explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:832: Tic-Tac-Toe

2016-04-06T13:35:31Z

Mynotoar: /* Could someone please explain how to read the comic? */ new section

This is all wrong. The second move for X, unless O blocked it already, or started off in the centre should be the lower right corner. That way, O will use the centre to block, and then X goes in a third corner, thus sealing the game.[[Special:Contributions/76.29.225.28|76.29.225.28]] 04:59, 23 July 2013 (UTC)
:Can you tell which situation you mean? If X starts at 7 and O does not go to 5, then X forces a win with the described tactic. There might be other ways to win, but I don't think that matters. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 09:11, 23 July 2013 (UTC)
::Playing as X, you start in the upper left corner. O plays in any square other than the lower right corner (They ''might'' be able to block if they play the centre, depending on whether they anticipate this move). Then, when O blocks the centre, you play the upper right or lower left corner, depending on where O has played before, thus making it impossible to block because they only get one move. The only time this ''ever'' fails is when O knows what X is doing after the ''first'' move.[[Special:Contributions/76.29.225.28|76.29.225.28]] 19:57, 23 July 2013 (UTC)
:::If it goes X7, O5, X3, then O must play anywhere but in a corner next (result is symmetric) X has to block and O can hold a draw. Just see the ''Map for O'' part. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 21:40, 23 July 2013 (UTC)
::::I don't know the numbers for the squares. There are only nine of them. Could we just refer to them by their positions relative to the rest of the board?[[Special:Contributions/76.29.225.28|76.29.225.28]] 21:44, 23 July 2013 (UTC)

There is an error in the drawing when starting with (numpad coordinates) X7, O9, X1, O4, X3: Both O5 and O6 have the same picture. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 09:11, 23 July 2013 (UTC)
:There is also an error in X7-O1-X9-O8-X3, in which O2 and O5 have the same picture. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.63|108.162.216.63]] 02:46, 7 January 2016 (UTC) (And yes, I am reviving a thread from three years ago. Happy 2016.)

'''Tic-Tac-Toe''' is just a stupid simple game, Randall jokes about '''that'''. As the title text says "...waiting for your opponent to make a mistake". And the picture is just a part of this joke.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:04, 23 July 2013 (UTC)

I just don't want to analyze both maps, but I had a college assignment that made me look into Tic Tac Toe strategy, and I think that the explanation should start with "Each map shows every possible combination of moves which will result in that side not losing.". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.206|108.162.212.206]] 23:40, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

The quote from War Games is "The only way to win is not to play", and it refers to the game Global Thermonuclear War, not Tic-Tac-Toe (although that was played earlier in the movie). I don't think the title text was based on this quote, but is only coincidentally similar. {{unsigned ip|108.162.249.215}}

: With all due respect, I think the probability that the title text does not reference the movie War Games is so low as to be effectively zero. BTW the whole premise of the resolution of the movie (spoiler alert) is that by playing Tic-Tac-Toe the AI learns the futility of unwinnable 'games'. It then applies this learning to the very real scenarios of global thermonuclear war and, realising the futility, stops. [[User:Plm-qaz snr|Plm-qaz snr]] ([[User talk:Plm-qaz snr|talk]]) 08:20, 16 August 2014 (UTC)

:: I think both of you are right in some way, so I fix the text that it do refer to the movie {{w|WarGames}} but to the AI's opinion on the nuclear warfare "game" after learn the concept of unwinnable through Tic-Tac-Toe. [[User:Arifsaha|Arifsaha]] ([[User talk:Arifsaha|talk]]) 15:58, 12 September 2014 (UTC)
::: Watch it played out in real life on here: http://weather.gc.ca/ensemble/naefs/cartes_e.html. Results show up on here: http://www.seismo.ethz.ch/eq/latest/index_EN?list=w

Explanation:

Use Pressure at Sea Level mode. Three in a line is a large earthquake. Three in a line repeated is a VEI eruption score. Lows score on the front (90 degrees either side of Mississippi) ((US)). Highs on the back Commies and dark skinned people (THEM.)

[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 21:13, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

Those diagrams don't depict '''every possible''' situation (e.g. "X2, O8" is missing) {{unsigned ip|162.158.90.222}}

== Could someone please explain how to read the comic? ==

I feel like I should get it, but I don't know how you're supposed to read this, and the explanation doesn't help. Like, if you want to put down an X somewhere, what do you look at to see what happens in that situation? [[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 13:35, 6 April 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1347: t Distribution

2014-03-26T17:57:39Z

Mynotoar:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student%27s_t-test

[[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.73|173.245.50.73]] 05:20, 26 March 2014 (UTC)Adam

I think this is a comment of the quality of education today - it is difficult to grade students on a distribution curve and even more so when you take into account the distribution curve of the teachers ability. {{unsigned ip|108.162.249.205}}

I noticed the teacher's curve is symmetrical, and after further inspection it could be interpreted as an edge detection: high values show where an edge occurs. The two highest peaks would nicely align with the edges of the paper, the next highest peaks fit the edges of the table, and the rest could be approximation artefacts, as they're equidistant and rather insignificant compared to those four. I'm not statistics pro, but maybe that rings someone's bells? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.239|108.162.210.239]] 07:56, 26 March 2014 (UTC)

:Interesting observation. It may play into an age-long legend told and re-told among the students that some teachers grade papers by tossing the whole pile in the air; those sheets that land on the teacher's desk get a pass, those falling to the floor get a fail. Sometimes the story gets modified in such a way that papers falling on the teacher's book (or other object) laying on the desk will get a higher marking than those simply hitting the desk. The latter version would explain the higher sheet-size-apart peaks. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.111|108.162.210.111]] 08:57, 26 March 2014 (UTC)

To be more explicit, I think the sheet of paper represents some data. Cueball is not happy with the results of applying Student's t test, so ze is trying more complex tools in the hope of getting significance. -- TimMc / [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.27|173.245.52.27]] 11:51, 26 March 2014 (UTC)

:I would upvote this comment if allowed. As an aside, there are some teachers who think a class' grades will always fall into a nice t Distribution (thus the expression "grading on a curve") and others who vehemently hate the notion. Source: my 3-year stint as a math teacher in an urban high school. [[User:Smperron|Smperron]] ([[User talk:Smperron|talk]]) 14:06, 26 March 2014 (UTC)

Man, normally these explanations clear the comic right up for me, but I've read this one thrice now and I still can't figure out what a t-distribution is, much less a joke based on one. The only definition being a Wikipedia quote written in legalese doesn't help. So a t-distribution estimates...the probability of a population's average when there's unknown information?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.48|108.162.216.48]] 12:17, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
:The unknown information is the sample size (class size, for example) and standard distribution (by how much, on average, is something going to vary from the mean). The unknown information is not "in the data".[[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 12:28, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
:Basically, if you have an underlying process that would produce samples with a Gaussian distribution with mean of 0, and stddev of 1, and then you pull a finite number of samples out of it, and do the usual "average" operation on those samples (i.e. sum them and divide by the number of samples) you would expect that that computed average would be close to zero. But it might not be! By chance the samples you pulled might mostly have been from the far right or left side of distribution and the average you got would be way off. Student's T distribution (for a certain number of samples, n) is basically "given that the underlying process a Gaussian with mean zero and stddev of 1, if I repeatedly take n samples from that distribution and compute the average of those samples to get an "estimated mean", this is how I expect that estimated mean to be distributed". Naturally, this is important in questions like "I took 100 samples and got an average of 0.02 -- does this mean that it is sensible to think that the mean of the underlying distribution is actually zero?"
: Of course, most of the joke is that the distribution is named "Student's", which is not strongly dependent on the nature of the statistics. [[User:Vyzen|Vyzen]] ([[User talk:Vyzen|talk]]) 12:42, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
::Okay, it's pretty clear to me now what the Student's t distribution is. I'm still not sure about the punchline though, how does the "Teacher's" t distribution come into play? Does the uneven distribution represent any phenomena in the academic world? Like, as suggested above, is this a joke about grading? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.137|173.245.53.137]] 15:05, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
The teacher's t-distribution looks like multiple spikier curves with different centres added together
and it doesn't fit the table. [[User:Wwt|Wwt]] ([[User talk:Wwt|talk]]) 13:17, 26 March 2014 (UTC)

I took from it that the Students Distribution was too perfect, and real data would rarely yield those idealized results in a small sample size. That the teacher's distribution used actual numbers, with the occasional spikes. I took from the title text, the tendency of students, or anyone with pre-conceived notions, to keep redoing the test until they get the results they expect, in this case, the textbook result. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.71|173.245.55.71]] 13:25, 26 March 2014 (UTC)

Any thoughts on the piece of paper he's trying to pull out from beneath the Students' T-distribution? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.66|108.162.219.66]] 14:10, 26 March 2014 (UTC)

:I don't think he he trying to pull the paper from out beneath the t-distribution. I think he is placing the distribution on top of the paper to see if the data on the paper matches the distribution. In panel 2, he looks at the paper and decides that, no, it doesn't, so then opts to use another distribution - the Teacher's t-distribution and see if that works. The comic may be hinting that the t-distribution in grading, etc (since students and teachers are explicitly listed) is flawed. --[[User:Dangerkeith3000|Dangerkeith3000]] ([[User talk:Dangerkeith3000|talk]]) 15:10, 26 March 2014 (UTC)

I may be over-simplifying it, but the 'Teachers' T looks like a reference to the 'double-hump programmer' idea, converted into a T-distribution. The other ideas cover the general principle, but this looks like a specific example as well. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.48|108.162.221.48]] 15:47, 26 March 2014 (UTC)

I don't think the explanation really explains what a T-distribution is at all. I know it's googleable, but the point of an explanation is you shouldn't have to look it up afterwards. I don't like how lately all of the scientific/maths comics seem to be given explanations laden with technical terms that don't actually clarify anything. --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 17:57, 26 March 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1341: Types of Editors

2014-03-12T18:15:44Z

Mynotoar:

Title text and last frame are a reference to the book [http://machineofdeath.net/ "Machine of Death"], a collection of short stories in which a machine can tell a person a word, that is in some way related to how they will die. {{unsigned ip|173.245.53.198}}

Incidentally, Munroe himself wrote a story in that anthology. Apparently, it was titled "?" Has anyone read it?[[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.108|199.27.128.108]] 08:14, 12 March 2014 (UTC)

SPOILER ALERT In the machine of death story from Randal the protagonist struggles with the fact the machine can predict death, it does not fit his world picture. He decides the only way to win is not to play so he never reads his slip of paper and goes to work starting fires to form an huge question mark. In the end he decides to stay in one place to ether die there from hunger and thirst or any other way. He hopes the slip of paper says "murder" instead of anything else as in the machine murdered him. /SPOILER ALERT
{{unsigned ip|62.177.168.231}}

There are also {{w|WYSIWYM}} editors: "what you see is what you mean", where editor marks the content according to its meaning (e.g. section title), but not necessarily exactly as it would appear in presentation. The main advantage of this system is the total separation of presentation and content. Examples include LyX, FrameMaker, WYMeditor, CodeMirror. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 08:44, 12 March 2014 (UTC)

And let's not forget WYGIWYG (wiggywig), "What you get is what you get" A joking reference to the imperfection of certain well-known word processors. At this moment, someone out there is writing a machineofdeath-mode for Emacs. [[User:Jim E|Jim E]] ([[User talk:Jim E|talk]]) 16:07, 12 March 2014 (UTC)

Anyone know that "horse" reference? It sounds familiar but I can't place it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.9|108.162.216.9]] 16:34, 12 March 2014 (UTC)

What about Death Note? Sounds a bit like WYSIHYD is a nerfed version of the Death Note. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.8|108.162.215.8]] 17:12, 12 March 2014 (UTC)
:It's just a correlation. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.64|108.162.237.64]] 17:16, 12 March 2014 (UTC)

I think this needs an incomplete flag. It doesn't make a clear distinction between the comic and the real-world context, and the latter isn't sufficiently explained. --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 18:15, 12 March 2014 (UTC)

1332: Slippery Slope

2014-02-19T16:38:46Z

Mynotoar: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1332
| date = February 19, 2014
| title = Slippery Slope
| image = slippery_slope.png
| titletext = Sure, taking a few seconds to be respectful toward someone about something they care about doesn't sound hard. But if you talk to hundreds of people every day and they all start expecting that same consideration, it could potentially add up to MINUTES wasted. And for WHAT?
}}

==Explanation==
The "{{w|Slippery slope}}" fallacy hinges on the idea that if A happens, then B will follow as a minor but expected consequence. B will lead on to C, C leads onto D, and so on. Each consequence gets progressively worse until you reach Z, presumably an extremely undesirable situation. A slippery slope fallacy intends to argue that A should not be allowed, because if it does then this chain of consequences will lead to Z, the extremely undesirable event. For example, one might argue that cannabis should be downgraded to a Class C drug. Someone trying to invoke a slippery slope argument, meanwhile, may argue that relaxing the drug classification will lead to people becoming less cautious around drugs, which will lead to people using more drugs, which will lead to increased health problems, which will place a greater strain on the country's health services, etc. The arguer would then claim that with this imagined chain of consequences as a plausible outcome, it would be a bad idea to relax the cannabis classification.

This kind of reasoning is bad because it distracts from the issue being discussed and changes the topic to extreme event which may not happen because of other factors. In the comic, White Hat Guy uses a slippery slope argument to justify being inconsiderate to people (which is an unusual context for this fallacy). He argues that if he expends minor effort being considerate to people, an expected consequence of this is that he will be considerate to everyone he meets, which - he wishes to argue - is an extremely undesirable consequence. Thus he justifies being inconsiderate as avoiding the slippery slope. This idea is extended in the title text, where he continues extrapolating the train of thought to come to the conclusion that minutes of time would be "wasted" - he seems not to factor in the potential positive effects of being considerate of other people.

==Transcript==
:[White Hat talking to Cueball.]
:White Hat: Yeah, but if I'm considerate toward one person about one thing, what's next?
:White Hat: Being nice to ''other'' people about ''other'' things?
:White Hat: Where does it ''end?''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Logic]]

1332: Slippery Slope

2014-02-19T13:49:40Z

Mynotoar: Explained slippery slope in fallacy in more detail

{{comic
| number = 1332
| date = February 19, 2014
| title = Slippery Slope
| image = slippery_slope.png
| titletext = Sure, taking a few seconds to be respectful toward someone about something they care about doesn't sound hard. But if you talk to hundreds of people every day and they all start expecting that same consideration, it could potentially add up to MINUTES wasted. And for WHAT?
}}

==Explanation==
The "{{w|Slippery slope}}" fallacy hinges on the idea that if A happens, then B will follow as a minor but expected consequence. B will lead on to C, C leads onto D, and so on. Each consequence gets progressively worse until you reach Z, presumably an extremely undesirable situation. A slippery slope fallacy intends to argue that A should not be allowed, because if it does then this chain of consequences will lead to Z, the extremely undesirable event. For example, one might argue that cannabis should be downgraded to a Class C drug. Someone trying to invoke a slippery slope argument, meanwhile, may argue that relaxing the drug classification will lead to people becoming less cautious around drugs, which will lead to people using more drugs, which will lead to increased health problems, which will place a greater strain on the country's health services, etc. The fallacist would then argue that with this imagined chain of consequences in mind, it would be a bad idea to relax the cannabis classification.

This kind of reasoning is bad because it distracts from the issue being discussed and changes the topic to extreme event which may not happen because of other factors. In the comic, White Hat Guy uses a slippery slope argument to justify being inconsiderate to people (which is an unusual context for this fallacy). He argues that if he expends minor effort being considerate to people, an expected consequence of this is that he will be considerate to everyone he meets, which - he wishes to argue - is an extremely undesirable consequence. Thus he justifies being inconsiderate as avoiding the slippery slope. This is extended in the mouse-over, where he continues extrapolating the train of thought to come to the conclusion that minutes of time would be "wasted" - he seems not to factor in the potential positive effects of being considerate of other people.

==Transcript==
:[White Hat talking to Cueball.]
:White Hat: Yeah, but if I'm considerate toward one person about one thing, what's next?
:White Hat: Being nice to ''other'' people about ''other'' things?
:White Hat: Where does it ''end?''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Logic]]

Talk:919: Tween Bromance

2014-02-09T08:59:54Z

Mynotoar:

Language elitist. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:26, 9 March 2013 (UTC)

I think this needs an incomplete flag: the explanation needs more contextual detail, about colloquial portmanteaus like 'frenemy' and the common disapproval of 'words' like 'irregardless'. --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 08:59, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1319: Automation

2014-01-20T07:12:13Z

Mynotoar: Created page with "Why is this administrator protected? Did an admin lock it just to make sure they'd be the first person to explain it? --~~~~"

Why is this administrator protected? Did an admin lock it just to make sure they'd be the first person to explain it? --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 07:12, 20 January 2014 (UTC)

Talk:559: No Pun Intended

2014-01-10T23:13:06Z

Mynotoar:

To be fair, internalising anything from a girlfriend... or a girlfriend internalising anything from a boyfriend.... could have some implications. Which wasn't intended here I'm sure. [[Special:Contributions/122.148.216.22|122.148.216.22]] 08:21, 14 March 2013 (UTC)
:Perhaps, but that's not a pun. That's a double entendre in the strictest sense. Anonymous 05:29, 4 December 2013 (UTC)

This needs an incomplete flag. --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 22:31, 10 January 2014 (UTC)
:So, just give us a reason. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:55, 10 January 2014 (UTC)
::Sorry, the title text needs explanation, and I think it needs more detail, especially as it doesn't really explain the punchline. --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 23:13, 10 January 2014 (UTC)

Talk:559: No Pun Intended

2014-01-10T23:12:52Z

Mynotoar:

Talk:559: No Pun Intended

2014-01-10T22:31:27Z

Mynotoar:

Talk:457: Frustration

2014-01-03T23:54:18Z

Mynotoar:

...or "I can do '''it''' in under a minute" is taken as a euphamism for speedy performance ''after'' the bra puzzle is solved (or ignored). Which doesn't always impress a partner. I've heard. --[[Special:Contributions/178.107.249.215|178.107.249.215]] 22:20, 13 June 2013 (UTC)

The previous description ended with:

:The second person replies that they've noticed, perhaps sarcastically suggesting that the first person is far more interested in solving a Rubik's cube than actually removing the bra and... everything that follows.

While a subtle perspective, it glosses over the obvious joke about the Rubik's solver's speedy performance in the sack. --[[User:MisterSpike|MisterSpike]] ([[User talk:MisterSpike|talk]]) 18:39, 26 June 2013 (UTC)

I think this analysis is off. I think is should not be interpreted as an actual bra with a cube fastener, but rather comparing the difficulty of removing a bra with solving a cube. He says he can get it but opens himself up to the obvious joke by so proclaiming. -anon{{unsigned ip|24.142.134.100}}

I think it might actually be comparing the complications of sex and romance to the complication of a rubiks cube. {{unsigned ip|173.22.5.38}}

Maybe I'm reading too far into it, but I interpreted the title text as a remark on the fact that the first speaker is so good at solving rubik's cubes that s/he doesn't focus on much else. Their partner picks up on this: "Yes, I've noticed" is a subtle remark implying that the person should focus a little more on sex than solving a rubik's cube. --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 23:54, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1312: Haskell

2014-01-03T11:22:53Z

Mynotoar:

"Thus, it is possible to have a variable representing the entire infinite list of Fibonacci numbers."
Except that Haskell has no variables- nothing is mutable, as they say. You could certainly write a function that generates an infinite list of Fibonacci numbers when called (and lazily evaluated later), but it won't be bound to a variable. If it was, then the list would take up an infinite amount of memory, and lazy evaluation would be pointless.

I will, however, leave the above word "variable" in the explanation, because I can't come up with a concise way of explaining the above.
--[[User:Someone Else 37|Someone Else 37]] ([[User talk:Someone Else 37|talk]]) 09:07, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

Does anyone have a clue what the Incomplete flag refers to? This seems like a pretty good explanation to me. --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 11:22, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1306: Sigil Cycle

2013-12-26T22:33:53Z

Mynotoar:

Shouldn't it be QBASIC$ (or QBASIC%), since in Basic the sigil is attached to the end of variable names? --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.108|173.245.53.108]] 13:19, 20 December 2013 (UTC)

Could not find where categories can be added, here's a list of suitable categories: Charts, Computers, Comics presenting a compromise Internet, Programming [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.180|173.245.53.180]] 13:32, 20 December 2013 (UTC)

This comic de-emphasizes the value of sigils. It's very ironic that Randall chose C++, a language with symbols, to exemplify plain words. And C is a reason for not naming technologies after letters. Same with X. You have to search for "C programming language" or "X window system." It's very helpful to distinguish things with unique sigils, especially in this current age where we depend on full-text search. Just look at my login ID, tbc. I have been tbc on the Internet since 1981. But I eventually had to go by tbc0 (e.g. on Twitter) because tbc isn't unique enough. Google was named after 10^100 (an incomprehensibly large number reflecting their ambition). But that number is spelled googol. They own their spelling. Brilliant. Consider examples: iMac, iPhone iPad, Yahoo (a little weak), Facebook (they own that word). It's all about branding. Google Kleenex or Xerox and you'll see that they're excellent sigils. The problem is, those terms have become generic. Their brand is a little weaker for it. Finally, on Twitter, @and # unleash powerful features. — [[User:Tbc|tbc]] ([[User talk:Tbc|talk]]) 15:01, 20 December 2013 (UTC)
:C++ uses symbols, but it doesn't use one to denote that an identifier is a variable (like PHP) or the type of an identifier (like early BASIC, Perl, and arguably Twitter). And when I search for X, it's either X11 (the protocol) or Xorg (the widely used server implementation). And [[wikipedia:Barney_Google_and_Snuffy_Smith|Barney Google]] had it first. --[[User:Tepples|Tepples]] ([[User talk:Tepples|talk]]) 15:55, 20 December 2013 (UTC)

Any way we can expand on the history of programming (if applicable)? Did these languages become popular in a certain order, or were they developed as a response to one another? Or is this comic simply Randall's journey through programming, not specifically tied to the popularity (or development) of certain coding languages? -- [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.227|108.162.216.227]]

The google mentioning isn't explained well enough imo. Instead if just saying "they have a service called google plus", it should be told how the + sign is used throughout the service, like every other instance in the article. I may do the edit myself, but it's not likely. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.237|141.101.98.237]] 15:26, 20 December 2013 (UTC)

"Ironically, it is the name if the language itself that includes symbols."

It's not very ironic. Variable names don't include symbols, but commands do. This statement should be rewritten.

int c = 0;

c++;

c += 1;

c = c + 1; {{unsigned ip|173.245.52.215}}

:I find it ironic that "C++" in a statement would be interpretted as "C" and only ''post''-incremented (i.e. only incremented when ''next'' referenced). Meaning "C++" is effectively the same as "C", in its own context. They should have named it "++C", if they wanted to indicate that it was ''itself'' improved upon the original value of C. ;) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.229|141.101.99.229]] 16:37, 20 December 2013 (UTC)

::This is an incorrect interpretation of the statement c++. c++ as a standalone statement, on a line by itself, will result in c being exactly one greater than before the statement (the value stored in that memory location will indeed be one greater); using prefix or postfix ++ in this context is functionally equivalent and most people just prefer using the postfix version. Where the distinction between the prefix and postfix versions come into play is in more complex statements where the operator's return value is not ignored. For example,

::int c = 1;
::int x = c++;

::x will be initialized to 1 because the postfix ++ operator returns the value of c before it was incremented, but the value stored in c will be 2 regardless of further reference. If, instead you initialized x using the prefix version, ++c, x would be 2 because the prefix version of ++ returns the incremented result. (Side note: it's often considered bad practice to rely on the return value of the increment and decrement operators.) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.227|108.162.219.227]] 20:58, 20 December 2013 (UTC)
:::No, I stand by what I say. I actually agree with your code, but freely parsing "I will use C++ for this project", as a phrase (at least the first time you utter it) might so easily be a statement that gives a direct result equal to "I will use C for this project". (It helps to have just the right geeky sense of humour, of course.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.229|141.101.99.229]] 21:56, 20 December 2013 (UTC)
::::Oh, I assure you, I am quite geeky. I could, for instance, argue that you're mixing the grammars of English and C++, a natural language and context sensitive language. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.227|108.162.219.227]] 22:21, 20 December 2013 (UTC)

:::::Personally, I see no problem. When you start programming in C++, you are writing code which is effectively C. Only when you program in C++ longer time, the code will improve. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:13, 21 December 2013 (UTC)

::::Wrong, as "I will use C++" actually does mean "I will use C++", because the moment you finished uttering it (command break), C indeed becomes one point greater ;) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.222.43|108.162.222.43]] 06:29, 24 December 2013 (UTC)

:::::Regarding the name of the language, Bjarne Stroustrup himself [http://www.stroustrup.com/bs_faq.html#name has said], "Connoisseurs of C semantics find C++ inferior to ++C." [[User:Elsbree|Elsbree]] ([[User talk:Elsbree|talk]]) 07:03, 26 December 2013 (UTC)

:It's still not ironic that the name includes symbols. I removed the word 'ironically', it doesn't make sense.

Extending the first comment above: Since the strip is known for being rather technically strict, it's odd that it says "word ... will START with", yet QBASIC variables END with symbols, and Google+ ENDS with a symbol.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.216|108.162.216.216]] 18:11, 20 December 2013 (UTC)

: That's not a problem with Google, because the ''sigil'' comes at the beginning there. But it's a problem with QBASIC, all right. —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 05:01, 21 December 2013 (UTC)

Although C++ doesn't force you to use sigils, by convention programmers would still use sigils. Conventionally, variable names were named nCount, or fCost. The first character in the variable name indicated the data type. This convention was extended by Visual C++, and it started naming interfaces starting with I. Eventually, this convention fell by the wayside because IDEs started getting smarter and you would get code complete and some sort of information via a tooltip that eliminated the need for the Sigil --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.24|173.245.56.24]] 18:16, 20 December 2013 (UTC)
::{{w|Hungarian Notation}} (and similar schemes) aren't "sigils" (according to [[wikt:sigil|wiktionary]], a sigil in this context is non-alphanumeric, and the comic would seem to imply this also). --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.186|108.162.219.186]] 22:45, 20 December 2013 (UTC).

I think this explanation could do with some better explanation of the programming concepts it describes. Not every xkcd reader will be familiar with programming languages. --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 21:20, 20 December 2013 (UTC)
: I've expanded the introduction for now to more fully explain programming languages and variables - it wasn't very clear to non-programmers - but I think the rest could use some work too. --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 18:29, 21 December 2013 (UTC)

If "C++" "started" with a symbol, then I would agree that it is ironic that it appears in the graph in the position that it does. Since it does not, however, I must dispute your use of the word "ironic". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.117|108.162.238.117]] 03:14, 21 December 2013 (UTC)

How could 'see plus plus' be pronounced any other way? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.239|141.101.98.239]] 11:15, 23 December 2013 (UTC)
: 'see add add'? --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 22:33, 26 December 2013 (UTC)

Talk:1079: United Shapes

2013-12-26T22:32:18Z

Mynotoar: Not satisfied with explanation

Hooray, another comic that only Americans will get. Randall, some of us live in *other* parts of the world. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:47, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

Wait, so an American artist with a mostly-American audience is supposed to limit himself to cartoons that everyone can understand? And people say AMERICANS are the arrogant ones. [[Special:Contributions/71.229.88.206|71.229.88.206]] 07:59, 24 March 2013 (UTC)

Could someone please explain the stereotypes? I'm American and I don't really see any jokes. As far as I can tell, he just picked images that fit in each state. {{unsigned|71.229.88.206|07:59, 24 March 2013}}

We still have to fix this thumbnail issue. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:47, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

For the most part I don't think the shapes have anything to do with the states other than what happens to fit. The Louisiana "boot" and Michigan "glove" are commonly used to describe those states shapes.{{unsigned ip|65.117.250.78}}

People in Michigan actually say things like "I live in the thumb"
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.199|108.162.219.199]] 05:18, 12 December 2013 (UTC)

I'm not sure how this really constitutes an explanation. The current text seems to amount to "Yeah this comic is all perfectly clear and logical everyone gets all the references alright I gotta go have fun now!" I think this needs an incomplete flag, but I don't know if someone who isn't a moderator can do that? --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 22:32, 26 December 2013 (UTC)

1306: Sigil Cycle

2013-12-21T23:05:38Z

Mynotoar: I switched the order of the first two paragraphs, otherwise it reads very weirdly.

{{comic
| number = 1306
| date = December 20, 2013
| title = Sigil Cycle
| image = sigil_cycle.png
| titletext = The cycle seems to be 'we need these symbols to clarify what types of things we're referring to!' followed by 'wait, it turns out words already do that.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}

In {{w|computer programming}}, a variable is a way of storing information temporarily, for use later in the program. There are different types of variables, called {{w|Data type|data types}}, such as integers, strings, characters, and booleans, all of them holding different types of information. Integers hold whole numbers, strings hold text, and so on. Variables traditionally have names that identify their purpose, and a programmer should usually be able to infer from this variable name what type of variable it is. For example, if you want to store the name of the customer in a catalogue service, you might store the text in a string variable called "NameOfCustomer". Because it is fairly clear that names are made up of text, it is logical that this variable would be a string variable - if you didn't have any other information about it.

A {{w|Sigil (computer programming)|sigil}} in computer programming is a symbol that appears before the variable name. It is an alternative method of telling someone who is reading the program code what data type the variable is. Rather than relying on logic, then, to know that NameOfCustomer is a string, you might use a sigil "$" before the variable name, as in $NameOfCustomer, which would specify that the variable can hold text. Sigils can also specify the {{w|Scope (computer science)|scope}} of a variable, which refers to where the variable can be used in a program, and which parts of the program can access that variable. Sigils are useful in some ways because you don't have to refer to previous program code or find where the variable is declared (created) to know what data type it is. They also provide some level typing in languages that do not explicitly declare the type of the variable.

Most {{w|Programming language|programming languages}} have a different method for storing variables, although some languages may use the same variable types under different names. The following are the programming languages referenced in the comic and how they use variables.

;{{w|QBASIC}}
:Variables of type string end with the $ symbol. Other symbols are used (% for integers, ! for single-precision, # for double-precision and, in some versions of BASIC, & for long integers), however the usual QBASIC program will use only the $ symbol and not any of the others, as the default type if no symbol is used is double-precision and that's OK for most numeric uses.

;{{w|C++}}
:Pronounced "see plus plus." Variables are just words with regular letters. Ironically, it is the name of the language itself that includes symbols.

;{{w|bash (Unix shell)|bash}}
:This is not typically thought of as a full-featured programming language, but a Unix shell. However, the shell command syntax is rich enough to be able to write simple (and sometimes really complex) programs called shell-scripts. In this language, all variable dereferences start with the symbol $.

;{{w|Perl}}
:In Perl, variables of simple types, and references to items in arrays and hashes, start with $. Arrays start with @. Hashes start with %.

;{{w|Python (programming language)|Python}}
:Variables are just words with regular letters.

;{{w|Google}}
:In the beginning, Google was only a search engine. However, it now includes many things, in particular a social network called Google+ (pronounced "google plus"). Google+ accounts are referenced with a + prefix.

;{{w|Twitter}}
:Twitter account IDs are identified by the leading symbol @. When an account is "mentioned" in a tweet using @, it triggers smart behavior. For example, account owners can configure Twitter to forward tweets that mention them. This feature was not present in the early days of Twitter.

;{{w|Hashtag}}s
:In 2007 Twitter users began a convention that a # sign (whose {{w|Number sign|many names}} include the "hash") can be prepended to words to mark them as keywords. Twitter could then be searched for those words. In 2009 Twitter recognized the existence of hashtags and began hyperlinking them. Some other microblogging services followed suit. Google+ eventually added hashtag support as did Facebook.

As is noted by the comic, the use of sigils to indicate types of variables varies between programming languages, from strict enforcement in languages like Perl, to their complete absence in languages like C++ (but see {{w|Hungarian Notation}}). The comic notes that the use of sigils seems to be cyclic, especially if you count things like hashtags as extensions of the pattern.

The title text describes the two competing influences responsible for the cycle: The first impulse finds sigils useful to elucidate the type of the variable, especially when variable names are not very descriptive, while the latter impulse notes that descriptive variable names are much more useful for that purpose, especially in extensible languages where the built-in types form only a small part of the type system.

