explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2592: False Dichotomy

2022-03-11T19:03:50Z

Pablo360:

This is my second explanation ever, it probably isnt great but its good for others to have something to start from. if anybody who knows how to do the links and everything, for all of the characters and the fancy words, please do that. [[User:ElijahRock|ElijahRock]] ([[User talk:ElijahRock|talk]]) 17:57, 11 March 2022 (UTC)

And here I thought it was a pun on tracheotomy...

I’m pretty sure the cannibalism joke is based on the idea that we have to create a “false dichotomy” between humans and non-human living things, or else we can’t say that it’s okay to eat some things (maybe the line is drawn at plants, maybe at animals) but not others (a category that usually includes humans). [[User:Pablo360|Pablo360]] ([[User talk:Pablo360|talk]]) 19:03, 11 March 2022 (UTC)

2435: Geothmetic Meandian

2021-03-11T02:38:17Z

Pablo360: /* Explanation */ There is another concept which is *much* closer to that in the comic, so it deserved a mention.

{{comic
| number = 2435
| date = March 10, 2021
| title = Geothmetic Meandian
| image = geothmetic_meandian.png
| titletext = Pythagorean means are nice and all, but throwing the median in the pot is really what turns this into random forest statistics: applying every function you can think of, and then gradually dropping the ones that make the result worse.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an AVERAGE JOE. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
There are a number of different ways to identify the 'average' value of a series of values, the most common unweighted methods being the median (take the central value from the ordered list of values - or the value half-way between the two that straddle the divide between two halves) and the arithmetic mean (add all the numbers up, divide by the number of numbers). The geometric mean is less well known to the layman but works with multiplication and Nth-rooting, useful for some statistical analyses.

Outliers and internal biases within the original sample can make boiling down a set of values into a single 'average' sometimes overly biased by flaws in the data, with your choice of which method to use perhaps resulting in a value that is misleading.



In this depiction, the three named methods of averaging are embedded within a single function that produces a set of three values - one output for each of the methods. Being a series of values, Randall suggests that this is ideally suited to being ''itself'' subjected to the comparative 'averaging' method. Not just once, but as many times as it takes to narrow down to a consistent value (or trio of similarly consistent values?).

The comment in the Title Text suggests that this will save you the trouble of committing to the 'wrong' analysis as it gradually shaves down any 'outlier average' that is unduly affected by anomalies in the original inputs. At first sight it does appear to be a method without any danger of (permanent) divergence of values, but this may need to be proven (or disproven) to be sure.

There does exist an [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arithmetic%E2%80%93geometric_mean arithmetic-geometric mean], which is defined identically to this except with the arithmetic and geometric means, and sees some use in calculus. In some ways it's also philosophically similar to the Truncated Means (extremities of the value range, e.g. the highest and lowest 10%s, are ignored as not acceptible and not counted) or Winsorised Means (instead of ignored, the values are readjusted to be the chosen floor/ceiling values that they lay beyond, to still effectively be counted as 'edge' conditions), only with a strange dilution-and-compromise method rather than one where quantities can be culled or neutered just for being unexpectedly different from most of the other data.

The following python code (inefficiently) implements the above algorithm:

def f(*args):
mean = float(sum(args)) / len(args)
gmean = reduce(lambda x,y: x*y, args, 1)**(1.0/len(args))
args = list(args)
args.sort()
if len(args) % 2 == 0:
median = float(args[len(args) / 2] + args[len(args) / 2 - 1]) / 2
else:
median = args[len(args) / 2]
return mean, gmean, median

l0 = [1, 1, 2, 3, 5]

l = l0
iterations = 0
while True:
fst = l[0]
rest = l[1:]
if all((abs(r - fst) < 0.000001 for r in rest)):
break
l = f(*l)
iterations += 1

print(l[0], iterations)

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

F(x1,x2,...xn)=({x1+x2+...+xn/n [bracket: arithmetic mean]},{nx,x2...xn, [bracket: geometric mean]} {x n+1/2 [bracket: median]})

Gmdn(x1,x2,...xn)={F(F(F(...F(x1,x2,...xn)...)))[bracket: geothmetic meandian]}

Gmdn(1,1,2,3,5) [equals about sign] 2.089

Caption: Stats tip: If you aren't sure whether to use the mean, median, or geometric mean, just calculate all three, then repeat until it converges

{{comic discussion}}

2000: xkcd Phone 2000

2018-05-30T21:43:11Z

Pablo360: Participles are not verbs, people. Changed entry for Hollow-Ground to better reflect the meaning of the comic.

{{comic
| number = 2000
| date = May 30, 2018
| title = xkcd Phone 2000
| image = xkcd_phone_2000.png
| titletext = Our retina display features hundreds of pixels per inch in the central fovea region.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an XKCD PHONE 2000 USER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is the seventh entry in the ongoing [[:Category:xkcd Phones|xkcd Phone series]] after [[1889: xkcd Phone 6]]. This time a nonconsecutive version number is used to match the milestone comic number.

List of features (clockwise from top-center):

*'''Dockless:''' It was common practice for older standard cellphones (i.e. non-smartphones) to use a docking station for charging. "Dockless" could be a catchy marketing term for wireless charging.
*'''Silent:''' Implying perhaps that the phone is unable to produce sound entirely. Labelled at the location where a headphone socket would traditionally be, although some recent phones have discarded the traditional headphone jack in place of wireless headphones.
*'''Quad Camera Takes Four Copies of Every Picture:''' Recent phones have added up to three rear-facing cameras, offering different fields of view, monochrome cameras for low light, and a wider base for emulating depth of field effects. At the time of writing no phone on the market has four rear-facing cameras. However, YouTube personality nigahiga created a parody of the iPhone (iFhone 8) that has four cameras structured similarly, e.g. taking a picture of a letter K gives 4K. An alternative interpretation is that the cameras take four ''identical'' pictures simultaneously, which would use up storage space at 4 times the rate of a standard camera while providing no advantage.
*'''Front-Facing Camera Obscura:''' A {{w|Camera_obscura|camera obscura}} is a dark room or box with a small hole allowing light to enter. The size of the hole causes light travelling in straight lines to project a dim inverted image on the back of the room or box; the concept is the predecessor to a modern camera, which uses a lens to allow more light to enter. A camera obscura is not strictly speaking a camera as in an image capture device (although there are pin-hole cameras which use the same mechanism). Actual phones have front-facing conventional cameras, allowing selfies, video calling, etc.
*'''3D Facial Contour Analysis Shows You a Realistic Preview of Your Death Mask:''' Recent computational photography effects implemented on mobile phones support facial analysis, allowing for artificial relighting or the creation of avatars. A {{w|death mask}} would be a new take on this.
*'''Sponsored Pixels:''' Presumably this means that parts of the screen (pixels) can be bought in a sponsoring deal. If enough pixels are sold, your screen would be rendered unusable. It is common for advertisers to buy part of the screen real-estate on a service web site (in fact, {{w|The Million Dollar Homepage}} hosted nothing but a 1000x1000 pixel grid of advetisements), and "images" the size of individual pixels can be used to track site access without being intrusive to the user. For the xkcd Phone 2000, it appears that advertisers have access to part of the screen (worryingly, right in the middle). Slightly less intrusive approaches have been used in bookstores selling customised versions of the Kindle, for example, and it is common for cell phone networks to insist on network-specific software to be installed on a phone.
*'''Front and Rear Pop-Out Grips:''' There are accessories that stick to the rear of a phone and can be "popped out", offering a grip, a stand, or somewhere to store headphone cables. Integrating such a feature into the phone design is novel, although some phones have incorporated kick stands. Pop-out grips are normally placed on the back of the phone to make it easier to hold with one hand. Having a second grip to the front of the phone does nothing except block part of the screen. There could be a small screen on the top of the grip since the grip is shown to contain "Sponsored Pixels".
*'''Humidity-Controlled Crisper:''' A crisper is a drawer in a refrigerator meant to control the humidity to keep vegetables from drying out and getting limp.
*'''Antikythera Mechanism:''' The {{w|Antikythera_mechanism|Antikythera Mechanism}} is an ancient Greek clockwork device for predicting astronomical positions. It is one of the earliest known analogue computers.
*'''New York Times Partnership: All Photos Taken with Camera App are Captioned in Real Time by Reporter Maggie Haberman:''' Modern phones can use machine learning techniques (usually in the cloud) to identify and tag camera content - this makes it possible to search, for example, for photos containing a particular person or subject without requiring user input. Cellphone photos are often used in contributions to social media with some form of user-provided caption. This phone appears to combine the two, using {{w|Maggie Haberman}} to provide automatic captions for photos taken by the phone's owner (although whether this is explicitly for social media use or internal to the phone is unclear).
*'''Spit Valve:''' A spit valve is used for emptying saliva out of wind instruments, particularly large brass instruments. It is to be hoped that less saliva accumulates in a smart phone than a tuba. (best not to think about it){{Citation needed}}
*'''Standard USB Connector:''' a USB 3.0 A port is displayed. Unfortunately, a "standard" USB connector, according to the USB standard, would be a USB B port as a phone typically acts as the "slave" device, rather than the "host" as a USB A port would imply.
*'''Coin Purse-Style Squeeze Access:''' presumably, the casing is flexible in this region, and when squeezed at the sides (a bad idea, considering the next design item) reveals the USB A port and spit valve.
*'''Hollow-Ground:''' a {{w|Grind#Typical_grinds|hollow grind}} is a type of knife (or similar sharp tool) edge noted for sharpness and general fragility, often seen in razors. This seems to imply that the phone is exceedingly smooth, which would make it difficult to hold{{Citation needed}}.
*'''Absorbent:''' Many modern phones are designed to be waterproof, to avoid accidents and allow use in the rain. It's also common to have some form of oleophobic coating on the screen to reduce smearing as fingers are used on the touchscreen. This phone seems to have the reverse feature, and be explicitly designed to absorb things (presumably liquids--perhaps that's why it needs a spit valve).
*'''Keyboard Supports Dynamic Typing:''' {{w|Type_system#Dynamic_type_checking_and_runtime_type_information|dynamic typing}} is a computer programming concept, and has nothing to do with typing on a keyboard.
*'''Backflow Preventer:''' A {{w|Backflow_prevention_device|backflow prevention device}} is a mechanism that avoids the possibility of liquid (usually water) travelling in the opposite direction from the normal intent if the expected pressure is inverted. Since there is not normally any liquid flowing through a phone (unless in this case relating to the spit valve), this would not normally be a useful feature. However, some smart phones do contain pressure measuring devices such as barometers (which can also be used in some cases to detect the phone being squeezed), so maybe this phone is intended to be resilient to such conditions.
*'''Swiss Army Partnership: Folding Knife (Unlocks Only if Switzerland is Invaded):''' A {{w|Swiss Army knife}} is a folding knife, traditionally with many secondary "blades" for multiple uses such as can openers and files. {{w|Switzerland}} is known for remaining neutral (and not being invaded) in both of the World Wars of the 20th century despite war raging across surrounding countries, suggesting that it is unlikely that the knife would ever been unlocked. While such a feature on a phone (or phone case) may be useful, it is likely to be a safety concern, and a phone does not provide the ideal grip for a knife blade - especially if force is to be applied to it. This may also reference the Swiss military practice of soldiers keeping military rifles in their private homes but only being given ammunition in the event the army is mobilized.
*'''100% BPA-Free PCB Construction:''' {{w|Bisphenol A}} (BPA) is a chemical used in plastics such as waterbottles. Recent studies show that BPA can leech estrogen-like compounds into liquids, so BPA-free water bottles have become popular. PCB probably refers to a {{w|Printed Circuit Board}}, which contains the electrical components that control most modern electronic devices such as phones. It may also refer to {{w|Polychlorinated biphenyl}} (PCBs), a category of persistent organic pollutants which are not used very much any more; it would be far worse than BPA for anyone concerned with the issue.
*'''AMOLCD Display (7-Segment):''' {{w|AMOLED}} is a display technology often used in cell phones, providing thin and emissive displays. {{w|Liquid-crystal_display|LCD}} is another display technology used in phones, and works by blocking light from a separate backlight. A {{w|Seven-segment_display|7-segment display}} is a device made of seven independently-controlled segments (usually either LCD or LED) which can be used to display a single digit; as such the technology is common in traditional digital watches. In contrast most phone displays are made of a uniform high-resolution pixel grid that allows arbitrary content to be displayed, although some very old (pre-smart) cellphones and land lines did use this technology in displaying a phone number. The technology cannot represent the entire alphabet without modification, so it is inappropriate for text messages, let alone graphics.
*'''Runs on Battery for the First 6 Hours, then Uses Gasoline:''' A nod to the increased popularity of gas-electric hybrid vehicles. This would be a fantastic breakthrough for fuel cells. There have been many attempts to create a highly portable fuel cell that can be used to power phones. Although having to use gasoline instead of a USB cord would likely cause more problems for the average consumer a fuel cell does have some notable advantages over a standard lithium-ion battery. When comparing a fuel cell to a battery of equal size the fuel cell will be capable of powering an object for far longer than the battery. This includes lithium-ion batteries which are commonly used for powering phones and are typically the majority of its mass. This would mean one could shrink the size of the battery substantially yet still be able to provide the same amount of power. The smaller battery can be kept as is in order to reduce the weight of the phone or can free up space for more features to be installed into the phone. This might simply be the first xkcd phone that mentions that it does this. Providing a possible explanation to how the manufacturer of the phone is capable of fitting so many unusual features into the phone to begin with. Another advantage of a fuel cell powered phone is that it is independent from a working power grid (useful for disaster situations where thousands of people would no longer be capable of staying in contact with others or people who are stranded and alone) and there is no need for a bulky generator to convert the gasoline into electricity first. This is not the first time Randall has talked about this before, with much of the information here coming from what-if #128: {{what if|128|Zippo Phone}}.
*'''Sharpie® Dual Stylus (Dry-Erase + Permenant)''' "Permenant" is curiously spelled incorrectly, perhaps comically highlighting that the permanent portion of the dual stylus would be unable to correct any typos that a dry-erase marker would allow.
*'''Mouse Cursor:''' A feature of Blackberry smartphones which has gone out of favor due to the popularity of touch screens. However, Android phones, at least, still support bluetooth HID access, and on some devices it is possible to pair the phone with a mouse (and keyboard) and access the screen through a mouse pointer. This can be particularly useful if the phone is exporting its display to a large external screen - and {{w|Samsung_DeX|some manufacturers}} have provided tethering systems based around pairing a phone with a mouse. A mouse pointer is relatively useless when a touch screen is in use, since the user's finger usually covers the pointer.

The tagline for the phone says that the marketing team hopes that 2000 still sounds like a futuristic number. It was common for a time to have futuristic science-fiction take place on or around the year 2000 (e.g. 2001: A Space Odyssey, Knight Rider 2000, Death Race 2000, Space: 1999), and many devices marketed in the late 20th century had a "2000" as part of their product name in order to sound futuristic. However, since the year 2000 was 18 years ago at the time of this comic's publication, this is no longer the case. The number 2000 also represents the fact that this is the 2000th xkcd comic.

The title text refers to {{w|Retina Display}}, a term used to describe Apple products with higher pixel densities. The xkcd Phone marketing team would be unable to use the term due to Apple's having registered it as a trademark. Additionally, the {{w|Fovea centralis|Central fovea region}} is a portion of your eye's retina (confusing the biological retina with the electronics display of the same name). {{w|Foveated rendering}} is a genuine computer graphics technique intended to increase performance by rendering with higher quality to the regions of the display where the user is looking, and lower quality at the edges of vision; it is expected to be useful for virtual reality (one of the uses for cell phones) as a way to deal with the required high pixel densities while managing power consumption. There are displays with variable density, in specialist uses, but such a feature is not practical in a phone because the whole area of the display is typically useful and needs to provide high resolution (as the user's eye moves across it).

