explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3226: Home Solar

2026-03-31T07:18:42Z

JakubNarebski: OZE-sroze

Beep Boop [[Special:Contributions/216.25.182.141|216.25.182.141]] 21:49, 30 March 2026 (UTC)

Black Hat, because who else??? [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 21:52, 30 March 2026 (UTC)

Title text may refer to policy decisions in the second Trump administration which promote the use of fossil fuels or undo existing policies which promote the use of renewables. The burning of industrial waste in his front yard may or may not be an oblique reference to the environmental damage being done in the current war in Iraq, in which petroleum-processing facilities and ships containing oil are being set on fire. [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 21:56, 30 March 2026 (UTC)
:Possible, and logical. Let's not ignore the possibility that this is just random environmental activism from Randall though, like what he seems to be exhibiting in xkcd #2948. [[User:WikipedianPolitician|WikipedianPolitician]] ([[User talk:WikipedianPolitician|talk]]) 22:00, 30 March 2026 (UTC)
:Just to note, for future readers who might get confused (who knows what they remember of this particular moment in time, and what's going on in ''their'' era), the war is in ''Iran'' right now (and/or the region in general, but not particularly in Iraq more than also in plenty of other places nearby). The "War in Iraq" was Bush's thing (Senior or Junior, either or both), mainly, give or take what spilled over into subsequent Administrations. And, by the way, the current President always said that the Iraq thing was a bad idea, and that starting wars was always a bad thing, and... (I could go on. But one can't really do much satire about it, because straight reality is already being plainly ridiculous in its own right.) [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 23:58, 30 March 2026 (UTC)

:A side-note from Poland - Przemysław Czarnek, the candidate for the future prime minister of the right-wing Law and Justice (if the win the upcoming elections) was recently talking against renewable sources of electricity... when he was reminded that he put solar panels on the roof of his house a few years ago (and he admitted that thanks to solar panels he saves on electricity bills. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 07:18, 31 March 2026 (UTC)

Could be just replacing an environmentalist's excuses for not getting solar with the exact opposite, because Black Hat. Picture the following:
[Black Hat and Cueball stand next to a house with ''an oil fill spout outside'']
Cueball: Wait, you ''have an oil furnace''? I thought you were against ''fossil fuels''.
[Black Hat and Cueball are still discussing]
Black Hat: Oh, Definitely. I ''love'' the environment and want to ''save'' it as much as possible.
Black Hat: I'd love to have ''solar panels''.
[Zoom on Black Hat]
Black Hat: But the technology just isn't there and the cost is too high.
Black Hat: I despise ''oil'', but it makes more financial sense in my situation.
[Return to previous zoom]
Black Hat: But with the money I'm saving, I can buy ''industrial credits'' to try to make up for it.
Cueball: Ah, yeah, carbon ''off''sets.
Granted, that's far less amusing.
--[[User:DontKillPablo|DontKillPablo]] ([[User talk:DontKillPablo|talk]]) 00:39, 31 March 2026 (UTC)
:There's only one problem with that; the character would then probably be Megan or Ponytail, not Black Hat.

2989: Physics Lab Thermostat

2024-09-24T06:11:09Z

JakubNarebski: /* Explanation */ How the dial would work

{{comic
| number = 2989
| date = September 23, 2024
| title = Physics Lab Thermostat
| image = physics_lab_thermostat_2x.png
| imagesize = 264x296px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Hopefully the HVAC people set it to only affect the AIR in the room.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOLTZMANN BRAIN - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is about the {{w|Boltzmann constant}}, which relates the average kinetic energy of a particle in a gas with the temperature of the gas. The Boltzmann constant is defined as 1.380649 × 10^-23 J/K (joules per kelvin).

Randall imagines a physics lab having a dial that can alter the constant between 1.418 x 10^-23 J/K and 1.351 x 10^-23 J/K. If the average kinetic energy of gas particles remains constant when moving the dial, then changing the Boltzmann constant would change how this average energy is measured in Kelvins, thus "changing the temperature". Changing one of the fundamental constants of thermodynamics would have dangerous effects.{{acn}}

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

:[A black circular dial is shown with a white indicator line at the upper right. The label above the dial, enclosed in a rectangular box, says:]
:Local Boltzmann Constant
:[The two extremes of the dial are labeled as follows, the first value on the left and the second value on the right:]
:1.418 x 10-23 J/K
:1.351 x 10-23 J/K
:[The indicator line is pointing to a position on the dial somewhere around 1.375 x 10-23 J/K.]
:[Caption below the panel:]
:Physics Lab Thermostat

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

2983: Monocaster

2024-09-14T16:12:57Z

JakubNarebski: /* Explanation */ table: clip-on roller skates

{{comic
| number = 2983
| date = September 9, 2024
| title = Monocaster
| image = monocaster_2x.png
| imagesize = 536x673px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = My competitors say the tiny single tiny caster is unsafe, unstable, and offers no advantages over traditional designs, to which I say: wow, why are you guys so mean? I thought we were friends!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a LAPTOP-CONTROLLED HAMSTER BALL - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A caster, also spelled castor, is a small unpowered wheel, usually attached to a swiveling base. They are typically found on carts and office chairs to make them easy to move, and may be placed on heavy appliances to facilitate movement.

Randall has proposed a variant of the skateboard with only one caster on the bottom, the titular "monocaster", and devoted most of the comic to a {{w|Perceptual mapping|perceptual map}} showing the variety of wheeled vehicles. Market strategists and investors use such diagrams as a simple way of representing important differences between products or companies, but where a consumer might be more concerned with features like speed, cost, ease of use, or carrying capacity, this map focuses on the number of wheels (horizontal axis) and the diameter of those wheels (vertical axis).

Each axis uses a logarithmic scale, which is convenient for making the map look more evenly filled but also visually exaggerates the size of the "key gap" that the monocaster is filling, which can be described as "vehicle with a single wheel smaller than 25 cm". The nearest competitors appear to be a two-wheel skateboard sometimes called a {{w|caster board}} (wheel diameter under 8 cm) and a single-wheel self-balancing board resembling a {{w|Onewheel}} (diameter around 25 cm). The Onewheel is sometimes described as a {{w|monowheel}} (though these are traditionally larger like the "1920s monowheel" on the upper left). Randall appears to have combined these two names to create the monocaster. This gives up several of the competitors' features - the caster board's two wheels provide enough stability to propel the vehicle manually, while the Onewheel's single wheel is wide (assisting with sideways balance) and powered by a self-balancing mechanism.

The result resembles a {{w|Balance board#Sphere-and-ring|"Sphere-and-ring" balance board}}, or other types, though these provide limited locomotion potential. The joke depends on the caster's obvious impracticality in this role: the hole in the market was open ''for a reason''. The obvious drawback to any single-wheeled vehicle is that it's difficult to balance: the rider has to avoid falling forward or backward, as well as to either side. This is a major reason why one-wheeled vehicles are uncommon to begin with, but those vehicles which do exist compensate by using relatively large wheels, driven either by human power or a motor, which creates rotational inertia and allows the rider to balance simply by leaning forward.

A single, small, undriven wheel eliminates these balancing forces, meaning that the user would essentially need to balance on a single point. Also, most casters swivel, meaning that the balance point would move around under the rider's feet and make it even more difficult to balance. In addition, there's no apparent means of propulsion, which means the only way to move forward would be to either roll exclusively downhill, or use one foot to push off the ground. Either strategy would make retaining balance almost impossible.

Multiple wheeled vehicles greatly reduce the issue of balance simply by having multiple points of contact with the ground. The size of the wheels varies greatly; small, rigid wheels are generally suitable only for flat, smooth, rigid surfaces at relatively slow speeds, while vehicles expected to handle high speeds and varying road (and off-road) conditions will necessarily have larger wheels.

The "monocaster" design offers no advantages and would be nearly unrideable, making it obvious why such a vehicle has never been seriously proposed.

The title text extends the joke by listing the disadvantages mentioned above, but not providing a rebuttal. Instead it only attempts an emotional appeal by saying that the competitors are being mean and by commenting that Randall believed they were friends.

{| class=wikitable
! scope="col" | Vehicle
! scope=“col” | Number of wheels
! scope=“col” | Wheel Diameter
! scope="col" | Explanation
|-
| 1920s Monowheel || 1 || 3 meters || A monowheel is a vehicle in which the rider sits inside a single, large, hollow wheel. Versions have existed which were hand- or pedal cranked, but the "1920s" version portrayed here is apparently motor-driven. These vehicles have generally been seen as novelties, as their stability and practicality issues limit their usefulness for actual transport.
|-
| Unicycle || 1 || 45 centimeters || Probably the best known single-wheeled form of transport, a unicycle consists of a single wheel, directly drive by pedals, with a seat mounted on top. Due to their difficulty, they're generally been used as novelties and for comic performances more than as practical transport.
|-
| OneWheel || 1 || 20 centimeters || A one-wheeled electric skateboard in which the user stands on both sides of a large, central wheel. The design self-balances by increasing the velocity as the user leans forward. This allows balancing and speed control to operate in a single motion.
|-
| Bicycle || 2 || 45 centimeters || A two-wheeled, pedal-driven vehicle. The relatively simple, inexpensive and efficient design of these vehicles makes them practical for transport in a variety of situations. As a result, they've long been among the most popular and widely produced vehicles in the world.
|-
| Scooter || 2 || 8 centimeters (*) || A two-wheeled vehicle driven either by pushing with a foot or by an electric motor or fuel-powered engine. Scooters are ridden both for recreation and as a form of transportation in cities.
|-
| Heelys || 2 || 1 centimeter (*) || Heelys are shoes with small wheels built into the back end of the soles, putting them underneath the wearer's heels (which is what the name is derived from). Heelys allow the user access to wheeled movement by pushing off the ground and balancing on the wheels. While this is not as fast or comfortable as a dedicated wheeled vehicle, the movement being limited to sufficiently flat surfaces, and them not being as comfortable as regular shoes, Heelys allow for both walking and rolling without having to carry a seperate wheeled vehicle.
|-
| Tricycle || 3 || 20 centimeters || Appears to be a {{w|Big Wheel (tricycle)|"Big Wheel" type}} child's toy, which actually have smaller 'trailing wheels', rather than either {{w|Tricycle#Upright|upright}} or {{w|Tricycle#Recumbent|recumbent}} style cycles for adults which ''usually'' match the wheel-sizes of their bicycle equivalents.
|-
| Scooter (three-wheeled) || 3 || 3 centimeters (*) ||
|-
| Monster Truck || 4 || 2.5 meters || Monster trucks are very large vehicles with four large wheels. They are almost always driven as part of events where specifically trained drivers that use them to perform dangerous stunts and crush smaller vehicles. Because of their size, the danger to other vehicle, often very poor mileage, and design choices that can be in violation of local laws and regulations regarding motorized vehicles monster trucks are not driven on public roads and have to be transported in dedicated trailers, making them poor choices for transport where one has to leave private property.
|-
| Car || 4 || 50 centimeters || Cars are motorized vehicles designed to move one or more people and an amount of goods around fast. While almost all cars have four wheels (discounting reserve wheels), there are a few that have more than four (certain limousines) or fewer (the Reliant Robin only has one wheel in the front). Cars are more expensive than most options on the chart due to their higher cost, the use of fuel and maintenance requiring specialized knowledge (and sometimes replacement parts), they make up for this with their speed, access to (at least in most of the world) an extensive system of roads and refueling stations, the ability to move a number of people and goods (how much depends on the exact type of car and how much of either the car is already carrying), and the comfort of being in what is almost always an enclosed and air conditioned compartment. Because of the potential danger of an object of a car's size and speed, drivers are required to perform a test of their ability to both control the vehicle and be aware of other traffic to obtain a license to drive one. Cars are a common source of leisure, with interests ranging from driving them normally, driving them as part of a race, maintaining them or enjoying luxury cars.
|-
| ATV || 4 || 20 centimeters (*) || ATV's or "all-terrain vehicles" are unenclosed, handlebar-steered vehicles designed for off-road riding. They have four, large, low-pressure tires and a robust suspension system to accommodate rough terrain. They generally aren't designed to carry passengers, and have limited cargo capacity, which limits their usefulness for regular transport. They're generally used either for recreation or for transport in areas without well-maintained roads.
|-
| Skateboard || 4 || 2 centimeters (*) ||
|-
| Three-Wheel Skates|| 6 || 4 centimeters (*) || Three-wheeled skates are a type of inline skate (shoes with a line of wheels affixed underneath the shoe) that differ from the more commonly used four wheeled inline skates by having three larger wheels. They are inexpensive and easy to maintain, but they require significant skill to use effectively and the user is reliant on smooth surfaces to skate around on. Another downside is that the wheels cannot be removed from the shoes, requiring the user to either carry an extra pair or have an extra pair at their destination.
|-
| Roller Skates|| 8 || 2 centimeters (*) || Roller skates are shoes with small wheels underneath them in a rectangular pattern. This makes roller skates much more stable than inline skates, allowing users to stand on them with more ease. Like inline skates they are cheap and low maintenance, but in order to move any significant distance without support they require a skilled user, smooth surfaces and the user needs backup shoes when taking them off (though there exist clip-on roller skates).
|-
| Semi-Trailer Truck (Articulated Lorry) || 10-18 || 1 meter || A semi-trailer truck is a motorized vehicle designed to pull trailers that can be easily decoupled from the truck itself. This allows the truck to switch trailers and move a different cargo without having to unload the trailer. The name in brackets that was used here (articulated lorry) is a name most commonly used in British English (or "artic", for short), with articulation meaning that the truck can swivel at the point where the truck connects to the trailer. This allows for the truck to make much tighter turns than if it were one long vehicle, which is another advantage of this configuration, with typically more stability than with a {{w|Drawbar (haulage)|drawbar}} attachment. Trucks are designed to haul cargo for long distances, with the cargo in question being either too heavy or too large to carry with a smaller hopper, tanker, hard-/soft-sided container or flatbed placed entirely upon a single truck chassis. They are driven either by drivers employed by a transport company, or by self-employed individuals who haul cargo for a living. A specialized license is required to drive one, and because of their size (even without a trailer), trucks have more limitations on where they can drive and park than normal cars. Like cars, trucks are a source of leisure, but because of the higher cost to purchase, maintain and drive them, they are more often enjoyed for their aesthetics rather than actually driving them for leisure. There are events like races for trucks, and trucks can be given elaborate paint jobs to have them stand out.
The number of wheels is for both the {{w|Tractor unit#Axles|truck}} and a {{w|Semi-trailer#Types|trailer}}, which can each differ vastly between vehicle configurations. The truck in the comic has five ''obvious'' axle-sets (thus at least ten actual wheels): a single pair of front wheels, two pairs of trailer-bearing rear wheels and two pairs of wheels on the trailer itself. The drawing of the truck actually spans the axis range of three wheels (unlikely to be true, and the minumum for a tractor-trailer would normally be six) all the way up to 16, so it's not entirely clear which number (≥10) Randall intends this one to portray.
|}

(*) It seems that Randall has made some mistakes in regards to the wheel sizes especially in the centimeter range of the diagram. Most of the vehicles have bigger wheels and the number would suggest hat he meant inches instead of centimeters.

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

:[A chart picturing many wheeled vehicles with a caption below the chart window. The vertical axis is labeled "Wheel Diameter", logarithmic from 1cm to 5m. The horizontal axis is labeled "Number of wheels", logarithmic from 1 to 16. From top left to bottom right, there is a person with a cap, seated in a circle, labeled "1920s monowheel", a monster truck with a skull and a lightning bolt on the side, a lorry (truck), a Cueball on a unicycle moving back and forth, a Cueball on a bicycle, a car, a Cueball using a Onewheel, a Cueball on a child's "Big Wheel" tricycle, a Cueball on a quad, a Cueball standing on a scooter, a Cueball standing on a board with one small wheel bellow, circled and labeled with two question marks, a three-wheel scooter, a skater, a Cueball using three-wheel skates, labeled "three-wheel skates", a Cueball crouching and using skates, and a small Cueball using shoes with wheels (Heelys) moving forward.]
:Caption: My new monocaster board fills a key gap in the wheeled vehicle market.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Characters with hats]]
[[Category:Skateboard]]

Talk:2932: Driving PSA

2024-05-14T07:23:55Z

JakubNarebski:

Did the best I could on the explanation, even if it's a bit clunky. [[User:Trogdor147|Trogdor147]] ([[User_talk:Trogdor147|talk]]) 03:59, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

Pretty lame strategy. Even with someone waving me on, when I get past them I'll look to the right to make sure. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 04:22, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

Maybe they're not trying to kill Randall, but the person in the other lane. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.225|172.71.154.225]] 05:00, 14 May 2024 (UTC)
:It doesn't even need to be a fatal crash. Maybe the person in the other lane is an obstetrician who will intercede in a complex childbirth, and this "accident" will be major enough that that no longer happens, and the child dies...
[[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 06:55, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

Just curious, as I'm from Germany - does the USA have no traffic lights? [[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.210|198.41.242.210]] 07:15, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

Uncontrolled intersection with a left turn onto a 4-lane road? US road design, combined with US car-centric settlement planning, must have been made by those more clever, trying-harder assassins that Randall mentions in the title text, and it looks like they've got a lot of people on their list. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.229.131|162.158.229.131]] 07:20, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

: If it was a single lane street, and not three-lane road (or stroad), then accepting granting the right of way / waving in would be perfectly safe (assuming that you watch left). --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 07:23, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

2818: Circuit Symbols

2023-08-22T10:22:56Z

JakubNarebski: /* Explanation */ There are two symbols used for resistor: ANSI or US, and IEC or European, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistor#Electronic_symbols_and_notation

{{comic
| number = 2818
| date = August 21, 2023
| title = Circuit Symbols
| image = circuit_symbols_2x.png
| imagesize = 438x362px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = A circle with an A in it means that the circuit has committed a sin and has been marked as punishment.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a VIOLATED CIRCUIT UNFAIRLY FURTHER HARASSED WITH A VOLTMETER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{| class="wikitable"
! Symbol !! Comic Description !! Comments
|-
| Switch
| Drawbridge
| The symbol represents a physical on/off switch in a circuit, but also resembles a medieval drawbridge.
|-
| Capacitor
| Overpass
| A capacitor is a component that can be used to hold electric charge, but also looks a bit like the map symbol for a highway overpass.
|-
| Ground
| Pogo Stick
| This symbol represents a connection to "ground" (aka earth for folks in the UK). If you squint, it also looks like a pogo stick.
|-
| Resistor (ANSI)
| Earthquake
| A resistor is a component that reduces current flow in a circuit. If also looks like the signs an earthquake makes on a seismogram.

|-
| Inductor
| Sheep
| Inductors are essentially the opposite of capacitors and generally consist of a coil of wire. The symbol can also look like fluffy curls of wool.
|-
| Transformer
| Two sheep in love, trapped on opposite side of a fence.
| The input and output coils on a transformer are represented as curly loops, which Randal claims resemble sheep, and the straight line (which represents the core) is a fence.
|-
| Battery
| Battery
| No joke, that's the symbol for a battery.
|-
| Battery (sorted)
| Baertty
| Randall seems to be mapping 'tt' to the first short line and 'er' to the second long line in the symbol, and asserting that if you sort them long long, short short, you need to put 'er' in front of 'tt'.
|-
| Battery, with far too many short lines
| Battttttttttttery
| Or, you know, you could just throw in six 'tt's.
|-
| Photodiode
| Check out this really cool diode
| A photodiode generates current in response to light (the arrows pointing at it.) Randall is instead pretending that the arrows are pointing at it to draw attention to it because it's really cool.
|-
| Oscillator
| Wave Pool
| An oscillator generates signals at a given frequencies. A wave pool, it could be argued, is in fact a type of oscillator, just with water instead of electricity.
|-
| Transistor
| Trolley Problem
| A transistor will switch on a current flow depending on the input from a input signal. Thus, it switches electricity in the same way that the trolley problem switches the trolley. The symbol also somewhat resembles the usual pictorial depiction of the problem.
|-
| Circle with an A in it (Title text)
| Committed a sin and marked as punishment
| Circles with letters are usually some special component. In this case the "A" stands for ammeter, a device used to measure current. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel ''The Scarlet Letter'', the heroine is branded with an ''A'' to mark her as an adulteress.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
picture of drawbridge:drawbridge

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

Talk:1256: Questions

2023-07-23T10:31:32Z

JakubNarebski: Why are there two slashes after http?

Another reason Poseidon is angry with Odysseus - early in the Odyssey, Odysseus blinds a cyclops who happens to be Poseidon's son.

Why did I just type the following in, when doubtless someone else has already done this..?
...a former great post just went to the main page.
They probably need error-checking/rearranging/something. And feel free to delete this entire comment if it becomes superfluous. [[Special:Contributions/178.104.103.140|178.104.103.140]] 10:19, 26 August 2013 (UTC)
:Just copied your comment into the transcript area. [[Special:Contributions/72.246.0.10|72.246.0.10]] 13:12, 26 August 2013 (UTC)
::I did delete it here, just because it's copied to the main page. Thanks for your great work!--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:18, 26 August 2013 (UTC)

Although I appreciate the LOTR reference, is this really the intent? What is Randall's wife's name? Delete if this is a bridge too far into personal life. --[[Special:Contributions/131.70.204.120|131.70.204.120]] 16:29, 26 August 2013 (UTC)

I answered [http://jlandl.blogspot.se/2013/08/answers-from-top-of-my-head.html all the questions], for my amusement. Feel free to use any answers you deem appropriate or accurate enough for the wiki. [[Special:Contributions/213.66.207.152|213.66.207.152]] 20:06, 26 August 2013 (UTC)

I'm confused that answers are being presented in different formats. Is the hyperlinked transcript a temporary state before answers are transferred to the table? Or is the transcript just a cleaner and more desirable alternative?{{unsigned ip|98.166.43.28}}

All answers here: http://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/1l3na7/questions/cbvigrd -- (Some signature that looks like spamlink)

Today's XKCD is good but it looks like the omitted the first Google suggestion when you begin to type "Why does " Go to google and begin to search that... Dont' see it in today's comic. {{unsigned|Glitch}}
:Google's suggestions can vary from user to user. At its most benign, this can be location based. For example, in Seattle, when I type "washington", I get suggestions related to Washington state and not the District of Columbia. At its most sinister, these suggestions can be based on what Google perceives your political beliefs to be. Try typing "gun" into Google. Did you get "gun show" or "gun control?" (Another thing that looks like a spamlink) --[[User:Rael|Rael]] ([[User talk:Rael|talk]]) 14:00, 28 August 2013 (UTC)
::How odd. I got gunbroker, and then as soon as I typed space, I got gun control as well. [[Special:Contributions/97.87.12.114|97.87.12.114]]
::: WHY do people complain about this? As long as you're going to get into a debate, in an open minded manner, and are going to critically evaluate the strength of arguments presented (regardless of source), then your starting inclinations shouldn't matter!

::: Moreover, the general internet user is only searching for zeitgeist terms so they know what websites to quote on a Facebook status, so that they can pat themselves on the back. Repeat for next topic.

::: Personalised results keep you comfy in your happy bubble.

