explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1638: Backslashes

2017-08-05T17:22:12Z

Papayaman1000: I have a backslash in my brain now

It should be noted that this also occurs in almost every programming language where "\" is the escape character. i.e.
print("Hello")
> Hello
print("\"Hello\"")
> "Hello"
print("\\Hello\\")
> \Hello\
Oh, and by the way, isn't this the third comic to mention "Ba'al, the Soul Eater"? Maybe we should start a category. (Others are [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1246:_Pale_Blue_Dot 1246] (title text) and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1419:_On_the_Phone 1419].)
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.29|173.245.54.29]] 06:14, 3 February 2016 (UTC)
:Did that before seeing you comment, so yes I agree. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:47, 3 February 2016 (UTC)
::But Davidy did not so the category has been deleted again. I have just cleaned up after my mess ;-) so there are no left over links to the dead category... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:27, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

The last entry may also be an oblique reference to the infinitely-expandable recursive acronym "GOD = GOD Over Djinn" mentioned in Richard Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher, Bach.[[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 16:42, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

;I don't think the regex is invalid
''Note: The regex changed after initial publication. See '''Changed Regex''' below''

According to <tt>man grep</tt> you need to specify the <tt>-E</tt> option to use extended regex; without it unescaped parentheses are not interpreted, so they don't need to match.

My - very wild - guess is that it was the command he used to find the line with the most special characters, but I am not confident enough to edit the article (if someone can confirm?). {{unsigned ip|141.101.66.83}}

If it was supposed to do that, it doesn't work. Running it on my bash history matches no lines, and I have lots of special characters in there [[Special:Contributions/197.234.242.243|197.234.242.243]] 07:12, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

Explain it to me like I'm dumb. What is this comic going on about? I think the explanation needs more examples like that hello, above, because that's almost understandable. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.231|198.41.238.231]] 07:47, 3 February 2016 (UTC)
:I agree. But I cannot help either.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:51, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

This is the third time Randall has mentioned Ba'al the Soul Eater xD [[User:International Space Station|International Space Station]] ([[User talk:International Space Station|talk]]) 08:26, 3 February 2016 (UTC)
:Yes, that was already mentioned a few hours before you comment, see the first comment. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:51, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

After passing the regex through bash, you get <nowiki>\\[[(].*\\[\])][^)\]]*$</nowiki> That is, the literal character \, followed by [ or (, followed by any number of any characters, followed by \, followed by ] or ), followed by any number of characters that aren't ) or ], until the end of the line. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.44|108.162.216.44]] 08:33, 3 February 2016 (UTC)
:It sounds like you know what you are talking about. Anyone who can explain it good enough for the explanation, and correct the explanation of the title text if it is wrong to say that it would not work. I have added this as the reason for incomplete. But maybe also examples are needed for people with not programming skills/knowledge. We also enjoy xkcd ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:51, 3 February 2016 (UTC)
:I'm thinking that it's grepping for regular expressions that contain regular expressions. A regex containing <nowiki>"\[...\]"</nowiki> or <nowiki>"$...$"</nowiki> will match other regular expressions, as almost all non-trivial regexes use either character lists or groups. Now why out.txt is likely to contain not just regexes but rather regexes that search for regexes I have no idea - perhaps he had actually put too many backslashes in and he was trying to grep just for <nowiki>"[...]"</nowiki> or <nowiki>"(...)"</nowiki> (i.e. to locate probable regular expressions in out.txt, or anything else in parenthesis for that matter such as countless kinds of code/markup)? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.185|162.158.152.185]] 17:35, 4 February 2016 (UTC)

For fun:
cat ~/.bash_history | xargs -d "\n" -n 1 -I {} bash -c 'chars="$(echo "$1" | grep -o "[a-zA-Z0-9 ]" | wc -l)"; echo "$(( 100 - $(( $chars * 100 / ${#1} )) )) $1"' _ {} | sort -nrk 1 | less

Outputs your bash_history, ordered by relative gibberishness. This was copied by hand from desktop to mobile, might well have a few typos.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.208|162.158.90.208]] 10:04, 3 February 2016 (UTC)
::Besides the fact that -d is a GNU extension to xargs (so it won't exist on OS X, FreeBSD, or anything else but Linux), this is a weird way to calculate gibberishness; I'm guessing functions, variable substitutions, .. and ./, etc. are going to swamp the more unreadable grep and the like. Plus, I think you need a uniq in there somewhere; otherwise, aren't the first few pages are all going to be filled with the 78 copies of "422 cd .." that tied for most gibberishy in my last 500 commands? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.82|162.158.255.82]] 22:51, 7 March 2016 (UTC)

The problem in the comic is not with regexes per se but with situations when the entered text or expression passes through several interpreters, like bash -> grep/sed/awk, or program text -> external shell command. In such cases, you have to escape backslashes for each program in the sequence, and it gets worse if you have 'real' backslashes in the final text that you're processing with the utilities (Windows' file paths, for example). See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_toothpick_syndrome.
Feel free to lift this to the explanation page, since I'm not good at longer and more careful explanations than this one.
Also, gotta notice that Feedly stripped paired backslashes in the title text (probably passed it through some 'interpreter' embedded in its scripts). [[User:Aasasd|Aasasd]] ([[User talk:Aasasd|talk]]) 10:13, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

:A funny comment about the MediaWiki software, which is even worse than this comic: <code><nowiki><Nikerabbit> I looked the code for rlike and didn't find where it does this. Can you point me to it? <vvv> $pattern = preg_replace( '!(\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\)*(\\\\\\\\)?/!', '$1\\/', $pattern ); <Nikerabbit> I thought that was ascii art :)</nowiki></code> ([https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/P110$275 source]) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.215|162.158.91.215]] 10:18, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

Interestingly, I first looked at this on my phone (using <strike>Chrome</strike> Feedly for Android), but the title text did not display correctly in that the backslashes didn't appear (which was a little confusing!). In Chrome on my Windows desktop, the title text appeared correctly. [[User:Jdluk|Jdluk]] ([[User talk:Jdluk|talk]]) 11:36, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

enough with the harry potter fancruft. "elder" is a [[Wiktionary:elder|perfectly good word]]. just because you came across it for the first time in harry potter means you are *typing carefully* the kind of person that likes harry potter. unless this is a ''harry potter reference'' wiki, of course. in which case i'll prepare a complete list of every word that appears both here and there and put a list on every page. oh, right, no i won't. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.161|141.101.106.161]] 12:41, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

Remember that "Elder" is used in a lot of RPGs to denote high level enemies or items. I feel like that's what Randall's referring to here, more than Harry Potter or the general sense of the term "Elder." {{unsigned ip|108.162.245.156}}
: +1. Between the fact that harry potter (, ages, or tribes) aren't mentioned anywhere else in the text and the comic being a progressive list, I see this being the most likely explanation. Plus the metion of demons, which are easily the most* common usage of the modifier.
:: (*) or second most, after "elder gods", who are, let's face it, also demons. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.180.125|162.158.180.125]] 14:41, 3 February 2016 (UTC)
::: I'm pretty sure that "Elder backslash" is in reference to the "Elder gods" of Lovecraft. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.35|173.245.54.35]] 16:51, 3 February 2016 (UTC)
:::: Note also that it's called 'The Elder Wand' not as an intensifier, as in this comic and the other examples given, but because it is literally ''made from the wood of an [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambucus_nigra Elder Tree]'' I'm pretty sure it's not an intentional reference. -Graptor [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.23|173.245.54.23]] 19:29, 3 February 2016 (UTC)
::::: If it's an intentional reference to anything, it's to Lovecraft (or to something similar). I suspect the Elder Wand was an intentional pun by Rowling, however. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.180.137|162.158.180.137]] 04:16, 4 February 2016 (UTC)
::::: Since no-one else seemed to want to, I just restructured that paragraph to make it more clear that if anything Harry Potter was inspired by the older examples, not the other way around. Expanded the LOTR reference and added DnD. If anything Randall is likely to be referencing either the Lovecraft references, or the concept of Elder in general. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.64.173|141.101.64.173]] 11:50, 4 February 2016 (UTC)

Attempting to add to the discussion: This regex is not necessarily invalid or incomprehensible. (''Note: The regex changed after initial publication. See '''Changed Regex''' below.'') It looks like he was looking for a line with a regular expression or definitely some code. You just have to work your way through the backslashes. Although it might be invalid depending on the precise rules. He has some unescaped closing brackets and closing parenthesis. If these have to always be escaped then the regex is invalid. If however you don't have to escape a closing bracket with no opening bracket, then things are fine. I'm not familiar enough with grep's regex parser to know how it handles that edge case. Presuming those unescaped paren and brackets are fine, his regex searches for:

1. A backslash

2. An opening bracket

3. An opening parenthesis (this is a character set but the only character in it is an opening paren)

4. Any number of any characters

5. A backslash

6. An opening bracket

7. A closing bracket

8. A closing paren (presuming it doesn't have to be escaped when there is no opening paren)

9. A closing bracket (presuming it doesn't have to be escaped when there is no opening bracket)

10. Any number of character that are not a closing paren or closing bracket

11. The end of the line

Basically he is looking for a string that looks like:

\[(AAAAA\[])]AAAAA

Looks like a regex to me, and it looks like this regex also doesn't escape closing paren/brackets that don't have an opening paren/bracket, so I'm guessing that he knows what he is doing and his regex is fine. Maybe he was playing regex golf?
[[User:Cmancone|Cmancone]] ([[User talk:Cmancone|talk]])cmancone

Ninjaed by Cmancone, above. I agree with that result in every respect except for the start-of-string being potentially anything, but putting my own analysis in here because it took long enough to type!

Depth-of-backslash might depend upon depth of utility. In Perl, <nowiki>''</nowiki>-quotes (among others) treat everything within as literal whilst ""-quotes (and variations) interpolates any special characters, variables, etc that you put in it. (Search for "Quote and Quote-like operators" in your favourite PerlDocs source.) '\sss' is a literal backslash followed by three 's' characters , while "\sss" is the special \s escape (a whitespace) followed by two further regular characters. You might need to define the first when you need to use it to provide a not-previously-escaped \s so that it might be escaped within another context. ''Or'' you define it as "\\sss" (escaped-\) the first time, as equivalent to '\sss'. But '\\sss' would be a literal that, later, could be interpreted as an escaped-\ to the input of a further context where the \s finally becomes 'match a whitespace'.

'\\\sss' would be literal, whilst "\\\sss" could be equivalent to '\ ss' (literal backslash, literal space, rest of characters). Then, instead of literal '\\sss', for some purpose, you could interpolate two escaped-backslashes "\\\\sss"... and so on.

Meanwhile I ''think'', just from visual inspection, "'''\\\[[(].*\\\[\])][^)\]]*$'''" in Bash should obey the interpolation rules quite nicely. The first two characters must be a literal backslash (from the escaped-backslash) and a literal open-square bracket (again, escaped). The next open-square and the close-square shortly after depict a character class that contains only an open-parenthesis, and could have been written as '''$'''.

The '''.*''' indicates zero-or-more (the asterix) instances of ''any'' character (the dot). There is then a literal backslash (from the next '''\\''' duo) and a literal open-square (the '''\[''' pair) and close-square (the '''\]''' pair). The ''')''' is literal and does not need escaping (as a parenthesis group had not yet been opened), as is the next ''']''' character. To be sure, I would have written these two as the pair escapes '''$\]''', but horses for courses...

Then there's another character class (the next '''[''' and the final ''']''') required zero-or-more times (the asterix) to use up all the rest of the characters to the end (the ending '''$''' character). As there was no '''^''' character (a.k.a. caret/circumflex/etc) at the start, the match isn't bothered about what unmatched characters appear before the original '''\('''. This character class, however, starts with a '''^''' which in this context (the very first character of a character-class definition, not somewhere where an entire match-string starts) indicates negation of the following selection, so it is all characters ''but'' those specified, which is the regular close-parenthesis and (because it needs to be contained within a '''[]''' pair) the escaped close-square.

So, all matching strings must start with '''\[(''', i.e. the backslash, open-square and open-paren. They can continue with ''any'' further text, before then having a '''\[])]''', i.e. backslash, open-and-close-squares and close-paren, close-square. After this, the match continues just as long as there are no non-closing square/classic brackets before the ending.

The minimum matching literal string would be '''\[(\[])]''' with longer variants being of the form '''X\[(Y\[])]Z''' where X and Y can be replaced by anything (or be absent), and Z can be replaced by anything (or absent!) ''so long as it doesn't contain possibly relevent close-brackets!''. The latter stipulation is likely because the Y (and X) ''is'' allowed to contain these characters, and for some reason you don't want to confuse the test by finding some other '''\[])]''' segment within the X/Y-zones. (In this context, it doesn't actually seem to matter too much. But it might do in ways I haven't spotted or just be a hang-over from a prior permutation of the test.)

The "grep -o" function is working on the output to the file being '''cat'''ed (there are alternate ways of doing this that some people might prefer), to only accept the lines in the file that match the '''X\[(Y\[])]Z''' string. These lines would appear to be lines of out.txt (a fairly generic name that reveals little to its original purpose) that are well-formed for some other purpose. A safety-escaped (i.e. not to be taken literally by any simple parser) '''[]'''-grouping containing a '''()'''-group (''not'' escaped, perhaps reasonably in context) containing potentially random text followed by an empty '''[]''' pair (again, safety-escaped). Depending on the source, the empty '''[]'''-pair could mean many things, as with the other layers. And the lines may end with any further text.

The "out.txt" file might be the result of a prior Grep (string-search function) quote possibly scanning code for lines of particular importance by another pattern and dumping the results to out.txt for further perusal. And then Randall finds the need to dig further into the first result by extracting just those already selected that all have the '''X\[(Y\[])Z]'''-ish pattern to them.

But I could be wrong, and that's way too long for an official explanation.
(Perhaps just something like the penultimate paragraph, if we're not entirely mistaken?) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.89|162.158.152.89]] 14:14, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

The regex is supposed to be looking for (''Note: The regex changed after initial publication. See '''Changed Regex''' below.''):
\\\ backslash
[[(] [ or (
.* any character (repeated 0 or more times)
space space
\\\ backslash
[[\])] probably meant to match either [, ] or ). However, it's not correct, it instead matches the literal characters [)]
[^)\]]* probably meant to match any character that isn't ) or ], repeated. Instead it means one character that's not a ), and then a ] zero or more times
$ end of string

The first problem is that you're not supposed to escape ] in a [...], and it also has to be first in the grouping (unless negated with a ^) It should be [][)] or something similar.

The second problem is the same. The last bit should be [^])]*$ and not [^)\]]*$. [[User:Khris|Khris]] ([[User talk:Khris|talk]]) 14:24, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

I was reading through the regex, if using grep you run into an error with an unmatched ")". Removing this gets a string such as \[(AAAAA\[]]AAAAA$ http://regexr.com/3cng8 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.230|162.158.214.230]] 14:42, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

The regex relies on several special cases (*surprise*). (''Note: The regex changed after initial publication. See '''Changed Regex''' below.'')
First: bash double-quote expansion (see [https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/html_node/Double-Quotes.html#Double-Quotes]). Perhaps non-intuitively, \\\ followed by a character that \ doesn't escape is an escaped backslash followed by a literal backslash, effectively the same as \\\\ followed by that same non-escaped character. After bash double-quote expansion, this results in:

\\[[(].*\\[\])][^)\]]*$

grep interprets this as:

# any leading non-\ characters
# literal backslash
# character class containing [ and (
# zero or more *any* characters
# another literal backslash
# yet another literal backslash, via a character class containing only a backslash. Note this does not contain an escaped ], as it might appear at first glance. See [http://www.gnu.org/software/grep/manual/html_node/Character-Classes-and-Bracket-Expressions.html]
# literal )
# literal ]
# character class of anything except ), \
# zero or more ]
# end of line

Matching examples:
*echo 'asdf\[asdfasdf\\)]a]]]]]]' | grep -o "\\\[[(].*\\\[\])][^)\]]*$"
*echo '$\$]P' | grep -o "\\\[[(].*\\\[\])][^)\]]*$"

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[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.34|108.162.216.34]] 16:14, 3 February 2016 (UTC)rb

One key thing to understand is that \ is not a special character when it's in a bracket expression - you can't escape characters in bracket expressions. So [^)\] simply means any character other then ) or \. Also, ( and ) are just regular characters unless they are escaped in basic regular expressions - extended regular expressions reverse this rule. {{unsigned|Kalfalfa}}

I don't know about the regular expression in the title text, but I think the explanation is incorrect in that it starts off talking about regular expressions. Escaping backslashes is an issue with strings in programming in general. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.46|173.245.54.46]] 17:12, 3 February 2016 (UTC)
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I suspect that Randall may have used the regexp in the title text to *find* malformed regular expressions in a file (out.txt) that he (or someone) had previously filled with output from some error message (or collection of error messages, or at least the output of something where a regular expression had been expected to work but had not worked as expected). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.252.227|162.158.252.227]] 19:06, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

You can use metacharacters in character classes, the only metacharacters in a character class that must be escaped are the closing square bracket (]), the backslash (\), the hyphen, and the carat and hyphen (^) if they are the first listed item in the set. The closing square bracket requires escaping because including it without would signal the end of the set otherwise, which then means the backslash must also be escaped. The hyphen must be escaped because, without it, it signals a range (unless it is listed first, then it is literal without escaping). Carat when listed first because otherwise it signals a negative set. 
Therefore, the end of the title text regex matches a backslash followed by either ] or ), which is then followed by any number (including none) of characters so long as they are not ] nor ) which means the whole regex can match "\[something\] more" or "$something$more" or "\[something\) more" as well as "\[something\]". — [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.117|162.158.255.117]] 01:16, 4 February 2016 (UTC)

I'll add that I use an ''almost identical'' regex in my mail server for matching mailing-list subject lines which often have a format of "[Listname] normal subject line" which made it pretty recognizable to me. — [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.117|162.158.255.117]] 01:24, 4 February 2016 (UTC)

;Example of a match
''Note: The regex changed after initial publication. See '''Changed Regex''' below''

First, the shell will do some escaping substitution. So, in order to easily read it, let's see what grep really receives:

$ echo "\\\[[(].*\\\[\])][^)\]]*$"
\\[[(].*\\[\])][^)\]]*$

Let's break it out:

* <code>\\</code> matches a <code>\</code>
* <code>[[(]</code> matches either a <code>[</code> or a <code>(</code>
* <code>.*</code> matches any series of characters until the next match
* <code>\\</code> matches a <code>\</code>
* <code>[\]</code> matches a <code>\</code>
* <code>)]</code> matches <code>)]</code>
* <code>[^)\]</code> matches anything but <code>)</code> or <code>\</code>
* <code>]*</code> matches any number of <code>]</code> (including none)
* <code>$</code> matches the end of the string

So the string '''\[aaa\]\\)]a]]]]]]''' matches! {{unsigned ip|108.162.228.167}}

...Maybe it's meant to search for all Game Grumps transcripts which make mention of the "[http://gamegrumps.wikia.com/wiki/Grep Grep]" gag? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.55|108.162.216.55]] 15:53, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

...Wow, guys, and here I was thinking he wanted to put the cat out, when the cat didn't want to go out.... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.158|108.162.249.158]] 04:03, 4 February 2016 (UTC)

What I think is that Randall probably ''intended'' the regex to match "backslash, opening round or square bracket, anything, backslash, closing round or square bracket, anything that doesn't involve closing round or square brackets", since (unlike most other possibilities given) that actually looks like something one might want to search for. Whether it ''does'', in fact, match that or something else (or indeed anything at all) is another question entirely. (For all we know, it didn't work, Randall figured out it didn't, and wrote the correct thing the next line over.) Unrelatedly: this comic (and the backslash proliferation in general) reminded me of the Telnet Song. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.180.137|162.158.180.137]] 04:16, 4 February 2016 (UTC)

That explanation is wrong: <code>[\]</code> does not match a literal backslash; it would still need to be escaped inside the brackets. That backslash escapes the next character, a ], so the group doesn't end there. The actual expression there is <code>[\])]</code>, a character group containing an escaped ] and a ). Just like the first part. It is most likely intended to catch content surrounded by [ ] or ( ). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.15|141.101.104.15]] 13:43, 4 February 2016 (UTC)
:To clarify: this makes the expression catch anything that starts with a block surrounded by escaped round or square brackets. So stuff like '''$Hello world$more text here''' but with either round or square brackets (or combinations, since there's nothing enforcing they have to match. I'd have made it an OR case with two groups with matching brackets, personally) -[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.15|141.101.104.15]] 13:51, 4 February 2016 (UTC)
:You're making the same mistake Randall did: while many (most?) regex dialects use \ as escape inside a character class, this is not true for grep's default syntax. I've expanded that interpretation in my comment below, however the analysis by 108.162.228.167 is a correct explanation of how this expression is ''actually'' interpreted by grep. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.185|141.101.75.185]] 15:42, 4 February 2016 (UTC)

Your analysis is thorough and correct, however it is unlikely this is what the regex was intended to accomplish. (''Note: The regex changed after initial publication. See '''Changed Regex''' below.'') More likely, Randall is more accustomed to other regex dialects such as Perl(-compatible) regex where a backslash ''does'' work to escape special characters inside a character class. Under that assumption the regex (with some whitespace inserted for readability) would break up as:
* <code>\\ [[(]</code> an escaped opening bracket or paren
* <code>.*</code> anything
* <code>\\ [\])]</code> an escaped closing bracket or paren
* <code>[^)\]]* $</code> no closing bracket or paren occurring on the remainder of the line
Although the final condition is still a bit obscure, this still makes a ''lot'' more sense. Unfortunately it also crushes Randall's hope the regex worked as intended, since this simply isn't how the expression is parsed with grep's default syntax (which is why I always use <code>grep -P</code>). --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.185|141.101.75.185]] 15:34, 4 February 2016 (UTC)
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Did anyone notice the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_%28Unix%29#Useless_use_of_cat Useless Use of Cat]? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.101|141.101.106.101]] 19:36, 4 February 2016 (UTC)

:Yup - I hereby award Randall with the Useless Use of Cat Award of the day. Cherish it.
:[[User:Zedn00|Zedn00]] ([[User talk:Zedn00|talk]]) 03:51, 5 February 2016 (UTC) Zedn00
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;Changed Regex
At some point before 2016-02-09 18:00 +0100, Randall has modified the bash command in the title text!

