explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3233: Make It Myself

2026-04-17T17:44:09Z

Jacobus-nl:

Almost did the same thing, but satisfied with results. Wanted to build a very shallow wide drawer for Ikea Ivar shelf that I use as computer station. Only one I saw that came close was $190. I probably spent $50-60, three hours planning and assembling, three trips to hardware stores and two reworked designs before I made what I wanted. Used a Cambro serving tray form Amazon, couple oak "project boards", couple DIY dowels and screws.
[[User:Fungible|Fungible]] ([[User talk:Fungible|talk]]) 22:23, 15 April 2026 (UTC)

...and a small aubergine.
[[User:Jgharston|Jgharston]] ([[User talk:Jgharston|talk]]) 23:03, 15 April 2026 (UTC)
:Goodness gracious me! [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 00:24, 16 April 2026 (UTC)

Where did Dark Mode go??? I used to get it for free, and now I have to get an extension? [[User:King Pando|King Pando]] ([[User talk:King Pando|talk]]) 04:02, 16 April 2026 (UTC)
:It's still available on https://xkcd.com/3227/ [[User:Maofgf|Maofgf]] ([[User talk:Maofgf|talk]]) 07:52, 16 April 2026 (UTC)
Seems like today xkcd's website went back to normal, or as normal as can be when you don't have Dark Mode. [[User:SectorCorruptor|SectorCorruptor]] ([[User talk:SectorCorruptor|talk]]) 04:23, 16 April 2026 (UTC)

Bill Sutton's song "Do it Yourself" is the large-scale version of this. [[Special:Contributions/2603:8081:9700:1224:0:0:0:2|2603:8081:9700:1224:0:0:0:2]] 04:36, 16 April 2026 (UTC)

I suspect "weather building" is a typo. Homophone problem.--[[Special:Contributions/2A00:23CC:D248:8901:801E:C71:4D35:EEB4|2A00:23CC:D248:8901:801E:C71:4D35:EEB4]] 07:50, 16 April 2026 (UTC)
: "They want $20k for this cloud seeding operation?!? I could do it myself with $5k worth of silver iodide, 45 hours of pilot training, plane hire, time to develop a dispersal system... [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 08:48, 16 April 2026 (UTC)

: There is a sort of typo in the alt-text too: “have have”. I hope it’s not intentional, ‘cause if it is I don’t get it. [[User:Jacobus-nl|Jacobus-nl]] ([[User talk:Jacobus-nl|talk]]) 11:27, 16 April 2026 (UTC)
: Aaand scratch that. This typo has been fixed. [[User:Jacobus-nl|Jacobus-nl]] ([[User talk:Jacobus-nl|talk]]) 17:44, 17 April 2026 (UTC)

Given gas prices at the moment, depending on the mileage and distance to the hardware store - that remaining $20 is probably only like 100 miles. Not to mention how much time you'd spend - if Cueball's hardware store is 4 miles away and his time is worth $25/h then he is $110 in the red before even buying the second unit. He could do 1 trip to the store, $50 in parts and an hour of labor for less than $80 (or if it was only $10 in parts, 2.5 hours). [[User:Sameldacamel34|Sameldacamel34]] ([[User talk:Sameldacamel34|talk]]) 09:20, 16 April 2026 (UTC)

Well, actually I dood it. I needed a new 6-fold outlet for my PC and the whole smeg that hangs on it. 6-fold WITH a main breaker+lamp indicator: double the price of a 6-fold without. So I bought the latter...plus a one-in, one-out breaker+lamp, in sum I saved 10€ or so, the effect is the same - I know it still works and can flip one switch to take everything off. {{unsigned ip|2a02:2455:1960:4000:8d1:cdfb:dad3:5cbc|10:09, 16 April 2026 (UTC)}}

I've been told that $500 for providing ponies for a birthday party is "way out of line". Well then, do it yourself, but remember the instructions for making a small fortune with horses: Start with a large fortune. PS: Folks, hire your local pony ride for all sorts of events. [[Special:Contributions/98.22.184.160|98.22.184.160]] 12:04, 16 April 2026 (UTC)
: Well, yeah - a pony ought to be £25. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 12:57, 16 April 2026 (UTC)

