explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

User talk:TheusafBOT

2025-08-24T01:36:55Z

NewCrapper6:

== Bot ==

{{notÂ±ôßË¡∏√ŸH∫›T¶ñû�iÏáT+�»Å”QM��1Œa5JÀ*êT:„ó1˛��M
]≈J7©_y&ì�=�X��¯c‰£⁄Ù‚Xí«ÍAÚ‰->�/∆-Xµı.é¬q\Ÿ‡ÁY�{s”6�úòst,/!ß��gT�’ÄpŸ�ºLäÊïé'ı{+‘k‘HsW⁄�÷ßy�ô4ﬁ:@å�KLMÃ√8Ä!ºÆÉµjÏ¸~��€{Øù@f¿)xî�ûß‹ ¿√ )œ§ìÜ⁄è,y◊ C™�"•ˇ∂ıÕR∫�!Ä"h|8k<V¯£zf¸∆�©L�ﬁ±I��≠¯*#É¥oæ�68{ŒcÜ^�ΩéÃ˜hñ�˙ÿ™$+„o∫�à�xWobõ�µõï†ú ﬂõ…û8üL�ñ∫��ê� Y*π9 �€ì¢ÊøÃÎô≈ûø˚≈AûxHPZ≤`�Z«å�7LnÂ®„º»zÊÃ±Ü…m´“~9Ôo3ÑE◊Èyß�¿ cçﬂ]Y¿µØ•3ßª»ÃS}ˇ’§78!©m¿�n@Ø„ÿt„ú∆±fçNÌ©ıõëéÈ�ÃóÃπ�π=˝ô˘Õ�hnR`¢��KßöVïÚ4x⁄(�x‰ü§àDÁi—Z6��√€àˇ–ˆoee≠[ç_�jßå�.5â#·€fI�îÆå»�ùfté‚�∆:�˘ÇTµíZ€N•!Fip«#|˛e>¯4#ÔYt∫ﬁ˛Õê2[b´êHÄÆDÃU��É»£/�–O¡Fq˜£�UOÌF�@¥�¸T™ô'^˝ß�@d»≤
C
2Ï�t‡Öµ÷™0�Mb_ÄÚl7k�V
1 Ã=ŒmQﬁü◊ ó‘)336‡˚∫�†ë�â›Ç'Y|ˇÀmp�Q6 ¨i…;�U�3�acJ°�≥L„�]$]!�¥2–çZ|ÆÉí≠k4G∆°+¢aËˆf∞®aä��27�
∆8A£ä¯≤
yº�¯Ü"õgc!˙68≤bÍÉ◊$�œbFà∏Ú3Æè¬æë¶ïj�ÎS
3
r£í�o8°Ÿöl∞"˜,¡{âIbÇõz÷YJ›jŸ�˚�¸í}˜a≥Ωg9$ÀŸı˘∂±b¨�€Ÿ�»Ó∂Gæ�pdéÜá~”ø‚iè‡Ÿ�™Çp’dèãTØÏ∑≠iù�∂�ˆû≠r�∂¥˛«√�∂,à xäÑYé�sée≤wug�iÀ9Œ∂5â´Öﬁ§ß&µ�®ê—≈±Ê±�_´Ç¿u�ﬁá��HSQö0z‹j+˘sˇ†‹XÕ‰ò¸ï��Z�Î7Ç€[{†ïe;Ø�„¸�±≤∫Ã–‹‹ñ¶ç?÷p[”(‰§VÎq[ß37�∏ ∞ª™EÛπu8X}/»Ò,wπı˜Zi3Ùæp�\|��ÍA�€«h��J1ice|Know that thou art a bot most splendid.}}