Original command:
cat out.txt | grep -o "\\\[[(].*\\\[\])][^)\]]*$"
New command:
cat out.txt | grep -o "[[(].*[])][^)]]*$"

For the old command, 108.162.228.167's and 108.162.216.34's explanations above were correct.

The new command matches:
[[(] either a '[' or a '('
.* an unbounded and possibly empty sequence of arbitrary characters
[])] either a ']' or a ')'
[^)] any character except for a ')'
]* an unbounded and possibly empty sequence of ']'
$ anchored at end of line

It now e.g. matches '''123[abc.<>)x]]]]]''':
$ echo "123[abc.<>)x]]]]]" | tee /dev/stderr | grep -o "[[(].*[])][^)]]*$"

This makes hardly more sense than the original command.
--[[User:Markus|Markus]] ([[User talk:Markus|talk]]) 17:38, 9 February 2016 (UTC)
:Randal may have been sincere about finding it in his history and wondering if it worked. I think he probably meant
cat out.txt | grep -o "[[(].*[])][^])]*$"

:which breaks down as:
[[(] either a '[' or a '('
.* an unbounded and possibly empty sequence of arbitrary characters
[])] either a ']' or a ')'
[^])]* any number of any characters except for a ')' or ']'
$ anchored at end of line

:This matches any line that has a '[' or '(' followed by a ')' or ']', matching from the first '[' or '(' to the end of the line. The final part of the regex, '[^])]*$', is not really necessary here, but it is a common pattern to follow a character pattern with an opposite character pattern to be sure the first character pattern matches the last instance of a repeating character, so he might have added it out of habit, which would explain also why he got it wrong (since he just followed '[blah]' with '[^blah]' which in this special case doesn't work because 'blah' has a special character in it: ']').
:[[User:Jgro|Concerned Netizen]] ([[User talk:Jgro|talk]]) 02:23, 25 April 2017 (UTC)
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Funny enough, I'm literally looking at some other dev's code right now that actually implements an eight backslash regex sequence, with just the comment "backslash". I'm still scratching my head over what they were trying to accomplish or even communicate with this. [[User:Domino|Domino]] ([[User talk:Domino|talk]]) 21:45, 16 August 2016 (UTC)domino
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I believe the regex is a reference to xkcd 1313 (Regex Golf)
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.90|108.162.221.90]] 16:08, 26 August 2016 (UTC)
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I had to use a backslash that escaped the screen today. I have a Discord bot written with Node.js, and my "friends" demanded I add a shruggie output [despite Discord having that already]. So, I now have a string that looks like <pre>'¯\\\\\\_(ツ)\_/¯'</pre>.

Talk:1409: Query

2017-06-11T23:49:18Z

Papayaman1000:

----
I cant help but notice that the ice cream guy is never selected for any of the queries, so he shouldn't be in the data pool, and thereby shouldnt be deletable.
~JustCallMeMOTL
:Or alternatively, ice cream guy is, indeed, a person, just one who's <= 30 years of age, hasn't watched porn in the last twelve hours, isn't afraid of flying, and makes less than six figures annually. Which isn't exactly impossible. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 23:49, 11 June 2017 (UTC)

I assume the Cueball sitting on the box is being accused of being Hairy. I'd say no. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 07:26, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

Is there any particular point Randall would be making where 2 females and only one male, out of 5 each, have watch porn in the last half day? [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 07:26, 18 August 2014 (UTC)
:I wasn't sure about one of those 'females', because of the various visual cues.
:What do we know/can assume about the figures? From Left to Right...
:Dark-haired ponytail and mobile phone, on own: *above 30*, not high-earning, flies easily, not a recent porn viewer. (Possibly she's a professional woman, but not smashed through the glass ceiling.)
:Assumed Megan with the 'device', standing apart: less than 30yo, not high-earning, *fears flying* (hence her inspiration), not a recent porn viewer. (Could this be the archetypal Megan, or just ''a'' Megan?)
:Taller cueball, in 1-to-1 conversation: *above 30*, not high-earning, flies easily, not a recent porn viewer. (Grown up, doubtless socially comfortable.)
:Shorter, buzzcut cueball, in 1-to-1 conversation: *above 30*, *high earner*, flies easily, not a recent porn viewer. (Probably an pre-middle-aged Exec "going places", perhaps his success and choice of 'young' haircut are as a result of a mild case of Napoleon syndrome, but if people will talk to him he's probably not being a dick about his success.)
:Sitting ponytail, in conference: less than 30yo, not high-earning, flies easily, *recent viewed porn*. (From the companions and the position, probably high 20s recent graduate relaxing with a long-term social group.)
:Sitting cueball, in conference: *above 30*, not high-earning, flies easily, not a recent porn viewer. (Another graduate, early 30s, probably exercises in order to find that sitting position relaxing. Part of the same social group.)
:Sitting flowinghair, in conference: *above 30*, not high-earning, *fears flying*, *recent viewed porn*. (''Sex indeterminate'' as that hair could indicate a metrosexual male. By 30 the look is probably starting to wearing thin, but still not overly embaressing. It certainly doesn't look like (s)he has settled down in a familial relationship yet, but has quite obviously flown the parental nest and is now with friends from college/university. Or might have been met on a round-the-world backpacking holiday and discovered they were from his own home city, except for the fear of flying (unless worked passage on ships). Probably knows all the cool scenes in this city, though, so well worth socialising in the park with.)
:Perched cueball, with icecream, hanging out: less than 30yo, not high-earning, flies easily, not a recent porn viewer. (Probably a teenager, with a close-cropped haircut. Might or might not know the other two behind him, but hard to tell what he thinks except perhaps "I've got an ice-cream! Yay!" Perhaps after a busy day of not-watching-porn.)
:Leaning ponytail, with device, hanging out: less than 30yo, not high-earning, *fears flying*, not a recent porn viewer. (Teenage girl. Big on social networking. Probably not so big on face-to-face-talking.)
:Smallest cueball, with device, hanging out: less than 30yo, not high-earning, *fears flying*, *recent viewed porn*. (Teenage boy. Typical teenage boy. As girl, but probably in-between Tweeting with the girl next to him he's serrupticiously viewing a video someone sent him (see his furtive look?), and maybe of the girl next to him. Or something 'sexted' ''from'' her, if that wouldn't count for her SELECTion on that criteria. One way or another, ''probably'' with the sound off.)
:...what's more, presumably none of those fiogures were Terminator Units, Alien Shapeshifting Lizards or ''already'' ghosts of some kind (or whatever class of individual would not belong in TABLE PEOPLE). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.7|141.101.99.7]] 09:34, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

::Thats racism! I mean speciesm. Alien Shapeshifting Lizards are people too! -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:15, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

::You list a lot of individuals being from college/university, however we have no data from the above image to establish that. People that don't go to university do exist and do have social networks (and outnumber the people who have been to college). Additionally, while I assume it to be out of place for Randall there is the possibility that some of our females/males in this population are transgendered or transvestites (assuming, of course, they're a US population). As well . . . Terminator Units aren't people!? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.181|108.162.237.181]] 13:53, 19 August 2014 (UTC)

Sounds a lot like watch_dogs. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.201|108.162.229.201]] 07:42, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

Is this Zuckerberg's phone? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.34|108.162.254.34]] 09:33, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

Is there any particular reason this comic isn't appearing on the homepage at the moment? For some reason xkcd.com is displaying 1408 "March of the Penguins". No actual navigation on the site will take me to this comic, I have to manually type /1409 into the URL bar. --[[User:Zagorath|Zagorath]] ([[User talk:Zagorath|talk]]) 10:20, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

I'm under the impression that Megan is using the device to look for potential mates. The age and income queries point to this, the other two are less common but still make sense in the context of a relationship. Finding no one who matches all of her criteria, she then deletes the list.
[[User:Dromaeosaur|Dromaeosaur]] ([[User talk:Dromaeosaur|talk]]) 10:41, 18 August 2014 (UTC)
:Well, there's obviously something to the idea of those directing her choices (for positive ''or'' negative selection purposes - I assume <=30 && >$100k, but would she want someone who shares her fear and would ''never'' suggest a plane trip, or someone who could be reassuring when one ''is'' taken? And someone who is 'wholesome' or likely to be open-minded about pornography?) but, although it's likely there's no Mr(/Mrs) Right, she finds just proclaims it "neat" and only seems to inadvertently 'tidy up' (albeit too much), rather than doing it in deliberate (if again misjudged) frustration... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.7|141.101.99.7]] 11:39, 18 August 2014 (UTC)
::I thought the same. I think that when Megan realises that no one matched her queries (so no possible relationship match) she decide to clean the list as she's not interested in them. Doing this she forgets, like most people do, that she's part of the people as well, and so she deletes herself too, accidentally.

Why does the explanation call it "SQL-esque"? That looks like fully valid SQL to me. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.230.119|108.162.230.119]] 10:49, 18 August 2014 (UTC)
: I can only guuess that they might call it "SQL-esque" because based upon the fields queried, it does not seem like a backing database would be able to keep a constant record of everyone where the number of hours since watching porn could be CONSTANTLY updated (and thus accurate). This is not a typical database, granted, but that info (as I wondered below, a while back) is something that would be found with comparison between a timestamp and GETDATE() - possibly contained within a function, neither of which is shown in the respective statement (no function call, no datediff). It is still SQL, and SQL can be used verbally to query a fellow human for any information, though you'd get a strange look at best from most people you meet on the street - it's just a language - but the implication is that it is backed by a relational database with static data like most databases out there, so perhaps they're implying that it somehow can't be SQL because such a database can't conceiveably be built(?). Idunno - I'm grasping at straws... -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 19:08, 28 January 2015 (UTC)
I think the comic is a reference to "Big Data" and the claim I read this morning that one organisation has a file on 10% of the world's population with around 1500 pieces of information on each of them. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.194|141.101.98.194]] 12:27, 18 August 2014 (UTC) Dan
:It's also possible that the strip is commenting on the notion that the universe may be a hologram and/or a computer simulation. If that's the case, then it would make sense to have a People table. {{unsigned ip|173.245.48.79}}

One thing I find interesting is what I see as an implication that <del>5/10</del> (sorry: 6/10) of the people pictured would not have a "device" on them at the time they were dropped with the PEOPLE table - certainly ''more'' than half of people have a device (or at least an ID or set of keys or something)... perhaps being contained within their clothing -- which apparently is dropped along with the associated person -- means THOSE devices were dropped along with the clothing (cascading?); however, being in the hands of the associated person means a certain level of disassociation... idunno... pick pick pick away at the joke! ALSO, seems like the time since someone watched porn would have to be computed (wouldn't be stored in the table as a field itself, but computed from a field like time_last_watched_porn and datediff... or else some user-defined function)... FINALLY - would have been great to see the result of an INSERT or UPDATE statement prior to dropping... ah well - [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 14:10, 18 August 2014 (UTC)
:Just to make is clear. If their devices should be dropped, even if they were in their pockets, then why do you not also expect their clothes to be dropped...? Oh, maybe their clothes did drop, and since this is not visible (they are stick figures...) then their phones is in the pocket, and would not show up anyway. So either the clothes goes along with everything they have on them (but not what they hold in their hands) or else the clothes also drops like everything else that were not a biological part of them. (Man this is a far out discussion ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:09, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

See [[327: Exploits of a Mom]]. That is all. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.153|173.245.54.153]] 19:04, 18 August 2014 (UTC)
:Added it to the explain--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:09, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

I think it's interesting Megan chooses to Drop Table People right after viewing who's watched porn, much like people who clear their browser cache/history after watching porn to make sure no one else finds out. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.179|108.162.237.179]] 00:15, 19 August 2014 (UTC)

There's a further implication no-one seems to have picked up on here. At the beginning of the strip, Megan finds the device sitting on the ground,presumably lost. At the end of the strip, everyone's disappeared and the device is sitting on the ground, presumably lost. Is this the first time this chain of events has occurred, or has the table been dropped in the past? [[User:Grutness|Grutness]] ([[User talk:Grutness|talk]]) 01:37, 19 August 2014 (UTC)

What Megan never realized was that Mr 100 000 earned his [http://google.com/#q=100000+VND+in+USD earned his income in Vietnam]. —[[User:Jameslucas|jameslucas]] ([[User talk:Jameslucas|" "]] / [[Special:Contributions/Jameslucas|+]]) 12:24, 19 August 2014 (UTC)

Isn't dropping the table kinda boring? Think of the possibilities... ''UPDATE PEOPLE SET AFRAID_OF_FLYING=FALSE, ANNUAL_INCOME=120000 WHERE NAME='Megan''' [[User:KillaBilla|KillaBilla]] ([[User talk:KillaBilla|talk]]) 13:52, 19 August 2014 (UTC)

:You are selfish. Think of how you can help whole world! ''UPDATE PEOPLE SET ANNUAL_INCOME=10000 WHERE ANNUAL_INCOME < 10000'' ... poverty in Africa solved :-). -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:24, 20 August 2014 (UTC)
:: That would just result in inflation, and nobody would win.
:: I'd love to see Black Hat with this device. 23:27, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

Why would Randall let this comic out on a Sunday. The first entry in the explain history is from the Monday after - the 18th of August. Anyone who can find out if this is the correct date, or just a mistake from when the page was created? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:18, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1409: Query

2017-06-11T23:48:33Z

Papayaman1000:

----
I cant help but notice that the ice cream guy is never selected for any of the queries, so he shouldn't be in the data pool, and thereby shouldnt be deletable.
~JustCallMeMOTL
:Or alternatively, ice cream guy is, indeed, a person, just one who's <= 30 years of age, hasn't watched porn in the last twelve hours, isn't afraid of flying, and makes less than six figures annually. Which isn't exactly impossible.

I assume the Cueball sitting on the box is being accused of being Hairy. I'd say no. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 07:26, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

Is there any particular point Randall would be making where 2 females and only one male, out of 5 each, have watch porn in the last half day? [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 07:26, 18 August 2014 (UTC)
:I wasn't sure about one of those 'females', because of the various visual cues.
:What do we know/can assume about the figures? From Left to Right...
:Dark-haired ponytail and mobile phone, on own: *above 30*, not high-earning, flies easily, not a recent porn viewer. (Possibly she's a professional woman, but not smashed through the glass ceiling.)
:Assumed Megan with the 'device', standing apart: less than 30yo, not high-earning, *fears flying* (hence her inspiration), not a recent porn viewer. (Could this be the archetypal Megan, or just ''a'' Megan?)
:Taller cueball, in 1-to-1 conversation: *above 30*, not high-earning, flies easily, not a recent porn viewer. (Grown up, doubtless socially comfortable.)
:Shorter, buzzcut cueball, in 1-to-1 conversation: *above 30*, *high earner*, flies easily, not a recent porn viewer. (Probably an pre-middle-aged Exec "going places", perhaps his success and choice of 'young' haircut are as a result of a mild case of Napoleon syndrome, but if people will talk to him he's probably not being a dick about his success.)
:Sitting ponytail, in conference: less than 30yo, not high-earning, flies easily, *recent viewed porn*. (From the companions and the position, probably high 20s recent graduate relaxing with a long-term social group.)
:Sitting cueball, in conference: *above 30*, not high-earning, flies easily, not a recent porn viewer. (Another graduate, early 30s, probably exercises in order to find that sitting position relaxing. Part of the same social group.)
:Sitting flowinghair, in conference: *above 30*, not high-earning, *fears flying*, *recent viewed porn*. (''Sex indeterminate'' as that hair could indicate a metrosexual male. By 30 the look is probably starting to wearing thin, but still not overly embaressing. It certainly doesn't look like (s)he has settled down in a familial relationship yet, but has quite obviously flown the parental nest and is now with friends from college/university. Or might have been met on a round-the-world backpacking holiday and discovered they were from his own home city, except for the fear of flying (unless worked passage on ships). Probably knows all the cool scenes in this city, though, so well worth socialising in the park with.)
:Perched cueball, with icecream, hanging out: less than 30yo, not high-earning, flies easily, not a recent porn viewer. (Probably a teenager, with a close-cropped haircut. Might or might not know the other two behind him, but hard to tell what he thinks except perhaps "I've got an ice-cream! Yay!" Perhaps after a busy day of not-watching-porn.)
:Leaning ponytail, with device, hanging out: less than 30yo, not high-earning, *fears flying*, not a recent porn viewer. (Teenage girl. Big on social networking. Probably not so big on face-to-face-talking.)
:Smallest cueball, with device, hanging out: less than 30yo, not high-earning, *fears flying*, *recent viewed porn*. (Teenage boy. Typical teenage boy. As girl, but probably in-between Tweeting with the girl next to him he's serrupticiously viewing a video someone sent him (see his furtive look?), and maybe of the girl next to him. Or something 'sexted' ''from'' her, if that wouldn't count for her SELECTion on that criteria. One way or another, ''probably'' with the sound off.)
:...what's more, presumably none of those fiogures were Terminator Units, Alien Shapeshifting Lizards or ''already'' ghosts of some kind (or whatever class of individual would not belong in TABLE PEOPLE). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.7|141.101.99.7]] 09:34, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

::Thats racism! I mean speciesm. Alien Shapeshifting Lizards are people too! -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:15, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

::You list a lot of individuals being from college/university, however we have no data from the above image to establish that. People that don't go to university do exist and do have social networks (and outnumber the people who have been to college). Additionally, while I assume it to be out of place for Randall there is the possibility that some of our females/males in this population are transgendered or transvestites (assuming, of course, they're a US population). As well . . . Terminator Units aren't people!? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.181|108.162.237.181]] 13:53, 19 August 2014 (UTC)

Sounds a lot like watch_dogs. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.201|108.162.229.201]] 07:42, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

Is this Zuckerberg's phone? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.34|108.162.254.34]] 09:33, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

Is there any particular reason this comic isn't appearing on the homepage at the moment? For some reason xkcd.com is displaying 1408 "March of the Penguins". No actual navigation on the site will take me to this comic, I have to manually type /1409 into the URL bar. --[[User:Zagorath|Zagorath]] ([[User talk:Zagorath|talk]]) 10:20, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

I'm under the impression that Megan is using the device to look for potential mates. The age and income queries point to this, the other two are less common but still make sense in the context of a relationship. Finding no one who matches all of her criteria, she then deletes the list.
[[User:Dromaeosaur|Dromaeosaur]] ([[User talk:Dromaeosaur|talk]]) 10:41, 18 August 2014 (UTC)
:Well, there's obviously something to the idea of those directing her choices (for positive ''or'' negative selection purposes - I assume <=30 && >$100k, but would she want someone who shares her fear and would ''never'' suggest a plane trip, or someone who could be reassuring when one ''is'' taken? And someone who is 'wholesome' or likely to be open-minded about pornography?) but, although it's likely there's no Mr(/Mrs) Right, she finds just proclaims it "neat" and only seems to inadvertently 'tidy up' (albeit too much), rather than doing it in deliberate (if again misjudged) frustration... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.7|141.101.99.7]] 11:39, 18 August 2014 (UTC)
::I thought the same. I think that when Megan realises that no one matched her queries (so no possible relationship match) she decide to clean the list as she's not interested in them. Doing this she forgets, like most people do, that she's part of the people as well, and so she deletes herself too, accidentally.

