explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1186: Bumblebees

2013-03-16T00:32:40Z

Mattsinc: Talk about Bumblebees comic

{{w|Bumblebee#Flight}} [[Special:Contributions/96.238.211.171|96.238.211.171]] 05:49, 15 March 2013 (UTC)

Amazing that this urban legend is still going. I seem to remember reading that the aerodynamicist who came to this conclusion sobered up and withdrew his comments within a day or two, 80 years ago. [[User:DreamingDaemon|DD]] ([[User talk:DreamingDaemon|talk]]) 09:22, 15 March 2013 (UTC)

In Richard Hammonds Invisible Worlds (Great Series) they shows slow motion footage of a bee's flight through smoke, revealing that the be '''TWISTS ITS WINGS''' in order to swing downwards twice in one flap of its wings, doubling its lift and removing the up-flaps negative lift. Here is the link, http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p007vs8p.[[Special:Contributions/220.255.1.50|220.255.1.50]] 10:37, 15 March 2013 (UTC)

I also saw this comic as a reference to the movie "A Bee Movie" where Jerry Seinfeld's bee character is helping the human land the plane. I realize the human is actually flying the plane in that situation, but the bees were helping her. -- [[User:Mattsinc]] ([[User talk:Mattsinc|talk]]) 12:31, 16 March 2013 (UTC)

Talk:1183: Rose Petals

2013-03-09T16:49:24Z

Mattsinc:

Can anyone explain what Roomba is? {{unsigned|194.105.120.80}}

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roomba
[[Special:Contributions/131.251.254.81|131.251.254.81]] 09:14, 8 March 2013 (UTC)

: "... but out onto the street."
Is it really? It looks to me like it's going down the hallway seen in the background of the 3rd panel. <br/>[[User:Wwoods|Wwoods]] ([[User talk:Wwoods|talk]]) 16:28, 8 March 2013 (UTC)

It is, really. When you look at the door in the 3rd panel, you can see another house across the street, then closer a sidewalk, then closer the street, then closer another sidewalk and a walkway leading up to the door. There is then a mat in front of the door (presumably a welcome mat, or at least a mat for wiping your feet). In the 4th panel you can see the the sidewalk expansion joints. [[User:Haruspex|Haruspex]] ([[User talk:Haruspex|talk]])

I don't think that's a mailbox. It think it's a shredder. Either way, I think what happening is that Cueball sent a woman some roses, and this is her way of rejecting his advances (which puts the image text into context) [[User:JamesCurran|JamesCurran]] ([[User talk:JamesCurran|talk]]) 17:18, 8 March 2013 (UTC)
:I think the explanation James gave is potentially correct for the image text. I can see it going either of 2 ways: 1. As James mentioned above, a woman has rejected Cueball's advances. Instead of taking it badly, he turns the tables by instead takes the Roomba out on a date/whatever (and their evening together went really well, as Cueball imagined the date with the woman going). 2. He used the Roomba to satisfy his desires. On a semi-related note, why isn't the Roomba cleaning up the petals it's spraying out? It seems like the Roomba would uses it sensors to note this and head in the direction of the petals. [[User:mattsinc|mattsinc]] ([[User talk:mattsinc|talk]]) 19:57, 8 March 2013 (UTC)
::Roombas have no sensors, they just randomly zig-zag around carpets sucking up anything they run over with a relatively weak battery-operated vacuum cleaner. What I have less time believing is that a Roomba would go down the sidewalk for such a long period of time before making a crazy turn into the grass... [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 22:10, 8 March 2013 (UTC)
:::Fair enough. I agree then about it being incredibly unlikely that the Roomba wouldn't make an arbitrary turn at some point, unless Schmammel's point (below) about the woman reprogramming it is correct. If that's true, then I want to know where's she's programmed it to go! [[User:mattsinc|mattsinc]] ([[User talk:mattsinc|talk]]) 22:36, 8 March 2013 (UTC)

