned "{{w|The Wheels on the Bus|Wheels on the Bus}}" video). Infants also tend to experiment with such devices, and frequently open apps, post links, and make calls without intending to.{{Citation needed}} This explains the first two panels: sharing the same video six times could be the result of the child repeatedly hitting the same area of the screen (such as a "share" link), and the gibberish text "FHFF,,,M,,,," could be due to the child randomly tapping on the screen, all without knowing what she was doing.

The joke begins when Cueball discovers an apparent pattern in the new posts, starting with a map of hardware stores and culminating in blueprints for the {{w|Tower of London}}. These subjects, if they were chosen consciously by an adult, would strongly suggest the poster was planning a heist to steal the {{w|Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom|Crown Jewels}}, which have a reputation, based in part on several movies (for example, ''{{w|Minions_(film)|Minions}}''), for being overly complicated to steal. It is very unlikely for a baby to be capable of designing and carrying out such a plan,{{Citation needed}} but it is also unlikely for these specific links to be posted all by accident. Cueball seems genuinely perplexed by the links (and presumably wouldn't have posted them if he were planning the crime himself), so the reader is left wondering what could have caused these posts, and whether Cueball and/or his daughter might know more than they let on. Cueball's suggestion of "keeping an eye" on his daughter suggests he is seriously considering the possibility that she might be an evil genius.

The title text continues the joke by notifying Cueball that his flight to London is leaving soon, and an {{w|Uber_(company)|Uber}} driver is coming to pick him up. Since his daughter was using the tablet and he is surprised by the messages, this suggests she is in fact the mastermind who has already started executing her plan. Either she is making the journey herself (and Cueball is only receiving notifications because he has the same accounts linked to his phone), Cueball is being roped into the crime, or his daughter is deliberately making it look like he intends to steal the Crown Jewels in order to get him into trouble.

==Transcript==

:[Ponytail is looking at her phone while talking to Cueball.]
:Ponytail: Why did you post a ''The Wheels on the Bus'' Youtube video to Facebook six times?
:Cueball: Haha, whoops! My daughter was watching the tablet and must have hit something.

:[Cueball is talking to someone on the phone while pushing a shopping cart with a few items in it.]
:Phone: Hey, did you mean to post "FHFF,,,M,,,," and a link to a map of hardware stores?
:Cueball: I should really look up how to lock the screen.

:[White Hat is holding his phone while walking with Cueball.]
:White Hat: You just posted videos on metal-working, zip lines, and camouflage.
:Cueball: Uhh...

:[Ponytail is looking at her phone while talking to Cueball.]
:Ponytail: Um, you posted blueprints of the Crown Jewel rooms in the Tower of London.
:Cueball: Maybe we should be keeping more of an eye on her.

==Trivia==
*On the day of this comic's release, the header was changed to show some new T-shirts were on sale in [https://store.xkcd.com the xkcd store].
**An archived version of the comic showing the aforementioned header can be found [https://web.archive.org/web/20161128175506/http://xkcd.com/1765/ here].

*The crown jewels are also mentioned in [[1698: Theft Quadrants]].

*The comic is similar to [[1419: On the Phone]], though here it seems that the daughter isn't just a cover story. It is also somewhat similar to [[576: Packages]], in that Cueball seems weirder since it started.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Social networking]]
[[Category:Comics featuring babies]]

2590: I Shouldn't Complain

2022-05-04T01:53:25Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 233059 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2590
| date = March 7, 2022
| title = I Shouldn't Complain
| image = i_shouldnt_complain.png
| titletext = Bald-faced hornets are only a 2 on the Schmidt pain index, so I shouldn't complain. The tennis ball ejected from the dryer exhaust vent could have ricocheted off the nest of a much higher-scoring insect before knocking me off the ladder. Really, I'm lucky.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BEE PROVING THE HAIRY BALL THEOREM (WITH A COX-ZUCKER MACHINE) - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[Megan]] has had a very unfortunate experience of falling into a garbage can and being repeatedly stung by wasps. [[Cueball]] expresses an appropriate amount of horror about it. However, Megan seeks to downplay this experience by saying "I shouldn't complain" and that she's "lucky" it wasn't worse. This has become a {{tvtropes|AppealToWorseProblems|habit in Western culture}}, like comparing minor issues to "kids starving in Africa" or war-torn countries, notably Ukraine (this comic was published during the {{w|2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine|Russian invasion of Ukraine}} starting in February 2022 and was ongoing when this comic came out on March 7).

Humans have a tendency to re-calibrate their mental scales to place their actual experience in the center. Cueball, who has never experienced being trapped for hours with stinging insects, rates this in comparison to not being trapped at all. Megan, however, rates it in comparison to other uncomfortable places a person could be stuck.

The title text explains how Megan came into such a mess. A tennis ball used in a clothes dryer got stuck in the exhaust vent, and was shot out of the house through the exhaust vents hole in the wall. Then it hit the wasp nest and ricocheted over on Megan knocking her off the ladder she was standing on. Since she was close to the nest, she may actually have been up on the ladder in order to see if she could remove the nest. The fall from the ladder made her end up in the trash can where she could not get out. The angry wasps began stinging her legs. This continued for two hours.

In the title text, Megan continues to downplay her experience even though it was very painful. She says that the wasp nest was of the type {{w|Dolichovespula maculata|bald-faced hornets}}.

The {{w|Schmidt sting pain index}} is a scale developed by entomologist {{w|Justin O. Schmidt}} to rank the relative pain caused by different stinging insects. This scale ranges from 0 (for stings that are completely ineffective) to 4, which denotes torturous and nearly incapacitating pain (originally, Schmidt only classed one species as a 4, but two additional species have since been added at this level). Megan says her stings were a {{w|Schmidt_sting_pain_index#Pain_Level_2|2 on the scale}}, which denotes "familiar" pain, comparable to that of the common {{w|Western Honey Bee}}. Most people would find that experience incredibly painful, particularly since she endured multiple stings over a long period of time, but Megan points out that there exist insects with more painful stings.

Megan concludes that she'd been lucky, based on the argument that she theoretically could have endured something worse than she did. The joke, of course, is that by almost any subjective standard, her experience was deeply unluckly.

She also further downplays the situation by focusing attention on the sting pain index instead of the sting lethal capacity, described by the [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3810666/ author of the pain index]. The two are not necessarily equivalent. Let's assume that all insects in the colony affected stung Megan at least once over her two hour ordeal. A colony capable of sustaining an attack over two hours would probably be at least as large as the typical [https://www.rescue.com/latest-buzz/outdoor-pests/bald-faced-bully/#:~:text=Bald%2Dfaced%20hornet%20nests%20often,hornet%20workers%20enter%20and%20exit. maximum size for a bald-faced hornet nest]. Such an attack might (depending on number of attackers and the species of wasp) deliver enough venom to kill 84 kg (185 pounds) worth of mice (or human?). Given such an attack, Megan would probably not be standing around in routine conversation, casually discussing the incident. She would far more likely be in a hospital bed, and in a [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32252275/ gruesome fight for her life].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are standing together. Cueball has his hands on his chin, shocked.]
:Cueball: I can't believe you fell headfirst into a garbage can and were stuck there for two hours while wasps stung your exposed legs!
:Megan: I shouldn't complain! Lots of people have been stuck for longer in worse places.
:Megan: Really, I'm lucky.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:The more unpleasant someone's experience is, the more they apologize for complaining because it could be worse.

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

1533: Antique Factory

2022-05-04T01:53:17Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 232554 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1533
| date = June 3, 2015
| title = Antique Factory
| image = antique_factory.png
| titletext = WARNING: This item was aged by the same inexorable passage of time that also processes nuts.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Beret Guy]] has a new job with a paradoxical premise. When asked where he works, he says "{{w|Antique}} factory!" which is an {{Wiktionary|oxymoron}} since one cannot build an antique object directly in a factory: Only when the item is old enough to be worth more than its original price (and will often have to have been in use during this time period), can it be called an antique.

At the "factory", Beret Guy walks up to a chair, a table, and a small cabinet, then simply sits down in the chair and does nothing else. Of course, one does not simply make or manufacture antiques - instead, one must wait. Beret Guy appears to be doing exactly this. The implication is that the "antique factory" is simply a place where furniture is stored until it becomes old enough to be considered "antique", and that Beret Guy doesn't perform any useful function (except perhaps using the items to make them look old and worn, or keeping an eye on the inventory so it won't be stolen).

The title text refers to allergy warning labels saying ''May contain nuts''. More specifically, they may say "Manufactured in a facility which also processes nuts", "Manufactured on equipment that also processes nuts", or similar. These warnings indicate that bits of powder and oil from nuts may have been mixed into the product, creating a hazard to people with nut allergies. Sometimes these warnings are used for allergens besides nuts, but nuts are likely the most common.

The joke here is that of course the time that has passed for a specific item to become an antique will be the same time that has also passed while elsewhere nuts have grown. Thus the time that has {{Wiktionary|inexorable#Adjective|inexorably}} passed to make a specific item antique will also have processed nuts.

Beret Guy has previously "traveled" into the future in [[209: Kayak]]. He has also previously waited for a long amount of time in [[1088: Five Years]].

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy is leaving with a briefcase in hand.]
:Beret Guy: Gotta go - I'm late for work.
:Off-screen voice: Oh, where are you working now?
:Beret Guy: Antique factory!

:[Beret Guy arrives in a room with a chair, a table, and a small cabinet. He pulls out the chair.]

:[Beret Guy sits in the chair. He has placed the briefcase behind the chair.]

:[Beat panel.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Beret Guy's Business]]

678: Researcher Translation

2022-05-04T01:52:59Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 233693 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1449: Red Rover

2022-05-04T01:52:42Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 233815 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1449
| date = November 19, 2014
| title = Red Rover
| image = red_rover.png
| titletext = I just learned about the Slide Mountain Ocean, which I like because it's three nouns that sound like they can't possibly all refer to the same thing.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic shows what the landmasses of {{w|Pangaea}} were hypothesized to have looked like when it had "just" broken up in the late {{w|Triassic}} Period (roughly 200 million years ago). "Shortly" after the separation of Pangaea the two {{w|Supercontinent|supercontinents}} {{w|Laurasia}} (northern supercontinent) and {{w|Gondwana}} (southern supercontinent) formed. After this, {{w|continental drift}}, the process by which landmasses moving over the Earth's mantle collide and separate, brought them into the configuration we see today.

The top map shows the landmass Laurasia declaring, "Red rover, red rover, send India over!" as if the continents were playing the game {{w|Red Rover}}. In the second map we can see how Gondwana actually sends over the {{w|Indian subcontinent}} to Laurasia.

In the game of Red Rover, the aim is for an individual to charge into the opposing team who are holding hands, and attempt to cause a break in the human chain. If the individual succeeds, they take one of the opposing teams members back to their own team. If the chain doesn't break, the individual joins that team.

In the game portrayed here, an isolated landmass (India in contemporary geography), is the individual charging towards the Laurasian landmass, attempting to break through. We know of course that India failed in this attempt, and as per the games rules joined the Laurasia 'team'. This part of the supercontinent later developed in to {{w|Asia}}.

It is accepted that the {{w|Himalayas}}, the highest elevated mountain range on earth, formed by the collision of India into what is now Asia. For various reasons, the movement of the Indian plate from its location in Gondwana 90 million years ago to its impact point with the rest of Asia 50 million years ago was extremely rapid (as plate movements go) at about 20 cm per year.

The idea that the landmasses on Earth are sentient and moving about in an incredibly slow game of Red Rover, with India's rapid movement being a result of being "called over", is not one which is currently scientifically accepted{{Citation needed}}.

The title text refers to the {{w|Slide Mountain Ocean}}, which was located between the {{w|Intermontane Islands}} and North America in the Triassic period beginning around 245 million years ago. The name interests [[Randall]] because oceans (bodies of water), mountains (land masses), and slides (playground equipment) are mutually exclusive concepts when using the most common definitions. In this case, however, "slide" is short for "{{w|landslide}}" which is a common feature of mountains. [http://travelingluck.com/North+America/Canada/British+Columbia/_6149492_Slide+Mountain.html Slide Mountain] is a particular mountain in {{w|British Columbia}}, the result of the remnant of the Slide Mountain {{w|List of tectonic plates#Tertiary plates|microplate}} which {{w|Accretion (geology)|accreted}} onto the continent, becoming the {{w|Slide Mountain Terrane}}, as the majority of the microplate was {{w|Subduction|subducted}}. "Slide Mountain Ocean" refers to the sea between the Slide Mountain microplate before it was subducted under what is now North America.

==Transcript==
:[Two maps of Earth at different points in continental formation, one above the other.]
:[In the top map the two largest continents are labeled:]
:Laurasia
:Gondwana
:[A speech bubble is shown next to Laurasia.]
:Laurasia: Red Rover, Red Rover, send India over!
:[The bottom map show the land mass that would become India moving, with motion lines, toward Laurasia.]
:[Below the maps:]
:How the Himalayas formed

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Geography]]
[[Category:Geology]]

2195: Dockless Roombas

2022-05-04T01:52:35Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 232547 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2195
| date = August 28, 2019
| title = Dockless Roombas
| image = dockless_roombas.png
| titletext = The company started out exploiting a loophole in the law banning scooters. The city was mad at first, but then they noticed how much they were saving on street cleaning.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic [[Cueball]] discovers two {{w|Roomba|Roombas}} outside, and [[Megan]] explains that they are dockless Roombas for rent. Cueball is confused, but then [[Beret Guy]] walks in, activates one with an app on his {{w|smartphone}}, and rides away standing on it.

A Roomba is a small automated (robotic) vacuum cleaner designed to clean a room or other bounded area by repeatedly and automatically going over the floor, vacuuming, until it has made multiple passes, and either runs low on power or is turned off. The "intelligence" of various models can vary from relatively random operation with basic techniques to get around obstacles, to models that generate a general mental map of the area and contents and attempt to be deliberate in passing over all reachable areas. A Roomba generally includes a recharging "dock", which it can find and automatically connect with when it gets low on power, allowing it to recharge and perhaps automatically begin another round of cleaning. Roombas are a [[:Category:Roomba|recurring theme]] on xkcd. In [[1193: Externalities]] it was [[Ponytail]] that drove a Roomba. And in [[1486: Vacuum]] Beret Guy flew on a regular vacuum cleaner.

A {{w|Scooter-sharing_system|dockless scooter}} is a system of sharing personal scooters whereby they can be left anywhere for someone else to use, rather than returned to a particular home location. They are typically activated via a smartphone app. The term "dockless" in the name refers to the fact they have no predefined home, or place to dock. Like a Roomba, they do need recharging, but no special station is needed for that -- anyone can pick them up and recharge them overnight from a standard power outlet, receiving a fee from the scooter company for this service. In the past several years they have become popular in many large cities around the world. Scooters have recently been featured in [[2188: E Scooters]].

The humor here is replacing the scooters with Roombas, which people would then ride. There are multiple problems with this idea:

* A Roomba is not powerful enough for someone to ride. At best, a small animal like a cat or squirrel might be able to ride atop one.

* A Roomba has small wheels and is designed for relatively flat and uniform surfaces. Even if a person could successfully ride on one, sidewalks have cracks and unevenness and bumps which would lead to a rough ride with lots of opportunities to [https://what-if.xkcd.com/5/ get stuck]. (But riding Roombas has come up on xkcd before, in the Externalities comic)

* A Roomba requires a way to recharge its batteries and, unladen, generally runs for an hour or so before it needs to be recharged. That is why it always comes with a dock. Dockless would imply it would not have a way to recharge. With a heavy load like a human, one would expect the run time to be drastically less.

* The cleaning capabilities of a Roomba require that it be confined to a bounded area and that it go over the surfaces to be cleaned in multiple passes. A "free range" Roomba would not be very effective at cleaning.

* A Roomba's dirt canister is quite small and needs to be emptied when it fills up. This would happen quite quickly if it were operated on streets and sidewalks.

The title text refers to the {{w|Scooter-sharing_system#Controversy_around_kick_scooters|controversy}} in many cities surrounding dockless scooters, which can be dangerous to pedestrians when in use and can block sidewalks and driveways when not. Dockless scooters were introduced in many cities before there were any regulations about scooter use, with some critics claiming scooters exploited loopholes in existing law and regulation, and leading some cities to pass legislation to specifically ban or curtail the use of dockless scooters. Here it is the Roombas that exploit loopholes in those scooter laws, which initially bothers city officials before they realize the positive benefit of the Roombas cleaning their streets as they are ridden.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan walk in from the right and sees two Roombas on the ground in front of them.]
:Cueball: Are those... Roombas?
:Megan: Yeah, the dockless rental apps have really taken off.

:[Cueball stops and turns to look at Megan, who has also stopped, as Beret Guy comes walking in from the left with his smartphone in his hand.]
:Cueball: What?

:[As Cueball and Megan turn to look at Beret Guy, he stops between the two Roombas, looking down at the Roomba to his left. He taps his smartphone and the Roomba makes a sound.]
:Smartphone: Tap tap
:Roomba: Unlock

:[Beret Guy is squatting down on the Roomba as it drives him away, while Cueball and Megan turns to stare after him,]
:Roomba: ''Whirrrr''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Roomba]]

1974: Conversational Dynamics

2022-05-04T01:52:27Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 233763 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1974
| date = March 30, 2018
| title = Conversational Dynamics
| image = conversational_dynamics.png
| titletext = "You should make it so people can search for and jump into hundreds of conversations at once if they want." "Ooh, good idea! I imagine only the most well-informed people with the most critical information to share will use that feature."
}}

==Explanation==
On the modern World Wide Web (usually coined as {{w|Web 2.0}}, in contrast to the {{w|Web_2.0#"Web_1.0"|original web}} envisioned and created by {{w|Tim Berners-Lee}}), particularly on {{w|Internet forum|internet forums}} (like the [http://forums.xkcd.com/ xkcd forums]), a pervasive issue is that forum users with strong opinions but little interest in fruitful discussion will often interject themselves into all conversations that are related to their area of interest; examples include [[:Category:Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theorists]], {{w|Political extremism|political extremists}}, and {{w|Internet troll|trolls}}. This counterproductive behavior is not feasible in real life, where conversations happen locally and synchronously and one must be physically present in order to participate. In this sense, it is enabled by Internet forum technology. In forums that have search features, it is even easier for these problematic users to identify and target large numbers of threads rapidly. The field of [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25988263 conversational dynamics] studies the interpersonal processes underlying dialog between people, and this is an example of how changing the mode of communication can negatively impact productive "conversational dynamics" (hence the title).

In this satirical comic, [[Randall]] imagines the inventor of the modern web, here depicted as [[Cueball]], correctly anticipating that anyone will be able to inject their opinion into any conversation. When he tells [[White Hat]] about it, White Hat's comment, either sarcastic or very naive, interprets this as a benefit as he is willing to bet that this will not lead to any ''unhealthy'' [conversational] ''dynamics''. In the best case, naive scenario, the web enables broader participation by helpful users with relevant information, in the real world it rather turned out as a potential problem as described above with trolls and conspirators overtaking many online forums. Note that in contrast to what the comic depicts, there is no single person or group who created the foundation of the modern web, unlike the original web where there is an identifiable person.

In the title text, White Hat suggests to Cueball to add a search feature that will enable these "helpful" users to be even ''more'' helpful by enabling them to jump into not just one conversation at a time, but into hundreds of conversations simultaneously. This may be referring to free, anonymous chat sites like {{w|4Chan}} or possibly {{w|Discord_(software)|Discord}}. Whether White Hat is again sarcastic or just even more naive, Cueball immediately jumps to the conclusion that this will be an even better idea than his own, and continues to envision a system where "only the most well-informed people with the most critical information to share will use that feature."

In reality, as any modern user of Internet forums would be aware, both of these technologies are routinely abused by problematic users, and the characters are being too optimistic.

That we today need someone to fight online trolls was the subject of [[591: Troll Slayer]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting at a computer and pointing at the CRT monitor. White Hat is standing behind him.]
:Cueball: Check it out! My new system allows anyone on Earth to inject themselves into any conversation happening anywhere  at any time.
:White Hat: Cool! I bet this won't lead to any unhealthy dynamics!

:[Caption under the panel:]
:The creation of the modern web

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Internet]]

908: The Cloud

2022-05-04T01:52:18Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 234009 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 908
| date = June 6, 2011
| title = The Cloud
| image = the cloud.png
| titletext = There's planned downtime every night when we turn on the Roomba and it runs over the cord.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a reference to all of the companies that rolled out {{w|Cloud computing|"cloud"}} services like {{w|Google}}'s and {{w|Amazon}}'s music service and {{w|Apple}}'s aptly named {{w|iCloud}} online backup service around the time that the comic was released. Despite the mental image people using cloud services have of their data being placed literally in the sky, the reality is that all the data in the cloud has to be stored ''somewhere'', sometimes being merely a server. Black Hat claims that the various cloud services are all ultimately provided by his server.

When Cueball expresses skepticism that Black Hat has enough bandwidth to make that possible, he explains that it's done by {{w|Cache (computing)|Caching}}. Caching is an arrangement whereby some data is stored locally in order to reduce the need to retrieve it from more distant storage. However, it would require an unrealistically efficient level of caching to reduce the overhead requirements of the world's cloud storage networks to a level that could be accommodated by Black Hat's non-Enterprise class cable modem -- and if it ''could'' be done, it would simply transfer the load to other servers (i.e. Cueball's description of "the cloud" as it exists in the real world). However, it does make a bottleneck at Black Hat's server.

The title text refers to the {{w|Roomba}}, which is a small round battery-powered vacuum cleaner that runs automatically around the house. The Roomba begins to learn the dimensions of rooms, however, apparently it has never learned to avoid running over the cord, pulling it free of the socket and cutting power to the server.

The regular nightly downtime is a reference to an [http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/cleaner.asp urban legend] in which some critical piece of equipment (often a server) is unplugged regularly so that a vacuum cleaner or similar janitorial tool can be temporarily plugged in. Although the Roomba vacuum does not require this computer's outlet, "running over the cord" apparently causes similar interruption in service, probably unplugging the cord, requiring it to be plugged in again.

This comic is reminiscent of a scene in the British sitcom ''{{w|The IT Crowd}}'' in which the IT department pranks their non-tech-savvy manager by presenting a single small box and claiming that it contains the entire Internet.

The last panel showcases both Black Hat's stereotypical sadism and callousness. When Cueball asks about the hazard (namely, tripping) implicit in a cord stretching across a room, Black Hat responds by implying no one would want to do that, because it's unpleasant. Cueball responds with the fact that some people do things by accident, to which Black Hat says he doesn't know anyone like that. The only way Cueball can disprove this (at least quickly) is by admitting he's one of those people, opening him up to Black Hat's ridicule. Alternatively, this could be a hint towards how Black Hat, being the sadist he is, would "accidentally trip over" the cord, purposefully causing downtime and subsequent unpleasantness to those who rely on the cloud, a proposition supported by the title text.

There are some connections with both [[1117: My Sky]] and the title text of [[1444: Cloud]] and especially the April Fools' Day comic [[1506: xkcloud]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball finds a computer tower with a wire leading away from it.]
:Cueball: What's this?
:Off-screen: The Cloud.

:[Cueball looks behind him. The wire leads to an outlet in the wall next to where Black Hat sits at a desk with a computer. Another wire leads from that outlet to Black Hat's computer.]
:Cueball: Huh? I always thought "The Cloud" was a huge, amorphous network of servers somewhere.
:Black Hat: Yeah, but everyone buys server time from everyone else. In the end, they're all getting it here.

:[A close-up of Black Hat.]
:Cueball: How? You're on a cable modem.
:Black Hat: There's a lot of caching.

:[A close-up of Cueball, looking down at the tower at his feet.]
:Cueball: Should the cord be stretched across the room like this?
:Black Hat: Of course. It has to reach the server, and the server is over there.

:[Cueball turns back to the Black Hat, still sitting at the computer.]
:Cueball: What if someone trips on it?
:Black Hat: Who would want to do that? It sounds unpleasant.
:Cueball: Uh. Sometimes people do stuff by accident.
:Black Hat: I don't think I know anybody like that.

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

1884: Ringer Volume/Media Volume

2022-05-04T01:52:08Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 234042 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1884
| date = September 1, 2017
| title = Ringer Volume/Media Volume
| image = ringer_volume_media_volume.png
| titletext = Our new video ad campaign has our product's name shouted in the first 500 milliseconds, so we can reach the people in adjacent rooms while the viewer is still turning down the volume.
}}

==Explanation==
Most {{w|smartphone}}s, when this comic was published, have multiple system-level sound volume settings, such as, phone call ringer volume, timed alarm volume, phone communication volume, and media volume (which covers video, music, games and such). For comparison, personal computers tend to expose the user to a master sound volume control by default, which affects all the sounds emitted by system. Applications that emit sound (other than basic interface sounds, such as clicking) tend to implement a separate volume control.

Further, smartphones often have a pair of hardware buttons for raising or lowering sound volume. However, they don't differentiate which of the available volume controls the user wants to adjust. Smartphone operating systems tend to adjust the volume level of the currently emitted sound type, with some defaulting to the phone call ringer in the case no sound is playing. Adjusting arbitrary volume control is usually possible using a system settings app controlled by touch screen, which can take more time than pressing dedicated buttons, and/or stopping the program currently being used, depending on the smartphone in question.

The comic demonstrates, using a time axis, a typical annoyance generated by this kind of setup. A implied user wants to play a video clip but expects its sound volume to be too loud, so the user starts to preemptively press the volume down button. However, since the video clip just started loading while the user preemptively pressed the button, this adjusts the phone ringer volume instead of media volume. The user proceeds to raise the ringer volume and waits until the information box about ringer volume being adjusted disappears from screen, then tries again. Since the video is still loading this still doesn't work. Apparently the application needs to start emitting sound before the possibility of adjusting that sound with volume buttons arises. This is exactly what eventually happens - the video starts uncomfortably loud and the user's delayed reaction while attempting to readjust ringer volume level leads, in fact, to ''raising'' the media volume. At this point the graph ends, though the user is implied in the title text to proceed to reduce the video's volume directly afterwards.

Despite most applications implementing separate sound controls, Windows has also offered the option to adjust volume on per-activity basis since at least Windows 95. You can access this feature on Windows 10 by right-clicking the speaker icon on the tray, and selecting the "Open Volume Mixer" option. This setup is roughly equivalent to opening system settings on a smartphone, in that user can see multiple volume controls and select to adjust some. Additionally, some versions of Windows made the system tray volume control only affect the currently focused program, sort of analogously to described smartphone behavior, in that a single interface area can correspond to different volume controls depending on the context. However, this feature has been removed in more recent versions, presumably to reduce user confusion.

The title text presents a method of exploiting the phenomenon presented in the main comic by putting important parts of an advertisement very early in the video clip in loud audio form. Since user may have problems with adjusting video sound volume before it starts playing, this will result in the important part of ad (here, product name) emitted very loudly, to the levels of narrator of title text expecting it to reach people in other rooms than one the smartphone is in.

==Transcript==
:[A x-y-graph is shown and the header above is:]
:Trying to turn down the volume before a video starts playing:

:[At the line graph the horizontal axis is labeled with the text "Time" and an arrow pointing to the right. The vertical axis represents the volume but has no label. There are two signed lines, "Ringer volume" in black and "Media volume" in gray roughly at the same level. Below are eight smartphone screens showing the running app over time.]

:[The first seven screens showing a circle indicating that an app is loading. At the second screen a volume control is depicted with an arrow to the lower button.]
:TAP TAP TAP TAP
:[The "Ringer volume" decreases four times.]

:[Further in time before the third screen the volume control is depicted again with an arrow to the upper button.]
:TAP TAP TAP TAP
:[The "Ringer volume" increases to normal.]

:[Nothing happens on the 4th screen but at the 5th the volume control is shown again with an arrow to the lower button.]
:TAP TAP TAP
:[The "Ringer volume" decreases three times.]

:[Before the 6th screen the volume control is shown, again with an arrow to the upper button.]
:TAP TAP TAP
:[The "Ringer volume" increases back to normal.]

:[At the 7th screen there is again the volume control with an arrow to the lower button.]
:TAP TAP TAP TAP
:[The "Ringer volume" decreases four times.]

:[Before the 8th screen the volume control is shown with an arrow to the upper button and the tapping starts:]
:TAP TAP
:[The "Ringer volume" increases two times, still below normal, and the video starts at the screen.]
:TAP TAP
:[The "Media volume" increases two times above normal.]
:Person in the video: '''HELLO, AND WELCOME TO...'''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Phones]]

570: New Car

2022-05-04T01:51:58Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 234723 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 570
| date = April 17, 2009
| title = New Car
| image = new_car.png
| titletext = Somewhere out there is a company that has actually figured out how to enlarge penises, and it's helpless to reach potential customers.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is sitting in a nice sports car, and his (Cueball-like) friend asks when he got it. It turns out it was bought as a prize supposed to be delivered to the 100,000,000th visitor to his company's website. But the user did not react to the notice on the page about the prize, '''even though it was flashing'''.

A well-known type of Internet scam tries to trick the reader into thinking that they've won a prize, often in the form of an annoying flashy ad banner (e.g. "'''You're our 100,000,000th visitor!!! Click {{w|Wikipedia:Don't stuff beans up your nose/Uh-huh|HERE}} to claim a FREE Ferrari!'''"). A typical {{w|clickbait}}.

Cueball actually really did have a fancy car to give out, but the winner didn't claim it, believing it to be a scam. It is a bit like {{w|The Boy Who Cried Wolf|the boy who cried wolf}} — given enough lies, the truth will eventually look like a lie.

(As coincidences would have it, exactly the same joke appears in the much-loved British comedy series ''{{w|That Mitchell and Webb Look}}'', in a 2006 John Finnemore sketch about a "MASSIVE YACHT!" giveway. Presumably Randall hadn't come across the ''Mitchell and Webb'' version when he wrote this comic three years later.)