==Transcript==
:A sine wave is shown.
:Y axis: Odds that the words I type will start with some weird symbol
:X axis: Time
:Data labels: $QBASIC, C++, $BASH, @$PERL, PYTHON, +GOOGLE, @TWITTER, #HASHTAGS

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Comics presenting a compromise]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Social networking]]

Talk:1306: Sigil Cycle

2013-12-21T18:29:17Z

Mynotoar:

Shouldn't it be QBASIC$ (or QBASIC%), since in Basic the sigil is attached to the end of variable names? --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.108|173.245.53.108]] 13:19, 20 December 2013 (UTC)

Could not find where categories can be added, here's a list of suitable categories: Charts, Computers, Comics presenting a compromise Internet, Programming [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.180|173.245.53.180]] 13:32, 20 December 2013 (UTC)

This comic de-emphasizes the value of sigils. It's very ironic that Randall chose C++, a language with symbols, to exemplify plain words. And C is a reason for not naming technologies after letters. Same with X. You have to search for "C programming language" or "X window system." It's very helpful to distinguish things with unique sigils, especially in this current age where we depend on full-text search. Just look at my login ID, tbc. I have been tbc on the Internet since 1981. But I eventually had to go by tbc0 (e.g. on Twitter) because tbc isn't unique enough. Google was named after 10^100 (an incomprehensibly large number reflecting their ambition). But that number is spelled googol. They own their spelling. Brilliant. Consider examples: iMac, iPhone iPad, Yahoo (a little weak), Facebook (they own that word). It's all about branding. Google Kleenex or Xerox and you'll see that they're excellent sigils. The problem is, those terms have become generic. Their brand is a little weaker for it. Finally, on Twitter, @and # unleash powerful features. — [[User:Tbc|tbc]] ([[User talk:Tbc|talk]]) 15:01, 20 December 2013 (UTC)
:C++ uses symbols, but it doesn't use one to denote that an identifier is a variable (like PHP) or the type of an identifier (like early BASIC, Perl, and arguably Twitter). And when I search for X, it's either X11 (the protocol) or Xorg (the widely used server implementation). And [[wikipedia:Barney_Google_and_Snuffy_Smith|Barney Google]] had it first. --[[User:Tepples|Tepples]] ([[User talk:Tepples|talk]]) 15:55, 20 December 2013 (UTC)

Any way we can expand on the history of programming (if applicable)? Did these languages become popular in a certain order, or were they developed as a response to one another? Or is this comic simply Randall's journey through programming, not specifically tied to the popularity (or development) of certain coding languages? -- [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.227|108.162.216.227]]

The google mentioning isn't explained well enough imo. Instead if just saying "they have a service called google plus", it should be told how the + sign is used throughout the service, like every other instance in the article. I may do the edit myself, but it's not likely. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.237|141.101.98.237]] 15:26, 20 December 2013 (UTC)

"Ironically, it is the name if the language itself that includes symbols."

It's not very ironic. Variable names don't include symbols, but commands do. This statement should be rewritten.

int c = 0;

c++;

c += 1;

c = c + 1; {{unsigned ip|173.245.52.215}}

:I find it ironic that "C++" in a statement would be interpretted as "C" and only ''post''-incremented (i.e. only incremented when ''next'' referenced). Meaning "C++" is effectively the same as "C", in its own context. They should have named it "++C", if they wanted to indicate that it was ''itself'' improved upon the original value of C. ;) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.229|141.101.99.229]] 16:37, 20 December 2013 (UTC)

::This is an incorrect interpretation of the statement c++. c++ as a standalone statement, on a line by itself, will result in c being exactly one greater than before the statement (the value stored in that memory location will indeed be one greater); using prefix or postfix ++ in this context is functionally equivalent and most people just prefer using the postfix version. Where the distinction between the prefix and postfix versions come into play is in more complex statements where the operator's return value is not ignored. For example,

::int c = 1;
::int x = c++;

::x will be initialized to 1 because the postfix ++ operator returns the value of c before it was incremented, but the value stored in c will be 2 regardless of further reference. If, instead you initialized x using the prefix version, ++c, x would be 2 because the prefix version of ++ returns the incremented result. (Side note: it's often considered bad practice to rely on the return value of the increment and decrement operators.) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.227|108.162.219.227]] 20:58, 20 December 2013 (UTC)
:::No, I stand by what I say. I actually agree with your code, but freely parsing "I will use C++ for this project", as a phrase (at least the first time you utter it) might so easily be a statement that gives a direct result equal to "I will use C for this project". (It helps to have just the right geeky sense of humour, of course.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.229|141.101.99.229]] 21:56, 20 December 2013 (UTC)
::::Oh, I assure you, I am quite geeky. I could, for instance, argue that you're mixing the grammars of English and C++, a natural language and context sensitive language. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.227|108.162.219.227]] 22:21, 20 December 2013 (UTC)

:::::Personally, I see no problem. When you start programming in C++, you are writing code which is effectively C. Only when you program in C++ longer time, the code will improve. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:13, 21 December 2013 (UTC)

Extending the first comment above: Since the strip is known for being rather technically strict, it's odd that it says "word ... will START with", yet QBASIC variables END with symbols, and Google+ ENDS with a symbol.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.216|108.162.216.216]] 18:11, 20 December 2013 (UTC)

: That's not a problem with Google, because the ''sigil'' comes at the beginning there. But it's a problem with QBASIC, all right. —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 05:01, 21 December 2013 (UTC)

Although C++ doesn't force you to use sigils, by convention programmers would still use sigils. Conventionally, variable names were named nCount, or fCost. The first character in the variable name indicated the data type. This convention was extended by Visual C++, and it started naming interfaces starting with I. Eventually, this convention fell by the wayside because IDEs started getting smarter and you would get code complete and some sort of information via a tooltip that eliminated the need for the Sigil --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.24|173.245.56.24]] 18:16, 20 December 2013 (UTC)
::{{w|Hungarian Notation}} (and similar schemes) aren't "sigils" (according to [[wikt:sigil|wiktionary]], a sigil in this context is non-alphanumeric, and the comic would seem to imply this also). --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.186|108.162.219.186]] 22:45, 20 December 2013 (UTC).

I think this explanation could do with some better explanation of the programming concepts it describes. Not every xkcd reader will be familiar with programming languages. --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 21:20, 20 December 2013 (UTC)
: I've expanded the introduction for now to more fully explain programming languages and variables - it wasn't very clear to non-programmers - but I think the rest could use some work too. --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 18:29, 21 December 2013 (UTC)

If "C++" "started" with a symbol, then I would agree that it is ironic that it appears in the graph in the position that it does. Since it does not, however, I must dispute your use of the word "ironic". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.117|108.162.238.117]] 03:14, 21 December 2013 (UTC)

1306: Sigil Cycle

2013-12-21T18:27:53Z

Mynotoar: Edited the introduction to more fully explain programming languages and variables - explanation wasn't very clear for non-programmers.

{{comic
| number = 1306
| date = December 20, 2013
| title = Sigil Cycle
| image = sigil_cycle.png
| titletext = The cycle seems to be 'we need these symbols to clarify what types of things we're referring to!' followed by 'wait, it turns out words already do that.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}

In computer programming, a variable is a way of storing information temporarily, for use later in the program. There are different types of variables, called {{w|Data type|data types}}, such as integers, strings, characters, and booleans, all of them holding different types of information. Integers hold whole numbers, strings hold text, and so on. Variables traditionally have names that identify their purpose, and a programmer should usually be able to infer from this variable name what type of variable it is. For example, if you want to store the name of the customer in a catalogue service, you might store the text in a string variable called "NameOfCustomer". Because it is fairly clear that names are made up of text, it is logical that this variable would be a string variable - if you didn't have any other information about it. A {{w|Sigil (computer programming)|sigil}} in computer programming is a symbol that appears before the variable name. It is an alternative method of telling someone who is reading the program code what data type the variable is. Rather than relying on logic, then, to know that NameOfCustomer is a string, you might use a sigil "$" before the variable name, as in $NameOfCustomer, which would specify that the variable can hold text. Sigils can also specify the {{w|Scope (computer science)|scope}} of a variable, which refers to where the variable can be used in a program, and which parts of the program can access that variable. Sigils are useful in some ways because you don't have to refer to previous program code or find where the variable is declared (created) to know what data type it is. They also provide some level typing in languages that do not explicitly declare the type of the variable.

Most {{w|Programming language|programming languages}} have a different method for storing variables, although some languages may use the same variable types under different names. The following are the programming languages referenced in the comic and how they use variables.

;{{w|QBASIC}}
:Variables of type string end with the $ symbol. Other symbols are used (% for integers, ! for single-precision, # for double-precision and, in some versions of BASIC, & for long integers), however the usual QBASIC program will use only the $ symbol and not any of the others, as the default type if no symbol is used is double-precision and that's OK for most numeric uses.

;{{w|C++}}
:Pronounced "see plus plus." Variables are just words with regular letters. Ironically, it is the name of the language itself that includes symbols.

;{{w|bash (Unix shell)|bash}}
:This is not typically thought of as a full-featured programming language, but a Unix shell. However, the shell command syntax is rich enough to be able to write simple (and sometimes really complex) programs called shell-scripts. In this language, all variable dereferences start with the symbol $.

;{{w|Perl}}
:In Perl, variables of simple types, and references to items in arrays and hashes, start with $. Arrays start with @. Hashes start with %.

;{{w|Python (programming language)|Python}}
:Variables are just words with regular letters.

;{{w|Google}}
:In the beginning, Google was only a search engine. However, it now includes many things, in particular a social network called Google+ (pronounced "google plus"). Google+ accounts are referenced with a + prefix.

;{{w|Twitter}}
:Twitter account IDs are identified by the leading symbol @. When an account is "mentioned" in a tweet using @, it triggers smart behavior. For example, account owners can configure Twitter to forward tweets that mention them. This feature was not present in the early days of Twitter.

;{{w|Hashtag}}s
:In 2007 Twitter users began a convention that a # sign (whose {{w|Number sign|many names}} include the "hash") can be prepended to words to mark them as keywords. Twitter could then be searched for those words. In 2009 Twitter recognized the existence of hashtags and began hyperlinking them. Some other microblogging services followed suit. Google+ eventually added hashtag support as did Facebook.

As is noted by the comic, the use of sigils to indicate types of variables varies between programming languages, from strict enforcement in languages like Perl, to their complete absence in languages like C++ (but see {{w|Hungarian Notation}}). The comic notes that the use of sigils seems to be cyclic, especially if you count things like hashtags as extensions of the pattern.

The title text describes the two competing influences responsible for the cycle: The first impulse finds sigils useful to elucidate the type of the variable, especially when variable names are not very descriptive, while the latter impulse notes that descriptive variable names are much more useful for that purpose, especially in extensible languages where the built-in types form only a small part of the type system.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
*Y axis: Odds that the words I type will start with some weird symbol
*X axis: Time
*Data labels: $QBASIC, C++, $BASH, @$PERL, PYTHON, +GOOGLE, @TWITTER, #HASHTAGS
*A {{w|sinusoidal curve}} alternates between high and low, with $QBASIC starting at high, moving to C++ at low. $BASH and @$PERL are high, Python is low, and +GOOGLE, @TWITTER and #HASHTAGS are the next high.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Comics presenting a compromise]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Social networking]]

Talk:1306: Sigil Cycle

2013-12-20T21:20:47Z

Mynotoar:

Talk:1302: Year in Review

2013-12-12T07:17:51Z

Mynotoar:

"...she never saw an aurora borealis '''(or australis)'''"
Australis?
She specifically states ''northern'' lights. {{unsigned ip|141.101.81.8}}

: True, but first she says that she never say an aurora, period; so I think that we can assume that she never saw the southern lights either. —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 19:22, 11 December 2013 (UTC)

Eclipses are so predictable I suspect that the 2017 eclipse was already predicted by Chinese before christ. I mean, they executed two astrologers in 2134 BCE for failing to predict one, so I'm sure others worked hard to save themselves. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:22, 11 December 2013 (UTC)

I think the joke of the comic is that she's giving an actual review/critique of the astronomical year itself, like one would review a movie. This is in contrast to the expected summary or recap of events occuring during the year. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.217|173.245.55.217]] 13:17, 11 December 2013 (UTC)Pat

: Good point; you should add that. —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 19:22, 11 December 2013 (UTC)

Coincidence that this was released the same day as [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7jtC8vjXw8 rewind YouTube style 2013?]--[[User:Mralext20|Mralext20]] ([[User talk:Mralext20|talk]]) 16:31, 11 December 2013 (UTC)

I think that another subtler point this comic raises is the idea of how ridiculous it is to critique "the year" in the first place. The idea of Megan giving the year a grade highlights this, because why would you grade an arbitrary designation of time that has no agency or animacy in the first place? The title text pokes further fun at this by implying that the people behind the "Year in Review" have the power to cancel the solar eclipse, as if the news station suddenly not only has the power to pass judgement on an entire year, but they can also take away a freaking eclipse if they feel like it. Worth mentioning? --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 07:17, 12 December 2013 (UTC)

1299: I Don't Own a TV

2013-12-04T17:49:48Z

Mynotoar: I've simplified all except the last paragraph, and attempted to cut down on the length.

{{comic
| number = 1299
| date = December 4, 2013
| title = I Don't Own a TV
| image = i_dont_own_a_tv.png
| titletext = Theory: Smugness is proportional to the negative second derivative of TV ownership rate with respect to time.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete | needs further information}}

This comic is a [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Charts yet another] graph, describing how people who don't own a television feel, throughout several time periods. While televisions have existed since 1928, regular scheduled broadcasts of television programs did not begin until the late 1940s. So before the 1950s, it was common not to own a television and therefore most people's feelings about it would be fairly neutral. This changed as televisions became cheaper and more people started owning televisions, meaning that if someone didn't own a television, it was generally because they couldn't afford one. This might lead to someone feeling embarrassment when admitting they don't have a television. But gradually, television ownership increased until eventually, nearly every household had at least one television, and those that did not were more and more likely to do so by choice rather than due to poverty. The graph therefore peaks at around the year 2000, when many people would be proud to say that they did not own a television. Randall is suggesting that these people would feel smug because they are resisting a popular trend (owning a television,) which the rest of the public take part in. The graph tails downwards at the end, suggesting that Randall believes that people are becoming less smug. This could be because of the abundance of video content on the internet and mobile devices, especially from locations such as YouTube, Netflix and iTunes. So, according to Randall, people are returning to not owning a television simply because it's not necessary and these people therefore feel neutral towards their lack of a television.

The initial upturn from embarassment to smugness may also be a commentary on the quality of television programs over that period of time. In the 1950s and 1960s, television was a major source of news and information. People therefore discussed television programs frequently, as a major social activity. The limited number of stations and lack of recording devices meant that people tended to watch the same programs at the same time, meaning that those who had missed out on those programmes might feel socially "out of the loop".

By contrast, by 2000, many programs were criticised as poor quality or "mindless", e.g. daytime talk shows such as Jerry Springer, and reality shows. So, someone might feel more smug for not watching so-called "mindless television". Similarly, as television viewership increased from the 1950s through the 2000s, it is possible that other activities such as reading has decreased; especially given that the younger generation today don't remember a time without television. So, someone who did not own a television set might feel more smug because they take part in more "beneficial" activities like reading, exercise, and studying.

The title text "smugness is proportional to the negative second derivative of TV ownership rate with respect to time" is a quip on the fact that the graph looks approximately like the first period of a sine curve. Randall is hinting that this oscillation between smugness and embarrassment may be periodic and infinitely recurring. The text references the fact that a sine wave is proportional to its own negative second derivative. If smugness with respect to time was, indeed, a sine function, then a correct observation would have been "smugness is proportional to the negative second derivative of its own rate with respect to time". On the assumption that smugness is directly related to TV ownership rates (the less people lack a TV, the more likely it is that those without one avoid acquiring one by choice), the text, as it stands, describes the relation between smugness and TV ownership as a form of a control circuit, which converges (perhaps via oscillations) to an ultimate rate of TV ownership (at which time smugness will converge to zero). Without knowing the specifics of the direct relation between smugness and TV ownership rates, it is, however, impossible to specify the exact type of convergence, or its final outcome in terms of TV ownership rates. (Notably, it cannot be that TV ownership rates simply equal smugness, because this would have indicated that TV ownership rates occasionally become negative.)

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:

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

Talk:1299: I Don't Own a TV

2013-12-04T17:24:06Z

Mynotoar:

Annual Data for households between 1958-1970
http://www.tvhistory.tv/Annual_TV_Households_50-78.JPG

Plotted next to a fitted logarithmic function
http://imgur.com/aVWmQ9z

The negative second derivative of this function
http://imgur.com/xywpEJZ

If someone can find more data for television ownership I'd love to see it :) {{unsigned ip|‎173.245.54.12}}

Can someone explain why Randall believes smugness at not owning a television is decreasing? [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.138|199.27.128.138]] 08:31, 4 December 2013 (UTC)

Because as TVs become less relevant, people don't feel smug for not owning one. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.216|141.101.99.216]] 11:44, 4 December 2013 (UTC)

;Current explanation - logistic curve

The current explanation is total bullshit. The thing with the negative second derivative is just saying, that the more embarrased people are, the more the change of the TV ownership rate will increase, which just means, more and more people will get themselves TVs.
The other point of view is, the more smug you will look like for not owning a TV, the more the change of the TV ownership rate will decline, which means, that less and less people are buying TVs.

It has nothing to do with a logistic curve. The function, which second derivative is depicted in this comic is totally irrelevant.

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.19|108.162.231.19]] 08:34, 4 December 2013 (UTC)

I have the strong feeling he is talking about a sine wave, not a logistic function. It fits the curve in the comic as well as the condition of f"=-f.
Also, it makes way more sense for the smugness to behave like this over time as for the first 30 years TV is culturally extremely significant and you therefore would want to own one in order to participate. But with declining quality of television and the emergence of the internet you might feel as if you were extremely progressive by not owning one anymore.

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.189|108.162.254.189]] 09:25, 4 December 2013 (UTC)

Yes, it definitely could be a sine curve. (see: [http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=d%5E2%2Fdx%5E2%28sin%28x%29%29 http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=d%5E2%2Fdx%5E2%28sin%28x%29%29]). If one would neglect the beginning of the function for simplicity, this could be a solution.

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.19|108.162.231.19]] 10:07, 4 December 2013 (UTC)

We bid a tearful farewell to our friend the line break. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.216|141.101.99.216]] 11:50, 4 December 2013 (UTC)

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=sin%283*pi*x%2F100%2Bpi%2F2%29+from+1945+to+2014 [[User:Xhfz|Xhfz]] ([[User talk:Xhfz|talk]]) 12:02, 4 December 2013 (UTC)

I agree with the commenter who said that the current explanation is bullshit, but I think he has the cause and effect reversed. Randall is saying that you feel more smug about not owning a TV as a result of observing how quickly TV ownership is becoming more or less trendy. In the 1950's, TV's were catching on quickly and becoming more popular, so you would feel embarrassed for not owning one. Later, the trendiness would start to decline as more people owned one, and you would head towards being smug. In the 2000s, people are giving up TVs because the internet makes them unnecessary. As this happens more and more, there's no point in feeling smug because you're no longer bucking a trend at all. --[[User:Kazim|Kazim]] ([[User talk:Kazim|talk]]) 12:49, 4 December 2013 (UTC)

In my view the title text joke is that smugness is defined as a function of TV ownership when in reality TV ownership is a function of smugness. [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 15:18, 4 December 2013 (UTC)

Hold on, the logistic curve gives very reasonable graphs both for ownership of TVs and for the negative second derivative. TV ownership easily fits a logistic curve, as it starts at zero and has to approach some upper limit. The negative second derivative has a very similar shape to the graph in the comic. Here's Wolfram|Alpha for the negative second derivative of a generic logistic curve: <http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=-%28+d%2Fdx+d%2Fdx+%28100%2F%281%2Be%5E-%28.1x%29%29%29%29>. This would suggest that as time goes to infinity, people's feelings about TV ownership approach neutral; they do not oscillate like a sine function. This makes sense, because for the negative second derivative to be a sine function, TV ownership would have to be too, yet TV ownership is unlikely to be periodic. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.229|173.245.55.229]] 16:28, 4 December 2013 (UTC)

I have two issues with this explanation: the first is that it's too long to comfortably read, and I don't think the comic content merits such a long explanation. The other is that it reads too complexly. The point of this wiki is to make xkcd accessible for everyone, but it talks about things like sine waves, oscillation and convergence, which not all readers are going to grok. --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 17:24, 4 December 2013 (UTC)

357: Flies

2013-11-07T22:39:37Z

Mynotoar: Spelling mistake

{{comic
| number = 357
| date = December 14, 2007
| title = Flies
| image = flies.png
| titletext = I don't know about houseflies, but we definitely caught a lot of fruit flies with our vinegar bowl. Hooray science!
}}

==Explanation==
The saying "you catch more flies with honey than vinegar" means that people are more likely to be won over with persuasion than force.

When [[Cueball]]'s friend tells him this after he replies to a "{{W|noob}}" using swear words, he then says that the saying is literally false by saying that {{w|balsamic vinegar}} attracts more flies than honey. He then tells his friend to try it with his own fruit flies.

When Cueball's statement is found true (because balsamic vinegar has a higher sugar content than white vinegar or honey), his friend complains to his mother that she lied to him. He then says that another saying, "a watched pot never boils", is also literally false. That saying means that an event that is monitored with impatient attention will seem to take longer.

==Transcript==
:[Interior, Cueball types on computer, friend is lying on the floor.]
:Cueball: *$@#!
:Friend: Hey, ease up on the noobs. Like my Mom always said, you catch more flies with honey then with vinegar.
:Cueball: No, you don't.
:Friend: You don't?
:Cueball: Nope, set out a bowl of balsamic and a bowl of honey. The vinegar gets more.
:Friend: ...Seriously?
:Cueball: You have fruit flies. Try it yourself.
:[Later.]
:Friend: Mother! You ''lied'' to me! And it gets worse. I was watching a pot yesterday, and guess what it did? It ''boiled'', mother!

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

1167: Star Trek into Darkness

2013-11-01T10:36:51Z

Mynotoar: /* ~*~ExPlAnAtIoN~*~ */

{{comic
| number = 1167
| date = January 30, 2013
| title = Star Trek into Darkness
| image = star_trek_into_darkness.png
| titletext = Of course, factions immediately sprang up in favor of '~*~sTaR tReK iNtO dArKnEsS~*~', 'xX_StAr TrEk InTo DaRkNess_Xx', and 'Star Trek lnto Darkness' (that's a lowercase 'L').
}}

==~*~ExPlAnAtIoN~*~==
The talk page of a Wikipedia article is used to discuss changes to the article. An {{w|Wikipedia:Edit warring|edit war}} is a dispute about a specific edit to an article, manifesting as a series of edits alternating between making and reverting the change, and usually accompanied by a more-or-less heated debate on the talk page.

Here, [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] is referring to a dispute on the Wikipedia article about ''{{w|Star Trek Into Darkness}}'' (an upcoming Star Trek film at the time of the comic's posting). On the day before the comic was published, the article name had a lowercase "into", and the talk page looked [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Star_Trek_Into_Darkness&oldid=535542349 like this] (rounded off in a friendly way, with the posting of {{w|User:Frungi/Star Trek Into Darkness capitalization|a summary of the arguments}}, and an exchange of virtual hugs).

[[Cueball]] changes the title so that every other letter is capitalized, and adds framing tildes and asterisks (a common, childish way of emphasizing titles online). This will probably not go over well.

Megan's line of "They should have sent a poet." is a quote from the film ''{{w|Contact (film)|Contact}}''. The quote is also featured in [[482: Height]].

The title text indicates Randall's belief that such arguments are perpetual and will always arise. He suggests that the edit to the Wikipedia page will result in a dispute over variants of Cueballs "compromise". Because the lowercase "L" and the capital "I" appear similar in many fonts, he also puts forth the potential argument that the character in the movie's title is a lowercase "L".

The old "favorite edit war" might be the one referenced in [[878: Model Rail]].

==xX_tRaNsCrIpT_Xx==
:[Cueball staring at computer screen.]
:Cueball: Oh, wow. Look at Wikipedia's Talk page for Star Trek into Darkness. I have a new favorite edit war.
:Megan (off-panel): Oh?

:Cueball: Forty ''thousand'' words of debate over whether to capitalize "into" in the movie's title. Still no consensus.
:Megan: That's ''magnificient''.
:Cueball: It's breathtaking.
:Megan: They should have sent a poet.

:Cueball: Well I'm making an executive decision. I hope both sides accept this as a fair compromise.

:[A Wikipedia page titled "~*~ StAr TrEk InTo DaRkNeSs ~*~"]

==+~tRiViA+~==
After the publication of the comic, the debate continued with full force, complete with {{w|Talk:Star Trek Into Darkness/Archive 5#xkcd Mention|a section of xkcd-inspired suggestions}}. The article itself was soon protected, so that only administrators could edit it. A day later, the title was changed to one including a capital "Into" by the administrator {{w|User:Mackensen|Mackensen}}. (The debate continued on {{w|User talk:Mackensen/Archive20#Star Trek into Darkness move|his talk page}}.) Currently https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/~*~_StAr_TrEk_InTo_DaRkNeSs_~*~ is a valid link and it redirects to the correct page.

{{w|The Independent}} published an article about the "[http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/trekkies-take-on-wikis-in-a-grammatical-tizzy-over-star-trek-into-darkness-8475705.html grammatical tizzy]", and the affair as a whole was added to Wikipedia's humorous list of the {{w|WP:Lamest edit wars|lamest edit wars}}.

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

620: Wings

2013-09-28T12:36:40Z

Mynotoar: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 620
| date = August 7, 2009
| title = Wings
| image = wings.png
| titletext = Please do not try any of this and die or get arrested.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, [[Cueball]] explains to [[Megan]] that the gravity on {{w|Titan}} is far lighter than the gravity on {{w|Earth}}, allowing him to fly given the appropriate technology. Cueball has already put together the apparatus necessary to test this: by weighing himself down sufficiently, he can recreate the effects of Titan's gravity. He uses this to fly around, expressing his delight at being able to do so, only Megan points out a fatal flaw: his wings use hot glue, which can easily be melted by a large heat source, and [[Black Hat]] is waiting nearby with a large heat source. Naturally, Cueball falls.

Titan is the largest moon of Saturn. {{w|Icarus}} was a character in Greek mythology who is most famous for the fatal end of his flight, when the wax holding the wings together melted and he fell to his death in what became known as the {{w|Icarian Sea}}. In the original, this was because Icarus ignored instructions not to fly too close to the Sun (often taken as tragic examples of hubris); in this comic, Black Hat is bringing an artificial "sun" (the heat lamp) to "Icarus" to recreate the tragedy.

==Transcript==
:Cueball: Titan's gravity is 14% of Earth's, and its atmosphere 50% denser.

:Cueball: So if you can generate 9% of your body weight in lift, you can fly on Titan.

:Cueball: With wings, a stage harness, a cable, and 91% of my weight in bricks, I want to test this.
:[There is a heap of materials on the ground. Cueball is holding a stage harness.]

:[Large diagram of a bridge. A rope leads through pulleys tied to the bridge. One end goes to Cueball, one end to a pile of bricks.]

:[Cueball is standing with wings attached to his arms.]

:[Cueball flaps the wings, and appears to be floating.]

:[Cueball glides.]

:Cueball: It works!
:Megan: Except you have two problems.
:Cueball: What?

:Megan: You used hot glue on your wing joints and you have friends into Greek mythology.
:Cueball: Huh?

:[Black Hat is standing on the bridge, with a large lamp labeled "heat lamp" attached to a battery.]

:[The wing segments fall off Cueball and he tumbles downward.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Wingsuit]]

293: RTFM

2013-09-12T19:52:55Z

Mynotoar: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 293
| date = July 23, 2007
| title = RTFM
| image = rtfm.png
| titletext = Life is too short for man pages, and occasionally much too short without them.
}}

==Explanation==
The title is an acronym for "{{w|RTFM|read the fucking manual}}", which frustrated software users tell newbie users when confronted with a simple question (most likely answered in the manual).

However, [[Cueball]] encounters a similar situation with a {{w|911}} call, in which the 911 dispatcher hangs up after Cueball states that he has not read the toaster's {{w|man page}} (an unreasonable request as man pages only exist on *nix systems and only describe commands and C functions, not hardware). The 911 dispatcher ignored an obvious medical emergency (the toaster stabbed Cueball in the face), an unusual action for emergency dispatchers but not unusual for [[Black Hat]] (perhaps he got a job as a 911 dispatcher).

The title text refers to the popular phrase "Life's too short", which asserts that because we only have a fixed amount of time on Earth, and that time can pass by quickly, we should make the most of it. However, Randall goes on to take the statement literally: as Cueball has been stabbed in the face, his life will be very short in that he will die soon as a result of the injury to his head.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball with a knife sticking out of his heavily bleeding face stands in front of a toaster, which has an arm extending from the top of it. He is holding a telephone to his ear.]
:Cueball: Hello, 911? I just tried to toast some bread, and the toaster grew an arm and stabbed me in the face!
:911: Did you read the toaster's man page first?
:Cueball: Well, no, but all I wanted was--
:911: ''click''

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

Talk:1261: Shake That

2013-09-06T09:34:21Z

Mynotoar:

Worst xkcd Ever! [[Special:Contributions/78.55.145.25|78.55.145.25]] 08:31, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

Hey, it's not the worst xkcd ever. What about the early xkcd strips, where most of them were just sketches or drawings? [[User:GameZone|GameZone]] ([[User talk:GameZone|talk]]) 08:37, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

Surely "Worst. xkcd. Ever!" No? Turning to the explanation, I like the phase lag explanation. Never thought of sexual exhibitionism in those terms before.--[[Special:Contributions/203.166.249.26|203.166.249.26]] 08:46, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

:The explanation is definitely pushing this strip up. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:30, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

Hugely impressed by the explanation. I would never have thought you could write so much about such a dry comic. --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 09:34, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

1255: Columbus

2013-08-23T07:48:33Z

Mynotoar: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1255
| date = August 23, 2013
| title = Columbus
| image = columbus.png
| titletext = And thus was smallpox introduced into the previously Undying Lands.
}}

==Explanation==
In the comic, [[White Hat]] tells children that Christopher Columbus knew the world was round, but that others believed it to be flat. It is widely believed that Columbus had difficulty getting sponsorship because potential backers believed the world was flat. However, this is a false narrative known as the {{w|Myth of the Flat Earth}}. Educated people in Columbus's time knew the world was round. He had difficulty getting sponsorship for various other reasons, including disagreements about the distance to Asia. Columbus estimated a lower distance than his contemporaries. In fact, as noted at {{w|Christopher Columbus#Geographical_considerations}}, Columbus was wrong about this.

As White Hat begins his explanation, Megan objects, though not explaining why. White Hat continues, so Megan interrupts, saying that Columbus sailed above the waves to {{w|Valinor}} and the {{w|Undying Lands}}. Megan's story is an allusion to the {{w|Silmarillion}}, by {{w|J. R. R. Tolkien}}, part of {{w|The Lord of the Rings}} saga. Specifically, she references {{w|Eärendil|Eärendil the Mariner}}, the only mortal sailor to reach the Undying Lands, home of the Valar, and later gifted with one of the titular {{w|Silmaril}}s. The joke is that when White Hat tells her to stop making up the story, Megan pointedly replies "You first", indicating that she originally complained about White Hat's retelling of the Columbus story because his account didn't really happen, and so he was also "making things up". Megan's fantasy tale was then delivered to make a point.

The title text refers to the {{w|Smallpox#Human_history|transfer of small pox}} to North America by Europeans.

==Transcript==
:[White Hat talks to children.]
:White Hat: Everyone said the world was flat, but Columbus knew it was round.
:Megan: *Sigh* No, no, no.
:White Hat: So he took his ships and sailed west -
:Megan: - in a line tangent to the surface. The sea fell away, and he landed in Valinor.
:Megan: A silmaril on his brow, he wanders the heavens as the morning star, still believing he reached India.
:White Hat: Stop making stuff up.
:Megan: You first.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:576: Packages

2013-07-07T22:57:16Z

Mynotoar:

The only way I could imagine Cueball being on a <s>wanted</s> watch list is if the items he ordered could be interpreted as potentially being used in a hostage crisis at The Pentagon. --[[User:Btx40|Btx40]] ([[User talk:Btx40|talk]]) 20:27, 20 February 2013 (UTC)
: What's the lube for? [[Special:Contributions/103.10.66.8|103.10.66.8]] 16:29, 19 May 2013 (UTC)
:: It's only for adults.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:24, 19 May 2013 (UTC)
Has anyone actually tried this?--[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 22:57, 7 July 2013 (UTC)

622: Haiku Proof

2013-07-04T06:24:25Z

Mynotoar: Modified the bit about haikus

{{comic
| number = 622
| date = August 12, 2009
| title = Haiku Proof
| image = haiku_proof.png
| titletext = After somewhere around 40 hours, there's no academic reason to go to the class. Only go for the hallucinations.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Euclid's theorem}} states that there are an infinite number of primes. (In case it's been a while, remember that prime numbers are numbers that are only divisible by themselves and 1.) The most notable proof of this theorem, and the one presented in this comic, was first given by Euclid himself in his ''{{w|Euclid's Elements|Elements}}''. A more traditional form of this proof follows:

:If we suppose that there are a finite number of primes, then they must have a product, i.e. ''p''1''p''2...''p''n = ''q''. Now consider ''q'' + 1. Since each ''p''k is a factor of ''q'', they cannot be a factor of ''q'' + 1. So ''q'' + 1 has no prime factors, which means it must be prime itself; however, we assumed we had listed every prime number, which means a contradiction has occurred. Then our supposition is false, so there must be an infinite number of primes.

The comic essentially takes this proof and states it in the form of a {{w|haiku}}, which is a traditional form of Japanese poetry which is in Japanese broken up into patterns of {{w|morae}}, a unit that measures the length of sound. A haiku consists of three lines with 5, 7 and 5 morae respectively per line. This is less easy to do in English as English doesn't use the concept of syllable length, so we count haikus according to the syllables in each line.

The haiku proof given is slightly off, as the first line talks about the "top prime's divisors," which makes no sense because the top prime doesn't have any divisors besides itself and one. You need to take the product of ''all'' primes, not just one. But, hey, it's a hallucination.

The comic and title text conclude that going to class while sleep-deprived is an interesting, but entirely noneducational, experience.

==Transcript==
:[Students are sitting at desks.]
:Student #1: How do you know there are an infinite number of primes?
:Professor: I'll answer in haiku!

:Professor: Top prime's divisors'

:[The professor floats into the air.]
:Professor: Product (plus one)'s factors are...?

:[The professor wafts over the students.]
:Professor: Q.E.D., bitches!
:Student #2 [in thought bubble]: Wow, after the 48-hour sleep-dep mark, lectures get ''really'' interesting.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Math]]

597: Addiction

2013-06-29T16:56:43Z

Mynotoar: Expanded the title-text explanation, incomplete and poorly worded.

