explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1737: Datacenter Scale

2016-09-26T19:35:02Z

Pallas:

{{comic
| number = 1737
| date = September 23, 2016
| title = Datacenter Scale
| image = datacenter_scale.png
| titletext = Asimov's Cosmic AC was created by linking all datacenters through hyperspace, which explains a lot. It didn't reverse entropy--it just discarded the universe when it reached end-of-life and ordered a new one.
}}
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|The paragraph explaining the final panel needs a grammar check.}}

This comic expands, to the limit, the strategy that it's a net cost savings to allow cheap hardware to fail and simply replace it than to have robust but much more expensive systems to start with. The technique was made famous by [https://books.google.com/books?id=zdlZ2rrcZWEC&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19#v=onepage&q&f=false Google circa 1999,] when its successful cost-effective server designs were actually using sub-consumer, nearly junk, hardware.

{{w|RAID}} ("redundant array of independent disks") is a technology that splits data across several hard-drives as if they were one. RAID comes in several levels (varieties) which have different applications, but one of the big applications of RAID is creating mirrored hard disks that back each other up. If one disk drive in such a RAID fails, no data is lost.

However, RAID is complicated to configure, so you don't want to be constantly setting it up. An alternative technique for data centers is therefore to simply send the data to several servers at once. This makes maintenance easier, but without RAID, one hard disk crash basically breaks the server. However, this is what the woman with a bun's (possibly an adult [[Science Girl]]) data center is doing since their scale is so large that fixing individual servers does not make sense, and instead of fixing the drive they throw away the machine.

From here, the comic starts to exaggerate. Nowadays, servers can be made extremely small ("{{w|Blade server}}s") and dozens of servers can be attached to one {{w|19-inch rack}} in a data center. Rather than going to the effort of unplugging and unscrewing one blade from the rack, when a blade fails at [[Cueball]]'s data center they just throw away the rack, and [[Ponytail]] agrees and kinda mocks the woman with a bun for replacing one server.

[[Hairy]]'s goes one step further - they have so many servers that they would constantly have to be throwing away and replacing racks, so instead they just build a new room when one rack fails. This would be currently possible with small modular data centers that are built in shipping containers for easy transport and can be linked together to expand capacity. Here the cargo-container "room" with the failure would be quickly swapped with a fresh one. Cueball adds "like Google!" - [[Randall]] previously mentioned {{w|Google|Google's}} approach to hard drive failures in the [[what if?]] ''{{what if|63|Google's Datacenters on Punch Cards}}''. Back in [http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/research.google.com/de//archive/disk_failures.pdf 2007] they had one failure every few minutes - that might have increased hugely since then.

Finally [[Megan]] appears and her company of course breaks the scale of silliness in exaggeration. She says that they don't have any fire extinguishers (neither {{w|Fire sprinkler system|regular sprinklers}} nor the systems that deploy gases like FM-200 which alter the room air's ability to sustain a fire). Rather, they just rope the center off, thus letting the data center burn down. Then they simply move a town over and build a new one. This may indicate they are so big that the entire town will burn down if their center catches fire, for else they did not have to skip town. Alternatively, they just leave the center burning and this may cause problems in that town, so they simply flee the premises.

Most big internet companies do have multiple redundant data centers around the world, in order to increase speeds for users in different countries, but Megan's idea would be very expensive, increase in {{w|Latency (engineering)|latency}} and possibly also kill people, either in their company or other people in the town and since they do not try to turn out the fire, at least cause severe destruction of properties, not only their own.

Still Hairy thinks that it makes sense, whereas Cueball wonders what difference the roping off does. This could again be a reference to the fact that they just let the buildings burn without bothering about the local consequences, and the next step is just one more step towards the extreme of the title text.

This comic references how, as data requirements expand, the cost of time eventually outweighs the cost of hardware at ever increasing scales (drive, rack, room, building). While this comic takes this to the extreme, with whole buildings being destroyed for simple flaws, the concept is not as far fetched as it seems if "thrown out" is taken to include being sold to equipment refurbishers. It could indeed be cost effective for a large data services provider to resell racks or even whole data center modules at some significant fraction of their "as new" price as opposed expending the time and effort to attempt a repair. The equipment refurbisher would then rely on a {{w|competitive advantage|cost advantage}} like cheaper labor to repair the flaw and sell it back to Google or another company with less demanding requirements. Equipment rental firms already operate on this model and with the added incentive customers preferring to rent newer models, this means that the equipment is often ''preemptively'' replaced before failures even occur.

The title text refers to {{w|Isaac Asimov}}'s science-fiction short story "{{w|The Last Question}}", where humanity asks, at different stages of its spatial and technological development, the same question to increasingly advanced computers: "How can the net amount of {{w|entropy}} of the universe be massively decreased?". At each point, the computer's answer is that it does not yet have sufficient data for a meaningful answer. Ultimately, the computers are all linked through hyperspace, outside the physical boundaries of the universe, and make up a single computing entity named AC which keeps pondering the question even as the {{w|heat death of the universe}} occurs and time and space cease to exist. When AC finally discovers the answer, since there is nobody left to report it to, it decides to demonstrate it and says "{{w|Let there be light|LET THERE BE LIGHT!}}", which are the first words said by God during the Creation, according to the {{w|Book of Genesis}}. Here, the title text implies that, as the universe died, AC no longer had a use for it as a physical support and, taking the comic's logic to the next extreme, chose to discard it and get a brand-new one instead of bothering to "fix" it by reversing its entropy. This short story was also referenced in [[1448: Question]].