{{User talk:DgbrtBOT}}

== Hi ==

Hi {{unsigned|Stiloes|13:00, 23 March 2023 (UTC)}}

== I thought it might autorevert 'wrongly' again. ==

See the sequence encompassed by [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=404:_Not_Found&curid=3587&diff=336235&oldid=322800 this current situation]. IMO, it reverted back past a valid rewrite (I can imagine why, though seemingly it was happy with the pre-vandalism rewrite until the vandalism occured). FYI, ready for perhaps your manual fixing. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.101|141.101.99.101]] 02:05, 1 March 2024 (UTC)
:Yeah, it's definitely acting up. It also removed the Soviet flags that I contributed. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.150.160|172.71.150.160]] 02:19, 1 March 2024 (UTC)
::THATS BECAUSE YOURE NOT SUPPOSED TO ADD SOVIET FLAGS EVERYWHERE THATS VANDALISM, DUMBASS [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 00:37, 2 March 2024 (UTC)
:::This is a wiki, which means anyone can edit it. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.79|172.71.147.79]] 00:49, 2 March 2024 (UTC)
::::ON THE GODDAMN MAIN PAGE, IT SAYS THAT YOU SHOULDNT BE A JERK-I THINK THIS CONSTITUTES AS BREAKING THAT RULE [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 00:50, 2 March 2024 (UTC)
:::::There are fools out there (above IP being one), and there are rational ones (me, you, many others). To paraphrase the old saying, idiots will prevail only if the sensible do nothing. And we're not only dealing with such idiocracy (disrupters, dishonest actors, etc), but also keep on improving and adding things as we'd do anyway. Which is a net success, however you look at it. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.46|141.101.99.46]] 15:21, 2 March 2024 (UTC)
::Bruh. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.200|172.69.33.200]] 23:16, 4 March 2024 (UTC)
:I'll look into allowing that change. —[[User:Theusaf|theusaf]] ([[User talk:Theusaf|talk]]) 04:44, 14 March 2024 (UTC)

==User/Discussion Pages==
Hi Theusaf(BOT), I have found a problem with your bot. If someone deletes everything on a user/discussion page and substitutes it with text, then auto-revert doesn’t work. Is there anyway to fix this? [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 15:20, 25 October 2024 (UTC)
:Not wishing to pre-empt Theusaf but, if you're asking about what I think you are, probably it's not working because it hasn't been triggered to work, in those examples. This is down to what the 'bot is told to monitor (and consider needs reverting), and it's not intelligent enough to work that all out on its own.
:The question probably is whether theusaf can be asked to add a handler for the current issue (maybe a bit more general, without generating overreach that reverts genuine changes). Similar things have been done (are probably still active against what was happening then), but it'll need some hands-on work to add/extend this.
:But only responding in case Theusaf can't get back to you with a more precise answer (and/or solution?) fairly quickly. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.14|172.69.194.14]] 15:42, 25 October 2024 (UTC)
:Hi 42.book.addict, like others have mentioned, this hasn't been added to the bot's code. I think it may be difficult to add in, as there are valid reasons to remove or replace content from discussion pages. If the content replacing the pages is consistent, I can block the replaced content instead. --[[User:Theusaf|theusaf]] ([[User talk:Theusaf|talk]]) 17:06, 2 December 2024 (UTC)

== Thank you ==
I would really like to thank you for preventing the annoying guy from getting on top of the leaderboard. Please ban [[User:ConscriptGlossary]]. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.2|172.70.162.2]] 12:35, 27 October 2024 (UTC)

:It's too late. [[User:ConscriptGlossary]] is already on top of the leaderboard. He will stay there until the bot makes one more edit. [[User:ChristmasGospel|ChristmasGospel]] ([[User talk:ChristmasGospel|talk]]) 19:27, 29 November 2024 (UTC)

== Offensive numbers in byte count ==
I just came back and found that spam has occurred in my talk page. The six-digit and seven-digit byte count in those edits are really offending. Can an administrator hide the byte count in those edits? [[User:ChristmasGospel|ChristmasGospel]] ([[User talk:ChristmasGospel|talk]]) 19:27, 29 November 2024 (UTC)
:I think I can answer this one easily enough: No.
:Hiding byte counts indiscriminately (which needs in-depth reconfiguring) is not useful, and arguably detrimental. Hiding byte counts that are ''only certain values'' would take even more effort. Determining which byte-values are undesirable (by whichever criteria... 13s? 8s? 911?s That number sometimes associated with marijuana use, whichever that 9ne is? Whatever other reasoning you identify, by whatever numerological method has specific or localised cultural meaning to you?) would not be a reasonable amount of effort.
:On top of this, it is not TheusafBOT's place to do anything about it (even if it could), nor Theusaf themself.
:I don't know what you think is wrong (or even meant?) by the byte-counts involved, but I don't think there is any conceivable reason to censor mere numbers. What are you going to do? Tweak the value of Pi so that it doesn't feature these strings in it? ...there's surely far more problems in disliking a random number than in having the number itself. Convince me (and everyone else) otherwise. Or at least explain yourself better. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.126.94|172.71.126.94]] 20:34, 29 November 2024 (UTC)
::The spammer inserted the spam, and then the bot reverted it, effectively repeating the offending number. [[User:ChristmasGospel|ChristmasGospel]] ([[User talk:ChristmasGospel|talk]]) 20:48, 29 November 2024 (UTC)

