explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1864: City Nicknames

2017-07-24T00:52:37Z

Randymack:

{{comic
| number = 1864
| date = July 17, 2017
| title = City Nicknames
| image = city_nicknames.png
| titletext = This place has so many demonyms. Northlanders. Fair Folk. Honey Barons. Lake Dwellers. Treasurers. Swamp Watchers. Dream Farmers. Wellfolk. Rockeaters. Forgotten Royals. Remote Clients. Barrow-Clerks. The People of Land and Sky.
}}

==Explanation==

Cities often have official or unofficial nicknames. For instance, {{w|St. Louis|St. Louis, Missouri}}, is known as "Gateway to the West" among several other nicknames. The nicknames typically invoke some historical or geographic feature of the city, but can sometime be opaque to those not familiar with the city. [https://www.into-asia.com/bangkok/introduction/fullname.php The full, formal name of Bangkok] includes a long list of superlatives translating as "The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city (of Ayutthaya) of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn."

Despite the skyline being clearly recognizable as St. Louis due to the {{w|Gateway Arch}}, [[Black Hat]] calls it New York City. However, the nickname he gives is neither a common New York nickname (such as "{{w|List of nicknames of New York City|The Big Apple}}") nor a St. Louis nickname. [[Megan]] tries to correct him, but it becomes clear that Black Hat is making up nicknames. Many of his suggestions are puns for real nicknames of other places.

The title text contains made up {{w|demonym}}s in the same pattern. A demonym is a word for the people who live in a particular place. They are typically derived from the name of the place (e.g. "St. Louisan" for people from St. Louis), but some regions have an {{w|Demonym#Informal|informal demonym}} that can be used colloquially by those familiar with the place to refer to its residents.

===Nicknames and Demonyms===

{| class=wikitable
! City nickname in comic
! Reference
! Explanation

|-
| The Hot Tamale
| {{w|Hot Tamales}}
| Possibly a reference to the term [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=big%20enchilada big enchilada] (something of great importance). In the movie [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(1996_film) Independence Day], the phrase "Big Tamale" is used in a similar manner as "Big Enchilada" to describe the alien fighter held at Area 51.

|-
| The Winged City
| The Windy City
| Chicago. Possibly also [http://www.airport-technology.com/projects/incheon-international-airport/ Incheon International Airport (ICA/RKSI), South Korea]

|-
| The Gold Trombone
|
| Possibly a reference to the gold standard.

|-
| Castleopolis
| {{w|Cassopolis}}, or possibly Dictionopolis.
| Literally "Castle city." {{w|Polis}} (from the Greek πόλις for city) is commonly used as a suffix for city names, like {{w|Minneapolis}} or {{w|Alexandroupolis}}; {{w|Metropolis}} can either be a type of city, or one of the real or fictional cities bearing the name. Possibly a reference to The Phantom Tollbooth, which has both castles and cities named Dictionopolis and Digitopolis. In the Industrial Revolution, places known for certain industries had nicknames such as {{w|Cottonopolis}} ({{w|Manchester}}), Copperopolis ({{w|Swansea}}) and Juteopolis ({{w|Dundee}}).

|-
| The Kissing Kingdom
| {{w|United Kingdom}}
| This would make a ''Very'' United Kingdom

|-
| Sandland
|
| {{w|Sandland}} is a village in northern Norway, most likely coincidentally.

|-
| The High Place
| {{w|Denver}}
|Denver is known as the Mile High City. Also, in English translations of the Old Testament, the Hebrew term במה (bamah, plural במות bamot) is rendered as "{{w|high place}}," and denotes a place of worship. In modern Jewish synagogues, the "High Place" (bimah) is the elevated platform from which the Torah is read. In Gene Wolfe's ''Free Live Free'', one character claims to come from the "High Place". The others consider this a metaphor, or simply a lie. Eventually this is discovered not to be the case.