::: In any case, the "fix" is simple. Enable do-not track requests, private browsing, or connect through proxies (Given the IPv4 saturation, most people are likely configured to have dynamic IP addresses anyway). If you're concerned about geographical location based filtering, just switch the domain name that you search on! [[Special:Contributions/220.224.246.97|220.224.246.97]]

Why doesn't Queen Anne count as a "woman who reigned as queen in her own right"? --[[User:Nick Douglas|Nick Douglas]] ([[User talk:Nick Douglas|talk]]) 21:50, 2 September 2013 (UTC)

:If I'm not mistaken, Queen Anne was queen dowager acting as a regent, rather than being queen in her own right. [[User:Sailorleo|Sailorleo]] ([[User talk:Sailorleo|talk]]) 03:54, 26 November 2014 (UTC)

:: You are mistaken. (Perhaps you're getting mixed Anne up with Mary II.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.37|141.101.99.37]] 20:31, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

----
Today's Comic was brought to you by the grep "why"''!'' [[Special:Contributions/98.195.202.130|98.195.202.130]] 18:24, 27 August 2013 (UTC)

It seems that Randall is confused about the meaning of life. All the questions he asked begin with why. I like what happens when you type "where is"... I got "where is chuck norris". --[[Special:Contributions/97.87.12.114|97.87.12.114]] 11:41, 30 August 2013 (UTC)

The term "King Consort" may not have been used in the UK, but i believe it was used before in pre Act of Unification England. When Mary Tudor married Philip II of Spain, he was accepted by Parliament and the court as King of England, but was not granted any power. It may not have been elevated to an official title yet, but he was king consort. [[User:Dr Pepper|Dr Pepper]] ([[User talk:Dr Pepper|talk]]) Dr Pepper

My question is "Why do we need to answer all the questions, when the answers have nothing to do with the comic?". The answers are fun and interesting, but they should be in the trivia section. The comic is explained well without them. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.217.125|108.162.217.125]] 21:36, 8 August 2014 (UTC)
:Maybe because this is a wiki and, as such, ALL information must be present. I'm not certain whether the answers help explain the comic but, as it is, I'm not entirely sure of Randall's objective with this one. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.148|108.162.219.148]] 04:20, 2 November 2014 (UTC)
:: The purpose of this page is to EXPLAIN the comic. If you don't know what the comic is about you probably should not be trying to EXPLAIN the comic, and you probably should not comment as well. The purpose of this comic is to demonstrate in a visually interesting way the questions that we, users of the internet, ask. But without this EXPLAINATION it is fairly obvious that finding the answers to these questions do nothing to EXPLAIN the comic, especially since the answers do not give the readers any further understanding into the comic. Adding random information to a page does not EXPLAIN anything. Wiki does not mean “ALL information must be present”. Adding unnecessary information DISTRACTS from the EXPLAINATION and confuses readers, this impairs the ability of this wiki to EXPLAIN the comic. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.209|108.162.216.209]] 21:44, 24 November 2014 (UTC)

The dinosaur ghost question was duplicated in the answer boxes so I deleted the extra one. Also been filling out a ton of fields.[[User:4jonah|4jonah]] ([[User talk:4jonah|talk]]) 01:35, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Why is there an incomplete tag? What questions are unanswered? [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 19:10, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

I answered the last 2 remaining questions in section six. Can this be closed now?[[User:4jonah|4jonah]] ([[User talk:4jonah|talk]]) 21:00, 23 March 2015 (UTC)

Under "Why is outer space so cold?" it says "space is not cold", but then for "Why is there ice in space?" it begins with "space is cold".
This is somewhat confusing. Please clarify. Is space cold or isn't it? {{unsigned ip|162.158.255.120}}

No idea how to edit the actual article, but it might be worth mentioning that the succession laws of the UK are no longer male-preference, and are now absolute cognatic primogenture/ absolute primogeniture. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.107|141.101.106.107]] 12:45, 7 February 2016 (UTC)

Something's fishy. One question has the answer "Space is Cold." and another has the answer "Space is not cold." [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.92|108.162.212.92]] 00:24, 11 September 2016 (UTC)

Using a search filter, "why" appears 301 times, to date. [[User:QATEKLYXM|Klyxm]] ([[User talk:QATEKLYXM|talk]]) 3:56, 5 March 2018 (UTC)

Just a random guy passing through. For the question "Why are there psychics?" the example answer seems very confusing. Perhaps someone thought the word was "physics" instead of "psychics"? (Timestamp 20:14 21 March 2019)

Histamines are not injected into the skin in a spider's saliva. 1. It's injecting venom, not saliva. 2. Histamines are generated by the body as part of its immune response. --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.63.69|172.69.63.69]] 15:19, 7 April 2019 (UTC)

<s>I fully intended to reintegrate any useful changes from [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1256:_Questions&diff=294535&oldid=294532 this edit] into my own, independent and edit-conflicted, edit (that obviously took longer to go through) that I pushed in over the top so that I at least could then look at what I may also then re-alter. Once I had worked out the differences. But I cannot do it immediately, and I notice it took a different slant to my own attempt to further update so I beg your indulgance while I juggle the diffs, in a local copy, for maybe an hour or two. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.26|172.70.86.26]] 15:33, 9 September 2022 (UTC)</s>
:Ok, done and dusted. Anything still 'unimproved' is something I didn't think I could do anything about (or consider). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.221|162.158.34.221]] 21:20, 9 September 2022 (UTC)

About ''"Why are there two slashes after http?"'', and ''Sir Tim Berners-Lee admits the forward slashes in every web address 'were a mistake''' - it turns out that those two slashes are quite useful to create so called "scheme relative" or "protocol relative" URI by having an URI that starts with two slashes.

Talk:2657: Complex Vowels

2023-05-27T08:50:50Z

JakubNarebski:

Spoken symbol bears resemblance to 🜏, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%F0%9F%9C%8F
:Not really, it's closer to 'əG.' [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.25|172.69.33.25]] 01:15, 11 August 2022 (UTC)
::Looks like ꬱ to me. Plus some diacritics sprinkled over it, of course. It does look ''similar'' to 🜏 when you include the zalgo. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.98.99|172.71.98.99]] 06:53, 11 August 2022 (UTC)

sscchhwwaa is easy, say it like the x in "fire" and the silent p in "bath"[[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.13|172.70.85.13]] 21:42, 10 August 2022 (UTC)
:What? There is no 'x' in "fire." [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.25|172.69.33.25]] 01:17, 11 August 2022 (UTC)

Ideas: bellows-, reed-, and lucite-based voiced phone production tracts typical in science museums; {{w|diphone}}s as an alternative to phomemes (a diphone is the second half of one phoneme followed by the first half of the next -- NOT two adjacent phomemes as the Wikipedia article claims. Two adjacent phomemes are a biphone, not a diphone); the relationship of the position of the tongue in two dimensional place × closedeness space to the fundamental and second {{w|formant}} frequencies of speech audio; {{w|diphthong}}s; {{w|Mel-frequency cepstrum|cepstral}} representation such as {{w|MFCC|mel-frequency ceptstral coefficients}}; and {{w|Zalgo text}} IPA. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.213|172.70.206.213]] 22:41, 10 August 2022 (UTC)
: Roger. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.149|172.69.33.149]] 03:25, 11 August 2022 (UTC)

The vowelspace is depicted in two dimensions for convenience, but it has at least three dimensions. Look at the IPA vowel diagram (already added to this page). The third dimension is roundedness.
:Yes, of the lips; apart from the two dimensions (out: place, and up: closedeness) of the tongue. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.95|172.70.206.95]] 22:59, 10 August 2022 (UTC)
::Does roundedness also involve the tongue and cheeks to any extent? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.199|172.69.33.199]] 23:36, 10 August 2022 (UTC)
:I wonder if Randall is doing this similarly to the way physicists present space-time diagrams with only 2 dimensions of space. We can visualize 3 dimensions using projections on 2-dimensional images, but it's hard to visualize 4 dimensions. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 15:18, 11 August 2022 (UTC)
::If you can't visualize 4-D, play tennis. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.58|172.69.34.58]] 03:15, 12 August 2022 (UTC)

This comics reminds me of two good YouTube videos about IPA and vowels: Tom Scott's [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uZam0ubq-Y The Language Sounds That Could Exist, But Don't] and Dr Geoff Lindsey '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdldD0-kEcc The Vowel Space]''' - in the latter the replacement for the mentioned IPA's vowel diagram is proposed, with two dimensions being simply the ratio of two main harmonic components; here the third dimension is sometimes needed to better depict some existing vowels. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 08:50, 27 May 2023 (UTC)

This linguist character has appeared 3 times now. Will there be a new character page dedicated to Gretchen or "The Linguist"? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.225|172.69.33.225]] 00:21, 11 August 2022 (UTC)
:I second this motion. I think it would make more sense to have a generic character called "the Linguist" since, as the explanation for 2381 points out, not every linguist in xkcd is necessarily Gretchen. Plus, it seems like with this comic he's varied the artistic style, with the hair looking slightly less frizzy. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.248.143|172.69.248.143]] 22:15, 11 August 2022 (UTC)

Can someone please create and paste in a zalgostring for the fancy 'əG' ligature shown twice in the comic? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.134|172.70.211.134]] 01:10, 11 August 2022 (UTC)
:Is this another example of Randall trolling Explainxkcd as in [[2619: Crêpe]]? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.37|172.69.33.37]] 01:45, 11 August 2022 (UTC)

: This is the best I could do ə ̯̣̌̄̊̇c̵. I added the zalgo marks to a narrow no-break space in between the schwa and a "c" with a line over it (there's no reverse schwa apparently). Obviously it's not a perfect match, but I think that's sort of the point of this comic. [[User:RDiMartino|RDiMartino]] ([[User talk:RDiMartino|talk]]) 15:31, 12 August 2022 (UTC)

: ꬱ̯̣̌̄̊̇ would work if only I could get the diacritics centered.
[[User:Heleatunda|Heleatunda]] ([[User talk:Heleatunda|talk]]) 01:16, 23 November 2022 (UTC)

Someone please remind me how to Zalgo a top horizontal bar over √-1. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.134|172.70.211.134]] 02:34, 11 August 2022 (UTC)
: Slow way = Windows Character Map --> Group by: unicode subrange... Group By: Combining Diacritical Marks. 6th character from the top left (U+0305:Overline) yields √-̅1̅.
:Fast way = HTML character entities, ''{character it combines with}&#{character number code};'' (773:Overline) yields √-̅1̅
:Ignore other codes as they are either non-combining or have height relative to combining character (ie Macron) -- [[Special:Contributions/172.69.70.201|172.69.70.201]] 04:35, 11 August 2022 (UTC)
::Are you sure? Those aren't wide enough to connect along the top for me. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.10|172.69.34.10]] 07:57, 11 August 2022 (UTC)
::[same person as previous above] looks great now, let me check innthe browser that it had issues in.... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.45|172.70.214.45]] 02:24, 12 August 2022 (UTC)
:::[different person...] It's never looked Ok for me, on multiple browsers and platforms it always rendered as two separate overstrikes, and even the first does not connect to the √ bit. As an extended root-overstrike is more useful for visually bracketting ambiguities, like the central bit in "(-b±√(b²-4ac))/(2a)" I consider it superfluous for what would be "√(-1)" but cannot be "√(-).1". Nice try, though.
:::Related, I've exchanged "1/2" for ½. On this device it looks similar (slanted numerator/denominator bar and still an offset, unlike the drawn comic which is vertically aligned), but it might look better or even direct over-under with the correct font rendered into. And, like the former, probably ''read'' better as screen-readers process the Transcript for the visually impaired.
:::If it weren't for that latter point, I'd take the idea used in [[2614]] for the in-Explanation <table style="display: inline-table; line-height: 0.6em; vertical-align: middle; font-size:7pt; text-size-adjust: none;"><tr><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>2</td></tr></table> (<code><nowiki><table style="display: inline-table; line-height: 0.6em; vertical-align: middle; font-size:7pt; text-size-adjust: none;"><tr><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>2</td></tr></table></nowiki></code>) and put it as: <table style="display: inline-table; line-height: 0.6em; vertical-align: middle; font-size:7pt; text-size-adjust: none;"><tr><td>1</td></tr><tr><td>2</td></tr></table> [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.221|172.70.85.221]] 10:41, 12 August 2022 (UTC)
:::Ok, back to the 'root' bit: the (Explanation, not Transcript) current use of <code><nowiki>√-1</nowiki></code> is ok''ish'' but hovers the line above the "√" top by about ¾ of the initial down-tick's height (as rendered here... Chrome on Android, for reference), which is clearly not pixel-perfect. Maybe this is an outlier (obscure browser and OS that applies to hardly anyone, right?) so not gonna edit it away, but "√-1" is already unambiguous for anyone who knows what "√" is actually used for. Do we absolutely ''need'' to solve this rendering problem at all? At least until we persuade Unicode to release a special arbitrary-width over-kerning version of the √-character. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.77|172.70.162.77]] 09:09, 15 August 2022 (UTC)

I don’t think what Randall is trying to do is provide a “roundness” dimension, but that’s how the explanation reads to me right now (“such” a dimension, e.g.) [[User:Szeth Pancakes|Szeth Pancakes]] ([[User talk:Szeth Pancakes|talk]]) 05:13, 11 August 2022 (UTC)
: Agreed - rearranged it a bit to deal with the real-life dimensions first, then be more explicit that the proposal is to add to the existing dimensions in a way analogous to how imaginary numbers expand the domain of real numbers. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.128|172.70.91.128]] 08:19, 11 August 2022 (UTC)

Being an Englishman of a certain age, I had a panic flash back to the ITA. [[User:Arachrah|Arachrah]] ([[User talk:Arachrah|talk]]) 12:55, 11 August 2022 (UTC)
:What was wrong with the Independant Television Authority?
:(Seriously, though, the Initial Teaching Alphabet was very bad... It insisted that "book" had a different vowel in it to "up", contrary to everyone's experience, including the teacher who tried to use it. - Ironically, though, when a few years later we were in 'big school' and being taught our first French lesson we got confused by being told at the very start that the words "''un''" and "''une''" (written on the board) were the equivalent to the English word "uh" (spoken)... Uh? What's "uh"?... "You know, as in 'uh book', 'uh table', 'uh chair'...") [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.13|172.70.85.13]] 14:37, 11 August 2022 (UTC)
::I'm curious how you pronounce them if they *aren't* different vowels: is it uhp and b'uhk (^p and b^k in IPA), the Near-close near-back rounded vowel (not sure how to describe it or get the upside down omega to render, or something entirely different? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.131.126|172.70.131.126]] 21:57, 11 August 2022 (UTC)
:::Quite possibly, but I'm never entirely confident that I have the right impression of what a given IPA means, from my particular regional accent as a baseline. Definitely the same (excepting the phonemic ending each of "-uck/-upp" and the presence or not of another initial element).
:::A good comparative linguist could probably name the various zones (encompassed by various isogloss lines) where this is true. And, by actually hearing me, perhaps narrow down the one from which I actually hail, quite accurately. At least one set of my grandparents always said "book" (or "look") more like the longer "ew" than "uh", and they were pretty much always local to another town just 10-15 miles away from the one of my own birth/upbringing (don't remember much of the other grandparents, but they were also from a village more in the other area than my own, but making an almost equilateral triangle on the map). Traces of this kind of 'elsewhere' accent from my parents probably did make me stand out a little bit from my "nth generation local" peers. But still up≈book applies.
:::If I had a cat, by now it would be staring up at me, wondering why I've been saying "up book book up look whup uck luck suck tuck muck Krup ... (etc)" to myself, trying to detect any changes and all similarities. While imaging myself in various social situations that demand broader or more RPified pronunciations... ;) ((Plus trying to calculate my exact tongue-placement/etc.)) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.242|141.101.99.242]] 23:09, 11 August 2022 (UTC)
:Blast from the past! I remember ITA from when I was in elementary school on Long Island in the 60's. In my later years I frequently confused this with IPA. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 15:18, 11 August 2022 (UTC)

Not sure what the text "There is one unique such function and the new mathematics is consistent." - in current version, with similarly bad historic variations - is supposed to mean. The point of sqrt(-1) is that it never had a valid result on the Real number-line, and only by imagining a non-real dimension can you start to work with such a number (alone or in combination with real values) with a consistency that allows even nth-roots and exponentiation. The "unique (...) function" bit sounds strange. And note that -1 does ''not'' have a single unique root (which I can't help feeling is what is trying to be said, still)... its two roots are i and -i, for much the same reason that sqrt(1)=±1. But maybe the statement I'm wondering about is written under some branch of functional number-theory that I'm not familiar with, so could the relevent editor(s) please do it in a way that won't so confuse/trouble me or mislead others? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.80|172.70.91.80]] 22:03, 11 August 2022 (UTC)
:Done. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.58|172.69.34.58]] 23:09, 11 August 2022 (UTC)

Since when does a completely generic orthogonal projection from 2- to 3-D invoke the Gell-Mann quark model? Unicode needs a glyph to tell physicists to settle down. Removed: "The multi-plane scheme of the comic seems inspired by the representation of the Gell-Mann quark model used in particle physics (you can see one on page 4 of the [https://pdg.lbl.gov/2022/reviews/rpp2022-rev-quark-model.pdf Particle Data Group quark model review])." [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.88|172.70.211.88]] 02:02, 12 August 2022 (UTC)

Reminds me of ''[https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/54431070-battle-of-the-linguist-mages Battle of the Linguist Mages]'' - Punctuation marks are alien invaders from another dimension, and magic consists of pronouncing "power morphemes" (assuming learning them doesn't drive you mad, first). --[[User:Bobson|Bobson]] ([[User talk:Bobson|talk]]) 02:43, 12 August 2022 (UTC)

The symbol reminds me of the {{w|Mandelbrot Set}} but turned on its side. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.93.43|172.70.93.43]] 07:17, 12 August 2022 (UTC)

Not sure about ''the most common vowel sound in English polysyllabic words (the 'a' in "comma" or the second 'e' in "letter.")'' - those are pronounced completely differently (unless perhaps you are from the south of England and pronounce 'letter' as 'lettah'). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.147|172.70.162.147]] 07:32, 12 August 2022 (UTC)
: I would pronounce them 'commuh' and 'lettuh', with a very short 'uh', which would fit with it being the most common vowel sound, given people say 'uh?' quite a lot. Although that's about as unpolysyllabic as you could get. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.80|172.70.91.80]] 09:02, 12 August 2022 (UTC)
:: Again, probably multiple isoglosses apply. I'm an "uh"-common person from the North and recognise "ah"-common accents as (certain bits of) the South, but it's possible that "lettah"<->"lettuh" and "commah"<->"commuh" transition at different boundaries across/around/through the Midlands, thus confusing many people. I think RP goes more "commah" and "lettuh(r)". Checking Wiktionary, though, IPA is given as /ˈkɒm.ə/ (UK, otherwise unspecified) and /ˈlɛtə(ɹ)/ (RP), but there's not much info on direct comparisons between, say, East London/East Midlands/East Yorkshire/East Anglia/East Kilbride/Dwyran... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.34|172.70.86.34]] 11:36, 12 August 2022 (UTC)

You could do something like this comic with the embeddings of a language model trained on IPA and human responses. Stuff like https://towardsdatascience.com/introduction-to-word-embedding-and-word2vec-652d0c2060fa http://www.isle.illinois.edu/speech_web_lg/pubs/2021/gao2021zero.pdf . A speech generating reinforcement learning system rewarded on human response would almost certainly discover complex vowels: sounds humans recognise partly, possibly impossible mixes of normal vowels, that produce erratic or novel human behavior. This has likely happened in some kind of marketing or attention research. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.237|172.70.110.237]] 19:20, 12 August 2022 (UTC)
: To add on to this, when playing with or demoing powerful neural networks, people often give the networks impossible prompts (like dall-e’s original example of an armchair in the shape of an avocado, a contradiction as avocados are never shaped like something that is a chair) —- and surprisingly a strong model will actually produce a result humans believe meets the request. This is like the example of “x in fire" —- mainstream neural networks usually do not reject input, they just solve it the best they can, producing an output that best matches everything they learned, or is an extrapolation from what they learned along their internal dimensions. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.237|172.70.110.237]] 19:26, 12 August 2022 (UTC)

"the properties of complex numbers could conceivably support representing physiological features of the vocal tract" - not sure about this - the properties of complex numbers stem from imaginary numbers being defined in relation to the square root of -1 - it's not obvious how a value of -1 would have any meaning in vocalspace (since it's a limited scale, not a continuous plane), never mind its square root, so how would the interactions between real and imaginary numbers read across to those between tongue movements and other vocal tract features? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.223|172.70.90.223]] 10:10, 15 August 2022 (UTC)
:Well... Although I never liked the way it was worded, I envisaged it as depicting extradimensional movements/displacements, possibly introducing resonances of air beyond the current three dimensions (and time) of movement. Such as compressive waves in a further imaginary dimension. (For transverse/tortional-waves, in media that support them, moments of movement/wbatever perpendicular/hyperradial to any 'real' version, but in air tbat's probably moot. Unless it isn't..?)
:Or you could consider, as you say, a limited scale of 0..1 being the distance of the tongue-tip between roof-touching and floor-touching (-1 would be a tongue ''embedded'' in whichever surface is zero, somehow phased through and creating a 'nevative cavity' of resonance, somehow, and an i-ward position would be... Well, not 'sideways' (though that does change things) but ''hyper''-sideways (again those other dimensions, probably requiring muscles/etc we don't normally consider), and all that implies.
:...that's if you want my assumptions about how an entirely ficticious and frankly esoteric scenario might 'really' be implemented. I won't say it's the way it ''would'' be, and there are limely many other (mis)interpretations of how it might happen, these were just my first thoughts on initially reading the comic (but it used less words in my head, as I could more easily imagine the necessary illustrative diagrams that did most of the heavy lifting). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.78|172.70.91.78]] 11:52, 15 August 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2766: Helium Reserve

2023-04-22T20:50:15Z

JakubNarebski:

So, uh... is the reason he can't say it out loud because he inhaled it all and the squeaky voice would give it away? [[User:LtPowers|LtPowers]] ([[User talk:LtPowers|talk]]) 12:34, 22 April 2023 (UTC)

That was my first thought. [[User:Darthpoppins|Darthpoppins]] ([[User talk:Darthpoppins|talk]]) 12:39, 22 April 2023 (UTC)

What do I say about the person who was in charge of giving me sole control of the helium reserves? I would definitely speak highly of him! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.252|172.70.90.252]] 15:42, 22 April 2023 (UTC)

I think he cannot say anything loud because helium is stored in porous rock underground (here is Tom Scott's video on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOy8Xjaa_o8) and it is embarrassing to say that you just pump expensive gas into the ground. not sure tho [[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.234|162.158.238.234]] 16:59, 22 April 2023 (UTC)

Side note: [https://www.youtube.com/@theCodyReeder Cody's Lab] created a series of videos where he's not only using lighter-than-air gases, but also heavier-than-air gases. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 20:50, 22 April 2023 (UTC)