Why does the explanation call it "SQL-esque"? That looks like fully valid SQL to me. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.230.119|108.162.230.119]] 10:49, 18 August 2014 (UTC)
: I can only guuess that they might call it "SQL-esque" because based upon the fields queried, it does not seem like a backing database would be able to keep a constant record of everyone where the number of hours since watching porn could be CONSTANTLY updated (and thus accurate). This is not a typical database, granted, but that info (as I wondered below, a while back) is something that would be found with comparison between a timestamp and GETDATE() - possibly contained within a function, neither of which is shown in the respective statement (no function call, no datediff). It is still SQL, and SQL can be used verbally to query a fellow human for any information, though you'd get a strange look at best from most people you meet on the street - it's just a language - but the implication is that it is backed by a relational database with static data like most databases out there, so perhaps they're implying that it somehow can't be SQL because such a database can't conceiveably be built(?). Idunno - I'm grasping at straws... -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 19:08, 28 January 2015 (UTC)
I think the comic is a reference to "Big Data" and the claim I read this morning that one organisation has a file on 10% of the world's population with around 1500 pieces of information on each of them. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.194|141.101.98.194]] 12:27, 18 August 2014 (UTC) Dan
:It's also possible that the strip is commenting on the notion that the universe may be a hologram and/or a computer simulation. If that's the case, then it would make sense to have a People table. {{unsigned ip|173.245.48.79}}

One thing I find interesting is what I see as an implication that <del>5/10</del> (sorry: 6/10) of the people pictured would not have a "device" on them at the time they were dropped with the PEOPLE table - certainly ''more'' than half of people have a device (or at least an ID or set of keys or something)... perhaps being contained within their clothing -- which apparently is dropped along with the associated person -- means THOSE devices were dropped along with the clothing (cascading?); however, being in the hands of the associated person means a certain level of disassociation... idunno... pick pick pick away at the joke! ALSO, seems like the time since someone watched porn would have to be computed (wouldn't be stored in the table as a field itself, but computed from a field like time_last_watched_porn and datediff... or else some user-defined function)... FINALLY - would have been great to see the result of an INSERT or UPDATE statement prior to dropping... ah well - [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 14:10, 18 August 2014 (UTC)
:Just to make is clear. If their devices should be dropped, even if they were in their pockets, then why do you not also expect their clothes to be dropped...? Oh, maybe their clothes did drop, and since this is not visible (they are stick figures...) then their phones is in the pocket, and would not show up anyway. So either the clothes goes along with everything they have on them (but not what they hold in their hands) or else the clothes also drops like everything else that were not a biological part of them. (Man this is a far out discussion ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:09, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

See [[327: Exploits of a Mom]]. That is all. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.153|173.245.54.153]] 19:04, 18 August 2014 (UTC)
:Added it to the explain--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:09, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

I think it's interesting Megan chooses to Drop Table People right after viewing who's watched porn, much like people who clear their browser cache/history after watching porn to make sure no one else finds out. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.179|108.162.237.179]] 00:15, 19 August 2014 (UTC)

There's a further implication no-one seems to have picked up on here. At the beginning of the strip, Megan finds the device sitting on the ground,presumably lost. At the end of the strip, everyone's disappeared and the device is sitting on the ground, presumably lost. Is this the first time this chain of events has occurred, or has the table been dropped in the past? [[User:Grutness|Grutness]] ([[User talk:Grutness|talk]]) 01:37, 19 August 2014 (UTC)

What Megan never realized was that Mr 100 000 earned his [http://google.com/#q=100000+VND+in+USD earned his income in Vietnam]. —[[User:Jameslucas|jameslucas]] ([[User talk:Jameslucas|" "]] / [[Special:Contributions/Jameslucas|+]]) 12:24, 19 August 2014 (UTC)

Isn't dropping the table kinda boring? Think of the possibilities... ''UPDATE PEOPLE SET AFRAID_OF_FLYING=FALSE, ANNUAL_INCOME=120000 WHERE NAME='Megan''' [[User:KillaBilla|KillaBilla]] ([[User talk:KillaBilla|talk]]) 13:52, 19 August 2014 (UTC)

:You are selfish. Think of how you can help whole world! ''UPDATE PEOPLE SET ANNUAL_INCOME=10000 WHERE ANNUAL_INCOME < 10000'' ... poverty in Africa solved :-). -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:24, 20 August 2014 (UTC)
:: That would just result in inflation, and nobody would win.
:: I'd love to see Black Hat with this device. 23:27, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

Why would Randall let this comic out on a Sunday. The first entry in the explain history is from the Monday after - the 18th of August. Anyone who can find out if this is the correct date, or just a mistake from when the page was created? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:18, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1741: Work

2017-01-11T14:46:48Z

Papayaman1000:

Whoa, I've never been early enough to beat the explanation before. {{unsigned ip|173.245.50.82}}
:To 173.245.50.82, please remember to sign your posts. --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 13:21, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

I wrote the transcript. Feel free to change it so it's not so bare and write the explanation. Thanks. --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 13:20, 3 October 2016 (UTC)
:Done ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:37, 4 October 2016 (UTC)

To prevent fire hazards, objects in California are not allowed to surpass a certain temperature, 140 °C if I'm correct . Can't find the actual law quick. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.230|162.158.114.230]] 18:01, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

I think Randall underestimates the problem. I used to work for the research arm of the electronics multinational, Philips. When a product design was "finished", it had to go to a special committee who decided where, exactly, on the product did the word "PHILIPS" and their little shield logo go - and (rarely) whether these things should be done in black or white. It was VERY frequently the case that the committee would take longer to come to a conclusion than the product took to design. [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 20:32, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

I often wonder about those tiny, cheap plastic toys that come in Xmas crackers (UK) or the 25 cent toy vending machines (USA). They are completely crappy things - but thinking that someone thought about what kind of toy should be made - then designed the shape of it, thought about the color of plastic to use, spent tens of thousands of dollars machining an injection mold for it - and STILL turned out a complete piece of junk...it's anyone's guess what effort that took. I know it costs around $40,000 to make a mold like that - but those toys look like someone who was being paid very, very little, spent no more than an afternoon designing each one! [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 20:32, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

What a coincidence. I just got out of my Product Development class. I remember having to deal with so many of these things that it's completely relatable. [[User:Jeudi Violist|Jeudi Violist]] ([[User talk:Jeudi Violist|talk]]) 21:17, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

Wow, that curve would be a bitch to draw in AutoCAD. I still shudder... [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 21:22, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

If anything, I'll bet the timeframes listed are shorter than they really took (only months of tip-over tests? only 9 hours of meetings on the arm?? David Lang {{unsigned ip|173.245.48.105}}

I don't know anything about glass production, but is it true that "what compounds are allowed around the glass during production" matters? It sounds like those martini recipes where one waves a bottle of vermouth towards the glass. [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 05:47, 4 October 2016 (UTC)
:I'm no expert, but if impurities gets into the glass the color or refraction may change or the strength. And if it is a drinking glass there may be any kind of toxic products that may be used in creating window glass etc. that could not be allowed to enter the production. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:37, 4 October 2016 (UTC)
::I wouldn't call myself an expert on glass in cups, either, but I've learned about FDA guidelines, studied manufacturing processes, and visited a glass production company once. The FDA has [http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/20/garden/fda-issues-warnings-on-using-lead-crystal.html issued a warning] on lead crystal glass cups, and lead has been found in regular glass, and as you said there are many contaminants that can be present during manufacturing from any material but if the material comes in contact with food or drink (such as cups) special care has to be taken to avoid those toxins. I am not 100% sure this is done with drinking glass, but it makes sense. Even if nobody cares about getting toxins in drinking glasses, this comic is about "imaging the work that went into design" and not "knowing exactly what went into design". [[User:Jeudi Violist|Jeudi Violist]] ([[User talk:Jeudi Violist|talk]]) 03:57, 5 October 2016 (UTC)
:My favourite (fake) dry martini recipe included having a friend in Hong Kong (the writer was based in Britain) whisper the word "Vermouth" over the 'phone, whilst the handset was held close (but not too close) to the Gin![[User:RoyT|RoyT]] ([[User talk:RoyT|talk]]) 07:37, 5 October 2016 (UTC)

Randall may, indeed, be annoyed about the cord switch, but there is nothing in the comic or the title text to suggest that. He does, however, have a strong opinion on the "cord switch _firing_ incident". Perhaps that bit of the explanation should be amended? [[User:RoyT|RoyT]] ([[User talk:RoyT|talk]]) 06:48, 4 October 2016 (UTC)
:I think they say that because he implied in the title text of a previous comic that having the switch on the cord is worse than having your dog possessed by a demon. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.136|108.162.218.136]] 11:43, 4 October 2016 (UTC)
::Both are true. I have corrected the explanation to say that he is upset about the firing. And then by referring to the old comic makes sense of why he might have such a strong op--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:37, 4 October 2016 (UTC)inion.

Removed an abusive and trolling "disclaimer" asking us to evaluate our life choices and our support of the comic. Trolling is unwelcome. [[User:Enfield|Enfield]] ([[User talk:Enfield|talk]]) 17:41, 4 October 2016 (UTC)

I think about design a lot and however many hours are spent on some products it never ceases to amaze me how the primary feature can fail so terribly, like pouring a liquid without the liquid spilling. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.235|108.162.215.235]] 00:42, 5 October 2016 (UTC)

It's a bit strange to emphasize the work that went into designing these things, but to completely fail to mention to work that went in to *actually* making them. Shades of Marx and the table's wooden brain? [[User:Arctother|Arctother]] ([[User talk:Arctother|talk]]) 18:56, 9 October 2016 (UTC)

An engineer worked into the night? Maybe if the engineer had let a draftsman do the job for him all that time could have been saved. Mind you, ACAD is a drawing package. Modelling up that lamp assembly in any quarter decent 3D package is a tutorial exercise. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.54|162.158.2.54]] 10:16, 11 October 2016 (UTC)

All of these objects look like they were designed <= 1950. So no AutoCAD involved.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.83.108|162.158.83.108]] 10:52, 29 October 2016 (UTC)
:Huh? How so? I can buy all of those products in a store today, and while yes, the general products were in existence before/around the '50s, the Korean company that made my el-cheapo dollar store versions had to make the designs from scratch. Yes, they had a general *idea* on how to make it, that only goes so far into what's discussed.

Talk:297: Lisp Cycles

2016-12-07T13:09:06Z

Papayaman1000:

Soon, I shall be one of those new coders. I shall be learning (Racket) Scheme, actually. [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 16:10, 16 December 2013 (UTC)

Georgia Tech's College of Computing did away with Lisp and Smalltalk as of 1999 or 2000. It is now C, or some version thereof, all the way down. This change has its own perils! {{unsigned ip|108.162.238.189}}

I am a little saddened that this comment section doesn't have at least a few Star Wars quotes with coding/programming references mixed in. -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.162|108.162.250.162]] 05:21, 17 August 2015 (UTC)

: Do or do not. If <nowiki>except NameError:</nowiki>, then <nowiki>var = 0</nowiki>. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 13:09, 7 December 2016 (UTC)

Let's go back to 1986 and learn Scheme in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Op3QLzMgSY&list=PL8FE88AA54363BC46 Lecture 1A | MIT 6.001 Structure and Interpretation, 1986]! Alex Vong [[Special:Contributions/173.245.62.65|173.245.62.65]] 03:36, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

Talk:297: Lisp Cycles

2016-12-07T12:33:14Z

Papayaman1000:

Soon, I shall be one of those new coders. I shall be learning (Racket) Scheme, actually. [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 16:10, 16 December 2013 (UTC)

Georgia Tech's College of Computing did away with Lisp and Smalltalk as of 1999 or 2000. It is now C, or some version thereof, all the way down. This change has its own perils! {{unsigned ip|108.162.238.189}}

I am a little saddened that this comment section doesn't have at least a few Star Wars quotes with coding/programming references mixed in. -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.162|108.162.250.162]] 05:21, 17 August 2015 (UTC)

: Do or do not. If <nowiki>except NameError:</nowiki>, then <nowiki>var = 0</nowiki>. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 12:33, 7 December 2016 (UTC)

Let's go back to 1986 and learn Scheme in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Op3QLzMgSY&list=PL8FE88AA54363BC46 Lecture 1A | MIT 6.001 Structure and Interpretation, 1986]! Alex Vong [[Special:Contributions/173.245.62.65|173.245.62.65]] 03:36, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

User talk:Leong

2016-11-20T08:19:01Z

Papayaman1000:

== A Word for You ==
Yes, Mr/Mrs/Apache Fighter Jet/Technicolor Rainbow/Ms Leong:
Your recent contribution to [[564]] was... appreciated, but we do have certain quality guidelines here on ExplainXKCD, and we'd appreciate if you were to adhere to them more strictly. The sitting explanation was perfectly fine and did not need any further modification at the time, though you replaced the whole thing with some snippets of barely-proofread and poorly formatted text from the comments (which you added). I'm assuming this was not intentional vandalism, but we'd still appreciate if you were to refrain from doing this in the future. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 08:16, 20 November 2016 (UTC)

User talk:Leong

2016-11-20T08:16:27Z

Papayaman1000: Created page with " == A Word for You == Yes, Mr/Mrs/Apache Fighter Jet/Technicolor Rainbow/Ms Leong: Your recent contribution to 564 was... appreciated, but we do have certain quality guide..."

== A Word for You ==
Yes, Mr/Mrs/Apache Fighter Jet/Technicolor Rainbow/Ms Leong:
Your recent contribution to [[564]] was... appreciated, but we do have certain quality guidelines here on ExplainXKCD, and we'd appreciate if you were to adhere to them more strictly. The sitting explanation was perfectly fine and did not need any further modification at the time, though you replaced the whole thing with some snippets of barely-proofread and poorly formatted text from the comments (which you added). We'd appreciate if you were to refrain from doing this in the future. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 08:16, 20 November 2016 (UTC)

Talk:564: Crossbows

2016-11-20T08:08:35Z

Papayaman1000:

Is there ''any'' evidence for involvement of velicoraptors in this comic?[[User:Guru-45|Guru-45]] ([[User talk:Guru-45|talk]]) 17:24, 29 July 2013 (UTC)
:I did add the incomplete tag. Physicists are unsure on gravity? I also can't see any hints for Velociraptors at the comic. The explain does need a major review. When I have enough time I will give a try.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:57, 29 July 2013 (UTC)

The "explanation" is really bad and contains many errors. The first sentence "Physicists are unsure of most of the forces that govern our everyday lives" is extremely vague; "attraction" is a certain sign of a force (i.e. the force pulls two particles together instead of pushing them apart), "gravity" is a certain type of force (like electromagnetism or the nuclear forces). The Higgs Boson is not a force, it wasn't theorized in the late 1900s, and it acts on the scale of fundamental particles which are several orders of magnitude smaller than atoms. The LHC was not set to be released, but to be activated. No serious particle physicist expected that the experiments at the LHC would have drastic ramifications. That accelerator had a malfunction shortly after its first activation had nothing to do with the Higgs Boson. etc. I Think this needs to be completely rewritten. --[[Special:Contributions/37.209.61.239|37.209.61.239]] 15:46, 19 August 2013 (UTC)

Err yes. This piece was a train wreck which I turned into a rundown shack. It needs a few more citation links (for the confirmation, and to Cueball and Randall), a few more examples of infestations, and a more fleshed out explanation of why a crossbow in particular (and if velociraptors come in). --[[User:Quicksilver|Quicksilver]] ([[User talk:Quicksilver|talk]]) 21:38, 20 August 2013 (UTC)

The point of this was missed completely by this explanation. The physics Nobel price has never been avarded to more than three people and is only awarded to people alive when the price is given. As the discovery of the Higgs certainly will give a Nobel price to someone, and there are more than three people working in that particular lab on the Higgs, they prepare for some kind of battle royale until there are less than three researchers left, such that they can be awarded the price. {{unsigned ip|176.11.125.174}}

I did add the incomplete tag again because a summarize of some theories doesn't help.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:14, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

I think it's more likely to be option number 2, as they talk about how Cueball hasn't yet done the maths. If it was just a Nobel prize, they would've already known they were close to a breakthrough, without having to do any calc. Obviously the maths reveals the possibility of some sinister mutation as explained in point 2. Just a random opinion floating through. [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 10:31, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

No 2 might also be a reference to the quote by an American physicist that the LHC might discover dragons (see eg
http://blog.iandavis.com/2008/09/15/the-lhc-may-discover-dragons/). I still like explanation 1 best though, even dispute the math thing. Maybe it just refers to counting the lab members? [[Special:Contributions/85.164.251.29|85.164.251.29]] 17:47, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

I'm glad people are not complaining about the explanation anymore (I did put more effort into this baby than any page yet). I do not, however, think we can proceed any further until we get something straight from the horse's mouth, i.e. a clear indication from Randall of which way this comic was to be interpreted.

Until then, this explanation has explained all it can, and I thus see it as complete. --[[User:Quicksilver|Quicksilver]] ([[User talk:Quicksilver|talk]]) 03:42, 24 August 2013 (UTC)

I think it just might be pointing at all the inside jokes a group of people have and the nuances the newbies have to put up with in order to be "IN" the group. Might also be a precursor to {{xkcd|794}}, although seemingly unrelated. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.217|173.245.55.217]] 15:51, 10 December 2013 (UTC)BK201

I vote for the results of this experiment being society changing. Or #2. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.196|108.162.212.196]] 17:16, 1 January 2014 (UTC)

I think the only point is that cueball doesn't understand why they have crossbows, I think the possible explanations as to why they have them don't really matter. [[user:halfhat]] 13 January 2014 (UTC)

I don't think explanation #1 is correct. In the last panel Megan says "he has until Tuesday", suggesting that he has a chance to "get it" and thus avoid "something". But just having a chance would seem to suggest that they don't plan on shooting/killing each other. Having "until Tuesday" would seem to indicate that Cueball has a chance to prepare, likely for explanation #2 - the "Half-Life" scenario. That's my 2 cents. =8o) [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:14, 28 January 2014 (UTC)

With the Nobel prize teams being up to three members, perhaps they're doing an intellectual survival of the fittest. If the third member of the team isn't up to speed then kill him and replace him. Poor guy... {{unsigned ip|173.245.55.75}}

I think this comic is a callback to [[476: One-Sided]], since it mentions a crossbow as well. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.124|108.162.241.124]] 21:45, 28 April 2016 (UTC)

This panel includes numerous clues its explanation one. Unfortunately, its all rather *logical*.. which is only thematic with other xkcd panels. There is no need to reference any other cartoon , the use of crossbows is incidental.

1. HE SAID it will be solved by tuesday. Logically this implies HE analzyed the thought processing rate of humans brains and the higgs puzzle,and determined it will be done by tuesday.
2. Since it will be done by tuesday, the people who are the only possible people to do it by tuesday will be the ones
3. Where does someone assess the speed someone thinks at ??? Only the perfect logicians puzzles.. "Three perfect logicians, who think at the same rate, are given a puzzle. They sit stumped for three seconds. Then they all deduce the solution at the same time." Ok so the solution is the one that takes three seconds for all three to not solve, and then they solve it.. (its absurd but the material the joke references doesn't itself have to be sensible, it just has to be a well known thing. )
4. ERGO He said they are perfect logicians who think at the same rate.
5. ERGO when both of the other people in the lab have crossbows, its clear that both of the other people have deduced they are the perfect logicians that HE SAID they are !
6. "Perhaps he is slow at MATHS". That is, he can solve logic at the same rate, but he is only slow at math. THis is where I get the "think at the same speed from".. he is slow at math.. he thinks at the same speed.. two sides of the same coin.. a reference to the "perfect logicians who think at the same speed".

7. Therefore they have no doubt that their solution (to being the one creditted with the observation of Higgs particle or effect.) .. the crossbow.. is a perfectly logical solution. Because HE said .

The joke is that when you treat what HE SAID as the utter truth, you have to form conclusions like this...
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.118.11|172.68.118.11]] 05:39, 13 November 2016 (UTC)
:Add the following to the actual page...
but Randy's panel was released in the week that Higgs' prediction was going to fail...

If Peter Higgs can say that the aims will be met within a year, he must have done two things. 1. Analyzed the complexity, and hence the exact number of steps, of the problem to meet the aims. and 2. That the people meeting the aims will carry out those steps at some specific rate, at least... Meaning definitely never slower.

Further, what does it mean for the other guy to say "Maybe he is slow with the math". Speed of thought , and the assumption that people think at the same rates, is part of the logic puzzle that starts "Three perfect logicians who think at the same rate are given a puzzle".... The two with crossbows have deduced that they are the perfect logicians who think at the same rate. Because they have accepted what Peter Higgs said about tuesday to be true, and to refer to them. Their lab is going to have detected the Higgs thingy by Tuesday.

What does it mean that both of the other two lab people have crossbows ? They both think the same, they both have them at the same time... they are the perfect logicians who think at the same rate.. the mouse other text "I hate being the slowest person in the lab".. really points at the idea that these two have deduced that since they both thought of crossbows, it must be the one logical solution ... (whereas real humans deduce that murdering other top scientists just to claim the Nobel prize is completely wrong... ) Its proof that there is a problem when you raise "what Peter Higgs predicted" to be "Must be absolutely true since Peter Higgs said it"....

Before the full text of this explanation was entered, there were alternatives, which may be read just in case they somehow gained similar merit. {{unsigned|Leong}}

I... I undid Leong's edits. This article went from trainwreck, to run-down shack, to abandoned cottage, to a nice little bungalow, to a rather fine suburban townhouse. Then M. Leong threw a train at it. I was, suffice to say, rather shocked at how appalling the explanation was. The fact that there were major edits (totaling nearly 1,500 characters added and God knows how many actually changed) several ''years'' after the comic's release was a red flag. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 08:08, 20 November 2016 (UTC)

564: Crossbows

2016-11-20T08:02:46Z

Papayaman1000: Undo revision 130776 by Leong (talk) See previous

{{comic
| number = 564
| date = April 3, 2009
| title = Crossbows
| image = crossbows.png
| titletext = I hate being the slowest guy in the lab.
}}

==Explanation==
There are conflicting theories as to the meaning of this comic.
#Since the experimental confirmation or denial of the {{w|Higgs mechanism}} was widely recognized as important to the development of physics, the experimenters involved were likely to receive Nobel Prizes. Nobel Prizes, however, are only given to living people and groups of up to three in size. The experimenters, therefore, are preparing to fight to the death when the discovery comes. Peter Higgs had [http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/04/07/us-science-particle-idUSL0765287220080407 made a statement] in 2008 hinting that the confirmation would come within one year, and that statement was made one year before the Tuesday mentioned in the comic. Tentative experimental confirmation of the Higgs boson was made in July 2013.
#At the time this was written, there was much hype about the Higgs mechanism, as it was a theory explaining how particles got their masses. Experimental confirmation of the Higgs mechanism and its signature particle (the {{w|Higgs boson}}) was seen with such importance that the boson was dubbed the "God particle". Detecting it, however, required accelerating particles to energies higher than ever before. Since this was at the cutting edge of physics, it was unknown what would actually happen. There were [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/05/lhc_to_leave_fabric_of_spacetime_continuum_unripped/ fears] that the experiment would create a micro black hole or worse. This comic could be seen as applying those fears to a common trope in horror movies and video games where a mutant infestation is created by unknowing scientists. The scientists here, apart from poor [[Cueball]], have done their research and armed themselves for any upcoming dangers. It is unknown whether these dangers are specific or not. Some argue that [[:Category:Velociraptors|velociraptors]] are a common enough theme in xkcd that the experimenters are preparing for a velociraptor attack. Others point out that the crossbow is a weapon in the game series {{w|Half-Life (video game)|Half-Life}}, whose plot has a similar infestation following failed physical experiment ripping dimensional seams. They mention that someone at the particle accelerator [http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/2131/freemanae8.jpg closely resembled] one of the main characters of Half-Life. Of course, the crossbows may just be a general preparation for danger.
#Finally, this comic may simply be general sympathy for those late to catch on to something. Substituting different things for "crossbow" and "Higgs excitation" would give a similar situation for Cueball. [[Randall]] apparently hates these situations. A layer of {{w|metahumor}} could be present here, as Cueball may represent the clueless readers of xkcd who have to go to the [http://forums.xkcd.com/index.php forum] or [[Main Page|this wiki]] to understand its comics.

The proper interpretation of this comic, or whether there even is one, remains an open question.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is pulling a crossbow out of a desk.]
:Cueball: Why do you have a crossbow in your desk?
:Megan (off-screen): You ''don't''?

:[Pan to Megan who looks towards Cuball who is off-screen to the left.]
:Cueball (off-screen): No—why would—
:Megan: You ''are'' studying the consequences of Higgs excitation, aren't you?
:Megan: Like the rest of the lab?