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[The comic depicts a smartphone showing many uncommon features. The front view shows a mouse cursor and a circle in the middle. The side view reveals the circle as something like an old photo lens from 1900 extending far above the surface and four large buttons at the rear. The third view is from the top and just mentions a "hollow ground." The bottom view looks like as it was opened by a can opener and shows a big USB connector and on the left a small black connection.]
:Dockless
:Silent
:Quad camera takes four copies of every picture
:Front-facing camera obscura
:3D facial contour analysis shows you a realistic preview of your death mask
:Sponsored pixels
:Front and rear pop-out grips
:Humidity-controlled crisper
:Antikythera mechanism
:New York Times partnership: all photos taken with camera app are captioned in real time by reporter Maggie Haberman
:Spit valve
:Standard USB connector
:Coin purse-style squeeze access
:Hollow-ground
:Absorbent
:Keyboard supports dynamic typing
:Backflow preventer
:Swiss Army partnership: folding knife (unlocks only if Switzerland is invaded)
:100% BPA-free PCB construction
:AMOLCD display (7-segment)
:Runs on battery for the first 6 hours, then uses gasoline
:Sharpie® dual stylus (dry-erase + permenant)
:Mouse cursor

:Introducing
:'''<big>The xkcd Phone 2000</big>'''
:We're still hoping this sounds like a futuristic number®®™®©™®

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:xkcd Phones]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|xkcd Phones]]

1663: Garden/Images

2016-04-04T21:58:10Z

Pablo360: /* Saved image from xkcd */

*Here images for the interactive comic [[1663: Garden]] can be posted.
*Try to keep the naming scheme so to always include the following:
**''1663 garden description.png''

==Images==
===Screen shots===
[[File:1663 garden Megan Monolith Animals and more.png]] 
[[File:1663 garden Fast growing tree - leafless.png]] 
[[File:1663 garden Fast growing tree - lots of leaves.png]] 
*Does this link display this image below to anyone else?
**http://www.xkcd.com/#0d11a2c8-fa8f-11e5-8001-42010a8e000e:
**[[File:1663 garden tree turtle birdbath.png]] 

===Saved image from xkcd===
[[File:1663 garden Deer and tall gate.png]]
[[File:1663_garden_cueball_on_top_of_platform_with_turtles,_cacti,_and_offices.png‎]] 

===Images of items===
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/background.png Background]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/balloon.png Balloon]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/balloon-segment.png Balloon segment]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/beehive-base.png Beehive-base]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/beehive-entrance-a.png Beehive entrance a]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/beret-shrub.png Beret shrub]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/bird-riser.png Bird riser]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/bird-standing.png Bird standing]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/birdbath.png Birdbath]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/branch-1.png Branch 1]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/branch-10.png Branch 10]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/branch-11.png Branch 11]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/branch-12.png Branch 12]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/branch-13.png Branch 13]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/branch-14.png Branch 14]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/branch-15.png Branch 15]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/branch-16.png Branch 16]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/branch-17.png Branch 17]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/branch-18.png Branch 18]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/branch-19.png Branch 19]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/branch-20.png Branch 20]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/branch-21.png Branch 21]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/branch-22.png Branch 22]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/branch-23.png Branch 23]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/branch-24.png Branch 24]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/branch-4.png Branch 4]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/branch-5.png Branch 5]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/branch-6.png Branch 6]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/branch-7.png Branch 7]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/branch-8.png Branch 8]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/branch-9.png Branch 9]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/cactus-1.png Cactus 1]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/cactus-2.png Cactus 2]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/cat-balanced.png Cat Balanced]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/cat-ground.png Cat Ground]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/deer-1.png Deer 1]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/deer-2.png Deer 2]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/desk-1.png Desk 1]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/duck-1.png Duck 1]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/fig-1.png Fig 1]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/flower-base.png Flower base]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/flower-segment1.png Flower segment 1]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/flower-segment2.png Flower segment 2]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/flower-segment3.png Flower segment 3]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/flower-segment4.png Flower segment 4]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/grass-1.png Grass 1]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/grass-2.png Grass 2]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/grass-3.png Grass 3]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/grass-4.png Grass 4]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/grass-5.png Grass 5]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/grass-6.png Grass 6]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/grass-7.png Grass 7]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/grass-8.png Grass 8]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/grass-9.png Grass 9]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/handfig-1.png Handfig 1]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/handfig-2.png Handfig 2]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/important-bun.png Important bun]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/lamppost-1.png Lamppost 1]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-1.png Leaves 1]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-10.png Leaves 10]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-11.png Leaves 11]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-12.png Leaves 12]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-13.png Leaves 13]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-14.png Leaves 14]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-15.png Leaves 15]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-16.png Leaves 16]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-17.png Leaves 17]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-18.png Leaves 18]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-19.png Leaves 19]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-2.png Leaves 2]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-20.png Leaves 20]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-21.png Leaves 21]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-22.png Leaves 22]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-23.png Leaves 23]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-24.png Leaves 24]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-25.png Leaves 25]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-26.png Leaves 26]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-27.png Leaves 27]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-28.png Leaves 28]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-29.png Leaves 29]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-3.png Leaves 3]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-30.png Leaves 30]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-4.png Leaves 4]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-5.png Leaves 5]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-6.png Leaves 6]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-7.png Leaves 7]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-8.png Leaves 8]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/leaves-9.png Leaves 9]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/man-1a.png Man 1a]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/man-2a.png Man 2a]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/null.png Null]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/null-continue-air.png Null continue air]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/obelisk.png Obelisk]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/octopus.png Octopus]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/octopus-hat-capable.png Octopus hat capable]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/platform-1.png Platform 1]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/pot-1.png Pot 1]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/pot-2.png Pot 2]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/pot-3.png Pot 3]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/right-platform.png Right platform]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/rover.png Rover]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/shrub-1.png Shrub 1]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/shrub-2.png Shrub 2]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/shrub-3.png Shrub 3]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/shrub-4.png Shrub 4]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/shrub-5.png Shrub 5]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/shrub-6.png Shrub 6]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/shrub-7.png Shrub 7]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/shrub-8.png Shrub 8]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/shrub-9.png Shrub 9]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/shrub-10.png Shrub 10]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/shrub-11.png Shrub 11]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/snake-1.png Snake 1]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/snake-2.png Snake 2]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/sword-fig.png Sword fig]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/tall-platform.png Tall platform]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/talltrunk-1.png Tall trunk 1]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/talltrunk-2.png Tall trunk 2]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/trunk-1.png Trunk 1]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/trunk-2.png Trunk 2]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/trunk-3.png Trunk 3]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/trunk-4.png Trunk 4]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/trunk-5.png Trunk 5]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/trunk-6.png Trunk 6]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/trunk-7.png Trunk 7]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/trunk-8.png Trunk 8]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/turtle-1.png Turtle 1]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/turtle-2.png Turtle 2]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/waterbird-1.png Water bird 1]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/waterbird-2.png Water bird 2]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/wavyplant-1.png Wavy plant 1]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/wavyplant-2.png Wavy plant 2]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/wavyplant-3.png Wavy plant 3]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/wavyplant-4.png Wavy plant 4]
*[http://xkcd.com/1663/art/woman-1a.png Woman 1a]

Note: larger versions of all this pictures can be had by appending 2x- to the filename such as [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-woman-1a.png 2x Woman 1a]

File:1663 garden cueball on top of platform with turtles, cacti, and offices.png

2016-04-04T21:56:07Z

Pablo360: An image from 1663: Garden.

== Summary ==
An image from 1663: Garden.
== Licensing ==
{{XKCD file}}

Talk:91: Pwned

2016-02-16T19:48:28Z

Pablo360: #defictionalization

[[User:Rikthoff|Rikthoff]] ([[User talk:Rikthoff|talk]]) Does anybody know why this comic is stored in Portable Graphic Format (PNG) instead of JPEG? Is this an inside joke? -- 12:29, 3 August 2012‎ (UTC)

Guest: An alternate way to look at this uses the same three cultural acknowledgements, but with a little more of thoughtful understanding. The grue lies in wait in the dark and devours the player, and likewise a 'camper' player in CS would wait for a player and kill them upon entry. It can be looked at that the blindness of entering the room that the camper kills the player at is comparable to the darkness that the grue eats the player from. All-in-all this amounts to a frustrating experience of dying in a game, and so a correlation is drawn. Because they seem to be similar frustrations, in which the only effective difference is whether you read it or see it, the text thus implies that there is no actual leverage that makes graphical games favored.
It may also further extend from this to additionally taunt the relatively basic slang of getting killed in Counter-Strike being immature, brief, and unfulfilling compared to the larger descriptions that try to pull the player into the game that was needed for Zork to accommodate for the lack of graphics. {{unsigned ip|66.177.70.225|03:20, 20 September 2012‎ (UTC)}}

It's not worth changing the description, as it's not relevant to the context, but Zork was ''not'' "typical" because it could understand more complex commands than most other (non-{{w|Infocom}}) text adventures, like "kill the troll with the axe". [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 12:33, 13 April 2013 (UTC)

You know, it's not just (standard) processor and memory improvements that led to graphical games but (unsurprisingly) actual graphical capability... Text-based games (including MUDs) could be played on anything, even text-only terminals and over telnet connections and the like. Graphical capabilities beyond CGA (which limits us to ASCII-art or 'ASCII-shaded' depictions of things, in leiu of sticking to text-only descriptions) allowed a progression to FPS-ish, via the likes of graphical tile-based games (although see Dwarf Fortress as a game that could have been text-only in its tile-ness, albeit that even the vanilla character-based display is ''implemented'' with graphics of said characters), and even if it was EGA you ''could'' now get graphics, and have to start worrying about whether you could calculate the image quickly enough to start looking at pre-Dooms, especially when you don't yet ''necessarily'' have anything approximating a separate GPU and graphics RAM... Which is much as originally said, but... ;)

Oh, and (referencing Rikthoff's question) IMO the .PNG format is far more suited to Randall's comics than .JPG, so I'm not sure there's any inside-joke. Indeed, some of the other early comics with colours (that may have been saved as JPEGs, I haven't checked) appear to have quite a lot of artefacts in them, but I don't know if anyone's enumerated the formats used. Certainly the very latest are PNG, which I say is all for the best. I can think of at least one (the Steve Jobs memorial one) that was almost certainly .GIF, because it needed animation. Inferior to .PNG, but still superior to JPEG for largely monochrome line-drawings (and not bad even for colour-filled ones, if not requiring the full gamut of colours that the current favoured format technically allows). [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 05:50, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

::I think the title text is a reference to this: http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=523--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.85|173.245.50.85]] 00:29, 9 April 2014 (UTC)
I doubt the reference is to a Command & Conquer expansion pack and not to the Half-Life expansion pack, though there's nothing in the strip itself to say either way. --[[User:Alex|Alex]] ([[User talk:Alex|talk]]) 21:39, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

I made an edit to change the definition of RPG -NotAnAccount [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.111|173.245.56.111]] 21:16, 24 September 2015 (UTC)

There is now a text-only CounterStrike, albiet with some ASCII art: http://csstory.net/ [[User:Pablo360|Pablo360]] ([[User talk:Pablo360|talk]]) 19:48, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

245: Floor Tiles

2016-02-15T19:53:45Z

Pablo360: W*ll, crap.

{{comic
| number = 245
| date = April 6, 2007
| title = Floor Tiles
| image = floor_tiles.png
| titletext = The worst part is when sidewalk cracks are out-of-sync with your natural stride.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is walking according to a certain pattern of floor tiles which makes sense to him in his head (the same pattern was first introduced in [[207: What xkcd Means]]). But as his friend asks him why he is walking funny, he realises that the algorithm he is using for walking on floor tiles would be so tedious and time-consuming to explain to his friend that he decides instead to simply defend himself and say that he isn't walking funny. Either that, or he is embarrassed to explain. This being far simpler than trying to show his friend exactly how his logic works - in his head, he imagines a complex diagram. However, the diagram does not accurately reflect the floor, as the two main rows with black tiles in the foreground are only separated by one row of white tiles instead of two.

The title text refers to a common compulsion that leads people to place their feet either exactly between sidewalk cracks or directly on top of them while walking. Indeed, if the cracks are out of sync with one's natural stride, this will cause you to "walk funny" as you stumble to correct your foot placement.

==Transcript==
:[Two characters walk on a floor tiled in black and white.]
:Friend: Why are you walking funny?
:[Second panel consists of Cueball's thought cloud in which he points to an easel mounted diagram of the floor tile pattern.]
:Cueball, thinking: Well, my instinct is to step only on black tiles, but they're too far apart. So I'm letting myself walk on the tiles directly in line with the black ones, but that means that when we walk diagonally, I have to step in a pattern where...
:[Returns to situation in first panel.]
:Cueball: I'm not walking funny.

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

245: Floor Tiles

2016-02-15T19:53:18Z

Pablo360: I only noticed this when reading a Making xkcd Slightly Worse based on this.

{{comic
| number = 245
| date = April 6, 2007
| title = Floor Tiles
| image = floor_tiles.png
| titletext = The worst part is when sidewalk cracks are out-of-sync with your natural stride.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is walking according to a certain pattern of floor tiles which makes sense to him in his head (the same pattern was first introduced in [[207: What xkcd Means]]). But as his friend asks him why he is walking funny, he realises that the algorithm he is using for walking on floor tiles would be so tedious and time-consuming to explain to his friend that he decides instead to simply defend himself and say that he isn't walking funny. Either that, or he is embarrassed to explain. This being far simpler than trying to show his friend exactly how his logic works - in his head, he imagines a complex diagram. However, the diagram does not accurately reflect the floor, as the two main rows with black tiles in the foreground are only separated by one row of white tiles instead of two

The title text refers to a common compulsion that leads people to place their feet either exactly between sidewalk cracks or directly on top of them while walking. Indeed, if the cracks are out of sync with one's natural stride, this will cause you to "walk funny" as you stumble to correct your foot placement.

==Transcript==
:[Two characters walk on a floor tiled in black and white.]
:Friend: Why are you walking funny?
:[Second panel consists of Cueball's thought cloud in which he points to an easel mounted diagram of the floor tile pattern.]
:Cueball, thinking: Well, my instinct is to step only on black tiles, but they're too far apart. So I'm letting myself walk on the tiles directly in line with the black ones, but that means that when we walk diagonally, I have to step in a pattern where...
:[Returns to situation in first panel.]
:Cueball: I'm not walking funny.

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

1621: Fixion

2016-02-11T21:51:08Z

Pablo360: WE FOUND THEM!!!

{{comic
| number = 1621
| date = December 25, 2015
| title = Fixion
| image = fixion.png
| titletext = My theory predicts that, at high enough energies, FRBs and perytons become indistinguishable because the detector burns out.
}}

==Explanation==
The second [[:Category:Christmas|Christmas comic]] in a row, the first being [[1620: Christmas Settings]].

This comic was released on {{w|Christmas}} day as a present from [[Randall]] to all {{w|physicists}}. It introduces a new particle, the ''Fixion'', which explains everything. The word "Fixion" can be read as a pun: Either it can mean something like "fix-i-on," with "[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-on#Suffix -on]" being a suffix for many particles, and this particle being able to "fix" things; or it means "fiction".

In physics, there are still many {{w|List of unsolved problems in physics|big questions and mysteries}}. There are many phenomena which don't seem to fit, and we don't know how to explain yet. The "Fixion" is satirically presented as a particle which acts as a {{w|Deus ex machina}}, (see also [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeusExMachina tvtropes]), which solves all of these mysteries without any serious fundamental reasons.

The style of the chart suggests a {{w|Feynman diagram}} - an easy way of drawing particle interactions. Every time there is an interaction, the main central Fixion-line changes direction. Typically, {{w|fermions}} (the "solid" particles like {{w|electrons}} and {{w|quarks}}) are shown with solid lines, {{w|photons}} (and generally the weak-force-carrying {{w|bosons}}) are shown with wavy lines, {{w|gluons}} with spiraling lines and other mediating particles (such as {{w|pions}} in the {{w|nuclear force}}, or the {{w|Higgs boson}}) with a dotted line. Randall obeys these rules only very loosely, which makes sense - many of the things involved in this Feynman diagram are either so theoretical that they have no widely used standard representation, or would never appear in a sensible diagram (spacecrafts, for instance). All mentioned types of lines - and even more types - are presented in the diagram. All that the Fixion does is described in the [[#Table of Phenomena|table below]].

The title text is a continuation of one of the jokes already mentioned in the main comic (fourth phrase from the top to the left) about {{w|Fast radio burst}}s (FRBs) and {{w|Peryton (astronomy)|perytons}}. See explanation in the last entry in the [[#Table of Phenomena|table below]].