Talk:2739: Data Quality

2023-02-20T14:05:57Z

JakubNarebski: cuckoo filters

Hash tables aren't lossy, maybe Randall means hash functions? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 17:06, 17 February 2023 (UTC)
:I was thinking more a (subset of) a {{w|Rainbow table}}, than an associative array... Although such things tend not to preserve/respect item order (in reading, writing and altering in general), which is potentially information-lossy. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.185|172.69.79.185]] 18:50, 17 February 2023 (UTC)
::Hash tables have an ultra-low collision rate, as compared to the transforms used in packetwise error-correction... Since the comic is primarily focused on contrasting media fidelity with direct alteration of the content, ciphers seem a less direct association than content distribution networks? Given the context presented, my immediate association was the use of both piece & whole-pack hash verification, which has a collision rate so low terms like "number of particles in the universe" start entering the conversation. Upon further consideration, I wonder if Randall is referring to plain old CRC32 hash checking? Or the SHA hashes commonly used to verify disc downloads? (If it passes SHA *and* torrent content checking, I'd say you've probably got better chances of 1:1 integrity, than any original medium has of retaining it?)
::[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 22:51, 17 February 2023 (UTC)
: Maybe it was to be about '''cuckoo filters''', which are probabilistic data structure alternative to classic Bloom filter, which are based on space-efficient variants of cuckoo hashing? --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 14:05, 20 February 2023 (UTC)

GIF's aren't lossy either, though often other formats can't be converted to GIF without discarding information. [[User:Bemasher|Bemasher]] ([[User talk:Bemasher|talk]]) 18:27, 17 February 2023 (UTC)
:I think that's the point. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.203|172.68.50.203]] 20:12, 17 February 2023 (UTC)
:GIFs are lossy in the very act of creating them: the actual colors of the real object have to be smashed down into (I think it’s) 256 different colors, resulting in an image that even human perception recognizes as crappy. Even the so-called ‘lossless’ formats such as PNG are lossy in the act of creation, just not as drastically as GIFs. A truly ‘lossless’ format would have to specify the exact intensity of every wavelength of electromagnetic radiation emanating from every atom of the original object. Good luck with that. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.151.99|172.71.151.99]] 01:00, 18 February 2023 (UTC)
::It's subjective whether formats (even .gif) can be recognised as 'crappy'. The display format may further tune down everything so that something defined with 65536 colours is more like 256, or it could work well with any given stippling/halftoning/dithering to produce something more like the better original than the file data strictly allows (even from 6bits-per-pixel, or 3) when viewed at sufficient remove. And a .gif of a block-coloured diagram is notably better than a typical .jpg of one, despite the technically superior palette the later has. (Nobody says that an image has to be from a real-life subject, with all kinds of missing data, such as photons thst happen to hit the gap between CCD pixels but might be considered important and might well have been captured with the Mk 1 Eyeball and significantly 'noticed' by the nerves and ultimately the respective processing usters of the brain behind it... Which has a complete set of 'analogue lossiness' to it, anyway.) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.203|172.71.242.203]] 16:37, 18 February 2023 (UTC)

Someone needs to add a table describing all the formats in the chart. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 19:29, 17 February 2023 (UTC)
:Yep. It needs a description of each point on the graph. I'm on my phone though... and feeling lazy after shoveling snow.
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 22:54, 17 February 2023 (UTC)
::I'm tempted, but it would require learning how to MAKE a table, and my ideal table would be 5 columns, '''''TOO WIDE!''''', LOL! Table label, what scale (data quality or item quality), a description (the main thing needed), the cat version from the Title Text, and finally how the cat example applies/parallels the comic version. I could lose the "what scale" as only one isn't data quality, and I guess I could see two tables, Comic and Title/Cat (adding to cat also the Table Label column).[[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:38, 19 February 2023 (UTC)
:::Tables are actually [https://mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Tables quite easy to do] (if you don't intend to do much complex stuff), but also very easy to slightly mess up (temporarily - Preview is your friend, especially if you need to rowspan/colspan at all). For this purpose, nothing fancy. Header row, other rows, nothing particar special in alignment, sorting, colour (foreground and/or background), etc. It'll be fairly intelligently fitted to the browser window, according to the contents.
:::However, here (when you might have large amounts of narrative in one column), perhaps just ";"-prefix a mini-header (can include "(in Title text)" or other shorthand details) and then have ":"-prefixed 'definition' prose that rambles on about each item in freehand text. I would suggest that's as complicated as you need it, no real need for tabling at all. (But, without wanting to show you how to use a hammer, then making every problem now look like a nail to you, I think you could handle ''learning'' the basic table-markup/learning where to get the more complex stuff. So there you are.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.197|172.70.91.197]] 16:54, 19 February 2023 (UTC)

It seems there are two definitions of data quality that Randall is juxtaposing for comic effect: in one, quality data is data that represents the original phenomenon without error or degradation. In the other, he's applying the concept of quality to the phenomenon itself – data is better if it describes a better phenomenon. My cat is better than your cat, therefore data about my cat is better than data about your cat. I'd like to see this concept in the explanation of the page but don't know how to add into the flow of the current text.[[User:K95|K95]] ([[User talk:K95|talk]]) 19:33, 17 February 2023 (UTC)
:I already put that in earlier. See the second sentence of the second paragraph, I called it "general excellence". [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:45, 17 February 2023 (UTC)

"Data are transferred in bits"...Hear, hear. I'm over 60, I still remember of stuff that is called "analog" ;-) {{unsigned|172.71.160.37|20:07, 17 February 2023 (UTC)}}
:Note, however, that we are transferring data digitally for over four thousand years. That's how long is technically possible to make a lossless copy of written story. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:19, 17 February 2023 (UTC)
::That's only if you're lucky enough to be still reading it in the original <s>Klingon</s> language, etc... [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.184|172.69.79.184]] 22:53, 17 February 2023 (UTC)
:::'''"It is a Klingon name!"''' 😾
:::Transcription definitely suffers from a Darmok & Jalad type contextual dependency.
::: [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 22:59, 17 February 2023 (UTC)

I think that "Better data" is a reference to gainful compression, and that "my better cat" doesn't specifically refer to the author but to the lyrical subject (as in poems). [[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.203|172.68.50.203]] 20:12, 17 February 2023 (UTC)

TIFF can contain a JPEG, which makes it technically a lossy format. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.109.33|172.69.109.33]] 23:26, 19 February 2023 (UTC)
:And an actual JPEG ''may'' be {{w|Lossless JPEG|lossless}}. (I still remember JPEG2000 being 'a thing', amongst the other situations mentioned there, but that wasn't even what I was thinking of whn I started this reply!) Yet, I think we're talking broad sweeps here. Not strict accuracy. There's Randall's trolling of us with GIF as 'lossy', frexample... [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.159|172.69.79.159]]

The opening sentence of the explanation, about data loss in transit, seems a bit irrelevant to the comic, which is only concerned with lossiness in information due to format. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.197|172.70.91.197]] 10:40, 20 February 2023 (UTC)
:''Very'' relevent to the parity ones. (Leads me to believe it's a scale of "amount of provided data to represent original data". You send less than you really ought to, the more left you go, you send more than you should ''technically'' need to as you go to the right. Checksums add a little bit extra, once you get to them, and ''correcting'' checksums (hamming bits, etc) are significantly extra overhead. The whole 'better data' is basically "send a similar amount of newer information, or even more, on top of the original".) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.71|162.158.34.71]] 12:55, 20 February 2023 (UTC)

Talk:2724: Washing Machine Settings

2023-01-14T10:01:23Z

JakubNarebski: it's washer-dryer

> [...] standing in front of a washing machine [...]

To be more exact, this is a combo washer dryer (also known as washer-dryer) - which looks like so called laundry center design (one unit, with washer on bottom, and what looks like heat-pump or vented dryer on top). --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 10:01, 14 January 2023 (UTC)

== Laundry instructions ==

Even more important than the owner’s manual are the instructions written on the inside of your clothes. It turns out that those obscure runes actually mean something! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.142.170|172.71.142.170]] 17:28, 13 January 2023 (UTC)


It's been decades since I've seen an appliance user manual half as detailed as what Cueball describes. Mostly they say things like 'plug it in' & 'pressing Power button starts the device, pressing again turns it off'; ''never'' details such as 'Delicates mode reduces agitation'/spin etc. Even widely used software often goes without significant documentation. Randall makes a joke that user manuals already exist, but I feel they're rather rare!?
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 18:32, 13 January 2023 (UTC)
:I believe you're right, was coming here to complain that my user manual on my new washer does not explain what the various settings do, but says such useless things as "use cotton setting for cotton fabric". Telling me it's a hot water setting (which I don't want, as I never bother connecting the hot water to a machine) would be useful, but doesn't appear to be a feature of user manuals these days.

The manual for my washing machine actually lists the available programs along with a short description, tips (like "use less detergent for washing laces") and various metrics (like max load and energy consumption). However, this is for a machine installed at a home. Cueball in the comic seems to be standing in a laundromat. Even if those machines came with a manual, can the end-user actually access them? I guess you could pester an employee to dig them up for you...
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.134|172.68.50.134]] 22:10, 13 January 2023 (UTC)
:I don't think it's a laundromat, there would be more than one machine. I think the joke is based the fact that so many things are done with GUI applications these days, and they have very limited manuals, if any at all. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 23:23, 13 January 2023 (UTC)
:For my part, I'm not even familiar with that style of machine. Looks like some sort of top-loader base (haven't used one of them, a twin-tub, since the late-seventies/early-eighties when we transitioned to the first in a series of standard front loaders) with a tumble-dryer above (never bothered with a tumble-dryer since the university laundromat, and they were floor-to- ceiling with ''huge'' drums and eventually I worked out I was just feeding a huge slot machine where I couldn't even get the three lemons).
:But I deduce probably a stereotypical 'Merkin "big home, big utility basement" thing, rather than a more UK-market piece of whitegoods.
:As an equivalent example, you do at least see those huge two-door fridges (with ice-despensors in them) in the electrical goods stores, even though I know of no-one who has actually gone and got one. But washers and dryers always tend to be standard (and separate) front-loaders (with occasional 'retro' top-loaders), even if most people seem to consign the latter to a corner of the garage. (And I just use a washing line/drape in front of a warm radiator!) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.136|172.69.79.136]] 23:44, 13 January 2023 (UTC)

== Quora ==

Quora is the absolute worst. Nearly every time you see a Quora blurb in Google, you can bet that the opposite is true. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.79|172.70.114.79]] 06:43, 14 January 2023 (UTC)

Talk:2702: What If 2 Gift Guide

2022-11-24T11:40:08Z

JakubNarebski: platinum cylinder

The puzzle is almost certainly a reference to the Monty Hall problem, since that's usually framed in terms of 3 doors: behind 2 are goats (bad prizes), behind the third is a new (the desirable prize). While the other puzzles share some attributes, I doubt they're intended. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:55, 23 November 2022 (UTC)
:Who says goats are a bad prize? If you want to make goat's milk cheese, they are quite necessary. Whereas a car may be a burden, most states still require the recipient to pay sales tax, which can be thousands of dollars. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 01:58, 24 November 2022 (UTC)

The goat can be left on its own, but not with the fox or the cabbage. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.135|172.70.162.135]] 00:12, 24 November 2022 (UTC)

Another problem with the James Webb photo is that, from its orbit, the Earth appears too close to the Sun to be safe to photograph. So, the recipient of the gift would have to travel into deep space, well past the orbit of the Moon, for the shoot. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.111.29|172.70.111.29]] 22:22, 23 November 2022 (UTC)

Wasn't Bobcat in a Box inspired by xkcd #576 and its title text, which wasn't even the first boxed bobcat in xkcd? Feels weird to say that the boxed bobcat is a reference to an external brand and not xkcd's rich internal history of mailing people bobcats. [[User:GreatWyrmGold|GreatWyrmGold]] ([[User talk:GreatWyrmGold|talk]]) 06:14, 24 November 2022 (UTC)

I assume that even if the platinum (or platinum-iridium) cylinder used to define kilogram was recreation, rather than original, it would still be very expensive ($31,965 per kg). --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 11:40, 24 November 2022 (UTC)

== "Katherine and Brandon" ==

Could someone explain those Names in the "Chemistry" entry to me? It would be very atypical for Randall to make a mistake in that place, but both seem to be impossible to spell with the periodic table of elements.
Potassium, Astatine and Helium would give K-At-He- (and some radiation posioning) and Iodine and Neon -Id-Ne. But neither Rubidium (Ru), nor Radium (Ra), nor Ruthentium (Ru), nor Rhodium (Rh) nor Radon (RN) give you a pure "R" and likewise there is no Element Ri or Er, so it is impossible to put the "R" into "Katherine".
Likewise "Brandon" could be started with Boron (B), Radon (Ra), Nitrogen (N) and finished with Oxygen (O) and again Nitrogen (N), but there are only two "D"s in the whole peridoic table and both are fixed to other letters, that would not fit: Paladium (Pd) and Gadolinium (Gd).
P.S.: 3 full Minutes of Captcha-solving for a Wiki? WTF??? {{unsigned ip|172.70.247.13|23:40, 23 November 2022}}
:Potassium-Astatine-Hydrogen-'''Erbium'''-Iodine-Neon [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.184|172.69.79.184]] 23:59, 23 November 2022 (UTC)
:As for Brandon, you seem to have missed '''Neodymium''' (Nd). So, Boron-Radon-Neodymium-Oxygen-Nitrogen [[User:TurZ|TurZ]] ([[User talk:TurZ|talk]]) 07:00, 24 November 2022 (UTC)
Could he be limiting himself to rendering only the capital letters of each element? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.160.43|172.71.160.43]] 00:17, 24 November 2022 (UTC)
But Astatine is so radioactive that no one has ever seen it. A lump big enough to physically see would instantly sublimate with its own heat of radioactivity. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.210.7|172.68.210.7]] 00:08, 24 November 2022 (UTC)

Due to the prior comic, I actually bought a Cybiko (I'm into older computer collecting). Now that he's mentioned it again, I'm thankful I got it quick, before the inevitable price rise. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.106|108.162.221.106]] 01:00, 24 November 2022 (UTC)
:Is it good? —[[User:While False|While False]] ([[User:While False/explain xkcd museum|'''museum''']] | [[User talk:While False|talk]] | [[special:Contributions/While_False|contributions]] | [[special:Log/While_False|logs]] | [[Special:UserRights/While_False|rights]] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:While_False&printable=yes printable version] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:While_False&action=info page information] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere/User:While_False what links there] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:RecentChangesLinked&days=30&from=&target=User%3AWhile_False related changes] | [https://www.google.com Google search] | current time: {{CURRENTTIME}}) 05:28, 24 November 2022 (UTC)

== Psychology ==

Hi, this is my first edit, I hope I'm doing it right. The psychology example is most likely about the norm of reciprocity (see Wikipedia). It's a very strong norm. Violations of this norm can indeed cause distress to a point where people express anger if they can't reciprocate (which seems somewhat irrational at times).
I'm a psychology student from Germany, I might do some errors when writing in english :) [[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.85|198.41.242.85]] 06:15, 24 November 2022 (UTC)

== Baby Shoes ==

Has nobody mentioned the xkcd comic that references this yet? https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1540:_Hemingway

Artinum [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.186|172.71.178.186]] 09:45, 24 November 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2652: Proxy Variable

2022-07-30T07:43:11Z

JakubNarebski:

Maybe Randall is commenting on this recent article [https://www.nature.com/articles/s43588-022-00281-6 Nature Computational Science: Automated discovery of fundamental variables hidden in experimental data]?
02:10, 30 July 2022 (UTC)
suggested by a proxy editor

Might be tangentially related to the alleged Alzheimer's disease drug Aduhelm, the anti-amyloid therapy, that did show some success in proxy variable (biomarker), but no success at all in curing the disease or its symptoms (no efficacy), but which got accepted with a huge amount of controversy by NDA (which disregarded its advisory committee’s recommendation against approving Aduhelm). --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 07:32, 30 July 2022 (UTC)

== this dude keeps spamming ==

Sorry for the mild crassness, especially as a new user, but some Nazi f*ck is vandalizing the page. May someone please ban them?

Nah, they're using multiple IPs. Someone could semi-protect it or something but there ain't any mods doing their job it seems.

Where are the mods, anyways?

:You can't always count on volunteer authorities. Even us lowly IP address editors can revert vandalism. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.199|172.69.33.199]] 04:09, 30 July 2022 (UTC)
::Yeah nah, we need it semi-protected

:The rant gets replaced within two minutes of each revert. Presumably it's done by bot. We need a mod to take action. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.217|172.70.130.217]] 05:15, 30 July 2022 (UTC)
Article has been restored but some idiots keep spamming the page with random things. pls do something mods
:it's not "some idiots" it's all one person using different ips. he posted the exact same covid rant several times. i think he's schizophrenic or something and just really wants to be heard --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.69.40|172.69.69.40]] 04:39, 30 July 2022 (UTC)
::But why here? Like, this is such a weird place to try and be heard, I'm sure even Reddit posts would have more visibility than edits to a webcomic wiki. [[User:NErDysprosium|NErDysprosium]] ([[User talk:NErDysprosium|talk]]) 06:06, 30 July 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2652: Proxy Variable

2022-07-30T07:32:57Z

JakubNarebski: Aduhelm

Maybe Randall is commenting on this recent article [https://www.nature.com/articles/s43588-022-00281-6 Nature Computational Science: Automated discovery of fundamental variables hidden in experimental data]?
02:10, 30 July 2022 (UTC)
suggested by a proxy editor

Might be tangentially related to the alleged Alzheimer's disease drug Aduhelm, the anti-amyloid therapy, that did show some success in proxy variable (biomarker), but no success at all in curing the disease or its symptoms, which got accepted with a huge amount of controversy by NDA (which disregarded its advisory committee’s recommendation against approving Aduhelm). --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 07:32, 30 July 2022 (UTC)

== this dude keeps spamming ==

Sorry for the mild crassness, especially as a new user, but some Nazi f*ck is vandalizing the page. May someone please ban them?

Nah, they're using multiple IPs. Someone could semi-protect it or something but there ain't any mods doing their job it seems.

Where are the mods, anyways?

:You can't always count on volunteer authorities. Even us lowly IP address editors can revert vandalism. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.199|172.69.33.199]] 04:09, 30 July 2022 (UTC)
::Yeah nah, we need it semi-protected

:The rant gets replaced within two minutes of each revert. Presumably it's done by bot. We need a mod to take action. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.217|172.70.130.217]] 05:15, 30 July 2022 (UTC)
Article has been restored but some idiots keep spamming the page with random things. pls do something mods
:it's not "some idiots" it's all one person using different ips. he posted the exact same covid rant several times. i think he's schizophrenic or something and just really wants to be heard --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.69.40|172.69.69.40]] 04:39, 30 July 2022 (UTC)
::But why here? Like, this is such a weird place to try and be heard, I'm sure even Reddit posts would have more visibility than edits to a webcomic wiki. [[User:NErDysprosium|NErDysprosium]] ([[User talk:NErDysprosium|talk]]) 06:06, 30 July 2022 (UTC)
I'd like to extend a formal invitation to https://soyjak.party for all of you. I hope this explains my behavior. Post your best gems in the sharty [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.66|108.162.246.66]] 04:40, 30 July 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2651: Air Gap

2022-07-28T07:45:03Z

JakubNarebski: about incandescent light bulbs versus LED

Worth noting that this is a large and inefficient version of an [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opto-isolator opto-isolator] [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.79|108.162.221.79]] 05:37, 28 July 2022 (UTC)

* Incandescent light bulb (assuming it the lamp does not use LED in the shape of light bulb) is not only less efficient than diode, but also much slower to warm up and cool down - it usually is much more sensitive to rapid switching, and has shorter life counted in the number of on/off cycles. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 07:45, 28 July 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2638: Extended NFPA Hazard Diamond

2022-06-28T11:04:11Z

JakubNarebski:

Are we going to try identifying what material this is? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.82.179|172.70.82.179]] 01:50, 28 June 2022 (UTC)
:first one off the top of my head, aqua regia? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.38.69|172.70.38.69]] 02:46, 28 June 2022 (UTC)Bumpf
::Doesn't aqua regia score a 0 in reactivity? [[User:N-eh|N-eh]] ([[User talk:N-eh|talk]]) 03:23, 28 June 2022 (UTC)
:My guess would be something radioactive, like uranium or plutonium. [[User:Clam|Clam]] ([[User talk:Clam|talk]]) 03:29, 28 June 2022 (UTC)
::There are very, very few Health 4 / Fire 0 / Instability 2 compounds. The NIH database lists 4: nitrous oxide, phosphorus oxychloride, phosphorous trichloride, and thionyl chloride (although it's important to note these values aren't always standardized; some authorities consider phosphorus oxychloride to be Health 3, for example). Based on the street value and the number of US agencies who would be concerned about it, my guess is thionyl chloride, a useful industrial chemical which is also used in at least one meth lab synthesis pathway... AND highly regulated as a chemical weapon precursor (to both sulfur mustard and G-series nerve agents). Oh, and it is absolutely a Disposal Pain 4 candidate, too. [[User:Qalyar|Qalyar]] ([[User talk:Qalyar|talk]]) 04:52, 28 June 2022 (UTC)
The center square is a free space, but if you win without it you get a special bonus prize. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.42.129|172.70.42.129]] 04:18, 28 June 2022 (UTC)

Given Randall's fixation with velociraptors, is anyone else thinking the "dropped ceiling" may be a reference to the labs in Jurassic Park?
:Possible. The first thing I had to think of was HalfLife (ie Black Mesa). [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 07:34, 28 June 2022 (UTC)

Does Randall watch Warsaw local news? Yesterday [https://tvn24.pl/tvnwarszawa/mokotow/warszawa-wilanow-ul-branickiego-straz-miejska-interweniowala-w-sprawie-walacego-sie-budynku-5766504 there was an article about an accident with dropped ceiling]. Accident with dropped ceiling next day on xkcd gave me uncanny feeling. [[User:Tkopec|Tkopec]] ([[User talk:Tkopec|talk]]) 09:31, 28 June 2022 (UTC)

The "''Number of times it's caused one of those terrifying lab accidents that chemists tell scary stories about late at night -> 2''" reminds me of the [https://www.science.org/topic/blog-category/things-i-wont-work-with Things I Won't Work With] category on Derek's Lowe blog, including famous [https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/sand-won-t-save-you-time Sand Won't Save You This Time] article about dangers of chlorine trifluoride, with a few ''scary stories'' included. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 11:04, 28 June 2022 (UTC)

2522: Two-Factor Security Key

2021-10-04T13:54:58Z

JakubNarebski: /* Trivia */ code sent to device includes push notifications

{{comic
| number = 2522
| date = September 29, 2021
| title = Two-Factor Security Key
| image = two_factor_security_key.png
| titletext = The bruises on my fingertips are my proof of work.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Multi-factor authentication|Two factor security authentication}} (also see [[#Trivia]]) is something that [[Ponytail]] has clearly been talking to [[Cueball]] about. In this strip, Cueball is telling her that he has finally buckled down and gotten the two factor security key that she has pestered him to get.

He recites the trials that he endured in "installing" the key, all of which seem plausible configuration issues for setting up a proper two-factor authentication from scratch. However it is then revealed that all this work was just the task of attaching the 'key' (which looks like it could be a common brand of physical two-factor key fob or dongle) onto his metal keyring.