This comic's concept of taking a real world phenomena and exaggerating it to levels currently considered implausible for comic effect closely mimics an earlier comic which describes progressively more "hardcore" programmers in [[378: Real Programmers]]. This comic might be related to [[1567: Kitchen Tips]] which suggests not throwing away your dishes but washing them.

==Transcript==
:[Zoom in on a woman with a bun holding her hand palm up in front of her taking to people off-panel right.]
:Woman with a bun: RAID controllers don't make sense at our scale; everything is redundant at higher levels. When a drive fails, we just throw away the whole machine.

:[In this frame-less panel it is revealed that the woman with a bun talked to Cueball and Ponytail who is looking her way.]
:Cueball: Machine? We throw away whole racks at a time.
:Ponytail: Yeah, who replaces ''one server''?

:[Hairy has appeared from the left and holds one hand palm up towards the other three where also the woman with a bun has turned towards him.]
:Hairy: We just replace whole rooms at once. At our scale, messing with racks isn't economical.
:Woman with a bun: Wow.
:Cueball: Like Google!

:[Megan walks in from the left, and everyone including Hairy now looks towards her. Cueball has taken a hand up to his chin. The replies to Megan are written with clearly smaller font.]
:Megan: We don't have sprinklers or inert gas systems. When a datacenter catches fire, we just rope it off and rebuild one town over.
:Hairy: Makes sense.
:Cueball: I wonder if the rope is really necessary.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Science Girl]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Fiction]]

1566: Board Game

2015-08-21T06:10:48Z

Pallas:

{{comic
| number = 1566
| date = August 19, 2015
| title = Board Game
| image = board_game.png
| titletext = Yes, it took a lot of work to make the cards and pieces, but it's worth it--the players are way more thorough than the tax prep people ever were.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, [[Cueball]] is shown explaining the rules of a {{w|board game}} to three other players ([[Hairy]], [[Ponytail]], and [[Hair Bun Girl]]) of a local board game club – a hobbyist group that gets together to play board games. However, the board game Cueball is explaining is actually his own creation which is designed to trick the club into preparing his {{w|income tax}} return. The caption indicates that Cueball does this every year, which makes this comic reminiscent of the [[My Hobby]] series.

An income tax return is an annual document which most adults in many countries must prepare and submit to the government agency responsible for tax collection. The document sets out that person's income for the year, along with offsets including deductions and credits, and calculates the amount of income tax the person is required to pay to the government (used by the revenue service to compare it to the value that person had actually paid).

The return requires understanding of a number of forms which may seem complicated to those not familiar with them. It is an annual task that is stereotypically met with confusion and disdain. Many people hire professionals to prepare their taxes. More recently, software-based solutions that walk the user through a series of more understandable text-based questions are available to aid taxpayers in completing their returns; however these are not always ideal for those with complicated returns.

In this comic, Cueball has developed his alternative method of tax preparation which utilizes the collective intelligence of several board-game-club players, and also capitalizes on the fact that members of such a club are likely very competitive and eager to succeed at board games. As a result (as the title text suggests), Cueball thinks the board game players are more thorough than the tax preparation professionals he has previously used. Such professionals would prepare perhaps hundreds of returns per year and as a result, might indeed be less thorough with each individual return which may all be viewed as fairly simple and repetitive by the professional.

Among the rules Cueball explains are references to "allowable deduction" cards which presumably reference certain deductions which are allowed on income tax returns to lower the net income (resulting in lower taxes). For example; a portion of certain medical expenses are permitted to lower one's income in recognition of the fact that using one's income for medical expenses is somewhat non-discretionary. Similarly, certain charitable donations are permitted as deductions to encourage such donations.

In Cueball's game, players must match the deductions with other cards to preserve their full "point value". This appears to be a reference to the desire to capitalize as much as possible on the value of a deduction by taking the deduction against income which would otherwise incur the greatest tax, and ensuring that the full amount of the deduction can be used. A deduction of $2,000 against income of $1,000 would waste half the deduction.

In gaming, tokens are small playing pieces which may represent various things, depending on the game. In many board games (e.g.
''{{w|Monopoly (game)|Monopoly}}''), tokens represent the players themselves. In other games, such as ''{{w|Magic: The Gathering}}'', tokens can represent creatures or other items in a player's inventory. Cueball references "dependent tokens" which appear to be game tokens representing Cueball's dependents. Dependents are people who the taxpayer is required to support financially (most commonly minor children), and as a result, are entitled to certain deductions and credits for expenses incurred to care for the dependents.

Note that while Cueball states he "tricks" his board game club into doing his taxes, in fact his use of clear tax terms ("allowable deductions", "dependent") for naming different tokens and elements of the game would suggest that the players knew what he was doing but going along with it because they just enjoy playing board games, such that even doing a tax return – often considered a boring mind-numbing chore – within the format of a board game would be something they would enjoy doing. Alternatively, the comic may be comparing the tediousness of Euro-style board games to that of doing tax returns. It is noted that there are board games on a variety of unexpected topics which might seem like boring subjects for a game. For example, there are several games designed to simulate the stock market and investing. The popular video game ''{{w|Farmville}}'' is often joked about having created a successful game out of a job most people would find unpleasurable. This suggests it might actually be possible to create an board game enjoyable to some people from the process of preparing a tax return.

