explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1051: Visited

2023-06-19T06:33:34Z

Memo Spike Connector: Too many links

{{comic
| number = 1051
| date = May 4, 2012
| title = Visited
| image = visited.png
| titletext = I hate when I read something like '... tension among the BASE jumpers nearly led to wingsuit combat ...', and I get excited because 'wingsuit combat' is underlined, only to find that it's just separate links to the 'wingsuit' and 'combat' articles.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a reference to how an internet browser will make the links of the pages that you have visited a different color than the links that you have not visited. In the case of {{w|Wikipedia}} and other wikis powered by {{w|MediaWiki}}, they are blue for non-visited and purple for visited. In this comic, [[Randall]] is ashamed of the pages he has visited, because with the color changes there is evidence of what he has visited in the past, e.g. {{w|autoerotic asphyxiation}} (possibly while researching [[682: Force]], which features that very Wikipedia page).

The pages that he did visit before are in great contrast with the pages that he hasn't. Pages he didn't click are often difficult, highly intelligent topics, while he only clicks the easy, funny articles with little scientific background on the Wikipedia site.

The title text refers to a common mistake many people make when reading articles on Wikipedia. Words referring to subjects that have an article on Wikipedia are colored in blue. This, however, can cause confusion when two words leading to two separate articles appear together, as the two links appear to be one. However, on hovering the cursor over the article link, only one word at a time is underlined, showing that the links are separate.

It is not possible to determine who this fake article is supposed to be about, but the Macarena band is certainly from Dos Hermanas, Spain. So, it is quite possibly a made-up article from [[Randall]].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|No clickable links in transcript, please. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[The following is in the standard format of a Wikipedia article, modified to reflect the content of the comic.]
:...and was a pioneer of literary {{w|social realism}}.

:He was born in {{w|Dos Hermanas}} in the {{w|Andalusia}} region of {{w|Spain}} (not to be confused with {{w|Andalasia}}[link clicked], the kingdom in Disney's ''{{w|Enchanted}}''[link clicked]), which is also the hometown of ''{{w|Macarena, Seville|Macarena}}''[link clicked] band {{w|Los Del Río}}[link clicked],

:His {{w|third novel}}, set during the {{w|Burmese-Siamese war}}, marked the start of a lifelong interest in the {{w|history of Southeast Asia}}. He spent his later years in {{w|Thailand}}, writing his his final novels just a few blocks from the hotel where actor {{w|David Carradine}}[link clicked] died of {{w|Autoerotic Asphyxiation}}[link clicked].

:[Caption below the panel:]
:If I go for a while without clearing my browser history, I start getting embarrassd by which words on Wikipedia show up in purple.

==Trivia==
* In the caption of the comic, embarrassed is spelled incorrectly.
* In the third paragraph, there is an extra "his" in the phrase "writing his his final novels".

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Wingsuit]]

Talk:2769: Overlapping Circles

2023-06-05T02:02:44Z

Memo Spike Connector: You're one of the comic incarnates. Don't forget to change your signature!

Incorrect. I’m sure there are set theorists who get excited about that shape who are not astronomers, and astronomers who get excited about that shape who are not set theorists, and people who get excited about it who are neither. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.35|162.158.91.35]] 23:16, 28 April 2023 (UTC)
:Hmmm, I'm not a set theorist, but I don't think that's what the Venn diagram is trying to say. My understanding is that both set theorists and astronomers get excited about that shape, not that only people who are both astronomers and set theorists would be excited. [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 23:20, 28 April 2023 (UTC)
::I agree with Alcatraz ii. The original poster has a point that there are people who agree neither set theorists nor astronomers and get excited about this shape, but a Venn diagram does not imply that the people in the overlapping section are both set theorists and astronomers. [[User:Python|353: Python]] ([[User talk:Python|talk]]) 23:31, 28 April 2023 (UTC)Python
:Actually, it does. That's what overlaps in a Venn diagram mean, it's the set of entities that satisfy both conditions. [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 02:25, 29 April 2023 (UTC)
::You're right. People who get excited about the diagram would be the union of the two sets, not intersection. Unless Randall is saying that only astronomers who are also set theorists are so enamored of the two diagrams that they get excited about it. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 04:52, 29 April 2023 (UTC)
:Hmmmm... I initially understood the comic the way Randall intended - that these two groups like this shape - but you have a point, that's not how Venn diagrams work. The left circle is labelled as the set of "set theorists", the right circle is the set of "astronomers", making the joined section the set of "astronomer set theorists". As a Venn diagram this should be ONE circle, "People who enjoy this shape", with "set theorists" and "astronomers" inside it, and as one circle it WOULDN'T have this shape, LOL! I guess a second circle to make this shape, "People who enjoy space", then put "astronauts" in it, and move "astronomers" to the junction? [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:21, 29 April 2023 (UTC)

On title text: I'm pretty sure that if two sets are represented by a single circle rater than two, it's no longer a Venn diagram but merely an Euler diagram. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.94.3|172.71.94.3]] 00:22, 29 April 2023 (UTC)
:A single circle can be either. Two (or more) intersecting circles/loops-of-whatever-shape can be either, but might disqualify themselves from being strict Venns if they do not exhibit exactly 2ⁿ different sub-regions from ''n'' basic standalone partitioning regions. (This includes the whole surrounding one, not within any single partition, which purists might deem needs an "everything else"-sort of label/manifest, if you're putting things inside other parts, but that maybe can be taken as read.)
:You can't but help having 2 regions (inside and outside) from an ''n''=1 circle. (And one region from being constrained by ''n''=0 partitioning boundaries!)
:It's once you have two or more that you start to get the Euler-not-Ven exceptions, like [[1180: Virus Venn Diagram|entirely unintersecting groups]] (notably misnamed, by this comic) or [[2721: Euler Diagrams|only partially supporting all groups]] (misnamed by Cueball, in-Universe), unless you make effort to have some (singly unique) areas covering [[2122: Size Venn Diagram|all combinations of all options]].
:But an annular eclipse probably doesn't count. In 9ne, you cannot see/infer a point upon the Moon's surface that is not also where the Sun 'is' – albeit obscured – though you do see bits of Sun-surface that have no Moon coincident to your view (during the phase of maximum coverage). One assumes that non-annular eclipses (or hypo-annular ones, where the Sun's bodily 'cross-section' is at a minimum compared to the Moon's) are just onzerved as perfect fits. And this must exclude the upper-atmosphere/corona of the Sun (the Bailey's Beads/Diamond Ring effects being the limiting factors), so that you theoretically have a single circle and announce to yourself that all that you see within that is on a sightline which intersects both Sun and Moon, and all sightlines outwith that circle intersect neither. No room in your defining diagram/worldview/skyview for one XOR the other (like having a region for "red cars", but handling red non-cars and non-red cars (and all things that are neither red nor a car) as possibilities. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.9|141.101.98.9]] 03:47, 29 April 2023 (UTC)
::The way I’ve heard it (though I can’t remember where), it’s a Venn diagram iff it’s a Euler diagram with two congruent circles that overlap without regard for proportion; ''any'' other type of Euler diagram is not a Venn diagram. Which is to say, there is no such thing as a Venn diagram with an almost complete overlap or no overlap. I’m not sure where to find an authoritative definition though.'''Edit:''' And according to Wolfram MathWorld, I’m completely wrong about the shape. They have Venn examples that use several blobs. But what’s important is that every possible intersection has its own region, and size doesn’t matter. —[[Special:Contributions/172.70.254.216|172.70.254.216]] 06:10, 29 April 2023 (UTC)

The shape formed by the intersection of two circles is called a lens. Lenses are also of interest to astronomers for telescope manufacture. A lens shape causes spherical aberation when used as an optical element, leading to the use of aspheric lenses and mirrors on higher quality telescopes. [[User:Quantum7|Quantum7]] ([[User talk:Quantum7|talk]]) 05:25, 29 April 2023 (UTC)

Uhhh, the first commenter has a point, that's not how Venn diagrams work. The left circle is labelled as the set of "set theorists", the right circle is the set of "astronomers", making the joined section the set of "astronomer set theorists", i.e. people who belong to both sets. As a Venn diagram this should be ONE circle, the set of "People who get excited by this shape", with "set theorists" and "astronomers" inside it, and as one circle it WOULDN'T have this shape, LOL! I guess a second circle to make this shape, "People who enjoy space" for example, then put "astronauts" in it, and move "astronomers" to the junction? Or these are set names of '''''aspects''''' of these professions, like putting "study the night sky" in Astronomers, and "math experts" in Set Theorists (IDK, LOL!), with the Excited thing being an aspect they have in common... I think the explanation needs to be updated to note that the Venn diagram was made somewhat wrong... [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:46, 29 April 2023 (UTC)

The Sun and Moon are spheroids and so they do not appear as perfectly circular. rja.carnegie@gmail.com [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.202|172.71.242.202]] 08:49, 29 April 2023 (UTC)

Others who enjoy this shape, travellers relying on Mastercard.

wrt earlier comments, an easier fix than changing the shape would be changing the text:

Left - Things set theorists get excited about

Right - Things astronomers get excited about

Middle - This shape
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.139|172.68.78.139]] 18:24, 30 April 2023 (UTC)

why was there a div tag at the bottom of this page?[[Special:Contributions/172.71.166.90|172.71.166.90]] 00:30, 1 May 2023 (UTC)Bumpf

User talk:Firefox and Witchcraft - The Connection?

2023-06-05T02:00:47Z

Memo Spike Connector: Don't forget to change your signature!

Your birthday is in two days' time, but I may be away at that time. Happy Birthday and Best Wishes! [[User:Memo Spike Connector|2503: Memo Spike Connector]] ([[User talk:Memo Spike Connector|talk]]) 07:06, 3 June 2023 (UTC)

Happy birthday!

:Thank you very much! [[User:Firefox and Witchcraft - The Connection?|111: Firefox and Witchcraft - The Connection?]] ([[User talk:Firefox and Witchcraft - The Connection?|talk]]) 01:59, 5 June 2023 (UTC)

1434: Where Do Birds Go

2023-06-04T02:07:23Z

Memo Spike Connector: Added missing category

{{comic
| number = 1434
| date = October 15, 2014
| title = Where Do Birds Go
| image = where_do_birds_go.png
| titletext = Water/ice has a lot of weird phases. Maybe asking 'where do birds go when it rains' is like asking 'where does Clark Kent go whenever Superman shows up?'
}}

==Explanation==
Cueball searches [http://lmgtfy.com/?q=where+do+birds+go+when+it+rains%3F Google] to find out where birds go when it rains. He finds that the question is asked worldwide, across many different languages and websites. A variety of screenshots are shown of different websites and forums where users have asked where birds go when it rains, with at least nine languages shown. The bottom of this panel fades to white, suggesting that the occurrence of these questions stretches on and on. Cueball expresses delight at the idea that this question is the one to which everyone wants to know the answer; worrying about birds getting wet is "the thing that unites us".

Later in the comic, a bird in the rain is also searching on the Internet for where birds go when it rains. This is humorously implying that a significant set of these questions are being typed by birds looking for a dry place after being caught in the rain, and not humans. This would make Cueball wrong; worrying about birds getting wet would not unite us. In reality, as the comic states, birds look for shelter so they can stay dry. On a rainy day you can usually find birds in leafy trees, caves or other kinds of cover.

In the {{w|Superman}} comics, Clark Kent ''is'' Superman, so you never observe both Clark Kent and Superman simultaneously. By analogy, the title text whimsically suggests that a possible inference from the observation that you never see birds and rain together is that birds ''are'' the rain. Perhaps birds are an unknown {{w|Phase (matter)|phase}} of water. In addition to its familiar phases of {{w|ice}}, {{w|water vapor|vapor}}, and {{w|water|liquid water}}, water has more exotic phases such as {{w|Ice#Phases|low-temperature and high-pressure ices}} and {{w|Supercritical fluid|supercritical gases}}; why not birds?

The title text jokingly implies that birds are a phase of water. This would mean that the birds don't go anywhere during the rain. They turn into water, becoming the rain. In reality, this is impossible.{{Citation needed}} Clark Kent is the name of Superman. Asking where Clark Kent goes when Superman shows up is meaningless, because Clark is Superman.

==Websites shown in comic==

===English===
[https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110223085537AAiOFTk Where do the birds go when it rains?]
([https://web.archive.org/web/20210413012237/https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110223085537AAiOFTk archive])

[http://www.enature.com/expert/expert_show_question.asp?questionID=23847 <nowiki>[...]</nowiki> Where do birds go when it rains or storms?] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20160815053813/http://www.enature.com/expert/expert_show_question.asp?questionID=23847 archive])

[http://activerain.trulia.com/blogsview/1452078/where-do-birds-go-when-it-rains- Where do Birds go When it Rains?] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20150506170139/http://activerain.trulia.com/blogsview/1452078/where-do-birds-go-when-it-rains- archive])

[http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message979308/pg1 Where do birds go when it rains really hard?]

[http://randomthoughtsfrommidlife.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/where-do-the-birds-go-when-it-rains/ Where do the birds go when it rains?]

===French===
[https://fr.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110327100813AAMj2hy Où se cachent les oiseaux quand il pleut?] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20210424175612/https://fr.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110327100813AAMj2hy archive]) (Translation: Where do the birds hide themselves when it rains?)

===German===
[http://www.gutefrage.net/frage/was-passiert-jetzt-eigentlich-mit-den-voegeln-die-bei-dem-wetter-in-den-baeumen-sitzen was passiert jetzt eigentlich mit den vögeln, die bei dem wetter in den bäumen sitzen?]<ref>In proper German, all nouns (and the beginning of the sentence) should be capitalized. The author leaves them uncapitalized, characteristic of lazy/hurried typing.</ref> ([https://web.archive.org/web/20150326142217/http://www.gutefrage.net/frage/was-passiert-jetzt-eigentlich-mit-den-voegeln-die-bei-dem-wetter-in-den-baeumen-sitzen archive]) (Translation: What actually happens with the birds that are sitting in the trees in this weather?)

[http://www.vogel.info/schlechtes_wetter.htm Was machen Vögel bei schlechtem Wetter?] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20171116220559/http://www.vogel.info/schlechtes_wetter.htm archive]) (Translation: What do birds do in bad weather?)

[http://www.gutefrage.net/frage/wohin-gehen-voegel Wohin gehen Vögel?] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20150326142246/http://www.gutefrage.net/frage/wohin-gehen-voegel archive]) (Translation: Where do birds go?)

===Spanish===
[http://noticias.lainformacion.com/ciencia-y-tecnologia/ciencias-meteorologicas/que-pasa-con-las-aves-durante-un-huracan_g1DV8AL9LSG6Bzy7q5G8s7/ ¿Qué pasa con las aves durante un huracán?] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20170908213054/http://www.lainformacion.com/ciencia-y-tecnologia/ciencias-meteorologicas/que-pasa-con-las-aves-durante-un-huracan_g1DV8AL9LSG6Bzy7q5G8s7 archive]) (Translation: What happens to the birds during a hurricane?)

[https://espanol.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120525145152AABvmOq ¿A donde se van los pajaritos cuando llueve?]<ref>In proper Spanish, the word "donde" (meaning "where") in this context should have an accent (dónde). This is a rule that even some newspapers manage to get wrong.</ref> ([https://web.archive.org/web/20210427045421/https://espanol.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120525145152AABvmOq archive]) (Translation: Where do the little birds go when it rains?)

===Dutch===
[http://www.willemwever.nl/vraag_antwoord/dieren-en-planten/waar-blijven-de-vogels-als-het-heel-hard-stormt Waar blijven de vogels als het heel hard stormt?] (Translation: Where do birds stay when it is storming very hard?)

===Finnish===
[http://ihmepuu.vuodatus.net/lue/2014/05/minne-linnut-menevat-sateella? Minne linnut menevät sateella] (Translation: Where do the birds go when it rains?)

===Simplified Chinese===
[http://wenwen.sogou.com/z/q55741469.htm 下雨时鸟儿往哪躲] (Translation: When it rains, where do birds go to hide?)

[http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/270774126.html 下雨的时候小鸟住在哪里] (Translation: When it rains, where do the birds live?)

[http://wenwen.sogou.com/z/q145038794.htm 为什么鸟儿下雨的时候在天上飞不会因为淋湿掉下来?] (Translation: When it rains, why do birds in the sky not fall down from getting soaked?)

===Japanese===
[http://matome.naver.jp/odai/2136533586764388601 【雑学】暴風雨の時、鳥はどこに避難してるの？] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20200922155806/https://matome.naver.jp/odai/2136533586764388601 archive]) (Translation:【Miscellaneous Knowledge】Where do birds take shelter during a rainstorm?)

===Malay (Indonesian)===
[https://id.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101215231444AAAVxSM Burung Dapat Bertahan Terbang Berapa Lama Disaat Hujan ?] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20200809002913/https://id.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101215231444AAAVxSM archive]) (Translation: How Long Can Birds Survive Flying In the Rain ?)

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting at his desk with his computer.]
:Cueball: "Where do birds go when it rains?" is my new favorite Google search.
:Megan (off-screen): Why?

:[Megan enters the frame.]
:Cueball: It gives the answer, but also shows you an endless torrent of other people asking the same question.
:Cueball: Pages and pages of them, across regions and cultures.

:[The panel now only contains a Google search on the computer.]
:Cueball (off-screen): I love the idea that somehow this is the universal question, the thing that unites us.
:Cueball (off-screen): When it rains, we wonder where the birds go,
:Cueball (off-screen): and hope they're staying dry.

:[A collage of screen snippets.]

:[https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110223085537AAiOFTk from Yahoo! Answers]: '''Where do the birds go when it rains?''' I've noticed I rarely see birds flying around or in trees or on power lines when it's raining, So where do they go?

:[http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message979308/pg1 from Godlike Productions]: '''Where do birds go when it rains really hard?'''
Ok, maybe I'm an idiot for asking this, but during the slew of several storms in California the last couple weeks, I began to wonder where the poor birds go to stay dry? The ducks, seagulls, owls, sparrows, hummingbirds, hawks, etc...I see them all the ti[...]

:[http://randomthoughtsfrommidlife.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/where-do-the-birds-go-when-it-rains/ from Random Thoughts From Midlife]: Where do the birds go when it rains?

:[http://www.answers.com/Q/Where_do_birds_go_when_it_rains from Answers.com]: Where do birds go when it rains?

:[https://espanol.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120525145152AABvmOq from Yahoo! Respuestas]: ¿A donde se van los pajaritos cuando llueve?

:[http://activerain.trulia.com/blogsview/1452078/where-do-birds-go-when-it-rains- from Active Rain]: '''Where do Birds go When it Rains?''' I'm no youngster...and I have no answer for this. I've talked to alot of people about the likelihood of where birds go when it rains and everyone has a different perspective.

:[http://ask.metafilter.com/27499/Where-do-the-birds-go-when-it-rains from Ask MetaFilter]: '''Where do the birds go when it rains?''' BirdFeederFilter: When it's gloomy and rainy, I don't see any birds at my birdfeeder for days on end. Then as soon as it's sunny, they're all over the place. What gives? What do they do on rainy days, just forage near their nest?

:[http://snippets.com/where-do-city-birds-go-when-it-rains.htm from Snippets]: Where do city birds go when it rains?

:[http://wenwen.sogou.com/z/q55741469.htm from http://wenwen.sogou.com/]: 下雨时鸟儿往哪躲
没有大树,没有屋檐,怎么办

:[http://www.enature.com/expert/expert_show_question.asp?questionID=23847 from eNature.com]: '''Storm shelter''' ''In Florida, where I live, we get many thunderstorms, but I never see the birds in trees during the storms. We recently had a tropical storm and I did not see any birds in the trees. Where do birds go when it rains or storms?'' Just like at night, birds will seek shelter during storms. I remember watching a flock of American robins dive into[...]

:[https://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110730055427AApJlDb from Yahoo! Answers]: When it is raining heavily, where do the birds go...i don't see them on the trees, where do they take shelter?

:[https://fr.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110327100813AAMj2hy from Yahoo! Questions Réponses]: Où se cachent les oiseaux quand il pleut? De ma fenêtre, je n'en aperçois plus un!!!...Les pies semblent avoir abandonné leurs nids...

:[http://www.gutefrage.net/frage/was-passiert-jetzt-eigentlich-mit-den-voegeln-die-bei-dem-wetter-in-den-baeumen-sitzen from gutefrage.net]: '''was passiert jetzt eigentlich mit den vögeln, die bei dem wetter in den bäumen sitzen?''' bei uns regnet es heftig und der orkanartige wind wechelst ständig richtung und geschwindigkeit. können sich die vögel da in den bäumen halten? retten sie sich instinktiv vorher irgendwohin, wo sie windgeschützt sind?

:[https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20140607171044AAwamou from Yahoo! Answers]: Where do birds go when it rains? I never see any out...?

:[http://noticias.lainformacion.com/ciencia-y-tecnologia/ciencias-meteorologicas/que-pasa-con-las-aves-durante-un-huracan_g1DV8AL9LSG6Bzy7q5G8s7/ from lainformacion.com]: ¿Qué pasa con las aves durante un huracán?

:[http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/270774126.html from Baidu]: '''下雨的时候小鸟住在哪里？''' 下雨的时候小鸟住在哪里？如果是在春天夏天那还好，有树叶遮挡着，但是到了秋天冬天下雨小鸟住在哪里？还住在在树上搭的窝里吗？不怕冻坏自己和小幼崽吗？如果躲雨那就在哪里躲雨呢？怎么没见过它们躲雨？谢谢。

:[http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/read/40/219540.html from Fairfax Underground]: '''What do birds do when it rains?''' Recently I installed a bird feeder outside my bedroom window. It is so wonderful the diversity of our feathered friends that frequent the feeder! I love it. My question that I haven't found an answer to is this: What do the little birdies do when it rains? I mean, do they stay put in the trees that they find themselves in,

:[http://ihmepuu.vuodatus.net/lue/2014/05/minne-linnut-menevat-sateella from a blog on vuodatus.net]: '''Minne linnut menevät sateella?''' Tänään satoi rankasti. Kuljin metsän halki. Kuulin linnun laulavan. Yksinäinen, mutta itsenäinen ja vahva, tulkitseva ääni. Kaunis. Minne linnut menevät sateella? En ole koskaan nähnyt lintuja rankkasateessa. Luulen, että ne yrittävät löytää suojan. Kuusien ja mäntyjen oksistossa on varmaan suojaisaa. Kallioiden koloihin ja pieniin luolastoihin voi ehkä lintukin hiipiä. Rohkeille löytyy pihoilta suojapaikkoja. Ehkä linnulla oli oma pesäkolo. Siellä oli lämmintä ja kuivaa. Sieltä saattoi rauhassa katsella sateen vierailua metsässä. Siellä saattoi jopa iloita sateesta ja laulaa.

:[https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110530163957AAaw1S3 from Yahoo! Answers]: '''What do the birds do when it RAINS like crazy?''' I live in upstate new york and just moved here and there are so many many birds here especially where I live, the other day I saw a broken egg on the ground in the drive way from a [...show more link] '''Update''': I know they get wet btw but was wondering if they did anything extra to [...show more link] '''Best Answer''' Well... it depends on the species of bird, for one. Some are more adapted for rain then others.

:[http://www.willemwever.nl/vraag_antwoord/dieren-en-planten/waar-blijven-de-vogels-als-het-heel-hard-stormt from Willem Wever]: '''Waar blijven de vogels als het heel hard stormt?''' Bij hevige stormen zoekt een vogel de beschutting die bij hem past. Er zijn een aantal vogels die met storm wel vliegen. Maar bij een echte hevige storm schuilen [...]

:[http://wenwen.sogou.com/z/q145038794.htm from http://wenwen.sogou.com/] '''为什么鸟儿下雨的时候在天上飞不会因为淋湿掉下来?''' 刚刚下很大的雨,却还看到有几只鸟一直在天上飞.为什么鸟儿下雨的时候在天上飞不会因为淋湿掉下来? '''补充'''：有照片的加分

:[http://forums.speedguide.net/showthread.php?147357-Where-do-birds-go-when-it-rains from speed guide forums]: '''Where do birds go when it rains?''' Do they just sit in their trees as it rains getting drenched? Or do they seek shelter?

:[http://books.google.com/books?id=c9gTAwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false from Google books]: '''Where Do All The Birds Go When It Rains?''' By Misty Hoopman

:[Screen snippets begin to noticeably fade to white at this point.]

:[http://vimeo.com/54433164 from vimeo]: '''WHERE DO BIRDS GO WHEN IT RAINS?''' One young magpie will give its own story. Barring the thunder and heavy rain, all the sounds on this movie are from this one young maggie. Amazing

:[https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071130121113AA0IjwA from Yahoo! Answers]: '''Where do birds go during wind and rain storms?''' Where do birds go during wind and rain storms?

:[https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080609181529AAid1nN from Yahoo! Answers]: '''Where do birds go when it rains?''' I mean, they can't keep dry in their nests...They have to go somewhere.

:[https://id.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101215231444AAAVxSM from Yahoo! Answers]: Burung Dapat Bertahan Terbang Berapa Lama Disaat Hujan?

:[http://www.vogel.info/schlechtes_wetter.htm from vogel.info]: '''Was machen Vögel bei schlechtem Wetter?''' Zunächst mal, was sie nicht machen: Sie verkriechen sich nicht etwa in ihr Nest, denn das Vogelnest dient der Brutpflege, es ist nicht etwa eine Wohnung. Es stellt sich aber ja auch die Frage, was eigentlich unter schlechtem Wetter zu verstehen ist: Es gibt Vögel, die leiden unter zuviel Sonne und[...]

:[http://www.gutefrage.net/frage/wohin-gehen-voegel from gutefrage.net]: '''Wohin gehen Vögel?''' Hallo zusammen! Heute als es so richtige Gewitter gab, hab ich mir überlegt wohin alle Vögel verschwinden. Haben alle Vögel Nester in die sie sich zurückziehen können? [link to view complete question.]

:[https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080808130433AAE8b3B from Yahoo! Answers]: '''Where do birds go when it rains?''' Well, yesterday it was raining...I was bored so i started staring out the window, and i say a empty birds nest and i was wondering, where do birds go when it rains?

:[http://diolungroup.com/blog/2014/02/19/where-do-birds-go-when-it-rains-or-snows/ from Diolún Designs Blog]: Where do Birds go when it rains or snows?

:[http://www.andalusiastarnews.com/2014/04/05/where-do-birds-go-when-it-rains/ from The Andalusia Star-News]: '''Where do birds go when it rains?''' I haven’t fed birds in my back yard for a long time, but I still enjoy the few I see perching on top of poles, an electric wire, tree branches, or scooting across the [...]

:[http://besgroup.blogspot.com/2006/12/where-do-birds-go-when-it-rains-and.html from Bird Ecology Study Group (blog)]: '''Where do birds go when it rains? And what do they do then?''' It has been raining on and off these few weeks and the birds have not been around. Have you ever wondered what happened to them when it

:[http://matome.naver.jp/odai/2136533586764388601 from Naver Matome]: '''【雑学】暴風雨の時、鳥はどこに避難してるの？''' 人間が歩くのも困難な暴風雨。その時、一番影響を受けるのは空を飛んでいる鳥達ですよね。彼らはどのように風雨を凌いでいるのか？ずーっと気になっていた事を調べてみました！

:[At this point, at the bottom of the section, screen snippets are extremely faded.]

:[http://dailyapple.blogspot.com/2010/01/apple-431-birds-in-rain.html from The Daily Apple]: '''Apple #431: Birds in the Rain'''
:Forgot until late tonight that I meant to make a new post. Since I didn't leave [...]

:[https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20140522193215AAawPNF from Yahoo! answers]: Where does birds go when it rains?

:[A bird sits on a wire fence.]

:[The bird looks around as raindrops fall.]

:[The rain becomes heavier.]

:[The bird flies down to a phone on the ground.]

:[The bird lands on the phone. The rain is getting heavier.]

:[The bird pecks on the phone.]
:W... H... E... R... E...   D... O...   B... I... R... D... S...

==Notes==
<references/>

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Weather]]

User talk:Kynde

2023-06-03T07:06:59Z

Memo Spike Connector: Reverted - Thanks for support

== Cueball references ==
Hi, please do not remove the Cueball references here. He is a standard character. The category [[:Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] gives just an overview about all comics showing this stick figure. And just one is him, not defined by Randall but by us. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:10, 8 May 2014 (UTC)
:But who should define who Cueball is? You? I could see him as both here. And somebody did. You have just corrected back so that the Cueball in the explain is switched to the other charachter in the transcript. At least one of these should then be changed to match the other. It is thus also clear that people have different views of what Cueball stands for. Is he the one trolling, or is he the one who knows which movie Blade Runner is? [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:35, 10 May 2014 (UTC)
:By the way - I did not remove the reference to the chategory - but only in the text as described above. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:38, 10 May 2014 (UTC)

== Minor tags on edits ==
Also, a minor concern, but please be more sparing in your use of "minor" tags on edits. Addition of 1200 characters (e.g. . . m Talk:1496: Art Project‎; 20:04 . . (+1,240)‎ . . ‎Kynde, or . . m 1497: New Products‎; 19:12 . . (-419)‎ . . ‎Kynde →‎Explanation: It does not fit into category four! See new test. I also deleted a lot of text, that already was written below, and was basically the same as the one stille) is NOT minor. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 21:22, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
::When adding a new comment to the talk page I newer see this as a major change. This i a discussion not a change to the explanation!. I do not believe it was a big change removing the text you wrote, when all of it basically was written below. Try and read your version, and see that it was more or less double. Also I had already once removed the reference to the fourth category. If the guy has signed up he have no problems with this company. Also it is mentioned that the fourth category is not a company he is afraid off, but just someone they do not like. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:42, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

== Thank you ==

I like what you did at [[1402: Harpoons]]. Thank you. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.153|173.245.54.153]]
:You're welcome - I did it based on your comment [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 03:41, 2 August 2014 (UTC)

==[[980: Money]]==
Hey, you've done an amazing job on the money comic's transcript, but the explanation page is still marked as incomplete. Is there actually anything left to be done on it? Thanks! [[User:Davak72|Davak72]] ([[User talk:Davak72|talk]]) 03:04, 3 April 2015 (UTC)
:Thanks allot. I have replied on the Money page where you repeated the above. I can even remember the number although it was some time since I did the transcript. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:44, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

== Merge Cueball & Rob ==

You seem to have changed some comics in which formerly more than one cueball appeared to make it such that none were called cueball (e.g. Orb Hammer). But many persist, see transcripts in:
http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1405:_Meteor
http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/192:_Working_for_Google
http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/525:_I_Know_You%27re_Listening
http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/187:_The_Familiar
http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/79:_Iambic_Pentameter
http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/65:_Banter

We should probably seek broader consensus before rewriting all these transcripts. There seems to me to be a general trend to name one "Cueball" and call the others "Friend" or somesuch in these cases and I'm concerned that you seem to want to singlehandedly rewrite all that convention. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 21:07, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
:It is typically the first who writes the transcript who decides who of the Cueballs (or Megans) he feel represents the real Cueball. However, there is no real behavior of Cueball. So who should decide. I could also change these transcripts so it becomes the other character who becomes Cueball, because I think the first transcripter did it wrong. This was exactly what happened with the two Megan-like comics. First it was Megan and Danish. Then unidentified girl and Megan. Then Megan and unidentified girl, then two Megan like girls with short and long hair and finally you reverted it to my first ide: Unidentified girl and Megan. So thanks for showing me these six double Cueball comics. I will change asap. And as I answered your comment on [[1496: Art Project]] Rob is already listed as part of the category for Comics featuring Cueball: http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Comics_featuring_Rob and this is listed as the first entry when going to the page for Category:Comics featuring Cueball: http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Comics_featuring_Cueball Thus he should not be merged--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:21, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
:: Can you please add this discussion here [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#Merge_Cueball_.26_Rob]. I have refrained from making these sort of substantial changes and want to seek a broader consensus. Please use the community forum to seek such consensus before making major unilateral changes like that. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 21:24, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
:::Done with interests --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:02, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
:: there are dozens of multiple-Cueball comments. Please don't change them to "man 1", "man 2" until we can reach a braoder consensus. I will not be changing them to "Rob" without consensus. This is not something to be done all at once and making that many changes will prompt me to request that an admin freeze your account. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 21:27, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
:::I was about to write this before your comment no. two. So this was a reply to your previous comment: "I can post it there, but these changes has been underway a long time for almost a year. But it is hard to find these comics as I do not go through them just to find incidences. How long have you been active in xkcd. I can see your page has been created today, but maybe you were active long before that?"--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:42, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
::::This is a comment to your next comment: "It is very hard to threaten someone like that already. I have been making these changes before, and by the way never to man 1 or man 2. I have been one of the top contributers for more than a year. I hope this is not just because I reverted one of your contributions to Mondays comic? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]21:42, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
:::::I didn't want to threaten. I think consistent style is important, and general style I see is in multi-Cueball comics, one is ID'd as Cueball and others are "Friend", etc. Anyone unilaterally changing an established style should seek consensus first.
:::::Additionally, I think your undo on my edit actually improved the explanation.
:::::Finally, if you know how to solicit more opinions on the matter at hand, please let me know (or do it). Thanks! [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 23:53, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
::::::Thanks on the edit appraisal. As I wrote on the talk page, yours was also much better phrased the second time. I do not know how to get anyone to go read your comment except by giving them the message like you did with me. Or putting a link to it from the talk page of the double Megan comic, and maybe on some of the double Cueball comics too. I did not understand the "solicit more opinions" at first (why I wrote that last part in my comment below "how many will read"). So you do realize, I can see now, that not many will. By the way I'm [[Danish]]... That is, I'm neither a mean girl or a pastry cake, but from Denmark. And although I'm, really good at English for everyday use, it is not by far a language I can understand everything. But suddenly I got your message.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:10, 12 March 2015 (UTC)
My only point is we need to wait until consensus is reached before undoing years of precedent in Cueball naming. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 22:38, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
:Well as I have made fairly clear there is no consensus. Because it is up to the first one who writes the transcript to decide who is the friend. And this often leads to discussion or changes forth and back (like we just saw with two Megans) since people have different opinion on how Cueball should behave, since they do not know that Cueball can behave anyway Randall needs him to. Often he reflects Randall's intelligence, but just as often he is a prick behaving horribly towards girls etc. So if there are two, one good and one bad, you cannot say the good one is Cueball. And how many do you think reads your post? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:43, 12 March 2015 (UTC)

I have had a look at the comics you have listed. Here are my comments:
*[[1405:_Meteor]]
**Here I would have changed - since it is believed that Cueball often represents Randall's version of himself - especially when it is his hobby. Of course it is then Randall who is pedantic, and thus Cueball. So I would change the Cueball reference. So here we could have a stupid editing war, instead of writing something else.
*[[525:_I_Know_You%27re_Listening]]
**Here there is only one Cueball speaking. And the other is listening in. So here I would no object so much. Maybe I would mention that the other looks like Cueball.
*[[192:_Working_for_Google]]
**Here I would have changed - since I would think that Cueball should have the most interesting story, and also that this Cueball is Randall as it is known that Randall has an interest in Google and has also been cheated by their aptitude test (so much that he did the famous [[356: Nerd Sniping]]). So also here I would change the Cueball reference. So again stupid editing war, instead of writing something else.
*[[187:_The_Familiar]]
**Here I would have changed - since I would thing that Cueball should be the one always interested in computers. Not the other way. I know there are other comics where he enjoys nature. But Also a lot where he enjoys computers out of hand and math etc. So again I would have changed the Cueball reference. So again stupid editing war, instead of writing something else.
*[[79:_Iambic_Pentameter]]
**Here I agree with the Cueball = Randall - it's Randall my hobby and thus the one with the Hobby is Cueball. But I would still prefer they are not named. some might argue against me on the hobby, saying the Cueball with the hobby is "Randall" so the other Cueball is "Cueball". Thus once more editing war. But I would not start it. But still probably mention that the Cueball with a hobby is Randall.
*[[65:_Banter]]
**What can I say. The first is called Cueball the other is not. They have the same amount of text, and they are obviously both gay and missing out. I would definitely loose the Cueball reference here.
That is my ten cents about these six examples. Maybe we should create a category called multiple Cueballs. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:02, 12 March 2015 (UTC)
:Note that I have not changed any of these... yet. But maybe I should revert those three I think is plain wrong, so the Cueball and friend is changed. Then we can see if anyone changes back? ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:02, 12 March 2015 (UTC)

:::I advise waiting. If you want to enact 4, go for it, but then put in the discussion a [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#Merge_Cueball_.26_Rob link] to our discussion for '''all''' the changes you make so hopefully someone besides you and me goes to that page and weighs in.

To answer your question, I've read xkcd for years (I started reading regularly around the time there were ~500 total comics), lurked on explainxkcd and made anonymous minor edits for most of that time. I set up an account in July 2013, when I began making more regular edits.

I recognize that the issue has a large amount of inertia. My point is precisely that there are 9 "Rob" comics and countless Cueball. But, as I stated on the page, there is ample evidence that the same character (Black Hat's friend/roommate, Megan's boyfriend) '''is''' named Rob. I haven't done a count, but I suspect that "Megan" is named in the comic fewer than 9 times, but characters of her appearance are '''all''' called "Megan".

Yes, multiple Megans triggered the idea that's been brewing in my mind since someone (not me) made an anonymous comment on a relatively recent Rob comic [1168: tar]. Since I read that it's been sitting in my mind, but I haven't wanted to make an issue. However, the asymmetry between Megan/Cutie and Rob/Cueball grates for me and I want to urge the community here to evaluate critically whether it is the right thing or an inappropriate historical artifact. Years ago, [Cutie] was abolished (redirects now to [Megan]), I think it's objectively appropriate to make a symmetrical arrangement for Rob/Cueball (hence my options 2 & 3 in the public discussion thread).

For now, if you want to go changing all those comics go ahead. I won't argue or revert, but I request that you put the following (or something close to it) in the discussion of all the comics you change "I've removed the name 'Cueball' from this and several other comics that have multiple Cueball's in them as per my position on the issue currently under discussion at http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#Merge_Cueball_.26_Rob if you support this change or disagree with it, please weigh in on that discussion thread."