===Table of Phenomena===
{{Incomplete|Please remove personal views and parts where the fiction is assumed to be real}}
*Below, all the phenomena mentioned in the comic (and in the title text) have been listed and described.
*The order is the top left phenomenon first, and then alternating between right and left down to the bottom and then the title text at the end.
{| border =1 width=100% cellpadding=5 class="wikitable"
|'''Phenomenon''' || '''In the comic''' || '''Description''' || '''Solved?'''
|-
| Main component of dark matter
|| An arrow points to the very first part of the main line.
|| Our best measurements of the universe predict that visible matter is only about one-sixth of the matter in the universe; the remaining matter is "{{w|dark matter}}" that cannot be seen. The leading candidates for dark matter are {{w|weakly interacting massive particles}} (WIMPs). These would be new, undiscovered forms of matter which barely interact except through gravity and thus give off little or no light. Some of the dark matter is likely made up of {{w|Massive compact halo objects}} (MACHOs); effectively dead stars too dim to see. MACHOs are probably only a minority of the dark matter, however. Studies of two colliding galaxy clusters suggest that dark matter can pass through other matter without slowing down, unlike ordinary matter. Moreover, calculations of the elements produced during the {{w|big bang}} - which match the observed distribution of elements in the universe very precisely - don't leave room for enough additional {{w|protons}} and {{w|neutrons}} to form the dark matter.
|| No. Proving the nature of dark matter will most likely win someone a {{w|Nobel Prize}}.
|-
| Confines quarks and gluons
|| An arrow points to the very first part of the main line.
|| {{w|Quark confinement}} means that we never see particles with {{w|colour charge|color charge}} (i.e. {{w|quark}}s and {{w|gluon}}s) on their own. They only exist in groups that cancel out the color charge. Try to separate the groups, and the energy you add will instead cause new particles to pop into existence.
|| The basic facts of confinement are well understood, but some of the details are too complicated to tease out.
|-
| Neutralizes monopoles
|| An arrow points to the first solid line into the main line, from left and upwards. This is thus a solid particle merging with the Fixion.
|| {{w|Magnetic monopoles}} (e.g., a north charge without a south charge) should exist, according to many {{w|Grand Unified Theory|grand unified theories}} (GUTs) and {{w|String theory|string theories}}, but none have ever been seen.
|| No! Despite claims that pop up in the news every year, creating a monopole-like state in the magnetic spins of a crystal is not the same as creating a real monopole.
|-
| Suppresses antimatter in early universe
|| No arrow.
|| The universe today is made almost entirely of matter. {{w|Antimatter}} and matter are identical, except that the charges are opposite. Antimatter and matter "{{w|Annihilation|annihilate}}" when they come into contact. So why is the universe made of matter? Why didn't the universe have equal amounts of both, and if it did, why didn't it annihilate itself immediately? This is a big question in physics today. Of course, the Fixion explains this by its ability to suppress the formation of antimatter in the early universe.
|| Lots of theories, no conclusive evidence for any yet. The most notable theories revolve around the {{w|weak interaction}}, which has been shown to treat matter and antimatter asymmetrically. Now that the {{w|Higgs boson}} has been found, the biggest project for the {{w|Large Hadron Collider}} experiments is to try to crack this.
|-
| Spontaneously emits dark energy
|| Two arrows points to two dotted lines going out left and downwards below the first solid line. It is thus two mediating particles that go out from the Fixon.
|| Prior to the 1990s, most {{w|cosmologists}} expected that the universe's expansion after the Big Bang would either slow down or stay constant. In 1998, cosmologists discovered that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating. Under {{w|Einstein|Einstein's}} theory of {{w|general relativity}}, the observed acceleration predicts that ordinary matter and dark matter make up about 30% of the universe's total energy, with the rest coming in the form of "{{w|dark energy}}." The nature of dark energy is not certain. However, the leading candidate is that space itself has intrinsic energy (either constant or variable), and so as space expands, the energy of the universe increases.
|| Again, Nobel Prize territory.
|-
| Mediates proton decay, but then hides it.
|| An arrow points to three lines going to and from the main line. The outer line does not connect with the main line. The three lines probably represent the 3 quarks a proton is made of, and how a proton is usually drawn in Feynman diagrams (see for example [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_decay#/media/File:Beta_Negative_Decay.svg Beta Negative Decay]). The diagram represents a proton decaying, mediated by the fixion, however then recombining. Presumably the hypothetical fixion causes protons to decay all the time, however according to the diagram the quarks recombine again which makes the process impossible to detect.
|| Many GUTs predict that {{w|proton decay|protons will decay}}, but experiments have shown the proton to have a half-life of at least 1033 years very much longer than the {{w|age of the universe}} (1.38x1010 years).
|| It's not ''necessarily'' a problem. All theories predict that proton decay is a very slow process (1032+ years), which is consistent with the current data.
|-
| Introduces dispersion in perytons from kitchen microwaves, explaining fast radio bursts
|| Two arrows point to four wavy lines. The waves of the lines have different wave length. The one line coming out left is of the same at wavelength as the top of the three coming out right. The two below each decrease in wavelength compared to the one before them. Maybe this is not meant to represent photon-like particles, but are just different frequencies of microwaves from the microwave oven – thus relating to the subject.
|| {{w|Fast radio burst}}s (FRBs) are unexplained bursts of radio-frequency energy from space, they could even be extragalactic signals, with speculations that they might be signs of {{w|extraterrestrial intelligence}}. {{w|Peryton (astronomy)|Perytons}} are things that ''look like'' FRBs, but come from Earth (specifically, from the {{w|microwave oven}} at {{w|Parkes Observatory}}). Randall's Fixion makes some perytons change frequency distribution so they appear to come from space; thus in fact all FRBs come from microwave ovens.
|| No, but it's probably something very big - a star collapsing to a {{w|black hole}} or (as now looks likely) a {{w|magnetar}} (magnetic neutron star)
|-
| Broken symmetry causes ϴ=0, explaining unobserved neutron dipole moment
|| An arrow points to the part of the main line just before the first wavy line.
|| The {{w|neutron electric dipole moment}} is a measure of how balanced electric charge is inside the neutron. ϴ (theta) is a number in {{w|quantum chromodynamics}} (QCD) which quantifies the breaking of a type of symmetry called {{w|CP violation|CP symmetry}}. If ϴ is not 0, one result of this should be a neutron dipole moment. {{w|Symmetry breaking}} is a common explanation of effects in some areas of theoretical physics (for instance, it's an important part of {{w|Peter Higgs|Higgs'}} theory about why particles have mass), but normally it explains why a value is ''not'' zero. Presumably the Fixion breaks CP symmetry independently of QCD, which means that ϴ can be 0 while preserving observed CP-breaking effects.
|| Again, it's not (yet) a problem - the predicted dipole moment is tiny, and we're only just reaching the point when we can measure it that accurately.
|-
| Causes alpha effect
|| No arrow.
|| The {{w|alpha effect}} is a weird effect from chemistry, where putting an "alpha" atom with a {{w|lone pair}} of electrons close to a molecule makes the molecule more likely to give up its electrons. The Fixion is the reason for this effect.
|| Lots of competing explanations.
|-
| Covers naked singularities
|| No arrow – but the text is situated next to the middle of the three wavy lines going right.
|| A {{w|naked singularity}} is like a black hole without an {{w|event horizon}}. So far no naked singularity has been observed (except, arguably, the big bang) and the {{w|cosmic censorship hypothesis}} suggests they can't exist, although some people have suggested ways of making them. Of course if any did exist then the Fixion will cover it, so it won’t become embarrassed by its nudity. Randall has mentioned these in his latest [[what if?]]: [http://what-if.xkcd.com/140/ Proton Earth, Electron Moon].
|| Not necessarily something that needs explaining - none have been seen, and most theories say they don't exist. If support grows for {{w|loop quantum gravity}}, then we might have to start really searching.
|-
| Intercepts certain gravitational waves before they're observed.
|| An arrow points to a spiraling line going upwards to the left, so this is drawn like a gluon.
|| If {{w|gravity}} behaves like {{w|Fundamental interaction|the other forces}}, it must be conveyed by waves. Our best detector, {{w|LIGO}} has yet to detect any {{w|gravitational waves}}, though this is probably just due to the low probability of events that would be detectable. Only extreme events like {{w|binary black hole}} mergers are detectable with the current setup. The proposed {{w|LISA Pathfinder}} spacecraft will be able to see things like orbiting black holes and {{w|neutron stars}}. Since the Fixion intercepts gravity waves before they are observed we should not get our hopes up too high about observing any even with LISA.
|| WE FOUND THEM!!!
|-
| Causes coronal heating
|| No arrow – but the text is situated next to the middle of the three wavy lines going right.
|| For some reason the outer layer of the {{w|sun}} (the {{w|corona}}) is hotter than most reasonable theories predict. This is for instance mentioned in Randall’s new book ''[[Thing Explainer]]'' in the entry about the sun. This can also be seen on the [[Thing_Explainer#Preview Pages |back cover of the book]]. The phenomenon is explained by the Fixion…
|| It's a mystery, but it possibly has something to do with waves in the corona (for example, the {{w|High Resolution Coronal Imager}} has seen "braids" in the corona that whip around and unravel themselves).
|-
| Higgs-ish
|| As this is just a property of the Fixion there is no arrow.
|| The {{w|Higgs boson}} is a manifestation of the Higgs field... but many supersymmetry and string theories predict multiple Higgs-like particles. It's almost a prerequisite of any new theory that it has a Higgs-ish element. So the Fixion blends in with this.
|| N/A
|-
| Superluminally smooths anisotropies in early universe (but adds faint polarization for BICEP3 to find)
|| An arrow points to the point of the main line just below the bottom space probe.
|| The {{w|Cosmic Microwave Background}} (CMB) is incredibly uniform. In fact it is so uniform that the conclusion is that these areas must have been in contact at some time in the early universe. But with the universe being infinite, and the speed of light being finite, most parts of the universe will never be able to interact (any more at least). The explanation usually given for the uniformity is that the universe expanded really fast in the beginning during what is called the {{w|Inflationary epoch}}. {{w|BICEP_and_Keck_Array#BICEP2|BICEP2}} is a {{w|radio telescope}} at the South Pole whose operators claim to have seen polarization in the CMB indicative of inflation. (See [[1365: Inflation]] that references BICEP2's results). The Fixion fixes the problem since it allowed {{w|Faster-than-light|superluminally}} smoothing of the early anisotropies to explain the smoothness observed today. The Fixion adds just enough signal that the new {{w|BICEP_and_Keck_Array#BICEP3|BICEP3}} telescope will be able to find it.
|| As stated, {{w|Inflation (cosmology)|inflation}} is the standard explanation and it holds up fairly well. Other studies haven't seen the polarization that BICEP2 has - the {{w|Planck (spacecraft)|Planck space telescope}} also suggests that the BICEP2 team were looking at an unusually dusty bit of space, which could cause polarization. Hopefully this will improve with the BICEP3 data that should be published in 2016.
|-
| Accelerates certain spacecraft during flybys
|| Two arrows point to two solid lines going away from the main line (left and right). At the end of each line there is a space craft with satellite dish and solar panels, representing the items that the Fixion interacts with.
|| This refers to the {{w|flyby anomaly}} which is sometimes (but not always) seen when spacecraft fly close to planets and pick up more speed than expected. It's not always seen – for instance the {{w|Rosetta (spacecraft)|Rosetta space probe}} had no flyby anomaly when it swooped extremely close to Mars. Another anomaly for spacecraft’s (a deceleration this time) has been mentioned in the title text of [[502: Dark Flow]].
|| It could be an unpredicted quirk of gravity and relativity... or it could be experimental error.
|-
| Triggers Siberian sinkholes
|| No arrow, but it is right next to the solid line with an arrow going into the main line just before the first hole where the main line disappears and becomes dotted. Thus it could be a reference also to these holes.
|| Recently, (2014), several {{w|sinkholes}} opened up in {{w|Yamal_Peninsula#Yamal_craters |remote parts}} of Siberia. The explanation is currently unknown, except of course we now know that it was the Fixion that caused it.
|| While there are lots of weird theories, there's a good chance they were caused by {{w|Arctic methane release}} due to melting {{w|permafrost}} which is probably caused by {{w|global warming}}. See ([http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/mystery-of-the-siberian-holes-at-the-end-of-the-world-solved-scientists-offer-explanation-9642988.html Mystery of the Siberian holes… solved]).
|-
| Melts ice in "Snowball Earth" scenario
|| No arrow.
|| {{w|Snowball Earth}} is the theory that the whole planet was covered in ice at some point. To melt all that ice by the {{w|greenhouse effect}} would require far more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than seems plausible. However, if volcanoes were to deposit black soot on the surface of the ice, it would start absorbing heat more efficiently (in scientific terms, the Earth's {{w|albedo}} would decrease) and that would also make the planet heat up. Of course it was the Fixion was the cause of the melting ice.
|| There are {{w|Snowball_Earth#Scientific_dispute|scientific dispute}} regarding the theory for a Snowball Earth. There is no conclusive evidence that it ever occurred, but those in favor have presented lots of {{w|Snowball_Earth#Evidence|evidence}}…
|-
| Transports neutrinos faster than light, but only on certain days through one area of France
|| An arrow points to the part of the main line that becomes dotted between the two “{{w|wormholes}}”. This is where the neutrinos move faster than light…
|| Refers to the {{w|faster-than-light neutrino anomaly}}, where it seemed that a neutrino beam from {{w|CERN}} on the France/Switzerland border to the {{w|OPERA experiment}} in Italy traveled faster than light. Scientists were not able to reproduce the result. Of course it was because of the Fixion. This Neutrino experiment was also mentioned in [[955: Neutrinos]], where there are more explanation on the subject.
|| In the end, there was no mystery, just a [http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112551696/cern-confirms-neutrinos-not-faster-than-light/ defective cable causing a measurement error].
|-
| Suppresses sigma in experiments
|| No arrow but the last solid line, with an arrow pointing left, that is going away from the main line, point almost directly at it.
|| Sigma (σ) refers to the {{w|standard deviation}} - a mathematical measure of how much an observed value differs from the expected value. For a formal scientific discovery in particle physics, the standard is 5 sigma which means that there is about a 1 in 3.5 million chance that the results were caused by random errors (of course, they could be caused by ''systematic'' errors, such as measurement problems). Some tantalizing experiments have found interesting results at 3 or 4 sigma but either can't reach 5 sigma or {{w|Oops-Leon|are subsequently dis-proven}}. The question is, if the way the Fixion works here in this comic pushes the sigma value one way or the other? Does it suppress the value so it goes below or above the level of significance? Is it artificially pushed in the direction so a result seems like it is significant when it is not (see for instance [[882: Significant]]), or if it is the other way so some experiments, which could have found what the experimenters wanted to find, did not because the sigma has been artificially lowered below the proof threshold. Either way it is a very annoying fact of the Fixion, but it would explain a lot, and probably also make it very hard to find the Fixion because of this intrinsic behavior.|| N/A
|-
| My theory predicts that, at high enough energies, FRBs and perytons become indistinguishable because the detector burns out.
|| From the title text.
|| This is a continuation of the joke already mentioned above regarding Fast radio bursts (FRBs) and perytons. GUTs normally predict that all the forces we see are the different low-energy versions of a single force which can only be seen at extremely high energies (much higher than any Earth-based collider could produce). A high-energy FRB would be a {{w|gamma ray burst}} and if it came from a close enough object, would obliterate all life on Earth. It would also wreck the sensitive electronics at Parkes Observatory. This "high energy unification" is stated in a way reminiscent of the unification of electromagnetic and weak forces at high energies; but unlike the latter, it involves two things only "appearing" (or, in this case, not appearing) to be the same, not actually becoming the same.
|| N/A
|}

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the panel:]
:A Christmas gift for physicists:
:The '''Fixion'''
:A new particle that explains everything

:[A chart resembling a Feynman diagram is shown. It begins with a solid line coming down at the top, going a little to the left. The line continues downwards all the time, but changes direction 16 times before exiting at the bottom almost straight under the starting point. At every point where it changes direction, there is some kind of “interaction” with something outside this line. There are 19 phrases, 10 on the left and 9 on the right. 11 of these are distinct labels for points on the line as 14 gray curved arrows points between these 11 phrases to specific points on the line. Three of the phrases on the left has two arrows pointing to two different, but close, parts of the line. The main central line is solid all the way, except at the very bottom, where it “disappears” inside a hole only to “reappear” later from a similar hole. Between these two holes the line is dotted. The lines going away (or to) the main line can be straight and solid, straight and dotted, wavy lines (with different waviness), even looking like a spiral. Two straight solid lines ends up at two space probes, and finally the last two straight solid lines coming in (and out) on either side of the “hole” in the line has arrow pointing in and out. Below the phrases will be listed in reading order, taking one on each side alternatingly. Above each is described if there are any arrow and, if there are, what they points at.]