{{comic
| number = 597
| date = June 15, 2009
| title = Addiction
| image = addiction.png
| titletext = But if you unplug everything, it gets so quiet you hear that high-pitched empty-room hum. And then the whispers begin.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, [[Megan]] is attempting to stay a weekend at home without the internet, but [[Cueball]] doubts she can do it. She turns off her computer and stands up triumphantly, only to log back on and tell Cueball that it's not half bad, violating her original attempt as she clearly used a computer to send the message to Cueball.

The title text elaborates on Megan's addiction, saying that when she turns off all of the machines in the room, it results in an "empty-room hum". This is a high pitched buzzing noise, which [http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_high_pitched_humming_sound_often_heard_in_an_otherwise_empty_and_silent_room it is suggested] results from the brain increasing its sensitivity to noises. This is a fairly normal experience, but the "whispers" mentioned may be slightly more sinister, as this is often frequently associated as a sign of {{w|schizophrenia}}.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is typing at a computer.]
:Computer: Constant novelty saps my initiative. I'm gonna try to spend a weekend at home without internet.
:Cueball: I give you an hour.

:[Megan stands up, turns off the computer in front of her.]

:[Megan stands proudly in front of the computer.]

:[Cueball is at his computer.]
:Computer: So far, it's not actually too bad!
:Cueball: Ahem?
:Computer: Wait. Shit.

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

1231: Habitable Zone

2013-06-28T15:38:25Z

Mynotoar: Title text explanation slightly unclear

{{comic
| number = 1231
| date = June 28, 2013
| title = Habitable Zone
| image = habitable zone.png
| titletext = They have a telescope pointed RIGHT AT US!
}}

==Explanation==
This (incredibly gullible) astronomer is, of course, looking at the reflection of Earth itself. He's very excited because a planet in a star's habitable zone, with visible oceans and weather, is presumably quite likely to have life on it, which is something humanity has yet to discover outside Earth.

The title text goes on to say that the planet under observation has a telescope pointed right at them, which is a further hint that the astronomer is actually just viewing Earth.

==Transcript==
:

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

Talk:1190: Time

2013-06-08T14:05:25Z

Mynotoar: /* Philosophical implications */ new section

__TOC__
Pretty sure we're just getting trolled with this one [[Special:Contributions/99.108.190.136|99.108.190.136]] 04:48, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Can't tell if this is emo xkcd or trolling xkcd. [[User:Alpha|Alpha]] ([[User talk:Alpha|talk]]) 04:53, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Something seems a little fishy because the image url is different than normal. [[User:Bugefun|Bugefun]] ([[User talk:Bugefun|talk]]) 04:55, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:Maybe the comic slowly changes throughout the day. [[User:Alpha|Alpha]] ([[User talk:Alpha|talk]]) 04:56, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
::Oh god, it does. [[User:Alpha|Alpha]] ([[User talk:Alpha|talk]]) 04:57, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:::When uploading different versions of the image, use the naming convention time[iterationNumber].png. We'll compile all the images into one and display them as per [[Traffic Lights]]. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:05, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
::::Alright, so the comic appears to be switching between two states here: between [[media:time2.png|this]] and [[media:time3.png|this]]. If nothing new happens, I'll get to clipping the comics together. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:28, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:::::Whoop, nope, [[media:time4.png|this]] just came up. Is there more to come? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:34, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
::::::Alright, so a new one is posted every half-hour. Whoopee. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:06, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:::::::And there's a new one! Megan leaning back and looking up...
::::::::Well, the image changed, who has the time to make a script to catch the new images and compile them into a gif? https://dl.dropbox.com/u/932170/time.png [[User:Statharas.903|Statharas.903]] ([[User talk:Statharas.903|talk]]) 07:14, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

[[Special:Contributions/72.21.198.66|72.21.198.66]] 05:11, 25 March 2013 (UTC)It could be a reference to the old proverb " time and tide wait for none" Cueball and the girl could be waiting for the tide in the beach! (Just a guess)[[Special:Contributions/72.21.198.66|72.21.198.66]] 05:11, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

This could be a cinematic custom to change scenes or to show the passage of time: fade to black (white) on Act I, come up on Act II. Get some popcorn during the intermission.{{unsigned|Gerry|11:38, 29 April 2013 (UTC)}}

The picture does chance with time. The URL includes a changing timestamp that I can't decipher. Compare these two URLS (which have slightly different images:
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/8eb156cce408df8bb83528382d6a2aa2ce6c74f3c573fd12b058cd1c56420672.png
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/1e349a579b5f9b5ed487ddf7e88244b70330941ddedac9c6abf6ed2e3f589b97.png

Perhaps there is a way to hack the URL to view future images. [[Special:Contributions/199.30.248.121|199.30.248.121]] 05:29, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
: I would also like to add that knowing randall, these are not the only images. For all we know, the image will still be changing in 5 years while a tree grows in front of them. My point is: Are the URLs hackable, or did he encrypt them? [[Special:Contributions/199.30.248.121|199.30.248.121]] 05:33, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Likely there is a way to hack the URLs; they look like some sort of hash, probably a hashed timestamp. Of course, he could easily have added some salt to the hash, making it significantly *harder* to hack. But they're strings of a specific length, so it should be pretty easy to bruteforce it, fetch all the images, and then (maybe) reverse-engineer the sequence. *That* all depends on how many of them there are. [[Special:Contributions/76.90.249.178|76.90.249.178]] 05:44, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:Good god, do you see how many digits are *in* that hash? The sun'll have burned out by the time we've tested every possible combination of digits. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:47, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

It seems that the image is updated every 1/2 hour. [[Special:Contributions/152.23.97.150|152.23.97.150]] 06:17, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
: Given that the images switch back and forth between other images already seen, and that the comic should be viewable in the future, it seems unlikely that it's any thing like a simple sha256 of part of the timestamp. I think it's more likely a function of half-hours and minutes (assuming we continue to get a new possible image every half-hour). [[Special:Contributions/99.153.248.206|99.153.248.206]] 06:59, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

::: The images do cycle, yes. But for some reason I have never seen the img where Megan is looking behind her. Also wouldn't it be difficult to show a sequential story (like the rising tide) if the previous images keep cycling ?

Hash appears to be SHA-256. I tried some obvious hashes ("1", "11901", "1190_1", "1190.1") to no avail. Maybe this is HMAC-SHA256? Also, I would suggest trying Unix timestamps. [[Special:Contributions/131.156.236.149|131.156.236.149]] 06:19, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
: I've been trying to make educated guesses as to what's being hashed here: http://www.xorbin.com/tools/sha256-hash-calculator ... he could also be using hash(hash2(value)) which would be virtually impossible to crack. [[Special:Contributions/99.153.248.206|99.153.248.206]] 06:59, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

It's entirely possible that the "hash" is actually randomly generated. Just a thought. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.119.153|129.21.119.153]] 07:03, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Regarding sha256. Its most likely some hash of a timestamp, but if he doesnt wants us to crack it, he would have prefixes a password.. sha256('secretcode17:30'). Im just saying, if he doesnt wants us to crack it, we most likely cant.
I've tested all unixtimestamps from 1300000000 to 1364390334. Also "00:00" to "23:59", with and without the colon and a load of other formats. {{unsigned|77.243.128.133}}

Alright, this is probably not going to work, but I'm trying to exploit Randall's awesomeness here. Maybe he decided to take the time-stamps from the user? I don't know if that's even possible... That would then allow people in different time zones to obtain different images simultaneously. (What's the corollary of Godwin's law for a bunch of math-and-science nerds and relativity? Is there one?) Clicking the img src url on the comic's html page, give me this: http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/752687b61523144c61736cd89f8c153dc41e19128f72d78d44947ff800f057fa.png : Never mind.. apparently others see the same image too.

Could he be doing this live? Monitoring the discussion on the net? Collaborative, crowdsourced comic-ing? Reminds me of those you-decide-what-the-character-does-next-and-flip-to-appropriate-page parallel plot novels.

[[Special:Contributions/220.224.246.97|220.224.246.97]] 07:14, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Let's just compare the two pictures and see how the bottom right changes, which I believe is water and they are indeed waiting for the tide. [[User:Statharas.903|Statharas.903]] ([[User talk:Statharas.903|talk]]) 07:19, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:I'm adding urls to pictures bellow, edit freely.
::They change every 5 minutes, will try to keep track.

http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/f/f8/time.png
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/1e349a579b5f9b5ed487ddf7e88244b70330941ddedac9c6abf6ed2e3f589b97.png
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/752687b61523144c61736cd89f8c153dc41e19128f72d78d44947ff800f057fa.png
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/932170/timeasdf.png
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/932170/time6.png

:I have uploaded all the different images onto the wiki, in the order that they were revealed. To avoid needless duplication of effort, I'll put them up in the explanation page. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:44, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

It just went back to the second image... [[Special:Contributions/220.224.246.97|220.224.246.97]] 07:59, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
: And now changed to something new. http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/cdcc6b46b32c53f8596cd0106958b42c4260b9cbc022e6d94054147aa6554960.png
:: The images do look alike, but they're all different. Thanks David. [[User:Statharas.903|Statharas.903]] ([[User talk:Statharas.903|talk]]) 08:04, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

::: No..I checked the random string. They're exactly the same. In fact, now it's gone back to the second image. Again. [[Special:Contributions/220.224.246.97|220.224.246.97]] 08:07, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Just found this JavaScript code embedded in the comic HTML source (Update: Reformatted to prevent eye-bleeding): http://pastebin.com/4vNJH53Z

I'm no programmer but this looks important to me...

:Moved it to pastebin, so it doesn't clutter the page so much. [[Special:Contributions/81.23.24.51|81.23.24.51]] 14:22, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

:Doesn't really help. The script basically changes the image when something happens (probably some time passes, although it's possible there is more hidden there). WHAT image then appears is not directed by the script, but by the site. Specifically, the image displayed as first is taken from [http://c0.xkcd.com/redirect/comic/time http://c0.xkcd.com/redirect/comic/time], while the script asks for [http://c0.xkcd.com/stream/comic/time?method=EventSource&r=(somenumber) http://c0.xkcd.com/stream/comic/time?method=EventSource&r=(somenumber)] ... which is, if you get correct "r", probably some json containing the image url. So, even if you hack the script, you will not get all possible urls. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:17, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

:: ... actually, given that the script part doesn't seem to do anything just now, it's even possible it's for later (ie, starts producing images when the correct time come). Or maybe there is a bug somewhere in the code :-). -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:27, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

:::Thanks for explaining. Why hasn't anyone posted this before? Could "location.hash" possibly have anything to do with the method used to generate the image hash key? Also, why is this code so difficult to follow (Obfuscation?)? So many questions... Sorry if this is just a huge waste of ''Time''.

:::: <code>location</code> is the URI of the page. <code>location.hash</code> is the part of the uri after the ''#'' character. If you go to [https://xkcd.com/1190/#verbose https://xkcd.com/1190/#verbose], you'll see some debugging output in your browser's debugging console (Firefox: Web Console or Firebug, Chrome: Development Tools). But nothing to decode the algorithm... :-( --[[Special:Contributions/83.243.48.2|83.243.48.2]] 10:01, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

::::: Well, I don't know what's doing it, but there's definitely some script (probably this script) that's refreshing the image automatically. I left the comic open for an hour or so and noticed the image had changed. I refreshed with #verbose in Chrome right before the 30 minute mark and got the following in the console.
<pre>
connecting to event source: http://c0.xkcd.com/stream/comic/time?method=EventSource time07.min.js:1
s {type: "comic/time", data: "{"spread":5,"image":"832a7f13ca0fadc46e93475bb617d78211e32c81c3af0e289a51f8f149707759.png"}", lastEventId: "e2992bf0-9557-11e2-8001-1c6f659cb250"} time07.min.js:1
waiting 0 seconds before displaying comic 832a7f13ca0fadc46e93475bb617d78211e32c81c3af0e289a51f8f149707759.png time07.min.js:1
Resource interpreted as Image but transferred with MIME type application/octet-stream: "http://xkcd.com/events/connect_start". time07.min.js:1
s {type: "comic/time", data: "{"spread":5,"image":"847265673986f085460bf1a95b96f7171bcd9a4f1f0a598b2188307d03bcfaa3.png"}", lastEventId: "79580fe8-9558-11e2-8001-1c6f659cb250"} time07.min.js:1
waiting 4 seconds before displaying comic 847265673986f085460bf1a95b96f7171bcd9a4f1f0a598b2188307d03bcfaa3.png time07.min.js:1
connection error i {type: "error"} time07.min.js:1
Resource interpreted as Image but transferred with MIME type application/octet-stream: "http://xkcd.com/events/connect_error".
</pre>
::::: The script seems to poll the server every minute or two. It's different from before, where the image server itself redirected to the correct image. The auto refresh was probably always intended, but not quite ready when the comic went live. It may have turned out to be necessary too, so the image server doesn't have to do all the work. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.119.153|129.21.119.153]] 14:45, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

http://pastebin.com/dLiWsFyN
[[Special:Contributions/79.180.173.88|79.180.173.88]] 09:48, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

:Moved to pastebin.[[Special:Contributions/81.23.24.51|81.23.24.51]] 14:34, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/426033682a26a0012a6f8e0c47287af91b7991a852d81c77402c937ffbd650c6.png

http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/1e/f46c6571393bee1ee649a7daae41f6328e63482506aef1e22607d22c47dd7027.png --[[User:Johnsmith|Johnsmith]] ([[User talk:Johnsmith|talk]]) 22:51, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/b/b0/88e3a0c8bba935c669606d9134314f811a0961985f968dd5d329e4695acc67c8.png --[[User:Johnsmith|Johnsmith]] ([[User talk:Johnsmith|talk]]) 23:10, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Is it just me or or did Randall manage to make all of us perform a Denial of Service on xkcd.com, and explainxkcd.com ? xkcd.com seems much slower, and I keep getting "500 Internal server error" when accessing this site (explainxkcd.com). I guess that's the effect of having everybody hit F5 every few minutes :) [[Special:Contributions/193.239.192.194|193.239.192.194]] 11:57, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Earlier today, the server handled all the image redirections. The script you see above went through several mutations (currently at #8), with each mutation it seems that Randall is adding more servers and trying to split the load between them. This is basically how a bot-net works - we all run code written by some evil genius, and he's changing the code as time passes to serve some hidden purpose.
[[Special:Contributions/79.180.173.88|79.180.173.88]] 15:44, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:If he is using us as a botnet, then maybe the next comic will be something alluding to that.
:Probably like this: http://xkcd.com/350/

When I saw this comic last night and that there was no explanation up, I thought to myself "How zen." I figured that Randall was going through a calm streak before throwing us the utterly ridiculous April 1st comic. Did it come early, or does he have something even bigger planned for us? [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 07:05, 26 March 2013 (UTC)
:Sorry, did you miss the bit where this comic updates every 30 minutes and all the server error messages being caused by the massive traffic to both the wiki and the main xkcd website? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:08, 26 March 2013 (UTC)
::Well, when I said "last night" and "no explanation", I implied that I wasn't aware of that at the time, which is why I thought what I did. Of course, it is now "now" and there is an explanation, so that should answer your question. Also, since it's not April 1st, and Randall has consistently released something major on that day, the jury is still out, leaving my question quite open (though I was really only asking for opinions). [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 07:20, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

wanted to add an image to the list above, but didn't know at what timestamp to add it, got 69085b480cb82911b19fe8f114909756989eed89b0d227db0f59c1843de7ba24.png at 2013-03-26 09:47 CET (UTC+0100)
/Puggan
:The hours denote the time since the initial release of the comic. The page is still a work in progress, we're going to bring that all into one image file soon. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:13, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

This site should seriously consider cloudflare, it's perfect at times like this and takes minutes to set up. I run all my sites through it and it saves a lot of page huts and bandwidth.
[[Special:Contributions/123.3.136.228|123.3.136.228]]Evan Pyle
:Or at least make the main page a static page that refreshes every so often. I'm guessing that most of the traffic is going to the front page with not as much traffic to the actual comic page [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 15:43, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

Some of the images on the wiki (looks like time38.png through time48.png) are slightly different than what is on the main site. The lines are slightly thicker, as though someone did them based on screen captures.
[[User:Royce|Royce]] ([[User talk:Royce|talk]]) 14:37, 26 March 2013 (UTC)
:Well, at least we have the hashes so they can be re-retrieved, so nothing is really lost, right? Should we add links to the original? [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 15:43, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

:I uploaded two of the "thicker" images and one of the "regular" ones, and I did the same thing for all of them: right-click->save-as. Given that the "thick" ones are all clustered together, I think the files on the xkcd site changed. [[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 18:21, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

Story so far: [http://static.odysseus.anderson.name/1190.gif linky] [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 19:30, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

I guess we shall find out in ~10 minutes if Randall is trolling us. [[Special:Contributions/129.138.30.95|129.138.30.95]] 04:20, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

... so that's it?

Did I just miss something or we've all been epically trolled for 48 hours? [[Special:Contributions/189.59.175.92|189.59.175.92]] 04:22, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
:Motherofgod, no, he's *still* going!''' [[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:20, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

What makes you think he's done? [[Special:Contributions/129.138.30.95|129.138.30.95]] 04:25, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

I'm still waiting for the water level to drop precipitously... and then for red spiders to run over everything [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 04:28, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

Well, strip 1191 is up so I assumed it was over. I guess it's not. Until April's Fools maybe? [[Special:Contributions/189.59.175.92|189.59.175.92]] 04:32, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
: It is not over -- the image is still updating, at least it did for me [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]])
:: Yes, it's not over. Last frame shows just a minimal movement of Cueball's head, but no doubt it's still ongoing. [[Special:Contributions/189.59.175.92|189.59.175.92]] 04:49, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
::: Given the fact the strips for the last 2 weeks have been comparatively simple, I expect Randall has been planning this for at least that long. {{unsigned|101.98.156.239}}

Considering the common theme with "today's" strip, anyone wanna guess that he's sending us a hex-encoded file over a really slow modem link, slated to complete April 1? Anyone wanna run "magic" over the hashes and see if they come up with a compression codec or something? [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 04:45, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
:I liked this idea and crunched the hex data for 00:00 to 51:00 into a binary file (http://filebin.ca/bcGyfUvdgBi). Can't see anything resembling a file header, but that doesn't really say much. If this is compressed header-less data there wouldn't likely be any easily discernible patterns. Haven't really tried running the data through anything, zlib was one that came to mind but haven't tried it.

[[Special:Contributions/194.114.62.72|194.114.62.72]] I'm pretty shure it's not the seaside, but a lake - the water level is not changing at all.

Its probably going to loop back on itself, eventually, and repeat this way forever. [[Special:Contributions/113.160.224.209|113.160.224.209]] 07:12, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

For those wondering about the Javascript behind this: I posted my analysis of the Javascript [http://www.echochamber.me/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=101043&start=760#p3303579 on the xkcd forums], and further de-obfuscated and annotated the code over on [https://gist.github.com/cincodenada/5246094 GitHub]. Here's a quick summary though: it holds open a connection to xkcd's servers and listens for instructions and follows them. Those instructions are either "load a new image" or "reload the page". So, you don't have to mash F5, it will automatically update the image when they're available. We have no way to control how fast the images come or when they do, and it's quite possible for them to update forever. --[[User:Fiveofoh|Fiveofoh]] ([[User talk:Fiveofoh|talk]]) 06:41, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

This is a series of animation frames. I suspect they will only ever be shown once (based on the fact you can only get the current image, not previous or future images -- this is in keeping with the title, "Time", which passes and which you can't ever get back]. The filenames are UUIDs too long to guess, so somebody needs to start collecting the filenames here so that a proper flipbook can be assembled. Here's the latest URL: [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/81efa7c4509ac7a329407d9da25d12ec0a3baec50e06588586961575e2d65c2c.png http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/81efa7c4509ac7a329407d9da25d12ec0a3baec50e06588586961575e2d65c2c.png] Go here to collect URLs: [http://c0.xkcd.com/stream/comic/time?method=EventSource http://c0.xkcd.com/stream/comic/time?method=EventSource]
:We've kinda already been doing that. They're the big long filenames next to each timestamp. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:06, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

Oh my god it's game of thrones played out in 2D [[Special:Contributions/123.3.136.228|123.3.136.228]] Evan Pyle

Is it just me, or do the last two frames look like someone just threw a rock at the castle? [[Special:Contributions/67.167.81.143|67.167.81.143]] 14:20, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

I believe it is the cannon ball that I have been expecting since they first started building castles. [[User:ChrisPUT|ChrisPUT]] ([[User talk:ChrisPUT|talk]]) 16:34, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

Here's a bit of JavaScript to execute in your browser's JavaScript console. (Cmd+Alt+K on Firefox for Mac, for example.)
<pre>
/* Collect all frame image URLs */
var images = [];
Array.prototype.slice.call(document.querySelectorAll('a[href*="/time"][href$=".png"]')).forEach(function (a) {
images.push(a.href);
});

/* Create an image in the top-right corner of the screen */
var img = document.body.appendChild(document.createElement('img'));
img.setAttribute('style', 'position: fixed; top: 1em; right: 1em;');

/* Allow removing the image by clicking */
img.onclick = function () {
img.parentNode.removeChild(img);
};

var texts = [0,51,169,174,322];
var delays = [0,1000,1000,1500,4000];

/* Cycle through the frames */
img.onload = function () {
/* Pause a bit longer for the text frames */
var idx = texts.indexOf(img.i);
var delay = ( idx > 0 ) ? delays[idx] : 50;
setTimeout(function () {
img.src = images[++img.i % images.length];
}, delay);
};

/* Start with the first frame */
img.i = 0;
img.src = images[img.i];
</pre>

— [http://jan.moesen.nu/ Jan!] [[Special:Contributions/94.23.195.79|94.23.195.79]] 09:22, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

---Thanks for the script!. Ctrl+Shift+J on Windows Chrome [[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 13:11, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

- updated script 'coz there are three text panels now. [[User schnitz]] 19:00, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

- updated script with another text panel [[Special:Contributions/24.77.229.71|24.77.229.71]] 21:00, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

The one for the prior half hour (5AM - 5:30AM EST, 27 March 2013) is located at http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/5450bd39ee84a394467fabcaf92f1a5711c2a4eca24c8bd8a8cec829496e3dd7.png
[[Special:Contributions/141.161.133.106|141.161.133.106]] 09:26, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

And the one for the following half hour is located at http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/c2ea85f1ab92f2f80e9c4655c47f5c7effc0a7da01c8a88493864845855b3be8.png
[[Special:Contributions/141.161.133.106|141.161.133.106]] 09:31, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

Call me a paranoid, but I think this strip is all about 9/11:
*If you read the strip number (1190) backwards, you get 09/11
*This subject is recurrent on xkcd
*As far as we have seen, there is a destroyed tower and they are rebuilding it
*The next strip, following 1190 (or 09/11), mentions war against countries with large oil reserves but low military capacity. {{unsigned|143.107.105.14}}
:I feel like that's kind of a stretch, I'm pretty sure it's just a story about a day at the beach.

If a new strip goes up every 30 minutes our time, and if each strip comprises of, let's say for the sake of simplicity, one minute in their time; to build the sand castle [frames 24-117 = 93 frames] so far it's taken almost 2 days our time, which would be about an hour and a half their time if each frame is a minute. Using my scale, an hour our time is 2 minutes their time, a day is 48 minutes, and our month is their 24 hour day. If we assume Randall plans to give us a 24 hour period from that world's time, and we use the minute-per-frame rate I made up, than we'd probably be looking at a month of images our time. I guess we'll just have to see how long he's got it planned to go on. -boB

Has it ended? All that's left is the sandcastle, and there doesn't seem to have been anything else changed on it for a few hours.

It's zooming out! When look at the gifs showing the frames in succession, the last 3 show the castle getting slightly smaller each time!
: It's true! The most recent also shows the edge of another castle, leading me to believe it's part of some kind of sand castle contest, probably including some of xkcd's other recurring characters!
::Weird, now it's not showing that, Randall must have put something up too soon.
A controllable version of the same comic is available at http://xkcd.aubronwood.com/ - slow/fast movement, pause, control back and forth. It also has the image # on the top left. Auto updating. [[Special:Contributions/59.182.173.88|59.182.173.88]] 20:56, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

:Can you add on-screen buttons, so it's usable on phones and tablets without hardware keyboard?{{unsigned|81.23.24.48}}

looky here: http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/4c92727698b704ee1d02fbd37c94c220d16be4ad3ff6fc03a3fb77ea6d96434f.png [[Special:Contributions/97.88.147.176|97.88.147.176]] 23:14, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
That was a glitch on the server that revealed a future frame, but it has been corrected and that link is now a 404 not found. I guess if we want to see it in context we'll just have to "Wait for it."{{unsigned|Bugstomper}}
: Well now we're back to that picture as the present frame. [[User:Racerdude09|Racerdude09]] ([[User talk:Racerdude09|talk]]) 03:14, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

Is someone gonna update the transcript to note them building a sandcastle, as well as the dialogue so far (consisting of Megan and Cueball saying goodbye to each other at No. 52)?--[[Special:Contributions/69.119.250.251|69.119.250.251]] 00:38, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

Anyone else think that they're roleplaying Dom and Mal in Limbo? [[User:Fry-kun|Fry-kun]] ([[User talk:Fry-kun|talk]]) 05:36, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

I think they're bulding a sand replica of King's Landing for the Game Of Thrones season 3 premiere {{unsigned|201.239.18.75}}
: My first idea regarding the sand castle was also about Game of Thrones, but i dismissed it as being too biased.. --[[Special:Contributions/217.13.68.110|217.13.68.110]] 13:31, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

I have modified the code "'''''/* Collect all frame image URLs */'''''" to see only images of the "'''Frame by Frame Breakdown'''" section :
/* Collect all frame image URLs */
var images = [];
Array.prototype.slice.call(document.querySelector('#Frame_by_Frame_Breakdown').parentElement.nextElementSibling.nextElementSibling.querySelectorAll('a[href*="/wiki/images/"][href*="/time"][href$=".png"]')).forEach(function (a) {
images.push(a.href);
});
(Sorry for my English... and the ugly code...) {{unsigned|194.119.85.99}}

Anyone else think this is going to be related to Wed's cartoon? I'm half-expecting Black Hat to show up from the future, with advanced weaponry, to take oil from the sandcastle of the past. {{unsigned|173.180.60.43}}

Guys, i think we might have lost a few frames in between, no? When did he upload the first image? like, the exakt time... knowing this we could calculate the amount of images there should be and compare to what we have... [[User:Caranhyas|Caranhyas]] ([[User talk:Caranhyas|talk]]) 18:04, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

The four comics from 89:00 to 90:30 (most recent so far) look the same to me, but the PNG files have different CRCs for the image data blocks, though the metadata in the PNG files are all the same. I wonder if there might be something subtle hidden in the images, or the way they're compressed. [[Special:Contributions/24.160.133.3|24.160.133.3]] 22:54, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

: There is a very minor difference in the water level on those images, even though the water level has been static in most of the other images. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.63.210|129.21.63.210]] 02:05, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

I don't think the title text is a reference to anything except for... wait for it... THE MONGOLS ;-) [[Special:Contributions/81.23.24.34|81.23.24.34]] 23:00, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

Unless the 99:30 image was misnamed, it's not included in the list of images. Does anyone know where this frame went? [[User:Bob|Bob]] 14:18, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

Is that rain in two recent panels? [[User:Larry|Larry]] ([[User talk:Larry|talk]]) 14:21, 29 March 2013 (UTC)r

Can someone identify for sure what Cueball is doing in 105:00? His arms seems to be crossed, and his holding something in his hand. [[User:Mem|mem]] ([[User talk:Mem|talk]]) 14:30, 29 March 2013 (UTC)
: Looks to me like he is shivering, which would allude to a cool down common with rain storms? [[User:Jeremy1026|Jeremy1026]] ([[User talk:Jeremt1026|talk]]) 14:51 29 March 2013 (UTC)
: Looks to me like he's brushing sand off himself; see the shower around him similar to her hair at 10:00? [[Special:Contributions/70.178.167.60|70.178.167.60]] 03:07, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Megan just wheeled in a trebuchet! This is going to be fun! [[Special:Contributions/69.246.10.71|69.246.10.71]] 16:34, 29 March 2013 (UTC)
Now she's launching a rock. I wonder which tower it might hit. March 2013, at 17:08. Flew over the first two and might impact far right tower if it continues. 17:48

I think this is all an elaborate 'joke' which will keep running until Monday - April Fools' Day [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 17:17, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

Re explanation of hour 110:00. My first thought was "How can a person whose face is an empty ovoid look upset?". However, looking at the image again I can see how it does. Respects to Randall. Possibly an April Fool, but I will be even more impressed if it runs beyond Monday. I'm waiting for the tide to come in. jasq [[Special:Contributions/79.123.80.87|79.123.80.87]] 23:12, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

I googled some hashes. The first two seem to show up here, in a directory tellingly labeled "wait": http://www.hash-database.net/wait/hash_sha256.txt
:: The "wait" folder there contains hashes that weren't found in the database and might or might not someday be discovered. They are probably there *because* someone was looking up hashes to see if they were common words. [[Special:Contributions/99.153.248.206|99.153.248.206]] 23:17, 29 March 2013 (UTC)
To review, the first two are:
8eb156cce408df8bb83528382d6a2aa2ce6c74f3c573fd12b058cd1c56420672
1e349a579b5f9b5ed487ddf7e88244b70330941ddedac9c6abf6ed2e3f589b97
Googled the third one, but it only shows up on xkcd discussion forums :(
Hashed some of the hashes, but didn't see the result in the list, so it dosen't look like a hash chain.
Someone should google all the other hashes, and someone else should figure out what the guy in the "wait" directory (presuming it wasn't Randall) was hashing. --[[User:Venal dwarf|Venal dwarf]] ([[User talk:Venal dwarf|talk]]) 21:37, 29 March 2013 (UTC)
: Comparing all the filenames to the hashes on that page, I found a total of four that overlap. The first two, as mentioned. But also one from the middle of day 1, and one from the end of day 1.

: 00:30 - 01/00:30 - 8eb156cce408df8bb83528382d6a2aa2ce6c74f3c573fd12b058cd1c56420672.png

: 01:00 - 01/01:00 - 1e349a579b5f9b5ed487ddf7e88244b70330941ddedac9c6abf6ed2e3f589b97.png

: 12:00 - 01/12:00 - a3aa116efca3c01d8a64c0c7e79158dc8a62241aba767064e3a6c724cc5ade93.png

: 23:30 - 01/23:30 - 1da3859627430022485c53ad90e88e8771b2bec2d60e910b59ef332325bba29f.png

: --[[User:Venal dwarf|Venal dwarf]] ([[User talk:Venal dwarf|talk]]) 22:36, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

: There is a fifth one also, from 01:30 - e25be2dd49fe9f33c3543cdf640b67e0f2146cc576db5da007a135a278e524ee.png
: I converted all 1153 hashes in the file to lower case and did a wget on them but it did not turn up any files from the future. [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 05:31, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Is Randall training us like Pavlov's dogs - every 30 minutes we are compelled to refresh the web-page? [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 01:59, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Does anyone have an opinion on how we should continue naming the saved timeNN.png files if the updates do not continue on the half hour?
Right now the link for the skipped update 242 got renamed to the nonexistent time242NA.png and the next update's link is time242.png. But what do we do if the updates are changing to once per hour? By the way it does look like the next half-hour update has been skipped too. -- [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 05:57, 30 March 2013 (UTC)
:It does seem to have gone hourly as of midnight EDT. I stuck in "NA" as a placeholder since I wasn't sure what to do with the files, and wanted to make it clear that the half-hour updates were skipped in case it goes back or changes in some other way. Maybe start naming them by the time, instead of sequentially, e.g. "012200.png". If the pattern holds, the "no update" lines can be removed. (Or both might make more sense, like "time243-012200.png".) [[Special:Contributions/69.243.159.96|69.243.159.96]] 06:08, 30 March 2013 (UTC)
::I'm partial to timestamping filenames for stuff like this. I have this zsh line running right now:
while { : } { wget -O "`date +"%Y-%m-%d %a %H%M%S"` Time .png" http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time.png ; sleep 30m }
::(I was wishing for a convenient way to use the server-side timestamps, 'till i noticed that it's always 2013-04-12 Fri 09:05'38—which i'm guessing is the script's mtime.) —[[Special:Contributions/98.83.126.232|98.83.126.232]] 08:28, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

Anyone else getting a 404 error with the latest image (http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/d1b3b1b6e23995a093377c5ddc044dd98a42a3ae1327c8b6620d51d2a7003c1d.png)? [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 15:19, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Strange: As far as I know http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time.png always redirects to the current frame. But if you visit the current one (133:00) at http://xkcd.com/1190/ and check the displayed image, it says 'c6976fbb244af4fc2286ffe3ac2cf78d408c1f610ecd71e18b4a677a048f084d.png' while time.png redirects to '1d9ce7199935b1b629d6b8744e62c7700a3780357b2dc74bb70471db616ddadb.png'. If you take a md5 of both images, they appear to be the same.
:I was confused by this as well, I'm grabbing the images myself via time.png and got the 1d9ce7 hash. How will these duplicates be displayed in the table?[[User:Lockyy|Lockyy]] ([[User talk:Lockyy|talk]]) 17:48, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

I'm seeing some strange stuff now. I have a script that uses wget of time.png to get the redirected hash png like Lockyy is doing. And I can verify that when you go to the 1190 page in the browser you get a different hash. But the previous hour and this hour, unlike the ones before it, the two hash pngs are different. And when I refresh the screen in my browser at the 1190 page, first I see the image I get from time.png, then the image refreshes with the other one. I'm not sure what this means or what we are supposed to do with it. I added the time.png hashes to the table for the last two hours but we probably need a way of indicating the difference. -- [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 20:38, 30 March 2013 (UTC)
: This latest hourly update did the same thing. If you are fast enough you can even get the first image in your browser by right click view image before it changes to the second one. I edited in something that shows that. It probably could stand some reformatting by someone with better graphic design sense, but at least right now all the information has been captured. - [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 21:18, 30 March 2013 (UTC)
: Looking at it some more, I see that wget of the page at xkcd.com/1190/ gets you an img link to time.png and then there is the javascript that must after some delay get the different hash url image. That means that we had better be sure that we do not miss any manual checks of hourly updates because the scripts will never find that second image unless someone has a way of getting a script that runs the javascript as if it was a browser. As long as someone posts the hash of the image from the browser every hour, I can ensure that we have the hashes the scripts can get because I have a cron job checking for those updates every 15 minutes. -- [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 21:49, 30 March 2013 (UTC)
:: And with the update for day 06/18:00 it appears to be back to normal, one consistent image per update -- [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 22:22, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Just if somebody else wants this, i hacked a little bash script to download all images to the current listed here. It skips already downloaded images so it can be reused later when more images are here.

