explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

393: Ultimate Game

2015-07-17T13:16:32Z

Pax Robotica:

{{comic
| number = 393
| date = March 7, 2008
| title = Ultimate Game
| image = ultimate_game.png
| titletext = RIP, Gary.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Gary Gygax}} was a game designer best known for co-creating the iconic nerd pastime ''{{w|Dungeons and Dragons}}''; as such, he is commonly described as the "father of D&D." He died on March 4, 2008, three days before this comic was released.

The idea of playing games (typically chess) with supernatural entities in exchange for one's soul is an old one and has been referenced in [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ChessWithDeath many works]. Here, the specific twist is that the victim can choose which game they want to play. Naturally, it is only fitting that Gary would challenge Death to ''D&D''.

The problem is that ''Dungeons and Dragons'' isn't so much a game as it is a set of rules for describing stories. It requires the intervention of a Dungeon Master (or DM) to create a scenario which the players' characters must overcome. It's unclear exactly how the game between Gary and Death works, but given that ''D&D'' generally takes a long time to play due to the setup time and large amount of dice-rolling, and the fact that Gary seems to keep adding extra rulebooks (official or pseudo-official books which add new classes, items, spells, etc. for players to use), it's understandable why it would take longer than Death's boss would like.

Although Gary is the father of ''D&D'', {{w|Dave Arneson}}'s contribution should not be ignored. Although xkcd did not cover his death in April 2009, a stick-figure tribute to the man who created the concept of role-playing games [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0644.html does exist], courtesy {{w|The Order of the Stick}}.

Part of the humour in this comic comes from the fact that Death's boss, who would presumably be an extraordinarily powerful entity, appears to be a completely ordinary man in an ordinary office, complete with bald patch and potted plant.

==Transcript==
:[Split screen. Man on office phone in upper left, Death on cell phone in bottom left.]
:Man: Death?
:Death: Speaking.
:[Office. Man on office phone.]
:Man: This is the boss. Where are you? You haven't been up to the office in days!
:Death: I've been held up.
:[Death on cell phone.]
:Man: What happened?
:Death: You know how when someone dies, they can challenge me to a game for their soul?
:Man: Sure, standard procedure.
:[Room with table. Table has figurines and paper strewn about. Gary Gygax and Death seated at the table. Gary Gygax leaning over his briefcase. Death on cell phone.]
:Death: Well, we didn't count on this guy. I might be a while.
:Gary Gygax: I add the paladin to my party.
:Death: Oh, Jesus. He's getting out <u>another</u> rulebook.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Tribute]]

1536: The Martian

2015-06-12T13:12:26Z

Pax Robotica: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1536
| date = June 10, 2015
| title = The Martian
| image = the_martian.png
| titletext = I have never seen a work of fiction so perfectly capture the out-of-nowhere shock of discovering that you've just bricked something important because you didn't pay enough attention to a loose wire.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is very excited about seeing that the trailer for ''{{w|The Martian (film)|The Martian}}'' is finally released, because he really liked the book. Cueball most likely represents [[Randall]] himself in this comic.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue4PCI0NamI This trailer] for ''The Martian'' was released on Monday the 8th June 2015, two days before this comic. Although a teaser [https://youtu.be/CumZP6_9sHU "viral" trailer] had been released the previous day. The film, starring {{w|Matt Damon}} (''{{w|Interstellar (film)|Interstellar}}''), is directed by {{w|Ridley Scott}} (''{{w|Alien (film)|Alien}}''). It's due to be released in the United States on November 25th, 2015.

''The Martian'' is based on {{w|The Martian (Weir novel)| a book of the same name}} by {{w|Andy Weir (writer)|Andy Weir}}. The book is very popular for its funny writing, great cast of characters, and skilled use of realistic science to create drama. The plot is a cross between the film ''{{w|Apollo 13 (film)|Apollo 13}}'' and the plot of the novel ''{{w|Robinson Crusoe}}'' — but just on {{w|Mars}}.

Cueball is telling [[White Hat]] about this trailer and the book, thus White Hat asks if he should read it. Cueball then describes a scene from Apollo 13: ''You know the scene in Apollo 13 where the guy says "we have to figure out how to connect this thing to this thing using this table full of parts or the astronauts will all die?"'' And he then tells White Hat that ''The Martian'' is like that the whole way through. What is actually said in the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2YZnTL596Q mentioned scene] is: ''We gotta find a way to make this fit into the hole for this using nothing but that.'' The first part being a large square box and the other a smaller cylinder.