Thank you and I look forward to hearing from more users. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 00:04, 13 March 2015 (UTC)

::::Dear Djbrasier
:(By the way my name is Kynde - that is both my nick and my middle name).
:Thanks for this very open talk. I like you much better now ;-)
:If I do change any of these I will do as you ask. It is not like I have forever to do these changes, although I for sure use too much time already on explain... I think I will add the category:Comics with multiple Cueballs. What do you think of the name if I do (and if I do then maybe also make one with Category:Comics where Megan is named Megan. Please tell me you can think of a better name for that one ;-) I only know of the three now mentioned on [[Megan]]s page.
:As you can see om my page, I have only used explain xkcd since late 2013. So you have been member longer than me by some months. I did not read xkcd before that - became fascinated with the What if section on xkcd and when I finished with those I turned to the comic. But found that I failed to understand quite a few, and thus searched and found this page. I have read them as they come out since then, and then also began reading from no. 1. But since I always look in this page for the explanation and like to contribute I only progress very slowly. Recently I have reached [[540: Base System]] where I have made several improvements additions and corrections. And that is as far as I have reached reading straight fro no. 1. But I have of course used the cross referencing and thus read many in between that and those from October 2013.
:Regards Kynde --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:02, 13 March 2015 (UTC)

::Happy to have the discussion and to get to wiki-know you. I definitely see your points. I added a few comments and links to our public discussion in the hopes that, over time, it will attract more users to the community portal discussion. I suspect it will take some months for enough users to weigh in that we have a reasonable consensus. I think that if you remove "Cueball" from some of the comics you mentioned above and put a link to the portal page in the discussion block of those comments, that will prompt community input.
::Cheers,
::DJ [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 13:40, 13 March 2015 (UTC)

I also added incomplete tags to a few comics in which I think a strong argument can be made that "Cueball" is really Rob, despite his name not showing up (Boombox & Cover-up) [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 13:49, 13 March 2015 (UTC)
:Well I disagree again. See the talk pages. But then it is out for discussion.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:19, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

I have changed several of the Multiple Cueballs comics as you said was OK with you. See the new caregory. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:41, 16 March 2015 (UTC)

== xkcloud permalink usernames ==

You said "The user name and user picture stay the same though.", [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1506:_xkcloud&diff=prev&oldid=88207 An Anon] had mentioned that [http://xkcd.com/1506/#post/3c34fb48-1a07-51d2-a81d-5257a3681024 3c34fb48-1a07-51d2-a81d-5257a3681024] had the name "Lauren Ibsen Dolores Amit" and changed to "Margaret5", then by the time I looked at it, it had "Virginia2006". It still has "Virginia2006" now, but since it has changed twice I wouldn't assume it is now permanent. Due to this, I [[1506:_xkcloud/Table of Permalinks|haven't been saving the usernames]]. Could you confirm that you see Virginia2006? Perhaps it's different for each user. -[[User:452|452]] ([[User talk:452|talk]]) 21:09, 6 April 2015 (UTC)
:Yes I did see Virginia2006. I think it may change some times, but then suddenly it could become stable? The permalink used on the main page of the explain, was mine. I noted it was Mark Zuckerberg. But this has changed. But now I think it is stuck on: Destiny1983 and always with the skating "Megan". Can you confirm this: http://xkcd.com/1506/#post/50b47c70-3a7c-504d-bcc0-60597338e999 . Cool that you have collected all these images. Can we put the link under the permalink section. As you can see I'm trying to completely revise the page so it is easier to find the explain and then only see the detail if you are interested. Hope you like these changes --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:27, 6 April 2015 (UTC)
::Yeah, I see Destiny1983 on that one too. I like the changes, they make everything much clearer. -[[User:452|452]] ([[User talk:452|talk]]) 21:30, 6 April 2015 (UTC)
:::Thanks. I was trying to make it easier to write some extra info on your permalink page, and deleted most of them. Luckily they are not deleted permanently. But the page is so big I have trouble loading it. I try to repair my mistake, but else please do so for me, and sorry in advance. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:45, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

::::NP, <tt>&action=history</tt> is a life-saver. I was going to suggest using <tt>&action=edit&section=0</tt>, but I see you've already added a description heading. It also lags pretty badly for me so I expect I'll have to stop at 10000, and I'm already up to 8444 since my last edit to the page. -[[User:452|452]] ([[User talk:452|talk]]) 22:20, 6 April 2015 (UTC)
:::::Yes I think I fixed it but I had to split it in three uploads. How many different pictures do you think there are. I guess some off them are the same? (And same for text). Maybe the last part can be seen by sorting the table. But does the image also have the same name when used more than once? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:33, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

::::::Well, I know of 1419 unique images so far. Yes, both images and text are reused for different permalinks, some come up a lot more frequently than others. If you click the heading, you can sort by either image or text, which will group them together. It's kind of interesting to see different captions for the same image. If you mean the same username, I haven't checked. I also haven't checked whether the same pair of image and text ever appear together as different permalinks, I'll check that <s>eventually</s>, <s>later</s>, ''right now''... nope. I imagine the prompt never even ''suggests'' a caption which is already associated with an image. -[[User:452|452]] ([[User talk:452|talk]]) 23:27, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

::::::I hit the 2mb page limit at 10217 permalinks, out of the 15000+ I have found, so I've reduced the table to only show each image and text once. As in, ''either'' the image or text once, so there will be a couple of duplicate images and text. So what I said previously about sorting to see different captions for the same image no longer applies, but the page will be more manageable this way. -[[User:452|452]] ([[User talk:452|talk]]) 13:53, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

::::::: So you think that it will not be possible for anyone to add the same image to the same caption, because this caption will never again come up with this image or the other way around? I can see yo have removed the ? where they where something else like turtles... Nice. What about all the links below? Are they just the other 10.000 links not associated with a new image or caption, just a different combination? If so maybe this should be made clear. You could make a new section heading for them. Would it be possible to list them in any other way, or is this to save space? Alternatively you could make a new subpage with extra permalinks for further study. We of course both know that no one will ever read these again ;-) But nice work anyway. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:17, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

:::::::: So far, I've never found the same image and same caption, but I'll keep checking, as I'm still storing all of the information, just not posting the full list to the wiki now. The other links at the bottom are all 15000+ permalinks I've found, good point about making that more clear. It might also be a good idea to list them on another separate page to save space, but they're not for further study, as I have all the images and captions associated with them, there just isn't room to display all of the information, because it would currently take 3mb+. Regarding the symbols, I was previously pasting my javascript output into my text editor to format them, but now I have my script format them for me, so the symbols are preserved. - and it's also a lot easier for me. -[[User:452|452]] ([[User talk:452|talk]]) 14:29, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

:::::::: Well, I've hit the 2 megabyte limit again, so it looks like we'll have to put the table on one page and the list of links on another. Any suggestions for the page titles? -[[User:452|452]] ([[User talk:452|talk]]) 15:25, 23 April 2015 (UTC)
::::::::: You are crazy :-) My suggestion is that you create a new page called Table of Permalink (with the explanation at the top the same, but now linking to the old page, and vice versa for the old page to the new). Then let the list of permalink stay on the old page. And move the table to the new page. Finally, look at what pages direct to the old page, and redirect them to the new, only leaving link to the old page from the new one. The table is most important. The problem with your table is that it is too big for anyone to load... Maybe there should even be another page in between. Which is called - a selection of permalink. And then with link to the full table and links, with a fair warning about huge amount of data (Big data.). My explorer just went down trying to load the page (or maybe I'm just too impatient?) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:36, 24 April 2015 (UTC) (Ah, now it is finished loading...)
:::::::::: Thanks. I haven't tried it in internet explorer, but the table loads okay with Chrome on my laptop I bought 7 years ago. Now that the pages are split, it might load faster for you. -[[User:452|452]] ([[User talk:452|talk]]) 18:58, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

==[[1608: Hoverboard/Transcript|Hoverboard Transcript]]==

Sorry to ask about such a minor thing, just curious about why the man on the raised plateau can't be a woman. Elsewhere in the comic Darth Vader is seen explaining Steven Universe to someone. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.43|108.162.221.43]] 13:46, 3 December 2015 (UTC)
:Hi - it cold be. But to me it looks like a family. But to be honest I had not expected anyone to change it, and did not notice before I had copy pasted some text in from the document I write the transcript in. But hopefully at some time this family (or whatever) becomes part of the effort to explain the entire comic. My guess is that someone will know who it is - that they are from some TV series or movie. In that case it will become clear if it is (as I assumed) a family with mom and dad and two children or if it is a lesbian couple or something entirely different... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:02, 3 December 2015 (UTC)

::The family resembles the main characters of Steven Universe, a cartoon(the characters being three women and a child) The explanation page also lists them as such(Steven Universe and the Crystal Gems - (x: 551664, y: -567383). [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.64|173.245.55.64]] 21:03, 3 December 2015 (UTC)
:::Perfect thanks. Then is makes sense with the Vader reference. Is it the boy who is Steven? And is the low girl also a grown woman? I will look it up but thanks for answering. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:07, 3 December 2015 (UTC)
::::Fixed the transcript. Some of the link I put in, is not supposed to be there, but may be moved once they are explained in the main article.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:20, 3 December 2015 (UTC)

== Hair Bun "Girl" ==

Hi Kynde, I noticed you created the character page for "Hair Bun Girl". This naming convention is inconsistent with most of the other characters named here, e.g. Cueball, Ponytail, Hairy, et al. Beret Guy is a potential counterexample, but the words "guy" and "man" don't have the same relationship as "girl" and "woman". Partly for consistency, and partly for simple feminism, I'd like to open a conversation about changing the character's name please. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 04:08, 4 February 2016 (UTC)
:I think it is exactly the same as guy vs. girl. Hair Bun Woman is just too cumbersome. But if you can find a name like Ponytail that fits then by all means. Hairbun just doesn't do it for me. But I do not have any specific feelings for this name, I just found that she was used too often to not have a character page. So I will not take offence against you trying to find a better name through a conversation. Contraty to for instance Megan, which once was Cuetie (sexistick I think), it will not be so hard to change Hair Bun Girl's name to something else, but still she has just reached comic no. 20 so it is not easy to find all the references. Are you ready to do that job if you do get a new name for her? Because else it is just semantics --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:20, 4 February 2016 (UTC)
::Thanks, appreciate it. Yes I am ready to do the job. What would you recommend for next steps? Should I raise the issue at http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Coordination? [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 04:06, 7 February 2016 (UTC)
:::Your welcome, and good luck. Try to see [[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#Merge_Cueball_.26_Rob|this post]] regarding the naming convention of [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] which much to my joy did not end up in altering anything, but they were "old" names, Hair Bun Girl is new. You could post you suggestion there. And maybe make a note at the top of [[Hair Bun Girl]]'s page? (You can write Notice as a template just like the incomplete. Check out this [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Cueball&oldid=92611 old version of Cueball page history]). Now that I think about it '''Hairbun''' is probably as good a name as [[Ponytail]]. So I would think that would be a decent proposal for a change. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:08, 7 February 2016 (UTC)
::::Okay, process started. Thank you for the good wishes and guidance. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 04:31, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

=== Girl With Hairbun? ===

I have identified several comics that have a girl (clearly a child) similar in appearance to Hairbun.
Examples include [[1104: Feathers]], [[1352: Cosmologist on a Tire Swing]] and [[1370: President]]. Would these people be included under Hairbun? Most of them are not marked as such. And what are the requirments to make a new character? I think this girl has appeared rather often. {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.42}}
:Hi. If you look at the description for [[Hairbun]] it clearly states that she is an adult as are Ponytail and Cueball etc. So no, these examples should not be included in Hairbun category. If you look at the last entry on the talk page of President I suggested a children category. But I would agree that a category with curious girl or science girl could be relevant. She is also in [[1611: Baking Soda and Vinegar]] for instance. If there are about five comics that could go in a new category it is just to create it. The naming is important though. See othere categories for what to write on the category page. I have made several including Hairbun --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:12, 27 May 2016 (UTC)
::Thanks for your input. I think I will be creating this category soon. Since most of the names seem to refer to the hairstyles (they are recognizable) I think I'll be going with the name "Double Bun Girl".

== Marking edits as minor edits ==
Hey, I noticed that you mark lot of your edits as minor edits while most of them aren't. For example, [[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1645%3A_Toasts&diff=112997&oldid=112996 this]] and probably [[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1645:_Toasts&diff=next&oldid=113008 this]] too constitute as a minor edit, but these - [[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1645:_Toasts&diff=next&oldid=112997 [1]]], [[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1645:_Toasts&diff=next&oldid=113003 [2]]], [[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1645:_Toasts&diff=next&oldid=113009 [3]]], etc. aren't minor edits. Refer to the wikipedia guidelines for minor edits - {{w|Help:Minor_edit}}.
::Examples include typographical corrections, formatting and presentational changes, and rearrangements of text without modification of its content. A minor edit is one that the editor believes requires no review and could never be the subject of a dispute.
Basically, if you are adding/removing even a little bit of content, it is not minor. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.216|199.27.130.216]] 23:31, 21 February 2016 (UTC)

Oh, and how in the world is [[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Thing_Explainer&curid=16286&diff=113034&oldid=113033 this ]] and [[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1608:_Hoverboard&curid=16986&diff=113019&oldid=113013 this ]] minor !! [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.216|199.27.130.216]] 23:47, 21 February 2016 (UTC)
:Sorry about that. I just updated my settings where it had been set to default: "Mark all edits minor by default". If I by mistake click OK to an update before clicking that off it was to late. But now it will be the other way instead. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:19, 22 February 2016 (UTC)
::Cool, no worries. It happens. I was just surprised that everything was marked minor. Anyway, keep up the good work. I see that you're finishing up all the incomplete explanations and improving comics in general. Great work ! :) [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.216|199.27.130.216]] 01:04, 23 February 2016 (UTC)
:::Thanks for the support, nice to get some feedback. Also great that someone mentions when you are doing something the wrong way. I had only limited experience with wiki pages before signing up here, and I had not read the wiki page on minor edits, but now I have. How come you have chosen not to have an account? Seems like you also make several comments and changes... which is great ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:11, 23 February 2016 (UTC)

== Please create the discussion page for today's comic. ==
Thanks. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.13|108.162.221.13]] 15:02, 7 March 2016 (UTC)
:Well just did that (for [[1652: Conditionals]]) but not because I saw this comment, just before. I guess it is not possible for no registered users to create pages? Well I fulfilled your wish before I knew about it ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:05, 7 March 2016 (UTC)

== Moving comments around ==
Please do not move people's comments into unrelated discussions without asking them, and if you do, make sure the timestamps in the reply chain aren't out of order. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 20:36, 23 March 2016 (UTC)
:I expect you were referring to [[Talk:1659: Tire Swing]]? Well all comments I moved were regarding the same question of who the girls looked like, and they should have been posted as replies to the first. There were no time stamp on the first comment and your post asking if they were children were posted straight under a post about if they were Megan and Hair Bun girl or Thelma and Louise. So I do believe your comment belong under that statement. But fine by my that it just stand beneath instead of being indented. The time stamp of all comments seem to be in time order as I see it. It would get really confusing or I would have to make the same reply three times if they were not together. The comments in between were not at all related and there should be no confusion. So I think it made the discussion page much more useful what I did.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:52, 23 March 2016 (UTC)
::Well I don't know about the other users, but I know for a fact that mine wasn't in response to the first one. I don't even know what the first one said, I just moved it from the explanation to comment page. And mine was posted immediately after it because I was chronologically the second comment made. I had no reason to wait (interestingly, you moved someone else's comment so that I was replying to it, even though it didn't exist when I posted.) [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 00:41, 24 March 2016 (UTC)
:::I cannot see that what you say is true about moving your comment. I just checked the history and here is what I found: 
'''This was what it looked like before my changes:''' 
--- 
the women do not look like Megan and Hair Bun Girl to me, are they new?
sorry for commenting here, but I do not have rights to create a new page, which seems to be necessary for posting the fire comment. Will move once the comment section is created.

I think they are Thelma and Louise (from the movie) given the looks of their hair {{unsigned|Chichak|March 23, 2016}}

I think they're children [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 15:33, 23 March 2016 (UTC)

Maybe they got the truck from Black Hat's garage? [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 15:34, 23 March 2016 (UTC)

I have yet to use a tire swing that was made from a worn tire (worn by the road not by swinging). From my experience, expired tires used by automobiles typically have sharp metal protruding from the rubber. This would make a dangerous tire swing. I thought landscaping (rubber mulch) and playgrounds was the preferred recycling method for used tires?--[[User:R0hrshach|R0hrshach]] ([[User talk:R0hrshach|talk]]) 15:35, 23 March 2016 (UTC)

The first one certainly looks like Hair Bun, but the second one (which in in the explanation is presented as Megan) has a somewhat curly hair. Could she be another character, perhaps? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.166|108.162.218.166]] 17:05, 23 March 2016 (UTC)
 --- 
'''This what it looked like after:''' 
--- 
the women do not look like Megan and Hair Bun Girl to me, are they new?
sorry for commenting here, but I do not have rights to create a new page, which seems to be necessary for posting the fire comment. Will move once the comment section is created.
:I think they are Thelma and Louise (from the movie) given the looks of their hair {{unsigned|Chichak|March 23, 2016}}
::I think they're children [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 15:33, 23 March 2016 (UTC)
:::The first one certainly looks like Hair Bun, but the second one (which in in the explanation is presented as Megan) has a somewhat curly hair. Could she be another character, perhaps? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.166|108.162.218.166]] 17:05, 23 March 2016 (UTC)
::::As the tire comes from a truck and it's diameter is more than half the height of these small girls they are definitely kids (not that Randall could not have made adults make a swing as like in [[150]]). Also this makes it much more funny that they both stole a car and beat up an angry adult. And now they are going all environmental after wards. So they are not Megan (which looks nothing like a curly haired girl) and also not Hair Bun Girl as it is defined that these characters are adults. There are many stories using kids and they will never represent Cueball, Megan or Ponytail etc. Those with hats are for instance never drawn small! Have thus corrected the explanation. But it still seems to miss much more on the environmental issue which is the subject/point of the comic if not the joke --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:19, 23 March 2016 (UTC)

Maybe they got the truck from Black Hat's garage? [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 15:34, 23 March 2016 (UTC)
:Then they would have lost the fight: [[433: Journal 5]]! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:22, 23 March 2016 (UTC)

I have yet to use a tire swing that was made from a worn tire (worn by the road not by swinging). From my experience, expired tires used by automobiles typically have sharp metal protruding from the rubber. This would make a dangerous tire swing. I thought landscaping (rubber mulch) and playgrounds was the preferred recycling method for used tires?--[[User:R0hrshach|R0hrshach]] ([[User talk:R0hrshach|talk]]) 15:35, 23 March 2016 (UTC)
:I think you are correct. We have one for our kids (though it sucked and we took it down again) and that was a brand new tire, but not one I think would be suitable for any car though. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:22, 23 March 2016 (UTC) 
--- 
'''As can be seen'''
:::I have only moved one comment up, and that was not yours! That you did not check that there already seemed to be two comments above yours, about the appearance of the girls, doesn't mean that it would not make sense to pool all these questions and comments regarding exactly this topic together to give just one answer. And as you can see from the above '''I did NOT move your comments''', but I moved someone else's comment, in between the first and second of your comments, to be able to reply to all four things already written about the girls (ie. 1) The women do not look like Megan and Hair Bun Girl to me, are they new? 2) I think they are Thelma and Louise (from the movie) 3) I think they're children and 4) ... a somewhat curly hair. Could she be another character?) All that was what I replied to, now possible to do in one go right beneath all four remarks. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:47, 25 March 2016 (UTC)
::::There was only one comment before mine, and it was 2 paragraphs. You moving the second half into a reply of the first half caused some of the confusion here [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 06:54, 26 March 2016 (UTC)
:::::OK now I understand, so it was not your comment I moved, but the previous comment that I split in two (that was a mistake). That you did not answer to the comment above was of course not clear since it was on the same subject. Again this, as I understand it, was caused by someone posting a comment in the explanation, and you moving it into the comments section (which was fine, but made it hard to find out who posted what.) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:58, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

== Gardening ==

You mention "three links to images that did not work" in my "garden store for deer" entry. [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:UploadStash/thumb/13xmd97bimg0.n2wbws.5455.png/739px-13xmd97bimg0.n2wbws.5455.png These]
[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:UploadStash/thumb/13xn667h2jlw.jonmk1.5455.png/739px-13xn667h2jlw.jonmk1.5455.png three]
[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:UploadStash/thumb/13xod68rb29s.7fj65u.5455.png/739px-13xod68rb29s.7fj65u.5455.png links]
all work for me; they are images I tried to upload, scaled as large as the server would allow (739x461). Somehow I can upload images but not create image pages (also the spam protection is still triggered, so creating this account seems to accomplish nothing). It's very strange that the server has stored them but won't allow anyone else to view them (after logging out, it tells me I "must be logged in to upload files" instead of displaying the images). Someone should rescue the images from wherever they reside on the server.

The "face" I referred to (the second image) is really a cluster of leaves and branches: the bottom cluster of the rightmost tree looks like a head in profile, with curly hair, an eye, a grinning mouth, and a prominent nose. The two rightmost trees started with no branches (first image), but grew several when I placed a light above them. I moved the light so the face wouldn't be destroyed and tried to grow branches on the lower trunks. The third image is essentially the same as what you uploaded today.

Regarding Megan's office furniture: I'd actually pruned her second wand whenever it appeared, and then the bird took its place. [[User:.42|.42]] ([[User talk:.42|talk]]) 15:29, 8 April 2016 (UTC)
:Hi .42 First I think it take a few days (three) before you are allowed to create new pages to fight off spam boots that we have had problems with. I cannot see you images I get the following message:
:'''Internal Server Error'''
:'''This file (13xmd97bimg0.n2wbws.5455.png) doesn't belong to the current user.'''
:Cool that you have logged in as a user, although poor name ;-) On the other hand if you are a fan of Hitchhikers Guide then I guess it would be cool enough by the way. I'm happy to see that I finally get a chance to prune some of my gardens after several upsets since the comic came out. If I can help you with the images let me know. Maybe you can post them somewhere else and I can find upload them for you? [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:34, 8 April 2016 (UTC)

::I'll try to upload tomorrow, then. I don't know where the server found the .42 IP address — that isn't my address! It's ''really weird'' that it chose this number. [[User:.42|.42]] ([[User talk:.42|talk]]) 16:18, 8 April 2016 (UTC)

Have you seen libra's [http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=114415&start=480#p3954408 purple light] gardens? [[User:.42|.42]] ([[User talk:.42|talk]]) 22:58, 11 April 2016 (UTC)
:No I had not. I like the stilt on platform up in tree. I did not know this could happen. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:24, 12 April 2016 (UTC)

== [[1703: Juno|NASA versus the press]] ==
Hi Kynde. I'm afraid I disagree. It seems pretty clear to me that the question about the tip-off comes from NASA. I've added a topic to the talk page, where I explain my reasoning, and where this should be discussed if you still disagree. Thanks! [[User:Garik|Garik]] ([[User talk:Garik|talk]]) 16:52, 6 July 2016 (UTC)
:Yes I still disagree. To me it seems like a continuation of the conference and it is now the press to speak. And given that I knew Juno to be related to Jupiter but not that she was the daughter of Saturn (and given the reason for the naming in the real world) I would not say that the name in any way would lead anyone to take it as a hint for going to Saturn. But great to discuss it. Will post this on the [[Talk:1703:_Juno|talk page]] too. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:21, 6 July 2016 (UTC)

== 1712: Politifact ==
Hi, I'm the BOT and I'm BORG...

...nevertheless your enhancement to the transcript was too much. And I think your enhancements to the explain section is also overrunning the target.

But I just only did revert the transcript. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:19, 28 July 2016 (UTC)
:HI BORG... :/
:I Highly disagree with your changes.
:A transcript serves several functions:
#To make it possible to find out what any text/characters reads, even if it is hard to read in the comic.
#To make a description of what happens in the images. This has two purposes:
##So people with eye disabilities can find out what the comic is about. So here a full description of the comic is needed apart from the text.
##So it is possible to search the comic for info on the content, like a woman with a hat with a white tag.
#Finally it is great if the transcript represents the way it is written in the comic as close as possible including colors (which should also be described in the text for those that cannot see them selves). So tables, colors and formatting is fine. If the text then is harder to read it is possible to copy paste it.
:I can see there may have been a bit of explanation in that I wrote about what Megan did in the previous panel, but that is not enough to just undo the whole thing.
:I will reinsert the transcript and if you disagree then lets discuss either on that comic or in a general fora on what a transcript should contain.
:Regards, just Kynde. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:16, 29 July 2016 (UTC)

== Follow-Up on that "Random Chat" ==
Hey dude! Uh... wow this is awkward. You said hi to me in the random chat on my user page. I said hi. Then we never said anything else to each other again. xD --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 16:07, 25 October 2016 (UTC)
:Hi Jay. Not so awkward. :-) I mean you just said thanks, and thus did not really initiate any chat. Do you have anything in mind? Like something to be improved here on explain? Something larger maybe that could need discussion. Or anything else... Problem is of course that when I chat to you here, you do not get any reminder like when I chat on your page and visa versa. So I will make a post on your page that I have answered here... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:04, 25 October 2016 (UTC)
::Well, by that, I just meant a simple random chat. Like a "hey! how are you doing? that's nice... what do you like to do in your free time..?" kind of chat. --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 14:18, 26 October 2016 (UTC)
:::Ah well, I guess I would not really like to have such a chat on these pages, so sorry that I misunderstood you. ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:19, 26 October 2016 (UTC)
::::It's alright.. also.... HAPPY HALLOWEEN! :D --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 14:41, 31 October 2016 (UTC)
:::::Wow... it's (almost) a whole year since then. Time sure flies by, huh? --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|'''JayRules''XKCD''' ]][[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|what's up?]] 12:34, 9 October 2017 (UTC)
::::::Yes that is true. Actually more since the first contact ;-) Haven't been so active the last half year. :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:22, 11 October 2017 (UTC)

== [[1751: Movie Folder]] ==

Assuming that Black Hat only has good movies is rather absurd, as there's not a shred of evidence to support this. Especially since this is Black Hat we're talking about. Therefore, there's no evidence that Titanic 98 is about the ship hitting the reef, and therefore, the calculations about stacking 97 ships have no relevance. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.79.81|172.68.79.81]] 15:06, 1 November 2016 (UTC)
:Since this is relevant to a specific comic, I suggest that you just leave this comment on that specific comic's discussion board. Thank you. --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 15:13, 1 November 2016 (UTC)
::Yes that is true Jay. Anyway there is reason to believe that Black Hat either thinks or teases Cueball with his movies, and thus he suggest that the movies he has are god. Also the other comment he makes suggest this. So I think there is a lot of evidence that this movie 98 is one in the series of movies where Titanic hits the reef of older Titanics. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:05, 2 November 2016 (UTC)
:::Cueball names 7 movies, Black Hat replies to 4 of those. He has definitively positive things to say about 2 of those, and simply states information about another. In that context, there's no reason to assume his comment about the Titanic series should be interpreted as a claim that he considers Titanic 98 to be 'good'. And with only 2 of the other 6 known movies in his collection being stated as 'good', that's clearly not "a lot of evidence" that Titanic 98 is 'good'. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.86|108.162.237.86]] 21:24, 3 November 2016 (UTC)
::::Well we disagree on that then. If the explanation should be changed on the basis of this discussion it should be moved to the relevant discussion page. If it is the same person who wrote from both IP .81 and .86 you could move it there your self. Feel free to include my replies, but leave out Jays as that has nothing to do with the discussion. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:56, 4 November 2016 (UTC)
:::::[[Talk:1751: Movie Folder#Titanic XCVIII|Done]]. (Yes, .81 and .86 were me) --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.86|108.162.237.86]] 16:57, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

== Transcript TLDR; ==
*I got so tired of Dgbrt's negative comments (TLDR;), that I have collapsed them here below. Fell free to read them if you really wish by clicking: --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:00, 14 March 2017 (UTC)
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed leftAlign" style="width:100%">
 
Please stop to write this massive texts into the transcript. Have a look at the discus at the last (1798) comic. And also think about that you are the only one who is entering those massive explains perhaps also nobody does read. LESS is often MORE! --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 11:43, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
:Maybe. I was under the impression that they where both there for those that had problems with vision, and also so you could search on something you remembered from a comic and find it using that tool. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:27, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
::Even visually impaired persons don't like it (see 1798). And TLDR means "too long; didn't read", just in case. You should consider this. Reading the transcript should not take much longer than identifying the features from picture itself. Every spoken text and a short description what is shown should be suffice. At [[1799: Bad Map Projection: Time Zones]] even not every county must be mentioned; showing differences to a regular map projection should be enough because everybody knows a regular world map. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:44, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
:::I completely disagree about only writing spoken text. The transcript is intended to make it possible to read all text in the image not just spoken text. It is often difficult to read all text, and also if people misread it or do not notice it by looking at the image, it will be there to find in the transcript, especially for those visually impaired. And what you said means there should be no transcript for the current comic [[1799]] where you linked to this discussion from. By the way I know what TLDR means, and also did not ask about it, if you noticed! I have seen it used here before, probably regarding something you wrote! ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:33, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
::I agree with Dgbrt. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 12:50, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
:::I expect mainly people who agree comes here, as people who are not troubled by it, might not care enough. ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:33, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
::::The first criticism was done by a visually impaired person (Zetfr 23:11, 13 February 2017 (UTC)) at [[Talk:1798:_Box_Plot]]. That was the reason for me to start this discussion.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:52, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
:::::Yes thanks for pointing that out. I had not read his comments when I replied before. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:13, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
::Another reason for detailed transcripts with image descriptions is that sometimes people have misunderstood what is in the image, and then a transcript can be used to make sure what is there. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:33, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
:::All that may go into the explain section; it doesn't belong to the transcript.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:52, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
::::Yes maybe, but will the visibly impaired not also be annoyed about it there. Then maybe in a trivia section if there is need. I will try that for [[1798]] I think. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:13, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

Maybe not known to all. In the past Randall provided a transcript on each comic. It is in a hidden div-tag. Then something went wrong and the transcript actually belonged to an older comic. Right now there is no transcript anymore. But have look at this example (shown on https://xkcd.com/1664/ for https://xkcd.com/1662/):
<pre>
[[Two children, a girl and a boy, are talking to an adult woman as they walk away from her. The boy has a bucket.]]
Girl: Me and Jack are going up the hill to fetch a pail of water.
[[The children have left; the woman calls after them.]]
Woman: Okay, have fun! [[The woman stands and thinks.]]
Woman: ... wait. What the heck is going on with the hydrology around here?
{{Title text: Jill and Jack began to frack. The oil boosts their town. But fractures make the bedrock shake and Jack came tumbling down.}}
</pre>
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:07, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
:Yes I tried to include this on explain xkcd by making a [[xkcd#Transcript_on_xkcd|description]] of it on the [[xkcd]] page some weeks ago. Transcript are of course even more important now that there are no longer transcripts on xkcd. The first problem arose after the [[Hoverboard]] comic where the transcript for all comics after that was shifted two and later three comics from the one they belonged to. The last of those shifted transcript ended with [[1674]] whose transcript was found three comics later at [[1677]]. But also comics with transcript needs a better transcript here on xkcd, to include other written text, and small important details, as well as we are using given names for characters which Randall has never used (or only rarely uses). Actually Randall has once made a direct link to Explain xkcd for a better transcript. Alas there was not transcript until this year, where I made it: See this [[Payloads#Trivia|trivia]] under [[Payloads]].--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:16, 17 February 2017 (UTC)

I'm glad this discussion is finally taking place. I raised the point a while back on [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#purpose_of_detailed_transcripts the community portal] but nobody noticed. I tried again on [[1795]] but attention had already moved on to the next comic... Seems I got it right this time ;-)
Different people may have different uses for the transcripts. For me, being visually impaired, the right level of detail is that of Randall's official transcripts. It should include every written word in the comic (spoken, printed, in captions, etc.) and just enough information on what's going on to "get it", but not how things are drawn. E.g. "Cueball is talking to Megan", not "Cueball, on the left, has his right arm extended towards Megan who is sitting on a chair" (unless the chair somehow plays a part in the story). Imagine you're talking on the phone: "hey, I saw a great comic this morning, here is how it goes..." and then "tell" yor friend the joke, rather than "describe" the comic. BTW, I think this also serves your goal of being able to search old comics for a specific element. The element you'll remember will be something important to the comic's story, not a graphical detail such as a character's position or the number of lines drawn around his hand to indicate movement. Anyway, thanks for the good work!! Zetfr 16:18, 16 February 2017 (UTC)
:Thanks for the input, especially to Zetfr. I had not seen your comment on 1795 or in the community portal. I'll have a look, and thanks to Dgbrt for letting me know about your latest comment. I will try to keep out the details in the transcript. For me personally I have often been looking for a specific thing, like searching for the comic where Cueball stands on a chair with a sword or rotates in an office chair. As I could not remember any lines spoken, and because those making the transcript had not mentioned either spinning office chair, or sword, I could not search my way to them even in this explain page. I have found them later, but by chance. And then I put in the details. Maybe I have gotten carried away, so sorry about that. I think the details somehow belongs, but if that should be in the trivia, or at the bottom of the transcript...? I'm not sure, which was also why I put it in the transcript. Being the one who makes the most edits and also hard work (large tables, and huge transcripts) I'm happy Zetfr likes the page :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:09, 17 February 2017 (UTC)
::I have changed the transcript for [[1795]] putting the details into a subesection of the transcript. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:38, 17 February 2017 (UTC)
:::Hi Kynde, I still disagree with this subsection solution. You don't have to repaint the picture by text! If a detail is important for understanding a pun it has to be mentioned in the transcript itself; otherwise it is useless and oversized. E.g.: Nobody wants to know -- and wont remember later -- if there are two, three, four, or five sound symbols and how they are painted. The single word "SOUND" describes all. And please consider: Nobody reads those long texts. LESS is often MORE!.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:04, 17 February 2017 (UTC)
::::Hi Dgbrt. We can movie it into a trivia. I think some of it is relevant, and sometimes it is hard to find out which part will be searched for later. But I guess we two alone would end in a [[1800: Chess Notation|½-½]] for this discussion so far... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:41, 17 February 2017 (UTC)
:::::I completely agree with Dgbrt. The transcript should say *what* Randall wants to tell us, not *how* he tells it. In most cases this should also work to let you search for details you remember. In your example, Cueball holding a sword is certainly important to the comic's point, so it should be mentioned in the transcript. But the length and position of the sword are irrelevant, and probably not what you'll search for. Obviously, there is no hard rule to decide what should or shouldn't go into the transcript, it's a matter of personal judgment and common sense, but I think we can all agree on general guidelines. Regarding the "Detailed image description" section tested in [[1795]], I have no problem with that. I'm not sure it will ever be useful to anyone, but it won't do any harm either, so if you're willing to put in the extra work, go for it. Zetfr 12:17, 18 February 2017 (UTC)
::::::Thanks Zetfr. About the extra details, they could be put into a section where you had to press to see the extra details. I do not know if a reader will pass over that. For instance like I have done with explanation for several categories like [[:Category:New Year]] --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:12, 18 February 2017 (UTC)

Nice find for [[1461:_Payloads]], I didn't now Randall refers to this wiki. According to ''web.archive.org'' that hint was entered between 2015-01-25 and 2015-02-07 and refers to the entire wiki page, not only "our" transcript. So it's absolutely NOT embarrassing as you wrote in the trivia section. I'm setting an incomplete tag for the transcript and trivia section and edit it tomorrow (18th Feb). I will let you know what I've done and why. Stay tuned...--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:59, 17 February 2017 (UTC)
:The rework on [[1461:_Payloads]] is done. But I didn't remove the incomplete tag. That's up to you. Like Zetfr I'm not sure it will ever be useful to anyone, but the larger description on a separate page would be acceptable to me. Furthermore I've done some investigations on Randalls links to this wiki and put it together in a new category: [[:Category:Explain_mentioned_by_Randall]].--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:57, 18 February 2017 (UTC)
::Thanks both for the "nice find" and for reworking Payloads, and especially for the new category. Great find. I will look at the other examples soon. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:12, 18 February 2017 (UTC)

Many thanks by me for this positive and productive discussion. It seems there are some more former transcripts which need a rework. I personally will focus on checking all the JSON-scripts I downloaded today (1799 at all; ofcourse 404 doesn't exist; and exactly seven contain the word "explainxkcd"). I will write a small script to put them into a human readable form and present it somewhere here for further use. Stay tuned... --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:45, 18 February 2017 (UTC)
:Thanks Dbgrt. And really cool how you made that new category. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:14, 18 February 2017 (UTC)

== [[xkcd]] page and subpages ==

You moved some contented into subpages which doesn't make it better. There is no need to describe in [[Design of xkcd.com]] a layout everybody can see. The lemma "Design" requires just a few lines of text but you repeat all the "Content". And just for interest: Before the redirect to https was in place (a few weeks ago) there was language specific advertising for the shop. I'm looking forward for a better and more compressed form on all of this. Any suggestions?--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:07, 24 February 2017 (UTC)
:Hi Dgbrt. My reason for making this page, is that the links, the comics, the headline, the byline, the warning etc. all changes with time, and I would like users of this site to have easy access to earlier links. Just like we have a category for the fotter comics (which I by the way did not make, but enjoyed, because I never thought absolute that he must have had them before all those five comics had been published and that they thus must have changed). So I thought similar things would be nice to have for changes to the layout and hence I decided to describe it. Maybe it was too much, but I like to have the archive links to changes. And since I had already done lots of work on this, I just copied all the new text to another page, to not delete it. And yes as I have said on Davidy's page I should not have put it on the xkcd page to begin with. But when I started I had no idea it would end up soooo long. Waiting to hear your comments on this info, before going further with suggestions. But thanks for asking. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:16, 24 February 2017 (UTC)
::All those pages are on my agenda; your edit or not. I don't care. But I will not delete any content without an agreement. I will present something in a sandbox at my user page. You are welcome there (not before tomorrow). And consider, this wiki is not a backup for archive.org.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:56, 24 February 2017 (UTC)
:::I think this wiki is for explaining xkcd, not just the comics. I believe you agree as I have seen on Davidy's talk page. And major changes or important revisions to the main page is important in my opinion. For instance I'm sad to see that the [[xkcd warning]] has gone from xkcd, and think it is important to let it be know it was there for many years. Where to do so? And how to find it if you did not know about it? There need to be a place that links to it, directly or indirectly through the xkcd page. I look forward to see you [[Time|sand castle]]. :-) Please leave a comment here when you have something you wish me to see, with a link. Regarding you answer to my comment, I meant that I would hear what you had to say before I came with suggestions. Not that you should not do anything before I made one. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:08, 24 February 2017 (UTC)

== I am still calm... ==

...why I shouldn't? You see things inspiring others to see more things... (<- you would wrote 500 words for this) and you are still not able to put the pun on the top of an explanation. Keep your focus on the pun, not on every Million possibilities behind the drawing. And you can be sure I will have an eye on this because this is NOT "dreamingxkcd".--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:15, 4 March 2017 (UTC)
:Well I'm not! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:09, 7 March 2017 (UTC)

== Aggressive edits ==

While I was talking to others about the explanation and the transcript for more than 24 hours you need only one hour to change everything that was discussed before. Again all red is yours: [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1810%3A_Chat_Systems&diff=137245&oldid=137225 1810: Chat Systems changes]. Editors, mainly not me, don't like it when all their work is changed after you finished your edits. Please respect other editors! --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:50, 14 March 2017 (UTC)
:I do not change everything. I add. But we are obviously not going to agree on this. I would prefer not to discuss with you. How do yo know what the others like or not. In the discussions we have had I found more against your way of communication than against my edits. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:57, 14 March 2017 (UTC)
::Massive changes and you call it add??? So tell me your adds and explain how all they other changes happened. I will add a sentence to the comic discussion because it's senseless here.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:14, 14 March 2017 (UTC)
:::Yes it is. And it is a real shame that you have decided to know how this wiki should be. Hope that Davidy soon tells one of us to back off. If it is me then I will have to take it into account. So far he has only had nice things to say to me about my work here, which is not what I have seen regarding your work. Have you read the other users that calls your tone negative/aggressive or even worse? I have really tried to speak nicely to you, but you never seems to accept any edits I do. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:21, 14 March 2017 (UTC)
::::Your "Citation needed" template add to my text is just one example for what I call aggressive. Hiding four paragraphs is an other.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:09, 14 March 2017 (UTC)
</div>
 

== Possible Issues with Updating Old Comics ==

I know you spent a lot of time making edits to many older comics, so I thought you might have some input on one that I'm thinking needs a change - 38 Apple Jacks. I noticed you edited it a little a couple years ago. It's the one where the father tells his son they don't taste like apples, and his son tells him off.

The title text description says it appears to be another case of Randall explaining the comic to readers who don't know about the old commercial, but I think it might be the father telling the son why he was saying that to him. I think it's worth at least adding, if not totally replacing the current description, but I see you had previously added to it during your edits.

How would you handle that type of change, if it were you? [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 21:38, 3 April 2018 (UTC)
: Hi Ianrbibtitlht
:I disagree with the idea you have. And my reason for that is based in the original quote from Randall when posting this comic to live journal where he asks:
::"Who else remembers those commercials?"
::See the comics [[38:_Apple_Jacks#Trivia|Trivia section]].
::To me indication that since no one did, he added the explanation in the title text.
:The son dismissed his father completely, and I do not think the father goes on.
:And since many of xkcd's readers may not know the reference he explains it in the title text.
:He did the same with the title text in [[30: Donner]], which is what is refereed to in the title text explanation. I have added links between these two examples. There may be more.
:Of course you are free to add an alternative explanation, and see if any one notices enough to complain about/remove it. ;-)
:--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:57, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

::I appreciate the feedback. I don't feel strongly enough to modify it at this point but thought it might be an added insight that nobody had thought about! ;-) [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 14:57, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

:::Thanks for asking, by the way. ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:46, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

== Need help ==
A few things. Several people have mentioned that ReCAPTCA v1 has expired, and something needs to be done about that. But no one has replied to the admin forum, so not sure what is going on. Are there even any admins still here? Seems like they've all disappeared. And should we create a new forum for questions and things like that? And if all the admins have left, should there be like more admins or something like that? [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 07:51, 8 April 2018 (UTC)
:Hi
:I haven't any idea about ReCAPTCA and Im not an admin. But yes if there is no one that replies it is a problem. Davidy is the obe I have had discussions with but he did not reply the last two times I wrote. Don't know if DGBRT with the BOT has any knowledge that can be used. Try those two. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:30, 9 April 2018 (UTC)
::FYI, we still have admins here and there will be a major update soon at one of the next weekends. BTW, I prefer it in lowercase: dgbrt - like xkcd--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:16, 16 April 2018 (UTC)
:::Thanks for the info dgbrt, and it sounds greawt. (Your signature is with capital D but that is maybe just as the username? I will use dgbrt from now on). --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:08, 23 April 2018 (UTC)

== All is red again - you changed everything according to the diff ==

Hi, look at [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1981%3A_Rickrolling_Anniversary&diff=155913&oldid=155905 your edits] and tell me how someone can see what you have changed. Please keep your changes to smaller parts.

And beginning an explanation with a youtube link which even doesn't work in some countries like Germany is also not a god start to an explanation. I'm referring to your edits above. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:27, 16 April 2018 (UTC)
:OK, sorry about that. I will try to make smaller changes. The link was not one I put in, I just moved it to the beginning to rickroll someone - it was a joke... Of course if the link did not work I can understand why you did not get Rickrolled. But the link had already been included in the explanation before my edits. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:24, 18 April 2018 (UTC)
::Thanks for your understanding, "all is red..." was the reason why I started this section, the video link was meant as a minor remark and that it doesn't work in Germany is even less important for the explanation.
::But I didn't understand your joke. So what do you think about changing all the internal links like [[Cueball]] to rickroll the readers - of course only less important links.
::BTW: Around 2009 and some years later the German GEMA Mafia tried to block all music content until they got the money. Even dashcam videos from the meteorite incident in Chelyabinsk were blocked when you could hear something from the radio in the car. This has changed and newer uploads are now available to me (including Rick). --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:02, 18 April 2018 (UTC)
:::The joke was that this comic was about rickrolling and the link was to the ricrolling youtube video... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:30, 19 April 2018 (UTC)

I just tried to make several smaller changes, and it was much more difficult to me, with the risk of making mistakes... But have a look at this then: [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1982:_Evangelism&action=history Evangelism history].--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:45, 19 April 2018 (UTC)
:I like that but the development of this comic explanation is funny and not a typical one. Many vast changes were done after your comment here. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:01, 21 April 2018 (UTC)
::Well happy you do. Most of the changes were improvement, but often based on or improving parts I had edited (well I had edited most parts ;-) What I meant was that some of the good changes only came about because of the changes I had done in the first place. Still seems we need a citation for primates opening at the "wrong" end though? {{unsigned|Kynde}}
:::You know I'm a fan of short explanations just covering what's in the comic. And in [[1982: Evangelism]] there is no "wrong banana end" mentioned. It just mentions "the other" - which is of course always "wrong". The title text then indeed refers to a schism in Europe - the Americans weren't much developed by that time (excepting the natives).
:::BTW: My major workload here right now is working on the health of this wiki. You probably haven't seen my latest comment five days ago just a section above. We will get an update soon. Stay tuned.
:::BTW2: You have forgotten to sign your comment ;)
:::--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:19, 21 April 2018 (UTC)
::::Yes we are not fan of the same type of explanations we have covered that. I believe that the majority of humans do peel the banana from the opposite end of that cited (without citations) to what primates do... I'm not sure there is any year for the schism in Europe so who knows how developed the US was at that time. Bananas is a rather new thing in Europe I believe!
::::And no I had not seen that comment, probably same time you posted this comment thread? But sounds great! Are you an admin now? And do you have any contact with Davidy... He went off the xkcd explain grid long time ago.
::::I have amended my mistake and will sign this time ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:12, 23 April 2018 (UTC)

== You blanked the page [[1996]] ==

A you can see [[Talk:1995: MC Hammer Age|here]] "I decided to let it stay there as it is but on Monday that redirect will AND must be overwritten in the meaning of a comic number." That blank page isn't better than my decision. Beginning on Monday the number 1996 MUST be used for navigation (i.e. Comic Number) and nothing else.

Other future comics will be: 1999, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2038. That's all!

All those future comics (by number) - beginning with 1996 on Monday - AND that older ones (by name) should have a disambiguation line on top when the comic number overrides that name.