<pre>#!/bin/bash
curl -s http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1190 |
egrep -o "/wiki/images/[0-9a-f]/[0-9a-f]{2}/time[0-9]*.png" |
while read url; do
imgname=$(basename $url)
tmp=${imgname:4}
id=${tmp%.png}
printf -v target "image%03d.png" ${id:-1}
[[ -e $target ]] && continue
echo $target
curl -so $target http://www.explainxkcd.com$url
done
</pre>
--[[Special:Contributions/79.236.3.216|79.236.3.216]] 18:51, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

To ease waiting times: http://thred.github.com/xkcd-time-catapult/
:: This is awesome. I love the internet. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:15, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

I've offered up [http://www.lawrenceperson.com/?p=10316|my own explanation]. The obvious metaphor is how time continues to flow and things change when you’re not watching. And how this could be a conceptual art project that could continue the rest of our lives... [[Special:Contributions/72.183.97.36|72.183.97.36]] 19:36, 31 March 2013 (UTC) Lawrence Person
:Correcting your link: [http://www.lawrenceperson.com/?p=10316 my own explanation] --[[Special:Contributions/24.145.230.202|24.145.230.202]] 20:49, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

::This comics may not really continue forever unless Randall will put some sort of repetition into it. May not be simple loop but something more sophisticated, but still, images shown up to now doesn't show any kind of repetition yet. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:28, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

anyone else notice the water is slowly rising? not unlike a tide (depending on the time scaling implemented? perhaps a flooding river (as might correspond to the mention of a river)? [[Special:Contributions/70.192.210.128|70.192.210.128]] 18:08, 2 April 2013 (UTC)
:I checked your claim that the water is rising, and I agree. Good catch! I measure the rate at about 1 pixel per 25 frames starting at about 100 hours. Though a more careful look could surely refine that estimate.{{unsigned|207.67.82.250}}
:I measured the water level with a ruler. The water will take another 20 days before reaching the sand castle if rising at a constant rate. [[Special:Contributions/192.155.85.119|192.155.85.119]] 01:27, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Oddly this contradicts the text, which says that the river is going down: "Any idea where the river is now?", Cueball replies "Still pretty far out. It actually retreated a little this week." --AH
:"It's *still* pretty far out". I think this means that it's getting less far out.[[Special:Contributions/93.73.186.104|93.73.186.104]] 07:41, 3 April 2013 (UTC)
::"It actually retreated a little this week." ~~dang

This comic has been running and updating so long I think perhaps it is a sand castle creation/destruction program that autonomously lets the two indefinitely build, destroy and rebuild new sand castles all the time… [[Special:Contributions/80.101.210.21|80.101.210.21]] 09:55, 4 April 2013 (UTC)
:Maybe. We don't have enough data to say that for sure yet. We just need to "wait for it". [[Special:Contributions/93.73.186.104|93.73.186.104]] 10:07, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

I think numbers in "As of this writing, it is still updated after more than XXX hours - even after Y new, different comics were posted on the front page" at the top of the page should be calculated using {{#expr}}. I changed it for number of comics, but I have no idea how to calculate number of hours since it was posted.[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 11:15, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

When Megan coughed and Cueball asked if she was okay, did anyone else think of http://xkcd.com/931/ Lanes? Cueball explains that cancer treatment results are not known until much later, "and often the first sign is a cough or a bone pain. So you spend the next five or ten years trying not to worry . . . ." ~~wrybred

:I don't want to be a downer but this is just my interpretation thus far. I hope it is a happier theme but if you are correct wrybred, my further explanation would be the following... I think that building sandcastles is an analogy for living their life. Going for a swim in the body of water and the cough could represent the start of the cancer or possibly some time where they had to go out and "wade" in the possibilities of what cancer could mean. Time passes and Cueball says "I don't think we can build it much taller than this. It's been fun, though" which represents that they believe they have done as well as they can with the lives they have been given. They comment on the river retreating even though we the audience observe a body of water on the right hand side rising could represent how we can be fooled into believing things are going alright when in reality they are not. The reference to not understanding what the river is doing also fits this explanation well as someone with cancer may occasionally feel confused about their illness. Presently while I write this they are possibly preparing for a flood which represents the return of the cancer. If I were to guess what is next I might guess that they will watch as the flood comes in and destroys some of what they built but it is better than not having made the sandcastle in the first place. I could be way off, but Randall has given us a lot of TIME to think about what this is all about and your mind wanders. I also would note that this may not be about a particular cancer story, just any cancer story. [[User:Nhoel|Nhoel]] ([[User talk:Nhoel|talk]]) 13:51, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

Could Cueball and Megan be building a European city, as it evolved, was damaged and remodelled where 1 day of strips is 100 years? Maybe Cueball is curretly remodelling Notre Dame de Paris or Westminster??? If so, it should get interesting around day 17 [[Special:Contributions/129.238.237.96|129.238.237.96]] 17:34, 4 April 2013 (UTC)rbnm

<pre>#!/bin/bash

# Assumes you have a complete set of numbered PNG images in a
# directory called "./images". (See the script above) Makes a
# directory called "./cropped" containing N images that are 1 pixel
# wide by 395 pixels tall, each of which contains the second to last
# column of one of the input images. Finally, concatenates all those
# images into montage.png, which will be Nx395 pixels and can be read
# as a graph of water depth over time.

mkdir -p cropped
rm cropped/*.png
for i in images/*.png
do
f=`basename $i .png`
convert -crop 1x395+550+0 $i cropped/${f}_cropped.png
echo $f
done

montage cropped/*.png -geometry 1x395+0+0 -tile x1 montage.png

echo Wrote result to montage.png
</pre>[[User:Codegardener|Codegardener]] ([[User talk:Codegardener|talk]]) 21:00, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

He's making a mini-version of the whole sandcastle on top of the mound! You can see the two turrets on the left and the mound in the center!

They're inside an hourglass! ;) - Filippo

i believe that he made a fractal version of the scene atop the middle sandcastle... are we going to have an infinite zoom for a bit (or maybe forever?) - ck

Maybe it's some sort of reference to [http://xkcd.com/878/ Model Rail] where Cueball ends up with multiple model railways in his basement...--[[Special:Contributions/77.100.193.92|77.100.193.92]] 13:14, 5 April 2013 (UTC)
:<strike>Since it hasn't been brought up yet;</strike> reference to 878, this is Nesting, and there are FOUR visible layers.
:- "It's the second rule of 'model train layouts': No Nesting." (Strike and replace with the building sandcastles.)
:- "Whats the first rule?", "Do not talk about ... That rule was actually voted in by our friends and families.", "Philistines"
:Drifter [[Special:Contributions/24.106.78.38|24.106.78.38]] 19:26, 10 April 2013 (UTC)
::Actually 77.100.193.92 did bring it up, which is why I believe they're building a large trebuchet. [[User:Bdemirci|Bdemirci]] ([[User talk:Bdemirci|talk]]) 22:09, 10 April 2013 (UTC)
::Thank you Bdemirici & 77.100.193.92, sorry for the duplicatation. Now which came first... the coment or or the comic, 77...'s reference came before the center structure gained its malformed parapets. Drifter [[Special:Contributions/66.42.134.195|66.42.134.195]] 10:38, 11 April 2013 (UTC)

Whoa -- big change in scale, zoom in on Megan holding a mini trebuchet at about 5 pm central time Friday the 5th.--[[Special:Contributions/205.208.92.136|205.208.92.136]] 22:20, 5 April 2013 (UTC)--~~

A tiny trebuchet for use on the tiny turrets? Megan is kinda awesome. --[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 22:32, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

:I think she should "outgrow these toys and focus on something practical" ;-) [[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 22:59, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

Looks like they are re-enacting the trebuchet incident on the mini-castle. AH --[[Special:Contributions/108.244.73.186|108.244.73.186]] 23:53, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

Meta-physical time again: "I don't understand what the sea is doing" - wasn't it a river earlier? Is it a different sea? The river of time maybe? Where is Randall leading us? [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 03:09, 6 April 2013 (UTC)

:I'm thinking it may have to do with the title text from this comic. http://xkcd.com/4/
:I think it's obvious. They're not on a beach. They're on a recently exposed portion of the river bed. In time the river will come back and engulf the whole area. [[Special:Contributions/64.121.163.170|64.121.163.170]] 10:16, 6 April 2013 (UTC)

:I have redownloaded the 199:00 image based upon the hash here and it does still say "river", so Randall hasn't adjusted the "past" to fit the "present"... [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 05:50, 6 April 2013 (UTC)

:I've read somewhere that they are not on the beach. They are on some sort of a boat covered with sand. First they were in the river, and now they reached the sea. [[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 14:19, 6 April 2013 (UTC)

::So if they are on a boat then it isn't the river/sea that is rising it is the boat that is sinking (or having more weight added to it). [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 18:35, 6 April 2013 (UTC)
:It's pretty obvious to me. They're on a beach with a river running through it. Yes, beaches sometimes have rivers in them. And also, rivers that run through beaches tend to be very unstable and to move their bed all the time, because of the fact that it's running water through loose sand. That's why they talk about the river moving. [[Special:Contributions/80.212.115.55|80.212.115.55]] 08:04, 7 April 2013 (UTC)
:: This comic. http://xkcd.com/4/ {{unsigned|Zuffelnok}}

: xkcd Time Catapult done correctly http://i.imgur.com/XEKEfSR.png {{unsigned|118.129.231.136}}
:: Man, you have just too much... wait for it... time! [[User:Caranhyas|Caranhyas]] ([[User talk:Caranhyas|talk]]) 16:34, 7 April 2013 (UTC)

Just so it doesn't get lost, these are the last 2 hashes I've seen: e3e8169439be717a5661dba80cca623330516d87749f5c5bd83d4a4aae19b89a.png, a2c0f3ed4be680f5b794f0137a55af8704598a2105e1eff5fce750b07800c19b.png

Are they building a giant trebuchet? Another zoom out maybe? [[User:Bdemirci|Bdemirci]] ([[User talk:Bdemirci|talk]]) 05:13, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

I love how Randall is reacting to the discussion here. Is it a sea? Or a river? Let's have Cueball drink from it to clarify ;) [[User:Blue Charizard|Blue Charizard]] ([[User talk:Blue Charizard|talk]]) 09:42, 9 April 2013 (UTC)
:It could be brackish water ... and I have seen some fresh water rivers I definitely wouldn't want to drink from [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 15:10, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

:So this tells us 3 things:
:1) It's likely a sea.
:2) This comic, or at least a script (not in a programming sense) for it was very likely made by a human. So it's not randomly generated. We already knew this, but now it's confirmed once again.
:3) Randall is still working on this comic, or at least he was some time after he started releasing it.
:[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 16:51, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

I think by tasting the water Cueball was preparing himself for the inevitable - the water is going to continue to rise and nothing they can do will stop it: they are going to drown. This strip is about the slow, inextirpable, approach of Death - and this isn't the Death from a Terry Pratchett novel. [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 20:29, 9 April 2013 (UTC)
: Between the 376th and the 81st strip it can be noted how much the water has rised. And I've noted how there's no wind in the beach (river's mouth?), the flags don't move and the sea has no waves. Don't know if there's a meaning there. --[[User:Yinosanchez|Yinosanchez]] ([[User talk:Yinosanchez|talk]]) 21:18, 9 April 2013 (UTC)
:: I think you shouldn't compare it to frames before about 220, because that's where zoom changed last time. Also it looks like it will reach the castle in a day and a half from now.[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 22:17, 9 April 2013 (UTC)
:::The likely implication of the lack waves etc is that they are in an estuarine environment, where the rising tide may not have a bore at all. This might explain a few things, like the reference to a river, the strange behaviour of the sea, and perhaps might explain Cueball tasting the water (to see if he could determine the saltwater content). [[User:Eeijevs|Eeijevs]] ([[User talk:Eeijevs|talk]]) 22:34, 9 April 2013 (UTC)
::::Megan's reaction to getting the water in her mouth (cough, pffthh) and Cueball's are pretty similar ... call me crazy but I think there's something weird about the water beyond its salt content ... --[[Special:Contributions/76.84.59.83|76.84.59.83]] 04:20, 10 April 2013 (UTC)
::: And 2 hours after I said that, Megan built something right next to the water. I wonder if this was a coincidence... [[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 09:34, 10 April 2013 (UTC)
:::: It is, of course, a damm to buy them some time. :-) {{unsigned|84.180.241.162}}
:::: It wouldn't work as a dam in a 3D universe. It would have to extend infinitely in z to act as a dam. Then again, there's also no good way to support a platform with two posts. [[Special:Contributions/206.173.46.67|206.173.46.67]] 20:24, 11 April 2013 (UTC)

Can someone please move the list of images and their hashes to another page? Randal is showing no signs that the images will stop anytime soon. [[Special:Contributions/184.5.152.192|184.5.152.192]] 22:32, 9 April 2013 (UTC)
:I understand the sentiment, and considered at least commenting out the future tables, but this page does not need to be changed when the latest frames are uploaded, only when the hashes are added, and those of us still keeping the live XKCD page open do find it easier to just open the last few frames missed when looking away or sleeping.
:I do wonder if the wall of text is worth reducing by actually making the hashes a link with something like "Direct link" as the text. Is anyone still attempting to generate the hashes? [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 05:10, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

:I went ahead and made all the tables collapsed by default. If the comic continues beyond another couple of weeks, I vote for moving them to another page. --[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 06:44, 10 April 2013 (UTC)
::If the comic ever comes to an end, we could clear out the archived hashes and put all the image links into a multi-column table. The hashes are only really useful to editors trying to upload new images, they don't really add that much to understanding the comic. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 10:29, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

Just a theory. On Friday, April 19th at 00:00 there will be 1200 images in the comic, at the same time the strip 1201 of xkcd should be posted on the site. I'm guessing that will end it. (UPDATE: Math is wrong, was still counting half an hour updates. Sorry about that. The numbers will match on May 2nd at 6 in the morning, nothing special there.)--[[User:Yinosanchez|Yinosanchez]] ([[User talk:Yinosanchez|talk]]) 18:27, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

Perhaps it is about global climate change? "The sea is rising." and now they are building a very tall structure to cope with this ?AH --[[Special:Contributions/209.74.126.175|209.74.126.175]] 01:54, 12 April 2013 (UTC)
:Actually, looks like they're building a boat!!! [[Special:Contributions/64.121.163.170|64.121.163.170]] 10:04, 12 April 2013 (UTC)
::This is in no way close to a boat, look at any shipyard, that's not how you build a boat! --[[Special:Contributions/83.145.101.131|83.145.101.131]] 10:25, 12 April 2013 (UTC)
:::It is how you build an observation deck, though, or an airport control tower. And if you have the lumber to build such a structure, you could much more easily build a raft. So it's not like they're in any real danger of drowning when the tide gets higher. - [[Special:Contributions/206.173.46.67|206.173.46.67]] 20:40, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

It could be a raptor-proof tower .... not seen any of those in XKCD for a while {{unsigned|86.128.14.32}}

Looks like that small tower that Megan added in 500-502 is acting like a levee. The water outside it is higher now (569) than the water inside it. I can't imagine it'll help much, though.
--[[User:Mlv|Mlv]] ([[User talk:Mlv|talk]]) 20:40, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

[http://imgur.com/bSP5nWK Graph of water level over time] [[User:Codegardener|Codegardener]] ([[User talk:Codegardener|talk]]) 22:10, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

It appears that a couple of frames (4 and 427) get revisited a couple of frames later:
md5sum -b * | sort | uniq -w32 -D
—[[Special:Contributions/98.83.126.232|98.83.126.232]] 04:16, 13 April 2013 (UTC)

Has it slowed to once every 2 hours for new frames? --[[Special:Contributions/209.74.126.175|209.74.126.175]] 14:12, 13 April 2013 (UTC)
: For some reason, over the fast few hours the image wasn't automatically updating, and I had to refresh the page to see it. Now it looks like the image and static data XKCD servers are down... at least for me. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.119.153|129.21.119.153]] 03:50, 14 April 2013 (UTC)
:: Looks like everything's back to normal. Fortunately, the aubronwood animation page has correctly captured the frames that I missed (although it had a few duplicates during XKCD's weirdness, it's fixed now). [[Special:Contributions/129.21.119.153|129.21.119.153]] 15:20, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

Yes, I haven't been able to retrieve anything since 23:40 EDT. [[User:Larry|Larry]] ([[User talk:Larry|talk]]) 06:05, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

Has anyone else considered the relationship of this comic to John Cage's musical composition "As Slow As Possible?" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_Slow_as_Possible [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 07:08, 14 April 2013 (UTC)
:Yes, I did, in [http://www.lawrenceperson.com/?p=10316|my upstream link]. {{unsigned ip|72.183.97.222|00:34, 17 April 2013‎ (UTC)}}
:It surely can't be a coincidence that the comic released the day after this comment was all about John Cage, can it? [[User:DarthCrap|DarthCrap]] ([[User talk:DarthCrap|talk]]) 10:15, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
::Yeah, I noticed that. So who is trolling whom here? This group, or Randall? I would love it if he set up a foundation to keep this cartoon updating for the next N years, where N is the time backwards from this year to some particular early machine, ENIAC or Babbage's Analytical Engine or the Jacquard loom or the abacus, or whatever. (Refer to how the foundation sponsoring the Cage piece got their 639 years.) [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 08:02, 17 April 2013 (UTC)
:Another intergenerational project at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitch_drop_experiment [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 08:59, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

Just wondering, could the river/sea conundrum have anything to do with http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=4:_Landscape_%28sketch%29 and the original accompanying text "Don't ask me why there's a river running through the ocean. Please."? [[User:Blue Charizard|Blue Charizard]] ([[User talk:Blue Charizard|talk]]) 17:45, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

Notice the last couple of frames have begun to show waves in the rising sea. (Frames 627-628) [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 07:32, 15 April 2013 (UTC)

How could a small hill of sand stopped the entire sea. The world might be two dimensional, or Randall might have wanted to gain some time but it doesn't make much sense. {{unsigned ip|212.253.22.219 |12:06, 16 April 2013‎ (UTC)}}
:Seriously? Ok - time to review the physics of hydrostatic fluids, folks. Depth is the only variable in calculating fluid pressure. Whether its a bucket or the ocean, the pressure at any given depth in a fluid is the same. A small hill of sand can stop the entire sea. Waves, however, are another matter... [[User:Uglystick|Uglystick]] ([[User talk:Uglystick|talk]]) 14:34, 16 April 2013 (UTC)
::A small hill can stop the sea if it extends infinitely in the Z axis, otherwise the sea will simply flow around it. The other alternative is to encircle the castle with it, forming a moat, but then we wouldn't be able to see the inside. So this can't be a normal 3D universe. Lending some weight to the 2D or nearly 2D nature is that the first platform they put up was installed on only two posts. But the platform itself had width. Maybe they're stuck between two panes of glass like an ant farm. [[Special:Contributions/67.168.18.37|67.168.18.37]] 15:15, 16 April 2013 (UTC)
:::A 2D world would also explain why the structure they're on can stand. It's an imperfectly 2D world though; it's been mentioned below that a pole should in theory stop the water easy. I guess it has some 3D realities to it, i.e., a wall should stop water, but a pole shouldn't. {{unsigned ip|173.13.244.241 | 19:18, 16 April 2013‎ (UTC)}}

Water depth is [http://imgur.com/MBiShof increasing quadratically]? (Probably not, but it looks nice on the graph so far. My current guess is that it's a sine wave that will peak out at 103 pixels.) [[User:Codegardener|Codegardener]] ([[User talk:Codegardener|talk]]) 15:18, 16 April 2013 (UTC)

I think in the end it's about what you build up during life and how "the time" washes all of it away, eventually {{unsigned ip|87.178.224.240|16:05, 16 April 2013‎ (UTC)}}

If this were a 2D universe, wouldn't the best course of action be to bury one of the poles directly at the water's edge? That way, like the small sand hill, the sea would have to rise to the very top of the pole before it would flood the remaining sand structures. {{unsigned ip| 74.94.246.5|16:33, 16 April 2013‎ (UTC)}}

Just a remark: Frame 458 (time458.png on this page, or hour 337:00) is corrupt, i.e. it deviates from the original that can be retrieved via the hash address. Probabely it was a screencap rather than a direct copy - someone should reupload it.. Oh and the structure on the poles is definitely the mighty Randall's Arc (though it doesn't rain)... {{unsigned ip|93.135.113.244}}

Now they are 'building castles in the air' - dreaming of a future that will never come to pass? [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 11:43, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

:Why should building castles in the air be harder that building {{w|Server_farm|farm}} in {{w|Cloud_computing|clouds}}? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:37, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

The bucket on the pulley used to be carrying just sand. Now, if I read the situation correctly, it's carrying something that's heavier than Megan, so she can't use the pulley (or, possibly, anything else) to pull it up. Lead? Depleted uranium? Dwarf star remnant? [[Special:Contributions/67.168.18.37|67.168.18.37]] 15:06, 17 April 2013 (UTC)
:Seems to me like she was trying to raise ''herself'' up in the bucket, then lost her balance and collapsed part of the middle castle when she fell. - [[User:Acrisius|Acrisius]] ([[User talk:Acrisius|talk]]) 15:39, 17 April 2013 (UTC)
::That probably makes a little more sense than "dwarf star remnant". [[Special:Contributions/206.173.46.67|206.173.46.67]] 16:09, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

:::Especially considering that dwarf star remnant loosely placed on ground would fall through it. Even if the ground would be armor-plated. Unless it explode first. Hmmm ... this may be good question for the [http://what-if.xkcd.com/ what-if] - what will happen if you put dwarf star remnant with size of apple on ground somewhere on earth? Or neutronium? (What happens with black hole was already explained when LHC started.) -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:20, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

My favorite episode from the Batman TV series was one where the Riddler gave Batman a nonsense clue which contained a surveillance microphone. He'd then eavesdrop on what Batman “deducted” his next coup would be, and he made it happen. Seeing how the discussion here does seem to affect the events in the comic, I wonder if Randall is pulling a Riddler on us. Just as an experiment, I thought I'd mention that it's odd there are no seagulls at the beach ;-) [[Special:Contributions/201.235.179.15|201.235.179.15]] 16:49, 17 April 2013 (UTC)
:I like the way that the sea/river/metaphor is now slowly eroding the base of the tower on the right. Also, where are the fish ;-) [[User:Eeijevs|Eeijevs]] ([[User talk:Eeijevs|talk]]) 21:15, 17 April 2013 (UTC)
::I like how the erosion of the castle is accurate [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave-cut_platform].--[[User:Deplicator|Deplicator]] ([[User talk:Deplicator|talk]]) 11:11, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
::Aquaman?--[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 23:06, 17 April 2013 (UTC)
:Still no seagulls! [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 09:09, 18 April 2013 (UTC)

We seem to be missing time 561 from Wednesday? [[User:Jillysky|Jillysky]] ([[User talk:Jillysky|talk]]) 13:20, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
:And at the moment 599:00 and 600:00 are duplicates. I don't know if something happened (or didn't happen) then, or if the above issue is still being processed. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 18:00, 19 April 2013 (UTC)
::Fiiixed '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:47, 20 April 2013 (UTC)

In the frame-by-frame breakdown, the "Image" field simply gives the time in hours, while the "Time" field gives the time in days+hours. It would be helpful if the "Image" field instead gave an ordinal number indicating the number of frames (e.g., this would help to correlate the Transcript on this page with the frame numbers [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/ here]. The current "Image" field need not be deleted (I personally prefer time in hours to time in days+hours), but it might be relabeled as "Time in Hours". Implementing this would require some use of scripts, and would be best if adopted by the person updating the frame-by-frame breakdown in the first place. [[Special:Contributions/132.236.6.90|132.236.6.90]] 16:42, 19 April 2013 (UTC)
: If it's helpful to you guys this text file gets created automatically [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/data.txt]. I admit it had some problems in the beginning but I think they're all worked out now; it's been adding for days now without any problems. I know you cannot see line numbers in the browser, but if you copy and paste the whole lot into an editor the line numbers are 1 higher than the corresponding png frame.--[[User:Deplicator|Deplicator]] ([[User talk:Deplicator|talk]]) 01:44, 20 April 2013 (UTC)

When the server had a problem one image was 100 minutes late, and another was 50 minutes late. Because of this there was a file between time682 and time683 that wasn't posted here (time683 should have been time684), and many files after that are displayed here an hour before they should have been displayed, with the wrong filename. It also affects xkcd-time.wikia.com as I had got many of the files on there from here. I am currently trying to correct this. [[User:Patzer|Patzer]] ([[User talk:Patzer|talk]]) 03:01, 20 April 2013 (UTC)

I think it's now fixed. [[User:Patzer|Patzer]] ([[User talk:Patzer|talk]]) 03:59, 20 April 2013 (UTC)

Anyone have the slightest prediction on how many frames this Time series will last? [[Special:Contributions/118.186.193.26|118.186.193.26]] 07:44, 20 April 2013 (UTC)
:Sure, it will be exactly 42π! ... or rather ''<big>e</big>''42? Hmmmm… [[User:Trofobi|Trofobi]] ([[User talk:Trofobi|talk]]) 08:52, 20 April 2013 (UTC)
:5,601,594 images if he follows the John Cage time frame, and maintains hourly changes; plus/minus one or two depending on the fence-posts. {{unsigned|Taibhse}}

I think we have seen the profile of various famous castles come and go, but nobody has identified any of them. [[Special:Contributions/174.62.108.29|174.62.108.29]] 17:51, 20 April 2013 (UTC)
:I don't see anything obvious, but the second castle (revealed by the zoom) looks a lot like http://media.merchantcircle.com/39624740/cheesecake_castle_final_full.jpeg
:and now the castle she is working on begins to resemble the Taj Mahal...[[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 20:00, 20 April 2013 (UTC)
::Well, not so much, now. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 20:50, 20 April 2013 (UTC)
::It looks like Hogwarts.--[[Special:Contributions/70.134.68.234|70.134.68.234]] 21:36, 20 April 2013 (UTC)
I wonder if this could be building up to an all black panel for April 22. [[Special:Contributions/74.129.166.50|74.129.166.50]] 09:07, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

I just setup an own cronjob which checks the image hash periodly and writes them to a list when its changed: http://panther.stummi.org/xkcdtime.txt
It checks every 10 minutes so it also should notice if the interval changes --[[User:Stummi|Stummi]] ([[User talk:Stummi|talk]]) 09:12, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

The castle on the top appears to be the Disneyland Paris castle (http://0.tqn.com/d/goparis/1/0/1/A/-/-/disneylandaparisxmas09_francoisdurandgetty.jpg) [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 21:46, 21 April 2013 (UTC)
:...which is a rip-off of Neuschwanstein castle: http://blog.awaystay.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/oct_3_2012.jpg - still both don't exactly resemble the one in the comic.. {{unsigned ip|141.84.43.125}}

I'm guessing that the water will keep rising indefinitely, and we'll be left with an upward-moving strip that occasionally zooms out as the bottom layers are very slowly filled in with black "water." One thing that would make this interesting is the varying heights of the constructed structures (sandcastle turrets, platform, etc.) which would make the process of "overflow" from the right-hand side interesting to watch. {{unsigned ip|65.96.75.37}}

Oh the symbolism of it: Cueball leaves, Megan finishes building their castle, rests and lets her guard down. The next thing to happen is, a cute girl walks in, sees what the two have built together and leaves. The very next frame, the castle starts to fall apart. [[Special:Contributions/217.81.90.198|217.81.90.198]]

I'm expecting the lower level-castle to be swept away by the water, while the high-level castle will remain intact. This is quite reasonable, assuming Cueball and Megan knows how high the flood will come and thus they built the platform to an appropriate height. It may be interpreted as the lower-level castle being the work of our life, which is inevitable finite, and will be eventually overtaken by death. Recognizing this, some choose to build a castle for the "after-life". Life-death reflections have been common on xkcd in the past as well. {{unsigned ip|149.241.18.229}}

The [http://imgur.com/NEps6Fk pace at which the water is rising] has begun to slow. I think it's just a regular tide, and it only has a few more pixels to go before it begins to ebb. [[User:Codegardener|Codegardener]] ([[User talk:Codegardener|talk]]) 14:49, 23 April 2013 (UTC)

I call cancer. The tide slowly increasing, the castle threatened, the upper castle... I don't know, it just all gives me that impression. --[[Special:Contributions/193.205.81.1|193.205.81.1]] 09:02, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

I have to hand it to him though. He has entirely captivated all of us. I can't help but check every day (as opposed to every MWF) to see how the story unfolds. Many thanks to [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/ geekwagon] for keeping me up to date! [[User:Puck0687|Puck0687]] ([[User talk:Puck0687|talk]]) 14:26, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

Is it just me, or are the last 4 images missing? I don't know how often this gets updated, if it's still manual at all, I may have did bad calculations with timezones, but at least the current image isn't there. [[Special:Contributions/86.81.124.236|86.81.124.236]] 19:39, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
: I'm pretty sure this page is updated manually, so you'll have to wait for someone to update it. Nothing has been missed though. If you want to keep up to date, I suggest using one of the links under Explanation>Related Stuff, especially the aubronwood link. Those update automatically. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.61.189|129.21.61.189]] 20:54, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

For me, this is clearly about cancer and the impacts it has on a relationship over time. Randall's now wife was diagnosed and treated for cancer recently and through this comic, he's trying to portray the anxious wait they faced through treatment and remission. He has put us into his shoes by keeping us waiting in suspense to see how things end up. The passing of time represents their life together. At first it's just them relaxing together, probably the dating phase. Soon they start building a life together, represented by the sand castle. The castle evolves over time, much like their life has. Difficulties and gaffes in their relationship are depicted, for example when cueball trips and breaks down part of the wall. Eventually all efforts are diverted and put into defending against the approaching sea, which represents the cancer. The wall, the platform, all represent the steps taken to prevent and/or prepare for it's impending progress. The river represents the cure for cancer, which is still pretty far out, as cueball mentioned. There are many many more clues I see and explanations I can give to support this idea (castle in the sky, the rain, progress with research, etc.), but this is just starting point. I'm excited to see where the comic will end up, but I guess we just need to "wait for it". --[[User:Nick|Nick]] ([[User talk:Nick|talk]]) 21:25, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

:You make a good case, and much of the dialog supports that interpretation. Many of us must have been thinking along the same lines. A couple of points...there doesn't have to be only one meaning for the symbolism. Also, there doesn't have to be an "end."
:The John Cage connection also seems obvious.
:I have been struck by the similarity (and difference) to the Engineers in "A Mote in God's Eye." Innate engineering ability combined with naivete.
:I am confident that Randall knows there are literally thousands (tens of thousands? hundreds?) of fans out there giving them moral support and good wishes. Hmm...I wonder if readers are personified by the little girl? Probably not. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 22:50, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

The cancer metaphors are quite intriguing, but my take is environmental, possibly pollution and global warming. The French girl (beret) could be a nod to the Disneyland Paris castle. If so it’s our first interactive feedback with Randall on the 1190 strip.[[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 22:42, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
:Environmental pollution is tied to cancer incidence. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 00:18, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

:Global warming was suggested by
::Cueball: Sea level rises and falls, right? It's changed before.
::Megan: Not this fast.
:I don't know about the beret; Beret Guy has been a recurring theme. Just search xkcd for "beret." But never on a little girl? [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 23:26, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

I'm taking it that "sea" is a phonetic substitute for "c," "meaning "cancer." For better or worse, this kind of phoenetic clue was used in the Batman movie:
Batman: Pretty fishy what happened to me on that ladder.
Gordon: You mean, where there's a fish, there could be a Penguin.
Robin: But wait! It happened at sea! See? "C" for Catwoman!
Sigh. I wish I knew what "river" and "rain" represented. Medicine, maybe? [[Special:Contributions/98.117.33.206|98.117.33.206]] 23:03, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
:Medicine isn't supposed to make the "C" grow. Just the opposite.
:And on that note, back when I was working in "Muppet Labs" there was a great little book of cartoons circulating in the lab titled "CDC." Sample: "CDC?" "ICDC. DUCDC?" "O,ICDC2!"
::http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAO0M1tilKU [[User:Skiasaurus|Skiasaurus]] ([[User talk:Skiasaurus|talk]]) 05:06, 25 April 2013 (UTC)
:Nothing at all to do with the zombie comics from the actual CDC. But there's the disease theme again -- the CDC.
:And what programmer could miss the reference to "C." It gets tangled, which is the best way to do symbolism. Quantum-alphabetic entanglement. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 00:16, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