|-
| Ol' Ironhook
| {{w|Old Ironsides}}
| Old Ironsides is a nickname for the USS Constitution (docked in Charlestown, MA). Ol' Ironhook may be a conflation of Old Ironsides (also a nickname for English Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell) with Old Hookey (a nickname for Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, English general and PM, who was also nicknamed The Iron Duke) or Old Kinderhook (a nickname for US President Martin Van Buren).
|-
| The Thousand Spires || The City of a Hundred Spires / City of Dreaming Spires|| Prague / Oxford
|-
| The Graveyard of Kings || The Graveyard of Champions / City of Kings || ''Graveyard'': Court 2 at Wimbledon, where former champions are often defeated (the playing environment is very different from Centre Court and Court One, which are larger and where games involving highly-ranked players are preferentially located). The comic was released one day after the 2017 Wimbledon Championships were finished. ''Kings'': Nickname of [[wikipedia:Lima|Lima, Peru]] and [[wikipedia:Palermo|Palermo, Sicily]]. The {{w|Valley of the Kings}} in Egypt is literally a graveyard of kings, namely the Pharaohs.
|-
| Bloomtown || [[wikipedia: Boomtown|Boomtown]] || Generic term for a town undergoing rapid growth. Used in the 2002 TV series of the same name as a nickname for Los Angeles. Might also be referring to [[wikipedia:Bloom County|Bloom County]], a comic by [[wikipedia:Berkeley Breathed|Berkeley Breathed]], or Dublin, as the setting for Ulysses by James Joyce.
|-
| Lantern City USA || {{w|Tree City USA}} || A designation supporting municipalities that showcase urban forestry, in connection with Arbor Day. Lantern city is a fictional, steam-punk serial.
|-
| The City of Many Daughters || {{w|City of Daughters}} || Might be a reference to {{w|City of Daughters}} album by [[wikipedia:Destroyer (band)|Destroyer]].
|-
| Big Mauve || [[wikipedia: Big_Red_(drink)|Big Red Soda]] || Big Red Soda. Big Red is also a chewing gum by Wrigley's. The Cornell teams are known as the [[wikipedia:Cornell Big Red|Big Red]] as is Western Kentucky's mascot [[wikipedia:Big Red (Western Kentucky University)|Big Red]]. The Dartmouth football team is the Big Green. IBM is sometimes known as Big Blue.
|-
| The Glass Cradle || [[wikipedia:The Glass Menagerie|The Glass Menagerie]] || A play by Tennessee Williams
|-
| The Road Source ||{{w|Rome}} || From the saying that {{w|All Roads Lead to Rome}}
|-
| London Prime || London || In the DC comics, to incorporate multiple continuties, there were multiple universes. London Prime would be "real London" on Earth Prime. Various cities named {{w|New London}} in the United States and elsewhere are imagined as London in alternate continuities. Alternatively in mathematics, a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_(symbol)#Use_in_mathematics.2C_statistics.2C_and_science prime mark], x' can be the next iteration of variable x.
|-
| Hamtown || {{w|Boston}}, {{w|Hamburg}}, {{w|Toronto}} || Boston is known as [[wikipedia:Boston nicknames|beantown]], pork and beans are commonly cooked together (as in {{w|Boston baked beans}}), and ham is a form of pork. The German word ''Burg'' means castle or fort and is often used as suffix for town names. The origin of the prefix ''Ham'' is uncertain, but the food {{w|Hamburger}} derives from this city and ''Hamburger'' in German is the demonym of Hamburg. Toronto sometimes nicknamed Hogtown.
|-
| The Salad Bowl || || A theory of cultural integration in the US, one that stands in contrast to the older 'Melting Pot' theory. Could also refer to the [[wikipedia: Dust Bowl|Dust Bowl]]. Could also refer to Salinas, CA "Salad Bowl of the world"
|-
| God's Boudoir || God's Waiting Room || State of {{w|Florida}}, where many elderly retire then expire. As a ''{{w|boudoir}}'' is a room reserved for a female (host), this usage would implicate that either God is a woman, or that God frequents there often
|-
| The Glittering Swamp || [[wikipedia:Great Dismal Swamp|The Great Dismal Swamp ]], {{w|Washington, D.C.}} || A large swamp in Virginia and North Carolina. Also, the city of {{w|Washington, D.C.}} has often been referred to as a "swamp," owing partly to its past as a [http://networks.h-net.org/node/28441/pages/36129/swamps-and-city-washington malarial swamp].
|-
| The Steel Forest || The Concrete Jungle || The Concrete Jungle is a name often given to New York's Manhattan area. There was also a book and movie titled ''The Petrified Forest''.
|-
| The Mobius Strip || The Strip || The Strip is a shortened and commonly used name for the Las Vegas Strip, the main area of hotels and casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada. A {{w|Mobius strip}} is a one-sided piece of paper created by rotating the short edge of the strip 180 degrees and attaching it to the other short edge. The Vegas strip has more or less only one side as well.
|-
| The Land of Trains and Fog || || Britain was home to early developments in railroading, and some portions are known for fog and mists.
In the webcomic [[wikipedia:Homestuck | Homestuck]] many events take place on various planets named in the format "The Land of X and Y", e.g. "The Land of Light and Rain". A series of novels by George R.R. Martin, which was made into the ''Game of Thrones'' TV show, is called ''A Song of Ice and Fire''. The Grand Canyon is known as "The House of Stone and Light" by some native people'.
|-
| The Meeting Place || [[wikipedia:Canberra|Canberra]] || The capital city of Australia has its name derived from 'Meeting Place' in the local Aboriginal language, because of a seasonal food boom (Bogong Moths) that drew tribes to the area each year.
|-
| The Dark Star || || ''Dark Star'' is a 1974 science fiction comedy film.
|-
| The Walled Garden || {{w|Walled garden (technology)}} || A walled garden is a virtual environment where the user can only view content that is published or permitted by the proprietor, e.g. AOL or Facebook. This could also be a reference to walled cities, e.g. from the Middle Ages, or the {{w|Kowloon Walled City}} in the modern era. ''The Secret Garden'' is a book by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Or possibly a reference to the {{w|Hanging Gardens of Babylon}}
|-
| Skin City || [[wikipedia:Sin City (description)|Sin City]] || Generic term for a city well known for gambling, drugs, or other vices. Also Las Vegas.
|-
| The Horse Rotary || || Horse and rotary are both types of clothes dryer. Might reference The Windy City, which would also likely be good for drying clothes.
|-
| Turkeytown || Turkeytown || A town in Lincoln County, Kentucky
|-
| The Naked Towers || || ''The Naked City'' was a television series. ''The Two Towers'' is a book by Tolkien, and ''Naked Lunch'' is a book by Burroughs
|-
| The Meta-City || Metacity || A term for a heterogenous, sprawling urban center with multiple dense centers, such as Tokyo or New York City. Metacity was also the window manager in the Linux GNOME 2 desktop.
|-
| The Urban Orb || || The screen name of a Let's Player on Youtube and Twitch. - Also maybe once more: Rome and the Rest of the world, as in the popes adress to the urbi (city: meaning rome ) and orbi (circle: meaning the world)
|-
| The City of Angles || City of Angels || Los Angeles. Also, the titular City of Angles in the web novel [http://stefangagne.com/cityofangles/ City of Angles]. There also exist several songs with that name, a few of them listed here: {{w|City of Angels}}.
|-
| The Big Wheel || [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041179/ The Big Wheel] || A 1949 movie about a race car driver. Alternatively, a child's plastic tricycle with an oversized front wheel.
|-
| Bird City USA || || A program started by the Audubon Society.
|-
| The City of Seven Crowns || City of Seven Hills || Rome. Also occasionally refers to Moscow. The next nickname is likely a reference to the 'wrong' part of this nickname.
|-
| Hilltopia || The Hilltop || May be reference to The Hilltop in AMC's The Walking Dead
|-
| Bug City || || A nickname for the bug-infested Chicago in the roleplaying game Shadowrun. Also, a sourcebook for the game.
|-
| The Bottomless Cup || || There are many mentions of Bottomless Pits in stories. Additionally, restaurants offering unlimited refills on drinks may refer to this offer by terms like "Bottomless Soda."
|-
| Lorde's Fen || Lord's Fen || [[wikipedia:Lorde| Lorde]] is a musical artist from Herne Bay, New Zealand - an area near Waitemata Harbour. A [[wikipedia:Fen| fen]] is a type of wetland, which could loosely connect to Herne Bay.
|-
| The Last Town || || The third book in the Wayward Pines series.
|-
| The Empty Set || || The concert hall in the video game Transistor. In mathematics, the {{w|empty set}} refers to an unique set with no elements, often notated as "{}" or "∅".
|-
| Ghost Harbor || || The name for a brewing company in North Carolina.
|}