:[Left: Arrow pointing to the very first part of the main line:]
::Main component of dark matter

:[Right: Arrow pointing to the very first part of the main line, but below the previous arrow:]
::Confines quarks and gluons

:[Left: Arrow points to the first solid line going left and upwards:]
::Neutralizes monopoles

:[Right: No arrow:]
::Suppresses antimatter in early universe

:[Left: Two arrows points to two dotted lines going out left and downwards below the first solid line:]
::Spontaneously emits dark energy

:[Right: Arrow pointing to several lines going almost parallel with the main line. The first line closest to the arrow is not connected with the main line. It bends closer to the other lines in the middle. The next line is connected to the main line, and is thus actually two lines going in to the main line. The same goes for the inner line, where there is some distance between the entry and exit, as the middle of these three lines connect to the main line in between. In principle there are four lines going in/out and one not connected, but it looks like three lines:]
::Mediates proton decay but then hides it

:[Left: One arrow points to the first wavy line (7 peaks) coming out and up towards the dotted lines above. A second arrow points further down the main line where there are three more wavy lines coming out, but to the right, they are all of the same length and go almost straight right, only a little down. The first has as short a wave length as the line above to the left, but as it is shorter it only has 6 peaks. Then the wavelength decreases to a very long one for the last, 5 peaks and then 3 peaks. The arrow points almost where the middle wavy line exits the main line:]
::Introduces dispersion in perytons from kitchen microwaves, explaining fast radio bursts

:[Right: An arrow point to the part of the main line between the three parallel lines and the first wavy line:]
::Broken symmetry causes ϴ=0, explaining unobserved neutron dipole moment

:[Left: No arrow:]
::Causes alpha effect

:[Right: No arrow, but right next to the middle of the three wavy line:]
::Covers naked singularities

:[Left: An arrow points to a spiraling line going upwards to the left:]
::Intercepts certain gravitational waves before they're observed.

:[Right: No arrow, but right next to the bottom of the three wavy line:]
::Causes coronal heating

:[Left: No arrow:]
::Higgs-ish

:[Right: A long arrow point to the point of the main line just below the line pointing to the bottom (and left) of the space probes:]
::Superluminally smooths anisotropies in early universe (but adds faint polarization for BICEP3 to find)

:[Left: One arrows point towards the point on the main lines where a solid line goes to the right and up and another arrow points on another solid line going away from the main line towards left and down. At the end of both lines are drawn spacecrafts with satellite dish and solar panels:]
::Accelerates certain spacecraft during flybys

:[Right: No arrow, but right next to the solid line with an arrow going into the main line just before the first hole where the main line disappears and becomes dotted:]
::Triggers Siberian sinkholes

:[Left: No arrow:]
::Melts ice in "Snowball Earth" scenario

:[Right: Arrow points to the dotted part of the main line between the two holes:]
::Transports neutrinos faster than light, but only on certain days through one area of France

:[Left: No arrow but the last solid line, with an arrow pointing left, that is going away from the main line, point almost directly at it:]
::Suppresses sigma in experiments

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Christmas]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Puns]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Portmanteau]]

582: Brakes

2015-12-03T02:57:25Z

Pablo360: If you where to look at how it was previously, you would see why.

{{comic
| number = 582
| date = May 11, 2009
| title = Brakes
| image = brakes.png
| titletext = It was the funniest 6.5 seconds of my life, although as usual like 80% of it was just Tom and Ray's gasping, hacking laughter.
}}

==Explanation==
A car's brakes fail on a winding mountain road. As a response, the driver calls a live radio phone-in show, overlooking the fact that he is in immediate danger and has no time to gather outside advice before improvising a solution. The driver loses control of the car and plunges over a cliff.

If this ever happens to you,
*Try pumping the brakes, it may rebuild enough pressure to slow you down
*Downshift into second and then first gear, which should limit your vehicle's speed
*Use your "emergency brake," it's not just for parking
*Otherwise, find a safe place to coast to a stop, if possible, or else
*Try to wreck your car in a way that won't kill you or your passengers. Aim for something that will slow you down before stopping you, like a stand of bushes.

http://www.wikihow.com/Stop-a-Car-with-No-Brakes

The title text refers to {{w|Tom and Ray Magliozzi}} who were the co-hosts of the weekly radio show {{w|Car Talk}}. It was a car advice/comedy radio show often aired on {{w|NPR}} stations. While there is some actual advice given on the radio show, it's presented as a comedy/entertainment show. Much of the show did involve the hosts "gasping and hacking" as they ask non-relevant questions of the callers and add their own commentary or relate other personal asides and stories.

Since he claims that he has 6.5 funny seconds, he must have connected with them way before going over the cliff. Because in 6.5 seconds a car would fall approximately 200 m (½*g*t^2, with g = 9.81 m/s^2, and t the time in seconds. This will give 207 m, but there will be a lot of air resistance). It is clear from the drawing that the call is still going almost straight out into the air, so it is still almost at the height where it left the road at quite a high speed (to get this far away without turning the engine down towards earth yet.) And the is just about 5 car length to the ground, which would make this a 10-15 m drop only (which would take less than 2 seconds to fall). But according to the comic it seems like he first connected with the show, just when the car has left the road...

==Transcript==
:Of the potential responses to my brakes' failure, I did not choose the best.
:[A cliff is visible, with a car flying off it.]
:Voice from car: Hello, you're on Car Talk.

==Trivia==
* NPR made a shirt out of this comic, it can be seen at [http://shop.npr.org/products/car-talk-cartoon-t-shirt shop.npr.org].

{{comic discussion}}

1547: Solar System Questions

2015-07-07T19:49:30Z

Pablo360: /* Explanation */ Myth-nerded about Hades. No biggie.

{{comic
| number = 1547
| date = July 6, 2015
| title = Solar System Questions
| image = solar_system_questions.png
| titletext = My country's World Cup win was exciting and all, but c'mon, what if the players wore nylon wings and COULD LITERALLY FLY?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|1) Explain "in the wrong places" re: Io's volcanoes.}}

This comic is a list of questions which [[Randall]] has about the Solar System, which at first glance may appear to be things that Randall would like to learn about.
In actuality, most of the questions have not been satisfactorily answered or proven by anyone in the {{w|List_of_unsolved_problems_in_physics#Astronomy_and_astrophysics|scientific community}}.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Question given
! Answer given by Randall (in red in the original)
! Comments
|-
| Why is the the Moon so blotchy?
| Lava
| The {{w|Moon}} is in synchronous rotation with Earth, which means that we always can see only one half of the surface of the Moon. And on that side we can see large {{w|lunar maria}} formed by lava from big volcanoes. This surface is very different to all other celestial bodies we know in our Solar system. The double "the the" could be a Randallism — intended or unintended.
|-
| Why are all the blotches on the near side?
| ...
| The nearside of the Moon is dominated by the blotchy 'seas' or maria, the far side by craters. {{w|Far_side_of_the_Moon#Differences|Several explanations}} for this have been proposed, including an overabundance of impacts obliterating the blotches on the more exposed far side, different compositions of heat-producing elements, large collisions, or heat produced by the still-cooling Earth.
|-
| Did Mars have seas?
| Yes (briefly?)
| Recent explorations have confirmed there was once standing (and also flowing) water on {{w|Mars}}. Many rovers and orbiters on Mars give us the evidence on this early development of that planet, but it is still unknown how long such conditions existed in its history.
|-
| Was there life on Mars?
| ...
| One of the big mysteries, {{w|Life on Mars|not yet answered}}.
|-
| What's Titan like?
| Cold, yellow, lakes + rivers (methane)
| The {{w|Cassini–Huygens}} mission confirmed the presence of {{w|Lakes_of_Titan|lakes and rivers}} on {{w|Titan (moon)|Titan}}. The {{w|Huygens_(spacecraft)#Findings|Huygens}} lander itself returned some very yellow images of a dry lake bed from Titan's surface.
|-
| What was Earth like during the Hadean?
| ...
| The {{w|Hadean}} was the first geologic era on earth, the planet had just formed and not much is known of that period of Earth. But since it was the time when Earth was formed it was mainly very hot with extreme volcanic activity, with the entire surface melted. This is why the era is named after {{w|Hades}} the ancient Greek god of the underworld, even though Hades was never associated with fire.
|-
| Is the Oort Cloud a real thing?
| ...
| The {{w|Oort Cloud}} is a theoretical spherical cloud of icy planetesimal, maybe dust, and also larger objects at a distance of up to around 100,000 {{w|Astronomical units|AU}} to our Sun. We can see similar clouds at other stars, but there is still no evidence that this cloud exists in our Solar System.
|-
| Why is the Sun's corona so hot?
| Something about magnets?
| The {{w|corona}} of the sun is hotter than it theoretically should be. The looping magnetic fields in this area could be responsible.
|-
| What are comets like?
| Precipitous
| The {{w|Philae (spacecraft)|Philae lander}} is next to a cliff...
|-
| Where's Philae, exactly?
| ...
| ...but we're not sure ''which'' cliff.
|-
| What's Pluto like?
| rowspan="2" | [Soon!]
| rowspan="2" | The probe {{w|New Horizons}} may be about to answer both of these questions, as it will reach its closest approach to both {{w|Pluto}} and {{w|Charon (moon)|Charon}} just eight days after the release of this comic.
|-
| What's Charon like?
|-
| Why don't we have in-between-sized planets?
| ...
| There is a size-gap between the rocky {{w|terrestrial planets}} up to Earth size and the {{w|gas giants}} very much larger than Earth in our Solar System.
There are many known {{w|exoplanets}} (planets in other solar systems) filling in the range between our rocky planets and our gas giants, known as [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Exoplanet_Mass-Radius_Scatter_Super-Earth.png Super-Earths]
|-
| What's Ceres like?
| [Working on it!]
| The {{w|Dawn (spacecraft)|Dawn probe}} is currently exploring the {{w|dwarf planet}} {{w|Ceres (dwarf planet)|Ceres}} and reveals unseen surface features.
|-
| Why is Europa so weird-looking and pretty?
| Ice over a water ocean
| {{w|Europa (moon)|Europa}} is a moon of {{w|Jupiter}} and the surface is basically thick pack ice covered in {{w|lineae}}.
|-
| Why is Io so weird-looking?
| Sulfur volcanoes (? in the wrong places?)
| The moon {{w|Io (moon)|Io}} is also orbiting Jupiter and is close enough that {{w|tidal forces}} make it the most volcanic object in the solar system. The moon is mainly yellow but there a several other colors on the surface, for instance spots and streaks of bright red color that comes from {{w|sulfur}} which is ejected by the volcanoes.
|-
| Why are so many Kuiper Belt objects red?
| ...
| Many objects in the {{w|Kuiper Belt}} have a reddish hue. A possible explanation is that they are [http://www.space.com/9418-icy-red-objects-solar-system-edge-point-life-building-blocks.html| covered in organic molecules] formed by the irradiation of their surface ices. The New Horizons probe might also shed light on this.
|-
| What are those spots on Ceres?
| ...
| The Dawn probe found some mysterious spots on the Ceres. These [http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpeg/PIA19568.jpg white spots] are still not understood, but the mission is still running and we may figure out the source of the glowing white features.
|-
| What's in the seas under Europa's ice?
| ...
| The European {{w|ESA}} selected the mission {{w|Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer|Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE)}} to Jupiter. The moon Europa is one target for that mission. But we have to wait, its launch target is 2022 and the arrival at Jupiter is planned for 2030. But that's not uncommon for missions like this, New Horizons or {{w|Rosetta (spacecraft)|Rosetta}} did also travel approx. ten years to reach their target. And before such a mission can start many preparations have to be done.
|-
| Which of the other moons have seas?
| Several
| Depending on the definition of 'sea', other less obviously 'frozen water world' moons such as {{w|Ganymede (moon)|Ganymede}} at Jupiter may have {{w|Ganymede (moon)#Subsurface oceans|subsurface}} [http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn27151-aurora-reveals-jupiter-moons-secret-subsurface-sea.html oceans] of liquid water or other substance liquid at the relevant temperature. The Moon {{w|Titan (moon)|Titan}} at Saturn has {{w|Lakes of Titan|seas and lakes}} on its surface formed by liquid ethane, methane, and propane.
|-
| What are the big white things in Titan's Lakes?
| ...
| This is a joke about some gaps in the radar measurements as shown in this [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PIA10008_Seas_and_Lakes_on_Titan_full_size.jpg image].
|-
| What do Jupiter's clouds look like up close?
| ...
| The Jupiter mission {{w|Galileo (spacecraft)|Galileo}}. operated by NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), arrived at Jupiter by 1995 and was send to an impact on the planet at the end of that mission in 2003 to eliminate the possibility of contaminating local moons with terrestrial bacteria. Several measurements where done on the atmosphere but no pictures were send back to Earth. So there is still no answer on this question.
|-
| What's all that red stuff in the Great Red Spot?
| ...
| {{w|Great Red Spot}}
|-
| What's pushing the Pioneer Probes?
| Heat from the RTG
| Discussed as the {{w|Pioneer anomaly}}. RTG stands for {{w|Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator}}.
|-
| What pushes spacecraft slightly during flybys?
| ...
| Several spacecraft experienced unexplained speed increases during Earth flybys. This is called the {{w|flyby anomaly}}.
|-
| Where are all the Sun's Neutrinos?
| Oscillating
| {{w|Solar neutrino problem}}
|-
| Why is there so much air on Titan?
| ...
| Titan has an atmospheric pressure 1.45 times that of Earth, but 1/7th of the surface gravity (that's less than Earth's own, practically airless, Moon). Hence the confusion! In fact, Titan actually has almost 20% more atmosphere (by mass) than Earth, and ''seven times'' more atmosphere across a given surface area!
Less influence from the more distant Sun probably helps retain more of the atmosphere's gasses (mostly nitrogen), and {{w|cryovolcanoes}} may replenish the methane fraction (which should by now have ''all'' been converted into the other hydrocarbons present) from subsurface reservoirs. But further studies are required to properly answer this question.
|-
| Why does the Kuiper Belt Stop?
| ...
| A reference to the {{w|Kuiper Cliff}}.
|-
| Why is Iapetus weird-colored?
| ...
| {{w|Iapetus (moon)|Iapetus}} is a moon of {{w|Saturn}} and has a white side and a dark side.
|-
| Why does Iapetus have a belt?
| ...
| Iapetus has a 13 km high ridge around most of the equator, and a number of 10 km high mountains where the ridge is interrupted.
|-
| What's the deal with Miranda?
| ...
| {{w|Miranda_(moon)|Miranda}} is the smallest of {{w|Uranus}}' five round satellites, and it's {{w|Verona Rupes|a bit rough around the edges}} and also has an unusually high orbital inclination that is difficult to explain. Also possibly a [[Firefly|''Firefly'' reference]] since {{w|List of Firefly planets and moons#Miranda|Miranda}} is also the name of a planet in {{w|Serenity (film)|''Serenity''}}, a film basedion the {{w|Firefly (TV series)|''Firefly''}} TV series.
|-
| Did Uranus and Neptune change places?
| ...
| The {{w|Nice model}} is a theory of how our solar system formed, which suggested the possibility of Uranus and {{w|Neptune}} having swapped places before reaching their current positions. Work by Professor S. Desch [http://dusty.la.asu.edu/~desch/publications/2007/Desch2007.pdf also came to this result].
|-
| Did the Late Heavy Bombardment happen?
| ...
| {{w|Late Heavy Bombardment}}
|-
| Did life start before it?
| ...
| For some speculation on this topic, see [http://www.livescience.com/5426-life-survived-earth-early-bombardment.html].
|-
| Is Europa covered in Ice Spikes?
| ...
|Dr Daniel Hobley has put forward a [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21341176 theory] that Jupiter's icy moon, {{w|Europa (moon)|Europa}}, has the right conditions to form ice spikes called {{w|penitentes}} of up to 10m in height.
|-
| Why haven't we built a big inflatable Extreme Sports Complex on The Moon?
| ...
| See, e.g., ''{{w|The Menace From Earth}}'', a 1957 short story by Robert Heinlein.
|}

The title text refers to the {{w|2015 FIFA Women's World Cup}} which was won by USA a day before. The nylon wings and flying may be a reference to two passages from 3001: The Final Odyssey, one where Frank Poole tries out various wings while in an extremely low gravity environment, and one where he remarks while watching Swan Lake that Tchaikovsky could never have imagined a performance where the dancers were actually flying (due to aforementioned low gravity). This is also a reference to the last point on the list, because if we had such a stadium on the moon, maybe it would be possible to use such wings to make very long floating leaps.