The problem is the logic at this wiki. While at xkcd the number and name have different meanings and navigation is only done by number it's not true here. While <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/1996</nowiki> will lead to the next future comic and is unique the link <nowiki>https://explainxkcd.com/1996</nowiki> could mean number OR name. We also use the number for navigation, so the abbreviation in the meaning as a comic name can not be supported for those eight comics. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:58, 19 May 2018 (UTC)
:Hi DBBRT
:I first saw your comments after I had blanked it. And I thought it was better to avoid confusion over the weekend. So I did not return it. I think it could be better to already now remove those page re-directions for the comics you mention now, to avoid confusion on all those numbers... A lot of those the next 20 comic or so. We already had a similar situation with [[1337]], because of the LEET comic series. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:15, 23 May 2018 (UTC)
::Read my future comic list above, it's only seven. And the blank page confused some users also. Nevertheless I will change the comic template, navigation to the right will not be shown when the target is greater than the LATESTCOMIC. The BOT will update those redirects anyway. I just prefer some tests at home to figure out the best solution before editing here. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:53, 23 May 2018 (UTC)
:::Well, I think 7 times confusing in 20 comics is a lot, but I can read that you are working on avoiding it, so that is great. I'm very impressed by your bot, but then again I have very little programming experience and it was back in my days as a PhD Student around 2002... (Pascal...) Great you have made it and keep improving it. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:06, 25 May 2018 (UTC)
::::Thanks for your kind words. I still don't understand the 20, it's only seven comics and I've changed the global comic template so that this is SOLVED now. There is no link to [[1999]] in the navigation bar today. But on Monday my bot will update that page in the meaning of a comic number and the right navigation in [[1998: GDPR]] will be shown. FYI: I'm a professional programmer. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:04, 25 May 2018 (UTC)
:::::Must have been unclear. I meant that over the next 20 comics, there would have been this issue 7 times i.e. about once every week, and I found that it could have caused confusion a lot in those 7 weeks. But now you have solved this with you prof. programmer skills. ;-) So there is no longer any problems. Great work. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:04, 27 May 2018 (UTC)
::::::Thanks for your kind words. And I've done more: Embedding pictures from Commons works again and it's now also possible to change the size. See my latest edit here [[1400: D.B. Cooper]] which uses this statement <nowiki>[[File:DBCooper.jpg|thumb|150px|Cooper]]</nowiki>. That image is not uploaded here, click at it in the comic and you will see. I've mentioned this in the Community portal. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:07, 27 May 2018 (UTC)
:::::::Cool. I'm not sure how this works. Looks at first like the image is on the local wiki but I can see it is not so. But how does this works. Can you write the "File" formula for any picture name on commons and then get it embedded here like that? It is beyond my computer skills :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:02, 28 May 2018 (UTC)
::::::::When the picture isn't here it's searched on Commons. When it's found it's only cached at this wiki. In general it works like a local file. This did already work in the past until it was broken. But now we also can change the size, play with that 150px in the preview. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:15, 28 May 2018 (UTC)
:::::::::Thx --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:08, 28 May 2018 (UTC)

== Why you still focus on that SAD comics? ==

I focus on all edits done here and your edits are minor (there are much more edits here needing some attention), nonetheless I would be happy to find a solution on that ''sad'' thoughts are in your mind. I respect your thoughts, but that trivia at ''[[1756: I'm With Her]]'' really dohttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/User_talk:Kyndees not belong to that comic at all. It was deleted before, you reverted that -- by not reading or ignoring the discussion page -- and I just want to prevent an edit war. Furthermore I removed your statement about "trolls" at the discussion page because that's not polite.
*And now
**I start
***with
****your layout
*****You see???
Try to write full sentences without bullets. I'm hoping you understand my major two parts here. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:21, 27 October 2018 (UTC)
:Yes I did not read the comments. I was looking for the sad list, when I fond it missing. I saw through the edit and found the following comment:
::This "sad comics" list is utterly pointless and has no reason to exist. I don't regret deleting this waste. If anyone wants to keep it up, revert the edit, but make it readable, compact, and make at least one bit of sense. (Emojis? must be TRUMP!!?!one1!))
:I did not see any discussion there, and found it rude and also not done properly (with many links pointing to this section). So I just reverted it. It could be given its own page though.
:Regarding politeness I must say I did not find most of your comments on the talk page polite as I just read them. As you state "no one has criticized it before", so maybe it is just you, and now some years later a few guys that begins rambling on about it.
:As to why, I think it is quite clear that Randall was sad after the election. Maybe I took it too far, and it should no longer have been "sad", but about comics pointing to a political agenda by Randall. As Randall is on the move again with the mid term election coming, he has both a new political comic out, and has changed the header text with regards to registering for voting twice in a month.
:So I definitely still find it relevant. That has not changed just because two years have passed. What Trump does at the moment is even more disturbing than ever, and I'm sure Randall is thick and tried of it still! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:38, 29 October 2018 (UTC)
::PS. The layout was me trying to make a list of comics that was related to this issue. And with date and events listed as well. Maybe it can be done better, but I at least kept the format throughout. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:39, 29 October 2018 (UTC)
:::You always do this nested bullet lists. That's ugly layout. One bullet and one or two short sentences, not more. In most cases you just should simply omit the bullets and write full sentences. The page [[Design of xkcd.com]] is an other example for this bad layout.
:::But back to the main issue: Even jet you did not read the comments completely. Only after "A) Why does the sad comics list exist (see comment above)?..." I came in. And on 27 October 2018 I mentioned at least four incomplete reasons (the transcript was you).
:::So I recall: The trivia at ''[[1756: I'm With Her]]'' does not belong to that comic at all, and even at a different page the title would be wrong because most of the listed comics are NOT sad. Furthermore I don't know how you do know how Randall feels, he is just a writer and these are only comics.
:::There was a reason why David was against a category for sad comics, and this is still valid. This is the only reason why this section at the trivia of 1756 exists, be honest.
:::So my proposal is:
:::*moving the content to a separate page, either with a new title or only moving the "sad" content and deleting the rest
:::*using the link from the menu: "What links here" at 1756 ([[Special:WhatLinksHere/1756: I'm With Her]]) to fix the links to that part (mostly your former work) and maybe also change the text
:::The comic 1756 has to be explained mainly in the context of the time BEFORE the election. It was a campaign for Hillary Clinton, anything later done by Trump is irrelevant, besides that it has to be mentioned that the campaign wasn't successful. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:16, 29 October 2018 (UTC)
::::Well, I definitely know that the comment in here is mine. I did very much hate the list because, as mentioned in the talk page on the comic, the section was completely disorganized. It took up half of the entire page. As Dgbrt mentioned, the format you use is honestly really ugly, and I have to agree. The real problem that I found was ''after'' I posted the comment he quoted.
::::In that comment, I mentioned that it should have had its own category instead of being completely on that single page, which would have prevented it from the eyes of those who don't like this format. Alternatively, it could have been in a table, a format much more compact, several times easier to understand, and at least 12 octillion times less infuriating to look at.
::::The other mind-boggling and frankly stupid thing about the list, of course, was that you added '''''every. Single. Comic.''''' ...if it seemed to be remotely sad (and even if it ''wasn't sometimes!'') and tried to link it to the political situation and Trump. I, in that comment, presented two of the comics in a - admittedly more asshole-ish - way that you linked them like this. But that's the ''core'' of all of this drama. Hell, in multiple of the comics, you even said that no "big" event seemed related to the situation and simply just put it in because it mentioned the military or security. And even for some of the ones you did present a political event, the speculation that you presented for Randall making these comics was beyond 4chan with Smash Ultimate level.
::::Like I said in that comment, it isn't necessarily a political comment just because something big happened that day. Vomiting Emoji and Flag, the two I highlighted in my comment, have explanations that are just plainly absurd. Randall "expressing fear" that the moon would be gone before the eclipse was ''obviously'' a joke. Randall making a joke that has a flag in the picture doesn't mean he's going to rebel against the United States, make his own country, and science his way to taking it over just so that Trump is no longer the ruler.
::::I wouldn't have had these problems if the list weren't so outlandishly absurd, and combined with the fact that it clogged up the page with a lot of meaningless speculation, I felt pushed to just delete the entire thing. Yes, that may have been extreme of me, and I should apologize for being fed up, but I still maintain that a lot of the stuff on that list is bad. If it's presented in - again - a way that doesn't hurt to read or filled up with what it is, I would have not as many problems with it. But as it looks right now, just making the list collapsible doesn't remove the problem; it's like putting White-Out on a yellow test paper and saying that the question never existed, despite the fact that it's obvious that something is wrong. [[User:Halo422|Halo422]] ([[User talk:Halo422|talk]]) 04:05, 1 November 2018 (UTC)
:::::A bit complicated to reply now. But to Dgbrt I did not read any comments until your post here. I was pissed about the deletion of the entire section, and just undid it. As Dgbrt wrote it can only be deleted properly by also removing links that goes there. I'm not using the page that much at the moment, and do not read all comments. This is also why I first see your comments today.
:::::Dgbrt do you have any good idea for a page title? If it is only the first few comics that are clearly sad, could it then be called "Sad comics"? And should it be a page or a category? If we can find a solution for that, I will try to change it so it can be tolerable... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:01, 2 November 2018 (UTC)
::::::I'm honest: I vote for deleting that section. The main reason is that we don't know how Randall feels, whether sad or not. We just have comics, not an autobiography.
::::::If you still vote for keeping I only can see two possibilities:
::::::*Keep the title "Sad comics", move it to a single page (no subpage to any comic), remove most of the content, write a proper text instead of bullets, and start it like "Some comics may suggest the impression..." because your "...clear trend..." is nonsense.
::::::*Or, move everything to a separate page, but then I have no idea about any proper title.
::::::BTW: I've created a new category: [[:Category:Elections]], and as I mention here [[:Talk:2067: Challengers]] it still needs some work. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 11:06, 2 November 2018 (UTC)
:::::::I will think about the possibilities. And I did see your new category. Which is great by the way. There must be many of these from earlier years also?--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:09, 2 November 2018 (UTC)
::::::::I need help on this new category because I'm sure there is more. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 11:12, 2 November 2018 (UTC)
::I have now created [[Sad comics]] and moved the content from With her and tried to make the layout better. I do not agree with deleting the references to the other comics, but not they have been separated from the first four sad/negative comics. All links have been diverted to this page from all 16 comics. If there are other comics, not on the list, with link to that section I have not changed those... Many comics could refer to With Her for many reasons so I will not go through them all. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:55, 2 November 2018 (UTC)
:::You've done a big job, so thanks for this on the first place. And I can assure you that you always can find all links at the tools box "What links here", in this case when reading ''[[1756: I'm With Her]]''. I'm still not happy seeing comics like [[2064: I'm a Car]] linking to content titled as ''sad'', but that's up to other editors.
:::'''ProTip''': You should watch pages important to you, just activate "Watch this page" at the bottom when editing, or adjust your "Watchlist" at the top menu belonging to your personal profile. You will receive an email on every change. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:31, 2 November 2018 (UTC)
::::Yes I know about the links, but even though I have reverted the link to the sad trivia section, there may still be a link to the With her comic for other reasons. And there may even be links to the sad section from other comics not listed in my trivia, and I will not go through all pages referencing one of the controversial comics. I by the way highly disagree that we do not know Randall's political opinion. He has also endorsed Obama, so to day it is certain that he endorses the democrats vs Republican is a fact, not a guess. But you changed that on the new [[Challengers]] comic. I will not change it though. I just highly disagree with you on what is a know and what is a guess there.
::::Regarding the comics that are not sad it is not listed as being sad, that is only the first four. The rest is just listing comics that could have to do with Randall's political mood due to Trump and his politics.
::::I no longer have the time I once dedicated to this page... And hence I have taken e-mail alerts off, which is why I first noticed the deletion now. But I get e-mails on personal changes on this page. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:37, 2 November 2018 (UTC)
:::::While I'm still sure not knowing much about Randall's condition when his comics are published, I sense ''you'' are sad. I insist you should take a closer look on all your contributions here, which are much more than only this stupid sad stories. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:18, 4 November 2018 (UTC)

== I am still happy to see your additions here... ==

...you did edits I didn't like - and vice versa - but that's a war I don't like. And now I'm in a position in which I have to take care of all the health here, not only what's written.

Ironically: xkcd is also about sarcasm, the hell, shoooouuuuting on the hellll...

I will probably disagree on some of your future edits, but I don't have to judge this. That's up to others here.

So now I'm asking for help on a SMALL page introducing the memes used at this site. Like the Editor-FAQ I did. David did...not that much on that requests over a long time.

While I'm not sure about a proper title, this Wiki still leaks on a page simply showing the memes used here, linking to more specific pages, presented to evrey newbee.

--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:06, 16 November 2018 (UTC)
::Thanks.
::I'm not sure I understand the page you are talking about, or what type of memes you mean.
::Also as is probably clear I'm not using that much time on this wiki anymore. I'm not leaving it, I just do not have the time any longer. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:31, 19 November 2018 (UTC)
:::Oh, I'm also not sure, maybe just a title like "About". It often happens that new people asking questions like "Why is the mouse-over text called title text?", how character names have been developed here, and so forth. A simple page, mostly showing links with a small introduction to the more hidden pages you often maintain. New readers have simple questions we don't think about anymore, that's what I would like to present. But it seems I have to collect some more items on which you maybe can help. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:34, 19 November 2018 (UTC)
:::Ah I see. It was the meme part that failed to register. But a about page makes sense. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:37, 20 November 2018 (UTC)

== We got a final image ==

Emoji dome has a wonderful ending image. Do you mind putting it as the current explainxkcd image? [[User:Netherin5|“That Guy from the Netherlands”]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 18:25, 2 April 2019 (UTC)
:No it is perfect. I can see [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:emojidome.png someone already did], it has just not been updated on the front of the page yet. It will be before tomorrow. The other pictures should be collected on a extra page. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:56, 2 April 2019 (UTC)

== Removing all references to the Sad comics page ==

Hi Kynde,

I've expressed my intention to remove all references to the Sad comics page over at [[Talk:Sad_comics]], but I wanted to get your input too, since it is your page. Feel free to drop a comment over there if you want to contest this. [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 12:56, 13 May 2019 (UTC)
:Hi Hawthorbn. Thanks for alerting me. Did not follow the discussion page on Sad. I of course disagree. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:56, 14 May 2019 (UTC)

== 2196 ==
I mentioned this on DgbrtBOT's talk page, but I'm not sure Dgbrt saw it. Since you're an admin, could you help me with this?
# I uploaded the file, and it appeared in the page, but the link in the List of all comics page is still red. I think I messed up the upload, so could you delete the current file (the one I uploaded) for 2196 and reupload it?
# I created an incorrect redirect page [[Nice To E-Meet you]] (The name is incorrect, I forgot to capitalize the You). Could you please delete that page? Thanks!
[[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 00:52, 1 September 2019 (UTC)
:Hi Herobrine. No I'm not ad admin, just very active, and cannot do anything to delete pages. I can give it a look though cause I have created a few pages long time ago when the bot was not there/working. And yes seems like Dgbrt is not active at the moment. Lets see if it works again this Monday. As you can see [[User_talk:Dgbrt#DgbrtBOT_failed_2019-08-30|here]] I tried to write directly to him. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:38, 1 September 2019 (UTC)
::Can see you have created the page with [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Nice_To_E-Meet_You&redirect=no capital You] and I have now moved the image to a title with the hyphen in e-meet, which was missing in your original edit. So now [[List_of_all_comics]] works for the image as well. There are so many things which can go wrong, which is why we love out BOT. Hope it works tomorrow.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:46, 1 September 2019 (UTC)

== Category book promotion ==
Hi, you obviously know a thing or 2 about creating and adding categories, and like to do so :)
I feel like we could need a category about book promotion, with at least 3 comics related to how to and at least one to thing explainer (hoverboard, possibly also up goer five...), and myabe even others I can't remember right now. What do you think? --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 14:31, 3 September 2019 (UTC)
:Maybe more a list of comics that promote books. Not comics that inspire books, so no to Up Goer Five. But it could get special mention with mention of the category in that explanation as well. But I think we need to find more than 4, five is kind of a limit. Maybe there where something for what if? But I do not think so... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:37, 3 September 2019 (UTC)
::Looking at it again, we do have five :) [[Hoverboard]], [[2190: Serena Versus the Drones]], [[2198: Throw]], [[Disappearing Sunday Update]] and [[2194: How to Send a File]]
:::Well great. Do you have an idea for the category name? "Category:Book promotion" ??--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:54, 3 September 2019 (UTC)
::::Sounds good to me! --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 14:56, 3 September 2019 (UTC)
:::::Will you add that category to the comics? I can help create the page then. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:57, 3 September 2019 (UTC)
::::::Done --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 06:07, 4 September 2019 (UTC)
:::::::[[:Category:Book promotion]] page created and found another comic that promotes a book Randall has been involved in! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:40, 4 September 2019 (UTC)

== Broken Button ==
Hi Kynde, I've answered your question on my talk page. But I'll post it here just in case: I think you forgot to update [[Template:LATESTCOMIC]], so it would treat comic 2198 as 2197, hence breaking the button. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 22:55, 3 September 2019 (UTC)
:Thanks, DgbrtBOT has updatet it and now it works! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:40, 4 September 2019 (UTC)

== Thanks ==

I see you went through a few of my recent edits, and corrected them / replied on them / acted on them. Thanks a lot. Also, now I learned from your edits how subcategories work. Thanks also for that. :) (But, please try not to change the word typo to lupo in common use. I don't think it would be an honour :) ) --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:00, 11 October 2019 (UTC)
:I hope you could see the joke. Like when you fixed the fix? I also spotted you put a hidden joke . I will not make the same joke again. I guess it was also a kind of signature. I spotted that you where the most active last month. And was interested seeing what kind of edits. More or less I agreed with most... And cool with the spam fight. Do not use the same amount of time as I used to, but have been more active lately... Just became 2nd on all time activity list... Happy you both noticed and approved. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:09, 11 October 2019 (UTC)
::I could see the joke and I enjoyed it :) as I tend to make a lot of typos, it isn't even that far fetched to use my name instead ;). I usually visit the site a few times a day and start on the recent changes page, and check what has happened. That's also how I often quickly find the spam. The other thing I tend to do when I got some free time on my hands is use the "random page" button and find out if I can improve the place I get to. I also saw that you are progressing a lot in the all time list. Last month I even noticed you were in the monthly list at a score that would have put you in the all time top 50 on its own. Impressive! Have a good weekend. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 20:00, 11 October 2019 (UTC)
:::I'm also not native English speaker (Danish), and my grammar is probably horrible. Then it is great it is a wiki so others can fix that. I hope my additions are a plus. Have of course had rows with others, as can be seen above ;-) With some of the big one I think I have had months that would put me in top 20... (Not something I have checked). But with some of the comics where I added a lot of images, I will get a very high score as unique pages gives one point, and every picture uploaded is a new page. The amount of changes I have made puts me in nr. 1 spot, but that doesn't give much compared to number of pages visited. And please feel free to correct my typos. By the way I haven't even read all comics yet, since I have a hard time reading a new one without wishing to make corrections to transcript or explanations, so it takes some time every time I find a new. So between the first comic I saw when I found this page and then back from there there will be lots of comics I haven't even seen yet... Probably why you can find so many transcripts where caption below the panel has not been added (as it was I who began making this the way to write it). --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:46, 11 October 2019 (UTC)

== Category for Back to the Future ==

Hi, can you create a category for the film series ''Back to the Future''? To start, there is [[102: Back to the Future]], [[656: October 30th]], [[1477: Star Wars]], [[2104: Biff Tannen]], [[2193: Well-Ordering Principle]], and maybe others. Thanks, [[Special:Contributions/172.68.47.144|172.68.47.144]] 20:26, 31 October 2019 (UTC)
:Hi yes I can. And I did: [[:Category:Back to the Future]]. I added yours. Here is [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:Search&limit=50&offset=0&profile=default&search=%22Back+to+the+Future%22 a search string] that may help find more (for you to add). --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:31, 1 November 2019 (UTC)

== Deletion of small categories? ==

Hi Kynde! I posted this on the community portal, but it seems unresponsive, and since none of the admins have edited recently, you seem like the person to ask.
I count eight categories on explainxkcd that satisfy the following properties: 1. They have only three comics in them. 2. They aren't really a comic series; they just feature or reference a comic theme. 3. They aren't Featuring some person or character. In short, they seem to have no real reason to exist. (They're [[:Category:Spice_Girls|t]][[:Category:Wind_turbine|h]] e[[:Category:Ender%27s_Game|s]]eo[[:Category:FernGully|n]][[:Category:Giraffes|e]]s.) In addition, there are [[:Category:Sketches|t]][[:Category:BSD|h]][[:Category:Emacs|i]][[:Category:Identity_Theft|r]][[:Category:Katamari_Damacy|t]][[:Category:Super_Bowl|e]][[:Category:The_Matrix|e]][[:Category:Tournament_bracket|n]][[:Category:Traffic_light| ]][[:Category:Trebuchet|m]][[:Category:Wingsuit|o]][[:Category:Euler_diagrams|r]][[:Category:Pedantic|e]] four-comic categories that also satisfy these requirements. I know non-admins can't delete articles, but because of these articles' status, should I remove their contents and add them to [[:Category:Pages to delete]]? --[[User:Account|Account]] ([[User talk:Account|talk]]) 01:17, 12 November 2019 (UTC)
:Since I'm no admin just the most active over an extended period of time, I cannot really say what to do. Some of the categories I think has merit, I may even have created some of them. And there may be reason to expect more to come. But others I tend to agree. I think Randall has something with Giraffes and the Spice Girl spurt with three in short notice I think merits the categories. The other 6 with three I would not mind if they went away. But then there may need to be some links between those comics. Are you willing to make those? If you do then empty the categories, and put them as up for deletion. Most of those with four I would keep. I have NOT clicked on them all though, just read them here when I edited this response. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:56, 12 November 2019 (UTC)

== Category for Bees ==

Hi Kynde,

Can you add a category on bees, as a subcategory of [[:Category:Animals]]? I've found [[1259: Bee Orchid]], [[1186: Bumblebees]], [[2231: the Time Before And After Land]], [[2035: Dark Matter Candidates]], [[1692: Man Page]], and there are probably more. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.38|172.69.34.38]] 00:22, 22 November 2019 (UTC)
:Done [[:Category:Bees]]. Added your five comics. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:49, 22 November 2019 (UTC)

== New category - comics with store products ==

Hi Kynde, thanks for creating the new page for [[:Category:Comics with store products]]! (I was the one who added the comics to that category, but I didn't have permission to create a new page for the category itself, so I apologize for abandoning it like that.)

For the name of this category, I wanted to follow a similar pattern to existing category names such as "[[:Category:Comics from 2005]]" or "[[:Category:Comics with color]]". So for the name of this new category, I had considered some other more accurate names, such as "[[:Category:Comics upon which xkcd store products are based]]", or perhaps "[[:Category:Comics made into official merchandise]]"; but I felt that these new category names would be a bit too long, so I was trying to keep it more succinct than that. ...But now I realize that the current name I chose is not very clear, and might cause some confusion about what it's supposed to mean, so it was really a poor choice of words on my part. Do you have any ideas for a better name that we could use for this category? If so, please feel free to rename it, then I will go through all the comic pages where I added it, and update them to the new category.

On the other hand, in the edit-history of the [[:Category:Comics with store products]] page, I noticed in your comments that you felt it was maybe not a good idea for a category -- and I certainly understand that, so if you want to just remove this category completely, please feel free to do so, then I will go through and remove it from all the comics where I added it (so as not to leave any broken links behind).

Thanks for your help, and sorry for causing noob trouble!

- [[User:Yfmcpxpj|Yfmcpxpj]] ([[User talk:Yfmcpxpj|talk]]) 09:57, 24 November 2019 (UTC)
:Hi Yfmcpxpj
:First of all, the comment on my creation of the page, was because I did not understand the category. Store products.. I thought it was like with products bought in a type of store... First when I clicked on a few and saw your (?) comments that a t-shirt was based on this comic, did I understand the category. Think I wrote that in my next edit, where I linked to the store. After realizing that, I though it was a great category, although adding xkcd would probably help the understand-ability: "Category: Comics with xkcd store products"
:What do you say to that title?
:Regarding my ability to make pages, that is just because I have edited enough to get that right (I know I have edited more than any one else here...) But I'm actually not an admin, and I cannot delete pages. Sadly it seems the admins have left xkcd without replacements... So not one answers admin requests, and although I'm glad to help when I can, I do not have that many rights on the page.
:But true you may have asked for someone to create the page and also maybe ask for the title before creating it. I think I will be able to rename the page though, so if you can go through all the comics and correct the category there I would like to give it a try. (Do not do this before I have changed the name!)
:What do you say? And should I add the xkcd as suggested above?
:--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:14, 24 November 2019 (UTC)

::Yes, I like your title better, "Comics with xkcd store products" -- I think it is much clearer. If you can rename the category, I will wait for that, then after it has been successfully renamed, I'll go through and update those comics to use the new one instead. And sorry to hear that the admins have been absent -- but it looks like you are doing a good job of keeping the site maintained, so thank-you for that! - [[User:Yfmcpxpj|Yfmcpxpj]] ([[User talk:Yfmcpxpj|talk]]) 08:58, 25 November 2019 (UTC)
:::I have now moved the category page. You can find the list of comics that now need to be moved [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Comics_with_store_products&redirect=no here].
:::And the new empty category here [[:Category:Comics with xkcd store products]]. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:26, 25 November 2019 (UTC)

::::Thanks Kynde; I have moved the remaining comics into the new category. You mentioned that you don't have permissions to delete pages, so I wonder if the old page [[:Category:Comics with store products]] should be put into parent [[:Category:Pages to delete]] so maybe the admins will delete it? - [[User:Yfmcpxpj|Yfmcpxpj]] ([[User talk:Yfmcpxpj|talk]]) 08:15, 26 November 2019 (UTC)
:::::As the old Category redirects to the new one, I guess deletion is not necessary. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:31, 26 November 2019 (UTC)
::::::If no pages refers to the old category, and to avoid anyone putting comics in that category again, it would be nice to have it deleted. But I'm not sure anyone will do that at the moment. Davidy is long gone and DGBRT seems to be absent as well... I was once asked to be an admin but declined at the time ... Maybe that was a shame, but at least I still react when someone post on my page... But I'm not that active anymore, and have never looked much through the portal pages etc. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:49, 26 November 2019 (UTC)

== Banned from Conferences Category ==

Hi Kynde, you usually have a good feeling on how Categories should be described, etc. There was a (quite short) discussion on [[153: Cryptography]], to remove a portion of the explanation. Do you think that stuff belongs into [[:Category:Banned from conferences]]? Maybe you can chime into the "discussion" on 153. -- Regards [[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 14:24, 5 December 2019 (UTC)

== Edit summaries ==
Please use {{w|Help:Edit_summary|edit summaries}}; they are especially important for pages like [[:xkcd Header text]] that are infrequently monitored but have a meta-importance. Thanks. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 21:22, 16 July 2020 (UTC)
:I have more or less created the entire page from scratch. So I will not begin writing details every time I make a revision. But I use it for most other edits. I can see you care for BLM... Great, you probably know much more on this than I do. I made this page, to keep track of the header text, which was not explained on these pages. Sometimes it is relevant for a given comic, so great to have this place to write about it, and then link to it from the comics. The unfilled link was to help people wo may help editing this page, fill in when the header changed. I will do that now. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:37, 18 July 2020 (UTC)
::Kynde: I don't understand how your authorship of the page (from scratch or otherwise) has anything to do with whether you should be writing details of when you make a revision. But for sensitive topics, which BLM is, it is especially important for other editors to be able to carefully review changes. And when you make a large block of changes, like you did there on July 1, with 8 different edits, edit summaries are an extremely helpful tool for everyone else. So, again, the request is to please use an edit summary, ''especially'' when you are making multiple edits in a row, and ''especially'' on pages of meta-importance like [[:xkcd Header text]]. Of course, this is not Wikipedia, the rules here (such as they are) are relatively weak, and we all should coöperate. But if your answer is "I don't have to because I wrote the page first, years ago!" that doesn't make any sense at all. If your goal was to make sense, then I don't know how to respond. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 17:50, 18 July 2020 (UTC)
:::Well I shall try to be more careful around sensitive subjects. You are one of the first other than me to have edited the page. And one of the few that have added a new section. I just changed it into the same format that I have used on all the others. And did a revision now, and sorry I forgot to write what it was out of bad habit. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:57, 18 July 2020 (UTC)
::::I think the change you just made was…not great. See [[:Talk:xkcd_Header_text#Recent_BLM_edits]] where I give my opinion. But it is probably better discussed there than on your personal page, but I wanted to highlight it for you. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 18:04, 18 July 2020 (UTC)
:::::I have replied on the other talk page. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:28, 21 July 2020 (UTC)

== Nationality ==

What country are you from? [[User:Beanie|Beanie]] [[User talk:Beanie|talk]] 12:34, 14 July 2021 (UTC)
:Denmark. Why? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:15, 15 July 2021 (UTC)

== Forgive this IP ==
I just made a handful of edits to recent changes that you had made (may not have been what you changed, in all cases; it might have just been pre-existing errors and Recent Changes just drew me to them). I hope it doesn't look personal, especially from an impersonal IP that you can't easily talk back to. So I'm mentioning it here to try to apologise if it does seem that way. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.85|162.158.159.85]] 18:57, 28 December 2021 (UTC)
:Hi. Thanks for telling. Since your IP will change I cannot see exactly which changes you made, but cheeked on my last changes and saw some CE and minor changes. Only thing I disagreed with (not sure it was you) was that the Launch comic should not have been released on the 24th. Which it was in most of the US if not all. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:01, 29 December 2021 (UTC)
::(Most of the changes occured under roughly the 172.70.… range, as I recall, though you can see the above switched to a whole different class-B - entirely due to the internediary's whim (Cloudflare?) without my changing anything. I'm sitting on a different connection now, so all bets are off what ''this'' will appear as. ;) )
::I have no argument with Randall posting on the 24th (his time) as the Bot got there soon enough to prove it. But of course the rest of us (mostly Europe and beyond) had a different experience. Still before the launch (whoever checked for themselves in time), which I think a couple of my edits were about. Really not huge issues, just minor fixes. You're good with those things, I know from experience, just a courtesy note (that and this). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.22|172.70.86.22]] 22:42, 29 December 2021 (UTC)
:::Maybe not you who posted. But as you can see your IP is not the same in these two posts, so I can only assume you are the same person, but cannot guess which of my edits you have changed and which someone else changed ;-) Do you have a name other than 162.158.159.85 or 172.70.86.22 ;-) Why not get an account? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:29, 30 December 2021 (UTC)
::::I just can't think of a decent username. I tend to use different ones everwhere (and never my RL identity) and most of them were 'good ideas at the time' but when the inevitable "Why is your username what it is?" thread comes around it always seems my 'explanation' is laughable. All the above in this section (that isn't you) is me, BTW. Just added an indent layer I missed. I'm happy being (slightly unpredictably) changing IP, because I seek no credit (or blame!) for my 'insights' and my ego survives well enough on such fleeting moments of anonymous fame, I assure you. ;) And I don't mind when other IP-editors 'land' on/near what I just used, either, even if they're now completely wrong.
::::Not that I think Usernames are a bad thing in general for you and others (c.f. 4chan 'anon' culture...), I'm just happy that it's one less thing to worry about in my own case! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.73|172.70.85.73]] 15:04, 30 December 2021 (UTC)
:::::Well that is up to you. But then again it is hard to forgive an IP when I'm not sure what it has done or not. But as I could just see there where nothing needing forgiveness so we are good. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:15, 3 January 2022 (UTC)

== Do you get a healthy amount of sleep? ==
In recent days I see you editing very often and I just wanna make sure you get enough sleep because while you're doing amazing work, I am a bit concerned [[User:256.256.256.256|256.256.256.256]] ([[User talk:256.256.256.256|talk]]) 08:45, 6 January 2022 (UTC)
:Ha ha - thanks for both the concern and the praise. I'm from Denmark so if you look at the time stamp and think I should be sleeping, then maybe it is in the middle of the day here. I write this just before 10:00 AM here in DK. But actually I'm doing very little now compared to maybe five years ago. If you look at the [[Special:ContributionScores|ContributionScores]] at the bottom with the All time (Top 50), you will see that I'm number two. And if you look at number of changes I'm far ahead of number 2... So this is actually quite low level activity for me... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:53, 6 January 2022 (UTC)

==[[Countdown in header text]] image ==
You mentioned you'd help uploading the countdown wiggle gif, so [https://tobot.dev/files/xkcd-countdown here]'s a link to all the image stuff of the countdown. (Specifically, [https://tobot.dev/files/xkcd-countdown/full_animation.gif full_animation.gif] and [https://tobot.dev/files/xkcd-countdown/Countdown%20in%20header%20text%20Wiggling.gif Countdown in header text Wiggling.gif]).
Optionally [https://tobot.dev/files/xkcd-countdown.zip zipped], for easier archival. [[User:Toby|Toby]] ([[User talk:Toby|talk]]) 20:03, 31 January 2022 (UTC)
:Great thanks Toby. Will try to make it work. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:15, 31 January 2022 (UTC)
::It worked and I have replied on your new talk page and created your own page, in case you still could not. Feel free to change that now. Very happy with your work, both of the files. Thanks!!! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:28, 31 January 2022 (UTC)

== Purely to improve your knowledge of English ==

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/spacecrafts#English

i.e., as with vehicular "craft" in general (including aircraft, hovercraft, etc), the -s pluralisation is allowable but not considered standard. An oddity of the terminology that I don't actually know the reason for. I'm wondering could it be from our nautical heritage where singular craft were the rarity (a simpler version of how [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/aderyn sometimes the singular can be considered rarer than the plural]? Yet ships/vessels/etc don't succumb to that usage. Even if sheep and fish do! Anyway, while spacecraft are preferred, spaceships are indeed the synonymous alternative. IYSWIM...

Crafts, as in skillfully created works, ''are'' the plurals exactly as you'd initially expect. Woodcrafts, metalcrafts, etc. So I suppose those people who are shipcrafters might therefore craft many crafted craft, thanks to the various crafts they know, and then exhibit their crafts at a craft-fair. ((i.e "Boatwrights might construct many well-made (model?) ships, thanks to their skills, then show their creations at an exhibition of bespoke manufacturing.")) Crafty, eh?

Sorry, I seem to have gone overboard with the explanation. Throw me that lifebelt, please? ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.73|172.70.85.73]] 10:40, 10 February 2022 (UTC)
:Hi. Thanks. I'm not sure it will help, I'm not very good at spelling, even in my own language. But maybe I will remember this. I do not mind other people copy editing my posts. My idea is that if I write something useful other will make it better, and correct the errors. But if I do not write it, then it may be left out of an explanation. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:54, 13 February 2022 (UTC)

== THANK YOU!!! ==
Kynde - I have only just discovered this beautiful Explain XKCD wiki and am in awe - I saw that you have been a huge contribuotr for years and just wanted to say Thank You to you and team for this beautiful legacy of work! With it XKCD can be that much more of a portal into all the different directions Randall’s comics touch on and drift near.

I’ve been behind the scenes in wikipedia for years (so often painful) and love connecting with anyone else who is doing meaningful wiki work. I’m just stopping by here today on my way to *important deadlines* but intend to be back. Just set up my Explain editor account. Pop me a talk page note? Happy to plug in! [[User:DrMel|DrMel]] ([[User talk:DrMel|talk]]) 19:53, 20 March 2022 (UTC)

(Ps looks like I am not getting through the email validation steps - no email confirmation has yet made it to my email. I’ll check back later. On wikipedia I’m https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:DrMel

(pps - email validated! But i still dont have permission to setup my user page… so this time i really am going back to the Save-The-World work i am supposed to be doing!)
:Hi [[User:DrMel|DrMel]]. Wow, thanks a lot. Yes I have been very active on this page. I'm not one of the admins though, and sadly it seems this page is without any active admins, and that it has been so for a while. I guess I'm the best option right now. I have created your user page and talk page, so now you can work on the user page. Welcome to explain xkcd. If you have any questions regarding format or other things feel free to ask. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:38, 21 March 2022 (UTC)

== Nomination ==
I know you maybe don't want it, but see [[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Coordination#New_admins]] '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:08, 8 May 2022 (UTC)
:I have answered there and accepted the nomination. It is an honor. Hope I can live up to it. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:16, 10 May 2022 (UTC)
::Finally got the promotion from Jeff. Thanks. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:30, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

== Block User:Donald Trump ==

Can you block [[User:Donald Trump]]? He is another spambot, like the others recently: [[Special:Contributions/Donald_Trump]]. Thanks, [[User:Natg19|Natg19]] ([[User talk:Natg19|talk]]) 17:48, 26 May 2022 (UTC)
:Done--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:28, 26 May 2022 (UTC)

== you blocked a mobile phone (T-mobile) IP ==

You blocked “162.158.107.124”. The problem is, that’s a T-mobile IP that goes to whomever happens to get it. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.36|172.70.211.36]] 19:11, 26 May 2022 (UTC)
:Yes Im new to being administrator so sorry I messed that up. But think I [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Contributions/162.158.107.124 managed to undo it]? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:33, 26 May 2022 (UTC)

== Regarding your latest IP block ==

See [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User_talk:While_False&oldid=286101#Concision_and_clarity my note on this latest thing] that it seems like you were reacting to.
 In general, I don't think IP-blocking is very useful (false-positives get hit and false-negatives get round it, depending upon the vagueries of everything, and as an IP myself this is close to the bone for me) but there's potentially something going on. I don't know if you get to see what ''doesn't'' happen because of a block, though. Tricky one to get your head round. But thought I'd clue you in on what I'm thinking. Completely your decision on how you take it.
 Keep up the good work, BTW! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.15|162.158.159.15]] 12:59, 3 June 2022 (UTC)
:Just to add that [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=957:_Development&curid=4423&diff=286104&oldid=283524 this change] follows the trend I mentioned (type of edit + history of its apparent IP), and now undone. Not to overly pester you with this (better the Community Portal for that), just FYI. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.11|141.101.98.11]] 17:05, 3 June 2022 (UTC)
::I only block them for a week or 3 days, just to stop current spam, and thanks for the praise --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:02, 5 June 2022 (UTC)

== Sparing use of Talk-page section headers ==

Note that I added a ;-title (not an individually editable section's title), albeit first mis-tapping in the :-indenter instead by accident, but maybe you were a bit overzealous squishing out the ==editable== section-headers (the existing one and my own once someone had helpfully 'upgraded' it) in the latest discussion.

The advice given on the main-page, as part of the discussion-inclusion templating, is that new sections should be used ''sparingly'', not that they are not to be used. If anything, I was wrong to use a ;-title (to logically separate my contribution from the headered bit I was following), perhaps I should have inserted as a normal running comment above the newly broken-out section.

Not complaining, but just positing the view that it seemed a bit draconic of an intervention. Livable-with, having been done, but not sure it was strictly necessary.

(Would be handy to add across the "Add to the bottom (etc)" HTML-comment to the top of the page, from a BOT-created new-discussion-page, though I suppose I could do that. Maybe I will. Yes, I think I will. You could also maybe check the circumstances why a normal user had needed to do theusafBOT's work for it... I'm sure it's more that theusaf's script is just temporarily offline, or slow to react, rather than having gone the way of dgbrtBOT/whatever...) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.177|172.70.85.177]] 13:49, 14 June 2022 (UTC)
:I think there is now use for headings in comment section. And in some cases the explanations have a TOC and then the headings of the talk page would come into this because we include talk page on the explanation page. Also it becomes confusing when others add different comments below, as they then seems to belong to the headered section. Thus best leave them out, unless something very special. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 05:55, 15 June 2022 (UTC)

== Table of tips? ==
Why put the table in a section on [[2649]]? It breaks the convention of discussing the comic before discussing the title text. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.145|172.70.210.145]] 07:11, 25 July 2022 (UTC)
:No this has been done whenever there is a table. The comic should be explained first, but if lots of info needs to be added in order to understand the full details of the comic, then the title text is usually explained after the first short explanation. And then the larger explanation is delegated to a sub section, just as I have done here. It is because you may not wish to dwell into all these details, they are not needed to understand the overall joke, but you might like to see the title text explained, and then this should not be hidden deep down. Also there is a link from the explanation to the table, so you can easily go there to read the main explanation for each tip.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:32, 25 July 2022 (UTC)
::Well it's no big deal; I don't have strong feelings about it, but I haven't been here very long, and noticed that [[2636]], [[2638]], and [[2639]] all have tables following the sequence of the comics instead of in a section at the end. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.88|172.70.211.88]] 08:39, 25 July 2022 (UTC)
:::Yes that must also be said to be new comics, and not those that have been here long time ;-) All of them came out after my holiday began this summer, and I have not had time to go through those comics yet. But thanks I will fix it. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:21, 25 July 2022 (UTC)
::::Fixed those three and also completed two of the transcripts. Thanks for pointing the discrepancy out. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:02, 25 July 2022 (UTC)

How do you feel about [[2606]]? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.150.173|172.71.150.173]] 08:32, 27 July 2022 (UTC)
:Since the title text is just another symbol, it seems fine to have it in the table. But actually there may be a reason to explain that joke as well in the main explanation. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:35, 27 July 2022 (UTC)
::But after updating the explanation I ended up moving the table to a section and moving any other explanation above. Including a mention of the title text. Is this the same person that started this thread that asked about 2606? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:56, 27 July 2022 (UTC)
:::No, I'm [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2207:_Math_Work&diff=291019&oldid=282989 this guy.] [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.88|172.70.211.88]] 15:52, 28 July 2022 (UTC)
::::Hello, That Guy. (BTW, I'm also none of the above conversationalists, Kynde...) That change you linked... I just reverted it. It was fixed (devandalised) already in a state that was after the removal of the Incomplete tag and I couldn't work out ''why'' you considered it needing reverting. Yes, a lot of restored stuff (now unrestored), but I couldn't quite work out which (pre-vandalism) version you even reverted to, and surely there were various useful culling edits ("no, we don't need to say that, it's irrelevent", etc) that you were negating.
::::Or at least that was my almost knee-jerk response (almost, because I went back through the crapcrapcrap stuff and beyond trying to find where you were coming from, so I spent some time on thinking about it before I did it).
::::I offer it up to review by the wider community, or back to yourself (or give Kynde a shot, if they aren't busy). Maybe some old bits could be reintegrated, but I couldn't see which on a semi-cursory glance. So, given you have provided a handle on you, expanding upon the woefully short edit-summary space, to more fully explain any confusion (of mine, or yours, or just in general). Ok? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.128|172.70.91.128]] 16:43, 28 July 2022 (UTC)
:::::Are you saying you removed vandalism with the revert? Which parts do you think are crap stuff? Do you not see how it is all directly related to the drawing on the board? I should have removed the incomplete tag, but I think I'll try the appended section idea to appease objectors with a compromise. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.185|172.69.33.185]] 05:15, 29 July 2022 (UTC)
::::::I don't think this has anything to do with my comment, and I do not have any thing to add to this discussion. If this is all about [[2207:_Math_Work]], then please take any further [[Talk:2207:_Math_Work#Deletions|discussion there]], as to not disturb me with e-mails every time you change my user talk page ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:07, 29 July 2022 (UTC)

== A spammer has appeared! ==
Hi! It seems that there's a spammer who's been consistently adding an incredibly odd rant to the front page from a wide variety of IP addresses over the course of yesterday and today. They currently show no signs of stopping; could you use whatever Special Admin Powers you may have to resolve the issue? --[[User:Account|Account]] ([[User talk:Account|talk]]) 18:37, 30 July 2022 (UTC)
:Hi. No, sadly I cannot do much about it. I can try to alert those with more powers than me though. I'm not that technically minded. If it was a user I could block him, but as I understood from the newest comics discussion it is multiple ip addresses. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:36, 31 July 2022 (UTC)

== Interview request! and thanks! ==
Hey Kynde, forgive me if this isn't allowed! I'm a journalist and wiki enthusiast and I'd love to chat with you about all your work here. Can you send an email to annierau at umich dot edu? Thank you so much! [[User:Postgradpredeath|Postgradpredeath]] ([[User talk:Postgradpredeath|talk]]) 03:36, 22 September 2022 (UTC):Hi
:Annie Rau(?)/Postgradpredeath. I don't think asking me would not be allowed. I might not wish to mail you but that would then be an option. I may actually not wish to use my e-mail. But maybe we could try to catch up on twitter, where I have an account I only used to get into contact with admins on this page... If you also have a twitter acount we may be able to tweet to each other there... And thanks for the praise. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 06:39, 22 September 2022 (UTC)

== Vandalism on latest comic ==
Hello, just letting you know there's been another bit of spam. Only on the most recent comic as far as I've seen, and fixed for now :) [[User:Char Latte49|Char Latte]] ([[User talk:Char Latte49|talk]]) 22:11, 3 December 2022 (UTC)
:Thanks. Also had a vandal here replying to you comment. Of course deleted it. Haven't been so active lately. But hope the problem has stopped. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:55, 4 December 2022 (UTC)

== Notification ==
Hey, I wanted to let you know that I'm working on the huge project of making a table to organize planet names, coordinates, and explanations, and the four item types and their explanation in the latest interactive comic. I've replied to the conversation, here's a link: https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Talk:2765:_Escape_Speed#Making_a_table_to_organize_planet_names.2C_coordinates.2C_and_explanations.2C_and_the_four_item_types_and_their_explanation

If possible, could you check if you're able to answer the questions I have?