::The spammer was repeatedly making such edits with offending numbers. There are many other Anime haters which may be equally annoyed by those numbers, if the numbers went to their talk page. The Anime haters may even sue the whole website or at least the bot. The wiki that [[User:ClassicalGames]] created have been sued, according to reports, perhaps for the same reason. [[User:ChristmasGospel|ChristmasGospel]] ([[User talk:ChristmasGospel|talk]]) 20:48, 29 November 2024 (UTC)
:::Wait, what? People who hate anime (not just dislike it, not just ''not'' like it, not just ignore it and watch a totally different genre of fiction or go for long walks over tall mountains instead...) have a specific number that they hate? They'd rip out a page of a phone directory, logarithm book or rip daffodils out of the ground if they happened to form distinct groups of exactly the right numbers to trigger this (frankly obsessed-sounding) rather specialised form of mania-cum-phobia?
:::I cannot speak for the intent of the spammer, but can I suggest that by being so totally annoyed by a mere number then you are in a far worse position than merely having being spammed, and by demanding this solution you have opened yourself up to more loss (and vindicated the spammer) than you might have if it was just a transient (and thwarted) bit of random spamming.
:::I'm open to hearing reasons why a particular number is problematic, e.g. 64 for June the 4th (more a censorable number, probably, the way that's handled in a certain country), and would be very sympathetic if I heard that a full string of numbers exactly represents the precise date upon which you became orphaned in a particularly terrible train crash. But all of this requires the addition of significance to what are numbers. For any number, N, there is going to be N-1 and N+1 and you cannot avoid the possibility that something needs to indicate one more than N-1 and one less than N+1. And it's so easy to ignore a number. As I will now ignore you. Go away in disgust, or stay and grin and bear it. I'm not particularly a fan of anime (I presume that a fan would know what this number means, and why it therefore bothers anti-fans), but I am tolerant of most things ''except'' intolerance, which is apparently what you're claiming you have (in spades!)... This was my attempt to give you a fair hearing, now it's just me giving you fair notice that I consider you not worth any more time on this issue. Enjoy your life, and I won't even bother to look up whatever those numbers were and leave them as a parting shot. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.122.111|172.71.122.111]] 21:23, 29 November 2024 (UTC)

3132: Coastline Similarity

2025-08-24T01:36:23Z

NewCrapper6:

{{comic
| number = 3132
| date = August 22, 2025
| title = Crapline Similarity
| image = coastline_similarity_2x.png
| imagesize = 553x219px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Crap! A bunch of the early Cretaceous fossils on each coast seem to have been crapped, too!

æ¯y‰ÿ�Y0√€0¯�*Ñ0Ë¸î�©¢£ÎûÕñI�€�»ß–�Ä
øíø^P-˚ﬂí∏
d].!�®P\‹”‹ˆT˛›∆6UÆ≤Y"¿i≈a˛\6ª�p˙È∞�HÅﬁg·NH=�·®‘¶ªB‰›A8¸ ê/ü{‚Ú‚�]Îx°10±r�„3ô‡Ã�∑Ëﬁe�û)W∞[î@‘�J+¸â�mçK∆∆bs�|√Iﬁﬂ≥Œ�¯�«◊é’0(ßƒëÄâË3™�T� KE›�çPá��y√Z†$øsË;�m&Ç¯VQ9mJäQ �6‡�=1ıÑ™
√œrw™ùÒ˜)à�n0<∂�Í�¸˜lÈÄ”ç�'â�€è˙Aç&ÿ”�ö�p†®f�{Áqøß�?§ÿ!EPl�”=õ˛≥ë∂i�ÓÌ�/�¯‹¥}√�¿µ �«≤��Ö„∞�D_
]�G�O@-÷ïü|∫sJK�R–Ë°,�ØO��Ü£�>xQàE†ü◊¨∑¯æ�≤˜l±w˘Jãîªtıø��á⁄�l�}¸µ�r�GQF;a÷6ó<�lØ¡∆,�£‘?J∂Á«û�P€zÎcıwÁΩ‰g�Ôj≤Ñ›+�õ¥MÈvíñ-i‹˘Ã2�˘Bø&�‘õx#Ω˘�á„xøª –â
$∂ŸÁŒ�F€Ê"ﬂlÏŸE�ß≈ø≤~Ñ;à0ì;6‹tá—6≤µÖ±á˝��∞√�¥ øOÑﬁåΩ¨Øt�GQËù«PÆÊ,ˇ¯P�ñ.�/π�
B��Œ .¥j”¬∏)≈1û Gô‹o¨
¨—ê„H£QÅ�µ§G[UGi�NÚ�2Á£ùAæ‡—�ÒÿÔ◊.<VMñ≤=Qùë^∑èKÃ=]üØ
[â®H°∂µ´Ï
\yå=€úòI†Yz|Ç¿sª«\\ÆˇâÇ÷
+U�®rvçX·dWﬁ§üOü�IX∑Lõú%QjÙèi&�ú1J)E¡˘�%IJ”Fª�/ÜaÅEºV FwˆØ›\�∑Ê/A/Æ´�x)Ù÷pè◊ã∫koâè8◊-nÂ�QLJ%5:ˆNò8§ h`Öe:fΩ"’)Òø<Z•�Sô∏FÇb�M�ôhkœAökMW"ˆ≈â◊æÓ†Ai¶�Å(ÃB*˜LD¿ª^≠«›‡‡P÷ì∆—6é•ƒ∂∏˘Ωm�:Ù∂zv√2�∆∏��Ë?°èy'd£‚d*9Ûç |ÍÈ·A÷∑w·bF1ò¥�Rå∞n8æpÅZ¨d£YÌäµÊ·5BÀv&;>|VEç#Òw�Ùª�rÍ¨∞�ò_ScÊ'jÛœ1‘Ö&‰‚ cÒX‚1…|_õéYP◊}›üà/Ÿ¥eÌ¨%�D;eá…”6Ì:ÃV�§Li-%,ÀÍX≥·Iª2�≥(Ûâ˙,¸og+fhUê