Metal {{w|keyring}}s are reliably secure as far as keeping a key attached, but this is in part because of how notoriously difficult it is to add a key to or remove a key from them. The rings must be forced apart and ''held'' apart while the key traverses however many layers the ring has (usually two or three, though keyrings with more layers are not unheard of). Cueball confidently asserts (to off-screen Ponytail, who probably was expecting something more practical) that his key is ''not'' coming off, indicating both a (well-founded) faith in the keyring's ability to keep his key, and a desire to not go through the same process in reverse. Presumably all his effort was in "installing" the key onto the keychain, and he probably hasn't actually set it up for any of his accounts, leaving them just as insecure as they were.

The title text has a similar double meaning. Cueball would of course use it to the "proof" of his efforts installing the key--though difficult, metal keyrings can be forced apart physically by human hands, at least if the human in question has fingernails sturdy enough to slip between the rings, at which point the insertion of a finger would be enough to keep it apart until the key is inserted. However, keeping the rings apart can be strenuous on the fingers, and can result in bruising, which Cueball is all too familiar with. {{w|Proof of work}} alludes to the cryptographic concept, which ties (sideways, as proof of work is a security term for a concept intended to deter denial of service and similar volume-based attacks but not directly related) back into the two-factor authentication.

Additionally a third meaning could be that while he spend a lot of time setting up 2FA he totally overlooked the possibility of him losing his whole keychain thus locking him out of all the services that requires 2FA if he didn't set up yet another layer of backup.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Ponytail stand facing each other.]
:Cueball: I got one of those two-factor security keys you've been bugging me about.
:Ponytail: Great!

:[Cueball and Ponytail continue facing each other.]
:Cueball: It took a lot of work, fiddling with configurations, annoying setbacks, and general pain,

:[Closeup on Cueball holding a keychain.]
:Cueball: ... but I '''finally''' got it onto the metal ring of my keychain.
:Ponytail [off-panel]: At least now it's secure.
:Cueball: Yeah, this thing is '''not''' coming off.

==Trivia==

An authenticaion 'factor' is a distinct method of proving your legitimate use of a service or product. They can be broadly be grouped into three main groups.
* '''What you know''' - Some knowledge that you have to remember. Susceptible to being learnt by someone else, or forgotten by yourself.
** Passwords (or PINs) are the usual incarnation of this, usually static (although some people may change them periodically, or be required to), overwhelmingly user-chosen.
** Challenge Questions such as the answer to "What was the name of your first pet?" are given by the user for later supplemental authentication (see below). Such questions and similar Knowledge Based Authentication (for example, the place you live, your social security number, last digits of your banking card, or your yearly income) are considered insecure, because much of such information is either easily guessable, can be scrapped from social networks, or is available on the dark web because of security breaches.
*** It is speculated that the "What is your Porn Name?" game has been used to gain precisely the information required to defeat this security method.
** Other personal knowledge has been occasionally tried for such uses, such as a grid of sixteen distinct faces (randomly placed) that you ''know'' to select (say) your Mother, Cousin Albert, Grandad and your niece Lucy. Others may recognise these (and other red-herrings) but not know the sequence, or be able to easily duplicate it from just observing where on the touchscreen you made contact (as you might with numberpad-entry) in some unguarded situation.
* '''What you have''' - Some physical item that is linked to your authorisation. The possession of the key must be guarded against both theft and loss to continue to be useful.
** A popular item at one time for financial logins is a {{w|Security token|numeric key fob}}. Displaying a {{w|rolling code}} of numbers that change pseudorandomly, synchronously with the expectations of the authentication routine at the server. Any attempt by an eavesdropper to {{w|replay attack|'replay'}} a previous code will no longer be valid.
** A printed set of {{w|one-time password}}s has a similar intention, gaining technical simplicity but also additional problems/susceptibilities.
** Hybrid solutions such as {{w|Google Authenticator}} and a possibly similar one from {{w|Okta (company)|Okta}}, and other examples of mostly mobile applications (software tokens) implementing some kind of {{w|One-time_password|one-time password}} (OTP) algorithm for authentication.
*** This might be time-based OTP (TOTP), which means that the code is valid only for a short time.
** Prior to ubiquitous use of the internet (or other dial-in networks), software companies might protect their products with a {{w|software protection dongle}} to replace or augment the more easily-sharable licence keys(/passwords) and enforce the use of no more copies than had been paid for. - With the advent of the connectivity needed, a "phone home" technique has largely replaced the necessity of this, a central server vetting the use (and/or transfer) of sofware between machines. But {{w|Universal 2nd Factor|related technology}} is a modern implementation that is ''probably'' what Cueball's keyringing efforts involve.
** A device similar to the fob/dongle could also use short-range wireless communications (Bluetooth, RFID, Near-Field Communication or some proprietry method) to indicate the proximity (and identity) of the token to a receptive system. Some high-end car models offer such a system in place of an ignition key for... some absolutely valid reason.{{citation needed}}
** With "Remember my password" options in browsers and {{w|Password Managers}}, ostensibly to prevent over-the-shoulder attacks and/or the prevalence of weak passwords, increasingly the 'known' password has become more of a possession tied to a particular device (and any other device that has been linked by the synchronisation of such internal information).
** A code sent to a further service, such as emails to a (different) email account, or SMS message to a phone, or push notification sent to a smartphone. Retaining the possession of (and access to) these systems is often left more up to the end-user than with vendor-controlled systems, which can be an issue when used as a fall-back reauthentication method (see below).
** A non-computing example is the {{w|Token (railway signalling)|Railway Token}}, sometimes combined with quite ingenius {{w|Annett's key|key-and-lock}} systems, to enforce safe line-use.
* '''What you are''' - Some {{w|biometrics|quality}} that relates to your physical person. It may very hard (but not {{w|amputation|impossible}}) to lose this, or to have someone else use it. Physical coercion may be the greatest threat to this attempt to maintain security, much as it could be used for the others as well. Until recently, the hardware needed made this more of a cinematic 'solution' (to be foiled by resourceful antagonists/progatonists) or in a limited number of high-security situations, but it has also started to make inroads into consumer use. They are rarely used directly for online verification (though they can be), but more often are used to authorise the device to communicate it's intrinsically possessed verification key (or just to generally use that device).
** Fingerprint scanners are an old standard, and may even now be able to protect against the [https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/gummy-bear-hack Gummy Bear trick]].
** Eye-scanning (using iris, retina or scleral vein patterns) is a favourite movie version, and perhaps possible with sufficiently high-resolution macro-lensed cameras.
** Facial recognition is certainly possible, and touted, with current technology. With greater or lesser proof against someone wearing a printed 'mask' of the authorised user's face, according to implementation.
** Voiceprint analysis is sometimes used to verify repeat callers to helplines/service-centres, or at least to weed out the more obvious intended-impersonators.
** Gait analysis, that analyses the walking action of a person. Perhaps not likely to be so portable a solution.
** A signature could be considered a (weak) biometric. It is possible to forge a known signature, while a person may be inconstant in each attempt at their own. When done in person it may be more of an esoteric test as to the confidence and fluidity in making the scrawled claim as to your identity - which can also be faked!
** Similarly, a photo-ID could be taken as a very basic biometric verification. - Though whether it is easier to impersonate a photo (perhaps in a different way from the Facial Recognition exploit) or to forge physical ID to bear (something closer to) your own likeness.

One-Factor Authentication now may trying to avoid the shortcomings of the Password system (including the intervention of a 'remembered' password) by developing {{w|Passwordless Authentication}} techniques based upon "have/are" factors only.

Two-Factor Authentication was usually the addition of a physical/biometric authentication method to augment ''each'' use of a known password/PIN (e.g. the 'rolling token' number).

Conversely, the physical authentication of a bank-card has required backing up by its remembered PIN when used in cash-machines/ATMs. (In shops, checking against the signature ''written on the same card'' was for a long time the verification of valid ownership, this recently progressed to Chip-And-Pin, but then in many cases has been superceded by Contactless (NFC) versions, making it a Single-Factor solution in sufficiently low-value transactions.)

Many people may be more familiar with an occasional Second-Factor ''Re''Authentication, when (for one reason or another) they are no longer able to provide a valid password for some login or other, and activate the "Forgot my password" request which sends a link to their backup email account. Where one is set up, is still active and and you have not also lost the ability to access that. (This is not the situation that Cueball is in, or may be in.) This has largely replaced the infamous "Challenge Question" (though may still be combined with it) probably to defeat replay-attacks or the more clever phishing attacks.

Three-Factor Authentication should really be a "know" ''and'' "have" ''and'' "are" combination. Imagine the cinematic scene of the 'President' granting authority for a nuclear attack by inserting a physical key into the required device, typing in their code and then presenting their eye to a retinal scanner.

Anything that is (seriously) quoted as Four-Factor, or above, is going to either duplicate the number of required verifications of a similar scope (towards diminishing returns) or is describing a setup of a number of ''optional'' methods from which a lesser number would be considered sufficiently valid to provide. e.g. registering all ten finger/thumb-prints in case of some random future digital injury.

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

2522: Two-Factor Security Key

2021-10-04T13:53:15Z

JakubNarebski: /* Trivia */ expand on OTP apps

{{comic
| number = 2522
| date = September 29, 2021
| title = Two-Factor Security Key
| image = two_factor_security_key.png
| titletext = The bruises on my fingertips are my proof of work.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Multi-factor authentication|Two factor security authentication}} (also see [[#Trivia]]) is something that [[Ponytail]] has clearly been talking to [[Cueball]] about. In this strip, Cueball is telling her that he has finally buckled down and gotten the two factor security key that she has pestered him to get.

He recites the trials that he endured in "installing" the key, all of which seem plausible configuration issues for setting up a proper two-factor authentication from scratch. However it is then revealed that all this work was just the task of attaching the 'key' (which looks like it could be a common brand of physical two-factor key fob or dongle) onto his metal keyring.

Metal {{w|keyring}}s are reliably secure as far as keeping a key attached, but this is in part because of how notoriously difficult it is to add a key to or remove a key from them. The rings must be forced apart and ''held'' apart while the key traverses however many layers the ring has (usually two or three, though keyrings with more layers are not unheard of). Cueball confidently asserts (to off-screen Ponytail, who probably was expecting something more practical) that his key is ''not'' coming off, indicating both a (well-founded) faith in the keyring's ability to keep his key, and a desire to not go through the same process in reverse. Presumably all his effort was in "installing" the key onto the keychain, and he probably hasn't actually set it up for any of his accounts, leaving them just as insecure as they were.

The title text has a similar double meaning. Cueball would of course use it to the "proof" of his efforts installing the key--though difficult, metal keyrings can be forced apart physically by human hands, at least if the human in question has fingernails sturdy enough to slip between the rings, at which point the insertion of a finger would be enough to keep it apart until the key is inserted. However, keeping the rings apart can be strenuous on the fingers, and can result in bruising, which Cueball is all too familiar with. {{w|Proof of work}} alludes to the cryptographic concept, which ties (sideways, as proof of work is a security term for a concept intended to deter denial of service and similar volume-based attacks but not directly related) back into the two-factor authentication.

Additionally a third meaning could be that while he spend a lot of time setting up 2FA he totally overlooked the possibility of him losing his whole keychain thus locking him out of all the services that requires 2FA if he didn't set up yet another layer of backup.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Ponytail stand facing each other.]
:Cueball: I got one of those two-factor security keys you've been bugging me about.
:Ponytail: Great!

:[Cueball and Ponytail continue facing each other.]
:Cueball: It took a lot of work, fiddling with configurations, annoying setbacks, and general pain,

:[Closeup on Cueball holding a keychain.]
:Cueball: ... but I '''finally''' got it onto the metal ring of my keychain.
:Ponytail [off-panel]: At least now it's secure.
:Cueball: Yeah, this thing is '''not''' coming off.

==Trivia==

An authenticaion 'factor' is a distinct method of proving your legitimate use of a service or product. They can be broadly be grouped into three main groups.
* '''What you know''' - Some knowledge that you have to remember. Susceptible to being learnt by someone else, or forgotten by yourself.
** Passwords (or PINs) are the usual incarnation of this, usually static (although some people may change them periodically, or be required to), overwhelmingly user-chosen.
** Challenge Questions such as the answer to "What was the name of your first pet?" are given by the user for later supplemental authentication (see below). Such questions and similar Knowledge Based Authentication (for example, the place you live, your social security number, last digits of your banking card, or your yearly income) are considered insecure, because much of such information is either easily guessable, can be scrapped from social networks, or is available on the dark web because of security breaches.
*** It is speculated that the "What is your Porn Name?" game has been used to gain precisely the information required to defeat this security method.
** Other personal knowledge has been occasionally tried for such uses, such as a grid of sixteen distinct faces (randomly placed) that you ''know'' to select (say) your Mother, Cousin Albert, Grandad and your niece Lucy. Others may recognise these (and other red-herrings) but not know the sequence, or be able to easily duplicate it from just observing where on the touchscreen you made contact (as you might with numberpad-entry) in some unguarded situation.
* '''What you have''' - Some physical item that is linked to your authorisation. The possession of the key must be guarded against both theft and loss to continue to be useful.
** A popular item at one time for financial logins is a {{w|Security token|numeric key fob}}. Displaying a {{w|rolling code}} of numbers that change pseudorandomly, synchronously with the expectations of the authentication routine at the server. Any attempt by an eavesdropper to {{w|replay attack|'replay'}} a previous code will no longer be valid.
** A printed set of {{w|one-time password}}s has a similar intention, gaining technical simplicity but also additional problems/susceptibilities.
** Hybrid solutions such as {{w|Google Authenticator}} and a possibly similar one from {{w|Okta (company)|Okta}}, and other examples of mostly mobile applications (software tokens) implementing some kind of {{w|One-time_password|one-time password}} (OTP) algorithm for authentication.
*** This might be time-based OTP (TOTP), which means that the code is valid only for a short time.
** Prior to ubiquitous use of the internet (or other dial-in networks), software companies might protect their products with a {{w|software protection dongle}} to replace or augment the more easily-sharable licence keys(/passwords) and enforce the use of no more copies than had been paid for. - With the advent of the connectivity needed, a "phone home" technique has largely replaced the necessity of this, a central server vetting the use (and/or transfer) of sofware between machines. But {{w|Universal 2nd Factor|related technology}} is a modern implementation that is ''probably'' what Cueball's keyringing efforts involve.
** A device similar to the fob/dongle could also use short-range wireless communications (Bluetooth, RFID, Near-Field Communication or some proprietry method) to indicate the proximity (and identity) of the token to a receptive system. Some high-end car models offer such a system in place of an ignition key for... some absolutely valid reason.{{citation needed}}
** With "Remember my password" options in browsers and {{w|Password Managers}}, ostensibly to prevent over-the-shoulder attacks and/or the prevalence of weak passwords, increasingly the 'known' password has become more of a possession tied to a particular device (and any other device that has been linked by the synchronisation of such internal information).
** A code sent to a further service, such as emails to a (different) email account or SMS message to a phone. Retaining the possession of (and access to) these systems is often left more up to the end-user than with vendor-controlled systems, which can be an issue when used as a fall-back reauthentication method (see below).
** A non-computing example is the {{w|Token (railway signalling)|Railway Token}}, sometimes combined with quite ingenius {{w|Annett's key|key-and-lock}} systems, to enforce safe line-use.
* '''What you are''' - Some {{w|biometrics|quality}} that relates to your physical person. It may very hard (but not {{w|amputation|impossible}}) to lose this, or to have someone else use it. Physical coercion may be the greatest threat to this attempt to maintain security, much as it could be used for the others as well. Until recently, the hardware needed made this more of a cinematic 'solution' (to be foiled by resourceful antagonists/progatonists) or in a limited number of high-security situations, but it has also started to make inroads into consumer use. They are rarely used directly for online verification (though they can be), but more often are used to authorise the device to communicate it's intrinsically possessed verification key (or just to generally use that device).
** Fingerprint scanners are an old standard, and may even now be able to protect against the [https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/gummy-bear-hack Gummy Bear trick]].
** Eye-scanning (using iris, retina or scleral vein patterns) is a favourite movie version, and perhaps possible with sufficiently high-resolution macro-lensed cameras.
** Facial recognition is certainly possible, and touted, with current technology. With greater or lesser proof against someone wearing a printed 'mask' of the authorised user's face, according to implementation.
** Voiceprint analysis is sometimes used to verify repeat callers to helplines/service-centres, or at least to weed out the more obvious intended-impersonators.
** Gait analysis, that analyses the walking action of a person. Perhaps not likely to be so portable a solution.
** A signature could be considered a (weak) biometric. It is possible to forge a known signature, while a person may be inconstant in each attempt at their own. When done in person it may be more of an esoteric test as to the confidence and fluidity in making the scrawled claim as to your identity - which can also be faked!
** Similarly, a photo-ID could be taken as a very basic biometric verification. - Though whether it is easier to impersonate a photo (perhaps in a different way from the Facial Recognition exploit) or to forge physical ID to bear (something closer to) your own likeness.

One-Factor Authentication now may trying to avoid the shortcomings of the Password system (including the intervention of a 'remembered' password) by developing {{w|Passwordless Authentication}} techniques based upon "have/are" factors only.

Two-Factor Authentication was usually the addition of a physical/biometric authentication method to augment ''each'' use of a known password/PIN (e.g. the 'rolling token' number).

Conversely, the physical authentication of a bank-card has required backing up by its remembered PIN when used in cash-machines/ATMs. (In shops, checking against the signature ''written on the same card'' was for a long time the verification of valid ownership, this recently progressed to Chip-And-Pin, but then in many cases has been superceded by Contactless (NFC) versions, making it a Single-Factor solution in sufficiently low-value transactions.)

Many people may be more familiar with an occasional Second-Factor ''Re''Authentication, when (for one reason or another) they are no longer able to provide a valid password for some login or other, and activate the "Forgot my password" request which sends a link to their backup email account. Where one is set up, is still active and and you have not also lost the ability to access that. (This is not the situation that Cueball is in, or may be in.) This has largely replaced the infamous "Challenge Question" (though may still be combined with it) probably to defeat replay-attacks or the more clever phishing attacks.

Three-Factor Authentication should really be a "know" ''and'' "have" ''and'' "are" combination. Imagine the cinematic scene of the 'President' granting authority for a nuclear attack by inserting a physical key into the required device, typing in their code and then presenting their eye to a retinal scanner.

Anything that is (seriously) quoted as Four-Factor, or above, is going to either duplicate the number of required verifications of a similar scope (towards diminishing returns) or is describing a setup of a number of ''optional'' methods from which a lesser number would be considered sufficiently valid to provide. e.g. registering all ten finger/thumb-prints in case of some random future digital injury.

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

2522: Two-Factor Security Key

2021-10-04T13:07:03Z

JakubNarebski: /* Trivia */ expand on security questions

{{comic
| number = 2522
| date = September 29, 2021
| title = Two-Factor Security Key
| image = two_factor_security_key.png
| titletext = The bruises on my fingertips are my proof of work.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Multi-factor authentication|Two factor security authentication}} (also see [[#Trivia]]) is something that [[Ponytail]] has clearly been talking to [[Cueball]] about. In this strip, Cueball is telling her that he has finally buckled down and gotten the two factor security key that she has pestered him to get.

He recites the trials that he endured in "installing" the key, all of which seem plausible configuration issues for setting up a proper two-factor authentication from scratch. However it is then revealed that all this work was just the task of attaching the 'key' (which looks like it could be a common brand of physical two-factor key fob or dongle) onto his metal keyring.

Metal {{w|keyring}}s are reliably secure as far as keeping a key attached, but this is in part because of how notoriously difficult it is to add a key to or remove a key from them. The rings must be forced apart and ''held'' apart while the key traverses however many layers the ring has (usually two or three, though keyrings with more layers are not unheard of). Cueball confidently asserts (to off-screen Ponytail, who probably was expecting something more practical) that his key is ''not'' coming off, indicating both a (well-founded) faith in the keyring's ability to keep his key, and a desire to not go through the same process in reverse. Presumably all his effort was in "installing" the key onto the keychain, and he probably hasn't actually set it up for any of his accounts, leaving them just as insecure as they were.

The title text has a similar double meaning. Cueball would of course use it to the "proof" of his efforts installing the key--though difficult, metal keyrings can be forced apart physically by human hands, at least if the human in question has fingernails sturdy enough to slip between the rings, at which point the insertion of a finger would be enough to keep it apart until the key is inserted. However, keeping the rings apart can be strenuous on the fingers, and can result in bruising, which Cueball is all too familiar with. {{w|Proof of work}} alludes to the cryptographic concept, which ties (sideways, as proof of work is a security term for a concept intended to deter denial of service and similar volume-based attacks but not directly related) back into the two-factor authentication.

Additionally a third meaning could be that while he spend a lot of time setting up 2FA he totally overlooked the possibility of him losing his whole keychain thus locking him out of all the services that requires 2FA if he didn't set up yet another layer of backup.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Ponytail stand facing each other.]
:Cueball: I got one of those two-factor security keys you've been bugging me about.
:Ponytail: Great!

:[Cueball and Ponytail continue facing each other.]
:Cueball: It took a lot of work, fiddling with configurations, annoying setbacks, and general pain,

:[Closeup on Cueball holding a keychain.]
:Cueball: ... but I '''finally''' got it onto the metal ring of my keychain.
:Ponytail [off-panel]: At least now it's secure.
:Cueball: Yeah, this thing is '''not''' coming off.

