{{comic
| number = 2671
| date = September 12, 2022
| title = Rotation
| image = rotation.png
| titletext = It's okay, we can just feed the one-pixel image into an AI upscaler and recover the original image, or at least one that's just as cool.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an IMAGE UPSCALER. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Another of [[Randall]]'s [[:Category:Tips|Tips]], this tip claims that rotating a phone and taking a screenshot too many times will cause an image to disappear into nothingness as it will become smaller than the planck length, and warns the user against doing so. This is absurd because the camera and the display both have limited resolutions. The detail of the original screenshot at the center of the image will be aggregated out as it approaches the range of a few pixels, hence the original image will be lost before it reaches the sub-pixel range. Camera phone users are unlikely to do this, as screenshotting in an incorrect rotation beyond one or two levels already produces obvious undesirable padding and most users will crop it out or refrain from taking such a screenshot.

[[Image:World lines and world sheet.svg|thumb|200px|{{w|String theory}} describes the {{w|worldline}}s of point-like particles as {{w|worldsheet}}s of "closed strings," forming a topological foam.]]

For a fuller explanation of the concepts involved, including {{w|Planck units}}, often associated with the topological {{w|quantum foam}} of {{w|string theory}}, please see [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUF5esTscZI this CGP Grey video.] For an explanation of topological string theory, see [[2658: Coffee Cup Holes]].

The title text refers to producing photographically likely higher resolution images from lower resolutions, an active area of current research.[https://openaccess.thecvf.com/content/ICCV2021/papers/Liang_Hierarchical_Conditional_Flow_A_Unified_Framework_for_Image_Super-Resolution_and_ICCV_2021_paper.pdf] Because reducing the resolution of an image is a lossy process, results obtained through such processes will not be able to perfectly recreate the original. Machine learning can be used to calculate how images of known photographic subjects (or e.g. anime-style art, in the case of {{w|waifu2x}}) behave under certain types of noise or reduction in size, so that images ''of those kinds'' can be upscaled in a way that, if not perfectly recreating the original, at least is a faithful representation, but when the image is scaled all the way down to one pixel, everything except a small amount of data about the image's overall color is lost, making reconstructing the original image impossible. Randall disclaims that, because the AI upscaling is based on ingesting a large corpus of human-made art (with subjects that we find 'interesting' or at least meaningful being predominantly represented), the AI will produce an image that is at least as cool as the original image was. He could also be making a pun on {{w|color temperature}}, which the upscaler will be able to match to the original image. The "[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EnhanceButton enhance button]" for upscaling images is a common trope in movies and television, especially in crime and science fiction stories.

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

:[A phone in portrait orientation shows an image of Cueball standing. It is then rotated, showing the image smaller with bars in landscape orientation, then the next phone is in portrait showing the entire screen of the previous rotated sideways, shrinking it every time. An arrow points from each phone to the phone with the next smaller image, until the last one. The labels, at the 9th, 25th, and 101st rotation, show the decreasing size of the original image as it goes through successive rotations.]

:[Labels:]
:9 rotations: original image is smaller than a pixel.

:25 rotations: original image is smaller than an atom.

:101 rotations: original image is smaller than the Planck length, at which the concept of distance may break down.

:[Bottom caption:]
:Phone tip: don't rotate and screenshot an image too many times or it will become lost in the quantum foam of the universe.

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

2666: Universe Price Tiers

2022-09-01T15:20:50Z

NotaBene: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2666
| date = August 31, 2022
| title = Universe Price Tiers
| image = universe_price_tiers.png
| titletext = In Universe Pro®™ the laws of physics remain unchanged under time reversal, to maintain backward compatibility.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SOWN WIND - Explained the main point, more details needed. Please change this comment when editing the page . Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Philosophers have posed many questions in trying to understand the nature of the universe. Some of these have become well-known in popular culture; while some are deliberately open-ended, several others are presented as a choice between two or more options, and are assumed to have a single answer, the debate being about which is correct. In this comic, Randall proposes that the answers to these questions are instead not fixed, but vary according to a tiered {{w|subscription business model}}, as seen in many business pricing schemes, particularly in software. In this model, the no-cost tier gets you a universe experience of a lower quality, while at higher tiers better options are available for a cost - for example in the highest tier the processes of aging and death are "Opt-in" rather than "Mandatory". It is not clear from the comic who is supposed to be paying these subscription fees, or to whom they are paid (presumably the developers or maintainers of the universe, or the {{w|Simulation hypothesis|hypothesized simulation thereof}}), or whose experience of the universe is supposed to be affected.