This is one of several xkcd comics that suggest going to comically extreme lengths to avoid doing something (in this case, his taxes) that might have been simpler to do normally than the way [[Randall]] proposes. In this case, Cueball suggests that his motives may actually be to get the most thorough preparation possible, rather than to simply find a way to get the task done. Presumably, the enthusiasm of a stereotypical gamer nerd makes them more thorough than even trained professionals.

A similar situation of Randall secretly exploiting someone's interest for his own purposes occurs in [[1323: Protocol]].

==Transcript==
:[Hairy, Cueball, Ponytail (reading something), and [[Hair Bun Girl]] (holding some cards) are sitting around a table. There are several other objects on the table.]
:Cueball: ...Now, this pile is "allowable deduction" cards. You match them with cards in your hand to preserve their full point value.
:Cueball: Over here are "dependent" tokens...

:[Caption below the frame:]
:Every year, I trick a local board game club into doing my taxes.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hair Bun Girl]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

1566: Board Game

2015-08-20T18:44:12Z

Pallas:

{{comic
| number = 1566
| date = August 19, 2015
| title = Board Game
| image = board_game.png
| titletext = Yes, it took a lot of work to make the cards and pieces, but it's worth it--the players are way more thorough than the tax prep people ever were.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, [[Cueball]] is shown explaining the rules of a {{w|board game}} to three other players ([[Hairy]], [[Ponytail]], and [[Hair Bun Girl]]) of a local board game club – a hobbyist group that gets together to play board games. However, the board game Cueball is explaining is actually his own creation which is designed to trick the club into preparing his {{w|income tax}} return. The caption indicates that Cueball does this every year, which makes this comic reminiscent of the [[My Hobby]] series.

An income tax return is an annual document which most adults in many countries must prepare and submit to the government agency responsible for tax collection. The document sets out that person's income for the year, along with offsets including deductions and credits, and calculates the amount of income tax the person is required to pay to the government.

The return requires understanding of a number of forms which may seem complicated to those not familiar with them. It is an annual task that is stereotypically met with confusion and disdain. Many people hire professionals to prepare their taxes. More recently, software-based solutions that walk the user through a series of more understandable text-based questions are available to aid taxpayers in completing their returns; however these are not always ideal for those with complicated returns.

In this comic, Cueball has developed his alternative method of tax preparation which utilizes the collective intelligence of several board-game-club players, and also capitalizes on the fact that members of such a club are likely very competitive and eager to succeed at board games. As a result (as the title text suggests), Cueball thinks the board game players are more thorough than the tax preparation professionals he has previously used. Such professionals would prepare perhaps hundreds of returns per year and as a result, might indeed be less thorough with each individual return which may all be viewed as fairly simple and repetitive by the professional.

Among the rules Cueball explains are references to "allowable deduction" cards which presumably reference certain deductions which are allowed on income tax returns to lower the net income (resulting in lower taxes). For example; a portion of certain medical expenses are permitted to lower one's income in recognition of the fact that using one's income for medical expenses is somewhat non-discretionary. Similarly, certain charitable donations are permitted as deductions to encourage such donations.

In Cueball's game, players must match the deductions with other cards to preserve their full "point value". This appears to be a reference to the desire to capitalize as much as possible on the value of a deduction by taking the deduction against income which would otherwise incur the greatest tax, and ensuring that the full amount of the deduction can be used. A deduction of $2,000 against income of $1,000 would waste half the deduction.

In gaming, tokens are small playing pieces which may represent various things, depending on the game. In many board games (e.g.
''{{w|Monopoly (game)|Monopoly}}''), tokens represent the players themselves. In other games, such as ''{{w|Magic: The Gathering}}'', tokens can represent creatures or other items in a player's inventory. Cueball references "dependent tokens" which appear to be game tokens representing Cueball's dependents. Dependents are people who the taxpayer is required to support financially (most commonly minor children), and as a result, are entitled to certain deductions and credits for expenses incurred to care for the dependents.

Note that while Cueball states he "tricks" his board game club into doing his taxes, in fact his use of clear tax terms ("allowable deductions", "dependent") for naming different tokens and elements of the game would suggest that the players knew what he was doing but going along with it because they just enjoy playing board games, such that even doing a tax return – often considered a boring mind-numbing chore – within the format of a board game would be something they would enjoy doing.

Alternatively, the comic may be comparing the tediousness of Euro-style board games to that of doing tax returns.

This is one of several xkcd comics that suggest going to comically extreme lengths to avoid doing something (in this case, his taxes) that might have been simpler to do normally than the way [[Randall]] proposes. In this case, Cueball suggests that his motives may actually be to get the most thorough preparation possible, rather than to simply find a way to get the task done. Presumably, the enthusiasm of a stereotypical gamer nerd makes them more thorough than even trained professionals.

A similar situation of Randall secretly exploiting someone's interest for his own purposes occurs in [[1323: Protocol]].

==Transcript==
:[Hairy, Cueball, Ponytail (reading something), and [[Hair Bun Girl]] (holding some cards) are sitting around a table. There are several other objects on the table.]
:Cueball: ...Now, this pile is "allowable deduction" cards. You match them with cards in your hand to preserve their full point value.
:Cueball: Over here are "dependent" tokens...