==Transcript==
:'''Questions I have'''
:'''about the solar system'''
:(some answered)

:{| class="wikitable" style="border: 0px;"
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Why is the the Moon so blotchy?
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | Lava
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Why are all the blotches on the near side?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Did Mars have seas?
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | Yes (briefly?)
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Was there life on Mars?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What's Titan like?
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | Cold, yellow, lakes + rivers (methane)
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What was Earth like during the Hadean?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Is the Oort Cloud a real thing?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Why is the Sun's corona so hot?
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | Something about magnets?
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What are comets like?
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | Precipitous
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Where's Philae, exactly?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What's Pluto like?
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" rowspan="2" | [Soon!]
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What's Charon like?
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Why don't we have in-between-sized planets?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What's Ceres like?
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | [Working on it!]
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Why is Europa so wierd-looking and pretty?
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | Ice over a water ocean
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Why is Io so weird-looking?
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | Sulfur volcanoes (? in the wrong places?)
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Why are so many Kuiper Belt objects red?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What are those spots on Ceres?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What's in the seas under Europa's ice?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Which of the other moons have seas?
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | Several
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What are the big white things in Titan's Lakes?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What do Jupiter's clouds look like up close?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What's all that red stuff in the Great Red Spot?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What's pushing the Pioneer Probes?
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | Heat from the RTG
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What pushes spacecraft slightly during flybys?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Where are all the Sun's Neutrinos?
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | Oscillating
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Why is there so much air on Titan?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Why does the Kuiper Belt Stop?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Why is Iapetus weird-colored?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Why does Iapetus have a belt?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What's the deal with Miranda?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Did Uranus and Neptune change places?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Did the Late Heavy Bombardment happen?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Did life start before it?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Is Europa covered in ice spikes?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Why haven't we built a big inflatable extreme sports complex on the moon?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Soccer]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

1540: Hemingway

2015-06-19T17:15:04Z

Pablo360: /* Explanation */ ;; the exciting conclusion

{{comic
| number = 1540
| date = June 19, 2015
| title = Hemingway
| image = 1540.jpg
| titletext = Instead of bobcat, package contained chair.
}}

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|Finished with Edit Conflict assimilation, but prior author(s) invited to rejig}}

This comic is a reference to the six-word short story {{w|For sale: baby shoes, never worn}}, which has been attributed to famous author {{w|Ernest Hemingway}}; however, [[Randall|Randall Munroe]] explicitly states that this might not be the case at all. The comic plays on the fact that the original story takes the form of a short advertisement that might have been seen in a newspaper, and for these examples uses various modern 'standards' that did not exist in Hemingway's time.

Each example remains six 'words' long!

(Title-text obeys this meme, also.)


Most exhibit common 'click bait' wording, such as "This Weird Trick...", whilst others make use of annotating tokens from an online site. One line references Roguelike conventions for item descriptions, obviously also unfamiliar to Hemmingway's generation and there's also a direct example of HTML formatting tags from the early 1990s; the <BLINK> tag was infamously introduced to the early Netscape browsers. 
Others poke fun at the tragedy that the original story suggests. The six words (For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn) are written like an advertisment, and the reader is supposed to infer that the baby who would have worn the shoes must have died. Randall tries to make the reader infer other things.
'For Sale: This gullible baby's shoes' suggests that the seller somehow tricked the baby out of its shoes. 'Baby shoes for sale by owner' suggests that a very intelligent baby is somehow selling its own shoes.

In the case of the HTML, the normally invisble-and-rendered tag elements can be seen and are part of the six words count. This could have been due to 'sanitising' of uploaded text where HTML tags (other than any that are specifically allowed, like it appears Strikethrough formatting might be) are deliberately deactivated by the server, or because the incorrectly closed final tag breaks any intended rendering support.

The title text (and the penultimate line in the comic itself) makes a reference to the third pane of [[A-Minus-Minus|325: A-Minus-Minus]] in which [[Cueball]] says: 'Instead of office chair, package contained bobcat'

==Transcript==
[Caption above comic:] 
Hemingway's Rough Drafts 
[A list of rough draft titles] 
For sale: This Gullible Baby's Shoes 
Baby Shoes For Sale By Owner 
<strike>Actually, There's no evidence Hemingway wrote</strike> 
Free Shoes, Provided You Overpower Baby 
For Sale: Weird Baby's Toe Shoes 
For Sale: Baby Shoes [an "Amazon Prime eligible" logo] 
<strike>Though popularly attributed to Hemingway, the</strike> 
This Weird Trick Covers Baby Feet! 
For Sale: Baby Shoes, Just Hatched 
Sale: Seven-League Boots (Expedited Shipping) 
Complete this survey for free shoes! 
''Shoes'', by Ernest Hemingway (citation needed) 
This is my greatest short story. 
For sale: Baby shoes (-1) [cursed] 
<blink><marquee>Baby Shoes!</marquee><blink> 
For Sale: Baby-sized Saddle, Bobcat 
Hemingway Busted for Craigslist Shoe Scam 
{{comic discussion}}

1540: Hemingway

2015-06-19T17:14:29Z

Pablo360: /* Explanation */ ;

{{comic
| number = 1540
| date = June 19, 2015
| title = Hemingway
| image = 1540.jpg
| titletext = Instead of bobcat, package contained chair.
}}

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|Finished with Edit Conflict assimilation, but prior author(s) invited to rejig}}

;This comic is a reference to the six-word short story {{w|For sale: baby shoes, never worn}}, which has been attributed to famous author {{w|Ernest Hemingway}}, however, [[Randall|Randall Munroe]] explicitly states that this might not be the case at all. The comic plays on the fact that the original story takes the form of a short advertisement that might have been seen in a newspaper, and for these examples uses various modern 'standards' that did not exist in Hemingway's time.

Each example remains six 'words' long!

(Title-text obeys this meme, also.)


Most exhibit common 'click bait' wording, such as "This Weird Trick...", whilst others make use of annotating tokens from an online site. One line references Roguelike conventions for item descriptions, obviously also unfamiliar to Hemmingway's generation and there's also a direct example of HTML formatting tags from the early 1990s; the <BLINK> tag was infamously introduced to the early Netscape browsers. 
Others poke fun at the tragedy that the original story suggests. The six words (For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn) are written like an advertisment, and the reader is supposed to infer that the baby who would have worn the shoes must have died. Randall tries to make the reader infer other things.
'For Sale: This gullible baby's shoes' suggests that the seller somehow tricked the baby out of its shoes. 'Baby shoes for sale by owner' suggests that a very intelligent baby is somehow selling its own shoes.

In the case of the HTML, the normally invisble-and-rendered tag elements can be seen and are part of the six words count. This could have been due to 'sanitising' of uploaded text where HTML tags (other than any that are specifically allowed, like it appears Strikethrough formatting might be) are deliberately deactivated by the server, or because the incorrectly closed final tag breaks any intended rendering support.

The title text (and the penultimate line in the comic itself) makes a reference to the third pane of [[A-Minus-Minus|325: A-Minus-Minus]] in which [[Cueball]] says: 'Instead of office chair, package contained bobcat'

==Transcript==
[Caption above comic:] 
Hemingway's Rough Drafts 
[A list of rough draft titles] 
For sale: This Gullible Baby's Shoes 
Baby Shoes For Sale By Owner 
<strike>Actually, There's no evidence Hemingway wrote</strike> 
Free Shoes, Provided You Overpower Baby 
For Sale: Weird Baby's Toe Shoes 
For Sale: Baby Shoes [an "Amazon Prime eligible" logo] 
<strike>Though popularly attributed to Hemingway, the</strike> 
This Weird Trick Covers Baby Feet! 
For Sale: Baby Shoes, Just Hatched 
Sale: Seven-League Boots (Expedited Shipping) 
Complete this survey for free shoes! 
''Shoes'', by Ernest Hemingway (citation needed) 
This is my greatest short story. 
For sale: Baby shoes (-1) [cursed] 
<blink><marquee>Baby Shoes!</marquee><blink> 
For Sale: Baby-sized Saddle, Bobcat 
Hemingway Busted for Craigslist Shoe Scam 
{{comic discussion}}

1508: Operating Systems

2015-04-29T21:09:38Z

Pablo360: /* Explanation */ OH GOD THE HUMAN ITY (changed human kind to humankind)

{{comic
| number = 1508
| date = April 6, 2015
| title = Operating Systems
| image = operating systems.png
| titletext = One of the survivors, poking around in the ruins with the point of a spear, uncovers a singed photo of Richard Stallman. They stare in silence. "This," one of them finally says, "This is a man who BELIEVED in something."
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, [[Randall]] gives an {{w|Gantt chart|overview}} of past, present and (speculatively) future of the {{w|operating system}}s running in his house at any given time. Notably, because Randall is fascinated by technology, he has had more than one OS running in his household since the mid '90's. The timeline tracks how Operating Systems have come and gone over the years, and the gradual shift from desktop Operating Systems to mobile can be observed. Beyond the present day, we see some of Randall's humorous predictions as to which technologies and companies will dominate the Operating System landscape in the future.

It may be that the OS that is closest to the time-line is also the one he mainly uses during these extended periods.

Previous and current systems:
*{{w|MS-DOS}} (Microsoft Disk Operating System): The default, command-line-based OS on most IBM PC-compatible computers. Early versions of Windows operated as shells on top of MS-DOS rather than stand-alone OSes in their own right, which may explain part of the overlap in those two bars.
*Apple's {{w|Mac OS}} (Macintosh Operating System): The OS of Apple's Macintosh line of computers. Randall's bar indicates that he stopped using Macs in 2001, after Mac OS had been superseded by the new and still-buggy {{w|Mac OS X}}.
*{{w|Linux}}: An open-source (typically free) Unix-like OS. Randall's bar indicates that he likely used it on one or two PCs starting from 1999 while still using Windows on other PCs, or perhaps was dual-booting one or more PCs with Windows, until abandoning Windows in 2007 to use Linux full-time. This timing coincides with the release of Microsoft's controversial {{w|Windows Vista}} and the advent of more user-friendly Linux distributions.
*{{w|OS X}} (Macintosh Operating System v10): The successor OS of Apple's Macintosh line of computers. Although it was sometimes marketed as merely the 10th version of the earlier Mac OS, it was largely a new product. The bar indicates Randall's renewed use of Macintosh computers in 2009 after the OS had matured and Macs had transitioned to Intel processors.
*{{w|Android_(operating_system)|Android}}: The upper layers of the OS running on Android phones and tablets, above the Linux {{w|Kernel_(operating_system)|kernel}}. Randall is indicating that he has at least one of these devices.
*Apple's {{w|iOS}}: The OS of {{w|iPhone}}, {{w|iPad}}, {{w|iPad mini}}, {{w|iPad Air}}, {{w|iPod Touch}} and {{w|Apple TV}}. Randall is indicating that he also has at least one of these devices.

His predictions for the future include:
*2018: That {{w|OS X}} and {{w|iOS}} will merge. There is frequent speculation on technology blogs as to whether or not this merging will come to pass in the future. Both OSes have a common origin, share a lot of common software, and are maintained by the same company which would benefit from the efficiency of maintaining a single unified OS. Opposing this is the fact that interaction patterns are very different between traditional computers and tablets/phones and a one-size-fits-both solution may not be feasible, and the fact that Apple spends some time in each of its recent keynotes mocking computers like the Microsoft Surface Pro which use both standard computer and touch control.
*2019: That an operating system designed with and for {{w|Javascript}} will become attractive, perhaps along the lines of [http://node-os.com/ NodeOS] and/or [http://github.com/runtimejs/runtime#readme Runtime.js].
*2022: That there'll be an OS based on the {{w|Tinder_(application)|Tinder}} dating app.
*2024: That there'll be an OS from {{w|Nest Labs}}, presumably oriented towards home automation and the {{w|Internet of things}}.
*2029: That {{w|Elon Musk}} will come up with an operating system.
*2030: That {{w|Disk_operating_system|DOS}} would make a comeback, but only in an ironic fashion (maybe because there would be no more disks left for it to operate from).
*2034: That Randall will be deploying an [http://geneticliteracyproject.org/2014/07/genetically-engineered-red-blood-cells-could-be-drug-delivery-drones/ autonomous drug-delivery drone] in his body.
*2042: Human civilization comes to a fiery end, maybe due to some unholy combination of the above innovations. Another possible explanation is that human civilization will be wiped out by an artificial super-intelligence, superior to human intelligence, as Elon Musk, Ray Kurzweil, Bill Gates and many tech pundits foresee that 2045 will be the year to see such technology becoming real, and as Elon Musk, Bill Gates and many other tech pundits fear that it will be the extinction of all life on earth, as explained [http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-2.html on this page].
*2059: At this time his operating system will be {{w|GNU}}/{{w|Hurd}}. This infamously and perennially late [http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/hurd.html GNU/Hurd] OS will finally make it in to Randall's home after human civilization has been wiped out. The joke is that GNU/Hurd began to be developed in 1990, and while it was expected to be released in a relatively short time, even now only unstable builds have been released. So Randall is saying that he will finally run it in his house a decade or two after the end of civilization. GNU/Hurd will presumably have an advantage as humanity rebuilds civilization due to the widespread availability of its code and development tools, and perhaps also because of Stallman's depth of belief, based on the title text. Alternatively, GNU/Hurd might be finished by the same force that finished humankind, for instance {{w|Skynet (Terminator)|Skynet}}, in case of {{w|Cybernetic revolt|AI Apocalypse}}.

The title text refers to {{w|Richard Stallman}}, the founder of the {{w|Free Software movement}} and the GNU and Hurd projects. A survivor of the fire that ended the human civilization has uncovered a slightly burned ({{w|Singe|singed}}) picture of him. Those gathered can see, either directly from the picture or because they already know of Stallman, that this was a man that really believed in something. In this case it was ''free software''. Inspired by his image, they rebuild their lost civilization and finish Hurd development.

Or maybe he means that a herd of {{w|Wildebeest|Gnus}} will be "running" in his living room, as wild animals reclaim the Earth after the end of human civilization.

GNU is a collection of free software utilities, particularly the system utilities used with the Linux Kernel to form the Linux operating system (often called GNU/Linux by those who wish to emphasize the contribution of the GNU project). Hurd is an operating system kernel designed as part of GNU project that could be used in place of the Linux kernel to produce a compete GNU operating system. Hurd has a microkernel architecture, which has many perceived advantages over Linux's monolithic kernel, and is thought by many to be technically superior, despite its low adoption rate compared to the Linux kernel.

Randall has made several comics about free software and also about Stallman. See this list of [[:Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman|comics featuring Richard Stallman]]. Most of these are also about free software in some form.

==Transcript==
:[At the top of the panel:]
::'''Operating Systems'''
::running in my house

:[At the bottom there is time-line that runs from 1990 to 2066. It has small indicators for every year, larger for every 5 years and largest for every 10 years. Below the 10 year indicators are written the years. Also the year 2015 is marked:]
:1990 2000 2010 Now 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060

:[Bars above the time-line in four levels are labeled with operating system names, representing the time period for that OS. Below is a list of the bars on the time-line in order of first appearance (with approximate year ranges given). Also the level from 1-4 is indicated, with level 1 just above the time-line and level 4 the highest level above the line:]

:[Level 1 from 1988 to 1998 (extends a little left past the beginning of the time-line but not off panel):]
::MS DOS
:[Level 2 from 1993 to 2007:]
::Windows
:[Level 3 from 1994 to 2001:]
::Mac OS
:[Level 1 from 1999 to 2018:]
::Linux
:[Level 2 from 2009 to 2023. On the way the bar merges with iOS around 2019:]
::OS X
:[Level 3 from 2009 to 2016:]
::Android
:[Level 4 from 2013 to 2023. On the way to 2023 the bar moves down past Android to merge with OS X around 2019:]
::iOS
:[Level 1 from 2018 to 2028. The text is written in square brackets:]
::[Something].js
:[Level 3 from 2022 to 2029:]
::TinderOS
:[Level 2 from 2023 to 2032:]
::Nest
:[Level 1 from 2028 to 2041:]
::Elon Musk Project:
:[Level 3 from 2030 to 2036:]
::DOS, but ironically
:[Level 2 from 2034 to 2041:]
::Blood Drone
:[This is not a bar, but the text (in three lines) is in a, double bar-height (level 1-2), square bracket. The bracket extends from 2042 to 2051:]
::[Human civilization ends in fire]
:[Level 1 from 2059 going past the end of the panel past 2066:]
::GNU/Hurd

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman]]

1514: PermaCal

2015-04-29T20:59:24Z

Pablo360: /* Explanation */ Potholed malamanteau.