==Trivia==

An authenticaion 'factor' is a distinct method of proving your legitimate use of a service or product. They can be broadly be grouped into three main groups.
* '''What you know''' - Some knowledge that you have to remember. Susceptible to being learnt by someone else, or forgotten by yourself.
** Passwords (or PINs) are the usual incarnation of this, usually static (although some people may change them periodically, or be required to), overwhelmingly user-chosen.
** Challenge Questions such as the answer to "What was the name of your first pet?" are given by the user for later supplemental authentication (see below). Such questions and similar Knowledge Based Authentication (for example, the place you live, your social security number, last digits of your banking card, or your yearly income) are considered insecure, because much of such information is either easily guessable, can be scrapped from social networks, or is available on the dark web because of security breaches.
*** It is speculated that the "What is your Porn Name?" game has been used to gain precisely the information required to defeat this security method.
** Other personal knowledge has been occasionally tried for such uses, such as a grid of sixteen distinct faces (randomly placed) that you ''know'' to select (say) your Mother, Cousin Albert, Grandad and your niece Lucy. Others may recognise these (and other red-herrings) but not know the sequence, or be able to easily duplicate it from just observing where on the touchscreen you made contact (as you might with numberpad-entry) in some unguarded situation.
* '''What you have''' - Some physical item that is linked to your authorisation. The possession of the key must be guarded against both theft and loss to continue to be useful.
** A popular item at one time for financial logins is a {{w|Security token|numeric key fob}}. Displaying a {{w|rolling code}} of numbers that change pseudorandomly, synchronously with the expectations of the authentication routine at the server. Any attempt by an eavesdropper to {{w|replay attack|'replay'}} a previous code will no longer be valid.
** A printed set of {{w|one-time password}}s has a similar intention, gaining technical simplicity but also additional problems/susceptibilities.
** Hybrid solutions such as {{w|Google Authenticator}} and a possibly similar one from {{w|Okta (company)|Okta}}.
** Prior to uniquitous use of the internet (or other dial-in networks), software companies might protect their products with a {{w|software protection dongle}} to replace or augment the more easily-sharable licence keys(/passwords) and enforce the use of no more copies than had been paid for. - With the advent of the connectivity needed, a "phone home" technique has largely replaced the necessity of this, a central server vetting the use (and/or transfer) of sofware between machines. But {{w|Universal 2nd Factor|related technology}} is a modern implementation that is ''probably'' what Cueball's keyringing efforts involve.
** A device similar to the fob/dongle could also use short-range wireless communications (Bluetooth, RFID, Near-Field Communication or some proprietry method) to indicate the proximity (and identity) of the token to a receptive system. Some high-end car models offer such a system in place of an ignition key for... some absolutely valid reason.{{citation needed}}
** With "Remember my password" options in browsers and {{w|Password Managers}}, ostensibly to prevent over-the-shoulder attacks and/or the prevalence of weak passwords, increasingly the 'known' password has become more of a possession tied to a particular device (and any other device that has been linked by the synchronisation of such internal information).
** A code sent to a further service, such as emails to a (different) email account or SMS message to a phone. Retaining the possession of (and access to) these systems is often left more up to the end-user than with vendor-controlled systems, which can be an issue when used as a fall-back reauthentication method (see below).
** A non-computing example is the {{w|Token (railway signalling)|Railway Token}}, sometimes combined with quite ingenius {{w|Annett's key|key-and-lock}} systems, to enforce safe line-use.
* '''What you are''' - Some {{w|biometrics|quality}} that relates to your physical person. It may very hard (but not {{w|amputation|impossible}}) to lose this, or to have someone else use it. Physical coercion may be the greatest threat to this attempt to maintain security, much as it could be used for the others as well. Until recently, the hardware needed made this more of a cinematic 'solution' (to be foiled by resourceful antagonists/progatonists) or in a limited number of high-security situations, but it has also started to make inroads into consumer use. They are rarely used directly for online verification (though they can be), but more often are used to authorise the device to communicate it's intrinsically possessed verification key (or just to generally use that device).
** Fingerprint scanners are an old standard, and may even now be able to protect against the [https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/gummy-bear-hack Gummy Bear trick]].
** Eye-scanning (using iris, retina or scleral vein patterns) is a favourite movie version, and perhaps possible with sufficiently high-resolution macro-lensed cameras.
** Facial recognition is certainly possible, and touted, with current technology. With greater or lesser proof against someone wearing a printed 'mask' of the authorised user's face, according to implementation.
** Voiceprint analysis is sometimes used to verify repeat callers to helplines/service-centres, or at least to weed out the more obvious intended-impersonators.
** Gait analysis, that analyses the walking action of a person. Perhaps not likely to be so portable a solution.
** A signature could be considered a (weak) biometric. It is possible to forge a known signature, while a person may be inconstant in each attempt at their own. When done in person it may be more of an esoteric test as to the confidence and fluidity in making the scrawled claim as to your identity - which can also be faked!
** Similarly, a photo-ID could be taken as a very basic biometric verification. - Though whether it is easier to impersonate a photo (perhaps in a different way from the Facial Recognition exploit) or to forge physical ID to bear (something closer to) your own likeness.

One-Factor Authentication now may trying to avoid the shortcomings of the Password system (including the intervention of a 'remembered' password) by developing {{w|Passwordless Authentication}} techniques based upon "have/are" factors only.

Two-Factor Authentication was usually the addition of a physical/biometric authentication method to augment ''each'' use of a known password/PIN (e.g. the 'rolling token' number).

Conversely, the physical authentication of a bank-card has required backing up by its remembered PIN when used in cash-machines/ATMs. (In shops, checking against the signature ''written on the same card'' was for a long time the verification of valid ownership, this recently progressed to Chip-And-Pin, but then in many cases has been superceded by Contactless (NFC) versions, making it a Single-Factor solution in sufficiently low-value transactions.)

Many people may be more familiar with an occasional Second-Factor ''Re''Authentication, when (for one reason or another) they are no longer able to provide a valid password for some login or other, and activate the "Forgot my password" request which sends a link to their backup email account. Where one is set up, is still active and and you have not also lost the ability to access that. (This is not the situation that Cueball is in, or may be in.) This has largely replaced the infamous "Challenge Question" (though may still be combined with it) probably to defeat replay-attacks or the more clever phishing attacks.

Three-Factor Authentication should really be a "know" ''and'' "have" ''and'' "are" combination. Imagine the cinematic scene of the 'President' granting authority for a nuclear attack by inserting a physical key into the required device, typing in their code and then presenting their eye to a retinal scanner.

Anything that is (seriously) quoted as Four-Factor, or above, is going to either duplicate the number of required verifications of a similar scope (towards diminishing returns) or is describing a setup of a number of ''optional'' methods from which a lesser number would be considered sufficiently valid to provide. e.g. registering all ten finger/thumb-prints in case of some random future digital injury.

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

2522: Two-Factor Security Key

2021-10-02T08:41:45Z

JakubNarebski: /* Explanation */ Add information about U2F keys.

Talk:2494: Flawed Data

2021-07-28T13:34:33Z

JakubNarebski: GAN

For the [[1258: First|first]] time in a very long time I was the [[269: TCMP|first]] to make an attempt at the main explanation. I guess this comic came out very late then? Or just late up on explain xkcd? Seems like the Monday comic first came up on Tuesday in many countries including those in Europe. But guess it was still Monday in the US, at least in the western parts? I hope this is not as bad an attempt as Cueball's research strategies in the last panel :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:05, 27 July 2021 (UTC)
: Isn't it related to a recently published article[https://www.laboratoryequipment.com/577819-AI-Models-to-Analyze-Cancer-Images-Take-Shortcuts-that-Introduce-Bias/ [1]][https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-24698-1 [2]] about bias introduced into AI by humanly-biased data?
::Reports of bias in AI have been in the news for several years. Most notably, facial-recognition systems that are bad at distinguishing faces of black and brown people. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 13:58, 27 July 2021 (UTC)
:::"On two occasions I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." - Charles Babbage ; note that century and half passed since that quote and people STILL somehow expect computer will be able to reach correct results based on wrong data. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 17:23, 27 July 2021 (UTC)

This explanation has some good ideas for what these things mean, but it goes into them in excessive detail, which doesn't leave a lot of room for other ideas to be included side-by-side. I think that might be common. I was just thinking that there are a lot of ways extra math is used to produce worse conclusions: as soon as you have to work more to find what is good, occam's razor says you are less likely to be relevant. Similarly there are a lot of ways that AI is used to work with data, but its power greatly surpasses its ability to reflect the underlying meaning of things. For example, the existing data can be extended without being scrapped, and look completely real in every known respect, but that doesn't mean that any new information is included in what is generated, since the only data to work with is what was already there. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.98|108.162.219.98]] 16:19, 27 July 2021 (UTC)

There are various techniques in Machine Learning to augment the training data, which can include generating fake data that looks like the real data; one such technique is using {{w|Generative adversarial network}} (GAN).

Talk:2394: Contiguous 41 States

2020-12-05T09:56:34Z

JakubNarebski: contiguous meaning

Missing contiguous states: Delaware, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.42.92|172.69.42.92]] 23:57, 4 December 2020 (UTC)
:I knew something was off, but I couldn't pinpoint anything until reading the explanation. That's so weird. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.66|172.69.22.66]] 07:54, 5 December 2020 (UTC)

'''Contiguous''' has more specific meaning that "share borders" - it means that you can travel (on land in the case of map) from any point to any point, and there would be no breaks and spaces in the territory. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 09:56, 5 December 2020 (UTC)

1820: Security Advice

2020-08-23T16:29:31Z

JakubNarebski: padlock does not mean that site is secure to enter

{{comic
| number = 1820
| date = April 5, 2017
| title = Security Advice
| image = security_advice.png
| titletext = Never give your password or bank account number to anyone who doesn't have a blue check mark next to their name.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic depicts a conversation between [[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]], discussing the fact that giving people security advice in the past has failed to improve their internet security, and in some cases even made things worse. One such example is telling people to create complicated passwords containing numbers and symbols, which not only made the passwords harder to remember (leading people to create huge security risks by [https://arstechnica.com/security/2015/04/hacked-french-network-exposed-its-own-passwords-during-tv-interview/ leaving post-it notes with their passwords on their computer monitor]), but did not actually make those passwords harder to crack (see [[936: Password Strength]]).

As a result, Cueball suggests using {{w|reverse psychology}} and give out bad advice instead, in hopes of achieving a positive effect. The last panel contains a list with 13 security tips, which are parodies of actual security tips. The title text is just one more tip. See [[#Security tips|table]] below for explanations for all 14 tips.

This comic is yet another [[:Category:Tips|tips comic]].

===Security tips===
{| class="wikitable"
!Security Tip
!Explanation
|- id="tip0"
|Print out this list and keep it in your bank safe deposit box (header)
|This is a standard recommendation for documents that must be kept secure because they are irreplaceable and/or contain sensitive information. However this list itself is easily replaceable and the contents will be well-known, so storing it in a safe place is totally unnecessary. Putting it in a {{w|safe deposit box}} would even be counterproductive since the list can only serve its purpose as a ready reminder if it's easily accessible to everyone. So when people fail to follow this tip, they may end of keeping it in a place where they have easy access to the tips so they may also fail to follow all the others.
|- id="tip1"
|Don't click links to websites
|The usual tip is "Don't click on ''suspicious'' website links" or "Don't click any links in suspicious emails". The comic's variation instead tells users not to click on any links to any websites, which essentially stops them from using the World Wide Web altogether. So this tip is not really helping, as the opposite of this would be to click on all links.
|- id="tip2"
|Use prime numbers in your password
|It is usually recommended that one uses numbers in one's password, to increase its entropy, making it harder to find with a {{w|Brute-force attack|brute force}} attack. In contrast the comic suggests using {{w|prime numbers}} in one's password. Large prime numbers are an essential part of modern cryptography and security systems, when used in algorithms that are computed by machines. They don't have any effect when used by humans in passwords, except for maybe making it harder to remember. In addition, if people were to regularly use prime numbers in their passwords, it would actually make passwords ''easier'' to guess, as it would substantially reduce the number of possible passwords people may choose from.
|- id="tip3"
|Change your password manager monthly
|It is often recommended to change passwords on a regular basis and to use a {{w|password manager}}. Password managers are programs which can help users create, store, and change their passwords easily and securely. Changing password managers monthly would involve copying all stored passwords from one manager to another, which would be quite impractical and has no security benefit.
|- id="tip4"
|Hold your breath while crossing the border
|At some border crossings, government agents may search computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices. The usual advice for such situations ranges from asserting your rights to resetting all devices and deleting all data prior to crossing a border. Holding one's breath can potentially prevent inhaling germs or poisons in some situations, though useless in the context of computer security. These two topics mixed in the same advice won't achieve anything, but if you hold your breath for too long you could pass out when crossing, or look stressed/suspicious and invite even more scrutiny. This could also be a reference to the superstition of holding one's breath when passing a graveyard, or similarly to the movie ''{{w|Spirited Away}}'', where the main character is instructed to hold her breath while crossing the bridge that acts as the border between the human and spirit world. In any case, holding one's breath while browsing the Internet would have no useful effect, supernatural or otherwise.
|- id="tip5"
|Install a secure font
|A real tip might be "Install a secure browser" especially when many people used {{w|Internet Explorer 6}}. Secure fonts do exist and are designed to make checks difficult to alter, but using one on a computer would not help one's internet security. May also refer to Google Chrome [https://www.proofpoint.com/us/threat-insight/post/EITest-Nabbing-Chrome-Users-Chrome-Font-Social-Engineering-Scheme "Install missing font"] malware.
|- id="tip6"
|Use a 2-factor smoke detector
|{{w|Multi-factor authentication|Two factor authentication}} describes the practice of using two different identification factors (such as a password and a code from a secure token) to authenticate the user. A two factor smoke detector presumably uses two or more factors to identify ''smoke'' (such as {{w|Smoke_detector#Ionization|ionization}} and {{w|Smoke_detector#Photoelectric|photoelectric}}). Such devices [https://alarmspecs.com actually exist], but, while improving the user's general safety, they do nothing to improve their internet security.


A month before this comic the newest [[:Category:xkcd Phones|xkcd Phone]], [[1809: xkcd Phone 5]], was released with a 28-factor authentication.
|- id="tip7"
|Change your maiden name regularly
|Your maiden name is the family name with which you were born. Literally changing your maiden name is impossible by the definition of "maiden name". A common tip is to change your passwords regularly. Some password recovery procedures ask for a security question, like "what is your mother's {{w|Maiden and married names|maiden name}}"? Maiden names and other trivia typically asked by security questions are not secret, so they are inherently insecure.

A real tip for dealing with security questions is to enter false data.
|- id="tip8"
|Put strange USB drives in a bag of rice overnight
|The usual security tip is "Don't plug strange {{w|USB flash drive|USB drives}} into your computer," because sometimes attackers leave USB devices with malicious programs lying around, hoping that people will plug them into target computers out of curiosity. This tip states that you should "put USB drives in a bag of rice overnight" which is a common technique for drying out water-damaged devices, due to rice's absorbent qualities. This would not clean the drive of viruses, and unless the drive was wet (perhaps because you found it outside due to it being called "strange") it would not do anything. In [[1598: Salvage]], another attempt is made to salvage something unconventional with rice, and here it is shown that Randall considers the rice drying of a wet mobile is a myth, so this is yet another jab at the idea.
|- id="tip9"
|Use special characters like & and %
|You can use special characters to increase the entropy/strength of your password, though as described in [[936: Password Strength]], that often leads to passwords that are hard to remember but not particularly strong. The password context is missing here, and in everyday situations the characters & and % are not special. These two characters are often disallowed in passwords because of their relevance to {{w|SQL}} (a common database query language). If these characters were used in a password, a badly written security system using SQL could have severe bugs (and security vulnerabilities) similar to the security flaw in [[327: Exploits of a Mom]].
|- id="tip10"
|Only read content published through Tor.com
|{{w|tor (anonymity network)|Tor}} is a software solution to provide anonymity on the web for its users. The website [https://tor.com Tor.com] is the website of fantasy and sci-fi book publisher {{w|Tor Books}}, which has no relation to the Tor-network.
|- id="tip11"
|Use a burner's phone
|A play on using a {{w|Prepay mobile phone|burner phone}} (a cheap/disposable cell phone like those purchased at 7-11, often used for drug deals or other activity one might not want traced), and using the cell phone of a burner, i.e. a person who habitually uses marijuana (or, less likely, a person who goes to the {{w|Burning Man|Burning Man festival}}).
|- id="tip12"
|Get an SSL certificate and store it in a safe place
|{{w|Transport Layer Security|SSL/TLS}} is a protocol for securing connections on the internet. To check if someone is who they claim to be, you can check the individual's {{w|Public key certificate|certificate}}. Such a certificate has to be public; storing it in a safe place makes the certificate useless. You have to store the private key that matches the certificate in a safe place, else someone could steal the identity.
|- id="tip13"
|If a border guard asks to examine your laptop, you have a legal right to challenge them to a chess game for your soul.
|This tip is a reference to the common trope {{tvtropes|ChessWithDeath|Chess with Death}}, in which a mortal challenges a god to a game or challenge, often for their life. This version of the trope traces back to {{w|Ingmar Bergman|Ingmar Bergman's}} film {{w|The Seventh Seal}}, in which the protagonist {{w|The Seventh Seal#Synopsis|challenges Death}} to a game of chess. But instead of avoiding death, this tip suggests you have the right to do the same to get out of handing your devices over to a border guard. (This trope is also featured in [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/393 393: Ultimate Game]).
|- id="tip14"
|'''Title Text''': Never give your password or bank account number to anyone who doesn't have a blue check mark next to their name.
|The usual security tip here is ''"only trust Twitter accounts claiming to be legitimate if they have a blue check mark next to their name"'', which means that the account is verified as legitimate. This tip suggests only giving your ''password'' to verified accounts, although you shouldn't give your password to ''any'' account. Twitter Verification would be revisited in [[1914: Twitter Verification]].

It also refers to problems especially visible in the US banking system, where there is very little security for direct account drafts, and because of that it is advised there to keep the account number as secret as possible. In contrast, in Europe giving your account number to someone is one of the most common ways to get paid.

A related tip might be "Never give your password or bank details to a website that doesn't have a padlock icon next to the URL". In some browsers, if you access a secure website, there will be a padlock icon in the browser indicating you've connected to a secure website using the secure https protocol. It doesn't provide that it is not malicious site, and that is secure to enter. So this tip treats the verified account icon the same way you might treat a secure website icon.
|}

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is listening to Ponytail who holds her hands out in front of her.]
:Ponytail: We've been trying for decades to give people good security advice.
:Ponytail: But in retrospect, lots of the tips actually made things worse.

:[Cueball takes his hand to his chin as Ponytail takes her arms down.]
:Cueball: Maybe we should try to give ''bad'' advice?
:Ponytail: I guess it's worth a shot.

:[Below these two panel is one large and long panel with a long list with 13 tips. The underlined heading and the bracket below it are centered above the bullet list below.]
:<big>Security tips</big>
:(Print out this list and keep it in your bank safe deposit box.)
* Don't click links to websites
* Use prime numbers in your password
* Change your password manager monthly
* Hold your breath while crossing the border
* Install a secure font
* Use a 2-factor smoke detector
* Change your maiden name regularly
* Put strange USB drives in a bag of rice overnight
* Use special characters like & and %
* Only read content published through tor.com
* Use a burner's phone
* Get an SSL certificate and store it in a safe place
* If a border guard asks to examine your laptop, you have a legal right to challenge them to a chess game for your soul.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Chess]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Tips]]

2349: Rabbit Introduction

2020-08-21T16:04:39Z

JakubNarebski: fix formatting of 'incomplete' infobox

{{comic
| number = 2349
| date = August 21, 2020
| title = Rabbit Introduction
| image = rabbit_introduction.png
| titletext = Washington state is seeing great success with reintroducing the Columbia River Basin subpopulation. We cannot allow them to further widen the interstate bun gap.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a RABBIT RESEARCH GRANT COMMITTEE. More needed on the title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Cueball]] is giving a presentation on the {{w|pygmy rabbit}} to a group of panelists, requesting a grant to introduce the species to the Eastern United States. The head of the panel, [[Blondie]], asks about typical reasons for introducing a species. If they were native to an area, but had been locally depopulated, re-introduction can help to restore the local ecosystem, but Cueball admits this is not the case. Another reason animal populations may be introduced is to control a local pest (though [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbits_in_Australia#Effects_on_Australia's_ecology the effects of this can be difficult to predict]). Cueball seems to have no idea what the impact on the local ecosystem would be. In fact, he makes quite clear that his reasoning is simply that the creatures are tiny and cute, and he wants to spread them. He also appears to be entirely perplexed that the panel doesn't feel the same way.

Blondie, very reasonably, immediately moves to deny the request. Not only would such a grant expend funds for no legitimate scientific or ecological purpose, but it would risk serious and unstudied impacts on the local ecosystem. However, at this point, the other three panelists [[White Hat]], [[Megan]] and [[Hairy]] have been swayed by Cueball's unconventional argument. All three of them are visibly entranced by the cuteness of the rabbits, and appear willing to fund the request, purely based on affection for the animals.

The title text mentions the effort to reintroduce the {{w|Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit}} back into their native area of {{w|Columbia River drainage basin}}. [https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/columbia-basin-pygmy-rabbits-washington After Nearly Going Extinct, Washington’s Pygmy Rabbits Need Room to Grow]. It refers to an "Interstate Bun Gap", suggesting a competition between states over which has the most and/or cutest rabbits.

This comic continues an XCKD tradition of dealing with the subjective cuteness of rabbits as a scientific discipline ([[1682: Bun]]). Munroe seems fascinated with the cuteness of lagomorphs, it being [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Buns a recurring subject in the strip].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing in front of a screen and pointing at it with a stick. On the screen is a rabbit shown next to a smartphone, some keys on a key-chain, and two coins The phone is lager than the rabbit.]
:Cueball: The US's smallest rabbit species is the Pygmy Rabbit from Great Basin area.
:Cueball: We're seeking a grant to introduce them into the east.

:[Blondie, White Hat, Megan and Hairy sits behind a long table. Blondie leans both her arms on the table. Hairy has one arm on the table. The other two have their arms down. Cueball replies to Blondie's question from off-panel.]
:Blondie: Are they native here?
:Cueball (off-panel): No.
:Blondie: Will they control some invasive pest?
:Cueball (off-panel): Dunno!
:Blondie: Then...Why would you do this?

:[In a frame-less panel Cueball is seen in front of the screen, which is seen from the side. He points to something on the screen with the pointer, while looking over his shoulder.]
:Cueball: I don't understand.
:Cueball: Did you '''''see''''' how small they are?
:Cueball: They're so round!
:Cueball: Those ''tiny'' ears.

:[Back to the four people behind the desk. Blondie and White Hat in the same positions but Megan has both her hands up into her hair, and Hairy has one arm on the table, and the other is held up high with a finger pointing up.]
:Blondie: I see. I'm afraid we'll by denying your grant.
:White Hat: Hang on. He '''''is''''' right about their ears...
:Megan: The little feet!
:Hairy: I vote we fund them!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Buns]]

2229: Rey and Kylo

2019-11-18T13:40:15Z

JakubNarebski: /* Explanation */ tone down "pandering to the progressives" interpretation section

{{comic
| number = 2229
| date = November 15, 2019
| title = Rey and Kylo
| image = rey_and_kylo.png
| titletext = We're like 10+ movies in and the focus has been almost entirely on the WARS half.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by R2D2. Should probably include some discussion of the cosmology of Star Wars -- especially if we can observe differences between SW physics and ours. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{w|Rey (Star Wars)|Rey}} and {{w|Kylo Ren}}, from the {{w|Star Wars sequel trilogy|latest trilogy}} of the ''{{w|Star Wars}}'' series, are engaging in a {{w|lightsaber}} duel. Rey tells Kylo that they should not fight, but work together on {{w|cosmology}}, the study of the origins of the universe. Specifically she wants to study the expansion rate of the universe; scientists believe that the universe is expanding, and that the expansion rate is accelerating, but aren't sure of the exact rate, what the rate was in the past, or if it varies depending on location. Since the ''Star Wars'' movies take place "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away", if Rey and Kylo presented their findings in the movie, it would theoretically give scientists more data points. Although it is unlikely that modern scientists would use cosmological data from a movie generally considered fictional{{Citation needed}}, especially as said time long ago and distance far, far away are never quantified, some movies and TV shows have spurred scientific innovations due to their subject matter (see below).

The caption, besides explaining the obvious nerd cred this turn of events would earn if it actually occurred in the movies, might be also a play on accusations against the Disney-owned franchise that it has begun pandering to progressives, with the complainers citing its racially diverse cast and powerful (in their eyes overpowered, and Mary Sue-ish) female protagonist.

The title text is [[Randall]]'s complaint that the ''Star Wars'' movies have been more focused on the Wars aspect than the Star aspect. It seems he would want a film about stars. It's worth noting that, with a half-width space, "Star " and " Wars" are the same number of letters long, and are therefore perfect halves of the title.

[[:Category:Star Wars|Star Wars]] is a recurring topic on xkcd.