:[Caption below the frame:]
:Every year, I trick a local board game club into doing my taxes.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hair Bun Girl]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

1508: Operating Systems

2015-04-06T08:23:38Z

Pallas:

{{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==
{{incomplete|Barely an explaination}}
In this comic, Randall makes a prediction of the evolution of the operating systems over the years.

The title text refers to Richard Stallman, the founder of the [http://www.fsf.org/about Free Software movement] and the [https://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu.html GNU project], and refers to the timeline when [https://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/hurd.html GNU/Hurd] is finally production ready. The joke is that GNU/Hurd began to be developed in 1990, and while was expected to be released in a relative short time, even on this date, only unstable builds have been released. So Randall is saying that it will finally be ready to be on his home ''after'' humanity has ended. (That is, that a production-ready version will never be released)

==Transcript==
:[There is timeline titled "Operating Systems Running in my House". It runs from 1990 to 2067, at the edge of the panel. Bars above the timeline are labeled with operating system names, representing the time period for that OS. The hatch mark at 2015 is labelled "Now". Listed on the timeline are (with approximate year ranges):]

:MS DOS: 1988 to 1998 (extends left past the beginning of the timeline)
:Mac OS: 1994 to 2001
:Windows: 1993 to 2007
:Linux: 1999 to 2018
:Android: 2009 to 2016
:OS X: 2009 to (bar combines with iOS around 2019) 2023
:iOS: 2013 to (bar combines with OS X around 2019) 2023
:[something].js: 2018 to 2028
:TinderOS: 2022 to 2029
:Nest: 2023 to 2032
:DOS, but ironically: 2030 to 2036
:Elon Musk Project: 2028 to 2042
:Blood Drone: 2034 to 2042
:[Human civilization ends in fire]: 2042 to 2051
:GNU/Hurd: 2059 to past 2067, continuing off panel

{{comic discussion}}

1464: Santa

2014-12-25T00:19:41Z

Pallas: lower case calories is a thousandth of a Calorie. I've changed this so it says kilocalorie, and I've mentioned how much energy this is.

{{comic
| number = 1464
| date = December 24, 2014
| title = Santa
| image = santa.png
| titletext = He probably just poops over the side of the sleigh.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic refers to the common tradition of leaving milk and cookies out on Christmas Eve for Santa Claus. If one assumes that Santa eats even a small percentage of the sweets left out for him, the question comes up where all the cookies ''go''. Megan suggests that, since Santa isn't ''that'' large, he must poop them out somewhere, and wonders if he does so in our houses.

Cueball doubts that. Megan replies that mass cannot disappear completely; it has to go somewhere, to which Cueball comments that Santa has a magic bag in which be could poop. The magic bag referenced is the bag in which he carries all the Christmas presents he delivers on Christmas Eve. It is called 'magic' because a bag large enough to carry millions of presents would be much too heavy and unbalanced to carry on a sleigh pulled by only eight (or nine) reindeer. Thus, it must be magic somehow. Megan is disgusted at the thought of Santa pooping on peoples' presents.

Cueball proposes a third theory: that only a few houses are pooped in, but those that are are pooped in in large quantities. Megan says that there may not be anyone that naughty in the world (referencing the myth that Santa will leave coal (or in this case, feces), instead of presents, for those who misbehave.) Cueball replies that it is randomly determined whose house is pooped in, suggesting that it really is ok for Santa to eat for a while before going to the bathroom (like most people do....) and randomly picking a house in which to use the toilet, thus burdening a smaller number of people.

Specifically, Cueball quotes the beginning of {{w|Spock}}'s aphorism from ''{{w|Star Trek II}},'' "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one." Now at this point, regular explainxkcd readers and ''Star Trek'' fans, who already know that the film is full of references to ''{{w|Moby Dick}}'' and ''{{w|A Tale of Two Cities}},'' might expect to have a longstanding assumption confirmed, that the "needs of the many" line probably comes from the latter novel, with its dominant theme of class conflict. And yet [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=700992 apparently the line] is [http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2013/05/07/from-sacrifice-to-rhetorical-device-the-spirit-of-spock-lives-on/ original to the film,] with credit due to its several screenwriters instead.

The title text puts forth yet another theory: that Santa doesn't poop in houses at all, but off the side of his sleigh.

According to [[1070: Words for Small Sets]], a few is referring to "anywhere from 2 to 5". Currently, there are 1.9 billion children in the world, assuming on average a cookie is left for Santa for each child and that Santa eats one in every 5 cookies, he consumes 380 million cookies in a 48 hour period, due to the convenience of time zones. According to Google, a chocolate-chip cookie contains approximately 140 kilocalories, therefore Santa consumes 53.2 billion in the period of 2 days, 26.6 billion per day. As a man should have a daily intake of 2500 kilocalories per day, Santa has 10640000 times the amount of daily calories required over the period of two days, sufficient to last for over 59111 years, or over 59 millennia.

On a side note, this is enough to power several homes for a year.

In reality, since Santa is <strike>only a myth</strike> [http://www.noradsanta.org/ really out there]!<strike>, we're all safe from the risk of being one of the few.</strike>

==Transcript==
:Megan: Say Santa eats a cookie at every few houses. That's hundreds of tons. By the end of the night, he should be a hulking seven-story behemoth.
:But he's not.