The title text refers to another type of scam: advertising fake "{{w|Penis enlargement|male enhancement}}" drugs. [[Randall]] suggests that if such a drug really did exist, it would be very difficult to advertise effectively, since most people would assume it was a scam. Additionally there may be a relation implied (intersection) between people having sports cars and people needing penis enlargements: big cars to compensate feelings of inferiority{{Citation needed}} (or [[1615: Red Car|red cars to compensate for cyanness]]).

==Transcript==
:[A Cueball-like guy is standing behind, a sports car where Cueball sits turned toward him.]
:Friend: When'd you get the car?

:[Zoom-in on Cueball in the car.]
:Cueball: It's the darndest thing. We bought it as a prize for the 100,000,000th visitor to our website.

:[Zoom-in on the friend.]
:Friend: And they didn't want it?
:Cueball (off-screen): Apparently.

:[Pan to where both the friend and Cueball in the car can be seen, but not the front of the car.]
:Friend: Maybe they didn't see the notice.
:Cueball: It was flashing and everything!
:Friend: How bizarre.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]

380: Emoticon

2022-05-04T01:51:50Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 236623 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number =380
| date =February 6, 2008
| title =Emoticon
| image =emoticon.png
| titletext =U+FDD0 is actually Unicode for the eye of the basilisk, though for safety reasons no font actually renders it.
}}

==Explanation==
A {{w|basilisk}} is a legendary creature reputed to have the power to turn a living creature into stone, killing it with a single glance.

In this comic, Cueball is chatting with a user named 'BSLSK05' ('basilisk05' with the vowels removed) and learns much to his dismay that he is chatting with an actual basilisk, who kills him. It appears that the basilisk's power is fully compatible with the 21st century, and can kill you just with a smiley emoticon over instant messaging.

Cueball's request for A/S/L was a standard question when first meeting someone online; it asks for {{w|Age/sex/location|age, sex (gender), and location}}.

The title text mentions U+FDD0, claimed to be the character for "eye of the basilisk". In reality this is a code for a {{w|Unicode#Character General Category|"non-character"}} in Unicode.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball sits at computer, typing.]
:~!~ Opening Chat with BSLSK05
:<NICKM> Hi!
:<NICKM> A/S/L?
:<BSLSK05> :)
:[Cueball looks stunned, flies backward.]
:[Two smaller frames focus in on BSLSK05's emoticon, implying rotation to show a smile and two open eyes.]
:[Cueball at computer slouches in chair, dead, crossbones above his head.]
:[At the remote computer, a basilisk is looking at its screen.]

== Trivia ==
U+FDD0 did in fact kill at least one chat client at the time. Konversation in particular. (and presumably any other Qt-based chat clients using QTextDocument)

"basically u+fdd0 (eye of basilisk, the snake) is in a char range that's marked for interchange and illegal in utf-8"

"but qt's utf-8 encoder let it through anyway"

"but it just so happens that qt's qtextdocument uses u+fdd0 as text frame delimiter"

"so when you append it to a qtd, counters run wrong and eventually you crash"

"d-bus closes the connection and crashes the client when it encounters illegal utf-8, and kde's notification system works through d-bus"

The problem was fixed after the xkcd "report" and Konversation now handles unicode normally.

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

2400: Statistics

2022-05-04T01:51:42Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 233232 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2400
| date = December 18, 2020
| title = Statistics
| image = statistics.png
| titletext = We reject the null hypothesis based on the 'hot damn, check out this chart' test.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is another in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] related to the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}}, specifically regarding the [[:Category:COVID-19 vaccine|COVID-19 vaccine]]. It is also another one of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[:Category:Tips|Tips]], this time a statistics tip.

===Graph===
The main focus of the comic is a graph showing cases of COVID-19 versus time for two groups: one group was vaccinated and the other group was not. Graphs are ways to visualize data, and for real data indicate specific values. This graph seems to be based on [https://www.zq1.de/~bernhard/images/share/mRNA-1273-trial.png the Moderna vaccine's results] but is somewhat fictionalized. The higher line ("placebo group") rises in a steep curve. The lower line ("vaccine group") follows the first for a bit but then levels out to a much slower rate of climb. Officially, a scientific assessment of the effectiveness of anything requires rigorous statistical analysis. This is particularly true in medical studies, where impacts of biology can be highly complex and subject to many factors, meaning that careful review of the data is necessary to confirm that an intervention was effective. The joke of this comic is that the intervention presented here is so ''obviously'' effective that it's obvious even to a layman with little understanding of the math. A few days after the vaccine was administered, cases in the vaccinated group essentially flatline, while cases in the placebo group continue to rise as a significant rate. The data is so "good", meaning that numbers for the treatment and control groups diverge so dramatically, that actual analysis becomes almost a formality: a glance at the chart would convince most people that the treatment is effective.

This comic was released one day after the [https://www.fda.gov/media/144434/download FDA's Dec 17th briefing document] for the {{w|mRNA-1273|Moderna COVID-19 vaccine}} was released. The document includes the following [https://www.zq1.de/~bernhard/images/share/mRNA-1273-trial.png chart]. The charts draw the integral of the incidence data rather than the data itself ("cumulative" rather than "rate"): this results in changes in disease rate towards the left side of the chart, being added into the data on the right side, amplifying their difference. This technique for emphasizing the data is valid: the spread between the lines only continues to increase if the effect continues happening, such that the total spread at the right is proportional to the total effect the vaccine had. The charts do not show any information on other possible variables. Randall has described previously in his webcomics how very clear charts can be made to hide misleading data. The linked graph does not leave the numbers out, and the numbers indicate the vaccine is 91% effective at preventing the disease (and a 95% chance of being between 85 and 95% efficient).

The advice here could be seen as the inverse of the "science tip" in [[2311: Confidence Interval]], in which the data was so ''bad'' that its error bars fell outside of the graph and were not shown. Also there's some association with [[1725: Linear Regression]] where the data is not so good that you don't need to perform linear analysis.

===Null hypothesis===

The null hypothesis, mentioned in the title text, is the hypothesis in a statistical analysis that indicates that the effect investigated by the analysis does not occur, i.e. 'null' as in zero effect. For example, the null hypothesis for this study might be "The vaccine has no effect on whether subjects catch COVID." The null hypothesis was previously the subject of [[892: Null Hypothesis]]. The null hypothesis is rejected when the probability of something like the observed data would be very low were the null hypothesis true.

For a simplified example, imagine there are 10 000 people in the vaccinated group, and each has a 5% chance of catching COVID under the null hypothesis; we expect 500 people to catch COVID. If only 490 catch COVID, the null hypothesis remains plausible, but if just 10 do, the odds are (in Python; see {{w|binomial distribution}}) <code>sum([math.comb(10000, i) * 0.05**i * 0.95**(10000-i) for i in range(0,10)])</code> = 1.5 × 10-204. In other words, it is wildly improbably that an ineffective vaccine would have produced such excellent results. We therefore conclude that the vaccine is not ineffective, and have rejected the null hypothesis.

Most people however, on seeing the raw results, would have concluded that the vaccine worked and statistics were just a formality. As the title text says, they would have "reject[ed] the null hypothesis based on the 'hot damn, check out this chart' test."

==Transcript==
:[Shown is a graph with the x-axis labeled "time" and the y-axis labeled "COVID cases." There is a black line on the graph labeled "placebo group", which has a roughly linear slope moving toward the top right corner. There is a red line labeled "vaccine group", which follows the black line for about an eighth of the width of the graph before leveling off at a much slower increase.]

:Caption beneath the graph: Statistics tip: Always try to get data that's good enough that you don't need to do statistics on it

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:COVID-19 vaccine]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:Tips]]

1608: Hoverboard/Transcript

2022-05-04T01:51:17Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 233313 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

*Below, you will find a '''complete transcript''' for [[1608: Hoverboard]].
**This includes all text, but also a full description of all drawings as well as size and distances.
**To make text stand out clearly this has been indented twice to make it easy to spot if scrolling down.
==Explanation of transcript==
*The transcript will be based on what can be experienced by moving through the game without any cheating.
**But it has been planned, (and details are mentioned), based on this [http://1101b.com/xkcd1608/ full drawing] that can be zoomed and navigated, including revealing secret passages and displaying coins
*The transcript below will '''follow this course: '''
**Starting by describing the '''play area''' (where you begin), taking all the coins there first, it may feel normal to move right in the reading direction at first.
**This means into the '''Star Wars area''' to the right.
***Following the line of sight for the people looking up, it will then be obvious to discover first the smaller Rebel Blockade Runner
***And after this following the bombs you reach up to the Imperial Star Destroyer.
***Having finished the total exploration of these two, you are now at the end of the Destroyer.
***Jumping through the air high above the ground you suddenly reach the end of this small world and drop down.
**From there you will then go back towards left along the ground.
**Passing through the play area on your way left you then enter the '''Lord of the Rings area''' on your way to the volcano – a representation of Mount Doom.
***The few items floating above the ground or hidden below ground is “discovered” on the way (however unlikely).
***Thus once ending at the left edge to the world, you have now seen it all.
*Following this path '''the coins are numbered''' as you move along
**For instance when you take coin 19 it will look like this:
**''Moving back to the left you pick up the coin ('''#19''') at the tip of the canon''.
**The coins do not necessarily get a number the first time you see them, if they are behind some obstacle. They will first get a number when you actually take them!
**Coins will always be given individual numbers even if there is more than one in the same place. So it is possible to count from one coin to the next.
***The actual number of course only makes sense when following the course of the transcript.
***The transcript will take you in approximately the fastest path through all coins, but since you do not know where they are, you also go through all dead-ends even those without any coins.
**The number of coins in each section of this transcript will be given at the start of each section.
*'''Distances''' are given as the time you will need to use to get from one point to the other, when using the program as it is.
**(There can be problems from browser to browser of [[1608: Hoverboard#Bugs and errors|errors in the game]], that can make this timing useless).
**To the left and right this can be given as the amount of time you need to hold the left/right arrow down without hitting any obstructions before you reach a given point.
***Either moving along the ground or while jumping, the latter almost always the fastest approach, but not always.
***For small distances number of small steps can be used; especially when you cannot see yourself in some secret passage.
***Problem with this is that even small steps can be different length depending on how fast you press.
**Distances down can be given in fall time.
**Distances up are trickier to measure, as a full jump moves you upwards for about 0.55 seconds, before you fall down again. So often it is nice to also give the fall time afterwards.
***If you push faster you will move up faster. For instance by pushing at the right time you can get just high enough to “leave” the play area in just 6 jumps from the ground level outside the walls of the play area.
***This will take about 3.3 seconds. You will then fall back in 1.5 s.
***But if you push 12 times in a fast repeating pattern you will also be able to leave the play area, but in less than 2 seconds, but will still fall the same amount of time.
***Usually going up long distances (thought white empty space) you wish to do it fast, so upwards distances may be given in number of quick repeating pushed on the up arrow that is needed, but always also in the time it takes, as this often makes more sense, as you move different speed with different repetition speed.
***For smaller distances, especially when you can see anything to gauge you speed, you can use number of perfect jumps as an indicator of height.
*Some time will be used to investigate the secret passages, and other dark spaces; especially the lava lake, but also the cotton passage and the hole in the monument.
**It will be easy to navigate past these tedious descriptions since the entire transcript is split into many sections, and these dark parts will have under sections, that you can thus skip from the end of the section above.
**But if you did not have a map, this was the only way to make sure you did not lose a coin in some hidden cave.
***The lava lake is the only place where such a hidden lair exists. As the other dark passages either takes you nowhere or somewhere you can get to without going through these secret passages. But without the lava lake you will be four coins short.
*This transcript takes up about 63 pages in a word file (the code) more than 41.000 words (213k characters with space). This thus transcends even the [[980: Money/Transcript]] with more than 10 pages...

==Play area==
*There are 17 coins in this section (no. 1-17), but they will not be taken until [[#Game start|Game start]] below.
:[This is the starting point. The first part of this transcript is the same as on the front page, but it is included for completeness:]

===The beginning===
:[Cueball is shown on a hoverboard in the center of the comic. Around him is a simple maze with 12 yellow coins. Another Cueball without hoverboard is shown standing on one of the platforms to the right. The bottom half of the window is black. Right of where Cueball stands is a ramp. Behind the ramp is a terminal. There is lots of space left of the maze, outside the maze. Text is only written in white below in the black area. The first part of the text is written below Cueball on hoverboard. Then there is an arrow pointing to the terminal and a label. Finally there is a line of text at the bottom of the black area.]

:[Under Cueball:]
::My new book,
::''Thing Explainer,''
::comes out today!
::To celebrate, here's
::a small game.

:[Under the arrow below the terminal.]
::Deposit
::coins here

:[At the bottom:]
::Use the arrow keys to move
:[This text disappears the first time you uses an arrow key, as you will below:]

====Investigating the maze====
:[When you begin the game by using the arrows you start to move the hoverboard Cueball around – he will from now on be “you”. You soon discover that there are five more gold coins in the maze and that it is higher. You also find out that you can deliver coins at the terminal. When you do the coins you have taken reappear, and the number of coins you have taken and the time will appear beneath you. Moving around in the maze you find that there is a spot on the right wall above the other Cueball from where you can see the entire maze. From here you describe what you see.]

:[To begin with you stood in the lower left corner of the maze on the floor, next to the left wall. Above you there is a coin. Above the coin is a ceiling. To the left of the coin is an opening out of the maze. To the right a wall going down, this makes this a kind of small shaft. To the right from the floor is a ramp going up. At the top is a coin. The ramp rests on a box on the floor. Behind the ramp and the box is the terminal where you deposit the coins. On the other side of the terminal is another box on top of which is a coin. Behind the box on the floor next to the right wall is a coin. The wall is thick here, but it ends a small jump above the floor. There is a hole in the wall to the right here, but although you could stand on this wall where the hole is, you cannot get out, as there is a small part of the wall (normal thickness), that goes a little further, and makes the hole to slim for you. Above this hole is the thick slab hanging in the air on which the other Cueball stands. There is a coin to his right and to the right of this yet another opening to the right of the maze. But once again this is too small (low) for you to pass through as the right wall continues up here. To the left of Cueball and a little down there is a line with a little higher edge to the left. The shelf is beneath another longer line going from above Cueball and to just above this little edge to the left. On the shelf lie three coins. There is a “soft” spot in the line above these three coins where you can jump through. This takes you up to either left or right part of the line, which is solid enough. There are two coins to the right and one to the left. To the left of this the wall creating the shaft above where you start reaches up to this height. Here is another shaft, along the left wall going down. There is a coin over this opening. The floor of this shaft is the ceiling above where you started. There is a hole in the maze to the left here as well. Above the coin is another thicker slab where you can stand. The wall to the left is only solid at the level of the coin beneath this slab. You can also jump out the maze to the left above the coin, beneath the slab. On top of this slab there is a coin. There is no wall on the left of this slab, so also here you can exit the maze (the forth exit to the left). To the right of you there are two curved lines forming brackets turned the wrong way like this:“) (“. The brackets are in the middle of the maze their center above the soft spot in the floor of the line beneath them. In the very middle of these two brackets there is a coin. There is also a coin above the top of each bracket. Just above these coins is the ceiling of the maze. Just left and right of the left and right coin there are two openings in the ceiling, from which you can exit the maze. To the right of the brackets is the right wall. Above the slab that Cueball is standing there is a triangular structure jutting out from the wall. Just beneath it is yet another hole in the maze wall to the right, but for the third time it is too small to get out. It is possible to stand on the wall just beneath this, which is what you are doing now, to see the entire maze in one go. Only thing is that to get here you had to take one coin, the one to the right on the line with the hole in the floor. Above this triangular item the wall continues a little while but then there is the first and only hole in the right wall big enough for you to use as an exit to the right. Just beneath this hole, above the triangle is the last coin.]

====Investigating the functionality====
:[When you start returning to the terminal to deposit coins, the ones you have found will be counted (and returned to their starting positions) and the time will be given. The message will be written in yellow at the bottom of the screen (in the black part). Below the score/time there will be an extra line with smaller text indicating a rating of your result. This rating is only based on the number of coins not the time it took. The text stays at the bottom of the screen for 3 seconds. If you move around while the yellow text is still there it will stay at the bottom of the screen. It can thus be moved into an entirely white area before it disappears.]

:[Below is a table with examples of what may be written depending on the number of coins. The time (and the amount when there is a range with similar rating) is just chosen at random (although in a realistic range). To get above 17 you of course have to leave the play area and come back again... Links to images from the number of coins. Times are realistic!]
::{| class="wikitable"
!# coins
!Text when depositing this number of coins
"X" is the number of coins collected
|-
|[[1608: Hoverboard/Screen-shots#0 coins|0 coins]]
|style="background-color:black;"| '''You got 0 coins in 1 second''' You successfully avoided all the coins.
|-
|[[1608: Hoverboard/Screen-shots#1 coin|1 coin]]
|style="background-color:black;"| '''You got a single coin in 1 second''' It's a start.
|-
|[[1608: Hoverboard/Screen-shots#2-4 coins|2-4 coins]]
|style="background-color:black;"| '''You got X coins in 3 seconds''' Not bad!
|-
|[[1608: Hoverboard/Screen-shots#5-9 coins|5-9 coins]]
|style="background-color:black;"| '''You got X coins in 12 seconds''' Terrific!
|-
|[[1608: Hoverboard/Screen-shots#10-16 coins|10-16 coins]]
|style="background-color:black;"| '''You got X coins in 10 seconds'''
|-
|[[1608: Hoverboard/Screen-shots#17 coins|17 coins]]
|style="background-color:black;"| '''You got 17 coins in 15 seconds''' You found all the coins! Great job!
|-
|[[1608: Hoverboard/Screen-shots#18 coins|18-41 coins]]
|style="background-color:black;"| '''You got X coins in 430 seconds'''
|-
|[[1608: Hoverboard/Screen-shots#42 coins|42 coins]]
|style="background-color:black;"| '''You got 42 coins in 460 seconds''' No answers here.
|-
|[[1608: Hoverboard/Screen-shots#More than 42 coins|43-168 coins]]
|style="background-color:black;"| '''You got X coins in 460 seconds'''
|-
|[[1608: Hoverboard/Screen-shots#All 169 coins|All 169 coins]]
|style="background-color:black;"| '''You got 169 coins in 1457 seconds''' Are you Gandalf?
|}
:[The messages with more than 17 coins of course cannot be found before exiting and returning with coins from the outside. Notice that in Microsoft Explorer those without any extra message would display a message anyway: ''Undefined'']

:[Once you decide to leave the play area you have many options. Although there are 4 holes in the outer walls on each side and two on top, only 7 of these can be used to exit the maze. All four holes can be used as exits to the left. To the right the three lowest holes are not big enough to pass through, but the one at the top is the biggest of all 10 holes in the outer walls. The two last holes are in the roof, centered symmetrically between the middle and the outer edges.]

:[Once outside you find that the surroundings left and right are symmetrical. Two high walls rise above the top of the initial plat form games areas upper limit. On the other side of these walls you can see a flat surface, one jump height above the play area. Only difference between left and right inside the play area, is that there lies a rock to the left. Standing in the middle between walls and play area you can still see both. The walls cannot be seen from inside the play area, and when at the walls this of course also goes the other way so you cannot see the play area from here. However for the program the play area is anything within and below the walls. More precisely you first leave the play area if you pass over the middle part at the top of the walls, or if you make one jump from standing on top of the walls. You can go higher by almost a full jump (by jumping in the air right below the top) without leaving the area. From the ground it will take you six perfect jumps to reach the limit. Once you leave the area you get a flashing warning message in red letters at the bottom of the screen:]
::{| class="wikitable"
|style="background-color:black;"| '''Return to the play area'''
|}

:[This message flashes three times over 1.2 seconds (the message only disappears for about 150 ms each time), then there is a pause for about 1.3 seconds and then this repeats for a total of 5 repetitions, a total of 15 flashes in just about 11.3 second seconds. The message will stop immediately if you re-enter the play area during this period. If you re-enter later it will flash once you leave again.]

:[There is nothing in the air above the play area, and from the center there is also nothing to see. But if you jump straight up from the top of the right wall (pushing the up arrow about 80-100 times) you will ascend right in front of the Star Destroyer. Which you of course is not aware of at this time.]

:[Peaking outside like this you realize there may be more to the game, and you will not be stopped by the red message. You thus decide to go back to the terminal to begin you exploration by taking the coins as fast as you can before moving outside.]

===Game start===
*Here you get 17 coins coin no. 1-17.
:[Finally you are ready to begin the game standing at the terminal where you have just reset the timer and the score!]

:[You start by jumping left taking the coin ('''#1''') over the ramp, then you jump up and out the maze through the lower left exit getting a coin ('''#2'''), re-entering above and going up inside this shaft for a coin ('''#3'''), you go right to take the coin ('''#4''') under the left bracket, then going up left you take the coin ('''#5''') over the slab to the left, jumping up you take the coin ('''#6''') over the left bracket, let yourself fall in between to take the coin ('''#7''') between them and jump right up and right to take the coin ('''#8''') on the top of the right bracket. Falling down left you grab the coin ('''#9'''), continuing down the slope to the left to grab coin ('''#10''') and further left coin ('''#11'''). Dropping through the soft spot pushing further left you fall on the coin ('''#12''') to the left on this shelf then you move right taking the middle coin ('''#13''') and moving towards Cueball the right coin ('''#14'''), jumping up to Cueball you grab the coin ('''#15''') behind him, quickly drop down left again, going right, getting first the coin ('''#16''') on the box, then the coin ('''#17''') to the right at the wall, and quickly go back to the terminal in just 10s… Well this was not the plan so you do it once more, and remember to go out through the hole to the right and prepare to leave the play area with the red warning message blinking beneath you.]

==Going right into the Star Wars territory ==
*In this main section you will find 131 coins, no. 18-148. There are no new coins until you reach the section [[#The Rebel Blockade Runner|The Rebel Blockade Runner]].
:[Once you leave the play area to the right over the wall you fall down to the fundament of the wall. This is a completely horizontal surface that stretches across the screen. But as soon as you move away from the wall you see the end of it. When the fundament ends there is drop of about one jump height and suddenly you are standing on an uneven ground with grass and small plants.]

:[Leaving the fundament behind the first you encounter is one more Cueball like the one in the play area. After him you reach two trees, the first taller than the second and around them eight small trees. You can pass under them, but only just for the small tree; because if you jump, you can also “climb” them, by landing in the treetops. This means you cannot pass through them above ground. You can stand on three branches on each tree; only the top branch on the tallest tree won’t hold you. You cannot stand on the smaller trees.]

:[After the last small tree you see Cueball standing with Megan. When you get close you see that they are standing at the edge of a cliff (about 1 seconds fall deep). They are looking upwards to the right and Megan points in the direction they are looking. It has taken about 40s in total to get here.]
::Megan: Wow.

:[If you follow her direction, starting with overlapping her on screen, and then keeping the right arrow down while pushing the up arrow fast repeatedly (about 100 times in about 18-19 seconds) you will just pass over the smaller of the two space ships – the Rebel Blockade Runner (without seeing it) and then hit the Star Destroyers bottom. Going a little back from where you hit it you will arrive at an entrance below that will take you to a room with a coin in front of some rubble that looks like a cave-in. This will be mentioned again later during the exploration of the Star Destroyer, just noting here where you would arrive. If you just let yourself fall back down again towards the left you would hit the Rebel Blockade Runner after 6 s. There are 3 more seconds to fall to the ground from the top of the Runner. If you went straight up from the Cliff top to the Star Destroyers bottom, (which is also going all the way there), it would take 8.6 s to fall back down to the cliff. This could indicate that Megan is actually pointing at the runner, as it's front is in the direction she is pointing, whereas the Destroyer even goes over their heads, with its tip just outside the wall of the play area.]

:[If you instead run over the edge of the cliff before starting to press the up arrow while keeping down the right arrow, then after about 30 repetitions and less than 6 seconds later the Rebel Blockade Runner will just show up in the lower right corner, and this thus starts the exploration of this, the smaller spaceship:]

===The Rebel Blockade Runner===
*There are 3 coins on the Runner, no. 18-20.
:[Once you, in this way, notice the Runner, which is also known as a CR90 Corvette and if it is Princess Leia’s it is called Tantive IV, you will land on the front end of the space ship, just over the command bridge. On top of this there is a hatch open, allowing you to go inside. On the other side of the open hatch door is a Cueball looking down along the ship to the right. Once you enter the hatch you will be able to see the entire front of the space ship, and can thus see that this section of the ship is completely circular, and then connected to the rest of the ship to the right.]

:[The first room at the front is the command bridge. At the bridge is a woman with long black hair. She is not quite looking as a typical Megan. Maybe it is Danish - then it would be deliberately that she tries to annoy the woman she is talking too, who is standing behind her. It is Hairbun (or Princess Leia with her typical hairdo, with a bun on each side of her head.) The woman is lifting her hands in fists. Three small lines indicate that she is annoyed.]
::Long haired woman: Captain's log, stardate November 24th, 2015...
::Hairbun: ''Augh!'' No!

:[From the bridge the room below can be fully seen. It is a smaller room with Ponytail and Megan. Ponytail is holding a light saber above which floats a small sphere (the Jedi training device from a similar scene in the original Star Wars movie where Luke Skywalker practices while Ben Kenobi watches and Han Solo comments). Megan holds some kind of canon/gun and she stands in front of a black box with white text. Here is the first coin ('''#18''') discovered on this route outside the play area. So you have to go down there even though you can see it all from the bridge.]
::Megan: Good against remotes is one thing, but a ''true'' Jedi trains with a T-shirt cannon.
::Box: Shirts

:[When moving down through the central corridor of the space ship a small robot on wheels drive towards left. Then you reach a place where the corridor splits up with shaft up and down. If you pass the first shaft and stop under the next you can also see one more going down, and can see three persons:]

:[Just past the shaft going up is Ponytail walking to the right in the corridor while singing as indicated with two drawings of musical notes.]

:[Down the first shaft is Cueball, standing at a ledge with a fishing rod. He lowers the line down below the ship. When you go down to him you can see that two birds are circling the line, but above the hook. You have to fall down to see that there is something attached to the hook that floats about a 1 second drop below the ledge. It looks like a cracker, so maybe he does try to catch the birds. (To see this clearly you can float up right under the ledge and get stuck to the wall below this by pressing the right arrow down. This can keep you in place.) Below the ledge to the right is a canon jutting out beneath the space ship. Two wires stretching down below are attached to this canon with “normal” ship anchors. Where these wires come from will be discovered on the return trip from the far right edge.]

:[The shaft going up ends in a small room where a Cueball is pouring several small objects from a bucket into a black box. Above the box is a canon outside the ship (similar to the one below). It is not possible to see the tip of the canon when standing in the corridor. But if you jump you can see that there is a coin at the tip of the canon (this will be counted when taking it). It is not possible to get up to Cueball, the shaft is to slim. However, if you position yourself carefully right under the shaft you can enter the lowest part, so your hoverboard is all the way in. Then you can see the entire canon from inside. There is white text on the box:]
::Box: Bullets

:[Going down the second shat after Ponytail, you enter a new corridor going parallel with the one above to the right. From here you see a third anchor and wire attached to the bottom of the hull outside.]

:[Continuing along this shaft you enter a big room in the main of the ship. Moving to the center of this you can see the entire room. It is a dead end. Three guys are talking together. The first is Hairy the other two are Cueballs.]
:::First Cueball: The Death Star plans are ''not'' in the main computer.
::Second Cueball: Darn.
::Second Cueball: See, if we had found them in the main computer, that would be good news, since it would mean no one else had them.
::Second Cueball: But since we didn’t find them, we need to keep searching for anyone with a copy.
::Second Cueball: That all makes sense and I ''definitely'' understand how computers work.

:[Walking back up to the corridor with Ponytail and then continuing to the right you get to a broader end of the corridor where a hole seems to have been torn in the upper hull of the space ship. It has ragged edges. You can move to the top of the ship through it. Two Cueballs are standing there. The first one is looking into the hole. (You can see the text in the room below with the computer expert, but not the people).]
::First Cueball: So you just came down and made a hole in our ship without permission?
::Second Cueball: Yup
::First Cueball: Wow, Rude.

:[Moving back to the left you pick up the coin ('''#19''') at the tip of the canon. You can stand on top of the canon housing, but not on the actual canon.]

:[Going back to the right past the hole you find a huge parabolic antenna and to right of that two Cueballs looking up towards the Star Destroyer.]
::First Cueball: That thing is ''huge. Imperial''-class?
::Second Cueball: Yeah. Maybe a MK-1. Depends on whether this is the expanded universe or not.

:[Past them we find Ponytail with an arrow on her bow and Cueball who has just shoot an arrow from his bow. They are aiming at the Star Destroyer (which is much much higher up, than a bow can reach). This aggression is a response to the torpedoes crashing down on their ship from up above. One torpedo has just exploded in a large cloud making a dent in the hull, and another one is just hitting the hull of the space ship (presumably exploding in the next instant). Many more rains down from above. Standing just right of the explosion you can see four more in the air to the right.]
::Cueballs bow: Twang
::Torpedo: Boom

:[From here it is obvious to follow the torpedoes up to the Star Destroyer but first we will finish exploring the Runner. Moving up on top of the torpedo just hitting the hull we find two Cueballs to the right of this. The first is looking up and right towards the direction from where the torpedoes are coming. The other is looking at him. Apart from the two torpedoes that has already hit the hull there are now five (vs four before) other torpedoes visible (7 in all). These are the only ones visible when standing still on the hull. Five more can be seen with one jump.]
::First Cueball: Why are they still firing?
::Second Cueball: Oh, the turret operators pretty much do their own thing.
::Second Cueball: It's definitely a pain sometimes.