Well, I don't know if the intention here is that the "river" is making the "sea" grow. My point is that the dialogue is so nonsensical at points that it seems to be code. I'm taking every noun as a metaphor for something. "Sea" being "cancer" seems to fit ("The cancer can't make more of itself forever, can it?") I guess go back through the dialogue and see what other words could substitute for what they're saying. Like I said, I don't know what "river" or "rain" or "ground" could be in this metaphor. [[Special:Contributions/98.117.33.206|98.117.33.206]] 00:56, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

:Or "sand." This sand has some rather remarkable, not to say marvelous, properties! [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 03:08, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

If it's true this represents their struggle with cancer, this strip might very well continue into the future, updating alongside her real-time cancer progress, possibly for years, hopefully not for mere months. Randall knows how this will end no more than we do. [[Special:Contributions/24.29.73.162|24.29.73.162]] 23:49, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

Guys, if a new frame comes out and it's not uploaded yet, please consider uploading it yourself in the correct time slot. I'm trying to keep up, but there's always 8-hour gaps in our archives every time I go to bed. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:33, 25 April 2013 (UTC)
: I automatically download all frames as a base for my [https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2169004/tide.png tide measuring script] and I've closed lots of the 8-hour gaps every day. Now at least someone else is doing it, too and I currently can't see any gaps at all. Thanks alot for the collevtive effort! --[[User:TreibAir|TreibAir]] ([[User talk:TreibAir|talk]]) 07:41, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

Maybe a baby on the way? Waiting for the unknown tide to roll in (in 9 months)? {{unsigned ip|76.15.31.215}}

I think this is the last day. It's been exactly a month, they seem pretty done with it, and tomorrow's friday....On top of that, the most recent comic was the flipping of a switch on a time machine, in which, something happened, but we don't yet know what....it may be that the "Time" comic is being refreshed. ...Just a thought.... [[Special:Contributions/138.49.1.8|138.49.1.8]] 03:20, 26 April 2013 (UTC)Luke Wah
: The time machine, once switched on, reversed time to the point at which it was switched on, thus switching itself off. It doesn't seem to be connected to this. ~ Anariston

I'm still hoping they'll suddenly ride in on a tidal wave and smash the entire structure. You know, for closure. ~Pixie

I expect that from now on (Friday April 26th 2013) there will be no more story and the sea will erode the castle until nothing is left (most likely software generated). Maybe Cueball and Megan will return someday, walk to the shore, sit down and, after a while, start building a castle... Jacx [[Special:Contributions/217.81.72.248|217.81.72.248]] 11:56, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

Starting at frame 895 the black started fading to white, I think. [[Special:Contributions/217.81.72.248|217.81.72.248]] 12:03, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

: Yup, You're right, it's clear when you turn on the difference feature on geekwagon [[Special:Contributions/80.52.210.93|80.52.210.93]] 18:02, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

:: I don't see any fading to white -- we're on frame 905 now and everything looks as black-and-white as usual. O.o --Therrufying [[Special:Contributions/83.233.5.126|83.233.5.126]] 21:06, 26 April 2013 (UTC)
::Ah, ETA: I see fading now, but only after frame 910 in the Aubronwood animation. I guess it just wasn't visible on my old computer screen until now. --Therrufying [[Special:Contributions/83.233.5.126|83.233.5.126]] 16:36, 27 April 2013 (UTC)

I agree - the water has started eroding the castle to the right, and it makes sense for the erosion to potentially loop the comic back to frame 1. That said, the title text was "wait for it". This could be a euphamism suggesting "keep waiting, this comic changes", but it does have an implication that there is a "finale" to the comic that you should wait for. Hard to tell as it's vague. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 13:54, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

The most recent event is Megan walking in, saying "bye!" in *lower case*, and leaving. From the lower case, which is different from the rest of the comic, I infer that she was talking to *us*, not (eg) herself or the sandcastle! I reckon it's just going to fill up with water until the page is a static black rectangle. Especially since she and Cueball just talked about going off and exploring, grabbed their bags, and left. -cosmogoblin [[Special:Contributions/94.197.127.235|94.197.127.235]] 13:57, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

: I suspect the small text was to show a "small voice" - talking quietly and sadly perhaps? It does look like this could be the end of the story though - the last few frames don't seem to have done much after the "fade" in frame 895 - Hippyjim [[Special:Contributions/81.136.241.157|81.136.241.157]] 15:15, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

:: I agree with the small voice. The sea level is still rising, and interestingly, the sand barrier on the far right is eroding on *both sides* -- not just the seaward side, as previously. Changed properties of the sand or the sea, or both? I think the comic from here on is just going to be erosion. Entropy always wins. :( ~Therrufying [[Special:Contributions/83.233.5.126|83.233.5.126]] 18:02, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

::: The "both-sides" erosion is normal and realistic. If you haven't noticed, the water is on the left side of the embankment for some time already, look at the smooth horizontal line of black pixels between the rightmost castle tower and the embankment. The water just seeped through the sandy embankment and soaked it and starts to erode it. [[Special:Contributions/130.255.153.62|130.255.153.62]] 01:25, 27 April 2013 (UTC)
::::The large pile of sand never did form a barrier to the sea. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 06:54, 27 April 2013 (UTC)
:::::Yes it did; Megan's first barrier worked like that, the one she built after Cueball tasted the water. It didn't let in the sea until it overflowed. That was around frame 660-663 (in the Aubronwood animation). --Therrufying [[Special:Contributions/83.233.5.126|83.233.5.126]] 16:36, 27 April 2013 (UTC)
:::::Um...that's what I said. The /large/ pile of sand didn't ever act like the /small/ barrier. :) [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 18:29, 27 April 2013 (UTC)
::::::Well, it may have been what you /thought/, but it wasn't very clear from what you /wrote/ that you were actually agreeing with me and not with the previous commenter. Sorry for misunderstanding. --Therrufying [[Special:Contributions/83.233.5.126|83.233.5.126]] 13:31, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

14:00, 26 April 2013 EDT image is http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/3d8c2ab949ba7a18e64397eec0e9860bd8ce8dd7aa0475e985a4fde4e108ea2e.png [[User:Kaori Emora|Kaori Emora]] ([[User talk:Kaori Emora|talk]]) 18:39, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

It's just about over: the picture is fading out now. [[Special:Contributions/81.246.195.216|81.246.195.216]] 22:47, 26 April 2013 (UTC)
:Maybe it's just that a large moon is finally rising. That could affect the sea (and the light.) [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 06:54, 27 April 2013 (UTC)

Is it just me, or did the sea/river started to rise faster since the picture started fading to white? --[[Special:Contributions/201.53.213.201|201.53.213.201]] 14:58, 27 April 2013 (UTC)
:I don't think the time between frames is constant. Some consecutive frames, like the ones featuring the trebuchet (212-214), are less than a second apart.--[[Special:Contributions/70.134.72.83|70.134.72.83]] 18:51, 27 April 2013 (UTC)

Does the ladder and railing look like the axis for a graph? Is this a graph of people or area affected by water rise due to global warming - as a function of time? [[Special:Contributions/174.50.74.170|174.50.74.170]] 15:58, 27 April 2013 (UTC) rbnm
:That's...a bit of a stretch. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. [[User:Alpha|Alpha]] ([[User talk:Alpha|talk]]) 17:44, 27 April 2013 (UTC)

I've logged the fade panels (8-bit r=g=b) by image #, where image# 895=hour 774.
895-0,896-2,901-4,906-4,907-8,908-8,909-10,910-10,911-12,912-12,913-15,915-15,916-17,
917-18,918-20,919-20,920-21,921-23,922-23,923-24,924-26,925-29,926-30,927-31,928-34,929-37
The fade appears to be accelerating. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 20:47, 27 April 2013 (UTC)
:Someone should extract alpha channel from pics, make graph from it, and try to find functon that approximates it [[Special:Contributions/80.52.210.93|80.52.210.93]] 21:26, 27 April 2013 (UTC)
:I did add a line feed to the numbers because I do not like horizontal scrollbars.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:52, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

I don't have a web page to share plots, but here's the poly fit. Starting with time 774 as x=0: it's [3.6647e-4 x^3 + 2.4545e-3 x^2 + 0.5396 x + 0.4184] up to time 810. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 22:36, 27 April 2013 (UTC)

Time 811 - the black color stayed the same at 41 (r=g=b), 812-46, 813-48, the poly is now [4.4605E-004 x^3 - 1.5824E-003 x^2 + 0.59043 x + 0.33353][[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]])

It's fading to white a lot faster now than the sea is rising. Unless something else happens, I'd say it's all white by tomorrow. So, maybe if one source of entropy doesn't get you, another will. [[Special:Contributions/67.168.18.37|67.168.18.37]] 12:54, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

The fade rate poly is now [7.912739E-004 x^3 - 0.018842 x^2 + 0.794901 x + 0.09838], and is still on the same progression. At this rate, the panel hits 255 (full white) at 09:00 UTC, 4/29/13. Wait for it. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 14:24, 28 April 2013 (UTC)
:Do you know what the frame number will be when it hits white? Randall's pretty close to an even 1000, I'm wondering if he's engineered it to turn white for either 1000 or 1024. --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 20:20, 28 April 2013 (UTC)
::I believe it'll be filed as time966.png.--[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 20:52, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

Beret Girl at 950! [[User:Bdemirci|Bdemirci]] ([[User talk:Bdemirci|talk]]) 18:18, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

Just wanted to let you guys know (since you are the most hard core of 1190 fans), you can do this now [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=890&framediff=217 geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=890&framediff=217].--[[User:Deplicator|Deplicator]] ([[User talk:Deplicator|talk]]) 19:32, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

Updated projection: fade to white (rgb 255) at image # 967 (10:00 UTC) [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 23:18, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

Just an afterthought, a meteor hit directly on the sand castle would let Randall go out in a blaze of glory. I hope beret girl is OK.[[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 23:27, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

Seems like the story is not going to stop with total fadeout: image is still readable, as what was black is going to be 100% transparent (and probably still black), and white is still opaque. Maybe geekwagon page owner (or someone) could add a feature of removing alpha channel? --[[User:Electrichk|Electrichk]] ([[User talk:Electrichk|talk]]) 08:47, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

The early 80s song Fade to Grey from the band Visage comes to my mind. Memories of what happened start to fade over time and get more and more pale. {{unsigned ip|213.23.38.20}}

Again, if you're awake and the frame for the current hour hasn't been uploaded yet, please upload it yourself. I am doing the brunt of the work right now, and I am not available 24/7 to get the latest frame up. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 10:37, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

969 (+848) ''is'' completely blank on my LCD. <strike>I also cannot see Beret Girl in (967 or) 968 corresponding to +847 that [[User:75.84.65.238]]'s [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1190:_Time&diff=35521&oldid=35485 edit] suggests.</strike> I can see Beret Girl using [[Special:Contributions/192.54.204.33|192.54.204.33]]'s Paint with Black and White trick. This ''does'' include 969 which is otherwise actually monotone on my LCD, even on a great angle. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 13:53, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
: Try viewing the comic from an extreme angle. I was able to see the Beret girl in 967+968 by tilting my screen forward on my laptop. You can't really see it otherwise. If that fails, use Photoshop or look at the diff functionality [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=968&framediff=967 here]. 969 is completely blank to me. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.119.185|129.21.119.185]] 13:20, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
:: Wait, I got those numbers mixed up, I think. 968 and 969 have Beret Girl in it, you just need to view at an extreme angle to see it. 970 (+849) looks blank to me, but there's still something there. The scene uses RGB 254,254,254, which is why it doesn't appear at all on my screen. You can reveal it using the diff or a smart selection tool in Photoshop or the like. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.119.185|129.21.119.185]] 13:28, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
: Yeah, using the diff function on geekwagon.net is probably the easiest way to see it. She seems to be dragging something (looks like a canvas?) into the scene. But I can't see frame 969 (let alone 970) on geekwagon, the last frame there seems to be 968, and it appears completely white on my monitor without the diff view. --[[Special:Contributions/186.203.199.207|186.203.199.207]] 13:46, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
:: Just copy the image to Paint and set the image property to Black & White. All non-white (255,255,255) pixels are set to black (0,0,0) and the image is revealed. [[Special:Contributions/192.54.204.33|192.54.204.33]] 13:35, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
:::NB With Chrome, copying the image from xkcd [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/44c15893fedd846f0f503a7871a7775cade2a0d90987ff9651e5c742d4cf54d8.png] or here [[:File:time970.png]] (+849) with right-click -> Copy image looses the detail. You need to get the .png into Paint for it to work. Copy image URL and Paint's File > Open will do it. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 14:10, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

OK, *now* it's completely white (as of day 36 10:00) [[User:Larry|Larry]] ([[User talk:Larry|talk]]) 14:08, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

And [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/99d67c40662fe2db377c9f7c8d6a5b1b82566b24b7d9a665638e16b299747325.png] (972 +851:00 36/11:00) was missing for a couple of minutes... [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 15:07, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

And now there is an image again (frame 971/972)! Looks like slightly uneven black ground under a white sky. Wow, I really thought that was it when it faded to white. Cool cool cool. --Therrufying [[Special:Contributions/83.233.5.126|83.233.5.126]] 15:53, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Hmm... we gonna see a guy floating in a barrel?? -z64dan [[Special:Contributions/204.57.93.104|204.57.93.104]] 15:56, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

And now we're off to see the wizard!! This is great! A comic within a comic! [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 17:23, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

I don't see this as a comic in a comic -- I see it more as act 2 (after the fadeout of act 1, with the stage crew jumping the gun and being caught on camera heading on stage to change the set). Theoretically, this second act can be as long as the first one -- The Quest for the Source of the River/Sea. (Hmmm, that reminds me of the song "River in the Sea" from the musical Ten November, a 2 minute sample available at http://www.prudencejohnson.com/sounds/gales/River_in_the_Sea.mp3). [[User:Meteoricshipyards|Meteoricshipyards]] ([[User talk:Meteoricshipyards|talk]]) 18:18, 29 April 2013 (UTC) Tom A.

:By "comic within a comic" I meant that not only do we await a new xkcd installment several times a week, but now we also have a single panel (1190) with an ongoing story. This is even better than Click and Drag! [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 19:10, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Just wanted to say: I don't think the beret girl is a girl at all. It's a boy with an old-fashioned navy-style cap. Popular with boys at the beach (in the old days). See images here (http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x130/JTMarcus/h1.jpg) and here (http://cabinetcardgallery.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/kidwithcap_0003.jpg) I also like the fact that, just before the castle completely fades away, you can barely see the little boy bringing more materials (maybe another support beam?) to continue the work.
I like the continuity of letting the beret boy (not girl)
: Wether it's a navy cap or not may be open to interpretation (though I'd still bet it's a beret - it surely looks a lot more like the one the beret guy wears, and I think Randall would have put a little more effort into that detail if he wanted it to pass off as a navy cap). As for it being a boy, no. It's definitely a girl, you can clearly see it has a longer hair, and come to think of it, Randall rarely draws any hair at all for male characters anyway. --[[Special:Contributions/201.53.213.201|201.53.213.201]] 23:36, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

I am hoping that this "Time" somehow connects to the [http://xkcd.com/1110/ "Click and Drag"] comic i.e. when the camera zoom out far enough, we'll see that they are actually in the "Click and Drag" world. --[[Special:Contributions/98.14.191.109|98.14.191.109]] 23:59, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

:Is it just me, or should there be a category to contain both this and [http://xkcd.com/1110/ "Click and Drag"]? Should the categories "Interactive" and "Dynamic" be merged into something like "Epic" or "Nerd Sniping"?[[Special:Contributions/38.78.130.2|38.78.130.2]] 14:30, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

Odd, it looks like +861, +862, and +863 are out of order, judging by the ground not changing at all and the characters not walking continuously. I wonder if that was an accidental mistake in XKCD server's delivery of the images or if there's an actual meaning to it. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.63.158|129.21.63.158]] 02:17, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

During the last glacial period the sea level was more than 100 meters lower than it is nowadays, so coastal structures looked very different and the continents exposed much more land. I believe the first act of this comic references medieval ages in Europe where people would witness (over the scope of hundreds of years or longer) losing land and coastal towns to the sea but not understanding the process, as Megan states. I'm expecting the second act, and possibly further acts, to reference the abundance of scientifical discoveries made during the last few centuries. [[Special:Contributions/37.201.91.80|37.201.91.80]] 12:17, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

I could hack a little bash script on my server which uploads the current image every hour. However for this i need uploads by URL from API allowed ($wgAllowCopyUploads in LocalSettings.php). --[[User:Stummi|Stummi]] ([[User talk:Stummi|talk]]) 12:25, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Would be great if at the end of the walk, there's a band playing "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons.

It will end with image 1190, of course. [[Special:Contributions/66.38.57.117|66.38.57.117]] 16:54, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Well, they've made it back to the beach. I think it will end either at 1000 or 1024, and the only reason it might go to 1024 is allow some dialog and zooming in. :-) --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 18:01, 30 April 2013 (UTC)
: I thought that too initially - the terrain features certainly seems identical (to scale) to the one at the start of the story. But something's bothering me; it's about the frame before we see they are back on a beach - they are already seated, so it's fair to assume they haven't moved, yet the terrain is different. By looking at the terrain, you could guess that maybe the terrain is inverted, which would then indicate that the frame with the beach in view is from a different angle than the previous frame. But for that to be the case, Cueball would have to be behind Megan on the previous frame, yet, their positions are unchanged on these frames. So, I don't know... I'll stop rambling now, and just wait and see, I guess... --[[User:Fernandofig|Fernandofig]] ([[User talk:Fernandofig|talk]]) 18:27, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

::Well, guess it's not ending just yet :-) . The duo packed up again and they're getting out of the beach (whichever it is). --[[User:Fernandofig|Fernandofig]] ([[User talk:Fernandofig|talk]]) 22:06, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Wait, what? It looks like they are suddenly back at a beach that looks the same as the first one, just zoomed out. But before when the scene was presumably inverted, the terrain didn't look quite like that. If the scene really did get inverted, maybe they aren't actually on a beach right now, but the sea will eventually expand until it reaches them. Then again, we don't know if this is the same plane of space that the original beach was either. They were just walking to the right. The concept of space in this comic is confusing me right now. I wonder if this will make sense later. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.63.158|129.21.63.158]] 18:41, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

But what about their knapsacks? I guess they are not going to throw them to the sea... Hope this won't end up with loop right now, it would be too disappointing --[[User:Electrichk|Electrichk]] ([[User talk:Electrichk|talk]]) 19:07, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

It appears that the camera perspective has changed. 1 - 970 are all perpendicular to the shoreline, with the water on the right, camera looking down the shore. 971-996 are shown parallel to the shore line, with the camera position apparently out over the water or standing at the shore, looking back toward land. (If the camera had maintained the original position, the characters would have simply gotten smaller as the walked away, but instead we got to see the walk across the frame while presumably following the shore.) In 997, the camera perspective just comes back around to be a profile shot again, looking down the shoreline, water once again on the right. -- [[Special:Contributions/65.183.156.9|65.183.156.9]] 19:40, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Near the end of the transcript, it says that at +847 Beret Girl drops in again, dragging something. I used Photoshop to lower the brightness, and can see about half of her head facing away from the sandcastle. She's not dragging anything. Here's my evidence: [http://i.imgur.com/7zByxrs.png] [[Special:Contributions/108.51.68.241|108.51.68.241]] 22:24, 30 April 2013 (UTC)
*Try frame +848, that's where you can see her dragging something ~Pixie

I added a section for normalized versions of the first 10 hours of day 36. If anyone wants me to add more, e.g. go back to where the fade started, I would. BTW, I used something like 'pngtopnm $i | pnmnorm | pnmtopng > $j' inside a loop. Those commands are from the NetPBM package. [[User:Larry|Larry]] ([[User talk:Larry|talk]]) 23:33, 30 April 2013 (UTC)
:You can also use Paint ^_^ [[Special:Contributions/86.29.117.25|86.29.117.25]] 17:17, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

If Randall decides to go into a loop, let's not forget he can change any single frame or create a parallel storyline from any frame he likes. [[User:Blue Charizard|Blue Charizard]] ([[User talk:Blue Charizard|talk]]) 07:16, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

He guys, what was with the grey on I think 1008-1011? And what happened to it? It disappeared on everything.--[[Special:Contributions/108.70.209.33|108.70.209.33]] 16:23, 1 May 2013 (UTC)
Don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but from frame 998 to 1001 (sitting, side-on view), the 'water' level continues to rise.

Not sure if it has ever been brought up but has anyone noticed it says "BTC 1NEPgrUmed3VyXpqbYZom7YVJ8MozYrNWx
We did not invent the algorithm. The algorithm consistently finds Jesus. The algorithm killed Jeeves.
The algorithm is banned in China. The algorithm is from Jersey. The algorithm constantly finds Jesus.
This is not the algorithm. This is close." at the bottom of every page. i could not find this algorithm anywhere else [[Special:Contributions/74.4.25.11|74.4.25.11]] 18:58, 1 May 2013 (UTC)
:That is on every comic, it has nothing to do with this one. http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=footnote look at this page on it. {{unsigned|Zuffelnok}}

Just a thought - In panel 1018 (time 897), Megan states "If we don't find something today, we'll have to start using the steam bottle." If that means they're out of water... the last update has both of them drinking water at the edge of the river. No one spit it out this time. If they refilled their water bottle at the river, it's not the source of the pollution. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 23:38, 1 May 2013 (UTC)
:I don't think there's pollution going on; the body of water they started at was an ocean, so it was salt water. They have come to a river, so they can now drink the fresh water.[[Special:Contributions/163.120.70.10|163.120.70.10]] 00:48, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

FWIW, you can get the normalized (non-faded) portion of the fading scene very easily with imagemagick. Assuming you have the named like image00000.png image00001.png etc.. you can get a nice animated gif from "bye" to beret girl with:
convert image008[89]?.png image009[0123456]?.png image00970.png -shave 2x2 -auto-level norm.gif
HTH [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.71|216.239.45.71]] 00:51, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

Is this now a choose your own adventure? I choose 'Walk Up River'! [[Special:Contributions/162.5.71.176|162.5.71.176]] 16:27, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

Are there efforts underway to make '''3D representations of the landscape?''' [[Special:Contributions/63.153.208.177|63.153.208.177]] 18:14, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

Has anyone considered connections to this already? http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/the_alan_parsons_project/time.html [[User:Greyhoundc|Greyhoundc]] ([[User talk:Greyhoundc|talk]]) 12:38, 7 May 2013 (UTC)

...And there we got as far as frame 1190, which several people have called as the end, and the story does not appear to be resolved at all. How long can this go on? --Therrufying [[Special:Contributions/83.233.5.126|83.233.5.126]] 17:07, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

Okay, so it didn't end with 1190. Must have misread the prophecies. [[Special:Contributions/66.38.57.117|66.38.57.117]] 00:51, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

"How long can this go on? I would say a very long time. Currently, each day is filled mostly with a very few backgrounds used over several comics with only the characters moving -- not that difficult to produce -- and maybe a few lines of dialog, which also allows for the repetition of the background. He can probably keep this pace for months. It would be a bit disappointing, but possible. The strip certainly doesn't seem to be approaching any sort of conclusion. But, I think, like certain kinds of art, its the presentation that important. And he is presenting Time. -Tom A. "Time is a local condition." - wish I could remember who said that. [[User:Meteoricshipyards|Meteoricshipyards]] ([[User talk:Meteoricshipyards|talk]]) 15:12, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

==Uploaders==
Can I please not be one of the only three people on this wiki uploading frames? I live a busy life, I miss some of the time slots. If you see that the frame for the current hour hasn't been uploaded yet, try clicking on the red link and uploading it yourself. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:39, 2 May 2013 (UTC)
:I did sign in right now and will try to help.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:02, 2 May 2013 (UTC)
::I'd really like to do so, but everytime I look, I can't find the missing ones in my cache esp due to filenames - Is there a script or sth how I can save the original .PNGs automatically to another folder when they update? [[User:Trofobi|Trofobi]] ([[User talk:Trofobi|talk]]) 09:39, 3 May 2013 (UTC)
:::Here's the quick hack I run every 10 minutes. I don't know what an "sth" is. [[User:Larry|Larry]] ([[User talk:Larry|talk]]) 13:11, 3 May 2013 (UTC)
<nowiki>
#!/bin/bash

j=$(TZ=EST5EDT date +%j)
h=$(TZ=EST5EDT date +%H)
m=$(TZ=EST5EDT date +%M)
d=$(printf %.2d $((j-83)))
fakem=${m%?}0
fakef=Time-$d-$h$fakem.png
if [ ! -f $fakef ]; then m=$fakem; fi
f=Time-$d-$h$m.png
oldf=$(ls Time* | tail -1)
{ echo -n "$d/$h:$m "; wget -O $f http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time.png |& grep following | tr "/ " "\012\012" | grep png; } > hash.new
cmp -s $f $oldf && mv $f /tmp
oldhash=$(tail -1 hash | cut -d' ' -f2)
newhash=$(cat hash.new | cut -d' ' -f2)
[ "$oldhash" = "$newhash" ] || cat hash.new >> hash
mv hash.new /tmp
</nowiki>
::::Thank you! "sth" just reads "something" :) [[User:Trofobi|Trofobi]] ([[User talk:Trofobi|talk]]) 21:31, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

All frames and hashes are automatically saved to http://xkcd.mscha.org/. [[User:Patzer|Patzer]] ([[User talk:Patzer|talk]]) 12:53, 3 May 2013 (UTC)
:WOW, that's great! [[User:Trofobi|Trofobi]] ([[User talk:Trofobi|talk]]) 21:31, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

==Animated gif==
hey, can we upgrade the animated gif to a picture with a sliding bar? maybe with a play/pause button as well? this way you can jump to whatever frame you're interested in, and pause for however long you like on frames with text and such... [[Special:Contributions/81.218.146.161|81.218.146.161]] 11:40, 2 May 2013 (UTC)
:Some kind soul has already made that here - http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/ - not sure how well it'd drop into this wiki though [[User:Hippyjim|Hippyjim]] ([[User talk:Hippyjim|talk]]) 13:05, 2 May 2013 (UTC)
::Doesn't seem to be working for me :( [[Special:Contributions/107.205.30.219|107.205.30.219]] 00:53, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

==Talk too long==
The Discussion block is pretty huge and I thing it should be removed from the main page. Maybe a link and a hint to the link at the tab on top of this article. What do you think? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:12, 2 May 2013 (UTC)
:I, for one, wholeheartedly endorse this. Consensus?--[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 22:02, 2 May 2013 (UTC)
::Agreed. [[User:Hippyjim|Hippyjim]] ([[User talk:Hippyjim|talk]]) 08:45, 3 May 2013 (UTC)
::: And done. If any admins disagree, please revert [[User:Hippyjim|Hippyjim]] ([[User talk:Hippyjim|talk]]) 09:05, 3 May 2013 (UTC)
:::: It looks great, site is loading much faster.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:03, 3 May 2013 (UTC)
::::: Thank you! After all, that's why there are talk pages in MediaWiki. --[[Special:Contributions/82.135.84.245|82.135.84.245]] 16:44, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

== Image updates ==

Is Randall playing with me? My script is collecting at 00,05,20,35,50 each hour but many times now I got this:

969:00 41/09:00 f8a6414c334a71481e16428691fe8465098b2bae956e44727d0482c7632a84ff.png

I still could get the correct update, but I have to check all downloads so far.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:41, 4 May 2013 (UTC)

I'm seeing that, too. For myself, I'm going to filter them into a separate directory. [[User:Larry|Larry]] ([[User talk:Larry|talk]]) 22:45, 4 May 2013 (UTC)

I'm getting ...a84ff from http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time.png, but the main http://xkcd.com/1190/ gives the current image. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 23:43, 4 May 2013 (UTC)
The 00:00 UTC (8 pm EDT) update worked. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 00:02, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

Has anyone noticed that the exact same identical image was re-used several times recently? If you go to http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/ and tell it to show differences from frame 1090, and then start clicking forward, the following frames are all exactly the same: 1094, 1097, 1101, 1103, 1107. Looking at http://xkcd.aubronwood.com/# you can then see that 1111 and 1113 are also the same. The rapid perspective change makes the animation appear to strobe. Could this be some strange attempt to illustrate something like an earthquake, or are they just re-using frames to avoid having to draw so many? [[Special:Contributions/65.183.156.9|65.183.156.9]] 02:38, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

: As you may have read above, the server did deliver one image repeatedly, so some sites may show this image multiple times. --[[Special:Contributions/84.174.9.61|84.174.9.61]] 08:24, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

You can see it in the [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/log.txt log for geekwagon], do an in page search (ctrl+f) for f8a6414c334a71481e16428691fe8465098b2bae956e44727d0482c7632a84ff. That image is collected multiple times and causes other images to be duplicated too because the script only checks to see if the current link is different than the previous.--[[User:Deplicator|Deplicator]] ([[User talk:Deplicator|talk]]) 13:15, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

I think what happened is that one of the three sites (107.6.97.102) started giving the same result each time. Now, I think they are down for maintenance.... --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 20:47, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

== Hours ==
There seems to be a problem starting with today (Sunday, 2013-05-05): The first picture should be 984:00 and not 983:00. I'm not able to check if it's simply a bot (?) error writing down the hours or something more serious. --[[Special:Contributions/82.135.84.245|82.135.84.245]] 15:56, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

Hour 983 on image 1104 Saturday (23:00 UTC) also appears on image 1105 Sunday (00:00 UTC). The image numbers are correct, but the hour count appears to be off by 1 hour now.[[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 16:34, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

: Holy shi... it's my failure. I am starting to correct this right now. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:36, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

== Not all images do map to the hash ==

I did run this great command posted here before on 13 April 2013:
md5sum -b * | sort | uniq -w32 -D

Then I did rename all duplicates to image???_.png. After that I did download the hashes from here to image???.png and run the check again.

First result is easy. Files are changed so md5sum for image002_ and image002 are different but content is the same. But 004 is wrong and I will update this one.

878341ab1f710e5832aa7ed5cfa66ed7 *image002_.png
878341ab1f710e5832aa7ed5cfa66ed7 *image004_.png

I will check all carefully and post my updates at the bottom of this section.
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:01, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Ok, how can I change that images? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:07, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

I found a way to updates the pictures, it's just a little bit tricky... --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:25, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Next duplicate is also easy because files are still the same:
129721094a74fe94c723160991a1e704 *image427_.png
129721094a74fe94c723160991a1e704 *image429_.png
7be206b1c026b697de59e52c19f0a866 *image427.png
7be206b1c026b697de59e52c19f0a866 *image429.png

--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:37, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

And new downloads from xkcd are still different on MD5 but this two files are also identical for a viewer:
6d3d9449d1df1f56547387da4259806c *image440_.png
6d3d9449d1df1f56547387da4259806c *image441_.png
827a569e5c806011f0d4d5564357e4d4 *image440.png
827a569e5c806011f0d4d5564357e4d4 *image441.png
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:41, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Same is this - only MD5 did change:
5de911984714c1ec7bf93149a5cca9b4 *image454.png
5de911984714c1ec7bf93149a5cca9b4 *image455.png
87d0de6b865fa94ab91902cddcc0af70 *image454_.png
87d0de6b865fa94ab91902cddcc0af70 *image455_.png
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:43, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

BUT NOW the problems start:
c6edf2a01b16d6df6751acdb00599054 *image704_.png
c6edf2a01b16d6df6751acdb00599054 *image705_.png
c6edf2a01b16d6df6751acdb00599054 *image705.png
db365290ce50176dad01c0087510f513 *image703.png
db365290ce50176dad01c0087510f513 *image704.png
I did rename 704 and 705 to 704_ and 705_ and download the hashes again to the 704 and 705 names.

My old 703 is same as my new 704 which does mean we have a glitch here!!!

--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:54, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

----

UPDATE LOG:

image4 is changed (again)--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:25, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

: After downloading again the pictures around 700 everything looks fine. I can not find more duplicates.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:18, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

Boy, that one gave me headaches. 1236 and 1237 seem to be the same. MediaWiki doesn't like multiple images that are the same... --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 20:15, 10 May 2013 (UTC)

: I am not a boy, I am slightly older...
: But in fact 1237 is same content as 1236 and MD5 hash is also the same (not the first one) but the link HASH is different. It is maybe a new hurdle for us. I will check. Stay tuned... --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:28, 10 May 2013 (UTC)

:: It seems you could fix this. Files are just identical. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:33, 10 May 2013 (UTC)

----

I just uploaded a bunch of hashes and files, there have been some errors. The hashes are now correct, but could somebody please check that the files (1410 to 1420) match the hashes? --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 07:59, 18 May 2013 (UTC)

== Split the movie? ==

The page is becoming impossible to load.

I would suggest to split the movie into pieces, for instance by making a separate sub-page for each week (avoiding embarassing discussion on the most natural cutting point). Each week can have a separate description, seven-seconds animation, list of 7x24 pictures etc, and a link to the following and previous weeks.