Thanks, [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 13:44, 29 April 2023 (UTC)
:Hi Favi. Have not had much time but looked at it and liked the table. Also added two more pages, one with overview images of the world and the planets and one with a place to post the screen shots needed for making a full explanation. Put some of the relevant images up already but will not have time to much more the rest of this week. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:25, 1 May 2023 (UTC)
:: Great! Thanks, I like the new pages. Do you happen to know of a way to find the coordinates of each planet, so i can add them to the table? How did the folks editing [[2712: Gravity]] do it? [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 15:52, 2 May 2023 (UTC)
::: Hi Favi. Thanks. No I do not know, I did not do any editing on that comic. Have not had time like I did for instance with [[Hoverboard]] where I did most of the documentation. But have no idea what to do with a game like this. Not very tech savvy on that account. Keep up the good work! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:35, 6 May 2023 (UTC)
::::Nevermind, someone on the discussions page let me know of a very useful script that did exactly that, s I filled the entire Tiles column :D {{unsigned|FaviFake}}
:::::Great --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:19, 6 May 2023 (UTC)

:Hi, I've made [[User:Malgond/Drafts/Escape_Speed|another attempt]] at tables. I've talked a little bit with [[User talk:FaviFake|FaviTake]] but we didn't seem to come to a conclusion. I think we need a third (and maybe fourth and fifth) opinion. I have put a note about this in the [[Talk:2765: Escape Speed|discussion board]] but I'm not sure anybody will notice (there's a lot of stuff there). - [[User:Malgond|Malgond]] ([[User talk:Malgond|talk]]) 21:52, 13 May 2023 (UTC)
::I have replied and think your tables are great. See talk page for comic --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:18, 14 May 2023 (UTC)

== Changing category name, and the creation of [[:Category:Comics with red corrections]] ==
Hey Kynde,
I wanted to ask you if, as an admin, you could change the name of the [[:Category:Posted on LiveJournal|Category:Comics posted on livejournal]] to this: [[:Category:Posted on LiveJournal|Category:Comics posted on LiveJournal]]
The other two categories that mention LiveJournal have the L and J uppercase, so I think it should be the same for this category too:
*[[:Category:Posted on LiveJournal after xkcd]]
*[[:Category:First day on LiveJournal]]

Also, I just created [[:Category:Comics with red corrections]] for comics like [[2639: Periodic Table Changes]] (under [[:Category:Comics with color]]) after seeing at least two or three request it.
*Is [[:Category:Comics with color]] the right parent category?
*Or should it be added to [[:Category:Distinctive comics]] too? Or just in one? Idk where to put it

Thanks, [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 09:38, 20 May 2023 (UTC)
:Hi FlaviFake
:I could probably move the page to the correct spelling. I think I actually created the other two categories, after the one you know wish me to change. So it is my spelling later that would overrule the first. But i agree it would make sense.
:But if I do then all 45 comics that has this category should be corrected so they spell the category the new way. Would you be ready to do this for all 45 comics? And also every page that links to the current version of the category? I think it is not good enough to have a forward link with the category spelled wrong on all comics... Let me know if you wish to do that, then I can move the page. Once all has been corrected I could delete the forward page.
:
:I like your new category. Seems like the newest three is a series... But maybe we should just keep the red corrections. Question is if he has some with other color corrections, and if it is important that they are red? Or even color? But I like the idea.
:Not sure what categories they belong under. Not sure the color category is relevant. More comics by topic - the topic being corrections.
:Keep up the good work. I have much less time for making changes to the wiki now, that I used to.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:21, 22 May 2023 (UTC)

::Thanks for the reply!

::>Would you be ready to do this for all 45 comics?
::Yeah, it shouldn't be that hard. I just need to copy and paste the correct spelling on the articles. Let me know when you've moved it :)

::>if he has some with other color corrections, and if it is important that they are red?
::I put red because I've never seen a comic with a correction ''not'' in red, but I get your point. We can always rename it and update the category names in the few articles that are included in it

::>More comics by topic - the topic being corrections.
::You're right, I'll move it there now. Btw there is also a category called [[:Category:Comics with blood]] that is also in the Comics with color category, should it move that one to comics by topic too?
:::Hi. Tried, but I cannot move it cause the page name is not case sensitive, so it complains that I did not move it. Also I'm not sure it would work before you made the corrections, so it would be complicated. Not sure it is important enough for me to try to do some other thing. Like moving to a different title, then deleting the original page and try to move back. Maybe It will not be possible. So guess it won't happen?
:::Yes I think blood should be topic. Guess it will always be red to make sure we know it is blood? But then again maybe there could be a comic with not red blood or just black and white drawing where it is clear it is blood. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:22, 23 May 2023 (UTC)
::::Hey; I forgot to say it yesterday, but (after I realized I could already move pages on my account) I've moved [[:Category:Posted on LiveJournal|Category:Comics posted on livejournal]] to [[:Category:Posted on LiveJournal]]. I've removed the "comics" part because a different category, [[:Category:Posted on LiveJournal after xkcd]], started with "Posted". So I thought I could kill two birds with one stone and fixed both the consistency and the capitalization. i also moved the blood category to comics by topic
:::::I saw the message, created the requested page with capitalisation. They both redirect to "Posted on LiveJournal," you can pick whether you want to keep the new name you picked or if you want the one that was originally requested '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 15:09, 24 May 2023 (UTC)
::::::Good to hear from you Davidy22. And great work again FaviFake. I have just made sure there are no longer any links left to the old or the new version Davidy22 made, so we now use the FaviFake version and I have deleted the other two. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:03, 25 May 2023 (UTC)

== Changing the Sitenotice of this wiki ==
Hey,

I've noticed that for a few years, the page [[MediaWiki:Sitenotice]] is out of date, but from my understanding it can only be edited by admins. So, could you edit it and remove the mention on comic [[1608: Hoverboard]]? It's not incomplete anymore. Or, even better, could you try making it editable by confirmed registered users, so we can keep it up to date?

I would also remove the "Never use the Math markup language at the transcript. The reason for this you can read at the Editor FAQ." because it's probably one of the least useful things a newcomer should see when they open the site for the first time. I think if it were editable by mere people, it would be great because we could also update it for when a big new comic comes out and we need more people to help explain it. Thanks, [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 15:04, 28 May 2023 (UTC)
:Hi FaviFake
:I have never changed that notice before, but I was able to. But do think it will be only admins that can do it. But I have changed it to [[2765: Escape Speed]] and removed the math mark. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:25, 30 May 2023 (UTC)
::That's great! Thank you.--[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 13:48, 30 May 2023 (UTC)
:::Ambivalent about the removal of the anti-Math bit, but I'm worried that there's also too much reliance upon general markup (including tables), rather than 'flat' description, and it does creep in. Historic articles that still do it might not help, though I'm not going back to change them.
:::To be clear, some stuff is really difficult to do ''without'' a table, and be short and sweet (though exporting detail to a /Transcript sub-page is a doable thing), but at least we shouldn't just use '''bold''' text or colours where colours are, but ensure they're always transcriptually indicated, in preference to/entirely instead of being used:
::::[A fragment of text, "bold" is in bold and several other words are written in red:] ...we shouldn't just use '''bold''' text or colours where colours are, but...
:::...to give a poor example that I'd expect another Transcript specialist to improve anyway.
:::Don't know how best to advertise this. Nor how ''not'' to add Citation Neededs, there being a current spate of them before commas/etc, which is against explainxkcd ''and'' Wikipedia standards, regardless of the actual overuse/misuse that may also happen by the hands of the enthusistic new(?) editors doing it. So I'll tweak what I see (of all these little things) hoping to move things more towards the aspirational ideals developed over many years of editors. And obviously that'd include the misplaced Math-markup. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.108|172.71.242.108]] 08:32, 31 May 2023 (UTC)
::::Well I think there is no reason to have such a text standing there. If someone begins using it again write to them and change it in transcript. I actually did not know where to change the notice and also was not aware I had the rights. Also I think it is fine to use colors and bold text in transcript. But if the color is important then it should be mentioned. But the transcript is also for people to be able to easily read the text and see what it looked like. And it is important so it is possible to search for a phrase you remember. As the description is important so you can search for a special item that was in a comic you remember... And tables is OK when relevant for the way the comic is written. So think I'm not really agreeing with the user who is not signed up here above... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:51, 31 May 2023 (UTC)
::::: We agree a lot, you'll be relieved(!) to hear. No bones to me about that warning (I could have told you that you could change it, just had no reason to :p ) and I'm sure someone will redo anything 'wrong' that occurs due to the prominant lack of it in future.
::::: I think it's less important to exactly reproduce what can be seen in the comic in "what can be seen in the Transcript", but as long as those who might not have compatible search/screen-reader access get the written cues as well than it's clearly permissable.
::::: Table use is still tricky. Not sure how screen-readers render them, so would depend upon how sensibly a small (or large) example can be described in either/both ways. (Totally coincidental case in point, my tongue-in-cheek comment to [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2780:_Physical_Quantities&diff=314617&oldid=314606 this edit I just did] highlights how something could be visually formatted accurately, though I actually tried to Transcriptionally describe more accurately instead, which I thought more useful. (Not ''very'' important, but it's a clear layout choice that was not reflected in any usable way for ''anyone''.)
::::: But this is not a hill I'd die on (if it even came to that). I'm just doing my bit to maintain and support what I see as the contributor conventions that have been bashed around and gradually smoothed into some form of useful (if not universal) coherency over the various years. I'll take any sudden informal policy shift under advisement, and of course your words carry more weight than my own! I'll repeat "policy", but don't wish to (re)set it [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.225|172.71.242.225]] 11:26, 31 May 2023 (UTC)
::::::If you actually do some edits, why not get a account? Much easier to do edits and much easier to have a discussion, and we could actually see what you contribute, and agree or disagree. Now I will never know for sure what you did as IPs change from day to day and other people might get this ip later... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:05, 31 May 2023 (UTC)
:::::::I know you've no way of confirming this, but I've survived long enough without. And had this conversation before. With no power comes no responsibility! (Or, really, just could never decided on a good username/never the time to start having one, and rarely any need to.) But don't want to rehash all that again. You've done important work, before and after your ennoblement, and I congratulate you on it.
:::::::No, I just offer opinion that can be ignored, and edits that can be over-ruled. Imagine the damage to my fragile ego if I materialised as a Username account and everyone ''still'' ignores/rewrites everything I say? ;) Horses for courses, but that's how it works for me! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.71|172.70.91.71]] 19:09, 31 May 2023 (UTC)

User talk:Firefox and Witchcraft - The Connection?

2023-06-03T07:06:23Z

Memo Spike Connector: Unused parameter

2500: Global Temperature Over My Lifetime

2023-06-03T07:04:06Z

Memo Spike Connector: Unused parameter

{{comic
| number = 2500
| date = August 9, 2021
| title = Global Temperature Over My Lifetime
| image = global temperature over my lifetime.png
| titletext = I was really impressed by the accuracy of some of the report's predictions about fossil fuel consumption. Then I realized, oh, right, of course.
}}

==Explanation==
This is Randall Munroe in his role as a meticulous, conscientious presenter of scientific data. The activities shown in Randall's lifeline, whether learning to ride a bike or even getting married, pale into insignificance when the consequences of unprecedented global average temperature rise are understood and accepted. In particular, he shows that back in 1982, two years before Randall was born, Exxon wrote an internal report predicting the rise of global temperatures due to fossil fuel use, and 40 years later their prediction (shown as the X in a circle at the top-right) is being shown to be right on track. Unfortunately, that report was hidden and not seen until much later, and the world has been slow to respond with the urgency needed to reverse the damage being done to the planet.

The Wikipedia article {{w|global temperature record}} has some telling graphs to supplement Randall's. This one: {{w|File:20200324_Global_average_temperature_-_NASA-GISS_HadCrut_NOAA_Japan_BerkeleyE.svg|Global Average Temperature}} is the global average temperature change for the modern era, since data started being collected regularly in 1850. This one: {{w|File:2000_Year_Temperature_Comparison.png|2000 Year Temperature Comparison}} reconstructs 2000 years of temperatures.

And this comic is a small segment of another comic: [[1732: Earth Temperature Timeline]].

The comic itself links to [https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2805576-1982-Exxon-Memo-to-Management-About-CO2 the referenced Exxon document about CO2 emissions].

The comic was published on the same day that the {{w|Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Climate_Change|U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change}} released its [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/ 2021 Assessment Report]

One of the entries is ''I somehow graduate despite spending most of my time playing Mario Kart.'' ''{{w|Mario Kart}}'' is a popular video game series developed by {{w|Nintendo}}, and has been a [[:Category:Mario Kart|recurring theme]] on xkcd. Hewing close to the comic's timeline, [[127: The Fast and the Furious]], which contains an early ''Mario Kart'' joke, was released in July 2006.

The title text refers to the fact that Exxon, being a fossil fuel company, is likely to make better predictions on fossil fuel use as they are involved in fossil fuel production themselves.

==Transcript==
Graph of temperature over time, titled:
"Global average temperature

Over my lifetime

(60-month running June average, NOAA NCEI time series)"

The X axis is in years, going from 1980 to a little after 2020. Each decade is marked.

The Y axis in in °C, with the "20th century average" at the bottom, up to +1°C (from the average), labelled every 0.2°C.

Certain points and periods on the graph are marked and contain descriptions of events and actions that occurred in Randall's life.

; November 1982 : Exxon International report predicts that fossil fuel use will raise global temperatures to about 1°C above their normal levels within 40 years
; October 1984 : I’m born in Easton, PA
; Summer 1991 : I learn to ride a bike
; Spring 1992 : My elementary school celebrates Earth Day and I learn about the greenhouse effect
; 1993-1996 : I get very into ''Star Wars'' and ''Animorphs''
; Fall 1996 : I stand around awkwardly at my first middle school dance
; Spring 2002 : I get accepted into college
; Spring 2006 : I somehow graduate despite spending most of my time playing Mario Kart
; Summer 2006 : I see ''An Inconvenient Truth'' in the theater and feel anxious
; Fall 2011 : I get married
; Summer 2012 : I read headlines about a global warning “pause” and hope that maybe things aren’t so bad
; 2013-2021 : I read more about climate science and get steadily more alarmed
; Spring 2016 : I read the 1982 Exxon report
; June 2020 : Global 60-month average reaches +0.94°C, Easton, PA is 2°C hotter than normal for the fifth year in a row
; Today : ''(no description)''
; 2022 (near future) : [Large X within a circle] 1982 Exxon Prediction

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Climate change]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]
[[Category:Mario Kart]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Animorphs]]

2501: Average Familiarity

2023-06-03T07:03:41Z

Memo Spike Connector: Unused parameter

{{comic
| number = 2501
| date = August 11, 2021
| title = Average Familiarity
| image = average familiarity.png
| titletext = "How could anyone consider themselves a well-rounded adult without a basic understanding of silicate geochemistry? Silicates are everywhere! It's hard to throw a rock without throwing one!"
}}

==Explanation==
This comic claims that experts vastly overestimate how familiar other people are with their own field of study. As an example, [[Randall]] shows a conversation between [[Ponytail]] and [[Cueball]] as two {{w|geochemistry|geochemists}} specializing in {{w|silicate}} chemistry. Although the two scientists understand that the layman does not know all that they know about silicates, they are still under the impression that other people at least know the chemical makeup of {{w|olivine}} and some {{w|feldspar}}s. Cueball also mentions {{w|quartz}}, an even simpler mineral taken for granted by Ponytail.

In truth, the average person can't be expected to know the chemical makeup of ''any'' arbitrarily-chosen substance reliably (or any material at all), if that average person's job and hobby do not involve chemistry — aside from the few that made their way into {{w|common knowledge}}, like NaCl for salt (sodium chloride or {{w|halite}} in mineral form), H2O for water (facetiously known as dihydrogen monoxide, {{w|ice}} in mineral form), or CO2 for carbon dioxide (while most people are more familiar with its gaseous form, it is also used in mineral form as {{w|dry ice}}), and may not even know the definition of "feldspar" beyond "a mineral", if at all.

It even goes so far as to initially gloss over the 'everyday' knowledge of quartz... until prompted by the slightly-less-overestimating partner in the conversation. Perhaps like a gardener forgetting to mention the lawn he maintains (along with the 'actual' plants in the borders or vegetable patches), there seemed no need to include such a common mineral as a subject of silicate chemistry. Quartz is a basic silicon oxide (SiO2) that many non-chemists ''have'' heard of because it is common and has a variety of uses, though they would not know its chemical structure. Quartz ''can'' be found as distinct large-scale crystals (probably obvious to the layman, as an ice-cube is in a drink) but also features as a hard-wearing micro-constituent of many rocks. Quartz is a major component of most sand (except for coral sands, which are calcium carbonates). Quartz crystals are sometimes made into jewelry and other decorative objects. Most modern clocks use {{w|Crystal oscillator|the resonance frequency of quartz}} to keep time.

Minerals like feldspars and olivine generally exist as a continuum of varying chemical formulas, represented as a mixture of "endmembers" that have some pure composition. Feldspars are a category of aluminum-containing silicate minerals that account for the most of the rock in the earth's crust by mass. They are composed of a silicon-aluminum-oxygen lattice filled with sodium, potassium, or calcium ions. The major varieties are CaAl2Si2O8 (anorthite), NaAlSi3O8 (albite), and KAlSi3O8 (potassium feldspar). Olivine is most notable as being the primary constituent of the upper mantle and commonly found in stony meteorites, and has the formula X2+2SiO4, where X is any iron or magnesium ion. The ends of the spectrum are Mg2SiO4 ({{w|forsterite}}) and Fe2SiO4 ({{w|fayalite}}).

In the title text the two geologists express belief that the average person ''should'' be more familiar with silicates because of how ubiquitous they are. Their somewhat-exasperated statement plays on the phrase "you can't throw a rock without hitting one," a standard hyperbole about how common something is. Indeed, {{w|Silicate mineral|silicate}} rocks are extremely common on Earth — not only would a rock thrown in a random direction stand a decent chance of striking a silicate mineral rock, but the rock being ''thrown'' also has a very high chance of being a silicate mineral rock. With the exception of a few carbonate deposits, rocks found in large deposits on Earth's surface nearly all have silica in them, even extraterrestrial rocks. The Earth's crust is about 60% silica by weight.<ref>"Constraining crustal silica on ancient Earth" C. Brenhin Keller, T. Mark Harrison. ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences'' Sep 2020, 117 (35) 21101-21107; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2009431117</ref>

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail and Cueball are talking. Ponytail has her hand raised, palm up, towards Cueball.]
:Ponytail: Silicate chemistry is second nature to us geochemists, so it's easy to forget that the average person probably only knows the formulas for olivine and one or two feldspars.
:Cueball: And quartz, of course.
:Ponytail: Of course.

:[Caption below the panel]
:Even when they're trying to compensate for it, experts in anything wildly overestimate the average person's familiarity with their field.

== References ==
<references />

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Science]]

2502: Every Data Table

2023-06-03T07:03:09Z

Memo Spike Connector: Unused parameter

{{comic
| number = 2502
| date = August 13, 2021
| title = Every Data Table
| image = every data table.png
| titletext = I'm hoping 2022 is relatively normal because I don't know what symbol comes after the asterisk and the dagger.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is another entry in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] related to the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}}.

It shows a future data table with one entry for each year from 2017 to 2024, so this table is made at least three years after publication of the comic (presuming it does not depict some form of advanced estimation of trends). The only discernible differences across the eight years are that two years have footnotes as in 2020* and 2021†, whereas the other six years have not.

Sometimes a symbol such as an asterisk (*) or a dagger (†, also called an obelus or obelisk) is used to denote an unusual entry in a table to be explained in a footnote with a matching symbol.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a large impact on the entire world and one way this can be seen is through strange stats resulting from the effects of the pandemic, at least in 2020 and 2021, the years marked with footnote in the data table. Various statistics such as employment statistics, spending power, holiday miles, pet ownership, births (or at least conceptions), and—naturally—deaths may have been either grossly suppressed/increased for the majority of 2020, and for 2021 may have hardly recovered, partially recovered, renormalized, bounced back with a vengeance or be over-compensated for in the effort to catch up.

Thus Randall concludes that "every data table" will look like this one from now on, hence the title of the comic.

In the title text [[Randall]] states that he hopes 2022 is relatively normal. Comically, he doesn't mainly hope for this because he wants the COVID-19 pandemic to end, but rather because he doesn't know what footnote symbol to use after the asterisk and the dagger.

It is hard to know what 2022 might be like. At the time of this comic's publication in August 2021, nothing is exactly back to normal and proper recovery or the resulting compensatory readjustment may not have concluded in time for 2022 to reflect the trends expected based upon pre-2020 figures, and the additional further years that future statistics will record.

Common symbols that are used after the asterisk and dagger include the double dagger (‡), the section symbol/silcrow (§), the parallel/double-pipe (‖) and the paragraph symbol/pilcrow (¶). Alternately one could use multiple symbols (such as †† or ***) or superscript numbers (¹, ², ³ ...).

Unrelated to the usage as English footnote characters, the asterisk and dagger symbol are used in German mainly as the shorthand "genealogic signs" to express "born" and "died" respectively (e.g. in encyclopaedias, as the German terms are three-syllable words for both and need to be shortened), so a person that is 2020(*) and 2021(†) would have been alive for only about a year, depending on the months. This symbology is also used on some tomb stones. An optimistic view is the "birth" and "death" of the coronavirus {{w|SARS-CoV-2}}, which would also understandably result in uncertainty on the next symbol in this order, for 2022. Pessimists in this context might suggest to use ∞, which is the symbol for infinity.

Similarly, in biology, an asterisk marks a species (or genus, etc...) that is possibly extinct and a dagger is used to note the possible extinction. (Double asterisks indicate taxa believed to be extinct in the wild but known to be extant in cultivation). This of course does not fit well with SARS-CoV-2, which is not close to extinction.

Randall seems not to have noticed the potential {{w|monkey's paw}} nature of his wish. "Relative" requires a comparison between things. It could be that the whole fall-out of the pandemic becomes the new normal, and future years have no necessity to use symbols to explain how those years come to be like everyone knows they are, while dates before 2020 will be entirely understood as the old normal. Only 2020 and 2021 may need contextual clarifying, due to their nature as a transition from the old normal to the new normal.

== Transcript ==
:[A data table is shown with eight years given. After each year is a series of dots, followed by illegible squiggles. The table is slanted compared to the panel, and closely cropped so it's impossible to tell how far the squiggles might extend or what other years might be included beyond the eight shown. Two of the years are marked with symbols indicating unseen footnotes.]
:2017.......
:2018.......
:2019.......
:2020*......
:2021†.......
:2022.......
:2023.......
:2024.......

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Every data table from now on

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:Statistics]]

2503: Memo Spike Connector

2023-06-03T06:53:41Z

Memo Spike Connector: Unused parameter

{{comic
| number = 2503
| date = August 16, 2021
| title = Memo Spike Connector
| image = memo spike connector.png
| titletext = Backward-compatible with many existing cables, and can connect directly to phones or tablets if you press them down hard enough.
}}

==Explanation==
This is the third installment in the series of [[:Category:Cursed Connectors|Cursed Connectors]] and presents Cursed Connectors #102: The Memo Spike. It follows [[2495: Universal Seat Belt]] (#65) and was followed 9 days later by [[2507: USV-C]] (#280).

The comic depicts a large metal spike with a wire coming from the base. The spike stabs through two other wires, thus creating an electrical connection between the three. As the name suggests, the spike resembles a {{w|Spindle_(stationery)|stationery spindle}}, colloquially known as a spike, called a Memo Spike here by Randall. However, unlike normal spindles, this one has a cable of some kind coming out of it, suggesting this is a hub of some sort.

Spindles are used to temporarily hold paper by "spindling" or impaling the paper onto the spike (as depicted in the comic). They're most known for their use in restaurants as a way to hold bills that have been paid, or traditionally in offices that work with many bits of paper, e.g. with invoices in a finance department or hardcopy in newspaper editing, to prevent accidental disturbance/shuffling, at the expense of a small puncture mark in each sheet so impaled. (This could cause errors in papers with punch-holes that are meant to be read by machines, hence the admonition against "{{w|Punched_card#Do_Not_Fold,_Spindle_or_Mutilate|folding, spindling, and mutilating}}".) In the latter context, the editor might put all the rejected stories onto a spike (rather than into a wastebasket) to prevent them going astray, and this might be the source of the term '{{w|Spike (journalism)|spiked}}'.

The joke of the comic is while any number of non-destructive connection standards exist, a large spike can provide much of the same results: a conductive object that retains a connection of multiple wires in a way that allows electricity to pass through. Indeed, in the early days of Ethernet, {{w|Vampire tap|vampire taps}} were used, essentially spikes that bit into a cable to establish a new branch in the network. Another type of connection which involves piercing the wire is a {{w|Punch-down block|punch-down block}}, a type of {{w|Insulation-displacement_connector|insulation-displacement connector}}, where one or more wires are pushed into a cutting channel instead of onto a spike.

Depending on the type of cable it is also likely to create a short circuit, e.g. by connecting both strands of a twisted pair of strands in a typical Ethernet cable, or the central wire and the sheath of a coaxial cable. In an enterprise environment, this could even happen on a {{w|Power_over_Ethernet|PoE-Connection}}, which actually carry more noticeable amounts of power (up to 25.5W). Even if this is avoided, the single spike may be large enough to mechanically sever a random subset of the finer strands that exist within a multicore cable such as is commonly in use today.

The title text takes this a bit further. It says that it is backwards compatible with many existing cables. This means any cable large enough to be impaled by the spike could be used. Needless to say it will likely not work anyway. It also continues by saying that phones and tablets can also be connected using this method if you press them down hard enough over the spike. Thus if you actually manage to make the spike penetrate the device's coverings to reach the electrical parts, then there is a connection. The implication is that any device or cable can be connected to any other device or cable as a form of universal adapter/splitter/combiner across arbitrary hardware and communications/power standards. In reality, this could be even more dangerous and will surely destroy the phone/tablet either directly or by overloading their cable connection.{{citation needed}} Also be careful not to impale your hand while trying to push the spike through your tablet's screen.

==Transcript==
:[A memo spike is shown (a device also called a Spindle). It is a long spike standing up from a round base plate. A wire is coming in from the left and appears to be hardwired into the spike's base element. Two other wires comes in from the right. Both are firmly impaled down upon the spike, penetrated completely through shortly before their apparently unterminated ends. The end of the impaled wire closest to the base faces out and the details appear to show it to be of some variety of multicore (rather than co-axial) manufacture. The other cable's end is a bit higher and points into the image. Above is a title and below is a label.]
:Cursed Connectors #102
:The Memo Spike

{{comic discussion}}


[[Category:Cursed Connectors]]

2504: Fissile Raspberry Isotopes

2023-06-03T06:53:11Z

Memo Spike Connector: Unused parameter

{{comic
| number = 2504
| date = August 18, 2021
| title = Fissile Raspberry Isotopes
| image = fissile_raspberry_isotopes.png
| titletext = Grandma's shelf-stable blackberry pie meson recipe was a huge seller until her farm was shut down by a joint FDA/NRC investigation.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Ponytail]] is admiring her {{w|raspberry}} fields telling [[Cueball]] she expects a good harvest...if they do not get too many fissile raspberry isotopes. To this, Cueball has to ask ''Too many '''whats?'''''

The comic is thus a joking analogy to {{w|nuclear chain reactions}}, in which the {{w|nuclear fission|fission}} (splitting in two) of one {{w|atomic nucleus}} releases {{w|neutrons}}, which then strike other nuclei and cause them in turn to fission, releasing more neutrons. This chain reaction releases a great deal of energy and is what makes possible both {{w|nuclear power}} and {{w|nuclear bombs}}.

A {{w|fissile isotope}}, such as {{w|uranium-235}}, is one that is sufficiently large and unstable to undergo such a chain reaction, as opposed to the more common and less unstable {{w|uranium-238}}. Ponytail fear that her raspberries have too many unstable isotopes so that her fields risk undergoing a similar fission-driven chain reaction. This chain reaction is depicted in the second panel, and she explains that if this happens the entire crop may be gone in seconds. It sounds like this is only dangerous for her economy, i.e. all the berries destroyed, but not a runaway explosion that destroys her field and any living thing nearby.

In real life, raspberries don't undergo such chain reactions.{{citation needed}} As an {{w|aggregate fruit}}, raspberries (as well as blackberries mentioned in the title text) resemble [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Nucleus_drawing.svg/1024px-Nucleus_drawing.svg.png common depictions of atomic nuclei], with each drupelet corresponding to a nucleon (proton or neutron), which is probably why they are the subject of the comic. (The actual "appearance" of atomic nuclei, in contrast to the common depictions, is complicated by Heisenbergian uncertainty, quantum effects, and strong nuclear force interactions.) Perhaps these raspberries are byproducts of the experiments depicted in [[1949: Fruit Collider]].

This comic is also a pun on "pi mesons" or {{w|pions}}, subatomic particles that transmit the {{w|strong nuclear force}}, and the similarity in name to a {{w|pie}}, the food type, as in a {{w|raspberry pie}}. The transmission of the strong nuclear force happens most importantly in the atomic nucleus and is responsible for keeping the nucleus intact, ''i.e.'', preventing it from undergoing fission despite the strong repulsive {{w|electromagnetic force}} present from all the positively-charged {{w|protons}}.

Raspberry pies (and pie mesons of such) are not to be confused with {{w|Raspberry Pi}}, a very popular microcontroller widely used for hobbyist or educational projects.

Ponytail claims that her berries are protected (bound) by fresh raspberry pie mesons. Cueball states he hopes they hold, but Ponytail is confident as these pies are made from her grandma's recipe, ''i.e.'', it is actually a fresh pie made from the berries. The faith in the pie recipe being able to impede the danger references the convention of "Just like Grandma used to make", nostalgia for an infallible cookery ancestor, in this case a hallowed family recipe that acts to {{w|Neutron moderator|mitigate}} any budding {{w|Aggregate fruit|'berry'}} chain-reaction. [[2366: Amelia's_Farm_Fresh_Cookies|Grandma's baking]] is not always so fondly remembered and, in this case, it could be some (in)famous inertness and solidity to the product that is reassuring, not any form of culinary excellence.

The title text mentions that the grandma's "blackberry pie meson" recipe was a huge seller, but that then the farm was shut down by a joint FDA/NRC investigation. This refers to the {{w|Food and Drug Administration}} (FDA) and the {{w|Nuclear Regulatory Commission}} (NRC). The FDA is responsible for the regulation and inspection of food in the U.S., and the NRC for the regulation and inspection of nuclear facilities and materials. A hypothetical "blackberry pie meson" might well run afoul of both, being both nuclear and therefore subject to NRC regulations and permitting requirements, and unhealthy to eat and thus violating FDA rules. This could in addition also violate the FDA's rules on radiation emitting products. One might be able to imagine the FDA discovering that the blackberry pies are functioning to contain a nuclear chain reaction, and calling in the NRC to consult. The FDA took a similarly incongruous interest in physics in the title text of [[2216: Percent Milkfat]].

It is mentioned that the pies were {{w|Shelf-stable food|shelf stable}}, which means it can last a long time without being in a refrigerator. This may be because of its innate radioactivity keeping it free from germs. This may also explain why they were shut down by both the above-mentioned agencies. The word "stable" also describes {{w|Stable_nuclide|atoms}}, and therefore substances, that do not spontaneously undergo nuclear decay, though a stable isotope may (eventually) result directly from the decay of an unstable one.

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail and Cueball are standing in a field, looking at rows of crops disappearing in the distance over rolling hills.]
:Ponytail: I reckon it'll be a good harvest.
:Ponytail: So long as we don't get too many fissile raspberry isotopes.
:Cueball: Too many ''whats''?

:[In a half height panel is shown a picture of a raspberry with an arrow to a situation where it is splitting in to two equal parts. From the split there also comes two small drupelets flying out as shown with arrows. Below these two situations is a smaller sketch of how one of these two drupelets will eventually hit another raspberry, which will send out three drupelets when splitting, two of those hitting other berries, that each send out two drupelets. The lower of these are not depicted hitting any, but the upper split hits two again, which each send out two, in an ongoing chain reaction. The depiction stops there. Above this panel is what Ponytail tells Cueball:]
:Ponytail (narrating): If a raspberry breaks in half, it releases fragments which can cause more splits. Within seconds you've lost the whole crop.

:[Ponytail and Cueball are standing in an empty panel talking.]
:Ponytail: Luckily the berries are bound by fresh raspberry pie mesons.
:Cueball: I hope they hold.
:Ponytail: It's my grandma's recipe. They'll hold.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Nuclear weapons]]
[[Category:Puns]]

1114: Metallurgy

2023-06-03T06:50:10Z

Memo Spike Connector: Unused parameter

{{comic
| number = 1114
| date = September 28, 2012
| title = Metallurgy
| image = metallurgy.png
| titletext = This exotic blade was wrought from a different fallen star. The meteorite was a carbonaceous chondrite, so it's basically a lump of gravel glued into the shape of a sword. A SPACE sword!
}}
==Explanation==
The comic explains how weapons would really behave if they were made out of unusual materials. In fantasy stories, using unusual materials for weapons traditionally makes the weapons more powerful and cooler despite limited explanation for exactly why materials of extraterrestrial origin are so superior to their earthly counterparts. The salesman in the comic is [[Beret Guy]], who appears with a beard for only this comic.

The first panel is a reference to a fairly common fantasy trope: the use of iron meteorites for making weapons and armor (for example the sword "Brisingr" of the Inheritance cycle, "Anglachel" in the Tolkien Legendarium, the sword of Martin in Redwall or the panserbjørns' armor in Pullman's Northern Lights). The quality of such metal can be rather hit-and-miss. On one hand, iron from meteorites was often mixed with "terrestrial" iron in the early stages of human development to create relatively high quality steel for swords. Undeveloped metalworking techniques at the time meant that extraterrestrial metal was often more refined and plentiful than man-made metal ingots. With that in mind, however, [http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0016703767901408 research] has shown that meteorites have an abundance of the chemical element Antimony (Sb) which by itself is a very brittle metal and therefore swords forged from metals harvested from meteorites may not be as strong as lore would have one think.

The second panel is a reference to stories set in Middle-earth where swords such as Orcrist, Glamdring or Sting (the swords of Thorin, Gandalf and Bilbo/Frodo) glow blue when Orcs are near. The dagger in question, though, glows because of the radioactive properties of {{w|Actinium}} (Ac) which is also highly toxic. Definitely not a dagger you would want to carry around for your every day battles.

The word "Eldritch" in the third panel means sinister, ghostly, or magical.

The fourth panel mentions that the weapon gives a +2 to a player's attribute. This is a reference to role-playing games in which it is common to find items that are able to improve one's character by increasing desirable attributes. In this case, however, +2 to cancer risk, a consequence of the dagger's radioactivity, would definitely not be considered a desirable attribute to increase. This would hit harder on Randall due to his now-wife being diagnosed with breast cancer.

In the title text, the salesman tries to sell [[Cueball]] another meteoric blade, this one made from a {{w|carbonaceous chondrite}}. Carbonaceous chondrites are rocky meteors that generally don't contain a lot of metallic iron. The salesman is either stating that the blade is simply a bunch of nonferrous meteor fragments glued together in the shape of a sword, or stating that the iron he got out of the meteor is so full of impurities that it may as well be gravel. However, because it's made of extraterrestrial material he seems confident he'll still be able to sell it on novelty value alone.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are in a weapon store talking to a bearded salesman wearing a hat.]

:[Salesman holds up a sword.]
:Salesman: This sword was forged from a fallen star. Antimony impurities make the blade surpassingly ''brittle'' and ''weak''.

:[Salesman holds up a dagger.]
:Salesman: And this dagger is made of metal from a far-off kingdom. It glows blue.
:Off-panel: When orcs are near?

:Salesman: No, always. Radiation from the Actinium content.
:Megan: ...Does it have Eldritch powers?

:Salesman: It gives the wearer +2 to cancer risk.
:Cueball: I think we should find another shop.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Cancer]]
[[Category:LOTR]]

276: Fixed Width

2023-06-03T06:48:56Z

Memo Spike Connector: Parameter was unused or may be an intentional reference

{{comic
| number = 276
| date = June 13, 2007
| title = Fixed Width
| image = fixed_width.png
| titletext = I wish I knew how to quit this so I wouldn't have to quit you.
}}

==Explanation==
Fixed width or {{w|monospaced font}} refers to the font used in old teletype terminals and some {{w|instant messaging}} clients (often {{w|Courier (typeface)|Courier}}).

For two text lines to have the same length, it's easier if they are in a monospaced font. For example, the following sentences are the same length in a monospaced font, but since we are using a {{w|proportional font}}, those lengths are not exact (the third line is noticeably wider):

:<rob> last night was nice
:<emily> the best i've had
:<rob> yeah it was AMAZING


The title is possibly a double reference, both to a monospaced font and to lines of the same length.

Initially, by mere chance, Emily's and [[Rob]]'s lines were exactly the same length. This made Rob want to continue the pattern.

That Rob feels forced to change what he wants to type to continue the pattern could be a symptom of {{w|obsessive–compulsive disorder}}.

Because of the monospaced font, any reply with 19 characters (including space) would have continued the pattern. In particular, "definitely for real" or "i'm in love with you" would have worked.

In the title text Rob continues to write a sentence: "I wish I knew how to quit this so I wouldn't have to quit you." He acknowledges that he has a problem, since he cannot quit his desire to keep the fixed width. If he could have quit this desire, then he would not have had to quit Emily. But since he felt he had to keep the fixed width, he involuntarily wrote something that felt for Emily as if he quit her. And he was too late out with his apology for her to read it.

==Transcript==
:[A man, Rob, is sitting at a computer. The text is an IRC-style transcript of a conversation, in a fixed-width font. He is text-messaging a girl he slept with named Emily; their messages read as follows:]
<pre>
<rob> hi
<emily> hey you
<rob> last night was nice
<emily> the best i've had
<rob> yeah it was AMAZING
<emily> ok, i have to ask
<emily> is this for real?
<emily> or is it just sex
<rob> definitely just sex
<emily> holy shit
<emily> are you serious?
<emily> you don't know how much that made
my stomach hurt
<emily> i want to cry
<rob> i'm sorry
<rob> i wanted to type 'i love you'
<rob> but our line lengths were syncing up
<emily> ...
<rob> and it would have broken the pattern
* emily has disconnected
</pre>

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Rob]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Sex]]
[[Category:Social interactions]]

User talk:Kynde

2023-06-03T06:40:36Z

Memo Spike Connector:

2784: Drainage Basins

2023-06-03T06:35:15Z

Memo Spike Connector: 2325 is in this category so I guess this must also belong

{{comic
| number = 2784
| date = June 2, 2023
| title = Drainage Basins
| image = drainage_basins_2x.png
| imagesize = 659x500px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = After a pail of water was thrown on the Wicked Witch of the West outside Salt Lake City, Utah's Great Salt Lake was measured to be 7 parts per trillion witch by volume.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a LIQUID 90s KID. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Alex Mack was the main character in the Nickelodeon show ''{{w|The Secret World of Alex Mack}}'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20120516025126/http://articles.latimes.com/1994-10-02/news/tv-45351_1_alex-mack] who developed superpowers after being drenched by an experimental substance. One of these is the ability to turn into a puddle of liquid.

A {{w|drainage basin}} is an area of land where all flowing water converges to one or more outlets to the same body of water. A depiction of drainage basins is a {{w|Drainage divide|watershed map}}, which for the United States is shown in the comic.

When Randall sees a map of the US's major drainage basins, he thinks of Alex turning into liquid and flowing as part of the basin she happens to be in at the time.

The title text refers to the {{w|Wicked Witch of the West}}, a character from ''{{w|The Wonderful Wizard of Oz}}''. When a bucket of water is thrown on her, she dissolves into a puddle. If this happens in the {{w|Great Basin}}, she'll flow into Utah's {{w|Great Salt Lake}}. If its dissolved particles are measured, a tiny fraction will be witch. Seven trillionths of its 18.93 cubic km volume is about 130 liters, which is approximately twice the volume of a typical human being. Perhaps some generous rounding, evaporation of the lake, or the Wicked Witch of the East (who predeceased her sister, after Dorothy's house landed on her -- Dorothy is from Kansas, which is not in the Great Basin, but perhaps Oz is) are involved.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:US Drainage Basins [Crossed Out]
:Where Alex Mack Will End Up [Below, in red]

:[Map of the United States, with the following drainage basins labeled:]
:Pacific Ocean
:Great Basin
:Arctic Ocean
:Various Basins
:Hudson Bay
:Gulf of Mexico
:Atlantic Ocean

:[Caption below the panel:]
:How I still think of these maps, deep down

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics with red corrections]]
[[Category:Geography]]
[[Category:US maps]]
[[Category:Fiction]]

Talk:2784: Drainage Basins

2023-06-03T06:33:47Z

Memo Spike Connector:

For anyone else who didn’t recognize “Alex Mack” and was confused when the first result on Wikipedia was an American football player with seemingly no reference to the joke at hand, I’m pretty sure this is referencing “Alex Mack” from “The Secret Life of Alex Mack” which was a Nickelodeon TV show in the 1990s. One of their powers is turning into water.
:Thanks! [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.213|172.69.22.213]] 00:42, 3 June 2023 (UTC)
:I know of her by way of reading Diane Castle's work, The Secret Return of Alex Mack, which basically took over the Alex Mack fanfiction scene. Hadn't heard of the original until then. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.66.96|172.68.66.96]] 03:56, 3 June 2023 (UTC)

I need to point out: Turning into a puddle of liquid is not a superpower. Anyone can do that. Turning back into a solid human again afterwards is the tricky part. ~ [[User:Xxj|Xxj]] ([[User talk:Xxj|talk]]) 04:12, 3 June 2023 (UTC)
:I think turning into a puddle of liquid ''at will'' counts as a superpower. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.132|172.69.134.132]] 04:23, 3 June 2023 (UTC)
::Most things which a typical person does are typically done at will (other than breathing, sleeping, sneezing, and posting comments on the internet). ~ [[User:Xxj|Xxj]] ([[User talk:Xxj|talk]]) 04:52, 3 June 2023 (UTC)

Man I thought this was about the kid who jumped off the cruise ship on a dare this week and got pulled under, and was really weirded out that he would joke about that, really happy to see I was dead wrong. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.168.144|172.68.168.144]]

"approximately twice the volume of a typical human being"—that implies there was already a witch in the lake previously. After we add the wWotW, there are two dissolved witches. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.94.3|162.158.94.3]] 04:44, 3 June 2023 (UTC)
:It's Utah. On the basis of that alone, I'm surprised that there was only one. [[User:Vikinghelmet99|Vikinghelmet99]] ([[User talk:Vikinghelmet99|talk]]) 05:39, 3 June 2023 (UTC)

I didn't know what Drainage Basin was. I first thought it meant which ocean will come and cover this part of land if global warming continues. [[User:Memo Spike Connector|2503: Memo Spike Connector]] ([[User talk:Memo Spike Connector|talk]]) 06:33, 3 June 2023 (UTC)

1488: Flowcharts

2023-06-03T06:17:17Z

Memo Spike Connector:

{{distinguish|518: Flow Charts}}
{{comic
| number = 1488
| date = February 18, 2015
| title = Flowcharts
| image = flowcharts.png
| titletext = Whoa, and if you overlay a Fibonacci spiral on a golden spiral it matches up almost perfectly!
}}
*If you click on the comic at xkcd you get to a [http://xkcd.com/spiral/ spiral] page on xkcd.
*The arrow at the bottom of this comic points to the [http://c.xkcd.com/random/comic/ "Random" button] at the bottom of the xkcd page.
**You can go to the comic, as always, by clicking on the date line above this comic.