:Cueball: What are you...
:Megan: Does Santa poop in our houses?

:Cueball: No way.
:Megan: That mass must be going somewhere.
:Cueball: He has that magic bag...
:Megan: You think he poops in the bag of ''presents''?

:Cueball: Maybe instead of pooping in every few houses, he waits, and then in a few houses, he poops a ''lot''.
:Megan: What if no one's been ''that'' naughty?
:Cueball: He picks at random. The needs of the many...
{{comic discussion}}

Talk:203: Hallucinations

2014-10-17T05:49:15Z

Pallas: Created page

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N,N-Dimethyltryptamine is a brain chemical that apparently allows people to have vivid hallucinations. [[User:Pallas|Pallas]] ([[User talk:Pallas|talk]]) 05:49, 17 October 2014 (UTC)

1384: Krypton

2014-06-25T01:05:30Z

Pallas: Deleted speculation, it's not an explanation in the faintest sense of it, and it seems to answer a question that a user wouldn't ask this wiki.

{{comic
| number = 1384
| date = June 20, 2014
| title = Krypton
| image = krypton.png
| titletext = Their Sun and gravity will make you, uh, something, I guess. Out of earshot from Earth, mostly.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is an [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InvertedTrope inverse] version of the {{w|origin story}} of the {{w|superhero}} character {{w|Superman}}.

In the Superman story, {{w|Jor-El}} and his wife {{w|Lara (comics)|Lara}} notice that their home planet {{w|Krypton (comics)|Krypton}} is about to be destroyed in a giant explosion, so they decide to send their baby {{w|Superman|Kal-El}} to {{w|Earth}} to save him - and there he becomes Superman.

In this comic, [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] also notice that the planet Krypton is about to explode, but instead of attempting to save a baby from Krypton, they decide to send a baby to Krypton from Earth so that he'll stop annoying them with his crying.

In the fourth panel both spaceships can be seen. The rocket containing the Earth baby arrives at planet Krypton, while the crystal star shaped spaceship containing Kal-El leaves Krypton towards Earth - this is a reference to the [http://collectingsuperman.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/stmstoryboard1a.jpg version of the spaceship] depicted in the 1978 {{w|Superman_(1978_film)|Superman movie}}, (see [[#Trivia|trivia section]]).

In the fifth and last panel we see Krypton explode.

In the Superman movie, Kal-El carries with him a lot of information pre-recorded by his parents. During the very long trip he listens to the recordings, one of which explains that the Sun and gravity of Earth will give him (Kal-El) great powers (this is the way he becomes Superman). The '''title text''' is a satirical version of this information, given to the Earth baby during his trip: That Megan & Cueball do not have the faintest idea (or care about) what the sun and gravity of Krypton will do to him - but their best guess at what these ''mostly'' will do to him is to "make you out of earshot from Earth", which was their original reason for shipping the baby off in the first place.

While this may seem like an extreme reaction to a crying baby, people who have never experienced a child crying for a whole night may have no idea about what types of fantasies could go through one's head. During the long hours of the night, shipping the crying thing in to space may seem like a great idea. This comic could be seen as an illustration of this.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are standing near a telescope.]
:Cueball: The distant planet Krypton is becoming unstable!
:Baby crying (from outside the panel): Waaaaaa
:Megan: That crying baby is really annoying.

:[Cueball and Megan looking at each other]

:[Spaceship taking off]

:[Spaceship passing another spaceship on route to distant planet]

:[Planet exploding]

==Trivia==
*Whereas the Kal-El rocket clearly looks like the one in the 1978 Superman, a movie which is also the origin of the title text joke, the Earth baby rocket looks like any nondescript rocket. It has some features in common with the one used in [[1350: Lorenz]] as can be seen here under the [[1350:_Lorenz#Rocket launch|Rocket launch theme]] (color scheme the same, but different body of the rocket). One could also argue that it resembles some of the [http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M7D1hE_0cz0/TS88t-Rs2vI/AAAAAAAAEMY/EnIOj3AGFu8/s800/SupermanOrigins.jpg various] [http://thecomicmuseum.com/superman146.jpg versions] of the rocket that brought Superman to earth as depicted in early {{w|List of Superman comics|comic books}} (Not that big a resemblance though, due to the very different tip and fins).
*As the nearest stars are several light years away, this comic does of course not make any sense if you look at it from a scientific point of view. (But can still do if you don't!).
**First of all - how would Cueball be able to see that Krypton is unstable in a telescope - as we at the moment can only just detect planets around other stars.
**And even if he did detect this and immediately shipped his baby away in a close to light-speed rocket, then it would take several years to reach Krypton (at best - more likely to be somewhere between a hundred to a thousand years...)
***Plus, because light takes time to travel, Cueball was seeing the planet as it was many years ago, meaning it had been unstable for some time already. So even for the closest star (exclusive of the earth's sun), it would be 4.3 years to see the instability and then over 4.3 more years (even with close to light speed travel) for the ship to travel, for a total of over 8.6 years from when the light left the planet until the rocket arrived there.
**As faster than light-speed travel is impossible according to the current model of our universe this option is not really relevant here.
**During all those years, the unstable planet should still keep together - in spite of being so unstable that Cueball can determine this instability with his telescope on Earth.
**And then the rocket arrives just when Kal-El is being shipped the other way a few moments before the planet explodes. Of course if the arrival of the rocket causes the explosion this would explain the last two events. Kal-El is shipped off at the last moment when his parents realizes an incoming rocket will destroy their planet... That would actually be funny!
** The previous remarks assume that Cueball and Megan are standing on Earth. The comic could be plausible if they are standing on a different planet in the same planetary system.