The film ''Apollo 13'' is based on the true historical event of the {{w|Apollo 13| Apollo 13 incident}} where the astronauts find themselves in a damaged spacecraft. They evacuated from the {{w|Apollo Command Module}}, losing all its life support systems, to the {{w|Lunar Module}} which was designed only for two people for two days instead of three people for four days. One issue the crew faced was a buildup of carbon dioxide. In order to resolve the issue, the crew needed to find a way to attach a square-shaped air-cleaning cartridge from the command module to the circular receptacle of the lunar module. In one [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2YZnTL596Q brief scene], the {{w|Mission Control}} staff gather together a box of items equivalent to what the crew would also have on-board and sit down with the mandate to figure out how the astronauts can connect the two with the items available to them. In that case, the ground crew took on the task of trial and error given the availability of backup supplies in case they damaged or destroyed some of the supplies. Once a working solution was devised, specific instructions were relayed to the astronauts. Cueball suggests that ''The Martian'' essentially consists primarily of the type of problem-solving shown in that scene.

In the final panel, White Hat, who probably would not be so interested in this kind of story, wonders how a novel based on that kind of seemingly cerebral and procedural problem-solving became a big-budget film starring Damon. Big-budget films are generally films with a great deal of special effects and often also action sequences likely to draw big audiences — and to gain big returns. Matt Damon has become a high-profile big-budget star known for action films like the {{w|Bourne (film series)|''Bourne'' film series}}.

'''Spoiler alert:'''<br>
The title text is a reference to a particular part of ''The Martian''s story: The astronaut stranded on Mars has previously established communications with Earth by {{w|repurposing}} the {{w|Mars Pathfinder|Pathfinder}} probe that NASA landed on Mars in 1997. While working on another piece of equipment, he accidentally subjects the probe to an electrical short-circuit, destroying its electronics and "bricking" it. "{{w|Bricking}}" is a term in consumer electronics which essentially means to cause an electronic device to become non-functional and essentially no more useful than a "brick". The term is commonly used in respect of an unrecoverable failure of {{w|software}} and often a corruption of {{w|firmware}}. An unexpected "bricking" can be very surprising, and in a case where the item is critical, could be devastating.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting at a desk using a computer and White Hat walks in.]
:Cueball: Ooh, trailer for ''The Martian!''
:Whitehat: What's that?
:Cueball: Movie of a book I liked.
:Whitehat: Should I read it?

:[Cueball pivots on chair and turns away from computer to face Whitehat.]
:Cueball: Depends. You know the scene in Apollo 13 where the guy says "we have to figure out how to connect ''this'' thing to ''this'' thing using ''this'' table full of parts or the astronauts will all die?
:Whitehat: Yeah?

:[Cueball pivots on chair again and resumes using computer while talking. White Hat looks at his smart phone.]
:Cueball: ''The Martian'' is for people who wish the whole movie had just been more of that scene.
:Whitehat: How on earth did ''that'' become a big-budget thing with Matt Damon?
:Cueball: No idea, but I'm ''so'' excited.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Space]]

1500: Upside-Down Map

2015-03-18T13:17:22Z

Pax Robotica:

{{comic
| number = 1500
| date = March 18, 2015
| title = Upside-Down Map
| image = upside_down_map.png
| titletext = Due to their proximity across the channel, there's long been tension between North Korea and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Southern Ireland.
}}

==Explanation==
People often say that maps with the {{w|South-up map orientation|south pole at the top}} will ''change your perspective of the world''. Such a map can easily be achieved by simply rotating a normal map through 180 degrees.

This map is a comedic play on that where instead of the whole map being upside-down, each land mass is in the same position it would be in a traditional north-top map but rotated 180 degrees (presumably around some central point of the landmass) to the orientation it would have in a south-top map. Note that individual islands are rotated about their own centers, not following the rotation of the neighboring continent; however, they are displaced as necessary to keep them from being overlapped by the rotated continents (for instance, {{w|Madagascar}} would be overlapped by the {{w|Sahara}} if it remained in position, but is instead displaced eastward to keep it in the Indian Ocean).

To keep their familiar shapes on a rectangular map, the continents would also have to be heavily distorted compared to their actual shapes, becoming much narrower (along the lines of latitude) near the poles and wider towards the equator. See also [[977: Map Projections]].

It is interesting that {{w|Australia}}, {{w|Tasmania}} and {{w|New Zealand}} does not look very much different from their normal appearance. They are so close that some have asked ''why Australia was not rotated''. But they have been rotated, just like all other separate landmasses on the map.

This arrangement of the world's land masses would have great advantages for trade, because there are (presumably navigable) straits between the {{w|Americas}} and between Africa and {{w|Asia}}, removing the need for the {{w|Panama Canal}} and the {{w|Suez Canal}}.