{| class=wikitable
! Demonym in comic
! Reference
! Explanation
|-
| Northlanders || {{w|Norsemen}} || Norsemen, literally men from the north, people from Scandinavia. Could also be a reference to highlanders, the people of the {{w|Scottish Highlands}}, with a similar demonym. The "High" in "Highlands" is a reference to the mountainous landscape, not the geographical position. It may or may not have to do with the northernmost province of {{w|New Zealand}}
|-
| Fair Folk || {{w|Fairy}} || The fair folk is a name for fairies in folklore. The elves in ''The Lord of the Rings'' are referred to as the 'fair folk'.
|-
| Honey Barons || [[wikipedia: Robber_baron_(industrialist) | Robber Barons]], [[wikipedia: Honey_badger | Honey Badgers]], [[wikipedia: Honey bear| honey bear]] || Possibly a play on The Robber Barons, a group of powerful industrialists in the late 1800s known for questionable business ethics, and honey badgers, animals known for their tough skin, bad tempers, and tenacity. Honey bear is a name for a few types of bear, as well as kinkajous.
|-
| Lake Dwellers || The Hobbit || Most likely a reference the people of the Laketown in J.R.R.Tolkien's "The Hobbit"
|-
| Treasurers || || A {{w|treasurer}} is a person in charge of running the treasury of an organization, for example a governmental department. The Auditors were characters in Terry Pratchett's Discworld books who did the book-keeping for reality, and wanted to simplify the universe by destroying life.
|-
| Swamp Watchers || ||
|-
| Dream Farmers || The Dream Factory || Hollywood, California, in its role as the center of the American film industry.
|-
| Wellfolk || Werefolk, Weefolk || The were folk were people who could change into animals: e.g. werewolves. Wee folk is another name for {{w|Fairy}} in folklore.
|-
| Rockeaters || [[Wikipedia:List_of_The_Neverending_Story_characters#Pyornkrachzark_and_the_other_messengers| Rockbiter]] || In the ''Never Ending Story'', Pyornkrachzark, more commonly known as "Rock Biter" is a large creature made completely of stone, named due to their diet of rocks.
May also refer to {{w|Lotus-eaters}}; while these mythical people slept in narcotic apathy, rockeaters might have a tougher time.
|-
| Forgotten Royals || [[wikipedia:Forgotten Realms | Forgotten Realms]] || Royalty from Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) campaign setting
|-
| Remote Clients || [[wikipedia:Remote_computer|Remote client]] || In computing, a remote client is a program used to access a computer or service over a network.
|-
| Barrow-Clerks || [http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Barrow-wights Barrow-wights] || Wraith like creatures in ''The Lord of the Rings''. The hobbits come across them in the [http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Barrow-downs Barrow-downs].
Those who keep records of items deposited in a grave mound or barrow.
|-
| The People of Land and Sky || [[wikipedia:Sea_Peoples|Sea Peoples]] ||
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Black Hat, Megan, and Ponytail are standing on a hill overlooking a city. The Gateway Arch is visible, as well as a number of skyscrapers in the skyline.]
:Black Hat: Ah, New York. The Hot Tamale.
:Megan: This is St. Louis. Also, that's not–
:Black Hat: The Winged City. The Gold Trombone. Castleopolis.
:Megan: It's none of those.

:[Close-up of Black Hat]
:Black Hat: The Kissing Kingdom. Sandland. The High Place. Ol' Ironhook.
:Megan (off-panel): Still wrong.
:Black Hat: The Thousand Spires. The Graveyard of Kings. Bloomtown. Lantern City USA.
:Megan (off-panel): Please stop.