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

1384: Krypton

2014-06-22T23:34:29Z

Pallas:

{{comic
| number = 1384
| date = June 20, 2014
| title = Krypton
| image = krypton.png
| titletext = Their Sun and gravity will make you, uh, something, I guess. Out of earshot from Earth, mostly.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is an [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InvertedTrope inverse] version of the {{w|origin story}} of the {{w|superhero}} character {{w|Superman}}.

In the Superman story, {{w|Jor-El}} and his wife {{w|Lara (comics)|Lara}} notice that their home planet {{w|Krypton (comics)|Krypton}} is about to be destroyed in a giant explosion, so they decide to send their baby {{w|Superman|Kal-El}} to {{w|Earth}} to save him - and there he becomes Superman.

In this comic, [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] also notice that the planet Krypton is about to explode, but instead of attempting to save a baby from Krypton, they decide to send a baby to Krypton from Earth so that he'll stop annoying them with his crying.

In the fourth panel both spaceships can be seen. The rocket containing the Earth baby arrives at planet Krypton, while the crystal star shaped spaceship containing Kal-El leaves Krypton towards Earth - this is a reference to the [http://collectingsuperman.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/stmstoryboard1a.jpg version of the spaceship] depicted in the 1978 {{w|Superman_(1978_film)|Superman movie}}, (see [[#Trivia|trivia section]]).

In the fifth and last panel we see Krypton explode. (Unlikely, but it could be the impact of the rocket from Earth that makes Krypton explode. Maybe it would not have exploded if Cueball and Megan had not shipped the baby off?)

In the Superman movie, Kal-El carries with him a lot of information pre-recorded by his parents. During the very long trip he listens to the recordings, one of which explains that the Sun and gravity of Earth will give him (Kal-El) great powers (this is the way he becomes Superman). The '''title text''' is a satirical version of this information, given to the Earth baby during his trip: That Megan & Cueball do not have the faintest idea (or care about) what the sun and gravity of Krypton will do to him - but their best guess at what these ''mostly'' will do to him is to "make you out of earshot from Earth", which was their original reason for shipping the baby off in the first place.

While this may seem like an extreme reaction to a crying baby, people who have never experienced a child crying for a whole night, may have no idea about what types of fantasies could go through one's head. During the long hours of the night, shipping the crying thing in to space, may seem like a great idea. This comic could be seen as an illustration of this.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are standing near a telescope.]
:Cueball: The distant planet Krypton is becoming unstable!
:Baby crying (from outside the panel): Waaaaaa
:Megan: That crying baby is really annoying.

:[Cueball and Megan looking at each other]

:[Spaceship taking off]

:[Spaceship passing another spaceship on route to distant planet]

:[Planet exploding]

==Trivia==
*Whereas the Kal-El rocket clearly looks like the one in the 1978 Superman, a movie which is also the origin of the title text joke, the Earth baby rocket looks like any nondescript rocket. It has some features in common with the one used in [[1350: Lorenz]] as can be seen here under the [[1350:_Lorenz#Rocket launch|Rocket launch theme]] (color scheme the same, but different body of the rocket). One could also argue that it resembles some of the [http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M7D1hE_0cz0/TS88t-Rs2vI/AAAAAAAAEMY/EnIOj3AGFu8/s800/SupermanOrigins.jpg various] [http://thecomicmuseum.com/superman146.jpg versions] of the rocket that brought Superman to earth as depicted in early {{w|List of Superman comics|comic books}} (Not that big a resemblance though, due to the very different tip and fins).
*As the nearest stars are several light years away, this comic does of course not make any sense if you look at it from a scientific point of view. (But can still do if you don't!)
**First of all - how would Cueball be able to see that Krypton is unstable in a telescope - as we at the moment can only just detect planets around other stars.
**And even if he did detect this and immediately shipped his baby away in a close to light-speed rocket, then it would take several years to reach Krypton (at best - more likely to be somewhere between a hundred to a thousand years...)
***Plus, because light takes time to travel, Cueball was seeing the planet as it was many years ago, meaning it had been unstable for some time already. So even for the closest star (exclusive of the earth's sun), it would be 4.3 years to see the instability and then over 4.3 more years (even with close to light speed travel) for the ship to travel, for a total of over 8.6 years from when the light left the planet until the rocket arrived there.
**As faster than light-speed travel is impossible according to the current model of our universe this option is not really relevant here.
**During all those years, the unstable planet should still keep together - in spite of being so unstable that Cueball can determine this instability with his telescope on Earth.
**And then the rocket arrives just when Kal-El is being shipped the other way a few moments before the planet explodes. Of course if the arrival of the rocket causes the explosion this would explain the last two events. Kal-El is shipped off at the last moment when his parents realizes an incoming rocket will destroy their planet... That would actually be funny!

