explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1675: Message in a Bottle

2016-05-03T08:27:16Z

PabloVergos:

The title text reminds me of the song {{w|Message in a Bottle (song)|Message in a Bottle}} by Police. ;-) Maybe enough that it should be part of the explanation? [[User:|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:30, 2 May 2016 (UTC)

: Why not? Seems to fit the description. [[User:Jacoder23|Jacoder23]] ([[User talk:Jacoder23|talk]]) 14:07, 2 May 2016 (UTC)

:: Checked the lyrics, there isn't a line that resembles the text I'm afraid, Randall isn't making a reference here. Missed opportunity! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.158|108.162.250.158]] 01:36, 3 May 2016 (UTC)

::: Are you sure? Walked out this morning; Don't believe what I saw; A hundred billion bottles; Washed up on the shore

It may be worth mentioning that in certain mailing lists or mass emails people use "reply all" to unsubscribe or otherwise request being removed from the recipients list of future messages; meaning everyone else's inbox gets clogged with unsubscribe requests even though the message only needed to go to the originator. (The best part is the people who reply all to tell the other people to stop using reply all.) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.242|108.162.237.242]] 14:14, 2 May 2016 (UTC)
:We have had a run of this at work. There are really many possible recipients at work. It went exactly as you noted. The most funny was those complaining about those replying to all when complaining about the replying to all spam... and then doing so by replying to all! And the best was that after a week people getting home from holiday began it all again by replying to all on the original message that started it all ;-) [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:40, 2 May 2016 (UTC)

Isn't there another xkcd comic involving messages in a bottle? I feel like this comic might be related to that one but I cannot find the other one. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.68.83|162.158.68.83]] 14:19, 2 May 2016 (UTC)

If we're talking about problems to do with reply to all and mailing list, this story is always a good read: https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/exchange/2004/04/08/me-too/ [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.54|141.101.98.54]] 14:22, 2 May 2016 (UTC)

Transcript: The curvy writing might also indicate that the paper was not kept perfectly dry inside the bottle. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.240|198.41.242.240]] 15:39, 2 May 2016 (UTC)

The explanation of the main comic doesn't seem to provide much of an explanation. Here's how I read the comic:

: This comic is about how hard it is to unsubscribe from some email lists. 'Unsubscribe' links often don't work (perhaps intentionally). In desperation, someone has tried to send their 'unsubscribe' request in a bottle, hoping in vain that it will have its intended effect. Instead, Cueball receives it. The title-text slightly shifts the premise: now Cueball is the intended recipient, an incompetent email list operator who replies in the wrong way, triggering the problem described in the current title-text explanation. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.70.229|141.101.70.229]] 16:03, 2 May 2016 (UTC) Adam

:I've added my own, somewhat nihilistic, interpretation of the original message. Despair and hopelessness are not topics that XCKD often delves in, but similar themes have appeared in some of the earlier comics. My interpretation may not be correct, but given earlier comics on the topic of heartbreak, and some news of serious health problems affecting the creator's life, I believe it is valid speculation. I did place it higher on the page than I would have liked, but I couldn't find a better place for it. I think it's worth keeping in, in some form, but if a few people feel otherwise, I won't engage in an edit war. [[User:Potato|Potato]] ([[User talk:Potato|talk]]) 02:48, 3 May 2016 (UTC)

:: I don't think this flows naturally from the comic, I think you're stretching it a bit to be honest, but instead of deleting I've moved it after the next paragraph just so it flows better [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.158|108.162.250.158]] 06:25, 3 May 2016 (UTC)