:[Black Hat, Megan, and Ponytail are walking]
:Black Hat: The City of Many Daughters. Big Mauve. The Glass Cradle. The Road Source. London Prime. Hamtown. The Salad Bowl. God's Boudoir. The Glittering Swamp. The Steel Forest. The Mobius Strip. The Land of Trains and Fog. The Meeting Place. The Dark Star. The Walled Garden. Skin City. The Horse Rotary. Turkeytown. The Naked Towers. The Meta-City. The Urban Orb. The City of Angles. The Big Wheel. Bird City USA. The City of Seven Crowns. Hilltopia. Bug City. The Bottomless Cup. [Text size getting smaller] Lorde's Fen. The Last Town. The Empty Set. Ghost Harbor.
:Megan: How long does this last?
:Ponytail: No city has ever let him stay long enough to find out.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

1606: Five-Day Forecast

2015-11-20T13:03:52Z

Randymack:

{{comic
| number = 1606
| date = November 20, 2015
| title = Five-Day Forecast
| image = five_day_forecast.png
| titletext = You know what they say--if you don't like the weather here in the Solar System, just wait five billion years.
}}

This is a straightforward extrapolation of the standard 5 day weather forecast, attempting to replicate it for months, years, millions of years, billions of years and trillions of years.

The 5 month and 5 year forecasts are reasonable guesses about what the weather might be like on that day, excepting that the December forecast shows Christmas trees instead of weather.

In the 5 million year forecast, the second forecast shows a temperature jump -- likely a global warming reference. There is also a reference to a fairly destructive war in the fourth panel (possibly with aliens given the flying saucers).

In the 5 billion year forecast, the strip shows a standard solar progression leading towards an expansion that absorbs the earth's orbit, and then sun death.

In the 5 trillion year forecast, we see the stars slowly going out as the universe dies.

==Transcript==
:[A grid with six rows of five columns, where each row is labeled to the left. For each of the 30 squares a temperature is given in Fahrenheit at the top left. The rest of the square represents the weather as in a weather forecast (or some other relevant items for the comic), mainly in bright colors. Below are the six labels given above each of their five weather symbols with temperature given below these symbols description.]

:'''Your 5-day forecast'''
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:38°F
:[A grey cloud.]
:41°F
:[A grey cloud with six lines of blue raindrops below.]
:36°F
:[A grey cloud in front of a yellow sun.]
:40°F
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:44°F

:'''Your 5-month forecast'''
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:38°F
:[A green Christmas tree with red presents beneath it.]
:29°F
:[A grey cloud with four snowflakes below.]
:21°F
:[A grey cloud with four snowflakes below.]
:24°F
:[A grey cloud.]
:35°F

:'''Your 5-year forecast'''
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:38°F
:[A grey cloud.]
:25°F
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:36°F
:[A grey cloud with six lines of blue raindrops below.]
:37°F
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:41°F

:'''Your 5-million-year forecast'''
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:38°F
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:52°F
:[A grey cloud.]
:40°F
:[Two red flying saucers (with bright domes) are shooting energy beams downwards. One of the beams seems to impact with something at the bottom of the panel, which then explodes. Two plumes of smoke rises up from below, drifting to the right.]
:275°F
:[A grey cloud in front of a yellow sun.]
:40°F

:'''Your 5-billion-year forecast'''
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:38°F
:[A larger orange sun.]
:105°F
:[A very large red sun.]
:371°F
:[A pale yellow panel with no drawing.]
:71.488.106°F
:[A night sky with many bright stars.]
:-452°F

:'''Your 5-trillion-year forecast'''
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:38°F
:[A night sky with many bright stars.]
:-452°F
:[A night sky with many stars.]
:-452°F
:[A night sky with fewer not so bright stars.]
:-452°F
:[A night sky with few dim stars.]
:-453°F

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

1606: Five-Day Forecast

2015-11-20T13:01:07Z

Randymack: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1606
| date = November 20, 2015
| title = Five-Day Forecast
| image = five_day_forecast.png
| titletext = You know what they say--if you don't like the weather here in the Solar System, just wait five billion years.
}}

This is a straightforward extrapolation of the standard 5 day weather forecast, attempting to replicate it for months, years, millions of years, billions of years and trillions of years.

The 5 month and 5 year forecasts are reasonable guesses about what the weather might be like on that day. Each of the following sets then adds some more interesting variants.

In the 5 million year forecast, the second forecast shows a temperature jump -- likely a global warming reference. There is also a reference to a fairly destructive war in the fourth panel (possibly with aliens given the flying saucers).

In the 5 billion year forecast, the strip shows a standard solar progression leading towards an expansion that absorbs the earth's orbit, and then sun death.

In the 5 trillion year forecast, we see the stars slowly going out as the universe dies.

==Transcript==
:[A grid with six rows of five columns, where each row is labeled to the left. For each of the 30 squares a temperature is given in Fahrenheit at the top left. The rest of the square represents the weather as in a weather forecast (or some other relevant items for the comic), mainly in bright colors. Below are the six labels given above each of their five weather symbols with temperature given below these symbols description.]