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

1384: Krypton

2014-06-20T08:44:01Z

Pallas:

{{comic
| number = 1384
| date = June 20, 2014
| title = Krypton
| image = krypton.png
| titletext = Their Sun and gravity will make you, uh, something, I guess. Out of earshot from Earth, mostly.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}

Cueball and girl send baby to Krypton to get rid of it, inverse of superman story.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1368: One Of The

2014-05-16T20:09:39Z

Pallas:

There's a set of golden arches at Jefferson and Russell, Arguably more identifiable. {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.36}}

:If you are talking about the McDonald's arches, then well played, sir, well played. Definitely more identifiable. --[[User:Dangerkeith3000|Dangerkeith3000]] ([[User talk:Dangerkeith3000|talk]]) 14:57, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

::On the other hand, any ''specific set'' of McDonald's arches isn't very identifiable. One tends to look like any other. --[[User:Aaron of Mpls|Aaron of Mpls]] ([[User talk:Aaron of Mpls|talk]]) 11:12, 16 May 2014 (UTC)

"''Reporters on television and in other media try to only make statements they can verify in fact''"
Seriously??? Maybe once, but not now. The point of this cartoon is largely that reporters are hedging their bets on what's a fact.
When you have prominent reporters like Chuck Todd (one of the most prominent reporters on TV) saying [http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/09/18/inform-the-public-not-my-job-says-chuck-todd/|it's "not his job" to report factual information] but merely to repeat what politicians have said, or everyone on Fox "News" basically ignoring facts in favor of ideology, claiming reporters try to speak only facts is not supported by demonstrable facts.
[[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.84|199.27.128.84]] 16:42, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

: Or maybe it's because of the liability reporters face for reporting even errors made by the police. [http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/12/mistaken-identity-tv-show/8989189/ | Keith Todd or Todd Keith]. [[User:Pallas|Pallas]] ([[User talk:Pallas|talk]]) 19:16, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

:: "''In the complaint, Todd alleges that Eastpointe Police "incorrectly researched" databases and sent the wrong photo, name and information to the network.''" Sounds like the blame is really with the police, not the network. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.84|199.27.128.84]] 16:37, 15 May 2014 (UTC)

::: [http://birmingham.patch.com/groups/around-town/p/msnbcs-caught-on-camera-reality-show-snafu-creates-unreal-problems-for-michigan-man In a lawsuit filed last week in Wayne County Circuit Court, Todd said a snafu incorrectly naming him as the suspect in the “Caught on Camera” program has caused him humiliation, loss of employment and other misery. He’s asking NBC Universal, the Eastpointe Police Department and A One Limousine, to pay an unspecified amount of damages.] [[User:Pallas|Pallas]] ([[User talk:Pallas|talk]]) 20:09, 16 May 2014 (UTC)

I know it's not really part of the joke, but should the explanation say who the reporter is talking about? Who designed the Gateway arch? I'm curious now.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.7|108.162.219.7]] 02:18, 15 May 2014 (UTC)

:The Gateway Arch was designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen and German-American structural engineer Hannskarl Bandel in 1947. As stated on the {{w|Gateway Arch|wikipedia page already linked from explanation}}. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:15, 15 May 2014 (UTC)

Note that the UK celebrates {{w|Mothering Sunday}} on the fourth Sunday in Lent as if it was Mother's Day. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.217|141.101.89.217]] 10:45, 15 May 2014 (UTC)

The explanation text misses the fact that stating "one of the world's greatest moms" is hardly perceived as an actual compliment by the recipient. [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 14:17, 15 May 2014 (UTC)
:Done - also added an explain and a wiki link to pet peeve - something not explained so far. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:53, 15 May 2014 (UTC)

: I don't think Randall misunderstands the practice - he's just pretending that to make a joke. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:16, 16 May 2014 (UTC)
::That is for sure true. I did not write it like that and have now corrected it acordingly [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:26, 16 May 2014 (UTC)
:::Interesting. Do you really think "Randall does not misunderstand anything" (from the history-edit explanation) and so any inaccuracy must be understood as a deliberate part of the joke? Even if the inaccuracy is about a matter outside of his field of expertise and is unnecessary to the joke? Maybe you're right in this case, but I doubt Randall himself would claim to be infallible. [[User:Cs7|Cs7]] ([[User talk:Cs7|talk]]) 20:08, 16 May 2014 (UTC)

No so much a real discussion item, but this is "One of the most useful Explain XKCDs out there"... {{unsigned ip|199.27.128.121}}

Talk:1368: One Of The

2014-05-14T19:16:11Z

Pallas:

Talk:1119: Undoing

2014-04-29T08:53:44Z

Pallas:

Perhaps his motivation is to restore natural wind patterns to the environment. I remember reading about the ecological impact of wind power includes lessened wind currents. Some organisms rely on the wind to propagate the species, such as winds that blow seeds or how some spiders "parachute" on wind currents. Or it could be that he just likes to mess with people. --[[User:Joehammer79|Joehammer79]] ([[User talk:Joehammer79|talk]]) 13:46, 10 October 2012 (UTC)

:I always though that if you put a forest of windmills on top of hill the damage of ecosystem done by the building is enough. Adding the fact about wind used for propagating ... damn, windmills are almost as unecological as solar plants on fields ...
:Seriously, how can anyone who things ecologically be AGAINST nuclear power? -- [[Special:Contributions/89.177.52.2|89.177.52.2]] 08:19, 12 October 2012 (UTC)