{{comic
| number = 1514
| date = April 20, 2015
| title = PermaCal
| image = permacal.png
| titletext = The flood of PermaCalNTP leap-second notifications was bad enough, but when people started asking for millisecond resolution, the resulting DDOS brought down the internet.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic proposes a new calendar system, named PermaCal (a [[739: Malamanteau | malamanteau]] of the words "permanent" and "calendar"). In it, the date stays constant. In order to accomplish that, as each day passes, it is interpreted as "drift", and a new PermaCal leap day (analogous to the {{w|February 29|leap day of the Gregorian calendar}}) is added to compensate.

In the comic, which was published on Monday April 20, 2015, Megan wonders why today would be the 19th, since Cueball said it was the 19th a day ago. [[Cueball]] interprets the news from Megan, that a day has passed, as "drift" in the date, and resolves to add another a leap day to PermaCal so his calendar will still state that it is the 19th. He is presumably becoming frustrated that he has to do this so often.

Leap days in the {{w|Gregorian calendar}} are days added to the end of {{w|February}} every year that is a multiple of 4, but not by 100, unless it's also a multiple of 400. The purpose is to synchronize the calendar with Earth's orbit without having a partial day each year. {{w|Leap second|Leap seconds}} are necessary because the earth rotation is not constant, but speeds up and slows down over time. The leap seconds account for the differences in the length of our 24 hour day and a solar day (the time taken for Earth to rotate once with respect to the sun), and are announced several months beforehand.

{{w|Network Time Protocol|NTP}} servers are used to keep local computer time from drifting. They also are used to announce {{w|Leap second|Leap seconds}}. In the context of this comic, leap seconds would refer to a different system in which there is a new leap second each second, so the time also stays constant, down to the resolution of one second. This would require something like setting the NTP leap second bit anew every second. The title text presumably refers to moving to a resolution of one millisecond via leap milliseconds. This would require at least 1000 updates being requested every second, using enormous network bandwidth and resulting in a Distributed {{w|Denial-of-service attack}} (DDoS) situation.

The comic relates to several DDoS problems due to {{w|NTP server misuse and abuse}} over the years.

Part of the humor stems from the problems that leap seconds are causing for some computers. [http://www.livescience.com/49370-leap-second-added-2015.html] The last leap second disrupted computers at big companies such as {{w|Reddit}}, {{w|LinkedIn}}, {{w|Gizmodo}} and {{w|FourSquare}}. {{w|Google}} first [http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/time-technology-and-leaping-seconds.html introduced a new approach of ''smearing'' the leap second], smoothly changing the reported time over an undisclosed number of hours around midnight UTC on December 31, 2008. The smooth shape of the adjustment is graphed at [http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11279992/math-behind-google-leap-second-smear-formula synchronization - Math behind Google leap second smear formula - Stack Overflow].

A new calendar was also proposed in comic [[1061: EST]].

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Cueball are in the panel. Cueball appears to be holding a phone, tapping.]
:Megan: What day is it?
:Cueball: Sunday the 19th.
:Megan: But you said it was the 19th yesterday.
:Cueball: It changed ''again''? Crap, better add another leap day.
:[Caption below the panel:]
:My simplified calendar system assumes the date never changes, then corrects any drift via leap days.

==Trivia==
*The "H" in Megan's version of "19TH" is missing the upper part of the left bar, making it look like an mirrored "h". This must be unintended, since the H in "19TH" is written correctly when Cueball says it. Also only capital letters are used in the comics (except in special cases).

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball‏]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan‏]]
[[Category:Time management]]
[[Category:Portmanteau]]

1497: New Products

2015-03-12T09:56:11Z

Pablo360: /* Explanation */ Clarified the category 4 stuff for the title text and semicoloned.

{{comic
| number = 1497
| date = March 11, 2015
| title = New Products
| image = new products.png
| titletext = If you ever hear "Wait, is that Kim Dotcom's new project? I'm really excited about it and already signed up, although I'm a little nervous about whether everyone should hand over control of their medical...", it's time to dig a bunker in your backyard.
}}

== Explanation ==
This comic points out an apparent paradox in product performance: Many products that are [https://www.google.com/search?q=No+wireless+Less+space+than+a+nomad+Lame criticized by techies when first announced] go on to great success, and many that are heavily hyped are total flops. The product in question may be a reference to the {{w|Apple Watch}}, which was announced around the time of this comic's release.

{| class="wikitable"
! If they say...
! Explanation
! Example
|-
|"It doesn't do anything new"
|A product that "doesn't do anything new" may still be successful for a variety of reasons. It may in fact do something new that the engineers and programmers are overlooking, or it may simply be a better presentation of an older idea. This latter category is the completion of the life-cycle mentioned later in the comic, those products whose "ideas will show up in something successful."
|{{w|iPod}}
|-
|"Why would anyone want that?"
|If engineers and programmers can't figure out why anyone would want a product, that may actually be because the applications are highly avant-garde or niche. Although then it would never become a big success! Engineers and programmers themselves may be in a niche that doesn't share the tastes and priorities of non-technical people, and are therefore unable to understand and accurately assess the appeal that a product will have to the masses.
|{{w|iPad}}, {{w|Twitter}}
|-
|"Really exciting"
|rowspan="2"|Products that are "really exciting" to engineers and programmers, so much so that they have already pre-ordered them, may fail to succeed for two reasons.

First, the product may have flaws that techies consider unimportant, but matter to the general public. These may include bad marketing (the masses don't hear about or "get" how good the product is), an unintuitive design or implementation (which more technical users may be able to "live with", but regular people may not be able or willing), or something as simple as a lack of aesthetics (which decreases appeal for use by owners and may temper the fervor which might otherwise encourage further sales).

Alternately, the product could turn out to be "nerd bait," so to speak. The developers promise a cool, groundbreaking new gadget or service, and people get so excited by the idea that they ignore whether or not it's actually feasible. When the developers can't follow through, unsurprisingly, the product flops. The ideas that it proposed, which were so intriguing to the programmers and the developers, will be worth billions once someone can figure out how to realize them.
|{{w|NeXT}}
|-
|"I've already preordered one"
|[http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/07/how-one-kickstarter-project-squandered-3-5-million/ myIDkey]
|-
|"Wait, are you talking about <unfamiliar person's name>'s new project?"
|If a product's developer's name is well-known among engineers and programmers, but not among the general public, that's usually not a good sign. Quite likely, the developer is someone who goes a step farther than those in the previous category, not just announcing something cool and exciting they can't follow through on, but doing so ''knowing'' that they can't follow through yet still taking people's money. The state may press criminal charges against them (for fraud or such), or the angry investors may sue to get their money back.
|{{w|Shawn Fanning}}
|-
|"I would never put <company> in charge of managing my <whatever>"
|If engineers' and programmers' only objection is that they don't like the company behind the product, that's basically a tacit admission that there's nothing else wrong with it. For the average consumer, the perks of a groundbreaking new product outweigh whatever problems they may have with the company behind it. This category also relates to the numerous privacy concerns raised about the devices and software of certain companies, and the way people tend to get riled up about these issues and then forget about them once it becomes too inconvenient. For instance, a few months ago, in the aftermath of Facebook releasing its Messenger app, it would not be uncommon to hear people say "I would never put Facebook in charge of managing my network connectivity/phone calls/camera". However, 6 months later and barely anyone is complaining anymore, and within another year or so even the most hardline of privacy advocates will probably give in.
|[https://www.google.com/search?q=apple+OR+google+OR+microsoft+OR+amazon+"is+evil" take your pick]
|}

The title text imagines a product that fits into the second, third and fourth category: "Wait, is that Kim Dotcom's new project? [= third category]. I'm really excited about it and already signed up. [= both options from the second category]. Although I'm a little nervous about whether everyone should hand over control of their medical... [= fourth category]."

{{w|Kim Dotcom}} is a controversial entrepreneur and convicted fraud. He even {{w|Kim_Dotcom#Personal_life|changed his surname}} to Dotcom because of the {{w|Dot-com bubble|dot.com stock market bubble}} that made him a millionaire. He fits perfectly into the mold of someone well-known to programmers and engineers, but perhaps not so much to your average Joe.

Taken together, these imply that an untrustworthy and potentially malicious company has an exciting new idea that may eventually come out in successful form, gains control of a large amount of medical information, but ultimately result in law suits not just from investors but from misled consumers (category 3). Because the initial release will be a flop (category 2), there is some time to prepare before the successful use of this idea becomes a reality (also category 2), at which point that or some other company will gain control of a large amount of people's medical something (category 4). Once this happens you could expect dramatic repercussions; this is why the title text suggests to dig a bunker while there is still time.

==Transcript==
:'''Predicting the success or'''
:'''failure of a new product'''
:based on what engineers and
:programmers are saying about it

:[A two-column table illustrating this. The headings are actually standing above the table.]
:{| class="wikitable alternance"
! If they say...
! It means...
|-
| "It doesn't do anything new"
|rowspan="2"|The product will be<div>
a gigantic success.
|-
| "Why would anyone want that?"
|-
| "Really exciting"
|rowspan="2"| The product will be a flop.<div>
Years later, its ideas will<div>
show up in something successful.
|-
|"I've already preorded one"
|-
| "Wait, are you talking about<div>
<unfamiliar person's name>'s<div>
new project?"
| The product could be<div>
a scam and may result<div>
in arrests or lawsuits.
|-
| "I would never put<div>
<company> in charge of<div>
managing my <whatever>."
| Within five years, they will.
|}

== Trivia ==
* There is a typo in the comic: "Preorded" should have been "preordered".

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people‏‎]]

394: Kilobyte

2015-02-12T14:23:58Z

Pablo360: /* Explanation */ Fixed a vocabulary mistake.

{{comic
| number = 394
| date = March 10, 2008
| title = Kilobyte
| image = kilobyte.png
| titletext = I would take 'kibibyte' more seriously if it didn't sound so much like 'Kibbles N Bits'.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic takes advantage of the confusion over the definition of a kilobyte. Some interpret the prefix literally, meaning a kilobyte is 1000 bytes. Others, however, define it as 210, or 1024, bytes because it is computationally easier to deal with.

The first row of the table is simply mocking this discrepancy.

The second row is Randall's interpretation on how {{w|Stan Kelly-Bootle}} would approach this problem. Kelly-Bootle is known for writing ''The Computer Contradictionary'' which satirizes the jargon and language of the computer industry. Kelly-Bootle was likely motivated to write this work after working for several years at IBM, a company infamous for its excessive use of acronyms in the work place. Averaging the two definitions together to get 1012 bytes is simply a humorous approach that Kelly-Bootle would likely have taken ("''Should array indices start at 0 or 1? My compromise of 0.5 was rejected without, I thought, proper consideration.''" — Stan Kelly-Bootle). The serendipitous fact that the initials of Kelly-Bootle's name are "KB," the same letters used to abbreviate the word "kilobyte," adds a layer of plausibility to the joke.

The {{w|Imaginary number|imaginary}} kilobyte simply plays on the fact that complex analysis is required in quantum computing in relation to quantum mechanics. The imaginary number is represented as ''i'' and has a value of the square root of -1. This is a pun on the fact that KiB is used for the "binary kilobyte" (occasionally "{{w|Binary prefix|kibibyte}}") which is standardized at 1024 bytes.

The Intel kilobyte mocks the Pentium floating point unit which, in 1994, was notorious for having a {{w|Pentium FDIV bug|major flaw}} in its floating point division algorithm that gave slightly erroneous results. (For the non-computer folk, a floating point number is a real number like 4.0 or -13.387.)

The smaller, drivemaker's kilobyte mocks a business model for handling higher prices that keeps prices constant but reduces quantity. The food industry has been notorious for decreasing quantity of food and keeping prices the same instead of increasing prices and keeping quantity the same. Randall is suggesting that if the computer industry tried to do this with hard drives, it could have humorous results such as smaller number of bytes in a kilobyte. In reality, hard drive capacity is specified in 103 byte (kB) units, while the content you put on it (programs etc.) is specified in 210 (kiB) units. Formatting the drive, i.e. making it usable for storage, further decreases the available space. Thus a 250 GB drive might be reported to have a capacity of only 232 GB (really GiB) by the operating system. This discrepancy increases with increasing drive size; however the trend humorously suggested in the comic, where real storage per advertised storage decreases linearly with time, would cause the drivemaker's kilobyte to become zero in the year 2235!

The baker's kilobyte is a play on the {{w|Dozen#Baking|baker's dozen}}, which is 13 instead of 12. A baker's byte with 9 bits to the byte would result in a total of 9216 bits in a 1024 byte kilobyte. Converting this into "normal" bytes (with 8 bits), we divide 9216 bits by 8 bits per byte to get 1152 8-bit bytes to the baker's kilobyte.

At the title text [[Randall]] mentions the definition {{w|kibibyte}}, which is defined more precisely. The binary prefix kibi means 1024, a portmanteau of the words kilo and binary. But he doesn't like the word because it sounds like the dog food {{w|Kibbles 'n Bits}}.

==Transcript==
:There's been a lot of confusion over 1024 vs 1000,
:kbyte vs kbit, and the capitalization for each.
:Here, at last, is a single, definitive standard:
:[table of various kinds of kilobytes]
:{| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="wikitable" style="width: 50%; text-align: left;"
|-
|SYMBOL
|NAME
|SIZE
|NOTES
|-
|kB
|Kilobyte
|1024 bytes OR 1000 bytes
|1000 bytes during leap years, 1024 otherwise
|-
|KB
|Kelly-Bootle standard unit
|1012 bytes
|compromise between 1000 and 1024 bytes
|-
|KiB
|Imaginary kilobyte
|1024 √-1 bytes
|used in quantum computing
|-
|kb
|Intel kilobyte
|1023.937528 bytes
|calculated on Pentium F.P.U.
|-
|Kb
|Drivemaker's kilobyte
|currently 908 bytes
|shrinks by 4 bytes each year for marketing reasons
|-
|KBa
|Baker's kilobyte
|1152 bytes
|9 bits to the byte since you're such a good customer
|}

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Computers]]

602: Overstimulated

2015-02-05T17:11:45Z

Pablo360: /* Explanation */ People somehow missed the whole point of this.

{{comic
| number = 602
| date = June 26, 2009
| title = Overstimulated
| image = overstimulated.png
| titletext = My favorite thing to do at parties is to talk judgmentally about people who aren't there.
}}

==Explanation==
After being cooped up working on papers, [[Cueball]] goes to a party, only to find himself tuning out the gossip of his friends in order to work on math problems in his head. He writes down the prime numbers on cards, and then stretches them out such that the area of the card is the same (say, 1), but one of the sides has been elongated to a length equal to the number on the card. This reduces the length on the other dimension to the reciprocal of the number on the card (i.e. 1/''n'', with ''n'' being the number on the card), according to the area formula for rectangles.

Stacking these reciprocals all up will eventually diverge, meaning the sum will be infinite without ever leveling off. This is unimaginatively referred to as the {{w|divergence of the sum of the reciprocals of the primes}}, and was proven by {{w|Euler}} in 1737.

[http://aq.server8.org/ The Cambridge Aspergers Test] includes questions on preferences for, and ability to cope with, social situations. It also asks the person taking the test if they have an affinity for numbers and see patterns in every day objects. Cueball would score high on the Asperger's scale — or he could just be introverted. Thinking about things on one's own is often relaxing for an introvert, while hanging out with other people is not. Hence the irony of the comment in the last panel. Cueball's friends fail to realize that hanging out with them is actually more stressful for him than doing math - especially when people are doing nothing but talking negatively about those not present.