:[Further to the right you reach the end of the ship where Megan is holding on to Cueball who again is holding a long stick with a huge marshmallow out over the end. Maybe he is trying to roast it on the exhaust from the space ship.]

:[What may be three exhaust pipes are indicated at the back of the ship by two indentations, compared to the part furthest out. You can stand on these two ledges. Beneath the last of these, in front of the third “exhaust” is a coin ('''#20''').]

:[Below at the end of the spaceship there is something looking like a rudder from a normal ship. Going under the ship you find no further coins. There is a similar parabolic antenna mid ship below the computer wizard. You can fly all the way around the space ship in less than half a minute. (28 s). From the rear end of the space ship there is a 3.3 s drop down into the sea below where you can disappear beneath the surface. It takes about 6.3 s to get up again. After this, there is nothing more to do than follow the torpedoes up to the Star Destroyer. It takes about 3m to explorer the Runner.]

===The torpedo rain===
*There are 2 coins going up the rain, no. 21-22.
:[The two torpedoes that hit the Runner you can walk through. These two will not be counted in when counting up from the Runner towards the Destroyer. Because all the other torpedoes you can stand on (and not fly through) so they are different.]

:[The torpedoes comes in showers. The first five (1-5) closest to the Runner are the ones that could be seen by standing on the hull. The next five (9-10) that you could see with one jump from the hull, are all five almost at the same height and real close together. The next five (11-15) are almost right above the second group of five. On top of the middle one of these (the second highest) is a coin, in the same height as the highest of these. So after 15 torpedoes there is a coin ('''#21''').]

:[Above these you need to go further to the right. Standing on the lowest of these you can only see four new torpedoes (16-19). Straight above the two last is a little more than a full jump to two more (20-21). From there it is quite a distance to the right to the next one a little jump higher. There is one more right above but a little left (22-23).]

:[Above this there are two more torpedoes close together (24-25) and on this, the 25th torpedo, we find Beret Guy sitting astride the torpedo holding on to it like it was a horse, a clear reference to the movie Dr. Strange love. He is shouting:]
::Beret Guy: Horsey!

:[Jumping to stand on the next torpedo (26) to the right you can no longer see any of the previous torpedoes. But three more can be seen above (27-29). And three more are above these (30-32). Above these are four (33-36) in the same height (still further and further to the left on average). There are three more (37-39) straight over the last of these. But the next large group of torpedoes are all lower than the highest of those. If you stand on the torpedo in the middle of this group, you can just see all 11 of these (40-50), and not those from before. There are five below and to the left of your torpedo and five to the right and slightly higher.]

:[Further right and a little up is one more torpedo (51) and then right behind this there are two torpedoes (52-53) that are crashing into each other. You can still stand on both of them, but not where the explosion goes:]
::Torpedoes: Boom

:[Above the explosion are four (54-57) more torpedoes in a group. The next group is stretched out, but if you stand on one of the last to the right, but in the middle height wise, you can see them all 11 (58-68). Six below to the left, then the one you are standing on and four above, not far left of right. Above these to the left are three more (69-71), followed by five (72-76) more almost in a straight line just slightly higher but somewhat further right.]

:[These are followed by a group of three (77-79) to the right, but slightly lower. Above and between the first two is a coin ('''#22'''). Four more (80-83) follows up and right. Then a stretched out group of seven torpedoes (84-90) follows ,mainly up and somewhat further right. Standing on the middle one (three on each side) you can only see these seven. This is the last one before you will see the bottom of the Star Destroyer.]

:[When reaching the next group of torpedoes more than one jump height higher, you are not likely to reach this without seeing the bottom hull of the Star Destroyer. However, when standing on the first torpedo you cannot see it. But just a little above and you will. It is possible to land on this without the hull entering in to the top part of the image. But without trying to avoid this it is unlikely. So now you know from where the torpedo’s emerges. Already from the next torpedo you cannot avoid seeing the hull. The group of torpedoes can all be seen if standing on one of the two in the center of the group. There are ten (91-100), four on each side of the two in the middle right on top of each other.]

:[At the end of the torpedo stream we see the last two (101-102) that have just emerged from a cannon beneath the Star Destroyer. There is of course no way you will know for sure that it is such a ship. But if you have realized that it is the Rebel Blockade Runner below you might have a good idea.]

:[Inside the Star Destroyer behind the canon Megan has turned away from it and speaks to Cueball. Behind them is a coin. But since you cannot enter the room from here, this will first be counted later. At that point this section of the Destroyer will be transcribed again, but here is what she says:]
::Megan: We have no photon torpedoes, so I'm firing regular ones

:[In total, about 102 torpedoes are still in the air (counting the two exploding in the air, but not the one hitting and the one exploding on the space ship below); so 104 torpedoes have been fired from the canon. It takes about 50s to get up this way.]

===The Star Destroyer===
*There are 104 coins connected in some way to the Star Destroyer, no. 23-126. Several of these are on the outside, above, below or at the rear, and one of them quite a distance below, but clearly a part of the Destroyer experience.
:[After reaching the Star Destroyer via the torpedo rain (in less than 5 minutes), it may seem obvious to enter the first entrance to the Destroyer you can find by going left or right from here (especially since you can see a coin in the room you just found, but could not enter). If you continue right (for 8s) you get to an entrance, where you come around a section protruding and then at the top of the small room you enter there is a coin. Going left instead you find an entrance (after about 9s) where Cueball is leaning over the ledge he is standing on and a guy with flat black hair is standing behind him. Both are wearing backpacks, which probably should resemble parachutes. So they look like they are about to jump. In the description below of the Star Destroyer you will begin the exploration at the front of the ship and move back as systematically as possible. And thus the coin will not be counted now, and the two places will be mentioned in the transcript later. There are three more entrances after this before you reach the front of the Destroyer (it will take about 49s from the torpedo canon, 40 of these from the first possible entrance). You will pass a single coin underneath the hull on the way. But the top and bottom of the ship will be investigated during the trip down the ship from left to right, bow to stern. So also this coin will be counted later.]

:[If you go straight up from the right wall in the play area you will arrive right in front of the Star Destroyer where there are two entrances. It takes about 100 fast clicks and 20 seconds to get to the top (you can see the ship after 17s will be able to land on the first ledge after 18s). The other way down, if you step off the Star Destroyers front end, you will land on the edge of the wall (outside the play area, where the red message would have flashed). It takes exactly 9s to fall this distance. From here our exploration of the Destroyer will begin.]

====The front end of the Star Destroyer====
*There are 17 coins in this section of the Star Destroyer Star Destroyer, no. 23-39.
:[Starting at the very top of the front there is a coin ('''#23'''). The front end protrudes a little over the entrance to the ship right below. You go in through this corridor and on your way to the first room (3.6s) you pass over a shaft which is going down.]

:[The corridor ends in a dead end with a rather big room. Entering the room you have to step up on the edge of a ball pit that is filled with playpen balls. When you move into it, you disappear below the ball so only your head protrudes. A jump will almost take you all the way to the ceiling. In the pen you see Cueball throwing playpen balls into the air. Six balls are in the air, two of them with lines indicating their movement. Further right is the head of Megan and there is also a fish that jumps out of the pit to the right.]

:[Going back you go down the shaft you passed before (1.1s). At the bottom is a coin ('''#24'''). Right above the bottom there is a corridor to the right. But you first go back left (2.3s). This will take you to the front of the ship to a ledge just above the bottom of the hull. A Cueball is standing here looking out. Going up (1.5s) from there you will get to the entrance you first used to go into the ship. So you move back right to go down the corridor to the right that began right above the last coin.]

:[Going down this corridor you pass a shaft going up (6.5s) and one going down (10s) before you reach a room with a swimming pool (11s). The pool is rather deep and you can go into the black water. When standing still on the bottom a single jump will not take you above the surface. Only a fifth out into the water is there a higher level of the floor. A jump from here will take your head up above the surface, at least where the waves are low. Ponytail is jumping into the water from the ledge where you enter. Cueball is threading water a third out in the pool and Megan is swimming with only her head showing close to the middle. At the top right corner of the room is a coin ('''#25'''). From the bottom of the pool you can see there is a coin under the hull of the ship, in an indentation compared to the rest of the hull. You will have to go and get that later.]

:[Going back to the shaft you drop out of the bottom if the ship in just 1s. You wait with going after the coin to the right later and move back up. Moving to the right you go up the shaft you passed before (less than 1s).]

:[To the left is a large dead-end room with four persons. There are two Cueballs. The one to the right is pointing at a Piñata shaped like a horse. Behind him stands Megan and Hairy. Hairy has his hand on Megan’s shoulder and he holds a stick to hit the Piñata with. On the other side of the Piñata to the left stands another Cueball with a light saber in front of him pointing it a little down. He speaks.]
::Cueball: No, I got this.

:[Moving out of the room to the right down the corridor you pass two shafts going up. When passing the first (3s) you collect a coin ('''#26''') and after two thirds of the distance between the two shafts there is one more coin (9s) in the corridor ('''#27'''), and you pass the 2nd shaft after 11s. Then you reach a shaft going down (15s). A hairy guy is looking down this shaft. You decide to go down this way. After 1.5s you would drop out the bottom of the ship. But already after less than 1s you reach a corridor to the left. Going in there you find a coin ('''#28''') in front of what looks like rubles at the end of a mine shaft that has caved in.]

:[Now you decide to move under the ship to pick up the coin you saw in the pool. So you go down and left. After 7s you get the coin ('''#29''') as you have seen it in a small indentation on the hull. You continue along the bottom passing an entrance more after 4 s, but this was the one you fell out of last time. So you continue to the front of the ship but find nothing more interesting except that the ship’s hull bulges out a little in a shorter section. There were no more coins here. You decide to move to the top of the ship to see if there is anything hidden there. (This took 25s).]

:[Moving right on the top you see that in general the ship becomes higher (thicker). There is also a protrusion here, almost on top of the one below. After 10s you pass the shaft going down that you had seen from inside. After 14s there is coin ('''#30''') where the hull increases in a small step and after 18s you reach the other shaft going down. There is also a coin ('''#31''') on the left edge of this shaft. You go down this shat (1s) and also go back and check the other shaft (also 1s deep). There is nothing more here. So you go back to the shaft where you fell out of the ship.]

:[From there the corridor goes straight for a long time. First after 10s do you reach a shaft going down, and right after this is a dead-end square room with 3 coins ('''#32'''), ('''#33''') and ('''#34'''), one in each of the three corners away from the entrance.]

:[Falling down the shaft outside (1.3s), you end up in a corridor going right. After 6s you pass a shaft going down and then right after one going up. After 8s you reach a longer room. At the entrance is a Cueball who holds up his hand, palm facing you. When you stand in front of him you cannot see the end of the room. He speaks to you:]
::Cueball: You shall not not pass!

:[You thus do as you are told and pass and inside the room you find a coin ('''#35''') in the far corner. The room is long enough that you cannot see the guardian when you take the coin.]

:[Going back you first drop into the shaft going down (1s). You end up on a thin ledge over the bottom of the ship. From here you move back along the ships bottom, to make sure you did not miss any coins. You do not find anything interesting before you reach the entrance (15s) you fell through the last time you went out (the one with the man looking down). So you go back and take the shaft going up.]

:[After 1s you pass a corridor to the right, but continue up to the top (3.3s). Here you hit a ledge sticking out over the exit. But you can exit to the left. Above this ledge there is a coin ('''#36'''). To make sure you have not missed anything on the roof you go back left to the last entry on the roof. After 4.5s you find 3 coins in a row ('''#37'''), ('''#38''') and ('''#39'''). But then there is nothing before you reach the entrance (18s) you went down through last time you went up on the roof. This ends the front part of the Destroyer.]

====The rotary in the Star Destroyer====
*There are 16 coins in this section of the Star Destroyer, no. 40-55.
:[Going back over the roof you go into the ship at the same entrance where you came up. And then take the corridor to the right (2s down). 1.7s down the corridor is a shaft up (1.6s) to a rectangular dead-end room. There are coins ('''#40''') and ('''#41''') on the floor on each side of the shaft coming up in the middle. Dropping down again (1.1s) you move further right reaching a shaft down after 3.3s. On the other side is a coin ('''#42'''). Going back now you would get a special rating (see under [[#Investigating the functionality|play area]]). But if you wish to do so, then do not go down this shaft, as there is a coin ('''#43''') halfway down before you reach (1.3s) a corridor at the bottom of the ship. This goes left and comes out on a thin ledge with an opening in the bottom where Cueball is leaning over the ledge and a guy with flat black hair is standing behind him. Both are wearing backpacks, which probably should resemble parachutes. So they look like they are about to jump. You do jump to follow the bottom of the ship back left to the previous entry (4s). There are no new coins or any interesting stuff. So you return the same way.]

:[Going back up the shaft behind the exit (2s) you then continue down the corridor to the right. After 5.5s you reach a steep rise. On the way you could see some rooms above you. At the bottom of this is a coin ('''#44'''). The rise (1.5s) takes you to a kind of round-about with four exits. In the center of the round-about, there is a room that you can enter just above the entrance where you arrived. Inside there is a kid with flat black hair, a potted plant, growing higher than him and behind them a coin ('''#45'''). The room is a full jump high. When you stand at the coin and jump you will during this jump see that the round-about do form a complete circle around this square dead-end room. There are two exits down and two up. The one you came in from is almost straight down and left. The next one above it, is similarly almost straight up and left. The 3rd when moving clockwise round is mainly going right, but rising steadily, and the fourth and last is almost going straight down, but a little to the right. You will go through them clockwise.]

:[Going up the upper left exit you reach a corridor going left in 2.5s. A Cueball is standing on the downslope trying to keep his balance.]
::Cueball: Ugh, rotaries.
:[Typically the term rotary is used for large scale circular junctions between expressways or controlled-access highways, so this makes sense.]

:[Moving down the corridor you pass a shaft (2s) going up with a coin ('''#46''') just inside, you grab this and go to the end of the corridor (3s in total). Here is a shaft going up and down. Going up (0.5s) you reach a quite large dead-end room, which is completely empty. Going back down (1.5s) takes you to a new corridor going left and right.]

:[Going left for 2s you stand next to Megan who talks to Cueball while they walk towards the end of this dead-end room, where a coin ('''#47''') is situated on top of a box with an inclined top. You can stand on top of the box. There is a white lid on top. On the box is white text:]
::Box: Ice cream
::Megan: Prediction: Seconds before you die, you will remember these words.

:[Going back right past the shaft you came down through you reach a smaller room with a raised plateau in the center. On top of this stand a family of four. First there is a short kid with lots of black hair. Then what at first looks like a girl, but turns out to be a woman, with a hairdo not typically seen in xkcd, blonde but short hair, with a little wisp sticking out front. She seems to wear a miniskirt. Then a taller person, could have been a man but it also turns out that this is a woman, with a square black afro-like hair-do and big glasses. Behind her is a woman with very long and big blond hair. The afro haired woman holds up her left hand and above it floats a coin ('''#48'''). This can be recognized as the family from the Steven Universe tv-series. The boy being Steven. The first woman with least hair is Pearl. The high afro woman in the middle Garnet and. The woman with big blond hair is Amethyst. The three woman are what is called crystal gems and are aliens. Steven is half alien. See later when Darth Vader him self references them.]

:[Going back up the shaft to the left (1.5s) you then move up the shaft where there where a coin in the entrance when you first pass it. (1.7s). This takes you up to the top of the ship. You move down to the previous entrance (8s) but find noting interesting here. So you go back and down again (1.4s) and back to the round-about (2.8s).]

:[Moving out of the third exit that only rises a little before turning into a corridor going straight right. At the start of the straight corridor Cueball is racing along the corridor on a bike. You pass a shaft going down (4s) and then enter a large dead-end room after 5.5s. The room is the largest rectangular room in the ship. It is 3.5s long and 3 full jumps high (giving a 1s drop from the top). Once you enter you see Megan on a skate board inside a hamster ball. She is driving up the side near you while the ball is obviously rolling toward you to the left. Going past Megan you see two long lines going up. At the very top of the screen you just see a coin ('''#49'''). Jumping up to take it (at least two jump) you find out the lines are two very tall stilts and on top of these stands a Cueball like guy (although maybe he has a little black hair). It is possible to stand still on the right wall so you can view the scene without falling/jumping. There is nothing else in the room. Both are speaking:]
::Megan: ''AaaaAaaa''
:: Guy: I can't leave.

:[Going back to the round-about (waiting with the shaft going down) you go down the last exit down right. It almost immediately turns to go straight down and on you way down you pass a T shaped Tetris piece with the short part pointing right. It is shown that it is falling with three move lines above it. You reach a corridor going right in 1.7s. You can see a shaft going down just a little further right.]

:[Going down this shaft (0.8s) you reach the small room above the canon that fired all the torpedoes from the torpedo rain. The canon protrudes below the ship and you can see two torpedoes outside. Behind the inner part of the canon (where you can stand on top) is Megan who has turned away from it and speaks to Cueball. Behind them is a coin ('''#50''').]
::Megan: We have no photon torpedoes, so I'm firing regular ones

:[Going back up (0.8s) you continue down the corridor to the right past a small robot on wheels that moves to the left. It looks like it is made of two identical small robots (both with wheels) on top of each other – each one looking much like the one in the Runner. When you reach the end of this corridor (3.8s) you enter a shaft going up and down. There is a coin ('''#51''') just before the shaft.]

:[Going down (0.5s) takes you to a corridor going right and 2s down this corridor, is a small room with a coin ('''#52''') under the ceiling. Further down the corridor continues for 1s and then you fall out of the bottom of the ship. Going back along the bottom of the hull you pass the torpedo canon after 8s and then reach the entrance with the guys in parachutes in 17s. There were no coins, but you did see at least 10 more torpedoes (12 in all) while going there.]

:[Going back again and to the shaft going up you move all the way up this shaft. After 1.7s you pass a corridor going right. After 3.6s you reach a corridor going right and left. You soon realize that you have been here before as the hamsterbal/stilt room is right and the round-about is left. You go back down again (2s) and enter the corridor to the right.]

:[After 2s you enter a dome shaped room in which sits a large octopus. It has a large head and it is possible to see the ending of four arms on each sides. The arms twist together. There are two coins ('''#53''') and ('''#54'''), one on each side of the monster, on top of the arms that reaches farthest out. You can stand on the octopus. The corridor continues out of this room to the right.]

:[Moving to the right you pass a shaft going up (3.8s) and then enter a rectangular dead-end room with a ceiling that are bulging somewhat down. In the middle of the room is a black box with two horns poking up from each side pointing towards each other. You can stand on the box but walk through the horns. Between the horns there is a coin ('''#55''').]

:[Going back to the shaft going up you go up passing a corridor going right (3.2s) before reaching the top of the ship (5s). You go back to the last entrance (15s) the one close to the round-about, but find nothing except a smaller step down right after you began this trip (1.8s). So you go back up to go down the shaft again (1s) to enter the corridor to the right. This ends the rotary section of the Destroyer.]

====The cotton trap in the Star Destroyer====
*There are 25 coins in this section of the Star Destroyer, no. 56-80.
:[This is one of the longest corridors without any other paths to take. After 10s you find a coin ('''#56''') and after 19 you reach a shaft going up. The corridor ends in a dead end after 20.5s. Going back and up the shaft you reach a corridor going left and right in 2s.]

:[Going left (2.5s) you end up at a car in a dead-end room. On its hood lays a relaxed Cueball. The room is two jumps high. You cannot stand on the car.]

:[Going right from the car room you first pass the shaft down (3.6s) from where you came, then comes another shaft going down (9s), right after this a shaft going up (10s) and just past that (10.5s) Hairbun and Cueball are standing with a coin ('''#57''') in front of Cueball's head. They are looking at a part of the corridor where ceiling and floor move toward each other (up and down respectively) three times. Already at the first truncation the space is too small for you to pass through. On the other side of these three truncations there is yet a coin. This will first be counted when you can take it. Hairbun is talking:]
::Hairbun: Ah, yes. Corridor peristalsis.

:[Wishing to go after this coin you start by going up the shaft right behind the two and end up (1s) in a corridor going left and right. Going right leads to a dead-end square room with a coin ('''#58''') under the ceiling. Going back left you pass first the shaft going down, then another going up (2s) and then you end up (3.5s) in a very small room also with a coin ('''#59''') under the ceiling.]

:[Going back (1.5s) to the shaft leading up (0.8s) to the top of the ship you start going right to look for that coin after the peristalsis. The hull of the ship takes two larger steps up and then after 5s you reach a place where the hulls height increase so much you cannot see the top even with one jump. But there is a corridor going in at the base and you enter a small room with a coin ('''#60''') at the ceiling. Continuing on (for 1.3s and 2.5s) you find two more similar rooms each with a coin ('''#61''') and ('''#62''') at the ceiling. Between the two last room is a shaft going down. Cueball is leaning out on the left side of the shaft looking down.]

:[The shaft leads into a twisted shaft, that while going down first goes left, then right and while turning back left again Ponytail is sliding down with her head first and facing down towards the bottom of this section of the shaft with lines indicating her movement. Here lies a coin ('''#63'''). After the coin the shaft begins to climb up to the left, only to turn down again. On this downwards part of the shaft Cueball is flying down while yelling, also with lines showing his movement. Then the shaft turn right, then straight down, then almost completely right and then it ends up going straight down the last part until you end up in a corridor going left and right. The entire trip took about 7s if you did not pause. Seeing that this small intestine like structure is so close to the peristalsis makes it quite clear that this should look like the ships digestion system…]
::Cueball: Wheee!

:[Going back left you finally (5.2s) find the coin ('''#64''') on the other side of the part of the corridor that was truncated. From here you can see Cueball (but not Hairbun or her text). But you would also from here be able to see the coin that you could not reach if you had come this way first. As on the other side you cannot pass through the first truncation on this side.]

:[Going back right passing under the small intestine you reach a shaft (7.8s) up to a room just above the corridor. Even from the corridor you can see the two coins. One jump will take you inside this rectangular dead-end room which is just above one jump high. At the right end of the room is two protrusions from the wall, that look a like the buffer stops that are at the end of a train track to stop a train (but turned 90 degrees one above the other). In front of each of these are coins ('''#65''') and ('''#66''').]

:[Continuing down the corridor to the right you find (2s) a coin ('''#67''') and then a shaft up after 4.8s. The corridor continues, but since you have left several unexplored parts behind you going after the peristalsis coin, you decide to go up and see if you can make your way back.]

:[Going up the shaft (2.3s) you reach a corridor going right. At the start of this there is a coin ('''#68'''). After 1.6s down this there is another shaft up. The corridor continues but for the same reason as before you go up (1s) first. You end up in a corridor going left. To the right is a dead end with a mining party of two Cueballs. One is hacking away at the end of the tunnel with a pickaxe. The other is moving a cart away with the ruble he gets loose. They are thus in the process of building a new corridor. Above the Cueball with the pickaxe the corridor is somewhat higher than normal. Here is a coin ('''#69''')].

:[Going left (2.5s) takes you to a shaft going up. Going up here you get to the top of the ship again (1.5s). And then begins to move back left. After 3s you reach a step down, at the foot of which is a canon. At the front of the canon there is a coin ('''#70'''). After a total of 9s you reach the edge, where you entered this section at the foot. The ledge is hanging a little out over the wall below. It takes 1.1s to fall down.]

:[You move back down two steps and reaches the entry where you came up after 3.3s. But realizing that you never have moved back over the top from here, you move further down the left. You reach another steep step down (15.5s), and on top is yet a coin ('''#71'''). The drop is 1s and at the bottom is a coin ('''#72'''). Since there was a small ledge over the edge of the wall above, you do not hit the coin but have to go a step back right. It takes 8s more before you reach the entrance that will take you down to the corridor going to the octopus and the box with horns. There were no more coins.]

:[Going back over the top of the ship to the entry you came up from the time before, where there were two rooms with a coin on each side of the shaft takes 20s. Your plan now to investigate what is down the shaft just before the peristalsis. It takes 3.5s to get there.]

:[Dropping all the way the bottom of this shaft you first pass a corridor to the left (1.8s), then one to the right (2.2s) (where you see a coin) and finally (3.5s) you get a coin ('''#73''') sitting inside the shaft before you are all the way down (4s) to a corridor going left and right. Just at the end of the shaft, and visible when you stand in the corridor below, is Ponytail flying up through the shaft with her arms stretched out in front of her. A line below her indicates that she is rising.]

:[Going left you reach a large room (6s) opening up to the bottom of the ship in the entire left side. The floor is only a thin ledge. In the right side of the room where you enter there is a car. A coin ('''#74''') is hanging over the car. You cannot stand on the car. When standing behind the car you cannot see the end of the room or the people in it. But as soon as you take the coin you see text and moving forward you see that Megan is standing at the edge of a ledge over the bottom of the ship looking down while talking to a blonde girl with hair bun.]
::Megan: Is this ship designed to fly in the atmosphere like this?
::Blonde girl with hair bun: Whatever. Who cares it’s probably fine.

:[From here you go back along the bottom of the hull to make sure that there is no coins here. Nothing new is discovered before you reach the previous entrance (16s). This is the one right below the octopus. After that you return to Megan and the blonde girl.]

:[Going back from the car under the shaft you reach (9s) a hole in the corridor floor with sharp spikes at the bottom. The hole is covered with sticks, like a trap. But you can fall into it. You cannot stand on top of the spikes. On the other side stand Cueball and a boy with black hair. Cueball throws some small things on top of the cover while telling the boy something:]
::Cueball: ...And we cover it with leaves so no one sees it.

:[Moving further down the corridor you reach a large room (3s). When you enter the room there is a step down (a Cueballs height). When you have just entered nothing can be seen in this room, and it is so high that you cannot see the ceiling. Moving forward it looks like a dead-end room. A little past the middle Cueball is standing looking at a big machine, it may be a huge spark gap consisting of two “simple-house” shaped electrodes, the bottom pointing its tip up the other pointing down. The two tips point directly at each other with a distance of a Cueballs height between them. You can stand there even though the two electrodes are connected with an electrical current streaming from one to the other. It could also look a little like the power source at the Death Stars’ center in Return of the Jedi? White text has been written on both electrodes. The bottom electrode is connected to the ground through a single thick wire. The top one is held in place by a large arm jutting out from the wall. It is thicker on top of the electrode and from here several wires connected down to the arm and another wire goes from the arm into the wall to the right above where the arm itself is connected to the wall. Behind the electrodes under the arm there is a coin ('''#75'''). You can only enter to get the coin through the gap between the electrodes.]
::Electrode bottom: JS
::Electrode top: JS

:[Going back out to Cueball you stand on top of him jumping up. The room is more than 3 full jumps high. The fourth jump takes you into a shaft in the ceiling (This makes it the highest room so far, and it is the highest rectangular room). It takes two more jumps to reach the top of this shaft, but it is a dead-end (though see later below about [[#Inside the cotton pit in the Star Destroyer|the cotton entry]]). There is a coin ('''#76''') at the top of the shaft, which you will just reach in 6 full jumps (3s). If you press repeatedly you get there in 2s. The drop takes 1.4s. If you go straight up as described you will fail to see the other wall of the room to the left. At the top of this wall another Cueball is hanging on to the wall just about a Cueballs height below the ceiling. To see him while standing still it is possible to stand on the wall by pressing the left arrow in. Cueball asks you to not tell about him:]
::Cueball: Shh.

:[Since this seemed to be a dead-end room you walk back the way you came to the shaft going up (7s) and then going up (4s) to the corridor going left. At the entrance was the coin ('''#77''') you saw when passing down earlier.]

:[Going down this corridor to the left you enter (7s) one of the bigger rooms (3 jumps high). In here Cueball and Megan are also using hoverboards, and they are even doing acrobatics with Cueball’s board pointing directly to the left with him standing parallel to the floor, as he is in the process of doing some kind of loop, as shown by the two lines trailing him. Megan is standing more erect, but she is lifting the board so it is in a 45 degree angle to the floor, and she has also just taken a swing as shown by her two lines to indicate this. Above Megan’s head and in the same height as Cueball’s head there is a coin ('''#78'''). The room is big enough that when standing under Megan you cannot see any of the walls or the ceiling. But the corridor continues to the left of the room.]

:[Moving from the center of the room down this corridor you reach (4s) a shaft going up and down. You can see the top where there is another corridor going left and right. To the right you can see a room right above you. You go up and right in here but this smaller dead-end room is empty. Then you move to the left along the corridor over the shaft and end up (4s) in another empty but larger dead-end room. So you move back (3s) and drop down the shaft (1.5s) into another large but completely empty dead-end room. Two jumps high and almost 3s wide. So without gaining anything even experiences after the hoverboard room you go back to the shaft from where you entered this section (15s).]

:[Going up the shaft (1.6s) takes you to a yet unexplored corridor to the right. Going down this corridor you pass a coin ('''#79''') in the corridor after 2s. Then after 5s you reach a point where the corridor expands mainly in a steep downward slope. At the top of the slope stands Ponytail looking left towards you, and she warns you:]
::Ponytail: Watch out for the cotton. It's a trap for someone, I think.

:[Moving past her and jumping across the room (3.7s) you find a coin ('''#80''') at the other side of the room just above the floor. But when you drop to the floor you fall for another 0.6s. You are now hidden beneath some surface. A jump makes you come up out of the floor, which must be made of cotton. From here you can see another room to the right with a coin and some text. But you have not picked it up yet. If you move right you just move out of the cotton up into the room. To go there immediately you can jump straight to [[#The cave inside the Star Destroyer|the cave section]]. Beneath here the cotton pit will be investigated in detail, but there are no coins, and you end up going out to the right, by just moving right from inside the pit.]