Any objection / comment / suggestion ? [[User:Biem|Biem]] ([[User talk:Biem|talk]]) 05:16, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

:My only suggestion would be give it larger segments. I don't think it needs to be as small as a week - after all, it loaded fine for a very long time. Maybe approx. half a scene each? Scene 1 is 971 frames long, so how about split at 500, at 971, and again at 1500 (when it gets there)? [[Special:Contributions/24.129.75.17|24.129.75.17]] 08:12, 8 May 2013 (UTC)
::It's one and a half megabytes. The biggest issue here probably is the anemic servers that managed to struggle and crash even when that animation was just a static png and the page itself was only a few lines long. When the image starts clocking in at ~4-5 megabytes, it'll probably get to be a proper problem for those on poor connections, but we're not quite there yet. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:36, 8 May 2013 (UTC)
:I suggest pushing the hashes off onto their own page(s). That's 80% of the page's text right there. (Seriously. Click 'edit' on the main page and scroll.) At the very least, we could archive March and April. As more hashes are added, we archive the older ones. Maybe just constantly leave a week's worth of hashes on the main page? --[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 15:18, 10 May 2013 (UTC)
::Examine [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals#Time: The Table]] '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 15:22, 10 May 2013 (UTC)
Here is a possible breackdown structure where sequences are ~130 pictures long : (number of frames / Start frame number))

Part 1 : Sand Castles
(127) 001: First sand castle
(105) 128 : Second sand castle (180) and Catapulte
(090) 233 : Joining castles
(100) 323 : Miniature castle
(116) 423 : Scaffold
(131) 539 : Plattform
(132) 670 : Fourth castle
(173) 802 : Sea rising & fade out
Part 2 : Wildernesses
(150) 975 : Seashore
(100) 1125 : Rivershore
(115) 1225 – : Hills
(087) 1340 - 1363 – 1379 : Trees
(124) 1427 : Baobabs
1551 – 1581 Berries
1619 – Squirrel
1640 Berries
Suggestions that can be discussed :
* Sequences should be 100-150 pictures long (with possible exceptions).
* Even if the image is not that big, the length of the movie can be a problem when one wants to check for details : short sequences allow for a slower pace.
* Good cutting points would be : two consecutive identical pictures, changes of scenery. Sequences with the same theme should on the contrary be kept together when possible.
[[User:Biem|Biem]] ([[User talk:Biem|talk]]) 09:13, 28 May 2013 (UTC)

== What is the sea? ==

It doesn't have to be an "ocean." Consider the Aral Sea. The Dead Sea. Our "sea" doesn't have any surf, apparently. Frame 1187: "I wonder if it's ''possible'' to swim in." Our characters don't know whether you can swim in a river? Have they never seen fresh water deep enough for swimming? [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 13:26, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

:This is not real life. And they know it's not real life. Maybe they are in some sort of Matrix and know about it, or they are playing a video game. They've seen in developers' blog that devs are working on a lot of new features for version 0.19, such as improved sand physics, multiple rivers, rain, salty water, trebuchets, swimming, surf, etc. But then developers decided to release part of these features in version 0.19, and leave the rest for 0.20. When Cueball an Megan saw that version 0.19 is out, they immediately decided to try it out, without even looking at the changelog. So they don't know which features made it into this version, and which ones will be in the next one. So far they have played around with new sand physics and trebuchets, tried swimming in the sea, tried to drink sea water, found a new river. They haven't seen any surf, so they think it'll be in 0.20. They have yet to try swimming in a river, or see the rain. They have also found a bug that causes sea level to raise indefinitely. They think it could be caused either by rain, additional rivers, or just by a griefer who built a giant sand generator array to fill in the sea and flood everything. Oh, and they can't just create a new private world to see if the sea raises there, because of the DRM.
:Did I miss anything? --[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 17:37, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

::Yes! I see it all now! Beret girl is the griefer! [[Special:Contributions/66.38.57.117|66.38.57.117]] 01:01, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

:::I think it was black hat. --[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 14:54, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

:It looks like they've also added bird (sic). --[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 15:30, 12 May 2013 (UTC)

Swimming in a river is dangerous if there's a strong current. Even slow moving water has a lot of power. The sea could be the ocean, connected to the ocean, or one of the large bodies of water referred to as a sea. Enjoy the comic and have fun second guessing Randall.[[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 18:17, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

We know: "The sea is big" and "The river is small".

But we also know about the sea: There are no waves. It's just rising. So it is not an ocean, it's just a lake. Many people say "sea" to a lake when they can not see the other side.

And we know their home river is small. But right now they explore a different bigger river.

We know it's not summer so maybe it is spring and the river is rising like every year?

Cueball and Megan will find out, but we have to Wait For It!

--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:38, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

Both characters have slept occasionally but never at the same time. There has been no depiction of night (unless the fade counts as one.) Hmm... [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 20:21, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

: It seems we are still at day one. Building castles in the morning and exploring their environment after that. But you are right, they have to sleep and I do fear about many DARK pictures...--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:50, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

Has anyone noticed that when the camera zooms out to show the other side of the river/see the middle island just becomes smaller, but the '''distance''' between Cueball / Magan and the middle island stays the same? --[[User:FG|FG]] ([[User talk:FG|talk]]) 15:0, 10 May 2013 (UTC)

It seems like the two river halves (or two rivers) merge as Megan and Cueball hike upstream. New point: I joined all the images covering their journey since image 1150 (last stop for water). it spans 18204 pixels. Assuming Cueball is 6 feet tall (wild guess + it's an even number), they have now hiked a total of 0.517 miles (83228.7 cm) from image 1150.[[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 13:32, 10 May 2013 (UTC)

Considering the elaborate and fragile sand castles, the one- and two-person construction of the platform and its castle components, and maybe the latest antics at the top of the dunes, it appears that gravity is not Earth-normal. Or perhaps the law of gravitation is not our-universe-normal. (No reason it should be, of course.) [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 03:11, 11 May 2013 (UTC)

== Archive ==

Since this 1190 will never end, will it? I think we need some archive sites.

First could be "1190 Time Images 2013-03 March" (<- I am calling this human readable ISO)
So, if you understand, each month of picture links and hashes on a separate page.

Next would be "1190 Time Images 2013-04 April"

And a few months from now we also have to do this for the "Transcript".

What do you think? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:46, 10 May 2013 (UTC)
:If this comic goes on forever, maybe. For now, we could probably compact the page by grouping the frames from each month into wider tables and scrapping their hashes. The hashes are really only useful for checking that we got the images right, so they're kinda useless for the really old ones. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:05, 11 May 2013 (UTC)

::Since we do not know if there is anything hidden in the hashes we still should save them here. But past months could be moved into a different page.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 10:27, 12 May 2013 (UTC)
:::They're hashes, I'm pretty sure there isn't anything hidden in the arrangement of letters and numbers. If there was, the xkcd forums would have been all over it long ago. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 10:44, 12 May 2013 (UTC)
:::: Maybe you are right but they are still the original file names on xkcd.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 11:53, 12 May 2013 (UTC)
:::::We don't carry the original Click and Drag filenames on this wiki; the filenames of parts of large comics don't carry anything of value to people visiting the wiki. They only really help with cross-checking images with the originals to make sure we didn't mess up anywhere, and we've already done that to death for the earlier images - so the hashes for earlier images no longer hold much value. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:02, 12 May 2013 (UTC)
::::::Don't shout at me. I am just thinking about archiving past months to different pages. The current month should stay on the main page. I am new here and so I am doing not that edit until I get some agreements. But we should save ALL here.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:22, 12 May 2013 (UTC)
:::::::I wasn't shouting, there is no need to bring ad hominem into this discussion. There are a number of solutions available here; we could tabulate frames per month as per [[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#Time:_The_Table|this neglected post]], offload prior months to other pages, or scrap old hashes to cut a large portion of the article's body text. Each solution will lead to degradation of the explanation, splitting the article will force multiple page loads while removing the hash values will be destroying part of the metadata around the comic. Ideally, we wouldn't have to make the split at all, but speed considerations mean that we eventually will have to do it. In that eventuality, all we can do is the thing that degrades the explanation for the average visitor the least. What do visitors care more about, faster load times/having all the frames on one page or having 1000-odd incomprehensible and meaningless hash values? We don't display the individual filenames for Click and Drag even though they were more informative than the hashes here, because they hold little value to visitors; they only take up space that could be used to further enhance the explanation. Pure archival without curation is what other websites do, not a wiki with the intended goal of making xkcd accessible. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:56, 12 May 2013 (UTC)
::::::::IMHO having all of the images here is as useless as having hashes: most people use aubronwood or geekwagon anyways. To decrease loading times, I'd suggest to do 2 things:
::::::::#Move all tables to a new page.
::::::::#Replace the animated gif with a static gif (possibly latest frame?) that links to the animated gif.--[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 14:15, 13 May 2013 (UTC)
::::::::I think if we are to keep the hashes at all, they should appear on the description pages for each image. There's no reason for them to be on the comic page. [[User:Skiasaurus|Skiasaurus]] ([[User talk:Skiasaurus|talk]]) 23:09, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

== Prediction ==

Does anyone else see the last frame (whenever it may be), have the ability to connect to the first, thus creating a cycle? [[User:Schiffy|Schiffy]] ([[User_talk:Schiffy|Speak to me]]|[[Special:Contributions/Schiffy|What I've done]]) 22:14, 11 May 2013 (UTC)

:No reason it couldn't, but it seems premature. Early days yet. What's Beret Girl up to? [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 15:15, 12 May 2013 (UTC)

My only prediction is: We will see what did happen to that castles and we will see that Beret Girl again. Wait for it!--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:27, 12 May 2013 (UTC)

My theory: Based on the frames don't change much; Randell is an expert at creating xkcd frames; he only needs 24 per day to keep going; and we have no idea how long he's been preparing for this. It could last forever.--[[User:Deplicator|Deplicator]] ([[User talk:Deplicator|talk]]) 19:42, 12 May 2013 (UTC)
:It will not last forever. But it seems it will still last for a long time. Wait for it!--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:22, 12 May 2013 (UTC)
::Forever is a big speculation. A more realistic speculation would be "as long as the Internet."--[[User:Deplicator|Deplicator]] ([[User talk:Deplicator|talk]]) 19:41, 13 May 2013 (UTC)

You realize that what we've seen so far is what the beginning of a comic that goes on forever looks like :-) Tom A. ("I don't want to be immortal through my art! I want to be immortal by not dying." - Woody Allen.) [[User:Meteoricshipyards|Meteoricshipyards]] ([[User talk:Meteoricshipyards|talk]]) 14:20, 13 May 2013 (UTC)
:Perhaps yesterday's bird was a hint at today's comic. Or he had dinosaurs on the brain. (Don't we all?) [[User:ChozoBoy|ChozoBoy]] ([[User talk:ChozoBoy|talk]]) 14:57, 13 May 2013 (UTC)

So Cueball and Megan seem to entering a region with much more vegetation. Up until now I had assumed that the previous regions had vegetation as well but Randall just hadn't bothered drawing it (such detail is rare in XKCD). So what does presence of vegetation mean? More rainfall? Higher elevation? Also how far have Cueball and Megan travelled? I don't think the frames are necessarily contiguous - if this was a movie we'd have background music to go with the images. They could have been travelling for days or weeks - I definitely don't think it is still the same day as the start of Act II. I suppose 'time' will tell. [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 17:13, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

The yawn suggests that they haven't slept yet, so quite possibly the same day. Also interesting that they seem to treat first the small bush and now the tree as worthy of notice -- were there no trees where they lived? [[Special:Contributions/173.228.6.11|173.228.6.11]] 06:36, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

The current frame (1355) looks remarkably similar to the area at left hand edge of XKCD 1110 (Click and Drag), which also features the same two characters discussing how they've walked "pretty far". I wonder how much of a coincidence this is. [[Special:Contributions/82.69.211.1|82.69.211.1]] 11:46, 15 May 2013 (UTC)
:http://xkcd-map.rent-a-geek.de/#10/1.3189/-92.1423
:http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=1355
:--[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 15:28, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

Hmm, and despite the overall journey feeling epic, didn't someone calculate the distance travelled (calculated via Cueball units) to be only a mile or two? [[Special:Contributions/99.123.5.106|99.123.5.106]] 01:48, 16 May 2013 (UTC)

Does anyone has an explanation for the change from frame 1360 to 1361? --[[User:FG|FG]] ([[User talk:FG|talk]]) 10:41, 16 May 2013 (UTC)
: I thought the transition from 1359 -> 1360 was even more 'abrupt' than the transition from 1360 - > 1361 (in fact my first thought was that 1360 was out-of-order or some other 'mistake'). But from subsequent frames it has become clear that Cueball wandered off and explored the area on his own while Megan was sleeping. [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 15:56, 16 May 2013 (UTC)
::I think [1359:1362] looks similar to [1097:1120]. Probably Cueball was just walking perpendicularly to the image. --[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 21:13, 16 May 2013 (UTC)

Here's another example of the slightly 'strange' way of talking: "I'm surprised we haven't been seen by any people yet". Wouldn't most people say: "I'm surprised we haven't seen any people yet"? So who are 'people'? Are 'people' somehow invisible to both Cueball and Megan? Are 'people' a threat? Have 'people' also moved on because of the rising sea level? [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 19:25, 17 May 2013 (UTC)
: Speaking of strange phrases, for them to say that tree "probably knows what it is doing" is rather odd. Are they in a world where trees have consciousness, or are they just deeply confused? [[Special:Contributions/66.193.253.212|66.193.253.212]] 18:45, 23 May 2013 (UTC)

The latest frame (1506) has two trees. They are almost certainly baobab trees. There are 8 species of baobab tree, but of those 8, 6 are endemic to the island of Madagascar, including the species which the trees in the comic most resemble, the Grandidier baobab. Even if they are not one of the six species endemic to Madagascar, the fact that they are baobabs still limits them to the continent of Africa, the countries of Oman and Yemen, and northwestern Australia. This means that the big sea, if it is an ocean, is most likely the Indian Ocean. [[Special:Contributions/76.92.118.150|76.92.118.150]] 18:30, 21 May 2013 (UTC)
:I think we are just at a fantasy world. And Randall is working against every prediction done here or at some forums. We only have to "Wait for it!".--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:07, 21 May 2013 (UTC)

Does anyone else agree that frames 1485 through 1487 are exactly identical? Just a glitch somewhere?[[Special:Contributions/98.201.4.16|98.201.4.16]] 01:56, 23 May 2013 (UTC)

:Yeah, not only the pixels, but also the files' checksums are exactly the same. Checked it twice. --[[Special:Contributions/83.243.48.2|83.243.48.2]] 08:57, 23 May 2013 (UTC)

== Map ==

Sóme hardcores made a map of The One True Comic: http://edfel.atwebpages.com/Time-Map.svg
Including in on main page could be a good idea [[Special:Contributions/80.52.210.93|80.52.210.93]] 06:58, 15 May 2013 (UTC)
:Why does it say "Flatland" instead of "flatland"? Most other labels are lowercase. Is it a reference to Edwin Abbott's Flatland? Or am I just overthinking a typo?

This map is a great job and when we do know that this is correct we have include it here.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:51, 17 May 2013 (UTC)

Map URL has changed (old URL displays link to new URLs). New map links: [http://edfel.atwebpages.com/Time-Map.php JavaScript version] and [http://edfel.atwebpages.com/Time-Map.php?js=no non-JS version] - [[User:Acrisius|Acrisius]] ([[User talk:Acrisius|talk]]) 13:37, 28 May 2013 (UTC)
:I did fix the links and also at the main page.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:20, 28 May 2013 (UTC)

"Description: The allocated data traffic of the hosting account for this website has been exceeded and the website is temporarily suspended"
Maybe we should host the map here on the wiki? --[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 20:14, 30 May 2013 (UTC)
:No, this map is funny but still not validated. Help me to collect some facts at the bottom here. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:30, 30 May 2013 (UTC)

Where did the map go? I'm getting "...does not exist or cannot be displayed" Does your page have an error? Or are you having hosting issues?--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 01:36, 31 May 2013 (UTC)

== Words of Randall ==

Has Randall ever said anything in the past 2 months pertaining to this comic? Better yet, has anyone ever tried to ask him? [[User:Schiffy|Schiffy]] ([[User_talk:Schiffy|Speak to me]]|[[Special:Contributions/Schiffy|What I've done]]) 05:18, 17 May 2013 (UTC)

:NO--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:53, 17 May 2013 (UTC)

== Simple English ==
Conversation is in "Simple English". I am not native English but I think we should mention this. Am I wrong?--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:57, 17 May 2013 (UTC)
:I'm not aware of a distinction between "Simple" and regular English, at least in the USA. I ''think'' it's just something they use for teaching non-native speakers. --[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 00:32, 18 May 2013 (UTC)
::"Simple English" isn't a special dialect or anything, but the conversation definitely has a simple, almost naive, style. Lots of single-syllable vocabulary without much Latin-derived flowery or "sophisticated" words. I counted 27 three-syllable words and one four-syllable word in the entire dialog, scenes 1 and 2 combined. They don't seem to have a name for "sand dunes." They talked about a river being "broken." They are very playful, mature but child-like. It gives the story a kind of alien feel. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 17:27, 18 May 2013 (UTC)
:I think the OP is referring to Basic English: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_English [[Special:Contributions/198.102.153.1|198.102.153.1]] 22:55, 22 May 2013 (UTC)
Similar to the xkcd explaining the Saturn V rocket in simple english.[[Special:Contributions/173.49.75.137|173.49.75.137]] 03:57, 20 May 2013 (UTC)

I did mean "Simple English" as Randall did mention before, not only here [[Up Goer Five]]. Look at this WIKI for [http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page Simple English Wiki]--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:09, 22 May 2013 (UTC)

== Are We Lost Yet? ==
http://xkcd.com/170/ {{unsigned|66.162.182.66}}

== Big trees ==
A great guy at the xkcd forum did identify the big trees starting at frame 1503 (1382:00 hours). They belong to Madagascar and their name is {{w|Adansonia grandidieri}}. But also a few of them do exist in the US. So I am still not sure where we are.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:11, 23 May 2013 (UTC)

::One of the little asteroid-planets from The Little Prince?
::"Now there were some terrible seeds on the planet that was the home of the little prince; and these were the seeds of the baobab. The soil of that planet was infested with them. A baobab is something you will never, never be able to get rid of if you attend to it too late. It spreads over the entire planet. It bores clear through it with its roots. And if the planet is too small, and the baobabs are too many, they split it in pieces..." [[Special:Contributions/69.123.166.176|69.123.166.176]] 00:20, 24 May 2013 (UTC)

:Looks like we have grapevines now, or something like them, with man-made trellising. [[Special:Contributions/12.153.137.82|12.153.137.82]] 21:47, 23 May 2013 (UTC)

== A hypothesis ==
Randall's animation is taking place in a distant, post-collapse future ("distant" is relative, here-- say sometime in the next few hundred years, though possibly much further): human civilization is back at a late-Iron Age stage of development, though maybe with slightly more sophisticated metallurgy. The reasons I suggest this are: 1) rising sea-level that is on-going, 2) they can work wood and they have agriculture, 3) they have shown no awareness of any more "advanced" technology, 4) yet they have no qualms about wandering off into the wilderness without what most of us would consider adequate protection.

The one reason I might think it's farther into the future is the bit with the trees. I can't decide if their shape is a consequence of evolution (convergent, so that they are very similar to the {{w|Adansonia grandidieri}}), or they were transplanted (presumably to somewhere south? Higher altitude? Both? Antarctica?). Evolution would imply deeper in the future, and transplantation could be sooner.

I'm really interested to see what the truth is, because it's got me thinking along all kinds of planes.[[Special:Contributions/184.99.231.23|184.99.231.23]] 21:38, 24 May 2013 (UTC)

== Stuck Again ==

Randall seems to be stuck at hour 1524 (image number 1545), at 20:00 UTC we now have 5 copies of the same empty image with half a vineyard with no end in sight.[[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 20:31, 27 May 2013 (UTC)
:No, files are still different, even when you can't see it. File sizes did change and also md5sum. But I did not check the small changes visual right now. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:47, 27 May 2013 (UTC)
::Use "Previous Frame Difference" on geekwagon, you can see a line of pixels that differ. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 20:50, 27 May 2013 (UTC)
:::I wonder if the squirrel is following her...--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 21:27, 27 May 2013 (UTC)
::::Me too, but I am hoping Megan will get a pet. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:30, 27 May 2013 (UTC)
I see the streak. I expected the squirrel to follow her. Geekwagon showed it, so did Photoshop.[[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 22:07, 27 May 2013 (UTC)
: It's probably the squirrel, though the frame difference visual made me go "snake! snake in the grass!" [[Special:Contributions/173.228.6.189|173.228.6.189]] 22:14, 27 May 2013 (UTC)
::It's still fun. Will Megan get at pet? A chary Squirrel? I am still tuned. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:24, 27 May 2013 (UTC)
http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=1647&framediff=1646--[[User:Deplicator|Deplicator]] ([[User talk:Deplicator|talk]]) 01:35, 28 May 2013 (UTC)

The squirrel appears to be in the tree the first time Megan & Cueball walk by in image numbers 1582 & 1583. http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=1583&framediff=1582 [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 13:05, 29 May 2013 (UTC)

New clue, image 1692 - "Still, it's better than when we were following the sea, walking straight into the sun all morning." Walking east along the sea, it places them on the south side of anything. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 15:23, 29 May 2013 (UTC)

This may be more speculation than not, but the two turned north to follow the river and are now walking on a heading somewhere between NE and NW, which puts them in the northern hemisphere if they can see their shadow in front of them. This is also confusing since there aren't many Grandidier's Baobab trees there [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_grandidieri].[[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 20:46, 29 May 2013 (UTC)

I agree that these orientations are plausible from the dialog in the strip, but remember, we're already pretty certain that they're not in the same universe as us, so we may not be able to assume that the sun rises in the east. There's no evidence to demonstrate that their world rotates west-to-east like ours does, but there's no evidence that it doesn't, either. Let's at least remember the possibility that all of these directions are reversed from what our current theory states. [[Special:Contributions/71.201.53.130|71.201.53.130]] 18:24, 30 May 2013 (UTC)

At least this time we know it's a snake. In image 1738 [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=1738] the curled snake is fully visible, complete with a raised head and tail. At 2 pixels high, details are a little sketchy.[[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 17:06, 31 May 2013 (UTC)

== The Planting People ==

So what do we know about them? They've been gone a while, long enough for Cueball to believe it was fine to take grapes. But they haven't been gone for a long time, because we've seen a staked sapling that is likely only a year or two old. They have vineyards and what look to be orchards. They appear to use tents, at least the frame we saw looked to be tied together at the top to form a teepee frame. They are sophisticated enough to do things like put benches next to trees, so they aren't subsistence farmers. Anything else? [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 18:14, 28 May 2013 (UTC)
: Forgot a couple of things, they have what is possibly writing (are Cueball and Megan illiterate?), and it's different than that of the Hill People, but their debris appears to look the same.

They appear to be either hunter-gatherers or have abandoned the area (for some reason - why?). From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomadic] "Many groups of 'nomadic' hunter-gatherers (also known as foragers) moved from campsite to campsite, following game and wild fruits and vegetables." We have seen three campsites; Cueball burried the embers from their fire (see image 1048 & 1062-1064 [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=1064]). [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 13:22, 29 May 2013 (UTC)

:I did wonder about some kind of seasonal movement, but if so it's odd that they left the teepee to collapse (and be damaged, one of the supports is visibly cracked) rather than taking the materials with them or storing them more neatly. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 17:44, 29 May 2013 (UTC)

Go to a vineyard in late summer or early autumn, you will not see the "The Planting People". We only know that we are at this particular season because they can eat grapes from that plants and before they could swim in the sea. And both are following the sun in the morning, witch does mean they are walking East. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:28, 29 May 2013 (UTC)
:Yes, but you will see the Harvesting People if the grapes are ripe, and they apparently are. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 21:28, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

Finally seeing where all the wood came from -- stumps everywhere. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 21:28, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

== What do we know by the end of May 2013? ==
I'm trying to collect some facts:
:-They did build a sand castle and the weather was warm enough to swim in the sea. The taste of the water is bad, and the sea is raising.
:-Then both are trying to find a reason for that raise and they are starting to travel around this special river.
:-They are still going uphill while we never have seen that mountains.
:-Eating grapes from a vineyard means we are at least at late summer.
:-Walking to the sun in the morning is just walking to the east.
Two month's in this comic and we really do not know much more. Stay tuned, wait for it. We do not know much more essentials. Does Randall?--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:43, 29 May 2013 (UTC)

They are also apparently now heading west, or mostly west. Their shadows are in front of them, and while that could be west in the morning or east in the evening, they are contrasting it with walking into the sun in the morning as they were along the shore, so it's west. Presumably they were walking mostly north until the decision to head for the mountains, since Cueball has just started playing with his shadow. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 00:50, 30 May 2013 (UTC)

:OK, but they are walking to the sun in the morning. That's east (on northern hemisphere, I still do not think we are at Madagascar). So we do have an other fact:
:-Around time frame 1700 it's evening.
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:07, 30 May 2013 (UTC)

:-If you walk into the sun, you are walking east.
:-They then turned to their left to go upriver. That's would be going north.
:-If you are above the tropics, your shadow will always lay to the north of you.
:-Megan says what they're doing is better than when they had to walk into the sun, and it's been established that they walked along the sea for days, so they'd be familiar with walking with the sun directly behind them, too. If they were now walking west, it would pretty much be the same situation, except reversed. It doesn't really make sense to me that she'd call one situation better than the other. It feels more like they aren't walking into the sun ''at all'' anymore. Therefore, I think they are now keeping the sun relatively behind them by going north, which indicates they are north of the equator, and probably north of the Tropic of Cancer. Even at noon, the sun would be behind you slightly, to the south. And if you're walking uphill, it would be very visible to you.
:--[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 01:23, 2 June 2013 (UTC)

They are moving East as Megan did explain. When they can see their shadows in front of them it's just evening, the sun is now behind them. What tells me that Day One is coming to an end. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:59, 2 June 2013 (UTC)
:They did mention that that had been walking for days, so who knows how many days it's been.--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 21:45, 2 June 2013 (UTC)

Does [http://what-if.xkcd.com/48/ today's "What If"] give a clue to the current year? Unless it's been "fixed", it says "two hundred years from now, in April of 2432". :-) [[User:Larry|Larry]] ([[User talk:Larry|talk]]) 13:34, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

== Map exceeding bandwidth ==

The map here seems to be failing due to excessive bandwidth: http://edfel.atwebpages.com/Time-Map.php

I might be able to help with some bandwidth. If you know who is doing this and they can get in touch with me,(I'm [http://twitter.com/sevitz @sevitz] on twitter or via here) I might be able to help depending on BW requirements.

[[User:Sevitz|Sevitz]] ([[User talk:Sevitz|talk]]) 06:59, 31 May 2013 (UTC)

:This map is incorrect but still a great fun. They are walking west in the evening, not north. But I am also sure the site will be back soon.
:Nevertheless, if you can help here you are welcome! --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:08, 31 May 2013 (UTC)
::No, their shadows are in front of them, so they are either walking west in the morning or east in the evening. Since they were comparing it favorably with their experience of walking east in the morning along the sea shore, they therefore must be going west (or mostly west) currently. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 19:29, 31 May 2013 (UTC)
:::Also, they've probably turned away from the river, since Cueball thought it important to refill the water bottle before heading for the mountains. So, east along the seashore, north along the river, then west towards the mountains. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 19:33, 31 May 2013 (UTC)

== Snake Theories ==

Megan mentions snakes with spikes over their eyes. That covers several species, all poisonous, but they are native to the American west and southwest, Mexico, Central America, north Africa and the Middle East. The snake that Cueball finds might be a {{w|Anguis fragilis|slow-worm}}, a limbless reptile native to Eurasia. It's shiny, brown, has a blunt head, and can shed its tail like a lizard, which might give it a half-finished look if Cueball saw it that way. But a stronger contender is the {{w|rubber boa}}, which is native to the western US, and has a famously stubby head and tail.

This makes me think of one area: The {{w|Great Salt Lake}}. The {{w|Bear River (Utah)|Bear River}} empties into it from a northerly direction, and the area has the rubber boa and at least one type of poisonous horned snake. Native Americans of the area even had legends of the Horned Serpent. And that ''had'' to be a teepee we saw earlier. (I don't think Native Americans had trebuchets or berets, though....) --[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 01:59, 2 June 2013 (UTC)
:(...Except, unless they built a salt castle, it's more likely to be in a place with considerably more sand.)[[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 19:32, 2 June 2013 (UTC)
::The Great Salt Lake makes sense unless this comic does not belong to our real world. We just have to find this {{w|Adansonia grandidieri}} trees or something similar at Utah. And this lake has beaches of sand, ok salty sand.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:44, 2 June 2013 (UTC)

The snake also seems to appear in frames 1645 to 1651 http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=1645&framediff=1644 {{unsigned|Flying Djinn}}

== Follower? ==

Megan is looking back sometimes since a few frames... May she has the feeling that someone is following them? People from the hills? The squirrel? -- [[User:Joggl|Joggl]] ([[User talk:Joggl|talk]]) 18:08, 2 June 2013 (UTC)
:Yeah, Megan is looking at something. But what it is we just do not know. Wait for it. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:48, 2 June 2013 (UTC)
::Perhaps it's Beret Girl? She's the only other human we've seen so far. [[Special:Contributions/94.170.131.19|94.170.131.19]] 21:33, 2 June 2013 (UTC)
:::It's just the sea, they must be high in the mountains. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:05, 2 June 2013 (UTC)

We've got chicks, and not the first time: In image 1830-1831 Megan says "I heard chirps from the night sky once. I was looking at the stars one night and I heard peeping. - It was very quiet. - just a single chirp now and then." They were sleeping under a tree around image 1354, a bird flies overhead, later Cueball takes a walk. We can see some chicks at the end of his walk at images 1374-1376 [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=1375&framediff=1374]. It just took me a while to figure out what it was.[[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 20:35, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

Take a closer look; there's some kind of wisp hanging out in some of the empty frames and the ones Megan's looking back in. It's only about a pixel wide, but a few long; broken up, serpentine, almost ethereal.