:[Cueball, now carying Megan's crossbow joins her as the panel extends to include another Cueball-like guy to her right, he also carries a crossbow.]
:Cueball: Yes, but why—
:Guy: Maybe he's slow with the math.
:Megan: Well, he has until Tuesday.
:Guy: Poor guy.

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

564: Crossbows

2016-11-20T08:01:55Z

Papayaman1000: Undo revision 130777 by Leong (talk) -- I;m going to undo this guy's edits. This explanation went from trainwreck, to run-down shack, to a nice little cottage, then Mr. Leong threw a train at it.

{{comic
| number = 564
| date = April 3, 2009
| title = Crossbows
| image = crossbows.png
| titletext = I hate being the slowest guy in the lab.
}}

==Explanation==
Since the experimental confirmation or denial of the {{w|Higgs mechanism}} was widely recognized as important to the development of physics, the experimenters involved were likely to receive Nobel Prizes. Nobel Prizes, however, are only given to living people and groups of up to three in size. The experimenters, therefore, are preparing to fight to the death when the discovery comes. Peter Higgs had [http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/04/07/us-science-particle-idUSL0765287220080407 made a statement] in 2008 hinting that the confirmation would come within one year, and that statement was made one year before the Tuesday mentioned in the comic. Tentative experimental confirmation of the Higgs boson was made in July 2013 but Randy's panel was released in the week that Higgs' prediction was going to fail.

If Peter Higgs can say that the aims will be met within a year, he must have done two things. 1. Analyzed the complexity, and hence the exact number of steps, of the problem to meet the aims. and 2. That the people meeting the aims will carry out those steps at some specific rate, at least... Meaning definitely never slower.

Further, what does it mean for the other guy to say "Maybe he is slow with the math". Speed of thought , and the assumption that people think at the same rates, is part of the logic puzzle that starts "Three perfect logicians who think at the same rate are given a puzzle".... The two with crossbows have deduced that they are the perfect logicians who think at the same rate. Because they have accepted what Peter Higgs said about tuesday to be true, and to refer to them. Their lab is going to have detected the Higgs thingy by Tuesday.

What does it mean that both of the other two lab people have crossbows ? They both think the same, they both have them at the same time... they are the perfect logicians who think at the same rate.. the mouse other text "I hate being the slowest person in the lab".. really points at the idea that these two have deduced that since they both thought of crossbows, it must be the one logical solution ... (whereas real humans deduce that murdering other top scientists just to claim the Nobel prize is completely wrong... ) Its proof that there is a problem when you raise "what Peter Higgs predicted" to be "Must be absolutely true since Peter Higgs said it"....

Before the full text of this explanation was entered, there were alternatives, which may be read below just in case they somehow gained similar merit.

#At the time this was written, there was much hype about the Higgs mechanism, as it was a theory explaining how particles got their masses. Experimental confirmation of the Higgs mechanism and its signature particle (the {{w|Higgs boson}}) was seen with such importance that the boson was dubbed the "God particle". Detecting it, however, required accelerating particles to energies higher than ever before. Since this was at the cutting edge of physics, it was unknown what would actually happen. There were [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/05/lhc_to_leave_fabric_of_spacetime_continuum_unripped/ fears] that the experiment would create a micro black hole or worse. This comic could be seen as applying those fears to a common trope in horror movies and video games where a mutant infestation is created by unknowing scientists. The scientists here, apart from poor [[Cueball]], have done their research and armed themselves for any upcoming dangers. It is unknown whether these dangers are specific or not. Some argue that [[:Category:Velociraptors|velociraptors]] are a common enough theme in xkcd that the experimenters are preparing for a velociraptor attack. Others point out that the crossbow is a weapon in the game series {{w|Half-Life (video game)|Half-Life}}, whose plot has a similar infestation following failed physical experiment ripping dimensional seams. They mention that someone at the particle accelerator [http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/2131/freemanae8.jpg closely resembled] one of the main characters of Half-Life. Of course, the crossbows may just be a general preparation for danger.
#Finally, this comic may simply be general sympathy for those late to catch on to something. Substituting different things for "crossbow" and "Higgs excitation" would give a similar situation for Cueball. [[Randall]] apparently hates these situations. A layer of {{w|metahumor}} could be present here, as Cueball may represent the clueless readers of xkcd who have to go to the [http://forums.xkcd.com/index.php forum] or [[Main Page|this wiki]] to understand its comics.

The proper interpretation of this comic, or whether there even is one, remains an open question.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is pulling a crossbow out of a desk.]
:Cueball: Why do you have a crossbow in your desk?
:Megan (off-screen): You ''don't''?

:[Pan to Megan who looks towards Cuball who is off-screen to the left.]
:Cueball (off-screen): No—why would—
:Megan: You ''are'' studying the consequences of Higgs excitation, aren't you?
:Megan: Like the rest of the lab?

:[Cueball, now carying Megan's crossbow joins her as the panel extends to include another Cueball-like guy to her right, he also carries a crossbow.]
:Cueball: Yes, but why—
:Guy: Maybe he's slow with the math.
:Megan: Well, he has until Tuesday.
:Guy: Poor guy.

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

Talk:1756: I'm With Her

2016-11-07T20:34:06Z

Papayaman1000: /* Could we please just NOT get politics involved in the comments, guys? */ new section

Instead of comic, post contained a political statement. I am not amused. I want a refund. I don't vote, and I don't even live anywhere near USA. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.96.102|141.101.96.102]] 18:40, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

The "I'm with her" and H with an arrow are CLEARLY the respective campaign slogan and campaign logo for Hillary Clinton, not some vagueness having to do with bringing a significant other. --[unsigned]
:I see it more as him endorsing voting regardless of who you vote for (as evidenced by half the comic is about "Here's how you vote" without any mention of candidates or issues) and the endorsing Clinton part is an add-on as if to say "This is how I'm voting; vote for her if you agree with me." [[User:Jeudi Violist|Jeudi Violist]] ([[User talk:Jeudi Violist|talk]]) 18:39, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

Has Randall endorsed a presidential candidate before? --[[User:Dfeuer|Dfeuer]] ([[User talk:Dfeuer|talk]]) 17:14, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
He supported Obama on his blog in '08, not in the comic though.

He could have said any number of clever things about the election, and all he did was put up a campaign sign. Disappointing. [[User:Gmcgath|Gmcgath]] ([[User talk:Gmcgath|talk]]) 17:37, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

what a cuck --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.63|172.68.51.63]] 17:45, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
:: leaving aside the most ridiculous slur of the past few years, I don't know what else did you expect from Randall. I guess you must have stumbled upon this wiki by chance and have never heard of xkcd before.--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.130|141.101.98.130]] 17:59, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
:: AHAHAHAHA. *Ahem.* Hooray for pejorative misappropriation of a kink. /s [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.55|108.162.246.55]] 19:07, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

This is the first time I still don't get the joke even after reading the explainxkcd page [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.123|108.162.219.123]] 18:09, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
== Bit disappointing... ==

I was hoping for a comic today. oh well. Interesting to see how he's planning to vote, though - it's a shame that there are no candidates this year in favor of strong encryption.

Funny how females outdo males in this 'comic' but in terms of frequency and of elevation. Oh well. xkcd has long been overrepresenting females, it was to be expected. <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>

Seriously? You're whinging 'what about the men?' in a geek web comic?! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.212|108.162.215.212]] 18:21, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

The only disappointing this are comments like those two above. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.201.96|162.158.201.96]] 18:11, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
: Females being overrepresented in comics like xkcd (but also other ones) with respect to their controlled interest in science in reality is a fact. Therefore, you are calling facts disappointing. How geeky of you. <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>
:: So, your real problem is that Randall likes using female stick figures, yes? Also, why are you afraid to "un-nowiki" your signature...? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.201.96|162.158.201.96]] 19:15, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
::: No. Allow me to repeat my point as you had apparently misunderstood: 'females being overrepresented'. This is something else than 'females being represented'. The more you know, the less chance there is for you to accidentally twist another person's words as misogyny/sexism. Also, identity is not relevant to discussion. <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>

A little disappointing to have a normally lighthearted comic dive seriously into politics, if even for one strip. Not really a fan of either candidate, but would like to see stuff like this stay above the fray.
:Completely agreed. [[User:SeanAhern|SeanAhern]] ([[User talk:SeanAhern|talk]]) 18:27, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

This is a first... comics 500 and 1130 (possibly 1131 too) were related to the election, but didn't endorse a candidate. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.89|108.162.219.89]] 18:41, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

I came here to see what the tone of the comments were going to be. I was half expecting to find an all-out flamewar in progress. I was happy to see that the comments have not devolved into the kind of attacks that one would expect to find pretty much anywhere else on the Internet. Geeks are the best people. :) [[User:Mwburden|mwburden]] ([[User talk:Mwburden|talk]]) 18:47, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

I'm very dissappointed. Randall never took sides before and - be it as it may - this comic is not a comic but plain out political campaign. Up until now I held xkcd in EXTREMELY high esteem - this comic put a serious dent in that opinion..
--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.60|162.158.91.60]] 18:56, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
: I'm really torn about this one. On the one hand I feel that you HAVE to take sides in this one, if your only other option is Donald Trump... on the other hand, I never liked when web comics express political opinions. It will always end in a flame war and almost never have anything to do with the web comic itself. Randall should've just put up a "go vote becaues it's important" sign without taking sides. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.201.96|162.158.201.96]] 19:17, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
: Don't let the door hit you on the way out. I'm sure there are other comics out there that would agree with your ideology. [[User:Sturmovik|Sturmovik]] ([[User talk:Sturmovik|talk]]) 19:25, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
:Randall should do whatever Randall thinks he should do. Should he put up "go read about global warming" comics instead of take the side of AGW? If you think this example is an inappropriate one to use in contrasting this comic with the current political election cycle then you've completely ignored the stances of the two popular candidates. But back to the original point: if you don't like XKCD anymore because of this one comic then go find another comic or start your own. All of art is an expression of the person. Randall knew not everyone would like his beliefs when he pushed this out to the world and is obviously prepared to deal with any consequences of taking a stand on his website. I, for one, applaud him for doing so

Can you help list all the characters in the transcript? From left to right; they're Joanna (ponytail with EMP cannon) from [[322]]; Black Hat; unknown with kite; White Hat; possibly Miss Lenhart (but his hair is somewhat different from [[1519]]); unknown possibly Megan; cueball; unknown woman with glasses; Hairbun; Beret Guy; Cueball with toy sword from [[303]]. [[User:B jonas|B jonas]] ([[User talk:B jonas|talk]]) 19:10, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

Good for Randal. I had been noticing how many Hillary leaning artists had been pulling their punches this election, likely out of fear of trolling or loss of revenue. You want to know what courage looks like? This is is. [[User:Sturmovik|Sturmovik]] ([[User talk:Sturmovik|talk]]) 19:25, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

Title text hasn't been explained yet. Is it a reference to the German chancellor Angela Merkel's phrase "Wir schaffen das!'? Don't know if Clinton has a slogan like Obama's "Yes, we can!".

I find (linking to )this civicinnovation website rather questionable. They want to audit peoples address books based on who the names in there might vote for? That sounds like Erich Mielkes wildest dreams come true. Even German newspapers (where i'm from), which are 100% anti-Trump, have in the last days noted concern about the methods of Clintons supporters bullying the other side, and this is a disquieting new piece in that picture. I'll hope this is just a ploy to step up with Trump on the ''bad manners'' side. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.160|162.158.91.160]] 19:37, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

== Not all comics have to be humorous ==

From [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comics#Etymology]
:The English term ''comics'' derives from the humorous (or "[[wikt:comic|comic]]") work which predominated in early American newspaper comic strips; usage of the term has become standard for non-humorous works as well.

:The problem is that this isn't a comic, this is a campaign ad. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.38|162.158.238.38]] 20:32, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

== Could we please just NOT get politics involved in the comments, guys? ==

Just... please? [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 20:34, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1741: Work

2016-10-03T21:22:53Z

Papayaman1000:

Whoa, I've never been early enough to beat the explanation before.
:To 173.245.50.82, please remember to sign your posts. --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 13:21, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

I wrote the transcript. Feel free to change it so it's not so bare and write the explanation. Thanks. --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 13:20, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

To prevent fire hazards, objects in California are not allowed to surpass a certain temperature, 140 °C if I'm correct . Can't find the actual law quick. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.230|162.158.114.230]] 18:01, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

I think Randall underestimates the problem. I used to work for the research arm of the electronics multinational, Philips. When a product design was "finished", it had to go to a special committee who decided where, exactly, on the product did the word "PHILIPS" and their little shield logo go - and (rarely) whether these things should be done in black or white. It was VERY frequently the case that the committee would take longer to come to a conclusion than the product took to design. [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 20:32, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

I often wonder about those tiny, cheap plastic toys that come in Xmas crackers (UK) or the 25 cent toy vending machines (USA). They are completely crappy things - but thinking that someone thought about what kind of toy should be made - then designed the shape of it, thought about the color of plastic to use, spent tens of thousands of dollars machining an injection mold for it - and STILL turned out a complete piece of junk...it's anyone's guess what effort that took. I know it costs around $40,000 to make a mold like that - but those toys look like someone who was being paid very, very little, spent no more than an afternoon designing each one! [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 20:32, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

What a coincidence. I just got out of my Product Development class. I remember having to deal with so many of these things that it's completely relatable. [[User:Jeudi Violist|Jeudi Violist]] ([[User talk:Jeudi Violist|talk]]) 21:17, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

Wow, that curve would be a bitch to draw in AutoCAD. I still shudder... [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 21:22, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1729: Migrating Geese

2016-09-05T15:02:12Z

Papayaman1000:

Kevin sounds familiar, has he been in a previous xkcd? [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 13:51, 5 September 2016 (UTC)

:I think Kevin is a reference to Home Alone. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.203.143|162.158.203.143]] 14:19, 5 September 2016 (UTC)

: [[1719: Superzoom]] also includes Kevin. [[User:Iggyvolz|Iggyvolz]] ([[User talk:Iggyvolz|talk]]) 14:22, 5 September 2016 (UTC)

: Is it a reference to the famous Reddit Kevin? https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/219w2o/whos_the_dumbest_person_youve_ever_met/cgbhkwp {{unsigned|Mcroft}}

: I thought it might be Kevin the Minion. [[User:Paddles|Paddles]] ([[User talk:Paddles|talk]]) 14:36, 5 September 2016 (UTC)

: Perhaps it's just a generic name for the butt of a joke, like poor Steve. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 15:02, 5 September 2016 (UTC)

I think "Missing valence geese" refers to electron configuration, where they would give/take electrons to become "stable". [[Special:Contributions/162.158.49.66|162.158.49.66]] 14:34, 5 September 2016 (UTC)

This is my first contribution here so I hope I didn't do too many things wrong, I thought if there's nothing there yet I can't break too much. Thanks for fixing the table, it looks much better now :) I don't know why you removed the part about programming though, because while it's maybe normal that geese migrate it is definitely not normal to have a guide ("Migrating") on doing so. [[User:Treed|Treed]] ([[User talk:Treed|talk]]) 14:57, 5 September 2016 (UTC)

1729: Migrating Geese

2016-09-05T14:53:10Z

Papayaman1000: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1729
| date = September 5, 2016
| title = Migrating Geese
| image = migrating_geese.png
| titletext = "Hey guys! I have a great idea for a migration!" "Dammit, Kevin."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete| Only a rough draft.}}
Migrating refers the changing a habitat, like it happens every year with geese traveling long distances as to not experience cold seasons. When geese fly to their new habitat they tend to fly in a very clear shape or formation which resembles a flipped V. This formation is shown and explained here like a military formation with different roles:
{| class="wikitable"
!Name
!Explanation
|-
|Head Goose
(4th in line to the British throne)
|This goose may become the newest monarch of the UK, assuming the three who are further in line from him die.
|-
|Quarterback
|A quarterback is a position in American Football.
|-
|Comptroller
|
|-
|Migration abort goose
|This might be a reference to launch abort capsules used in rockets to safely land astronauts in the case of a critical stage failure
|-
|Twin-Engine Model
|This goose has two tails, which makes it look like a Twin-Engine aircraft which has two motors on either wing instead of one in the nose.
|-
|Kevin
|He's an idiot who draws the ire of his companions.
|-
|CIA Informant
|
|-
|Backups
|These are geese that are not used in the formation so they can replace other geese in their positions in case they have problems performing their task.
|-
|Missing Valence Geese
|In Chemistry, Valence electrons are the electrons in the outermost "layer" which change places when chemical reactions happen. As there is an optimal number of electrons in a layer, if there are missing valence electrons, elements which can fill in these gaps tend to react with the elements having the missing electrons.
|-
|Shock Front
|
|-
|Stealth cargo being escorted
|The formation is forming a protective surrounding around an empty space in the middle which in a military formation could contain protected cargo. As there is no cargo visible in the goose formation, it is titled "stealth".
|}

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the panel:]
:Understanding Migration of Geese

:[20 geese are shown flying in a typical migratory V-formation. As they are shown in silhouette it is not possible to determine if they are seen from above or from below. They are flying toward the top of the image with the first goose close to the top in the middle of the image. There is one head goose, and then there are 7 geese in the left arms and 9 geese in the right arm. Behind the left arm there are two stragglers that are not in line with the others, but closer to the middle than those above and not as close to each other as the rest but still flying in the same direction. Finally there is one goose at the bottom right corner flying at a 45 degree angle away from the other to the right. The first goose is flapping its wing, which is also the case with six other geese, no. 4 and 6 in the left and 3, 5 and 6 in the right arm as well as the middle of the two in the rear towards the middle. The rest are soaring with straight wings and all of these look the same except no. 7 in the right arm which has two tails, which both goes ahead of the wings, making it look like a plane with two engines. The head goose and 5 of the 9 geese in the right arm as well as the one bottom right are labeled with and arrow pointing to them from the label. The front goose has the label in front to the left, the other have it in front to the right, except the second last in the arm which has the label inside the V and one flying away which has the label right above it. The two behind and right of the left arm have one label behind them with two arrows from the label pointing at both geese. There is a thick curvy line in front of geese no. 3 to 5 in the left arm. In front of that line is a thinner broken line. In front of this is a label written with the same curviness. There are two areas surrounded by dotted lines. The first one is behind the last of the left arms geese, extending in the same direction for a distance of about two geese. It has a label above and left with and arrow pointing to it. The other area is in the middle of the V forming a loose triangular structure with a label inside.]
:Head goose: Head goose (4th in line to the British throne)
:Right no. 1: Quaterback
:Right no. 3: Comptroller
:Right no. 5: Migration abort goose
:Right no. 7: Twin-enige model
:Right no. 8: CIA informant
:Bottom right corner: Kevin
:Behind center: Backups
:In front of left no. 3-5: Shock front
:Behind left arm: Missing valence geese
:In center area: Stealth cargo being escorted

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1723: Meteorite Identification

2016-08-22T14:50:03Z

Papayaman1000: Ok, now I'm pissy.

Yeah, I can't even get on it.

lol, some poor soul is now wondering why his Meteorite ID chart is being flooded with traffic! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.59|141.101.98.59]] 12:08, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

I'd like to see some analysis of the linked flowchart, or a least an explanation of the title text comment. Why does "Did you see it fall" have only an "yes" option, that leads to "not a meteorite" [[User:Zeimusu|Zeimusu]] ([[User talk:Zeimusu|talk]]) 12:10, 22 August 2016 (UTC)
: Because actually seeing a meteorite fall and recovering it is an incredibly rare event (690 times since 1900), but ''stories'' about how they saw a meteor fall and went out and found a rock in the middle of a crater are a dime-a-dozen. So if someone shows up with a rock they think is a meteorite, odds are they will say they saw it fall, but odds are it's not a meteorite. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.231|162.158.214.231]] 14:26, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

I'm wondering if this is related to the recent claims in British newspapers (Warning, Daily Mail content [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3745346/Homeowner-makes-world-discovery-glowing-METEORITE-lands-garden-lights-cigarette-it.html Link] [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.83|141.101.98.83]] 12:27, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

Here's the chart hosted externally: http://imgur.com/a/AzQOk Also, could somebody explain the mouseover text? Why does it falling from the sky mean it's not a meteorite? (Edit: Imgur's servers are trying to give out. Here's another external hosted version: http://oi66.tinypic.com/315yazp.jpg ) [[User:NexTerren|NexTerren]] ([[User talk:NexTerren|talk]]) 12:47, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

Where did the 'there have only been 690 confirmed cases since 1900' factoid come from? Wikipedia says there are over 38,000 well documented finds, referring to a 2011 source. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.161|108.162.250.161]] 13:03, 22 August 2016 (UTC)
: The [http://meteorites.wustl.edu/realities.htm|"Some Metorite Realities"] page says "Since 1900, the numbers of recognized meteorite "falls" is about 690 for the whole Earth." It looks like the author mistook that as the total number of meteorite ''discoveries''. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.28|173.245.54.28]] 13:49, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

Here's some explanation on why seeing a meteorite fall is unlikely: http://www.meteoritemarket.com/metid2.htm Located at point 48A from http://meteorites.wustl.edu/realities.htm (Linked on the full chart) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.70.43|141.101.70.43]] 13:07, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

I just tried fixing it up FOUR TIMES, and got an edit conflict each time. The later ones didn't even change anything. I'd contribute, but not if this keeps happening. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 14:50, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1721: Business Idea

2016-08-17T14:44:57Z

Papayaman1000: </Talk>

Fixed as of 11:35 UTC, the old comic is now named "'''My''' Business Idea" [[Special:Contributions/162.158.203.141|162.158.203.141]] 11:32, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
:Same person, just want to note the forum is a little behind. It was 11:35 according to Google, and the timestamp on the signature said 11:32. Posting this at 11:39 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.203.141|162.158.203.141]] 11:36, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
::ExplainXKCD is still showing the image for 827. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.62|173.245.52.62]] 14:02, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure there's been a naming overlap or something because https://xkcd.com/827/ and http://xkcd.com/1721/ are showing the same image
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.157|108.162.250.157]] 04:13, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

== Randall done goofed ==

He accidentally named TWO comics "Business Idea". This one and comic 827 (https://xkcd.com/827/). Because his comics are stored by name, not id, he has two "business_idea.png"s. The newer replaced the older one, but explain-xkcd has the original, probably due to the way either one is stored.
:I'm honestly surprised Randall would make a mistake like this. Like shouldn't he have a list and a script that automatically checks wether a title was already used? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.133.66|162.158.133.66]] 09:25, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
::Or simply append/prepend the comic number to the image name, that way you can't have duplicates.