So, quick story about me! I'm in charge of the email list and sending emails for the fencing club I'm in. I make sure to include a "click here to unsubscribe" link at the bottom of every email, as well as instructions on how to unsubscribe without using the link (because I'm using a Google Groups to manage the list). I've even tested the link several times with my own email. However, in spite of this, every couple weeks somebody sends a "reply all" Unsubscribe request from somebody who joined the email list before I was in charge of it. It gets pretty annoying, actually, since everybody ends up getting more of these "reply all" unsubscribe requests than actual emails from the club. Plus, it's easier for them to remove themselves from the email list than it is for me to remove them.
Most of the time, I just respond with an email from my own account (so there's no danger of accidentally replying to everyone) saying "Hey. If you look at the email, there's instructions on how to unsubscribe. If you can't figure out the instructions, here's my email (_________@___.__). Please tell me what's confusing about the instructions so I can improve them." I can relate to this comic, though. Pretty funny. End story time.
[[User:Jeudi Violist|Jeudi Violist]] ([[User talk:Jeudi Violist|talk]]) 20:03, 2 May 2016 (UTC)

Unsubscribe [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.79|108.162.219.79]] 20:40, 2 May 2016 (UTC)

Given the timing of this comic, this is surely a reference (at least a partial one) to [http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/message-in-bottle-found-steve-mershon_uk_571f28e8e4b0a1e971ca56eb this news story] about a recently found message in a bottle. Or am I over-correlating? [[User:PabloVergos|PabloVergos]] ([[User talk:PabloVergos|talk]]) 08:27, 3 May 2016 (UTC)

1673: Timeline of Bicycle Design

2016-04-27T11:08:13Z

PabloVergos: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1673
| date = 27 April, 2016
| title = Timeline of Bicycle Design
| image = timeline of bicycle design.png
| titletext = I'll be honest--the 1950s were a rough time for cycling.
}}

==Explanation==
Randall created a 200 year history for bicycles as created by Gianluca Gimini in his project Velocipedia. Gimini asked people to draw free hand sketches of bicycles and rendered the results as real bikes.

https://www.behance.net/gallery/35437979/Velocipedia

The 1925 model is reminiscent of a {{w|fractal}}; {{w|Benoit Mandelbrot}} was born just before this date, in late 1924.

This comic is possibly also a reference to "The Science of Cycology", a cognitive psychology project run by Rebecca Lawson at the University of Liverpool that asked study participants to draw a bicycle from memory. The error rate was high, supporting a hypothesis that humans over-estimate their ability to explain how things work. https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/~rlawson/cycleweb.html

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1032: Networking

2014-07-16T07:39:47Z

PabloVergos:

I don't think "Connr" is a typo, as it's very likely the type of thing that a Web 2.0 business owner would do (see, for instance, the businesses Flickr, Tumblr, etc). [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 17:56, 16 August 2012 (UTC)
: That makes a lot of sense. I probably should have edited out the parenthetical when I copied/pasted from the blog. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 20:47, 16 August 2012 (UTC)
''All of these things are not common behavior.''
I don't know why, but that line of the explanation got me laughing for a full minute. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.66|108.162.215.66]] 06:20, 22 November 2013 (UTC)
: Yeah, I think we should make a "citation needed" for this thing [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.149|173.245.53.149]] 17:42, 21 February 2014 (UTC)
Another example of a "long tail" business is a luxury car maker like Lambourghini. While their parent companies (Audi and Volkswagen) target wider audiences, Lambourghini intentionally focuses on the very high-end luxury market, pricing their vehicles around $400,000 each. Their highest sales year on record was 2008, when they delivered a worldwide total of 2,430 new cars. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.120|108.162.245.120]] 21:20, 22 November 2013 (UTC)

The "next" button is broken. It points to explainxkcd.com/1032. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.7|108.162.219.7]] 19:50, 2 March 2014 (UTC)

Is the "Do you have more of your cards? They're delicious!" line a reference to the now-defunct CardMunch business card reader? Seem like the sort of thing that Beret Guy might take literally, resulting in him physically munching a card... [[User:PabloVergos|PabloVergos]] ([[User talk:PabloVergos|talk]]) 07:39, 16 July 2014 (UTC)

