explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

New York Times: Good Question

2020-12-08T17:23:36Z

Ottoracecar: added a link to the Good Question page on NYTimes.com, which is only found via a search engine, not via a link on the articles themselves.

'''Good Question''' is a more-or-less monthly column written by '''[[Randall|Randall Munroe]]''' in the '''[https://www.nytimes.com/section/science Science section of the New York Times]''', beginning in November 2019. The columns give serious answers to science questions, illustrated in Munroe's inimitable style.

{{notice|'''The New York Times website ordinarily requires registration, and its content is always protected by copyright.''' Most particularly it is ''not'' under [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License] the way [[xkcd]] is. The good news: anyone can register for a free digital subscription to the New York Times, with access to 'recent' Science articles among some others, but outside of that only five articles per month. See [https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/info/help/freesearch.html Free Articles].}}

Unlike for many of their other regular columnists, the New York Times does not provide a clickable link either on the byline '''Randall Munroe''' or on the column title '''Good Question''' (though there is an '''[https://www.nytimes.com/column/good-question-randall-munroe-xkcd unlinked page]''' that offers an incomplete list of Good Question articles). The following tables are intended to correct that omission.

== ==
{| class="wikitable"
|+ New York Times columns written and illustrated ''by'' Randall Munroe
! Column !! Headline !! Byline !! Date
|-
! SCIENCE
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/13/science/what-makes-a-red-sky-at-night-and-at-morning.html What Makes a Red Sky at Night (and at Morning)]
| Randall Munroe
| Aug. 13, 2019
|-
! GOOD QUESTION
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/12/science/randall-munroe-moon.html If I Touched the Moon, What Would It Feel Like?]
| Randall Munroe
| Nov. 12, 2019
|-
! GOOD QUESTION
| [https://nytimes.com/2019/12/10/science/earth-size-mass.html Is Earth Getting Bigger Over Time?]
| Randall Munroe
| Dec. 10, 2019
|-
! GOOD QUESTION
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/21/science/human-running-speed-quadruped.html How Fast Can a Human Run?]
| Randall Munroe
| Jan. 21, 2020 / Feb. 7, 2020
|-
! GOOD QUESTION
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/17/science/worst-odor-smell-thioacetone.html What’s the World’s Worst Smell?]
| Randall Munroe
| Feb. 17, 2020 / Feb. 26, 2020
|-
! GOOD QUESTION
| [https://nytimes.com/2020/03/10/science/question-randall-munroe-bobsled-gravity.html What if Galileo Had Dropped Bobsleds From the Tower of Pisa?]
| Randall Munroe
| March 10, 2020
|-
! GOOD QUESTION
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/science/pulsar-xkcd-munroe-stars.html How’s the View From a Spinning Star?]
| Randall Munroe
| April 7, 2020
|-
! GOOD QUESTION
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/11/science/traffic-barrier-rice-krispies.html What’s the Sweetest, Crispiest Way to Stay Safe in a Car Crash?]
| Randall Munroe
| May 11, 2020
|-
! GOOD QUESTION
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/09/science/randall-munroe-question-eggs.html Can You Boil an Egg Too Long?]
| Randall Munroe
| June 9, 2020
|-
! GOOD QUESTION
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/07/science/neutrinos-snowball-randall-munroe.html Could You Make a Snowball of Neutrinos?]
| Randall Munroe
| July 7, 2020
|-
! GOOD QUESTION
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/04/science/randall-munroe-xkcd-temperature.html How Hot Is Too Hot?]
| Randall Munroe
| August 4, 2020
|-
! GOOD QUESTION
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/06/science/randall-munroe-car-brake-question.html Can You Stop a Car With Your Hand?]
| Randall Munroe
| October 6, 2020
|-
! GOOD QUESTION
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/science/what-makes-sand-soft.html What Makes Sand Soft?]
| Randall Munroe
| November 9, 2020
|}

== ==
{| class="wikitable"
|+ New York Times columns ''about'' Randall Munroe
! Column !! Headline !! Byline !! Date
|-
! LINK BY LINK
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/business/media/26link.html This Is Funny Only if You Know Unix]
| Noam Cohen
| May 26, 2008
|-
! BITS
| [https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/14/techs-favorite-cartoonist-enters-mainstream-publishing/ Tech’s Favorite Cartoonist Enters Mainstream Publishing]
| Noam Cohen
| March 14, 2014
|-
! SCIENCE
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/04/science/randall-munroe-the-creator-of-xkcd-explains-complexity-through-absurdity.html He’s Glad You Asked]
| Kenneth Chang
| Nov. 3, 2014
|-
! BOOKS
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/24/books/randall-munroe-explains-it-all-for-us.html Randall Munroe Explains It All for Us]
| Alexandra Alter
| Nov. 23, 2015
|-
! SCIENCE
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/22/science/randall-munroe-xkcd-science-textbook.html Randall Munroe, XKCD Creator, Goes Back to High School]
| Kenneth Chang
| March 21, 2016
|-
! SCIENCE
| [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/03/18/science/document-Munroepages.html Randall Munroe of ‘XKCD’ Explains the Human Body, Elevators and the Saturn 5]
| (Actual pages from '''{{w|Thing_Explainer|Thing Explainer}}''')
| March 21, 2016
|-
! BOOKS
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/14/books/review/randall-munroe-by-the-book-interview.html Randall Munroe Loves Outdated Views of the Future]
| --
| Nov. 14, 2019
|}

== See also ==
*The New York Times [https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/register Create your free account]

[[Category:Meta]]

439: Thinking Ahead

2018-03-08T20:24:50Z

Ottoracecar: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 439
| date = June 20, 2008
| title = Thinking Ahead
| image = thinking ahead.png
| titletext = Did he just go crazy and jump out the window?
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] spots a woman while shopping. He thinks she looks cute - probably because she looks a lot like his girlfriend [[Megan]]. She is picking out produce, and quotes a line of dialogue from {{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}} originally said by River Tam ({{w|Summer Glau}}): "My food is problematic." Cueball ([[Randall]]) who is a big fan of Firefly, notices this, and wants to flirt with her. But then Cueball's internal monologue kicks in and he starts panicking, wondering how he'd deal with starting a relationship with this woman when he's moving in the fall, as well as how things are going to work out with Megan, should things work out with this girl. He panics, needs a way out and jumps out the window.