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|The image was outdated - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
'''Note''': A flawed version of this comic was posted at first and then quickly a correct version was uploaded. But this gave rise to several misunderstandings and confusion. See the [[#Trivia|Trivia]] section below.

This comic is a {{w|flowchart}} style, like many [[Category:Flowcharts|other comics]]. Interestingly, the first option, ''Do you like flowcharts?'' loops back to itself if you say ''Yes''. As the yes lines of other options point to the type of graph they describe (for example, the yes line of ''Do you like line graphs?'' points to a line graph), this may be interpreted as a recursive reference to the flowchart itself, although it points to the option itself rather than the ''START'' node. Also, this may cause the reader who actually likes flow charts to go into an endless loop of choosing ''Yes'', until they are so annoyed by flowcharts that they do not like them anymore and can progress by saying ''No''.

After asking about flowcharts, the reader is asked whether they like {{w|line graph|line graphs}}. If they follow the yes line, it becomes a line graph where "Time" is the x-axis and "Your Happiness" is the y-axis, and shows that your happiness increases with time. If you don't like line graphs, they are asked the same question about {{w|scatter plots}} where again the lines turn into the points and the axis of such a plot.

Taking yet another line, the reader is asked "Charge a battery?" If they follow the line marked yes they are asked whether they are {{w|Alternating current|A/C}} or {{w|Direct current|D/C}} current and are led to a portion of the flowchart which resembles a {{w|circuit diagram}} of a {{w|rectifier bridge}} with a battery connected to it.

If the reader follows the "no" line, they are asked if they like spirals. If they choose "no" they are asked whether they would take the {{w|path of least resistance}}. This part of the flowchart resembles a circuit diagram, and the word "{{w|resistance}}" is a pun because resistance can have several meanings. In electricity it is an electrical quantity that measures how the device or material impedes the electric current flow through it. Going left is the "Never" option, which goes through extra resistors and a diode, therefore making the "Yes" option the "path of least resistance". However, when asked if you choose the path of least resistance and answers ''never'' it could also mean that you do not try to avoid a little trouble.

Whether they choose "Yes" or "No", they arrive at "Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?" If they choose "yes" the line fades into a drawing of a golden spiral, and we see that the flowchart is structured around it. If they choose "no" they are asked if they are tired of flowcharts. If not, they are taken to the beginning to start over again. If they are tired, the line points to the "random" button on the xkcd website.

The title text and the faint image of a {{w|golden spiral}} parody the fact that the golden spiral is superimposed on nearly ''everything''. The golden spiral is a spiral that has the growth rate of the golden ratio, a number that has inspired both artists and mathematicians alike. However, people try to find the golden ratio in seemingly random objects, and they fall to confirmation bias when drawing a golden spiral on top that seemingly fits. The comic links to [http://xkcd.com/spiral/], where one can see exactly that- golden spirals Randall "found" in random photographs. This may be a spoof of the viral video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPCkcKNUVoo Illuminati Confirmed]. The limit of the ratio of two consecutive terms of the Fibonacci sequence is equal to the golden ratio, so a Fibonacci spiral matches up almost perfectly for a good reason, unlike the coincidental matchings of the pictures in the mobile site link.

This comic bears reminiscence of [[730: Circuit Diagram]], although it is not exactly the same idea. Putting a golden spiral over other things was again used in [[2322: ISO Paper Size Golden Spiral]], like the [http://xkcd.com/spiral/ spiral] page on xkcd which this comic is a link to.

===List of Items in Flowchart===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Text in boxes
! Explanation
! Successor(s)
! Predecessor(s)
|-
| Start
| Start here
| Do you like flowcharts?
| Tired of flowcharts yet?
|-
| Do you like flowcharts?
| Asking whether or not the reader likes flow charts. Recursively returns to itself until the reader is annoyed enough to not like flowcharts and can move on to the next point.
| Do you like flowcharts?, Do you like line graphs?
| Start, Do you like flowcharts?
|-
| Do you like line graphs?
| It asks if you like {{w|line graph|line graphs}}
| Line or axis? [The one after yes to line graphs], Scatter plots?
| Do you like flowcharts?
|-
| Line or axis? [The one after yes to line graphs]
| It is asking if you wish to be the Line or the axis. If you choose the line, the flow chart line turns into a line graph with a positive curve. The same question will be asked later if you say no to line graphs and yes to scatter plots.
| [A line in a line graph], Time or your happiness?
| Do you like line graphs?
|-
| Time or your happiness?
| If you choose ''time'' the flow chart line becomes the x-axis of time and if you choose ''your happiness'' it becomes the y-axis in the line graph with the line from before indicating that your happiness increases over time (maybe because you like line graphs and are now becoming part of one?)
| [Time axis], [Your Happiness axis]
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to line graphs]
|-
| Scatter plots?
| If you don't like line graphs then maybe you like {{w|scatterplot|scatter plots}}?
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to scatter plots], Help charge a battery?
| Do you like line graphs?
|-
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to scatter plots]
| It is asking if you wish to be the data or the axis. If you choose the data, the flow chart line turns into a scatter plot that is also a flowchart where each of the 10 flow chart boxes is black with two white arrow, one pointing up and the other to the right. They are all connected with multiple connections. The same question was asked earlier if you said yes to line graphs.
| [A flow chart that looks like points in a scatter plot], X of Y?
| Scatter plots?
|-
| X or Y?
| Which axis do you prefer? The line you chooses turns in to this axis in the scatter plot.
| [X axis], [Y axis]
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to scatter plots]
|-
| Help charge a battery?
| From here on the flowchart is at the beginning of morphing into a circuit diagram.
| Like spirals?, Are you A/C or D/C?
| Scatter plots?
|-
| Are you A/C or D/C?,
| Asks whether you are an {{w|AC current}} or a {{w|DC current}}.
| Positive or negative phase?, positive or negative DC terminal?
| Help charging a battery?
|-
| Positive or negative phase?
| Conventional current will flow forwards during the positive phase of AC current, whereas in the negative phase the forwards directions matches the actual flow of electrons (see [[567: Urgent Mission]]).
| Positive or negative DC terminal? [To either side of this box]
| Are you A/C or D/C?
|-
| Positive or negative DC terminal?
| This box looks like a {{w|rectifier bridge}}, which is used to convert AC to DC. The single output leads to a battery which is joined in a circuit to the bottom of the rectifier bridge.
| Battery [plus or minus]
| Positive or negative phase?
|-
| Like spirals?
| Well, do you? If you do you instantly go to the question of golden spirals. If not you take a detour.
| Take the path of least resistance?, Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
| Help charge a battery?
|-
| Take the path of least resistance?
| This one is a pun. If resistance is seen as electrical resistance, then the bottom one labeled ''yes'' is the one with least resistance. The other labeled "Never" sends you through ''more'' resistance, and a 'protective' diode. But in either case you are lead to the same decision box. Also the resistors could look like spirals - making this detour for those who dislike these even more painful.
| Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
| Like spirals?
|-
| Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
| Here is a question regarding if you like the idea that some people can find and superimpose a {{w|golden spiral}} on a random image. No matter which options you choose you are forced to admit that it is totally BS ({{w|bullshit}}). But maybe you like it anyway? If you choose the ''Yes, even though it's total BS'' option the flow chart continues to the side of the chart, then starts to spiral up only to fades out to a very faint golden spiral aligned to the other items in the flow chart. It is almost impossible to see it before you follow this line. The other option is of course ''No, it's total BS''. If you do like it - then click on the [http://www.xkcd.com/1488/ comic on xkcd].
| Tired of flowcharts yet?, [A very faint golden spiral]
| Like spirals?, Take the path of least resistance?
|-
| Tired of flowcharts yet?
| Have you had enough of flow chart? If not then you are returned to the ''start'' box at the top of the chart. Maybe you have not tried all options yet, although you have already answered that you are tired of flow charts if you get this far. If you have had enough and answers ''Yes, I want to look at something else'' this option leads to the random comic button below the comic (only on xkcd). This decision ''literally'' breaks the fourth wall in traveling through the image's nominal boundary to point at a specific button to look at some other comic.
| Start, [The xkcd [http://c.xkcd.com/random/comic/ Random] comic button]
| Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete|We're sorry, but the image you have uploaded is now marked outdated at this time. Please check the image or try your upload again.}}
:[A flow chart. The first option the start box is white text on a black rectangle. The other boxes are rhombuses standing on edge. Except for the first there are always two options going out. Most only have one option coming in, but there are exceptions with two options going in.]
:Start
:[One arrow points to the first real choice.]
:[Below the text on the two options going out from each option will be indented. The top of these two options will be the one to be mentioned first below. Then the chart will be mapped like this going back to the previous unfinished option.]
:Do you like flowcharts?
::Yes
::No
:[Yes goes back where it came from.]
:Do you like line graphs?
::Yes
::No
:Line or axis?
::Line
::Axis
:[The line is just a line – but now as the line in a line graph.]
:Time or your happiness?
::Time
::Your happiness
:[These two lines turn into the x and y axis of the line graph.]
:Scatter plots?
::Yes
::No
:Data or axis?
::Data
::Axis
:[The data line turns into the points in a scatter plot.]
:X or Y?
::X
::Y
:[These two lines turn into the x and y axis of the scatter plot.]
:Help charge a battery?
::Yes
::No
:Are you A/C or D/C?,
::A/C
::D/C
:Positive or negative phase?
::+
::-
:[The D/C option also goes to this next option, but directly. This next rhombus looks like a part of a circuit diagram.]
:Positive or negative DC terminal?
::+
::-
:[These two lines goes to the + and – poles of a battery.]
:Like spirals?
::No
::Yes
:Take the path of least resistance?
::Never
::Yes
:[Never goes through two resistors and a diode before reaching the point of the Yes option, which then also goes though yet another resistor. Both thus end at the same option, which is also the one that Yes to like Spirals ends up at:]
:Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
::Yes, even though it's total BS.
::No, it's total BS.
:[Yes option takes the chart into a fading line that turns into a golden spiral spanning the whole chart.]
:Tired of flowcharts yet?
::No
::Yes, I want to look at something else
:[No takes you back to the start box at the top.]
:[Yes takes you out of the comic and points to the Random button at xkcd.]

==Trivia==
*A corrected version of the comic was uploaded later on the same day.
**This is the second time in February 2015 this has occurred; previously with [[1482: NowPlaying]].
*It appears that an unfinished version of the comic was uploaded, with several of the lines and labels missing, and the bridge circuit incorrectly drawn.
*This [[Media:OriginalFlowcharts.png|original]] comic can be seen on the link.
*The errors were:
**Missing yes/no at the line graph options.
**The diamond that points to the line in the line graph originally says "Data or axis?"
**Missing yes/no at the scatter plot options and missing the line for the yes option going to the second Data axis.
**Missing yes at charge a battery options.
**Missing DC from the AC or DC options and missing the line for the DC option going to the terminal.
**Missing the arrow pointing to the terminal from the "-" option of the phase.
**Missing +/- at terminal option and missing the line going from the negative pole of the battery to the terminal.
**The terminal, which is a rectifier bridge, had both diodes drawn in the wrong direction on the left side of the decision box.
**There was a + floating between the phase and terminal option. This was deleted.
**Missing yes at the spiral options.
**Missing yes/never! at the least resistance options. Also the arrow pointing to the next option was missing.
*The comic has reference to charging a battery, and was posted on the 270th birthday of Alessandro Volta, the original creator of the battery. This could, however, have been a coincidence.
*Later after the initial release of this comic Randall added a link to this page. It's viewable in the HTML-source or here: [https://xkcd.com/1488/info.0.json https://xkcd.com/1488/info.0.json]. The text is: ''"This is a gods-damned flowchart, huge surprise. a transcription and explanation and other things available on an external site http:\n\nwww.explainxkcd.com\nwiki\nindex.php\n1488 ]]\nhttp:\n\nwww.explainxkcd.com\nwiki\nindex.php\n148"''.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics sharing name|Flowcharts03]]
[[Category:Flowcharts]]
[[Category:Scatter plots]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Puns]]

1488: Flowcharts

2023-06-03T06:16:44Z

Memo Spike Connector:

{{distinguish|518: Flow Charts}}
{{comic
| number = 1488
| date = February 18, 2015
| title = Flowcharts
| image = flowcharts.png
| titletext = Whoa, and if you overlay a Fibonacci spiral on a golden spiral it matches up almost perfectly!
}}
*If you click on the comic at xkcd you get to a [http://xkcd.com/spiral/ spiral] page on xkcd.
*The arrow at the bottom of this comic points to the [http://c.xkcd.com/random/comic/ "Random" button] at the bottom of the xkcd page.
**You can go to the comic, as always, by clicking on the date line above this comic.

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|The image was outdated - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
'''Note''': A flawed version of this comic was posted at first and then quickly a correct version was uploaded. But this gave rise to several misunderstandings and confusion. See the [[#Trivia|Trivia]] section below.

This comic is a {{w|flowchart}} style, like many [[Category:Flowcharts|other comics]]. Interestingly, the first option, ''Do you like flowcharts?'' loops back to itself if you say ''Yes''. As the yes lines of other options point to the type of graph they describe (for example, the yes line of ''Do you like line graphs?'' points to a line graph), this may be interpreted as a recursive reference to the flowchart itself, although it points to the option itself rather than the ''START'' node. Also, this may cause the reader who actually likes flow charts to go into an endless loop of choosing ''Yes'', until they are so annoyed by flowcharts that they do not like them anymore and can progress by saying ''No''.

After asking about flowcharts, the reader is asked whether they like {{w|line graph|line graphs}}. If they follow the yes line, it becomes a line graph where "Time" is the x-axis and "Your Happiness" is the y-axis, and shows that your happiness increases with time. If you don't like line graphs, they are asked the same question about {{w|scatter plots}} where again the lines turn into the points and the axis of such a plot.

Taking yet another line, the reader is asked "Charge a battery?" If they follow the line marked yes they are asked whether they are {{w|Alternating current|A/C}} or {{w|Direct current|D/C}} current and are led to a portion of the flowchart which resembles a {{w|circuit diagram}} of a {{w|rectifier bridge}} with a battery connected to it.

If the reader follows the "no" line, they are asked if they like spirals. If they choose "no" they are asked whether they would take the {{w|path of least resistance}}. This part of the flowchart resembles a circuit diagram, and the word "{{w|resistance}}" is a pun because resistance can have several meanings. In electricity it is an electrical quantity that measures how the device or material impedes the electric current flow through it. Going left is the "Never" option, which goes through extra resistors and a diode, therefore making the "Yes" option the "path of least resistance". However, when asked if you choose the path of least resistance and answers ''never'' it could also mean that you do not try to avoid a little trouble.

Whether they choose "Yes" or "No", they arrive at "Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?" If they choose "yes" the line fades into a drawing of a golden spiral, and we see that the flowchart is structured around it. If they choose "no" they are asked if they are tired of flowcharts. If not, they are taken to the beginning to start over again. If they are tired, the line points to the "random" button on the xkcd website.

The title text and the faint image of a {{w|golden spiral}} parody the fact that the golden spiral is superimposed on nearly ''everything''. The golden spiral is a spiral that has the growth rate of the golden ratio, a number that has inspired both artists and mathematicians alike. However, people try to find the golden ratio in seemingly random objects, and they fall to confirmation bias when drawing a golden spiral on top that seemingly fits. The comic links to [http://xkcd.com/spiral/], where one can see exactly that- golden spirals Randall "found" in random photographs. This may be a spoof of the viral video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPCkcKNUVoo Illuminati Confirmed]. The limit of the ratio of two consecutive terms of the Fibonacci sequence is equal to the golden ratio, so a Fibonacci spiral matches up almost perfectly for a good reason, unlike the coincidental matchings of the pictures in the mobile site link.

This comic bears reminiscence of [[730: Circuit Diagram]], although it is not exactly the same idea. Putting a golden spiral over other things was again used in [[2322: ISO Paper Size Golden Spiral]], like the [http://xkcd.com/spiral/ spiral] page on xkcd which this comic is a link to.

===List of Items in Flowchart===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Text in boxes
! Explanation
! Successor(s)
! Predecessor(s)
|-
| Start
| Start here
| Do you like flowcharts?
| Tired of flowcharts yet?
|-
| Do you like flowcharts?
| Asking whether or not the reader likes flow charts. Recursively returns to itself until the reader is annoyed enough to not like flowcharts and can move on to the next point.
| Do you like flowcharts?, Do you like line graphs?
| Start, Do you like flowcharts?
|-
| Do you like line graphs?
| It asks if you like {{w|line graph|line graphs}}
| Line or axis? [The one after yes to line graphs], Scatter plots?
| Do you like flowcharts?
|-
| Line or axis? [The one after yes to line graphs]
| It is asking if you wish to be the Line or the axis. If you choose the line, the flow chart line turns into a line graph with a positive curve. The same question will be asked later if you say no to line graphs and yes to scatter plots.
| [A line in a line graph], Time or your happiness?
| Do you like line graphs?
|-
| Time or your happiness?
| If you choose ''time'' the flow chart line becomes the x-axis of time and if you choose ''your happiness'' it becomes the y-axis in the line graph with the line from before indicating that your happiness increases over time (maybe because you like line graphs and are now becoming part of one?)
| [Time axis], [Your Happiness axis]
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to line graphs]
|-
| Scatter plots?
| If you don't like line graphs then maybe you like {{w|scatterplot|scatter plots}}?
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to scatter plots], Help charge a battery?
| Do you like line graphs?
|-
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to scatter plots]
| It is asking if you wish to be the data or the axis. If you choose the data, the flow chart line turns into a scatter plot that is also a flowchart where each of the 10 flow chart boxes is black with two white arrow, one pointing up and the other to the right. They are all connected with multiple connections. The same question was asked earlier if you said yes to line graphs.
| [A flow chart that looks like points in a scatter plot], X of Y?
| Scatter plots?
|-
| X or Y?
| Which axis do you prefer? The line you chooses turns in to this axis in the scatter plot.
| [X axis], [Y axis]
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to scatter plots]
|-
| Help charge a battery?
| From here on the flowchart is at the beginning of morphing into a circuit diagram.
| Like spirals?, Are you A/C or D/C?
| Scatter plots?
|-
| Are you A/C or D/C?,
| Asks whether you are an {{w|AC current}} or a {{w|DC current}}.
| Positive or negative phase?, positive or negative DC terminal?
| Help charging a battery?
|-
| Positive or negative phase?
| Conventional current will flow forwards during the positive phase of AC current, whereas in the negative phase the forwards directions matches the actual flow of electrons (see [[567: Urgent Mission]]).
| Positive or negative DC terminal? [To either side of this box]
| Are you A/C or D/C?
|-
| Positive or negative DC terminal?
| This box looks like a {{w|rectifier bridge}}, which is used to convert AC to DC. The single output leads to a battery which is joined in a circuit to the bottom of the rectifier bridge.
| Battery [plus or minus]
| Positive or negative phase?
|-
| Like spirals?
| Well, do you? If you do you instantly go to the question of golden spirals. If not you take a detour.
| Take the path of least resistance?, Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
| Help charge a battery?
|-
| Take the path of least resistance?
| This one is a pun. If resistance is seen as electrical resistance, then the bottom one labeled ''yes'' is the one with least resistance. The other labeled "Never" sends you through ''more'' resistance, and a 'protective' diode. But in either case you are lead to the same decision box. Also the resistors could look like spirals - making this detour for those who dislike these even more painful.
| Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
| Like spirals?
|-
| Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
| Here is a question regarding if you like the idea that some people can find and superimpose a {{w|golden spiral}} on a random image. No matter which options you choose you are forced to admit that it is totally BS ({{w|bullshit}}). But maybe you like it anyway? If you choose the ''Yes, even though it's total BS'' option the flow chart continues to the side of the chart, then starts to spiral up only to fades out to a very faint golden spiral aligned to the other items in the flow chart. It is almost impossible to see it before you follow this line. The other option is of course ''No, it's total BS''. If you do like it - then click on the [http://www.xkcd.com/1488/ comic on xkcd].
| Tired of flowcharts yet?, [A very faint golden spiral]
| Like spirals?, Take the path of least resistance?
|-
| Tired of flowcharts yet?
| Have you had enough of flow chart? If not then you are returned to the ''start'' box at the top of the chart. Maybe you have not tried all options yet, although you have already answered that you are tired of flow charts if you get this far. If you have had enough and answers ''Yes, I want to look at something else'' this option leads to the random comic button below the comic (only on xkcd). This decision ''literally'' breaks the fourth wall in traveling through the image's nominal boundary to point at a specific button to look at some other comic.
| Start, [The xkcd [http://c.xkcd.com/random/comic/ Random] comic button]
| Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete|We're sorry, but the image you have uploaded is now marked outdated at this time. Please check the image or try your upload again.}}
:[A flow chart. The first option the start box is white text on a black rectangle. The other boxes are rhombuses standing on edge. Except for the first there are always two options going out. Most only have one option coming in, but there are exceptions with two options going in.]
:Start
:[One arrow points to the first real choice.]
:[Below the text on the two options going out from each option will be indented. The top of these two options will be the one to be mentioned first below. Then the chart will be mapped like this going back to the previous unfinished option.]
:Do you like flowcharts?
::Yes
::No
:[Yes goes back where it came from.]
:Do you like line graphs?
::Yes
::No
:Line or axis?
::Line
::Axis
:[The line is just a line – but now as the line in a line graph.]
:Time or your happiness?
::Time
::Your happiness
:[These two lines turn into the x and y axis of the line graph.]
:Scatter plots?
::Yes
::No
:Data or axis?
::Data
::Axis
:[The data line turns into the points in a scatter plot.]
:X or Y?
::X
::Y
:[These two lines turn into the x and y axis of the scatter plot.]
:Help charge a battery?
::Yes
::No
:Are you A/C or D/C?,
::A/C
::D/C
:Positive or negative phase?
::+
::-
:[The D/C option also goes to this next option, but directly. This next rhombus looks like a part of a circuit diagram.]
:Positive or negative DC terminal?
::+
::-
:[These two lines goes to the + and – poles of a battery.]
:Like spirals?
::No
::Yes
:Take the path of least resistance?
::Never
::Yes
:[Never goes through two resistors and a diode before reaching the point of the Yes option, which then also goes though yet another resistor. Both thus end at the same option, which is also the one that Yes to like Spirals ends up at:]
:Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
::Yes, even though it's total BS.
::No, it's total BS.
:[Yes option takes the chart into a fading line that turns into a golden spiral spanning the whole chart.]
:Tired of flowcharts yet?
::No
::Yes, I want to look at something else
:[No takes you back to the start box at the top.]
:[Yes takes you out of the comic and points to the Random button at xkcd.]

==Trivia==
*A corrected version of the comic was uploaded later on the same day.
**This is the second time in February 2015 this has occurred; previously with [[1482: NowPlaying]].
*It appears that an unfinished version of the comic was uploaded, with several of the lines and labels missing, and the bridge circuit incorrectly drawn.
*This [[Media:OriginalFlowcharts.png|original]] comic can be seen on the link.
*The errors were:
**Missing yes/no at the line graph options.
**The diamond that points to the line in the line graph originally says "Data or axis?"
**Missing yes/no at the scatter plot options and missing the line for the yes option going to the second Data axis.
**Missing yes at charge a battery options.
**Missing DC from the AC or DC options and missing the line for the DC option going to the terminal.
**Missing the arrow pointing to the terminal from the "-" option of the phase.
**Missing +/- at terminal option and missing the line going from the negative pole of the battery to the terminal.
**The terminal, which is a rectifier bridge, had both diodes drawn in the wrong direction on the left side of the decision box.
**There was a + floating between the phase and terminal option. This was deleted.
**Missing yes at the spiral options.
**Missing yes/never! at the least resistance options. Also the arrow pointing to the next option was missing.
*The comic has reference to charging a battery, and was posted on the 270th birthday of Alessandro Volta, the original creator of the battery. This could, however, have been a coincidence.
*Later after the initial release of this comic Randall added a link to this page. It's viewable in the HTML-source or here: [https://xkcd.com/1488/info.0.json https://xkcd.com/1488/info.0.json]. The text is: ''"This is a gods-damned flowchart, huge surprise. a transcription and explanation and other things available on an external site http:\n\nwww.explainxkcd.com\nwiki\nindex.php\n1488 ]]\nhttp:\n\nwww.explainxkcd.com\nwiki\nindex.php\n148"''.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Flowcharts]]
[[Category:Scatter plots]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Puns]]

1488: Flowcharts

2023-06-03T06:12:54Z

Memo Spike Connector:

{{distinguish|518: Flow Charts}}
{{comic
| number = 1488
| date = February 18, 2015
| title = Flowcharts
| image = flowcharts.png
| titletext = Whoa, and if you overlay a Fibonacci spiral on a golden spiral it matches up almost perfectly!
}}
*If you click on the comic at xkcd you get to a [http://xkcd.com/spiral/ spiral] page on xkcd.
*The arrow at the bottom of this comic points to the [http://c.xkcd.com/random/comic/ "Random" button] at the bottom of the xkcd page.
**You can go to the comic, as always, by clicking on the date line above this comic.

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|The image was outdated - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
'''Note''': A flawed version of this comic was posted at first and then quickly a correct version was uploaded. But this gave rise to several misunderstandings and confusion. See the [[#Trivia|Trivia]] section below.

This comic is a {{w|flowchart}} style, like many [[Category:Flowcharts|other comics]]. Interestingly, the first option, ''Do you like flowcharts?'' loops back to itself if you say ''Yes''. As the yes lines of other options point to the type of graph they describe (for example, the yes line of ''Do you like line graphs?'' points to a line graph), this may be interpreted as a recursive reference to the flowchart itself, although it points to the option itself rather than the ''START'' node. Also, this may cause the reader who actually likes flow charts to go into an endless loop of choosing ''Yes'', until they are so annoyed by flowcharts that they do not like them anymore and can progress by saying ''No''.

After asking about flowcharts, the reader is asked whether they like {{w|line graph|line graphs}}. If they follow the yes line, it becomes a line graph where "Time" is the x-axis and "Your Happiness" is the y-axis, and shows that your happiness increases with time. If you don't like line graphs, they are asked the same question about {{w|scatter plots}} where again the lines turn into the points and the axis of such a plot.

Taking yet another line, the reader is asked "Charge a battery?" If they follow the line marked yes they are asked whether they are {{w|Alternating current|A/C}} or {{w|Direct current|D/C}} current and are led to a portion of the flowchart which resembles a {{w|circuit diagram}} of a {{w|rectifier bridge}} with a battery connected to it.

If the reader follows the "no" line, they are asked if they like spirals. If they choose "no" they are asked whether they would take the {{w|path of least resistance}}. This part of the flowchart resembles a circuit diagram, and the word "{{w|resistance}}" is a pun because resistance can have several meanings. In electricity it is an electrical quantity that measures how the device or material impedes the electric current flow through it. Going left is the "Never" option, which goes through extra resistors and a diode, therefore making the "Yes" option the "path of least resistance". However, when asked if you choose the path of least resistance and answers ''never'' it could also mean that you do not try to avoid a little trouble.

Whether they choose "Yes" or "No", they arrive at "Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?" If they choose "yes" the line fades into a drawing of a golden spiral, and we see that the flowchart is structured around it. If they choose "no" they are asked if they are tired of flowcharts. If not, they are taken to the beginning to start over again. If they are tired, the line points to the "random" button on the xkcd website.

The title text and the faint image of a {{w|golden spiral}} parody the fact that the golden spiral is superimposed on nearly ''everything''. The golden spiral is a spiral that has the growth rate of the golden ratio, a number that has inspired both artists and mathematicians alike. However, people try to find the golden ratio in seemingly random objects, and they fall to confirmation bias when drawing a golden spiral on top that seemingly fits. The comic links to [http://xkcd.com/spiral/], where one can see exactly that- golden spirals Randall "found" in random photographs. This may be a spoof of the viral video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPCkcKNUVoo Illuminati Confirmed]. The limit of the ratio of two consecutive terms of the Fibonacci sequence is equal to the golden ratio, so a Fibonacci spiral matches up almost perfectly for a good reason, unlike the coincidental matchings of the pictures in the mobile site link.

This comic bears reminiscence of [[730: Circuit Diagram]], although it is not exactly the same idea. Putting a golden spiral over other things was again used in [[2322: ISO Paper Size Golden Spiral]], like the [http://xkcd.com/spiral/ spiral] page on xkcd which this comic is a link to.

===List of Items in Flowchart===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Text in boxes
! Explanation
! Successor(s)
! Predecessor(s)
|-
| Start
| Start here
| Do you like flowcharts?
| Tired of flowcharts yet?
|-
| Do you like flowcharts?
| Asking whether or not the reader likes flow charts. Recursively returns to itself until the reader is annoyed enough to not like flowcharts and can move on to the next point.
| Do you like flowcharts?, Do you like line graphs?
| Start, Do you like flowcharts?
|-
| Do you like line graphs?
| It asks if you like {{w|line graph|line graphs}}
| Line or axis? [The one after yes to line graphs], Scatter plots?
| Do you like flowcharts?
|-
| Line or axis? [The one after yes to line graphs]
| It is asking if you wish to be the Line or the axis. If you choose the line, the flow chart line turns into a line graph with a positive curve. The same question will be asked later if you say no to line graphs and yes to scatter plots.
| [A line in a line graph], Time or your happiness?
| Do you like line graphs?
|-
| Time or your happiness?
| If you choose ''time'' the flow chart line becomes the x-axis of time and if you choose ''your happiness'' it becomes the y-axis in the line graph with the line from before indicating that your happiness increases over time (maybe because you like line graphs and are now becoming part of one?)
| [Time axis], [Your Happiness axis]
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to line graphs]
|-
| Scatter plots?
| If you don't like line graphs then maybe you like {{w|scatterplot|scatter plots}}?
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to scatter plots], Help charge a battery?
| Do you like line graphs?
|-
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to scatter plots]
| It is asking if you wish to be the data or the axis. If you choose the data, the flow chart line turns into a scatter plot that is also a flowchart where each of the 10 flow chart boxes is black with two white arrow, one pointing up and the other to the right. They are all connected with multiple connections. The same question was asked earlier if you said yes to line graphs.
| [A flow chart that looks like points in a scatter plot], X of Y?
| Scatter plots?
|-
| X or Y?
| Which axis do you prefer? The line you chooses turns in to this axis in the scatter plot.
| [X axis], [Y axis]
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to scatter plots]
|-
| Help charge a battery?
| From here on the flowchart is at the beginning of morphing into a circuit diagram.
| Like spirals?, Are you A/C or D/C?
| Scatter plots?
|-
| Are you A/C or D/C?,
| Asks whether you are an {{w|AC current}} or a {{w|DC current}}.
| Positive or negative phase?, positive or negative DC terminal?
| Help charging a battery?
|-
| Positive or negative phase?
| Conventional current will flow forwards during the positive phase of AC current, whereas in the negative phase the forwards directions matches the actual flow of electrons (see [[567: Urgent Mission]]).
| Positive or negative DC terminal? [To either side of this box]
| Are you A/C or D/C?
|-
| Positive or negative DC terminal?
| This box looks like a {{w|rectifier bridge}}, which is used to convert AC to DC. The single output leads to a battery which is joined in a circuit to the bottom of the rectifier bridge.
| Battery [plus or minus]
| Positive or negative phase?
|-
| Like spirals?
| Well, do you? If you do you instantly go to the question of golden spirals. If not you take a detour.
| Take the path of least resistance?, Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
| Help charge a battery?
|-
| Take the path of least resistance?
| This one is a pun. If resistance is seen as electrical resistance, then the bottom one labeled ''yes'' is the one with least resistance. The other labeled "Never" sends you through ''more'' resistance, and a 'protective' diode. But in either case you are lead to the same decision box. Also the resistors could look like spirals - making this detour for those who dislike these even more painful.
| Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
| Like spirals?
|-
| Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
| Here is a question regarding if you like the idea that some people can find and superimpose a {{w|golden spiral}} on a random image. No matter which options you choose you are forced to admit that it is totally BS ({{w|bullshit}}). But maybe you like it anyway? If you choose the ''Yes, even though it's total BS'' option the flow chart continues to the side of the chart, then starts to spiral up only to fades out to a very faint golden spiral aligned to the other items in the flow chart. It is almost impossible to see it before you follow this line. The other option is of course ''No, it's total BS''. If you do like it - then click on the [http://www.xkcd.com/1488/ comic on xkcd].
| Tired of flowcharts yet?, [A very faint golden spiral]
| Like spirals?, Take the path of least resistance?
|-
| Tired of flowcharts yet?
| Have you had enough of flow chart? If not then you are returned to the ''start'' box at the top of the chart. Maybe you have not tried all options yet, although you have already answered that you are tired of flow charts if you get this far. If you have had enough and answers ''Yes, I want to look at something else'' this option leads to the random comic button below the comic (only on xkcd). This decision ''literally'' breaks the fourth wall in traveling through the image's nominal boundary to point at a specific button to look at some other comic.
| Start, [The xkcd [http://c.xkcd.com/random/comic/ Random] comic button]
| Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
|}

==Transcript==
:[A flow chart. The first option the start box is white text on a black rectangle. The other boxes are rhombuses standing on edge. Except for the first there are always two options going out. Most only have one option coming in, but there are exceptions with two options going in.]
:Start
:[One arrow points to the first real choice.]
:[Below the text on the two options going out from each option will be indented. The top of these two options will be the one to be mentioned first below. Then the chart will be mapped like this going back to the previous unfinished option.]
:Do you like flowcharts?
::Yes
::No
:[Yes goes back where it came from.]
:Do you like line graphs?
::Yes
::No
:Line or axis?
::Line
::Axis
:[The line is just a line – but now as the line in a line graph.]
:Time or your happiness?
::Time
::Your happiness
:[These two lines turn into the x and y axis of the line graph.]
:Scatter plots?
::Yes
::No
:Data or axis?
::Data
::Axis
:[The data line turns into the points in a scatter plot.]
:X or Y?
::X
::Y
:[These two lines turn into the x and y axis of the scatter plot.]
:Help charge a battery?
::Yes
::No
:Are you A/C or D/C?,
::A/C
::D/C
:Positive or negative phase?
::+
::-
:[The D/C option also goes to this next option, but directly. This next rhombus looks like a part of a circuit diagram.]
:Positive or negative DC terminal?
::+
::-
:[These two lines goes to the + and – poles of a battery.]
:Like spirals?
::No
::Yes
:Take the path of least resistance?
::Never
::Yes
:[Never goes through two resistors and a diode before reaching the point of the Yes option, which then also goes though yet another resistor. Both thus end at the same option, which is also the one that Yes to like Spirals ends up at:]
:Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
::Yes, even though it's total BS.
::No, it's total BS.
:[Yes option takes the chart into a fading line that turns into a golden spiral spanning the whole chart.]
:Tired of flowcharts yet?
::No
::Yes, I want to look at something else
:[No takes you back to the start box at the top.]
:[Yes takes you out of the comic and points to the Random button at xkcd.]

==Trivia==
*A corrected version of the comic was uploaded later on the same day.
**This is the second time in February 2015 this has occurred; previously with [[1482: NowPlaying]].
*It appears that an unfinished version of the comic was uploaded, with several of the lines and labels missing, and the bridge circuit incorrectly drawn.
*This [[Media:OriginalFlowcharts.png|original]] comic can be seen on the link.
*The errors were:
**Missing yes/no at the line graph options.
**Missing yes/no at the scatter plot options and missing the line for the yes option going to the second Data axis.
**Missing yes at charge a battery options.
**Missing DC from the AC or DC options and missing the line for the DC option going to the terminal.
**Missing the arrow pointing to the terminal from the "-" option of the phase.
**Missing +/- at terminal option and missing the line going from the negative pole of the battery to the terminal.
**The terminal, which is a rectifier bridge, had both diodes drawn in the wrong direction on the left side of the decision box.
**There was a + floating between the phase and terminal option. This was deleted.
**Missing yes at the spiral options.
**Missing yes/never! at the least resistance options. Also the arrow pointing to the next option was missing.
*The comic has reference to charging a battery, and was posted on the 270th birthday of Alessandro Volta, the original creator of the battery. This could, however, have been a coincidence.
*Later after the initial release of this comic Randall added a link to this page. It's viewable in the HTML-source or here: [https://xkcd.com/1488/info.0.json https://xkcd.com/1488/info.0.json]. The text is: ''"This is a gods-damned flowchart, huge surprise. a transcription and explanation and other things available on an external site http:\n\nwww.explainxkcd.com\nwiki\nindex.php\n1488 ]]\nhttp:\n\nwww.explainxkcd.com\nwiki\nindex.php\n148"''.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Flowcharts]]
[[Category:Scatter plots]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Puns]]

1488: Flowcharts

2023-06-03T06:09:57Z

Memo Spike Connector: Outdated image

{{distinguish|518: Flow Charts}}
{{comic
| number = 1488
| date = February 18, 2015
| title = Flowcharts
| image = flowcharts.png
| titletext = Whoa, and if you overlay a Fibonacci spiral on a golden spiral it matches up almost perfectly!
}}
*If you click on the comic at xkcd you get to a [http://xkcd.com/spiral/ spiral] page on xkcd.
*The arrow at the bottom of this comic points to the [http://c.xkcd.com/random/comic/ "Random" button] at the bottom of the xkcd page.
**You can go to the comic, as always, by clicking on the date line above this comic.

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|The image was outdated - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
'''Note''': A flawed version of this comic was posted at first and then quickly a correct version was uploaded. But this gave rise to several misunderstandings and confusion. See the [[#Trivia|Trivia]] section below.

This comic is a {{w|flowchart}} style, like many [[Category:Flowcharts|other comics]]. Interestingly, the first option, ''Do you like flowcharts?'' loops back to itself if you say ''Yes''. As the yes lines of other options point to the type of graph they describe (for example, the yes line of ''Do you like line graphs?'' points to a line graph), this may be interpreted as a recursive reference to the flowchart itself, although it points to the option itself rather than the ''START'' node. Also, this may cause the reader who actually likes flow charts to go into an endless loop of choosing ''Yes'', until they are so annoyed by flowcharts that they do not like them anymore and can progress by saying ''No''.

After asking about flowcharts, the reader is asked whether they like {{w|line graph|line graphs}}. If they follow the yes line, it becomes a line graph where "Time" is the x-axis and "Your Happiness" is the y-axis, and shows that your happiness increases with time. If you don't like line graphs, they are asked the same question about {{w|scatter plots}} where again the lines turn into the points and the axis of such a plot.

Taking yet another line, the reader is asked "Charge a battery?" If they follow the line marked yes they are asked whether they are {{w|Alternating current|A/C}} or {{w|Direct current|D/C}} current and are led to a portion of the flowchart which resembles a {{w|circuit diagram}} of a {{w|rectifier bridge}} with a battery connected to it.

If the reader follows the "no" line, they are asked if they like spirals. If they choose "no" they are asked whether they would take the {{w|path of least resistance}}. This part of the flowchart resembles a circuit diagram, and the word "{{w|resistance}}" is a pun because resistance can have several meanings. In electricity it is an electrical quantity that measures how the device or material impedes the electric current flow through it. Going left is the "Never" option, which goes through extra resistors and a diode, therefore making the "Yes" option the "path of least resistance". However, when asked if you choose the path of least resistance and answers ''never'' it could also mean that you do not try to avoid a little trouble.

Whether they choose "Yes" or "No", they arrive at "Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?" If they choose "yes" the line fades into a drawing of a golden spiral, and we see that the flowchart is structured around it. If they choose "no" they are asked if they are tired of flowcharts. If not, they are taken to the beginning to start over again. If they are tired, the line points to the "random" button on the xkcd website.

The title text and the faint image of a {{w|golden spiral}} parody the fact that the golden spiral is superimposed on nearly ''everything''. The golden spiral is a spiral that has the growth rate of the golden ratio, a number that has inspired both artists and mathematicians alike. However, people try to find the golden ratio in seemingly random objects, and they fall to confirmation bias when drawing a golden spiral on top that seemingly fits. The comic links to [http://xkcd.com/spiral/], where one can see exactly that- golden spirals Randall "found" in random photographs. This may be a spoof of the viral video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPCkcKNUVoo Illuminati Confirmed]. The limit of the ratio of two consecutive terms of the Fibonacci sequence is equal to the golden ratio, so a Fibonacci spiral matches up almost perfectly for a good reason, unlike the coincidental matchings of the pictures in the mobile site link.

This comic bears reminiscence of [[730: Circuit Diagram]], although it is not exactly the same idea. Putting a golden spiral over other things was again used in [[2322: ISO Paper Size Golden Spiral]], like the [http://xkcd.com/spiral/ spiral] page on xkcd which this comic is a link to.