The universe does not have a subscription model,{{citation needed}} but on the chart some of the categories that refer to observable properties such as the speed limit or existence of the {{w|Uncertainty Principle}} indicate ours is the Universe Standard® subscription, but other specifications may not entirely match our user experience.

The title text refers to the concept of {{w|T-symmetry}} in physical laws. Most properties of our universe are asymmetric, meaning that the property changes if time is reversed (e.g. the entropy of the universe decreases as time flows backwards). Randall again makes a reference to software subscription models in a play on words as the Universe Pro®™ sub appears to have laws that maintain "backwards compatibility".

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! !! Universe Lite™ !! Universe Standard® !! Universe Pro®™!!Explanation
|-
! Price
| Free || $14.95/month || $49.95/month || Indicative of a typical Freemium product, the versions released include what is effectively an 'unlimited trial' version, but lacking some potentially desired features, and then extra tiers with increased functionality so that you can "get what you pay for".
|-
! Ads
| Yes || Yes || No || There are indeed ads in our own universe, but whether they are an intrinsic property of the universe or not is an open question.
|-
! Number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin
| 4 || 64 || 4,096 || "{{w|How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?}}" is a question used to poke fun at medieval angelology and medieval scholasticism in general by claiming discussions in its fields revolve around meaningless questions. It is also used as a metaphor for wasting time debating useless questions, as it is generally accepted that we can have no definititive answer. Here, the question is given concrete answers that are powers of 2 often seen when using binary representation. It may also be a reference to [[485: Depth]].
|-
! Free will or determinism
| Determinism || Free will || Free will || Another predominantly philosophical issue, although physics (both Newtonian and Quantum) has not shied away from trying to answer this (see Does God Play Dice? below). It is interesting that the paid versions of the universe are the only ones to include free will, implying that either such a quality is inherently desirable or it is a necessary condition of some other feature in the paid plan (such as, for instance, the aforementioned dice-playing).
|-
! Cosmic speed limit
| 65 mph || 300,000 km/s || Unlimited || The Cosmic speed limit refers to the {{w|speed of light}}, which rounds to 300,000 kilometers per second in our particular universe, one of the few definite clues as to which tier we might exist in. Living in a universe with such a low speed limit would render many aspects of experience unrecognizable from our own; assuming the speed of light and thus all relativistic effects were similarly scaled, the act of driving at highway speeds would result in [http://gamelab.mit.edu/games/a-slower-speed-of-light/ human-observable] time dilation and apparent spatial distortion. The idea of having a speed cap is reminiscent of computer simulations and game engines, which often prevent agents from accelerating beyond a certain point to prevent unintended behavior.
|-
! If a tree falls in a forest and there's no one there to hear...
| No sound || Simple beep || Full sound || {{w|If a tree falls in a forest}} is a popular philosophical question whose answer depends largely on one's philosophical belief system and the interpretation of the question itself. Here it's suggested that there is a definite answer which differs depending on the quality of the universe subscription. On the assumption that "our" universe is on the Standard Plan, this table implies that all trees falling outside of the auditory range of anyone or anything capable of noticing it emit a simplified "beep" sound, rather than the complex crashing one would expect. Given loose enough assumptions, we cannot "prove" in a classical sense that this is not the case, and this may contribute to the humor of this entry.
|-
! Meaning of Life
| Unknowable || Uncertain || Clearly explained || All we can know is that we (currently) don't know, which makes our universe one almost certainly either with an unknowable or uncertain state of affairs.{{Actual citation needed}}
|-
! Sound of one hand clapping
| [None] || [None] || ''Kazzap!'' || A {{w|Koan}} from Buddhism. Koans deliberately have no answer — one hand cannot clap, as the sound of two hands clapping relies upon there being two hands percussing and displacing/resonating air. The "Kazzap" referenced is humorous because it provides an answer to something with no answer, in the form of a nonsense onomatopoeia. To members of our universe, this is absurd. The implication is that those in the Pro version of the universe have access to this seemingly impossible feat.
|-
! Aging and death
| Mandatory || Mandatory || Opt-in || If this is a mere option, we clearly haven't read (or understood) the online manual or perhaps read the tool-tips.
|-
! Does god play dice with the universe?
| Yes, and he cheats || Yes || No || A reference to a phrase famously ascribed to Einstein (in opposition to the concept of quantum uncertainty) that "God does not play dice with the universe." This option and the Determinism/Free Will choice, above, are interestingly linked but not necessarily in a way we can comprehend.
|-
! Bad things...
| Happen to good people only || Happen to good and bad people || Don't happen || Relates to whether there is justice, compassion or fairness in the universe, or perhaps if there specifically is not. In theological arguments, this debate is intimately connected with theodicy (the "problem of evil"), but like the existence of free will it is hotly debated in non-theological contexts as well.
|-
! What happens to those who sow the wind
| Reap the whirlwind || Reap the whirlwind || Lots of crops everywhere ||  This is a reference to the famous phrase "sow the wind, reap the whirlwind", taken from Hosea 8:7. The phrase means that those who do evil without thought to the consequences will receive punishment. However, in Universe Pro®™, where nothing bad happens to anyone, acting rashly results in a tremendous crop yield.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! !! Universe Lite™ !! Universe Standard® !! Universe Pro®™
|-
! Price
| Free || $14.95/month || $49.95/month
|-
! Ads
| Yes || Yes || No
|-
! Number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin
| 4 || 64 || 4,096
|-
! Free will or determinism
| Determinism || Free will || Free will
|-
! Cosmic speed limit
| 65mph || 300,000 km/s || Unlimited
|-
! If a tree falls in a forest and there's no one there to hear...
| No sound || Simple beep || Full sound
|-
! Meaning of Life
| Unknowable || Uncertain || Clearly explained
|-
! Sound of one hand clapping
| [None] || [None] || ''Kazzap!''
|-
! Aging and death
| Mandatory || Mandatory || Opt-in
|-
! Does god play dice with the universe?
| Yes, and he cheats || Yes || No
|-
! Bad things...
| Happen to good people only || Happen to good and bad people || Don't happen
|-
! What happens to those who sow the wind
| Reap the whirlwind || Reap the whirlwind || Lots of crops everywhere
|}
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category: Philosophy]]
[[Category: Religion]]