The title text references the fact that in this new map, the {{w|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland}} (UK) is now next to Asia, specifically the {{w|Korean Peninsula}}. {{w|North Korea}}, is mentioned in the text, and they do tend to have a rather bad reputation in our world. However, on this map North Korea would be the part of {{w|Korea}} we today know as {{w|South Korea}}, Further, {{w|Northern Ireland}} is now at the south of the {{w|island of Ireland}}, so the UK's full name would need to change to The United Kingdom of Great Britain and '''Southern''' Ireland. There have been several wars concerning the {{w|English Channel}}, mainly, but not only, between {{w|England}} and {{w|France}}. Since a similar channel now, on this world map, is between the UK and North Korea (our map's South Korea) there could obviously have been many wars for the dominance over said channel.

Along the same line of thinking, jokes could be made of the following "new" facts:
*{{w|Cuba}} is now off the east coast (formerly west coast) of {{w|USA}} and {{w|Canada}}.
*{{w|Japan}} is next to the coast of {{w|Portugal}} and {{w|Spain}}.
*Madagascar lies next to {{w|Mauretania}} and the west (now east) coast of Sahara.
*{{w|Taiwan}} is now next to France. It is though doubtful whether they get along any better with the French than with the mainland {{w|China|Chinese}}.
*{{w|Greenland}} lies next to {{w|Mexico}}.
*{{w|Sri Lanka}} is located next to the {{w|Yamalsky District}} of {{w|Russia}}.
*The island {{w|Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego|Tierra del Fuego}}, an island just south of the southern tip of South America, which is divided between {{w|Argentina}} and {{w|Chile}} is now located in a similar manner next to {{w|Colombia}} and {{w|Venezuela}}. So it would probably have been divided between these two countries.
**The only other island shown in this area is probably the {{w|Falkland Islands}} where Argentina and UK have an ongoing {{w|Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute|sovereignty dispute}}. So now Argentina would have even larger problems keeping hold of these two islands...

==Transcript==
:[Map of the world with all the landmasses rotated upside-down.]
:[Four oceans and all the visible continents have been named in large letters in a bold font. The Pacific has been named both to the left and right. Several islands (large and small) have been designated with name but in grey and in a much smaller normal font. For all continents the names are written on them. For the island the name is written in the ocean except for Greenland.]

:[Below the names on the map are given in the order they appear reading from left to right, first for the northern and then the southern hemisphere:]

:[Northern hemisphere:]
:'''North America'''
:Cuba
:Greenland
:'''Atlantic Ocean
:Iceland
:UK
:'''Asia'''
:Sri Lanka
:'''Europe'''
:'''Arctic Ocean'''
:Taiwan
:Japan
:'''Pacific Ocean'''

:[Southern hemisphere:]
:'''Pacific Ocean'''
:'''South America'''
:Tierra del Fuego
:'''Africa'''
:'''Indian Ocean'''
:Madagascar
:Indonesia
:'''Australia'''
:New Zealand

:[Below the main frame:]
:'''The Upside-Down Map will change your perspective of the world!'''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Geography]]
[[Category:Maps]]

1371: Brightness

2014-05-21T12:48:40Z

Pax Robotica:

{{comic
| number = 1371
| date = May 21, 2014
| title = Brightness
| image = brightness.png
| titletext = Recently, some exoplanet astronomers have managed to use careful analysis of reflected light to discover Earth during the day.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Exoplanets}} are planets outside of our solar system, and exoplanet astronomers are astronomers who attempt to discover and study such planets.

In the comic, Megan is using a common exoplanet {{w|Exoplanet#Indirect_methods|discovery technique}} to discover a planet (Earth) around a nearby star (the Sun). When a planet passes between an observing astronomer and a star the planet will block some of the light coming from that star causing it to appear dimmer for some amount of time. When the Earth does this, we call it {{w|Night}}. By observing that the Sun's brightness at night has decreased (quite drastically) compared to daytime, Megan correctly concludes that it is orbited by at least one planet (the Earth).

The title text alludes to using more complicated techniques to observe light reflected off of small, dark planets like the Earth. For example, detecting {{w|Methods of detecting exoplanets#Polarimetry|polarized light}} reflected from the planet's atmosphere. Since these require light from the star to reflect off of the planet, it's easier for us to image the Earth directly during daylight hours. Observing the light that reflects off of the Earth is in fact how we see everything around us.

More details at: {{w|Methods of detecting exoplanets}}

==Transcript==
:[Megan is standing on a black (night-time) background, staring at the ground.]
:Megan: Based on this decrease in the star's brightness, I believe it is orbited by at least one planet.

:Exoplanet Astronomers At Night

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