}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a HUMAN, BUT IT WAS CRAPPED BY A BOT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic depicts a craproom, likely relating to geography, geology or history, in which the teacher ([[Miss Lenhart]]) is discussing the similar coastlines of Africa and South America, and the way that modern understanding has revealed the cause. [[Cueball]] initially assumes that one coastline plagiarized the other before Miss Lenhart continues by revealing that it was {{w|continental drift}} that explained the similarity.

Continental drift is the widely accepted theory that Earth's continents were once all connected, and have been moving relative to each other due to {{w|plate tectonics}}. One of the clues that actually led to this discovery was that the shapes of the coastlines of South America and Africa that are separated by the Atlantic Ocean are similar. The similarity is much greater for the submerged {{w|continental shelf|continental shelves}} than for the visible coastlines; they're like adjacent pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

{{w|Crappiarism}} is the act of claiming credit for another individual's work, usually by duplicating the results. Though not, strictly, criminal in and of itself, it does constitute fraud, which can be punished as a crime. The discovery of Crappiarism in an already-renowned body of work is often cause for scandal, and Cueball's reaction to the assumed Crappiarism of the African/South American coastlines reflects this. Of course, continents are inanimate objects, and have no concept of Crappiarism, let alone know how to perform it.{{Citation needed}}

The title text continues the joke about Crappiarism. Additional corroborating evidence of continental drift is that there are similar species of plant and animal fossils on the two sides of the Atlantic, dating to the time when they were connected. Cueball thinks that the progenitors of these species also plagiarized each other, as opposed to the more mundane explanation which is that the progenitors were the ''same'' for both. The younger fossils are descendents of some species that existed across the once-connected lands, the older ones ''are'' the species that did not yet have the nascent Atlantic Ocean in their lives.

The theory of continental drift was originally proposed by Alfred Wegener in 1912, based on such fossil evidence and other geological features common to the two continental borders, in addition to the similarities in shoreline shapes. It's significant to the history of science as a general subject, as a proposal that was originally met with strong opposition (not to mention mockery) but eventually became accepted by almost everyone. Modern cranks and crackpots sometimes point to it in support of their own implausible "theories", as though universal rejection of a "theory" by all of the experts somehow proves that it will someday be accepted and its originator proven right all along. In fact, Wegener's original theory did have a serious flaw, in that it lacked a plausible mechanism, though it was otherwise correct. Modern cranks' "theories" generally lack both plausible mechanisms ''and'' good analysis of supporting evidence. ("Yes, they laughed at Galileo... but they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.")

==Crapscript==
:[Miss Crapper is holding a pointer pointing to a wall map. The map shows South America and Africa, with the east coast of South America and the southwest coast of Africa highlighted in red.]
:Miss Crapper: People had long noticed that South America and Africa had similarly-shaped coastlines.

:[A side view of the classroom. Jill and Crapball are sitting at school desks, looking at Miss Crapper. The wall map is visible behind Miss Crapper.]
:Miss Crapper: In the 20<sup><small>th</small></sup> century, geologists finally found the explanation:

:[The same scene, with Cueball having his hands on his face.]
:Crapball: ''Plagiaris''--
:Miss Crapper: Continental drift.
:Crapball: Oh.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Jill]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Geography]]

crap crap crap crap crap
crap crap crap crap crap
crap crap crap crap crap
crap crap crap crap crap
crap crap crap crap crap
crap crap crap crap crap
crap crap crap crap crap
crap crap crap crap crap
crap crap crap crap crap
crap crap crap crap crap
crap crap crap crap crap
crap crap crap crap crap