=== The Cosmology of ''Star Wars'' ===

As far as we can tell, the stars of ''Star Wars'' (that is, the celestial bodies, not the actors) seem to be much the same as ours. The "galaxy far, far away" has had various depictions over the years, but all sources agree that it is a spiral galaxy approximately the same size as our Milky Way galaxy, albeit with a less prominent bar than the Milky Way has. We don't ever hear what name, if any, the Star Wars characters have for the galaxy, or why they call it a "galaxy" when the word comes from a Latin phrase, "Via Galactica" or "Milky Way" -- a question that Randall has brought up in [[890: Etymology]]. Light is known to have a speed, although we are not told what that speed is, or if it is constant for all observers in all reference frames, and ships can travel faster than that speed by "jumping" into hyperspace, crossing the galaxy in a matter of hours rather than tens of thousands of years.

In addition to the usual stellar evolution process, stars in ''Star Wars'' are subject to premature destruction or spontaneous creation by various superweapons, such as the Sun Crusher and Star Forge.

Many of the planets of ''Star Wars'' are dominated by one or two biomes, rather than the dozens into which our homeworld is divided. Some of these are reasonable enough (a planet could certainly be covered in desert or ice or lava depending on its water content and proximity to a star), but others require some novel climate patterns not exhibited on Earth (the same atmospheric pattern that gives rise to Earth's tropical rainforests also produces the Sahara Desert).

=== Science from the arts ===

* The depiction of the black hole Gargantua in the movie ''{{w|Interstellar (film)|Interstellar}}'' is unprecedented in that new software based on the equations of relativity was written specifically for the movie, which resulted in what scientists consider to be the most accurate visualization of a black hole ever made and spurred the publication of three scientific papers.
* The writing staff of the television show ''{{w|Futurama}}'' includes three members with Ph.D.s and seven with masters' degrees, and the episode ''{{W|The Prisoner of Benda}}'' features a mathematical theorem proved by one of those writers (Ken Keeler, PhD mathematician). In the episode, characters' minds are swapped, but the swapping mechanism only allows any given pair of minds to be swapped once (i.e. "no backsies"). Keeler proved that any such permutation of minds and bodies can be restored by bringing in two new members to the group, which resolves the plot and restores the status quo at the end of the episode.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Rey, on the left, and Kylo Ren, on the right, from the ''Star Wars'' series, are facing one another and wielding lightsabers:]

:Rey: Kylo, we shouldn't fight! Let's set aside our differences and work ''together'' to measure the local properties of space, just in case someone in the far future is watching from another galaxy and wants our help to constrain the expansion rate!

:[Caption below the panel:]
:The new ''Star Wars'' totally panders to cosmologists.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category: Star Wars]]
[[Category: Astronomy]]

Talk:2229: Rey and Kylo

2019-11-16T17:36:07Z

JakubNarebski:

There should be discussion / analysis around the choice of "pandering" to cosmologists in this comic, as there has been a lot of outrage around the last few star wars movies that they are "pandering" to identities and diversity. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.112|172.68.174.112]] 22:34, 15 November 2019 (UTC)

Of course the Star Wars environs tend to be seen with the hue of conflict and not of peace. Our information derived from that long ago and that far away is going to be greatly red-shifted! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.199|162.158.154.199]] 00:36, 16 November 2019 (UTC)

Is ''The Force Awakens'' really the one that people accuse of pandering? If anything, I would think it's ''The Last Jedi.'' It not only had more progressive elements, it also heavy-handedly sold the "even you can be a Jedi" message to kids. --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.142.22|172.69.142.22]] 04:20, 16 November 2019 (UTC)
: Agreed, I have yet to see The Last Jedi (I tend to be very late, only catching movies when a TV channel airs them. I only just saw Rogue One), and I know I haven't seen the controversial one. The controversy I heard about centred around casting an Asian woman - who I think I've seen in some comedy videos so I expect to spot and recognize her - which casting lured all the racists out into the open (I still dunno why they thought she was a wrong choice, Star Wars has always had a huge variety of races both real and implied, I'm hoping that when I see the movie I'll find out). Then again, the Black Stormtrooper choice in Force Awakens seemed unquestionably pandering, they already established that all stormtroopers are clones of Jango Fett (and indirectly Boba Fett). Recruiting from a clearly non-sympathetic populace makes no sense, raising kidnapped babies (as I recall the explanation here) necessitates pure expense (housing, clothing, feeding, without any payback until they're old enough to fight) and training them themselves, and the problems with both is perfectly encapsulated in The Force Awakens, which is why they went with cloning an elite warrior in the first place, in the hopes of resulting in blindly loyal pre-trained soldiers. Feels like a blatant attempt to add a black character - which is extra stupid since as I recall the Fetts aren't even white anyway! LOL! (I have the exact same objection to making what's-her-face Brienne from Game Of Thrones the Silver Stormtrooper commander - despite that I loved her inclusion - but I haven't heard any complaints about her, probably because we never see her face in that movie) :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:18, 16 November 2019 (UTC)

:: For me the problem is not the pandering to progressives. The problem is that it made "The Last Jedi" a bad movie, and a very, very bad Star Wars movie (like very out-of-character behavior of Luke, etc.). --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 10:51, 16 November 2019 (UTC)
:: Niceguy: while Star Wars did always have many ''alien'' races, and had Lando as significant (not comic, not first to die, not the usual kind of stereotype) character, there basically ''was'' only Lando as a notable (human) ethnic minority.
:: For my part (white anglo-scottish male, with all the boons and baggage that implies) I have absolutely no problem with the increase in screen-diversity (including the implication that all the Clone Troopers were all basically ethnicly Pacific/New Zealandesque, though by the time of the Original Trilogy it is canon that the Clone Troopers are phased out/supplemented by a regular mix of conscripts/volunteers. Thus, in the OT context, "white guys" as far as we can guess within their armour, as diverse as the rest of the background cast of humans in every aspect but for being very much all male.
:: Then in Force Awakens we find that the Empire's continuity organisation is now definitely more equal-opportunities employer/conscripter/shanghaier (revealed by Finn, and you've got Captain Phasma too though she may not have been through the ranks) though it seems more through necessity rather than a more 'woke' HR policy (in-universe!).
:: But I can take it all as it comes. The imminent one may mess with my headcan(n)on, or fancanon in general, but that remains to be seen. I can probably take it seriously (FCVO...), though I can't take seriously the typical people who use the term Social Justice Warriors - and especially its initialisation - in all seriousness (I don't think Jakub or anyone else here did that, in the way I mean) to define either Them or Us in the kind of arguments that some of the grungier corners of the internet tend to host.
:: Anyway, that's my thoughts on the matter, with all due apologies. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.199|162.158.154.199]] 17:12, 16 November 2019 (UTC)

I have to say I'm disappointed that Randall didn't mention the obvious problems. "A long time ago" - how long? "A galaxy far, far away" - how far? Which galaxy? Without these figures, any intergalactic attempt to pin down the variability of universal constants is doomed to failure. And let's be honest, if we DID have these figures, Kylo and Ren's efforts would likely be superfluous, as we can estimate things like the fine-structure constant through observations of lightsaber physics, Big G from the strength of the Force, and the curvature of spacetime by analyzing hyperspace travel. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 08:46, 16 November 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2229: Rey and Kylo

2019-11-16T10:51:06Z

JakubNarebski:

2198: Throw

2019-09-03T14:35:31Z

JakubNarebski: /* Trivia */ Chris Hemsworth plays Thor in MCU movies

{{comic
| number = 2198
| date = September 3, 2019
| title = Throw
| image = throw.png
| titletext = The keys to successfully throwing a party are location, planning, and one of those aircraft carrier steam catapults.
}}
*To experience the interactivity of this game, visit the {{xkcd|2198|original comic}}.
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by Thor, God of Thunder. Table for all combinations should be made. Maybe with clear marking of those that cannot be thrown. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
The "comic" is an interactive comic made to celebrate the release of [[Randall|Randall's]] new book, ''[[How To]]''. The comic is based on a chapter in the book.

As the comic celebrates the book which was released on ''Tuesday'' September 3rd, 2019, the comic was thus also released on a [[:Category:Tuesday comics|Tuesday]], (probably?) replacing that week's normal Wednesday release, to coincide with the release day. This was exactly the same that happened when [[1608: Hoverboard]] came out on the Tuesday where [[Thing Explainer]] came out. Although the hugely complex comic Hoverboard cannot be directly compared to this one, they are both [[:Category:Dynamic comics|dynamic]] and [[:Category:Interactive comics|interactive]] with [[:Category:Comics with animation|animations]] a part of them!

In this comic the viewer can select a person/{{w|Pikachu}}/God/Squirel, and an object (or a person, Pikachu or a Squirrel) and get an animation of how the selected throw would work out, and an estimated distance of the throw (both in SI units and in other very arbitrary units) if it was possible, i.e. the thrower must be larger than the thrown object (or a God). The formula/guideline is apparently based on a chapter from the book.

One special case to the calculations is Thor's hammer, which is enchanted so that only those who are deemed "worthy" are able to lift it. As such, despite its mass being liftable by many of the characters, only Thor, God of Thunder (who is canonically worthy) is shown to actually be able to throw it.

There are 7 throwers and 15 things to throw, giving a total of 105 different combinations. But only Thor can throw all 15, and three of the objects only he can throw. (George Washington, Hammer and Car). And the smaller critters can only throw a few things. So the total number of throws is much less than 100. Still there will be an animation for all 105, but with no distance on the throw.

The title text refers to throwing a party and first makes the assumption of actually giving hints for throwing a party, and then switching to suggest a mechanism to literally throw a huge object, such as a house with a party going on inside.

==Transcript==
:[As this is an interactive comic not all possible text should be given in this transcript. Also it is not possible to see all the different throwers or objects in one image. This transcript here includes only the text that can be found when loading the page, without changing the thrower or object (the default), but also includes the text that can be found by scrolling in the two select "windows" as that would be similar to a long comic where you need to scroll. For further differences that occur by changing the objects refer to a table of all combinations.]

:[A heading with a subheading is above a line, beneath which are a sentence, that is generated by the selections in the two windows beneath this sentence:]
:<big>'''Throw Calculator'''</big>
:This calculator implements the approximate throwing distance estimation model from ''How To'' Chapter 10: ''How to throw things''.

:How far could George Washington throw a Microwave oven?

:[Beneath this sentence are two "windows" with a frame around them, one to the left and one the the right, each with a heading breaking the top frame. Each also has a scroll bad to the right, which allows to scroll down through 7 different possible selections to the left and 15 to the right. There are to selections on each line, leaving one alone at the bottom left of each list as there are uneven numbers in both lists. Here below each windows' content is given under their respective headings. Each possible selection is a drawing with a caption beneath it.]
:Select a thrower

:An NFL Quarterback
:George Washington
:Pikachu
:Carly Rae Jepsen
:Thor, God of Thunder
:Chris Hemsworth
:A squirrel

:Select and object to be thrown
:A microwave oven
:A basketball
:A blender
:A gold bar
:A wedding cake
:A ping-pong ball
:An acorn
:Thor's Hammer
:A javelin
:George Washington
:Pikachu
:A car
:A silver dollar (spinning)
:A silver dollar (tumbling)
:A squirrel

:[Below the two windows is the result of the animation that will happen when a selection has been made. An animation of the selected thrower throwing the selected object (or failing) will be shown, and the objects traveling distance will be measured out both in meters (SI units) and in some other unit in brackets below. If the distance is not too long compared to the size of the object and thrower, then both can be seen, and in case the object is soft it may break from the throw.]

:[In the pre-selected version George Washington throws a microwave oven, which ends up several meters from him lying on a corner broken, with the wire lying beneath it. The distance is given under the ruler along which the throw has occurred, with markings for approximately every meter. In this case there are seven steps even though the distance is above 7 meters:]
:7.76 meters
:(25.46 feet)

==Trivia==
The comic quite obviously refers to Thor, as the character from the Marvel comics and movies (and other media), who himself is a reference to the ancient Germanic god. In Marvel Cinematic Universe movies Thor is played by Chris Hemsworth.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with animation]] 
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]
[[Category:Interactive comics]]
[[Category:Science]] 
[[Category:American football]] 
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]] 
[[Category:Pokémon]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]] 
[[Category:Religion]] 
[[Category:Squirrels]]
[[Category:Food]] 
[[Category:Basketball]]
[[Category:Sport]]

Talk:2097: Thor Tools

2019-01-11T22:07:01Z

JakubNarebski: Mjolnir is a weapon-hammer

I think the comment about the axis direction is based on how you interpret the terms Best and Worst - either for Thor or those who encounter him. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 17:15, 11 January 2019 (UTC)
:I agree. That interpretation should be in the explanation instead of the present one.--[[User:Pere prlpz|Pere prlpz]] ([[User talk:Pere prlpz|talk]]) 19:58, 11 January 2019 (UTC)

Many nail-guns use cartridges filled with a combustible material (gunpowder or similar) rather than a supply of compressed air. A blank load of a .22 rimfire pistol cartridge is typical. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powder-actuated_tool [[Special:Contributions/50.202.80.200|50.202.80.200]] 18:35, 11 January 2019 (UTC)

Is there a possibility that the reversed axis suggests an (aero)plane as the worst weapon? Bad taste rules it out I suppose. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.179|108.162.212.179]] 18:46, 11 January 2019 (UTC) Nic

I think a lightning staple/nail gun would be pretty dope...[[User:Linker|Linker]] ([[User talk:Linker|talk]]) 18:52, 11 January 2019 (UTC)

I've been hit or otherwise injured by most of these, but I do not know of anyone who has been planed, that's how dangerous planes are, everyone knows to be careful. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 19:17, 11 January 2019 (UTC)
: I'm not sure if you're being humorous or if you have experience with powered board planers. Are they dangerous? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.178|162.158.78.178]] 20:37, 11 January 2019 (UTC)

It's a pity he didn't add "Screwdriver (sonic)" to the chart. [[User:JamesCurran|JamesCurran]] ([[User talk:JamesCurran|talk]]) 19:48, 11 January 2019 (UTC)

There are some nailguns that don't use compressed air tanks or combustible materials - they have air compressors in them, powered by drill batteries or wall outlets. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.167.120|162.158.167.120]] 20:12, 11 January 2019 (UTC)

Also, unless that's an electric staple gun, the transcript should say nail gun. Look at how it's being held - as if there's a trigger, not as if there's a big handle on the back. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.167.120|162.158.167.120]] 20:17, 11 January 2019 (UTC)
: It looks like a staplegun to me, which is the most common of the options. I figure the lever is pressed. But that's a good point, his hand is up towards the top, not down towards the bottom for leverage. (edited from previous comment when I realized I was wrong and wanted to talk nicer) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.178|162.158.78.178]] 20:37, 11 January 2019 (UTC)

Interpretations of items (feel free to change if desired): [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.178|162.158.78.178]] 20:37, 11 January 2019 (UTC)
* Adversary being forced into a powered board planer, shreds of flesh spewing out the other side. "OH MY GOD DON'T PLANE ME!"
* Thor throws his flying dremel towards the control board of a distant nuclear bomb on a timer, where it _CUTS THE RED WIRE THE TIMER READS 0:00_
* An evil corporation is marketing a new treatment for depression. Thor marches into a demonstration being broadcast worldwide. Brandishing Mjolnir, his digital calipers, he measures the subject's left eyeball. THE TREATMENT HAS GROWN IT BY TWO THOUSANDTHS OF AN INCH.

Actually Mjolnir was supposed to be in original myth a weapon, not a tool. Hammer used as weapon is different from hammer used as a tool; this is even more pronounced for axes: the fighting axe is quite different (less weight, much thinner and sharper blade) than e.g. woodcutter axe. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 22:07, 11 January 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2082: Mercator Projection

2018-12-08T11:17:18Z

JakubNarebski: Mercator map fact(s)

The choice of characters in this comic is...interesting. I never got the impression that White Hat was gullible. [[User:GreatWyrmGold|GreatWyrmGold]] ([[User talk:GreatWyrmGold|talk]]) 21:27, 7 December 2018 (UTC)

I can convince people that all of Randal's maps are real? [[User:Linker|Linker]] ([[User talk:Linker|talk]]) 00:53, 8 December 2018 (UTC)

But wait, how does driving north reach Alaska? I thought it was an island near Hawaii to the southwest. More seriously, should we mention that the Mercator does have useful properties such as preserving angles or is that too much for explaining the comic? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.186.108|162.158.186.108]] 06:12, 8 December 2018 (UTC)

People putting a joke in the incomplete tag but completely ignoring the “Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete.” part is really annoying [[User:DrMeepster|DrMeepster]] ([[User talk:DrMeepster|talk]]) 07:38, 8 December 2018 (UTC)

Perhaps it should elaborate on "ridiculous" i.e. Cueball claims that the Mercator projection changes the topology of land and water masses, not just their relative size and (oh it's a long time since I did maths, so I'll call it) squishiness. [[User:ColinHogben|ColinHogben]] ([[User talk:ColinHogben|talk]]) 10:19, 8 December 2018 (UTC)

Mercator map projection has the advantage that shortest line between two points on Earth (on globe) is straight line in this projection. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 11:17, 8 December 2018 (UTC)

2063: Carnot Cycle

2018-10-24T21:50:30Z

JakubNarebski: /* Explanation */ "adiabatic" as synonym of "isenthropic"

{{comic
| number = 2063
| date = October 24, 2018
| title = Carnot Cycle
| image = carnot_cycle.png
| titletext = The Carnot cycle is more properly known by its full title, the "Carnot-Tolkien-Wagner Ring Cycle."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Please edit the explanation below and only mention here why it isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic shows a {{w|Pressure–volume diagram}} which is used in this case for a {{w|Carnot cycle}}, a theoretical thermodynamic cycle and covers most thermodynamics classes which looks very much like the figure drawn. However in this case, [[Randall]] has replaced the labels of the 4 stages of the real Carnot cycle with new ones.

Pressure–volume diagrams were first developed to understand the efficiency of steam engines and plot the change of pressure ''P'' with respect to volume ''V'' for a specific process. The process forms a cycle and the amount of energy involved can be estimated by the area under the curve on the chart. The Carnot cycle describes the ideal efficiency that such an engine can achieve during the conversion of heat into work, or vice versa like in a refrigeration system. The real steps are called:
#'''Isothermal expansion'''
#'''Isentropic expansion'''
#'''Isothermal compression'''
#'''Isentropic compression'''
An isothermal process is a change of a system, in which the temperature remains constant but in this diagrams the volume increases (expansion) or decreases (compression). The term isentropic describes a lossless process where no matter or energy is transferred, here the increased volume only causes a further decrease in pressure; it is also called adiabatic process.

Each step in this comic is explained below:

'''1. Isometric expansion.''' When heated, the gas becomes larger due to increasing volume

The comic text uses a circular argument. Additionally, "isometric" (equal dimensions) could mean that the gas does ''not'' change in volume, in contrast to the change in volume here.

'''2. Isotonic expansion.''' The gas expands further due to dark energy while percent milkfat remains constant.

{{w|Isotonic}} is a descriptor commonly associated with sports drinks (and not thermodynamics), which contain similar concentrations of salt and sugar as in the human body. {{w|Dark energy}} is hypothesized to be a cause for the expansion of the universe, which obviously isn't relevant to thermodynamics. The density of milk[https://hypertextbook.com/facts/2002/AliciaNoelleJones.shtml] depends on milkfat and solids-non-fat, which includes lactose. Fortified milk has increased solids-non-fat but the same percentage of milkfat, resulting in increased calories and an increased density. So the fortification of milk results in increased calories, possibly referred to as dark energy, and a contraction, as less space is needed for 1 kg of milk. However, this explanation does not match the expansion suggested in the comic.

'''3. Isopropyl compression.''' While inflation is held constant, the gas contracts due to tightening interest rates.

{{w|Isopropyl alcohol}} is commonly used for cleaning. Inflation and contraction could refer to changes in gas volume, but the reference to {{w|interest rate}}s puts them in the context of {{w|macroeconomics}}. Raising ("tightening") interest rates tends to reduce {{w|inflation}} and/or "contract" the economy. In economics (and other sciences) to better understand model parameter relations, some parameter may be held constant in theory. This could refer to the {{w|Fisher equation}}. Holding one parameter constant is also done in the Carnot cycle (for a physical parameter): not only in theory but also in practice! (In free market economies the inflation cannot be directly held constant).

'''4. Decline and fall.''' The gas diminishes and goes into the West while remaining Galadriel, completing the cycle.

{{w|Galadriel}} is a character in ''{{w|The Lord of the Rings}}''. She is one of the leading {{w|Elf (Middle-earth)|elves}}, a race that in the time of the book is said to be dwindling (in number and importance) in {{w|Middle Earth}} and migrating westward to {{w|Valinor}}. Galadriel is one of the last elves to leave, after successfully resisting temptation to take the One Ring and become an all-powerful queen who dominates Middle-earth, instead saying "I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel." The title is a reference to {{w|Edward Gibbon}}'s 18th century masterpiece ''{{w|The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire}}''.

The title text refers to {{w|Richard Wagner}} and {{w|J.R.R Tolkien}}. Wagner's ''{{w|Der Ring des Nibelungen|Ring Cycle}}'' consists of four operas. Tolkien wrote ''{{w|The Lord of the Rings}}'', which some have [[wikipedia:J. R. R. Tolkien's influences#Wagnerian_influences|suggested]] was inspired by Wagner's Ring. Their works are known as {{w|literary cycle}}s.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A cartesian plot in the first quadrant with axes labeled "P" on the y-axis and "V" on the x-axis, with a rhombus-shaped set of four points with arrows between them.]
:[Caption above the graph:]
:The four stages of the '''Carnot Cycle'''

:[The first line starts at the top-left point and goes right and slightly downwards to the next point. The label is:]
:'''1. Isometric Expansion'''
:When heated, the gas becomes larger due to increasing volume

:[The next line starts at the last point and goes downwards and a little to the right.]
:'''2. Isotonic Expansion'''
:The gas expands further due to dark energy while percent milkfat remains constant

:[The next line starts at this last point and goes to the left and slightly upwards.]
:'''3. Isopropyl Compression'''
:While inflation is held constant, the gas contracts due to tightening interest rates

:[The last line goes upwards and slightly to the left, returning to the first point.]
:'''4. Decline and Fall'''
:The gas diminishes and goes into the west while remaining Galadriel, completing the cycle

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:LOTR]]

Talk:2038: Hazard Symbol

2018-08-28T01:55:21Z

JakubNarebski: /* Transcript */ Vote for previous version of

When on xkcd, the emoji only shows up as an empty square. On this site, it shows up as a sigma, caputal Y with umlauts, tilde, and decree symbol. What is it actually supposed to be? [[User:Smperron|Kestrel]] ([[User talk:Smperron|talk]]) 12:46, 27 August 2018 (UTC)
:It's https://emojipedia.org/face-with-open-mouth-and-cold-sweat/ this emoji. Shows up correctly for me on the actual site on android but not on the wiki [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.28|141.101.98.28]] 13:04, 27 August 2018 (UTC)

It shows up OK (Albeit small) on Mac OSX [[User:BSchildt|BSchildt]] ([[User talk:BSchildt|talk]]) 13:21, 27 August 2018 (UTC)

Does anyone know the source of the slippery symbol? The other symbols seem to be common to most standards, but the slippery symbol seems to have various designs. ☠☢☣⚡︎? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.57|162.158.62.57]] 13:52, 27 August 2018 (UTC)
:https://www.amazon.com/NMC-FS1-Double-Sided-CAUTION/dp/B009RVF1DY <-- This one on Amazon.com seems pretty close. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.245|172.68.58.245]] 14:13, 27 August 2018 (UTC)
:[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_7010 ISO 7010] - W011 Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.70|172.68.110.70]] 14:59, 27 August 2018 (UTC)
: It's meant to represent a "wet floor" or "slippery when wet" sign. There are many versions of it, but that is the most common use of the image (at least, to my knowledge) --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|'''JayRules''XKCD''' ]][[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|what's up?]] 15:21, 27 August 2018 (UTC)

I'm thinking a slimy electric eel with nuclear-powered cybernetic laser eyes...and a post-op staph infection. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.90.64|172.68.90.64]] 17:26, 27 August 2018 (UTC) SiliconWolf

He forgot flammable and inflammable. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.196|108.162.216.196]] 20:38, 27 August 2018 (UTC)

;Transcript
Please just describe the image. What it is or does mean belongs to the explanation. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:24, 27 August 2018 (UTC)
: I actully preferred previous version of transcript. It did include some of explanation, but it was also more clear in describing the images. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 01:55, 28 August 2018 (UTC)

2038: Hazard Symbol

2018-08-27T18:17:38Z

JakubNarebski: Unicode symbols for biohazrd, ionizing radiation and high-voltage

<noinclude>:''"2038", this comic's number, redirects here. For the comic named "2038", see [[607: 2038]].''</noinclude>

{{comic
| number = 2038
| date = August 27, 2018
| title = Hazard Symbol
| image = hazard_symbol.png
| titletext = The warning diamond on the Materials Safety Data Sheet for this stuff just has the "😰" emoji in all four fields.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a LASER EMITTING RADIOACTIVE SLIPPERY BIOHAZARD in about 10 minutes, ignoring writing rules. - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Hazard symbols are often required to indicate certain threats to human health. These symbols are typically black symbols on yellow backgrounds, a contrast typically associated with danger even in nature. However, these symbols also need to be easy to interpret. Therefore, they have simple, recognizable shapes that are internationally uniform and well-understood.