I like the way it steers around the books just left in the middle of the floor. Presumably it heads outside because Cueball left the door open. Or did whoever set it up use the books to ensure it left the house by precalculating its behavior? [[User:Schmammel|Schmammel]] ([[User talk:Schmammel|talk]]) 19:54, 8 March 2013 (UTC)
:Given that Cueball is walking in and the petals have already been spread, it seems more likely that Cueball didn't leave the door open, but rather the woman he was trying to woo did. I don't completely understand how Roomba's decide what directions to travel (see my question above), but your second sentence here potentially addresses it. [[User:mattsinc|mattsinc]] ([[User talk:mattsinc|talk]]) 20:00, 8 March 2013 (UTC)
:: Ok, having skimmed the Wikipedia page on Roomba, the books were likely strategically placed to force it to turn, although it (presumably) could have also chosen to turn right instead of left as it did. In regards to the curb to the street, Roomba does try to avoid falling down stairs, my guess is that the curb is treated like a stair and thus the Roomba will turn left or right. Again, it probably could have chosen to turn the opposite direction when reaching the street (so yeah, probably the woman programmed its behavior, Schmammel). Nor does this explain why it wouldn't try to backtrack and clean up the rose petals it just laid. Also, isn't it totally possible that the woman would did this programmed to Roomba to lead Cueball to her at some other location? Finally, I feel like Randall should have run this one on Valentine's Day (either the 13th or the 15th since 14th wasn't MWF this year). [[User:mattsinc|mattsinc]] ([[User talk:mattsinc|talk]]) 20:05, 8 March 2013 (UTC)
:::No. I think Randall timed it rather well: roughly equidistant twixt Valentine's Day and April Fools (first of April.) -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 15:59, 9 March 2013 (UTC)
::::Ahh, fair enough! -- [[User:mattsinc|mattsinc]] ([[User talk:mattsinc|talk]]) 16:48, 9 March 2013 (UTC)

LOVELY evening with a vacuum-cleaner? What could go wrong?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15759810 {{unsigned|212.149.48.44}}

Wouldn't there need to be some extension cord "tail" on the robo-rose-roomba to power the fan? That appears to be a full-size electric fan, which AFAIK do not come in battery-powered versions, but require 120V AC (in the US). [[Special:Contributions/71.201.53.130|71.201.53.130]] 21:02, 8 March 2013 (UTC)
: One assumes some suspension of disbelief is called for, including the reprogramming of the device mentioned elsewhere, the ability for the thing to be able to carry that much additional weight, the thought that the fan wouldn't just blow all the petals out of the hopper at one time, etc. Among that would be the elimination of an external power source. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 15:59, 9 March 2013 (UTC)

I'm wondering where everyone is getting the assumption that the "woman" was someone that he was trying to woo--given that the rose petals are left for him and not the other way around--and not someone (a woman?) pulling a practical joke. The title text makes sense in the context of "you tried to pull a joke on me, but it turns out the joke is on you". I'm curious as to how many roses it would take to produce that many petals (I have never actually seen roses). Those assuming that he's trying to woo a woman seem to presuppose that he sent the flowers. I'm wondering if the amount of flowers it would take are an amount typical of a bouquet. [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 23:20, 8 March 2013 (UTC)
:Extrapolating beyond any facts in the strip, I could see this being one of Megan's impish pranks, taking some meaning-laden social ritual and standing it on its head. Cueball, the intended recipient of such expectations defied, instead sees it as an opportunity to see where a (literal) {{w|Random walk}} would take him. I knew colleagues who routinely engaged in activities such as "If I get in this lane, and follow it to its conclusion, where will I end up?" Some choices are deterministic ("right lane must turn right" or "left lane must turn left") and others random ("one lane splits into two, take the __ one"). They generally go until a destination is arrived at (typically a ''cul-de-sac'' or end of street (say, the base of a T intersection) or some other sink (a roundabout, for example) or after having gone farther than some maximum distance. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 15:45, 9 March 2013 (UTC)
:(PS) ... The typical bouquet is 2 dozen, though 5 dozen are sometimes given. Five dozen rozes' petals plucked might begin to fill a box that size, but it could require considerably more. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 15:59, 9 March 2013 (UTC)

Talk:1183: Rose Petals

2013-03-08T22:38:05Z

Mattsinc:

Talk:1183: Rose Petals

2013-03-08T22:37:32Z

Mattsinc:

Talk:1183: Rose Petals

2013-03-08T20:10:21Z

Mattsinc: Editted my previous comment

User talk:Mattsinc

2013-03-08T20:08:15Z

Mattsinc: Created page with "Hello!"

Hello!

Talk:1183: Rose Petals

2013-03-08T20:06:21Z

Mattsinc:

Talk:1183: Rose Petals

2013-03-08T20:00:32Z

Mattsinc:

2012-12-12T20:58:45Z

Mattsinc: /* Explanation */

1023: Late-Night PBS

2012-12-12T20:57:47Z

Mattsinc: /* Explanation */ Added explanation with details on Carmen Sandiego the TV show.