:'''Your 5-day forecast'''
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:38°F
:[A grey cloud.]
:41°F
:[A grey cloud with six lines of blue raindrops below.]
:36°F
:[A grey cloud in front of a yellow sun.]
:40°F
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:44°F

:'''Your 5-month forecast'''
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:38°F
:[A green Christmas tree with red presents beneath it.]
:29°F
:[A grey cloud with four snowflakes below.]
:21°F
:[A grey cloud with four snowflakes below.]
:24°F
:[A grey cloud.]
:35°F

:'''Your 5-year forecast'''
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:38°F
:[A grey cloud.]
:25°F
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:36°F
:[A grey cloud with six lines of blue raindrops below.]
:37°F
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:41°F

:'''Your 5-million-year forecast'''
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:38°F
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:52°F
:[A grey cloud.]
:40°F
:[Two red flying saucers (with bright domes) are shooting energy beams downwards. One of the beams seems to impact with something at the bottom of the panel, which then explodes. Two plumes of smoke rises up from below, drifting to the right.]
:275°F
:[A grey cloud in front of a yellow sun.]
:40°F

:'''Your 5-billion-year forecast'''
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:38°F
:[A larger orange sun.]
:105°F
:[A very large red sun.]
:371°F
:[A pale yellow panel with no drawing.]
:71.488.106°F
:[A night sky with many bright stars.]
:-452°F

:'''Your 5-trillion-year forecast'''
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:38°F
:[A night sky with many bright stars.]
:-452°F
:[A night sky with many stars.]
:-452°F
:[A night sky with fewer not so bright stars.]
:-452°F
:[A night sky with few dim stars.]
:-453°F

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

1606: Five-Day Forecast

2015-11-20T12:59:55Z

Randymack: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1606
| date = November 20, 2015
| title = Five-Day Forecast
| image = five_day_forecast.png
| titletext = You know what they say--if you don't like the weather here in the Solar System, just wait five billion years.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}
- I'm writing on a longer explanation at the moment... Will soon post it.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:54, 20 November 2015 (UTC)

This is a straightforward extrapolation of the standard 5 day weather forecast, attempting to replicate it for months, years, millions of years, billions of years and trillions of years.

The 5 month and 5 year forecasts are reasonable guesses about what the weather might be like on that day. Each of the following sets then adds some more interesting variants.

In the 5 million year forecast, the second forecast shows a temperature jump -- likely a global warming reference. There is also a reference to a fairly destructive war in the fourth panel (possibly with aliens given the flying saucers).

In the 5 billion year forecast, the strip shows a standard solar progression leading towards an expansion that absorbs the earth's orbit, and then sun death.

In the 5 trillion year forecast, we see the stars slowly going out as the universe dies.
==Transcript==
:[A grid with six rows of five columns, where each row is labeled to the left. For each of the 30 squares a temperature is given in Fahrenheit at the top left. The rest of the square represents the weather as in a weather forecast (or some other relevant items for the comic), mainly in bright colors. Below are the six labels given above each of their five weather symbols with temperature given below these symbols description.]

:'''Your 5-day forecast'''
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:38°F
:[A grey cloud.]
:41°F
:[A grey cloud with six lines of blue raindrops below.]
:36°F
:[A grey cloud in front of a yellow sun.]
:40°F
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:44°F

:'''Your 5-month forecast'''
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:38°F
:[A green Christmas tree with red presents beneath it.]
:29°F
:[A grey cloud with four snowflakes below.]
:21°F
:[A grey cloud with four snowflakes below.]
:24°F
:[A grey cloud.]
:35°F

:'''Your 5-year forecast'''
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:38°F
:[A grey cloud.]
:25°F
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:36°F
:[A grey cloud with six lines of blue raindrops below.]
:37°F
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:41°F

:'''Your 5-million-year forecast'''
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:38°F
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:52°F
:[A grey cloud.]
:40°F
:[Two red flying saucers (with bright domes) are shooting energy beams downwards. One of the beams seems to impact with something at the bottom of the panel, which then explodes. Two plumes of smoke rises up from below, drifting to the right.]
:275°F
:[A grey cloud in front of a yellow sun.]
:40°F

:'''Your 5-billion-year forecast'''
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:38°F
:[A larger orange sun.]
:105°F
:[A very large red sun.]
:371°F
:[A pale yellow panel with no drawing.]
:71.488.106°F
:[A night sky with many bright stars.]
:-452°F

:'''Your 5-trillion-year forecast'''
:[A bright yellow sun.]
:38°F
:[A night sky with many bright stars.]
:-452°F
:[A night sky with many stars.]
:-452°F
:[A night sky with fewer not so bright stars.]
:-452°F
:[A night sky with few dim stars.]
:-453°F

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

1401: New

2014-07-30T22:51:45Z

Randymack: /* The comic */

{{comic
| number = 1401
| date = July 30, 2014
| title = New
| image = new.png
| titletext = The nice thing about headcannnons is that it's really easy to get other people to believe in them.
}}

==Explanation==
===Canon===
In fiction, "''canon''" describes the set of works about a fictional universe that are collectively recognized as having authenticity or being "official". These works collectively define the fictional universe. Other works may be written about fictional universes which are "non-canonical" or "apocrypha". Generally, works created or authorized by the original author(s) or creator(s) of a fictional universe are considered canon while works by others may be considered apocrypha. In other cases, the medium may be a determining factor (e.g. novels or reference books set in a fictional universe which originates in a television show or film may not be considered canon, although these are often also not created by the creators of the show or film. In some cases, the manner in which canonical works are distinguished from apocrypha is not universally agreed among a fanbase. A fiction's canon may be defined by the creators themselves, or determined by fans.

An example is {{w|Star Trek canon}}: Most fans agree that the {{w|Star Trek#Television series|five live-action television series}} and {{w|Star Trek (film franchise)|ongoing series of feature films}} (including those produced after the death of the original series' creator) are considered canon, while a plethora of novels and reference books are considered apocrypha. The short-lived ''{{w|Star Trek: The Animated Series}}'' is not universally agreed-upon. Some fictional universes have "levels" of canon such as {{w|Star Wars canon}}.