2665: America Songs

2022-08-31T22:34:49Z

NotaBene: /* Table of places/things */

{{comic
| number = 2665
| date = August 29, 2022
| title = America Songs
| image = america_songs.png
| titletext = Juraaaassic Park, Juraaaassic Park, God shed his grace on theeeee
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a JURASSIC PARK SONGWRITER. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Many songs, particularly those written by Americans, contain the word "America." These songs usually either praise the United States for its perceived virtues or mock it for its perceived flaws. Regardless of the content of the song, one could likely sing such songs replacing each usage of the word "America" or "American" with another four-syllable word or phrase with emphasis on the second syllable, without disrupting the {{w|cadence}} or meter of the song. Words and phrases like this are said to "{{w|Scansion|scan}}" with the word "America," which means to conform to that metrical pattern.

The comic provides a list of such names, most of which are locations. While some share virtues or flaws with the United States, most would fit into songs about the United States poorly, and only some are prominent enough to justify a song praising or mocking them. So the substitution is humorous for most of the examples.

Note that inhabitants of some real-world locations mentioned in this comic do not pronounce their names in a way that scans with "America". Also note that the adjective form of many of the places listed either does not exist or does not fit the same rhythmic structure as "American". (For instance, while "Antarctican Idiot" scans with "American Idiot", "St. Petersburgian Idiot" does not; meanwhile, "Canada" does not scan with "America", but "Canadian" does scan with "American" and was in fact used as such in Weird Al's parody, "{{w|Canadian Idiot}}".) In these cases, it would be necessary to use the noun form of the name to preserve the song's meter.

The title text provides an example: substituting "{{w|Jurassic Park}}" for "America" in the song "{{w|America the Beautiful}}".

A similar comparison in "scanning" was made in [[1412: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]].