== Aubronwood problem ==

Has anyone noticed that the aubronwood site only seems to show every other frame after a certain point? [[User:Schiffy|Schiffy]] ([[User_talk:Schiffy|Speak to me]]|[[Special:Contributions/Schiffy|What I've done]]) 15:52, 3 June 2013 (UTC)
:Yes, it looks buggy. I'm always using my own downloads and this [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/ geekwagon].--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:11, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

== Elevation? ==

The elevation map on the edfel map hasn't been updated in ages, and I'd like to see how high up they are now. Anyone else found one anywhere? [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 21:31, 3 June 2013 (UTC)
:You are right and we need a proper map on this like the water level before. I will try this soon, maybe tomorrow.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:48, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

:I've been mapping the journey from the start, piecing each segment end-to-end in Photoshop. There is no significant net elevation change until they started following the river. The net elevation change from image #1150 to now (#1818) is 1402 pixels = 210.2 feet (assuming a 40 px average height of Cueball and using 40 px = 6 feet). However, since this is a comic, one may assume a greater height than that actually depicted. The horizontal distance along the same river walk is 59516 pixels = 8927.4 feet (1.7 mi, 2.7 km). I don't have the distances along the sea. The average speed, using 1 hr/frame update, is 0.0025 mph, 0.0041 kph (at 5 min/frame update the speed increases to 0.0304 mph). [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 22:07, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

== What do we know by the beginning of June? ==
:- thanks to [[User:Galois|Galois]] we do know they did travel around 3 km (NASA is getting better on this metric units).
:- thanks to [[User:Galois|Galois]] we do know they did climb approx. 65 meters (maybe slightly more because 6 feet or 1.8288 meters for Cueball is maybe a little bit too much).
:- they are still in real nature, the most technical devices we have seen is just wood.
:- but they also did cross a road at the beginning of their travel.
:- now both are heading uphill while the mountains still far away.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:11, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

I'd like to think Cueball is shorter, I used 6 ft because it's convenient and yields longer distances. The tallest Baobob tree is 516 px (rescaled to the running comic) = 77.4 ft (23.6 m) using a 6 ft Cueball. Note that using a 5.5 ft (1.7 m) Cueball, the tree drops to 71 ft (21.6 m). The Wikipedia page [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_grandidieri] on the Grandidier's baobab states they can reach 25 to 30 m (80-100 ft) in height, 23.6 m is about right. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 23:40, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

I don't follow this as religously as others so maybe I missed the obvious answer, but why is it assumed that we have seen all of the way they went? I alway thought the parts where they are hiking is like a "montage" in film, where lots of parts might be missing in between the snapshots we see. {{unsigned|193.171.69.65|05:58, 6 June 2013}}

(please sign your posts - don't worry, we're all here out of a mutual enjoyment of the xkcd comics) Actually, I looked into the possibility a while back, but it didn't work. Randall runs 3-5 frame updates with the two walking across the same panel. As they leave one panel on the right, they enter the next on the left (and visa-verse for the trip back to the sunken castle). Additionally, I only came across three panels that didn't adjoin perfectly (one in the sand dunes and two trees that didn't continue into the next panel). [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 11:12, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

== Image reference from late on the 67th day ==

At about 22:35 on the 67th day, the image reference "6fa2b361791e805aac0a89008a891e3999a0519ed870c1bc3dcc8dbff5e071d5.png" appeared for a time. It was after "f4e2276e4c47409412666b28be0cca75fedae3c182c4017932891c147004c720.png", followed by a few more of that reference and then by "133fddaecbdee3f5160771b68ce02cbc2b4b1c84a40faffb1bcaa6f75588edd0.png". At the time, I did not get a copy of the image, and it is not now available for download.
Did anybody else see this image, and does anybody have a copy of it?
--[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 20:12, 6 June 2013 (UTC)
:I am also confused, my download was also broken at that hour. 404 Not found.
:It is at 1606:00 or image 1727 - still more confusing numbers. Randall could not do it much better.
:And "http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/6fa2b361791e805aac0a89008a891e3999a0519ed870c1bc3dcc8dbff5e071d5.png" is still 404...
:So, we have an image here, but is it correct?--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:48, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

My image number 1728 is 133fddaecbdee3f5160771b68ce02cbc2b4b1c84a40faffb1bcaa6f75588edd0.png. The image fits properly in sequence with the other images around it. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 22:32, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

OK, apparently it was completely broken at that time. I just felt I needed to ask, since I wasn't downloading actual images at that time, just the references, and so I have a broken reference in my list. --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 02:03, 7 June 2013 (UTC)

== Pictures and Time Collage ==

some clips << '''Warning - Big Pictures''', see pixel sizes>
:River Merge images 1097-1121 (549×750px) [[:File:River Merge 1097-1121.png]]
:River Bank walk 1a images 1150-1232 (17674×650px) [[:File:River Bank 1a 1150-1232.png]]
:River Bank walk 1b images 1233-1409 (17549×650px) [[:File:River Bank 1b 1233-1409.png]]
:Cueball Walk images 1360-1378 (2745x650px) [[:File:Cueball Walk 1360-1378.png]]
:River Bank 2 1424-1608 (13682x1000 px) [[:File:River Bank 2 1424-1608.png]]
:Mountain Walk 1667-1844 (11529x1200px) [[:File:Mountain Walk 1667-1844.png]]
:Composite of Megan with Squirrel [[:File:Megan_with_Squirrel.png]]
:[[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 20:16, 5 June 2013 (UTC)

::I think "Cueball Walk images 1360-1378" is wrong. It looks more like if Cueball was walking perpendicularly to the image. [[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 22:03, 7 June 2013 (UTC)

Nice work Galois! How we can show this pictures at the comic page? Maybe with a smaller preview for a link to to the full size picture with a warning about this. But also I think it should be at a different page. Any ideas?--Dgbrt (talk) 20:26, 5 June 2013 (UTC)

Also posted at [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]):
Thumbnails are not working at this moment. But nevertheless I think it's not a good idea to include that large pictures. My idea:
:Create that big pictures, separated into some parts, remove Megan and Cueball and then change only the width to 1200 pixels. And one picture should cover all at the width of 1200 pixels. Scene 2 could be split into several collapsible parts with the terrain picture on top. Just an idea, what do you think?--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:59, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

I opened a new page for the pictures: [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1190:_Time:_Pictures]. It's experimental and subject to (wiki-style collaborative) change. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 12:45, 7 June 2013 (UTC)

== Megan and Cueball sleeping deep for the first time ==
Maybe they will be disturbed by some flies or other animals, but now it's night... They will sleep because the first day is over. Good night!--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:27, 7 June 2013 (UTC)
:This is not the end of the first day. According to frame 1600 they walked along the sea for days. If the later timeline is similar then they've walked up the river for days as well.--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 23:55, 7 June 2013 (UTC)
::At frame 1600 Cueball says that they "walked along the sea for days". But at this comic they are walking along the river, the travel at the sea must happend before. Since they are walking again it seems both are sleepless.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:31, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
:They also slept under the tree in images 1348-1352, Megan talked about that night in 1830-1832 (time 1709:00) "Megan: I heard chirps from the night sky once. I was looking at the stars one night and I heard peeping. - It was very quiet. - just a single chirp now and then. Cueball: Did you see anything? Megan: I thought a few stars flicker. - Nothing else." [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 00:40, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
::The story from time 1709:00 also refers to things did happen before this comic did start.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:31, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
::I agree too, but not this time... there is a chick in the grass in the scene next to the tree where they slept. See [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=1375&framediff=1374] or "Chick in grass 1375" in 1190: Time: Pictures [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1190:_Time:_Pictures] in the Hidden Animals section. The same type of chick was right in front them in time 1709:00 (see "Chick in grass 1826"). [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 13:58, 8 June 2013 (UTC)

== Philosophical implications ==

I think the huge following that this comic has gathered - the amount of work by people like Aubron Wood and the guys at geekwagon, explainxkcd editors, general xkcd enthusiasts, the people at XKCD time wiki - raises some interesting questions. At this point we're not even clear how Randall is writing these comics: he may have designed them all from the start, or he may be writing 24 a day, going along with it, according to the natural progression of events and what has led up to now. It has interesting parallels with the {{w|design argument}}. It also makes you wonder about how it's all going to end. There are so many ongoing discussions - and have been from the start - about how the comic is going to conclude. Just as in real life we take so many different roads and never really know where we're going to end up. If we're continuing with the religious theme we could extend the metaphor even further, about what happens after we die. We don't know if we're going to just stop existing or if we're going to end up in some elaborate afterlife. We don't know what Randall's going to do - how long will the comic go on? Could it last his entire lifetime? We have no way of knowing. --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 14:05, 8 June 2013 (UTC)

513: Friends

2013-06-01T21:02:35Z

Mynotoar: Created page with "{{comic | number = 513 | date = December 5, 2008 | title = Friends | image = friends.png | titletext = Friends with detriments. }} ==Explanation== In this com..."

{{comic
| number = 513
| date = December 5, 2008
| title = Friends
| image = friends.png
| titletext = Friends with detriments.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, [[Cueball]] is talking apparently to [[Megan]]. He confesses that he has a crush on her - usually the next step when a boy likes a girl (or a girl likes a boy, boy likes a boy, etc.) is to ask out the other person. But Cueball takes a different route, presumably explaining his thought process aloud to Megan. He explains that he is afraid of rejection and so instead of asking her out directly, promises to be her best friend and someone who is always 'there for you', in the hopes that this will eventually lead to Megan developing an attraction for him. This way, Cueball does not have to risk Megan saying 'No' to him, as she will be led to make the first move instead. Cueball is aware that this may not be an ideal situation for Megan, conceding that she may end up changing her definition of happiness to make her feel more comfortable in the relationship, while she is conscious of the fact that she doesn't really love Cueball. Cueball recognises that, if Megan fell for him this way, she would probably have this fact at the back of her mind.

And so painting this elaborate - but slightly troubling - future, Cueball asks Megan if she is interested. Megan, however, is not taken in by Cueball's vision, and tells him that she is going to date 'this jerk' instead, suggesting that she would much rather date someone who, in Cueball's word, 'doesn't respect you', than live out the life Cueball has planned for them.

The title text is a play on the concept of "friends with benefits", wherein two friends have casual sex without entering into a 'relationship'. 'Friends with detriments' suggests that if Megan and Cueball entered into this imaginary relationship, they would be friends but with the {{w||detriment}} of Megan not really loving him.

==Transcript==
:[A boy is talking to a girl.]
:Boy: I have a crush on you.
:[Boy is shown alone.]
:Boy: I could ask you out, and move on with my life if you said no.
:Boy: Or, WE COULD BE FRIENDS!
:Boy: See, I don't want to consider that you might not be attracted to me. I'm scared of rejection, so I've decided relationships should grow :smoothly out of friendships.
:[Girl is shown sitting at her computer.]
:Boy: When you have problems, I'll be there for you, night after night.
:Boy: Selflessly.
:Computer (Instant message from boy): *hug*
:[Girl is shown slamming door and walkng to boy to get a hug.]
:Boy: I'll tear down the jerks you date, and wait for you to realize how good I am for you. That only I will ever understand you.
:<<SLAM>>
:Girl: <<Sniff>>
:Boy: There there
:[Boy is shown alone again.]
:Boy: You don't want to hurt my feelings, and I won't ever force the issue. I'll tell myself it's because I "Value our friendship."
:Boy: Bit by bit, I'll make you depend on me.
:[Boy and girl are shown sitting on a rock in a park, reading a book together.]
:Boy: You'll think about how long it would take to build this kind of connection again.
:[Boy and girl are shown sitting on a couch drinking, getting closer, and kissing.]
:Boy: And in a moment of weakness
:Boy: and loneliness
:Boy: you'll give in.
:[Girl is shown sitting at the computer with boy behind her facing the other way washing dishes]
:Boy: It'll feel comfortable and natural. You'll quietly revise your definition of love and try to be happy. And sometimes you will be.
:[Girl is shown siting at the computer.]
:Boy: Only the wistfulness in your gaze and the tiny pause before you say "I love you" will hint that this wasn't the ending you'd hoped for.
:Boy: Sound good?
:[Girl is holding hands with another boy, talking to boy.]
:Girl: ...I'm going to date this jerk.
:Boy: But he doesn't respect you!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category::Friday comics]]
[[Category::Comics from 2008]]
[[Category::Comics from December]]
[[Category::Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category::Comics featuring Megan]]

209: Kayak

2013-06-01T20:02:59Z

Mynotoar: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 209
| date = January 12, 2007
| title = Kayak
| image = kayak.png
| titletext = Man, there's future *everywhere*.
}}

==Explanation==
Beret Guy invites Cueball to join him in a two-seat kayak. Cueball is confused by this and asks why Beret Guy is in possession of a two-seat kayak. Beret Guy doesn't answer the question directly, instead encouraging Cueball to go on an adventure with him and 'find out' what its purpose is. Beret Guy's mindset is similar to {{w|existentialism}}, the belief that life has no intrinsic purpose, that you should simply 'go along for the ride' and come up with your own reason for doing so. Similarly, Beret Guy encourages Cueball to go on a journey with him with no idea about where they're going, simply for the sake of going on a journey. Beret Guy emphatically notes that 'the future is a big place', which Cueball takes to mean that the kayak can {{w|travel through time}}. Beret Guy points out that everything is travelling through time, which is technically accurate, as time is always moving forward, so everything is, in a way, 'travelling through time'... towards the future. Beret Guy's next comment, that the kayak also travels through water, is fairly straightforward.

The title text echoes Beret Guy's comment about time: if everything is travelling through time towards the future, then the future must be 'everywhere'. However, it may be more accurate to say that the ''present'' is everywhere, as we can only ever exist in the present, because the future by definition hasn't happened yet.

==Transcript==
[Beret Guy in a kayak is talking to person on pier.]
:Beret Guy: Come explore the future with me!
:Cueball: Huh? What's that you're in?
:Beret Guy: A two seat kayak!
:Cueball: I see, but why do you have it?
:Beret Guy: We'll find out! The future is a big place!
:Cueball: So the kayak travels through time?
:Beret Guy: Sure! Just like everything else! It also goes over water. Come on!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

User:Mynotoar

2013-05-31T11:08:49Z

Mynotoar: Created page with "Nothing to see here :)."

Nothing to see here :).

Talk:903: Extended Mind

2013-05-25T23:25:49Z

Mynotoar:

Title text is true - unless you happen to stumble upon any one of: {{w|Fact}}, {{w|Proof (truth)}}, {{w|Evidence}}, or {{w|Truth}}. Then you'll be stranded in an eternal loop.
:What do you mean? {{w|Fact}} works fine, you get there in 7 steps. Proof gets you there in 6 - you go to {{w|Necessity and Sufficiency}} not {{w|Evidence}}. Same for {{w|Evidence}}. {{w|Truth}} leads you to {{w|Fact}}. So all of your examples actually work.
--[[User:T0IVI|T0IVI]] ([[User talk:T0IVI|talk]]) 09:27, 28 December 2012 (UTC)

Yeah, I hit a loop on the page Community. Went right from National community to Community again. {{unsigned|69.91.105.111}}

These infinite loops seem to be 'fixed', I went through fact and other stuff right to philosophy.{{unsigned|141.35.48.11}}

==What can we learn?==
I've learned that memorizing facts is so yesteryear. Over next few years facts will be even easier to find, understand, use, reference and forget. When in school we should concentrate not on memorizing facts we can look up later, but rather new methods to think outside the box full of facts others placed inside it. (Thank you Mr. XKCD) - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 13:42, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

User talk:Davidy22

2013-05-25T11:39:00Z

Mynotoar: /* User talk page deleted? */ new section

Hi Davidy22,

Just a quick thanks for helping roll back so much of the vandalism. Per your recent log comment, yes, there has been a recent spate of vandalism; before yesterday, it was the odd spammer that I've had to remove. But with the advent of ''Click and Drag'', there's also been an insurgence of ip-based vandalism. I'm hoping this is just a spike owing to the popularity of the comic, but I'm with you; if it doesn't die down, something more drastic is going to have to be done.

But again, thanks for helping...

-- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:17, 21 September 2012 (UTC)

== Please don't ==

Please don't create the redirects to explanations that haven't been created yet. It breaks the next and previous buttons, and gives people that are browsing through the explanations the false impression that the site is more complete than it is. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 06:41, 25 September 2012 (UTC)

:Ah, I'll stop then. Didn't know that. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]] ([[User talk:Davidy22|talk]]) 07:17, 25 September 2012 (UTC)

==Davidy22, the spam connoisseur==
Congratulations on transcending from being annoyed at all spam to recognizing the truly beautiful works of spammage from the rest of the cruddy heap. We should throw a party, lol. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 16:33, 1 November 2012 (UTC)
:Hey, it *was* a well written bit of spam. It was one of those copy/paste types of spam, except it was nicely formatted and coherent all the way through. It was informative too. A great change from the mindless template drivel or gibberish that we usually get. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 23:11, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

== Just asking ==
Was there a reason you deleted most of the List of all comics? [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 05:21, 11 November 2012 (UTC)

:What on- shi-
:I was adding comic number 1132, and the preview was really slow, so I copied everything in the edit box and refreshed the page. I think half of the page hadn't finished loading in the edit box, and I only copied the first half. Derp [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 08:21, 11 November 2012 (UTC)

::I figured it was something like that. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 04:56, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

Just so you know, it happened again. But SlashMe fixed it. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 18:07, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

:Mother of fracking- I'm going to figure out what's causing this and I'm going to fix this. Godammit. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 23:20, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

:Durr dee-durr, and now I've done it. Thanks for spotting that. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:22, 1 December 2012 (UTC)

== Ahem... You gonna finish that? ==

Have you taken a look at the front page recently (say within since you created the [[1134]] redirect)? [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 05:42, 14 November 2012 (UTC)
:I have it open right now. Please don't ninja me again. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 05:44, 14 November 2012 (UTC)

::<nowiki>*Sits tight and twiddles thumbs*</nowiki> Actually, if you've got this I'll go back to the pitiful bit of literature I'm calling this year's NaNo. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 05:53, 14 November 2012 (UTC)

== The Anonymous editor of 1132 ==

Has been 50.0.38.245 all along. For a while he changed his signature to be a userpage that didn't exist, and wasn't a registered user. He has now changed it back to being the IP address again. Just thought I should do some out-of-band communication about that. If you want to change your last comment about the anonymous user, that would be good. (I almost offered to edit it for you, but then realized the subject we're talking about, and decided that if 50.0 ever learns about looking at the edit history and diffs, I don't need to be called a hypocrite as well as a banhammer wielding {{w|BOFH}}) [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 03:35, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

== Broken mirror... ==

Sorry for the "ninja"... I guess we probably don't need 2 versions of the image though... Feel free to distill the explain part...--[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 07:15, 19 November 2012 (UTC)
:Godammit, I even had the window open waiting for the article. The definitions can be merged into one paragraph, and wiki magic will explain how the comic works. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 07:20, 19 November 2012 (UTC)

== Fooooooooor He's a Jolly Good Fellow... ==

You are the man, man. Keep it up! [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 06:50, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

:Seconded. Great work, you deserved the milestone! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:26, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

== Please take a look ==

...at [[User talk:Lcarsos#Deletion|this]]. Nothing new to you, I suppose (spam fighting can be quite hard if we're overly cautious on every step), but I'm dropping the note just in case :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:52, 25 November 2012‎ (UTC)

== autoblocking suspicious users ==

Once again, it looks like auto-blocking users that have suspicious usernames would require someone with more power than we have.

However, I very nearly blocked those three when I noticed the account creation. But, I didn't because I thought they might be legitimate users with stupid usernames. But now I've read up on {{w|Wikipedia:New_admin_school/Blocking|Wikipedia's block policy}} and from now on I'll be posting {{tl|uw-blockindef}} (which I've bungled fantastically right now, but shortly should be working) which should allow the rare legitimate user (with bad taste in usernames) to reclaim their good account, but allow us to block bad people.

You're ever friendly, massive toddler of an admin, [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 03:41, 4 December 2012 (UTC)

:I've also just found this page {{w|Wikipedia:Administrators' how-to guide}} which I will be reading very thoroughly and beginning to use this blacklist. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 04:16, 4 December 2012 (UTC)

::Hum. A great many of these templates could be condensed into a few bigger ones, but at least the documentation links are there for us to use. Also, you do know that Template:UserBox already exists, right? [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:55, 4 December 2012 (UTC)
:::Well, crud. You switched, I switched. I do like the one we had better, mostly because of the descriptive labels and the nice thick borders. The name's in convenient CamelCase too. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:18, 4 December 2012 (UTC)

::::As a general rule I loathe my shift key, using more keys to achieve the same goal is wasted time, and I could be called ruthless about wasted time. Saving a single keypress seems petty. But I had a CS professor point out that by specially crafting what you have to type (creating shortcuts) saving a keypress here and there can add up to saving several thousand keypresses every 8 hours, which over a long enough quantity of time can equal hours and days. That's my long winded explanation for why I like using {{tl|userbox}} instead of {{tl|UserBox}}.

::::Also, I like the wikipedia userboxen, it's more flexible. And that allows anyone who comes over from Wikipedia to know how to work userboxen here too. That's my case for it. I hope you agree because I don't want to have to push my shift key, but I'll take your input, and if we end up in a tie, we might ask Waldir to tie break for us, as he'd be a neutral third party. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 06:44, 4 December 2012 (UTC)

:::::In CS, I learned that descriptive variable names and easy to recognize naming conventions can save heaps of debugging time. I personally like the CamelCase version better because it uses variable names like left-bg instead of id-c for the background color in the box on the left, which makes the template self-documenting and easier to grok for a new user who's just reading the source. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:58, 4 December 2012 (UTC)

:::::: I was asked to comment. Here are my thoughts:
::::::* Regarding CamelCase, it is indeed a neat convention but we don't use it elsewhere on the wiki. In fact, MediaWiki itself, in its early versions, used to rely on CamelCase for linking, but moved to the free-form, space enabled link syntax, which is better in many cases. Not everything converts nicely into CamelCase. So while I appreciate the argument to use CamelCase as the template name, I think the regular case version fits the wiki better. Besides, redirects are cheap and work well, so if the CamelCase title redirects to the lowercase one, whoever wants to use the CamelCase version can still do so seamlessly. Not an issue, therefore.
::::::* I agree with Davidy22 on the parameter names. In fact, the code of the template can be arranged in a more readable form (using whitespace and indentation) so not only its uses can be deciphered, but the template itself too. Renaming parameters is a simple matter, especially for templates with not many uses as these are, which means there isn't a lot of replacements to perform.
:::::: In summary, I think the two templates should definitely be merged and the best features of each kept in the final version: the title being [[Template:userbox]] (with redirects from [[Template:UserBox]] and [[Template:Userbox]]), and the parameters using intuitive names as {{tl|UserBox}}.
:::::: --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:06, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

::::::: Sounds good to me. The wikicode looks god-awful ugly though, who's up for cleaning that thing up? [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:03, 6 December 2012 (UTC)

:::::::: If you guys do the merge, I can clean it up afterwards :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 01:14, 6 December 2012 (UTC)

== separate section for title text ==

I agree that in the two instances you removed the section header for the title text, it wasn't justified, but in some cases it does make sense. See [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals#Subsection for title text explanation|here]]. Cheers, [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 15:27, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

== No more imagesize ==

I made a comment on [[Template Talk: comic#Imagesize]], essentially imagesize isn't necessary, and I've changed the {{tl|create}} template to not include it. So rejoice, and forget imagesize ever existed (until the bug gets fixed). [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 03:02, 6 December 2012 (UTC)
: Bah, what was that parameter good for anyways? Clicking on the image should take you to the XKCD site anyways. What user cares about the image pages that the template currently takes you to? [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:20, 6 December 2012 (UTC)
:: That's an interesting point. It's technically doable. But I think there should be a way to access the comic images (granted, I'm not sure why exactly, but I'm not comfortable leaving them "orphans" —linkless— either) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:08, 6 December 2012 (UTC)
::: There's the list of all comics page, and we could make the titletext link to the image page or something. I dunno, any excuse to kill imagesize. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 12:16, 6 December 2012 (UTC)
:::: To clarify, linking the image directly to xkcd has nothing to do with killing imagesize. That, for what I understand, has already been done. Good point about the list of comics page. I'll wait for more comments before implementing the change in the image link target. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:35, 6 December 2012 (UTC)
::::: Imagesize isn't *quite* dead yet. There's still four or five comics that still use it. Permission to upload the thumbnail versions of those comics, as we do with the other large comics, and end that broken thing once and for all? [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:05, 6 December 2012 (UTC)
:::::: I don't like the idea of uploading smaller versions of images. We ought to be able to use mediawiki's own image scaling abilities as soon as we can do some [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Technical#We need more maintainers|testing in the wiki setup]] and make the image scaling issue go away. Apart from that, what exactly are the problems of imagesize, again? I haven't followed the discussions about it, sorry. Feel free to give me pointers to the appropriate places where the issues have been discussed. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 13:17, 6 December 2012 (UTC)

== Please move pages ==

I'm noticing that when someone creates a new page with the wrong title you're just copy/pasting the content onto the new page. Please don't do that. Please use the move page feature on the drop down of the page, that way we can keep the edit history for the page intact, and that way it doesn't look like you created these oddly poor quality pages. Thanks much. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 00:49, 6 January 2013 (UTC)
:Righty ho. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:09, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

== Sorry ==

I have been working contra u by routinely adding a white line above the categories. I instantly raise white flag! And say good night! -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 00:40, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

== Trivia placement ==

Cheers mate! Please check the comment I made some time ago in the section you started, [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals#Section style and usage|"Section style and usage"]] on the Proposals community page. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 23:10, 27 January 2013 (UTC)

If you disagree with the trivia placement between explanation and transcript, why don't you say so, and explain why? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 14:50, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

I made a section for discussion of this, so that we can come to some agreement: [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals#Trivia and transcript]]. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:18, 6 March 2013 (UTC)
:Moved to [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Coordination#Trivia and transcript placement]] –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 23:05, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

== Jurassic Park category ==
Hi, you wrote you don't like how I created a new category for Jurassic Park. I thought it appropriate: there's a *lot* of references to Jurassic Park and/or velociraptors in the comics. And not all reference are to both... But what did you not like? Thanks for enlightening me! [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 09:07, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

:There's a lot of categories on this wiki. When adding categories to a page, it can get extremely difficult to make sure that you've gotten every category that applies to the comic. For regular editors, the amount that we have to remember when maintaining pages is already quite onerous; more categories hurt our dinky heads. If you're willing to steward that category, go ahead, but you'll have to remember to put in the explanation pages yourself when you find a comic that it applies to. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:36, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

:: OK. [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 08:26, 1 February 2013 (UTC)

==[[220: Philosophy]]==

Actually, what happened was: This being my first new page edit, I copy-pasted the format from another page, and then edited all the information to fit the correct comic. Then I realized I'd forgotten to remove the date of the original page's comic, so I did so. *blushes* No trolling intended, just a newbie mistake. Is 2/7/07 the correct date for this comic? [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 11:23, 28 January 2013 (UTC)
:Oooh. I thought you had gotten the date then removed it after seeing earlier rants concerning omitted dates. You can check a comic's date by clicking on the "All Comics" button in the sidebar on the left. All dates are in YYYY-MM-DD format. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:37, 28 January 2013 (UTC)
::Yep. I see that now, and now that I know it's there, I create new pages straight from [[List of all comics]]. No offense taken. Thanks for the useful advice! [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 05:52, 29 January 2013 (UTC)

== Character names in transcripts ==

Ah, I see now that you've been cleaning up after me, adding character names to transcripts instead of "Man", "Woman", et cetera. Now realizing that's the wiki's standard, I'll endeavor to do that myself from now on. Thanks for your patience with the new guy. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 07:40, 29 January 2013 (UTC)

:It's k, just doing maintenance. You're really prolific, do you write all of those yourself or are you getting those explanations off the forums somehow? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 10:38, 29 January 2013 (UTC)

::I write them all myself. It's been some time since I've looked at the xkcd forums, actually. Sometimes I get a little help from Wikipedia when a particular detail escapes me. But you'll notice I don't make an attempt to explain the math ones. *laughs* [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 02:16, 30 January 2013 (UTC)

== My unexplained hobbies. ==

I just want to make sure that you are getting this, but I restored "My Unexplained Hobbies." You can now explain them. [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 14:47, 11 February 2013 (UTC)
:Shweet. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:44, 12 February 2013 (UTC)

I suck at wiki stuff but am a real human - sorry for the confusion. {{unsigned|‎Schmammel}}
:No matter. Also, see the blue box above the talk page edit box for instruction on how to sign your posts. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:55, 19 February 2013 (UTC)

== About your new admin powers ==

Actually just the rollback hammer. I've learned this after being burned a few times.

Rollback will actually not revert just the one edit you are looking at, but will go back until it hits a revision that wasn't done by that user, so its useful for pure spam accounts, but if you're just undoing a single edit, you may still want to use the undo tool.

Also, once or twice I actually had it revert all the way back to the last patrolled edit, which meant it actually got rid of the edits of a few anonymous editors too.

Just a caution that with great power comes great responsibility.

--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 04:11, 22 February 2013 (UTC)

:Oh damn, did I do that? Welp. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:28, 22 February 2013 (UTC)

== Removed Level 2 headings from Discussion page ==

Hi, I noticed you removed the level 2 headings in the discussion of comic 1188. I'm guessing it's the application of some formatting rule established on this wiki, so I'm curious where I can find a list of these standards that I should adhere to, so I don't make such a mistake again in the future. [[User:Jfresen|Jfresen]] ([[User talk:Jfresen|talk]]) 15:10, 20 March 2013 (UTC)

:It's not really a formatting convention, more of a workaround to technical limitations of the wiki. The way discussion pages are embedded into comic pages, headings in talk pages cause breakages when tables of contents are spawned. It's ugly and bad and it's the reason why we delete discussion page headers. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 15:33, 20 March 2013 (UTC)

== Captcha help ==

:''This thread was moved to [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Admin requests#Captcha help]].''

== RE: Signature ==

Sweet, thanks David. {{User:Omega/sig}} 14:51, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

== Time is hard... ==

... and not only that, she also is, just like her sister Gravity, a heartless b**** :D
Thanks for taking care! :) [[User:Caranhyas|Caranhyas]] ([[User talk:Caranhyas|talk]]) 09:41, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

== Feedback ==

Hey David. It's nice that you're so responsive to requests such as those at [[Mediawiki talk:Sitenotice]] (or [[explain_xkcd:Community portal/Admin requests#Captcha help|this one]]), but please take also a moment to report the request as completed, as that not only provides feedback to the requester, but is also a reference for the future (which removes the need to dig through the relevant page's history if, for example, one decides to check whether a request ever got implemented), and exemplifies desired behavior for future administrators. Cheers, [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:53, 6 April 2013 (UTC)
:Alright. Was just trying to get through everything quickly, and forgot to reply to those requests. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:55, 6 April 2013 (UTC)

== 262 correction: Thanks! ==

Hi there!

Unfortunately, I was not aware that I had incorrectly created the page for xkcd 262. Thanks for fixing that. My only question is whether the page "262" should be redirected to xkcd 262 rather than just showing the deletion template.

Thanks,

[[User:Milar Kayne|Milar Kayne]] ([[User talk:Milar Kayne|talk]]) 07:02, 7 April 2013 (UTC)

:The page "262" and all other pages consisting of only numbers are used internally to handle page linking. You don't really need to worry about them, you just need to know that making explanation pages in those numbered pages is baaad and that the create templates in the [[List of all comics]] will set up everything relevant for you. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:14, 7 April 2013 (UTC)

::So all of the xkcd comic pages theoretically "exist" on the site, but not all have connected pages? Also, how do I create a new page from the "All comics" page? Thanks for being so patient--I really want to be able to contribute meaningfully here. [[User:Milar Kayne|Milar Kayne]] ([[User talk:Milar Kayne|talk]]) 20:27, 7 April 2013 (UTC)
::No, we just link to the xckd comic pages. The numbered pages handle links between explanation pages. On the "List of all comics" page, there are (create) buttons next to all the red links; click those to start explaining those comics. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:12, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

:::OK thanks for explaining! I'll try to do better next time :). [[User:Milar Kayne|Milar Kayne]] ([[User talk:Milar Kayne|talk]]) 01:36, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

== List of unexplained comics ==

Thanks for the vote of confidence - hoping it'll encourage more contributors! [[User:Sean|Sean]] ([[User talk:Sean|talk]]) 21:50, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

== New sections in comic talk pages ==

Re [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:277:_Long_Light&curid=8457&diff=35146&oldid=35143 this correction] (especially your edit summary!): while there is the "Add topic" tab at the top of talk pages, you'll get new sections added to comic talk pages too.

Perhaps reducing them to ; headings is a better alternative that still marks a new topic.

;Just testing that I have the right formatting character
Yes.

Of course this won't fix the automatically supplied heading from the "Add topic" tab, but then we do still want that functionality in other talk pages, like here...
[[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 03:25, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

:Ooh, the semicolon does that? You learn something new every day. Noted. There might be a way to change those controls at the top, I'll look into that. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:50, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

== Time frames 1008-1014 have an artefact in your upload ==

In your uploads "under the ground" between frames 1008 and 1014 there is a grey horizontal line with unmoving "ticks" while the terrain does change above. This is not reflected in the live hash for the only hash in this range recorded so far. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 10:55, 1 May 2013 (UTC)
:Hrm, I've just been pulling the images from the xkcd site and uploading them straight. Imma check on this. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:29, 1 May 2013 (UTC)
::Yeah, it's not just you, the [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=1014&framediff=1007 geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190] has it too. Randall must have had a snafu that he's fixed. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 12:47, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

== Time1190 - but sometimes I also have NO time ==

I did register in here mainly for 1190, I am sure you did see this.
This weekend I will work on a script giving me an easy update for the next day template, for now I am doing manual.

THANKS for your great job on all the other comics!

I just do need more TIME...

And I am not native English, so I am still happy about everyone correcting me.

Archive discussion I did start here [[Talk:1190:_Time]]

--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:29, 10 May 2013 (UTC)
:I actually already have a script to do that. I thought you had made one of your own though when you were filling in for new days, so I was just letting you go ahead with that. Here's my script: [http://pastebin.com/RQGGia3L]. Change the variables at the top of the script, run it and copy/paste the output into the page for time. The fields should be self-evident, but ask me if you have any questions. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:38, 11 May 2013 (UTC)

:: Oh, PYTHON - I prefer Perl or just a simple bash script.
:: So I will ask Randall for a translator for Python to Perl ;)
:: And tomorrow I hopefully will have some more time, your script is helpful.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:53, 11 May 2013 (UTC)
:::Just for fun I did the script in PERL. Here is the link: [http://pastebin.com/PG5j56Nv template]--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:29, 12 May 2013 (UTC)

== And sometimes I do have time ==
Just tell me what I did do wrong (I will follow you...). I am still new to WIKI syntax, it is still new to me. But I am learning as you can see.
And after all that I will write a Perl Script with a missing close paren...

I like jokes but I also like a clean Wiki here!

--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:38, 23 May 2013 (UTC)
:Uh, the explanation for that page is a wee bit thin for the size and complexity of the comic, and it uses terms like the hibbert curve without defining them. It's not enough of an explanation to cover the whole comic. Also, there were a few missing categories and a bunch of trailing spaces in the transcript. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:46, 23 May 2013 (UTC)
::"a wee bit thin for the size and complexity of the comic" so sure this is still incomplete (I just did forget to add that template). Oh, and we have so many more complex comics with a need for more explanations. And while I am still not native English, which does mean I have to goooogle fore many memes, I am hoping I can support this wiki. I just try to do my best - any help on me is welcome! --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:12, 24 May 2013 (UTC)
:::And I'm pretty sure they're all tagged as incomplete too, so all is well. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:17, 24 May 2013 (UTC)

== User talk page deleted? ==

Hey there, apparently my talk page was deleted because the only content on it was "buttsex", which is fine, but I just thought I should let you know that I did not add that ;). Can I restore my talk page blank? --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 11:39, 25 May 2013 (UTC)

Talk:1117: My Sky

2013-05-25T11:36:39Z

Mynotoar:

I wonder if the "It's not the same color as anything" line is a reference to Microsoft's cloud service which is named "Azure". "Azure" in conventional speech, is a color. Properly, is a shade of Sky Blue. However, the HTML color Azure is incorrect (propagated from an error in the Linux source code), and is set to a shade of Off-White, coincidentally making it the color of clouds. [[User:jamescurran|James Curran]]

:Any reference to that? Specifically the Linux and Microsoft connection? #F0FFFF does looks blue to me ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 08:31, 8 October 2012 (UTC)

::#F0FFFF is really very light cyan: White with a little of Red removed. How it is actually perceived depends of a number of factors like screen calibration, printer calibration, colors and paper used, and - last, but not least - the eye of the beholder. --[[Special:Contributions/46.142.23.214|46.142.23.214]] 16:05, 8 October 2012 (UTC) madd

Why was the comment taken out about how "WOW" upside down is "MOM"? I thought it was incredibly clever. http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1117:_My_Sky&oldid=13991 [[User:Jillysky|Jillysky]] ([[User talk:Jillysky|talk]]) 19:06, 5 October 2012 (UTC)
:No worries. I just added it back. [[User:Mgh|Mgh]] ([[User talk:Mgh|talk]]) 14:27, 8 October 2012 (UTC)

Jeff suggested that I post it again down here, to see if anyone knew why it was removed.

An alternate explanation for the Title Text is that, if he was hanging upside-down from the earth, then Randall's actual first word would have been "Mom!".