===Headcanon===
Fans often develop their own ideas about a fictional universe but which is not actually part of the canon. Sometimes these are larger concepts which have gone unspoken and are assumed or agreed upon among the body of fans. In other cases, individual fans make assumptions or invent their own stories/ideas about the fictional universe. These are both examples of "''headcanon''". This form of pseudo-"canon" exists only in the mind of the fan watching/reading the media. That fan experiences the media with a certain additional backstory or certain elements of headcanon that other fans may not. Future works may confirm headcanon as actual canon, while other headcanon may turn out to conflict with subsequently-introduced canon.

Some examples of headcanon may involve relationships between characters, abilities, backstories, etc. which the author/creator has not explained or included. In certain cases, headcanon may become so ingrained in a fandom that a subsequent work of canon which conflicts with that headcanon may anger fans, even though the headcanon was never an official part of the fictional universe.

As an example of headcanon, we may return to the ''Star Trek'' universe: The character {{w|Quark (Star Trek)|Quark}} runs a bar on ''{{w|Star Trek: Deep Space Nine}}''. It is canonical that Quark runs the bar and that the crew of the titular space station often patronize the bar. Fans might wonder why, on a station that has "replicators" (devices that can create any food or drink out of energy on demand), anyone would patronize a bar. If an individual or group of fans created and assumed a backstory that, for example, Quark has access to replicator patterns for exotic food or drink which aren't programed into standard replicators, or actual exotic food or drinks which cannot be replicated, that would be headcanon (since the theory was developed without input or sanction from Star Trek's creators). Were the series still running, a future episiode might confirm or contradict that headcanon.

===The comic===
This strip uses a play on the {{w|homophone|homophonic}} relationship between "canon", as above, and "{{w|cannon}}", a projectile weapon. In this strip, [[Black Hat]] starts to introduce a "new headcannon" (noting the spelling). [[Cueball]], thinking Black Hat mean "headcanon" inquires what Black Hat's new idea is. Instead of the expected idea or theory about a fictional universe, Black Hat removes his hat to reveal a tiny literal cannon on his head which blows Cueball and his computer desk away.

While headcanon may often be ignored or dismissed as non-canon or a personal theory, a headcannon is far harder to ignore, as it is a physical object which has a notable impact on the real world. Randall appears to address both homophones in the title text by putting three consecutive "n"s in "headcannnon". That he uses all three "n"'s from the two words indicates that he also means that it is easy to make people believe in a self invented headcanons - this may be the actual punch-line of the comic.

This comic also shows Cueball being once again distracted from his work in a manner similar to [[1388: Subduction License]].

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat walks in.]
:Black Hat: New headcannon:

:[Cueball is sitting at his desk, using his computer.]
:Cueball: Yeah?

:[Black Hat lifts his hat, revealing his "headcannon": a tiny cannon on the top of his head. The headcannon fires and blows up Cueball's desk, the explosion throwing Cueball backwards.]
:Headcannon: '''BOOM'''
:Cueball: AUGH!

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

1086: Eyelash Wish Log

2014-07-07T12:21:21Z

Randymack: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1086
| date = July 25, 2012
| title = Eyelash Wish Log
| image = eyelash wish log.png
| titletext = Ooh, another one. Uh... the ability to alter any coefficients of friction at will during sporting events.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is based on the situation that when someone's eyelash falls out, that person can make a wish on it. This comic appears to be a page from the fictitious Wish Bureau in charge of granting said wishes. And of course the Wisher is [[Black Hat]] and he has quite a few wishes, most of them based on the previous wish. A common trope in fiction is that wishing for more wishes is prohibited and for many of his wishes [[Black Hat]] attempts to circumvent that.

February 12's wish seems to be a reference to the unlimited {{w|breadsticks}} offered at {{w|Olive Garden}}.

February 27's wish relates to a common practice especially in tweets or other short length media where full length specific HTML addresses such as www.somewhere.com/articles/specificdate/the page.html would not be feasible. So a more compressed but often less sensical string of seemingly random characters is used which links to a link of the full text address. This creates some problems for people who are security or privacy conscious and prefer to be informed beforehand where they will be traveling on the Internet. It is analogous to a twisting set of watersides. Some water parks label where they end up and what style of ride it is (the doom tunnel vs the kiddy kicker). Imagine however you're wanting a nice ride ending in shallow water. You could not readily predict the unlabelled ride as it twists out of sight if the label is gibberish. You might end up thinking your attempt to go down the Bay Watch slide might end you up in Pamela's porn pool, which could be well over your head.

March 7's wish is a reference to {{w|Nate Silver}}, who is a former writer for {{w|Baseball Prospectus}} working on predicting baseball players' stats and now writes for {{w|Five Thirty Eight}} in which he predicts the outcome of elections based on polling data.

March 15th's wish refers to the lithograph {{w|Relativity_(M._C._Escher)|Relativity}} by M. C. Escher.

And April 22's wish is a reference to the cartoon and video game series {{w|Pokémon}}. A Pokéball can be thrown at a Pokémon (or in this case, a pet that the Pokéball thrower finds either annoying or cute) to capture/contain it and/or achieve ownership of it. In most cases, Pokéballs cannot be used on Pokémon owned by other people.