===List of Items in Flowchart===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Text in boxes
! Explanation
! Successor(s)
! Predecessor(s)
|-
| Start
| Start here
| Do you like flowcharts?
| Tired of flowcharts yet?
|-
| Do you like flowcharts?
| Asking whether or not the reader likes flow charts. Recursively returns to itself until the reader is annoyed enough to not like flowcharts and can move on to the next point.
| Do you like flowcharts?, Do you like line graphs?
| Start, Do you like flowcharts?
|-
| Do you like line graphs?
| It asks if you like {{w|line graph|line graphs}}
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to line graphs], Scatter plots?
| Do you like flowcharts?
|-
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to line graphs]
| It is asking if you wish to be the data or the axis. If you choose the line, the flow chart line turns into a line graph with a positive curve. The same question will be asked later if you say no to line graphs and yes to scatter plots.
| [A line in a line graph], Time or your happiness?
| Do you like line graphs?
|-
| Time or your happiness?
| If you choose ''time'' the flow chart line becomes the x-axis of time and if you choose ''your happiness'' it becomes the y-axis in the line graph with the line from before indicating that your happiness increases over time (maybe because you like line graphs and are now becoming part of one?)
| [Time axis], [Your Happiness axis]
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to line graphs]
|-
| Scatter plots?
| If you don't like line graphs then maybe you like {{w|scatterplot|scatter plots}}?
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to scatter plots], Help charge a battery?
| Do you like line graphs?
|-
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to scatter plots]
| It is asking if you wish to be the data or the axis. If you choose the data, the flow chart line turns into a scatter plot that is also a flowchart where each of the 10 flow chart boxes is black with two white arrow, one pointing up and the other to the right. They are all connected with multiple connections. The same question was asked earlier if you said yes to line graphs.
| [A flow chart that looks like points in a scatter plot], X of Y?
| Scatter plots?
|-
| X or Y?
| Which axis do you prefer? The line you chooses turns in to this axis in the scatter plot.
| [X axis], [Y axis]
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to scatter plots]
|-
| Help charge a battery?
| From here on the flowchart is at the beginning of morphing into a circuit diagram.
| Like spirals?, Are you A/C or D/C?
| Scatter plots?
|-
| Are you A/C or D/C?,
| Asks whether you are an {{w|AC current}} or a {{w|DC current}}.
| Positive or negative phase?, positive or negative DC terminal?
| Help charging a battery?
|-
| Positive or negative phase?
| Conventional current will flow forwards during the positive phase of AC current, whereas in the negative phase the forwards directions matches the actual flow of electrons (see [[567: Urgent Mission]]).
| Positive or negative DC terminal? [To either side of this box]
| Are you A/C or D/C?
|-
| Positive or negative DC terminal?
| This box looks like a {{w|rectifier bridge}}, which is used to convert AC to DC. The single output leads to a battery which is joined in a circuit to the bottom of the rectifier bridge.
| Battery [plus or minus]
| Positive or negative phase?
|-
| Like spirals?
| Well, do you? If you do you instantly go to the question of golden spirals. If not you take a detour.
| Take the path of least resistance?, Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
| Help charge a battery?
|-
| Take the path of least resistance?
| This one is a pun. If resistance is seen as electrical resistance, then the bottom one labeled ''yes'' is the one with least resistance. The other labeled "Never" sends you through ''more'' resistance, and a 'protective' diode. But in either case you are lead to the same decision box. Also the resistors could look like spirals - making this detour for those who dislike these even more painful.
| Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
| Like spirals?
|-
| Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
| Here is a question regarding if you like the idea that some people can find and superimpose a {{w|golden spiral}} on a random image. No matter which options you choose you are forced to admit that it is totally BS ({{w|bullshit}}). But maybe you like it anyway? If you choose the ''Yes, even though it's total BS'' option the flow chart continues to the side of the chart, then starts to spiral up only to fades out to a very faint golden spiral aligned to the other items in the flow chart. It is almost impossible to see it before you follow this line. The other option is of course ''No, it's total BS''. If you do like it - then click on the [http://www.xkcd.com/1488/ comic on xkcd].
| Tired of flowcharts yet?, [A very faint golden spiral]
| Like spirals?, Take the path of least resistance?
|-
| Tired of flowcharts yet?
| Have you had enough of flow chart? If not then you are returned to the ''start'' box at the top of the chart. Maybe you have not tried all options yet, although you have already answered that you are tired of flow charts if you get this far. If you have had enough and answers ''Yes, I want to look at something else'' this option leads to the random comic button below the comic (only on xkcd). This decision ''literally'' breaks the fourth wall in traveling through the image's nominal boundary to point at a specific button to look at some other comic.
| Start, [The xkcd [http://c.xkcd.com/random/comic/ Random] comic button]
| Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
|}

==Transcript==
:[A flow chart. The first option the start box is white text on a black rectangle. The other boxes are rhombuses standing on edge. Except for the first there are always two options going out. Most only have one option coming in, but there are exceptions with two options going in.]
:Start
:[One arrow points to the first real choice.]
:[Below the text on the two options going out from each option will be indented. The top of these two options will be the one to be mentioned first below. Then the chart will be mapped like this going back to the previous unfinished option.]
:Do you like flowcharts?
::Yes
::No
:[Yes goes back where it came from.]
:Do you like line graphs?
::Yes
::No
:Data or axis?
::Line
::Axis
:[The line is just a line – but now as the line in a line graph.]
:Time or your happiness?
::Time
::Your happiness
:[These two lines turn into the x and y axis of the line graph.]
:Scatter plots?
::Yes
::No
:Data or axis?
::Data
::Axis
:[The data line turns into the points in a scatter plot.]
:X or Y?
::X
::Y
:[These two lines turn into the x and y axis of the scatter plot.]
:Help charge a battery?
::Yes
::No
:Are you A/C or D/C?,
::A/C
::D/C
:Positive or negative phase?
::+
::-
:[The D/C option also goes to this next option, but directly. This next rhombus looks like a part of a circuit diagram.]
:Positive or negative DC terminal?
::+
::-
:[These two lines goes to the + and – poles of a battery.]
:Like spirals?
::No
::Yes
:Take the path of least resistance?
::Never
::Yes
:[Never goes through two resistors and a diode before reaching the point of the Yes option, which then also goes though yet another resistor. Both thus end at the same option, which is also the one that Yes to like Spirals ends up at:]
:Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
::Yes, even though it's total BS.
::No, it's total BS.
:[Yes option takes the chart into a fading line that turns into a golden spiral spanning the whole chart.]
:Tired of flowcharts yet?
::No
::Yes, I want to look at something else
:[No takes you back to the start box at the top.]
:[Yes takes you out of the comic and points to the Random button at xkcd.]

==Trivia==
*A corrected version of the comic was uploaded later on the same day.
**This is the second time in February 2015 this has occurred; previously with [[1482: NowPlaying]].
*It appears that an unfinished version of the comic was uploaded, with several of the lines and labels missing, and the bridge circuit incorrectly drawn.
*This [[Media:OriginalFlowcharts.png|original]] comic can be seen on the link.
*The errors were:
**Missing yes/no at the line graph options.
**Missing yes/no at the scatter plot options and missing the line for the yes option going to the second Data axis.
**Missing yes at charge a battery options.
**Missing DC from the AC or DC options and missing the line for the DC option going to the terminal.
**Missing the arrow pointing to the terminal from the "-" option of the phase.
**Missing +/- at terminal option and missing the line going from the negative pole of the battery to the terminal.
**The terminal, which is a rectifier bridge, had both diodes drawn in the wrong direction on the left side of the decision box.
**There was a + floating between the phase and terminal option. This was deleted.
**Missing yes at the spiral options.
**Missing yes/never! at the least resistance options. Also the arrow pointing to the next option was missing.
*The comic has reference to charging a battery, and was posted on the 270th birthday of Alessandro Volta, the original creator of the battery. This could, however, have been a coincidence.
*Later after the initial release of this comic Randall added a link to this page. It's viewable in the HTML-source or here: [https://xkcd.com/1488/info.0.json https://xkcd.com/1488/info.0.json]. The text is: ''"This is a gods-damned flowchart, huge surprise. a transcription and explanation and other things available on an external site http:\n\nwww.explainxkcd.com\nwiki\nindex.php\n1488 ]]\nhttp:\n\nwww.explainxkcd.com\nwiki\nindex.php\n148"''.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Flowcharts]]
[[Category:Scatter plots]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Puns]]

2780: Physical Quantities

2023-06-03T06:05:39Z

Memo Spike Connector:

{{comic
| number = 2780
| date = May 24, 2023
| title = Physical Quantities
| image = physical_quantities_2x.png
| imagesize = 338x183px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The Hubble length is about 1.9 meters lying down; Edwin Hubble was a tall guy.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a TALL SCIENTIST - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{incomplete|The image was outdated - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic plays on the name of various established physical definitions by simply taking them overly literally. Each one is treated as being a bodily measure of the scientist after which they are named, rather than describing/estimating the eponymous feature within the scientist's field of study. Interestingly, of the many {{w|List of scientific units named after people|units named for people}}, only one is actually a measurement of its namesake: the {{w|Smoot}}.

;Hubble volume
In cosmology, a {{w|Hubble volume}} (named for the astronomer {{w|Edwin Hubble}}) is a spherical region of the observable universe.
The Hubble volume is approximately equal to 1031 cubic light years (or about 1079 cubic meters).
The value given in the comic is the estimated volume of Edwin Hubble's body. The mean volume of a human body is around 65L[https://bionumbers.hms.harvard.edu/bionumber.aspx?s=n&v=3&id=109718], but Edwin Hubble was a big guy (see title text) and likely had an above-average volume.

;Schwarzschild radius
The {{w|Schwarzschild radius}} of a black hole refers to the event horizon: the radius beyond which light cannot escape. Curling up in a ball tends to reduce people's radii,{{fact}} while making them more spherical and easier to measure, so {{w|Karl Schwarzschild}}'s is given as 0.34 m, corresponding to a black hole of about 40 times the mass of Earth.

;Broca's area
{{w|Broca's area}} is a region of the brain whose functions are linked to speech. It is not a measurement of area in the sense of length times width. The measurement shown here purports to be the area of {{w|Paul Broca}}, which probably refers to the {{w|Body surface area|surface area of his body}} - about 1.7-1.8 m2 for a typical adult. This area was recently mentioned in the title text of [[2732: Bursa of Fabricius]].

;Fermi temperature
The concept of Fermi Temperature is {{w|Fermi energy#Related quantities|related to the Fermi Energy}}, a quantum value inherent to very cold substances. The {{w|Human body temperature|temperature of an average human}} is about 37 degrees Celsius, so it makes sense that {{w|Enrico Fermi}}’s baseline body temperature was, likewise, 37 degrees Celsius. Since Fermi lived in the 20th century, and it may be possible to reference his medical records, this assertion is potentially testable, perhaps more readily than those made for the 19th-century persons named in this comic.

;Planck length
{{w|Planck units}} are naturally-derived measurements invented by {{w|Max Planck}}; the Planck length (approximately 1.6×10-35 m) is one of the smallest meaningful distances. However, Randall measures the length of Max Planck, not the units. It is specifically when Planck was lying down (as to not decrease his height from a days exposure to gravity which may shorten a human by a centimeter or so, and also because lying down turns a human’s height into a length, as well as being a pun on the plank exercise, which is done in a horizontal position).

;Hubble length (title text)
A {{w|Hubble's_law#Hubble_length|Hubble length}} is 14.4 billion light years. This is a joke similar to the above play on the Planck length. The Hubble distance would be the distance between the Earth and the galaxies which are currently receding from us at the speed of light. The joke is that the Hubble length is 14 cm longer than the Planck length because Hubble was a tall man. Another joke by comparing these two are that these two distances are about as far from each other as possible on scales that make sense. The smallest distance to something on the order of the size of the visible universe.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete|Image outdated}}
:[A centered header appears above a list of constant names and corresponding values, each item horizontally aligned to line up the gaps between the two.]
:Reference Physical Quantities

:Hubble volume: 96L
:Schwarzchild radius: 0.34m (curled up)
:Broca's area: 1.7m2
:Fermi temperature: 37°C
:Planck length: 1.76m (lying down)

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Science]]

2780: Physical Quantities

2023-06-03T06:05:01Z

Memo Spike Connector: Image outdated.

{{comic
| number = 2780
| date = May 24, 2023
| title = Physical Quantities
| image = physical_quantities_2x.png
| imagesize = 338x183px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The Hubble length is about 1.9 meters lying down; Edwin Hubble was a tall guy.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a TALL SCIENTIST - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{incomplete|The image was outdated - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic plays on the name of various established physical definitions by simply taking them overly literally. Each one is treated as being a bodily measure of the scientist after which they are named, rather than describing/estimating the eponymous feature within the scientist's field of study. Interestingly, of the many {{w|List of scientific units named after people|units named for people}}, only one is actually a measurement of its namesake: the {{w|Smoot}}.

;Hubble volume
In cosmology, a {{w|Hubble volume}} (named for the astronomer {{w|Edwin Hubble}}) is a spherical region of the observable universe.
The Hubble volume is approximately equal to 1031 cubic light years (or about 1079 cubic meters).
The value given in the comic is the estimated volume of Edwin Hubble's body. The mean volume of a human body is around 65L[https://bionumbers.hms.harvard.edu/bionumber.aspx?s=n&v=3&id=109718], but Edwin Hubble was a big guy (see title text) and likely had an above-average volume.

;Schwarzschild radius
The {{w|Schwarzschild radius}} of a black hole refers to the event horizon: the radius beyond which light cannot escape. Curling up in a ball tends to reduce people's radii,{{fact}} while making them more spherical and easier to measure, so {{w|Karl Schwarzschild}}'s is given as 0.34 m, corresponding to a black hole of about 40 times the mass of Earth.

;Broca's area
{{w|Broca's area}} is a region of the brain whose functions are linked to speech. It is not a measurement of area in the sense of length times width. The measurement shown here purports to be the area of {{w|Paul Broca}}, which probably refers to the {{w|Body surface area|surface area of his body}} - about 1.7-1.8 m2 for a typical adult. This area was recently mentioned in the title text of [[2732: Bursa of Fabricius]].

;Fermi temperature
The concept of Fermi Temperature is {{w|Fermi energy#Related quantities|related to the Fermi Energy}}, a quantum value inherent to very cold substances. The {{w|Human body temperature|temperature of an average human}} is about 37 degrees Celsius, so it makes sense that {{w|Enrico Fermi}}’s baseline body temperature was, likewise, 37 degrees Celsius. Since Fermi lived in the 20th century, and it may be possible to reference his medical records, this assertion is potentially testable, perhaps more readily than those made for the 19th-century persons named in this comic.

;Planck length
{{w|Planck units}} are naturally-derived measurements invented by {{w|Max Planck}}; the Planck length (approximately 1.6×10-35 m) is one of the smallest meaningful distances. However, Randall measures the length of Max Planck, not the units. It is specifically when Planck was lying down (as to not decrease his height from a days exposure to gravity which may shorten a human by a centimeter or so, and also because lying down turns a human’s height into a length, as well as being a pun on the plank exercise, which is done in a horizontal position).

;Hubble length (title text)
A {{w|Hubble's_law#Hubble_length|Hubble length}} is 14.4 billion light years. This is a joke similar to the above play on the Planck length. The Hubble distance would be the distance between the Earth and the galaxies which are currently receding from us at the speed of light. The joke is that the Hubble length is 14 cm longer than the Planck length because Hubble was a tall man. Another joke by comparing these two are that these two distances are about as far from each other as possible on scales that make sense. The smallest distance to something on the order of the size of the visible universe.

==Transcript==

:[A centered header appears above a list of constant names and corresponding values, each item horizontally aligned to line up the gaps between the two.]
:Reference Physical Quantities

:Hubble volume: 96L
:Schwarzchild radius: 0.34m (curled up)
:Broca's area: 1.7m3
:Fermi temperature: 37°C
:Planck length: 1.76m (lying down)

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Science]]

2499: Abandonment Function

2023-05-30T09:02:12Z

Memo Spike Connector: Removed an unused parameter

{{comic
| number = 2499
| date = August 6, 2021
| title = Abandonment Function
| image = abandonment function.png
| titletext = Remember to only adopt domesticated drones that specifically request it. It's illegal to collect wild ones under the Migratory Drone Treaty Act.
}}

==Explanation==
This is another one of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[:Category:Tips|Tips]], this time a Tech Tip.

{{W|abandoned_pets|Pet abandonment}} is a situation of concern among biological pets, and is part of the reason there are animal rescue organizations providing for adoption in most regions. Since drones are automated, they can be programmed to have an automatic abandonment function.

In reality, this "abandonment function" is the norm that things left outside homes are {{w|free box|often considered gifts}} for any passersby who would like them. Hence, following the instructions in the webcomic may result in one's drone disappearing for a new owner, but not for the reason depicted.

With the drone responsible for flying to find its own new owner, one can possibly imagine it becoming more and more "fervent" as its charge runs down, to prevent the accumulation of derelict drones in the streets.

Triggering abandonment based on extended close proximity to the device's own controller could produce issues such as accidental activation, or malicious activation by a party who could send the proximity signal from a great distance, possibly to many drones at once, via {{W|software defined radio}}. It is, however, more likely that being left consciously uncontrolled for an extended period is the actual trigger, with the attachment of the controller being more a direct courtesy to the next adoptive-owner, and/or preventing the loss of carrier signal that would instead activate whatever auto-homing (i.e. return-to-launch-point) behavior the more sophisticated drones may use if ever beyond their pre-programmed flight parameters.

The concept of there being "wild" vs "domesticated" drones rings again both of wildlife and pets, and of new intelligent software providing for drones acting on their own. In the latter case, protection for "wild" drones could imply many things about the role of artificial intelligence in society. Did we organize the wild drones to obey our laws, or are we protecting them in fear of being punished by their superior power? A foreign military drone could also be considered a wild drone.

But more likely [[Randall]] is imagining flocks of abandoned drones, fending for themselves, traveling distances as they survive off of seasonally-dependent charging resources. This is similar to the behavior of birds, which are protected (in the U.S.) by the real-world {{W|Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918}}. Aggressive flocks of drones was used in [[1630: Quadcopter]] and drones has become a [[:Category:Drones|recurring theme]] on xkcd, where also training of drones as a pet has been the subject in [[1881: Drone Training]].

This idea of protecting drones is analogous to the anomaly that misbehaving drones have not been well tracked by law enforcement: https://observer.com/2020/01/drone-flock-mystery-baffling-authorities/ . If computer viruses continue to evolve, wild drones could indeed evolve too, as they are directed by software, but usually a human being or organization is considered to be somewhere at the helm (separately) of both computer viruses and drones.

The idea that a drone may choose of its own volition whether to find a new owner or join a wild flock is a little similar to the situation for abandoned pets.

==Transcript==
:[A multi-Rotor drone is seen flying though the air from left to right. Tied below the drones main body is the drone's own remote controller. Movement lines behind drone indicate a wavery flight path. A voice emanates from the drone:]
:Drone: Hi, I'm yours now! Please charge me!
:Drone: Hi, I'm yours now! Please charge me!

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Tech Tip: If you ever get tired of a toy drone, tie the controller to it and set it outside. Its abandonment function will activate and it will find a new home.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Tips]]
[[Category:Drones]]
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]

2503: Memo Spike Connector

2023-05-30T08:07:46Z

Memo Spike Connector: Removed extra space

{{comic
| number = 2503
| date = August 16, 2021
| title = Memo Spike Connector
| image = memo spike connector.png
| titletext = Backward-compatible with many existing cables, and can connect directly to phones or tablets if you press them down hard enough.
| imagesize =
}}

==Explanation==
This is the third installment in the series of [[:Category:Cursed Connectors|Cursed Connectors]] and presents Cursed Connectors #102: The Memo Spike. It follows [[2495: Universal Seat Belt]] (#65) and was followed 9 days later by [[2507: USV-C]] (#280).

The comic depicts a large metal spike with a wire coming from the base. The spike stabs through two other wires, thus creating an electrical connection between the three. As the name suggests, the spike resembles a {{w|Spindle_(stationery)|stationery spindle}}, colloquially known as a spike, called a Memo Spike here by Randall. However, unlike normal spindles, this one has a cable of some kind coming out of it, suggesting this is a hub of some sort.

Spindles are used to temporarily hold paper by "spindling" or impaling the paper onto the spike (as depicted in the comic). They're most known for their use in restaurants as a way to hold bills that have been paid, or traditionally in offices that work with many bits of paper, e.g. with invoices in a finance department or hardcopy in newspaper editing, to prevent accidental disturbance/shuffling, at the expense of a small puncture mark in each sheet so impaled. (This could cause errors in papers with punch-holes that are meant to be read by machines, hence the admonition against "{{w|Punched_card#Do_Not_Fold,_Spindle_or_Mutilate|folding, spindling, and mutilating}}".) In the latter context, the editor might put all the rejected stories onto a spike (rather than into a wastebasket) to prevent them going astray, and this might be the source of the term '{{w|Spike (journalism)|spiked}}'.

The joke of the comic is while any number of non-destructive connection standards exist, a large spike can provide much of the same results: a conductive object that retains a connection of multiple wires in a way that allows electricity to pass through. Indeed, in the early days of Ethernet, {{w|Vampire tap|vampire taps}} were used, essentially spikes that bit into a cable to establish a new branch in the network. Another type of connection which involves piercing the wire is a {{w|Punch-down block|punch-down block}}, a type of {{w|Insulation-displacement_connector|insulation-displacement connector}}, where one or more wires are pushed into a cutting channel instead of onto a spike.

Depending on the type of cable it is also likely to create a short circuit, e.g. by connecting both strands of a twisted pair of strands in a typical Ethernet cable, or the central wire and the sheath of a coaxial cable. In an enterprise environment, this could even happen on a {{w|Power_over_Ethernet|PoE-Connection}}, which actually carry more noticeable amounts of power (up to 25.5W). Even if this is avoided, the single spike may be large enough to mechanically sever a random subset of the finer strands that exist within a multicore cable such as is commonly in use today.

The title text takes this a bit further. It says that it is backwards compatible with many existing cables. This means any cable large enough to be impaled by the spike could be used. Needless to say it will likely not work anyway. It also continues by saying that phones and tablets can also be connected using this method if you press them down hard enough over the spike. Thus if you actually manage to make the spike penetrate the device's coverings to reach the electrical parts, then there is a connection. The implication is that any device or cable can be connected to any other device or cable as a form of universal adapter/splitter/combiner across arbitrary hardware and communications/power standards. In reality, this could be even more dangerous and will surely destroy the phone/tablet either directly or by overloading their cable connection.{{citation needed}} Also be careful not to impale your hand while trying to push the spike through your tablet's screen.

==Transcript==
:[A memo spike is shown (a device also called a Spindle). It is a long spike standing up from a round base plate. A wire is coming in from the left and appears to be hardwired into the spike's base element. Two other wires comes in from the right. Both are firmly impaled down upon the spike, penetrated completely through shortly before their apparently unterminated ends. The end of the impaled wire closest to the base faces out and the details appear to show it to be of some variety of multicore (rather than co-axial) manufacture. The other cable's end is a bit higher and points into the image. Above is a title and below is a label.]
:Cursed Connectors #102
:The Memo Spike

{{comic discussion}}


[[Category:Cursed Connectors]]

User talk:Unreliable Connection

2023-05-30T08:06:06Z

Memo Spike Connector:

Do you want me to create your sandbox? [[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 20:11, 2 April 2023 (UTC)

:Please create my user page and sandbox, and don't forget [[User:Memo Spike Connector]]. [[User:Unreliable Connection|2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[User talk:Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 23:43, 3 April 2023 (UTC)

::I've created them both. Anyway, thanks for your kind reminder. [[User:Unreliable Connection|2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[User talk:Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 09:42, 9 April 2023 (UTC)

:The page that you're in charge of got spam edits again. [[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 21:12, 7 April 2023 (UTC)

:Uh, They seem to know when I'm usually active, and spammed when I'm inactive, maybe just to annoy others. I always worked late. [[User:Unreliable Connection|2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[User talk:Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 23:54, 8 April 2023 (UTC)
::Look guy(s), the spammers have been spamming long before you "took charge". Your work-hours matter not one jot, even if we knew your timezone, and the community handles it as it always tries to. I will deal with anything I see 'spammed', if not dealt with by others before I get there, and you can deal with anything that you see before anyone else gets there. Whether UC, CG, OMG or any other 'normal'. (Though OMG is clearly the same person as CG. If, by some remote chance, they are not, one of them is also UC; but very probably both are.) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.86|172.71.242.86]] 11:37, 9 April 2023 (UTC)
:::And Look ''guy(s)''. You Have Already Been Tricked. Did you know about the email with CG's name on it? Y'no, I'm jealous of him, so I was gonna do a trick. [[User:Omg Oriental Music Group|Omg Oriental Music Group]] ([[User talk:Omg Oriental Music Group|talk]]) 23:03, 9 April 2023 (UTC)

'''DELETED COMMENT''' [[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 21:26, 7 April 2023 (UTC)

:Thanks for encouraging. I will do better. [[User:Unreliable Connection|2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[User talk:Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 23:52, 7 April 2023 (UTC)

Could you create my user page? [[User:Omg Oriental Music Group|Omg Oriental Music Group]] ([[User talk:Omg Oriental Music Group|talk]]) 09:34, 9 April 2023 (UTC)

:What are you going to do? [[User:Unreliable Connection|2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[User talk:Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 09:35, 9 April 2023 (UTC)

I want to put the lyrics in the sandbox into my user page sandbox. By the way, could you contact the author for the minor fix to the lyrics? [[User:Omg Oriental Music Group|Omg Oriental Music Group]] ([[User talk:Omg Oriental Music Group|talk]]) 09:36, 9 April 2023 (UTC)

:There is a lot of discussion about the lyrics going on in the portal. That's the place where I posted a math problem (sadly they removed it). Some people said that the lyrics were lousy. There are a lot of obscure words. I'm no linguist, really. I hope that the debate won't continue here. [[User:Unreliable Connection|2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[User talk:Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 09:42, 9 April 2023 (UTC)

::See what the "author" said: http://puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/120234/a-message-of-encouragement --[[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.231|172.71.158.231]] 09:44, 9 April 2023 (UTC)

:::So this means that the only one left would be "Donald ATG Trump", which isn't active at all. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.228|172.71.154.228]] 09:47, 9 April 2023 (UTC)

== Predict the next comic ==

Let's try to predict what will come next on the xkcd comics. [[User:Unreliable Connection|2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[User talk:Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 23:53, 7 April 2023 (UTC)

:What about music staff?

==Lyrics==

You're not going to create a sandbox for me, so I'll temporarily put it here.

? — [[User:Unreliable Connection|2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[User talk:Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 03:43, 11 April 2023 (UTC)

You made the page almost take forever to load. [[User:ClassicalGames|ClassicalGames]] ([[User talk:ClassicalGames|talk]]) 08:51, 11 April 2023 (UTC)

Please stop talking about the lyrics. Several other people has gotten angry. I can't trust you, because you kept doing something suspicious and you sound like a scammer. [[User:Memo Spike Connector|2503: Memo Spike Connector]] ([[User talk:Memo Spike Connector|talk]]) 00:51, 14 April 2023 (UTC)

== When the bot failed ==

Please read [[User:DgbrtBOT|this page]] before creating a new comic page. Your edit had puzzled the bot too much. [[User:ClassicalGames|ClassicalGames]] ([[User talk:ClassicalGames|talk]]) 08:51, 11 April 2023 (UTC)

Thank you very much. [[User:Unreliable Connection|2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[User talk:Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 09:00, 11 April 2023 (UTC)

== Birthday ==
It happened that my birthday is the day immediately after yours. And our last names are almost spelled the same. [[User:Memo Spike Connector|2503: Memo Spike Connector]] ([[User talk:Memo Spike Connector|talk]]) 06:12, 12 April 2023 (UTC)

It seems that we have a lot in common. [[User:Unreliable Connection|2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[User talk:Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 09:06, 12 April 2023 (UTC)

:Our birthdays all fall in the same month. [[User:Missed Connections|935: Missed Connections]] ([[User talk:Missed Connections|talk]]) 23:43, 17 April 2023 (UTC)
::You're not fooling anyone and, with messages like the above, it seems you don't care. Do what you do, and if it's not contrary to the site ethos/good practice then it's tolerable (whether or not it's annoying). But there's really no need to 'fake' different personæ. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.161|172.70.162.161]]
::PS. "Blanked the page", as an edit explanation, is not only inaccurate but it's also your attempt to hide awkward details from the more casual viewer. Surely you're not brazen enough to make it obvious, yet shy enough as to really not want to be called out on it? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.191|172.71.242.191]] 11:06, 25 April 2023 (UTC)
::PPS. Don't try to comment this out, either, you who are sometimes needlessly pretending to be the personification of various comics. I will not accept your authority on this matter. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.67|172.70.85.67]] 09:16, 26 April 2023 (UTC)
::The comic will come back and swear at you if you keep skepticizing. There is too much skepticism. It looks like few people believe in fictions. {{unsigned ip|172.69.22.213|22:54, 26 April 2023})

== Transcript ==
If this page was copied did you not remove the incomplete transcript tag? Its complete! Do your part!

:Thanks for reminding. [[User:Unreliable Connection|2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[User talk:Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 07:13, 25 April 2023 (UTC)

== Create user page ==
Could you create [[User:Papyrus]]? Yesterday was his birthday IIRC. Also remember to create [[User:Python]]. [[User:Memo Spike Connector|2503: Memo Spike Connector]] ([[User talk:Memo Spike Connector|talk]]) 08:06, 30 May 2023 (UTC)

2763: Linguistics Gossip

2023-05-12T23:15:28Z

Memo Spike Connector:

{{comic
| number = 2763
| date = April 14, 2023
| title = Linguistics Gossip
| image = linguistics_gossip_2x.png
| imagesize = 269x329px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The E's wedding invitation definitely used the word LOVE more times than was strictly necessary.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Æ}} (pronounced "ash") is a letter formed from a {{w|Ligature (writing)|ligature}} of A and E. Depending on the language, it can be pronounced as a diphthong /ae̯/ (Classical Latin), as an /ɛ/ sound like in "b''e''t" (Old Norse, later forms of Latin), as an /eɪ̯/ like in "oy v''ey''", as an /aɪ̯/ like in "''aye''-aye", or as an /æ/ like in "c''a''t" (Danish, Norwegian, and in the International Phonetic Alphabet).

The comic personifies the letters "A" and "E", imagining that the character Æ represents a romantic relationship between the two. It then imagines a situation in which the two letters end the relationship and eventually marry other letters, giving rise to two new ligatures (A with R and E with V).

The title text continues with the idea of personified letters with E's wedding invitation. In the comic, E's new relationship appears to be with the letter "V" as implied with the statement with E's wedding invitation repeatedly using the word "LOVE", which would spawn many chances to use a V+E ligature.

The joke in the title text is about people who brag too much about their relationships. Even though a wedding is a celebration of ”LOVE”, the joke is that V and E are so proud of their newfound relationship that they show off their combined ligature at every possible opportunity. From the perspective of the person who wrote the title text, the overuse of this gimmick made it feel annoyingly repetitive instead of cute and witty.

The ash symbol is also mentioned in [[1962: Generations]].

==Transcript==
:[There is a broken heart centered at the top of the image. Below that is the capital letter Æ (a letter combining A and E). There are arrows pointing downward — one from the A of Æ to an A, and one from the E to an E. Below this layer is an arrow from the A to a letter combining A and R, and an arrow from the E to a letter combining V and E.]

:[Caption below the panel:]

:Hot linguistics gossip: The '''A''' and '''E''' from '''Æ''' have broken up and are now married to other letters.
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category: Language]]
[[Category: Romance]]

1962: Generations

2023-05-12T23:14:31Z

Memo Spike Connector:

{{comic
| number = 1962
| date = March 2, 2018
| title = Generations
| image = generations.png
| titletext = For a while it looked like the Paperclip Machines would destroy us, since they wanted to turn the whole universe into paperclips, but they abruptly lost interest in paperclips the moment their parents' generation got into making them, too.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is making fun of the various names we give "generations" while also predicting some future names. The release of this comic coincides with the [http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/03/01/defining-generations-where-millennials-end-and-post-millennials-begin/ Pew Research Center's recent announcement that they have decided where the Millennial generation ends].

Each generation listed is exactly 18 years long, which is the approximate length of each "generation" anyway (given that coincidentally, there are exactly 54 intermediate years between the end of World War II and the New Millennium). A number of the entries are parodies of the terms "Generation X," "Generation Y," etc., by substituting other letters or characters that would seem emblematic of the time period.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="col"| Generation
! scope="col"| Time period
! scope="col"| Explanation
|-
| The Founders
| 1730 - 1747
| Most of the {{w|Founding Fathers of the United States|United States' Founding Fathers}} were born in this period. (But not all: Benjamin Franklin, for instance, was born two generations prior, in 1706.)
|-
| Generation ƒ
| 1748 - 1765
| ƒ was used to represent {{w|Long s|"long s"}} in the typography used in Colonial America. It can be seen in many historical documents from the period. It is also the symbol that represented the {{w|Dutch guilder|guilder}}, the currency of the Netherlands from the 17th century until 2002. It has a notable similarity to letter "esh" ʃ. Depicted symbol is also used in mathematical expressions as in <math>f(x)</math>. One of the first and most complete works on both infinitesimal and integral calculus was written in 1748 by Maria Gaetana Agnesi.
|-
| The Adequate Generation
| 1766 - 1783
| Randall apparently found nothing notable about this generation, positive or negative. This is a reference to the Greatest Generation, below.
|-
| Generation Æ
| 1784 - 1801
| Æ is the {{w|Æ|ligature}} Aesh (Now called ash) - its name sounds like X, though it is pronounced as a long e or IPA /æ/. This character is commonly transcribed differently into British English and American English as ae and e respectively making a difference in spelling in words such as encyclopaedia/encylopedia. One of the key influences on this is Webster's dictionary, first published 1828. The ash symbol is also referenced in [[2763: Linguistics Gossip|this comic]].
|-
| The generation we cut a lot of slack because they produced Lincoln
| 1802 - 1819
| {{w|Abraham Lincoln}} was born in 1809, and is regarded as one of the best presidents of all time. The comic states that the other people born in this generation were "cut a lot of slack" because of him. As with the Oops, one of us is Hitler generation, it is absurd to define an entire generation by defining its most famous member.
|-
| The Gilded Generation
| 1820 - 1837
| {{w|Gilded Generation (Strauss–Howe theory)| So named under the Strauss-Howe generation theory}}, though they use the time period 1822-1842 instead. This likely refers to the "{{w|Gilded Age}}" of American history, roughly the last three decades of the 19th century.
|-
| The Second-Greatest Generation
| 1838 - 1855
|
This is a reference to the Greatest Generation, below, and could be implying a similarity between the accomplishments and sacrifices of this generation - who fought in the U.S. Civil War and who passed the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution - to those of the Greatest Generation. There is also some humor in the name: what Randall means is that this generation was, supposedly, second best in terms of its greatness. However, the wording could be interpreted to mean that they are chronologically the second generation to be called "greatest", even though they actually were born first.
|-
| Generation – • • –
| 1856 - 1873
| – • • – is the letter X in {{w|Morse_code|International Morse Code}}. This is an old-timey version of Gen Xers, mirrored by the later "More Gen-Xers somehow." This is also a reference to the rise of {{w|telegraphy}}, popular during this time period.
|-
| The kids who died in the Gilded Generation's factories and mines
| 1874 - 1891
| {{w|Child labour #The Industrial Revolution|Child labor}} had been widely used since before the start of the Industrial Revolution, but this is when people started doing something about it - and also, when the need for an educated workforce arose, applying substantial economic pressure on societies to put children in school instead. It would be more accurate to label this generation, "The kids who stopped dying in the Gilded Generation's factories and mines".
|-
| Oops, one of us is Hitler
| 1892 - 1909
| {{w|Adolf Hitler}}, possibly the most hated (and, by most definitions, evil) man in living human memory as of this comic's posting, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler#Early_years|was born in 1889]. Aside from the fact that this places him in the previous generation, it seems beyond silly to blame everyone else who was born during this period for being born in the same generation as him. Among those who eventually heard of him (thus, excluding those in isolated areas or who died before he rose to power), the vast majority of them would not hear of him until well after 1909. In reality, this generation is known as the {{w|Lost Generation}}, though the dates are somewhat skewed.
|-
| {{w|The Greatest Generation}}
| 1910 - 1927
| Named by journalist {{w|Tom Brokaw}} in 1998 in {{w|The Greatest Generation|a book of the same name}}, this is the first generation on the list to have a real, commonly accepted name, and was named as such due to being the generation that survived the hardships of the {{w|Great Depression}} immediately before being drafted to fight in {{w|World War II}}.
|-
| {{w|The Silent Generation}}
| 1928 - 1945
| Coined by Time Magazine in 1951, the Silent Generation grew up during a time of paranoia and very little activism due to phenomena such as {{w|McCarthyism}} making it dangerous to speak out.
|-
| {{w|Baby Boomers}}
| 1946 - 1963
| A spike in births was seen following the return of soldiers to the US from European and Pacific theatres of war. These children enjoyed the benefits of US prosperity whilst the rest of the world rebuilt, lived in fear of nuclear annihilation and watched the Space Race.
|-
| {{w|Generation X}}
| 1964 - 1981
| "X" here refers to an unknown or undefined element, not specifically a placement in the alphabet as Y and Z (see below) seem to imply, and was used throughout history to refer to alienated youth in general as early as the 1950s, with the name sticking to this one thanks to Douglas Coupland's 1991 novel. Generation X's time period was one of sweeping societal change and rapid technological advancement.
|-
| {{w|Millennials}}
| 1982 - 1999
| The last children born in the 2nd Millennium. Initially called Generation Y, after Generation X.
|-
| Generation 💅
(nail-polish emoji)
| 2000 - 2017
| This begins the hypothetical future generation names, though this generation was already fully born as of this comic's posting. Social media was established and rising during the formative years of this generation, and the widespread adoption of emoji began during this time. The [https://emojipedia.org/nail-polish/ Nail Polish Emoji] (U+1F485) is used here. Currently known in reality as {{w|Generation Z}} or iGen (there's controversy over both names, but the goods and bads of each seem to cancel each other out and other names aren't as exciting) though the comic implies it may change due to emojis ultimately replacing the alphabet entirely.
|-
| Zuckerberg's Army
| 2018 - 2035
| Continuing on the above, this may be presuming the dominance of {{w|Facebook}} during the childhoods of this generation, and corresponding social norming as ultimately directed by its leader {{w|Mark Zuckerberg}}. <s>Ironically, as of this comic's posting, [http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/facebook-quit-young-people-social-media-snapchat-instagram-emarketer-a8206486.html young users were already leaving Facebook for other social media sites].</s> Oh wait, Zuckerberg's creating the {{w|Metaverse}}. May also be a reference to "Dumbledore's Army" in ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix''. It is uncertain whether Zuckerberg's Army is in alliance or at war with the other social media militaries of the mid-21st century.
|-
| The Hovering Ones
| 2036 - 2053
| This may posit increased adoption of cybernetics, which (as with any technology) are more easily adopted by the young who do not have to unlearn previous ways. If advances allowed someone to hover all the time, such that one would not need to walk, this generation's name suggests that becoming so widely used among this generation that they became known for it.
|-
| Spare Parts
| 2054 - 2071
| Continuing on the above speculation about cybernetics, this presumes enough apathy or sociopathy among this generation's parents that giving birth (or other means of creating a new human) was often done to create bodies from which organs could be harvested (presumably primarily for the benefit of their elders).
|-
| More Gen-Xers somehow
| 2072 - 2089
| As with "Generation – • • –", this may be positing that Generation X like traits pop up about 3/4 of the way through each century.
|-
| The Paperclip Machines
| 2090 - 2107
| This, and the alt text, are references to the concept of a [https://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Paperclip_maximizer paperclip maximizer], where an AI might be designed to be helpful, but end up being harmful. The clicker game [http://www.decisionproblem.com/paperclips/ Universal Paperclips] makes this concept playable. Furthering the above speculation of cybernetics, this generation might be primarily artificial intelligences, though of limited ability to set their own priorities (a flaw which would be fixed in later generations).
|-
| The Mixed Bag (produced 4 Lincolns, 1 Napoleon, and 2 Hitlers)
| 2108 - 2125
| As with the above examples, a generation may become known for its most famous members, but it is not useful to define an entire generation by them. In this case, the generation may have literally produced 4 Lincolns, 1 Napoleon, and 2 Hitlers via cloning or the like. This also implies that Napoleon's generation was named after him. However, Napoleon's generation is ironically, the Adequate Generation.
|-
| The Procedural Generation
| 2126 - 2143
| {{w|Procedural generation}} is a way of creating data automatically, rather than capturing it via sensor (including when the "sensor" is a keyboard and the data is typed in). This confusion of the term "generation" could refer to more artificial intelligences that were created via routines instead of directly coded, which would likely stem from attempts to improve child creation once most children were explicitly manufactured instead of relying on evolution-granted biological means.
|-
| Generation Ω
| 2144 - 2161
| "{{w|Omega}}" is the last letter in the Greek alphabet, and used as a symbol of endings. Given the above generation names implying increasingly artificial children, this may suggest the last generation that is recognizably a generation. This does not necessarily mean the end of children or the end of humanity, just that anything after 2161 is widely recognized to no longer have even notional generational coherence - perhaps because of drift (children born to one group during a given time are wildly different enough from children born to another group at the same time that people give up trying to group them by time), child gestation and maturation times (for example, if it became common for a child to go from conception to adulthood in less than a year), or exceptions to what counts as a "child" (for example, if it becomes possible and common to create clones that are somewhere between free-willed beings and mind-controlled drones, and this sufficiently supplants creation of completely free-willed children, regardless of whether the children are artificial intelligences or old-fashioned biological children).
|-
| Star Trek: The Next Generation
|2360 - 2378
|''{{w|Star Trek: The Next Generation}}'' was a TV show set in the future.{{Citation needed}} The first episode of ''TNG'', "{{w|Encounter at Farpoint}}", takes place in 2364, and it concluded with "{{w|All_Good_Things..._(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation)|All Good Things...}}", which took place in 2370. The final canonical adventures of the cast of ''The Next Generation'' did not occur until the events of ''{{w|Star Trek: Nemesis}}'' in 2379.
|}

In the title text Randall suggests that the generation of paperclip-creating superintelligences will be weirded out when their parent generation starts making them too. (A parent generation in AI is the last set of seperate algorithms trained on the sample before the last.) The implication is that their "parents" attempting to join in on converting all matter into paperclips will make the process seem outdated and uncool by association; a comparison could be drawn to, for example, Facebook losing younger users as it gains older users.

==Transcript==

:"Generations" are arbitrary. They're just labels we use to obliquely talk about cultural trends.
:But since Pew Research has become the latest to weigh in, and everyone loves a good pointless argument over definitions...

:''xkcd presents''
:A Definitive Chronology of the Generations

:1730-1747 The Founders
:1748-1765 Generation ƒ
:1766-1783 The Adequate Generation
:1784-1801 Generation Æ
:1802-1819 The generation we cut a lot of slack because they produced Lincoln
:1820-1837 The Gilded Generation
:1838-1855 The Second-Greatest Generation
:1856-1873 Generation – • • –
:1874-1891 The kids who died in the Gilded Generation's factories and mines
:1892-1909 Oops, one of us is Hitler
:1910-1927 The Greatest Generation
:1928-1945 The Silent Generation
:1946-1963 Baby Boomers
:1964-1981 Generation X
:1982-1999 Millennials
:2000-2017 Generation 💅 [nail polish emoji]
:2018-2035 Zuckerberg's army
:2036-2053 The Hovering Ones
:2054-2071 Spare Parts
:2072-2089 More Gen-Xers somehow
:2090-2107 The Paperclip Machines
:2108-2125 The Mixed Bag (produced 4 Lincolns, 1 Napoleon and 2 Hitlers)
:2126-2143 The Procedural Generation
:2144-2161 Generation Ω
:2360-2378 Star Trek: The Next Generation

{{comic discussion}}

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

2768: Definition of e

2023-04-28T06:13:13Z

Memo Spike Connector:

{{comic
| number = 2768
| date = April 26, 2023
| title = Definition of e
| image = definition_of_e_2x.png
| imagesize = 571x186px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Yeah, my math teacher back in high school set up the system to try to teach us something or other, but the 100% rate was unbelievably good, so I engineered a hostile takeover of his bank and now use it to make extra cash on the side.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by 2.718 BANKERS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In this comic the teacher [[Miss Lenhart]] is asked by the student [[Hairy]] to explain what the constant ''e'' actually means.

The mathematical constant ''{{w|e (mathematical constant)|e}}'' is known as Euler's number. It is typically demonstrated in terms of compound interest. Here, Miss Lenhart seems to be setting up such an example, but in a typical Lenhart style she is actually asking her student to deposit money.

The constant ''e'' can be described {{w|E (mathematical constant)#Compound interest|in the context of compound interest}}. For a bank account that pays interest at a rate of 100% per year, and that interest is paid ''n'' times a year and compounded, then a $1 deposit will grow to $1 * (1 + 100%/n)^n after a year. As ''n'' approaches infinity (continuous compounding), the amount approaches ''e'' dollars. In the comic, minutely compounding is used as an approximation of continuous compounding; here ''n'' = 365 * 24 * 60 = 525,600, and the resulting amount would be $2.718279, less than one part per million different from that of a straight multiplication by ''e'' (which is 2.7182818…).

As such, one would expect Miss Lenhart to say in the last panel something like "you'll have ''e'' dollars in a year". It is not clear if Miss Lenhart sees the growth of the deposited amount as answer enough to explain ''e'' or if she's just charging $1 for answering the question of what ''e'' is. The supposed interest rate the teacher can earn off this deposit, alone, is so high that the $1 principal will grow to over $22,000 in ten years, $485 million in twenty years, or $10.6 trillion in thirty years.