--[[User:Carlneely|Carlneely]] ([[User talk:Carlneely|talk]]) 20:41, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

*Well you'd have to flip over the exclamation mark, too (all or nothing). "iMom". [[Special:Contributions/76.122.5.96|76.122.5.96]] 02:16, 6 October 2012 (UTC)
I do think that was the point of the title text. The current "explanation" on this part in place is hardly an explanation, as all it does is define "wow". As this (and 1115) have been about perspective on the sky, that would explain it. And the most common word word is "mom," after all. [[User:Bobidou23|Bobidou23]] ([[User talk:Bobidou23|talk]]) 22:27, 6 October 2012 (UTC)

*I think it should go back up. Nobody *says* "exclamation point", and wow->mom is very much in line with Randall's type of sneakiness. Almost nothing he does is ever on accident or by chance, and since "mom" is definitely one of the top baby words... Put it back up, Carlneely. You have the right, and even the first page says nothing is set in stone. If someone disagrees with it, too bad for them. [[User:Jillysky|Jillysky]] ([[User talk:Jillysky|talk]]) 17:13, 7 October 2012 (UTC)

::For this comic, the title text doesn't seem to be a statement from Beret Guy. Beret Guy usually expresses his feelings in a more abstract way. On the other hand, recently, Randall has been posting many inspirational comics, that are awe-inspiring about the world, so it makes sense that a direct awe-inspired comment would be from him. In the comic, by the time Beret Guy says "wow" he standing "upright" again. The title text doesn't say that he was upside-down, just looking at the sky. Being horizontal doesn't count as being upside-down. Now, if the title text said that he was doing hand-stands, and said wow, absolutely, then the wow-mom joke would work. On a more technical note, it is not a right to edit a wiki, it is a privilege, and other editors have the privilege to go back and edit your work. Let's not {{w|feature creep|feature-creep}} the definition of the word 'right'. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 20:49, 7 October 2012 (UTC)

::: He doesn't need to be doing a handstand; these two comics are about perspectives, right? If the image of his saying "mom" were depicted as in the first panel here (i.e. with the earth towards the top), if would be "wow", wouldn't it? And the profound statement also works, but isn't a double meaning plausible? — Comment by [[User:Bobidou23|Bobidou23]] ([[User talk:Bobidou23|talk]]) ''(please sign your comments)''

::::I'm not arguing that there are different perspectives in these two comics. I'm saying that you can't attribute a statement made by one character, to the actions of another. Beret Guy is the one upside-down, Randall is the one saying "wow" with a reference to his mother. If you have a gluten intolerance, it does not mean that your cousin will throw up after eating a slice of bread, that is a logical fallacy, it's a version of {{w|post hoc ergo propter hoc}}. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 02:41, 8 October 2012 (UTC)

:::::But the title text, even in the first person, doesn't necessarily have to be from Randall himself. Look at comic 1112 - it's obviously Cueball speaking about editing new rules of chess as a continuation of the comic. [[User:Bobidou23|Bobidou23]] ([[User talk:Bobidou23|talk]]) 12:49, 13 October 2012 (UTC)

::::::What part of "According to my mom, my first word was 'Wow!'" sounds like Beret Guy? You've fallen down another hole, I'm not saying that all first person title texts are Randall's words. I'm saying '''''this''''' title text is Randall and not Beret Guy. You still haven't made a valid point other than the dubious, tenuous, and sophomoric link between wow and mom, that the title text is being said by any character in the comic. And please, for the love of God, if you're going to talk about a comic, link to it, don't make me go to a search box to type in some keywords to get me to a comic that you might be talking about. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 20:00, 22 October 2012 (UTC)

:Explanations do not need to be wordy to be complete. Being overly wordy is the sign that you are trying too hard, and probably missing the point. That said, this is a wiki, anyone can edit the explanation as they wish to. Sometimes it may spark an edit war, but if you think the explanation is insufficient, if someone who came here for help in understanding this joke still wouldn't get it, then please, flesh out the explanation. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 20:49, 7 October 2012 (UTC)

::I think the explanation of the title text is complete (there is really very little to explain). I don't, however, think that the explanation of Randall being upside down and therefore ''saying'' "mom" makes any sense. Randall is not a comic. If he stood on his head, he would not say words upside down. The whole wow/mom explanation does not seem to be specifically based on the comic, but rather the editor's personal musings [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:25, 9 October 2012 (UTC)

It's interesting to me that Beret Guy's head and beret both appear to be transparent except for their outlines. [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 15:59, 8 October 2012 (UTC)

I changed the title text explanation - saying "wow" while you're upside down does not make it into "mom". It's clever, but didn't make logical sense the way you phrased it. --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 11:36, 25 May 2013 (UTC)

1117: My Sky

2013-05-25T11:35:06Z

Mynotoar: If you say "wow" upside down it does not become "mom"

{{comic
| number = 1117
| date = October 5, 2012
| title = My Sky
| image = my_sky.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = According to my mom, my first word was (looking up at the sky) 'Wow!'
}}

==Explanation==
This comic seems to be a follow up to [[1115: Sky]].

Last panel refers to {{w|cloud computing}} and specifically {{w|cloud storage}}, and looks like a follow up to [[1032: Networking]]. The obvious joke is that, instead of storing data in "the cloud", [[Beret Guy]] is storing clouds in "his sky".

The title text is a statement from [[Randall]], that his first words came while looking up at the sky. Randall has a good grasp on what in this universe is awe-inspiring. Also, "WOW" when read upside-down is "MOM", [http://www.circleofmoms.com/article/baby-talk-top-15-common-first-words-00718 one of the first words] a baby usually says. If the word "WOW" was read while hanging upside-down from the Earth, then it would read "MOM".

==Transcript==
:[The panel is upside-down. Beret Guy is holding onto the "ceiling", there is an upside-down cloud at the bottom of the panel.]
:Beret guy [to the solitary cumulus cloud]: Oh—Hello down there! Welcome to My Sky!

:[The panel is now oriented in the conventional sense with the ground at the bottom. Beret Guy is standing on his feet too, and the sky now shows a second cloud.]
:Beret guy [continuing to talk to the cloud]: It's pretty good. I like it. It's not the same color as ''anything''.

:[The sky is now blanketed by alto-cirrus clouds]
:Beret guy: "Wow! There are a ''lot'' of you! Good thing it's so big.

:[The scene now depicts a party, where Beret Guy is talking to a girl]
:Ponytail: "And what do ''you'' do?"
:Beret Guy: "I'm in the cloud storage business."

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

[[Category:Comics with color]]

421: Making Hash Browns

2013-05-23T17:14:00Z

Mynotoar: Created page with "{{comic | number = 421 | date = September 5, 2008 | title = Making Hash Browns | image = making_hash_browns.png | titletext = There are at least fourteen ways ..."

{{comic
| number = 421
| date = September 5, 2008
| title = Making Hash Browns
| image = making_hash_browns.png
| titletext = There are at least fourteen ways this could go badly (seventeen if that fork is a dangerous crossbreed.)
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, [[Cueball]] is attempting to make {{w|hash browns}}. A hash brown is a way of serving a potato where the potato has been diced or shredded in some way, then pan-fried. Cueball's method for making hash browns, though, is rather unique. He is throwing potatoes into the air and striking them with a flaming tennis racket at his friend, who is holding a tray with a dangerously tilting glass of orange juice balanced on top. His friend is holding a fork in the other hand. The idea is that the tennis racket would simultaneously dice the potato, fry it, and then launch the completed product towards his friend's plate. In reality, this probably wouldn't do much. To properly {{w|Pan frying|pan-fry}} food, it must be cooked in a pan with some oil to lubricate the food, with enough time for the heat to transfer through the oil and spread properly through the food. Hitting a potato with a flaming tennis racket would not cook it as it would strike it too quickly, and it probably wouldn't dice it either unless the wire of the racket is incredibly sharp. Cueball would probably just end up batting a very hot, uncooked, unprepared potato at his friend.

The title text comments on how many ways this experiment could go badly, and jokes that there are even more potential problems if the fork Cueball's friend is holding is a cross-breed. Here are just a few potential ways the activity could go wrong.

# Cueball could burn himself with the flaming tennis racket.
# The can of gasoline could leak and then Cueball could drop the racket, causing a fire to spread.
# Cueball may fail to hit the potato and it would get dirty from the ground.
# Cueball may fail to hit the potato and whack himself with the aforementioned flaming tennis racket.
# Cueball may hit the potato and knock the plate out of his friend's hand, smashing it.
# Cueball may hit the potato and knock the glass out of his friend's hand, smashing that instead.
# Both of the above could happen.
# Cueball might instead hit the potato at his friend's head.
# Cueball could accidentally launch the tennis racket itself (if he has exceptionally poor grip,) at his friend.
# His friend might catch the potato and burn himself on it (it would be a hot potato.)
# Cueball could drop the tennis racket onto the can of gasoline, causing it to explode.
# Even if none of the above happened, Cueball would fail to actually ''cook'' the potato
# Likewise, Cueball would probably not succeed in dicing the potato.

It's unclear what Randall may or may not have had on his mind, though, with regards to specific ways the situation in the comic could go wrong.

==Transcript==
[Cueball stands holding a flaming tennis racket. He is throwing a potato in the air as if to serve like a tennis ball. Behind him is a red gas can and a sack of potatoes. Across from him is a another person holding a fork in one hand and balancing a serving tray with a glass of orange juice on it.]

{{comic discussion}}

629: Skins

2013-05-23T16:24:49Z

Mynotoar: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 629
| date = August 28, 2009
| title = Skins
| image = skins.png
| titletext = There's Livejournal drama between those who want to wear human suits over fursuits and those who just take off the fursuits.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|furry|Furries}}, which have been discussed in [[471|a previous comic]], are people who may love animals and enjoy dressing up as animals. One of the most prominent elements of the furry community is furry conventions, where furries meet-and-greet each other, show off and engage in activities in their fursuits, sell furry-related media, and so on.

Here, [[Cueball]] mentions furry identities. The grand majority of furries have a "fursona", that is, a furry animal with which they associate themselves. While there are different approaches towards creating a fursona, they tend to be an animal representation of either themselves or what they wish to be. These fursonas sometimes have quite a bit of background that explains their origins, their abilities, where they live, and their interests... even if their interests involve pretending to be humans. According to Cueball, "skins" are furries who have fursonas that like to pretend to be humans. In other words, skins are humans who pretend to be animals ''who pretend to be humans''. The 4th panel magnifies the ridicule of the concept of skins, the skins at the convention behaving excitedly about events that actual humans usually consider mundane.

If this comic satirizes furry conventions, then the title text satirizes fursuits. In this case, there are skins who wear fursuits of their fursonas, but, since their fursonas like to pretend that they are humans, these skins wear human suits ''over'' their fursuits. Such a setup would seem unwieldy, so there are skins who avert this by simply taking off their fursuits, going to the conventions as their human selves, thus technically integrating into the whole "skin atmosphere". Possible problems from this can include the "wear a human suit" skins getting angry at the "take off the fursuit" skins for "ruining the fantasy atmosphere" (since, technically, the real-life skin is not the same that would be the fursona's human facade, especially if the skin makes no effort to change the appearance to fit the human facade), or again, because they are too "cheap" or "lazy" to make or otherwise obtain the two suits. This clash of ideals would cause a lot of drama, which is all too common within the furry community.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is packing luggage.]
:Voice: Where are you going?
:Cueball: Convention.

:Voice: What for?
:Cueball: Well, you know furries, right?
:Voice: Sure...
:[Cueball closes suitcase.]

:Cueball: We're furries whose animal identities have a thing for pretending to be humans.
:Voice: I see.

:[A convention. People sit behind booths in the background.]
:Cueball, with glasses: How's the weather?
:Megan: Great! I've been driving my car and having a job all day!
:Cueball: Did you meow?
:Megan: Not once!

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

614: Woodpecker

2013-05-23T16:22:15Z

Mynotoar: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 614
| date = July 24, 2009
| title = Woodpecker
| image = woodpecker.png
| titletext = If you don't have an extension cord I can get that for you too. Because we're friends! Right?
}}

==Explanation==

[[Beret Guy]] observes a {{w|woodpecker}}. A woodpecker is a type of bird known for using it's bill to bore holes into trees to get access to and eat the insects living inside. [[Megan]] notes that the bird hatched exactly a year ago. Beret Guy seems touched by this fact, and attempts to explain to the woodpecker that it is the woodpecker's birthday.

Beret Guy leaves a present by the foot of the tree where the woodpecker is nesting. The woodpecker opens the present which turns out to be a power drill, a mechanical tool that is used to bore holes into wood, much quicker than a bird normally could. Not that this would be of much use to the bird, as the bird has no electricity and so no means of powering the drill... let alone {{w|opposable thumbs}} by which to operate the drill.

The title text appears to be Beret Guy talking to the bird still, pointing out that he can get the bird an extension cord to operate the drill because, in his mind, they are friends. In actuality, the bird may or may not care about the drill or Beret Guy. An extension cord, also, would not do much good as the bird would still have no electricity, and if it did have a source of electricity and was able to use the drill, it wouldn't be able to fly further than the length of the extension cord, which isn't far for a bird.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Beret Guy are standing on a deck.]
:Beret Guy: A Woodpecker!
:''pop pop pop''
:Megan: Yup.
:[Woodpecker knocking against a tree.]
:Megan: He hatched about this time last year.
:-pop pop pop pop
:[Megan leave the frame, leaving Beret Guy on the deck alone.]
:Beret Guy: ...Woodpecker?
:Beret Guy...It's your Birthday!
:Beret Guy: Did you know?
:Beret Guy: Did nobody tell you?
:[Beret Guy leaves the frame, changes to the tree base.]
:[Beret Guy brings a gift and places it at the tree trunk.]
:[The woodpecker comes down and opens the gift.]
:[The woodpecker flies away holding onto the cord of a power drill.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]

614: Woodpecker

2013-05-23T16:22:00Z

Mynotoar: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 614
| date = July 24, 2009
| title = Woodpecker
| image = woodpecker.png
| titletext = If you don't have an extension cord I can get that for you too. Because we're friends! Right?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}

[[Beret Guy]] observes a {{w|woodpecker}}. A woodpecker is a type of bird known for using it's bill to bore holes into trees to get access to and eat the insects living inside. [[Megan]] notes that the bird hatched exactly a year ago. Beret Guy seems touched by this fact, and attempts to explain to the woodpecker that it is the woodpecker's birthday.

Beret Guy leaves a present by the foot of the tree where the woodpecker is nesting. The woodpecker opens the present which turns out to be a power drill, a mechanical tool that is used to bore holes into wood, much quicker than a bird normally could. Not that this would be of much use to the bird, as the bird has no electricity and so no means of powering the drill... let alone {{w|opposable thumbs}} by which to operate the drill.

The title text appears to be Beret Guy talking to the bird still, pointing out that he can get the bird an extension cord to operate the drill because, in his mind, they are friends. In actuality, the bird may or may not care about the drill or Beret Guy. An extension cord, also, would not do much good as the bird would still have no electricity, and if it did have a source of electricity and was able to use the drill, it wouldn't be able to fly further than the length of the extension cord, which isn't far for a bird.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Beret Guy are standing on a deck.]
:Beret Guy: A Woodpecker!
:''pop pop pop''
:Megan: Yup.
:[Woodpecker knocking against a tree.]
:Megan: He hatched about this time last year.
:-pop pop pop pop
:[Megan leave the frame, leaving Beret Guy on the deck alone.]
:Beret Guy: ...Woodpecker?
:Beret Guy...It's your Birthday!
:Beret Guy: Did you know?
:Beret Guy: Did nobody tell you?
:[Beret Guy leaves the frame, changes to the tree base.]
:[Beret Guy brings a gift and places it at the tree trunk.]
:[The woodpecker comes down and opens the gift.]
:[The woodpecker flies away holding onto the cord of a power drill.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]

614: Woodpecker

2013-05-23T16:21:35Z

Mynotoar: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 614
| date = July 24, 2009
| title = Woodpecker
| image = woodpecker.png
| titletext = If you don't have an extension cord I can get that for you too. Because we're friends! Right?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}

[[Beret Guy]] observes a {{w|woodpecker}}. A woodpecker is a type of bird known for using it's bill to bore holes into trees to get access to and eat the insects living inside. [[Megan]] notes that the bird hatched exactly a year ago. Beret Guy seems touched by this fact, and attempts to explain to the woodpecker that it is the woodpecker's birthday.

Beret guy leaves a present by the foot of the tree where the woodpecker is nesting. The woodpecker opens the present which turns out to be a power drill, a mechanical tool that is used to bore holes into wood, much quicker than a bird normally could. Not that this would be of much use to the bird, as the bird has no electricity and so no means of powering the drill... let alone {{w|opposable thumbs}} by which to operate the drill.

The title text appears to be Beret Guy talking to the bird still, pointing out that he can get the bird an extension cord to operate the drill because, in his mind, they are friends. In actuality, the bird may or may not care about the drill or Beret Guy. An extension cord, also, would not do much good as the bird would still have no electricity, and if it did have a source of electricity and was able to use the drill, it wouldn't be able to fly further than the length of the extension cord, which isn't far for a bird.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Beret Guy are standing on a deck.]
:Beret Guy: A Woodpecker!
:''pop pop pop''
:Megan: Yup.
:[Woodpecker knocking against a tree.]
:Megan: He hatched about this time last year.
:-pop pop pop pop
:[Megan leave the frame, leaving Beret Guy on the deck alone.]
:Beret Guy: ...Woodpecker?
:Beret Guy...It's your Birthday!
:Beret Guy: Did you know?
:Beret Guy: Did nobody tell you?
:[Beret Guy leaves the frame, changes to the tree base.]
:[Beret Guy brings a gift and places it at the tree trunk.]
:[The woodpecker comes down and opens the gift.]
:[The woodpecker flies away holding onto the cord of a power drill.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]

309: Shopping Teams

2013-05-23T11:26:11Z

Mynotoar: Created page with "{{comic | number = 309 | date = August 29, 2007 | title = Shopping Teams | image = shopping_teams.png | titletext = I am never going out to buy an air conditio..."

{{comic
| number = 309
| date = August 29, 2007
| title = Shopping Teams
| image = shopping_teams.png
| titletext = I am never going out to buy an air conditioner with my sysadmin again.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, Randall is comparing the ways different people look at choosing between similar products. In the first example, which Randall considers "bad", two "non-nerds" look at two products (which are two boxes without a description of any kind,) and instantly decide which one they want. In the second example, which is considered good, one of the two is a nerd and one is a non-nerd. The non-nerd instantly picks one of the products but the nerd evaluates the two and decides that the other one is better because it's a better deal. In both the first two cases, the pair are able to easily come to a decision.

However, in the third example, two nerds are comparing the two boxes, and both of them overanalyse the various merits and drawbacks of each of the two boxes, to the point that they are still there two hours later, unable to reach a clear agreement on which of the two boxes they wish to buy. One comments that their definition of value is unclear, suggesting the discussion has gone on for so long that they are reevaluating their definitions over something so trivial. Some might perceive this as typical "nerd" behaviour, overanalysing a problem which is in actual fact quite trivial, such as the decision whether to buy one box or another virtually identical box. A woman who has been watching the two nerds comparing the two products attempts to put this into perspective by pointing out that an unclear definition of value is not their problem. The implication is that their problem is they are unable to reach an agreement on something that makes so little difference at the end of the day.

The title text suggests that Randall entered a similar situation attempting to buy an air conditioner with his sysadmin, short for {{System administrator}}. The sysadmin is a person in an organisation employed to manage the computer system or network, a role which requires technical skills and intelligence. The suggestion here is that a computer programmer like Randall, put together with a sysadmin, would spend as much attention to detail as the two nerds in the comic, labouring over which of two trivially similar products to buy.

Randall has dealt with sysadmins before in http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=705:_Devotion_to_Duty

==Transcript==
[Each team is looking at a counter with two cubes on it.]
:Bad: Two non-nerds
:First man: Let's get that one.
:Second man: okay.
:Good: non-nerd + nerd
:Woman: Let's get that one.
:Man: Wait, I think that one might be a better deal.
:Woman: Okay, that one.
:Very Bad: Two Nerds
:Man: How about that one?
:Second man: i think the other one might be the better deal...
:First man: Hmm, I'm not sure...'
:Two Hours Later
[Nerds are sitting in front of laptops with papers strewn about in front of display counter]
:Man: I think our main problem is our unclear definition of value
:Woman: That is not your main problem!

{{comic discussion}}

1212: Interstellar Memes

2013-05-15T16:44:18Z

Mynotoar: Added an actual explanation, and fixed the "Edit it" link

{{comic
| number = 1212
| date = May 15, 2013
| title = Interstellar Memes
| image = interstellar memes.png
| titletext = The strongest incentive we have to develop faster-than-light travel is that it would let us apologize in advance.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|1212: Interstellar Memes}}

In this comic, Randall highlights various memes from popular culture. A {{w|meme}} is a phenomenon, often in this scenario in the form of a movie quote, a musical reference, a catchphrase or other notable saying that spreads quickly by word-of-mouth. Memes become popular because people hear about them and repeat them to others. Randall points out that if they (assumed intelligent life on other star systems,) were listening to the things we said then they would frequently hear a large number of these memes.

The title text jokes that these memes are so annoying that it would give us further incentive to develop the technology to travel faster than light, just simply to travel to these other star systems and apologise to the "residents" about the memes they've been picking up.

The table below lists all the memes described, and the star in which those memes would be heard, based on the rough date that the meme in question became popular.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Meme !! Star !! Origin !! Year !! Distance to star
|-
| Yabba dabba doo! || {{w|Castor (star)|Castor}} || {{w|The Flintstones}} || 1960 || 51 ± 3 ly
|-
| You've got to ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" || {{w|Lambda Aurigae}} || {{w|Dirty Harry}} || 1971 || 41.2 ± 0.1 ly
|-
| Where's the beef? || {{w|HR 1614}} || Slogan for {{w|Wendy’s}} || 1984 || 28 ly
|-
| And now for something completely different. || {{w|Capella (star)|Capella}}|| {{w|Monty Python’s Flying Circus}} || 1969 || 42 ly
|-
| Here's lookin' at you, kid. || {{w|Kappa Reticuli}} || {{w|Casablanca (film)|Casablanca}} || 1942 || 70 ly
|-
| My spoon is too big! || {{w|Kapteyn's Star}} || {{w|Rejected}} || 2000 || 12 ly
|-
| May the force be with you. || {{w|Delta Trianguli}} || {{w|Star Wars}} || 1977 || 35 ly
|-
| Peanut butter jelly time! || {{w|Luyten's Star}} || [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/peanut-butter-jelly-time an Internet meme] || 2002 || 12 ly
|-
| Rosebud. || {{w|Alpha Hydri}} || {{w|Citizen Kane}} || 1941 || 71 ly
|-
| Oh my god, {{w|They killed Kenny|they killed Kenny!}} - You bastards! || {{w|AD Leonis}} || {{w|South Park}} || 1997 || 15.9 ± 0.2 ly
|-
| ...God kills a kitten! - A what? || {{w|Procyon}} || {{w|Every time you masturbate... God kills a kitten|an Internet meme}} || 2002 || 11.5 ly
|-
| I ''still'' can't believe Bellatrix- - Dude, get over it. || {{w|Sirius}} || {{w|Harry Potter}} || 2003 || 08.6 ly
|-
| Ninjas fight ''all the time!'' || {{w|Epsilon Eridani}} || {{w|The Official Ninja Webpage}} || 2002 || 10 ly
|-
| {{w|D'oh!}} || {{w|HR 753}} || {{w|The Simpsons}} || 1989 || 23 ly
|-
| {{w|The Spanish Inquisition (Monty Python)|''Nobody'' expects the Spanish Inquisition!}} || {{w|Beta Virginis}} || {{w|Monty Python’s Flying Circus}} || 1970 || 35 ly
|-
| {{w|All your base are belong to us}}. || {{w|Tau Ceti}} || {{w|Zero Wing}} || 1998 || 11.9 ly
|-
| Take me to your leader! - No, Steve. || {{w|Beta Cassiopeiae|Caph}} || {{w|Take me to your leader (phrase)}} || 1953 || 54 ly
|-
| Chuck Norris doesn't sleep. He ''waits.'' || {{w|Wolf 359}} || {{w|Chuck Norris facts}} || 2005 || 07.8 ly
|-
| Numa numa || {{w|Lalande 21185}} || {{w|Numa Numa song}} || 2004 || 08.3 ly
|-
| I can haz? || {{w|WISE 1049-5319|Luhman 16}} || {{w|Lolcats}} || 2006 || 06.6 ± 0.5 ly
|-
| Internets! || {{w|Luyten 726-8|Gliese 65}} || {{w|George W. Bush}} || 2004 || 08.7
|-
| Look at the tiny dancing Earth mammals! || {{w|Gliese 1}} || {{w|Hampsterdance}} and/or {{w|Dancing Baby}} || 1998 || 14 ly
|-
| Wasssuup!?! || {{w|Van Maanen's star}} || {{w|Budweiser (Anheuser-Busch)|Budweiser Beer}} advertising campaign || 1999 || 14 ly
|-
| Yippie-ki-yay, motherfucker. || {{w|Beta Hydri}} || {{w|Die Hard}} || 1988 || 24 ly
|-
| I pity the fool! || {{w|Groombridge 1830}} || {{w|Rocky III}} ({{w|Mr. T}}) || 1982 || 30 ly
|-
| The cake is a lie! || {{w|Alpha Centauri|Alpha Centauri A/B}} || {{w|Portal (video game)|Portal}} || 2007 || 04.3 ly
|-
| Never gonna give you up || {{w|Alpha Centauri|Alpha Centauri A/B}} || {{w|Rickrolling}} || 2007 || 04.3 ly
|-
| I'm on a boat! || {{w|Proxima Centauri}} || {{w|The Lonely Island}} || 2009 || 04.243 ± 0.002 ly
|-
| Chocolate Raaaiiin || {{w|Barnard's Star}} || {{w|Tay Zonday}}: {{w|Chocolate Rain}} video || 2007 || 06 ly
|-
| Leave Britney alone! || {{w|Barnard's Star}} || {{w|Chris Crocker}}: [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/leave-britney-alone LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!] || 2007 || 06 ly
|-
| You're the man now, dog! || {{w|Epsilon Indi}} || {{w|Finding Forrester}} || 2000 || 11.8
|-
| More cowbell! || {{w|Kruger 60}} || {{w|Saturday Night Live}} || 2000 || 13 ly
|-
| Hasta la vista, baby. || {{w|Gliese 892}} || {{w|Terminator 2}} || 1991 || 21 ly
|-
| Let's get ready to ruuumble! || {{w|Zeta Tucanae}} || {{w|Michael Buffer}} || 1984 || 28 ly
|-
| You talkin' to ''me?'' || {{w|Arcturus}} || {{w|Taxi Driver}} || 1976 || 36.7 ± 0.3 ly
|-
| Welcome to Good Burger, home of the good burger. - What's a burger? - I don't know. || {{w|70 Ophiuchi}} || {{w|Good Burger}} slogan || 1997 || 16.58 ± 0.07 ly
|-
| Badger badger badger badger || {{w|Ross 154}} || {{w|Badger Badger Badger}} || 2003 || 09.7 ly
|-
| {{w|Vulcan salute|Live long and prosper.}} || {{w|HD 211415}} || {{w|Star Trek}} || 1967 || 44 ly
|-
| Name's Bond. James Bond. || {{w|51 Pegasi}} || {{w|Dr. No (film)|Dr. No}} ({{w|James Bond}}) || 1962 || 50.9 ± 0.3 ly
|-
| Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn. || {{w|Alpha Serpentis}} || {{w|Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind}} || 1939 || 74.0 ± 0.3 ly
|-
| Mr. T ate my balls! || {{w|Altair}} || [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ate-my-balls an Internet meme] || 1996 || 16.7 ly
|-
| I want the truth. - You can't handle the truth! || {{w|Delta Pavonis}} || {{w|A Few Good Men}} || 1992 || 20 ly
|-
| I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse. || {{w|Beta Trianguli Australis}} || {{w|The Godfather}} || 1972 || 40 ly
|-
| {{w|Resistance is futile|Resistance is futile.}} || {{w|Vega}} || {{w|Star Trek}} ({{w|Borg (Star Trek)|Borg}}) || 1988 || 25 ly
|-
| Oh... My... Gaawd || {{w|Sigma Draconis}} || {{w|Friends}} ({{w|Janice Goralnik}}) || 1994 || 18.8 ly
|-
| Ehh, what's up, Doc? || {{w|Epsilon Cygni|Gienah}} || {{w|Bugs Bunny}} || 1940 || 73 ly
|-
| ''EXTERMINATE!'' || {{w|Alpha Cephei|Alderamin}} || {{w|Doctor Who}} ({{w|Dalek|The Daleks}}) || 1963 || 49 ly
|}

==Transcript==
:If other star systems are listening in on our pop culture, these are the jokes and catchphrases they just learned about and are currently repeating way too much:

*List of stars and catchphrases, see above*

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

Talk:137: Dreams

2013-05-13T17:40:54Z

Mynotoar: Created page with "This seems a very short explanation that doesn't reflect the depth or passion of Cueball's speech :P. Or maybe I'm just overly affected by it. --~~~~"

This seems a very short explanation that doesn't reflect the depth or passion of Cueball's speech :P. Or maybe I'm just overly affected by it. --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 17:40, 13 May 2013 (UTC)

457: Frustration

2013-05-12T12:24:36Z

Mynotoar:

{{comic
| number = 457
| date = August 1, 2008
| title = Frustration
| image = frustration.png
| titletext = 'Don't worry, I can do it in under a minute.' 'Yes, I've noticed.'
}}

==Explanation==
A bra is pictured here, but instead of a traditional clasp, a {{w|Rubik's cube}} is used instead. This would lead to the frustration mentioned in the comic's title, as someone wishing to remove the bra would have to solve the Rubik's cube every time in order to remove it, and scramble it in order to fasten the bra again. This would doubtless provide frustration in particular to partners who want to remove clothing as quickly as possible but are impeded by the Rubik's cube bra. On another level, the bra might also cause frustration simply because of the pressure of a weighty plastic cube digging into your back all day, and probably pulling the bra tighter by weighing it down.

The title text is an imagined conversation between someone trying to undo this bra and someone who is likely wearing the bra. The first person explains that s/he can undo the bra in under a minute, which is a reasonably impressive skill to have if you are not a professional {{w|speedcuber}}. The second person replies that they've noticed, perhaps sarcastically suggesting that the first person is far more interested in solving a Rubik's cube than actually removing the bra and... everything that follows.

==Transcript==

:[Bra with rubik's cube closure.]

{{comic discussion}}

457: Frustration

2013-05-12T12:20:18Z

Mynotoar: Created page with "{{comic | number = 457 | date = <!-- Click on the "All Comics" button in the sidebar on the left and find this comic in the list. The date is in the rightmost column, ..."

{{comic
| number = 457
| date = 
| title = Frustration
| image = frustration.png
| titletext = 'Don't worry, I can do it in under a minute.' 'Yes, I've noticed.'
}}

==Explanation==
A bra is pictured here, but instead of a traditional clasp, a {{w|Rubik's cube}} is used instead. This would lead to the frustration mentioned in the comic's title, as someone wishing to remove the bra would have to solve the Rubik's cube every time in order to remove it, and scramble it in order to fasten the bra again. This would doubtless provide frustration in particular to partners who want to remove clothing as quickly as possible but are impeded by the Rubik's cube bra. On another level, the bra might also cause frustration simply because of the pressure of a weighty plastic cube digging into your back all day, and probably pulling the bra tighter by weighing it down.

The title text is an imagined conversation between someone trying to undo this bra and someone who is likely wearing the bra. The first person explains that s/he can undo the bra in under a minute, which is a reasonably impressive skill to have if you are not a professional {{w|speedcuber}}. The second person replies that they've noticed, perhaps sarcastically suggesting that the first person is far more interested in solving a Rubik's cube than actually removing the bra and... everything that follows.

==Transcript==


:[Bra with rubik's cube closure.]
:{title text: 'Don't worry, I can do it in under a minute.' 'Yes, I've noticed.'}

{{comic discussion}}

1210: I'm So Random

2013-05-11T19:18:10Z

Mynotoar: Improved the explanation about trochees

{{comic
| number = 1210
| date = May 10, 2013
| title = I'm So Random
| image = im so random.png
| titletext = In retrospect, it's weird that as a kid I thought completely random outbursts made me seem interesting, given that from an information theory point of view, lexical white noise is just about the opposite of interesting by definition.
}}

=Explanation=
[[Hairy]] walks up to [[Black Hat]] and proclaims that he is "so random". "Monkey tacos" is a phrase which contains two trochees. A {{w|trochee}} is a {{w|metric foot}} with one stressed beat and one unstressed beat; it may be a reference to [[856: Trochee Fixation]]. This is a reference to the Internet phenomenon in which people tend to say 'random things' and find them funny. Black Hat, being the mean and rather bullying person that he is, replies that he is also random, proving this by pouring forth a massive amount of numbers that knocks Hairy to the ground. Black Hat regains his posture at the computer, as if nothing has happened.

Black Hat's "random" numbers are actually quoted from [http://oeis.org/A002205 the first lines] of ''{{w|A Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates}}'' making it both "officially random", but also essentially not. (See also: [[221: Random Number]].)

The title text elaborates on "random text", stating that he once would have believed that Hairy's random outbursts made him interesting despite the definition of "interesting" meaning the opposite. {{w|White noise}} is essentially random sounds.

=Transcript=
:[Hairy approaches Black Hat, who is at a computer.]
:Hairy: Monkey Tacos! I'm so random.
:Black Hat: Yeah, me too.
:[A massive speech bubble comes out of Black Hat's mouth, filled with random numbers, knocking Hairy to the ground.]
:[Black Hat resumes work at his computer, as if nothing has happened.]

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