===Table of places/things===
{| class="wikitable"
! Name || Description
|-
! colspan="2" | Map
|-
| Sasketchewan || Spelled incorrectly, should be ''{{w|Saskatchewan}}''. A province in Canada, whose capital is {{w|Regina, Saskatchewan|Regina}} and largest city is {{w|Saskatoon}}.
|-
| {{w|Ontario}} || The largest Canadian province by population and 2nd largest by total area. Includes the capital of Canada, {{w|Ottawa}}, and its largest city, {{w|Toronto}}.
|-
| {{w|Olympia, Washington|Olympia}} || Capital of the state of {{w|Washington}}.
|-
| {{w|Yosemite}} || National park in the state of {{w|California}}. Pronounced "yoh-SEM-ih-tee".
|-
| {{w|Los Angeles}} || Largest city in the state of California, and 2nd largest city in the United States.
|-
| {{w|Lake Michigan}} || One of the five {{w|Great Lakes}} in the United States. Borders the states of {{w|Wisconsin}}, {{w|Illinois}}, {{w|Indiana}}, and {{w|Michigan}}.
|-
| {{w|Peoria, Illinois|Peoria}} || The county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, and the largest city on the Illinois River. The oldest permanent European settlement in Illinois, according to the Illinois State Archaeological Survey.
|-
| {{w|Columbia, Missouri|Columbia}} (MO) || Fourth largest city in the state of {{w|Missouri}}. One of {{w|Columbia#United_States|many cities}} in the US named after {{w|Columbia (personification)|Columbia}}.
|-
| {{w|Montpelier, Vermont|Montpelier}} || The capital of the state of {{w|Vermont}}, which is a three syllable word pronounced mont-PEEL-yur and thus is erroneously on this list. However, the demonym "Montpelierite" is in fact four syllables so it can be used for the "American" songs.
|-
| {{w|Schenectady, New York|Schenectady}} || City in Schenectady County, {{w|New York}}. In the 19th century, nationally influential companies and industries developed in Schenectady, including {{w|General Electric}} and American Locomotive Company (ALCO).
|-
| {{w|Centralia, Pennsylvania|Centralia}} || Near-ghost town in central {{w|Pennsylvania}} due to a {{w|Centralia mine fire|long running mine fire}} burning beneath the town.
|-
| {{w|Annapolis, Maryland|Annapolis}} || Capital city of the state of {{w|Maryland}} and home to the {{w|United States Naval Academy}}.
|-
| {{w|Columbia, South Carolina|Columbia}} (SC) || Capital of the state of {{w|South Carolina}}. One of {{w|Columbia#United_States|many cities}} in the US named after {{w|Columbia (personification)|Columbia}}.
|-
| {{w|Vidalia, Georgia|Vidalia}} || City in the state of {{w|Georgia}}, known for their {{w|Vidalia onion}}s. Vidalia may not actually scan to "America", as it is pronounced "vy-DALE-yuh", not "vy-DALE-ee-ah" or "vee-DAHL-ee-ah".
|-
| {{w|Acadia National Park|Acadia}} || National park in the state of {{w|Maine}}.
|-
| {{w|Connecticut}} || US State, whose capital is {{w|Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford}} and largest city is {{w|Bridgeport, Connecticut|Bridgeport}}.
|-
| {{w|LaGuardia Airport|LaGuardia}} || One of the three major airports in {{w|New York City}} metropolitan area, named after former mayor {{w|Fiorello La Guardia}}. Described in 2014 by then-Vice President Joe Biden as being like a "third-world country."
|-
| {{w|Virginia Beach}} || Most populous city in the state of {{w|Virginia}}.
|-
| {{w|The Villages, Florida|The Villages}} || An unincorporated senior living community in the state of {{w|Florida}}. Notable for its local newspaper, ''{{w|The Villages Daily Sun}}'', which was the only top 25 American newspaper (by circulation) to show growth in 2022.[https://pressgazette.co.uk/us-newspaper-circulations-2022/]
|-
| {{w|St. Petersburg, Florida|St. Petersburg}} || The fifth largest city in the state of Florida. Part of the {{w|Tampa Bay area|Tampa Bay metropolitan area}}.
|-
| {{w|Miami Beach, Florida|Miami Beach}} || A coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, across the bay from the city of {{w|Miami}}.
|-
! colspan="2" | Below the map
|-
| {{w|Algeria}} || A country in North Africa. The largest and the 9th most populated country on the continent of Africa. Bordered to the northeast by Tunisia; to the east by Libya; to the southeast by Niger; to the southwest by Mali, Mauritania, and Western Sahara; to the west by Morocco; and to the north by the Mediterranean Sea.