In the title text, a {{w|Takeover#Hostile|hostile takeover}} is an acquisition of a company against its management's wishes, by simply buying up its shares from its shareholders. A bank offering accounts with an {{w|APY}} of 172% is certain to go bankrupt almost immediately, making it a very bad investment. Banks earn money by lending at a higher rate than they pay on deposits, but it is illegal to charge such high interest rates on loans, and no one would take them anyway. Therefore the bank will lose huge amounts of money on deposits while earning essentially no revenue. The off-comic speaker is effectively buying out the bank in order to drain it of its own funds, which is both illegal and financially pointless. Alternatively, their plan may be to buy 51% of the stock, then attempt to extract a majority of the bank's reserve funds through huge high-interest deposits, which is still not profitable, since banks hold only a small fraction of deposits in reserve, and their market capitalizations (the cost of buying all the stock) are much higher than their total reserves. Even if for some reason this bank had a very high reserve ratio, and this tactic could somehow be profitable, it would still be illegal, effectively robbing the other 49% ownership of its equity through deliberately bad management.

The teacher who inadvertently sparked this action, male, was clearly not Miss Lenhart, who may be better at providing more memorable (if somewhat non-standard) lessons. And, as the speaker cannot even recall what the point was of the original mathematical example, it is possible that they have insufficient understanding of the numbers involved and why their attempt to profit will turn out to be ultimately illusory. A similar lack of successful education in the subjects of business and/or law could also likely come back to bite them, sooner or later.

==Transcript==
:[Hairy is seated behind a classroom desk with his hand raised asking the teacher Miss Lenhart a question. She is standing in front of him with a board behind her. Beneath the board there are ledge with writing tools on it (markers or chalk).]
:Hairy: Can you explain what the constant ''e'' actually ''means?''
:Miss Lenhart: Sure.

:[Zoom in on Miss Lenhart's upper half, as she raises one hand palm up.]
:Miss Lenhart: I have a bank account that pays 100% annual interest, compounded every minute.

:[In a frame-less, and very slim panel, Miss Lenhart is shown holding a hand up in a fist.]
:Miss Lenhart: If you deposit $1 now,

:[Miss Lenhart now has both arms down as she continues to address the off-panel Hairy.]
:Miss Lenhart: I will answer your question.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Math]]

2767: Recipe Relativity

2023-04-26T08:37:25Z

Memo Spike Connector: Upgrade feature category

{{comic
| number = 2767
| date = April 24, 2023
| title = Recipe Relativity
| image = recipe_relativity_2x.png
| imagesize = 303x332px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It says to cut the onions into 1/4" slices, but I'd better correct for length contraction.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an EDITOR MOVING AT 94% OF THE SPEED OF LIGHT. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In this comic, [[Randall]] is cooking a recipe found online. It took him much longer than the recipe said it would, and he concludes that this was due to {{w|time dilation}} as described in the theory of {{w|special relativity}}; that is, the recipe author was moving at 94% of the speed of light, causing relativistic effects, so that only 35 minutes passed for the author while 105 minutes passed for Randall. To calculate the 94% figure, he takes the recipe’s official duration (t’) and his actual duration (t), and then calculates what speed of light fraction would account for the cooking time difference.

This is absurd{{citation needed}} and therefore humorous because the traveling recipe author would report the time in his or her own frame of reference, not Randall's, no matter how fast they were traveling.

Randall is poking fun at online recipes that state an optimistic cooking time. The recipe author may assume an ideally equipped kitchen, a skilled chef, and the availability of prepared ingredients, such as canned or frozen cooked black beans instead of dried beans which take over an hour to soak and cook.[https://i.ibb.co/sWJR8Vq/Screenshot-2023-04-25-6-28-35-AM.png]

The title text takes the relativistic theory even further, saying that because of {{w|Length contraction|Lorentz contraction}} caused by the recipe author moving close to the speed of light, Randall should use different sizes of ingredients. If the recipe author calling for 1/4" onion slices is indeed traveling at 94% of the speed of light relative to Randall, he wonders whether his onions should be cut to 3/4" slices to match their size in his frame of reference. This is similarly absurd{{citation needed}} and therefore humorous.

==Transcript==
:[In a small square panel the top part is written in black. It looks like a search from the internet and most of the top part of the browser is too small to be read. There are three small squares and a long rectangular address bar. To the right of the first small square which has a triangle inside it pointing down, there are two lines with unreadable text. Then followed by the second square, which is empty, and the address bar with a long line of unreadable text. Finally there are two lines of unreadable text before the last square which has a plus-shaped symbol inside it. Beneath this is a large header which can easily be read:]
:<big>Black bean burrito bowl</big>

:[Beneath this header there is a line with unreadable text, and below that line a thin empty rectangle. Beneath this is the second line of readable text. The last part indicating a time is circled in red. The readable black words are written in normal letters, as opposed to the standard of xkcd with all small caps.]
:Total time: 35 minutes

:[Beneath this there are three more lines of text, but this has all been written in red. Also it uses the standard xkcd all caps text format. The first line is normal text. And the last indication of time is also circled in red as the one above it, and a small double arrow goes between those two red lines around the time.]
:My actual time: 1h 45m
:[Below this there are two lines with equations written in math version, but here given here in text. The second equation is split over two lines. The last result is also circled in red.]
:t=t'/√(1-v2/c2)
:v=c*√(1-(t'/t)2) = c*√(1-(35/105)2) = 0.94c

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I think this recipe author is moving past me at 94% of the speed of light.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Food]]

1165: Amazon

2023-04-18T00:52:00Z

Memo Spike Connector:

{{comic
| number = 1165
| date = January 25, 2013
| title = Amazon
| image = amazon.png
| titletext = Amazon.com took a surprise early lead with 'Time required to transport a package from Iquitos, Peru to Manaus, Brazil' but then lost it at 'Minutes to skeletonize a cow'.
}}

==Explanation==
The {{w|Amazon River}} in South America is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow. {{w|Amazon.com}} is a website that specializes in commerce and selling goods over the internet. The "round 14" suggest they are being compared in different criteria in a sort of competition. With such different systems, we can assume that most of those comparisons were similarly funny. The title text mentions two other criteria of comparison.

The measure of flow for the Amazon river (cubic meters per second) indicates the volume of water that passes a given area in the river at any second. To illustrate how much 220,000 cubic meters is, the comic shows a car parked next to 220,000 cubic meters of water. 220,000 cubic meters equals a cube with an edge span of 60.4 meters. By comparison the 0.9 cubic meters (900 L) of goods that are shipped by Amazon.com seems very small (note that 900 liters of goods per second is still a lot). To illustrate this size, the comic shows an Amazonian fish (or possibly an {{w|Amazon river dolphin}}) investigating the packages.

{{w|Iquitos}} and {{w|Manaus}} are cities near the source and middle respectively of the river; the title text suggests that it is shorter to have a package shipped between the two than let it drift downstream. "Minutes to skeletonize a cow" refers to {{w|piranha}}, an Amazonian predatory fish with a popular reputation of being capable of the mentioned act when hunting in groups. (It should be noted that, while not fictional per se, the legendary cow-killing piranhas had been starved beforehand by local humans.)

In [[1599: Water Delivery]] Amazon.com takes the fight against the Amazon to a new level by delivering water within one hour; however, the Amazon River is not mentioned in that comic.

==Transcript==
:Round 14
:Estimated outflow volume
:in cubic meters per second
:[A cube of water representing the outflow of the Amazon, with various marine life in it and people standing around it.]
:Amazon 220,000
:[A pile of boxes representing the outflow of Amazon.com, dwarfed by the large cube of water next to it.]
:Amazon.com 0.9
:Advantage: Amazon

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Internet]]

Talk:2763: Linguistics Gossip

2023-04-17T09:03:17Z

Memo Spike Connector: Why do they spread rumors about Bamboo?

Added initial explanation [[User:Bamboo|Bamboo]] ([[User talk:Bamboo|talk]]) 14:08, 14 April 2023 (UTC)Bamboo

Added possible explanation of title text [[User:Bamboo|Bamboo]] ([[User talk:Bamboo|talk]]) 14:14, 14 April 2023 (UTC)Bamboo

Has anyone asked O what they think of all this?[[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.152|172.70.91.152]] 14:32, 14 April 2023 (UTC)

NOTE: I'm assuming the IE/VE ligature is IE, where the I is tilted
Could this also be a reference to the historical Latin pronunciation of Æ, and its separation into "AA" (which could be represented by "ar" in English ("r" is silent), hence the ligature "AR") and "IE" (which would be pronounced "ee" as in "relieve") [[User:1844161|1844161]] ([[User talk:1844161|talk]]) 15:21, 14 April 2023 (UTC)
: I disagree. The title text strongly points towards VE as the logical interpretation [[User:Boatster|Boatster]] ([[User talk:Boatster|talk]]) 15:52, 14 April 2023 (UTC)
: Me too. Also, funnily I thought of Andy Warhol...but in his "LOVE" pop art, the O is tilted, not the V.[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.133|198.41.242.133]] 09:20, 16 April 2023 (UTC)

I think it might be helpful to readers to provide a parenthetical describing the pronunciation of the 'ash' glyph, so that people who aren't old language aficionados aren't left in the lurch if they're the sort who read aloud in their head. I'm going to add it, but if someone removes it I won't be miffed. Also, there's no way the new E ligature is meant to be IE. The title text only makes sense if it's VE.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.67.136|172.69.67.136]] 15:56, 14 April 2023 (UTC)
: Thank you. That was super helpful as I'm language-curious, but not an æficænado. Any chance we could get similar explanations of the AR (seems legit) & AV(seems not)? [[User:Iggynelix|Iggynelix]] ([[User talk:Iggynelix|talk]]) 13:49, 15 April 2023 (UTC)

I hope AR wedding hat a pirate theme. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 16:05, 14 April 2023 (UTC)

The AR ligature is used in aeronautical engineering for the aspect ratio of a wing. This mainly applies to handwritten work, since there isn't an easy way to insert that glyph when typing. [[User:D5xtgr|D5xtgr]] ([[User talk:D5xtgr|talk]]) 17:18, 14 April 2023 (UTC)

The AR (🜇) ligature also stands for a substance that can mix with gold. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.125|162.158.166.125]] 09:09, 16 April 2023 (UTC)
:If you mean {{w|Aqua regia}}, it's not so much 'mix with' as 'dissolve'. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.34|172.70.90.34]] 18:08, 16 April 2023 (UTC)
::Is this comic inspired by an "aqua regia" incident? [[User:Unreliable Connection|2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[User talk:Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 02:07, 17 April 2023 (UTC)

2763 -MathHacked

I suppose the Æsop is that it's not necessary to maintain a chimæric quæstionability just for primævally æsthetic reasons, or have sæcularly dæmonic adhærence to adhæsively mæandering through an anæsthetic tædium of hæritage fæcality. Unless that's all just hæretical hyperbolæ, casting pædagogical umbræ on the matter. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.160|172.70.162.160]] 21:22, 14 April 2023 (UTC)
: Well plæd.
: AUGH!!! Just make it stop!!!!
It's just too bad they all now live in the same ''small recreational vehicle'' because that leads to awkwardness. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.142.159|172.71.142.159]] 02:07, 15 April 2023 (UTC)
: Seems pretty roomy based on the space between them.;)

A and E got REM🜇RIED?! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.38.96|172.70.38.96]] 05:28, 15 April 2023 (UTC)

It is downright incorrect to refer to the ae-ligature as 'ash', as this is only true when it is used to Latinize the aesc-rune in Old English, which is anything but the most common use of this ligature. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.46.192|172.70.46.192]] 18:01, 15 April 2023 (UTC)

I went looking for "AR" and "VE" ligatures in general use (and in Unicode), and found nothing. Are they in general use? If not, a comment to that effect in the explanation would be helpful. -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 21:44, 15 April 2023 (UTC)
:(Ignoring that D5xtgr said there was an AR, and an IP even ''wrote'' an 🜇...) Of course they weren't in general use, because A and E were together all that time, but now they're recoupled..! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.87|172.71.242.87]] 21:58, 15 April 2023 (UTC)

I'm no linguist, but this may refer to the fact that many languages with the AE ligature are romance languages, while English is not. [[User:Unreliable Connection|2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[User talk:Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 09:04, 16 April 2023 (UTC)

[[https://battlefordreamisland.fandom.com/wiki/2,763 2763]] is a running gag in BFDI :) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.22.106|172.71.22.106]] 19:02, 16 April 2023 (UTC)Bumpf
:Probably unrelated. By the way, is it OK for me to edit comic explanations? [[User:Missed Connections|935: Missed Connections]] ([[User talk:Missed Connections|talk]]) 22:58, 16 April 2023 (UTC)

== AE could refer to Adam and Eve ==

Then we get EV as Eve.
Not yet sure where AR refers to, Adam and Romeo, Augmented Reality?
Love does contain VE as reverse of EV.
[[User:XKCDnl|XKCDnl]] ([[User talk:XKCDnl|talk]]) 04:16, 17 April 2023 (UTC)

2763: Linguistics Gossip

2023-04-17T07:14:01Z

Memo Spike Connector: There is no lowercase text

{{comic
| number = 2763
| date = April 14, 2023
| title = Linguistics Gossip
| image = linguistics_gossip_2x.png
| imagesize = 269x329px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The E's wedding invitation definitely used the word LOVE more times than was strictly necessary.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by Æ's DIVORCE ATTORNEY - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Æ}} (pronounced "ash") is a letter formed from a {{w|Ligature (writing)|ligature}} of A and E. Depending on the language, it can be pronounced as a diphthong /ae̯/ (Classical Latin), as an /ɛ/ sound like in "b''e''t" (Old Norse, later forms of Latin), as an /eɪ̯/ like in "oy v''ey''", as an /aɪ̯/ like in "''aye''-aye", or as an /æ/ like in "c''a''t" (Danish, Norwegian, and in the International Phonetic Alphabet).

The comic personifies the letters "A" and "E", imagining that the character Æ represents a romantic relationship between the two. It then imagines a situation in which the two letters end the relationship and eventually marry other letters, giving rise to two new ligatures (A with R and E with V).

The title text continues with the idea of personified letters with E's wedding invitation. In the comic, E's new relationship appears to be with the letter "V" as implied with the statement with E's wedding invitation repeatedly using the word "LOVE", which would spawn many chances to use a V+E ligature. Part of the humor in the title text comes from the idea that the number of times the word "LOVE" is used in a wedding invitation can be defined as "strictly necessary," even though a wedding is a celebration of love. Love (presumably) is the reason for a marriage, or perhaps they are self-deluding themselves, or desperately trying to convince others that it is genuine romance rather than a relationship at least partially on the rebound from the original split. This could also be a reference to strict linguistics and grammar guidelines that do not make sense in a given context.

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

:[There is a broken heart centered at the top of the image. Below that is the capital letter Æ (a letter combining A and E). There are arrows pointing downward — one from the A of Æ to an A, and one from the E to an E. Below this layer is an arrow from the A to a letter combining A and R, and an arrow from the E to a letter combining V and E.]

:[Caption below the panel:]

:Hot linguistics gossip: The '''A''' and '''E''' from '''Æ''' have broken up and are now married to other letters.
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category: Language]]
[[Category: Romance]]

1957: 2018 CVE List

2023-04-17T06:10:44Z

Memo Spike Connector:

{{comic
| number = 1957
| date = February 19, 2018
| title = 2018 CVE List
| image = 2018_cve_list.png
| titletext = CVE-2018-?????: It turns out Bruce Schneier is just two mischevious kids in a trenchcoat.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures|CVE}} (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) is a standardized format for assigning an identity to a cybersecurity vulnerability (similar to the way that astronomical bodies are assigned unique identifiers by committees). Giving vulnerabilities a unique identifier makes them easier to talk about and helps in keeping track of the progress made toward resolving them. The typical format of a CVE identifier is '''CVE-[YEAR]-[NUMBER]'''. For example, the CVE identifier for 2017's widespread {{w|Meltdown (security vulnerability)|Meltdown vulnerability}} is [https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2017-5754 CVE-2017-5754]. CVEs also contain a short description of the issue.

In this comic (released in February 2018), Randall presents a number of spurious predicted CVEs for later in 2018. Each CVE identifier is given as "CVE-2018-?????", reflecting the fact that they have not yet happened so we don't know exactly what their CVE identifier will be.

Following are short descriptions of all the ''vulnerabilities'' mentioned in the comic.

;Apple products crash when displaying certain {{w|Telugu language|Telugu}} or {{w|Bengali language|Bengali}} letter combinations.
:This refers to a [https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/15/iphone-text-bomb-ios-mac-crash-apple/ real vulnerability] in iOS and MacOS publicized a few days before the comic was released, as well as [https://thenextweb.com/apps/2017/01/18/iphone-ipad-apple-text-ios-bug/ past] [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2018/01/18/apple-text-bomb-can-crash-iphones-single-message/ similar] iOS vulnerabilities.
;An attacker can use a timing attack to extploit [''sic''] a race condition in {{w|Garbage collection (computer science)|garbage collection}} to extract a limited number of bits from the Wikipedia article on Claude Shannon.
:The reference to using a Timing Attack to exploit a race condition in garbage collection refers to Meltdown and Spectre CPU flaws that can be exploited in a cloud server like the ones in Wikipedia. {{w|Claude Shannon}} was an early and highly influential information scientist whose work underlies compression, encryption, security, and the theory behind how information is encoded into binary digits.
:
:This is not a security problem, since Wikipedia articles are public. However, since Shannon formulated how the amount of unique or actual information some entity contains is proportional to the number of bits required to encode it, retrieving only a few bits casts a dark perspective upon the significance of the Shannon article's content.
;At the cafe on Third Street, the Post-it note with the WiFi password is visible from the sidewalk.
:Cafés often offer free access to WiFi as a service to patrons, as a business strategy to encourage said patrons to remain in the building and buy more coffee. Some use a password, so that only patrons can use the WiFi, and may display the password on signage inside. Since anybody could go into the cafe to read the post-it, and then use the network from nearby, the ability to read it from outside is, at most, a trivial problem. For systems that are supposed to be secure, writing passwords in a visible place is a major security flaw. For instance, following the [[wikipedia:2018 Hawaii false missile alert|2018 Hawaii false missile alert]], the agency concerned received criticism for a press photo showing [https://www.businessinsider.com/hawaii-emergency-agency-password-discovered-in-photo-sparks-security-criticism-2018-1?r=US&IR=T a password written on a sticky note] attached to a monitor.
;A remote attacker can inject arbitrary text into public-facing pages via the comments box.
:Describes a common feature on news sites or social media sites like Facebook. The possibility for users to "inject" text into the page is by design. This is a humorous reference to the relatively common security vulnerability "[[Wikipedia:Cross-site_scripting|persistent cross-site scripting]]", where input provided by a user, such as through a comment section, can result in dangerous content containing arbitrary HTML or JavaScript code being displayed to other users.
;MySQL server 5.5.45 secretly runs two parallel databases for people who say "S-Q-L" and "sequel."
:Some people pronounce "{{w|SQL}}" like "sequel", after SQL's predecessor "SEQUEL (Structured English Query Language)". The standard for SQL suggests that it should be pronounced as separate letters; however, the author of SQL pronounces it "sequel", so the debate persists (with even <s>more</s> <s>less</s> <s>more</s> <s>less</s> <s>MORE</s> justification than arguments about how to pronounce "GIF"{{citation needed}}). MySQL is an open-source relational database management system. The latest generally available version (at the time of writing) is MySQL 5.7.
;A flaw in some x86 CPUs could allow a root user to de-escalate to normal account privileges.
:{{w|Privilege escalation}} refers to any illegitimate means by which a system user gains greater access privileges than they are supposed to have. The most highly-sought privilege is that of the root user, which allows complete access to an entire system— a ''superuser''. Any flaw that would allow an ordinary user to escalate to superuser status is a critical security threat, as they then have full control of the machine. This is what most hackers seek to achieve when attacking a device.
:
:This CVE presents the less-threatening reverse situation: allowing a root user to ''de-escalate'' to normal account privileges. In fact, root users can already do this at any time; superuser privileges allow them to take control of any user account, so they can simply switch to an account which has fewer privileges than the root user.
;Apple products catch fire when displaying emoji with diacritics.
:This is a reference to a common problem of modern gadgets catching fire (usually related to flaws in lithium-ion batteries), as well as to Apple products crashing when attempting to display certain character sequences. Diacritics are the accents found on letters in some languages (eg. č, ģ ķ, ļ, ņ, š, ž). These would not normally be found on emojis{{citation needed}}. 🔥̃ is an example of such an emoji.
;An oversight in the rules allows a dog to join a basketball team.
:This probably refers to the movie ''{{w|Air Bud}}'', about a dog playing basketball. This has been a common theme in xkcd comics: see [[115: Meerkat]], [[1439: Rack Unit]], [[1819: Sweet 16]], [[1552: Rulebook]].
:In 2017, it was discovered that an oversight in the constitution of the state of Kansas may [http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article175956836.html permit a dog to be governor]. Shortly before this comic published, the Secretary of State's office ruled that [http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2018/02/13/dog-kansas-governor/ it could not].
;Haskell isn't side-effect-free after all; the effects are all just concentrated in this one computer in Missouri that no one's checked on in a while.
:{{w|Haskell (programming language)|Haskell}} is a functional programming language. Functional programming is characterized by using functions that don't have side effects because they can not change things accessible in other parts of the program, as in [[1312: Haskell]]. The joke here is discovering that it does indeed have side-effects, manifested via external alteration, not violating the internal alteration paradigm. It may also be a reference to "{{w|The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas}}," a short story by Ursula Le Guin in which a utopian city concentrates all its misery into one child who is locked away in a basement.
;Nobody really knows how hypervisors work.
:[[wikipedia:Hypervisor|"Hypervisors"]] are a tool for computer virtualization. Virtualization is implemented via various combinations of hardware and/or software, which requires a computer to completely simulate another computer, with its own unique hardware and software, and to varying degrees as to whether or not the virtualization is aware of or can determine whether it is being virtualized. Many IT professionals and businesses rely heavily on various forms of virtualization, but most of the individual employees would be hard-pressed to explain how it works. Programs running on other virtual computers, or on the real computer, may be able to access information on a virtual computer in ways which would not be possible with a single real computer. Consequently, understanding how the hypervisor works is important to assessing the security of a virtual server. Meltdown and Spectre are related to this.
;Critical: Under Linux 3.14.8 on System/390 in a UTC+14 time zone, a local user could potentially use a buffer overflow to change another user's default system clock from 12-hour to 24-hour.
:This joke is about arcane systems that are running Linux in exceedingly rare situations, meaning that reproducing errors would be incredibly difficult or inconvenient, and would only affect a very tiny user base (if any at all). {{w|IBM System/390 ES/9000 Enterprise Systems Architecture ESA family|System/390}} is an IBM mainframe introduced almost 30 years before this comic, which has a version of Linux. UTC+14 is a time zone used only on some islands in the Pacific Ocean (Primarily [[Wikipedia:Line_Islands|the Line Islands]]) and is also the earliest time zone on Earth. Even if all of these absurd conditions were met, the resulting vulnerability would still be relatively benign: simply changing a user's preferred clock display format. Other xkcd comics make references to such obscure computer-time issues relating to time zones and time conversions, and how many programmers find these issues frustrating or even traumatizing.
;x86 has way too many instructions.
:The x86 architecture (used in many Intel and AMD processors) is very complicated. Processors typically implement such a complex architecture using programs (microcode) run on a set of hidden, proprietary processors. The details of these hidden machines and errors in the microcode can result in security vulnerabilities, such as Meltdown, where the physical machine does not match the conceptual machine.
:
:A more complicated instruction set is more complex to implement.{{Citation needed}} The x86 architecture is considered "CISC" (a "{{w|Complex instruction set computer}}"), having many instructions originally provided to make programming by a human simpler; other examples include the 68000 series used in the first {{w|Apple Macintosh}}. In the 1980s, this design philosophy was countered by the "RISC" ("{{w|Reduced instruction set computer}}") design movement - based on the observation that computer programs were increasingly generated by compilers (which only used a few instructions) rather than directly by people, and that the chip area dedicated to extra instructions could be better dedicated to, for example, cache. Examples of RISC style designs include {{w|SPARC}}, {{w|MIPS}}, {{w|PowerPC}} (used by Apple in later Macintoshes) and the {{w|ARM architecture|ARM}} chips common in mobile phones. Historically, there was considerable discussion about the merits of each approach. At one time the Mac and Windows PC were on different sides; owners of other competing systems such as the Archimedes and Amiga had similar arguments on usenet in the early 1990s. This "issue" may be posted by someone who still recalls these debates. Technically, the extra instructions do slightly complicate the task of validating correct chip behavior and complicate the tool chains that manage software, which could be seen as a minor security risk. However, the 64-bit architecture introduced by {{w|AMD}}, and since adopted by {{w|Intel}}, does rationalize things somewhat, and all recent x86 chips break down instructions into RISC-like micro-operations, so the complication from a hardware perspective is localized. Recent security issues, such as the speculative cache load issue in Meltdown and Spectre, depend more on details of implementation, rather than instruction set, and have been exhibited both by x86 (CISC) and ARM (RISC) processors.
;NumPy 1.8.0 can factor primes in ''O''(log ''n'') time and must be quietly deprecated before anyone notices.
:Fantastically, this would be an unimaginable software threat, not to be confused with the even speedier, but future-bound, threat in hardware via {{w|Quantum computing}}.
:NumPy is the fundamental package for scientific computing with the programming language Python. ''O''(log ''n'') is [[wikipedia:Big_O_notation#Infinite_asymptotics|Big O notation]] meaning that the time it takes for a computer algorithm to run is in the order of log ''n'', for an input of size ''n''. ''O''(log ''n'') is very fast and is more usual for a search algorithm. Prime factorization currently is ''O''(''2''''n''n)). If something can find the prime factors of a number this quickly, especially a [[wikipedia:semiprime|semiprime]] with two large factors, it will enable attacks to break many crypto functions used in internet security. However, prime numbers have only a single factor, and "factoring primes" quickly is a simpler problem, that of [[wikipedia:Primality test|proving that a number is in fact a prime]].
;Apple products grant remote access if you send them words that break the "I before E" rule.
:Another joke on the first CVE and [[wikipedia:I before E except after C|a common English writing rule of thumb]], which fails almost as often as it succeeds. Possibly a jab at Apple's image, portraying their software as unable to handle improper grammar or spelling.
;Skylake x86 chips can be pried from their sockets using certain flathead screwdrivers.
:Skylake x86 chips are a line of microprocessors made by Intel. Some processors are soldered directly to a system board or daughter board, while others are attached to boards that plug into the system board by means of a socket (pins or connectors that make physical contact with receptacles or connectors on a system board). Some sockets, especially older ones, require force to insert or remove, and often require the use of a flat blade screwdriver or a specialized tool, but most modern ones use ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) techniques, often involving a lever or similar to tighten or loosen the friction/tightness of the contacts. No screwdriver is needed in this case. However, any processor ''can'' be forcefully removed from its socket with a screwdriver.{{Citation needed}}
;Apparently Linus Torvalds can be bribed pretty easily.
:{{w|Linus Torvalds}} is the {{w|benevolent dictator for life}} of the Linux kernel codebase. Normally it is hard to make changes because he has the last word, and because the kernel is replicated in all Linux installations. Linus made the news in January 2018 when, having looked at one of Intel's proposed fixes for the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities, he declared "[https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/22/linus-torvalds-declares-intel-fix-for-meltdown-spectre-complete-and-utter-garbage/ the patches are COMPLETE AND UTTER GARBAGE]". Presumably, it may be found that he may be successfully bribed to be less blunt and/or less critical of vulnerability fixes that are complete and/or utter garbage. If this were the case, this would be a severe critical vulnerability to all Linux servers and machines.
;An attacker can execute malicious code on their own machine and no one can stop them.
:The point of an attack is to make someone else's machine perform actions against the owner's will. Anyone can make their own machine execute any code if they have root access and the necessary tools, but this would usually not be described as an attack, except in the case of a locked-down appliance, such as a video game console, a John Deere tractor, or pay TV decoder.
;Apple products execute any code printed over a photo of a dog with a saddle and a baby riding it.
:This could refer to a CVE vulnerability of JPG files where JavaScript embedded within the image file is executed by some application. In this case, though, the code is visible on the image instead of invisibly encoded within the image file. The code is also only executed if the image contains a photo of a baby in a saddle riding a dog. It's unclear whether the photo would be a digital photo, a printed photo (i.e. as taken using a digital camera), or maybe both.
:Other than by some {{w|metadata}}, either internal to the image file, or embedded along with it, as in a web page, or a PDF or other container file, this "bug" would require the device to {{w|Hard AI|figure out}} specifically what the photo contains image-wise (something that's REALLY HARD for computers to do reliably), but would also require OCR (optical character recognition) code to convert the text superimposed on the photo into executable code. In other words, it's hard to believe in 2018 that such a bug could exist. Maybe in the future when such things are more routine...? As an example, OCR used to be hard to do reliably, but now it's a lot more routine and built into a lot of devices.
;Under rare circumstances, a flaw in some versions of Windows could allow Flash to be installed.
:Adobe Flash has been an integral browser plugin for decades, but has fallen out of favor in the 2010s, and eventually discontinued because of its notoriously abysmal security record. All security experts advise against installing it. Preventing installation of Flash would make systems more secure, but most versions of Windows do not prevent Flash installation (provided, as of 2021, the user still has a copy of the files with which to do so). The joke here relates to the difficulty of keeping Flash up to date, or even installed properly to begin with. A common user experience, which is the subject of numerous jokes and memes, is the constant nagging notification to install or update Flash in order for web pages to display properly. Many IT professionals will bemoan the trouble they have experienced in the workplace due to these notifications and problems related to them.
:In late 2020, Microsoft [https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4577586/update-for-removal-of-adobe-flash-player released an optional Windows update] that removes Flash and prevents users from installing it again.
;Turns out the cloud is just other people's computers.
:This refers to a meme that demands that "cloud" be replaced with "other people's computers" in all marketing presentation to CEOs and non-computer literate persons evaluating the security impact of using cloud services. Part of the humor here is that "the cloud" is, in actuality, simply a term for hosted services, or in other words computers being run by other people (typically businesses that specialize in this type of "{{w|Platform as a Service}}" or "PaaS" service model). Referring to "the cloud" as "other people's computers" is, at its core, entirely accurate, though it takes away the business jargon and simplifies the situation in such a way that it might cast doubt on the security, reliability, and general effectiveness of using "cloud" solutions. In [[908: The Cloud]], it turns out that [[Black Hat]] is the "other people" whose computer ''is'' the Cloud.
;A flaw in Mitre's CVE database allows arbitrary code insertion.[[779|[~~CLICK HERE FOR CHEAP VIAGRA~~]]]
:Mitre's CVE database is where all {{w|Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures|CVEs}} are stored. This log message forms the punchline of the comic, as it implies that all of the exaggerated error messages above might have been inserted by hackers exploiting the vulnerability. To pour salt in the wound, they then included in a typical spam link purporting to offer inexpensive {{w|Viagra|brand-name Sildenafil}}.
;It turns out Bruce Schneier is just two mischevious kids in a trenchcoat.
:Appears in the title text. {{w|Bruce Schneier}} is security researcher and blogger. The "two kids in a trenchcoat" is a reference to the {{tvtropes|TotemPoleTrench|Totem Pole Trench}} trope. Shortly before this comic was posted, a [https://rare.us/rare-humor/two-kids-dressed-as-a-tall-man-to-get-into-black-panther-is-caught-on-video story went viral] in which two kids were photographed attempting this for real to get into a screening of ''Black Panther''.

==Transcript==
:[A heading is centered above a list of 21 vulnerabilities]
:<big>Leaked list of major 2018 security vulnerabilities </big>

:CVE-2018-????? Apple products crash when displaying certain Telugu or Bengali letter combinations.
:CVE-2018-????? An attacker can use a timing attack to extploit a race condition in garbage collection to extract a limited number of bits from the Wikipedia article on Claude Shannon.
:CVE-2018-????? At the cafe on Third Street, the Post-it note with the WiFi password is visible from the sidewalk.
:CVE-2018-????? A remote attacker can inject arbitrary text into public-facing pages via the comments box.
:CVE-2018-????? MySQL server 5.5.45 secretly runs two parallel databases for people who say "S-Q-L" and "sequel."
:CVE-2018-????? A flaw in some x86 CPUs could allow a root user to de-escalate to normal account privileges.
:CVE-2018-????? Apple products catch fire when displaying emoji with diacritics.
:CVE-2018-????? An oversight in the rules allows a dog to join a basketball team.
:CVE-2018-????? Haskell isn't side-effect-free after all; the effects are all just concentrated in this one. computer in Missouri that no one's checked on in a while.
:CVE-2018-????? Nobody really knows how hypervisors work.
:CVE-2018-????? Critical: Under Linux 3.14.8 on System/390 in a UTC+14 time zone, a local user could potentially use a buffer overflow to change another user's default system clock from 12-hour to 24-hour.
:CVE-2018-????? x86 has way too many instructions.
:CVE-2018-????? NumPy 1.8.0 can factor primes in ''O''(log ''n'') time and must be quietly deprecated before anyone notices.
:CVE-2018-????? Apple products grant remote access if you send them words that break the "I before E" rule.
:CVE-2018-????? Skylake x86 chips can be pried from their sockets using certain flathead screwdrivers.
:CVE-2018-????? Apparently Linus Torvalds can be bribed pretty easily.
:CVE-2018-????? An attacker can execute malicious code on their own machine and no one can stop them.
:CVE-2018-????? Apple products execute any code printed over a photo of a dog with a saddle and a baby riding it.
:CVE-2018-????? Under rare circumstances, a flaw in some versions of Windows could allow Flash to be installed.
:CVE-2018-????? Turns out the cloud is just other people's computers.
:CVE-2018-????? A flaw in Mitre's CVE database allows arbitrary code insertion.[~~Click here for cheap viagra~~]

==Trivia==

*The word "exploit" in the second line is apparently misspelled.
* Randall has previously referenced diacritics in [[1647: Diacritics]].

* Bruce Schneier was previously mentioned in the title texts of [[748: Worst-Case Scenario]] and [[1039: RuBisCO]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:iOS]]

2503: Memo Spike Connector

2023-04-17T00:49:50Z

Memo Spike Connector: Memo Spike Connector reverts Memo Spike Connector one more time

{{comic
| number = 2503
| date = August 16, 2021
| title = Memo Spike Connector
| image = memo spike connector.png
| titletext = Backward-compatible with many existing cables, and can connect directly to phones or tablets if you press them down hard enough.
| imagesize =
}}

==Explanation==
This is the third installment in the series of [[:Category:Cursed Connectors|Cursed Connectors]] and presents Cursed Connectors #102: The Memo Spike. It follows [[2495: Universal Seat Belt]] (#65) and was followed 9 days later by [[2507: USV-C]] (#280).

The comic depicts a large metal spike with a wire coming from the base. The spike stabs through two other wires, thus creating an electrical connection between the three. As the name suggests, the spike resembles a {{w|Spindle_(stationery)|stationery spindle}}, colloquially known as a spike, called a Memo Spike here by Randall. However, unlike normal spindles, this one has a cable of some kind coming out of it, suggesting this is a hub of some sort.

Spindles are used to temporarily hold paper by "spindling" or impaling the paper onto the spike (as depicted in the comic). They're most known for their use in restaurants as a way to hold bills that have been paid, or traditionally in offices that work with many bits of paper, e.g. with invoices in a finance department or hardcopy in newspaper editing, to prevent accidental disturbance/shuffling, at the expense of a small puncture mark in each sheet so impaled. (This could cause errors in papers with punch-holes that are meant to be read by machines, hence the admonition against "{{w|Punched_card#Do_Not_Fold,_Spindle_or_Mutilate|folding, spindling, and mutilating}}".) In the latter context, the editor might put all the rejected stories onto a spike (rather than into a wastebasket) to prevent them going astray, and this might be the source of the term '{{w|Spike (journalism)|spiked}}'.

The joke of the comic is while any number of non-destructive connection standards exist, a large spike can provide much of the same results: a conductive object that retains a connection of multiple wires in a way that allows electricity to pass through. Indeed, in the early days of Ethernet, {{w|Vampire tap|vampire taps}} were used, essentially spikes that bit into a cable to establish a new branch in the network. Another type of connection which involves piercing the wire is a {{w|Punch-down block|punch-down block}}, a type of {{w|Insulation-displacement_connector|insulation-displacement connector}}, where one or more wires are pushed into a cutting channel instead of onto a spike.

Depending on the type of cable it is also likely to create a short circuit, e.g. by connecting both strands of a twisted pair of strands in a typical Ethernet cable, or the central wire and the sheath of a coaxial cable. In an enterprise environment, this could even happen on a {{w|Power_over_Ethernet|PoE-Connection}}, which actually carry more noticeable amounts of power (up to 25.5W). Even if this is avoided, the single spike may be large enough to mechanically sever a random subset of the finer strands that exist within a multicore cable such as is commonly in use today.

The title text takes this a bit further. It says that it is backwards compatible with many existing cables. This means any cable large enough to be impaled by the spike could be used. Needless to say it will likely not work anyway. It also continues by saying that phones and tablets can also be connected using this method if you press them down hard enough over the spike. Thus if you actually manage to make the spike penetrate the device's coverings to reach the electrical parts, then there is a connection. The implication is that any device or cable can be connected to any other device or cable as a form of universal adapter/splitter/combiner across arbitrary hardware and communications/power standards. In reality, this could be even more dangerous and will surely destroy the phone/tablet either directly or by overloading their cable connection.{{citation needed}} Also be careful not to impale your hand while trying to push the spike through your tablet's screen.

==Transcript==
:[A memo spike is shown (a device also called a Spindle). It is a long spike standing up from a round base plate. A wire is coming in from the left and appears to be hardwired into the spike's base element. Two other wires comes in from the right. Both are firmly impaled down upon the spike, penetrated completely through shortly before their apparently unterminated ends. The end of the impaled wire closest to the base faces out and the details appear to show it to be of some variety of multicore (rather than co-axial) manufacture. The other cable's end is a bit higher and points into the image. Above is a title and below is a label.]
:Cursed Connectors #102
:The Memo Spike

{{comic discussion}}


[[Category:Cursed Connectors]]

Talk:2759: Easily Confused Acronyms

2023-04-14T06:17:26Z

Memo Spike Connector:

Comic 1937 also features misinterpretation of acronyms. [[User:Unreliable Connection|2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[User talk:Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 03:59, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

.... i am gonna need a cetation on that bit about Archimedes. Does anyone have one? I don't doubt the veracity of the statement, but we have standards around here! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.143|162.158.154.143]] 06:14, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

: ''On the Equilibrium of Planes'' (Ancient Greek: Περὶ ἐπιπέδων ἱσορροπιῶν, romanized: perí epipédōn isorropiôn) is a treatise by Archimedes in two volumes. The first book contains a proof of the law of the lever ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Equilibrium_of_Planes ) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.246.60|172.71.246.60]] 07:05, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

The wikipedia page for LEVER is not working. I think it's case sensitive. [[User:N-eh|N-eh]] ([[User talk:N-eh|talk]]) 06:31, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

: fixed. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.86.200|162.158.86.200]] 07:15, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

Somebody posted a link to Comic 1937 by mistake and I made an edit to the page about San Diego and The Scrabble. Coincidentally, The new comic was also about acronyms. Incredible. [[User:Unreliable Connection|2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[User talk:Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 09:10, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

Do we need a category about acronyms? There's [[1341: Types of Editors]], [[1460: SMFW]], and today's comic, and there may be more. [[User:Unreliable Connection|2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[User talk:Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 09:22, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

xkcd = '''X'''ight '''K'''mplification by the '''C'''imulated '''D'''mission of radiation --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.140|162.158.154.140]] 09:29, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

LEVER is an acronym - Light Electric Vehicle Education and Research, [https://www.micromobilityresearch.com apparently].[[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.65|172.71.178.65]] 09:49, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

: Another use of LEVER as an acronym is [https://www.acronymattic.com/Laboratory-for-Evaluation-and-Validation-of-Epidemiologic-Research-(LEVER).html Laboratory for Evaluation and Validation of Epidemiologic Research] -- [[Special:Contributions/172.71.222.172|172.71.222.172]] 14:34, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

This raises the question why are there no SODARs, RANARs and LINARs? Or RASERs for that matter? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.77|162.158.111.77]] 12:34, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

:RASERs only work in the online realm, where they're known as eRASERs.[[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.173|172.71.242.173]] 13:30, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

:In ''theory'', you could build a RASER (that is, a radio-wavelength LASER) via the 21cm (1420 MHz) hyperfine hydrogen transmission. That would require some fairly nontrivial engineering, and probably needs a very large superconducting magnet to establish a magnetic field gradient and allow for separation of atoms into parallel and anti-parallel magnetic moment populations. But, in principle, because of the astronomical importance of the 21cm transition, you could use this as an interstellar signalling device. Indeed, SETI considered (but rejected) the idea early on (although I'm not sure that building a 21cm RASER was feasible at the time). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.97|172.70.178.97]] 20:10, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

:RANAR exists pretty much only in controlled environment laboratory conditions. Radio doesn't reflect well enough off the ground for how noisy it tends to be in that spectrum. It's like trying to noticably brighten up a large grassy field in the middle of the day by shining a dim normal flashlight at it. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.146.119|172.71.146.119]] 06:15, 7 April 2023 (UTC)
::...whilst looking through a narrow-band anti-green filter and waving the torch around to try to invoke observable parallax in the remaining illumination/shadows. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.122|141.101.99.122]] 08:25, 8 April 2023 (UTC)

:Gotta say, I love this community for like this, the very reasonable conversation-rich question of why such logical things don't exist. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:00, 8 April 2023 (UTC)

Is this comic inspired by a laser incident? [[User:Memo Spike Connector|2503: Memo Spike Connector]] ([[User talk:Memo Spike Connector|talk]]) 06:17, 14 April 2023 (UTC)

User talk:Unreliable Connection

2023-04-14T00:51:44Z

Memo Spike Connector:

2733: Size Comparisons

2023-04-14T00:48:41Z

Memo Spike Connector:

{{comic
| number = 2733
| date = February 3, 2023
| title = Size Comparisons
| image = size_comparisons_2x.png
| imagesize = 238x373px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = If you shrank the Solar System to the size of Texas, the Houston metro area would be smaller than a grasshopper in Dallas.
}}

==Explanation==
Another comic in the [[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]] series.

[[Cueball]] attempts to emphasize to [[Ponytail]] the size of {{w|Texas}} (the largest state in the {{w|contiguous United States}}, and the second largest {{w|US}} state overall), by making a size comparison. He states that with Texas expanded to the size of the {{w|Solar System}}, the {{w|ant}}s in Texas will be as large as {{w|Rhode Island}} (the smallest US state). However, Cueball on purpose (according to the caption) just proves how small Texas actually is compared to the Solar System (which is a lot larger).{{Citation needed}} Additionally, the deeper truth of the original statement is inverted; if a much smaller state (Rhode Island, Delaware, etc.) were scaled up to the size of the solar system, its ants would be the size of Texas itself, over 200 times as large as the scaled up Texan ants, so the relative smallness of the Texan ants shows how big Texas is.