The title text mentions people that talk negatively about people that aren't there, which isn't uncommon. A much later comic; [[1176: Those Not Present]], is about just that.

==Transcript==
:[There is a group of people. Three women and four men. They are standing around a table with a drink on it.]
:Man #3: Have you seen John lately?

:Woman #3: He and Claire blew off this party to see Jeff.
:Man #4: They do that a lot.

:Man #1: Yeah; I don't know what his problem is with hanging out lately.
:Man #3: He's like Katie—ever noticed how she only goes somewhere if Jeff's there?

:[Cueball is cringing away from all the text; none of the text is attributed to specific people.]
:Somebody: It's so lame how she hangs around him even when he's not single:
:Somebody: HE LIKES IT.
:Somebody: SOMEONE SERIOUSLY NEEDS TO DATE HER.
:Somebody: TOTALLY.
:Somebody: And honestly I feel like a jerk but I wouldn't mind if she hung around with us a little less. She needs other friends, you know!

:[Cueball peels a hole in the panel. The numbers '1', '2', and '3' are visible through the gap.]
:Somebody: HAVE YOU NOTICED HOW EVERY DUDE SHE DATES IS A TOTAL DRUGGIE?
:Somebody: NOPE
:Somebody: I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that was weird.
:Somebody: Michelle dates potheads like Elaine but at least they both have real jobs.
:Somebody: Michelle does? She designs those book covers, right?
:Somebody: And it's not like she smokes a lot.
:Somebody: Elaine is one of those girls who

:[The previous panel's text appears again, but peeled back even further. Cueball looks up.]
:1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

:Somebody: NOTICED HOW
:Somebody: NOPE
:Somebody: -es is a tota-
:Somebody: -t th- -ought

:[The man starts taking down the prime numbers.]
:1 4 6 8 9 10 12 14 15 2 3 5 7 11 13
:[The man grabs and squeezes the 2, so it is half as wide and twice as tall.]

:[A formula: \Sum_{i=1}^{\infty}{1 P_i} = h]
::[ie. The sum from 1 to infinity of the inverse of each prime.]
:[The panel shows a 2 that is 2 units tall and 1 2 wide, a 3 that is 3 units tall and 1 3 wide, and so on. Cueball is moving the 7.]

:[Cueball writes h = infinity. The numbers are piled on their side next to a scale.]
:Voice: Don't you agree?
:Voice: Hey, wake up.

:Man #1: You zoned out or something.
:Cueball: Sorry; I must be... tired.
:Man #1: I don't blame you. All day cooped up working on papers.
:Man #3: Must be nice to get out and relax, huh?
:Cueball: Yeah.
:[Girl #3 reaches for the glass on the table.]

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

79: Iambic Pentameter

2015-02-04T13:53:45Z

Pablo360: /* Explanation */ Added something.

{{comic
| number = 79
| date = March 22, 2006
| title = Iambic Pentameter
| image = iambic_pentameter.jpg
| titletext = Of course, you don't wanna limit yourself to the strict forms of the meter. That could get pretty difficult.
}}

==Explanation==
In this part of the [[My Hobby]] series, the hobby is responding to casual questions using {{w|iambic pentameter}}. Iambic pentameter is a form of poetic verse defined by the number of syllables per line. In this form, a line contains exactly five (penta means five in Greek) "{{w|Iamb (foot)|iambs}}" per line. An iamb is a unit of two syllables with the stress falling on the second. The actual breakup of the words is unimportant; the definition is based solely on the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. One line of strict iambic pentameter will have ten syllables, with the stress falling on the second, fourth, sixth, eighth, and last.

Cueball's responses are each one line of iambic pentameter, just visually broken into two lines for space reasons. They read (adding the emphasis):
"Well, ''I'' can ''meet'' the ''plane'' at ''ten'' of ''six''" and "I'll ''meet'' him ''at'' the ''stairs'' be''fore'' the ''gate''", with a sort of bouncing rhythm (interestingly, both of the friend's questions are in iams as well, though not pentameter). {{w|Shakespeare}} was one of the most famed users of iambic pentameter in his plays.

This is the "strict form" of iambic pentameter. In practice, poets often strayed from the strict count of iambs as the image text suggests. Wikipedia offers two Shakespearian examples being "Now is the winter of our discontent" in which the first iamb is reversed ("Now" is stressed rather than "is"), and "To be or not to be, that is the question" which adds an extra unstressed syllable at the end. As the comic suggests, without such exceptions, it can be very difficult to stick to strict iambic pentameter for every sentence.

Iambs and other types of poetry "feet" is the subject of [[1383: Magic Words]].

==Transcript==
:Friend: What time can you pick Michael up?
:Cueball: Well, I can meet the plane at ten of six.
:Friend: Do you know where to find him?
:Cueball: I'll meet him at the stairs before the gate.
:My hobby: answering casual questions in iambic pentameter.

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

787: Orbiter

2015-01-30T13:13:34Z

Pablo360: /* Explanation */ Seriously, somebody said polls instead of poles.

{{comic
| number = 787
| date = September 1, 2010
| title = Orbiter
| image = orbiter.png
| titletext = Normally, the Shuttle can't quite safely reach the orbital inclination required to pass over both those points from a Canaveral launch, but this is an alternate history in which either it launches from Vandenburg or everyone hates the Outer Banks.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is about disputed territories and {{w|Polar orbit|polar orbits}}.

At mission control, the main controller is planning the next check-in with the space shuttle, which is set to occur at [https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=32.0N+35.5E&hl=en&ll=32.001089,35.499573&spn=1.579171,3.339844&sll=31.995993,35.505409&sspn=0.049353,0.10437&t=h&z=9 32.0N 35.5E], approx 20 miles north-east of Jerusalem, over the hotly contested {{w|Israeli–Palestinian conflict|Israeli-Palestinian territories}}. Frank and the other off-screen character start to dispute the ownership of this geographical location, and rather than getting involved in an argument, the main character decides to change the check-in to [https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=35.2N+96.6W&hl=en&ll=35.200745,-96.602783&spn=6.085197,13.359375&sll=32.001089,35.499573&sspn=1.579171,3.339844&t=h&z=7 35.2N 96.6W], approximately 50miles East of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, which he considers to be a neutral and non-disputed location. Unfortunately, Frank is a dick, and he then starts to make the claim that {{w|Greer County, Texas|part of Oklahoma in fact should belong to Texas}}.

The satellite would probably require a polar orbit (a "vertical" orbit passing the poles of the earth with each orbit) to reach both Palestine and Oklahoma, which cannot be achieved from a launch at {{w|Kennedy Space Center|Cape Caneveral}}, as the launch trajectories would cause debris and spent fuel tanks from the Shuttle during its ascent to fall in heavily populated areas.

In the title text Randall mentions an alternate history in which the Space Shuttles launch from {{w|Vandenberg Air Force Base|Vandenburg}}, this is a reference to the plans to launch shuttles from there before the {{w|Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|Challenger accident}} occurred. After Challenger was lost, the polar orbiting missions were scrapped and Cape Canaveral became the sole launch site for the {{w|Space Shuttle}}. Another possibility in this alternate history is that the rules forbidding orbital launches from Caneveral to a polar inclination don't exist, because nobody likes the {{w|Outer Banks}} (which would be in the flight path) and thus don't care about space debris falling on them.

==Transcript==
:Cueball: Okay, people. The orbiter is passing south of Iceland. The next scheduled check-in will be at 32.0N 35.5E, over the Palestinian territories.
:Off-screen character: You mean over Palestine?
:Frank (off-screen): You mean over Israel?
:[Beat panel.]
:Cueball: I've rescheduled the check-in for 35.2N 96.6W, over Oklahoma.
:Frank (off-screen): You mean occupied North Texas?
:Cueball: Dammit, Frank.

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

109: Spoiler Alert

2015-01-27T17:50:33Z

Pablo360: /* Explanation */ Fixed a HORRIBLE misrepresentation of one of the twists in Harry Potter Book 7.

{{comic
| number = 109
| date = May 31, 2006
| title = Spoiler Alert
| image = spoiler_alert.png
| titletext = And then it turns out they're both Tyler Durden.
}}

==Explanation==

This comic refers to several unexpected plot twists from various Hollywood movies and combines them into one giant twist invented by [[Randall Munroe|Randall]]. A "{{w|spoiler (media)|spoiler}}" is a term used to describe information about the plot of any media which could spoil the media for someone who has not viewed it. The term "spoiler alert" has become popularized to precede such spoilers particularly in online posting as a warning to potential readers. It is also a phrase often used ironically or angrily to suggest that something someone has just said is a spoiler.

{{w|Severus Snape}} is a character from J.K. Rowling's ''{{w|Harry Potter}}'' series of books.

{{w|Trinity (The Matrix)|Trinity}} is a character from ''{{w|The Matrix (franchise)|The Matrix}}'' trilogy of movies.

Rosebud is from the 1941 film ''{{w|Citizen Kane}}''.

From the title text, {{w|Fight Club (novel)#Tyler Durden|Tyler Durden}} is a character from the {{w|Fight Club (novel)|novel}} and movie ''{{w|Fight Club}}''.

All four references share the common ground that they are all involved in significant events or ideas in their respective movies that have been often spoiled by careless viewers for those who have not yet seen the movies. Here the relevant events are mashed together into one and spoiled in one go.

{| class="wikitable"
!Spoilers in this comic
|-
|In this comic, Snape is depicted knocking Trinity off a high place with a wooden sled named Rosebud.
|-
|Snape kills someone important, by knocking them off a building.
|-
|Trinity dies
|-
|Rosebud is a sled
|-
|Tyler Durden is both characters
|}

The event depicted in the comic did not actually occur in any movie.

Trinity (the female protagonist in {{w|The Matrix (franchise)|''The Matrix'' series}}) is killed in the third film, ''{{w|The Matrix Revolutions}}''. The central mystery of the classic film ''{{w|Citizen Kane}}'' is the meaning of "Rosebud" (the title character's last word), which is revealed at the end of the film to be the name of his childhood sled. In {{w|Harry Potter}}, Snape (a professor at the Hogwarts school) kills Dumbledore (the headmaster) at the top of the Astronomy Tower in the penultimate book of the series, "{{w|Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince}}" (in the final book we learn that it was part of Dumbledore's plan).

The title text refers to the film ''{{w|Fight Club}}'', at the end of which it is revealed that the character played by {{w|Ed Norton}} is actually Tyler Durden (the name {{w|Brad Pitt}}'s character goes by); and Pitt's character is really just a figment of the Norton character's imagination; and that the viewer has been watching from Norton's point of view, seeing Pitt doing things Norton did not want to admit to himself he was capable of. In other words, the two roles are one and the same character.

==Transcript==
:'''Spoiler Alert!'''

:[Severus Snape is smacking a trenchcoat-clad Trinity off the top of a building with a sled.]
:Snape kills Trinity with Rosebud!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:The Matrix]]

886: Craigslist Apartments

2015-01-25T17:17:57Z

Pablo360: /* Explanation */ Fixed several misspellings of ad.

{{comic
| number = 886
| date = April 15, 2011
| title = Craigslist Apartments
| image = craigslist apartments.png
| titletext = $1600 / 1386153BR 3BATH, MODERN SLIDING DOORS, GUEST ROOMS, GARBAGE DISPOSAL. FREE MANDATORY PARKING (ENFORCED). CONVENIENT TO ALDERAAN.
}}

==Explanation==
This is a comic about the potential pitfalls in finding an apartment on {{w|Craigslist}}. Just as in Craigslist, some of the posts are re-posted several times. Additionally, lots of posts use lots of tildes, exclamation points or asterisks as above to set their posts apart from others.

'''BR''' means bedroom, e.g. 3BR means that apartment has 3 bedrooms (common measurement of apartment size).

*'''$1600 / 2BR <nowiki>~~~</nowiki> Hardwood floors, utilities included. Cats OK, limit one per square foot.'''
:This ad is aimed at "crazy cat ladies/bachelors" who compulsively keep a number of animals much greater than is appropriate to the living space.

*'''$1100 / **** GREAT DEAL SQUARE HOUSE DOOR IN FRONT!!! ****'''
:This is the first repetition of an entry that appears multiple times. It is also extremely generic, telling the reader little useful about the house. The square house might be a garage, or just a regular square house. Beside that, most houses have a door in front, there's nothing special about a door.

*'''$2300 / 3BR !!!!!!!! Elegant apartment permanently lit by strobe light!!!! No floor.'''
:A strobe light is a very bright light that, instead of remaining on, flashes very quickly. It's frequently used in parties. A constant strobe light and the stated lack of a floor would probably make indeed living in the apartment somewhat difficult.

*'''$980 / 1BR New "hammock"-style dwelling. Water and heat free from same dispenser. Viking landlord.'''
: This is a post to live as an oarsman on a {{w|Viking ship}}. The water and heat presumably both come from the sky, in the form of rain and sunlight.

*'''$1550 / 2BR (one inside the other). Has running water, in a sense. Free heat in short, intense bursts. Klein stairs.'''
: This is a completely alien landscape, meant to be unimaginable and maddening. Possibly this represents some "other universe" or an extraterrestrial living space. Clearly this is unlivable, for humans at least. Short instance bursts of heat disturb if not kill. Stairs that do not have a clear top or bottom and rooms that can be seen as inside of each other would be confusing and impractical if not impossible to navigate. Water that runs in a sense is disturbingly vague.

*'''$3200 / 1BR W/trimmed carpet and pert fixtures. Previous tenants clean. Call now, want you inside. $120/night (no animals)'''
:This is a disguised "adult services" (sex) posting, with references to trimmed pubic hair, an attractive body, and a lack of {{w|Sexually transmitted disease|STD}}s. Craigslist no longer allows posts for this, because prostitution is illegal in most places in the US. This post tries to evade the adult services ban by pretending to be something else.

*'''$2100 / 3BR on scenic Ash Tree Lane. Builder unknown; house has always existed. Walls shift; center of house may contain minotaur.'''
: This {{w|Minotaur}} house is an ad for the house in the novel ''{{w|House of Leaves}}''.

*'''$600 / 5BR Three floors w/pool, rooftop garden, beautiful glass facade, no catch, 5-min drive to historic Pripyat.'''
:This is an ad for a residence in the {{w|Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant}}, located near to the town of {{w|Pripyat}}, in northern Ukraine. The NPP is a 3-level structure, and contains a pool for temporary spent nuclear fuel storage. The rooftop now has plants growing on it after years of neglect, and the glass facade references radioactive glassy minerals created by the explosion.

*'''$7100 / 60BR Sleek modern w/extreme running water. Previous tenants may resist entry. Contains all new wiring and is a submarine.'''
:This house is a submarine, as indicated by the advertisement, presumably operated by a navy. The "previous tenants", being members of the armed forces, would undoubtedly resist entry of someone attempting to board their submarine. The sixty bedrooms refers to the crew members' bunks on board the ship, which are in extremely tight quarters and can be very uncomfortable. This may also be a reference to [[496: Secretary: Part 3]], which makes reference to [[Black Hat]] stealing a submarine - apparently this is him trying to get rid of it.

*'''$1616 / 3BR + 2Bath, tub full of blood. Closet full of board games which play themselves. Pets OK but won't survive long.'''
: This is an ad for a house in a generic horror movie.

The title text (''$1600 / 1386153BR 3bath, modern sliding doors, guest rooms, garbage disposal. Free mandatory parking (enforced). Convenient to Alderaan.'') is a reference to the {{w|Death Star}} in ''Star Wars''. {{w|Alderaan}} is the home planet of {{w|Princess Leia}}, which was obliterated by the Death Star. Mandatory parking references the tractor beams used to drag nearby ships (such as the Millennium Falcon) into the base. The garbage disposal refers to an iconic scene from Star Wars aboard the Death Star involving a garbage disposal. It seems somewhat inconvenient that this "apartment" has over a million bedrooms but only three bathrooms.