What should we do? Contact Randall? {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.10}}
:Check the fora. Let him know he broke 827(http://i.imgur.com/0LTTpmJ.png) if he doesn't know already. I'm too lazy. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.110|108.162.245.110]] 04:35, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
:Store it on the wiki as a jpeg and differentiate that way. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.89|173.245.48.89]] 04:59, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

The older comic has now been renamed as "My Business Idea", and is back up again. [[User:Zorlax the Mighty|Zorlax the Mighty'); DROP TABLE users;--]] ([[User talk:Zorlax the Mighty|talk]]) 11:34, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

Great. I tried to fix the issue by renaming the old comic (both page and file), but it now has the old version cached and shows it on both comics' pages... --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 14:05, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

== Explanation for us users from countries with different fueling systems ==
In Germany and many other countries, the gas pumps actually have a separate hose per fuel type, so many fans of xkcd might not be able to understand this comic. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.83.162|162.158.83.162]] 05:18, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
: Yes, because many of us use Diesel, and you should not mix diesel and petrol. But it's no problem to mix small quantities of regular into premium or vice versa. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.86.161|162.158.86.161]] 09:06, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
:: Not just diesel and petrol - every kind of fuel sold (usually 4 per pump - petrol/diesel x premium/regular, sometimes fast diesel pump for trucks instead of diesel premium) has a separate hose and pistol in Poland. You choose the fuel by choosing the pistol. I'm guessing it's the same in a large part of Europe at least. It didn't even occur to me that it could be done differently. I honestly thought it was part of the joke - that Cueball doesn't even know that. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.86.119|162.158.86.119]] 10:07, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
::: I'm really surprised, too. How DOES a system work where the customer can presumably switch between the kinds of gas he fills in his tank? And where is such a system installed? The States, I suppose, but where else? For international readers, this should definitely be part of the explanation. Is there a convenient weblink that shows the differences between countries' gas stations, or a weblink that shows this unique setup that Randall takes for granted here? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.83.72|162.158.83.72]] 10:50, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

== Beret Guy? ==
Is this Cueball, or Beret Guy with his hat off? [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 08:22, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
: Unlikely. Wasn't Beret Guy's hat stapled? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.86.119|162.158.86.119]] 10:07, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
: If it was Beret Guy he most likely would have had (inexplicable) success with this idea. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 10:13, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

== "Pay it forward" at Starbucks ==

This is actually about Starbucks, where customers - depending on the place, of course, as I've never seen it in Switzerland - are asked to pay some bucks for the next customer. You are expected to pay something "forward".

This idea originates from Italy, where you can buy a "caffè sospeso", a "suspended café". Somebody in need can walk up to the bar tender and ask for a free coffee. And yes, it disgusts me that this good idea was taken over by hipsters.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.150.228|162.158.150.228]] 11:20, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

:I think you may be seeing something that is not in the comic. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.119|108.162.246.119]] 13:53, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

:I know what you're talking about, and it usually happens with one spontaneous and kind person starting a chain reaction, not corporate encouragement. This would both go against your statement and the comic itself (as they both suggest the company intervening).

Talk:1712: Politifact

2016-07-28T19:33:51Z

Papayaman1000:

The title text can be interpreted in two ways: Either that the pants are actually on fire or that rolling the smoke-bomb was a blatant lie. I'm not sure what to make of the "::FWOOOSH::" in the latter case...
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.83.66|162.158.83.66]] 16:46, 27 July 2016 (UTC)

I think there is also an aspect of excessive literalism here. For example when Meagan says "I swear I locked that window" Politifact says "false". While it is literally true that this statement was false this is only tangentially related to the conversation. What is important is the home break in going on.
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.70|173.245.56.70]] 17:59, 27 July 2016 (UTC)

I think that the title text has two equally true meanings. It was NOT a smoke bomb (it was some other type of bomb, so calling it "smoke bomb" is false) and also Politifact's pants were literally on fire. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.147|162.158.214.147]] 21:32, 27 July 2016 (UTC)
: Smoke Bombs are not as obviously incendiary as (say) Incendiary Bombs, but they are actually burning, beneath the deliberate smoke, and perfectly capable of igniting materials. Depending upon their (mis)use. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.20|141.101.98.20]] 12:00, 28 July 2016 (UTC)

Is it appropriate for the transcript to have colored text? The point of a transcript is to have a formal plain text description, decorating the text in this manner to convey information seems contrary to that. An in-parenthesis statement of the color would perhaps be better. [[User:Thomson's Gazelle|Thomson's Gazelle]] ([[User talk:Thomson's Gazelle|talk]]) 16:51, 28 July 2016 (UTC)
:Well that can be discussed, but it's the way it has been done in all comics with colored text. It is always easy to read it if you copy paste and you can still search for the words. And a reader will not have problems with the text. But agree that the transcript should mention that PolitiFact is written like their logo with colors. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:46, 28 July 2016 (UTC)
::...maybe we should make a page for the formatting guidelines of transcripts. I swear I see this same thing on every page with formatted text in the transcript. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 19:32, 28 July 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1712: Politifact

2016-07-28T19:32:23Z

Papayaman1000:

The title text can be interpreted in two ways: Either that the pants are actually on fire or that rolling the smoke-bomb was a blatant lie. I'm not sure what to make of the "::FWOOOSH::" in the latter case...
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.83.66|162.158.83.66]] 16:46, 27 July 2016 (UTC)

I think there is also an aspect of excessive literalism here. For example when Meagan says "I swear I locked that window" Politifact says "false". While it is literally true that this statement was false this is only tangentially related to the conversation. What is important is the home break in going on.
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.70|173.245.56.70]] 17:59, 27 July 2016 (UTC)

I think that the title text has two equally true meanings. It was NOT a smoke bomb (it was some other type of bomb, so calling it "smoke bomb" is false) and also Politifact's pants were literally on fire. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.147|162.158.214.147]] 21:32, 27 July 2016 (UTC)
: Smoke Bombs are not as obviously incendiary as (say) Incendiary Bombs, but they are actually burning, beneath the deliberate smoke, and perfectly capable of igniting materials. Depending upon their (mis)use. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.20|141.101.98.20]] 12:00, 28 July 2016 (UTC)

Is it appropriate for the transcript to have colored text? The point of a transcript is to have a formal plain text description, decorating the text in this manner to convey information seems contrary to that. An in-parenthesis statement of the color would perhaps be better. [[User:Thomson's Gazelle|Thomson's Gazelle]] ([[User talk:Thomson's Gazelle|talk]]) 16:51, 28 July 2016 (UTC)
:Well that can be discussed, but it's the way it has been done in all comics with colored text. It is always easy to read it if you copy paste and you can still search for the words. And a reader will not have problems with the text. But agree that the transcript should mention that PolitiFact is written like their logo with colors. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:46, 28 July 2016 (UTC)
:...maybe we should make a page for the formatting guidelines of transcripts. I swear I see this same thing on every page with formatted text in the transcript. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 19:32, 28 July 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1031: s/keyboard/leopard/

2016-06-05T07:15:46Z

Papayaman1000: </edit>

My mechanical leopard's been working out for me, just the feeling of my fingers hitting it is amazing. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:35, 21 January 2013 (UTC)

Why does it say "s/leopard/leopard/" in the url of this page, but title of this comic is "s/leopard/leopard/"?[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 17:57, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
:Now I see "s/leopard/leopard/" twice in my previous comment. I forgot that I have an extension installed that was inspired by this comic. :) [[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 18:00, 15 April 2013 (UTC)

I swear I read every instance of leopard as leopard. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.89|173.245.54.89]] 23:33, 14 November 2013 (UTC)

Shouldn't the title of the comic end in "g" since it's a global replace, like "s/leopard/leopard/g"? [[User:Kroq-gar78|Kroq-gar78]] ([[User talk:Kroq-gar78|talk]]) 18:56, 23 November 2013 (UTC)
:I have no idea, but I do know that the current title matches the one on xkcd. We're not changing it, even if there was an error. [[User:NealCruco|NealCruco]] ([[User talk:NealCruco|talk]]) 03:50, 19 February 2014 (UTC)

:I just bought my new leopard today! It's working great, but it's a bit hard to use. Is there such a thing as a leopard-repair shop? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.47|108.162.219.47]] 21:03, 3 March 2014 (UTC)
some[http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-leopards-keypads] leopards even have touch screens[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.45|108.162.216.45]] 05:58, 8 March 2014 (UTC)

You sure it's not a sed command? Regexps just matches! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.97|108.162.215.97]] 13:44, 8 September 2014 (UTC)
:actually, it's an ed command.[[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 12:10, 12 February 2015 (UTC)

If the first user's leopard now produces language in Chinese, why is the message in English? {{unsigned ip|108.162.250.155}}

The first add-on looks like google translate. {{unsigned ip|108.162.222.159}}

KEYBOARD. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.162|108.162.250.162]] 06:58, 12 August 2015 (UTC)

I have an extension that does quite this, so I have no idea who is actually saying "leopard". [[User:Cody Hackins|Cody Hackins]] ([[User talk:Cody Hackins|talk]]) 01:37, 9 March 2016 (UTC)
: Everyone except the person right above you (in allcaps) is just saying leopard. Here. Does this work? K E Y B O A R D?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.115|108.162.245.115]] 21:55, 3 June 2016 (UTC)

The first extension is Translate; the third is Wolfram|Alpha. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 07:15, 5 June 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1668: Singularity

2016-05-15T03:06:55Z

Papayaman1000:

Incidentally, [http://craphound.com/rotn/Cory_Doctorow_and_Charles_Stross_-_Rapture_of_the_Nerds.html Rapture of the Nerds] mentions [[1664: Mycology|Toxoplasma gondii]] in passing. [[User:.42|.42]] ([[User talk:.42|talk]]) 13:19, 15 April 2016 (UTC)

Great! Who brought Roko's Basilisk into this?! Now we to delete the entire Explain in order to contain this threat. >:( There needs to be an internet rule that forbids the discussion of the basilisk. Except that such a rule only furthers its creation. Augh!!![[User:R0hrshach|R0hrshach]] ([[User talk:R0hrshach|talk]]) 15:13, 15 April 2016 (UTC)

;Quantum gravity

Is there something more to this joke than the comedy of public nudity? With Munroe there usually is. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.25|141.101.80.25]] 13:46, 15 April 2016 (UTC)

: {{w|Naked singularity}}. [[User:.42|.42]] ([[User talk:.42|talk]]) 13:50, 15 April 2016 (UTC)

::Ahh, I missed the Naked singularity joke. Good catch. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.119|108.162.246.119]] 14:53, 15 April 2016 (UTC)

::: The "incomplete" tag ("Haven't explained title text") should be removed, it is no longer needed. The title text is surely a reference to the physics rule that black holes always have event horizons (the naked singularity is never exposed to the rest of the universe), as noted in the final paragraph (as of this writing). {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.20}}

: I just realized, Randall's characters are effectively almost naked! (They may wear hats, but clothing is only drawn for effect, such as a flower-printed sun dress, or an open trench coat.) {{unsigned ip|108.162.220.227}}

It looks like this is a continuation of comic #1084: Server Problem, which ends with Megan suggesting Cueball should shut down his laptop and wait for the singularity. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.96|108.162.245.96]] 16:35, 15 April 2016 (UTC)

:It doesn't. First, in 1084, cueball was working on a server problem, but in this, he is editing a file. Second, in this one, there is no sight of any tech problems. Just because both mention the singularity does not mean that this is a continuation. [[User:HisHighestMinion|HisHighestMinion]] ([[User talk:HisHighestMinion|talk]]) 19:55, 16 April 2016 (UTC)

The "Yup/Nope" combo reminds me of "Choices (Yup)" by E-40. I'd link it but: ads. The hook seems to match like staying rich, not selling your soul and not worrying about what anyone thinks, while the phone's apparently "broke". [[User:Elvenivle|Elvenivle]] ([[User talk:Elvenivle|talk]]) 05:32, 16 April 2016 (UTC)

While singularity does involve artificial intelligence surpassing humans, I don't think this involves personal computers in any way. Unless minimal requirements for new games get really high, personal computers wouldn't have nearly enough computation power for AI. Cloud servers, maybe. Don't store your stuff in cloud, you may lose it in singularity. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 14:23, 16 April 2016 (UTC)

:It could be distributed computing. [[User:HisHighestMinion|HisHighestMinion]] ([[User talk:HisHighestMinion|talk]]) 19:55, 16 April 2016 (UTC)

:You might not actually lose the data in the cloud in case of singularity. However, it might be used by the AI to make you do stuff against your wishes - like buying things online. Wait....! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.50|162.158.255.50]] 00:14, 17 April 2016 (UTC)

"The rising up of the laptop into the air, and the remaining behind of the phone, are probably references to the Rapture, where some Christian denominations believe that at the second coming of Christ, true believers will be taken up bodily from this world"
What the actual fuck
Isn't that stretching it a bit too far? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.167.23|162.158.167.23]] 16:25, 17 April 2016 (UTC)
:Cueball mentions the Tribulation, which is an explicit reference to the Rapture, so Randall is clearly drawing a parallel between the "Bible Rapture" and the "Rapture of the Nerds". {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.90}}

I'm pretty sure most of the joke of this comic can be summarized as "the singularity is treated as if it's the machines' variant of the christian rapture", the phone didn't come to the singularity because it's the machine equivalent of an atheist. It has nothing to do with phones and computers having different software. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.74|141.101.104.74]] 00:50, 18 April 2016 (UTC)

I think this ties in with the "Left Behind" series of novels by by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, which deals with various aspects of the end times. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.36|173.245.54.36]] 20:24, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Um, hey, so apparently the explanation is incomplete? Yet I don't see any reasons for such, much less the "Incomplete" ''banner''... What's the issue?

Talk:1679: Substitutions 3

2016-05-15T00:45:14Z

Papayaman1000:

The title text may be a reference to the Mayan city discovered by a 15 year old, but that city hasn't yet been visited by Channing Tatum and his friends or Mr Tatum. https://translate.google.com/translate?tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.journaldemontreal.com%2F2016%2F05%2F07%2Fun-ado-decouvre-une-cite-maya [[Special:Contributions/198.41.239.34|198.41.239.34]] 13:32, 11 May 2016 (UTC)

Here's the code for the full set of substitutions from all three comics, to be inserted in the Chrome extension the page listed, which can be found here: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/replacerator/gaajhenbcclienfnniphiiambbbninnp?hl=en
<div style="font-size: 25%;">{"virtual boy":"virtual boy","like hundreds":"like hundreds","kinda probably":"kinda probably","haunted":"haunted","very large":"very large","beyond the grave":"beyond the grave","airbender":"airbender","cat":"cat","delusional":"delusional","river spirits":"river spirits","is guilty and everyone knows it":"is guilty and everyone knows it","dance-off":"dance-off","destroy":"destroy","the big bang theory":"the big bang theory","dog":"dog","eating contest":"eating contest","atomic":"atomic","poem":"poem","physically expands":"physically physically expands","this guy":"this guy","poem":"poem","friggin' awful":"friggin' awful","blade runner":"blade runner","magic spell":"magic spell","spherical":"spherical","homestar runner":"homestar runner","tons of horsemeat":"tons of horsemeat","final":"final","ménage à trois":"ménage à trois","minutes":"minutes","Tumblr post":"Tumblr post","lots of signs":"lots of signs","psychic reading":"psychic reading","avenge":"avenge","will never be known":"will never be known","Channing Tatum and his friends":"Channing Tatum and his friends","friggin' awful":"friggin' awful","uncontrollably swerving":"uncontrollably swerving","elf-lord":"elf-lord","way to kill werewolves":"way to kill werewolves","Pokédex":"Pokédex","spaaace":"spaaace","blood-soaked":"blood-soaked","tunnels I found":"tunnels I found","suddenly":"suddenly","surprising (but not to me)":"surprising (but not to me) (but not to me)","sexual tension":"sexual sexual tension","frigging' awful":"frigging' awful","poem":"poem","drunkenly egged on":"drunkenly egged on","probably won't":"probably won't","interplanetary war":"interplanetary war","find pokémon":"find pokémon","these dudes I know":"these dudes I know","minutes":"minutes","I'm really sad about":"I'm really sad about"}</div>

I would put it somewhere more convenient if I knew a site for it. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.158|141.101.104.158]] 13:46, 11 May 2016 (UTC)
:This reminds me an awful lot of the title text in the previous comic [[1678: Recent Searches]] regarding autoexec code posted by verified twitter users. :-p [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:48, 11 May 2016 (UTC)
::Is there a way to easily enable/disable the extension?[[User:Bmmarti3|Bmmarti3]] ([[User talk:Bmmarti3|talk]])
:::It appears there isn't... Go to your list of browser extensions, and enable/disable it.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.245|141.101.75.245]] 18:59, 11 May 2016 (UTC)
:::I personally use a different extension than was linked to on xkcd.com, titled xkcd substitutions, which can be turned off by clicking on the icon for it at the top of your Chrome window, and also allows you to set specific sites on which it will never change words (i.e. on Gmail). Here's the shortened link: http://bit.ly/VF8nTw [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.49|173.245.54.49]] 22:31, 11 May 2016 (UTC)
:Hey, what about [Keyboard --> Leopard]? [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 00:45, 15 May 2016 (UTC)

It would be wonderful if the celebrity injunction was about a ménage à trois and somehow all the hype was Randall's fault. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.70.133|141.101.70.133]] 15:13, 11 May 2016 (UTC)
Great. Now I have to update this:https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/xkcd-substitutions/jkgogmboalmaijfgfhfepckdgjeopfhk?hl=en&gl=001 --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.69|108.162.215.69]] 18:24, 11 May 2016 (UTC)

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.91|108.162.216.91]]Here's a funny link, but I don't know how to edit it in: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/how-clintons--scandal-took-root/2016/03/27/ee301168-e162-11e5-846c-10191d1fc4ec_story.html, it the substituted version is "How Clinton’s poem scandal took root"[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.91|108.162.216.91]]

On the big bang theory > Big Bang Theory - the real life example isn't particularly interesting, as it's substituting one TV show for another. The more interesting cases are those where news headlines reference an actual doctor, who (something). For instance, in the criminal trial of amputee Oscar Pistorius, one TV banner referred to someone as "the big bang theory cut off [his] legs". "The Big Bang Theory cut off [his] legs" is, to my mind, more bizarre.
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.119|141.101.98.119]] 16:54, 12 May 2016 (UTC)Andrew Williams; one day I'll make an account. 12/05/2016

;Weird substitution

Isn't 'sexual tension' -> 'sexual sexual tension' weird? It could result in the following texts:

'sexual sexual tension' -> 'sexual sexual sexual tension',

'cable sexual tension' -> 'cable sexual sexual tension'.

In short, whenever there's already something before 'sexual tension' that gets modified, don't substitute (or replace those words (difficult to do automatically)) --[[User:Zom-B|Zom-B]] ([[User talk:Zom-B|talk]]) 07:43, 12 May 2016 (UTC)

Here's some javascript to run these substitutions (page may be unusable afterwards) - imma 
<code>document.body.innerHTML=[ 
[/magic spell/ig,"Magic spell"],
[/haunted/ig,"Haunted"],
[/Star[- ]Studded/ig,"Blood-soaked"],
[/will never be known/ig,"Will never be known"],
[/Silver[- ]bullet/ig,"Way to kill werewolves"],
[/tunnels I found/ig,"Tunnels I found"],
[/surprising (but not to me)/ig,"surprising (but not to me) (but not to me)"],
[/War[- ]of[- ]words/ig,"Interplanetary war"],
[/sexual tension/ig,"Sexual sexual tension"],
[/delusional/ig,"Delusional"],
[/the big bang theory/ig,"The Big Bang Theory"],
[/find pokémon/ig,"Find Pokémon"],
[/Behind (the )?headlines/ig,"Beyond the grave"],
[/poem|poem|poem|twitter post/ig,"Poem"],
[/this guy/ig,"This guy"],
[/final/ig,"Final"],
[/destroy/ig,"Destroy"],
[/ménage à trois/ig,"Ménage à trois"],
[/Channing Tatum and his friends?/ig,"Channing Tatum and his friends"],
[/I'm really sad about/ig,"I'm really sad about"] 
].reduce((t,s)=>t.replace(s[0],s[1]),document.body.innerHTML)</code> 
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.139|162.158.34.139]] 08:30, 12 May 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1671: Arcane Bullshit

2016-04-22T13:34:01Z

Papayaman1000:

I was obsessively refreshing XKCD and the new comic popped up. Then I did the same on ExplainXKCD to make an explanation. Here's my first rough-draft attempt. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 13:34, 22 April 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1671: Arcane Bullshit

2016-04-22T13:33:39Z

Papayaman1000:

I was obsessively refreshing XKCD and the new comic popped up. Then I did the same on ExplainXKCD to make an explanation. Here's my first rough-draft attempt.

1671: Arcane Bullshit

2016-04-22T13:32:22Z

Papayaman1000: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1671
| date = April 22, 2016
| title = Arcane Bullshit
| image = arcane_bullshit.png
| titletext = Learning arcane bullshit from the 80s can break your computer, but if you're willing to wade through arcane bullshit from programmers in the 90s and 2000s, you can break everyone else's computers, too.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|First draft. Please go over it and try to fix any mistakes.}}
In the '80s, computer sciences in general were far out of the public eye and rapidly advancing for the niche group who did work with it. As such, programming became complex very quickly, leading to its current state of being "arcane bullshit".

As such, few people are willing to try to surpass the massive barrier to learning. This group is on the left. To the right are people who have so much skill to program, they spend most of their time developing kernels (base systems) rather than actually doing anything, either looking for a challenge or employed for this exact purpose.

In the center is Cueball, presumably representing Randall, who is perfectly willing to learn some, but stops at the point where he can break everything, but having no idea how to fix it.