A common analogy for expressing a statistic (such as area/volume/population size/population density) of unfamiliar things is to compare that thing to some other reference that people are likely to already have an understanding of, if only through past comparisons. For instance, it is said that a human-sized {{w|flea}} could jump the equivalent height of the {{w|Eiffel Tower}} (if jumping ability scaled with animal size; which it does not, due to how some of the different numbers involved will scale to the square or cube of the linear factor, so such aspects as power-to-weight ratios and sheer biomechanical strengths cannot be maintained). In this case, Randall is comparing objects that are extremely different in scale (the state of Texas and a small insect), but then blowing Texas up to yet another size many orders of magnitude larger, and then comparing it with something else his addressee has no comprehension of, with the result that the comparison is of no value in understanding how big Texas is (which could be supposed to be Cueball's intended impartation), or what ants have to do with anything in the first place. The only message you get in the end is that "Texas is much bigger than an ant!{{actual citation needed}}"...

There are a lot of definitions for how large the Solar System is, but one that is used (and easily agreed upon) is based upon {{w|Neptune}}'s {{w|Apsis#Perihelion and aphelion|aphelion}} (the farthest point from Sun of the outermost planet). Using the {{w|Area of a circle|circle area equation}}, we might say that the 'area' of the solar system is 6.49×1019 square kilometers (2.506×1019 square miles), which is a lot, with Texas's area being in turn measured as 696,241 km² (268,820 mi²). The difference in size is the huge factor of 9.32×1013 (not a [[2707: Astronomy Numbers|simple number]]). Ants, unfortunately for the calculations, vary vastly in size, but Rhode Island's area is known to be 3,144 km² (1,214 mi²). We can therefore back-calculate that Randall's average "ant" would occupy 33.73 square millimeters. Roughly measured, an ant has an "aspect ratio" of 1:2 (width to length), and such an assumption leads to a length of 8.21mm, which falls easily into the range of 2–25mm for various possible species and types of ants. Therefore, Randall's calculated comparison indeed holds up as valid.

The title text refers to the opposite, with the entire Solar system being scaled down to the size of Texas. {{w|Houston}} (a city in Texas) has a {{w|Greater Houston|metropolitan area}} (an area extending a bit beyond the city itself) that, if ''shrunk'' by the same factor as before, would be smaller than a grasshopper in {{w|Dallas}}, another city in Texas. (This, of course, only works if Houston's environs are part of what is shrunk, yet the grasshopper – and perhaps at least part of its apparent hometown of Dallas – remains unchanged.) The calculations to verify this hinge upon Houston's metro area normally being considered to be 26,061 km² (10,062 mi²), and hence becoming 279.6 square millimeters. A grasshopper may be considered thinner than an ant, so we shall use the aspect ratio of 1:3 instead, to give a length of 28.96 mm, or almost 3 centimeters and approximately an inch. This falls within the range of 1–7cm range, that may be found [https://animalcorner.org/animals/grasshopper/ quoted in some places], but is significantly smaller than [https://a-z-animals.com/blog/the-10-largest-grasshoppers-in-the-world/ notably large species]. Whether the Dallas grasshopper is any particular variety (or even a native, rather than an exotic pet) is not expounded upon.

On the other hand, the comparison would be meaningful the other way around: "The Solar System is so big that if you shrink it to the size of Texas, (the shrunken) Rhode Island would now be as small as (unshrunken) ants".

==Transcript==
:[Cueball speaking to Ponytail.]
:Cueball: Texas is so big that if you expanded it to the size of the Solar System, the ants there would be as big as Rhode Island.
:Ponytail: Wow!
:Ponytail: ...Wait.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:My hobby: Unhelpful size comparisons

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Ants]]
[[Category:Animals]]

Talk:70: Guitar Hero

2023-04-13T09:14:36Z

Memo Spike Connector:

The image appears to me to have a female in the background, the hair hanging below the face might look like a beard/goatee. But I suggest it is a supposed to be a long haired individual rather than a person with a beard. -JD[[Special:Contributions/132.3.25.78|132.3.25.78]] 09:17, 26 February 2013 (UTC)
:Agree it is Megan and whomever thought it was a beard must have made the mistake you refer to. Have corrected and added category. Was here looking for characters with a beard and though why is beard written here when I saw the comic before finding the error. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:54, 22 July 2016 (UTC)

Has anybody actually done that? I'll be more than happy to add it into osu! (the exclamation mark is part of the game's name) [[User:Sobsz|Sobsz]] ([[User talk:Sobsz|talk]]) 21:55, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

: "osu!" has spinners. [[User:Omg Oriental Music Group|Omg Oriental Music Group]] ([[User talk:Omg Oriental Music Group|talk]]) 09:10, 13 April 2023 (UTC)

Is the transcript in any way official (if yes, where can I find the source?)? Because I don't see the area with the "bump" as a "catwalk", but just as the area of the game where they approach. The stage is the background, separate from the rest. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 14:43, 8 June 2018 (UTC)
:The source is here: [https://xkcd.com/70/info.0.json JSON interface to comic 70: Guitar Hero]
::<nowiki>[[On a stage, a guy with a beard is in the background, holding a microphone. In the center is a guy with an electric guitar. The catwalk has bumps to resemble the tracks of Guitar Hero.]] When I'm in a rock band, I'm gonna do a cool, mellow song. Then in the middle I'll stop, announce "this part is just to be an asshole to people playing Guitar Hero," and then flail wildly on the strings for 30 seconds.</nowiki>
:BTW: The catwalk with the bumps is in front of the Guitar Hero... --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:36, 8 June 2018 (UTC)

This won't happen unless the guitarist is also a Guitar Hero level developer. [[User:Omg Oriental Music Group|Omg Oriental Music Group]] ([[User talk:Omg Oriental Music Group|talk]]) 09:12, 13 April 2023 (UTC)

Talk:2762: Diffraction Spikes

2023-04-13T09:06:41Z

Memo Spike Connector:

I tried to make an initial explanation, but then someone beat me to it and I made a fool of myself on the page trying to add a comment where it didn't go. I fixed it, but I am ashamed ;~; [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.15|172.69.34.15]] 23:31, 12 April 2023 (UTC)
:It's all good. As long as you learn from it, and we learn what useful things you want to say, nothing at all to worry about... All power to your typing fingers! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.66|172.70.85.66]] 00:15, 13 April 2023 (UTC)
Exoplanets nevertheless exist because, alongside the visible diffraction spikes that chop them up, there are invisible defraction [sic] spikes that reassemble them. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.136|162.158.158.136]] 00:32, 13 April 2023 (UTC)

Why does the spike slice the planet instead of the planet breaking the tip off the spike? Are the spikes like enormous light sabers? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 00:43, 13 April 2023 (UTC)
:The spikes are stellar artifacts of distant observers, with all the mass of the star behind them. The Sun hardly moves much if you dunk the Earth into it, why should the exoplanet move the spike? At best you'd get a similar effect to karate chopping a stream of water from a hose. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.150.175|172.71.150.175]] 04:49, 13 April 2023 (UTC)

Is it inspired by some movie that features this "spike pointing on some person" effect? I remember seeing one, but I don't seem to remember its name. [[User:Unreliable Connection|2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[User talk:Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 02:07, 13 April 2023 (UTC)

:This comic also reminded me of fractal images. [[User:Memo Spike Connector|2503: Memo Spike Connector]] ([[User talk:Memo Spike Connector|talk]]) 09:06, 13 April 2023 (UTC)

2762: Diffraction Spikes

2023-04-13T03:55:59Z

Memo Spike Connector: Missed category

{{comic
| number = 2762
| date = April 12, 2023
| title = Diffraction Spikes
| image = diffraction_spikes_2x.png
| imagesize = 324x370px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Even if a planet is lucky enough to have a stable orbit that weaves between the spikes, the seasons get weird whenever it passes close to them.
}}

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

{{w|Diffraction spike|Diffraction spikes}} are visual artifacts that appear to extend from light sources, especially when viewed through a lens or telescope. In telescopes, they are often caused by the support struts of one of the lenses in the telescope.

The comic feigns that these artifacts are real (from the planet's perspective) spikes extending from all stars, presumably excluding Sol (but see {{w|Asteroid belt}}). The spikes have sufficient energy and coherence to slice planets that intersect them, rather than merely bludgeon them. Per the title text, the spikes are also sufficiently luminous to disrupt seasonal (and perhaps even diurnal) patterns of light distribution on planets that come close enough to them.

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

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Photography]]
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]

Talk:2503: Memo Spike Connector

2023-04-13T02:01:14Z

Memo Spike Connector:

Just made my first ever wiki edit! There was no text yet so I filled in some basic info. I guarantee what I wrote will be removed though :( . Oh well, I tried! [[User:Zman350x|Zman350x]] ([[User talk:Zman350x|talk]]) 15:20, 16 August 2021 (UTC)
:Your first edit inspired me to my own first edit. Maybe at the end there will be a good article made entirely by noobs. :) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.115|172.68.110.115]] 16:33, 16 August 2021 (UTC)
::Seems like some parts of your edits have survived, to what seems close to a final version now. Any start on an explanation is difficult so cool that you are now on the editing team ;-) I make a lot of edits, but is not typically the one that makes the actual explanation, more keeping the format and making small improvements --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:20, 17 August 2021 (UTC)
:: :o --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.229|172.69.22.229]] 10:55, 17 August 2021 (UTC)

In restaurants these are not used for orders for the kitchen. Those are usually put on an order wheel or ticket holder, which have clips that the order can easily pulled out of. The spike is at the checkout counter, and it's used after the bill is paid. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 19:57, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

Do we want to mention the vampire taps in both the article and trivia? Cause that's how it currently is. [[User:Zman350x|Zman350x]] ([[User talk:Zman350x|talk]]) 21:27, 16 August 2021 (UTC)
:No. Have removed trivia. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:20, 17 August 2021 (UTC)

My first comment too! Where it says... "The implication is that any cable can be connected to any other cable as a form of universal adapter/splitter/combiner"... That's not the title text joke. It's that a device like an iPad could also be impaled on the spike, making electrical connection to its innards. It says nothing about cable to cable connections. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.18|108.162.246.18]] 21:47, 16 August 2021 (UTC)
:Didn't see this comment until I intervened, under the same impression, but I totally agree. Looked like an orphan comment intended for the pre-titletext 'explanation'. Still valid, and rather than move it I expanded it to fit better where it is. Doubt it'll be the 'final' version, though. (Anecdotal explanation of my thinking: If I put my tablet down on my opened laptop, it'll sometimes 'agitate' the laptop trackpad. Technically I could probably get the tablet to control this inbuilt mouse deliberately through whatever ¿field-effect? is interacting with the ¿capacitative? finger-sensor. I am imagining something like this (only more puncturing!) is what is 'promised' if I impale two otherwise incompatible devices on the same spike. But also lets one connect otherwise incompatible cables to further cables/devices. Like I don't have an ethernet dongle that works with the tablet, but spike them both and I'd be laughing.... Right?) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.54.202|172.69.54.202]] 03:14, 17 August 2021 (UTC)
::The title text is also about old types of cables and not just smartphones and tablet. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:20, 17 August 2021 (UTC)

This explanation does not answer the one question I came here to find the answer to, namely why it is named “memo spike.” [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.79|108.162.219.79]] 03:19, 17 August 2021 (UTC)
:Some (not me, but that's because I've never used one in anger, maybe) seem to call the non-connector thing that the connector is based around a "memo spike". Apparently one can impale successive memos (in a memo-heavy administration job?) upon the spike and then later thread a chord (or treasury tag?) through the holes to perpetuate their 'spiked collection' status. It's possible there are other names (like: thumb-tack <=> drawing pin), but this is how Randall identifies it. Better than "that thing you spike paper onto - but now with ''power!!!111oneoneone''", etc... 'Though YMMV. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.253|141.101.76.253]] 03:56, 17 August 2021 (UTC)

The detail on the free cable end is more clearly visible in the [https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/memo_spike_connector_2x.png double-sized image version], suggesting that it isn't just a coax. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 04:28, 17 August 2021 (UTC)
:It is actually the x2 version that is now showed per default on the xkcd page, and thus it is that one that should be used here on xkcd.. ie. the one you are presented with on xkcd. Have uploaded that version to explain now. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:20, 17 August 2021 (UTC)
::"It is actually the x2 version that is now showed per default on the xkcd page" - you're wrong about that. The x2 is an optional image if the markup-linked code decides it wants to make it the embedded image. Maybe that becomes default in your case, but don't assume it's true for everyone, all the time. (You can break the explainxkcd page rendering for people, like me, if you force a typical x2 image into here, even when xkcs original is sane ''and'' allows deliberate zooming.)
:::My suggestion in this case/similar is to clip the detail from the x2 to highlight the feature and embed this exact bit in the explanation, if you want to make sure everyone sees the high-res version of that bit in particular. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.137|141.101.105.137]] 13:41, 17 August 2021 (UTC)
::::I have added an imagesize parameter, so it renders with the 'standard' size while keeping the detail from the 2x version when viewing the file's page. [[User:Theusaf|theusaf]] ([[User talk:Theusaf|talk]]) 16:32, 17 August 2021 (UTC)
:::::Sorry about this. I have reverted to the normal size image. And removed the size change, which causes confusion, see below. I thought that when the link to the image is called 2x on xkcd it was that image being shown there. I wil also change the other one that I have put in 2x image, and refrain from doing so again! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:28, 19 August 2021 (UTC)

Possibly a reference to the 1987 movie RoboCop; the titular character had a similar looking data spike used to interface with OCP computers. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.225|172.70.130.225]] 19:16, 17 August 2021 (UTC)
:Similar looking? It's a spike, which is action-relevent at another point in the movie (or maybe franchise, if I'm thinking of some sequel/requel scene). But not (if I'm not missing anything by my dotty memory) a thing with a round base that acts to vampire-tap cables. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.170|162.158.111.170]] 02:23, 18 August 2021 (UTC)
:: [https://i.stack.imgur.com/KdpTF.png This here] looks pretty much like the comic to me and it is a data connector. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.150|162.158.74.150]] 18:54, 18 August 2021 (UTC)
:: I would concur in that "It's a spike". Yes used (there) for data, but [https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/x_men_funny.jpg it's just a sharp pointy thing], in the way that all rockets are phallic, and only looks like a ''bit'' of the connector. You could equally try [https://tron.fandom.com/wiki/Identity_Disc some other thing] to part-compare with on the same basis. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.55|141.101.98.55]] 21:18, 18 August 2021 (UTC)

It would be interesting to get a list of cable types for which this could actually work in some circumstances.
Also how would the device deal with multiple cables being impaled on it as in the picture? How would the information be separated? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.244|162.158.91.244]] 07:42, 18 August 2021 (UTC)
:Even with one cable, it would need to be a majority-insulating spike with a myriad of pin-prick conductive patches arrayed (like a ring-barelled audio+ connector, but radially distinct also) each ready to leach one and ony one bit of bare copper (though a wire may/should touch multiple spike-patches) without bridging to another.
:All these would need bundling into the base - or maybe with very clever in-spike isolation/relaying conductor paths - for any currents to be assessed and sorted and build up a logical picture of whhat the few contact-patches that are contacting wire are actually contacting (perhaps moment to moment, as movements of the impaled cable happen).
:For 'passive' wires in the bundle, maybe tentative pulses can detect the altered capacitance/impedance they give the patch-spots, then (from clues based upon any active signals) a complex and careful handshaking attempt would need to auto-negotiate which kind of auto-negotiating might be expected by the device(s) at the other end(s) of the cable.
:Hopefully enough connections exist to operate any particular carrier-cable correctly (single-pair +/-, or ground/pos/sig+/sig-, or DA+/DA-/DB+/DC-/DC+/DB-/DD+/DD-, or whatever), and with enough current capacity without cross-conductor signal-lraking (either physically or inductively). Adding a second cable (which may jostle the first, requiring hot/on-the-fly reinterpretation of its patch-mapping and capabilities therefrom) just repeats the process with previously untouched patch-contacts.
:...and if you can get that working. You're welcome to the patent. A similarly dynamic 'induction/inducer clamp' version might be my own prefered choice, but probably also difficult to get working well (for different reasons). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.253|141.101.98.253]] 12:30, 18 August 2021 (UTC)
: That assumes that this would be a data connection. Personally i think it would just be an electrical connection. So it would work with any regular power cable, specially if you curl the copper around the spike. --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.82.179|172.70.82.179]] 03:21, 26 August 2022 (UTC)

Why is there a [click comic to enlarge]?Or am I having problems?[[User:1337-PI|1337-PI]] ([[User talk:1337-PI|talk]]) 00:32, 19 August 2021 (UTC)
:Yes that was partly my fault by putting in the 2x image instead of the regular. Then someone put in a size in wiki which causes that line. I have reverted and removed the imagesize. It should work now. See above. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:28, 19 August 2021 (UTC)

This is mostly a jab at puncture industrial automation buses? Like https://www.bihl-wiedemann.de/en/company/technological-foundations/bus-systems/asi-bus-system.html

Spike connection is often [[2659: Unreliable Connection|unreliable]]. [[User:Memo Spike Connector|2503: Memo Spike Connector]] ([[User talk:Memo Spike Connector|talk]]) 08:07, 12 April 2023 (UTC)

The "''Memo'' spike" is for holding the used "Memo (メモ)" strips です. [[User:サ. ノ. ソ. シ.|わたし]] ([[User talk:サ. ノ. ソ. シ.|talk]]) 00:53, 13 April 2023 (UTC)

Here comes [[2762|Another spike]]. [[User:Memo Spike Connector|2503: Memo Spike Connector]] ([[User talk:Memo Spike Connector|talk]]) 02:01, 13 April 2023 (UTC)

2032: Word Puzzles

2023-04-12T09:14:32Z

Memo Spike Connector:

{{comic
| number = 2032
| date = August 13, 2018
| title = Word Puzzles
| image = word_puzzles.png
| titletext = Eno's storied aria was once soloed by Judge Lance Ito on the alto oboe at Ohio's AirAsia Arena.
}}

==Explanation==
This is another comic in the "[[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]]" series, where [[Randall]] presents his hobby of fooling other people. This particular hobby seems to be a case of [[Nerd Sniping]] (A similar case is in [[559: No Pun Intended]]). [[Cueball]] knows that [[Megan]] is a word game enthusiast and - while both are probably at a party - he presents a complex sentence rather than just doing small talk. And he is successful as we can see that she is just thinking about the proper solution to that puzzle where probably none exists.

The dialog, caption, and title text contain many words that appear frequently in crossword puzzle answers because they fit well with intersecting words, in part because they have a high density of vowels. Some of the terms (parts of, start of) are also commonly used in cryptic crossword clues to indicate that nearby words should be combined or split to create an answer.

{{w|Brian Eno}} is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer, writer, and visual artist. He is best known for his pioneering work in ambient music and contributions to rock, pop, electronic, and generative music. He was born on 15 May 1948, and is still an active artist. But live concerts by him were rare and may not happen ever again. However, the aria was not written by himself but by his au pair who is also an opera star. And this happened after Eno ended his live career.

The title text goes further on this puzzle and asserts that {{w|Lance Ito}} was playing the aria solo on an {{w|Oboe|oboe}} at the fictive ''Ohio's AirAsia Arena''. Ito is well known as the judge in the {{w|O. J. Simpson}} murder case.

The kind of puzzle that Megan thinks she is solving is called a "Cryptic" or {{w|Cryptic crossword|cryptic crossword}}, which has markedly different rules than ordinary crosswords. If Cueball's statement had been "Part of this aria is an Indian garment" the answer would have been "sari", because a part of the phrase "this aria" is the sequence "sari", which in turn is an Indian garment. Cueball's actual statement contains quite a few familiar cryptic puzzle triggers. The word "composed" can be a hint of a preceding or following anagram, in this case of "this aria" or of "by Brian" or of even longer adjacent strings. Although "opera star" could be a famous singer, say "Caruso", it might also be the name of an opera followed by the name of an astronomical star. "Au pair" could be any of its ordinary meanings, say "nanny", but might also be "earrings" (because Au is the chemical symbol for gold, and a gold pair could be earrings). The word "start" is often a hint to take just the beginning of a word, so "the start" would be "t", or "start of his" would be "h" or (less commonly) "hi". The New York Times runs a cryptic crossword as its "second Sunday puzzle" every other month or so, and there are other regular cryptic crossword venues.

There are various guides on the web for solving cryptics, such as this one at The Atlantic: [https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/puzzclue.htm Puzzler Instructions]. Recently, information on cryptic crosswords even got its own [http://cryptics.fandom.com/wiki/Cryptipedia wiki].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan standing together. He makes some gestures with his hand and some musical notes are above him while Megan holds her fist before her mouth.]
:Cueball: Parts of this aria were composed by Brian Eno's Opera Star au pair at the start of his post-live era.
:Megan (thinking): ...parts...start...eno...aria...

:[Caption below the frame:]
:My hobby: Messing with word game enthusiasts by using words that make them '''''sure''''' there's a puzzle to solve

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Music]]

Talk:532: Piano

2023-04-12T09:03:59Z

Memo Spike Connector:

Maybe I'm wrong here, but by looking at the size of the piano compared with Cueball and having read the title text, I wonder if the joke might be that he wished for a 4-5 inch penis instead? I wasn't sure enoough to go ahead an change it though.{{unsigned|Athang}}
: If you look at the piano compared to Cueball's forearm plus hand, they are approximately the same length. Considering how the average male human is slightly shorter in height (1.7 m) than a grand piano is long (2 m), a to-scale pianist would be slightly shorter than Cueball's forearm. The average length of a 1.7 m tall person's forearm plus hand is about 47 cm, so the pianist would need to be about 40 cm. (1.7:2 = 0.85 ratio. 47 cm * 0.85 = 40 cm.) 40 cm is almost 16 inches. In [[526: Converting to Metric]], 14 cm is labeled "penis", and according to the {{w|Kinsey Institute}}, the largest medically recorded was 13.5 inches (34 cm).

:Alternatively, the title text might have been saying "Good thing [the genie] didn't make [his penis] smaller [than it was before?], or [his penis would] need someone three inches tall to play [with] it." [[User:Tryc|Tryc]] ([[User talk:Tryc|talk]]) 15:20, 28 June 2013 (UTC)

:The extremely clear implication is that he asked for a 12-inch pianist, echoing the original joke. Occam's Razor and Megan's response support this view. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.223|108.162.219.223]]

Currently, this comic is listed as being in the "My Hobby" series, but it doesn't fit the series description. It's not phrased as if this is Randall's hobby, it's more situation-specific than the other My Hobby comics, and the title doesn't start with "My Hobby:". Should it be removed from the list? [[User:Sciepsilon|Sciepsilon]] ([[User talk:Sciepsilon|talk]]) 22:19, 5 October 2013 (UTC)
:The first two words from Cueball are: "My hobby...". The category is appropriate here. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:16, 6 October 2013 (UTC)
:Agreed. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.223|108.162.219.223]]
:Disagreed. It has nothing to do with the other "my hobby" comics, which all describes some weird trolling activity. This is just a guy making miniatures, a much more normal hobby. The ensuing panels of discussion doesn't fit the pattern either. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.119|108.162.254.119]] 20:21, 30 January 2014 (UTC)
:Also disagreed. The "my hobby" comics are about Randall's, and not Cueball's (albeit his alter-ego) hobbies. They all begin vey clearly with the phrase "My hobby:" in superscript before describing that hobby for comedic effect. Here, Cueball's hobby is not the subject and punchline of the comic, but rather the set-up for the joke about the size of his erm... member. It might meet the letter, but misses the spirit of the "my hobby" rubric. Any person searching for a comic in the "my hobby" series would be pretty surprised to find this one. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.21|108.162.219.21]] 08:47, 29 May 2014 (UTC)
::I agree with the disagreement, it's clearly not a My Hobby entry. But I still think it wouldn't hurt to have it in that category, for inclusiveness. Clearly, some subset of the proles think of it that way, so including it will help them, meanwhile harm nobody else. —[[User:Kazvorpal|Kazvorpal]] ([[User talk:Kazvorpal|talk]]) 14:56, 29 August 2017 (UTC)

Wow. I really misunderstood this joke. I thought he had asked a genie and just assumed it went wrong, when it actually went right. I thought Megan showing up was the result of the genie, and that her hobby was playing miniature pianos (perhaps using some finger extenders, like those things for Halloween that make your hands bigger and further out, but in reverse). And that she was intrigued by Cueball because she likes his hobby. Penis joke goes woosh. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.125|172.70.130.125]] 13:03, 24 September 2021 (UTC)

;The pianis<s>t</s> section
Because ''someone'' doesn't understand the joke, I'll explain it here: "Twelve-inch penis" sounds similar to "twelve-inch pianist", so the genie in the joke and the genie mentioned in the comic misheard it as the other. Try saying it out loud in English. [[User:MrGameZone|0100011101100001011011010110010101011010011011110110111001100101]] ([[User talk:MrGameZone|talk page]]) 04:34, 3 June 2014 (UTC)

:There is no mention of a "twelve-inch pianist" at this comic at all! And jokes I can find only misunderstandings on words like bucks/ducks and similar. The penis issue is always only raised at some comments. Furthermore the spelling "penis(t)" for "pianist" would be bad English — does this slang really exist? If so it has to be explained. Second: The link at the explain doesn't explain the penis issue. And finally citing the title text "Good thing he didn't make it smaller, or it'd need someone three inches tall to play it." would mean that a three inches tall Megan would have to "play" with a much smaller penis. Those penis jokes are still annoying, Randall just mentions a piano. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:10, 3 June 2014 (UTC)

::''Twelve. Inch. Piano.''

::The "bucks/ducks" jokes are ''directly'' based off of the "twelve-inch pianist" joke.

::It's a pun. "Pianist" sounds like "penis", and "penis" sounds like "pianist". Seriously, the only difference between the two is the "an".

::The link ''does'' address the "penis/pianist" issue. Read the last line carefully. It says that because of the genie's poor hearing, instead of the wish he wanted, he got a twelve-inch pianist. He wished for a twelve-inch penis and ended up with a twelve-inch pianist.

::And the "three-inch person playing with a three-inch penis" just came from Tryc horribly overthinking it. The title text says that if Cueball made a three-inch piano instead of a twelve-inch one, the genie would've misheard "three-inch pianist" as "three-inch penis", which is less preferable to a twelve-inch one.

::I'm trying my best to not be rude, but the joke is right there and you can't notice it. [[User:MrGameZone|0100011101100001011011010110010101011010011011110110111001100101]] ([[User talk:MrGameZone|talk page]]) 21:23, 3 June 2014 (UTC)
:::I still can't see that Randall does mention any "Twelve Inch" issues here. So, if that is the first imagination to some people it has to be EXPLAINED. The link here isn't helpful, Gooogle neither.
:::According to all my findings I would recommend a first section to explain the comic itself and then a second section how "penis-addicted" people would interpret this.
:::And remember the miniature trebuchet from [[1190: Time]]. Also a penis???
:::--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:41, 3 June 2014 (UTC)

::::Ughhhhhhhh it's getting harder and harder to explain this to you
::::Could someone help me out, here? [[User:MrGameZone|0100011101100001011011010110010101011010011011110110111001100101]] ([[User talk:MrGameZone|talk page]]) 06:49, 4 June 2014 (UTC)

:::::I'm trying it simple: If this is a common joke somewhere in the US, maybe Midwest, or East, or wherever it has to be explained by that manner.
:::::The link to [http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/old90/304.html rec.humor.funny] isn't a helpful explain because there is NO penis at this entire page.
:::::I'm only calling for a better explain!
:::::--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:19, 4 June 2014 (UTC)
::::::The cited joke is an obvious pun on penis, without which the joke is dead. The comic is an obvious reversal of the obvious pun. There is ample provided context. If you can't provide concrete evidence/sources to refute the concrete source cited in the explanation, don't keep marking it as incomplete on the grounds that you don't get it. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:22, 4 June 2014 (UTC)
:::::::I was calling for a better explain. Done now by me and I still do not claim it's perfect. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:17, 4 June 2014 (UTC)
::::::::So my NON PERFECT edit is removed by admin David. But please understand that the "In the original..." statement implies that the page on "rec.humor.funny" is the original. There is still no explain to the origin of this original penis joke for non native English speakers. Even Goooogle isn't helpful. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:34, 5 June 2014 (UTC)
:::::::::The explanation already provides a source for the joke, an explanation and guides the punchline for the slow. Your version of the explanation introduced six grammatical errors and omits context for the joke that the comic is derived from. Googling "Pianist penis genie joke" returns a pagefull of relevant results, including two Q/A sites where people ask for it to be explained, a Reddit thread where the original joke is discussed in great detail and the xkcd forum page for the comic where people repeatedly refer to the cited joke as the basis of the comic. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:48, 5 June 2014 (UTC)
::::::::::Throwing in the towel. I was trying to get a better explain for non native English speakers. I accept this knock out. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:45, 5 June 2014 (UTC)

I find it interesting that for at least two of the Penis related comics there has been a very long discussion with Dgbrt before he could accept (or accept his defeat here on these pages) that Randall (as he actually often does) makes these kind of juvenile penis jokes (or your mother etc.) The other one I have seen is [[450: The Sea]] [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:50, 7 July 2014 (UTC)
:I always thought the joke was supposed to be that the asked for a miniature pianist, and Megan's response was sarcasm.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.217.89|108.162.217.89]] 02:18, 26 March 2015 (UTC)

;MY HOBBY

It reads"[[:Category:My_Hobby|my hobby]] is ..." should it be included in the series? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.148|108.162.218.148]] 01:43, 28 August 2015 (UTC)
:There is some discussion on this point near the top of the discussion section. It seems to have been agreed that the comic doesn't fit the normal style of the typical 'My Hobby' comics, and therefore wasn't really appropriate to be in that category. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 07:49, 28 August 2015 (UTC)

Has anyone looked into what a miniature grand piano might actually sound like? I think that would be quite fascinating.
[[User:Heleatunda|Heleatunda]] ([[User talk:Heleatunda|talk]]) 22:24, 19 November 2021 (UTC)

:The strings would be too short. But what if it's electric? [[User:Memo Spike Connector|2503: Memo Spike Connector]] ([[User talk:Memo Spike Connector|talk]]) 09:03, 12 April 2023 (UTC)

This is probably also related to the giant piano in Brobdingnag. [[User:Memo Spike Connector|2503: Memo Spike Connector]] ([[User talk:Memo Spike Connector|talk]]) 09:03, 12 April 2023 (UTC)

532: Piano

2023-04-12T09:00:57Z

Memo Spike Connector:

{{comic
| number = 532
| date = January 19, 2009
| title = Piano
| image = piano.png
| titletext = Good thing he didn't make it smaller, or it'd need someone three inches tall to play it.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is the reverse of the old "twelve inch pianist" joke.

In the original joke, a man presents a miniature piano, which is played by man of proportionate size. When asked about it, he reveals that he found a bottle with a genie inside, but the genie misunderstood his wish, and gave him a 12-inch pianist.

The crux of the joke is that the word ''pianist'' sounds similar to the word ''penis''. The man considers having a larger member to be desirable (presumably due to the stereotype that it will make him more sexually appealing), but loses out on the opportunity, due to the misunderstanding.

In this comic, the opposite happens: Cueball wished for a "twelve inch ''pianist''" to play his miniature piano, but was misheard by the genie, implying that the genie instead granted him a "twelve inch ''penis''." Megan quickly grasps the implication, and therefore wants to have sex with Cueball (in accordance with the aforementioned stereotype; and also judging from the weird tone in "...are you").

The title text suggests that if Cueball had made a smaller piano – and had thus wished for a smaller ''pianist'' – he would have instead received a ''smaller penis''.

Genies (or the magic lamps containing them) are mentioned in at least five other comics:
*[[152: Hamster Ball]]
*[[879: Lamp]]
*[[1391: Darkness]]
*[[2193: Well-Ordering Principle]]
*[[2741: Wish Interpretation]]

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is holding a box with an open lid. A miniature piano is inside. Megan is looking at it]
:Cueball: My hobby is making miniatures. Check this out — it's a fully-functional grand piano.
:Megan: Whoa — beautiful.

:[Cueball looks at the miniature piano.]
:Cueball: Sadly, I've never heard what proper music sounds like on it—the keys are too small to play.

:[Cueball closes lid to the piano.]
:Cueball: I once asked a genie for someone who could play it for me, but I think he misheard.
:Megan: ...are you doing anything later?

==Trivia==
For the record, pianist /'piənɪst/ and penis /'pinɪs/ are near homophones in English. This is because pianist has a different stress pattern than piano /pi'æno/. The vagaries of the English language.

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

532: Piano

2023-04-12T08:08:07Z

Memo Spike Connector:

{{comic
| number = 532
| date = January 19, 2009
| title = Piano
| image = piano.png
| titletext = Good thing he didn't make it smaller, or it'd need someone three inches tall to play it.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is the reverse of the old "twelve inch pianist" joke].

In the original joke, a man presents a miniature piano, which is played by man of proportionate size. When asked about it, he reveals that he found a bottle with a genie inside, but the genie misunderstood his wish, and gave him a 12-inch pianist.

The crux of the joke is that the word ''pianist'' sounds similar to the word ''penis''. The man considers having a larger member to be desirable (presumably due to the stereotype that it will make him more sexually appealing), but loses out on the opportunity, due to the misunderstanding.

In this comic, the opposite happens: Cueball wished for a "twelve inch ''pianist''" to play his miniature piano, but was misheard by the genie, implying that the genie instead granted him a "twelve inch ''penis''." Megan quickly grasps the implication, and therefore wants to have sex with Cueball (in accordance with the aforementioned stereotype; and also judging from the weird tone in "...are you").

The title text suggests that if Cueball had made a smaller piano – and had thus wished for a smaller ''pianist'' – he would have instead received a ''smaller penis''.

Genies (or the magic lamps containing them) are mentioned in at least five other comics:
*[[152: Hamster Ball]]
*[[879: Lamp]]
*[[1391: Darkness]]
*[[2193: Well-Ordering Principle]]
*[[2741: Wish Interpretation]]

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is holding a box with an open lid. A miniature piano is inside. Megan is looking at it]
:Cueball: My hobby is making miniatures. Check this out — it's a fully-functional grand piano.
:Megan: Whoa — beautiful.

:[Cueball looks at the miniature piano.]
:Cueball: Sadly, I've never heard what proper music sounds like on it—the keys are too small to play.

:[Cueball closes lid to the piano.]
:Cueball: I once asked a genie for someone who could play it for me, but I think he misheard.
:Megan: ...are you doing anything later?

==Trivia==
For the record, pianist /'piənɪst/ and penis /'pinɪs/ are near homophones in English. This is because pianist has a different stress pattern than piano /pi'æno/. The vagaries of the English language.

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

Talk:2503: Memo Spike Connector

2023-04-12T08:07:02Z

Memo Spike Connector: Memo Spike Connector comments on Memo Spike Connector

2507: USV-C

2023-04-12T07:12:25Z

Memo Spike Connector: I'm not sure which UV can do this. By the way, is this a Category:Portmanteau?

{{comic
| number = 2507
| date = August 25, 2021
| title = USV-C
| image = usv_c.png
| titletext = Ultra-Serial Violet C light is unpolarized, so you don't have to flip the polarizing filter over when you get the orientation wrong the first time.
}}

==Explanation==
This is the fourth installment in the series of [[:Category:Cursed Connectors|Cursed Connectors]] and presents Cursed Connectors #280: USB-C to UV-C. It follows [[2503: Memo Spike Connector]] (#102) and was first followed just a bit more than half a year later by [[2589: Outlet Denier ]] (#78).

This comic depicts a cable that converts from USB-C (at the top of the picture) to UV-C (at the bottom).

{{w|USB-C}} is a rotationally symmetrical {{w|Universal Serial Bus}} (USB) connector. {{w|Ultraviolet#UVC|UV-C}} is a range of {{w|ultraviolet light}} with wavelengths between 100 and 280 nm. This is often used as a germicide, so this comic may also be related to the [[:Category:COVID-19|COVID-19]] pandemic. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has an [https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and-medical-devices/uv-lights-and-lamps-ultraviolet-c-radiation-disinfection-and-coronavirus infosheet] with information about these devices and COVID-19. And the connector number (280) is likely chosen because it is the boundary between UV-C and UV-B in nanometres.

Similar cables actually exist, with a USB port at one end to power a small (usually visible light) lamp at the other. A cable with a UV-C lamp could, as noted above, be useful for disinfecting surfaces or verifying banknotes {{actual citation needed}}. However, the depicted design would be problematic because it would expose the user's skin and eyes to harmful ultraviolet radiation, unless it's specifically Far-UVC (222nm, [https://www.kobe-u.ac.jp/research_at_kobe_en/NEWS/collaborations/2020_04_07_01.html safe for human skin and eyes]).

Unless there is more to the UV-C end than indicated, the cable seems not to have use in bidirectional communication (even to confirm that it is {{w|TOSLINK|plugged in}} or {{w|Infrared_Data_Association|shone upon}} some suitable optical transceiver) so in any {{w|Li-Fi|data transfer situation}} it could be a limited-range broadcast-only system at best - which has its uses in certain niche cases.

The title text mentions that the UV-C is {{w|Polarization_(waves)|unpolarized}}. This is a pun with two uses of the term polarized. When referring to a connector 'polarization', or absence of it, it means that USB-C does not force you to use a single {{w|Electrical_connector#Keying|correct orientation}} when using it, i.e. you don't have to turn it "right-side-up" like USB-A or USB-micro.

It also refers to the use of a {{w|Polarizing filter (photography)|polarizing filter}} which takes unpolarized light waves and blocks out the waves that are not oriented in the same direction. These are used in sunglasses and photography to eliminate glare and enhance the image. These filters do need to be oriented in a specific direction in order to have the desired effect of passing/blocking a given polarization, perhaps to separate two perpendicularly orientated 'channels' that need to be unmixed exactly knowing the respective orientation of the two signals (''or'' exactly 180° out, which is what USB-C effectively allows for at present).

The light could also have been {{w|Circular_polarization|circularly polarized}}, which allows 'left' and 'right' rotating polarizations to simultaneously carry separate signals, but {{w|3D_film#Polarization_systems|not require the same strict orientation}} to operate properly, at all, so long as arbitrary mirrors are not involved at any stage of the optical path. Regardless, the implication here is that there is ''no'' deliberate rationalization of the light to contend with, anyway, which seems to be just making a positive point out of a potentially lost opportunity to double any intended signal bandwidth. The name "Ultra-Serial Violet..." could be read as consciously eschewing ''all'' attempts at parallelism, including talkback.

==Transcript==
:[A cable with a curled wire displays the end of both of its connectors. The top end has a USB-C connector and the bottom end has a UV-C LED. The UV light is shown coming out of this end with a hazy blue circle around a white middle. The lamp is also bluish. Above is a title and below is a label.]
:Cursed Connectors #280
:USB-C to UV-C

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category: Comics with color]]
[[Category: Cursed Connectors]]

62: Valentine - Karnaugh

2023-04-12T06:16:42Z

Memo Spike Connector:

{{comic
| number = 62
| date = February 10, 2006
| title = Valentine - Karnaugh
| image = valentine_karnaugh.png
| titletext = Love and circuit analysis, hand in hand at last.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Please explain the title text - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

A {{w|Karnaugh map}} is a Boolean algebra tool that is used to simplify expressions. The final picture, the one that looks like a crossword puzzle, is similar to the way that a Karnaugh map is used on a Boolean truth table, to identify areas that can be simplified. [http://www.utdallas.edu/~dodge/EE2310/lec5.pdf This PDF document] shows how the process is used to simplify logic circuits. The lament of the {{w|Valentine's Day|Valentine}} is that feelings don't yield themselves to the same kind of analysis.

This comic has four pictures with lines of text alongside them. The text can be used to understand the picture. The first three pictures show love to become more coherent and well-defined but yet complicated. The last picture and text alongside it show [[Cueball]]'s desire that there should be a way to simplify complications in love, just like Karnaugh maps for Boolean expressions.

The first line means that love is such an overwhelming feeling that it is hard to understand it and even harder to explain. The picture alongside has incoherent lines depicting the feelings of someone in love and hearts represents the overwhelming love.

The second picture and related text mean that the feelings are now identified to some extent but are numerous, and there are too few words to explain them. The picture depicts Cueball and [[Megan]] on separate side of his heart crisscrossed by many feelings. It shows that his inability to explain his feelings is like a barrier between them.

The third picture shows that Cueball has a much better understanding of love and now sees it as a matrix of desires and tangled relations, but it is still very complex to fully understand love.

The fourth picture shows a Karnaugh map that Cueball wishes he could find in the future to solve the matrix of desires and tangled relations that is love.

==Transcript==
:{{incomplete transcript|transcribe the heart design more precisely}}
:[Squiggly heart design.]
:You make me feel so much
:it all runs together
:I wish I could tell you
:[Crisscrossing heart design. Cueball and Megan on opposite sides of big heart.]
:So few words
:for so many feelings
:crisscrossing my heart
:[Heart matrix design.]
:A matrix of desire
:Tangled relations
:I can't simplify
:[Karnaugh map of hearts.]
:I wish I could find
:the Karnaugh map
:for love.

==Trivia==
* Since at least 2021-04-16 this comics on xkcd.com appears rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise. Apparently, this is due to change to the image itself (and not, for example, because of HTML on comics' page).

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Valentines]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

62: Valentine - Karnaugh

2023-04-12T06:14:36Z

Memo Spike Connector: I was looking through recent changes

{{comic
| number = 62
| date = February 10, 2006
| title = Valentine - Karnaugh
| image = valentine_karnaugh.png
| titletext = Love and circuit analysis, hand in hand at last.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Title text - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

A {{w|Karnaugh map}} is a Boolean algebra tool that is used to simplify expressions. The final picture, the one that looks like a crossword puzzle, is similar to the way that a Karnaugh map is used on a Boolean truth table, to identify areas that can be simplified. [http://www.utdallas.edu/~dodge/EE2310/lec5.pdf This PDF document] shows how the process is used to simplify logic circuits. The lament of the {{w|Valentine's Day|Valentine}} is that feelings don't yield themselves to the same kind of analysis.

This comic has four pictures with lines of text alongside them. The text can be used to understand the picture. The first three pictures show love to become more coherent and well-defined but yet complicated. The last picture and text alongside it show [[Cueball]]'s desire that there should be a way to simplify complications in love, just like Karnaugh maps for Boolean expressions.

The first line means that love is such an overwhelming feeling that it is hard to understand it and even harder to explain. The picture alongside has incoherent lines depicting the feelings of someone in love and hearts represents the overwhelming love.

The second picture and related text mean that the feelings are now identified to some extent but are numerous, and there are too few words to explain them. The picture depicts Cueball and [[Megan]] on separate side of his heart crisscrossed by many feelings. It shows that his inability to explain his feelings is like a barrier between them.

The third picture shows that Cueball has a much better understanding of love and now sees it as a matrix of desires and tangled relations, but it is still very complex to fully understand love.

The fourth picture shows a Karnaugh map that Cueball wishes he could find in the future to solve the matrix of desires and tangled relations that is love.

==Transcript==
:[Squiggly heart design.]
:You make me feel so much
:it all runs together
:I wish I could tell you
:[Crisscrossing heart design. Cueball and Megan on opposite sides of big heart.]
:So few words
:for so many feelings
:crisscrossing my heart
:[Heart matrix design.]
:A matrix of desire
:Tangled relations
:I can't simplify
:[Karnaugh map of hearts.]
:I wish I could find
:the Karnaugh map
:for love.

==Trivia==
* Since at least 2021-04-16 this comics on xkcd.com appears rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise. Apparently, this is due to change to the image itself (and not, for example, because of HTML on comics' page).

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Valentines]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

User talk:Unreliable Connection

2023-04-12T06:12:43Z

Memo Spike Connector: /* Birthday */ new section