In real life, jumping out the window would be a very bad idea.[https://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/AccidentSearch.search?acc_keyword=%22Broken%20Glass%22&keyword_list=on]

The title text refers to yet another Firefly line, this one said by Wash ({{w|Alan Tudyk}}): "Did he just go crazy and fall asleep?"

==Transcript==
:[My Problem: Thinking Ahead.]
:Cueball: She's cute.
:Woman: This food is problematic.
:Cueball: Oh man, she's quoting Firefly.
:Cueball: It's the perfect opening. But wait. I'm moving in the fall. If we hit it off, how will I deal with that?
:Cueball: I don't want to ask her to derail her plans. And with things unresolved with Megan, can I really commit enough to make that kind of decision?
:Cueball: Oh God.
:Cueball: Gotta get out.
:Cueball: The window.
:[Cueball jumping through a window]
:'''CRASH'''

==Trivia==
*[[Randall]] did mention the name Megan at his original transcript.
*Autodefenestration is the act of jumping out of a window, so Cueball could be said to be Autodefenestrating.
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

439: Thinking Ahead

2018-03-08T20:24:13Z

Ottoracecar: /* Explanation */ added reference for jumping out window

{{comic
| number = 439
| date = June 20, 2008
| title = Thinking Ahead
| image = thinking ahead.png
| titletext = Did he just go crazy and jump out the window?
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] spots a woman while shopping. He thinks she looks cute - probably because she looks a lot like his girlfriend [[Megan]]. She is picking out produce, and quotes a line of dialogue from {{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}} originally said by River Tam ({{w|Summer Glau}}): "My food is problematic." Cueball ([[Randall]]) who is a big fan of Firefly, notices this, and wants to flirt with her. But then Cueball's internal monologue kicks in and he starts panicking, wondering how he'd deal with starting a relationship with this woman when he's moving in the fall, as well as how things are going to work out with Megan, should things work out with this girl. He panics, needs a way out and jumps out the window.

In real life, jumping out the window would be a very bad idea.<ref>[https://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/AccidentSearch.search?acc_keyword=%22Broken%20Glass%22&keyword_list=on]</ref>

The title text refers to yet another Firefly line, this one said by Wash ({{w|Alan Tudyk}}): "Did he just go crazy and fall asleep?"

==Transcript==
:[My Problem: Thinking Ahead.]
:Cueball: She's cute.
:Woman: This food is problematic.
:Cueball: Oh man, she's quoting Firefly.
:Cueball: It's the perfect opening. But wait. I'm moving in the fall. If we hit it off, how will I deal with that?
:Cueball: I don't want to ask her to derail her plans. And with things unresolved with Megan, can I really commit enough to make that kind of decision?
:Cueball: Oh God.
:Cueball: Gotta get out.
:Cueball: The window.
:[Cueball jumping through a window]
:'''CRASH'''

==Trivia==
*[[Randall]] did mention the name Megan at his original transcript.
*Autodefenestration is the act of jumping out of a window, so Cueball could be said to be Autodefenestrating.
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

1962: Generations

2018-03-02T21:43:34Z

Ottoracecar: /* Explanation */ are generations purely american?

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

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by THE PREVIOUS GENERATION - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

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

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="col"| Generation
! scope="col"| Time period
! scope="col"| Explanation
|-
| The Founders
| 1730 - 1747
|
|-
| Generation ſ
| 1748 - 1765
| ſ is the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_s 'long' S]
|-
| The Adequate Generation
| 1766 - 1783
|
|-
| Generation Æ
| 1784 - 1801
| Æ is the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Æ diphthong] - unicode U+00C6
|-
| The generation we cut a lot of slack because they produced Lincoln
| 1802 - 1819
|
|-
| The Gilded Generation
| 1820 - 1837
|
|-
| Star Trek: The Next Generation
|2360 - 2378
|''{{w|Star Trek: The Next Generation}}'' was a TV show set in the future.
|}

The 1856-1873 generation -..- may be referring to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Morse_code#Comparison_of_American_and_International_Morse Morse Code] for the number 9, although this is the eighth generation in this list. More likely, though, it is referring to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code the letter X] instead in International Morse Code. This may be an error on Randall's part, since the generations are an American phenomenon.{{Citation needed||date=March 2018}} Alternatively, this list contains both the known Generation X and a future "More Gen Xers Somehow;" so this may be past example of a similar cohort of Xers.

The paperclip machines in 2090-2107 and in the alt text are referencing to the concept of a [https://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Paperclip_maximizer paperclip maximizer], where an AI might be designed to be helpful, but end up being harmful. The clicker game [http://www.decisionproblem.com/paperclips/ Universal Paperclips] makes this concept playable.

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

{{comic discussion}}

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