==Transcript==
:[The comic is a single panel, presented as an apartment search.]
:[Title bar.]
:All apartments
:Search for: [_______] in: All apartments ( ) Title only (*) Entire post Search
:Rent: [Min] [Max] 0+ BR [ ] Cats [ ] Dogs [ ] Has image
:[Date bar.]
:Fri Apr 15
:[Begin the apartment listings.]
:$1600 / 2BR <nowiki>~~~</nowiki> Hardwood floors, utilities included. Cats ok, limit one per square foot.
:$1100 / **** GREAT DEAL SQUARE HOUSE DOOR IN FRONT!!! ****
:$2300 / 3BR !!!!!!!! Elegant apartment permanently lit by strobe light!!!! No floor.
:$1100 / **** GREAT DEAL SQUARE HOUSE DOOR IN FRONT!!! ****
:$980 / 1BR New "hammock"-style dwelling. Water and heat free from same dispenser. Viking landlord.
:$1550 / 2BR (one inside the other). Has running water, in a sense. Free heat in short, intense bursts. Klein stairs.
:$1100 / **** GREAT DEAL SQUARE HOUSE DOOR IN FRONT!!! ****
:$1100 / **** GREAT DEAL SQUARE HOUSE DOOR IN FRONT!!! ****
:$3200 / 1BR W/trimmed carpet and pert fixtures. Previous tenants clean. Call now, want you inside. $120/night (no animals)
:$2100 / 3BR on scenic Ash Tree Lane. Builder unknown; house has always existed. Walls shift; center of house may contain minotaur.
:$1100 / **** GREAT DEAL SQUARE HOUSE DOOR IN FRONT!!! ****
:$600 / 5BR Three floors w/pool, rooftop garden, beautiful glass facade, no catch, 5-min drive to historic Pripyat.
:$7100 / 60BR Sleek modern w/extreme running water. Previous tenants may resist entry. Contains all new wiring and is a submarine.
:$1616 / 3BR + 2Bath, tub full of blood. Closet full of board games which play themselves. Pets ok but won't survive long.

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

Category:Simplified language

2014-10-22T13:21:16Z

Pablo360: Made it a subcategory of Category:Language.

These are xkcd comics featuring a complex, jargon-inducing, or otherwise very not easy to understand problem being broken down into simplified language. This technique, as noted in [[547: Simple|the first comic to use it]], is prominently seen at {{w|simple:|the Simple English Wikipedia}}, and is commonly referred to as "layman's terms," although most of these comics take it a bit further than one normally would (hence the humor).

[[Category:Language]]

1436: Orb Hammer

2014-10-21T22:19:57Z

Pablo360: Added a category.

{{comic
| number = 1436
| date = October 20, 2014
| title = Orb Hammer
| image = orb_hammer.png
| titletext = Ok, but make sure to get lots of pieces of rock, because later we'll decide to stay in a room on our regular orb and watch hammers hold themselves and hit rocks for us, and they won't bring us very many rocks.
}}

==Explanation==
This conversation suggests doing something that sounds absurd and not useful at all for the daily activities of a regular human. Yet it refers in simple English words to the {{w|Apollo_program|Apollo human spaceflight program}} which sent people to the Moon to bring geological samples back to Earth to study them. The use of such simple language contributes to the effect of the suggestion sounding absurd, even though the numerous side-products of the effort to realize the project have in fact had many benefits for regular people.

No person has been on the Moon since the final Apollo mission, Apollo 17, in 1972. Occasional lunar rocks can still be collected on Earth. They are formed when a celestial body impacts the Moon's surface, forming a crater and launching small rocks into the space. Some of them will eventually reach Earth, see {{w|Lunar_meteorite|lunar meteorites}}.

The title text refers to the current Mars missions ({{w|Mars_Pathfinder|Pathfinder}}, {{w|Spirit_(rover)|Spirit}}, {{w|Opportunity_(rover)|Opportunity}}, {{w|Curiosity_(rover)|Curiosity}}) where, instead of traveling to Mars ourselves, we stay on Earth ("our regular orb") and control rovers by remote. The rovers collect geological samples and test them for life, but have no way to send the samples back to Earth.

The idea of using simple language in highly technical fields began with [[547: Simple]] and was revisited in [[722: Computer Problems]] and [[1133: Up Goer Five]]. It should be noted however, that in this case [[Randall]] didn't use the 1000 most basic words in the English language, because that {{w|simple:Wikipedia:List_of 1000 basic words|list}} does not contain the words "glowing" or "orb," but does contain "moon," "earth," "bright," and "ball."

The idea of using simple language to create humour highlighting the absurdity of normal activities has previously been explored with [[203: Hallucinations]].

==Transcript==
Person 1: You know that glowing orb in the night sky?

Person 2: Yeah?

Person 1: Let's go hit it with a hammer until little pieces break off, then bring the pieces back and lock them in a closet.

Person 2: Sounds good!

Text under panel: The Apollo program was weird.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Simplified language]]

1133: Up Goer Five

2014-10-21T22:18:22Z

Pablo360: Added a category.

{{comic
| number = 1133
| date = November 12, 2012
| title = Up Goer Five
| before = [[#Explanation|↓ Skip to explanation ↓]]
| image = up goer five.png
| titletext = Another thing that is a bad problem is if you're flying up to space and the parts start to fall off your space car in the wrong order. If that happens, it means you won't go to space today, or maybe ever.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is an illustration (albeit to a comical degree) of the principle that given the appropriate vocabulary, any technical concept should be understandable to a lay audience. Since most of the jargon used in rocket science is not among the most commonly used words in everyday life, Randall has challenged himself to "translate" the blueprints for the Saturn Five rocket using only one thousand of the most commonly-used words in the English language.

This comic is a diagram of the {{w|Saturn V}} rocket, "Saturn" isn't a very common word apparently, and neither is rocket, so [[Randall]] decided to use "Up Goer" which is a fair approximation of a craft designed to lift a payload from the earth to space. The Saturn V vehicle, which was in use by {{w|NASA}} from 1967 to 1972, is the vehicle as a whole. The engines of the Saturn V (the part that makes it go up) were divided into three stages. The first stage ({{w|S-IC}}) had five {{w|F-1 (rocket engine)|F-1}} engines which burned {{w|RP-1|refined kerosene}} mixed with oxygen as its fuel. That stage burned for 2 minutes 48 seconds and pushed the whole thing up about 61 kilometers (~38 miles) into the sky. After it fell away the {{w|S-II}} stage was activated. It used 5 {{w|J-2 (rocket engine)|J-2}} engines in the same configuration as the F-1s, and burned {{w|liquid hydrogen}} mixed with {{w|liquid oxygen}} for 6 minutes 35 seconds pushing the astronauts up to 184 kilometers (114.5 miles). The third stage ({{w|S-IVB}}) was a single J-2 engine burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. This stage was used in two parts, the first was to put the spacecraft into a stable orbit around Earth to perform a systems check and make sure the craft will be safe for going to the moon. This would usually take three orbits around Earth. As they came around the Earth they would burn the second part of the fuel, which is called a {{w|trans-lunar injection}} which put them on course for the moon. The first burn took 2 minutes 45 seconds, which put them in orbit 185 kilometers (115 miles) high.

It was first used as the launch vehicle for the {{w|Apollo 4}} mission, and it was used as the launch vehicle for most of the subsequent {{w|Apollo mission}}s (the exceptions being Apollo 7, Skylab 2-4, and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project missions, which were launched using the smaller {{w|Saturn IB}} launch vehicle). One of the last missions of this design was the unmanned launch of {{w|Skylab}}, the U.S.'s first space station; for this payloader configuration, the Saturn V launch vehicle was officially designated the {{w|Saturn INT-21}}.

The Service Module (SM) Oxygen tanks have a note that states "This part had a ''VERY'' big problem once". This is a reference to the {{w|Apollo 13}} mission. 55 hours after launch, mission control requested the oxygen tanks contents be stirred to get an accurate reading of its contents. There was {{w|Apollo 13#Oxygen tank explosion|a large bang}}, and power fluctuated throughout the craft. NASA had to scramble to ensure the safe return of the astronauts. Needless to say, the moon landing for that mission was canceled.

The {{w|Hindenburg disaster}} is referenced in the text "The kind of air that once burned a big sky bag and people died and someone said "oh, the [humans]!". The term "big sky bag" is used as the closest approximation of {{w|zeppelin}} which is a big bag filled with a lighter-than-air gas which makes the whole contraption float. The {{w|LZ 129 Hindenburg|Hindenburg}} on the day of the disaster was filled with {{w|hydrogen}}, despite being initially designed for use with {{w|helium}}. Helium is much less prone to catching fire, but was unavailable due to a US export ban on the element. The risks seemed acceptable at the time because the Germans had a history of flying hydrogen-based passenger airships. The original quote is "Oh, the humanity!" [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F54rqDh2mWA] (skip to 0:47 for the quote).

The bottom tank, which [[Randall]] describes as "...full of that stuff they burned in lights before houses had power" is highly refined kerosene, called {{w|RP-1}}, it is similar to jet fuel, burns well and is not likely to explode; unlike {{w|liquid hydrogen}}, which is much more likely to explode.

Earlier flirts with simple words can be found in [[547: Simple]] and [[722: Computer Problems]]. The use of simple words was revisited again in [[1436: Orb Hammer]].

The phrase "You will not go to space today" has become something of a catchphrase for xkcd — variants of it recur in the title text in four What If? comics:
*Building a jetpack out of AK-47s and converting the potential energy. [http://what-if.xkcd.com/21/ Machine Gun Jetpack]
*The one about flying on other planets (the pilot does not want to go to space today.) [http://what-if.xkcd.com/30/ Interplanetary Cessna]
*Launching into Earth orbit (if your rocket cannot hit the right "horizontal" speed, you will go to space today, and then you will quickly come back.) [http://what-if.xkcd.com/58/ Orbital Speed]
*The Pyramid of Giza (which is not nearly enough; the title text has another reference to the comic, noting that the tip of the pyramid should point towards space.) [http://what-if.xkcd.com/95/ Pyramid Energy]

==Transcript==
:US Space Team's Up Goer Five
:The only flying space car that's taken anyone to another world (explained using only the ten hundred words people use the most often)
:[A list of Saturn-V parts, top to bottom, with their "Up Goer" description follows.]
:[Launch Escape System (LES)]: Thing to help people escape really fast if there's a problem and everything is on fire so they decide not to go to space
::[LES side nozzle]: Thing to control which direction the escaping people go
::[LES fuel]: Stuff to burn to make the box with the people in it escape ''really fast''
::[LES bottom nozzles]: Place where fire comes out to help them escape
:[Apollo spacecraft.]
::[Command Module (CM)]: Part that flies around the other world and comes back home with the people in it and fall in the water.
:::[CM capsule parts]: People box, door, chairs
::[Service Module (SM)]: Part that goes along to give people air, water, computers and stuff. It comes back home with them but burns up without landing.
:::[SM oxygen tanks]: Cold air for burning (and breathing). This part had a ''VERY'' big problem once.
::[Lunar Module (LM)]: Part that flies down to the other world with two people inside
:::[LM descent stage]: Part that stays on the other world (it's still there)
:::[LM feet]: Feet that go on the ground of the other world
:[Instrument Unit]: Ring holding most of the computers
:[S-IVB third stage]: Part that falls off third (this part flew away from our world into space and hit the world we were going toward)
::[Fuel tanks]: Wet and ''very'' cold
:::[Liquid hydrogen (LH2) tank]: The kind of air that once burned a big sky bag and people died and someone said "Oh, the [humans]!" (used for burning)
:::[Liquid oxygen (LOX) tank]: The part of air you need to breathe, but not the other stuff (used for burning)
:::[Helium pressurizing tanks]: Things holding that kind of air that makes your voice funny (it's for filling up the space left when they take the cold air out to burn it.)
::[J-2 engine nozzle]: Fire comes out here
:[S-II second stage]: Part that falls off second
::[LH2 tank]: More sky bag air (for burning) (cold + wet)
::[LOX tank]: More breathing-type air (for burning) (cold + wet)
::[Tank-to-engine fuel lines]: Thing that brings in cold wet air to burn
::[J-2 engine nozzles (qty. 5)]: Fire comes out here
:[S-IC first stage]: Part that falls off first
::[LOX tank]: More breathing-type air (for burning) (cold + wet)
::[Helium pressurizing tank]: More funny voice air (for filling up space)
::[LOX fill line]: Opening for putting in cold wet air
::[RP-1 fuel tank]: This is full of that stuff they burned in lights before houses had power.It goes together with the cold air when it's time to start going up.
::[F-1 engine nozzles (qty. 5)]: Lots of fire comes out here.
:[Bottom of spacecraft]: This end should point toward the ground if you want to go to space. If it starts pointing toward space you are having a bad problem and you will not go to space today.

==External links==
*[http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/saturn_apollo/documents/First_Stage.pdf First Stage Fact Sheet]
*[http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/saturn_apollo/documents/Second_Stage.pdf Second Stage Fact Sheet]
*[http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/saturn_apollo/documents/Third_Stage.pdf Third Stage Fact Sheet]
*[http://splasho.com/upgoer5/ The Up-Goer Five Text Editor]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Simplified language]]

547: Simple

2014-10-21T22:13:59Z

Pablo360: Added a category.

{{comic
| number = 547
| date = February 23, 2009
| title = Simple
| image = simple.png
| titletext = Actually, I think if all higher math professors had to write for the Simple English Wikipedia for a year, we'd be in much better shape academically.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] seems to be attending a meeting in a physics facility that has a particle accelerator. The Physicist asks him his thoughts about the Tertiary F.E.L guidance system that is a component of the particle accelerator. This sounds like the normal kind of jargon that you would hear in such a meeting.

As the text below the comic says, Cueball has spent the previous night reading {{w|simple:|the Simple English Wikipedia}}, a simplified version of Wikipedia intended to be easier to understand than the original, and now he finds himself talking in the same simple style. This makes him sound somewhat childlike and uneducated, but in fact he has clearly communicated the ramifications of relying on a sub-system that is known to be faulty. The accelerator would not perform its intended function, and may even be damaged.

From the title text, Randall believes that if people teaching advanced mathematics followed this style, their subject would be more accessible. The implication is that more people would be drawn to studying mathematics and that (naturally) the world would be a better place because of this!

This concept was later revisited in [[722: Computer Problems]], [[1133: Up Goer Five]] and [[1436: Orb Hammer]].

==Transcript==
:Friend: Do you have any thoughts regarding the particle accelerator's tertiary F.E.L. Guidance System?
:Cueball: We can't put the broken part in the machine. It wouldn't smash the right tiny things together. Then the machine might break.
:Cueball: That would be very bad.
:I spent all night reading simple.wikipedia.org, and now I can't stop talking like this.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Simplified language]]

Category:Simplified language

2014-10-21T22:04:34Z

Pablo360: Created the category.

722: Computer Problems

2014-10-21T22:00:09Z

Pablo360: Created a category for simplified language pages. Proceeding to add comics 547, 1133, and 1436 (if possible).

{{comic
| number = 722
| date = April 2, 2010
| title = Computer Problems
| image = Computer_problems.png
| titletext = This is how I explain computer problems to my cat. My cat usually seems happier than me.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] explains to [[Megan]] that he is having computer problems. Normally, he is able to manipulate a "pattern" on his "metal rectangle full of little lights" (a reasonable, if oversimplified description of generated images displayed on a monitor). Today, however, the "pattern" is "all wrong". Megan suggests that he might be able to fix it by pressing more buttons, but following her advice doesn't seem to have the desired effect.

According to the title text, [[Randall]] uses a similar technique to explain his computer problems to his cat. Cats have the habit to walk over or lay on keyboards so they press a lot of buttons. This is however not to fix the "pattern" which they usually don't care about but either to get the same attention the keyboard receives from the cat's owner. Often cats prefer to lay on a warm place — and a keyboard belonging to a notebook is designed to dispense some heat.

Randall likes to [[1133: Up Goer Five|make an effort]] to explain things for simple minds.

Speculatively, Randall may be commenting on the abstract nature of events that effect Cueball's happiness or well being. While the work Cueball does on the computer seems very important to him, the deconstructed version as discussed by Megan and Cueball make his resulting distress seem out of proportion. This interpretation is further supported by the title text in which Randall's cat, unaware of more abstract representations of activity on the computer, enjoys greater happiness overall.

The concept of using simple English to explain complicated problems was first used in [[547: Simple]] and has been revisited in [[1133: Up Goer Five]] and [[1436: Orb Hammer]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are looking at his computer, on the desk.]
:Cueball: You know this metal rectangle full of little lights?
:Megan: Yeah.

:Cueball: I spend most of my life pressing buttons to make the pattern of lights change however I want.
:Megan: Sounds good.

:Cueball: But today, the pattern of lights is ''all wrong''!
:Megan: Oh god! Try pressing more buttons!
:Cueball: ''IT'S NOT HELPING!''

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