As programs age, they often lose support from the initial project head and die out, no longer supporting new computers. So, as the title text says, learning more coding from the '90s and after is necessary for also breaking everyone else's computers.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1662: Jack and Jill

2016-04-04T08:43:36Z

Papayaman1000:

I am surprised no one has mentioned the bad grammar "Me and Jack..." [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.155|108.162.249.155]] 07:37, 4 April 2016 (UTC)

Often water in spring (up hill) has better quality than in stream or river (down in the valley) --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 14:23, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
:The ground water table tends to be really close to ground on legs of a hill, so it's an ideal place to dig a well, in some places just a mand-made pond about a feet deep is all that is needed, in which case it's called a spring. {{unsigned ip|141.101.80.76}}

jack and Jill / went up the hill / to have a little fun / but silly Jill / forgot the pill / and now they have a son. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.151|141.101.104.151]] 14:28, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

I'd always assumed that there was a well at the top of the hill, though I hadn't realised I'd made that assumption until now. And, come to think of it, the top of a hill's a pretty bad place to put a well. --jwanders [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.160|108.162.237.160]] 14:39, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

High water sources are ideal. Not only do they tend to be cleaner, but it also makes for easier transportation. Note that hills are often at the base of mountains. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.119|108.162.246.119]] 14:49, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

It's been three weeks since Randall made a really complicated joke with [[1653: United States Map]] (and a week before that also with [[1649: Pipelines]]). Someone mentioned a possible school book project based on Thing Explainer as the reason for this. Personally I hope it is because he is saving up time to spend on the joke (on us all :-) this Friday with the next [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]] like [[1350: Lorenz]] or [[1506: xkcloud]]. Can't wait. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:12, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

I found the title text explanations to miss the obvious implication that earthquakes shake the ground causing people (and buildings) to literally fall down. I preface my comment with my ignorance, I have never experienced an earthquake first hand and I am not knowledgeable as to which magnitude is required to bring things to their knees. Perhaps to this date fracking has not been associated with earthquakes of sufficient magnitude to produce this result. Still, I think this was the intended meaning on its face and I added it to the explanation without removing the others as they did make some sense.--[[User:R0hrshach|R0hrshach]] ([[User talk:R0hrshach|talk]]) 15:24, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
:Well someone has deleted both yours and my speculations. I still think that the idea that people who begin with fracking at first can be popular for the money they bring to the local economy, but then when all the problems related to this endeavor begin to be felt (and micro earthquakes are probably the least given how many dangerous chemicals are released into nature during the process) then maybe those who at first celebrated the project will bring you down, i.e. make you fall. (Maybe only financially be suing Jack) The deleted explanations can be seen [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1662:_Jack_and_Jill&oldid=115940 here]. If anyone else agrees that this may be the reason for the fall in the title text maybe it should be re-added? But else it will just be left as my thoughts here in the discussion page. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:12, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

The third line of the title text has an ambiguous trochaic foot with the word "oil". Some people (myself included) pronounce this word as almost two syllables (oy-el), while others make it a single syllable. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.43|173.245.54.43]] 15:35, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

Why does that child say "me and Jack" instead of "Jack and I"? That seems such a glaring grammatical mistake that it must be intentional, right? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.86.239|162.158.86.239]] 17:18, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
:Because she's a child. Children often use incorrect grammar of that kind. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.82|141.101.98.82]] 20:02, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
::I think many kids will say it like that in spite them being told by their parents (repeatedly) to not name them selves first. But by letting Jill speak like this, he just let them be ordinary children. How many small kids do you actually hear say ''Jack and I will go up the hill'', instead of ''Me and Jack will go up the hill''? I think it would be more strange had he done it the other way, so yet I think it was on purpose, but only for the purpose or realism, not to hide any meaning... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:12, 30 March 2016 (UTC) (When first posting this it resulted in a posting conflict with the above comment, so won't change even though saying basically the same as it was a reply to the one above before the other one was posted.)
:This is actually an extremely common mistake, by native English speakers of all ages, such that it is frequently used in popular media (movies, TV, etc), often corrected by someone. And despite this correction frequently showing up, people still make this mistake, to the point where many people consider it "correct enough". I've seen this "me and him" grammatical mistake portrayed so often that I've even picked up a rule of thumb offered by some of these portrayals: Take the other person out, does it still make sense? "Me am going up the hill". This format is so common that it is less an error and more casual speaking, on par with words like "ain't", "gonna" and "gotta". In fact, saying the correct "Jack and I" can even sound odd, it's so rare. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.64|173.245.52.64]] 02:32, 1 April 2016 (UTC)

The poem doesn't necessarily indicate that the water or well was located atop a hill, merely that they had to scale a hill to reach it. It could simply mean that the water source is beyond the hill in question. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.129|108.162.242.129]] 17:49, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
:Interesting observation, but somewhat lateral. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.82|141.101.98.82]] 20:02, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
:Also, going up a hill to get to the other side would be "going over the the hill".[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.71|173.245.54.71]] 22:55, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
::Yes, unfortunately "up" is vague and "over" would be an indication of beyond.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.129|108.162.242.129]] 16:36, 31 March 2016 (UTC)
It seems like there have been a lot of environmental related comics, both recently with this and the tire swing and in general, often about global warming, but also about risk of Nuclear war/or pollution. Should there be a category, and if so, what should it be called, and should it only be about environment, also about nukes, or even only about global warming (or should there be more)? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:12, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

Where does it say that the water is at the top of he hill? They go some distance up the hill, but not necessarily to the top. There maybe any number of reasons why they go there for water. Maybe there is a brook running down the hillside. Maybe there a well was dug there because that is where most people live. Maybe the water in the valley is poluted. Andso on and so forth. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.135.51|162.158.135.51]] 06:38, 31 March 2016 (UTC)

There are Dew Ponds which are at the top of hills, more info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dew_pond {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.59}}

Abe and Ali,
Went down the valley,
To fetch a pail of water.
When rain falls down,
Hilltops don't drown,
The rivers flow; or oughta!
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.7|141.101.98.7]] 01:31, 2 April 2016 (UTC)

== What happened to Friday's comic ==

I know they don't happen at 00:00 GMT, but it's now 19:44 GMT/20:44 BST and no new comic.

Everything ok, Randall Hun? {{unsigned|Kev}}

See the header on the site: "The xkcd April 1st comic is currently experiencing technical difficulties. / Please stand by!"
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.72.11|162.158.72.11]] 21:18, 1 April 2016 (UTC)
:[[506: Theft of the Magi|Aww!]] I was so much looking forward to it, and now it's 10 minutes to midnight in Europe, so I won't even experience it during April 1st. Guess it will prove to be a very interesting comic along the lines of the last two years April 1st comics and his [[1608|game]] when [[Thing Explainer]] came out. I hope those in the US gets that pleasure - also for Randall's sake. It would be a pity that an [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comics]] came out on April 2nd... Of course this feels like I have been made an April fool so I'll take that as an experience, maybe like the first [[404: Not Found|Fool's comic]] from 2008. Havbe fun those of you who still have a chance to try it out today. ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:54, 1 April 2016 (UTC)
Additional updates have been posted...
:Status update: Please stand by.
:Status update: This is fine. Everything is fine.
:Status update: Everything is on fire.
:Status update: Searching for calendar systems in which Saturday is April 1st.
--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.80|173.245.54.80]] 02:20, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
::Well then at least I did not miss anything... He still has 1½ hour where it is still April 1st in California... (But three more hours in Hawaii.) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 05:32, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
::Too late for that as well. He still has almost two hours until April 1st ends in [http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/usa/baker-island baker-island] though... ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:16, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
:::And it is officially too late, as the date has now changed past April 1st all over the globe. Sad on behalf of Randall. Hope he makes it work and the anticipation that this should be a really great comic is sky high now. I'm taking comfort in playing with {{xkcd|1350|Lorenz}} again ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:04, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
:New update Saturday afternoon (in the US):
::The Friday xkcd comic is currently experiencing technical difficulties
::[Editor's note: Everything is on fire]
::and has been delayed until Sunday night.
:So nothing for this weekend. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:28, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
::And if it is Sunday night then it is not in Europe. In half an hour it is midnight in central Europe... Maybe he is making a hoax on us that have been awaiting a new [[Lorenz]]? Quite dissapointed now and will go to bed ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:26, 3 April 2016 (UTC)

Is it possible that the April joke is the banner and the absent comic? I propose a new wiki page is created for comic 1663 (April 1st), containing the banner and discussion about where the comic has gone.
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.125|141.101.104.125]] 14:02, 2 April 2016 (UTC)Wilhelm
:I have thought about it, but I think we should await the next comic on Monday before creating any pages. It could of course be, I would think it was a poor April fool's joke especially since it is still up on the 2nd of April. And he would let down his fans... But of course he has done one such [[404|meta comics]] before, but that was not in stead of another comic. And if this is the April joke, but the comic on Monday is called 1663 then it would be stupid to have called this "one" 1663. I have some screen shots of the first status update and then as it looks now. These can be used either in the explanation when the comic comes up, or if there never will be a comic. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:27, 2 April 2016 (UTC)

Update @ 5:37 PM EST (GMT -5:00, Randall lives in Boston, it's his timezone). Still the "everything's on fire" banner but no new comic. He should have it up within about 6 hours and 20 minutes maximum. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 21:55, 3 April 2016 (UTC)

:Update: Time is up for GB and Germany respectively, would have been an amazing birthday for someone I know. [[User:ẞ qwertz|ẞ qwertz]] ([[User talk:ẞ qwertz|talk]]) 00:30, 4 April 2016 (UTC)

Update @ 10:30 PM EST: Still no comic. Same banner. Same person reporting. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 02:32, 4 April 2016 (UTC)

10:20 PM CDT and there is still no comic [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.23|108.162.221.23]] 03:19, 4 April 2016 (UTC)

11:30. Nothing. Randall, I HATE you. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 03:29, 4 April 2016 (UTC)

12:07am, it's Monday in Boston now, everything is still on fire. [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 04:08, 4 April 2016 (UTC)

02:06am Monday, neither the Friday nor the Monday comic is up. Atill same banner as yesterday. Fuck. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 06:07, 4 April 2016 (UTC)
:Despair not, betcha it'll be worth the wait! [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 07:49, 4 April 2016 (UTC)
:: calm down! he still has 3 hours 45 minutes from Baker Island's perspective. [[User:ẞ qwertz|ẞ qwertz]] ([[User talk:ẞ qwertz|talk]]) 08:16, 4 April 2016 (UTC)

HOLYFUCKITSUP [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 08:43, 4 April 2016 (UTC)

== Jeff's banner ==
This is off topic, but I noticed the banner from Jeff about 100 million views to the site! I followed the original explainxkcd site for about a year before the Wiki was created. If it's been going for 6 years then 100 million views would be an average of about 46,000 views per day and about 107,000 views per comic! Does anyone know when this Wiki was created?! I also know this average is misleading. Does anybody know what the current number of views per day is? Averaged over the last year for example?[[User:ExternalMonologue|ExternalMonologue]] ([[User talk:ExternalMonologue|talk]]) 00:53, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
:(There's probably a better place to discuss this on the Community Portal link, but I haven't looked myself and your 'question' is here, so...)
:100 million views may include a significant number of "Is the latest comic up yet?" or "Has someone replied to my Discussion Pane comment, yet?". I think a better 'metric' (less likely to be inflated by lurkers and other people bashing backwards and forwards over established pages, looking for changes for whatever reason) would be the number of edits made. Still some slight inflation by spammers and "Something is wrong on the Internet!"ers, but much more representative of the degree of community spirit. (Still, a milestone is a milestone!) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.7|141.101.98.7]] 01:50, 3 April 2016 (UTC)

----

Am I the only one who got a sense of foreboding in the third panel and was expecting Megan to stop or dissuade the kids from this dangerous activity, rather than wondering about hydrology. I thought that was the joke here - most people would think of stopping the kids and saving them from broken crown and tumbling-related injuries, while Megan goes on a tangent about hydrology.. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.46.214|162.158.46.214]] 02:51, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
:I did not, she is not supposed to know the rhyme and would thus not know that they are supposed to fall down. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 05:32, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
:No, and I'm also surprised not to see it mentioned. that's exactly the reason for the blank third panel, to provide the pause for you to fill in your own punch-line (the bait) and then the final panel is the one where you're taken away at the tangent (the switch). The joke is funnier because of Megan's concern about the hydrology (which is funny by itself) distracting her from the obvious. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.10|141.101.98.10]]IB

Talk:1662: Jack and Jill

2016-04-04T06:07:23Z

Papayaman1000:

Often water in spring (up hill) has better quality than in stream or river (down in the valley) --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 14:23, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
:The ground water table tends to be really close to ground on legs of a hill, so it's an ideal place to dig a well, in some places just a mand-made pond about a feet deep is all that is needed, in which case it's called a spring. {{unsigned ip|141.101.80.76}}

jack and Jill / went up the hill / to have a little fun / but silly Jill / forgot the pill / and now they have a son. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.151|141.101.104.151]] 14:28, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

I'd always assumed that there was a well at the top of the hill, though I hadn't realised I'd made that assumption until now. And, come to think of it, the top of a hill's a pretty bad place to put a well. --jwanders [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.160|108.162.237.160]] 14:39, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

High water sources are ideal. Not only do they tend to be cleaner, but it also makes for easier transportation. Note that hills are often at the base of mountains. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.119|108.162.246.119]] 14:49, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

It's been three weeks since Randall made a really complicated joke with [[1653: United States Map]] (and a week before that also with [[1649: Pipelines]]). Someone mentioned a possible school book project based on Thing Explainer as the reason for this. Personally I hope it is because he is saving up time to spend on the joke (on us all :-) this Friday with the next [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]] like [[1350: Lorenz]] or [[1506: xkcloud]]. Can't wait. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:12, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

I found the title text explanations to miss the obvious implication that earthquakes shake the ground causing people (and buildings) to literally fall down. I preface my comment with my ignorance, I have never experienced an earthquake first hand and I am not knowledgeable as to which magnitude is required to bring things to their knees. Perhaps to this date fracking has not been associated with earthquakes of sufficient magnitude to produce this result. Still, I think this was the intended meaning on its face and I added it to the explanation without removing the others as they did make some sense.--[[User:R0hrshach|R0hrshach]] ([[User talk:R0hrshach|talk]]) 15:24, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
:Well someone has deleted both yours and my speculations. I still think that the idea that people who begin with fracking at first can be popular for the money they bring to the local economy, but then when all the problems related to this endeavor begin to be felt (and micro earthquakes are probably the least given how many dangerous chemicals are released into nature during the process) then maybe those who at first celebrated the project will bring you down, i.e. make you fall. (Maybe only financially be suing Jack) The deleted explanations can be seen [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1662:_Jack_and_Jill&oldid=115940 here]. If anyone else agrees that this may be the reason for the fall in the title text maybe it should be re-added? But else it will just be left as my thoughts here in the discussion page. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:12, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

The third line of the title text has an ambiguous trochaic foot with the word "oil". Some people (myself included) pronounce this word as almost two syllables (oy-el), while others make it a single syllable. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.43|173.245.54.43]] 15:35, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

Why does that child say "me and Jack" instead of "Jack and I"? That seems such a glaring grammatical mistake that it must be intentional, right? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.86.239|162.158.86.239]] 17:18, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
:Because she's a child. Children often use incorrect grammar of that kind. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.82|141.101.98.82]] 20:02, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
::I think many kids will say it like that in spite them being told by their parents (repeatedly) to not name them selves first. But by letting Jill speak like this, he just let them be ordinary children. How many small kids do you actually hear say ''Jack and I will go up the hill'', instead of ''Me and Jack will go up the hill''? I think it would be more strange had he done it the other way, so yet I think it was on purpose, but only for the purpose or realism, not to hide any meaning... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:12, 30 March 2016 (UTC) (When first posting this it resulted in a posting conflict with the above comment, so won't change even though saying basically the same as it was a reply to the one above before the other one was posted.)
:This is actually an extremely common mistake, by native English speakers of all ages, such that it is frequently used in popular media (movies, TV, etc), often corrected by someone. And despite this correction frequently showing up, people still make this mistake, to the point where many people consider it "correct enough". I've seen this "me and him" grammatical mistake portrayed so often that I've even picked up a rule of thumb offered by some of these portrayals: Take the other person out, does it still make sense? "Me am going up the hill". This format is so common that it is less an error and more casual speaking, on par with words like "ain't", "gonna" and "gotta". In fact, saying the correct "Jack and I" can even sound odd, it's so rare. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.64|173.245.52.64]] 02:32, 1 April 2016 (UTC)

The poem doesn't necessarily indicate that the water or well was located atop a hill, merely that they had to scale a hill to reach it. It could simply mean that the water source is beyond the hill in question. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.129|108.162.242.129]] 17:49, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
:Interesting observation, but somewhat lateral. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.82|141.101.98.82]] 20:02, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
:Also, going up a hill to get to the other side would be "going over the the hill".[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.71|173.245.54.71]] 22:55, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
::Yes, unfortunately "up" is vague and "over" would be an indication of beyond.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.129|108.162.242.129]] 16:36, 31 March 2016 (UTC)
It seems like there have been a lot of environmental related comics, both recently with this and the tire swing and in general, often about global warming, but also about risk of Nuclear war/or pollution. Should there be a category, and if so, what should it be called, and should it only be about environment, also about nukes, or even only about global warming (or should there be more)? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:12, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

Where does it say that the water is at the top of he hill? They go some distance up the hill, but not necessarily to the top. There maybe any number of reasons why they go there for water. Maybe there is a brook running down the hillside. Maybe there a well was dug there because that is where most people live. Maybe the water in the valley is poluted. Andso on and so forth. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.135.51|162.158.135.51]] 06:38, 31 March 2016 (UTC)

There are Dew Ponds which are at the top of hills, more info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dew_pond {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.59}}

Abe and Ali,
Went down the valley,
To fetch a pail of water.
When rain falls down,
Hilltops don't drown,
The rivers flow; or oughta!
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.7|141.101.98.7]] 01:31, 2 April 2016 (UTC)

== What happened to Friday's comic ==

I know they don't happen at 00:00 GMT, but it's now 19:44 GMT/20:44 BST and no new comic.

Everything ok, Randall Hun? {{unsigned|Kev}}

See the header on the site: "The xkcd April 1st comic is currently experiencing technical difficulties. / Please stand by!"
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.72.11|162.158.72.11]] 21:18, 1 April 2016 (UTC)
:[[506: Theft of the Magi|Aww!]] I was so much looking forward to it, and now it's 10 minutes to midnight in Europe, so I won't even experience it during April 1st. Guess it will prove to be a very interesting comic along the lines of the last two years April 1st comics and his [[1608|game]] when [[Thing Explainer]] came out. I hope those in the US gets that pleasure - also for Randall's sake. It would be a pity that an [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comics]] came out on April 2nd... Of course this feels like I have been made an April fool so I'll take that as an experience, maybe like the first [[404: Not Found|Fool's comic]] from 2008. Havbe fun those of you who still have a chance to try it out today. ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:54, 1 April 2016 (UTC)
Additional updates have been posted...
:Status update: Please stand by.
:Status update: This is fine. Everything is fine.
:Status update: Everything is on fire.
:Status update: Searching for calendar systems in which Saturday is April 1st.
--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.80|173.245.54.80]] 02:20, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
::Well then at least I did not miss anything... He still has 1½ hour where it is still April 1st in California... (But three more hours in Hawaii.) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 05:32, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
::Too late for that as well. He still has almost two hours until April 1st ends in [http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/usa/baker-island baker-island] though... ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:16, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
:::And it is officially too late, as the date has now changed past April 1st all over the globe. Sad on behalf of Randall. Hope he makes it work and the anticipation that this should be a really great comic is sky high now. I'm taking comfort in playing with {{xkcd|1350|Lorenz}} again ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:04, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
:New update Saturday afternoon (in the US):
::The Friday xkcd comic is currently experiencing technical difficulties
::[Editor's note: Everything is on fire]
::and has been delayed until Sunday night.
:So nothing for this weekend. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:28, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
::And if it is Sunday night then it is not in Europe. In half an hour it is midnight in central Europe... Maybe he is making a hoax on us that have been awaiting a new [[Lorenz]]? Quite dissapointed now and will go to bed ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:26, 3 April 2016 (UTC)

Is it possible that the April joke is the banner and the absent comic? I propose a new wiki page is created for comic 1663 (April 1st), containing the banner and discussion about where the comic has gone.
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.125|141.101.104.125]] 14:02, 2 April 2016 (UTC)Wilhelm
:I have thought about it, but I think we should await the next comic on Monday before creating any pages. It could of course be, I would think it was a poor April fool's joke especially since it is still up on the 2nd of April. And he would let down his fans... But of course he has done one such [[404|meta comics]] before, but that was not in stead of another comic. And if this is the April joke, but the comic on Monday is called 1663 then it would be stupid to have called this "one" 1663. I have some screen shots of the first status update and then as it looks now. These can be used either in the explanation when the comic comes up, or if there never will be a comic. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:27, 2 April 2016 (UTC)

Update @ 5:37 PM EST (GMT -5:00, Randall lives in Boston, it's his timezone). Still the "everything's on fire" banner but no new comic. He should have it up within about 6 hours and 20 minutes maximum. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 21:55, 3 April 2016 (UTC)

:Update: Time is up for GB and Germany respectively, would have been an amazing birthday for someone I know. [[User:ẞ qwertz|ẞ qwertz]] ([[User talk:ẞ qwertz|talk]]) 00:30, 4 April 2016 (UTC)

Update @ 10:30 PM EST: Still no comic. Same banner. Same person reporting. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 02:32, 4 April 2016 (UTC)

10:20 PM CDT and there is still no comic [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.23|108.162.221.23]] 03:19, 4 April 2016 (UTC)

11:30. Nothing. Randall, I HATE you. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 03:29, 4 April 2016 (UTC)

12:07am, it's Monday in Boston now, everything is still on fire. [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 04:08, 4 April 2016 (UTC)

02:06am Monday, neither the Friday nor the Monday comic is up. Atill same banner as yesterday. Fuck. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 06:07, 4 April 2016 (UTC)