This comic inverts this latter expectation, by combining multiple hazard symbols into one, creating something that is unique, and very hard to understand. In practice, if such an object were to be labelled, the five hazard symbols would be separated, each in their own triangle.

The hazard symbols, as noted in the transcript, are {{w|biohazard symbol|biohazard}} ☣, {{w|radiation symbol|radiation}} ☢, slip and fall hazard symbol, laser hazard, and {{w|High_voltage#Safety|high voltage symbol}} ⚡︎.

The title text refers to another unsafe subversion of expectations, in this case, with against the [[wikipedia:NFPA 704|NFPA 704]] "fire diamond". These are the colourful diamond-shaped symbols often found on the back of tankers, but they are also necessary inclusions on materials safety datasheets. These symbols give numeric indication of the hazardous nature of the material, in three different respects (flammability, health, and reactivity), in addition to providing space for an extra warning on the bottom, typically in the form of one or more letters. Using an emoji instead of numbers and letters would defeat the purpose of the fire diamond, as it would only give a qualitative indication of the danger ("very dangerous"), and additionally, could be very easily mistaken for a 0 (meaning safe).

😰 is described by {{w|Emojipedia}} as "[https://emojipedia.org/face-with-open-mouth-and-cold-sweat/ Anxious Face With Sweat]".

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

The comic emphasizes a conglomerate of warning symbols (described below), drawn in black on top of a 'safety-yellow' background.
*The outer symbol is the outer portion of the international sign for bio hazard (not to be confused with the Jolly Rodger for poison).
** The section is much larger than the other symbols as it contains them all.
*At the center of the biohazard's contribution is the international symbol for radiation.
**The symbol and the remaining symbols are approximately the same size.
*Directly above (at 12:00) radiation is a common American symbol for slippery floors.
**It is a line representing the floor, and a person suspended in air and tilted at an angle as though falling backwards.
*At 4:00, is the symbol for high powered lasers
**This is tilted approximately 225 degrees and its tail shorted as a result of the conglomeration.
**This symbol is a trail of a laser, and emission of lines at some imagined point of contact.
*At 8:00 is the international symbol for high voltage
**This is tilted approximately 45 degrees, and drawn with significant irregularities.
**This symbol is an inverted Z like, lightning bolt with an arrow tip.

Under that from is a written caption:

"It's important to know the international warning symbol for radioactive high-voltage laser-emitting biohazards that coat the floor and make it slippery."

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Emoji]]

Talk:2030: Voting Software

2018-08-08T19:44:20Z

JakubNarebski: Add link to ArsTechnica article

I think this comic is referencing [https://twitter.com/GossiTheDog/status/1026603800365330432 this twitter thread] and the controversy behind it.
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.190.4|172.69.190.4]] 17:59, 8 August 2018 (UTC)
: The [https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/08/experts-criticize-west-virginias-plan-for-smartphone-voting/ Experts criticize West Virginia’s plan for smartphone voting] article on ArsTechnica has more information (as much as possible when the company in question does not provide any details (note that it is about overseas voting). --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 19:44, 8 August 2018 (UTC)

Is he saying it's weird that we're so sophisticated in other areas of computer science but so far behind in voting technology, or is he making fun of the idea that electronic voting is somehow inherently unsafe?--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.106|108.162.216.106]] 18:10, 8 August 2018 (UTC)
: No he is saying computer science is a mess and we should not trust it with voting(he is not making fun of the idea of it being unsafe, he is pressing on the point of it being unsafe[saying that all experts agree on that])18:18, 8 August 2018 (UTC)

: I think he's commenting on how in most fields, the experts are very sure that they do their job well, and all the angles have been tried and tested, but in computer science the experts are more certain than anyone that there is ''absolutely no way'' for a person to actually build a complex software system with no flaws or vulnerabilities, even if they controlled every aspect of the system. in practice of course they control very little of the system and understand even less of it. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.88|172.68.34.88]] 18:22, 8 August 2018 (UTC)

: He's saying that software development is a terribly buggy process, most likely because the majority of software out there can have bugs without very dire real-world consequences (unlike aircraft or elevators).

::Not to mention the fact that there are incredibly smart people with great interest in undoing the work that software developers do, whereas that isn't at all the case with airplanes or elevators. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.214|108.162.219.214]] 18:29, 8 August 2018 (UTC)

:: Plus there's the general issue that the public as a whole takes the view that "Computers are majykal" (misspelling deliberate) and therefore somehow automatically safe & infallible, despite experts trying very hard to disillusion people about...pretty much all of that. Compare that to the common assumptions about aircraft and elevators--people need the safety verified, instead of assuming it like they do with computers. [[User:Werhdnt|Werhdnt]] ([[User talk:Werhdnt|talk]]) 19:08, 8 August 2018 (UTC)

:::There's a logical fallacy here. To compare airplaneS and elevatorS to a voting system program is comparing plural to singular. There would be significant opportunity to break/modify a single instance of those objects, although without the relative anonymity of electronic access involved. Once a computer system is infiltrated, the break-in can be replicated to all instances of that program relatively instantaneously, assuming communication pathways are available.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.130|162.158.75.130]] 19:12, 8 August 2018 (UTC)

A blockchain node doesn't technically need to be connected to the internet in order to function. It needs to have some method for receiving messages from other nodes on the blockchain network, and most blockchain nodes do indeed get these messages via the internet, but some bitcoin nodes (for example) get updates about new blocks and new transactions from the Blockstream satellite. An internet connection is therefore not intrinsically necessary for a blockchain to work, it's just the most convenient way to do it.

Do you think that this comic had anything to do with the debacle in Johnson County, KS last night? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.231|162.158.62.231]] 19:30, 8 August 2018 (UTC)

Talk:2029: Disaster Movie

2018-08-08T08:28:53Z

JakubNarebski: Similar comics

DATASETS is one word. {{unsigned ip| 172.68.59.24}}
:And ''data sets'' are two ;) (BTW: Please sign your posts) --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:52, 6 August 2018 (UTC)
:[https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/data_set oxford] says it's data set(s) --[[User:Gusser93|Gusser93]] ([[User talk:Gusser93|talk]]) 21:36, 6 August 2018 (UTC)
::Sorry for my sarcasm, both is possible as can be seen here at Wikipedia: {{w|Data set|A data set (or dataset) is a collection of data...}}. Oxford doesn't cover the US. And on the other hand {{w|Shapefile|shapefile}} is really a single valid term belonging to the geographical information system (GIS). --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:08, 6 August 2018 (UTC)
::On a modem, there is a pin signal called "DSR" for "Data Set Ready," which would suggest that IBM (I think the terminology started with them) thought it should be two words (sometime back in the 1960's). (Side note: The "data set" in this case was the modem itself; "set" being used in the context of "a bunch of components in a box", as in "TV set") (side note, part II: Grammerly is marking all the "data set"s here and suggesting they be written as "dataset") [[User:JamesCurran|JamesCurran]] ([[User talk:JamesCurran|talk]]) 18:30, 7 August 2018 (UTC)

Not by any means an expert, so I don't want to remove it without commenting, but I don't think the section on why "GIS survey team" is unrealistic holds up - I know the ShoreZone project (http://www.shorezone.org/) on the US and Canadian west coast uses almost exactly that kind of scientists-in-helicopters methodology. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.100|172.68.174.100]] 01:54, 7 August 2018 (UTC)
:That project sounds like it's collecting much more fine-grained data than simply coastal geometry - especially high resolution imagery, which does need to be taken from an aircraft. [[User:Stevage|Stevage]] ([[User talk:Stevage|talk]]) 02:54, 7 August 2018 (UTC)

Cowboy Bebop, episode 24: "Hard Luck Woman." This is exactly what Radical Edward's father did. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.100|162.158.63.100]] 02:27, 7 August 2018 (UTC)

Shapefiles are an actual format: .shp It is defined, released to the public and is the format that is used to share vector files in GIS [[Special:Contributions/172.68.189.49|172.68.189.49]] 21:42, 7 August 2018 (UTC)
:Yes, hence this sentence: "A Shapefile is a proprietary data format for spatial data which remains in widespread use, despite being created in the early 90s, and based on an even older database format." Is there something you feel is missing from that? [[User:Stevage|Stevage]] ([[User talk:Stevage|talk]]) 23:27, 7 August 2018 (UTC)

Similar take on Hollywood tropes can be found in [[734: Outbreak]] (medical / zombie thrillers), and [[633: Blockbuster Mining]] (adapting stories, action movies). --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 08:28, 8 August 2018 (UTC)

Talk:2028: Complex Numbers

2018-08-03T21:18:52Z

JakubNarebski: group informally and in mathematics

I assume this is strictly a coincidence, but in reference to the title-text, I'll just mention that Caucher Birkar [the mathematician whose Fields Medal was stolen minutes after he received it in Rio de Janeiro on Weds (1Aug2018)] received the award for work in algebraic geometry. [[User:Arcanechili|Arcanechili]] ([[User talk:Arcanechili|talk]]) 16:34, 3 August 2018 (UTC)

I've added a basic description of Abelian groups in the title text, and that's about as much as I know about such topics. I'm not sure what a "meta-Abelian group" is, is that an Abelian group of other groups? Also, could someone add basic descriptions of algebreic geometry and geometrical algebra? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.94.40|172.68.94.40]] 18:42, 3 August 2018 (UTC)

In the title text, since groups are a concept within mathematics, it seems odd to consider mathematics as a whole forming any sort of group within itself, which I suspect is the first part of the pun. Secondly, since groups involve the commutative property, I think the last part is a pun about the order of the words algebra and geometry, as if they're commutative themselves! [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 19:19, 3 August 2018 (UTC)
: I meant to say 'abelian' groups involve the commutative property, and the meta prefix is referring to the fact that it's about the names rather than the mathematical details - i.e. commutative in metadata only. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 19:24, 3 August 2018 (UTC)

: I guess the joke is that informally mathematicians form a ''group'' (a number of people classed together), what would strictly be a ''set'' in mathematics. While in mathematics, a group is an algebraic structure consisting of a set of elements equipped with an operation that combines any two elements to form a third element and that satisfies specific conditions. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 21:18, 3 August 2018 (UTC)

It's a false dilemma. Complex numbers ''are'' vectors (<math>\mathbb{C}</math> is a two-dimensional <math>\mathbb{R}</math>-vector space, and more generally every field is a vector space over any subfield), but that doesn't change anything about the fact that <math>i</math> is by definition a square root of -1. [[User:Zmatt|Zmatt]] ([[User talk:Zmatt|talk]]) 20:38, 3 August 2018 (UTC)

Fun factoid: not only is <math>\mathbb{C}</math> the unique proper field extension of finite degree over <math>\mathbb{R}</math> (since <math>\mathbb{C}</math> is algebraically closed), but the converse is true as well: <math>\mathbb{R}</math> is the only proper subfield of finite index in <math>\mathbb{C}</math>. They're like a weird married couple. [[User:Zmatt|Zmatt]] ([[User talk:Zmatt|talk]]) 20:53, 3 August 2018 (UTC)

Talk:2025: Peer Review

2018-07-27T20:49:45Z

JakubNarebski: ResearchGate, Sci-Hub, open access journals.

The title text seems to refer to [https://twitter.com/hwitteman/status/1015049411276300289 this tweet from Dr. Holly Witteman], which have since made popular by reddit (/r/YouShouldKnow and /r/lifehacks)
[[User:Colonelheero|Colonelheero]] ([[User talk:Colonelheero|talk]]) 15:19, 27 July 2018 (UTC)

I can't tell you how many times I was curious about something and had to abandon the quest because the only info I could find was in a journal article and I felt like knowing wasn't worth the cost. [[User:Smperron|Kestrel]] ([[User talk:Smperron|talk]]) 16:38, 27 July 2018 (UTC)

Then there are sites like ResearchGate, where it is encouraged to post supplementary material but you can often find full articles, and you can ask authors for full text (unfortunately often with poor results - sending email would be better, if it is still valid). There are also open-access journals. And there is Sci-Hub. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 20:49, 27 July 2018 (UTC)

1971: Personal Data

2018-03-23T09:05:02Z

JakubNarebski: /* Explanation */ fix wiki formatting

{{comic
| number = 1971
| date = March 23, 2018
| title = Personal Data
| image = personal_data.png
| titletext = Do I just leave money in my mailbox? How much? How much money do they need, anyway? I guess it probably depends how the economy is doing. If stocks go up, should I leave more money in my mailbox or less?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a typical xkcd Adult... so need more... Add explaantion of what Stock, what personal data is and what the economy and tax is as well. Maybe a table? PLEASE. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is another comic poking fun at adults who have trouble dealing with grown up issues.

The comic starts with [[Cueball]] wondering what "{{w|personal data}}" is, saying he doesn't understand what it is, and it is an abstract concept.

[[Ponytail]] then says she agrees with him, and then points out she doesn't understand what "{{w|Economy|the economy}}" is, and saying that it is related to "{{w|Stock|stocks}}", but she then admits that she also does not understand what they are.

[[White Hat]] finally says that he doesn't understand what "{{w|taxes}}" are and asks if he really have to pay them and to who. This indicates that he may not have paid his taxes in previous years, which would be very alarming. Not knowing how to pay taxes would be extremely bad, as not paying taxes is a serious crime.

Cueball and Ponytail are obviously surprised by this, Cueball telling him that he definitely needs to learn about that one. Ponytail continues by saying that he should do this ideally in the next few weeks. This (and the entire comic) is referring to the US tax season which is in April with this years {{w|Tax Day (United States)|Tax Day}} falling on April 17 in 2018 less than four weeks after the release of this comic. So if you do not have your tax payment under control, it is time to research how it works now. This is not the first time [[Randall]] has made a comic about people having trouble understanding the US tax system in relation to an approaching tax day, like in the title text of [[1805: Unpublished Discoveries]] from March the year before this comic. And also there is this one from August: [[1566: Board Game]].

The title text continues to poke fun at White Hat, with him thinking that paying taxes is directly related to stocks, and believing that he can pay taxes by putting money in his {{w|Letter_box#Joroleman_mailbox|mailbox}}, and waiting for someone to collect it. Also he wonders how much money those that collect the taxes need. Those that do would be the {{w|Federal government of the United States}}.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is talking to Ponytail and White Hat. Both of them are looking at Cueball.]
:Cueball: Everyone keeps talking about "personal data." To be honest, I don't really know what it ''is''.
:Cueball: I mean, I understand the idea and know it's a thing I should protect. But it's so... abstract.

:[Close-up on Ponytail.]
:Ponytail: Yeah.
:Ponytail: It's like "the economy." I don't really know what the economy is, if we're getting specific. I know stocks going up is good. For people who own stocks, at least.
:Ponytail: Whatever "stocks" are.

:[White Hat responds holding his arms slightly out. Both Ponytail and Cueball are looking at him.]
:White Hat: Yeah, or taxes. Everyone talks about taxes. What '''''are''''' they? Do '''''I''''' have to pay them? And to who?
:Cueball: OK, wait, you definitely need to learn about that one.
:Ponytail: Yeah, ideally sometime in the next few weeks.

{{comic discussion}}

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

Talk:1953: The History of Unicode

2018-02-11T10:21:41Z

JakubNarebski: about rewrite

Is it me or my laptop isn't rendering the Unicode in the title text well? My laptop uses UTF-8. Boeing-787lover 16:55, 9 February 2018 (UTC)
: Don't know about you, but for me the comic is currently just a massively-blown-up picture of the top left corner of the one displayed on this page. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.204|141.101.107.204]] 18:06, 9 February 2018 (UTC)

I'm experiencing the same top-left-corner zoom in chrome and firefox on a mac. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.88|162.158.63.88]] 18:11, 9 February 2018 (UTC)Sean P. O. MacCath-Moran

Same here. Safari 11.0.3 on Mac. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.211.82|172.68.211.82]] 18:13, 9 February 2018 (UTC)

It would appear that [https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/the_history_of_unicode.png the image itself] is a massively zoomed-in version. [[User:Vor0nwe|vor0nwe]] ([[User talk:Vor0nwe|talk]]) 18:17, 9 February 2018 (UTC)

:If anyone is wondering, this is how the comic looked like for a while: http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:history_of_unicode_zoom.png
:It is fixed now, and so are the years in the last panel. -[[User:Asdf|Asdf]] ([[User talk:Asdf|talk]]) 18:57, 9 February 2018 (UTC)

Strictly speaking Unicode [nowadays] is not an encoding; UTF-8 and UTF-16 are (possible encodings of Unicode) --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 20:28, 9 February 2018 (UTC)

Might just be me, but I think the last comment from Cueball might also refer to the senator thanking the Unicode committee for recognizing the impact Lobsters have on Maine? Unicode was just supposed to make it easier to talk across different devices, and not have a role in legitimizing certain industries? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.46|172.68.174.46]] 22:43, 9 February 2018 (UTC)

Another issue that Unicode solves, perhaps more important than having single common encoding for characters (which we don't have; UTF-8 is the most popular, but UTF-16/USC-2 is also used), is the ability to write '''multilingual''' texts. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 09:57, 10 February 2018 (UTC)

Recent revision lost the explanation of twitter post signature --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 10:21, 11 February 2018 (UTC)

Talk:1953: The History of Unicode

2018-02-10T09:57:39Z

JakubNarebski: Unicoe for multilingual

Talk:1953: The History of Unicode

2018-02-09T20:28:33Z

JakubNarebski: Unicode is not an encoding

1937: IATA Airport Abbreviations

2018-01-03T17:34:33Z

JakubNarebski: /* Explanation */ PEK -> Peking

{{comic
| number = 1937
| date = January 3, 2018
| title = IATA Airport Abbreviations
| image = iata_airport_abbreviations.png
| titletext = IATA stands for International AirporT Abbreviation.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Expansion needed. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic is making fun of the three-letter codes assigned to all airports. These codes are overseen by the IATA (International Air Transport Association). Some airport codes are very intuitive, taking letters from the city name (e.g., DEN for Denver). Other codes are somewhat intuitive, taking a letter or two from the nearby city name but adding an additional letter (e.g., LAX for Los Angeles). Other codes make seemingly no sense at all (e.g., ORD for Chicago's O'Hare International, due to it formerly being named Orchard Field). In many cases, the airport codes appear to have been chosen (or invented) because they are also common abbreviations and acronyms.

If we use the table provided, Randall's friend is flying into Edwards Air Force Base and then down to whatever. This is not a typical flight{{Citation needed}}. In actuality, the friend is flying into Newark tonight and Detroit tomorrow.