==Transcript==
{|
! align="left" colspan="2" |Eyelash Wish Log
|-style="color: gray;"
|
|align="right"|Wish bureau ID#:
|-
|
|align="right"|21118378
|-style="color: gray;"
|
|align="right"|Date range:
|-
!scope="row" style="color: gray;"|Wisher
|align="right"|Jan-Apr 2012
|}

{|
!align="left" width="50px"|Date
!align="left"|Wish
|-
|Jan 09
|That wishing on eyelashes worked
|-
|Jan 12
|A pony
|-
|Jan 15
|Unlimited wishes
|-
|Jan 19
|Revocation of rules prohibiting unlimited wishes
|-
|Jan 20
|A finite but arbitrarily large number of wishes
|-
|Jan 28
|The power to dictate the rules governing wishes
|-
|Feb 05
|Unlimited eyelashes
|-
|Feb 06
|That wish-granting entities be required to interpret wishes in accordance with the intent of the wisher
|-
|Feb 08
|That wish-granting entities be incapable of impatience
|-
|Feb 12
|Unlimited breadsticks
|-
|Feb 12
|Veto power over others' wishes
|-
|Feb 19
|Veto power over others' wishes and all congressional legislation
|-
|Feb 23
|The power to override any veto
|-
|Feb 27
|The power to see where any shortened URL goes without clicking
|-
|Feb 29
|The power to control the direction news anchors are looking while they talk
|-
|Mar 07
|The power to introduce arbitrary error into Nate Silver's predictions
|-
|Mar 15
|A house of stairs
|-
|Mar 23
|A universe which is a replica of this one sans rules against meta-wishes
|-
|Mar 29
|Free transportation to and from that universe
|-
|Apr 02
|A clear explanation of how wish rules are structured and enforced
|-
|Apr 07
|The power to banish people into the TV show they're talking about
|-
|Apr 08
|Zero wishes
|-
|Apr 15
|Veto power over clocks
|-
|Apr 22
|A Pokéball that works on strangers' pets
|}

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Pokémon]]

1386: People are Stupid

2014-06-25T21:18:28Z

Randymack: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1386
| date = June 25, 2014
| title = People are Stupid
| image = people_are_stupid.png
| titletext = To everyone who responds to everything by saying they've 'lost their faith in humanity': Thanks--I'll let humanity know. I'm sure they'll be crushed.
}}

==Explanation==
It is a common thing for people on the Internet (on forums and comments sections of various websites) to make vague generalizations about the "stupidity of all people" or "losing faith in {{W|human|humanity}}," for instance when the topic is actually the stupidity or irrational/extreme behavior of one individual or group of individuals. Also the comment can come in any type of Internet forum, disregarding the subject.

However, the overall {{w|world population}} ("people") is not more stupid than the average - by definition. There is also no other human population to compare to to draw the conclusion this population is stupid. So it is a ''stupid'' comment that [[White Hat]] makes. The award being given to him by [[Cueball]] is thus a very sarcastic one.

Cueball is also being hypocritical because he is making fun of White Hat's feeling of superiority by exhibiting superiority over White Hat. Cueball assumes a normal distribution on iq to found his critique. However, it is possible that the median person is less intelligent than mean while a large group is above mean. This assumed superiority assumes white hat is stupider than him.

White Hat's {{W|Illusory superiority|self-perceived superiority}} may be an example of the {{w|Lake_Wobegon#The_Lake_Wobegon_effect|Lake Wobegon effect}}, so named because {{w|Lake Wobegon}} (a fictional city) is "where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average".

The last panel may be a reference to the ''First Annual Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence'' which is a fictional award in the story of {{w|The Simpsons}} episode ''{{w|Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?}}'' where it is presented to {{w|Homer Simpson}}.

In the title text the other phrase about having ''lost their faith in humanity'' also gets a comment on the way from Cueball. There are people who use this phrase every time someone disagrees with them or say something they think is stupid. He jokes that he will let humanity (everyone other than the guy who makes the comment) know that he has lost faith in them - and very sarcastically remarks that humanity will probably be crushed (i.e. the rest of the world does not care if a single guy has lost faith in them).

==Transcript==
:[White Hat and Cueball are standing next to each other]
:White Hat: Well, you know, people are stupid.
:Cueball: *Sigh*

:[They have moved a little further apart]
:Cueball: No, people aren't stupid. On average, people are of average intelligence. When you say "people are stupid," you mean stupid compared to ''your'' expectations.

:[Close up of Cueball]
:Cueball: What you're really saying is "other people aren't as smart as '''me.'''"
:Cueball: And maybe you're right! In which case

:[White Hat is presented with a trophy by Cueball.]
:Cueball: I'd like to bestow upon you the
:[In the panel there is a close up of the trophy plaque (the text is in a frame):]
:First Annual Award for Excellence in Being Very Smart
:Cueball: May you continue to grace our internet with your wisdom

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

1340: Unique Date

2014-03-10T22:51:31Z

Randymack: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1340
| date = March 10, 2014
| title = Unique Date
| image = unique_date.png
| titletext = If our current civilization lasts another 8,000 years, it's probably fair to assume the Long Now Foundation got things right, and at some point we started listening to them and switched to five-digit years.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Is the 10,000 year clock relevant, or should it just be a trivia item?}}

Many people make a big deal about dates when the digits follow an interesting pattern, such as 2000-01-01 or 2012-12-12. They might plan special events on these "unique" days. For instance, 2007-07-07 was considered a "lucky" day and had a record number of weddings.