=====Inside the cotton pit in the Star Destroyer=====
*There are no coins in this section.
:[The floor down in the cotton must slope upwards. Going back to Ponytail you jump straight out to see how long it takes to fall from here. From the ceiling there is 1s drop. From there you can walk right back up to the left. So the floor also slopes up here. Maybe it is deeper in the middle? You try to float to the ceiling in the middle of the room and drop down here. Suddenly you fall for 1.6s. And you can suddenly see another shaft to the left close to where you must be. Trying to walk left up the slope makes you rise at first, but then you drop down a little and suddenly you appear into this shaft and then falls down to the Cueball that looked at the huge spark gap. So it was not a dead-end room after all, but the exit corridor was hidden at the top of the shaft with black cotton. As you have seen this room you go back up into the cotton. This also proves that although there were a secret passage to the spark room, it was not necessary to find this passage to see that room.]

:[When entering the cotton from the spark gap room shaft, so you can still see the left part of yourself, you try to move slowly forward, by just pushing the right arrow one time and then repeating. After 8 presses, just moving forward, as expected you fall a little down. There must be a step down here. If you just jump over, you can then walk back up to through the cotton to Ponytail. This will take 6s the first 3s below the surface. If you instead of jumping over the corridor to the left (to the spark gap room) continue to the right you will continue to go lower for eight more presses of the right arrow. From this deepest point it takes more than 6 full jumps to breach to surface and you won’t even reach the ceiling in 9 jumps making the room one of the deepest except for the two largest rooms. But of course you can only see 1/3 of this space. You can get out be pressing rapidly in 2.3s and reaching the ceiling in 3.2s.]

:[Continuing to the right from the very bottom of the cotton shaft for 30 more presses you will continue to rise up, but then the rise decreases as you again can see the coin in the shaft to the right in the frame. You will find that until the 30th press you would be able to jump. But not anymore as you are now in another corridor. Although this is still rising a little for the next 10 presses as you go more and more right. Finally on the 10th press you would arrive in the corridor with the coin, through yet another secret passage under the cotton. But you do not go through yet and wait with taking this coin until the next section when you have finished this investigation of the cotton pit. If you just keep the right arrow down it will still take almost 6s. By jumping you can make it faster, but if you jumped too high you could overshoot the corridor and end up above moving out of the cotton above. If you are just outside the corridor and jump and push once to the right it will make you land above the corridor. And then you can walk up out of the cotton to the right with about four more presses. It is actually possible to walk seven more steps up and out so you stand on the wall more than a Cueballs height above the cotton. In this was you are able to find a spot to stand on the wall just above the cotton, thus making it seem like the floor holds you.]

:[From the investigation above it is now clear that the cotton pit is rather deep. It is at least twice as deep as the room above the cotton. The bottom of the cotton pit is curving up in both directions so it is rounded. Although the walls seem rather steep you can climb them without jumping. To the left there is a corridor going to the spark gap room. This corridor is 8 presses of the arrow key long. Then you fall into the shaft down the room. The corridor is not a very long distance above the bottom of the cotton pit. You can jump above it and then walk out. On the other side you have to walk much longer up before you reach the corridor going right (30 presses). Then you enter the right corridor which continues to climb rather than going straight. And 10 more presses and you are out. If you jump above this you can also walk up out of the cotton even getting some distance above it standing on the wall.]

====The cave inside the Star Destroyer====
*There are 3 coins in this section of the Star Destroyer, no. 81-83.
:[Going back into the secret passage to the right you claim the coin ('''#81''') at the entrance to this corridor, and you now see the trap Ponytail was talking about. Four evil looking hammers smashing together from floor and ceiling with fitting jaws in between them. The first is open, the second has just smashed together, the third are fully open and the fourth has also just smashed together just opening again. Every time they hit together there is a loud sound.]
::Hammers left: Chomp Chomp
::Hammer right: Chomp

:[You run quickly by them without harm only (after 3s) to fall into a pit with flames at the bottom. You stand in the flames. But you can just jump out again; the pit is just more than one jump deep.]

:[Having gone past all these secret passageways and traps you finally after 3.6s more find out what the fuss was all about as you enter the largest room in the ship and suddenly find yourself in a meadow with trees and a small lake. When you just enter, the roof, now looking cave like, rises quickly above you to four full jumps height, and it continues to rise above this. The grass appears on the ground as soon as you are in. This cavern is huge enough that it at first seems you are back on the ground with grass, trees a small gazebo (a pavilion structure) and several animals and relaxing people. But the cave does have a ceiling and there is a pit going upwards from the center and a corridor going further on the other side.]

:[Once you move into this garden you see a tree standing on the edge of a small hill at the bottom of which is a small lake with typical lake plants on the banks on each side. Going through the lake you sink into the water so only the top of your head shows out in the middle. After the lake there is a large rock, more than one jump high – you have to jump to get up. On top of this lies a puma like cat looking right, with Cueball lying right in front of it also on the rock. After that there is a small gazebo with four columns visible. (It is likely that they cover the four other since such a gazebo typically have eight). A coin ('''#82''') is inside the gazebo. You can walk through the gazebo, but you can also jump on top and stand on it. Behind the gazebo stands Cueball who looks to the right at Ponytail and tells her something:]
::Cueball: I know it seems weird, but every Star Destroyer has one of these rooms.
::Cueball: Say what you will about Palpatine's politics, but he's a staunch supporter of the imperial parks and the Coruscant Audubon society.

:[So this is Palpatine's park. After this there is a little hill with a small tree and then comes a Cueball with bow and arrows walking left towards you. Behind him is a deer with antlers and later three insects flying over the high grass. And then the cave ceiling comes down to the ground level again as the cave ends and a new corridor goes right. The last short part of the cave is completely level with the corridor but still with grass until just before the cave turns into the corridor. It takes 11s to move across the cave flying over any obstacles, but at least 13 along the ground as you get stuck about three times in each direction.]

:[At this point you realize you have to check the ceiling of the cave as well. You start from the right end moving up along the cave wall. 1.6s up you find a shelf in the cave wall, with a little ledge jutting out. Black Hat is sitting there head down, arms on his knees, snoring:]
::Black Hat: Zzz

:[From the sleeping man’s ledge you can see a yellow lamp a little further up and to the left. The yellow light is of course a coin ('''#83'''), but it is here part of the scenery as it has attracted a swarm of 12 buzzing insects (point like in the drawing). Once you take the coin the stick that “held” the lamp now looks like the remains of a broken (exploded) light bulb. A 13th insect was hidden under the lamp to the left.]
::Insects: ''Bzzzzz''

:[Continuing to the left you reach the shaft going up in about 5s. Going down close to the other side takes about 6s because you hit the wall. Doing this you should be unlucky not to notice the three birds that fly right over the deepest part of the lake. When standing there it still takes three full jumps to reach high enough to see them in the frame, and five jumps to reach the birds (2s up and 1.4s down). There are four more jumps to the ceiling. If you go up along the ceiling from the left entrance it is likely that you can go so close to the wall that you fail to see them. Going back up to the shaft it’s actually possible to find a foothold inside it just above the cave to the left. If you fall down into the park from there, a 2s drop, you land on the puma on the rock. The shaft is just a little left of the center of the cave compared to the entrances. The center of the cave is just left of the gazebo. The tallest parts of the cave, which is not part of the shaft, are two protrusions up in the ceiling left and right of the shaft. As the ground level is higher after the rock to the right, and you sink into the lake at the left, the tallest distance is from the right part of the lake, under one of these protrusions. Here there are more than 9 jumps to the ceiling and it takes 3.2s to get up as fast as possible and then 2s to fall down. This is the same as in the cotton room. As it will turn out you can get to the other two entries from other directions, so again – failing to realize there was a secret entry through the cotton would not cheat you from seeing either of the rooms connected through the cotton pit. But this entrance to the most peaceful room of the Destroyer, through the pit and the traps is the most thrilling… Of course you do not know this yet, if following this path through the Destroyer. You now leave the cave and this section. It took 1m 30s to look through the cave.]

====Around and above the cave inside the Star Destroyer====
*There are 12 coins in this section of the Star Destroyer, no. 84-95.
:[You leave the cave through the corridor to the right. Just before you leave the grass behind and enter the corridor you can see a man with spiky black hair walking left toward you. Moving right you pass under a shaft going up (1.7s) then reach a steep incline (3s) that you climb in 1.2s. Then you reach a small pit in the floor (0.5s later) where a Cueball looking up seems to be trapped at the bottom. There seems to be a bridge/lid on top. You can fall through it though (<0.5s). A single jump makes you hit the ceiling above the corridor. Moving further along (0.5s) there is a domed ceiling (less than a jump high). At the top of the dome there is a small black square protruding. It is some kind of alarm which is going off:]
::Alarm: …Beep…
::Alarm: …Beep…
::Alarm: …Beep…

:[After the alarm you get to the end of the corridor (1s) where a shaft is leading up. The trip through this corridor can be taken in less than 9s. From the bottom of the corridor you can see a coin in the next corridor above. Jumping up, just a little higher than a single jump, you grab the coin ('''#84''') that lies to the left in front of three boxes, one on top of the other two in a small pyramid. You can jump on top of the first, but cannot pass the second on top. But it is also a dead-end.]

:[Going right from there you pass yet another domed ceiling (2s) and then enter a large room (4s) also with walls curving up (though not a complete dome). From the lowest part to the highest part there are almost two jumps and it takes 2.7s to pass through. But since there is a raised pedestal in the middle of the room with three steps there is nowhere you can jump twice without hitting the ceiling. Before the central part of the pedestal on the first step to the left is Cueball. He is talking to a giant ant queen sitting on the central part of the pedestal If you jump over her, one jump is just enough to pass over her if you keep down the arrow key and jump from within her antennas, which you can walk through. The rest of her you can stand on. She is facing Cueball:]
::Cueball: What's up?
::Ant queen: The usual. Poopin' out ants.
::Cueball: Eww.

:[After the queen ant there is a yet another domed but dead-end room, with a coin ('''#85'''). Since there are 169 coins this coin takes you past halfway through the collection.]

:[Going back to the shaft up right after leaving the cave (16s) you go up with the missing exploration of the shaft going up from the cave in mind. So you will first go left if there are corridors in both directions. Going up 3.8s you reach a corridor to the left. Moving down here you enter a room (2.3s) with a chandelier with six light bulbs three on each side of the chain holding it to the ceiling. Above and on each side of the chain there are coins ('''#86''') and ('''#87'''). You need more than one jump to get up on the chandelier. You can stand on the arm with the bulb. But walk through the bulbs and the chain.]

:[Going back and up the shaft you pass a corridor (6s) to the right, but as you are looking for a way back left you continue and after 7s (from the chandelier room) you enter a corridor to the left. After 3s you reach a large room, the corridor comes in at the top of the room with a little ledge hanging out over the edge. The room is not deeper than you can just see the floor from up there. Below the ledge Hairy is playing a piano (three separate drawings of different notes flows up from the piano). You can stand on the piano, but not on the chair. Before you move further into the room you can just see a girl dancing at the far left of the frame. When you jump into the room you see that it is Cueball who is spinning Megan around on the dance floor, with her flowing dress billowing around her. Lines indicate she is spinning rather fast. This room is above the large cave. It is 2 jumps high and it takes 2.3s to move from the top of the piano to the corridor that leaves the room in floor height at the left.]

:[Continuing down the corridor to the left for 10s you end up under a shaft going up. As you have a feeling you are past the cave you go up this shaft and find the mining party you discovered after finding the way around the peristalsis corridor. You thus go back down again (1s) but remember that you came here from a corridor below where you never went to the right. You thus continue to the left for 1.8s and drop down the shaft at the end of this corridor (1.8s). The corridor below goes both ways as you knew, and you now go right away from the peristalsis corridor.]

:[After 5s you reach a shaft going down, and right on the other side is a dead-end with a coin. ('''#88'''). You drop down the shaft (0.5s) into a corridor going left and right, but you can see the left is another dead end but with a coin ('''#89'''). Going right you reach (3s) a shaft up. You can see the corridor above going right and see that it leads to an opening. This opening fills the space on the other side of the wall you are standing up against. This space is higher than the screen and you cannot see if it is just a shaft from here. Going up 0.7s and right you can see it is a very wide shaft. It is twice as wide as usual. When you jump up into it you see a room above with coins. Going up there (1.2s) you enter at the center of a small rectangular room with two shelves in it, one on each side of the room. There are coins ('''#90''') and ('''#91''') on each shelf and also coins ('''#92''') and ('''#93''') in each of the two rooms below each shelf.]

:[Dropping down from the top shelve you fall past the corridor to the left (1s) and after 2s you enter the cave from the shaft and land on the rock (3.2s) with the puma. So you found the entry through the cave roof. It takes 6s to go all the way up again. This is not the tallest drop so far (there was a shaft going past the normal entry to the cotton room that was much deeper.) But it is so far the longest drop that will make you end up in a room rather than a corridor. You have no proven you can get into the cave without using the cotton entry – the two other exits are not dead-ends!]

:[Since you were not finished with the shaft going up between the cave and the ant queen room you go out of the cave to the right (8s) and up the shaft. Since you still wish to make sure you have seen everything to the right you go all the way up past corridors to the left both after 7s and 9s. You hit the top of the shaft in 9.7s where a corridor goes to the left. This makes it the deepest shaft so far, clear evidence that the Destroyer becomes thicker and thicker.]

:[Going left (3.6s) you reach a stair case (34 steps) leading up to the top of the ship. There is a small fence (breast height) to the right protecting people going left from falling down the stairs from the wrong side. You cannot walk through it. It takes about 2.5s to get up the stair (1.8s down). On the way up you pass a slinky falling between steps 18-19 from the top. It makes a sound that is written along the stairs above:]
::Slinky: Slink slink slink

:[Back on the top you go back left to ensure you haven’t missed a coin. Going left you pass a step (two Cueball heights) down (1.8s) then pass (3s) a group of kids playing basketball. Cueball, Ponytail and Megan are standing just behind the basketball board with hoop looking to the left (you can stand on the hoop itself. The rest of the board you can walk/jump through). They have no ball. This is because another Cueball kid has dropped the ball and he is now running after it (you pass him after 4.7s), but it runs away from him on the loooong downslope, and it is already 0.8s ahead of him. Passing this scene you find (8.6s from the stair) a coin ('''#94''') and after 10.5s you reach the shaft going down to the corridor that goes to the mining party.]

:[From here you go back up to the stair (15s) and down to the deep shaft. The shaft is almost 5s deep. But you only go down to the corridor going right, which can be seen from the top shaft where you are standing.]

:[You move right for 2.7s then you enter a large dead-end room that takes 2s to traverse and is more than one jump high. The people in the room are hanging down from the ceiling. (Or rather standing there). This being a spaceship with artificial gravity, this may actually not be so strange... The first person you see is a Cueball who walks towards the left (just past the middle of the room) away from four other standing in two groups of two. The first group consists of a Megan and a Ponytail and almost at the right end of the room stands another Megan holding something and another Cueball holding a wine glass. Both hair and wine stays as if they were the ones standing on the floor. After these there is a coin ('''#95''') in the upper right corner. This ends this section of the Destroyer where you have used about 5m 20s.]

====The Prince of Persia maze inside the Star Destroyer====
*There are 4 coins in this section of the Star Destroyer, no. 96-99.
:[Dropping back down the long shaft you fall 1.6s and then enter the next corridor going right. This is the last unexplored from this shaft. Moving right for 2.5 s you pass a coin ('''#96''') and after 5s the corridor stops at a shaft going up. You can see a room above with a thin ledge that you can go above and another drop to the right and a corridor going right.]

:[Jumping up (more than one jump) you find yourself in a rather large maze with levels that are hard to pass and tight pits hard to ascend. Three coins are positioned in the maze (counted when described below) so you have to move a certain route to get them. There are also five Cueballs and several traps/pits with spikes. It should be almost a complete depiction of Level 1 of the computer game ''Prince of Persia''. There are three coins in this maze all on the top level (no 97-99). Below a very detailed description of this maze will be given, and here the three coins are numbered. But if you just wish to go through taking the coins and continuing to the other side you can jump straight to the [[#The room with a glitch floor in the Star Destroyer|Glitch floor section]].]

=====The details of the maze inside the Star Destroyer=====
*There are 3 coins in the maze, no. 97-99.
:[When you get up into the maze you stand beneath a thin ledge that goes above the entry shaft and almost to the next wall, or rather a construction hanging in the air (or from a wall). There is just enough space to jump up through the gap or move right and fall a step down where a corridor leads away. When standing under this gap you can see the following: Above the gap there is another thin ledge, so you have to push fast to get up on the first ledge. This ledge is a continuation of the top of the construction which then continues to the right. At the end there is a wall up. On the other side there is a broad shaft down. But at the bottom it tightens to only half the width between the construction, which becomes wider at the bottom, and another straight wall. It is though possible to get up and down there, without too much difficulty. Above the second ledge there is a third floating in the air. It stops before the wall on top of the construction so you can jump up there. A Cueball is jumping of this ledge to the left. Across from his jump on the left wall is a step in the wall above the first ledge. And above this step there are three small ledges. You can stand on all the ledges and steps described. If you jump up to the ledge of the jumping Cueball you see another square construction, with a smaller step to the right. Above it there is a corridor where a Cueball is standing looking left with a coin ('''#97''') in front of him. This is the highest level of corridors. It is above the top ledge to the left. Moving right there is a step and then you step of this square and down to a ledge forming a corridor to the right. This was the first section going right.]

:[Moving down this ledge you find it has a small hole in the center although it continues. Going down this hole and moving right in the corridor below you can place yourself so you can only just see the edge of the first section described before. From her you can see both top and bottom of this second section. At the end of the thin ledge you came down through is a black rectangle. You can jump up and continue right on this corridor. To the right it widens out to twice normal height. In continues after the rectangle, but on a thin ledge. Below this, there is another corridor with a thin ledge as floor. On this floor there is a coin at the edge of this section. You cannot take it yet. Below are three more ledges like this and then the floor. You are standing on another larger rectangular structure, with a smaller rectangle at the top left. In the middle of this is a thin shaft down to a small square room. It is difficult to position yourself correctly to go up or down this shaft. The lowest level corridor from the left ends here going into the middle of this room’s wall. This was the second section going right.]

:[Moving further along on the middle path, you move under the middle of the five ledges, it turns out to be just a short ledge not connected to anything else. You cannot get up to the coin yet. The ledge you are on stops and you can go down to the ledge below. Or you can jump up to yet another black structure. Jumping over the first part of this (a small rectangle) you can fall down to a corridor on the same level again, this covers the rest of this structure which is also a rectangle with the long side down. It is just connected to the small part at the top left edge. Standing behind this you can see the entire 3rd section with the coin now in the left part of the screen. The ledge you could jump down to on the left, is a dead end. But you can jump into a shaft to the right of the structure. But a thin ledge going over half the shaft again makes this a small hole, although the shaft below is normal width. To the right of the shaft there is no new rooms in sight. The shaft becomes even wider in the last half, where a corridor goes back left. At the end of this corridor there is four sharp spikes protruding out of the floor. Above them is a shaft up below the ledge you could not get under. Here are two steps up, but you cannot step directly up from the middle step as a thin ledge also hangs out over the end of the top floor, you can jump up though, but it is dead end. Above at the coin level you can jump up to another ledge above it (making it 7 different levels down (6 ledges) over the edge of this new ledge.) That ledge continues on to a long rectangular structure. In the middle of this there is a Cueball looking left with a sword pointing down. To get the coin you need to get back left and up and then get the coin ('''#98''') and run past him. This ends the third section going right.]

:[After Cueball the corridor continues a while but then there is a shaft down, again with a thin ledge going out over the hole. Beneath the first ledge is another ledge halfway across the shaft and at the bottom of this a ledge coming out the other way. This is a short corridor going left. The ledge has a hole a third way down, but on the other side of the hole is a coin ('''#99'''). That end is a dead end. Below the hole is a longer corridor. To the left it ends in a ledge going almost out over the shaft going down from the 3rd section. The corridor from the left goes under this ledge and hits a wall which is the floor of the one you are now standing on. A little part of that way from the hole you came down through is a shaft into a tiny room with four sharp spikes. When standing in this you can see this entire section, except the ceiling of the top floor. The corridor continues right and takes a step down. On the top corridor where you came down the corridor continues right after the hole. Here is again a structure with a small square on top of the end of a rectangular structure twice the length. After that it becomes even deeper. On this step down before it becomes deeper stands a Cueball looking right. This ends the 4th section.]

:[The maze comes to an end here. Where Cueball is standing there is a ledge coming out above that only leads to a dead end corridor. Going under the ledge there is a thin hole down to another corridor going right. Here is a shaft that again is made thinner because a ledge comes out from the step that is on the wall to the right. Under this shaft is a long corridor. To the left it connects with the corridor coming from the lower corridor from the right. Going right you are about to exit the maze. To guard the exit is another Cueball with a sword half raised for fight. This ends the 5th section and the maze.]

:[Leaving from the last shaft past Cueball takes you to the exit of the maze in 2s. It is a small rectangular room, with a last ledge coming out over the entrance corridor to the left; the last remnant of the maze. A shaft goes up in the ceiling. It would take about 21s to enter the maze in one end, grab the three coins and get to the exit in the other end (either way). If you did not need to grab coins you can pass through the maze in 14s. It takes about 2m 45s to move everywhere in them maze.]

====The room with a glitch floor in the Star Destroyer====
*There are 9 coins in this section of the Star Destroyer, no. 100-108, including the one floating 1.5s below the Destroyer.
:[Going up the shaft for 1.5s you reach a corridor to the right. You try this before going further up. Less than 2s later you reach a shaft going down. This turns out to be the deepest shaft, and longest possible fall inside the Destroyer. You jump in and pass (2s) a coin ('''#100'''), then (3.8s) you pass Cueball and a Megan who is holding on to each other to prevent them from falling further down by holding on to each other and pressing their feet to each side of the pit:]
::Cueball: Okay
::Cueball: We can figure this out.
:[A shaft leads off to the left (5s) and first after 6s you reach the end of the fall when the pit ends in a room. It will take 13s to get up again. This is not only the longest fall possible inside the Destroyer. As it ends up in a room, it beat that record held by the cave.]

:[Going back up (2s) to the corridor to the left to explore the direction back first, you move down this corridor for almost 18s before you reach a shaft going down. From here you can see a room on the other side of the shaft and another corridor going off left just down the shaft which continues further down. This makes this the longest corridor where nothing happens.]

:[Jumping over the shaft you enter a small dead-end room with a coin ('''#101''') From here you can see that he corridor going left below goes into a room. Jumping down the shaft passing the corridor you end up (1.1s) in another dead-end room twice the size of the previous and with two coins ('''#102''') and ('''#103'''), one just left and one further away right compared to the shafts entry.]

:[Going back up (1s) you continue down the corridor to the left for 1.7s and enter a big room that opens up down down down. It takes 5s to follow the curving wall down to the bottom. Here is a black warning sign with white text. On top of the sign there is a coin ('''#104'''). The “!” at the top is black but it is put inside a circle of white at the top of the triangular sign:]
::!
::Caution:
::Glitchfloor.
:[After the sign there is a typical "wet floor" sign pointing towards right (and you), also with an exclamation mark, this time inside a white triangle. A few meters away to the left is another identical "wet floor" sign but pointing the other way.]
::!
::!
:[Cueball is standing on the other side of this second sign looking left. Something must be wrong with the floor. And you find out what they mean by glitchfloor when you step out on to the glitch between the two glitchfloor warning signs. The floor does not support you in an area between these signs and you fall straight down. In you surprise you forget to jump up for just a short time, and suddenly after about 1.5s you fall through a coin ('''#105''') than hang suspended a fairly long distance under the ship. You could easily have jumped up again before seeing the coin. Maybe there could be other coins like this under other exits? Having seen the coin you decide to fall further down. But there are no more coins before you hit the ground in some grassy hills. It took 6s to fall down. But you did get a coin. If you had only wished to get the coin it would have taken you almost 4s to get down there and up again (2s up). Getting back up from the ground takes almost 13s and then continuing inside the room you find that it takes more than 3s to hit the ceiling of this very big room. (16s rise in total.) The room is almost 10 jumps high from the bottom and it takes 3.2s to get from there to the ceiling (2s down) making it as high as the cave room. But it takes just short of 9s to pass through it if you jump through the air at the top where it is widest, compared to 11s in the cave, so this is only the 2nd largest room in the Destroyer. So it is a large room! But there is nothing above the floor. The entry and exit in each side are at the top, and then the glitch exit at the bottom is the only interesting feature of this completely inverted dome room. It is actually placed almost directly beneath the cave, the center of the cave above the left exit of this room. So two identical height domes with their flat part close to each other. This makes for an almost circular structure inside the ship. Because the room is so large it will take some time to go up and down to make sure there is nothing else in the air, like the birds in the cave. But there is nothing! Passing down the curved walls from the right going left low over the walls/floor and then up the other side you will after 2.3s pass through the rest of the ships bottom hull, then after 5s you pass the glitch, and after 10s the floor again goes inside the rest of the hull. Finally after about 13s you are up and ready to move down the corridor to the left. It means that for about 8s you move fairly vertical in a downwards pointing dome that protrudes out from the belly of the space ship. The five other seconds are mainly horizontal up and down the end of the half circle. It is a big feature on the ship’s hull. By far the largest seen so far.]

:[Moving out of the dome room to the left you move down the corridor for 8s before reaching a shaft going up and down. Above you can see it expands into another corridor going both ways. Going up here and right you enter a large empty dead-end room.]

:[Going out of the room to the left passing over the shaft you reach (3s) a spiral structure, where the corridor continues around in an inwards spiral taking two turns before you end up in the middle. It took about 12s to reach here from the other room, and then back out you end up at the shaft in about 23s. There was nothing in the spiral.]

:[Dropping down the shaft you exit the space ship below in 1.4s. Since you haven’t been over the hull to the left from here you go back along the hull to look for coins. Already after 4s there is a small protrusion in the ship’s hull and just before this there is a coin ('''#106''') and after this (6s) there is another coin ('''#107'''). From there it takes in total 21s to reach the ledge where Megan wonders if the ship is designed to fly in the atmosphere. Going back from here you realize you have investigated the part of the ship after the glitchfloor, but not the hull between the exit you came from and the glitch. So you go back from there to the glitch and enter the ship through there. It takes 32s (12s from the entry you came out of before.)]

:[You now go back from the glitch to the longest shaft and goes down to the room you once drooped into without exploring. It takes about 30s. After 6s you have to change corridors through the small shaft and then go back through the very long corridor that is quite uneven. Finally you drop the 1.3s down.]

:[You find yourself in a large room (2.5 jump high and 2.3s wide) with a giant light bulb. The bulb lies in the middle of the room and you can stand on it. If you stand on the black screw base to the right you cannot see either ceiling or the walls in of the room. The filament is visible in the bulb to the left. When you are standing on the highest point of the bulb you can see both ceiling with shaft and the left wall.]

:[Exiting the bulb room through a corridor to the right you enter a shaft (2.3s) going up and down. Going up first you enter a dead-end room in 1.6s. It is rather large (>2 jump high and wider) but empty except for Hairbun who is telling something to a guy with flat black hair:]
::Hairbun: Use a proposition instead of a preposition if you need something to end a sentence with, baby.

:[Going down the shaft you exit the ship at the bottom in about 2s. Just before you exit you get a coin ('''#108'''). By standing on the wall inside the shaft (possible) where the coin was you can see that the coin was obviously falling down the shaft as there are drawn moving lines to where it hit the wall with a bouncing sound, and to where it was when you grabbed it:]
::Coin: Bounce

:[After your experience in the glitch room with a coin under the ship you take the fall all the way down, but there is no more coins. You end up on a small pedestal just higher than Cueball in 6.2s. Going back up takes 13.3s. Once more you find that you need to check for coins under the ship’s hull and move back towards the glitch floor again. After 7s you pass Megan who hangs on to the hull below. Since you have nothing to stand on it is difficult to get a real good look at her. She is fidgeting trying to hold on with both arms:]
::Megan Hmm.

:[Continuing down left under the hull you find another small protrusion (13s to 15s) but this time there are not coins. After 17s you pass a small canon and then after 26s you enter through the glitch. Remembering the pain of going back from the glitch you go back along the hull. This ends this section.]

====The bridge of the Star Destroyer====
*There are 15 coins in this section of the Star Destroyer, no. 109-123.
:[Entering from below the ship you know that there are several shafts above you (where you have explored the first couple of corridors and rooms going off. It would thus be interesting to see how long it will take to get up to the top of this increase, i.e. up and through the bulb room, up the very long shaft and then up the shaft above the maze and then on? It takes about 26s. First 4s to get to the bulb room, leaving up the long shaft from 6s to 18s, then into and up the shaft above the maze, into new territory and after 23 passing a room to the left with coins (for pick-up later) and then after 25s a corridor going left and finally 26s you enter a large room where you from the ceiling are able to see the top of the ship’s hull just a jumps height away. You have thus moved from under the ship to the top, in the tallest end of the ship.]

:[The dead-end room at the top of these deep shaft is 1.5 jumps high and 1.5s wide. In the room a guy with a small black hat (or weird hair) is walking right while talking to the emperor (Palpatine with the cave park) who walk in front of him (or glide as he is in a black cloak). They are looking at a box on legs with two wires coming in from the floor behind the leg closest to the emperor and two other wires going out the other side of the box. At least one bird is inside it. Behind the box on a pedestal is a chair facing the box. The chair is up against the right wall. You can stand both on the box and on the chair. From there you can see a step down in the top of the outer hull. This is the first time you have seen the hull decrease in height while going right. Indicating we are close to the end of the ship, where obviously the more important people are located!]
::Guy: My emperor...
::Guy: We all share in your newfound enthusiasm for birdwatching.
::Guy: But normally one watches them in the wild, rather than drugging and imprisoning them in a house of stairs.
::Emperor: ''Silence.''
::Bird: Chirp
::Bird: Chirp

:[Going back down the shaft taking the corridor to the left you reach (4s) a low ceilinged room where Cueball, talking to Megan behind him to the right, is pointing towards five black boxes with large white dollar signs and there are also three smaller bags with similar but smaller dollar signs. Before the first bag, on the step of the first box, above and between the two top boxes, behind the two bags on the top left box, and on the two steps down formed by the last two boxes are six coins ('''#109'''), ('''#110'''), ('''#111'''), ('''#112'''), ('''#113''') and ('''#114'''). You can stand on the boxes not the bags.]
::Bags: $ $ $
::Boxes: $ $ $ $ $
::Cueball: Aha! Darth Vader's secret gold bullion reserves! We'll be rich!
::Megan: I'm not sure this is canon.