189: Exercise

2013-04-19T22:45:12Z

PabloVergos:

{{comic
| number = 189
| date = November 27, 2006
| title = Exercise
| image = exercise.png
| titletext = I haven't had the patience for RPGs in a long time.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Role-playing_game|Role-playing games}} (RPGs) are a pastime commonly associated with {{w|Geek|geeks}} in which players assume the role of a fictional character in a fantasy world. In many RPGs, character evolution and advancement is represented by "leveling up". Through completion of tasks or missions, characters are awarded experience points (XP), which can be spent on increasing their ratings in attributes (such as strength or speed) or skills (such as bow-hunting or computer hacking). The number of XP awarded is generally proportional to the difficulty of the task completed.

[[Cueball]] is doing {{w|Chin-up|chin-ups}}, a strength-training exercise that targets the latissimus dorsi and biceps. Repeating this exercise over time will improve his ability to do more chin-ups in one go - in other words, he will become stronger. In doing so, he is effectively leveling up his STR (strength) attribute in real life. While doing his chin-ups, he comments that he will soon switch to running - an aerobic exercise that improves endurance - in order to build up his CON (constitution) attribute. Cueball is treating his gym session like an RPG, and observes that, as a self-confessed geek, he would not be as interested in exercising without that link.

==Transcript==
:Like many geeks, I got a lot more interested in exercise once I made the connection to leveling up.
:[Man is doing pull-ups on a bar]
:Man doing pull-ups: One more point to str, then I'll run to work on con.

{{comic discussion}}

189: Exercise

2013-04-19T22:42:42Z

PabloVergos: Created page with "{{comic | number = 189 | date = November 27, 2006 | title = Exercise | image = exercise.png | titletext = I haven't had the patience for RPGs in a long time. }..."

{{comic
| number = 189
| date = November 27, 2006
| title = Exercise
| image = exercise.png
| titletext = I haven't had the patience for RPGs in a long time.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Role-playing_game|Role-playing games}} (RPGs) are a pastime commonly associated with {{w|Geek|geeks}} in which players assume the role of a fictional character in a fantasy world. In many RPGs, character evolution and advancement is represented by "leveling up". Through completion of tasks or missions, characters are awarded experience points (XP), which can be spent on increasing their ratings in attributes (such as strength or speed) or skills (such as bow-hunting or computer hacking). The number of XP awarded is generally proportional to the difficulty of the task completed.

[[Cueball]] is doing {{w|Chin-up|chin-ups}}, a strength-training exercise that targets the latissimus dorsi and biceps. Repeating this exercise over time will improve his ability to do more chin-ups in one go - in other words, he will become stronger. In doing so, he is effectively leveling up his STR (strength) attribute in real life. While doing his chin-ups, he comments that he will soon switch to running - an aerobic exercise that improves endurance - in order to build up his CON (constitution) attribute. Cueball is treating his gym session like an RPG, and observes he would not be as interested in exercising without that link.

==Transcript==
Like many geeks, I got a lot more interested in exercise once I made the connection to leveling up.
:[Man is doing pull-ups on a bar]
:Man doing pull-ups: One more point to str, then I'll run to work on con.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1166: Argument

2013-01-28T08:57:32Z

PabloVergos:

Anyone know if there really is a thread for this? I Googled the title as shown in quotes and it didn't give me any results. Without quotes gave me the xkcd forums as well as some Creationist stuff. [[Special:Contributions/76.122.5.96|76.122.5.96]] 07:39, 28 January 2013 (UTC)
-- Haha! I did exactly the same, but in the hour and a half since you searched, some enterprising soul has created what appears to be a tribute thread at [http://freeenergyforum.com/discussion/187/your-all-crackpots-who-dont-understand-thermodynamics/]. [[User:PabloVergos|PabloVergos]] ([[User talk:PabloVergos|talk]]) 08:57, 28 January 2013 (UTC)