{| class="wikitable"
|'''IATA Code''' || '''Actual Assigned City/Airport''' || '''Description in the comic''' || '''Explanation'''
|-
| AMD || Ahmedabad || Amsterdam || Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands. Its airport (called Schiphol) has the IATA code AMS. "AMD" is a brand of computer processors.
|-
| ANC || Anchorage || Ankh-Morpork || Ankh-Morpork is a fictional city-state featured in {{w|Discworld}}.
|-
| ATL || Atlanta || Atalantë || Another name for J.R.R. Tolkien's fictional island of Númenor (which is in turn a reference to the sinking of Atlantis).
|-
| BAE || Barcelonnette || Beijing || Beijing is the capital of China. Its airport has the IATA code PEK (possibly from Peking, alternate former spelling of its name). "Bae" is a slang term meaning girlfriend, boyfriend, or significant other.
|-
| BLT || Blackwater || Baltimore || A "BLT" is a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich.
|-
| BUF || Buffalo || Sunnydale || Sunnydale is the fictional setting of '''''Buf'''fy the Vampire Slayer''.
|-
| CLT || Charlotte || [CENSORED] || The censored word may be "clitoris." Randall has used this word in the comic before, so it is not known why he censors it here.
|-
| DFW || Dallas/Fort Worth || Down For Whatever
|-
| DTF || not assigned || Dartford || "DTF" is an acronym used to indicate "Down To Fuck". Dartford is a town in Kent, UK, about 10 miles SE of London.
|-
| DTW || Detroit || Down To Whatever
|-
| DWI || not assigned || Delaware International || "DWI" is an acronym for "Driving While Intoxicated" or "Driving While Impaired."
|-
| EWR || Newark || Edwards Air Force Base || Edwards Air Force Base (which has the IATA code EDW) is a United States Air Force installation in southern California, about 22 miles (35 km) northeast of Lancaster and 15 miles (24 km) east of Rosamond.
|-
| FFS || not assigned || Flagstaff Station || "FFS" is an acronym for "For Fuck's Sake".
|-
| FHQ || not assigned || FHQWHGADS || The string "fhqwhgads" appeared as the sender name in a spam email sent to Strong Bad in the {{w|Homestar Runner}} cartoons; Strong Bad ended up writing a song dedicated to the "character".
|-
| FYI || not assigned || Fayetteville || "FYI" often stands for "For Your Information".
|-
| HGM || not assigned || Hogsmeade || Hogsmeade is a fictional location in the Harry Potter series.
|-
| HSV || Huntsville || Huntsville || This is one where Randall and the IATA agree. HSV is better known as the Hue-Saturation-Value color space or German soccer club Hamburger SV
|-
| IAD || Washington (Dulles) || Idaho (Boise) || IAD is the symbol for Dulles Int'l Airport (which was originally "DIA" but it was felt that could be confused when hand-written with "DCA", the sign for nearby {{w|Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport}}). The Idaho Falls airport is IDA, while Idaho (Boise) is BOI, so it's unclear why BOI was chosen instead of IDA.
|-
| IUD || Doha || Washington (Dulles) || An "IUD" is an "IntraUterine Device," or form of birth control.
|-
| JFC || not assigned || Jefferson City || "JFC" is an acronym for "Jesus Fucking Christ."
|-
| KUL || Kuala Lumpur || Kingdom of Loathing || Kingdom of Loathing is an online, browser-based RPG.
|-
| LAX || Los Angeles || Las Angalas || "Las Angalas" is a "Los Angeles" with every vowel replaced with an "a" character. It's sometimes used as a joking nickname for "Los Angeles."
|-
| LOL || Lovelock || Louisville || "LOL" often stands for "Laughing Out Loud".
|-
| MDW || Chicago, IL (Midway) || Midway Atoll || Midway Atoll was the site of one of the most significant World War II Pacific naval battles. Its actual IATA code is MDY.
|-
| MIA || Miami || Colombo, Sri Lanka || MIA is a rapper who is of Sri Lankan heritage. It also frequently stands for "Missing In Action".
|-
| OMW || not assigned || Omaha || Eppley Airfield in East Omaha, Nebraska, has an IATA code of OMA. "OMW" is an acronym for "On My Way."
|-
| ORD || Chicago, IL (O'Hare) || Orlando || O'Hare was once known as Orchard Place/Douglas Field, hence ORD
|-
| PDX || Portland || Pordlanx || Consider how LAX has a random "X" at the end. And "ORD" is an actual IATA code. Randall here messes with "Portland" in much the same way.
|-
| PHL || Philadelphia, PA || Pittsburgh || Pittsburgh International Airport has a IATA code of PIT.
|-
| SAN || San Diego || San Diego San Juan San Jose San Francisco San Antonio || Puerto Rico: SJU and SIG, and Argentina: UAQ. USA: SJC, Costa Rica: SJO, Mexico: SJD, Philippines: SJI
|-
| SEA || Seattle/Tacoma or SeaTac || [Indicates Water Landing] || This is possibly a reference to the fact that "SEA" could be interpreted as "Sea". Like some other major airports (e.g., {{w|San Francisco International Airport}} and {{w|LaGuardia Airport}}), SEA is very close to a large body of water, in SeaTac's case {{w|Puget Sound}}: thus, missing the airport may end up in a water landing. SeaTac is also a city in WA, adjacent to the airport.
|-
| SMH || Sapmanga || Smithfield || "SMH" often stands for "Shaking My Head".
|-
| STL || St. Louis || Silent Hill || Silent Hill is a fictional city appearing in the series of video games and movies with the same name.
|-
| SWF || Newburgh, New York || Sherwood Forest || .swf is the file extension for ShockWave Flash files. "SWF" can also stand for "Single White Female" in personal ads.
|-
| TBA || Tabibuga || Tribeca || "TBA" often stands for "To Be Announced".
|-
| TMI || Tumlingtar || Turkmenistan International || "TMI" often stands for "Too Much Information".
|-
| YYY || Mont-Joli || Toronto Downtown || The small airport in downtown Toronto is Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport which has an IATA code of YTZ.
|-
| YYZ || Toronto || Toronto Pearson || This one is correct. The band Rush are from Toronto and named an instrumental after the airport call sign.
|-
|}

==Transcript==
Confused by those airport abbreviations used by your friends who fly a lot? Just memorize this list.
:Aside 1: I'm flying into EWR tonight, then DTW tomorrow.
:Aside 2: Ok, cool. I definitely know what those mean without Googling.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| AMD || Amsterdam
|-
| BAE || Beijing
|-
| ORD || Orlando
|-
| IAD || Idaho (Boise)
|-
| JFC || Jefferson City
|-
| IUD || Washington Dulles
|-
| FYI || Fayetteville
|-
| LOL || Louisville
|-
| ATL || Atalante
|-
| HGM || Hogsmeade
|-
| OMW || Omaha
|-
| ANC || Ankh-Morpork
|-
| HSV || Hunstville
|-
| SAN || San Diego
|-
| SAN || San Juan
|-
| SAN || San Jose
|-
| SAN || San Francisco
|-
| SAN || San Antonio
|-
| DWI || Delaware International
|-
| DFW || Down for Whatever
|-
| DTW || Down to Whatever
|-
| TMI || Turkmenistan International
|-
| LAX || Las Angalas
|-
| EWR || Edwards Air Force Base
|-
| PHL || Pittsburgh
|-
| SWF || Sherwood Forest
|-
| KUL || Kingdom of Loathing
|-
| STL || Silent Hill
|-
| BUF || Sunnydale
|-
| TBA || Tribeca
|-
| SMH || Smithfield
|-
| BLT || Baltimore
|-
| YYY || Toronto Downtown
|-
| YYZ || Toronto Pearson
|-
| MIA || Colombo, Sri Lanka
|-
| CLT || Censored
|-
| FHQ || Fhqwhgads
|-
| FFS || Flagstaff Station
|-
| DTF || Dartford
|-
| MDW || Midway Atoll
|-
| PDX || Pordlanx
|-
| SEA || Indicates Water Landing
|}

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

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1909: Digital Resource Lifespan

2017-10-30T17:51:04Z

JakubNarebski: CD recovery

Even PDFs can be broken, which is why we have PDF/A (archive) - a subset of PDF that has no external dependencies and thus should last forever.

'''CD scratched, new computer has no CD drive anyway.''' - First, you can still buy external CD-ROM drive, for example connected via USB cable. Second, you can try recover data from scratched CD with tools such as ddrescue (free and OSS) or IsoBuster (shareware). --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 17:51, 30 October 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1888: Still in Use

2017-09-11T18:03:44Z

JakubNarebski: blocking vs non-blocking file access

Just for all writers: The {{w|Garbage collection (computer science)|Garbage collection}} prominently belongs to {{w|Java (programming language)|Java}}. Microsoft had adopted this only in C# and it's NOT used in file systems.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:47, 11 September 2017 (UTC)
Note: Java adopted garbage collection over 30 years after it had been used in Lisp. I would question the use of 'prominently belongs'. Any user of Gnu Emacs will be aware of what happens when garbage collection hits unexpectedly... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.112|141.101.98.112]] 16:13, 11 September 2017 (UTC)

Seams like a pretty clear reference to not being able to empty the computers Trash because files are in use. Normally files in the Trash can't be opened, and files can't be moved to the Trash if opened but weird things can happen. The real rub here is that the computer does know '''exactly''' what process has each file open and is intentionally designed and told not to tell you the user the remedy that it already knows nor to show an option to remedy the problem itself leaving you in the lurch. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.206.58|172.68.206.58]] 15:37, 11 September 2017 (UTC)

It could be that another user is the one that used the paper towel last. I was actually running into an issue where I couldn't delete a file from a network share that I had used last. The dialog would tell me what program was still using it (Source Tree, which had unceremoniously crashed and didn't close out properly) but my coworker simply got the "Is in use by another program" message. [[User:Bpendragon|Bpendragon]] ([[User talk:Bpendragon|talk]]) 15:43, 11 September 2017 (UTC)

I've also come across the issue where the process using the file is the file manager utility itself; I opened the trash to see what was in there, it started trying to make preview images of all the items, and of course when you close the window it doesn't release whatever filehandle it was currently trying to make a preview for. -- [[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 16:12, 11 September 2017 (UTC)

You could always power the house down and restart it! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.28|162.158.78.28]] 16:37, 11 September 2017 (UTC)

Part of the joke is how unhelpful windows tend(ed/s) to be in helping you identify the application that is still hanging onto the file.--[[User:Henke37|Henke37]] ([[User talk:Henke37|talk]]) 17:08, 11 September 2017 (UTC)

This is problem only on MS Windows, where most file-access is '''blocking'''; Linux allows deleting file even if some process is accessing it - said process would see old version of the file, while all other would see it deleted. This has its own problems (you delete files, but you don't recover free space), but I think it is less annoying. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 18:03, 11 September 2017 (UTC)

1886: Typing Notifications

2017-09-06T17:23:15Z

JakubNarebski: /* Explanation */ typo fix

{{comic
| number = 1886
| date = September 6, 2017
| title = Typing Notifications
| image = typing_notifications.png
| titletext = Over the years I've decided I'd rather have them on than not, but I'm glad there aren't "has opened a blank note to compose a reply to you" notifications.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Early, surely incomplete - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Typing notifications are a feature of some instant messaging systems. They let you know when the other person in a conversation is typing and preparing a reply. They may appear in different forms, like the literal text "[Contact] is typing." or often has a answer (possibly a different color) containing three animated dots. They give the sender confidence that their message has been received and is being processed.

The comic shows a transcript from such an instant messenger, such as "iMessage" on the iPhone.
In the comic, the receiver is asked if they like the sender's "show". They compose a reply, then seem to pause to delete it. This happens twice. When the final response is received it is anodyne "It was great", suggesting that the first two deleted drafts were far more critical. The fact that you know that a message has been deleted or edited twice provokes you to imagine what the deleted drafts may have contained. The issue with typing notifications that Randall is talking about might also just be the difficulty to interpret them. The distant contact might just have been doing something else at the same time, started typing in the wrong conversation, or corrected a typo, but the typing notifications make it seem like they weren't honest.



==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Sequence of panels representing the same conversation in an electronic chat:]

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!
:Reply: [...]

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!
:Reply: [...]

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!
:Reply: [...]

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!
:Reply: [...]

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!
:Reply: It was great!

:[Caption below the panels:]
:My least favorite aspect of typing notifications

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1881: Drone Training

2017-08-25T17:26:24Z

JakubNarebski: separate "Deep learning" topic

"This is the first comic to feature Black Hat, White Hat, and no other character." Is this correct. Which other comics feature both "hats".[[User:Zeimusu|Zeimusu]] ([[User talk:Zeimusu|talk]]) 14:15, 25 August 2017 (UTC)
:I've removed this from the explanation. Even when this is true it's not worth to be mentioned unless this really has a connection to the content of the comic. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:24, 25 August 2017 (UTC)

Is that interpretation of the alt text likely? My initial thought was that Black Hat's Roomba would be taken custody of because of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. (Well, actually, it was more like "aren't shock collars a form of animal abuse?") [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.166|162.158.2.166]] 16:43, 25 August 2017 (UTC)

Seems we both had the same idea at the same time 😄, I have added an explanation to that effect. Feel free to add the additional details you know. [[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 16:51, 25 August 2017 (UTC)

;Deep learning
With deep learning (or any kind of actively learning Artificial Intelligence), drones can learn from their experience. The question is if you need spray bottle for this (that is, if there is some programmatic way to teach it, like marking parts of home that it should not enter in an app, or a feedback from app), and if the spraying the drone would actually work (if the AI would actually take it for a negative reinforcement). --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 10:33, 25 August 2017 (UTC)
: Imho it would be really cool if you could teach an AI things without using any software, e.g. no programmatic way or app needed. Personally I'd prefer using a spray bottle over an app or similar. And I'm saying this as a professional software developer. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 10:55, 25 August 2017 (UTC)

: 60 years ago when televisions had vacuum tubes instead of integrated circuits and the picture would get fuzzy, you could ''teach'' it to behave by slapping the side of the case. *wink* [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 12:02, 25 August 2017 (UTC)
:: Indeed, but it didn't learn from it XD /edit: I'm not sure if you're exaggerating with the "60 years ago", though... It's more like 10 to 15 when CRTs vanished https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathode_ray_tube#Demise. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 13:01, 25 August 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1881: Drone Training

2017-08-25T10:33:53Z

JakubNarebski: deep learning

== Deep learning ==

With deep learning (or any kind of actively learning Artificial Intelligence), drones can learn from their experience. The question is if you need spray bottle for this (that is, if there is some programmatic way to teach it, like marking parts of home that it should not enter in an app, or a feedback from app), and if the spraying the drone would actually work (if the AI would actually take it for a negative reinforcement). --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 10:33, 25 August 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1847: Dubious Study

2017-06-07T07:03:49Z

JakubNarebski:

The name of the organisation is suggestive of legitimacy but rather vague. That would be a red flag for me. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.166|108.162.245.166]] 06:01, 7 June 2017 (UTC)

"downloaded bi-annually" is misleadingly close to "released bi-annually" --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 07:03, 7 June 2017 (UTC)

Talk:977: Map Projections

2017-05-26T15:00:05Z

JakubNarebski: Use MediaWiki syntax for '''bold''', not the Markdown one for **bold**

I have a Plate Carrée hanging on my wall myself. Never failed me yet. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:05, 2 February 2013 (UTC)

I like the Azimuthal Equidistant (equatorial aspect) the best. - not Pennpenn. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.43|108.162.221.43]] 01:15, 17 December 2015 (UTC)

You can explore and compare different map projections and their distortions (using Tissot’s indicatrix and triangulation of sphere) in an interactive blog post '''[http://mjmdavis.com/showing/2017/05/16/how-to-read-maps.html The problem with maps]''' by Michael Davis --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 14:58, 26 May 2017 (UTC)

;Dymaxion
Dymaxion is clearly the best. There's nothing like a map made out of an unfolded d20. [[User:Alpha|Alpha]] ([[User talk:Alpha|talk]]) 19:43, 23 February 2013 (UTC)

: Makes you wonder what if a dodecahedron had been used instead of an icosahedron. --[[User:Quicksilver|Quicksilver]] ([[User talk:Quicksilver|talk]]) 18:02, 17 August 2013 (UTC)

::Here you go: http://www.progonos.com/furuti/MapProj/Normal/ProjPoly/Foldout/Dodecahedron/dodecahedron.html - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 16:40, 23 July 2015 (UTC)

;Quincunx
Peirce Quincuncial has 4 non-conformal points, but not the 4 corners, which are the south pole, but instead are the 4 midpoints of the sides. These are on the equator and seem to be 90 degrees apart.--DrMath 06:30, 30 August 2013 (UTC)
: I love Peirce Quincuncial, yet I slept throughout that "Inception". [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.228|141.101.99.228]] 11:36, 27 January 2014 (UTC)
: I'm surprised nobody thought of "''really'' looking at your hands" as a hint that person that likes this projection is under influence of LSD or similar drug. As this surely is a thing that you do. (and you'll think of it next time you smoke your joint - inception!) --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.137|108.162.254.137]] 17:29, 7 December 2014 (UTC)

Plus it has a picture of a man looking at his hand and a man looking at the man looking at his hand.[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 14:39, 22 January 2015 (UTC)

xkcd 1051's title text - "meta lucid dreaming". I really got excited that there was an article about and ironically, it leads to meta and lucid dreaming separately. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.67|173.245.55.67]] 21:23, 25 March 2014 (UTC)BK201

The common video game trope of "the far east of the world is connected to the far west, and the far north likewise to the far south" is popularly resolved by saying that those game worlds are toroidal shapes. (For a particular reference, I am thinking of the SNES and PSX era Final Fantasy games (4-9.)) But sometime in the last year, I got the idea that you could also resolve that geographical conflict (and claim they are spherical) by the logic that the "world map" you see in those games (where they have one) is a Peirce Qunincuncial map. Is my logic sound? [[User:Boct1584|Boct1584]] ([[User talk:Boct1584|talk]]) 15:31, 28 March 2015 (UTC)

The explanation for the Peirce Quincuncial seems to miss the fact that Randall is implying that anyone who likes this map is most likely high. Getting lost in deep thought over things like your hands, or sitting in a dark theater for 6 hours to wrap your head around Inception...these are all very stereotypical "has smoke a lot of marijuana" behaviors. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.21}}

;Waterman

In actual fact, the Waterman butterfly map used a truncated octahedron based upon the mathematics of close packing of spheres and is not at all based upon any of CaHill's work/math.
-- steve waterman {{unsigned ip|65.92.20.61}}
:Perhaps the explanation should mention that Waterman himself signed up at forum.xkcd.com and vigorously denied that his map has anything to do with Cahill. At the time, it was unclear whether the account was really Waterman, or just a troll trying to make him look bad. - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 21:39, 25 March 2014 (UTC)

;Kavrayskiy VII
Kavrayskiy is the best projection, despite being so far out of the mainstream that no-one west of Ukraine has seen one for the past 20 years. {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.64}}
:Wow, I looked into it and it really seems like an excellent projection. It's been a while since I've looked at projections but I think it's my new favourite as it has everything that I've been looking for in a projection. It's a more accurate (in extremes) and more pleasing Robinson projection that still has a reasonable amount cut off the top. Also, the indicatrix for it is very simple, as is the formula, and simple things please simple minds (like mine, apparently) -- without taking it to an extreme like the equirectangular projection does. I swear I've come across it before, but then again I grew up in a country which wasn't far from the Eastern Bloc. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.214|141.101.98.214]] 14:51, 5 November 2014 (UTC)

;Sphere
To be fair, what is drawn is an orthographic azimuthal projection.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.153|108.162.216.153]] 18:59, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

GLOBES ARE THE BEST although my enormous Winkel Tripel hasn't done too bad. {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.9}}

Talk:977: Map Projections

2017-05-26T14:58:35Z

JakubNarebski: Link to http://mjmdavis.com/showing/2017/05/16/how-to-read-maps.html

I have a Plate Carrée hanging on my wall myself. Never failed me yet. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:05, 2 February 2013 (UTC)

I like the Azimuthal Equidistant (equatorial aspect) the best. - not Pennpenn. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.43|108.162.221.43]] 01:15, 17 December 2015 (UTC)

You can explore and compare different map projections and their distortions (using Tissot’s indicatrix and triangulation of sphere) in an interactive blog post **[http://mjmdavis.com/showing/2017/05/16/how-to-read-maps.html The problem with maps]** by Michael Davis --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 14:58, 26 May 2017 (UTC)

;Dymaxion
Dymaxion is clearly the best. There's nothing like a map made out of an unfolded d20. [[User:Alpha|Alpha]] ([[User talk:Alpha|talk]]) 19:43, 23 February 2013 (UTC)

: Makes you wonder what if a dodecahedron had been used instead of an icosahedron. --[[User:Quicksilver|Quicksilver]] ([[User talk:Quicksilver|talk]]) 18:02, 17 August 2013 (UTC)

::Here you go: http://www.progonos.com/furuti/MapProj/Normal/ProjPoly/Foldout/Dodecahedron/dodecahedron.html - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 16:40, 23 July 2015 (UTC)

;Quincunx
Peirce Quincuncial has 4 non-conformal points, but not the 4 corners, which are the south pole, but instead are the 4 midpoints of the sides. These are on the equator and seem to be 90 degrees apart.--DrMath 06:30, 30 August 2013 (UTC)
: I love Peirce Quincuncial, yet I slept throughout that "Inception". [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.228|141.101.99.228]] 11:36, 27 January 2014 (UTC)
: I'm surprised nobody thought of "''really'' looking at your hands" as a hint that person that likes this projection is under influence of LSD or similar drug. As this surely is a thing that you do. (and you'll think of it next time you smoke your joint - inception!) --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.137|108.162.254.137]] 17:29, 7 December 2014 (UTC)

Plus it has a picture of a man looking at his hand and a man looking at the man looking at his hand.[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 14:39, 22 January 2015 (UTC)

xkcd 1051's title text - "meta lucid dreaming". I really got excited that there was an article about and ironically, it leads to meta and lucid dreaming separately. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.67|173.245.55.67]] 21:23, 25 March 2014 (UTC)BK201

The common video game trope of "the far east of the world is connected to the far west, and the far north likewise to the far south" is popularly resolved by saying that those game worlds are toroidal shapes. (For a particular reference, I am thinking of the SNES and PSX era Final Fantasy games (4-9.)) But sometime in the last year, I got the idea that you could also resolve that geographical conflict (and claim they are spherical) by the logic that the "world map" you see in those games (where they have one) is a Peirce Qunincuncial map. Is my logic sound? [[User:Boct1584|Boct1584]] ([[User talk:Boct1584|talk]]) 15:31, 28 March 2015 (UTC)

The explanation for the Peirce Quincuncial seems to miss the fact that Randall is implying that anyone who likes this map is most likely high. Getting lost in deep thought over things like your hands, or sitting in a dark theater for 6 hours to wrap your head around Inception...these are all very stereotypical "has smoke a lot of marijuana" behaviors. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.21}}

;Waterman

In actual fact, the Waterman butterfly map used a truncated octahedron based upon the mathematics of close packing of spheres and is not at all based upon any of CaHill's work/math.
-- steve waterman {{unsigned ip|65.92.20.61}}
:Perhaps the explanation should mention that Waterman himself signed up at forum.xkcd.com and vigorously denied that his map has anything to do with Cahill. At the time, it was unclear whether the account was really Waterman, or just a troll trying to make him look bad. - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 21:39, 25 March 2014 (UTC)

;Kavrayskiy VII
Kavrayskiy is the best projection, despite being so far out of the mainstream that no-one west of Ukraine has seen one for the past 20 years. {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.64}}
:Wow, I looked into it and it really seems like an excellent projection. It's been a while since I've looked at projections but I think it's my new favourite as it has everything that I've been looking for in a projection. It's a more accurate (in extremes) and more pleasing Robinson projection that still has a reasonable amount cut off the top. Also, the indicatrix for it is very simple, as is the formula, and simple things please simple minds (like mine, apparently) -- without taking it to an extreme like the equirectangular projection does. I swear I've come across it before, but then again I grew up in a country which wasn't far from the Eastern Bloc. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.214|141.101.98.214]] 14:51, 5 November 2014 (UTC)

;Sphere
To be fair, what is drawn is an orthographic azimuthal projection.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.153|108.162.216.153]] 18:59, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

GLOBES ARE THE BEST although my enormous Winkel Tripel hasn't done too bad. {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.9}}

Talk:1831: Here to Help

2017-05-02T08:19:43Z

JakubNarebski: Title text referencing "Awakenings"

So who else read the "Six months later" caption in the voice of the French narrator from SpongeBob Squarepants? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.41|172.68.58.41]] 23:26, 1 May 2017 (UTC)
: So I'm not the only one who does that! [[User:Dontknow|Dontknow]] ([[User talk:Dontknow|talk]]) 00:00, 2 May 2017 (UTC)

Gosh, is Randall making a parallel to someone else who only recently announced that his job is hard, and that nobody knew how complicated things could be? Seems like a clear poke at Trump to me. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.23|108.162.246.23]] 23:43, 1 May 2017 (UTC)
:EVERYONE feels like that after the election. Get over it. [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 23:50, 1 May 2017 (UTC)

Between algorithms and "objectively" establishing that a problem is hard, I took this to be a reference to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NP-hardness … --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.222.16|162.158.222.16]] 00:31, 2 May 2017 (UTC)

:While the people originally having the problem (Megan and Hairy in this case) may not appreciate it (because it wouldn't help SOLVING the problem), establishing that some problem is not only "hard" but specifically NP-hard, AI-hard, equivalent to halting problem or for example equivalent to axiom of choice is important scientific result. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 02:03, 2 May 2017 (UTC)

Rather than referencing ''The Imitation Game'', the sentence "[...] now that I'VE tried, we KNOW it's hard." may be referencing instead ''Awakenings'' (1990), where Robin William's character says something similar near beginning of the movie.