== Jeff's banner ==
This is off topic, but I noticed the banner from Jeff about 100 million views to the site! I followed the original explainxkcd site for about a year before the Wiki was created. If it's been going for 6 years then 100 million views would be an average of about 46,000 views per day and about 107,000 views per comic! Does anyone know when this Wiki was created?! I also know this average is misleading. Does anybody know what the current number of views per day is? Averaged over the last year for example?[[User:ExternalMonologue|ExternalMonologue]] ([[User talk:ExternalMonologue|talk]]) 00:53, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
:(There's probably a better place to discuss this on the Community Portal link, but I haven't looked myself and your 'question' is here, so...)
:100 million views may include a significant number of "Is the latest comic up yet?" or "Has someone replied to my Discussion Pane comment, yet?". I think a better 'metric' (less likely to be inflated by lurkers and other people bashing backwards and forwards over established pages, looking for changes for whatever reason) would be the number of edits made. Still some slight inflation by spammers and "Something is wrong on the Internet!"ers, but much more representative of the degree of community spirit. (Still, a milestone is a milestone!) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.7|141.101.98.7]] 01:50, 3 April 2016 (UTC)

----

Am I the only one who got a sense of foreboding in the third panel and was expecting Megan to stop or dissuade the kids from this dangerous activity, rather than wondering about hydrology. I thought that was the joke here - most people would think of stopping the kids and saving them from broken crown and tumbling-related injuries, while Megan goes on a tangent about hydrology.. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.46.214|162.158.46.214]] 02:51, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
:I did not, she is not supposed to know the rhyme and would thus not know that they are supposed to fall down. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 05:32, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
:No, and I'm also surprised not to see it mentioned. that's exactly the reason for the blank third panel, to provide the pause for you to fill in your own punch-line (the bait) and then the final panel is the one where you're taken away at the tangent (the switch). The joke is funnier because of Megan's concern about the hydrology (which is funny by itself) distracting her from the obvious. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.10|141.101.98.10]]IB

Talk:1662: Jack and Jill

2016-04-04T03:29:52Z

Papayaman1000: /* What happened to Friday's comic */

Often water in spring (up hill) has better quality than in stream or river (down in the valley) --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 14:23, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
:The ground water table tends to be really close to ground on legs of a hill, so it's an ideal place to dig a well, in some places just a mand-made pond about a feet deep is all that is needed, in which case it's called a spring. {{unsigned ip|141.101.80.76}}

jack and Jill / went up the hill / to have a little fun / but silly Jill / forgot the pill / and now they have a son. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.151|141.101.104.151]] 14:28, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

I'd always assumed that there was a well at the top of the hill, though I hadn't realised I'd made that assumption until now. And, come to think of it, the top of a hill's a pretty bad place to put a well. --jwanders [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.160|108.162.237.160]] 14:39, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

High water sources are ideal. Not only do they tend to be cleaner, but it also makes for easier transportation. Note that hills are often at the base of mountains. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.119|108.162.246.119]] 14:49, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

It's been three weeks since Randall made a really complicated joke with [[1653: United States Map]] (and a week before that also with [[1649: Pipelines]]). Someone mentioned a possible school book project based on Thing Explainer as the reason for this. Personally I hope it is because he is saving up time to spend on the joke (on us all :-) this Friday with the next [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]] like [[1350: Lorenz]] or [[1506: xkcloud]]. Can't wait. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:12, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

I found the title text explanations to miss the obvious implication that earthquakes shake the ground causing people (and buildings) to literally fall down. I preface my comment with my ignorance, I have never experienced an earthquake first hand and I am not knowledgeable as to which magnitude is required to bring things to their knees. Perhaps to this date fracking has not been associated with earthquakes of sufficient magnitude to produce this result. Still, I think this was the intended meaning on its face and I added it to the explanation without removing the others as they did make some sense.--[[User:R0hrshach|R0hrshach]] ([[User talk:R0hrshach|talk]]) 15:24, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
:Well someone has deleted both yours and my speculations. I still think that the idea that people who begin with fracking at first can be popular for the money they bring to the local economy, but then when all the problems related to this endeavor begin to be felt (and micro earthquakes are probably the least given how many dangerous chemicals are released into nature during the process) then maybe those who at first celebrated the project will bring you down, i.e. make you fall. (Maybe only financially be suing Jack) The deleted explanations can be seen [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1662:_Jack_and_Jill&oldid=115940 here]. If anyone else agrees that this may be the reason for the fall in the title text maybe it should be re-added? But else it will just be left as my thoughts here in the discussion page. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:12, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

The third line of the title text has an ambiguous trochaic foot with the word "oil". Some people (myself included) pronounce this word as almost two syllables (oy-el), while others make it a single syllable. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.43|173.245.54.43]] 15:35, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

Why does that child say "me and Jack" instead of "Jack and I"? That seems such a glaring grammatical mistake that it must be intentional, right? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.86.239|162.158.86.239]] 17:18, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
:Because she's a child. Children often use incorrect grammar of that kind. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.82|141.101.98.82]] 20:02, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
::I think many kids will say it like that in spite them being told by their parents (repeatedly) to not name them selves first. But by letting Jill speak like this, he just let them be ordinary children. How many small kids do you actually hear say ''Jack and I will go up the hill'', instead of ''Me and Jack will go up the hill''? I think it would be more strange had he done it the other way, so yet I think it was on purpose, but only for the purpose or realism, not to hide any meaning... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:12, 30 March 2016 (UTC) (When first posting this it resulted in a posting conflict with the above comment, so won't change even though saying basically the same as it was a reply to the one above before the other one was posted.)
:This is actually an extremely common mistake, by native English speakers of all ages, such that it is frequently used in popular media (movies, TV, etc), often corrected by someone. And despite this correction frequently showing up, people still make this mistake, to the point where many people consider it "correct enough". I've seen this "me and him" grammatical mistake portrayed so often that I've even picked up a rule of thumb offered by some of these portrayals: Take the other person out, does it still make sense? "Me am going up the hill". This format is so common that it is less an error and more casual speaking, on par with words like "ain't", "gonna" and "gotta". In fact, saying the correct "Jack and I" can even sound odd, it's so rare. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.64|173.245.52.64]] 02:32, 1 April 2016 (UTC)

The poem doesn't necessarily indicate that the water or well was located atop a hill, merely that they had to scale a hill to reach it. It could simply mean that the water source is beyond the hill in question. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.129|108.162.242.129]] 17:49, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
:Interesting observation, but somewhat lateral. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.82|141.101.98.82]] 20:02, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
:Also, going up a hill to get to the other side would be "going over the the hill".[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.71|173.245.54.71]] 22:55, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
::Yes, unfortunately "up" is vague and "over" would be an indication of beyond.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.129|108.162.242.129]] 16:36, 31 March 2016 (UTC)
It seems like there have been a lot of environmental related comics, both recently with this and the tire swing and in general, often about global warming, but also about risk of Nuclear war/or pollution. Should there be a category, and if so, what should it be called, and should it only be about environment, also about nukes, or even only about global warming (or should there be more)? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:12, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

Where does it say that the water is at the top of he hill? They go some distance up the hill, but not necessarily to the top. There maybe any number of reasons why they go there for water. Maybe there is a brook running down the hillside. Maybe there a well was dug there because that is where most people live. Maybe the water in the valley is poluted. Andso on and so forth. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.135.51|162.158.135.51]] 06:38, 31 March 2016 (UTC)

There are Dew Ponds which are at the top of hills, more info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dew_pond {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.59}}

Abe and Ali,
Went down the valley,
To fetch a pail of water.
When rain falls down,
Hilltops don't drown,
The rivers flow; or oughta!
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.7|141.101.98.7]] 01:31, 2 April 2016 (UTC)

== What happened to Friday's comic ==

I know they don't happen at 00:00 GMT, but it's now 19:44 GMT/20:44 BST and no new comic.

Everything ok, Randall Hun? {{unsigned|Kev}}

See the header on the site: "The xkcd April 1st comic is currently experiencing technical difficulties. / Please stand by!"
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.72.11|162.158.72.11]] 21:18, 1 April 2016 (UTC)
:[[506: Theft of the Magi|Aww!]] I was so much looking forward to it, and now it's 10 minutes to midnight in Europe, so I won't even experience it during April 1st. Guess it will prove to be a very interesting comic along the lines of the last two years April 1st comics and his [[1608|game]] when [[Thing Explainer]] came out. I hope those in the US gets that pleasure - also for Randall's sake. It would be a pity that an [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comics]] came out on April 2nd... Of course this feels like I have been made an April fool so I'll take that as an experience, maybe like the first [[404: Not Found|Fool's comic]] from 2008. Havbe fun those of you who still have a chance to try it out today. ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:54, 1 April 2016 (UTC)
Additional updates have been posted...
:Status update: Please stand by.
:Status update: This is fine. Everything is fine.
:Status update: Everything is on fire.
:Status update: Searching for calendar systems in which Saturday is April 1st.
--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.80|173.245.54.80]] 02:20, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
::Well then at least I did not miss anything... He still has 1½ hour where it is still April 1st in California... (But three more hours in Hawaii.) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 05:32, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
::Too late for that as well. He still has almost two hours until April 1st ends in [http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/usa/baker-island baker-island] though... ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:16, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
:::And it is officially too late, as the date has now changed past April 1st all over the globe. Sad on behalf of Randall. Hope he makes it work and the anticipation that this should be a really great comic is sky high now. I'm taking comfort in playing with {{xkcd|1350|Lorenz}} again ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:04, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
:New update Saturday afternoon (in the US):
::The Friday xkcd comic is currently experiencing technical difficulties
::[Editor's note: Everything is on fire]
::and has been delayed until Sunday night.
:So nothing for this weekend. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:28, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
::And if it is Sunday night then it is not in Europe. In half an hour it is midnight in central Europe... Maybe he is making a hoax on us that have been awaiting a new [[Lorenz]]? Quite dissapointed now and will go to bed ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:26, 3 April 2016 (UTC)

Is it possible that the April joke is the banner and the absent comic? I propose a new wiki page is created for comic 1663 (April 1st), containing the banner and discussion about where the comic has gone.
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.125|141.101.104.125]] 14:02, 2 April 2016 (UTC)Wilhelm
:I have thought about it, but I think we should await the next comic on Monday before creating any pages. It could of course be, I would think it was a poor April fool's joke especially since it is still up on the 2nd of April. And he would let down his fans... But of course he has done one such [[404|meta comics]] before, but that was not in stead of another comic. And if this is the April joke, but the comic on Monday is called 1663 then it would be stupid to have called this "one" 1663. I have some screen shots of the first status update and then as it looks now. These can be used either in the explanation when the comic comes up, or if there never will be a comic. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:27, 2 April 2016 (UTC)

Update @ 5:37 PM EST (GMT -5:00, Randall lives in Boston, it's his timezone). Still the "everything's on fire" banner but no new comic. He should have it up within about 6 hours and 20 minutes maximum. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 21:55, 3 April 2016 (UTC)

:Update: Time is up for GB and Germany respectively, would have been an amazing birthday for someone I know. [[User:ẞ qwertz|ẞ qwertz]] ([[User talk:ẞ qwertz|talk]]) 00:30, 4 April 2016 (UTC)

Update @ 10:30 PM EST: Still no comic. Same banner. Same person reporting. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 02:32, 4 April 2016 (UTC)

10:20 PM CDT and there is still no comic [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.23|108.162.221.23]] 03:19, 4 April 2016 (UTC)

11:30. Nothing. Randall, I HATE you. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 03:29, 4 April 2016 (UTC)

== Jeff's banner ==
This is off topic, but I noticed the banner from Jeff about 100 million views to the site! I followed the original explainxkcd site for about a year before the Wiki was created. If it's been going for 6 years then 100 million views would be an average of about 46,000 views per day and about 107,000 views per comic! Does anyone know when this Wiki was created?! I also know this average is misleading. Does anybody know what the current number of views per day is? Averaged over the last year for example?[[User:ExternalMonologue|ExternalMonologue]] ([[User talk:ExternalMonologue|talk]]) 00:53, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
:(There's probably a better place to discuss this on the Community Portal link, but I haven't looked myself and your 'question' is here, so...)
:100 million views may include a significant number of "Is the latest comic up yet?" or "Has someone replied to my Discussion Pane comment, yet?". I think a better 'metric' (less likely to be inflated by lurkers and other people bashing backwards and forwards over established pages, looking for changes for whatever reason) would be the number of edits made. Still some slight inflation by spammers and "Something is wrong on the Internet!"ers, but much more representative of the degree of community spirit. (Still, a milestone is a milestone!) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.7|141.101.98.7]] 01:50, 3 April 2016 (UTC)

----

Am I the only one who got a sense of foreboding in the third panel and was expecting Megan to stop or dissuade the kids from this dangerous activity, rather than wondering about hydrology. I thought that was the joke here - most people would think of stopping the kids and saving them from broken crown and tumbling-related injuries, while Megan goes on a tangent about hydrology.. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.46.214|162.158.46.214]] 02:51, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
:I did not, she is not supposed to know the rhyme and would thus not know that they are supposed to fall down. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 05:32, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
:No, and I'm also surprised not to see it mentioned. that's exactly the reason for the blank third panel, to provide the pause for you to fill in your own punch-line (the bait) and then the final panel is the one where you're taken away at the tangent (the switch). The joke is funnier because of Megan's concern about the hydrology (which is funny by itself) distracting her from the obvious. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.10|141.101.98.10]]IB

Talk:1662: Jack and Jill

2016-04-04T02:32:19Z

Papayaman1000:

Often water in spring (up hill) has better quality than in stream or river (down in the valley) --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 14:23, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
:The ground water table tends to be really close to ground on legs of a hill, so it's an ideal place to dig a well, in some places just a mand-made pond about a feet deep is all that is needed, in which case it's called a spring. {{unsigned ip|141.101.80.76}}

jack and Jill / went up the hill / to have a little fun / but silly Jill / forgot the pill / and now they have a son. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.151|141.101.104.151]] 14:28, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

I'd always assumed that there was a well at the top of the hill, though I hadn't realised I'd made that assumption until now. And, come to think of it, the top of a hill's a pretty bad place to put a well. --jwanders [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.160|108.162.237.160]] 14:39, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

High water sources are ideal. Not only do they tend to be cleaner, but it also makes for easier transportation. Note that hills are often at the base of mountains. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.119|108.162.246.119]] 14:49, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

It's been three weeks since Randall made a really complicated joke with [[1653: United States Map]] (and a week before that also with [[1649: Pipelines]]). Someone mentioned a possible school book project based on Thing Explainer as the reason for this. Personally I hope it is because he is saving up time to spend on the joke (on us all :-) this Friday with the next [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]] like [[1350: Lorenz]] or [[1506: xkcloud]]. Can't wait. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:12, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

I found the title text explanations to miss the obvious implication that earthquakes shake the ground causing people (and buildings) to literally fall down. I preface my comment with my ignorance, I have never experienced an earthquake first hand and I am not knowledgeable as to which magnitude is required to bring things to their knees. Perhaps to this date fracking has not been associated with earthquakes of sufficient magnitude to produce this result. Still, I think this was the intended meaning on its face and I added it to the explanation without removing the others as they did make some sense.--[[User:R0hrshach|R0hrshach]] ([[User talk:R0hrshach|talk]]) 15:24, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
:Well someone has deleted both yours and my speculations. I still think that the idea that people who begin with fracking at first can be popular for the money they bring to the local economy, but then when all the problems related to this endeavor begin to be felt (and micro earthquakes are probably the least given how many dangerous chemicals are released into nature during the process) then maybe those who at first celebrated the project will bring you down, i.e. make you fall. (Maybe only financially be suing Jack) The deleted explanations can be seen [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1662:_Jack_and_Jill&oldid=115940 here]. If anyone else agrees that this may be the reason for the fall in the title text maybe it should be re-added? But else it will just be left as my thoughts here in the discussion page. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:12, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

The third line of the title text has an ambiguous trochaic foot with the word "oil". Some people (myself included) pronounce this word as almost two syllables (oy-el), while others make it a single syllable. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.43|173.245.54.43]] 15:35, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

Why does that child say "me and Jack" instead of "Jack and I"? That seems such a glaring grammatical mistake that it must be intentional, right? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.86.239|162.158.86.239]] 17:18, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
:Because she's a child. Children often use incorrect grammar of that kind. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.82|141.101.98.82]] 20:02, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
::I think many kids will say it like that in spite them being told by their parents (repeatedly) to not name them selves first. But by letting Jill speak like this, he just let them be ordinary children. How many small kids do you actually hear say ''Jack and I will go up the hill'', instead of ''Me and Jack will go up the hill''? I think it would be more strange had he done it the other way, so yet I think it was on purpose, but only for the purpose or realism, not to hide any meaning... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:12, 30 March 2016 (UTC) (When first posting this it resulted in a posting conflict with the above comment, so won't change even though saying basically the same as it was a reply to the one above before the other one was posted.)
:This is actually an extremely common mistake, by native English speakers of all ages, such that it is frequently used in popular media (movies, TV, etc), often corrected by someone. And despite this correction frequently showing up, people still make this mistake, to the point where many people consider it "correct enough". I've seen this "me and him" grammatical mistake portrayed so often that I've even picked up a rule of thumb offered by some of these portrayals: Take the other person out, does it still make sense? "Me am going up the hill". This format is so common that it is less an error and more casual speaking, on par with words like "ain't", "gonna" and "gotta". In fact, saying the correct "Jack and I" can even sound odd, it's so rare. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.64|173.245.52.64]] 02:32, 1 April 2016 (UTC)

The poem doesn't necessarily indicate that the water or well was located atop a hill, merely that they had to scale a hill to reach it. It could simply mean that the water source is beyond the hill in question. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.129|108.162.242.129]] 17:49, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
:Interesting observation, but somewhat lateral. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.82|141.101.98.82]] 20:02, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
:Also, going up a hill to get to the other side would be "going over the the hill".[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.71|173.245.54.71]] 22:55, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
::Yes, unfortunately "up" is vague and "over" would be an indication of beyond.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.129|108.162.242.129]] 16:36, 31 March 2016 (UTC)
It seems like there have been a lot of environmental related comics, both recently with this and the tire swing and in general, often about global warming, but also about risk of Nuclear war/or pollution. Should there be a category, and if so, what should it be called, and should it only be about environment, also about nukes, or even only about global warming (or should there be more)? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:12, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

Where does it say that the water is at the top of he hill? They go some distance up the hill, but not necessarily to the top. There maybe any number of reasons why they go there for water. Maybe there is a brook running down the hillside. Maybe there a well was dug there because that is where most people live. Maybe the water in the valley is poluted. Andso on and so forth. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.135.51|162.158.135.51]] 06:38, 31 March 2016 (UTC)

There are Dew Ponds which are at the top of hills, more info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dew_pond {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.59}}

Abe and Ali,
Went down the valley,
To fetch a pail of water.
When rain falls down,
Hilltops don't drown,
The rivers flow; or oughta!
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.7|141.101.98.7]] 01:31, 2 April 2016 (UTC)

== What happened to Friday's comic ==

I know they don't happen at 00:00 GMT, but it's now 19:44 GMT/20:44 BST and no new comic.