:[It takes 3s to pass from the entrance of the money room to the shaft behind the small corridor exiting the room to the left. Going all the way up passing two corridors to the left you end up (3s) in a short corridor going into a large room to the left. Jumping into the middle you realize this is a circular room, with a coin ('''#115''') in the middle, which takes 1.3s to reach, and then you reach the other side of the room (on a diameter) in 2.6s total. A circle with this diameter is just above 5 jumps high, and it takes 1.7s to get up and 1.4s to fall down again. Apart from the entrance corridor, the inner room is a perfect circle. Apart from about a jump above the entrance and then 3s move to the left, where this circle is connected to the rest of the hull, the rest is entirely outside the hull, with a rather thin wall (maybe made of glass). At the very top of this outer circle there is a flat area. Apart from there it is also perfectly circular outside. So although it is not as big a room as the glitchfloor room, this outside feature is much more pronounced. It turns out it is used as a "Globe of death" but not for motorcycles (maybe low gravity makes this possible). In this globe one Megan rides on her bicycle at the top left her head pointing down. She is going down the left side with four speeding lines behind her. Ponytail is almost at the bottom racing on an ostrich towards right with a lance and coming the other way towards Ponytail is another Megan also racing on a bike but with another lance. Both of them are having four speed lines after them indicating the extreme speed they will soon meet with. It is a dead-end and you leave the way you came.]

:[Leaving the Globe of Death going down the shaft to the corridor below to the left you enter (2.3s) a very small dead-end room where Cueball is sitting on the floor just inside the entrance. There are three square boxes on the floor one behind the other, with too little space between them for you to go down between them. Ponytail is sitting on the first box looking down on Cueball.]

:[Going back to the shaft and dropping to the next corridor to the left (1s) you enter a large dead-end room (4s) that turns out to be the bridge of the Destroyer. It is almost 2 jumps high and 1.9s wide. From the top right you can see the bottom of the Globe above, and top left you see people standing outside at an antenna. Outside the room is outside the ship, and the ship’s hull is vertical here! You will go there later. Farthest right at a big window stands Cueball looking out while having his hands on the control board standing as a small black trapeze-like structure in front of the window (you can stand on it). Behind him to the right in the middle of the room (closer to the corridor where you entered) is Darth Wader (helmet and all) with his hand lifted talking to Hairy. It is clear that Darth Vader breathes heavily as this is written in bobbles with breaking frames, before each sentence:]
::Darth Vader: ''Breathe''
::Darth Vader: But Steven's ''mother'' is a crystal gem,
::Darth Vader: ''Breathe'')
::Darth Vader: so he's half- Are you getting all this?
::Hairy: Yes, my Lord!
:[Darth Vader is referencing the Steven Universe tv-series. Steven and his family is on board the ship, you have meat them earlier!]

:[Leaving the room along the corridor going down the shaft to the right you end up in a corridor going back left under the bridge. Here you enter (10s) a dead-end room of just more than one jump height and 1.5s long. In this room two Cueballs are walking left towards the end of the room, which is also a window out of the elevated ship hull with the bridge and globe. Behind them at the end of the room to the left is a coin ('''#116'''). The front Cueball turns and talks to the taller Cueball behind:]
::Cueball: The fault, dear Tarkin, is not in our star destroyers, but in ourselves.

:[Leaving Tarkin’s room going up the shaft and through the money room you go down the shaft under the emperors room and into the next corridor left where you enter the small room with two coins ('''#117''') and ('''#118''') that you saw coming up. They are placed on top of each other in the middle of the room.]

:[On the other side of the small coins room is a shaft going up and down. Going down (1s) and left in the corridor (3s in all) takes you to a medium seized dead-end room (1 jump high and 1.7s wide). Hairbun is pointing left while talking to Ponytail. They are standing in front of a system of gas containers with several pipes going out from them (one from each of the 8 containers). All the pipes are connected to a larger box at the left end. This box is connected with a thick socket to the wall close to the floor and also a wire comes out from the wall and splits in two before connecting higher up with the box. You can stand on all this and there is a coin ('''#119''') at the farthest end of the room.]
::Hairbun: In the event of a fire on one of the decks, this system will seal it off and pump in pure oxygen.
::Ponytail: Wait, ''Oxygen?'' Not a fire suppressant like-
::Hairbun: Ugh, ''boring''.

:[From there you go back to the shaft (3.3s) up this shaft (1.7s) and down the corridor to the left reaching a ledge in 11s total. Ponytail stands at the end of this corridor where a ledge hangs out over a drop. She stands behind a small fence, (you can stand on this), throwing out a paper plane above it. A line indicates the planes curving path. A coin ('''#120''') is floating right over the plane. Above the ledge is a ceiling. The wall that the corridor came out off is going down in a steep incline to the left. The incline also continues above the corridor up to the ceiling, just less than one jump above. When you grab the coin there is a drop down of 1.4s.]

:[Down from Ponytails ledge you jump up again to the ceiling and a little further out you realize that you must now be beneath the bridge, and thus you are now outside on the hull. It was thus not a large room inside the ship, but a part that is actually outside but under an overhang. You do see a coin up along the wall up to the bridge. But since it is a long time since you have been outside, you will go down along the hull to see if there are any coins down to the last place you entered the ship from the top.]

:[Going down the hull you find a coin ('''#121''') after 2.5s. Then you pass (9s) a cowboy sitting with two reins holding on to the ship like he is riding it as a horse:]
::Cowboy: Giddyayup!
:[Then you get another coin ('''#122''') after 15s and after 19s you reach the entrance with the stair and the slinky. You can now move back and up along the bridge section of the hull.]

:[Going back not having to look for coins and also only going to the bridge and not under this to Ponytail only takes about 12s if you keep high enough to see the bottom of the bridge. If you are below there is 2s rise up to the bottom and at the front edge there is the coin ('''#123''') you saw before going your way down the hull.]

:[Going up you pass both Tarkin’s room (1s higher) then Darth Vader on the bridge (1s higher again) and then finally 2s after you land on top of the roof of the bridge. Both the rooms you passed could be viewed from the outside (all text etc). (Did you came another way here, you would see a coin in Tarkins room, that you then had to find your way too). On top of the bridge was the scene you could also see when jumping to the ceiling inside on the bridge: It is also just outside, below and to the left, of the globe. Cueball is looking at Megan fixing a parabolic disc for satellite TV. The disk sits on a tall slim box with two wires going in and out of it from top to bottom.]
::Megan: Such a pain adjusting his thing every time we move

:[Moving to the right you can stand under the Globe where Ponytail comes down on an ostrich. You cannot see Megan coming the other way. Now you jump up to the top of the Globe (5s) where you can see the Megan on the inside top of the Globe. Here is the flat piece of the circle. You cannot know it yet, but standing here you are standing on the highest piece of black in the entire comic! One other floating rock comes close, but this wins by a nose. This ends this section, where you have used 4 30s.]

====The back end of the Star Destroyer====
*There are 3 coins in this section of the Star Destroyer, no. 124-126.
:[Jumping down from the globe to the right you hit a flat piece of the hull beneath the globe (2s) then jump down a large step to hit a large crocodile lying here looking right (you cannot stand on top of it), then you pass (7s) the scene with the emperor and his bird. But you cannot see the last two lines of the guy (and thus neither of the persons), although you can see a little of the rooms floor as you after 9s pass another step down (the one visible from inside that room), so you can see the bird chirp and part off the box and chair; annoying if you had not seen it from inside first. Finally after 13s you reach what might be the end of the ship. There is a steep decline, although it still slopes towards the right. So you are not at the very back yet.]

:[Going out over the edge you fall down this long steep decline. After 1.7s you grab a coin ('''#124''') and after 5s you pass a very small shelf into the back of the Destroyer. At this point the slope right stops and the ship begin to slope left in under the upper part of the ship. The shelf is big enough for you and there is a coin ('''#125''').]

:[Continuing down following the left slope inwards you fall for 2s and then the slope turns outwards again to the right but the decline continues. Right where the slopes change there is a corridor going left into the ship, but it only takes 1.8s to reach the end of the small room you enter. It is just little more than a jump high, dead-end and empty.]

:[Going out again and dropping down right again the slope stops already after 0.7s to be replaced by a sheer drop. After 2.8s (total) the ship slopes inward quite a lot, but then slopes just as much out for a total of a 1s drop. At the bottom of this drop is a less steep shelf on which Cueball is sitting and he has just dropped his sandwich which now will plunge out over the edge of the ship. Just in front of his bouncing sandwich (shown bouncing with a line) is a coin ('''#126'''). You will soon find out that this was the last coin connected with the Star Destroyer.]
::Cueball: My sandwich!
:[Dropping from Cueballs shelf you land on yet another shelf 1.6s below. On this piece of the backside of the ship, the ship is still sloping to the right. Right beneath this shelf the ship goes a very little further out, (you could stand there). This is the farthest right you can get while standing on the Destroyer. You can see that the hull seems to go back left just below at the bottom of the screen. On the shelf a Megan is leaning up against the ship’s hull to the left while another Megan stands close to the edge looking slightly down and right. She is the one talking:]
::Megan: I want synesthesia so bad I can ''taste'' it.
:[Since this is further out right than Cueball and his sandwich just above it is not unlikely that Megan will get the sandwich in the head (maybe knocking her off.)]

:[Your final job on the exploration of the Destroyer is to jump of the back end to go back under the hull to the last entry (7s) which is the one where there were a bouncing coin. Seeing this and not finding anymore coins you go back to the back-end of the ship]

:[Standing on the back-end of the Destroyer at the very top it will take 11.5s to fall/move to the bottom, (you cannot fall straight the whole way due to the incline to begin with.) It takes 21s to get back up again. From the end of the ship where Megan is standing looking down it takes 6 seconds to fall down to the ground, although you end up standing on a floating piece of grass and earth right below the ships end. This seems to have been ripped out of the ground and is floating several meters above the hole it has left in the ground. You can stand in the hole. If you jump you hit the earth underneath the floating piece. You can get up in top from down the hole in just one jump. You will then hit the side and can move left/right up on top. Maybe this small piece of floating land has a relation to the floating rock that hangs on the left side of the play area? You can get back up to the bottom of the Destroyer again in 13s (70-80 repeating presses of up arrow). If you jump of the ship from the top while pressing the right arrow key repeatedly after you leave the edge of the ship you will hit the ground in about 19s right around where White Hat lays in so tall grass you only sees his head. From there it only takes 26s over the ground and then a final jump to reach the right end of this world. The rest of the description of the right part of the world will be the one at ground level, and it will start from the end going back. It will only be a few items you would have seen going there, but if you jumped through the air from the star destroyer you could get there without seeing anything. Going up from the top of the nest at the end of the world while keeping the left arrow down will make you hit the Star Destroyer on the last up sloping part of the back-end. A few seconds later (33s in total) you would reach the top. Jumping out from the ship while keeping the right arrow pressed and then jumping every time the hoverboard turns down for 33s will take you to the end of the world in a height somewhat above the Star Destroyer. You can see when you reach the end even in the air, as Cueball suddenly moves from center screen to the right edge. Dropping from there (20s if done like described!) will take you down at the far side and leave you behind the nest with egg coins. So you can start from here without having seen anything of the ground. This ends the tour of the Star Destroyer. This last section took 1m 40s to explorer but only because you went to the ground and up again.]

===Back along the ground from the right edge===
*There are 22 coins back along the ground to the play area, no. 127-148. The first ten comes in the first subsection here below.
:[From the end of the Star Destroyer it is assumes you continue in about the same height until the end of the world. When you reach this you will suddenly move away from the center of the screen and move to the right edge of the screen (27s). Here you will then drop down. In case you wish to go here directly from the play area over the top of the Destroyer (without bothering about coins up there) you can get here in about 3½ minute. The last 12s will be the final drop along the right edge of this world. When you jump of the upper end of the Destroyer it will still take you more than 30s to reach the end. Passing over the top of the Destroyer alone takes about 2m 20s.]

====The nest at the end of the world====
*There are 10 coins in the nest, no. 127-136.
:[Falling down along the edge you suddenly see several coins just left of where you are dropping, but you drop to the ground before reacting. Standing at this very far right edge, in the grass, the ground rises steadily to the left. Just a short distance to the left is a small foundation, rising a little above the ground. Even on the left side there is still a very little drop to the rising ground. In the middle of the foundation is a tall pole. Obviously the coins will be on top. Grass is growing around the bottom of the pole, even though the foundation is devoid of grass over the rest of its surface. Jumping up to investigate the top of this pole you find that it is more than four jumps high when standing at the edge of this world. From here it takes 1.4s to reach the end of the pole and 1.6s to pass the last coin. It takes 1s to fall down again from the top of the coins (0.8s from the top of the pole). Standing at the pole you reach the top in 1.2s and fall down in 1.1s. It is only 3.5 jumps to hit the bottom of the platform at the top of the pole. This platform turns out to be a nest (like a stork nest). If you are careful you can manage to land on the very right edge of the nest without hitting any of the coins (not possible to the left). In the nest there are three large eggs sticking out above the straw forming the nest. The middle egg lies behind the other two. Above the eggs are ten coins in rows of 3, 2, 3 and 2 from below. This is the most coins collected in one place in the entire game. The 6 in Darth Vader’s bullion takes 2nd place. The nest is so wide that if you jump off to the right from here (1.3s) you will miss the foundation below. (From the left you just hit the foundation, but this cannot be tested before some coins have been taken). On the left side you can “stand” on the pole high enough up to see all coins. When you finally take the coins by falling down in the middle of the nest from above you will only grab half of them – five coins ('''#127'''), ('''#128'''), ('''#129'''), ('''#130'''), and ('''#131''') - not getting those outer ones in the two rows with three and also missing one of the coins in the 2nd row as they are wider apart than the top 2 (and you cannot center precisely in the middle). The last five coins ('''#132'''), ('''#133'''), ('''#134'''), ('''#135'''), and ('''#136''') you can take in one more jump (up left down right for instance). Now you are standing in the nest on top of the eggs. Dropping down left takes 1.1s (because you hit the foundation). You cannot get into the nest again from here in much less than 1.7s as you will overshoot. Just testing you go up in the air pushing the up arrow for 30s without finding anything (130 presses). It takes 14s to drop down again. The nest takes about 30s to explore before you move on to the left.]

====Going back left over the pyramid====
*There are 4 coins in this section, no. 137-140.
:[Jumping of the nest and moving steadily to the left, jumping high to make sure you notice anything in the air you reach (15s) a floating Cueball that looks kind of distorted. He is indicated to drift right on the wind with a small line. He seems longer than a normal Cueball. (See for instance the Monday forecast in [[1245: 10-Day Forecast]] for something similar). The grass is quite high here going up to your hands.]

:[Moving left you pass (5s) a small lollipop like flower in the grass (from here the ground stop rising and starts falling again to the left). Then after 1s more a coin ('''#137''') hangs a jumps height over the ground.]

:[2s further left you pass White Hat looking left sitting in grass so high that only his head is showing. In front of him is small turf of grass so high it’s top is over his head. When you stand behind it (you cannot stand on it) the grass reaches your neck.]

:[Going left again you pass (2s) a small stone that will make you jump when you pass it and then you reach (2s more) the piece of earth with grass that floats a jump above the ground, and over the hole it has left in the ground. Right above the Star Destroyer begins (or ends).]

:[Going left (2.5s) you meet a Medusa-like woman facing left. She seems to have at least 10 long lines going out of her head. Some of them may have something at the end that could be a snake's head, but that is not clear. She walks left with both her hands out, like a zombie or like grabbing you (had you been going towards her).]

:[Going left for 3s you reach the pedestal, above which you will meet an entrance to the ship with the bouncing coin (you went down here during the exploration above).]

:[Jumping along to the left, with the ground just in sight you see two birds after 8s, and because you are jumping you also notice the coin above. The coin cannot be seen from below. The birds are one jump above the ground. Your head just reaches - and passes through - the birds in one jump, without getting above their upper part. You will only see the coin if you are jumping while the birds are on the screen. The coin ('''#138''') is 3 jumps above the ground, double the distance above the birds than they are above the ground. If you continue up you will reach the Destroyer just left of where Megan hangs on below. (It takes 85 clicks on the up arrow to get there, and 6.5s to fall down).]

:[After 2.5s you reach a small pile of stones. A smaller stone is at the base in the grass, then the largest stone right above. The 3rd stone is smaller, the 4th is the second largest and at the top one or maybe two small stones. You cannot walk through it, but stand on top. It looks a little like a small Christmas tree with snow. But the shape indicates that it is stones. This might be an “arrow” pointing up. But there is no interesting feature in the bottom of the hull above here.]

:[Then after 2.6s the ground rises in a step that is just over a Cueballs height. The ground had been falling steadily since the lollipop. Then 1s later you reach a Cueball-like kid looking left and singing, as indicated with two drawings of double notes. The kid is clearly smaller than you. Right above him (to the left) is the small canon protruding below the Star Destroyer. It takes 14.4s to reach the bottom of the hull (60 repeated presses or up arrow) and then 6.6s to drop down.]

:[Continuing left over this flat plateau you reach (1.8s) a small cliff. It is almost vertical and one jump will just take you up to where grass again begins to grow out over the edge. It is though not more vertical than that you can hover up over it without jumping. This will take 1.2s though.]

:[Continuing along the hilly ground above the cliff you reach (1s) a black hat resting on a stick in the ground. You are sadly a few inches too high to be able to turn into Black Hat by standing under the hat. It will be inside your Cueball head.]

:[One more second to the left Ponytail comes walking right towards you. She is followed by a small black bird flapping its wing (indicated with four small lines). It is right behind her head. There is nothing special above on the Destroyer].

:[Going left 3.7s you reach a coin ('''#139''') just above the ground. When you take it you fall into a small hole in the grass so low that the top of the grass reaches your neck. Above here is the dome with the glitchfloor. But the entrance is further left, outside this frames field of view, as will be clear, since you did not see this coin when dropping to the ground after finding the coin below the glitchfloor. The entrance to that floor is 2.2s further left, on top of the first of two small mounds you reach here. If you go up from here you would reach that coin in 10s (it has already taken in this transcript) and then enter through the glitch in 13.2s. Dropping down takes 6s.]

:[After 3s going left you reach a plateau with three T like platforms with grass on top. The first from the left is the highest. Standing beneath at the base you hit the top of the T in 1.5 jumps. It takes two full jump to reach up on the bar of the T. You are not up yet, but from there you can hover up by moving left. (0.9s up 0.8s down). This first T’s left bar is just hanging out over the next lower T. This second T is low enough that you can easily walk under the high T. One jump can take you up again. From the ground between the two, one jump can also just get you up standing on the edge of the T bar of the second T. The last T is the same height as the second, but they are further apart (1.4s between bases). The base is twice as wide as the other two. Megan is standing on top of the right part of this T-bar looking down and right. There is nothing beneath the T’s. It takes 4s to just pass over them. There are no interesting features above on the Destroyer.]

:[After the T’s there is a plateau rising taking two steps (of one Cueball height each) and then rising some more. Four seconds from the T’s you reach a cliff (0.6s down) that falls lower than the ground level at the T’s. Going 1.5s from there (or one jump from the base) you are standing just at the end of a small decline after passing a little hill. This is right under the exit in the ship above just to the right of the spiral corridor. It takes 15.5s to get up (70 presses of up arrow) and then 6.5s down.]

:[Jumping of the cliff and passing the uneven ground nothing happens for 15s although the ground becomes grass less. Like sand maybe. That would make sense since what you have reached is the incline of a tall pyramid. It takes 4s to reach the summit and here is a coin ('''#140'''). Going up from the top you reach the bottom of the ship in 13.3s. You hit just below a room where there is a car, and just 4s left will take you to the entrance where Megan is standing on a ledge wondering if the ship can fly in an atmosphere. Dropping down from here will take 7.2s and you will land on the downslope of the Pyramid. Going back up to the top from there takes 3s. Going down again left takes 3.7s.]

:[Ponytail is standing on the left side of the pyramid facing those coming from the left. She is pointing up the pyramid while giving a protip:]
::Ponytail: Protip:
::Ponytail: Don't stop climbing just because you reach the top.
::Ponytail: ☑ Show tips on startup
:[She thus indicates that she is giving you a tip, at the startup of your climb up the hill. This could indicate that she tries to tell you that there is something above if you keep climbing in the direction of the pyramid – i.e. up to the right. If you find the rhythm that makes you jump while moving left so you just jump when about to hit the pyramid, and then keep up this rhythm, you will need 48 jumps before you in 23s reach the bottom of the Destroyer just after the shaft going up to the spiral. You may miss it if you jump too slowly. If you instead climb as fast as possible while keeping the right bottom down, (rising faster than the pyramid, but though slow enough to see the tip before moving above the pyramid), you end up close to where there are two coins close to each other under the hull, not visible from inside the ship. This is still close to being under the spiral, but the entrance from before is further along the hull. It takes more than 7 seconds to fall down again from there. This protip is yet an indication that there is something above, just like the one who looks up at the beginning and says ''Wow'', or the wires from the ground up to the runner from where you can follow the bombs up to the Destroyer. There are at least 2-3 more of these indications on the left side of the play area. This ends this section, which you passed in 2m 45s.]

====Past cemetery and weeding through the forest====
*There are 2 coins in this section, no. 141-142.
:[Going left 2.5s from the pyramid you reach a huge foot (cut of at the ankle, toes pointing left) standing on a pedestal. You cannot stand on it, but you can disappear completely behind it the two places where is touches the pedestal. A jump will easily make you clear the top of the foot, but it is at least two Cueballs' height from ground to top. Two Cueballs are looking at an inscription on a plaque at the front of the pedestal (which in itself is almost a Cueball's height high).]
::Cueball: It says "Yo, future dirtbags! Check out my huge foot!"

:[Continuing left you reach (4s) a cemetery which it takes 2s to pass through. It consists of 7 gravestones that are fenced in behind two robes/chains that are held up by ten poles. There is a stone between each of the seven “rooms” made by the eight poles that are not at either end. Five of the stones are very similar, with same height and rounded top. They do not reach higher than Cueballs neck. The third stone from the right is rectangular, with a smaller rectangle on the top, and it is standing on a pedestal. It reaches up to the middle of Cueballs head. The second stone from the left is also on a pedestal, and reaches the same height, but it is a wider rectangle with the same width all the way. Between the first two stones from the left are a blonde girl with long hair and Megan who points to the second stone.]
::Megan: They're inscribed with our family motto, "Cur ego committitur dictar latinae," which means "Why did I just start speaking Latin?"

:[Further left (3s) Cueball and Ponytail are having a picnic. She is sitting on a small rock to the left facing Cueball who is sitting on the ground to the right. They have a small basket and two canteens and Ponytail has something in her hands. A little further (1s) to the left, with her backs turned to them, Megan is sitting on a larger rock. You can stand on this rock. Just past this rock is a large but low stone slab, but this you can walk behind.]

:[About 2s further left you find a wedding. Cueball with a tie and Megan in a wedding dressed (although she is a black bride), are standing at a small stage. Behind them to the right is a pole with a stick at the top. The pole is decorated with a plant going from the ground and up. A female priest with black hair and a book in one hand is pointing towards and talking to the audience sitting in chairs in front of the stage to the left. There are five people. The first has a cap on backwards. Then another Cueball, Ponytail, a person with black hair and Hairy.]
::Priest: And if any here can give cause why these two should not be wed,
::Priest: The Great Jabba the Hutt will now listen to your pleas.
:[Just to the right of the wedding stage is an entrance up above to the Destroyer. It takes 17s to get up there. The entrance takes you to a small room. Going left through corridor you soon reach the room with the torpedo canon and Megan explaining the lack of photon torpedoes. The drop down again takes 8.2s.]

:[Left of the wedding guests there are four small trees, and then a single large tree (1.7s from the stage). You can stand on three of the branches, but it is also possible to walk under. After the three a large stone lies on the ground, you can stand on it. Then you pass 11 small trees/bushes, the last six standing so close some of them join together. Only the last two of these are as high as Cueball. It takes 3.3s to pass from the large tree over these small ones. After the last you reach another large tree, which turns out to be part of a larger collection of trees. You can pass through this forest in about 6s. Just below the first of the large trees is yet another small tree. You can stand on the two branches going left and right on the large tree. You can pass under/through all the trees in the forest. Between the first and the second large tree, there is a shrubbery, then a smaller tree, but twice Cueballs height (right above this is the torpedo canon in the Destroyer); then follows three small trees and then the second large tree. On this tree you can only stand on the left branch. On the way to the third tree you pass two small trees, a shrubbery, three trees, a dead three (only a branch sticking out of the ground no foliage) and another shrubbery. On the third large tree you can also only stand on the left branch. The fourth tree is close by, the two trees crowns grow together. Beneath between them are a shrubbery and then a smaller tree, though clearly higher than Cueball. In this fourth three you can only stand on the right branch. But although the two trees are close by each other and their solid branches are pointing towards each other you can still fall down between them as these do not touch. In the center of this fourth trees crown, right over the stem lies a coin ('''#141'''). This was the last of the big trees, but the forest continues with 8 small threes, two of these just higher than Cueball, and then one last tree that are just less than a jump high. More small trees follow, but this feels like the end of this little forest. If you only walked past these last trees along the ground you would miss the coin hanging in the air right above the last tree of the forest. But if you jump while moving through (or jump off from the last tall tree) you will see it. On the other hand if you came from the right and first jumped when close to the coin in the tree crown, it is likely that you would miss it. But now you jump up to get the coin ('''#142'''). Two jumps are just not enough to reach it. But if you jumped left out of the tree crown you could reach it with two jumps. This ends this section, which took 1m 8s to pass.]

====Crossing the ocean====
*There are 3 coins in this section, no. 143-145.
:[Leaving the forest to the left you still pass four small trees and then you reach (3.7s) Ponytail who is flying above the ground by flapping violently with her arms (it looks like she has three arms on each side and there are two small movement lines on each side of her arms). Beneath her on a small mound lies a coin ('''#143'''), you cannot stand on the mound. Her flapping makes sounds. They are written with three flaps above her, two on each side of the top of her head, and two more on each side of her arms.]
::Ponytails arms: Flap Flap Flap Flap Flap Flap Flap
:[Straight above Ponytail is a torpedo (15.2s). If you had not taken it already there would be a coin above and to the right of this torpedo, and there is another torpedo just below and right of this coin. You can get between these two torpedoes and on up to the Destroyer in 2.7s. Just to the left where you come up is the ledge where Cueball and another guy are preparing to jump out with parachutes. If you jump back down from here you will fall through a gap in the torpedo rain and reach the ground in 8.5s, just 1.3s left of Ponytail.]

:[Going left, there are no more trees. Also there is not much grass. After 4.2s you reach some kind of ruin. It seems like the building has sunk in to the ground to the left so the floors, ceiling and any other lines of the building are sloping down towards left. The fundament has risen out of the ground to the right. You can stand on this. The ceiling to the left has even broken and half of it has fallen down on the floor below, which again is a ceiling of the room below. You can stand on this floor, but not on the broken ceiling. On top right of the broken ceiling, the part that still holds up, is a small room to the very front right. The front of this room and the larger room below it has thin columns at the front right. Above the small room is a structure held up above the ceiling by two thicker columns. It goes only over the part of the roof that has not fallen down; you can stand on this structure. The largest room in the building is to the left under the floor below the broken ceiling. A wall to the right separates it from the lower of the two front rooms. There are two lines going along the entire length of this room, you can stand on the lower of these lines. Inside the room on the ground stands Megan looking right. There is grass on the ground inside the ruin. On the very top of the ruin on the right edge of the structure on the ceiling sits Cueball, legs over the edge to the right, with a guitar playing and singing. (Two drawing of notes are shown near him and lines from the guitar indicate it is playing). In the smallest room below Cueball is a coin ('''#144'''). Because of all the parts you can stand on, you have to jump the correct place when coming from the left to hit the opening in to this room. But if you jump over Cueball and down on the ceiling you can always walk right back to take it. You cannot just walk through the house, as you have to jump to get into the room with Megan due to the line you can walk on.]
::Cueball singing:
:::Spider-man
::::Spider-plan
:::Spider-canal
::::Spider-Panama
:::Gates let in
::::Spider boats
:::Flood the locks
::::Spiders float
:::''Look out!''
:::Spiders in both oceans.
:[If you go up right after the ruin you will pass (13s) just right of the two torpedoes hitting each other exploding in midair, and the hit a group of torpedoes above this. Passing around these you can (in 19s total) reach a ledge with an entry into the Destroyer. This ledge is just across from the ledge with the two parachuting guys on it. If you just walk of this (really just) you will just pass through the torpedoes after 2.7s and hit the ruin to the left of Megan in 8.5s.]