Not factored in is the sense of pride and accomplishment that comes of doing something yourself, the way the homemade version has a special place in your heart where the storebought version is just seen as a generic and replaceable commodity, plus possibly the technical skills learned in the process of doing it yourself and newfound appreciation for the labor that goes into the things you find in the world around you. There are still plenty of good reasons to DIY, if you have the time and resources. [[User:MeZimm|MeZimm]] ([[User talk:MeZimm|talk]]) 15:36, 16 April 2026 (UTC)
: "...if you have the time and resources." <-- that's a key statement. Cueball is spending at least 5-6 hours on this project to save $80 (minus the cost of supplies). The question is, how valuable is a person's time? Yes, you can say that self-improvement and learning is valuable, that the sense of accomplishment is valuable. But everyone is going to assign value to those things differently. Would you spend 6 hours learning to do something that will save you $80 tomorrow? What if it takes 6 years to learn? What if it saves you $80 on a weekly basis? What if it's a skill that you value or can build a career out of? What if paying for the product instead of doing it yourself allows you to spend more time with your friends or family? There's so much more to the equation than just dollar amounts. There are certain things I will happily spend money on rather than do myself because I would rather spend my time on things that matter to me. I don't grind my own flour, but I cook my own bread. I don't change my car's oil, but I change my own brake pads. The cut-off point where we value convenience over money will change person to person, task to task, and day to day.

This is too true to be funny. [[Special:Contributions/96.61.125.76|96.61.125.76]] 15:41, 16 April 2026 (UTC)

Do-it-yourself cost generally more than buying the off-the-shelf version in materials alone. It's only interesting for custom stuff you can't find off-the-shelf, kits requiring only simple assembly, or as a pass-time. Shirluban [[Special:Contributions/194.9.103.97|194.9.103.97]] 15:45, 16 April 2026 (UTC)

Calling all computer geeks. Raise your hand if you built your own customized work station or gaming platform by purchasing your very own hand-picked collection of parts from Newegg.com. And tell us why you preferred what you built versus what you could get cheaper from Dell or any other vendor. {{unsigned|Rtanenbaum|00:59, 17 April 2026 (UTC)}}
: Never bought anything from newegg.com, but also never homebuilt components. I buy prebuilt components from established vendors (I haven't heard of Dell making those, except maybe server ones?) and use them. Though it would be a "fun" thing to do, I think building a computer from scratch is waaaaaay too expensive, difficult and time-consuming that regular DIY stuff. [[User:BytEfLUSh|BytEfLUSh]] ([[User talk:BytEfLUSh|talk]]) 01:54, 17 April 2026 (UTC)
: I wish I got the chance. But riiiight as I thought I would be able to do it, 16GB of DDR5 reached $1k.--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|'''''converse''''']] 14:01, 17 April 2026 (UTC)
: Well, it was long before newegg.com, and I didn't actually buy ''everything'' as components, only a few things that I used to upgrade the first full system I then bought for myself. (Deciding to skip the more fiddly bits, that I'd done for others already.)
: But that got me a PC with a shopping ''40MB'' of RAM, plus ''two'' 1GB HDDs, which helped make my top-of-the-range P133 into a veritable ''powerhouse'' (also it could run two monitors, one 3D-accelerated and the other (eventually) could show live TV). [[Special:Contributions/82.132.236.33|82.132.236.33]] 15:35, 17 April 2026 (UTC)

I suspect that this comic is also targetting the SaaS-pocalypse vibe coders who build their own replacements for popular apps, and then spend inordinate amounts of GenAI compute or other hosting/related costs to keep it running [[Special:Contributions/165.225.124.227|165.225.124.227]] 15:06, 17 April 2026 (UTC)
: Seems a little bit of a stretch to me. For starters, the comic doesn't make any mention of ongoing maintenance costs (in fact, Cueball didn't bother - he gave up and bought the off-the-shelf one when his broke). Plus I'd say that's not mostly a question of balking at cost, but a problem of not bothering to research the existing market to find out that the thing you want already exists. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 15:56, 17 April 2026 (UTC)

Talk:3233: Make It Myself

2026-04-16T11:27:11Z

Jacobus-nl:

Talk:3105: Interoperability

2025-06-24T16:51:09Z

Jacobus-nl: I do worry

Well, it is not interoperability that would be the potential problem, but potential interconnectedness. Some systems are just not meant to be connected to the rest of the network`21:48, 20 June 2025 (UTC)
: Black Hat isn't in a "just not meant to be" kind of [[1136|mood]]. [[User:Kev|Kev]] ([[User talk:Kev|talk]]) 23:03, 22 June 2025 (UTC)

There will be more interoperability concerns than the track gauge. Such as the up stop wheels. And side wheels. [[User:Henke37|Henke37]] ([[User talk:Henke37|talk]]) 21:55, 20 June 2025 (UTC)

> "''two standards: US rail systems predominantly have a 143.5cm gauge''" Why cite "US"? 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in was developed in England. The US got confused and Abe Lincoln is credited with ordering first 5' (won't work) then 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (most US rails were so close to 4'8.5" that they mostly changed in a weekend). Rest of world used UK or US machines, or copied them, with the main exceptions fading away over a century. (Well, Australia was still jacking cars mid-route when I was young.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Track_gauge#%22Standard%22_gauge_appears
The width of two horses' asses, a Roman chariot, is often cited as if pre-industrial mechanics standardized.
--[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 05:39, 21 June 2025 (UTC)
:I 'cited' the US, for simplicity. Being British, yes (like many things) it was invented/established here, but Randall typically goes by US expectations of rail-gauge (actually 143.51cm, due to being still exactly US Customary Units-based, whilst the UK is sufficiently metricised). There'll be readers in [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:World_RR_Gauge_Map.agr.png non-trivially large parts of the world] where the comic mismatches ''their'' local standards, and rather than go into the whole Stephenson-and-onwards thing (noting that Brunel had a point about wider being better for at least some reasons!), I'd just "americanize" it directly. It was a direct replacement for some "(in this instance)" insertions that sort of implied that track gauges ''could'' be different from those mentioned, but seemed neither to explain the worldwide variation nor account for pretty much all railway(/railroad) track in the US, especially 'subway' systems, definitely was this (give or take a tenth of a millimetre).
:Though I spent some time rephrasing things (for example, mentioning the US Customary thing, then removing it because – again — basing it on Randall's own directly cited value of exactly 1435mm (but in cm) seemed more in the spirit of things). Possibly I didn't neaten it down as much as I might, had I not tried to shoehorn those later-removed snippets in.
:Had also thought to provide links to the roller coaster gauge (also presumed to be "those RCs that Randall considers standard", but had a hard time tracking anything down. I actually found many places with a ''different'' quoted track-width. (e.g. 120cm, unless that was maybe outside-to-outside vs. 110cm inside-to-inside, with the perfectly valid possibility of the coaster-rails being each 50mm tubing, and thus actually ''is'' the same? More research needed!) Closest I could find was something about "woodie / <some germanic name I forget>" systems being 110cm, in a search-engine summary of a reddit article, with a partial URL given (as part of that SE-Summary, cut off with ellipses). But visiting that reddit, ''I couldn't find the original full text'', and I got a browser warning on trying to go to the base 'quoted' URI (long-expired and now cybersquatted by a dodgy page-redirection thing?), so eventually gave up on that and concentrated on other little changes/restructurings that I felt improved the article flow (rightly or wrongly).
:Anyway, that is a boiled down why-and-wherefore of how it ended up said the way it was said (probably been re-edited, by the time you read this). Far too much background material to add to the article, I think, or even try to shove in Trivia (except maybe the 4'8.5"==1435.1mm thing?), but might interest the true connoisseur of such thought processes and tangential information who reads this bit... ;) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.216.63|82.132.216.63]] 08:52, 21 June 2025 (UTC)
:...I tweaked it myself (on top of the intermediate edit that I won't argue with). Not sure I'd have used the word "predominantly" for 'only' 55% of global track, if writing it fresh this morning. Definitely predominant for the US, though. Considered "mostly", etc, of course... [[Special:Contributions/82.132.216.63|82.132.216.63]] 09:17, 21 June 2025 (UTC)
::You likely know 0.1mm's tiny by standard gauge standards though right? Especially for subways I don't know if you'd notice at {{w|rocket sled|10,326kph}} like that rocket sled. How fast would you have to go on 1435.1 track in a train designed for 1435 or vice versa before you'd notice? [[Special:Contributions/2600:387:15:4B36:0:0:0:8|2600:387:15:4B36:0:0:0:8]] 01:55, 22 June 2025 (UTC)
:::I do know that it's a tiny difference, and ''probably'' largely irrelevent, being a matter of a tad below 741 parts ''per million''. But the US standard is an exact 'imperial'/US Customary measurement (before whatever 'allowable tolerances' are considered), and the non-US version of 'the same' standard is a similarly exact but subtly different metric standard. There are people who either care about these sorts of things, or could raise valid concerns if their future questions about the discrepancies aren't pre-empted. [[Special:Contributions/92.23.2.228|92.23.2.228]] 17:09, 22 June 2025 (UTC)