Everything ok, Randall Hun? {{unsigned|Kev}}

See the header on the site: "The xkcd April 1st comic is currently experiencing technical difficulties. / Please stand by!"
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.72.11|162.158.72.11]] 21:18, 1 April 2016 (UTC)
:[[506: Theft of the Magi|Aww!]] I was so much looking forward to it, and now it's 10 minutes to midnight in Europe, so I won't even experience it during April 1st. Guess it will prove to be a very interesting comic along the lines of the last two years April 1st comics and his [[1608|game]] when [[Thing Explainer]] came out. I hope those in the US gets that pleasure - also for Randall's sake. It would be a pity that an [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comics]] came out on April 2nd... Of course this feels like I have been made an April fool so I'll take that as an experience, maybe like the first [[404: Not Found|Fool's comic]] from 2008. Havbe fun those of you who still have a chance to try it out today. ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:54, 1 April 2016 (UTC)
Additional updates have been posted...
:Status update: Please stand by.
:Status update: This is fine. Everything is fine.
:Status update: Everything is on fire.
:Status update: Searching for calendar systems in which Saturday is April 1st.
--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.80|173.245.54.80]] 02:20, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
::Well then at least I did not miss anything... He still has 1½ hour where it is still April 1st in California... (But three more hours in Hawaii.) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 05:32, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
::Too late for that as well. He still has almost two hours until April 1st ends in [http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/usa/baker-island baker-island] though... ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:16, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
:::And it is officially too late, as the date has now changed past April 1st all over the globe. Sad on behalf of Randall. Hope he makes it work and the anticipation that this should be a really great comic is sky high now. I'm taking comfort in playing with {{xkcd|1350|Lorenz}} again ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:04, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
:New update Saturday afternoon (in the US):
::The Friday xkcd comic is currently experiencing technical difficulties
::[Editor's note: Everything is on fire]
::and has been delayed until Sunday night.
:So nothing for this weekend. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:28, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
::And if it is Sunday night then it is not in Europe. In half an hour it is midnight in central Europe... Maybe he is making a hoax on us that have been awaiting a new [[Lorenz]]? Quite dissapointed now and will go to bed ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:26, 3 April 2016 (UTC)

Is it possible that the April joke is the banner and the absent comic? I propose a new wiki page is created for comic 1663 (April 1st), containing the banner and discussion about where the comic has gone.
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.125|141.101.104.125]] 14:02, 2 April 2016 (UTC)Wilhelm
:I have thought about it, but I think we should await the next comic on Monday before creating any pages. It could of course be, I would think it was a poor April fool's joke especially since it is still up on the 2nd of April. And he would let down his fans... But of course he has done one such [[404|meta comics]] before, but that was not in stead of another comic. And if this is the April joke, but the comic on Monday is called 1663 then it would be stupid to have called this "one" 1663. I have some screen shots of the first status update and then as it looks now. These can be used either in the explanation when the comic comes up, or if there never will be a comic. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:27, 2 April 2016 (UTC)

Update @ 5:37 PM EST (GMT -5:00, Randall lives in Boston, it's his timezone). Still the "everything's on fire" banner but no new comic. He should have it up within about 6 hours and 20 minutes maximum. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 21:55, 3 April 2016 (UTC)

:Update: Time is up for GB and Germany respectively, would have been an amazing birthday for someone I know. [[User:ẞ qwertz|ẞ qwertz]] ([[User talk:ẞ qwertz|talk]]) 00:30, 4 April 2016 (UTC)

Update @ 10:30 PM EST: Still no comic. Same banner. Same person reporting. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 02:32, 4 April 2016 (UTC)

== Jeff's banner ==
This is off topic, but I noticed the banner from Jeff about 100 million views to the site! I followed the original explainxkcd site for about a year before the Wiki was created. If it's been going for 6 years then 100 million views would be an average of about 46,000 views per day and about 107,000 views per comic! Does anyone know when this Wiki was created?! I also know this average is misleading. Does anybody know what the current number of views per day is? Averaged over the last year for example?[[User:ExternalMonologue|ExternalMonologue]] ([[User talk:ExternalMonologue|talk]]) 00:53, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
:(There's probably a better place to discuss this on the Community Portal link, but I haven't looked myself and your 'question' is here, so...)
:100 million views may include a significant number of "Is the latest comic up yet?" or "Has someone replied to my Discussion Pane comment, yet?". I think a better 'metric' (less likely to be inflated by lurkers and other people bashing backwards and forwards over established pages, looking for changes for whatever reason) would be the number of edits made. Still some slight inflation by spammers and "Something is wrong on the Internet!"ers, but much more representative of the degree of community spirit. (Still, a milestone is a milestone!) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.7|141.101.98.7]] 01:50, 3 April 2016 (UTC)

----

Am I the only one who got a sense of foreboding in the third panel and was expecting Megan to stop or dissuade the kids from this dangerous activity, rather than wondering about hydrology. I thought that was the joke here - most people would think of stopping the kids and saving them from broken crown and tumbling-related injuries, while Megan goes on a tangent about hydrology.. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.46.214|162.158.46.214]] 02:51, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
:I did not, she is not supposed to know the rhyme and would thus not know that they are supposed to fall down. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 05:32, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
:No, and I'm also surprised not to see it mentioned. that's exactly the reason for the blank third panel, to provide the pause for you to fill in your own punch-line (the bait) and then the final panel is the one where you're taken away at the tangent (the switch). The joke is funnier because of Megan's concern about the hydrology (which is funny by itself) distracting her from the obvious. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.10|141.101.98.10]]IB

Talk:1662: Jack and Jill

2016-04-03T21:55:51Z

Papayaman1000:

Often water in spring (up hill) has better quality than in stream or river (down in the valley) --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 14:23, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
:The ground water table tends to be really close to ground on legs of a hill, so it's an ideal place to dig a well, in some places just a mand-made pond about a feet deep is all that is needed, in which case it's called a spring. {{unsigned ip|141.101.80.76}}

jack and Jill / went up the hill / to have a little fun / but silly Jill / forgot the pill / and now they have a son. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.151|141.101.104.151]] 14:28, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

I'd always assumed that there was a well at the top of the hill, though I hadn't realised I'd made that assumption until now. And, come to think of it, the top of a hill's a pretty bad place to put a well. --jwanders [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.160|108.162.237.160]] 14:39, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

High water sources are ideal. Not only do they tend to be cleaner, but it also makes for easier transportation. Note that hills are often at the base of mountains. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.119|108.162.246.119]] 14:49, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

It's been three weeks since Randall made a really complicated joke with [[1653: United States Map]] (and a week before that also with [[1649: Pipelines]]). Someone mentioned a possible school book project based on Thing Explainer as the reason for this. Personally I hope it is because he is saving up time to spend on the joke (on us all :-) this Friday with the next [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]] like [[1350: Lorenz]] or [[1506: xkcloud]]. Can't wait. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:12, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

I found the title text explanations to miss the obvious implication that earthquakes shake the ground causing people (and buildings) to literally fall down. I preface my comment with my ignorance, I have never experienced an earthquake first hand and I am not knowledgeable as to which magnitude is required to bring things to their knees. Perhaps to this date fracking has not been associated with earthquakes of sufficient magnitude to produce this result. Still, I think this was the intended meaning on its face and I added it to the explanation without removing the others as they did make some sense.--[[User:R0hrshach|R0hrshach]] ([[User talk:R0hrshach|talk]]) 15:24, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
:Well someone has deleted both yours and my speculations. I still think that the idea that people who begin with fracking at first can be popular for the money they bring to the local economy, but then when all the problems related to this endeavor begin to be felt (and micro earthquakes are probably the least given how many dangerous chemicals are released into nature during the process) then maybe those who at first celebrated the project will bring you down, i.e. make you fall. (Maybe only financially be suing Jack) The deleted explanations can be seen [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1662:_Jack_and_Jill&oldid=115940 here]. If anyone else agrees that this may be the reason for the fall in the title text maybe it should be re-added? But else it will just be left as my thoughts here in the discussion page. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:12, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

The third line of the title text has an ambiguous trochaic foot with the word "oil". Some people (myself included) pronounce this word as almost two syllables (oy-el), while others make it a single syllable. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.43|173.245.54.43]] 15:35, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

Why does that child say "me and Jack" instead of "Jack and I"? That seems such a glaring grammatical mistake that it must be intentional, right? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.86.239|162.158.86.239]] 17:18, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
:Because she's a child. Children often use incorrect grammar of that kind. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.82|141.101.98.82]] 20:02, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
::I think many kids will say it like that in spite them being told by their parents (repeatedly) to not name them selves first. But by letting Jill speak like this, he just let them be ordinary children. How many small kids do you actually hear say ''Jack and I will go up the hill'', instead of ''Me and Jack will go up the hill''? I think it would be more strange had he done it the other way, so yet I think it was on purpose, but only for the purpose or realism, not to hide any meaning... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:12, 30 March 2016 (UTC) (When first posting this it resulted in a posting conflict with the above comment, so won't change even though saying basically the same as it was a reply to the one above before the other one was posted.)
:This is actually an extremely common mistake, by native English speakers of all ages, such that it is frequently used in popular media (movies, TV, etc), often corrected by someone. And despite this correction frequently showing up, people still make this mistake, to the point where many people consider it "correct enough". I've seen this "me and him" grammatical mistake portrayed so often that I've even picked up a rule of thumb offered by some of these portrayals: Take the other person out, does it still make sense? "Me am going up the hill". This format is so common that it is less an error and more casual speaking, on par with words like "ain't", "gonna" and "gotta". In fact, saying the correct "Jack and I" can even sound odd, it's so rare. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.64|173.245.52.64]] 02:32, 1 April 2016 (UTC)

The poem doesn't necessarily indicate that the water or well was located atop a hill, merely that they had to scale a hill to reach it. It could simply mean that the water source is beyond the hill in question. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.129|108.162.242.129]] 17:49, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
:Interesting observation, but somewhat lateral. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.82|141.101.98.82]] 20:02, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
:Also, going up a hill to get to the other side would be "going over the the hill".[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.71|173.245.54.71]] 22:55, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
::Yes, unfortunately "up" is vague and "over" would be an indication of beyond.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.129|108.162.242.129]] 16:36, 31 March 2016 (UTC)
It seems like there have been a lot of environmental related comics, both recently with this and the tire swing and in general, often about global warming, but also about risk of Nuclear war/or pollution. Should there be a category, and if so, what should it be called, and should it only be about environment, also about nukes, or even only about global warming (or should there be more)? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:12, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

Where does it say that the water is at the top of he hill? They go some distance up the hill, but not necessarily to the top. There maybe any number of reasons why they go there for water. Maybe there is a brook running down the hillside. Maybe there a well was dug there because that is where most people live. Maybe the water in the valley is poluted. Andso on and so forth. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.135.51|162.158.135.51]] 06:38, 31 March 2016 (UTC)

There are Dew Ponds which are at the top of hills, more info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dew_pond {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.59}}

Abe and Ali,
Went down the valley,
To fetch a pail of water.
When rain falls down,
Hilltops don't drown,
The rivers flow; or oughta!
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.7|141.101.98.7]] 01:31, 2 April 2016 (UTC)

== What happened to Friday's comic ==

I know they don't happen at 00:00 GMT, but it's now 19:44 GMT/20:44 BST and no new comic.

Everything ok, Randall Hun? {{unsigned|Kev}}

See the header on the site: "The xkcd April 1st comic is currently experiencing technical difficulties. / Please stand by!"
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.72.11|162.158.72.11]] 21:18, 1 April 2016 (UTC)
:[[506: Theft of the Magi|Aww!]] I was so much looking forward to it, and now it's 10 minutes to midnight in Europe, so I won't even experience it during April 1st. Guess it will prove to be a very interesting comic along the lines of the last two years April 1st comics and his [[1608|game]] when [[Thing Explainer]] came out. I hope those in the US gets that pleasure - also for Randall's sake. It would be a pity that an [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comics]] came out on April 2nd... Of course this feels like I have been made an April fool so I'll take that as an experience, maybe like the first [[404: Not Found|Fool's comic]] from 2008. Havbe fun those of you who still have a chance to try it out today. ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:54, 1 April 2016 (UTC)
Additional updates have been posted...
:Status update: Please stand by.
:Status update: This is fine. Everything is fine.
:Status update: Everything is on fire.
:Status update: Searching for calendar systems in which Saturday is April 1st.
--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.80|173.245.54.80]] 02:20, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
::Well then at least I did not miss anything... He still has 1½ hour where it is still April 1st in California... (But three more hours in Hawaii.) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 05:32, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
::Too late for that as well. He still has almost two hours until April 1st ends in [http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/usa/baker-island baker-island] though... ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:16, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
:::And it is officially too late, as the date has now changed past April 1st all over the globe. Sad on behalf of Randall. Hope he makes it work and the anticipation that this should be a really great comic is sky high now. I'm taking comfort in playing with {{xkcd|1350|Lorenz}} again ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:04, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
:New update Saturday afternoon (in the US):
::The Friday xkcd comic is currently experiencing technical difficulties
::[Editor's note: Everything is on fire]
::and has been delayed until Sunday night.
:So nothing for this weekend. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:28, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
::And if it is Sunday night then it is not in Europe. In half an hour it is midnight in central Europe... Maybe he is making a hoax on us that have been awaiting a new [[Lorenz]]? Quite dissapointed now and will go to bed ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:26, 3 April 2016 (UTC)

Is it possible that the April joke is the banner and the absent comic? I propose a new wiki page is created for comic 1663 (April 1st), containing the banner and discussion about where the comic has gone.
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.125|141.101.104.125]] 14:02, 2 April 2016 (UTC)Wilhelm
:I have thought about it, but I think we should await the next comic on Monday before creating any pages. It could of course be, I would think it was a poor April fool's joke especially since it is still up on the 2nd of April. And he would let down his fans... But of course he has done one such [[404|meta comics]] before, but that was not in stead of another comic. And if this is the April joke, but the comic on Monday is called 1663 then it would be stupid to have called this "one" 1663. I have some screen shots of the first status update and then as it looks now. These can be used either in the explanation when the comic comes up, or if there never will be a comic. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:27, 2 April 2016 (UTC)

Update @ 5:37 PM EST (GMT -5:00, Randall lives in Boston, it's his timezone). Still the "everything's on fire" banner but no new comic. He should have it up within about 6 hours and 20 minutes maximum. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 21:55, 3 April 2016 (UTC)

== Jeff's banner ==
This is off topic, but I noticed the banner from Jeff about 100 million views to the site! I followed the original explainxkcd site for about a year before the Wiki was created. If it's been going for 6 years then 100 million views would be an average of about 46,000 views per day and about 107,000 views per comic! Does anyone know when this Wiki was created?! I also know this average is misleading. Does anybody know what the current number of views per day is? Averaged over the last year for example?[[User:ExternalMonologue|ExternalMonologue]] ([[User talk:ExternalMonologue|talk]]) 00:53, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
:(There's probably a better place to discuss this on the Community Portal link, but I haven't looked myself and your 'question' is here, so...)
:100 million views may include a significant number of "Is the latest comic up yet?" or "Has someone replied to my Discussion Pane comment, yet?". I think a better 'metric' (less likely to be inflated by lurkers and other people bashing backwards and forwards over established pages, looking for changes for whatever reason) would be the number of edits made. Still some slight inflation by spammers and "Something is wrong on the Internet!"ers, but much more representative of the degree of community spirit. (Still, a milestone is a milestone!) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.7|141.101.98.7]] 01:50, 3 April 2016 (UTC)

----

Am I the only one who got a sense of foreboding in the third panel and was expecting Megan to stop or dissuade the kids from this dangerous activity, rather than wondering about hydrology. I thought that was the joke here - most people would think of stopping the kids and saving them from broken crown and tumbling-related injuries, while Megan goes on a tangent about hydrology.. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.46.214|162.158.46.214]] 02:51, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
:I did not, she is not supposed to know the rhyme and would thus not know that they are supposed to fall down. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 05:32, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
:No, and I'm also surprised not to see it mentioned. that's exactly the reason for the blank third panel, to provide the pause for you to fill in your own punch-line (the bait) and then the final panel is the one where you're taken away at the tangent (the switch). The joke is funnier because of Megan's concern about the hydrology (which is funny by itself) distracting her from the obvious. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.10|141.101.98.10]]IB

Talk:589: Designated Drivers

2016-03-06T03:22:17Z

Papayaman1000: Proposed explanation for one group needing multiple drivers.

I think I read a reference to the goat/wolf puzzle in an older comic. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.196|108.162.212.196]] 18:08, 1 January 2014 (UTC)

Why no explanation of the third panel? Is it because it doesn't make sense? That seems unlike Randall, so I'll have a go.

Proposed Order of Events:
* On the diagram, we see three figures entering the bar, and three lines entering dinner (probably Paul, and Emily and Julie). That makes six people altogether.
::This makes no sense as there are four at the bar to begin with. Also one of the people already there would have to go and pick-up Paul and thus arrive at the party with him (two lines entering). Since Megan could be one of the two girls, the last girl could be the one arriving alone. But the above takes the first Cueball out of the equation! Thus if what I wrote here is true, then all the rest of this explanation below falls --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:17, 31 October 2015 (UTC)
* Of the three at the bar, two go to dinner and one goes straight to the party
* All five people leave the dinner and go to the party, joining the sixth.
* Two of the six leave the party together (Julie and Emily at 10pm)
* One of the six leaves the party and goes back to the dinner venue, and from there goes home.
* One of the six leaves the party and goes back to the bar
* The last two leave the party and on their way home, appear to join up with the one who went back to the bar

Because there are no times or identities assigned to the paths, other interpretations are possible.

Notes:
* The diagram as a whole has six entries and six exits, as does each venue. There are definitely six people who all enter from the outside, and eventually leave.
* Why are there four people visible in the first panel, but only three people start at the bar? That part makes no sense. To match the diagram to the comic, we have to pretend that there are only three people in the first panel.
* Who is Tom? He must be one of the people visible in the first panel, even though he is spoken about as though he wasn't there.

Ignoring the goat for now, how many drivers do we need?
* Most cars can take five people at a pinch, so sheer numbers don't seem to be the issue.
* You need two drivers (and two cars) if people were leaving at different times, or heading in entirely different directions.
* Presumably, Julie and Emily arrive in their own car and also leave in it. Ignore them for now..
* Someone drives back from the party to the dinner, and then home. This must be one of the people from the first panel, and they must have their own car.

Proposal:
* There are only three people at the bar, Tom, Megan and (I'll say) David. They each have their own car.
* David drives to the party. Tom and Megan drive separately to the dinner, one of them collecting Paul on the way.
* Tom and Megan drive from the dinner to the party; Paul rides with one of them.
* Megan later drives back to the dinner venue, then home.
* Paul later drives Tom's car back to the bar, and proceeds to get drunk.
* David drives Tom a ride to the bar, to collect his car and drive Paul home.

Note that this scenario implies that everybody who is initially at the bar has to be a designated driver.

And I have still not considered the goat.

Any other interpretations would be welcome! I am not really satisfied with this but got tired of thinking about it.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.58|108.162.219.58]] 18:52, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

:tl;dr or {{w|Wikipedia:Too long; didn't read}}. Please calm down just to the essentials. And please try to keep an explain just straight forward. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:08, 7 February 2014 (UTC)
::I have made a suggestion that could explain the information and the diagram, but it assumes that the party is held at Cueballs place (the one who talks first). And that he starts and ends there. The three drivers is though not easy to explain. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:17, 31 October 2015 (UTC)

<sigh> everyone forgets the cabbage... [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 15:12, 27 February 2014 (UTC)

- For those unfamiliar, the goat/wolf reference is an old logic puzzle. You have a goat, wolf and head of cabbage. Using a rowboat, how can you get them all safely across a lake? Sometimes the assumptions are given: Goat eats cabbage, Wolf eats goat. Sometimes only 1 item at a time in rowboat, sometimes two. Solve. (Goat, empty, ...)

- BTW, I think the diagram description above is ok, shows how lots of interpretations possible. If it is inaccurate, well, has the artist already been to the bar? Arranging outings with friends, sometimes it's just a hassle, eh? And people will try to solve problems with the tools they know, hence a flow-diagram from the head XKCD geek. Just needs a state table with optimizations to make it complete! (-: [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.114|199.27.128.114]] 18:25, 9 June 2014 (UTC)

I like the double meaning of "non-trivial" in the comic. There's the math sense of the term and also the human sense. To fully appreciate the human sense it helps to be old enough to know that, say, 35 years ago, drunk driving was commonly regarded as a trivial problem. MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), founded in 1980, helped change this, as did increasingly drastic penalties and public shaming of people who drove drunk. When I was growing up (1960s) and a young adult (1970s) there was no concept of Designated Driver. [[User:Npsych|Npsych]] ([[User talk:Npsych|talk]]) 09:52, 9 October 2015 (UTC)

I believe the reason one group needs two drivers is that said group may be due for a longer, cross-continental trip (and driving hung over with minimal sleep in a sedan isn't much easier than driving drunk)... Maybe we finally solved anothe logic problem? [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 03:22, 6 March 2016 (UTC)

User talk:Papayaman1000

2015-12-30T14:11:37Z

Papayaman1000: talk

Holy crap I was featured in the top 10 editors. Neat.
[[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 14:11, 30 December 2015 (UTC)

Hey, I'm Papayaman1000. Some say P1k. Never, EVER say "Pap". That's the equivalent of koala crap. Or Papyrus. I hate them both (the second one referring to the font exclusively, I'm perfectly fine with the other uses. Especially the skeleton. I enjoy Undertale).

Uh, feel free to consult with me, I can Photoshop fairly well, too, I guess.

[[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 22:23, 20 December 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1621: Fixion

2015-12-25T05:56:05Z

Papayaman1000: Discussion

The next one someone asks me what ''deux ex machina'' or parsimony is, I'm pointing them to this comic. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.179|108.162.245.179]] 05:17, 25 December 2015 (UTC)

The next time someone ask me what "Deus Ex Machina" or parsmony is, I'm still linking them to [https://www.tvtropes.org TV Tropes].
[[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 05:56, 25 December 2015 (UTC)

1621: Fixion

2015-12-25T05:54:18Z

Papayaman1000: Mistakes have been made.

{{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==
[This explanation is very incomplete. It is a small and terrible draft, only listing some immediate things I have noticed. This article should be structured as: General idea, table of explanations for each property.]

In physics, there are still many 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 [https://www.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeusExMachina Deus Ex Machina] which solves all of these mysteries without any serious fundamental reasons.

Suppresses antimatter in early universe: The universe today is made almost entirely of matter. Antimatter and matter are identical, except that the charges are opposite, and that they annihilate when they come in contact with each other. 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.

Transports neutrinos faster than light, but only on certain days through one area of France: Refers to the "superluminal neutrino" experiment, where it seemed that a neutrino traveled faster than light. This result was not able to be replicated.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}

1621: Fixion

2015-12-25T05:53:47Z

Papayaman1000: Ops.

{{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==
[This explanation is very incomplete. It is a small and terrible draft, only listing some immediate things I have noticed. This article should be structured as: General idea, table of explanations for each property.]

In physics, there are still many 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 [[https://www.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeusExMachina Deus Ex Machina]] which solves all of these mysteries without any serious fundamental reasons.

Suppresses antimatter in early universe: The universe today is made almost entirely of matter. Antimatter and matter are identical, except that the charges are opposite, and that they annihilate when they come in contact with each other. 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.

Transports neutrinos faster than light, but only on certain days through one area of France: Refers to the "superluminal neutrino" experiment, where it seemed that a neutrino traveled faster than light. This result was not able to be replicated.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}

1621: Fixion

2015-12-25T05:53:12Z

Papayaman1000: Just linking to TV Tropes' page on Deus Ex Machina

{{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==
[This explanation is very incomplete. It is a small and terrible draft, only listing some immediate things I have noticed. This article should be structured as: General idea, table of explanations for each property.]

In physics, there are still many 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 [[hyyps://www.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeusExMachina Deus Ex Machina]] which solves all of these mysteries without any serious fundamental reasons.

Suppresses antimatter in early universe: The universe today is made almost entirely of matter. Antimatter and matter are identical, except that the charges are opposite, and that they annihilate when they come in contact with each other. 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.

Transports neutrinos faster than light, but only on certain days through one area of France: Refers to the "superluminal neutrino" experiment, where it seemed that a neutrino traveled faster than light. This result was not able to be replicated.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}

User talk:Papayaman1000

2015-12-20T22:23:51Z

Papayaman1000: I can talk.

Hey, I'm Papayaman1000. Some say P1k. Never, EVER say "Pap". That's the equivalent of koala crap. Or Papyrus. I hate them both (the second one referring to the font exclusively, I'm perfectly fine with the other uses. Especially the skeleton. I enjoy Undertale).

Uh, feel free to consult with me, I can Photoshop fairly well, too, I guess.

[[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 22:23, 20 December 2015 (UTC)

User:Papayaman1000

2015-12-20T22:19:53Z

Papayaman1000: This is my User page, no?

Hey, I'm Papayaman1000. I'm here to read XKCD and fix grammatical errors. And I'm all out of new XKCD most of the time.

I'll update this more later.