At first I thought this should be more of a Blackhat trick, but since he seems to think he is creating good in the world by restoring, it makes sense that it is Cueball--[[Special:Contributions/70.166.209.171|70.166.209.171]] 14:35, 10 October 2012 (UTC)

Am I the only one who is also entertaining the possibility that the fan setup in the picture is not acting with, but rather counteracting the wind, which is turning the windmill that supplies it power? I understand that the alt-text makes it seem like Munroe's thinking about 'making up' for our interference with insolation (and presumably wind, water etc.) patterns. But, if we're going to bring in logic here, EVERYTHING falls apart :D I had a little fun trying to model what kind of a dynamic equilibrium the hitherto described windmill-fan arrangement would settle into. [[Special:Contributions/123.238.25.42|123.238.25.42]] 17:13, 10 October 2012 (UTC)

I believe you are... The fan's blowing to the right... The wind came from the left... [[Special:Contributions/184.88.110.135|184.88.110.135]] 21:35, 18 October 2012 (UTC)Robert

:Indeed, the first thing that comes to mind is the "fan blowing into the sails" arrangement you sometimes see in cartoons, but I don't think that's what's going on here.[[User:CityZen|CityZen]] ([[User talk:CityZen|talk]]) 17:58, 10 October 2012 (UTC)

It's even more fun to do to condoms.
--[[User:SuspendedPhan|SuspendedPhan]] ([[User talk:SuspendedPhan|talk]]) 18:50, 10 October 2012 (UTC)

:What the hell is "rotational" energy?!
::Although "rotational" energy exists (it is a verbal shorthand for kinetic energy that exists due to a rotating mass), what we actually have here is rotational power, another verbal shorthand for mechanical power transmitted by a rotating object working against a load. Also, Cueball has not disconnected the turbine from the generator but the generator from its electrical load (battery charger or electrical grid tie-in, perhaps).--[[Special:Contributions/174.138.205.139|174.138.205.139]] 13:20, 13 October 2012 (UTC)

As I understand it, he has disconnected the windmill that was supplying power to the grid and that windmill is now powering a fan which is creating suction which is pulling more wind through the windmill.[[Special:Contributions/38.104.209.10|38.104.209.10]] 16:04, 17 October 2012 (UTC)

Worth mentioning existence of ram air turbines. [[User:Pallas|Pallas]] ([[User talk:Pallas|talk]]) 08:53, 29 April 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1361: Google Announcement

2014-04-28T17:21:40Z

Pallas:

"The service was announced on 3 December 2009" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Public_DNS [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.179|108.162.254.179]] 05:31, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

'''ubuntu one?'''
Isn't this a reference to Ubuntu shutting down Ubuntu One "focus our efforts on our most important strategic initiatives and ensure we are not spread too thin" http://blog.canonical.com/2014/04/02/shutting-down-ubuntu-one-file-services/
Randall mentions using Linux quite a bit. U1 was a pretty convenient service for linux users. Many users complain about Ubuntu depreciating various important features. U1 was something that made Ubuntu practical for people using Mac and windows because of the cloud sharing so may be seen as part of a core mandate for ubuntu. The joke is that this is foolish to shut down, it would be akin to Google shutting down all their important services to focus on the DNS core because technically it is more important. (but obviously not to most google users who have no idea what 8.8.8.8 is)

I was pretty sure this was about ubuntu because it seems like a strong parallel... but then I thought that was a bit obscure... so I came here to check it out and I suppose maybe I am the only one who sees the connection?
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.11|108.162.245.11]] 07:51, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

For some reason I thought 8.8.8.8 was a reference to the Penfield Mood Organ in ''Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep''. I have no clue why I thought this because it has nothing to do with Google. Maybe its because dialing 888 gives people the desire to watch TV no matter what's on. Either way, I realize that my idea would be too obscure and have nothing to do with the original comic.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.90|173.245.48.90]] 09:19, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

I'll start panicking only after Google switches its public DNS server to 6.6.6.6 - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.185|108.162.254.185]] 09:21, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

:That would really be scary - I mean, any event which causes Google to use IP address currently allocated to {{w|Army_Network_Enterprise_Technology_Command|U.S. Army Information Systems Command}}, {{w|Fort Huachuca}} would certainly be reason to panic. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:31, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

I thought that the comment criticised Google's critics, because they usually say Google should not be working on Google Plus but, instead, on its "core business". So Google goes hardcore in order to abide by that and shuts down everything that is not "core" enough - what can be more central to any internet's business than DNS, right? It's kind of a troll reductio ad absurdum, IMO. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.194|108.162.212.194]] 11:29, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

I would be crushed if 8.8.4.4 were shut down. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 14:14, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

This is also a parody on how such rumors spread and extrapolate ludicrously. Because some VP left a company doesn't mean the product he/she was working on will be shutdown. That's not how large companies work -- another VP will just lead that effort. Saying that G+ will be shut down because Vic left is quite a stretch, and the parody is to stretch it further until you hit the "core", with an additional layer on the parody as for most people the core business that Google is known for is its search engine, not a DNS service. [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 15:57, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

I speculate that because all of Google's other services are basically loss leaders, basically to just support it's adsense program, this is just harping on it by saying google is focusing on an obscure free service it provides. 17:21, 28 April 2014 (UTC)