As a coaster and rail nerd, it's basically impossible to actually do this (and not just for the obvious safety problems). The engineering between a rail line and a coaster track (and the wheels that run on them) are completely different. Rails have an I-beam shaped cross section and are fixed to the ground, and trains use steel wheels that have flanges on the inner side keeping the cars from running off the track. Steel roller coaster tracks have a circular cross section and the cars have wheels that are (usually) polyurethane, with additional sets of wheels on the side and running under the track (upstop wheels) keeping them from flying off when pulling Gs. Even if you corrected for any track spacing and shape difference somehow, a roller coaster train would immediately slam its upstop wheels into the ground and stop if you tried to transfer it onto a regular grounded rail line. Likewise, since roller coasters don't have flanges, they often have support beams crossing the inner space between the rails, so a train trying to navigate a coaster track would slam its flanges into the support beams and either immediately derail or else start shearing the entire track apart, if it didn't already derail from the wheel flanges not having any grip on the circular coaster rails. [[User:Optimore|Optimore]] ([[User talk:Optimore|talk]]) 07:07, 21 June 2025 (UTC)
:Resolving such issues would be part of Phase 2. --[[Special:Contributions/81.96.108.67|81.96.108.67]] 07:32, 21 June 2025 (UTC)
:: I'm looking forward to Phase 3, where the passengers who got on a subway car, then travelled from a Metro station to a roller coaster to an intercity line get to go into a railgun. [[User:Kev|Kev]] ([[User talk:Kev|talk]]) 22:57, 22 June 2025 (UTC)

Why does the explanation repeatedly and pointedly mention "subway systems" when the comic doesn't mention subways at all (but rather intercity train lines)? [[User:Sophon|Sophon]] ([[User talk:Sophon|talk]]) 01:15, 22 June 2025 (UTC)
: Panel 2: "For example, most subway rails are 143.5 cm apart." Are you using a different definition of "at all"? Intercity lines are only mentioned in the title text. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 11:28, 22 June 2025 (UTC)

Randall's Late :(--[[User:Darth Vader|Darth Vader]] ([[User talk:Darth Vader|talk]]) 06:45, 24 June 2025 (UTC)
:Yes a lot late. Long time since that happened when not in relation to April Fools Day. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:23, 24 June 2025 (UTC)
::It's well into Tuesday morning Eastern and still no comic! I hope he's OK. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 12:47, 24 June 2025 (UTC)

:::It’s currently 10:00 AM in EST, and there’s no new comic. Something’s wrong here. Any theories on why he hasn’t uploaded yet?[[User:AK24Ammit|AH24Ammit]] ([[User talk:AK24Ammit|talk]]) 14:03, 24 June 2025 (UTC)

:::Don't worry, even if that were the case we wouldn't know:

:::{{Quote|Thanks to new revisions to my site and work by Derek, I now have automated posting -- if I go missing for a few weeks, as long as I've got enough comics in the queue no one will notice|[[LiveJournal#Comics only posted on xkcd.com]]}}

:::--[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 12:58, 24 June 2025 (UTC)

::::”Don’t worry”?? He’s effectively saying he could by now have been missing for weeks! [[User:Jacobus-nl|Jacobus-nl]] ([[User talk:Jacobus-nl|talk]]) 16:51, 24 June 2025 (UTC)