:[Then after this to the left is a rock outcrop an then an ocean/large lake. You will sink in when you enter into it. But it is not very deep. It takes 7.8s to jump over the ocean. When walking through it, it already becomes so deep that you are not visible when standing still after 2.5s. And moving along the sea bed you will have to move 4.3s to get to so shallow water that you again are visible. Moving along the seabed it takes longer (8.5s) to pass the ocean because you makes several small jumps on the uneven bottom. Every time you jump like this you breach the surface. Before reaching the first place from the right where the seas is so deep you cannot be seen, (after a particular deep wave), there have already been four small wave tops where you cannot be seen, but then the deep wave will reveal the top of your head. A little less than halfway across the ocean (3.6s along the sea bed) is a “rouge” wave rising above the sea talking to a Cueball swimming in the sea to the right of the wave. The wave is thin and high (more than a full jump from the sea bottom high. Your head gets above it, but not the hoverboard. It first bends a little to the left from a broader base, then turns to go straight up, then beds almost horizontally to the right, makes a bend upwards and finally bends downward to finish in a thin spike from which drops are falling off. This spike “looks” down on Cueball and the waves speak emerges from here. There are some similarities to the scene from the movie ''The Abyss'' when a water plume rises up inside the submarine and moves along the corridors. On top of the highest point of the wave there is a coin ('''#145'''). You can just reach it with a single jump.]
::Wave: I know rogue waves seem implausible, but we're a straightforward consequence of the equations of fluid dynamics.
::Cueball: ...But you can talk?
::Wave: The equations are really complicated.
:[Going up from the wave you will hit a torpedo, but passing left of this you will reach the bottom of the Destroyer in about 19s. There is nothing here except a step in the hull. Falling down again takes 8.6s.]

:[From the wave it takes 5s to walk out of the sea to the left. A last wave crashed on the beach where Megan stands. She rates the seas with stars, that are shown beneath her text. Megan gives it 2½ stars out of five (2½ black 2½ white stars – so the below transcription is not quite correct as there exist no symbol for half a star).]
::Megan: This is an OK sea.
::Megan:★★☆☆☆
:[Going up from Megan you are now under the Rebel Blockade Runner and hits the bottom of this ships hull in 4.3s. Going left you reach the end in 2.7s and can get to the top (2.7s) where Megan and Cueball roasts a marshmallow. It has taken 9.7s to get up here this way. Falling down in to the ocean takes 3.4s and you can walk back to Megan in 2.9s. This ends this section, which took 1m 45s to pass.]

====Back over the dunes to the play area====
*There are 3 coins in this section, no. 146-148.
:[There is grass right after Megan, but then going left there is something looking like dunes with no grass on them. It will take 7.4s to pass over the dune section if jumping. It makes sense to have dunes under the Runner that is now above, because, in the first Star Wars movie, this runner is flying over the desert planet Tatooine. There are no entries in the Runner above the desert. Walking across the dunes takes you up to small peak in the first dune which then rises to a somewhat higher second dune. At the bottom of this to the left is a coin ('''#146'''). After this comes the third dune which is the highest of the dunes. It takes 1.8s to climb it and 0.8s to get down the other side. At the bottom there is a coin ('''#147'''). From here the dunes becomes smaller and smaller. After the fourth dune Ponytail is standing on the top of the fifth dune looking right towards you. After her follows two small dunes, the sixth and the seventh. On top of the seventh dune there is a coin ('''#148'''). Three tiny dunes (eight, nine and ten) follows and then the ground becomes more rocky. The dune sea has ended. It takes 8.8s if you walk over it (either way) instead of jumping. If you walk you will reach the highest dune in 4s and Ponytail in 7s.]

:[After the dunes you go over rocky ground almost without any plant life. After 1.2s and 2.1s repectively there are two wires going up in the air (towards the Runner), and if you continue for a total of 6.8s you reach a third wire. The first wire you reach to the right is held on to by a Cueball. A small girl with black hair in a bun is stepping on the end of this wire. The next wire is held on to by Hairy and a Cueball, Hairy to the right, Cueball to the left of the wire. The third wire somewhat longer to the left, is held on to by Megan and Cueball, they both lean back to the left, pushing against a small rock outcrop. You can stand on this. If you jump up along this wire you will see the second wire after 4s and after 7s you will reach the bottom of the Runner. Just to the left of where this wire and the second wire are attached, to one of the ships canons with what looks like anchors for ships, is where Cueball stands on a ledge with his fishing rod. The third wires connect with the space ship 1.8s longer to the right directly at the bottom of the hull, also with an anchor at the end. Dropping down along this wire you see Megan climbing up (1s down) and you reach the ground in 2.4s just left of Ponytail in the dunes. It will take 3.4s to get back up to Megan and 5s to reach the hull from there. To make sure not to miss anything you also follow the middle wire all the way up but there is nothing here.]

:[Going on left you pass a large boulder and then reach (4s) the cliff on top of which Cueball and Megan stands pointing towards the space ships. This was where the exploration of the space ships to the right began. And this thus concludes the trip on the right side of the play area.]

:[Jumping left from here you reach the right wall of the play area in just 9.5s and 2s later you are back on top of the starting maze. You are now ready to continue to the left side of the play area. So do not yet go to the terminal to deliver your 148 coins but continue on to pick up the remaining coins on the other side. This ends the entire right side of the world. The last part took 1m 10s to pass.]

==Going left into the Lord of the Rings territory==
*There are 21 coins left of the play area, no. 149-169. The first will appear at the [[#Floating rock|Floating rock]].
:[Leaving the play area to the left from the left wall you end up on a similar base as the one to the right. Where this ends there is a drop of one jumps height. Moving along over uneven ground without grass takes you to a stair of seven steps, which takes you up to a foundation of a tall wall (5s from the play area wall).]

===Washington monument===
*There are zero coins in this section.
:[At the bottom of the wall there is a black sign on top of a pole. On the sign there is a white arrow pointing to the left at the base of the wall. You cannot stand on top of the sign. When standing where the sign is, you can see the top of your arms at the height of the arrow. It may look like you can see through the white arrow. But it could also just be that you are standing in front of the sign.]

:[Ignoring the arrow you begin jumping up. After 2.6s you pass what looks like a fault line in the wall. It is already now clear that the wall is not going straight up but that it is leaning to the left. As you go straight up, the wall “moves” away from you. But after 9.1s, before it moves all the way out of the frame you reach the top of the wall. Just before reaching the top you see that the wall becomes so thin at the top that you can see the other side. And at the very top is a white triangle as the tip of this obelisk like tower.]

:[Two ropes are teetered to the very top, and on the right side hangs White Hat with a bundle of rope behind him and on the left side hangs Cueball with a similar bundle. Cueballs heads is just at the lower edge of the white tip. He is holding on to his rope with both hands. White Hat is a little below the white tip. He is only holding on to the rope with one hand, while his body is turned away from the tip to the right as he is both looking and pointing up and right.]
::Cueball: Look at that- solid aluminum!
::Cueball: We´re gonna be rich!
::White Hat: Uh, what the heck is ''that?!''
:[White Hat has seen the destroyer. If you jump up from the top of the obelisk while keeping the right arrow down you will hit the tip of the destroyer (10s) just where a Cueball is standing at the lowest ledge of the front of the Destroyer. Moving down again by keeping the left arrow pressed down, you will and just at the stair up to the obelisk. From the top of the obelisk it takes 4.7s to fall back down again from the top to the arrow sign.]

:[Testing if it makes any sense to have the arrow at the bottom, you press up against the wall of the obelisk only to find that you can walk right through the base of the obelisk. At the bottom of the left side of the obelisk is Megan standing with Cueball who is looking up along the obelisk.]
::Cueball: Honestly, it doesn't even look that much like Washington.
:[This then tells us that this should represent the Washington Monument, or not since is does not look like Washington, but that might just be the surroundings.]

:[It also turns out that you can get inside the monument higher up. There is nothing in there, but the room is investigated in detail in the section below. You can go straight to the next section on the [[#Floating rock|Floating rock]]. It took 1m 17s to investigate the monument.]

====Inside the Washington monument====
*There are zero coins in this section.
:[Going back through the tunnel you test what will happen if you jump over the entry to this tunnel at the bottom of the monument, and keep the arrow pointing left. It turn out you will be able to climb the steep incline, though very slowly. It will now take you 8s to reach the fault line (2.6s by jumping straight up). You continue towards the top, but long before you reach the top (after 18s in total) you will suddenly disappear in to the monument. And then suddenly you are dropping down inside – this will be experienced like this: The sides of the monument, now centered on the screen become wider while you fall until you stop after 1.8s. You are standing inside the monument right above the fault line. You are standing in a wide shaft. If you move from side to side, by just tapping the arrows you can tap 10-15 times before you hit the other wall depending on how quickly you release. It takes about 0.5s to move from one side to the other. You can see yourself move in some of the cracks along the fault line; especially to the right. You can thus also see that you are not able to move from wall side to wall side; but only in the middle. The hole thus takes up half the width of the monument at the fault line. As it is almost a completely straight shaft, it takes up relatively more space the higher up you go. There are small protrusions on the wall. For instance if you stand over the fault line next to either wall, you cannot jump as something protrudes above your head. You are also able to stand on either wall at particular heights. For instance if you jump up near the right wall and press towards it, you will be able to stand on the wall here. You can even move up the wall a bit further by pressing right, but will always fall back to the same spot on the wall. Similar there is such a protrusion on the left wall, but here you have to jump about 6 full jumps before you press in. There are several spots on either wall where you can stand still by pressing towards it, but will fall when releasing. On the right wall you can also stand right beneath the exit. That is about 7 jumps up. From here you can jump out left and then back to get into the exit corridor. When you are just entering the hidden passage in the upper third part of the monument and you are just standing with most of your hoverboard outside, it will take about 7 taps of the left arrow before you fall down in the shaft inside (1.8s drop). It takes 9 full jumps to get up to the exit corridor. When leaving the corridor you jump just above and continue to climb up by pressing left. 11s later you are on the top.]

:[You then drop down on the left side (also takes 4.7s). You also try to climb up the monument from the left, by pressing right arrow. Here there are no other tunnels than the one at the bottom, you have to jump. Here you also reach the fault line in about 8s (same height at the base), and then a total of 30s to reach the tip, fitting with the 18s and 11s plus one jumps head start from the exit corridor. Basically you could check out the inside in less than 15s…]

===Floating rock===
*There are 2 coins around the rock, no. 149-150.
:[Thinking, (or knowing something), that the white arrow at the bottom showed you a hidden entrance, then you muse that maybe the white tip of this monument also points to something in the sky. A giant arrow! At the top White Hat pointed you to the Star Destroyer. So just to test this you try to jump straight up from where you now stand at the foot of the monument. After 9.1s you pass the tip and after 18s you have pushed 100 times without seeing anything, you continue to 150 presses in 28s and decide to stop at 200 presses, but after 35s you suddenly see something and 1.5s later (36.7s in total) you reach the top of a floating rock after almost 190 presses. If you went straight down again it would take 11.3s before you passed the tip of the monument and you would first hit the foundation after 15.8s.]

:[This floating rock is very close to being in the same height as the very top of the Star Destroyers Globe of Death at the top of the bridge; just a tiny bit lower. But, where there are several people who point you towards the Destroyer, and wires going to the Rebel Blockade Runner from the ground and then torpedoes to the Destroyer, there is nothing to guide you here except the needle of the Washington Monument. If you instead of jumping up from the left base had jumped up from the right, you would not have seen this rock. And even if you jumped up from the tip of the monument, making more sense, you could almost miss the rock, as you would pass by that, but you would just be able to see the girl who has just base jumped from the top of this rock, and might just miss her, if you were beginning to lose your attention after more than 30s. So this is definitely designed to be overlooked. And most people will only know about it from maps made be people who knows how to read the source code or at least knows how to extract all possible images. It is more than three times as high up as the height of the monument below it (9s high for the monument vs 30s high to reach the top of the rock.)]

:[Standing at the right edge of this floating rock you see Megan just running over the edge and Ponytail, who has already jumped, diving just below the edge of the rock, already about her own length away from the edge, her body parallel to the ground below. Luckily both of them seem to be wearing a backpack, hopefully with a parachute inside; a very special form of base jumping. This rock has some similarities to the small piece of earth that has been ripped out of the ground back at the end of the Star Destroyer. It could be the same force that has caused both. There are some similarities to the movie Avatar with the planet Pandora’s floating rocks.]

:[Running on top of the floating rock it just looks like the ground down below. There is grass, but not a lot. After 7s you reach a rock lying on top of this floating rock. It has a step to the right before reaching its full height, each step about two Cueballs height. You can easily jump to the top with two jumps. But on the step there is a coin ('''#149'''). Continuing on you reach the end of the floating rock to the left in 3.4s, then you drop down until you have to jump up and right to stay under the rock (2.5s) and after a total of 9s from you left the rock on top you are under the very bottom. Less than 2s further along the bottom of the rock on the way up again there is a coin ('''#150'''). About 4s later you are back on top. It took 15s from the rock on top. You can take the entire trip around the rock in about 22s. The surface of the rock is the same on either side of the rock on top. When going under the rock is turn out that the bottom is made up of a lot of loose boulders, which somehow seems to stick with the rest of the rock.]

:[Apart from just over the edge on both sides, where you can easily see a foot hold to stand on, there is also a rock below about halfway from the left edge and to the very bottom, where you can stand. Down to the bottom from the left here are about five larger boulders and many small ones. The second of these you can land on to get a better view of the bottom. The lowest boulder is much larger than the others and it seem to be stuck better in place. But it is possible to see a small hole at the “top” of this boulder, so also this one is quite loose. After this bottom boulder there is the second largest boulder to the right. Just after that is where the coin below was. One larger boulder follows, but then the rest is much smaller. Towards the right top, there is again a ledge you can stand on, where you can just see Ponytail, but not Megan. And then there is a ledge just below where Megan is running off the rock.]

:[If you jump out to the right from the rock, to where you can just see the whole of Ponytail but nothing else of the rock and drops straight down from here, you will land on the tip of the monument in 11.8s. Jumping straight back up you will (135 presses later) see Ponytail entering the frame to the left after 27s, and can from there reach the rock in 1.7s. If you keep the right arrow down while leaving the edge of the island to the right you will fall (16.7s) just at the first tree on the right side, right after the first Cueball on the right side after the play area wall. This is probably the longest drop possible, as the ground here is the lowest you can reach, and you cannot jump straight down to the ground from the Star Destroyers highest point. If you fall straight down over the edge to the left you will end up (16.4s) in front of Megan in a hamster ball; more about this later. You land right in a very small tree, the first after the large tree to the left of the hamster ball. Getting back up takes 180 presses and 36.4s. If you leave the left edge of the rock while keeping the left arrow down you will (15.2s) end up just left of two girls running towards each other just left of the well; more about this later. To end this all you jump down to the left of the Washington Monument to really start the exploration of the left side of this world. It took only 30s to go around the rock, but more than 1m 20s with the up and down time included.]

===On the road to the volcano===
*There are 4 coins on this road, no. 151-154.
:[Continuing to the left of the monument, you reach grassy ground, and you find (2s) a tall flagpole with a uniform black flag at the top blowing left. On top of the truck there is a sitting duck. You can stand on the top of the flag and on the truck. You can hide behind the rest of the flag when jumping from below. Jumping up from the flag pole will take you up beneath the floating island (34.5s) just right of the coin under the island (but you already have taken this coin). If you went around the island from here to collect the next coin on top and then drop down (15.9s) you would end up 7s to the left of the flag pole, and you would not have missed any coins.]

:[Going left you reach (2.4s) Beret Guy who is walking to the right following a small flying insect that flutters along as indicated with a dotted line.]

:[One jump further ahead Cueball, looking right, is talking to Ponytail.]
::Cueball: If loving you is wrong, I don't want to.

:[A little more than a jump to the left you find a little girl with a hair bun standing behind a giant ten pin bowling pin setup. The front pin is towards the left, and she almost touches one of the four in the last row. She is only half as tall as the pins, and you can almost hide among them except your head that reaches up to the slim neck would always reveal your position.]

:[Less than 3s to the left (after passing 8 small trees or bushes and a couple of bare trees sticking out of the grass) you see a black haired girl (Megan-like but again just a girl). Her hair is flowing wild around her head because she is inside a human sized hamster ball that comes bouncing towards the right (shown with bouncing lines behind the ball and three move lines right next to the left side of the ball). She will soon hit the pins with this “bowling ball”. This is the second hamster ball seen in this comic. The first time it was the adult Megan on a skate board inside the ball. At this point you pass out under the rock island above.]

:[Behind the girl is a big tree, the top of the tree crown extends over the hamster ball. You can stand on the big branch going right. Only the main branch, and only until before the last part with leafs. You can thus easily walk below through the trunk.]

:[After the tree the ground rises, and become grass less and after less than 2s there is a steep cliff. From the ground beneath the tree it would take 5 full jumps to reach the first large outcrop. Standing right beneath the cliff, where there is a small mound, it would still take just a little more than three jumps to this outcrop (a 1s drop high). About two jumps above the ground (before the small mound) there is a smaller fissure beneath the outcrop. Just below this Ponytail is crawling up. You can stand on the ledge above her, and move deep in, but not all the way to the back of this small ledge. It becomes too tight. There you are standing on top of a small dead tree/bush. Above on the outcrop at the edge of this part of the cliff stands Cueball pointing to the right and a little up. He is talking to a child version of Ponytail (the child of Ponytail below?)]
::Cueball: Everything the light touches is our kingdom.
::Girl: What's with the shadowy place over there?
::Cueball: That is beyond our borders.
::Girl: No, I mean what object casts a shadow over a whole region?
::Cueball: Oh, that's god. He lives over there.
:[If you keep going right of the cliff while clicking up arrow for 34s (which would take you to the height of the floating rock) you find noting. If you drop you will (after 8s) hit the hull of the Star Destroyer. This is 11s to the right from the tip. If you drop of the tip while keeping to the left you will (in 9.6s) hit the bottom of the monument (above the entrance through at the bottom). If you had stopped going right and up after 24s you would have dropped to the tip of the destroyer in only 3s. But in no way can it be said that Cueball points you directly too either rock island or Destroyer. But the discussion indicates that something large, casting a shadow over an entire land is up in the air – that would most likely be the Destroyer, which you also get close to. You are nowhere near the island. It could of course also just be meant as a joke on the shadow mentioned in The Lion King.]

:[Jumping left behind them makes you land on a small ledge on the next part of the cliff. One more jump from here and you are almost up (can walk up the last incline), where grassy ground begins again. From here it will take 3s to get back to the tree. Standing in the tree you could get up here in 3.4s. Just when the grass begins there is a little tree, low enough that you can easily jump to the top (about two Cueballs high). You can walk under it, but you can also stand on most of the leafs. Behind the three is some rubbles and a small mound. You can walk on the mound but through the rubble. At the end of the mound is a tree stump, which you cannot stand on top of.]

:[A jump left from the stump takes you on top of a small building where Cueball is sitting on top looking to the right. Inside the building sits a girl with ponytail and a black cap on. There is a coin inside the room with the girl. The building is almost square, but on the side pointing left, is the room with girl and coin. It looks like a store with a large window panel with smaller square windows, probably there is nine in 3x3. But the last two at the bottom to the right is obscured (partly and completely) by the desk behind which the girl is standing. On top of the building behind Cueball is a small raised plateau on the roof. You cannot get directly down to the coin, as it turns out that this is gas station, and the top of the stand with gas, goes so close to the store with the girl, that you cannot drop down. Standing on the left end of this T-shaped stand you can see the entire vies of this gas station. It turns out that there is an X-wing Starfighter parked to the left of the T-stand and Megan standing to the right of this is attempting to pull the gas handle from the stand to her X-wing to refuel it. It seems that the hose is either to short, or that Megan is finished and on her way back after filling the fighter up. There are two gas outlets, one on each side of the stand. You can stand above these beneath the T-shape. You can also stand on top of the fighter, but also walk under it. To get the coin you either have to go all the way over the fighter and back beneath it and beneath the top of the gas outlet. Or you can jump from the T-stand down on the fighter, then jump over the edge of the wings (the s-foils) and get on top of the outlets beneath the T-stand and then jump down in front of the store. Either way, this was one of the more difficult coins to get to, after seeing it, but finally you can walk into the store and collect the coin ('''#151'''). It was the first you found along the ground on the left. You cannot walk through the desk in the shop, but if you press right against it, you can “climb” it hitting the roof before you can go over it.]

:[Once again there is a hidden part of the image. Standing on the wing above Megan, as far to the left you can on this right wing, and if you then make 8 full jumps (or go up fast for 2.4s) you discover two birds that are tied together with a string, and on that string there hangs a coin ('''#152'''). This may be a reference to the two swallows that could carry a coconut if they had it on a string from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. There is no way you will notice this coin even if you jump high over the ground. It will be by testing many places (or knowing). And even going up for 30s in every place would not make you find the rock island!]

:[One jump left of the middle of the X-wing you can land on top of a black stop sign. You can also walk beneath it. While in the gas station the ground had been flat, but now it is again grassy from here.]

:[Going left from the sign (2.4s) you pass a hole in the ground and a few paces behind it is Cueball looking towards the hole. It looks like a well with the typical roof over and stones set in the side the first few meters down. You can stand on the top stones sticking out over the top of the ground, but not on the roof.]

:[You drop in to the well and at the bottom (2.4s) there is a coin ('''#153''') just above the water level, and in the water, going to the top of her legs is a girl with long black hair. You are taller than the girl, so the water doesn’t reach your crotch. The girl speaks and the text is written in white in the black earth to the right side]
::Girl: I'm not a ghost. I just like wells.
:[Ghosts are often associated with wells. The well is almost 12 jumps deep and it takes 3.9s to get up fast. The wells sides are so uneven that if you do not jump from the right spot you will hit the sides on the way up. To be sure to fall to the bottom at once you should fall through the tip of the roof. This will also work out if you just step of the stone walls on either side. At the bottom you will land to the left of the center, so you can see the girl without covering her, when you land. This is also where the coin where. Jumping up from the girl will soon make you hit the walls. Same if you get just a little closer to the left side. If you walk to the left you will walk just out of the water to stand a little up the wall. It is possible to find a foothold so it looks like you are hovering just above the water level. Jumping down from there you can jump straight out. There are ten places you can stand on the wall to the right between bottom and stones at the top, and 17 to the left. Even up in the stone setting at the top you can stand inside one place to the right and two to the left. It is possible to jump longer left than this well by just keeping the left arrow pushed when leaving the rock island in the sky to the left. So in principle you can increase the fall height by about 2.5s if you could just hit this well (it is about 12.2s left in free fall, but it is hard to hit). This may be the longest possible free fall from one structure before standing still at about 18s).]

:[Continuing left from the well the landscape generally rises and the grassy ground is uneven with rocks/stones protruding out from the grass. You reach (2.3s) two girls that are playing. A girl with ponytail runs to the left, jumping of a protruding stone towards a long haired girl with a bun, who holds out her arms towards the other girl. The bun girl stands on a slab of stone. They are clearly children, much lower than you.]

:[Just left of the girls there is a small rise in the ground (two Cueballs heights), and after this the ground rises for a bit before dropping back down toward a small pond. It takes 7s to jump from the girls to the pond. On this small mound there is several small trees. Four to begin with, then a large stone is protruding, then follows 17 more, most of them lower or the same height as Cueball, only one of them clearly higher than you. You cannot stand on any of them. After the last of these 21 trees the ground drops in two small and one large step in between (no grass on the slopes down).]

:[Even if you jumped over the ground, but still with the ground visible at all time, you would fail to realize that there is something floating above you. But if you jump straight up from the highest tree, so this just disappears, you notice something in the air, just to the right of this tree. Five jumps above the ground you can land on what turns out to be a space capsule. Jumping up and around it you find that it looks like one of the space capsules that were used to get the astronauts from the Moon landings back to Earth. It is being lowered through the atmosphere by three large parachutes holding on to the capsule with a total of 17 lines. It seems like the one to the left only has 5 lines, with 6 to the other two, but as the parachutes overlap, and are completely black, it can be discussed which lines belong to which parachute. You can walk on top of the parachutes as well as on the topside of the triangular space capsule. You can walk through the lines. Standing on top of the capsule there is a little more than two jumps up to the bottom of the parachutes. You can also stand on the open hatch of the capsule to the left beneath which Cueball looks out of the capsule while holding his smart phone out to get a signal. He is talking to a guy inside the capsule who replies:]
::Cueball: Yes! My phone has a signal.
::Voice from inside: How many new likes did we get during reentry?
::Cueball: I'm checking!
:[On top of the central of the three parachutes sits a bird (chicken like) looking right and it is thinking, as indicated with a wavy bobble above it:]
::Bird thinking: I don't remember laying these but ''wow'' they're already flying. Gonna be awesome when they hatch.
:[There is a 1.8s drop down the parachutes to the right, and if you go up again (from the fifth small tree after the protruding stone) it takes 1.7s to reach the bottom of the capsule, and 2.8s to reach the top. It takes 1.7s to drop down to the left (as the ground rises below the parachutes). Jumping up again (from just left of the tallest tree) you reach the bottom of the capsule in 1.5s and can reach the top of the parachutes in 2.5s. From the top of the capsule it takes 1.4s to drop either way.]

:[From the top of the capsule it takes 3.6s to reach the small pond. You can sink into the water, but it never goes above your belly. On each side of the pond there are typical water plants of the species Typha. Dividing the pond into three equal distances, there is plants on the first and last distance, and water with just a little grass sticking out in the middle. Walking through the pond takes about 2s.]

:[Just where the bank of the pond stops rising (less than 1s) you reach Blondie (maybe it is Miss Lenhart?) pointing on the ground towards left. A girl with black hair and a boy with standing hair are standing behind her to the right. It is clear from the conversation that the woman is the girl's mom. But she is a full head lower than Cueball, but the kids are even lower.]
::Mom: Check out this one weird bug, discovered by a local mom.
::Girl: Oh my God, mom, stop saying everything like that.

:[The grassy ground is replaced (1.3s) with bare rocky ground, with lots of loose ruble. Continuing 2.8s left from the mom, you reach a small girl (with Megan-like hair) where the ground is rising. She is holding a line going up into the air towards the right. Jumping up, you see that she is holding a kite, and at the end of the kite’s tail there is a coin ('''#154'''). The kite’s tale/coin is just above where the ground turns from grass to rocky. The coin is just a little more than two jumps above the ground. You would not spot the coin while on the ground, but the line for the kite, would always reveal the coin. One jump anywhere between the mom and the kite girl (while going left) would reveal the coin. There is 1s up and down to the coin.]

:[Right after the girl there are more rubble and large boulder, and then the earth starts to emit smoke, and this ends the road to the volcano, you can now start the climb after this section, which you passed in 2m 30s.]

===Climbing the volcano===
*There are 2 coins on this climb, no. 155-156.
:[Jumping left from the kite girl for 2.6s takes you past about 11 small clouds of steam, none higher than a jump above ground. Then you reach a plume of smoke coming out of the ground, almost like a geyser. As is clear from the text this is vapor. Cueball is standing just right of this plume looking at it, while Megan walks left on the rubble just on the left side of the plume.]
::Cueball: The Earth is vaping.

:[Left of Megan is a rock jutting out towards the right, that you have to jump to pass. Behind it is a smaller vapor vent. In total there are five vents and it takes 3.2s to pass from the one with Cueball to the last. The first is also the largest and the one with most details/structures. The one after the rock and the last are smaller than the two in between them, those two are almost as high as the first. There is a general tendency that the clouds/vapor venting drifts toward right. After the first vent there are three small clouds before the small vent. Three more before the third vent (these are the two closest vents). Then six before the fourth vent, several of these are larger than the ones before and there is also a cloud above this vent. The longest distance between vents are from the fourth to the fifth and last (1.4s) and between these are five large clouds (also the largest of them all) as well as 13 very small. On the ground there are small rubbles all along the way.]

:[After the steaming rock the ground begins to rise more steadily and you pass two larger rocks and one much larger, before the ground rises up to a small rock plateau (3.2s) where Megan sits and reads for two children, a boy with hair standing out wild and a child with black wavy hair.]
::Megan: "The time has come" the Walrus said, and put on a Sauron's ring...

:[Two jumps ahead (1.8s) on a steep rise up the mountain side is Cueball standing, looking down. Between him and Megan, there was first a cliff behind Megan’s rock and then a steady rise with loose boulders on the way up to Cueball.]
:[A jump further up, (almost vertical now), Ponytail is climbing, towards a very small tree. One more jump above her, is a small ledge in the cliff. Where this ends is a steep rise, about one jump high. Cueball is climbing up with Megan behind him. He looks down on her as she speaks:]
::Megan: This is currently a V2, but it becomes a V7 if the volcano erupts.

:[One more jump above the top of this small cliff is a burning tree stomp, smoke from it is drifting right.]

:[Two jumps ahead from the burning tree you end up standing on the lower part of a very large rock which is lying so you can see a hole beneath it. It’s surface is very jagged. On the left side small rubbles has collected between the rock and where the mountain side rises again. There is also lots of smaller rubble on the ground in the hole beneath the rock. Cueball is standing on top of the rock with Megan to the left. She holds up some kind of device looking left while Cueball is looking almost straight up away from her to the right. Walking up the rock, you can see that Cueball is looking at a coin ('''#155'''). Standing with Cueball it is just inside the frame where he looks. You can’t see it before at this height. It is just two jumps above the top of the rock.]

:[One further jump to the left from beneath the coin takes you between two Cueballs who are climbing the mountain. Between these two places is a lower level after the rock. When the mountain reaches the level of the top of the rock, there is a small vent with vapor coming out and drifting right. The Cueball to the left is up walking left away from the Cueball to the right, who is climbing up a small rise, with hands on the ground. He talks:]
::Right Cueball: If I don't make it back...
::Right Cueball: ...Tell my wife...
::Right Cueball: ...Where I am...
::Right Cueball: ...And why you left me there...

:[Two more jumps above these two the part with many rubbles is replaced with a smooth steady rise of the mountain side. It would take about 11s to jump from the last of the group of vents to this place. The first 3s to get to Megan telling stories, then after 5s you reach Cueball looking down, and then before 7s you would pass Ponytail, then Cueball and Megan and the burning tree. After about 9s you reach the rock with Megan and Cueball and in less than 10s you pass the last two Cueballs and then the steep incline.]