Cueball points out that every date is equally unique, even when the digits aren't in a pattern. The {{W|Gregorian calendar}} is the current way to count time in years, months and days — a unique way to describe this is defined in the {{W|ISO 8601}} standard. Since time moves only forward, dates will never repeat. Nevertheless, [[:Category:My Hobby|his hobby]] of stating this fact every day would be incredibly annoying to his listeners.

The title text refers to the {{W|Long Now Foundation}}, who uses five-digit years (e.g. this comic's date would be written "02014-03-10"). The {{w|Y2K problem}} was due to using only two digits to store the year, which would have made dates ambiguous when it rolled from 99 back to 00. Similarly, the {{w|Maya calendar}} had a repeating cycle of 52 years, and even their "long count" rolled over after 7885 years. As we currently use four-digit years this may cause a {{w|Year 10,000 problem|Y10K problem}}.

The Long Now Foundation designs a [http://longnow.org/clock/ 10,000-year clock] that should be able to run for this long — and in principle it could display every date up to 99999-12-31. Randall remarks that by coming close to the year 10,000, our civilization probably will follow this recommendation, unless our civilization is already extinct.

A previous comic on date formats was [[1179: ISO 8601]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball speaking to Megan and another person.]
:Cueball: Whoa, it's 2014-03-10! Under our system, this day will ''NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN!!''
:My Hobby: Pointing this out every day.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]

Talk:1334: Second

2014-02-24T12:45:40Z

Randymack:

Reference to how much Google knows about us and the 'Filter Bubble'?
OTOH could just be a straight-forward observation of the search habits of most people - if I don't find what you're looking for on the first page , I try to refine my search terms rather than goto page 2 .
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.225.132|108.162.225.132]] 05:52, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

Interestingly, some research <citation missing> shows that Google's results are oriented more towards commercial results than other vendors, meaning that if you are looking for a non-commercial answer you might need to look at the second page (or switch search providers). [[User:Randymack|Randymack]] ([[User talk:Randymack|talk]]) 12:45, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1334: Second

2014-02-24T12:44:44Z

Randymack:

1316: Inexplicable

2014-01-16T00:53:45Z

Randymack: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1316
| date = January 13, 2014
| title = Inexplicable
| image = inexplicable.png
| titletext = 'It has a ghost in it. Take it back.' 'No.'
}}

==Explanation==

[[Cueball]]'s laptop has a problem that has resisted many hours of concentrated effort at resolution. [[Megan]] offers to help, but almost immediately concludes that the laptop is haunted. Literally haunted, as in it is possessed by an evil spirit.

A similarly unresolvable problem can be seen in [[1084: Server Problem]]. In that case, no haunting is suggested, and Megan suggests Cueball wait for the Singularity.

The title text indicates that when Megan tries to return the laptop to Cueball, he simply refuses. She willingly took possession of it in the first place, and Cueball has clearly decided that he no longer wants anything to do with it. Megan is welcome to it. This would be extremely vexing to Megan, who presumably wants to own a haunted laptop no more than would anybody else.

The use of the word "ghost" may also be an allusion to the philosophical problem known as {{w|Ghost in the machine}}. This has been popularized through cyberpunk literature and movies, such as {{w|The Matrix}} and {{w|Ghost in the Shell}}. The question is whether machines are, or could be, conscious and have their own free will.

The comic may also be intended to remind us how non-technical users see computers and technology in general. Often a non-technical person will anthropomorphize a gadget, assigning it a personality with quirks. In this case, it happens to take the form of a ghost. When they have problems, they often give the device to a slightly more technical person to deal with it, which they may not be able to do. This failure could confirm (at least in the mind of the non-technical person) the personality of the device. Note that Cueball is not "non-technical", so this possible interpretation does not literally match the depicted scenario.

It should be noted that technical users often joke about sufficiently complex systems operating at the mercy of supernatural forces ({{w|SCSI|SCSI interface}} maintenance [http://www.staff.uni-mainz.de/neuffer/scsi/fun.html requiring goat sacrifices] being a popular past category). Encountering a machine that is literally possessed or cursed is a logical extension of this theme.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is frustrated at a laptop.]
:Cueball: ''ARGH!''
:Megan (off-screen): What?
:Cueball: Why do I always have these inexplicable, impossible-to-diagnose computer problems?

:[Megan walks towards Cueball.]
:Cueball: After six hours of this, I've concluded nothing works or makes sense. I give up on logic.
:Megan: *sigh* Gimme. I'll figure it out.
:Cueball: You won't.

:[The laptop is now off the desk, and Megan is offscreen again.]
:''type type''
:''click''
:?
:''type type''
:''type''
:???

:[Megan has returned, a closed laptop in hand.]
:Cueball: How'd it go?
:Megan: Your computer is literally haunted.
:Cueball: ''Told'' you.

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

1297: Oort Cloud

2013-11-29T05:43:38Z

Randymack: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1297
| date = November 29, 2013
| title = Oort Cloud
| image = oort_cloud.png
| titletext = ... I wanna try. Hang on, be right back.
}}

==Explanation==
This appears to be a reference to comet ISON, which sadly burnt up around the sun rather than gracing us with an awesome show nearer Earth.

http://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/browse/2013/11/28/ahead_20131128_cor2_rdiff_512.mpg

==Transcript==
:[three asteroids float in space]
:Asteroid 1: Have you noticed that bright dot in the distance?
:Asteroid 2: Yeah. What's the deal with it?

:Asteroid 1: Dunno. I'm gonna go check it out.

:[pause while Asteroid 1 checks it out off screen]

:Asteroid 1 (appears burnt): Wow. Do NOT go over there.
{{comic discussion}}