|-
| {{w|Armenia}} || A landlocked country located in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region.
|-
| {{w|Monrovia}} || The capital city of the West African country of {{w|Liberia}}.
|-
| {{w|Brasília|Brasilia}} || The federal capital of the country of {{w|Brazil}} and Brazil's 3rd populous city. Actually spelled ''Brasília''.
|-
| {{w|Australia}} || A country which comprises the mainland of the continent of Australia. The world's sixth largest country by area.
|-
| {{w|Valencia}} || The 3rd most populous city in the country of {{w|Spain}}.
|-
| {{w|Byzantium}} || An ancient Greek city and capital of the {{w|Byzantine Empire}}. Its name was changed to New Rome in 324, Constantinople in 330, and finally Istanbul in 1930.
|-
| {{w|Assyria}} || An major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state and then a territorial state and eventually an empire. The Assyrian Empire fell to the Babylonians and Medes in the late 7th century BC.
|-
| {{w|Beringia}} || A prehistoric land mass and region in the {{w|Bering Sea}} region. It is the most popular site of the hypothesized "land bridge" that early humans used to migrate to the Americas.
|-
| {{w|Antarctica}} || The earth's southernmost and least-populated continent, mostly covered by ice.
|-
| {{w|Sokovia}} || A fictional country in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Described to be in eastern Europe between Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Its capital city is destroyed during a battle between Ultron and the Avengers in the film ''{{w|Avengers: Age of Ultron}}'', leading to the ratification of the Sokovia Accords.
|-
| {{w|Andromeda}} || Several things: a {{w|Andromeda (constellation)|constellation in space}}, a {{w|Andromeda Galaxy|galaxy}} within that constellation, or the {{w|Andromeda (mythology)|Greek mythological character}} whom the constellation and galaxy are named after.
|-
| {{w|Lothlórien|Lothlorien}} || A realm of the elves in {{w|Middle-earth}} in the {{w|Tolkien's legendarium|works of J. R. R. Tolkien}}. Ruled by Galadriel and Celeborn. Actually spelled ''Lothlórien'' in the books.
|-
| ''{{w|Subnautica}}'' || Not a place, but an open-world survival action-adventure video game developed and published by Unknown Worlds Entertainment released in 2018.
|-
| {{w|metaverse|The Metaverse}} || The online world of {{w|virtual reality}}. This would be challenging to substitute into ''American Idiot'', because the "The" is necessary to have four syllables with the second emphasized -- Billie Joe Armstrong would have to say he doesn't "wanna be a The Metaverse Idiot" or "a me'''TA'''versal idiot".
|-
| {{w|Econo Lodge|EconoLodge}} || Actually spelled ''Econo Lodge'', though their wordmark doesn't help. An economy motel chain in the US and Canada.
|-
| {{w|Jurassic Park}} (title text) || Jurassic Park is the titular theme park of cloned dinosaurs in the ''Jurassic Park'' franchise of books, films, and other media. Inevitably, the dinosaurs escape and attack humans.
|}

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

:[A header is written above a map of the US mainland:]
:<big>Places whose names scan to "America," so they can be substituted into songs such as:</big>
:''America the Beautiful''
:''God Bless America''
:Neil Diamond – ''America''
:West Side Story – ''America''
:The Guess Who – ''American Woman''
:Green Day – ''American Idiot''
:[Above the map, towards the left:]
:Sasketchewan
:[Towards the right:]
:Ontario
:[A number of places are marked on the map. From top to bottom, left to right:]
:Olympia
:Yosemite
:Los Angeles

:Lake Michigan
:Peoria
:Columbia (in Missouri)

:Acadia
:Montpelier
:Schenectady
:Connecticut
:LaGuardia
:Centralia
:Annapolis
:Virginia Beach
:Columbia (in South Carolina)
:Vidalia
:The Villages
:St. Petersburg
:Miami Beach
:[Below the map, in columns:]
:Australia
:Armenia
:Monrovia
:Brasilia
:Australia
:Valencia

:Byzantium
:Assyria
:Beringia
:Antarctica

:Sokovia
:Andromenda

:Lothlorien
:Subnautica

:The Metaverse
:EconoLodge

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Songs]]
[[Category:Substitutions]]