:[It is possible to just “walk” up the incline, and if you did it would take 18.6s to reach the top. On the way you will pass the following:]

:[After 4.8s up the rise you pass Ponytail who comes racing down on her bike:]
::Ponytail: 114 mph!
::Ponytail: Suck it, previous downhill volcano record-holder!

:[Further up (8.9s) there is a small step in the mountain side, and on the step there is a coin ('''#156''') and past this (12.3s) Megan comes sliding down the slope on an old fashioned snow sleigh. It turns out she was halfway between the coin step and the next step (15.3s), where there is a little drop (and some loose boulders) before the rise continues towards the top which you almost reaches in 18s, but then there is a small rise before you reach the very top (18.6s) of this right mountain slope. Moving down again to the right only takes 7.4s and it goes even faster if you jump up as this only takes 7s. If you try to jump down it will take longer as you cannot see where you are and have to pause to fall down to the slope.]

:[If you jumped of the edge of the mountain side to the right, you could just noticed something entering into the frame at the top right. This is thus something you are most likely to spot on the way back from the far left. If you run off the edge and jumps three times while keeping the arrow to the right, you can land on these new objects. You have now landed on the body of one of two great eagles in the sky. You can stand on any part of their bodies, except their wings. If you drop down between them you land (1.5s) just beneath Megan on the sleigh. Jumping up from her would make you hit the left eagle in 2.3s or in 7 full jumps. If you drop of the right eagle to the right, you will fall just so far down the mountain side that you cannot see Megan from there. This drop will take 2s, and it will take 3.4s to come back up or 11 full jumps. The eagles are flying left towards the mountain. If you stand on the head of the right eagle, which is slightly higher up than the left eagle, you can float to the other eagles body by just keeping the left arrow pressed. If you jump right from the head of the left eagle, you will land on the right eagle. The shape of the left eagle’s upper wing, is big enough that you can hide completely in its shade. The eagles are talking:]
::Left eagle: Tolkien said Frodo left the cloak somewhere over here.
::Right eagle: Can't ''he'' just fix it?
::Left eagle: He doesn't want to rewrite that chapter.

:[Left of the eagles and just left of the top of the sharp incline, there is a lava pool. Then there is a small rise to a plateau and on the other side of this is yet another smaller lava pool. This second pool lies about one Cueball height above the first. The first pool has two large bubbles sticking out. It also has a small black hammer like thing that juts out in the middle, and from that fumes comes off in four lines. There are also three vapor plumes and small dots of lava floating above it. The left lake has three smaller bubbles and also three plumes. Between the two pools stands a girl with a hair bun and a Megan-like girl, both much smaller than you.]
::Girl with hair bun: Let's play a game where the lava is the floor of a house.

:[You can jump over the first lava pool to the girls. It takes 1.8s to pass over both pools. After this you reach the edge of the crater of the volcano in 1.8s. This ends this section, which you passed in 1m 26s.]

===The crater of the volcano===
*There are 7 coins inside the crater, no. 157-163. Three of these in this section (no 157-159) and four of these (no 160-163) is under the lava in the sub section [[#The cave beneath the lava|The cave beneath the lava]].
:[Moving left from the girls at the lava pool, the ground takes two steps down and then after 1.8s you are at the edge of the volcano crater. Cueball stands behind Megan who again stands on the very edge of the crater and throws in 16 items (rings).]
::Megan: One of these is probably a ring of power or whatever.

:[The crater falls down very steep. If you move left over the edge, enough (but not too much) you can land just above the lava at the bottom of the crater in 2.5s As the crater is not vertical you can stand on almost any part of it, but you cannot just walk out again as you would hit a small protrusion about half way up (5.5s walk from the lava floor). On top of this small protrusion on the inside crater is a small plant. Above this you can also only rise for less than 1s before hitting an obstacle. But above this again you can walk all the way up in 5s. But you have to jump at least one long jump to get out right. If you wish to “walk” down hitting the side it would take almost 10s.]

:[No matter how you drop in to the crater you will notice the two drones flying above the right side of the lava floor, each having four rotors and some device suspended beneath their main body. When standing just above the lava you cannot see them. But you can see one of them and the text from the side of the crater. You can stand on them. From the bottom edge it is possible to jump up and stand on the lower right drone in three jumps. The other drone is little further left. Just below this drone (but still above the right drone) is a coin ('''#157'''). You can stand on both drones, and thus not drop down on the coin from above. But if you walk off the right drone keeping left you will get it. Dropping of the drones you fall into the lava (1.2s) and becomes fully emerged. It takes 1.3s to get back up to them again.]
::Right drone: Remember: There's no such thing as good volcano footage taken by a quadcopter that survived.

:[At the bottom of the crater is a huge pool of lava. It takes 13.4s to jump from side to side. About 2/3 of the way over you pass over (9.4s) a small rock island protruding out of the lava pool. Just when the lava pool begins to the right there is a very large bubble. 35 clouds of vapor hang over the lava before the island. There are also 8 other small bubbles and several very small as well as sparks above the lava or jumping out of the lava, as well as a few small plumes coming out of the lava. On the other side of the island there is an even larger bubble than the one to begin with and five other larger bubbles. There are four plumes and about 24 clouds, some of which are rather small. And then there are other sparks and bubbles above the lava just like on the right side.]

:[On the rocky island outcrop two thirds of the way across the lava lake is a Cueball looking into the lava to the right. He is looking down at a horse standing in the lava. Maybe it is trying to get back out.]
::Cueball: Artex!

:[On the center of the rock, which is so small you can jump over it in one jump, stands a wizard with a stick. It looks very much like Gandalf. He looks to the left.]

:[Another Cueball is walking towards the lava to the left with Megan behind him.]
::Megan: If you breathe out through you nose a little as you jump in, it can keep you from getting lava in you nasal passages.

:[On the other (left) side of the lava pool the mountain rises steeply out of the lava pool (but you could walk up this steep slope). Two jumps above the lava surface there is a hole in the side of the crater. The hole goes down and extends into a small cave. In here, on a tall pile of coins or other treasures sits Megan counting her hoard. There are also two bags with white dollar signs on. At the bottom just inside the cave is a coin ('''#158''') and behind Megan is yet another coin ('''#159''').]
::Megan: Gooooold!
::Megan: Goold!
::Bags: $ $

:[As on the right side you also cannot walk out, even from above the cave. If you try to walk up you as much as possible from the lava floor, you will have to jump four times, and it will take about 12s. You can get up fast in about 4.5s and drop down to the lava again in 2.4s. On the very top of the crater, just a jumps way from the last protrusion below the very edge sits another duck on top of a step up to the very top of this side of the crater. This ends the crater part. You can jump from the duck back to Megan on the other side in 17s, they are exactly at the same height. If you go down into the crater and jumps above the vapors and then up as steep as possible when you reach the other side the trip takes 19s.]

===The cave beneath the lava===
*There are 4 coins under the lava, no. 160-163.
:[But so far you have refrained from touching the lava, just out of normal precaution. But finally you go back to the island in the middle, and try to go rescue the horse by going in to the lava lake to the right from the rock island.]

:[You enter the lava and immediately fall below the surface before passing the end of the horse. The ground beneath the lava keeps descending. Just below one of the larger bubbles you fall so far down, that everything becomes black. You keep going right for some time, but nothing seems to happen. So you try to move back out to the left. Suddenly you see a white room, that is not the surface of the lava lake. As you move further left you see that this room connects to a shaft that is now to the left of where you must be hidden. As you move further left this shaft comes full into view. And it sees to widen further out below your level. Continuing to push left you move up again towards the room above you and finally by just going left you reach above the surface of the lava, just right of where the shaft goes down to your left.]

:[You are inside the caves below the lava. Standing just on the edge of the shaft to the left, you can see you are in a large cave where there also seems to be a shaft up to the right. The cave is more than a jump high at the edge of the shaft to the left. You can jump over the lava pool in the middle of the room to get to the right side. The ceiling is dropping towards this end, so here a jump will make you hit the ceiling. You go up the shaft to the right.]

:[The shaft you go up in, is by no means straight up, and when you reach the top (it may easily take 2s to get around the outcroppings) you reach a ledge that comes out from the right wall in a room above the shaft. To get into the room you have to go left to get around this ledge. Standing on the ledge to the right you see a smaller dead-end cave than the one beneath (less than a jump high and 1.5s wide), and on the left side of the shaft in the main part of the cave Cueball is standing looking down at you while holding out his hands towards the right (and you). Behind Cueball the cave drops a little and there are two coins ('''#160''') and ('''#161''').]
::Cueball: What news of the world above? Please, tell me- what's hot and viral? ''What's trending on Twitter?!!''

:[Dropping down from Cueball into the first cave (2.1s) you jump over to the other shaft and go down this left shaft. Again this shaft is not even, and after hitting a ledge where you have to go right to continue down, you end up on the floor (2.7s) of a much larger cave, landing on top of a coin ('''#162'''). It take some skill to get up in about 4s due to the shafts is twisting. There are plenty of places on both sides of this shaft (and also in the previous shafts) where you can stand still.]
:[When standing on the floor on the left side of this huge cave you can just see two Cueballs talking to the right. Moving towards them reveals more. In the middle of this cave there lies a flat rock on the floor. Standing on this you can see the whole scene. The two Cueballs (now to the left) are standing in front of two empty desks. The left Cueball is talking to the right Cueball. Behind the empty desks are one more desk behind which a guy with black hair is sitting. Behind these three desk to the far right in this cave is a raised platform – it is like a small tower with two levels each with a cross holding it together. On top of this contraption is a chair in which another hairy guy is pointing out at the two Cueballs standing up. He speaks as well, but there is no line between him and his text, which floats quite far in front of him over the guy at the desk.]
::Left Cueball: I always assumed Elon Musk's volcano lair would be like... Tropical. And ...Well, ''pleasant''.
::Elon Musk in the high chair: Back to your desks, swine!

:[Standing on the stone there are four jumps to the ceiling. But it is even higher over the two Cueballs, where it almost takes five jumps to reach the ceiling. It takes 1.5s to get up and 1.2s to fall down again.]

:[Behind the raised chair, the ceiling comes to a low point, less than two jumps high. But then behind the ceiling goes up again, only to reveal a shaft going up. And when you stand near the right wall of the large cave you can see that this shaft goes up, then right and then down, just as jagged and unregularly as the other two shafts in this lava cave. There are 3 jumps to the top. From there it takes about 2s to get down (if you avoid all the ledges on the way down that you could get stuck on).]

:[At the bottom of this deepest dead-end cave, to the right of where the shaft enters through the ceiling, stands Ponytail and Hairbun looking at an antenna hanging down from the ceiling in the right part of this small cave. Both of them hold a string that goes to the ground behind them. The antenna has a thick central piece connecting it to the ceiling. About two thirds down of this piece, that becomes a little thinner on the way down, is a broad piece going perpendicular on the main part, to each side. Below this the central part continues but much thinner, and two more pieces is connected with this central part, just as the one above, but these two becomes shorter and shorter compared with the top part. The third and lowest part is the smallest and it ends the antenna. You can stand on the top part of these three parts parallel with the floor. To the left of the central piece above the one you can stand on, is a coin ('''#163'''). The room is 1.5s wide, as much on each side of the shaft. At its highest point, away from the shaft, it is one jump high.]
::Ponytail: So ''this'' is where it is.

:[There is nothing else down here, but now you have to see if you can get out again. It takes about 10s to get back to where you came in through the lava. It can be rather difficult to get out again. But to make sure you come out you move into the lava and to the right. Then just as the cave is about to disappear to the left you jump up as high as you can. Then push a little right while continuing to push up and do this for a little while and then eventually you will get out. There is nothing else to see below the lava. But you can easily get stuck, and thus the next section will try to describe what you can find out about the lava lake by testing it from end to end. But if you have had enough you will now move out of the crater to the left, ([[#At the end of all things|go straight there]]).]

====Into the lava lake====
*There are no coins in the section.
:[Beneath the lava… Going in the lava from the right, you step in next to the first cloud just above the surface. You do not disappear beneath the lava here, just to the middle and your head is in the cloud. Moving on your head begins to disappear and just before reaching the largest bubble on this side your head is gone. Just around here the bottom is descending. If you stand so you jump through the right part of the bubble you jump high enough to see the drones. A step to the middle of the bubble and you can’t see them with a jump and one more step and you reach even less above the surface in a jump. Then there seems to be a plateau here reaching until just before the big cloud reaching under the high cloud. Jumping on this will take you close to the high cloud. Then there is a downslope, and while you move under the cloud with the “arm” at the top to the right, you go from jumping clearly higher than that, to just breaching the surface at its left tail. The bottom keeps falling down, and already before reaching under the next small cloud, before a really long cloud begins, you will not breach the surface in one jump. But two jumps will take you above that cloud. The bottom falls very steep here, and already before the end of this small cloud, you only just reach the bottom of it with two jumps. Continuing left you soon lose sight of the surface. This happens just before you reach a small bubble on the surface beneath the middle of the long cloud. Just before this two jumps takes you to the low cloud.]

:[Now when standing at the bottom you cannot see the surface. But you can jump down a given point from above. Just left of the long cloud you need two perfect jumps to just breach the surface with the top of your head. Further just before the spark jumping out of the surface you need three jumps to get out. In three jumps you can reach above the level of the small cloud to the right above the long cloud. But if you fall down right through the spark, you do not fall deeper than that you again can see the surface from where you stand. So there seems to be a cliff going up down below. Two jumps is need to get out, but then you get almost as high as with three jumps before. Stepping right you fall down as expected. Walking left into the cliff and jumping makes nothing happen. But if you walk a little back again and jump you just see the surface, but then hit something and fall back. Maybe there is a small protrusion on the cliff. Walking left and jumping makes nothing happen. But if you try for several small steps then suddenly you will jump up again. You just found out that there is something floating in the lava that you can stand on, but also walk beneath. It begins just where the lava spark jumps out to the right, and ends just before the small vapor plume comes out under two small clouds. When you fall down from the floating thing, you can jump up just through this plume. It seems like the floating thing bends down a little towards the left, so you jump less high out in two jumps than from the middle. If you just fall off the left side of this floater, then you can walk back in 10 small pushes of the arrow and jump up on the right side. The bottom has continued to decline under the floater and from just falling off on the left you can only just get the hover board above the surface in three jumps.]

:[After the floater you continue left. Moving above the surface and falling down through a small bubble between clouds reveals a deeper part. It now takes five jump what before took three. This deep space seems to be a hole because it is not so deep just to the right, and while it is the same depth for a short distance, then already before reaching the next cloud it is clearly a jump less deep, and suddenly when reaching the middle of the next large cloud (with a trail pointing right at the bottom) you do not drop low enough to not see the surface. Actually you are here so high that a jump will take you head just above the surface. Dropping down from there to the right again it takes three jumps to get up. At the small spark right of the cloud you need four jumps to breach the surface, though taking you over the cloud, but at the center of the previous cloud it take five jump to just get halfway out. Going right from here at the bottom a little you still jump out in five. Going a little further out, you do not jump out. Pushing right at the bottom of the hole obviously takes you under some overhang. Pushing back left one time makes no difference, but twice is enough that you can jump out again. Testing you find out that it is not the floater that overhangs, because then you should be able to walk under it to the right. So the deep hole can trap you under an overhang to the right. It turns out the same can happen if you move towards the left at the bottom of the hole. Then you cannot jump out, but one step right and you can get out five jump; or in 1.5s if you wish to go fast. So this small hole is not the way into the underground lair, but could trap and frustrate you if you get stuck on either end.]

:[Getting back out of the hole you jump up to the high level just to the left of this deep hole. This begins just under the middle of the tail cloud. As you found out just by moving off this cliff to the right, you are three full jumps from breaching the surface with your head. At the spark after the cloud it is 4 jumps to get all out and over the plume further right it is bottom with five jumps. So there is some outcrop between the bottom of the hole and the top of the cliff. If you just step of the cliff to the right and try to step into it from the left, you cannot jump out. But you are higher up, because now a single jump will make you see he surface, but jumping twice will not take you much higher. Maybe it is an outcrop? But when you go further left and jump you continue to hit something, but you can see the surface and see that you still move left. Finally you can jump to the surface again. So this is another floater. But this floats so high that you can see you head when you jump from the top, and see the surface when you jump up under it. It begins just to the left of the center of the cloud with the tail to the right and ends just on the other side of the large bubble. Under the bubble you can jump so your head almost coincides with this when at the highest. Then the floaters top drops a little, as you can still stand on it, just before you fall down again, but here on the edge you cannot see your head when jumping. Two jumps take you all the way out though. Going left takes you to the bottom where there are three jumps to just get you all out (just at the left end of the cloud above the large bubble). In two jumps from the bottom you can land on the floater. It takes about 8 steps to move over or under the floater.]

:[Continuing left from the floater the bottom stays the same height (three jumps to get just all out) while moving under the next two clouds. Reaching the third cloud it becomes deeper again, and at the next large bubble on the surface it takes three jumps to just get your head above the bubble. And just after the next cloud after the one over the bubble, it takes three perfect jumps to just see the top of your head breach the surface. Under the middle of the two clouds on top of each other it takes four jumps to get well clear, but three is nowhere near enough. At the left edge of the bottom of these two clouds, it takes four perfect jumps to get all out. And suddenly between this cloud and the next high one, where there are some sparks above the lava you cannot even reach the surface with 6 jumps. But just a step to the right you can with six jumps, where you just breach the surface with your head. This must be the cave entrance. Below the small high cloud left of the spark the depth is the same, but under the center of the next cloud it take seven jumps to just get your torso out of the lava. Just before to the right of that cloud seven jumps would take you above that cloud. At the end of that cloud to the left, seven jumps will just breach the surface. Under the small bubble under the next cloud it takes eight jumps to just get all out. And at the edge of that cloud it suddenly takes 11 jumps to get out, though to above the left tail of that cloud. In between this and the next cloud, where there are some spark it is 13 jumps out. But in the middle of the next cloud it suddenly only takes 5 jumps to get above that cloud (4 not enough to get out though). Just right of that cloud it is five to get out. Going down right again through the spark floating highest through the back of your head makes you go deepest. It takes 14 jumps to breach the surface, getting just entirely above the top spark. It takes 4.5s to get out fast from there. Going left from there it only takes 1.5s before you can see the underground cave and 5.3s before you stand inside. It is clear from you entrance that you go down and then up again to get in. But how does this big and deep hole look like?]

:[The deep hole with the entrance. Starting from inside the cave you jump into the lava. Your head just pops up. One step further you are gone, but can jump all the way out. It goes steep. Next small step you can only see the head in a jump. One more step and you cannot get up in one jump. Three more steps and two jumps only just take you all the way out. This is at the center of the lava pool in that cave. From here the floor levels out, and two jumps take you just out. Then you reach under the overhang where the lava pool ends. Going under the overhang you find that the lava is still more than one jump high but you hit the ceiling fast when jumping a second time. To begin with the ceiling come lover, but still more than one jump, and the floor also falls a little. But then the floor can be seen to rise by the cave above. Also the ceiling begins to rise, so the second jump is longer to hit. Already before the edge of the lava pool is gone to the left, you can jump two jumps without hitting; but not three. Then you reach the very edge where you can still see the shaft. It is still two jumps high. One step further out you can still see some of the shaft when jumping. No difference. From now you are walking blind. You know there is a point where you can jump straight out. But nothing happens if you just go a few steps right and try to jump. It only took 14-16 steps to get to where you could see the shaft when going from this drop point. But that must have been downhill. It takes 23-25 small steps from where you can see the shaft to reach the place where you can go all the way up (in 4.5s). If you are shorter back you can only expect that there is some outcrop above you. If you move along from this spot for a few seconds to the right, and then try to jump out, nothing happens. One step back and you get out the same place. It seems it is very hard to get out directly any other places than this one. But the fastest way out seem to be just getting below the out crop from the cave, and then jumping up while first keeping to the right and then to the left. It can be done in about 10-12s.]

:[It is possible to go left out of the deep hole, as long as you are above and left of this deepest part; that is where you could end by falling down through the right edge of the clouds, just left of the two sparks above each other between clouds. From there you can walk out of the lava pool towards the island and break the surface at the horse in just 5.6s. There is a part of the deep hole that slopes a lot around here. You can jump up in five jumps at the clouds right edge, and then you can find a spot between the cloud and the sparks that takes 8 jumps just right. Jumping up and down like this you may lose your foot hold at the side of that wall and suddenly find yourself at the bottom. In that case going left takes you to the cave. But as long as you stay out of the deepest pit you can walk out left. Going right from the right side of the hole will not take you out as you will get trapped in the smaller hole. But it would not be too hard to get out. Moving left the depth quickly decreases; four jumps at the left edge of the same small cloud (against five at the right end); at the small bubble before the next cloud, three jumps to just breach surface; at the spark in the air under next larger cloud, three jumps to reach this spark; at the next spark under next lower cloud, three jumps to get totally above this cloud. And suddenly at the right edge of the next flash like cloud, you are so high that you can see the surface. Actually this is just the place where a step right will take you so low you cannot see the surface. Two jumps will take you all out. Now you can see how the bottom rises steadily. Just after the sparks in the air before the next cloud you reach a spot where you can jump once and breach the surface. At the larger spark exploding between three clouds, you can almost jump all the way out. Doing so becomes possible beneath the small low cloud after that spark. Finally you reach under the horse, but not until you reach the middle of the horse does your head breach the surface while standing. There is a quite steep rise just before the rock island.]

:[On the other side of the rock island you follow Cueballs lead into the lava lake. You are able to stand just above the lava. Then there is a quite steep descend and just four small steps out you are completely below the surface. This is just after the first cloud near the surface. If you jump you reach the top of the text. At the large bubble after the next low cloud you reach the bottom of the top line. After the next cloud, just before there is a small vent out of the lava, you can just jump completely out of the lava. One step more on top of the vent you only get halfway out, and two more steps and you cannot breach the surface in one jump under the small bubble after the vent. At the next vent after the next cloud you still get all the way out in two jumps (above this low vent). Under the largest of all the bubbles under the next cloud you almost get completely out in two jumps. At the vent after this bubble two jumps just takes most of your head above the surface. At the spark under the start of the next cloud you need three jumps to breach the surface, but you then jump into the higher cloud above the low cloud. At the end of the low cloud you still need three jumps, but gets even higher out. The bottom of the lake begins to rise again.]

:[The bottom is rising on this part, and when the next cloud begins, you can just breach the surface with two jumps. This is already possible at the small spark between the clouds. At the end of the cloud your head is almost out in two jumps. At the start of the next longer cloud your head reaches up to the cloud. Just left of this point the bottom is now so high up that you can see the surface when standing on the bottom. But two steps left and the bottom falls again. Still just possible to see the surface from the point just before the cloud makes a sway up. When under the spark under this long cloud you cannot see the surface, but still get your head out in two jumps. This stays the same when moving to the larger bubble at the end of the long cloud and the bottom stays at this depth under the high cloud next. At the end of the high cloud there are three jumps to get out, but then still reaching almost over this high lying cloud. But at the end of this cloud the bottom drops away, and it now takes four jumps to reach the same height (and thus four to breach the surface).]

:[You have found something deep here. Going further left to just before the next cloud the depth is the same. But just a small step left dropping down through the edge of this larger cloud and you land on the bottom so you can see clearly above the surface – two jumps to get all out. It is possible to step a little back right and drop just a little down, but still just see the surface. One step more and you drop two jumps height down. Moving left from this edge (away from the cliff to the right) will take you right out of the lava lake, going up a steep incline, and you get out of the lava in 2sfrom there and would reach the treasure cave with Megan in 4.3s. Already at the left edge of the last big cloud you can breach the surface in on jump. Just before the last vent you can jump all the way out. And just after the last big bubble your head breaches the surface. One step and your body is out and two more steps and you stand on dry ground clear above the surface.]

:[Only thing missing is to explorer the deep hole for any caves down below. You quickly find out that the hole is a slim shaft, as one step to the left or two to the right makes it impossible to jump out. There are just two places where it is possible to jump out/fall down, between the edges of the two clouds above, and you can hardly be between them, so there are only two or three positions. If you go right from the right most part of the hole, you cannot jump up. If you back you can. If you go twice you need to go twice back. But no matter if you keep the right arrow down for some time, you will never need more than three steps back to jump out. So there is an outcrop over the shaft when going right and it doesn’t lead anywhere. If you go left one or two times from the left edge, you also cannot go up, but you can go back in the same amount of steps. But if you go three times left, you cannot just go back. Here you might panic, with your 163 coins trapped beneath the lava. But if you try to jump up left and right for some time you should be able to get out. You decide to try again. Going in from the left and making three small steps left, you cannot go out again after going three rights. But if you then go three back left and jump a few times and go three rights then you can jump out, so there is a deeper drop where you can get under another outcrop to the right. Of course you may easily get trapped beneath one of the other outcroppings. But no matter what; if you keep the left mouse down for a while after going into this hole (reaching some deeper dead-end part to the left), and then push up arrow while keeping right arrow down, then you will breach the surface in 1.8s (so it is deeper than the other “dead-end” hole to the right of the cave entrance, with an even slimmer entrance and more details below to get trapped in). In this way you breach the surface two clouds to the right of the shaft. There is nothing hidden down there except a slim shaft that can trick you into believing you cannot get out again. Having found all this out you proceed to the end of all things on the left side of the crater. It only took about 5m to check all this out inside and in the crater.]

===At the end of all things===
*There are 6 coins after the volcano, no. 164-169, including the very last.
:[After the duck at the top of the crater there is about 2.8s before you begin to go down on the other side of the volcano. After the slab of stone the duck is sitting on, there is a sharp decline, but then a small rise again, on top of which stands a small slim tree, maybe dead. After this small protrusion, there is one more indentation and then you are at the outer edge.]

:[Moving down the slope for 2s you pass an old(?) Cueball with a walking stick who is walking up the volcanos left side.]

:[Further 2s down you find another basketball hoop, pointing right, this time with a coin ('''#164''') on top. Ponytail, standing beneath the hoop is talking to Megan, who stands with the basketball, looking right towards the volcano.]
::Ponytail: OK, as soon as it erupts, go for the dunk. Our sweet moves will be preserved for all eternity!

:[Moving along the rocky and declining ground, with lots of large loose slabs of stones, you reach a few smaller loose boulders (5.3s) above which hangs a coin ('''#165'''). It is just more than one jump up (two fast clicks up will take it).]

:[After this coin the ground continues to drop, and after 2.3s you pass a dead leafless tree just a little higher than you, then five to six larger boulders (one you have to jump) lying on two mounds, then two even larger boulders, one on top of the other, and then three small boulders before the end of all things. This took 8.4s to get here.]

:[When standing on the right side of the first of these last three boulders you are still in the center of the screen. But after this, where this boulders height increases slightly, you begin moving away from the center and towards the left edge of this part of the world.]

:[At the very end of the left side of the image are four coins ('''#166'''), ('''#167'''), ('''#168'''), and ('''#169''') and then a blonde haired woman with a hair bun looking right at you. (From here you could get back up to the duck at the crater top in 19.3s).]
::Woman: In the sky,
::Woman: beyond the mountain,
::Woman: I saw a starship.
:[She is thus the last person to try to direct you towards the Star Destroyer, should you have missed all the other hints so far… This last section only took 1m to pass.]

:[When moving back from the furthers left as fast as possible without hitting any obstacles you can come back to the return the coins at the terminal in the play area in about 1 minute and 51 seconds by holding down the right arrow key and keeping high enough to not hit any obstacles, before going under the monument at the base.]

:[Finally you can hand in all your 169 coins in the terminal which would then display the following message and make you feel like a wizard:]
::{| class="wikitable"
|style="background-color:black;"| '''You got 169 coins in 5000 seconds''' Are you Gandalf?
|}
*Note: The [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/18/169_coins_transcript_way.PNG time given] is realistic when following this transcript.

{{DEFAULTSORT:1608}}
[[Category:Comic subpages]]

916: Unpickable

2022-05-04T01:51:07Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 233318 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 916
| date = June 24, 2011
| title = Unpickable
| image = unpickable.png
| titletext = The safe is empty except for an unsolved 5x5 Rubik's cube.
}}
==Explanation==
The comic plays on the idea that geeks and nerds will try to break into high-security areas in order to challenge themselves, instead of to steal things. The vault is labeled "unpickable" as a kind of challenge to break into it, while all the valuables are simply stored in a shoe box ''beside'' the vault.

A 24-pin dual-tumbler {{w|Tubular pin tumbler lock|radial-hybrid lock}} would probably be too bulky and cumbersome to actually exist. The key would be huge, or just plain ''long''. Given the length of the key, it would need to be extremely strong, and the length would be around 96mm, assuming that each notch is 5mm. In theory, though, it would be a remarkably difficult type of lock to pick. The fused 17th pin means that, even with the correct key, it cannot be opened. It would be much easier to simply break open the safe with brute force than to pick it. A simple and nerdy way to open the vault with brute force would be to use canned air, using the principle that cold objects are more brittle. Once the air is emptied onto the lock, it can be easily smashed with an ordinary hammer. This is an example of [[356|nerd sniping]], since the vault is nearly unopenable, nerds and geeks would spend all their time on the vault and ignore the seemingly useless shoe box.

The title text continues the theme, with an unsolved {{w|Professor's_Cube|5x5x5}} Rubik's cube to further challenge and distract the thief.

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the panel:]
:HackerShield
:Geek-Proof Safe System:
:[Two boxes sit side by side. One is a safe with a lock marked "Unpickable." It is labeled: ① 24-pin dual-tumbler radial-hybrid lock (rendered unopenable by a fused 17th pin). The other is a shoebox. It is labeled: ② Shoebox containing your valuables.]