Talk:2779: Exoplanet High-5

2023-05-23T10:51:40Z

Jacobus-nl: Comment about Centaurians invasion fleet travel speed

… too slow ;)

"I don't get it. What's updog?"[[Special:Contributions/172.71.151.35|172.71.151.35]] 03:50, 23 May 2023 (UTC)

isn't it usually spelled "high-five" --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.2|172.70.114.2]] 03:53, 23 May 2023 (UTC)
: Yeah - I don't understand what any of this has to do with sports nutrition.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.32|172.70.86.32]] 08:37, 23 May 2023 (UTC)

Izun tittus ually spelt hi-5 ? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.118.98|172.71.118.98]] 06:24, 23 May 2023 (UTC)

Considering how fond Randall is of portmanteaus, I'm surprised he didn't use the term WiFive. [[User:Villemoes|Villemoes]] ([[User talk:Villemoes|talk]]) 06:58, 23 May 2023 (UTC)

No reference to Up-Goer 5? Sad :( [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:31, 23 May 2023 (UTC)

Clearly the aliens were upset that Randall did it wrong by missing out the line 'On the side' between 'Down low' and 'Too slow!'[[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.79|172.70.91.79]] 08:41, 23 May 2023 (UTC)

The explanation states that “It is not known at which speed the Centaurians' invasion fleet travels and, therefore, when it will reach Earth.” It should be clarified that their speed is not known to earthlings (yet). The Centaurians most probably do know their own speed. [[User:Jacobus-nl|Jacobus-nl]] ([[User talk:Jacobus-nl|talk]]) 10:51, 23 May 2023 (UTC)

2484: H-alpha

2021-07-03T11:06:28Z

Jacobus-nl: Added Black Hat’s out-of-shape hat in the last frame to the transcript

{{comic
| number = 2484
| date = July 3, 2021
| title = H-alpha
| image = h_alpha.png
| titletext = "All the companies whose blimps I shot fireworks at are mad, but MetLife is especially miffed because I dressed up as the Red Baron."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a RED BARON. Elaborate on title-text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Black Hat]] has acquired an H-Alpha filter. As he explains to [[Cueball]], these filters are used to look at the Sun during scientific observations, as looking at the Sun bare-eyed will do damage to one's eyes {{Citation needed}}; a camera using such a filter was seen in [[1828: ISS Solar Transit]], and the consequences of not using such a filter were explored in [[2227: Transit of Mercury]].

Black Hat points out that the filter can also be used to look at nebulae, but doesn't see much further use for it; as he puts it, "there aren't that many hot blobs of hydrogen to look at" in everyday life. Being the [[Classhole]] that he is, he is immediately struck with inspiration, and leaves.

Upon returning, he shares with Cueball that most modern blimps use helium to keep them aloft. (Hydrogen hasn't been used in blimps since the Hindenburg turned out to be a bit of a letdown.) He also informs Cueball that they're out of fireworks, and that an advertising company (or several, going by the title text) is upset. Cueball quickly buries his face in his reading material, clearly not wanting to get involved with whatever douchebaggery Black Hat has gotten himself into this time.

The title text references how, until 2016, insurance company MetLife used the character Snoopy as an advertising mascot. In the ''Peanuts'' comics, Snoopy would frequently imagine himself as a fighter pilot in World War I in an aerial battle with the Red Baron.

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

''(Black Hat is holding a device in his hand)''

Black Hat: I got an H-Alpha filter for looking at the sun.

''(non-bordered panel with Black Hat standing behind Cueball, who is reading on an armchair)''

Black Hat: It also works for nebulae. But that's about it. There just aren't that many hot blobs of hydrogen to look at, I guess.

''(Black Hat is now holding his empty hand to his chin)''

Black Hat: Unless...

''(Black Hat leaves, away from Cueball)''

''(beat panel)''

''(Black Hat re-enters; his black hat is somewhat out of shape; Cueball is now hunched further forward, with his face closer to his reading material)''

Black Hat: Huh, did you know blimps all use helium now? You learn something new every day! By the way, we're out of fireworks.

Black Hat: And some advertising company is ''real'' mad.

{{comic discussion}}