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]

2373: Chemist Eggs

2022-05-04T01:50:55Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 232524 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2373
| date = October 16, 2020
| title = Chemist Eggs
| image = chemist_eggs.png
| titletext = Chemists actually find it simpler to define a general odor of rotten eggs as a baseline, and the LACK of rotten eggs as a distinct smell.
}}

==Explanation==

In this comic, [[Ponytail]] explains to [[Cueball]] that if he smells sulfides then the chemistry experiment on which they're working has failed. Ponytail then clarifies that sulfides smell like rotten eggs. The main and most distinct chemical rotten eggs emit is {{w|hydrogen sulfide}}, hence most people who smell them will link the chemical with "rotten egg smell".

Cueball replies, however, that he doesn't actually know what rotten eggs smell like, and it's odd that everyone uses that as a comparison. This is a result of changing times — decades ago, when the 'rotten eggs' descriptor became commonplace in chemistry education at high schools and universities, rotten eggs were indeed common enough that cooks avoided adding eggs directly to other ingredients, lest the rotten egg, not detected until after it was too late, force the cook to discard everything and start over. Vastly improved farming, shipping, and marketing practices have made the rotten egg vanishingly rare, at least at supermarkets in the USA. Moreover, much greater recognition of the health hazards of hydrogen sulfide means that, due to various occupational safety precautions, opportunities for sniffing the gas have become scarce, and usually engender swift reactions such as building evacuation.

Thus, the comparison has outlived the circumstances that spawned it, and chemistry teachers parrot a line they learned as students, which is no longer relevant to the students' experience. Cueball then takes the disconnect between the trope and his experience and pushes it for all it's worth. This could be taken as symbolic of people who spot such discordances and blow them out of proportion to troll others, in which case, Cueball has most definitely succeeded, based on how Ponytail reacts — she is clenching her fists in anger as she leaves the conversation, presumably to avoid further irritation. (Perhaps she smells eggs often from the people in [[382: Trebuchet]]!)

Some of [[Cueball]]'s questions suggest that chemists use eggs in place of other items. For example, the superstitious may react to a {{w|spilling salt|spilling of salt}} by picking it up and throwing it over their left shoulder, ostensibly as an attempt to blind the Devil. Another relates to the upcoming night before Halloween event called "{{w|Mischief Night}}", where kids are known to {{w|Egging|throw eggs}} at houses. Cueball asks Ponytail how she will know if this has happened, as he thinks she keeps an unusually large number of eggs in her house.

Even though rotten eggs (and hydrogen sulfide in general) are much less common nowadays, many fuel gases are mixed with odorant compounds to signal that a leak is happening; even if the user might be unfamiliar with "rotten eggs" specifically, a large amount of unpleasant odor still works as an alarm that something bad is happening. People who use natural gas or propane stoves should be familiar with the similarly rotten smell of {{w|methanethiol}}, {{w|ethanethiol}}, and/or {{w|tert-butylthiol}} (the "-SH" thiol group is a common feature of many pungent odors, including garlic and skunk spray). Some {{w|Mineral springs|mineral springs}} and other natural water sources also contain sulfides and have a strong sulfide odor and flavor; they are sometimes referred to as "sulfur springs".

The title text makes a joke about how often chemists use the comparison, saying that they use a rotten egg smell as the baseline and that a lack of the smell is a distinct one. Given the health hazards of hydrogen sulfide and the regulations now enforced in recognition of those hazards, the chemistry teacher probably doesn't often experience the smell either. Since hydrogen sulfide deadens the sense of smell, taking this smell as a 'baseline' is improbable and potentially dangerous, and it's unfortunate that the title text makes this suggestion.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Ponytail face a table with something like a lab stirrer or heater on it, supporting a flat-bottomed and -topped container from which bubbles are rising.]
:Cueball: How will I know if the reaction fails?
:Ponytail: You'll smell the sulfides.
:Cueball: What do those smell like?
:Ponytail: Sulfurous. Rotten eggs.

:[A new panel, the table is gone. Cueball is now facing Ponytail.]
:Cueball: Chemists always compare sulfur to rotten eggs.
:Cueball: But why would I know that smell?
:Ponytail: I dunno, It's a common thing!

:[Ponytail puts her hand out.]
:Cueball: Is it? My kitchen is messy, but there aren't eggs lying around rotting.
:Ponytail: You must have smelled one at ''some'' point.

:[Ponytail is now walking right off-panel, away from Cueball. She is clenching her hands and is evidently annoyed]
:Cueball: Are all chemists' houses full of random raw eggs? Do you toss them over your shoulder for good luck?
:Ponytail: '''''My house is not full of eggs!'''''
:Cueball: What do you consider a normal amount of eggs in a house?
:Cueball: If kids egg your house this Halloween, how will you know??

== Trivia ==
The quantity of eggs eaten per person in the U.S was estimated at 289.5 in 2019.<ref>https://www.statista.com/statistics/183678/per-capita-consumption-of-eggs-in-the-us-since-2000/#:~:text=In%202019%2C%20consumption%20of%20eggs,by%20the%20total%20U.S.%20population</ref>

== References ==
<references/>

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]
[[Category:Food]]

80: My Other Car

2022-05-04T01:50:46Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 233106 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 80
| date = March 24, 2006
| title = My Other Car
| image = other_car.jpg
| titletext = It's much better than the other one.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic refers to a popular form of {{w|bumper sticker}} that follows the template "my other car is a ____." Sometimes the blank is a fancy vehicle like a {{w|Porsche}} or a {{w|Ferrari}}; sometimes it's related to the person's job (e.g. "My other car is a fire truck"); sometimes it's an even more expensive form of transportation like a "{{w|yacht}}" or "{{w|private jet}}," or even something joking or in fiction (like a "{{w|TARDIS}}").

The premise was to jokingly imply that someone driving in a less fancy vehicle was wealthier than they looked, as they could afford a fancy car (they simply chose to drive the clunker that day). The designer of the first stickers might even have intended them for serious use by wealthy drivers. The form of sticker ultimately became so well known that the phrase entered the pop-culture lexicon.

Due to their popularity, these stickers also have been parodied in various ways, like the one [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] has invented here. Randall's sticker is a more "honest" sticker that admits "this IS my other car;" in other words, this is the nicer of the two cars.

This sticker could probably be used on an expensive car to mirror the traditional sticker's use on a cheaper car. However, the car in the strip is a Mitsubishi, which is not a particularly expensive brand, though the presence of a spoiler indicates it may be one of the top-range models, or at least has had a little extra paid for some sports 'extras'. Thus it appears that Randall is using the sticker for contrasting purposes: while others would drive a modest car but joke that they have a really nice one at home, Randall's car is the one you see, and, as he noted in the title text, his other one is much worse than this one.

It's also possible that this is a play on meta-levels; by definition, the car that you're driving can't be your other car, as it's your car you're driving now. Your other car is the one sitting at home.

==Transcript==
:[The back of a blue Mitsubishi with a spoiler is shown.]
:Bumper sticker: This '''<big>IS</big>''' my other car.

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

346: Diet Coke+Mentos

2022-05-04T01:50:36Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 234128 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 346
| date = November 19, 2007
| title = Diet Coke+Mentos
| image = diet_coke_mentos.png
| titletext = The cola+Mentos trick is up there with corn starch+water (vibrating platter optional) in scientific coolness out of common kitchen supplies.
}}

==Explanation==

This comic's premise is a reference to the phenomenon of {{w|Diet Coke and Mentos eruption|dropping Mentos into a bottle of a carbonate beverage to create a geyser of said beverage}}. During 2007, a large number of videos depicting this phenomenon floated around the Internet.

[[Cueball]] wants to show this phenomenon to his friend, because it's "the coolest thing". However, instead of achieving the standard result, a geyser of Diet Coke, the friend's father magically appears (presumably from the dead or from abandonment).

An alternative interpretation is that the friend's father is resurrected/returned in an event unrelated to the geyser, undermining the geyser's coolness.

The title text shows that Randall considers (or at least then considered) this trick to be as cool as mixing {{w|Non-Newtonian_fluid#Oobleck|corn starch and water to make a non-Newtonian fluid}} that reacts wildly with vibrations and impact.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and his friend are sitting on the ground, with a bottle of Diet Coke between them, and Cueball appears to be putting mentos into the bottle.]
:Cueball: This is the coolest thing. You just drop the Mentos in the Diet Coke...
:Friend: Uh huh.

:[Diet Coke starts to fizzle.]
:Cueball: Give it a moment...

:[Someone teleports into frame in a magic puff. Cueball's arms are raised, with a package of Mentos in one hand.]
:''POOF''

:Friend: D-Dad?
:Dad: I'm back, son. We can be a family again.

==Trivia==
*The "corn starch+water" trick from the title text is illustrated here at [http://what-if.xkcd.com/36/ what-if].

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

1466: Phone Checking

2022-05-04T01:50:26Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 232999 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1466
| date = December 29, 2014
| title = Phone Checking
| image = phone_checking.png
| titletext = 'Where were you when you learned you'd won?' 'I was actually asleep; I woke up when I refreshed the webite and saw the news.'
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] asks [[Megan]] what's up, and Megan announces that there's a Compulsive Phone Checking Championship, presumably an award for the person who checks their phone the most often. Megan checks her phone to see if the winner has been announced, but finds the site's server is {{w|server overload|overloaded}}, which would be exactly what would happen if many people were checking their phones simultaneously. Given the nature of the contest, we can presume this is indeed the case. As a solution, Megan tries refreshing repeatedly, sending more load to the server and, thus, making it unavailable longer.

This compulsive behavior predates the popularity of mobile phones as shown in [[477: Typewriter]] and [[862: Let Go]].

Another possible analysis is that the site was purposely down, and instead was the contest itself, to see how many times different users would refresh the page within a time period, or perhaps to the last one standing, determining the winner.

The title text implies that Megan checks her phone so compulsively she even does it in her sleep. This probably contributed to her victory. A "webite" is probably either a typo of "website" or a pinned tab in a web browser.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball approaching Megan.]
:Cueball: What's up?
:Megan: They're announcing the winner of the compulsive phone-checking championship.

:[Megan checks her phone.]

:[Megan puts her phone away.]

:[Megan checks her phone again.]
:Cueball: Did you win?
:Megan: Site's down.
:Cueball: Weird.
:Megan: I'll keep refreshing.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Phones]]

1021: Business Plan

2022-05-04T01:50:15Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 233351 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1021
| date = February 24, 2012
| title = Business Plan
| image = business_plan.png
| titletext = The investor elevator pitch is "Wheeeeeeee! Elevators are fun!"
}}

==Explanation==

This one has the art and feel of very early xkcd comics, even when those stick figures did not appear by that time.

[[Beret Guy]] has developed (or spontaneously implemented) a "business plan" whereby he lures seagulls to an area of a beach utilizing breadcrumbs. Once the gulls converge on the area, he sets up a sign reading "GULLS FOR SALE" with a jar for money. Though Beret Guy probably expects to profit, the confused reactions of other people in the last panel indicate nobody is buying, and the limited number of gulls, four, is low enough that their sale might not even finance the breadcrumbs. In real life, there is no market for seagulls, nor will there ever be in the foreseeable future. {{Citation needed}}

The title text is a reference to the phrase "{{w|Elevator pitch}}", which is also similar to "investor pitch". The point of an elevator pitch is to have a synopsis of your idea that you are capable of delivering on a moment's notice in the time it takes to ride the elevator, about 30 seconds. This way, when you get that once-in-a-career opportunity to pitch your plan to the one person who can make it happen because you just happened to catch the same elevator, you are ready. The reason the elevator pitch is so simplistic is because the same sort of person that would think selling seagulls is a viable business model is likely the same sort of person to make a childish elevator pitch. This also pokes fun at the idea of people sweating over their pitch with such seriousness, when Beret Guy's pitch is literally a childish exclamation. Wheeee!

==Transcript==
:[6 small panels extend across the width of the comic...]

:[Beret Guy stands on a shoreline and takes in the environment in silent contemplation.]

:[In a frame-less panel, Beret Guy heads off with an idea fresh in his head.]

:[Beret Guy saunters back with a jar, some bread, and a signboard.]

:[Beret Guy tears the bread off into pieces.]

:[Beret Guy sets up the signboard, with its contents yet to be revealed.]

:[Beret Guy heads off and waits for the plan to unfold.]

:[A large full-width panel below the first 6 small panels shows the same beach, this time with Megan and Cueball standing in front of and reading the sign. Cueball scratches his head. The bread has attracted quite a few gulls. There is a label on the jar.]
:Jar label: $
:Sign: Gulls for sale

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Beret Guy's Business]]

823: Guest Week: David Troupes (Buttercup Festival)

2022-05-04T01:50:00Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 233122 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 823
| date = November 23, 2010
| title = Guest Week: David Troupes (Buttercup Festival)
| image = guest_week_david_troupes_buttercup_festival.png
| titletext = Guest comic by David Troupes of Buttercup Festival, who is living in that lovely tree outside your window.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a commentary on relationships. [[Megan]] is perfectly happy sitting on the moon (which is impossible){{Citation needed}} with [[Cueball]], the person she loves. Cueball, however, has his experience ruined when he notices a former bully of his passing by below. After hitting the bully with a rock that he shoots from the moon with his {{w|slingshot}}, he can share in Megan's happiness. (This is practically impossible as well. To start, the rock would most likely fall back down unless Cueball could throw it at escape velocity, but the precision required for such a throw would be extreme, and he would need to account for the movement of the Earth and Moon, as well as the Earth's rotation. Even if accounting for all of that, it would very likely disintegrate in Earth's atmosphere.)

[http://www.buttercupfestival.com/ David Troupes] is the author of the webcomic {{w|Buttercup Festival}}.

''Guest Week'' was a series of five comics written by five other comic authors. They were released over five consecutive days (Monday-Friday); not over the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule. 
The five comics are:
*[[822: Guest Week: Jeph Jacques (Questionable Content)]]
*[[823: Guest Week: David Troupes (Buttercup Festival)]]
*[[824: Guest Week: Bill Amend (FoxTrot)]]
*[[825: Guest Week: Jeffrey Rowland (Overcompensating)]]
*[[826: Guest Week: Zach Weiner (SMBC)]]

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Cueball are leaning against each other, sitting on top of a giant moon in a black, star dotted sky. Trees are visible on the bottom of the panel.]

:[The scene broadens.]
:Megan: I've never been so happy. I—
:Cueball: Hold on—that guy used to dump my notebooks in high school. Give me a moment. Try to keep the moon steady.

:[A rock hits a Cueball on the ground on the back of the head.]

:[The guy falls and clutches the back of his head.]

:[Back to the moon again, where Cueball is leaning his head against Megan while holding a slingshot.]
:Cueball: I've never been so happy.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Guest Week]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Romance]]

1430: Proteins

2022-05-04T01:49:46Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 234390 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1430
| date = October 6, 2014
| title = Proteins
| image = proteins.png
| titletext = Check it out--when I tug the C-terminal tail, the binding tunnel squeezes!
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, [[Cueball]] is asking [[Megan]] what she does, to which she replies that she works on software to predict protein folding. There are many folding prediction software programs. Some of the most well known are {{w|Folding@Home}}, {{w|Rosetta@Home}} and {{w|FoldIt}}.

{{w|Protein folding}} is the process by which proteins, which are floppy, unstructured chains of {{w|amino acids}} when initially synthesized in a cell, assume a stable, functional shape. If the folding process does not complete, or completes incorrectly, the resulting protein can be inactive or even toxic to the body. Misfolded proteins are responsible for several {{w|neurodegenerative}} diseases, including {{w|Alzheimer's disease}}, {{w|amyotrophic lateral sclerosis}} (ALS), and {{w|Parkinson's disease}}, as well as some non-neurodegenerative diseases such as cardiac amyloidosis.

Cueball asks Megan why it is such a hard computational problem; Megan's response is to ask Cueball if he's ever {{w|Origami|folded paper}} to make a {{w|Crane (bird)|crane}}. When he responds in the affirmative, she then compares the problem of predicting protein folding to creating a ''living'' crane by the paper-folding process. The analogy is that a protein cannot just fold to a figurative representation of a bio-molecule, the way a paper crane superficially resembles a live crane; the protein must assume an exact, perfect fold in order to be functional.

{{w|Levinthal's paradox}} is a thought experiment, also constituting a self-reference in the theory of protein folding. In 1969, Cyrus Levinthal noted that, because of the very large number of degrees of freedom in an unfolded polypeptide chain, the molecule has an astronomical number of possible conformations. For example, a polypeptide of 100 {{w|Residue (chemistry)|residue}}s will have 99 peptide bonds, and therefore 198 different {{w|Dihedral angle|phi and psi bond angles}}. If each of these bond angles can be in one of three stable conformations, the protein may misfold into a maximum of 3198 different conformations (including any possible folding redundancy). Therefore, if a protein were to attain its correctly folded configuration by sequentially sampling all the possible conformations, it would require a time longer than the age of the universe to arrive at its correct native conformation. This is true even if conformations are sampled at rapid (nanosecond or picosecond) rates. The "paradox" is that most small proteins fold spontaneously on a millisecond or even microsecond time scale. This paradox is central to computational approaches to protein structure prediction.

As Cueball mentally turns over the hypothetical process of folding paper to make a living crane, he wonders if he is allowed to perhaps "cut" the paper to make more complicated folds available. In origami, purists [http://www.barf.cc/jeremy/origami/BOOK/essays/origami_purism/origami_purism.htm] considered it as cheating if you cut the paper or use more than one sheet of paper, which is why Cueball asked if he was 'allowed' to do such in the hypothetical exercise they are discussing.

Megan replies "if you can fold a Protease enzyme;" these are proteins whose job it is to break down (i.e. "cut") other proteins, often in very specific ways. In this manner, Protease enzymes are analogous to extremely specialized scissors, so Megan is effectively saying "You can make cuts if you can fold yourself a pair of scissors." Of course, when trying to predict the folding trajectory in nature of a protein A, and one is allowed to make cuts during the process, one is making the assumption that the Protease that cut protein A is already folded and functional. In other words, making cuts while folding might actually make the process ''more'' complicated, not less, as now you have to consider how the cutting enzyme is folded, too.

The title text refers to the result of folding a flapping bird in origami. By pulling the tail, the head will move forward and down. However, since the joke is about folding proteins, this idea is extrapolated to include the folded proteins. The C-terminus (end of the protein chain), in this case analogous of the tail, if "pulled" would cause a created cavity or tunnel to squeeze, much like pulling a knot would do the same.

{{w|Folding@Home}} (F@H) is a distributed computing project which aims to simulate protein folding for research purposes. Rather than the traditional model of using a supercomputer for computation, the project uses idle processing power of a network of personal computers in order to achieve massive computing power. Individuals can join the project by installing the F@H software (there is also a web version that can be run using Google Chrome) and are then able to track their contribution to the project. Individual members may join together as a team, with leaderboards measuring team and individual contributions.

Note that most modern computers do not "waste" computing time as much as older ones. They dynamically reduce their clock speed and other power consumption at times of low usage. If you donate computer time, you are probably also donating a bit of money to the cause in the form of your electricity bill. Many people consider this to be more fun, convenient and efficient than donating via credit card.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is talking with Megan.]
:Cueball: What do you do?
:Megan: I make software that predicts how proteins will fold.
:Cueball: Is that a hard problem?
:Megan: Someone may someday find a harder one.
:Cueball: Why is it so hard?
:Megan: Have you ever made a folded paper crane?
:Cueball: Yeah.
:Megan: Imagine figuring out the folds to make an actual ''living'' crane.
:Cueball: ...''just'' folds? Can I make cuts?
:Megan: If you can fold a protease enzyme.

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

1058: Old-Timers

2022-05-04T01:48:01Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 233853 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1058
| date = May 21, 2012
| title = Old-Timers
| image = old_timers.png
| titletext = You were on the internet before I was born? Well, so was I.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic the man with the beard thinks he is {{w|Leet}} and tries to show this to his conversations partner by calling her {{w|Newbie|noob}} (see also {{w|Leet#n00b|n00b}}). He claims that he has been on the internet since the BBS days, and thus long before his conversation partner was even born.

A {{w|Bulletin Board System}}, or BBS, is an online service based on microcomputers running appropriate software. They were the precursors to modern day online forums.

However, he is up against [[Science Girl]] who tells him he is wrong. She explains that her parents took samples of their sperm and egg and {{w|Genome#Sequencing_and_mapping|sequenced}} the {{w|DNA}}. The resulting {{w|genome}} was then e-mailed to the {{w|J. Craig Venter Institute|Venter Institute}} where they synthesized the genome and used this to create the egg and sperm that became Science Girl.

The J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) is a non-profit genomics research institute founded by {{w|J. Craig Venter}}, Ph.D. in October 2006. Although what Science Girl is describing may be possible this comic must take place in the future as this has not yet been used to create human beings.

Her point though is, that the man is wrong when he says that he has been on the internet. When you are "on-line" you are really just looking on the screen where the results found "on" the internet is displayed. So he has been '''looking''' at the internet. The girl's genome (which is basically the closest you can come to the data a computer would need to create you) has been sent on-line in an e-mail. So in her words, she has actually '''been''' there.

Objectively, the Science Girl is just as bad as her adult conversational partner; simply being the most significant advancement in test tube babies in over two decades doesn't prove anything about your personal knowledge or experience. ''Subjectively'', however, her reputation alone is more than enough to stun and thus "defeat" anyone who actually understands her special heritage, as well as of course her pun and correction regarding being and looking on the internet. It is also worth noting that it was technically her parents' sex cells, not her, which traversed the internet.

The title text is another common retort from "old timers" that they have been doing X since before the younger person was born. In this case, Science Girl accepts that the old timer was "on the Internet" before she was born, but so was she... At least in the form of her genetic information.

==Transcript==
:[A man with black hair and a neck beard types away at his computer screen.]
:Man (typing): Whatever, noob. I've been on the internet since the BBS days.
:Screen (reply from the noob): ''Wrong.''
: ''type type''

:[The noob turns out to be Science Girl, with two hair buns, who kneels on her chair, typing at a laptop on a table in this frame-less panel.]
:Science Girl (typing): Before I was born, a lab took egg and sperm samples from my parents and sequenced the DNA.
:''type type''

:[The man sits at his desk, reading his screen.]
:Screen (Science Girls writing): They emailed the genome to the Venter Institute, where they synthesized the genome and implanted it into sperm and eggs which became me.

:[Science Girl still typing on the laptop.]
:Science Girl (typing): So, no.
:Science Girl (typing): You've '''''looked''''' at the internet.
:Science Girl (typing): I've '''''been''''' there.
:''type type''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Science Girl]]
[[Category:Internet]]

988: Tradition

2022-05-04T01:47:25Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 235858 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 988
| date = December 9, 2011
| title = Tradition
| image = tradition.png
| titletext = An 'American tradition' is anything that happened to a baby boomer twice.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic uses the source of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers to say that the 20 most played Christmas songs in the US between 2000 and 2009 were all released between the 1930s and 1970s. It conspicuously excludes a number of more modern songs that seem ubiquitous, but this is because those songs do not appear on the ASCAP list.

"Popular release" in this context means release to the general public, not the version of the song which is most popular.

The {{w|Post–World War II baby boom|Baby Boomers}} were born in a period of time after {{w|World War II|the second World War}} after the troops came home and, thankful for their lives, went on to produce lots of children.

The data appears to come from [http://www.ascap.com/press/2009/1123_holidays_songs.aspx an ASCAP survey conducted in 2009].

The title text points out that many "traditions" actually have no historical precedent, they're just routines that have been spread by lots of people. The Baby Boomers, since they made up a ''huge'' fraction of the US population, were able to accidentally ground many "traditions" that their parents made up in American society just by consensus among themselves.

==Transcript==
:The 20 most-played Christmas songs (2000-2009 radio airplay) by decade of popular release
:[A bar chart labeled on the X-axis with the decades "1900s" through "2000s" labeled. Each bar has, as one unit, a labeled song.
:"1900s", "1910s", "1920s", "1980s", "1990s", and "2000s" are empty.
:"1930s" has "Santa Claus is Coming to Town".
:"1940s" has "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", "Winter Wonderland", "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire", "Let it Snow", "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", "I'll be Home for Christmas", and "White Christmas".
:"1950s" has "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", "Jingle Bell Rock", "Blue Christmas", "Little Drummer Boy", "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus", "Silver Bells", "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas", "Sleigh Ride", and "Frosty the Snowman"
:"1960s" has "Holly Jolly Christmas" and "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"
:"1970s" has "Feliz Navidad"]
:Every year, American culture embarks on a massive project to carefully recreate the Christmases of Baby Boomers' childhoods.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Bar charts]]
[[Category:Timelines]]
[[Category:Christmas]]

1159: Countdown

2022-05-04T01:47:16Z

Hlk-kp: Undo revision 232904 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

<noinclude>:''For the header text countdown, see [[Countdown in header text]].''</noinclude>
{{comic
| number = 1159
| date = January 11, 2013
| title = Countdown
| image = countdown.png
| titletext = For all we know, the odds are in our favor.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic shows a {{w|seven segment display}} (aka [http://www.ece.mtu.edu/labs/EElabs/EE2304/pages/bcd_to_seven_segment_TAversion.html calculator-style numbers]) with a countdown. [[Black Hat]] explains that it is a countdown, maybe to a {{w|supervolcano}} eruption. However, an unfortunately placed picture blocks view of the full display. Due to the form of a seven-segment display, the first digit could be 0, 6, or 8, and five digits are completely blocked by the picture. [[Cueball]] is worried and asks him to move the picture, but Black Hat lazily or teasingly refuses to move it.

He has already teased that he doesn't know what the countdown is for. His reply can either be understood as if he does not know which one of the ({{w|Supervolcano#VEI_8|seven potential}}) supervolcanos it is counting down to, or to which other {{w|Global catastrophic risk|cataclysmic event}} it is a countdown for (such as a {{w|Impact event|meteor strike}} or global {{w|Nuclear warfare|nuclear war}} for instance - it could also just be a general {{w|Doomsday Clock}}). Since it seems to be Black Hat's countdown, it is safe to assume that he knows both what it counts down to and when it stops, but he just likes to mess with peoples' minds.

The fully visible part starts at 2409, and based on the pace of the scene, it seems to be in seconds. Thus, it is unclear when the eruption might occur. If the obscured digits are all 0s, it could be as soon as 40 minutes. On the other hand, if the obscured digits are '899 999', there's another 2.85 million years to go; if they are '000 001', we have a little more than 3 years.

The choice of the picture is probably also interesting. The image is distorted enough that you can imagine it as being two very different images.
#It could depict a setting sun either reflecting in an ocean or with a river (possible also a lake) running out of the picture. But if it is a sun it is not very circular, although there do appear lines to indicate it is shining. This could maybe be explained with atmospheric interference.
#Alternatively it depicts an exploding volcano, a mountain with lines away from it to indicate the explosion or the eruption, and lava flowing away from it or collecting in lakes.
In either case, it could make sense. If it is a volcano, the supervolcano clock makes sense. On the other hand, we are talking about the possible end of the world as we know it, so the sun setting upon humanity could be a great metaphor.

The title text: "For all we know, the odds are in our favor" could imply the assumption that since we can't see the digits behind the picture, we can treat them as random. If so, chances are only 1 in 300 000 they are all zeros. However, because of statistical principles such as {{w|Benford's law}}, the digits are not entirely random, and the {{w|odds}} are higher than 1/299 999 for all the digits to be zero since the middle 4 digits are zero.

In an alternative view, the strip is not about pondering at distributions of digits on an oracle countdown. It's more of a grim view of our natural disaster prediction capabilities. As they say – the question is not if it will happen but when it will happen. "Move the picture" would mean investing in research and warning systems - that would correspond to shifting the picture to the left. If we disregard the 40 minutes, but instead think of it as an arbitrary interval of interests, minuscule as we folks have them, say - one's lifetime; or grimmer yet - some {{w|term of office}}. Because, hey, year after year passes and no apocalypse has been observed - the empirical odds are low indeed. An interesting question is what we would use the knowledge of the timing of our impending doom, if it is an event we can do nothing about, such as stopping a supervolcanic eruption or a large asteroid with a direct impact course on Earth. Would we not have lives more happily for our remaining years, how few that might be, while not knowing... On the other hand, if the event is something we might prevent given enough time to plan (and the funding resources such knowledge would ensure), then it may have saved us if we moved the picture just in time!

Using a countdown theme for comic #1159 could be a subtle joke, as 11:59/23:59 is one minute to midnight (on the Doomsday clock!).

Supervolcanos were also referenced in the title text of [[1053: Ten Thousand]] and it is the subject of in [[1611: Baking Soda and Vinegar]].

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat is sitting with his laptop on a desk when Cueball, standing behind him, looks up on the wall and asks him about the large digital countdown timer with red numbers which is hanging high up on the wall. It has a white frame around the black display with the red numbers. Most of the left part of the counter is covered by a framed picture that hangs on a string attached to a nail above the counter. The picture depicts either a setting sun reflecting in an ocean or an exploding volcano with lava flowing away from it. The picture does not block the left-most part of the frame around the counter, and it is also possible to see the two left-most lines of the first digit on the countdown, so they are both turned on. This proves that the numbers go all the way to the left end. The next five digits are covered by the picture. Then one digit is only partly covered, as only the two most left lines are not visible. From the visible lines, it is though clear that this digit shows a 0. The next seven digits are fully visible, giving eight discernible digits.]
:
:'''00002409'''
:
:Cueball: What's that?
:Black Hat: Countdown.
:[Same picture, but Cueball is looking at Black Hat. The counter counts down.]
:
:'''00002400'''
:
:Cueball: To what?
:Black Hat: Supervolcano, I think. I forget which one.
:[Cueball looks up again for about 18s (between 2nd and fourth image) - beat panel.]
:
:'''00002396'''
:
:[Cueball looks at Black Hat again.]
:
:'''00002382'''
:
:Cueball: Maybe we should move that picture?
:Black Hat: Too hard to reach. It's probably fine.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Volcanoes]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:Time]]